Universe Online - Enter the Game: Complete Edition (22 page)

One of the guards from before steps up and offers to go. A young man, but with the look of a trained soldier. Andrix actually tells me that because they have a good power supply, they heavily train their guards in both exercise and laser weapons. Good enough for me.

“Good. Go and collect your space suits from the workshop and your gear. We're out of here as soon as the supplies are loaded up.” I give my command, and Andrix nods his head in agreement. Already containers of water, a few large batteries, several solar cells, which they haven't been able to use and fuel are being loaded into my Tug.

“If we get through this, just about everyone is going to want to move to the station, you know. Site Prime is likely going to end up as a research site full of greenhouses and hydroponic farms.”

Andrix's voice is low and sounds just a touch sad. I grin and slap him on the shoulder.

“That may be true, but there's a lot of time before that happens. I'm not in the business of letting my race die out, either.” My words bring a grin back to him, and he nods before leaning close to me.

“Be careful out there, okay? Especially with Trident. I haven't told you everything yet, but I will say that you better not go touching things. The Trident, along with the Imperial-class shielding system should be declared off limits until we have the chance to go over them properly.

“The rest of the station is yours. I do not care if you claim it as your own bit of the heavens. I don't give a damn if others grumble that you're taking all the loot, or are pushing things in a direction they don't agree with. You just get us out of this mess alive and whole.”

His words sober me, and I nod. It’s good advice, and I take it to heart.

“I'll remember that. Just keep these people down here alive long enough for me to help save them.” I respond, which breaks the moment and we both get a chuckle.

I start back to my ship while Andrix waves me off to get back to his own work, and I wait outside the airlock for my new crew to approach. Most of them only bring a single bag of supplies, although the soon-to-be space marine brings an entire trunk, which he explains has extra weapons and other things, including an assembly kit in case we need to make repairs.

I nod, have them check their suits one last time, with the helmets on, then lead them inside. It’s a tight squeeze, especially with the stuff that's been stacked up inside. Food supplies and more water. One of the guys offers to cook during the trip, and I gladly accept.

I bring Celes up into the cockpit with me and have her sit at the mining controls, explaining everything as I start up the tug's system. Outside, loading of the supplies is finishing up, and I get a green-light over the comms. I close the hatch, start up the engines, make sure everyone is good to go and we fly out of Site Prime.

Celes is crying as she watches the monitors showing the landscape below, and below I can hear one or more of my crew crying. They're seeing the same thing as we are on the monitors below.

Getting out into space seems to bring them back down though, and Celes turns to me with a hard look in her eyes.

“Can you do it? Really?”

Her question is simple, and yet oh so complex at the same time. The only thing I can offer is a wry grin.

“Well, if I don't, none of us are going to survive. Space is a war. A war for survival. It’s vast and empty and cold and merciless. But we've survived before. We can do it again.”

My words seem to shock her, but she finally laughs and slaps me on the back of the shoulder. Her large hand hurts!

I flinch. Yep. Totally grimaced and flinched.

“Well said, Boss. Just point us where we gotta go, and tell us what we gotta do, and we'll get it done.”

-|- -|- -|-

Fun Fact #8: Unlike weather-based farming, hydroponics and aeroponics allow for a technique called ‘Vertical Farming’, where you can get far more interior space allocated to growing plants than you can get with simply planting acreage.

The message popped up in front of every player in the game, almost at the same time. It didn't matter if the person was in the middle of working or not. Indeed, many were distracted and were only forced to curse and deal with what was going on.

Unlike normal message pop-ups, this one didn't go away until the player had read it personally. The system made sure that everyone knew it.

The response was massive, to say the least. Within hours the internet was bombarded with hundreds of thousands of comments and questions. Universe Now was slammed with so many that the website bogged down, and the forums were shut down due to server overload. Special broadcasts were pushed in front of regular programming, and almost everyone had the same questions.

Who was it? And did it have anything to do with the mysterious Rank A+ quest?

The message was almost identical to how that one had been reported, after all. That great things were happening, and yet no one knew what was going on. The response was like a wildfire raging out of control.

Everyone wanted to know, and entire Companies (UO guilds) set out trying to find out. Their efforts will prove for naught in the long run though.

Only a very few people knew what was potentially going on. Cristy Anthems was one of them. But even she didn't have all the information. Nor was she allowed to say it. It left a sour taste in her mouth; but that was the agreement.

