Flora crouched on the floor.
Next to her lay Jake with his hand duct-taped to the statue.
Suddenly, Flora noticed the smell of herbs coming from Jake. His uniform was soiled with the spilled health potion.
Flora closed her eyes when Lady Mnoders steps came closer.
'Please, let her have a bad sense of smell!"
Mnoder passed them and entered the Energy-Storm chamber.
'Did I pack everything?'
Checking her inventory didn't help. Though she found the Stehaufmaennchen, she wasn't sure about how many empty vials she had before giving Jake the potions.
Flora pushed the panic down and steadied her breathing.
'This adventuring is too stressful! I could be designing some nice toaster instead of crouching behind a minotaur statue and having its butt in front of my face!'
The door opened again, and Mnoderer entered the room again.
'Did she get the call, or did she notice something amiss?'
Of course, Jake opened his eyes in just this moment. It had to be a talent!
Flora put her index finger over her lips, signaling him to be quiet. His mouth opened.
"Auntie?"
Suppressing the urge to slap him, she stood up.
"Yes, the repairs are looking very good! I believe we are finished!" Flora really believed that they were finished, but not with work, more with their lives!
"Who do we have here?" Lady Mnoder purred.
"Technician Flowers, Ma'am, and this is my colleague, Jake ..." Flora glanced at his badge. 'Wrong time not knowing the surname of your best friend in the world!'
Name: Jake Heavenstormer
Flora started coughing. This was too much!
Class: Technician
Level: 25
Rating: B
RGS: 3
"Well, well, well." Mnoder stalked towards them. "These are my quarters, and every repair request gets approved by me personally. I haven't ordered any repairs for a long time."
"Then, it was overdue." Flora nodded weakly.
"Unfortunately, I've got no time for games."
Flora couldn't be more familiar with Lady Mnoder's starting movement of brandishing her plasma sword.
Immediately, she sprang back.
"Jake is your son!"
'Hey it worked once, why not try it again.'
Two heads whipped from focussing on her to each other in an identical motion.
"Aren't family reunions just great! I always get teary-eyed by them. Come on, you two, hug!" Flora rambled. She broke easily from too much suspense. Her coping mechanism involved bad puns and absurd comments and sometimes horrendous designs.
"Your eyes!"
"I don't know you! My mother is dead!"
"No, your father is dead. I'm quite sure about it. I killed him extra thoroughly." Mnoder pointed to a statue. Flora winced. That was one of the most brutal. She beheaded the guy then halved his head. The two halves were even displayed.
"But I really would like to get to know you better. Let's have a mother-son bonding!"
"I do mother-son dates on Thursdays with my son. I can highly recommend them!" Flora added. "But how did you lose contact with your son?"
"Of course, I wouldn't do all the screaming baby stuff, so I had a nurse. She stole him and ran to the terrorists. Her name was Maria."
Jake gasped but then shook his head. "A lot of women are named Maria!"
"Denial, he will overcome it with time and patience," Flora commented. "So everyone is happy, let's fight some terrorists."
"How do you know that the terrorists are attacking, dear."
"I overheard your call."
"The chamber is soundproof."
"Then how would I know that you have had a call?"
"You aren't as simple as you seem, Champion of Evailyn."
Flora pondered over it. Was she simple? Yes, she was! 'Give me a toaster to build, and I'm delighted, give me a grilled cheese toast, and I'm happy enough.'
Meanwhile, the quest had appeared.
Quest: Survive and maintain the defensive structures on the Doom Moon
Reward: Bonus Crafting XP
Penalty: Scenario stops
Current status of the turrets: 91 %
Time Limit: 45 min.
Difficulty: B
But Flora was too curious to leave the scene at the moment.
"Are you Energy-sensitive, son?"
"The Icemasters denied it. They tested me." He groaned. "Now, it makes sense why they were so interested in me! I guess we really might be related. But no, no, no. Why?"
"They know nothing. They feel nothing." She pulled a crystal out of her pocket and gave it to him. "Touch it with your bare hand."
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
The crystal shone in multicolored lights.
"Great talent for kinetics, mediocre for ice, good for lightning and magnetism. Ah, like mother, like son! Unfortunately, the granny is right. We have to fight some terrorists now."
----------------------------------------
The scene changed to the turrets, Handy, Forky, and Clyde and of course, the attacking fighter jets.
