Nick’s vision blurred as his mind veered through space.

Then, in one single lurch, he found himself in his body. His human body.

He gasped as everything came to. Blue light from healing staves illuminated the tunnel sides. Violet lights shined from the arsenals. Chill spread through his body with each breath of cold air. Damp moisture clung to his torn clothes and the hairs on his right arm.

Discomforting, but relieving. He welcomed the return of feeling. A reminder he was still himself.

And not something else.

Nick stood up, feeling a cramp shape up through his leg. Another welcome, albeit painful development. Droids stood, scattered around him. Leaving little room for him to move around.

In the rush to move everything deeper into the tunnels, he was left with little time to organize. The gambit however paid off. In the pirates’ rush for the room that held the spawn core, they skipped past the opposite fork in the tunnel, leaving Nick’s assets undetected.

And the threat they posed was no more.

Nick clenched his fist, while standing up.

It wasn’t that they didn’t deserved it. A large part of him felt they did. Both for what they did at Sevola and heavens knew whatever else they wrought before.

What infuriated him was that he had lost control. That was inexcusable.

Nick looked to a droid next to him.

Valdric always said, if given a choice, a man should have enough sense to not put himself in a circumstance which would compromise who he was.

The pangs and urges only grew worse when he inhabited one of their bodies. That left body-swapping off-limits for now. At least until he had a better sense of control over himself.

And with that he turned his attention to the immediate pressing problem.

The ship was still out there, undoubtedly with a waiting crew. It would only be a matter of time before they would come to investigate. The conversation from before indicated they were in a rush to return. This was but a detour as part of a larger day’s journey.

And any hope of negotiation had died after he decapitated them.

Which left fighting as the only option.

A plan took shape in his mind. He needed to act fast. Strike before being struck.

He thought of Legatus One. Before he could open his mouth, the droid stepped next to him.

“Yes Mechanar,” it said.

To Nick’s surprise the connection to the droid felt… changed. Before it used to be like a dull thread. Now, it was like a living breathing line. Individual vibrations of thought traveling down them. He must have missed it in the chaos of the morning.

It explained how he had been able to give commands so seamlessly when he lost control. Giving commands with absolutely clarity. Without the need for words.

Unfortunately, he no longer possessed that same clarity. Which left him with the need to verbalize once more.

“Send a team to the room,” said Nick. “Salvage anything useful. Clothes. Bracers. Gems. Everything. Bring it here. No… Bring it to the cave mouth.”

“Understood Mechanar.”

Four basic droids moved down the tunnel, one holding a healing staff as light, to carry out the command.

Nick took stock of his remaining forces. The ambush below cost him four droids. Three strikers and a tanker. Harsh losses.

Leaving him with two strikers, a single tanker, and seven basic droids. Smaller units wouldn’t be much more than fodder if the previous encounter was any indication. He would need everything for this assault. Including himself.

He grabbed a sword from the pile by the arsenals.

His hope was that he had already taken out the strongest of them. After all, if they were after the spawn core, it only made sense for the strongest to go while forcing the weakest to remain. Criminals like these weren’t exactly the most charitable lot.

It made him feel slightly better of the impending fight. He tapped his left palm to bring up the main blue screen.

Main Unit: NEZRA- 14526181

Current Generation: 1

Main Unit Energy Quantity: 100

Droid Count: 17/50

Total Mineral Quantity: 645

Total Energy Quantity: 298

Total Alloy Quantity: 0

Active Constructs: Sarcophagus x1

Options:

[UNIT ARRAY INTERFACE]

[BUILD] (New equipment available- Armory)

[ADVANCEMENT] Requirements for Second Trial

Main Unit Upgrades: Power x5, Capacity x5, Mental x5

Constructs: Sarcophagus x1, Refinery x1, Factory x1, Armory x1

Droid Count: x30

Active Classes: Offensive Droid x2, Defensive Droid x2, Support Droid x2

He noticed the new notice. Right next to the [BUILD] option. Something at the Armory? Nick walked over to one of altar-like constructs, double-tapping the floating name above.

