12:01 IST, Tenth day, First month, 3079 PV | Alpha Centauri System / Altair Battleship / Bridge
Alt: "Attention Passengers, coordinates received. Acceleration begins in 10 seconds. Edge of star system in thirty seconds. Hyperspace acceleration in five minutes. Destination: Valker, planet of carnage, ETA 14:07 IST current date.
It is recommended that all passengers remain seated during acceleration periods, when we begin accelerating the artificial gravity will be disabled to increase speed. Do be aware that this ship has a bit more of a kick than you are used to."
Taking Alt's advice, all of us on the bridge (Ray, Initae, Beck and I) quickly take our seats. Seconds later, we accelerate. It feels as though we are thrown into a brick wall. My augmentation kit registers that we are experiencing 10Gs of force. An unaugmented human would die at just 6.
It seems, one of the things they did to increase speed was turn off artificial gravity. Which is also the system responsible for nullifying Gs due to acceleration. I look over to Ray's seat, which is to my right, and notice her hair is flying backwards, making it hard for her to see.
Ray:"Gah, they couldn't have given us a bit more warning? I would've tied up my hair."
Initae:"I don't know why you seem to have so much trouble, just use inae to nullify the gravitational effects upon yourself."
Ko:"Wow, that's actually quite smart, forgot you were a near-all knowing ancient being for a while."
Initae:"I am probably the most knowledgeable being in this entire plane. You better remember that."
Taking Initae's advice, I extend a bubble of raw inae around Ray, Beck and I and remove the negative effects of the G-forces. Somehow it slipped my mind that inae was also responsible for the spacenullifers, which can contain antimatter, so the same principles can definitely stop a bit of inertia.
Immediately, Ray's hair returns to normal and we are no longer being thrown back into our seats at 10G.
"Why thank you O great Ko the worthless piece of junk NEET."
"My pleasure, it's always good to help out one's companions."
"*tch*"
I have no idea why she seemed upset at that statement, and I don't want to dig into it too far.
Alt:"Hyperspace drive initializing, please brace yourself."
Immediately, it feels as though we are once again being hit by a brick wall. But rather than from a single direction, it's as though it's pressing in from all sides. This must be as a result of the experimental hyperspace drives. After all, with more powerful drives comes more intolerable space-folding side effects. But I guess having such powerful drives in such a small space has made it ridiculously painful. Great.
Initae:"Hey Ko! This is a great time for a lesson."
"Really, now?"
"Of course. The principles behind hyperspace and shifting are not actually that different. Hyperspace merely folds space inwards, while shifting folds space outwards."
"Hmm, does that mean I could use shifting-inae to counteract the side effects of the folding?"
"Precisely! This is why you are my apprentice. Now give it a try, collect a bit of the shifting inae and distribute it into your mind, Ray's and Beck's. It should only need a very tiny amount, otherwise you might disrupt the hyperspace drive and create a blackhole."
"Oh, no pressure then."
"Dont worry, if you accidentally create a singularity I can quickly reverse it before any damage."
"Good to know my master can just casually dissolve blackholes."
"Nautrally, I am the most powerful being in this plane.
I proceed to take Initae's guidance. Being very careful, I take a miniscule amount of shifter-inae and place it in the middle of our three minds.
"Woah, it's all gone. I can exist normally again. Ko, you're the best!"
Ray then proceeds to attempt to stand up, probably trying to come give me a hug or something. She flies back into the hard wall of the bridge.
Ko:"Are you ok?"
Ray:"Ouchie, everything hurts. Of course I'm not ok! I just impacted the solid wall at 98.1m/s acceleration. I think I broke a few bones."
"Well, I guess I now know that If I want to actually nullify the physical force of the acceleration I have to apply force back, not just cancel it out."
"It would've been better if you knew that earlier!"
I then proceed to float Ray away from the wall gently. Where do I set her? Right in my lap.
"Oi, what do you think you're doing?"
"Well I figured if you broke your back it might be hard to sit up by yourself, so I figured I'd help you out."
"I'm perfectly fine! Now put me back in my seat right now!"
At her request, I placed her back in her seat. It seems my strategy to make her pain go away worked.
Alt:"Hyperspace acceleration in fifteen seconds"
Fifteen seconds later, we jump into hyperspace and the negative effects of acceleration and space warping go away. I release my inae control and relax.
Ko:"So, what's up with this Valker planet? And why the klack is it called the planet of carnage?"
Initae:"Valker is a planet known for extreme volcanic activity. It makes Sol's planet Io look like a joke. It's basically a giant bed of magma with a few rocks and megavolcanoes, due to it being in a recently formed star system. In essence, it's a whole lot of fun. I hear they make good fireworks if you blow them up, I've always wanted to try it."
Ko:"Please don't go around randomly blowing up planets in humanity's new galaxy for fun."
"Oh don't worry, I only do that in unclaimed galaxies, wouldn't want to start any more intergalactic wars by accident."
