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Chapter 16 - Major Returns

  Construction

  of Phoenix had been going well. The

  basement level was being expanded north to make room for more new

  housing. Since Orion’s

  bunker was too small to reach the

  basement floor, a

  mound of dirt still supporting the bottom,

  the decision was made to make him a brand new home. It had

  been unanimously agreed to have

  the Director move into the Municipal

  Center as he was the colony founder. The colonists moved Orion’s

  belongings into one of the newly built apartments while Random and

  his helpers dismantled the crude domicile. Orion initially refused,

  not wanting to take a place while there were still unhoused

  colonists, but everyone insisted.

  Orion

  felt a twinge of regret seeing the house he built destroyed

  and felt awkward about having a bigger

  place built for him. He didn’t feel like he was important enough to

  get some big hoity-toity mansion

  when everyone else was living in apartments. He expressed as much,

  but Random wouldn’t hear of it.

   Hive

  needs a Queen
, Random explained in

  his dance language. Queen needs

  home that inspires people. It’s a symbol. Makes

  people feel secure that someone powerful is ruling them.

  Orion

  was about to correct Random when Apus spoke to him through their

  mental connection. ‘He’s not misgendering you. Queen is a gender

  neutral title for the ruling class in the Hiver language,’ Apus

  assured him. ‘The translators can only do much when dealing with

  interpretive dance.’

  ‘Good

  to know,’ Orion thought back. Out loud he said, “I don’t want

  to rule! I just want to build a place for all of you to live where

  you can be safe and happy!”

  Random

  shook his butt in response,

  That makes you good Queen.

  Orion

  gave up and went looking for Slate. He found the Grey on the surface

  near the crater, repairing the bridge archway. Slate had gotten

  skilled with the MUT, and was using scrap metal to fill the missing

  slats and broken cables in the walkway.

  “Whatcha

  working on?” asked Orion.

  Slate

  looked up, “Hello Orion. Just trying to fix the path to the mining

  rig. There’s a lot of supplies over there. Plus, if we keep

  expanding we’re going to need more than the generators to keep the

  lights on. That drill there runs on solar panels. If we can get the

  crafting recipes, we can start making a solar farm to bring in more

  power.”

  “Just

  you?” Orion asked, “Couldn’t you recruit some help?”

  Slate

  shrugged dismissively, “They have no reason to trust me, let alone

  help me. I was their warden, the one keeping them imprisoned. I was

  the enemy.”

  “Surely

  not everyone thinks that way,” suggested Orion. “This is a smart

  bunch, they know you were just doing your job. You don’t strike me

  as having been particularly cruel, either.”

  Slate

  stopped and stared at Orion, “Of course I wasn’t cruel! Our job

  is to rehabilitate people back into society. What kind of monstrous

  prison system would be cruel to the inmates?”

  Orion

  folded his arms and stared into the distance, “A corrupt one. I’ve

  seen it happen. I’m glad things are better here.”

  Slate

  shook his head with bewilderment, “Things must be really bad beyond

  the Gate.”

  “They

  are,” Orion agreed.

  They

  shared an uncomfortable silence and watched the courtyard down below.

  Queebeax had upgraded the BioSuit replicators so there was a flurry

  of activity below. Orion tried to recall their names, having welcomed

  most of the new colonists personally.

  Max

  was training his Jrassk ward Ssteev and the new Terran cadet Wynn,

  both of them taking turns shooting rifles at Todd. The Jrassk tagger

  Pteryx was adding a mural on the side of the base, one featuring a

  phoenix that looked like Apus. A younger man named Avin was checking

  traps, the hawk headed Kreelux having asked Orion for tips on

  becoming a warden.

  “We’ll

  make things better here,” Orion promised.

  There

  was a terrified squeal as a ratillac drove past them, fleeing from

  the direction of the mining rig. Then another, and another. Both men

  turned to see a tiny, furry

  drag race barreling through them. Beyond them the sky was starting to

  darken as roiling black clouds started to fill the horizon.