[ARMORY]

Weapons

[Gen. 1 Reinforced Sword- 300 Minerals, 50 Energy] (Prerequisite Power x5)

[Gen. 1 Reinforced Spear- 300 Minerals, 50 Energy] (Prerequisite Power x5)

Armor

[Gen. 1 Basic Shield- 100 Minerals] (Prerequisite Capacity x5)

[Gen. 1 Basic Armor- 300 Minerals, 100 Energy] (Prerequisite Capacity x5)

Support Equipment

[Gen. 1 Basic Energy Capacitor- 50 Minerals, 10 Energy] (Prerequisite Mental x5)

[Gen. 1 Basic Observer Controller- 150 Minerals, 30 Energy] (Prerequisite Mental x5)

[SHOW OBSOLETE GEAR?]

He remembered seeing those words before. Power, Capacity, Mental. From the sarcophagus, right before he fell asleep.

Nick brushed his chin. Interesting. It appeared he had still much to learn.

If he had enough resources, he would have formed more strikers or tankers. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

Armor and a new weapon. Enough resources for one each. His clothes were already falling apart and if he was going to get personally involved both items seemed like the best investment.

He tapped the options to create them, and the armory churned to life, hoping it wouldn’t take too much time to form. Violet lines thrumming along the edge of its surface.

[Reinforced Sword] 300 Minerals 50 Energy (Queue x1 33%)

[Basic Armor] 300 Minerals 100 Energy (Queue x1 5%)

[Reinforced Sword] 300 Minerals 50 Energy (Queue x1 66%)

[Basic Armor] 300 Minerals 100 Energy (Queue x1 10%)

[Reinforced Sword] 300 Minerals 50 Energy (Queue x1 100%)

[Basic Armor] 300 Minerals 100 Energy (Queue x1 15%)

Nick let out a sigh of relief. All done in a few seconds. The altar opened, revealing the shape of a sword within. He pulled it out by its handle.

Label: Reinforced Sword Owner: NEZRA- 14526181

Power- 5

Recommended Class: Generalist

Description: Basic Generation 1 Armament. Property: Extended Reach.

Recoverable Resources: 100 Minerals

Extended reach? It didn’t look any longer than the others. In fact, it looked no different other blades other than a long space splitting the blade lengthwise at the center. Leaving a gap just wide enough for a pinky.

Nick gave it a cursory brandish. A bit lighter he supposed. Evidently something about it made it superior to a basic sword, although what exactly it was eluded him.

[Basic Armor] 300 Minerals 100 Energy (Queue x1 100%)

The altar opened once more. Nick leaned over to take a look at what was inside.

A hollow shell, shaped in the form of a human body lay before him. Rigid plates forged from the same gray material as the weapons and shields. Looking at the pauldrons, and plated exterior, it certainly did look like a suit of armor.

He picked up the gauntlet to try it on, when its screen popped up.

Label: Basic Armor Owner: NEZRA- 14526181

Power- 5

Recommended Class: Generalist

Description: Basic Generation 1 Armament

Recoverable Resources: 100 Minerals

[EQUIP?]

Intrigued, Nick pushed the flashing [EQUIP?] button.

The moment he did, violet light sprung through the armor, and each piece began to rattle in place.

He stepped back out of caution. By the time his foot moved, every single one of the pieces flew up into the air like a swarm of wasps and shot towards him.

A boot clamped over his foot, tearing apart what was left of his shoes in the process. Another piece clamped over his shin, with the force of a kick.

“Ow!” Nick winced, right as the other shin-guard slammed into his other leg. All the pieces slapped into him in succession up his body. Knee. Thighs. Waist. Chest. Arm. Neck. Encasing him like a cocoon.

The final piece swerved, and slammed into his face, causing the world to go dark and sending him teetering backwards and into the wall.

As Nick regained his balance, the world suddenly came back too. He reached up with his hand, feeling the metallic shape encased over his face. However, he could see as if it wasn’t there at all.

He stood back up. The armor flexed in response to the shifts in his body, not hindering a single movement he took. He took a step forward, and could feel its weight around him. About as heavy as a thick jacket. He pressed an armored fist against his vambrace, feeling the thickness of the armor. Hardy, yet with little discomfort. It had the texture and smoothness of silk.

His reflection stared back from a puddle on the ground. Unrecognizable. A gray being dressed in a metal carapace. Ready for battle.

