บท 5: The Universe As We Know It

My senses came back slowly, like rain filling a dried-up river bed. I opened up my eyes to a bright, warm sunrise; I instantly regretted it, as my head throbbed fiercely. I raised myself off the ground and lifted my wrist my face and said, "Valor, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!! Can't you warn a guy when he's about to experience tremendous pain?!"

V.A.L.O.R- "Since you raised your stats to the required fields, it was a perfect opportunity to transfer all of the knowledge of the world and that of your current skills." Valor responded as if hurt, but concluded he couldn't understand her logical reasoning.

I was annoyed beyond words but decided how I felt about the information before I started pointing fingers for not asking for my permission. Combing over the information in my brain, I smiled, "Valor, you've done a wonderful job!" I started laughing maniacally, rubbing my hands together.

V.A.L.O.R- "A pleasure to serve you, Sam."

The current date is March 3, 2184, in the Era of Space as it was called. I don't know where I am, but I know who all the big players are right now. First the UHF or also known as the United Human Frontier, it was said they have a starship count of over three-million ships as well as many UHF controlled planets across the galaxy; The UHF goals were genuine and sincere, the motto of the UHF was exploration, support, and unity.

Everything was going well but, tragedy struck, a group of the starships broke off during an expedition to a new planet and took control of the planetary defense system set in place by a civilization forgotten long ago, defeated the UHF ships, then declared themselves as the Republic Of United People's or the RUP for short. Although the UHF took the loss well, they made a formal announcement against the group's actions and to be wary of their ships.

Even though the RUP's name sounds cute and cuddly, doesn't mean that they represented the other's philosophy. It started slowly at first, but cruise ships began to disappear, and patrol ships never returning to their post, but all investigations turned up nothing. Ten years later over fifty UHF planets were attacked by the RUP on a large scale. All were overwhelmed, and all UHF soldiers were killed on camera and broadcast across the galaxy to all UHF controlled planets, They have been fighting ever since.

There were alien species too, like the Vas; they are a light blue-skinned humanoid race with the blue sapphires for eyes. Their eyes were like a curse to the Vas, as some collectors hunted them for there eyes, not only that, but Sahhpires being a key ingredient in starship power cores and warp drives make the hunting widespread across the galaxy, making the Vas fear and hate the human species. There were a couple of others, but all I have are their names, such as the Dreg, the Hanaha's, they are secluded and usually stick to themselves, so contact has been limited to only the sounds of there voices through comm channels.

There was also a lot of complex flight maneuvers, ship and part blueprints, and various techniques in my brain. There should be enough information in my head to fix this ship, all I need are tools and spare parts. Turning to the aft part of the ship, I walked off to try and find the central power core. If that thing is broken, then I'm screwed.

Two minutes later I came across a large heavily armored door that blocked my way forward. 'This must be where I can find the power core.' Running my hand along the door, I looked for a way to open it. To the right of it, I saw a small panel on the wall with two big buttons and a keypad underneath which all glowed a slight blue color. 'The door must have a backup battery' I thought, 'Interesting.' I walked over to it and bravely clicked the one button that was closest to me. A click and groan sounded from the door, then slowly inched apart. When it was halfway open, a giant spark of electricity flashed from the panel, and the door stopped.

I, on the other hand, let out an embarrassing girly shout in the air and jumped away from the doorway. Once I had regained my composure, I walked through the door and looked at where I instinctively knew the power core was and continued forward. My first poorly made light source barely lit the room, but it was enough to see some of the details of this place. A lot of parts were littered in piles all around the space, looking at each piece, in turn, told me what they were but... it felt, inefficient, at this rate I might have this ship fixed enough to fly in three years, but I'll probably be dead by then.

Not to mention the lack of food, I've been hungry since I woke up, and thirsty, thanks to the new info I have though, I know that this ship has food, but unfortunately, its the type you need water for, and a microwave to eat, but there is also, no power, which sucks too. "Hey Valor, can you make an overlay for my mechanic skill so I can identify parts and what needs to be fixed better?"

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V.A.L.O.R- "Certainly."

Congratulations, you have received a sub-skill of Mechanic

+ gained sub-skill Insight

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A blue glow surrounded the outside of my vision and then a bright flash of red and green appeared in my view practically blinding me. I then shouted out, "LOWER THE BRIGHTNESS!" Relief instantly washed over me as the brightness went down. 'Thank god.' I thought. I opened up my eyes and looked toward the power core. I not only saw the power core, but I was able to see everything in the room. The power core was a giant spire in the middle of the room, with a sapphire placed in the middle, in the shape of a giant hourglass. I was surprised to see there was a lot more green than red on the power core, but it was not enough to inhibit its operation. Confused I thought for a moment, then it hit me, I snapped my fingers. 'is it just out of fuel.' To confirm my suspicion, I walked over to a large rectangular panel on the front of the bottom spire where all the fuel cores were and noted all five were empty.

That's hard to believe considering what the fuel cores are. The Fuel Cores are round cylinders about two inches in diameter and one foot long containing the essence of a star, one could power the likes of New York for twenty years. I pushed the top of the fuel cell down and twisted it to the left, it then clicked and popped out onto the floor. Now, I need a new Fuel Core; I looked around the room for the familiar yellow glow the cores emit.

Then there, in a pile behind the central power core, there was a glow escaping between the cracks of parts on top. But with a little digging, I had the core in my hands, I then walked over to the formal Fuel Core's slot, and slid the tube down and twisted right. A bright flash then came from a green button from the middle of the panel; I stepped in front of the switch, prayed, then pressed the button.

The Sapphire then began to glow and spin, Lights flashed to life on the spire as the energy began to spread throughout the ship. The door behind me slid open, and the lights in the room turned on until I could see the entire room, and then began to spread throughout the whole ship. I was happy, just for a moment, but then I got the scare of my life

"In....tru..d..er Alert! Intruder Alert!" A feminine voice shouted, I whirled around the room trying to find the source of the sound but saw nobody. 'Oh god don't tell me there's an A.I.' I thought. It shouted once more, and then it said something that made me want to scream. "Deploying Countermeasures."