SWNOVELXO Chapter 7: Chapter 7
I woke up coughing. The sour smell of rusty metal was still in my throat, as if I'd swallowed the ship whole. Every muscle burned, and my eyes felt heavy, as if I hadn't slept in days. The first thing I saw was the familiar roof of the barracks… and I knew immediately something wasn't right.
I tried to sit up, but the pain pinned me back against the cot. A moan escaped my mouth. Then, I heard movement.
"He's awake!" Kyi's shrill voice bounced like a spring around the room.
Before I could ask anything, a dozen footsteps approached. Kyi, Vekk, Talla, Rusk, Nyylo… Zaru at the end. They surrounded me as if they expected me to disintegrate again. That's when I realized: I was alive. And I had no idea how.
"What... what happened?" I managed to mutter.
"You gave us the scare of our lives, Scraps," Rusk said, without his usual mocking tone. "We found you lying right under the hatch, clutching the core like it was your long-lost brother."
"We didn't see you leave," Talla added, looking down. "We thought you had... that you hadn't made it."
"But there you were," Vekk said. "Lying there, covered in blood, mud, and a scary, idiotic grin."
"Who... got me out?" I asked, searching their faces for the answer I didn't have.
There was only silence as they looked at each other with awkward and surprised faces.
"We thought you did it," Zaru finally said, serious. "The hatch was open. You were there, alone. It was almost closing time, and we thought it was strange that you hadn't arrived yet, so Vekk went to check. When he found you, we attributed it to you having arrived with the last of your strength."
I turned my head slowly, scanning the space around me. Someone had dragged me back.
My mind searched for answers that weren't there, but there were still things I didn't want to remember clearly, as if some part of me were still trapped between the tubes and the claws of that creature. I closed my eyes for a moment and felt the pressure in my chest. The fear was still there, lurking beneath the surface; I had almost died a second time.
"And the core?" I finally asked.
"We got it," Rusk said, with a proud smile. "Working. We checked it last night. Kyi cleaned it, and I tested it. That thing is worth gold. Or whatever they use to buy freedoms around here."
Zaru came closer. He looked at me for a second, then placed something beside my bed: the circuit board with the Imperial seal. The same one he'd given me before the mission.
"You still had it. And for some reason... it wasn't damaged," he said, not arousing suspicion, but with his eyes narrowed.
I didn't understand it either. The rest of my body looked like a collection of wounds, scrapes, and battered ribs. But the plate was still intact, as if someone had put it back in place.
Someone had helped me without even taking the core from my hands and without taking anything in return, that was something strange about the world I came from and I didn't even want to think about it.
—There was something else with me— I said, remembering the alloy card
—Sorry, buddy, that was all we found— Rusk replied.
—Relax, it wasn't important, I was just curious.
I took a deep breath while trying to calm myself down. whatever it was, I calmed myself down because if that thing was something valuable, it had been worth my life and I was happy with the result, there was no point in complaining about losing something I knew nothing about.
The pain was still there, but so was the certainty. I had survived. Someone had helped me. And I hoped that had settled my debt.
"How long was I gone?" I asked.
"A day and a half," Kyi said. "We thought about taking you to the central infirmary, but there would be questions… and we don't want them to know what you were carrying."
"Thank you," I whispered.
Zaru nodded, and before anyone else could say anything, he turned to the others.
—Let him rest. Tomorrow we'll decide what's next.
One by one, they left, except for Talla, who wordlessly put a bottle of water aside. When I was alone, I closed my eyes, feeling that this might be one of the best nights I'd had since arriving.
Morning arrived with a metallic taste on my tongue and my back stiff as a folded sheet of paper. I forced myself to get up. Every part of my body was complaining, but ignoring it was already part of my new routine. I would have to do several things today. First, I hadn't carefully reviewed what I had earned on my adventure, and second, I would still have to discuss with the others what we would do. Not to mention that I still had to work today.
The others were gathered in the far corner of the shack, where we would often repair stolen parts or discuss plans. The core rested on a folded blanket, wrapped in cables and rags to muffle its shine and avoid unwanted glances.
