Most smiled sheepishly back but said nothing. Only one, a small, brown-haired woman, made the leap to talk back. “Hello Captain Shaun, Ember. Thank you for allowing us to come over to join you on your ship, I’m truly grateful to you for rescuing us. It's marvelous what you have both achieved.”
“That's okay. We’re pleased we found you all again. Sorry I don’t know your name,” I said, feeling unexpectedly happy for the interaction after all.
“Oh, of course, sorry I should have introduced myself, I’m Janet. I came from the Seshat.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Janet. Things should be much better now for all of us.”
“I do hope so. We were devoid of hope once Ogun left. I couldn't believe we were taking bounties as work! Always going further and further away from Earth. I know we're going further away now, but at least we have a solid plan. Right?” she finished hopefully.
“We’ve a plan, Janet, don’t you worry about that,” I laughed like I meant it. “We're gonna build and train the toughest little army you could dream of. Then we're gonna start righting some wrongs.”
“And some healthy dismembering, Shaun, don’t forget the dismembering,” Havok said, interrupting my thoughts.
I tried to ignore him and focus on Janet. “I don’t know how long it’ll take, but I do know that we are going to live for a long time now, and I don't intend to stop until we’ve leveled a few things out with the Fystr, and the Galactic Empire for that matter. The overall plan is to one day get back to Earth and see what we can do there.”
“That is good to hear, Captain. I have no expectations, but I’m just thrilled to be part of something that matters.”
“It’s a pleasure to have you with Uprising,'' Ember said before me, “but we must go to our meeting now. We’ll catch up later if you’ve any questions. We’ll be happy to help.”
“Of course, thanks for taking this time. It was an honor to finally speak with you both,” she said with a genuine smile. We parted ways, continuing along to the bridge.
“Well, I hope they're all as friendly and as happy to be here as her,” I said.
“They will be, Shaun, they will be. Now, come on. Chop, chop!” she said, shooing me down the corridor. I took the next few seconds to speak to Havok.
“Seriously dude, dismembering?”
“We all have our hobbies, Shaun, what else am I supposed to think about? I am an axe. I love heavy metal music and killing things.”
“You know what, Havok? You’re absolutely right, you just do you, man, I have no criticisms,” I replied as we entered my office.
Acclo was there already, and was setting out glasses of water and terminals at eight of the seats. “Acclo, thank you for being so organized. You're an absolute boon to have around,” Ember said.
“Oh, you're welcome. I like things to run smoothly, and I find they always do when I am in charge. I would blame myself if I let an incompetent planner arrange things and they didn’t get it right.”
“You do a great job, Acclo,” I said, as I took my seat at the head of the table, Ember beside me.
Elyek, Koparr and Calegg entered the room from the bridge side, chatting amiably. I assumed they'd been at their stations.
Gus and Mick arrived only a few seconds later, looking almost nervous. Mick was trying to hide it behind his chilled demeanor. Gus was silent, his face expressionless.
“Mick, Gus, dudes!” I greeted. “Come and take a seat.” They relaxed a little, and I continued as they made themselves comfortable. “Right you two, I'll start with you first. Are there crew members who you'd consider to be higher ranking than yourselves who came over from the other ships? I don't want to upset anyone, so they can be involved if they’re okay. Still, I'd rather just have you two helping us with our human contingent.”
“Nah, I'd say there are others of similar stations, but no one who would be above us.”
“Okay. Going forward, you two are my main guys for dealing with humans here. Cool?”
“Just Mick, I don't want to be in charge. I’ve too much on,” Gus said.
“How can he have too much on, he’s just bloody well got here!” Havok said into my mind.
“It’s Gus, he’s probably brought a ton of projects from the Thoth.”
“Yeah, he’s kinda weird, but he’s solid. I like Gus,” Havok said back with finality. With a chuckle, I pushed him from my thoughts.
“That's fine Gus. Mick’s the man for the job.”
“Shall I leave, then?” he replied.