  Slate

  frowned, “About a week since the last one. How long was the one

  before that?”

  “Not

  sure. I died during it, and it was gone when I respawned. But I can’t

  be sure of the time in between.” Orion replied.

  “Hmm,

  Pewter, make a note of the time,” Slate ordered.

  Pewter

  appeared, “Time of storm recorded, Sir.”

  Orion

  asked, “You think there’s a pattern?”

  “I

  think we don’t know enough about this planet.” Slate picked his

  way down the hill. “But

  more than that I think we need to get these people safely indoors.”

  Orion

  turned to follow, “That we agree on.”

  Orion

  opened his HUD and pulled up the Colony Management window. He hit the

  chat feature and started a video call with everyone on the Phoenix

  channel. He could see HUDs pop up for Slate and the colonists below.

  “This

  is Director Starbeard. A sandstorm is coming. All personnel need to

  get indoors immediately. This is not a drill, these storms are

  deadly. I am speaking from experience. I repeat: All personnel needs

  to get indoors Immediately.”

  Orion

  closed the window, “Apus, could you do a sweep of the perimeter.

  Make sure there are no stragglers or people sneaking in a nap above

  ground?”

  Apus

  poofed into existence on his shoulder. “Right away, Sir.” The

  phoenix spread his wings and flew down the hill. He circled each

  person, repeating the announcement before flying off to check the

  hangars, the outhouse, and even the graveyard.

  By

  the time the two colony leaders reached the base, the courtyard was

  clear. They stepped inside as the others were removing their suits,

  which Slate moved to do also. Apus appeared on Orion’s shoulder

  with a flash of digital flame.

  “All

  colonists are safe and accounted for,” the phoenix reported.

  “Rad!”

  Orion clapped his hands, “Good hustle everyone! We’ll have to

  remain indoors until this passes. Last one kept going all night, so

  take the rest of the day off.”

  Orion

  made the rounds to let everyone else know that the rest of the day

  was a kind of impromptu holiday. People were laughing about the

  precautions, joking about ‘how bad could it be?’ right up until

  the first bolt of lightning crashed in the distance, loud

  enough to be heard underground. When one

  of the volunteer gardeners saw

  sand whipping around through the greenhouse ceiling, a small crowd

  gathered to watch.

  Before

  long the sandstorm was scouring the surface above, but the greenhouse

  ceiling held, keeping the crops and people inside safe. That was

  enough to convince everyone to stay inside. With nothing better to

  do, the gathered citizens dispersed to take a well deserved rest.

  Pretty soon everyone was calling it a

  Sand Day, and went off to relax and wait out the storm.

  Pyro

  stopped Orion as he made

  his rounds, the

  blacksmith waving him into the shop.

  There he presented a table covered with a cloth that obscured two

  items. He flicked the cloth away with a flourish, revealing

  a hammer and pick.

  Sunflare

  had been drastically changed but was immediately recognizable. The

  battle sledge had been streamlined, smaller and rounded face instead

  of a block of metal. The stairs on the back had been turned into a

  two pronged claw. The handle was a long piece of blue wood. The LED

  lights still created a fire pattern, but now it looked almost like a

  living flame.

  The

  pick was a mattock, with a sharp pick

  for breaking rock on one end, and a chisel for digging on the other.

  The handle was made of polished blue wood capped with an Orgite knob

  for adding mods. Near the bottom of both items was an engraving of

  the constellation Orion.

  Orion

  brushed his hand across the logo and

  gave Pyro a questioning look. “How did

  you know?”

  Pyro

  shrugged nonchalantly.

  “I wanted a logo that suited you, so I

  looked up Orion in the CODEX. Apparently it’s a constellation from

  Terra. Orion the Hunter, it seemed fitting.”

  “These

  are beautiful. Thank you!” Orion said as he added them to his

  inventory.

