Messages

Thanks Thane! I appreciate the feedback

Yea, it has an aspect of the relationship system even before it was implemented. I played this colony like a year or two ago now. Fucking Cambiar though, am I right? I was so pissed when that happened lol

Yea man, in my story of Sierra Onimal I have a hero named Trigger who was hit by a Pila projectile in the stomach, destroying his ability to eat. In the story, he's frozen. In the game I played with him in, he died of starvation and had a noble burial. Either way, he was an incredible colonist and he was sorely missed.

Dude, two things.

One. Great shit. I can see you put a lot of work into animating this stuff. It isn't too fancy but the way you're telling the story is cool. With your animation skills on a team, I bet you could make something awesome.

Two, check out HitRecord. It's a collaborative community that could use more people skilled in animation. You could learn a lot there and maybe animate something and get paid for it. It's worth at least a look, if you ask me.

Also, I can help you voice this if you like. I don't know if you'll like my voice for what you're looking for, but I have the equipment to record stuff.

Upon his awakening, he was surrounded by several people in the Medical Ward. They seemed pleased that he was awake but they seemed grim as well. It was Morticia, Dick, and Mushinto, everyone else had been currently busy.

"Why the long faces? I just took a little nap." He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. At this, Morticia burst into emotion and had to excuse herself from the room, covering her mouth to spare her the embarrassment. Mushinto and Dick looked down, trying to avoid looking Trigger in the eyes. Finally, Dick took a breath and met his good friend, his leader's eyes.
"John." Dick tried to start off, using his first name purposefully to help reaffirm the seriousness of the situation. It worked, and Trigger was serious again immediately. He had never liked the name his father gave him. "I'm afraid the projectile destroyed your stomach. I couldn't save it, and I'm afraid we aren't able to get you a new one. Can't tranplant stomachs..."

"What?" Trigger seemed confused, "Is this a joke? You can transplant a heart, a liver, a lung, even kidneys, but not a stomach? I don't even feel any pain!" He was panicking, though he didn't mean to show it.

"John, I know this is hard to understand, harder to accept...but...-"

"But what, Dick? What are you going to try to tell me to make me accept this?" Lashing out now out of anger, Trigger suddenly felt bad but couldn't take it back in time. Dick didn't have a response, and after bowing his head slightly, promptly left the room after whispering just loudly enough, almost choking up,

"I'm sorry, John. I can't save you this time."

"Fuck me...I didn't mean that..."

"I know, Trigger." Mushinto hadn't said anything before then, and the way he said it took the anger right out of Trigger. "I know it is difficult to hear, but we all had to hear it. Dick was the only one who had the balls to say it and even that cold bastard got choked up. To hear that there is nothing we can do, to know that all hope is lost..." He looked up to the ceiling, trying to blink back the tears. He failed, wiping them away instead and trying to shake himself from the grip of his emotions.

"You know," He started again after a brief silence of thought between the two of them, "It's one thing to be a warrior, to kill people for land or food, to lose people and take lives in battle. To lose a friend who is an integral part of you, especially one younger than you, that can really kill people on the inside. Mort was broken up more than anyone, I didn't know you two were close."

"Neither did I." Trigger felt like he had missed a lot in his role as leader. "Did Dick say how long I have?" Maybe he could rectify that.

"The only thing you can't do is eat or drink, and that means you'll starve to death if you don't take the...other option." They both knew what the other option was.

"So about three days, then?" Mushinto nodded in response grimly. "Then would you please bring us some cake, so we can enjoy some of it together for your birthday, old friend?" Mushinto looked surprised at his request at first, realizing how selfless his younger friend was being in the face of death, and nodded.
As he stepped out to go do as he was asked, he paused outside the door to shed a tear of frustration. It was certainly a shame to lose such a brilliant man. He was certainly a very bright light that illuminated the Colony even in the darkest times. It didn't matter that he was a cold asshole sometimes, he was the leader they needed, the one who had made them see hope from the very beginning.

While Mushinto got cake, Trigger reached to his commlink to reach out to Morticia.
"Mort?" It took a few moments for him to hear a shaky response.
"Y-yes, Commander?"
"Why don't you return and join Mushinto and I for some birthday cake?" She didn't respond this time, and he wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but the thought process was interrupted by Mushinto's return and he gave a weak attempt at a smile even though it was difficult.

They both enjoyed their cake in silence. Trigger was able to eat, but not digest food. So, he just chewed and tasted the food, then spit it back out. Mushinto paid this usually disgusting act no mind, enjoying his piece of birthday cake with one of the only people he cared about on this forsaken rock. Somehow, Mushinto was overcome with peace, feeling as though everything was going to be okay. He couldn't explain it, and didn't try, but it was somewhat reassuring.

After eating in silence, they began to chat for a while. They hadn't spoken casually in a while, and they shared some stories they had neglected to share previously, some particularly exciting and dramatic ones that they usually saved for special occasion parties. The time never felt right to share these kinds of stories with colonists out here on this world in the outer rim.

After a while, Trigger decided he wanted to get up and walk around the base. For the first time in a long time, he was walking around in casual clothes, complete with his favorite duster and cowboy hat. Everyone he passed had heard the news. They gave him soft smiles of sympathy. It wasn't what he wanted, but he understood where it came from. Mushinto walked with him, and they enjoyed a nice walk outside the safety of the walls.

"I have to say. I'm gonna miss you being around."
"I know. Don't mourn for me, but carry on and keep all those knuckleheads in line." Mushinto smiled at this, almost beginning to tear up but fighting the urge to let loose. Instead, they hugged in a manly way and then continued as if it never happened.
"I want you to take Doug under your wing. I know you already have taught him a good bit, but I really need you to mold him into the leader that can take my place." Mushinto nodded like a sage, agreeing that this was the best path to take in securing the colony's future hierarchy.

