FTL: Really Peaceful

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

"We should be safe now!" said Morty as the Who the F* Cares entered Engi space. "I heard this race was, like, really peaceful!"

An Engi craft appeared right on cue, explaining that a virus called "Rick Sanchez" was detected aboard and thus, they had to be destroyed. With a single press of a button Rick launched a full salvo and destroyed them. "D-don't believe everything you hear Morty! W-We're gonna need to make a pit stop."

Rick parked the ship next to a nearby Zoltan research vessel and through bribery and the repayment of some undisclosed favor got a treatment to slip through any future Engi detectors. This proves really handy at their next stop, an Engi shipyard where Rick spends a lot of time upgrading the ship and loading it out with augmentations while selling the unused parts.

"There's no p-point rushing if we don't get there alive, Morty."

While in port a Mantis ship, decorated by corpses of Rocks, appears and declares its intent to hunt Charlie. Rick goads the creatures and flushes them out the airlock (he made the button look like a toilet lever) without any fanfare. Just as they are about to depart Charlie arrives with another Rock person, some sort of noble, who he says requires passage to the Grand Basilisk, which is on a planet nearby.

Morty readily agrees to help while Rick mutters "Yeah sure, whatever," while drinking more booze and simultaneously blow torching more armor onto the hull.

Insight: A bunch of the FTL races feature in the game Into the Breach, which is made by the same company.

FTL: Above and Beyond

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

As the rest of her team lifted off, Charybdis boarded the second Kestrel named "Above and Beyond", having hired two ex-military guys to help her fly it - West and Hawkes, who prove their experience by easily taking down some pirates and saving the slave O'Reagan from his asteroid prison - defeating four rebel enemies in a space dock shootout.

After restocking with the Engi and stealthing through a nebula sector they enter Zoltan space and encounter a Rock vessel attacking a science outpost. Before they destroy Rocks, the enemy manages to hit West with a terrible beam causing him to de-age rapidly into non-existence!

I don't think he even got a saving throw...

With nothing to do for him, the crew save the scientists and recruit one of them - Ferediam the Zoltan to take his place. Unfortunately they have no choice but to proceed into Rock controlled space next and run into ship after ship of hostiles in a massive asteroid field, destroying them all but taking severe damage in return.

Despite their depleted status they rush to the aid of another civilian refugee ship being attacked by a Rock cruiser, barely winning the fight. As the civilian ship moves into dock with them to assist with repairs, Charybdis gets light-headed as Hawkes, O'Reagan and Ferediam all faint. She realizes too late that their oxygen system was badly damaged in the last fight and tries to get there to repair it but her legs give way and everything goes black...

When she awakes she and her crew have been saved by the civilians who were quickly flying away from the incoming rebel / Federation war. Unfortunately the Above and Beyond could not be saved as Ferediam self destructed (as is the Zoltan way) and so was dismantled for scrap. This included the all important data cube that was in the cockpit.

MISSION FAIL.

Insight: As energy beings, Zoltans provide one extra bar of energy to whatever station they man. That's pretty cool! Just be careful if they die, because they do so explosively!

FTL: Boarding Parties

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

Upon reaching an Engi controlled system the Waverider overhears nervous chatter from the sheltered residents who are too shy to talk to the heroines, so they make Shirai translate for them. Apparently the Mantis have stolen some important Engi tech that needs to be retrieved. With a a wickedly beautiful smile Sara declares "We're the girls for your job!". Zari wrinkles her nose behind her.

With the Engi's approval, the Waverider follows the trail of the culprits - chasing down a powerful Mantis vessel that beams aboard four Mantis warriors! The thri-keen are very tough with even Sara and Amaya being pushed back, but even bugs need to breathe. Zari gets the crew to disengage into one fortified area of the ship and opens the airlock - expelling all four. Meanwhile Gideon uses the Glaive Beam to wreck their ship, disabling it.

Begging for mercy, the remaining Mantis reveal that they were only part of the thieving fleet - the rest are already in the Zoltan system up ahead. The Waverider leaves them stranded there in pursuit, only to be blocked by a Zoltan military craft. It becomes clear the Zoltan's paid for the heist!

They too send over four boarders to try apprehend the Legends, even killing Shirai using their electric powers. Despite this, they are defeated by the trio of girls who were so focused on the hand to hand they didn't realize that the Zoltan's had hacked and de-powered Gideon. By the time they race back to their stations it is too late, as a focused salvo from the Zoltan ship destroys the Waverider - killing everyone on board in a massive explosion.

And that's how these three heroes of Pre-Crisis Earth 69 met their end.

Sara died again!?

MISSION FAIL.

Insight: To best do the airlock tactic against boarders you need to upgrade your door system AND have someone manning it when you get boarded.

FTL: Bugly Bugs

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

Escaping from the asteroid field, the Bugly Bugs arrived at the edge of an uncharted nebula where the next LRB sat in eerie silence. Much like the station they found Notch at, this one seemed devoid of life but desperate for fuel they decided to dock anyway.