  “Stronger

  too,” Pyro nodded, “You just keep an eye on their durability and

  I can repair them when they get low.”

  “I

  definitely will,” he promised.

  Orion

  turned to leave and almost ran face first into Prof. Queebeax. The

  goofy pigeon face grinned at him. “There you are! No time to waste,

  you’re late for your appointment.” Queebeax turned to waddle to

  his shoppe.

  Confused,

  Orion followed. “I didn’t make an appointment with you.”

  “Of

  course not!” Queebeax said cheerfully. “I made the appointment

  for you. Much more efficient that way, don’tcha know?”

  Inside

  the Shoppe, there was no showmanship or razzle dazzle. The Pocket

  Nuke was just on a table with the guard shotgun propped against it.

  The shotgun looked like it had been modified,

  with a new handle and an improved barrel setup. The Pocket Nuke

  looked unchanged.

  “I

  gave your shotgun a bit more oomph. Should

  do well in close combat.” Queebeax rooted through shelves as he

  talked. “Really clear out the sinuses, hoo hoo hoo! Wasn’t able

  to do much for the hand cannon, I’m afraid. Couldn't even download

  the recipe. No recipe, no modifications.”

  “That’s

  disappointing,” said Orion. “So you weren’t able to upgrade it?

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Up-”

  The prof stopped what he was doing and stared at Orion. “Upgrade?

  Son, do you realize what you have there? That weapon is of Legendary

  quality! Even if I could work on it there’d be nothing to improve.

  If anything, it’s too dangerous!”

  Orion

  stepped back from it, “Dangerous how?”

  Queebeax

  walked over and tapped the battery casing, “There’s a flaw in the

  power storage. If this gun fires for too long, the battery will go

  critical and will create a giant explosion, destroying the Pocket

  Nuke and anyone within range of the blast radius.”

  Orion

  watched the gun nervously, “How long does it need to fire before

  going critical?”

  “No

  way to test it,” Queebeax replied.

  “There does seem to be an early

  warning system in place. If there's any flashing lights or warning

  bells I’d immediately switch weapons.”

  “Right.

  I appreciate the help, Professor!” Orion tucked both guns into his

  weapon wheel.

  “You’re

  quite welcome!” Queebeax beamed, “Oh!

  There it is!

  I knew I set it somewhere.”

  The

  Kreelux walked past Orion and brushed aside a sandwich and model

  rattilac skeleton. Queebeax dislodged a

  white box with a green cross on it, knocking

  over a broom handle with copper parts lashed to it with wires. He

  ignored the clatter and walked over to Orion.

  “This

  is why I brought you here. Have a seat and take off your peg leg,”

  the Professor instructed. “Then just press the button in the

  center.”

  Orion sat on an uncluttered chair and stored mentally stored the

  prosthetic in his inventory. Queebeax handed him the box and stepped

  back. It looked like his repair kits, but his implants were working.

  Not about to question the eccentric professor, Orion and tapped the

  cross.

  The

  box literally exploded in his hand, turning into a flurry of tiny

  white drones with little arms. They flew down to Orion’s stump and

  started spinning around it in a flurry of green light. Holographic

  green crosses bubbled up and Orion saw his leg repair itself. In less

  than a minute an unmarred hoof was dangling at the end of a fully

  regenerated leg. The drones dissipated in a twinkle of green light

  and vanished.

  “Oh

  wow! I didn’t know they had healing packs in ga-“ Orion stopped

  himself, “-in crafting menus.”

  “Oh

  I can’t make those, no, no,” the Prof corrected. “Not with my

  trades, anyway. There were some emergency health kits in the med bay.

  You know, we really need a dedicated healer.“

  There

  was a sparking noise. Both men looked down as the newly reformed leg

  started to glitch out. The blue skin started to pixilate and flash

  red, popping out of existence with a staticy sound. Eventually all

  that was left was the strange stump once again.

  Prof.

