Star Conqueror: An Epic Space Adventure

by J. A. Cipriano

  “I understand, Clara,” I said thoughtfully, tapping the side of my head. “I’m in the same boat, but all I’ve got to deal with is what was in your head. I only have to process all of your memories in my brain, but you’ve got yours and mine to deal with.” I put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “But we’ll figure it out. We just need to hole up for a minute, get our heads together, and meet up with Tulip’s contact.”

  Tulip frowned a bit, her tail swishing with concern, but nodded. “As much as I want to press on, I trust your lead on this, David.” She was about to consult her tablet but stopped herself and focused on Clara. “Clara, you are … were an administrator here. Where can we hide off the security net until the heat dies down?”

  “Actually, my dear,” Clara said with a growing smile, “I do know of such a place, and as the fates would have it, it’s not far at all.” Bouncing in place one or twice on the springy ground, she began to skip sprightly off, her wings folded tightly behind her. “This way! Come on!”

  I flashed a smile at Tulip, who shared that smile, and we took off after Clara. She was surprisingly fast, almost as fast on her feet as I was with my enhanced physical prowess, but we still caught up with her after a moment.

  As Clara had said, none of the spider clusters and scrubbers in our path paid us the least mind, and no hover vehicles passed us. It wouldn’t last, but it lasted long enough for us to get to our new destination only a block away, though we wound up moving in the opposite direction of where Tulip’s HUD indicator marked our contact’s location.

  Still, it was close, and this way, we should be able to get there without leading a Matriarch and her honor guard to this train operator’s front door.

  As for where Clara had led us, it was a nondescript metal door, the same gold color of the other ground-level doors we had passed, in the side of yet another gleaming white building. Matriarchy complexes were all like this, hard to navigate on the ground level due to the sameness of the city at this level. Looking at it from above (or from the spy scans in our intel packet), the entire thing was far more distinctive.

  Clara pulled her Wander out as we grouped around the door. “You know, I find it strange that I always maintained this little place and invested so much energy to keep it hidden from the rest of the Matriarchs.” She tapped the tip of the weapon against the security panel beside the door. The red light on the panel turned green with a soft beep. “I justified it to myself as a place I could get away from the grind, but I think now perhaps I knew this day would eventually come.”

  The door let out a faint pressurized hiss before sliding open. Fluorescent lights automatically blazed to life, illuminating the surprisingly homely looking chamber beyond. Clara bent low in an elegant curtsey, gesturing into the room. “Please, after you.”

  Tulip bounded right in, already tapping at her tablet, and I was right behind her. “Thank you, Clara,” I told her as she closed the door and locked it tight.

  “You’re welcome, dear, but this is only the start of the things I hope to repay you with.” Clara pursed those perfect lips, a faint blush on her cheeks. “I owe you … everything.” She cleared her throat and regained her composure. “But please, sit a spell, make yourselves at home. I know it may not seem a wise place to hide, but I assure you, I built this place outside of the Matriarchy’s auspices. I simply … needed it.” She frowned a bit at that but shook the thought off. “I do have some stored comestibles and fine beverages here if you need refreshment.”

  Now that we were inside, the chamber was bigger than it first seemed. It was still fairly small, no larger than a large apartment, but well-appointed. What reminded me of a small mess area on a Star Conqueror ship lined one wall, complete with a food reconsitutor and a refrigeration unit, while piles of brightly colored cushions and blankets were artfully arranged around a round center table. The walls were classic Matriarchy white, but you could barely see them over the hung tapestries and quilts. Maybe Clara had subconscious memories of her hidden past, because many of the decorations reminded me of things I had seen from her past life.

  Tulip looked back at us from the far side of the room and let out a soft sigh of relief. “No security sensors, bugs, or tracking devices detected at all.” When Clara looked offended, sniffing as she held up her nose, Tulip waved her hands defensively. “Oh no, I didn’t check because … look, I trust you, and David trusts you. I just wanted to be sure the Matriarchy hadn’t found out about this place since the last time you were here.”

