Mandelbrot University
11:30 A.M.
Five women in long grey cloaks sat at a long table outside of a bakery on the outskirts of the campus of Mandelbrot University. They could see the college’s quad from where they were sitting. A handful of students were sitting on the grass, though there were fewer of them than one would expect to see on such a nice day. The sun was out, and the temperature was neither too high nor too low.
In between bites of a large chocolate chip cookie, Pixie said, “You know, I never went to college. I wonder what it’s like.”
“It was a lot of fun.” Rachel smiled. “Though, the schoolwork can get a bit hectic sometimes.”
“I am… was… in college,” Volta muttered. “It can be good or bad depending on the person.”
“How about you two?” Pixie turned to the other two women at the table. “Did either of you go to college?”
“I did,” said Persephone. She had burgundy hair and dark green eyes. In her hands, she held a brownie which had been coated in powdered sugar. Persephone had an alluring beauty that was lessened somewhat by the sugar on her cheek and the napkin tucked into her shirt. Her hair was naturally wavy and fell past her shoulders. Her knuckles still bore unhealed bruises from her fight with Volta.
“I didn’t,” said Mirage. She was a Middle Eastern woman whose black hair had been tied up in a bun. Mirage was a quiet woman who carried a permanent scowl on her face. After Pixie, she was the best fighter in Squad 2 due to her experience in Ninth Oasis.
Mirage had fought Pixie during the sparring lesson. As Mirage sat there eating her large cookie, dried blood still covered the area just under her nose. Pixie was a small woman with a low strength score, but she made up for that with great technique. Pixie hit Mirage at just the right moment, and she put her whole body into it. It was enough to put Mirage on her back.
At that moment, Mirage was surly for a few reasons. She had just lost her fight with Pixie, and she had only been able to cast Fire Bolt after several tries.
“Are you sure we should be eating this?” Persephone asked Pixie. “Sure, I really like the taste, but I thought soldiers were supposed to eat stuff like ration bars and berries.”
“We’re carb-loading,” Pixie said after swallowing a bite of her cookie. “The three of you are underweight.” Pixie pointed at Volta, Rachel, and Persephone. “If I can see your ribs, you need to gain weight. You see, fat is necessary for stamina. You never see a supermodel run a marathon. We want to hit a nice middle-ground.”
“Is that why you had us show you our stomachs?” Volta said, shuddering at the memory.
“If I didn’t do it, Tantalus would. This is better, right?” Pixie laughed.
There was a murmur of agreement.
“That made me remember something,” Mirage suddenly said. “Did you guys know that Tantalus used a female avatar whenever he competed in Ninth Oasis tournaments? Same height, same build, same hair color and complexion, but a woman. He always did it for the boost to magic it gave him. Apparently, a lot of the top-level players did that back in the day,” Mirage said. “I remember an old interview where Tantalus said that male avatars received a +4 to their physical stats, but female avatars received a +5 to their magic stats. More players would do it, but a lot of the male players don’t like the feeling of controlling a female avatar.”
“I can understand it,” Pixie said. “This body is a lot like my real one, but even the minor differences are difficult to accommodate for. I can’t imagine getting stuck in such an incompatible body for so long.”
“It makes me wonder,” Rachel said. “Why didn’t Tantalus choose to use a female avatar if it would give him a quantifiable advantage?”
“You’d have to ask him,” Pixie said before taking a sip from a plastic water bottle.
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Central Osiris
12:30 P.M.
Tantalus drove his pickup truck through the narrow streets of the Financial District. These roads would usually be absolutely packed with cars, but they were conspicuously empty. Tantalus closed one eye and opened his Menu.
Character Sheet
Name Tantalus45 Level 10 Blood Points 85/120 Mana Points 23/25 Race Revenant Fortitude 12 Strength 11 Agility 15 Wisdom 12
Attribute Modifiers: Strength Training (1), Mana Training (5)
Talents Dead Magic (s) Holy Blood Rapid Healing
Tradition Known: Elemental Magic
Fire Bolt Wind Wall
He checked his Character Sheet to see if his Blood Points had gone up. He had been shocked after Riemann's class to see that his Level had gone up. That lesson with Riemann must have been particularly effective. Learning a new spell and sparring against FullDan must have granted him some experience. His Blood Points had gone all the way down to sixty, but the water he had drank and the point he had put into Fortitude had increased his Blood Points to eighty-five.
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Soon after checking his Character Sheet, Tantalus arrived at the East Gate. He pulled into a parking lot close to the gatehouse and exited on foot.
The storm in Tantalus’s mind calmed significantly as he approached the gatehouse. The stress and anxiety of organizing a whole city’s military faded away and was replaced by the cold reality of looming combat.
Tantalus smiled as he checked his gear. He worked the pump on his shotgun a few times. He checked a few of the slugs and shells contained within his bandolier. He anointed his combat knife. He rechecked his pistol to make sure there was still a bullet in the chamber.
For a moment, everything was perfect. Tantalus was exactly where he wanted to be: on the front-line of an uncomplicated battle.
East Gate
12:40 P.M.
Tantalus entered the gatehouse to see five S-ranks and thirty other Revenants preparing for battle. The S-ranks were checking their weapons and warming up for the physical activity to come while the other Revenants chattered nervously and gripped their weapons until their fingers turned white. The experienced soldiers seemed calm and confident. The others seemed nervous and worried.
Ashcroft stood off to one side, swinging his saber adorned with red Damascus patterns to warm up. He swung his sword quick as a whip and put his revolver on target a moment later. Tantalus could hear the sound of the revolver’s hammer striking against an empty cylinder as Ashcroft pulled the trigger.
