Galactic High

So, you used to visit places like this? Chiyo asked Jack curiously as he quickly moved down each aisle, occasionally picking up various products to feel and test before placing them back.

“Used to do it with the Scouts before we went on a trip.” Jack shrugged. “I had a Camping Store close by which I liked to visit, though I’d usually only end up with a few new pairs of hiking socks. I already had my own gear that I kept in good condition, but I still liked to have an excuse to check the new stuff out. This place is much bigger though.”

So this was a hobby of yours? The Ilithii asked.

“Sort of.” Jack nodded. “I started when I was really young, so much of it is second nature to me. Usually you can find some good durable clothes at those kinds of places, and if there’s a chance we’ll be out in the city at Stupid ‘O’Clock in the morning or even out in the wilderness again, I want to be prepared.”

You sound a lot like Nika. Chiyo chuckled. But you’re not wrong. I believe Nika is looking for some premium drink powders and energy bars now that we have the funds - she’s still annoyed at herself for not bringing enough when we went on that bad job.

“She still brought more than she expected we would actually need,” Jack reasoned. “It was terrible luck and a well-planned ambush that led to things getting as bad as they did, but we still made it out on the other side.”

That may be true, but you know what she’s like, Chiyo pointed out. I still expect she’ll recruit us into helping her make the homemade stuff.

“Well, if we’re gonna end up using them I’m fine with it.” Jack shrugged, before his eyes widened at what was down another, quieter aisle. Rolls of different coloured fabrics, clear pipes and other materials were stocked along one side, with a display case of knives and tools at each end. “Could we use some of that stuff with the fabricator?” Jack asked curiously, pointing at the materials. “I’ve sometimes seen stuff like that at bigger camping shops, but I’ve never bothered with them before.”

We certainly can! Chiyo nodded. Militia groups usually use those materials to set up temporary checkpoints or relief stations. I can imagine this store has a good supply for the current chaos, but we wouldn’t need to buy nearly as much if we can shape it as we need. I’ll let Alora know.

“Thanks!” Jack grinned as he turned to look at the cabinet of knives and tools. “These look pretty cool! I wouldn’t mind a kni-WHOA!”

Jack stumbled back as a dagger appeared in his hand. Double edged with a simple pattern down the blade, it ended at a crossguard with the intricate symbol of Clan Bharzum on the pommel, and the grip was made of a comfortable yet firm blue material.

“Ah,” He simply said as he dismissed the dagger. “I forgot I could do that now.”

Perhaps you can test the limits of it over the weekend? Chiyo suggested. You’ve been able to summon a few things with those.

“Only small things I can hold in my hand.” Jack shrugged. “Tools and other stuff Clan Bharzum has in magical storage. No ladders unfortunately, but I’ve checked it works with a rope and grappling hook. The manual suggests that I have unique ‘trigger words’ for summoning specific things I might need like I already do with my shield, flamethrower and ‘toolsense’, but I’m still working down the list. I guess it means I won’t need to buy a better penknife at least.”

I suspect Nika would tell you that most of those knives on display aren’t worth buying anyway. Chiyo laughed. They’re just there to look flashy.

“Yeah.” Jack smirked. “Let’s hope the socks are better.”

*****

“A paper map of the city?” Sephy questioned Nika. “I keep them updated as much as I can on our commlinks!”

“Yeah, but what happens if we get hit by an EMP?” The Kizun retorted. “You can’t be reliant on tech all the time, Sephy!”

“Yeah, but any commlink I use in the field I make sure is shielded from EMP!” Sephy pointed out. “Any one of yours I slave to mine I make sure it can reboot after a while too! And Chiyo and Alora both have magical means of navigation!”

“Fair enough.” Nika shrugged as she returned the map to the stand.

“Hey,” Sephy added, patting her friend on the shoulder. “It’s different if we go into the wilderness. It’s not like I have anywhere to sync unless I have my drones on a scouting pattern. Maybe we’ll have to go out of the city for our next Run?”

“I suppose I can pick one up then when I actually know where we’re going.” Nika grinned. “And yeah, I wouldn’t mind going out of the city for our next run after the stuff we’ve had to deal with recently, but we’ll know more once we see what’s available. If there’s nothing good we’ll just go for another heist or do some bounty work.”

“Yeah, though we know that’s risky with all the chaos going on,” Sephy pointed out. “Unless we get a unique opportunity like when we got the fabricator.”

“I know.” The Kizun nodded. “Let’s just focus on one thing at a time.”

“Alright, I’ve got some decent filters, and these water purification tablets are going to be useful.” Sephy grabbed a few packets off the shelf. “But our Lesser Lifestone is good for anything at home.”