"That went rather well, don't you think, Aidan? Find out where Jake is at the moment."
Meanwhile, Flora deactivated three of the ten turrets.
"Those things have shitty heat management. No point in letting all of them shoot at one jet. We switch them up."
"Great idea, Milady," Forky said.
Methodically, Flora scanned the turrets and delegated the repairs.
The timer ticked down fast while Aidan searched, and Flora hustled.
"The operation schedule doesn't include Jake, Milady."
"Maybe Mnoder took him with her. Find her." Flora said while exchanging a propeller.
"Lady Mnoder participates in the space-combat. She flys H-Wing H1. There is no additional passenger registered."
"Try to contact Jake via the datapad."
"His datapad is deactivated."
"What, there is no rule as long as you don't take out the battery you can be tracked like with the old mobile phones?"
Aidan promised to look into it.
"I remote activated his datapad and called him, but he didn't pick up Milady. The datapad is located in the prison cells of the adjacent sector."
Currently, Flora lay under a turret and ground that part of the guidance rails that got jammed three times already.
Flora stood up and turned to the robots. "I'm sorry, dears. I have to break a friend out of prison. Please keep busy and rotate the activation." She paused. "If you want, you may join me."
"I'll come! I would love to do a prison break! So much time passed since my last one!" That was Clyde. The others agreed as well.
"Lead the way, Aidan!"
Current status of the turrets: 94 %
Time Limit: 11min 21sec.
The crew of one human, one AI, and three robots sprinted to the corridors of the Doom Moon. Forky had difficulties with keeping up, so Flora put him into her inventory. Thankfully, S25 was close.
When they entered the right corridor, rows of cells awaited them.
"Jake?" Flora called out.
"Here!"
"Here!"
"Here!"
"Auntie Flow? My mother locked me up! Can you believe the nerve of that woman?"
"Hey, Auntie. I've been a good boy, too. And my mother always hated me, can you free me, as well?" A guy with screechy intonation shouted.
Flora rolled her eyes and went to the cell with Jakes's voice.
Inserting the lock-pick, she started to hack the door.
'Toaster-Army march! Swing your egg-beaters and conquer the firewall!'
Finally, the door opened.
"Hi, Auntie," Jake answered, clearly depressed and sulking. "I wished my mother was a bit more motherly!"
"I'm sure she only wants you to be safe. Probably. I'm sorry, Jake, but we have to hurry. This planet will blow up in a few minutes, and we have yet to steal a spacecraft. And by steal, I mean borrow, of course."
"Um, whatever you say. But could we free Esau, too? He is in the cell next to mine."
"You made friends in prison?"
"No, he's an old friend of Elena." Jake shrugged. "And an Icemaster, but one of the nice ones."
Flora hacked the next door as well.
Esau turned out to be a small goblinesque creature. He waved at her friendly.
"A pleasure to meet you! Jake claimed that you are a nice Energymaster! I never met one before. I mean, I did meet Energymasters, just not nice ones!"
"Well, I've never met any Icemasters at all. I'm not even sure about the difference between them and Energymasters. Maybe you can tell me a bit about it on the way?"
"How remarkable! I thought to kill Icemasters was an initiation ritual for Energymasters."
They started jogging in the direction of the hangar Flora already knew.
Suddenly, Esau stopped. "Our gear is behind this door. Would you open it, please?"
After a quick look at the timer, Flora conceded.
Current status of the turrets: 84%
Time Limit: 3min 21sec.
The room was full of lockers with numbers on them. Flora followed Esau and opened the compartment to his right because Jake's cell was right of Esau's. There, she found a multitool and a datapad and threw it to Jake.
While Esau donned a chest armor and his plasma sword, Flora opened three more lockers. One contained only a multitool, the other a multitool and a lock-pick, but the third was a jackpot with two identical plasma sword hilts.
Name: Right Wing of the Thunderbird
Type: Plasma-Sword
Base Damage: ~5
Tier: 1
Rating: A
Flora handed the Left Wing of the Thunderbird to Jake and pocketed the rest.
They resumed their journey to the hangars. Now and then, a robot transport crossed their way, but otherwise, the corridors were empty.
"So, what can you tell me about Icemasters?"
"Maybe we should postpone our conversation to when we are safer."
"Alright, but could you at least show me an Icemaster spell, please?"
Esau catapulted in front of the group.
