Chapter 165 - Reinforced

 

(Main Bridge, BSN Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, Star’s Reach Gateway)

Slave-Captain Ara Virstina was used to waiting. As a slave to pirates, all she did was wait for the next abuse from her masters. Before that, navy life was full of waiting. Anyone who couldn’t handle waiting was ill suited to the navy, or even life aboard starships. Anyone who made their life moving from place to place in the great dark between worlds knew how to wait, or at least how to take their mind off the wait.

The ones who couldn’t do that much were usually identified early on, and ushered into other roles, away from ships. They were the lucky ones. Those who couldn’t handle the wait and weren’t identified early on usually fell into some kind of chemical dependency to help them wait. Some went mad. Neither were a healthy thing when you were stuck in a metal box with as many ways to get yourself or others killed as the average spaceship, even civilian models.

At the moment, she and the rest of the fleet were waiting on news from the ground, whether it was from Starborn, the dungeon, or the strange facility that the Master was investigating. The thought of her Master made her smile, just a little, to herself. After her ‘recruitment’, she and her Marine commander, Alea Pakas, had gone on something of a binge of good food, ice cream, and movies, things they had not been allowed before as bedwarmers and, in Alea’s case, a gladiator. That night of indulgences eventually divulged into their comparing notes about their new owner, and some girlish tittering about what she had seen when she had ‘volunteered’ to be the Captain of this vessel. Which led to datanet searches, which led to videos of a scandalous nature, all regarding their new Master.

When he had first come aboard the Ama-no-Murakumo­ after its commissioning, the two women were like blushing schoolgirls, given the way they’d talked about him in the weeks between their recruitment and then. That night in her cabin, well, the three of them had gotten very well acquainted, as they had several other times since then. The stories and videos lived up to the reality, it seemed.

“Captain! Unscheduled Gateway activation!”

Instantly, Virstina was snapped out of her reverie, and her eyes were tracking the screens on her bridge. “Shields up, weapons ready! Sensors! Where’s the Gate coming from? And do we have an IFF?”

The sensor officer checked his readouts, and then nodded. “Gateway is coming from the Nuevo Edo system, ma’am. We’re receiving an IFF now… It is the Nightforge, ma’am. Seven hours earlier than scheduled.”

“Stand down weapons. Comms, wait until the Nightforge is through, and then welcome them to Star’s Reach. And send word to the surface, letting them know that Third Group is coming on station to begin orbital improvements.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Virstina watched as the Third Group made their way through the Gateway one ship at a time. Having so many ships as part of a mercenary group was practically unheard of, unless they were a façade for a governmental force like the Kul’tirans, and yet her Master seemed to be reaching ever higher in his ambitions, whether he realized it or not. Claiming your own planet and making yourself a government was the height of ambition, after all. And she’d seen the plans for the scout craft that would be going out and investigating gate addresses across the galaxy. He truly intended to take the fight to the X’thari, it seemed.

“Captain? Slave-Captain Genest on the Nightforge sends his compliments, and would like to know if you have time for a quick word?”

Virstina nodded, and said, “On my screen.” A moment later, the screen on her personal console lit up, showing two men, one human and one knelfi. The knelfi was dressed in the uniform that the engineering crews typically wore, instead of the nicer looking (and less ruthlessly practical) uniforms that officers wore. Her gaze shifted to the human, dressed in a uniform like hers, and said, “Slave-Captain Genest, what an unexpected pleasure. And who is your companion?”

Genest smiled warmly at her, and said in that accent she was told was called ‘French’, and came from the Nouveau Orleans colony, “Ah, mon capitaine d'esclave, it does my heart good to view such loveliness as yourself. But where are my manners? This is Commander Elduin Fatoris, who runs the shipyards on my Nightforge. He is most eager to get to work setting up the defenses of an entire planet with a free hand to think up anything he may wish. But I thought we would check and see if there were any priorities from the Admiral on what should be built first, before simply letting him run loose.”

The knelfi man mock glared at the slave-captain for that introduction, but Virstina could see that they had a good working relationship. That was good, since the Nightforge was a ship where there were really two commanding officers, depending on what was going on. She didn’t know if she could handle something like that on her ship, but if these two were making it work, then more power to them.

The knelfi spoke in the common accent that she associated with those from Jagloth, “Ah, yes. First, let me offer my condolences for your long exile, Slave-Captain. I was in the Navy before Jagloth, which is how I came to the company. When we heard that First Group had found the Kyathaela Daven it confirmed our worst fears about the ship, but the news that two survivors had been found were welcome news to those of us who used to be Confederate Navy. If you or the other survivor stop by the completely unofficial bar that yard hands certainly didn’t build in one of the former main weapons spaces of the Nightforge, I expect you would have more than a few people eager to buy you a drink, and offer a toast to those of your crew that are no longer with us.”

He paused for a moment, before continuing, “At any rate, I see that your teams have already begun the surveys of the system for orbital deposits and other resources we can use in the building process. Did the Master leave any instructions or a build list that he wished to see done first? If we are to defend this planet, there is a lot of work that will have to be done.”

Virstina nodded her head at the offer of condolences, but went on with business. She didn’t like talking about such things with those who only knew of her, rather than actually knowing her. “Yes, before he went down to the surface, the Master left instructions. Because we have found both a ‘dungeon’, as they are being called, and what looks like a Lost Tech site, system defense is the top priority. So, he would like permanent shipyards to be the first thing going, and then a space station above the colony, so we can restrict shipping lanes. After that, focus on defenses for the planet. The Master wishes for Star’s Reach to be at least as defended as Nuevo Edo, if not better. He specifically said that temporary installations could be used while permanent defenses were put in place.”

Genest nodded. “That is well. Especially given the reason why we left early, and came in from Nuevo Edo, instead of transiting from the Amazon System as planned.” At Virstina’s inquisitive look, the slave-captain continued, “You see, there were some rather unsavory types lying in wait around the Amazon Gateway. It would seem that someone noticed the way our fleets liked to use Amazon and Desolace as waypoints, to keep people from knowing where we were actually going. The ships our probes picked up were all pirates, with ships known to be in three different clans across Imperial space according to the intelligence staff. If we had gone through Amazon as planned, they would have been able to savage us as we came through the Gateway.”

Virstina’s good mood evaporated at the mention of pirates. “Damn, if they’ve covered the Gateway, then the only way to kick them out of the system is to go the long way, since we don’t have any of the Imperial transition drives. And leaving pirates in control of Gateway, even one as insignificant as Amazon, is intolerable. Very well, I’ll have the tactical departments ready to deal with any ships that decide to come visit, and see if there aren’t any ideas on how to deal with these interlopers.”

