Chapter 306 – War Pays Well

Emily walks through one of The Mothership’s alchemy labs, waving off those who notice her presence and turn to greet her.

“Hey, Ivor,” she says, coming to a pause beside her apprentice and peering over his workstation. “What are you working on? Some kind of healing potion?”

“Yeah,” he signs without looking away from the bubbling cauldron he’s stirring with his mana. “The healing branch has been ordering more and more medical supplies from us thanks to you fighters using so much up.”

“Hey, don’t look at me, I use my own stuff.”

Ivor huffs out a silent laugh and finally looks over to take her in, his eyes scanning her visibly heavily-enchanted armour, partially covered by a pair of multi-pocketed combat trousers that have replaced her usual utility belt and a silver jacket that flows smoothly following her movements and appears to be made from pure metal which oozes with mana despite lacking any runic engravings. His gaze pauses on the familiar scarf still hanging from her neck before coming to rest on her face, where a faint, amused grin is just about present.

“You… seem to be doing well,” he comments before turning back to his workstation to begin grinding a set of roots, waving Emily forward to take over watching the cauldron.

“What can I say? I do love a job well done.” Emily shrugs, using a burst of machina to locate and eradicate several impurities in the brew that Ivor’s missed. “The FAF couldn’t bring themselves to complain about our conduct when we claimed our payment, despite the earlier abandonment of our posts while dealing with internal issues.”

“I take it we were rewarded generously?”

“Very. We’ll make a proper announcement once we’re out of Xeroph 5, but they gave us over two hundred thousand credits and a nice portion of raw materials I just got done sorting. War pays well.”

“Anything good I’ll get my hands on?”

“Plenty. Your branch will be getting almost as much to play with as the engineers.”

“Exciting.” Ivor combines his prepared root paste with a bone marrow-based solution before pouring it into the cauldron. He gives it a final stir before covering it and turning to face her properly, leaning back against his workstation. “I take it that’s not why you’ve finally decided to pay me a visit?”

“No, it’s not. I… received a distress signal from Ulea a short while back, and Silvia has agreed that we’ll look for a job in Federation space next and pay them a visit on the way.”

“A short while back? How short?” Ivor questions, his brow furrowed with concern.

“Seven hundred and ninety-one days ago.”

“Seven hundred and ninety-one days!” Ivor pales. “How is that short? That’s over half the time we’ve been off-planet! Did it not occur to you to mention this to me any time sooner? Are they alright?”

“Calm down, they’re fine. I would have mentioned it sooner if it were something serious. I believe they were just in shock after a visit from The Federation attack force that was chasing this crew when they collected us,” Emily explains. “I did a little snooping on nearby Network nodes after receiving their signal and confirmed that the pursuing group stopped on Ulea before cutting their losses and turning back. A few of The Guild’s long-range scouting teams have been periodically checking in on the sector since, and there’s been no new major movement from The Federation beyond setting up a few small, pre-integration watches.”

“Okay,” Ivor lets out a relieved breath. “That’s good. Though, is that information just… publicly available?”

“Oh, not at all. I had to break through several layers of protections hiding the scouting team’s stations from wider Net traffic, and I even had to pay off a mechanic who noticed my intrusion. I’m honestly impressed she managed to spot my access pattern and catch me while I was connected.”

“Right… So, we’re heading back to Ulea?”

“Yep. Just thought I’d give you a heads up. Depending on how our visit goes, we may or may not be heading back again later, so this might be your last easy chance to return to planetary life if piracy isn’t agreeing with you.”

“Trying to get rid of me again?” Ivor grins, his earlier tension gone completely. “I’ll have you know I’m quite enjoying the chance to play with so many unique materials, a fact you’d know if you felt the need to visit me more than once a year.”

“Hey, you’ve been welcome to join me in my Factory this whole time too, so don’t blame me for being distant.”

“And deal with feeling swamped by your presence? No thanks, not all of us are Pod. How he isn’t bothered by that I’ll never know.”

“He’s used to it.” Emily shrugs. “Which you would be too if you spent more time in there.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that feeling. It’s seriously oppressive.” Ivor waves her off with a silent chuckle, turning to check on his brew before pausing and glancing back. “Please don’t forget to grab me if you plan on visiting any of our friends. I would quite like to make sure they’re okay with my own eyes.”

“Sure thing.” Emily nods, turning to leave. “Though, you’ll be perfectly welcome to visit them yourself even if I don’t. You’re a valued member of this crew, not a prisoner, and Ulea will be a courtesy visit, not a combat assignment.”

***

ˉˉˉˉˉ

[Status]

[Name:] Emily Coldstone

[Race:] Humanoid Cyborg

[Age:] 26 > 29

[Magic Circle:] Fifth Circle

[Machina Cortex:] Fifth Stage

[Attributes:] Strength 82 > 98 (130), Dexterity 358 > 383 (398), Agility 311 > 337 (360), Vitality 68 > 76 (156), Intelligence 810 > 861 (1111)

[Health:] 2725/2725 > 3125/3125

[Stamina:] 6625/6625 > 7350/7350

[Mana:] 307500/307500 > 322875/322875

[Machina:] 292125/307500 > 313189/322875

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[E.M.P Engine]

[Rank:] C

[Description:] A mechanical, self-sustaining implant module embedded in the lower abdomen and linked to the host's energy network.

