#But really that's ZEX in there! What's left of him anyway ;;

[sysig]

Utterly Defeated (Patreon)

[artbymesa]

Unforeseen Consequences

Admiral ZEX, The Captain, Dax

Suggestive themes but no “details”. (Not my kind of writing lol)

I’m really. not sure why my brain fixated on writing this. I was introduced to Star Control and Admiral ZEX by @zarla-s​ (hopefully this tag isn’t bothersome?). I was in the process of introducing him to some friends and it spurred the thought: Would ZEX even expect a human to respond positively to his advances? He’s probably gotten pretty articulate with deflecting rejection and criticism and judgement, but what if that wasn’t the case for once? How well would he handle it?

I apologize for however out of character or Not Canon this may be, but it was a thought that wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it down. And then after I started it, it got away from me. Its been a long, long time since I’ve wrote a fanfic whoo boy

I think I wrote this with the presumption of how it would take place if you could romance him in the game, and the consequences (for everyone) of that XD

“The scope of our relationship can grow as close as you wish.” Zex said with a foreign body language of bravado.

The Captain regarded him for a moment before leaning forward into the Admiral’s personal space, a grin pulling at the corner of their lips. “Oh? Close…how~….?”

Zex sputtered, caught off guard and overwhelmed by the human’s sudden, unexpected close proximity. A human had never so much as dared to tread within a couple feet of him, much less ever enough to feel their breath. He had grown rather bold with this certainty. Perhaps a measure of that was his own doing–  intentionally or not, his forthright tendencies wedging itself in between any opportunity. Being turned away, shrugged off or kept at a distance was the standard order of things. It was easy. It was predictable. And it had been so long, he never really expected that standard to be challenged. Needless to say, this threw him off.

Even still, he may have been a hopeless romantic, but he was no fool. He was aware of what the human stood to gain by winning him over. Manipulating him just to secure his military genius was low– but with a suspicious lack of human behavior like this ever before– not unheard of. He regained a brittle amount of composure, steeling over his words to obscure it. “Captain. If you intend to taunt me please do so in the way I am accustomed. I’ve hardened to the ridicule of my countrymen but faking interest in me is a different manner of cruel. If all you wish is for an alliance I am happy to oblige without the exploitation of my…weakness.”

The Captain challenged his words and moved a little closer, resting a relaxed arm on the admiral’s desk and shrugged. “I’m not faking, Zex.”

The admiral stared at it, then up at the captain when they said his name informally. Anyone else he may have corrected, but there was a warmth to it from the human that he so badly wanted to indulge. He had to confess, he had fantasized about similar circumstances and how he would conduct himself, but now that it was actual happening, he froze. He was usually so articulate but words escaped him, he was usually so well composed but this human had a way with disrupting it like a house of cards. As much as it currently worked against him, it was new to him. Exciting.

Reality began to sink in when the human didn’t recoil their appendage away, instead looked at him expectantly for a response. The gesture wasn’t an error. It was intentional. Even despite their lack of tendrils, humans had such a way with expressing emotion. It was one of the things he loved most about them. This one was a challenge to read, but everything he could gather from them seemed genuine. Which meant…

He struggled for a moment, realizing the position he had put himself in before laughing nervously. “Would you look at this? The first time a human reciprocates interest and even I succumb to a measure of my people’s distrust. You must forgive me, Captain. It has been a long time…” The admiral seemed to fight with some kind of internal conflict for a moment before the human settled it for him.

They reached out, dexterous fingers closing over his arm tendril in a comforting gesture. Their hand was warm, far warmer to the touch than he anticipated.

“You don’t have to apologize.”

Before the admiral could speak, the human was standing. And before he could ask if he had done something wrong, they were on his side of the desk.

A lot of things began to happen at once, and he opposed none of them.

-

“Zex?” The human asked, pulling on their robes not a moment before the admiral could take in one last look at their beautifully crafted anatomy akin to a living, breathing sculpture. They truly were a unique work of art forged from the galaxy and experiencing them so up close was a privilege.  The captain’s question was what pulled him out of his trance.

“Mmm?”The human studied the quiet planet outside from the window. Pensive observation stirred a thought that pricked the edge of their brow. They had such a world of emotion hidden behind subtle changes in their features. But interpretation was a different story.

“How much do you actually know about humans?”

It was a good thing VUX couldn’t blush.

“Admittedly, Captain, much more now than I did an hour ago.”