"That statement implies that you have accidentally started intergalactic wars."
"Maybee… but those were a long time ago."
Ray:"So why'd they choose that place as the site of our first altar. Couldn't they have sent us to a lush paradise instead? Why does it have to be a planet that has the nickname carnage."
Ko:"Maybe they considered it but decided hell was a far more fitting place for humanity. That, or they are going to make us do something absolutely insane."
"Oh great, what could they have possibly cooked up?"
*Initae bursts out in a fit of laughing* "Oh my, you two are going to love these trials."
Ko:"You know, if you're not going to tell us anything, you shouldn't comment on them at all. It makes me wanna pry that brain of yours open and dig out all that knowledge you have."
"Hmm, while it'd be nice to see you try, unfortunately I don't have a brain, or most organs for that matter. I'm a spirit like being remember?"
Ray:"So wait, how do you eat? Or like, reproduce?"
"Hmm, well I don't eat, I can consume it but it's worthless to me. Normal beings of my kind would subsist off of various forms of energy, like high energy radiation. However due to my age the only thing that is able to sustain me is inae.
As for reproduction, I think you are too young for such topics."
"Oi, I'm twenty one years old, I think I'm old enough!"
"Twenty one is nothing. I've lived for billions. Maybe once you reach around a billion years old you'll be old enough."
"Ko! Initae is being mean to me."
"Why are you looking at me like I'm the parent or something, I'm the youngest one here. And she gave me the same response when I asked her the same question."
"Ah, youngins, it's nice to see them when they are bonding. Always makes this ancient being's nonexistent heart weep."
14:05 IST, Tenth day, First month, 3079 PV | Hyperspace near Valker / Altair Battleship / Bridge
Alt:"Attention Passengers, Hyperspace dropping in 30 seconds. Please brace yourselves."
With my experience from the acceleration, I quickly disperse the raw inae dampening and shifter inae anti-folding countermeasures.
Ko:"Well, let's see what we are actually dealing with."
Ray:"Right, this so called 'planet of carnage.'"
Hyperspace drops. On our sensors, simultaneously the Quartet and Luna's battleships also appear, as expected, we departed at the same time. We get our first visual on Valker, and boy, does it look fun.
From a distance it's just a rock that has a strange red glow around it. Almost as if the entire planet is just on fire. I can't wait to presumably go down there.
Alt:"Attention Passengers, Arrival at Valker Drop Outpost in thirty seconds. Please make your way to the hangar."
Ray:"Well I guess there is nothing to it, lets get going."
Ko:"Sure thing, let's show em why we will win this entire thing no problemo."
As we are heading to the hangar we moor nearby the station. When we enter the hangar a shuttle is just landing inside. The door opens seemingly promoting Ray, Initae and I to enter.
The shuttle is a fairly typical luxury transport craft, nothing special. We enter and quickly depart from the station. During our transit, a hologram of the Gamekeeper appears to give us a brief message.
"Welcome, Contestants Rayleigh and Kovon. This is the first altar of your trial. The altar will consist of three stages.
First, you will use the brand new shellsuits developed by the Shesah to drop down to the planet.
Next, you will climb the supervolcano known as Mt. Igan, the largest supervolcano on Valker. At the top, you will find the last stage of the trial, which shall not be revealed until you reach it.
Any questions? None? Good, good luck, moonlight duo, the universe expects great things from the two of you."
Ko:"Well, that sounds like fun. We get to go volcano climbing!"
Ray:"Yipee, I used to love climbing olympus mons during our breaks from school, this should be a piece of cake."
Ko:"I don't like the way you just casually talk about climbing a supervolcano in your breaks from the most prestigious law school in the sol system."
Ray:"Im just that much of a genius, for me it's nothing."
Ko:"Whatever you say Mrs. Genius Prodigy Superstar."
With that, the shuttle docks at the station. We step out into a large chamber that contains two massive tubes. What is inside the tubes you ask?
Ray:"MECHS! Ohmygoshohmygosh please tell me we get to ride them! Woah, they are soo cool! It's like they are straight out of an anime! KO, we've gotta ride in one! We've just gotta!"
"Well, you're in luck, it just so happens that you'll be descending to the planet in one of these S01-Mk5 starshell exo-mechs." The voice comes from a very short Shesah standing to our side. They appear to be scientists of some form.
Ko:"Well Mx. Scientist, I think you've just about made her entire week."
Ray:"KO, cmon, WE GET TO RIDE IN MECHS! YOU SHOULD BE MORE EXCITED!"
Ko:"Oh trust me, I'm excited too! But we've gotta remain calm, this is still a trial."
Shesah Scientist:"Well, you are in a race, so if you would, please enter your respective StarMechs as they are commonly known."
Ray, without any hesitation practically teleports into the seat of her StarMech. It is painted a brilliant silver color. I, while not quite teleporting, also quickly get into my own StarMech which has a nice purple color.
