Astra Pt. 01

She is a destroyer class ship that could easily best any military vessel they have, if not their entire fleet. However, that is not your goal or a part of the allowed mission parameters. A rogue ship might be one thing, the entire military is another matter. The advanced tech is there to defend the repository first. Part of Astra's assigned tasks. Your wealth will attract quite a lot of female attention. Astra can help you to weed out the 'Gold Diggers' from the keepers.

Finding you those that do not significantly impact the timeline. That portion is important as many humans have significant achievements we do not want to hamper if at all possible. ASTRA has the responsibility of informing you of conflicts and working resolution. This mission will sound odd. You will act and work as a trader. Until a Terran colony mission heads to Tau Citi. Also, a potential scientific inventor. If you can step up to the challenges in generating new technology like that power core.

That is secondary and ASTRA will not give you schematics from the future to leap technology. Just your mind and ingenuity if you can do the power core challenge. Astra will watch out for the announcements and your ship has an FLT drive that can get you there. We want you to escort that mission. The first mission to Tau Citi failed. Keep in mind your ship will be viewed as a high-end freighter and passenger vessel in port. Your weapons are under hull plating until needed.

The setback of losing that first exploratory mission hampers the future. Now your DNA modification we would like to see that spread through the population. Astra will see this aspect completed as well. You need not concern yourself with doing that all by yourself. Astra has protocols to deal with exposing yourself, which would likely end in your death, as stated, humanity killed everyone with Drakor DNA when identified. Astra has a multitude of safeguards to prevent that from happening. If in doubt, ask Astra.

Good Luck Jack, and happy fucking."

Jack sat there and groaned, "What if I refuse?"

Astra looked at Jack and sighed, "I would be required to, due to my orders, launch a cyber-attack on humanity identifying this ship to the world and where it was from. Along with you as the Captain of the ship. That will ensure in the next reiteration they know that the mission failed again. Likely that your future self will die at birth or at least get a new name. Someone would hunt you or your parents down based upon the extensive file I would be required and forced to leak to the media.

I would then self-destruct the ship with you in it. You joined the Military. You signed away the right to deny taking on this type of mission or undergoing the modifications you have had done. I am here to assist in completing this mission one way or the other. I am programmed to avoid letting you do stupid things. Like activating the FTL drive while inside of a planetary gravity well, in an attempt to destroy the ship. Also taking an action to deliberately destroy me. Unless the secondary protocol is initiated and you are going to die with me in the process."

Jack sighed, "Not much choice I see. I'll do it. Get to start all over again on wives. Yeah."

He said the last part sarcastically, but Astra simply ignored his tone. She knew he felt trapped about it but she had her orders. Astra walked over and grabbed his cock.

She held on tight, "I am here to help you. All three of my receptacles are at your disposal. Your new anatomy will start aching after a few days with no release. Those are not modifications to you that I did, but I am here to see you are satisfied. Your Cerebral Implant will send a shock to you if you attempt to perform any self-gratification. The reason being is we want to capture as many of those little swimmers as we can to put them on the market.

Part of my tasking. It will be in demand when you get rich from selling your cargo. The sperm market was booming during this era. With your looks and business success, you could have hundreds of children. We know you were successful in getting to this age based on old Tera records. You got a great job lined up here. Please, don't blow it, again."

Jack chuckled as he started to get hard in her massaging hand. Jack looked over and kissed her full on the mouth and she felt human. He maneuvered her against the edge of the bed and she guided his cock into her vaginal opening. She purred and moaned as her pleasure sensors picked up the sensation. Jack was not in a hurry and he noticed the sensation was dulled.

He shrugged it off to the added girth and length and went to town banging into her sweet moist Fem-bot box. Astra wrapped both arms around his neck and leaned back on the bed. She wrapped one leg around him to urge him to go faster. Jack smiled inside and complied. 45 minutes into it Jack groans out, "Fuck, I'm coming."

Astra held him tight, "Pump it all in me, my Captain."

