The big hexabunny’s fur had mutated into porcupine-like spikes that dripped green poison. Its fangs were much larger than the others, and its body was twice their size.

No way something that big could have been hiding in the water. The thing was the size of a bull mastiff. The party instinctively moved closer to each other. Gambit’s sword sliced through water and flesh as he lashed out at any that came near. Daniel was shooting arrows as fast as he could.

“Don’t focus on one target,” Rick told him. “Put one poisoned arrow into each one and let it do its job.”

“That’s easy for you to say!” Daniel cried as he fired a third arrow into a hexabunny, killing it just before its snapping fangs reached his face.

“Just try. I’ll keep them off,” Rick insisted.

He shot a Force Wave into the next one before it got to Daniel, and the EOD tech finally adjusted his aim to put a poisoned arrow into a second target and then a third.

Behind them, Gambit was getting overwhelmed. Rick turned to hit him with Protec.

Hexabunnies flew off Mongolian fighter, landing in the water all around.

Daniel cried out. His health bar was dipping badly. Rick turned, readying a heal.

Three of the purple hexabunnies had latched onto him. Their health bars were half down and ticking lower as Daniel’s poison arrows worked, but their fangs were doing serious damage to the soldier.

Rick hit him with Soothing Mist and used a Force Wave to try to knock one of the bunnies off. It didn’t dislodge the creature, but the damage was enough to kill it. A moment later, its jaws relaxed, and it fell with a splash into the muck.

Daniel was hitting a nearly-dead hexabunny with his bow, knocking 3 and 4 HP off with each awkward blow.

And then the larger boss bunny arrived. Its fangs and claws flashed as it lunged at Daniel, knocking the archer back into the water and inflicting a Poison Debuff. Daniel’s healthbar dipped deep into the red; he only had 7HP remaining. Rick cast another Soothing Mist as fast as he could. The initial hit, combined with a tick from the first HOT already on Daniel, took him back up into green, but the monster hexabunny was looming over him.

One of the creatures had latched onto Rick’s right leg just above the knee, but his health bar was descending only slowly, so he ignored it and kept healing Daniel.

Gambit let out a furious shout. Its power rolled over Rick.

His wounds were suddenly less painful. He felt stronger, quicker, smarter, more determined. The Hexabunny fell off his leg and plunked into the water in a daze, with a three-second debuff hovering over its head. [Stunned!]

The boss itself paused, shaking its fluffy head briefly before resuming its attack. Gambit had bought the team the moment they needed. Daniel jumped clear, splashing his way through the muck and water, gaining space on the enemies for a clear shot. Rick cast a Soothing Mist before the boss lunged at Gambit.

This time, Rick was ready with Protect. The mastiff-sized rabbit's fangs skittered off the translucent globe surrounding Gambit, who yelled again, though this time without the powerful ability, and swung his sword. It slashed across the boss bunny's butt and took a respectable chunk out of its health.

Daniel was still poisoned, and his health was ticking down. Rick hit him with another Soothing Mist. The boss, thwarted by the shield on Gambit, spun to face Rick .

It snarled and leapt.

Rick hit it with a Force Wave in the face as it lunged in, teeth snapping. His attack flattened the rabbit's ears briefly but did nothing to slow its charge. It slammed into Rick, knocking him back. He tried to fend it off with his arms, but claws and razor-sharp poisoned fur sliced into his flesh. He stabbed out wildly with the knife in his right hand.

As the creature tore into him with its teeth, its lower limbs scrabbled against his torso, ripping off ribbons of flesh. His health plummeted deep into the yellow. [14HP] remaining. Rick targeted himself with a Soothing Mist, but it barely slowed the incoming damage. Protect wasn't ready and neither was Force Wave. He struck out again with his knife.

Suddenly, the boss jerked. It stopped its attack and, seemingly frozen, clung to Rick's body by its embedded claws. Then it sprang away, launching off him with one last shredding swipe. An arrow whistled past and thudded into its hindquarters, but it paid no mind. The bunny continued splashing across the pond, away from the party.

Rick staggered up, bleeding from dozens of wounds and in agony. He hit himself with another Soothing Mist. This time, it actually was soothing. He could feel his flesh knit back together, and somehow his Mantle of skulls was intact.

"Hey, that's our evil boss rabbit!" Gambit protested.

A white bear stood on the levee at the far side of the field. Her nameplate had been changed. Now it read [Sam, Ice Baroness. Level 12, Combat Player].

Rick took a step toward her. "Sam!" he shouted. His knees threatened to buckle, but then again his health was still in the yellow. He hit himself with another heal.

