Chapter 78: Mission
Sunday, April 30th, 5:20 AM
Dungeon Ciara
“Sir, we have a possible lead on the enemy Dungeon in the Lower 48,” said Admiral Winberg.
President Thomas set down his coffee mug. “Go on.”
“Rexburg, sir. Outside of Idaho Falls. Felt and Marchant were seen coming from the northeast along with four others. One of our retrofitted Chinooks is en-route for recon.”
“What’s northeast of Rexburg, Admiral, aside from Yellowstone?”
“Just a few small towns on the way to Montana and Wyoming, sir. Regarding the park, there’s speculation that the Dungeon might be in Yellowstone.”
President Thomas furrowed his brow and tapped his coffee mug. “A Dungeon over the biggest volcanic system in North America…”
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The past two days had seen a lot of changes to my Dungeon.
At first glance, my seventh floor appeared to be a simple S-shaped canyon with a desert climate, featuring a brutal climb across switchbacks and cliff faces above a rushing river that flowed back toward the entrance in the style of the Grand Canyon. One fall could send someone back to the beginning.
Ten additional Monterey falcons stood guard, ready to dive-bomb hostiles trying to reach my core, while twenty Dune Master snakes lay in ambush. A second tribe of forty Lizardfolk lived in a series of caves that opened into the rushing waters, concealing their presence.
Inside two more large caverns attached to the network of Lizardfolk tunnels, a pair of additional climates split a hidden temperate zone, featuring a coniferous forest and a swamp.
Having discovered a glowing variant of Venus Fly Trap on my second floor, I transported several to the new swamp and planted them beside carnivorous Sundew plants and Dream Stalk mushrooms, where I hoped the groupings might add a bit of eerie nighttime ambience.
The seventh-floor exit down to the eighth floor was hidden at the end of the swamp, while a series of obvious tunnels ran to mining deposits and dead-ends at the far end of the canyon above.
I seeded the seventh floor’s three distinct biomes with what denizens I could, with my Devilflies and Monterey falcons delivering the wildlife through temporary passages.
The eighth floor, with a maximum internal height of 450 meters, comprised a series of stone mesas raised above a large temperate rainforest. Each mesa was bowl-shaped to hold soil and river rock, with some featuring temperate woods while others had meadows and lakes that drained via waterfalls to the forest below.
Another tribe of sixty Forest Goblins called the floor home, and they were hard at work using magic to grow their own bridges from one mesa to another.
In the temperate rainforest below, massive deciduous trees and redwoods stood above numerous deposits of precious metals and gemstones that were guarded by two enormous species of minions.
A mix of Burmese python and Indigo snake, Indigo pythons were three times as massive as the former, and covered in dark, iridescent scales from the latter. Their massive head was a mix between the two. This allowed for excellent vision, heat-sensitive pits, and crushing bite force along with the incredible power of an oversized python’s coils. At an average adult length of twelve meters for the females, these serpents were monstrous—dwarfing even the Green anaconda. They received a Grace augmentation to make them much faster than their bulk would suggest.
The eighth floor’s temperate rainforest hosted a series of large ponds with huge tunnels that connected them all below the surface.
Alligators were already huge and deadly, but I did something diabolical. Instead of simply enlarging a gator, I mixed one with a Great White shark.
The Placid Ghost was a true horror, able to breathe above and below the water, thanks to its lungs and gills. It had a gator’s massive jaws with razor-sharp serrated edges added to reshape its tough, conical puncturing teeth—making their shape closer to broad arrowheads. Six alligator legs supported its lengthy bulk to help it move on land, and its powerful tail ended with a sleek blend between the flattened paddle of an alligator and the tail fin of a shark.
At fifteen meters in length and weighing up to three tons, these beasts were already daunting to behold. But that wasn’t enough, so I created ten and gave them Mental augmentations. The result was that their eyes held a disturbing gleam of intelligence far beyond what their outward reptilian appearance would suggest.
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The next few days were hectic. The Navy’s awakened engineers had finalized new propulsion and electricity systems for their frigates and destroyers, and they were hard at work using magic to repair, reinforce, and retrofit the three frigate wrecks I had salvaged. The most impressive addition were a pair of high-powered, turreted railguns mounted fore and aft—made possible by using special projectiles shaped of arcstone laced into neodymium and tungsten, with 300 megawatts of power dedicated for each weapon.
Targeting was analog and very basic, since there had been no time or resources available to develop and program digital tracking, stabilization and targeting systems. Thus, while the kinetic energy was monstrous for a 10-kg dart-shaped projectile leaving the muzzle at Mach 22, they were a far cry from being precision weapons.
In their first test, a single projectile blasted a hole through two meters of enchanted stone and skipped off the ocean behind, passing beyond the horizon before it struck the sea a second time.
