No matter how cryptic the hasty message from Jenna had been, the scene Mikayes arrived at made even less sense.
It was in the middle of the day, and the broken remains of two drills, along with a pile of decaying insect bits — they would have burned them if not for the Gethrogs’ interest in the genetic material — made the grassy plain seem like a battlefield even days after the incident. A feeling that was only reinforced by the armed soldiers that had been stationed here ever since.
If one positive thing had come from Mr. Biggins receiving that stone circlet, it was that the diplomat had become awfully committed to their cause ever since. Despite the days it had ended up taking to get those sonars up and running with only a single working drill, their military escort had never once left those plains.
It had been a mixed bag of feeling constantly protected and observed, and now, half of that armed guard was restlessly aiming down at cross armed Jenna, who just stood there unfazed by one of the craters, while the other half fiercely debated whether to put a few bullets in a roaring Georgie before the furred man could tear loose from the fretting Slobber Knuckles holding him back.
He was frothing at the mouth, face covered in blood, and only a permission away from ripping Jenna to pieces. If he could, which was another question entirely.
Although the two of them had never been close friends, they had never openly fought either. Whatever had transpired over those past couple of minutes had seemingly changed that, however.
Kassem was already half-way over to his crew, trying to simultaneously calm Georgie and quietly assess the situation. Jenna was calling for a medic, but not for herself, and Mr. Biggins kept restlessly yelling for his escort to calm the situation down, which only seemed to stress out the armed soldiers. They had guns, but Georgie was a frenzied mutant, and Jenna wasn’t even sweating a little beneath their sights.
Still, Mr. Biggins kept yelling. He would probably yell at Mikayes, too, as soon as he became aware of his presence.
That was another side effect of showing the diplomat the stone circlet. Ever since, the man had – perhaps literally – committed his life to this operation. It seemed the dangers that Mikayes had sensed early on dealing with these ‘Artifacts’ had finally reached Mr. Biggins as well.
That was why Mikayes hadn’t really minded getting the man involved in this mess. The diplomat would serve as a decent cushioning for the eventual clash to come — be it against a questionable crew of his own, or an Astral Fleet looming above.
If there was one wisdom Mikayes had inherited from his estranged father, it was that making a profit would always been a battlefield. This one seemed more violent than most.
Still, over the years, Mikayes had also learned that’s where the greatest riches could be made. So, even as bullets seemed just a twitchy finger away from flying, the young merchant kept reevaluating his current position, and every potential next move.
Then, a faint smile pulled at his lips.
He’d just found the source of this commotion; an investment that was paying off several times over. When they had picked up that scrawny kid off a backwater planet, at worst, Mikayes had expected his new wildcard to test out the loyalty of his crew a but.
Now, however, as he saw a shaky middle finger, more blood than skin, rise through the grass to pull an even more ferocious roar from Georgie, Mikayes knew that he’d stumbled on something far better than that.
It wasn’t Georgie or any Ruskel that had killed all those insects up here – the death wounds told a singular story – and it certainly wasn’t any of them who had survived for days down in those ominous tunnels either.
Yamien hadn’t been a normal kid since the day they met, yet it was only now that Mikayes Felt started to honestly consider the kid’s worth. Even if there was no way for him to turn Mikayes into the richest man in the galaxy — the kid’s humor is impeccable, I’ll give him that — the young merchant still recognized a diamond in the rough when he saw one.
Three percent. He would offer the kid three percent of his future business enterprise as long as he stuck around. It would be worth it.
𐫰 𐫰 𐫰
I must have been dreaming of something. Even if I couldn’t remember it as I blinked my eyes open, I awoke to a sense of loss.
Everything was still around me, save a steady breeze fluttering through the tent above me. For a moment, it brought me back to a different time, to a young man, centuries ago, that had so often snapped awake just like this.
But even as my heart started to beat faster, there was no gunfire sounding in the distance. There were no other injured soldiers beside me, groaning and screaming at the brink of death.
The Fall had yet to happen.
This was one of the Astral Fleet’s service tents, but there was still hope for the galaxy, strangely enough.
For the first time in nearly half a year, I had awoken as the old Yamien Silmund. A soldier and not a hero. A mere mortal without any hopes of becoming some great savior.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
A man living in the present.
The feeling grounded me as I pulled myself upright, barely caring to wince beneath the daggers of pain that sank into my body. I had experienced far worse throughout my life. This was nothing.
I didn’t even flinch as I became aware of that second breathing that filled the tent beside mine. It wasn’t a threatening one, and despite the darkness, I was already aware of their presence.
Even without my glasses – without any light to illuminate my surroundings – just like down in those tunnels, I could sense their silhouette. It was weaker compared to that mutated insect that had tried to devour me down there, but somehow, also more defined.
