Ethan’s sleep was restless. He tossed and turned, trapped in nightmares he didn’t understand. He was a young girl, sick with cancer. The doctors, who were supposed to help her, had the faces of demons with smiles painted on them. Then, he was a consciousness he couldn’t really describe. It felt like he was a tiny light in the darkness. A giant beast came walking by. It towered over him with its six legs, antenna, and the huge mandibles sticking out the front. It entered his light, and Ethan was able to suck the life from it, letting his light grow brighter, expanding further into the darkness.

Ethan’s mind was a buzz, as it flickered between images. His human mind, the mind that was Ethan, told him the demon faces were just projections of a scared little girl, while that giant monster had been nothing more than a black ant. That understanding didn’t change the feelings of terror, or triumph that went with the visions, however. Then, he was dragged into one of his own nightmares.

It was an old one, he was still young. His parents had left the moon on a business trip, leaving him home to watch his baby brother Mark. There was a nanny too, but he barely counted her as a guardian at the time. Since his dad had told him Mark was his responsibility. They’d decided to play hide and seek. Ethan had counted, and Mark went to hide. It was fun at first, but when he couldn’t find his brother, terror had set in. He was in charge. He was supposed to look after Mark, and he’d lost him.

The fact he was ok, having fallen asleep inside the sofa for the better part of the night, never took that fear of failure and loss away from Ethan. It clawed at him now, the sight of his brother’s familiar face, absent the love he’d seen on it during the months they’d spent on the Luna… his vision shifted again. To an emaciated figure with grey polymer arms and legs. Little better than a skeleton, it screamed, begging for death. All Ethan could do was hold her in his arms, feeling powerless to help. Unable to use his mana yet to heal.

“Ethan, shhh, it’s ok. You’re ok.” His eyes snapped open, hearing someone speaking softly into his ear. It was hard to hear, over the sound of someone screaming. It took longer than he was comfortable admitting for him to realize that the one screaming was himself. Closing his mouth with a click, Ethan looked up into Nine’s glassy eyes. The poor woman looked exhausted, but a hint of obsession could still be seen through that haze.

“Nine, what… are you ok? How long have I been sleeping?” Ethan asked, sitting up in bed and looking at himself, then around the room that used to belong to Lesa. Nine had cleaned him up and dressed him in the doctor skinsuit he’d worn in the medical car. As for the room, there wasn’t much to see. Crescent was here, along with a pair of stoats, most of Lesa’s stuff had been removed though. Likely having been absorbed by Luna. Giving a quick flex of his mind, Ethan realized he could only feel the two rodents he could see. The rest must have been killed somewhere along the way. He frowned at that but didn’t spare them much more thought. They were of limited use now that he’d gotten stronger anyway.

“I’m fine,” Nine said looking anything but. “You’ve been asleep for over thirty hours, I was worried. But it gave me time to work on a new suit of armor for you. It’s on the bed, put it on once you feel up to it. It’s not perfect, but I hope it will help next time you get shot in the back.” Blinking his eyes, Ethan looked down at the armored skinsuit she gestured too. It looked considerably better made then the last one, but that wasn’t his primary consideration after her weak explanation.

“Thirty hours?” He asked incredulously. “Have you been a wake that whole time?” Looking at her, he could see the blood and vomit he’d spit on her before he’d passed out was still there, dried and flaking.

“I’m fine,” she said with a smile. “Someone had to look after you.” Ethan stared at her, not really clear headed enough to find the words he needed.

“Nine… you need to get some sleep. I appreciate what you did for me, and I will need you in fighting shape going forward, so, please. Get some sleep, ok?” Nine’s personality was weird. She’d bounce back and forth between anger and verbal abuse, then whenever he was in danger, she’d go a little crazy. Ethan knew her time in the program had been hard on her, but it looked like the psychological damage had gone deeper than he’d known.

“If you say so, Ethan.” Nine said, climbing under the covers he’d just thrown off. “Oh, I talked to Lesa quite a bit. She’s safe. I think she’ll be a good addition to our team as a guard. I had her get some sleep a few hours ago so, make sure you wake her up to watch your back. You shouldn’t trust Luna, not even with you holding the leash. She’s… way too crafty.” Nine let out a big yawn halfway through her last sentence and was asleep before Ethan could even reply.

