Will had been the one that could hurt them, not Cam. The soldiers apparently knew that. He hoped Will was okay. As much as it would be nice to have Will respawn with him, he also knew Will would loath being taken away from his mission.

The lead soldier walked up to him, his gun still ready to fire. Cam just closed his eyes and smiled. He was ready for what was about to happen. At least he got something out of it. He wasn’t sure what exactly yet as he had not looked through the notifications. He hoped the death penalty would be kind, and not take too much away from him from what he had just gained.

Before he gave up though, he would have his fun. His smile was less from being resigned to death and more for what was about to happen. From behind the soldier Cam’s little drone took a shot. Cam’s urgent thought of running from the grenade had apparently propelled the drone forward, past the enemy that had missed it in the confusion, and far enough away to survive the blast. Cam had brought it back, not because he thought it would make a difference, but because he had nothing else to do. Even with Cam’s eyes closed he could see through the drone’s camera as the lead soldier turn to look at what hit him. Cam kept the drone firing, shooting as many soldiers as he could. No point in having it run away if he was about to die. Combat drone control range was only a few dozen meters, and he doubted it was worth trying to save.

The other soldiers turned as well to see what the annoyance was. Cam doubted the drone was damaging their heavy armor. It really did seem like drones were weak by themselves. He supposed that made sense, otherwise just send waves of drones at the enemy and stay safely behind them. A moment later he heard more gun fire. He expected to feel the flash of pain and wake up in the respawn area, but all he heard was more and more fire. It was coming from somewhere besides the enemy soldiers. He opened his eyes and looked at the scene from his own angle. Shots were coming down from the corridor and hitting the enemy. Two fell quickly and the third only had time to fire a couple rounds at his assailants before falling himself.

More heavily armed soldiers poured in around him, but he knew these ones were friendly. He tried to stand up but felt another stab of pain and the loss of two more health points.

“Whoa, whoa. Sit tight,” he heard Will say. “You took quite the blast. You’re lucky to be alive.”

Will knelt next to him along with one of the soldiers. The soldier pulled out a red packet. It looked to be filled with some kind of gel.

“What is that?” Cam asked.

“Health Pack,” Will answered. “It’ll take some time to work, but should get you back into shape in no time.”

The soldier lifted up Cam’s shirt and placed the packet against his skin. Immediately Cam felt a tingly sensation spread out from the packet and all through his body. Even the dull pain disappeared in a few moments and, while he still felt just a bit stiff, he could move much easier than before. His health bar showed in red that he was still down at eleven health, but that he had a recovery buff that would fill him up to his maximum health of one hundred. It didn’t show how long it would take but it said he was gaining health at a rate of one tenth a second. Cam was good at that kind of math since he played games like this so much and knew that would take about fifteen minutes to fill his health up.

“Thanks,” he said, rubbing his neck. There was a little soreness as he moved, just enough to keep him from wanting to move too quickly. “Glad the cavalry arrived when it did.”

“We aim to please,” the soldier kneeling with Will said. “Lieutenant Barden, at your service.”

The rest of the squad behind him saluted at William. Some quicker than others, but all sharp.

“How many podies does the squad have?” Will asked.

“Four of us,” Barden answered, with a nod to Will.

“Podies?” Cam asked, getting up. There were always new words, new terms, for every game. This was one he was not familiar with.

“Players,” Will said. “People in pods. Most of squads like this are NPCs. Even some of our fighter pilots are NPCs. There are a lot of people playing Celestial Void but it’s an easy way to fill numbers and make the game feel bigger.”

Cam nodded at that. It was not a term he had heard used in New Space. It fit even there though. The pods used for New Space were not as immersive as for Celestial Void but they were still pods. Around him three other players in the squad took a step forward and nodded. The three other podies besides Bardon. In total the squad had twenty soldiers. The players blended in at first glance, but their equipment looked just a bit better than the average squad member. Their guns just a bit more powerful, and armor looked a little more sturdier. Cam doubted he could spot the differences during combat.

“So the squad we faced were NPCs as well?” Cam asked.

“They probably had one podie, but mostly NPCs. The NPCs are good at following instructions and working through tactical formations and such, but they have low initiative. You don’t want to waste podies on such high risk missions, but you need at least one along to make spot decisions. Without one squads grow more inefficient the longer they go without orders.”

“Ready to move, sir?” Barden asked. “Engra’s jump engines are just about spooled up.”

Will nodded. “Lead the way.”