The human gave a kind but cheeky grin, looking down as if it helped them compose their words differently. Their “smile” as it were, had been toothy and startling when he first witnessed it. It contradicted what he otherwise should have interpreted as some kind of feral threat display. This was so very different. It was tender and warm, and it melted a part of him he didn’t know existed. Since then, he had been compelled to incite it as often as he could. They seemed to respond best with his banter and advances, which was a pleasure in and of its own.

“I’m serious. Be honest.”

The admiral thought for a moment.

“I know that your people are beautiful. And very clever. And resourceful. I know you are a uniquely hardy species. I’ve heard the stories of your people surviving conditions that would have easily killed others by shock alone. As I’m sure you know by now, my countrymen do not share my appreciation. They think you grotesque.”

“What else have they said about us?”

“They may have mentioned that you are stubborn. And reckless.”

“Do you believe them?”

“….I am beginning to consider it.”

“Perhaps you should.”

There was a pause.

“Why do you ask me this now?”

The Captain was quiet momentarily, but returned to Zex. Perhaps it was touch starvation, but he hadn’t realized how much he craved it until the captain returned to settling a hand against what equated to his own. They didn’t make eye contact just yet.

“The Ur Quan enslaved my people. What’s left of them.”

“Oh. Oh, dear. I was not aware. I am sorry, perhaps I’ve lived in isolation longer than I thought. I suppose that explains the lack of human visitors.” The gears began to turn. “But you arrived here in an armed starship. You weren’t given clearance to leave either, were you? You cannot be planning what I think you are planning. Captain, resisting the Ur Quan is madness.”

“And my visit here is a direct violation to your people’s alliance with the Ur Quan. I suppose if nothing else, reputation is accurate.” The human sighed. “You mentioned an alliance but I can’t expect that of you. You would be labeled a traitor. Your people already have enough reason to kill you without my interference as it is.”

“I am not attached to this planet, Captain. Nor interaction with my people, unfortunately.”

“If you think VUX are bigoted, you’ve not met enough humans.”

“How do you mean?”

“My peoples’ entire history is built on conflict and persecution. Our biggest challenge has always been coexisting with eachother. It’s a harsh lense to see it through, but that in mind it wouldn’t be fair to ask you to come with me either. Even if we do win the war, your help or not, life on Earth afterward would never be peaceful. They’ve done far more to their own people over far less. They’d tear you apart.”

“You’re suggesting this shouldn’t last.”

“I’m suggesting that we consider everything involved before this gets complicated.”

The admiral was quiet for a moment in thought. The human brought up a lot of good points, much to his displeasure. But that wasn’t going to deter him so easily.

“While I must commend the forethought, you are forgetting that tactical improvisation in dangerous situations is my specialty. Besides, this planet has always been more of a prison than a place of retirement—no matter how they attempted to sell it me. I saw through it. The whole reason I am here, Captain, is because I refused to be someone I am not. I can assure you. I would rather pursue an opportunity for a life worth living and the one that I want, however that is defined, than to live out my days rotting on this planet in fear. It would simply go against everything I stand for. I would join you on your travels… if you’d have me.”

The human sighed realizing he likely wasn’t going to let it go— not after making a conclusion like that. Not that they truly wanted to refuse him anyway.

That smile returned—quieter, more subtle this time. Almost somber. They reached over to the side of his face and stroked with the back of their hand. His eye closed, leaning into the touch with some measure of tension fading from his posture.

“I suppose it makes it easier when we’re not investing in another bunk on board.” The human teased. “And after all this is over, Alpha Cerenkov I can’t be the only one of its kind in the galaxy.”

The admiral’s shoulders relaxed, and an arm curled around the captain’s.

“We have some time to prepare.  My countrymen visit occasionally to exchange supplies and resources but they’ve been scarce lately and I do not think they know you are here. Fortunately the others that live here permanently are—“

“Sir, I didn’t hear the human’s departure and it’s been awfully quiet, are you o-.OHMY-“ After entering through the door, Dax dropped and shattered what seemed to previously be some kind of beverage he was holding before scrambling to shield his eye.

“Dax!? Have you no sense to knock?!”

“I did NOT see what I think I just saw.“ He nearly pleaded. "Tell me that isn’t what’s going on here. Admiral, I swear to–”

“Who is—?“

“My sub commander.” Zex retrieved and put on a robe of his own irritably before standing. “Who very rudely barged in unannounced, I might add.”

