Tunnel Rat-Chapter 404: New Stars in the Sky

Astaeus was pleased with his work. He stood in front of a small model of his new galaxy, double-checking his calculations and the placement of each element. The engine would generate most things somewhat randomly. How many planetoids orbit a sun, the resources on each, and the small chance they were habitable. Very small. And if they were, there was a good chance more than one faction or race was already there and fighting over it. Good, inhabited worlds would be exceedingly rare in this galaxy, and most of them were tightly grouped in the center, or Inner Sphere of Civilization, as its ruler called it.

That was the driving force in the lore of Star Command Six: a broken galaxy where you had the choice of living under a tyrant in the Inner Sphere, or being free to live how you want in the other 99% of space. Sadly, that 99% had only 10% of the resources of the Inner Sphere, and those resources were scattered across a vast area. But it was a lively place out in the Frontier. Asteroid miners flew their ships into the center of belts of rock circling dead worlds or burnt-out stars, the remains of planets broken apart by the gigantic World Eaters that plied the galaxy seeking out mass to fuel the great furnaces that kept the worlds of the Inner Spheres habitable. There were the remains of ancient civilizations to plunder, derelict space ships floating in the black void, and strange remnants of races far older than humanity.

Most of the players would be exploring the Frontier and fighting against the Corporations that ruled underneath the Tyrant. Others would trade freedom for a shiny spaceship with large guns and missions to please their corporate masters. And there was always the option to play both sides, taking profit where one could find it. The Star God was interested in what type of community the players would build over time, and he was anxious to get started.

Astraeus had to admit that he was having fun. He'd never have come up with such a disorderly and disfunction galaxy on his own. Even the physics he used was strange, meant to duplicate the conditions of space flight in the original game. Warp gates, miniature black holes, small suns with smaller worlds, and worlds far out in the blackness with no sun, but warmed by a molten core that made its caverns habitable. So many crazed ideas to incorporate, and more to come once he had the galaxy up and running. Starports, pirate worlds with shipyards floating in the void. And bars. That had been made very clear: Every world, starport, or outlaw hidey-hole in the Frontier had a seedy bar where spacers could play cards, throw darts, take on new jobs, meet with mysterious strangers, and find out about lucrative but dangerous jobs. It was good that he'd have help designing all of them.

But before he could think about where to put the drinking holes that were one of the hallmarks of the game, he had to make sure everything worked. The stars weren't just a point on the astrogational charts. Things might work differently here, but he wasn't going to skimp on his stars. Each was a tightly packed mass of ambient mana so dense that it was consuming itself and throwing off light and gravity. The black holes were smaller, but they would suck in a ship or asteroid with ease and would always pose navigational hazards. He had to make sure that they stayed where they were placed, with no drift or combination of gravitational forces warping his new galaxy.

Placing stars and black holes was easy out in the Frontier, where there was very little real estate. But it was so much more difficult in the Inner Sphere with its rings of planets around suns that were far too close together. And to make matters worse, all of the suns were circling a gigantic White Hole at the center of the galaxy, spewing out the rare resources that the Corporations collected to build new planetoids and fleets of ships. The plans had called for things to be set up this way, reflecting the lore of the old game and countless small stories written by fans. But doing it with the pseudo-physics he had employed in Genesis had pushed him to the limits of his power to make it work, but it was going to be magnificent.

Hephaestus was assisting him with the Inner Sphere; his skill and uncompromising insistence on checking every number a thousand times were what the project demanded. What Astraeus had now was the rough plan for the Frontier, a hollow ball frozen and not moving, waiting for its center to appear. The rest of the Frontier would begin rolling out, with old-fashioned random terrain generation followed by the insertion of the important star systems where major Frontier ports were located. freewebnσvel.cøm

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Building the galaxy was going to take all of his resources and quite a bit more...

Steven was sitting in Wally's room, alone. Wally was working, doing something he'd only done once before. He glanced over at Steven. "Apologies, most of me is involved with this new project, and even with the additional resources of four quantum fortresses, this is a big project. I'm thankful you were able to handle dealing with the inquisitive people who wanted to know why I needed so much power."

"No problem. I told the truth. We have to test the emergency systems once a year and run simulations that simulate a serious disaster. Those fortresses are there for you to use. They simply don't like being reminded of it, or their little bureaucratic minds are unaware of how our systems work. There was a little yelling and screaming, but when I asked them to sign paperwork indicating they were responsible if those resources were unavailable in an emergency, they caved. No mid-level bureaucrat wants to take responsibility for anything. And, I've had to do this four times before. It's a yearly event at this point. You're only worried because we're doing something with that computing power."

"If by we, you mean you sitting there, while all of the staff have a party and watch it happen, and I open myself and my resources up to...certain people so they can build an entire galaxy, then YES, I am very nervous."

"You did this before, with Genesis."

"And I was nervous then! My circuits are fried."

"Cool them off with the thoughts of what you are going to be able to achieve with this new game."

"That does help. Thank you, Stephen. And, really, I'm only nervous because I'm giving control of those resources to someone else. They have my trust, but my hand isn't on the wheel. And I can't help feeling that there may be something I'm missing, despite all the simulations I've run."

"Did your simulations take into account that Milo was the catalyst for the entire project? Suggesting that Claw Master buy the game and add it to Genesis? And that a lot of the design criteria came from him?"

Wally glared down at Stephen, "Why do you think I'm nervous?"

"You may have put in too large of an uncertainty variable to account for Milo."

"Frankly, I worry it wasn't large enough."

Out in the lobby, all of the staff from Genesis and Claw Master, as well as the four playtest groups for SC6, watched as the timer slowly counted down. In only a few minutes, they'd witness the start of the game with highlights of the new planetoids, bases, and Inner Sphere planets. Julius was sitting with his old friends, and seeing the culmination of his life's work come to life. Belinda was sitting next to him, and the rest of her crew from the event were there as well. With one notable exception.

"Forgive an old man for being curious, but why couldn't your navigator be here? I'd love to meet him."

"I'll see if I can arrange that. But he's actually working right now. He designed the Inner Sphere and had a hand in setting up the physics in the game world and some of the starship mechanics."

"Oh? Then forgive my inquisitiveness. I owe him a great deal of thanks if he is part of the design team working on the code. That was always the most difficult part of making SC6 seem real, but still be fun to play. I'll catch up with him when things aren't so hectic for him.

Milo was having a hot cup of a mushroom brew that Harry recommended for stress and injuries. He'd needed a lot of it lately. Finishing it, he enjoyed a cracker with a dusting of grated blue cheese, dusted off the crumbs, and walked over to the gigantic antique loot chest. People had hinted he should hurry up, which is when he asked Gendifur for another cup of tea.

Before he touched the chest, Georgie began barking, barking that was echoed by the two hounds that raced up to greet him, followed by Hecate. The goddess wasn't hiding at all and exuded power and age.

"Senior Engineer Milo Tallsqueak: It is time, and you are needed."

He looked up at her, and she seemed taller, somehow. He was nervous, terrified to be truthful, but also more curious than he had ever been. "I'm ready then."

She smirked at him. "Not quite, you need a disguise."

In an instant, Milo was gone, and in his place was a handsome black Labrador with fluffy, lustrous fur. The goddess created a portal, and the two hounds herded him into it. Not to be left out, Georgie leaped through as well.

Boom-Boom was the first to say something, "OK, who had 'Goddess shows up and turns him into a dog.' in the betting pool on what his loot would be? Anyone?"