AN: Regarding the chapter-length review. I'll try to write 5k length chapters, just don't complain if it takes weeks to post. Inspiration doesn't come quickly for me and I like to do research and double-check. I posted a short chapter because I know how curious people want to know what's next. A mistake in the previous chapter with the 0.5 km/h per AGI is now 1km/h.
And the Anonymous review about Gundam mechs, I might make a compromise with the flying mechs from Nier Automata, they are realistic and not overpowered. Also, I'm sorry about the lack of interacting scenes, I'm not good with that but I'll do my best.
Chapter 2: Gathering Power
John shakily put the tablet down after disconnecting from the call. He just spoke to a major Call of Duty villain.
They spoke of what he intended to do and John had discussed how he intended to introduce the new form of FTL. He couldn't demonstrate it himself and asked to remain anonymous until he was at least 18, he sent the blueprints for the Frame Shift Drive and the Hybrid FSD/Slipspace Drive but asked to only reveal the second one after a few years. John's only condition is to be part of the commentary to explain how it works and what it does with his voice scrambled. The whole test would be tested by an experienced fighter pilot from the UNSC or retired since the controls of the ship are just like it.
So the blueprints were sent and Irons said he'll get his people to start fabricating everything, then came what to fit the Drive to. John said he wanted a Diamondback Explorer, and sent him the designs saying it looked similar to a Pelican, thinking the UNSC might like the design as it was slightly bigger. 45m x 27.3m x 13.6 while the Pelican is 30.7 x 25.1 x 10. The main advantage is that it was capable of spaceflight and system to system travel, now with better thrusters to enter the atmosphere and leave it without using the FSD using hypersonic speeds, it can hold up to 60 tons of cargo and carry 80 tons, and has four weapon hardpoints, and can carry 50% more personnel than the Pelican. It could later be modified to have more weapon hardpoints or bigger weapon hardpoints. Most of all, the ship is cheap to make.
John shared designs of better mining methods using mining lasers, sub-surface missiles, and Seismic Charge launchers for deep core mining, limpets, and cheap detailed Mineral scanners. Along with several ships that could be used for mining such as the Type 9-Heavy to carry the tons of minerals and smaller faster ships to do the mining, and refineries to refine the ore on the spot.
Even Irons saw how superior it is to how the UNSC mined, they used bigger carriers or colony-type ships to tow asteroids and then mine them before bringing them down to the planet or station to be refined(This is what I think, correct me if I'm wrong). Though adding a carrier for all the mining ships to bring back near the mining site so they can continue mining instead of traveling up and down would save a lot of time. This could boost the economy, available resources, and the cost if a lot of people owned their own personal small to medium ships and sold what they mined, or if they worked for a mining company.
Then John asked if he would cause trouble as he did in his world, Irons seem to show genuine regret and said he accepted coming here to repent, then saying the UNSC is already what he intended to achieve in his world and there was no point since they would be fighting against extinction against aliens in a few years.
John agreed to join his company in R&D when he turned 15 after he finished his education at University. He decided to go for Computer Science, Technology, Robotics, and Biology.
He was hardly the first to attend University at a young age, as Doctor Halsey did at a similar age, but this would bring attention to him whether he liked it or not. So he was going to remove John from his name and only go by Niel Richards, with the help of Irons connections, no one would link him to his mother, he wouldn't be surprised if certain people(Read: ONI) tried to use her as leverage to join them.
"Waah! John don't go!" Parissa cried, refusing to let him go on the landing platform of the transport ship heading straight to Earth.
It was easy to forget, Parissa was still 10 years old, she is still a child.
John, no Niel grimaced at the thought of leaving his friend and mother, but he had no choice. When he graduated high school, his subjects focusing on technology and computers with honors at his age, he qualified for paid scholarship and transport to one of the best Universities on Earth, Harvard. Even after centuries, the place only got more famous and advanced. Atlas HQ is also on Earth, so it would be closer to his only contact that could manufacture his ideas.
"Rissa, I'll only be gone for five years." Even sooner when he can get his Diamondback Explorer after it goes through its test, he could move them to Earth where it's safe. Don't look at me like that, yes it gets attacked in the future but mostly in Africa and New Pheonix but it was unlikely to be as bad with the technologies he'll introduce.
After she had her fill. "You better do good smartypants, and bring back lots of presents for every birthday missed." Parissa knew how smart her friend is, the things he demonstrated made her head spin, but she was more of a girl of action so that didn't bother her.
"I'll do that."
Gladys was proud of her son, it wasn't long after they tested his IQ and compared it to before his seizure, to declare him a Savant. Those rare few people who go through some kind of life-threatening brain-related injury and come back changed, with extraordinary skills that normal people didn't have. This normally stunted them socially or had other drawbacks but John was lucky to be perfectly fine. His Savant seemed to allow his brain to adapt as he learns more complicated things and makes him smarter to compensate. The proof is the recent IQ test now showing 200, has improved since 150 from 2 years ago.
