Author Corner: The crew formation is complete! I dedicate this horrible naming sense to a certain Viking penguin who's naming sense is equal to or maybe worst then Noah's dad! (not a lie).
PS: This is the last stored chapter i have so no more rapid releases since i need to write them now.
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Noah PoV
We headed to the office that officializes the crew registrations.
It looked like a regular office with rows of seats which were all empty since it seems no one had decided to make crews yet.
Since there was no real line, we just go to the counter where there was a bored young man that was clicking his mouse on the pc fiercely which mean he was probably killing time on a game.
*Cough cough*
Dad coughed and the man looked at us while still clicking fast.
“One moment!” He said and turned to the computer and did a few quick clicks and then typed on the keypad (keyboard) before looking towards us with full attention.
“How may i help you all?” He asked making a business smile.
“We are here to register as an official crew!” Dad said and handed over the papers.
He looks through then for a moment.
“Seems everything is in order, now what is the name of the crew?” The man asked.
Suddenly i felt a sense of dread as i looked at dads grinning face.
“Roktar Space Rock ba… UGRA!!”
My dad collapsed to the ground because of my cheap shot. I then grab his ear and oh so quietly said.
“Dad… what do you think you're doing?” I asked with a smile on my face but no smiling eyes.
“... Naming the… crew.” He said through ragged breaths.
“Noah! You shouldn’t treat your father like that!” Jessica reprimanded me.
“Oh right, so you would want my dad naming the crew then?” I asked her.
She looked away unable to maintain eye contact.
Dad gets up on shaking legs.
“Then… Star Skipper Food emporium!” He said.
“Dad…” I said and smiled again making him rapidly back away.
At this point the man at the register was chuckling and muttered “This is a fun group.”
“N-noah! Don’t come over here! Don’t hit me, I am your father!!!” He said a bit desperate.
“Alright… if you can think of a half decent name within 3 tries i won’t hit you but if you fail i will hit you with a reinforced punch while putting my back into it.” I said dead serious.
His face became covered in sweat as he through deeply.
“S-Star Ship Roktars!” he said slowly.
“1” I said emotionless.
“... D-dwarf Smasher Brewery!”
I sneered and completely loaded my fist, arm and back with psi and began to change it into a reinforced fist while leaving the muscles with plain psi reinforcement.
“2” I said spitting out the word after his previous name.
“.......” He froze up because he knew he was about to be smashed.
“Come on! What is your final guess?!” I said looking down on the giant dwarf.
“... N-Noah’s Harem Wagon!”
BOOM!
The final name had pushed it too far. Since he was on his ass i punched him square in the face while pushing him into the reinforced titanium floor leaving behind a deep dent in it and left him bend strangely with the back of his head in the hole firmly planted and knocked out with a bloody broken nose..
When i walked back to the others the receptionist, Alex and Hilda were all laughing their asses off at either the names or the situation. Jessica and Lisa just shook their heads and sighed.
“Sorry about the inconvenience and the damage.” I tell the young man.
“No problem!” He said as he gets up laughing. He then sees my dad and starts laughing again for a while before finally calming down but still chuckling every so often.
“The damage isn’t much since you held back a lot so as to not cause real damage. Also that was a seriously entertaining scene and after the second name i started filming! I’m sure this will go viral!” The man said.
“Just keep my face blurred and we won’t have a problem.” I tell him and he nods.
“So what is the real name you all, except for the big guy, wants?” He asked and chuckled.
I turned to the others.
“Um… Bloody Bullets?” Alex said.
“Six Star Comet?” Jessica said.
“Warmachines!” Hilda said excited.
I just say at how the names were all over the place.
“Hey what if we combine the names we came up with?” Alex said.
“Like how?” Hilda asked.
“Hmm… Bloody Comet, Six Star Bullets, Bloody Machine, War Comet, Bullet Star.” he said.
…
“Wow.” I said surprised by how many combos he came up with only three ideas.
“Wow those are actually good.” Said the receptionist. “I particularly like Six Star Comets or Bullet Star.” He said.
“What about Six Bloody Stars?” Hilda asked.
I somewhat expected that one.
“No because only you and dad are the battle junkies.” I said making her pout and mutter
“I’m not a battle junkie!”
“Well taking Hilda’s idea we can make it Six Bullet Stars.” Jessica said.
“I didn’t expect for this to be hard. No wonder i never tried to be a founder in a guild.” I muttered in disdain.
