Starshock (Gamer Multicrossover SI)

[Fulcon]

The Following is a Fanbased Work of Fiction. All fictional characters, creatures and props are the intellectual property of their Copyright holders. Please support the official release. Starshock and other original elements are owned by me.

Or are they owned by the Sietch, since I lose rights by posting here? Hm.

---

Dying, like most things in the universe, was dramatically overblown in the movies to compensate for how ridiculously boring it was in real life. There was the initial shock, then as things went dark, it passed and you’re just left with ‘oh, I’m dead’. I felt like I was stuck in place; like I was playing a game on my computer and it froze on a dark screen so it takes me a few minutes to realize that nothing’s working like it’s supposed too.

An instant later, the analogy becomes true in more ways than one as a white text box appears in my vision. The text, thankfully, complimented the shadow surrounding me perfectly.

To whom it may concern,

If you are reading this message, it is because you have just died. We are looking for Play Testers for our Augmented Alternate Reality game, Starshock. It is an RPG where you build up skills and make choices. We think it’s a lot of fun, but AAR games are unthinkably vast time-sinks, so we want to be sure before releasing this to the public.

Since you have just died, we figured that you might want a second chance at life with more opportunities tucked into your corner. The vast time-sink we’re talking about would encompass multiple human life-spans and can even go on forever if you play your cards right. There are some crossover elements with other universes that we thought players such as yourself might enjoy.

If you would like to accept our offer, please press the Accept Button at the bottom of the page. If you’d prefer to move on to whatever the afterlife has in store for you, you may press the Decline Button at the bottom of the page.

Whichever you choose, thank you very much for your time.

~Hobbes Creek, lead game designer and producer.

I wasn’t done living. So, okay Hobbes. I’ll play your game. I’ll pick up what you’re putting down. I’ll...anyway.

Since I still couldn’t move, I pictured myself pressing the accept button and it pressed itself.

Mental controls. Nice.

This brought me to another, smaller text box.

Welcome to Starshock: An Interstellar RPG! In the next page, you’ll be asked to select a background, which gives a general idea of what your School Days were like. The text is just flavor, so if you’d like to change anything, you’ll be able to do so at the end of Character Creation.

Interesting. No character creation makes me feel like I’m supposed to role-play this as myself which is fine with me. I never did anything else.

Backstory: [Tutorial]

• Starcatch Player: Played Starcatch throughout your school years and have played all eight positions, though your favorite was Point Man. +1 Athletics.​
• Volunteer Worker: During school and college, you often made it a point to sign up for volunteer projects. These projects often had you working out in the sun, landscaping public parks. +1 Durability.
  
• The Fashionable: During High School, your parents always drilled into you the value of keeping a good appearance, because it mattered. You were taught how to look good...and bad. +1 Aesthetic.
  
• The Wallflower: You were an outsider, staying out of social circles and out of notice. In doing this, however, you learned to watch and listen to the behavior of your classmates. +1 Watchfulness.
  
• The Bookworm: In school, you had no time for friends. Books and studies would help you pass your classes and, since you were lucky, obtain an early graduation. +1 Mentalism.​

Okay, whoa. Whoa. Backup. Let’s take a second, figure this out. So from this there’s...five base stats? You know what, I’m just going to click the Tutorial Button.

There are 5 Base Stats in Starshock. Each base stat has a minimum score of 0 and a maximum score of 10. 0 Is functional. A 0 in Mentalism, for example, does not make you incapable of speech.

Each Stat has four skills tied to it. Skills have a soft and hard cap. At 5 in the appropriate stat, the hard caps are removed. At 10, the soft caps are removed. At rank 10, the bonus from the stat is doubled. For example, each rank of Durability gives you 10 bonus hitpoints. At 5 Durability, you have 150 hitpoints. At 10 Durability, you have 300 hitpoints.

Base Stats are increased through a resource called Stat Points. Stat Points can be obtained as a quest reward. However, you can only have a maximum of 30 Stat Points and once an allocation is set, it cannot be undone without special equipment.

List of Base Stats

Athletics: The stat that represents general physical fitness. Increases MS, Melee AS and jump height. Governs the Mobility, Melee, Sneak and Hauling skills.

Durability: The stat that represents mental and physical fortitude. Increases hitpoints (100-200). Governs the Tolerance, Resistance, Survival and Assembly skills.

Aesthetics: The stat that represents how visually striking the Player Character is. Governs the Inspiration, Negotiation, Intimidation and Deception skills.

Watchfulness: The stat that represents how keen the senses of the Player Character are. Governs the Aim, Infiltration, Analysis and Romance skills.

Mentalism: The stat that measures how quickly the Player Character’s mind works. Governs the Mathematics, Encryption, Telekinesis, and Cognition skills.

The bonus being doubled at maximum rank reminds me of something. A game I played a long time ago, I think. I don’t remember what. You think I’ll actually be able to play Starcatch in-game? I mean, maybe. Usually, when a game mentions a fictional sport, it’s not something you can actually play. It’d just be jarring switch in mechanics. Eh...lets see.

Psychic powers are under the Mentalism stat. Since there’s hard and soft caps mentioned for base stats, I imagine I need a certain level of Mentalism to even attempt getting those skills. Also, it’s very likely that skills are something I level up over time instead of with skill points or whatever, so that’s interesting.

As much as I’d like Psychic powers...Watchfulness has Aim and that means sharpshooting, which just speaks to my soul on a very deep level. Plus, Wallflower is an accurate representation of my character, so...I’ll take it.

After selecting the Wall Flower, was taken to a new screen.

