Incursion Protocol

I felt like a grown man crammed into one of those grocery store rocket rides, the kind that take a quarter and rock back and forth for a solid 45 seconds. Only this time, instead of costing a quarter, it was my dignity on the line. The chair was clearly designed for something half my size, and fitting myself into it was an exercise in futility. Somehow, I wedged myself in, though I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ever pry myself back out. Pretty sure Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever long enough, and I could unstick any astronaut’s ass from an alien seat.” Or something like that.

Faleun wasn’t doing much better. While her species was lithe, they were also tall and had muscle packed onto their long limbs. She looked downright miserable, hunched in the cramped walkway between the cockpit and the rest of the patrol ship. There were a few rows of seats for a small complement of Dulox grunts, and some crates stacked in the corner, but that was about it. Not exactly roomy for my scaled companion.

“Thank you for choosing Crash-Air, where your comfort is our number one concer-” I cut my impromptu speech short as my grin slipped off my face. Faleun had turned to look at me, baring her teeth, not the sharpest, but there were plenty of them, and pointed in my direction.

“Alright,” I muttered, placing my hands on the crabby controls and letting my General Spacecraft Knowledge skill take over. “I’ll skip the usual preamble and make this a quick rollout.”

The small ship coughed and sputtered as it lifted into the air, barely holding a hover. Apparently, Dulox ship design was like most military vehicles: if you managed to get inside, there wasn’t much stopping you from firing it up and taking off, aside from maybe a door lock or two. My eyebrow rose as the ship struggled to maintain altitude, rattling like an old car you hadn’t driven in years. I pushed the protrusion to switch to forward flight and nudged the throttle up, hoping that would smooth things out.

Nope. It kept wheezing like a smoker on a treadmill. That’s when it hit me: this wasn’t some busted ship or a lemon in the middle of repair. No, this was just standard-issue Dulox technology. Fresh off the lot, and it was already firmly planted in the "piece-of-shit" category. All the advanced tech Solas had integrated? It wasn’t making their ships any better, it was like slapping a new coat of paint on a rusted-out car you’d find in a local salvage yard. Just enough to keep them barely functional, and ugly as sin.

“To your left,” I said, unable to resist, knowing full well that Faleun was probably two seconds away from throttling me, “you’ll see a bunch of very confused Dulox mechanics wondering why one of their garbage heaps is suddenly airborne.”

She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her eye-roll, the way you just know someone’s doing it even when you can’t see their face.

I banked the ship low, skimming just above the surface of the ocean, my hand cramping slightly at the crabby controls as I guided us through the maneuver. The ship left a soft wake in the water, the dark blue waves rippling beneath the fading twilight, reflecting a mass of stars you just didn’t get back on Earth anymore. Too much light pollution. Here, though, the sky was awash with thousands of stars, while the horizon in every direction burned with fiery orange light.

“It’s beautiful,” I said, leaning back in the too-small chair and possibly permanently damaging vertebrae. “Does it ever get completely dark here on your world?” I motioned toward the glowing horizon.

“No,” Faleun replied, her voice distant. “It is said the ocean burns along the horizon because it consumes the light of our ancestors. The sacred coral reaches out, taking their wisdom and fire, keeping the sky alive so that we may always see, even in our darkest moments. To us, the horizon never sleeps, it burns, forever consuming and guiding.”

I nodded, trying to wrap my head around the depth of their beliefs. I wasn’t sure if Faleun knew much about planets or orbits, or how the sun worked, but it didn’t seem to matter. To her people, the burning horizon was more than just a trick of light or atmosphere. It was part of their world, their connection to the sacred coral and the ancestors who had shaped their lives.

With a few more complicated hand movements, I guided us over a twisted section of conveyor. Adding a touch of flair, which I was sure Faleun didn’t appreciate, I kicked off the maneuvering jets and engaged the hover, letting us glide smoothly away from the tower. I couldn’t resist turning the ship just enough to give us a glimpse of the tower behind us.

Faleun edged closer to the cockpit window, her eyes fixed on the scene. The base of the tower was spewing black smoke into the night sky, belching out whatever was burning away inside. The yellow beam of light flickered and buzzed like a malfunctioning hologram, casting erratic shadows across the ocean. Chunks of coral stuttered in their slow ascent, some even faltering and plummeting as the light flickered, unable to keep them aloft.

"Not exactly how you imagined it would end, huh?" I muttered, watching the tower struggle to hold itself together.

“No,” she mumbled, her gaze fixed on the dying tower, leaving the conversation to fade away.

The turn wasn’t just for the view, though. As we hovered over the ocean, I scanned the sky behind us, watching for any sign of pursuit. I could fly this Dulox ship well enough in a straight line, but when it came to dogfights or evasive maneuvers, I wasn’t sure I had the dexterity to pull it off. For now, the focus was just getting us out of here.

