We're fukced anyway. It's not like they can make this any worse.
- SCAMPS
The Nemesis
Gentlemen, ladies, robots, insignificant piles of shit: Welcome to the Nemesis. ...or what's left of it, anyway. Try to ignore the flickering of the lights and the fighters flying overhead. It's not going to change anytime soon.
I'm sure you all have questions - what's going on, where am I, where's my mommy, etc. At the risk of sounding crass... Your mommy's dead, kids. She's been dead for decades, and you've been asleep for almost a century. Apparently, up-top had us testing state-of-the-art cryo tech. We actually didn't even know you existed until yesterday. Seems you were hooked to a backup generator. We almost took it offline, but noticed a power drain and decided to check it out. And then, of course... we found you. Welcome back to reality, such that it is. Life's a real bitch, right? We're banking everything on the hope that you're more of one.
Before you ask, we couldn't wake all of you up at once - and, as you can see by the doctors wheeling corpses out of the room, and the gentleman having a seizure in the corner... not all of you survived us taking you out. It's not a simple affair, and we didn't have instructions. Some of you didn't make it. I'm sure it was no major loss - we have almost a hundred cryotubes back there total anyway. The main issue is how much power it takes just to wake you up safely, so at the moment, we're keeping the cryo-man count capped at ten. And why do we want you? That's pretty simple.
The docs tell me that the machines you were hooked up to had you running combat sims through your heads every few months for however many years you were there. Assuming any of it actually stuck, you have an immense potential for combat capability - which is precisely what we need right now. Don't let it go to your heads, though, assholes. Your muscles have atrophied and you'll be suffering the effects of post-cryo for weeks. I'd say to get comfortable, but that's about as likely to happen as you growing a second brain cell. We've given you what meds we can spare, and your muscles are rebuilding themselves. Probably. You're gonna be sore enough to kill a fukcer tonight.
So, what do you do now? That's a good question - and the last one I'm likely to answer. There's ten of you, but only one of me. I've got more important things to do than babysit. Talk to the docs if you want, but after that, get to know the ship. If you're half as good as we're hoping you are, you'll be here for a while. Some places are off-limits: the inner armory, weapons systems, storage areas, and generally anywhere marked off with hazard tape. There's a lot of it, so keep an eye out. After that, you've got full run of the ship. We don't have a place to hold you, and honestly, keeping you chained up is incredibly low on our priority list.
A few of our engineers are busy in the hangar with your CASKETs. We're going to send you out REKT-style. We already have a squad of real REKT soldiers up top defending what's left of this metal crapbox, so you'll do the lower priority missions for us. Eventually I'll call you all to the conference room and give you a mission briefing. Until then, if you have questions, ask around, but keep in mind everybody is as busy as I am. The docs in here haven't slept for a few days, and our engineers are working solid hours, but I'm sure you can find someone else to pester - even if it's just each other.
Gentlemen, ladies, robots, insignificant piles of shit: Welcome to the Nemesis. ...or what's left of it, anyway. Try to ignore the flickering of the lights and the fighters flying overhead. It's not going to change anytime soon.
I'm sure you all have questions - what's going on, where am I, where's my mommy, etc. At the risk of sounding crass... Your mommy's dead, kids. She's been dead for decades, and you've been asleep for almost a century. Apparently, up-top had us testing state-of-the-art cryo tech. We actually didn't even know you existed until yesterday. Seems you were hooked to a backup generator. We almost took it offline, but noticed a power drain and decided to check it out. And then, of course... we found you. Welcome back to reality, such that it is. Life's a real bitch, right? We're banking everything on the hope that you're more of one.
Before you ask, we couldn't wake all of you up at once - and, as you can see by the doctors wheeling corpses out of the room, and the gentleman having a seizure in the corner... not all of you survived us taking you out. It's not a simple affair, and we didn't have instructions. Some of you didn't make it. I'm sure it was no major loss - we have almost a hundred cryotubes back there total anyway. The main issue is how much power it takes just to wake you up safely, so at the moment, we're keeping the cryo-man count capped at ten. And why do we want you? That's pretty simple.