“It’s not that bad really.” Rough pained voice said from behind.
I looked back and see my dad was getting up.
“So… what name did you come up with? Erg!” He said and flinched in pain.
“Well we each made one name and we were mixing and matching them and came up with these.” Jessica said and told him the names each of them made then the combos.
“Six Bullet Stars? Doesn’t sound bad but only Jessica, Alex and maybe Noah will be a sharpshooter or used guns cause i am a front liners.” He said.
“Then why not simply the Star Comet.” I said.
“Seems simpler and better.” Jessica said nodding.
“Yeah, that’s what most people that register say. Here look at this, all over the galaxy there has been a boom of official crews.” the receptionist said and pressed some keys making a holo screen appear showing charts with the rising number of crews.
Then another screen with tons of crew names.
OmniprimeNexusVoid CrawlersSwarmersNemesisSTroopers
These were a few and some had obvious names that showed lack of creativity like the last one i saw.
“Looking at the names it seems Star Comet doesn’t seem out of place.” Jessica said with a wry smile.
“Yeah, seems oddly fitting with all these… “unique” crew names.” I said.
“To me yours feels better than most. A star comet can simply be thought as a dwarf star so it fits your crew with a captain that is a giant dwarf.” The receptionist said bluntly.
I couldn’t hold it and started to chuckle.
This guy was, at the very least, interesting.
“Might as well accept, right.” I said.
“””””YEAH!””””” The rest of the crew said.
“Alright then, with the name decided the positions of each of you will be put in…” The receptionist said and started typing and after a bit he finally said “...Done!”
The crew “Star Comet” has been established and you are one of its founding members.You have been registered as “Mechanic” of the crew “Star Comet”. As you are the first Mechanic, once another person enters the same station as you, your status will gain leadership due to experience and your title as a founder.
Seeing the message i confirmed that the crew was official now.
“That’s all, oh but there is a tax, i had forgotten to get that before making the crew because you were all so funny. Its 500 credits to make the crew.” The receptionist said.
With a short calculation that it was a little over 83 credits each. It wasn’t split exactly so dad offered to give the extra 2 credits that lacked if everyone gave 83 each.
“Alright, done! Have a good life and i wish you all luck.” He says and turns to his screen with a small smile.
We walk out and walk a bit before i turn to the others.
“So now what do we do?” I asked.
“Maybe we should start to get jobs, right?” Alex asked.
“Besides you Noah, the rest of us can work in a team for bounty missions. They are higher risk but higher reward missions and as a crew we can get through it safer.” Dad said.
“Alright but one question, how much money total do we have as a crew?” I asked.
Everyone looked at each other and began to tell the sum. It ended like this.
Dad -> 1,350
Me -> 480
Jessica -> 300
Hilda -> 250
Alex -> 1,750
Lisa -> 3.650
I was really shocked by Alex and Lisa but they answered rather straightforwardly.
“Piloting a guard's ship and hunting down bandits pays well. Though i have to split since I’m just driving.” He said.
“For me, when i was in training i did a few missions with Sir Alphenor which involved healing a great deal of people which had a high return.”
The sum total of all this was 7,780 credits.
“Okay, since you guys will be going on team missions while i keep training, let’s pool our money so that i can purchase hull repairs for the shuttle so that we can already start repairing the ship. If you need equipment repairs just come to me and I’ll fix that.” I said.
“Alright seems that’s decided, let’s pass him the money and we leave that to you, okay?” dad said and i nodded. Everyone takes out most of there money on them and passes it to me. Besides money for basic provisions needed i kept most of the money.
“One more thing dad.” I called.
“What?”
“You’ve already started brewing right?” I asked.
“Yep, why?” He asked.
“When you get back, try to brew some good drinks so that we can start selling them. Alcohol has a high price no matter what it is and if it’s a quality drink it would be better. Try to make both heavy beer and smooth wines. The wines should be weaker and drinkable to other races besides dwarves, okay.” I said.
“Sure, I have two batches sitting now to get flavor. It shouldn’t be too strong considering i don’t officially have the skill.” he said.
I nod understanding that it will take a while before the heavy hitter drinks appear but it’s a matter of a few short weeks.
I separate from them letting them go search for a missions they can accomplish with their current strength and equipment while i head to the hangar to talk with Gunner about getting the shuttle’s hull completely outfitted to make sure there is no hidden holes that would leak.
Entering the nearest elevator I go down and quickly find Gunner.
