I spent a couple seconds catching my breath, then got to my feet and hurried downstairs. There's at least two of them here at the outpost. They could respawn any second. I think we need to regroup, I told my team. New plan. Ragtag needs to join us here on this side of the offense. Let's push hard.

Copy, Mitch sent back in response.

The Mongeese disappeared up into the tower I had just vacated. Its twin was wreathed in smoke, the top tier shattered, the turrets silent. Apparently the first set of demolition had worked great.

Our minions were barely scratching the huge bronze gate. Skeletal pirates shattered their wooden figurehead battering rams against the serpentine dragon carvings, but the gate only took a point or two of damage with each hit. We’d be here all day at this rate.

“Let's bring up the Portable Hole Punch,” Grandpa said.

I nodded. “Okay, want me to do it?”

“Take a couple of the others and go.”

I asked Bill, Bob, and Mitch to come with me. We beat a retreat out of the smoking ruins of the first tier of Vortali's outpost. A repair drone was hovering over one of the slowing turrets. I sniped it down. Bill grabbed up its remains and tossed them in his inventory. “In case Dwight wants the materials,” he said and we hurried back out.

We had left the Portable Hole Punch behind a row of trees on the outskirts of Vortali's outpost. The device was about three feet long, with handles sticking up out of the wooden frame that held its brass tube shaped body in place. It weighed over 400 pounds, more than any of us could put in our inventory.

We took up positions, me at the front right end of the device. I reached for a handle and when the others were in position, said “Heave ho!”

We hefted the device between us easily. With our augmented strength it was no trouble at all to carry. “Back to the fort, double time!”

I kept my head down as we crossed the open space between the edge of the jungle and the outer ruins of Vortali's outpost. A message came from our Grignarian associates. We see we are not the only ones you have plundered. That is an expensive toy. Who did you steal it from?

Does it matter?

It looks like Grignarian make, but we have not bothered with such toys in many cycles. Probably whoever you stole it from stole it from us previously.

If they hadn't wanted it stolen they shouldn't have left it where we could get it, I replied as we entered the outpost through the smashed southern gate.

By the time we got back to Grandpa, all the nearby turrets were down. I set the Portable Hole Punch in front of the Vortali gate. “Now what? it didn't have an instruction manual.”

I inspected it. A system message popped up. [Defensive structure detected. Do you wish to initiate destruction sequence?]

“Everybody back off,” I said, and selected yes. A countdown started. We retreated back around the destroyed fortifications.

I waited for an earth-shattering kaboom but there was nothing. After a minute I poked my head around the corner. The device was still sitting there, but now there was a six foot tall circle in the Vortali gate. Our creep was streaming through.

“Let's get up there,” Grandpa said. He hurried forward. We all buffed our creep as we went with anything we had on hand. I dug around in my inventory and found a couple of single-use buff devices. They looked like cans of spray paint. The instructions said they could be used on turrets to increase their speed and output or on creep. We had stolen these from the Grignarians as well, and Juana had used most of them to great effect at our outpost. Now I applied their buff to pirate leaders and cannibal pig chiefs and the largest of the Raptors as we went past.

The six-foot hole only let two or three minions through at a time and that was a problem. But now that the gate had been punctured, we could attack both sides. It was the work of a couple minutes to bring it down, sending our wave of creep swarming into the middle section of Vortali's ring.

Juana sent Grandpa and me a message. I'm getting word from Vortali's commander. They want to talk terms.

String them along, Grandpa said. Ask what it is they're thinking. We're not going to stop our assault, but maybe we can buy some time.

I checked again. Still no word from Veda or anyone in the outside world. I was pretty certain by now that we had been intentionally cut off. Was it just us or everyone here?

On a whim I contacted Mak’gar. Hey, is everything all right over on your end? I'm not able to talk to anyone in the outside world I said. was wondering if it's just us.

No, we also have no contact. I believe this is the lead up to Phase Three. someone has a trick up their sleeves.

So this is usual or it varies?

Sometimes a system or the underlying reality engine can decide to play tricks on the miners around phase change over. It is rarely a matter of any great concern. They cannot change the death rules once we have begun a phase, so it doesn't really matter.

Thanks. I told Grandpa what Mak’gar had told me.

“No wonder Vortali wants to talk,” Grandpa said grimly. “If Phase Three is imminent they don't want to risk losing their node. I'm just worried we're being set up.”

Where was the rest of Vortali's team? Were they taking the Existalis node? I checked with Juana again. Everything quiet there?

Absolutely, we're nearly back to full strength here. I've had to burn almost everything Veda sent us but it's looking good.

I have a bad feeling about all this. Get everything we have in storage. Everything we took from the Grignarians or Veda bought us and put it all in even.

I can't just pull pieces out and shove them in anywhere. There's a design to this, an art. sure but I'm pretty sure you've been holding some of it back in reserve in case of emergencies.

This is the emergency, Juana. We're going to shift over into Phase Three before long. If we don't have an outpost when that happens then we're screwed.

Copy she replied.

