>>35665467
>>[] Say something and touch slimy abdomen.
Fuck your running again
>Thinking about making a Dakimakura with a slime inside.

inb4 there's no actual smuggling
again

You open your mouth to say something, but wind up touching slimy abdomen first. Your hand slides along Lai's membrane, and it undulates beneath your hand.

"Stop that, Captain! It tickles!" Lai says just as she starts to laugh, her whole form... jiggling.

"Alright, maybe you're ready to prove yourself. You'll come with me to the Citadel."

Lai straightens out, assuming her regular appearance: a little short, a little thick at the thighs, what most humans would describe as "healthy".

"Really? You really mean it?" She asks, looking at you like a child who can't believe their luck.

"Yes, really."

Citadel is, after all, suffering from a zombie apocalypse. And you'll be damned if you let your crew be exposed to more risk than necessary.

Your ship descends into the docks, perching itself atop metallic limbs. Two magnetic rods shoot out from somewhere, planting themselves firmly to the sides of your ship's exit. A shimmering drawbridge forms between them, and you take the first cautious steps towards the pier.

Lai follows you like a dog. You can see two customs agents on the pier. How will you proceed?
>[] Play it cool, act natural.
>[] Try to draw things out, wait for Boris.
>[] Custom.

>>35665617
>>[x] Try to draw things out, wait for Boris.

>>35665617
>[] Try to draw things out, wait for Boris.
>[] Sneak someone off to cause a (preferably untraceable back to us) distraction.
Wow, how long has it been? Are we going to be unexpectedly alpha again this time too?

"Well, if it isn't my good friends at-"

"Cut the shit, Lewis." Aw fuck. "Open up or we'll open it ourselves."

"Isn't there some kind of procedure for this?"

"Not for repeat offenders."

You sigh. Lai looks at you worriedly. Thankfully, you had a back-up plan just in case it turned out like this.

You turn around and flash a thumbs-up to the ship. That's the signal for them to shoot the harness holding the ship and fly awa-

Pew! Pew!

And the customs guys fall over unconscious.

This is not what you meant.

You look around, but it looks there's nobody else here.

"Um, what do we do now?"

"We wait for Boris. Oh, speak of the devil!" You point towards a white-haired old man approaching you. "That's him."

He lumbers over to you two and shakes your hand.

"Glad to si you agen. You haff the goods?"

"Yeah, I got them, alright. Shit, how've you been, man?"

"Never better," he says and smiles a crooked smile.

"This is..?" Lai asks.

"Boris 'the Blade' Banditsky," you introduce the man.

He firmly shakes Lai's drooping hand in a very one-sided handshake.

"So, whu will we be meeting first?"

You've got two deliveries to make. Three, actually, one of them being Boris himself. He'll get his Daki at a discount once you've made your rounds.
>[] The first order, a massive order from some underground circle. Resellers.
>[] The second order, a single daki for a Hunter on this apocalyptic planet.

>>35665862
>>[] The first order, a massive order from some underground circle. Resellers.
>Dakimakura harem

>>35665862
>[] The second order, a single daki for a Hunter on this apocalyptic planet.
Resellers are smalltime. This sounds like something we need to do promptly ourselves.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>35665875
>>35665879
Rolling.

"Let's go get those 'Pillow Brotherhood' guys their dakis. Then we'll get the other guy and everybody goes home."

"Very vell. Follow me."

You start walking behind B.B. and toy with the MAn-POrtable Portal Opener in your hand. Tiny, expensive as hell, but it sure beats lugging around a whole ship's worth of dakis. For a smuggler like you, this is essential.

Just as you're walking through the rather busy and very bleak streets, Lai taps you on the back.

"Captain?"

"Yeah?"

"What is this planet?"

You look around.

Oh, that's what's bothering her.

Everything looks sturdy, but seriously run-down. Serviceable, barely functional, from the buildings to the clothes people wear, it's the very epitome of "spartan".

"We're on a huge platform several kilometers off the surface of the planet, since the surface is completely covered in zombies."

You pass a bakery. The smell of fresh bread reminds you of how hungry you are.

