Chapter 20: To Our Dearest Rico, With Love

Yan descended into the pit, rope ladder swaying wildly as she climbed.

Walls of rock loomed around her, sloping upwards until they merged into a single point of light above. Ahead, the beam from her atmosuit’s shoulder-lantern cut through the darkness, revealing countless holes and fissures in the stone - evidence of the pirates’ crude mining explosives.

That said, the surfaces of AC-02 above were not much better. From what Yan had seen, AC-02 Local Holdings had never seen fit to pave the floors or cover up the walls and ceilings of the facility.

But at least they had smoothed out the surfaces.

Her focus darted down to the timer in the bottom left of her vision.

Factoring in a buffer of fifteen minutes, she still had a good forty minutes left before the Asteroid Cracker was due to arrive.

She was not just relying on Julian’s testimony, of course. Even though the mechsuit had been down before Yan left, Isabella had managed to tap into its communication logs. The pirate had been speaking the truth. They had an hour to prepare.

Yan knew that time was of the essence but getting to the bottom of this pit was something that she had to do.

As she descended further, she could feel her arms beginning to burn.

Although her [Lesser Physical Enhancement] was still active, it only applied to her Reflexes. Supporting so much of her bodyweight on her arms was taking its toll. Maybe she should get some training to boost her Strength and Endurance the next time she had a moment to herself.

There was a familiar gyrating in her eye. This time, it felt deliberately slower, like Sierra was trying not to startle Yan. With her dangling so far above the ground, that could have disastrous consequences.

“Hi ImYan! I see that you are considering additional training to raise your SIERRA scores!”

As the eye spoke, Yan’s left peripheral vision returned.

Oh, there you are. I was just starting to feel bored. Despite the sarcasm in her thoughts, there was a part of Yan that felt glad that Sierra had returned. It had stated a 99.98% chance of recovery from electromagnetic pulses within five minutes but one could never be too sure.

“Of course! One of my primary directives is to ensure that you are always engaged! I will note this incident as an instance of success.”

You don’t get sarcasm, do you?

“I certainly do, ImYan! But my detection systems are particularly sensitive. Poor attempts at sarcasm have been known to slip under my radar!”

Yan paused mid-climb. Did Sierra just mock her?

“I would never! My intention here is to expedite the increase in your SIERRA scores!“

Right… Yan resumed climbing and put the suspected insult out of her mind. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.

“Here at Perigot-Sim Interactive, we always have our customers’ best interests at heart. That is why we have designed the SIERRA system to enhance any physical and mental gains for our customers as they happen!”

Yes, yes, go on.

“Thank you for the encouragement! I was going to! Anyway, our elite researchers have recently developed a system to further accelerate your gains: The SIERRA Training Centre! Now available at all Perigot-Sim Interactive flagship stores!”

And how much would entry cost?

“Oh, the first time’s on us! We just wish to reward you for being such a great supporter of Perigot-Sim Interactive. The nearest Perigot-Sim Interactive flagship store is in the Cristom Cluster. Would you like directions?”

With her arms now screaming at her to stop climbing, Yan did not bother to reply.

She recalled her impulse purchase of the Protocol uses.

It made sense retrospectively but if she went in for the training centre, there was no way she was walking out without another purchase. Her willpower was not that strong and this job was not going to get her the credits she needed for that Tier 2 Processing Power upgrade. She had to save up a bit more first before going there.

Her memories would have to wait.

Yan felt a pang in her chest. There was a hole in her heart, one far deeper than this pit.

Just then, her foot touched solid rock. She had been trying not to look down, so it came as something of a surprise.

Heaving a small sigh of relief, she shook out her sore arms and turned to survey the floor of the pit.

The shoulder-mounted torch swept across an expanse of jagged red rock.

There was a flash of yellow. Yan paused and swept her torch back across the same stretch.

A body lay face down upon the floor, clothed in a yellow jumpsuit. It could not be Ricono. She wore the orange bodysuit of House Ariti.

