The moment Daniel had received the message about reporting to the FOB Commander, a waypoint popped up on his HUD, along with a timer. Daniel said a hasty goodbye to the others, mentioning that Command had summoned him. They all gave him concerned looks, and Jordan half-stood to come with him, but Daniel waved at them to stay where they were. He put on a calm fa?ade, indicating, “It’s probably fine. They’re probably just interested in my abilities.”

  That was the anodyne explanation of the summons. Command had noticed that he had Delta class abilities and summoned him to ask about them. Daniel could have hidden his abilities from his Codex data. But if he did that, he’d need to keep those abilities a secret, or risk discovery. Instead, he’d deleted his footage of the fight with the Goliath, replacing it with footage of him discovering Delta class Morphic stones in the Aeterna facility. This was his ‘explanation’ for how he had such high-class powers, and it should stand up to scrutiny if anyone decided to question it. He just needed to keep his story straight.

  That was the best-case scenario. Worst case was that the System wasn’t as good at doctoring video as he’d thought, and he’d been discovered. Or maybe the Kharnidd document had been traced back to him already, and he was about to be questioned on that. Either way, Daniel’s stomach twisted itself into knots as he walked down the stark, grey corridors of the FOB. He reached the door demarcated by the waypoint, and it automatically slid open to reveal a large meeting hall. Rows of his fellow Pioneers stood at attention, roughly 80 in total. Daniel, slightly in shock, moved to join them. A few stragglers made their way into the room as the timer counted down, but everyone summoned seemed to make it before the clock hit zero.

  Once it did, a voice boomed out from the front of the room: “Pioneers! Good afternoon.”

  The owner of this voice was a tall, pale-skinned man with a square jaw. His dark hair was shaved into a block that was just as severe as his jaw, his whole countenance the very embodiment of severe. This entire picture was complicated by the fact that the man’s eyes were a deep purple. They reflected the light with a gemlike quality that was quite ornamental for such an apparently hard-edged man: “I am Colonel William Matterhorn, Commander of FOB Granatica. I’ve summoned you here today to give you new orders.”

  A less disciplined group would have broken out into mutters of concern and confusion. These Pioneers hid those emotions, staring back at their Commander as they waited for clarification: “The upper echelons have put together a competitive mission with an Imperial foe, the Terran Republic. This mission is on an Epsilon Class planet that happens to be close by. I have been ordered to send over whatever eligible elites I possess to reinforce the squads that are participating. You all meet the strength and age requirements set out by Command, so you’re going.

  This mission is a search and retrieve project. You must search vigorously for a downed Republic ship and retrieve whatever cargo it possesses.”

  Now, Daniel had been thrown for a loop. He wasn’t being singled out. He was being re-assigned. It looked like he wouldn’t get his vacation after all: “The specifics will be sent to your Codex, but I felt it appropriate to speak to you first. Imperial pride runs on the successful completion of this mission. Act accordingly.

  In addition, I’ve decided to open the FOB’s storerooms to you. Anything inside, you can purchase. It’s not as expansive as the FGS, but it’s got some good stuff. I’ll even give you a discount. That said, your transport leaves in six hours, so make your shopping spree quick.”

  The Federation General Store, or FGS for short, was the Federation’s mechanism to allow Pioneers to use their hard-earned cash to buy valuable goods. Only Pioneers who had completed at least one mission had access, so Daniel had only recently qualified, but a connection to the Network and a means to transport the goods were also required. Without a local Warp Gate, the transportation would take too long and be too expensive. There were some things they’d need to buy for this mission, a fact that was revealed when Daniel’s log pinged:

  Mission: Find the Ship on Planet E2555

  A Republic ship has crashed on Planet E2555. Our intelligence suggests that its Pioneers may have been carrying something of great value, codename Philosopher. Go to this planet, find the ship, and retrieve whatever valuables its Pioneers may have been carrying. The Main Mission is the retrieval of Philosopher. All retrieved salvage is property of the Imperium. E2555 is an Ocean planet. Be prepared for underwater exploration.

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  Note that this is a competitive mission. The Republic is expected to dispatch its own Pioneers to find the ship. Do not permit any obstruction. Further note that this exercise will be scrutinized heavily.

  Individual Reward for Main Mission Participation: 1,000,000 credits.

  Group Reward for Being the First to Find the Ship and Harvest its Cargo: 20,000,000 credits.

  Group Reward for Main Mission Completion: 200,000,000 credits.