He blasted into her for what he felt was forever. He could feel her pussy squeeze what remained in his cock out the end to capture it. As he slowly slid out of her. She smiled, "After processing, we got 32ml of semen from that load."

Jack looked at her, "What is normal?"

Astra smiled, "Your previous test results are in your medical file."

Jack looked at it in astonishment, "You took advantage of me while I was sedated?"

Astra giggled, "First it was testing of your new enhanced organ their 'Meat.' Second, I didn't do it. Another machine or android must have because there are no samples in the repository. Just the listed amounts. I came online about a minute after you woke, based on the security logs. Those only began about 2 minutes before you woke up. I would assume that the mission planners staged it that way as I have no records of another being here."

Jack sighed, "Well I should be good for a while. Now, what is this engineering challenge?"

Astra smiled, "The ship is using life support, computers, gravity plating, shields, the mining rig, retro thrusters, and other auxiliary systems on one power core. The ship had 2 but the second was destroyed when the Jump Engine was ejected. Precaution to keep us from bouncing around in time.

All software on how to run the Jump Engine was also destroyed if it even existed on this ship. You have to bring another core online to power the main engines, and then a third eventually to power the FTL drive. To balance the load across the cores as the one is running at 98% capacity."

Jack looked at her, "How am I going to fuel this power core once it is built?"

Astra chuckled, "The core is fueled by hydrogen. We are currently orbiting Jupiter and have filled 9 of 12 storage tanks. Tanks 1-6 will make you rich. Those contain Metallic Hydrogen. You also should have 1 of helium when it finishes. The other 2 will be standard hydrogen for fuel."

Jack smiled, "I have to build it without your aid to be able to sell this technology?"

Astra nodded, "Highly unlikely but that is correct."

Jack asked, "Can I get some clothes now?"

She laughed and grabbed him a sporty-looking charcoal grey uniform. He went to the computer and looked at the ship schematics after dressing, "220 meters long, 160 meters wide on the engine pylon. An elongated oval with three engines on each half of the oval. The docking port is on the bottom of the ship?"

Astra nodded, "Due to how wide the ship is. Gravity can be shut off in the cargo bay if needed to alleviate the moving of cargo issues that often arise. An isolation sleeve will extend from the docking ring to the cargo holds. The cargo hold also has exterior doors that can be opened for larger cargo. Just so you know, reading the manuals for the engineering equipment you need is recommended and does not count for assistance.

The reason they did that was if you are going to invent something, then you should know how you invented it. That power core is not destined to come out for another 84 years, but it is older than the ones you were using. Garadine Systems did not put this power core into production so it is not one you would have worked on in your era. The company that built it released this core and was purchased by GS shortly thereafter. It never had any market share due to the cost.

They never released the core for production beyond a couple of prototypes. They never capitalized upon the technology. It was deemed cost prohibited according to the official board meeting notes. In actuality, we know it was because it would not break down often enough to need parts. Hence why it was chosen for this project. Reliable and something you have no exposure to make the challenge a true challenge. You could become the new inventor.

Most of the technology is state of the art compared to the time period you came from with a few exceptions. Armor, weapons, sensors, and shields. Those are all 29th-century technology. Medical faculties are all state of the art into the 30th-century to keep you and your ladies in the best of health. Most of these systems, if any, you could not create without my assistance. They are set to be repaired by an automation unit when needed.

The materials you would need to create them do not exist in this era and any supplies of those are stored outside of areas safe for humans. Any attempts to enter those areas will force me to cause the ship to self-destruct. They are appropriately marked as sealed and restricted areas. Each with separate security protocols, devices, and in some cases no atmosphere."

Jack smiled, "What about the hull plating?"

Astra giggled at him and smiled, "That is special. The inner hull that was built is a titanium-based alloy built in the early 28th century. It is the strongest Titanium alloy known to man. It is twice as strong as the armor on your former destroyer or any ship of this era. Again, you do not have the material to exactly replace it. I could also mention the formula for the metal as well, but the elements needed are not found in this Solar system. You can replace it with an inferior metal if needed.