“Yeah, Alora wants to chuck that in the hot tub when we can finally fill it up!” Nika grinned. “At least we’re better for power now, so I want to start preserving some of our food. I’ll be recruiting you guys to help me make some granola bars in the oven.”

“Do you think we could persuade Alora to let us get a freeze dryer or a canning machine?” Sephy asked thoughtfully. “I know you do your best to get the good MREs, but you keep complaining how hard they are to get. I don’t think I’ve had MRE pizza in so long…”

“Gods, I wish we could!” Nika grinned. “Just imagine making homemade MREs! They’re outside our budget though, we’re already spending a decent amount here and on your pipe-drone. Next thing on the list should be security and more renovation.”

“Hey, if it means more Runs I’m all for it!” Sephy grinned. “Something to look forward to after two weeks of double school!”

“Yeah.” Nika sighed. “I’m really not looking forward to that.”

“Nobody is,” Sephy pointed out. “But I think we’re better off than most.”

“You’re not wrong.” Nika chuckled. “Speaking of, we’re done here. I did spot some plastic barrels we could use for more water storage…”

*****

“That was more expensive than I thought it would be,” Alora noted as the large group of students made their way back home, the neon-lit streets now bathed in a dim glow as the solar plate above them began to orbit into place to signify the beginning of the night-cycle. Though the Eladrie had managed to negotiate a bulk purchase deal with the militia surplus store, everybody was still laden with bags of their own individual purchases, but mostly brimming with satisfaction at the prospect of better bedding. A single medium-sized drone marked with the store’s logo flew overhead, transporting the mats, bedding and materials to some dedicated coordinates that Sephy had already masked from prying eyes.

“We might have gone a bit overboard.” Nika chuckled, as she hauled her pack of carefully selected MREs, drink powders and energy bars.

Just a bit? Chiyo asked. Any Run we do should only take a weekend unless we do it during a Semester Break, do we even need this much?

“Next Semester Break is in two months. We’ll use them eventually.” Nika shrugged. “Plus these are some new flavours I haven’t tried before!”

“New flavours?” Sephy asked. “They’d better not be like those vegan ones with artificial carbs! Those were horrible!”

“We’ll find out!” The Kizun grinned back.

“Well, at least we have our essentials.” Alora shrugged. “We’re all geared up for a Run, though between that, the bedding and the home improvement materials, I’m almost surprised we still have enough funds to last us over a month!”

It’s all good. Chiyo patted the Eladrie on the shoulder. That means once we get these two weeks done we’ll still have time to relax and chill out!

“So not much different from usual then.” Sephy shrugged. “We’ll be fully recovered by the time it’s next Run weekend. You cool with that, Jack?”

“Yeah, I should be alright.” The human sighed. “I could do with a break from getting shot at, but I know I’ve still got to earn my keep, and this is the only well-paying work I can really do.”

“You’re adjusting pretty well,” Sephy pointed out. “And I know we’ve run into a string of bad luck recently, but you’re well suited for this kind of life. Honestly? I got the impression when we went for the fabricator that you might even like it a little bit.”

“I can’t deny that,” Jack agreed with a smirk. “It was risky but a hell of a rush. It’s when we get in over our heads that I have issues.”

“That doesn’t usually happen,” Alora clarified. “Though I would argue we’ve gotten better because of what we’ve been through.”

“Yeah…” Jack began, before Rayle hurried up to speak to Alora.

“What is it, Rayle?” Alora asked.

“We’ve just had an idea!” The Squa’Kaar said excitedly. “Wyzill Lake is near here, could we make a detour and visit the lake?

“Why?” Alora asked, confused. “Just want to visit and enjoy some nature?”

“Partly yes, but Zayle wants to use it to summon a water spirit to follow us!” The druid excitedly told them. “We might as well pay it a visit while we’re nearby!”

That would help fill up our supply! Chiyo realised. That’s a good idea!

“It’s not too far.” Nika shrugged. “Might as well.”

“Indeed.” Alora agreed. “Let’s go!”

*****

“This is really nice.” Jack sighed with a smile as he looked out across the still surface of the lake, while many of the others were sat down on the grass to take a rest, and Dante was busy running around having fun. “I’m really surprised that places like this can exist in the middle of the city. I know there’s greenery around, but a lot of that is mostly abandoned land that’s been left to nature, though I’ve seen other natural parks and gardens around. I guess I’m just surprised places like these are so…untarnished. Not that I’m complaining.”

“You’ve met the Greenwardens before.” Rayle smiled as they extended a hand over a well-trodden section of dirt pathway, causing a small bloom of wildflowers to sprout out of the dirt. “I know you’ve met Uncle Bhenn, and Alora says you’ve met some other local Greenwarden Circles. Though every Greenwarden has a sworn duty to revere and cultivate nature where they can, different Circles do this in different ways. Some Circles within the city create and maintain parks and public places like Wyzill Lake here, while others serve nature differently. Not everybody has to be a powerful badass warrior to do their part in protecting nature, even simply volunteering your spare time to pick up litter after work still serves the cause.”