“Thank you, you crazy girl.” Ethan whispered, grabbing the new armored suit from the bed and turning to Crescent. “You look after her, ok boy?” He said, getting a mental acknowledgement from the war dog, who jumped up on the bed to lay down between the sleeping woman and the door. Giving a little nod, Ethan left the cabin. Where he almost tripped over Lesa in the hallway, curled up in a ball, asleep with her gun in hand. Ethan, shaking his head in amazed confusion, looked the small woman over.

She was maybe an inch or two over five feet, her dark brown hair cut short, in a similar pixie cut to the one Nine had chosen. The two women were of a height, with similar builds. The main stand outs were Nine’s blonde hair and blue eye, while Lesa had brown hair and green eyes. Otherwise, they could be sisters in the looks department. Her armor was a near carbon copy of what Nine had worn out of the ship over a week ago. Emergency panel polymer, glued inside and out to a skinsuit. All the others were wearing similar attire as well. If Ethan had to guess, Luna had forced the kid to make her minions armor.

As for the gun in her hands, Ethan wasn’t one hundred percent sure. He hadn't been a gun nut like Sven, and only knew the basic models from the games he played. Still, it looked like an old earth M16. Since it was a ship made copy of one of Sven’s guns, Ethan thought that was likely the case. Sven, for all his ability, had a weakness for old guns. In fact, apart from his main weapons, a plasma rifle and pistol combo that had been absorbed by Luna and was too expensive to reproduce, and the Martian taser, nearly all his guns were centuries old earth models that hadn't seen action in real combat since before humans colonized the moon.

“Lesa,” Ethan said softly, gently nudging her with the toe of his boot. “Hey, Lesa, wake up.” Ethan had barely touched her, when the woman bolted upright, she was on her feet and had the gun aimed at him before he even finished speaking. Just as quickly, she lowered the gun again, ducking her head in shame.

“Sorry, boss.” She said, surprising Ethan a little. He’d known the copies could talk, but still, hearing it with his own ears was a little jarring. Blinking down at her, Ethan tried to remember what he knew about Lesa. After a moment, he had to conclude that, the answer was… not much. She’d hidden away in her room, not coming out for weeks at a time. A room that was full of holo vids and, ahh.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ethan said with a smile. “I’m actually relieved you were so quick. I don’t think anyone was getting by you… that reminds me, I have something for you.” Ethan said, a thought popping into his head as he spoke. He cracked the door back into the cabin Nine was now sleeping in and called out to the final pair of stoats. A male and female, a copy of each original. He only had two left, and unless he used them to swarm a foe, they didn’t hold much value to him anymore.

“You saved my life several times over, because you had these little guys on board.” Mentally transferring control of the pair of stoats to Lesa, Ethan continued. “I don’t really need them anymore. So, it only seems right to them back.” He felt the weight on his mind lessen slightly as the two stoats left his personal control. It was a minute change, but it helped him to realize his capacity was limited, at least right now.

“B..bo…boss?” Lesa stammered, as the connection to the stoats entered her mind, and the little white rodents scurried up her legs to sit, one in each palm. Ethan smiled when the look of indifference melted into one of wonder on her normally closed off face. “Thank you.” She said, after a long moment of looking at the creatures now resting in her hands. “Thank you, so much.”

Ethan smiled, feeling the bond between himself and the Lesa copy strengthen. He’d been genuine in his gratitude for the stoats, despite not needing them anymore. Lesa had loved the little animals. Much of what made her, her, was gone, but Ethan was happy to see her love for the little rodents was still intact. Also, he’d be lying if he wasn’t surprised and delighted the spur of the moment gift had actually strengthened the connection between the two of them. Of course, it also opened up new questions in his mind, about just how alive the copies really were.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ethan said, continuing to smile to conceal the concern he now felt about the copy of his baby brother just a few rooms over. “Let me get dressed and cleaned up, then we’ll head in to see what the others are doing.” With that, he left Lesa in the hall, entering Sven’s room to try on the new armor. Sven’s room was just as empty as Lesa’s. It seemed Luna wasn’t going to leave anything useful behind. There was thankfully still a mirror, and Ethan looked himself over in it as he stripped out of the doctor’s skinsuit.

