Time to Make Like a Shut-in and Gather Some Intel

The moment I got back to the ship, I immediately connected to the Colony's

network and gathered some useful intel. I went at it for a few days.

Naturally, it wasn't through honest means, but an (il)legal one. I hacked into

the network channel used by the Port Security Department to monitor the

Colony and gather vital information. I particularly aimed for the access

records of the Security Department's network manager and gathered intel

from that.

The first thing I looked up was info regarding the surrounding star systems

and the interstellar empires which govern each of them. I prioritized getting

myself familiar with my current location.

First, the star system I was staying at right now was apparently called the

Termaine Star System. It was centered on the Type B star Termaine, and

housed four planets. Termaine I, which was closest to this system's parent

star, sported extremely high surface temperatures and held practically no

value. The next planet after it, Termaine II, was a gas planet whose

atmosphere was mainly made up of hydrogen and helium. It seems that

Helium-3 was harvested from this planet as an energy resource

An asteroid belt was situated near the three celestial bodies, and materials

and resources such as rare metals were mined from it. Further out were two

planets named Termaine III and Termaine IV respectively – a testament to

the people of this system's exquisite naming sense.

Termaine III was a planet with a toxic atmosphere frequented by deadly

acidic downpours, but the rain in question seems to have value as a

naturally occurring chemical compound and there were valuable metal alloy

deposits either formed on its surface or buried under its crust. A mining

station was located on the planet's satellite orbit, which apparently doubles

as a space prison where convicts were subjected to harsh labor in an

unforgiving environment.

It seems Termaine IV was a gas planet like its sibling Termaine II. But its

location was far from the Trading Colony, and Termaine II was closer to the

asteroid belt and offered easier access, so Termaine IV remains largely

untouched.

To sum things up, it appears that this was a very resource-rich star system.

Due to this fact, a lot of commercial and mining starships of all shapes and

sizes frequent the system on a regular basis. But there were also a lot of

space pirates lurking about the system as a result. In other words, there's no

shortage of mercenary work.

There's also another factor that contributes to the proliferation of the

mercenary industry, but let's talk about the interstellar empire in charge of

this star system first.

The name of the empire governing a significant portion of this system was

the Graccan Empire. All the vital functions of the state were completely

controlled by the Emperor and the aristocratic families under him, so it was

a place brimming with a domineering atmosphere.

They have been locked in conflict with the neighboring Vereverem

Federation for years, and border skirmishes were a frequent occurrence.

This is the other element that contributes to the proliferation of mercenary

work which I mentioned earlier. The sector where the main star of the

Termaine System was located actually serves as the said border between the

Graccan Empire and the Vereverem Federation.

"The longer I stay in this particular star system, the higher the chances of

me getting caught up in the conflict."

Yeah. I'll get caught up in it for sure. Even if it does present countless

opportunities to make money as a merc-for-hire, getting involved in a war

between two powers while remaining clueless about the overall situation

was way too risky for my tastes.

Getting involved in a war means fighting against the regular troops of a

proper Interstellar Army. It's a whole different thing from fighting pirates

sporting outdated, rickety ships.

"Should I try moving to another star system? But that lady…"

It really seems like that lady named Serena's got her sights locked on to me

after the earlier fiasco. They've never made contact directly, but I've

noticed people who look like members of the Sector Guards keeping their

eyes on my ship.

If I really went and left this star system, I have a strong gut feeling that I'll

get in deep trouble with these guys. Guess I'll just go and destroy some

pirates like a proper mercenary while waiting for things to cool down or

something.

"Anyway…"

I moved my gaze to the Galaxy Map. I tried to input the names of several

star systems I'm familiar with from playing Stella Online, but none of them

appeared on the search results.

I tried investigating some more and found some things quite odd. For

example, the starship models and specs published by various shipbuilding

companies as well as the optional equipment inventories and item lists

available on the market contain many parallels with the things available in

Stella Online. The info I have on them from the game seems to be mostly

applicable.

But on the other hand, there seems to be a lot of unfamiliar ships, items, and

equipment present as well.

