[RW] Pegasus Trading Company - Rimworld 1.7

[MonochromeClown]

Well it happened, 1.7 is upon us and as such we are moving on from Lisecki Robotics, I still have a backlog to go through and I want to get a big high definition capture of the full colony still but that's a later thing. With 1.7 Rimworld has been updated to a new engine created in-house by Ludeon Studios, having played for a little while I can say the difference between 1.6 and 1.7 is night and day. The modlist for this save is around 450 mods, the Liseckis had about 500 at the end and it would take around 20 minutes to load up the game. In 1.7 with 450 mods it takes ONE MINUTE. 

I could never be so happy as I am with this new engine, heres to a new save and hopefully a very long one!

CONTENT WARNINGS: Death (Humans/Aliens, Animals), Nudity (Non-graphic, nipples), Bigotry (Against xenotypes, sexism (possibly), ideology and culture) Violence and Gore (Blood, Described injuries, Guns, Melee and Bombs), Potential themes of abuse/child abuse (Mentions or in pawn backstories), Slavery (Buying and Trading), Prisoners (Capturing raiders for recruitment), Pregnancy and Sexual Relationships (Not described in detail), Child Endangerment (Environment, Violence from hostiles, Sickness), Body Modification and Mutilation (Bionics, Loss of limbs/organs, Diseases), Unethical Bio-Modification (Highmates created to be "Perfect mates" and Pigskins created to be organ farms), Vomit, Mental breaks, Supernatural entities and unreality, Potential for psychotic episodes to be depicted and generally anything you could find in a cyberpunk sci-fi setting. Content Warnings can be updated if necessary.

---

 


"We're here"

My name is Petre Archield, former captain to the ship CS Pegasus. Unfortunately she's no more, shot down alongside most of my crew. I only managed to save a few lives in the end and I was too cowardly to go down with my ship.

"This is a dump" My chief of security snarks.

Veronica Tachytite, a dirtmole, not typical for our operation but she's not typical at all. A former assassin for the VM Industry Group, she tried to go straight with us, didn't work out obviously.

"Hey it's no Glitterworld but we're alive ain't we?"

Edward 'Eddie' Hartman, a hussar, he answered to Veronica as one of her personnel. Unfortunately missing his other half Richie, the two were inseparable on the ship and I can only hope Richie made it when I shoved him into that transport pod.

We managed to pack supplies before we fled the doomed ship, meals, medicine, arms and some silver for possible trading. A Rimworld isn't exactly known for it's grand societies but we've done plenty of business on the rim. We also managed to save one of the ship pets, Argus, not sure what happened to his owner but I'm sure they'd thank me for saving their dog.



We've made a dingy little shelter with beds, shelves and a place to relieve ourselves. It's not fancy at all, not even better then the quarters on the ship but at least we can get out of the rain and the cold of night.

"Captain" Eddie called me over "Argus isn't looking too good"

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's gotten into a tussle with a porcupine."

"We have those here?"

"Seems so"

The poor dog is whimpering, obvious quills poking out from his pelt. A pang of guilt runs through me, his owner is gone and now the beast is suffering cause I didn't keep an eye on him.

"Is he going to be okay?" I ask with worry in my voice

"He'll be fine cap, I'll get the quills out but he won't be very happy about it."

"Thank you Eddie" I sighed in relief

Veronica came to me later, plans in her head about solar panels. She directed my attention to a vein of steel she'd found while scouting the area, it was right next to our rudimentary shelter. With the components we brought with us it should be easy to set up, power would be a great boon and if we got a communications hub built we might be able to contact any survivors of the ship

"I know it's not my job or nothing but I am a dirtmole, it's kind of our thing. She said.

"I'm not the best at mining myself but I'll take a crack at it."

"I was hoping you'd say that, don't worry I won't make you do all the work Cap." 



With food stocks depleted and power set up I packed all our silver into the shuttle and flew until I found a settlement, it didn't take too long, turns out we have neighbors of a medieval kind. A quirk of the Rimworlds, not everyone has the same tech level being descended from crashlanded folks or folks who'd been through catastrophic wars and lost all their technology. Thankfully this settlement was friendly, they even had a couple pups for sale, I couldn't resist giving Argus some friends to keep him company and out of trouble. I was there and home with food before I knew it.

"I'm back, and I've brought some friends." I announced, stepping off the ship.

"Welcome back captain, Veronica is asleep." Eddie greeted me.

Eddie looked on edge, off to the side I saw a furry beast laying in the sand.

"Eddie why is there a dead guinea pig?"

"Sir I don't know how to explain it, I was minding my own business when the little bastard came out of nowhere and started biting me"

"Did you shoot it?"

"Y-Yes but it wouldn't stop!"

I sighed, obviously I wasn't going to punish Eddie for something so minor but he looked pretty upset.

"I brought a couple dogs Eddie, why don't you go say hi?"

"More pups? Well... The more the merrier!"

That seemed to break him out of his guilt. The guinea pig didn't go to waste either, once I'd dug the bullet out of it I fed it to Argus, he seemed pretty happy about it.



The next day while we were building a new workshop slash storage a Buzzer showed up on our steps asking to join us, despite her insectoid features I could tell she was young. Fifteen she said, she wouldn't elaborate on why she wanted to join us but we allowed it. Though she isn't particularly skilled I wouldn't just let some young lass wander off into the woods on her own. She stays.

"Poxhar, my names is Poxhar Reekenk but I prefer to go by Webs if you don't mind." She said.

"I don't mind at all, welcome to the crew Webs." I nodded at her, trying to be reassuring.

"Sir we're going to need more beds and more food." Veronica spoke up.

"I think we should get started on growing some don't you?"

"Sir none of us know how to grow food."

"Do you Webs?"

"Not really..."

"Then I guess we'll just have to figure it out."

There's rice plants all around our landing area, taking the seeds from that we begun to prepare a spot to plant these seeds when a very short angry looking man appeared brandishing an axe. He charged toward Veronica, but expert as she is she quickly disabled him.

"Sir-"

"I already heard, is he..."

"Alive sir, I didn't aim to kill."

The short man was too busy angrily writhing around in the sand to say anything, from the looks of him he looked like a pirate, he had the tattoos of one anyway. Executing a man was a bit above what I was willing to do so shortly into our stay on this planet...

"I guess we could... keep him in the toilet?" I shrugged.

"The toilet captain?"

"Unless you want to share a bunk with him."

"Toilet it is then"



A pair of drifters approached our colony late one evening, a child and an older man, they were begging for 74 silver to buy back a friend of theirs from slavery. It's against company policy to use silver on anything except trading or supplies but... well the company isn't here and I detest slavery, had plenty of run ins with slavers as a trading vessel and I can safely say they're all scum... I've always wished we could free the slaves on those ships but the company would never allow such a thing and we didn't exactly have the manpower to fight such well armed pirates and mercenaries.

I gave the two their silver and they thanked me profusely, I just wish we could do more to help. The next day I heard gunfire, I saw a lady dressed in fine clothes standing behind Victoria shaking like a leaf, Victoria's gun was already in the process of being holstered when I approached.

"Oh thank you thank you my fair lady!" The noble woman cried.

"You're welcome but it was just a-"

"A foul beast! A flesh eating monster!"

"No I'm pretty sure it was a Koala"

"Pray tell, are you not aware of the ravaging disease by the name of scaria?"

"Victoria?" I approached. "Who is this?"

"Not sure sir, she came running towards me begging for help."

"Fine sir! Are you the leader of this ... settlement?" The noble asked.

"I'm the captain or- yeah, the boss" I nodded.

"Your soldier saved my life! A reward is in order!"

The lady pulled out a communicator of sorts, laden with gold, why would a communication device need a gold inlay?

"A vessel is on it's way to pick me up, I shall spread word of your heroics and they shall reward you with a title." She explained to Victoria.

"A title of what?" Victoria frowned.

"A royal title, you shall be a yeoman."

"No thank you."

Victoria walked away without another word, the noble lady looked appalled and confused. She turned her sights on me, grabbing my hands.

"Then you captain, you shall be yeoman!"

"Uh sure... What do I have to do?" I stammered, confused.

"Oh nothing, just use this and the empire will send a bestower to grant you your title posthaste.

"Thank you?"

She placed the golden communicator in my hands, forcing me to grab it as she beamed with joy. Not too soon later the vessel she spoke of arrived, she waved and I gave her a half-hearted wave goodbye back. Staring at the communication device I wasn't sure I wanted to persue this title but... it could be beneficial for making friends on this Rimworld.



Not long after the shuttle containing the noble woman left a pod was spotted crashing down on the outskirts of our settlement, Victoria went out with gun in hand and soon came back hauling a small body with her. The person was bleeding profusely and was unconscious when Victoria laid her on the floor.

"Who is this?"

"Not sure Captain, she was barely awake when I found her."

"Is she going to make it?"

"Think so... Half-foots are delicate but she's not dead yet."

"Looks like gunshots..."

"Mhm, she has a neural stack implanted, best guess is she's just fled a battle like we did."

"Damn, poor girl."

"Look again sir, that's a grown woman. Middle aged."

"Ah... My bad, it's harder with..."

"Don't start sir."

"Sorry."

The lady has been laying in our dormitory for hours at this point, sleeping, healing. Victoria said she'd lost a lot of blood, we'll leave her be for now. Hopefully she wakes up soon, not sure how much food we can waste on an unconscious woman laying in the dirt.

Speaking to Berngill over the course of the day he asked to join us, he claims to be an expert crafter... The thought was alluring, but I had to know his story first.

"Berngill, correct?"

"Mh." He grunted.

"Before I let you join us, I wanted to know... why attack us?"

"Didn't realise you folks were armed."

"Okay but... Why were you looking for-"

"Survival, I was hungry and what I was leaving sucked more then being shot down by a couple crashlanders."

"You could tell we were new?"

"Yup, happens all the time, someone or someones come falling down from a passing ship gone awry, they usually don't last."

"What makes us different?"

"Dunno yet, you're well armed, you got a shuttle, supplies... But the Rim has a way of eating people up."

"Berngill you said you were leaving something, what was that?"

"Ah yeah... Pirates, a band of them called the Matchlock Partners. They're fucking nuts, I was only going to stay for awhile but it turned into years."

"So you're not loyal to them?"

"Not really, I'm loyal to food and shelter and protection but only to a certain point."

"We can give you that, if you're still interested." 

"Better then dying."

Berngill's loyalties to his previous faction concern me but, if we're going to be stuck here... Help would be good, and he likely wouldn't have survived if we didn't take him in. Charity is against company policy... but I'm not some corporate drone with no heart, they couldn't take that from me.

I won't let this Rimworld take it from me either.



