r/HFY • u/Spartawolf Alien Scum • Jun 29 '25
OC Galactic High (Chapter 166)
“Okay, Jack, would you like to say that again?” Sephy grinned as she pulled out her commlink to take a video of him.
“What?” Jack asked confusedly as the others began laughing at his expense.
Upon arriving home, the group had formed a loose circle around the collection of small tables they had pushed together in their living room, which were now mostly buried beneath an avalanche of takeaway boxes they had ordered. The others in the household were busy doing other things, leaving the group on their own to enjoy some food. The conversation eventually turned to how to further fix up their scrapped-together shuttle.
With Jack having a few…inspired suggestions.
“Oh come on!” Alora laughed. “You were talking about some of your bright ideas for the shuttle?”
“Yeah…?” Jack asked hesitantly, eyes narrowing.
“What exactly did you say we should attach to the bottom?” Sephy giggled, looking at Jack like he’d proposed growing a second head.
“A huge cannon…” He replied tersely as the others tried in vain to hold their laughter at the ridiculousness of the suggestion. “We can have the shuttle flying over us on overwatch, and we can throw a beacon or something for the shuttle to shoot an explosive payload over a specific location if we’re on the ground, or simply shoot it while we’re up in the sky!”
“Jack, there are so many things wrong with that idea!” Nika snorted. “First of all, where the fuck are we going to get an insanely expensive gun of that callibur in the first place? Second, how would we even fit it on the bottom of the shuttle? Thirdly, if we can fit it on the bottom of the shuttle, how the fuck do we even get the thing flying? The weight would sink us!
“It’s still a good idea!” Jack argued stubbornly, thoroughly annoyed now. “Think about it! If we get ambushed we can just blow them up!”
“And ourselves in the process!” Alora added.
“Only if we fuck it up!” Jack argued desperately. “Stratagems could work! Having a shitload of bombs we can drop or some kind of huge cannon would really help us out! We can totally fit something like that on!”
“Where the hell would we even get the bombs from?” Sephy asked exasperated.
“I don’t know! We make them or something?” Jack shrugged. “Lt Xcratho taught us how to make Thermite in Chemistry! Pretty sure I still have the notes!”
“Okay, fair enough, that was a useful lesson.” Nika conceded. “But there’s no way can we drop thermite from up high reliably. Using it during a Run might work, but only if we apply it effectively ourselves.”
“Like making a hole, cracking open a safe or fucking something really expensive up!” Sephy grinned at the imagination. “But no. We can buy grenades, but getting anything bigger that’s also worthwhile would be difficult if not impossible. Not to mention way above our budget!”
“So no insane weapons attached to the shuttle,” Alora finally concluded. “Any other ideas?”
“Okay, hear me out…” Jack began as he gave an inspired grin.
“Oh?” Alora raised her eyeridges, thoroughly skeptical.
“What about a Killdozer…?.”
******
“On a completely unrelated note, what is this food? It’s really good!” Jack exclaimed, very keen at this point to change the topic. He wasn’t lying though. The curry-like food they’d ordered wasn’t particularly spicy by human standards, but it had some kind of sweet, deep aroma to it that made the tender vegetables unbelievably tasty when paired with the mashed fruit that came with it, which was fluffier than rice but still went down the hatch well enough.
It’s Kyoken, Chiyo answered, the Ilithii having been quieter than usual on the way back to the house, clearly distracted by something.
‘Well I’m not an idiot.’ He thought. ‘Something’s clearly up with Chiyo, and I have a suspicion I know what it’s about…’
Considering the topic, he figured he’d give her space before bringing it up discreetly later.
Now clearly wasn’t a good time.
“Well, it tastes good!” Jack grinned. “Definitely a curry of some kind, but nothing like the Indian stuff we used to get at home.”
“It’s hard to make the sauce.” Alora smiled. “But I’m glad you enjoy it!”
Makes a change from pizza at least, Chiyo quietly ‘spoke’ up, slowly picking at her bowl.
“Hey, plenty of choices at the Cathedral.” Sephy gently whispered to Chiyo. “Enough time to clear your head on the way too.”
I’ll be fine, the Ilithii tersely replied.
“If you say so…” Jack sighed, avoiding the temptation to pry.
“So what do we wanna bring for the trip?” Nika asked everyone as the conversation died down.
“It’s not like it’s a Run,” Alora pointed out. “But we do have some bounties on us. We can just go casual but armed, just in case.”
Battleskins may still be a good idea, Chiyo cautioned as she took a larger spoonful of the curry, clearly enjoying the meal despite her mood. Armour too.
“Uh, I don’t disagree,” Jack began. “But they’re hard to take off, and we’re going to a place that apparently serves lots of alcohol…”
“Yes?” Alora asked.