Yan took a step forward. The ground seemed to give way under her feet.

Instinctively, she pulled back and looked down.

There was another body in front of her. And another a few paces away. And another.

She took a deep breath, the oxygen rasping through her atmosuit.

This pit was not just the pirates’ attempt to hollow out the asteroid for resources.

It was also a mass grave.

Yan counted ten, maybe fifteen bodies down here. All were clad in yellow. The floor was red with dried blood. She had thought that it was just the natural colouring of the rock at first glance but a quick comparison with the walls of the pit told her otherwise.

With the oxygenated atmosphere in AC-02, many of the older corpses were already starting to decompose. Those were the ones that Yan tried to avert her eyes from. Although she could not smell the stench of rot through her suit, her mind filled it in for her. The bile rose in her throat as she fought the urge to leave.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

She had descended all the way down here for a reason and every body she saw reminded her of it: To make sure that Ricono was actually dead.

Her scream had cut out abruptly but who knew what tricks the pirate leader had up her sleeve?

Stepping carefully past the bodies, Yan kept a lookout for one with a brown bob cut and orange bodysuit. As she looked, she could not help but notice the wounds on some of the dead. Most had died from lasers and shotgun pellets but a few bore signs of severe bruising and knife wounds.

Ricono certainly seemed like the type to take her anger out on her prisoners.

Then, she saw it. A flash of short, brown hair atop an orange bodysuit.

Ricono.

Her body was bent at an unnatural angle over a short spire of rock.

Yan heaved a sigh of relief.

The woman was dead.

She had expected as much when she made the decision to climb down but when it came to a person like this, it paid to make sure.

Something glimmered on Ricono’s finger.

Apparently, it truly paid to make sure.

Stepping up to the corpse, Yan spent a moment rummaging through the pirate’s bodysuit. There was a locket, a credit chip, a Quick-Heal patch, the laser pistol and shield belt - both fried by the electro-scrambler - and, of course, the ring that first caught Yan’s eye.

It was a pretty little thing, gold probably and with a symbol carved into the flat face on top. Two long swords over a shield. The symbol of House Ariti. This was some kind of signet ring.

Ricono had not been lying when she called herself a daughter of that pirate “House”.

Yan pursed her lips. For some reason, the ring looked familiar. However, a quick search of her memory turned up nothing.

Shrugging, she tucked the ring into her holster and moved to examine the locket. It was gold as well.

After a moment of hesitation, she popped it open.

There was a picture of a girl within the case. She had brown hair and a strong jaw.

It was a younger Ricono, back when she was an unscarred fourteen or so years old. Beneath, her picture was a cursive scrawl that read:

“To our dearest Rico, with love.

Through nobody else must our oath shine brighter:

No matter night or day, Ariti alone will light the way.

-Mum & Dad”

Yan snapped the locket shut. Ariti, it seemed, had fallen into the depths of a pit. This pit, to be exact.

Despite the temperature regulator humming away in her suit, Yan suddenly felt a chill. It was as if the dead cold lingering at the bottom of the pit had started to seep into her bones.

Shivering, she quickly made her way back to the ladder.

Hopefully, her still-sore arms had more in them to give.

***

“Initiating post-scene sequence. Displaying acquisitions.”

A familiar screen popped up in Yan’s vision. But this time, it was a little different:

Acquisitions Loot - Credits 2,012 Crew Loot 1. 102 x Energy cells

2. 9 x Smith & Sons SASLAR-32 laser assault rifle

3. 3 x LockedNLoaded RoomSweeper ballistic shotgun

4. 10 x Smith & Sons SASLH-37 laser handgun

5. 7 x Gas filtration mask (Manufacturer unknown)

6. 1 x ClarityArms Peashooter semi-automatic laser pistol (45% integrity - non-functional)

7. 1 x ProTech H-01 personal shield belt (16% integrity - non-functional)

8. 2 x Quick-Heal patch

9. 1 x Ricono’s locket (gold, purity unknown)

10. 1 x Ariti signet ring (gold, purity unknown)

11. 4 x Gold ring (gold, purity unknown)

12. 3 x Gold chain (gold, purity unknown) Crew Credits 64 + 13 + 133 + 199 + 48 + 39 + 191 + 193 + 47 + … + 935 = 2,501

While she had been down in the pit, her crew had been busy combing the area and looting the pirates.

