Weapons Research

{{ Your Gek servant told me you were coming, interloper. It is an honour to meet one whose bloodlust exceeds even my own! Grah! We shall kill together for the glory of Hirk and our ancestors!

A great Sentinel hunt begins! Come, let us inhale the requisite Grahgrah! }}-

The Vy'keen was old. It was the way they held themselves, the way they spoke. They did not posture; when they smiled at me and told me it was an honour for us to meet, I believed them.

They promised to come to my world and make use of my new Weapons Terminal.

-{{ These facilities are glorious, but know that we Vy'keen exterminate worlds that show even the merest hint of weapons production... Consider yourself lucky that I am your friend! Grahahah! }}-

I learned that the Vy'keen believed no other species should be able to hold weapons; that after the atrocities committed by the Gek, only the Vy'keen should be trusted with arms.

-{{ Violence must be ended; this is the way of Dryn'dargh; this is the way of Hirk. When murder is gone, the last weapon fired will be at the Vy'keen ourselves, having served our holy purpose. }}-

The Armourer was keen to demonstrate they were more than a simple warrior.

-{{ Vy'keen High Command would not permit me to reside here and ignore my purpose, interloper. I have discovered a weapons factory nearby, and to sabotage it would demonstrate our worth.

Grah! Go with honour, but be wary. The eye of the Sentinels will be upon the facility. }}-

The factory was indeed engaged in the production of illegal weaponry, just as the Vy'keen had claimed. I overrode the production line, substituting their blueprints for something more harmless. The factory would produce lightbulbs, at least for now.

I took a copy of the weapon blueprint previously in production, although I could not understand it.

-{{ Excellent work, interloper! Grah! Did you obtain any technology of our own? Here, I will decrypt it for you.

We shall continue your training. Weapons are nothing without usage, without the glory of righteous war!

Steel yourself, Interloper. Pirates have discovered our world! Grah! They will provide practice for your weapons.

Attack, grah! Attack! Burn their hives of villainy and sin! Let them know that this is no one's sky but ours! }}-

As they told me of the pirates, the Armourer began to shake. I had not seen such passion, such hatred, expressed in them for any other being.

-{{ Grah! Fight well, interloper! Destroy them, before they draw more Sentinel attention to our homeworld! }}-

-{{ Interloper, there is both good and bad news. Some of the pirates appear to have fled your wrath! But this merely delays their righteous extermination.

Hunt them down, interrogate them for potential weapons technology, and then consign them to the great abyss! Grah! }}-

The Armourer was clearly possessed by the thrill of the hunt, but this energy could not disguise the fact they appeared to be weakening. Had residing here in my base caused them to become ill?

The pirate I interrogated claimed to have been a captive of the pirates.

-{{ Friend! Such a wonderful hour for our meeting! Know that the Pirates held me captive, that I had nothing to do with their illegal activities; tell Gek Trade Federation I am innocent, yes? }}-

I had my doubts. They offered me their advanced survival blueprints - seemingly in exchange for my silence.

-{{ Here, take this! Take this as a token of my goodness, friend! Keep mouth shut! }}-

The Armourer decrypted their data, but began to cough. They did not appear to be in good health.

-{{ I - I have another task for you. It is almost the end.

There is structure on this world, a depot of little consequence. But to the Sentinels? Grah! They will defend it to their last drone.

Attack it, draw the ire of the Sentinels. Then our hunt can begin! }}-

The Vy'keen seemed to have declined even further. This longing for the hunt appeared to be the only thing keeping them alive.

-{{ I have detected them... their eye is upon us. You have done it, haven't you? Your actions have summoned them...

I am sorry, interloper... I will not be able to assist you in your fight. I am too weak.

They approach... but before the final fight, I have another task for you. I need to be strong to serve you. There is a substance, an offering freely given by the young to their elders, that may yet restore me.

I myself spent years enmeshed within the harvest circuits, my organs sacrificing their enzymes for the fleet. I was glad to do so. But we need not repeat such torment today. Enzyme remnants found on Vy'keen Daggers should be enough to heal me now. }}-

Whatever sacrifice the Armourer had made for others in their youth, they did not appear to have reaped the same benefits in their old age. The Vy'keen's body was scarred, their speech laboured. I did not imagine they would survive another year.

-{{ The daggers.. I can smell the battle enzyme from across the room. Give them to me... }}-

The Vy'keen took the dagger and plunged it into their own arm. They immediately revived, their spirits restored.

-{{ Now we are ready, interloper! The Sentinels are here, and you shall head out to meet them! This day shall be glorious, Traveller, as it has been before and shall be again. }}-

The Vy'keen looked at me with pride. I seemed to have provided them with renewed purpose. Of this I was glad.

But placing my world under threat, getting me to summon so many Sentinels for pointless battle... When I returned, I would need to speak to the Armourer about the future.

-{{ You survived where Hirk fell, Traveller. Forgive me, I was wrong! My whole life, I was wrong! It is not the dead that deserve our service; it is the living. It is you, Traveller. It is you and you alone! }}-

The Vy'keen promised not to cause any more trouble for the base, apologising profusely, telling me that the living deserve service more than the dead, that I especially was worthy of their aid.

The Armourer rewarded me with a token of my great victory.

-{{ It has been an honour to serve you, Traveller. Go on in glory. }}