Voidhop - Chapter 4 - The Ship (Patreon)

“Coming up on the entry point,” Branx said into his mic. He got back a glitchy response that had him cycling to the boarding crew channel. “Check one, check two, sound off, I want the person farthest on my right to sound in before moving left! Check coms! I repeat check coms!”

With that, he was able to work out that the closer they got to the ancient vessel, the more difficulty they had sending messages between themselves. Branx eyeballed the distance. “Alright. Let’s estimate the degradation to be manageable. We’re going to continue but keep in mind this is happening!’ Branx pointedly looked to the Rookie. ‘Don’t freak out if you can’t contact another too quickly when we’re inside this old gal!”

“R-roger Captain!” squeaked the Rookie.

“Understood Branx,” said Shirel, touching down just after him on the side of the vessel. Branx glanced down at the armour.

“Looks like solid metal alloy. Deploy Mag attachments!” He then recalled that they had a rookie, “Oi Rookie! The icon in the bottom right of your visor will have an image of a metal boot! Focus on that to activate your mag boots so you don’t float off!”

Standing on the side of the ship he then watched as the rest of the crew alighted on the side. The Rookie must have freaked out about missing it… somehow, so he instead tackled the ship.

Branx grimaced as the kid led with his head before going flat against the ship. He eyed the Rookie. “Still conscious kid?”

“I’m fine!” the kid said as he scrambled to his feet only for the nearest of the boarding crew grabbed him before he kicked himself off the ship and back into space.

Branx frowned. “Don’t lead with your face next time,” he said as he knelt and punched his hand into the metal only for nothing to happen. Not even a shock of pain. His hand merely hit. And nothing. He pushed against it. He stood and when he spoke he made sure that his smirk carried with his words “Shirel armour has a kinetic absorption feature I think? Reckon that just tripled the value. Wouldn’t you say? If its rated high enough for fighting it might be worth more!”

She whistled over the comms line and tapped it herself with a knuckle before nodding in agreement. Branx knew her well enough to know that meant she was scowling but pleased. He really wished he had a live feed of her face right now. He paused and thought about that for a moment. Then again… Maybe not. Shirel was ugly on a good day by most people’s standards. He didn’t need a close up feed of her face.

“Set up in teams of three or four in case any critters are still alive in there,” Branx said, getting acknowledgements back as half the team tried to shift towards Shirel while the Rookie moved to him. Branx whistled and gestured at any that turned their heads. “Pinkie, Greenie, and… the short one! You’re with me!” He ordered before leading the crew to a section under the carapace, like armour on top of the ship, and towards its belly. As he dipped under the shell he caught sight of a few points that looked promising as entry points.

“Alright, so we have here a standard circle sphincter type door.”

The rookie giggled, and Branx rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, very funny. I’m gonna tickle it now.” That got more giggles before Branx slapped a circular laser saw that expanded out over the middle point. “This might take a while, so settle in gentle beings and Shirel”.

The arm distended and spun up with a red light flashing in a quickly accelerating sequence. Branx hunkered down and put his hand against a blue section of the hull. Just as the laser was about to fire, the door opened, causing the laser to detach as the door smashed it against the frame. It spun past the Rookie causing him to yelp and duck his head. The Laser continued to spin off into space. Branx watched it for a moment. “Void take it! Shirel I think we might have something still alive in there!” He laid flat on the hull, his heart and glurch pouch thumping away in fright.

Shirel who had flattened herself behind one of her group's members, leaned around them and twitched her tentacles. “You think Branx?”

Branx crawled forward and peeked over the lip of the door. “Huh… maybe not? Or else this means…” He tilted his head. “Looks like we’re being invited in?”

“Like a Blusher in a Denmother’s nest. I don’t like this Branx it’s gotta be a trap.”

“You don’t like anything Shirel! We can’t leave something like this. Everyone stick to your teams and get your heads or torso on swivels!” He then flipped into the ship and lifted his fist to shine a light forward. “Hallway is clear!”

“Did you just!? Branx you crazy moron!” Shirel followed him seconds later with her pistol raised and eyes rolling in their sockets as they took in everything. Branx was likewise looking around.

He knelt and rubbed the floor, intrigued by the delicate symbols that appeared to have been etched into the metal.

Lines of blue and gold wove themselves through the bronze floor in a repeating pattern that was oddly pleasing to the eye. The walls likewise held patterns, with some of them holding small depictions of the purpose of the area. Notably, the roof was a good two metres taller than it would need to be for Branx.

