(Possible Dungeon Site, Southern Continent, Star’s Reach)
Major Khan nodded as the four landers dropped off his troops. This was not supposed to be a ‘hot’ landing zone, but the pilots had performed as though it was, diving down fast through the atmosphere, before pulling up just in time to keep from crashing on the ground. His people might have been rattled around a bit, but they were Marines, and this was part of the job.
Looking up, he saw two of the Crows (the Wrathgate and the Threnody, actually) begin landing nearby, carrying the supplies needed to set up a rough forward operating base. The Crow-class assault ships were 15% smaller than the original Raven-class freighters, but massed the same and had 35% stronger armor. The smaller size was because the cargo bay had been shrunk to half the size of a Raven-class.
Every square meter of space in the Threnody’s small hold was full of supplies needed for quick-forming the barracks, command center, and mess hall. The Wrathgate contained what they would need to start setting up a perimeter defense. That’d be damn important when the local fauna (any that still lived so close to the dungeon) decided to check out the new arrivals. Especially if they thought his Marines looked like snacks.
Right now, Khan wasn’t worried about venturing into the dungeon. There would be plenty of time to map out the dungeon, and find out what kind of defenses and opposition it had in place. Everything they’d seen about dungeons in this game so far said that they didn’t go spewing monsters all over the place. He still had a defensive position set up in front of the entrance, just in case, but the gatekeeping on the dungeon would mainly be to ensure the people selling access to the dungeon had someplace to set up shop. Until then, his job was to keep any locals from getting caught up in things, if they hadn’t already.
Of course, there would be those who would not understand. There always were. They’d go on about “why not just nuke it from orbit?” or “just drop Greenwave on it” as if destroying something were the only way to deal with a potential threat. Fortunately, the Boss was smarter than that. He had weapons that could wipe out entire planets far faster and more permanently than Greenwave, but he made sure not to use them unless someone REALLY deserved it. Well, other than that Kul’tiran group where he was testing things out.
At any rate, the Black Star Marines had a mission. Once he had set up base camp, he would leave one platoon on perimeter defense, and take the rest into the dungeon to see if they could map it out and find the level of difficulty. If they could clear the dungeon, that would simply be bonus points, but they needed to get an idea of what kind of dungeon they were dealing with, and how much of the crazed AI was present. They also had to find out how much of a threat of contamination there was. If the AI was going to try and spread its influence with nanites like it had on Earth, then they needed to know about it sooner rather than later, to ensure that exposed individuals were quarantined until they were deemed free of infection or were put down.
“Major! We’ve got the perimeter defenses in place. Deliverance is continuing patrols from the air to more fully map the terrain with their scanners. As expected, the dungeon’s walls are shielded so we cannot get a clear read on the inside, but the first level, at least is visible as voids on the ground-penetrating sensors.”
Khan nodded to his lieutenant. “That’s good news. Would have preferred a complete map, with any information on the interior that we could get, but the outline will have to do for now. Make sure that intel is uploaded to the tac-net, and have all platoon and squad leaders meet me in the command post in 30 for a mission brief.”
“Yes, sir!”
Thirty minutes later, as everyone moved in to the nanoprinted conference room, Khan looked out at his people, and threw the intel from the Crow up on the main screen. Looking them in the eyes, he said, “All right, people, Deliverance has given us better intel than what the orbital scans could get. This here is the outline of the first floor of the dungeon. We don’t know what the interior will look like, but so far analysts believe that we’re looking at one of the ‘human’, or at least ‘humanoid’, dungeons. They’re basing this on the fact that we’ve got a series of boxy rooms and hallways, rather than organic-looking tunnels. This means we aren’t facing Zerg.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He allowed the small moment of relief at the fact that they weren’t going to be facing those nightmares again. The station they’d first found them on was bad enough. Having to deal with them in a place they couldn’t just run out and then blow off the face of the world wasn’t in their list of ‘happy fun times’. “Now, the Admiral gave us three objectives when we launched from the Thunderfury. The first was to secure the dungeon site and lay the groundwork for either a dungeon town or a garrison, depending on the type of opposition we find. Since the perimeter is up and we aren’t facing Zerg, I’m going to call in the engineers to start making more structures for a dungeon town, as soon as things are settled.”
