1. Marksaline the Necromorph Queen

Black Marker unfortunately fortune journey to Equus

The Black Marker was unintentionally transported on a decommission old, but very robust refitted version of the second Planet Cracker ever created. The slightly smaller ship that was in essence a second planet cracker USG Ishimura had served humanity for a long, long time.

Just like it's sister ship the USG Ishimura was the USG Mura ( 村 )
The only remaining ship of it's line that didn't get stripped for its raw material, when newer models started replacing the well aged mining ships.

The ship was sold to a private rich visionary names [ Data corrupted ]. He used his fortune to expand the ship so it could hold more cargo space in general for food and other needed supplies. This ship was planned for a one of a kind journey. One of a kind, because it was intended to never return to human populated space.

He was one of the richest guys on Earth, yet their was not mutch he could do with all his money if his race was about to run extinct... so he did what every sane man would done in his place:

Spend it all for a second chance, not for himself but for his entire race!

When the rescue attempt by [ Data corrupted ] was to happen, it needed to be done without humans on board that could turn out to be double agents for one organisation or another.
Especially with him knowing of Earth Gov and Unitology both running towards extinction on neck breaking speed, dragging down humanity with it.

So he had bought the Planet Cracker USG Mura ( 村 ), the decommission automated military fuel raffinary ship [ Data corrupted ], the decommission automated civil mobile fabrication ship [ Data corrupted ] and finaly a colonyship that was unlike the other ships a state of the art piece of engineering that would be the new hope for humanitys survivel. The Harmony.

Throughout black market contacts did he could fill the ships medical cloning stations for spare body parts with modified military genetic profiles. He left a genetic expert also courtesy of the black market remove all markers, that denied them reproduction and made sure he had enough templets for a healthy population to start the race a new. Further did the cloning stations had been adult sized, with integrated cybernetic neural interfaces.
So the clones could have a equaly good general education beside what they would need for their individual ship occupation.

When all ships got a full refitting of the newest tech they would support, did he buy the plans for simpel to semi complicated, but maintenance friendly and relativ reliable androids workforces and their blueprints for production for not just spare parts but hole androids.

The Androids of the Seegson Corporation, the Working Joe series. With all its variants available at the time of buying on the market.

The "Working Joe" is a line of synthetic humanoids created by Seegson Corporation as a low-cost alternative to the more sophisticated androids of corporations such as for example Hyperdyne Systems. Unlike their brethren, the Working Joe is intended to appear obviously artificial: Hairless, with glowing lenses for eyes and no individual distinctive features besides uniform and a serial number on their forehead. Some have compared the Joes to crash test dummies with a dull personalisation.

"You always know a Working Joe."
Working Joe synthetic unit talking on patrol.

The Working Joe class of android is a principal working unit. They are limited in dexterity, but are tougher and longer lasting than a human could hope to be.
They would on their own be able to handel 81% of the overall workload onbord the ships, with other less sophisticated but more modular robot drones to assist until the human cloning would begin and the new humans could slowly take over the jobs of the mechanical workforces.

Though the Joes are intended to serve the crew and civilians of the ship, are they primarily subservient to the directives of the APOLLO Central A.I. and the corporation installed rule set issuing the A.I.'s priorities.
The benefactor and owner
[ Data partialy corrupted ] --Soul, let their behavior be heavy edited for his needs to assure successful accomplishment of the main goal.

Forcefull entering of any restricted area of unauthorized personal,like for example the docking area, would be reason for termination towards any intruder.
Optimal project completion needed to make sure no human that wasn't grown and educated on the ship could join the crew, before the final Project phase was reached.

For the unlikely event that humanity would survive the red marker madness that was plaguing humanitys worlds.

In case the A-A-T ( ANTI ASTEROIDS TURRETS ) system with removed safety features would fail to keep intruder away, would the stationed Androids fix the problem.

The majority of Working Joes are the standard model, mostly identifiable by their industrial overalls.

"I will find you, you know."
Hazardous environment Working Joe synthetic unit in pursuit of a intruder.

Also present on the ships are more advanced model wearing full body hazardous environment gear. This android variants, known colloquially amongst fashion designers as the "Raincoat- Joe", is most often encountered around APOLLO's core and reactor maintenance as well around the docking ports.

"Running causes accidents."
Working Joe synthetic unit in hostile mode persistently pursuit a target marked for termination.

The Working Joes operate in two modes, identifiable by the colour of their optics:

When a Joe's optics would glow white, then the Joe would be operating per normal parameters. Unless it would find a organic intruder in a restricted area or committing a breach of ships prime protocols, it will acknowledge the intruders presence, but go about its own business.

When a Joes optics glow red, then the Joe is hostile. It will approach the unauthorized personel at a brisk walk and attack, grasping, striking, throwing and throttling the organic, doing damage until the organic is moved outside the restricted area or killed.
It will start with verbal warning, before slowly going through multible stages of escalation if a organic crew member is involved.

When grasped, the Android will allow the target an opportunity to escape via a provoking struggeling to urge it to behave, before crushing their throat or neck if things would escalated to lethal force use.
A defective clone could not be allowed to threaten the collective population after all.