“Damn, I’m looking pretty good all things considered.” Ethan said, whistling at his own reflection. Before this all started, he’d looked terrible. Skin and bones, on his tall frame, made him look, and feel, like a slowly walking beanpole. After he’d been healed, he’d gone back to how he was before. A tall man, over six feet with a thick set body. Now though, well now. He was the same size, only every bit of it was muscle. He would have looked right at home in a weightlifting competition. Only, it wasn’t restrictive at all. He stretched and bent around, feeling how easily he could move. It felt unnatural, but not something he was going to complain about.

Picking up the armored skinsuit, Ethan hefted it in his hands. It was a lot heavier than the old one. Opening it up and looking it over explained why. Many of the plates of this new suit were metal. Thick metal plates covered all his vital areas, with the carbon fiber reenforced polymer scales made from the emergency hull repair panels filled in all the gaps. Stepping into the legs, Ethan pulled it up, finding it fit his new bulk seamlessly.

“Nine must have measured me while I was out,” he didn’t know whether to be happy about that, or worried. Shaking the thought aside for now, he did some bends and twists. Feeling for the places the armor could catch and prevent his movements. There were surprisingly few. Smiling at the protection the suit would offer, Ethan reentered the corridor that ran the middle of the ship. He found Lesa standing guard there, with his hobgoblin axe and a round shield leaning against her leg. “That for me?” He asked, pointing at the equipment as he exited the room.

“Yes, boss.” Lesa said, handing him the familiar axe, and the slightly heavier shield. “Nine had the ensign make you a new shield. She said you were strong enough to support the extra weight and had him put a layer of steel over the emergency panel shield you had before. We tested it already, and it will stop a bullet. Though if you get shot too many times it will fail.

“I owe that woman a lot,” Ethan said throwing the shield over his back and sliding the axe into the loop on his belt. “When she wakes up, I’ll have to…” his words trailed off when he felt one of the blips in the back of his mind go dark, followed by a second.

“Boss?” Lesa asked, but quieted down instantly when Ethan raised a hand for silence. Closing his eyes, he searched for what was happening. It only took him a moment to realize it was coming from outside. The goblins Luna had put on her new wall to defend the ship were being killed, one after another.

“It’s the security team outside.” Ethan said, looking around and wondering what to do. Nine was asleep, way too tired to go into battle after staying up for over thirty hours. He couldn’t take Crescent and the other two stoats and leave her undefended. That only left Davis, and the other ship created copies of his brother and his crew. No, he didn’t control them, and didn’t trust Luna. He’d have to make do with what he had. “Follow me, we have to see what’s going on outside. Use the gun as a last resort, but I’d prefer not to draw down any more foes than we have too.”

“Right,” Lesa said, hand going to a long knife belted at her hip. Ethan didn’t pay her any more attention after that, rushing through the corridor, stopping to spin the handle on every hatch he came to in order to open the blast doors. It didn’t take long for him to miss the still working doors in the medical car. Until he finally reached the last door. Spinning the wheel, he crouched down as low as he could before opening the door.

The first thing he heard was the baying of war dogs. Followed by the sight of at least twelve goblin riders, with a full squad of four hobgoblins mounted on armored war dogs. Two were up front, armed with axe and hammer, battering away at the wall. The other two were in the back, armed with bows. It was the two hobs in the back who were doing all the damage to the defenders. Stuck as they were behind the wall, they could keep the melee fighters from climbing over, but they couldn’t do anything about the archers.

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“Lesa, take out the archers. Keep them alive if you can.” Ethan yelled, throwing open the door and vaulting out over the low wall, and landing in the swarm of goblin riders, his axe and shield in hand. He delivered a shield bash with enough force to send a rider and his mount tumbling away, at the same time he sent the axe forward in a jab to a rider’s throat. The sharp point of the axe sliced into the small, unarmored goblin’s neck, taking him out of the battle. Ethan grinned, feeling unstoppable as he laid into the foes, with axe and shield. He wasn’t untouchable though.

