Chapter 2
2071/1504
Location: New Life Station
I came to and looked around. I was in-game as my HUD or heads up display popped up. I was in guest accommodations on the station where people could do safe logouts or logins. While you can log out anywhere your character would stay in the world and could be attacked or robbed unless you log off in a safe spot like guest accommodation or hotel on planets. Guess that doesn’t apply to me now. I thought, getting out of the bed I was disappointed to feel the default resistance when pushing on the bed. I couldn't feel the sheets just the fact I was pushing against a soft object. An icon flashed telling me I had a mission. I pulled it up to check it.
David nodded as if he expected that “ that would be because it is, we made this system to serve as a transition point. It lets early testers transfer to the new server; it allows them to buy and sell regular Imperial gear before being transferred to the Frontier. There are many changes out In the frontier, and there are currently minimal play testers and information available to new arrival so that combined with your… unique circumstances has lead the company to assign you a transition officer which would be me.” he held his hand out and I shook it and then he lead me to a set of facing couches with a holo display above a coffee table between the two of us. “ o.k. first let's start with the character name, still going to stick with Dienekes?”
I nodded, glad that we were going to go through everything from the top “ yes Sir, I still prefer to fight in the shade” David paused for a second probably looking up my obscure reference “ oh Herodotus nice! And you don’t need to call me sir, think of me as a guide and assistant for today just call me David '' Normally it paid to be respectful to admins they could make or break big moments for an entire guild let alone a single player, was what you did a creative strategy or cheating? Did a hard mission bug out at the end and you need to restart it or get the reward? It's all up to the admin.
But since David preferred casual and this was an unusual situation to say the least. “Ok David, call me James, so how are we going to do this?” David pulled up a holo of my stat sheet” Stellar arms wasn’t a churchy game, so no levels what it did have was a license and roll system, for instance for a ships captain you needed a captains license for the class of ship you wanted there were workarounds like having a privateers license or the roll of prize captain, which allowed you to command a ship you didn’t have a license for at a greatly reduced skill level they were designed to get ships from point A to B like the battlefield to a space dock to sell it. Players who preferred ground combat were able to do things like join in-game militaries and either earn or buy commission or join or found mercenary companies.
The game did have a form of experience though. Every license you bought when used generated experience points towards that license changing your Rank. There are seven rank levels: Rookie, Novice, Journeymen, Expert, Elite, Master, Specialist. These ranks increased undefined stats for example an Expert in starship weapons would find they had faster lock on times with a higher lock rate, or hit chance then a Novice.
Of course all purchases were with in-game cash or credits. Real world cash could be brought into the game but it was only so much per month and those credits were account bound to keep players from making multiple accounts or giving their friends money to give to them to get around it. Of course you could earn a bunch of in-game credits then have someone give you real world money to transfer it to them but it was the best solution so far to allow a company to have a steady income without breaking the game with a pay to win system. Especially since it was technically against game policy anyone doing it too flagrantly would get flagged by the AI and warned then account locked. Everyone knew the company chose to ignore it on a small scale; they just didn’t want it to break the game for the players who just bought the game and played it to earn their way in the game.
“ So James you have a Corvette Captain license of course, Imperial Privateer license, a…” David trailed off clearly confused but kept going “ a Imperial marine Captains commission that doesn’t seem right you’re listed as a Private Ship owner not an active marine?” I nodded. It was weird to have a non Imperial military member. “yeah I bought it when doing a series of missions with the marines earlier this year my Corvette is a bit unique so the NPC weren’t super willing to listen to my tactics for assault since it involved landing in the middle of the enemy encampment instead of using assault shuttles despite the enemy not having anything heavy enough to damage my ship, so I bought the commission so they would follow my orders anyway it went faster and had lower causalities then normal got a good bit of reputation out of that. Of course two weeks later you guys patched the problem for unique ships so I could have waited but it has been useful once or twice since then so no reason to sell it back and worth the monthly credit cost to maintain.”
David nodded “ I remember working on the patch there were a few workarounds people found before we got that fixed. But how were you allowed to buy a Marine commission tho? You have to be an active marine at least sergeant or higher rank. And the only way to rank up as an enlisted in the marines is to actually do missions, plus once you become a private vessel captain you're forcibly retired and your commission only reactivates if the Empire recalls you which never happens to a player.”
