Shofixti Maidens

The last surviving female members of their race after the Shofixti's heroic self-destruction in the First War, they are a group of sixteen adolescent Shofixti captured by Admiral ZEX of the VUX during the war. These young beauties were kept unresisting, compliant, and preserved forever young by freezing them in cryogenic suspension; ZEX kept them as part of his menagerie of strange, bizarre and dangerous creatures, both sentient and nonsentient. When The Captain approached ZEX asking to trade for the Shofixti Maidens, ZEX first asked the captain to retrieve the Beast of Linch-Nas-Ploh, then reneged and demanded that The Captain and his human crew join him in his menagerie, as his primary obsession with the grotesque had always centered on humans. ZEX's gambit failed, as after The Captain had delivered the Beast ZEX's crew proved incapable of controlling it, leading to his menagerie's destruction, and presumably his own death. The Captain was thus able to recover the Maidens and offer them as mates to Shofixti survivor Tanaka; Tanaka and his wives then began the process of repopulating the Shofixti species.

The unscrupulous Druuge also expressed an interest in procuring the Maidens. If The Captain approaches Zeta Persei I with the cryogenically preserved maidens still in his cargo hold, the Druuge extend him an offer; in return for the maidens, they would grant The Captain six of their Mauler starships, which normally cost one hundred human crew per vessel. The Druuge explained that they had the means to fertilise the Shofixti maidens artificially, and would use them to produce a hybrid beast to attend the furnaces which power their various technology; by "attend", it was likely the Druuge meant that the poor beasts would be thrown into the furnaces as a fuel source, as they are prone to doing with just about any lifeform.

Gameplay notes

Sources of information

One of the first pieces of information on current events sold by the Melnorme reveals that the Shofixti Maidens exist and are in the possession of Admiral ZEX on Alpha Cerenkov I. The location of ZEX is also mentioned by both VUX and Yehat captains encountered in space.

Acquisition

The Shofixti Maidens become available once ZEX has received the Beast. Following ZEX's final words, an energy scan of the planet's surface reveals the location of the cryogenic tanks, which can be retrieved using a lander.

Uses

When offered the chance, Tanaka agrees to take custody of the Maidens. The Maidens can also be traded to the Druuge for six fully-crewed Maulers.

Relevance to the plot

The Shofixti Maidens are part of an optional quest to initiate the Yehat Rebellion. The rebirth of the Shofixti race also leads to a permanent reduction in crew cost.