"You're really going to have to be tough on him, you kn-...what is this?" They were both now looking at what had Trigger confused. They were looking at a cliffside, but they both noticed that something was off. They approached and felt the surface of what was supposed to be a rough mountainside. Instead, it was much smoother. Trigger was quick to sound off over the commlink again.

"Miners, report to my location: One Kilometer Northeast of the Northern exit."
Three Miners assembled at their location, curious to what they were summoned for. Trigger related his suspicion about the nature of the smooth wall and asked that they mine it down.
"If it's a wall, don't you need a construction guy to tear it down?" One Miner, Ox, asked. The others present just looked at him with varying degrees of dissappointment, shaking their heads.

"Just tear the damn thing down, smartass." Trigger was in no mood.
Like a well-oiled machine, they had a section of wall mined down in no time. With their flashlights, they peered in to the dark room that had apparently been mined out before. It was a tiled room that was fairly sizeable, about the size of a barracks with several strange devices within that none of them knew how to describe. Trigger and Mushinto dismissed the Miners and summoned Doug and DIck over the commlink now.

"Any idea what these things are?" They were surrounding one of the devices of mystery, the four of them, speculating its purpose.

"I discovered things like this in my research. My model was a little different, but this one looks operational, if unpowered and quite old."

"What is it, though, Doug?" Dick was curious now.

"It's a Cryogenic Stasis Device. You should have seen one before, right Trigger? I thought you came out of one?"

"I didn't spend a lot of time looking at it once I woke up."

"You know..." Hope was in the air as Doug suddenly seemed to have an idea, "We could put you in one of these, Trigger. We just have to power it up by connecting it to our power grid and we can freeze you until we can devise a way to save you." Doug seemed excited at the idea that he had saved the day, the mood, possibly his leader's life. Everyone looked to Trigger for his reaction, and he seemed thoughtful, contemplative of the possibility of another period in cryo. Did he want to extend his life or end it on a high note?

He was certainly a successful man. He wasn't going to be remembered a failure. Did he want to take a chance that he would wake up in 100 years to Explorers or worse, Raiders of some kind? There was no guarantee that they would survive here, and he'd have no control over being woken up. He was at the mercy of chance, by that point. Sure, they could save him, but could they keep him safe? It was usually him keeping them safe.

"I could likely have something worked out in less than a month. I can clear out my workspace and do research again. I'd be happy to."

"Fuck it. Let's do it, then. Just let me have tonight to myself, okay? We'll get everything done tomorrow. For now, have them install the power conduits to reach out here and set up some defenses around the building." They all nodded and headed back to base. Mushinto went to lead the construction team in doing as commanded

That night, Trigger found the person he wanted to talk to currently more than anyone. Mort was in her room, one she had decorated herself with delicate flowers and a sculpture she had made in her spare time. He had never noticed her skill in sculpting before, amazed at the detail in the bust. He knocked on the frame of the open door, leaning against the opposite side as he watched her sitting there at her desk, writing. He had never seen her writing before or heard anything about it, but he wasn't concerned with that at the moment. It was likely just a diary.
His knock had startled her, and she turned with a relieved expression to see that it was him,

"Commander..."

"You can call me John, Morticia." She didn't respond, obviously still upset. "They found a possible way for me to live." She perked up at this news, curious. She was about to ask when he answered her question for her, "We found some cryo things or whatever in a room we discovered. They're gonna put me to sleep for a while until they figure out how to fix me." The same concerns that Trigger had ran through Morticia's mind and she looked to his eyes to see if he was lying. Trying not to burst into tears again, she smiled through a quivering lip to embrace his chest tightly in a hug.

This took him by surprise. He had not had this level of contact with a woman in quite some time. He reciprocated, softening from his usually firm, serious self into the man that she needed right now. He rubbed her back and after a while, she pulled back, sniffling slightly, and looked up to him after starting to speak,
"I thought you were going to die before I could tell you how much I admired you. I always thought..."
"What?" Trigger had an idea of what she meant but he needed to hear it.
"Ever since I first met you on the battlefield, still a Tribal, I could see something special in you." He remembered seeing her. He came close to turning to fire on her but had gone for a closer target instead. "I let myself be captured because I had to find out more." This took Trigger by surprise. He had never heard of someone doing that before. Perhaps even he had underrated his charisma.
"When I first spoke to you as a prisoner, I knew I wanted to work with you. I had to fake resistance for the sake of my fellow captured Tribespeople, but I was tired of being held back by them. I always studied with people from the other colonies instead of just learning the ways of the tribe. I knew you could help me grow. I was always afraid to say anything, afraid that you would reject me for who I was and never understanding who I really wanted to be."

"Wha-...who is it that you really want to be?"

"I want to be your wife." His heart nearly stopped.

"Listen-"

"No. You listen." She wasn't so firm that she was disrespectful, but she got his attention. Trigger was actually pleased to hear her speak up for herself this way. He had never met this Morticia before. He had never really taken time to know any of his people this deeply. If he did make it back from cryo sleep, he'd have to work on that.
"I've been here too long sitting in silence as I work, holding back my feelings. Now, I've realized how much time I've wasted and I want to make up for it." Trigger saw where this was going, and suddenly, words were no longer needed.

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"You ready, Boss?" Doug asked, accompanied by Dick in operating the device that would put him in cryostasis. The rest of the colonists were here as well, Trigger looking to all of them proudly.

