Valterion: The Space/Arch? Mage

Location: Magicon Empire; Valterion Duchy; Legredo System; Viceroy Station

I wait at a raised stage at the edge of hangar 02 of Viceroy Station. Behind me is the energy screen that keeps the vacuum of space outside. Before me are the people who will be accompanying me to Earth. Maja's Peacekeeper crew is the biggest group, unmistakably recognizable by their dark blue uniforms.

The second largest group is my own crew, consisting of my Exploration course team and Dave's archaeologists. Next in line is Lisa with her five subordinates, and finally, there are Jack, Greg, and Alex from MARA Deliveries with their two additional employees.

I take a deep breath while looking from left to right, then I cast an Amplifying spell that enhances my voice and start speaking. "Welcome to Viceroy Station, everyone. In case you don't know me, my name is Sara Green, and I'm one of the leaders of our group. Tomorrow, the arguably biggest adventure in our lives will begin. I'm talking about Earth for those of you who slept through the past year."

The bad joke earns me a few chuckles, especially among the Peacekeepers.

"I won't take too much of your time with a boring speech, as we've prepared a small get-together starting right when I finish here so that we can get to know each other a bit better."

I silently thank Jack for the great idea and Clara for organizing a catering company here on the station.

"But there are still a few things I have to tell you before we can get there. First of all, I probably should introduce you to the second leader of our group."

I glance down at Lisa and extend a hand to beckon her up to me. She nods once and takes the stairs leading up to the stage. I chuckle at the hushed whispers among the Peacekeepers. I mean, I told them before, it's not my fault if they didn't believe me.

"This is Lisa Song, a good friend of mine and the second leader of our group. She will take care of all our administrative work and organize everything that comes with such a large operation. So, if there is anything you have to share, Lisa or her team is your address."

Lisa interrupts me right there with her own Amplifying spell, exactly as planned. "What Sara is trying to say is that she will be too busy digging through old dust to be able to take care of actually leading you all. Hence, why I'm here. I'll be coordinating everything that might come up while Sara is busy."

I shove her playfully and grin. "Not true, I'm absolutely capable of doing everything you just said, too! But…" I lift a single finger. "Letting you do it is more convenient."

She returns my smile. "Sure, sure…" Then she looks back at the assembled crowd, most of whom stare at us in open shock. "I hope this shows you that we won't be sticklers for formality. We're all friends here, and the most important thing is to have fun while we're on Earth! Anyway, Sara has one more thing to tell you, then I can open up the buffet."

"Thanks, Lisa. Now, I have to introduce you to one more person. Please welcome Miss Victoria Winters, a representative of The Empire who will report directly to the Empress, so don't make her mad, I guess."

With that, I send a quick message to Vic, and when she sends an affirmation, I teleport her right next to me. She's wearing her blue woman's suit, which I saw her in when I first met her, and has the Empress's crest pinned at her chest. The Amplification spell is cast a third time, and Vic speaks up to greet everyone.

"Hello everyone, as Sara said, my name is Victoria, but you can call me Vic, I'm not one for formalities either, and if you don't mess up royally, we won't have any problems. Just don't mind me in the meantime. Now, I wish all of you a nice time on Earth and let the party begin!"

A round of applause follows, and the three of us step down from the stage. In the back of the hangar, workers are currently setting up the buffet, and Lisa walks over there to open it as soon as they are finished. Vic and I join the crowd and mingle.

I mostly talk to the people I already know, but after a few drinks, others get a little bit bolder and join our group to talk about random things. I get to know quite a lot of the Peacekeeper recruits over the next few hours, but that's nothing compared to the attention Lisa gets.

Not that I'm jealous of her, because that's way too many people standing around her at any given time. I'm rather thinking about saving her from the big crowd, but in the end, I decide to leave her be and enjoy the evening with my friends, old and new.

Turns out Jack's continuation of MARA Deliveries is very successful, and they've made a truckload of money over the past year. So much that they managed to upgrade Alex's Space core to Senior rank! That's amazing because that saves us from figuring out how to get their ship, the Hunchback, to Earth. Celebrating this leads to more than one drink, and we stay up very late.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The next morning starts with a logistical challenge. After everyone has sobered up and we're undocked from the station, I meet up with the leaders of our three main groups. As the Stargazer doesn't have a dedicated conference room, Vic and I spent a day of our preparation time clearing out the gym on deck 02. Now, the room features a full holographic suite and a big conference table in the middle.

That's where I meet Maja, Ellie, Lisa, and Jack. Dave's archaeological group isn't relevant to our main issue, so I decided to let him sleep. Tim, on the other hand, is here with us because he's a Space Mage, and Space Mages are the main topic of our meeting. After we exchange the usual pleasantries, I immediately switch to today's topic.

"We don't have enough Senior Space mages for all the ships we have here."

"We don't?" Jack asks. "But Alex just reached Senior, isn't that enough?"

Tim scratches the back of his head. "Yeah… I'm still at Junior, but my ship's a rental anyway and stays here."

Jack nods. "Okay, so you're flying with Sara on the Stargazer, problem solved."

"Not exactly," I reply. "That Tim's flying with me was the case all along… No, the problem is Lisa's ship. She's got a Space Mage that brought her here, but he's way too old and must stay here."

