Chapter 36. Go Time
After the announcement, we all turned and looked at each other. Everyone stopped what they were doing and just stood there in shock. We thought we would have a few days to prepare before we were thrown into chaos but now we had 4 hours and no idea what to do next.
I looked at Tiff, “What is happening? Why are they starting the dungeon early?”
“I can only assume that it is because all factions arrived early. There is no reason for the Coeus to delay activation of the dungeon once everyone is here,” she said.
“Is this normal?” I asked.
“It’s not. This has to somehow be tied to the vision you had. The Coeus are planning something at this dungeon site, but I still can't see what it is,” Tiff was pacing back and forth trying to piece this together.
“Captain, there were probably thousands or hundreds of thousands of humans in the different tutorials. We were all there and those tutorials were created specifically to make you fail. The odds were weighted against humanity from the start. My best guess is that thousands still made it through the tutorial. That is an expected outcome, but something has been bothering me. Red and the rest of the new crew said that their guardian disappeared at the end of the tutorial which shouldn’t have happened. At first, I brushed it off as a coincidence, there have been cases of containment facilities going offline. Meteorites or other natural phenomena have been known to incapacitate those facilities in the past. After you told me about your vision, I began to suspect something else. The Coeus have been the dungeon architects for millennia. Nobody knows much about them and just assumed that they were willing participants, but I don’t think that is the case anymore.”
I crossed my arms and nodded, “Go on Tiff, what do you think is happening here?”
She looked down, I could tell that she was piecing this together on the fly, “Captain, I think someone tampered with the system. If the Lacertines or the Council were purposely taking out guardians to weigh the outcome more heavily in their favor, it could have caused the Coeus to react.”
She stepped closer to me and looked me directly in the eyes, “If the Coeus have decided to rebel there will be nothing anyone can do to stop them, Captain.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, right?” I asked.
“The Coeus aren’t known for being empathetic to the causes of other life forms. Their version of rebellion could help us, but it could just as easily put every life form in the universe at risk. They can literally bend the fabric of space-time to their will. They can merge dimensions; they can erase dimensions. They are extremely dangerous.”
I took a deep breath and tried to grasp the situation, “I understand Tiff, but they have taken an interest in me. They seemed to want to avoid getting directly involved right now. I don’t know what is happening out there. What I do know is that we have less than four hours to prepare our team and get ready to face whatever comes next.”
She looked scared and I couldn’t blame her. She knew more about the politics of the universe than I did. She understood the implications of a Coeus rebellion. I had the luxury of being ignorant to all of that right now. I just needed to get myself and my team through this dungeon, then we could worry about what would happen next.
“Everyone gather round. We need to get ready for what is about to happen,” I said, “Elvis, can you assist during the dungeon?”
“No, Captain, the message stated that orbital support will not be allowed. I will not be able to function on the surface once the dungeon initiates.”
“What about CJ? Will he still be able to help us?”
“To be safe, I will need to bring the Pup back to the Bloodhound and transport SR-CJ to the surface. This will put him at greater risk, but he can stay onboard the Pup and pilot his suit remotely,” Elvis said.
“Understood. Get it done fast, Elvis. We will need the Pup back down here ASAP. CJ, load any extra munitions onto the Pup before you come. I don’t want you down here, but we are going to need the extra manpower,” I said.
“No problem, Andy. Elvis has a portable control station for my suit so I can use it from the Pup. I'll see you in an hour,” CJ responded.
I looked at the team standing around me, “Okay team, we have a little less than four hours to finish preparing. I have to believe they are going to come at us hard and fast. We are a small team, and it only makes sense to come after our key first. I need ideas and I need them fast.”
Jax stepped closer, “I say we let them come, Cap. We have plenty of munitions available. My suggestion is a little crazy, but I think it can work.”
I looked at the burly New York native, “Alright Jax, let's hear it.”
Five hours later I was sitting in the HAB alone when Tiff walked in the front door.
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“They are closing in now,” she said.
“Which faction?” I asked.
“It is the Lycoan faction, approximately 10 of them. They are closing fast, Captain.”
“Okay, let them come.”
With that, Tiff disappeared as she deactivated her secondary body. I stood and took a second to take stock of my weapons and ammo.
I had a Plasma rifle from the armor and a couple of the grenades as well. Honestly, as I got more used to my armor these other weapons were less appealing to me.
I looked at the lower half of my arms. It was odd, the black metallic forearms felt as If they had never been injured. I felt my muscles tighten. I could see my hands shaking a bit as the nervousness and anxiety of my current situation took hold.
“Okay, everyone holds position until you see the signal,” I said over the team channel.
I took a deep breath and started making my way out of the HAB. When I got outside, I climbed onto the roof of the structure. I wanted to be sure the Lycoans saw me. Once I got to the top, I spun trying to get a visual on them.
“Holy shit…” I said, “you didn’t say they were a pack of damn werewolves, Tiff?!”
“Ugh…did you say werewolves?” CJ asked.
“Comms discipline, guys!” Matty said, scolding both CJ and myself.
