After getting the full tour of the Goldwing, Ronin returned to his cabin. He’d been shown anything from a luxurious bridge, adorned with ebony floorboards, control stations and data-filled screens, to a mess hall filled with sweet tasting synthpaste.
Nutrient packs they'd called it, but it was the same type of gelatinous bar he’d always eaten. They did taste good though.
He'd eaten four of those "nutrient packs". It was way beyond the recommended daily intake, but he needed to put on weight. If prison planet Exodon had taught him one thing, it was the glorious delights of the flavored synthpaste. Any taste, at this point, was better than the bland crap he’d been mining his ass off for, for over a month now.
Currently working on figuring out the touch-wall in his cabin, Ronin furiously hammered his fingers onto the various screens. The wall was supposed to turn transparent, letting him view the space outside, but with no working optical implant, these screens had turned out to be quite the obstacle.
“Come on you,” he grumbled, clicking and swiping at the lit-up text.
“Oh, there we go!”
New text appeared on the wall: [Transparent mode activated.]
The outside view became visible, and he saw a large, black-clouded red planet beneath him.
Exodon, Ronin realized.
Further up, was the sun — a red dwarf, commonly known for their trillions of years of lifespan. Ronin looked past it, then out into the sea of stars and nebulae beyond.
His home sector — the Lobar Sector — was located on the very edge of the Centaurus Arm. This gave him a clear view of the stars representing the Sagittarius Arm. Past it, towards the edge of the milky way, between the Cygnus- and Orion spur, was the heartland of humanity — Sol.
I wonder what everyone else is doing out there... Ronin thought.
He’d never seen the stars so clearly before. Did his fellow humans in the other systems also have a prison planet — like Tar? Did they have to work for food like him, or was it free? Ronin imagined himself being a designer on a grand ship, traveling into strange nebulae, finding new forms of life and technology. He imagined teleporting in-between planets with but a thought, then about visiting distant galactic megastructures.
I want to see it, he thought. I want to see it all.
“...”
About 30 hours later, the ship approached Concordia and Ronin spotted Ironglades. The city tore into the planet like an unhealed gash, so large it was visible from space. The ship flew closer, piercing the smog-filled clouds as the natural light from the sun dimmed.
The city looked different now, somehow. Ronin noticed several sections of the city looking completely abandoned. Other parts, were filled with men in yellow-black uniforms, patrolling the streets.
The planetary guard? Why would they be marching around like this? The armed soldiers seemed to be out in full force...
[Ding! Connection restored.]
Ronin’s implant finally turned back on and a holoscreen popped up:
[Message from Real-World-Gaming: Due to a lack of further contact, we have installed the Virtual reality chamber at a location of our choosing in the designated spaceship factory: Maximus Solutions at district 13, street 25.]
[Message from Mayor Brunstein: Citywide alert! Citizens are advised to stay indoors due to recent ruddle outbreaks. The guard is on top of the issue. The situation will be solved shortly.]
[Message from Real-World-Gaming: Urgent! Confirmation of acceptance of VR installation is required.]
[Ding! Message from Real-World-Gaming: Urgent! See previous messages. If no response is given, all current contracts will be voided.]
There was also a slew of other messages as well, including several from his uncle, Simons and the academy.
Waving away the cluttered holoscreen for now, Ronin got up then headed for the bridge. He passed a couple of the painted corridors, then entered the room.
[Confirmed entry, Ronin Maximus, disabling neutralization protocols,] said an electronic voice.
Ronin breathed out in relief. Good thing they wrote me in as a guest.
He could see the captain sitting down, leisurely drinking some sort of black colored hot-drink.
“Oh, the man of the hour,” the captain said. “What brings you here?”
“Any chance you could land the ship at my place?”
Jarski scratched his beard. “Hmm, if there’s space, sure, but wasn’t your place destroyed by that attack a month back?”
“I work at a place called Maximus Solutions,” Ronin said. “It's a spaceship factory. It has a runway so there should be plenty of room for you to land.”
“Well… I can’t see why not. Let me check in with the boss.”
The captain's eyes began flickering as he started texting the professor.
