Universe Online - Enter the Game: Complete Edition (25 page)

We are all made of stardust anyway; so going back isn't a bad thing. Especially not after being left in a tin can for five hundred years.

We split into 2 groups to start work, taking 13 bots apiece along with the tools and lines for power and other things we'd need.

Cutting through a solid steel and composite bulkhead is both time consuming and a surprising amount of physical work. Cutting through the hull turned out to be even harder.

Multiple layers of composite panels, structural support, insulation and armoring. Nearly totaling three feet thick.

Just how the hell did the escape capsule survive after punching through all of that?! Or maybe the hole was blasted there before and the capsule only scraped through it. Yeah, that might be more likely.

All told, the work to expand the hold takes hours. We end up having to take brakes in a rotation for food and rest because of how strenuous it turns out to be. Even Celes has to stop, though I don't. I keep at it with a plasma torch in hand for almost the entire time, only handing off my torch to recharge my Psi or Stamina; well, mostly Stamina.

The work is of a much more physical nature than a mental one, so my limited stamina is sucked up like a sponge. I try adapting techniques of using my telekinesis to help, but it doesn't really translate over effectively.

At least until I hit on the idea of trying to convert my raw Psi into Stamina. It isn't a new idea, or even a new ability. Almost every VR has some sort of conversion ability for mages and others to convert one Applied Attribute into another.

My problem is is that I don't have any Aspects or Aptitudes for doing so. All I can try to do is force it through my own effort. Which is hard. Really hard. So hard I nearly drop the plasma torch I'm still using and just about cut my damned fool leg off.

I end up making a short Aspect Web based around concentration and try to do it that way. But without the bonus of an Aptitude... Well, lets just say it was a waste of time. It not only sucked up my Stamina faster, but also used up large chunks of my Psi every time I attempted it.

I'm either missing something or the system isn't built to work that way. I’m betting the former.

But I set it aside. This isn't the time or the place to experiment right now. I have work to do.

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Hours later, and the others have been sent to rest and sleep. I'm laying down the last of the metal plates, welding them into place where we'd cut the bulkhead walls out so that we have a flat flooring.

Let me just say this now, but using a grinder in space is HARD. Freakin' frackin' hard. And that goes double for the zero-gravity conditions. Even the bots couldn't do the work with the grinder. But we couldn't leave jagged shit all over the place on the floors and most of the walls. That'd just leave accidents waiting to happen.

Finally though, I shut off the grinding head of my multi-tool and put it away; standing up to look around.

It had taken seemingly forever, but the hold has been opened up. Three times the space to play with! Several new Bub batteries had been pulled out and linked up to provide the power for all of the robots and our tools, as well.

The longest part was cutting through the hull in order to make a space big enough for the tugs to come in. Almost the entire outer wall of a compartment had been cut out in chunks. We plan to reuse the material later, so it’s stacked against the far wall. My tug has already been brought inside as well, providing much needed access to its living facilities.

Now that it’s done, the bots are back on hauling duty. Material and crates to the far side, machines on the other, and an impromptu bay in front. Everything is stacked up in neat rows and columns so we can get to anything that we need. Yeah, so much better.

I finally make my way back to the tug and up to the cockpit. Celes is sleeping in the chair in front of the mining console, so I grab the pilots seat and close my eyes for some much-needed rest.

“Nice work out there, boss.”

I hear her mumble just before I'm out like a light.

I sleep for about eight hours before snapping awake. I'm a bit stiff, but not all sore; and I find the crew out and about, keeping busy. There's even a covered plate waiting on the table for me. It’s good food, already a bit cold though.  Not that it matters. Real food is a treasure.

Once I get suited back up, I go outside and check on things. Things have improved greatly. The crew has been working on fixing up some of the usable machines as well as starting work on a couple of new, larger solar arrays for the solar panels we'd brought from the planet.

We'll need a lot more power for the days to come.

But I already have plans, so I call them all over.

“It’s time to go get the other tug. We'll all go, along with some of the bots. We'll fold them up to save space and use them as needed.”

The others are all ready and good to go. After resting in cramped conditions, they are eager for a bit more living space. Even if the tug isn't usable as a ship.

We pile into the Tug along with five of the bots. I pilot the tug out and around. It’s only a little over a mile, but in space that's a fairly big chunk of territory.

It only takes a few minutes by Tug, which is a lot better than going on foot.

Back in the bay, they stare in awe at the massive water tanks and machinery. I explain to them the problem with it all, though. Ice water had busted every tank and just about every pipe before sublimating out into space. So none of it is even close to usable without a full rebuild.  Even worse than the life support on Drune.

Next up, the other tug. Large parts of it had been pulled apart and left scattered around the bay. We cannot even find all the pieces of it. They were probably in the nearby workshops when the station was attacked. The crew also stays well away from all the corpses of the Drex.

Call it superstition, but none of us want to be around them.