"Sir, she's awake." Eddie shook my shoulder as I brought myself back from my pondering.

"The crashlanded lady?"

"Yes sir and she's asking for you."

I quickly made my way into the cabin, there she was, awake and confused. She looked a little scared so I kept my distance.

"Are you the... uh, leader?" She asked, her voice was hoarse.

"I am the boss, yes."

"I... I don't know how to thank you all, I've got nothing on me I've got no one to... I'm completely alone."

"You don't have to pay us back ma'am, we're just glad you pulled through."

She nodded, looking partially relieved. However she looked lost, struggling to speak, to find words for her situation. I sighed, speaking first.

"Do you have anywhere to go?"

"No... My ship, it's... It's gone.

"We don't have much here but... well if it helps, you could stay here.

"Really?"

"Mhm, for as long as you want but ah... we still don't really know who you are ma'am"

"My name is Flint, er, Flintbum Quiks... It's a silly name I know but-"

"Nice to meet you Flint. Welcome to er... To the Pegasus Trading Company."

"Thank you, thank you so much!"

In the short while we've been here, we've had three very lost people join us. We needed a name, separate from the old corporation, we weren't with them anymore so it only felt right to have a new banner to fly. The Pegasus was my beloved vessel, I flew her for many years... I had to honor her in our new name. Eddie pitched the idea of calling the settlement Stardust Base, no one objected, it was a cute name.

With our new name, it all felt so official... We were a community now, a real one. We'll have to lock into our new lives, make it sustainable... There's many more lost souls out there that could use our help.

---

(Art by Pantheon System)

[MonochromeClown]

"It's been a few weeks sir, are you sure they're still out there?"

"I'm not giving up hope Eddie..."

"Sir as much as I would love to see.. give anything to see Richie again I just don't know if-"

Ringing interrupted Eddie, the coms console was ringing. The sound of an incoming call, I looked at Eddie almost dumbfounded and he looked just as surprised as me. I quickly answered the call.

"This is Stardust Base, Captain Petre speaking."

"Petre... Petre it's- gh... It's Ragnar."

"Ragnar! You're alive, where are you!?"

They sounded injured, Eddie grasped the coms console, leaning in close to listen. I quickly started punching in commands to track the source of the signal.

"Captain, I'm... I'm not sure, I escaped... ugh"

"Hold on Ragnar, we're on the way, keep the signal open."

"Can't... Don't know if they're... tracking."

"Wait Ragnar!" Eddie cried.

The line went dead, for a moment both me and Eddie stared in horror... but the com's console pinged, showing a location on the map, the signal had been located. We both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sir we have to-"

"Get Victoria, get in the shuttle and find them."

"Right away!"



EDDIE'S POV

"Eddie, they're going to be okay." Victoria reassured me, placing her hand on my shoulder as she piloted the shuttle.

"I know... I hope so." I managed.

As a hussar, this kind of empathy was supposed to be suppressed behind walls and wall of genetic aggression and apathy for death. I've always been different, wrong... At least that's what my drill sergeant always told me. Here I am, tears in my eyes at the thought of Ragnar dying alone, I shake my head to force them back. I have to be strong for that kid, their parents likely didn't make it... an adult has to be composed, ready. I'm a hussar, this is my nature.

The shuttle landed with a thud, I saw Ragnar lying there in the dirt and immediately ran out.

"Eddie wait!" Victoria cried.

As I turned the corner of the shuttle I was face to face with a militor's shotgun. It fired, barely missing me. I brought out my pistol to shoot it but it crumpled to the ground with a hole in it's shoulder. Victoria shot an annoyed look at me, I cringed and thanked her under my breath before returning to Ragnar

"Ragnar, buddy... are you with us?"

"Eddie... Yeah..."

Without a second word I grabbed the kid, shoving them as gently as possible into the shuttle while rushing. Victoria hopped in the back with them, beginning to patch their wounds. As the shuttle took off I shot a look back.

"Ragnar is..."

"Focus on flying, Eddie!" Victoria shouted.

"Right, right, sorry!"

The flight back was short, thankfully. Ragnar was brought into the hut and laid down. Victoria passed him to me and I begun tending what she couldn't with the medicine we'd scavenged from the ship.

"Ragnar, you still with us?"

"Mhm.. yeah, it's okay Eddie it's just-"

"Someone's beaten you pretty badly."

"Y-Yeah... but I got away."

"Who did this to you?"

"Ugh.... pirates I think, didn't really... catch their names."

The captain entered the room, wide eyed staring at the kid. I applied the last of the tends to Ragnar, sitting back and letting the Captain approach.

"Ragnar you're alright?" He said.

"Was just telling Eddie I'm fine... just bruised."

"And the others?"

"They weren't with me, I'm sorry..." Ragnar looked at me.

I understood what he was saying, he wanted me to be with Richie as much as I did. I tried not to think about what could have happened to him, what could be happening to him... I tired to just be relieved that Ragnar was safe.

"Thank you Eddie." Ragnar smiled.

"And me?" Victoria glared at the kid, though she didn't mean it.

"Yeah yeah... and you, of course." They shook their head.

"You're welcome kid." I patted their head, my heart beat fast in my chest.

The others were out there, I knew it, the captian knew it... We just had to keep looking.



PETRE'S POV

Staring at the golden communicator I decided it would be time to make those new friends of ours, pressing a single button the communication device connected instantly to another. Music could be heard from the other side of the call, grandiose and loud. It reminded me of the noble lady.

"Good day sir! Am I to believe you are Captain Petre?" The man on the other side spoke, with a strange accent.

"Uh yes, I am."

"Good good! Finally calling to receive your title?"

"That I am."

"Are there currently any visitors in your settlement we should know about?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Yes yes you know, those filthy outlanders or heaven forbid those tribal primitives."

"Uh..." I felt stunned by the casual bigory. "No I don't... think so."

"Good! and you have a throne room?"

"No? Is that... necessary?"

"Hm, no not yet but sir you really should think about building one, it's not right for a noble to be without a throne!"

"I shall look into that then, thanks."

"Very well, you are cleared for a bestower to visit, I will send Madame Fabia right away!"

"Madame who-"

The line went dead, I stared dumbfounded for a moment and pocketed the thing. I stood outside, near the ongoing construction of our kitchen. It was only a few moments later that a shuttle thudded onto our makeshift shuttle bay. A group of soliders spilling out, I startled, ready to face certain death when a lady dressed in all red wearing a veil exited. In her hands a staff of some kind.

"Are you Madame uh..."

"Fabia! Madame Fabia, hurry and gather your people, I do not want to be here long."

"S-Sure... Where do you want to..."

"The beach will do, hurry hurry!"

The ceremony was completed in less then an hour, Madame Fabia was clearly uninterested in this performance, and neither were any of the soldiers... my crew didn't look impressed, except Eddie who was immensely curious.

"Oh yes, lean forward young man." Madame Fabia ordered.

"Alright?" I did so.

Before I could even ask why she shoved a device over my eyes, with a click I felt hundreds of microfiber wires rush through my eye sockets and into my brain, the process was painless but I could feel all of it and it was over so quickly by the time I flinched I could already feel the new connection in my brain.

"Wh-What was that!?" I yelped.

"A psylink, are you daft boy?"

"A... Psylink, wait... are you-"

"Enjoy your new title, goodbye."

"Wait!"

But she was gone, I'd never seen an old woman move so fast. I was left speechless on the sand, my crew all looking at each other and then me. The old woman had done something irreversible to me... and I had no idea what it was.



With the bestowing behind me and the feeling that something in me had been deeply changed forever I continued on, I don't understand what has happened to me but I have been too focused to talk about it, the kitchen must be built. I could use the communicator to ask questions but... I don't want to deal with those strange people right now. Banz keeps looking at me funny... But I don't ask him why, I just work.

A day later more people come to our settlement, Eddie drags in a large fox lady who fell from space, she can talk but she can't move. Paralytic abasia she said, I understood right away. Thankfully the disease isn't fatal but the healing process is disgustingly long and painful, she'll be unable to move except to speak and move her eyes for a month, less if she gets lucky... We'll take care of her in the process.

Then not to long afterwards a young woman approached, naked as the day she was born but she didn't seem bothered by this fact. Her belly was round, she was visibly pregnant. She claims to have come from a covern of her kind, bloodfeeders who were hunted down, she wants to lie low with us... It's risky to bring troubles to our doorstep but I am not turning down a heavily pregnant naked woman in the middle of nowhere.

Later that day Banz approached me, standing a distance away so he didn't have to crane his neck to look up.

"Captain er, Petre... You know the Empire, they're uh... They're not the easiest people to get along with." He says, doubt on his face.

"The... Empire?" I asked.

"Yeah, the Sophiamundan empire? The one that got torn apart hundreds of years ago?"

Realisation dawned on me, the empire from Sophiamundan had shattered, it was modern enough to be relevant history but long enough ago to be considered past. Though the Empire had pulled itself back together within the glitterworlds, there were parts of it that had broken off, fled into the Rim to escape the calamity. The noblelady, the bestower, they must have been part of that broken off part of the empire, whatever version of it that was left on this planet.

 "You mean, those people were Imperials?" I say.

"Yeah, pirates are bad but... the Empire it's-"

"I saw those soldiers..."

"Do you know what the bestower did to you?" He asks, a glint of worry in his eyes.

"N-Not really... I know the empire has, strange and... overwhelming technologies."

"Right... Well, you surely felt it right? What it did to you?"

"The... Connection?"

"Do you know what you are connected to?"

"It's... It's been too overwhelming to fathom."

Banz sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. As he spoke my eyes grew wider and wider, the connection in my brain buzzed loudly, pieces were clicking into place.

"Petre your psylink, it doesn't just give you magic powers from nothing... You're connected to an archotech through your mind, you can borrow the archotech's power to... essentially make miracles happen, rain fire down, freeze people, send them beserk, even resurrect them..."

"I... I can do all that?"

"I mean not yet, you have to hone it, and it's up to you what powers you focus on obtaining but... that's the gist of it."

"I don't know how to feel about all this."

"From what I hear meditation helps. Nobles use their thrones but you don't really need one to do it."

"Huh."



After my talk with Banz I couldn't get my mind off my psylink, it started to affect my work, I would drift off mentally trying to come to understand my new brain, my connection to this distant archotech. Meditation felt impossible when all I could do was ruminate, these supposed abilities I could access... What would I do with them?

My rumination was interrupted by a voice calling out to me, I turned to see a new figure standing in our camp. An impid lady, she smirked.

"You look like the man in charge, are you the man in charge big boy?" She spoke with a sultry tone.

"Uh, yes ma'am. I am the boss."

