ND Cragsand S3E13: Wasteland Cook Off

:Return to character article: Sten Berglund
==Season 3: Neon Divide==
===Episode 13: Wasteland Cook Off===
====Daily trades====
Completing Herks copy of his extra large revolver the big man comes to collect it. Stens asks him if he intends to shoot two targets at once but no he's keeping a backup since he's slow on reloading. 
:-3 Iron
Recovering a lot of scrap Sten spends a while doing manual labor processes it into iron and steel. Chester comes to collect his order of a machine pistol, kevlar armor and ammunition. Thinking that it will weight him down or hinder his magical flying capabilities, Sten gets corrected. According to Chester his flying comes from an organ and is scientific in nature. Maxie didn't put on his cybernetic arm prosthetic today and realizes he has to go get it to work effectively. Sten tells him that Sheila mentioned regrowing the armless mans arms magically, if such a thing is even possible.
:-20 Scrap metal
:+10-4 Iron
:+4-1-2 Steel
:-4 Carbon
:-2 Titanium
:-2 Kevlar
:+10,000 for ammunition
Charles purchases 2 of Prowlers shock grenades.
:-2 Shock grenades
:+1,000 credits
Peaches sells nitrolium.
:+2 Nitrolium
:-1,000 credits
Fee-Bee asks to purchase scrap pistols for some project but Sten insists she take them for free and call it a business expense. While manning the store pillbugs charge in wanting to trade carbon fiber in exchange for 3 firearms. After some bargaining they do settle and agree on scrap weapons.
:-2-2 Scrap Pistols
:-1 Scrap Cannon
:+1 Carbon Fibers
Fee-Bee and Willie head out towards the volcano this time. Peaches joins them this time. Lacking any firearm his hands are a tad too large to fit in the standard trigger guard so a custom larger one is installed.
:-1 Pistol
:+15,000 credits
Checking in on them on the radio they are being held up by Valkyrie personnel at the facility nearby the ridge but manage to talk themselves out of it peacefully. Returning to town they bring back a lot of materials. Fee-Bee is working on a vehicle of some sort which will require most of the materials.
Phineas trades of the day are "car sickness goggles" and more scrap metal. 
:+2 Scrap metal
:-2000 credits
Using up ammunition Sten does some work overnight pressing more.
:-2 Iron ore
Grabbing breakfast at the restaurant, Jyggal is preparing for the cooking competition. Thinking to eat beforehand as not to accidentally get food poisoning that later turns out to have been the right idea. After laments on animals not coming with cooking instructions on their backs like packages the judges start arriving. Torok is already in the kitchen working on a gumball dish. The buzzle becoming a tad much and Sten takes a detour back to the shop. 
:-500 credits for food
Outside the shop are Shiloh, Norbert and two strangers. Sten exclaims the honor of seeing people queuing outside his store and thanks them for at least not tenting out here, waiting for him to open up. One of them looks like a Shometsu combat synth of a similar model to Voxene. Shiloh tells him its named "Nemesis" and to follow its directions. It grabs Stens hand, pulling him away. Worrying it might tear off his arm he starts getting worried but luckily it moves shift and turns into just giving instructions for a custom signature handshake. Pullback, fistbump, a finger swirl, and finishing with a jumpshot. Back to business they purchase a scrap shield a flare gun and places an order for kitchen utensils from Maxie. Asking where they got hold of a Shometsu combat synth they explain they found it in the row staring at people, then started teaching it some mimicked tricks. "Nemesis" carries a corporate valkyrie rifle, having a look Sten tells that any such fancy weapons need daily maintenance not to break in the wasteland with sand getting in everywhere.
:+2 Scrap metal
:+1 Flare gun 
:-1 Scrap Shield
:+13,000 credits
:-1 Iron for kitchen utensils
:+10,000
Bernard asks about current stock for any potential orders and informs of some comings and goings. Ron, Gus's synth companion is having some sort of identity crisis. Lacking materials Bernard places a request for purchasing a GU rifle if enough material ever come in for it in the future. Not good with computers Sten asks him to enter the contact info himself into the terminal and he does. A potential future buyer, but not enough material to make it. 
====Cooking contest====
Checking the restaurant again the contestants have lined up their dishes in a row. Among the judges from the city are Minto, a tired looking chef, a chef with a majestic mustache and apron and a synthetic taste bot named Sergei, also with a huge mustache. 
Maya presents an elaborately cooked lizard dish where the head on display is clearly from one of the local giant lizards in town. One of the chefs sees it as a bit crude and barbaric but a very wasteland-esque presentation. The taste testing synth chef rates it 8.5 / 10.