"You look like you're in a bit over your head," Sam called, her voice full of amusement.

The rabbit was still splashing across the field in her direction. It was nearly there before Daniel's fourth, fifth, and sixth arrows finally killed it.

On either side of the white bear, two gangly, crystalline robots stood motionless. Rick took two more steps toward her, but Sam held up a paw. Her form blurred. A moment later, she was a human woman again, one hand raised.

"Don't come closer!" she warned. "These things will attack anyone from the farm faction. Look, I did you a favor, but you should clear out of this field now."

"What?" Rick stopped dead. His health bar had barely ticked back into the green as the last Soothing Mist continued to work. His wounds still throbbed painfully, and he had a [Poisoned] debuff. He shook his head, trying to make sense of what she said.

Gambit stepped up next to him. "Hit yourself again, man! We gotta get out of here!"

"What? Sam's here!" Rick protested. “We need to join up –"

Gambit shook his head. "Check her again! She's mining faction, and we gotta get out of here!"

"Sorry, Rick," Sam called. "This is a contested zone, and I need to finish my daily quest."

"Can we at least loot our boss?" Gambit called.

"Make it quick and don't get too close," Sam replied. “I can’t really control these things.”

Rick hit himself with another Soothing Mist, bringing himself to full. Gambit slogged forward to the boss's body, which immediately stopped glowing. He turned and headed back.

A quest pop-up announced the next phase, but Rick waved it away without reading it.

"What's going on, Sam? What are you doing? You should join us!" Rick pleaded.

She shook her head with a regretful smile. "Not here. You picked the other faction. Seriously, Rick, we can talk some other time, but you've got to clear out of here. I can't stall this escort much longer."

The robots had glowing crystal orbs for heads, and they were starting to pulse with a blue light. The poison debuff finally ticked away. Rick felt like he could think straight again.

Sam, here, but on the other faction. What was this all for if they couldn't join forces?

Gambit came back from looting the boss and grabbed his arm. "Come on, man, we've got to get out of here."

Rick followed, but kept glancing back at Sam, who stood on the bank, impassive, her hair blowing softly in the breeze. She looked impatient, like she couldn’t wait for him to get lost. Not the first time he’d seen that expression.

"Shouldn't we, like, try to stop her or something?" Daniel asked as they slogged up the bank to get out of the flooded field. "Isn't that what a contested zone means?"

Rick couldn't bring himself to answer, so Gambit did. "Yeah, that's right, but she's way higher level than us. It wouldn't do to piss her off."

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Daniel considered. "But if we did stop her, would we get a reward?"

Something about his expression set off warning bells in Rick's head. He turned to look at the soldier. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I might have left a little surprise." A smile flitted across Daniel's face. Rick felt something clench in his gut.

"What do you mean, surprise?"

"I spent some time on the journey in the smith's wagon. Do you know there's a whole crafting setup in there? We’re going to have to level it up with tokens and eventually it can accommodate an NCP. Anyway, I was trying out some new traps, and..."

Rick whirled. Sam was halfway across the rice paddy, the robots still accompanying her. They had spread out and seemed to be searching for something under the water.

"Sam, look out!" Rick yelled.

But he was too late. The water around his ex-girlfriend exploded. Spears shot up, stabbing into her body. A spray of black liquid coated her, the surface of the water, and the whole area. The robots were at the edge of the effect and only got a fine mist. They both turned to face the party. The air thrummed as their glowing heads flared bright white.

"Look out!" Gambit yelled. He dove forward and bowled both Rick and Daniel off the levee and into the next field over. They splashed into the muck as the air over their heads split with a blinding bolt of lightning.

"Holy crap!" Daniel cried, lunging to his feet. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Those things..." Rick began, but Gambit held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't worry. This field is outside the contested zone. Look at your mini-map."

Sure enough, the map display indicated they were in a normal zone. Rick stood carefully, raising his head high enough to see over the levee. The robots were still there, two-thirds of the way across the paddy, standing and looking after the party. Their heads were no longer bright.

An impressive string of curses told him Sam was still alive. "You jerks! I should have killed that boss! I should have never let you loot it! Is this how you repay a favor?"

"Damn, Daniel, what did you put in that thing?" Gambit asked.

Rick was still peering over the levee. She had gone back to bear form and was splashing around in the water. Her white fur was now completely black, soaked with a tarry substance. It was hard to tell on a bear's face, but it looked like she was glaring in their direction.

Rick turned and lunged for Daniel. "What did you do, man? You could have really hurt her!"

