The airlock cycles through, and I skip out into space, holding onto the hull as I make my way around to the access panel for the storage hold. I hit it with deft fingers, and it opens up, the gravity inside having become inversed or inverted (they are similar) to keep everything inside automatically.
I grab a couple of the high-powered lights like what I'd found in the station before and then jump across easily right into the hold.
“Oh wow!” “Can you do that?” “No way, not in zero-g!” “The Boss has some skills out here.” “You can say that again.”
They are talking over the comms and I can hear every word. It makes me grin. I can feel my ego getting bigger. +10 points.
At least, until I look around the hold and end up freak the freak out!
The entire place is PACKED!
Like, FLOOR TO FREAKING CEILING PACKED!
Crates, machines, paneling. There's only one small corner of the hold that doesn't have things in it yet, and the area around the batteries and capsule and the entry hole and far hatch are clear. Basically a slim corridor.
I instantly spot the bots hauling in a new machine, too. It’s big enough that it takes both of them. It takes me a few moments to recognize it, though. Its a CNC machine, enclosed for space. Cool.
But there's so much stuff! I've only been gone a little over 28 hours, and the place is more than 90% full! That's just freak crazy!
I bounce my way over to the bots as they set the machine down.
“Bot 1, Bot 2, discontinue previous orders and update latest inventory list and recharge.”
The bots turn to me with the ! Symbol again before they walk off after confirming. I'm really gonna have to take a look at that list.
But work comes first. The crew needs to be able to get in here too.
I go and check the batteries first, including Bub. Whoah, 97% full. The other batteries are already maxed out, as well. Cool. Plenty of power. I check the capsule's air and start up the gravity inside while the bots are hooked up to the computer.
From there I go back outside and pull out my multi-tool. I have to actually climb up the stacked crates to get to the ceiling and quick-mount the lights up on the ceiling before wiring them to one of the smaller batteries.
As soon as I give the command for them to come on, the entire hold is lit up. There's no atmosphere, so there's no light attenuation, and the shadows are deep and endless while the lights are bright enough that you don't want to look at them directly.
I’ve angled them to fill as much of the hold as possible.
Before heading back out to the tug, I go and download the updated inventory list and have the bots follow me before telling them to standby at the hole in the hull.
I quickly make the jump back to the tug, and slip through the airlock again without a moment of wasted time.
The faces of those who've been watching the monitors are bright and full of grins. Apparently my acrobatic prowess has inspired them all.
“Okay, let's get this done. Things are going to have to be switched up a bit though. The hold has gotten rather... full.”
I explain shortly, and Celes and a few others chuckle as they don their own helmets and go through their suit check with me watching over them like a mother hen. Finally, I pull out a length of braided, high-strength rope and tie them off in a chain, with me leading.
Good thing I do too. Several of them cannot even get a proper hold on the tug's hull and go flying Dutchman out into space. Thankfully I keep a firm hold the entire time and the force of their flailing isn't enough to dislodge me. But I do end up having to take the long way in, using the metal strut as a handhold to drag them inside with me.
I can tell their first taste of zero-g has shaken them, and they simply seem even more in awe that I'm able to move around so freely.
“See, I told you it would take some getting use to.”
Yep, that got me a big bunch of rep with this group. Once we get untied, I have them start bouncing around the now-limited space of the hold to get used to it. There's more than enough crates and boxes and machines to make sure they have hand and foot holds now.
Even Celes seems a little green around the gills, though. Without gravity it’s really hard to shake away the feeling of falling, and the vertigo it can produce. I do tell them that if they start feeling sick that I've turned on the gravity in the capsule, so they can take a break until they can go out again. Celes and two others make an admittedly slow run to the capsule. Heh. I get a laugh out of that.
Oh, the suffering of others! Amusing in some cases. They will have to deal with it though. There is no real time to baby them.
I finally turn back to the bots who are waiting for instructions.
“Go and unload the tug's hold. Place fuel, food and other supplies near the escape capsule. The rest are to go in the empty space in the back of the hold.”
My orders are registered within moments and the other crew members watch as they float out into space with their directional thrusters. Yeah, we really need to get suits with those. It would make zero-gravity so much easier.
Celes comes out a couple of moments later, looking better and less shaky, and actually comes up to apologize to me. I laugh and tell her not to worry about it. I also hand her the non-magnetic rope and tell her to tie it off inside the hold and string it out to the Tug to use as a hand railing and to help the bots unload the tug.
“I have to go check up on the status of the inventory. As you can tell, the bots gathered quite a lot of stuff while I was away.”
I'd told them about the bots during the long trip back here.
Celes nods and goes, yelling to the other guys to come and help her with unloading after they've gotten a little used to the conditions.