As he swiped and slashed lying goblins down like bowling pins, he found himself facing off against the two hobgoblins who’d been attacking the wall. They were smaller than he was, but they’d clearly been fighting with their chosen weapons longer than he had. The tricks Nine had taught him were instant death to the goblins, but the larger, better armored hobs didn’t go down as quickly. They knew to watch out for the beard of the axe behind their legs that could trip them up, the jabs using the point of the axe that Ethan himself didn’t realize was a thing until Nine taught him the trick of it. The looping cuts that kept his axe between him and his enemy. They knew the timing and were able to avoid his blows and deliver counters while he was repositioning.

They connected with him, far more than he did them. What was worse, was it wasn’t two against one. No, it was more like twelve on one, since he had to deal with the goblins and war dogs that surrounded him, nipping at his heels and keeping him from focusing. The only saving grace to his idiotic decision to jump over the wall designed to protect him, was the new armor Nine had stayed up more than a day to craft for him. There were very few weaknesses, and he felt it turning away hammer blows and spear thrusts that had gone clean through his original armor to pierce his flesh. Still, he knew his luck wouldn’t last forever, and soon enough, a strike went through.

“Gahh,” he grunted in pain, when the arrow connected with his neck. A glancing blow thankfully, that cut his skin and muscle, but continued on to impale a goblin rider behind him. Looking around, Ethan looked to the pair of hobgoblins he’d sent Lesa after. Just as he’d suspected, they were both down and out of the fight. Their mounts bleeding out beside them. So, where did the shot come from? He got his answer just by looking at Lesa, his brother’s former scout and thief. She’d done as he asked, taking the archers out without firing a shot or killing them, but when the arrow connected with Ethan’s neck. The gun came out.

Following the direction she aimed, he saw a sight that made his face pale. No less than six hobs, all armed with bows, and over two dozen goblins each holding a rock, ready to throw.

“Shoot to wound but take em all out.” He shouted as loud as he could, grinding his teeth together and turning back to his own fight. There was nothing he could do about the ranged combatants. Not only did he not have a gun, but he was completely surrounded. With a smile, he remembered Nine’s words from one of their training sessions.

“If you’re outmatched in skill, use what you have. If you are weaker but faster, then run away. If you are stronger but slower…”

“…Crush them,” he said the last two words allowed, as he waded into the thick crowd of goblins, swinging axe and shield like he held a hammer and everything around him was a nail. They couldn’t hurt him, at least not easily with his new armor on. So, he’d put his faith in Nine’s creation. The number of impacts to his sides and back quadrupled when he dropped all thoughts of defense, but the number of goblins and war dogs he killed also dramatically increased. He happily traded blows with the horde that surrounded him. Happy, because where their blows bounced off his armor, each swing of his axe harvested a life. A virtual storm of kill energy swirled around him, making it difficult to see as he continued his rampage.

Even as he fought, Ethan heard the gunshots splitting the air. One after another, accompanied by screams from the goblins above. A lot of screaming, since not one of the shots ended the life of the target. Only wounding them enough to take them from the fight. Ethan frowned, wondering if it was a good idea not to kill them, but realizing that it really didn’t matter. The gun was loud enough all on its own. Not to mention the red dungeon could observe everything going on in its domain. Just like he had while seeing the world through Luna’s eyes. Only, if that was the case, why had it taken so long to attack, and why was it only using riders and their mounts? Didn’t it control all the boar and armored boar as well? No matter how strong he’d gotten lately, he doubted he’d survive a full charge by a dozen armored wild boar in this confined trench.

The fight continued for another ten minutes, but the end was never in question. With Lesa’s ability with the gun, and Ethan’s overwhelming strength, overwhelming to creatures who were considerably smaller than a normal person anyway. They finished the attacking force in no time. All that was left after that was the cleanup. Clean up of nearly twenty wildly writhing and screaming goblins and hobgoblins.

“Lesa, run into the bridge for me.” Ethan said, leaning against the wall as he fought to catch his breath. The scout only nodded, not out of breath at all. “Tell everyone inside to come out and help carry in the equipment and the bodies, both living and dead. Make sure to tell Luna that I want them all converted into hobgoblin archers. All of them, make as many archers as possible. Be sure she acknowledges the order before you come back out. Oh, make sure no one wakes Nine, Got it?” With a nod, she picked up one of the bound hobgoblin archers he’d asked her to capture first and darted back into the ship. He wasn’t looking forward to hearing Nine rake him over the coals for jumping into combat like that with hardly any back up.