  There was no commission on salvage value. All salvage would automatically go to Imperial coffers. They would be paid simply for doing their best to find the ship, along with a bonus for actually finding the ship and taking valuables from it. Their actions would be heavily scrutinized, so failing to work hard would be punished. And the fact that they would be competing with Republic soldiers would only add to the danger.

  The reason for structuring the mission like this was simple: The Imperium wanted the Pioneers wholly focused on finding the ship. Anything else they gathered would be property of the Empire when they left. So, there was no incentive for running around harvesting the local flora and fauna, beyond what you needed to stay alive. There were disincentives for lollygagging or cowardice, and there was even a bonus incentive for finding the ship first. Even if you weren’t first, you still had good reason to find the ship, as there was always the chance you found Philosopher.

  As Daniel read, Matterhorn finished his explanation: “Remember that this mission is meant to be a secret. Revealing details to others will be strictly punished. Failing to participate will be punished. Understood?”

  After a chorus of ‘Yes, sir’s’, Matterhorn finally dismissed them. Thinking quickly, Daniel immediately opened the catalogue of items in the FOB’s storage, scrolling until he found an item: “Epsilon Class Morphic Stone: Personal Attribute: Pneumonic Enhancement. Value: 54,000 Credits. [Purchase]”

  Without further thought, he hit the Purchase button. Daniel hadn’t used a single Morphic stone in his time on the Desert planet, choosing to save every single one he found and sell them later. He still had an open Personal Attribute slot and was glad he did. Pneumonic Enhancement would, among other things, allow him to breathe underwater. It was strongly recommended that you obtain this attribute if you wanted to explore an Ocean planet. Daniel wanted to snatch it up, as there were likely limited supplies. Since he was going to be forced into this operation, he’d have to take steps to keep himself alive.

  Now that he was looking at the shop, Daniel paused in thought. After the most recent mission, his net worth had risen to around 742,000 credits (including the now-depleted Diamonds Grandpa had left him). But even the bare minimum mission reward eclipsed that number entirely, at 1,000,000 credits. So long as he survived and didn’t get sanctioned, he’d be able to pay off Lucy’s school no matter what. That didn’t even account for the reward he was due for bringing back the Kharnidd corpses, which were still being processed and assessed. All that said, this mission would be extremely dangerous, far more so than a routine Epsilon mission. Every ounce of preparation counted.

  No two ways about it, Daniel needed to leverage his savings. Spending here would keep him alive later, and the need to save every penny had gone out the window. He immediately bought two cheap Epsilon class stones and a single cheap Zeta stone, for a total of 117,000. Then he shelled out 45,000 for an Oceanglide and another 45,000 for some stimulants. 270,000 bought him 50 final-charge, Low Grade Meta Diamonds. 90,000 purchased him a powerful blaster alongside several Toshak crystals to fuel it. He even purchased a powerful spear, specifically designed to conduct Psionic particles, for 81,000. This shopping spree was cheap due to the discount that Commander Matterhorn mentioned.

  When Daniel went to pick up his supplies at the quartermaster, he sold off his depleted Meta Diamonds for 40,000. He used this money to pick up some backup spears and miscellaneous supplies. Anything he thought he might need. He then set aside roughly 3,000 credits in ‘pocket change’, just in case, and wired 15,000 to Marie over the Network. Along with it, he sent this note: “I can’t come home right now. Something came up. This is all I have for you for now. Tell Lucy I love her.”

  Daniel’s final stop was with the others. He told them that something had come up and that he wouldn’t be going back with them on the transport home. He obviously got a ton of questions, questions he couldn’t answer, which is what he told them. The men were confused, but they trusted their erstwhile leader enough to accept his mysterious situation and not think too hard about it. Daniel had a few critical words specifically for Jordan. Clapping his friend on the back, he leaned in and said, “Do me a favor and check in on Lucy and Marie, alright? Just to make sure that they’re okay.”

  Jordan looked frustrated in response, his normal joking demeanor nowhere to be seen: “Danny, what are you saying? Where are you going?”

  Daniel shook his head sadly: “I told you, I can’t say where I’m going. I can tell you that I won’t get the chance to go back to Akaadia for a while. I’m sure Lucy and Marie are fine, but it would make me feel better if you looked in on them. Alright?”

  Thankfully, Jordan just nodded in response. Daniel hung around with the others for a short period afterward before it was time to go. He said a warm, individual goodbye with each man, shaking their hands and wishing them luck. Gon and Jordan both gave him a hug, the latter also giving him a slap on the back: “Give’em hell out there, Danny.”

  Daniel’s eyes were more than a little watery as he gave them a final wave and jogged off to catch his ship.