Frank Briggs
The clean up operation on the ship was going smoothly. Frank had claimed the gunship for himself and had used it to mow down the little devils he found. Thanks to his neural interface, he could not only see the little devil’s locations on his goggles but almost ‘feel’ them too. It was odd, knowing where they were without seeing the dots in his vision. However, he had made strides in eliminating the nimble flyers where his two companions had focused on the bigger units.
Feeling another cluster of little devils another passage way over, he used the internet like network of Shipwright’s vessel to find the nearest connection that his gunship could fit through. The neural interface was largely only useful because he was on board a ship so heavily filled with cameras and hooked up to the network. Anywhere else, and he would have to rely on the on board sensers of his drones to locate the enemy.
Not that he had to worry about that now, all he had to do was track down all the little devils and kill them. Before they could gather in sufficient numbers to open another rift into the corruption beyond reality. Frank shivered at the memory, there was something unnatural about the energy out there. He could almost see the essence the general had used, and it was incomprehensible to him.
The three of them had talked about it briefly after the battle. Bishop and Blake had agreed, the energy was weird. Blake, however, hadn’t seemed to be nauseated by the rift like the two men had. Frank remembered her words, delivered with a shrug.
“It was just another form of essence, kid. Not compatible with what we have, but still, only essence.” Before climbing on her mount and flying off.
She was focusing her efforts on the stone golems, thanks to her mounts ability to fly and her powerful weapon. She was the best suited to that task, while Bishop had taken on the devil dogs. he and his ogres were all powerful fighters, but they were restricted to the ground and melee range. That had left Frank the little devils, since he was able to handle air combat and his guns weren’t powerful enough to easily take down the larger foes.
“Frank, can you hear me?” the voice coming into his ear piece, was that of the Shipwright.
“Yes, Shipwright. I can hear you, what’s up?” He asked in return, startled at the contact. The Shipwright had said not to expect him to contact them until the ship had been cleared of all enemies.
“I have a problem, but I want to get through to all of you before I explain. Stand by.” The mechanical voice of the Shipwright went silent.
Frank wondered what had happened, idly scratching Hickory’s head while he waited. He had been summoning the rats in turns, since the cockpit wasn’t really big enough for them all. He liked to have one with him however, he had never enjoyed being alone.
“Bishop here,” the strong masculine voice interrupted Franks musings.
“Blake reporting in,” the melodic and slightly accented Latina’s voice was the next to enter his ears.
“Good, your all here.” Shipwright started, “I see that you have nearly removed the corruption from my vessel. I believe my on-board security forces can handle the job from here. I have another task that I need your help with.”
“What’s happened Shipwright?” Frank asked him worriedly. “Did another rift open up?” If these rifts kept popping up like this, they wouldn’t be able to contain them.
“Yes, actually. Another rift has opened up on my station world, my oldest and most important facility. Since you were already busy, I requisitioned the Erlking’s champions to help close the rift. There has been a problem with them however.”
Frank couldn’t see the World Lord, but he could imagine him waving his tentacles around franticly as he spoke. He had an eccentric character, but Frank couldn’t help but admire him. The drones the World Lord had come up with, as well as the ship itself and the networks. It was all so fascinating, Frank hoped to learn as much as he could and one day make a star ship of his own.
“Something happen to the Erlking’s champions?” Bishop asked. “The Erlking is our patron World Lord’s superior, from what I understand. She told us the pair the Erlking had trained were real tough, what could have happened to them?”
Frank was pretty sure the big man had been in the military, or at least had a job that valued the chain of command. They didn’t talk about their lives back on earth, but Bishop just seemed to fit that profile. He wasn’t as sure about Beth, she spent most of her time in seclusion. A necessity he supposed, she was the sniper after all, but it didn’t give them a lot of time to talk.
“It isn’t that anything has happened to them, its what they are doing.” Shipwright answered. “I invited them onto my station world to help seal the rift, but like with you I couldn’t get them close to the breach. But unlike you, they have been stealing my property. As they cross my station, they are stealing everything they can. It isn’t right, them taking the inventions I worked hard to build.”
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“What?” Bishop all but shouted over the line. “No one with the title of World Lord’s champion should be doing such things. What do you need from us?”
Frank was a little shocked, honestly. The big black man was intimidating as hell to look at; but he was really a gentle natured person, except in combat where he went berserk. Now, he was obviously getting angry. Getting so angry over someone not following orders, reenforced Frank’s impressions of his having a military background.
“I was hoping you would say that,” Shipwright said. “I need you to go to my station world. The Erlking’s champions can’t be allowed to steal from me. And, since the pair are running around my station, instead of closing the rift, I need you to help close the rend in reality as well.”
