As he opened his eyes, he was greeted to a bright, white light, hidden behind a glass window.
"Am... am I dead?" he asked groggily.
A girl began giggling to his side.
"No, you are not dead," she said to him.
"Krista? Where are we?"
"You're in the infirmary on the Orca," a voice said on the other side of him.
"Frank? The Orca? Wait... what?"
"You collapsed while we were in the hangar. Once the transport came, we took you with us and blew up the tower like you mentioned. We brought you straight here with Klaus, but he is fine. He did not collapse like you did," Krista explained.
"And Krista here, she didn't leave your side the entire time we've been here."
"The entire time? How long?" Gus asked.
"About a day, give or take. Terran, of course. And it would have been a hell of a lot longer if the bullet hadn't passed straight through you," Frank told him.
"A day..." Gus repeated in disbelief. "... And you've been here the entire time, Krista? Why?"
"I... uhm... it sounds silly, so do not laugh. I was worried about you. You looked very bad when you collapsed."
"It's not silly," Gus said with a smile. "Thanks for looking after me while I was out. Both of you."
"Should I assume you're ready to leave?" Frank asked.
"Almost," Gus responded. "I've gotta check a couple of things first."
"System."
*Stats*
*Skills*
*Points*
*Score*
*Milestones*
"First, let's check my stats."
*Level [7]*
*Strength [1]*
*Speed [1]*
*Stamina [1]*
*Leadership [7]*
*Defence and Durability [1]*
*Ranged [1]*
*Proficiency [1]*
*Followers [5]*
"Leadership level seven? Didn't the follower cap increase at five?"
*Follower limit of the Leader [8]*
"All right! Krista," Gus said, turning his attention to her, "time to make good on my promise."
"I declare you a follower."
Those five simple words were all it took to put a wide smile on the girl's face.
Gus turned his attention back to the system, eager to see if any of his stats had updated after his newest declaration.
*Level [7]*
*Strength [1]*
*Speed [1]*
*Stamina [1]*
*Leadership [7]*
*Defence and Durability [1]*
*Ranged [1]*
*Proficiency [1]*
*Followers [6]*
*UNLOCKED SKILLS*
*The Greatest Commander [1]*
'Only the followers stat? Ah well, don't know why I expected any differently.'
"Points"
*Legendary Points [63]*
*??*
*??*
*??*
*Alexander Points [5]*
*Jace Points [100]*
*Hou Yi Points [50]*
*??*
'63 Legendary points? That should be enough for an upgrade to a stat. And here I was worrying about whether I'd be getting them too slow.'
'Hold on... Jace?'
Gus thought back to the asteroid, just before he had collapsed. He faintly remembered receiving a message about special rewards as his consciousness slipped away.
'Jace Brightstar? The legendary hero who united humanity before leading them out of our solar system? And he's... he represents protector skills?
*Jace Brightstar was a legendary hero who led his forces against the various factions of humanity that resided in the Solar System after its complete colonisation in 2784. Despite his numerous achievements and the amount of advancements made as a result of his influence, he is best known for his actions both on and off the battlefield, where he would selflessly sacrifice himself, mind and body for the sake of others.*
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
*Due to his constant accolades, Jace Brightstar fulfils the role of Defence in the System of Legendary Heroes.*
'Oh, defence. I see,' Gus thought.
"Guess I should take a look at the skills next."
Once more, the menu shifted.
*Basic Skills*
*??*
*??*
*??*
*Alexander Skills*
*Jace Skills*
*Hou Yi Skills*
*??*
'So it was 50 Legendary points per Basic skill, and 10 points for each of the tier 1 upgrade in the specific trees, or 100 Legendary points for that?'
'I'll keep on banking the Legendary points for now, since I still haven't checked out the shop. And I don't have enough 'Alexander' points, so...'
"Jace"
The menu shifted to display the Jace tree. Just like the Alexander tree, it started with a simple unlock, that had other options branching from it.
"So, I guess I'm just putting all 100 into the first skill here."
*Spend [100] Jace points on [10] Skill: Champion of Humanity [10]. Confirm?*
"Confirm," Gus said without a moment's hesitation.
*Unlocked: Champion of Humanity [10]*
*Results: [+10] Defence, [+10] Durability.*
'They're different things?'
*Defence: The ability to prevent damage to oneself through blocking and evading*
*Durability: Raises the amount of damage needed to kill the target. Raises the power needed to harm the target.*
'So defence is pretty simple, but durability is like a health total and damage resistance in one?'
"Hou Yi."
Once more, the menu moved to display the new skill tree.
"I guess I'm just putting all the points into the first skill again. But before I do, what does the 'ranged' stat actually mean?
*The 'Ranged' stat refers to the ability to effectively use ranged weaponry. It consists of accuracy stats, projectile velocity, projectile impact, fire rate, range, and ammunition supply.*
'Okay, so a lot.'
*Spend [50] Hou Yi points on Skill: The Greatest Archer [50]. Confirm?*
"Confirm."
*Unlocked: The Greatest Archer [5]*
*Results: [+5] Ranged.*
"Okay, let's check the stats once more."
*Level [22]*
*Strength [1]*
*Speed [1]*
*Stamina [1]*
*Leadership [7]*
*Defence and Durability [11]*
*Ranged [6]*
*Proficiency [1]*
*Followers [6]*
*UNLOCKED SKILLS*
*The Greatest Commander [1]*
*Champion of Humanity [10]*
*The Greatest Archer [5]*
'Okay, nice! I guess my followers have 1 full points worth of 'Defence and Durability' now.'
"Okay, might as well check out the store."
"Uhm, Gus? Sorry to interrupt your evolution's... uhm... whatever it is, but we should really get going. This admiral, she's not someone you keep waiting, and we kind of said you'd come and see her as soon as you could" Frank said meekly.
