A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  MY EYES WENT DARK. I lurched and nearly fell over. Good thing the Shocktroop came over fast enough to grab my flagging body before it hit the floor. A set of strong hands (or paws?) fairly unceremoniously laid me down and raised my head. Someone capable and clearly experienced, opened my helmet’s faceguard...

  Mysticism skill increased to level forty-five!

  What a nasty smell! Smelling salts?! I waved it off and quickly distanced myself. The Medic Gerd Mauu-La Mya-Ssa hunched over me in alarm. Other than the vial of smelling salts, the Miyelonian had a pneumatic injection gun glimmering in his hand and ready to go. I tried to reassure the Medic:

  “It’s nothing to be afraid of. I just overtaxed myself psionically. My Magic and Endurance Points both went down to zero.”

  The orange tomcat gave a nod of understanding, stashed the pneumatic needle and extended me a flask containing a piercingly violet bubbling liquid. I drank it down obediently. So sour! But it really did help! My endurance and magic bars started quickly filling up.

  My thoughts returned to events in the magocratic world. The horror! I needed to get in touch with Minn-O right away and find out all the details. But then, as if I didn’t have enough troubles for one day, a hysterical scream rang out in my headphones. It was Ayukh the Navigator, who I’d left behind on the frigate:

  “We’re under attack! Fifty pirates from the Pride of the Bushy Shadow! Somehow they got in from the corridor without us noticing!!! The ship is taking fire from heavy rockets and plasma cannons! A-a-a-ahhhhhhh!”

  Damn! Damn! I hopped up and quickly got my team together. However, a message thirty seconds later from San-Dun showed that there was no longer any reason to hurry:

  “Captain! The enemies have been eliminated by the two Immolators and the Jarg, who self-destructed in the middle of a group of them. But the thing is... Everything is on fire, everything is melting... Ayukh the Navigator died. Only the tail section and right part of the fuselage with the gunner bay survived. I’m afraid our frigate is beyond repair...”

  ATTENTION!!! The reward for destroying your starship has been paid. Captain Leng Gnat’s danger rating has fallen to 1.

  What?! My starship, the apple of my eye, which I’d invested such vast amounts of effort and funds into had been destroyed??? A howl of rage tore itself from my throat, which made the Medic and all the others take a step back. I immediately shot to my feet:

  “Imran, Uline, Valeri, Eduard, Vasha Tushihh! You stay here! You’ll answer for these two interceptors with your life! Everyone else, follow me to hangar 10-107! We’re gonna capture the pirate ore freighter!”

  But we were too late there as well. Before my crew could even run out of the corridor, a large portion of messages ran in front of my eyes:

  ATTENTION!!! The Pride of the Bushy Shadow has agreed to pay the Relict Faction reparations of 4,000,000 crypto. War over!

  ATTENTION!!! You have received 28,230 crypto* to your account. The remainder of the reparations has been paid as trophy property (please find list in attachment).

  * payment amount agreed upon with the Administration of the Kasti-Utsh III station. If you do not agree, you may dispute it in a court of the Union of Miyelonian Prides.

  ATTENTION!!! You may not declare war on the same opponent two times within a period of five standard days!

  Fame increased to 81.

  Authority increased to 68!

  We won. But it came at a huge cost! A pyrrhic victory[2], there’s nothing else you can call it...

  Chapter Fourteen. Without the Horse we Rode in on

  I WAS SEVERELY SLUMPED in a levitating armchair next to a huge wall-length panorama window holding a glass of nonalcoholic tonic in my hand and looking pensively at a huge brownish-orange gas giant – the third planet from the Kasti-Utsh system’s sun, along with its numerous satellites. The local star wasn’t putting out enough light to be dangerous from here, so the smart electronics automatically turned the windows from tinted to perfectly clear, allowing guests of the hotel room to take in the fantastic view. A truly beautiful and majestic sight!

  My business partner Uline-Tar was splayed out comfortably in an identical flying armchair next to me. After the tense day we’d just had, the formidable Geckho woman was plainly burned out and relaxing, having turned on the vibrating massage mode in the armchair’s options for her back and shoulders, and closing her eyes a long time in bliss. In the corner of the room, there was a round levitating table hovering motionless with a touch screen on it, which my business partner and I were using to keep an eye on the starship market and to plan through possible future operations. There were plenty up for sale, and some were even quite intriguing. Here on Kasti-Utsh III, it was even possible to obtain a light cruiser but, as usual, everything hinged on finances. Not having reached a common opinion and tired of arguing, Uline and I decided to take an hour’s break to eat dinner and unwind.

  The Trader’s palmtop gave a beep. My business partner peeled open her lemon-yellow eyes with clear distaste, read the message and, immediately enthused, turned her spinning armchair in my direction:

  “Hey, we found a buyer for the wreckage of our frigate! See Gnat, I told you someone would buy it quick. I’ve seen even more damaged modular frigates get bought for parts before. We ended up getting eleven million crystals along with all the hardware. We’re in the green!!!”