  “Well, I suppose I can forgive you.” Even Tulip, who hadn’t seen into Clara’s mind as I had, caught the overexaggerated way she held her nose high. She couldn’t maintain it though, letting out an angelic laugh before shaking her head. “Oh, it’s fine. Besides, while I’ve swept the place personally, I could very likely have missed something. After all, you are the best hacker in the galaxy.”

  “I do my best.” Tulip stretched languidly and smiled before leaping atop the softest looking of the bean bags. Curling up, she laid her chin on her crossed arms and looked at us. “You have excellent taste in furniture, Clara.”

  I laughed and shook my head, taking a seat on a pile of cushions myself. “Just remember, we can’t linger too long. We don’t want Turner blowing up the planet.”

  Clara tutted as she sashayed to the kitchenette. “While I would be glad to see the Matriarchy purged from this world, that’s very much throwing the baby out with the bath water.” She pulled a stack of three boxes, marked with an alien language I certainly didn’t understand, balanced in one palm and a large, frosty glass bottle in the other. “I would expect, if the security units follow their standard procedure, that they will spread out from the point we battled in less than an hour.”

  I hadn’t realized how hard we had been going since we landed, and it was an amazing relief to get off my feet and rest my muscles. “Then we need to make the most of my time.” I nodded towards Clara. “The food … that is food, right? … will be great, and we should look at the weapons we salvaged.” I snapped my fingers. “And spend power credits, of course.”

  Clara slid the boxes into the food reconstiutor as she smiled at me. “Indeed. As I hadn’t yet had a solid meal this cycle myself, it will do us all well.” She arched an eyebrow. “Spend credits? Wait, you can spend those … without approval?”

  Tulip laughed. “Well, of course! Why couldn’t we?”

  Confusion passed over Clara’s face. “Ah, well, the allocation of power credits is a very controlled process in the Matriarchy. We are allowed to only keep enough credits from battle to upgrade the abilities the High Priestess wishes us to upgrade, and the upgrade systems themselves are locked in our suits. They can only be accessed with the personal authorization codes of the most powerful of the Most High’s inner circle.” She stopped suddenly as understanding dawned on her face. “They fear us and our power, I see that now.”

  I gave Tulip a meaningful glance and she nodded, reading my intentions without a word. “Well, Clara, it’s your lucky day, because you’re friends with Null-K now. While the meals finish constituting, why don’t you come over here and let Tulip fix all your problems?”

  19

  While the Matriarchy had some fine programmers and security people, the security they had enabled on Clara’s ANGL-980 power suit wasn’t nearly as secure as they hoped it was. Probably because they simply trusted in the chains that bound their Matriarchs to them, expecting they would never bother trying to hack their suits. For Tulip, it was child’s play, and she had Clara’s suit fully unlocked before we were done with our food.

  Speaking of that food, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, some kind of purple meat with a green crust of herbs and spices, with a bubbling golden sauce that had flakes of, well, I think actual gold in it. While it wasn’t identifiable, the meat smelled like beef and the sauce had a spicy, tangy aroma. Put together, the roasted what-ever-it-was with sauce tasted fantastic, melting in my mouth like the most tender roast beef. The clear beverag
e in the bottle definitely wasn’t water, but it tingled on the way down and tasted sweet and delicious.

  It sure beat the hell out of any MREs I’d ever eaten in the Marines.

  “Best tzin’kra steak I’ve had in a long time,” Tulip purred. “I hope this doesn’t make you want to switch sides, David, but Resistance meals aren’t usually this good in the field.”

  I wiped my mouth with a napkin Clara had produced from a drawer. “While the food is tempting, don’t worry. The Matriarchy may have a better spread, but they don’t have you.”