Gambit stepped between them, his hand on Rick's chest. "Take it easy, man. Take it easy. She's fine."

"Yeah, but he didn't know she was gonna be!" Rick snapped.

"You're right, you're right. Just take it easy," Gambit said soothingly. "Look, Daniel, don't go attacking other humans until we know more about how this place works. That wasn't cool."

Daniel looked sheepishly at Rick. "Sorry, man. I checked her health pool, and I knew what the trap would do. Seriously, I knew she'd be fine, or I wouldn't have set it."

Rick took a deep breath. Part of him still wanted to rip Daniel's throat out or at least punch him until that sheepish grin turned into a grimace. He shook himself. He didn't need to deal with that crap right now. She was only his ex-girlfriend. He didn't need to overreact. He turned away, and Gambit dropped his hands. “Fine. Let’s just see what happens next.”

They trudged across the field and climbed out on the far side. Sam and the robots were still in their field, slogging through the water. She had stopped yelling curses at them but wouldn't answer when Rick called her name. The party climbed up the levee and took stock.

"We could just wait for her to leave," Daniel suggested.

Now that he had had a chance to calm down, Rick pulled up his quest log and read over the next step. [Step Three: Discover the Source of the Corruption]

There was also a bar now for [Protect the Fields from the Miner's Incursions]. It stood at around 8% full.

"Hey, did you see this bar for the Protection quest?" Rick asked the others. "It looks like we did get something for that trap."

"Or for getting shot at by those robots," Gambit suggested.

"I don't think so," Daniel said, shaking his head and taking Gambit's comment seriously. "I saw the progress after the trap went off, and it was pretty much the same. I think it all came from that."

His map showed where phase three of the search quest was. It looked like it was just beyond the edge of the farmland where the desert started again. “Looks like the next step of the main quest is over there.” He pointed. “No need to clash with Sam.”

Gambit kept looking up and then turning his head to the side, checking his map the same way Rick was. "I think you're right. Let's give her and those death machines a wide berth and see if we can't get over there."

Rick didn't like this plan. He wanted to go back and try to talk to Sam, but now really wasn't the best time. She was alive and nearby, and that would have to be enough for now. He knew better than to try talking with her when she was in a bad mood anyway.

They passed through the farm fields and reached the edge. The paddies ended as the river valley ended at a low bluff in the desert beyond. The indicator on their map still lay ahead, so they climbed up the dusty slope.

"What was in that trap? It looked like spears and tar," Rick asked.

Daniel’s grin was back. "Yeah, basically. It turns out in a workshop, I can do almost anything. My skill's not that high yet, but I'm starting to see possibilities."

He shook his head. "I just need more materials, and we need to upgrade our workshop."

Rick glanced at Gambit, who shrugged. "Seems useful," Gambit said. "Traps are nice.”

“Traps are only the start!” Daniel said enthusiastically. “I mean, what’s the difference between a trap and a bomb when you come down to it?”

Rick decided not to answer that. "We'll have to ask Slate when we get back. Traps can be hard to use tactically, but anything we could make might be useful."

They reached the bluff, the rolling desert stretching away. This area was devoid of vegetation. The ground was just dirt and large gravel, with the occasional outcropping of stone.

What caught Rick’s attention was the giant excavation directly in front of them. A hole forty yards across had been dug in the desert. The excavation was carried out by a small army of robots, shorter than the ones that attacked them. They were digging in the soil with hands like spades. It wasn't a very efficient operation. They would stab their spade hands into the rocky dirt and then march out of the hole, carrying two shovelfuls to dump it on the desert beyond.

Something had been unearthed at the bottom of the hole. It looked like it was made of gleaming metal but it was hard to tell from this angle.

What was apparent from this angle was Team Technique leader Pratt, standing on the edge of the pit with his arms folded in an air of insufferable smugness. Another of Team Technique stood nearby. It was Jens, and he had just spotted Rick's party.

Rick quickly checked his map. Great, another contested zone. He warned the others.

Gambit said, "The normal zone ended about ten feet back."

Rick took a slow, careful step backward, still facing the mine and trying to look nonchalant.

"Want to ease out of here without looking like we're doing it?" he asked.

Gambit chuckled quietly. "Sure, we can run with our tails between our legs without letting anyone notice."

Rick glared at him but didn’t speak.

Daniel started nodding with a dawning smile. "Oh, I get it now. Contested zone, normal zone, it all makes sense. If we can just get out of there, we'll be safe, right?"

"Safe as we ever are," Rick grumbled.

