After CJ and I cleaned up and regained our composure, Tiff informed me that subsequent jumps would be much easier on us physically, and Elvis had something in the med bay that would help us acclimate even quicker.

  “Small miracles, I guess,” I said as CJ, and I left the med bay. There wasn’t much to speak of in the room, just some medical examination tables and robotic arms hanging from the ceiling. The walls were lined with drawers and closets full of supplies as well. Elvis was also the ship’s medical officer, and everything related to human physiology had been uploaded to his data core before the dungeon had been initiated.

  CJ had not been pleased with our hazing and was currently walking beside me in a sour mood, aggressively ripping his new vape.

  “Elvis has it out for me, Andy, I swear to God!” CJ said in an aggravated tone. “Since I got transported to this damn ship, he has come after me in one way or another. I can’t take this shit no more, bro.”

  I stopped in the hallway before we walked back into the VCR. “Listen, CJ, I’m going to need your head on straight, especially going into this EVAC mission to get Tiff’s body. I have a plan, and you are going to play a big part if possible, but I need you to find some common ground with Elvis, okay?”

  “I’ll try Andy, I’ll try,” he said, ripping another long hit off of his vape. “By the way, thanks for the vape. I think it’s the only thing keeping me sane right now,” he chuckled.

  As we walked into the VCR, Tiff was sitting at a table in the center of the room that Elvis materialized for us.

  “Elvis, I have a question,” I said, looking up at the ceiling. I was sure it wasn’t necessary to look up at the ceiling, but I did it reflexively. “Can those Havok Hound drop suits in the armory be operated autonomously?”

  “Yes, Captain. Elvis can pilot the drop suits autonomously.” Elvis replied, “The Bloodhound only has five storage closets, so we can only deploy five at a time. Elvis can only operate two at any given time and still maintain peak efficiency for other ships’ systems, however. Why do you ask?”

  “I want to utilize one of the drop suits during our Exfil of Tiff’s body from the containment center,” I replied.

  “That not possible, Captain. As stated, the facility has AI-dampening field. Elvis is AI also; I cannot penetrate the dampening field to pilot the suit,” Elvis replied.

  “I thought you might say that, Elvis. I want you to create a subsystem and run the piloting program hardware through CJ’s station. You will need to train him on the intricacies of piloting the drop suit over the next 12 days. I want a two-day margin for error before we start the Exfil process. Understood?” I said.

  CJ’s face lit up and I could see that Tiff also approved of the plan.

  “No dead weight on my ship, CJ. Time to start pulling your weight around here,” I said, smiling.

  “It will take too long to train NUB to use drop suit. He will endanger Captain’s life, as well as the mission,” Elvis grumbled.

  “Elvis, am I the Captain of the Bloodhound?” I asked pointedly.

  “Yes sir, Captain Dawes is captain of Bloodhound. Great Captain who let Elvis choose own name! Captain Dawes will kill many foes!” Elvis said excitedly.

  “Then I need you to follow my orders, Elvis. I will defer to you on matters of ship security and navigation, but there will be times when I need you to follow my orders and ensure that we are moving in the operational direction that I have deemed fit. This is one of those times.”

  “Understood, Captain!” Elvis said with a snap, “Elvis will begin creating software and have training modules prepared for SR-Jennings by 1200 hours.”

  “Thanks, Elvis. Also, open up and stock the shooting range. The crew and I will be acclimating ourselves with the available firearms on board the Bloodhound today.”

  CJ chimed in, “What is SR-Jennings?”

  Elvis replied, “Spaceman recruit, lowest enlisted rank on ship. That is you, you are lowest.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and squeezed my eyes shut tightly. It was progress, a very small amount of progress, but Elvis at least saw CJ as a member of the crew now; it would have to be enough.

  “CJ, Elvis is the COB, Chief of the Boat. For all intents and purposes, he is your commanding officer. You will pay attention to his orders and recommendations during this training process. I need you to be a killing machine with that drop suit. We have no margin for error here, got it?” I asked.

  “I got it, Andy!” CJ replied.

  “You refer to Captain as Captain during official briefings, recruit!” Elvis growled.

  “Jesus. Sure, man. I got it, Captain!” CJ said with a goofy salute.

  It was currently 0800 hours, so we had 4 hours to talk basic strategy and get some time in the armory shooting range. After Elvis and CJ decided to play somewhat nicely, we all sat down to have a primary conversation about the strategy to get Tiff’s body back.

  “I won’t be able to communicate or assist at all with the EVAC Captain. Once we get within 100 miles of the containment facility, I will become inert, as will Elvis. Elvis will have emergency operating procedures for the ship, and he can pre-program a flight path for the shuttle to get you there and back, but you and CJ will be on your own. This is very dangerous, Andrew,” Tiff said as she looked me in the eyes.

  I could feel that she was nervous. I was sure she wanted to do this, but I also think that she thought we would try to do it later, after I was stronger and had become more acclimated to my current reality.

  “Do we know anything about the defenses on the containment facility?” I asked.

