Harrower-Class Chaos - Chapter Five (Patreon)

Putting Plo Koon and his men out of my mind, I turned my two latest tickets over in my hand. After a moment's consideration, I decided it was probably best to tear them now. By and large, there didn't seem to be any aspect of my Gacha system that was forced, I had slots for all my possible rolls, which I could push and pull out of at will, meaning that I really didn't have to worry about something unexplainable being forced on me.

Unless, of course, I was dumb enough to engage something that I knew would change me. 

Following my previous tradition, I started with the lower ticket, the silver trait ticket, tearing it quickly-

Only to freeze as the sound of slot machines played, which I had completely forgotten about. Thankfully, after a quick peek, it seemed none of my guests reacted to the sound, either because they didn't care or because they couldn't hear it. Between the two, it was much more likely they didn't hear it, as it was pretty hard not to react to something like that, especially if you didn't know it was coming.

Name: Strong Legs | Type: Trait | Rarity: Uncommon (2.4) | (Silver Trait Ticket)

Description: Your thrusters receive a series of banded upgrades, increasing their durability, power direction, and total thrust output by a slight but noticeable amount. 

I̶n̶v̶a̶l̶i̶d̶ ̶D̶e̶s̶c̶r̶i̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ Y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶l̶e̶g̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶r̶o̶n̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶u̶g̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶a̶v̶e̶r̶a̶g̶e̶,̶ ̶s̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶e̶n̶h̶a̶n̶c̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶r̶e̶a̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶k̶i̶c̶k̶s̶ ̶s̶u̶b̶s̶t̶a̶n̶t̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶.̶

I read through the description twice, and noting that the upgrade was focused on my thrusters, which I knew none of my guests had seen, I slid it into one of my two Trait slots. Immediately, I felt a series of simple shifts in my thrusters, making them stronger and more durable, and letting me focus and shift their direction more easily.

The change appeared as tight bands of reinforcing armor around each thruster that I could tighten or shift to direct my thrust better. On top of all of that, I could feel the connection between my thrusters and my reactors become more robust, which would allow more energy through, increasing my acceleration. As the ticket described, it wasn't a massive increase in any regard, but it was there.

As the change settled in, and after I had a few minutes to sort of wiggle my thrusters around to get a feel for their new weight, I finally tore the golden familiar ticket.

Name: Black Knights | Type: Familiar | Rarity: Rare (3.3) | (Gold Familiar Ticket)

Description: Allows you to generate a number of knights dressed in black, soot and char-stained armor. Each is supernaturally strong, approaching but not surpassing two full-grown men. Each knight is highly skilled in combat and can be summoned with a variety of medieval-style weapons. In their starship form, they appear as small gunships, no more than fifteen meters long. As a baseline, you can summon ten knights in either form, but that number increases with your power level. If destroyed, the knights reform after twenty-four hours. The knights are more or less empty shells, mindless creatures who follow your orders and disappear upon death.

I̶n̶v̶a̶l̶i̶d̶ ̶D̶e̶s̶c̶r̶i̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ D̶a̶r̶k̶s̶o̶u̶l̶s̶-T̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶l̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶K̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶e̶l̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶G̶w̶y̶n̶n̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶L̶o̶r̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶S̶u̶n̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶a̶r̶m̶o̶u̶r̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶p̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶K̶i̶l̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶F̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶F̶l̶a̶m̶e̶.̶ ̶A̶l̶l̶ ̶B̶l̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶K̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶e̶r̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶p̶h̶y̶s̶i̶q̶u̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶b̶a̶t̶,̶ ̶e̶s̶p̶e̶c̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶h̶u̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶e̶m̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶f̶e̶r̶n̶a̶l̶.̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶t̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶1̶0̶ ̶k̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶l̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶K̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶p̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶h̶o̶i̶c̶e̶(̶I̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶e̶s̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶b̶o̶w̶)̶.̶ ̶A̶s̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶l̶e̶v̶e̶l̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶r̶e̶a̶s̶e̶,̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶u̶m̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶k̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶.̶

By some herculean effort, I managed to resist the urge to summon one of the knights immediately on my bridge. It had been a long time since I played the game, but I still remembered the Black Knight, and the sudden explosion of fear they sent up your spine when you would turn a corner, and one would suddenly be in your face. Each one was a threat, with harsh consequences if you even made a slight mistake when taking them on.