Nick scoffed and picked up his new sword. Then at the droids behind him. Standing at attention with weapons and shields readied.

A small amount of time to gain an edge.

Hopefully, it would be enough.

***

The creaking and groaning clasps of the droids echoed along as they followed Nick up the tunnel. The noise keeping him on edge. He may as well be alerting his presence to anyone here.

Luckily, nobody seemed to have taken notice. Or nobody suspected anything. Yet.

Then the blue light of the healing staves illuminated a figure splayed on the floor. Its back against the wall. Three droids stood beside it.

Nick moved forward to investigate, and the droid stepped aside. As the light illuminated the corpse, he realized it was the boy from earlier. The youth’s eyes were wide and frozen. Lifeblood pooled into a puddle below his crossed legs.

Char marks seared the rocks a few feet away, along with the burned remnants of a droid and its weapons. It appeared the boy managed to land a single attack before being overwhelmed by numbers. He didn’t live long after, judging by the vicious tears and wounds inflicted upon his clothes and body.

Nick noted a black X marred one hand. The boy was a reclaimer, or at least he was one, once. Whatever had motivated the young man to renege upon the oath of the Paragons he did not know. The laws of all of the accorded nations were clear for those that chose to break it. It made the action tantamount to death.

The boy’s aether musket lay sprawled against his arms. Nick peered down for a closer look, recognizing the familiar pattern of the barrel and loading mechanism. The same one he picked up from the raiders at Sevola. The one which caused those flickering blue images to appear.

He gingerly tapped his hand against the barrel and a blue box appeared in his vision.

Label: Improvised Weapon (Rifle- Type 2). Owner: TENAK-20114111.

Power: 15

Recommended Class: Rifler.

Description: Second-Attempt at a hybrid weapon. Barrel and trigger mechanism adaptation more reliable than before. Power level exceeds expected threshold. Look into improving gempellet munitions. Note: High degree of technical maintenance needed to retain reliability. Look into simplifying design. Batch-54A Mont Blois.

So, it was a blue screen which appeared before. Maybe he couldn’t read it before his awakening.

The owner’s name was different from his own. TENAK instead of NEZRA. Much of the remaining description had the dryness of a technical manual. The final two words drew his notice. Mont Blois. He recalled it be one of the largest mountains in the continent. Situated in the newly formed Adrestan Republic.

The implication however, was clear.

“Legatus One,” said Nick. “Are there other Mechanars such as myself?”

“It is likely other Mechanar candidates would be present. During training scenarios caution is recommended in their presence.”

“You keep calling this a training scenario. What exactly is the purpose of it?”

“You will need to communicate with a training coordinator to receive an answer to that question.”

Nick sighed. The same non-answer from before.

He stood up and marched ahead, leaving the body and the weapon behind. There were no gempellet pouches on the boy’s person and the musket wasn’t loaded, which meant it was useless.

He continued upward, following the twisting tunnels until he could make out the rays of daylight ahead. Something hummed ahead.

Nick recognized the noise, having heard it countless times in port-side docks and cold nights while waiting to rendezvous with Eric. Airship air-engines. In stasis from the sound of it.

Excellent. It meant they weren’t revved up, which meant they were essentially grounded.

“Wait here,” said Nick, looking back to the droids. “Not a sound.”

Nick continued up alone, peeking around the corner. The cave mouth stood open, without any sentries keeping watch. He trudged along, keeping a low profile.

He made something else out. A feminine tone. It was a woman… singing?

Nick reached the cave mouth, peering over the edge of the cliff. Ropes led down to the deck of a ship just below him. He recognized a foreign accent in the voice, drifting along to an equally foreign and chipper tune.

As he peeked his head around, he got a good view of the ship’s deck and size. Half the size of Eric’s clipper, and smaller still than the sloops which flew above Sevola that day.

The deck was cluttered with rope, barrels, and other wooden furnishings. However, it was suspiciously absent of any people save for the single figure of a woman sitting atop a crate.

She had curled red-hair tied into a knot on the back of her head. Her clothes hung loose, while hugging her figure. A sailor’s outfit.

And she hadn’t noticed his approach. Nick focused his new mental capacities and sent a cursory nudge to Legatus One.

The moment he heard clanking footsteps approaching from behind, he rushed forward.