  Tulip blushed a little as she beamed at me, Clara studying our banter with some interest. The ex-Matriarch cleared her throat after a moment as she stood gracefully. “Well, I think I am going to actually look at what I can do with my suit’s systems now. While I don’t have many stored credits, I have no idea what it is I can truly do. Maybe there’s something small but useful I can upgrade.”

  I nodded. “Good idea. We need to sort our own suit upgrades, and I want to get a good look at the weapons we found.” Glancing at my suit’s chronometer, I continued, “And when we finish up, we should be in the clear on the security net.”

  With that settled, we got down to it.

  Checking my HUD, I took stock of what credits we had collected from our brawl with the Elites. Interestingly enough, I noted that we also absorbed power credits from the spider bots the hacked scrubbers had cleared. All in all, between those higher-ranked Quib Elites and those masses of bots, I was with a grand total of two-hundred-fifty-five power credits to spend.

  The obvious place to start was with my Dragon tree. There were three new options now available now that I had Dragon Will unlocked.

  * * *

  Five Fingered Death Swipe

  Cost: 150 power credits

  Once activated, all dragon form claw attacks inflict 100% extra damage and penetrate 50% of a target’s armor for 5 seconds

  10 seconds dragon form duration expended per activation

  * * *

  Enhanced Dragon Will

  Cost: 450 power credits

  Increases mental fortitude and strength while using Dragon Will

  Increases chance of a successful soulbond

  Passive Upgrade

  * * *

  Dragon Form Duration

  Cost: 200 power credits

  Increases your dragon form duration by 30 seconds

  Passive Upgrade

  * * *

  This wasn’t a tough choice for me. I obviously couldn’t afford Enhanced Dragon Will, and while the numbers on Five Fingered Death Swipe were amazing considering how powerful my claw attacks already were, both abilities were dependent on my ability to be in my dragon form. Hell, the Death Swipe burned dragon form time for its huge damage boost.

  So, obviously, the more duration I had, the longer I could use my most powerful abilities. And, maybe more importantly, I would be in touch with the dragon that much longer. With how I saw the world, smelled the world, just how powerful I felt … I wanted that sensation to last as long as possible.

  I purchased Dragon Form Duration without a second thought.

  That still left me with a good fifty credits and change to spend, and while part of me wanted to bank all fifty to save for Enhanced Dragon Will, I decided to check my Assault tree just in case I found something useful for cheap.

  Fortunately, there were some open options, including the baseline activated ability. I’d have to buy it anyway to advance much further, so I did a quick review of my options.

  * * *

  One Shot, One Kill

  Cost: 10 power credits

  Once activated, all weapon damage is increased by 200% for 5 seconds

  Power Cost: 2% of maxmium

  2 minute cooldown

  * * *

  Alpha RX Power Reactor

  Cost: 25 power credits

  Improved suit reactors increase total power regeneration by 10%

  Passive Upgrade

  * * *

  Improved Shield Frequency Generator

  Cost: 50 power credits

  Modulating shield harmonics increase shield efficiency by 20%

  Passive Upgrade

  * * *

  While the Shield Frequency Generator upgrade was nice and one of the first I had purchased in the actual game, it was another instance where the Ascension build made previously vital options not nearly as nice. With so much raw damage reduction, shield efficiency upgrades were less useful. Well, even if One Shot, One Kill wasn’t that tempting, I needed to get the rest of the tree opened up, and the Alpha RX reactor was just a smart move. No power means a quick death in this part of the galaxy. Thankfully, even after taking both abilities, I had some leftover power credits, to put toward Enhanced Dragon Will. The ability was calling my name, especially after seeing what good the normal version had done for Clara.

  Tulip was humming away, seeming to have zero problems picking out her upgrades, but I wasn’t surprised, since she probably knew exactly what build she was going for and just needed the points to make it happen. It was a far cry from what I was doing, using a new build I was pretty sure would be better in the long run, and well, for real life. Clara though …

  The ex-Matriarch had been pacing this whole time, chewing on the once-perfectly manicured nail of her thumb, golden eyes locked on her wrist screen. “Oh, sweet goddess, I simply cannot decide. I never realized just how many options were available for me. I keep staring and thinking and weighing options and …” She looked at Tulip and me helplessly. “How do you deal with all these choices? What if you choose the wrong option and it winds up getting someone hurt and…?”