Instead, they only found a terrible flesh eating virus that Notch comes in contact with. Steve and the direbugs quickly shut the airlock to save themselves, leaving Notch to die in a worse place than they found him. Haunted by his screams, Steve pushes the ship forward and past its limits - into the next nebula sector and right into a Mantis ship!

At first the battle is fierce, until it becomes clear that it is a stalemate with neither vessel being able to penetrate the other's shield. Eventually they tire of each other and move on, with the Bugly Bugs finally running out of fuel as it reaches a rebel supply point guarded by an automated fighter craft.

With no options left, they engage the fighter and are quickly hammered by its superior fire power. One of its missiles explodes Paylise and her station into dust while another causes a hull breach that pulls Buglybugs into the fatally cold vacuum of space.

That's never a good sign.

Sensing the Bugly Bugs' lack of fuel, the enemy fighter then picks up the supplies, and indeed, the entire supply way point then leaves his opponent to die helplessly alone in space.

Insight: Rushing early leaves your ship too weak to survive the later sectors. It also brings a severe lack of fuel.

FTL: Need for Speed

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

Steve looked quizzically at the data cube El Duce had placed in his hand as he boarded his Engi style spaceship 'Bugly Bugs', with his monstrous, space faring direbug friends Paylise and Buglybugs who have already proven their space faring skills by previously finding him at the center of the universe!

Armed only with an ion stunner and battle drones the Bugly Bugs had to rely more on speed to fly past any foes - reaching the first LRB in record time. There, a hauntingly empty station lured them in - rescuing the lone survivor, Notch, from a pirate massacre.

Fighting in an asteroid field is not a great idea.

Steve then opted to jump the ship into an asteroid nebula to avoid detection and were surprised to find a Slug ship already hiding there! The Slugs weren't in a sharing mood though and opened fire. Fortunately, a single battle drone supported by well timed ion strikes was more than enough to deal with them. They would have been permitted to leave, if their ship hadn't then been crushed between two large rocks.

Insight: A lot of this game is about unlocking stuff, such as ships and ship layouts by performing random feats. Unlocking the Engi craft only requires reaching the 5th sector which the Marauder (previous ship) was able to do.

FTL: Abandon Ship

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

The Engi sector is relatively peaceful as they are allied with the Federation, offering many supplies to the passing Marauder - everything but fuel. While docking with a refueling station, the team are caught by surprise when a pair of pirates board the ship! It takes a team effort to eliminate the duo, and move on to a legitimate outpost to refuel and restock.

Space combat is more exciting than it looks.

From there they navigate through two nebula sectors which play havoc with the ship's sensors but keep the Marauder far ahead of the rebel fleet, and in a Zoltan sector fend off a few pirates who are let go once they offer tribute. The true reason for the soft hand is that Rattlesnake has been to liberal with the use of missiles, and they are now almost out!

Eventually they find themselves entering a Rock sector, and encounter a starship intent on protecting its borders. The vessel easily takes the damage from the lasers and remaining rockets the Marauders throw at it, meaning fleeing is the only choice for survival! Silverlight's piloting somehow accomplishes this feat, but soon run into a Rock scout ship hiding behind a planet.

The battle is intense, with the Marauder damaging the scout enough for it to flee. Alas, the damage taken in return is too severe - and with fire spreading quickly inside and having already roasted Nikola to ashes, Rattlesnake, El Duce and Silverlight opt to abandon ship - gathering what they can and using escape pods to flee to the planet surface. Good thing El Duce managed to make copies of that important data which they handed out at the Engi sector!

MISSION FAIL.

Insight: Using missiles as the main source of damage leads to bad situations like this. Need to use them more sparingly, specifically on shield systems so the lasers can do their thing.

FTL: All for One

[Part of the Adventures in Space journal]

As the small pirate fleet prepared to engage the civilian convoy, the Marauder suddenly flew in to intercept them. "Stupid fools," radioed the slaver ship. "Surrender one of your crew and we'll let you leave in peace."

Fricking space pirates and their space flamingos...

"Hell no," was Silverlight's response - followed by a full missile and laser salvo from Rattlesnake. While the enemies manage to deal some damage, the pirates are all vaporized with only the badly slave ship remaining at the end. "Wait! Please, take this tribute of one slave and spare us - they will all die if you destroy our ship anyway!"

Silverlight wasn't happy with it, but it did make sense - so the slavers were allowed to flee after they left Nikola the Engi with them, who helped repair the damage to the Marauder while El Duce accepted more supplies from the civilians they saved. Rattlesnake made use of the downtime by patching up at the infirmary.

With repairs complete they pushed on to the LRB (long range beacon) and as suggested by Nikola, jumped to an Engi controlled sector.

Insight: Power management is a big part of this game, as such turn off the infirmary when you aren't using it!