"Let me have a minute. I want to speak with everyone." There had been some chatter around the room, but it fell silent at this announcement. "Being realistic, I may not ever see any of you again." He didn't have to explain this concern, they all understood, "That being said, I have known many of you for some time now. I've worked with you, argued with you, fought with you on the field of battle to keep this colony safe and prospering, fighting every obstacle that has come our way. I've been an ass sometimes too." He chuckled slightly, "I've been neglectful of my duties as a leader to truly know and appreciate fully my people. Because of all of you, this colony runs smoothly like a well-oiled machine."

"You're part of that machine too, Trig!"

"God damnit, Ollie, let me finish!" The room laughed lightly and Ollie looked sheepish but still was smiling anyway.

"As you all know: Mushinto, Doug, and I were the first three to land here. We made a lot happen with just the three of us, including converting all of you to a better way of life." Even in an emotional speech, he had a way of keeping the mood light in some ways. "So, while I'm gone, Doug will be the one in charge, advised by Mushinto as I was." Dick started to open his mouth to say something, "And Dick, of course will be advising him in some ways. We all know I'm a fan of seeing all the points of view. No matter who is in charge, we all do our parts, don't we?" Trigger looked to Morticia as he asked this rhetorical question. She smiled softly towards him, both of them thinking about the magical night they had shared.

"Keep up the good work, boys and girls, I couldn't be more proud to see how far we've all come together." This sparked a flood of emotion from the crowd and collectively, she shed several tears. As he climbed into the machine, Morticia couldn't resist approaching him and giving him a deep kiss. Everyone was astonished at this development, but said nothing, instead only cheering for them. One leg in the casket-like device now, he took one more look around the room with a big smile and saluted with two fingers from his eyebrow, They all waved and said a collective goodbye. After laying down, he extended a hand to Doug, then Dick, they each performed their secret personal handshakes they had developed with Trigger and said their personal goodbyes. Mushinto was the next to do this,

"See you soon, my friend." They smiled at each other, and said no more. Morticia then approached again and kissed him one more time. He caressed her face softly as he looked into her eyes overlooking him.

"You certainly are a rare gift on a merciless world." This evoked a tear from her and she covered her mouth. She couldn't speak, she had nothing appropriate for how she felt. Her feelings crushed her heart inside her chest as she watched him smile at her, then nod to Doug. The windowed cover closed over him, and he put his hand to the thick glass, palm open. He kept that soft smile as she put her palm against the glass to meet his. They locked eyes and he mouthed the words, "Be strong for me."

In moments, he was frozen, and Doug and Dick left the room after attempting to console Morticia with reassuring pats on the back. She ignored them, looking into Trigger's frozen eyes with despair she had never known. She had to do as he said and be strong now, though. Sierra Onimal was now a man short and they had plenty of work to be done after the time they had taken off today and yesterday.

With a heavy heart, Morticia steeled herself for the days ahead and left, hoping that this woulnd't be the last she saw him alive.

-FIN-

A short story I wrote a good while ago and recently revised to read better. I think I played this colony on Extreme Random but that was a while ago. A few versions ago, no less. Nonetheless, I hope you guys enjoy the story! Please leave feedback I always appreciate it Stupid stoked about that update coming up!

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"Commander, Pirates have been detected by our scanners and they are landing within range of our mortars. Shall we fire?"

"Always, Procene." The commander replied, a calm expression turning to a sly grin as he added, "Our prison cells are a bit empty." then becoming serious again, "Alert Frenchy, Old Ben, and Doug to man the mortars. I don't care if it is raining, we need to thin their numbers before they reach our walls and meet our turrets."

"Yes, Commander." She affirmed, immediately turning to patch herself through the commlinks that Doug had converted from gear picked up from fallen enemies.

The Commander, a well-rounded leader named John Whitehouse, called 'Trigger' for his quick-draw on his pistol and the minigun always on his back, was a man of efficient words. He had a mind for survival and the nerve to do what had to be done. Stepping outside with no rush, he took no shelter from the pouring rain. The fog was a hindrance for most but his bionic eye gave him the advantage, and gave him the sight to help guide the mortar fire.

A seemingly fast four hours passed before Procene's sweet voice rang in the commlink on his ear, "Commander, the Pirates are done preparing and taking losses and are approaching quickly from the East." Trigger responded immediately, his coarse voice ordering back through the commlink to all units, "All units with ranged weapons take positions in the courtyard immediately." And then switching to reach only Mushinto, a Hunter who had been here as long as he had, "Mushinto, bring your sword."

"You couldn't stop me if you tried." Trigger only smirked to himself, always impressed by the sheer gall Mushinto had. He was a hardened man just as Trigger was, and neither of them had ever been bothered by the sight of death or gore.

Trigger himself had been in a battle with Tribals a long year and a half ago when he lost his arm to a warrior wielding a sword. It had been replaced by a better bionic one by Tom, a peaceful Settler, but he missed his organic one. He remembered the moment in which he lost his arm, looking into the man's eyes as he unloaded his pistol into his gut, falling back and fading to black only to wake up in the Medical Ward.

Even though his arm was gone, he felt relieved that the base had not fallen. That would be the last time they would see Pirates for over a hundred days. The last battle with Pirates had been less of an issue with upgraded defenses, and this one would be even less so. In the course of 250 days, they had fought constantly with two different Tribes and two different Pirate Bands. The only allies they had had been bought with gifts of silver, and they were an Outlander Town named Acrobat's Burg. They would assist in any battle if Mushinto was on the Comm, but Trigger didn't like asking for help.