Next one is Jeremy's fried sand-flea. Crushing smaller bugs to create a crusty breading. To mix it up with dips of various flavors one is from glow-melon and spices, savory cave mushrooms and the third a rare herb with a sweet and tangy kind of sauce. Minto likes the detail in gathering so many differently sourced ingredients. Sergei the taste tasting synth rates it 8 / 10. Afterwards Sten commends him, he spent a whole week gathering it all.
Jyggal presents a strange creation. She asks the judges if they've ever wanted to have both cake and ice-cream at once for breakfast and presents her combination. Getting commendation for managing such a feat in the hot wasteland the judges have mixed thoughts. Lower on sugar her thought is to still really treat yourself to breakfast. Sergei rates the flavor 8 / 10.
Following up is FRED. The GEB store owner synth from the row. His dish is a grilled cheese sandwich with sausages. The chefs unimpressed his dish is not local and ingredients neither gathered in the wasteland so he gets bad critique. Simple in presentation but good in flavor Sergei however rates it 9 / 10. Afterwards he recommends Sten stop by his shop or the noodle store, being one of the few shops that's always open.
Torok covered in some white powder announces his mystery gumbo. Explaining his dish he says it contains roots and vegetables that he stole from the local area as well as a secret ingredient. The chefs looking into the boiling stew there is a floating empty Avalon drug container in it. Telling them to ignore what they saw he gets an average appreciation. Sergei insisting on flavoring chugs the a whole pot and falls over. Being a synth he reboots and start up in a bit, giving a rating of 2 / 10. A bit sour Torok still takes it relatively well. 
The final dish is from the cactus girls. A green pie presented by Sera. Early on Jeremy takes note and calls out that Juno missing an arm, accusing Sera of using a piece of her as an ingredient. Not responding to that, the girls are known to smell like food and Sten recalls from last year that Juno can easily regrow limbs. Sergei has some troubles so the other chef with a mustache gives it a taste. Liking the taste its aftertaste comes with something additional. Asking where he can "evacuate his insides" the chef runs out making gurgling noises. A small search begins but gives up. He is not seen any more for the rest of the day. Against protests Maya insists on trying it as well to different effect. Tasting terrible she starts seeing "shinies" everywhere. Keeping an eye on her it seems to have given her a high. Sten would have called for the doctors but... they're already there. 
Deliberating, the chefs who remain pick an announce a winner. Wanting to work to improve the presentation the winner is Maya. Winning a generous sum of 100,000 credits no less. Second place comes Jyggal earning 40,000 and third place Jeremy. What a spectacle. It sure was a good idea to eat beforehand.
====Monsters and explosives====
Back to the shop Prowler and Savire has distanced themselves from the event. Some corpos pass by sporting Valkyrie colors who Savire refers to as "the carpet shitter". The bug-looking man who won the race days back who is supposedly a higherup, took a dump in public. The heck are the corporations hiring these days. 
Running into Juno again both Prowler and Savire ask what happened to her arm. And yeah, we get confirmation that it was indeed in the pie. Another admission from her is that the drug serum they use in the hospital also comes from her blood. Prowler is appalled asking what other secrets the hospital staff keeps from everyone. Savire shushes him to not worry about it since it keeps them all alive. She expresses how she missed out on trying the pie, knowing how delicious the cactus girls taste. Only in the wasteland folks. Only in the wasteland.
Chatting with Savire she calls herself "a monster". Having seen all the good she can spare Sten tells her he wouldn't call her that, arguing "a monster" is a relative thing. Everyone is a monster to someone and it doesn't sound fair. She does insist however, claiming she'd be the only one capable of eating Henderson, or the whole town even. Later Savire catches a giant hamster and nods at Sten, asking it its fine. Not sure what she's asking Sten just remarks that it doesn't seem to belong to anyone since it lacks a collar. With no hesitation, Savire's whole mouth expands, unhinging her jaw and swallows the creature in one giant gulp. "Monster" it is. 
Doing some manual labor processing iron.
:-4 Scrap metal
:+2 Iron 
Wondering how the expedition is going Sten calls on the usual radio channels. Savire tells him to try 28, and hailing if anyone reads him Fee-Bee does respond. They're by the volcano having encountered some resistance and doing negotiations with Valkyrie. Not wanting to interrupt Sten wishes them luck. 
A stranger from the city introduces himself as "John" and a physical therapist by trade. He's looking to get ahold of titanium. Boy has he gone around asking to get nowhere. He's told that he'd need to hire a crew for a scrapping expedition, but even then there's no guarantees. Savire has no stock of it and Sten declines to sell. Although bad news he invites them to visit his facilities. With the shortage of titanium Sten remarks that he's going to have to increase his prices substantially. 
Prowler apologizes ahead of time in case his house blows up. He's planning to make some explosives. He's got ideas on making a proximity trigger bomb that can be dropped by vehicles to do driveby runs towards raiders. Worried for his safety Sten asks him what precautions he's doing and thankfully his robotics skills are coming in handy. He has robotic arms set up for doing the work remotely. Making a note to stay away from his shop Sten wishes him the best of luck.