I turned back to the fight at hand. Another wave of creep came around the corner from the north. These were the zombies and undead brought by the Grignarians mixed in with very strange constructs. The constructs were about shoulder tall with three legs, forearms and bubble heads made of shining copper colored metal and carrying smaller versions of the Grignarians melty guns. "whoa" I called out. "let these guys on ahead of you." I inspected them.

They all showed as constructs under the command of Lord Commander XKrell. I hadn't learned any of the Grignarians' names, not even the ones I'd killed, but presumably, this was one of their head honchos.

The constructs streamed in and began to press the assault on the next row of turrets. We only had to worry about towers and turrets on the inside wall since we'd taken out everything on the outside while clearing the first line of defenses. Unfortunately, these turrets made up for it by being much much stronger. Annie got a little too close to one and was taken out by a quick burst of fire. Her body vanished in a cloud of smoke. A minute later, she was back in chat swearing.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

That thing did twice my hit points in five seconds. Be careful, guys.

“Be sure to have a bunch of creep between us and those turrets." I warned everyone, urging our pirates forward.

I checked the map. We still owned all of the creep spawn points we had captured. We should have another two hours before our capture flags ran out. We didn't have time to waste here. There were three red dots in the innermost level of Vortali's fortress waiting for us.

I did some calculations. The creep was moving along at a good clip, and we were clearing towers, but we still had a whole half circuit to go to reach the next gate. Then after that, we needed to penetrate their inner wall. This was taking much too long.

Anyone got a clever idea? I asked in chat as we worked our way around the ring.

Why are we doing it this way when we have the Portable Hole Punch? Tall Smith asked.

The creep will only go along the proper route, Sage explained. They can't go over the walls or through them.

Who cares about them? Smith asked. They're a distraction. We should be decapitating our enemy.

Good point, Grandpa said. Suggestion?

We take that device, we get my squad and those tentacle-faced fuckers with the magic melty guns, and we go straight through. You guys stay here pretending to be good little miners and keep them distracted. Our camouflage should hold up long enough.

I exchanged a look with Grandpa. "It's worth a shot," I said aloud.

"If they fail and are wiped out, we'll be below strength. I don't see us making it all the way through the defenses in the time we have left if Mongoose has to respawn and come back here.”

“Calculated risk," I said. "The longer this takes, the more likely the rest of Vortali is to come back or to try to take our own base."

"All right," Grandpa agreed. "If the Grignarians go for it."

“Everyone else needs to serve as a distraction. Ragtag, you’re going to need to be big and noisy. Start looking through your abilities and planning things out.”

The newly-arrived Ragtag team members put their heads together. Lara and Ice Spice had grins on their faces as they gestured and plotted. I looked forward to seeing what they came up with. Ragtag’s combat instincts weren’t as good as ours or Mongoose, but they had some crazy strategies and weren’t afraid to blow themselves up. They’d acquited themselves well during Phase Two.

“I’m on the assault team,” Sage said.

“You?” Tall Smith asked, turning his head and scowling.

"I'm not very good against the towers and turrets, but I am good in team fights," Sage said. "You know that. I can buff your men up, I can cause trouble with the enemies."

The Grignarians, replied to me, we are sending four of our best. Be ready for them.

"Okay," Smith said, "camouflage can cover fifteen. That's my team, the Grignarians, Sage," he looked us over, "and you, Shad."

I felt a little bit of surprise. I had great respect for the Mongeese and Smith in particular. He had a lot of skills, but I had gotten the feeling from him that he didn't quite like me, that he was unsure of my capabilities."Me?”

“You've got a good head in a firefight and a way of fucking things up for the other guy."

Grandpa nodded. “Smith, you’re in charge on this one. What’s your assault strategy?”

"Let's get the Hole Punch up there." Smith pointed north of the gate we'd just come through. "We need to take down those turrets there, there, and there to give us cover," he said. "Move."

The Mongeese moved out. I followed with Sage at my rear. We took out the nearest set of turrets, giving us ten feet of undefended wall area, while Ragtag started firing at the ones to our rear. Then I made a run for the Hole Punch along with Brown and both of the Smiths. We got it into position and set it off, retreating back to the rest of our team just as the Grignarians arrived.

They were just as creepy up close as I had remembered. Their impassive faces studied us. One raised his hand. "Greetings, treacherous ones." I decided to take that as a compliment.

"Thanks for joining us," I said.

"You have a strategy?" the Grignarian spokesbeing asked me.

I pointed to Smith. "He's in charge," I said. Smith looked briefly taken aback, then gave me a quick head nod, which reminded me to reapply my Hat Tip buff to the infiltration team.

"Stay close," he told them. "The camouflage extends for about five meters in all directions."

"Centered on which?" the Grignarian asked.

Jones raised a hand. "Me."

The Grignarians leaned their heads together and whispered, "All of you look the same to us," the spokesbeing said at last. "Please have the small one stay at the center of the camouflage field. We will follow it."

"I think I'm insulted here," Sage complained, but she sidled over to Jones and gave him a nod. "Ready when you are."

"Move up," Smith ordered, and we approached the hole.

