Vivid Stars Online

I didn’t want to push her too hard, however, there were a few things I had already wanted before the Duchess had brought up the noble title. Given how easily she had handed that out, there should still be a little wiggle room.

Trying to avoid showing how nervous I was, I started speaking. “I want a gunboat and four fighters as well.” While I didn’t need four, I’d heard somewhere that you should always over-ask to start with, then you can fall back to what you really want when they refuse.

I wanted at least one fighter to give to Linnea, with two being preferable, so we had a spare. The gunboat was important as well. From what I had gathered, they were armored transports designed to move between orbit and the ground. Heavily armed and shielded, they were designed to break through a fighter screen if needed.

There would be times when landing the frigate wouldn’t be ideal and having one would allow me to leave it in orbit and use the gunboat to land. I might even be able to use it instead of hiring a VTOL for my on-planet explorations.

“Agreed,” the Duchess responded, her smirk still in place. “I will expect all of them to be fielded by your house in the coming war.”

“Ah…” I started in response, suddenly worried about where I would find three more fighter pilots. “Thanks?” I finished before wincing. I hated how much that sounded like a question and I was beginning to think she could read me like a book.

Still, it was progress. I had managed the only thing I absolutely felt like I needed. Time to try for something that would be nice, but wasn’t necessarily required.

“I’d also like access to another chain of ritual chambers,” I continued. While the two powers I’d gained from the wild rifts were nice, another structured power would really help to round out my arsenal.

Duchess Milena tilted her head in thought for a moment before nodding. “That is a reasonable request given that you have brought us a full chain. However, even I am limited in what I can authorize at any one time, else I would have all my people using them.”

“I can get you access to the first chamber in a chain of three for now, and you will be able to earn further access in the future. Everyone is usually required to wait at least a year between uses, so we don’t put too much strain on the ancient systems. I understand that is not all that you wanted, so I will allow you to ask for one further small boon.”

She’s certainly right that it wasn’t all that I wanted, I mused as I nodded in reply. But it also makes sense. Even if they have a few hundred of these chambers, it wouldn’t be a lot when compared to their full population.

It was still better than nothing, and as long as could get access to the rest, then it would work out in the future. If anything, I had probably been pretty spoilt at the rate I’d been gaining powers so far.

That left her last point. It seemed her generosity was coming to an end, with just one more thing I could ask for. My mind swirled with options, trying to come up with something before she became impatient.

More money would always be nice, or perhaps some Psionic gear or another enhancement elixir. Then it hit me, while all of those would be good, there was one thing I could only lock in right now.

“Then I want the first pick of the frigates,” I said, trying to sound confident. Right now I just had a promise for one of them, which could easily end up being the one that the Kingdom didn’t want. This would allow me to lock down the ship that met my needs the best.

That actually seemed to catch her off guard slightly, as she had to think about it again. Eventually, however, she responded with another nod. “Very well then,” she said with a gesture toward the area the frigates stood in. “You are free to choose whichever of the frigates you prefer.”

I hadn’t exactly wanted to pick right now, but it seemed that the negotiations were over. With a nod to me, she returned to examining the cruiser, leaving me feeling unsure how I felt about the whole matter.

While I had gained my ship and a whole host of things that I hadn’t expected to get, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the Duchess had walked off thinking that she had got the better end of the deal.

Still, I certainly couldn’t complain about the way things had gone, so I simply moved over to the frigates with a shrug. There was still a lot to learn about my new title and the land I would get, but I doubted the Duchess had the time to explain that all to me, anyway.

She would probably give that task when we returned, and I made a mental note to compile a list of questions for them. That would have to be for later, however, as I didn't know how long I had to choose my frigate.

Linnea and Elana both trotted over as I moved, looking expectant. It was Elana who spoke up first, her face shining with excitement.

“So, how did it go? Did you get the ship?”

“Yep,” I said, with a dazed nod. “I got the first pick of the frigates, a gunboat, and four fighters.”

“Wow, nice,” Elana responded with a thumbs up, while Linnea also perked up at the mention of fighters. “Why four fighters, though?”

I shrugged in response, trying to keep the embarrassment off my face. “I only wanted one or two,” I started, with a vague head tilt in Linnea’s direction, hoping Elana would figure it out. “but I asked for more, expecting a bit of back and forth, you know, like in the movies. Instead, she just said yes, but that I have to man them for the upcoming war against the pirates.”