"Scraps," Zaru said as he saw me approaching. "You look better than yesterday, but you still look like you were run over by a freighter."
"I feel like it's happened twice," I replied, with a half smile.
That seemed to relax everyone a little. Kyi offered me a can of energy drink, probably with some water as usual, which I accepted with a grateful nod.
"Did they check it again?" I asked, pointing at the core.
"Twice," replied Rusk, who was crouching next to him. "It's still working. It's not just any old core. It has locations of not only Republic bases but also secret Separatist bases. This isn't ordinary junk."
"What does that mean?" Vekk asked, arms crossed.
"It means someone's going to pay a fortune for this," Kyi replied, lowering her voice. "But it also means that if they catch us with it, they'll know we took it from an Imperial ship. And that doesn't make many people buy it."
"We already have a buyer, right?" Nyylo said, a little confused. "He's the one who sent us for this thing. We don't have to worry about who he's selling it to; we just need to get what we want."
"What you're offering isn't enough anymore," Rusk said, before we could find a way to explain it. "Scraps risked his life for this, Nyylo. We can't waste his efforts."
"Yeah, forget the pass, we could buy a flight to any sector with this," Kyi said, stroking the navigation core with a strange expression.
Zaru didn't respond immediately. He just stared at the core, as if waiting for that piece of technology to offer him answers on its own.
"We could use it for bargaining," he finally said. "Not with that old merchant, not yet. If we let him see what we have, he could spread the word faster than an air leak."
"But he's the only one with connections outside the industry," Vekk replied. "And he's gotten us jobs before."
"Yeah," Rusk chimed in. "Jobs where we barely scraped by, and where someone else always happened to get to the good scrap first. That old man uses us as free scouts."
"So what?" I said, crossing my arms. "Do we wait? Do we sit on this core until the Imperials detect it?"
Kyi shook her head.
—It has an internal seal. It's not emitting a signal now, but if we activate it more than necessary or if someone scans it closely, we could attract attention.
Zaru pursed her lips. She was calculating, weighing risks. She knew him well. She didn't like to improvise, but she wasn't reckless either.
—We're not going to sell it yet. First, we need to know exactly how much it's worth. And for that, we need someone who understands what's inside without keeping it for themselves.
Talla, who hadn't said anything until now, looked up.
"What if we talk to Konnar?" he asked quietly. "He sometimes trades parts at the industrial port. He doesn't like the Imperials and hates those who work for them. He might be able to help identify him without trying to steal him from us."
"That crazy old man?" Vekk growled. "The one who sleeps in the cargo bay and talks to his dead droids?"
"He can't be worse than the merchant," I murmured. "And if he has tools, we can see the full data."
Zaru nodded slowly. There was a spark of approval in his eyes. The first since I arrived.
—Okay. Vekk and I will look at it this afternoon. We won't take it, just a copy of the internal schematic. Kyi, can you make it?
—Give me an hour.
The group dispersed after that, each going back to their own business. I stayed a moment longer, staring at the core. I still felt a strange emptiness, as if something hadn't completely closed since that ship.
I walked away quietly, returned to my corner, and with effort sat down. I opened the internal interface that the system displayed just for me.
[Current State: Fragile]
Statistics:
Fortress: 7+2
Resistance: 7+2
Dexterity: 8+1
Intelligence: 14+1
Willpower: 6+3
Charisma: 5
Skills :
Repairer's Knowledge (passive): +10% efficiency in simple mechanical repairs.
Scrapper's Eye (Passive): +10% efficiency when searching for materials.
Skillful Hands (Passive): +5% dexterity in manual tasks.
Light Hand (Passive): Increases the chance of success when discreetly stealing items from other characters.
Photographic Memory (Passive): Rapid retention of visual details.
Basic Adaptability: Learn basic skills 20% faster.
[New Skill: Survival Instinct – Level 1] (Active)
[Fitness Progress: +12% due to extreme exposure]
[Partial recovery underway. General condition: fragile]
The excitement barely allowed me to control my face from showing my smile, all my stats had increased considerably and I had gotten my first active skill, it didn't seem like something I would always want to use considering the conditions to activate it but just with the increase in stats I felt like everything had been worth it.