Monroe

Chapter Three Hundred and Six. Home?

As much as Bob liked his quiet time, alone in his Arcane Depths, lost in his thoughts as Jake tore through monster after monster, he had to admit that he also enjoyed working together with the crew.

They'd been working together for nearly two months now, and they'd become incredibly efficient. Each person knew what the others were going to do without having to ask.

He watched as Bailli, regular as a metronome, cast her lightning as a barrage, nearly killing the monster in a single hit. Dave didn't bother attacking it, his attack already landing on another monster, while Elli finished off what Bailli had started with a slash of his sword.

Bob knew that Bailli wouldn't cast another barrage for fourteen seconds, but when she did, he knew the rest of the crew would be expecting it.

There were a dozen other examples, but ultimately, it was the long hours delving together, putting in the work, that had forged the crew into a monster killing machine.

He couldn't see any way that they could improve at this point. They'd increased their efficiency, and with it the number of mana crystals per hour that they were gathering.

It wasn't nearly enough. Even if they built a new, less defensive hull, the brutal truth was that the Freedom had been designed under the old System. It could be used now only with the understanding that months, possibly years of hard work would be needed to power it for a lengthy mission.

Still, the crew was happy. The discovery of potentially viable planets had lifted the miasma that had filled the ship, and everyone was eager to investigate the details of the planets as the computers slowly added to the image as the sensors received more data.

They'd discovered that one of three planets was likely too close to the star. It might have had an atmosphere, but given the red flares the image had displayed, it suffered from frequent and significant volcanic activity.

Of the remaining two, the one furthest out was the most promising. Both showed signs of an atmosphere in the form of clouds, but there was precious little blue present in the middle planet. The one furthest from the star had more blue, if not as much as Earth.

They'd altered their course toward that one weeks ago.

Impatient to arrive, or at least come close enough being to confirm their theories, Bob had thrown himself into delving. What had surprised him was that the crew had followed along. Even Bailli hadn't objected to sixteen-hour delves.

She had badgered him a bit about the four delves after the rest of the crew had called it a day, but she'd accepted his explanation about being able to basically meditate while Jake kill monsters after observing him for an hour.

He directed Jake back to the spawn point, his UtahRaptor arriving just as the monsters appeared.

Bob didn't want to consider what would happen if this planet wasn't viable.

Amanda's broad smile told them everything they needed to know, but the crew had settled down to the table quietly to listen to her regardless.

"So we've got good news, ok news, and weird news, but no bad news," Amanda began.

"The good news is that this planet looks habitable. The surface coverage for water is forty percent, which is quite a bit short of the seventy percent we had on Earth, and the roughly eighty percent enjoyed by Thayland, but it appears to be sufficient to keep things rolling along nicely."

She tapped the screen that rose from her armband, and the image over the table grew.

"There is definitely some desert, but it's more like the Mojave as opposed to the Sahara. Dry but not desolate. The plant life looks pretty familiar, and unlike the Hentai planet, we've been able to see evidence of wildlife."

"Now that's a relief," Mike grumbled.

"There are small ice caps at the poles, and the temperatures are going to range from tropical to temperate. Personally, I prefer that we select a landing site around the thirtieth parallel," Amanda ran a hand through her blue-black hair. "Dave likes my hair long, and I've spent enough time in the tropics to know I'd end up cutting it if I lived there."

"I'd love you without any hair," Dave protested, standing up and pulling her into a hug.

"I know babe, but you love my hair, and so do I, and with a whole planet to choose from, we can be as picky as we'd like," she stretched up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before turning back to the image.

"The ok news is that the atmosphere is breathable, although there is a bit more nitrogen than we'd like, nothing dangerous," she said reassuringly. "The planet is maybe thirty percent larger than Earth, and carries with it the accompanying gravity. We'll be living in one point five g's. Now for level zero tier five people, that would constitute a hazard," she shook her head, "but we aren't those people. Our increased musculature and bone density as tier six beings means that we'll be comfortable after a short period of adjustment. The increased gravity also means that this planet can go all the way to level one hundred and fifty, so tides might require us to head to orbit to wait them out."