Jones activated his camouflage. I felt it settle over me like a fog. We picked up the Hole Punch and ducked through the hole it had made, two at a time. The Grignarians followed closely on Brown's heels, with Short Smith bringing up the rear.

The inner turrets were quiet, waiting. None of them shot at us. I caught myself holding my breath and let it out, eyerolling at myself. The camouflage worked just fine, I didn’t need to add my own attempts at stealth.

Smith indicated a point about 20 feet along the wall. "We set the hole there," he whispered. I checked my map. There were five red dots inside the central core of their node now. I relayed that information to our commando team.

"First order of business," I said, "is getting their resurrection point shut down." I realized our oversight and sent Smith a private message. Lakshmi's crystal vibration can shut down their respawn point, sir. We’ve got room for her under our camo.

You're right. I should have thought of that. Smith turned to the team. "Let's get Lakshmi in here," he said. "Shad, you and lead the others to plant the device. As soon as we've got Lakshmi with us, we'll fire it and run in there. Cover her so she can take down the respawn chamber."

"Understood," I said.

A moment later, Lakshmi popped through the hole and joined us. I took three of the Mongeese and moved the portable hole punch as far forward as I could while still staying in the camouflage field. We set it down by the wall. I told the others to retreat, then activated the hole punch and stepped back. This time I wanted to watch.

The device sat there for a couple of seconds. It hummed, pulsed, and let out a little blurp noise. There was a puff of smoke and a hole in the wall where none had existed before. Honestly, it was a little anticlimactic.

"Go!" I said, and we all charged forward. I had my mini-map up, so I was expecting it when we were met by three of the space elves as we jumped through the wall. One of them was the woman I had knocked out of the tower earlier. She fired laser rifle shots right at me. I felt them whiz past my head. We were still in the camouflage, but it seemed they could see through it, at least partially.

I activated Fastest Gun in the West, charging right for them, then through them, and at the same time threw Call ‘em Out. I felt my taunt take effect as the three space elves pivoted and started chasing me. I blazed my way deeper into their inner core. Sage shouted triumphantly, "The box is down! Kill 'em!"

Opsec! I sent in a quick angry message. If there was a chance the Vortali miners hadn't noticed that their respawn point was down, we didn't want to draw attention to it. They were still all on me.

Sage lassoed the elf woman and succeeded at Taming her. The woman started shooting one of her allies as I fired my revolver into whoever was nearest.

The Grignarians swarmed forward as a unit, converging on another elf woman off to our right. They surrounded her, firing from three different directions, and coated her in vicious burning slime. The woman pulled a short metal rod out of thin air and waved it, showering herself in liquid. The alien goo washed off of her and melted into the dirt.

I turned my attention back to my target, who was going down fast. Sage had directed her Tamed elf woman to shoot at him too.

The Mongeese all opened fire. All five of them used their guns a little more than their special abilities. At some point I would have to sit down with Smith and work out some strategies for his men to get better use out of their spells. They did great with their foxhole and machine gun nest maneuver, but in the middle of combat they rarely thought to pull out a special move.

The first of the elves went down. Another one shrieked in anger. "You... you... menaces!" he shouted, charging at us. His laser rifle lay abandoned on the grass as he swung a curving sword right at me.

I sidestepped. It slashed down and hit the edge of my drover's coat and bounced off. I stepped in closer and fired six rounds into his belly. They were sabot rounds that exploded after hitting into a dozen or more small pieces of metal that tore through his gut, turning his torso into a mass of blood. He howled and swung again. I sidestepped easily.

The Grignarians moved away from their victim as she died screaming horribly. I felt sympathy for her remembering just how badly that goo had burned. But this was war.

We downed the elves hard and fast. Five dead of their fifteen. We had outnumbered them by more than double, but I had still expected them to put up more of a fight. After all, this was an alpha node. I could tell just by looking around how advanced the gear was, and yet we had walked right through it.

I let out a whoop as we sprinted for their node. I slapped a hand down on it. [Shad Williams of Misfits Guild, do you wish to claim this node for Misfits Guild and Tvedra Corporation?]

“Hell yeah!”

The node immediately changed color. Instead of the steady green of claimed, it now flickered gently between orange and blue, back in claiming mode. It would take 24 hours before it was ours, and I didn't think we'd have it, but the Patriarch hadn't said we had to actually own the node, just capture it. In my book, we'd done just that.

The Grignarians approached, weapons pointed skyward. Their spokescreature stepped forward. I Inspected the being. Its name was, apparently, Exalted Skywarden Greenlight the Unreleased. “We did not discuss which should take the bounty," it said.

"Neither of us is actually going to take this node,” I said. "There's still ten of them out there, and mark my words, they're all heading right this way. I don't like our chances of keeping this one. In fact, they might try taking out our nodes in revenge, so we really need to get the hell out of here and see to our own defenses. But we did strike a nasty blow."

“Then the loot?”

I waved a hand. "Take whatever you like," I said. "But let's get out of here before they get back.”

Grandpa messaged me. All the turrets stopped firing as soon as you claimed it. Guess we should get out of here before some angry space elves show up and try to get revenge on us.