Author's corner: Had some trouble due to lack of motivation and busy week, also ended up smaller then most chapters but it covers more or less what i wanted, sorry for those who wanted an epic fight of the team destroying the monsters, its a no go in this chapter.
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You have unlocked all Psionic Tech gates. You have gained 5 Mentality and Willpower
I sigh as I finally finish unlocking the arm of the robot. I spent a few hours after waking up to unlock the other gates that remained from those I couldn’t unlock yesterday.
At the moment I am pushing my psi into the arm and circulating it in the arm so that I can get a feel for this.
After a bit I try to close my hand as I do so the action is transferred to the hand and the robot hand closes slowly.
Seems that the robot is working properly. Since its “equipped” to you at the moment I could do a quick scan of it, and it showed that there isn’t anything wrong. Just don’t forget to oil the joints every so often.
“Really, that's a bit of a relief, didn’t want to go through the dismantling and rebuilding again. Lets get to the second arm.” I said and turn to the second arm skeleton.
I start off attaching the psionic nerves, they were really strange materials to work with. It felt like rubber and was extremely elastic and was impossible to break by stretching. It reaches a point you can’t pull anymore but you can’t pull more even with machines. The links in the material that makes up Psionic nerves is probably the strongest in the universe as Colonel says.
For the next hours I spend my time making all the parts for the second arm and building it before I attach them all and begin to open the gates. This time went faster and I could open them all before needing to go to sleep and since it was already time for lunch in real life I leave and walk downstairs and find dad already there.
“So, how is the volcanic explosions?” I asked.
My dad hears me and looks up with a hint of irritation.
“Poorly!” He said.
“Whats wrong?” I asked.
“We didn’t expect to find so many native monsters in the cave. We are only 5 combatants with only 2 that are close combat and a sniper. Lisa isn’t a DPS even when she stops using barriers and uses her Psi to push and grab the monsters. We were pushed back into the ship and we needed to retreat to the nearest mining camp to restock and repair.” He said irritated.
“What about Jessica’s railgun?” I asked. That should have caused a huge amount of damage.
“We had her shoot into the cave to try and kill as many as we could with the bullet but that enraged them and they flooded out all at once like a swarm of ants.” He replied making me cringe. This wasn’t a good start, to fail a large mission like this. I didn’t expect a quest that was ranked 2 in difficulty to be so hard really.
I go and get some food before sitting.
“I just finished my second robot arm and unlocked it. Going to do the legs which are simpler than the arms. I think maybe 3 at max 5 days until the robot body is made and since I need to make some psi containers I need and to fill them it would take at least 7 days before I can join you all if I focus solely on it.” I said.
“Do you plan for any weapons?” Dad asked.
“Nah, I have the inner psi manipulation which I can use on the robot. If I use that on them I can boost their defense and power. I plan to make only a drill for me to do space mining and a few extra psi containers so I can work with the robot longer.” I said.
“Good, after we clear this mission you should really start physical training, you’ve been only focusing on mental ones because of your current job in the station by constantly working with psi.” Dad said.
I nod, I really wanted to go do exercise but there is no time with all the work and training I am going through.
As I was eating and thinking deeply at how I would start my training dad chuckled.
“Hey son, have you see the video of how death is explained in “The Nebula”?” dad asked with a grin.
“No why?” I asked.
His grin grew even larger as he went to our pc and began to type and then found a video.
Still eating, my dad connects the pc to the TV and turns it into the computer's monitor. The screen turned and showed a page on Youtube. He goes and clicks play and puts fullscreen.
The video starts with that starting effect of star wars where the words come from below and go up.
[Beware! What you will watch must be done while you aren’t eating or drinking for the dangers of spilling, spitting or choking.]
Were the words that came up.
The screen turned to show the shooting range on a station. There was one guy holding the handle for possibly a laser sword. I could more or less see where this was going.
”Alright guys! Let it rip!” They guy shouted. He was an elf after he put a rag that took the place of a cloak and used his psi to levitate.
“Come, puny jedi! He said and my jaw dropped at this guy's stupidity.
The view moved back and it showed three other guys with laser pistols at 150 meters away.
The person that made the video moved back to catch everything.
The one that was floating activated the sword and held it like some sith or jedi or whatever. Never really watched those movies.
The first guy shot his laser pistol and the “target” swung his sword but before he even got halfway through the swing the laser had already pierced his shoulder.
”ARG! FUCK!” The injured guy shouted and slowly started to get up.
”You alright?” One of the other shouted.