Elsewhere in the gatehouse were the other S-ranks that had been chosen to join the strike team. FullDan sat on a low concrete block; his grey cloak still obscured his features. Mozaic closely observed the saber he had looted from an NPC officer’s corpse. ScaryClock stood to one side of the gatehouse with her hand on her chin. She was observing a large map of the City of Osiris that had been taped to one of the gatehouse’s walls.
Though Mander had not been chosen for the strike team, it had been decided that he would lead the defense of the East Gate while the strike team was outside the walls.
Tantalus decided to approach Mander first.
“Hey, Mander,” Tantalus drawled as he approached the man. “Are these the defenders of the East Gate?”
“That’s correct,” Mander responded in his proper English accent. “All thirty defenders of the East Gate are present here.”
“Smart move. We’re going to be kicking the proverbial hornets' nest out there. It’s very possible that we’ll return with a company of Deluvians behind us. I’ll be relying on you if that happens.” Tantalus wacked Mander’s shoulder as he left to speak to Clock.
“So, you’re going to be leading the attack, Clock?” Tantalus asked.
“Yeah,” she responded. “I know the Garand is somewhere in this area.” Clock gestured vaguely to a part of the map about two miles away from the City. The area she was pointing to was heavily industrialized. Most of the buildings in the area Clock identified were factories or warehouses.
“Sounds good. You have operational command. If you need advice, I’ll give it,” Tantalus said.
“Thanks.” Clock went back to her consideration of the map in front of her. Occasionally, she marked the map with a sharpie. It was clear to Tantalus that Clock intended to comb the industrial sector as a unit without having the S-ranks move individually. Personally, Tantalus would have the members of the strike team split up to search the area more effectively. He believed that any one of the Revenants in the strike team could finish the mission by himself. Though, it was possible that they would run into a unique threat that they had not yet faced. Clock’s method was a lot safer, but it would take much longer.
Tantalus walked over to Mozaic. A sizable olive drab crate laid open in front of the Knight, and a rifle was propped up against the crate.
“What’s in there?” Tantalus asked.
“Ammo, mostly,” Mozaic responded. “I’m third in the stack, so I guess the supplies are my problem.” He paused and smiled. “Though, there’s something in here which I think you’ll find interesting.”
Character Sheet
Name Mozaic Level 8 Blood Points 130/140 Mana Points 13/13 Race Revenant Fortitude 14 Strength 16 Agility 13 Wisdom 6
Attribute Modifier: Strength Training (2)
“What’s that?”
Mozaic reached into the box and produced two baseball-sized green spheroids. Grenades. “They had a box of these suckers in the Colonel’s office at the North Gate.”
“The NPCs can use grenades?” Tantalus was shocked.
“Apparently,” Mozaic laughed. “Anyway, I brought ten. Everybody gets two.”
Mozaic passed Tantalus two of the grenades. Tantalus looked down at himself, unable to decide where exactly he should carry them. After a moment’s consideration, he decided to place the grenades in his satchel.
“Have you tested them?” Tantalus asked.
“Yeah, the grenade we threw went bang. Pull the pin, release the lever, and you get an anti-personnel explosion four-seconds later.”
“Are you sure it’s four, and not three?”
“Sure as sure,” Mozaic said with an easy smile on his face.
Mozaic was a tall, muscular man with the olive skin tone of someone from Greece. His hair was curly and black, and stubble had already appeared on his face. Much of his visible skin carried pale scars, and parts of his uniform were still stained with blood. He smelled slightly like sweat, but Tantalus didn’t hold it against him. Tantalus himself hadn’t showered since he had started the game.
“Thanks a lot,” Tantalus said. “Just to make sure, I’m first on the stack, right?”
“You’re the one with the shotgun, so yes,” Mozaic answered. “By the way, can you bring this to FullDan?” He reached for the rifle leaning against the crate and held it out to Tantalus. The rifle was mounted with an old-fashioned sniper scope. It was the kind of scope that was used by snipers in World War I.
Tantalus briefly looked over the rifle. Despite its obsolescence, the scope was mounted competently. It had functional range adjusters. One could engage at long range with this rifle, but a more modern rifle would be preferable.
“He’s fourth on the stack,” Mozaic continued. “The marksman should have a marksman’s rifle.”
“Where’d you find the scope?” Tantalus asked while still inspecting the rifle.
“The Central Military Base,” Mozaic answered quickly.
“I’ll hand it over,” Tantalus said before walking over to FullDan.
FullDan looked up as Tantalus approached. His hood was pulled tight, and his arms were crossed in front of him. He seemed to be deep in thought before Tantalus arrived.
“The Knights have a gift for you,” Tantalus said as he handed the scoped rifle over to FullDan.
“It must be Christmas,” FullDan chuckled awkwardly. “This is the third present I’ve received today.”
FullDan began inspecting the rifle in much the same way Tantalus did. Tantalus would have told FullDan that he had already inspected it, but it wouldn’t have had any effect. No soldier worth his salt would trust anyone else to inspect his equipment before a battle. FullDan adjusted a few of the dials on his scope and worked the bolt a few times to make sure it was smooth. He took a stripper clip from a pouch on his belt and loaded the rifle.
“Feels good,” FullDan admitted after thoroughly inspecting the rifle.
Suddenly, a woman’s voice cut through the ambient din of the East Gate. The voice heralded the beginning of Operation Eastern Front.