Aces High (Reality Benders Book #6) LitRPG Series

by Michael Atamanov

  “Break it down!” I ordered the Gunner, not exactly having an idea for how the Meleyephatian was planning to open the metal door. It probably couldn’t be done with brute force. Although... I did have quite a poor understanding of the physical capabilities of the huge space “spiders.” Earthbound arthropods could get through armored glass and lift loads three times heavier than their own bodies. So perhaps the somewhat similar Meleyephatian would in fact be capable of extreme enough exertion to break down an armored door.

  Far in front of me, something gave a flicker. The boom of an explosion rolled down the shaft. What, did Eeeezzz 777 blast the obstacle away with explosives? I had completely forgotten the biggest difference between Meleyephatians and terrestrial spiders and insects — high Intelligence. In fact, theirs was no lower than the average human’s and most likely even surpassed it.

  “Finished, captain.” The utterly calm and matter-of-fact voice of my arachnid subordinate rang out in my headphones. This clearly was not the experienced mercenary’s first time using explosives. “I’m going in. It’s a small berth, almost entirely taken up by a semi-transparent sphere. Something is moving inside. It’s very large. I’m trying to figure out how to open the sphere.”

  “Help me... I’m fainti...”

  The very weak mental signal in my head trailed off before the Relict even finished two sentences.

  “Master Gnat, I am here,” my ward Tini had also reached the room with the Relict. “There’s a big plastic ball. It’s slightly open, the crack is as wide as my paw. Inside is a large creature with a lot of limbs. It is sticking its limbs out through the narrow crack and quaking. Seems the air’s too thin and it can’t breathe. I think it’s dying.”

  “Break the ball open at once!” I ordered. But much to my surprise, Eeeezzz 777 contradicted his direct superior:

  “Captain, it’s no use. The Relict will perish even if we get the ball open. I have made the decision to give him my oxygen mask and tanks. That is the only way to save the Relict. He may be the last of his kind in the whole Universe. Leng Gnat, it has been a great pleasure to work under your command!”

  Authority increased to 86!

  “What are you doing?!” my kitten screamed out in fear. “Don’t take off your helmet! There must be another way!”

  “No, little fluff-ball, there is not. Pick me up on Kasti-Utsh III when you get back to our galaxy...”

  I shouted into the microphone to demand the Meleyephatian not do anything rash and remove his helmet in low pressure. Meleyephatians had a physiological quality I had read about in a guide on galactic races. The space spiders didn’t breathe using lungs like people or Geckho, but instead absorbed oxygen through a layer of laminated crinkled skin beneath their shell, a very distant analogue of the gills of terrestrial fish. And if for some reason the pressure fell drastically, that multi-layered skin would glom together irreversibly, after which the creature would lose the ability to absorb oxygen and would die in a matter of seconds.

  And in fact, ten seconds later, the icon depicting Eeeezzz in the group changed color to gray — my team member had died. He sent himself to respawn, saving a member of the ancient Relict race at the cost of his own life. Well, it was a conscious choice on the part of Eeeezzz 777 and I greatly hoped my crewmember’s self-sacrifice would not be in vain.

  A minute later, I finally got to the door, which was half torn out of its housing. I examined the blast marks with interest. The Meleyephatian had used something like plastic explosive, professionally placed in a few spots in small quantities. When exactly had the Gunner found the time to calculate and apply all that? By the way, I didn’t even know my crewmember was carrying powerful explosives.

  Eagle Eye skill increased to level ninety-six!

  Training skill increased to level three!

  I slipped in through the crack. Okay, this was approximately what I was expecting to see: the body of the Gunner floating in weightlessness, the air tank and front part of his helmet detached from his spacesuit. The ceramic tank then was hovering, but the air tube coming off it led into the crack opening of the temporal capsule. As far as I could see, the creature inside the spherical capsule was greedily sucking at the oxygen mask and breathing quickly, inflating and deflating the mobile sheets of their cephalothorax, intensively pumping salutary air into their body.

  Urgeh Pu-Pu Urgeh. Relict. Level-209 Technician.