Anuki returns to pick up her order of goggles from Maxie, unable to find the completed job Sten tells her he'll get back to her as soon as he knows the status of the order. She starts rummaging around in the store, making Sten nervous she might find something that she shouldn't or trigger a gas leak and tries to rush her and get her to leave before she breaks something.
Herk reports of unknown shots fired and Sten joins him on his patrol around town. They go to the gate but find no culprit anywhere. At the gate Midge and her friend Cyntha are looking for someone. Not finding them Midge returns a pistol to Sten which he forgot that she borrowed in the first place.
:+1 Pistol
The lift to the undercity had gotten stuck so Ima returns after repairing it. He informs that there's another race coming up, this time with racers only on hover bikes. Announcing that the race is starting among the racers are Voxine, "Nemesis" and Gus. 
====Return trip haul====
The big truck owned by Henderson missing, Mercury reports it stolen. On its arrival back Mercury arrests none other than Skully himself. Seems he gave permission to lend it out to the scrapping crew without the big mans approval. That's a first, the Sheriff arresting his own security, luckily all a misunderstanding. Crunch, Peaches, Fee-Bee and Willie return with quite the haul. Having organized the scrapping run Sten tells Fee-Bee not all need go to the shop and anything for the shop she will get paid for. She's working on a vehicle project which will use most of the materials but the rest goes to the shop. 
:+4 Carbon
:+4 Iron 
Sten asks them how it went with Valkyrie and if they need to prepare for them to come back after them. Fee-Bee say's they wont, though Willie almost lost his temper and got ready to run one of the guards over. Somehow Fee-Bee managed to talk them out of the situation though it did mean they were never able to enter the volcano. The corps take all they can, question is what they want with the volcano. Fee-Bee informs she will be heading for the upper city and return tomorrow.
Maxie reports that the bug-looking fellow from Valkyrie came snooping around before but never declared his intentions. His name is "Nix". One of those who put on a facade of friendliness but get ready to stab you in the back the moment you turn around. The kitchen cutlery order is completed by Maxie, now they just need to pick up the order. From the run Skully returns a turret they recovered from the abandoned facility. It's pretty rusted. After inspecting it, looks like it can't be repaired but some parts are salvaged which may be useful for the town defenses instead.
:+2 Steel
Jeremy puts in an order for a harpoon gun. 
Bub is expanding his hunting horizons to gather food, now going after sandworms with a companion named Captain Ahab. He asks if Sten can put together a harpoon gun or something similar that explodes grenades on impact. Declining to make explosives, Sten recommends Prowler for that. Instead Sten explains they're better off using harpoon guns for restraining the creature, then shoving grenades into it's mouth as that would surely kill it if it explodes from the inside. Ahab groans at this and looks at where his arm should be, very much missing. Apologizing for not noticing, Bub doesn't seem to have any problems with losing an arm, being a synth and all. Another method Bub thought of would be luring and stranding the worms on the salt flats, where they can't dive away and out of danger. Bub returning after checking with Prowler, he said he could make grenades fitting the purpose. Prowler did something strange though, he stormed off somewhere ominously mumbling "They're gone..."
:+1 harpoon guns
:-4 scrap metal
====Late raiders====
Willie reporting back successfully after getting his medicine from the row, he tells that he siphoned some fuel from the cars parked there for his flamethrower. Sten tells him he's glad they didn't get captured or worse by Valkyrie at the volcano but their chat is interrupted by gunshots. Raiders. Not again. The sandstorm will hit at any moment.
Willie and Sten run out over the bridge to spot raiders - inside the gates. Not enough time to spare they both open fire at the vehicle driving around wildly with probably 6 raiders riding on it. Unsure if they hit any, the vehicle continues by and exits the town via the racetrack. Hearing a loud ominous sound it turns out to be Crunch, swinging his giant cleaver across his back. His threatening toad-like noises Sten is glad to have him on Scrap Towns side. Checking the town, it seems secure but there are injured who got hit by the raiders car.
The locals help carry the injured back to the hospital. Any emergency medical care will have to be done overnight. Among the injured are Maya, Herk, Skully, Savire and Mercury. The sandstorm moving in Sten takes cover, spending the night working in the shop and resting on the couch.
:-3-2 Iron
:+1 Revolver
:-2 Carbon
:+2 Steel
:Next Episode: ND Cragsand S3E14 Part 1: Diplomacy
==Inventory==
Sten personal inventory tracker after episode...
==Store inventory==
Store inventory tracker after episode... This is shared with employees, credits are stored in the smithing registry.
