*(mood song: "Alive Again – Last Shot")
*(mood song: "Tierra Santa - La Cancion Del Pirata")
Erik and others finally arrived at the manufacturing base, and it was quite changed, a floating dock with heavy floating cranes, and an army of construction robots was waiting for their arrival
Erik whistled, impressed: "Wow, now this might actually be doable."
Rose: "Of course~ I even prepared a new electric engine, we will have to cut open the deck to lower it in."
The enormous ship was slowly docked and lifted off the water as flotation tanks sank under it and then pumps emptied the water out, slowly but surely lifting the gigantic ship out of the water.
The lizardmen from the Iron sect were taken aside to the deck of the submarine as they observed everything in awe. Rose was a machine deity to them by now, if guards weren't keeping an eye on them, they would have rushed to inspect those machines by now.
The docks buzzed with activity, as thousands of robots cleaned the underside of the gigantic boat and applied a copper-based antifouling paint to prevent new marine growth as much as possible. Then, the ship's deck was torn open as the old combustion engines were lifted out by a towering crane and set aside for material recycling.
With precision, fittings were welded and the new engine was lowered and installed on top. A sleek superconducting magnetic motor with huge magnetic bearings that held the central drive shaft suspended in a frictionless vacuum chamber, eliminating all mechanical contact.
No brushes, no gears — only silent power. It used high-temperature superconductors cooled by an onboard cryogenic system, allowing for perfect electrical conductivity and massively increased efficiency. Instead of combustion, it generated rotational force through precise modulation of quantum-aligned magnetic fields. The result: zero emissions, zero friction, and near-zero energy loss. It didn't roar to life — it hummed, a low, resonant pulse that vibrated through the hull like the heartbeat of a living thing.
Its casing shimmered with a thin iridescent coating to reflect thermal gradients, while internal magnetic fields danced invisibly, strong enough to levitate a car, yet finely tuned enough to spin the drive shaft at thousands of RPMs with zero drag.
Erik: "You really went all in this time, it's beautiful"
Rose: "Heh, if you make something, you better make it right, don't you think?"
Erik nodded: "Still, this is awesome, a true work of art and precision"
At that moment, a huge figure entered the engine room through the remodeled doors.
Artalia, the old octopeople elder, now with a beautiful smooth grayish skin tone, approached on her tentacle arms and dressed in a robe dress over her body, stuck to her body as it was currently wet.
Erik smiled and bowed slightly: "I salute Grand Elder Artalia"
Artalia smiled gracefully: "Oh, hush, you~ You guys need any help?"
Rose eyed Erik, talking to his mind: [Do we? hehe~]
Erik rolled his eyes: "It would be our honor, though no offense, but... the technology might be too advanced for you?"
Artalia frowned: "It's all the same, and I've studied some of your manuals, I will manage"
Rose chuckled slightly and stepped aside: "Go ahead then, take a look~"
An entire hour passed as they observed the confused Artalia.
Rose finally interrupted her: "So... did you figure it out?"
Artalia was startled for a moment but quickly regained her composure: "More or less yes, I have figured out what it does, not the why it does so yet though"
Erik: "Well, there's a saying on my world, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic~"
Artalia scoffed: "Everything always has an explanation; only a fool would say something like that"
Erik: "Indeed, we need to lower the steering engines on other parts of the ship too, we would be honored to have your help"
Artalia: "And I will gladly help"
The other engines, a total of 12, were lowered into different areas of the ship as holes were opened on the hull too, installing enormous propellers onto their corresponding shafts.
A couple of days of constant work went by, and they were finally ready for a test.
Erik: "Alright then, shall we start?"
Rose: "On it, first the flotation test"
The ship was slowly lowered back into the water and then freed as the floating dock filled with water and then moved out of the way. Meanwhile, the submarine attached itself to a specially installed docking station on the right side of the ship.
