Ignition Broker: Chapter 46 All In

Chapter 46

All In

“There are times when you will find yourself at a crossroads of what to do and what not to do. Now, it doesn't matter on what path you choose to take, but know that once you choose a path, invest yourself fully into that path. Don’t give yourself wiggle room, or doubts. When you go in, you stay in.” -Marcon on poker and life

(Two Weeks Later)

“Truly marvelous, the skills of a relic class are impressive,” the leader of the Freefolk began, seeing how in just a matter of weeks, the massive hill of corrupted junk had slowly been fixed and turned into piles of completed items.

By now, the rest of Arla’s team had been summoned to begin taking completed supplies back to the ship. There was even a partnership of sorts where Freefolk would guide members of Arla’s team with repaired items back to the staging area, while the next group would come back with those same Freefolk.

In a way, it showed the level of conditioning that the Freefolk had, as they would make the trek to their staging area and back, often while carrying a load of equipment themselves. While many of the academy trained soldiers had to rest upon arrival. Those same Freefolk would often be assigned to multiple escort missions in a row, due to the lack of manning that the Freefolk had. Yet, they never complained, unlike the Academy soldiers who always seemed to grumble about something.

As a result of all this grumbling, Arla even began slowing down her own repair efforts, so that a full load was not ready for the soldiers that arrived immediately. This gave her more time to look at an inspect the equipment before her.

By this point, Arla was certain that a whole fleet of ships had been buried und this hill and not just one device. That or if there was one, it would explain why so many drive shafts and energy compression cords were ruined.

Ironically, most people hated broken compression cords, but Arla actually found the process somewhat therapeutic. A simple process for her, one that she just reinforced the durability of the initial cord, before crystalizing the rust and debris that burnt away within the long cords. Then finally reinforced the insulation around the cords to withstand violent electro-chemical reactions. After which you just seal, reapply and are done. Simple.

While working the compression cords Arla actually smiled to herself. Remembering how Marcon was exceptionally happy with her the first time she fixed the major compression cords that ran the length of their ship. Cords that could be used for anything from resupplying recycled air, to purifying water, to fueling.

At the time Marcon had been in the process of trying to think about which necessary products were not needed to get them through space. After identifying those parts he would then gut the ship for unnecessary parts and go from there. Originally his plan had been to start with removing the water purification cords, but depending on length needed that might not be the best, as one you could never use those cords for water again, and two the cords were the smallest, often only traversing a few feet, which required precision welding and other components.

The fact that Arla managed to fix it without having to first gut the ship, then remove primary systems was invaluable and one of the first times that Marcon jubilantly hugged Arla.  Even now she smiled at that memory, the thought of he father figure hugging her in such a way.

From that point on, Arla made sure to practice her process and refine it to be as simple as possible, while providing the maximum level of improvement, which is what the process she currently used consisted of.

“Is she smiling?” A haggard cadet Lisom asked, sitting down and still showing signs of exhaustion after making just one trek from the ship to this remote location. By contrast Rayalta who made the first trip back to the ship, while carrying supplies had already come back and while showing signs of being tired looked completely energized.

“Yeah, it’s odd to see her in this sort of element.” Rayalta responded, their conversation happening in a layer under the various conversations that the Freefolk were having. Hearing the various conversations, it was clear that not many knew what the others were saying or thinking.

Still, it was interesting for Arla, who sat back and tried to absorb the entire situation. It reminded her of times when Marcon would go to a city and force Arla to set up some type of shop to sell different items. Marcon called it immersive learning, where she was forced to pick up on the words and subtext of the various conversations going on around her. “You want to know what they are saying about you, listen and learn.” From that Arla learned the hard way to pay attention to multiple conversations held in different languages all at once. It wasn’t easy, but it was something she appreciated at the moment.

As for the conversations that the Freefolk were having, while the one leader for the group had spoken nothing but platitudes in a near formal form of Cerusian. The others spoke in a sort of dialectical drawl that was hard to understand at first. While they were Cerusian words, they were not given the same cadence and structure as formal Cerusian language. Which Arla assumed explained why the magic used by the few Cerusian chanters was able to be overcome by her so easily.

“Do you think she will <gibberish> it up?” A turquoise skinned Cerusian spoke. Seeing the person, Arla couldn’t help but think they were both pretty and clearly had nothing but contempt for Arla. That was another thing Arla learned quickly, to spot when people hated her, and this person clearly had objections to Arla. Not enough for outright hostilities, but it was clear that they did not like her. A quick glance at their clothing revealed a noticeable burn mark, indicating that they were likely one of the people that Arla incapacitated when she first got here.

“Who cares,” was the response given by a second turquoise skinned Cerusian.  It was clear that while these people clearly had genetic similarities as the main group of Cerusians that Arla was used to, this group was seen as lesser for some reason. It was also clear from their style of speech and the way they carried themselves with a sort of begrudging pattern that they also looked down on their own lots, which only seemed to perpetuate the stereotype. There would be a lot to work through if she stayed.