Dax carefully peeked open his eye, as if unsure if it was alright to look. “Excuse me sir, but the very last thing I expected to walk in on was—…“ Something like a grimace contorted Dax’s features.

“I do not need your approval, Dax. Besides, I thought you more open-minded than this.”

“So this is what I think it is. You have to be joking.” He finally looked, though now had a somewhat exasperated and heated posture. “Sure, maybe I don’t hate humans but to be involving yourself with—…“ his eye swiveled from the bed to the human, then back to Zex with a more bitter grimace. “What will the council think?”

“The council will not think anything if they don’t hear of it.”

"With all due respect sir, this– this had gone way too far. This is going to get you killed!”

“Mind. Your. Place. Dax.”

The sub commander’s posture recoiled slightly. His superior may have been reckless, blinded, mad and a hedonist, but he was also well respected and rightly earned it. Dax was as loyal as they came, even if the admiral absolutely exhausted him at times. This was easily in the top three of those.

“…I’m sorry, sir. I understand the council put you here to pursue your…‘lifestyle’–.”

“That’s what I’m doing, aren’t I?”

Dax laughed, uneasy. “Sure, but I highly doubt they expected it possible for you to ever actually–”

Zex sighed stubbornly and looked off, the sub commander’s words stinging a bit. It gave Dax pause to reword, but Zex spoke before he could.

“Please excuse me, captain. I’ll take care of this.”

The two of them left the room and shut the door behind them.

“Sir…even if they don’t find out which they obviously will, how do you expect to keep this up? If this gets back to our home planet they’ll make an example of you. They’ve been placated this long knowing you’re not influencing the public but as soon as it starts to get out of their hands it could cause an uprising. How long has this been going on?”

“If you must pry, I’ve spoken with them on recent occasions but this was the first time we–”

“Eugh. No. Stop. That’s enough.” He winced and interrupted. “So you’re telling me you don’t even know this human very well. You don’t know if they have an ulterior motive for all of this.”

“Actually, Dax, the human initially agreed with you. They were ready to leave for the sake of my safety and that would have been that. But I was who convinced them otherwise. They wouldn’t have initiated what they did or gone as far as they did if their intentions were to take advantage of me. If you were violently repulsed by the very appearance of an alien, don’t you think having sex with them would be a last resort? ”

“Sir, please—“Dax cringed, waving his arms to stop him but Zex continued.

“And if you must insist on doing this now—“ He huffed and straightened himself. “I’ve decided to join them. I’m leaving Alpha Cerenkov. The human plans to resist the Ur Quan.”

“Have you gone completely mad?! What about the fleet? I hope you realize the position you’re putting them in if they question them. If they question me. They’ll suspect us traitors. I didn’t swear an oath to your loyalty with the intention of breaking it. If I refuse to give them what they want…”

“If you and the rest of the fleet do not intend to join us, then perhaps the less you know the better.” The admiral turned back to the door, but Dax stopped him. There was a pause.

“I hope you’re sure about this…”

“There are few things I’ve been surer of.”

Dax sighed deeply.

“Just…wait. Don’t do anything reckless. I’ll talk with the fleet.”

[aliceslantern]

Grow, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 2

Suddenly human and abandoned in the Keyblade Graveyard, Demyx struggles to survive and come to terms with what his life is. Only by chance is he saved from exposure, and brought to Radiant Garden to recover. Unsure of who he is and where to even begin, Demyx finds a kindred spirit in Ienzo, and before long finds perhaps he isn't the only one lost in this new life. But how can they move forward with so much holding them back?

Roughly canonverse, Zemyx, hurt/comfort. Started for Zemyx day (9/6). Updates Wednesdays until it's done.

Chapter summary:  Demyx begins to recover from his ordeal, and plan for whatever comes next.

Read it in FF.net/on AO3

---

Dark, for a long time, actually.

What he was aware of first was the pain. His muscles and back were screaming, forcing his eyes open. There was so much to take in he actively had trouble sorting all the stimuli.

Pain, a bed, cool air, a window with white curtains. Something pinching his hand, a plastic lead. A tube?

Demyx thought he saw a person. His eyesight was weak, and he squinted. White coat, slate-gray hair. Was this all another hallucination? He tried to sit up, but it was so painful he just flopped back down weakly.

The person turned. “Oh, you’re awake,” he heard. They crossed over to him, and Demyx could see the vague outlines of Zexion’s face.

“Zex?” He cleared his throat. “Zexion? No…” He coughed a little. “Ienzo… I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“Are you real?”

