Harrower-Class Chaos - Chapter Eight (Patreon)

Despite the damage I took brawling with the first Munificent, my hull burned and my forward prongs were scraped and abused, I didn't have the luxury of pulling back. While I had successfully taken down my target, the rest of General Secura's fleet was stuck fighting two ships on their own, and while they had done an admirable amount of damage, they were starting to really feel the effects. Their shields were dropping at a worrying pace, with one of their Consular-class ships having to pull back quickly to avoid being vaporized.

Seeing their trouble, I pushed my thrusters to the max and pulled around the fight. As I moved, I used all of my spare energy to repair my ice armor and regrow my ammunition, my hull turning into a forest of growing cones. While I had a spare moment or two, I tried to reach and grab the tickets without pushing myself into the holoprojector, only to curse to myself when I couldn't. Apparently, I couldn't access them without fully embodying the projector, which would not only give me away but also pull me completely out of my body for precious seconds. 

In an emergency, I could do it, but since I already had the tools to solve our particular problem, I would have to wait for later.

When I was finally in range, I mentally grasped a few dozen ice spears, snapped them off the ice armor, and spun them around myself. I then lit up a general firing lane through the data the fleet was sharing, pausing to let the various starfighters and ships react to the knowledge before letting loose. 

Rather than attack head-on together, the two remaining Confederate ships had split up. The Munificent-class had held back, taking shots with its powerful forward lasers while the surprisingly hardy Dreadnaught moved in to attack the Nova Glare in much closer range. The two had managed to work in concert, but it had left the Munificent open and undefended, which I gleefully took advantage of.

Fifteen of the twenty ice spears I threw slammed into the enemy capital ship, which was practically standing still. After the first ten slammed into the energy barrier, the shields failed, collapsing them hard enough that I could see its generators pop violently. This meant that the remaining five spears, as well as the next ten, all slammed directly into the ship itself. The ice tore into the hull, ripping it apart and snapping off one of the outward wings. The ship tried to reorient itself to fire on me, but the second barrage devastated the bridge and hammered the central line until the ship couldn't take it anymore. Fire and plasma spewed from its bow until it reached something important, which was when the whole ship detonated.

I held my breath for a moment, life support systems stuttering before I sighed and refocused. It was rather unfortunate that my version of the Gacha seemed pretty slow, but it was hard to hate it when it was just handing out upgrades. 

With its backup destroyed, the Dreadnaught tried to retreat, but it had overplayed its maneuvers and had pushed too far forward. Without the Munificent beating the Venator and its support ships back, the final enemy ship was quickly overwhelmed. I wasn't able to help much, since it was being swarmed from just about every angle, but it didn't matter, because soon its lights went dark, and it was left floating in the void. 

It was a rather anticlimactic way to finish a fight that, just a few minutes ago, I was worried might be too much for me to handle.

"... sensors aren't picking up any reinforcements, and all starfighters have been disabled," the Jedi Master stated, pulling back from where she was holding on to the holoprojector. "I must admit, one of the stranger bouts of space combat I have experienced, but I cannot argue with its effectiveness. Are you alright, Oliver?" 

"A bit singed around the edges, and I tore myself up with that last move with the forward prongs," I responded, doing a mental pat-down to confirm everything was okay. "But beyond that… I'm good."

She nodded, then turned her attention back to the holoprojector and the data streaming through it. For the next while, the General orchestrated the recovery from the attack while standing on my deck, ordering recovery for lost pilots and having the Nova Glare use its tractor beams, another thing I didn't have, to slow and stop the dead, drifting enemy ships.

Eventually, after things had slowed down a bit, she transferred back to her ship, leaving me alone with Nix and Nox. And it was alone, since none of the Black Knights had made it back from their dogfight. Apparently they had torn through enemy starfighters, but fought so offensively that it left them open, damage wearing through their shields and eventually destroying them. I wasn't sure whether it was my mental orders or just their own instincts, but I made a note to be more careful sending them out next time.

Not long after Jedi Master Secura left, I stepped into the holoprojector, shrugging off the disconnect from the rest of my body and focusing down on Nix and Nox, who whined when they spotted my projection.

"I know you two want to help," I said, frowning as I knelt down to be a bit closer to them. "But you don't have any ranged abilities, and the Black Knights are disposable, and you aren't. I refuse to throw you guys away like you're not alive." 

