Alistair steadied Riseth by gripping her shoulder as she reached for a nearby console to regain her balance. Across the viewscreens, escape pods ejected from the wreckage of the enemy ships, only to be swiftly torn apart by laser and point defense guns. Alistair briefly pondered if that had been a war crime but decided he wouldn't dwell on it as they were just a bunch of pirates and slavers out to kill them. Said escape pods were aimed at the Kaiakos instead of away from the battlefield, and he was quite sure they attempted to get close and board their ship, and the AI apparently decided it would have no part in that. On another screen, they watched the Artemis appear and immediately unload its own missile pods and laser weaponry on the now five remaining enemy crafts. Dexter, who had so far been on Nessyra's lap observing, panicked and telepathically yowled that they were all going to die.
The remaining enemy ships had all been stripped of their shielding and most of their armament. Although they had managed to knock out most of the weapon emplacements scattered among the nearby satellites, the exchange had clearly favored the Artemis and Kaiakos. The Kaiakos shuddered as one of its missile pods was destroyed by enemy return fire. At the same time, Alistair observed with grim satisfaction as another enemy craft detonated, its reactor exploding in a blinding flash as the ship's reactor was destroyed, sending a visible wave of energy outwards before the fragments and debris scattered away, peppering the leftover ships and the remains of their former allies. Another salvo of their remaining railgun emplacements sealed the deal, as the leftover ships lacked the shields and armor plating to resist the assault. The last of the crafts broke apart, and the AI halted all fire, choosing to only use its lasers to shoot any individuals abandoning ship.
They watched as the Kaiakos slowed down, its sensor suite sweeping over the battlefield with meticulous precision to ensure no hostile remnants remained. Determined to allow only the panicked transmissions, the pirates likely sent to their allies to escape. As the scans indicated they had won and none of the other spy drones reported any new incoming hostiles, the bridge erupted into loud cheers and hugs. Alistair kissed Riseth, who eagerly reciprocated. As they separated, Alistair shouted with triumph, thrusting his fist towards the sky in celebration. As he looked around, he noted a human woman who had announced the ETA of the mines making out with a demon from a neighboring station. James appeared on a screen in front of Nessyra, who had a content smile on her face, with Dexter excitedly sending out telepathic commentary of how exciting that fight was despite panicking the second the shields had broken.
"We did it! We fucked them up good!" Simon, who pressed into view, hollered.
James elbowed him out of the way, asking if the scanners had truly not found any survivors, which Nessyra confirmed for him. This got a much more muted but intense celebration from James, who balled both of his fists in front of him and silently screamed internally. To Alistair's surprise, multiple notifications had rang out, which he had half ignored in the excitement of their victory.
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TITLES:
Tier: [Epic]
Name: Fleet Commander
Effect:
Overall performance of a craft under the user's control is improved by 10%.
Grants and Increase in the [Power] of the Craft under the user's command during an ambush.
Grants a slight increase in [Power] [Control] to the craft under the user's command when fighting against a larger force.
Origin: Acquired by participating in the leadership that directed a fleet to a successful engagement against a numerically superior foe. This evolving title improves with the type, number, and quality of successful engagements.
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After consulting with Riseth and Nessyra, Alistair discovered they had received the same title, though Nessyra's version was named "Stellar Warlord" and shared the same tier, effects, and description. By focusing his intent, Alistair realized he could switch the name of his title back and forth, though none of the other elements seemed as flexible, so he left them unchanged. Alistair had suspected there might be titles and skills that would affect a piloted spacecraft but had been unsure of their specifics. Now he had an answer, and it was more significant than he had imagined. Did the ship truly have stats, or was this his system interpreting the available information in its own way?
After discussing it with the others who had received the title, they concluded that the system was likely compensating for their lack of comprehension. The results, however, were clear: their ship would hit harder and more precisely when ambushing other vessels, even if outnumbered, and would generally perform better if directed by one of them.
"I wonder if the ship can level up and get skills," Alistair joked.
Everyone seemed to pause in shock before they looked at him with uncertain expressions as it dawned on him that it was a distinct possibility for a ship to earn achievements and gain benefits.
"The System is fucking weird," A man working on a nearby station said aloud while massaging his forehead, and Alistair agreed with the sentiment.
Alistair looked to Riseth as if she should be the person to know as her topic was the most likely to cover that particular topic, and she was disappointed as she spoke up.
"I just checked, and yeah, it looks like that's a thing," Riseth said. "Active skills are almost unheard of in regular ships but are found in sentient ships and certain space fauna. However, it's perfectly capable of acquiring passive skills; according to my topic, it is very similar to faith magic. The more infamous a ship becomes and the more battles it survives, the more passive benefits it acquires. For example, when the guns of a craft are well known for almost never missing, their accuracy will increase. But it can also gain negative traits. If a ship is well-known for breaking down or being fragile, those traits will become more pronounced as well."
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"So wait, if we had used the elixir that bestows sentience from the trial rewards on the Kaiakos, it would be able to learn active skills?" Alistair asked.
"Huh," Riseth replied as she browsed her Akashic Link for the copied knowledge. "Yeah, that would have actually been a pretty good idea down the line. However, it would have risked our AI Core being integrated more permanently. It is generally recommended to only bestow sentience upon a craft you have a history with, and that has already earned some achievements. This makes it more likely to be fiercely loyal to its captain, crew, or owner and accept a magical contract."