“Yes, I’m very real. Much to my chagrin.”

“Am I dead?”

“No. Not quite.”

Demyx thought. His mind seemed slow to process information. But if he were dead, why would he be in so much pain? “H-hurts…”

“I’m sure it must. Do you want me to get you something for the pain?”

He looked at the ceiling, trying to decide. Did he want to try and clear his head? Or did he want the agony to stop? “Okay.”

Hazily, Demyx watched him get up, cross over to a cabinet, pull out a blob (a vial?) and what had to be a syringe. Demyx felt something stinging injected into his hand, and a few moments later the pain began to subside to a throb. His vision was still not quite clear. “Is that better?”

“T-thanks…” It was difficult to speak. “W-where--?”

“Radiant Garden. Isa and Lea brought you in here in a panic. They were looking for clues to help Sora in the Keyblade Graveyard. You were horrifically dehydrated. Your kidneys failed, and Even suspects you may have had a seizure at some point--”

“...Yikes.”

Ienzo chuckled a little. ““Yikes” is right. You’ve been unconscious a few days--we were worried at first you might not wake at all. But then you started to rebound.”

“I’m… a-alive?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, Demyx just looked up at the ceiling. “Now what,” he murmured.

He thought he saw Ienzo smile. “Recovery,” he said. “It’ll probably be a while before you feel fully back to yourself.” A sigh. “And there may yet be lingering effects.”

“Like… what?”

He shook his head. “Even would have to examine you to be sure.”

“Am I human?”

Ienzo knotted his hands together. “Yes. Perhaps not yet technically fully--the data is still inconclusive. It is only you and Even who are going through this. Right now, it is imperative you rest, receive enough fluids, and try not to get too anxious.”

“Even.” Demyx tasted the name. “You mean Vexen?”

“His Somebody, yes. Which reminds me. What is your name?”

He hesitated, and strained to think. But it was like hitting a mental brick wall. Demyx couldn’t remember; he suspected he hadn’t been able to for a long time. “I… I don’t know.”

He thought he saw surprise on Ienzo’s face. Then, “perhaps… you’re simply disoriented, with all that your being has experienced. It may come back to you.”

He was feeling tired again, now that the pain was subsiding.

"...Why don't you get some rest," Ienzo suggested.

"Okay."

Ienzo got up and headed towards the door.

"Zex?"

"...Yes?"

"Thanks."

A sigh. Demyx could not read his expression. "Sure, Demyx."

---

Demyx dipped in and out of sleep for a long time. When he woke up for real, he was less sore, but he was shaky and somewhat nauseous. His vision was still weird--did his Somebody just need glasses?-- and he squinted hard. He felt sticky and gross. Maybe they'd let him take a shower. How much time had he lost? He got up slowly. With the IV, it was hard to maneuver, but he was able to peek out the window, to the town of Radiant Garden below. He'd been changed into loose linen pajamas. His body felt odd; he flexed his hands. He had to have lost some weight.

"...Oh, good, you're able to get up."

Even's voice startled him; he gasped aloud and his heart gave a weird, quivery beat. "Frightened you, did I? My apologies. Here, sit." He gently eased Demyx back onto the bed and took his pulse with two cold fingers. "...That was all quite hard on you, wasn't it?"

"I don't feel well."

"Of course you don't. I'd be shocked if you did," Even said. He felt at the glands on Demyx's throat. "It's a miracle you were found. A few hours later and you would've been no more." He took a pen light out of his jacket and tracked Demyx's eyes for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Sore. My eyesight's kinda funky."

"The soreness is part of the dehydration. It should pass in a few days. I'm more concerned about your kidney functioning. It's improving, but it's not where it should be. Eyesight… well, that could possibly be again due to the kidneys, but you might've naturally needed glasses anyway. Strange problems the Nobody status hides. We'll keep an eye on it, pardon the pun. There's some medication I want you to take daily and you must rest . I'm sure you need no excuse to be lazy." He scoffed a little.

"Why did you save me?"

Even seemed genuinely confused by the question. "Was I to let you die, then?"

"I just…"

"You helped me," Even said. "But regardless I think that you being another living thing is reason enough."

Demyx felt his eyes watering.

Even sighed. "At some point we must let past conflicts lie."

"You became human like me."

"Ah… yes."

"Did you forget things?"

Even cocked his head. "No," he said slowly. "What can't you remember?"

"A lot of things. ...My name."