“Ah,” she nodded in response, her eyes flicking toward her sister. “Well, that shouldn’t be too hard, I imagine. They already have some ships, so they need to have some kind of training academy. I bet they train a lot more than they have ships for as well, in case of casualties.”

That made sense and calmed some of my nerves about finding personnel. Come to think of it, Brian mentioned something about being a surplus, didn’t he? I just hope that my new land can help to pay for some of this, I can see it becoming very expensive.

With a frown, I shook myself free of those thoughts and returned my attention to the present moment. I didn’t know how long I had to pick, so it was time to delegate a bit.

“Elana,” I started, “Could you have a look at the gunboats and pick out the one that looks the least damaged?” Then, turning to Linnea as a thought struck, I continued. “And Linnea, could you pick out the four fighters you think are the best and maybe have Elana check them over?”

While I hadn’t strictly been given permission to pick out the fighters and the gunboat as well, after having been put on the spot, I was just going to do it and see if anyone complained. Besides this, having Linnea pre-pick the fighters she liked the best would only make the gift better when I handed one to her.

“You got it,” Elana responded with a grin, before turning to her sister. “I’ll come to find you when I’m done with the gunboats.” Then she was off, racing away with a spring in her step.

Linnea gave me a nod, trying to stay professional despite the excitement in her eyes. Then she was gone too as she began walking swiftly over toward the fighters.

That left me to find the frigate I liked the best, something that would have been an extremely daunting task without my newly improved technology sense. I just had to figure out what I wanted and then find the ship that felt like the best match for that.

My first thought was to pick the one with the least battle damage, which would be the easiest and cheapest to fix. While that wasn’t a bad idea, it felt a bit like cheating the future to save the present. I would likely have this ship for a long time so it would be better to find one more matched for my needs.

What, exactly, those were I still wasn’t sure about, so I began walking past the ships to get some ideas. Even from a distance, each of them had been clearly been designed for different roles, and up close this only become more apparent.

Running my Psi sense over them brought enough information to get a general idea of what the differences meant, the technology within almost seeming to throw information at me in response to my Technokinesis.

The first one I came to was filled with hundreds of living quarters and a large armory. It had the feeling of a large, well-armed transport that could bring a host of soldiers into a war zone without being destroyed.

Next came three that felt more militant, though each had a slightly unique aspect to it. The first was built around a single, massive plasma gun that felt like it could punch above its weight grade. Like it had the power of a destroyer at least.

This was tempting, however, I could feel the weakness that the massive power draw of the gun placed on its shields. It was a long-range ship, one that dominated from the back of a fleet’s lines.

I knew that wasn’t ideal for what I wanted to do in the future, so I moved on. The next was a more traditional ship, at least based on my limited sci-fi knowledge. It had an array of moderate-range plasma guns and had the feeling of a ship that fought on the front lines.

It was also the most damaged of the five by far and I hastened on. That would probably have been the one they stuck me with if I hadn’t asked for this, I thought with a shudder. It would probably have been fine if fully repaired, but not like this.

The fourth was mostly made up of a mass of communication and scanning technology. It felt like some kind of auxiliary to a flagship, perhaps to extend its range or even to take over if the flagship fell.

While the scanners might be nice for exploring, the ship didn’t have particularly powerful weapons. It would also likely be the most useful frigate here for the main fleet, as I knew communications technology was something the planet was weak in. Their import of core world tech for the beacon they gave me showed that.

That left the fifth and last ship, which also turned out to be the most interesting. It was shoved into a corner of the hanger, perhaps as if it had got here first, and showed significant damage. Not as much as the third ship, but enough that I almost passed it by to go back and have another look at the ones with lighter damage.

Then the oddities started adding up and I began paying more attention. At first, it felt like the ship was unarmed, as it lacked any plasma signatures. Then I focused deeper and found the hidden tubes.

It had four larger torpedo tubes on the front, with smaller missile tubes dotted around its hull. The hull itself had an odd feeling to it as if signals were bouncing off. Even my Psi sense had trouble seeing the interior.

Some kind of stealth frigate, maybe? I thought, intrigued. With missiles instead of plasma guns to decrease its chances of being detected? It caused enough curiosity to entice me to enter where none of the others had really stood out.

Ok ship, I thought as I focused on opening one of its airlocks. Let’s see what you have to offer.