“No, you daft ass. We still have things to discuss, but you don't have to come to future meetings, if you don’t want to.”
“No, I don't want to. I’m happy to stay today, though.”
“Well, we're all here to discuss a few rules and everyone's training. I think Acclo will have most of that planned out, anyway,” I said, smiling and turning to Acclo.
They beamed back at me. “Of course I have, sir. It is good to meet you, Mick. Now, I will discuss my plans for the humans with you. Koparr and I have spoken at length about the Torax, and Wulek will lead the training of the Veiletians.”
“Great to have someone overseeing each race, just to stay aware that we must have people in mixed groups. We need to build elite teams that can train and learn together through each other's unique strengths. By combining everyone’s skill sets, we can have truly formidable groups.
“Also, I have my own awesome team, which has everyone here in it! I might add one or two more humans in time, but I consider this team pretty elite as it is.”
There were smiles all around the table, and I had to join them. There was no way I was breaking this team up. Acclo was new, as was Koparr, but they had proven themselves beyond doubt so far, and I liked them too.
“It makes sense, Captain,” replied Acclo. “I will liaise with everyone and put that into place.”
“Sounds fun,” Koparr grunted. “Means we can have little tournaments of evenly matched groups. Competitions to bring everyone together and make them work that little bit harder.”
“Though I’d agree,” Gus said, “there should also be some kinda signaling system if we’re in a large battle that involves everyone. There may be instances where it makes sense for each race to group up again.”
“What do you mean, Gus?” I asked. I knew better than to doubt the odd man. I knew he had a lot of knowledge around military tactics and history.
“I mean that the Torax are laser-resistant and can go supernova, from what I gather, yet they can also act as ranged troops: different functions for different instances. We could use them alongside humans shooting, or as shock troops. The Veiletians can go invisible. We can use their element of surprise. It would be foolish to have them in either of the two previously mentioned categories. If everyone is in individual autonomous units, they need to also be able to merge seamlessly back into groups that match their strengths.”
“I get what you're saying,” I said thoughtfully, and he was right. We didn't want to lose our strengths, like a group attack of exploding Torax. “With that in mind Gus, whether you like it or not, you’re now in charge of overseeing our training and military tactics.”
“That’s okay boss, but I’ll only be comfortable passing information onto team captains.”
I laughed at him. “Awesome. Now, one more thing for you two; when you left Anatoli, what levels were you guys again?”
“Thirty-four for me, and Gus here was 38,” Mick replied on Gus’s behalf.
“Good stuff. Well in that case we’d like to try to transcend you both. We’ll start with Gus first. He’s the highest level, and it’s also a good test on sub level 40.”
“Yeah!” Mick slapped the table. “I sooo wanna transcend. Did Astrid and Rufus manage it?”
“Yeah. Easily, in the end.”
“Fantastic!” Mick said with a laugh, throwing himself back in his seat. “We're gonna be seriously OP man, this is awesome.”
“It still takes a long time, Mick,�
� Ember added.
“That's cool. We're in it for the long haul! We’re Damn near immortal, remember!” Mick replied.
“We will go through it after the meeting with you. But first, we need some clear plans. Acclo, please tell us everything we need to know.” I said.
“The first item is to make you all aware that it will take 15 days to get to the Perseus system, based on the various engine capabilities in our fleet. Despite the Uprising’s ability to make the distance in eight days, we must work with the Thoth’s and Seshat’s smaller jump distances and longer recharge rates.
“I advise we also make a stop off before we arrive at our destination to ensure we have everything we need prior to the battle. In my opinion, it would be unwise to turn up under-prepared, therefore Elyek and I have plotted a detour. As we approach the Perseus system, there are several supply planets we can make use of. It is a far more desolate section of the galaxy, meaning we can pick up what we need without risk of attack. Then we’ll travel to Beler 3103 using only propulsion engines for that stage of the journey. That way, if we need to jump out of danger, our engines will be recharged and we can move quickly.”
