“What do you mean there was only one? How could that even be possible?” Commander Grit-or bellowed, his face a much more purple hue. It was rare for Zotari to show color in their dark skin, so when a commanding officer did so everyone was instantly terrified. It couldn’t mean anything good.
“Sorry sir. But yes, there was only one. The invader used guerrilla tactics to infiltrate the power grid. It had expert knowledge of the power grid’s computer. In a matter of moments, it was able to barricade itself in this control room and shut down the entire city’s power supply,” the other Zotari said. When the commander didn’t respond with anything more than a grunt, the Zotari continued.
“I have seen multiple reports of patrol units spotting an isolated individual roaming the city. In one such case, the soldier had dispatched one of our experimental brutes after killing the rest of his team. Most of the units stationed inside the power station were weaker forces since it was protected by stronger forces in the outside. We thought it should be fine, but it appears we were wrong. Although, we weren’t expecting a one man army either. Our patrols were not on the look out for individuals, they were watching for squadrons of enemy combatants.”
“But how would this soldier inflict all of that carnage alone? I can’t imagine that any lone Saxan could have managed this. I believe the mercenary they had hired is back on the board. He was gone for so long, I had thought he had already left. It appears that is not the case. We will be more prepared next time. Taking this city was supposed to be the springboard for my career. I will not let a solitary mercenary ruin my chances at a promotion. If we botch this occupation, I fear my military climb will be cut short. I will not tarnish my family name with that dishonor. I’d rather die,” the commander said.
“There is another issue that needs your attention. There are some survivors from the weaker ranks. Most of them suffered fatal injuries, but the ones that didn’t have opted in to our experimental program. There were a few left in critical condition and are therefore already enrolled based on their enlistment contract,” the Zotari said.
“If they are already enrolled, what is it that I need to do?”
“We have some new options available. We would like you to pick how they will be assigned.”
Commander Grit-or’s eyes gleamed with ambition.
----------------------------------------
Alex was still basking in his victory from the night before. He had not expected such a resounding success and was impressed with his improvements. He looked at his status page to see how much growth he had achieved through the night’s escapades. The second he opened it up however, he was livid.
“Not a single level? Seriously? Not one? That hardly seems fair. That was my best mission yet. Why am I not getting rewarded at all?”
“Should one get rewarded for the slaughter of lesser beings?” Nagaar said.
“I don’t know if I would consider them lesser beings. They are pretty intelligent.”
“Yes, but intelligence does not equate to greatness. Most of the warriors you killed were likely smarter than you, but that mattered little in the face of overwhelming power.”
“Ok. Most of them? Really? That hardly seems fair. None of them even talked. There’s no way you could possibly tell how smart they are just by looking at them.”
“I didn’t need to. I just know you, so it is a solid deduction,” the king said.
“Didn’t your mom ever teach you that if you didn’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?”
“No. My mother taught me to be a ruthless ruler in a world where it was kill or be killed. I was not coddled and I did not coddle my foes.”
“Sorry my mom actually loved me.”
“My mother loved me. I was her favorite child. I actually wasn’t the original heir. She helped to orchestrate the deaths of two of my siblings so that I could take my rightful place on the throne. However, my point still stands. You were successful yes, but you yourself thought that the beings that you had slaughtered were much weaker than you. I still do not understand the inner workings of this AI you have inside your mind, but I have worked this much out. It rewards you when you take risks. The challenge is what provides the rewards. Weaker foes means that there is less challenge, and therefore you will be rewarded less, or in this case, not at all.”
“Your mom killed your siblings? Like her own kids?”
“Yes. That is what I said.”
“That just made me understand you on a way deeper level.”
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“I do not believe I follow your meaning.”
“Don’t worry about it. But I see what you mean. I did feel like the mission was challenging though. I had to sneak through the entire city almost to get to the power station. I don’t know if you knew this already, but stealth doesn’t exactly come easy for me,” Alex said.
“Maybe this AI expects a certain amount of skill in its charges. If you are below the benchmark, it will not reward you for things you find challenging. It is an expectation. Correct me if I am incorrect, but this system doesn’t seem like one to cater to the user. It is you that needs to elevate to the system’s standard.”
“Yeah. That’s pretty much the vibe I get. When I was choosing my class it gave the vaguest descriptions and the entire tutorial was basically me wandering in the dark. I had no idea what I was doing. If it weren’t for my teammates, I probably would’ve either died in the tutorial, or it would have taken me much longer to complete it.”