"Oh, of course. My apologies, I didn't realise."
...
...
"Uh, can you let me out then?"
The infirmaries of the Orcas, a capital-hunter class ship, were, much like all other parts of it, outfitted and equipped with the very pinnacle of human invention and advancement in that field. The beds you might find on other, older ships that were filled with the sick and the wounded, were replaced with newer, more efficient Medi-capsules.
The Medi-capsules regulated the internal air that surrounded the patient to prevent contact with one of the numerous alien diseases, and filled the tank with any one of the on-board medical substances it contained, held in a storage unit above the capsule, to fight a variety of injuries. These substances included the 'God-fluid' a substance that is known to have never failed to cure an ailment, even where all others failed.
"Oh, sorry," Frank said as he pressed the release.
The top of the capsule broke apart, and the two halves that consisted of the doorway slid down either side of the contraption.
"So firstly," Gus began, taking the hand offered to him by Frank, "which one is this, and who's the captain of it?
Krista gasped as he stood. "Firstly, you should... you should put clothes on!" she stammered out as her face turned red.
"That goes without saying," Gus nonchalantly replied.
"Wait, were you expecting him to have something on, even though you could see his top half?" Frank asked her, receiving a shaken head in response.
"Have you never seen another person naked? Not even in showers or something?" Gus asked, also receiving a shaken head in response.
"Kids these days, getting embarrassed over stupid things," Frank muttered.
"This one's the Starscourge, and the Admiral of the fleet, not just the Captain, is the Frostheart," Frank told Gus as he got changed into casual sand coloured clothes representative of the ship's crew, an outfit given to all 7 of them by the crew of the Starscourge.
"The Frostheart? Give me strength," Gus muttered.
'The Frostheart' was the title given to Emylenia Zakari. She rose to fame during the war, thanks to her merciless tactics of utterly destroying the Bloody Dawn wherever they could be found, regardless of their condition.
General opinion of her was that she was willing to do whatever was necessary to win, and that she only respected strength.
She was born on one of Saturn's many 'Gaslands,' metallic platforms filled with artificial wildlife that were positioned in the gas clouds of Saturn, to act as mining platforms for the gases found inside.
Conditions on the Gaslands were terrible. Each was close to an artificial sun, resulting in the humans living there having to fight a constant battle of survival every day against the searing heat. The Sky Lizards, huge, winged creatures native to the clouds also proved to be a huge threat to the people living there, acting as a lethal predator with scores of food provided to them, throughout humanities time on Saturn.
When did it stop? Fifteen years ago, when a certain woman led efforts to control the reptiles, resulting in them becoming tamed by humanity.
That is the woman the Frostheart was.
Just the thought filled Gus with a sense of fear.
The Evolved were widely known people, their fame and power rivalling that of the power capable of being wielded by the Governor of any given Star System.
Gus, however, was not widely known by any means. So how would she react once she was face to face with him, after she had expected one of the Evolved?
This was the question he asked himself as Frank and Krista led him through the maze of icy blue corridors, stair and ladders inside the ship.
'I guess she takes that name well,' Gus thought as he noticed the colour.
The ship was shaped like the creature it was named after, with the bottom of the ship being flattened to allow easier landing when accessing a spaceport.
The outer hull of the ship was incredibly thick. According to the design team behind the vessel, the ship could square off against five of the modified creatures the Bloody Dawn used for their vessels.
The lowest habitable floor of the ship was the Medical floor. It was here that the infirmary was found, along with storerooms filled with medkits, medicines, and equipment. It even contained bedrooms and a canteen for the medical staff, allowing them to be near the infirmary for any emergency. In a grim twist, it also contained a mortuary where bodies were burned down and added to the fuel supplies of the ship.
Above the infirmary was one of two main gun decks that the vessel was outfitted with. Tightly packed along this floor were tiny rooms, each housing one of the many large kinetic cannons that the ship was armed with on both the Port and Starboard sides.
On the floor above, rooms, containing 3 bunkbeds in each, were packed tightly together forming the crew's quarters. In the centre of the floor, two large canteens ran perpendicular to each other on either side of the central corridor, each outfitted with a small kitchen in a room to the side.
The central floor of the ship was a large hangar. The hangar was very spacious, taking up the space of three of the normal floors. The outer wall of the ship along with this section were equipped with hinges, allowing them to be lowered to grant a pathway for vessels out of the ship. Inside, the hangar was empty, save for metal walkways suspended high along the inner walls, as well as ships and supplies.
The next two floors above the hangar were mirrored to the floors below. The only difference was that the cannons found on the upper side of the ship were energy based rather than kinetically based. This meant that there were less guns on this deck, as each gun required a large energy source to function.
Above this, the floor was full of drones. These drones act as a defence mechanism for the ship, and are deployed to combat incoming bombers and fighters that pose a threat to the vessel. Doors found in the hull of the top of the ship provided a pathway out of the ship for the drones. The top of the ship also featured anti spacecraft guns, forming another layer of defence, and torpedo silos.
At both the stern and prow of the ship, even more defencive guns could be found. The prow also featured a trio of experimental 'Gravitic Cannons' long ranged cannons that harnessed the power of a mini black hole to provide unimaginable speed and power to the payload.
As they reached the bridge, Gus realised they were in a part that looked like an extension to the ship. Positioned on the ship like the dorsal fin of an Orca, the bridge was found at the very top, just above more crew quarters, the bridge allowed the captain to have an advantageous view of any battle that would take place.
"Apologies for the delay," Gus said as he entered the bridge, "but I was told you were looking for me?"
She glanced back over her shoulder, before returning her gaze to the front. "I was told there was an Evolved on board. So who the hell are you?"