Well, on to the next group of recreational drugs. Whilst alcohol technically falls under this category, it's not usually what people refer to. No, the main ones, as you see when Elizabeth puts them on the table, are less traditional

Elizabeth puts a large, brown cigar, a glass vial containing blue liquid, a small patch of green tablets and quite a few other drugs


"These are known collectively as the Eyes, due to all of them having a fairly noticeably effect on your eyes. It's really a catch all term commonly used on the ship, and in the sector. They're… for lack of a better word, light drugs. From the smokeable Sun Scales designed to get you in a trance or give you some hallucinations, the Blood Root that has the effect of making the user feel happier and more mellow, the Slug juice, absorbed through the skin, that helps relieve pain and puts the user into a deep, peaceful sleep, the Bright Gas that improves the user's mood, the Castins that when smoked increase confidence… I can go on forever. These drugs have some negative effects, but realistically, no serious ones when taking into account their expected lifespans and the sheer amount of risks they're already facing. Anything the drugs do is neglible. The only possible risk is that their productivity worsens because they're as high as a kite."


"So, do we ban or allow?" you ask. 


"Well, those aren't necessarily the only options, in this instance. Due to the nature of these drugs, we have five options. The first two, as you'll know, involve either blanket banning or fully allowing these and letting the winds of free market spread them out among the crew. The third involves allowing them, but to a limited degree. Everyone has a limited amount they're allowed to buy, only the least dangerous are brought in, that kind of thing."


"Go on," you say.


"The fourth possibility is that we become proactive with our usage of the drugs. We're forcing our men to face horrors beyond comprehension and risk their lives. We could, for a small amount, begin purchasing and producing these drugs on-ship, rationing them out to raise the morale of the crew. Plus, this would give us the ability to actually begin selling drugs on the open market if we find a better group of cooks and a supplier. Lastly, we could just go all out. Buy a huge quantity of the drugs and start manufacturing them on ship, and just start pumping them out to the crew. Pump the gaseous drugs into the air, put all the soluble drugs into the water supply and crush up everything else to put in the food. This would amplify morale tenfold, although could lead to a serious drop in productivity, seeing as you literally couldn't breath without getting insanely high."

You allow and include in rations

You allow the drugs, as well as adding them to the rations, giving each resident coupons to report to their nearby medical agent for whatever precious, delightful drug fuels them. Unfortunately, the program ends up end costing you a solid five million Thrones, as well as doing some damage to your men's efficiency. 


Despite that, morale increases substantially. It seems when men are off their heads, they're more than happy to risk their lives.


The success of this policy, or at least the success in that you're capable of manufacturing drugs aboard the vessel, does give you an idea. You could easily set up a chem manufacturing industry aboard the ship to increase the funds you have to work with. You'd need to find a new group of cooks as well as a supplier, but it could prove to be a profitable venture.

You attempt to break into the drug industry

It takes some explaining and effort to get the lieutenants to agree. While as soon as Elios hears about it he's on board and the other Staine Siblings agree, Fay and Olive don't seem to be fans of idea. Castus agrees whole heartedly, and Primus, Cain, Hayes and Meliodas are indifferent and just agree, placing the majority. You quickly find the most knowledgeable about drug manufacturing of your lieutenants, Primus, Elios and Elizabeth, and gather them in the war room.


"Why is Elizabeth here?" Elios asks. "She's never touched a chem in her life."


"Do you know about Methoxetamine, Elios? About it's use on the brain?" Elizabeth asks.


"Oh, you wanted a nerd," Elios says. "Understood, darling."


"Our crew's not good enough to manufacture chems for market," you say. "We need to f ind someone better. Primus, anything showing up in your archives?"


"Pirate chatter tells me that the best... "product" coming through is from either the Hiveworld of Outice-81 or the Xenos species Jatkiri. Both sell a good product, so we could easily hire them."