“Seems to be a very well-thought-out plan with no glaring flaws I can see. Questions, anyone?” I asked, looking around at those present. No one spoke, so I took that as acceptance and continued.
“Last thing on the agenda, rules. I want you all to come up with a series of important rules and suitable responses to rule breakers from your own experiences. Have a good think after the meeting, then we’ll look through it together to share practice and form our own code.”
“May I suggest we arrange a meeting every couple of days to catch up and discuss how everything is going?” Acclo suggested.
“That's a great idea, Acclo. Book it whenever suits.”
“Of course, Captain.”
“Right, guys. Anything else?”
“Don't forget we need to change the name and registration on the Uprising,” Elyek added.
“Damn Elyek! You're bang on. Are you okay sorting that out?”
“Of course, Captain. I was going to, anyway. I just thought I’d bring it up, so no one had concerns at a later date. It will be done. Is there any name you'd like to use in particular?”
“Anything you think fitting, Elyek,” Ember interrupted. “I trust you more than Shaun when it comes to naming us. He has his strengths, and names are not one of them.”
“Hey! Havok’s a good name, so is the Uprising.”
“Havok is a fantastic name, which perfectly fits my outlook in life,” Havok laughed into my mind. I chuckled back while Ember was speaking.
“You didn't come up with the Uprising, and it took you over two weeks to give Havok a name.”
“I don't mind, anyway.” I said. “I trust Elyek, and this ship will always be…” I pumped my fist in the air and shouted, “Uprising!” As usual, the response was not what I would have hoped for, but probably what I expected. The miserable fuckers. At least Mick shouted ‘Uprising’ back, and pumped his fist, so I wasn't totally hung out to dry. “Okay people, time to wrap it up unless there’s anything else? Nope?” No one was forthcoming with anything new. “In that case, you can all fuck off, apart from Mick and Gus. We’ve got some work to do,” I said, grinning at the pair of them. Everyone said their goodbyes, leaving us alone.
“Here we go then, let's see what happens,” I said as Ember and I approached Gus. He seemed surprisingly relaxed considering, sitting with his eyes closed. We entered his mind, following the same procedure we had before on Astrid and Rufus, only this time we didn't need to give him the shock treatment.
Gus opened his eyes within seconds; the fastest I had seen it happen, so far. He flickered just the same, and if anything, he seemed to be panicking more. He was difficult to contain. We managed it though, bringing him safely through.
We went straight to Mick's mind next, and the absolute opposite was true. It took ages to get him to open his eyes; even the first shock treatment didn't work. In the end, it took all three of us to deliver a shock as one before his eyes opened. Once they did, he got a group hug from us all. His flickering settled almost instantly.
We showed them everything we knew. The two guys were amazed, as you'd expect, and Gus’s eyes blazed when he saw the stats screen.
Name: Mick Greenall
Age: 32 GY
Transcendence Level: 54
Strength: 80/1000
Agility: 74/1000
Speed: 78/1000
Intelligence: 40/1000
Constitution: 86/1000
Wisdom: 25/1000
Mental Resilience: 39/1000
Mental Clarity: 14%
Potential: 72%
“Not bad, mate, not bad at all. Now, come on. Let’s go and look at Gus’s,” I said.
Name: Gus Vallance
Age: 30 GY
Transcendence Level: 56
Strength: 81/1000
Agility: 65/1000
Speed: 60/1000
Intelligence: 70/1000
Constitution: 35/1000
Wisdom: 52/1000
Mental Resilience: 31/1000
Mental Clarity: 30%
Potential: 86%
Like Astrid, Gus’s Mental Clarity was already remarkably high, all things considered. But it made sense when you took into account his personality: he processed things carefully. It probably helped that his Intelligence and Wisdom were fucking sky-high, relatively speaking. I could imagine Ember quietly seething that his Potential was higher than hers. Mick probably wasn't too happy either. His Potential was the lowest I’d seen so far.
