Chapter 35: 35. Doom Moon 2 - Energymaster Flora
Devon Saneth enjoyed playing pool and drinking beer. He liked his job as a flight coordinator on the Doom Moon well enough, and the pool tables in the common room for the hangar crew weren't half bad.
His day started terribly and got worse when his mother called him and told him to be safe because her astrologist warned her against great peril.
Of course, he didn't give a half a bucket used motor oil for the opinions of a quack, but the warning lingered in that part of his mind that mothers filled with useful advice from an early age, like don't touch hot ovens and don't put your fingers in a meat grinder.
He felt her approaching before he saw her. His head turned instinctively to the figure covering the distance with steady steps. Her stride was confident and graceful. She looked liked she owned that place. From head to foot, she was covered in a green mech suit that had seen better days, but she wore it like it was a diamond garb. Through the green-tinged visor, he spotted the gently smiling face of an older lady.
But his eyes focussed on her belt where the hilt of a plasma sword hung. Then, they immediately flitted to her badge.
Name: Flora Fluss
Title: Magical Prodigy
Class: Energymaster
Level: 1
Rating: F
'Level 1, my ass! Unrated, my ass!'
Devon heard of multiple ways to fake one's badge, but his mind went to the old myth that when you reached level 1000, you ascended and started a new.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts.
'Keep your cool. There are hundreds of people in this hangar. What are the odds that she will visit you? Please, dear guardians of the energy, don't let her have any business with me.'
His prayers went unanswered. The lady approached his booth.
Devon sprang off his chair.
"Magical Prodigy Fluss, Flight-Master Saneth at your service." He was proud that he managed to say it without stuttering.
She nodded at him, still smiling.
"Hello, Flight-Master Saneth. Please, provide me with a small spacecraft. An H-Wing would be lovely."
"Of, course Magical Prodigy Fluss. I'll send the location of the craft to your datapad."
"I've thrown my datapad away."
Sweat formed on Devon's brow. In his mind, the old lady threw the datapad on a fighter jet, taking it down with an explosion. Or maybe she threw it at a subordinate who didn't fulfill her wishes fast enough? She seemed nice and friendly now, but energy-masters were known for their violent mood changes.
"Not a problem at all, Magical Prodigy Fluss. Please follow this robot."
"Thank you for your help!" The lady nodded again and left behind the small astro-bot.
Frantically, Devon rushed to his workstation. He searched for an H-Wing, triple checked its status and transmitted its location to the robot.
Then, he cleared all the traffic for the next minutes.
He congratulated his foresight when he watched the swaying spacecraft feeling its way out of the hangar door.
Never had he seen an H-Wing move more slowly! It was a wonder that it stayed in the air!
Exhausted, he slumped in his chair when the craft finally left the hangar, his domain.
Sirens started blaring.
"All hands on deck! Enemy attack!"
No, today was not his day, not his day at all.
'My momma should raise the pay of the astrologer. That guy knows his job!'
Happily, Flora browsed the manual of the H-Wing, while trying to fly in a straight line.
The fighter jet consisted of a small oval cabin with one chair surrounded by instruments and a bit of space behind the seat - maybe for luggage or an astromech-robot. One additional person would easily fit in, and two would have to squeeze.
To the right and left, H-shaped wings were attached to the cabin. Each Wing had sixteen thrusters. They gave the jet amazing maneuverability in every direction.
The weapon system stuck to the cabin, as well: Four torpedos and one laser in the front and one laser in the back.
Now and then, Flora pressed a button to see if it would do its promised job. The radar flared to life, and red dot's sprinkled the display.
"Looks like the attack has begun." Flora surveyed her surroundings. Around her droves of fighter jets left the hangars. In the distance, she saw big spaceships looming in orbit.
"Show me the way to the superweapon, dear. And I'm sorry for snapping at you in the sewers. This whole violence thingy is still disconcerting to me. I'm very satisfied with your help."
"Thank you, Milady. There's no need to apologize."
Flora smiled. She had heard the slight tinge of happiness in Aidan's ever professional voice.
"And find out where Jake is assigned. This time we can't pick him up, but it's better to find out now. Maybe his assignment changes in each scenario run. I believe I had the same first assignment both times, right?"
Weaving between turret towers and other defensive structures, Flora made her way to the opening. The turrets wouldn't shoot at her, because she was marked as a friendly, but she had to take care not to cross the line of fire.
Because she knew that she had only around 40 minutes to reach the entry, she had to increase the speed. Slowly she pushed herself and the fighter jet to go faster.
But all the lights, structures, and laser beams confounded her. Her eyes were drawn to the flashes, and she lost concentration on the overall fight path.
"Milady, swerve to the right!"
Without knowing the reason, but trusting Aidan, she yanked the yoke. The H-Wing was nearly scraping the massive tower that had escaped her attention.
"Thank you, Aidan." Flora was breathing hard. She tried to focus on the big picture but found it impossible.
It was lucky that the control elements of the jet were sturdy because Flora jerked them as if they were the reins of a stubborn donkey. As a result, the spaceship zigzagged through the air like it had a seizure.
Until now, none of the enemies had engaged her, but her luck ran out in the last few kilometers. Two red dots rapidly verged upon her.
"Suggestions, Aidan!" Flora's voice was an octave higher than usual.
"3 km to you right is a turret tower, Milady."
Immediately, Flora changed the course.
The jets behind her started to fire, but Flora's unsteady flying style worked to her advantage. Every time a beam whizzed passed her, she twitched, and the motion proceeded through the yoke to the jet.
Finally, Flora entered the range of the tower. Now the beams not only came from her back but haunted her from the front as well.