Pushing himself back to his feet, Ethan closed his eyes for a moment, finding all the places where he’d been injured. It was a short list. His neck was by far the worst, but he’d also been stabbed in the calf, and his knuckles had been split when a goblin’s stone headed hammer had collided with his hand as he reaped the life from the hobgoblin wielding the axe. With a bit of concentration, all the injuries faded to nothing, the effort barely putting a dent in his mana pool. A pool that had clearly grown several times over after he’d bound Luna to himself.

“Good,” he said to himself as he looked at his freshly healed knuckles. “I shouldn’t have too much trouble healing everyone in the medical pods now… assuming we can access them.” He added with a frown, looking around at the bodies of their attackers strewn everywhere. It looked like the red dungeon was getting tired of them roaming around inside its domain.

Ethan climbed onto the ship, and kept his eyes trained on the forest’s edge while his people cleaned up the aftermath of the battle… gosh, his people? That was a thought he’d never expected to have. That’s exactly what they were though. Apart from Davis and Nine, everyone else here was firmly under his control. His eyes found Mark when he came out for the first time and picked up a pair of struggling goblins. Their eyes met, when Mark looked back at him. There was something there, something that screamed familiarity. Ethan could see traces of his brother in those eyes, but it wasn’t him. He looked away and didn’t look at him again the rest of the time they were cleaning up.

Ethan’s heart thumped wildly after they’d exchanged glances. He felt the loss of his brother’s passing all over again. A loss that was only three weeks, maybe four weeks old. He wasn’t even sure anymore just how much time he’d spent trapped in this hell. Looking up, he could see into the vastness of space. It was such a strange sight, seeing the asteroid field they were trapped in up close. Granted, the human eye, unaided by any telescoping devices couldn’t see very far in the vastness of space. That didn’t stop him from gaping in awe as huge chunks of rock floated around over his head.

It was a miracle the rock they were trapped on hadn't been impacted by any others since the planet exploded. Ethan had been keeping the thoughts from his mind as much as he could, knowing there was nothing he could do about it regardless. Still, eventually, what remained of the planet would slowly drift apart. Some of the chunks might be captured by other planets, they might form an asteroid belt, or… they might be pulled into the sun. On a universal timescale this would all happen very quickly, but Ethan didn’t think it was something they had to worry about. At least not unless they couldn’t find a way off this rock. Then, with his potential immortality as someone bound to a dungeon core, Ethan just might be around long enough to find out.

“Mess is cleaned up boss,” Lesa said. He started at the sudden words, not having heard her moving up to stand beside him. He really had to keep better track of his surroundings than that. He’d put himself on overwatch. What might have happened if they’d been attacked, and he hadn't been looking for it?

“Thanks Lesa,” Ethan said with a nod. “Let’s go back inside then.” Before going into the ship, Ethan pulled Dale and James back. “I want the pair of you to stay out here with the goblins.” He said, tapping into the connection he had with them, but not forcing it away from Luna. The load on his mind had lessened after the battle, leading him to believe he would be able to maintain control over more creations as he got stronger, but he knew he wasn’t ready for that yet. “A pair of gunners would have ended this threat before it became a problem. If we are attacked again, don’t worry about the noise and just put them down. Keep as many of them alive as possible though, we could use the materials. Send one of the goblins in to warn us if that happens, ok?” After getting their nods of understanding, Ethan reentered the ship.

He paused for a brief second beside Nine’s door on his way to the bridge, wishing he had the capable, if a little insane, woman at his back for what came next. Then continued on, knowing that Lesa was firmly under his control. Not only had Nine vouched for her, but he could feel her loyalty through their bond after he’d given her the stoats. It still amazed him how such a small thing could strengthen the bond that much. Maybe it was a fluke. Lesa hated people but loved those rodents. He shrugged, realizing full well he was procrastinating to avoid going onto the bridge. Then took a deep breath and moved forward again.

Hobgoblin archers?

Ethan groaned at the voice inside his head the second his foot crossed the threshold into the large room that had once been the bridge of the starship Luna.