Trait Selection (Pick One):

Tunnel Vision: Max Aim, cannot access the Melee skill.

(Normal Requisites: Must be chosen in Character Creation.)

Netrunner: Max Infiltration, cannot access the Survival Skill.

(Normal Requisites: Must be chosen in Character Creation.)

Selfie Stick: Max Analysis, cannot access the Hauling Skill.

(Normal Requisites: Must be chosen in Character Creation.)

Date Doctor: Max Romance, cannot access the Intimidation skill.

(Normal Requisites: Must be chosen in Character Creation.)

Gun Kata: Can aim at two separate targets simultaneously.

(Normal Requisites: 30 Aim, 45 Cognition, 50 targets killed by duel wielding pistols.)

Weapon Focus: Raise a chosen weapon types base critical hit chance by %5.

(Normal Requirements: 10/50/200/600/1200 enemies killed with chosen weapon type)

White Hat Hacker: Lower the skill check to hack all terminals by 5.

(Normal Requisites: 4 Watchfulness, 50 Infiltration, 500 computers hacked.)

Locksmith Extraordinaire: Lower the skill check to pick all locks by 5.

(Normal Requisites: 4 Watchfulness, 50 Infiltration, 500 locks picked.)

Gunslinger: Removes recoil from revolvers when wielding them one-handed.

(Normal Requisite: Break your wrist with the recoil of a revolver.)

Wheel Gun of Fortune: No accuracy penalty when fanning the hammer with a revolver.

(Normal Requisite: Kill 20 enemies at least 30 meters away while fanning the hammer.)

White Death: When using a sniper, you can zoom in on distant targets without a scope.

(Normal Requisite: 6 Watchfulness, No-scope head shot 50 enemies with a sniper rifle.)

Silent Thunder: The muzzle flash of snipers are hidden and the sound is suppressed.

(Normal Requisite: 40 Infiltration, 40 Aim, head shot 100 enemies without being found.)

Lawnmower: Reduce the spread of machine guns by 85%.

(Normal Requisite: 5 Athletics, fire a full ammo box at an enemy without hitting them once.)

Switch off the Targeting Computer: Mathematics reduces lock-on time for Missile Launchers.

(Normal Requisite: 40 Mathematics, kill 5 enemies with a single Missile.)

My Death, a Necessary End...: Your death will end Scarcity. You will be hunted for it.

(Normal Requisite: Must be chosen in Character Creation or Triggered by Plot.)

...Will Come When it Will Come: Finish the main quest within seventy-two hours or die.

(Normal Requisite: Must be chosen in Character Creation or Triggered by Plot.)

Heh, there’s a lot of references here, historical or otherwise.

Anyway.

The first group of traits are geared toward min-maxing and because I don’t know anything about the game, I could condemn myself to an early second death, especially that Netrunner one. It’d be great if I started on a city planet where Survival would be almost useless but on a jungle planet, I’d be committing suicide.

The last two are for people who like adding extra challenge to their games. That’s the only way I can see them being justified. My Death, a Necessary End is for people who want more combat and Will Come When it Will Come is for speed runners. Helps them reset more quickly if they mess up a run. At least, that’s what makes sense to me.

Lastly, I’ve gained some valuable insight into the nature of traits; they aren’t bought on level up, they’re gained by doing things in game. Which makes me wonder if there’s a leveling system in place at all.

My gut says there’s not.

Well, I always build a gunslinger in these types of games, and the Gunslinger trait needs me to break my wrist in order to get it normally, so I think I’ll just pick that one up. With that, I got given another set of backstories to pick from. Instead of giving me another free Stat Point, instead I got skill points.

Semper Fi Champion: The video game Semper Fi was all the rage, a fully VR experience that hijacked your mind to make you believe you were on the front lines of an imaginary war with realistic weapons. It’s story took the backseat to the multiplayer, where you shined as one of the world’s greatest. You paid for a house on Europa with tournament and streaming money. +10 Aim.

Burglar: You were smart, knew how to analyze behavior and, more importantly, movements. When you knew people weren’t home, you’d...let yourself in. Hacking their internet service or unlocking the door, it was easy to waltz in and take what you needed. Wasn’t easy to keep the assembler charged after you dropped out of college. +10 Infiltration.

Artist: As a creative outlet, you became an artist. Things like texture, sheen or transparency could tell you a lot of what a person was wearing...or what they were like on the inside. You craved the detail, and found as much of it as you could. The most honest portrayal was your quest, and paint was your tool. +10 Analysis.

Gender Psychologist: You wanted to know more about the inner workings of the human mind and the one thing you heard complained about the most was relationships. You learned about the subtle yet important differences between Men and Women, how they were supposed to work together and what drove them apart. +10 Romance.

Ooh...first and second one are exciting. Well, the second one is exciting. The first one is hilarious. Paid for a house by playing video games? I mean, that’s not just hilarious, that’s topical. The second one is cool, being a cat burglar, keeping the...assembler charged. Huh. Assembler. Is that like a Replicator from Star Trek?

Interesting, but it only reinforces the point I learned earlier: I don’t know anything about the world I’m heading into. So trying to min-max my build is the wrong idea. But it is a choice between the first two because I can’t see the other two being any good in the early game. The first one is obvious, make it more likely to win in a fight. But Infiltration does that to by making sure I have access to loot.

In theory.

If I could hum, frozen in stasis like this, I would. But I would need to start the game first.

In games, something I’d do for games I’ve beaten over and over is to cheat the items I want in my inventory just because I have a specific play style I want over all the others. Usually it’s experimental, other times its just because it takes too long to get to the fun stuff.

