- Chapter 3 - Mental Link -

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After about five seconds of eerie silence, the HUD and other displays were gradually restored. However, the interface glitched in and out in an unsettling manner, making a massive dent on Ares's sanity.

"What was… that?"

"I don't know; I don't know; I don't know…"

[[System restore sequence initiated.]]

— Shit, don't tell me…

Ares recalled the existence of an event known as interdiction. In <EPO>, it was an event where starships are pulled out of superluminal travel by hostile gravity wave emitters.

In other words, they were intercepted by an unknown entity that could be neutral or foe. Although unsure about how interdiction works in this reality, Ares was aware that they were under attack.

[[<Navigation System (Arbitra)>, online.]]

The astonished starship pilot tried to jerk the control sticks, but they were still locked in place. The foot pedals were stiff as well.

"Damn, I need to get this shit moving. Syntia, release the controls."

"No, please, no, I don't want to die, no…"

"Syntia, calm down at once! This is an order!"

Ares shouted then slammed on the monitor's edges. The screen flickered as a response from the percussion.

"I have no idea what you're worried about, but trust me, we'll make it out of this mess. Just tell me how to operate this ship and hand me the 'wheel.'"

No response.

This is bad, Ares thought. The living core has turned hysteric for unknown reasons. Did the core malfunction due to the interdiction? He wondered worriedly.

[[Warning. <Obscura> signatures detected. Prepare for offensive measures.]]

"Wha…what? <Obscura>?"

The three-dimensional scanner map displayed one huge red dot approaching the ship from behind. Being an experienced player, Ares knew what that color meant.

*VRRRRNG…*

A series of unnerving low-pitched noises were picked up by his senses. He looked around to identify the source of the mind-numbing screeching.

— What the fuck.

It was a gigantic space monster in the form of a flower. Or was it an alien vessel? Ares didn't know. He had never seen that in the game.

The monster was mainly constructed of grey matter that looked like an insect's carapace. It possessed a purplish crystalline core with eight petals that extended out like a spiral. Each of them held an "eye" that housed a yellow "pupil."

It had come — the culprit of the interdiction.

Syntia's screams resounded in the starship's bridge.

Ares could imagine that the poor ship "AI" was bawling her eyes out. The fear of the unknown was real. His legs were shaking, and his back felt ice-cold.

[[Living core mental state unstable. System context override.]]

[[Emergency mode deployed.]]

[[<Neural Linkage System (Sanguis)>, online.]]

[[Main pilot of <Synthesis>, please place both hands on the control sticks.]]

With no other option, Ares had to perform the actions that the system has suddenly instructed.

[[Seatbelts deployed.]]

Two pairs of seatbelts emerged from the seat's hidden compartments. They moved and buckled themselves up like drones, securing the pilot to his seat at both chest and waist level.

[[Attempting synchronization… Failure. Switching to "force synchronization" mode.]]

The touch screen monitor displayed the instructions and voice command to activate some kind of functionality. And a disclaimer appeared, mentioning that proceeding would pose a risk of fatality due to neural strain.

Ares remembered that he had once watched a movie that featured such a system. It was about piloting colossal robots through the mind, which was portrayed as a dangerous act. However, there was no time for him to hesitate.

As large as <Synthesis> was, the flower-shaped entity drifted from behind the ship while slowly rotating. Then, it roared and emitted a bright red radiance. Its "eyes" all turned red, and deep red veins appeared all over its surface.

It was apparent that the enemy showed its hostility and was prepared to launch an attack.

Facing the dreadful monster, Ares could do nothing but yield to the suggestions. He gulped and let out a battle cry, starting the "force synchronization" process.

"<Mental Link>, engage!"

[[<Mental Link> activation request confirmed. Subject, pilot on Seat 01. Attempting "force synchronization" with the living core.]]

Just like being crushed by a rock, Ares was assaulted by a head-splitting pain. An excess amount of information was dumped into his head, beyond what he could digest.

Hoping for them to prove helpful in the unfortunate encounter, he strived to pick up bits of useful knowledge from the seemingly endless stream of injected thoughts.

Vital information about the ship was dumped into the "linked" pilot's brain and forcibly seared in his memories. That included the dimensions, capabilities, modules, status, weaponry, and more.

His vision was replaced with a tunnel of flashing lights until it reached its destination, where he was ejected back to reality. It all happened in a split second, but to him, it felt like ages.

Ares knew why Syntia was scared. The entire crew of <Synthesis> was killed in action in a fierce battle against a fleet of space creatures identified as <Obscura>. That was before <Core 701> managed to steer the heavily damaged ship into hyperspace for refuge.

The flower-shaped enemy, according to the database, was an <Obscura> that the ship had encountered before. It craved for the souls of intelligent beings.

