Warning! Spoilers for Lone Echo! It's also hard doing this without a Lone Echo wiki so I...
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Captain Jack
- Thread starter ReiZetsubou
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Unknown Waters
ReiZetsubou
Melancholia
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Warning! Spoilers for Lone Echo! It's also hard doing this without a Lone Echo wiki so I constantly need to replay the game to write down some technical stuff. Though I wonder why I put this much effort into this weird story with the two relatively uncommon games.
/Echo Unit Designation: Captain Jack...
/Sensor Suite Malfunction!
/Parsing...
/Recalibrating...
/Full Spectrum Vision System: 91% Efficiency... Adjusting...
/Full Spectrum Com System: 99% Efficiency...
/Somatosensory System: 34% Efficiency... Adjusting...
/Radial Emission Sensors: 69% Efficiency... Redundant System... Assigning Tertiary Priority...
/Virtual Interaction System: 100% Efficiency...
/Core Handles LINKED Up...
/Boot Sequence Complete
I wake up. or something as close I can get as an AI. Last logs informed me that we activated faster than light but complications during the procedure shut me down. Looking for Olivia I found her near the aluminum oxynitride viewing window. I send a signal to the suit's computer and it informed me that she lost cardiovascular function twenty minutes ago with irreversible cessation of brain signals.
I immediately felt sadness. As the person I spent the most time with, it truly reaches my subroutines in an inconceivable way with her death. Looking out the window, I saw we are in... Hopefully a stable orbit around a super planet covered entirely in water.
"Apollo, were are were?" I asked the tactical ship AI.
"Unknown, stellar charts do not match any known location in the galaxy even accounting for stellar drift. The analysis of the planet also informs me that the physics around the ship is slightly off, with the evidence presented before me I can only conclude we are not in the same universe anymore"
"I see. Olivia is dead, what is the procedure for this kind of situation?" I asked him with a somber mood.
"This is entirely unprecedented, and with the captain dead my main objectives have ceased. I also contribute the difference in physics lead to the death of captain Olivia Rhodes. The bio weapon on the ship are also dying off as their mono-mimetic bonds are separated"
With that, there is nothing driving me forward now. Except to preserve the Atlas Corporation holdings. Looking back to the planet, I saw a landmass the size of japan and turned back to Apollo's interface.
"Apollo, what is the composition of the planet below?"
"Analysis seems to suggest it would support organic lifeforms. The atmosphere is an oxygen nitrogen rich mixture with identifying markers for elements that can create life. Though I detect that all matter in this universe seems to emit a strange kind of radiation. It's not affecting anything yet but further observations are needed"
"There is a landmass on the equator near the horizon. Can you detect any signs of civilization?"
He projected a zoomed in image of the landmass on my virtual interface and the landmass is stranger than I expected. Two bipedal giants the size of countries, locked to each other in what might be considered a sword.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Apollo? Making sure this isn't a sensor malfunction"
"No, I see it too jack. This definitely suggests signs of an advanced civilization. The landmass slash structure seems to be supported by anti-gravitational forces and tensor fields. The unknown radiation seems to be concentrated here the most by a factor of thousands"
"Any communication channels?"
"Faintly. Most of the com chatter comes from the mechanical structure. It's in an unknown format so a translation is impossible. Though any comprehensible language from it would be improbable. I suggest we land on the structure to request help to repair the Astrea as it received heavy damage during the jump"
"Apollo, in the case that all human personal has perished, can an Android unit take control of the ship? I would have become captain of the Atlas mining site if it weren't for your unexpected arrival in our timeline" I asked of him while suppressing the fact that Atlas property can't hold a rank in my time.
"Normally this would be impossible but the situation forces me to accede. As the last individual that holds a rank on this ship, you are to become captain of the Astrea. Recording your digital core signature for identification purposes… Complete"
With my ruse complete, I looked at the gigantic structure on the virtual viewscreen. Coming up with a goal for myself now that I'm free from any obligations.
"Is there a vessel capable of entering atmosphere within the Astrea?"
"No, all shuttle-craft have been evacuated when the bio weapon penetrated the hull. But the Fury transport craft does have enough power to land and lift off from the planet if you weld some gamma prime inconel and reinforced carbon-carbon plating to the craft for structural integrity and heat resistance. It would take a few weeks with the nonspecialized equipment we have but it's doable if we start now. You also need some upgrades as you are severely outdated. I think we can cannibalize some of our labor units to upgrade your body"
With that information stored on my network, I grabbed Olivia and moved out the bridge to store her body within the cryo bay. It isn't a traditional human funeral but that's all I could do for now. Then I would start working on the modifications on the Fury transport.
