Chapter 66

Menseio Station, orbiting Veria
Jonuth Kidravia’s Ship - Abi
12:20 Ship Time
September 10, 2019

[Wait, I just realized that you went through a growth last night!] I said as Vixa and I headed down to the landing bay. [How did that work? I imagine I was still in one of the medical pods, right?]

[Yes. Fortunately all of the hallways and teleporters are big enough to fit a medical pod, so after I set it to hover mode, Mason pushed it through the hallways. Each medical pod has an internal power source that lasts for twenty-four hours, so it wasn’t a big deal. You were outside of the ship for a little over five minutes before he brought you back aboard and got you back over to medical.]

[Cool, I guess I should thank him then, ] I replied as I removed my phone from storage and navigated over to the app that Abi had created. Loading it up, I saw that she initiated the growth at 05:21:06. [I have 700 attribute points to spend, how long would the next growth take if I put all of those into Intellect?]

[A little over twenty-six hours, ] she replied almost instantly. [14:12:38, if you want the specific time.]

[Really? I knew there would be an increase in mana regeneration, but I didn’t think it would be that much.]

[Your mana regeneration more than tripled once again and had you spent those seven hundred points immediately, then you wouldn’t have worried so many people or needed to spend time in the med chamber at all. Mana Shield would have stopped all momentum of the gauss cannon round, and it would have fallen harmlessly to the ground.]

[I wasn’t sure where I wanted to spend them, ] I admitted. [I was thinking about putting all the points into Constitution which would give me a very high health pool and increase my physical damage reduction at the same time.]

[Intellect is and always will be the best attribute to put your attribute points into, particularly as Mana Shield continues to rank up. Your health would have gone up by a significant amount, to be sure, but it still wouldn’t be able to match the amount of damage you are able to absorb. You also have no way of healing any damage done to your body quickly, whereas you regenerate mana at such an incredible rate. Eventually your mana regeneration would get so high that you could probably stand in front of the ship that attacked last night and not have to worry about the gauss cannon at all. Missiles and such would still be a worry, but those can be easily dealt with.]

[True, ] I replied, opening up the Adventurer’s Guild app and putting all seven hundred attribute points into Intellect.

When I pressed confirm, it was like a fire was raging within my body as the sudden, massive surge of mana ran through my system. It was all I could do to stay on my feet as it happened and I could hear someone calling my name, but it sounded as if the person was very far away. After what felt like minutes, the feeling slowly began dying down as my body got used to the increased flow of mana.

[Jonathan?] Abi asked, clearly concerned.

[I’m fine. I just probably shouldn’t have put in all seven hundred points in at the same time. Man, that hurt.]

She chuckled. [I was going to mention that, but I didn’t think you were going to spend the points right now. Still, you’re already an order of magnitude stronger than when we left Earth and that will only increase further while you’re here. Especially if I’m able to acquire all of the Skill Gems by the time we leave.]

[How is that going, anyways?]

[Pretty well. I’ve already made agreements with a number of prospective sellers and your sisters will be meeting with them over the next few days to purchase the ones we’re looking for. Familiars have already been found for the eight of you, and seven of each of Legendary Strength, Agility, Intellect, Stamina and Endurance have as well. Precognition, Legendary Jack of All Trades and Legendary Attributes are proving more difficult, but I’m confident that we’ll find most, if not all of those by the time we leave.]

[Sounds good, ] I replied as I arrived back in the landing bay.

The ninety members of my new, larger detail had been in the landing bay earlier, but they were learning as much as they could about the improved Grasshoppers in as short an amount of time as possible. They were in casual clothes at the time, but now every single one of them was in a set of armor that was better than anything my friends and I were able to wear, at least currently.

