Condition
Evolution
Book Four
By
Kevin Sinclair
Copyright © 2021 Kevin Sinclair
All rights reserved
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and situations portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination.
The Author has no medical experience whatsoever and is in no way offering dietary or health advice. Any situation herein, are purely of the authors imagination.
All resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.
For more Information email:
[email protected]
First edition 2021
Thanks
Thanks first and foremost goes to my wife, who without her support, none of this would be possible. From being alpha reader and editor, to help with all aspects of this crazy journey we have embarked on.
As always, I’d like to thank my children, Ewan, Lydia, William and Alexander. Just for existing and bringing me pride and joy.
To the Guildmasters, for all your help, support and friendship. Just a thoroughly fantastic group of people.
To my beta readers, Denny Johnson, Jeff Walsh, Joe Jelliffe, Liam Johnson and Cody Whitfill for your time and amazing feedback.
To my Editors, Andi Marlowe and Victoria Sinclair for your excellent work. Gaiusprimus for some amazing proofreading. And Eko for yet another amazing cover!
Glossary
A handy reference, to help navigate the galaxy through Shaun’s garbled use of the English language.
Bottling it: Loss of courage at the last moment.
Dicky Radge: To become incredibly upset and lose all
composure.Similar to a temper tantrum.
Jammy: Lucky / fortunate.
Manky: Dirty and unpleasant
Snaffled: The hasty acquisition of an item, without
permission
Mug: Gullible, easily swayed, foolish.
Nutter: Prone to unbalanced and erratic behaviour.
Contents
Glossary
Chapter 1 Hiding in the Dark
Chapter 2 Handy Skills
Chapter 3 For God’s Sake
Chapter 4 Fade to Black
Chapter 5 New Friends
Chapter 6 Float like a Butterbean
Chapter 7 Going Nowhere Fast
Chapter 8 Tools of the Trade
Chapter 9 Astridoid
Chapter 10 The Curtains are a-Twitching
Chapter 12 Rufus the Doofus
Chapter 13 Mother Knows Best
Chapter 14 I’m Omni Gonna Say This Once
Chapter 15 Only the Lonely
Chapter 16 Fight Club
Chapter 17 Spare Ribs in Kim Do Sauce…18
Chapter 18 Dual POV Dies For Now
Chapter 19 Stockholm Syndrome
Chapter 20 The Plan
Chapter 22 Ship Shape
Chapter 23 Choices
Chapter 24 The Message
Chapter 25 No Contest
Chapter 26 Dental Work
Chapter 27 Be My Frankenstein
Chapter 28 The Great Leveler
…Incoming from Shaun…
Kevin Sinclair
Coming Soon…
The LitRPG Guild
More LitRPG Guildmasters Titles
LitRPG Group
Chapter 1
Hiding in the Dark
The journey through the Dark Sector was uneventful. We passed several more of the gargantuan space stations, all of which looked identical to Beler 3103. Other than those, the whole place was just like any other part of the galaxy we had been through.
Even so, anxiety coursed through me as we approached Accre, the home planet of these rogue Fystr. Ember stood by my side on the bridge, her hand in mine, as we watched the planet grow closer. So reminiscent of Earth, with green and blue hues striped through with white wisps of cloud. Details you would expect from an inhabited planet slowly began to reveal themselves. What surprised me most was the lack of sprawling metropolises; in fact, it seemed that most of the planet consisted of dense forests and open meadows, pockmarked with the occasional small settlement.
We descended, taking all of our ships down to the surface. While I’d have preferred to keep some cover up in orbit, at this point it didn’t really matter. If something untoward were to happen, there was fuck all we could do against these guys. Plus, we were definitely better suited to fight out any issues that arose on the surface. Our space battle game was average at best.
Once the ships had all landed, we received a communication to head out and join them, preferably unarmed. Damn did it hurt to leave Havok on the ship. He ranted angrily in my mind about what a bad idea it was, but I felt pretty confident they wouldn’t do anything to us. They could’ve shot the shit out of us at any point, from our first contact.
The door hissed open and all those concerns were swept from my mind, as I took in Accre firsthand. I was blown away by how beautiful the place was. Like someone had taken all of the best parts of Earth, then multiplied them tenfold. The weather was a perfect temperature, warm without causing discomfort, and complemented by the gentlest of breezes passing by. The sky was almost clear, with the occasional fluffy cloud floating lazily by.
Ember’s loud exclamation broke me from my reverie. “Fuck me, Shaun! It's gorgeous here.” I chuckled at her.
“It’s like a little slice of paradise,” I agreed, before setting off down the ramp. Calegg and Elyek were with us as we headed toward this fateful meeting.
Six Fystr waited patiently for us, a few yards back from the ramp. They were as you would expect: very tall, but these guys were dressed in grey robes, like monks and appeared non-threatening. Which was a huge contrast to every Fystr we’d had the pleasure of meeting so far. Just before we reached them, I spoke quickly into Ember's mind. “Watch my back, if you know what I mean.”
