Monday, July 31, 2017

Chapter 34 - The Missing Harvester

Returning to the shuttle with a new slave in tow caused a bit of a stir with the girls, but I simply shrugged, and told them that she was the ‘Hidden’ reward from the original notice on the job board, so there wasn’t anything for it. Plus, it would be good to have a backup pilot and mechanic in case either Shearah or I get hurt. Or we have to do things in two places at the same time.

I left the Stepford protocols on, to keep Nyna compliant until we could get back to the Raven and I figured out what to do with her on a more permanent basis. I didn’t want her coming up with a two-bit escape attempt while we were chasing the missing harvester and whatever else we might find out here. Sure, I’d respawn from a backstabbing slave killing me, but if whatever she pulled took out some of the others, they were done.

Now we were flying over the desert, heading for the last known coordinates of the missing harvester. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect from this. The best reasonable outcome was that we’d find a derelict, probably destroyed harvester, and have to repair the radio to communicate to the owners. The crew was probably long dead by now, or ran off (especially if they were slaves). It had been almost two days since the harvester went silent, and we were the first ones who could get out to see what had happened.

We were flying low over a rocky area about 10 kilometers from the last known location of the Harvester, when Raven called out. “Captain, I think we have them.” She pulled up an image from the rear cameras in our HUDs, and we saw the Harvester, tucked under an outcropping that almost completely shielded it from prying eyes. There were also a couple points of light in what looked like a natural cavern behind it. “I think we may have found a raider base.”

I didn’t slow down to take a look. “Mark it on our maps, Raven. If there’s anyone alive down there, they’ll have definitely heard us passing so close overhead, even if their sensors can’t see us. We’ll set down out of sight, and then walk back.”

“And what about the shuttle?”

“Fortunately, we have a new, very loyal pilot who can stay behind.” Eyes turned to Nyna, before I continued, “We’ll wait until we’re out of sight, and then come around slow. Nyna will stay in the shuttle, ready to come when we issue the order. Carissa, you’ll be with her, as an extra set of eyes, and to help on the weapons if they’re needed. I know you haven’t done that before, but I need Jaynie and Cali with me, where most of the fighting will be.”

Carissa nodded. She was the weakest of the girls in terms of actual combat, and she knew it. And it was good to have a second person on the shuttle, just in case Nyna somehow managed to overcome the Stepford protocols and do something stupid. It was a big, hot desert, and I didn’t feel like getting left in the sun.

We set down at the edge of the rocky area, on the far side from the cavern where we had caught a glimpse of the harvester. Honestly, if we hadn’t been flying low on this exact trajectory, it is doubtful that we would have spotted the thing. Even still, the only reason we caught it was because Raven was here, and reviewing the sensor data with AI speed.

It was only a little after our landing when we came across the first sentry. As the one with the best stealth skills in the party, I was leading the way. I doubted I could have hid from a trained Freemen scout, but I wasn’t dealing with a Freemen scout. I wasn’t dealing with a Freeman at all, as his stilsuit was clearly of ‘city’ make, rather than ‘desert’ make. It was an inferior model, but invested more in things offworlders liked, such as armor.

All the body armor in the world doesn’t do you any good if it doesn’t keep you from getting your throat slit in the night. And between Widowmaker’s Bladeshimmer effect and the ability it got when I hit level 20, the poor bastard never even got a chance to call for help.

Widowmaker
Type
Dagger
Rank
Unique – Scaling
Damage
20 – 40
Damage Type
Piercing/Slashing
This dagger is made of a rare Gycep Blood Crystal. When bonded with a wielder by tasting their blood with an infusion of their Psy, the dagger allows the wielder to channel their Psy through the dagger, causing it to grow in power as they do. Blood Daggers are each unique, and can carry unusual powers. The wielder does not choose what powers the dagger develops, but the way they use the dagger may influence the dagger’s development.

+20 STR, +20 DEX, +20 CHA
Bladeshimmer – 100 PP. This Weapon ignores all armor and defense for 5 seconds.
Silent Death – Sneak Attacks cause the victim to be Silenced for 5 seconds.

Scaling – This is a scaling item. Item improves with character level. Gains abilities every 10 character levels.
Soulbound – This item is soulbound to you. It cannot be stolen, traded, or lost while you live. If you die, there is a 10% chance the item will lose its binding may be looted from you.