”Of course i’m not fucking alright! I got shot in the fucking arm!”” He shouted as he put pressure on the wound.
”Want to continue.” the camera guy asked.
”Yeah, this won’t kill me if we handle it quickly but I want to do something else.” the injured idiot said.
The others nodded.
One of them lifted the gun and the injured guy lifted his injured arm and I was guessing he was going to try and divert the energy with Psi.
As expected though that failed miserably. Well not entirely, the shot was sent towards his chest but it was diverted up and hit his face making him die.
From there the video showed the guy being taking by medics and how the shooter was actually put in jail for doing a killing shot and PKing the guy.
Then the video changed to the perspective of the guy that died. His eyes opened and he found himself in a cold cube room that was closed. After banging on the door it finally opened and he pulled his bed out and stood up completely healed of injures but his gear was gone and he was butt naked.
Suddenly the medics in charge of the morgue entered and saw him and the next moment the medic fainted.
Fast forward a bit, they get some new armor for the newbie before taking him for tests and I mean a LOT of tests.
The results came up rather shocking and fascinating as well.
“Amazing! We discovered a virus, no something more it’s not a simple as a virus.” The doctor exclaimed.
”Come on, what's going on?” The player asked.
”There is an unknown microorganism all over your body that stays inactive in your body until you “die” so to speak. It seems once you “die” they come to life and begin to heal your body to top condition… no maybe a bit weaker than original condition.” the doctor said.
”Oh, cool, that means I can’t really die.” the player said and shrugged.
”We really need to study this to find its other effects but I think the primary one is this one.” the doctor said but then he muttered something. “Hmm, I wonder if this is what Colonel was asking about with the skills of the foreigners.
My brow twitches hearing his comment. This is going to help a lot a when I need to explain why my skills from other games, that I trained in real life, don't appear.
The screen then changed to show what the player saw after he died.
You have died!
You are locked out of the game for 24 real life hours.
Since you are only level 1 you do not lose a level but as compensation you have lost 10 stat points at random and some skill proficiency from all your skills.
Normal Death Penalty: 1 Level, The last 5 stat points assigned, 5% from current level of skill proficiency from 3 random skills, possible lose of all gear.
If cloning technology is used to bring you back from a location that will only cause repeated death, 5 levels lost 25 stat points removed at random, all gear is lost and 1 level from 5 random skills is lost.
My jaws dropped after seeing the death penalty. The first one isn't so bad since that is the common death penalty but the cloning rebirth was shocking. It clearly made you not want to die in a destroyed ship or lost in space.
I wonder what would happen if our bodies blow up. Will the microorganisms rebuild it from scratch or will it piece us together. Would be a scary sight for sure.
The video ended there leaving me in a daze but I snapped out of it when dad started to laugh.
"Boy oh boy, Malcolm sure outdid himself with this one! He sure was creative that is for sure!" Dad said laughing.
"I was wondering why he just doesn't make us randomly appear at a spawn point?" I asked.
"Your forgetting the setting we are playing in. The game doesn't have magic. Psi isn't mana, though it can do similar things its not mana. If I had to say Psi is more rigid than mana and magic. Things like instant spawning was probably set as impossible but in a sci-fi world I virus or bacteria that possibly absorbs Psi and revives and rebuilds a dead body it inhabits is much more believable, wouldn't you say so as well?" He asked.
After a moment of considering what dad said it did make sense. If this was a magic sci-fi world then I would say no but it isn't so it makes sense what my dad said.
It was then that something hit me.
"I wonder how androids will go about this?" I said.
"Hm, if I'm not wrong they are simply uploaded into a new robot. They can retrieve their body but they have a huge disadvantage since the parts they will have won't have any of their upgrades." Dad said.
"So it's pretty much always cloning option for them?" I asked.
"Nope, I think if the body is repaired they would only lose a level or maybe not even that since the repairs would probably be done by repairing or remaking all their parts so it can be either." He replied.
Made some sense but I bet the level will still be lost but the stats wouldn’t if you repair the body completely but then the system can still cause them to become worse.
“So your plans are for at least 7 days to finish the robot right?” Dad suddenly asked.
“That's to build the robot plus the drill I plan to use in mining and the extra psi containers but then I also have the charging period so minimum 7 days if I can get a few elves to fill my suit up if not more.” I say.
Dad sighs hearing my response.
“Guess we will have to work slow and steady with hit and run slowly whittling them down.” Dad said.
“No bombs or grenades?” I asked.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Nah, no money remember.” He said and I nod. “Speaking of that the ship how is it?” He asked.