For a while, I just observed the rise and fall of their silhouette along with their tattoos, glowing ever so faintly in undulating colors, telling of their innocent dreams.
Not just a fanatic then, I thought as I reached out for the light switch without looking.
I didn’t have to. Throughout my lifetime, I had probably spent more nights in these medic tents than a hundred soldiers combined.
The reddish light sprang to life, and they startled awake, too. I could hear their breathing shift, see how they stiffened up there at the corner of my eyes, but as they said nothing, neither did.
Instead, I turned my attention towards a note that lay there beside my legless cot. My glasses were there as well, looking more pristine than I remembered them.
‘In case I’m not here as you wake up, I fixed them for you while you were out cold.’
-love, Jenna
With a faint smile, I folded up the note and slid it into my breast pocket. My clothes were the Astral Fleet’s Standard Issue Under Gown, similar to the ones I’d worn back on the BROW/WING Carrier.
I wasn’t re-conscripted while unconscious, was I? I mused as I asked out loud, “How long have I been asleep for?”
They stiffened up a bit from my question, but I didn’t push them for an answer until they found their voice, “Two days and three nights…” Suno — Mr. Biggins’ second assistant — hesitantly said.
I turned my gaze towards the androgynous half-breed. The glow of their tattoos was barely noticeable now underneath the light, and I couldn’t sense the presence of their mind either, even if I looked for it. It made it hard to—
“He,” Suno quietly said, having probably sensed my question. “You can refer to me as ‘he’, thanks.”
“Sorry,” I said, sliding on my glasses. A second later, and I dearly regretted the action. It was as if a sledgehammer of information had crashed down upon me, and it came with far more than that as well.
Anxieties, fears, and worries. The weight of an ending world. A mantle too heavy for me to carry. The mind of an eleven-year-old boy, interfering with my own.
On7y Y…You Ha-Have Seen The End That Must Be-Be Prevented…
“Are you alright…?” Suno’s worried voice carried through a crashing ocean of notifications and agonizing impressions. “Should I—”
“A gun,” I grunted between grit teeth. “Bring me a gun, child. And then, go fetch Jenna and Mikayes. Hurry!”
I had already sent both of them an urgent message through my spastic UI, but as neither had responded immediately, I didn’t try again. They were probably asleep.
Even as I hurriedly yanked off my glasses, however, rubbing the balls of my hands deep into my eyes, the pounding headaches and flooding emotions kept crashing into me as I heard Suno hurriedly leave the tent.
It was for the best. The young medic, if that’s what he was, was too green to be of help, and I would rather not be seen right now.
‘I need to save the world. Can’t save the world. I need to help them…I need help…who am I…what—'
“Shut up!” I spat, but those images were still there, now shifting in another direction. Without the skull-splitting pain showing any signs of fading, I had shoved my glasses back on.
There was something that I needed to confirm. Something I had only briefly glimpsed through a hundred flashing impressions.
Achievement(s) Unlocked:
Connected With…
Error…
Error…
Vessel Of…
Error…
Error…
First Harvest:
Added Ability,
Genome Extraction
Latent…
Error…
Error…
Indeed, with my interface there before my eyes, I could see some of my notifications be rewritten in real time. Something was only showing me the things that it wished for me to see.
It was leading me down a path of its own choosing. A path that I was only now starting to make out the beginning of.
For months, gaining more of those levels that had occupied the first weeks after my return had become exponentially harder to gain. At least until my bout with Kider Mill where they suddenly shot up again.
My System wanted me to fight to grow stronger, and it wanted me to harvest everything I killed, as well.
Now, the compiling rewards for my past days of ill-activity – everything that had been hidden behind a broken interface –came crashing down onto my senses.
Cryak Combat 4 > 17
Aerial Movement 2 > 5
Marksmanship 8 > 15
>Armed Combat 11 > 39
>Knife Combat 5 > 33
Slashing 3 > 9
Piercing 1 > 11
Throwing > 4
…
>Explosive Expert > 14
>Tactical Planning > 7
Echo Location > 2
Night Vision > 3
Body Guard > 4
Stamina 22 > 32
Bleeding Resistance 6 > 9
Cryak Regeneration 4 > 11
Agility 30 > 37
Speed 38 > 46
Imperial Forms 12 > 17
>Survival Skills 5 > 17
Danger Sense > 4
Insectile Digestion > 5
…
…
Recalibrating Battle Simulation…
Target(s) Added to Database:
Insectile Evolution B3-99XF
Insectile Evolution B1-A4DD
Insectile Evolution CC-0029
Insectile Evolution A4-DE72
Insectile Evolution BA-C3C2
…
…
Experience Fighting In Confined Spaces:
Increased…
Experience Fighting In Darkness:
Increased…
Experience Fighting Without External Assistance:
Increased…
Experience Fighting…
…
…
Sufficient EXP Earned,
Level Up Available!