(Pirate Ship Love Gunn, Amazon Gateway)

Captain James Gunn was not happy. His ship, along with the twenty-eight others that had been gathered from the Three Great Clans that spanned the Imperial border with the scaley Ihm bastards, was sitting here, ready to attack the damned Black Stars that had caused so much confusion and mess in the universe since they popped on the scene during the Civil War. The Pirate Lords had seen what the bastard in charge of the Black Stars had done with the superdreadnought they captured, turning it into some kind of mobile shipyard. That was all well and good, but the Pirate Lords thought it could be put to much better use refitting their ships, rather than sitting around helping to build up the defenses of planets, keeping them safe from raiders.

As one of the raiders in question, the idea of having a safe dock that could move when threatened to patch his ship up in was very enticing to Captain Gunn. Of course, denying the defenses to newly settled worlds, and making it so they would have to pay for ‘protection’ was even better. The idea of getting both in one strike was too good to be true.

And, so far, it was.

Suddenly, the Gateway activated. Only, it wasn’t coming from Nuevo Edo, like their target was supposed to be, it was coming from Coraline, the nearest Gateway to the Ihm border. That was already a bad sign. When the flagships of the Pirate Lords began coming through, with the bulk of the fleet, he knew things were getting very, very bad. Something had definitely gone wrong. He just hoped it wasn’t on him. Tychus ‘the Cutter’ Briggs was known to shoot the messenger, like most pirates, but he liked having all his fingers, instead of that bastard cutting them off when you fucked up.

“Cap’n! Signal from the Bleeding Whore. Something spooked the Black Stars, and they went direct to a new Gate address. The spy was able get the address, and sent it along with the Nomad messaging tech. We know where the Black Stars have their new base. And they are saying that the Nomads are talking about a dungeon there, fresh for the picking!”

Captain Gunn shook his head. These idiots thought dungeons were just a place to get loot, having heard the stories from the newsnets. He was a Nomad, and he knew that the dungeons were the toughest fights in the game at the moment, unless you wanted to walk up to the new Empress and stick a shiv in her. The idea that you could just waltz into a dungeon and take its loot for your own was idiotic.

Of course, from the looks of things, the Pirate Lords had decided to go and get stupid about things, as well. It was one thing to try and ambush the Black Stars as they exited a Gateway one at a time. You had the right amount of firepower, and you could disable or destroy the ships as they passed through, before they knew what happened, and because the Gateways were one-way, the ships behind them wouldn’t know what was happening. It was a very unfair fight, which is just how Gunn liked it.

But gathering even more heavy hitters like this? That did not bode well. He sincerely hoped that someone hadn’t gotten the bright idea to go and try to attack the new colony. Not when that bastard had two whole fleets there to defend it! Even Nuevo Edo would be a tough nut to crack, now that their defenses had been built up. And that wasn’t even counting the trouble of getting through the Gateway themselves.

Ah, fuck it all! That had to be it! The damn Pirate Lords were going to lead a fucking invasion of Nuevo Edo when the majority of the Black Stars were away. As if that bastard would have just left the planet defenseless? Sure, the Nuevo Edo Navy might be young, but the vids he’d seen of the fight with the X’thari showed they weren’t idiots or cowards. This was not going to go how the Pirate Lords thought. Quietly, he opened a chat line to some of the other Nomads in the fleet, seeing whether there were any contingency plans that could be made. He’d save his ship, at the very least, but if the Pirate Lords went and got a case of terminal stupidity, then there would be an opening for a new Pirate Lord or two…

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-stuart-grosse/1128941349?ean=2940161995297

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-omnibus-i-stuart-grosse/1128953195?ean=2940162052081

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 164 - Contact

 

(Possible Dungeon Site, Southern Continent, Star’s Reach)

Major Khan was not pleased. Here he was, trying to get his Marines organized and send them through an unknown dungeon to map as much of it as they could, and things were beginning to look pear shaped already. They had not even gotten inside the dungeon when they found their first problem.

Prototype Spacial Warp detected! This area has been enveloped in a prototype special warp using technology that was in the earliest design phases and rushed into production. This has resulted in overlapping instances of space in the fielded area, with different capacities for new biologic entities. Choose instance size: 6 or 30

Khan scowled at the blue screen that had appeared before them. Going into the unknown was part of what they did, but this was different from any other dungeon found so far, which did not fill him with warm fuzzies. His mood did not improve much when he heard one of his Marines give a low whistle nearby. Turning to look at the Marine in question, he said, “You have something to add about this, Tremblay?”

Tremblay, who was a gamer as well as a Marine in real life before an IED took his leg, nodded. “Yes, sir. If I’m reading this right, I believe we just found the first instanced dungeon in the game.” When Khan just looked at him (the new armor’s ability to have the faceplate go transparent was much appreciated for times like these), he said, “In ‘normal’ games, an instanced dungeon is basically individual copies of the same area that a party can go through. These copies are called instances, and the instance is usually locked to one party until it resets. This means you can have many groups running through the same dungeon without people running into each other.”

When Khan continued just looking at him, Tremblay continued. “According to the screen, this dungeon doesn’t just have instances, but it also looks like it has a raid difficulty! Raids are higher difficulty dungeons that have tougher enemies, harder challenges, and better loot. They’re generally seen as high-level content for the most skilled players in the game.”

Khan finally nodded, and said, “So, you’re telling me that not only did we find the first instanced dungeon, but it has a new mode that no other dungeon has?”

“Yes, sir. That’s what it looks like.”

“Will this affect our ability to map the dungeon?”

Tremblay paused, and then said, “Well, we’ll only be able to send in small groups into the ‘normal’ instance, and we’ll want to have the maximum allowed for the ‘raid’ instance. Unless things are really different, all the normal instances should have the same layout as each other, and the raid instances should all have identical layouts, but the raid and normal maps will be different, probably very different, with the raid being the larger map.”

“Suggestions?”

Tremblay took a breath, and then said, “If this were a ‘normal’ game, on a screen and not something we were living, I’d say go big or go home, and try and get a first clear on the raid, for ego’s sake, since the only downside of failing is some repair costs on your gear. Given that we’re actually here, and can feel the bullets hitting us, I’d say it would be a better idea to start with the normal dungeon. We probably won’t be able to communicate with the outside while in the dungeon, to prevent cheating, and each group that goes in will be on their own, with no backup, but if this is one of the dungeons that doesn’t let you out until you either die or kill a boss, then at least the enemies will be less difficult to overcome.”