“I fixed the hull and also added windows and airlocks. They were cheaper than expected.” I reply.
“Good, well I need to go restock the fridge, want to come or will your return to the game?” He asked.
I looked at the clock and saw only 20 minutes passed.
“I’ll wait a bit before returning. I’m currently asleep and it’s “night” time so I need to wait a bit so that I can rest well ingame.” I replied.
“Ah, is that so, why not check up on some information on the game. If not then go for a walk to refresh your mind. Staying so long inside isn’t always the best thing.” Dad replied.
“Like you always say, the first month of game play is crucial for making a good foundation for your character and play style and lifestyle in game.” I said.
“Yeah but don’t let it dominate your life, a month of our life here is 4 inside the game.” He said.
What he said is true, its been 2 days since The Nebula was released and I barely keep to the proper eating schedule and log out.
“I guess I can take a walk then, it will help me stretch my legs at least.” I said.
“Good, now I’m off to the supermarket to get some things that we are low on.” Dad said and picked up some car keys and got up leaving for the door and with a wave he leaves.
A moment later the engine of our car came to life and grew distant as he drove away.
I sigh and pick up the dishes and wash them before I go to my room and put some comfortable clothes, shorts and short sleeves shoes with simple sandals, and leave the house after locking up.
I stretch as I feel the sun’s heat hit me from above.
Two days feels like a long time for a pro gamer. Me and dad are really well off compared to some of the poorer newbie dark gamers. Can’t blame us, it’s been in our life since a long time. School was done in VR, everything except PE, most sports shows and games as well and all that.
Feeling the sun I felt a bit calmer since it was still spring so it was cool outside and the sun gave a nice feeling with the cool breeze that was passing.
The Nebula being the first big scale sci-fi game that allowed space travel it caused me to form a kind of feeling of nostalgia when I feel how it is to be on the planetside after so many days without a clear day and night cycle.
I go into a jog going towards a nearby park. It was a rather large park with a small lake and a good bit of trees making a nice natural feel and since it was spring the trees were all colored differently from the numerous flowers.
The feel this place gave was much better than the park in the station. The main difference is the feeling of being in nature instead of being inside a massive space station’s park that doesn’t even have much of a breeze.
Walking around I suddenly feel my phone buz as I get a message.
Yo! Lia here! Sending you a message through the contacts option on the capsule to let you know that I did some research since you hooked up the net for me in game and I found some slightly more advanced parts and blueprints for your robot. When you return I will show you.
Also, seems the guys down on the planet are in a pickle so we should hurry the construction up and go aid them.
Cya!
I read the message and reply back.
Don’t go looking for anything too advanced that we don’t have the components to make or that would make the robot unbalanced and non functional.
Send…
Waiting a moment a new reply came.
Nah, I already know that you can’t make the really good stuff, still I already scanned all the components so I know what you can and can’t make and I’ve been searching for the best stuff that can be made quickly to make the performance of your robot the top of the batch without making the model so good that it makes it impossible for your to open the Psionic gates.
Well at least she is considerate. Like she said, the more complex and high leveled a Psionic tech is the harder it is to open the gates.
If it’s like that then it’s fine.
I put the phone away and simply went do whatever for the next hour before returning to the game.
Even before entering the game Lia appeared showing me models of what she discovered. 95% of the things were dropped because, though it's only a tad bit better than the current models I'm using, they were from the next best model after the current one I'm making. This makes the difficulty of opening the gates beyond what I'm capable of.
The 5% was the only thing that didn't contribute to the difficulty and that was the Psi containers. I finally got to see what they were. Psi containers is a complex system of Psionic Nerves that are inside a small cylindrical or spherical container that is Psi proof and won't leak unless it's through the nerves exiting into the body.
Just so you know, all the parts of Dwarven fighter robots are all metals made with a trace amount of the material that makes Psionic nerves. This makes it possible to do reinforcements and keeps the psi from leaking.
In short, these parts are expensive as hell to obtain so most freelance dwarf fighters normally do large missions to fund their robots maintenance.
Such a good weapon yet the balance that keeps it from becoming a cheat for it is an ass.
After having the plans for the larger better containers marked down I log in so I can get busy.
***
Down on Kelha II, seven long days have passed and with each day our crew would go to the first cave and battle it out with the native monsters whittling down the numbers but it doesn't do as much as they would want due to rapid breeding.
The native monsters grow by eating the stone around them so with breeding it also leads to the caves they inhabit becoming complex as they eat while they grow large in number.