“Ah! So you and your old man made a crew and now you got the money for a new hull. Good good. The shuttle will need to be towed into the military hangar since that one is equipped for this, I’ll get in contact with the correct people for this, go to the hangar and wait there while i get the husk.” Gunner said and walked away.
I cross the bridge between hangars and wait inside the large military hangar that had many ships but there were plenty of empty areas.
After some twenty minutes i saw a ship enter the station through the energy shield and being towed behind it was the shuttle.
It was guided as close as possible to an empty field where Gunner shouted for some mechanics to help pull the ship down until it was 1 and a half meters above the field since there weren’t any way to extend the landing gears.
I walked over and jumped aboard finding Gunner with another dwarf.
As they see me Gunner calls me over.
“This here is the boy and owner of the ship.” He says. “Noah, this is Vincent and he is the shipwright here and in charge of most repairs or upgrades for ship's.” Gunner introduced.
“Hi” I said with a nod.
“Kid of few words, huh?” He says.
“Nah, just don’t know what to say really. Anyway will I be able to learn how to rebuild the ship while you repair it?” I asked.
“Aye, as a mechanic I can give you some pointers and show you how the hull is built. First off, hull replacing is 5K.” he said and gestured to hand over the money.
I sigh and pull out the five thousand and hand it over. He takes a moment to count the bills before nodding.
“Good…” he says and walks to the edge where the hole was.
“BOYS!! HULL REPAIR!” He shouted.
At once the men started to get to work.
“Come boy let me show you what is done.” He says and letting Gunner return to his work i follow Vincent as he shows me how to remove hull plates and how they are put on. He hands me over a schematics of the Hull set up of the ship.
“Seems the Airlock is gone as well. If you have 700 credits i can have a new air lock installed while we are at it.” He asked me.
I look at the ship that was being left as a skeleton.
“Sure, i can at least keep what air it has inside it now.” I comment and hand the money over and Vincent calls some men to install an airlock before the hull went in.
I was handed a schematics of the air lock.
“These schematics are for you to repair it yourself. Though it takes away from our work it lets us build more weapons to protect the station instead of repair a damaged ship.” He said.
I smiled wryly at him hearing him say that.
“How many times have you completely repaired a husk of a ship?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Hmm… the mining crew ships and one man mining ships are some ships we take the husks from the scrapyard that are stripped clean and stay there until we need them. At the moment with the influx of workers we have been remaking the ships in quite a large number. Getting us a good profit and will probably continue as more and more workers appear.” He said with a grin.
Since i wasn’t going to learn anything just watching i went and helped replace the hull.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
When it was said and done i got two skills
Ship buildingRarity1Level 1A shipwright's main mastery skill. Encases all his knowledge on the subject of building a ship no matter what part as long as it is during the construction of a ship.
0.5% increase to speed and quality when building a ship.
Stacks on other shipwright skills.
Ship RepairRarity1.5Level 1A skill used by Mechanics and Shipwrights used to repair damage sustained on a space vessel
Improves quality and speed of repairs by 1%
Eventually the repairs were done and the color of the ship was back to being a white and black like those space shuttles in real life that NASA sends up, just bigger.
Oh right since the ship had empty window spots i paid 300 credits to add space worthy windows already since i want to have the ship isolated with air so that i can work on the inside.
With the windows added i wouldn’t need to worry of the air leaking.
“Alright, ship hull is back in shape, airlock and windows were added. All done on this one then.” Vincent said.
“Speaking seriously which is the best piece of equipment to get?” I asked.
“For this ship? Generator, maybe an ion generator should be enough to run your ship’s electricity and you can get the life support functioning at least. From there you can add other missing parts and continue. Besides that though i would say rebuild the cockpit.
Generator would probably be around 290 to 320K credits depending the model." He said.
My blood went cold hearing what he said.
"That's... almost 40% of the estimated rebuild price." I said.
"Aye, the generator and engine are pretty much the life and blood of a spaceship. When you get the thrusters it won't just be the front one it will be several dozen throughout the ship. The price to get them all working is high." He said.
I nod and shake a bit as i tell Lia to make a note of all the things we repaired and the price next to it since i would want to know the end price.
In the end of it she just made a small note and was done with it.
Hull - 5000
Airlock - 700
Window - 300
Life support - 0
The ship was towed back out and was returned to the same docks as before. I thanked the men for their help and headed off to go train from where i left off.