“This only proves my point. The Forge expects a certain level of competence. You are not at that level and therefore have a harder time with things it expects as a bare minimum,” the king said.
Alex turned red in the face from both embarrassment and anger. “While I appreciate your insight, why do you have to say it in such a condescending way? You kind of suck dude. I get I’m not the smartest guy, but I’m not a complete moron. I feel like I’d already be dead if I was totally helpless.”
“I suppose that is true. Alright, I apologize for how I said the truth.”
Alex threw his hands into the air. “That is the worst apology I think I’ve ever heard. ‘I’m sorry that I spoke the truth and it hurt your feelings. I’ll try to say the same things in a slightly different way next time so you don’t know I’m being a dick’. I don’t even know why I talk to you.”
“Do you even have a choice?” Nagaar asked.
Yes. Yes he did. And Alex chose not to respond. Nagaar looked like he got the message, because he didn’t try to keep the conversation going. Alex hated the king, but at least he knew when he wasn’t welcome anymore. After a second, Alex realized that the king had actually apologized to him though. It was an awful apology, but it was an apology.
That’s progress, right? Maybe there’s hope for him yet.
Alex started making his way around the city. He had exited the city along the north ridge and his next mission was on the southern tip of the city. He had cut out their power, now he would take out their siege weapons. They hadn’t placed all of their larger weapons in the same spot. That would have made Alex’s job way too easy. They had placed the majority of the siege weapons in one general location.
Alex’s next job was to locate the actual location and cripple the machines. This should make it that much more difficult for them to defend when the Saxan forces attempted to retake their city. As a bonus objective, Alex would try to destroy any remaining war machines he could find after he crippled their main force. He wasn’t sure how many there were in total, but when he arrived at a good spot, he would try to scout out as many as he could. Every siege weapon he destroyed would make their invasion that much easier.
He hadn’t seen the machines in action, but with the tech these aliens had, he would probably crap his pants if he had to face off against them. It was bad enough dealing with the soldiers. It was a reminder to him that he was in a whole new world. Something that could look completely benign could actually be incredibly dangerous. These guys were far ahead of Earth in their technological advancement and they weren’t even at the top of the totem pole. These were bottom tier forces in their sector. Alex would need to learn the ropes quickly if he had any hope of surviving.
He made it to the point that Krizzik had marked on his map for the vantage point he should use for stage two of their plan. Boy was he grateful for that guy. This would have been much harder without his help. Alex probably would have just ran into the city and tried to kill everyone he could, especially since he thought they were all weaker than him. Now that he knew that there were in fact stronger enemies among their forces, he would take a much more calculated approach. If a fight caught him by surprise he would still need to react, but now, he would choose his fights a lot more carefully if he had the choice.
He looked into the city. Krizzik had said that there was a plaza that would likely be the station point for the siege weapons. It was the only place that could house that much machinery. It took him a moment to find, but when he did he thanked Krizzik mentally.
Seriously. Where would I be without him?
He might have been able to find them without the assist, but he wasn’t even sure what the machines would even look like. Would he have been able to discern Zotari machinery from Saxan machinery? Doubtful, but now that he saw it, it was painfully obvious. Where the Saxans seemed to enjoy a sleek look to all of their architecture and technology, the Zotari seemed to like a more harsh vibe. Their war machines were large, spiky spires of black metal. They looked like if an abstract artist were trying to mesh a tower with a tree and then dipped it in black sparkly paint.
Each tower had arms that extended out a distance from the main body before extending back up at right angles where they ended at a point. He wasn’t sure how they worked, but he assumed that at the point of each arm some type of projectile would fire. It didn’t matter too much as he was given something to deal with these specifically. Alex reached into his bag and pulled out the explosive Krizzik had prepared for him.
The Saxans and Zotari had been allies for a long time. This meant that they had helped each other out with many of their technological advancements. This had made it easier for the Zotari to infiltrate Saxan strongholds, making this war progress much faster than it would otherwise. But that weakness extended both ways.
Krizzik had acquired blueprints for the very siege weapons that stood before Alex now. They were dated, so the inside could look significantly different now, but Krizzik was hopeful that the similarities would be enough that Alex could navigate once inside. All Alex needed to do was find the engine room, plant one of these bombs inside, and then once he was far enough away, he would trigger the bombs. If everything went according to plan, it should be relatively easy to create a chain reaction that rendered the machines inert, and possibly even take out some Zotari in the process.
Alex spent the rest of day scouting out patrols and mapping out his demolition route.