“So the old ones were tall fuckers that liked swanky ships eh?” Branx said as he continued to search the entry point.

A few more of the crew slipped in as Branx moved forward. Branx tapped the depiction etched into the wall that was just above his head. “This seems like an entry point for void access to do checks on the hull? He eyed the distant door.” Interesting that there’s such a long pressure room. He stepped forward and continued to eye the wall where more and more etchings along with what looked like buttons were laid out at his head height. “There seems to be a way to make the armour close over the—” Just as he said it, the last of the crew entered the room. Instantly, the door shut, and Branx felt something flow into the room.

Air? He thought to himself as he checked his encap system. It was reading breathable air.

“Capta—” a hail from their ship instantly failed to get through.

Branx rubbed his chin. “Alright, there’s some signs of life. The question is if it’s the crew, someone else, or the ship itself?”

“Sir?! Any chance you’ve found which way to the bathrooms?” said the Rookie over open coms. Branx shut his eyes and sighed, making sure not to breathe in through his nose on the inhale.

“Nope kid, gonna have to get used to the feeling for a while. Shirel you should put your gun away. You’re not sending out the most friendly of vibes by waving it around.” Indicating the gun she was brandishing about every which way. Then he gave a pointed look to the others who had copied her.

“What do I care if I look unfriendly?” She leered at the dark hallway as if daring it to try her with her cheap pistol.

“Yeah, cause soy sauce brings more people to the table than a good brew? We need something that makes people want to come to us, so put the gun away for now.”

Shirel slowly did so, leaving the clasp that secured her weapon unlatched.

Branx nodded and turned to the rest of the hallway, waiting to see if there was anything new now that they weren’t touting their weapons. The fancy halls with their glittering lattice-framed signage in blue remained the same.

Slowly panning a light around the area led him to a smaller upright rectangle with a sign that Branx thought might possibly mean… He tapped it with a finger and the group startled, whipping out their guns once more as the lights of the hall came on. “Huh power’s still working, that’s a damn good sign,” he said before raising his eyebrow at the crew. “You’re all jumpier than a Roobyros. Get it together.”

He turned, licking his lips. He was rather glad that his species sweat from their backs more than their faces like the others. It didn’t matter that his undershirt was a damn swamp. The crew only saw him being cool and collected thanks to his fleather jacket.

“On me.” He gestured down the hallway, taking point to lead his group of four.

The Rookie took the rear was probably the best spot for him. Branx didn’t want him behind him due to the risk of the kid shooting him from nerves and the twitchy way he looked around might make it harder for anything to sneak up on their group. When they reached the door Branx inspected the wall before tapping a button. The door opened to reveal an intersection, and Branx keyed his com unit. “Testing, testing. Shirel you still hearing me?”

“Oh how I wish I wasn’t,” came the reply.

Branx snorted into his mic before nodding. “Good we got a com link between us still. We’ll make a sweep forward. The line still clean?”

“Comm line is clean, we’ll follow now to the doorway you’re at.”

Branx glanced down the intersection. The hallway branched into three other halls. Roughly five meters up each hallway, doors stood on either side. Branx hummed thoughtfully at how the two side hallways swung around in curving arcs that cut back on either side of his route. He looked down and watched the hall as Shirel approached.

It was a perfect killing field for the defenders, with points for them to pop out of. There was also the way the walls had been built to act as barriers. Branx eyed the icons on the side. He found an interesting little pictogram but decided not to push it. The crew was jumpy enough, and it might be a nice little trick for later. Also, he might have a small chance of being wrong about what it was.

Shirel reached him, and he raised two fingers, “Two people to go up to each door and open them. Report what they see, and then we progress.” He eyed the third route that lead towards a hatch in the floor. Branx suspected it would be a hatch for defenders to pop out of, along with leading to deeper parts of the ship. He flicked his eyes up and corrected his previous thoughts. The roof also had a small bulbous hatch that blended in rather well.

The wall likely had a ladder in it but if the ship didn’t have an active gravity engine then people would be able to float through them without issue. It just strengthened the idea of this point being a killing field for defenders. Branx rubbed his chin. There had been two other possible entry points. Did all of them have similarly elaborate set ups? He eyed the hallways. How many men would that mean were needed to hold this position? Ten? Twenty tops? He mentally noted that down for later consideration.

