Dislaimer: i don;t own Star Ocean or any of the things. I'm just a poor guy that doesn't own anything.
Let's get on with chapter 4 of:
Lucifer's Tale
Chapter 4: this is were you come in.
I stil can't believe that it happened. Fayt's parents had suddenly disappeared. Sophia told me what happened when we were in the facility but I still had a hard time believing it.
I looked to my left and saw Fayt sitting there looking all depressed.
"I can't blame him. The guy just lost two of the most important people in his live. And if it wasn't for Peppita and Ursus we would have been dead as well."
When we arrived in the escape facility Peppita told me something about having extremely good reflexes. Even better then anyone she has ever seen. And that it meant a lot coming for someone of her race. I figured that after seeing her fight with the robots she too had a very fast reaction to everything.
After we slept for a bit(and I can't remember the last time I needed sleep that much. I was exhausted) we heard that the transport ship Helre had arrived and was waiting for us. Sophia's ankle was healed already. She said something about using symbologie to heal it. I didn't really pay much attention to it because I was too tired.
Aboard the Helre I was vast asleep in no time. I woke up about 6 hours later.
It was just in time to hear a voice over the intercom say that we should go and get to the escape pod because we were under attack by the Vendeeni again. I had started to seriously get annoyed by these guys.
After making my way over to the escape pots with Fayt and Sophia I stepped in the pod on the complete end of the hallway. Fayt and Sophia got in the two pods before mine. The last pod left.
I got shot out of the Helre just before it exploded. The shock of the explosion had caused the pod to loose its balance just before it entered Gravetic Warp. Because of the shock the computer had totally lost the course. I had no idea of where I was going.
"computer, predict landing planet" I said to the machine.
"cannot comply at current time. Ship is damaged by the explosion and cannot estime course for unknown time."
Not the answer I was looking for. Looking at my side I found an instruction booklet for the pod.
"Fine. Computer, wake me up by the time you do know where we're headed." I said as I entered the command for the hyper sleep to prevent myself from getting totally bored during the long hours.
"Planet found" the computer said as I waked up.
"great. Which planet is it?"
"Elicoor II. A planet listed as an Underdeveloped Planet. As such it falls under the Pangalactic Federation's Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact. Its current level of development is equal to Earth's 17th century."
"When do we arrive at the planet?" I asked the computer.
"ETA is in 2 hours." The answer came.
"two hours? How long have I been asleep?" "You have been asleep for a total of 170 hours." the computer said.
Great, so now I only have memories of about 4 weeks time and I spent most of it asleep. Just great.
"What's our estimated landing place? Display it on visual image".
At the command the computer created a 3D image with the projector of a city. It was a fairly large city with a huge castle near the northern side of the city. The city had a great deal of water surrounding it and a huge lake just behind the city.
"hold it. Are we going to land in the middle of a city?"
"Correct. Course cannot be altered due to damage to the steering wings."
"is there absolutely no way we can change our course? If we crash into that city headfirst with this speed we'll level it."
This is were I started telling you my story.
"Only one course of action possible."
"show it." I ordered the computer.
"The fuel tanks still have approximately 15 fuel left. If it were to come to an explosion it could alter the course of the pod by an angle of 38°."
"That should be enough to prevent us from crashing into the city right. Where will we land then? Simulate the image." On my command the computer simulated a landing line from the pod were I led the fuel explode halfway through and therefore avoid crashing into the city.
The image of where I landed however was not a pleasant one. According to the simulation I'd land in the middle of the lake.
"Computer what's the change of survival for this course of action?" I asked because this plan involved me being in a ship that would half explode first and then land face first in the water with a speed of a few thousand kilometers a second.
That would really hurt. I felt a strange tingle as there was a spiral of light going over my body.
"Change of survival is 67" the computer said after having researched my body with the scan.
"Alright then" I said. "67 is pretty high for something like that. But how am I supposed to get out of the pod in the water?"
"with the weight of the pod approximately 4.6 tons this ship will sink to the bottom of the lake in 4 minutes. The pressure will be high enough to crush a human body in 35 seconds. The pressure will be to great for the pods door after 15 seconds. Recommended course of action is to jump from the ship before crashing into the water."
'Great. Just great. Not only did I have to do a kamikaze with this pod to prevent it from leveling a city I also had to jump the ship before it hit the water. And that was only getting to the planet. I still had to get to land, get some food and manage to survive.' I thought
"how long will the time frame be between exploding the fuel and crashing into the lake?" I asked the computer
"time between combustion of fuel and crashing into the lake will be 15 seconds. However after the fuel tank is destroyed all automatic functions of this ship will stop. Emergence hedge cannot be opened automatically."
"So now I have to open the hatch manually as well. Any other problems computer?"
"Negative. Although a change of clothes to match this planet's current civilization is recommended"
"Do you have any recommendations for that computer"
"no. this system is not programmed with clothing recommendations."
After thinking it over for a minute I had an idea.
"Computer, do you have access to the Battle Simulator character files?"
"affirmative. This system has a direct connection to the Batle Simulator data base." The reply was just what I wanted to hear.
"good. Then show me an image of the armor of customary character Lucifer Allheart. Placed on my body."
At once the image of the city disappeared and showed my body wearing a real live version of the armor I wore in the Battle Simulator.
"doesn't look to bad. Replace my current clothing with the outfit displayed in this image."
After that I was surrounded by light again only this time I lasted longer. It surrounded my entire body and I felt a sudden chill and then a strange warmth again. When the light was gone I was in a completely different outfit.
I looked at myself quite pleased. I was in a black suit from neck to toes. It was fitting perfectly to my body, almost like a second skin. On my lower arms and legs were pieces of armor as well as on my torso. Although the armor wasn't thick or heavy at all it still looked pretty strong. More then capable of tacking a hit, that much was certain.
I had a katana lying on my lap, there was nothing special about it. It wasn't really heavy or light. It was weighing about 1.5kg and looked easy enough to handle. After unsheathing it I saw that the weapon was just plain sharp. It looked like it could cut through anything in a single strike.
My mouth and nose were both held behind a small mask that prevented me from breathing normally. The mask was also a part of my suit. I had to get used to it I guess. My silvery hair was not hindered or bound at all so it could just fall however it liked. Most of it fell downwards behind my ears but a few locks still fell in front of my eyes although most of it was not long enough to reach my eyes.
After carefully looking I discovered that I had more weapons then I thought. Despite my armor being as light as it is, both of my arm and both of my leg protection pieces had hidden daggers in then.
Each about three quarters or an arm in length. They were placed so that they would be easily pulled out by me yet very hard to see for an opponent. 'I sure made this armor with precision when I still had my memories.' I thought. 'This thing is perfect for battle. I can block any kind of attack, my movements aren't hindered by it and it had good emergency weapons. Seems a little much for a Battle Simulator.'
I pulled down the mask to make it easier to breath for myself. I still had some time left before things turned into total hell. I decided to rehearse the timing for realizing the shaft when I'd crash onto the planet.
An hour later the pod bursted into flames as the fuel exploded and the action began.
Hope you enjoyed it. If you did please revieuw.