Roktar PoV
Our small group split off from Noah and went towards the bounty board. Well less of a board and more of an office that contained the requests.
All missions had to be registered to a person, team or crew.
We went over to one a more empty section and found crew missions.
Crew missions were like guild quests. Team missions would equal party quests in some manner.
Only difference is the difficulty. Crew quests are normally much harder and more important missions.
On a hologram board we could look through the missions available and ask more information at the desk responsible for this section of missions.
We looked for a bit before we found one that didn't look impossible for us at the moment.
Mission: Kelha TerraformingDifficulty3Kelha II terraforming project has reached a stage where we can proceed with large scale planet changes. After extensive terrestrial scans we have discovered the layout of the tectonic plates and found several dozen dormant volcanoes of reasonable size that will allow us to release enough heavy gas into the atmosphere to make it thicker by a few notches.
Request an escort to pilot and guard research and bombing crews while we locate and set up bombs to activate the largest volcano found that is far from mining camps.
Reward: 5000 credit to crew
Objective: escort and protect bomb men into caves around the volcanos and set up the explosives. "Warning: native monsters present"
Success: All bombs are placed and detonated, crew is safe.
Failure: Team is killed.
"This mission seems possible." Alex said after we looked it over.
"I agree, the ship is also provided so we don't have to worry about that." Jessica said.
"What we do have to worry about is how to fight the native monsters." I said.
"True, i can't get repairs without Noah so it would be bad." Hilda said.
"I can do basic repairs and rebuild parts as long as you give me enough time to make enough." Lisa replied.
She explained she was part of the mechanics skill set and had basic understanding of mechanics. Not nearly as much as Noah who spent his full time as one.
"Doesn't seem to have a time limit but let’s accept it and see if we can't set it for a few hours for us to get ready." I tell them.
They all nod and agree. He head to the counter and sign up for that mission.
"In how many hours or days can the whole crew join for this mission as there is no set time limit." The miss at the reception asked.
After a bit of talk we all decide in 6 hours.
We would all logout get our needs out of the way and the return quickly to do remaining preparation and get repairs of anything needed.
Since we had a ticking clock to do what was needed we headed to the rooms we were given.
I check on the two drinks and seeing they were progressing i estimate at least a day before they were drinkable.
I lay down and logout. Not wasting time i go to the bathroom and do my business and then go eat.
I then hop into the net and did a quick surf of the game's method of terraforming and what percentage Kelha II was at.
I found that it followed a specific line.
Cause volcanic eruptions, mainly the largest volcanoes to release gases for a longer period of time and create a chance for a chain reaction with any nearby volcanoes.
Planet will slowly build an atmosphere on frozen/desert planets and unfreeze the ground water. Part two involves finding reservoirs and puncturing them to release the water once it has melted. Release of water will eventually evaporate and hopefully form clouds and rain forming lakes in areas that is possible. Can also erode the ground and weaken the rocks making it easier for natural springs to appear and flow eventually forming streams, rivers, lakes and then finally an ocean.
Once the planet reaches this stage biologists and terraforming specialists arrive, bringing vegetation samples and microorganisms which is released into the oceans followed by several chemical agents that would cause the proliferation and population boom of these microbes.
The next stage begins after these microorganisms are found spread around the globe. A special shipment will come bringing a unique chemical which induces evolution in living beings. This is released into the oceans main sea currents so that it spreads far.
This stage of terraforming goes on for several years as microorganisms evolve and become aquatic animals and amphibian. Once the planet is like this oth...
I close the window at this point because the page continues down further. It seems the estimated time for terraforming is from 20-40 earth years.
It clearly states, "evolution isn't something that takes billions of years, the world can change instantly if tampered with."
I return to the game since i had nothing left to do.
The time took outside left me with 5 hours so i went to find Noah and see about repairing my Laser Axe and Energy Shield.
When i found him he was moving the right arm of the robot he was on.
"So you are progressing?!" I said with a grin.
"Hi dad, a bit, still need 3 more gates in this hand and i will be done." Noah says.
"Good, mind helping me by doing a check up on my weapons?" I asked.
He nods and says the command to release him.
He leads me to a place where there were lots of extra parts. He takes the axe and shield and opens them up and does a basic check replacing a few parts and then fixing a dent on the shield. The parts he changed made him have to rewrite the weapons codes but that was quick and he was done.
"Thanks, so how were the ship repairs?" I asked.
"Went well, i had windows and airlock added as well and it was only 1000 credits for both. Now the ship is holding air in space." He replies.