And now I had a group of ten of them at my beck and call, with more promised as I started getting more powerful. Even better, since they were explicitly armed, there was a pretty good chance they would have actual weaponry when they turned into starships. 

Finally giving in to my desire, I double-checked that nobody was near my starboard hangar bay. Once I was certain it was clear, I increased the amount of ice sealing it shut, before conjuring a single knight, alone in the large hangar.

It was armed with a sword and shield, and clad in thick armor plating, all of it beautifully made, then stained with soot and fire. Unlike the Divine Dogs, who were very much alive, it stood there in the large open space, not moving, waiting for my orders. In its armor, it stood around seven feet tall, not including its horns, and was an incredibly intimidating sight. 

"And as a starship…"

With a mental twist, I pushed the single knight into its starship form. It instantly shifted into a lopsided, asymmetrical starship with one long sweeping wing and a short cockpit off to the side, though that was likely just for show. Just a moment after it appeared, its form began to shift, from a normal ship to one that more closely followed the concept of the Black Knights. It wasn't anything overly dramatic, mostly just a burned and soot-covered aesthetic, with the cockpit now a red color, with light highlights of silver in several places, as well as interesting inlay. 

The ship was probably just over ten meters long, and it could probably carry two or three people, though not for very long as there was no living space. Perhaps the most important part, however, was the fact that there was a single large weapon barrel that ran along the sweeping wing, as well as a smaller, double-barrel turret under the ship, meaning it was definitely armed. While I had offensive options in the form of my ice, knowing I had an actual fighting force was extremely reassuring.

My halls were no longer defenseless, and I could actually instigate change inside my own body.

A quick check of my status showed that both of my familiar slots were full, as was my single ability slot and one of my traits. It was interesting, as a normal Gacha only limited your ability slots. Available slots would increase with every five abilities rolled, so it stood to reason that the same would happen with my traits, familiars, skills, and other categories. 

Even with the ability to grow, it was a serious restriction, one that would take time to grow out of. On the other hand, it meant I had perfect control over everything coming in and out of my hull. I easily pulled the Strong Legs trait from my status, feeling the change in my thrusters disappear.

Despite how heavily it would restrict me, I couldn't bring myself to be upset by the trade. The truth was, stories about the Chaos Gacha could sometimes get a bit weird around forcing changes on people without real consent and… if the cost for having full control over my body was slower growth… Then so be it. 

Plus, just because I couldn't use them didn't mean the unused rolls wouldn't be useful. With a mental flex, I pushed the Strong Legs trait into the Black Knights, and watched as the small ship in front of me shifted. The primary dual thrusters of the single-winged ship grew slightly in size, and were then reinforced with thick bands of durasteel. They also gained several extra direction adjusters, fusing seamlessly to the thrusters. While I had no real way of knowing, the thrusters certainly looked improved.

After spending a minute or so examining the ship, I then pulled the trait back out and watched it return to normal. After that, I slid in the Taser ability, and while nothing changed externally, I could feel it lock in perfectly.

"... should let the dogs have that one," I muttered to myself, pulling the Taser ability from the Black Knights and sliding it into the Divine Dogs. The Knights had weapons already, after all, and they were disposable, which the Divine Dogs were not.

Moving things around meant that, for the next ten minutes, the Strong Legs trait would be stuck where it was, waiting to get added back to my list. As I waited, I scanned the rest of my ship, double-checking that the clones hadn't wandered anywhere. I had the important stuff sealed up in ice, but that didn't mean I wanted them crawling around in some of my harder-to-reach places. 

Thankfully, they hadn't deviated from their mission of gathering stuff from the escape pods and hanging out on the bridge. Unfortunately, it seemed that as I was focusing on the new additions to my powers, I didn't realize that Plo Koon had approached the holoprojector again and was trying to get my attention. 

I pushed myself back into the projector and appeared sitting on the side again.

"Hey, sorry about that, I was focusing on something else," I admitted. "What's up?"

"Hello, Oliver. I wondered if you would be interested in talking more about yourself," he responded. "I find myself completely at a loss as to what you might be." 

"Like I said, it's nice to be unique. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can answer much," I said with a shrug. "I don't know much beyond what I've already said."

"You mentioned a starting point. Where were you before that?" 

"I don't know," I admitted. "I woke up inside a ship berth attached to some sort of large station, in orbit around a dead planet. The station was hooked up to me in a few ways, but it was very much dead, damaged beyond repair a long time ago."  