We made it back to the dunes where I’d stashed the Strommäsk Test Vehicle, and I slotted us neatly between a pair. The Dulox ship whined like a teenager struggling to shift into second gear for the first time as I disengaged the engines, grinding away whatever gears were left inside. No wonder that first patrol jumped on me so fast, like people on a beat-up, hole-riddled life raft eyeing your own pristine, untouched one with envy.

One short trek back to the village to retrieve my spacesuit, and Faleun and I were ready to head back to her village. She poked her head out of the airlock.

“The Dulox crates are stored,” she said, reaching out to take my suit. I handed it over, and she disappeared back into the ship. “We killed many Dulox, and now that we are out of danger, the experience should accumulate soon.”

“Oh,” I said, glancing up at the sky, “I guess I didn’t realize how that worked. I noticed I’d gain knowledge levels during combat, but not actual levels. Makes sense, though: The System’s always going on about leveling the playing field. Wouldn’t be too fair if your opponent gained a level and new skills right in the middle of a fight.”

As if on cue, notifications began to blur at the edge of my vision. The System’s overlay reminded me of trying to imagine an object in your mind’s eye with your eyes open. You can see everything around you clearly, but still 'see' the object you’re imagining, even though it doesn’t actually block your vision. This was just that, cranked to eleven, instead of a faint recollection in your head, the text and screens were vivid and fully intact.

Pling!

You have gained a level!

Level 3

Pling!

You have gained a level!

Level 4

Stats have increased.

Skill points are available.

Two levels in one go, nice! I jumped into scanning through my increased stats and abilities that I could strengthen. I browsed through the general skills that were available to me. Zero-G Combat and Environmental Awareness were still there from the previous level up, but I had a few more that I could pick from:

Personal Defense

Increases your knowledge of self-defense techniques in tight spaces or aboard ships. Provides bonuses to close-quarters combat, particularly in confined environments, and increases resistance to being disarmed.

Improvised Engineering

Grants the ability to craft and modify equipment using available materials. Improves your success in creating makeshift weapons, armor, or tools, and provides bonuses when using scavenged parts.

I still didn’t need the Zero-G combat at the moment, and while the Environmental Awareness was nice and would have given me an even higher chance to notice the drones Solas had tried to sneak up on us, I felt the stats that governed the base of that skill were high enough. I contemplated bringing the stat numbers into my status screen, but decided against it for now.

Looking over the more specialized skills, I immediately dumped some of my skill points into Combat Opportunist and Adrenaline Burst, bringing them both up to level 2. They had treated me well, and the Adrenaline Burst was a bit of a cheat code in life or death situations.

I perused through the specialized skills:

Laser Weapon Proficiency

Increases accuracy and effectiveness with laser-based firearms. Provides bonuses to laser weapons' damage output and precision, as well as improving energy efficiency to reduce overheating or misfires during combat.

Coral Extraction and Manipulation

Grants knowledge and skills related to extracting and utilizing coral. Provides bonuses when handling coral-based technology or extracting resources tied to Slipscale beliefs, and may unlock special abilities when near Slipscale artifacts.

System Sabotage

Enhances your ability to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in enemy systems, including security, energy grids, and infrastructure. Provides bonuses to rigging mechanical failures, causing system overloads, and disrupting communication or power sources.

Space Elevator Mechanics

Provides a foundational understanding of the mechanisms and systems behind space elevators. This skill improves your ability to diagnose and manipulate the power sources, control systems, and structural components that support the elevators' function. Includes basic troubleshooting and repair skills for dealing with mechanical failures or intentional sabotage.

There were some intriguing options here. Laser Weapon Proficiency felt like a solid pick. I had lost the rifle I was using earlier somewhere in the tunnels, but the backup ego booster still strapped to my back would do nicely. Coral Extraction and Manipulation, though, opened up a lot of interesting possibilities. I didn’t exactly want the skill, but it hinted at unlocking special abilities, maybe even something akin to magic or spiritual powers. Did that mean The System allowed for more than just tech or body based skills? Definitely something I needed to look into.

Then there was Space Elevator Mechanics, which seemed like The System was just messing with me at this point. I didn’t need it, didn’t see myself using it, and the part about "intentional sabotage" felt like a personal jab. Dick move.

Faleun reappeared, a toothy smile spreading across her lizard-like snout, almost mirroring my own as I browsed through the array of skills available to me. She lowered herself to sit on the edge of the airlock, her long legs dangling, the tips of her claws barely grazing the sand below.

My smile froze, then slowly faded as I stared up at her. She caught my expression through whatever screen she was browsing and dismissed it with a flick of her eyes. “What is it?” she asked, tilting her head and scanning the sky behind her, clearly expecting some kind of threat.

“Uh, Faleun,” I said, swallowing hard, “you might want to take a look at your status screen.”

There, floating above her head, where I assumed my own title was also displayed, was a bright red word: ‘Invader.’