Repel Boarders

by Dean Henegar

  Schematic’s Unlocked:

  Bladed and Piercing Weapons, Level 2: This dagger is well-made and will hold an edge even with constant use. The methods of its construction can be applied to other similar weapons.

  Firearms, Level 0: You can now create these simplest of firearms for your MOBS to use. Simple yet deadly, projectile weapons cause immense damage to unarmored targets. It takes 15 salvage to craft a firearm.

  This was a better haul than he could have hoped for. He immediately scrapped any cutlasses his kobolds had, replacing them with the now similar-quality daggers. The smaller weapons were much easier for the diminutive MOBS to wield and saved him a bit of salvage. He also wanted to outfit one kobold in each of the compartments with a firearm to give a variety of answers to various threats. It looked like the basic firearm schematic offered only two choices, and both were primitive weapons. The first choice was a harquebus, a heavy matchlock weapon that was slow to reload and inaccurate. He didn’t have an option to scale down the harquebus, so it would be too unwieldy and inefficient for his kobolds to use.

  The other option for a firearm had much more potential; he had unlocked a weapon called a blunderbuss. These early shotguns were short enough for his kobolds to use and packed a wallop, even if they took forever to reload. Pleased with the second option—at least until he could push some upgrades through—Slater ordered one kobold in each compartment to scrap their laser rifles and equip a blunderbuss.

  During all the commotion, he also received notice that the research on clothing was complete. Slater pulled up the results while placing his freed-up research point into the engineering station, continuing his quest to unlock a transmitter.

  Clothing, Level 1: Level 1 clothing is resistant to rips and tears, providing good protection from adverse climates.

  The clothing upgrade was a bust. Yes, his MOBS might look a bit more fashionable, but armor hadn’t been unlocked yet. He suspected he would have to dive further into the clothing tree than level 1 to unlock anything useful. The research on the comm array was at seventy-eight percent, so it wouldn’t be much longer before he’d see what that would do. He added the second research node to help complete the comm array, curious about how much of a difference doubling up on research would make.

  Slater finally had time to finish the changes to his defenses—namely, moving the hatch positions around so they weren’t all in a single line. He was contemplating additional traps, looking specifically at the tripwire trap. Currently, the device had a small metal bolt that was hurled out from the side of the compartment when something tripped the trigger wire—something none of the explorers had managed to do yet, to Slater’s disappointment. He wanted to replace the metal dart with a blunderbuss but found that he wasn’t able to make any modifications until he had researched the tripwire trap up to level 3. That must be the cutoff where he could start doing custom mods to his items.

  He had another group of explorers hit the derelict as he was working away at all his changes. This was another group of dwarven miners from a different ship. These were also a respectful group, easily handling the derelict’s challenges and not making any moves on the core itself. Slater was becoming bored with explorers that were so much more powerful than him. It would take time and research to make his derelict better—time he hoped to have before some core-murdering explorers showed up. Despite being respectful and following the rules, the last batch of dwarves took their loot with them—which now was usually a few coins—and didn’t leave him any good stuff like the first group of dwarves had. He was beginning to like dwarves and was disappointed to hear the last group mention that word was getting around that there was no good mining in this system.

  His comm array research completed during this time, so Slater placed the freed-up research nodes into laser pistols and the engineering station, wanting to alternate between his research for a transmitter and pursuing upgrades for his forces. It was also worth noting that the level of research determined approximately how long it would take to find any improvement. Something at level 0 would take a short amount of time to raise to level 1, with each successive increase adding significantly to the time required for completion. It also appeared that placing multiple nodes on researching the same item wasn’t all that great. With so many things at low levels, he was better off trying to improve multiple things instead of just shaving off a small bit of time from a single project. His plans might change if there was some urgent upgrade or when the research items were higher level, but for now, he would try to balance things out.

  Comm Array, Level 2: The level 2 array allows the derelict to gather intelligence about potential explorers from the communications they are sending and receiving. When a new contact nears the derelict, the information collected by the comm array will be revealed.

  The comm array didn’t unlock a transmitter; hopefully the engineering upgrade did or would at least let him try to craft one himself. When the second dwarven ship left, he received notice that he had reached level 3. Slater activated the upgrade, and the world around him faded back into the now-familiar haze that was associated with his core improving.

  — 12 —

  Slater felt stronger as he was revived from the upgrade. The continued improvements had helped him think more clearly, and he could feel more power within his core. He took a moment to do a quick run-through of his ship, noting that every MOBS and trap were in place and operating as they should. One of the things he had been concerned with was having a group of explorers board the derelict while he was upgrading. He couldn’t remember if Pixi had told him, but he thought there was something that prevented the boarding hatch from opening when he was dormant for an upgrade. That was something to worry about later. For now, he wanted to see how much he had improved.

