Nodding my head slightly at the information, I went to the docking area for the Nostromo, the cruiser that was leaving for Crailor tomorrow. Since it was a pretty long journey, there tended to only be one or two ships heading in that direction a week, and even less that came back. I had my suspicions about that, but kept quiet for now.
Once I got in the docking bay, I found that the cruiser was infinitely larger than the shuttle I had flown up here on. If the shuttle was the size of a public bus, then this cruiser must be the size of an entire city! Only now did I fully realize how big the station I was in must have been to support all of this. Likely, it was the size of a small moon. Of course, most of that space would be taken by docking bays, to accommodate all of the large ships.
It didn’t take too long to find the ship’s maintenance crew, as they were the ones running around handling machinery. Seeing that, I approached the man in charge, who was yelling orders to everyone. He was a blue humanoid, with two rows of slanted yellow eyes on his head. “Excuse me, sir. I am here about joining the Nostromo as a mechanic for this journey.”
The man looked down to me, as he was a full head and shoulders taller, before speaking. “Show me your ID.” After I did so, he let out a sigh. “So you’re the one, huh? Oh well, not like it matters much, we need all the help we can get. Not many want to join this route.”
It was now that I decided to voice my suspicion from earlier. “Possibility of raiders?”
He nodded his head slightly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “That’s right. Journeys without gate support are more dangerous, because of the risk of raiding parties. Even more, we’re going off into the edge of locally colonized space, which is popular pirate country. If you’re going to be on the engineering team for this trip, you need to be on call in case we get attacked or a part fails at a moment’s notice. Understood?”
“Understood, sir.” Even with that condition, I would still have plenty of time to cultivate.
The chief engineer nodded his head again. “Good. You’ll get paid based on your performance, but as you are becoming a temporary member of the crew, you won’t be required to pay for lodging and meals. However, naturally if the trip goes smoothly and you aren’t needed, you won’t be getting paid either. Of course, some people think that means they can sabotage the ship in order to get a commission, but there is still constant security. If you are discovered to have done so, we will not hesitate to jettison you.”
I gulped slightly, nodding my head. “Understood.”
Chapter 37: Xeno-Time!
Since I had already been accepted as a crew member of the Nostromo, I was allowed onto the ship, and given my own room. As a possibly added bonus, the room I received was at the edge of the ship, meaning there was only a thick sheet of metal separating me from the vastness of space. On the one hand, this meant that if the ship was attacked and my section was damaged, I am pretty much a dead man. On the other hand, it is the perfect place to cultivate void mana!
The inside the ship was very different from X-23, as the corridors were all much smaller. On the station, there might have been enough room to drive a car down the hall, but in the ship, there was just enough room for two people to walk next to each other. I did a few estimations in my head, and figured that the ship needed at least a hundred people in order to fully function. And that was a bare minimum, not even taking into account everything else that could be needed, such as rotating shifts.
The facilities inside the ship were more like what you might find on a military vessel than a transport ship. There was a kitchen and dining area for the crew, but no tavern. There was a small recreation area which contained an interactive hard-light hologram. Aside from that and living quarters, most of the space on the ship was used for essential systems or weapons. The thing that scared me the most was that the chief engineer still seemed to think it might not be enough. I had played some space games before, and a cruiser of this caliber could generally take on a small fleet by itself.
As the chief engineer(whose name I can’t pronounce, so I’ll just call him Chief) told me, the ship was severely understaffed, especially when it came to noncombat personnel. There was no lack of soldiers aiming to join the forces at Crailor to help establish the new world, but engineers, doctors, even chefs were all in short supply. In total, there were only fifteen engineers. Three senior engineers, including Chief, were stationed at the main power core on rotating shifts. The rest of us all had the ship divided into twelve sectors, and we were each in charge of our sector. Aside from eating, we were to remain near our sector. That way, if an emergency were to occur, we could all make it back in time to tend our areas.
Sadly, my sector did not include the hologram chamber, so I was unable to play with that. Hard-light holograms were still considered a work of science fiction in the real world, so I always wanted to test them out whenever I was in a game that had them. Naturally, there was no trouble before we even left the station, so I went ahead and practiced my cultivation. Although we had not yet left the station, I could still sense the void mana slightly permeating the air around us. With Celeste’s help, I was able to quickly isolate it and began cultivating.
Before we left, Chief took each of the engineers on a tour of the ship, making sure everyone knew and was able to perform their duties. This included making us crawl through small air vents to reach enclosed equipment, and being able to force our way past stuck doors. The latter took quite a bit of my mana to work, as I had to use my Technomancy to achieve it. Hacking the door open wouldn’t have achieved anything for the situation, so I decided not to simply do that.
Thankfully, by the time we left, I had managed to cultivate 3% Void Affinity, moving it up to the top three secondary affinities that my status screen automatically tracks. I also experienced a large increase in cultivation speed as soon as we left the station, even greater than when I trained Plant Affinity in the forest.
