GalaxSec: A Sci-Fi LitRPG (Skeleton in Space Book 2)

by Andries Louws

  The ship around her shudders a bit, the internal compensators unable to fight the acceleration Solan is putting the vessel through in its entirety. Checking the sensor data streaming in from the onboard suite, she nearly gasps as she sees mountains move. What she had thought to be natural mountain ranges have shifted, leaving deep grooves and trails in their wake. Setting the sensors to perform a wide sweep, she finds that more and more mountains are moving. She knew that planetary Histaff infections have a tendency to cluster all the biomass and water in large clumps, but never learned that this is the end result. Moving mountains, capable of adapting to whatever situation they find themselves in.

  The general opinion that Histaff-infected planets are lost until they can get cleaned by forces much greater than what a rim world can muster starts to make sense now. How would a planetary defence force even begin to start combating something like this? Flicking through the preliminary sensor data, she sees a wide range of odd shapes. They all hold a roughly triangular shape, most likely a necessity due to their mind-boggling scale. Apart from the rough base form, she hasn’t seen two that are similar yet. One is made from sharply edged plates, a cone of upturned knives diverging from its highest point. Another is made from round plates, an amorphous blob covered in perfect circular chainmail. Yet another one looks like someone picked up a large ball of needles and supersized it while painting it white. Yet another monster moves like a kilometre high solid tank track, large structures of perpendicular bone acting like threads while smaller, apartment block sized plates fill in the ever-moving gaps.

  Setting the ship to start analyzing the mountainous movement patterns, she watches team two’s weapons impact the Histaff monstrosity far below. In the middle of the massive star-shaped lake is a mountain that is bristling with barrels, launchers, and large levers. Zooming in on the thing, she sees the first attacks hit home.

  The single remaining team seems unphased by the sudden loss of Team One on the surface. Fienak senses some subtle signs of distress from the way they communicate their progress, however. Having started with the most basic and simple of attacks - high-speed projectiles - they report minimal damage. Fienak spots only a single place where the volley of small slugs shot from high above even managed to as so much as crack the mountain’s white exterior.

  The following barrage of energy beam fire has even less effect. The white bone exterior manages to withstand the concentrated beams of infrared light with ease. Even the more exotic types of dangerous radiation shot at it do no visible damage. As Fienak waits for the team to switch out their weapons, she peers over at what Solan is doing. A look of extreme focus is in his eyes as he taps command after command into the sprawling array of screens projected around him. Stilling her own breathing and heart, she manages to reduce the blood rushing through her ears enough to overhear his soft mumbling for a few seconds at a time.

  “…no more access? They wouldn’t dare. Even my credit line? No, I do not have my card with me. No, I don’t have access to a bio-scan authenticator. Wouldn’t even work with this body, I think. I really don’t want to use those override codes, that would draw too much att…”

  Her hitched breathing causes her heart rate to spike, preventing her from hearing more of his mumblings. Fienak can’t help but smile to herself. Even the most powerful and influential in the galaxy apparently can’t easily get over involuntary switching bodies. She isn’t sure what has happened to the guy, but she is starting to form a picture. Idly tracing the black webbing that is still wrapped around her skull, she is both thankful and very scared of what the garment seems to be capable of.

  ‘Volley one and two no effect. Energy packet rounds ready to launch - Sergeant Third Class Kee’

  “Team two, volley three. Go,” she whispers in response. As she takes deep breaths to calm her oxygen-deprived heart, she observes the effect of the latest Volley. Only three of the patrol bikes are actually equipped with the plasma generators and magnetic containment batteries needed to fire plasma shots. The short lived containment field generators are activated, filled with plasma syphoned from the vehicles’ main generator, and launched from between the magnetic rails in short order. The three fragments of pure energy arc downwards, their relative velocity a snail’s pace compared to the previous two attacks. The three falling stars converge upon the white mountain, landing at exactly the same time in exactly the same spot.