==Links==
*Twitch VOD: Neon Divide Season 3 Episode 13: Wasteland Cook Off 
*YouTube VOD: Neon Divide S3 E13: Wasteland Cook Off
===Twitch Clips===
*VRChat hat physics
*They be doing death rolls my bruddas
*Accidental applicant to the Scrap Town space program
*Scat bugs
*Cute hams.... omg
==Gallery==
ND Crag S3E13 01 Cooking competition Maya Charles Minto Sergei Chefs.png
ND Crag S3E13 02 Cooking competition Maya Charles Minto Sergei Chefs.png
ND Crag S3E13 03 Cooking competition Maya Charles Minto Sergei Chefs.png
ND Crag S3E13 04 Cooking competition Maya Charles Minto Sergei Chefs.png
ND Crag S3E13 05 Pillbug traders guns.png
ND Crag S3E13 06 Pillbug traders guns.png
ND Crag S3E13 07 Kenneth Mori.png
ND Crag S3E13 08 Shiloh Norbert Nemesis (Mango).png
ND Crag S3E13 09 Shiloh Nemesis (Mango) handshake.png
ND Crag S3E13 10 Shiloh Nemesis (Mango) handshake.png
ND Crag S3E13 11 (Vicse) Shiloh Nemesis (Mango).png
ND Crag S3E13 12 Norbert Shiloh Nemesis (Vicse).png
ND Crag S3E13 13 Norbert Shiloh Nemesis (Vicse).png
ND Crag S3E13 14 Sera Cactus pie cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 15 Maya lizard dish cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 16 Cooking competition Maya Charles Minto Sergei Chefs cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 17 Jeremy cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 18 Jyggal cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 19 Jyggal.png
ND Crag S3E13 20 Torok FRED cooking competition Minto Sergei.png
ND Crag S3E13 21 Torok cooking competition Minto Sergei.png
ND Crag S3E13 22 Torok cooking competition Minto Sergei faints.png
ND Crag S3E13 23 Torok cooking competition Minto Sergei faints.png
ND Crag S3E13 24 Torok cooking competition Minto Sergei faints.png
ND Crag S3E13 25 Cactus girls pie cooking ompetition Juno Yuna Sera Jyggal Minto.png
ND Crag S3E13 26 Cactus girls pie cooking ompetition Juno Yuna Sera Jyggal Minto.png
ND Crag S3E13 27 FRED.png
ND Crag S3E13 28 Cooking competitio chef (Dettet).png
ND Crag S3E13 29. Cooking competition Maya tastes the cactus girls pie.png
ND_Crag_S3E13_30_Cooking_competition_Maya_cactus_girls_pie.png
ND Crag S3E13 31 (Vicse) Nemesis (Mango) Maya.png
ND Crag S3E13 32 Sergei.png
ND Crag S3E13 33 Sergei cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 34 announcing the winner cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 35 announcing the winner cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 36 Maya wins the cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 37 FRED and Sergei cooking competition.png
ND Crag S3E13 38 Savire Juno.png
ND Crag S3E13 39 Prowler Savire.png
ND Crag S3E13 40 Savire swallows hamster whole.png
ND Crag S3E13 41 John Divide.png
ND Crag S3E13 42 John Divide.png
ND Crag S3E13 43 John Divide.png
ND Crag S3E13 44 Sten Prowler.png
ND Crag S3E13 45 Anuki propane.png
ND Crag S3E13 46 Herk no helmet.png
ND Crag S3E13 47 Herk no helmet.png
ND Crag S3E13 48 Yuna.png
ND Crag S3E13 49 Wasteland racing Gustavo Voxene Nemesis Yuna.png
ND Crag S3E13 50 Wasteland racing Gustavo Voxene Nemesis Yuna.png
ND Crag S3E13 51 Wasteland racing Gustavo Voxene Nemesis Yuna.png
ND Crag S3E13 52 Wasteland racing Gustavo Voxene Nemesis Yuna.png
ND Crag S3E13 53 Wasteland racing Gustavo Voxene Nemesis Yuna.png
ND Crag S3E13 54 Crunch FeeBee Peaches return from scrapping.png
ND Crag S3E13 55 Mercury arresting Skully with Savire Crunch FeeBee Sten.png
ND Crag S3E13 56 Willie scrapping haul.png
ND Crag S3E13 57 Fee-Bee.png
ND Crag S3E13 58 Bub.png
ND Crag S3E13 59 Bub Captain Ahab Sten.png
ND Crag S3E13 60 Captain Ahab.png
ND Crag S3E13 61 Captain Ahab.png
ND Crag S3E13 62 Raiders attacking inside the gates Sten Crunch.png
ND Crag S3E13 63 Raiders attacking inside the gates Sten Crunch.png
NeonDivideCreditsInfographicThingy.png|Neon Divide RP approximate prices infographic (outdated)
Category:Neon Divide Cragsand Episodes