“All crew, brace for warp speed in three, two…” After a loud voice appeared on the intercom of the ship and spoke briefly, there was a slight tug of gravity towards the back of the ship, which was quickly dampened. “Proceeding at warp, estimated time to arrival is three days and two hours.”
I shook my head at the voice, and resumed my cultivation. With the speed I was working at, I only needed a single day to get all the way up to 5% and gain the related ability.
New Ability Unlocked!
Void Manipulation – Void Affinity – ★★
By attuning yourself to the void of space, you are able to replicate its unique nullifying effects on magic over selected areas, or suppress such effects.
I could clearly see why this ability was rated as two stars, even at such a low affinity. The ability to set up magic nullifying areas would be death to any mage. Furthermore, being able to suppress the effect might mean that I’d be able to use my other magics to breathe in space. That wasn’t something I was too eager to test out, though.
With the new ability in hand, I decided to explore my section of the ship. After having a couple of meals here already, I was in no rush to head to the mess hall. Aside from the ranking officers, all meals were prepared by a cheap synthesizer. However, I came across a peculiar sight as I wandered the hall. Well, more accurately, a peculiar sound.
Although I had not gone to the mess hall, it still occupied a large portion of my sector, so I was able to faintly hear voices from within. And it sounded like they were singing. I had not been present for the full song, but decided to listen in to what was sung out of a mix between curiosity and boredom. From what I could tell, it was the spaceship equivalent of a sea shanty.
We watch the stars, they guide our way
We watch the planets dance and sway.
We see the sun, our work be done
Don’t cast your soul astray.
For cast your eyes, up to the skies
The moon has danced away.
We watch the stars, they guide our way
We watch the planets dance and sway.
Through journeys long we sing our song
Let starlight guide your way.
While it was interesting, I did not feel like it was important enough to inquire about. As far as I could tell, it was simply a song invented by bored navigators, about how they use the stars for directions because the moon is only a local body. And when they see the sun, they’ve reached their goal, so their work is done.
After listening in on that for a while, I made another round of the sector, before heading back to my room. Aside from a pair of drunken soldiers bumping into each other and getting into a brawl, there was nothing really important to see in my part of the ship. As such, I made my way to my room, preferring to eat an enrichment fruit over two blocks of blue protein with a side of yellow…
After eating, I began refining a pair of seeds with the Void Affinity. I had a theory that, if I kept one of the seeds on me at all times, I would be able to use it as a tool to cycle mana even if the element did not exist around me, as they radiate mana of that element. As such, I put one of the Seeds of the Void in my inventory, and used the other one to enhance my grove. The result was rather intriguing, to be honest.
My grove ‘planet’ did not increase in size at all, however at the same time the space around it expanded, a void forming around the grove. After taking in more void mana, I noticed that only the void expanded when I did this. However, when I took in a bit of water mana, I was able to form a ball of water outside of my grove’s ‘atmosphere’, making it a completely separate body. This must be what Sharon meant by being able to split her grove into multiple parts. If I took in enough void and earth mana, I might be able to make a scale model of the solar system. Maybe the bodies in the grove will begin to rotate around each other if I cultivate gravity?
Since my Void Affinity did not help me to increase the size of my grove at all, nor did it affect the balance of mana in my grove, I decided not to further pursue that element. Instead, I went ahead and slept, waking early the second day and began preparing the other seeds I needed. Naturally, I had no means of gathering earth mana, since there was not dirt, rock, or anything similar in this ship. They didn’t even have a hydroponics bay, and relied purely on ration packs and the synthesizer.
The second day went fairly smooth. The only real work I had was in the mess hall, when one of the soldiers accidentally broke the synthesizer trying to get it to work faster. He wasn’t a mean guy or anything, just hungry and tired of bland food. If I had to eat that stuff, I would be hitting the machine too. Nonetheless, I did the repair work with the aid of my Technomancy before heading back to my quarters. Just in time, it would seem, to hear another announcement from the captain. “All crew, be advised, we are officially leaving protected space.”
Well, that’s just lovely. I shook my head with a sigh as I watched everyone else in the corridor tense up at the words. By that time, I had only refined seeds for fire and water, so I finished heading back to my room in order to work on wind, light, and dark. Like with earth, plant mana will be much easier to gather when I am on a planet, rather than simply pulling things out of my grove to cultivate.
I’m guessing the quiet lasted for about another eight hours, as I had just finished refining both a Seed of Wind and a Seed of Light, when the lighting of the ship turned red and a blaring alarm sounded. “All hands, prepare for battle. Raiding fleet detected half a parsec ahead.”
Since I was part of the engineering team, naturally I was told the basic specs of the ship. At warp, moving two parsecs an hour, we’d reach the enemy in fifteen minutes. If they also charged at us, it could happen much faster. “Celeste?”
The holographic woman appeared at my wrist, having been bored this entire time I spent cultivating. “Looks like it’s showtime, boss!” She grinned widely to me at a change in pace.