“I never know what you mean, but I'll always watch your back. Such a nice back,” she quipped and proceeded to pat said back.
We were greeted by the guy who I’d spoken to over the comms shortly after our great escape from the Galactic Empire.
“Welcome to Accre.'' He spread out his arms, gesturing at our surroundings, a warm, welcoming expression on his face. If I’m being honest, it creeped me out a little. Never trust anyone who seems that nice. They always want something.
Nevertheless, I nodded to him. “Hey there, how’re you all doing? This is a bloody nice planet you got yourselves here. Good find.”
His smile grew larger. “Oh, we didn't find Accre. We made it ourselves.”
“Oh right, like terraforming. I’ve heard of that before, nice job.” I stuck my thumb up to emphasize my approval.
“Ah, not quite. We actually removed a moon of acceptable proportions from the largest gas giant in this planetary system. We placed it closer to the star at the exact orbit we desired,” he said, pointing to the bright orb in the sky. “Once we achieved that, it was then just a matter of terraforming the place to our liking. Do you like what you see?” He smiled, his voice calm and friendly.
“No, it's not too shabby at all. I'm Shaun by the way, and I have to admit, it's more than a bloody surprise to meet Fystr all the way out here.”
The robed Fystr grimaced slightly. “As I mentioned in our communications, we no longer go by the name Fystr. We are the Apochros. Beyond that, my name is Jezai
, and it is indeed a surprise to meet you too. We have prepared our hall with refreshments. I will introduce you to the other members of the Apochros Council of Elders, and if you don’t mind, you can introduce us to your other notable members,” he said, indicating the approaching captains from our ships.
“Yeah, sure. It sounds nice, as long as the grub isn’t too weird. I’ve seen some crazy ass stuff, flying around this galaxy, I can tell you.”
Jezai laughed. “I am sure we will have food that meets with your approval, Shaun. Please follow me.” He gestured down the quaint street, setting off with his friends in tow. I quickly welcomed Astrid, Rufus, William and Wulek before we all followed deeper into their town, still marveling at the surroundings. Most ironically, the place almost resembled a quaint country village, for what I assumed to be the base for potentially some of the most powerful aliens in the galaxy. There could not have been more than 200 buildings in the whole area, each with plenty of space around it and no roads, just steppingstone pathways with lush, fertile grasses and plants.
We reached the largest building we had seen so far and were led through an ornately carved wooden door. Inside we found a large open space with a stone floor, and looking up I saw a vaulted timber roof, but most the most interesting feature of all was in the center of the room. An impressively long trestle table covered with a selection of buffet food. My eyes lit up. Did these guys somehow know my weakness for canapes?
Once Jezai had led the five Apochros to the other side of the table, he addressed us all loudly. “Please! Honored guests! Take a seat and enjoy the food on offer.”
Initially, there was a little hesitation from all the crewmates, apart from William, who almost ran to the table. He lifted a jug and gave it a sniff. An expression of disappointment creased his face, but he poured himself a cup anyway. Following his cue, we all took a seat at the table.
“Please, fill your plates and enjoy,” added the female.
Not wanting to be rude, I loaded my plate up with the food that looked least likely to kill me. I had to admit, most of it looked damn tasty, and the smells were amazing. Once we’d filled our boots and we had introduced everyone, Jezai got down to business and began the more probing conversation we were all really here for. “You have made quite the journey to make it here. We have many questions to ask. As you can imagine, being hidden for so long, this day fills us with both joy and intrigue, but also a certain amount of trepidation.”
“Yeah, we can relate to that one. We’ll do our best to answer whatever questions you have.”
“I see you have many races in your crew.”
“Not always,” I quipped lamely, interrupting Jezai.
“You sometimes don't?”
“Sorry,” I chuckled, “we always do. My bad jokes take some getting used to. Just sometimes you can't see all of the crew. We have Veiletian members on board, like Elyek here. I’m guessing you know of their ability to turn invisible?”
“Ah! An attempt at humor,” he replied, looking anything but amused.
Ember groaned a little. “You don't know the half of it,” she said, then added a smile.
Jezai smiled back at her. “Nonetheless, it is an interesting ability and one I have not witnessed before in a developed being. We don’t get out much and remain an insular community with a tendency to only worry about those who live in our little section of the galaxy.”
“It seemed to be a pretty big section as we traveled in here,” I probed.
“Comparatively speaking, we are small,” Jezai said with finality.
“Then how the hell are you being so successful at keeping the Galactic Empire at bay?”
“Overall, we are far more advanced than the Galactic Empire. Beler 3103 is part of our furthest outpost system. Its main purpose is to act as a basic first line of defense, an alert system if you like. Beyond that, you will find a denser system of Beler Stations, all of which act as a net of sorts, intended to prevent a Fystr attack.
“The Galactic Empire dreams of taking the Apochros region for themselves. While they do occasionally attack and manage to take one of the outer Belers at great expense to themselves, it is an empty threat and of little consequence.