  Eleven million... Somewhere around a third as much as the Tolili-Ukh X frigate in long-distance raider configuration would be worth if it could be repaired. Frustrating, of course. On the other hand, after the quick little war we came out with two Tiopeo-Myhh II Miyelonian interceptors. Ten minutes ago, a representative of Kasti-Utsh III station administration brought me the captain’s keys and documents for them, so Wizzz the hacker didn’t even have to break anything, and the mercenary Programmer was sent on his merry way. Even considering the repair costs, the two trophy interceptors were worth twenty-seven or -eight million crystals, so it was easy to understand why the Trader was happy. To her, it felt like a profitable deal. We “traded” one starship for two smaller and more nimble ones and, with the reparations added in, we came out on top.

  But nevertheless, I couldn’t force myself to be happy no matter how I tried. And although I had distanced myself from the events of the recent war and somewhat calmed down, I was still admonishing myself. I just couldn’t understand how we could all be so blind and self-confident! And I was thinking not only of the failed assault, which had turned into a chaotic slaughter, but also the unexpected pirate counterattack.

  After all, back when we jammed the two pirate interceptors into one hangar, we gave the Pride of the Bushy Shadow and their dispatcher flunkies a clear demonstration that we had gained control over the station’s computer system. The Miyelonians must have known that perfectly well, but didn’t stop us or do anything to impede our unauthorized access. We were allowed to just get deeper into our confusion and start thinking ourselves in control of the situation. But at a certain point, they started editing the footage from the security cameras. My crew back on the frigate didn’t notice the pirates preparing for the assault, or dragging their heavy weaponry closer to our Tolili-Ukh X hanger, or setting their respawn points nearby. And so, when the forty pirates respawned all at once, their joint attack came as a complete surprise. And as a result of that blindness, idiocy and self-confidence, we lost a starship...

  Yes, we got the two Tiopeo-Myhh II interceptors in return. And that wasn’t all so bad. However, it would be a day before either of them would be ready, and the second would need a whole three days. Until that point, my whole team and I were essentially “without a horse,” stuck on the station. On top of that, all twenty Team Gnat players would have to squeeze in pretty tight to all fit in the two miniscule interceptors. We’d have to forget about all notions of comfort or personal berths. Stools in the corridor – that was the most my crew members could hope for in these dinky vessels. And to make matters worse, try as we might, the three Immolators wouldn’t b
e able to fit in the cargo holds, even folded up. They could just barely fit one each (although according to the Engineer and Supercargo, that would put them both a ton and a half over their ideal weight), so it was looking like we’d have to sell the third Immolator. And an interceptor with a ton and a half overload would lose all its strong points, becoming just a tiny uncomfortable cargo ship.

  Add to that our lack of a second Navigator, and both pilots lacking the skill for steering highly maneuverable ships, and a bunch more associated problems... Overall I was feeling inclined to sell the interceptors and buy another one like we had before. But Uline Tar intelligently noted that we could not sell the trophy ships at full price until we were done repairing them. And that meant waiting around for three days...

  I also missed the extremely rare chance to have an audience with Miyelonian Fleet Commander Kung Keetsie-Myau, which stung all the worse after hearing the Great One had some kind of “interesting offer” for me and humanity as a whole. The war with the Pride of the Bushy Shadow ended without me dueling the pirate leader. And no duel meant no conversation with the famed commander. The Great One made that crystal clear. As far as I’d heard from the news, the flotilla of three Pride of the Bushy Shadow starships had reached the Kasti-Utsh system and recently docked at the station. However, their leader Big Abi had announced that, with the war already over, he saw no reason to waste five days on Kasti-Utsh III when he had more pressing matters to attend to elsewhere in the galaxy. And so, as soon as he bought everything he needed and balanced his team between his two ships, the fearsome pirate was planning to leave the Kasti-Utsh III station.

  When asked directly by the black-furred Journalist (the very same who covered the war on the station), about a duel with Leng Gnat, Big Abi replied that despite his fearsome reputation, he respected Miyelonian law and was not planning to attack a neutral player. Furthermore, with a smirk., Big Abi asked the representative of the Pride of the Sweet Voice how she thought a duel between a strong warrior and powerful psionic might go. If the warrior didn’t provide for mental defense, he’d lose before the battle even got started. But if he just put on a helmet to block thoughts or any other similar defense, the psionic mage would be sure to lose. I saw Gerd Abi making that speech on the local news, and it gave me the impression that the fearsome pirate wasn’t exactly raring for a fight. And to be honest, I didn’t want to go up against the lightning-fast Miyelonian either, if he was going to be completely immune to my mental attacks. So by the looks of things, my audience with Kung Keetsie-Myau would have to wait...

  Our mission to intercept the La-Shin Faction’s Kurimiru shuttle also ended in complete failure. How annoying! And then the monstrous events in the magocratic world... Damn! And I suspected that Tamara had some terrible scheme in mind, given she despised magicians with every fiber of her being and yet was so eager to enter the magic-imbued world. Although to my eye, the idea she’d committed an act of terrorism looked hard to explain. Where would a dainty girl with no knowledge of their alien world have obtained explosives and how did she sneak them into a well-defended building? I had more questions than answers...

