Story The Tau Ceti Gang - A Serial Starbound Adventure - *What's up with Hart? Find out!*

Trowzers, where are you, I've been Brandis deprived for too long!

(I mean, take your time, sorry....)

 

Aww sorry for the delay! My computer broke over a week ago, and I'm still organising to get a new one.
I'd planned out a bunch of chapters and storyboarded the next story arc, and actually half wrote the next chapter, but I can't get hold of that document until I get my new computer and move the contents off my old hard drive
Hopefully I will have the computer back in time for the next Starbound update, so I can start fresh on my server too! I miss playing (and writing!)

 

Ok hope things go back to normal soon.......bannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaBANNA

 

THERE IS STILL HOPE!

 

CHAPTER TWENTYNINE
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Hart returned to the bridge to find Brandis frowning at a blank screen on the nav panel.
“All the fuel is loaded, although these resort planets charge like an angry destrier. Is there something wrong with that panel?”
Brandis shook her head, biting her lip in concentration. “I'm tryin' ta remember something.” She zoomed out to show several neighbouring systems, and then zoomed back into blank space again. Then she shook her head and looked up at Hart with a sigh. “Without the nav logs from my old Drifter, I just can't be sure of the co-ords. But I think I have 'em mostly right.”
“But there's nothing there.” Hart said, feeling he was pointing out the obvious as Brandis keyed numbers into the nav panel and blackness returned to the nav screen yet again.
“Yeah, that's the point.” Brandis sighed again. “It really is the best spot for us to offload this stuff and buy new weapons without drawing attention to ourselves, but the Void Markets aren't the easiest place in the world to find.”
“The Void Markets?”
Brandis pulled back from the nav panel and stretched her shoulders. “Yeah, the Void Markets – it's where everyone goes to trade things that are a little out of the ordinary, or when ya want to offload stuff without annoying things like names coming into it. I've only been there once, though, and they don't exactly advertise.”
“So it's like a blackmarket?”
“Yeah, an' a pirate town, an' casino an' more all rolled into one.” Brandis grinned as she remembered her one visit to the Void Markets. “They're run by a Hylotyl named Lady Beluri. Smart gal. They say she only hires Novakid guards, so they don't remember all the pies she has her fingers stuck in. Ages ago she found a bunch o' giant burnt out hulks from some ancient battle floatin' between two systems. So she sold off what hunks o' metal she didn't want, an built on or rented out the rest. That was ages ago an' while she's never been small fry, the Void Markets are a huge deal these days an' Lady Beluri runs the whole show.”
Hart stroked his chin. “If these markets don't appear on any nav maps, how do they attract business?”
Brandis shrugged. “Friends of friends. Those in the right business just know, an' pass the co-ords around to those who need them. I found out 'cos I had a delivery there. It was a little eensy box, but Lady Beluri came out to the docks herself to sign for it. I often wonder exactly what was in that box.” She pondered a moment before continuing. “Anyway, it was such a fun-looking place that I asked work for a few days off and spent some time wandering around.”
“Wasn't that dangerous? With pirates and all that sort of thing?”
Brandis grinned. “Safe as houses! That Lady Beluri keeps a tight ship. An' no self-respecting pirate wants to get on her bad side, or they'd have nowhere to sell their gear. Nah, it's the space around the Markets that's a problem. Lots of pirates not wanting to travel far for work, so to speak. And that's why I'm worried about not getting the co-ords right the first time – especially when we have no proper weapons.” She frowned at the nav panel again.
Hart nodded in understanding. “So that's why you wanted me to get that extra fuel?”
“Right. We might have to make a few jumps to get to the right place. I just hope we don't accidentally jump into the middle of a ship or something...”
Hart gazed at the blank spot on the nav panel with steely resolve. “Well, only one way to find out. Will it be a long warp.”
Brandis nodded. “A good five hours from this prim and proper system. But when we get there, we better be ready.”

