With the immediate threat out of the way, I settled down to contact Linnea. It was the first time in a few days that I’d been able to contact the outside world, and I had a few worried messages from her.
Wincing at that, I responded that I was OK and had just been out of communications range. I was still getting used to having someone care about me; I would have to put more thought into keeping her in the loop so this didn’t happen again.
I only had to wait a minute before my watch rang with an incoming call request. Realizing how much I had missed talking to her, I accepted Linnea’s call.
“Jared!” she started, her voice almost at a shout. “Where have you been? All my messages and calls came back saying you were unreachable. I don’t think that even happens when you're logged out.”
“Sorry Linnea,” I responded with another wince. “I was down in a cave, deep enough that I think the connection was cut. I didn’t think about how that would affect you and I apologize for that.”
“Oh,” she said, her voice softening a little. “Just, please don’t do it again, then. I worry about you Jared and,” she paused again as if not sure what to say. “Since it was just after our talk, I was worried you’d changed your mind.”
Fuck, I hadn’t even thought of that, I cursed internally. She must have been thinking that I’d quit VSO or blocked her number, or something like that. Rushing to correct her, I said, “I didn’t think Linnea, sorry again. I’m not really used to having people care about me, you know.”
“It had nothing to do with what you told me, and I’ll try to let you know in advance if anything like that happens again,” I finished, trying to convey my emotions over the call.
“OK,” she responded, sounding a little better. “Let's just put it behind us then. Elana got the gunboat up to about eighty percent fixed with the resources you got her. Apparently, that’s good enough to fly and I’ve got my license now. Where should I meet you?”
“Great work, both of you,” I responded, happy to have some good news. “I’m up in the mountains right now so we might have to meet up at the base,” I started before a thought suddenly hit me.
“Actually,” I continued as I stared at the wyvern corpse in front of me. “Is the gunboat powerful enough to risk a trip up here? I have the corpse of a particularly impressive beast just lying around and it would be nice to bring one back, for once.”
“Hang on, I’ll check,” she responded, her voice perking up. The line went silent for a couple of minutes before she started speaking again. “It looks like military VTOLs are cleared to fly part way up into the mountains if needed.”
“The biggest flying beasts stick to the peaks, so as long as you steer clear of those, it’s not too dangerous. From what Elana told me, the gunboat is a little better than most of those VTOLs, even in its current state. So basically, yes, I should be OK to come up.”
“Nice,” I responded, getting excited. “You might need some kind of external cargo system, though. It’s pretty big and even if it could fit in the back, I doubt we’re strong enough to get it in there.”
“Right,” she responded, back to her professional self. “I should be able to get a cargo lift or something like that. There’s plenty of deliveries here every day, so they should have that kind of gear around.”
“Thanks, Linnea,” I said, glad that she sounded better. “I’ll send you the coordinates and wait here for a pickup.” She agreed, and I forwarded the details before settling in to wait.
Since we were taking the entire corpse back, I didn’t have to dig around in it for the core, which was a welcome relief. Hopefully, it ends up being worth it, I mused as I stared at the body.
The combat report after the fight had identified it as a Grand Wyvern, a whole two categories above the little ones I’d fought on the first day. Like the other Grand beasts I had fought, it had seemed extremely strong, though hampered by its injuries.
I do not want to meet whatever could damage it like that, I thought with a shake of my head. Unfortunately, I knew I might have little choice in the matter. I couldn’t imagine the wyvern having traveled too far in its condition, so whatever caused the damage was likely nearby.
Still, the nebulous threat wasn’t enough to make me give up on making a village here. Not only was there a strong, wild rift down in the caves, but the rich mineral resources inside were exactly what I needed.
So I’ll probably have to track it down and kill the damn thing even if it doesn’t bother us, I concluded with a resigned sigh. It just wouldn’t be safe to set up a village here otherwise.
That brought me back to my earlier idea of getting better gear. While my Psi Pistol, Nano-weave armor, and Psi blade had served me well, it might be time to try for an upgrade.
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In particular, I needed something tougher to wear given the tank role that I usually fell into. The first thing that came to mind for that was the heavy armor that the palace guard wore. I’d seen the Duchess wearing a set when she came out as well, so I knew nobles could acquire them.
It would just come down to whether I was important enough to warrant that kind of treatment. Luckily, there was still a stack of gear somewhere in the palace waiting for me to sort through, so I might be able to make a trade there. Even if I had to throw a bit of extra money in, it would probably be worth it.
That left the question of whether I should get better weapons, as well. The problem there was that I only had the light blades and pistol skills, and I might not be getting any new ones in the near future.
While I could use my skill upgrade points to change which skills I had, I was currently saving all the ones I had to get another class skill to use with Enhance Cognition.
