Andromeda finished up some planetary survey jobs last night and finally headed to Tau Ceti II for the UC Vanguard. Nothing screams "kids should not be on her ship" like landing on a barely settled planet only to find its lone colony nearly destroyed by a Terrormorph that still lurked in the shadows.

Dro met a scientist named Hadrian, and together with Sam Coe, they were able to defeat the monstrous alien. She has another survey job to complete and then it's back to New Atlantis.

This is why after The Empty Nest, I ignore Sam. “Sorry, we’re a package deal.” Well Sammy boy, hope you enjoy being grounded, because I have no interest in the reckless endangerment of a child. Also, Cora is annoying when she’s on your ship. Like, why they gotta talk over the ship’s coms?

All of that is exactly why I haven't befriended him in the past. I plan on doing his quest and then locking in bae Andreja for the long haul.

She’s the best follower in the game, hands down. I don’t bother with the others, except VASCO in Jade’s Introvert game.

Ooh, Vasco would be fun for that sorta build. Just a captain and their robot!

Yeah, having been tricked into undergoing an experimental procedure that saw her DNA spliced with that of an alien creature, Jade understandably has issues trusting other people.

I love the title of this thread! You even made both words start with the same letter, as per other "I am here" type threads.

So you have two Starfield characters right now. How long have they been extant? Pretty sure you said Andromeda was Level 14 when she got her spaceship.

I wanted to keep the theme alive with this thread.

Dro is very new. I played a lot on Xbox back when the game released, but I only installed it on my upgraded PC two Saturdays ago. I didn't play at all for at least a year.

After following up on a new lead from Vladimir, Andromeda had a very strange experience with a mysterious and gravitically unique temple on Procyon II. Things just got a lot more interesting for the gal from the slums of Neon City!

She’ll be going back home soon.

Not too soon! UC Vanguard is underway and now SysDef is an option, too. It's time to galavant with Sam for a while.

But soon as in now, lol. Dro finally parted with Sam (tired of waiting for his quest to trigger) and took Andreja along to facilitate a deal with Walter. She has some misgivings about returning home to Neon, but things are much different for her now than when she left.

I really like Neon. I wish there was a bit more to do there with the gangs and the corpos.

Definitely could use some more darker/shady content. The Ryujin stuff is neat in that it encourages stealth, but a lot of the quests in Neon Core are on the bland side.

I would’ve loved more underworld stuff involving Bayu.

Indeed. They set him up to be this powerful yet mysterious figure of authority but you only get to meet him once.

One thing that annoys me about Starfield and also Skyrim is that they have these clearly criminal NPCs who are also arrogant a-holes to boot, and they make it so that you can’t bring them down. I can wield the mysterious forces of the stars or command the very essence of reality with my very voice, but I can’t put these two jerks in their place? It just doesn’t sit right with me. Hell, I can bring down a galaxy wide pirate organization but you are telling me one guy on one crap hole planet is somehow immune to catching a stray bullet or having a mysterious and unfortunate fatal accident? That drives me nuts!

Maybe if we live to see TES VI, they'll give us more freedom again. Like with Morrowind. They're trending in the right direction again with traits, backgrounds, and skills affecting speech options or dialogue choices. Here's hoping.

Yeah, they need to drop this idea of “essential” characters. If players mess up their game because they offed a character that was critical to a quest then that is on the player. It’s why save files are a thing.

I'd love that to come back and I bet a lot of others would, too.
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After growing up as a nobody on the streets of Neon City, Andromeda is now a Class One Citizen of the United Colonies with her own Penthouse in New Atlantis. She plans on taking a break from Terrormorphs (especially after Londinion) and exploring for a while with Andreja by her side.

First up; a few survey missions while searching for a temperate planet to build an outpost on.

I hear Eridani is nice this time of year!

The Milky Way version of Brenna has her main base on the moon of Sumati, Androphon, in the Narion system. It’s a lifeless rock with decent basic resources and Sumati has additional good resources. Now, khajiit knows what you are thinking. Sumati has more going for it than Androphon, so why not use it for her main base? Well, honestly it’s because Androphon is so barren. It’s nice and peaceful, with no wildlife to constantly attacking attack her.

I don't mind the local fauna usually. It seems like the aggressive types are less common, so I opt for something warm near water for a "home". Aluminum and Helium-3 can come from elsewhere.

Sumati also has a methane atmo, so not ideal for human habitation. Everything else about the planet is great, you just can’t breathe there.

I found it. 99% a dream spot for a relaxing outpost. Nemeria IV-a.

• Adequate magnetosphere
• Breathable air
• Safe water
• Scenic vistas
• Fauna-free biome
• Low gravity
• Tidally locked to a gas giant
• Rainstorms

The only thing missing are rings around the gas giant.

https://i.imgur.com/AlTDk7y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/CYRgVF0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/JXck76O.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/B1SKSkB.jpg

The game looks beautiful!

It can be absolutely stunning sometimes.

Andromeda has also been slowly upgrading her ship while the money from quests and survey missions roll in. I like to keep things Class A, and this time it's mostly a Stroud-Eklund build with one or two Nova Galactic and Taiyo parts.

The Verity of Fate. I've used the name before but it's on my list of favorites. It's more of a gunship than anything. 4x particle cannons and 2x missile launchers so far. I'll probably add two more particle cannons when Dro has access to a better reactor. 2x1 AIO berth in the middle, and a Captain's Quarters on one wing with Andreja's Quarters (courtesy of Stroud-Eklund Premium mod) on the other wing.

https://i.imgur.com/omow5p3.png
https://i.imgur.com/vPRCmMF.png
https://i.imgur.com/XlrQIIA.png

I find the ballistic weapons to be really satisfying. There’s just something about loading up a ship with a bunch of autocannons and a couple of lasers or particle weapons and just shredding an enemy ship.