Shirel led the Bosun up to a door on the left. She tapped a hand along the door as Branx watched from behind them. It took a moment, but the door eventually swished open with a barely audible hiss.

“Looks like a small bunk house,” Shirel reported.

Branx hummed and pointed at two other crewmen before pointing to the hall on the right as Shirel swept the room. The two crew members fumbled at the door, taking long enough for Shirel to finish her sweep. She spotted their antics before sighing. “Small circle on the left side of the door. Touch your digit to it and sweep it to the right to open the door.” Branx glanced at the door closest to himself, spotting the blue marker that Shirel had mentioned. Weird that she hadn’t mentioned it being blue. In fact now that he looked it was almost easy to were buttons were. The etchings all had blue around what might be buttons.

The two quickly had the door open, but bumped into each other as they each tried to enter. Branx gave Shirel another incredulous look before turning back. The bigger one pushed the smaller one out of the way.. The smaller one scrambled back onto his feet.

“Urgh? It’s a room with empty shelves?”

"Idiot, it has gun holders. Empty ones! It’s a small armoury… Huh turns out the hall we just walked down has a oneway glux that lets people on this side look out to where people are! I see everyone!”

Branx nodded before looking at Shirel. Her doorway hadn’t run along the hall.

He commed the pair to check the other side before nodding to Shirel to inspect the opposite room. They quickly confirmed his suspicions of mirrored rooms. He signaled another crewman. “Get out a datapad, take pictures, and bring up a simple sketch program to attach them to. I want a map with both teams documenting what they encounter. Shirel, you go down this right passage to the back of the ship. I’m going to the front.” With orders given, he gave a final glance towards the hall with the ladderway he hadn’t explored. He resolved to check them over later.

He walked along the left hall, hugging the right side. It might impair his firing line with how the hallway curved along, but it also wouldn’t put him as the first target. He didn’t let his thoughts show as he continued to stride down the bronze hallway. When they came to doors, he messaged the other team, informing them of each search before it happened.

He alternated who went first into each room so as to not grow any resentment, but he doubted the others with him noticed the small pictograms that he was quickly learning to identify. The Rookie seemed amazed that he could work out how to open the doors so quickly.

Branx merely grinned and said. “Guess I got good eyes.” He then turned away and smirked.

Dulophants as a species were known for being good at being rolly, and thick-skinned. Not many people remembered they had a greater sensitivity to the blue light spectrum… or something like that. For now it meant he looked good in front of the crew and that was enough for him.

They found a large recreational area first with symbols for two beings leaning on tables with small items that Branx thought might have been cards or drinks in their hands. It was a large room with lounges set up with a deeper doorway that Branx declined to go through. Instead sticking to the outer hall that hugged the outside of the ship.

The recreational room led to a room with tables and what looked like data terminals. He’d heard of places like this. Data-repositories. At least he thought they might have been. He’d never gotten into anything bigger than a community cubicle for his learning growing up. Apparently, rich planets had entire buildings for the ‘public’ to tour and learn from. Branx had even heard rumours that the best planets didn’t charge people to enter. They sounded like crazy places of people’s, particularly nerdy types, dreams. Branx doubted they existed, especiallynot on a megacorporation planet.

The wall of thick, almost brick-like towers were possibly databanks. A few of them were obviously destroyed by what Branx thought was blaster fire.

This room alone made Branx scale up the value of the ship. It was more than a simple troop transport or a cruiser. It had a room set aside just for learning in. That meant something. He waved the crew out before frowning at another door leading further into the ship. The outer hall was good, but so far the passages had been rather form-functional to Branx. It made the most sense then that instead of just having an outer hall there also had to be a— He opened the door and grinned as he saw a new, more central hallway. If he remembered the size of the ship well enough, this would cut through the middle nearly perfectly.

“Come on, let’s keep going forward.” He marched on and felt something very much like excitement bubbling up as he saw more doors spaced out closely. He slid a few doors open. The rooms were empty, but Branx could already see what they were. The officer, or more important crew quarters. He found two doors, one had a bronze marker on it with the ship printed on it while the other had a golden star on it. He opened both.

He whistled at the spacious setting for both. “Damn, the captain and the second-in-command for these ships lived it up!” he said over comms.

“Wait you found the captain’s quarters? That makes no sense! You said you were close to the front of the ship!” Shirel squawked.

