Despite all my boasting, fixing the Brionac wasn't "rocket science." Replacing faulty parts with new ones didn't really take much "skill" on my part. All I had to do was place the Brionac on the worktable and let the robotic arms do the rest. They took out the faulty microchips, soldered in replacements, reinforced the outer casing, and applied a fresh coat of paint.
And all that work took under five minutes to finish.
"... That's it?" Eva asked with disappointment dripping in her voice. She leaned closer with arms crossed. "Even I could do that, and I'm not even a certified mechanic!"
"W-Well," I stammered, rubbing the back of my head. Then, inspiration struck. "Ah! I'll show you my skills when I install this thing!" I declared, determined to redeem myself.
Only a human could install or replace a turret on a moving ship; no AI assistance or automatic installation with a button click was available, not even in the game. To do it, you needed a Certified Mechanic NPC or raw player skill—now was my chance to impress her!
Wasting no time, I loaded the Brionac onto the Maglev Cart and started dragging it toward the nearest exit. Eva followed, donning a simple space suit for protection. We carefully navigated the ship's exterior, heading for the foremost turret slot—the perfect location for the Brionac to showcase its full potential.
Ah, in case you're wondering why we're not getting flung into space, here's the deal: there's no air in outer space to create drag, so as long as the ship doesn't suddenly accelerate or decelerate, we'll stay anchored to its surface. There's no worry about space dust or small rocks hitting us either, as the shields are protecting all sides of the ship at all times. Pretty neat, huh?
"Watch closely!" I said, my confidence returning as we reached the turret slot.
I first removed the Justice MK3 Beam Turret. Flipping the hand of the powered suit over to switch on the wrench built into it. With a swift motion, I released the bolts from their hold; they floated freely for a second or two before I could disengage the wire and sensors safely, doing no damage to the ship's systems. The turret was completely disconnected in 30 seconds flat.
"Oops!"
Just before the detached beam turret could float away, I caught and tethered it to my powered suit using a wire. It'd be a loss of about 50,000 Credits if I let this thing float away!
With that done, I turned to the Brionac. I slid it into the protective sleeve and aligned it with the panel slot. Then I began reconnecting the wires and sensors. It was a job requiring steady hands, even in zero gravity. Next came the anchor bolts: systematically tightened, alternating to ensure stability. When the turret was locked in place, I closed the sleeve and welded the seams shut.
Installation complete!
I glanced at the visor's display, checking the time that passed—five minutes flat. Astounding for the average mechanic, but it was definitely subpar for me.
"Guess I'm getting rusty..." I said to myself, turning to Eva with a slightly proud tone. "So, what do you think?"
Eva crossed her arms and tilted her head in confusion. {What "what"? You expect me to know if that was impressive? I'm no certified mechanic! I can't even tell if you messed it up or not!}
"..."
Her blunt honesty hit like a missile to my ego. I sighed. Boasting to someone with zero knowledge of mechanics or ship repair? Yeah, that was a mistake.
---
Without delay, the two of us returned to the bridge. With the Brionac installed properly, all that remained was updating the ship's systems to integrate the new weapon. Once that was done, it would be fully operational. However, the process took nearly 80 minutes—far longer than usual—since the necessary drivers weren't available for download.
"Being in the middle of nowhere really sucks..."
The intranet covering the entire explored universe couldn't reach this desolate corner of space. With no other option, Percy had to analyze the records about Brionac and create the kernels and drivers from scratch. A heavy task, but nothing we couldn't handle together.
[Installation complete. All weapons are online and ready to fire.]
Hearing Percy's mechanical voice, a small grin spreads across my face. Brionac was online! I had half-expected the makeshift drivers to fail at least once, but I guess my programming skills had truly improved by leaps and bounds after coming here. Maybe I really could call myself a genius programmer now?
Unfortunately, a test fire was out of the question. Brionac could only withstand one or two shots before the ancient, irreplaceable components broke down completely. Those parts couldn't be fabricated or repaired with only the ship's available materials and technology. So we had to save its power for when it truly mattered.
