Raptor One – Chapter 42
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Drinking and singing for some time now i hear the pack get into the rec room, their ears twitching in sync with the music I'm singing as the girls sit beside me and the Su brothers start making breakfast for us.
The girls join in on the singing following my tempo, the ritim changing from serene slow to happy energetic as we sing in our own way, mixing our ritim into a new melodic music.
This get so crazy that even the Su brothers join in while cooking as we sing away in happiness
Our singing only stops when the Su brothers finish cooking some more Avalon food and sit with us.
I just chuckle before saying “Had a good sleep?”
I get their nods
“Yesterday was not that productive.” Su’zu say
“Yeah, i piloted the entire time and saw only normal asteroids” Su’ra reply
“At least we did not get hit by a stray asteroid.” Zu also say
“And the engine did not die on us.” Li’lak say
“Nor did we have a system crash down.” Li’luk also say
“The ship was this bad?” i ask
“Yes” a sync reply.
“The ship engines was kept on strict diagnosis, the system was overhauled, the thrusters adjusted and many other actions of miscellaneous category where done.” Sigma give me a report
“Spacibo Sigma” i say
“Oh, that’s why we did not crash into asteroids” Su’zu say
“Erm... We would many times but i got many proximity alarms when piloting so i managed to avoid damage.” Su’ra say his eyes looking at me as I'm the one with Sigma.
“Hopefully today will be better, we also need to know this asteroid composition too so we can mine the best locations and ores when needed.” i say with a chuckle
They nod at my words as we finish our Avalon noodles i sigh in contentment and get up after stopping the hand that was caressing Lemi.
As i was about to head out to the bridge the girls call me
And i look back
“Da?”
“We want to train our will.” Zu say and the Li sisters nod too
“You do know this is dangerous right?” i ask again, my worry apparent on my voice as it is no longer locked behind a destroyed vocal cord.
The girls eyes go wide for a second before they smile
“We know.” The girls say in sync and give me a salute
I smile at that and nod before going my way to the bridge
Entering the bridge i sit on my chair and start reading the logs of yesterday.
I easily find many key information of the asteroid field along with Sigma as we read each log.
After some talk with Sigma i find the best spots for mining and have a somewhat knowledge of the ore composition.
“Su’zu, checkpoint 1 is your scanning area, Su’ra, move to the area, Su’zu, give him a maneuver pattern.” i give some orders
“Yes sir” they nod back
Their cooperation is top notch as i see the ship weave through asteroids using almost no energy supply
And in no time we are on the area i call checkpoint 1 of which Su’zu already got hands down into work.
After some time Su’zu yell out in sock
“We hit gold!” Su’zu say
“Literally?” Su’ra ask back
“No! This is a Ore concentration spot! I'm finding many rare ore deposits along with a plethora of other ores.” Su’zu reply
“So mine and Sigma guess was right, can you scan the gravitational wave in this area?” i ask Su’zu
“On it!” Su’zu reply fast and get to work
“What’s this? I’ll send you the log now.” Su’zu say in wonder before sending me the log
After some analysis with Sigma we manage to anchor the other resources coordinates inside this asteroid field.
“What are we waiting for? Start mining bristo.” I chuckle out
“Roger!” they say in sync
Only to let emotions talk more than action and almost damage the ship!
After a plethora of orders i manage to save the ship from damage, but i started sweating cold
“What was that? You two want to kill the entire pack? Get yourself together!” i say, my white pupils locked on the two.
“Sorry pack leader!” Both get up and salute, their faces showing embarrassment.
“Da, da, get back into your consoles and do it right this time.” i sigh, no longer sweating cold as four jets of red smoke leave my mask.
This time they do it right and get a lot of ores out of the area, almost no waste when mining as they made sure with me so no ores would fly off our range.
After a look at the ore bay it was half full just from some hours of mining.
“Su’zu, new scan.” i say
“Roger!” he say before getting to work
“Areas dry.” Su’zu reply comes after a few minutes
“Rodzher, checkpoint 2 marked on map, plot the route and get moving.” I say after some inputs on the console beside me
“Understood!” they say before plotting the course
I receive the plot course and nod back as it was excellent, so Su’ra blast off.