One of the soldiers picked up Cam’s pistol and handed it to him. He holstered it, and also called back his drone and deactivated it, placing the small cube back in his pouch. The Psi Energy points that were dedicated to using it were freed up and slowly started regenerating. Barden gave an order and the squad started moving, Will and Cam placed in the middle for maximum protection.

“What kind of weapon do you have that blasted through the soldiers’ armor?” Cam asked while they moved.

“Perks of being an officer,” Will answered with a grin. “A clip of its ammo is more expensive than a basic fighter ship. Don’t mind though. It was a good way to get you some experience. Have you put your stats and skill points in?”

“Haven’t even looked through my notifications,” Cam said, shaking his head.

“Take a look right now. Get Cybernetic Learning, and some more basic ship skills. There are quite a few that translate to almost all ships.”

Cam nodded and opened up the icon for notifications. A flood of them filled his vision.

Skill Up! Basic Firearms II Your chance to hit with firearms increased by 1% Skill Up! Basic Pistol II Your chance to hit with pistols increased by 1% Level Up! You are now Level 3 You have skill points to distribute Level Up! You are now Level 4 You have skill points to distribute Level Up! You are now Level 5 You have skill points to distribute Skill Up! Basic Drones II Drone speed increased by 2% Skill Up! Basic avoidance I Your chance to dodge increased by 1%. Damage from Area effect abilities reduced by 1% Skill Up! Basic Drones II Drone speed increased by 2% Skill Up! Basic Combat Drones II Combat Drone speed increased by 1% and damage increased by 1% Level Up! You are now Level 6 You have skill points to distribute Level Up! You are now Level 7 You have skill points to distribute

He looked over the list. Level seven. He had hit level two in the basic training in the tutorial, but hadn’t had the chance to level up since then. It was still nothing compared to the average player but at least he had points to spend. Will was over level one thousand. Levels only mattered for skill points though. A level one with the same skills and equipment as a level one thousand would do the same damage, but the skills were never the same. Players earned skills through using them, but could also purchase them from points earned from leveling. However, the points needed to purchase the higher skill ranks were exponential, so again, theoretically a dozen level tens could stomp a level one thousand if the equipment was equal.

“What level do you think the boarders were at?” Cam asked Will, after closing most of his notifications.

“Most were about level two hundred. The highest was just under five hundred, if I remember,” he answered. “Oh, get rank in combat perception. Just one to start should be fine. You’ll start seeing basic stats when you look at players and vehicles. Health mostly to start, but the more it levels up the more it’ll display.”

Cam nodded and opened up his character screen. He barely got a glance at it when the evasive maneuver siren sounded. The soldiers shifted pace without missing a beat. One grabbed Cam’s arm gently and hurried him to the nearest alcove. Will was shoved along with him. The soldiers then stopped in formation and Cam heard the whine of current building up. When the maneuver happened the soldiers didn’t budge. Their boots apparently were magnetic, holding them in place to the ground, and their armor stiffened enough that they could not get thrown around.

A few moments after that a different alarm sounded. This one more familiar. It wasn’t the boarding alarm. This one he had heard it yesterday several times. The ship was about to Jump. It’s drives would fold space and create a pocket that would move the ship light years into another system. A ship could jump anywhere, but the farther away from large objects the ship landed the easier it was to spot. Land near a moon or planet and you could potentially hide for an hour or two. Land in the middle of outer space and anyone within twenty light years had a chance of detecting you the second the jump portal opened up. It was stark contrast to the real laws of physics, but then again an interstellar sci-fi game would be pretty boring if you took years to travel between the stars.

Cam and Will stayed in the cushioned alcove for the jump. Non-combat jumps were typically safe, but combat jumps could get interference with all the ships and rounds flying around. Cam felt the artificial gravity get pulled in the wrong direction as the space time outside folded itself for the passage. For a moment he felt he was being pulled in three directions at once, and then, as fast as it started, it was over.

“Come on, let’s hurry. That was our cue,” Will said. Cam followed him out of the alcove. The soldiers took up formation around them again and started moving. Quicker this time. “Were the boarders cleared out?” Cam asked Barden.

“Negative, sir,” he answered. “Three more breaching pods got through. Security has been trying to clean them out, but one bunkered down in a hard to assault area. They’ll be sure to broadcast their coordinates in moments.”

“Well looks like round two will be coming up quicker than we had hoped, but that’s not too surprising,” he said. “We didn’t launch our fighters because we wanted to jump and point defense guns can only handle so much on a ship this large. Some more breaching pods were bound to come through.”

They were almost to the fighter bay. Cam pulled up his character sheet again, and glanced it over.