We walked through Gus’s Mindscape. His Cognition Room didn't look too bad at all. Plenty of work to do, but that wasn't a surprise. We explained the best process for tidying them, pointing out that Ember and I often worked in tandem to lessen the boredom, which was something they could do between them if they were comfortable being in each other's Mindscapes.
Unsurprisingly, they were more than happy to be in each other's heads. Although whereas Gus’s eyes showed an almost rapturous hunger for ordering his room, I sensed nothing but dread from Mick.
Once we had told them everything we could, I said, “Right, guys. It's been emotional, but now me and Ember have a shit-load of inventory to do. We’ll all start training together from tomorrow. If you discover anything useful in the Mindscapes, let us know. We need every edge we can get.”
“Sure will, Captain. This is amazing, what you’ve done for us. Really amazing,” Mick said. Gus was lost in Gus's world.
“Bah! Behave yourself, Mick. We're a team. And, I’ve been meaning to say thanks again for levitating me on Xonico when I asked. Beautifully done.”
“Xonico was my favorite time,” Havok mused.
“You’re welcome, you mad bastard. Although you didn’t give me much choice,” he laughed.
“I don’t need help levitating any more, but I’m sure there’ll be plenty more mad endeavors in the future.”
He nodded, a serious expression on his face. “We’ll be there, Captain. I promise.”
“I know you will, Mick.”
We all left the captain's office and went our separate ways.
Back at our own quarters, Ember stopped me before I could enter my Mindscape.
“Shaun, should we mess with the climate controls a bit?”
“Oh shit, yeah! For the constitution boosts? I can’t deny, that’s a good idea.”
Ember nodded smugly while she messed with the controls for our room. The drop in temperature was instant. She shivered wrapping her arms around her. “Oh fuck that,” she said teeth already chattering. “Let’s try low oxygen this time, huh?”
Within a few seconds the temperature was back up to ambient, followed by a noticeable shortness of breath for me.
“Right, that should be low enough to make a difference without killing us,” she gasped. “Now let’s go Mindscape side.”
“Yes, let’s,” I said pullin
g at the neck of my suit, feeling like I was slowly suffocating. We would be doing the inventory work separately now to make the best use of our time, which I was sad about. “Best hold on to Havok, Ember. Just in case you messed up with the levels.”
“I didn’t mess up, but I will all the same, thanks,” she smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. We both sat on the bed with Havok between us.
“I’ll keep you guys safe. You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Havok said in our heads. Then, we entered our Mindscapes.
I appeared in front of the terminal, relieved to not feel like I was dying. I stared blankly for a few moments at the glowing screen. “Boring!” I shouted. “Come on Havok, hit me with something good!”
“I have just the thing. It’s called metal.”
“Sounds good, pal,” I said, as heavy thrashing guitars screeched through my mind. It helped me to get past feeling overwhelmed from the sheer amount of work that I had to do at the terminal. I soon got into a flow.
There were plenty of things I had no clue about, things that could have happened at any time in a five-year-period, but the newer representations of memory were easy to file. I imagined my 75% Mental Clarity was being put to good use in the work. I toiled for most of the day, a whole seven hours. It wasn't until I was coming away from the inventory terminal that I checked the notification at the bottom.
Rebuild mind-database: 3% complete.
Depressing, but at least I had a frame of reference to go with my Mental Clarity stats. I figured I would get an extra point in Clarity every time my Rebuild went up by 4%. So if it took seven fucking hours for a lousy 3%, then this was going to be a long, slow process. If I kept to this pace, it would take around 230 hours to reach full Clarity. We’d be nowhere near done by the time we landed in the Perseus system.
The following days saw the training commence. Acclo made sure that all the ships were following the same, or similar, training methods. We made sure to keep in touch and abreast of any problems arising. I named our group the Alpha Team – Ember wouldn't let me call it the A-team, and apart from Mick, who supported my call, nobody else cared enough.
Condition Evolution 3: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure Page 17
