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Sat 30th Aug 2025 05:22

Killer Robot v. Big Bomb

by Captain Peter Avignon

Captain's Log - SS *Good Times II


16 June – Actium
 
Departed Actium with the taste of corporate blood still in our mouths and 200k credits heavier. The universe waits for no one, and neither do mail contracts.
 
17 June – Tunguska
Delivered 15 tons of mail (75,000 credits). No refuel.
 
18 June – Arcturus
Offloaded 25 tons of mail (125,000 credits). Refueled (210,000 credits). Received an offer to ferry diplomats for a month—high passage rates for middle passage conditions, netting 90,000 with fuel covered. Lucid refused to play steward for that long. Politely declined.
 
*Days 3-10:* Lemarc. Delivered final 5 tons of mail (25,000 credits). Spent a week refining fuel and taking on supplies.
 
During our layover, a corporate representative approached Lucid at a port-side bar. Applied Robotics had a lab on Bolivar that had gone silent. They offered 125,000 credits each, plus hazard pay, to investigate and report back. We accepted.
 
*Day 11:* Bolivar. The lab's landing pad was dark and still. As Beñat, Castor, and Lucid's bot moved to investigate, I tuned the ship's receiver to local civilian bands. This planet has been locked in a civil war for years—the transmissions are equal parts propaganda, desperate trade offers, and raw, unvarnished music. I recorded a few of the better songs for the ship's library. There's something haunting about the way people make art while standing on a knife's edge.
 
The team found the facility in disarray—no power, no personnel, just signs of struggle and laser scoring. In the basement, they discovered the staff's corpses being systematically implanted with cybernetics by the very robots they built. Beñat identified the lead unit as a Basilisk-class combat bot—something that has no business in a research lab.
 
During their retreat, Castor took fire. Astrid laid down suppression with four Poblano-class bombs—three would've been enough, but I've learned not to question her enthusiasm for explosives. We managed to extract the disabled Basilisk unit. Lucid secured it with a bike lock until we can source a new control core, possibly from her damaged Danger Bot.
 
*Day 12:* Refuelled and departed Bolivar. No mail runs this time—the Basilisk took up the last of our cargo room.
 
We're now en route to Coblensis, heavier by one salvaged war machine and lighter by several illusions about the ethical boundaries of corporate research.
 
— Captain Peter Avignon
SS *Good Times II
 
"Now with more war crimes per cubic meter!"
 
**[Addendum: The Basilisk is currently locked in Cargo Bay 2. It keeps humming. Lucid says it's "just cooling fans," but I'm keeping the particle barbette charged just in case.]**

Continue reading...

  1. Bringing the Fight to Them
  2. Personal Log - New Year, New Shipping Codes
    2nd of January, 4500
  3. Lots of Dead Bodies
    2nd of January, 4500
  4. Personal Log
    9th of January, 4500
  5. Personal Log: Ship Upgrades on Mehen
    10th of January, 4500
  6. Personal Log: The Kumarbi Conspiracy
    17th of January, 4500
  7. Heading into the Unknown
    28th January 4500
  8. The Expedition Begins
    18th of February, 4500
  9. Faxi
  10. Eldanea System + Pariahan Fronts
    4th of March, 4500
  11. Against the Solanian Survey Corp
    18th of March, 4500
  12. Obligatory Water Level
    20th of March, 4500 CE
  13. Aidan Thorpe Arrested
    8th of April, 4500
  14. Leunus Prime
    15th of April, 4500 CE
  15. Impounded on Catta Primae
    25th of April, 4500 CE
  16. Captain's Log: Communications officer detained
    7th of June, 4500 CE
  17. next steps
    14 June 4500
  18. the Mistake (the Planet)
    21st of June, 4500
  19. Licking our wounds in Wild Space
    18 September, 4500
  20. Wow, Civilised Space!
    5 October 4500
  21. Opus Dei strikes Guild science facility
    19th of November, 4500
  22. Hey Geneviève (sup, Hüsnü)
  23. Extra-judicial shipping in the Union of Sol
    7 December, 4500
  24. Derelict space Station - Shiva Rao
    11th December, 4500
  25. Welcome to the Aseni Republic of Vega
    16th of December, 4500
  26. Returning with the spoils of salvage
    11th of January 4501
  27. Fancy Auction
  28. Peter joins the Military-Industrial Complex
  29. Operation Murder Galvao [TOP SECRET]
    9th of April, 4501
  30. I'm at Soup
  31. Taking down Galvao
    18th of April, 4501
  32. Xin Heinan Occupied
    May 6th, 4501
  33. THIS MAIL RUN WENT FULL CHAOS MODE! (GONE WRONG? GONE SEXUAL? GONE CLASSIFIED?!) [NOT CLICKBAIT] [100% LEGIT]
    14 May 4501
  34. Save us, Aidan
    16th of May, 4501
  35. Making the Trek to the Jred Frontier, pt 1
    19th of May, 4501
  36. Guerilla Journalism
    20th of May, 4501 CE
  37. Water Crisis on Actium
    12 June 4501
  38. Just your typical vaporator delivery
    13 June 4501
  39. VapeTech® Infiltration: Operation "Clawed Opportunity"
    15 June, 4501 CE
  40. Veii vs VapeTech®
    16 June, 4501 CE
  41. Killer Robot v. Big Bomb
  42. Onwards, to Jred Space!
    26 August, 4501 CE
  43. Arrival on Midgard
    2nd of September, 4501 CE
  44. Jackpot! Lots of ships!
    3 September, 4501
  45. Upgrades, people. Upgrades.
    24th of September, 4501
  46. Merc Doods
    10th October, 4501
  47. Merc Doods 2
    11 October 4501
  48. Merc Doods 3: The Merckening
    11 OCtober, 4501

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by 3 Armored Kittens · Prodromos v.1.1 - World Anvil 0.9.15.045 © 2017-2025 [en] | Anvil Time: 02:59, Dec 20 2025