The Lycoans were huge werewolves. Now I know that sounds weird, but I don’t know how else to describe them. They were werewolves with combat armor on. They carried rifles and were currently surrounding the HAB about two hundred yards out. They were approaching from all directions and running on all fours. It…was….terrifying.
“On your signal, Cap,” Matty said.
I knelt and activated my armor. This was the first time I had activated my armor since the vision and something was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it as I knelt on the roof of the HAB but it felt like I had more control; it felt like the armor was responding to me now.
The Lycoans roared in unison as they rushed the HAB now within 100 yards of my position. I shot my arms out to the side and summoned my daggers. As I looked up the Lycoans were leaping from the ground in my direction. Huge wolf-like aliens, teeth bared, tongues glistening with saliva were all leaping directly at me. Their clawed hands reaching, stretching in my direction ready to rip me to shreds.
I activated Pulsar Blast. The beams shot out of my hands as I pointed at two of the Lycoans that were leaping in my direction. Interestingly I didn’t have to dismiss my daggers as the blast simply shot out of the them as if they were my hands.
As the blast hit the two closest Lycoans, it seared the flesh on their faces and disarmed them completely. They dropped to the ground unconscious. I was now locked in place for ten seconds while the shield portion of the ability activated.
“Now, now!” I shouted over the comms.
Zzzippp, zzziiipp, the heads of two more Lycoans exploded in a fountain of blood and gore as Jax and Matty sniped from half a kilometer away.
They had both selected the Interstellar Assassin class and at Level 5 they had unlocked a gilly suit ability that allowed them to blend into their surroundings. The other feature of the ability is that they would be invisible to sensors as long as they didn’t move. The Lycoans had probably ran right past them and didn’t know it.
“Two down,” Jax said.
“I’ve got six seconds left on my shield and there are six angry Lycoans staring at me right now!” I said.
Just then the Pup roared past overhead creating a cloud of red dust all around me as it flew. The plan was to draw the enemy in and as they advanced on my location Jax and Matty would take out as many as they could from a distance. Once I used my Nebula blast ability the Pup would return to provide reinforcements.
The hope is that anyone watching our group would assume that the Pup was returning to orbit after dropping personnel and equipment off on the surface. Tiff was the only one of us who could currently pilot the Pup. Elvis was not able to assist from orbit due to the dungeon rules. It wasn’t wise to jeopardize our only drop ship, but we needed an edge, and this would provide it in the short term.
“There is a group of Lacertine troopers approaching from the East. We are going to take the Pup and engage; you are going to have to hold that group for no, Captain. Jax and Matty, can you provide support?” Tiff asked.
“We are hoofing it to the Captain’s location now. ETA 45 seconds,” Jax said.
“Get here fast! My shield is done and I have to engage. Two are down but not dead. Six more are just waiting for my shield to end. They range in level from 7 to 9. I am gonna have my hands full guys,” I said.
With those words, my shield broke. I leapt up into the air as the remaining Lycoans roared in unison. I flipped to the rear of the pack and landed, impaling the Level 7 Lycoan mercenary on each side of his neck, forcing my blades down between his shoulder and collar bones, The time started as he howled in agony. 3…2…1..
The Lycoan imploded in on himself in a gruesome display of the dagger's powers. The rest of them moved to surround me. One in front of me, a Level 9 Lycoan Commander, and two to each side, Level 8 mercenaries trying to flank me.
The Commander held up his hands to halt his team. He looked at me and tilted his head as he snarled, “This isn’t personal, Human. We have been where you are. Understand that we will have your key, and we will do whatever is necessary to retrieve it.”
I stood surrounded by five Lycoan mercenaries. The plan had gone to shit and now I needed to buy about 30 more seconds before Jax and Matty got to me. My only other option was to try and take down all five by myself.
I resummoned my daggers as I stood there. “Ya know, it’s funny, we were hoping you guys would underestimate us, and sure enough it looks like you did. You guys coming to us saves us the trouble of having to hunt you down for your key. I mean, I hate to kill you before I even get to know you, but honestly, you guys are really freakin ugly so it’s not a huge disappointment.”
The two Lycoans on my left lunged for me. As they jumped, the Commander raised his weapon and fired several rounds directly at my center mass. Instinctively I held up my arms to block the rounds. At this distance they had me for sure.
As the sounds of gunfire rang out, I was surprised to feel nothing. No rounds had hit me. How was that even possible?
At the same moment Jax and Matty arrived, they exploded toward the two mercenaries that had leaped at me, knocking them both away from the group until they rolled to a stop and jumped back up looking for their assailants.
That’s when I noticed my arms. They had morphed into a large black diamond-shaped shield that protected me from the close-range weapons fire. I hadn’t knowingly made the transformation; the Armor just responded to my need and formed a shield.
Well, that’s new…I thought to myself as I watched the shield morph back into my arms.
The Lycoan Commander looked at me and snarled, “You have tricks Human, but it’s time to end this.”
He raised his rifle again, this time aiming at Jax who was engaged with one of the mercenaries. He fired and Jax dropped to his knees, a hole in his torso as Matty screamed watching his brother fall.