"Good, I heard you had a shuttle, I'm a sailor at heart but I also know how to fly a ship... You need someone to fly a ship?"

"Not exactly. Most of us know how to-"

"Alright, how about some muscle, I know I don't look it but I pack a real punch."

"We got that covered pretty much too."

"Damn."

"Ma'am why did you come to our settlement?"

She clicked her tongue, shifting from side to side where she stood. She looked around, then back at me.

"If I'm being honest... I just got sick of my old life, I heard there were new folks around... Thought I could find some fresh faces to uh. Get to know, yknow?"

"I'm not sure I follow?"

"I ditched my husband to come here, I'm looking for love sweetheart."

"You ditched your husband."

"Yes I did."

"To come join... us?"

"Mhm, Yessir."

"Ma'am I don't think we're ready for couples just yet we barely got room for-"

"I'll sleep on the floor if I have to! I can work, I mean... I'm not stupid, I can't do much but I can fight, I can clean- Don't make me go back to my husband."

Noticing desperation in her tone, I relented. I wasn't going to pry further, whatever she left behind had made her come walking out into the woods to get away.

"Alright, welcome to Stardust Base miss..."

"Brandi Gillispie."

"Welcome, Brandi, I'm Petre."

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you Petre."

She winks at me and walks off, a buzzing in my brain makes me feel woozy. I make a mental note to expand, we need more beds if more and more folks were going to show up for whatever random reason.



Not long after Brandi arrived a group of pirates followed her, I pulled everyone inside as Veronica and Eddie went out to meet them in the fields. After a volley of gunshots it went quiet, Veronica appeared in the doorway not long after.

"Sir, we dispatched the pirates."

"And they're...?"

"Dead sir, there were two of them, we sustained no serious injuries."

"Right... We should... Bury them then."

"Sir I suspect they followed Brandi to our settlement."

"What!?" Brandi cried.

"Veronica, are you sure?"

"Heard them talking about an Impid lady as we approached." Veronica nodded.

I turned to Brandi, she was backing away and shaking her head, terrified.

"Brandi, could they have followed you?" I asked, trying to sound neutral but it didn't help.

"I swear I wouldn't have led them here on purpose!"

"You were tailed, you weren't careful." Veronica glared at the woman.

"I had no idea how could I have!?" Brandi shrieked.

"Both of you calm down." I spoke up, trying to keep my voice steady. "Veronica do you think more are coming?"

"Hard to say sir... No idea if they were working alone or with a gang."

"And Brandi, you don't know them?"

"No! I come from an outlander settlement we- we don't deal with pirates!"

"It's alright... You're not in trouble."

"You're not going to kick me out?"

I shook my head. "Of course not, we're just going to have to keep an eye out for potential follow up raids."

"Yes sir..." Veronica's voice was low. "I'll ask Eddie to take the corpses out into the field... We'll bury them."

"Thank you Veronica, you and Eddie did good."

Veronica just nodded, and left. I sighed with relief, trying to untense my shoulders. The buzzing in my head seemed louder somehow.



Though I had no acquired a throne or any formal place to mediate I spent my time in the grass, meditating while sitting and taking in the sounds of the waves, birds, leaves rustling in the wind. At some point the buzzing in my mind quieted, and another part of the psylink clicked for me. I felt the connection grow stronger and as it did it became obvious what powers I wished to use.

I wanted to protect my crew, my budding community. If pirates were going to follow the people coming to us for aid, I want to be able to defend them. All at once I felt it, I didn't know how to explain it but I knew then that should I wish the Archotech would obey my desires to help my people, though it wasn't much yet... The promise of more power was there if I wished to grasp it.

I looked at my hands, with a simple touch I could block pain, I could prevent bloodloss and I could assist with the healing process in our patients. Though I didn't wish for the opportunity to test these powers, I felt great relief knowing they were there.

"Ey captain. Don't know if you noticed but a shuttle just landed in our port." Banz poked me in the shoulder.

"Oh uh, thank you Banz, I'll go talk to them." I nodded, standing up.

The trading shuttle turned out to be from the GTG Traders, folks we'd traded with before on the CS Pegasus, they were solid and we were able to acquire some chemfuel for our shuttle, but not much else. We'd have to start producing goods to trade with the locals soon, our silver was starting to run low... and we didn't have much in the way of trade otherwise.

With two expert crafters, it didn't seem daunting. Banz and Flint were bred to craft, if I threw them at the workshop we'd definitely make bank, we just needed the resources.

---

(Art by Pantheon System)

[MonochromeClown]

The next week a heat wave had set into the region, everyone was suffering and we had to remove our vacsuits to stop ourselves from overheating in the terrible weather. Not everyone was coping with it well. I saw Brandi carrying Banz back into the barracks after he had passed out from a combination of heatstroke and smokeleaf.

"I got him, captain" Brandi winked at me again.

I chose to ignore her flirting, she was beautiful but, I had the settlement to focus on. I directed the construction of ceiling fans in the bedroom, workshop and dining room which had just finished completion. It took longer then I'd hoped but we'd have a working kitchen very soon, production on food from home grown crops would help reduce costs by a lot, I'd been going out on regular trips to buy cheap pemmican and while it did sustain us it wasn't very tasty. It beats nutrient vat meals at least.

The ceiling fans weren't cutting it but Maria taught me about a method of cooling using water that seemed to do the trick, after a couple long hot days the kitchen was complete. It was very basic, almost barren but it was operational. Components were starting to get hard to come buy and the cost for trading them was high. After consulting with the crew, the ones who had lived here longest like Banz and Brandi told me selling drugs was the easiest method of making money on this planet.

I wasn't prepared to become a drug peddler, I'd sold pharmaceuticals and go-juice to places that needed them but Banz suggested selling psychite products, flake specifically. For now I'm putting the idea away, I've designated a spot for growing cotton. It'll take some time but I believe selling clothes is our best option for now, until we can start producing better items. Maria and Brandi also asked if they could create art pieces to keep around the settlement and to sell on the side, we have plenty of stoneblocks to spare so I granted them the request



From the Victoria's determination Maria's pregnancy had progressed into the third trimester, I'm worried about the presence of a newborn, if we'll even be able to support a child right now but it's coming either way and I had a crib built for the child. We've also been taking turns allowing Maria to feed on us to sustain herself and her child, it's unpleasant but if she needs it we'll grant it to her. I'm glad to see she's happy here, and those hunters never appeared to hunt her down. Veronica and Maria have become good friends thanks to Veronica's care during her pregnancy.

Eddie and I are particularly close, he's told me more then once he considers me his brother. The operation to rescue Ragnar has given him a lot to think about and he's been clinging to his relationships within the settlement. I still pray we can find Richie out there somewhere... as well as any other members of the crew.

At the end of the day we had a party in the dining room, to celebrate our progress so far. During the party I asked Maria to become our administrator, she didn't know what I meant at first but I explained we'd need someone to help keep morale up and lead recruitment efforts, as well as organise events such as this one. She accepted, though her child would come first, that was fine with me.

Unexpectedly as folks were leaving to return to the barracks for sleep Eddie spotted a crashlanding pod nearby, thinking it was a survivor he went out to rescue the person. I found him dragging the person back to the settlement.

"Eddie? Whos this?"

"Not sure sir, he's injured but I haven't been able to get much out of him"

"Should we keep him in the barracks?"

"With all due respect sir we can't just trust every person who lands in the fields to be a friendly."

"I... Suppose you're right, I'll trust your judgement with this then."

"Don't worry sir, he'll be well looked after until we can determine what he's doing here."

I watched Eddie take the man into the now abandoned old cabin, I'll have to build a bed for our... Captive? I wasn't sure what we were doing with the survivor, but at least he wouldn't die out there alone.



The next evening the man in our cabin was awake enough to speak, Eddie was right, he had come here to try to kill us. A lone assassin out to prove himself by targeting a small settlement as part of some ritual his faction participates in.

"And how did you end up injured in our field?" I asked him, Eddie standing by my side.

"Bah, a rival must have sabotaged my pod! Typical... They likely do not expect me to return." He hissed, still in pain from his crash.

"You don't seem to have your heart set on this."

"I am a stonecutter! I build, I create... yes I can kill, but only because they conscripted me!"

"Explain what you mean."

"The Belrae, my home, the ruling class are war-like and they expect us all to be the same. I was fine with my stonecutting, my art but they came through my town and dragged all the men away for their conquest."

"You didn't have a choice?" Eddie asks, frowning.

"No, did you Hussar? Are your kind not bred for war?"

"Me and Richie came out of the vat ready for war... but that doesn't mean we like it."

"And same to me, my people are warriors but not all of us wish to fight."

Veronica came into the room, looking straight at me. The look in her eyes told me something needed my attention right away, I pulled Eddie with me outside the cabin.

"Sir, a band of pirates have contacted us via the coms console, they're demanding we pay them a protection fee." She said.

"Damn, we don't have the silver to waste on that..." Eddie muttered.

"I'll talk to them." I said. "Maybe we can get them to back off."

Veronica and Eddie followed me into the workshop. The discussions were quick, it seemed the growling pirates wanted an excuse and nothing I said could sway them otherwise.

"Eddie, Veronica... I need you on watch tonight."



Early morning gunshots woke the whole base. While everyone was huddling in the barracks I had noticed Brandi wasn't among us, telling everyone to keep quiet and stay inside I rushed outside to find her fighting a Yttakin with a bronze knife I had never seen on her before. She must have been hiding it away for this very purpose, before I could rush in myself she quickly dispatched the furry woman, the Yttakin crumpled to the ground dead.

"Brandi are you-" I started, she held her hand up.

"I'm fine, I caught her sneaking around the barracks." She leant on the side of the wall to catch her breath.

"You're not injured?"

"Course not, I told you I can fight, I can take care of myself"

"I just-"

"You didn't expect a lady like me to be so good with a knife huh?"

"Uh- Well you're-"

"Heheh, you're cute when you're flustered." She winked, again.

"I'm glad we have you around, Brandi"

She blushed and smiled, looking away. Not long after Veronica and Eddie approached us, hauling two identical looking Yttakin over their shoulders. Veronica looked too small to handle that mass but if she was struggling she didn't say it.

"Survivors, should we keep them in the cabin with the elf?" Veronica asked, still as composed as ever.

"Sure, we'll have to figure out what to do with them though." I sighed, more mouths to feed.



"Hows Lady doing, Web?"

"Oh Captain, she's okay... we've been talking a lot!" Web chirped, her mandibles clicked happily.

I smiled at the young enthusiasm, Web was an unusual looking person being a Buzzer but I'd seen plenty of strange xenotypes in my travels, her appearance didn't bother me like it did some others. I've been very clear to everyone that I wouldn't tolerate anyone treating Web poorly for her differences, she was just a child after all.