Though, do I actually need the skill? It’s not like I’m restricted on what weapons I can use, it’s not really a game after all. The extra damage the skills give is nice, but if I’m getting a gun that does twice the damage, I’d still be better off.
I could always get the skill later if I liked the weapon as well, it wasn’t like I was locked in forever. OK then, I decided with a firm nod. I’ll see if I can get something more powerful as well, though I’d prefer it to still be Psi powered if possible. The convenience of not needing ammo is just too good.
With that in mind, I sent a message off to the palace to organize a time for me to go over the loot from the last two facilities. While I’d forgone ownership over the first set, the Duchess had said I could still buy things back from it. I already intended to buy any robots for Elana, but I could also look for any interesting gear.
The second set was entirely mine, though I would have to sell any of it I didn’t directly need. That would get me some extra funds to add to my already considerable savings. I had enough now that I could probably afford to spend quite a bit on better equipment.
After the first message, I sent a second asking if it was possible to purchase equipment from the palace armory. While I could visit a weapons shop as I had for my first pistol, I doubted that any would carry psionic gear.
In fact, I was pretty sure that it was actually illegal to do so, as any gear that an explorer didn’t personally use had to be sold to the palace. A quick check showed me that I was correct, and also that any gear you no longer wanted later could only be sold to them as well.
No second-hand market then, I mused with a nod. Or at least no legal one. Given that they must have a way to purchase equipment, particularly for nobles or other affiliated people.
I didn’t have to wait too long after that before the gunboat arrived with a soft roar. It settled down smoothly nearby, looking much better than the last time I’d seen it. All the externally damaged panels had been replaced, giving it an almost new look.
Moments later Linnea stepped out, followed by four burly-looking men. “Jared!” she shouted excitedly, before pausing. She looked torn between staying professional and running over, which just left her standing there awkwardly.
Deciding that I didn’t care what the other people thought, I opened my arms for a hug. Her face morphed into a grin before she ran over and snuggled in with a relieved sigh.
“I’m glad you're OK,” she whispered into my chest.
“I’ve missed you,” I responded with a smile, before continuing. “Who’d you bring with you?”
“They're a group of loaders,” she responded before pulling away. “When I started asking about a cargo lift, they volunteered to come help. Your speech seems to have worked, everyone back at the town is throwing themselves into improving it.”
“Nice!” I said, before turning to look at the men. “The beast’s corpse is over there, do you think we can get it loaded up?”
The apparent leader of the group walked over in the direction I’d indicated, before visibly recoiling at the sight. I could hear him cursing under his breath, and it took nearly a minute before he gathered himself back together.
“Ah,” he started, sounding unsure. “Did your men go on ahead, sir? I’m just surprised they didn’t deal with this for you.”
“Hmm?” I responded, confused. “No, it’s just me out here, that’s why I asked Linnea to grab something to lift it.”
The man stared at me, looking dumbfounded, before shaking his head and walking over to the beast. I could just hear him mutter, “Just him he says, how is that even possible?” As he went.
Linnea laughed from where she was still nestled into my side. “That’s certainly not going to hurt your rep. How did you even kill that thing, anyway? It looks terrifying.”
Shaking my head with a laugh, I explained how the wyvern had been injured, allowing me to outmaneuver it before taking it down. The loaders were clearly listening in as they secured the corpse, and strangely, the story didn’t seem to reduce their opinion of me at all.
If anything, they seemed even more impressed after they heard I’d killed the beast to make the area safe for habitation.
“It shows you care,” Linnea whispered to me after seeing my confused look. “If anything, that’s even more impressive to them than killing it at full strength. Outsmarting it also makes you seem a little more human and shows that you know how to plan under pressure.”
“Ah,” I responded. “I guess that makes sense.” It felt a little awkward having what I now knew where real people look up to me like that. After a while, however, I got used to it, even coming to like the feeling.
After about half an hour of work, the wyvern was securely attached, and we returned to the gunboat. Even the inside had been cleaned and reworked, with new seats replacing the old, tattered ones.
“Elana does good work,” I said with an approving nod as I settled into the co-pilot seat. “I’m looking forward to seeing what she does with the frigate.”
“Yep, that’s sis,” Linnea responded with a laugh, “She’s a perfectionist. It was a right pain getting this from her before it met her standards.”
“What’s still broken?” I asked curiously as we took off and made a loop back toward the town.
Linnea shrugged next to me before speaking. “The shields and the missile launchers mostly, though there are a few bits and pieces. Most of the guns work, though.”
My response was delayed as a god-awful screech sounded from the hull above our heads.
“Uh-oh,” Linnea said, looking worried. “And here I was thinking we’d made it out without a fight.”