The cave entrance was a perfect half circle covered by a door made out of metal.
Galen tentatively reached out to touch it.
“Crazy isn’t it?”
The voice made him jump.
It was his squadmate, whose name was just on the tip of his tongue.
The introductions had been quick and interrupted by the alarms followed by the subsequent desperate retreat from the wall.
Another of his squad had a well-developed sense of danger that had them jumping off a split-second before the rest, which made them one of the few squads that avoided getting scorched by the torrent of magical fire.
Consequently, they and all the other survivors had rallied at the cave entrance with its gatehouse, traps and weapon emplacements.
“Yeah, it’s huge.”
He had to crane his neck to see the top of the door. And it was at least sixty feet across at the widest spot.
“How did you even get it all the way up here. It must weigh hundreds of tons.”
“No idea. Word is it just showed up one morning.”
“That’s—”
“Impossible?”
“Well… I guess not.”
There wasn’t much out of the realm of possibility with magic and Skills.
“Wait… it just showed up? You mean it wasn’t always here? With the fort, I mean.”
“Nope. We had, like, iron bars for years. This monster’s only been here for a few months. Before you ask, I have no idea why. I’m guessing it’s got something to do with why we aren’t allowed to go in there anymore.”
Galen had to ask and his unnamed squadmate quickly explained how a team had gone in and never came out.
Leadership had said that they got wiped out by monsters, but not much else.
A few days later updated orders had been quietly distributed.
The rules of engagement for the encounter challenge had been changed.
A lull in the conversation developed.
The silence made him nervous, so he was about to ask a random question when the gatehouse shook, showering them with dust from the roof abutting the mountain face.
“Something big fell. One of the dorms, maybe Crazy Ol’ Bob’s tower.”
“They’re not attacking the gatehouse?”
“No. Listen. You don’t hear anything, right?”
Galen didn’t.
There were three barriers still standing in front of the attackers if they wanted to get into the encounter challenge.
The thick metal door was the last one.
In front were two gatehouses filled with weapon emplacements, traps and murderholes.
He would’ve felt more confident had their first line of defense not fallen in what felt like an instant.
“Relax, kid. Captain’s still alive, which means we’re not done.”
He didn’t feel the same confidence.
He had seen Captain Jackson being kept alive by three healing capable Golden Eagles.
The fires had burned her body and fused parts of her armor to her flesh.
His gut roiled at the memory of the sight and smell.
To see her still standing there behind the shielded cannon emplacement with a straight shot at the second gate was inspiring.
The captain looked to be in an intense conversation with Sgt. Tran.
He didn’t know either of them well at all, seeing as how new he was, but the sergeant didn’t look happy with her orders judging by the sharpness of her hand gestures.
Indeed, she practically stomped the entire way to the squad.
“Bad news?” one of the squad said.
Again, Galen couldn’t remember the older woman’s name.
“Listen up. If it looks like the gate’s about to be breached we’re to head inside and call for help,” Sgt. Tran said.
“Shouldn’t we already be doing that?”
“We’re not getting any responses, so that means we’re being jammed or something.” She grunted. “Whatever’s inside is supposed to not have the same problem.”
“Probably, should’ve had that in the first place.”
“No argument from me, but we have orders. The captain’s going to try one last time to get these bastards to back off, so, I want you all ready to go through.”
Sgt. Tran stomped to the smaller door within a door where a keypad and some kind of scanning device were set in the dull metal.
Galen checked his gear.
To his eternal shame he had lost his carbine somewhere near the wall. It was probably melted slag.
He had his pistol, short blade and a knife.
“Rookie mistake, here.”
Another squadmate whose name he couldn’t remember tossed him an M-4.
“Lay off him, man. Like you’ve never lost your primary when things get soupy.”
“Thanks.” Galen checked the carbine to make sure a round was chambered.
The captain’s voice boomed.
A Skill or spell to let her be heard over the distance, through two gates in the fully-enclosed gatehouse.
The conversation was short.
And he only heard one side of it, but it proved to be a failure as the place began to shake and rumble.
“Now they’re attacking the gatehouse.”
Galen could only nod at his squadmate as the pit in his gut grew.
He couldn’t see the battle only hear its effects through the booms and shaking.
The captain yelled orders in between activating her Skills.
Seconds turned into minutes.
“They didn’t catch us by surprise this time.”
The outer wall had fallen quickly.
This time the Golden Eagles held firm.