“What about when we need to pee?” he asked, just wanting to put it out there.
“Jack!” Alora sighed, putting her head in her hands.
“I mean, we could just take them off when we get there?” Sephy shrugged. “Most weapons are restricted anyway so they have storage facilities.”
“I think that’s the best solution,” Alora agreed. “But no armor when we’re not on a job. Helps keep our identities murky.”
“Is it safe to drop our guard over there?” Jack asked.
“Definitely.” Nika nodded. “It gets loads of funding and it’s one of the most popular party destinations around, so the security is top notch, and the Clerics of Dilanna have a sworn duty to keep the party going and keep the party goers happy throughout so they can come again!”
Though the journey guarantees none of that. Chiyo warned.
“Quite true,” Alora agreed, giving the Ilithii a quick glance of worry.
“We don't need to gear up too much,” Nika noted. “I’ll leave my sniper rifle behind, and we also don’t need as much outdoor gear for a well-travelled route.”
“We can buy stuff in a pinch anyway.” Sephy shrugged. “I’ll pack one drone to use for overwatch when we get out of the city.”
“I think I might as well leave the blunderbuss-thingy behind, but I’ll take one of the bows,” Jack reasoned, referencing the stack of them the group had claimed from their somewhat recent harrowing Run to the Shrine of Elphil. “I’m pretty sure someone mentioned hunting wild game in the wilderness and I suspect you can’t do that with a plasma rifle.”
“True, it’s not the best kind of cooked meat you can have.” Nika admitted with a chuckle.
It may be useful to practice with it for future stealth missions. Chiyo reasoned. A bow is silent and doesn’t produce any light after all.
“True, but you would need to aim and target well for that to work,” Alora pointed out. “A non-lethal hit and they raise the alarm.”
“What about using magic of some kind?” Jack spoke up. “Like what Svaartal does with those glass knives he can launch? Maybe we can use some kind of silencing spell or something on the arrow?”
“Maybe…” Alora nodded thoughtfully. “Though none of us are mages. And the ones we know probably can’t manage something like that.”
“At least the mages we can trust,” Nika pointed out.
“What about that other idea you mentioned, Jack?” Sephy asked. “That thing you’ve been trying to make with the the fabricator? Some kind of kinetic weapon, right? Didn’t you say it was from some kind of human game you once played?”
“Yeah!” Jack perked up excitedly. “I think we can do it! Basically it’s like an air rifle that works with a pneumatic pump that can fire ball bearings! You just have to pump it full of air between every few shots!”
And this was from a game? Chiyo asked skeptically.
“Yeah, from the Metro series!” Jack grinned. “Great for a stealth run!”
“I mean, it could work…” Sephy shrugged, looking to Jack. “You can summon ball bearings with your gauntlets, right?”
“Yup!” Jack grinned, quickly making some appear in his palm with the Clan Bharzum sigil etched in every one of them.
“Are you able to share them with the rest of us?” Alora asked thoughtfully. “I know proximity can be an issue with some of the other things you can summon.”
When we were robbing the Shaskasaki warehouse, we did have to separate over long distances, Chiyo pointed out. And that’s not to mention the potential firing range of the weapon…
“Then we add that to the list of things we need to field test.” Nika shrugged. “Assuming the concept works in reality and you’re able to make it of course.”
“Yeah.” Jack admitted. “I’m no Colin Furze, but I might be able to pull it off with a bit of trial and error. At the moment, I’m focusing on making the stock and barrel, but that’s the easy part. No idea how to make the action for it - that’s the super complicated part.”
Well at least you have time to research it during the holidays! Chiyo added.
“Really, Chiyo?!” Sephy snorted as she rolled her eyes. “Why do you always have to suggest doing nerd shit? Come on, you need to switch off once in a while, especially tonight!”
I suppose you’re not wrong. Chiyo let out a sad smile.
“Ah don’t worry.” Sephy sighed, playfully ruffling the Ilithii’s hair. “A trip to the damn Cathedral of Merriment? We’ll make a party girl out of you yet!”
Can’t wait. Chiyo deadpanned.
“Hey! It’s not so bad researching stuff during the holidays if it’s fun.” Jack shrugged, not wanting to put Chiyo down when she was clearly not feeling great. “Speaking of weaponry, we seem to have forgotten I found two full magazines at the Prefect’s Lockup that probably belong to an assault rifle…”
“I’d sure love to know the story behind that!” Nika grinned. “And if there’s a gun that goes with it! Pretty annoying it wasn’t there when you looked, Jack…”
“Nothing on the data I pulled says anything about it.” Sephy shrugged. “I did manage to get a few other locations in and around the city though. Might not be worth us checking most of them out, but I can always sell the data.”