It took the Pirates another ten minutes to reach the walls, and everyone in the courtyard heard the first gunshots over the slowing rain. They took their preferred positions behind cover, half of the eight of them with M-24 Sniper Rifles, and prepared for the first of them to break through the door they could all see. Their gunfire would join that of another five turrets aimed at that door, and if any survivors made it through all of that, they would only meet another six turrets, all the while being fired at by snipers and people equipped with assault rifles. Trigger, of course, was there in the middle of all of it with his Minigun.

The defenses were not designed to physically stop intruders, the original three of them had decided that that was not the best way. Instead, each of the walls had an opening through which one person could walk at a time, efficiently slowing the flow of them as they met the other side. Coming from the East, these Pirates would find an opening in a wall between two parts of the mountain the base was constructed in.

The opening led to a room where two turrets were built into the side of the mountain, a door stopping them from progressing to the courtyard where more turrets and Colonists awaited them. All of the turrets did not face the door they were coming from, but the door they were heading for. Invaders would not even know the turrets were there until they passed them and they were being shot at, effectively trapping them in a false sense of security and a blanket of gunfire.

Finally, they heard two small explosions. The two turrets had been destroyed and now there was a loud beating on the door. The Colonists gripped their weapons and pressed them into their shoulder, trying to mellow out their breathing but failing with quickly beating hearts.

Trigger and Mushinto were not afraid of battle these days, and Doug was next to follow that trend in Trigger's mind. He was a bright young man, and Trigger saw him as the next leader when he inevitably passed. After all, Doug had single-handedly done all the research that had put them here, including the mortars and how to turn the giant rocks into stone blocks properly, and that was all before his eighteenth birthday. Not to say that a scientist was the best leader, but Doug showed promise in many ways.

The door was broken now, and as it fell the Pirates poured into the courtyard in single file. They tried to move as fast as they could through the potato fields to the concrete that would get them to some cover, but the opening of the door had unleashed a round of fire that started a grand firefight. The advancing Pirates were quickly beginning to reconsider their plan, and one of them turned to run immediately.

Trigger counted twenty as they spread out from the perimeter door, and he pulled the trigger on the Minigun with a malicious smirk. He had come to enjoy battle, the rush that he got from the adrenaline coursing through him. The bullets sprayed from his gun, targeting helped through the fog by his bionic eye. The Pirates started to fall quickly, the colonists landing shot after fatal shot.

Eighteen.

Thirteen.

Ten.

Six.

Mushinto was there around a corner from the perimeter door next to a turret. He waited for the last of them to pass and then would go behind them and strike. His skills with the steel were unmatched among Colonists. He had proven that when fighting the previous wielder of his sword, Ol' Walt, in a swordfight. Ol' Walt had since been crushed in a horrible mining accident, and Mushinto used his sword as a memento to his memory.

Mushinto ran through one of the Pirates with his sword and watched him fall to the field of Potatoes, bleeding profusely. Bullets whizzed around him, and he looked to the next victim, only to see the remaining Pirates fleeing. He slashed and stabbed at who he could as they attempted to run South through a small hallway that had no doors leading to what might be their only chance at freedom and life.

There were several that were lying in shock on the ground, but plenty dead, and as the battle finally came to an end the Colonists all cheered loudly. They had suffered no casualties, and that was always something to celebrate about.

Lercha, a previously Tribal man they called, 'Swedish Chef' would be preparing some fine meals tonight. They celebrated through the night, having captured five prisoners and gained plenty of new weapons from the fallen. 'Morticia', a darker tribal woman Trigger had recruited several months ago, would be busy in the crematorium tomorrow. The Colonists had grown tired of digging graves, realizing there would never be an end to the influx of cold flesh soiling their fields.

"Frenchy, come to the main room and update me about the prisoner situation." Trigger said over the Commlink. There was no response, but Frenchy was there in no time, grabbing a meal and sitting down at the table. Trigger joined him, taking off the helmet to his power armor and grabbing a meal as well. The meals were all made of fresh Strawberries and Potatoes, and somehow, the Swedish Chef made it taste good, and kept it varied throughout the week. It was the reason everyone was fine with him doing nothing but cooking, because he was the only one that could work that kind of magic.

Frenchy, whose real name was Jean de Dion was a large man with a clean face and a giant red mohawk. He was previously part of the Pirate band that had just attacked them, and he personally knew some of the prisoners they had captured. Having been an executive before that, he had quite a silver tongue, and had been quite difficult to persuade to join the Colony. Trigger was responsible for that finally happening, as sure as Frenchy was that his companions would come to his rescue. He had not been so lucky.

The only person to escape the prison at Onimal was a Tribal man named Cambiar, who had been lucky to have the prison wall hit by a mortar shell fired by besieging Pirates. That was after Frenchy had already joined them, however. Frenchy had gotten his own room in the prison though, Trigger saying that Frenchy had been a prisoner too long and that he needed to be upgraded to 'VIP' status.

Explained later after the room had been built and nicely furnished with a Royal bed, a table and tiled floor, and even some potted plants, Trigger unveiled his torturous plan when the lights were to be installed. Doug had created colored lights during his research. He discovered that the color blue - due to the sky being blue - would naturally inhibit one's ability to sleep easily. You could still get to sleep, but the blue was the perfect Sky Blue that would fatigue the eyes quickly. Trigger decided that Frenchy would stay in what he dubbed, 'The Blue Room'.

Frenchy stayed imprisoned for almost 11 months. It was 157 days by Frenchy's count, and he was certainly the person that would know. By the end of it, he hated the color of the Sky.

"The new five prisoners are people that I knew personally. They are dedicated members of The Crimson Suns and are not willing to talk about joining us now. They called me a traitor, one of them even tried to swing at me."

"How long do you think it will take?" Trigger was about results.
"I could get at least three of them within the month, we might have to get to threatening the other two with slavery or organ harvesting, I don't think a simple beating will do it."

