Chapter 29: Speed Bumps on the Road to Friendship, Morgan POV (Patreon)

Sorry for the super short chapter. 

Chapter 29

Speed Bumps on the Road to Friendship

Morgan POV

The 27th Cycle had just begun, and I was enjoying a coffee in my command chair. The kraken continued searching for the station as my new researchers got used to their workplace. I was waiting and watching to see what sort of progress would come out of the lab. They were going to research increasing the yield of the megalodon missiles.

“I haven’t intercepted any orders, but the Kilocksins seem to be on the move,” Tee said. “Their highest-level players are all making their way to transport vessels and practically every combat vessel within two day's flight of our transit ring has turned and started heading towards us. How do you want me to respond?”

“Contact every member of the war council and wish them the best of luck with their next endeavour.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s going to be attacking us.”

“Just do it. And make sure you give them a way to respond. Make it look like a recorded message, but play it live. If this is what I think it is, they should all have the same response.”

“What do you think it is?”

“If I’m not mistaken this is a vassal contest. It’s a war ritual where two Kilocksin clans fight under specific rules and the losing clan submits to the other.”

“Is this a good sign or a bad sign?”

“A good sign. It means they want as tight of a relationship as possible. If we win this, it will be our alliance's first and only confrontation.”

“You mean when we win this?”

“Nope. A vassal contest has to be a fair fight, which means they’re probably going to try to feed themselves to the kraken and make it strong enough to destroy our station.”

“Ah, they’re beginning to reply.”

“Are they saying the same thing?”

“Yep. They’re challenging you to ritual combat three days from now. They’re going to try to feed the kraken you told them about and you’re going to have to try to stop them.”

“What’s the ground rules?”

“I’m getting to that. The battle begins when the first Kilocksin or Kilocksin vessel passes through the transit ring. Neither side may fire a weapon until the happens. But once this occurs, the Kilocksin will activate a thirty-minute self-destruct on their vessels. That’s their time limit for attacking your station and successfully feeding the kraken. If your station is still around at the end of the thirty minutes when they self-destruct you win.”

“Have they contacted the other factions?”

“Not inside the Game.”

“They will if they’re serious about joining us they will try. Keep me posted when the other factions start moving and see if you can hack their vessels. They’ve undoubtedly changed over to analog systems to stop you, but there might be something you can do.”

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because Kilocksin politics are fun.”