Stellar Survival Quest Read online

  Steller Survival Quest is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  By reading the following book, you understand fiction means not real and are willing to refrain from assumptions based on real facts. This work of fiction contains graphic violence, sexual acts, and other adult themed materials. By continueing to read you as the reader understand and abide by these fictional events for the sake of entertainment.

  Steller Survival Quest by Jalf Whitemage

  [email protected]

  Cover Art by: Raul Aragon

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  Published by: Jalf Whitemage

  © 2019 Jalf Whitemage

  All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, Mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright Law.

  For permissions contact:

  [email protected]

  First Edition

  2019 All Rights reserved

  Chapter 01 – In the Beginning

  A great gust of dust, rocks, and scrum heralded the otherwise quiet and unremarkable landing of the first craft to touch down on the station for an untold age.

  In silent ebbs of blue flame thrusters burst to life slowly lowering the spherical shaped craft down on three short stubby struts.

  As the last landing strut touched down the flames went out returning the station to utter darkness.

  Inside the sphere a figure slowly moved, just barely being revived back to consciousness from the crafts imposed sleep.

  “Ugh, what the fuck happened. A quivering deep voice rumbled.

  As the figure untangled itself from a mass of straps wires, tubes, and other items to keep it safe and alive for the voyage a man slowly appeared.

  He was tall for a human and thin of frame. Dark sandy blonde hair and green eyes looked around. A light beard grew on a weak chin. He was not a handsome man, nor especially strong or smart looking. If anyone were going to describe him, the word gangly would come to mind.

  Fully extracting himself the man groaned rubbing his head and scratching his reproductive organs like most males of his species were prone to do after a long sleep. Slowly did he realize he was nude like a babe on the day of ’ birth.

  “Oh what the fuck? Who took my clothes? Wait where the fuck am I?’

  Looking around the man got his first good look at his surroundings. The interior of the craft held four upright pod like tables like the one the man had just extracted himself from. They were evenly spaced around the 3-meter interior sphere. Between three of the tube/tables were objects that looked like lockers or storage containers piled and strapped vertically to the bulkhead. Between the last two were a small blinking screen and an outline of a narrow door.

  As the man looked around the already dim interior light dulled, going from a solid white light to a pale light green.

  After checking to see the other table-pods were empty, the man moved over to the blinking screen.

  An arm’s reach away the slow white pulse of the screen stopped fully illuminating the screen to show a figure.

  It was an image of the man, clean-shaven and his mused hair cut in a flattop.

  The image began to move and from a speaker below the screen too loud sound filled the small space...

  “So, I’m recording this because they say at first you can’t remember anything. So when I wake up I will not know what is going on, or even who I am.”

  “So um I am… or you are?” The man turned off the screen as someone spoke then he nodded twice and continued.

  “Right okay so. The name is Nathan Tyrone Rogers, but everyone always calls me Bubba since my older sister couldn’t say Nathan when she was little. Bubba was easy and well it stuck.”

  “I am... err you are… ugh we are playing a game that is not a game, but is.”

  The voice spoke off screen again and the man nodded.

  “Yeah alright… We don’t have long for this first memory jack. So 5 years ago an unknown game company came from nowhere and released a first generation virtual reality pod that was bundled with their game ‘Stellar Survival Quest’. The technology was at least 20 years ahead of any competition maybe more. The company was able to roll out the pods for less than a new car. They even released code to allow third party providers to use 80% of the pods resources.”

  “In less than 6 months most game systems were selling any products they had at any price just to avoid bankruptcy. And all game developers stopped working on games for another system.”

  “Now a new game system is not normally world shattering. Especially when players reported not being able to recall their time playing. You can record the time in game but a lot of the information is censored out. The company said it was due to them wanting to keep the game world pure and not allow micro gaming.”

  “But when the first generation of gamers left their games they discovered they knew things they didn’t before. Skills learned in “Steller Survival Quest’ would actually work in the real world! If you learned electrical engineering 3, you would be able to get a skill equal to a MIT master’s degree. Or, Ballistic Weapons 4 made someone a dead shot sharp shooter. Now not all skills transferred like the Psyonics, but most real world ones would.”

  Overnight the world was thrown on its heels. A new player could log into the game be given a job in some way decided by the game and come out an ivy league educated scientist, or special ops level soldier. No years of training or study needed. Just one log in and about 6 hours of character creation.”

  “Many governments wanted to shut down the game at this point and some even outlawed it in their countries. Others like the US tried, but a near revolution stopped it.”

  “In six months the first generation of players put the world on its’ head again. They got together and with an auto machine shop, pieces from the local radio shack and hardware store they built a working if crude shuttle capable of spaceflight.”