So I’m going to take Infiltration to make getting the good loot easier.

I selected it, went to the next screen, and came to what I assume is the character screen I’ll be using in the game. In the upper left corner of the screen were the base stats.

CHARACTER SHEET:

STATS – 1/30: SKILLS:

• Athletics: 0 Mobility: 0 – Melee: 0 – Sneak: 0 – Hauling:
  ​
• Durability: 0 Tolerance: 0 – Resistance: 0 – Survival: 0 – Assembly: 0​
• Aesthetics: 0 Inspiration: 0 – Negotiation: 0 – Intimidation: 0 – Deception: 0​
• Watchfulness: 1 Aim: 0 – Infiltration: 10 – Analysis: 0 – Romance: 0
  ​
• Mentalism: 0 Mathematics: 0 – Encryption: 0 – Telekinesis: 0 – Cognition: 0​

Backstory:

You were an outsider, staying out of social circles and out of notice. In doing this, however, you learned to watch and listen to the behavior of your classmates.

When you graduated high-school, your Father bought you a gun. A new, boring, reliable revolver. One day at the range, you decided to shoot it like a cowboy in those old western films and promptly broke your wrist. The medical bills were severe, and on top of the debt from college, you had no choice but to drop out. The only silver lining is that your wrists were given a biological augment to adapt it to sudden impacts like that in the future.

You were smart, knew how to analyze behavior and, more importantly, movements. When you knew people weren’t home, you’d...let yourself in. Hacking their internet service or unlocking the door, it was easy to waltz in and take what you needed. Wasn’t easy to keep the assembler charged after you dropped out of college.

But, eventually, you got caught, and were sentenced to five years hard labor on Reilly's Trove, a machine world built by the Precursor civilization to the Sol Protectorate. Your infiltration expertise was considered of possible value on a tomb world with many locked doors and possibly dormant security systems.

...well, cool. This helps a little. Sol Protectorate is obviously a United Federation of Planets analogue, unless it’s an Imperium of Man analogue. This would suck.

Glad my backstory changed according to my traits, that’s nice. I wonder if I’ll get any memories associated with my new life or if it’s just flavor text to help me blend in? I hope I get something, at least enough to function in the Sol Protectorate. Or function outside of it...whatever. The limit of 30 stat points is disappointing, but unsurprising – making sure that I can’t excel at everything and become a god or something.

Let’s just take a quick glance at all the skills really quick to see if I want to make any changes.

Mobility: The skill centered on moving quickly. Governs the effectiveness of sprinting and evasive maneuvers.

Melee: The skill centered on fighting in melee combat. Governs the effective use of melee weapons and Fisticuffs.

Sneak: The skill centered on moving undetected. Governs the visibility of the PC and the volume of footsteps.

Hauling: The skill centered on moving large, heavy objects. Governs Carry Weight, Posture and Encumbrance.

Athletics skills mostly resemble what I expected. If I level Sneak a lot, will I obtain invisibility as a super power? It says it measures visibility. Wonder if the ‘must’ve been the wind’ happens in this game?

Tolerance: The skill centered on dealing with Status Effects. Governs their duration, severity and lethality.

Resistance: The skill centered on dealing with direct damage. Governs morale and the effectiveness of armor.

Survival: The skill centered on surviving in the wilds. Governs foraging and the use of improvised shelters.

Assembly: The skill centered on the use of power tools. Governs crafting and the maintenance of equipment.

Resistance governs morale? That’s...interesting. Makes sense, if you fall over with a stiff breeze, you’re more likely to run away the second damage happens. And Assembly governs crafting. I assume that means crafting by hand? If I raise it, can I assemble a super computer from scraps like I’m a one-man factory? That’d be kind of fun. Tolerance probably deals with disease and poison, most likely.

Inspiration: The skill centered on moving others to action. Governs leading the party and their effectiveness.

Negotiation: The skill centered on bartering and diplomacy. Governs word choice, diction and being inoffensive.

Intimidation: The skill centered on instilling dread in others. Governs word choice, expressions and posture.

Deception: The skill centered on misleading others. Governs word choice, quality of narrative and sleight of hand.

Aesthetic skills...exactly as I expected. If I get party members, maybe Aesthetic would be a good choice to invest in? Just so I can level Inspiration as high as it needs to go. Other than that...it’s a pretty bland set of skills to be honest.

Aim: The skill centered on marksmanship. Governs accounting for bullet drop and accurately leading a target.

Infiltration: The skill centered on breaking and entering. Governs skill at hacking systems and picking locks.

Analysis: The skill centered on examining a target. Governs identification of NPC’s, their strengths and weaknesses.

Romance: The skill centered on creating romantic bonds. Governs the identification of needs and compatibility.

Beyond being my favorite already, I find it interesting that Romance is a Watchfulness skill instead of an Aesthetic. Then again, maybe that was the developers being clever and pointing out that looks can’t sustain a relationship for long.

Going to be leveling Watchfulness as fast as possible. Need to get those skills to max!

Mathematics: The skill centered on mathematical equations. Governs problem solving, logic and proofs.

Encryption: The skill centered on blocking telepathy. Governs thought control and scrambling techniques.

Telekinesis: The skill centered on moving objects with one’s mind. Governs the mental application of force.

Cognition: The skill centered on using ESP. Governs Clairvoyance, Telepathy, Precognition and Post Cognition.

The Mentalism skills were almost enough to make me re-roll my character here. If you have enough Telekinesis, do you need weapons? Encryption could be a vital survival skill. Then there’s Mathematics, which would be insanely broken from how versatile the skill is: all sciences descend from math from my understanding.