Flora started to laugh. It was the wild, uninhibited cachinnation of a person on their breaking point. Still clutching the control wheel, Flora convulsed and howled laughing.
Unnoticed by Flora, one of the red dots vanished in an explosion, and the second dot turned tail and run.
"Milady, they are gone."
Flora tried to get a grip on herself, but every time she was close to calming down, another fit of giggles overcame her.
"Oh, Aidan. This is so horrible." She laughed again. "And a bit fun! But really horrible! I have enough of it! It's your turn to fly!"
After inserting Aidan's jack into the control panel, she leaned back and finally caught her breath.
"Tower 4921D522 to H-Wing H1337FF. You are approaching a restricted zone. Please identify yourself." The radio came to life.
Flora submitted her badge.
"Greetings, magical prodigy Fluss. We can't find the log. Please explain your mission." The female voice was a lot more respectful.
"I got a vision of this attack and enemies flying into the shaft of the superweapon, reaching the core of the Doom Moon and exploding it."
Flora stated, convinced that she could call a movie a vision.
"I'm going to patrol the area to catch the enemies. Unfortunately, I'm not a good shot, so please send reinforcements."
"No reinforcements available. May the energy guide your ways, energy master!"
The radio went silent, and Flora instructed Aidan to fly around the entry.
Quest: Survive on the Doom Moon
Rewards: Bonus XP for Free-Running, Electronics, Plasma-Sword-Fighting, Piloting – Planes
Difficulty: B
Completion: A
Time until the explosion of the Doom Moon: 5min.
"Burned toast and stale jam! Did we miss it? Or maybe it is just the projected time-frame and not a definitive event?"
Flora looked around and checked the instruments. The seconds ticked slowly, but no enemy came even near Flora's location.
"How long would a fighter jet need from the entry to the superweapon?"
"Around one and a half minutes with very reckless flying, Milady."
"We'll wait a bit longer. Did you find Jake?"
"No, Milady. He got assigned a job near your last quest, but he did not sign in."
Thirty seconds before the timer ran out, Flora raced away from the moon at full speed.
First, the light engulfed Flora, but then the shock wave hit and shredded the H-shaped wings. The cabin tumbled through space and Flora through the cabin.
She hit the sides and the ceiling, then the walls again.
'Seatbelts! This jet needs seatbelts! And an airbag when we're at it!'
Shielding her head with her arms, Flora tried to buffer the impact.
Suddenly, a metal spike in the size of a park-bench penetrated the hull and came directly at Flora. She slapped it instinctively with a Wing Tsun parry and commanded it in her inventory.
With wide eyes, Flora stared at the hole.
'Not one of my best ideas!'
The air escaped through the breach and pulled Flora with it. But she expected it and managed to grip the edge.
Fluttering like a flag in the wind, she held on with a steel grip.
'And in the Inventory with you, too!'
The cabin vanished, and Flora found herself flying amidst a hail of Doom Moon fragments. She spotted thick ripped metal sheets and bars and grinned.
"Milady, the mech-suit is leaking air. You've got 6 minutes left."
Activating the jets on her boots, Flora shot to the next piece of debris.
"We use it to get some more mats. This is first-grade stuff from the hull of the moon!"
Some people would be uncomfortable drifting in the middle of space in a leaky suit while junks of sharp metal objects whizzed around them. Flora felt like a fish in the water.
After pulling out the Hungry Chest, she adjusted its opening to face the hail, she flitted around it and caught the larger parts.
<Magical Pull>! 'Inventory! Next!'
"Aidan, is there a way to store things in the inventory without touching them?"
A hail of smaller pieces rained on Flora's Kinetic Shield, got slowed down by it, and she redirected them telekinetically into the chest.
"The posts in the forum are vague and scattered. One person claims that there is a spell named 'Store' and hinted that he got it from a hidden master. There are mentions of a skill called 'Loot', too."
"Look into it!"
Flora's inventory space ran out even faster than her air supply, and she exited the scenario.
We hope you enjoyed playing the scenario 'Groom the Doom Moon'. Please rate it at the Cetviwos Shop!
With trepidation, Flora peaked into her lair. It was still tidy!
'Of course! This time I survived the scenario.'
"Milady, your son tried to contact you multiple times. Direct messaging is disabled while playing a scenario. He left a note that you should read your mail."
Flora nodded and checked her mail.
More money from the auction house, her sales, and royalties had arrived, and she was 273109 Credits and 1832 VirDos richer.
Robby wrote that his lawyer checked the contract and found it acceptable. For this conclusion, he wanted 5000 VirDos.
Flora rolled her eyes but ordered the transfer in junks of 1000 VirDos over five days.
Thankfully, Robby changed the topic to their Thursday Mother-Son-Date. He suggested visiting some underwater cave with fireflies.
"What a lovely idea! Aidan, remind me of leveling swimming and climbing. Prio A."
Next, she opened the letter with the contract. After scanning it, she signed. Now, everything she had designed, used, taught, or daydreamed aloud in the CAD-System was co-owned by CentralTank. And of course, Evailyn could use her face as she liked.
The contract even listed all of the issues that came up during their more in-depth investigation. Evailyn's countenance and the Holy Symbol were on the record, but also a carpentry technique and five runes.
Flora stared at the list in bewilderment.
'Carpentry? Me? Plastiquetry or metallurgy, maybe, but carpentry? And what the short-circuited toaster are runes?'
As compensation, the contracted added all available updates for the workshop. Flora reread the lines. 'All updates? All updates!'
"System, please tell your bosses that they made me a very, very happy engineer!"
"Yes, Milady!"
"Hu? Since when do you call me Milady?"
"You have expended your daily limit of system requests, Milady. Please raise your limit in the Cetviwos-Shop."
Flora laughed and signed the contract.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
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