You attempt to hire the chem manufacturers of Outice-81

You stare down at the hiveworld from the bridge of your ship, looking at the planet. To your surprise, the Imperials hold barely any hold on this world. The Governor is basically in charge of everything, the Planetary Defense Force is bolstered by Imperial Guard deserters and Xenos Mercenaries, and they seem indifferent in regards to everything else. 


After a short time in a shuttle, you find yourself descending into Hive Beta, to meet with the leader of Outice-81's thriving drug industry. You sit alongside a half dozen Tribals, including Opie, the gas-masked giant you saw fight, as well as Fay, Elizabeth and Elios.


The doors open, and a solid scent wave of shit hits you, causing you to retch. You walk outside, looking at the dozens of ultra-poor workers hurrying about their day. Two men wearing red leather dusters stand by the landing area, holding shotguns, wearing sunglasses and black balaclavas. The men stroll towards you, staring blankly ahead.


"Howdy," one says, staring at you. "You must be Mister Karth. And these are...?"


Your lieutenants state their names, as the man nods.


"The name's Cheq. I'll be taking you to meet the boss."


You nod, following the guard as he strolls through the streets. It takes about five minutes of walking through peasant markets, shit-filled alleys and endless scenes of the vile life of the area. Soon, you find your guard pulling open a large metal door to enter a large, bunker-like area. You walk inside, finding yourself in the bunker, which is particularly cleaner than the slums outside the bunker. You soon find yourself faced with a massive man with heavily burned skin wearing the same outfit as the guards.


"Karth, yes?" he asks. "Good to meet you. I'm Skinrik. From what your number two says, you want to purchase some cooks' contract from me."


"Number two?" you ask.


"The dude with the voice synthesizer. Primus."


"Ah, yes," you say. "Yes, he's correct. What do you have for me?"


Skinrik smiles, before walking along the hall. You follow and soon find yourself in a massive chem lab. A half dozen workers slave away at various pieces of equipment, pouring vats of chemicals into vibrating vats and other strange things. 


"Zero!" Skinrik yells.


A young woman wearing a boiler suit and a gas mask turns from mixing a vat of burning liquid and jogs over to you.


"Yes, sir?" she asks.


"This is the finest cook in the sector," Skinrik says. "And the most recent of my fiances."


Zero nods nervously, looking at you.


"This... this is the... the psychic guy?" she asks.


You nod, and she takes a deep breath, looking terrified.


"Are you alright?" you ask. "We don't bite."


"He doesn't speak for me," Elios says, as you frown as the Slaaneshi leader.


"Play nice," you say, before turning to Skinrik once more.


"Zero had some issue with psykers. She was the main cook for the Green Snakes gang, who were wiped out by the psyker gang the Mind Men. Only reason she and her cooks are alive is because I took them in."


"Uh... yeah," Zero says, a flash of annoyance appearing on her face before she goes back to her nervous look.


"They're the ones you're willing to sell me?" you ask. "You do realize that I'll need them full time, permanently, right?"


"Of course," Skinrik nods.


"So you won't see your fiance... ever?" you say.


"I can deal with it. I got six wives. Don't need another." 


"Alright then," you shrug. "How much are we talking?"


"Zero's the best cook in the sector. You want her, you'll have to fork over a cool two and a half million. You want her cooks, that'll be five million. The equipment will set you back two more. I'll have the men repair and refuel your vessel to make it a solid ten million thrones. We have a deal?"

You agree

"Fine," you say, grabbing your comms. "Primus, ten million into Skinrik's account."


It takes about five minutes before the credits are transferred over, and Skinrik smiles.


"Good. Norwich, have the men transfer the equipment and have the cooks pack up. Transfer everything to the shuttles. Send up some fuel ships and repair vessels to fix up and fuel up the ship."

Three Days Later...

You walk into the chem lab, watching the cooks working to manufacture their second batch. Zero spots you, walking over as she pulls off her gas mask. 