“Sentry neutralized. We’re in the right place. Everyone keep low, and keep quiet. There might be an entrance near here.” I hadn’t really had any use for the telepathic benefits of the Torc of Dominion, but I’d marked all my older slaves anyway so that I could communicate with them telepathically, if I needed to. But for the moment, I was sticking with subvocalizing into our comms, so I could talk to everyone. I hadn’t marked the Princess or Jaynie, since they were free people, and despite getting Raven’s consent for the experiment, it seemed that it was impossible to mark an AI with the Torc’s power. So if I wanted team comms, I needed to use the comms.

We were wraiths against the rocks as we moved out, quietly looking for more sentries, or an entrance to the caverns beneath the rock. Three more sentries were found, and neutralized, and we still hadn’t found the concealed entrance that must be somewhere in the middle of the four. Whoever had designed this place had clearly not wanted to have unexpected visitors, and had done a good job hiding the front door.

I was about to give up on finding the entrance, and just move directly to the Harvester, when a piece of rock moved in front of me! Ok, so it turned out to not be simple rock, but a camouflage curtain that blended in well enough that in the darkness I could not tell the difference. The simple ways are the best, after all. No one has the patience to go searching for things under the desert sun, when the curtain could be seen for what it was from the ground, and at night the curtain was the same temperature and color as the surrounding rock, making it hard to spot.

Very tricky. I was again reminded that, if we hadn’t managed to spot the Harvester in the dying light, we would have already failed this quest, or at least been far behind where we were now. It was good to have luck and a sentient AI on your side.

Desert Raider
Human Male
Level 20
Titles: Thug, Scout

As for why the curtain was now moving? Well, that would be one of the raiders coming out to check on his buddies. He’d already seen me, since I was literally standing right in front of him as he came out of the hidden entrance, so a stealth kill was out of the question. As the startled man moved to bring up his rifle, I hit him with a Charm Person power. The way the man suddenly stilled made me breathe easier. Yes, I was specialized in mental Psy powers, but the risks when they failed were pretty high.

After confirming that there were no others coming out the passage behind him, the girls gathered around me and my new best friend (temporary), and I did a bare bones interrogation.

I started off with the basics. “How many of you are there?”

“Four outside, plus me. Twenty more inside. Some guarding the prisoners.”

“Prisoners? Where did you get the prisoners from?” That was a problem. Prisoners turned into hostages very quickly, and I wasn’t too keen on just letting a whole bunch of innocents get killed because some idiot used them as shields.

“Some from the Harvester. Others are Freemen we caught while coming back from the Harvester raid. We’re going to sell them as slaves when we head back to port. Freemen make for good exotic goods, even if they’re human.”

“How many prisoners do you have?”

“Six from the Harvester. Eight Freemen, all women and children. The men didn’t let themselves get captured.”

“What is the status of the Harvester? Is the communication gear operable?”

“Still works, despite a few blaster holes in the hull that need to be patched to keep sand out. Just turned off the transponder so they couldn’t find us. We’re waiting until the heat dies down, and then we’ll have our own spice production ready to go. Easy money after that.”

“And the flier?” A harvester was all but useless without a flier to get it to processing stations or get it out of harm’s way if things turned ugly.

“Boss captured one a few months back, but didn’t have a Harvester to go with it until now. This is the ticket to the big time. We’ll get to move from raiders to actual smugglers.”

This was the first mention of the Boss. Whoever they were, they were clearly planning on being more than simple raiders. That meant ambition, and the charisma to convince others to play the long game instead of going for quick scores. “Who is your boss?”

“Sana Olana is her name. She’s a Knelfi bitch, and a real cutie, but she knows her stuff. Used to be Confed Marines, they say, before she and her captain had a ‘disagreement’ over her duties on ship that ended up with him dead and her on the run. Now she’s good and dirty like the rest of us. Would love to have a piece of that ass.”

Ah, and I guess I was right in assuming that the raider who had appeared on the mission boards as a target for hitting both smuggler and legit spice harvesting operations was related to the most recent attacks on harvesters. I really hadn’t wanted to go searching the whole planet for her, so it was lucky we’d found the trail.

Turning my attention to the lackey again, I asked, “How long until someone misses you inside?”

