Dark Faction shock-division commander armor
Chemical defense +12, Radiation defense +12, Armor 34.
Statistic requirements: Constitution 14, Strength 14.
Skill requirements: Medium Armor 30.
Attention! Your character has insufficient Strength to equip this apparel.
The armor weighed nineteen pounds, which was a third of my carrying capacity. It was worse than the Listener armor in every way, so I had no reason to hold onto it. It would be a big shame to just throw it away, though, because it was superior to the armored jackets commonly used by my faction. But it was too bulky and heavy. Should I ask Zheltov if he wants it? I was sitting in thought when, just above my ear, I heard Uline Tar’s voice:
“By the way, Gnat... no, no, don’t turn around yet! I just wanted to make a suggestion. You should ask the captain to store your crystals. He can keep them in his safe. You would have to explain where you got it all from, though, which is best avoided! The problem is that Vasha, Basha and I haven’t told him about our little side hustle. I mean, it’s none of his business. So obviously, we did not give him our crystals.”
“But don’t the Geckho all use an electronic payment system?” I asked in surprise, to which the trader answered with a smirk:
“Usually, yes. But your home planet... don’t get offended... is such a backwater that half of the stuff available throughout the galaxy don’t work there, including electronic banking. So, they just sent us a code to enter in an automatic terminal to withdraw the money in physical crystals. Well, what about the safe?”
I thanked Uline for the suggestion but refused. I didn’t want to tangentially snitch on my friends, and I felt calmer knowing the money was with me. This way, I could use it at any time without having to ask permission.
“You know best. Anyway, you can turn around now! And help me hold the stencil on my shoulder. It’s hard to dye with just one hand.”
I turned around. Uline had removed her armored spacesuit and was now wearing a poufy robe with a tawdry picture on it. She was dying her thick black fur, holding geometric-patterned stencils tight against her body and dripping a liquid lightener from a little bottle, maybe even regular old hydrogen peroxide. So, this was how she made the fanciful patterns on her black fur.
Naturally, I helped Uline, and even did one stencil on her back all on my own. I didn’t see anything unusual or shameful in it, although the fashion-conscious furball was clearly embarrassed. According to her, the Geckho female grooming process was considered very intimate, and most Geckho women only trusted their best friend with such private matters. But there were no women in our crew, so Uline decided to ask an alien. She wasn’t sure I would agree, though. In return, Uline allowed me to store my things in her cabin and even use a few bags.
My conversation with the Geckho Trader was interrupted by the hall speaker blasting out a roar of dismay from Captain Uraz Tukhsh:
“Gnnnat, please come to the bridge! Your immediate assistance is required!!!”
Chapter Two. Copilot
THE SCENE ON THE captain’s bridge was frighteningly surreal. The room was strewn with overturned chairs and broken glass, and the senior engineer was lying on the ground growling in pain and rubbing his bloodied jaw. Starship Pilot Dmitry Zheltov, stark naked and smeared with something green, had his back pressed into a corner. In his shaking right hand, he was pointing a pistol back and forth from the captain to the navigator, shouting hysterically and demanding to be brought back to Earth. In his left hand, raised high above his head, he was squeezing the lever of an already pin-less fragmentation grenade.
Eagle Eye skill increased to level forty.
“Zheltov, what are you doing?!” I shouted in a voice not my own.
The cornered Dmitry turned his head, then pointed the loaded pistol at me. It seemed he didn’t recognize me in the new armor and was now only more riled up. I had no choice but to remove the helmet and show him my face.
“Gnat... uh... Gerd Gnat?!” Zheltov lowered his pistol and slid down the wall on his back, now totally incapacitated. I was afraid he might unclench his hand and drop the grenade, but Danger Sense wasn’t triggering, so there must have been no risk. And in fact, the professional soldier slowly returned his pistol to its holster, picked the grenade pin up off the floor and put it back in place.
“Where were you, Gnat?! And where are we?” The pilot’s voice was quavering, betraying an overpowering emotional tension.