  The effects are much more impressive than the previous volleys. A good tenth of the total mass of the mountain is blown upwards, dispersing into a fine red mist. Busily analysing the large volumes of sensor data streaming in, Fienak orders them to load and line up a volley of high explosive bombs. She also takes another deep breath and listens in on Solan again.

  “…less than I feared, that’s for sure. Don’t like it, though, don’t like it at all. The CHGS Purgatory is on its way, and I can’t even bribe that asshole of a Grandmaster. Damn pricks. Gotta get out of here first, though. Alright, Fienak!”

  Fienak fears she might have a heart attack when Solan suddenly calls her name. She quickly cancels the ship’s self destruct function that she accidentally triggered in her fright, and turns to the fat man.” Y-yes?”

  “Results?”

  “Yes, sir. Low caliber slugs had minimal effect. Anti-personnel lasers had no visible effect. Anti-armor plasma had a large effect, most likely due to the high moisture content of the tar-”

  “I know that! That’s something everyone knows. What are the specialisations of this particular infestation?”

  “Specializations, sir?”

  Solan stares her down again, once again looking at her with this odd mixture of emotions that Fienak can’t place. “Nevermind. Have you seen the movement patterns? Have Team Two interrogate the two unknown individuals.”

  Fienak blinks a few times, wondering what the man is planning. “Alright, sir…” Sending out new orders, she checks the Histaff movement patterns while team two stows their weapons. She sees that the Histaff mountains are moving, an ever-widening ring of massive creatures slowly making their way towards the massive lake team two is still hovering above.

  “The two unknown bodies are not on our scanners, sir.”

  “How the fuck are they not on our scanners? It was a skeleton and a naked chick, how can they hide from us?”

  Fienak shrugs helplessly as she trawls through more data. She does find an oddly round hole in the middle of a dust cloud that doesn’t seem to want to settle. She thinks about reporting it to Solan for a brief while, but something about the man sitting in the seat beside her stops her from pointing it out for now. Instead, she runs some more scans, noting the ship is now heading over to the lake at a rapid pace while slowing her heartbeat once more.

  “…him credit for. At least the hypocrite knows what's most important. This is just borrowed flesh, anyway. I won’t make it another millennium like this. Let’s just get close to the source and blow this ship's core, that should solve this problem long term. Yes, let’s do that. This is not my flesh, and I should be dead. They can hold them, while we approach. Yes, that is what needs doing. Just gotta find Douglas first, now where did…”

  Fienak goes pale. She quickly lets the most coolheaded of her personalities take the front seat. Her hands only shake for a single second before a life filled with military discipline takes over. Fienak knows a lot, and yet she knows very little. What she does know is that she is not keen on dying anytime soon.

  Chapter Twenty-One – Promotions and Growth Opportunities

  Douglas stares at the empty door frame. Despite how sturdy and massive it looked, it turned out to be a mere shell of thin metal foil. Just sheets of metal forming a hollow grid pattern. As a result, the entire door is gone, and only his ribs are covered to his satisfaction. Looking back at the two rotting cars, Douglas decides that they aren’t worth the effort. The calx inside of them hadn’t even been able to withstand the test of time, so no way is he going to cover his precious bones in the stuff.

&
nbsp; The next room contains another decayed diorama, this one a rotten scene depicting a part of a large vessel. He is sure that some interesting stuff should be happening here, but Douglas fails to spot anything that isn’t too far gone to be recognisable. He does see the shining door on the other end of the room, though. Clacking his teeth in contentment, he walks over and starts patiently covering his pelvic bone in metal, runes, and patterns.

  Evot and the other voice keep on talking, both seemingly pulling out all the stops. The SI voice even asks Evot to check on a few lesser-known rules for it, which Evot then happily does. They both cite law after law, one revision nullifying the other before they discover that that revision was subsequently revised at a later date.