Surviving the Working Joe would not be easy for outside intruders, for example a group of Earth Government military unit with the original black marker on bord with a crew of 150.

Working Joes are surprisingly resilient. Attacking at hand to hand range is very risky. A regular Joe is dextrous enough to catch most swings with a melee weapon like a maintenance jack and punch back, while holding the target in place.
Striking with a stun baton or other comprehensive weapons of this type will temporarily short circuit a regular Joe out, allowing the biological target to continue disabling it through other means. Similiar devices like EMP Mines & EMP Granades will cripple any Joes in its blast radius. Until it can reboot.

Shots from a revolver or other pistol, even to the head, are unlikely to do destructive damage, although four or more headshots will typically bring a standard Joe down, until secondary less advance sensors in the stomach area allow them a second wind to re-engage or return for maintenance to a repair station.

A shotgun would proof a better choice when available. A flamethrower or Molotov would set a Joe alight but would not destroy it immediately. A burning Joe will continue to be combat effective for a short while, before the fire would destroys it or shut it down do to overheating.

Hazardous environment Joes are much tougher. EMP mines & granades, flamethrowers and Molotovs will have little appreciable effect on them. However, two to three high explosives like Pipe Bomb or standard military grade grenades are enough to take one down.

The most effective anti-Joe weapon would be heavy mining equicment or heavy weapons.

Working Joes Inquiry:
"Uncategorised Cloned unit/breed crew. Who are you?"

Working Joe synthetic in contact with a unregistered and not properly logged, but chipped biological target.

If the Working Joe unit encounter each other, the event is surprisingly mundane. While the android will most likely enquire about the nature and state that it is logging it's presence with APOLLO, neither will chiped target be restrained nor would the Joe interact with each of them directly.

Chiped but not propetly integrated personal don't enjoy any benefits or any of the programmed safeguards, a Joe will not act to protect or aid the unregistered personal.

Once the Intruders were loose aboard the USG Mura ( 村 ), APOLLO requested a comprehensive report on the ship's well being. Seegson Working Joe 447, designated as "Joe D-447", reported that he had "received multiple notifications of civilian trespass and vandalism on food supplying units of Seegson property. Since the incident, there has been a marked increase in civil disobedience."

In response, the A.I. launched a defensive protocol, which continued through the presence of the intruders.

After 2 years did the APOLLO Central A.I decided to cease all actions against intruders after recieving a manual override.

All 47 unregisteted, but chiped organic additions to the ship, did gain full access to supplys and all critical areas of the ship.

Hyperdyne Systems military utility units 001 from 400 logged a complain about the 47 new additions to the Project by joining the USG Mura crew. The complain got logged and awaited processing by the not on ship found Project leader or the manual override added administrator.

50 years of a straight journey in one direction did the first phase of the 'Project New Earth' was completed. The second phase started by the non organic crew cracking open a uninhabited planet and restoring the fleets raw material stores.

When that was archived after 10 standard years and the fleet population reached the 200.000 population optimal maximum, did the fleet found a habitable moon orbiting a habitable planet.

After 150 years of starting the final phase, did a unknown species from the Habitable planet made contact with the Human/Android population. They lived in peace for 21 standard years until the atmosphere of the moon catched fire for unknown reason.

All biological life on the Moon surface and under it was unfortunately lost.

With time did the damaged non organic population rebuild. After the habitation for 200.000 units where rebuild and fireproved for spontane atmosphere re-ignation.

To the Hyperdyne Systems surviving A.I. core conondrum was all the genetic material spoiled beyond restoration.

Since the planet had sapient life on it, was decided that they would be the alternative to the 'New Earth Project'.

After the collection of multible 'samples' of the population was the Abesinian and Gemstone Wolf species selected as replacement of the human race.

The population of both species thrive underground for millenia under strictly controlled environment. Population, cultural development and technological reinventions.

Until...

Two non registered lifeforms where found and rescued from the still toxic, but very agriculture supporting soil.

They were identified as 'Alicorns'. After one of them demonstrated of being able to move the Celestial body the 'New Earth' was founded on was decided to include them in the community, under a strict rule that they would not reveal it's existance.

A compromise was found and the by now trough time material fatigued USG Mura ( 村 ) was sent with a group of volunteer to the planet surface.

Contact was unfortunately lost after a few decades.

Unexpectedly did there ship returned centuries later with a heavly compromised rump integrity and filled with books of the local language and supplied for omnivores.

The Alicorn sister guessed it was a attempt to supply them, since 'the moon was empty of life and any means of substaining themself' outside magicaly forcing their bodys to stay alive with low grade transmuted necessary supplys.

So the Alicorn sister 'on a dead moon all by themself' started to write rock message's on the unused moon surface to call home.

While a Dragon fire message once a week could be send from one of the few survivers of the ship's wreck. That unfortunately ended only 47 years before the magical force keeping the Alicorn bonded to the moon would expire eventually.

Author's Note

Enjoy the chapter
Stay snuggly

Editing last time:
01.05.2024