>Last time on Freelance Ghost Quest: You got away from the zerg infested science vessel, which was promptly blown up by the Terran recovery crew, and managed to break through your ghost conditioning. After that, you had a talk with High templar Ur’athan and were given the offer of training with him. You told Quartus and Sextus, and later Lisa when you went to pick her up.

You can feel her eyes burning into the back of your head. Softly, she aks: “Can I help?”

“You’re already helping. What you’re doing for the crew is a big deal.”

She stays quiet for a while, thinking. You notice you don’t pick up pieces of thoughts anymore, and a closer examination reveals she does indeed keep them closed off now. Eventually, she softly says “Thanks.”

You arrive at the Omega shortly after. You find a lot of crewmen buzzing around Quartus ship, offloading the crates Weissdammer had stashed in there. CMC armour, guns, the whole lot is transported to one of the armouries most likely. You hadn’t expected the ship’s cargo bay to be so large, but on closer inspection the ship is a lot bulkier than it looks. You suppose it helps with the smuggling.

>1. Offer to help Lisa with the crew again.
>2. Ask Lisa’s advice on what to do with Weissdammer.
>3. Go straight to the protoss for training.
>4. Write in.

>>33515360
>2. Ask Lisa’s advice on what to do with Weissdammer.
timezoneanon checking in and checking out, goodluck all

>>33515360
>1. Offer to help Lisa with the crew again
>2. Ask Lisa’s advice on what to do with Weissdammer.
>4. Have dinner with Lisa.
>5. Make sure she can contact us on the world we're going to.

>>33515446 here

changing to seconding >>33515453

>>33515360
>2
>1
We have some time before going to the protoss right? only need a few hours for this
We should also consider any kind of upgrade on our C10... a scope or a laser pointer might come in handy

>>33515453
true, 1 more vote for dinner with Lisa
>>33515446
Have a good night timezoneanon, this namefag here won't hang around for long either

>>33515453
>>33515464
>>33515536
Ok, writing

Lisa’s about to say goodbye and depart to the medbay when you interrupt her. “I’ll join you, see where I can help.”

She briefly considers and accepts. Halfway there she suddenly stops, asks you to wait for a moment and runs off into a side hall. Huh, what’s up with that, you ask yourself. A few minutes later she returns, and you notice the bag she’s carrying around is a bit less bulky, as if she took half of the contents out.

She sees your look and simply smiles. “I’ll explain later.” She seems to like being secretive to you about it. You let her have her fun for now. You continue on your way to the medbay, and once there, she calls for a crewmember to come over, then turns to face you.

“Right, last time I was able to find someone who wasn’t as badly damaged as most others. I’ve done some working, and I think I might be able use him as a base. I’m not good enough myself yet, but with your help I think I could guide you through what has to happen.”

You nod, and not much later, the crewman arrives. Under Lisa’s instructions you carefully navigate into his mind. It’s a bit of a slow process due to her inexperience with her psionics, but it’d probably still be better than you going off on your own. After some looking around you find a piece of not entirely crushed or remoulded psyche, and you relay back to Lisa what you can about it. It’s not much, a few fragmented memories, mostly flashes of combat, and you recognise Primus in one of them.

“It might be one of the earlier victims,” Lisa speculates, “when Primus hadn’t entirely perfected his own technique yet. I doubt he had much opportunity to practice as much before his rebellion. I think what we have here are pieces of memories that were still being processed when Primus’ mental reprogramming was done.”

You work for a while longer, and after an hour or two, Lisa thanks you for your help and says there’s not much more you can help with for now.

“Ok, well, if you’ve got some time, I’d want your opinion on something.” You tell her.

“Oh? Well fire away.” She replies.

“It’s Weissdammer. I’ve still got him stuck in one of the cells on the ship here. I’m not sure what to do with him.” You see Lisa’s face change as she starts thinking. “On one hand, if I just kill him, it’s over, but what would that make me? I’ve been trying to leave my past as an assassin behind me. But if I let him go, he might start hunting me, and I’m not sure I could manage a rematch if he takes more than just a token force of bodyguards.”

“I think you might be looking at this the wrong way.” Lisa surprises you with that. “What do you think is happening now? From what I’ve heard he seemed to be pretty paranoid already, and the company has heard of his disappearance by now. There might already be efforts going on to find him, and if they dig deep enough they’ll find out about the cruiser and you. They might not be able to find you with the cruiser parked here, but it might seriously inconvenience everyone on Lahan II, and you if you pass by the planet again.”