After a short while, he nodded. “Alright, it seems Mr. Ravent’s schedule still has enough room for a short pit stop along the way. Just don’t forget to pick up your new academy uniform outside his office.”
The ship diverted its path then settled down onto the runway. His runway. Ronin still couldn’t get the idea of it out of his head. When he looked at the factory he owned, he almost couldn’t believe it. For something as grand as this to actually be owned by one man. The fact that he was that man, gave him impostor syndrome every time he thought about it.
The ship’s gangway lowered down, and with some help from the two captains in training, Ronin rolled out the bulky warsuit on a trolley. He then said his goodbyes to the crew and watched as the sleek ship fired up the engines, taking off.
Ronin next confirmed his identity with the factory's security, then transported both the warsuit and the academy suit into the building. It was time to begin clearing out the messages on his implant:
He dealt with the Real-World-Gaming company first, scheduling an appointment to finish up the purchase of the VR-capsule. He then checked in with Uncle Nagata, sending him a message detailing what had happened on Exodon. To Simons, his new employee, he simply sent a message informing him that he’d been offworld on an important company meeting. Simons didn't need to know. As long as he knew when to begin working, that was enough.
Done with his own messages, Ronin stared at the public notice sent out by Mayor Brunstein. Amidst everything else, this thing stood out like a sore thumb.
“A ruddle outbreak,” he murmured, furrowing his brows.
The only time he’d seen enough of those vermin to cause concern; he’d been deep underground in the abandoned part of the city.
It can’t be, can it?
Ronin needed more information. He nudged the Uninet, pulling up a live news feed:
[Today's ruddle outbreaks are showing a marked reduction in frequency. Citizens are however still encouraged to stay at home and to lock their doors,] a female news reporter said.
The livestream showed several planetary guardsmen, wearing flamethrowers as they walked along mounds of burning animal remains.
Did I do that? Ronin wondered.
It was a legitimate possibility. Those doors into the underground city had been welded shut. When he broke down those doors, perhaps the ruddles had escaped through the openings he’d left behind?
He should probably get himself another combat suit. In these numbers, ruddles were dangerous and he still had a bounty on his head. And although Ronin already had two suits, the warsuit was illegal and the academy suit was made for lab work. No, he needed something which provided good protection; something he could openly walk around with.
Ronin accessed the Concordia net, then began scanning the public database:
With my newfound wealth I can disregard the cheaper options.
With a wave of his hand, Ronin eliminated over 90% of the suits listed.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Now, what do I truly want?
A jet pack was a must. He’d also need something that could withstand laser fire and the sort of explosion he’d been subjected to in his apartment. After carefully eliminating more and more of the suits listed, he was eventually left with three options:
Black Hawk-38D: Bodyguard suit.
Armor: Can withstand sustained level 2 delta energy
Shield: Double layered. Stable for up to level 4 delta energy and level 2 type explosions. Battery life: 50 hours in standby mode, 30 min in sustained combat.
Extra: Jetpack
Weight: 35kg
Cost: 1.5 million credits
Frontier-XM13: Exoplanet suit.
Armor: No value
Shield: Triple layered. Stable for up to level 3 delta energy, level 1 type explosions and level 1 type radiation. Battery life: 130 hours in standby mode, 2 hours in sustained combat.
Extra: Jetpack, poison filtration, oxygen conversion.
Weight: 20kg
Cost: 2 million credits
Heromaker-99: Luxus suit.
Armor: Can withstand sustained level 2 delta energy
Shield: Triple layered. Stable for up to level 4 delta energy, level 2 type explosions and level 1 type radiation. Battery life: 100 hours in standby mode, 1 hour in sustained combat.
Extra: Jetpack, sound dampener, poison filtration, audio system, light projection, exoskeleton, dance routine.
Weight: 160kg
Cost: 5 million Credits.
Ronin considered his options. The Black Hawk suit was cheap and offered good protection. The armor alone would protect against most of the common laser fire. A sniper rifle could break through, but that's what the shield was for. On the flip side, its shield didn’t last long, and it didn’t offer protection against the more esoteric types of threats. That was where the frontier suit came in. However, this suit had no armor and just weaker shield protection in general. Compared to the academy suit, it would still fare better if he was attacked, but was it really worth it?