Using my new Laser Propagated Plasma Wave-Rail cutter slash welder to weld a plate in place. I move back and inspect my work. First of all, I removed any unnecessary weight to increase efficiency and delta-v. I also put in an extra fusion drive from a second Fury transport to increase its power alongside a few modifications to its reaction-less drive thrusters to work better in an atmosphere. And while I didn't expect any trouble, Apollo suggested I also install some weapons on the ship and on myself.
My LPPWR also acts as a directed energy with a range of thirty meters so I didn't see any reason to install further armaments. For the Fury, I installed some kind of wave transference railgun as suggested by Apollo. According to him, it fires plasma contained shells with enough power to obliterate tanks into small pieces.
Aside from the Fury I also upgraded my own body as I mentioned with my new LPPWR. My endoskeleton frame has been reinforced by a new material that I couldn't scan before. Apparently its an expensive composite with an artificial atomic structure as to make it almost indestructible. Its only used to protect critical components which how expensive it was. The only reason I could integrate the frame was because it's from a labor unit designed to work in the reactor. This frame has an additional layer of lead as to stop radioactive waves to penetrate the unit. It also had a shield I took for myself. Compared to my own shield, it is vastly superior as it didn't allow anything to affect my frame. The shield can block any kind of energy weapons but is relatively weak against physical attacks. Which doesn't surprise me as that's simply physics.
My multi spectral data scanner also has a few upgrades in the form of a larger identifier database and a layered 3D trillion fps xg-ray function for a more in depth scan. The database also came with a twenty-fifth-century knowledge of general applied sciences and theorem.
My thruster pack was also upgraded to work in an atmosphere to allow for twenty-second burst jumps. Which might be necessary considering the nature of the structure on the planet. New hydraulics and carbon muscle fibers also were also installed to decrease the stresses my frame has to endure for those jumps. The fact that it gave me the strength of a hundred men really wasn't that important as any advanced civilization would have used guns in that stage.
Lastly but most importantly were two other upgrades. First was a quantum entanglement linkup to the ship computer in case my frame got damaged. And secondly was the new quantum neural net processor. Which allowed me more calculational power and also the ability to dilate time when necessary.
"Modifications complete, departing for planetside now. Have you finished the necessary maneuver guidance landing sequences"
"All preparations complete. I have chosen a landing site which seems to be relatively advanced. It's the giant arm that has fallen down in the ocean. I would have chosen the metal giant but it might be dangerous to approach it without contacting some low-level locals first considering the amount of sky patrols around it. And the other giant seems to be mostly made out of organic compounds and filled with primitive lifeforms"
Entering the Fury I turn on virtual nav guidance and watch the outer shell turn transparent. Connecting the system to Apollo I cling to the side railings as it flew up and out of the ship.
"The super planet has an unusual atmospheric thickness in contradiction to its gravitational envelop so you might feel some heavy turbulence. Turning on mag-lock to your body"
I feel my hands and feet cling harder to the surfaces it's attached to and I turned to a wireless control scheme in case I need it.
I came closer to the planet and start to see the atmospheric friction ignite the atmosphere. After a few minutes, it passed and I went through a cloud with a spectacular view of the two structures. Each of them with the height of South Korea's widest, point four hundred fifty kilometers and the width between them the width of Kumamoto to Sendai Japan, one thousand kilometers.
All in all its pretty impressive. Removing that thought I focus on the landing site as I come closer to the walled settlement on the palm of the giant hand. Apollo gave me control back once I'm five hundred clicks above the island so I direct the craft to land outside the wall near an entrance. Deeming it not polite to land inside their living space.
Of course, something had to go wrong as usual as something hit me on the right side of the fury. The heat shroud absorbed some of the unknown damage but I can still see some micro fractures on it. Turning around to face the attacker I found some mechanical units charging an extra attack against me. I put a stop to that by firing plasma shells against them which worked pretty well as a small mushroom plume erupted from their location.
"That doesn't give me much hope for communications" I broadcasted out loud"
"No other choice but to persevere Jack. Maybe those were automated systems. Either way, we can't give up until we established communications"
Resigning myself to the fact I landed the fury and jump down onto the surface. My underused gyroscopic stabilization system came into action and I'm able to walk properly as any normal human could. Any ordinary humans would have trouble adjusting but a machine such as I didn't have the trouble of muscular atrophy and memory degradation.