“I told you you could relax kid, Captain Jackson’s one of our best leaders when it comes to defensive shit. We were there with her at that old bordello outside of the city when we got hit by a multi-spawn zone zerg rush a few days after that announcement. Held them off easy. Perfect coordination. Extra ammo out of thin air. Just as dialed-in at hour forty as we were at hour one. Shit, even the walls of that place were like what we’ve got here and they were made out of thin wood or something!”
“A bordello?”
“It’s, like, a fancy word for a brothel. Out of business though. I had no idea what it was. One of the older guys told me. Apparently, it was one of the few legal ones back in ancient times.”
“I hope the strain isn’t too much for her.” Galen could barely see the captain. Her back was hidden from view by one of the healers.
“She’s tough, as long as—”
His squadmates words were lost in a flurry of action centered around the captain.
He brought his carbine up, but kept his finger off the trigger since he didn’t have a clear shot.
What he saw was a small shape suddenly appearing behind the healer before vanishing from his notice just as quickly.
Shoots of warning mingled with cries of dismay as the Golden Eagles rushed to Captain Jackson’s side.
She had gone from standing tall despite horrendous burn damage to lying face first in the dirt with blood pooling beneath her.
Sgt. Tran cursed. She punched in a code and placed her palm on the scanner.
“C’mon—”
Her squad was torn, some made as if to go to Captain Jackson’s aid.
“But—”
“We have the captain’s orders!”
The door within the door lurched open with what felt like glacial slowness.
It was thick.
At least five feet from the looks of it.
“Go!” Sgt. Tran snapped.
Galen went somewhere in the middle of the formation.
The sergeant was last and she hit a button on the other side to close the door.
“Crowd the opening until it shuts!” she barked. “Can’t let that rogue-type sneak in!”
The squad didn’t hesitate to put their bodies in danger until the door finally closed with a dull thud.
“Right, okay.” Sgt. Tran took a deep breath. “Defensive posture.” She hurried to the other side of the surprisingly large chamber where a steel box was set in the cave wall.
Galen was surprised to note that the surfaces weren’t what he had expected.
They looked as though carved with intent.
The floor was tiled stone, smooth and leveled.
The walls and ceiling were much the same.
There was a lack of random outgrowths of rocks and such.
It was brighter than he had expected.
Glowing crystals were spaced out to illuminate the entire space with dim light.
The sergeant removed a bell from the box and rang it toward the gaping tunnel leading deeper into the encounter challenge.
The same glowing crystals were set into the tunnel’s ceiling, running as far as he could see.
They didn’t have to wait long before short, dark shapes materialized in the gloom. As if they had walked right out of the tunnel walls.
Galen forced himself to stand still and focus on trigger discipline.
He had only seen pictures of the Bat People as part of his orientation just a few days ago.
Their faces were the stuff of nightmares. More bat than people in his opinion.
Skin-like wings hung underneath their long, sinewy arms from near their clawed hands down to somewhere at mid-thigh of their short, oddly-shaped legs that were more akin to an animal than his own.
The fact that they wore clothing and metallic armor helped him get through the initial uncanny valley terror.
The shotguns they carried helped too.
These were sapient beings, like him.
Allies.
Sgt. Tran raised a clench fist before approaching the lead bat person.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Vertigo. Ham sandwich. Thirty-two.”
Galen thought he heard clicks as the bat person responded.
“Sandman. Mayo. Twenty-four.”
“Possible breach. Human. At least five. Over Level 40 minimum.”
The sergeant described the assailants’ observed abilities. Her brisk tones failed to convey the devastation and terror of having fire fill the sky and descend on them.
The lead bat person nodded their head in a deliberate manner. Human-like, which made it even creepier. Like they were consciously trying to move like Galen, so as to not creep him out. They turned that scary face to the other scary faces.
Again, Galen thought he heard clicking sounds.
“Earthian defense protocols.”
The leader reached into a belt pouch and pulled out a small gem or crystal that Galen felt humming with a small amount of mana.
The rest of the Bat People melted back into the dimly-lit tunnel as their leader spoke into the gem.
“Possible Earthian attack from surface. Allied report. Carrying out protocols. Proc—”
The bat person vomited dark blood tinged with glowing green.
A large fang the size of a short blade jutted out of their open mouth.
Ivory shot through with lines of glowing green glistened red.
The bat person’s head liquefied before anyone could react.