Ah, being able to hear others is great! I'm no longer space-deaf!
I head into the capsule and sit down in a seat before pulling up the inventory list. Most of it is the same as before. Bits, pieces, parts, electronics. What is new though are the machines. Atmosphere processors, batteries, gravity generators, power generators and transmission coils, lights, all sorts of processing and building/forming machines like the CNC machine from before. Nano-Assemblers and whole computer systems.
More robots. An entire stack of crates with 4 of the same multi-purpose worker bots in each. That's a big bonus right there. Most of the machines are marked 'in need of repair' though.
Then there're the processing machines. They're the largest ones in the hold. Like, material processing. Everything from raw ore to scrap. Along with an entire ice-water processor with tanks that is still in its crate, never opened or used.
Nice! We now have water storage!
The processors are like basic all-in-one smelters and foundries. Dump raw ore or scrap into one side, get out usable metal ingots or sheets or bundles of wire. Whatever you set it up to extrude as, it can do it.
Up to a 6 by 6 foot cube of solid steel. And they'll accept just about any metal up to... Monothetisium? Whatever the freak that is. From what I can tell it is an extremely hard and heavy metal that's produced on the particle-scale because a single atom of it has enough mass to have its own gravitational effect.
That's cool, and very creepy. Would be badass as an armor though. Assuming you could produce enough power to move even a thin sheet of it. I'm not even sure what it'd be used for!
Oh, it’s used for Jump Gates, apparently. I ask Celes and she asks one of the manufacturers of the crew.
Huh. Something about how a small ball of the metal smaller than a marble creates enough gravity to be felt and that it increases for some reason when an electric current is run through it or when it goes through a magnetic field. Or rather, it works both to increase and decrease its given gravity with either a positive or negative charge.
Okay, that's almost too technical, even for me.
Still interesting to know, though. Hmmm... Gravity control. That'd be a cool ability. I might have to look into that later.
Still,
I get back to looking. It’s quite a long list. With an overwhelming amount of 'stuff' in it. Some of it is immediately usable, which is nice. But most will take far longer to set up and use.
Now though, space is in a serious crunch. I actually let out a sigh and step back out of the capsule.
The crew is done with pulling all the materials out of the hold of the tug, and I nod my head when Celes gives her report.
“Good. Now, we need to go over here and get these crates I've marked. They are filled with four more worker bots each, and we're going to need a lot more manpower for this next bit.”
My works make them look at each other, but Celes simply grins and barks orders to get the people going. I call over the technicians and upload a copy of the modified bot programming I'd made for them and tell them to get the working bots plugged in and charged then to upload the code. All signed with me as the owner!
Mwhahaha. Who doesn't want to rule over a robot army! Hahahaha! Hehehehe!
Well, not really. All told, there were six crates with four bots apiece, so I get them numbered 3 through 26. Yep, easy to understand and remember! Heh. But with so many bots, having them going in and out of the capsule to report to the computer is no longer viable. So I decide to yank the computer out, opening up a bit more space in the cockpit of the capsule, and rebuild the computer as a large-sized terminal that anyone can access outside the capsule.
It’s ugly as all hell, but it works. I actually have the bots bring me some more pieces, so I've given it an upgrade, include a slipshod wireless transmitter/receiver. Its range isn't enough to reach the entire hold, but it'll be a big help for the bots. It also requires a bit more power, processing and memory, but those are all readily available.
All told, it's bigger than even the tug's computer when I'm done with it. In the meantime all the bots are activated and brought over to charge one at a time. Hm. I really need to make a larger recharging station for them soon. Otherwise they're going to end up standing in long waiting lines. Eh.
Another thing to add to the list.
“Okay, here's the deal guys. We're going to cut open the bulkheads between this hold and the two conjoining compartments. They are both holds of a similar size, but empty now. And we're going to cut an access through the hull on the right one for the tugs and any other ships we find.
“The bots found heavy plasma torches, and we also have the laser cutters from Site Prime. The bots are able to use the tools as well, so we're going to mostly use them for manual labor. Celes will lead the team in the left compartment and I'll be leading the other one.”
I'd called the crew together and outlined my plan. There wasn't enough space left anymore to bring the tugs into the hold, so we're going to open up more space. Several of them didn't like the idea, but there wasn't any other way. It had to be done.
Oh, and they'd gotten a major scare out of the body I'd found when I first went exploring. I never did decide to do anything about it; so it'd simply been floating and bouncing around the hold. We decided to wrap it up and toss it into space, angled toward the sun. Hopefully it'll burn up and not hit anything along the way. It was the most we could do.
We are all made of stardust anyway; so going back isn't a bad thing. Especially not after being left in a tin can for five hundred years.