  Level two-hundred nine... Pretty respectable, needless to say. Although it was weird to see they were not a Leng, or even Gerd. How impressive must the high-profile Relicts have been if level two hundred and nine was just a “normal player” by comparison?

  I stared curiously at the member of the ancient race, which was thought to be extinct. This individual had miraculously made it down to our days. Their elongated head had huge eyes covered with a cloudy whitish film on the sides of the skull. No teeth in their slightly open mouth, instead sheets of bone for pulverizing food. Clearly not a predator — with jaws like that, there was no way to hold down and tear at prey. Wet with slime covering their rough skin or maybe chitin. There was steam coming off the creature’s body — due to the low pressure on the station, moisture evaporated quickly. Three pairs of limbs on the cephalothorax. A long abdomen. Yes, this really was a Relict — it was exactly the way I imagined them based on the skull I had seen in my Listener Energy Armor before I had it refit for a human.

  “Do you know how to open the chamber?” I couldn’t speak aloud in Relict because I didn’t know the sounds for all the written symbols, so I transmitted my question mentally.

  But the creature understood me and answered instantly, and mentally as well:

  “The capsule is governed by an automated system and was supposed to open on its own. I don’t know why it failed. But... who are you? You don’t look like the replacement the Pyramid was sending. I am awaiting my replacement because my shift is over. My replacement is late. There’s a war on, so it could take him anywhere from one ummi to ten tongs. I couldn’t get an exact timeframe from the Pyramid. We’re at war, so communication is impeded. But that doesn’t matter. I have put the station into conservation mode and myself into stasis. But then I was forced out, my capsule won’t open and now you’re here. What is happening?”

  The creature was looking at Tini and the dead Meleyephatian with measured interest but, for some reason, my Gnat elicited the most curiosity. I had a sense that was hard to put into just a few words, like a cautious poking around my head from the inside. It was approximately the same way I felt when communicating with the Miyelonian Truth Seeker.

  Mental Fortitude skill increased to level one hundred ten!

  “Uhh...” I was having a hard time figuring out where to even start my explanation. “Urgeh Pu-Pu Urgeh, the ancient war ended around ten thousand tongs ago. Your replacement never came.”

  I figured he (and my mental probing had proven this was a male) might be mistrusting — after all, to the newly awakened Relict, all that had basically just taken place and it would be extremely difficult for him to believe some thirty-five thousand years had passed. But Urgeh’s reaction went beyond my greatest fears:

  Danger Sense skill increased to level ninety-one!

  Mental Fortitude skill increased to level one hundred eleven!

  “You’re lying! You thought I wouldn’t recognize you in that disguise, devious Precursor! You will never get your hands on our codes and maps! I’d sooner die than commit treason!”

  Next to me, he howled out in a deranged voice and grabbed at Tini’s head. A second later, I was also taken dead to rights. The tiny berth and plastic ball disappeared. All around me was an endless void and absolute darkness. And terrible pain. It felt like my head was being run through a meat-grinder. The unbearable torment made me want to scream and run/fly/crawl as far away as I could. My Hitpoints and Endurance Points both started gushing out of their respective bars all of a sudden — my energy and health were draining before my very eyes. What sort of strange magic was thi
s? And more importantly — how could I resist it? I couldn’t see my enemy and couldn’t hit back. Press the Scanning icon immediately!

  Scanning skill increased to level sixty-nine!

  Yes, that made things a bit easier. Even though I still couldn’t see anything, I was able to use the mini-map to get my bearings in space and determine the position of the plastic ball the dangerous Technician was sitting inside of. From five feet away, I’d never miss such a large target with my Annihilator. But still I rejected the idea of killing the mad Relict. Instead, again using the mini-map, I located the air tank floating around the little room, extended a hand to it, felt for the valve and slowly closed the supply. How do you like that, Urgeh Pu? How long can you keep attacking me with no oxygen?

  Mental Fortitude skill increased to level one hundred twelve!