"I should check up on her more often myself." I said, I'd been so busy I've forgotten to.

"She'd love that! All she ever gets to do is talk and be fed, paralytic abasia sounds so horrible..."

"At least she has you keeping her company, what have you two been talking about?"

"Oh well, she's been talking about her past a lot, did  you know she used to be a translator?"

"No I didn't, that could be handy to have around."

"Yeah! She's very smart actually, she's been teaching me about space and the ship she came from."

"I'm glad you two get along so well, it must be hard being out here without your folks."

The buzzer falters for a moment, I worry if I have said something terrible. She gives a half hearted smile and then looks away.

"My mom and dad well, I try not to think about it... The town I'm from was wiped out by plague a few years ago." She said softly.

"I'm so sorry, did they pass?" I try to be police, sympathetic.

"I think so, they sent me away with a caravan and then I came here."

"What happened to the caravan?"

"Just... people kept dying, one by one, I tried to help out where I could but if it wasn't pirates it was sickness... Eventually it was just me and a couple other folks." Her face was very sad, reflective. "One of them handed me some food he'd stolen, said I needed to get out of here, I was still young and he wanted me to live."

"Who was he?" I asked, looking down at her sullen face.

"I don't know, he didn't talk much..." She sighed. "But I was wandering for awhile and a passing trade caravan directed me to here, I'm just glad you let me in."

"Of course Web, I'm sorry things have been so rough for you for so long... You're welcome to stay here for as long as you need."

"Thanks Captain, I appreciate that." 



Insectoids, I hate insectoids... We were attacked today by insectoids from the Black Hive. A genetic mutation of the already genetically modified insectoid menace that spread across the galaxy, while they weren't a problem when we lived on a big temperature controlled ship it makes sense that this rimworld is infested with them, most planets that don't have a dedicated insectoid control group are. Thankfully Eddie and Veronica were able to take care of the two that showed up, but Veronica got bitten a couple times and was dealing with toxic build up.

"Don't worry about me Captain, I'll be okay in a couple hours, Dirtmole genetics." She reassured me from her bed.

"I know you will Veronica, you're a tough gal." I smiled at her, handing her a meal.

Later that day my daily meditation was interrupted by Eddie hollering loudly as he entered the barracks. Confused by the commotion I looked up to see him carrying someone in a vacsuit helmet. Horns poking out of specially made holes in their helmet, I immediately stood up to follow Eddie as he placed them in one of the beds

"Eddie is that?" I was stunned.

"Caz! Good old Caz!" He yelled happily, rushing off to get medicine.

I pulled the helmet off the impid and sure enough it was Caz, one of the engineers of the CS Pegasus. They smiled weakly at me, their left leg was bloody.

"Hey Captain." They managed weakly. "Weren't you supposed to go down with the ship?"

"I couldn't, and I'm glad I didn't" I wiped hair out of their eyes. "You're safe now."

"Wasn't gonna crumble just cause of some charge bolts."

I stepped back when Eddie came back in with the medicine, letting him tend to her. Peering over I could see Brandi looking curiously at the other Impid.

"Who's she?" Brandi gestured, climbing into her bed.

"They're one of my crew from the ship, looks like they survived." I softly corrected her.

"Huh, you're not trying to replace me are you?" Brandi smirked.

"Course not Brandi, don't worry."

Brandi nodded, smiling at me before rolling over in her bed. Eddie stepped away a few minutes later, done with the tends. Caz looked weak but grateful.

"You're all good Caz, I'll get Veronica to keep an eye on you for tonight." He nodded, looking proud of himself.

"Thanks Ed, glad to see you and Veronica made it out too."

"If it wasn't for the Captain we all would have died, you can thank him." Eddie wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Thanks Captain, it's good to be home." 



"All hands on deck!"

It was midday when we saw it, fire in the skies. A ship was falling out of orbit directly above us, explosions rung out as debris hit the ground nearby. Eddie pointed at one part of the ship hurtling towards our settlement, a cryopod array.

"There might be survivors!" He cried.

"Shit, get medicine ready, everyone move it!" I called out to the crew.

Rushing into the prison cell, the elf Soran was sitting up in his bed.

"You, help us, prove yourself" I demanded.

Soran nodded, understanding right away, he pushed past me to join the others. The yttakin twins looked startled by all the commotion, but they were still injured themselves. I left them in the cell right as the cryopods crash into the outer fields.

"Lets go people!"

As a collective we rushed to the crash site, many of the cryopods had just exploded and destroyed the sleeping people within, some spilt corpses onto the ground but there were injured amongst the dead. Without a word my crew grabbed them, hauling them away from the debris and towards the barracks.

When we reached the barracks it was a flurry of motion and the sounds of agony, I stood, trying to coordinate but the blood, the cries. The buzzing in my brain returned, growing insistent... Suddenly I found myself rushing over to a blonde man who looked beyond help. Touching his chest a burst of power flew out of me, the man's wounds suddenly stopped oozing so fast, the bleeding stopped. Soran who was tending to the man looked at me bewildered before returning to his work.

I stood back, fixing my eyes on a red haired woman writhing as Ragnar tried to calm her. I gently pushed Ragnar aside, another burst of power flowed out of me when I touched the woman. Her wounds began to close, and she calmed, allowing Ragnar to finish tending to her.

My psylink went quiet, I'd done all I could for now. I stood back, panting, my brain felt hot and exhausted. I watched my crew, answering questions but my mind was elsewhere... Before I knew it the flurry had died down, the survivors were all quiet.

The crashing ended at some point, Eddie informed me he found medicine in one of the crashsites. It would come in handy. I tried to untense my shoulders, and bring myself back from the edges of my mind. It was over, we'd saved them, they'd pull through and I could help them do it.

I healed them, or helped to... I could save people, miracles as Banz put it.

I had a lot to think about, but I had to figure out how we'd feed all these new people first.

[MonochromeClown]

During the night one of the crash victims got up from resting, stumbling into the workshop. I saw her guzzling down psychite tea, concerned for her healing I tried to convince her to lay back down.

"Ma'am, you shouldn't be up right now, you're still heavily injured." I rested my hand on her shoulder.

"It just... hurts so much, the tea helps." She seemed dazed, delirious.

"I know it does but walking around is only going to make the injuries worse."

"Please..." She sounded desperate. "I'll be okay I just, need a minute."

Frowning I backed away, if she was adamant then I wasn't going to force her. "Alright..."

It's been taking all our efforts to keep the survivors calm, they're all obviously in shock at the moment, sometimes walking around dazed and scared. Maria has been able to calm most of them down thankfully but I'm worried for them, I know we aren't equipped to handle so much trauma at once... all we can do is give them somewhere to rest and recover.

The following morning Maria gives me a check up about the two Yttakins in our holding cell.

"So, how are they doing?" I ask.

"Well I managed to convince the brother to open up."

"Brother?"

"Mhm, they're siblings, twins by the sounds of it."

"No wonder they look near identical."

"Yup, they were sent as a pair alongside who he called their handler."

"Handler?"

"Not sure, but he doesn't seem to broken up about her death."

"And the two of them are behaving?"

"The sister growls at me sometimes but the brother, Hoersh calms her down."

"Do you think we could recruit them?"

"Mmh... Reckon if we get the brother on our side then the sister will follow."

"Better then sending them out there alone."

"I agree, the brother has a wooden foot and some respiratory issues."

"And the sister?"

"She's... well, it's clear something happened to the two of them, they cling to each other like they're about to lose the other."

"Gees... Well, if you can convince them to join..."

"I'll see what I can do."



The next day Maria went into labour, Eddie helped her give birth to a little girl called Andrea. The baby looks near identical to her mother, apparently that's something known to happen with Charmweavers. Maria is extremely relieved and frankly so am I. The thought of a baby in the settlement is stressful, we'll have to make sure we work overtime to get everything running smoothly for this little one... Little Andrea... Maria's resting in the barracks, she'll be on lighter duties for the next few months and Veronica is going to be keeping an eye on both mother and child.

I've been using my healing abilities on the survivors as they're available, they've been very grateful for it even if they are a bit stunned by the unusual powers. I'm a bit stunned myself, over the past few days my connection has grown stronger and stronger. The more I use my powers and hone my connection the more I gain, I'm not sure what all I can do yet but if it's more healing then I'm more then happy to continue down this path.

Eddie approached me, looking pleased with himself. "Hey Cap!"

"Eddie, how are you doing?"

"Great! I'm a bit proud of myself, Andrea came out healthy and I managed to get Kolark to come around a bit more.

"Kolark is the other Yttakin right? The female?"

"Ah Cap when you say female like that it sounds a bit weird."

"Apologies... So, how is she?"

"Well she's stopped growling at me! I was talking to her and her brother about their old lives too."

"Mhm? Maria told me they've had it a bit rough."

"I'll say, yknow that brown Yttakin Brandi killed? Apparently she was their adopted mother or something."

"Maria said she was their handler."

"Yeah, that's the term they use for it. See their parents were killed a long time ago and that Yttakin took them in as uh... what did they say um- Bondsmen or something. They worked for her basically, but it sounds a lot more like slavery then anything else.

"How old were they?"

"Gees uh, kids from the sound of it... and she worked them hard poor things."

I shook my head, slavers made me sick and to do that to a couple of children no less, I was glad that Yttakin was dead.

"Kolark got it really bad, apparently their handler sterilised her." Eddie's voice was very serious and somber.

"What? That's..." I was stunned.

"I know. She doesn't seem keen on talking about it." He sighed.

"Well... I hope she can find peace now that that woman is dead."

"Me too... Gotta be something more we can do for her though."

"All we can do is offer them support right now, maybe we can look into it at a later time."

"Thanks captain." Eddie nodded.



Veronica pulled me into the workshop telling me the coms console had been blaring a call for awhile. I was so wrapped up in meditation I couldn't even hear it, apologising I checked the call.

"This is the Pegasus Trading Company, how can we help?" I said bleary from my meditative state

"We're not the ones who need help." A man with a posh accent spoke.

"Excuse me?" I was alarmed, were these more pirates looking for ransom?

"You're excuse, I am King Aristonymos of the Newa Dynasty, I have called to inform you of a siege camp my men spotted forming near your little campsite"

"Oh? Who would be doing that?"

"Pigs from the looks of things, though my men only reported four of them."

"How armed are they?"

"Pah, those blasted armaments with gunpowder and smoke, but I hear you have access to those... charged guns, correct?"

"Well... Yes, sort of."

"Good then you shall have no issue putting down those gutless beasts"

"What do we owe you for this information?"

"Hah! My boy it's a favour, if you wish to reimburse us then do so at your leisure... I'd gladly rest easy knowing there's less pigs in the world."