Of the things they found, the most important were the tanks of emergency oxygen. These technically belonged to AC-02 Local Holdings but nobody complained as they swapped out their nearly-spent tanks. There was a reason mercenaries were only liable for losses above a certain amount - they often had to “live off the land”.

Still, the number of tanks they found was underwhelming. Each one of them had forty minutes of breathable air and that was it. After the coming battle was over, they would have to resort to the looted gas masks.

Sierra, next screen.

The acquisitions screen faded, replaced by the next:

Attributes Strength 14 + 3 → 17 Intelligence 22 + 4 → 26 Endurance 15 + 4 → 19 Reflexes 14 + 4 → 18 Rizz 13 + 5 → 18 Awareness 14 + 5 → 19 Other Statistics Level: 4 → 6 Experience: 110 + 290 → 400

Level 5: 400 - 130 → 270

Level 6: 270 - 145 → 125

“Multiple unresolved level-ups detected. Hi ImYan! In accordance with Perigot-Sim Interactive’s Safe Use Guidelines, only one level-up can occur per day. Research has shown a drastic increase in the chances of pain, nausea, internal brain haemorrhage and spontaneous combustion experienced by subjects otherwise. When the timer has elapsed, I will inform you accordingly.”

The eye’s comments made Yan pause. Wait. Does that mean that subjects have actually burst into flames before?

“Of course! Why would Perigot-Sim Interactive warn you otherwise?”

Then, what’s the usual chances of spontan -

Her eye’s whirling interrupted her thoughts. “Congratulations! You have reached Level 5! As analysis suggests that you already possess the skills of a Blade Novice (1/3), that ability has been automatically unlocked.”

A screen appeared in her vision:

Blade Novice (1/3)

Gain access to novice-level bladework. Blades are now 120% faster in your hands. Chances of accidental injuries are virtually zero. Free Unlock!

Yan sighed internally and packed away her question on spontaneous combustions. She knew when an answer was not coming. With the Asteroid Cracker on the way, now was also not the time to pursue that line of questioning.

Sierra continued her monologue, “With that done, please select your new ability!”

The free unlock screen flickered away and the ability selection screen appeared once again in her vision:

Non-Neural Exosuit Proficiency

Gain proficiency in the use of exosuits (including exoskeletons, power armor and mechsuits) that do not require a neural connection. Magic Novice (2/3)

Gain access to novice-level spellcasting knowledge and a commensurate mana pool. Enhances spell effects.

New Spells:

[Feather Fall]

[Lesser Mental Enhancement]

[Mass Message] Blade Novice (2/3)

Gain access to novice-level bladework. Blades are now 130% faster in your hands. Chances of accidental injuries are virtually zero.

Yan glanced quickly through the abilities on offer, more out of curiosity than to inform her decision. After all, the choice had basically already been made.

The greatest threat that the remaining pirates could throw at her crew was their ship. Isabella had confirmed that any spacefaring vessel worthy of the name would have a thick hull and a powerful force shield. The Asteroid Cracker would likely be no different.

So, unless Yan had an entire battalion of soldiers, the small-arms fire that her crew could dish out would be virtually useless.

That left her with one solution. The mechsuit.

When Yan had sketched out her plan, her crew had looked worried. And she understood why. It was risky - or as Neon put it, it was “utterly, fabulously insane”.

Regardless of their worries, she had been banking on this level up to pilot that steel beast.

At the end of the day, it was effectively a mobile drill. If it could penetrate rock, why would it not be able to penetrate a ship’s viewport?