+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Lubola System

“Emergency…automated…maintenance drones…rerouting…”

I winced in pain, my eyes barely opening as the red alarm lights of the CIC blared out. I could barely hear SYS’ neutral tone, as it laid down each damaged compartment of the ship. I pulled on the control stick as best as I could, but everything seemed hot and overheated. There were electrical sparks everywhere, and half of the CIC’s electronics were dead or burned.

“SYS…fu…move us…to another…attack run…” I breathed out. I could hear the loud hiss of the atmosphere venting out in the other parts of the ship, indicating that hull integrity was long compromised. And there were still shots ringing out toward us. “Can do it?”

“Power supply shutdown. Life-support systems…compromised. Oxygen levels decreasing rapidly…”

“Divert…everything to the shields, engines, and weapons…do it now.”

“Acknowledged.”

Even the red blaring alarm lights shut down, and I watched as every nonessential electronics turned off. Faintly, I could even hear the desperate deployment of emergency coolants, as things cooled off a bit. I pulled on the control stick, keeping my eyes on the faint reports from the VSS Shine, as it attempted to cover the Jukebox from enemy fire. I gave it a silent thanks, as its sensor readings jumped up for a split-second again, indicating another fire from its Photon Lance.

“SYS…what’s the status of the Shine?”

“VSS Shine is operating at eighty-four percent heat. A rapid retreat is likely.”

“And the cruiser?”

“Hostile light-cruiser has lowered its shields from the pressure. VSS Shine launched all of its torpedoes, overheating the enemy’s reactors. The likelihood of hostile ship venting within the next few dozen seconds is at sixty-eight percent.”

“I have no idea how you came up with that calculations…” I breathed out. “But thanks, SYS. Move forward. Engage the Licht PD Lasers at full power.” Briefly, I heard another secondary explosion, as the icon of one of my ship’s forward-facing mounts turned red, while the remaining two turned yellow, indicating hardware failures.

“Light Turret Bow Mount A disabled. The capacitor overloaded and detonated. Light Turret Bow Mount C and Light Turret Bow Mount D restarting. Beam mirrors are partially melted.”

“Then get it fixed with our maintenance drones.”

“Partial modular replacements deploying.”

I waited for it. Ten, twenty, no almost thirty seconds, and I had to dodge the incoming projectiles half-awake and with a ship barely even spaceworthy. The shield generators were already under severe stress, and even it was already overheating. Scratch that, everything on this damned ship, not just the reactors, was overheating. But there was no way that I would give up now.

“Light Turret Bow Mount B and Light Turret Bow Mount C online.” Immediately, the turrets turned to the direction of the enemy light cruiser, just as the VSS Shine launched another Photon Lance shot into its direction. Naturally, the light cruiser lowered its shields, already engaging passive venting as the area around it turned hot. I took the initiative and launched forward, engaging with the Jukebox’s last two Licht PD Lasers.

“Die! Just die! Just die!” The laser beams slammed into its armor, but to my horror, it was burning through it slowly. The enemy ship reoriented itself to face my tiny corvette directly, and my eyes trailed at the partially melted armor platings, still molten yellow, as they disappeared from my view.

Well…fuck.

Immediately, its turrets turned toward the Jukebox, and railgun slugs once again rained in my direction. I pulled back, dodging it one after another, but each shot that slammed placed the Jukebox’s shield generators and reactors at greater and greater stress. At this point, I pushed as far as I could, and the shields finally lowered.

“Complete reactor shutdown irreversible. Broadcasting distress signals—DX. Mayday, mayday.”

The final shot clipped through my ship as every screen shuts down. I felt myself gasping for air, as the final vestiges of the ship’s life-support systems shut down. But in that last moment, the enemy light cruiser turned around, as purple beams of light sliced through its hull.

Heh…I gave you all I could.

It was nice knowing her.

The screen closed into a dead black display, and so did my eyelids.

+++

+++ [Redacted] +++

Kingdom of Loran

Sagittarius Union

“Son? Have you found something good?” My father asked as I held my fishing rod over the still water. The lake was calm and serene, and it was almost mid-winter, and thus the distant purplish mountains during summer seemed white now. In the distance, there were fishes that jumped out of the massive lake, but I frowned at having nothing bite my bait.

