/On our way!
I ran back out the way we came, but it was a crazy sight to behold when I flew out of the ship to find That same five-story tall MAS unit fighting the undead whale titan. The Glacial Dragoon, with the head of a dragon, was rammed by the Dreadnought, releasing some gas the cause the beast to become frozen momentarily as the mech bit into the thing's head. The mech emitted the same gas from its mouth to the place it was latched onto and then ripped the frozen section apart, but it had little effect. The glowing core was back further, deep in the stomach area.
I reached Tilly and Sasha, with Mikota and Tama behind me.
/Do you guys have a plan to help?
//Nothing we have is working-Sasha
//My rockets do no damage to the core-Tilly
/What if we use your fist rocket things like your hammer? You rocket me at the core of the thing, and I'll try this overdrive thing, ok?
//You used things way too many times. I have no confidence in you!-Tama.
/Ouch! That really hurts, you know?
//That might work, we will all fly you forward, and Tilly will use Rocket Punch to give you a boost. Just remember not to activate it too fast. Overdrive only lasts for ten seconds right now-Sasha
Jill and the monster were still locked in combat, but Jill's mech was taking heavy damage. I pulled out my Naginata and stood on Tilly's fists while the others gathered around her. Soon we started to accelerate, faster and faster. I kept my eyes above me, staring at the core at our max flying speed.
Instantly I felt pressure on my feet, and my speed increase dramatically! I was a missile locked onto the massive glowing green orb inside the frame of the Dreadnought. I don't think the thing registered that I was a threat because it made no move to stop me as I neared.
//SYSTEM OVERRIDE ACTIVATED, INCREASED DAMAGE X4
I plunged into the core with my flickering green and white blade, moving my arms at blinding speed once my progress was slowed, but I could not be stopped. I slashed and carved until the light grew dim and then dark, leaving me with only the light of my suit to illuminate my surroundings.
//Are you ok Dave?-Jill
/Yeah, I was tired before, but now that I've got to go for a stroll through the belly of a whale, I think its nap time after this
//Mmhmm, you did well for your first time-Sasha
/First time in this game, and it was the same for all of you. Tama and I just don't have the programming experience, but I have played many games, so I know a thing or two. On top of that, this move was just a copy of our winning move last game, not really original
//Game?-Tama
/We will talk more later. There are people inside the ship still, remember?
I finally flew out of the core and followed everyone else while Jill limped back to the ship with the Glacial Dragoon. The girls were already pushing the ship towards the open hanger bay when I was able to catch up to them. Together, we guide the ship into the hangar bay that we kept the MAS units.
Once settled, sealed and air pumped back in, the MAS units were placed in the racks, to the best of abilities in Jill's case. Gravity was kicked back in only after the ship had been checked for structural integrity. Once everyone was outside of the MAS units, Jill led us to a hole made in the side of the ship by Mikota before she unsuited.
Before going inside, I grabbed Jill and pulled her into a warm embrace, and kissing her before letting her go. She smiled at me and Kissed me back before taking me by the hand to lead me to the cabin. Once inside Jill flashed a circuit-covered hand at the lit-up door panel and his of pressurized air expelled, and then I heard a familiar voice that made me rush to get through the door.
"What took you idiots so look to get us out?"
The second I could squeeze through the door, I scooped Iona up off her feet, she had the same accent and Japanese look as Mikota had. Iona had suffered in the last game, so I had been worried about finding her, but now that I had her in my arms, all the stress melted away. She struggled at first, but when Iona looked up into my eyes, she stopped and then flung her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a kiss.
It would have lasted longer, but I heard another familiar voice come from behind us. I turned to the dusty looking woman with sanding features, and I put down Iona to walk up to Maxine, taking her in my arms. Her skin was soft but more like sand, and I ran my fingers over her soft lips before giving them a kiss. Pulling away from her, I turned back to everyone else.
"I'm glad we are all safe, and it looks like we only have two more people left to find! What is the plan right now, Jill?"
"We have to check out a disturbance at a Knell mine and pick up a shipment of Dynam for ourselves."
"Well, That sounds great, and I'm sure you will all do great, but I need some sleep!"
Everyone laughed at me, but I wasn't kidding. I was going on nothing but pure adrenaline at this point, and I just wanted to lie down on the floor and sleep. Sasha led me out of the ship and hangar, into the hall, and down to the sleeping quarters.
Sasha gave me a quick and cool kiss before closing my door. Her lips were almost cold to the touch but not uncomfortable. I turned around and got undressed before laying down in the single cot.
What a crazy first day, almost everyone found, though, that was a bonus, but there were still two missings. Kyrina/Kryan and the other Lost Soul. I drifted off with thoughts of climbing stairs that didn't exist.
Chapter 72: Alexander's Great Race
After a good night's rest, I left my room after changing into the skin-tight UW bodysuit that stretches over my muscled frame like a glove. The suit wasn't constricting. If anything, the suit made me feel almost naked. I was glad to have this body now, instead of being stuck as a child, and this new avatar was quite handsome if I say so myself!