“Yup! I don’t think this ship follows our standards for design though. If these quarters are up here then…” He trailed off as his eyes locked on the final door at the end of the hall. Unlike the other doors, this one had a double door set up, making it wider for more traffic. He activated both doors. They hissed out like the others, but unlike the others, they made Branx break out into the biggest grin of his life.

Long, curved benches with chairs that sat in front of a number of different terminals littered the room at various points. Branx could already see it in his mind as if it were filled with the crew. To the rear, a wall with screens would serve for the navigators and spotters. They’d sit there as the true eyes and ears of the ship. The front had the weapons and communications crewmen. The second-in-command’s chair had a lowered chair to the side.

This allowed for a beautiful central chair.

It was a seat that was part throne, part command centre, and all authority to hold the room. It was the brain and heart of the ship.

The captain’s chair.

Branx strode up to it and ran his hand over it. Noting the icons that were cleverly hidden. To the others, it must have looked like the chair resized itself specifically for his girth. In reality, as he moved around it, Branx ran a caressing hand over the top with his right. His left toggled the chair’s buttons also painted in blue.

His team stared on as he stepped around the chair, graceful as he’d ever been but feeling this moment more intensely than any other. No date with Trix or winning a bet on a pro, or amateur racer had ever felt like this.

He inhaled, drawing in the processed air as his body sank into the chair. It felt more right than anything else he’d ever done. No chair in all his life, now or forever more would welcome his backside like this chair. He could sit in this chair for the rest of his life and know it was a life well spent.

It didn’t matter that he’d set the chair to fit him. He knew then and there that he belonged in this chair. He grinned and rested his hand on either side.

He must have activated another system as the forward screen turned from bronze to a shimmering yellow before resolving into a view of the void herself. Branx had thought himself in love with Trix. The girl was a great gal. She put up with him and even gave him freebies on occasion. He’d known her for years at this point.

But this?

This Branx knew to be love.

It was an old ship. It probably had a lot of damage hidden under the hood. It was worth so much more to someone else with its fancy hallways, its cray good armour, crew quarters and databanks. Other people would love those things.

But he couldn’t lie to himself.

He loved this ship.

It had made all too much sense to him with its layout. He’d felt it deep in his core which room was which. He could close his eyes and probably draw out the rest of the ship. He might even be close. It wouldn’t matter though. This seat? Sitting pretty in the middle of the room that gazed out onto the stars and the void herself?

This was romantic.

This was what old retired spacers and void hunters spoke of. It wasn’t the scores they won or lost. It wasn’t the battles they’d taken part in. It was being able to see thee adenvture waiting before you and knowing it would be grand. Branx exhaled and relaxed fully into the chair. “I’m in love Shirel, this ship. She’s beautiful. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Shirel scoffed, but Branx ignored her, too content.

It was because of this that he didn’t see the small terminals activate underneath his hands as he proclaimed his love.

He, nor the team with him, saw the small metallic bugs that crept under Branx’s fleather jacket. They were small enough and slow enough that they didn’t trigger his shield. When they touched his skin, a small flash of light occurred as they scanned Branx.

Then, without a sound they broke down onto themselves as a smaller package of liquid dripped from within them onto Branx. Branx didn’t even notice as a small liquid was absorbed into him. He was too lost in his fantasy that now might be realised.

Branxulto-Mespik. Galactic debtor no more.

Instead, he could be Branxulto-Mespik, Captain of a voidship.

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A.N. Thought I’d put out another chapter of this cause I had some down time and want to continue doing something that is uniquely me.

Glossary: (Might start doing this from now on)

Fleather - Fake Leather. considered very chic by some. You can barely tell the difference!

Roobyros - Animal that lives in low gravity that gets around by hopping and bouncing. Known to be extremely jittery.

Blusher - Slang for naive person

Glux plate - A metal that is see-through when a certain electrical charge is applied to it. Allows for sturdy buildings and ships.

Encap system - Short for encapsulisaiton system. The standard life support system used by Void hunters across the galaxy.

Mag boots - An attachment sold to Void hunters that allows them to attach themselves onto metal surfaces for better anchorage using magnetism.

Denmother - the owner of an establishment with negotiable affections.

Dulophant - a thick-bodied alien species that have spread across the galaxy. A people known for their thick skins and being quite rolly. Branxulto-Mespik is one of these.