(If you don't know what Savants are, there are plenty of real-life documentaries on Youtube)
Niel saw her sadness and gave her a hug. "Mom, I'll be fine, Waypoint would soon be up here in Eridanus and I'll be in contact."(I know Waypoint is supposed to be invented just after the war, but this is a slower version and will be improved in time. )
"My little John grew up too fast, now you're already off to University at your age."
"Sorry Mom, but you know I can't sit still for years until I become a young man, it's better to study while I'm young."
"I know, I'll still miss you. You'll always be my little John."
His face turned red. "Mom! I'm not little anymore."
After his mother babying him a bit more, he let her, after all, he wasn't a kid forever, he left waving enthusiastically until he boarded the small transport Corvette.
The day before leaving, he finally used the rewards from his first major Quest.
The Store Credits. He explored the Store, the only thing that can be bought is knowledge(blueprints, technology, NPC AI's), skills, and Perks. There are, however, small physical items such as AI or NPC android characters such as from Nier: Automata.
Perks range from things such as increasing the learning speed of certain skills, Mental improvements such as Eidecet Memory, Photographic Memory, and Perfect Memory. The first two costs 100 credits each, but Perfect Memory needs both of them and costs another 1000. Even with my high IQ, my memory is not perfect, I can forget things. Others include a Danger Sense, Limited precognition(Bad feelings), better skill with weapons, and more, there's a lot more. Nothing overpowered since there's no magic.
I used the 5 Gacha Tokens before considering using my Store Credits in case I got something I would have bought and waste it.
[Perk: Natural Gunner][Skill: Mind Palace][1000 Store Credits][+10 INT][NPC Fluctlight Blueprint: Commander White]
February 2521: A 10-year-old child genius Niel Richards attends Harvard University, garnering plenty of interest, but is hardly the first to do so. Many expect him to do great things like many before him.
March 2521: Jonathan Irons of the Atlas Corporation announces in a press conference one of his best scientists had developed a faster form of FTL, more details would be explained when the Drive would be tested, recorded, and uploaded to the Net. When asked how it works, his only response is that it is similar to the Alcubierre Drive concept. The scientist who invented the Drive desired to remain anonymous for security reasons.
June 2521: The Spacecraft, slightly bigger than a Pelican named the Diamondback Explorer finishes flight tests and departs Atlas Spaceport to unveil what the now named Frame Shift Drive is capable of, starting with Supercruise in Sol and then a jump to Epsilon Eridani, 10.5 light-years away. The pilot is a former fighter pilot for the Navy now employed by Atlas.
David Mason was just your average Longsword pilot... who was he kidding, he was one of the best. He took part in battles against the Insurrection and has a kill count of just over a hundred enemy fighters, then he fell in love with a nurse from the shore leave he took from Earth and quit, and applied at Atlas, a recently PMC/Research/Mining company to be closer to home. After confirming with LOCALCOM of his leave, he controlled the ship to leave Earth.
Now he was going to be the first person to try a new form of FTL that was not slip-space. David was assured it was safe, countless tests have been done on the Drive. Oh, and he got the creator of the Drive patched in to provide commentary about how it works. In reality, it was a temporary AI, cloned from his brain with his full personality and memories.
Just as he left the Earth's atmosphere David started the conversation as instructed. "So who do I have the pleasure of talking to?"
A deep distorted voice spoke. "Unfortunately, due to safety concerns regarding myself, I can not disclose my real name but you may call me Adam. I am the inventor of the Frame Shift Drive, a new form of FTL we'll be testing shortly by you, David Mason."
"Nice, so how does it work?"
"Are you familiar with the Alcubierre Drive concept?"
"I am. Kinda."
"Good, I'll explain. What the Frame Shift Drive does is, rather than accelerating a ship through normal space, the Frame Shift Drive moves space around a ship to allow it to travel faster-than-light without using extreme amounts of energy or experiencing time distortion. This is similar in principle to the Alcubierre drive design. As you know, it is against the laws of physics to travel faster than light in real space, hence how slip-space came to be. The drive makes it possible by contracting space in front of it and expanding space behind it, resulting in effective faster-than-light travel without breaking the laws of physics. I think a demonstration is in order, I hope I didn't lose you, Lieutenant?"
"Yup you lost me, but I get the gist of it."
"Good, now you should see a button on your flight controls labeled Supercruise. Pressing it would power up the drive and enter Supercruise. Now I'll explain why the Frame Shift Drive is such a remarkable invention. With current technology, it still takes hours to travel the solar system with current sub-light engines, reaching speeds up to 0.1 C at most. Supercruise, is a secondary mode capable of reducing that time to minutes. Go ahead and activate supercruise and see what I mean."