Brandis had tried to nap, but her nervousness about the warp kept her tossing and turning in her bed until the sheets were tangled around her hairy legs and the pillow was pushed onto the floor. Finally she got out of bed, huffing with frustration. She soon found herself sitting back in the bridge, staring at the streaming stars with a strong coffee in her hand.
The wait was agonising. She had to stop herself from drinking too much coffee, as she didn't want to be jittery when they dropped out of warp, but she also couldn't concentrate on anything else. But the time eventually passed, and Hart returned to the bridge five minutes before they dropped out of warp. He found Brandis hunched over the nav panel, tapping both her feet and hands in an anxious rhythm.
“Steady on there, Captain. Just take it as it comes.”
Brandis glanced up at him and grinned, but her eyes remained tense.
Finally the ship juddered and the streaming stars began to shorten. Brandis had time to sigh with disappointment as she viewed the blank space in front of them.
“Got it wrong.” she groaned.
“Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure we're close. And at least there's nobody else here...” Hart's voice snapped off suddenly as a green beam of light shot across their bow.
Brandis snapped to attention, and propelled the Tau Ceti sideways, hard, spinning their ship at the same time to face their attacker. “Keepitcool.Keepitcool. Keep. It. Cool.” She chanted under her breath as she assessed the situation.
As they turned, the black expanse of space began to fill with ships.
“The Markets?” Hart queried.
Brandis just shook her head, too distracted to reply. She spun the Tau Ceti again as more beam weapons erupted from the ships in front of them. “Nads! Hart, take the nav station. I gotta evade this stuff.”
Hart hesitated, confused. “But where are we warping to?”
“I dunno!” Brandis yelped as a burst of red smoke billowed suddenly from one of the larger ships. “Missiles!” she shrieked “Hart, maybe I transposed the last two numbers or somthin' – swap them round and set it up! Hurry!” A trail of smoke began streaming towards the Tau Ceti as Brandis wheeled them this way and that. Hart fiddled frantically with the unfamiliar nav controls.
The missile began to close on them, curving to follow their evasive moves. Brandis bit her lip and almost leapt back onto the nav controls, but just as she decided to knock Hart back out of the way, she felt the clunk as the coils locked into place, and the Tau Ceti sunk blessedly back into the streaming stars of warp.


Skip to next chapter

 

Good stuff! I just read through all 29 chapters in about 4 hours It's a slow pace, but imagination can't be rushed!

Personally, I'd like to see the duo go after Hart's problem first.

 

Hooray! A new chapter!

 

I'm saying this before I read the chapter by the way, YAY A NEW CHAPTER, EPICNESS AND BANNAS AND GOOD JOB QMD EPICNESS AND FAT FAT FLAMIGO AND YEAH

 

CHAPTER THIRTY
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“Phew!” Brandis said, wiping her brow. “We got outta there by the straps of Great Ape's panties – any longer and we would have dragged tha missile into warp with us.”
Hart looked up uncertainly. “Ah, sure. I'm not sure if I set the co-ordinates correctly, though.”
Brandis glanced down at the nav panel. “No, that's just fine,” she said. “You transposed the last two numbers on the X co-ordinate, which is just what I wanted to try.”
Hart still looked nervous. “Well, that's what I was attempting, but I wasn't sure I'd pressed all the buttons properly. I guess it doesn't matter though.” He sighed deeply. “Do you think we have the right co-ordinates this time?”
“We'll find out in a sec.” Brandis said grimly. The next warp point was close, and soon the engine whine dropped as they began to exit warp. The stars had barely contracted to their regular shape when Brandis threw the Tau Ceti back into evasive manoeuvres. It was still too late. A purple laser speared towards them. The ship spun with the force of the blast.
Without needing to be told, Hart bent towards the nav controls, and the Tau Ceti leapt back into warp. Laser beams streamed after the ship like deadly pick-up-sticks, then vanished into the haze of streaming stars.
Brandis leant back. “Thank Knowledge this engine has a fast warm up, eh?” When Hart didn't reply she turned towards him. He was staring at his hand as it hovered over the nav panel. “It's ok, Hart. You can relax. Those co-ordinates should take a couple of minutes to reach.” When he still didn't move she added “Nice job, by tha way – you keyed in those co-ords almost faster than I coulda.” She busied herself checking the damage logs. It seemed the damage was mostly cosmetic – the thick hull of the Tau Ceti wasn't just for show, it seemed.
Hart turned slowly towards her. “But I didn't” he said.
“Huh?”
Hart lifted his shoulders as if trying to unstiffen them. “I didn't... actually get around to, you know, keying in the co-ordinates. It just... went.”
Brandis' expression became sympathetic. “Prolly just shock, Hart. When things get hot, time just seems to... squeeze together.”
Hart shook his head and scratched his brow. “I guess. Maybe it's these augments.”
Before they could discuss it further, the drone of the engine began to whine down and they both braced themselves at their stations. They exited warp and Brandis began to scan the area frantically. The seconds stretched out in silence. Sweat dripped down Brandis' nose. But the space outside remained blessedly empty.
'Finally!” she groaned, flinging back into her chair with exaggerated relief.
Hart still had a hand arched over the nav station. “But there's still no sigh of the Markets?”
Brandis leant forward, her relaxation short lived. “Nah, but now we have some safe space – at least for the moment – I can do some long range scans to see if we're close.” After a few minutes she grinned at Hart. 'Aaaand bingo! Large structures pinging at upwards portside. I reckon we can just use thrusters from here.”