She stopped singing, right as Nick’s foot touched the first plank on the deck. Her head turned as the distance between them halved.

He saw her face. A girl barely older than Miri or Vlara. Dark eyes widened on a freckled face Before her lips could utter a scream or alert, Nick’s fist slammed into her waist.

Her voice caught, replaced by a wheeze as the rest of his bulk slammed into her, knocking her off the barrel and onto the deck with a thud.

Despite the apparent pain on her face, he could see her eyes narrow in outrage. She tried to get back up, but not before Nick rushed then pinned her to the ground. She tried to rise again, gasping for air, when he planted the edge of his sword against her neck.

She froze, save for the occasional wheeze.

“Not a word,” said Nick. “Hands still.”

She began sputtering out a word when Nick pressed the flat of the blade against her heaving neck. The edge jutting dangerously close to cutting skin.

Her lips stopped moving as she complied. Her hands laying flat on the ground. Shock, outrage, and surprise on her face.

Footsteps came from behind. The sound of metal striking wood, and metallic joints and parts creaking against each other. Energy buzzed through the air with violet flares as weapons and shields lit up.

The girl’s eyes flickered past his shoulder, panic spreading though her face as she got the first sight of the gray droids.

“I said not a word,” said Nick. “Make me repeat and you won’t have a neck to speak with.”

She fell flat, although her arms and hands continued to fidget.

Nick eyed her up and down. No bracer on her arms, and if she had natural affinity with fire, she would have tried to use it on him by now. Or at least tried to.

Which made her a non-threat.

Nick perched his head around to the droids.

“Search the ship. Subdue anyone you find.” Nick directed his gaze to Legatus One. “You stay here with the two strikers.”

“Understood Mechanar,” it said.

Seven of them trudged to the side, moving down two sets of stairs and below the deck. The two strikers stepped on opposite sides of Nick, their spears radiating with violet energy. The girl’s eyes flickered toward the two larger droids, following the violet energy radiating from the spears.

Panic shifted to fear. Her shaking grew out of control.

Nick took no pleasure in what he was doing, however he recognized the necessity in it. He was glad she showed fear. Fear paralyzed, which made her less likely to resist. He needed to subdue all threats if he was going to continue surviving and save the others.

They remained there, joined by the humming of the air-engines and the rattle of mechanical limbs as the droids searched below deck.

The expected sounds of combat never came.

“Units have inspected all spaces in the vessel,” said Legatus One. “Detected one organism. Subdued by prior means.”

Nobody else? Was it really just this girl then?

“Speak,” said Nick. “Is there anyone else on board this ship?”

“N-No!” Her accent and gasps for air made it difficult to make out what she was saying. “Just m-me and whoever they have in the hold.”

“Who is the prisoner?”

“L-Look. I don’t have anything. Please don’- “

“Answer the question.”

“I don’t know! He was left here! I think they were taking him to be sold up north with the others after they salvaged the crash!”

Hope flushed through him. A survivor from the raid? Nick turned to Legatus One.

“Keep her subdued.”

“Understood Mechanar,” said Legatus One.

“W-wait. What do you-“

Nick got off her and withdrew his blade. Before she could budge, the two strikers had spun their spears down. The pointed tips just shy of her neck. Violet energy buzzing around its edge.

Her voice caught in her throat.

“I do not recommend moving.” Nick got up, to head down the stairs.

He stepped down into the hold, and came to a sight which made him glad the mask muffled his sense of smell.

It was decently sized, enough to fit probably a crew of twenty, based on the hammocks flitted between the beams.

What caught his attention however, was the mess. Bottles of rum, some caked in dust while others were stained with spills. On one end was a black stove, stacked with pots, pans, and barrels. A few flies buzzing above. The sight of the “kitchen” would have been enough to cause Chef Morel to faint.

Beside the kitchen was a colored-door, with the word “Kaptain’s Quarters” carved above it. Evidently, spelling and grammar had been in short supply along with basic hygiene. Nick’s gaze drifted to the rest of the hold, eyeing tussled clothes laying on the floor. Judging by their state, they had been there for some time. Becoming a part of the ship more than an article of clothing.

Nick looked down to see a pair of trousers, streaked with alcohol, sweat, and food stains. A closer look revealed boot stamps, indicating this article of cloth had been here for some time. Collecting what appeared to be a variety of stains for some ungodly amount of time.