There was a digital screen on the wall when I left my room. The hall was steel gray, and there were eight other doors, including mine, spread down this hall. A flashing light brought my attention back to the digital screen that stopped flashing when my focus was back on it.
//FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL LEAD YOU TO THE CAFETERIA. THE OTHERS ARE WAITING
"Oh? You're going to be my guide, Alta?"
//YES, I WILL GUIDE YOU TO THE CAFERTRIA
"I see. You're not that emotional, so you don't have a sense of humor. I meant what I said to be heard as, you, the most important person on the ship, who has the most jobs is going to be my guide."
//AH! I SEE YOU ARE TRYING TO IMPLY THAT MY TIME WOULD BE BETTER USED WITH MORE MEANINGFUL TASK? THAT IS WHAT YOU WOULD CALL FUNNY TO THINK THAT I MIGHT BE LOWERED TO A MERE GUIDE FROM THE MASTER CONTROLLER, VERY FUNNY
"Hmm? I think you might not have really understood that in the way I was thinking, but you seem to get the idea. Well, Great Guide Master, lead on!"
If something without eye could glare, I'm sure that was happening, but I turned and started to walk before being told it was the other way. The rest of the trip was in silence. I must have really ticked Alta off, but at least he had something in there, but maybe I should be more agreeable to the master controller of the ship and all. The hall was more of the same, but there was a severe lack of staff for a boat this big, so I asked Alta on our walkabout.
//THERE IS NO NEED FOR MORE CREW, THE SIZE IS DUE TO THE SPECIAL WAVE DRIVE. THE WAVE DRIVE HELPS US MOVE BETWEEN SECTORS OF THE GALAXY THAT WOULD NORMAL TAKE SEVERAL YEARS AT THE EVEN TRAVELING AT 1 AU
"AU? What's that?"
//ASTRONOMICAL UNITS, 1 AU IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND THE FASTEST KNOW SPEED OF TRAVEL AT THIS TIME. EVEN AFTER THAT, THE TRIP BETWEEN HABITABLE PLANET CAN BE UP TO TEN YEARS. THE WAVE DRIVE ALLOW US TO TRAVEL BETWEEN BY DROPPING US INTO A CALIBRATED MAN-MADE SINGULARITY. ONLY I, ALTA CAL PROPERLY CALIBRATE THE WAVE DRIVE, WITHOUT PROPER CALIBRATIONS YOU COULD END UP INSIDE A PLANET OR STAR
"Wow, you really are the Master around here!"
It was only a short walk, but that brief explanation cleared some of my questions up but also saddled me with an en
tirely new set of them. Soon, I was at the door for the cafeteria, and they slid open when I was in front of them. Inside, the girls were all sitting at the table. Upon seeing me, the group all gave me a warm smile.
"Did you get enough sleep? I had to hold this little Watabian back from sneaking into your room," Sasha said, looking at Iona.
"Watabian? So does that mean that Mikota is Watabian too?"
"Yeah, we are from the same place, but I have never seen her before," Mikota said between mouthfuls of porridge.
"According to the ship's manifest, Maxine was sent to Prime to retrieve Iona from the Imperial Sand Guard, Royal Guards to the King Kima Cho," Jill explained.
"Then how did it get back here? How far away is Watabi?"
"We used the commercial gates, but we were ambushed just outside the gate by the Dreadnought. I don't know why it was waiting there, maybe hoping to get a freighter or something they could pirate, but they bit off more than they could chew with UW!" Maxine said with pride.
"I just remember waking up inside the cabin with this sand woman and not having any idea what was going on. I was panicked because the seat I was sitting in was holding me in place, so I thought I was a prisoner until I saw the skeleton whale on the monitor, and Maxine told me to hold on."
"Well, it's good to see everyone save and sound in the end. What about the Glacial Dragoon? It was pretty banged up in the last fight, right?"
"That's my department! Plague Strider's Micro Nano-bots can be used to help repair and rebuild things. They serve many purposes when it comes to repairs!" Mikota explained with excitement.
Mikota was looking very cute, as she explained to me, but she went back to her food once she was finished. I walked over to our fancy food maker thing and stared at the label-less button with confusion. Jill came up behind me and whispered in my ear.
"What did you say to make Alta angry?"
"I just made a joke about him being my guide, and he didn't get it, so I explained…but he didn't seem very impressed."
"Ah, well, Alta doesn't deal with jokes about his station or when he does things like guiding us. It is better just to let him do the things and not comment about it, hehe," Jill's giggle and warm breath on my ear gave me a delightful shiver.
"I'm sorry, Alta, can I please have some bacon and eggs?"
//…YES…
The oven lit up, and within a minute, it beeped and opened up to a hot plate of sunny side up eggs, buttered white toast, and six pieces of perfectly cooked bacon. I didn't want to know what happened inside that box. The thought of Mikota's nano-bots assembling my food one atom at a time and shaking them to produce the perfect temperature made me almost trip and fall with my food. Jill caught me and looked at me strangely.