  “There should be no organic life on board. The facility will be rather large, especially compared to the Bloodhound. These facilities are meant to operate autonomously for millennia. If an AI becomes corrupted for some reason, the remains will be jettisoned into the nearest solar body, and a replacement will arrive. “

  “Corrupted?” I asked.

  “Dies,” Tiff responded somberly. “You must remember that an AI dies if their assigned participant dies. I would assume there are thousands of participants from Earth in this dungeon. The mortality rate of participants is 99% among unregistered species in most iterations of the dungeons from past Reapings. Once an AI is corrupted, the facility is repopulated, and the new AI will begin uploading data relevant to the next scheduled reaping.”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, so let’s make sure that doesn’t happen to you. I need an idea of what we’re going up against in there. Do you have intel? How many mechs, how many mech guards?”

  Tiff’s eyes glazed over; I could tell she was combing data inside her head. “Each facility has two sets of guards. They consist of one Battle Mech and two mech guards. They are on 12-hour rotations. After 12 hours, the mechs and mech guards will return to their off-duty stations for decontamination and recharge,” she said.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  “I’m not sure of the levels. I would say at least Level 10. Nobody expects one of these facilities to be infiltrated, so the guards are fairly low leveled.”

  I raised my eyebrows, “Low leveled?! Tiff, I’m only Level 4, for crying out loud. How can I fight multiple Level 10 mechs?!”

  “Elvis have plan to help!” Elvis suddenly chimed in.

  “Okay, let’s hear it, Elvis. I need all the help I can get,” I said.

  “There is grind station on way to containment facility. We lose one day, Captain gain levels.”

  I looked at Tiff. “What is a grind station?”

  “Usually, we don’t see them before Level 1, but since we are taking a bit of a detour, I guess Elvis found one. They are small, pre-populated areas with a designated number of enemies. You land, kill everything, and get some levels. You may get some loot, which is never anything great, but you need the levels, and this will get you at least a few,” Tiff said.

  “Okay, sounds easy enough. Elvis, how far away is the grind station?” I asked.

  “We can be at grind station within 2 hours after next jump,” Elvis replied.

  “Okay, chart a course. Our next jump is in 7 hours, so that will give us time to finish what we’re doing. Eat something and grab a few hours of sleep,” I said.

  “Now we have the bones of a plan. After the grind station, we can regroup to put the final touches on the exfil plan. For now, let’s go shoot something,” I said.

  “Hell yeah!” CJ shouted as we headed to the armory.

  After arriving at the armory, I walked over to the firearm lockers lining the left side of the room. I was familiar enough with weapons on Earth. My dad had made sure that all of his boys were familiar with guns growing up. Again, I wasn’t much of a hunter, but Dad wanted us to understand how to handle firearms safely, just in case. I had shot various models of rifles and shotguns. I also kept a personal firearm for protection, and it really became a necessity after the drop.

  None of that prepared me for the types of firearms that were available on The Bloodhound. There were traditional kinetic weapons that shot good ol bullets, but there were also focused-energy weapons that fired concentrated plasma bursts. Made of advanced lightweight polymers, the plasma weapons were lighter than many BB guns I had used as a kid. Instead of a clip, these weapons utilized advanced plasma mags that fed a plasma bolt into the chamber that was then super-heated by a focused laser beam and exploded on contact with a target. It was lethal; it was dangerous, and it was fucking awesome.

  Tiff was familiar with all the weapons on board, but CJ and I were like kids in a candy store. Both the kinetic and plasma weapons were basically dummy-proof. They were auto-correcting and utilized smart auto-targeting sights, making just about anyone with the ability to shoot them an expert marksman.

  My armor also had a sidearm I hadn’t tested yet, so I decided now was a good time to check it out. As CJ continued testing the plasma rifles, I engaged my armor, stood in one of the firing lanes, and, holding my left hand out beside the holster mechanism, I mentally commanded the pistol to appear. The holster opened vertically as the pistol pushed out into my waiting palm. The weapon molded to my hand perfectly. The barrel was about 8 inches long, with a bright orange LED-type light running down the length of the barrel. As I held the weapon out in front of my body, I saw the targeting system in HUD come to life. I could see the distance to the target, wind speed, estimated curvature of the planet’s surface, and tons of data to aid me in creating a firing solution.

  I held the weapon in front of me with both hands, aimed at the brown dummy positioned at the end of the firing lane, and fired. The round wasn’t kinetic or exactly like the plasma rounds from the armory. An intense burst of energy exploded from the barrel when I pulled the trigger. As soon as the barrel recoiled in my hand, the dummy’s head completely exploded.

  “Holy shit!” I said, spinning to get CJ’s attention while also holding the gun down and to the side to maintain weapon discipline. “Did you see that, CJ? This gun is ridiculous!”

  “Should definitely help in combat. Between that and those daggers, nothing will want to get close to you, that’s for sure,” CJ said, whistling and shaking his head with envy.