Seems like she’s given this some serious thought already. You nod and let her continue. “Of course, I’m not sure he’s that paranoid, and people might just climb a rank higher in the chain of command of the company, but I wouldn’t be willing to bet everything on that. Then we gotta figure out whether releasing him and letting him go freely is going to cause us more trouble, or if killing him and dumping him somewhere would. I… think letting him go would be best.”

You frown, and ask her to explain, and she does. “If you let him go, and you steer clear of him, he might just decide you’re not worth going after. He might hold a grudge so if you do meet up again expect trouble, and you might not be able to overtly visit Frontier or…” Lisa pauses. A bit of a worried look flashes over her face, but she quickly goes back normal. “me, any more, I suppose,“ She continues”, but for him to actively look for a battlecruiser parked in empty space would be only slightly less wasteful than simply flushing his money down the toilet.”

>1. You’re right, I’ll just fly him over to frontier and dump him there.
>2. I don’t know, I might need some more time to think.
>3. No, I should go and kill him right now.
>4. Write in.

>>33516241
>>2. I don’t know, I might need some more time to think.
ideally just enough time to have a chat with him and see how cooperative he is or how painful he's going to be in our side

>>33516241

I guess I'll go with >>33516387

Worst case we could selectively and carefully wipe some of his memories away, although I'd rather nit do that either. It would leave a foul taste.

>>33516387
>>33516540
Ok, writing.

“Thanks Lisa, I appreciate it. I think I’ll have a little chat with him before I decide though.”

You leave Lisa to her devices and head to the holding cells. As you arrive you find a guard exiting with an empty tray of food, and single guard inside. The cells themselves are crude metal boxes with just a bed and a small hole passing for a toilet. There seems to be a small shower cell at the end of the row, so at least the prisoners have their basic needs taken care of.

Weissdammer is lying down on the bed, eyes closed. “Hello Otto.” He jumps up when he hears your voice, but he quickly calms down after the initial surprise.

“Oh. It’s you. Or… is it the other one? I can’t tell, you all look alike.” The venom drips from that single sentence. Doesn’t seem like his disposition has changed much at first glance.

>1. I’m going to let you go.
>2. I’m willing to free you, under a few conditions (specify)
>3. I just thought I’d have a nice chat before I kill you.
>4. Write in.

>>33516802

>[x] I'm trying to figure out what to do with you, mister Weisdammer. I'll be frank with you, I would derive no pleasure from terminating you. Let's say, hypothetically, that I let you free on Frontier, without strings attached. What would you intend to do?

>>33516802
>2. I’m willing to free you, under a few conditions (specify)
we never met, nothing happened out here in this region of space and his 'business' ventures with this planet took a turn for the worse forcing him to cop some loses and scale down his business with the planet (whose name I've completely forgotten).

he can still do business in this region of space, but he is to forget we exist and to not come after us, or we'll turn our battlecruiser and fellow ghosts, who would rather kill him and be done with it, against him.

>>33516957 here

>>33516930
is good, can we open with that, get his response and then offer him the deal in >>33516957

>>33516930
>>33516957
>>33516971
Sounds like a plan. I'll keep refreshing while writing if something else comes up that might fit in.

“I’ll cut to the chase. I’m trying to figure out what to do with you, mister Weisdammer. I'll be frank with you, I would derive no pleasure from terminating you. Let's say, hypothetically, that I let you free on Frontier, with no strings attached. What would you intend to do?”

You study his face for reactions as you talk, and you’re not disappointed. Weissdammer suppresses a smile, but you noticed. It’s a bit of a gamble, but you figure he’s not going to be entirely truthful.

“Me? I don’t see why I should do anything.”

You sigh. “Let me rephrase that. Going after me or mine will do you no good. You won’t find me, or this ship, and anything you try will be a waste of your resources.”

You let that sink in for a moment before you continue. “Here’s the deal. We never met, nothing happened out here in this region of space and your 'business' ventures with Lahan II took a turn for the worse forcing you to cop some loses and scale down your business with the planet. You can still do business in this region of space, but you are to forget we exist and not come after us.” You see him consider it, gears turning in his head.

“If you accept, but don’t hold yourself to the deal, I will turn this battlecruiser and my fellow ghosts against you and your operations. And believe me, if my compatriots had gotten their wish we wouldn’t be talking anymore.”