Major Khan nodded, and then looked back at his men. “All right, people, LISTEN UP! We have a new situation. This dungeon is different from the other ones that have been reported. I know you’re all Marines, so I shouldn’t have to say this, but I will, because I know you’re all Marines, but ‘different’ means ‘dangerous’. Assume that everything inside wants you dead, and is capable of doing it. We are going to go in teams of six, so we can fully explore the dungeon. Have your systems generate a map and record everything you see, so we can compare afterwards. Squad leaders! The dungeon might not allow you to leave until you either die or beat the boss. You are each responsible for checking on that at the start of your run, since we may not have communications between teams. If you are trapped, then do your best to map the area and find the boss. Kill it if you can, and if you can’t, well, give him hell so he remembers what a Marine is like, even in defeat!”

“OOH-RAH!”

Khan nodded as the Marines shouted at him, and said, “Ooh-rah. Everyone, wait five minutes between groups, and move through as you can. First team, with me! Let’s go see what we’ve got!” After a moment to readjust the groups so that he was now in a group with five marines, rather than the whole platoon, they stepped through the door, into the six-man instance.

They found themselves in a mechanical-looking hallway, like you’d see in old sci-fi movies where the people were moving through the belly of a spaceship or industrial facility, with pipes and other things running along the utilitarian walls, and dim lighting interspersed through the area. After taking a moment to scan for immediate threats, Khan turned to look at the door they’d just stepped through. A quick analysis said that it would allow them out of the dungeon, but if the entire group either left the dungeon (either physically or by logging out) or was killed, the dungeon would be reset. So long as the dungeon wasn’t reset, members of the group would be able to leave and come back to this instance. Good to know.

Turning his eyes front, he used hand signals to designate a marching order. The Marines fell into place, with Sergeant Chavez taking point. Marines were not SEALs or special forces, and much of their training involved hitting people hard and fast, but that didn’t mean they didn’t get training in how to move quietly through enemy territory and set up ambushes and fire zones. The Boss had been hands off with the Black Star Marines’ training schedule, but the only thing he’d insisted on was that they get some of the training that Recon Marines got, so they could go behind enemy lines, if necessary, and fuck shit up so that the Navy could ruin someone’s day. Being a great fan of ruining the opposition’s day, Khan hadn’t had any problems with this, especially since he wasn’t working with raw recruits at the beginning.

The first real room they got to after the entrance hall was a hub of sorts, with three paths leading away from it, each at cardinal points to the North, East, and West, with them coming in at the South. Chavez raised her fist to get people to hold up, and crouched. Everyone got real familiar with the walls, their armor’s basic camouflage systems working to make them blend in with the surroundings. It wouldn’t fool someone up close, but it would do for the moment. Khan forced himself to breath, not wanting to use the team comms unless he had to, for fear of the transmission being detected. He certainly wasn’t going to use the suit microphone!

Instead, he put his hand on the shoulder of the Marine in front of him, and felt the Marine behind him do the same, and used the conduction transmitters this new generation of armor came with for the first time. It was the stealthiest way they had to communicate anything that couldn’t be easily said through hand signs, but it required staying in contact with the other person’s armor to form a datanet. There were no external transmissions, so it was almost impossible to detect.

“Chavez, what do we got?”

“Patrol, sir. Two, look like Imperial Army, but the armor’s different. It doesn’t match the files we have on known Imperial designs.”

Chavez’s view of the patrol from her suit cameras appeared in his HUD. They were definitely Imperial soldiers, all right. That armor was definitely in the Imperial Style. But the normal adornments and other trappings of the armor were missing. Instead, they had the image of a great tree on their fronts, green-grey against black. That was an odd choice for Imperial troops, to say the least. However, when he ran it through his command level database, that image got a match.

“I have a match to the symbol, from the intel files. That tree is the symbol of the AI, Deus. It is the… avatar, you could say, that it uses when it appears in virtual communications. Or it did, before the Empire chased it to Venus. We’ve got a confirmed presence of Deus Military, folks.”

“Orders, Major?”

Major Khan looked to the feed from Chavez, and used it to map the route the patrol was taking through the hub. In thirty seconds, they would be close enough to engage. If possible, he wanted to keep the alert levels low until it was absolutely needed, so they could explore more of the base, and give the analysts more to work with. Fortunately, they had weapons designed for the job of dispatching armored soldiers quickly and, more importantly, quietly.

BSM Mk. IV Marine Combat Blade
Type	Dagger	Rank	Uncommon Masterwork
Damage	100 – 350	Damage Type	Piercing
This weapon, designed and produced especially for use by the Black Star Marine Corps, is an improved version of standard combat blades, designed with a monofilament edge that increases penetrating power. It has been designed specifically for stealth takedowns. +50 Attack Armor Piercing – Attacks ignore 25% physical armor. Critical Hits and Sneak Attacks ignore 100% physical armor. Silent Killer – Sneak Attacks always deal max damage, in addition to the normal damage multipliers. Savagery – Critical Hits deal x4 damage, instead of the normal x2.

It was a solid desperation weapon, but it really shone as a way to take down an enemy without raising an alarm. Khan made his decision. “Chavez, wait for them to pass, and take the far one. Davis, take the close one. Try to get them in the first hit if you can. Silence them if you cannot.” With that, he broke the link, and let Chavez and Davis get down to business.

Both Marines drew their blades, but held them so that the weapons were pressed flat against the underside of their armor, so no telltale gleam from the lights could give them away. Fortunately, the area they were in had dim lighting, so that gave them some measure of cover, along with the camouflage. The two patrolling guards arrived at the hallway they were hiding in, and gave a brief look in their direction, but they were both about three meters away, and not really watching. With the Marine’s Stealth skills, they may as well have been invisible.

As the guards moved on, Chavez and Davis crept forward, silent as death, while the rest of them readied weapons in case an alarm was raised. A moment later, they heard the telltale sound of Marine Combat Blades piercing armor, and then the light music of two bodies being gently lowered to the floor. Chavez appeared in view, and gave them the all clear signal.

Moving forward, Khan turned, and looked at the two dead guardsmen. The kills had been perfectly done, with strikes to the kidney and the throat. The poor bastards probably didn’t even know they were being attacked until they were already dead. Looking to Chavez and Davis, he nodded silently, as they checked the bodies for loot.