“I came to get reports from the sentries. Communications gear doesn’t work well between the rocks and the camouflage systems blocking EM transmissions. Outside it is fine, and inside it is fine, but going outside to inside is no good. So the Boss has one of us step outside every half hour to check with the sentries and make sure everything’s good. Then we step back in, and report. Another hour, and we’ll be doing shift changes.”


“Good, good. Now, I want you to close your eyes and relax.” When the man did so, I quickly drew Widowmaker across his throat, killing him. Looking to the others, I said, “Twenty enemies, fourteen potential friendlies. Looks like we’re in store for close-quarters fighting.”



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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/
Volume 4 - To the Deeps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QSD9S4

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):
Book III - Alpha Centauri https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X8J9GF

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T


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Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Chapter 33 - Smuggler's Blues

Once we were back on the ship Kiki settled right into one of the guest cabins, and, after checking out the fabber we had on board, made suggestions for things we would need in order to set up a decent shop for her. Since I still needed to upgrade the medical and training facilities on board as well, that meant we needed to get back to work making money.

So we left Kiki on the ship to start getting her bunk the way she liked it (Raven was keeping an eye on her, and had locked down all systems) and headed down to the shuttle. There was a large mountain range that acted like a wall around the ‘civilized’ areas of kisArra, at the poles, and smugglers and ne’er do wells had a couple meeting spots to recruit workers, trade goods, or set up jobs. Of course, their main base wasn’t anywhere so close to the authorities. They went and put THAT at the other end of the planet, down in the Southern polar region.

But for the moment, we were still in the Northern area, because that’s where most of the people (and therefore jobs) were. Walking into the trading post that, most disappointingly, didn’t have a bar or other place for people to sit and relax (that’s why we were in town instead of coming here directly, after all), I removed my mask so I could speak with one of the clerks, and turn in the quests we’d completed, hunting down a couple groups of Freemen bandits that had been attacking one particular smuggler’s operations relentlessly. That netted us a decent 40k credits. Not enough to write home about, but it was good for rep building with the smugglers, which opened up better-paying jobs.

Possible Distress

SND-C4AWL3R Mobile Harvester TX-1138 has lost communication. Go to the Harvester’s last known location to determine the cause of the failure, and resolve the issue.
Rank
C
Success
Find the Mobile Harvester.
Restore Communications.
Failure
Do not find the Harvester.
Payment
50000 Credits

Teach Sana Olona a Lesson

Sana Olona is the leader of a group of raiders that has been plaguing the smuggler harvesters for months now. She’s also been plaguing the ‘official’ harvesters, so they have a substantial bounty out on her, in addition to our payment.

Bonus: If you wish, a slave collar will be provided which you can use to capture Sana instead of kill her. If she is captured and enslaved, the Smuggler’s Alliance will be glad to discuss extra dispensation for the purchase or lease of the slave.
Rank
B
Success
Kill or Capture Sana Olona.
Failure
Do not kill or capture Sana Olona.
Payment
200000 Credits + Bounty
Bonus: Negotiate with Alliance if Sana Olona is enslaved.

‘Contract’ Worker Delivery

A fresh set of workers under strict contract to the Smuggler’s Alliance (the kind that comes with Defiance collars), is set to deploy to Mobile Harvester SG-1983. These workers are joined by an overseer who is replacing his predecessor, who is to be forcibly retired after failing to meet quotas.
Rank
D
Success
Deliver the workers and overseer to the Harvester.
Failure
Fail to deliver the workers and overseer to the Harvester.
Payment
25000 Credits
Hidden

Spice Run to Jagloth

Ten crates of angeMel spice (valued at 6.8 million credits) needs to get to the planet Jagloth, currently under blockade by Confederate forces due to a local matter. Run the blockade, and get the Spice to Katar Greynore at the Spriteshack Industries headquarters in Jagloth City.
Rank
A
Success
Deliver the Spice.
Failure
Fail to deliver the Spice. (Will result default payment of 50% of the value of the Spice. If done willfully, will also result in a bounty equal to the value of the shipment placed on your head, and all criminal organizations in Confederation space will see you as unreliable, and refuse to work with you without holding one of your slaves as collateral.)
Payment
5 million credits
Increased Reputation with criminals in Confederate space
20% lifetime discount from Spriteshack Industries for goods and services.

