Chapter 97: Departure (Patreon)

“Alas, we are out of time,” Ruel said as he stood, picking up his giant shield. “I’d hoped to get a few more matches in, but we’re all going to be boarding a transport ship in thirty minutes.”

“What?” Grendel stepped forward and protested. “We’re leaving that soon? I need to get my stuff!” Grendel sprinted towards the stairs.

Ruel intercepted Grendel with little effort, stopping his mad dash with one hand. “Hold on a moment, Grendel. No paraphernalia on the ship. You go with your body, your tools, and your weapons, nothing else. We aren’t going to a space-side resort; we’re going for a mission. We go to the designated location. We complete the duty. We get our next assignment. We’ll be gone for an entire year, you understand, jumping from base to base before returning. You can’t be lugging around a house.”

Gone for a year? Suddenly I feel as though I didn’t buy enough scout drones. I felt in my pocket for the small cubes, feeling their presence, as well as the fairly large monitor that tracked their footage. Why it couldn’t transmit directly to my Citizenship Chip, I didn’t understand. Maybe it’s reasonable for people not to like things connecting with something inside your head… who knows what could be done with that?

I had my bracelets that offered some resistance to the most common elements, as well as my Hoarder’s Bracelet… all of them were attached snugly to my legs. I hadn’t gone as far as Kuregar in sewing them to my flesh, but I did tighten them to the point where if I wasn’t a superhuman it would’ve restricted my blood flow. They were all hidden under the black pants of the Archduchy’s uniform. 

Zinuetet had her spear and her equipment. Like me, she had bracelets attached to her legs, most of which did the exact same thing as mine. She wasn’t the type to shop for the sake of shopping, to say the least. If I suggested she buy something, she’d do just that. If I suggested against, she’d do just that. It was concerning. But, she was young. Perhaps I should savor the behavior while it lasted. 

“Now then, we head to the Maytrin sector. I won’t escort you like you’re my kids. Go to the ship division. If you’re not there in thirty minutes, I’ll deduct 1,000,000 GTC for each second you make me wait. Now, go.”

Ruel walked very leisurely towards the stairs, his words starkly contrasting with his demeanor. Some people ran for the stairs urgently, but others were like myself and had everything they needed. Day was one such person who urgently needed something, and he left without saying so much as a goodbye. 

As much as I’d like to buy more scout drones, I was relatively broke at the moment. And from the sound of it, we’d be moving from base to base. I could restock at the other bases of the Archduchy. Still, there were some things I’d like to get before we headed out. 

I turned to Zinuetet. “Anything you need to get?”

She shook her head in the negative. 

“Alright. I’m going to get a backpack or maybe a duffle bag, grab whatever alchemical ingredients I’ve still got left, and then we can go.”

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I had never once seen one of the Archduchy’s ships. Looking at them now, I wondered why that was the case. They were massive and strange-looking. Then again, stargazing was never a habit of mine, even less so when there was the ever-present main star in the air, burning one’s eyes away whenever one looked up. 

The ships, if a comparison to anything is to be made, are giant, curvy X’s, with the points on each end of the X bending to nearly meet each other. The center of the ship where the X would have met was the largest portion. I saw no grandiose thrusters, or indeed any notable means of movement. Now, the ship was held up by large wires, one on the center, and four more on each point to keep it stable. There was a long ladder descending all the way to the ground. 

The ships were lined up in a large array. Each bore the colors of the Archduchy, the center being the dark purple that was the star-shape on our uniforms, while the arms were a deep, dark black. It reminded me of the Maytrin sector, which the ship division was housed in—sleek and black, though no golden lights flowed along it as they did in this sector. 

There were probably a total of thirty ships in the room… but this was only the first floor. Considering how large the building was, and assuming each was as filled as this one, there were no less than nine hundred ships. Quite a staggering number.

Ruel led the group up the ladder. It was an extremely wide ladder, for it needed to accommodate for people of all sizes. I followed behind Day up the ladder. It was annoying to have to handle my bag at the same time, but…

Need I even mention that it’s annoying to climb a ladder with only one hand?

It was a very long climb, perhaps fifty feet, and I questioned if the ladder would be able to handle the weight of everyone. It managed very well, not shaking once even with the weight of all twenty-one of us on it. When I pulled myself up to the interior of the ship, it was not what I was expecting, though that was because I didn’t know what to expect. 

It was quite round and spacious. The whole of it was the same sleek black as the exterior. The ceiling was quite tall. It could probably even accommodate the giant that was the Archduke. There was one door on one side, and four doors on the opposite. The lone door on one side was very clearly the pilot’s chamber, open for all to see. There was a seat, several consoles, and a large monitor which currently displayed the interior of the ship division. 

The pilot, a man with blue skin and four arms, leaned against the doorframe. His top arms were crossed while the others were dropped to his side. Privileged Kali motherfucker. I’ve got one, he’s got four. If I was born like he was, I’d be functioning like a normal human. Once everyone had come on the ship, he pressed a button on a remote in his pocket, and it slid shut. 

“Damn. Been a while since I’ve been on one of our ships.” Ruel looked around at the spacious interior. 

“Ruel. Long time no see,” four-arms called out. 

“Rigser! Fancy seeing you here. It has been a while, hasn’t it?” Ruel walked forward and shook hands with the four-armed blue man. Heavy coincidence. Kali had blue skin, didn’t she? Maybe the gods of earth were inspired by aliens. 

“Now then, Pikes… this is Sword Rigser. He’s to be our pilot.” Ruel turned to the pilot. “Rigser, this a standard model ship?”

“Yep,” he nodded. “Everything is where it should be.”

“Good.” Ruel pointed and spoke quickly, as though dismissing us. “To the far right, rooms. Middle right, dining hall. Middle left, living room. Far left, more rooms. We’ve… how long is the flight, Rigser?”

“Mmm…” He looked up, lost in thought. “Should be two days, just about. Ship’s good, got a new engine recently. These guys… they’re fresh, right?”

“Complete amateurs,” Ruel agreed. 

Rigser smiled. “I’ll open up the windows, then. You all get to see some of the greatest vessels in the Richt Empire.” Rigser pressed a button on his remote, and the black walls of the ship slid open to reveal very immaculate windows. 

“You still like to spoil the young, don’t you? Well, savor it while you can.” Ruel directed the last part as us. 

Zinuetet was the first to move, curiously walked towards the windows and placing her fingers on the glass. I followed closely behind her, and then the rest moved to the side. 

“I’ve never seen space,” she said when I came to stand beside her. “There weren’t any windows on the transport ship. I… I want to see it.”

“I haven’t, either. But we’re about to learn just how insignificant we are.”