My bucket was still as empty as ever.

“Nothing,” I replied, grunting at him as I looked back. “Nothing, Father. I think this is stupid.”

“Oh…well, do tell. Why do you think so?” He sat beside me. “Fishing in the old way is foolish? How?”

“I’ve seen it all the time,” I said. “Real fishers use these…big massive machines to catch tons and tons of fish, don’t they? This stick…this won’t catch any.”

“Oh, but do you have those machines?”

“...Hmm…no. But we can buy the fish they sell.” I countered. “It’s cheaper that way.”

“Oh, but did you know that prices of food have been rising?”

“I heard people outside of the secured zones are starving over the news.” I looked around the calm environment. “In that case, why, father? Why are some places in this world this way, but others are not?”

“Heh, well. I guess the old Federation didn’t finish the job well in time.”

“Job? What was their job?”

“Ah, you silly boy. Well, to shape worlds for humanity of course. Though, I scarcely think you can comprehend that.”

“Is it like molding clay?”

“Perhaps.” He laughed. “Though, I wouldn’t say it’s that simple.”

I frowned. “How can they do that though? The world is massive, isn’t it?” I looked down at my fishing rod. “Yet in comparison, I can’t even catch a single fish on my own,” I grumbled again in annoyance. Why was I so small compared to those entities? Why? Why could they shape worlds, or catch fish in countless numbers, while I, I could not even get a singular fish from this place? Unfair, it was all unfair.

“Do you then think it’s pointless because you’re too small?”

“Yes. I think so.” I angrily shook the fishing rod. “This all doesn’t matter. None of it matters!”

“Damn, you’re not even an adult yet and you’re already this much of a pessimist…” I heard him silently mutter. I didn’t understand that, but it annoyed me more. He cleared his throat. “Son, you see, the thing is, in life…just because you’re small, does not mean that it’s all for nothing.”

He helped me move my fishing rod, steadying my hands. “Effort, regardless of how small or pointless it is, would probably lead to something. Somehow.”

Something pulled on the rod. Immediately, a wave of excitement gripped me, and I pulled on it hard. Of course, my father helped me with it, and I imagine if he didn’t it would have fallen off my hands, but that was why we were here anyway. To teach me how to fish. Immediately, a fish jumped off, and we pulled.

“And now, we have extra food to enjoy. Damn, this is a good catch. Though, jokes on you, it wouldn’t really change much.” He said as he pulled it back. “I mean, I can buy it anyway, but it isn’t so pointless now is it?”

Soon, we placed the fish in my empty bucket.

“What matters, is you did what you could do.”

+++

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Lubola System

Silver hair. Damn pretty face as well. And she was looking down at me with great concern.

“Well shit, I can’t believe I still ended up in heaven.”

Immediately, her face contorted into amusement, as she tried to hold her laughter. Briefly, I wondered why angels would act this way, why they looked way too human, or why I even made the conclusion about her being an angel when I didn’t believe in god or heaven. And then she burst into laughter.

“God! Not even being that close to death would stop your foul mouth! Jon, your first words are literally profanities.”

“Wait, who the fuck are you?” Panicked, I sat up, and the environment around me seemed sterile, white, and orderly. Like a medical setting. “W-why the hell do you sound like that…” That tin can!

She smiled, before snapping her fingers. Immediately, multiple white particles separated from her finger, before forming a white drone-like ball that showed a holo screen for me, that showed Juliett’s Core. Already, I went from panic to downright terror. The shit in front of me wasn’t human!

“Calm down now, you’re going to hurt yourself. Of course, it’s me…Juliett!” She smiled. “Well, though, of course, think of this body as more of my Avatar Model made out of classified nanomaterials…that I won’t even bother to explain.”

“...Yeah, not like I’d understand it even.”

“I don’t either.”

“Now I’m even more surprised.” I shook my head. “Where the hell am I? And can I get even a rundown on what the hell is happening?”

“I said calm down.” Multiple medical drones appeared above me, and they pushed me down. Now that I noticed it, I winced in pain, feeling the burns from all those sparks, and my head still felt like shit from what must have been quite the severe oxygen deprivation it experienced. “I’m still treating you, so you better settle down and calm down.”