"Right... Well thank you, your majesty."

"Good hunting my boy!"

The line goes dead, I look to my side to see Veronica scowling intensely. She and I both knew we were underequipped for this.

"Is everyone on this planet a xenotypist?" She scoffs.

"Hah... I guess I should go out and see if anyone has any decent guns?"

"Yes, take those statues Brandi has been making, they should sell."

"Here's hoping." I sighed.



A couple hours and a sporadic trading trip later we stood in the field just outside the Pigskin's camp. Veronica kept scoffing at my weapon of choice.

"Sir, that thing it's..."

"I know"

"It's a doohicky."

"I Know."

"Sorry sir, it's just- That's an assault rifle?"

"They were pretty adamant it was. It's all I could find!"

"I think it looks cool, just hope it shoots well." Eddie chuckled, I shot him a desperate look. "It's going to be alright Cap"

"Yeah, this'll be quick." Veronica started to zero in.

"How many do you see?" I was nervous, my hand twitched on the holster.

"Use your eye, cap, it has an inbuilt zoom... I'm nearsighted." Veronica sighed.

"OH, yeah... Okay. Still not fully used to this thing."

My bionic eye, I'd only had her for a couple weeks when the attack on the Pegasus happened... Focusing I shut my natural eye and my bionic instinctively zoomed into the camp. I could see five pigskins, or four that looked like pigskins and another which was much larger then the others.

"There's five, four regular guys and a large one."

"Boarskin?" Eddie spoke.

"Tch, might be a pain in the ass." Veronica grumbled.

"Either way, we need to take this group down before they become a problem for the settlement. Andrea-"

"We know what's at stake Cap." Eddie remarked, I backed down.

"Alright... Lets do this, for them." I motioned us forward.



An hour later the firefight was over, fire burnt to the west of us from a Pigskin who was throwing moltovs. No survivors save for one, his arm had been shot off and he was on the brink of passing out from bloodloss.

"P-Please..." He tried to grab at my foot.

"Eddie-" I strained, the sight was making me sick.

"I don't know cap, I-"

"I don't w-want..." The Pigskin was barely holding on.

"Eddie just- Just tend to him, quickly!" I barked.

"I- Alright, you're the boss."

Eddie leant down to help the Pigskin, I also tried to assist where I could. I wasn't being careful, the Pigskin jumped up at me brandishing a dagger he'd hidden in his pants. I barely leant back to avoid it cutting at my throat, stumbling I pulled back from the Pigskin and Eddie did the same pointing his pistol at the panting man.

"Fuck- Fucking kill me then!" He cried.

"Eddie put your gun down!" I also, cried.

"But Cap he tried to-"

"I know but he's about to die anyway!"

"Fuckers, you killed my crew!"

"You were trying to kill us!" Eddie growled.

"You don't exactly have my sympathies." Veronica added.

"Just... Just let me stop the bleeding." I didn't want to see him die.

"Stay away from me!" The pig screamed, waving his knife in the air.

"Sir this is a lost cause, let him die." Veronica's voice was steady.

"I- I can't." Mine trembled. "I don't want to just-"

"Fucking, die!" The pig screamed again, lunging forward.

As the knife clinked off my armor I reeled back then pushed forward, landing my fist against the pig's jaw. He crumpled, falling unconscious on the floor. Veronica shook her head, watching me with a scowl while I started to tend to him, using my meager first aid skill to do what I could.

"Captain you're going to regret this, he isn't a sob story like the others." She said.

"I know... I know but... maybe we could just, let him go... once he's healed?"

"That's if he survives, those injuries could get infected." Eddie notes.

"Just let me handle it as it comes, I couldn't just watch him die..."

"That's how it is, sir." Veronica sighed. "But, you're the boss... If you want to try to save him-"

"I do.

"We'll follow your command." Her eyes narrowed.

The heat of the fire started to draw closer. Eddie helped me get the pigskin onto the shuttle and we left the burning camp and dead bodies behind.



Still reeling from the events of last night I'd been devoting my time to meditating, hoping to use my healing powers to help assist the Pigskin, he was unconcious and sweating in his sleep. It looked rough... but for all my powers I just couldn't make the healing work, my connection felt strained and weak. I didn't understand and meditating just led my thoughts back to that night, the knife swinging at my throat, arguing with my crew, the blood and fire.

I needed a break, I gave up on my attempts to meditate, walking outside where I saw a group standing outside the barracks. Argus' pups were playing by their feet, the three adult dogs were very... friendly with each other and now there were four pups running around the settlement. As excited as I was about the new doggies my eyes settled on the three women. I approached, nodding a greeting.

"There he is, our brave captain." Brandi smiled at me, I returned it. "You saved our asses once again."

"Ah, well, Eddie and Veronica were also there." I noted.

"Sure sure, but I'm interested in you and your new rifle, have you got a name for her yet?"

"Please, naming guns is so... personal, they're just tools." One of the survivors Hilde spoke up. "As long as it gets the job done that's all I care about."

"Never cared for guns, artilleries are where it's really at." Phyllis, another survivor, added.

"I've never had to carry a gun, my knife works just fine." Brandi scoffed. "A gun is just.. liability."

"A knife is the liability, what are you going to do with that when a sniper has you in his sights?" Hilde was bewildered.

"Run really fast?" Brandi shrugged.

"Ridiculous, your head would come right off!"

"A mortar would solve the issue, take out the sniper and his whole hide out with him." Phyllis chuckled.

"That's overkill, what about civilians?" 

"As if a gun can't misfire or shoot into a crowd." Brandi leered at Hilde.

"Uhm, ladies-" I tried to speak.

"Knives are just more precise, that's all."

"Uh huh, sure but you can't outrun bullets." Hilde frowned.

"I bet I could."

"No way!"

"You could probably outrun a morter... they're fiddly" Phyllis relented.

"See!" Brandi shouted.

"That doesn't go against my point at all!" Hilde shouted, louder.

"Ladies!" I yelled over their voices. "Could we keep the uh... discussions of violence to a minimum, I was just out there, people died"

The three women looked at me, stunned. Brandi suddenly got a look of guilt on her face, Phyllis and Hilde looked away.

"Ah sorry captain, I forgot you're not as used to it." Brandi shrugged.

"What do you mean used to it, how could anyone get used to that!" My voice cracked a little.

"This is a Rimworld, ain't a single day doesn't go by without someone getting shot down." She shook her head.

"I'm starting to understand why people avoid these worlds." I shook my head, sighing.

"Hey our world wasn't much better." Hilde said. "We might have had more but there was still violence."

"Yeah, riots, police... There's a reason we left." Phyllis added. "Maybe it's not great on this world but, this place is... nice, if a bit lacking."

"I'm trying to make it better, even if it means... killing." I grit my teeth. "I don't want anyone to suffer."

"You're doing good Cap, hell you saved that pig guy from what I heard, pretty rare thing to happen in these parts" Brandi tried to comfort me.

I nodded, though I didn't feel too reassured. "You girls have had it rough I can tell, just... let me know if there's anything I can do... to make life easier."

"You're doing plenty Cap, just try to take it easy yourself okay?" Brandi smiled a little.

"I'll... Try." 



My meditation was a bust, try as I might I just couldn't get it going. I entered the prison barracks, it was a dump... We hadn't had time to make it more comfortable, just putting some beds in and one of those passive coolers Maria taught us how to make. The two twin Yttakins were resting, still healing from their wounds, Maria told me Yttakins naturally had trouble with recovering but all they needed was extra time. The pigskin on the other hand looked completely wiped out, still sweating and gasping in pain as he lay. His eyes opened weakly, looking at me as I stood over him.

"I'm... I'm sorry I killed your crew, you were trying to-" I was fumbling, trying to get the words out. "There's a child, a newborn... We couldn't let you hurt her."

The pigskin was too weak to talk, his eyes rolled away, I thought I saw guilt in them but... It could have been wishful thinking.

"I know you... You couldn't have always been a pirate, right?" I tried to find something. "You were a kid once, we all were. I can't imagine that kind of violence came naturally to you."

The pigskin didn't look at me, his eyes narrowed. Was I projecting, or hitting the mark?

"Whatever the case is, I wasn't going to let you die... My crew, most of them died... We're still waiting to see if any are still out there." I swallowed, my thoughts going to the three I still hadn't accounted for. "I know what it's like to lose people."

The pig looked at me again, I felt like crying. He looked so awful, blood was still staining his clothes and his arm... I couldn't believe we just, blew it right off.

"My mom... She died when I was just a kid." I hadn't thought about her in so long... "We were nomads, we ran out of water- It... It was awful, my dad didn't want her to suffer so he- god."

I felt tears slip down my face, why was I telling him all this? Where was this coming from?

"Now every time I hold a gun I think about her, what he had to do... And what I've done. And will keep having to do." My voice hitched. "I don't want to kill people, I know survival comes first... you were trying to kill a child but- Seeing people suffer, die, I can't handle it!"

I shook my head, wiping the tears from my eyes. This was useless, the pig would probably forget all this anyway. He wasn't going to make it, it was obvious his wounds were infected thanks to my useless medical skill. I reached out, placing my hand on the pigs chest.

"Look I'm sorry, for what it's worth... I'm sorry if you suffered, if you're still suffering. I know I can't save everyone... but you deserved to live. Everyone does, in.. in some way."

Before I could pull away I felt it, my connection to the archotech started buzzing loudly. A power surged through me, like the night of the crash but even stronger, it crashed through my nervous system, blasting through my fingertips and into the pigskin. The energy was invisible but we both felt it. The pig jolted with a loud squeal and I fell to the floor, my arm vibrating and twitching.

I had no idea what I'd done, the pig lay unconscious again sprawled ontop of his bed. I could see the twins staring at me with fear and amazement.

"I... I don't-" I couldn't finish my sentence.

I left the prison barracks, my mind was on fire. What had just happened? 



Before bed a caravan arrived at the colony, they looked tired, I went out to greet them and trade away some of the art Brandi had been making. It fetched us around eight hundred silver and a couple books, a fictional story about a cleric facing his fears and a document about pulse munitions which could come in handy. Placing the books in the workshop I passed Brandi who was still working on a new sculpture.

BRANDI POV

The captain looked almost delirious ever since he'd come out of that prison cell, that pig must have been on his way out. It was a shame but, this was life on the rim. As much as his gentle heart charmed me Petre would have to catch up to reality some time or another. He nodded at me.

"Up late?" He said, sounding exhausted.

"I'm in a flow state, I'll get into bed later, not like I'm doing anything else around here."

"Yeah... Sorry about that, but it's been real handy having a stock of trade goods."

