Part 13: Crew Check

I've been meaning to use this tea set. There you go. Fresh out of the box.
I didn't know you were into tea.
Heh, I'm not nearly sophisticated enough. It was a little going away gift from my family for my commission.
...
Reminds me of the old times, when we used to play cards in the student council room.
I'm surprised you even remember. It's been so many years since then.
I guess seeing you again made me nostalgic. You know, you haven't really changed much since those days.
Well, things are different now, captain. Back then, you were the one following me.
Someone had to keep you out of trouble.



Of course. You were always trying to solve other people's problems. It was only a matter of time until you hurt yourself.
Heh. Alright, I won't deny that.
Remember your campaign slogan? Something about being the duty of the student council president to solve the student body's troubles?
I guess ... Things were simpler back then. You're right. I did try too hard. And in the end, I just left disappointed.
Disappointed? You never told me that.



Heh. But people don't like change. Those that stand out are just naturally made the target of scorn. And despite everything I did, I was forgotten, just like all the class presidents before me.

(Ava’s actually kind of a bummer to hang out with, tbh)

You were always in motion, getting things done. Honestly I guess I was a bit in awe. Maybe I wanted to watch you and learn from the best.
It's strange, hearing you say that now.
Do you ever think about what it'd be like if you sat in the captain's seat instead?
...
No. I'm your first officer. There's nothing more to it than that. I'll execute your orders, captain. That's all there is to it.
...
Hahahaha.
What? What's so funny?



I thought the problems I had back then were insurmountable. And now, here we are, one ship against PACT. Kind of makes our high school problems seem like a joke, doesn't it?
Hah. Well, we were just kids. I'm sure back then, our problems were as big as the veniczar himself.



What do you mean?
We're not in high school any more. It's a war out there. Compassion may mean death on the battlefield. As captain, you'll have to put all of us in danger. You can't let your personal feelings interfere with what needs to be done.
As captain, it's my job to keep all of you safe. I wouldn't be able to do that unless I considered my feelings.
Alright. It's your ship. It's just something to keep in mind, that's all.
...
PACT will pay for what they've done to our home.
To tell the truth, I'd rather not think about it. All the people we've lost. All the memories destroyed.
...
I'm sorry. Pretty much the whole crew's lost someone close to them.
We have to stop PACT, so that what happened on Cera will never happen again.
Understood, sir. I'll be right behind you every step of the way.
Right. Give me your thoughts on the crew.



Asaga's been stirring up every sort of trouble you could imagine. I caught her gambling with the crew just the other day.
Oh come on, what's wrong with a little game of cards now and then?



Try to loosen up a bit, Ava. Our pilots need to blow off some steam now and then.
Well, if that's your order.
No, Ava … You know that military protocol doesn't mean much now that Cera's a PACT colony. I don’t think protocol for the situation we're in now even exists.
That is unfortunate. However, someone must enforce discipline on this ship.
All right … Just don't push yourself too hard, alright? Relax every now and then.
Understood, captain.
(She still totally doesn't get what I mean …)
How's Chigara been doing?



Sounds good. How about our mercenary?
She’s doing better than I thought she would. She's been helping us fix the bugs in our security systems. Maybe I was wrong about her.
Good to hear. Well, Thanks for the chat. I should get back to work.
As should I.
We should have these talks more often. I could put my tea set to use.

Speaking of our new mercenary …



How are you adjusting to the Sunrider?
I'm satisfied with my current accommodations. It's much better than what I'm used to. Thanks for your concern.
Your ryder was smashed up pretty badly last time. Is it operable?
Not without a bunch of repairs. Your pilot was pretty thorough about taking it down.
You're lucky you didn't get spaced. Asaga may look silly, but she's pretty dangerous with a ryder.
Heh. That so? I wouldn't mind having a rematch. On the simulator, of course, captain. Thankfully, your girl in engineering managed to fix most of the damage. She's really something. I've never seen someone as talented as her.
We're lucky to have her on our team.