"Oh, nice, may be a good place to store my drinks while they age." I commented.
"I would wait until we get enough money to get an engine and generator." He says.
"How much are they?" I asked but i instantly regretted doing so.
"Around 40% of the repair cost, each. The 20% will be for all the rest of the system repairs and parts but engine and generator are nearly 320k credits." He said.
I had no idea we were that fucked. With the money conversion at the moment being 10 dollars for 1 credit it would cause us $3,200,000.
Though i received a lot of money as a pro gamer, there is a limit. My current capital doesn't surpass 2 million and i invested in bovine production in Brasil and own a huge farm for that but even then my capital isn’t so huge as to be able to afford either one. With all that said and done, after completing this ship, it would cost over twice my real life capital.
Maybe already knowing what i was thinking Noah says,
"We don't have to rush. Besides a billionaire no one can truly purchase a ship on their own. A mining ship maybe but not a ship."
"Yeah, it will be some years before anyone gets their hands on anything large, even us." I tell him.
What i meant by this is how ships are categorizes.
One man ships - mining ship, fighter ships.
Shuttle
Small ship - ship ranges from 100 to 250 meters long and 30-50 meters wide with 3-8 floors.
Medium ship - ships ranging from 250 meters to 3 kilometers long and 50 - 400 meters wide and has from 8-40 floors including floors specific only for cargo and personal hangars.
Large ships - capital sized ship normally star cruisers that are several kilometers in any shape or size. Impossible for it to enter orbit due to size and mass and is completely a space only ship. Some are even larger than space stations and work as inter-system stop points due to size and having city inside.
It goes without saying that any player crew would get as far as a small medium sized ship. Should anyone get a large ship it would be like owning a kingdom in space. The influence of the man at the wheel is huge or he is a powerful merchant.
Since i didn't have anything else to do and had time i went and started brewing a wine drink aimed at elven drinkers. The refined taste i want to achieve is to entice their appetite.
When i was finally finished i had 3 one gallon wood barrels filled with a grapefruit found on a jungle planet in a nearby system.
Its got a unique taste unlike the earth grapes and the name of this grape is Sindew Grape. When i had finished processing it the Sindew drink had a sort of cherry and apple like taste. Very strange yet delicious. I close the barrels and put them under the glass containers holding the beers i made.
Since i had 2 hours left i cleaned the brewery leaving it sparkling before i left and met everyone inside the military hangar in front of a large shuttle which was bigger than our own and armed.
The color was dark brown and had a rock like pattern draw on it making me feel that it would easily camouflage on Kelha II as it is now.
Provisions and ammo was being loaded with the bombs into the cargo.
I went over to the human soldier i recognize as Major Snocon.
"Sir!" I called making him and a few others look at me.
"Ah, You are... Roktar, the giant dwarf and captain of the crew doing the escort?" He asked.
"Yes, sir!" I said.
"Alright, well the time you all set will expire in an hour so be ready to leave. Since it's your own time don't be late." He said and i nodded.
I watch as he walks off and rolled my eye. He was rather self important. Wonder how he reacts to Colonel?
Shrugging my shoulders i turn to the men he was talking to.
"I presume you all are the men that will be setting the bombs?" I asked.
"Yes, we will lead the bombing but we aren't fighters. The locations each bomb will be set in is in caves we dug ourselves for scanning underground through explosion." He said.
"Isn't it rather primitive to do that when we have so much tech?" I asked.
"It covers more distance when scanning an explosions vibrations. Anyway, the bombs this time are much stronger and meant to cause high levels of destruction. Before detonating we need to be at least 30 kilometers away so that neither the bomb or the volcano will injure us" he said.
"What the hell kind of bomb you detonating? A nuke?" I asked.
"No, a small fusion bombs or... three to be exact." He replied.
"Three... three helium bombs... fuck that will disintegrate the volcano before it blows it up." I said.
"No, as i said, they are small versions. If a full sized helium bomb is around 4 meters long this one doesn’t pass 50 cm. The material for explosion is much smaller." He replied.
I sigh, scientists, always the hardest bunch to work with.
"For mine and my crew's safety, i will only permit detonation after 50 km away." I said.
"Fine." The leading man said.
With that they went inside and i waiting until all of my crew arrived before we entered the ship and getting into the two man cockpit with Alex the ship comes to life and we leave the station on course to Kelha II's largest volcano to blow up 3 small fusion bombs.