  Queebeax lifted his goggles again and crouched down, examining the

  leg. “No, no, no, no that’s not right,” he muttered. Standing

  again the Professor flipped through some notebooks. “Possibly a

  teleportation error? Something to do with the Gates? Or maybe we just

  need a specialist…”

  Orion

  equipped his peg again and stood, “It is what it is. Thanks for

  trying, Professor.”

  Queebeax

  glanced at the leg with a determined glint In his wild eyes. He

  stroked his chin. “I’m

  not done trying yet. No, not by a long shot. But for now, maybe I can

  make some improvements on that leg.”

  “It’s

  a nice thought, but the

  prosthetic vanishes every time I

  respawn.” Orion shrugged, “My implant breaks too, but I’m able

  to repair that at least.”

  “Then

  I’ll prepare spares!” Queebeax said with an exasperated sigh,

  “You young people always refuse to ask for help. Not me, though.”

  A

  HUD notification popped up in front of Orion’s eyes.

  [New

  Mission Available!: What’s Up, Doc?

  Prof.

  Queebeax has requested that you repair the Med Bay. Doing so will

  give you access to healing stations and curative items.

  Reward:

  250 Colony XP

  +1

  Colony Leader

  Accept?

  Y/N?]

  Orion

  was surprised. He’d had some offhanded requests but this was the

  first official mission someone had given him. He accepted

  immediately, it was a good idea and the reward was impressive.

  “Good,”

  Queebeax sniffed indignantly. He nodded at Orion’s prosthetic,

  “I’ll keep working on that as well, hoo hoo.”

  “I’m

  not the priority Professor Queebeax.” Orion stood, “I’m a

  survivor, remember. If you can think of any other missions to help

  Phoenix grow, then hit me up.”

  Orion

  found himself fixing up the Med Bay. He tried to relax with some vids

  on his HUD but he grew too restless. Something about having a

  critical mission hanging over his head got his gamer blood pumping.

  So he was following Apus’s instructions to make repairs step by

  step.

  Pink

  headphones on and jamming out to a Punk playlist, Orion was bopping

  and swaying along as he worked. The MUT did most of the work and he

  only needed to pause for repair minigames. Which is why he didn’t

  notice anyone walk up until they leaned

  into the periphery of his vision.

  It

  was the guard captain who’d taken

  potshots at him! His mouth was moving

  but Orion didn’t hear the words over the music. Begrudgingly, he

  pulled his headphones off and gave the

  solider his full attention. The man

  stood at

  attention, his guard uniform pressed and immaculate. He wore a

  chestnut colored bomber jacket with a

  Galactic Navy patch on both biceps.

  “Come

  to finish me off, cowboy?” Orion’s disdain was palpable.

  The

  Terran cleared his throat. “I came by

  to offer an official apology. The whole colony was under attack when

  I threw myself in stasis and I was on high alert. But it was careless

  and you got hurt as a result. I’m sorry.”

  Orion

  and Apus exchanged glances. They had a little internal discussion and

  Orion crossed his arms and leaned back on the computer console he was

  repairing.

  “So,

  why did it take you so long to apologize?” Orion pressed.

  “Honestly?”

  He

  answered, “I’m intimidated by you.”

  Orion

  was genuinely surprised, dropping his arms. “By me?

  Why?”

  Counting

  on his fingers he said, “One: You’re

  seven feet tall and built like a battleship. Two: You shook off three

  plasma blasts to the chest like it was nothing. Three: You’re

  technically my boss. Four: You-“

  Orion

  threw his hands up in surrender, “Okay, okay, I get it! You had no

  way of expecting someone who looks like me to be wandering through

  the halls. You were just trying to protect your people. Our people. I

  saw how you shouted ‘Get Down’ before taking the shot. Apology

  accepted.”

  Breathing

  a sigh of relief he

  snapped off a crisp salute, “Thank you, Sir! Captain Max

  Thrustar reporting for duty.”