"Sir," she says. "The second batch is almost finished. What can I do for you?"


"How are you all adapting to life on the vessel?" you ask. 


"It's alright. Conditions are better and the cooks are happier, so that's a plus."


"You're not sad to have lost your fiance?" you ask.


"Fuck him," Zero says. "That dude was a prick. He only wanted to add me to a tally of sex slaves he'd put a ring on. I didn't have a choice in it."


"Well then, glad you're not stuck with them anymore, Zero," you say.


"Yeah. Also, my name's not really Zero. It's Gail."


"Gail?" you ask. "What's with Zero?"


"It's a gang name. Zero felonies, zero kills, zero chems ingested. I'm cut from a pretty plain cloth, sir."


"Alright. I'll call you Gail if you stop calling me sir."


"Got it, Karth," she smiles. "I need to get back to work. I'm the only one who knows h..."


"Say no more," you say, holding up your hands. "We're working on finding you a supplier. We'll begin turning a profit soon."


"Terrific," she says, slipping her gas mask back on.

You find a supplier

You head back to the war room, where Elios and Elizabeth are arguing.


"He's a genius!" Elios yells.


"He's a drug-addled moron!" Elizabeth replies. "We need a businessman!"


"Oh, fuck off! You...!"


"Hey!" you shout. 


The two Staine siblings turn to look at you.


"What are you arguing about?" you ask.


"We have two different candidates for a supplier," Elizabeth says. "I want to use the Rogue Trader Lord Baridas Flynn. He's a respectable businessman who has access to a massive market, including the entirety of the Imperium, which Morrow can't access. He's already known for creating a massive drug empire, but his supply is low. We could fill that supply."


"He's got the Imperium's dick so far up his ass he's licking the tip!" Elios says. "He'll sell us out in a second! We need Jack Morrow, leader of the Ecstasy Freaks, a Slaaneshi war-band. The dude's psycho and is a bit prone to testing his products, but he's a genius, and I have old ties with him. We served alongside the Emperor's children together, and us non-Space marines really had to stick together to survive there. Trust me, you want him."


Fuck, a respectable businessman who might be an Imperial rat, or an insane, drug-addled fiend. Hard choice.

You meet with Baridas Flynn

You find yourself aboard the Tip of the Spear, walking alongside your tribal bodyguards as well as Fay, Elizabeth and Elios. You walk into a massive chamber, where Flynn waits. He wears golden chains wrapped around fur, smiling happily at you.


"Ah, Karth, is it? It's good to see you!" Flynn says.


"Ah, Lord Baridas Flynn, yes? It's good to see you. Shall we discuss business?"


"Yes," the lord nods. "Where are your other sibling? Durge the Plage Lord?"


"He's not involved with this deal. So..."


Suddenly, a massive, see-through wall rises up from the floor as Flynn steps back, seperating him from you.


"I can't tell you how surprised I was to receive your message. Three Chaos Lords wanting to deal with me. I'll be honest. I'm corrupt. I'll happily use Xenos if it bets the Imperium, I'll sell illegal tech or chems but I won't consort with heretics. You actually have a fairly high bounty. Two Chaos Lords and an Alpha-Plus Psyker? Perfect. Burn in hell, heretics."


Suddenly, the room goes dark, as you hear shouts as men rush in. The wall separating you and the Rogue trader is incredibly strong and anti-Psychic tech has infused it, but if you focus, you might be able to take out the Rogue Trader. Alternatively, you can prepare to defend against whoever Flynn has sent to take you out.

You kill Baridas Flynn

You focus your energy, before telekinetically grabbing Flynn by the head and smashing it repeatedly againts the wall. His head is crushed and smeared against the glass, before collapsing onto the ground. You turn, before feeling a painful, dark presence fill your soul. You grunt as you see a pale man who feels like... pain, weakening all of your psychic powers before he fires his bolt pistol, killing you instantly.