The Morrigan’s champions both gave affirmative answers over the communication network, but Frank was worried. He didn’t have much in the way of combat potential, and he couldn’t take the gunship or the drones he had fixed up with him. He didn’t want to say anything, but he didn’t want to be a burden on his new companions either. In the end he tentatively voiced his concerns.
“Um, Shipwright.” He started, “I want to help too but…I can’t fight. I’m only good with the drones, but I can’t take any of them with me so…” he trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
The World Lord turned machine buzzed and whirred, clicked and made other various noises over the communication link for some time. Eventually, almost reluctantly, he answered.
“Yes, I have reviewed the footage. I see now what you mean…ok frank, I wouldn’t do this for anyone else…but since you didn’t demand anything, and helped me so much…” here the Shipwright trailed off again. Frank swore he heard real pain in the World Lord’s voice.
Long minutes passed. No one spoke, waiting for whatever the Shipwright would say or do next. Frank wasn’t sure why the other two were being so quiet, perhaps they had been cut from the link. Or, they were just curious what the octopus shaped being was going to say or do next. Before long, a personal combat drone came zooming into Frank’s hallway.
Coming to a halt before Frank’s gunship, the little drone simply waited. looking closely Frank could make out an added cargo crate underneath the drone, curious, Frank landed the gunship and jumped out to investigate. Once he got close, the personal combat drone lowered the crate to the floor and flew away again.
“Ok, Frank my boy.” The mechanical buzzing turned back into the Shipwright’s synthesized voice. “There were a few prototypes in the ships hold, from when I was setting up my drone lines and testing ideas. None of them are top of the line, but you will be able to use them anywhere. Just be sure to make me proud on my station world, ok?”
Opening the lid, Frank gasped quietly. There were three egg shaped objects nestled into the crate, each glowed faintly and was intricately carved with fascinating patterns. He stared at them in awe, not sure what they were but captivated by the complicated beauty of the shapes the patterns made on their surfaces.”
“Well, kid.” He heard Blake saying over the comm link. “Don’t keep us in suspense what is it already?” Well, that answered the question of if they were still listening.
“I’m not sure,” he answered back honestly. “There are three egg shaped objects that glow and look like they have been carved into really cool shapes.” He continued, looking down at the patterns with awe.
“Wow kid, really?” She said back over the comm, sounding excited. “Those are called patterns, when the Morrigan gave me my beauty here,” frank could hear her patting the side of her arial mount as she said that. “She handed me an object just like that, touch them and think about absorbing them into yourself. It will be just like when you got the mice.”
Frank grimaced a little at her calling the dire rats, ‘mice,’ but he knew she was only teasing. The idea of getting another friend, he could always keep with him, was too awesome for him to worry about something small like that. So, without further hesitation he reached out and pulled in the patterns one by one. The shock to his soul was more pronounced than it had been when he absorbed the rats, but he was able to handle the shift without too much effort.
“Come on kid, what did you get?” the Latina’s voice was growing insistent, she was really curious it seemed.
“Yes, yes.” The Shipwright broke in, “you have a few minutes to talk, but then I need you to enter your void spaces. The portal is almost ready, and I don’t want to waste essence holding it open longer then needed.”
Frank didn’t understand the rush, it could take weeks for them to arrive anywhere. The Shipwright had explained how teleportation worked to him once. He hadn’t really understood it at the time, but he was getting closer with each advancement he made with his core. With a chorus of ‘yes sir,’ the three said their goodbyes. Frank exchanged a quick explanation to Blake for a congratulations, then moved into his void space.
Frank was really excited; he would be able to spend the next few weeks with his new acquisitions. He didn’t know why the Erlking’s champions had gone rogue, but he was going to help his patron recover his property. Assuming Bishop gave him the chance, the saber wielding gladiator seemed very upset at the news.
Nothing he could do about it now; he was trapped in his own mind for the foreseeable future. He would just have to worry about it when they arrived. Feeding the three rats some of his essence, he brought their statues to life in his void space. The trip would be too lonely without company, and the rats’ playful antics always made him smile.
Now, he turned to his new toys. A grin split his face at what he saw, he couldn’t believe that Shipwright was this generous. There were three new items in his soul, and Frank wasn’t sure which one excited him the most. He shrugged; it didn’t matter, he didn’t have to choose because they were all his. The grin widened into a full smile.
Regardless of why he had been given these gifts, he wasn’t worried about being useless anymore. He was going to be able to pull his own weight, when they arrived at the station world. He wondered about what the station world would be like, as he ran his hands over one of his new prizes. Would it be like the ship, or more like a planet? He couldn’t wait to find out, this world was so much better then earth.