“So you’re saying that’s how this place exists?” Jack asked curiously. “I like the sound of that. I guess the cynic within me expects places like this to be used as a waste dumping ground or get taken over.”

“Even the most pacifist of Greenwardens have ways of discouraging that kind of behaviour.” Rayle smiled. “I believe the local Greenwardens here live and work in the nearby districts, and are happy to provide water for their neighbours and have somewhere nice to walk around. Traditionally, Greenwardens are neutral in all conflicts and don’t maintain territory a MegaCorp considers worth taking anyway, so parks in the city are usually safe from all except the most depraved among us.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine the Killer Klown or the Cult of the Destroyer caring too much about neutrality.” Jack nodded. “But everything else? Nature, urbanisation and technology coexisting in such a way is encouraging to see. Gives me a bit of hope.”

“Balance can be found in the strangest of places.” Rayle agreed. “For all that people may talk about the wonders of magic and technology, their jobs and aspirations, timeless places like this will always endure.”

“I hope so.” Jack nodded respectfully. “Damn, it seems like the Greenwardens are pretty widespread. How did they even come about?”

“Simply those that revered nature in their own way coming together in mutual interest.” Rayle shrugged. “Oral tradition would have you believe that there was once a great conclave of druids, shamans and others of similar backgrounds that banded together to defeat a great destructive threat, and afterwards spread their seeds among the universe with a promise to protect their chosen aspect of nature to the best of their abilities. It might be true, but it predates currently known history.”

“Well it sounds like a simple enough mission statement to stick by.” Jack shrugged. “And I haven’t met any bad Greenwardens yet, so they’re probably doing something right.”

“The organisation could be better,” Rayle admitted, as the druid began using their orisons on other patches of over-trodden path. “While small local neighbouring Circles often communicate with each other for mutual assistance or are overseen by a greater Enclave - many, many others are hidden out in the wilds, far away from any civilization. All revere the Green, but how they do this varies.”

“Yeah, we have such groups on Earth, but they’re a bit different.” Jack recalled. “Some animal charities do some very good work, while others try to protect and restore the environment. There was one that raised over 20 million to replant trees which was pretty wild.”

“That sounds like a worthy cause.” Rayle perked up at that idea. “And you accomplish this without the use of magic?”

“Pretty much!” Jack grinned, before his expression fell. “Then we unfortunately have other charities and pressure groups that resort to extremism and pissing normal people off, which completely harms the causes they claim to stand for.”

“I know the kind, though they are thankfully rare, or at least stay to themselves.” Rayle nodded. “Sadly there will always be those who resort to cruel methods to accomplish their goals. If they cannot be persuaded to amend their ways and no peaceful resolution can be found, they are usually targeted by force. I have not heard of any such groups local to us, however. Most Circles we know of are peaceful, though I don’t know if Zayle and I will join one ourselves when we graduate.”

“Why not?” Jack asked curiously, but gently, not wanting to offend the Squa’Kaar on a subject he was unfamiliar with. “Honestly, with the pair of you having nature-related abilities and being as good as you’ve been working in the garden, I'm a little surprised you aren’t with them already. I saw your setup when we went with Zayle to pick up your stuff.”

“Zayle and I want to graduate first.” Rayle shrugged. “But honestly, we’re undecided on what to do. So much has happened in our lives, especially recently. We definitely want to stick together, but fate has not given us any path we particularly want to travel.”

“Could you make your own Circle?” Jack asked. “How does that even work?”

“Anyone that reveres nature can do it.” The druid smiled. “Maybe that is the path Zayle and I will travel, but a Circle must have a purpose in serving the Great Cycle, and we do not know what that purpose would be yet. It would be rather lonely with just the two of us after all.”

“I suppose it would.” Jack chuckled. “Would Kritch be up for it?”

It was a little mean to tease Rayle like that, Jack supposed. But seeing the Squa’Kaar suddenly jerk up at that idea was too funny. Feeling bad, he gently patted the gecko on the back.

“Alright, we’re rested!” Alora announced to the group. “It’s getting late. Zayle, could you do your thing? Dante! Come here boy!”

*****

“Well, our solar panels are adding to our grid, but not as much as we’d hoped,” Sephy announced after running some numbers on her terminal. “We have had some clouds that haven’t helped, but we’re going to need a lot more panels to even start breaking even with the fabricator, and that’s not even accounting for where we need to place them.”

“But we are making progress, right?” Alora asked the Skritta.

“Yeah we are,” Sephy confirmed. “It’s going to take a long time, but it’s doable.”