The docs tell me that the machines you were hooked up to had you running combat sims through your heads every few months for however many years you were there. Assuming any of it actually stuck, you have an immense potential for combat capability - which is precisely what we need right now. Don't let it go to your heads, though, assholes. Your muscles have atrophied and you'll be suffering the effects of post-cryo for weeks. I'd say to get comfortable, but that's about as likely to happen as you growing a second brain cell. We've given you what meds we can spare, and your muscles are rebuilding themselves. Probably. You're gonna be sore enough to kill a fukcer tonight.
So, what do you do now? That's a good question - and the last one I'm likely to answer. There's ten of you, but only one of me. I've got more important things to do than babysit. Talk to the docs if you want, but after that, get to know the ship. If you're half as good as we're hoping you are, you'll be here for a while. Some places are off-limits: the inner armory, weapons systems, storage areas, and generally anywhere marked off with hazard tape. There's a lot of it, so keep an eye out. After that, you've got full run of the ship. We don't have a place to hold you, and honestly, keeping you chained up is incredibly low on our priority list.
A few of our engineers are busy in the hangar with your CASKETs. We're going to send you out REKT-style. We already have a squad of real REKT soldiers up top defending what's left of this metal crapbox, so you'll do the lower priority missions for us. Eventually I'll call you all to the conference room and give you a mission briefing. Until then, if you have questions, ask around, but keep in mind everybody is as busy as I am. The docs in here haven't slept for a few days, and our engineers are working solid hours, but I'm sure you can find someone else to pester - even if it's just each other.
<<<Main points of interest>>>
((As stated in the handy guide SCAMPS has compiled and put on your standard-issue PDAs))
The bunks((As stated in the handy guide SCAMPS has compiled and put on your standard-issue PDAs))
They're a smoking pile of shit right now. Actually, part of them got blasted away during the Battle of Nanyej, some of them depressurized, and some of them got crushed beyond repair during our crash-landing. Still, if you need some sleep or you're feeling sick, head in that direction. It's in the bow of the ship, toward the bottom decks. You can't miss it.
Spoiler: SHOW
The mess hall
If you're feeling hungry, this is probably where you want to head. The tables got thrown around pretty bad when we landed, and most of our cooking equipment is offline, but if you assholes want to pitch in and clean it up, be my guest. Not sure of where to find it? Head toward the front of the ship and follow the smells of dried rations, dissatisfaction and angst. You'll find it in no time. And yes, I did say rations. Those of you wanting a nice meal will have to suck it up like everybody else. Rations aren't that bad anyway... or so say the folks that sold them to us.
Spoiler: SHOW
The hangar
Best to get acquainted with this one early, because you're going to be seeing it like you're in a steady relationship. Head there if you want, chat with the engineers, tell them to fix up your ships how you want them if you want anything changed. They'll get it done as fast as they can. Be aware that their time is limited and precious, so we're working on a credit system like the Tartarus does... but out of necessity. And don't bother trying to fly your ships out early. I'm keeping them locked down until I'm ready to send you out.
Spoiler: SHOW
The armory
Being the criminals you are, I find you most likely to head straight for the armory, to try to acquire what weaponry you can. This is inadvisable. There is a decent amount of security in the armory, and while the staff there - primarily Dennis Hoffman - may be willing to grant you requests for certain free infantry items, weapons are almost a guaranteed no-go unless you can present a particularly compelling case. It may sound like a fun place to hang out, but your time is better spent elsewhere unless you're seeking information about REKT gear.
Spoiler: SHOW
Ship stores
Like any vessel, the Nemesis boasts some decent supply/storage areas - which are, for the most part, completely off-limits to you. Don't take it personally. They're off-limits to most crew members, as a point of fact. We don't want anybody's miserably grubby hands to mess up our sorting methods and careful categorization. Obviously, even this doesn't make it careful enough, or we would've known you were on board. If you want something, head to the chief supply officer, but expect to have to wait in line.
Spoiler: SHOW
The battle bridge
If I said the Hangar was built like a rock, the Battle Bridge is built even better, with walls thicker than your skulls. It took the least damage of the entire ship - as was intended. Spanning several decks with overlooks all the way to the bottom, the captain can control the entire ship from here - especially in combat. Outside of combat, it's doubles as hangar control, with a good view of the hangar's interior. Head here if you want, but don't expect anyone to listen to you if you start giving orders.