Do you know just how much I could have grown my tree with all this mana? Do you? But no, you send your… no, my, stolen servant in here to give me orders… for freaking hobgoblin archers. Why, really, why? The goblins are the next best thing to useless. The hobgoblins can’t be that much better. Gah. I wish I still had access to the creatures my core could summon before it was killed by you freaking humans. This goblin dungeon is a joke, a real joke. The fact you haven’t been able to capture the core yet makes you an even bigger joke. Do you know how dungeon cores are ranked, hum? Well, let me tell you, goblin cores are all the way at the bottom. They’re weak. Hardly ever getting bigger than the size of an apartment building. I can’t believe you can’t handle such a small threat. If I had my way…

“That’s enough, Luna,” Ethan said. The words were spoken gently, but they were accompanied by a mental pressure that forced the core to stop talking. Rage at the suppression flowed through their link, before she got herself under control, and settled down. “Thank you,” he continued, looking at the small group of six hobgoblins Luna had made for him. “I’d like the six of you to get dressed and arm yourselves. Luna, if there aren’t enough bows for them, please make some. I’m confident there are enough sets of hobgoblin armor though… now, as for the red dungeon, or goblin dungeon as you called it…” Ethan really needed to have a conversation with Luna, and maybe Eve, if she would talk to him, about dungeons. He didn’t know much about them at all. Other than they got stronger the longer they lived, and that adventurers cleared them out and sold their cores to the highest bidding government to have ship cores made from them.

“There must be something special about it,” Ethan finished with a shrug. “I mean, it’s a mile across. Completely filled with trees, and there’s more than just goblins running around out there.” Not only the war dogs, but the wild boars were in the forest as well. Coupled with all those trees, with a frown, Ethan thought about the forest. The trees were all different sizes, but he was pretty sure there were only three different breeds out there. Just mixed up and repeated everywhere. It was interesting.

So, you say. But there is no way it’s possible. Trust me, I know a thing or two about dungeons. Goblin cores are the weakest. While dragon cores are among the strongest. It doesn’t matter how much time passes. There isn’t anything that can turn a goblin core, not to mention a goblin core fresh out of hibernation, into something that big. It just doesn’t happen.

“Nothing?” Ethan asked, a frown coming across his face as he thought about what Luna was saying. “There must be something. Or else what is happening, wouldn’t happen… are you sure, is there anything that could give a core enough of a boost to be able to expand that much in such a short time, and create so many creatures?” Even as he asked the question, he had a sinking feeling that he already knew the answer.

The only way something like that would be possible, is with the use of a…

“Mana battery.” Ethan finished for her, face going pale at the realization of just how potent a mana battery could be for a core.

“Um… Ethan… I uh, hate to interrupt… but. I wanted to talk to you.” Davis said, looking anxious, and a little afraid. “I, just wanted to say I was sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. I, I know Nine is angry with me. But… I just really wanted you to know that…” Ethan interrupted the stuttering apology with a bear hug. Wrapping the poor kid up in his arms and giving him a hearty pat on the back.

“You didn’t do anything wrong Leo.” He said, speaking earnestly. “None of this was your fault. Not even Nine thinks it is. She was just being overprotective. If anything, it should be me apologizing. I shouldn’t have left you alone in the tower or told you to come back here alone.” The pair hugged for a bit, the kid breaking down in scared sobs, while Ethan held him. Then they sat down and had a long conversation. Talking about everything that happened to them in the time they had been apart.

Ethan did his best to focus on Davis’s story, but his mind kept going back to the red dungeon having a mana battery. He’d seen how much mana a tree could produce when ashed. If the red dungeon core decided to ash some of its trees to produce fighters… they would be drowned in bodies. Something he had to prevent. In order to do that, however, he needed to understand more about the cores. Finishing up his conversation with the kid, Ethan turned his attention back to Luna. He needed to touch base with her and make a plan. In order to do that effectively though, he wanted to be in that strange, out of body state he’d been in before.

Calling Lesa over to watch his back, Ethan closed his eyes and leaned back in the command chair. Feeling for the pathway out of his body, and into that place he’d gone to a day, or two days, before. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as he’d imagined. Between one breath and the next, he found his consciousness lifted from his body, and he was looking down at himself, head spinning from the addition of all Luna’s senses.