It will never get boring to look this ship weave about the asteroids.
The flight was peaceful, even relaxing as we finally reach checkpoint 2.
“You know the drill.” I chuckle as they were waiting for my orders
“Uh... let me check again...” i hear Su’zu mutter as he starts re-scanning the area “What the? Again!” he mutter, something is causing him problem.
“Finally! This area is another ore rich area, i was getting major jamming from some asteroids with Lodestones.” Su’zu say
“Then focus on the Lodestones, their price will never get low, on the contrary, it only get higher.” i chuckle out my answer
“Roger!” they say before starting to calculate how to harvest the ores
I receive their plan...
“Niet.” i shake my head and they return to planning
Another one
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“Niet.” another shake of my head
One more
“Almost got me, but there’s some safety problem on this one.” i shake again my head
The Su brothers groan as they get their head back into planning, this time i give a hand.
“Now we are getting somewhere.” i nod and chuckle
“Finally, i was getting massive headaches on this one.” Su’zu groan and Su’ra nod with a similar groan of pain.
Following the plan we managed to harvest all the Lodestones and the rest of the ores after, there was a lot of wasted ores, but the cargo hold is full at least.
The problem that i solved however is back.
“Okay buddies, we got our fill, now we need to run for it, as we will have asteroids chasing us because of the Lodestones on the ore pay, be ready for anything, just because we did not get attacked by pirates does not mean we are out of trouble yet.” i say
After a chorus of yes we start heading out of the asteroid field.
Things are going good right now as we slide between the asteroids as we head out, most asteroid that do start moving our way are too far to be alert of, so we continue our way.
Some more time later we still have a peaceful voyage, no pirates, no asteroid worry, i am almost thinking of leaving my chair and idle a little.
That’s before the asteroid proximity alarm starts blaring on my ears.
I start doing quick examination on the map and spot the problem fast, this allow us to have a better chance at dodging this asteroid.
“Not good!” i yell as i find the culprit asteroid and start yelling orders, we manage to avoid critical damage, but the ship groan and screech by the force of the impact.
My order however where effective as the ship was on a angle of which deflected a lot of the damage.
“Damage report!” i yell out
“Engines OK!” Li’lak reply
“Found light deformation on the lower deck! No breach!” Zu say after a while
“Thrusters OK” Su’ra reply too
“Relay OK” Su’zu also say
“Found no warnings for damage and anti-breach!” Li’luk say
I sigh “Never thought that deflecting could be used on ships” i chuckle out
“The asteroid composition is mostly iron, it won’t detach so easily” Su’zu say to me after some scans
“Leave it be, at least it did not block the exit, if it did we would be easy pickings for pirates.” i say and nod back
“This is going to cost a little... and some effort.” Zu reply again after scanning the damage
“Is it bad?” i ask
“Not as bad as it looks, Li’lak! Get in there! You have better mechanical knowledge.” Zu reply and yell at Li
“Coming!” And so reply Li’lak
I just chuckle and give the order to boost
“Extra energy allocation to engines and thrusters complete.” Sigma give a heads up
I give Su’ra a look and he gives me a nod as we continue our way with a big asteroid glued to the lower deck of ISS – Tenacity
Some time later we manage to leave the asteroid field.
“This took some time, the extra energy use was well used.” i say with a nod
“You can say that again, the ship was so hard to maneuver that i thought we where on a wooden boat.” Su’ra reply with a laugh as we start to calculate the flight course back into Beta Stratta.
After a wave of talking and taking the asteroid into the math we start boosting our way back.
I get up with a sigh and head into the rec room, the calculation took almost thirty minutes, and our return will take three days because of the extra weight, unless we kill the engine to stop the ship later, so it’s a good time wasted counting the extra loot glued to the belly of the ship.
Taking a seat on the lower table on the rec room i sigh in contentment, i was ready for all hell let loose, but instead i was met with all things tranquil.
I chuckle at that, even after being repaired into top shape, my scarred mindset did not change.
The girls enter the rec room after some time and Zu place a drink in front of me after they sit.