"Good work. Take Dick with you, let him show them the knife he uses, see if that helps."

"Aye, Commander." Despite Frenchy's name, his accent was decidedly not French, but some kind of more Eastern European country Trigger couldn't discern. He wasn't an Earthborn Human and wasn't too familiar with it's geography or culture. Especially not now, considering there was a period of 500 years in which he had been frozen cryogenically.

It was several weeks later that they were having a special lunch for Mushinto's Birthday. He was turning 50. He didn't look as old as he was, admittedly, and Trigger never minded that one of his best friends on the Colony was almost twice his age. The old man in heavy armor with the sword at his side was muscled beyond compare to anyone else on the base. Leaning down with his massive frame, he blew out the candles on the cake the Swedish Chef had made especially for him and everyone cheered.

"Alright, everyone enjoy this rare break and have a slice of delici-" Trigger was interrupted by Procene in his commlink, loudly anouncing Tribals approaching rapidly. Everyone fell silent as he touched his fingers to his commlink to respond,

"From which direction?"

"North, Commander."

That was good news, even though ill-timed. The defense system they would meet coming from the North was a bit more nefarious than the all-out shootout method of the Eastern defenses in that they were meant to slow and trap attackers as much as possible as they were being shot at by other turrets.

"Looks like this party is cut short for now folks. It's just Tribals, so it shouldn't take long. They usually route once they realize the extent of our defenses, but we need everyone with a weapon outside right now. They will be arriving at the first turret any minute now." Trigger was always ready for battle. It was always around the corner on this harsh planet, after all.

They were outside and ready in minutes. On the other side of the courtyard from the main door to the inside of the base, before the Eastern defenses and just North, there was a room cut into the other mountainside where all the batteries were kept. Before that door, there were two turrets aimed at the Northern entrance where another turret was cut into the side of the hallway.

The attackers would always stop and attempt to destroy that first turret, and the turrets would fire upon them the whole time along with Trigger who was there between the two turrets with his minigun, resting it on the sandbag. All in position now, they heard the war chants getting closer and closer, followed by the shouts of gunfire and clanging that meant they reached the first turret.

There were always more Tribals than Pirates, but they only had appropriate spears, swords, slings, and pila. A pang of ominous energy hit him right in the gut, and Trigger wasn't sure what that meant. He hadn't had a feeling like this since...Ol' Walt was crushed. That couldn't be good.

Trigger fired at them, trying to keep them from ever making it through the hallway with suppressive gunfire. This minigun had been hard earned but he was always convinced that it was worth it. As the gun had to cool down, however, he could not keep constant fire and he was forced to watch one run out, then two and three following that one.
The first one tried to hug the mountain wall but ended up running into Mushinto and his blade waiting right there for just that reason. In two swings he struck the Tribal down, and Trigger was distracted for that fateful moment.
Looking back to the hallway just in time, his one good eye opened wide as the bionic right eye locked onto the Pila flying towards him. He had no time to react, and it pierced his power armor, amazingly, and went through his gut.

He heard Mort scream a dramatic, high-pitched, "Nooooo!" from behind him, and fell back. He felt little pain, and knew that he should have been feeling more, but stood back up slowly and looked to that person that had hit him, gripping his minigun again trying not to mind the blood he was losing. In his mind, the object would stop the blood loss somewhat. Finally, he met familiar eyes and realized who it was that threw the Pila.

Cambiar. The only prisoner to ever escape had returned for vengeance. Now he was the one wearing the smirk, and as Trigger opened up fire to wipe that smirk off his face, he moved back into the crowd, retreating as he accomplished his personal goal.

Trigger would kill his friends, then, and defiantly wear a smirk the whole time. He felled four personally, Mushinto killing another two and Mort sniping off one or two with her M-24. There were several dead, and several others bleeding out in shock. Realizing their defeat, the rest of them turned to run, and Trigger collapsed back in some amount of relief and blacked out.

-TBC-

Only had a few streams live so far, one archived (once I learned that was an option) and many more to come! I played a straight 8 hours yesterday, hoping to go for possibly as many more in future streams coming up today and in days to come very soon! I hope you'll give my channel a look (and I hope it is okay to post this here) and maybe some of you could have a few pointers for me. I've been playing for a while but you never know who has a piece of info that you might be missing haha

Anyway, here's the link:  Here you go

So I'm playing A-11b at the moment, and I was in the middle of a Rough Cassandra game trying to get back in the swing of things. After playing last night and some of today I had my colony doing pretty well. It had survived several raids, several involved with me saving someone who was fleeing another colony. I had even, just before the point of the following picture, destroyed an ancient ship and dealt with a mechanoid raid immediately afterwards. My number of injuries was significant.

Needless to say, I was quick to say 'Yes' when prompted with the 'Will You Offer Help to the Fleeing Guy?' dialogue. The result was me pausing at a coincidental moment, that not only shows the number of people I was up against, but one of my colonists being struck by lighting as well. I thought some of you might enjoy it. He had burns down his torso and on his nose. Could not have felt good!



After winning through this raid, most of my medical beds became full and I was caught with little defenses left when I was struck with a raid by another group, and then another, and then a pack of angry Wargs. I'm taking a break and then I'm going to start a new game in a while.

Hate to double-post, but I finished it already. I know, it didn't take long, but read what happened to the mighty Raptor Rock.