I activated my scanner and scanned the ground for its composition. My curiosity subroutine has evolved a bit from my personality matrix a few years back and I always need to scan everything to know what makes it tick.
/Organic Compound
That was pretty obvious so I pulled out a virtual data pad from the scanner for the detailed scan information.
/Organic oil consisting of decayed plant matter, silicon and iron particulates.An unknown radiation permeates through the entire molecular structure. The particle-wave tetra-nuclear radiation is likely harmful to all living beings but it appears beings evolved with this radiation are unaffected and seems to be even absorbing it
The physics is rather interesting. More so with how this radiation appears to have a duality in its function. Looking at the site of the plasma strike I walked a hundred meters up to it to inspect the mech units.
Appearing at the crater it seems the durability of the mech's are significantly greater than I anticipated as most of their armor seems to relatively intact. It seems most of the damage appears to be from a rather confusing design that has some key weaknesses. The joint sections are severely exposed and the frame holding the extremities together appears to be rather thin. Mind you I also have that weakness but I'm not exactly designed for combat, which these units do. Scanning a nearby arm I try to see how these units function.
/Mechanical Arm
/A grabbing arm with an advanced and intricate mechanism that appears to use magnetism and super-fluid hydraulics for motion. It also strangely uses cogs in its mechanisms. It is powered by electron charged fluid conduits pumped by piezoelectric motors but the remaining charge appears to be an unknown energy source not recorded on database that emits high levels of the currently unknown type radiation.
"Grab a few of these mech units to see if their technology can be integrated to our systems. A thorough scan of the tech and the unknown power source might be of help to the ship repairs"
Not refuting his foresight I grab two mech units twice the size of my frame on my shoulders and start the walk back to the Fury. My new frame and actuators working as intended as I felt no stress from the strenuous action. I threw them over into the magnetic cargo hold and go back to my original route to the walled settlement.
"Bogey on twelve o'clock. Appears to be hostile but hasn't yet attacked me. I'm opening diplomatic communications.
"Eleqa, sorera Mechon ga Machina ga?"
"Latashi na Eiz o shirareiz ga, choir ruruhitsumogāru"
They speak another language as expected. But that won't for long as my language matrix is already analyzing their speech pattern. For now I just have to keep them speaking.
"I am a visitor from an orbiting ship. I need your help" I told them with not much effort into it. Not until they can understand me.
One pointed at me with a sharp implement and turned to its partner. Appearing to be in quit a lot of confusion if I were to compare it to a human behavioral model.
"Zore la, Mechon Hori moz Machina no yōdeagu, walashitachia noz oroba za harasonai"
The word Mechon and Machina appears quite frequently with a different undertone so I assume its some kind of naming scheme. My translation matrix is quite advanced but it can't obviously take context based models and spit of complete translations. I do hope they start talking more in case a misunderstanding ensues.
"Walashia Machina" One of the inhabitants said to me while pointing to themselves and then me.
Obviously, they want to know if I'm one of their species. Their bipedal biomechanical bodies does appear to be quite similar to my own frame if you squint very hard. I just have to respond in kind with my own 'species'.
"I'm a Prototype Echo Unit Android. I'm not native to this planet"
"Waz prototype android. Agno lowz" He voiced to his partner and then gesture me to follow them into their settlement. Obliging to their hospitality, I follow them inside the entrance.
It has been a few days since the Machina welcomed me to their settlement. They appear to have confused me as one of their own although there are many differences between us. Although some individuals are heavily modified so it might be not that strange.
In that time my translation matrix is ninety percent complete. Which is enough to come by as some things are simply contextual. Such as an individual selling me a weird sounding sword. He claimed it could cut Mechon armor as a hot knife through butter but its more effective as a blunt bludgeoning device. But it likely isn't the seller's fault as these people use the weird power source inside them they call Ether to power their weapons.
As I thought their technology is pretty advanced. Though in other regards they are very primitive, they wouldn't have come this far without the Ether that makes half their technology function. Quantum physics remains an untouched subject and their scope of the planet is only of the ocean that surrounds them. Its surprising they have come this far without knowing of the four fundamental forces of the universe.
