Daniel paid the others around 56,000 credits for the stone, making only ~16K as profit. Others might have watched this and called it foolish generosity, but the recent windfalls and Daniel’s sympathy for his men made it easy to be generous. Once they’d settled that, they started to explore what remained of the facility.
The elevator had been totally destroyed by the Goliath, forcing the men to climb down the shaft using nothing but their spears and bare hands. It was difficult work, but they had grown strong enough that they could traverse the floors this way at a decent pace. The 8th floor, disappointingly, was just another access point deeper within the Meta Diamond recharge facility. It was the 9th where things got more interesting.
The first thing the Pioneers saw at the bottom of the elevator shaft was the shattered remains of the elevator’s generator. That accursed Goliath had hit the lift so hard that it had been sent crashing down into the Hover Generator below. The tech had retained its power all this time thanks to the fact that it wasn’t powered by electricity, but by Latar particles, making it something the Hounds couldn’t ‘eat’. Now, with the generator destroyed, the glowing pink particles were escaping into the atmosphere with a faint tinkling sound. They weren’t toxic, so the Pioneers picked through the rubble, salvaged what little they could, and moved on.
The 9th floor proper ended up being a geothermal power station, one which was surprisingly still partially operational. The tunnels and animal droppings made it clear that the Hounds had made this place their den. They had severed the cables leading up to the rest of the facility and supped on the power directly from the source. The damage they’d caused, and the lack of proper facility maintenance, had nearly destroyed the place. Still, there were a few pieces of tech here and there that were worth scooping up. The remaining pack members never showed their faces again. Daniel surmised that they had run back to the surface. After the Pioneers had gathered all they could, it was time to make the arduous climb back to the top.
Going up was much harder than coming down, and the squad started to run into a new problem. Water.
While they’d brought as much as possible, their containers could only hold so much. The regular exertion and high heat forced them to burn through their supply at a rapid clip. By the time they got to the 6th floor, they were down to two days’ worth remaining. The difficult situation was quickly resolved by Daniel. He took the empty containers in his Codex and scaled the elevator shaft with the speed and strength of a gorilla on steroids. The men watched in open-mouthed amazement as he disappeared up the shaft in a flash, returning just a day later with more water. With that problem solved, they began to take their time climbing back up. There was no rush to return to the surface, as they had plenty of food, water, and money.
Eventually, they set up camp on the first floor, some men choosing to stay behind and wait out the rest of their time underground. Even though they’d gotten stronger, the forest above was even more dangerous in some ways now that they were out of bullets. They had met the Quota, and now they chose to take it easy. The only threat underground was the remaining hounds, but everyone agreed that they had likely fled the base permanently. Just in case, they sealed up the first-floor tunnels.
But while some of the men were happy to hunker down, Daniel was unwilling to rest on his laurels. He was still far from being able to pay off Lucy’s schooling, and every second on this planet was an opportunity. The normal Harlacs and Diaboco could no longer threaten him. If he ran into another Hunter, he’d be in trouble, and a Goliath would pulp him without the help of the System. But Daniel didn’t choose this job because it was easy, so he got up every morning and ventured into the forest above. Initially, only Jordan tagged along for these little trips, but eventually Daniel was regularly joined by Gon, O’Riley, and even Stanoslav. Ramirez joked about the sunlight being bad for his skin and stayed behind, along with Ibrahim and Macneil. The latter duo just looked too exhausted and demoralized to come, which Daniel didn’t blame them for. He couldn’t help reflecting on his memories of the lively, if annoying, younger versions of the men. Comparing those to the deadened versions he saw before him was a depressing exercise. It was a testament to how fast life could change a man.
Daniel put those darker thoughts behind him and focused on the task at hand. The Hunter’s Domain had proven in the past that it was helpful in finding Hila berry vines, so he mostly just led the men on long berry-picking sessions in the forest. They also continued to gather what Briconium they could from the riverside. Daniel never spotted a threat that he couldn’t handle, though it seemed that most of the Xenomorphs had been spooked away from their immediate area.
Daniel read through the schematic Nuntius had given him in his free time. It was dense and long, a headache-inducing read that often slipped into more technical language. Fortunately, his robot companion had given Daniel a dictionary he could use to interpret the lingo, turning reading the schematic from an impossible task to a difficult one. He still found himself scratching his head and re-reading certain lines, but he was making his way through it slowly but surely.
According to these patterns, the final weeks of the mission passed, only broken up by three major events. One was when Jordan pulled him aside one day and made him an offer: “Let me buy the E class stone off you. I can afford it.”
Daniel agreed, and even offered him a discount, but Jordan wouldn’t take it. He practically forced 71,800 into Daniel’s hands before moving to absorb it. Jordan later told him that the stone had brought him up to the cusp of Epsilon class, a fact that made Daniel happy for his friend. The second event was prompted by Daniel’s reading of the schematic. One evening, while reading before bed, the young man stumbled across a key line of text. Suddenly wide awake, he sat up and pulled out Nuntius’s message box, seeking confirmation: “Can you alter our Codex footage?”