“Treating me?”

“I have my own medical nanobots inside of you.”

“Oh great, now it’s me being violated.”

“How ungrateful.” She rolled her eyes and walked forward, looking down at me. “Jonathan, you’re inside my ship. The VSS Radiant itself. Specifically, on my ship’s dedicated medical bay. Unfortunately, you suffered some second-degree burns, some third-degree burns when the Jukebox’s internal electronics went haywire…and…”

“Can it be fixed?”

“Yes. A few more hours, give or take. My nanobots are doing their best for that.”

“Then all is good then.”

“Yeah…”

I breathed out. “How’s the Jukebox? Oh…and the VSS Glisten went nuclear.”

“Yeah, I know. She was a valiant one…”

“She? Is the Glisten’s shipboard AI like you?”

“Well, not as capable or advanced as me, but she’s a she nevertheless. Every shipboard AI core in the Void Fleet is designated as a female during construction.” She laughed. “I guess our builders were just weird.”

“Yeah, sure does. So, how’s the Jukebox? How’s SYS?”

“Oh, worrying about your closer AI companion eh?” She laughed. “The Jukebox is being repaired by my drones. Should be combat-ready within a few days.”

“You’re…repairing it?”

“Of course. It’s your ship, after all. And I can do a lot of things with my drones and nanobot swarm.” She even grinned. “In fact, this entire ship you are in is built with the same nanomaterials as my avatar.”

“What the hell? That’s bullshit. I know nano-autofabricators exist, and they’re pretty damned bullshit that the powers of the Sector fight to the death over its limited design chips, but you…you’re made with that? A ship?”

“Heh, that’s some surprised look at your face. How hilarious. Yes, but, even those industrial-scale nano-autofabricators are centuries behind my tech. So have no worries, I’ll get you and the Jukebox patched up.” She looked down. “It’s…the least I could do…after what you did.”

I frowned. “No, I did it not for you, but for myself. I…wanted a good way out.”

She tilted her head. “A good way out? Well, if that doesn’t sound depressing.”

“Oh shut up.” I relaxed on the bed. “It was pretty epic, you can’t lie about it.”

“Yeah, sure it was.” She crossed her arms, before sighing to herself. “I…I apologize for my sudden absence. The ship didn’t respond to my reintroduction in the system as I had expected. It took me quite some time to reverse its defensive response to my reintegration.”

“You mean the ship almost rejected you?”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “But, it wouldn’t really be able to do that entirely. I just needed time to manage the mess.”

“Well, now what…” I asked. “You beat them right? Then, what do we do now?”

“Heh, you wouldn’t believe it. Those pirates held with them quite the cargo. Guns, civilian ground vehicles, there was even a micro-autofabricator with them, with its design blueprints. My drones placed it on my ship’s hangars.”

“And their crew?”

“Well…” She went silent. “They didn’t exactly surrender, and they fought back my drones. Life-support systems failed in every ship I combed through, and they died. I…I tried, but they didn’t trust me, an AI.” She seemed appalled at herself. “It’s as if they saw a demon, and killed themselves before surrendering.”

“...Well.” I breathed out. “It’s not your fault. Humanity has hated ‘sentient’ AI ever since the 2nd Revolutionary War. It happens.”

I looked up at her. “So? Do you have a plan? Considering what you found, I think we’d make a great haul in the Inner Sector.”

“I’d be honest, I have never been to the Inner Sector for…for who knows how long.” She shook her head. “My memories in the last decade haven’t exactly been in the clearest.”

“You’re malfunctioning?”

“No, I’m not…maybe.” She looked away. “Maybe I am. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Oh, I apologize for poking something sore.”

“Still…” She looked at me. “Thank you, Jonathan Jones. You saved me.”

“I…” I shook my head, and laughed, attempting to wave her off. “Look, I just did what I could. There’s nothing more to it.”

+++

Engagement Results: Hostiles Extinguished!

Rewards: 200 (1x Cruiser-Sized Ship) + 200 (2x Destroyer-Sized Ships) + 200 (4x Frigate-Sized Ships) = 600 (Base XP) x 1.25 (XP Modifier) = 750 XP Points!

Level Up!

Level: 2.

Experience: 1,365 (+750 Last Chapter).