Over the next half hour, the Markets drew closer, minute by agonising minute. It was a frustrating process for those used to the speed of warp, flitting between galaxies like a dragonfly flitting between lilies, but it did give them a great view.
From a distance the Void Markets appeared to be a collection of half-crushed chocolate eggs, some almost complete, and some merely fragments of thin, brownish shell. It was only when they drew closer than they could tell that the shells were made of tarnished bronze metal – the hulls of enormous rounded ships. Tiny mites revealed themselves to be ships flying from hull to hull, or vanishing in a spark as they leapt to warp. The broken holes in the bigger hulls shone with the blue iridescence of shields, but the broken fragments were bare of shields, and ships clustered over them like flies over a picnic morsel. Brandis pointed them out. “The unshielded fragments are used as shipyards and docking mostly, or selling things too big to handle anywhere else. They break down ships, do repairs, an' all that stuff.” She traced a narrow tube between a shipyard and one of the complete hulls. “The less damaged hulls are used as habitats. Lady Beluri worked out that the hulls were still strong enough to contain atmosphere, with only a little shielding on the holes. She parked an artigrav right in the middle, and started building her Markets on the inside surface, like a reverse planet. It's in there that all the big deals are done. You'll see.”
“And Lady Beluri owns all this?” Hart was impressed. There were three large spheres the size of moons and countless fragments buzzing with activity. The surface area would add up to several large planets.
“Yeah, not bad, eh?”
As the distance to the Markets closed, the comm channel began to buzz with notifications of incoming traffic. Hart brought them up on the display. “Ugh, it's all advertisements.”
Brandis shrugged. “No anti-spam rules on a pirate station.”
“But how will we figure out the best place to buy ship's weapons?”
“Well, we hafta go in there.” She pointed at one of the shells. “All the real trading is done inside. But first we hafta dock and empty the garbage outta the ship, and there's only one place for that. The Weigh Cartel run all the shipyards and recycling yards – they're just too good at it for there ta be any competition. We just need to contact them an' find out where they've got a spare docking bay.”
Brandis sent out a signal to the Weigh Cartel and in seconds the video screen flickered to life with a response.
|Welcome, Tau Ceti and passengers| The bot on screen was a spiderlike mass of pincers and tool arms but somehow the LEDs on what passed for it's face managed a friendly expression. |Please proceed to Docking Bay Taurus 351 and we will be happy to serve you|.
“Matosoids.” Hart snarled at the screen with disgust.

 

Wow! This is one of the best stories i've ever read! Great job Trowzers!
Oh, have a cat and red panda.

 

Epic, so happy chapters are bring written agian after quite a while Anyway god job Trowzers can't wait for the cute adventures of the tau ceti gang

 

What the I just read my comment and I just realised I wrote cute adventures....umm I guess I'll leave it though...lol

 

MOAR plz

 