That seemed to at least partially assuage their annoyance, and they both settled down, sitting along the projector. For a moment ot two I focused on returning to my previous orbit around Foless, locking myself in place. My escort was still floating around the battlefield, now with their General on board, but that was fine, I was happy to wait patiently, especially since it gave me the time to roll my two tickets.

"Let's see here…" I mumbled to myself, reaching out and grabbing the silver trait ticket first. "Cmon, give me something useful."

I tore the ticket, and after the sound of a slot machine hitting a winner finished playing, the reward was revealed.

Name: Immutable | Type: Trait | Rarity: Rare (3.9) | (Silver Trait Ticket)

Description: Your body cannot be permanently modified without your consent. Any alterations made are slowly returned to your standard, even if the alteration isn't intentional. An armored plate built from repurposed materials would slowly convert into something that could be mistaken for a stock, original part. Any willing change can be defined as your new default. This doesn't prevent damage from attacks, nor does it repair damage. 

I̶n̶v̶a̶l̶i̶d̶ ̶D̶e̶s̶c̶r̶i̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶b̶o̶d̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶.̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶r̶e̶d̶i̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶i̶s̶t̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶r̶e̶s̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶.̶ ̶A̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶t̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶u̶c̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶,̶ ̶s̶i̶c̶k̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶u̶c̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶,̶ ̶b̶i̶o̶k̶i̶n̶e̶s̶i̶s̶,̶ ̶e̶t̶c̶.̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶u̶t̶o̶m̶a̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶i̶s̶t̶e̶d̶.̶

I frowned, carefully re-reading the description, trying to puzzle through just how I felt about it. It was nice to know that people couldn't modify me without my consent. Knowing replacement parts would slowly convert to original parts was nice too, since I could likely save money or favors by accepting cheaper replacements if it ever came down to it, letting the trait convert them to more acceptable standards.

The thing was, as reassuring as it was, I already had ways to stop people from messing with me, namely a quick shift to the Taser ability. I wasn't quite worried about the concept, as I was a starship after all, and body horror wasn't super high up my list of concerns. 

Though, honestly, it depended on what this universe ended up being like. If this turned out to be some sort of Cthulhu Dimension, I would probably be very happy to slot that trait in. Of course, I would have no idea if this was a dimension like this until it was likely already too late…

On second thought, I could put the trait into my last remaining trait slot. I would remove it when I get something better, but for now, there was no reason to eschew free protection. 

Next up was the gold ability card, which I turned over in my hand before tearing.

Name: Body Refinement | Type: Ability | Rarity: Rare (3.2) | (Gold Ability Ticket)

Description: Converts one of your many rooms into a specialized medical lab suite. Inside are five biopods, hooked up to specialized medical equipment. Each pod can repair all mundane defects in a person's body, from malnutrition-related issues to naturally developed problems like cleft lips or misaligned skeletal structure. It can also be used to raise a person to their natural peak and somewhat beyond it, slowly improving their stats across the board. These tanks cannot heal current injuries, nor can they regenerate lost limbs. The more someone uses the tank, the longer it takes to work. 

I̶n̶v̶a̶l̶i̶d̶ ̶D̶e̶s̶c̶r̶i̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ ̶A̶l̶l̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶d̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶a̶r̶g̶e̶t̶s̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶e̶n̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶r̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶e̶l̶l̶u̶l̶a̶r̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶D̶N̶A̶ ̶l̶e̶v̶e̶l̶,̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶p̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶d̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶a̶r̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶r̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶,̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶u̶i̶l̶d̶ ̶m̶u̶s̶c̶l̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶f̶i̶x̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶a̶i̶r̶,̶ ̶f̶i̶x̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶a̶l̶i̶g̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶j̶a̶w̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶r̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶p̶h̶y̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶w̶e̶r̶ ̶d̶i̶f̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶r̶g̶e̶t̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶i̶g̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶n̶e̶r̶g̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶u̶m̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶

That… was an interesting ability, and would obviously be very useful. Being able to buff allies to their peak, while also repairing any accrued damage, was a powerful negotiation tool, especially since there was no mentioned limit. I doubted it would work as a fountain of youth, since it wasn't nearly high enough rank to do that, but I was more than willing to bet it would mitigate some of the issues of old age, and probably at least extend someone's life to some degree. 