  Because my life bar had barely even a third left, I had to quickly down an invigorating cocktail. Thankfully, in the game, I didn’t have to take off my helmet to do so. My Hitpoints and Energy Points didn’t start going back up, but at the very least they were no longer going down quite so fast.

  I got messages from Princess Minn-O and Valeri at almost the exact same time. They couldn’t help me with defense, but they asked me to point to the enemy and were ready to join me in a mental attack. Nice of course, but no longer necessary. My vision abruptly returned to normal. Lit up by bright flashlights, I saw the plastic ball blasted to smithereens, its debris floating around the room, and the Relict convulsing in fits. And most importantly, Basha Tushihh was squeezing the aggressive Technician tight in his powerful arms — by all appearances the Geckho didn’t overthink when he finally reached this little room, ripped the door all the way out of its housing and quite simply knocked the Relict out with a blow to the head.

  His arms were still shaking, he had almost no strength left. And so I asked the powerful Geckho to put the oxygen mask back on the fainted Relict’s nose before he died.

  “And if he gets uppity, pop him another one! And keep on doing it until the Relict smartens up and figures out we’re not enemies,” I said the last part in Geckho, doubling it mentally for the dense Technician.

  Authority increased to 87!

  “No need. I figured that all out the first time. I’m prepared to have a peaceful discussion. I just ask that you turn on the air unit. The moisture is evaporating from my skin. I’m drying out and might die.”

  The ancient Technician pleaded.

  “Of course. But would you mind showing me where it is and how to do that?” I asked the millennia-old lab worker. And the Relict agreed, changing his tune on a dime.

  Chapter Four. Discipline Lesson

  GETTING THE AIR SUPPLY back on turned out to be quite the simple task. The Relict pointed to the proper room, Tini broke open its locked door in one minute, and the valve to the huge tank of liquid oxygen and nitrogen could be unscrewed manually. But for the time being we were only able to refill the atmosphere inside the station — using the geological analyzer had caused a total blackout in the ancient laboratory, including taking down the forcefield, so all the air outside the hermetically sealed station instantly whooshed out into space.

  “Strange. Very strange,” the Technician muttered in surprise, trying unsuccessfully to get back control over the inactive systems. “This situation is simply not covered in the instructions! The distortion forcefield is supposed to be surrounding the laboratory at all times. It cannot be otherwise! Or else the Precursors, who constantly scan the cosmos, will very quickly find and destroy us! What could have happened to the power supply? Unless the reactor was turned off and the batteries were down to zero. But the batteries should have had enough power to last a hundred tongs operating autonomously!”

  I didn’t explain to the ancient Technician that I had caused the equipment failure. I just brought it back to what I said before — that it had been far longer than a hundred tongs since he was put into stasis, around two orders of magnitude longer in fact. The batteries actually could have discharged over such a long timeframe. The Relict again didn’t seem to believe me, but this time at least behaved peacefully and didn’t rush to attack.

  For starters, Urgeh Pu turned on the power supply from the solar arrays — as it turned out the whole huge hull of the laboratory was covered in photoelectric panels. The energy they provided wasn’t exactly gasp-worthy — the nearest star was still quite distant, but the Technician was at the very least able to turn on the lights and activate the artificial gravitation unit. He set it on power-saving mode — barely even one one-hundredth of terrestrial gravitation, just enough so we wouldn’t be floating through the halls and could walk like normal. The Relict tried to turn on the laboratory’s defensive camouflage screen, but it didn’t work — there wasn’t enough power.

  “Now we need to turn on the reactor!” the laboratory director lit up with a new idea, but I cooled his enthusiasm telling him that, when we got to the station, the system informed us there was not enough power to start the subatomic reactor.

  The Relict ran some calculations on the terminal and was noticeably disheartened. There was indeed not enough energy. Furthermore, based on the Technician’s calculations, with solar arrays alone, it would be a VERY long time before we had enough power to start the reactor. To be exact, we would need around sixteen and a half tongs, which was fifty-nine years in earth time. But we simply would not have that kind of time because the laboratory would be detected and destroyed by Precursors long before that. After coming to such troubling conclusions, the Technician sank into thought for a long while, then suddenly asked about the Annihilator on my belt:

  “Can I see it?”