Rose: "Now let's start all engines, full throttle~"
A loud humming sound reverberated throughout the entire ship as they all took a step back from the sudden acceleration.
Rose: "Let's go to the deck!"
Once they arrived at the deck, they couldn't hide their surprise, the enormous ship was crushing the waves in its path, as it rocketed forward at a speed of at least 100 knots. Octopeople could be seen holding onto railings for dear life as they puked, disoriented. Then suddenly an alarm blared and the ship's engines reversed, launching everyone forward.
Even Erik was feeling nauseous as he asked: "Why the sudden stop?"
Rose: "Automatic detection if someone falls overboard, it seems i will need to raise the railings"
A couple of minutes later, the unfortunate octopeople was rushed to the medbay, a scout that had been guarding the stern had been launched back when her legs couldn't hold onto the railing anymore. The impact against the water had caused her internal bleeding, so she was rushed to a medpod. The new ship had an enormous med bay with dozens of them, so it wasn't a problem.
A while later, they went back to the floating port as a final piece was installed on the prow of the ship, a huge pair of metal cables.
Erik: "Is that for-"
Rose: "Exactly what you are thinking, your mutant 'cow', she should be freed by now"
A loud rumble reverberated then as a huge head popped out of the water in front of the ship, it blinked constantly, not used to sunlight at all by now.
Erik: "Molly! Thanks, Rose!"
Rose: "Yeah, yeah~ she's no longer needed to pull along, but I figured we are safer all together, as long as you can trust a gigantic monster and her descendants, one of which ripped off your arm"
Erik: "Aren't they all given brain control chips?"
Rose: "Yes, for security reasons"
Erik: "Hmm, should be fine then, we can use them as mounts and as attack hounds"
Rose nodded: "Indeed, now let's go home, im sure they all wanna go home after so long-"
Artalia: "Slower this time, I can still feel my stomach shaking"
Rose: "Alright ~"
-- On the jungle planet --
A spaceship landed, crushing the thick canopy of trees beneath it, landing on a clear grass area in the forest.
Antonio: "...now what? Are we just gonna leave it outside?"
[jammed... can't open... covered in debris]
Monico: "Damn... guess we will have to dig up the entrance"
Elena: "We are too exposed out here"
Antonio: "Everyone, get ready, let's see if we can finish this before night time, otherwise we will have to have a lookout during the night to sleep on the hopper"
[...I can... lookout... no worries... weapon systems... operational...]
Antonio: "Excellent, then let's get to digging!"
They geared up with weapons and shovels while the turrets on the spaceship slowly came to life as power was redirected to them after so long without use. Luckily, it was built to last as the magnetic bearings offered no resistance.
The door to the spaceship opened with a ramp down as Antonio, Monico, and Elena walked up to a slope of dirt with a huge tree growing on top.
Antonio: "We should probably chop down the tree first"
Elena: "... are you sure? it seems ancient, we could take days to do that"
Antonio: "Even if we don't remove the stump, we do need to remove the top tree, its too much weight over our heads if we start digging and the roots collapse"
Monico: "That's true... but how? Do we print an axe? I could make you a chainsaw if you gave me a couple of days to design, print, and assemble the pieces"
Antonio: "Thanks, but I have a better idea, it will also serve to test the guns on the spaceship, don't you agree?"
[...yes, that is... reasonable... guns loading at 20% power... clear... the area...]
Antonio: "You heard it, move back to the spaceship"
As they came back, a buzz came from a turret on top of the spaceship, and then ZBLOOP BOOM, a loud sparking sound followed by a bubble popping sound, and finally an explosion. A black ray had been emitted, and the entire base of the tree and the surrounding ground in a spherical pattern had disappeared. Now unsupported by a base, the tree fell to the side, luckily not on top of the spaceship.
Lots of small creatures fell to the ground with the tree, as animal sounds sounded from the canopy, and the ground vibrated with the fall.
Monico: "That was... a black hole?"
