An Engineer In Night City

Chapter 42: Base Number Two (3)



The final rocket section finishes construction signaling for the rocket silo gates to slowly open to bring the completed spaceship into the open. Steam comes out of the open gate while the rocket tip slowly rises from the underground construction site. Eventually, the massive rocket emerges fully from the ground, the electronic lights signal that all pre-flight checks have finished and the space-capable vehicle is ready for its voyage.

Mark feels the rumbling of the earth as the gates open and the smell of Rocket Fuel used in the construction of the rocket, his head slowly looks up as the titanic vehicle stands tall for him. "Man, I can never get tired of watching this. It's like a kid's dream coming true."

The inside of the rocket is clean and sterile, with a tight command cabin meant for a small number of passengers. The Engineer feels slightly claustrophobic inside, but a deep calming breath later his focus returns as he checks the controls of the rocket while doing last-minute flight checks and mentally reviewing the list of items to bring to space. Once everything is in order he initiates the flight sequence.

The rocket rumbles in place as the engines ignite, giant plumes of fire pushing the massive object into the air as the rocket silo internal chamber harmlessly dissipates the heat away from any critical system, and soon the rocket flies into the air while picking up velocity.

Mark feels the slight push of the accompanying g-forces, his hands gripping the guard rails while he stays in place. 'The first nanomachine augmentation came in clutch once again.' 

The rocket picks up more speed until it reaches escape velocity and exits the orbit of Earth, its metallic body breaking apart to float in orbit while a small capsule detaches from the passenger module, a set of solar panels opening to collect energy and used as ballast to direct the motion of the small pod through the application of the third law of motion.

The Engineer doesn't feel nausea, but he feels all the micro-movements performed by the pod while stapped on his chair and wonders if it wouldn't be better to change protocols and enjoy zero gravity for a time during the short travel, or if he should try and research a form of passenger comfort technology.

The small pod picks up more speed, traveling faster once it finishes its pathway calculations, moving closer to the moon base established by the Engineer.

Mark is startled by the sudden increase in speed, his back pressing against the cushioned seat. Mark looks at the moon, the various space stations moving in the distance, and the approaching moonbase on his primary monitor. "Never mind," he mutters under his breath, realizing that he had underestimated the speed of the pod despite this not being his first trip to the Moon. 

The rocket reorients itself, using its thrusters to slow down its descent while the Command Center opens its entrance to catch the pod entry.

Mark feels a small impact, then relaxes as the rest of the landing sequence finishes and he's safely on the base's ground. Mark takes off the straps holding him down while allowing the automated systems to do their job and he stretches his legs inside the building.

Outside the bunker the machines work constantly in silence, sending clouds of dust into the air while minerals as extracted, moved, and smelted utilizing the special machines available.

Mark's eyes moisten with emotion, and he takes a deliberate step into the moon soil. "'A small step for a man, but a giant leap for humanity,' yeah, that feeling never goes away." After taking a few moments to recompose himself, Mark starts the inspection of his lunar base that the first robot network built around the bunker.

In the silence of the working machinery, a new cloud of dust appears on the horizon as electromagnetic interference floods the radio making noise similar to screams and car motors revving up to the max.

Mark narrows his eyes inside his thruster suit, "what the hell is that noise?" Despite his initial confusion, the Engineer prepares himself for the worst and quickly sets up a primitive perimeter defense hoping that will be enough.

The large cloud of dust quickly approaches until it reveals the roaring bands of raiders and marauders sporting red and black colors, spikes bolted on their lunar vehicles, and a wide variety of melee weapons in the invader's hands.

The Engineer freezes for an instant, trying to blink away the image in front of him. "Pirates, really? I'm dealing with space pirates now?"

The pirates don't hesitate upon seeing the Engineer standing between them and their greater prize, instead circling around in a wide arc to avoid his weapon's range, throwing explosives to cause chaos and destruction while the rest load up into their larger vehicles the refined minerals and some of the factory equipment by digging straight into the foundations of the lunar soil.

Mark sees Red, bringing his assault rifle up on instinct and pulling the trigger. "Die you piece of shit!" He broadcasts on the radio for them to hear while quickly switching to his grappling gun to catch up with the raiders.

The raiders don't lose their coordination upon seeing Mark's figure flying at them, a group of pirates remaining in place to stop the Engineer's advance while the rest holding the valuable minerals and equipment retreat. The remaining space pirates start to throw special termite bombs and start destroying the precious infrastructure of the moon base.

Mark holds back a flinch as he sees the pirates pulling high explosive ordinance, and despite rushing to stop them from causing more damage Mark can only watch helplessly as a quarter of his Moon Base is destroyed. The Engineer lets out a sigh of relief when he notices that his improvised perimeter defense shot down any debris or projectiles that went after the precious building.

The pirates raise their weapons high in the vacuum in an intimidating gesture, but their eyes widen as their numbers are gunned down by someone using a normal-looking firearm in space.

With calm precision Mark guns down the pirates one by one, mentally marking one of them for future interrogation. He bites down a curse as he realizes that more pirates than he wants will escape since he doesn't dare to throw grenades on the moon and risk overshooting the targets.

The pirates see their opportunity and turn back to flee, leaving behind their brethren and the loot they couldn't carry in their escape.

The sight of the destroyed equipment was one of chaos and destruction, with pieces of machinery smoldering under the termite bombs and other exotic ammunition used until the Base's robot network woke up and started flying around the area, fixing what was broken with the repair packs or being replaced by their stock of assemblies, smelters, and other buildings.

Mark's anger still smolders, changing from a raging inferno into cold embers as he seethes at the sudden attack, mentally tallying the damage and how much it will set back his operations on the moon as he will need to take out everything and rebuild the base from scratch.