"Darling it's art, the people of this world might be rough but even we can value good art." I smiled at him, trying to ease his tensions.

"Yeah... Guess people don't really change much even out here." He smiled back, tiredly.

"Go get some rest cap, I'm going to hit up the kitchen myself."

"Right right, well... goodnight and- thank you."

I nodded, smiling as he left. Petre was sweet, kind-hearted, it'd be a shame to see what Xtabay does to him. Giving it a couple minutes I finish up on this section of my artwork, it was shaping up alright but I was still unsatisfied with the direction... At least Petre seemed to enjoy my pieces, even if I struggled to find the beauty in them after all this time.

I left my workbench, opening the door to the kitchen. Veronica was there, reading over a document of some kind. I ignored her and walked towards the foodstock. However the Dirtmole had other intentions, she peered over her shoulder to glare at me.

"Something on your mind, doll?" I raised my eyebrow.

"You're flirting with the captain more openly these days." She said.

"Jealous?"

"Hardly... Petre is very pretty but he's not for me."

"Then what's the problem?"

"You're distracting him."

"Distracting... Right, well what are you doing to make money around here again?"

"Unless you forgot it was my gun keeping your pretty little ass alive."

"I think Eddie was helping you out fair enough, being a Hussar and all."

"What do you mean by that, Impid." She scowled, hard.

"C'mon, you're a Dirtmole, I know you guys are nearsighted... Wouldn't you rather stop pretending to be something you're not?"

"Go on."

"You're just a lost little girl, like me, you wish the Cap would just lift you off your feet already don't you? That's why I keep seeing you glaring at me." I smirked. "You are jealous, but you won't let yourself drop that hardass act."

"Go fuck yourself Brandi, you think this is a game?" She stands, putting her document down. "People are going to die sooner or later and he's going to snap like a twig, you want to get in bed with that?

"I bet I could keep his spirits up, I'm pretty handy y'know."

"You're pathetic." She rolled her eyes, a look of disgust on her face.

"Mhm, and you're a fucking dry cunt bitch."

"Get your fucking food and get out of my sight before I put your in your damn place." She growled, almost beast-like.

"Ugh gladly."

I rolled my eyes, leaving the hard case. What would she know anyway? A woman like her probably never got laid in her life... Petre might be on edge, maybe it is a mistake to go after him... but that's what I had to do, I wasn't gonna let someone like Veronica kick me out. I wasn't going back there, to him. 



PETRE POV

"Petre, I have to talk to you about the new prisoner." Maria spoke in a hushed tone.

"Oh... Go on." I prepared myself, knowing this conversation was bound to happen soon.

"Well I don't know how to explain it but, his arm it's... it's come back?"

"I'm sorry?"

"His arm is back, it's- regrowing?"

I blinked, staring at her dumbfounded. Banz leans on the chair beside me, having heard the conversation.

"Yup, I've heard about this... You got those healing powers right?" He said.

"Yes but... I've only been able to heal wounds on existing body parts, and slow bleeding." I responded.

"Mhm, so you're one of those protectors. The empire's got all kinds of psycasters, protectors are healers and they can do all sorts of shit, like regrowing limbs."

"Seriously?"

"Yup, you noticed any other powers?"

"N-No just... the healing."

"Huh well, I heard they can make kind of... force-field type things."

I shook my head. "I don't know if I can do that, at least not yet..."

"Well you did something to that pig, you should see it, looks like... muscle reshaping into an arm." Maria said.

"I don't know if I want to see that exactly." I shuddered at the thought. "Is he okay?"

"He's unconscious still but he's stopped sweating, I think the infection has broken, was that you too?"

"Might have been... I don't know, I was having some kind of moment and it all just... spilled out of me."

"Pyscasting is tricky like that, your mental state effects things." Banz nodded.

"Is there any way I can get it under control? Sometimes it's there and then it's just... gone."

"That's up to you and the archotech, they're not always in the mood and if you're all fucked up they'll probably avoid your weird mental state." Banz shrugged. "But I only know what I've heard second hand."

"Right... Well I'm glad he's okay anyway, even if regrowing an arm sounds... painful."

"I keep you up to date, and about the twins too." Maria added. "They're both pretty taken aback by it as well."

"They uh, probably saw me freaking out..." I admitted.

"In any case, they're coming around... Are we doing okay with food?"

"We got those potatos growing, if anything I could go buy us some more food... Brandi has been killing it at the sculptures."

"Good. We should think about building individual rooms at some point soon... and a research bench."

"You got it. Now that we have those documents we could probably start figuring out how to improve things around here." The thought was comforting for me.

"One step at a time captain." Maria smiled.

"Yeah, it's shaping up around here bit by bit. I don't regret joining so far." Banz smirked, rubbing his head.

As the two left I looked down at my hands. The one I had used to heal the pig still tingled somewhat, I flexed the fingers, feeling my blood rushing through my arm. I never felt so... aware of my body before. I'd have to start  getting serious about using my abilities, and getting my mental health in check... If Banz was right then it was up to me to foster this... connection, keep it going, keep it strong. It could mean life or death for the settlement... 

[MonochromeClown]

Whilst out meditating in the fields I heard the whistling of a transport pod headed our way. It crashed not too far from me and an Anthrogriff spilled onto the ground. He squawked in pain, trying to crawl and get himself on his feet. I ran over to him, offering my hand but he slapped it away.

"Wh- who the hell are you?" He shouted.

"I'm not your enemy, let me help you." I tried to reach for him again.

"Like hell you ain't, everyone's my damn enemy!"

"Well we aren't, where are you from?"

"Tch, nowhere- was trying my luck with those... kingdom folk but they chased me out!"

"The Newa Dynasty?"

"What? No, the Tedwis!"

"Never heard of them, we're a new settlement."

"Ah hell you're probably fallers ain't you?"

"Something like that, though we have some folks from planetside too." I crouched down to his level, checking his wounds. "I don't think you'll survive with these injuries, what's your name?"

"Searle, I reckon I won't either..."

"Let me put you up in our settlement for a bit, we'll heal you and you can figure out what you wanna do."

"Alright... You got somewhere for me?"

"We're not gonna be able to keep you in the barracks with the newborn, you can stay with the twins and the pigskin."

"Alright... Suppose it's better then dying out here."

"That's the spirit, just hang tight."

I lifted the Anthro up, hoisting him over my shoulder and carrying him back home. I brought him into the room we were keeping our uh... captives I suppose, it was looking nicer now that it had some decent flooring. The Pigskin was awake and walking around, the twins were laying in bed.

"Who's that?" The pig gruffed.

"Searle, he's staying with us while he heals up." I said. "I'm glad you're awake..."

"Hey you ain't got a bed in here for me!" Searle squawked.

"I'll get one made up, just let us patch you up first okay?"

"Better not be screaming about it." The pig snorted, he seemed... calm despite the grumpy attitude.

"I'll send Phyllis in for you." I set Searle down on the floor.

"Hey pig what's yer name!?" Searled pointed at him.

"Why? It's Pog." He huffed.

"Jus' thought it might be nice to know who I'm bunking with is all, you gonna eat me or something?"

"Nah, only if you're loud."

The two laughed at each other. Well, that's nice at least... I left to go get Phyllis and she was quick to tend to the Anthrogriff. Another person to look out for, at least until he figures out what he's doing.



From what Phyllis told me Searle was doing just fine, all four of our guests were healing appropriately... well, Pog was still regrowing his arm which still looked disturbing but didn't appear to be causing him any pain.

Giving myself some time to relax I sat down with Olive, one of the survivors, at the Faro table we had just built. I wasn't a gambler and we didn't have anything to gamble anyway but it was still fun to play for pleasure. Eddie sat nearby reading the pulse munitions document we brought.

"Everyone calls you Captain, right?" Olive said, her whiskers twitching as she read her cards.

"Mhm, probably on account of me piloting the ship that got us here." I nodded.

"Wonder what happened to our captain, never met him... I think our ship was piloted by a persona core."

"Right, well... our was too, partially but I took the helm as well, sometimes a human's touch is necessary."

"Yeah I'd say so too. We were a refugee ship, our planet had been bleeding population for decades when we left..."

"I think Hilde or Phyllis said something about... riots?"

"Mhm, yeah it's been in a full scale revolution for years, constant fighting, killing... mostly police killing people."

"What planet are you from?"

"New Next, corporate colonisation, everything was just... work work work. I was something like, 4th generation?"

"Yeah I've been to some planets like that, miserable."

"Mhm, you can see why people lost their minds and started burning shit down."

"Glad you got out of there..."

She nodded, placing her cards on the table and leaning back. "I'm not too torn up about leaving, my folks are gone and I had no family."

"How are you feeling about where you ended up?" I put mine down as well.

"It's alright, not what I'm used to but that's not such a bad thing... I like being so close to the ocean, makes me want to start fishing again."

"You're an angler?"

"Sure am, or was... You think there's any fish in that ocean I could catch?"

"I think there might be, wouldn't hurt to try."

"Hm... I guess I'll just have to try then, something other then rice and wild boar would be good."

"I'd like some salmon!" Eddie chimed in.

We spent the rest of the break debating all the different kinds of fish we've tried, the best ways to eat them and if we'd ever get to try them again. It was a welcomed break, one I sorely needed... It felt like we'd finally started to move on from the horrible violence of the past weeks.



The next day someone showed up at our settlement, Eddie, Veronica and the other crew from the Pegasus gathered. It was Sadie, it had to be given her armor and the unmistakable tail of a Starjack.

"Sadie, is that you?" I said, clearly stunned by her sudden appearance.

"Indeed it is captain, glad to see you survived. And the rest of you too." She smiled, taking off her helmet.

"Sadie!" Eddie cried with joy, rushing forward to hug her.

"Aha, hello big guy, good to see you too!" Sadie pet him on the back

"You worried us baldie, almost thought you were dead in space." Caziv punched her on the shoulder lightly, Sadie laughed

"Have you seen Richie? Or Lexi?" Eddie asked.

"No, I'm sorry... I think our pods scattered in all different directions." Sadie shook her head.

"Glad you didn't end up somewhere bad..." Ragnar spoke. "I got captured, had to escape."

"Mhm, same here." Caziv added.

"I had my shotgun, no one could get near me." Sadie patted her side, where her charge shotgun was holstered.

"Wish I had one of those..." Ragnar grumbled.

Sadie patted the younger ones head, smiling. I left the group to reconnect, feeling relief that another one of our crewmates had been found. Lexi and Richie could still be out there... but I doubted any of the crew I didn't see escape were, if we could find just those two... maybe this hole in my chest about that day would be filled.

As I stood outside the workshop I saw Soran and Maria holding hand, whispering to each other. Our first couple?... I would have to start work on those individual rooms soon.