Bob nodded. He'd expected that.

"Finally, the weird bit," Amanda paused. "This planet shouldn't be here," she said flatly. "NASAs software indicates that this planets orbit isn't completely settled, and that the orbit of the closest planet is also out of alignment, although much less so. Now maybe the software is just going nuts because we're asking too much from it, but the data it's spitting out suggests that this planet has only been here for maybe twenty million years."

She tapped her armband again, and the image over the table zoomed back out, then shifted slightly. "This is what this solar system looking like a billion years ago," Amanda explained, and the view shifted, showing the planets orbiting the sun in steady elliptical paths. "Then, twenty million years ago or so, plus or minus five million, this planet showed up."

The image shifted again, showing the new addition. The orbits of the inner rocky planets shifted, and their orbits became erratic. Amanda tapped her armband again, and the planets blurred as they sped around their orbits so quickly they appeared to just enlarge the paths.

Bob watched as the innermost planets quickly realigned themselves, while the two furthest rocky planets, new and old, wobbled along as their orbits slowly settled down.

"Fifty million years ago, the next planet in would have been our best bet, but then this little darling arrived and upset the apple cart," Amanda sighed. "It could have been a rogue planet, we know they exist, but it's really odd that it was traveling at just the right speed to end up in the goldilocks zone."

"It's not some giant egg or anything, right?" Eddi asked. "Like, a planet sized being that needs to be incubated near a sun for a hundred million years in order to hatch?"

"That's equal parts insightful and terrifying," Amanda replied. "The answer is that I don't know. Magic can do a lot, but we didn't build the sensor rituals with ground penetrating radar."

"Have we seen anything to indicate that we shouldn't set down? Any evidence of civilization?" Bob asked.

"Absolutely none," Dave stepped in. "I've been running the drones for the past two days while we built up the image of the planet, and it doesn't look like there has ever been any intelligent life down there."

"So what I'm hearing is that we're good to set down," Jack grinned.

"We just need to decide were," Amanda agreed.

"Something to consider," Bob began, tapping the screen projected from his armband, which caused the image of the planet to shift again. Now it was covered in a viscous lavender liquid that moved sluggishly as it shifted and flowed. He zoomed in, and what appeared to be a whirlpool appeared.

"These whirlpools are, I believe, natural Dungeons. They're hard to see with the naked eye from orbit, but our sensors were able to detect them," Bob continued, tapping the screen again causing the image to zoom back out, the lavender layer disappearing, leaving only violet pinpricks scattered across the globe. "As you can see there are quite a few of them, eighty-four to be exact, and about twenty-six of them fall along the two thirtieth parallels. Of those twenty-six, eight of them are close to a fresh water river or lake. I'd like to suggest that we investigate those locations first, as ready access to a natural Dungeon is going to be important."

"Not to put a damper on our search for the perfect home," Amanda interjected, "but I should probably warn everyone that we have a single day worth of mana crystals remaining, in terms of keeping the shields going."

Bob winced. He hadn't wanted to bring that up.

"This is the one I'd choose," Jack said, tapping his armband. The view shifted to show an ariel view of a river cutting out of a plateau and winding its way out into gently rolling hills. "That river is deep and fast flowing, making it ideal for hydroelectricity, as well as providing our fresh water needs. The plateau above is sandstone, which means we're likely to have ready access to ores if we need them. The grasslands are ideal for growing crops or grazing livestock. The mountains to the north and east form a natural barrier that makes this one of the wetter regions of the planet, which will be a bonus as the planet, by and large, is dryer than we are used to."

"I agree, at least in regard to the hydroelectricity and fresh water," Bob stated. "I'm not sure the rest are really factors we should worry about, although I suppose there isn't any reason not to count them as added bonuses."

