Damon's Ascension-Chapter 98: Assembling The Team - End

As the group stepped onto the Normandy-class vessel, its interior lights flickered on and illuminated the sci-fi intensive corridors of black metal and silver alloy while the air inside smelled like a brand-new car fresh from the showroom.

Damon took the lead. "Alright everyone, our first stop should be the bridge so that we can get acquainted with our new command center."

They moved through the central corridor, which curved slightly with the ship’s hull. The floors were smooth and soundless, absorbing the sounds of their different shoes (or metallic boots in the case of Protizen).

The bridge itself opened like a sci-fi throne room, with wide panoramic windows stretching across the front that allowed one to peep at the infinite expanse of space outside.

"Wow..." Xela gasped.

She rushed to the window to press her face against it and look out. "It’s like we’re flying inside a luxury sci-fi anime."

Connor smirked and pressed his palm against the shadowy area of the ship, his hand sinking within. "It’s tactical too. I like the reinforced overlays and low visibility slits. We’re hard to hit, and easy to strike back."

Nicholas casually leaned on a console and adjusted his cufflinks. "Elegant and dangerous. I approve."

Henry flopped into one of the cushioned operator seats, spinning slowly. "It’s got that big ’Galactic Empire’ energy. I feel like I should monologue dramatically while pressing buttons that do absolutely nothing."

"Please don’t," Felicia said flatly, scanning the interface with interest.

"This is integrated with top-tier galactic navigational systems and hyperspace warp arrays. It will jump us across entire sectors in less than a minute if configured right." She added with interest as she leaned over the console.

Kyle tapped the control panel reverently. "She’s beautiful. She speaks to me. I can feel it."

Protizen tilted his head. "You’re already flirting with the ship?"

"He did say she was sexier than a Gundam in high heels," Bane rumbled with mild amusement.

Levi silently ran a hand along the hull plating near the control arch, nodding to himself. "The durability is solid and the frame is reinforced. This will protect our lives sufficiently."

"That’s good, because we’re going to need it." Damon replied as he led them to tour the ship.

As such, they exited the bridge and continued into the war room, which was located at the central point of the ship. Holographic displays hovered above a large circular table, showing planetary maps, formation tactics, and digital briefings on known zones of the Chaos Realm.

Marshal quietly stepped toward the edge of the display and stared silently.

"It should be reactive according to the specs, allowing us to input terrain data and run simulations." Damon explained.

"I’ll take this as my secondary office," Felicia decided as she tapped the display with interest.

"You mean your secret planning cave," Connor muttered.

They laughed, except for Marshal, who simply muttered, "The room speaks."

Henry raised a brow. "What does it say?"

"Strategy... and sacrifice," Marshal answered, then walked away.

"Spooky, and somehow fitting," Kyle muttered.

Next was the living quarters, spacious and well-insulated. Each had a smart-bed, self-cleaning functions, climate controls, and private shower cubicles along with an item generator that basically 3D printed any kind of small-scale item as long as the right materials were present.

Xela’s eyes sparkled. "Ohhh! These are sooo cozy! I’m calling the one with the window!"

Felicia glanced around. "They’re well-designed and modular too. We can upgrade with Essence Coins later if necessary."

Henry flopped face-first onto a bed. "Soft like freshly baked bread! I live here now!"

"No, you live here when you’re off-duty. Come, let’s move on." Damon corrected casually as he led them away.

The mess hall came next with long black tables, fold-out booths, and an industrial-grade auto-chef mounted into the wall that could make anything as long as the right ingredients were loaded within and its database had the recipe attached.

"Meals based on registered race and dietary requirements," Levi noted, checking the options.

Xela peeked into the dessert menu. "Can we just live here?"

"No," Connor answered immediately.

"I see they included plasma-filter dispensers. You know, for vampires and other exotic species." Felicia commented.

"I’m keeping that locked," Damon said as he shook his head.

They continued to the medical bay, a surprisingly expansive space with stasis pods, medical droids, surgical beds, and diagnostic stations.

"Looks like a cross between a hospital and a sci-fi morgue," Henry remarked, poking a scanner.

"Don’t touch that! It’s an organ extractor!" Felicia warned.

He jumped back. "You could’ve led with that!"

Xela peeked into one of the stasis pods, then shivered. "Okay, this place is creepy."

"You’ll be glad it’s here if one of us ends up as meat paste," Connor said flatly.

"Charming imagery," Nicholas added, wiping imaginary dust from a tray.

They continued to the engineering bay, which trembled almost imperceptibly with contained energy from its mass effect reactor.

Kyle instantly bolted to one of the vibration-tuned panels. "Ohhh!! Oh this!! This is my spot! I’ll sleep here! I’ll build here! I’ll name her! She shall be called... Susie."