That was something different in these dungeons from the rest of the game world. Outside, bodies would sit there until you did something with them, and what you took off their corpses was yours. In the dungeon, when you touched a fallen enemy, you had a screen come up asking if you wanted to loot it, and if you said yes, some loot would be added to your inventory, while the body disappeared into light. The two guards gave up some credits, ammunition for their rifles, and other such things. Nothing spectacular, but that was how it worked so that people didn’t just farm full suits of combat armor from the dungeons and completely wreck the economy.

Well, Khan thought, we’ve made contact. Now time to see what this dungeon has in store for us!

Previous Chapter                                       Table of Contents                                     Next Chapter



Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-stuart-grosse/1128941349?ean=2940161995297

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-omnibus-i-stuart-grosse/1128953195?ean=2940162052081

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 163 - Xenolinguistics

 

(Unknown Structure, 2200 km East of Starborn, Star’s Reach)

The alien structure was both surreal and mundane at the same time. You can tell a lot about a species by how they shape their buildings. Not just the externals, but the shape and placement of the doors and hallways as well, to say nothing of the placement and intensity of the light fixtures. All of these things told a story about different species.

Ihm buildings and ships, for instance, have doors that are wider at the bottom than they are at the top, to account for their tails being more active, while their door controls are obviously fitted for hands with claws, and they prefer to have ramps instead of stairs where they can get away with it. Gauz, on the other hand, build everything extremely sturdily, due to their high-gravity heritage, and their doors tend to resemble hatches on a submarine more than anything else, while they rarely have stairs, instead using lifts between floors. Meanwhile, the Knelfi prefer everything to have more rounded edges, and so their doors are oval shaped when they can get away with it, or at least the door frames will have rounded corners if an oval door isn’t practical, and in all but the most utilitarian buildings the corners of the walls where they meet the ceilings and floors, or turn corners, have all been rounded off, and even the stairs are more likely to be spirals than normal staircases. The X’thari, though? Their ships are all more ‘organic’ in nature, and so you have tubes rather than hallways, and the doors are usually circular, and formed like a sphincter.

So, while it wasn’t an exact science, we could tell a few things about whatever species built this place right off the bat. First, the halls were rectangular, and made of a white metal that our scanners refused to identify. This meant the species had advanced metallurgic knowledge, and were probably ‘tool users’, like other races. The light fixtures were the really odd part. They seemed to be inset into the walls and ceilings, but we did not see any mechanism, and we wouldn’t have known they were there if they hadn’t started coming on, raising their brightness by increments until it was like being outside in the noonday sun. It actually got a bit brighter for a moment, but the moment we started shielding our eyes, it backed down to something more pleasant for humans. This told us that whoever built this place expected a variety of species to come here, and had systems in place to make the local light as comfortable as possible.

This was all we could tell just from stepping through the massive doorway. The size of the door meant that the species could have been much larger than humans were, but the ‘road’ leading to the ‘spacepad’ suggested that this was an area where cargo might have been moved in and out of the facility, which would need more space than personnel quarters. The fact that they were expecting varied creature types (as evidenced by the automatically scaling brightness) meant that this area was also not going to be built to the ‘normal’ of the species’ build.

We were cautious as we moved through the hallway. After all, the security systems might be on other settings than the cargo door, especially if we tried to access parts of the facilities we weren’t authorized for (which was all of them). The fact that we couldn’t scan the walls, much less anything that might be behind the walls, meant that we were going in blind. I didn’t like going in blind, unless I had at least some assurance that my group would have the upper hand when it came to firepower. And that didn’t apply, here.

We approached another massive door, but this one didn’t just magically open for us. Instead, a blue hologram roughly human size and shape, but completely nondescript and lacking in detail, like a three-dimensional render that hadn’t gotten around to adding in things like a nose, eyes, face, or deciding on gender, appeared in front of us. From all around, there was a sound that started like fingernails on a chalkboard and ended with a low, pleasant hum. Evidently, now we were going through audio calibrations. This was a decent sign, at least. It meant that the facility wanted us to know about it.

Well, let me rephrase. That was potentially good. There was every chance that this could be some elaborate plot or ploy to draw us to our dooms, but I didn’t think so. Not way out here in the middle of nowhere. More likely, this was some kind of ‘getting to know you’ approach to first contact situations, to try and keep things from getting too weird, too fast.

The hologram was now ‘speaking’. Well, I assume it was speaking, since it was making noise and performing simple hand gestures with its nondescript hands. Fortunately, I had a solution in mind. “Raven, do you think you can work with this computer to work out some kind of translation base? Knowing what we’re dealing with would help a lot, and it looks like we’re not moving forward until we get some common ground with this hologram. I’d rather not go shooting things or blowing them up until I’m certain we’ll need it. No sense pissing off the alien computer if we don’t have to.”

Raven considered for a moment, and said, “There are risks to the procedure. This cloned fragment of my core program is currently unable to communicate with the ship, due to the material used in the building’s construction, so if something happens, I will lose all memory of what has happened since we moved into the building. I can use the external communication devices to link to the computer more safely, allowing us to meet on ‘neutral ground’, as it were. But there’s still a danger if this computer views the interface as hostile.”

I considered for a moment, and then nodded. “We don’t have much choice, since there’s no translation for whatever super-ancient language this is. Even my Polyglot ability isn’t letting me understand this language. It might not even be an actual language, but more of a first contact code, like the Nuevo Edoans used when we first met them, and we are just too alien to these people to understand what their frame of reference is. Pass the translation to me as it comes through, and that may help speed things up.”

“Understood, Captain. There is what looks like an access panel here that I should be able to interface with. The physical access point is similar to the ones in the historical archives seen when people first made a physical study of the Gateways. We may be able to communicate on the same frequencies.”

“Try it, and then use a physical connector if that doesn’t work.”

Stepping up behind me, Jackie, the leader of the Valkyries, said softly over the team comm line, “Master, does that mean this is a Gatebuilder facility? If so, this would be the first time anyone has ever found anything that could be positively linked to them besides the Gateways themselves.”

I shook my head softly. “Too early to determine that, unfortunately. The Gatebuilders are so far beyond our understanding that we’d simply be guessing at this point. There’s an equally good chance that this was simply the standard connector and communication protocol of the spacefaring civilizations at the time, much like how most companies produce communicators with identical connector sites and power cords, so you can easily share cords with friends. Well, except those MacRintosh people from the Apple system. Damn bastards keep everything proprietary so you have to pay extra for everything they make. Felt good to tell them to go to hell when they came to the Dimiya office wanting to try and sell their ‘business grade’ communicator plans.”