Even stared deeply into his eyes, as though looking for something. "Of course brain damage is possible with dehydration but--"

" Whoa, wait, what--"

"--but I don't think you've experienced anything that extensive. Perhaps… it could be…" He put a hand to his chin. "...I so wish I had access to a working MRI…"

Demyx swallowed.

"You're stable enough to be talking to me, at least," Even said quickly. "We will look into what we have." A pause. "Do you know how long you were there alone? What happened?"

Demyx explained about Xigbar. "He broke the phone so I couldn't call you guys. And then he knocked me out so I couldn't escape in time. I had no power-- I couldn't…" His eyes were watering again, and he felt it break free.

"It is traumatizing," Even said, almost gently. The gentleness was so jarring Demyx started crying in earnest, pressing a hand to his mouth. "Surviving such a thing and dealing with this new humanity on your own."

"I'm pathetic."

A sigh. "No, you're not. How long were you there alone, Demyx?"

He tried to remember. "At least three days… after that it's hard to remember. I… I knew I was going to die…" the tears were hot on his face. "He left me there to die."

Even sighed. "Leaving it to the fates," he muttered. "Alas, you seem to be lucky."

"Ha. Hardly. It's total coincidence they found me."

Even hummed. "You're alive now, whatever that means to you."

"What do I do ?"

"I'm afraid you must answer that question for yourself." He stood. "Do you feel up to trying to eat?"

"...I guess."

"I'll get you something light." He left.

Demyx considered the interaction, hiccuping. Even had never been so kind to him before. Was this because of the vessels? Or did humanity just make him different ?

He looked at his hands blurrily. "Am I different?" He asked out loud. He had a new lease on life, free of Xemnas and Xehanort and he was dubiously human. Everything he'd ever wanted. But it was a hollow victory.

He lay back down. Even brought him rice, and he was able to keep it down. The man didn't want to remove the IV line just yet, and Demyx was feeling vaguely tethered. He said he could shower, though, so gladly Demyx did, shedding days of desert. He almost started to panic when he saw clumps of hair gathered in the drain, but Even reassured him through the door it was a stress reaction and the hair would likely come back.

He'd never been so painfully aware of his body, its aches and pains. Shouldn't have been proud of himself for being able to go to the bathroom, or found so much pleasure in brushing his teeth. Once he was clean and dressed (in clothes other than a cloak?) he returned to his bed, exhausted already.

"Lea wants to see you," Even told him. Demyx thought he saw his jaw tense, a glint of fear in his eye--but why? "Would you even want that?"

He shrugged. "I owe the guy a thanks, at least."

Even sighed and put a hand to his brow. "Alright."

A few minutes later Lea bounded in, followed by Isa. They weren't wearing black cloaks after all, just black clothes. "Good to see you're okay," Lea said, grasping his hand. He almost looked like he would move in for a hug. "That was scary. "

"Sorry for going all zombie on you," Demyx said. He found it hard to meet his eyes. "And… thanks for saving me." He bit his lip. "You didn't have to."

"As though we would leave you to die?" Isa said levelly. It was odd to see his teal eyes. "I think I owed you ."

Demyx scoffed. "For carrying two empty dolls?"

"For taking the initiative. As it were."

Lea slung an arm around Isa. "It's because of you that Roxas is up and about. We gotta thank you for that."

Demyx shook his head. The praise didn't feel good. He just felt weepy again.

Lea sat next to him on the bed. "You alright?" He asked a bit more softly. "The eggheads treating you okay?"

"Everyone's been… really nice," he said. "I don't get it."

"Humanity has afforded clarity," Isa said in a low voice. "None of us treated you very well."

"Because I was a bastard."

Lea snorted. "I think we all were. 'Sides, you were only a pest at the absolute worst."

His lips twitched in a hesitant smile.

"It seems you have quite a story to tell," Isa said.

The smile faltered.

"Only if you wish. I imagine it was very difficult."

Demyx took a deep breath. "I felt pulled there," he admitted. "The… graveyard? Then Xigbar showed up--"

Lea put up a hand. "Wait, wait, wait, he's alive? "

Demyx frowned. "Yeah."

He groaned. "He must've faked us out."

Demyx touched his chest. "When Xehanort died both Even and me lost his heart. The same must've happened to him."

"It's still worth bringing up to Riku and the others," Isa said to Lea.

"I don't know where he went," Demyx said honestly. "He knocked me out, broke my phone. So when I woke up I was human."

"And trapped." Isa shook his head. "A sadist way to go out."