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Day 58
Garrett, Prisoner

A dark day. I awoke in a prison cell, well furnished with actual beds instead of just bedrolls. I was still wounded, but after a while of not seeing anyone, I finally decided to wiggle out of my restraints and see if I could escape. Just as I got out, I smelled smoke. Fire overtook a wall and I was out of the prison cell easier than I had originally hoped. I saw many dead bodies, and raiders satisfied with the slaughter, departing. I found this journal and decided to leave it as a testament to the great battle fought here. I saw almost twenty colonists (I assumed they were all colonists, I might have gotten some bodies mixed up) dead, and many raiders killed.

From my deduction, it looked like they were hit from one side, then another just afterwards. From evidence, it looks like they were blindsided and attempted to make a final stand to the second wave of raiders, one of equal number to the one that had just decimated them and left. I was the only survivor. I have seen much death before, but never in so great a scale. This was no mere battle, this was a war of survival. The drive to do so was apparently not enough this day. I shall live on to tell this story, strange as it may seem as its only surviving prisoner.

---

Man, Random Randy is ruthless! He is truly random, and I have to mention almost brutal. Even Tough Cassandra isn't so crazy as to send raiders on you back to back without a break in between. My colonists were destroyed, even with all the work I had put into the defenses. Sometimes it just doesn't go well and you get overwhelmed, and I guess that is the moral of this story!

Thanks man! I also forgot to say this, but I played this on Tough Cassandra, and I finally lost. I play tough on myself and start a new base when I get overrun by raiders, to give it some kind of realism. Anyway, I made it all the way to cycle 17 before finally losing everyone. I am going to continue through the story of my newest base, Raptor Rock, played with the Randy Random AI storyteller. I know there are no pictures but I hope I can do well enough describing the important points.

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Raptor Rock.
Day 32, Hour 05
Hogan, Leader & Entrepreneur

For three cycles we have been striving in an unknown environment. The world has been surprisingly kind to us for the past thirty days, and we have had no hostile visitors. All we have seen is stragglers wandering by that we quickly captured and indoctrinated. I say we, but I did all the talking to convince them. It is not always easy, but they always get tired of the prison cell eventually. Speaking of, we are doing so well on metal that we need to expand the prison and our number of beds, if colony growth is going to continue like this.

That said, our arsenal is limited, since we have yet to encounter any raiders, and combat suppliers have not had much and have been rare themselves. What we have seen a lot of is slave traders, and that worries me a little bit about this system that we have landed in. What kind of black market system is this? We will have to be careful. Slavers are cold and calculating, and never quick to enact a plan when the odds are against them. We have defenses, with some choke points built in the mountains rigged with blasting charges and auto turrets. Hopefully they will suffice, but there is no telling in what number we will encounter them. They often send too many, or at least that is what I was told by one of the colonists we picked up from the surroundings who had survived a raid from another colony that had been destroyed completely.

I was determined not to let that happen to us. Luckily, today a combat supplier stopped by and I was able to acquire us a beautiful M-24 Sniper Rifle. Lozano, our Assassin, was ecstatic to get a hold of it, and I felt a little more safe almost immediately. I can only feel under constant threat now, however, as I know there has been too much peace to last. There will be a raid soon, and I hate to jinx us that way, but I know it in my gut to be true.

I will consult the construction crew about some new defenses, and maybe that new Scientist, Long will have some ideas that can help. I know we need better defenses, and I honestly wish we could set up a shooting range or something, maybe even a small arena to practice melee combat, that way we could be more prepared beyond past experiences, but we don't have time for that anyway, so instead we decided that we should set up some more sandbags, including some inside the entrances that way we have a fall back option. I got Robbins, the Brawler, to agree to set up an ambush near the entrance closest to any enemy invaders, should we have any, and he was actually enthusiastic. I like all these people so far, and I am very impressed with how well this new colony, Raptor Rock, is doing.

This is Hogan, and this is my journal.

---
Day 34

I knew it. Today, we were hit by raiders. Their numbers weren't as large as I initially expected, but that too worries me. I fear that they may have just been a scouting party. One did manage to get away, but we managed to capture another one. He did say that there were more raiders, but he didn't say when they would come. I converted him to our side. I'll make sure he is on the front line when I hear that alarm go off.

As far as the blasting charges, they were a huge success! It only took four, placed well with a little predictability, to kill six of the entire ten of them. The other four were no match for the squad of six manning the defenses led by Lozano. We need to set up our defenses for the next time though, I know there are more to come, and I know just the plan for them.

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Day 48
Long, Scientist

Ex-Military Researcher Long here to report that the keeper of this journal has been changed to me. Hogan, the lovable and sociable salesman that was so popular here, died in a surprise raid. They landed close, and blindsided us. He was caught in the crossfire in the worst of situations, and died promptly, shot down like a wild animal. Our defenses quickly rose to the occasion, and spurned by the sight of Hogan's death, defeated the odds against them. Well-armed raiders with explosives and assault rifles attacked us in numbers upwards of twenty.

Nobody could see how many got away, but we know the body count was twenty-two, and we took another two prisoners. We were able to thin them out with some baiting tactics mixed with blasting charges. After an explosion here and there, a sniper bullet placed accurately into the leader charging into the fray, the raiders promptly decided that they needed a better plan and retreated. We got one or two of them while they were turning tail, and we were quick to celebrate, though we didn't have too much time too.

On that note, big projects coming up. We have been smoothing stone around the base and stockpiling metal. I estimate all the metal we have planned to mine out, including what we are just waiting to haul, to be about 3000 units of metal, and by then we will be ready to work on new construction projects. We have not decided on a new leader, and I don't think the colony really feels right appointing one. We all just sort of kept doing what we had been doing before, and leaving decisions to votes or the most experienced. The warden was changed to a noble we captured though, nobody really liked the idea of having that position besides him, anyway.