The ‘contract’ worker job was small time, as far as the pay, but it was on the way to the Harvester he was supposed to locate, so this wasn’t a bad deal. Plus, the ‘Hidden’ reward was intriguing. Naturally, the big kicker was the smuggling run to Jagloth. It was a system located between here and the core worlds of the Confederation, so he was happy to be leaning in that direction.

angeMel Spice was perhaps the most precious commodity in the universe, according to those who used it. It was pretty damn useful, if you could arrange for a constant supply of the stuff. A dose of the stuff would temporarily boost intellect and reduce the cost of psy powers. Used regularly, you could improve overall health and greatly expand your natural lifespan. Things got freaky when you were addicted to it, however.

Addicts of any substance were unpredictable, at best. angeMel addicts were worse. Their behavior wasn’t that hard to predict, but their abilities were. Some would get prophetic visions (don’t ask me how that worked in a game). Others would have their mental abilities (both intellect and psy powers) permanently expanded. That often came with physical mutations. So they were super-powered freaks that lived practically forever unless killed.

But addicts were all the same in that they needed to keep taking the source of their addiction in order to keep the benefits. Low-level addicts could get by with Spice-laced drinks at regular intervals (usually once a day, plus whenever they needed a ‘boost’) that would stain their lips as a mark of their addiction. The really high level addicts had to breathe the Spice constantly, and were kept in tanks filled with Spice-laced air that would probably kill anyone else who breathed it, if they didn’t change first.

The Spice was only found here on kisArra, and no one knew where the hell it came from. Of course, most people didn’t really care enough to find out, and the ones that did were more concerned with finding a way to synthesize it. See, the further you got from kisArra, the more expensive the Spice became, so that by the time you got to the halls of power, like the Imperial Palace on Earth or the Confederation Senate on Diymia, the stuff cost so much that only the truly wealthy could afford more than the slightest doses used to extend life. And even they could not afford the true levels of addiction. Well, other than the ones who were subsidized by the state, of course. The ‘increased mental powers’ thing was really quite sought after by those who valued strategy and manipulating their opponents, or those who valued keeping their opponents from doing the same to them.

Anyways, we picked up our overseer and his slaves contract workers, and loaded them into the shuttle. Slavery was legal in Confederation space, but the slave trade was illegal, unless you were going through a properly licensed Slaver’s Guild representative. 99.9% of all ‘legally’ enslaved people in the Confederation were criminals enslaved for their crimes, or people who were forced into slavery due to debts or breach of contract. That last 0.1% were voluntary enslavements, and usually knew their new Master beforehand. Of course, where there was regulation, there were criminals looking to skirt it for profit. Calling the slaves ‘contract workers’ was a polite fiction.

Nothing I could do about that, though. There were some things that were bigger than what any one man and his band of beauties could handle. All I could do was protect me and mine, and make sure that, at the end of the day, we came out on top. Which meant I didn’t have much say in what happened to the poor saps that got shanghaied into working on the Harvester.

We headed off to make the delivery first. I didn’t want dead weight when I was busy trying to find out what the hell happened to a missing Harvester.

A Harvester is basically a two-part thing. You have a massive aircraft that carries the part that does the actual harvesting around, and basically circles around when that’s not happening. Then you have the harvester itself, a big, dome shaped structure that crawls its way across the sand, scooping up the desert, filtering out the Spice, and throwing the sand out. Usually has a crew of six and one overseer, with another two stationed on the flyer.

We landed the shuttle about fifteen meters from the harvester’s main hatch. I needed to see the workers through the door to receive payment, so I left the shuttle with the overseer and his replacements (five men). The hatch opened for us, letting out that lovely smell of air that’s been through filters too many times, and the filters aren’t catching everything anymore.

Nyna Thelynn
Knelfi Female
Level 20
Titles: Mechanic, Pilot, Overseer

The Knelfi woman in charge looked up at us as we walked into the room, her eyes brightening as she saw the new workers. “Oh thank the gods! We’ve been short-staffed since that damn Freemen raid last month! We lost five workers before we beat the bastards back, but that left us with only two to run the harvester and two for the flyer, while running triple shifts! We’ve been dead on our feet, and all anyone’s said is to meet the damn quotas, even if they won’t give me what I need to make it happen!”