  Douglas is done with his door not long after starting to sublimate the thing, and because he still has most of his legs to cover, he walks through the fourth room towards the latest door. Six doors and five rooms later, he is done. Every single area of his body is once again safely covered, and Douglas feels very secure indeed. He then sees his arms, still covered in the grey and brown tints of concrete, and he knows he just can’t let that be. Instead of the shining metal that's everywhere else, his arms now look ugly and stupid in comparison. Even the radiant blue lines and runes on top of the matte stone look dull in comparison.

  With an internal sigh, Douglas halts the flow of mana going to his arm and starts chipping away at the stone. He stops a few moments later, and instead carefully strips his arm bone clean with his Stone Moulding spell. Grinning at the amazing spell, he starts using the remaining doors to replace his armor.

  Four more doors and four more rooms later, Douglas has seen his fair share of rotten displays, and both his arms are now shining with a metallic luster. Finely designed mana channels and intricate patterns cover his arms, his joints especially carpeted in all kind of advanced actuating formations.

  He then stops fondling himself, and steps through the latest victim of his Sublimate and Stone Mould spells, the remnants of the door falling out of its frame behind him. Instead of yet another rotten scene, he sees a single desk in a small room. A heap of something is lying behind the desk, and a narrow and tall locker is placed in the corner of the room.

  “I’m done?”

  “…retrofitted that construct for a while… what, done?”

  “…won that case against the current rules in the higher court.”

  Evot and the SI both stop speaking as Douglas stands there, happily looking around the rough room.

  “What did you say, Douglas?”

  “I’m done! No more rooms.”

  “Did you make it through the GalaxSec Trainee assessment process with under four, thus three or fewer, incorrect answers?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then the base Synthetic Intelligence has to promote you to the entree trainee GalaxSec enforcer position.”

  “Good.”

  “Yeah, good job, bonehead!”

  “Thanks.”

  “Right, SI, my dear, please go ahead…”

  Douglas waits patiently as nothing happens. He looks around the small stone room and once again concludes that not much of interest is happening here.

  “The GalaxSec Regulation, Digital Version, does not have the method on file through which a new GalaxSec fulltime entree level trainee recruit can be added to the rank and file.”

  “Wait a sec!”

  Douglas decides to do so, even though he suspects that that command wasn't aimed at him.

  “Here, got it! They will be given the following items. Firstly, a standard, custom fitted, GalaxSec baseline uniform. Secondly, a…”

  Evot’s voice keeps coming from the walls around him, continuously droning on about something that he isn’t interested in.

  “…and finally, a copy of the GalaxSec handbook, 1st print edition, to be delivered when a new print run is initiated. Right, so knowing how this entire thing works, that new print run will probably happen never.”

  “You have my thanks. Please identify yourself so your revision can be added to the GalaxSec Regulation, Digital Version.”

  “Evot Gilihezal, happy to help!”

  “Three Evot Gilihezals found. Two deceased. One likely deceased. Are you four thousand three hundred and two years old?”

  “No?”

  “Have you digitized?”

  “No! How dare you even ask that?”

  “Are you a Histaff vector?”

  “No.”

  “Voice analysis indicates genuine confidence in truth. This base will temporarily accept that you are Evot Gilihezal, aged a hu-”

  “NOOOO!” Douglas settles his non-existent heart and relaxes his posture, slightly startled by the sudden loud scream. “I mean, sorry about that! Can we move on? Please don’t blurt out private information like that. What do we need to do next?”

  “Unknown.”

  “Let me guess. Because you don’t have the regulations?”

  “Correct.”

  “Right. I’ll get on that. Douglas, can you find like… a communicator or something? I want to get back to my documents, and I don’t want to be stuck talking into the wall like this. I only answered this thing because it kept ringing louder and louder.”

  “What?”

  “What do you see, Douglas?”

  “A room.”

  “And what is inside the room?” Evot asks, a slight hint of exasperation shining through her voice.

  “Desk, still person, cabinet.”

  “Okay. Please rifle through the cabinet for now.”

  Douglas does as she says, but finds the door locked.