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Bob, we're looking for a home, and home means family. We aren't out here playing Swiss Family Robinson, or Robinson Crusoe, if you prefer. Yes, we're looking to escape the storm of bullshit that's going to sweep across Thayland, and then Earth. But at some point, we're going to want to bring our other friends and loved ones here. Yes, we'll be carefully vetting them, but we're going to build our own civilization here, which means planning for the future from the beginning. I know that I have quite a few friends who are so, so much happier living an agrarian lifestyle," he paused. "Well, an agrarian lifestyle assisted by magic," he conceded.

"We'd like to move our folks, but it wasn't really possible with them taking up the stasis offer after they hit the tier five cap," Dave said.

"I've got about a dozen families who aren't at all comfortable with the religious politics of Thayland, but want absolutely nothing to do with the United States Government after we had to rely on the King of Greenwold to provide the crystals to make us whole," Mike said. "They've all got wives and kids, so they couldn't join us for the trip out here, but they'd love to join us once we get settled."

"Ah," Bob replied. He had considered that they'd recruit more people eventually. He hadn't thought that it was likely to happen so quickly.

"So, any objections to New Jack City?" Jack asked with a grin.

"For the love of fuck," Dave groaned.

"We are not naming it that," Jessica protested.

"It's a perfectly valid name! There was even a movie!" Jack retorted.

"Haven," Eddi said quietly. "A place to find shelter and peace."

"Haven is much better than 'New Jack City,'" Amanda agreed.

"Maybe we should worry more about going down and making absolutelysure that the entire planet isn't one giant organism intent on eating us?" Harv suggested. "Because I didn't like that."

"Me neither," Elli volunteered.

"Not a fan," Bailli agreed.

"I'm on the same page," Dave was grinning. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a stack of red shirts. "So, in the spirit of the adventure, I propose we put together an away team."

He handed Amanda a yellow t-shirt, pulling a blue one over his own head.

"Wait, doesn't the guy in the red shirt always die?" Eddi said suspiciously.

"Not always," Dave shook his head. "It's more like the people in gold and blue always live."

"Can't help but notice that you and Amanda are wearing gold and blue," Bailli pointed out.

"Pure coincidence, I assure you," Dave replied.

The 'Away Team' had approached the alien planet with a great deal more caution than they had displayed during their first adventure.

Bob had opened a portal down into the atmosphere, and Erick had supplied a floating platform of air for those who couldn't fly on their own. They'd descended slowly, inspecting the area. There were trees along the river, but only scattered pockets of them elsewhere. The sun was high overhead, and Bob could feel the heat radiating across his shoulders.

The sunlight had the expected quality of being more orange than yellow, which shifted the reflected colors just enough for everything to seem a bit off.

As they neared the tops of the trees, Bob sent Jake down to investigate, which was something he should have done last time.

The UtahRaptor appeared on the ground below, where he snuffled inquisitively.

Lowering his head to the ground, Jake sniffed, then lowered his body into a crouch. He moved slowly, until he suddenly burst into violent motion, darting forward three steps before his head whipped out, and he tilted his head up, showing that he had some sort of small animal between his teeth.

Opening his jaws, Jake crunched down once, then twice, then swallowed his prey hole. He honked happily.

At some point, right around the fifteen foot mark, the UtahRaptor's bird-like chirps had deepened to a honking sound more in line with a Canadian Goose.

This had not, as far as his friends were concerned, been a happy development. Something about 'Cobra Chickens.'

"Well, we can confirm there is indeed wild life down there," Dave muttered.

"Jake thinks it's tasty," Bob replied.

"Bob, I say this with nothing but love for you," Amanda began, "but I'm pretty sure Jake thinks that all flesh, living or deceased, is tasty. I swear to you that he's always checking to see if he can get away with eating us whenever we're fighting in the Dungeon."

"I've noticed that too," Dave agreed.

"Too right," Jessica added.

"He's worse than Rexy ever was," Eddi chimed in.

Bob sighed. "Jake knows the difference between friends and food."

"No, you know the difference between friends and food, and Jake does what you tell him to," Mike disagreed.

"Well, the good news is that nothing is trying to eat him," Bob attempted to right the course of the conversation.

"Who wants to go down and check out the trees?" He asked.