“Good.” The Eladrie sighed. “If only we could do the same for the water.”

“About that.” Sephy grinned. “My pipe-drone arrived, once it’s fully charged up I’ll give it a few test runs down our guttering system before we unscrew one of the sinks and send it through!”

“At least if you’re able to clean the pipes the amount of water we get should increase, right?” Jack asked, and the girls nodded.

“We don’t know exactly how much we’re losing to substandard plumbing, but if we can increase it to at least making sure we can all have a shower, I will consider it a success.” Nika smirked. “Also, since we’re spending so much time at the school we have the opportunity to fill up our tanks even more since we’re not using water here. Just in case your drone blows up the pipes, Sephy.”

“It won’t! It has a bunch of good reviews!” The Skritta shook her head, though didn’t look completely confident at that.

“It’ll be fine, Sephy.” Jack reassuringly patted her on the shoulder. “Maybe you can show me how it works?”

“Sure!” Sephy perked up at the idea.

“Speaking of our water supply, Zayle did a very good job in maintaining their Water Spirit until they got here,” Alora pointed out. “Though with no direct connection to a water source aside from itself they used up a considerable amount of energy. It’s not something we should rely on in future, but I’m glad they felt that they were up to the task.”

I know we have tasks to focus on this weekend, Chiyo pointed out. But it’s still the weekend. We deserve to have some fun!

“Movie night?” Alora asked.

“Movie night,” Nika confirmed. “If we had enough water for the hot tub and enough room for all of our guests I’d say do it outside, but since it’s been cold recently…”

“Indoor movie night? Sure.” Sephy shrugged. “We have enough blankets to keep it cosy with some hot drinks and snacks as well!”

Living the dream! Chiyo smirked.

“We’re still not adding your shitty romance movies to the list, Chiyo!” Nika playfully shoved the Ilithii.

Fine by me! I’ll just watch it alone with Jack! Chiyo slyly smirked, shoving back.

Jack said nothing, happy to see the girls having fun. He hoped that they’d all be able to enjoy the weekend in between their preparations, in spite of the shadow of the next two weeks looming over them like an ominous spectre.

*****

“Almost time,” Nika told Jack, as together they began to see the faint glow of their home star begin to illuminate the horizon, as the solar plate orbiting above them slowly finished passing by. Both of them volunteered to stand guard, allowing everyone else to get fully rested and ready for their two weeks of hell.

“Yeah.” Jack sighed. “Weekend flew by, but at least we did what we needed to do.”

“We have,” The Kizun confirmed. “Now we just need to endure what comes these next two weeks.”

“You’ve said this has happened before,” Jack noted. “How bad are we talking?”

“Not as bad as this.” Nika shrugged. “And it’s going to be harsh. Sephy’s probably going to go mad by the end of it all!”

“I doubt she’ll be alone.” Jack sighed. “Even when I’m still keen on learning about an alien civilization, I’m certainly not happy about spending so much time locked in a room. I feel even worse seeing the rest of you suffering this bullshit.”

“At least we have something to look forward to at the end,” Nika pointed out.

“Some kind of waterpark, right?” Jack grinned. “Yeah. Something to look forward to.”

“Yep.” The Kizun gave a long, deep sigh. “Well, no putting it off any more.”

“Yeah.” Jack signed, indicating the ladder down. “Ladies first.”

When they made it to the living room, they saw almost everybody else, having been woken up early by Chiyo and Alora. The school had made it clear that all students were expected to arrive two hours earlier than usual to account for the temporary schedule, and everyone was feeling the burn. It was a scene of utter despair as students desperately fought to keep themselves awake while they forced what breakfast they could down their gullets.

“Fuck this…” Sephy groaned as she slumped back on the sofa. “I’m going to buy up all the holy water I can and shoot that fucking headmaster. Just because he’s undead and doesn’t need sleep doesn’t mean he gets to do this to us!”

Don’t tell me you’re going to give up! Chiyo tried to encourage the Skritta, but it was no use.

“Give up? I didn’t volunteer for this in the first place!” Sephy exclaimed. “What’s the point in showing us educational videos for two weeks if they’re just going to extend our lessons anyway?”

“We all feel the same way, Sephy,” Alora consoled. “I’ve done the calculations. We have enough time to get a good night’s sleep each day at least.”

“Is that meant to make me feel better?” The Skritta snapped back irritably. “My mind can’t cope with the sheer boredom!”

“Ah, it’s not going to be all bad,” Nika pointed out. “Not all the teachers are active so we’re going to get bigger classes, plus they’re going to be just as bored. They’ll go easy on us!”

“They’d damn well better!” Sephy grumbled.

“Well, we can’t put this off any longer.” Alora sighed to everybody as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Let’s get this over with.”