He didn't like the idea of running away, but he liked the idea of getting jumped by five members of Team Technique and a small army of digger robots even less. And where was Sam? Those robots she had been escorting were even more deadly.

Pratt started around the hole toward them, with Jens scurrying along behind. Rick and the others managed to get out of the contested zone before Pratt was halfway around the excavation site.

Rick took another step backward and then stood waiting at the edge of the zone border, trying not to feel horribly exposed.

If you punched "cocky asshole" into most search engines, Pratt’s picture was definitely somewhere on the first page of hits. "So, you finally got out of newbie town, huh? And I see you've picked the wrong faction," Pratt sneered.

"Hey, Pratt, how you doing?" Rick replied, keeping his tone neutral. He had dealt with the A-hole enough to not rise to the bait, at least not instantly.

"We met your girlfriend. What do you know, she's on our side," Pratt said with a smirk. “Nice to know you piss off everyone in your life equally.”

Rick inspected Pratt. [Level 7] He wondered what a Force Wave to the face would do. It might knock that smirk off, but would it actually hurt him enough to be a problem? To keep him from summoning those robots?

There were only two of them here. Maybe they could ambush Pratt and get clean away. But Jens was [level 8] and there was a good chance the two of them could take all three of Rick's party, even if the robots didn't help. The rest of Technique had to be around here somewhere.

"Are you all still kicking, or have you gotten any of your team dead yet?" Rick asked.

Pratt’s smile didn’t falter. "Oh, we're all doing fine, I assure you. We even ran a couple of dungeons. They've got sweet loot. It's amazing what you can do with a real party."

Rick wanted to throw some cheap insults at Pratt, but he was more interested in what game information he could glean. "Do you guys have a caravan?"

Pratt's smile tightened and got a little wary. "Yes, after our first dungeon, the upgrade token dropped. So we went and figured out how to use it. How did you find out about it? I wouldn't have expected your little party to be able to get an upgrade token."

Rick smiled. "Our guide told us about it." He had a theory that game guides weren’t common, so he thought it was worth taunting Pratt over. Almost anything was worth taunting Pratt over. “And who did you get for your caravan?” Pratt sneered. “We had to do a quest to rescue some elites. No way your lowbie trio could have managed that.”

“We got stuck with a bunch of members of the Mars Expedition,” Rick replied. “You know, the ones we were sent here to find. We rescued a bunch of them, and now they’re in our caravan.”

Pratt looked at Rick through lowered brows as he considered. “I guess that’s good,” Pratt muttered, glowering. “We don’t need those guys slowing us down.”

“They haven’t yet,” Rick said. “Who did you get for your retinue, anyway?”

Pratt glared but didn’t answer.

“I won’t keep you from—” Rick waved at the excavation going on in the distance. “Whatever it is you’re up to, I’m sure it’s extremely important.”

Pratt’s smile burst back on the scene like the dawning of the sun.

“Oh, it’s very important,” he said. “And you’ll find out all about it shortly, if what Sam tells me is true.”

His grin made Rick want to punch his teeth in. Instead he smiled back and nodded. “Of course.” He had no clue what Pratt was talking about, but he didn’t want to give the jerk the satisfaction.

“Oh, look, hey, it’s time.” Pratt turned and looked back at the excavation.

The ground trembled under their feet. The robots were climbing up out of the hole, their shovels empty. The ground trembled again. Something rumbled from the pit.

Several robots and humans were approaching from the far side of the pit. To his dismay, Rick recognized Sam.

“This should be pretty good,” Pratt said. “Sam says she hasn’t been able to finish this quest because you need a full party to do all the prerequisites in one day.”

Kim and Andrews had arrived with a pair of robots flanking each of them, like the ones Sam had. They stopped at the edge of the pit. Their robots moved down into the bottom, each carrying a package the size of a large ham.

Rick lost sight of them as they descended into the hole.

“The thing about opposed faction grinds,” Pratt said, “is there’s always a loser.”

The ground heaved, and Pratt and Rick both staggered to keep their balance. Something started lifting from the hole.

“And today that loser is you.”

A shining metal dome rose into the sky. Dirt cascaded off it from all sides. In the center was a glowing oval.

The dome lifted free of the hole. The bottom rose into view, supported by a set of spindly legs.

Three legs.

“Holy shit, it’s a Martian tripod!” Rick exclaimed.

The massive Martian war machine towered three stories over their heads as it stepped clear of the hole. In one stride, it walked down into the farm fields and headed toward the village.

Rick turned and ran.