Alistair wondered just how energy-intensive it would be to summon a sentient spacecraft and considered if it was even practical to do so. There were presumably other more suitable contracts and people who specialized in space warfare, though much like the crafting path, it felt wrong and alien to him. However, the idea of a space dogfighting specialist intrigued him. As he mulled things over, Nessyra deployed a large number of drones the Kaiakos carried to salvage the wreckage of the battlefield for worthwhile items, treasures, and recoverable parts from the enemy crafts.
Exhaustion swept over Alistair after days of hurried activity and mounting stress, amplified by the sight of the Artemis docking safely in the hangar. He decided to retire to the luxury quarters he and Riseth reserved on the Kaiakos, seeking rest and a chance to celebrate. Unlike Nessyra and James, who were too eager to dive into the salvage operations, Alistair had no inclination to join them. Riseth sensed his intentions and brushed her hand against his before they intertwined, and they stepped off the bridge to get their well-deserved break before they went out to find a new home for their clan.
The next day, Alistair and Riseth joined Nessyra and the rest of the clan leadership on the bridge as they listened to the decoded messages they had managed to intercept. The messages confirmed that the pirates had been part of the Blackmarket Syndicate and had been hired to destroy the Kaiakos. Unfortunately, the messages did not reveal who had hired the Void Reavers and other smaller pirate syndicate members to attack them, as nobody deigned to respond to the pirate's messages and requests for reinforcements, nor did they know if they had destroyed a significant portion of the syndicate factions members or merely eliminated a few disposable pawns sent to disrupt their plans. Most of the other messages were desperate cries of defeat, laden with curses directed at their clan in their final moments. This outcome brought grim satisfaction; they had sent a message, knowing they had potentially saved thousands from the brutal fate filth like these pirates would inflict upon others.
The salvage operation was already fully underway, and the Artemis was already calculating its jump to the distant galaxy closest to their target nebula. According to the reports, most of the crews consisted of humans and orcs with various beastmen. Unfortunately, many of the more valuable treasures had been destroyed or thrown into deep space by the explosions. However, they had managed to recover quite a few storage items, and their clan members were sorting through the loot and recovering salvage of the destroyed crafts as they could use some of the reactors that had not been destroyed, among other valuable parts. It would take days, if not weeks, to process most of the salvage.
"I say take the most valuable stuff and then leave. Also, keep the jump engine trained on Earth if another fleet seeks revenge," Alistair said after reviewing the information at hand.
"I second this," Riseth concurred.
Returning to Earth instead of Neshan was a calculated risk. They owed Sol a favor, and given his confirmed hostility toward the Blackmarket Syndicates, he was far more likely to assist them in case of an attack. In contrast, Zaltom had already reaped most of the benefits from their agreements, and while future trade and the option to request their help were still on the table, the Ryser Clan was an independent faction that wasn’t worth risking a conflict with a major faction like the Syndicates. Zaltom likely wanted to keep his options open for future dealings with them, making Sol the safer bet for support.
Nessyra and James, ever the united front, frowned as both of them wanted to get as much as possible out of the spoils they had earned.
"How about this?" James suggested. "Once we've recovered the emplacements and the Artemis departs, we halt all EVA activities. Instead, we'll rely only on drones for material recovery while keeping the Jump Drives primed for an immediate departure."
Alistair frowned but considered the offer. It should be quite safe, and the possibly worst-case scenario was that they'd lose some drones and get confirmation that the Blackmarket Syndicate would continue sending pirates their way. Simons' unexpectantly siding with James and Nessyra convinced Alistair to let them do it.
"We should salvage what we can," Simon suggested, "but once we're done, the Kaiakos need to jump back to Earth and conduct a thorough sweep to ensure we don't have any new trackers."
Despite having a sizable portion of the crew and the AI Core performing deep scans of the ship and surroundings, they hadn't found any trackers or beacons yet. But they couldn't afford to let their enemies know where they were headed, and it was a necessity they all agreed needed to be done. They also had some repairs to do as multiple weapons systems and other modules had taken damage. However, the Adamend armor plating had prevented the worst and had already repaired itself. The Artemis had gotten out of the fight unscathed, as its late arrival had meant its shields had held up the rest of the fight.
"Alright, just don't take any unnecessary risks," Alistair conceded after exchanging a look with Riseth.
Clapping her hands approvingly, Nessyra moved on to the next point of discussion. "Great! With that settled, we can talk about who goes with the Artemis. I still think the crew should stay mostly the same, but Oconoe should remain here with his family. The likelihood of you guys finding technologically advanced ruins or anything similar seeded by the system is slim to none. We could use him here to repair and repurpose the salvage from the battle."
Alistair nodded, approving of the notion. They had initially planned to bring Oconoe along in case they encountered any tech for him to work out, though with the destroyed pirate fleet, it made more sense to leave him with the Kaiakos.
"Do we even need to fill his spot? Or should we just go with Alistair, Simon, Desily, and me?" Riseth asked.
The group fell silent, contemplating whether they had any other strong fighters or willing participants for the expedition.
"We could make an announcement and see if anyone is interested," suggested Melissa, who had been quiet until now. She had recently been given the title of Chief Scholar, ensuring her inclusion in any system events involving clan leadership. Her new role focused on magical research and the accumulation of knowledge. They had given most of the core members more or less arbitrary leadership roles, such as chief of security for Simon and so on.
"No, I think I know who we should send," Nessyra said with a toothy smile as the rest of them turned to look at her.