[System]: Welcome to Fleet Dominion Online: Skadi.
[System]: What class would you like to pick?
- COMMANDER
- CARRIER
- SCOUT
- FABRICATOR
- BULWARK
- TEMPEST
[System]: Feel free to ask any questions regarding the classes.
He looked down. Then around himself. But it was nothing.
He was just a floating head, flooded with a barrage of information through audio and some windows in front of him.
"Uhh… Is there any that earns money?" he lingered.
[System]: All classes allow one to collect resources. However, the main resource collector is through the class:
COMMANDER
The role of every commander is fundamental:
Handle resource collection.
- Set up a main base (Max. 1)
- Holds 10 worker drones.
- The number increases automatically as the level increases.
- Main Base is a one-time area. No salvage. No relocation. Only possible to move when destroyed or changing guilds.
- When destroyed, all resources are lost.
Basic Skills —
"Ah, say less. I'm picking the commander then."
[System]: Disclaimer - Upon confirming your class, you will not be able to change it until level 50. Any reset to class after level 50 will reset your level as well.
[System]: Do you confirm?
"Whatever. Passive income from this? It would be insane."
"Confirm."
[System]: Understood.
[System]: All new members are randomly placed in existing Guilds. All starter Guilds are game moderator-led and are in areas that are safe for learning.
[System]: When in-game, you will be handled by the AI assistant. Once you are level 5, you are forced to leave the Guild and join a new one. Your AI assistant for your fleet will follow you.
It had been a while since he felt it.
A sort of exhilaration. Like when you receive a gift for christmas.
A feeling welled up within him, that he could maybe just keep the pod. It provided a good way to entertain himself and, as promised in the video, showed a method to maybe lift himself out of this predicament.
[System]: Welcome to the Guild "Commander Tutorial"
The area around him materialised. He stood before the giant cockpit of a typical space battleship.
Usually, there would be an ensemble of different crew members but this time, the seats before the desktops were all empty.
[System]: Welcome, "Skadi"
He ignored the robotic voice.
The cockpit was oddly dim.
Then the surroundings finally hit him.
Beyond the glass panel stood the galaxies. A violet canvas sprinkled with brilliant white hues and a spectrum of red to azure backdrops.
Stars coalesced in clusters that looked too real for it to be a game.
He touched the glass.
It was cold to the touch.
He could barely believe it.
That technology was already that advanced. That he had been missing out on this the whole time.
Maybe I can just play this…
Just have a nice off day sometimes…
Live a little…
[COORPERATIVE ZONE - COMMS ENABLED]
[L33THARV3STOR]: YO WHO THE FUCK STOLE MY NEOSPENE
[KazziG]: Ohh, we got a new commander class!
[Gaethon]: Welcome! We are all farmers, loll!
[Prodigy69]: BUY MY NEW NFT!!!!!!!!!
[MoonBoy]: Guys, how do I launch my drones? They're just sitting there
[JinJin]: Commander-class guy you alive??
[JinJin]: Set up your base and invite me. we share resources while I explain some stuff
Voices blasted into the cockpit.
"What the hell, is there a way to turn this off?" He cupped his ears.
[System]: Voice detected. User "Skadi" is now active.
"Oh, come on."
An invitation to join his party arrived.
Sol swiped it away and a HUD appeared. With a tap he entered the settings and muted the voice comms.
The invitation popped up again.
He sighed. "Really? I'm not dumb enough to accept an invitation from some stranger."
[JinJin]: Bitch. Okay, look, I'm the moderator in charge of this beginner zone. I'm here to teach you the basics and guide you through the first 5 levels.
[JinJin]: So, accept the invitation.
"That's how they scam people. I'm not fucking dumb." He muttered. "Also I muted my comms, how am I still hearing your voice."
A large shadow loomed.
Above him, a large ship crossed, dwarfing him.
His mouth gaped as several more drifted forward from his sides. All ships of different types, structures, and designs. Everything he had dreamed of when he was young.
The wondrous world of sci-fi and space opera was coming into fruition before his very eyes in the expanse of the universe.
The beautiful universe.
[JinJin]: HELLO?!?
[JinJIn]: I swear to god, why does every single noob do this. Just accept it. This is a neutral zone, no one can trade or take your things or…
[JinJin]: LOOK YOU'RE A NOOB. THERE'S NOTHING FOR ME TO TAKE. UGH
"Fine, fine!" Sol tapped the yes button on the HUD in front of him.
Then a screen showed up, projected upon the glass scenery panel.
Then the cockpit lit up.
Revealing a teal theme of flooring and black strips for frames that accompanied.
He backed off from the panel, so he could find a better angle to view the full projection, through the screen was a similar look.
A man on the other side. In the middle of his own cockpit.
[JinJin]: You should see a table further up. Nearer to the cockpit door. That is the commanders table. Only commanders have it. You can set up your base from there.
[JinJin]: There's a limit to the area around you where you can set it up. I assume you read the details of your skills and your limits before choosing the class?