After a long pause, Weissdammer speaks again, his look not the hostile scowl anymore, but one of careful deliberation. “Would you give me some time to consider this offer of yours?”

>1. No, answer me now.
>2. I’ll give you until tonight.
>3. You have X time (specify amount of days/weeks/whatever).
>4. Write in.

>>33517429

2. I'll give you until tonight.

>>33517429
>2. I’ll give you until tonight. My apologies if you would prefer more time to think on this, but...

>>33517504

No apologies. We want to come across as someone who's not to be messed with.

>>33517502
>>33517504
>>33517549
Writing

“Very well. You have until tonight.”

You turn around and leave the cells. You almost walk into Quartus. “Ah, here you are.” He glances over your shoulder as you close the door behind him.

“You finally decided what to do with him?”

“More or less. I gave him a deal, he’s considering it.” You tell him about it.

“Hmm, still think we should just space the man. Anyway, not why I was looking for you.” The two of you head to the cafetaria and continue talking there.

“So, I said something about sticking around here last time, and you know, me and Sextus have been talking. Well, I’ve been talking, he’s been shaking or nodding his head. Anyway, We’ve decided we’ll be staying here after all. Permanently. I mean, we can still go out to different planets from here. But yeah… We’re family. We should stick together. Who knows, we might even be able to find Septimus one day.”

You smile. That would be something alright.

You sit there for a moment when suddenly Lisa comes into the cafetaria through the kitchen door.

“Hey Quart-“ Suddenly she notices you. You suppose she had thought you were Sextus or something. “Oh, erm, heya Artemis. I-err… I’ll see you later.”

She turns around and heads back into the kitchen. You’re left wondering what’s going on. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” you ask Quartus.

“Me? Nope, not at all.” A knowing smile is plastered over his face.

>1. Keep at it, make him spill the beans.
>2. Go into the kitchen and go see Lisa herself.
>3. Go do something else (specify)
>4. Write in.

>>33518158

> [x] Why are you grinning like that?

>>33518246
Writing.

“Why are you grinning like that?” You ask him.

“Who, me?” His grin starts growing wider. and wider

“Yes, you.”

“I’m not grinning.”

“Yes you are.”

“Nope.”

“Seriously, stop it, you’re creeping me out.”

At this point he bursts out laughing. After a while Sextus enters the cafetaria and shoots you a questioning look. You just shrug. It takes a few minutes before Quartus goes silent.

“Really now, wha-“ You’re interrupted with him bursting out laughing again. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him so mirthful before.

It takes nearly fifteen minutes before he finally stops laughing when you try to ask him something, and by that time something nearby starts smelling really good…

>1. Keep trying, Quartus is bound to give in soon.
>2. See what the smell is.
>3. Just sit and wait.
>4, Write in.

>>33518561

>[x] Follow the nose
hmmmmm!

>>33518561
>2. See what the smell is.
She wants help making something for us. Be stealthy, don't intrude or let her notice us.

>>33518586
>>33518587
Writing.

Well, Lisa went into kitchen, delicious smell exits. Probably has some correlation you figure. You head over there, and Quartus halfheartedly tries to stop you, but it’s more of a token effort as to say he tried than an actual attempt. You get past him easily, and quietly open the kitchen door.

Lisa’s facing away from you, and she seems to be very busy with several pots and pans. It smells really good. There’s some kind of soup, pieces of meat in a pan, a saus of some kind and a mixture of vegetables.

You creep in a bit closer, but she seems very focussed on her work. She glances to the side, and you follow her gaze to a small timer, with about 5 minutes left to go.

>1. Say something to her (specify)
>2. Leave her be.
>3. Write in.

>>33519006

>[x] What's this? It smells delicious!

>>33519006
Surprise her, carefully. Don't want to ruin our dinner.

“What’s thi-“

“AAAGH!” Lisa almost jumps when you start talking.

“DAMMIT ARTEMIS! Don’t scare me like that!”

You grin at her. “I just followed my nose. It smells delicious.”

Lisa glares at you. “Out.”

“But I”

“Out! And get Sextus and Quartus out of the cafetaria in the next five minutes.”

You’re more or less forced to leave as Lisa is waving around a large ladle at you as if it was a sword. You quietly ask your two brothers to leave, and Sextus has to support Quartus as another laughing fit prevents him from walking upright.