An exclusive. An exclusive, inside track into the Rank A+ Quest and potential access to the player behind it. Nurse Karren had been thorough in her arrangements with Universe Now. Simply thinking about the hours-long discussion that had happened brings a wickedly cute, naughty smile to her lips.

She cannot wait to see Allec's face when he finds out the surprise~

And the fact that the rest of the world was waiting and wanting only made it all the more amusing.

Standing over it all, Solar Dynamics remained a silent tower, refusing to say a peep about what was going on in-game. Though they had their own worries. Something very odd was afoot inside their creation...

The rest of the world would simply have to deal with burning itself into oblivion with the need to know.

-|- -|- -|-

Let me tell you this up front. Traveling in space when there are more people is a lot more fun than flying around for twelve hours by myself. The Drune Rex are a naturally smart and oddly rambunctious people. They joke and play and have a good time.

My crew seems to have relaxed greatly after losing sight of Drune. Until then they'd stared at the planet on the monitors and cried with silent sorrow. Now that they’ve had time to relax some of them have started to get rowdy.

So much so, in fact, that Celes had to go down there and knock a couple of heads. They were in space. Out of danger. Alive and well and with a job to do. I actually chuckle while watching the drama unfold from the cockpit; loud enough that Celes could hear me and shouts at me to drive the damned ship and not make matters worse.

I have a feeling that I'm going to enjoy working with the big woman.

Still, I stay in the pilot seat for about an hour before unbuckling myself and head downstairs. The fit is tight, but most of us are rather on the thin side, so there is still room.

“Okay, one of you promised food. Hop-hop. I'm ready for my first real meal since I woke up.”

Yep, I gotta fill that gnawing hole that has become my stomach. I could simply open my mouth and watch the drool run down my chin like a waterfall. And really, who could blame me? Rations in Universe Online are like the stale bread you get in every other VR game. You get really tired of it, really quickly.

A guy gets up and heads into the galley. It’s fully functional and is stocked with as many food supplies as the guys down at Site Prime could stuff into the space. Not to mention what's in the cargo hold. While we could easily live off the rations, real food is still a far more valuable mental crutch.

Hard working people need plates of steaming grub! It’s been that way ever since the Ancient Egyptians built the bloody Pyramids and has continued to be tradition ever since! Woe be to the Captain who doesn't feed his crew hot grub!

Too bad there isn't any rum. Or rather, I'm not sure I want alcohol while out in space.

Yeah, that could be bad. Like tallywhacking a solar panel to feel the toasty heat of solar radiation. Can someone say sunburn? Definitely not the smartest move there, people.

But just like any other game, someone somewhere is going to do it. And then get a million or more views when it shows up on the Internet. At least we'd get a laugh out of it. Otherwise... ouch.

Like any other (sane) man, I value my working parts. They're important.

Anyway, the rest of us sit down at the small table or on the two bunks, the guys on the top actually having to lean over so they don’t knock their heads on the ceiling. Someone actually pulls out a pack of cards, and I'm introduced to a game oddly like Blackjack, except with the reverse rules.

Trying to get the lowest number possible without hitting 1, which is an automatic out. That means that Aces, unless taken as a 10 are bad. It’s pretty fun, but I do admit that I become very distracted by the smells coming out of the kitchen area.

Ah, I can smell meat! And grease! And other things best left to the imagination and empty bellies!

And beans, but whatever. I'll mash 'em up and re-cook them and see if I can create an imitation of refried beans later. I don't really know jack about cooking, due to my real life circumstances, but you do pick up things in games.

Especially when food can provide bonuses and boosts to stats and the like. I'm not really sure how that works here in Universe Online though. It isn't one of the -few- topics covered in the manual. It probably does though, in some fashion.

Thankfully we're just playing for fun and not credits. In some cases I'm an okay gambler, but obviously not right now. It’s like those amateur guys who get the woman sitting in their laps during a poker game. Idiots end up so distracted that they cannot concentrate on their hand.

Yeah, I've got it that bad.

And I'm ready to hug the smug bastard that brings the food out a few minutes later. Like, for real. Bro-hug! But I don't, and simply grin.

“Thank the gods. Or whoever it is that's supposed to live up here with us. I'm more than ready to eat.”