Hmm... Weird questions, especially the second one. I asked Zheltov if he remembered being taken on as the Shiamiru’s copilot.
“I was hired to fly a spaceship?! I don’t remember that,” the Starship Pilot admitted. “The last thing in my memory is leaving the Dark Faction tower. There were bodies all around, everything went blurry and I nearly fell over. I was bleeding, my Health Points were almost drained, there was no first aid kit, and our medic was dead... And after that... I’m not so sure... the starship landed, you told me to wait and left... Then I was dragged by the armpits for a while and saw a black screen saying, ‘Your character is unconscious.’ I just kept lying there, but nothing changed. I even left the game. I wanted to ask how the battle was going, but everyone was still busy. I got back into my virt pod and suddenly came to my senses with the high G Forces. It was just like summer training sessions at the academy. So, I open my eyes and see that I’m lying on a table and some animal with big teeth is looking me over. In one hand, he’s holding a little knife and, in the other, he’s dripping some green sauce onto my body with a gravy boat. So of course, I kicked him away, jumped off the table and ran down the hallway. I couldn’t find you, there were just... these things,” Dmitry said, leading his hand over the captain, navigator and Geckho in the doorway. “And they’re all growling and baring their fangs!”
I probably should have reassured Dmitry and patiently explained the situation, but I... couldn’t hold back and broke down laughing! And I laughed until I cried, not able to stop for a long time, just falling victim to more and more fits of laughter. When I told the Geckho why the pilot was acting strange, the furballs all joined in and nearly rolled across the floor. I had never seen Geckho in such a state. The huge furry creatures were rumbling through tightly closed mouths, baring their teeth and contorting their faces into the most unbelievable grimaces.
If I didn’t know that was what their laughter looked like, I would probably have been very scared. So just in case, I warned my friend that these Geckho were laughing their heads off, not trying to scare him. Seemingly, Dmitry Zheltov became embarrassed:
“Yeaaaah... I bet they all think I’m a psycho now. My Fame even grew to four... Gnat, you’ve gotta apologize to those two Geckho I punched out.”
I walked up closer and reassuringly patted my friend on the shoulder:
“It’s nothing, don’t worry! The Geckho are forgiving by nature and, as far as I can see, are not mad at you. Last trip, I accidentally cut off the electricity on the whole ship and it was no big deal. The furballs forgot eventually and even hired me for another voyage. The main thing now is to prove you’re a good pilot and start learning Geckho. You have to at least be able to understand the captain’s commands. There’s no getting around that. And at level fifty, you should take Astrolinguistics. That way, there won’t be any problems with understanding.”
* * *
AND SO ZHELTOV, concentrating fully and wincing from the strain, was sitting in the copilot’s seat. It was just a bit too big for him. I was standing next to him and translating all the explanations of the screens, levers, buttons and other equipment in the starship command center.
“Move this little lever to the left to kill inertia in the fourth cycle of the left maneuver thruster. It’s used when turning the shuttle horizontally to the right to dock at a space station. The station’s gravity cranes take over from there. You just need to give them your vector. And make sure to remember: the lever should go opposite the way you want turn. Alright, that’s almost it! Well,
Dmitry, I sure hope you’ve learned something.”
Astrolinguistics skill increased to level thirty-nine.
Electronics skill increased to level twenty-six.
The copilot placed his hand on the lever and moved it into position, attempting to form a muscle memory. Then he nodded in confirmation, although he was somewhat unconfident and even seemed afraid. Uraz Tukhsh gave a growl of satisfaction and continued his explanation. I got straight back to translation:
“Alright, now turning left and right in low gravity conditions. You’ll use this when flying near type-six satellites, comets and large asteroids. You push it up one from the fourth cycle to the fifth. Moving this stick gives turn direction, which also switches the second and first maneuver thrusters into neutral.”
“Alright, Gnat, I can’t take anymore,” Zheltov groaned. “My head is bursting with all this new information. It’s about to pop! First cycle, second, pull compensation, gravity thruster aberration... Too much new stuff! Tell the captain I need a break! I’ve leveled Starship Piloting to eight already!”