“Yes”
The schematic had told him that the System could interact with and alter other technology as a part of its secondary functions. Daniel didn’t know exactly how far it could go, but he knew that everyone’s Codices would have been actively recording Daniel’s fights with the two strange Xenos. Anyone watching that video back would see him using the Archangel System, and it was standard practice to send video back to Command when they returned to an FOB. Daniel would be busted and probably brought in for questioning. Yet here was a way out of that.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He brought everyone together and told them about the ability, gauging their willingness to let him change their footage. Daniel could have done it in secrecy, but he understood that getting everyone to allow him to alter their footage was critical. He depended on their silence and the modified footage to keep his System a secret. The silence after he finished his explanation was palpable. Jordan always had his back, of course, and he wasn’t super patriotic anyway. However, concealing information from the government could get everyone there in trouble. Daniel wasn’t certain that anyone else would agree. Unsurprisingly, Stanoslav spoke first: “I’ll be honest, commander, I’ve never liked you much. Hard to explain. But something about your ugly mug ticks me off.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow, but the man continued: “But you’ve saved my life. Multiple times. And you’ve proven yourself annoyingly generous and a stupidly good commander. I owe you a debt. And Jan Sanoslav doesn’t forget his debts. When it comes to me, you have my silence. Do whatever you have to.”
That earned a round of nods from everyone. Ibrahim, ever the rule follower, was the only man who seemed conflicted. Nevertheless, he nodded and indicated he’d keep quiet. Daniel had Nuntius activate the tech-altering function of the system and watched as the tips of his fingers sprouted small metallic tendrils in tiny flashes of light. They swam through the air and attached to the men’s Codices, some of the men flinching a bit as they did. None pulled back, however, as their devices flashed white for a few seconds before the tendrils pulled back:
“Done.”
With that handled, there was only one big thing left to do. With two days on the mission remaining, they picked up Mubarik’s body and dug up the sergeant’s as well. With the sergeant’s canvas shroud on Daniel’s back and Mubarik’s on Jordan’s, they made their way back to the landing pods. After depositing both bodies into the sergeant’s old pod, they made camp, had a restful afternoon, then went to sleep: “Local Time is: 6:00. Approximately 1 Imperium Standard Day remains for your mission. It is strongly recommended you return to the pods.”
“Way ahead of you.”, Daniel thought to himself as he sat up and yawned. He halfheartedly gathered some berries while everyone slept, but the men heckled Danny for being a workaholic when they woke up. He relented, and the men spent the rest of the day relaxing. Inadvisably, they even cracked open a bottle of Cu’leel whiskey, passing it around and promptly draining it dry. Eventually, they said ‘To hell with it’ and opened another bottle. The rest of the day was spent drinking, telling stories, and eating. As the day grew longer, they broke down their camp for the final time and split up to return to their pods. Daniel went back with Gon, Jordan, and O’Riley, and they passed the rest of the day talking before eventually falling asleep in the pod.
Daniel awoke to the soft rumbling of his pod’s automatic thrusters firing up, bringing all of them back to safety. Sleepily, he opened his status for the final time on F2437:
User Name: Daniel Sylvester Hardgrave
Age: 18
Pioneer Class: Epsilon
Rank: Private Second Class
Status
Strength: 180
Dexterity: 186
Constitution: 147
Adaptability: 160
Psyche: 184
Psionic Capacities:
Slot 1: Hunter’s Domain (Epsilon) (MP=1/10)
- Establish an Extrasensory Domain with Psionic Energy surrounding the User.
- Senses are enhanced within the Domain. User extends Senses throughout the Domain.
- Dexterity is enhanced while the Domain is active.
Slot 2: Destroyer’s Strike (Delta) (MP=0/21)
- Use Psionic Energy to temporarily Enhance a user’s limb or weapon.
- Enhancement increases the attack power and durability of the limb or weapon.
- Enhancement reaches its pinnacle when first activated, losing power quickly over time.
Personal Attributes:
Slot 1: Predatory Grace (Epsilon) (MP=0/7)
- Significant enhancement of natural Dexterity.
- Improves the ability of the User to move silently.
- Scales with Dexterity (E) and Adaptability (F).
Slot 2: Titanic Might (Delta) (MP=0/15)
- Considerable enhancement of natural Strength.
- Toughens skin, making User harder to damage.
- Scales with Strength (D) and Adaptability (E).
Slot 3: Empty
Integrated Technologies:
Slot 1: Archangel System (???) (Power=0.2%)
Value of Personal Storage:
515,345 Credits
Value of Group Storage:
2,067,445
Mission: Hunt and Gather on Planet F2437
You have been tasked with a simple Hunt and Gather mission on a planet suitable for your Class. Bring back as much as you can in terms of valuable flora, fauna, and, if relevant, salvageable tech. Meet your quotas to avoid sanction.
Group Designation: Group 53
Group Size: 8/20
Group Quota: 1,060,791 Credits {Less Recovered/Credited Val} (MET)
Personal Quota: 132,599 (MET)
Total Time: 0 Imperium Standard Days
Commission on Salvage Value: Under Quota: 60%, over Quota: 90%
Congratulations! Your mission has been completed!
As he read that final line, there was a final mechanical chink as his pod attached itself to the transport ship, and Daniel felt the satisfaction of a job well done. The doors of his pod opened, and he squinted a bit as he stepped into the bright lights of the transport ship’s hold.
First mission complete.