Amalgam Station

Challenge #03211-H302: Better Than Expected

They're absolutely terrified of flying, so much so they've considered strong sedatives to be able to do this. It's their only chance at escaping from under an oppressive, cruel, polity's thumb. -- Anon Guest

Social engineering can be used for evil. Case in point, The United Shareholders of New Economy. In order to stop citizens fleeing their polity, most Deregger empires simply make it too troublesome for the wrong sort[1] to travel.

This one has spent a significant effort in making its citizens too terrified to travel. The news and media are overloaded with transit accidents, but only the transits involved in taking citizens away from The United Shareholders of New Economy. Transit to and from work is safer than one's own home[2].

As for the rest of the universe... Economeans are all bombarded with the images of Evil Aliens. Perverted Aliens. Disgusting Aliens. Regular Humans who have been corrupted by their wicked influence into lifestyles of pure dissipation. Rea had spent his lifetime steeped in such messages, but when it came to the choice between dissipation and slow death by unemployment, anything looked good.

Support me on Patreon / Buy me a Ko-fi

Prompts remaining: 92 Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories!

Challenge #03209-H300: In Defense of Whys

One thing I've learned of human children, they are very receptive to knowledge but you have to frame it in ways that will keep their interest. Otherwise, they will start the "Why?" game. And that can go on for a very long time. -- Anon Guest

[AN: Sometimes, the Why Game will go on regardless. There's strategies for that.]

"What'cha doin?" Ah, the catch-cry of the Greater Spotted Bored Annoyance. Evidently the activities for the day had lost their lustre and now

Challenge #03048-H125: They Don't Need Weapons

Anything can be a weapon if you’re reckless enough -- Anon Guest

[AN: For the unlimited version of this, check the collected works of Jackie Chan]

Humans. The aggressive warrior race who will go to any extreme to protect and enrich their pack. Any single one of them is capable of creating a phenomenal amount of destructive chaos on their enemy. When no weapons are available, they will create their own. Often in an instant. A fact not lost on anyone

Challenge #03046-H123: To Win at a Loss

They are a good lucker, but a scoundrel. True they could be quite kind, benevolent even, but they loved breaking the rules and getting into mischief. They'd been kicked out of more casinos than they cared to count, and had been escorted from stations more than a few times for bilking people for their time via gambling. After all, it's hard to catch a lucker at such antics if you don't know they're a lucker!

Then they met a bad lucker whose

Challenge #03044-H121: Unclean! Unclean!

Militant vegans, for years after she managed to escape their world, attempt to kidnap Harro, and later their children, and their grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to "pay for crimes against their world". Each time they try, they're stopped rather firmly and placed into prison. Good thing Harro, and their family, are quite fierce about self-defense and have a lot of defenders. The militant vegans, within their cells, and the ones from their homeworlds, both refuse to accept their "heros" have committed crimes and

Challenge #03042-H119: Galactics Bearing Gifts

To make it easier for dereggers to escape oppression, several galactic traders begin to offer to build trading ports on deregger places that "will guarantee a great profit for the leadership" because the leaders won't have to pay for building the facility, and part of the fees the trading groups agree to pay for maintaining the places as well. Odd, though, the "security", while seeming to do their job, sure love to slack off! -- Lessons

The CRC had a loophole that

Challenge #01518-D057: Hazards of Companionship

...well... thank you... I was suffering from a shortage of waking up screaming, this should help for the next month. -- RecklessPrudence

Humans are the most advantageous crewmembers to have. Especially in what they insist on calling 'crunch time'. They will walk, or run, into danger and saunter back out again with barely a scratch. They are fiercely protective of any being they view as part of their pack, insanely profitable to have in a ship's crew, and invariably adaptable.

They're also

Challenge #01513-D052: A Lucky Escape From Grebnak 5

"Is that going to blow up?"

"Well, I mean, only if i mess up, " -- OohLookShiny

"Hwell," sighed Ax'and'l, "put the concoction down."

"Relax, I know what I'm doing."

"I will not relax, I have fifteen near-death encounters as evidence in my favour." Ax'and'l considered those past incidents, "Including seven where you said you knew what you were doing."

