Dark Fate, Chapter 65 (Patreon)

Chapter 65 – Preparing the Field

First thing to do was making sure the properties were actually mine, according to the System. While I was at it, I decided to grab the huge empty space behind the house I wanted, too, so I could set up some actual defenses. Going through the interface in my Tablet, that was easily handled, and, for the price of just 3.8 million gp.

Once I had the properties, I needed to decide what to do with them. First thought was to have a wall, like my main house, but that would draw too much attention my way, especially if someone started looking into who the government said owned the properties. Sure, there wasn’t much the government could do to override the System, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t cause trouble for me in other ways. Probably best to start small.

System Shop

Stronghold   Upgrades

Utility   Upgrades

Upgrade

Cost

Description

System   Mailbox

100 gp

Establishes   a permanent, indestructible mailbox connected to the System, allowing easy   mailing and delivery of messages and packages to other individuals in the   System.

Basic   Ambient Mana Functionality

25000   gp

Allows   basic functionality of electrical equipment with ambient mana, rather than a   connection to the electrical grid. Provides enough power for lights,   appliances, but not high-power items.

Conjured   Water System

50000

Allows   for the conjuration of fresh water in place of water pumped in from outside.

Stage   1 Mana Reactor

120000   gp

Incorporates   a reactor that converts reactor mass to mana, to power defenses and other   items. Sewage and other waste can be converted to reactor mass.

Mana   Injector

1000   gp

Allows   residents to inject their mana to help power stronghold functions.

Mana   Batteries

500 gp

Rechargeable   batteries, allow storage of mana for stronghold functions.

Solar   Power Collector

10000   gp

Provides   solar panels that convert solar energy to mana in order to power stronghold   functions

Self-Repair   Functionality

1250000   gp

Allows   stronghold structures and features to regenerate over time, using mana to   replace repair costs.

Teleportation   Platform

50000   gp

Allows   user to teleport to any location within 1000 miles. Attempting to teleport to   unknown locations may result in accidents.

For basic upgrades, I decided to just bite the bullet and trick things out. System Mailbox, Basic Ambient Mana Functionality, Conjured Water System, Stage 1 Mana Reactor, Mana Injector, twenty Mana Batteries, Solar Power Collector, and Self-Repair Functionality for all three houses. That set me back almost 4.4 million gold, but it would be worth it, especially considering that I expected this place to take a hit in the near future.

Next, I paid 100k to install two teleporter pads. One was here, and the other was in my main base. This, combined with the simple recall tokens that Zarina made us, would allow us to zap back to the base, and then pop out here in a matter of moments, when the balloon went up.

Mobility issued settled, I also put down another 25k for the Basic Ambient Mana Functionality in the empty field. If I was going to use the ‘crashed spaceship’ ruse, then I needed power, but not too much. Ambient Mana systems were used by a lot of ships to power essential systems without using fuel while they were on the ground, and were one of a couple standard backup emergency power sources you saw on ships for when they crashed on a planet, or other source of ambient mana. Didn’t do them much good in the middle of the void, but nothing was perfect.

That brought up the need to build a ship. Or, rather, build something that would appear as though a ship had been cannibalized to build it by a crew crashed on a mana-less planet. The best way would be to take the framework of an existing ship, and remodel it.

On the other hand, if I was going to all that work, I could just get a ship, and disguise it to make it look like it wasn’t space-worthy. Sure, I had a dreadnought in storage, but I didn’t have the crew for something like that, not yet. I’d probably lose it if I tried to take it into a fight, and it was too large for the space. I needed something smaller.

The two ideas I had were for either a freighter of some kind, or a light warship. Something in a corvette size could be run with minimal crew, and could still pack a wallop, when needed. On the other hand, if I had a warship, would it discourage the raiders from landing nearby? Decisions, decisions.

System   Shop

Ships

Freighters,   Light

Name

Cost

Description

Stozeil-Class   Freighter

1050500   gp

An   ancient civilian freighter, known for reliability and discretion. Still in   service after 1000 Galactic Standard Years.

Hiets Lanehauler

2340900   gp

A   streamlined, efficient light freighter, common in many systems.