  My furry companion, growling in satisfaction at the massage, opened her eyes and said:

  “You know Gnat, it makes a lot of sense to see you in a deluxe room in a space hotel! It’s like you were born to live this life!”

  And my answer may have been a bit too petty:

  “I hope I was made for bigger things than pointlessly lounging in a hotel, no matter how chic the interior.”

  “Oh come on. Don’t be a buzzkill!” she grumbled, sitting more comfortably in her chair and adjusting her robe. “How long have you been in the game that bends reality? Less than fifty days? In such a short amount of time, most players from your home planet haven’t even left the two or three nodes around their initial base. The extent of their dreams is to save up enough monetary crystals to one day buy a blaster. But you have two starships, your own faction and a team of loyal players who would follow you to the ends of the Universe! So you can afford to play in comfort – what’s so bad about that?”

  I didn’t answer because a delicate knock came at the door. Room service? Not likely. If I understood correctly, this room was exclusively serviced by domestic robots. I was feeling too lazy to get up from my armchair and turn on the observation system, so I acted on old habit and activated the Scanning icon.

  Human man. Level-72 Sniper.

  Human woman. Level-78 Gunfighter.

  Both markers were blue, meaning allies. Had the two German beginners come to get to know their captain a bit better? In the space of a second, I changed out of my lounging clothes (which I only allowed Uline Tar to see me in) and into the matte-black Listener Armor, then mentally unlocked the armored front door. Ten seconds later, both players of the German H6 Faction were standing in front of me. They were both trying very hard to restrain their emotions, but I could see on their motionless faces that the majestic spectacle out the window was making an impression on them. I had booked just three rooms in the hotel: one expensive deluxe suite for fifteen hundred crypto a night for me and Uline Tar, and two simpler rooms for the rest of the team to relax in. The other rooms must not have come with a panoramic view of space.

  “Captain Leng Gnat,” said Destroying Angel, first to come in and start speaking, “my brother and I have come to express our gratitude and pride at the fact we were considered worthy to join humanity’s first outer-space combat unit. Yes, our level is lower than almost everyone else in the team for now. But we assure you that we are prepared to train to the point of exhaustion, and even near death. And we’ll be sure to catch up to the others soon enough!”

  That left me with no doubt she had overheard my conversation with Gerd T’yu-Pan about the beginners’ low levels. Okay then, I hadn’t changed my perspective. They still needed to grow into the team a bit to be able to provide effective help.

  “Und, vee are speaking in ze name of our diplomat... Geh-neh-ral? Kanzler? Ze biggest player of unser block, ummm... fraction,” Grim Reaper grew ashamed, unable to find the correct word in Geckho, and just let his sister take back over.

  “Leng Gnat! Human-6 Faction leader Leng Thomas Müller has tasked us with communicating a political proposal. The H6 Faction is willing to sign a military and political alliance with the Relict Faction. And we’re willing to accept any level of integration, right up to complete unification.”

  What? I was generally hard to surprise, but some things are hard to take in stride. I sharply stood up and mentally darkened the window without a remote so the view of outer space wouldn’t distract from the important conversation.

  “And does Leng Müller realize that each faction can only have one Leng?”

  The twins exchanged glances and Destroying Angel answered again:

  “Yes he does. And he is willing to let you take charge of our three nodes and eight hundred ninety players.”

  It cost me great effort not to reveal my astonishment.

  “Who made that decision? And what do you get out of it?” I asked the two most obvious questions.

  “The council of directors considers it the most correct way forward. Recent events have proven that the Human-6 Faction is far behind the Dark Faction in terms of technical development and military force. We were very nearly eliminated from the game because of it. Further conflict with the parallel world is entirely possible, so our people want a guarantee of safety. And who better to provide that than a Dark Faction ruler himself?”

  “Uh... slight clarification,” I said, wanting to make sure they didn’t have the wrong impression. “The La-Fin Faction or Dark Faction in your understanding is not led by me, but my wife Minn-O La-Fin.”

  “But it is you, Leng Gnat La-Fin, who rules the people in their parallel world,” said Destroying Angel, demonstrating a fairly sophisticated understanding of both real-world and in-game politics. “Furthermore, a good number of players from the magocratic world are already members of the Reli
ct Faction. And you already have a few German players as well. As far as I can tell, we get along famously. Furthermore, we have a common goal: to safeguard planet Earth by completing a planetary shield in a very limited timeframe. And let me express my confidence that the Human-6 Faction’s hundreds of experienced Builders, Engineers, and Mechanics could help solve that global mission. After all, everyone knows we love an honest day’s work.”

  Okay, a very strong and right-minded argument. And that was what made up my mind.

  “And also ze island... we lost our capital, it ist a painful memory... wiss players returning to ze island, zis take away ze scars,” Grim Reaper’s explanation may have been a bit tongue-tied, but it came across as sincere.