They also had a wide variety of weapons. I recognized the big three of pulse guns, plasma guns and gauss guns, but no two members had the exact same gun. They were all customized in their own way, and there were many different designs. One thing was true for every five man team, however, and that was that there was always one heavy gunner and one sniper per team. The sniper always used a Gauss rifle since it was the most powerful and accurate from range, but the heavy gunners used weapons that ranged from gatling-style gauss guns, similar to those mounted on the new Grasshoppers, to something that looked like an energy version of an M60 or M249, bipod and all.

Every person in the new detail was lined up in three different formations, each of which were five rows across and six columns deep. It was clear that each row was composed of the five members of each individual team, partly because of the fact that there was one heavy gunner and one sniper per row. I say partly, because I recognized Zaszi’s team as well as some of the others, and they were all lined up together.

As I walked forward, I also noticed that there was another group of ten standing next to the ramp of each Grasshopper, though they weren’t geared up like everyone else was. They wore suits, but they looked like flight suits more than combat suits, and the only weapon that each of them carried was a gauss pistol on their right thigh.

“Very nice,” I said as I stopped in front of Zaszi. “You know all this isn’t necessary, though?”

She shrugged. “I know you don’t care about stuff like this, but I thought you should see the people who will be helping to protect you while you’re here. We’re still in discussions with Xigios to get him to loan some of his people for when we get back to Earth, so it’s possible that most, if not all of them will be protecting you for the next six-plus months.”

“In front of you are groups Alpha, Beta and Charlie, and your sisters are being assigned groups Delta, Echo and Foxtrot. In each group are forty Watchdogs, as we’re temporarily calling ourselves, with a flight crew of five, gun crew of five and security force of thirty. When you need to go somewhere, Alpha group will accompany you while Beta and Charlie groups remain airborne, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.”

“They’ll remain shrouded at all times to remain hidden, and as you can see, every person here is a Scyftan, which was done on purpose. Watchdogs, mode two!” she commanded.

As soon as she gave them the command, almost every person standing in front of me disappeared. The only people that didn’t were Zaszi and her team.

“Now that’s what I call a tactical advantage. Everyone scanned a dragon, I assume?”

“That’s right,” she nodded. “Some of the dragons and dragonkin came down this morning and kindly allowed themselves to be scanned. It took a little bit of practice, but now all of them can hide themselves at will.

“Nice. Should we get going then?”

“Sure. Watchdogs, mode one! Embark!”

They immediately became visible and ran up the ramps of their respective Grasshoppers. The pilots and gunners entered first, followed by the security teams.

“After you,” she said, turning to the side and waving me forward.

I entered the Grasshopper that my friends and I had toured earlier and saw that everyone was seated and ready to go. The rest of Zaszi’s team took a seat as we walked through, but she followed me to the teleporter and up to the bridge. I had to grab Vixa before entering the teleporter, but she came through with me just fine. When we arrived there, I saw that the flight crew were all standing at attention facing the teleporter.

“Jonuth Kidravia, meet your flight team. If you don’t want to fly, or are sleeping, these are the people who will take over. They were picked because they are able to act in any role they are needed to, but each of them has a preferred station. You’ve got Elidi Itenzes, a pilot, on the left and Amil Khenyn, a navigator next to her. Following them is Kurir Zox, who will be taking care of the weapons systems and Suna Yri, who will be managing the power control systems. Lastly is Xeth Iruris, who will be making sure things run smoothly. If there is a problem with the engines, he’ll do his best to fix them. If one of the other four get hurt, then he’ll fill in for them.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” I said, offering my hand to Elidi first and then moving down the line. Once I was done, I set Vixa down on the deck to let her explore.

They greeted me in return and then I was asked if I wanted to fly. I thought about it for a moment, but then decided to let the new flight crew take care of it.

“There is one thing, though. Can I get by, please?”

They immediately stepped aside which allowed me to walk towards the front of the bridge. Removing the Beacon from storage, I held it out and waited until the pedestal raised from the console. Once it did so, I gently placed it down and then stepped back. The arms locked into place and then the pedestal lowered back down slightly, but not before the Beacon started glowing softly.