“normally you would be correct” I agreed easily “ but there is one exception I don’t know if it was meant as flavor text but I tried it and it worked “a noble of sufficient station and being of both good standing with the empire and proven combat skill may purchase a rank no hire then captain and keep it active.” I shrugged, and David blinked then checked my status sheet and his admin panel “ you’re a noble?!? How? And you’re an independent noble not a married noble which is how most players earn nobility and those noble privileges rarely apply to them.”
I laughed, most players didn’t believe me when I told them either. but it was funny seeing an admin react the same way. “ I was one of those who did the Uranian five event. I was a volunteer assigned to the Imperial cruiser Ashtar which just happened to provide escort to a civilian ship that had an Imperial duke on board then when the Captain of the Ashtar chose to ram the Dreadnought to make sure the Duke and his families escaped. The cloning chamber or respawn point as the players call them happened to survive the impact but with the four hour respawn cool down when you die it meant we all only had one chance and the ship was disabled so no new players could spawn in to join us those of us with personal armor survived the decompression and with nothing else to do, attacked the dreadnaught we managed to make it to the engineering with about five people left one of which was an engineer so four of us held the door while she set the reactor to blow.
And blow it did the event points for those actions were huge. Everyone who survived the ramming run bought a top end frigate or civilian equivalent. I had enough for a Cruiser license and fancy cruiser but then I noticed a special option at the top Knighthood. it didn’t say much other then that I would be knighted and become a noble and have four arms men I didn’t know what that meant but from the tooltips and game wiki I figured out it would let me take on special NPCs that I could outfit with player gear and had smarter AI’s and would let me run a personal squad of troops. As a solo player it lets me play the game as more of a party based game with each of them having rolls and gear like players. So now I have a costume bridge crew/ away team.”
I said both a little proud at having a different way of playing the game then others and embarrassed I used all that reputation on what was basically a fun little niche gimmick instead the normal epic ship and license. David nodded along, checked a few screens then raised his eyebrows and checked more and more and mumbled to himself then started laughing.
“This is going to be interesting, now I see why the boss wanted me to sit down with you” he paused to collect his breath “So the Frontier is going to have a few changes first all NPCs will be full AI and react as if they are the characters in the universe. So if you don’t act as if you are a Captain they will see you as you are. On a merchant ship a laid back captain might not matter but on your corvette it may cause some to depart your employment, because of the changes your ability to outfit your arms men will no longer be unique you want to buy high end plasma rifles for every one including the janitor go ahead. But you’ll also need to actually train your people.''
I was crushed by this news. I had chosen this reward from the event rep. system because of its uniqueness now it was just normal it's like I wasted those points. David quickly recognized my look. And smiled “don’t worry it's not all bad in fact you're about to be in a very interesting position. There are going to be big changes on the frontier as you know. However one of these changes that I can mention as it's available on starting stations information net, is the introduction of mechs”
my eyes locked on him. Mechs? That could be a game changer for ground wars. One thing this game had been missing was an armored component. Sure there were small arms and gunships but not really tanks at least not for most players. If a player wanted to play as armored they had to do it as a part of a major military force and they were so rarely deployed that very few players bothered. But mechs especially if they had space worthy ones for combat drops could make carting around armor worthwhile. “ and the only people allowed to own more than one privately are nobles and looking at game lore for nobles and their mech forces it's clear that the arms men are the nobles elite mech troops.”
Davids voice changed slightly to a more officious sound “ so for those reasons previously stated I hereby use my Admin privileges to retroactively provide your four arms men with Expert level mech training reflecting years of practice experience and training with the most common Imperial models and only requiring a short formularization session with similar models''. he made a few taps and resumed talking normal.
