Fantasy Galaxy: Why Are There Goblins and Orcs in Space? - Chapter 6
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- Fantasy Galaxy: Why Are There Goblins and Orcs in Space?
- Chapter 6 - Exploring the Spaceport
“We’re safe. That sure was close.”
I could hear Sario’s voice from the communicator. I was curled up in the narrow air duct, holding my head in my hands, recalling the sight of the three dead bodies.
This world is a damn mess. How did it come to this? Berta, Liet, Dimas… I’m sorry.
“Zen, we’re soldiers. We don’t have time nor the luxury to mourn our fallen comrades.”
I understood what Sario was saying, but there was also the fact that we had been abandoned. When I pointed this out, Sario sighed.
“Are you really thinking of going back to the reconnaissance ship Gyogal?”
“I don’t want to go back either, but if we stay like this, we’ll run out of water in the powered armor and die.”
The air in the powered armor was recycled, so it can be used until the power runs out. However, there was only a little water left. At this rate, we would die in four or five days.
Sario and I decided to discuss and search for a way to survive in this spaceport until the very end. If we couldn’t find anything, we would return to the reconnaissance ship Gyogal.
We moved deeper into the air duct. Eventually, we reached a facility that seemed to have controlled the airflow. However, it was completely destroyed, with only a large hole remaining.
Sario and I emerged from there into a corridor. We followed the corridor and searched the rooms we came across. The spaceport was as large as a town, containing shops, factories, and residences. We headed toward the area with factories and repair docks.
Shipbuilding docks and repair factories were concentrated near the outer wall of the spaceport. We thought there might be something there. We first searched the large repair docks and factories, but found nothing left inside them. It seemed the Celestial Gods had thoroughly destroyed the spacecraft manufacturing facilities.
“Was it really necessary to destroy everything to this extent?” I muttered amidst the rubble, and Sario nodded.
“It looks like they were searching for something.”
Sario said something unexpected.
“Searching for something? Even after all this destruction?”
“They’ve destroyed not just the machinery but also storage boxes that might have contained something.”
“To me, it just looks like they were simply destroying everything. By the way, I wonder what caused the Anubis race to become enemies of the Celestial race?”
“I have no idea.”
After searching for several hours, we found an out-of-place luxurious mansion in a corner of the factory district. It was also destroyed, but judging from the remaining structures, it was clear that it had once been quite opulent.
“This might have been the mansion of a wealthy merchant or a noble.”
“In such an industrial area?”
“Strange, ain’t it? Let’s investigate a bit.”
We searched inside the ruined mansion, but it had been thoroughly destroyed.
“Hey, isn’t this a subterranean passage?”
I discovered a collapsed floor revealing what looked like a subterranean passage. Sario approached and peered into the collapsed area.
“Oh, it really is. Let’s check this out too.”
After clearing away the rubble, we entered the subterranean passage, which led to the outer area of the spaceport. As we proceeded, we came across a sturdy-looking door, and Sario examined it, saying it seemed like it could be opened. It appeared to have originally been electronically locked, but the power was out, allowing it to be opened manually.
When we opened the door, we found a hangar for small spacecraft. Inside was a luxurious small spacecraft that looked as good as new, and Sario and I approached it to begin our inspection. The ship was about fifty meters long, twenty meters wide, and eight meters high. Its exterior resembled a shogi piece, specifically a lance, but it was streamlined rather than angular.
“This is a spacecraft used by the royal family of the Anubis race. However, this type is only used for interplanetary travel.”
“So, it can’t go to other star systems?”
“That’s right. Also, this small spacecraft isn’t damaged. It’s still functional, so we can’t manually open the entrance hatch.”
Sario said this with a hint of disappointment, so I approached the hatch to verify if it was true. At that moment, the hatch opened.
“Whoa!”
Startled, I jumped back, and a robot appeared from the hatch. Sario looked at it and nodded in understanding.
“I see, there was a maintenance robot.”
It seemed that this small spacecraft had a maintenance robot that had survived and continued its work, which is why the ship remained in perfect condition. The maintenance robot attempted to step down from the ship but fell backward. It had been maintaining the ship but apparently hadn’t maintained itself.
The maintenance robot lay on the floor of the ship, not getting back up. It seemed to have sustained damage that rendered it completely nonfunctional. I had only encountered a scene like this in a two-hour mystery drama. However, what lay here was not a human but a robot.
Since the hatch was open, Sario and I entered and were surprised to find that artificial gravity was functioning already. Apparently, it was rare for a spacecraft to generate artificial gravity even as far as the entrance hatch. This caused the maintenance robot to fall over, but thanks to that, we were able to enter.
Upon inspecting the interior, we found that the power plant and engine were functioning normally, and there was water available. However, there was no food.
“If we can just procure food, we can get out of here with this ship.”
The small spacecraft was equipped with two ultra-compact nuclear fusion reactors, two plasma engines, a propellant tank, and two five-centimeter laser cannons. The fuel tank housing deuterium was completely filled, and it seemed the maintenance robot had been regularly replenishing it from somewhere. However, to actually operate the ship, we would need to check it thoroughly, which would likely take us months.
“Hey, I know where to find some more maintenance robots.”
Sario tilted his head.
“Where?”
“There was a warehouse where we discovered the galichium. There were maintenance robots there too.”
Sario immediately suggested we go look for them. We cautiously made our way through the corridors of the spaceport toward the warehouse. We arrived at the warehouse without incident and went inside, heading toward the area where the debris was piled up in the back.
“There’s a door behind the debris.”
“Then let’s clear them out.”
If we were on a planet, this would have been a difficult task, but in the absence of gravity, all the rubble was cleared away quickly. We opened the door and entered. Just as I had seen before, there were maintenance robots packed in boxes.
“These are military maintenance robots. There are about fifty of them. Let’s try activating one.”
Sario and I took a maintenance robot out of the box and turned it on. If it had been made with Earth technology, it definitely wouldn’t have worked after being left alone for decades.
However, the robots here began to move after performing a self-diagnostics check. They made use of the emergency power supply found in the warehouse. The emergency power supply was a single-use chemical battery.
“Please confirm Master registration.”
I signaled to Sario with my eyes for him become their master. Then, Sario stepped forward and said,
“I am your first master, Sario Barakel. And this is your second master.”
“I am your second master, Zen Jinguji.”
It seems these kinds of robots can identify people through voice and facial recognition. We activated all fifty maintenance robots, and we each took charge of half their number.
Sario mentioned that the military maintenance robots of the Anubis race were designed to resemble the Anubis race, and aside from being made of metal, they looked quite similar.