“First time we had a trip this... Relaxing?” Zu say
I chuckle and say “Yeah, and a little exciting too just to keep us on our toes.”
““Yes”” The Li sisters say in unison
So we drink in relaxing silence before Zu ask me
“How did you manage this feat?”
“What feat?” i ask back
“”The asteroid!”” The Li sisters say in sync again
“I never saw am asteroid do this sort of light damage before.” Li’lak follow up again
“Oh, that? I was in a hurry so i unconsciously gave deflection angles and commands in detail, luckily Su’ra managed to follow it to a T.” i chuckle
“””Ohhh””” The girls say amazed
“Right! Now that we are free why don’t we train or refine?” Zu ask me
“Training it is, what do you girls want to learn?” i ask back
“Will training!” The girls say in sync
“Da.” I say and chuckle before getting up and placing the girls in formation.
“Get ready, and try not to breakdown, i don’t want to have to stop a suicide attempt.” i say seriously.
“Roger!” they say in sync, so i start.
First was Zu, after thirty minutes she snaps out, i look at her eyes, and see the difficulties she passed, but i also see the Will to live, and the Will to fight in her, she gained as much as the Su brothers in just 30 minutes.
Next was Li’luk.
Five minutes in i watch as she pull her flimsy pistol out and aim on her head pulling the trigger.
Then she snaps back into focus, feeling the empty gun parallel to her neck and shudder in fright as the pistol falls down on the floor.
Zu and Li’lak watch in horror.
“This is what happen when you fail” i say in a serious tone and continue “If i did not empty her pistol and chamber when she was out cold, she would take her life out just like that” i sigh and finish my words “If she knew her pistol was empty after getting out she would get something else to kill herself.”
My words shake the girls badly
“Want to continue? I can feel and taste the fear you girls are giving.” i say
They shake their heads
“i want to continue.” Li’lak say as i get Li’luk pistol and rearm it back before placing it on her holster again
“Me- Me too.” Li’luk also say, trying to suppress her fear
“Rodzher.” i say and get in front of Li’luk again “Firm your mind, stop focusing on the bad, and remember the good, even in the worst times exist a good thing hidden somewhere whitin.” i give her some hints, the same one that paved my road forward under all this mess.
She nods then her eyes lose focus once again as i hit her with the same strength and way the obelisks use to hijack our bodies.
This time i had to do nothing as she snaps back after thirty minutes, eyes clear, a burning Will that keeps the dark away can be seen in her eyes, i nod at her
“Thanks, your advice helped a lot.” Li’luk say
I look at Li’lak, the last one that needs to go before we can relax.
I stop in front of Li’lak and look at her, head tilted
She also tilts her head like me, but then yelp in realization
“Oh, oh, right! I remember your words! Bring it!” Li’lak say jumping
I chuckle and look her in the eyes, my white pupils smoking, and she stops in place, eyes adrift.
Ten minutes later she come back to us with a groan
“My body aches...” Li’lak say
“At least you did not try to kill youself” i reply
“Thanks to you. Again!” she reply
“Rodzher” i say and her eyes lose focus again
Same amount of time, she falls down, trembling.
“IT HURTS!” she almost yell the words out
I sigh, this one... her cheerfulness hides deep wounds, if not for my words earlier she would have taken her life two times now...
“Again!” She say as she stumbles up
“I’ll be your phantom this time.” i sigh and say
Before she can say anything my left hand was on her face, her eyes locked on my smoking white pupils as their focus fade along with mine...
I knew it, she failed again, but my words, her previous experience and my shadow whispering to her managed to break the loop, and the result was very... good.
My eyes return into focus as i stumble back and fall on the ground.
Or i was about to fall on the ground but Zu got me and held me in place.
“Well, there goes my later training...” i say and sigh weakly “How do you feel Li’lak? And Spacibo, Zu.”
“Feel great! Thanks!” Li’lak reply, her cheerful voice now got more hoomp to it.
We sit back and start another round of drinking, while the girls keep the normal drinks i go for the alcohol one this time as i sip on the last Avalon Wine.
“Remember me to make more Avalon Wine later...” i say and take another sip from my wine.