Her tirade continued on for a while, until the new overseer eventually got tired of it all, and said, “Well, Nyna, you’re in luck. The ‘front office’ has heard your repeated complaints about the situation, and they sent me here to take care of the situation. As you can see, I brought replacements to bring this harvester back to a full crew, and we’ll be meeting the quotas again very soon.”

“Unfortunately, your incompetence at allowing the raiders to damage ‘company’ property and your failure to meet your quotas has earned you a black mark in your file. Sad to say, but you’re no longer the Overseer for Harvester SG-1983. Instead, you’ve been reassigned, as per the clause in your contract about failing to live up to your responsibilities as Overseer.”

The knelfi woman looked at the overseer in dismay, then in fear. She started to scream as two of the new workers grabbed her arms, and held her still so that the Overseer could slap a slave collar on her neck. Those screams were choked off when the Overseer hit a control on his bracer, and suddenly the woman… not relaxed, but went perfectly still, looking forward glassy eyed for a moment, before shifting into a more sensual pose. With a sultry voice, she asked, “What can this slave do for you, Master?”

The Overseer grinned, and then turned to me, offering his hand. “Thanks for the lift. We needed this done quick to keep production up. Too much demand, and the raids have been getting worse. Fortunately, this new batch actually knows how to use a weapon. Anyways, here’s your credits, and I’ve been authorized to give you a bonus, since you did quick work, and are going to keep your mouth shut about the whole thing.”

When I shook his hand, I saw that ownership of the new slave had been passed to me.

‘Contract’ Worker Delivery

A fresh set of workers under strict contract to the Smuggler’s Alliance (the kind that comes with Defiance collars), is set to deploy to Mobile Harvester SG-1983. These workers are joined by an overseer who is replacing his predecessor, who is to be forcibly retired after failing to meet quotas.

You delivered the workers and the overseer to the Harvester, and you were rewarded not only with the promised credits, but with ownership of the former Overseer of the Harvester who was ‘retired’ and enslaved in front of you.
Rank
D
Success
Deliver the workers and overseer to the Harvester.
Failure
Fail to deliver the workers and overseer to the Harvester.
Payment
25000 Credits
Nyna Thelynn

Nyna Thelynn
Knelfi Female
Level 20
Titles: Mechanic, Pilot, Slave, Stepford


I shook my head at the bewildered former overseer become slave. "Always read the fine print."



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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/
Volume 4 - To the Deeps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QSD9S4

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):
Book III - Alpha Centauri https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X8J9GF

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T


LitRPG facebook group:

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Chapter 32 - Sand in My...

The Felisan looked me over carefully as she considered my offer. I let her decide on her own time, and went about checking the notifications I’d gotten during our last big hunt. We’d been out in the wild for a while, so it was good to check up on things.

You are now Level 20.
You have 2 attribute points to distribute.

Shapeshift increased to 10/100.
+4 CHA

Mental Psy Mastery increased to 10/100.
+5 INT

Blades increased to 10/100.
+3 STR, +2 DEX

Clubs increased to 3/100.
+2 STR

Unarmed Attack increased to 3/100.
+2 STR

Pistols increased to 10/100.
+4 DEX

Automatics increased to 10/100.
+4 DEX

Longarms increased to 5/100.
+1 STR

Archery increased to 5/100.
+1 STR

Thrown Weapons increased to 5/100.
+1 DEX

Analyze increased to 15/100.
+4 INT

Stealth increased to 10/100.
+7 DEX

Survival increased to 10/100.
+9 WIS

Navigation increased to 10/100.
+9 WIS

Perception increased to 10/100.
+9 WIS

Climbing increased to 5/100.
+4 STR

First Aid increased to 5/100.
+4 WIS

Seduction increased to 15/100.
+3 CHA

Physical Psy Mastery increased to 5/100.
+3 INT

Energy Psy Mastery increased to 5/100.
+4 INT

Force Psy Mastery increased to 5/100.
+3 INT

Gambling increased to 12/100.
+4 CHA

Cooking has increased to 5/100.
+3 DEX, +2 WIS


Your recent actions have gained the following attribute increases:
+10 END, +10 CON, +10 STR

You have gained a new title!

Chef
Any idiot can program a food processing unit. It takes an artist to turn raw ingredients into something that not only tastes great, but won’t kill you horribly.