  “On their maiden voyage they sent ripples through the world. They made a way to literally leave your local gas station’s parking lot and fly around the moon. Because, that is just what they did>”

  “When they returned a massive celebration awaited the heroes. News agencies from around the world had come to try to talk to them. But the friends left their vehicle in shock, glassy eyes barely taking in their surroundings.”

  “Days later and after reviewing the videos taken during their flight, the world knew why.”

  “The game primarily focused on a virtual Sol system. It allowed players to build lunar bases, mine asteroids, explore Jupiter and make a colony on Mars> only thing was the game restricted you from returning to Earth.”

  “The story had it that Earth was off limits do to some unknown biological hazard. It annoyed some players but most accepted the weird lore and just enjoyed the life like game.”

  “Well the videos showed the far side of the moon and hundreds if not thousands of tiny bases, machines and outposts. Every single one a player had constructed was in evidence>”

  Not only that but hidden from clear sight was the countless ships players used in game.”

  The voice spoke off the screen again and the man looked away and nodded.

  “Right so not much time left. I got carried away. Ok so the game is RPG style. Skills, Levels, and such. But there are no quests. They use a system called Milestones. Each Milestone will allow me to record another video for y
ou.”

  “Umm, there are jobs, but not sure what you, err, I, um we, will get. I am hoping for Pilot I think…”

  “There are three levels that matter. Race level, Job level, and Skill levels. Not much is released about all of them. But one thing is clear. Jobs levels are a measurement of raw skill, talent, and knowledge of a trade or group of skills. Players can have multiple jobs all at different levels. Kind of like Multiclassing in Caves and Creatures>”

  “Race levels….”

  The screen went dark causing the man to frown.

  “Okayyy then… So I’m playing some kind of fucked up game.

  The screen blinked three times and then turned blue as text began to scroll across it.

  *** SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  “Greetings Human. Congratulations! Your Species is one of the first in your star cluster to move out of your home solar system!”

  “32 of your race have been chosen for the next stage of the expansion! You are among them. But enough about the others! More about you!”

  “You have been sent to the Epsilon Endi Star system as you know it. You can rename it for the galaxy if you come out on top of the coming trials.

  12 ancient space stations have been abandoned in the system by a long forgotten and most likely dead civilization>”

  “The system is a network hub of sorts. The Jump paths of 12 Species all converge here. As such, it can be a crucial system for the owning species. Currently only yours and 3 other species has reached the point where an emissary has been sent to the system.”

  “As a reward for being the fourth race you will be rewarded with 9 free random items from the ME’SO store!”

  “You need not attain the items immediately but again you might need them to survive!

  Free items will be restricted to class H or below. You can access the store from any system terminal networked with the Local Hub. Good Luck, and do not fail! If you do it might be messy for your home world!”

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  “What the fuck?”

  …

  …

  …

  “I mean seriously what the fuck? I’m on a space station?”

  He looked around the small confined space with a disbelieving look.

  “And what am I supposed to do? It is a game right? How do I check my stats?”

  His attention was drawn back to the screen and four icons blinking in a square in the center of the display.

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

   Bio

   ME’SO Store

   Control Panel

   Galaticpedia

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  Under them was a large red box labeled ‘Hatch”.

  “Well alright then.”

  He tapped the icon of a person standing there.

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  Bio

  Human Level:00 %

  Pilot Level:10%

  Skill Level:042%

  Stats/Skills/Equipment/Property/Milestones

  Name: Nathan Tyrone Rogers (Bubba)Race: Homosapian (Human)

  Age: 15GU (29 EY)Gender: Male

  Height: 2.12GMU (’6.3ft)weight: 3.15GMU (189pds)Style: Mammalian Biped

  PHY: 0.44/1.0NER: 0.52/1.0PER: 0.66/1.0

  IQ: 0.76/1.0GRT: 0.87/1.0APP: 0.38/1.0

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  “Well shit… Guess I got the Pilot job after all…

  A quick glance around made him smirk in self-mockery.

  “As little use as it will do me here.”

  He selected the Skills tab.

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  SKILLS

  Primary Pilot Skills:

  Piloting: Small Craft:(I)

  Piloting: Small Atmo Craft:(I)

  Gunnery: Energy:(J)

  Targeting: Small Craft(J)

  Navigation:(J)

  Secondary Pilot Skills:

  Piloting: Drone(J)

  Mathematics:((J)

  Electrical Engineering:(J)

  Mechanical Engineering:(J)

  Programming: Micro: (J)

  Survival: Zero G:(J)

  Importing Real Life Skills

  Language: Human: Earth: English: (D)

  Language: Human: Earth: Spanish:(J)

  Language: Human: Earth: Japanese(J)

  Local History: Earth: USA: Current(I)

  Local History: Earth: Current(J)

  Geography: Earth(J)

  Geography: Earth: N. America:(G)

  Stellergraphy: Sol System:(J)

  Chemistry:(I)

  Physics:(I)

  Biology:(H)

  Psychology(J)