  “Unauthorized access to GalaxSec Storage Unit Units is punishable by up to three standard-issue lifetimes in isolation.”

  “Haha, I was waiting for you to say that. In the case of a total personnel loss, there are several fallback regulations that come into effect. Please take note of…”

  And Douglas is being ignored again. He looks around the room some more, but apart from the silent heap of the odd creature behind the desk, there is nothing interesting at all. He is already covered in metal as best he can, so Douglas is at a loss for what to do. He knows by now that Evot is probably smart enough to know what to do, but she is too busy chatting with the other voice. Douglas doesn’t really want to interrupt her, so he instead decides to look through what the blue boxes have to say to him. The insistent flashing of the blue dot was getting pretty annoying, after all.

  [ Meditation IV lvl 34 ]

  [ Mana Control IV lvl 40 ]

  [ Mana Control IV has reached lvl 40; Arcanist 1/10 ]

  [ Mana Sense IV lvl 40 ]

  [ Mana Sense IV has reached lvl 40; Arcanist 2/10 ]

  [ Spell Shaping IV lvl 34 ]

  [ Engraving IV lvl 34 ]

  [ Mana Stone Production IV lvl 29 ]

  [ Magical Animation IV lvl 34 ]

  [ Mathematics IV lvl 32 ]

  [ Soul Binding IV lvl 17 ]

  Douglas’s eye flames splutter as he is genuinely surprised. He had been Soul Binding beings left and right, sure, and he also has spent hours upon hours casting the Stone Moulding and Sublimate spells to perfection, but this is something else. Two of his Arcanist class skills are already maxed, with only his Magical Control skill being at level one still. Douglas then decides that he really has to Animate and Control something soon, as he is itching to try out the myriad of new patterns that came with the Magical Control skill. Plans for the future made, Douglas asks to see what else is going on with him. The sounds of Evot and the Synthetic Intelligence arguing drones on, but the skeleton finds himself lost in reading all about himself.

  [ Name: Douglas ]

  [ Race: Arcane Skeleton ]

  [ Level: 30 (182,092,800/182,092,800 ]

  [ Class: Arcanist 2/10, Craftsman 1/4, Labourer 0/4, Fighter 0/4 ]

  [ HP: 2210/2210 ] [ HP/h: 0.786 ]

  [ MP: 25/3804 ] [ MP/h: 113 ]

  [ STR: 10 ]

  [ AGI: 7 ]

  [ CON
: 311 ]

  [ VIT: 41 ]

  [ INT: 82 ]

  [ WIS: 113 ]

  [ Arcane Skeletal Constitution (Human) ]

  [ Darkvision ]

  [ Universal Language ]

  [ Mana Reserve; +2984 MP ]

  [ Skull Armor; +45 CON ]

  [ Steel Armor; +253 CON ]

  Douglas then realizes that his new and improved mana stone filling his head can hold up to three times as much mana as his previous yellow stone. He also feels like there is something off about his stats. The sheer discrepancy between all the numbers tickles something in the back of his mind, but Douglas honestly only really cared about keeping himself in one piece, and magic. He only needs a lot of mana and a lot of constitution for that, so there is nothing wrong with his stat screen at all, he concludes. He has felt the weight of his armor on occasion, though. But then again, he has flown around using nothing but semi controlled decalcinate spells. Douglas thinks he will be able to cope, somehow.

  Then Douglas remembers that he had seen a screen telling him he could be a better magical skeleton a while ago. Scratching his metal and diamond-clad skull with a metal clad finger, he wonders if he still can do that.

  [ You have reached Arcane Skeleton max level. Your skills allow you the following options ]

  [ Show tier 1 races available ]

  [ Tier 3 races available: ]

  [ Armored Skeleton 0/30 ]

  [ Gem-filled Skeleton 0/30 ]

  [ Tier 4 races available: ]

  [ Greater Arcane Skeleton 0/40 ]

  [ Tier NAN/UNKNOWN races available: ]