"That was Kinetic Stride and not an Icemaster skill."
"Great perception!" Esau said, smiling, but Flora wasn't amused. That guy was playing his cards close to his tiny body.
Name: Esau Yatim
Class: Icemaster
Level: 25
Rating: B
RGS: 2
When they reached the hall, Jake's datapad started to beep.
At the same, Flora got the quest completion-message.
Quest completed: Survive and maintain the defensive structures on the Doom Moon
Reward: Bonus Mechanics and Electronics XP
Current status of the turrets: 81%
Difficulty: B
Completion: A
Time until the explosion of the Doom Moon: 5min.
"Son, leave the Moon. It is going to explode in 5 minutes!" Mnoder sounded out of the datapad.
"So now, you care about me? I can do it without you, mother!" He slammed the disconnect-button.
"Was that Lady Mnoder?" Esau asked. His voice lost every trace of amicability.
Jake's eyes widened to the size of toasts.
"Maybe?" he asked.
Brandishing his sword, Esau attacked Jake without another word.
"Boys! Stop fighting!" Flora pulled Jake back. If she hadn't Esau's strike would have hit Jake's neck, now it graced his collarbone and left a frosted gash in the technician uniform.
"Explain yourself!" Flora activated her plasma sword.
"Mnoder killed my family, and I will kill hers." He attacked Jake again, who tried to parry with the plasma sword, which didn't work.
Flora's spell hit him in the stomach, and he stumbled a step back. But his sword had already sliced through Jake again.
"I thought you were my friend! Do you think I like that she is my mother?" Jake screamed.
A whitish light surrounded Esau, and it reflected the spell at Flora.
Flora got hit and felt deeply humiliated by it.
Flora to Aidan: "Would I hurt Jake if I used Energy-Storm?"
"No, Milady. I defined him as friendly."
The storm washed across the area. Although Flora could spot no difference in Esau's movement, his shield got pelted with little lightning bolts. Aggressively, he slashed at Jake again.
This time Jake dodged and struck back. He hit the shield, and his sword bounced back.
Flora's mana diminished at a visible pace while she channeled the storm. At least, now she saw that Esau's sword shook.
"Auntie, flee! I'll hold him back!" Jack exclaimed, dodging the next blow.
"Stupid child! Concentrate on fighting!" Flora couldn't believe the cheesiness of this guy! "Besides, I'm the old mentor! That means I have to die, and you have to avenge me!"
Finally, the glowing shield burst.
A multitool flew at Esau from his left. Handy had joined the fight!
Simultaneously, Jake attacked him from the right.
Esau shielded his head from the tool, but couldn't get away from Jake's sword.
Meanwhile, Clyde had positioned himself behind him but at a distance of a couple of meters.
"Push him to me, Auntie!" he transmitted.
Esau slid back, directly into Clyde's glowing welder.
According to the sound, Clyde landed a solid hit on his head. Even his hair started to burn!
Single-mindedly focussed on Jake, he jumped back. His leg glowed blue and hit Jake in the chest. Coughing, Jake went down.
Esau raised his sword over his head, and its blue glow brightened.
"No!" Magical Push was still on cooldown!
The spell caused Esau to stumble back again.
This time, Flora aimed at the plasma sword and hit!
The sword spun out of his hand. Flora had hoped for this to happen. Immediately, she cast Magical Pull.
Esau's hand reached out, and he tugged with his magic as well.
The sword's flight slowed down but still made its way to Flora.
The fallen Jake kicked up towards the knee of the Icemaster.
That made him lose his concentration, and the sword landed in Flora's hand.
Esau screamed in pain, but his attention was still on Flora.
Though the spell didn't lift him above the ground, he still clawed at his throat.
Jake used the time to swipe away Esau's legs. When he went down, Jake rolled on top of him and started to pummel the small creature.
"Burned toast and stale jam! This moon is going to explode any minute, can't we postpone the fighting?" Flora sighed.
"Milady, don't relax! Esau is a sarge type opponent. I estimate that he still has over 2/3 of his HP left!"
"Are we fighting with wads of cotton wool, or how big is the health-pool of a Sarge?"
"Level 25, with recommended group-size 2 => between 1000 and 4000, Milady. But I assumed he is on the lower end of the spectrum because of his figure."
Flora looked with wide eyes at her meager 260 HP.
"Never! We'll die together!" Esau shouted and buckled under Jake.