“That was the easy part! Now, our other two objectives are going to be a lot more difficult to pull off. Fourth Platoon will remain outside to cover the exit and ensure that nothing comes in and nothing comes out that isn’t a Black Star Marine. While they’re covering our ass, the other platoons will move into the dungeon, and sweep it to discover what kind of opposition we’re dealing with. The first objective is to map as much of the facility as possible. The second is to determine whether the dungeon is ‘stable’, or has the potential to go rogue and start sending enemies out of the dungeon or infecting people who go in. We’re using full containment protocols, so if your suit gets breached, you sing out. No tough guy acts. Remember, the AI that is responsible for these dungeons was the one who forced us to drop Greenwave on Earth. We have to know if it is going to try and overwrite people who go in.”
One of the squad leaders raised his hand. “Sir, what happens if we do get ‘overwritten’?” He looked rather nervous about that. Honestly, Khan couldn’t blame him. Bullets and all that were scary, too, but you could train for that. Getting your brain rewired? That was nightmare material there. The Stepford stuff was bad enough, from what he’d heard, but the Hundeherstellar nanites, and everything based off them, were pure evil.
Smiling wryly, Khan nodded to the man. “Don’t blame you for being nervous, Martinez. Frankly, I’m nervous, too. Anyone who isn’t scared shitless when going up against an enemy that might just rewrite your head and delete who you were before should be getting their head examined to begin with. So, I’m telling you, and I want you all to tell your people, that it is absolutely OK to be scared. Hell, I would be more worried if they weren’t. Anyone that says they aren’t scared about people messing with their brain should be checked out for a possible Section 8.”
That got a few grim nods from his audience, so he continued on. “Fear isn’t always a bad thing. It is that primal little voice in the back of your head, telling you that shit is about to get real. That’s not bad, and it has saved many a man’s life when they got scared and didn’t know why, and they avoided something nasty. So be afraid. But don’t let that fear rule you. Use it to keep you sharp. We are going into the unknown, people! There is no such thing as ‘too cautious’. Assume that this place is Australia, and every damn thing wants to kill you somehow, and it is probably capable of doing so.”
He paused, and then said, “Now, the bad. What happens if the AI overwrites you? We don’t know about the Deus version, but the Admiral has a contact with the GMs since he’s a streamer, and he was able to get some info that wasn’t on the forums. The people who lost characters because of Jagloth were all checked out to ensure there was no damage to their RL selves.”
A few people’s eyes went wide, and Khan nodded. “Now, he didn’t get to see the actual interviews, but the Admiral told me that devs put a patch in as soon as they realized the full nature of those Hundeherstellar nanites to deal with it. When you get hit by them, it is game over for that character, but they will let you make a new one automatically, instead of having the normal reset time. The new character will be the same level as the old one, and have ten percent more points at chargen to play with than what you used on the old character. When you get in game, you will have a number of free skill ranks equal to what you have now, and will be able to sort them as you like.”
“Now, before any of you idiots think about trying to get yourself overwritten so you can ‘respec’ into something else, you better believe that anyone getting overwritten will have the close and immediate attention of the GMs, going all the way to the head GM. Deliberate overwrites will be judged on a case by case basis, and there’s a good chance they won’t get any of that shit, and they’ll be back to square one, along with anyone else involved. After Jagloth and Earth, they are not playing around with this shit. Understand?”
“Sir! Yes, sir!”
Khan smiled. “All right, can the boot camp drek. Now, the Admiral also said that, if you get overwritten, and the GMs give you the ‘sorry for your loss’ package, then if you get to a Black Star facility and make contact, you’ll be re-inducted to the Black Star Marines with no loss of rank. So you want to pick Dimiya, Nuevo Edo, or Star’s Reach as your starting location.”
“Wait, the new colony is already counted as a spawn site?”
“That’s right, Franklin. But it is listed as being open only to higher-difficulty starts right now. The devs didn’t come out and say it, but the new spawns will be coming from the colony ship, and everyone on that ship are slaves, so they’ll be waking up in game already having a slave chip in them making them property of Black Star.” He paused, and said, “Now, you and I both know that doesn’t mean as much in Black Star as it would other places, but can you imagine the looks on some of these idiots’ faces when they start up on the new world, and they start off as slaves? The Admiral already has orders for the people ‘waking up’ the new ‘citizens’ to check for Nomads and give them special attention.”
He paused, and then said, “All right. Go get your men, and give them the sitrep. Tell them the same things I told you. Let them know the score. When he recruited us, the Admiral promised me that he wouldn’t knowingly send us into the fire without us knowing it ahead of time, and it being necessary. That is the spirit the Black Star Marine Corps will always carry, so long as I’m in command. We are Marines, which means we aren’t stupid troopers who just go where we’re told and do what we’re told to do. We improvise, adapt, and overcome!”
“OOHRAH!”
“Now get to it! I want this dive to be underway in thirty, people!”