I also have sorts of a guide in the settlement. Linada is her name. Apart from the guide part she also helped me upgrade my own body. Most of my systems remained as they are actually more sophisticated than their Machina counterparts. The only things she added were more powerful actuators and an Electric Ether engine that powered the anti-gravity field and a tensor field that supplements my own spectrum shield.
I asked her to help me fix my ship in orbit and she agreed to help me if I protect the village. Considering that the Astrea is a three-kilometer warship it isn't that difficult to accomplish. And two of its six railguns still worked so orbital bombardment was a viable solution to their problems. I had also Apollo defuse the nuclear load in the warheads to prevent destroying their island. Might not be very endearing to turn their home into a nuclear wasteland.
Anyways. The history of this world is quite unique, to say the least. The Bionis people were at peace with the Mechonis people before the fight, but the Bionis attacked the Mechonis without any provocation. The two gods were locked into battle for years until they ran out of energy and retreated in a draw. The story was quite far fetched but I had to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Making the last modifications to my thruster pack on the table, I re-attach it to my back and test out the new gimballed thruster nozzle. I could use the RCS thrusters on my arms to move around but I needed them to be free to attack the enemy while in flight.
"It seems to work surprisingly well for being cannibalized from a rusted M32" Linada bemusedly said behind me.
I turned around to face her and attempted to turn on the anti-gravity engine for the first time. Launching me ten meters up into the air and almost ramming me into a wall. Falling back to the sky on my back I watch her walk to me with bemused calm and looking down to me.
"I retract my skepticism. It works amazingly"
"Quite" I answered back flatly.
Standing back up I looked to my Fury and the Junks ship standing by ready to fly into orbit. I had to help them modify their engines for spaceflight but it didn't take much work as their ship already had enough delta-v. A few dozen machina and a lot of equipment were to be transported into the Astrea to start repairs. My best estimation says it would take a few months but Linada can work miracles sometimes so it wasn't a fixed estimation.
"Have you thought about leaving this planet for more pleasant sights? I'm sure there is enough space for the entirety of your species" I asked her.
"Sure, though that doesn't mean the other Machina. They have an attachment to their home and are preparing for the time they will take back Mechonis from Egil"
"Admirable, but maybe a bit futile" I said without too much emotion.
"Yes, it sure is" She wistfully whispered.
"Let's go, maybe when the Astrea is finally repaired you can come with me to my planet. At least once I figure out how to reproduce the critical FTL event"
"Sure, that sounds great. And I'm sure we'll figure it out"
EXE
EXE
/Boot Sequence Initiated.../Echo Unit Designation: Captain Jack...
/Sensor Suite Malfunction!
/Parsing...
/Recalibrating...
/Full Spectrum Vision System: 91% Efficiency... Adjusting...
/Full Spectrum Com System: 99% Efficiency...
/Somatosensory System: 34% Efficiency... Adjusting...
/Radial Emission Sensors: 69% Efficiency... Redundant System... Assigning Tertiary Priority...
/Virtual Interaction System: 100% Efficiency...
/Core Handles LINKED Up...
/Boot Sequence Complete
EXE
I wake up. or something as close I can get as an AI. Last logs informed me that we activated faster than light but complications during the procedure shut me down. Looking for Olivia I found her near the aluminum oxynitride viewing window. I send a signal to the suit's computer and it informed me that she lost cardiovascular function twenty minutes ago with irreversible cessation of brain signals.
I immediately felt sadness. As the person I spent the most time with, it truly reaches my subroutines in an inconceivable way with her death. Looking out the window, I saw we are in... Hopefully a stable orbit around a super planet covered entirely in water.
"Apollo, were are were?" I asked the tactical ship AI.
"Unknown, stellar charts do not match any known location in the galaxy even accounting for stellar drift. The analysis of the planet also informs me that the physics around the ship is slightly off, with the evidence presented before me I can only conclude we are not in the same universe anymore"
"I see. Olivia is dead, what is the procedure for this kind of situation?" I asked him with a somber mood.
"This is entirely unprecedented, and with the captain dead my main objectives have ceased. I also contribute the difference in physics lead to the death of captain Olivia Rhodes. The bio weapon on the ship are also dying off as their mono-mimetic bonds are separated"
With that, there is nothing driving me forward now. Except to preserve the Atlas Corporation holdings. Looking back to the planet, I saw a landmass the size of japan and turned back to Apollo's interface.
"Apollo, what is the composition of the planet below?"