Prompts remaining: 10 Submit a Prompt! Ask a question! Buy my stories!

I found a blank art book, so I’m drawing my universe.It’s not like anyone else is doing it.I’m still working on all the...

I found a blank art book, so I’m drawing my universe.

It’s not like anyone else is doing it.

I’m still working on all the detail of the station. Trying to make it look like it was patched together out of whatever was close at the time.

Amalgam Station is technically in Cuidgari space, being in the Kuiper-belt range of the Cuidgari Primary Solar System. It has, however, had numerous owners in its expansion-pack past…

Challenge #00361: Stupid Mammals.

*irritated muttering* "… Stupid mammals and their ability to function regardless of temperature….“

Cold.

The desire to hibernate was strong, but in this environment, the desire to hibernate could kill. This place was permanently cold. They would sleep and never wake up.

The ship’s human knew this. Given their species-inherent desire to eliminate the Other, the surprising part was how they did not use the current situation to win.

The captain watched in amazement and torpor, as

Chalenge #00358: O...MG Tannenbaum

“How did you even get a live pine tree onto the space station?”

“Uh… the Magic of Christmas?”

It was sixteen Standard Distance Units tall. It was coated in sparkling lights, then coated again in shiny metallic fronds of tinsel, then covered in small, shiny objects, then covered in bows. And then, to top things off, whoever covered it over in all of this thought that that wasn’t enough, and started all over with the

Challenge #00329: Old Wars, New Combattants

Getting inventive with the dress code

There is a Galactic adage: if you want something done, tell a human it’s impossible.

Kasib Campbell had purchased the JOAT conglomerate and decided to begin bringing order to the naturally chaotic JOATs at Amalgam Station.

Shayde, somehow always by his side, was seething. She’d tried to warn him, and he’d dismissed it as one of her many mental disorders. But, right now, in this room, a Campbell had come

Challenge #00276: Peck of Dust, Dust, Dust...

Dust.

People tend to think about the big things, when it comes to the perils of space travel. Meteors. Solar flares. Stresses on the air tanks. Sparks in unwanted places.

Few ever ponder that a crew might encounter trouble with their own epithelial cloud.

Five year missions were the maximum, after the trouble had been discovered, of course. People who got dandruff either had to shave (carefully!), vacuum, or pass on the idea of going into space in the first place.

Filters

Challenge #00266: Non-hostile Takeover

What ended the assassination attempts on Fawn Jackson? – Weirdlet

After she bought Main Security, she used a shell company to purchase the competitors. Kept them intact, but rearranged their priorities for the greater good.

Fawn Jackson was beginning to gain a controlling interest.

And the assassins weren’t even getting close.

She was doing almost the exact opposite of what the Executives and Pundits insisted was the correct way to manage large sums. And worse, her actions were stimulating the

Challenge #00265: Pour Encourager Les Autres.

What finally prompted the start of assassination attempts on Fawn Jackson? – Wierdlet

“Sooner or later,” they said, “she is going to mess up.”

“The lure of wealthy living,” they said, “will make her one of us.”

“She can’t possibly rework the system with what little she has,” they said, “she’s going to crash and burn.”

And on the off chance that she might not act

Menu

A 28-post collection

Challenge #03211-H302: Better Than Expected

Challenge #03209-H300: In Defense of Whys

Challenge #03048-H125: They Don't Need Weapons

Challenge #03046-H123: To Win at a Loss

Challenge #03044-H121: Unclean! Unclean!

Challenge #03042-H119: Galactics Bearing Gifts

Challenge #01518-D057: Hazards of Companionship

Challenge #01513-D052: A Lucky Escape From Grebnak 5

I found a blank art book, so I’m drawing my universe.It’s not like anyone else is doing it.I’m still working on all the...

Challenge #00361: Stupid Mammals.

Chalenge #00358: O...MG Tannenbaum

Challenge #00329: Old Wars, New Combattants

Challenge #00276: Peck of Dust, Dust, Dust...

Challenge #00266: Non-hostile Takeover

Challenge #00265: Pour Encourager Les Autres.