Okay, long story short, we had to rebuild the ships computer before we could turn it on. The power core is basically junk, so it’s all on battery. Life support works, as well as the gravity generators. At least, after a bit of tinkering and wrench-time.

Yeah, just like anywhere else, if you gotta fix it, you have two options: 1) Beat it with a wrench or 2) Duct tape it.

Speaking of which, we do have quite a bit of what is basically spaceworthy duct tape. Some from the planet and whole crates of it that the bots found. Even in Universe Online, duct tape is a versatile piece of technology. You can do anything from patching holes in space suits (or bodies) to fixing computers and even life support units. Yep.

At least in the short term. It basically lasts a month, less if the conditions are really harsh, at least that’s what my repair aptitude is telling me. Yeah, forgetting to replace Duct tape is another thing to put on the Bad List. Heh.

Anyway! We stuff everything we can into the holds of the two tugs and then I haul the second one out of there. Which is harder than it sounds. There isn't a tractor beam installed, so it has to be handled manually with the tug's arms. Which takes all of my concentration and skill in order to prevent anything for getting damaged.

Once we’ve hauled it back Celes ended up having to jump out and talk me through setting it down; and we set it down where it’s easy to access. It’s basically going to end up as the foreman's office. In fact, we plan to strip out everything unnecessary and build it up into a sort of space barracks.

I actually set a couple of people to start work on that after we make sure that it’s good to go. We make sure to store the extra arms in my Tug.

That done, we move on to the next project.

“Okay, we're going to leave four of you here to work on this. The rest of us, including Celes and Luke are going to head to the asteroid belt. You can use the new home base radio if you need to get into contact with us or to receive new orders. Keep a bot up there with orders to let you guys know if we call.”

Checking my quest, it appears we’ve used up a fair sized chunk of the extra time I'd gained from the materials I'd dropped off on the planet, but it both ticks down and goes back up as more repair work is done on the planet. We have time, but not a whole lot. It’s a constant worry.

Back into the Tug, after making sure it’s full up on fuel and battery power, a quickly ran systems check, and we're rocketing out of the hold. This time heading in almost the opposite direction from Drune. Thankfully it is much closer, only taking thirty minutes to reach the field.

And let me tell you, it’s like seeing a beach from very close up. Like, with a magnifying glass close. The tumbling masses of rocks, chunks, bits and 'dust' are all over the place.

It is totally chaotic and a big ass mess. When I ask about it, Celes admits that they'd mined the asteroids from Archon Station; and when the Drex starting attacking, they'd laid actual mines in the asteroid field.

So what I'm seeing makes much more sense. Over the last five hundred years, the mines had gone off, and blasted everything to bits and pieces. The entire asteroid field is like a dust cloud now.

Thankfully none of it is really thick or even dangerous to us. The ship’s armor is more than up to dealing with that. It’s only larger things we have to be careful of. I have Celes at the console monitoring all of that with the radar. Or rather, the high-tech equivalent. Gravidar, gravity-based radar scanning technology.

Yeah, really handy. On a planet, size is more important; but in space mass is even more so. So being able to see information on both for any single object is a major advantage. More importantly, it can be used to make a rough estimate of what the asteroid is made of.

Heavier metals have more mass, after all. So the bigger ping on the returns can be compared and an estimate can be made.

The outer, smaller asteroids we skip right over. None of them are worth looking at right now.

We're after some of the lightest asteroids in the field. Those made up almost purely of ice. The system information had several potential ones marked out, but after 500 years that information is useless. Thankfully it’s fairly easy to tell which have lots of ice. and we promptly head on over to the closest ones.

That's when it starts getting finicky. I have Celes start using the arms to knock away the larger asteroids that cross our path, and have Luke standing behind me for another set of eyes while I concentrate on piloting.

Our speed reduces quite a bit as well. Down to only mere tens of feet per second instead of hundreds or thousands.

Finally though, we find what we're looking for. On the surface, it looks much like any of the other asteroids, if only slightly more shiny. Its surface is coated in rock dust, helping to hide it in plain view.

But the gravidar does its work nicely, and we're definitely reading water as we get close enough to hit it with a full scan.

Roughly 325000 tons of water ice and other mixed materials.

“Bingo, people. We've found our first haul. Luke, take over here. Celes, switch with me.”

I say, unstrapping myself and moving to take the mining controls. Luke moves into the pilot seat, and I give orders for us to close in while I use the two of the robotic arms to grab a hold of the chunk of ice itself.

We end up having to point our nose 'up', so that the ships belly is pointed flat at the asteroid in order to get the mining drill out properly. It’s a physical thing on a shaft, like a large bore router head... Or a terrestrial drill bit. It can extend and move side to side a bit.

But the main part isn't to mine and suck up the material itself. No, it’s used to smash whatever it drills into chunks large enough to collect with the arms and stuff in the storage hold.

Actually starting the thing is a thrill, and with Celes watching over my shoulder and giving me hits, I go to work with it.