We have lost a total of six people so far, and killed about thirty-five raiders. I like that ratio, though I would prefer our number of deceased colonists to stay in the single digits. I have great fear that this will not remain true for long, but I do believe that this colony will strive for a long time to come. Raptor Rock is a good place, and a place definitely worth fighting for. The six marines on base have to agree, but they have moxie when it comes to everything. No matter the struggle, they are up to it, and they basically saved us today. Them and that crazy Assassin character, Lozano. He unnerves me sometimes, when I see how cold his eyes are. I know he has taken many lives, and I honestly don't think he has any compassion left.

Not my place to say, he says, but it is no matter. He is right, I am just a scientist. I did take on this responsibility though, I figure someone has to. I look forward to the future, this place should be getting more comfortable! We found another steam geyser, and plans for another generator are already in motion. We are going to need plenty of extra power for all the plans we have coming up.

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Day 56
Long

Raiders hit us hard today. There had to have been thirty of them, easy. I didn't get into the fray, myself, but I know that we lost Lozano. He was shot and someone tried to pull him in, but he died in the arms of Parrish, the last marine remaining from the battle now. The other three died noble deaths, and we all have had a great amount of sorrow weighing heavy on our hearts today. Again, the strategy before used consisting of choke points, blasting charges, turrets, and people behind sandbags and walls, we prevailed. The numbers are now at fourteen. That's how many warm bodies we have filling beds, and we have about eighteen available. Fortunately, we have captured more stragglers, and managed to get some new marines. Should get better from here.

We got that other generator working, and even some solar generators. The next project will be expanding our defense and our base all the way to the other mountain. We have decided that this place can get big and entirely more successful. The oafs had a good idea, suggesting putting hydroponics tables outside. I thought it was redundant, but then they explained that it would save energy, and reduce overall time taken to grow the potatoes due to the difference in time between regular potatoes and accele-potatoes. Taking this into account, I agreed with them and it has been set up. Everything is working very smoothly, and I am more than impressed by the capability of the colonists here. Hopefully things will continue to be so easy. There is no telling with this planet, however, we have seen a lot of wild animals attacking us randomly.

--


That's it so far! I will play more tonight and add on as I go! I hope you guys enjoy this, I didn't want to spam up the forum with another story thread so I just put it here! Thanks for reading, let me know if you enjoyed it or if you have any questions or suggestions, I welcome it all!

Just a note on defenses, it would save some of your people if you spread them a bit more and interspersed sandbag defenses with pillars of wall between to make them more protected from more angles. Just saying. As far as the story, well done! I have only fought upwards of 20, almost 30 raiders, but I just started playing a Random game as well! They're quite interesting, especially considering all the people you get before you even see any raiders, makes it difficult in a more epic way, I think. I already have like 12 people myself. I like it as a break from Cassandra. Anyway good work! Making it with one person at least alive is what counts!

Day 1 -

Well, it was not as bad as it could have been, in all honesty. I am glad we were just able to survive. Speaking of, looks like we are going to have to get to work very quickly if we want to continue to do so. No matter, with my charm and brains, Gilbert's strong working hands, and Adam's soft way with plants, we will have little trouble I am certain.

-Kreuger

Day 3 -

We have shelter, food growing, and some metal for future construction being mined out. We are off to a good start. Steady work will make this colony happen one step at a time. -K

Day 6 -

Everything is coming together. We have energy coming from a Geothermal generator just to the south, and extra reserve power funneling into batteries coming form solar arrays set up just outside near the growing areas. I am getting comfortable in a new bedroom with some long-awaited privacy and looking forward to a bright future. Also, tomorrow I will wake up to talk to a prisoner we just captured and put into the new prison, our previous sleeping quarters. A friendly chat and he should be up to join us. At least, I hope so, we desperately need a miner! -K

Day 7 -

Tragedy today, as a raider scout was found outside our base. Our first experience with death in quite some time, and I am still a little shocked by how it all happened. Gilbert is building defenses as I write this, in expectation that this is only the beginning of a long war with raiders. I had often heard stories about raiders and how they had all ambition just to burn down everything you loved, to mock and defile it as devils so well do. Oh well, we did not lose anyone, not yet. We just had to kill him, though Adams did take a bullet. I have already treated the wound, and I expect she will be working tomorrow, determined and stubborn as she is. On another note, the prisoner we captured yesterday joined us fairly quickly. He goes by Gomez, he says. He is welcome to be here so long as he works, in my eyes. I don't think Adams likes him, though. -K

Day 10 -

The last day of our first cycle on this planet. I wonder if we will ever be able to find a way back to our old lives? Will we last that long? Could we find greater success here starting a new colony? Only time will tell. Me and Gilbert discussed future strategies should raiders return with more numbers, and set up a few choke points where we could have cover from sandbags and walls while firing in accompaniment with the auto turrets he had set up. We discussed putting rocks near the choke points to slow down enemy movement, but that is a low priority compared to all the things we have been working on. New bedrooms, mining further into the mountain around us to find more metal, making more defenses and outposts to defend from every possible angle.

Day 4, Cycle 2 -

Just as I thought, another attack. I took a bullet this time, and almost got my head blown clean off by a frag grenade, but Gilbert has better eyes than I do, and he saved us both! If this was a business, I would give him a raise, but since I can't, I simply suggested that he make his room bigger. I plan to further decorate all the bedrooms myself since it looks like we will be staying a while. Also, I have been researching at the new bench. Carpet might be in the future, if I can just figure it out. I almost have it! Anyway, we also captured a raider named Gallegos. Gomez took a few whacks at him since he took a bullet from the bastard too. I am going to go in in the morning to talk with him. Maybe we can make this colony grow a little more. Things might get more efficient. I can only dream. -K

Day 9, Cycle 2 -

Unbelievable. I honestly can't believe that that was how he had to die. We lost Gilbert today. Me and Adams were the most distraught about it. We dug him a grave and a quick burial took place. Me and Adams talked in praise about him over dinner and reminisced a little, but we sadly have little time for grief. As for how it happened, well...it was a matter of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Not raiders, but an electrical explosion. All the power we had saved in all those batteries, all exploded out at once in the once piece of conduit he happened to step on right at that moment. I talked to Gomez about covering all the conduit in Metal Tile and he agreed that it might help but wouldn't guarantee that no future shortages would happen.