<Synthesis> was sent for a mission to end the invasion from outer space, which plagued their homeworld. It was a suicide mission, and it did cause the death of the entire crew, directly or indirectly. That included <Core 701>, which was permanently damaged as an aftermath of the brutal fight and had her lifespan cut short.

The previous captain died from multiple organ failure due to prolonged usage of <Mental Link>. Would he end up treading the same path? Ares did not know.

[[Force synchronization completed. <Mental Link> established.]]

"Aaaaaaah!"

Syntia let out a piercing shrill that sent a jolt into the pilot's consciousness. The <Obscura> had propelled forward and slammed them from the rear.

Ares felt a sharp pain like his spine was snapped into two halves as if the pulsating headache wasn't already agonizing enough. He was sure that he had reflexively screamed, but he couldn't hear his voice.

And that was when he realized that the living core shares senses with the ship's hull and thus perceives the damage received as pain. Since his mind was linked with the systems too, he was subjected to the same consequence.

He couldn't feel his limbs as his nerves had been wired up onto the ship's systems. That allowed him to handle the controls like they were his body parts.

Ares's vision was replaced by the complete panoramic view around the ship. It caused heavy nausea as that was the first time he had ever experienced having a field of view of 360 degrees.

While enduring the severe discomfort, Ares performed the initial setup process with his consciousness on the line.

It was an intense race of time. Ares felt thankful to the fully mind-controlled interfaces that allowed him to complete all the steps within milliseconds. Complex HUDs were superimposed on his vision and reacted to his thoughts in an instant.

Next, he woke up the ship's dormant reactors. He had no time to care about the energy distribution priorities and risks of overheating. All he could do was to ramp it all up to maximum output to fill the critically empty energy reservoirs.

— Geez, that was really bad.

"It hurts; it hurts! No, no, aah!!!"

The monster flower's petals extended, and from its base, massive spider leg-like arms with claws at the end were revealed. It grabbed the ship tight and pierced its sharp claws into the ship's hull.

Countless warning messages were generated on the HUD. Black spots appeared in the panoramic vision, presumably due to the loss of the respective cameras. Ares's "eyes" were scorching like they had suffered acid burns, but he couldn't close them nor even blink.

[[Thrusters, online.]]

As the energy tank for the propulsion drives has filled up to its minimum operational level, the thrusters that were previously inoperable were automatically activated.

"Aaah, it's inside me! Get it out, get it out!"

The creature rammed its "face" on where the ship's cores were located and breached the hull with spear-headed tentacles.

— Get the fuck away from us!

Ares ramped the engines' throttles up and accelerated the ship forwards. At the same time, the fire-control system and energy shield system have finished loading.

[[<Fire-control System (Prisma)>, online.]]

[[<Mass Driver Cannons (Requiem)> deployed.]]

[[Warning. Failed to deploy <Requiem> 5 and 6.]]

[[Target locked on.]]

[[<Energy Shield System (Ignis)>, online.]]

[[Warning. Shield deployment unsuccessful. Please make sure that there are no obstacles in the vicinity.]]

— Shit, I can't turn on the energy shield without getting that abomination off, huh.

Ares chose to ignite the front portside and rear starboard lateral thrusters. The momentum from the sharp turn managed to make the monster lose balance and release the grip on some of its arms.

Multiple crosshairs on the HUD moved towards the locked-on enemy. Some of them did not manage to reach the target, except two that converged and turned green.

— Now, eat this!

A mind-controlled pull of the trigger sent four blue, glowing ellipsoids into the creature's "face." It exploded violently upon contact and repelled the enemy by a moderate distance. Some of its extended parts were destroyed and became space debris.

<Synthesis> had eight twin-mounted turrets as her main guns. Her pilot commanded the firing of both frontal turrets mounted on the deck; Both rear deck turrets were damaged while the four underside turrets couldn't reach the enemy.

[[Shields deployed.]]

The energy shields were deployed almost immediately after the creature was blown away. The shrapnels that struck the hull caused purplish ripples to appear on the panoramic vision.

*GROOOOOWL!*

Two of the eight petals of the demonic flower were brutally torn off by the nearly point-blank retaliation. The damaged <Obscura> wailed and retracted its petals. The remaining six 'eyes' on the petals shone brightly, covering it with an ominous purple layer of energy.

Ares turned the ship around and faced the enemy head-on.

— Son of a bitch, it's payback time.

There was no room for escape. Ares remembered that "final battle" in EPO. The operation was arranged to avenge a friend, for glory and dignity. But he regretted nothing. Now, he was fighting for real.

Syntia's sobbing sounds fueled the sorrow and anger in his heart. He tried to call out to her repeatedly but received no response.