Gulkuts   Courier

3500000   gp

The fastest   light freighter on the market, able to outrace most civilian transports.

Light   Picket Ships

Name

Cost

Description

Illids   Skimmer

250000   gp

A   lightly armed attack craft, designed for police actions and customs   inspections.

Iqe   Interceptor

375800   gp

A   quick response craft, designed to intercept shipping and pirates.

Crun Flyer

425000   gp

A picket   ship that trades speed for firepower and armor.

Corvettes

Name

Cost

Description

Oscuns-Class   Shiphunter

8580000   gp

A corvette   designed for hunting pirate ships. Solid balance of speed and defense,   includes spinal mount weapon.

Braks-Class   Corvette

6250000   gp

A   robust weapons platform, focusing on energy weapons and point defense. Designed   for escort duty.

Izan-Class   Stealth Ship

15090000   gp

A   new-model corvette designed for stealth. Includes passive and active stealth   systems, and internal weapons bays.

I filtered the VERY plentiful choices down to three options in each category I was looking at. Obviously, I first filtered out all the ships made for, say, aquatic creatures. Then, I took away the highest and lowest-end options, to get rid of ‘luxury’ and ‘deathtrap’ options, and so on. Reducing the thousands of options, per category, to the three contenders took almost two hours, but I was satisfied with the work.

Now, the choice was between what kind of ship I wanted. I didn’t really want a freighter, but they were ubiquitous, and easily overlooked when you wanted to quietly get some goods from A to B. But they weren’t set up for combat, and that was a serious problem. Likewise, picket ships would be the most immediately useful of the three ships, since one of them could take on one of the reconditioned freighters pirates often used, if I had a pilot, but I’d likely outgrow it quickly.

The corvettes, however, were a good compromise. They were tougher than the typical pirate ship, which would make any raiders finding a crashed one eager to check it out, in hopes of salvaging it, but they needed more crew than a picket ship, which was just a glorified patrol boat. More importantly, there was no hiding the corvette as anything but a warship, unless you had tech for that purpose.

Now, there were ways to make a corvette stealthy, which was obvious, given that there was a stealth option in the list, but you traded a lot for that. And it wanted something that could hold its own in a fight. I wanted a wolf, that could stand and fight if it needed to, rather than a bobcat, which relied more on stealth and stalking.

So, with that in mind, I picked up the Oscuns. It looked like a ship that could do a lot of damage and take a hit or two, based on the specs. I was going to get into trouble, eventually, so I wanted my ship to be able to punch its way free, at least until I was ready to move up to the dreadnought.

Name

Unnamed

Type

Corvette

Owner

Zayn   Greene

Model

Oscuns-Class   Shiphunter

Systems

Weapons

Standard Point Defense Laser   Batteries x2

Standard Ion Cannons x2

Standard Laser Cannons x2

Standard Torpedo Launchers x2 (10   torpedoes each)

Standard Spinal Plasma Cannon

External Hard Points x4

Shields

Standard Corvette Shield System

Armor

Standard Warship Armor

Sensors

Standard Sensor Suite

Power

Standard Corvette Reactor

Standard Emergency Reactor

Standard Ambient Mana Collector

Drives

Standard Sublight Drive

Standard Warp Drive

Misc

Open Upgrade Slots x3

Complement

Crew

50 (9 officers, 1 medic, 40   crew)

10 Passengers/Specialists

Cargo

200 tons

Being able to just drop bills and get next-day delivery on a ship was a nice perk of the System. Of course, there were down sides, as well. You paid more, for one. Both in initial costs, and in logistics, since you didn’t have a manufacturer producing replacement parts, meaning you had to buy everything from the System, or do upgrades yourself. And the ship only came with ‘standard’ gear, which was going to put you at a disadvantage if you went up against someone that didn’t do the bare minimum.

So, I needed to make a few modifications. Before that, I needed a name for my ship. ‘Unnamed’ was simply not going to cut it! Instead, I decided to go with something more fitting a demon like myself. The Hellspawnwas a fitting name for a demon’s first ship, in my none-too-humble opinion. With that settled, I started looking at upgrades.