  With a certain apprehension, I unclipped the ancient weapon and, mentally telling Tini, Eduard Boyko and Basha Tushihh to prepare for some action and be ready to twist the Relicts arms if he tried to shoot, I handed my Annihilator to Urgeh Pu-Pu Urgeh. My apprehensions turned out to be unfounded — the Relict, seeing the players watching him tensely, deliberately slowly unfastened the Annihilator grip which had been refit for human fingers. Clearly knowing what he was doing, he opened the weapon up and... crossed two limbs on his chest to express disappointment as he examined the homebrew battery the Kirsan repair bot had whipped up:

  “This won’t do! We need a native nuclear battery. That would have enough power to start the reactor.”

  A little ray of hope glimmered up in my mind because I did have real batteries — fortunately, I had bought some recently on Kasti-Utsh III. However, before I was going to share the enormously rare objects with the Technician, I decided to dot all the i’s and clarify what we were going to do next. What did Urgeh Pu-Pu Urgeh intend to do after the reactor turned back on?

  “The instructions state that, in case of threat of detection, we must change the laboratory’s location as quickly as possible. The station has no camouflage screen now, so it’s just a matter of time before automatic Precursor hunters start showing up. Because of that, we will turn on the camouflage and get away from this compromised position at once. Even if we have to stay in this same star system.”

  Hmmm... I was not sure those safety rules were still strictly necessary in these times, tens of thousands of years after the great war between the ancient races had ended. But I didn’t argue. I just asked the Relict whether he would transport my nearby frigate together with the laboratory. He hesitated for a second, then assured me the starship would come along with the station.

  Except...

  Danger Sense skill increased to level ninety-two!

  Mental Fortitude skill increased to level one hundred thirteen!

  I do not appreciate being lied to so flagrantly and ineptly! I needed to explain that to the Relict so he would understand. I mentally asked Valeri and Minn-O to be ready to join my attack if I couldn’t manage on my own (the Technician’s level 209 inspired respect regardless), and I turned decisively toward Urgeh Pu-Pu Urgeh. Because there was already enough pressure inside the station, I raised the face guard o
f my helmet to make eye contact. I must have had a very serious Intelligence advantage over the Technician because I didn’t sense the least bit of resistance and was immediately flooded with a stream of alien thoughts:

  “Gnat has sensed something and is on guard. I must have slipped up somewhere. But where exactly? Did I inadvertently think about the automatic activation of the security system when the reactor is started up? Most likely. Sure, our squadron of combat drones would have destroyed the intruders quickly and their starship next to the laboratory to boot. But now I’ll have to do it on my own. Oh well, conflict was inevitable. The six outsiders on the station must be terminated. I’ve learned a bitter lesson. I’ll keep the giant Geckho at bay. I can turn the rest against one another and suck them dry. Before killing Gnat, I need to take the battery from his inventory. But the nerve of that Gnat! He’s trying to read me. He dared challenge me! No matter, I’ll teach him another lesson by jamming his sense organs again! How do you like that, human? Ow! Yeesh... That hurts! How is he doing that? How is he tossing me around like that? Woah! He shouldn’t be... Hey! Broke an arm... Shell cracked... Magic Points running out... Life Points in the red... Okay, okay. I give up!”

  I immediately released the Relict, who was curled up in a ball with his limbs pressed up to his chest in pain. I wasn’t expecting how effective the new combat tactic would be — before the blackness overtook my vision, I grabbed my opponent with Telekinesis and flung him against the walls, every time making the throws more abrupt and impacts more forceful. By the way, it was odd that a Technician at the extreme level of 209 would run out of mana so quickly, ending his psionic attack against me almost immediately. I even had two thirds of my Magic Points left. Perhaps the Relict hadn’t yet restored his mana after our last dust-up. Or maybe the Technician class didn’t have a ton of Magic Points to begin with. After all I was reminded that, once upon a time, as a Prospector I had much less Magic Points than the same-level Listener I became.