"Why Susie?" Protizen asked with visible concern.

"Call of Duty 4, All Ghillied Up Mission, Captain MacMillan." Kyle said, dead serious.

Bane surveyed the bay with arms folded. "Unique reactor, element zero converter, and what’s this... an energy siphon to scoop fuel from stars? This ship’s a monster."

"Good. Because we’ll need a monster to reach that lake." Damon said.

Finally, they reached the armory and training deck, which was separated by a sliding wall. The armory had walls lined with lockers, weapons of all kinds mounted in glowing suspension, and shelves of energy cartridges, plasma shields, and customized armor.

"Hello, gorgeous," Protizen murmured, running a hand across one of the armor sets.

Kyle gently stroked a sonic blade. "Susie’s cousins... you are welcome here."

The training deck was very formal, being an open area with gravity manipulator systems, holographic foes for simulations, and padded sections for sparring.

Levi stepped into the center, dropped into a stance, then nodded. "I’ll be using this often."

"I’d challenge you, but I like my blood to stay in my body," Henry muttered.

"You could always copy Levi’s ability," Nicholas said, amused.

Henry groaned. "Then we’d both just end up as dried husks."

Damon looked around the room, satisfied.

"This ship is ours now, and with it, our journey begins. Get comfortable, because once we leave for Kusibo Station, we’re not coming back till we succeed in the Chaos Realm." Damon warned them.

Silence greeted his words for a moment... then Xela spoke up.

"Can I decorate my room with plushies?"

Everyone turned to her slowly, and the young lass lowered her hand slowly with uncertainty.

"...Fine," Damon sighed.

"Yay!" She cheered, making everyone smile uncontrollably.

The group returned to the command center, where Damon took his seat on the central command platform of the bridge, brushing his fingers over the glowing console with a beating heart.

Henry was not wrong, a vehicle was a man’s romance.

The navigation interface responded to Damon instantly, flickering with sector data and star maps across the screen.

"Course: Kusibo Station," he said calmly.

A soft chime echoed, and the AI’s synthesized voice responded. "Confirmed. Distance: 46.2 Galactic Light-Sectors. Estimated warp duration: 7 days, 2 hours. Initiating FTL stabilizers... please remain clear of containment field."

"Everyone strap in," Damon ordered, even as he reclined into his chair, clearly used to giving orders more than obeying them.

Protizen silently secured himself, while Henry fumbled with the safety harness like it was a puzzle box. "I don’t see why we need these. Can’t this ship warp like butter across the galaxy?"

Felicia shot him a look. "Because if we hit a micro-gravity slipstream without stabilizers active, we’ll all become red mist on the walls." freёweɓnovel.com

"...Strapped in." Henry muttered as he clicked the belt with a nervous tug.

Xela plopped into the co-pilot chair next to Damon, swinging her feet. "Are we there yet?"

"No," Damon said flatly, pressing the final key.

A low hum overtook the entire ship as the mass effect reactor pulsed once, blue veins of light flickering through the frame. Outside the panoramic window, space bent inward, a tunnel of stars spiraling into a single, silent point.

Then... silence.

Smooth and clean. The ship phased into warp-space like it had never existed, flowing into a tunnel of spatial distortion that caused stars to stretch and vanish like streaks of light in a sped-up city video.

"FTL jump successful. Estimated time to Kusibo Station: 7 days," the AI confirmed.

Damon stood and clapped his hands. "Alright. We’re now en route. For the next few days, you can either explore the ship, train, or enter VR pods. Your choice."

Kyle was already halfway down the hallway. "VR it is. I’m gonna go duel anime swordsmen and question my mortality."

"Sounds fun, I’ll be meditating... or reading your minds while you dream." Nicholas said, stretching.

"Stay out of my waifu zone!" Henry called after him.

Felicia sighed. "I’ll be in the war room. We need a proper Chaos Realm infiltration plan after the Worldly Essence collection, and I’m not trusting you troublemakers to come up with anything more than ’punch harder.’"

"Hey, punching harder works." Bane muttered mildly.

Levi nodded. "It does."

"Still gonna strategize," she insisted, already heading toward the war room.

Xela yawned and skipped toward her cabin. "I’ll decorate first. Then maybe nap. Then maybe nap while decorating."

"Try not to glue glitter onto the AI interface," Damon called after her.

"Can’t promise!" she chirped.

Connor disappeared into the shadows of the training deck without a word, and Protizen went to the armory to check the armor diagnostics. As for Marshal? No one noticed when he left, as usual.

Damon lingered on the bridge a moment longer, watching the swirl of starlight through warp space. He cast his eyes off the glowing void outside and sent his focus to his avatar still on Earth, about to undertake an interesting journey.