Hellspawn

Available   Upgrades

Name

Cost

Description

Mendelius   Point Defense System

8000   gp per turret

Rapid-fire   point defense system, offering 10% greater range than standard systems and   30% greater firing speed, for 10% less power per shot.

Y’thran   Arms Ion Cannons

12000   gp per cannon

Improved   ion cannons that boast 25% better output than standard models, with a 10% reduction   in charge time. However, the range is reduced by 35%.

Imperial   Grav-Lance

9000   gp per cannon

A   replacement for the standard laser cannons, the Grav-lance offers a 20%   increase in range and 45% increase in power compared to the standard cannons,   but at a 50% reduced firing rate.

Tiamat   Torpdeoes

5000 gp   per torpedo

Torpedoes   created with antimatter warheads, offering 200% greater yield.

Hellfire   Cannon

120000   gp

A   replacement for the standard spinal plasma cannon, the Hellfire Cannon is capable   of accelerating its rounds up to 95% of the speed of light, at ranges up to 4   light-hours. Fires a 100 kg projectile.

Mk. 25   Reactor

200000   gp

A   vastly more powerful and efficient reactor compared to the standard power   system used in standard corvettes. Equivalent to a standard Destroyer in   output. Available cargo space reduced by 15%.

Coolbreeze   Heat Sinks

5000   gp

Improved   heat sinks increases amount of time the ship can store waste heat without   damage, and allows for directional heat disbursement, increasing stealth   capabilities and run time. Takes up one upgrade slot.

Standard   Cruiser Shield System

6000   gp

Replaces   standard corvette shields with those of a much larger ship. Unlocked due to   Mk. 25 reactor.

Hateforged   Warsteel Armor

200000   gp

Replaces   ship’s armor with Warsteel forged with pure hatred, increasing its defensive   properties exponentially. Includes limited self-repair functionality.

Th’thraxi   Engine Matrix

50000   gp

Replaces   Standard Sublight Drive with new engines. Maximum speed increased by 15%, maneuverability   increased by 25%, and acceleration increased by 40%. Unlocked due to Mk. 25   reactor.

Those upgrades cost a cool 739 thousand gold, but I could afford it, and it would be very useful in dealing with any future pirate threats. After all, even if I stopped this one group, that didn’t mean the others who were likely on their way wouldn’t still show up. But, if I could knock out most of these early opportunists, then it would be much longer until anyone important showed up to make a play.

With my ship due to be delivered by the System, I turned my attention to prepping the area. First, I created a trough and impact crater that would make it look like the ship had crash-landed. That was simple enough with the landscaping tools, so it only cost 500 gold. The other upgrades to the buildings, as well as the plot that would house my starship, were a bit more involved, however.

Defensive Upgrades

Name

Cost

Description

Spawn   Ward

50000

This   ward prevents monsters from spawning within the property impossible. Also   prevents the summoning of monsters except by keyed individuals.

Improved   Defensive Ward

10000

Warded   targets take 25% less damage from hostile forces.

Oppression   Ward

10000

Hostile   forces deal 25% less damage to warded targets.

Spell   Suppression Wards

20000

Hostile   spells 10% less effective, cost 200% more mana to cast.

Flight   Suppression Ward

5000

Flying   creatures not keyed to the wards are unable to fly higher than 5’ from the   ground.

Teleportation   Suppression Ward

25000

Only   individuals keyed to the wards may use any form of teleportation within the   affected area.

Avoidance   Ward

1000

A   simple sensory ward that subtly encourages creatures to overlook or turn away   from the warded area.

Cloaking   Ward

5000

A simple   illusory ward that hides all structures or terrain features from outside   viewing.

I put the full suite of wards on all four lots, for the cost of 394 thousand gold. Worth every coin, in my opinion, since it would help keep people from getting too interested in the place, but wouldn’t show up in scans or scrying as an obviously hidden area where divinations were blocked. That kind of thing just screamed that you were hiding something. Which was fine for a private home, but didn’t do so well when you were trying to lure raiders in to be easy prey.

And I really wanted these first couple ambushes to go off easily. I was not opposed to hard work, obviously. But if there was something I could do, to prepare ahead of time so that I could relax more when it came to the final moments? Well, what kind of idiot wouldn’t try to make their lives a bit easier down the road?