"And you were attacked?" 

"Yeah, but a couple of ships… A big one, like a circle with a ball in the middle, and then two long rectangular ones with a beak or rounded front." 

I did my best to describe the ships I had seen, both verbally and with my hands.

"That sounds like a Luckerhulk and a pair of dreadnoughts, sir," One of the clones with Plo-Koon pointed out. "How did you escape?" 

"I tore myself out of the berth and ran through a debris field, then jumped when I was clear," I answered with a shrug. "They did some damage, and I had to ram through the field, which bashed up one of my prongs, but I survived, and I escaped."

"I am glad you are ultimately alright," the Jedi said, sounding genuine. "The forces that attacked you were likely CIS. They're the ones you rescued us from as well. I do not think they would have been kind to you, should they have captured you."

"Sounds like I was lucky then," I responded, though internally I wasn't ready to agree completely yet. 

Sure, this CIS shot at me, but I could think of a few reasons why, especially since I vaguely looked like one of their enemy ships. Plus, they didn't actually know I was alive. To them, I was just an object. While I was getting a good feeling from Plo Koon, I wasn't about to drink the Kool-Aid quite yet. 

"So, what's with the ice?" One of the clones in a uniform asked, before another one punched him in the shoulder. "What? Everyone was thinking it." 

"To be honest, I don't know how that works either," I said truthfully, flexing my control to conjure a chunk of ice the size of a Mini Cooper, which at this point was about the peak of my fine control. "I can just do it." 

I was, of course, leaving out the Chaos Gacha for obvious reasons, and leaving out my other powers as well. I had no intention of revealing my other abilities until I had to, or I was powerful enough not to care. Considering I had only been here for a few days and had run into combat twice, I had a bad feeling the former was what was going to happen first, but that didn't mean I would reveal my secrets willy-nilly.

While I was thinking, the others were recovering from watching me make ice from nothing. The Jedi in particular looked flabbergasted, though I couldn't be sure since most of their face was covered in their protective mask and eye caps. They were also an alien, so who knew what their expressions meant.

"That… It came from nowhere… There wasn't even a ripple in the Force," he muttered, staring at the large chunk of ice. "How is that possible?" 

"Seems kind of silly for someone with crazy mind powers to question what is and isn't possible," I pointed out. "But honestly, I don't know."

"This… I do not know what to make of this," he said after a long moment of silence before turning to look at my projection. "...We must inform the Republic that the CIS has some sort of ion superweapon. But that doesn't concern you, so when we arrive at our selected destination, I will reach out to my peers, and perhaps they will be able to help you. I think the least we could do is repair the damage to your hull.

"I would appreciate that," I said with a nod. "I'm happy to help."

Before Plo Koon could continue to ask me questions that I likely would not be able to answer, the group of clones that had been cleaning out their escape pods returned. They carried several packs of supplies, but one clone approached the raised area where my holoprojector sat, where Plo Koon and a few other clones had gathered. When he was close, he handed Plo Koon a chip. 

"Here you go, a basic astronavigation map," he revealed. "Should have more than enough info to plot a course to somewhere close by."  

Plo Koon nodded, then looked at me. I gave him a nod of approval, and he slid the chip into the projector. Immediately I could feel the trickle of information feeding into my navigational suite. It wasn't like a rush of data being downloaded, more like… a mental map being handed to me. I focused on the feeling and, after a moment, brought up a map of the galaxy. 

"Hmm… simple, but it will suffice," Plo Koon commented with a nod. "I suggest we head here, to this hyperspace lane. It intersects with the Rimma Trade Route, which we can follow to the Correlian Trade Spine or a great many other places."

"That sounds good," I agreed, secretly ecstatic to have even the basic astronavigational data. With it, I was basically free, even if my options weren't as plentiful as they would be with a more detailed map. "I'll drop us out of hyperspace and adjust our course. The first route should take us… around fifteen hours." 

"Not a bad speed for a ship your size," the self-ascribed Jedi said. "Can you plot it?"

"Yeah, I have the right systems for it, I think," I confirmed, feeling my astronavigation systems starting to churn through the data.

The information on the chip was more than just a visual map, it was a pretty dense list of dangers and obstacles to avoid. I would have to redirect to avoid some blanked-out spaces, but it was enough for now.

"Excellent... Now, I have a question about these two," the alien said, gesturing to Nix and Nox. "They bear some similarity to a species I am familiar with. However..."