Spoiler: SHOW
Research labs
The fact that these assholes haven't blown themselves up yet is a miracle to me. Even more of a miracle is the fact that they survived. What's not a miracle is how pissed they were to have their precious experiments tossed around when we landed. Fukcing scientists. I'm not convinced we're going to find a use for them anytime soon, but you never know. If you want to run by and say hi, be my guest. I don't give a shit. Maybe they'll find some kind of experiment to run on you.
Spoiler: SHOW
VR combat simulators
Yes, we have them, even on an old rust bucket like this one. These are new, though - actually the newest part of this ship. We only have four chambers total, and each seats five people. Combat missions typically last anywhere from an hour to two minutes, depending on how fast the AI manages to kill them off. Captain Machellan mandated that they run 24/7, keeping the crew at least somewhat combat-capable. As a result, we managed to get everyone through here in groups of five, four times a year. Now, they sit idle. Just like you shitwads.
Spoiler: SHOW
Conference room
We used to do diplomatic crap in here. Now? Well, let's put it this way: Aliens talking to us? Like hell that'll happen. I plan to re-purpose this as a briefing room. It's in the most opportune position possible - near both the battle bridge and the hangars. You can't miss it even if you tried. ...well, most people couldn't, don't know about you morons.
Spoiler: SHOW
Ship's Computer/Intelligence Center
A lot of shit goes down in here - a lot of highly classified shit thicker with red tape than your mom's attempted abortion. Yeah, we know about that. How? With the best damned intelligence squad this side of Shai'lin. A lot of them are dead, but who cares? It's not like we'll need them anytime soon. I'm not sure why you'd want to head this way, but go right ahead. The computer terminals are fine, but some of our computer mainframe was jostled just a mite too hard during the battle above Nanyej, so a lot of it is offline. Pick a booth and hope it works.
Spoiler: SHOW
<<<Engineering>>>
Engineering is the lifeblood of a ship like the Nemesis - and we have more engineers on our roster than any other type of crew. They also get a third of the ship all to themselves - two thirds if you count the hangar. As a result, Engineering is not limited to any particular room. Just head towards the back of the ship and you'll find some part of it. Back there, we have the engines, the reactor, gravity generator... and me. My lasers are still fully functional, so try anything funny and I'll dice you into cubes.
Spoiler: SHOW
Primary reactor core
Not sure why the hell you'd want to go here, but go right ahead. Keypads here (as in most areas) are DNA-locked; your chances of causing any damage are minimal, beyond a sledgehammer. Good luck finding one of those, though. Marvel at our technology and know that you're one of the select few to witness the shitty functioning of a half-baked, shabbily repaired reactor strained to its fukcing limits. You're three steps from oblivion.
Spoiler: SHOW
Engines
The ugliest part of the whole ship, even when the ship is shined up. The only people that go here are engineers, and only for routine maintenance. They're the only ones that can make sense of the mess of wiring and tubing that keeps us moving forward. There's no reason for you to come here, but it's not like you're going to damage anything, so why the hell not, right? It's not like anything else you do makes any sense.
Spoiler: SHOW
SCAMPS core
It's me, asshole. That's right, I'm a machine. Well, technically, I'm part machine. If you really want the grisly details, I'm a mass of brainmatter hooked up to various computers, all in a jar large enough to put your measly cryotubes to shame. True machine-based sentience is impossible; they figured that out early in the third millennia. That's why I'm here. The computers let me store more information than you've ever come across in your lifetime and let me interface directly with the ship. It's a shit life, but it's what I'm made for. If you're looking for someone to annoy, leave me alone and go talk to Dr. Janeway. She's the dipstick assigned to keeping me in shape, though she does a crappy job of it.
Spoiler: SHOW
Shield generator
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
It's gone. How gone? Gone enough that it's going to be a long time before we're generating shields again. First off we need to get this crapbox into space. Then they can rebuild the area where it used to be. If you want, you can talk to the Lead Shield Engineer. He's bound to be around here somewhere.