A trade caravan approached the settlement and I went out to meet them. Looked like the empire, they were heavily armed and looked a little rougher then the soliders I had met when I got my psylink. I waved a greeting to what looked to be the caravan lead.

"Afternoon, here to trade?" I greeted.

"Trade? No, don't be silly." The person heading the caravan was barely a teenager, a child. "We're here for tribute."

"Tribute?" I was confused.

"Yes, golden tributes to the empire... you give us gold and we grant you honor."

"Well... we don't have that much gold, none we could really give up anyway."

"Do you have slaves? Captives? We would gladly take more labourers."

"Excuse me?"

"Hello? Yes, we take slaves as well... does your colony not have a labour force?"

"N-No we... why would we need slaves?"

"It's the right of all citizens in the empire to own slaves, if you have none to trade and will not give up your gold then we have no business here!"

"We don't do slavery in this settlement, you're going to have to leave." I frowned.

"Very well, what a disappointment to come all this way."

The caravan lead motioned at the guards who looked completely worn out, they groaned and shot looks of anger towards me. I watched them leave with a heavy feeling in my gut... The empire are slave traders then, and we were their allies... The buzzing in my brain felt overwhelming.

Soon a furry face appeared behind me, one of the twins.

"Captain Petre, you work for them?" He looked at me, almost disappointed.

"You're up?"

"Yes... but now I am worried, the Empire are no good."

"I'm starting to realise that myself..." I frowned, looking away.



Lady is up and moving, she's pretty weak given how long she's been laying in bed but we've been trying to keep her legs moving, exercising her in preparation for her return. She seems pretty happy about being able to get around again and from what I've heard her and Web are still extremely close. Almost mother and daughter with how much they care for each other. Web has been smiling as she works, and I'm glad for it.

We've begun construction on a massive housing unit, around eleven individual rooms as well as bathrooms. It's not enough to house everyone so some folk will need to keep bunking together but Maria and Soran will have a private room with little Andrea, the two are officially a couple and I couldn't be more happy for Maria to have someone to help her with Andrea. We've all been pitching in to help with the kid but having someone like Soran around will be a great boon for her, and should help her get back to her usual duties much quicker.

Kolark and Hoersh are officially part of the settlement as well, the two have been helping with the construction and moving heavy objects around. I'm worried for Hoersh and his weak lungs but he's adamant in helping out after we healed him and his sister, and killed their abuser. Our food supply is steadying out and we're finally able to stock up, we've been hunting and fishing thanks to Olive's suggestion to try the ocean. We've been able to catch pufferfish and flounder... I was worried at first about the pufferfish but apparently the variety on this planet don't have the poison usually associated with the species. We've been hunting wild boars, deer and ibex that wander into the area but I imagine as winter comes around that will become more scarce.

Our cloth has been growing in great quantity and Flint has been in charge of creating clothes for us to wear and sell, her pieces always come out in good quality and the survivors are very grateful to have clothes that aren't tattered from the accident. The pups are starting to grow up and I've been training them like their parents, the dogs have been really handy for hauling and keeping morale up and I do not regret buying the two Labradors when we first arrived. I still wonder about Argus' owner... but he's my dog now and I'll have to seriously consider names for his puppies. But that's for after construction is done. 



As soon as things were starting to settle down we saw them, raiders coming towards out settlement. Eddie, Veronica, Sadie and myself quickly met them as they came into our construction site. They were shouting something about bloodfeeders, I knew they meant Maria, they had come to hunt down Maria and potentially little Andrea too. We gunned them down, though I hated every part of it I wasn't going to let anyone hurt Maria and her child.

One of them came from the other side, hoping to catch us off guard. I found her near the barracks where Andrea slept, she saw me and threw knives, they lodged into my torso and I screamed but I fired anyway, downing her as Veronica and Sadie rounded the corner.

"Captain are you okay?" Sadie yelled.

"Y-Yeah, she got me pretty bad though." I winced.

"Still alive?" Veronica scowled at the downed woman.

"Ghh... Get away from me..." She coughed, spluttering.

"Suppose you want to take her captive too then?" Veronica looked at me.

"Yeah..." I said, unsure of myself.

"Fine, lets go." Veronica picked the woman up, though she looked more like a girl.

"That was a close one, you okay Cap?" Sadie asked me, looking at my wounds.

"N-Need to get these knives out of me..." Is all I said.

"Alright, we'll heal you up don't worry."

I lay in the barracks as Phyllis tended to me, Maria was by her side.

"Thank you Captain, I don't know what I would have done if they'd caught me or... or taken Andrea." She said.

"I'd never let that happen Maria, you're safe with us I promise."

"Alright, you got stabbed pretty badly but rest will heal you up good... thought, we are running out of medicine." Phyllis said.

"I don't know if I can go out with these wounds..." I said.

"We'll send someone else to go grab some, just rest Captain... You earned it."

"I'll stay with you, keep you company." Maria smiled.

"Thank you girls... Don't know what we'd do without you." I managed, smiling back.

My injuries were painful, it's the first time I'd been hurt since coming here... Stuck in bed I couldn't help out with the construction, the captives, or trading... It made me feel useless but, I'd helped keep Maria safe... and that's what matters.



After a few days of rest I felt much better, though I still had obvious scars left over that were still healing and too much movement caused me pain. I spent my time healing going over the residents of our settlement. I hadn't had as much time to talk to them all as I would like, but our dining room slash recreation room had been helping with the social aspect. We had a designated break time at the end of the day, as well as two hours in the morning to spend how we pleased.

Banz and Flint had been doing most of the crafting recently, with Flint focusing on creating clothes for the residents. Ragnar was cooking and tending to the fields, they've been in good spirits thankfully, I was worried after we found them injured but they've recovered well. Lady is still overjoyed by her freedom, she enjoys reading and also helps Ragnar in the kitchen. Ammius and Ascalo two of the survivors I haven't been able to talk to much have been keeping to themselves, Ascalo focusing on the fields and Ammius helping out with construction, apparently the two are actually father and son. I do see the resemblance... Ammius mentioned another brother who was in the ship as it was crashing... Maybe he's out there somewhere, but we can't spare the time to search unfortunately.

Veronica as always keeps her eye on the residents, she's been breaking up arguments and talking folk down when they're on edge. As head of security she's had plenty of experience dealing with rowdy crewmates, and of course her abilities with a gun have been keeping us very safe. Veronica is essential to our settlement, I'm glad I managed to rescue her during the crash.

There's another survivor, Romuald who goes by Rom, he claims to be an inventor as well as an explorer. He's been asking me for a dedicated laboratory so he can study, it's on the list of things to do. I am curious about what Rom will discover when we give him the time... He has also pitched the idea to build a library to store books and documents we purchase. A library would be a luxury here, and I very much agree with him. Another thing to add to the agenda.



Slavers... They landed right in the middle of our settlement, everyone was on edge as I approached them. They didn't seem interested in taking any of us, only selling. Though I hated letting slavers have any profit I saw three young people huddled on the ship in chains, they looked terrified... I caved, it took almost all our silver but all three were freed. As I talked to them it was clear they weren't really sure what my intentions were for them... But I tried my best to reassure them we weren't going to force them to do anything. The Avaloi seemed to understand, talking to her fellow freed slaves.

"He's trying to help us, this is a nice place..." She spoke to the two smaller ones.

The Anthro looked at me, then at her. "Are you sure? What if he's just saying that?"

"The red haired man could be a lying liar, he could be trying to double cross us, take us to a worse place!" The smallest one talked fast, clearly anxious.

"I don't think he will, will you?" The Avaloi looked at me.

"No, I could barely afford it but I couldn't just leave you three like that... You're safe here, if you wish to stay." I tried to reassure her.

"Stay? Stay here? Where is here?" The Kabouter chirped worriedly.

"This is Stardust Base, of the Pegasus Traders. We're a group of survivors from all sorts of places... I've been trying to help people, give them a place to live safely."

"That's a nice name... And you won't force us to work?" The Anthro said.

"No, unless you want to pitch in? We're working on some houses right now." I said. "But everyone has equal rights here, I'm not looking to exploit anyone."

"See? And if we don't like it we can always just leave right?" The Avaloi asked.

"Of course, I can take you anywhere you want in our shuttle, no need to stay here." I nodded at her.

"Hm... And the food is good, yes? Do you have the yummy meals or the nasty slop?" The small one said.

"We... We have good chefs, we've started making really nice meals now that we've got fish to fry and boar to cook."

"I do like red meat..." The Anthro said. "It's worth a shot."

"I supposes... Just for now, unless the red hair lies." 

"Great! What's your names? I'm Petre, the captain." I said, holding my hand out to the three of them.

"Dinah, but my nickname is Wrong Way." The Avaloi shook my hand.

"Stilo Cania..." The Anthro said, looking away but smiling.

"Minlin is my name! Minlin Rockgleam!" The Kabouter chirped, jumping into the air and waving her hands at me.

"Welcome to the Pegasus Trading Company, I hope you like it here." I smiled, happy to have helped these young people.

[MonochromeClown]

A strange looking woman with plant-like hair came towards our village in the early morning looking distressed. She only managed a few words before Banz hushed her away, apparently she was a former member of the Mathlock Partners and had been chased out for giving them the wrong advice about... a tree? She didn't explain but from what we gathered they were apparently on their way to our settlement and soon...

Half a day later we spotted a large group of them headed out to the fields. Veronica spotted drop pods of materials, they were planning to siege us with mortars, we wouldn't have been able to withstand such an assault and so me, Veronica, Eddie and Sadie geared up to meet them in the field.

"How many lost souls do you think you'll drag back home with us, captain?" Eddie joked.

"You've been collecting folks?" Sadie looked at me. "Was wondering where all those people came from."

"Uh yeah... Well, some of them came to us but... We've been helping people out where we can, give them a better life." I rubbed my head, awkwardly.

"Aw that's sweet Cap, you were always good with the crew, it makes sense." Sadie smiled.

"That's true, you helped me and Richie out giving us that job." Eddie nodded, agreeing. "And Veronica too!"

"Thanks... I appreciate that." I smiled, looking at Veronica.

Veronica wasn't chatting, she was checking her weapon and I decided to copy her and check mine too. Soon we were on the field, seeing the pirates gathering materials and starting to build their defenses. Veronica fired a shot suddenly, I saw someone go down but the rest didn't notice. Following her lead we each fired shots into the raiders when they stepped away but they quickly figured it out and started to rush us.

There were so many of them and they were well armed too, we were quickly outnumbered.

"Fall back!" Veronica shouted.