We split into 2 groups to start work, taking 13 bots apiece along with the tools and lines for power and other things we'd need.
Cutting through a solid steel and composite bulkhead is both time consuming and a surprising amount of physical work. Cutting through the hull turned out to be even harder.
Multiple layers of composite panels, structural support, insulation and armoring. Nearly totaling three feet thick.
Just how the hell did the escape capsule survive after punching through all of that?! Or maybe the hole was blasted there before and the capsule only scraped through it. Yeah, that might be more likely.
All told, the work to expand the hold takes hours. We end up having to take brakes in a rotation for food and rest because of how strenuous it turns out to be. Even Celes has to stop, though I don't. I keep at it with a plasma torch in hand for almost the entire time, only handing off my torch to recharge my Psi or Stamina; well, mostly Stamina.
The work is of a much more physical nature than a mental one, so my limited stamina is sucked up like a sponge. I try adapting techniques of using my telekinesis to help, but it doesn't really translate over effectively.
At least until I hit on the idea of trying to convert my raw Psi into Stamina. It isn't a new idea, or even a new ability. Almost every VR has some sort of conversion ability for mages and others to convert one Applied Attribute into another.
My problem is is that I don't have any Aspects or Aptitudes for doing so. All I can try to do is force it through my own effort. Which is hard. Really hard. So hard I nearly drop the plasma torch I'm still using and just about cut my damned fool leg off.
I end up making a short Aspect Web based around concentration and try to do it that way. But without the bonus of an Aptitude... Well, lets just say it was a waste of time. It not only sucked up my Stamina faster, but also used up large chunks of my Psi every time I attempted it.
I'm either missing something or the system isn't built to work that way. I’m betting the former.
But I set it aside. This isn't the time or the place to experiment right now. I have work to do.
-|- -|- -|-
Hours later, and the others have been sent to rest and sleep. I'm laying down the last of the metal plates, welding them into place where we'd cut the bulkhead walls out so that we have a flat flooring.
Let me just say this now, but using a grinder in space is HARD. Freakin' frackin' hard. And that goes double for the zero-gravity conditions. Even the bots couldn't do the work with the grinder. But we couldn't leave jagged shit all over the place on the floors and most of the walls. That'd just leave accidents waiting to happen.
Finally though, I shut off the grinding head of my multi-tool and put it away; standing up to look around.
It had taken seemingly forever, but the hold has been opened up. Three times the space to play with! Several new Bub batteries had been pulled out and linked up to provide the power for all of the robots and our tools, as well.
The longest part was cutting through the hull in order to make a space big enough for the tugs to come in. Almost the entire outer wall of a compartment had been cut out in chunks. We plan to reuse the material later, so it’s stacked against the far wall. My tug has already been brought inside as well, providing much needed access to its living facilities.
Now that it’s done, the bots are back on hauling duty. Material and crates to the far side, machines on the other, and an impromptu bay in front. Everything is stacked up in neat rows and columns so we can get to anything that we need. Yeah, so much better.
I finally make my way back to the tug and up to the cockpit. Celes is sleeping in the chair in front of the mining console, so I grab the pilots seat and close my eyes for some much-needed rest.
“Nice work out there, boss.”
I hear her mumble just before I'm out like a light.
I sleep for about eight hours before snapping awake. I'm a bit stiff, but not all sore; and I find the crew out and about, keeping busy. There's even a covered plate waiting on the table for me. It’s good food, already a bit cold though. Not that it matters. Real food is a treasure.
Once I get suited back up, I go outside and check on things. Things have improved greatly. The crew has been working on fixing up some of the usable machines as well as starting work on a couple of new, larger solar arrays for the solar panels we'd brought from the planet.
We'll need a lot more power for the days to come.
But I already have plans, so I call them all over.
“It’s time to go get the other tug. We'll all go, along with some of the bots. We'll fold them up to save space and use them as needed.”
The others are all rea
dy and good to go. After resting in cramped conditions, they are eager for a bit more living space. Even if the tug isn't usable as a ship.
We pile into the Tug along with five of the bots. I pilot the tug out and around. It’s only a little over a mile, but in space that's a fairly big chunk of territory.
It only takes a few minutes by Tug, which is a lot better than going on foot.
Back in the bay, they stare in awe at the massive water tanks and machinery. I explain to them the problem with it all, though. Ice water had busted every tank and just about every pipe before sublimating out into space. So none of it is even close to usable without a full rebuild. Even worse than the life support on Drune.
Next up, the other tug. Large parts of it had been pulled apart and left scattered around the bay. We cannot even find all the pieces of it. They were probably in the nearby workshops when the station was attacked. The crew also stays well away from all the corpses of the Drex.
Universe Online - Enter the Game: Complete Edition Page 20