  Slater, Derelict Core, Level 3, Experience: 506/1000

  Core Health: 28/100

  Core Power: 30/45

  Biomass: 249

  Salvage: 645

  Nanobot Permeation: 100%

  Compartments Controlled: 7

  Research Nodes: 3

  Defenses: pit traps (3), tripwire traps (1)

  MOBS: kobolds (9), pairs of bilge rats (8)

  Boss MOBS: kobold captain (1)

  Construction Drones: 5

  MOBS Schematics:

  Construction Drone, Level 1

  Kobold, Level 1 (templates include the taskmaster and captain)

  Bilge Rat, Level 0

  Gear Schematics:

  Slashing/Piercing Weapons, Level 2

  Crushing Weapons, Level 0

  Laser Pistol, Level 0

  Laser Rifle, Level 1

  Clothing, Level 1

  Defensive Structures Schematics:

  Pit Trap, Level 1

  Tripwire Trap, Level 1

  Interior Schematics:

  Secret Door, Level 1

  Interior Trim, Level 1

  Core Room Upgrades:

  Engineering Station, Level 1

  Comm Array, Level 2

  Time until next jump: n/a. Core needs to be fully repaired to begin the jump sequence.

  Derelict Core Room Upgrade Unlocked:

  Laboratory: The laboratory (lab) is a core room attachment that can be used to research upgrades to biologically based MOBS. A control station will be built in the core room, and a testing ground will be installed beneath the core room to house the experiments. Incremental upgrades can be researched and additional MOBS types and abilities can be discovered as the derelict progresses through the research trees. The cost to create the lab is 150 salvage, and the structure requires 1 core power. To keep the lab active, a research node must be permanently assigned to it.

  Slater had finally unlocked his lab. The cost was steep, but it was necessary if he wanted to upgrade his MOBS. It seemed that patterns for creatures were rarely acquired naturally, so he just might have to experiment for a bit to find his own. The new level also gave a bump in core power, which was sorely needed. The third research n
ode was welcome, as it looked like the lab required one to be permanently assigned to it. His research on laser pistols and the engineering station had finished up at some point while he was leveling up his core.

  Laser Pistol, Level 1: You have discovered the fault in the power capacitors for these weapons, and it occasionally made them melt down. Their overall performance and efficiency have improved. Now that the critical flaw in your laser pistol design has been resolved, all laser weapons are consolidated into a single category. Any research in laser weapons will upgrade both rifles and pistols.

  Engineering Station, Level 2: The level 2 upgrade for the engineering station allows the derelict to research different technologies and discover new ones. Research will take time and resources, with no guarantee of success. To unlock the ability to experiment with new technologies, a research node must be permanently assigned to the engineering station. With the upgraded station, repairs to the derelict core will be handled more efficiently.

  Bingo! It looked like he could get started on trying to make a transmitter. To fiddle around with engineering and the lab, Slater would have to tie up a research node for each, but after a bit of testing, he found that he could still use the node for general research but would have to free it up if he wanted to experiment. Before digging into the new lab and engineering station, he spent his spare research point to bump up the level 0 compartment hatches. He wasn’t sure what improvements it would yield, but having an important component of his derelict at level 0 wasn’t going to do.

  Spending the resources to create the lab, Slater watched its construction for a bit before jumping into the new engineering station. With a thought, he could have the nanobots manipulate salvage into the form he wanted. Slater knew the basics of a transmitter and began crafting the components for a standard shipboard model. As he worked, salvage began to tick down as the nanobots used it to create what he imagined. When he scrapped the first two failed transmitter units, only half of the salvage he had spent to build them was returned to his pool. Crafting was going to be a costly process.

  Thankfully, he didn’t have to know every individual component or code each line of programming software. As long as he had the basic design and knew how he wanted the item to function, the nanobots took care of the rest. This was not to say it was a simple or easy process. In fact, manipulating the station proved very time-consuming, and he had to wait as the nanobots tried to figure out what he wanted them to build. After a few more failed attempts, he finally had what he wanted: a working—if short- ranged—transmitter. He ordered the drones to install it in the comm array as he moved over to the laboratory. Unlike the engineering station, which was more hands-on, the laboratory looked like it functioned in a similar manner to his other research. He would select the desired item, and the research node would start chugging away at it.

  Lab Research Paths:

  MOBS:

  Bilge Rat, Level 0

  Kobold, Level 1 (you have unlocked the taskmaster and kobold captain templates)

  Natural Weapons: Unlocked but not researched.

  Biotech Implants: Unlocked but not researched.

  His kobold MOBS research had streamlined a bit with the new lab. Additional templates could be unlocked, but if he researched an upgrade to kobolds in general, improvements would apply to any of the associated templates. Lab research ran on biomass, with additional salvage being used up for the biotech implant option. Natural weapons and biotech implants were available to research, but there was no notification on what the result would be or what they were. Instead, he decided to start with something easier. He selected his trusty bilge rats to be upgraded from their pathetic level of zero. Biomass began to trickle into the lab. Thankfully, it was a small amount. The amount of biomass needed was linked to the size of the selected MOBS and its current level. Like other research, lower levels were faster and less costly to learn.

  The bilge rat research moved along at a decent pace, giving Slater time to turn his attention back to the transmitter. The drones had installed it, and the option was now available to transmit a message. He thought long and hard about what to send out. He wasn’t able to speak, so he couldn’t record a verbal message. He finally settled on sending out a broadcast using navy codes, stating who he was and the ship he served on. The signal from his little transmitter would eventually reach across the system, but it was nowhere close to having the power necessary to send a message through the jump point.

