Unlock: Distress Federation Ship Hiding in Nebula

Occurs in:

1. Central Shell Nebulae
 at a distress beacon. in a Nebula.

This event can lead to unlocking the Shelled Cruiser, the player must agree to help with the station, then attempt to resolve the conflict via peaceful means. Afterwards they need to interfere and attack the stealth ship to protect the shells, after winning this fight they will unlock the ship.

## Event

*You receive a hail from a Federation vessel hiding in the nebula. "Oh, good, you must be the backup we called for! We were transporting troops to the Last Stand when we were forced to detour through this sector. We thought we would be fine until a Shell Abductor came from nowhere and abducted our crew! We suspect they're being held at this beacon in a nearby laboratory, but we don't have enough firepower to rescue them on our own."*

1. Agree to help and inspect the station.
	* *The station is unlike any other station you've ever seen. Massive and painted in the colors of an Elite, this must be an important location.*
		1. Hail them and negotiate peacefully. No need to murder these scientists.
			+ *"Oh, a Federation vessel. Welcome to thhhis beacon! What can I do for you?" You explain the situation, and the Shell seems to contemplate for a moment. "Oh, I see. My apologies, it has always been Shell custom to study creatures who enter our space. We bring no harm to them of course, we simply bring them aboard, run a quick few painless tests, and send them on our way. We meant no harm! Do not worry, I'll have them all released immediately. We want no trouble."*
				- *While the Shells are releasing the Federation crew, you notice another jump signature has been detected. Suddenly, a large stealth vessel jumps into the beacon. You catch a message sent from the ship to the Shells. "This is DA-SR 12, responding to the Federation distress beacon. You are in possession of Class-B Federation personnel. We will be docking with you shortly, you will surrender and be taken aboard for arrest or we will use force."*
					1. The Shells don't deserve this! Protect them and attack the Stealth ship.
						* *You maneuver the ship in-between the Stealth Cruiser and the Shells. "You are protecting criminals? We will have no choice but to use force then!"*
							+ Fight the DA-SR 12.
								- (**After defeating the enemy ship by any means**) *You've neutralized the Stealth Cruiser, and rescued the Shells in the process.*
									* You gain a **high** standard reward.
										1. Contact the Scientists
					2. Crap, we can't get involved in this. Leave.
						* Nothing happens
		2. Attack the station in hopes you can save the Soldiers.
			+ *You arm the weapons and attack the Shell Laboratory. If you want to save the Soldiers, you'll have to clean this place of crew without destroying the hull.*
				- Fight the Geniocracy Laboratory
					* (**After destroying enemy ship**) *The laboratory explodes, undoubtedly killing all of the crew, including the Federation personnel, inside. You hope the Federation doesn't hear about this blunder...*
						+ You gain a **high** standard reward.
					* (**After killing enemy crew**) *You've killed all of the scientists aboard the station. You scrap the exterior of the hull.*
						+ You gain a **medium** standard reward.
							1. Free the Soldiers.
								- *You board the station and free all of the Federation personnel. They thank you briefly before rushing back to their ship, which has docked with the station to retrieve them. The Federation ship thanks you and pays you for your help.*
									* You gain a **medium** scrap-only reward.
										+ *You take a quick look around the station before you leave and find a strange device in one of the laboratories. It appears to be made to emit the neurotoxin that usually protects Shell ships. The one installed in the lab must have broken during the fight, judging from the fact you're able to be here now, but this one is fully functional. You bring it back to the ship.*
											- You gain the Toxic Gas augment.
		3. This is more than we expected, leave.
			+ Nothing happens.
2. Explain that you aren't the backup and leave.
	* *You apologize to the Federation ship and explain you're on a more important mission. Hopefully, the real backup will arrive soon to help them.*
		1. Check the storage
		2. Do nothing.

## Contact the Scientists

* *"You saved us! Thhhat was a Federation ship thhhough... You would betray your own people to save us? I'm not sure how to thhhink about thhhat. But I don't have time to anyways. Please, I hope you will allow me to come with you now that I cannot stay here. I will of course still free these men and send them back to their ship first."*
	+ You gain a Shell Radiant named Bamalf, your Shell notoriety is removed and **you unlock the Shelled Cruiser**.

## Trivia

* ID: NEBULA\_SHELLHOME\_LAB
* The name of the radiant obtained in this event (Bamalf) is a reference to the creator of the Arsenal+ mod for FTL. (english translation found here)
* The Stealth ship miniboss (DA-SR 12) is a reference, in both name and appearance, to vanilla FTL's Stealth B layout.