Crash.

With that betraying thought, something that Arla had been holding within her mind broke as she realized that thought went against everything she had been planning. The moment the thought hit her mind, she had a myriad of scales and balances weighing different possible solutions compared to possible gains, compared to possible risks. Then just before she came to any true conclusion on what she should do, she received a first system notification.

Cerusian Specific Class Quest Updated (Emergency Update- Completed): Tinkerer Needed: You have stumbled upon a lost colony of sentient beings who have made a desperate plea for a Tinkerer. You have found and repaired Master Tinkerer items found in their graveyard of broken-down parts and components, allowing you to learn enough about the ancient ways. Rewards: Enhanced Cerusian System advantages.

Then at that moment, her system opened and showed her status changing slightly.

Instituting Cerusian Baseline Template: 1.0.0.

Cerusian Baseline Class assigned: Tinkerer.

Tinkerer: (Support/Creation Class)

Primary Purpose: Build Around and Find Out.

Primary Bonus: <Locked>

Secondary Bonus: <Locked>

Tertiary Bonus: <Locked>

Extra Perks: <Locked> -> Minimalist: You have proven yourself at being adaptive enough to repair items using the minimum amount of new parts possible. Effect: all items repaired using only initial parts are 50% more durable and 10% more effective than before you repaired them.

<Empty> -> Extra Perks: <Locked>

Seeing the message, Arla paused trying to understand what just happened. She got an Extra Perk, which then unlocked an ability for her to get a second Extra Perk. Seeing the process, Arla concluded that she might be able to see this happen again, if she unlocked the next extra perk, as it was still plural meaning more than one.

For a moment Arla paused thinking that if this part was plural then shouldn’t she get something additional? Only thinking about it, did she realize the initial quest only offered Enhanced Cerusian System advantages. Which likely meant the unlocking of the Minimalist extra perk, and subsequent second Extra Perks slot?

Arla didn’t know. If anything, this Cerusian system was just as confusing as it was before. While it seemed that her Cerusian class was a support class, it still had a number of questions related to it. Questions that Arla did not have the time to deal with.

Pausing, she wondered why it chose now of all times to note her as having completed the quest. Only after realizing that the long piece of compression cord within her hand was also repaired, and that it was the fourth piece needed to complete her team’s last three for one exchange did Arla realize that there was likely something else to this process.

Maybe the Cerusian Leader had the ability to assign the quest? Or maybe the quest was somehow able to read Arla’s mind and determine when a good stopping point was. But what did that mean? Did that mean that the Cerusian system was able to read her mind? Or was there something deeper?

Again, only more questions arose the more she interacted with these Freefolk. Taking a moment to look around, Arla realized that while they had put a dent in the hill around them, there was still more that could be done here.

Still, getting back with all the resources was a vital part of this evaluation process. While Arla herself did not care about going back, she knew that for those under her command, that was their primary objective.

Realizing this was about them more than her, Arla used the fixed scales and grabbed the one piece of equipment that would finalize their resource quota assigned for this mission. Standing up, Arla grabbed the last piece of repaired equipment and placed it in Lisom’s hands.

“Hey?” Lisom cried out confusedly by the random item that just appeared in his lap.

“Pack it up, this is our last piece needed. All we have to do now  is wait out the clock and leave to safety.” Arla noted.

“Wait, really?” Lisom found himself asking, then looking down at the metal box in his lap as if seeing it for the first time.

“Yes, we can recalculate once we get to the ship, but this should more than put us over the top.” Arla concluded.

“Well, okay then,” Lisom stated excitedly, all signs of his previous tiredness leaving him.

Arla nodded, and gave the rest of her team the hand signals needed to know they were going to pack up and head out.

“Wait, they are leaving?” One of the previously angry turquoise Cerusians hissed.

The team had made it a few dozen paces away before the leader of the Freefolk charged forward stopping only when he was beside Arla.

“Wait, are you leaving already?” He asked, in a fast but passible form of Cerusian.

Arla nodded, “yes.”

“Wait, I have a favor to ask.”

Then almost proving her thoughts correct about the Freefolk leader being able to enact some form of control over the Cerusian system, Arla received yet another prompt.

Cerusian Specific Class Quest: A Plea for a Tinkerer’s Help: You have stumbled upon a lost colony of sentient beings who have made a desperate plea for a Tinkerer. Now that you have repaired all of the items need, could you show the others how to install the broken items? Install your previously repaired works, so that you might further learn of the ancient ways. Rewards: Enhanced Cerusian System advantages.

Seeing that message, Arla bit her lower lip, as she wondered what the inside of a working Cerusian Tinkered ship looks like. She only paused for a second as she realized that even now their team was just waiting out the clock on time. But there were still things that her team would need.

“I think we can come to an arrangement, but know my time is valuable.”

“Oh, yes, we fully understand the value of your time. Tell us, what is it that you need?”

“We’ll need . ..”

And like that Arla began the process of brokering her and her team’s continued survival in enemy territory.