  He resisted sending a message out to the world at large, not wanting any of the other races that inhabited the universe to know he was trying to communicate. The beauty of the frequency that the navy used for encrypted messages was that it tended to blend in with and mimic natural background radiation noise, making them hard to pick out among the normal chatter of the universe. There wasn’t much hope that a human vessel would travel in this system, but making the effort was a reminder that he was still Captain Slater, an officer in the United States Navy, and not some monster.

  Before he dug back into the engineering station, Slater figured it would be a good time to upgrade and add new compartments to his derelict. Using the nanobots as sensors on his hull, he took the time to look at his growing derelict. What he saw wasn’t very impressive. The ship looked like a collection of cargo containers welded together. The hull was dark, except for some red emergency lighting that outlined the boarding hatch. The remains of one of the Franklin’s drive units dangled at the rear of the vessel, near his core room.

  Sketching out the plans in his head, Slater figured he should have a short-term goal to bring the ship up to a total of ten compartments in length. At that point, he would begin to add a second row of compartments next to the first. Explorers would enter at the hatch and proceed down the length of the vessel to where a hatch in the final room would lead to the next row of compartments. With the increased width, he could have the nanobots adjust the outer design to resemble a ship instead of a drifting collection of space junk.

  The sight of the ruined drive on the end of his derelict gave Slater the idea to bring some propulsion online for his vessel. With a little thrust, he could comb the area for salvage. Despite the time that had passed since his initial battle, there had to be some debris banging about the system. Much would have drifted off into the void of deep space or been burned up in the planet’s atmosphere, but some should have been nearly on the same vector as his ship. As soon as he had some spare salvage, he would use the engineering station to try and fix his drive system. This was a much more daunting task than the comm research; Slater was no expert in drive systems. Sure, he was a captain and knew the capabilities of his vessel, but that didn’t mean he knew how to build any of it.

  Wanting to keep some salvage on hand to use in his research, Slater decided to only create two new compartments for his derelict. The first would be a barracks compartment positioned just in front of the bridge. The second one he would have some fun with. A few ideas that he wanted to try were bouncing around in his head—make that bouncing around in his core.

  Starting on the barracks compartment, he used the largest thirty-by-thirty template and placed a row of bunks and lockers for the kobold crew. He was using up a total of thirty-one core power after building the lab, so he would have to be careful not to go wild in populating the place with MOBS. Fiddling with the room, he moved the bunks over to one side of the compartment and then added a lounge area on the other side, complete with couches and tables that created a space for the off-duty kobolds to use. The lockers were about waist-high for a kobold, and Slater placed them between each of the bunks, providing strong covered positions for his kobolds to fight from. The hatch would open into the recreation area and not directly in front of the bunks, giving his kobolds a few seconds to get to cover at the start of a fight.

  As far as MOBS for this compartment went, he had the drones print out six kobolds and a taskmaster to lead them. Once the kobolds were ready, they milled about the compartment. The MOBS seemed to automatic
ally behave and interact within a compartment like a normal creature would. He had witnessed the same behavior in the ship’s mess, where the kobolds moved about with trays and sat at the tables. The kobolds here would lounge on bunks, rummage around in their lockers, or sit in the recreation area. They were following programming, never actually sleeping or using any of the recreation equipment, just going through the motions. As long as they fought intruders when the hatch opened, Slater was happy.

  Changing his mind, he placed his next room in front of the barracks. This compartment was another long hall like the cargo room. Instead of tall cargo crates in the center of the room, Slater placed three cages on each side of the passageway. After printing up three pairs of rats, he put one rat inside each cage and left the doors to the cages open. At the far end of the hall, he placed a kobold taskmaster armed with a rifle and dagger. The rats should be stronger once his research completed—it was now on the last few percentage points—making the vicious little critters a bigger threat.

  Feeling devious, Slater placed a pit trap just inside the entrance. The rats were too light to trigger it and would serve as the bait to lure explorers forward. Inside the pit, Slater had a narrow one-foot-wide ramp situated on the far end, giving his rats easy access to whatever tasty tidbit might have fallen in. Sure, the ramp could help anyone who fell into the pit to escape, but he doubted they would feel like crawling out once they were impaled on the stakes below.

  Satisfied with the layout, Slater watched as the nanobots made the last few touches on the room, mainly some straw inside the rat cages. His derelict compartments now flowed from the boarding hatch to the garbage room, the cargo compartment, the mess hall, the trap-lined hallway, the rat-keeper room, the barracks, the bridge, and finally the core room. He had three core power left over after building out everything. Initially, he was going to print up more rats for the core room but instead decided on placing a taskmaster inside the mess hall to beef up the first big encounter a foe would face. With the last point, Slater added a fourth kobold to the bridge crew. His newly expanded derelict would prove to be a long slog for anyone not as powerful as the dwarves. He could only guess how many groups out there were as strong as the dwarves . . . It was likely more than he would prefer.