Especially when there was that last entry on the list…
Heromaker… Even the name sounds downright ridiculous.
Still, it did offer the best overall protection. Being stuffed with so much gear it needed an exoskeleton just to be wearable, it was halfway in between a civilian suit and a warsuit. Instead of being equipped with weapons though, it was filled with all sorts of ridiculous modules. Light projector? Dance routine? The suit seemed more like something a rich playboy would wear to a party than something actually made for self-defense.
It also looked ridiculous, having been painted red with black- and gold-colored flames streaking across the entire thing. There was also the jetpack, which had impractical wings sticking out. To top it all off, the suit had a suspiciously shaped golden-colored codpiece right between its legs.
Ronin hesitated for a moment, then grumbled inwardly... He knew he had to pick the heromaker, it had the better specs, but still...
There’s no helping it, I guess I'll just have to look like a clown for a bit.
[Confirm purchase of Heromaker-99? Yes/No]
[Yes]
Now, all he had to do was to wait for the delivery. Ronin went back to his messages. There were a lot of things he’d missed from the academy. Silently, he gave himself a mental clap on the back for keeping up with his studies in prison. He could easily catch up to the curriculum with his current courses now, but this latest message…
[You have hereby been accepted into the genius program for spaceship design at the Ironglades Space-Force Academy. These following courses will now be added to your current curriculum: INF: 1003: Introduction to Spacecraft programming languages. MAT: 233: Partial differential equations. PHYS: 220: Introduction to materials science...]
The list went on. It seemed Ronin's new genius status had come with a few caveats. With that simple message, his academy workload had more than doubled. There were also the instruction manuals for all of the machines he’d have to learn to use in his new factory.
Yeah… there were a lot of things to do.
Ronin ordered some flavored synthpaste from one of the nearby delivery companies, then got to work:
He started with the mathematics and physics exercises. They'd become surprisingly easy as time went by. He clearly remembered how he’d fared in this field when he initially started, but now? He’d gotten faster — much faster.
The problems he’d have to think about a bit before, were now solved on the spot. Even equations with new concepts were easily solved by reading up on it a little in his mind palace.
Can this be a side effect of the Potentia Panorama? He wondered.
He thought about how far he’d progressed in prison. From the middle of the 3rd stance in the Kalvrakian Embrace, Ronin had reached all the way into the 8th. This technique, from what he could tell, improved every part of his body. His bones strengthened, his muscle fibers were empowered, and his senses improved. If almost everything about him had been strengthened, it stood to reason that his mind would also become better at solving problems as well.
In a way, the artifact is as much a blessing as it is a curse, Ronin mused.
He then dove back into the academy exercises.
“...”
As time passed, Ronin burned through mathematical equations like no tomorrow. He had to stop however, when the live news feed that had been playing in the background, shifted. This new segment sounded like it could directly relate to him:
[Just in, the recently accused Wing commander Julius denies any involvement with the range of unlawful arrests that have recently come to light,] one of the male news anchors said. [With us on the ground, we have reporter Andrea.]
The holoscreen shifted onto a blond-haired female reporter. Wearing a navy-blue colored dress, she had a large badge across her chest which spelled out the word: "Press". Behind her, was one of the typical gray buildings of the planetary guard.
[As you can see, right now, the previously esteemed commander is now being dragged out from his office towards the shipping station,] the reporter said.
She moved to the side, revealing a man dressed in a ruffled uniform — adorned with numerous medals — being dragged out of the building.
Making her way through the watching crowd of people, she then walked up to the bedraggled commander.
[How do you respond to the recent allegations?] She asked the man. [What do you think this will do to the public's trust in the planetary guard? Do you have anything to say for yourself, sir?]
The man looked over at the reporter, his eyes desperate:
[There's nothing unlawful about those arrests! We all do it! It’s just common practice—]
The holoscreen abruptly cut back to the newsroom, silencing the man before he could say more...
[Ahem, it seems we experienced a bit of a technical malfunction there,] one of the news anchors said.
The other news anchor followed up: [You will have to excuse us for that, but while we wait for the technical issue to be solved, here we have Mayor Brunstein giving the medal of honor to guardsman Harold...]