Name Guild Title Level Cameron Calvera Codiem Caelestis None 7 Health Psi Energy Stamina Fatigue 24/100 13.4/15 40.3/60 8% +0.1/min, +0.1/sec +0.01/sec -0.03/sec Attributes Strength 15 Skill Points Aailable 30 Agility 15 Constitution 15 Speed 15 Endurance 16 Dexterity 17 Intelligence 15 Willpower 15 Intuition 15 Affecting Statuses: Health Pack 0 Healing 0.1 health/sec

Thirty skill points wasn’t much but most of the starting skills were just one or two points each. He could also put points in attributes, and since most skills were based on attributes he should do that as well once he got more points to spend. Strength, agility, and constitution were more physically based. Strength affected how well players could handle heavier and more powerful weapons and armor. Agility also affected combat, allowing players more precise movements with weapons for attack and for dodging. Constitution was based around health and health regeneration as well as stamina. Cam wasn’t going to bother putting that many points in those stats, at least early on. Speed was also physically based. It did exactly what it said and allowed players to move faster on foot. He had read recommendations to at least put a few early points on it, as even pilots had to move about on ships, and seconds can count when getting to your craft or another station on a ship. He was sure that he was slowing down the rest of the group, but Will didn’t seem to mind, so Cam didn’t worry about it.

Endurance and dexterity were what he planned on putting most of his points into. Endurance affected fatigue, which was a big factor in piloting. Dexterity allowed for faster reactions in cockpit situations. Where Agility was for the whole body Dexterity was more for small reactions, even mental ones. Intuition was also one he should level up. Someone on a message board had explained it as the game telling you extra information you might have missed. In hectic fights that was always a possibility, so it was a good one to have.

Intelligence and Willpower were more the mental stats. Intelligence was used mostly for manufacturing and building, although abilities using Psi Power often got a boost from either intelligence or Willpower. Willpower also directly boosted the amount of Psi Power a player could have and its regeneration rate.

He wasn’t sure what attributes he should work on first, and to top it all off the skill tree was insanely large. He could theoretically read over every skill in the game, although it could take hours just to read the titles. Fortunately there were many filters he could use to sort it out. He found the skills that Will had recommended and chose those ones before anything else.

Cybernetic Learning had a Cybernetics (Basic) prerequisite, but Cam had already grabbed that to use drones during the tutorial. Cybernetic Learning I only cost him two points. The skill, like most cybernetics, was based on willpower. Combat Perception was also available to him. It was based on Intuition and cost two more points. He also bought Fighters II, Small Gunnery II, Piloting Maneuverability I, Ship Drones II, and Trajectory I. The level one skills cost him two points each and the level two skills five points each, except the drone skill, which took eight points. He still grabbed it despite Will’s comment on drones. He hoped he could use them somehow in combat and elsewhere. In total he spent twenty six points. He spent one point on Intuition, two more on dexterity and the last one on endurance. Attributes would cost more points as he pushed them higher.

They arrived at the hangar. It was less of a large, open space and more a series of launch tubes and fighter storage compartments. Fighters were the smallest space-capable ships and battleships in general could not service anything larger. Even then, their service of fighters was limited. A battleship was designed for attack missions, not as a nexus for a prolonged campaign.

The guild had paid for Cam’s fighter. He was sure Will did most of the actual funding. Cam’s addition to the mission was on Will’s assistance. A typical new player in a large guild would have to do several training missions before being allowed on a mission like this. A fighter was expensive for a new player, but Will assured him that it was nothing for an established guild or player.

Every fighter in the hangar looked like something you would see in a sci-fi show: wings that were all but useless in space, a forward cockpit that was more vulnerable than necessary, and guns dispersed inefficiently across the body and wings. Cam’s fighter was more utilitarian than most, but still had those features. It was boxy compared to the others but its profile was slightly smaller, and wings looked more vestigial than something that would hold up in the atmosphere. He loved its practical design. He had picked it out of a line up when Will had told him he had needed a ship and to choose one.

The foot soldiers saluted Will as they arrived and left to help hunt any other boarding parties. Will and Cam headed down to their fighters. Cam approached his fighter almost reverently. He had not had a chance to get inside it yet and held out a hand to his fighter, running his fingers down the fuselage.

Again, since it was a sci-fi game, the fighters flew more like aircraft than spacecraft. While they didn’t have a max speed, there was a velocity where the ships would begin to accelerate slower. Also the ships were said to have an aetheric rudder, which would let them turn in space like planes used their flaps to turn in the air. True space warfare would be boring, with ships firing from each other so far away that the captains couldn’t see each other without magnification. If they ever got close enough to see each other, odds would be that they would zoom past each other in seconds. Cam thought that kind of warfare would be interesting in itself, but understood why the creators of a game like Celestial Void put in a more science-fictiony type of warfare.