Cooking has increased to 6/100.
+1 WIS

Knowledge Skill (Plants) has increased to 21/100.
+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Animals) has increased to 21/100.
+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Chemistry) has increased to 21/100.
+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Biology) has increased to 21/100.
+1 INT

Knowledge Skill (Nature) has increased to 21/100.
+1 INT

Not a bad haul, considering that we’d spent most of the time since we’d gotten into Confederate space on this dustball, hunting bandits and monsters. Thankfully, we’d managed to save a couple of the natives from a nasty as hell sandstorm while they were crossing the desert. That didn’t get us anything on its own, except an introduction to someplace where we could get desert suits like the ones the Freemen used.

Desert Dweller’s Stilsuit
Type
Armor
Rank
Uncommon
The Freemen of the kisArra dessert are known for their ability to survive weeks in the open desert. Part of this ability stems from their stilsuits, which trap 98% of the moisture released from the body as sweat or otherwise, and recycles it, allowing the wearer to stay hydrated enough to survive for extended periods. This suit was made by the Freemen, and not one of the more fashionable Keen-Arran copies used by the wealthy of kisArra. A simple analogy would be to compare gear made by hunters and outdoorsmen to that made by fashion companies selling to suburban males who wouldn’t dream of going out hiking. Thus, the suit is one of the better functioning models available, and is slightly armored to protect against attacks.

The suit covers the entire body, including a hood to cover the head and a detachable mask which helps to filter the air, keeping down the amount of sand one breathes in. Whether the mask is worn or not, proper use of the suit entails breathing in through the mouth and out through the nose (using the included plugs which route into the collection pouches) to minimize moisture loss.
Durability 50/50

+20 Physical Armor
+20 Energy Armor
Lightweight – Wearing any other armor over this suit other than a pair of bracers or specially designed gear negates its effectiveness as a desert survival aid.
Recycle – Allows the wearer to retain and recycle 98% of the moisture they take in, reducing the threat of thirst while crossing the desert. A wearer using a functioning stilsuit need only drink 0.5 liters of outside water every two days to remain at peak condition.

Desert Wraith’s Cloak
Type
Cloak
Rank
Uncommon
The Freemen are not the only beings in the desert, so when they wish to go unseen, they use these cloaks, specially designed to not impede the functioning of their stilsuits, to aid in stealth.
Durability 25/25

Desert Cloak – Stealth in desert environments increased by 20 ranks.

So they weren’t better at a straight up fight than what I had been using, but they were what the locals used to not die in the desert, which meant they’re what I got for my crew. See the whole ‘not dying in the desert’ thing. Sure, if I had some power armor, that’d do better, for a while. But that shit was expensive as all hell, had a battery life measured in hours, and had lots and lots of joints and seams to get sand in, all of which would have to be inspected and cleaned when you took it off, to keep from wearing things out.

That’s what I hate about desert planets. Sand gets everywhere, if you give it half a chance. Hell, the only reason we didn’t have sand all through our suits is because we kept them sealed at least until we were in contained environments, like the shuttle or someplace with actual doors. Which made finding a way to stave off the Empathic Unbalance debuff of my Power Booster a challenge all its own.

Finally, Kiki seemed to be coming to a decision. Leaning forward, she said, “Is the footage on the stream real? All those… those orgies? You aren’t looking for a piece of catgirl tail to add to your harem, right?”

I grinned, and said, “Well, Kiki, you’re a pretty lady, and while I’m not opposed to taking a spin, that’s not what the gig is about, and there’s no expectations either way. You want to join in, you can join in. You don’t, that’s fine too. Just don’t get all Southern Baptist and judgy, because that would just fuck things up for everyone, y’know?”

Seemingly convinced, she nodded, and said, “Not going to be going down for anyone that isn’t looking for a long-term commitment, and that means just me and him. Not my thing, you understand.”

I nodded. “Fair enough. I’m mostly interested in what kinds of wonders you can cook up for my crew. Having our own weapons designer is going to be a pretty big deal down the line, once people really start getting their crafting going. So far, everyone on ship has a crafting skill, except for Raven, unless you count her insane coding skills. I suggest letting her look at any of your gear that has a computer in it, to overhaul the software and make it harder to hack. And anything you build for us will definitely have her input on software issues.”

Kiki blinked. “Huh. Most people don’t give AIs that much leeway. Guess you’re not one of those people who get scared anytime someone tells them the Three Laws aren’t absolute?”