…
Tsch. I can't believe I said that out loud.
So what exactly did you do as a mercenary, Icari?
Blew up a couple refueling stations here and there. Jumped some crippled warships. Even impersonated a low-level PACT veniczar once.
I can't really imagine you as a veniczar.
I had to put on a special latex suit to make myself look 80 pounds fatter. Haha.
Uh, wow. So what exactly were you doing?
Busting up a slaver operation. The Alliance hired me to crash a transaction between a pirate cell and this PACT veniczar. PACT's been ... Ah, liberating slaves by paying off their slavers. In exchange for serving as personnel on their ships, of course. This was going to be one of the biggest sales ever. Nearly 200 adults. The Alliance got involved when PACT accidentally included one of their citizens in the sale. I guess they forgot to check their passports or something.
So you just impersonated the veniczar to pay the pirates off and free the slaves after?
Tsch. If only if it were simple. You see, the cheapskates at the Alliance were only willing to pay to free their own citizen. Something about not wanting to fund piracy. Anyways, that was all irrelevant, since it was a double cross and the pirates were planning to slit the veniczar's throat after they got the money anyways. Got grazed by a couple of their shots, which melted through my latex suit. That was a sight to see.
I bet ... So how did you get out of that alive?
I swapped places with the real veniczar just as she arrived. Haha, you should have seen the look on her face as the pirates grabbed her. Meanwhile, all the slaves got loose. It was total pandemonium in there. Finally, the pirates just opened fire on the PACT liner, spacing everyone on board.
I don't know what happened to the slaves. I managed to get the Alliance citizen out of there though, and in the end, that's all that mattered to my clients.
That's pretty crazy. I can't believe you made it out of that in one piece.



Still, it’s a pity you couldn’t save the slaves in the end.
I still took down a veniczar and a PACT star liner, so I'd call it a good day.
…
So I noticed you like swords.



Now that shields can deflect small arms fire, the only way to take someone down in to draw your sword and get up close and personal with them.
Have you ever killed someone with your sword in person?
Couple of PACT soldiers and pirates. When they pop up personal shielding, it's the best way to take them down.
I’ll … keep that in mind.
Heh. Real world's different from officer school, captain. A lot less clean. It gets the job done, that's for sure.
…
I can still remember most of their faces. It definitely makes you think about what you're doing more than pressing a button and firing a laser at an enemy spaceship. They were armed enemies and it was either their lives or mine.
Right.
…
Well this has been … I need to get going.



How are you adjusting to the Sunrider, Asaga?



Uuu ... I really wish the first officer would stop chewing me out though … First I tried to hook up my Game Master to the holovision in the lounge. Ugh, you won't imagine how red her face was when she told me off for that. Something about contaminating the ship's electronics. And then, I tried playing some Duel Creatures with Chigara in the crew quarters. And then she comes marching in, saying no card games. Bleh ...
I've already spoken to Ava about it. She won't be giving you any more trouble.
Really? Ahaha, you're the best, capt'n!
Just try to keep it in moderation, alright?
Understood.
I’ve been meaning to ask, but what are your thoughts about what happened with Icari?



I'm not so sure about having a person like that on our team. Nobody should shoot at civilians.
Icari had her reasons. It's not always so black and white, Asaga. And in the end, she didn’t.
I guess … I just hope something like that doesn't ever happen again.
I should go. Try to stay out of trouble, Asaga.
No promises.

One last person to talk to ...

E-eah! Oh, sorry captain, I didn't see you coming there!



Sorry. You really get focused on your work, huh?
Whenever I'm working on something, I tend to lose awareness of everything else … Was there something you needed, captain?
Just checking in.
The Sunrider's a wonderful vessel. In fact, I don't think I've ever been on a ship as advanced in my life. I was just running some energy conversion models the other day and I can say that the Sunrider's core drive is one of the most efficient in the galaxy. Since the Sunrider's powered through atomic fusion, we don't have to worry about radiation management. Now, I think if I were to upgrade the fuel feeder with ...



C-can you please repeat your question?
Calm down, Chigara. I was just asking how you were doing.
O-oh! Everything's good actually! The first officer's helped me move in all of my things. I even managed to improve the research lab here in engineering too.
I'm glad to hear that. So, what do you think about what happened with Icari?



I haven't really spoken with her much since, but I think she regrets what she did. I hope we can work together to stop PACT.
Well keep up the good work, Chigara. I'll talk to you later.



Next time … something actually happens!

(Actually I always really like the parts of games where you’re just running around talking to your party/crew)