"Yeah. I sort of… wandered, just trying to find water, and then you guys found me. But not before I got all sorts of fucked up."

"We weren't sure you would make it," Lea said. "You stopped breathing a couple times on the trip over."

"I did?"

Isa nodded. "Never have I missed the corridors more. But we're… human."

"I really owe you one," Demyx admitted to his lap.

"Think nothing of it."

"What will you do now?" Isa asked.

"I have no idea," Demyx admitted. "I… never thought I'd get this far."

Lea chuckled. "Well, it's nice here, and it's nice in Twilight Town.  Feel it out. I think our landlord had an empty apartment in the building."

"You guys have an apartment? In a building? In a town?" He sighed. "Why does that feel weird?"

Isa smiled. "It does, doesn't it?"

"Am I going to have to get a job?" He asked, and groaned.

Lea laughed. "At least you can pick it this time."

"And not until you're well," Isa added. "Take your time recovering."

"...I'll try."

Lea patted his shoulder. "We gotta go. Just wanted to check in on you, is all."

"...Thanks."

"Ienzo has our numbers. Give me a call."

Demyx watched them leave. Their faces seemed pleasant until they were in the hallway, and he heard-- “... Xigbar. I knew it couldn’t be that easy.”

Demyx decided not to worry about it, because he was feeling tired again. He lay back down and went to sleep.

[ciathyzareposts]

Star Control II: Building the Empire

The aptly-named “Orz” do indeed make me want to kneel down and bang my head against the floor.

          If I do end up running out of time and having to start over with Star Control II, at least I’ll get to revise my decision to name my new alliance “The New Alliance of Free Stars.” I didn’t realize I’d be giving that name to everyone I meet. Next time, I’m going with “The Empire of Chester.”

The Empire is growing. In contrast to my last session, where I didn’t seem to make much progress, I did nothing but accomplish things this time around. It began with a slight rewind. After I reloaded from my fatal (for him) encounter with the Shifoxti rogue ship, I was back at starbase. I returned to Delta Gorno, but by way of the Melnorme ship at Alpha Centauri, where I sold a heap of biological data and now had enough credits to actually start buying things.

        No rainbow worlds yet, though.

            When dealing with the Melnorme, you can buy a piece of technology, information on current events, information on alien races, or historical information. You only get to choose the category; they choose the next item to give to you. I altered among the categories and ended up obtaining/discovering the following:

             A schematic for blaster weapons twice as powerful as my current ion-bolt guns

A schematic for faster lander speed

In addition to the Shofixti warrior I’d already met, there’s another solo warrior out there plus several females in the menagerie of the Vux admiral Zex. If I can bring the females to the two males and things work out, there will be millions of new Shofixti within a few human generations. The Melnorme recommended that we adopt an approach of insulting the Shofixti and then fleeing if attacked.

The Ur-Quan are presently at war with a race called the Kohr-Ah, which are not the alien probes, so I was wrong there. The major fighting is in the middle of the galaxy. The Kohr-Ah seem to be winning. Their war has caught the Zoq-Fot-Pik in the crossfire (something I’d already heard from that race).

The Ur-Quan are part of an ancient alliance of races called the “sentient milieu.”

The blobbish Umgah, one of the races in the Ur-Quan hierarchy, renowned for their sense of humor, has begun screwing with the Ilwrath (the spider-like creatures) by using a device called a HyperWave Caster to impersonate the Ilwrath gods, Dogar and Kazon. When the Ilwrath priest caste decried this fakery, the rest of the Ilwrath population slaughtered the priests. If we could get our hands on this Caster, we could effectively neutralize the Ilwrath.

          I ran out of credits at this point, but I’d added a few new items to my “to do” list. On we went back to Delta Gorno, where I ran into Tanaka the Shofixti again and this time insulted him. When he attacked, I fled. I re-engaged him almost immediately and noted that I had different insults among the dialogue options, so I figured I must be getting somewhere. He attacked again; I fled again. I think on the third attempt, he realized that the Ur-Quan had never insulted him before, and thus slowed down enough to figure out that we were his allies. Although glad to hear of a new alliance against the Ur-Quan, he declined to join us, preferring to stay and guard his old system. I assume I need him there for when I bring back the Shofixti females.

              I’m going to try to get you some company.