After all this time the crew returns sullen once more after fighting.
Hilda showed quite a bit of damage and was getting basic repairs to keep her main systems running, Roktar was fine but that was after getting healed while Lisa was covered in sweat from using so much Psi to aid in the fight, not only in healing.
As they land back in the closest camp the terraformers were annoyed.
"Damn it! If only we hired a better crew!" Cursed one of the men as he walked off the ship.
That was the leading terraformer who was losing his patience. Obviously there was no time limit for this mission but seeing the crew in such a sorry state it showed that hiring another crew was probably needed if this one couldn't do the job.
Roktar, who was getting off the ship with a sigh, was followed by the others.
"We are sorry about the boss's temper, we aren't really rushed for time, it's just that he prefers his job done quickly and he doesn't really mind what happens to those he hires." Said one of the terraformer workers.
"Nah, it's fine, we probably bit off more than we could chew. At least today we get a bit of reinforcement. My son is finally coming down and he would be a bit help." Roktar said.
"Really? One man?" The terraformer asked skeptical.
"He is a mechanic and a newly trained dwarf fighter. I saw what an experienced one can do so I'm rather excited to see how good my son is." Roktar said excited.
The men actually formed a light smile hearing Noah's skill set.
They all split up after that. Roktar told the others to repair what they can while he goes to the shuttle landing where we would meet.
Dad sits on the side and waited. After an hour the shuttle finally arrived.
The shuttle was a cargo shuttle. This model was made to move more planetside but regularly brought down machines.
It was 100 meters long, 30 meters high and 80 wide. It looked like a freight ship.
On the side the cargo opened up and the mining camp workers go in and begin to pull out large machines.
After some 20 minutes I finally came out.
With slow heavy steps the 3 and a half meter tall robot stepped out.
The chest was wide, which is where I was inside, also held most of the more important gear like psi containers, main computer module, and life support module which lets me attach air tanks to breathe in a vacuum.
Under both arms were two large boxes I was carrying with some difficulty.
As I reach a good distance away from the ship I put down the boxes and return to the ship and come back with two more boxes.
Dad was already waiting next to the boxes when I returned.
"You look good?" He said with a grin.
I put down the boxes and look towards him. The chest popped out with the sound of pressurized air and showed me inside.
"I may look it but the feeling isn't that good though. That said, you look like shit." I replied back.
"Aye, we keep getting our asses handed to us, how do you expect us to feel." Dad replied.
"Point taken, help me take these boxes back to your borrowed ship. They are mostly for repair. There are a few more boxes on the ship, I'll unload for now then we can take them." I tell him and close the robot and head off slowly to unload.
The reason I am moving slowly is because I'm not used to driving this thing. It’s difficult, extremely difficult. Besides closing my hands, the rest of the body I need to control with Psi, this is a real workout for my inner psi manipulation.
There is 8 boxes in total, 5 are parts for my robots repairs while the rest is for repairs for weapons and the androids.
When I was done unloading I found Lisa already there.
"So you got a combat worthy model, looks strong." She said while giving a one over.
"Yeah, that said I didn't make weapons for it, for now I only extended my piloting time." I said.
"What does that mean?" She asked.
"Instead of making a weapon, I made an extra psi container so currently the robot can hold a max of 15,000 psi inside the three psi containers. It’s used as fuel and it uses 100 psi per hour." I said. It’s rather inefficient at the moment but at least for normal use I will have over 6 days but if I fight then I think this drops to over a day without weapons. That’s the main reason I went with an extra container instead of a weapon. I can use my reinforcement skills for now.
"So it works like that huh?" He muttered.
"Let’s get this stuff moving." I said as I grab hold of two boxes.
Dad stalks two of them and lifts it by himself showing his high level of strength.
Finally Lisa waved her hand making the remaining boxes levitate a short distance off the ground.
From there we return to the shuttle.
After we stored the boxes in the cargo I leave the robot there as well. I had no use for it at the moment so I sit it down and leave it on standby and begin to do serious repairs on the girls. Jessica's shoulder was broken and Hilda, damn her body was trashed. I had to rebuild her and even fix some plates on her body.
After them was the gear, the railguns were damaged but I learned from gunner how to do repairs. Most of the armor my dad used needed repairs as well as his weapon.
The gloomy feeling that covered the crew turned more cheerful after I arrived. Kind of amazing how much a mechanic is important in this setting.
With all this done with I had all but repaired everything including the confidence of my crew. Starting tomorrow I'll be tanking for them so I should do finally preparations.
My first fight in a while, can’t wait!