[...no, black energy ray... increases gravity... matter collapses onto itself... then retakes the energy... and the collapsed matter blows up...]
Antonio: "Whatever the ray was, now we must hurry, the creatures around are being too noisy, that is bound to attract a predator to the area, we need to be inside the refuge asap"
They hurried back to the spherical hole and started digging. After 30 minutes, they had reached a metallic door, still shining with a dark metallic shine, and without stopping, they cleared the way to an access panel.
Antonio and Elena sat down exhausted to the side while Monico took off the cover of the panel and cleared some debris, then, as the guardian instructed him, he forced the latches of the door to disconnect and the reeling motors to activate. A loud screech of metal against metal was heard as the doors started to open.
Antonio: "Finally, you did it-"
[danger, everyone... get inside...]
A huge figure then approached, its loud steps growing closer and closer.
The creature loomed between the trees, easily the size of an armored personnel carrier, its scales jagged and reflective like shards of black metal. Gnarled, mossy fur grew between armored ridges, twitching as if alive. Clusters of rust-colored spines bristled along its back and tail, some twitching independently, sensing vibrations in the air. Its breath steamed in ragged gusts from a narrow maw lined with needlelike teeth.
Antonio barely had time to whisper: "Run."
The others didn't need more prompting. They dove through the widening hatch as the ground trembled under the beast's approach. Just as Elena tumbled through the door, she caught a glimpse of something jammed in the creature's side — a bone spear. Not natural. Crafted. And still dripping blood.
"There's someone else here," she gasped.
"Not now!" Monico slammed his hand on the override panel inside. The door began to grind shut just as the beast lunged.
A thunderous roar split the air. A clawed limb, covered in moss and metal, slammed into the door, halting its descent halfway. Sparks flew. Screeching metal echoed down the tunnel. The creature howled again, clawing furiously to rip the door open.
The guardian's voice was calm, emotionless: [...Engaging defensive countermeasures… please... stand back...]
A soft whir echoed from deeper within the facility — and then THOOM, an electric charge arced across the exterior wall, slamming into the creature's claw. It shrieked and reeled back, smoke rising from its seared limb. The door finished closing with a final, grinding clang.
Darkness.
Only the low emergency lights blinked to life in the tunnel around them.
Elena sank to her knees, breathing hard. "That… that was not normal. It had a spear in it. Someone spurt that thing at us."
Monico stared at her, eyes wide. "Could it be a coincidence?."
Antonio rubbed his face, trying to focus. "Whoever they are, they know how to survive here. And they're close."
The guardian's voice returned: [Structural integrity holding... Connection to base systems in progress... Scans detect residual trails… consistent with tracking behavior... recent activity at an exit vent two hundred meters to the North... the direction the creature came from...]
Antonio paled. "So we didn't stumble on it. It was sent after us?"
[...Possibly. The spear seems to be tribal, just a sharpened bone alloy. But it hit a non lethal area. It was meant to wound, but not kill.]
"Like tagging prey," Elena said, her voice hoarse.
They stood in silence.
Then Antonio broke it. "We need to get deeper inside. Secure the lower levels. If someone else is here — or was — they might already know about this place, we aren't safe here."
They all nodded as they stood up.
Antonio: "Will you be alright out there alone?"
[Yes... defense systems... online... creature... gone...]
Antonio: "Alright, tell us if you need backup"
The heavy corridor ahead curved downward, lit by flickering blue lights. Strange shapes lined the walls — machines, old conduits, deactivated defense drones. The facility had slept for too long.
Antonio gripped his rifle and took the first step. "Let's see what else survived down here."
-- Meanwhile, aboard the newly-refitted flagship --
The massive vessel now cruised steadily over the deep ocean, leaving a white streak across the waves. Octopeople milled around, recovered from their nausea and now fascinated by the new ship's speed and silence. Molly swam along dutifully, her massive body visible just under the water's surface, keeping pace effortlessly with her offspring trailing behind like strange aquatic missiles.