What's set down on the table... I'll just call it a hotpot. Yeah. Chunks of meat, a thick sauce, beans and other things. I'm really not sure what exactly it is. It doesn't look all that good. But the smell... Yeah, my mouth is watering. It cannot be any worse than that old TV show Bizarre Foods.

With bowls and silverware put out, we get right down to business. Aaaah! It’s warm and good, and we all go through a couple of bowls of it.

Then the fight scene breaks out. Like how those Martial Artists do it. Warring over the last bit of food in the bowl. Spoons come out as swords, and in the low gravity the food gets tossed around in the air without making much of a mess. It’s a hard fight, with several of us, including Celes cussing up a storm.

I lose, of course; but we all get a good laugh.

Once everything is cleared away and the dishes are put into the wash, we all sit down for a briefing. I don't even bother to clear my throat and instead get right to business.

“Thank you guys. Now, space is really tight up here at the moment. Archon Station has no power, no life support. No gravity. You all will have to learn how to work with that. I tend to 'bounce' around and stay in contact with the floor or one of the walls as much as possible.”

My words bring nods all around. They've lived their entire lives on a low-gravity world,  zero-g is an entirely different ballgame.

“Our first stop once we reach the station is my hold, so we can unload the tug. I have two bots that can help with that while you get used to moving. But we have to be really quick. The suits weren't built to handle the solar radiation, and we'll be sitting out in space since there isn't an access point into the hold except for a hole too small for the Tug.

“Andrix was nice enough to send us tools for cutting and welding, along with other things, so fixing that hole is going to be a high priority. Once the unloading is done we’re going to retrieve the other Tug. It’s in pieces though, so we'll either have to store what we can or rebuild part of it there before moving it, probably with this ship.”

They're starting to look thoughtful, but I'm not done yet.

“If we cannot get it fully functional at the start, I'm not too worried. It has full facilities like this one, exactly the same layout. We can use it to cook and as a bunking area in rotation, but I'm hoping we can get it up and running. Having a second ship will be a major asset once we get to the next part of the plan.”

This time I give them a wide grin, and they instantly look as if they're about to swallow bad news.

“That's right, ladies and gents. Working shifts in the asteroid field. Mainly ice and anything and everything else we can pull out of those rocks. That means learning how to do the job. And how to pilot the Tugs. I have a copy of the manual, so you guys will need to read it and memorize it. Learn enough to pilot, and when we find more tugs you get to pilot them with crews of your own.”

Those last words bring a grin to their faces. Everyone likes the idea of being their own boss, after all. And there is always the chance that we might actually find some real mining ships. The tugs can do the job, but they're multi-purpose machines. Real mining vessels are specialized for the work.

One of the women though raises her hand as if she were a schoolgirl.

“Ah, what about the capsule?” Yep, that's a good question. I nod my head to her.

“It’s in functioning order, currently running solely off battery power. It doesn't have an airlock though, only a hatch. So everyone who'll be staying there will have to keep their suits on and MAKE SURE that everyone does before exiting or entering. It'll blow all the atmosphere out into space should you open the hatch with it still pumped up.

“We'll probably only use it during the sleeping cycle and nothing more. If we can find a way to build onto it or add an airlock, that'll change; but for now that's all it'll be. It’s also the recharge point for the bots I mentioned, and has my own cobbled-together computer which I have running as inventory management. The original computer was basically trashed during the crash, so I had to rebuild it.”

Yep, more details. Things are starting to get hectic. But I move over and connect my suit to one of the monitors hanging on the wall. From there, I access the nifty feature I gained from the Truth Hunter title.

Database Plus.

You remember that data-storage inventory I mentioned before? The one that allows me to pull up any information I've gathered in electronic form?

Well, this is an extension of that. With a bunch of nifty gadgets tossed in. One of which acts like a built-in PDA or tablet.

I pull it up and have it project from the 3D monitor for all of us to see. It’s a rough timetable I worked on before we left Drune. All that's on it is breaks for meals and eight hours for sleep. And with the suit-compatible rations up on the station, there's only one full meal per person per day.

The rest just has to be eaten on the go like I do.

“This is it, guys. The station isn't the sort of place where you can sit around for 45 minutes between working shifts. It’s like living out in the wilderness. If you relax or drop the ball, it'll bite you in the as*. And because it’s only the nine of us, we all have to work as much as possible. And I'll warn you now. I may end up disappearing every now and again. During those times, Celes is in charge and will keep you on task. Got it?”