Dro and Andreja cleared out an Abandoned Bionics Lab and our heroine got her hands on a shiny new goody. A Corsair dropped the first Hard Target she's seen in the wild and it's now been fully upgraded to replace her Beowulf. That was the second awesome find lately - she had been using a Razorback for style points but got her hands on a Va'Ruun Starshard recently, too.

They've been on break from faction missions but Andromeda is prepping herself to see what SysDef wants her for.

I like how once you get to the higher levels of weapons perks, you really can just carry whatever weapon model suits your character. Of course there are some models (like the Eon and Rattler, for instance) that don’t have any tiers above “Refined” which is really annoying to me. Like, how did they miss this? While it’s true that there are “better” options, I feel that the Eon just fits a Cyberpunk character so well!

Huh, I never noticed that about those two. I usually end up with a nice XM-2311 variant (I love that style pistol [use it all the time in Fallout 4, too]).

I like the XM-2311, for some characters. For characters like Jade, who is something of a super slick assassin type, it works really well in its silenced configuration. Brenna, being the techno-barbarian that she is, prefers the Starshard or Novalight. Désirée was using the Laredo guns… before I deleted her save file

Laredo guns are in a weird place for me. The Razorback is just plain badass, IMO, but the Rattler and Tombstones don't do anything at all for me. And while the Lawgiver is cool, it gets outpaced the moment you can put a scope on a Beowulf.

I get that, they are kinda weird. I still haven’t figured out how the Rattler operates. Is it a revolver? Is it a magazine? Idk.

Weird indeed.

And holy moley does the REV-8 make planet surveying go faster. If you don't mind skipping resource harvesting you can cruise around with the scanner open and collect data at a very fast pace.

Andromeda and Andreja are still on break from Constellation. The Crimson Fleet threat has now been dealt with, and they are out playing explorers, and taking the odd side quest they come across. Most recently, they helped the ECS Constant colony ship procure a grav drive so that the colonists can find a suitable planet to inhabit. The Verity needs some more work (mostly structural upgrades to streamline the design), so next up is Dro's shipbuilding outpost on Luna. After that... who knows? Maybe a return trip to Neon. Andromeda has been dwelling on her youth in that harsh city and would like to give back to those less fortunate than she, who was able to escape.

After stumbling onto a wayward space station that had been afflicted by some strange energy disturbance, Andromeda and Andreja have suddenly found themselves on Va'ruun'kai - the mysterious home-world of House Va'ruun and Andreja herself. The capital city of Dazra lies nearly in ruins from an experimental technology gone awry, and Dro is suddenly christened a Diviner as they are embroiled in the politics of Dazra's minor Houses.

And the people of Var'ruun'kai now look to their Diviner to unravel what happened at the Scaled Citadel... and to prevent further catastrophe.

Major main quest spoilers for this character update.

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Andromeda has left Constellation for a while.

She cruised the stars for months with Andreja by her side; searching for artifacts, exploring mysterious temples, and helping anyone in need who crossed their paths. Their adventures took the from Jemison to Neon to Kryx to Va'ruun'kai and to countless other places.

Over time, their friendship blossomed into something much more. It culminated with their swearing an everlasting commitment to each other in a small, but meaningful ritual on the planet of Shoza II, followed by a honeymoon at their small home on Archimedes V-a, away from it all.

They returned to the Lodge only to be separated while Andreja helped with repairs to The Eye, and Barrett joined Andromeda on a quest for another artifact. The search took them to a scavenger's ship called The Scow, where they acquired said artifact by less than honorable means. But everything fell apart when the two of them returned home to the Lodge.

A Starborn known as The Hunter attacked The Eye, and then the Lodge itself. They fought him off in a desperate bid to escape with the artifacts, and fled to the Verity of Fate to escape his pursuit through New Atlantis. Speeding up to The Eye orbiting around Jemison, Andromeda docked her ship with the station and boarded it only to see her life crash down around her.

Andreja was dead.

Awww.

This prompted a reload when it happened in Jade’s game. They aren’t romantically involved, but they are best friends and I found it unacceptable, lol

It does indeed suck, but I wanted to play it that way one more time before I try out a mod that lets everyone live. What's really going to suck for Dro is when she finally meets The Emissary.

Having lost so much, Andromeda's made some hard choices before returning to the Lodge in pursuit of the truth. And hopefully The Hunter, with whom she has a score to settle. The Verity of Fate has been decommissioned, and their home in the Archimedes system is left empty to gather dust. Too many memories everywhere she went.

It's time to search for answers in her new ship, Andreja.

Yeah, I can imagine that would be a helluva thing.

After a couple weeks on her own, Andromeda found that she missed the company of her other friends at the Lodge. Barrett (who isn't a stranger to what she is feeling) in particular has been a rock for her, and talked Dro through some of the darkest times of her life. They are out their together now, helping each other as best they can.

Barrett even acquired his own power now, from the artifact he found, and it's amusing to watch him use it in combat.

The days are counting down to a memorial for Andreja that Noel has been planning, but Dro doesn't know if she has it in her to attend it with the others.

The memorial service was exceedingly hard for Andromeda but she got through it with the help of her friends in Constellation. Her speech didn't reflect how jaded she feels now, but it did end on the hard truth. She doesn't know how to live without Andreja at her side.

Tomorrow is a new day and she promised to join Matteo at the Sanctum Universum to get a possible clue as to what The Unity is.