While that was beyond impressive, the unexpected raw power of the weapon system stressed the weapon mount so badly that it had to be repaired after a single shot.
Still, the Navy was optimistic since the projectiles proved simple to manufacture, and there was zero mechanical friction since the projectiles hovered in a magnetic field from the time they were loaded until they exited the barrel. Thus, they worked tirelessly to upgrade the entire platform so that it could withstand regular use.
Following the recent attack, it was decided to relocate the civilian population into the vacant shelter I created to house people during the tsunami.
I redesigned the walls around my area, making them twice as tall and four times as thick.
The military was hard at work deploying machine gun emplacements around the walls, and at their request I smoothed out the surrounding area to make it difficult for enemies to hide their approach without camouflage skills.
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Sandy was still furious, and from her sister’s smell, it was clear Sunny had similar thoughts.
Duke lay across the room and watched them longingly, but the dominant Labs’ anger had cowed him into keeping his distance.
Forty-three humans had been killed by other humans, for no reason. Sandy had liked every one of those people. But now they were dead and gone forever.
But there was more to it than that.
Allison Ames’ children were all wounded along with Bella during the attack. Fortunately, none of them had died. But without the good humans’ healing potions, neither Valerie nor Katie would have survived.
Why are there bad humans?
Bella whined, and Sandy licked the Collie’s face to comfort her as she cowered between the Labs inside the castle. Bella hadn’t left their presence since the attack, and she was still terrified of going near the walls. She also stopped approaching any humans whom she didn’t know well.
Especially if those humans had firearms.
Sandy knew how much firearms hurt. And now, since Mommy had increased them all to D-Rank, her mind was sharper and she knew the proper name for them as well.
[Bad humans somewhere outside.] Sunny growled, showing her teeth.
[Girls will find bad humans,] said Sandy.
[Girls will destroy bad humans,] Sunny replied.
[Mommy let girls hunt?] asked Sandy.
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[How will you hunt the bad humans?] Mommy asked in reply.
[Sunny has strong nose,] Sunny announced.
[Sandy, too. Allow hunt?] Sandy cocked her head.
[They are far away, babies.]
[Girls find anyway,] said Sunny.
[Mommy make Bella strong?] asked Sandy.
[Bella sad and scared,] Sunny said.
[That’s a good idea. Bella is a good girl. If you’re all going to attack the enemy Dungeon, then she and Duke should go with you.]
Mommy’s magic flowed into Bella and Duke, who stood in surprise.
[There we go, girls. Bella and Duke have Acumen blessings.]
[Human speak into head?] Bella’s voice was high and timid. She sounded afraid to match her smell. She raised her ears and blinked a few times.
[Bella-friend!] Sunny attacked the Collie with kisses.
[Bella speaks!] Sandy swished her tail and did the same.
[Bella… can? Bella can!] The Collie’s tongue lolled and she blinked slowly as the Labs continued kissing her face.
[Duke wants loves, too…] Duke whined from his lonely spot. His eyebrows raised as he seemed to realize that he had also spoken human language.
[Girls love Duke too,] said Sandy, giving him a slow-blink.
[Why lay far away?] asked Sunny.
[Girls not mating-want.] Duke lowered his head.
Sandy considered Duke for a moment, then cocked her head. [Is not time for mating-want.]
Duke deflated.
[Is okay, Duke.] Sandy gave him a slow-blink. [Sandy likes Duke.] Her tail wagged. [But now, we hunt.]
Duke raised his ears. [Duke is happy!]
[Sunny likes Duke.] Sunny trotted over to the big Dane and licked at his snout. [Not sit far away.] She raised her eyebrows. [We hunt bad humans.]
Duke set his jaw. [Duke hates bad humans.] He growled. [Hurt human children.] He bared his teeth. [Hurt Bella. Duke will kill.]
Bella’s tail wagged.
[Okay, Bella-girl. Do you want to be faster, stronger, or bigger?]
[Human-speak again?] Bella looked around. [Where human?] She cowered. [Not know voice…]
[Is Mommy!] said Sunny.
[Mommy loves puppies!] Sandy swished her tail.
[But where is?] Bella kept looking around as she backed herself between the Labs with her tail between her legs.
[Bella. Mommy is Dungeon,] Sandy explained.
[Was human before,] Sunny added.
[Is magic place-creator?] Bella asked.
Sunny’s tail wagged excitedly. [Yes! Mommy is magic!]
[Mommy made Bella smart,] said Sandy.
[Thank for smarts, Mommy,] said Bella.
[Aw! You’re welcome, Bella!] Mommy used her love-tone, and that made Sandy happy… and jealous. But mostly happy.
[So, what would you like, Bella? I can make you stronger, faster, or bigger.]
[Bella wants to fast-run!] the Collie’s tail wagged.