Spoiler: SHOW
Weapons systems
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
These are off-limits to all staff except the lead engineers and those directly assigned to them. Listen to what your mama told you, kid, and don't play with guns. One time we got someone sent down there by accident and he didn't correct the mistake. He melted a firing core in the middle of a battle. Fortunately, the meltdown took him with it. Fortunately for him, anyway - I would've done a lot worse if he'd survived.
Spoiler: SHOW
<<<Ruined areas>>>
Yeah, we were in a fight. I'm not gonna give you the full details myself. You can wrangle that out of whatever staff you manage to flag down. Long story short, we're fukced up pretty bad. We'll find someone to blame it on and kick their asses later, if we ever get back to Tartarus. In the meantime, you might be able to help repair these yourself, after the engineers get stuff back in order. It'll take a shit-ton of work, though. This isn't your typical crime stuff, either - this is brutal, dirty, blood-sweat-and-tears honest-to-god manual labor. I'm sure you're already leaving.Main bridge
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
This used to be the prettiest part of the whole ship. Thick transparent metal alloy windows, a beautiful retro-style bridge, bunks for a small crew and ration dispensers. This was where commanders went when they wanted to fly the ship in style. Good for morale and shit. Also good for getting your asses blown into space if someone happens to mount a sneak attack - which they did, and their asses were spaced quite thoroughly, and in many little bits. This is where our captain and second in command died, and a lot of our primary staff. Most of what we have left have been reassigned. Eventually we might be able to fix the place up, but it's far from our top priority. At its best, it can even decouple itself from the ship and reach low warp speeds. Right now, it's welded to the outer hull with rivers of molten slag. Good luck decoupling that.
Spoiler: SHOW
The medbay
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
Maybe you're not feeling tired - maybe you're just whining about feeling sick. Maybe you lost a leg or something. Get in line, kiddo, you've got a long wait ahead of you. Our doctors are stretched thin, and the medbay itself is basically gone. That has a tendency to happen when you land on it, so it's not entirely unexpected. We got the surviving docs out of there before it happened, so just head toward the lower rear of the ship under engineering and wait in the hallways like everybody else. The doctors will see you eventually. Probably, anyway.
Spoiler: SHOW
The comm center
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
If you wanted to call home, forget about it. This area is in the bow of the ship near the bunks, was one of the worst hit, and, again, is basically gone. Starting to see a pattern here? I thought you might. Eventually we'll get a comm center of some sort back up, but it'll be shit for a while - certainly too shit for hypercomm systems. That stuff costs money. Finding that money will likely be your job. We'll also need encryption systems and new sensors. The whole place has gone to shit... kind of obvious if you remember we were actually desperate enough to try to wake you from cryo. None of the people we have left are expendable, except you.
Spoiler: SHOW
Library
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
Pretty place for reading books - or was, before they all got blasted into scraps of paper. We actually had some real books here. Genuine paper. No, really, Captain Machellan had some kind of fetish for the things. Don't know why we spared the expense. Anyway, it's a wreck of molten, radioactive slag now. We're lucky we didn't lose our lead librarian, or our computer-based storage data. We can still fix everything in the ship and we have knowledge of most of the area... but you'll need to head to the battle bridge. That's where our librarian has taken up shop.
Spoiler: SHOW
Rec zones
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
If you wanted to settle an argument, this was the "official" place to do it, typically with ping-pong or space hockey, Galactica, EX-COMM, other shit arcade games and the like. Even had a small theater. Morale and shit. Well, it's gone, and morale is shit, so I guess it did its job. Was on the bow, but being on the edges, they took some of the worst damage. Most of them breached early on, and the others breached during re-entry. If you wanted to play skee-ball, you've got a long wait ahead of you.
Spoiler: SHOW
Chapel
(CURRENTLY OFF-LIMITS)
I'm sure some of you asswipes believe in a higher power. For those of you that don't believe it's me, here's where you would've gone to get out of my hair for a while and talk to yourself. I don't really care about the shit that happened here, but it kept morale and productivity higher, which is good... except it's totally gone now, destroyed beyond hope of timely repair. Back when it was operational it had accommodations for all the major gods (and some of the minor ones), but now? It's a hole in the hull, and thus off-limits. My heart bleeds for you, truly.
Spoiler: SHOW