           Back I went to my quest list. Let’s divert for a moment to note that this is one of the few games of the entire 1975-1992 period in which you have anything like a “quest list.” It’s extremely common now, of course. Fire up any modern RPG, and you’ve got a dozen items on your “to do” list (which the game now helpfully keeps for you) before you’ve left the first town. There are multiple approaches to deciding what item to pursue next, and I’ll explore the consequences in a future special topic entry. Briefly, some of them are:

         Gingerly: Do the easiest item (or what sounds like the easiest item) next

Chronologically: Do the oldest item next.

Geographically by Proximity: Do the closest item next.

Geographic by System: Explore the game using a systematic geographic approach (e.g., west to east), solving quests along the way

Consequentially: Do the most important item next.

Comprehensively: Do all the side quests before the next step in the main quest; the side quests are probably prioritized using another approach here

Organically: Do the item next that you’d really do next if you were the character, which probably juggles a lot of these options.

Mercenarily: Do the item that sounds like it will give you the greatest reward next.

Randomly: Count the number of items on the list and roll a die.

Anarchically: Explore the game completely at whim without regard to quests, solving them if you happen to stumble on them.

             (Let me know if you think I’ve missed any.)

I find that altering your approach to quests makes a lot of modern games extremely replayable. I tend to play the first time using a “consequential/geographic proximity” combination, meaning I prioritize by importance but pick up side quests as they exist along the route. This ensures that I actually finish the main quest. I don’t want to be one of those people that says things like, “I have 1,200 hours into Fallout 4 and I still haven’t won the game.” I go for the win the first time. The second time, if I’m motivated to play again, I might try a chronological approach to ensure that I explore more of the side quests. Lately, though, I’ve been prioritizing a random approach, such that Irene is sick of hearing me say, “Hey, Siri, give me a random number between one and twenty-five” before heading off to bag a Legendary Elk.

With Star Control II, I’ve been using the random approach, mostly because none of the quests seemed obviously more important than the others. But by the end of this session, I had decided to revise my system and use a geographic proximity approach instead, mostly because I nearly ran out of fuel twice while in the fringes of space.

Still using the random roll, I next chased rumors of an unknown ancient race who used to make their home in the Vulpeculae constellation, in the middle of Androsynth space. I didn’t expect much from the expedition. Indeed, I figured I’d be attacked by Androsynth and that would be the end of it. Sure enough, I arrived to a swarm of ships who immediately started approaching my own.

              Well, this doesn’t bode well.

             They weren’t Androsynth, though. They were bright yellow things, looking like a combination between a fish and a flower. When they made contact, my translation program warned that it was having trouble with their speech, and it put asterisks around words they weren’t sure about, so in an early speech, we got:

          Hello extremely! I hope you like to *play*. Some *campers* are not so good for *games*. . . Who are you? You are not Orz! We are Orz! Orz are happy *people energy* from the outside. Inside is good. So much good that the Orz will always *germinate.* Can you come together with Orz for *parties*?

             At first I thought something ribald was going on here, like “parties” meant “orgies” or something. But things didn’t develop explicitly along those lines. The best I could work out from their many lines of only partly comprehensible dialogue is that the Orz come from another dimension, that the individual Orz we perceive are all just “fingers” of a single being (like a happy version of the Uhl from Starflight), and that they destroyed the Androsynth for some unknown reason. (They got mad when I even asked about it.) They also don’t seem to like the Ariloualeelay, whom they suggest are from their dimension, but from “above” while the Orz are from “below.”

          Let’s just make sure we agree on a safe word.

         Anyway, they seemed to join the Alliance. They let me land on their planets, and they gave me specifications for an “Orz Nemesis” ship that I later had built. Good to know that the Androsynth aren’t a threat anymore.

On one of the planets–the second around Eta Vulpeculae–my scanners picked up energy signatures for the first time since (I think) Pluto. There were a lot of them–destroyed Androsynth cities, it turned out.

As my lander explored these cities, the game again invented names and personalities for some of my interchangeable crewmember-hit points. Their reports together created a kind of mini horror story. It began with “xeno-historian Kilgore” reporting that some kind of land war destroyed the cities but left no corpses. Later, “science officer Bukowski” that the Androsynth had been researching “Dimensional Fatigue Phenomena,” based on their discovery of some Precursor artifacts. They were generating waves that allowed them to see into other dimensions. They ended up making contact with some life form on the “other side,” after which their research degraded into rantings about ghosts and poltergeists before abruptly coming to an end.

            Multiple lander reports deliver a growing horror story.