Lisa nods along. "Yeah, Mike works for my mother. He only brought us here because I don't have a strong enough Space Mage in my retinue." She looks at me. "Well, I do have one, but unfortunately, she's got her own starship. Hmm, we could fly with you, Sara, if you have the space."

Good thing I integrated the bunk beds with Vic earlier! Actually, if everyone shares cabins, there should even be enough real cabins. But better safe than sorry, I'd say. "I should have enough space, yeah… And if not, I've got two workrooms furnished with bunk beds. But what about your ship? I've already got the yacht in the hangar here, and it's too small anyway."

Ellie leans forward and looks at Lisa. "Uhh, how big is your ship, Lady Song?"

She cringes. "Just Lisa, please. And it's about 50 meters long? Maybe a bit less, I'm not sure."

Ellie turns toward Maja. "That could fit, right?"

Maja's eyes unfocus for a moment. "Yeah… That should work. But we have to try it to be sure. There are also the interceptors. They must be able to take off or we're compromised."

"What's your idea, Ellie?" I interject before Maja overthinks everything.

"We could put Lad… Lisa's ship into the Andala during our trip to Earth."

I cross my hands before my chest and lean back in my chair. "That could work," I muse. "But is it legal? I don't think military and civilians mix very well."

"True, but Lisa's Big Five… And everyone knows that they're not that bound by the rules," Ellie replies and then panically looks at Lisa when she realizes what she just said."

Lisa just laughs. "Don't worry, you're not that wrong, and I'm not offended. But why don't we just ask our resident expert? Can you ask her to meet us, Sara?"

I nod. "Sure, give me a second."

I use the Communication spell to call Vic. She quickly agrees to meet us here and arrives five minutes later. Ellie presents her idea, and Vic smiles slightly upon hearing it.

"Ahh, the good old Space Mage problem. You know that you're not the only group that doesn't have enough Senior Space Mages, right?"

The six of us all nod, and Vic continues. "That's why a wormhole highway is also being built as part of the Earth Adventure. You could help build it and earn a few bonus points for doing so. But if you do so, you arrive in the Solar System at a later date, and teams with enough Senior Space Mages might have an advantage. The bonus points should keep everything fair, but when I look at you, I think that you guys want to be one of the first ones on Earth, right?"

Again, we nod along at her final question. Also, the wormhole part is news to me, but it makes sense. I mean, Senior Space Mages are a rare breed after all.

Vic looks at Ellie. "That brings us to your solution… I approve of using the Andala's hangar to transport the Hilara under one condition. You have to be fully combat-ready when you do your final jump into the Solar System. That means you have to unload the Hilara one jump earlier and find a solution to get the ship to your destination."

That's a relief. It really would have sucked to wait for the wormhole construction and while I probably could have jumped the Stargazer and the Hilara while they are docked together, doing so continuously would have been suspicious and if there's one secret that can't be revealed, it's my pseudo Archmage nature!

I glance at Lisa, who nods, then I speak up. "Thank you, Vic. I'm pretty sure we'll be using the hangar of the Andala
for Lisa's ship."

"Alright, I'll be back in my cabin then. Please give me a call when you head out for the final meeting point."

"Will do," I reply while Vic leaves the room, then I turn back to the others. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get that ship packed in tightly and start rolling afterward!"

Lisa doesn't need to be told twice and immediately takes her small shuttle and heads toward her ship. Maja and Ellie do so too, and the rest of us walk to the Stargazer's bridge to get a good look at the maneuver.

I spin the ship around so that we can see the Andala's hangar right before us. It's already wide open when we arrive at the bridge… Maja is clearly eager to get things started! Anyway, I can see both shuttles arrive at their respective ships, and then, about ten minutes later, they both begin moving.

Lisa's Hilara flies close to the much larger Peacekeeper ship and then lines up with the hangar bay. Then it stops, and the Andala slowly but surely moves toward Lisa's starship. I wonder why they are doing it that way… Is it because Maja is more precise with the controls? Or does the Andala just have better maneuvering thrusters? Not that it matters, as the bigger ship swallows the smaller one.

It is so very close! My sensor console highlights the distances in play, and it is barely a meter between the Hilara and the hangar bay's walls – Basically nothing out here in space! Maja is crazy good at doing this, holy smokes.

My friends around me voice their awe loudly, and I join in. I don't think I could do this. Barely fifteen minutes of careful maneuvering later, it's done. The Hilara is fully inside the Andala's hangar, and Lisa extends the landing gears before slowly setting her ship down on the ground. Then the engines spin down, and a few minutes later, her shuttle exits the ship again. It sets course to the Stargazer, and as soon as it's out, the Peacekeeper ship closes the hangar doors.

And suddenly, there are only three ships left. Three ships with their own Senior Space Mage, which means we're ready to get going! Lisa flies her shuttle into the Stargazer's hangar, where she and her team are received by Lydia and Lucy. The two get them settled in their cabins, and as soon as that is done, they join me on the bridge and sit down at their stations.

Now there is only one thing to do, and I ask Clara to connect me with Maja's and Jack's ships. "That's it, guys! We're ready to start. Let's head over to the El Hakim System for our final instructions!"