The outer hull is a different story. The outer hull is a living space organism that is covering our ship. It is 5 times stronger than the plating underneath. If, as we suspect with the DNA modification, you gain Psionic telepathy, then you can speak with the alien. A psionic got the creature known as Meltora to agree to cover the ship. It lives on the space particles and the emissions put out from the ship. If it takes too much damage it will leave.

Those particles can even pass through our hard shields. Command hoped that by the time the Tau Ceti mission comes about the lead colony ship could be covered when Metltora divides, they are asexual and fragmentation is how they reproduce."

Jack shook his head, "You expect I will become psionic and what are hard shields? What is this about my hand, it looks normal?"

She smiled, "You have two sets of shields but only one type of shield can be active at a time due to the power drain and they use the same emitters. You have hard shields that block in both directions and they happen to be very durable. I will not go into the science behind them for obvious reasons and they are 29th-century technology. You obviously cannot fire through those but it makes it more resilient.

It will let you simply plow through small meteors or asteroids without slowing. They are on by default to prevent boarding actions and deal with micro meteors. Then you have your standard shield Revision 184. They are running on Revision 12 at best during this era on the newest battleships. Revision 36 existed on your Destroyer. The revision number reflects the overall strength of the technology. Your shields were just over 3 times more effective than shields of this era.

Shields on this ship are 15 times more effective than shields in this era. This ship's shuttle's shields are revision 32 by comparison and it does not have hard shields. Something you could work with without my assistance. Weapons are on a similar scale based upon effectiveness vs the shields. Weapons of this era are at revision 10 to 15 and can put a hurt-on shield of this era, dropping them in just a few shots.

Weapons on this ship are significantly more powerful than what you worked on during your era. While most are comparable to weapons you have worked with previously. You could damage or destroy any human ship of this era currently. Especially larger vs small ships because of the power consumption. Again they are primarily there for defending the archives I oversee and your mission. The deck is stacked against you completing the engineering challenge without me or the blueprints."

Jack laughed, "No faith in me?"

Astra shook her head, "It took teams of humans years to do each revision. Often forgoing idea choices for less optimal solutions. In the 30th century, automated researchers broke that mold. Revisions flowed freely and quickly with the fall of Tera and GS at that point. Things humans could not do as a collective. Let alone as an individual. It is just not in human nature to build a better product, just a more profitable one."

Jack nodded, "I will just have to prove you wrong. Constantly!"

Astra shrugged, "The Drakor are psionic beings. You have a Drakor hand attached and Drakor DNA has been infused into your biological systems. If you peeled off the dermis from the top of your hand you would see your true hand. That bracelet you are wearing will fix the dermis and has a tracker embedded. Something they want me to spread is your DNA. It is highly possible you have gained psionic abilities. Would you like to test that theory on psionics?"

Jack chuckled, "I never heard of these Drakor before today. How do we test that? I will look at my hand later if this 'test' works. There were laws on the books about genetic hybrids in my time and having to be more than 50% human to be considered human. We did encounter other alien species, but none called out these Drakor before. At least that the people heard about."

Astra walked to the lift which activated automatically. She went up to deck 3. Jack followed and looked at the simplicity of this lift system. The lift consisted of 2 separate bands wide enough for 2-3 people with a handle and a retractable open floor that would collapse going into the other side at the top or bottom only. They were spaced out far enough for the next person or persons to grab the next one. While the second lift rotated down. Both appeared to be on some type of conveyor belt system that activated when someone approaches the lift.

A middle access tube that could be used was sealed. That was a 'no gravity area' with rungs on the wall for people to propel themselves up or down. Reserved for emergencies or maintenance as there was just one tube, based upon the sign on the hatch and his own experience. Astra took Jack to the Armory and opened a drawer. Inside were two black cylinders. Rounded on one end and flat at the other. Each was roughly 32 centimeters long. The inscriptions on each of them were different and foreign.