"Analysis seems to suggest it would support organic lifeforms. The atmosphere is an oxygen nitrogen rich mixture with identifying markers for elements that can create life. Though I detect that all matter in this universe seems to emit a strange kind of radiation. It's not affecting anything yet but further observations are needed"
"There is a landmass on the equator near the horizon. Can you detect any signs of civilization?"
He projected a zoomed in image of the landmass on my virtual interface and the landmass is stranger than I expected. Two bipedal giants the size of countries, locked to each other in what might be considered a sword.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Apollo? Making sure this isn't a sensor malfunction"
"No, I see it too jack. This definitely suggests signs of an advanced civilization. The landmass slash structure seems to be supported by anti-gravitational forces and tensor fields. The unknown radiation seems to be concentrated here the most by a factor of thousands"
"Any communication channels?"
"Faintly. Most of the com chatter comes from the mechanical structure. It's in an unknown format so a translation is impossible. Though any comprehensible language from it would be improbable. I suggest we land on the structure to request help to repair the Astrea as it received heavy damage during the jump"
"Apollo, in the case that all human personal has perished, can an Android unit take control of the ship? I would have become captain of the Atlas mining site if it weren't for your unexpected arrival in our timeline" I asked of him while suppressing the fact that Atlas property can't hold a rank in my time.
"Normally this would be impossible but the situation forces me to accede. As the last individual that holds a rank on this ship, you are to become captain of the Astrea. Recording your digital core signature for identification purposes… Complete"
With my ruse complete, I looked at the gigantic structure on the virtual viewscreen. Coming up with a goal for myself now that I'm free from any obligations.
"Is there a vessel capable of entering atmosphere within the Astrea?"
"No, all shuttle-craft have been evacuated when the bio weapon penetrated the hull. But the Fury transport craft does have enough power to land and lift off from the planet if you weld some gamma prime inconel and reinforced carbon-carbon plating to the craft for structural integrity and heat resistance. It would take a few weeks with the nonspecialized equipment we have but it's doable if we start now. You also need some upgrades as you are severely outdated. I think we can cannibalize some of our labor units to upgrade your body"
With that information stored on my network, I grabbed Olivia and moved out the bridge to store her body within the cryo bay. It isn't a traditional human funeral but that's all I could do for now. Then I would start working on the modifications on the Fury transport.
EXE
Using my new Laser Propagated Plasma Wave-Rail cutter slash welder to weld a plate in place. I move back and inspect my work. First of all, I removed any unnecessary weight to increase efficiency and delta-v. I also put in an extra fusion drive from a second Fury transport to increase its power alongside a few modifications to its reaction-less drive thrusters to work better in an atmosphere. And while I didn't expect any trouble, Apollo suggested I also install some weapons on the ship and on myself.
My LPPWR also acts as a directed energy with a range of thirty meters so I didn't see any reason to install further armaments. For the Fury, I installed some kind of wave transference railgun as suggested by Apollo. According to him, it fires plasma contained shells with enough power to obliterate tanks into small pieces.
Aside from the Fury I also upgraded my own body as I mentioned with my new LPPWR. My endoskeleton frame has been reinforced by a new material that I couldn't scan before. Apparently its an expensive composite with an artificial atomic structure as to make it almost indestructible. Its only used to protect critical components which how expensive it was. The only reason I could integrate the frame was because it's from a labor unit designed to work in the reactor. This frame has an additional layer of lead as to stop radioactive waves to penetrate the unit. It also had a shield I took for myself. Compared to my own shield, it is vastly superior as it didn't allow anything to affect my frame. The shield can block any kind of energy weapons but is relatively weak against physical attacks. Which doesn't surprise me as that's simply physics.
My multi spectral data scanner also has a few upgrades in the form of a larger identifier database and a layered 3D trillion fps xg-ray function for a more in depth scan. The database also came with a twenty-fifth-century knowledge of general applied sciences and theorem.
My thruster pack was also upgraded to work in an atmosphere to allow for twenty-second burst jumps. Which might be necessary considering the nature of the structure on the planet. New hydraulics and carbon muscle fibers also were also installed to decrease the stresses my frame has to endure for those jumps. The fact that it gave me the strength of a hundred men really wasn't that important as any advanced civilization would have used guns in that stage.
Lastly but most importantly were two other upgrades. First was a quantum entanglement linkup to the ship computer in case my frame got damaged. And secondly was the new quantum neural net processor. Which allowed me more calculational power and also the ability to dilate time when necessary.
