“All the controls of the modified C-130 Space Explorer can be handled by the Salvaging Golem at the nose of the plane. I’ve made some adjustments to the electrical board circuits, and with the help of magic, it’s been further simplified for both Orcs and Goblins to use without too much training.” Rei explained as he opened the cargo door of the C-130 Space Explorer.
“So, what are we expecting to salvage based on your experience… you have done this before, right? Or have you only done this in theory?” Jin queried, and Rei stopped to ponder for a moment.
“I think we can expect to find quite a number of good parts. If we are fortunate enough, a proper spaceship might be possible. Though I figured it would be derelict since in such cases, it would be a miracle if the internal parts hadn’t already been stripped by someone else. But hey, at least you might get a hull out of it. We can always bring it back to do modifications.” Rei shrugged and speculated as much as Jin with regards to the possible loot.
“Though realistically speaking, having only three Salvaging Golems won’t yield you that much in one week… Much less in your allocated deadline. Best case scenario, and I stress, this is HIGHLY UNLIKELY; If we find ourselves an intact spaceship, one where all we have to do will be to change some parts and refuel the baby, even then, we are still looking at a space travel time of about two to three weeks to find the ship or port where Titan was holding onto. And that is already making a lot of assumptions!” Rei warned not to get too optimistic.
“A lot of things can go wrong. The Titan could have already embarked onto a different ship, or been moved to another port. Heck, it might have already invaded the Xeon Union. And even if we were to somehow find it, we will have to face at least a small space fleet befitting the protection of the Titan. But again, this is already assuming the best scenario.” Rei stood and decided to tell Jin off.
“But considering that we always knee deep in rather shitty situations, I should expect not able to find the Titan anytime soon, and even if I did, I would be against fleets of the United Federation thinking that I am with the bad guy. To make things even more ‘exciting’, the Xeon Union assumed we are also a ploy by the United Feds too and will fire upon us when given a chance?” Jin gave a hypothetical bad scenario which Rei nodded furiously to it. No wonder, Kraft’s suggestion to be the ultimate bad guy was not as unrealistic as Jin thought it would be.
“To be brutally honest with you Boss, your timeline is plainly unrealistic, and even though I managed to finish this in two days, it was a more of a challenge for myself than keeping the promise to you. There are a lot of things that might go wrong with these golems too. I have yet to perform any stress test on them to make sure that does not happen. However, I am willing to forgo the test run and close an eye to the situation because the Gobs claim they can be resurrected. To me, machines don’t matter as much as the lives riding on them. So if it’s true the worst case will be us having to build new ones.”
“Hmm…” Jin was trying to consider everything Rei was lecturing him about, yet while doing so, he was unconsciously making a very frustrated face. Rei felt that he should continue to say his piece before Jin made any rash and stupid decisions.
“I am beseeching you to reconsider the situation again. You have my blessing if you limit yourself to sending out your Gobs for salvaging, but NOTHING ELSE! I get that you have time constraints, but not everything can be solved with magic. Accept the reality and expect that this will be a long endeavour rather than a rushed one.” Rei told him with his eyes looking directly into Jin’s.
“Besides, take a good look at yourself. You should really think this over. You are tired, weary from the constant work and I bet you do not even know that today’s New Year Eve. I really suggest that you find an alternative or change the timeline and be realistic about the whole Titan finding situation!”
Somehow that hit a nerve… Jin did not know how to argue about what Rei said, mainly because it was all true. He looked over the C-130 interior for a moment and then sighed heavily. He was resolute about trying to change his own fate after getting a painful reminder that he was being manipulated by external forces who were rich, powerful and more influential than him.
But here he was already being defeated by the inevitable fact, that some things lay outside his control… at least for now. He was sure that having the System might change things, but it looked like life had a way to always put an insurmountable obstacle in front of him.
He proceeded to take a seat at the side of the C130 Space Explorer and asked Rei to leave him alone for a moment. Meanwhile, Rei was stunned as he had not expected Jin to react this way. He had at least expected some kind of resistance, but not for him to solemnly ponder on the issues.
Still a bit dumbfounded, he quietly nodded his head and moved out of the C130 space explorer granting Jin his desired alone time.
“Do you think Boss be okay?” Washbuckler asked his fellow two space pilots, but they were equally clueless. Even Rei started to feel bad about pointing out the obvious to Jin.
“No use thinking too much on our end. Let’s do some work to busy ourselves. If Boss wants to continue with the mission, he’ll approach us again.” Piratez suggested as the voice of reason and the four of them decided to do some counter checks to ensure that their internal golem systems were working as intended.
——-
An hour had passed with no sign of Jin coming out of the C-130 Space Explorer. The waiting made the entire space crew a little anxious. “I’ll go and check on Boss. Maybe he teleported away and forgot to notify us.” One of the Orc engineers volunteered, but Rei declined his offer.
“No, let me do it. I was the one who pointed the issues out, so it’s only fair if I should be the one to confront him. And if he has any arguments, it will be directed at me instead.” Rei strongly insisted, but deep down, the space crew team knew that Rei was just as timid as them.
“I don’t think we need to worry so much, we all know Boss is quite a reasonable person. He is not the kind to flare up randomly.” Piratez argued and both his friends immediately thought of their old mage master in the academy who used to shout at them for every wrongdoing.
Eventually, they decided to enter as a group to check on Jin, but as they went closer to the C130 open cargo door, they realised that Jin was still sitting there. Rei had adamantly decided to be the first to move up, and as he got closer, he found a rare sight of their Boss…sleeping with his head leaning at the side panel.
Rei signalled them to be quiet and beckoned them to come over to check on him, but one of the Orcs tripped which caused him to slip and fall, resulting in a loud deafening echo in the empty cargo area of the C-130. Jin’s eyes went wide open scanning the surrounding for any enemy intrusion, only to find the space crew attempting to crawl up on him. Then he yawned and stretched himself.
“My bad. I think the moment I relaxed, I accidentally went into sleep. Where were we?” Jin apologised, and Rei informed him that he had probably been knocked out for over an hour.
“Oh, no wonder… sorry about that. Anyways, Rei. I thought about what you said, and I must admit you are entirely right. Have the space crew meet me at their workshop meeting room. Let’s have a formal and realistic discussion.” Jin responded favourably to Rei’s reasoning and stopped for a moment.
“And erm, order some good food from the Penguins since its New Year’s Eve. Don’t be shy, it will be on me.” His stomach growled loudly, which the rest agreed heartily.