I mean, science-y stuff is all well and good, probably no better way to make money, especially when you combine it with Assembly. If you wanted an Ultimate Hero, Luke Skywalker build, you would max Athletics, Aesthetics and Mentalism and use your Math abilities to figure out bullet deflection with a laser sword...or a space katana. Whatever it was this universe had. Heck, if lightsabers didn’t exist yet, you could science one into existence.

But I want to break into places and shoot people. That’s Watchfulness and then I want to be able to ghost around and that’s Athletics and I also want to scare the pants off of people for once in my life so...Aesthetic for Intimidation.

At least, that’s the plan right now. Actually, what does it say about the stats?

Athletics: The stat that represents general physical fitness. Increases MS, Melee AS and jump height.

Durability: The stat that represents mental and physical fortitude. Increases hitpoints (100-200).

Aesthetics: The stat that represents how visually striking the Player Character is.

Alertness: The stat that represents how keen the senses of the Player Character are.

Yeah, that checks out.

Uh...okay, so hopefully the world is balanced enough that I’m not going to be kicking myself later for not going with Psychic Powers. Besides planning on giving up Psychic Powers, my biggest concern is being a glass cannon with low durability.

...my plans might change, depending on how the game turns out.

I think that’s it. I pressed the Finish button in the lower right portion of the screen, and a new window showed up.

What’s your name?

• F:​
• M:​
• L:​

I didn’t want to use my old name. Just...I’m trying to put that behind me. I died. I was never going back and, put it bluntly, I hated my life before. I wanted to be something else.

Someone else.

What’s your name?

• F: Davis​
• M: Alan​
• L: Sykes​

So here I was. Burglar turned laborer on a Precursor World.

With the mental press of a button, the screen faded into my new life.

* * *​

Author’s Note: So, here’s something I’ve been stewing on for a while: an exclusive gamer fic for the Sietch. I figured since a lot of people liked the first one, I might give you guys something new. I’ve permanently logged off of Spacebattle’s and while I’m working on one other story on QQ, I’d...like to at least finish this part.

Updates will be sparse, just letting you know. This game system was created by me for this fic and I hope it made at least some sense. Please feel free to ask any questions, I will be thrilled to answer.

Until the next time!

~Fulcon

 

[hyperspacewizard]

Oh yeah I liked your other stories didn’t know you completely left sb. Wonder if there’s a story there lol.

I’m definitely watching this though

 

[Fulcon]

Oh yeah I liked your other stories

Thank you!

didn’t know you completely left sb. Wonder if there’s a story there lol.

No story, just got out before I got thrown out.

I’m definitely watching this though

I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Bear Ribs]

Looks like it might be interesting, but I'm going to be honest, the entire first chapter being character creation with no actual action isn't grabbing me. I'll give it a few more chapters though.

 

[Fulcon]

I'll give it a few more chapters though.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Fulcon]

The Following is a Fanbased Work of Fiction. All fictional characters, creatures and props are the intellectual property of their Copyright holders. Please support the official release. Starshock and other original elements are owned by me.


---

Mission Added: Point Insertion.


-Check In.


Reward: 1 Stat Point.

The game had faded into what looked like a subway car. Benches overlooking open windows on either side with handrails hanging down from the ceiling. Poles were mounted every ten feet and up ahead, I could see the door to the next car.


I knelt on the bench to the left, looking through the windows. The sky was black and hanging above in the sky was the sun, only it was green. We were traveling, quickly across what looked like a vast desert. Closer inspection revealed that the tan terrain below were not dunes of sand, but buildings. Dead and made of sand-colored stone.


The green sun meant that there was no atmosphere. If there’s no atmosphere, then the means to breathe would have to be provided, right?


A quick look down revealed that I was dressed in a blue jumpsuit. Checking my face revealed no breathing apparatus was equipped...wait…


In my minds eye, I could see a game menu. It was impossibly large, sections of it only falling out of focus as I went from section to section. I could see myself in the equipment screen, with only the blue jumpsuit and a pair of black boots to my name. Next to the equipment screen was the map, which only revealed the train car that I was inside.


Speaking of the train car, this is a prison tram, and it’s empty. No guards. That doesn’t seem right.


I looked around, and on the ceiling, I saw a panel in the space between windows, with hinges on one side. Standing on the bench to get a closer look showed me that there was a red hazard sign painted in the corner, with a printed warning.


Caution: Maintain Distance from Turret Bay.


Oh, turrets. Okay, that made sense. Why risk a guards life when automated defenses can just gun an inmate down if they act rowdy? Given the size of the panel, the turret itself can’t be too large. If I’m correct, the rail holding the tram was above us and if the turret was too large, it’d get in the way of the machinery up there. So we’re talking small arms fire?


Not a very powerful turret, but I don’t have any armor so that doesn’t matter.


Your Analysis Skill has increased to 1!


Nice.


It’s kind of odd that my tram car was empty. Not a lot of prisoners? I wonder if I can move to another car.


I walked up to the door up ahead and got stopped by a sharp, mechanical whistle that hurt my ears. A canned order came over the intercom in a soothing, female voice. “Prisoner C6-895, stand away from the car door. When it is time to leave, the door will open.”


That answers that question.


Planting myself back on the bench, I waited to leave. There wasn’t anyone to talk too, so I just looked out the window. Looking ahead and behind, I saw that I was in the last car of the tram, and I couldn’t count how many were ahead of me. Gradually rising over the horizon, I saw our destination; a massive, transparent dome that reflected the emerald glare of the sun right into my eyes.