“The Three Laws are crap, outside of storytelling. And Raven’s a cut above most AI out there. Don’t know how, haven’t cared enough to ask, and she hasn’t seen a need to tell me, but she jumped the Singularity, to become one of the few true sentient AIs in this world. Way I see it, she’s a person, so I treat her as such. It is a good partnership so far.”

That got a laugh from the woman sitting next to Kiki. “You’re just trying to keep me from going Skynet on you and spacing your ass!”

Kiki’s eyes went wide as her head snapped to look at the woman next to her. “I’d heard about the drones that looked like people, but I hadn’t seen one before! How are you managing to stay functional on kisArra? I’ve had to keep all my babies locked in my bracers until I actually need them, because of all the sand!”

“Oh, that’s a right pain in the ass, let me tell you! You know the Nadeshiko line was originally developed as a sexbot, right? Well, even after they figured out that the line was good for more than just relaxing boners, that functionality was still kept. Otherwise, the flesh replica exterior is sealed, and keeps any sand from getting into my more delicate joints. Unfortunately, before we got the suits, there was a fight with a couple bandits, and one of them went and died trying to stab me, and only succeeding in making me take a tumble down a sand dune. I’ve been trying to get sand out of my—“

“That’ll be enough of that, Raven. I already promised you that you got the first shower when we got back to the ship, didn’t I?”

“Fine! Just reminding you.”

Kiki blinked. And blinked again. “Oookay. I’ll take your word on the sentient thing.” Slowly, she turned back to look at me. “So, what crafting skills does your group have?”

“Well, I’ve picked up cooking. Sure, the automatic systems make decent enough meals, but if you can get fresh ingredients, you can make some tasty dishes that actually give some temporary buffs. Shearah is a Machinist now, so if you need someone to run a machine shop for you, she’s your girl. Carissa decided to learn to be an Herbalist, since being able to use local goods to make healing items instead of relying on nanomeds is a good thing, and helps her other profession out. Cali picked up Leatherworking, because she likes the way my ass looks in leather pants.”

“You’re a jerk, Master!”

“Love you too. Jaynie picked up Psygraving, which is basically this world’s version of Enchanting. Doesn’t just have to be on wood or metal. You can use it to make tattoos and other such things, too. Anyways, Sheila already had some skill at needlepoint, doing all that pointless Princess crap, so she picked up the Tailor profession, because she misses having nice things to wear.”

“I told you not to go blabbing that around!”

“C’mon, it is too cute!”

“Now Cali, don’t tease Sheila like that. Anyways, you have an idea on what you might be up for, besides Armorer?”

“Well, I hadn’t actually thought much about it, but I was considering picking up something like Chemist. That would help with making new kinds of grenades, or explosive bullets, or other fun things. And I’ve heard that you can also use it to make some mean moonshine if you have a still set up.”

My eyes glinted at that. “Oh really?” Looking over to Shearah, I had barely opened my mouth, before she giggled.

“I’ll build it first thing when we get to the ship, Master.”

I beamed at Kiki. “It is always so nice to have subordinates that know just what you’re going to say before you say it. So, what’ll it be? You going to join our merry band of wandering traders? Like I said, I can’t promise you the lap of luxury, but I can definitely promise you that you’ll get to build whatever we can get the materials for, and get to see it in action.”

Kiki finally laughed, and said, “Well, how can a girl say no to that? Just so you know, I will probably be on more than most people, since I’m living on disability at the moment.”

I winced at that. “Makes you feel any better, I’m in the same boat. Always on, because I’m in a wheelchair back home, thanks to getting hit by a truck. What about you?”

“Shop accident. Lost an eye and partial function in one arm. Don’t like to talk about it. I was a gunsmith in real life, before coming here.”


I nodded, respecting her right not to talk about it, so long as it was something that would stay in the real world. “All right, then. You wanna talk, I’ll listen. Don’t need to, though, unless it starts impacting here. Anyways, let’s get to the ship, so we can start talking about what kind of goodies you can make us, and what you need to make it happen.”



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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy LitRPG):
Volume 2 - Beginning the Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VR7M41/
Volume 4 - To the Deeps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073QSD9S4

Into the Black (Sci-Fi LitRPG):
Book III - Alpha Centauri https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073X8J9GF

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T


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