From a bird's eye's view, the cameras looking down on Mark's moon base see the various equipment being taken apart and disassembled, the various items and minerals directed to a different route to wait, and a wide ring of turrets surrounding the bunker. As time passes the defensive fortifications slowly grow outwards with the aid of the robot network, the newly installed radars, and the increasingly large defensive perimeter. With the area secured by weapons and newly erected walls, Mark once again exits the Command Center and starts rebuilding the Moon base in earnest.

With a deep breath, Mark places down the new blueprint of the improved base, using simulation to create the required changes at a fraction of the real-time cost, however, the use of the simulation leaves Mark tired and sleepy, forcing him to retire to the bunker and depend on his automates systems to finish repairs and construction.

Inside the Bunker in Mark's room, Solvernia sits silently on a nightstand with her new Spacer helmet in place.

Mark crashes into the bedroom with tired eyes but is unable to sleep despite the fatigue in his body. "Do you think it's wrong to try and settle down, too?"

There's no response, as the plushy doll remains in place without animation and also without judgment.

Mark closes his eyes, his body slowly relaxing while he vents to his first friend in this new world he found himself in. "I was thinking about setting roots here, you know? Make the world a better place with my abilities, try to create the seed that will be grown, and help people be better."

The lights above Mark flicker for an instant, signifying that the robot ports started to recharge all at once, yet the power instability lasts for a few seconds until the robots return to their stations full of power.

Mark continues, "But no matter where I go, I need to keep fighting and fending people off, some of them that should know better. It's like I inherited both Prometheus and Sysyphus punishments at the same time with how pointless it feels at times."

Solvernia doesn't speak or move as usual, the only difference in her appearance being the shadows on the doll as Mark adjusts her position.

It affects Mark's tired mind, regardless if he should know better. "I know, I know, I shouldn't be complaining like this just because a few idiots came after me." Mark turns around to the other side, not willing to stare at his friend. "It's just if it is all the same, Maybe I should just rush into unlocking all the necessary technologies and build a spaceship big enough to unlock the necessary research to escape this universe."

The research tab on the Factorio System pops open, showing what lies ahead beyond the bounds of the solar system: interstellar travel and interdimensional shift. The interdimensional travel shows the possibility of further enhancing a spaceship's end-game FTL drive, while the interdimensional shift allows the ship to jump dimensions as a form of transportation.

Mark stares at the distant technologies on his research tree before closing the tab and allowing himself to relax further. "What kind of company was Wube Inc. to have access to FTL Drive research and experimental Interdimensional Shift technology?" Without waiting for further answers, Mark enters into a tired sleep.

...

The communicator connected to the Base radio beeps loudly in the Engineer's room.

The sudden noise wakes him up, his eyes shot open in surprise and he sits up, thinking it is another attack on his base. When he looks at the subject of the message, his facial expression turns sour. "I wonder what the Highriders Confederation wants with poor little me now." Standing up, he goes to the nearby terminal in his room and answers the call.

On the monitor, the image of an Egyptian woman with bright neon green hair, wearing an orange maintenance jacket with a pin on her breast is the only indicator of the person's importance in the HIghrider Confederation. "My sympathies, Mark Henderson."

The Engineer is initially surprised at the use of his full name, then he narrows his eyes at the message she gave him. "What do you mean, 'sympathies?' Did something happen that I should be concerned about?"

The woman on the other side of the screen nods, "We heard about the attack in your base, the destruction and loss of resources must have weighed heavily on you."

Curious about her remark, Mark raises an inquisitive eyebrow. "They did in a sense, though," Mark looks at his internal clock and realizes he only slept for four hours instead of crashing in bed for longer, "news got to you and yours fast, didn't it?"

"It's not hard to observe the happenings on the surface of the Moon. Especially not from our capital."

Mark nods, conceding the point. "Well then, thank you for your sentiments, Madam Prime Minister. However, what can I do for you to require a call soon after making moonfall?"

"After the latest attack, the Confederation started to have growing concerns over your ability to honor the previous agreement. Some voices question if you are capable of meeting our demands when it comes to orbital constructions and the reliability of your products."

Mark hides his surprise, but he inwardly admits he underestimated his enemies' actions. He didn't expect Militech or the other groups that he angered on Earth to have such a long reach in space, but money is a powerful factor in creating allies of convenience and to finance disgruntled foreign factions to throw at troublesome elements. Mark quickly concluded that the Pirate raid and the Confederation calling him wasn't a coincidence.

Seeing through the surprise in Mark's expression, the Highrider Confederation Prime Minister gets to the point of her call. "If you are feeling unsafe, the Confederation is always willing to accept new applicants. A private entity like Wube Inc. receiving an associate status is unprecedented but we're willing to bend the rules in that area, and the members have a more understanding view on deadlines and resources compared with Earthsiders."

Mark holds back a snort at the transparent play from them, seeing through the web trying to catch him. He knows that regardless of who sent the pirate raid after him, the Confederation knew ahead of time and pounced on the opportunity to capitalize on it, with the difference being that the faction wishing to strong-arm him into joining was stronger than the faction wishing to steal Mark blind. "Sorry, I need some time to think carefully about your proposal," Mark answers neutrally, "Wube Inc. has responsibilities on Earth, and making strong ties with a government body, even a new government such as the Confederation, is a step that requires careful consideration."

"We understand, Chief Engineer. However, please remember that circumstances change and space is more dangerous than you previously imagined. Staying independent might not be in your best interests with the increase in space pirate attacks."

Mark glances at Solvernia on his desk and away from the on-call camera, recalling the setting that his friend came from, and recalling his earliest sources of income that still contributes to his wallet. "Don't worry, Madam Prime Minister, I was just caught off guard. I won't happen again."

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