[Effect:] Upon activation, releases a sustained E.M.P around the host coded to their energy signature until the internal battery runs dry.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[SynthMetal Jacket]

[Rank:] C

[Stats:] +5 Str, +15 Vit

[Description:] An alchemically created jacket designed to defend and enhance the host.

[Effect:] Automatically shifts mass to block attacks or reinforce movements.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Combat Cargos]

[Rank:] C

[Stats:] +5 Agil, +15 Vit

[Description:] An alchemically created pair of trousers designed to defend and enhance the host. Contains multiple linked spatial storages woven into the fabric of its vessel.

[Effect:] Automatically shifts mass to block attacks or reinforce movements and allows the user to access three hundred square metres of storage space.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Progression]

[Circle/Stage:] Fifth

Requirements:

-Intelligence 861/925 (Not Complete)

-Cleanse your mental demons (Not Complete)

-Upgrade 10/10 knowledges to intermediate grade (Complete)

-Upgrade 3/3 skills to advanced grade (Complete)

-Slay 1/5 sixth circle beasts alone (Not Complete)

-Raise 1/2 linked child beings to fifth circle (Not Complete) {Optional}

_____

I need to start looking for materials worth making elixirs from; my natural intelligence increase is already starting to slow without essences to boost it. I should check The Abyss once we reach Ulea to see if any sixth circle beasts have started to develop yet…

Emily’s sitting at one of the workbenches in Elisime, checking over her recent progress, when she feels a recognisable presence enter her Factory. She doesn’t bother dismissing the system windows floating around the edge of her vision until she feels a pair of arms wrap around her from behind, and a chin come to rest on her head.

“What’s got you staring into space this time?” Silvia asks, glancing at the half-assembled plasma rifle sitting abandoned on the workbench. “You linked to the fleet’s systems, or just too many ideas floating around that pretty little head of yours?”

“The latter,” Emily replies, leaning back into her with a sigh. “I’m trying to decide what implant I want to get started on next, and I’m considering what I need to do to push towards my next ascension. I feel like my passive circle and cortex growth is starting to slow a little too much.”

“Ha, only you’d call your current rate of improvement slow. I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Now come on, we’re approaching Morten Hub to dock, and I’ll need you with me to update and correct our crew’s registration.” Silvia kisses the top of her head before spinning her seat around and pulling her to her feet. “I’d also like to steal your son for a bit. I’ve been notified of some new prospects looking to join us, and his help in parsing their intentions will be invaluable.”

“I’ll pass along the message. He should be sparring with my youngest right about now.”

“Perfect. I’ve sent out a crew-wide alert giving everyone a few days to relax before we head off towards Xlanax again, but would you be a darling and check for any interesting job listings in Federation space while I’m handling the new recruits?”

“Sure, I’ll check the mercenary boards while I’m at it.” Emily pulls them out of her Factory and starts preparing a Blink for the moment the ship lands. “Meet me for a drink after?”

“You read my mind.”

Morten Hub is a large planetary trade centre in a stable galaxy neighbouring the Xeroph cluster. It almost looks like a normal city if you ignore the cable tethers spread across it, stretching up into the sky to connect the colossal metal docks just outside the atmosphere. The Crimson-Blade Fleet touches down on the docks, and Emily and Silvia take one of the many space elevators down towards the planet before heading towards a large building acting as the Hub’s main registry.

It doesn’t take long to rebrand the Heavy-Blade Pirates with the existing records of Yorn’s death, and they soon separate, Silvia heading off towards a meeting point near a set of hireable combat rooms at the edge of the pirate’s district of the city to meet Mensacus and the potential new crewmembers while Emily heads towards the Network access in the centre of the district.

She spends hours checking through tens of thousands of job listings available to their crew, dismissing most as not worth their time and some as far too risky for the meagre pay, before she finds a request that catches her interest.

[Extermination Request]

Target: Archanem Coven

Location: The Arcane Veil (exact coordinates unknown, last sighting in Alpheta 42)

Reward: 100,000 credits, 1 high grade spirit essence, 2 assorted high grade essences, rights to all recovered belongings of the coven

Poster: Anonymous (payment provided to Guild in advance)

Details: A new coven with a concealed, manoeuvrable pagoda has formed within The Federation, encroaching on others’ territory. Payment will be issued for evidence of their pagoda’s destruction or permanent removal from the sector.

A manoeuvrable pagoda? That’s either a seventh level artefact or under the direct control of a seventh circle mage. The Alpheta sector isn’t too far from Moer, but crossing into the middle territories of The Federation could be a little risky… I’ll see what Silvia thinks, but hunting a vanishing pagoda could be fun.