  She was practically hyper-ventilating, the façade of utter confidence she had been putting on totally shattered. In my worry, I got to my feet, Tulip right behind me, and walked over to her, putting my hands gently on her shoulders. Tulip, well, she did her Fertish thing, petting the ex-Matriarch’s long platinum blonde hair soothingly.

  “Shush,” Tulip said with a purr. “It’ll be okay. Freedom, well, it’s a hard thing. Remember, I went through the girls’ camps like you did. I know how frightening it can be to no longer have them making every decision for you.”

  “But it’s a better way,” I said, smiling at her. “What good is life if you can’t actually live it?” I nodded slowly as Clara seemed to calm a little. “And we’re here to help you. You can ask us about your options, or if you just want general advice on how to work up a build that works for you …?”

  Clara put one hand over mine, squeezing it thankfully as she reached back to touch Tulip lightly on the side. “Thank you, truly, both of you.” She chewed her lip a moment. “If I were to simply ask your opinion of my choices, I fear I would simply drop into those old, bad habits, darlings, picking what you think is best. However, teaching me the best way to grow my powers is great because I love to learn.”

  I took a step back, turning my hand to take hers. Leading her to the cushions, I sat down, Tulip following like a petting train right behind Clara, and gestured for them both to sit. After we had all settled down, I realized Clara either had pretty much the same concept of personal space as Tulip, which is to say none, or she was following Tulip’s lead because she cuddled up against me.

  I cleared my throat. “Okay, well, Tulip, you jump in if you have more to add,” I began, “but the core principle of most successful build plans is specialization.”

  Tulip nodded in agreement, stroking Clara’s free shoulder. “Right. With how powerful energy weapons and Matriarch magic is, you can’t expect to be a jack-of-all-trades soldier and survive. That’s why we work in squads. We each pursue our specialties and thus provide a critical piece of our puzzle.”

  I nodded. “And sometimes that means we may not be well-suited for a mission and have to sit it out. Turner is all armor and explosives, and that would have been a liability with this infiltration mission.” I smirked. “No one needs to make a big loud explosion when they’re trying to be stealt
hy.”

  Clara nodded slowly. “I know of this mission, from your memories. You need our, well, the Matriarchy’s ship cloaking technology.” She nestled a little closer to me and smiled. “You know, David, you are incredibly warm. So soothing to rest against.”

  “Isn’t he though?” Tulip purred, her head bobbing enthusiastically. “I think it’s the dragon inside him, but just wait until you’ve had a chance to have him inside of you! Such a tremendous lovemaker!”

  I was already starting to blush. I mean, I was very happy to know that Tulip had been more than satisfied with my performance, but that wasn’t the usual thing you talked about with other people. Well, on Earth. Maybe Tulip was right, and humans were overly prudish, because Clara didn’t seem to be offended.

  “Oh really?” She grinned conspiratorially back at the catwoman, and I wondered if I should be happy or afraid. “You must tell me more, sister …”

  Well, at least Tulip wasn’t being jealous that another amazingly beautiful woman was clinging so closely to me.

  I cleared my throat loudly, fighting with my blush as I struggled to stay on topic. After all, the last thing I wanted to do was get drawn off topic and get caught with my pants down as it were. “Hey, focus on the mission for now. We can discuss, uh, getting to know each other better biblically later.”

  The two women let out a gale of laughter and I couldn’t help but chuckle myself. They did quiet and get back on task though. Clara arched a delicate eyebrow as she asked, “So, you are excellent at covert operations, Tulip, for obvious reasons, while David here is a front-line soldier, but not so over-burdened with heavy armor to be useless here?”