Inside the new huge command room, Erik stood with Rose and Artalia around a large holographic map.
Rose pointed. "This is where we are headed." A hologram of an underwater mountain surrounded by plains, and its tip almost reaching the surface of the water
Artalia squinted. "This is where the rest are right?"
Erik: "Yes, all the infrastructure is set, and the surface base is almost finished"
Rose folded her arms. "With the new directional antenna in the ship and a receiver im building over the main base, we should reach planetary communication soon by bouncing signals on the upper atmosphere, and in the future, we could launch some satellites to restore deep space communications even if just a little."
Erik smiled faintly. "Deep space... I wonder how Antonio and the others are doing..."
Sarah nodded: "Indeed, they might have landed somewhere by now too, anything is possible"
Rose waved her hand: "Once I'm connected to the intergallactic web in the future, we will be able to find out, until then... we are in the dark, we should repair the space fortresses too, just in case we are attacked... sigh so much work left to do..."
Erik: "I have some ideas about that to brainstorm, have a minute?"
Rose smiled: "For you always, let's go for a walk~"
As they exited the room, Inky squinted at them.
Inky: "So annoying..."
Timberly: "Annoying?"
Inky: "Sigh, yes... no..., I don't know... do you think Rose likes Erik?"
Timberly grinned widely: "Well, do you~?, cause I do like him~"
Inky frowned and walked away, muttering to herself, "At least I can conceive, a machine isn't a competitor...".
Timberly: "haha~ always so fun to tease" She then stretched, "better check the new gym, that should be fun and use some pent up energy~"
-- Back on the jungle planet --
Hours had passed. The team had pushed deeper into the refuge — a vast underground complex of reinforced metal and tech. Parts were powered down, others flickered back to life with each room they entered.
In a sealed chamber, they discovered an old databank, mostly intact.
Monico activated it, fingers dancing over the alien interface, guided by the guardian. "This place... It was a research facility. Genetic labs, atmospheric samples, fauna logs..."
[yes... before... the betrayal... work always... testing... new ways... life]
Elena walked toward a tank that had cracked open long ago. "Testing? Or... experimentation?"
Before Antonio could answer, something lit up in the corner. A blinking green signal on the door.
"Someone else is here," Monico whispered.
And then — voices. Echoing through the chamber. A language none of them recognized.
A door at the far end hissed open.
Footsteps.
And then, a shadow stepped into view.
Humanoid, but leaner, taller. Wearing armor made of bone, woven with vines. A pale face with dark, tattoo-like patterns.
Behind it, several more figures emerged. Silent. Observing.
Antonio slowly raised his hands. "We're not here to fight."
The lead figure tilted its head... then gestured forward.
Warriors with spears advanced in their direction while Antonio and the others slowly drew out their weapons.
[Don't worry... I... protect... systems.. online...]
The lights over the base all turned on, and turrets came out of the ceiling, as darts were shot at all the panicking humanoid figures, and then... they fell.
Elena: "Are they... dead?"
[No... just... sleeping... no lethat force...]
Antonio: "What are they?"
[ Genetic sample needed... guessing... descendants researchers... trapped... issolated... adapted... devolved...]
Antonio fully drew his rifle as he got closer to one of the creatures and took off the mask using his barrel. A blue skin and six eyes underneath.
Antonio: "We saw beings like these at the city, although they were leaner and taller..."
[race... identified... globian variant... descendants of the researchers... confirmed]
A security drone nearby then came to life as it flew through the open door and away.
[I will scan... the rest of... the base]
Antonio nodded: "Alright, do we have to move you inside or at least bring the spaceship inside the hangar?"
[Spaceship connection... good enough... ship... already in hangar... ]
Elena: "what's next then?"
[Clear... base... bring all... systems... online... more energy...]
Antonio nodded: "Good, a clear goal, we should also tie up these natives for questioning, don't want a blood bath if it can be avoided"