Jackie chuckled, and said, “But Master, doesn’t Black Star keep the vast majority of our work proprietary? I certainly haven’t noticed any fleets with quite our level of tech. And our commlinks are designed to be hard to hack.”

I chuckled at that. “Ah, but that is a technological edge we keep to prevent people from undermining our business. We make our stuff better than other people, and that’s going to cost more. We don’t make all the communicator ports a unique shape with a proprietary protocol so that they only work with Black Star communicators using Black Star access cords that can only be charged by Black Star charge cables, and so on. That kind of business model is good for pissing people off, in the long run. As soon as someone comes along with an item that is as good as yours but doesn’t have all your forced exclusivity headaches, then you’re going to see people picking it up unless you’ve gotten yourself a cult following.”

Raven cut in at that point, before I could really get into my diatribe about shitty business practices in the consumer electronics market. “Captain, I believe I have made contact with the computer controlling the hologram. It is still unclear whether this is the same computer that is in charge of the facility as a whole, or a subordinate system. Using the modern first contact protocols as a base, we are starting with binary code, and moving into other languages as we form a translation base. Working on English first. When that is done, further translation packages will be much faster to install.”

I nodded, and said, “Good. What is the estimated run time on the translation software? I know you’re good, but this is a wholly alien computer system. Even if it is apparently designed to learn and adapt to those entering the facility, it should still take quite a bit of time to reach a full translation, right?”

“Yes, Captain. I estimate that, working alone, with the resources on hand, the computer should have a working knowledge of English, enough to facilitate translation of the systems in this facility, at least, in twenty-four hours at the earliest. However, given your Polyglot ability, we may be able to reduce that time significantly if we run the translation through your HUD until you become able to read the language. That way, we can explore the facility while the system works on language skills.”

“I am uncomfortable allowing the mysterious alien computer direct access to my HUD, Raven. Route it through your communicator and mine, with double security checks to ensure that the alien computer is not getting any direct connection. Allow translations, but no direct contact. When the language unlocks, I’ll communicate verbally with the computer, rather than exposing team comms.”

Raven nodded. “I believed that was what you would say, and have it ready to set up. Unknown how long it will take you to pick up the language, but this should reduce our time frame considerably.”

I took a breath, and then looked to the group. “All right, everyone, we’ve got some time to kill while we wait for the computer to learn our language so we can go wandering the halls without accidentally setting off security alerts and getting ourselves killed. Rest as best you can, but full containment protocols are still in place until the tests on this planet’s atmosphere are done, and we know the purpose of this facility. So armor stays on. Valkyrie Two, step out and give a report to Catspaw, so they don’t get worried about us, and pass the word on to fleet.” I paused, and then said, “Raven, you have a copy of the language they’re using?”

“Yes, sir, but the translation work is slow. This facility apparently uses a Base 8 number system, but that is a mathematical calculation which is easily performed. Establishing baselines for nouns, much less verbs or sentence structure, will take time. A Russian speaker can meet an English speaker, point at a tree, and call it a дерево, and the English speaker will understand the general meaning, even if the language is foreign. We’re a few steps behind that point, since we haven’t begun to translate the visual reference files the computer has yet.”

I looked to Valkyrie Two, their cracker extraordinaire, and said, “Think you can rig a physical connection between two commlinks running across that doorway so that we can access the ships, and maybe bounce some of this translation work off the fleet? That boost in processing power should speed up the job greatly.”

Viessa considered that, and said, “Yes, Master, I believe it can be done. If we run it through the Raven itself, with Catspaw Four and Raven’s main self as additional checks to make sure that nothing compromises fleet security, we should be able to increase our processing power for this task exponentially, at the very least.”

“Raven, risk analysis?”

“Unknown. However, even just being able to access my systems on the Raven will reduce the projected time dramatically. We can then decide whether we wish to risk opening the link to the rest of the fleet. The longer the system interfaces with our computers without our understanding each other, the greater the chance of exposure or damage due to accident or miscommunication, but if the entity is malicious or programmed to perform espionage activities, the greater access it gets the higher the likelihood of a deliberate data breach.”

I took a breath, and said, “Do it. Keep as close an eye on it as you can. Limit the link to the Raven itself until we know more about what we’re dealing with. I would really not like to spend a whole day sitting on the doorstep while we wait to find out how to say hello.”

Within minutes, Viessa had the link set up and ready, and we were getting data coming from the outside, through the facility’s shielding. Raven looked over to me, and said, “Processing time has reduced dramatically. Unknown time remaining. Sending translations as they are rendered to your HUD.” I nodded, and sat down in a corner to study what I was reading. Two and a half hours later, I received a notification.

Polyglot Activated You have now mastered the Qaettel language. You may read, speak, and write this language as if you were a native speaker.

New Achievement! Ancient Polyglot You have mastered a language that has been dead so long in Known Space that there are no longer even any records of its existence. You are the only known speaker of this long dead language. +1000 Fame Learning times on all unknown languages reduced by 10%. Learning times on all unknown languages related to a known language reduced by a further 40%

You gain a new skill. Knowledge (Xenoarchaeology) has increased to 20/100. +20 INT

I sighed, and stretched as I got to my feet. “All right, let’s see what this hologram has in store for us.”

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
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Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 162 - Outpost

(Possible Dungeon Site, Southern Continent, Star’s Reach)

Major Khan nodded as the four landers dropped off his troops. This was not supposed to be a ‘hot’ landing zone, but the pilots had performed as though it was, diving down fast through the atmosphere, before pulling up just in time to keep from crashing on the ground. His people might have been rattled around a bit, but they were Marines, and this was part of the job.

Looking up, he saw two of the Crows (the Wrathgate and the Threnody, actually) begin landing nearby, carrying the supplies needed to set up a rough forward operating base. The Crow-class assault ships were 15% smaller than the original Raven-class freighters, but massed the same and had 35% stronger armor. The smaller size was because the cargo bay had been shrunk to half the size of a Raven-class.

Every square meter of space in the Threnody’s small hold was full of supplies needed for quick-forming the barracks, command center, and mess hall. The Wrathgate contained what they would need to start setting up a perimeter defense. That’d be damn important when the local fauna (any that still lived so close to the dungeon) decided to check out the new arrivals. Especially if they thought his Marines looked like snacks.

Right now, Khan wasn’t worried about venturing into the dungeon. There would be plenty of time to map out the dungeon, and find out what kind of defenses and opposition it had in place. Everything they’d seen about dungeons in this game so far said that they didn’t go spewing monsters all over the place. He still had a defensive position set up in front of the entrance, just in case, but the gatekeeping on the dungeon would mainly be to ensure the people selling access to the dungeon had someplace to set up shop. Until then, his job was to keep any locals from getting caught up in things, if they hadn’t already.