A few minutes later, Lisa enters, carrying what she prepared and putting it in front of you. “There we go.” She looks you in the eyes. “Well, you did ask me out for dinner right?” She smirks.

>Response?
>1. I… Yes… I did.
>2. I don’t seem to remember.
>3. Nah, no way, not me. Must have been Sextus.
>4. Write in.

>>33519662

>1. I... Yes... I did
lovin' it, OP.

Although I think we should find a way to distinguish between us. Although I guess her psionic powers should be enought to tell us three from each other?

>>33519662
>3. Nah, no way, not me. Must have been Sextus.

>>33519696
Well, your faces are different, mostly from scarring. Your face is completely free of scarring, and Quartus and Sextus are usually fairly easy to distinguish by which one actually talks. I think I might do something with the hair or so. Get Sextus to millimeter his and let Quartus grow it out a bit.

Btw, will be going on a bit longer today, I'm at my dad's place where I'm not on an internet curfew...

>>33519696
>>33519773
Rolling in 3 minutes if there's no tie-breaker.

>>33519955

Samefag from >>33519696 here

let's not be an asshole. We did ask her out, after all, haven't we.

>>33519989
Eh, I can go with a mixture as in "no, nope, ok well yeah, I did."

>>33520021

samefag again

fine with me

>>33520047
K, writing

>>33519662
>>1. I… Yes… I did.

“Nah, wasn’t me, must have been Sextus or something.” You try to keep a straight face, but you feel the corners of your mouth curling.

Lisa snorts. “I do seem to recall it happening before they showed up.”

“Hmm, you’re right. Yeah, I guess I did then.” You wink.

The dinner goes well, the atmosphere is light-hearted, and while you’re fully aware of Quartus and Sextus sitting right next to the door out of sight, you completely ignore them. You’re enjoying the meal and the company, and Lisa seems to do so too.

The evening continues without incident, and the topics range from talking about her psionics to your new suit, and lots of jokes at each other’s and your own expenses. Eventually, it grows rather late, and time has come to bring Lisa back to Frontier.

>Anything you want to talk about with her before you actually bring her back?
>Write in.

>>33520294

>Thanks for the dinner. I will savour the memory.
>I... will be back.

are we bringing Weisdammer in the cargo compartment?

>>33520360
You'll deal with him right away.

>>33520360
Writing.

“Thanks for the dinner. I’ll savour the memory.” Lisa blushes. “It was fun, we should do it again sometimes. Next time I’ll be cooking.”

That last statement gets a lot of protest, but some negotiations later you compromise that she’ll teach you how to cook, one step at a time.

“Right erm, I… will be back. Gotta handle something. You get to the hangar already.”

You turn and head to the cells. Weissdammer is waiting for you. “So, what did you decide?” you ask him.

“I… Think I will accept. Your arguments were solid.” You open his cell and escort him to the hangar. No need to cuff him yet, there’s nothing he can do in here and he knows it, though you’ll have to be a bit more careful in the ship itself.

When you arrive at the hangar, Lisa’s eyes widen for a moment, but she looks you in the eyes and nods. She seems to approve. You lead the two of them into what used to be Weissdammer’s ship, though you make it clear to him that he’ll have to make do without from now on. You make sure to tape his hands to his seat with sufficiently strong tape, leaving him very little margin to move, and you depart.

It’s about 8 pm by the time you reach Frontier. You quickly drop off Lisa and then head to the Saltlake spaceport and leave Weissdammer there. As you release him, you remind him one last time: “Don’t try to cross me again. It’s a lot easier for me to hurt you than for you to hurt me.”

He narrows his eyes and gives you a slow nod. Then he leaves the ship under your close watch, and you depart again. All in all it was a good day. You finally solved a dilemma that had been haunting you for a while now, and you had a nice dinner with Lisa.

Wait, would that classify as a date? Did you just go on a date?

>And that’s it ladies and gentlemen! Thanks for sticking around. Next thread will be somewhere mid-week most likely, and that’ll be the last one before I go on holiday for a while. I’ll keep you informed through twitter

File: 1399848557791.jpg (387 KB, 1920x1080)

387 KB JPG

>>33520892

Cheers OP! Remain awesome

>>33520892
>8pm
Erm, was supposed to be a lot later, like, 10:30 or something. Oops. Oh well.