And the biggest problem was the various powers controlling each region.

For example, the Graccan Empire ruling this system seems to be an

interstellar empire boasting a considerable scale. But as far as I remember,

there was no interstellar power named Graccan Empire in Stella Online. At

least, there wasn't within the areas the players have managed to reach.

The scale of the galaxy presented in Stella Online was quite grand, and

players had yet to reach its central areas. Maybe this was an empire not yet

discovered in Stella Online — in other words, an empire located on the

other side of the galaxy. But still, the presence of shipbuilding companies

and ship models I'm familiar with in this system poses a contradiction to

this particular theory.

"Hmm… is this the same galaxy or not?"

The obvious advantages I held in these strange circumstances were Krishna

and the experiences and knowledge I gained from playing Stella Online.

But I don't know just how far these advantages would be able to take me.

It's quite possible for the knowledge I have to cause me to misread a

situation, leading to me making a fatal mistake. From now on, I should

make it a point not to trust in my gaming knowledge too much and

constantly analyze if it would be effective or not in this world. Having

mistaken impressions in these circumstances was dangerous.

"…I really should get to replenishing my supplies soon huh."

I've almost eaten up all the food stored on the ship after the last few days.

There were various items like granola bars, jerky, canned food, and autocook food cartridges.

This food cartridge thing uses specially cultured algae for automatic food

creation… Simply put, it's a machine that produces food items akin to a 3D

printer.

The recent models are capable of producing meat-like or fish-like food

which I can't, for the life of me, associate with the algae they're made out

of at all. They're not exactly delicious, but you could definitely eat them.

As expected of a sci-fi cooking gadget thingy.

Speaking of which, all the garbage and biological waste products get

recycling treatments inside Krishna and get processed into compact blocks,

which are later collected by colony laborers. Their service fees are included

in the berthing costs.

I was actually wholly unfamiliar with such a system, so the guy assigned to

collect the processed waste products made a strange expression when I

asked about the details regarding how to go about it. He gave a 'this dumb

idiot doesn't even know this kind of thing?' sort of face. Sorry man. I'm

really sorry about that. It's just that Stella Online didn't have this particular

detail y'know.

As a result, I scoured the network for types of information this world

regarded as common sense. My knowledge was still a bit shaky, but I think

I'll be mostly fine.

Also, I've only managed to find this out after spending some time

inspecting Krishna from the inside out, but this ship's living environment

really was top of the line. Krishna was a small-scale craft that was capable

of housing five passengers, but it had a Single room and two Double rooms

inside. It also sported a shower room, laundry room, kitchen, and med bay.

Krishna was originally a military model.

These facilities may be installed for the purpose of allowing the crew to live

inside the ship for extended periods during military missions. It's because

traveling throughout the vast reaches of outer space could take a fairly long

amount of time.

I think the reason Krishna's livability was really high was mainly due to this

consideration.

Anyway, I'll have to enter the central areas of the Colony in order to by

some supplies. I fixed myself up a bit and got off the ship with a portable

information terminal and laser gun in hand.

I placed the laser gun inside a conspicuous looking shoulder holster. It'll

serve to give others the impression that I'm not someone they could afford

to easily mess with. It's much like those bright warning colors and marks

sported by wild animals and insects.

But honestly, I'm not sure how reliable this thing is because it's practically

my first time wielding it for real. But I've read its manual properly, so I

should be fine. Probably. The manual didn't include info about gun

maintenance, so I had no clue how to go about it. Maybe I'll need to visit a

gun shop soon.

Stella Online also featured a Melee Mode where pilots directly engaged in

firefights using laser guns and rifles. This particular model was something I

got from winning a Melee Battle tournament in the game. I like both its

performance and overall design.

There were also Melee Mode types where you could fight with weaponry

which sported heavy defense and substantial offense such as tanks and

power armors. My ship also has a power armor stationed inside. And of

course, it was a thoroughly optimized custom model.

"Well then, shall we?"

I've never once lost in a firefight inside the game, but I don't know if that

would continue to be the case now that I'm in this strange world. I better

watch out and try not to do anything too reckless.