But I knew if we did they'd just run straight into the settlement, I stood my ground firing into the crowd, I wouldn't let them hurt my people... it was hopeless, I'd clenched my eyes shut on instinct as bullets flew past my head, hitting the ground but it suddenly grew quiet. I heard Eddie gasp next to me.

"Captain? Did you-" He started.

I opened my eyes, they widened in shock. We were surrounded by a shield, it was then I noticed the loud buzzing in my head and the tingling in my arms. Veronica didn't waste time looking awed, she and Sadie continued firing. Our shots rippled through the shield while the pirates couldn't penetrate at all and soon we had vanquished them, they fled away from the settlement.

"Wow, that's new?" Sadie punched my shoulder. "When did you start doing magic?"

"Well... It's a lot but, some time ago now I guess." I said."

"There's folks still alive in the field Captain, should we..." Veronica asked.

"Yes." I nodded. "Please..."

Veronica didn't say a word, just doing as she was told. Her and Eddie brought back two captives. A furry looking creature and a blue Starjack. I went to bed with the tingling still in my arms... How much else was there to discover?



Pog and Searle joined the settlement soon after, the two had been talking a lot and were now close friends. Searle was happy to stay after we rescued him and Pog followed Searle. Pog approached me after spending some time in the dining room that night, he looked a little embarrassed but had this determined look on his face.

"So... I guess I have to call you Captain now huh?" He said.

"Only if you want to, and I'm calling you... Pog?" I said back.

"Uh, yeah for now."

"I could call you something else, if you'd like?"

"Maybe..." His face blushed.

I smiled awkwardly, figuring something was on his mind. "If you need to talk about something... I'm here."

"Well... there is one thing." He nodded. "But I don't know if you'd like it."

"You're not leaving are you?"

"No, I got nowhere to go really..." He shook his head. "I don't know if my old crew would take me back now."

"Okay I'm listening, if it's troubling you I want to help out."

"It's just... Before you brought me here I'd already been thinking about... some things."

"Mhm?"

"Gender things?"

"Oh?... Oh!"

"Yeah."

"So you're-"

"I think I might be..."

"Well you don't have to be worried about that!" I said, smiling. "You're transgender? You're not the only one here."

"I'd like to try... she?" She said, sheepishly.

"Of course! Would you like me to tell the others?"

"No... Not yet."

"Just between us then?"

"And Searle..."

"I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me, uh-"

"You can just call me Pog for now... I haven't thought of a new name yet."

"Alright, you let me know when you've come up with one okay?"

She nodded, smiling. "Thanks uh- Captain." 



Thanks to Hilde, Minlin and Banz we were able to gather some steel from the nearby hills. I asked for the steel to be used to build research benches for Rom and anyone else willing to take a crack at researching. We were able to produce a half-decent lab, Rom was happy by the construction and was seen smiling at dinner that night.

For their work Hilde and Banz each took an smg we had looted from the recent raid, I didn't know how I felt using dead people's guns but I couldn't just rely on some random shield to protect us from the bigger raiding parties... The extra protection would be good.

Apparently Eddie and Phyllis got into a physical altercation after Eddie supposedly insulted Phyllis' grandfather. She was furious after the fight but Eddie told me he respected Phyllis more for her attempts. The news stunned me but hopefully things like that wouldn't become common around here... Especially not with Eddie, with his hussar genes I could easily see him breaking someone's arm.

Later that day I took the shuttle out to go trade with Hiwood, a settlement of the Green Mesas, they were rough cowboys with a focus on ranching but they had some useful things. Namely medicine, components and a couple guns. I traded them some of the looted weapons and some statues made by Brandi and Soran. All and all a successful day aside from the fight.



Olive and Rom took the weapons, Ragnar begged me for one of their own but I wasn't about to let the teenager have a gun or fight. Ragnar wasn't inexperienced but I couldn't live with myself if I made them fight when the adults could handle it. Flint asked if she should start producing armor as well and I gave her the go ahead to start on that, flak vests and pants to protect vital organs, it wasn't much but better then nothing.

Fishing had become a very important part of our diet, and it was fun to go out there as a group and sit and just talk while the waves lapped at our feet. Olive was proud of herself for suggesting it, long gone are our food insecurities, though we'd have to be careful not to over fish the area. Even the twins were out with us fishing on the beach.

The two prisoners we captured from the last raid had started to talk, the furry one was called Taz while the Starjack's name was Davila. Taz had been very receptive, talking to us willingly while Davila had been almost aggressive, shouting at Taz for speaking and even yelling at Lorena the girl from the hunters who came after Maria. Taz was young, barely an adult and Davila was a middle aged man. I didn't like the way he talked to Taz, I couldn't see him joining our settlement but I'm not sure what to do with him yet...



Lorena joined the settlement, according to her joining us was better then returning home without a bloodfeeders head. I imagine Maria felt conflicted about hearing that, still... she's just a child, it would be unfair to send her out there alone. We started work on a building for hosting community events, parties, gatherings, other such things.

I heard gunshots during the day and almost panicked grabbing my rifle but it quickly ended before I could get there. I saw Veronica and a dying wolf, and Pog with heavy injuries... Turns out she had been attempting to tame the wolf but it turned on her and tried to kill her. Veronica saved her life, even if she was against brining Pog back I'm glad she'd still defend her.

Searle seemed immensely distressed about Pog's condition when we returned, Pog was jokingly reassuring the griffon and the two held hands while Pog was tended to.

"I'm glad you two are so close." I said.

"I reckon we're more then close heh..." Searle grinned.

"Searle..." Pog groaned.

"I'm sorry?" I asked.

"They're lovers, Petre." Veronica said, as she tended to Pog.

"Oh!" I gasped. "I had no idea-"

"Well it wasn't supposed to be all public." Pog sighed.

"C'mon darlin', they ain't gonna break us up." Searle chuckled.

"Of course we wouldn't, we could even get you a bed together if you'd like?" I said.

"Uh... That might be nice actually." Pog nodded.

"Mhm, we're both adults so I don't see why not!" Searle looked excited at the idea.

"I'll put it on the to-do list then!" I smiled at the pair. "You're our second couple!"

"Hm, thanks Cap." Pog smiled back at me.



Not soon after Pog and Searle's relationship came to light another was announced very publicly within the dining room, unfortunately I was not there to witness it but Banz proposed to Hilde in the middle of a game of Faro. This came as a shock to me to hear it, a marriage so soon? How long had they even been together? Talking to them they seemed happy, if this is what they want then this is what they want. We arranged a place for them to sleep together.

The living quarters were finally finished, missing only the bathrooms. The barracks were converted into more workshop space. We had enough space for sixty people to live in the settlement, though I'm not eager to fill all that space just yet... Especially not in winter while our food stock is low. Fishing has been keeping the meals coming but we really should be stockpiling more vegetables, something to do next spring.



Next day during the night a child called us on our coms console, his name was Howard and he was being hunted by dusk prowlers. He begged us for safety and of course we accepted. We met the child half-way, shielding him from the vicious dogs. Luckily none of us were harmed, however the child was... a highmate. Everyone was quick to comment.

"You're safe now Howard, is there someone we can return you to?" I asked, kneeling down to his level.

"No... I dunno..." He was young, barely out of his toddlerhood.

"Petre... I don't think the kid has parents." Eddie said.

"Poor kid, probably just made to be sold off." Banz said, Eddie shot him a look.

"Don't talk about him like that, Banz, he's just a kid." Rom glared at him.

"I'm not saying we should throw him out!" Banz defended himself. "But the reality is-"

"He isn't just a product." Eddie frowned, staring at the kid.

"Not saying he is..." Banz grumbled.

"Will someone come looking for him?" Veronica asked.

"Anyone who does is bad news." Eddie said.

"We're not handing him over to anyone, he stays with us." I said.

"Easy Capn, lets just get the kid inside shall we? Then we can figure things out from there." Sadie tried to reassure me with a smile.

"Right... Are you hungry Howard?" I asked the child.

"Myeah..." He said tiredly.

"Lets head to the kitchen, I'll get you something nice to eat okay?" I patted his head.

The kid smiled at me, seemingly unaffected by the argument that happened in front of him. I lead him back in, fed him and helped him find a room to stay in, my room. I trusted folks here but I also knew what the implications of a Highmate child were and I couldn't help but be protective of the small boy. Still, the sick feeling in my stomach everytime I looked at him had me on edge, it wasn't his fault... but I hated the fact that even out here people who would profit of this still existed.



Taz joined the settlement, he was eager to get away from Davilla. I'm still unsure what to do with the Starjack, he's unwilling to listen to us. For now we're keeping him locked up, at least until spring, the thought of sending someone out into the winter disturbs me. Taz however is eager to help out, I'm not sure what these pirates are doing with their people but so far only Davilla seems to want to go back to them. Taz is skilled at medical and handling, more medics is always welcome and having another trainer around for the dogs is helpful too.

 There was a party later that day, the first of many in our new hall. It turned out to be more fun then I thought, even Howard had a nice time. After the party Brandi asked me to come out with her to the beach, I accepted and we sat down against the sand, listening to the waves as they crashed against the shore. She looked at me, a smile on her face.

"So... When are you going to ask me out?" She said.

"Ask you out?" I questioned.

"I've been flirting with you since I got here you know."

"Oh yeah... I know, I just-"

"You just what? C'mon Captain... I like you." She nudged over to me.

"I figured you might but I wasn't sure if..."

"If it was real?"

"Yeah, I didn't really consider someone would actually want me."

"What? Have you never had a girlfriend before?" She asked, surprised.

"I mean. Not really, not a serious one." I blushed, embarrassed.

"Aren't you like... thirty? Were there no hot babes on your ship?"

"It's not that... I was just so busy and, it felt inappropriate to be in a relationship with a crewmate."

"Is it inappropriate with me?"

"It's different but... Everyone still considers me captain, I don't want to force someone to-"

"Petre, you aren't going to force me to do anything." She smirked. "Unless I want you too."

"Ah-" I blushed harder. "But you're my responsibility, if I mess up with you then you might have to leave."

"Even if I do, it's not like I can't take care of myself." She shook her head. "Just try it, you're so alone all the time."

"You think I'm alone?"

"Mhm, you've got everyone's respect but you've got no one who's really... yours." She pushed herself closer, touching my hand.

"And you want to be mine?" I said quietly.

"I do, I really do..." She whispered to me.

"O-Okay... We could, try." I swallowed.

"Do you want to kiss me?" She took my head in her hands, facing me towards her.

"Not yet.... I want to be sure first."

"Hah, you're so cute captain... I'll be here, when you're ready."

She touched my face for a moment longer, then patted my head and got up, walking away. I watched her leave for awhile, listening to the sound of the waves. My heart hurt, fluttering in my chest. This was not what I expected landing on this planet... But I wasn't against it either.