“Please don’t raise any death flags…”
Seeing my suddenly depressed look, Celeste simply tilted her head in confusion, not knowing what I was talking about. Meanwhile, I stuffed the two seeds into my inventory, and quickly left my room. As I mentioned earlier, my quarters were a very dangerous location once a fight broke out. I had no idea the size of the enemy, or their numbers, and I likely never would since my job did not require me to head to the command deck. I had, however, memorized the layout of the ship, and had Celeste display my sector as a map in my vision, ready to highlight areas I needed to move to.
A couple of minutes later, there was another brief intercom announcement. “All hands, prepare to drop to sub-light to engage. Security personnel prepare to receive boarding parties.” I saw people all around pulling guns out of their inventory and standing guard, looking around as if the enemy could appear from anywhere. With a shrug, I also retrieved my pistol and beam saber from my inventory.
A moment after the announcement, there was the first bang echoing through the hull of the ship to mark the start of the battle. “Damage in sector eight. Power line rupture in ventilation duct B-2!” I heard Chief’s voice coming in loud and clear through the intercoms, likely having been sent directly to me, as that was my sector. After the report was finished, Celeste marked the ventilation duct on my holo-map, and I ran there as fast as I could. There were several more crashes that rang out through the ship, but no other damages appeared in my sector before I made it to the vent.
Looking inside, I could see the ruptured power line, one half of it flailing about wildly while sparks flew out. Reaching out with my magic, I forced it to reconnect with its other half before holding it in place and crawling in. Once I was close enough, I let out a thin stream of flame from one of my fingers and welded it together. Not the best fix, but it was a good rough patch. Afterwards, I removed myself from the vent before anything else in there had the chance to break.
Another loud crash rang out, this one much heavier than the previous ones. Again, Chief’s voice sounded out. “Shields are at critical. Damage to life support, power couplings, and weapons in sector eight. Prioritize weapons for now! Head to corridor A-25 and repair the panel near junction 16.” This time, three damages appeared simultaneously in my area, and likewise another red dot appeared on my map.
However, things weren’t as easy right now, as the captain’s following announcement made everyone take a step back to prepare themselves. “Shields are down, prepare for boarding parties.” Moments later, as I ran towards the location I was given, I could hear sounds of battle echoing out from the halls behind me. They couldn’t have already made it here, right? Did they teleport in? That was my best guess, especially when someone appeared directly in front of me.
The enemy was a large creature whose body seemed composed of natural armor. It had a long spined tail whipping behind it, an elongated dome-shaped skull with no eyes, and thin arms. If not for the pistols it was carrying, I’d think it was some monster out of a horror movie. The moment it appeared, it turned towards me and aimed its pistols, preparing to fire at the only target in immediate range.
“Celeste!” I called out to my companion as I raised my own pistol and beam saber. I wasn’t using my Aura Sight this time, because I wanted to fully focus on this fight. Celeste drew three trajectory lines out, two in red from the enemy’s pistols, and one in green from mine. Naturally, I did my best to contort my body to dodge the enemy’s fire. However, I only managed to dodge one, using my saber as a shield to attempt to deflect the second. Thankfully, that seemed to work, and the laser bounced off my beam saber, instead crashing into a wall.
Taking advantage of the brief pause while the enemy was surprised, I lined up my own shot at the creature’s thin leg, and fired twice in rapid succession. Though the first shot alarmed it greatly, and made it resume battle, the second crippled its leg and made it fall to the ground. Even if that was the case, I was not daring to approach any closer, for fear that it’s tail could be used to attack me. I simply did my best to dodge the trajectory lines as they approached over me again and again, blocki
ng them with my saber when a complete dodge became impossible.
I should be thankful that he didn’t always fire when he thought he had a shot, because it saved me a bit of trouble. However, after a few moments of this exchange, he seemed to figure out I was tracking his pistols and stopped firing altogether. Instead, he simply watched me dance around to try to avoid the lines which could possibly spell my death if he decided to pull the trigger. I’m sure this scene would have been far more impressive if he had kept firing at me.
New Skill Unlocked!
Dodge – Beginner Level 1
Exp: 20%
Congratulations, you know how NOT to take a hit!
Since he no longer paused to give me an opening, I had only managed to get a single shot off, which seemed to have been harmlessly absorbed by his natural armor. I would really love to copy that when I get the chance…
My biggest despair came when he threw aside his pistols, and leapt towards me with his remaining limbs. His clawed hands were extended forward, ready to rip my throat out, so I did the only thing I could. Stop, drop, and roll under the crazy monster alien! When I passed under it, I wildly swung out with my beam saber, and managed to hit possibly the largest part of its body, severing roughly half of its tail.
The enemy let out a sharp hiss as its tail fell to the ground. Wait… no it didn’t. The metal floor let out a hiss as it was corroded away from the blood leaking out of the tail. The alien itself seemed to entirely ignore what should have been excruciating pain. It let out a series of clicks and clacks, likely its native language, before it leapt at me again. Unload into its face! That one thought resounded in my head, knowing that diving under it wouldn’t work twice.
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