“What is that?” Suna asked.

“Something that Abi made up for me,” I answered. “Think of it like an external power source. As long as it is secure on that pedestal and it is glowing, you’ll have access to all of Abi’s mana available to help power the ship.”

“Wait, doesn’t that make my job a little redundant?” she asked. “I mean the whole purpose of the station I will be using is to direct power to where it is needed most. If we’re taking heavy fire that might be diverting power away from the weapons and to the shields and sub light engines. Or if we’re on the offensive, it would be directing additional power to the weapons to be able to hit harder. With that thing installed every system will be getting as much mana as they could ever need.”

“All true,” I replied with a smile. “The Beacon won’t always be interfaced with the ship, however, because it goes where I go. There are a number of other functionalities of the Beacon and it is Abi’s way of protecting me. You five are the permanent flight crew for this ship, right?”

“They are,” Zaszi confirmed.

“Alright. Then you’ll probably be flying around sometimes, even when I’m not on board. For example, maybe we’re in the middle of a massive fleet battle and we need more firepower so you and the other five Grasshoppers are sent out to join in the fight. Without the Beacon interfaced, you would need to be there to transfer power around the ship,” I told her.

“But in situations like that, we wouldn’t have enough mana to keep the shields up for very long, especially if we were targeted. With only a handful of people onboard, anything fired at us would cause the shield to drain a large part of our reserves.”

“You’re exaggerating just a bit,” Abi said, interjecting herself in our little discussion. “In a combat situation, you would likely never have less than ten people onboard one of these ships. You would want all of the ball turrets and stations in the bridge manned, and you would need someone who can move around the ship, making repairs or putting out fires. Aside from all that, I’ve got another addition to make to the Grasshoppers, but it will need to wait a few days while they are being built. Now enough of this conversation. You need to get going soon or Jonathan will be late for his appointment.”

Suna began to apologize, but I told her not to worry about it. I sat down on one of the seats that was up against the wall and strapped myself in, while Zaszi sat down next to me and did the same. Vixa also came over, apparently bored, and jumped up onto my lap.

[Sorry about her, ] Zaszi sent. [She’s pretty young, only one hundred and twelve years old, or somewhere close to that. She leveled up as high as she could in the dungeons on Earth before joining the Spectres. She was also hoping to spend some time with her friends in dungeons while we were here and so she could level up some more. Now she needs to be ready at any moment to help ferry you around or protect you, so she is understandably peeved. Especially since the Beacon effectively makes her useless whenever you’re onboard.]

[So get someone else to fill in for her until we head to Earth.]

[No can do, ] she replied. [Every Spectre knew what they were signing up for. If you start giving one Spectre preferential treatment and refuse another, then they will grow to resent one another. Some of the Spectres had plans in place for when we got here, but unfortunately events happened that necessitates them coming back to work. They’re all in it together.]

I nodded and watched as they began powering everything up. From where I was sitting, I saw Suna lean forward as if something caught her eye, and moments later her jaw dropped.

[I think she just found out just how much power this ship has available with the Beacon interfaced, ] Zaszi said with a chuckle.

I nodded before turning to look at Zaszi. [Do you know what Abi meant by additions to the Grasshoppers?]

[I do, indeed. There were some who were uncomfortable serving on a ship that essentially has a finite amount of power, so Abi came up with something. It will require her to retool some of her machinery, but the gist of it is that she’ll be creating dozens of portable fusion reactors, which will then be stored in her dimensional storage until they’re needed. You remember when I typed on that panel and all of the couches and tables and stuff disappeared and were replaced with med chambers?] she asked, to which I nodded.

[Well once the reactors are ready, they’ll work in much the same way. If needed, one of the flight crew can use the panel in that compartment to put away all the furniture and take out one of the reactors. It will only take a few minutes to hook up to the ship’s systems, but there will be a constant source of power. All of the systems onboard are already built to work with regular power in case something happens to the mana core, so they can work on one or both sources of energy simultaneously.]