Bella glowed.
[Okay, done! Now, Duke… what do you want, boy?]
[Stronger,] said Duke.
He shone with the same blue light as the castle door opened and footsteps approached.
[Dogs mustn’t go alone,] Nino said as she sauntered in, followed by Hanzo.
[They hurt our favorite children and one of our dogs. Those humans will pay,] said Hanzo.
[Okay, with all six of you, I think this could work,] said Mommy.
“They’re not going without me,” Joy cut in as she entered the room.
“Not without us,” Siobhán said, arriving beside Joy with Mike and Joe.
Mike said, “The attacks have to stop, and we’ll work best together.”
President Thomas arrived with a trio of Secret Service agents and added, “I agree, and I’m authorizing it. We have a location, and we can have you all on a Chinook as soon as you’re ready. But this is going to be a large-scale operation. You’re the tip of the spear, but the military isn’t going to sit on its heels and wait around.”
[Sandy loves good humans.] Sandy strode forward to show her approval by wagging her tail and beaming at all of them. Sunny and Duke did the same.
Bella lowered herself to the ground and looked imploringly at the humans. [Is Bella a good girl?]
Joy shrank herself with the same power Sunny and Sandy had, then came forward to hug Bella. “Of course you’re a good girl, Bella. We love you, sweetie!”
“Mm.” Siobhán came forward with Joy and gave the Collie a kiss before hugging her and Joy.
[Humans is… loves Bella?] Bella yowled and peed a little as she licked at Joy and Siobhán, smelling of love and relief as her tail wagged.
Sandy was glad Mommy’s castle would eat the mess, because it meant that Bella wasn’t in trouble for showing love.
The human beans hugging Bella cooed at the traumatized good-girl. Sandy wanted to rush forward and receive loves as well, but she knew better. Bella was her friend, and all friends required loves.
Nino and Hanzo stood to one side, pretending not to care. But Sandy knew better. They were good kitties who had given their lives to save human children.
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Ten minutes later, Joe walked beside the other human residents while the animals trailed behind. His spatial storage was filled with extra weapons ranging from imbued firearms to compound bows and melee weapons. He’d also stocked up on potions to distribute.
Beside him, Siobhán talked silently with the dogs and cats, making use of her new blessing to help them understand the plan. Joe felt her determination alongside a pang of fear, not unlike what he had experienced during his first few combat engagements. He did his best to project comfort and reassurance through their bond, and that earned him a warm glance from his girlfriend.
“I won’t lie to any of you,” said Mike as they entered the updated Chinook that was in the final stages of being prepped for flight. “This will be the most dangerous mission I’ve ever attempted, and it’s likely the same for Schimpf.”Two marines were guiding people and animals to red fabric seats that folded down along either side of the helicopter’s cargo bay.
Colonel Hart said, “It’s the same for all of us, Elliott. This operation will be unprecedented.”
The helicopter’s electric powertrain spooled up slowly as the cargo bay door folded up to seal the rear of the vehicle.
While they flew, Hart yelled to explain his expectations to everyone involved, including guidelines for military personnel, trainees, and civilians.
“I’ve never led a mission with this kind of mix, but I want to be clear about something—all of us who are residents of the Dungeon are considered expendable when weighed against anyone who is a nonresident. If you can revive after death, do whatever it takes to protect others who cannot.”
Joe felt Siobhán’s fear rising and he squeezed her hand.
Hart continued, “I know this isn’t what everyone wants to hear, but we have to be smart about this. Every life is precious. We can’t afford unnecessary deaths. There’s also something our civilian and animal residents need to know. Combat is going to traumatize you, whether you live or die.”
The dogs whined and Colonel Hart frowned.
“I’m sorry, pups. War is hell. We didn’t start this fight, and we don’t want to kill anyone. But sometimes, we don’t have any choice if we want to protect people.”
Bella cowered in her harness beside Siobhán, who cooed and stroked her gently. Joe felt tender, motherly affection from her as she did her best to comfort the frightened pup.
We’ll be okay. Joe did his best to keep a positive state of mind for Siobhán’s sake.
Hart said, “The recon team spotted thousands of people entering what looked like an old mine shaft just south of the main visitor area. We’re going in on foot with two teams. Elliott, you’ll take Schimpf, Peterson, Killarney, and the animals. Most of you have fought together, and I’m trusting you to make first contact to find out what we’re dealing with. I want Nino and Hanzo to be the first ones in. They’re fast, stealthy, and smart enough to get the job done safely.”
[You aren’t stupid. For a human,] Nino replied as she nuzzled against Hanzo. Hart chuckled and said, “That’ll do.”
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Floors: 9
Minions: 897/1260
Residents: 14/28
Denizens: 8.17M
Traps: 25/45