  I thought for a second about how I would prepare and carry a long-range rifle. I was no sniper, but with the targeting system in my armor, I imagined it would come in handy. As I thought about it, the weapon in my hand morphed into a rifle. “Well, that’s convenient,” I said, holding the weapon up and admiring the larger rifle.

  “Did your gun just shape-shift? What the actual hell, bro?!” CJ exclaimed.

  “I don’t know how I did it. I was just thinking about how I would be able to carry a large caliber rifle, and the pistol just morphed into this!” I held the weapon up to show CJ.

  “May as well see if it shoots as good as it looks,” CJ said, walking over to watch me test-fire the weapon.

  I took the rifle and aimed it down the lane toward what was left of the dummy. As I did, my targeting HUD zoomed in on the dummy’s center mass. It was like I had a long-range scope in my helmet. “This will definitely come in handy,” I thought.

  Tiff walked over to dissect my shooting ability. “That armor is like nothing I have seen before, Captain. Again, I’m not sure where it came from, but it gives you an advantage.”

  I was starting to feel more comfortable in my armor now, and as the 5-minute cycle ended, I noticed I was feeling drained.

  “Hey Tiff, I don’t have a stat for stamina, but I notice that I feel drained when my armor runs out of juice. Is that normal?” I asked.

  “It would make sense; the armor is integrated into your physiology and will need to burn resources when activated. Normal battle armor operates with an independent battery system, but from what I can tell, your armor is a part of you.

  “This may work to our advantage. I told you about the health stims earlier. You should have access to a secondary set of stims that can be utilized for prolonged engagements. These stims are true biological stimulants and should be used sparingly, though. Access your interface and focus on your health gauge. Do you see anything that indicates low stamina?” she asked.

  I focused on my interface, noting the health gauge, which was full, and the three small crosses beside it. “No, I don’t see anything, just the indicators you are already aware of.”

  What about the suit energy indicator? Is it still green, or is it red now?” Tiff asked.

  “It is blinking red around the little body, which signifies my health status,” I replied.

  “Good, focus on that indicator and see what happens,” she said.

  I focused on the blinking red outline, and a description popped up:

  Suit power exhausted – Combat Effectiveness 2%

  User Stamina depleted.

  Activate simulant for prolonged combat effectiveness? Y/N

  “Okay, I see it now. A message popped up asking me if I wanted to activate a stimulant. I can’t use stims without my armor, though, right?”

  “Once you have accessed the ability, you should be able to use it without the full armor being active. Once the armor cycles down, just concentrate on using the stim and see what happens,” Tiff responded as she walked over to me.

  I selected Yes to activate a stimulant. When I did, two insectoid arm-like appendages popped out of my shoulders and stabbed into either side of my neck, followed by a small hissing noise. A burst of energy shot through my body like lightning as the blinking red light outlining my health gauge returned to a solid green outline.

  “Holy shit!” I yelled as I felt the energy return to my body.

  “You good buddy?” CJ asked with a grin, “Looks like you got a snort or that devil’s dandruff, some of that Christina Aguilera? A little bit of booger sugar, maybe?”

  “haha,” I laughed sarcastically, “I’m not sure what it is, but damn, it did the trick!”

  After taking a few calming breaths I focused on the green outline to see the description pop back up

  Suit power 100% – Combat effectiveness 100%

  User Stamina replenished

  Create shortcut on interface for Stimulant injection? Y/N

  I selected Yes, and a small lightning bolt appeared above the three small crosses. I reached up to rub the small injection site where the arms administered the stem. I wondered where the arms came from, but I thought it was better left alone for now. “That is unnerving,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “But hey, it worked. I can use my stims without my armor being fully activated.”

  New Skill Unlocked! – Baby needs his baba.

  Discover and utilize your armor’s built-in stamina recovery system. By order of the Master System AI this skill may only be activated by verbal command.

  “This is fucking ridiculous!” I fumed, “I have to say that shit every time? There has got to be a way around that.”

  “You can try showing the Master System AI some respect,” Tiff said with a shrug. “I warned you about this and you chose not to listen.”

  “I really, really like this guy.” CJ said with a mischievous chuckle.

  “Ugh, whatever. Does this at least mean I can immediately reactivate my armor?” I asked. “Since it seems to run on stamina and my stamina is refilled, I should be able to reactivate it, right?”

  “I’m really not sure,” Tiff responded. “I’ve never seen armor like this. I think it’s worth a try.”

  I focused on my armor, and as I did, the edges of my vision flashed red, and a warning popped up on my HUD.

  Warning - 4 minutes remaining on Armor Cool Down

  “What the hell? The description says my stamina is full, and the suit is at 100% combat effectiveness. Why won’t it activate?” I asked.

  “Boons and curses, Captain. It may be a built-in restriction until you are at a high enough level to handle sustained physical stress. Either way, it is a handicap we will need to plan around.

  “So, I’ll have 5 minutes to kick as much ass as possible. Guess I better be efficient,” I said to Tiff with a smile.