Ronin couldn’t help but let out a dark chuckle.
Seems this Wing Commander Julius revealed a little more than he should. Unlawful arrests though… could he have been involved with what happened to me?
Beep, Beep, Beep
Ronin's implant signaled that he had an incoming call. Answering, he was greeted by a bohemian styled room as the face of Uncle Nagata slid into frame. The man's long black hair seemed greasy now and he had circles under his eyes.
[Did you see Ronin!? We got him! Wait, what happened to your face?]
[Exodon happened,] Ronin grunted. [But you don't look too well yourself either.]
[I look this way because of you, you fool! And though I do admit my complexion is a bit ruffled, you look like the living dead!]
[What do you mean you look like this because of me?]
[Who do you think got you out of prison?] Nagata asked, then made a downcast expression. [Oh, the things I had to do...]
[If you indeed helped, thank you,] Ronin replied, bowing his head. Perhaps his drug loving uncle wasn't so bad after all? [But what did you mean when you said that we've got him? Are you talking about the guy from the news? This Wing Commander Julius?]
[Yes, that’s him! Didn’t you read my message on it?]
[Hang on,] Ronin said, then nudged his implant, pulling up the message:
He read further down, spotting an illegal transfer order with his name on it. It seemed this was what had gotten him shipped off to Exodon. He also spotted Wing Commander Julis's signature. So, it really was this Julius guy after all… A shame. I should have dealt with him myself. I hope at least they punish him properly.
[You see it, right?] Nagata questioned through the holoscreen. [I found out what he did deep in the planetary guards internal database… After framing you, he tried to hide it, but he slipped up. My only regret, is that I couldn’t find out as to why he framed you.]
[I believe I can help with that,] Ronin said. [In prison, I did some investigation of my own. The Wing Commander probably got paid by a guy called Specter — also known as Ghost Butcher. This Specter guy apparently also has a henchman called Argus working for him. Have you heard of them?]
Nagata's face made an abrupt shift, turning grave as he questioned:
[You're not pulling my leg, are you? Don't tell me you've been to district 101?] His tone, now, was completely different.
[Uh, yeah. That's how I got the bounty. Don’t worry, I'll find them all. They’re not getting away with this, I can tell you that.]
Nagata turned silent... Only after a long while, did he finally speak:
[Ronin… Be careful… I’ve heard of him. True to his name, this Ghost Butcher is a demon. Out of everyone out there to anger, for it to be him…]
[What do you know?]
[Let’s just say that much of the reason no one goes to district 101 is solely due to that one man. It was brutal before, but at least you’d find other shadowy groups going there every now and again. Adventurers would sometimes go there, seeking wealth on the wrong side of the law. You'd also find desperate people there, hiding from debt or persecution. Take the Concordia Liberation Movement for example. From what I’ve heard, they were quite active there some years back. Now though… They don't go there anymore. They all left due to just one single man. The ghost butcher… That is the type of man you’ve angered. There are plenty of stories... Entire buildings full of people, all just vanishing overnight. It’s horrible. No blood, no shouts in the night, they all just suddenly disappeared, never to be heard from or seen again… One man did that, and nobody knows how. Nobody even knows what he looks like.]
Nagata shuddered through the holoscreen.
[They just disappeared?] Ronin questioned. [Does he have access to some kind of restricted technology or something?]
Nagata shrugged. [If he does, I’ve never heard about it.]
Ronin had always repaid his debts, but this debt might be a little bit too tough to pay back right now. Nevertheless, he’d made a promise to himself.
[It doesn’t matter how dangerous he is Uncle, he put a bounty on me… But I will be careful, ok? Thanks for the info.]
Nagata sighed. [Alright, I’ll see if I can find anything on Argus. If you want a chance at finding the ghost butcher, your best bet would probably be by finding Argus first. And Ronin? Make sure to eat, alright?]
They ended the call, and Ronin began browsing the net. There was another debt he had, one that he actually could pay.
“Now where are you?” He said to himself as he opened the public database. With what he'd done to Inmate 1437, the least he could do was to look after his family.