Of course, there would be those who would not understand. There always were. They’d go on about “why not just nuke it from orbit?” or “just drop Greenwave on it” as if destroying something were the only way to deal with a potential threat. Fortunately, the Boss was smarter than that. He had weapons that could wipe out entire planets far faster and more permanently than Greenwave, but he made sure not to use them unless someone REALLY deserved it. Well, other than that Kul’tiran group where he was testing things out.

At any rate, the Black Star Marines had a mission. Once he had set up base camp, he would leave one platoon on perimeter defense, and take the rest into the dungeon to see if they could map it out and find the level of difficulty. If they could clear the dungeon, that would simply be bonus points, but they needed to get an idea of what kind of dungeon they were dealing with, and how much of the crazed AI was present. They also had to find out how much of a threat of contamination there was. If the AI was going to try and spread its influence with nanites like it had on Earth, then they needed to know about it sooner rather than later, to ensure that exposed individuals were quarantined until they were deemed free of infection or were put down.

“Major! We’ve got the perimeter defenses in place. Deliverance is continuing patrols from the air to more fully map the terrain with their scanners. As expected, the dungeon’s walls are shielded so we cannot get a clear read on the inside, but the first level, at least is visible as voids on the ground-penetrating sensors.”

Khan nodded to his lieutenant. “That’s good news. Would have preferred a complete map, with any information on the interior that we could get, but the outline will have to do for now. Make sure that intel is uploaded to the tac-net, and have all platoon and squad leaders meet me in the command post in 30 for a mission brief.”

“Yes, sir!”

Thirty minutes later, as everyone moved in to the nanoprinted conference room, Khan looked out at his people, and threw the intel from the Crow up on the main screen. Looking them in the eyes, he said, “All right, people, Deliverance has given us better intel than what the orbital scans could get. This here is the outline of the first floor of the dungeon. We don’t know what the interior will look like, but so far analysts believe that we’re looking at one of the ‘human’, or at least ‘humanoid’, dungeons. They’re basing this on the fact that we’ve got a series of boxy rooms and hallways, rather than organic-looking tunnels. This means we aren’t facing Zerg.”

He allowed the small moment of relief at the fact that they weren’t going to be facing those nightmares again. The station they’d first found them on was bad enough. Having to deal with them in a place they couldn’t just run out and then blow off the face of the world wasn’t in their list of ‘happy fun times’. “Now, the Admiral gave us three objectives when we launched from the Thunderfury. The first was to secure the dungeon site and lay the groundwork for either a dungeon town or a garrison, depending on the type of opposition we find. Since the perimeter is up and we aren’t facing Zerg, I’m going to call in the engineers to start making more structures for a dungeon town, as soon as things are settled.”

“That was the easy part! Now, our other two objectives are going to be a lot more difficult to pull off. Fourth Platoon will remain outside to cover the exit and ensure that nothing comes in and nothing comes out that isn’t a Black Star Marine. While they’re covering our ass, the other platoons will move into the dungeon, and sweep it to discover what kind of opposition we’re dealing with. The first objective is to map as much of the facility as possible. The second is to determine whether the dungeon is ‘stable’, or has the potential to go rogue and start sending enemies out of the dungeon or infecting people who go in. We’re using full containment protocols, so if your suit gets breached, you sing out. No tough guy acts. Remember, the AI that is responsible for these dungeons was the one who forced us to drop Greenwave on Earth. We have to know if it is going to try and overwrite people who go in.”

One of the squad leaders raised his hand. “Sir, what happens if we do get ‘overwritten’?” He looked rather nervous about that. Honestly, Khan couldn’t blame him. Bullets and all that were scary, too, but you could train for that. Getting your brain rewired? That was nightmare material there. The Stepford stuff was bad enough, from what he’d heard, but the Hundeherstellar nanites, and everything based off them, were pure evil.

Smiling wryly, Khan nodded to the man. “Don’t blame you for being nervous, Martinez. Frankly, I’m nervous, too. Anyone who isn’t scared shitless when going up against an enemy that might just rewrite your head and delete who you were before should be getting their head examined to begin with. So, I’m telling you, and I want you all to tell your people, that it is absolutely OK to be scared. Hell, I would be more worried if they weren’t. Anyone that says they aren’t scared about people messing with their brain should be checked out for a possible Section 8.”

That got a few grim nods from his audience, so he continued on. “Fear isn’t always a bad thing. It is that primal little voice in the back of your head, telling you that shit is about to get real. That’s not bad, and it has saved many a man’s life when they got scared and didn’t know why, and they avoided something nasty. So be afraid. But don’t let that fear rule you. Use it to keep you sharp. We are going into the unknown, people! There is no such thing as ‘too cautious’. Assume that this place is Australia, and every damn thing wants to kill you somehow, and it is probably capable of doing so.”

He paused, and then said, “Now, the bad. What happens if the AI overwrites you? We don’t know about the Deus version, but the Admiral has a contact with the GMs since he’s a streamer, and he was able to get some info that wasn’t on the forums. The people who lost characters because of Jagloth were all checked out to ensure there was no damage to their RL selves.”

A few people’s eyes went wide, and Khan nodded. “Now, he didn’t get to see the actual interviews, but the Admiral told me that devs put a patch in as soon as they realized the full nature of those Hundeherstellar nanites to deal with it. When you get hit by them, it is game over for that character, but they will let you make a new one automatically, instead of having the normal reset time. The new character will be the same level as the old one, and have ten percent more points at chargen to play with than what you used on the old character. When you get in game, you will have a number of free skill ranks equal to what you have now, and will be able to sort them as you like.”

“Now, before any of you idiots think about trying to get yourself overwritten so you can ‘respec’ into something else, you better believe that anyone getting overwritten will have the close and immediate attention of the GMs, going all the way to the head GM. Deliberate overwrites will be judged on a case by case basis, and there’s a good chance they won’t get any of that shit, and they’ll be back to square one, along with anyone else involved. After Jagloth and Earth, they are not playing around with this shit. Understand?”

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

Khan smiled. “All right, can the boot camp drek. Now, the Admiral also said that, if you get overwritten, and the GMs give you the ‘sorry for your loss’ package, then if you get to a Black Star facility and make contact, you’ll be re-inducted to the Black Star Marines with no loss of rank. So you want to pick Dimiya, Nuevo Edo, or Star’s Reach as your starting location.”