[If the mana was being used to power the shields and the engines, for example, then the fusion reactor could be used to power the weapons. That makes her job pretty important.]

I certainly couldn’t disagree as I looked back over to Suna.

After getting clearance to depart, it didn’t take long at all to fly down to the planet where the Grasshopper was piloted to one of the largest and tallest skyscrapers in the city of Sotis. There were a number of different places to land, but we were directed to land on the roof itself. As we flew around the building, it was clear that it was the only area on the building that would be able to support the weight.

Once she touched down, Zaszi and I unbuckled and I moved forward to retrieve the Beacon. Putting it into storage I then picked up Vixa and the three of us headed down to the first deck so we could depart. Just before the ramp started lowering, all of the Watchdogs except for Zaszi’s team activated their camouflage. Zaszi and Zogyr led me down the ramp, with the other three members of their team encircling me. I had no doubt whatsoever that the other twenty-five Watchdogs were all spreading out, taking position around the edge of the roof.

There was a young Pygmaean woman waiting for us near a set of doors in one of the corners, so we made a beeline for her.

I didn’t understand a word she was saying when she began speaking, which was something that I planned to rectify as soon as possible. Zaszi responded in what I assumed was Pygmaean and then relayed what the woman had said, “Good afternoon, Khel Haneth. My name is Narin Kilic. My employer, Mr. Keser asked that I escort you through the building. He is ready to meet with you now.”

I was momentarily confused by the name that she was calling me by, but then remembered that Khel Haneth was the name I was going by while we were here. I asked Zaszi to tell her to lead the way. After a short bow, the young woman led us through the doors and into an elevator.

After the door closed, she hit the button for what seemed like the forty-third floor, and the elevator immediately dropped like a rock. I was expecting us to get some air with how fast it moved, but it didn’t feel like we were moving at all.

“Inertial dampeners are built into the elevators,” Zaszi said from beside me. “It allows them to move, much much quicker.”

That much was obvious, the elevator had stopped moving before she even stopped talking.

When the doors opened, the woman began leading us through the hall towards the center of the building. Because the view we had was of the outside of the building, none of us realized that the center of the building was actually hollow, with all of the business and offices being around the periphery. She led us to the other side of the building where we could see the name Kesers in large blocky lettering. Or what I assumed was Kesers. I couldn’t read it, either, but that’s where she led us and Zaszi didn’t stop her.

After Zaszi, Zogyr and another member of their team and I entered the shop, the other two members positioned themselves on either side of the door, likely making sure that we weren’t disturbed. We didn’t get far inside of the shop, however, as Zaszi told me to stay where I was until they had a chance to talk to Keser and check to make sure that the shop was secure.

“Wanna do me a favor, Vixa?” I asked, to which she looked up and licked my face. “I’m going to set you down on the floor. Stay here, but scan the room and let me know if there is anyone in here trying to hide, or that you think might be dangerous.”

She made a quiet noise and then looked towards the back of the shop. Her tails started moving like they did when a Phenidae was unsure of their surroundings, but a moment later she turned back towards me, making the same quiet noise.

[Vixa thinks it’s clear, I think.] I sent to the members of Zaszi’s team.

[It is indeed, ] Zogyr replied. [Alright, you can come forward.]

“Let’s go, Vixa.”

The woman who had led us here was standing by an older man with dark hair that was just starting to go gray. About four foot tall, he was impeccably dressed in what looked like an incredibly expensive suit.

Zaszi had to be the translator for the meeting, but Mr. Keser and I shook hands and he immediately went to work. Leading me into a room, he told Zaszi to ask me to remove my armor and then undress to my underwear. Once I was done, he had me stand in the middle of the room. I was expecting him to use tape measure like I had seen used on TV, or some sort of gadget, but he just circled me a couple of times and that was it.