By the way, the StarMechs stand at about seven meters tall, but otherwise are pretty much human shaped. I can't imagine how much tech has gone into them, they feel cutting edge.
Shesah Scientist:"Just connect your neural ports into the thingy inside and it should do most of the work."
Ray quickly links in, and then she starts to move the arms in some weird gestures. I too link and get used to the feeling, it's just like having a very large and mechanical body.
Shesah Scientist:"Well I trust you two can figure it out from here, im initiating the EM cannons, you should land right next to the mountain. Good luck Moonlight Duo."
Ko:"Wait, what's this about EM cannons?!"
I don't get a chance to receive an answer. Several moments later I feel as though the world has dropped out from under me. Moments later, my StarMech's sensors come online. It appears as though both Ray and I are falling through the atmosphere at about 2km/s. We were shot out of a bloody orbital electromagnetic cannon. The audacity.
[Over Wormhole-Comms] Ray:"WOAH, THAT WAS SO COOL, RIGHT KO?"
Ko:"Ray, perhaps tone it down a bit, I think you nearly blew out my eardrums. But I concur, that was very cool. I didn't expect them to just put us in giant mechs and launch us out of an orbital cannon to a planet that is hell incarnate."
Ray:"I didnt either, but im sure as kek glad they did!"
By the way, we have hit the atmosphere. We pass through it in moments and get our first sight of the planet's surface. It's as expected, a lava plains. Mostly rocky with an absurd quantity of lava rivers/oceans running across it.
Moments later, our StarMechs engage their propulsion systems and we slow down within moments. Geez, these things are cool.
Ray:"Ko, Look at me go!"
Ray says this as she seems to get the hang of the controls, she is doing somersaults, flips and spins through the air. Whoever decided to give the super otaku a mech was a genius, can't believe I didn't think of it first.
Ko:"Wow, you really picked that up fast. You're so cute when you're happy."
Ray:"Wa, has the atmospheric entry fried your brains? I'm a SuperOtaku, of course I'm going to be able to fly a mechsuit, all that anime wasn't for nothing."
About three kilometers to the east lies a massive volcano. I suppose this must be Mt. Igan. I estimate it is about 30km high. However, it is steep, like, very nearly a straight cliff with very few landings. I wouldn't be surprised if it was artificially made, I don't think even these extreme tectonics would make such a mountain. Making it taller than any mountain in the sol system. After a few moments of flight, we drop to the ground. It appears that we won't be allowed to just fly up the volcano, unfortunately.
Ko:"Well then, let's start climbing!"
Ray:"Yeah, let's do this thing!"
We then proceed to walk over to the volcano. It seems like it shouldn't be too difficult of a climb with these mechs. We can easily make handholds with brute force if necessary.
Before we can start climbing, we hear several large booms. Our sensors immediately register five signatures incoming from orbit. It must be the other contestants.
Ray:"I guess we aren't alone anymore. It was kinda nice just having the entire space to ourselves."
Ko:"Yeah, it's been a while since we've been alone together on an alien planet. Reminds me of that time when you dragged me on a vacation to Io to go volcano climbing.
I can't believe you managed to convince the school to just let us leave for an entire week to go volcano climbing."
"Maybe they were hoping we'd fall in and they wouldn't have to deal with us anymore."
We both break out into very loud laughter. I can't believe I'm having so much fun. Isn't this trial thing supposed to be super hard and difficult? Yet here we are, two otakus just having fun in giant mechs climbing a volcano on probably the most dangerous planet in the nearby star systems.
Ko:"This is nice, we should do this more often."
Ray:"We are in klacking Mechs, I think we could find something more fun to do than climb a volcano. But I agree, this is really nice."
We then proceed to resume climbing the volcano. We continue to banter, triggering many periods of laughs. We occasionally look down to see the other contestants' progress. It seems we are quite far ahead, perhaps this is the Otaku advantage.
It takes us around six hours to scale to the top of the mountain. When we reach the top, we are greeted with a large black building… Into our Mechs' speakers comes a voice, the same Shesah voice from before.
"Congratulations, you are the first humans to scale Mt Igan. Please leave your StarMechs and proceed inside the building. Be sure to enable your exosuits and helmets before exit, or you'll instantly die."
Ray:"Welp, I suppose it is time to learn what stage three of this altar will be."
Ko:"Indeed, I can't wait, let's head inside."
I am certain, whatever is inside for us to do, we can do it together. So, bring it on.
End of Chapter 28
A/N: Welcome dear reader. Author here. Congratulations! You've made it to chapter 28, in my opinion I'd say that's at least as hard as scaling Mt. Igan. Be sure to stay tuned, the trial is only beginning, there is still much more to come!
As always, if you are enjoying reading, be sure to follow/favourite/share with a friend, it is always appreciated! Until the next one, dear reader.
Cathrix