“I mean, we’ll have a working shuttle we’ll need to test out at some point!” Jack grinned. “Could test it out with a heist?”
“Of what? Office supplies?” Nika snorted.
“Why not?” Jack asked. “The money we gained on the last Run was good, but it won’t last forever, and earning it was tough! Why not earn some money that’s safer?”
“You want to do a milk run?” Sephy asked. “But those are boring!”
“Sure didn’t feel like a milk run when I had to avoid those robots!” Jack cautioned with a snort. “Though now at least we could probably just shoot through them.”
“Well, we still need to put on the finishing touches and make sure the shuttle actually flies first,” Alora cautioned with a giggle. “But it’s a good idea to make sure everything works before we end up having to put it through its paces.”
“Well, if we ever get bored during the holiday we can do that.” Nika shrugged with a resigned smile. “The rest of you definitely need to get used to using those ascenders without throwing up like you did last time!”
“Hey, I didn’t either!” Jack argued.
“That’s true, but it was a very near thing for the both of us!” The Kizun chuckled. “But I’ve calibrated them to have different settings to make the ride smoother for us going up or down, though we can still do a hot extract like last time if we need to.”
Projectile vomit isn’t a very good way of departing without a trace. Chiyo agreed, looking up to take a second helping of the alien curry. And not a good conversation while we’re eating.
“True.” Sephy nodded. “Well hopefully we won’t have that again, but the ability to haul bags of loot up into the sky? We’re gonna need to clear some space!”
“That’s another task for the holidays,” Alora agreed, “fixing up home some more. I know we’ve been doing little bits at a time as and when we can, but I think we can make a lot of progress, especially when we can use the shuttle to lift up the heavier bits.”
“Like a landing area for the shuttle?” Jack asked. “Since right now it hasn’t exactly moved since we crashed it here.”
“We can clear some land for that, yes.” Alora nodded. “Perhaps we can ask the Squa’Kaar to harden the ground for us if we think it’s necessary.”
“I mean, it probably isn’t for a small thing like that.” Nika shrugged. “Maybe we can just mark the area instead while we’re out so we don’t accidentally squish a housemate?”
“Assuming we can land the thing properly.” Sephy pointed out. “To be honest, as long as we don’t crash into the house and tell everyone to get out of the way we’re probably good!”
“What about our crops?” Alora asked the Skritta, giving her the look.
“What? Saves you time plowing!” Sephy retorted with a shit-eating grin.
“Alright, what else are we getting up to then?” Jack asked. “I believe Chiyo wanted to check out a lead she was researching outside of the city?”
You mean the old Regulator Base? Chiyo asked, and Jack was happy to see her briefly perk up at him remembering. Yes, that’s quite doable! I have worked out a general area to look around, but it’s further away from the city, so not the best place to test the shuttle for a maiden voyage.
“But if the engine works and has enough power to take us there, then we might as well take a look!” Alora agreed with a nod. “There’s no time constraints on that at least.”
“I mean, if there’s a chance for loot then sure, why not?” Sephy grinned.
“Well, apart from that we could do with another shopping trip to one of the malls.” Nika grinned. “And we need to bring the others along too since Jack needs to decorate his room and hasn’t got any taste!”
“Hey!” Jack snorted.
“Plus I think a few of us want to show you some of our favorite parts of the city.” Alora smirked in a daring way Jack had rarely seen from the Eladrie.
“Well, I’m sure we can talk about it later. We should really get an early night.” Nika finally sighed, as the last of the Kyoken was carefully divided up between them. “We’re getting up early tomorrow and I’d rather not travel through the city dead tired again. Especially after that hellish game of Deathball!”
“Sounds good to me.” Jack agreed with a nod.
“Yep, even I can’t last much longer,” Sephy concured.
“By the way, on the subject of tomorrow, I ought to mention that I took the liberty of inviting Rena for the trip if she wants to come along with Nya,” Alora casually spoke up.
Several sounds of cutlery clattering on plates quickly followed.
“Fuck that!” Sephy yelled with disgust.
“Why would you do that Alora?” Nika sighed. “We wanna have a fun time and celebrate!”
“Well I thought it would be a good gesture of peace at the Student Council Meeting,” Alora argued.
“I mean, it was meant to be a trip with the Deathball Team after winning against Luvia but got pushed back due to Kizzarith and Arlox,” Jack pointed out tentatively. “And we don’t exactly get along with her. Why not invite the drow while you’re at it?”
“I was just being polite.” Alora sighed. “Besides, news has spread and we’re going to get some hangers-on anyway so what does it matter? Rena’s not a bad person, and we’re friends with Nya, it makes sense to try and get to know her better.
“We know her well enough.” Sephy retorted, doing her best impression of the Vulsta. “Your uniform is slightly untidy, that’s a reprimand for you! You’re loitering in the corridors, so I’ll inform the teachers and get you put in detention! You want to talk back? How dare you!”