“She’s the one that stabbed the captain!” someone called out.
The carbine felt heavy in Galen’s hands. Like a leaden weight with how slow it felt for him to raise it to his shoulder.
The killer’s dark cloak rustled before she vanished from their notice.
“Rogue-type. Blind taunt. Before she gets to the others,” Sgt. Tran said.
Multiple Skills activated.
A high-pitched curse echoed from the dimly-lit tunnels.
“Forward. Tanks in front. Galen hang back.”
He could only watch their backs as they descended down the gentle slope.
Shotgun blasts had him dropping his carbine to cover his ears like an amateur. Thankfully he had his weapon on a sling.
A screech had him double over just like several of his squad.
The ringing persisted. His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. He removed his fingers and found that to be no improvement.
The sergeant was yelling something.
He shook his head pointing to his ears.
She beckoned him to her with urgent gestures.
He ran to her, stumbling. Dizzy.
“Heals.”
One of his squadmates placed hands over his ears.
“It happened so fast.”
“Fuck! Now what?”
The squad was arrayed in a tight defensive formation pointed down the tunnel.
Shields up front.
It was a tight fit. No more than three or four people could stand shoulder to shoulder.
“No way she can get behind us.”
“That’s worse for us judging by that.”
Galen’s eyes were drawn to the carnage on the tunnel floor in front of them.
Liquefied goo.
He counted three sets of clothing and armor.
Which meant that the enemy rogue didn’t get all of the Bat People.
“They got the warning out, right? So, we don’t have to worry about that. Just the high-level rogue with the face melting weapon lurking in the darkness.”
“We can’t let her get past us to open the doors.”
“Fuck that! We stay here and we’re the shit in the shit sandwich when those fucks outside get through.”
“They won’t.”
“No chance they don’t. Not without the captain. The defense folds if she’s down.”
“We don’t know that.”
“She got stabbed by the same weapon that melted them!”
“We follow protocols.” Sgt. Tran cut through the fear. “There’s a rally point. Since they got the message out, he should already be on his way.”
“Who?” Galen said.
“Someone on the same level as the people attacking us.”
“What about the rogue, sarge? What if we walk right into her?”
“She’s here to cut off the warning. She’ll be chasing after the one she missed. If she’s waiting for us then all the better. The tight space gives us an advantage.”
It did not, in fact, give them an advantage.
Galen made it to the rally point alone at the end of a desperate headlong run.
Bloodied and bruised, gasping for breath, but alive.
It had happened so fast.
The disorientation of a swap Skill that saw him go from the rear of the formation to the front as one of the tanks saved him from that venomous fang-sword. Galen didn’t see what became of that earnest-faced man in his middle years whose name he didn’t remember.
Dead.
Probably.
He knew that they were all dead since no one else joined him as the Sgt. Tran shoved him down the tunnel with an order to get to the rally point.
He heard no boots behind him.
Heard only his deep breaths.
He was a terrible person for not being able to connect their names to their faces.
His new squad.
Dead and gone the same day he had joined them.
The rally point was an enormous cavern, littered with spear-like rock formations jutting down from the shadowed ceiling and thrusting out of the dusty floor, which was surprisingly smooth and level.
The same crystals that lined the tunnel were randomly scattered on every surface creating deep, dark shadows everywhere.
He didn’t know what to do now that he had made it.
The tunnel behind him held pursuing death, yet an instinct gripped his guts and kept him from moving further into the cavern.
The choice was taken from his hands when a nearby patch of shadow writhed.
Carbine went up and down when he noticed what felt like gun barrels being shoved into various places below his belt.
Before he could look down his eyes were drawn to the tall, dark form stepping out of the shadow.
Plate armor in the darkest gray as though it sucked in what little light emanated from the crystals.
A sickly glow emerged from the full-faced helm’s eye slit.
To stare into them was to threaten a complete loss of control over his bowels.
He looked away.
It was the only he could do.
So, he stood there, slick palms struggling to hold on to his weapon.
“Pass phrase.”
The voice was a deep rasp.
Fear gripped his soul.
He stammered something.
The rasp again, repeating the same question.
Somehow, he found his voice again.
“I don’t know. The sergeant would, but she’s…”
He wanted to look back toward the tunnel, but he couldn’t move his eyes from the spot on the floor he had locked on to.
Gibbering sounds from all around him emerged out of the shadow centered on him.