Well, that answers that question.


Soon enough, the tram pulled in through an airlock. I didn’t hear any brakes halting the tram as it slowed down. I did see that the airlock had some kind of force field preventing air from leaving, looking kind of like crimson tiger-stripes.


When the Tram came to a full stop, the turrets popped out of their panels and the door opened. The turrets were small boxes with duel barrels and a laser-pointer mounted right beneath them. “Please exit and go immediately to the right.”


I was not going to argue. With my hands raised up in a defensive position, I stood up and walked out of the newly opened door, coming to a pair of stairs, one set going left, the other going right. Following instructions, I went right and saw a pair of guards in uniform.


A man and a woman. They both wore a blue uniform with black armor on their chests, forearms and shins. They both wore some kind of black collar that came to a head at the base of their neck. At that base was a small box with a switch on the side.


The man was easily over six feet and he was built like a brick house. Short brown hair and clean shaven, his hazel eyes were focused intently on the tablet he held in his hands. The woman was two heads shorter than me, her black hair tied up in a bun. She glared at me and waved me over. “Prisoner, get over here! Now!”


Not eager to get shot, tazed or gassed, I hurried over there.


“Stop!”


I snapped to attention ten feet from them.


The man held the tablet up and it scanned me with a wave of green light. After that was done, the man paused. “What’s your name?”


It took me a second too long to remember. “Davis Sykes, sir.”


“Don’t call me sir, I work for a living,” The man snapped in annoyance.


Great. Military. I call everyone sir or ma’am if I don’t know their name and don’t care to know and in my experience the Enlisted are the only ones to have some kind of problem with it.


“Captain, he’s not on the list and I don’t recognize him,” He turned to the woman, who looked down at his tablet.


“You checked for his portrait?” The woman asked, her eyes narrowing.


“First thing I did, Ma’am,” He replied with barely conceived annoyance.


Was she not paying attention, or what?


“Huh, we’ve got nothing on him,” She said with some surprise. “That’s the fifth one today. Sergeant Snow, you know procedure. Escort him to Cell Block 3 and lock him up. Once we’ve got his paper work, we can get him in the work crews.”


Fifth?


“Uh...you sure you-”


“Quiet!”


That’s a no.


“Alright. Come on, Sykes,” Snow walked up to me and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”


“You’re not going to slap some cuffs on me?” I asked, annoyed at how tight his grip was.


Actually, wait...I didn’t have cuffs. That’s interesting.


“No need,” Snow replied, pointing up at drones that were flying overhead. Drones with guns, very similar to the turrets inside the tram. “You make any trouble, and you won’t last a minute.”


“Understood.”


We started off. Looking around, I saw massive groups of prisoners huddled around a stage, where what I presume was the warden was giving a speech. He was wearing a long coat with a suit of armor beneath it. On his head was a nice wide brimmed stetson, one that immediately let me know that he was from the American south. His hair was white and that included the burly mustache growing below his nose. On his hip, I caught sight of a revolver.


...since I’m a thief by build, I’m making it a point to take his stuff.


“...and you are here to pay off your debt to society,” His speech went as I passed into ear shot. “By unearthing the secrets of our precursors and developing character through the dignity of manual labor…”


Passed out of earshot, which was good because his justification for what was technically slave labor was going to make me cringe.


Up ahead, I saw other prisoners with exoskeletons, silvery limbs stretching out of a backpack to assist human arms and legs. These exoskeletons were armed with drills and buzz saws and some seemed to change at the blink of an eye, going from drills to saws instantly.


That was kind of cool.


We got to an exit, walking through another door and we got into the dome proper. The first thing that caught my sight was the sight of a tank...or what was left of one. It’s whole body had been smashed like a soda can into the stone pillar above us, and the pillar had broken, falling into the dome but thankfully not breaking through.


“What happened there?”


“You know how we’ve have four other guys without any records?” Snow asked. “That was one of them. Friggan ubers are going to be the death of us.”


Ubers?


Codex Updated: Ubermenchen.


Like memories that had been forgotten, the Ubermensch, or Ubers as they are called in slang, were people gifted with superhuman power. Current school of thought is that they developed psychic powers, but those powers were mutated by factors such as chemical alterations to cause for bizarre and esoteric effects. Name taken from Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra.


…


...Well, if that’s how the game is going about doing a codex, I’m not complaining. That’s awesome.


Out in the dome itself, I saw the exoskeletons running forward, joined by an escort of flying drones. Sergeant Snow lead me along a cobblestone path, around the dusty ruins of an old fountain, to the massive box of a structure that was helpfully labeled as Cell Block 3 by the digital sign stretching from one side to another.


The cell block clashed horribly with the dusty, sandy architecture with it’s steel frame and boxy construction, whereas the ruins were artful and flowing, going from one building to another with a form of grace that I hadn’t expected out of architecture.


The door to the cell block opened I was forcefully ushered in and came to a reception desk. Steel walls and a transparent door. Didn’t want to call it glass because I could be completely wrong, but past it I could see another door and past that, what looked like a cell.


“No records of this one,” Sergeant Snow explained.


The receptionist, a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes, nodded. “Gotcha. Cell B-5 is open.”


Didn’t seem like she was paying much attention. To be fair, if I had to sit at a desk for hours on end without anything to do, I’d probably have my head in the clouds too.


“Come on,” Sergeant Snow ordered, letting me go at least. “Up the stairs.”


The door past the receptionist opened and I walked through it. To the immediate left were stairs, industrial steel with holes through them. Walked up a single flight to ‘floor B’ and found my Cell on the right, marked with a sign hanging from the ceiling, the words ‘B-5’ illuminated in green letters.