“The Beler stations are unmanned, their function being to slow down an incoming enemy and to send an automated report to us detailing the composition of the enemy. We can then send out a fleet, adequate to retake it quickly. The Empire licks their wounds and tries again a year or two later. They are under the impression that they have achieved a great feat by taking these outposts. Little do they realize they have yet to reach our next layer of defense, which they will find far more formidable. It has been custom designed to defend against the Fystr, should that fateful day ever come.
“So, yes. In conclusion, we have nothing to fear from the Galactic Empire. Our main concern at present time is how were you able to find us? How were you able to travel this far away from Fystr-controlled space?” He spoke smoothly. There was no sign of arrogance in his voice, he just sounded concerned.
“We’re carrying out military contracts, so we can grow and train our crew, and still hope to attract more members. Ultimately, we want to take out the Fystr and retake our home planet, Earth. I mean, I know this might sound delusional, but we have grand plans to free all planets suffering at the hands of Fystr suppression.
“Oh, and while we’re while we’re at it we hope to free the Veilitians and Torax from the oppression of the Empire, and anyone else suffering at their hands.” I fell silent, satisfied that I had got all of that off my chest, but feeling a little ridiculous at the same time.
The Apochros all looked at me with a mixture of expressions, ranging between amusement and amazement.
“That is an impressive ambition. How goes it so far?” asked a scarred but still handsome Apochros, who had given his name as Fiekela. His expression was one of amusement.
“Let’s just say we’re hunted by pretty much everyone in the galaxy right now. But to be fair, that was happening anyway. The Fystr will not stop until we are all dead, and the Galactic Empire would have attempted to capture and hand us over. The only real difference that our quest has made is that now the Galactic Empire has their own reasons for wanting us dead.” I grimaced.
“So, what are you intending to do now?” Fiekela asked.
“That’ll need some thinking on,” I laughed. “I suppose it’d be great if we could stay here a little while, if you’ve no objections? We’ve an injured crewmate that needs attention. He is the Fystr caretaker that enlightened us to what was going on. We’d be grateful if you could offer any assistance to get him back to health. He’s in a bad way, thanks to being tortured by his fellow Fystr.”
“You have him with you? The caretaker that ascended you?” Jezai asked, taken aback.
“Sure we do. The Fystr had him imprisoned on their ship, but we fought to get him back.”
A blonde female Apochros named Galivea spoke. “How did you manage to retrieve him?”
“The same Fystr that imprisoned Ogun caught up with us around a week ago. Not a full fleet or anything, just two of their fastest Hunter ships with 40 Fystr in all, led by Heiliun the Great, Eighth Commander of some shit or other. Anyway, we beat the shit out of them, took their ships and recovered Ogun,” I summarized.
“Did they surrender?” two people asked at once.
A presence appeared in my mind at the same time. Ignoring the question, I shouted loudly to all of the Apochros in front of me. “I’m not even gonna check who that is, but you need to get the fuck out of my head, now!” The gentle pressure I’d felt suddenly left.
“Impressive! You were able to feel my presence,” Galivea announced, not perturbed in the slightest that she had been caught. “How long have you been able to use your mental abilities? Can you speak mind to mind yet?”
“Which question would you like me to answer? Fystr and ships, or mental abilities?” I said, feeling the well of anger bubbling inside me.
“Ships,
please,” Jezai said.
“Righto! First off, it wasn’t a space battle. We fought on a supply station, a day out from Beler 3103.”
There was a collective gasp.
“They have followed you this far? You may have led them to us!” Fiekela snapped. The first cracks in the armor of the supposedly peaceful Apochros.
“Whoa, hang on a minute. I really don’t think we have. The ones who found us must have been a very advanced force given the timings. We all probably need to speak with Ogun when he wakes. He’ll know more of their movements than we do right now.”
“Very well. We can be patient and explore this further when the caretaker regains consciousness,” Jezai said. “For now, please explain to us how you survived against 40 elite Fystr warriors? They are unparalleled in battle. So it is exceedingly difficult to believe that a force of hindered, even with other races assisting, would be able to stand against them.”
Ember snorted at that, and I had to agree with her sentiment. Fucking Fystr, no matter what they called themselves, were always underestimating us. I took a deep breath before answering. “It’s a mistake to take Uprising’s skillsets and expertise lightly. We have Veilitians who can turn invisible, along with being total cold-blooded killers when the occasion calls for it. Then we have the Torax who have an affinity with fire, including being fucking laserproof! Then to top it all off, we have a fine collection of humans who have all developed a higher level of mental ability. Astrid, Rufus and a few others have become pretty strong.” I gestured to the two captains.
Fiekela was the one to reply to my statement, and I was beginning to dislike the dude. “While you may consider yourselves strong, I do not think you understand the power of an elder Fystr. Heiliun alone should be able to beat your little army.” I definitely sensed a little of that arrogance slipping through.
Ember placed a hand on my arm. “Stay calm,” her voice sounded in my head. She was right to, I wasn’t here to start a fight with these guys. We needed allies, and this was pretty much our last resort.
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