Stephen Seagull

Stephen was a bellboy on an interplanetary train, then a slave in a Mexican cobalt mine, a senator in the Chili Con Latte coalition, a space mercenary, a private federal tax collector, money launderer, kidnapper of young girls, Boxylium miner, SDF military chef, and condemned to death. His trip takes him to Xyloph-17 where he is accidentally cryogenized after escaping detention, and shipped aboard the Daedalus.

How to play
Stephen has an interesting mix of abilities. He possesses one of the strongest skills in the game, as well as some of the weakest. Because of this, he has a reputation of being the lethal joke character aboard the Daedalus. Gameplay can vary greatly depending on your skillset, especially with, and because of this flexibility you should always consider which there are before taking your picks. Otherwise Stephen is often played as a generalist, helping the part of the ship that is currently burning the hottest.

Stephen is high on the lists for the and  titles, so you should be prepared to assume these roles. In fact, He has a personal (also roleplay) interest in gaining these titles through his objective and possible  boosts, so he should keep a sharp eye out for mushy behaviour from all who precede him in those positions.

Stephen's other, less known field of expertise are Expeditions. His second personal objective is to fight aliens, and his skillset of, and  is just what he needs to carry the necessary heavy kitchen and combat equipment to Icarus Bay, join missions to planets with lots of alien encouters, fight them for  Glory and then collect/freeze any s they might yield.

In that regard, he is somewhat at odds with any - particularly, who shares his goal of visiting creature-rich planets, but wants to do so peacefully. If she is not a Diplomat, however, she can be a great ally in shifting the crew's mind towards exploration, and building of helpful blueprints like the.

Core skills

 * This skill is the reason to play Stephen. It allows you to copy ANY skill from another crew member, even an inactive player! Useful to fill the void of inactive comrades, as well as pick up interesting unique skills for a doubled bonus (example: a total of 7 s from copying ).

Secondary skills

 * Stephen's first signature skill. You will generally *not* be able to use this at the beginning of the ship, as the crew will be afraid of traps. And there will always be a respective  in Xyloph, so you might plan on getting it that way later. Once you are cleared, you can save 4  a day by preparing meals. It also (and maybe more importantly) allows you to freeze the steaks you get from expeditions into rations before they spoil.


 * A mediocre but versatile skill, it does have its uses for Stephen - ferrying the and  to Icarus Bay without penalty goes a long way in preparing successful expeditions. Allows you to wield the  effectively, if you're lucky enough to get one. Also allows you to punch people harder if you have no weapon at hand, and move people (like ) out of rooms.


 * This skill was buffed in Respored but it is still quite situational; it can be useful to make sure a title is in good hands after you kill an incompetent, suspicious or mush title holder. Also, since titles are now assigned shortly after a ship launches, an Opportunist who wakes up early in the ship could potentially get assigned 1-2 titles in the first few cycles, providing an initial boost for moving items and otherwise setting up the ship.


 * If you manage to become a, this skill means you're a second . Other than that, this skill improves your chances in combat and allows you to help with Hunters via the Turrets.


 * This skill is quite powerful if you copy with . It also makes you more effective when attacking other crewmates, with turrets and at firefighting. It can be worth it for a  Stephen but generally only if the lenses have not been or cannot be made.


 * Stephen has no traits that would make him specifically dangerous as a Mush, besides his extra damage and ability to move/shoot with Solid or Shooter. However, as a generalist, he is expected to go everywhere and also do the  jobs like loading fuel, which makes him very flexible.


 * The fact that he is rather high up in the list for becoming (especially if  replaces  on Standard ships) means that he may find himself with some of the abilities of Mush Jin Su.
 * And when copying other characters' skills with, of course, he may also acquire some of their mushy characteristics.
 * Interesting options include, , and.

Useful tips

 * Food is as valuable a resource as fuel and oxygen, and should only be eaten for good reasons (speeding up Communications or antimush research, pilots refilling in mid-flight, or emergencies). Keep an eye on your stock, and do not cook rations until you know people will eat them before they spoil after Cycle 8.
 * On the other hand, everyone who has not yet eaten will start to starve around the end of day 4 / beginning of day 5. So Mush situation allowing, you should be prepared to cook a number of rations early in those days and, ideally, drop them in Central Corridor 3 at a time.
 * If you do worry that your stash of food has been infected, invite to eat the first ration, as this will be the spored one if the mush did not specify an item id. However, keep in mind that mush in Respored can also spore a ration in the middle of the stack by specifying the item id so this is very far from foolproof. Also, (refreezing and) cooking a ration will remove any potential spores.

Biography

 * 3107 : Born on Earth.
 * 3124 : A failure in his studies, young Stephen found a job as a bellboy in an interplanetary train running from Earth-Mars.
 * 3127 : Following the trains being boarded by space mercenaries, the train routes are destroyed. Stephen and part of the crew are handcuffed and taken to Venus to be sold as slaves. Stephen begins his life as a slave on Earth, in a Mexican cobalt mine
 * 3129 : Men from Chili Con Latte, a separatist mexican movement, invade the mine and liberate Stephen. He joins the movement and as part of their militia, helps liberate thousands of slaves.
 * 3132 : Stephen is elected to senator in the mexican Chili Con Latte coalition. He is very proud of his new social stature and uses it to embezzle millions of credits.
 * 3136 : Stephen is forced to hurriedly quit his position in order to evade a warrant. He sets out for Australia but following an explosion in his car, he decides to live on Mars IV. Finally, thanks to the fall of the Baer tower in which Stephen had set up home, he is forced to take stock of his situation, so in order to escape the police and his enemies within the coalition, he must disappear from public life.
 * 3139 : After knocking around the bars of Venus for several years, Stephen puts his own crew of private space mercenaries together. He looks for legal contracts, but times are hard. Nonetheless he manages to make ends meet thanks to a clever tax system used on commercial orbiting stations.
 * 3144 : Police searches intensify around Venus, and Stephen's crew head back to Mars where they ran delivery details.
 * 3146 : After helping Paola Rinaldo, the daughter of a billionaire, flee to Mars, Stephen is imprisoned for corrupting a minor. He is sent to an orbital platform in Ross154 to mine heavy Boxylium in the Confolens IV belt.
 * 3149 : Following the panic caused by the bourgeois revolution of the 17th of May, Stephen managed to extricate himself from the detention centre. He sneaks aboard a repatriation convoy and returns to Encelade.
 * 3151 : As part of a batallion headed for Tau-Ceti, Stephen narrowly avoids the dirty war, thanks to a particularly disturbed officer who placed him in a detention cell after being served a simple mushroom tart...
 * 3152 : Stephen is charged in Encelade. He doesn't really understand the charges put forward by his superiors. They seem to have failed to reach agreement on whether or not there has been some "spongic genocide". A strong smell of mold dominates the hearing room.
 * 3153 : The same day as his public execution, Stephen is narrowly saved by a commando who had been trained by two former elite SDF agents. The commando mistakes Stephen for an eminent scientist, specializing in Mushrooms. Stephen, whose talents as a chef never got that much praise before, is flattered. They take him to the orbital station Xyloph-17 which is in orbit around Jupiter. Once there, Stephen is exposed by the team of the Daedalus and placed in detention.
 * 3154 : While several SDF batallions seem to want to take over the laboratory, Stephen takes advantage of the widespread confusion to leave the quarantine zone. He manages to sneak aboard a large exploration-class vessel but he is pursued by an armed group. He finally finds sanctuary in a large capsule which turns out to be extremely comfortable, if a bit cold...