Astra stared at Jack, "We at first thought these were laser swords like the ones we used but without the metal conductor blade. We were wrong." She activated a viewscreen that showed 2 opponents fighting with a sword. The human went up to block a shot headed for his neck. The humanoid in black came down on the blade. The blue-colored sword blade passed through the block and yet was solid enough to decapitate the human.

Astra looked at Jack, "They wear a personal hard shield belt we suspect. We have not been able to activate one or reproduce it in any fashion, and it is not on this ship. The belt allowed for the hands to exist outside of the hard shield or because of their psionic abilities, they can pass through the shields. The fact is we do not know for certain how it worked. They have been a devastating opponent. These 2 are part of only a handful of their weapons we have managed to capture.

One is a red blade, while the other is a blue blade. The blue blade we suspect is used by their high guard or royal guards, we are not sure which. Red blades are used by the charge in and kill them types; their ground forces. Hold your right hand above the two blades and think of which of the two blades best describes you and try to pull it to your hand. This is how the ritual was described to us by an Orlian trader who had witnessed the ritual. Yes, that is telekinesis as well."

Jack reached down and pulled back the dermis from the top of his hand. What he saw shocked the hell out of him. The skin was an underlying translucent black. The limb did not seem to have ordinary veins or nerves. They all appeared to run and extend through the bone if you could call it that. Exiting into a hand that was more cartilage than bones through the wrist. It bent, shaped, and grasped as his old hand would. He could feel it and for some reason it accepted him.

The hand was alive or sentient, he was sure of it. Jack did not know how to prove it. He held his hand above the 2 weapons and focused on the hand instead of the weapon to have it grasp a Psi sword appropriate to him. For several minutes nothing happened and then they saw movement from both blades. They just wiggled at first. Jack tried to pour all his willpower into his hand and the two blades crashed together and became one.

He strained under the load as he felt it drawing the willpower from him. He crashed to his knees. Then the two cylinders went and rested back in the drawer after separating. Jack worked to catch his breath. He then reached in and grabbed the first one and thought about the sword. The sword activated and it was a dark violet light. Astra gasped, as he deactivated and tried the other and it showed the same. The inscriptions on the blades were identical.

They translated into, 'The Even Hands of Justice.' He believed he understood the purpose behind the ritual now. Jack looked at Astra, "The red is for aggression and the blue is for defense and guarding. I do both in equal measure. From my sword training to my martial arts. A balance. I would be rare among them if any existed."

Astra stepped back a few steps as the violet light that permeated Jack's eyes dimmed down and disappeared, even upon the mechanical eye.

She stared at him, "Your eyes projected a purple glow to them."

Jack nodded, "It did not adversely affect my vision from what I could tell. The lights still looked the same. I guess we got our answer. The blades returned some of the energy they used to me."

Jack used the skin regenerator to spray on a new layer of dermis over the section he had taken off.

Jack heard, "I am Meltora and I sensed your presence. You are young and have great potential. You could lead a much longer life than you expect. That would depend on how much you give of yourself to the Drakor. Unusual for you to be psionic at this stage. This is a very good sign though."

Jack thought back, "Nice to meet you Meltora. What can you tell me of the Drakor and why must I give them anything? Why is this unusual?"

Meltora chuckled in his mind, "It runs through your system and consumed a hand already, well was used to replace your hand. They are an ancient species and not all of them are born. Some of them start as you do. Coming from another species. Some remain hybrids and live for centuries. You are already on that course. But you have not made a choice yet which is why the psionics now is interesting. They are not evil per se. They are often misunderstood. They have their way of doing things.

They are not very flexible in dealing with outsiders. If you can approach them mentally, as equals, then they might be open and accept you or kill you if you do it wrong. You are weakening and will need to rest. Your selection of a weapon was a wonder to feel. A unique experience for me to reflect upon. I feel we will have an interesting time together. You can speak to me later when you have recovered.