“Wait, the new colony is already counted as a spawn site?”

“That’s right, Franklin. But it is listed as being open only to higher-difficulty starts right now. The devs didn’t come out and say it, but the new spawns will be coming from the colony ship, and everyone on that ship are slaves, so they’ll be waking up in game already having a slave chip in them making them property of Black Star.” He paused, and said, “Now, you and I both know that doesn’t mean as much in Black Star as it would other places, but can you imagine the looks on some of these idiots’ faces when they start up on the new world, and they start off as slaves? The Admiral already has orders for the people ‘waking up’ the new ‘citizens’ to check for Nomads and give them special attention.”

He paused, and then said, “All right. Go get your men, and give them the sitrep. Tell them the same things I told you. Let them know the score. When he recruited us, the Admiral promised me that he wouldn’t knowingly send us into the fire without us knowing it ahead of time, and it being necessary. That is the spirit the Black Star Marine Corps will always carry, so long as I’m in command. We are Marines, which means we aren’t stupid troopers who just go where we’re told and do what we’re told to do. We improvise, adapt, and overcome!”

“OOHRAH!”

“Now get to it! I want this dive to be underway in thirty, people!”

Previous Chapter                                       Table of Contents                                     Next Chapter



Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-stuart-grosse/1128941349?ean=2940161995297

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-omnibus-i-stuart-grosse/1128953195?ean=2940162052081

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T

Chapter 218 - The Caress of Twilight

From the deck of the Veil of Twilight, I watched as the orb of misty purple energy flew from the mouth of the great cannon. This was the first time that the Twilight’s Caress had been fired, and I was interested to see what the weapon was capable of. Because of the… mixed nature of my divine backing, I decided against using the more destructive settings for the cannon, and instead used the third option, which would cause a special effect based on the kind of magic I used to charge the weapon.

The orb crashed upon the side of Duskhaven Hill, in the middle of the Noble District. As planned, the wave of energy flew out in all directions. Not a single person, creature, or item in the area suffered even a single point of HP damage, but I knew that there would be an effect. Of course, the radius of the blast was almost 190 miles, but those of us on the ship were immune to the effect, while those allies around us had all been given single-use enchantments that completely blocked the next magical effect of a certain type that came in contact with them. All were set to the same type of magic as I used to charge the cannon, and so none of our forces were hindered by the blast.

Interestingly enough, not everyone in the city was affected, either. I had been expecting it, but it was still pleasant to see that the mass of Duskhaven Hill had blocked the effects of the Unholy Degredation shot, causing a wedge to form on the eastern shore, as the magic did not touch the Slums, and the lands beyond them. Of course, the slums were not the only areas that weathered the onslaught, for the Temple District was alight with several domes of energy, as the wards upon the various temples fought to keep back the magic.

I noted that eight of the temples glowed stronger than the others. Two of them, I knew the cause immediately, for one was Mystra’s temple, which had the aid of the Mage’s college nearby and their wards reinforced each other. The other was the Temple of Sharess, long embattled in this city, but even the Theocracy knew better than to try and tear down one of her major temples, especially after I had given my warning that Sharess knew of what happened to her followers Lastwall, and she was greatly angered by what had happened. Both those temples had been warned of the assault, and had prepared accordingly.

The other six, however, looked like there may be trouble. Ilmater and Pelor’s temples were obviously lit, no doubt signifying that their gods had sent avatars to the city. Sezphy’s temple glowed, but the color was a pale white, like moonlight, not the gold one would associate with her. Perhaps someone else had moved in? The other three? Helm was a god of sentinels and protectors, so one might expect his temple to always be prepared for an assault. Selune was a moon goddess and favored by female mages. That, no doubt, was a reaction to my presence nearby. And, well, Torm was a god of paladins and other such protectors, and he was often shown riding a golden dragon into battle against evil of all sorts, but especially evil dragons. It looked as though there would be quite a bit of conflict in the future.

(Duskhaven Keep, Duskhaven)

Haymo Runeless, Knight of the Realm, Paladin of Sezphy, leader of the Crimson Onslaught and the Grand Crusade of the Righteous, and Prime Exarch of the Theocracy of Ograin was restless. Despite the best efforts of the Grand Crusade and their Inquisitors, they had not been able to quash the rumors. The damn Shadow Alliance was to blame, of course. For three years, they’d been a thorn in his side, always managing to keep their ‘local’ members out of the Inquisition’s eye. Any Shadows they caught were all Travelers, and they never got the punishment they truly deserved.

For three long years, he’d tried to bring those insufferable brigands out of the shadows and purify them with cleansing fire, but they’d refused to die. The foolish locals fell prey to their whispers and lies, preferring the squalor of their so-called freedom rather than embracing justice and order and being cared for as a productive follower of the light. Worse, the restrictions placed by the Inquisitors to root out heresy would often find people actually fleeing their comfortable lives in the city to live in the slums, where the Inquisition could not go unless they were armed and armored for war, and even then only if they possessed enough numbers to ensure that the heretics would not try to assault them. More than once he had envisioned simply putting the slums to the torch, and rooting out the nest of vipers and heretics once and for all. Indeed, several of his advisors had suggested just that. But he knew that was not the path of justice, and that it would just drive more of those who were being misled into embracing the darkness.

Of course, there was no silencing the rumors amongst the Travelers, and it would have been foolish to try. But he had hoped to limit the spread of tales amongst the locals. The fact that the Temple of Sezphy’s wards had shattered, the Eternal Lights had gone out, and all members of Sezphy’s clergy, both priests and paladins, had felt the power leave them all of a sudden simply could not be hidden. Anyone with an ounce of magical insight could see that something had happened. And the damn whispers from the Shadow Alliance were there to tell them exactly what: that the Demon of the Amhelin Planes had discovered what the Theocracy had done to those heretics in Lastwall, and had taken out his wrath upon their goddess, consorting with a demon lord to strip Sezphy of her divinity. The rumors, apparently, went into far more detail about how the Bastard had defiled and violated his goddess, and they were no doubt spread by the Bastard himself.

But normal rumors could be quashed. Even rumors like these, if they had been in the real world, could have been spun around on their heads and turned to their—his—advantage. This game world, however, with its game effects and game rules, had constantly thwarted his attempts over the last two weeks to combat the rumors. Divination magic had been used to thwart him. The scryers searching for truth were problematic, but could be dealt with. The members of the Shadow Alliance who hid in crowds and cast truthtelling and lie detection spells whenever his people tried to ‘set the record straight’ were becoming a foe that had to be dealt with, before everything they’d worked for over the last three years came crashing down.