“Did you pick up Cybernetic Learning and Combat Perception?” Will asked. His fighter was parked next to Cam’s and he had come over for one last conversation before getting in his ship.

When Cam nodded, Will held out his hand. There were three small metallic objects in it.

“Learning implants,” he said. Cam looked at them with distrust. One of them looked spiky enough that he wasn’t sure he wanted it near his head. Will laughed when he saw Cam’s face. “It’s just a small sting. They don’t even show after you put them in.”

Cam reluctantly took them. Will showed him how to put them in.

“There are eight spots for implants on any player. The three at the back of the neck are where these go. These ones are simple, but just add a small boost to skill learning. It won’t help you for long, but can give you some help at basic skills. Hold them like this,” he said, moving his had to the three spots they went.

Cam held the first one and placed it above his skin at the spot Will had shown. The sting was sharp, but over almost immediately. What was worse was how it felt like it was crawling into and under his skin. The second one he braced for. It wasn’t so bad now that he knew what was coming. The third one went in easily. He thought he could feel something there under his skin if he moved his neck, but when he put his hand to his neck he couldn’t feel anything. He gave a small shudder, but then shook his head. This was a game after all.

“Feeling it under your skin is a bit of realism I could do without,” he told Will.

“It’ll go away before you know it. Just know if you die, you lose the implants just like all equipment.”

Cam nodded. Part of a game like this was the building and destruction of assets. Death meant you lost everything on you. Depending on how you died some of it could be looted by enemies but some was usually destroyed.

They got to their respective fighters. The startup sequence had been automatically initiated, but he went through the checklist. Most of it wasn’t necessary, but vehicles were fully simulated, including parts that could be defective, wear out, or break under stress. They were generally easily replaced if you had the spare parts due to the game vehicles’ modular nature. Everything checked in the green as he waited for the launch signal. He looked at the main ship window while he waited.

Class Hull Name Fighter Krius Osiris Shields Armor Hull 1400 1000 600 Acceleration 80 m/s/s Max Speed 900 m/s Max Rotation 1.8 rads/sec Weapons Effective Distance Fall Off Distance Max Damage 50 mm Projectile (2x) 800 m 1600 m 282 75 MW laser 600 m 2200 m 225 FtF Missiles (2x) 25000 m 25000 m 2250 Combat Drones 45 MW laser drone (3x) 200 m 600 m 115

“Okay, everyone, each squad is going to form three drills,” Will said over the radio. “Attack targets together, and watch each other’s backs. We are launching at the edge of an asteroid field and those in this game are pretty dense, so keep your eyes out for rocks as well as ships.”

The three other squad commanders each acknowledged Will’s orders. A moment later Will’s voice came again over Cam’s private channel.

“I don’t need to remind you about drill formation do I?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Cam laughed. “I still flew when you were gone. I assume I’m being a wingman to someone.”

“Correct,” said Will. Cam heard the click of someone else entering the channel. “Tophet, this is Cam Calvera. He’s new to Void but he was a star pilot in New Space when I played with him. I know I’m giving you babysitting duty, but he’s a quick learner. Just give him time to ease into it, and try to get him on as many kills as you can.”

“Sir, I will,” came Tophet’s voice. Cam was surprised it was female. There had been few female combat pilots in New Space and from what he had read the same was true in The Celestial Void. Many females played the game, but they seemed to fit more into logistic or social roles than combat ones.

“Alright, finish prepping. We’re moving in thirty seconds. Two hostiles have already landed on grid. We want to be out before many more follow.” Will left the connection.

“So Tophet, any tips for my first combat in Void?”

“If you were half as good in New Space as Commander Quinest claims, you’ll be alright. You aren’t some hot shot pilot that will go off and abandon the wing are you?”

“I know the value of formations,” Cam answered with a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve been the wingman though, but I know my job.”

“Good,” she said. He could hear a bit of relief in her voice. He wondered what Will had said about him to her. “Actual flying is a bit different in Void. Far more intuitive in my opinion. Have you done I-Flight?”

“I-Flight?” Cam asked confused.

“Oh you’re going to enjoy it. I hope you do learn fast.” She gave a good chuckle.

Before Cam could ask what she meant the launch warning sounded. Five seconds later the ships were accelerated out through the launch tubes and out into the space beyond.