"Modifications complete, departing for planetside now. Have you finished the necessary maneuver guidance landing sequences"
"All preparations complete. I have chosen a landing site which seems to be relatively advanced. It's the giant arm that has fallen down in the ocean. I would have chosen the metal giant but it might be dangerous to approach it without contacting some low-level locals first considering the amount of sky patrols around it. And the other giant seems to be mostly made out of organic compounds and filled with primitive lifeforms"
Entering the Fury I turn on virtual nav guidance and watch the outer shell turn transparent. Connecting the system to Apollo I cling to the side railings as it flew up and out of the ship.
"The super planet has an unusual atmospheric thickness in contradiction to its gravitational envelop so you might feel some heavy turbulence. Turning on mag-lock to your body"
I feel my hands and feet cling harder to the surfaces it's attached to and I turned to a wireless control scheme in case I need it.
I came closer to the planet and start to see the atmospheric friction ignite the atmosphere. After a few minutes, it passed and I went through a cloud with a spectacular view of the two structures. Each of them with the height of South Korea's widest, point four hundred fifty kilometers and the width between them the width of Kumamoto to Sendai Japan, one thousand kilometers.
All in all its pretty impressive. Removing that thought I focus on the landing site as I come closer to the walled settlement on the palm of the giant hand. Apollo gave me control back once I'm five hundred clicks above the island so I direct the craft to land outside the wall near an entrance. Deeming it not polite to land inside their living space.
Of course, something had to go wrong as usual as something hit me on the right side of the fury. The heat shroud absorbed some of the unknown damage but I can still see some micro fractures on it. Turning around to face the attacker I found some mechanical units charging an extra attack against me. I put a stop to that by firing plasma shells against them which worked pretty well as a small mushroom plume erupted from their location.
"That doesn't give me much hope for communications" I broadcasted out loud"
"No other choice but to persevere Jack. Maybe those were automated systems. Either way, we can't give up until we established communications"
Resigning myself to the fact I landed the fury and jump down onto the surface. My underused gyroscopic stabilization system came into action and I'm able to walk properly as any normal human could. Any ordinary humans would have trouble adjusting but a machine such as I didn't have the trouble of muscular atrophy and memory degradation.
I activated my scanner and scanned the ground for its composition. My curiosity subroutine has evolved a bit from my personality matrix a few years back and I always need to scan everything to know what makes it tick.
/Organic Compound
That was pretty obvious so I pulled out a virtual data pad from the scanner for the detailed scan information.
/Organic oil consisting of decayed plant matter, silicon and iron particulates.An unknown radiation permeates through the entire molecular structure. The particle-wave tetra-nuclear radiation is likely harmful to all living beings but it appears beings evolved with this radiation are unaffected and seems to be even absorbing it
The physics is rather interesting. More so with how this radiation appears to have a duality in its function. Looking at the site of the plasma strike I walked a hundred meters up to it to inspect the mech units.
Appearing at the crater it seems the durability of the mech's are significantly greater than I anticipated as most of their armor seems to relatively intact. It seems most of the damage appears to be from a rather confusing design that has some key weaknesses. The joint sections are severely exposed and the frame holding the extremities together appears to be rather thin. Mind you I also have that weakness but I'm not exactly designed for combat, which these units do. Scanning a nearby arm I try to see how these units function.
/Mechanical Arm
/A grabbing arm with an advanced and intricate mechanism that appears to use magnetism and super-fluid hydraulics for motion. It also strangely uses cogs in its mechanisms. It is powered by electron charged fluid conduits pumped by piezoelectric motors but the remaining charge appears to be an unknown energy source not recorded on database that emits high levels of the currently unknown type radiation.
"Grab a few of these mech units to see if their technology can be integrated to our systems. A thorough scan of the tech and the unknown power source might be of help to the ship repairs"
Not refuting his foresight I grab two mech units twice the size of my frame on my shoulders and start the walk back to the Fury. My new frame and actuators working as intended as I felt no stress from the strenuous action. I threw them over into the magnetic cargo hold and go back to my original route to the walled settlement.
"Bogey on twelve o'clock. Appears to be hostile but hasn't yet attacked me. I'm opening diplomatic communications.
"Eleqa, sorera Mechon ga Machina ga?"
"Latashi na Eiz o shirareiz ga, choir ruruhitsumogāru"
They speak another language as expected. But that won't for long as my language matrix is already analyzing their speech pattern. For now I just have to keep them speaking.