In fact, the only semblance of order in the room were the droids. They stood at attention facing inwards, their weapons poised and readied. That and a large metal pillar in the center of the hold. An aether-capacitor. Quartz rings buzzed and swerved in orbit at the center, keeping the flow of aether balanced among the ship’s air engines.

The wonder of seeing one distracted him for a moment. He read about it several times, the mechanics of which he had tried to replicate with mageweave cloth and conducting rope for his raft. Compared to the other materials it was kept clean and polished.

After surveying the hold, Nick was quite glad he couldn’t smell a thing. Based on the sight, the stench was certain to be quite an out of this world experience.

On the opposite end of the hallway were two doors. The smaller had “Latrine” scrawled above it while the other had “Cargo”.

Nick had no desire to see the state of latrine, and ventured toward the door marked as cargo. The most likely place for any prisoners to be detained. He strode towards it, mindful of stepping across the trash and loose articles of clothing.

He pushed through the double-doors and came in sight to a room far cleaner than the one before him.

Stacks of crates and barrels filled the corners. However, the majority of the room was dominated by cages. Sized equally and designed to fit at least one human within each. All of them were empty. Save for one.

A man sat in a cage, directly in the center. Beige clothes hanging loose from his body. A white cloth wrapped over his head, and bits of brown hair jutting out its side. An unkempt mustache and beard, tussled with dirt crept out his chin and cheeks. Tired brown eyes moving up to meet Nick’s. Hands bound together by silver aether-cuffs.

“Well, this is interesting,” said the man. “You aren’t one of the usual fellows.”

Not a Vislandan. Nick said nothing, the mask covering up his disappointment.

“Not one for words?” The man’s expression was oddly calm given his predicament.

Nick noticed sets of silver aether-cuffs to his left. He grabbed one from the pile.

“You don’t look like a slaver. You aren’t… are you?”

He turned around to leave.

“Hey look. Maybe we ca-“

The rest of the words vanished to a muffle as the door shut behind him.

He walked back up to the deck, where the three droids stood steadfast over the girl.

“So… what you lot planning on doing?” said the girl.

Nick ignored her, walking to Legatus One.

“Cuff her and lock her up in one of the cages in the cargo hold.” Nick handed the cuffs to Legatus One. “Watch and ensure she doesn’t try and escape.”

“Understood Mechanar.”

“Wait! Look! I’m no friend of Trent and his ilk! If you-Ow!”

The support droid grabbed her arms and bound them together with the aether-cuffs. Then the strikers removed their spears and hefted her up, one metal arm over each shoulder.

“Hey! Watch it! No need to drag me. I can walk you know! Hey listen! Ow!”

The droids ignored her complaints as they pulled and dragged her down the stairs.

Nick stood alone at the deck, waiting for the next part of his plan to come to fruition. A few moments later he saw the constructs peer from the edge of the cave mouth.

Droids pushed the levitating arsenals over, and onto the deck of the ship. They slid from the rock onto the wooden boards without issue or causing the floor to give out.

More basic droids leapt over, hauling whatever they could salvage from below. He recognized the sabers and the twin curved swords from the janissary. Bloodied bracers, with their gemstones still embedded. An aether musket. Cedric’s medallion.

The medallion drew his notice, before he pushed it to the back of his mind. Sentiment could wait until later.

A support droid leapt over the gap and onto the deck. Legatus Two. Or the new Legatus Two after the previous one was skewered in half by a forest arachnid.

“Take everything below deck,” said Nick.

“Understood Mechanar,” said the droid.

Nick followed behind them. The arsenals barely squeezed through the stairs, much to Nick’s relief. As he followed behind however, he noticed a man standing at the center of the hold. The same one who was in the cage before.

He turned and regarded Nick with a smile.

“Why hello again! Pleasant company you have with you.”

The initial shock lasted but a heartbeat, before Nick raised his sword to deal with the threat.

“Wait! Wait!” the man raised both his hands up. The sight of the missing aether cuffs only caused Nick to be further on alert. However, the gesture was a universal one. One of peace.

“I take it you aren’t with these slavers? Before we make a mess of things here, would you mind if we just have a word?”