Raptor One – Chapter 62

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I snort as i finish the repairs of the three new laser drones, sitting on a modular crate i call Sigma.

“Ey, Sigma, my tovarishch, how long till ‘The irradiated clown’?” i ask Sigma as i relax a little on the crate, my power armor helping me keep my bones upright and exertion low.

“Omega, there’s still... two long cycles before we reach the irradiated clown.” Sigma reply.

“Da, and call me White just like Zu.... Four hours, that’s that’s twelve medium turns or a hundred and twenty short turns, that’s enough time for that mental training we need.” i nod and stretch myself, i did not have time to eat until now nor rest because the minute i woke up i was in for some tense hours, the others must be dying just like me for some rest.

I get up and start walking out to the recreation room, but as i pass the bulkhead i look back to give the four drones and my Viking a look, the drones looks pristine, their small frames are super hard to hit while having ship based mining laser, powerful enough to crack asteroids, not to mention ships, my Viking lies dormant yet ready in all it’s orange glory, i took some time to shear off all the damage and repaint, but it’s looking brand new, i nod at the look of a full hangar bay and start climbing the stairs into the recreation room where i know that the rest of the pack will be.

Walking inside the recreation room i see all five Avali’s lying on the soft ground, exhausted due to all the need for pinpoint attention, Zu looks extra tired due to yesterday and now.

“Privet tovarishcham, how’s the mind going?” i ask as i take off my helmet and leave it on the low table before heading to the kitchen area to make some food.

“Tired.” i get a synched answer.

“And you Zu, how’s the leg?” i ask just to get a reaction before getting serious.

Zu blush hard as everyone looks her way while i wait her answer with a feral grin “Still working!” Zu answer with a very red face hiding it with her hands as she keeps herself lying on the ground just like the others.

“Hahaha, rodzher, but what you all want to eat now? Spicy, mellow, sweet, bitter, normal, just say it. I give a small list of what i can do with nutrient paste as i prepare it for remodeling. “And don’t eat too much, after eating we will have mental training.” i say as i look at the guys lying on the floor and get a semi tired yes.

“Sweet for me!” Li’luk say.

“I want spicy.” Li’lak also say.

“I’m in for spicy, need the extra hoomp.” Su’ra reply.

“I’m seconding on my brother’s reply.” Su’zu nod my way.

“Sweet, I'm too exhausted for anything else.” Zu reply after recovering her composure.

“Da, sure.” i say and nod before getting to work on making the food, after two short cycles I'm done and serve the food before eating mine.

“So, that was unexpected.” Su’ra say and Zu nod back.

“There was no information about a battle on this part of the sector, much less about carrier ships, it did not even appear on the radar as debris.” Zu reply to Su’ra while he nod back.

“What’s worse was that the drones floating about with a default aggressive, if it was not for the size of the graveyard those drones would be making havok on the trade lines of the sector.” Su’zu reply to Zu.

“Da, that’s true.” i say as i finish chewing my spicy jerky. “All that debris field should at least made a commotion.” i say and point a finger at Li’luk. “Did you manage to identify the ships origin?” i ask Li’luk.

“No, i did not, too much damage on the ships to even identify a name or blueprint.” Li’luk say but her sister looks at me after chewing her food and reply.

“I did manage to identify both carrier ships, one was a independent ship, mercenary from the Terran empire, the other was a pirate ship, Luddic path, extremists of the human supremacy church, i wonder how they came into blows however as both hates xenos.” Li’lak reply to my question in a serious tone.

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“That’s bad ins’t it? Terrans trying to cover the neutral sector.” Zu ask me but Li’luk shake her head.

“No, the damage to both ships shows that they are old, that means before a station was even built here, so that means we can pass by the wreck of a station made by the luddic path sometime in the future if we keep this route.” Li’luk reply to zu.

“Okay.” i say and place my chopsticks down. “Everyone finished their food, what about some simple mental training? I want you guys firm when things hit the fan and splash into us.” i ask my pack and receive a plethora of yes.

“Ponyal, form a line for me, pozhaluysta.” i say as i get up and transport the containers to the kitchen area for cleaning.

“Your old language is getting worse again.” Su’ra reply to me as he forms a line with everyone.

“Da, i know, spacibo, pozhaluysta means please for the ones with a question mark on their faces... or curiosity.” i smile at Li’lak and she blush, embarrassed.

“Okay, cleaning and retrieval is done, now, for the training.” i say out as i finish my tasks and stop in from of the five of my pack.

“Your training is simple, I'll pitch each one of you against the Necros with psionic pulses in random intervals, i will not distort much your efforts in combat however, but there will be some, so be ready.” i say and wait their affirmation.

“Sir yes sir!” they say in sync.

“Good, let’s start, this will take one minute each, live or die, it’s your effort, good luck, Zu, forward.” i say to everyone and ask the first in line.

With Zu taking a step forward i extend my left hand forward, Lemi dissipates into nanites and forming a orb, of which i touch her forehead with and watch her eyes immediately become vague.