Plus, if I ever got around to having a proper trusted crew, they would be guaranteed to be the fastest, smartest, strongest versions of themselves. 

Unfortunately, it didn't do much for me right now, since the only people I would even consider offering it to were my familiars, and the Black Knights were likely not real enough for it to work. 

Actually…

I brought up my interface and scanned through the description of my Divine Dogs. Sure enough, while the original description defined them as Shikigami, the active description did not. 

I pulled out of the holoprojector and back to my much more comfortable hull, looking around my little corner of Foless's orbit. Despite having been hanging around on my own for a while, the Star Corps fleet was still out where we had fought our short battle. The planet's communication network was a blazing mess, alive with half-quelled panic and questions from a people who had felt safe in their obscurity, only to have that illusion shattered.

Seeing that no one was watching, I quickly manipulated the ice around my hull. While experimenting previously, I discovered that by making sheets of ice as thin as I could, about three-quarters of a foot thick, and stacking them one after the other, the resulting layers were impossible to see through. After one more look around, I quickly did that over the cryokinetic device the Frost Ability created on my hull. It was a rather obvious change, with a large opaque area where most of the rest was various levels of transparency, but I could easily explain it away as post-battle experimentation. 

When I was sure the new change couldn't be seen through, I switched out the Frost ability for Body Refinement. Sure enough, the moment it slotted into place, I could feel a change. The Frost device on my hull vanished, and a seemingly random room, on the starboard side of my centerline, was suddenly converted into a sleek, clean medical laboratory. The room was relatively large, clean, colored in shades of white with bright, sterile lighting. Along one side of the room, five angled tanks were built into the wall, with several large readouts and equipment hooked up around each of them. I could access each pod directly, including locking out anyone trying to access the systems from the consoles around the room. 

With a push, I could inhabit the room the same way I could the holoprojector, though I had no visual representation. While I was there, I got a good feel for its capabilities, and as I had hoped, there was nothing that said I couldn't use the ability on Nix and Nox. I reached out through my connection to them, and a minute or so later they trotted into the lab, sniffing and looking around. 

After a bit of direction, I managed to get them to sit still long enough to use the scanning equipment built into the room, which I could thankfully manipulate. After a minute-long scan for each of them, I had my answers. Neither of them had any issues the scanners could identify, which wasn't surprising since they hadn't existed for more than a week.

More importantly, however, was that they were both valid targets for body refinement, meaning with some time I could upgrade their capabilities quite a bit.

Now, the temptation to have them both climb into the biopods was pretty strong, but unfortunately, I just didn't have the time. I wasn't near the point where I was comfortable revealing just what I was capable of, so suddenly losing my ability to manipulate ice and gaining a strange medical room was off the table.

"Next time we travel through hyperspace, or have some time alone," I assured my two canine companions. "You'll spend a few days inside the pods sleeping, and come out even stronger than you are now." 

With the experiment complete, I ushered Nix and Nox out of the room and back to the bridge. Meanwhile, I pulled the new ability out and slotted Frost back in, the void inside my ice armor refilling with the familiar device. Meanwhile, the room we had just been inside of vanished, replaced by more of the same, just an empty room in the same style as the rest.

I was just starting to peel back the obscuring layers of ice around the cryokinetic device on my hull when I realized someone was calling to me through the local communication network. I focused for a moment, picking out Jedi Secura's voice.

"Oliver, do you read?" she called out, and a moment later I was reaching out and connecting in.

"Jedi Secura, I read you loud and clear," I responded. "I'm sorry if I missed something, I was focused on trying to improve my ice armor."

"It is fine, I was simply looking to check in," She explained. "I'm afraid with the panic on the surface, your repair schedule has been moved back." 

"Yeah, I figured," I responded, not exactly happy about it, but accepting it nonetheless. "I've been listening to the comms chatter, I doubt they will be calming down any time soon." 

"We will lean on them a bit if they drag their feet too much," she responded. "After what you did today, it's the least we could do. Is there anything else you need?" 

"A fuel top-up would be nice," I admitted. "I'm down by a third." 

"That can be arranged," She said with a nod. "Anything else?"

"I'll think about it." 

"Good. I'll keep you informed, but reach out if you need anything immediately," She said. "I'm needed back on the bridge, but thank you again for your help defending the planet." 

"I was happy to help," I responded, before disconnecting the call.