by Skyler Grant
Reevesport really had been largely intact a few hours ago. Now a significant portion of it was on fire and several flaming airship hulks were falling away, tracing trails through the air as they hit the volcanic crater.
"Is that the best you can do? Even Ophelia's was bigger," I said.
Tara was making her way out of the Graven with Mechos supported against her shoulder. The man looked pale, drawn, and I wasn't getting any power readings from him. Normally he had a faintly familiar aura of an upgrade core. His had been somehow removed. No wonder he and the Mechanites weren't doing well.
I teleported him away from Tara and into the Medbay.
"Oh good. The pink slime isn't him," Anna said.
"Put on some clothes. You don't want to kill him. And the slime is Ophelia," I said.
Our shields were starting to take a lot of hits. The fact that we had any shields at all put us in a better position than most ships. I tracked one transport vessel falling from the sky to crash into the city, resulting in another explosion.
I was moving us away from Reevesport as quickly as possible, trying to avoid the worst of the conflict breaking out. From what I could tell five distinct factions seemed to be going at it, all doing their best to defend their bits of the burning city.
The air above the city warped and twisted, and three new airships appeared. They were each our size and build, which made sense given they were our same design.
Scholar warships.
The air warped again and four more airships arrived. White and gold, Righteous vessels.
From the jungle what appeared to be a massive crystalline spider, riding upon the back of a dragon, rose into view. The old upgrade core of this ship—it seemed to be doing well for itself.
I teleported Anna to the bridge and materialized her a jumpsuit. Anna slipped into it even as her eyes tracked what was happening on the display.
"Is that actually a dragon?" Anna asked.
I wished I knew. I wished I had cell samples. That could be a proper defense drone.
"I believe so, and with this ship’s old upgrade core on top of it. Don't get your hopes up, it would look like a pig riding a chicken, if you tried," I said.
"You are so making me a dragon to ride one day. Do we have any bombs ready, and how is our dimensional drive?" Anna asked.
We had two in storage.
"Their triggers were made by Mechos. In his current state they may be unreliable. We likely have a single fire out of our dimensional drive," I said.
"Bring Tara here," Anna said.
I teleported the Righteous woman to the bridge. At the moment, she looked a good bit more put-together than Anna did. Tara didn't miss a beat as she sketched a bow. "My Queen. Is that a dragon?"
"You've ships here. They need to be gone and I need some safe coordinates," Anna said.
"It will take me a few minutes," Tara said.
"It better not," Anna said. "Pinpoint weak spots in the volcano for detonation."
I retasked both my science drones at once. Anna wanted to destroy the city and everything in the skies above it.
It was a bold plan. It might even work.
32
Planning to detonate several bombs to explode a volcano for the purposes of mass destruction is not quite so easy as it might appear. The explosions alone won’t be enough, there are complex forces and energies that needs to be pushed in exactly the right places to get the desired bang.
This sort of thing might have taken humans years to calculate, if they were capable of it at all. With my science drones to provide information in real time, and the overwhelming power of my Biocomputer, I was anything but human. It took me seventy-three seconds.
I was confident of my solution. In that time our shields dropped another eighteen percent and two more dragons climbed into the sky from the jungles. The Righteous, Scholars, and dragons were enough to inspire the denizens of the city to stop shooting at each other and start shooting at them.
The Righteous airships shimmered and blinked out of existence.
"I've got coordinates. Sending them over," Tara said.
I teleported the bombs and engaged the dimensional drive. I left one of my science drones behind to actually trigger the bombs after we left—if we left.
I didn't want to be here for what I was about to unleash.
The sky tore itself apart as the dimensional drive engaged, worked—then melted. We weren't getting a second trip. Fortunately we didn't need one. We were elsewhere.
We looked to be underground in some vast cavern that extended several miles in all directions. Below us shimmered a force-field in the shape of a blue dome, beneath which antiquated buildings were dimly visible.
"Do we have pursuers?" Anna asked.
I wasn’t detecting any other ships in our vicinity. I'd lost contact with my science drone, which hopefully meant the bombs had accomplished their mission.
"We seem to have gotten away clean," I said.
Anna turned her attention to the surroundings and grinned at Tara. "So, you aren't worthless and may not be a complete liar. That’s Aelfwal out there, isn't it?"
"I keep my word when I can," Tara said, rubbing at her eyes, "As so might you, given that you allowed our ships to escape your massacre back there. Did you really have to burn the whole city?"
"The city was already burning. I gave the council in charge a way out. I wish they'd listened," Anna said, moving to her throne.
I wondered just what had happened during her meeting on the council airship. Thanks to her monitoring bracelet I didn't have to leave it a mystery, I pulled those logs.