I start meditating into our connection to try and recover some neural heat while Zu pass her test, one small cycle later i fail to recover some extra psionic energy while Zu manage to complete her test as her eyes refocus, the light in her eyes brighter and sharper as she gets closer to the famous fearless status.

I nod at her, a little frustrated that i failed to even train my body to automatically meditate.

“Good job tovarishch, you can relax now.” i say with some happiness despite my frustrations. “Next, Li’luk, one step forward.” i say as i take position in front of her.

She steps forward, and as soon as she stops i place my hand on her forehead and feel the stress on my mind, but i see the focus in her eyes fade as she stays motionless.

I try again to get the sensation as Li’luk starts her test, but fail at both, I'm extra frustrated, but at least I'm happy that Li’luk passed her test, the fire in her eyes and her peppiness renovated as she jumps in happiness.

“Good job, now go jump into Zu there, I'm busy being frustrated here.” i sigh with a smile and stand in front of Li’lak.

“Li’lak, forward for your training.” i say with a smile and she steps forward.

Placing the orb on her forehead, i struggle to make her mind fade into the test as her dissonance is somewhat strong, but manage to do it.

I take a step back and starts meditating, trying to get my body tuned with my new form of psionic power and fail miserably, again, i sigh as i watch Li’lak wake with even brighter fervor and curiosity, a success.

“Congrats.” i say and sigh, maybe I'm not giving enough concentration or I'm trying with the wrong technique.

Standing in front of Su’ra i wait for him to step forward, of which he do.

I give a ferocious grin. “Enough mopping, lets do this.” i say to Su’ra, trying to boost his determination.

“SIR YES SIR!” He replies in kind and i place our orb on his forehead, his concentration fades and his eyes closes, so i take a step back and try something new.

My new way of trying succeed as my body tune even deeper and the way i use the new form makes it easier, i can feel my mind expand and sync deeper with Lemi, but the exertion remains as i feel both me and Lemi exhaustion.

I open my eyes as i feel Su’ra’s mind return, his face of triumph showing that he too managed to pass.

“That’s my boy.” i grin and pat his head with my free hand, Su’ra gives a shy smile as he closes his eyes in comfort.

I chuckle a little before standing in front of the last one, Su’zu.

“So? Will you be the only one to fail or will you succeed and show your worth?” i say with a feral grin, looking like the devil’s advocate as i do a lap around Su’zu, face close to his as i do so, i can feel and see the sweat coming out of him as i do so.

“Never fail sir!” he yells out. “Good.” i say with a even bigger feral grin and place my left hand on his forehead and watch as his eyes lose focus before taking a step back.

“Heh, it’s hard to make cold persons get pumped up.” i chuckle out and start meditating again, I'm at my limit.

After some extra meditation i manage to get closer to my first bottleneck, I'm only one pace away, for others this speed is insane, for me, it’s natural as i was made to overthrow and kill my enemies, i sigh and open my eyes, Lemi returns to her snake form and rest her head on my shoulder as i caress it while i wait for Su’zu triumph.

I don’t need to wait longer as he soon open his eyes, cold sweat pouring out of him.

“So?” i ask while in front of him.

“Done sir.” He say and i nod.

“How so?” i ask, i know he’s hiding something.

“I... I almost failed, but your action helped me.” Su’zu confess and i nod

“Good job.” i smile as i pat his head, his stoic expression crumbles as a small smile appear on his face as his eyes closes.

I chuckle as i remove my hand and sit along with Su’zu, Zu on my other side.

“I can't help but ask, why do you pet the guys but not the girls?” Zu ask me.

“Because i know that friendship and closeness can become love, so i don’t pet females unless they are kits, and even that is dangerous.” i reply as we relax on the low table. “Can someone remember me to place a order for defense guns? Preferably lasers.” i ask the group.

“Sure Captain.” Li’luk reply to my asking.

I sigh and smile as i relax on the low table, looking at my tricorder i return to my research on the nuclear reactor, the time i spend on it don’t bore fruit however, i sigh again in frustration, today ins't giving me too much help, maybe tomorrow I'll have better odds.

I get up after i holster my tricorder and start walking to the bridge, but stop to talk a little,

“Ey, tovaricham, I'll be on the bridge, rest up for now, the place is possibly neutral to hostile, so i want everyone in top shape when we get there.” i say and get a bunch of lazy yes.

I nod and resume my walk into the bridge, passing the bulkhead connecting the stairs i jump down into the middle deck and walk inside the bridge, sitting on my chair and overseeing the now tranquil route, the graveyard was problem, but pirates are worse ones, dealing with faulty drones is a no brainer, even more with drones to help, but pirates are a pain in the ass to deal with, not to mention the chance for the pirates calling reinforcements.

Changing the camera feed i look at the camera point of view, zooming in i see a small station, slowly approaching and getting bigger as the ship get’s closer, i look at the time and relax, there’s still time before docking procedures.

Next stop, The irradiated clown station, mission: Delivery of refined material.