David pressed the button and heard the Dumb-AI say Frame Shift Drive charging, with a holographic bar filling up. He braced himself as it began counting down, there was only a slight vibration through the ship and he didn't see anything different until he saw the holographic speedometer at 30km/s and rising.
"You wouldn't notice it, but the ship's thrusters are no longer pushing the ship forward, the Drive is. Now set course to Sol, our system's star. Before we head to pluto for a speed test and onto the main event."
What followed was David speed up to 1 C and headed towards the sun, speeding up to 10 C, using the supercruise assist the ship would slow down on its own and orbit the sun just outside its corona, but he still checked himself as the sun became larger. It took about 49 seconds to reach the sun, much to his shock, it could have gone faster, but it's generally safer to go at a speed that takes 30 seconds to a minute, to not crash into it by accident. He was even more surprised when the ship began refueling by absorbing and converting hydrogen from the star with a fuel scoop, that scooped hydrogen and converted it into useable fuel.
It all seemed to blur together until he flew past pluto and lined the ship up to the star Epsilon Eridani, 10.5 lightyears away, and activated Hyperspace as instructed.
Hyperspace is described as opening a small wormhole from one location to another, the exit location being distant gravity wells, ie. Stars. The shortcut reduces travel time to about 10-30 seconds depending on the distance.
Entering Hyperspace was a new experience, there was a strange screaming sound around the ship, no, in space even though sound can't be heard in space. Stars, gassy formations, and what looked like nebulae flew by, in front of him, a star grew bigger until a loud sound emitted from the drive and everything stopped. He very nearly screamed at how close the sun was before realizing it wasn't getting any closer.
"Holy shit! I just traveled 10 light-years in 10 seconds!"
The Frame Shift Drive test video was uploaded to Youtube and then shared with the UNSC and other technology companies.
CEO of Atlas Irons said in a press conference addressing concerns about the new drive. As much as a great invention it is, the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace engine is part of their history, and simply tossing it away seemed like a slap in the face to the great inventors.
Jonathan Irons calmed down the questions and protests after answering their questions.
Will the Frame Shift Drive replace Slipspace?
"No, it will not, the FSD, as fast as it is can only lock onto to stars, Slipspace on the other hand can go anywhere, I'm sure in time as Slipspace technology improves, we'll be using it hand in hand."
Who invented it?
"Unfortunately, the creator wants to remain anonymous, they work for my company, that's all I can say."
He answered a few more, and also some technical details. Such as the larger the vessel, up to Carrier sized, the FSD would be able to jump hundreds of light-years but would need Tritium as fuel. Though refinement technology is already available to convert water into Tritium.
2522: Hundreds of small to medium-sized spacecraft are manufactured and after debating their use, military or civilian, Atlas went to the UEG to appeal for Independent Pilots, allowing anyone to own their own spaceship if they can afford it, or if they pass the tests to get their license, started off with the cheap Sidewinders. Doing this would bring many resources in and boost the economy in the long term, however, there was a risk of Insurrectionist infiltrating and becoming future pirate threats, so extensive background checks would be done. The UEG approves the now named Independent Pilot Organization, they would be loyal to humanity and the UEG.
Atlas unveils compact Exoskeleton rigs that can boost the strength of the wearer by 5 and has compact boosters powered by a miniature fusion cell.
2523: 1km round Space stations and specialized landing pads are being constructed around Human space, the IPO has thousands of Pilots, and more is trying out, as doing this brings massive employment possibilities.
2524: Niel finishes his Master in Computer Science, Robotics, and Technology and is officially working for Atlas R&D as an assistant but with his own lab. Niel 'discovers' something that would change how people would view consciousness and the soul. Exosuits are now standard for all UNSC Marines and Army soldiers.
In Niel's provided Atlas Lab
14-year-old Niel was in the lab Jonathan provided him for his own personal research when he wasn't helping to assist in R&D, and boy were they cooking up amazing tech, the Titan mech from Titanfall was just developed but not revealed yet, it would be ready by the time the Covenant come. Meanwhile, he was developing something that could reduce casualties in the field by a lot.
That is Fluctlight research, from SAO. What Niel is trying to accomplish is to isolate the Fluctlight of a person into data that is updated real-time to backup storage, which can then be transferred into a new cloned body if he dies. However creating perfect clone bodies is beyond him for now, which is why he was going to study Biology. An alternative is transferring someone's 'soul' into a robotic or android body, to be sent into combat and if it dies, the soul would go back into the real body. That or make a full copy, but that comes with risks of the copy trying to kill the original and going crazy unless the person is strong-willed.
For now, Niel had created a virtual world and is about to add Commander White's Fluctlight to the generated terrain.
He watched her as she was confused about where she was, after a few minutes he set it so she can see him as well.
For some reason, she brightened up at the sight of him and smiled. Niel had a sense of foreboding and he was right when she uttered her next word.
"Father."
AN: Sorry, it's shorter than I promised, but I just felt like ending it here because I am at a loss at what to write next.