What a pity... After all, according to the captain’s plan, we were about to get to the ship’s scanners and radars. I was very interested in that because I was hoping to use the ship’s scanning equipment for prospecting and figured that would quickly level Cartography and Electronics. And I was just a tiny bit before level thirty-nine. My progress bar was already ninety-seven percent full, so I needed just ten more minutes of studying terminology to level up. But apparently, it was time to end our class. Zheltov had been learning the spaceship controls for three hours and had just about scrambled his brains. I myself wasn’t the least bit tired, just happy at the rare chance to absorb new information.
“Alright, Dmmmitry, get some rest!” Uraz Tukhsh agreed, letting the copilot free. “We’ll continue the lessons in half an ummi. And to give you a kick in the pants, let me warn you: you will be landing the Shiamiru on the asteroid yourself. If you are successful, you can join my crew!”
After I translated, true horror was reflected on Zheltov’s face:
“Is this guy sick in the head?! This is the first time I’ve been at the helm of any spacecraft. I can’t understand a single written word of their language, and he’s trusting me to land?! What if I wreck the shuttle? I’d never be able to pay off a ship like this! Hell, all humanity working together would have a hard time!”
I understood perfectly that the captain could take control of the starship at any moment and correct an error, so the risk was not particularly grave. Zheltov also knew that, and was only so upset because the captain was springing a pop quiz on him... But seemingly, Uraz Tukhsh managed to pluck the right strings in the pilot’s heart, because my friend asked me to tell the captain he would need only half as much break time.
“Now that’s great news!” He bared his teeth in satisfaction and turned to me. “Dmmmitry is learning fast. He gained two levels in half an ummi, so he’ll be ready when we get to the asteroid belt. But you, Gerd Gnat, must also prove yourself. The asteroid belt is massive and contains billions of objects. Most of them are just worthless specks of ice, stone and nickel-iron composite, though. We made thirty voyages and two hundred landings before we found anything even remotely interesting. Your job as a Prospector is to improve our ratio and, in a voyage or two, find us an asteroid with valuable minerals. If you can do that, I will offer you a permanent position.”
Well, for the first time he was giving me a concrete set of conditions and, if I met them, an official promise of employment. I formulated the mission in my head. Considering the geological analyzers I’d bought at the space port, the ones given to me by Gerd Tamara, and the ones Uraz Tukhsh had purchased, I had a total of eight. And that gave me eight chances to find something of value and prove my worth.
I left the captain’s bridge and ran into Dmitry Zheltov, waiting for me in the corridor:
“Gnat, here’s what I’m worried about: we left the planet without getting approval, and leadership doesn’t know what became of us! They might think we’ve been taken prisoner or, even worse, defected to the Dark Faction!”
I tried to reassure my friend and told him I had radioed Ivan Lozovsky to say we both left with the Geckho ship. But the Starship Pilot just kept panicking:
“That isn’t how it’s done! We need approval for this expedition, even if it is post-factum. We also need a clear mission. So, I’ll exit the game right now and issue a report. One of us has to do things by the books!”
I realized it was pointless to argue. This rules-obsessed military man was accustomed to doing things as proscribed. To him, the very idea that one might act without orders was unthinkable and even blasphemous. I reminded Dmitry that he had just a quarter ummi before the captain wanted him back, one hour and twenty minutes. I asked him to also bring news about the cease-fire with the Dark Faction. What was the situation on the front? What were our losses? Did we manage to hold onto the Eastern Swamp? Did the Second Legion break the encirclement in Karelia? I wanted to know everything.
Dmitry nodded and... his character froze right in the corridor, blocking the already narrow passage. Ugh, damnit! Was it really so hard to realize he should go into his bunk before exiting the game??! Space was a red zone, so an avatar would never disappear here. But before the captain or anyone else got mad, I asked Vasha Tushihh to help me bring the heavy body into its bunk. The huge Geckho picked up the petrified body as if it were light as a feather and placed it on a free cot.