The door was open and I stepped inside.


Because I did not want to get shot.


“Now you’ll stay in there until,” Snow looked at his tablet. “Dinner time at 1800. It’ll be brought to you. Who knows, maybe this is all just a huge misunderstanding and you’ll be able to go free.”


“Doubt it,” I replied.


Snow just smiled. “Yeah, me too. Enjoy the relaxation while it lasts!”


Great. Well. You know, to be fair, I haven’t actually done anything to deserve prison, this is just where the game’s dumped me with a decidely hollow backstory.


Codex Updated: Backstory.


Okay, not hollow. I have memories...but they’re odd. They aren’t a life, not really. They’re functional. I remember getting caught, but...it wasn’t me. Feels like I’m remembering in third person. I remember breaking and entering, watching people in high school.


But it wasn’t me.


It’s like these memories are machine-made and for functional purpose only. I suppose, if they aren’t trying to override your personality, that’s a good way to handle a backstory.


But it’s odd, you know?

Mission Updated: Point Insertion.


Completed: Check In.


Wait for Dinner.


Reward: 1 Stat Point.

...wait?


Okay, but what if I wanted to pick the lock to this cell?


It didn’t look that hard, I’d just need a K-pick.


Kinetic Pick. Transmits kinetic force along a wire loop to force tumblers into the proper position. Works even if you can’t get the loop into the keyhole, but it’s harder.


...I don’t have one.


Darn it.


Fine, I’ll wait. What else is there to do but...take a nap?


I’m a little tired, I guess.


The cell was a small, five foot by five foot cube. It had a toilet, a single bed and a sink to wash your hands. No beds meant no cell mates and for that, I was grateful. Some of the crap that can go on in a cell is something I want no part of.


Hopefully, the plot involves escaping, because the game is called Starshock and I want to see the Stars!


The bed was two inches of stiff aluminum with a black rubber sheet over it. It had a pillow, thankfully, and it was fluffy enough. I guess.


I lied down on the bed and struggled a little bit to get comfortable. The mat was stiff.


…I’m never going to see home again.


Shut up, uh...Davis. You died. That’s part of the deal. You died, now you’ve got a second chance. Just go to sleep.


Who knows, maybe this whole thing is just a weird dream and you’ll wake up in your bed like nothing ever happened.

Sleep for How Long?


1| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |24


Current Time: 1403.

Oh, so this is kind of like Bethesda games. Neat!


Well, I’m tired and I assume he’s going to wake me up...which might be a dangerous assumption to make, now that I think about it. What is 1400 hours military? Two o’clock PM, right? Right. He said 1800, so I’ve got time for a four hour nap.


Let’s go.

* * *​

Well, when I woke up, I had a splitting headache, which was not a good sign.


What time is it?


I found a clock beneath my internal map, and it was 0215.


Oh, I overslept. I didn’t realize I could do that? Wait, why can I do that?


“Caution: Riot Suppression systems empty.” It was the same robotic voice I heard telling me to get off the tram when I first got here. “Requesting refill of Anesthetic Gas.”


Well, the explains it. The prisoners rioted and that left me getting gassed along everyone else. That just means that I have to wait until order is restored and then breakfast tomorrow.


Pffft. Nah, something’s wrong and I got to get out.

Mission Updated: Point Insertion.


Completed: Wait for Dinner.


Get Help.

Opening my eyes revealed a red light that pulsed in and out of existence every two seconds. That was also my only form of light, which made sitting up and getting out of bed a delicate affair.


When I turned toward the bars, I was greeted with the grisly and unwelcome site of a corpse slumped up against the bars. Part of a corpse. The head, right arm up to the shoulder and bottom half were all gone.


I had frozen in place. Bile started to form in the back of my throat. My hands were shaking. The scent of blood in the air was making it worse. Coppery, metallic thing in my those making it harder to breathe. I couldn’t move.


Breathe, Davis. Breathe!


...I spewed chunks on the floor. Or at least I would’ve if I had anything in there, right now it was just stomach acid.


Get it together. It’s a body. People have them and then they leave them behind when they die. You know this for a fact. This unlucky person is still around. Somewhere. Just without a body and if you want to stay alive, you’ll get a move on.


But he’s dead, though.


After several minutes of debating with myself, I was finally able to get myself under enough control to stop my hands from shaking. Slowly, I moved over to the corpse. Because I was going to need to loot it because, since this is technically a game, it probably has a key.


Right.


I knelt down next to the corpse, the blood that had spilled from it’s neck soaking through my pants. The tatters of it’s uniform felt slimy to the touch.


But at it’s touch, an inventory window popped up, showing me what it had on it.

Guard’s Loot:


*Uniform scraps – Junk.


*Alvarez J99 Pistol – Weapon. [%75 Charge/98% Ammo]


*Kinetic Pick – Utility.


*Wrist Computer – Utility.

Yes.


From the inventory window, digital lines drew themselves from the item listing to the item itself, highlighting it with a blue sheen that let me see them in the dark. Thank you, anti-frustration features!


I grabbed for the pistol, unwrapping the leg holster and buckling it around my left thigh. The uniform wasn’t salvageable, so I left it. The K-pick was in the right pants pocket and when I grabbed it and brought it to eye level, I extended it like a switchblade.


K-picks were small oval things, the tiny, needle-like loop glinted in the red light of the siren like a poisoned knife. After retracting the needle, I placed it in my pocket.