"Zombies? Why not simply-"

"Well, in spite of how it looks, Citadel is actually very resource-rich- it just can't get to the resources. We're out in the galactic boonies, so buying supplies can get expensive. Everybody lives in some state of need."

You pass a newspaper kiosk. Magazines of all sorts line the shelves - half of them about guns and survival.

"But then why are we smug-"

"Shh. Not in public. That's because the population in the Citadel, this fortress, is in decline. People are encouraged to go down and kill zombies. For every zombie they kill, and every artifact they recover, they get paid. You get your first weapon for free."

You walk past a small shop with a sign that reads "1 SALVAGE PIECE = 1 CITADEL MARK"

"I see. That's why..."

"Dakis are illegal. The population isn't high, and if you introduce dakis into the equation, things might get even worse."

"I see, I see..." Lai nods.

"Well, we're here," Boris says. "Will you handle this yourself?"

>[] "Sure will, B.B."
>[] "No way. Introduce us."
>[] Custom.

>>35666142
>>[] "No way. Introduce us."
Gotta conceal our alpha to start with, so we can whip it out later.

Honestly, you don't what you were expecting.

"Clients, this is your dealer. Dealer, these are your clients." Concise to a fault, Boris' introduction is dry as can be.

"Maurice," one of the people in this dingy basement says, extending you his hand.

"Lewis," you answer and shake his hand.

Boris moves toward the door. Better not run away.

"The goods?"

"Pay up first."

"Of course, of course," Maurice shrugs.

He places a small briefcase on a nearby table. You open it, and one by one, examine each stack of marks. You'll exchange them later, most importantly - they need to have the watermarks. You flip through each stack to make sure there aren't any dolls and randomly pull out a note from each bundle, holding it against the light of the only lamp here.

It all checks out.

"Alright," you say, closing the briefcase shut. "Here's your end."

You place the MAPOPO on a nearby wall and open it. Several boxes fall out of the wall when you do. Once the portal is closed and the MAPOPO is back in your pocket, you extend your hand to Maurice for another handshake.

"We never met."

He looks you in the eyes. You see a flicker of betrayal in his, but there's nothing you can do for now.

"Never have."

You turn to leave, and head out right after Boris.

Lai is waiting for you outside when you return.

"Well? How did it go?"

>[] "It went well. Let's get the other guy and finish this up."
>[] "So-so. We should head back and leave."
>[] Custom.

The question is: can you trust Maurice to not snitch on you? Or will you deal with every last one of your clientele, no matter what?

>>35666516
>[] "I have a bad feeling about this. Let's hustle and get the other guy quickly."
Why didn't Maurice do his own checks before we left, hmm?

>>35666516
>[] "So-so. We should head back and leave."

>>35666516
>>35666552
I'll second this.

And probably because he's a narc

"I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's hustle and get the other guy quick."

"Is everything alright?" Lai asks.

"Yeah, it's all cool... for now. The quicker we do this, the better."

You suddenly notice Boris giving you a suspicious look.

"Don't worry," you tell him, "It's all there. You're in the clear."

To help you shave off time, you don't always wait for the other guys to check your goods. You work on a guide system: your guide is usually a well-connected local who knows the people you're supplying, or at least where they are. If your clients find something wrong with your goods, they hit up your guide. If you don't deliver the goods straight and fine, both your rep and your guide will take a hit.

It's hard to do repeat business when people think you're a running a scam, and especially when you can't find any buyers.

You keep walking and walking, but you don't seem to be any closer to your second order's delivery point.

"Boris, how much further is it?"

"Hmph."

That's about 3-5 minutes, you decide.

Eventually, you come to a little apartment complex, where some guy's waiting for you.

"I'll do this myself," you tell Boris. "Hey!"

The guy turns to look at you.

Turns out he's a friend of your "friend". Couldn't make it. Wants you to come see him at another address. Wrote it down on a slip of paper, which his friend hands to you.

You show it to Boris. It's pretty far away, but it's right between here and the docks. You'll be passing it even if you choose to turn back, so there's no reason not to check it out, at least.

>[] Scout it out. Watch the place for a while before enterig.
>[] Just show up there like a normal person.
>[] Pass by it and leave.