Anna tried to make peace with them. She had warned them about the attack on the tower and why, and that Scholar forces were expected to arrive at the city soon. She'd offered to try and transition her ship’s upgrade core into the city proper.
The council’s answer was hitting her with some sort of power dampener, stripping her naked, and throwing her into an arena where an enormous massive mechanical ape was meant to tear her limb from limb. It hadn't quite worked out as they intended.
Whatever else could be said of Anna, she was talented.
"I don't approve," Tara said.
Anna regarded her for a long moment. "Good. You shouldn't. Keep expressing opinions like that and I may have cause to keep you around. The dome, do you have a way through it?"
I said, "Before she answers that, I'd like to know just what we're hovering over. Given the obvious intention to keep us out, I'd speculate it was the home of one of Anna's ex-lovers. If she had any."
Anna explained, "Power cores bond most commonly to individuals. But as you prove, that is not any sort of mandatory requirement. Down there beneath that shield is the Aelfwal socket, if we are to believe Tara here. Until now, I'd thought that one just a legend."
"Amongst the Scholars, cores and sockets are prized highly and rank is given accordingly. Based upon your powers and her connection to you, Emma, our Queen in their estimation would qualify as only a Lady, not a queen," Tara said, choosing her words carefully.
Anna gave her an amused look. "What she carefully isn't saying is that my taking the Aelfwal socket would make them officially regard me as a Queen."
"But not the Queen of the World—unless that city below is far more impressive than it appears," I said.
"No," Anna said with a faint smile. "I'm probably going to have to buy that title the old fashioned way, with blood and flames. We'll get there. So, the shield?"
"We don't have a way through it. As you said, a legendary place. One of the three sister cities of Galasa lost in the fourth war," Tara said, staring at the force-field. "We'd hoped to anchor the city and return it to the core eventually."
"So, the only people likely to have the knowledge of how to breach that shield are going to be the Scholars?" Anna asked.
I said, "In case that minuscule little mind of yours has forgotten, we do have the library of Lady Sylax aboard. I'm busy translating its contents into somet
hing useful."
"How long will it take you?"
"Seven years. Roughly."
"Too long," Anna said, shaking her head, "Even if I were willing to be patient, this crew won't hold together that long and we need them to stay. I've heard that sockets of this complexity aren't taken by single cores but require the talents of multiple ones to properly control."
"Do you have connections among the Scholars that might still help you?" Tara asked.
"Not intentionally, but I've got a plan. Is there any sort of city nearby?"
Tara frowned. "Two weeks away at full power. If there were anything close, this place would have long since been discovered."
I said, "I'd like a shot at figuring out the shield myself. While the best of the Righteous scientists may have had a look at it, perhaps a proper intellect will have more success."
"Fine. You have a week and unless you’re showing progress, we move on. Use the time to further upgrade our systems too," Anna said.
"Three weeks in total will give me some time to complete some research," I said.
"Do it, and find a cabin for Tara," Anna decided.
33
I studied the shield for the week. The city beneath was large, well maintained, and completely unreachable. The force-field remained at a constant power level and after a week of testing I wasn't able to cause more than minor variations. My sensors wouldn’t penetrate, so teleportation to the other side wasn’t possible. Neither was burrowing beneath—while it appeared a dome across the surface the shielding continued underground completely isolating the interior.
My science drones couldn’t initiate any sort of research project. That was disappointing, but at least it gave me time to complete some of the ones I had pending. Between them and the command points they would generate I was about to undergo a major upgrade.
Research Project
"Plant Samples"
You have identified the retrieved plant samples and can now grow them in your growth tanks.
Idari Leaf - Can be refined into Blocker, a chemical that when consumed can block telepathic abilities.
Semhar Root - Can be refined into a drug that produces feelings of euphoria as well as a powerful addiction.
Gralker Stem - Can be refined into a stimulant that offers a short-term boost to strength and agility although is also addictive and in the long term results in physical degradation.
Vinto - A water weed this plant seems like it may offer an antidote to several poisons as yet undiscovered.
Revo - A plant difficult to analyze properly because of its constant genetic alteration. Some degree of this mutation is passed on to a biological host and can result in rapid physical alterations. These are usually negative although with further study a way may be found to improve results.
They were a fascinating assortment of plants that the cartel had been growing in private. Given the large capacity of my growth tanks I had room to grow a supply of all of them.
Research Project
"Baron Wolfson"
Baron Wolfson is imbued with powers from a Fauna Core that offers him some of the animalistic properties of a Wolf as well as the ability to shapeshift. He experiences an increase in agility and speed, and is particularly effective when fighting as part of a pact. You can now grant a weaker ability of the pack boost power to your drones or agents via upgrade.