  “All

  right, none of that. I’m not planning on running this place like a

  military base.” Orion chuckled, “I know how to operate a company

  and that’s it. I’ll be depending on you for advice in defense.

  You requested an armory and training room, right? Send me an official

  mission and I’ll get on it as soon as the Med Bay is done.”

  “Yes,

  Director.” Max sent the missions prompt.

  Orion’s

  HUD flashed open with the two missions and he accepted both. Good

  rewards on these too. More trained guards and better access to

  weapons, on top of raising colony experience.

  “It’s

  Orion. I’m serious.” He

  put on his most intimidating glower. “I

  will court martial you, Thrustar.”

  The

  Captain relaxed, “Then, it’s just

  Max to you. It will be good working with you, Orion.”

  “Much

  better.” Orion thought for a moment,

  “You were

  really that intimidated by me?”

  Max

  shrugged. “You are pretty scary.”

  “I

  am not,” protested Orion.

   Mr.

  Starbeard? An animal just entered the stables.


  Neesya psychically projected to him.

  “Excuse

  me, it’s Neesya.” Orion tried to think back at the Astropod, Can

  you show me on the Colony HUD?


  A

  chat invite notification popped up on his screen and he accepted it.

  The scene that appeared was concerning. The stable was a large space

  open to the outside by a covered ramp. In order to keep Phoenix’s

  lower level safe, blast windows sealed the outside air off from the

  rest of the colony. Animals could still still access the stables,

  even during the storm. No one had thought to seal off the room.

  Something

  had gotten in. Two large, black

  bodies stalked the stables,

  dust swirling chaotically around them. The bigger animal reared up

  and scratched at the window with huge clawed paws. Unable to make a

  dent, it pressed its face against the glass and whined. A

  black furred face with a metallic skull with four eyes snarled

  against the window.

  “MY

  SON!” Orion shouted, startling Max. To Neesya he projected, Seal

  the room, I’ll be right down. Can you expand the display window and

  press it to the glass?


  She

  did so and his perspective changed. He saw the scared look in his

  companion’s eyes and he cooed at him. Max’s mouth dropped open as

  Orion’s voice became saccharine sweet.

  “Hey

  Major! You’re going to be okay. Daddy’s coming, just sit tight

  and let the nice lady seal the stables.” Orion was already on the

  move, ignoring Max who had fallen in line behind him. “You’re

  scaring everyone. I’ll be right down to let you in and make you

  some food. How does that sound?”

  The

  panicked cyworg whined but sat back. The shadowy partner lay down

  next to him.

  “Neesya

  if you can hear me, close the stables

  hatch and start decontamination. That’s my warden companion Major

  Canis. He won’t hurt anyone.” Orion took

  the stairs down two at a time. “But for everyone’s peace of mind,

  keep the doors

  locked till I get there. He’s probably hurt and scared from being

  out in the sandstorm.”

  Neesya

  cut the feed, Yes,

  Mr. Starbeard.


  Max

  kept up with Orion’s frantic pace with

  ease. “That monster is your pet?”

  “He’s

  not a monster! Or my pet,” Orion protested.

  “He’s my partner. There’s a

  difference. I think. I haven’t really looked at the Packleader

  skill tree.”

  When

  they finally arrived, the entire colony was surrounding the stabled

  in a worried semicircle. The dust had settled and was slowly being

  sucked out just as fresh air was being pumped in. Major watched the

  crowd with a bored expression, yawning with a wide toothy maw. Major

  had all the regal disinterest of an apex predator that knew nothing

  here could threaten him. Slate was up against the window, talking

  reassuringly at the cyworg, but was mostly being ignored. When he

  spotted Orion, however, the shaggy beast started panting and wagging

  his tail excitedly.

  Orion

  stepped up next to Slate and pressed his nose to the glass. “There’s

  my good boy! There he is! Did you risk the storm to see Daddy? That

  was very silly.”