He had to win the battle. The one who will be dead would be either them or the monster.

[[<Requiem> 1 and 2, reload complete.]]

It took about twenty seconds to ready the emptied guns. That was abysmally slow, much like an ancient dreadnought battleship. Ares deeply missed the rapid-fire cannons and pulse lasers of his favorite starship in <EPO>.

The flower-shaped monster retaliated by firing intermittent pulses of massive yellow laser beams from its "eyes." They were hard to evade as the rays of excited photons traveled at light speed.

Although <Synthesis>'s shields were able to resist the attacks to a certain degree, the energy reserves were depleting at an alarming rate. Before devising an effective strategy, Ares could only swerve to break the line of sight to minimize the damage received.

He tried to fire the main guns at the enemy whenever possible, but the slow projectiles were easily evaded. The target-leading system wasn't working, so he could only guess where to shoot at.

Due to the lack of power, the turn rate of <Synthesis> was lower than even the bulkiest ship in <EPO>. To add insult to injury, some of the thrusters did not work, heavily limiting the maneuverability in specific directions.

— What could I do? The shields… We can't keep up at this rate…

Ares was aware that the moment the shields deplete would be the arrival of his demise. It was already a blessing that the energy shields could withstand hundreds of registered hits while being replenished continuously.

He couldn't land even one single shot on the dreadful enemy as he did not have much experience in using turrets. Frustrated, he considered to slow down and attempt another point-blank shot. But there was a problem. If he did that, the concentrated pulse laser attacks would saturate the shields within mere seconds.

Fortunately, Ares discovered that the mass driver cannon turrets possessed multiple modes to tackle various situations. However, mode switching required time, even up to minutes, depending on the change of internal mechanics.

He made the decision and ordered the mode switching after understanding the specifications of the weapon modes.

[[<Requiem> 1 and 2, switching to rail cannon mode. 3 to 8, disengaged and retracting.]]

The default configuration the guns were on was the "blast cannon" mode, which fired high-explosive plasma slugs with a linear accelerator. The "rail cannon" mode featured a smaller caliber in exchange for projectile speed and penetrating power. That was the perfect choice for the current situation <Synthesis> was facing.

Because more than half of the ship's reactors were inoperable, Ares could only allocate enough energy for two turrets while maintaining both propulsion and defense. That was also because operating the turrets took a significant toll on his mind. He had to use my thoughts to steer and aim the turrets manually.

— If only Syntia were still functioning, or if I had more FCS operators…

After a whole minute that felt like ages, all four guns were ready to fire. Ares gambled all his hope on a single volley based on intuition and faith, believing that his past gaming experiences would prove useful.

The enemy was starting to get exhausted. The number and frequency of beams fired grew lesser and lesser. Finally, the ship's shield regeneration rate exceeded the damage received from focused bombardment.

Not wasting the opportunity, Ares turned the ship to face the enemy while allocating all the thrusters' energy to the shields. That caused the shields' intensity to increase drastically. As the thrusters were powered down, the ship went into reverse gliding.

He endured the excruciating pain that had him suffering for the entire duration and anticipated for the seemingly foolish strategy to work.

The <Obscura> probably thought that <Synthesis> had finally run out of energy or had broken down. It attempted to slam the ship to get another chunk out of it while continually opening fire.

— Time to ring your death knell.

The mass-drivers charged up while Ares attempted to aim where he assumed to be the monster flower's weak point — the purple core at its center.

— FIRE!

Four concentrated balls of plasma accelerated to the point that they formed streaks of blue light surged forward. They struck the advancing enemy slightly before their paths converged, pierced the monster's barrier, and tore it apart.

Ares could feel the massive heat generated by the turrets seared on his "skin." He was confident that it was the same for Syntia. But at least, it was all over.

*UWOOOOOH…*

The <Obscura> let out a deep cry before disintegrating into bits. Ares had no idea why he could hear the sounds. The outside vacuum should have prevented their transmission.

— Syntia…

[[Warning. Pilot condition critical. Cancelling <Mental Link>.]]

Ares's consciousness returned into his body. Slumped on the seat and head drooped down, he saw his clothes stained by what can be said to be a pool of blood.

He felt blood flowing out from all of his facial orifices. The bleeding was confirmed when he looked at the reflection on the touch screen monitor. Then what followed was a violent cough that sent blood droplets all over the cockpit's dashboard.

The side effects of <Mental Link> sure have kicked in. His vision turned red. The adrenaline had worn off, leaving an empty husk whose vitality was rapidly seeping out.

— So tired. So hard to breathe. So… this… is my end. Or is it?

The starship pilot's eyes grew heavy as his mind faded into oblivion.

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