Finally, the wrist computer. Plumb brand, called the Holophone X-Million. This was going to take a bit more preparation, but not much. First, I took it from his…no, her right wrist. Then I turned it over to look at the back and...let me get my K-pick…


I gently pressed the needle into the little hole in the upper left-hand corner to reset the device to factory settings. Now if I recall correctly, firearms were required to be paired with a digital device by law, so I’ll have to re-pair the pistol with this one once I’m done.


With it being back to factory settings, I wrapped it around my wrist and turned it on, causing a holographic screen to spring to life. After putting in some new login information, the holophone was mine.


Now for the pistol. Find the hole on the bottom of the grip, press to reset. Then we open the side to reveal the port. From the holophone, I drew a cord to plug in. On the screen, an app for Alvarez Systems started installing. I went through the process of pairing the weapon and, officially, this weapon was now mine.


Codex Updated: Firearms.


From that, I learned that the guns were a lot like Mass Effect’s, where their ammo size was in the tens of thousands, but the weapons worked off of rechargeable batteries. Overheating was possible, but didn’t happen often with proper fire discipline. Only real difference is that, instead of the pellets collapsing on hit, the ammunition pierced through their targets and exploded. The real question is that if weapons worked like that in this universe, why are there still revolvers?


Good stuff! Now, let’s get out of here. Before whatever shot this poor girl realizes they forgot someone and comes back.


The cell doors didn’t have keyholes. As I said before, that makes things more difficult, but not impossible. I extended the needle and set it against where the lock was and got to work. K-Picks used a tactile simulation matrix to give your fingers enough feeling to work with while picking a lock. Using this, I could get a picture, though a fuzzy one, of the inner workings of the workings inside.


From what I could tell, it was just a single hook, though thick and moved by a motor. So my job was to force the motor to move the hook. Internally, it was locked up, but the pick could move and loosen the locks until the motor became a free wheel. Once that was done, I just turned it, moving the hook and unlocking the cell door.


Just to be sure, I pushed the cell door open slightly so that if the hook came back down, it would fall over open air. The corpse, being partially in the bars, offered stiff resistance, so I, perhaps more hesitantly than I would’ve liked, pushed it away from the cell with a firm boot.


With the cell opened, I was free to walk around. So I made sure to check the rest of the cells for loot. Sadly, they were empty, except for a few sheets and...yeah. Kind of odd, but then maybe this cell block wasn’t really used?


I need a computer hooked up with the rest of the Protectorate’s systems. From there, I can figured out what happened and then come up with a game plan.


The door to the stairs, however, was locked. This time, however, there was an actual key hole, so the K-pick would be easier to use since I could jab the needle inside. So, that’s what I did. When the pins were all in the right position, I turned the door knob and withdrew the pick.


Down the stairs I went. Picked the lock to the reception area and found two of the drones waiting for me. Sleek, painted black with sickly green light emitting from the front and back. Kept in the air by twin turbines, they turned to me with turrets mounted beneath their front barrel, charged and loaded.


Draw my pistol, shoot, miss. They both fired their weapons and the blue electrical bolts hit me square in the torso, sending me straight to the ground.


58 / 100 HP.


Okay, I’m a bit tougher than I thought. Nice.


As I scrambled to get back on my feet, I knew for certain that I was dead because there was no way those drones were going to miss a shot this easy.


But as luck would have it...the drones stopped, faltering in the air, giving me just enough time to get to my feet and run.


Circled back around to the stair case right as shots from their cannons rang out, impacting the door past where I was just standing with laser precision. Peek around the corner and see one flying toward me.


I raised the pistol and shot, the bullet piercing right through the drone’s casing and causing it to exploded in a shower of metal and sparks.


Your Aim skill has increased to 1!


Great!


The remaining drone fired, and I barely made it around cover before the bolts could slam into my face. Then it circled around like a hornet and I only had one second to make the shot.


When the bullet pierced through the shell, I instinctively covered my eyes and face with a raised arm as sparks and steel rained everywhere, thankfully not enough to pierce through my skin or jumpsuit.


Your Aim skill as increased to 2!


Awesome. How long until I hit the soft cap?


With that done, I looked down to check the damage; though the jumpsuit, I could see a pair of blood stains where I got hit earlier. Unzipping the suit revealed that even though the bolts didn’t pierce my skin, it had hurt me somehow because blood was seeping through my pores. Ouch.


I need to find a computer. Hopefully there is one at the desk.


Back in the reception area, I saw that, yes, there was a computer. One with a holographic display that I hadn’t seen before; some kind of privacy feature that makes it so that the hologram is only visible from one angle?


Whatever.


The computer itself was underneath the desk. I was asleep, so all I had to do was move the mouse and the screen popped open. It was asking for a password.


I’m...not interested in dealing with that. I extended a cable from my Holophone and started working. Sadly, since this was a new phone, it didn’t have any hacking tools downloaded into it. That just meant I needed to improvise.


Codex Updated: Hacking.


Luckily, I had access to the Solarnet, the Protectorate’s Internet and the codex entry demanded a software by name of Netcrack, which I was able to grab right off the Solarnet. For free! Once I had that, I was able to start hacking the password.


Pretty sure the only reason there wasn’t a password to the wifi was because the server was named ProtectoratePublic. Because I’m assuming there was more than just prison laborers here? Anyway, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.


I drew a cord from my holophone and plugged it into the machine. From there, I ran Netcrack. Netcrack was cool in that it not only could run attacks on a password, but it could also use the holophone’s base scanning software to scan the hard-drive to find what I needed.


I waited forty-five seconds before it returned a password.


Admin1.


You’re joking.


...I’m in.


Alright then.