  There

  were confused murmurs at the Org’s baby talk. Most of them had seen

  how angry and violent the beast had been when it first arrived. And

  now their equally large and scary Director

  was talking to it like it was some newborn child.

  Neesya

  looked up from the stable monitor, The

  stables are safe to enter.


  Orion

  spread his arms, “Open the gates!”

  Several

  people took a step back. The blast windows opened with a tiny hiss

  and slid up into the ceiling. The only thing keeping the cyworg

  inside was a three foot high wall of wood and a waist-high door. And

  Orion threw that open wide and stepped inside.

  “Son,

  you’ve come home,” he said with a Godfather impression. “Come

  to Papa.”

  The

  cyworg was suddenly up and charging. Everyone except Max, Slate and

  the Menagerie fled screaming. The huge body of fur and metal collided

  with Orion

  and drove him to the ground. Much to everyone’s surprise, the

  terrifying skull split into a canine grin, licking Orion’s face

  with a bright blue tongue.

  The beefy warden

  was laughing and patting the thick neck.

  “I

  missed you too, buddy! You look like you’ve put a little weight

  on.” Orion playfully pushed him away and rolled to his feet. “Now,

  what was so important you risked the trip during a sandstorm?”

  The

  crowd started to filter back in as he walked toward the prone animal.

  Everyone’s gaze followed Orion as he knelt by the furry body in the

  center of the stable floor. It was clearly another cyworg, with cyber

  limbs and a padded saddle rising from her back. Four pink eyes

  watched the Org with a scared expression. Major clicked over and

  nudged the nervous canine with his muzzle.

  “Oooh,

  Major! You sly dog,” chuckled Orion. “Is this your girlfriend?”

  Major

  gave an autotuned ‘wurf’ in response and urged the smaller cyworg

  to their feet. She was smaller than Major, and very gravid, her

  swollen belly giving her some difficulty getting to her feet.

  Neesya

  and Orion “Aww’d” at the same time, the Astropod approaching

  the new animals without fear. Orion fawned over

  the heavily pregnant

  pupper, “Oh my god, she has puppies?”

  After

  some more encouragement, Major got her moving again. It was only when

  she started to limp that her right front paw was shredded, the

  cybernetic leg dripping blue blood and black oil.

  “Oh.

  My. God she’s injured!”

  Orion roared, angry spittle flecking off tusks.

  Behind

  him Max nudged Slate and whispered, “Scary, right? It’s not just

  me?”

  “It’s

  not just you, no,” Slate agreed grimly.

  The

  female cyworg flinched at the roar, and Major stepped in front of her

  protectively, growling synthetically. Orion slowly stepped forward

  and was surprised to see Neesya follow, moving

  past him toward the dogs. Orion cooed

  and spoke softly, and Neesya projected empathic waves of calmness to

  everyone in her radius. Major’s mate calmed down enough to let the

  large mollusk gently lift her, cradling her in a way that didn’t

  put pressure on her belly.

  Orion

  gave Major an apologetic scratch behind the ears, “I’m sorry I

  scared her, boy. Let’s go get Momma somewhere safe.”

  Orion

  started leading the way back towards the base. He flicked open his

  Colony HUD and went to the missions screen. Pulling up ‘What’s

  Up, Doc?’, he examined the window. Finding what he was looking for

  he tapped the ‘Share Mission’ button before swiping it away. He

  hustled toward the Med Bay to work on the repairs, mentally informing

  Neesya of his plans.

  Pyro

  glanced at Professor

  Queebex, coming to an unspoken agreement. They both pulled up their

  own HUDs and accepted the mission.

  A third window clipped through the Kreelux’s jetpack as Random

  joined the mission from inside his usual hiding spot. The three

  turned to head towards the Med bay.

  Slate

  watched the small procession pass and sighed, “Never

  a dull moment,” Slate opened his

  HUD and accepted the mission, following at a more leisurely pace.

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