CHAPTER THIRTYONE
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Brandis tried to ignore Hart's outburst as she spoke to the Matosoid Salvage Manager. She learnt that the Matasoid's name was Wrencharm and he had the polite, businesslike manner that Matosoids were famed for. But despite this, Brandis could feel Hart's growing anger as the conversation went on.
As soon as she closed the video channel, she turned to her Glitch companion.
“What in Ape's name's the matter with you?”
Hart's LED's glowered. “You didn't tell me the Weigh Cartel was run by Matosoids.” He said coldly.
“'Course it is!” Brandis said patiently, as if she was explaining to a child. “They don't need air or shields to work on tha ships, an' everybody trusts them to do a fair deal. No-one else can compete!”
Hart just turned away. “You wouldn't understand.”
“What's to understand then? Tell me?” When Hart stayed silent, she huffed impatiently. “Look, if you want your precious pew-pews for the ship you're gonna hafta to deal with Matosoids – they're tha only ones who know how to intall 'em. Now tell me what's got your gears all jammed!”
Hart crossed his arms and glared, but he grudgingly replied “Matosoids are a perversion. They're twisted. Did you see all those legs? And it barely had a face you could recognise.”
Brandis narrowed her eyes. “Yer wanderin' about the galaxy with a lady Ape, and risked your life to save a talking plant an' a Human, and yer choosin' now to tell me yer a Species-ist?”
Hart looked startled. “Wait, what? I'm not Species-ist!” he said, suddenly flustered.
“Then what have ya got against Matosoids? You don't have a problem with any other bots.” Brandis stuck her chin out and glared at Hart.
The Glitch sighed deeply. “Look, it's a Glitch thing. I don't want to speak about it. Just you do all the dealings with those... the Matosoids, and I'll do everything else.”
He turned towards the nav panel and pressed the button to accept the autopilot beam for Docking Bay Taurus 351, refusing to meet Brandis gaze so he wouldn't have to continue the conversation.
Brandis sighed and turned back to the displays. She guessed she would have to find out on her own.

When the ship was docked, Brandis jumped up from her chair excitedly and grabbed her leather jacket. “C'mon, grumpypants.” She said to Hart. “Cleaning up the ship can wait. Let's pop over to Hulltown first an' take a look around!” Hulltown filled the nearest of the big ship wrecks and housed most of the markets and businesses. The other two large hulls – Nadir and Zenith – were much emptier and held mostly residences and recreational facilities, and even some gardens and farms. But as far as Brandis was concerned, Hulltown was the only place she was interested in.
Hart agreed, looking a little weary, but he brightened once he realised they were not likely to meet any Matosoids on their way to the larger ship hulk. A flexible docking tube connected the ship's airlock directly to the docking station, and a larger tube then arced all the way to the main habitat over a kilometre away.
“I've always loved these tubes.” exclaimed Brandis, as they passed through their airlock. “No need for stupid suits!”
Hart groaned. “They make me feel nauseous.”
As soon as the airlock opened, Brandis pushed herself out of the ship's gravity and into the padded tube, grabbing one of the many rope rings on it's edge to pull herself forward. “I didn't know Glitch could get nauseous.” Brandis launched herself forwards, flying down the tube. “Whee!” After so long in ship gravity, it was a relief to feel weightless again. She did a somersault, landing with a gentle thump against the ceiling. It looked like she was standing upside down.
Hart followed more slowly, clutching at the rope handholds like they were a lifeline. “Wait for me!”
“Aw cmon, Sparky! It's easy! Just don't push too fast or when you grab the handholds again you're mass will pull your arms outta your sockets!” She flew forward again, grinning.
“Thanks. That's just what I needed to hear.” Hart mumbled, floating after her.

At Hart's slow pace, it took a long time to reach the end of the padded tunnel. Brandis didn't seem to mind, flying back and forth across the tube in front of Hart as he clambered slowly along. But at last they reached the airlock at the end, and held themselves down in the padded airlock chairs as gravity returned and pressed them back towards the floor.
Hart stood up gingerly and brushed off his clothes as Brandis practically jumped up and down in front of the airlock door.
“C'mon, c'mon. Stupid quarantine scans.” She grumbled as green lights flashed over them, checking for dangerous parasites or weapons.
At last, the doors opened with a thunk. Brandis slipped through, dragging Hart behind her.
“Welcome to Hulltown!” she cried, as Hart let out a static-filled gasp at the scene before him.

 

Yay! New chapter!

 

Plot twist: Everything is in ruins.

 

MOAR MOAR MOAR!

 

Trowsers? Trowsers? Please dont tell me this story wont be completed... we miss you! Please tell us whats happening!

 

As this guy said, we need MOAR, I've seen too many good things die.

 

This is glorious :O