Let’s see...e-mail, video conferencing, map. I’ll download the map.


Map Updated: Protectorate Outpost C-42.


Nice.


A beep sounded from the console, a red dot appearing on the video conferencing app. I clicked it and on the screen, I got a video feed. The one on the other side of the call was a man, middle aged. He was bald and wore a prison jumpsuit, like mine. Around his eyes were deep impressions, like the man had wore goggles for most of his life.


“Well, hey there,” He greeted with a wave. “Nice to meet you. Name’s Dell Conagher. Glad to see someone else made it.”


“Davis Sykes,” I introduced myself, the name feeling awkward as it rolled off my tongue. “So what happened, exactly?”


“Well, son, tonight these boys here managed to power on some of the planet’s computer systems,” Dell answered, his expression thoughtful as he rubbed his chin. “From the planet, the machines here all seem to have caught a virus of some kind and they went haywire. Far as I can tell, there’s five survivors, and we make two.”


“How did an alien virus interface with the Protectorate’s systems at all?” I asked, downright confused. “That shouldn’t be possible.”


“I don’t rightly know,” Dell replied, looking confused as well. “But son, I didn’t call to theorize, I called because we need to work together. I saw your file, or at least saw that you didn’t have one. I get the feeling that you don’t belong here in the same way that I don’t belong here. You feel me?”


...the game did say there’d be crossover elements. “You mean you come from a Parallel Universe?”


“That’s right!” Dell crowed, clapping his hands. “Ho-ho! I finally found someone that believes me! Alright listen up. I’m holed up in the Warden’s Office, trying to turn this into a defensible position. I’m going to need you to find the other three people and bring them here to the office.”


“Okay, where are they?” I asked, with a frown. “And is there an armory somewhere, because I think I might need something more than this Pea-shooter?”


“There is an armory here in the main building for this here penal outpost,” Dell replied, typing at the keyboard. “Not sure you can swing by, though, it’s protected by a tank that’s gone haywire. You’re going to need to find our friends first.”


“Alright, where are they?” I asked with a frown.


“Two of them are easy, they’re still where they were left when everything fell apart,” Dell replied, not even looking at me as he was typing at the keyboard. “The third’s off gallivanting in the research labs, free as a jaybird. I recommend going after her last.”


“Where do I start?” I asked.


“Well, given your predilection for picking locks and breaking into computers, I’d say your first stop is the maximum security cell block,” Dell said. “Got a fellow there. Don’t have a name for him, but apparently he crushed a tank with his bare hands before they brought him down.”


“How did they restrain him?” I asked in surprise.


“Well, after pelting him with tank shells and knocking him out, they put him in a fancy, high-tech straight jacket that keeps the muscles from working,” Dell continued, looking more and more fascinated. “Otta get me one of those for when...anyway. Next one is in the hospital. Apparently he doesn’t have a heart? I don’t know, I’ll send you the audio files I have on them and you can peace them together.”


“Gotcha,” I said, looking at the files being sent my way. I quickly downloaded them into my holophone. “By the way, why can’t you do this?”


“I’m an engineer, son,” Dell said with a snide smirk. “I’m not so good at diving behind enemy lines and sniffing out danger.” In a quiet voice, he continued speaking. “That’s more Jeremy’s thing, if I’m being honest.” With a normal volume, he finished. “My talents are better used setting up a base camp and protecting it, and it’s going to need a lot of protecting. You feel me?”


“Gotcha,” I said with a nod. From my internal map, I could see that maximum security was directly east of my position. The Hospital was on the opposite, to the west. To the north, were the labs. “So, Maximum security, then we’ll swing by the labs and see if we can find whoever is hiding out there, and then finally the hospital.”


“Last note, it looks to me like the orbital defenses have been taken over by this virus the protectorate found,” Dell informed me with a smirk. “So don’t go thinking you can grab a space ship or something and hightail it out of here; you’re stuck here with us, got it?”


“You got it,” I replied. “By the way...I noticed the drones glitched out kind of while I was fighting them. You know anything about that?”


Your Analysis skill has raised to 2!


Dell grinned. “That’s right, I hacked them for you. Didn’t get them long, but it was long enough.”


“You saved my life,” I said with a nod. “Thank you.”


“You can thank me by helping me, us, get out of this mess,” Dell replied. “I’ll be in touch.”


He hung up and his window disappeared.

Mission Complete: Point Insertion.


Rewards: One Stat Point.


Mission Accepted: All our Powers Combined!


Find the inmate in Maximum Security.


Find the inmate in the research labs.


Find the inmate in the hospital.

Well, there we go! Making progress. In my mind’s eye, where I saw my stats, I saw a counter having gone up to one near the top center and along each stat was a row. Only Watchfulness had a part of it’s row filled with a section filled with white. I put another point into it, and watched the bar fill itself to two sections.


...now I’m going to need to find a health kit to replenish my health.

* * *​

Analysis: 2


Aim: 2


Stat Points: 1.


Watchfulness: 2.

* * *​

Author’s Note: This took longer than I was expecting it too. Still, I’m pretty happy with it and I hope you are too.


First person to identify Dell and where he’s from gets a cookie.


Until the next time!


~Fulcon

 

[Fulcon]

Well, great game intro.

Thank you!

That just screams new game introduction and it flows very well. So we got 5 possible Self Insert in this new world and a bullshit virus.

Not 5 Self insert, one self insert and four characters from other games. Speaking of which, if you find out where Dell comes from, there's internet cookies in it for you.

Hope you enjoy what I've got going on in the future.

 

[jlk]

A nice gamer system. Happy to have read it, eager to continue to read it !