>>35666750
>[] Pass by it and leave.
Too sketchy and we gotta dip

>>35666750
>[] Pass by it and leave

The meeting spot is just some playground between a few regular civilian buildings. You're about ready to pretend you were just in the area and are now leaving, but some men with bar codes on their hands show up.

"Are you the owner of the ship that was recently docked in Amoeva Port?"

"Depends. Who's asking?" You demand.

"We'll have to ask you to come with us," one of the men says, pulling out a gun - an old, old firearm, from the days when kinetic projectiles were still used.

Lai looks at you expectantly.

"Should we run?

You weigh the options. Boris is right here, but these guys might just let him go, so he's not going to be of any use. If you come along, they might kill you. If you try to run, they'll definitely kill you.

It's simple.

"No. We've got no choice."

"..." Lai looks at the ground. "And it's my first time, too..."

You pat her on the head.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it's not that bad."
[1/2]

Turns out, everything's not so bad. Everything's just hunky-dory.

You and Lai are on the ground, Lai is still out cold. You've got a minor headache. And a kinetic rifle. You wonder how many thousands of years have passed since this thing was invented.

"Hey! You woke up," you hear someone say.

You turn to look and see some guy in his early 20s, moderately well-dressed.

"How nice of you to join us here on Ground Zero."

He's got a rifle just like yours - but with a scope and a second mag taped upside down to his first one. There's red-black checkered tape on the handguard and the stock.

He must be one of the Hunters.

"We need to get back," you say without missing a beat.

"Good luck. Tell me if you find a ladder."

"What?" You ask. "Aren't Hunters allowed back up?"

"Some are. Most aren't."

That doesn't make sense. The guy talking to you seems to be able to read your expression, because he answers immediately:

"There's a LOT of us down here. Don't worry. The UG's estimates say we'll have the entire continent cleaned up in, oh, about 3 years."

"..."

"Because the Zeds keep crawling out of their holes and coming to the city. We don't even have to look for them."

>[] First things first. Wake Lai up.
>[] Ask this guy for more info.
>[] Get away.

ded

>>35667339
>[] First things first. Wake Lai up.

>>35667339
>[] First things first. Wake Lai up.

>>35667339
>[] First things first. Wake Lai up.
Does Lai also have a gun?

>>35667339
>[] First things first. Wake Lai up.

"...Lai. Hey, Lai! Get up!" You shake her awake.

"Hmm?" She stirs awake, slowly. "Oh, Captain! I was having this dream, it was awful - but you were there, and..."

Her voice trails off when she sees the man behind you. Her eyes widen as she looks around and pulls a rifle, just like yours, out from under her.

"Wh-what is this?"

"A gun."

"No, I- I see that it's a gun, but-" Lai stammers.

"It's a very old gun."

"Yes, it is, but why-"

You look her in the eyes.

"Guess."

Her expression becomes frantic. She grabs your shirt and pulls you close.

"W-we'll get out of here, right? We're not stuck here-"

"Calm down. There's always a way out things like this."

"Say what you like," the guy from before interjects, "but there ain't no way out that I ever saw. Not that I'm the definative aw-thoh-rity on the matter of ways out, but..."

"Hey, we're trying to bond over something here," you scold him.

"Right, sorry, brother. Won't happen again," he offers.

"Well, what's your name?" You ask, by now holding a scared Lai to your chest. Though she seems to be holding herself there well enough.

"Errbody calls me Mike. Welcome to Terr-uh Noh-vah."

"Terra Nova?" Lai asks? "The world that was colonized after Earth was struck by an epi-"

"Can we get a distress signal out through an amplifier? Is there any satellite comm around here?" You interrupt.

"Yeah, but it's a hell of a road there."

"Whatever. We'll take it."

""You sure?"" Mike and Lai ask you, in unison.

"Damn straight."

You've got a plan, a trick and an ace up your sleeve. And if you play your cards right, you'll come out on top of this - and quite a bit richer.

You tell Mike the only thing he needs to know:

"I've got this. I have so fucking got this."

That's the thread for today. If you guys are interested in more, I can make another in two weeks' time. But for now, that's all, folks!

>>35668008
Very much interested in more

Bump.