I hadn't seen much of that from him so far. The Wolves had been pretty well decimated by the powers of others despite being together.
Research Project
"Doctor Batavius"
Doctor Batavius is imbued with powers from a Vision Core that offers her an ability to see well outside the normal human visual spectrum. While this can offer insights and awareness lacking to others it can also cause blackouts and disorientation from overstimulation. You can now grant a weaker ability of the enhanced vision power to your drones or agents via upgrade.
That explained the goggles her people wore. They must be designed to filter out some of what their power was providing them and help to regulate it. While some powers I'd seen had some negatives, such as Hot Stuff's problem with clothing, this was the first time I'd seen genuine negative consequences to the holder.
Research Project
"Ratticus"
Ratticus is imbued with powers from an Energy Core that offers him an ability to regulate different forms of energy he encounters. This can have a host of potential uses from regulating kinetic impacts to rendering the user immune to electric fields. You can now grant a weaker version of energy regulation to your drones or agents via upgrade.
Ratticus had a good ability. Of the various section heads he had always struck me as the least impressive when it came to powers, but I had underestimated him. With proper application his abilities would make him a formidable fighter, just as they seemingly made him a formidable engineer.
Research Project
"Hot Stuff"
Hot Stuff is bonded to a Fire Core and more recently was exposed to a Metal Core which bonded with her as well. This has granted her the ability to manifest a motorcycle at will. This motorcycle requires no fuel and no ammunition and is capable of impressive speed and offensive power. A lesser version of this power can be granted to those already imbued with the powers of a Fire Core allowing them to manifest some item of their own combining the properties of these two realms.
I was intrigued. This was the first real example I had seen in a human of core strengths directly playing into each other. This metal ability required her fire ability as a base.
With that research done there was something more vital to focus on. An embarrassment of riches—four core upgrade points. I'd never had so many to spend at one time.
You have four unspent core points
Your options are
Research 7
Research 7 will allow you to build the physics lab. This will open up whole new avenues of research and may have unexpected pairings with your genetics lab.
Military 2
Military 2 will allow you to control a greater number of defense drones. There is power in numbers. In addition, defensive systems all acquire a minor upgrade.
Engineering 2
Engineering 2 will allow the production of the Fabricator. A Fabricator is a versatile production machine that can apply schematics to construct everything from ship upgrades to trade goods.
Command 1
Command 1 will allow status warnings. Currently you receive no notification when an individual component is in distress. With this upgrade you will receive alerts with the issue, severity, and suggested fixes.
Espionage 1
Espionage 1 will allow you to control a reconnaissance drone. This unit is capable of stealth and will allow visual and audio surveillance.
Before I spent a point I had to put thought into limits. I knew from my own drones and from upgrading Anna that the maximum I could raise their attributes was to ten. It wouldn't surprise me if that applied to myself as well. If so, that last upgrade would probably be a profound one. That would require sinking all four of my remaining points into that one section.
I wanted to do it, of course I wanted to do it. SCIENCE would not be denied. Ultimately I was in the same place I was following the last upgrade. None of my weaknesses were overwhelming at this point, not enough that I didn't feel I could compensate by further enhancing my strength.
I cycled through the Research upgrades.
Research 8
Research 8 allows you a dedicated drone bay. Science drone routines are enhanced and they are now even more autonomous. Five can now be controlled.
Research 9
Research 9 allows you to build the enlightenment core. This allows for greatly enhanced research speeds reducing time required to 25% of their previous levels.
Research 10
Research 10 allows for the Research Ship hull design. This upgrade refits the entire vessel to better serve the purposes of scientific research. All systems are modular and
quickly replaceable with test versions. Sensor clusters will be located both inside and outside the vessel automatically gathering data and automatically beginning relevant research projects.
This was already a research ship, or at least I'd thought it was. Looking over the new schematics that opened up showed how much more could be done. Every system in the ship would be subject to constant experimentation and improvement. While this might make things less reliable, it would reap rewards in the long term.
I began the conversion at once.
34
The upgrade to a research vessel was also improving and modifying every system aboard to some degree. I reviewed what those new systems looked like.
Research Biocomputer
Level 10
The research biocomputer has far more interconnections than a standard bioprocessor. While this results in superior creative problem-solving abilities it also results in more emotional and mental instability and the possibility of freezing in a crisis.
Research Bioreactor
Level 10
The research bioreactor is constantly testing new formulas and power distribution platforms. This generates a steady supply of research points, but power irregularities decrease the lifespan of all ship systems.
Research Growth Vats
Level 10
While the growth vats currently provide a supply of food and replacement body parts to the crew those will now frequently be experimental. Flavors may vary wildly as well as the effects on consumption. While this will provide steady research points crew morale will be negatively impacted.