  Piloting: Driving: Wheeled:) F)

  First Aid: Homosapian: (I)

  Martial Arts: Earth: Kung Fu(H)

  Survival: Temperate:(I)

  Weapons: ballistic:(I)

  Maintenance: Life Support:(j)

  Maintenance: Structural:(J)

  Maintenance: Electrical:(J)

  Updating Skills based on real world knowledge…

  Mathematics:(G)

  Electrical Engineering:(I)

  Mechanical Engineering:(I)

  New Class awarded…

  Engineer

  Scientist

  Assigning default skills…

  The screen scrolled showing an updated skill sheet

  Skills

  Primary Pilot Skills:

  Piloting: Small Craft:(I)

  Piloting: Small Atmo Craft:(I)

  Gunnery: Energy:(J)

  Targeting: Small Craft(J)

  Navigation:(J)

  Secondary Pilot Skills:

  Mathematics:(H)

  Electrical Engineering:(I)

  Mechanical Engineering:(I)

  Piloting: Drone(J)

  Programming: Micro: (J)

  Survival: Zero G:(J)

  Primary Engineer Skills:

  Mathematics:(H)

  Electrical Engineering:(I)

  Mechanical Engineering:(I)

  Programming: Micro: (J)

  Maintenance: Electrical:(J)

  Secondary Engineer Skills:

  Biology:(H)

  Physics:(I)

  Chemistry:(I)

  Maintenance: Structural:(J)

  Maintenance: Life Support:(j)

  First Aid: Homosapian: (I)

  Primary Scientist Skills:

  Geography: Earth: N. America:(G)

  Biology(H)

  Chemistry:(I)

  Physics:(I)

  Local History: Earth: USA: Current(I)

  Secondary Scientist Skills:

  Local History: Earth: Current(J)

  Geography: Earth(J)

  Stellergraphy: Sol System:(J)

  Psychology(J)

  Piloting: Drone:(J)

  Empty

  Unassigned Skills

  Language: Human: Earth: English: (D)

  Language: Human: Earth: Spanish:(J)

  Language: Human: Earth: Japanese(J)

  Piloting: Driving: Wheeled:) F)

  Martial Arts: Earth: Kung Fu(H)

  Survival: Temperate:(I)

  Weapons: ballistic:(I)

  ***SYSTEM MESSAGE***

  After a brief glance, he looked at the other three tabs to see they were all empty.

  “Okay so for now all this doesn’t mean anything to me. Let’s do some looking around.”

  He backed to the main screen and hit the hatch button.

  WARNING: NO BREATHABLE atmosphere DETECTED!

  Continue?

  Yes/No

  He quickly selected no.

  “Shit I don’t know much about space games. But, I do know you cannot breathe in space!”

  Turning he began to search the pod for items. A few minutes later, he had a line of odds and ends.

  Some he clearly knew the use of like the eight MRE packages and bottles of water. Some he was sure he understood and could figure out; like the item that was a glass plate wrapped in a shiny black rubbery plastic attache
d to a small bottle. A few he had no idea. There was a red metal looking package. It was shiny and oddly warm to the touch.

  “Great so No space suit.”

  A loud clang sound made him jump nearly hitting his head on the low ceiling. Another pang echoed through the pod followed by a hissing and the lights flickering in the pod. He glanced around confused and a low siren began to scream as the lights in the pod turned Red. A mechanical voice boomed out of the speakers.

  “Breech detected. Venting Atmosphere!”

  “Oh! No FUCKING WAY!”

  “What am I supposed to do? Just run out and hope for the best? There is no fucking air out there!”

  “If this is some stupid game this is the worst game ever!”

  “I...” He was going to continue his ranting but lack of air was making it hard for him to draw in enough air to keep yelling.

  Bending over he scooped up an arm full of the items he had gathered; shoved them in a sack with a drawstring, cinched it tight and moved to the door.

  Through heavily blurred vision do to eyes that were leaking fluid like a faucet, and lungs burning from lack of oxygen in the rapidly thinning air. He slammed his hand against the barely visible screen.

  Nothing happened.

  In panicked frustration Nathan began randomly hitting at the screen. Automatically, he attempted to scream at the stupid device but only wheezed at it from the lack of air.

  Half a minute passed; by this point, the air was gone and the pod was growing cold. Finally, through the random jabbing of a shivering blue tinged finger that hit the large button near the bottom of the correct screen. The pod’s door swung outward, revealing the void of space.

  There was just a slight draft as the little remaining air rushed out of the pod carrying a light item or two into the blackness of space…

  Illuminated by the Pod’s slowly dimming exterior lights, Nathan was able to take a quick look around. The pod sat upon a grey flat pad. Old dark splotches were scorched across the ancient scarred grey surface. Three raised pads were set in a triangle each with a bridge to a walkway that led to a much larger metal door in a metallic wall.