           In continued reports from the lander, “Ensign Hawthorne” radioed that Bukowski had continued his inquiry into the Androsynth research project and had himself gone insane, ranting that “they” could now see him and that he had to stop “them” before “they” could see everyone else. Stigmata started appearing on his body, as if he was being cut by an invisible source. The crewmembers on the lander begged to be brought home, and running them into other cities didn’t seem to generate any new reports, so I complied. Lots of mysteries here. Are “they” the Orz? The Ariloualeelay? Some other beings from another dimension? Just who have I allied with here?

             That sounds ominous.

            On another old ancient ruin, my crew found an “unusual glowing rock-thing” that seemed to make some people sick with headaches and “mental disarray.” It was said to be Taalo in origin, this name appearing for the first time. I assume it’s the name of the ancient race that lived in Precursor times.

Back at starbase, Commander Hayes praised the design of the Orz Nemesis. Later, he reported that the Taalo rock seemed to have something to do with blocking psychic attacks. Those that had become ill were those with some psychic ability. (He referred to them as “espers,” either a reference to 1988’s Star Command, or just a term that’s more common than I thought for someone with E.S.P.)

              Adding the Nemesis to my fleet. Now I have four ships that I can’t pilot effectively!

            For my last expedition, my random roll gave me the Zoq-Fot-Pik homeworld, which is in the middle of the map but the farthest I’ve traveled so far. I stopped at a few systems on the way to search for minerals and whatever else. I’m finding that I hate planets with a “weather” score higher than 2. I can usually avoid earthquakes, and thus deal with a high tectonics score, but lightning bolts often seem to target my lander specifically, and none of my dodging and weaving helps. 

One of the worlds I stopped at randomly was Betelgeuse. There, I was surprised to find a red force field covering a planet and a starbase in orbit. It turned out to be Gaia, the new homeworld of the Syreen, their old one having been destroyed before the events of the first game. When the Alliance surrendered, the Syreen–like Earth–chose to live under a dome rather than serve as battle thralls.

            This seems familiar.

           In a long conversation with the Syreen Commander Talana–in which the game seemed to delight in giving me boorish, inappropriate dialogue options–I learned quite a bit about the race. They used to live on Syra–which we call Beta Copernicus–before an asteroid impact caused such volcanic upheaval that the planet had to be abandoned. Now, the entire system seems to have been taken over by the Mycon.

            The game gives me one professional option and three takes on sexual harassment.

             When the Syreen surrendered to the Ur-Quan, they chose the shield but noted that they had no actual planet. The Ur-Quan asked them about their requirements. The Syreen talked about Syra (“about the color of its sky, about the abundant, varied lifeforms, about the fertility of the soil and seas”). The Ur-Quan took an hour, then communicated back with the coordinates of Gaia, which the Syreen found to be absolutely perfect. “We’d been searching for a home planet for seventy-five years,” Talana said, “and in the end, it was our enemies who gave one to us.” Naturally, they were now uninterested in violating their treaty and upsetting the status-quo unless I could give them a good reason, and I had nothing. But I put their old planet on my “to do” list for investigation.

On to the Zoq-Fot-Pik system (ZFP from here on). When I arrived, I found it swarming with Ur-Quan, and before I could escape, one of the Ur-Quan dreadnoughts approached. Our dialogue just consisted of the Ur-Quan captain making threats. In the ensuing combat, I couldn’t do anything. I tried about five times. The dreadnought fires huge metal swastikas or something–I think they’re actually supposed to be autonomous ships–that fly around until they hit something. They have as many hit points as my own flagship. None of my smaller ships lasted more than a few hits and even with my flagship, it became clear that if I won, it would be with about 10 crewmembers left over. I really hope it’s possible to win this game without being good at the space combat.

             I missed the shot of the enemy’s projectile. It’s just crashed into my cruiser.

              So I ultimately sighed and escaped combat, which leaves your ship immobile for about 10 seconds as it jumps to hyperspace, which is enough time for the enemy to destroy a couple dozen crewmembers. I dodged the rest of the Ur-Quan ships and made my way to the ZFP homeworld, where the faintly ridiculous species agreed to join my alliance.

           The Pik is the emotional one.

          I leave you on my way back to starbase. The trip to the ZFP system took so much fuel that I have to keep my eye on the gauge as I explore for elements. But I do have to explore because if I don’t, I won’t have any money to buy new fuel when I get back. 

Lots of fun and progress this trip, though I’m not sure what it’s amounting to just yet.

Time so far: 15 hours

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/star-control-ii-building-the-empire/