"Okay, let's pick up the pace."
According to the star map, we were already a quarter of the way to our destination—about 7,500 kilometers remaining. At our current speed, we'd arrive in four hours. But time was not on our side.
We had already spent almost 25 hours in this forsaken place, leaving us 75 hours before Eva's ship's fuel reserves ran dry.
I dialed up the speed of the ship by gradually raising acceleration. At this speed, we could finish traveling in ten minutes—good enough for the "rescue" part of this quest to finish with plenty of time to spare.
Minutes ticked by and now we were entering the deceleration range. The tension gripping the air was thick as Eva and I watched the radar and the visors on the ship for any signs of danger. As we expected, it was not long before trouble befell us.
"Alien lifeform detected on the radar!" Eva's voice turned sharp, her posture rigid. "Pulling up an image... It's that same, fucking, exploding alien again!"
"Distance is 500 kilometers?" I muttered as I peeked at the radar before nodding firmly. "Let's snipe it from here. Percy, switch to partial manual controls. Activate only the manual weapon control."
[Command received. Activating Manual Weapon Control System.]
The control sticks came out of the floor, and I grabbed them immediately. I adjusted the reticles, creating a tight web of overlapping laser trajectories—a killing zone per se. At just 500 kilometers, aiming was child's play compared to the precision sniping I'd done to save Eva the first time.
A slight tweak... and I pulled the trigger. The lasers fired at light speed, hitting the alien almost instantly. A blinding explosion followed, confirming a clean hit.
Just as I was about to feel relieved, Eva's panicked voice shattered the moment.
"Shit! Multiple enemies detected! I don't know how they only showed up now, but there are over a hundred aliens within 1,000 kilometers!"
"A hundred?" I frowned, my mind working fast.
The ships' radars, though extremely precise, weren't foolproof. The aliens were enormous—too large to hide from detection normally. And with the Range Falcon's enhanced radar set to prioritize detail over range, stealth tech couldn't help explain this sudden appearance.
"... Could it be that?" I muttered, already shaking my head to dismiss the idea. It was too ridiculous to be true. "Never mind. We'll just shoot them down before they even get close."
The nearest alien was some 100 km away, far enough that their lethal explosions, even the shockwaves, wouldn't reach us at all.
I was shooting methodically, destroying one alien after another. Explosions bloomed in the void, looking like fire flowers against the infinite darkness. With the close distance and only a hundred targets, it took less than a minute to sweep them all clean.
"All hostiles eliminated," Eva confirmed, her eyes scanning the radar and external cameras.
But something other than more aliens caught her eye. "Reporting! A group of ships detected ahead—no energy signatures. It looks like an abandoned fleet!"
"That's our target!" I grinned, pointing ahead. "Percy, reduce to cruising speed as soon as we're within 500 kilometers of the ships!"
My order raised an eyebrow from Eva. "Slow down? Don't you mean speed up? The faster we get out of this shithole, the better, isn't it?!"
I sighed and turned to face her. "Have you forgotten what I mentioned when we just entered into this region of space?"
"No you didn't, you bastard! You told me nothing about anything!" she snapped defensively.
"... I didn't?" I scratched at my head. Straightening again, I gave a composure-faked stand. "Anyway, haste makes waste. If we rush to the fleet's location, we'll become just like Major Terrence with his fleet. Stuck in this dimension until they're rescued."
Pictures speak louder than words. Instead of explaining the reason, I turned the external camera feed and zoomed it to the limit, focusing on Major Terrence's fleet. Dozens of ships came into focus—everything from battlecruisers to leviathans—still in formation, stuck in time. No activity, no energy signatures, nothing.
"Take a closer look," I told her, my finger pointing into the center of the fleet.
Eva squinted, her sharp eyes narrowing, then widening into shock. She paled visibly and swallowed hard before glaring at me, trembling with rage.
"You bastard! What kind of hellhole have you dragged me into?! That thing is...!"