“ You'll obviously still have to find or buy the mechs yourself but now you’ll at least have some troops to show you and the others how to use them when you do.” I cocked my head confused. “others? I’m only allowed four Armsmen. Did your training only apply to one?” That was kind of disappointing but still one was better than zero so I wouldn’t complain too much besides I didn’t even have a mech.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“ no all four of them did but you must of missed this news broadcast in game” David flicked up a recording of the in game news service it covered events in the empire and big in game happenings like guild wars, events, major discoveries, price changes on certain items, and pirate activates mixed with in game filler news for flavor surprisingly it was to one of the filler sections he fast forwarded to, the female anchor began talking. “ in other news with opening of the frontier sector to imperial citizens his excellency the emperor has offered to raise the peerage of noble willing to move to frontier by one rank up to marque, so far there has been little interest from established families but some of the younger and newer members of the Peerage have expressed interest. Now onto business where…” David turned off the broadcast.
“ So sir Dieneces let me be the first to congratulate you on your elevation to Baronette, my lord” he sketched a fake bow David then proceeded to go over what this unexpected change meant for me. First I was now allowed to keep a standing Cavalry unit. Or twenty five mech pilots and mechs not sure where I would keep them all if I got that many mech’s but that many elite troops wouldn’t hurt. I also however had the responsibility to raise at least one hundred men if the emperor called his banners, fortunately that counted ships and their crews.
David also informed me the ship a baronette or higher was on and owned was his sovereign territory and granted the Noble the flagship perk which means he didn’t need the license for that one ship, Baronette’s could operate up to five military vessels under their personal banner without needing the huge licenses guild fleets needed to operate. But if I wanted let's say two frigates I still need the frigate license because of the second frigate. David and I continued to discuss changes. He was authorized to let me spend money on changes before I went forward to explore the other side of the gate.
Which turned out to be important because of what he said next. “ Due to the programming changes no asset from the current game build can be transferred over, the programming department is working hard on fixing that for release but for now they have to add anything new by hand. Because of this you’ll be essentially reset to zero, the lore says only small vessels can make the trip through the new gravity tunnel until the gate system is established, so public release, but you will keep all credits and anything you can fit in a shuttle size craft, you will be refunded your spent Exp on your licenses so you won't have to suffer a lose there, sorry about the inconvenience. To help offset this loss we have been authorized to buy your left behind asset back at 110% prescient of value.”
I nodded it was annoying but other than the personnel equipment of myself and my arms men and a few achievement plaques I didn’t have much that wasn’t easily replaced, and the extra credits would be nice to get started however. “Is there a time limit to raise forces for the empire? I definitely can't fit 100 personnel into the starter shuttle even if I stacked them.” David checked his tablet “that hasn’t been considered before. Would three months be enough to build up your forces?” I thought for a moment then agreed. “Good,” David called “ I will add a note to the writers to add the extension into the lore. Now time for your organization you will find both the corvette and frigate in the hangar in the conditions they were in when the incident occurred, although to make it easier for you to loot and assess I will turn the lights on in the frigate. An Elliot class shuttle is in the hangar around it is the largest vessel that can safely transit the tunnel. Its cost is charged to your account but you can keep it or sell it on the other side.”
David and I went down to the hangar deck the first stop I made was to the shuttle I looked it over it was a slow starter transport shuttle only having three weapons slots, two class one weapons mounts on a rear turret style mount on the top and one class 2 fixed forward mount, this ship might be able to defend itself from an angry toddler, maybe. I asked David to move my only unique type two weapon off my corvette, and checked the stats.
Macron Laser Repeater
Mount type: two
Damage: 12-14
Cooldown: NA
Description: the Macron Laser Repeater was developed as an anti missile platform during the Pirate wars, taking one of Macrons dependable laser repeaters and adding a rotating array of focusers the Macron makes up for its low damage output by having the ability to continue uninterrupted fire for as long as necessary.
The description was spot on, a player once left a computer session running to test how long the Macron could go, it took a week of uninterrupted fire before the weapons system broke down.
Next I went and gathered my Armsmen, I was glad they were in there combat gear, one Alice was an event reward NPC from a summer festival event story arc and her default outfit was maid outfit that combined with the her flirty nature was slightly embarrassing the few times I had other players on the ship outside of combat operations. I moved them all onto the shuttle. I had David buy some benches to put against the cargo bay walls of the shuttle, deciding I would want to bring more crew than physical items.