[JinJin]: I mean, that is the least you could do. Imagine making an uninformed choice. Man. Even i wouldn't be that stupid.
"Yeah…" He slowly nodded and rubbed his hands together sheepishly, jogging towards the table.
As he approached, the table automatically activated. Giving him a 3D isometric view of the area around him as a light hologram that reached the ceiling
"Cool…" he muttered.
He reached into the hologram, as he pinched, the area zoomed out, loading in even more ships and a bunch of other debris and obstacles he didn't recognise further out around him.
[JinJin]: Those Green clusters of dots are Neospene caches. Basic minerals in FDO. As a commander class, you'll gain experience through the collection of resources. Well, the rest of the things you should get over time.
Sol reached for an icon that looked like a base. He dragged it into the hologram, which displayed a projected footprint of the base.
Intuitively, he used his left hand to rotate the view and adjusted the height of the base to be just above the resources.
[JinJin]: Nice. Better than those retired civil workers who treat this like it's space-golf.
[System]: moving to the position to deploy the base. ETA 2 mins.
The ship jerked and started to move.
[JinJin]: Alright, I'm out. Everything's intuitive if you use your brain a little.
[JinJin]: Just a heads-up, though. You can't stay in the beginner zone past level 5. System kicks you out, auto-assigns you to a guild if you don't pick one. I don't handle that part.
[JinJin]: Commander-class players either end up running small guilds or being resource mules in the big ones. Scans, mining runs, logistics crap. You'll see.
[JinJin]: You prob picked this class to chill and stack passive income or whatever. That's fine. Respect. Just don't expect to coast forever.
[JinJin]: Also, yeah, your avatar screams "new account." Not judging, just saying. Mechanics'll click once you mess around a bit.
[JinJin]: Anyway, I've done my part. Have fun out there, Skadi. See you in the void. Or not.
- Bleep -
The call ended.
Sol walked back to the glass, watching the universe move by. The dozens of ships.
it was odd, thinking that all these ships were beginners like him. Each one had different tutorials and teachings. There was even one with a large cannon beam in the centre of the ship. Slowly gathering the plasma into a large bright ball, almost the size of one of the asteroids in the belt nearby.
The ship stopped.
Then the base unfolded beneath him. Massive segments of metallic scaffolding bloomed outward like petals in space, locking into place with hydraulic precision. The drones were dispatched. Each one welding and joining the building in a final touch.
The sense of scale finally settled in.
He had built something.
In space.
Even if it was virtual, it felt real.
His lips curled slightly. Just barely. A smirk.
"This is fun…" He mouthed.
"AI! Whatever you're called. What is the… resource collection speed? and experience gaining speed?"
[System]: "Skadi," you may refer to me as System. I will manage all fleet-related operations.
[System]: At your current level, you have 10 active drones, each collecting 1 unit of Neospene per second. Your experience gain matches your resource collection rate.
"Time to level 5, then?" Sol muttered, brushing his chin.
[System]: Estimated time: 1 minute, 40 seconds.
"Oh. That's fast."
"Better find a guild before I get thrown into some random one." He swiped over to the guild tab on his HUD.
The recommended list loaded. Overwhelmingly long.
There was no way he was going to filter through that many options.
"System, I just want to chill and earn passive income. Recommend a guild for that."
[System]: Based on your current level, experience, and stated preference, I recommend the following: NeospeneCo-op™
A window popped up, displaying the guild's details.
NeospeneCo-op™
Description:
Chill crew of resource nerds. Kinda like a union, kinda like a startup, definitely into hoarding Neospene.
Perks:
- Weekly Neospene pool split
- Live market memes + tips from "CFO Skittr"
- Customise your drone colors (finally)
Requirements:
- Small Neospene buy-in each month
- Wear the vest (yeah, that one)
- Show up to "productivity summits" (or at least pretend to)
Motto:
"Mine smarter, not harder."
Members:
22
"Alright then. Whenever you're ready."
Sol finally let his mind rest.
He'd only logged in to check it out. See what all the hype was about. But… it was fun. Way too fun. No way he was handing this over.
He sighed… and smiled.
A proper smile.
One he hadn't made in a long time, even as level-up notifications flooded his screen.
[System]: Do you confirm joining Guild "NeospeneCo-op™"?
"Yup." He rolled his shoulders. "Maybe it's time to enjoy myself for once."
[System]: Light jumping to guild coordinates. In…
3
2
Sol spread his feet apart, still standing in front of the glass.
1
The ship jerked. Stars stretched. The universe warped.
Everything blurred.
And then—
[System]: Welcome, "Skadi", to "NeospeneCo-op™."
But all he saw was war.
Lasers sliced across the stars.
Fighter drones swarmed the ships.
Wreckage drifted where fleets had once been.
Dead metal floated. Corpses of ships.
Chaos.
[System]: Guild Leader "CFO Skittr" has perished in battle. Leadership randomly reassigned to "Skadi."
Sol stared.
"…WHAT THE FU—"
✧ ˚ · .