“Sure.” Zu nod back
Like that we waste some time doing nothing but chat and sing, at some point the Su brothers also joined in on the singing.
“Neural heat back to safe level, you can use your psionic capacity again.” Sigma give me a heads up and i stop singing so i can check the heat on my brain.
I nod, it’s safe, I'm at 50% neural heat, so i can use it at least two times on me, or four times on the others... if i ignore the extra 10% over my natural limit... remember me to find a way to increase my heat limit.
*’Jotunheim’ is a good one for that, this one will give you better resistance to damage, will cap your strength to max, and upgrade your neural heat, but it won’t touch other stats, but you will have some bonus on tasks that can be somewhat related to forging... Forgot the giants name that was a master forger... my knowledge of ‘Old Terra’ is shallow yet.*
Thanks for the reminder, when you are done with ‘Alfheim’ start ‘Jotunheim’ please.
*Rodzher!*
I look at the Guys singing along with the girls, they look much less comfortable as they are not being led by my singing so they are feeling awkward, even though my chat with Ygg took seconds.
They don’t need extra training, I'll do it tomorrow, for now let’s try to finish my training, I'm on the edge of mastering Walker control, if i do that i can fuse the skill if I'm lucky and start a new training.
Closing my eyes i get ready to enter the mind field, Sigma also got ready to help, so we start...
The hell hole that was my mind for god knows how long fades as i finally master all that a Walker can do.
I sigh in contentment and sip the rest of my Avalon Wine, savoring the wine and the peace before i go and try to get my skill fused.
The pack is still in a merry mood as they rock back and forth singing and drinking, sometimes laughing, i do get the occasional look, of which i return with a nod and put chemfuel on this merry fire.
I chuckle as they start another round of heated singing, a friendly singing fight starts as i watch for a minute before sinking back into my mind.
Let’s try to get this done...
On this mess of a hellhole simulation i surprisingly act excellent, repairing, building, treating, reviving, Piloting non combat Walkers, maintenance... I dash from one problem to another like they don’t exist at all as i easily keep the defense line working and the soldiers alive as they fight off monsters like xenomorphs and necromorphs, other times zombies, another beast waves of different types...
When i find myself back on the low table, head giving off visible heat as the pack look at me in silence.
I give a smile “Privet, I'm back.” i chuckle and fall back.
“You okay there?” Su’zu ask me
“Da... Just came back from my mind field... Learned to blend Medicine, Engineering and Walker control into one... Don’t ask me how... Finding a common point was a nightmare.... One that even my mind can’t wrap around completely... Maybe... Mechanicus training will bring some light to this skill...” i say out of breath, beeping can be heard as i feel the need to drink.
“Low coolant?” Li’lak ask
“Da.” i reply
Zu as always give me some attention and bring me some non alcohol drinks as i get up into sitting position.
“Spacibo.” I nod to Zu, and open my eyes, At first she fail so understand my intention as i drink and restart the singing battle, but after some time her eyes widen and she blush as she stutter on the middle of the fight.
“What’s wrong? Can't beat me?” Li’lak grin in victory
“Ha! Dream on!” Zu recover fast and pull the singing battle level up as she gives me some side glances.
I can’t help but give a feral grin, this singing battle is fun! Oh how i missed to sing.
Can’t help myself, singing is imprinted on the DNA.
After a lot of singing battle, of which i won, haha! We decide to sleep.
And i find myself sandwiched by the girls, Zu on top of me like always, but this time her smell, look and actions are much more bolder!
Wait for the others to sleep at least girl! And no physical yet!
My white pupils and piercing look fail to deter Zu...
This will be a long night shift... Persevere, she’ll pay early tomorrow...
Status:
Health: 3/3 HP | 50/50 MP.
Wrath: 100/300
Day: 21.
Month: 3
Time Shift: Space.
Age: 18
Credits: 5000 (-0 – No Change)
Nanite storage: 5.000 units/Max 10000 units, 50u Needed per day.
Mainframes:
Yggdrasil Protocol: Mainframe type.
Auxiliary Protocols:
Alfheim Protocol: Root in process.
Jotunheim Protocol: Awaiting Creation.
Helheim Protocol: Active.