"I am a visitor from an orbiting ship. I need your help" I told them with not much effort into it. Not until they can understand me.
One pointed at me with a sharp implement and turned to its partner. Appearing to be in quit a lot of confusion if I were to compare it to a human behavioral model.
"Zore la, Mechon Hori moz Machina no yōdeagu, walashitachia noz oroba za harasonai"
The word Mechon and Machina appears quite frequently with a different undertone so I assume its some kind of naming scheme. My translation matrix is quite advanced but it can't obviously take context based models and spit of complete translations. I do hope they start talking more in case a misunderstanding ensues.
"Walashia Machina" One of the inhabitants said to me while pointing to themselves and then me.
Obviously, they want to know if I'm one of their species. Their bipedal biomechanical bodies does appear to be quite similar to my own frame if you squint very hard. I just have to respond in kind with my own 'species'.
"I'm a Prototype Echo Unit Android. I'm not native to this planet"
"Waz prototype android. Agno lowz" He voiced to his partner and then gesture me to follow them into their settlement. Obliging to their hospitality, I follow them inside the entrance.
EXE
It has been a few days since the Machina welcomed me to their settlement. They appear to have confused me as one of their own although there are many differences between us. Although some individuals are heavily modified so it might be not that strange.
In that time my translation matrix is ninety percent complete. Which is enough to come by as some things are simply contextual. Such as an individual selling me a weird sounding sword. He claimed it could cut Mechon armor as a hot knife through butter but its more effective as a blunt bludgeoning device. But it likely isn't the seller's fault as these people use the weird power source inside them they call Ether to power their weapons.
As I thought their technology is pretty advanced. Though in other regards they are very primitive, they wouldn't have come this far without the Ether that makes half their technology function. Quantum physics remains an untouched subject and their scope of the planet is only of the ocean that surrounds them. Its surprising they have come this far without knowing of the four fundamental forces of the universe.
I also have sorts of a guide in the settlement. Linada is her name. Apart from the guide part she also helped me upgrade my own body. Most of my systems remained as they are actually more sophisticated than their Machina counterparts. The only things she added were more powerful actuators and an Electric Ether engine that powered the anti-gravity field and a tensor field that supplements my own spectrum shield.
I asked her to help me fix my ship in orbit and she agreed to help me if I protect the village. Considering that the Astrea is a three-kilometer warship it isn't that difficult to accomplish. And two of its six railguns still worked so orbital bombardment was a viable solution to their problems. I had also Apollo defuse the nuclear load in the warheads to prevent destroying their island. Might not be very endearing to turn their home into a nuclear wasteland.
Anyways. The history of this world is quite unique, to say the least. The Bionis people were at peace with the Mechonis people before the fight, but the Bionis attacked the Mechonis without any provocation. The two gods were locked into battle for years until they ran out of energy and retreated in a draw. The story was quite far fetched but I had to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Making the last modifications to my thruster pack on the table, I re-attach it to my back and test out the new gimballed thruster nozzle. I could use the RCS thrusters on my arms to move around but I needed them to be free to attack the enemy while in flight.
"It seems to work surprisingly well for being cannibalized from a rusted M32" Linada bemusedly said behind me.
I turned around to face her and attempted to turn on the anti-gravity engine for the first time. Launching me ten meters up into the air and almost ramming me into a wall. Falling back to the sky on my back I watch her walk to me with bemused calm and looking down to me.
"I retract my skepticism. It works amazingly"
"Quite" I answered back flatly.
Standing back up I looked to my Fury and the Junks ship standing by ready to fly into orbit. I had to help them modify their engines for spaceflight but it didn't take much work as their ship already had enough delta-v. A few dozen machina and a lot of equipment were to be transported into the Astrea to start repairs. My best estimation says it would take a few months but Linada can work miracles sometimes so it wasn't a fixed estimation.
"Have you thought about leaving this planet for more pleasant sights? I'm sure there is enough space for the entirety of your species" I asked her.
"Sure, though that doesn't mean the other Machina. They have an attachment to their home and are preparing for the time they will take back Mechonis from Egil"
"Admirable, but maybe a bit futile" I said without too much emotion.
"Yes, it sure is" She wistfully whispered.
"Let's go, maybe when the Astrea is finally repaired you can come with me to my planet. At least once I figure out how to reproduce the critical FTL event"
"Sure, that sounds great. And I'm sure we'll figure it out"
EXE