Day 5, Cycle 3 -

A slave trader passed through Comms range today, and we had enough to offer the slavers to afford an Assassin named Avila. She is a young girl, almost 20 years old, but with a shot sharp enough to make me consider giving her control of the only M 24 we had on base. She was certainly fond of it once I gave it to her, though it doesn't seem like she talks much or anything. She is a slave, but I tried to tell her that she shouldn't feel like one here, just so long as she does her best with that sniper rifle. She spends her time walking around, from what I have seen, patrolling the area around the base behind cliffs. She has even found some good spots to snipe from. She was definitely a good investment! -K

(That is all I have so far. I will likely update this to include more later but that is all I have for now that I can remember and put into diary form. Kreuger died not too long after all of this, I definitely know that. I will try to put some other stuff together when I find the time, hope you enjoyed it so far though!)

So I noticed a few things as I checked the list of suggested features.

1. There was nothing listed under Traits or Biographies.

2. Nothing about Psychic powers.

The latter might be a bit strange considering the nature of the game, but I only thought about it when I remembered the random event that happens occasionally, the one with the psychic wave affecting animals and making them go mad. You know the one? So what if certain colonists had this trait that was 'Psychic' or something? Maybe make them able to affect the minds of others, somehow make a raider switch sides in the middle of a raid and make trouble for his teammates, not to mention a distraction from your own people. Maybe that is not something that would really be considerable as implementable, but perhaps it could be an idea for a future mod for someone, I don't know.

Anyway, as far as traits, and biographies, I have a few ideas.

Traits:
Social Butterfly
Bipolar
Socially Awkward
Physically Attractive
Sensitive/Soft-Hearted
Bloodthirsty (Come to think of it I am not sure if this one is already in there)
Reserved
Outgoing
Moxie (determined to achieve ambitious goals and such)

You might want to fix the pregnant trait to be female restricted, as I saw a male pregnant. It was funny but, you know, let's not take the future too far =P Speaking of, though, I was also thinking in terms of dwarf fortress when I noticed that Pregnant was a trait. Will you be adding children? Will that be a possibility in future colonies? To have inward growth not based in taking prisoners and converting them?

For biographies, I think there should be a big list, and I honestly think it would take more than the recommendations of one person to satisfy the masses in that regard. So, I will offer some suggestions, and I hope that they inspire others to do the same!

Biographies:
Military Brat
Desert World Child - Alternatively, Frozen Planet Child (What if terrain options were available, on a sidenote?)
Space-Raised
Outcast/Exiled (Might be better suited as a trait, honestly)
Hippie Raised
Starship Captain
Starship Engineer
Starfleet Officer
Galactic Knight (Melee Weapons?)
Barbaric Warrior (Immune to negative effect from dead bodies)
Assassin Training (Childhood)/ Assassin (Adulthood - Should make immune to negative effect from dead bodies)
Space Pirate
Scientific Prodigy (Low social, high research)
Space Station Veteran
Satellite Engineer
Bounty Hunter

That's honestly all I can think of for right now. Hope this helps in some way!

Hey! I'm Saint, been playing games since I was old enough to hold a controller. My grandma literally taught me how to play games, she actually beat my copy of Final Fantasy 8 before I did! I just got this game a few days ago and have completely put down Pokemon for a bit just to focus on this! I really like this game and its style, and the way the framework all goes together and makes everything happen.

I can't wait for the update but it will take a while even with this before I get bored even a bit! I love Prison Architect and Dwarf Fortress both, and have done well in each, as well as this one! As far as questions, I will only answer with my opinion on breakfast cereal, and that is to say that I agree with Tynan on the Frosted Mini Chex, those are amazing.

Good to be here though! I will be sharing my stories with you about how my colonies are doing. I currently have two that I switch between. One on regular Cassandra, and one on Tough! The Tough one is actually doing well, to my surprise, but I am almost 25+ cycles in on the other one. I've had some great amounts of luck in this game, both amazingly bad and good, and I'm sure they will make you laugh as hard as I did.

Anyway, nice to meet everyone!

I was quite discouraged by the slaughter at first as well, my friend. Have no worry, it just takes time losing all of your people and your whole base over and over again until you slowly start implementing new strategies about how to deal with raiders.

In the turret defense aspect I have been more than successful. I make choke points with walls and the natural cliff formations, to slow them down with rubble in dumps and make them meet three turrets in strategic positions when they hit that corner. That, plus some sandbags by nearby corners, with some people there. This is a little more advanced of a tactic meant for when you are facing about twenty raiders. I use a lighter version for the beginning and build up.

I honestly recommend a relocation at the beginning of most matches unless you really luck out, because the map usually has a better place if you start out at something too basic or open. I am even playing on Tough Cassandra right now though and though she has given me some trouble, I have used the above strategy plus some blasting charges to keep my colony going and expanding for 16 Cycles!

Never underestimate cover, it can really do magic. On that note, don't underestimate the tactic of funneling either. It will really blow your mind how easy it can make it, though have no surprise if they try to burn your walls down anyway, because they will.