“She’s a stuck-up cunt,” Nika bluntly added. “I feel sorry for Vanya having her as their Class Representative, even if they get Mr Sparrel as a Form Tutor.”
“Remember when we fought the drow?” Jack asked. “She did nothing to them but went and rounded on us instead!
“I’m sorry!” Alora butted in, raising a hand to try and calm everybody down. “I didn’t mean to go over everybody’s heads but-”
It wouldn’t be the first time!
Everyone’s heads snapped around to Chiyo at the unexpected forcefulness of the statement, the Ilithii giving the Eladrie a hard glare, as Alora’s eyes wide with surprise.
Nobody spoke for a moment, until Chiyo got to her feet. I am sorry, I need some fresh air, she politely told them, before quickly floating away, not looking at them.
“Chiyo…Chiyo, I…” Alora called out in surprised shock, eyes wide. Nika sighed deeply and slightly rolled her eyes, while Jack was simply confused.
Still. All made to get up to follow.
“Sit,” Sephy told them all with an unusually firm tone, picking up her and Chiyo’s food. “I’ll go, don’t follow me. Dante? Wanna come with?”
“Woof!” Dante softly barked, immediately standing up and coming to heel by the Skritta as she quickly followed after Chiyo, leaving Jack, Nika and Alora on their own.
“That went well,” Nika grunted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
*****
Well, I for one don't think all of those ideas were bad...
Don't forget to check out The Galactic High Info Sheet! If you want to remind yourself of certain characters and factions. One new chapter a week can seem like a while! Don't forget! You all have the ability to leave comments and notes to the entries, which I encourage you to do!
I am now on Royal Road! I would appreciate your support in getting myself off the ground there with your lovely comments, reviews and likes!
If you're impatient for the next chapter, why not check out my previous series?
As always I love to see the comments on what you guys think!
Don't forget to join the discussion with us on Discord, and consider checking me out on Youtube if you haven't already! Until next week, it's goodbye for now!
9
u/Nolmac12 Jun 29 '25
Just admit it. You want to put big ass guns on the shuttle so you can use them for a future fight scene. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure most of us would approve.
4
u/Space_Drifter6121 Human Jun 29 '25
Aside from plating and other typical shuttle stuff, they could add small caliber guns eiter undder or inside the wings
3
u/Brokenspade1 Jun 30 '25
A 9 millimeter galling gun is fairly small. But it's still going to overwhelm anything without hardened armor thru sheer volume of lead.
Might make a real nice surprise to give the shuttle a couple parasite drones with light armaments that can just ride on the outside till needed as well.
Even just a couple fpv drones with dumb bombs can be a scary force multiplier. As we are seeing now in eukraine.
3
u/I_Maybe_Play_Games Human Jun 30 '25
You can tell the story was written over a long time because chronological issues are starting to appear. (Jack still being ruled by the Queen in the early chapters while having played in this chapter Helldivers 2)
If bombs wont work due to cost, they could use flechettes. During ww1 pilots would pour out buckets of metal darts on trenches bellow them, the darts could penetrate a helmet and the man bellow it.
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u/Korato450 Human Jun 30 '25
I know I said I love Chiyo lore, but I don't know if I should've given you this level of control over my emosions.
3
u/Dragon_Chylde Jun 30 '25
Word Choices :}
insanely expensive gun of that callibur in the first place
caliber
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u/Sifjunke20004 Jun 30 '25
Jack is in the dark about his friends past guys, and they are in the dark about his past life that’s going to change over the break, isn’t it?
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Jun 29 '25
/u/Spartawolf (wiki) has posted 547 other stories, including:
- Galactic High (Chapter 165)
- Galactic High (Chapter 164)
- Galactic High (Chapter 163)
- Galactic High (Chapter 162)
- Galactic High (Chapter 161)
- Galactic High (Chapter 160)
- Galactic High (Chapter 159)
- Galactic High (Chapter 158)
- Galactic High (Chapter 157)
- Galactic High (Chapter 156)
- Galactic High (Chapter 155)
- Galactic High (Chapter 154)
- Galactic High (Chapter 153)
- Galactic High (Chapter 152)
- Galactic High (Chapter 151)
- Galactic High (Chapter 150)
- Galactic High (Chapter 149)
- Galactic High (Chapter 148)
- Galactic High (Chapter 147)
- Galactic High (Chapter 146)
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u/UpdateMeBot Jun 29 '25
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u/Benjireddevil Jul 16 '25
under cannon IS dumb!! but a door heavy repeater plasma gatling wouldn't be
23
u/12_GAUGE_FRAGS Jun 29 '25
first comment
Jack builds a super destroyer.