"Wait, I have to start a guild? What does That even mean? Is this some sort of game?”
“Uh, well I suppose it's fine if I tell you, you were going to find out the next time you uplinked anyway. Alright, let's see… how to explain this… oh, I know. You are a noble clan called a planetary Baron-Tak, right? Well, the planetary Baron-Tak has a lifespan of about one hundred and fifty thousand years, give or take a few years. But what you may or may not know is that every noble rank jump adds fifty thousand years to your life span. So, a planetary duke is 500 thousand years of lifespan, but a planetary king is one million years. The royal clan doubles the dukes to ensure their reign is maintained. At Least that is what we tell them. You see, the Solar Tak rank has a life expectancy of ten million years. And the reason they outlive planetary kings by so much is to maintain balance in the galaxy. You don't want wars breaking out every million odd years for successions or a billion other reasons that one would kill their own kin for a throne, especially on a galactic scale. Yes, I know you're going to ask how does rank affect life expectancy. Well, the answer is obvious, it's the nanites in our bodies. They are programmed to shut down and flush out of the hosts’ system within the last fifty or so years of their lives, allowing the host to age and die.”
He held up a hand as I went to open my mouth. He hadn't answered anything I had asked yet, and while this was fascinating, it didn't really have anything to do with what I wanted to know right now.
“Relax, I'm getting to the point. With Solar Tak’s living for ten million years and solar barons living for twenty million years. Just imagine how long the lifespan of a celestial count or higher is. I am going to assume you don't know the ranking system. I mean, this planet is on the edge of the systems’ expanse. Well, if you do, then just consider this a recap. You have the mortals that have not gotten their hands on the system yet. Oh, side note, when your clan becomes a Solar Tak I recommend you slowly start initiating everyone on the planet. After the mortals are the initiated, also known as citizens, then the planetary nobles and the royal that rules the planet. They are like the governor of the planet to the Solar Tak who rules all the planets in their solar system. You get the gist? Okay, here is the rapid version. Mortal to citizen to planetary to solar to sector to galactic to celestial and once you reach the rank of celestial king. Uh… well you see, no one has ever seen a member of that rank die of natural causes so we have no idea how long their lifespan is. Now, when you live as long as a celestial does, and you have all that time on your hands.”
He started making a motion with his right hand for me to fill in the blanks, and the thought running through my head terrified me.
“They invented a game using the cloning pods and then started declaring wars. That's why this solar system has been declared a combat zone. It's so they have something to kill and gather resources from.”
“Indeed, but the game is bigger than that, not everyone is into killing. There are guilds that go around behind those crazy warrior types, and they create life, seeding a new sun and planets, starting life anew, nurturing it and raising it. Slowly putting it all back together again. I know the Celestial King Olympus clan is into that sort of thing. There are also guilds that are into research and construction. Ya know, everything any other game would have, you can find a guild out there, doing it.”
“I uh, I need to uh, found a guild like right now, don't I?”
“Oh, well, I would say within the next ten minutes, yes. That way, the nanites will have the seven days needed to build everything before the first carrier arrives.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“I would like to found a guild please” I stated. I could feel a slight bit of trepidation running up my spine as I looked into the system administrators’ eyes. However, it was not him that answered me, but the system. A screen appeared in front of my face.
Congratulations on forming a guild, the processing fee of fifty thousand credits has been deducted from your account.
Please name your guild…
I quickly looked around me for ideas on what to name the guild as the transparent screen remained in front of my face.
“Uh…”
Would you like to name your guild, uh?
“What? No!” I blurted out.
Please name your guild…
I resisted the urge to say uh again as I cast my eyes around the room quickly for inspiration. My eyes landed on a photo frame hung on the wall of my mother and father during their trip to Japan and in the background was a beautiful cherry blossom tree. My eyes froze on that tree and a smile slowly crept onto my face as a few ideas began to piece themselves together to create…
“I wish to name my guild Blossoming Terranova.”
Congratulations, the guild Blossoming Terranova has been formed. You have been registered as the Guild Mistress of this level one guild, you may now register up to fifty members.
Congratulations, ability Quest Giver has been successfully removed.
Congratulations, you have received the ability Guild Quest Giver. This will allow you to give quests to your Guild members for them to complete.
The screen vanished, and I was left standing there staring at the smiling face of the administrator as he wriggled his fingers temptingly in front of me. I let out a sigh and grabbed it, giving it a shake.
Congratulations, the Orbital Station Base and space dry dock has begun construction in orbit of planet Earth, located in MWOA254. The attached gate has been given the designation Blossoming Terranova Gate.
I quickly sent off a message on my hud to Johnson, Walker and Ripter telling them the gates’ name.
“Congratulations, Solar Tak Scion Kenna Mackenzie, on your purchase. Now I can give you a little detail on your purchase. Are you ready?”
Before I let him start on a new explanation, I quickly thought ‘status’ wanting to see how much it had changed. I quickly read it before turning back to him and nodding that I was ready.
Name: Kenna Rowan Mackenzie
Clan: Mackenzie
Clan rank: Solar Tak
Military Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Military Position: Pending
Galactic Credits: 6,961
Class: Void Pilot
Guild: Blossoming Terranova
Guild Position: Guild Mistress
Guild Level: 1
Titles:
Survivors guiding light.
Scion of clan Mackenzie
“The orbital station base was purchased by a guild granting it a subsystem linked to the game; this gives the base a level at the moment it is level zero, but once complete it will be level one. This is great news for what you wanted to get from it because as you level it up, it will grant you more privileges and access. The habitat has a district called the guild district where you and any other guild you rent space to can set up a guild hall. In your guild hall exclusively, will be a room that only the officers of your guild can access and inside it will be a table that will allow you to plan the purchases and upgrades to your orbital station base. It will also allow you to control the entire orbital station base from that table, all of its systems. Heat, oxygen, water, even greenhouses and there are a lot of other things.”
He glanced up then looked at me and smiled softly.
“Ah, my time is up. Big events are about to happen in this solar system… Good luck.”
He then vanished in a flash of light as it raced from the ground under his feet and back up through the hole in the roof that it had made when it landed, and vanished into the sky. I was about to let out a large breath of relief at his departure and slowly come to terms with everything that had just happened. However, I noticed the audience I had forgotten about, and they were all staring at me. Five seconds later, the noise of all their voices descended upon me, demanding explanations and answers to countless questions and demands.
“Crap” I groaned.