I was not about to leave the game to give some stupid report, though. Plus, it hadn’t been very long since I’d reentered the game, just six hours. So, I was afraid I would still have broken bones and unhealed wounds, which might make it hard to move. Also, I had business to attend to here. Taking advantage of the brief respite, I headed to the ship’s Mechanic.
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, my wallet was two thousand six hundred crystals lighter, and the lion’s share of those expenses went to attaching the IR Lens to the Listener armor’s helmet. I suspected the furry Mechanic had taken me for three times the going rate, because the job took ten minutes at most, and didn’t require any materials. On the other hand, I had nothing to compare it with and any work with a unique item carried greater risks, which demanded high skill. At any rate, the IR Lens was now fixed tight onto the helmet. If needed, I could lower it over my right eye, and it worked the same as before.
The mechanic also threw in some weapon modification work as a bonus. The biggest change was to the Krechet. He expanded its magazine to fourteen rounds, increased its damage by 15% and reduced its weight by almost a third. The experienced mechanic also made a couple modifications to the Dark Faction laser rifle, which I was not able to use due to a class limitation against automatic weaponry. But now, it fired only single pulses. He also gave it a more powerful battery and made it shoot quieter.
Dark Faction laser pulse rifle (modified)
Range: 1800 feet.
Damage: 1300-2800 HP.
Firing speed: 11 shots per minute.
Silent*
Statistic requirements: Agility 15, Strength 13.
Skill requirements: Rifles 45, Sharpshooter 20.
Battery charge: 100%
Attention!!! Your character has insufficient Rifles and Sharpshooter skills to use this weapon.
Sure, I’d have to grow into it, but I’d taken a shine to this futuristic rifle, which could quietly fire over a third of a mile. A rifle like this could take down my character in two or three shots despite my Listener suit, so I was hoping I could frag similar-level enemies in two shots, maybe even one.
Finally, Dmitry Zheltov came back into the game and immediately found me. His alarmed expression led me to believe there was trouble. And I was right. I gave a shudder as the Starship Pilot began:
“Tyulenev defected to the Dark Faction! Once on enemy territory, he addressed our side over radio and said the whole mess in the Eastern Swamp was to distract our faction, so he could sneak across th
e border. He said our faction has already lost the war, and others should follow his example before it was too late. And that turncoat managed to get in their heads before our technicians figured out how to jam the signal.”
The news was not merely worrying, it left me gasping. Apparently, for the last several months, the Dark Faction had been privy to all our plans. They knew our strong and weak points, our passwords and codes, and where we had our minefields, supply lines, firing positions and buildings. And that was not all.
“But there’s good news, too. Three things, actually! The Eastern Swamp node held out, though it was tough going. When Gerd Tarasov reached the citadel with reinforcements, there were just five defenders left alive!!! Eventually, all the commanders died, and Nelly Svistunova led the defense. She is now celebrated as a hero! Also, in Karelia, the Second Legion wiped the floor with the Dark Faction. They took more than thirty darksiders prisoner! After interrogation, they’re being exchanged for resources and four of ours, who were captured in the Eastern Swamp. And most importantly, our voyage with the Geckho now has the official blessing of Radugin himself. He told me my mission is to gather intelligence about the mannerisms and culture of our suzerains, outer space in general, alien technology and so on. Also, Gnat, they really want you to go issue a report about the raid behind Dark Faction lines, becoming a Gerd, and your new armor.”
“Why about the raid? Didn’t you tell them?”
“Of course. But they want to hear your side.” With these words, Zheltov started staring at the floor. “It bothered Ivan Lozovsky to see how easily we crossed the Dark Faction border. Dozens of experienced recon groups tried before us both in the west from the Graveyard and Golden Plain where we crossed, and in the east from the Great Caves. But every time, it ended in failure... Obviously it’s bullshit to suspect us of working for the Dark Faction but I think that, since Tyulenev defected, the faction leaders are spooked and want to double check everyone...”
External Threat (Reality Benders Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 3