Of course, the worst was that the game wrote the truth into his status for all to see. Oh, there were skills and other abilities one could use to hide or edit what those who Observed you might see, but a high enough skill level would see through it, and if it got out that a Paladin had such a skill, it could tear the Theocracy apart. Which meant he had to deal with the humiliation of his status on a daily basis.

Haymo Runeless Half-Celestial Human Male Level 150 High Justicar (Paladin) / Grand Warleader (Marshal) Titles: Pure One, Genius, True Believer, Orc Bane, Undead Bane, Manslayer, Evil Bane, Demon Bane, Troll Bane, Lost Servant, Follower of a Fallen Goddess

Lost Servant Belief is a powerful force. But what happens when a believer is faced with the object of their faith being ripped away? You served a higher power, but that power has been brought low. Will you forsake your vows and find a new master? Or become the master yourself? -500 Fame -10% Morale penalty on all actions

Follower of a Fallen Goddess As a Paladin, your connection to your chosen diety is usually stronger than those of any save her priests. However, your goddess has fallen, either slain or reduced to mortality. This title cannot be removed until your goddess is restored, or you choose a new god to follow. Lose all Divine spells and abilities Divine spells (including divine healing) are 75% less effective on you, all other spells are 25% less effective on you.

The last two titles had been slapped on him, and every surviving priest or paladin of Sezphy, when the Bastard had done whatever ritual it was that allowed him and that bitch Malcanthet to defile his goddess and strip her of her divinity. Unfortunately, people had quickly spotted the change, and reported it around the city. If he hadn’t still had his martial skills, he likely would have been replaced by one of the other ambitious members of the Theocracy. But as Prime Exarch, he commanded the loyalty of their Travelers, and that counted for a great deal.

“My Lord! Dragons sighted to the west! The mages say that they came out of a massive portal in the sky! The Farseer said that the one in their center was Mirelth!”

The news the messenger brought to his throne room shattered his reverie. What few people were left in the great hall at this late hour began whispering amongst themselves. Still, this was a chance! Haymo drew himself up, rising from the Golden Lion Throne that had once belonged to the King of Ograin, and pulled his sword from its sheath. “The bitch would not have come alone, not with the preparations being made in the city! The Corruption Made Flesh has come, and we shall meet him in battle! Sound the alarms! Everyone, prepare for battle! For the Theocracy! FOR THE LIGHT!” He may have lost his divine powers, but the Marshal class was designed for the leading of men into battle, and he retained all those skills. The whispering stopped, and a fire shone in the eyes of the people, as the messenger turned to give the orders.

All of a sudden, there was a flash through the windows, as an orb of purple light hit the walls of the Morledge estate halfway down the hill, and exploded! Haymo shielded his eyes from the initial light, only to see the wave of magic expanding outwards, passing through the walls of the noble estates as though they were nothing. The Keep’s protections flared briefly and then failed. The Mage’s College and the disciples of Mystra were the ones who maintained the wards, but they had refused to approach the castle or leave their halls because of the crackdown on warlocks and necromancers, who were counted amongst their number. Haymo brandished his shield as the wave of magic crashed through the throne room, and resolved to resist it as best he could.

EVENT NOTICE! The Siege of Duskhaven Woe to the people of Duskhaven! Woe to the people of Ograin! The actions of the Theocracy have long gone unchecked, but now the pantheons are moving against each other, with mortals at the forefront of their battles to stop the Theocracy of Ograin’s actions. Zayn Darkmore, Chosen of Sharess, has led the Aria of the Twilight and their allies to Duskhaven! Rise up, and defend the Theocracy! Or take this time to stand, and throw off the yoke of your oppressors! Be warned, that the gods themselves may descend to fight alongside you mortals who take up arms in this conflict!

Yes! An event to stop the evil bastard! That would rally people to his cause. That explosion, whatever it was, must have been just lights past where it hit, for his HP didn’t even drop a point. Now, he would lead the forces of the light, and restore Sezphy to her proper place in the world, and all would be well! Sword and shield in hand, he gave a great cry, and began charging towards the door, to meet the Corruptor in a battle long overdue!

And yet, he screamed in pain as he was brought up short! Turning to look behind him, he saw… himself? His body lay crumpled upon the floor of the keep, sword and shield having fallen from his hands. A ghostly chain stretched from his body towards him, pulled taut. Looking down, he saw that he was not in his body, but was some kind of ghostly spirit, and a chain ran from his chest to his body.

Curse of the Soul Chain You have been touched by powerful Soul Magic! Your spirit has been ripped from your body by the force of Twilight’s Caress while charged with Soul Magic mana. For the next six hours, you will exist as an incorporeal specter in spirit form. Rules for interacting with corporeal beings are as normal. Protect your Soul Chain, which connects you to your body! If it breaks, you risk succumbing to a terrible affliction from which only the strongest recover. Those who are weak-souled succumb to the affliction, and become Undead creatures, who prey on the souls of those with great connection to the divine. Your Soul Chain stretches up to 15 feet, though knowledge of Soul Magic can extend that distance.

Haymo raged at this second notification, but he was helpless to do anything about it! If that weapon had covered the whole city, then all of his forces would be useless in the coming battle, trapped by their own soul chains! And few had the magics that would allow incorporeal beings to attack the living. The majority of Duskhaven had been taken out of the fight before it even began! “DAMN THAT BASTARD! I WILL SEE HIS HEAD UPON A PIKE IF IT IS THE LAST THING I DO!”

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Be sure to read my published works!

Frozen Soul series (Sci-Fi Supervillain story):
Frozen Soul https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071R125QT
Tales of the Void Traveler https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZ52G37

Rules-Free VRMMO Life (Dark Fantasy GameLit):
Volume 1 - Tutorial
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VPRNDB
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-stuart-grosse/1128941349?ean=2940161995297

Omnibus 1 - Volumes 1-4
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0774T354X
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rules-free-vrmmo-life-omnibus-i-stuart-grosse/1128953195?ean=2940162052081

Into the Black (Sci-Fi GameLit):
Book I - Game Start https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071LT5WGL
Omnibus I - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077X2KR7Y

City of Champions Online (Superhero GameLit):
Issue I - Origin Stories https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075SHXQS1

Lewd Dungeon (Dungeon Core GameLit):
Book 1 - Welcome to the Apocalypse https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB34DHF
Omnibus 1 - Books 1-4 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FBPF6HR

The Kalipshae Affair (A First Contact Short Story): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0739V6R6T