I gave her a half-hearted smile as I went to go sit by Iona and Maxine. Both of them smiled up at me and slid over to make room for me to sit between them. Maxine was still a mystery and everyone else for the most part, so I decided to get everyone to explain what they knew of their races and origins.
"Why don't we go around the table and explain a bit about our races and our origins? From what you can remember, at least for now."
Everyone agreed that this was a good idea since we were all here for the most part. First, I explained that I was an adventurer and Tama, and I was a swordsman from what I remembered. Next was Maxine and her shifting, sandy appearance. I suspected she was another energy-based being like Sasha.
"I am from the Desserts of Watabi, and I was a Racer before this according to my memories. My race is Sylica, and I am of the Dawn Bladestorm class."
"Racer? What is that? Were you a pilot or something?"
Suddenly Mikota and Iona started to fidget excitedly. I looked to Iona, and she seemed ready to burst from the seem wanting to talk. I gave her a nod, and It all spilled out in a torrent of excited words. I honestly had never seen Iona so enthusiastic about anything before, so I listened intently, giving her my undivided attention.
"The race is held every three years when Gargantua and Prime cross paths. Even though the gap is just under 1 AU, about one point three million kilometers, it still has a dramatic effect on the climate on Watabi. Every three years, there is a race held in the storm by Alexander Prime, the God MAS of Prime."
"What? There are gods? I'm starting to get confused here."
"Each planet that has a Dynam core has a god MAS. These are planets built by an ancient race known as the Galactors, who also creates the Shyft race on Knell, but there is no point in getting into Knell since we are headed there. Anyways, Galactors created planets and helped to populate them. Still, they also created Primal MAS units to protect the planets and cores from their natural enemies, the Wrexilla," Mikota filled in.
"So these god units are sentient? Like they can think and talk?"
"Better than us, and the winner of the race gets a wish within the god's ability, but the race is extremely treacherous and dangerous. This isn't just the bad weather, this race brings scum from all over the galaxy, and there is a three month festival inside the capital's bubble."
"Sounds like fun! Are there any rules?"
"Only one, you cant fly. Everything else is game, from sabotage to outright murder. The god doesn't care how you get to him, just that you are the first one. Three years ago, the winner was Kima Cho, and he asked to be the ruler of the planet, and well, you know how that went!" Iona laughed as she finished explaining.
"Three years ago? Does that mean that it is close? The race, I mean?"
"Yeah, less than a month away, and that's why we are going to stock up at Knell. After we are done there, there is one more stop, and then we will be heading to the race."
"As guards? Or like watch or something?"
"No way! If we went as watch members, we would get torn to pieces during the race. No, we will enter the race privately. Winning the race is what we want to gain use of Alexander." Jill said
Chapter 73: Honey Pot
After everyone settled down about the race, I moved onto the next person beside Maxine, Jill. The circuits that covered most of her exposed flesh glittered with light that seemed to race up and down her flesh. I moved my eye that had gotten stuck on her massive chest to her sapphire eyes. Though, she was already looking at me and smiling.
"I am a Radiarion, from Galactor. According to my memory, I am over 367542 years old, and I helped in the construction of all the Dynamcore planets. I was also part of the research into Alta and the Wave Drive. My body is able to repair itself from almost any amount of damage."
"You helped build Alta? So is he the only one?"
"Yes, but only part of him is here. Alta core is at the UW headquarters since we founded the organization after the discovery of Wrexillia and humans."
"Wha? Humans?"
"You planet that you are from is on one planet that humans have appeared on, and your species vary in personality so greatly. Some are great people with noble intents, while others only seek to destroy and take. Even the Wrexillia are single-minded in their hate, while all Galactor's wish to grow and expand the known and unknown."
"OK, that is a fair point that I can't disagree with. Well, thank you, Jill, for revealing all that to use. Mikota, your up next!"
"Hm, well, you already know that I am from Prime, like Iona, but I lived outside the city as a scavenger. The Watch doesn't care who you are or where you come from what I can remember, and they found me out on a salvage run to a buried city."
"Wait! How does UW find us? It seems weird that you're able to pinpoint each of us, doesn't it?"
"Your body must be able to synchronize with the suit, we have the ability to scan entire planets, but the brain has to developed fully and matured. I did not create the scanner, so I don't have all the details, sorry," Jill explained.
"I see, don't worry about not knowing everything. What you explained is more than enough."
"I would also like to add that it is extremely rare to find two people at once. Normally, one of you would
have been picked up before the other by a passing UW ship. We aren't the only crews looking for more pilots."
"That is strange, but not out of the ordinary, since I won last game and now we only have to find two more people."
"I'm next! My name is Tama, and I am a human rouge. That's all, except that Dave and I have been together if you know what I mean?" Tama gave suggestive looks to all the girls, but the reactions were extreme in variation.
Sasha, Jill, Maxine, and Iona turned to Tama, with very mischievous looks on their faces. They started to tease her by going over and whispering things in Tama's ear that made her go so red, I thought she might begin to melt. Then her face turned drill Sargent serious, and she glared at me but was interrupted by the toppling of a chair.
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