I headed to the corvette armory and grabbed everyone's second equipment set for ground operations which was mostly just the Chameleon Suit for Alice and the sniper rifle for Jeric, my team sniper. Checking my crew interface in my HUD I fought the person I was looking for, it was a lucky recruitment at a random station recruitment pull. a helmsman who also had Journeyman in small craft due to his back story of being a former drop pilot I reassigned him to being the shuttles pilot. I grabbed my three other most qualified generic crew including my lead engineer, tactical officer, and sensor’s operator.
After thinking for a few minutes I decided to bring a squad of marines to begin building my ground forces around. Grabbing my Marine commander and his four sergeants I had one more seat left and decided to grab the unit's heavy weapons guy. I made sure they had their all environment equipment but only brought a few magazines of ammo figuring I would quickly replace their loadout on the other side. Finally I grabbed all the Items not nailed down in my room excluding armor, personal rifle, awards, event items and the only easter egg I found. a tablet that simply said hello world! In the first scripted mission in the game. I also had the Armsmen auto empty their personal rooms into storage crates to bring along. I had a look through the frigate.
To save time David let me know there were only two items that weren’t available in shops on board one was a safe he couldn’t open it for me but was allowed to point it out. Alice came over, brought out her tools and broke into it pretty quick. Inside was a credit chip with 1250 credits on it. The other item was just in the armory so he teleported it to me to review.
Terorak Plasma Rifle
Damage: 20
Magazine: 20
Fire rate: semi auto
Description: the Terorak Plasma Rifle is a heavy plasma rifle used by the soldiers of many mercenary companies. Designed with stopping power in mind, this rifle has a slow rate of fire and reduced magazine in exchange for its higher damage output.
Vehicles and ground weapons had different damage scaling. All but the lightest vehicles were mostly immune to small arms fire, and vehicles weapons used against ground forces often did about ten times the damage shown on the card.
I decided to keep the new rifle as my primary weapon replacing an unremarkable assault carbine that while having a higher rate of fire only did 7 damage a round. Players were allowed to biolock items to themselves one full set of equipment plus a primary and secondary weapon, you could carry more but it wasn’t protected. Biolocking would prevent any NPCs from stealing your equipment and reduced the likelihood players would. The equipment wouldn’t work for anyone but you and would count as stolen property in anyone's position but approved allies or party members. It could still be taken and if the thief made it to the right NPC could break the Biolock, but it was a crime in the Empire and few bothered to risk the Imperial Bounty System for anything less than the best gear, which I had never had so I had never had to worry.
“All set?” David asked me. “ I think so go ahead and sell the two vessels and give me oh let's say 20 crates of mixed imperial luxury goods? I bet those will sell well. They appeared in the shuttle and I rearranged the stacks and fit in three more. I decided to do a full character check for the first time since the incident.
Name: Dienekes
Credits: 103,458
Health 50/50
Stamina 100/100
Arcana NA
Equipment:
Helmet:
Mk 1 Avion
Armor 3
Thermal
Night vision
Chest:
Mk 1 Morgan
Armor 5 shield 90/90
Gloves:
Mk 1 Avion
Armor 3
Legs:
Mk 1 Morgan
Armor 5
Boots:
Mk 2 Pulsar
Armor 5
Magnetic
Back pack:
MK 2 Cronos
Storage 25 slots
Jet pack 20 minutes at 1 G ( 1 hour in space)
Weapons:
Terorak Plasma Rifle
Damage 20
Spindle Payload zero-g Pistol
Damage: dependent on ammo type
Makaron Combat knife (unlocked)
Damage:12
Shield piercing
Licenses and perks:
XP: 450
Licenses:
Perks:
nobility
You are a member of the peerage that provides many and varied privileges.
“o.k. that finishes everything up. Since this portal isn’t actually connected to the server you won’t go through it. you should wake up in the shuttle. We will load your ship and supplies onto the frontier servers just after coming through the gate and you should wake up shortly after. your body will get the nutrients it needs to live but you’ll feel like eating and drinking as your character. I would recommend doing it as the headache from ignoring it sucks. any questions?" I shook my head excited to get started. “ Alright James, enjoy the new chapter of stellar arms!” everything went black.