It seemed to have three dimensions. Less a normal shadow flat on the floor, but something with mass, like he was standing in thick fog or waist-deep water.
He glimpsed flashes of movement. Small, wiry limbs, sharp claws and teeth… weapons… guns… for some reason.
“Vertigo! Ham sandwich! Thirty-two!” He remembered. “Sandman! Mayo! Thirty-four!”
“Those are pass phrases…”
The pit in Galen’s stomach began to drop.
“Just not the right ones.”
It fell with a thud. It took a herculean effort to keep what was inside from leaking out.
“Wait, please! I’m me! I mean, I’m a Golden Eagle!”
The words poured out in a torrent like that one night he mixed too many different mind-altering substances.
Ms. Daniels had been most displeased. It took almost the entire next day for him to clean up the mess, hangover or no hangover. She had zero sympathies.
“Yeah, you’re not high enough level.”
The rasp had vanished.
The terror had been replaced by a manageable dread.
He felt that unclenching wouldn’t make him die without dignity. Indeed, that overwhelming sense of imminent death had vanished.
Galen looked up.
The man was still in his armor, but the helm had vanished to reveal a chiseled face that had Galen swallowing the lump in his throat for a very different reason.
Messy blond hair framed a square jaw.
Smooth skin.
Bright eyes that carried… something.
“Golden Eagle?”
Galen could only nod.
“Judging by your look, the enemy’s inside?”
He nodded.
“I mean, at least one, but the others might already be on their way. I mean my squad might’ve killed the rogue. I don’t know.”
“Go. Scout and observe. Stay hidden. Don’t engage.”
“Um—” Galen pointed a finger to himself before looking down and seeing for the first time the little nightmares that had surrounded him.
So ugly.
Hairless.
Wiry.
Teeth, claws, blind, one-eyed, many-eyed.
Disgust blended with bemusement when he noticed that some of the small, child-sized monsters were geared up like him complete with shadowy-looking guns and body armor.
They skittered into the dimly-lit tunnel, appearing to go in and out of the writhing shadows.
“What can you tell me about the enemy?”
“Huh?” he turned his attention back to the handsome, yet scary man.
It took him a moment to gather himself, but he quickly relayed what he remembered.
The man took a moment to think after Galen finished.
“You’re too low level for this fight. But, there isn’t any way out of this place. It’s sort of a dead end. At least at this moment. There are murder bunkers hidden everywhere, so you can hide in one of those until it’s over.”
He nodded, then he thought of his squad.
Their sacrifice.
The sacrifice of the Golden Eagles out in the fort.
He thought of Hayden’s stories.
He had always recognized the warnings she didn’t hide too well in them.
She had meant to discourage from pursuing a similar life as her rather than inspire, but she couldn’t hide that what she had done had been necessary. Someone had to risk to do good.
It was why he was here.
“Or you can contribute. It’ll be a challenge for you to survive, but everyone knows that’s the key to gaining more levels.” The man practically spat the words.
“What can I do to best help you stop these bastards?”
“Stop means kill. Do you understand?”
Galen nodded.
“You’re not going to ask why?”
“They killed Golden Eagles. That’s the only ‘why’ I need.”
“So young to be so…” the man shook his head. “But, I’m not the one to lecture on that. What can you do?”
Galen shared his abilities.
“I guess the mist could add a layer of concealment. How much space can you fill? And how quickly?”
“I think I can fill most of this place up in an hour. It’s already cold down here so it’ll last longer.”
“How much can you make in five minutes?”
“About a hundred feet around me if it has to be thick enough so you can’t see through it without some kind of magic or Skill.”
“That’ll have to be good enough.” The man gestured.
Galen thought it was directed to him, but once again it was to one of those ever-present creatures lurking inside the shadows.
The thing actually give the dark-armored man a smart salute.
“The murder bunkers are connected by tunnels. It’s a tight fit, so try not to freak out because no one’s going to help you. And this place is going to be a warzone soon. Remember, your best chance at not dying is putting a few feet of stone and metal between you and all the stuff that’s going to be flying around.”
Galen nodded wide-eyed.
The man pointed at one of the larger stone pillars near the tunnel entrance.
“Do your cold mist thing. Even if they burn it away that will let me know they’re coming and give me an opening. I want you to keep generating mist. Use your judgment on where. Your goal is to obscure to the battlefield.”
“What about you?”
“It won’t bother me.”
“Okay. Got it. What else can I do to help?”
“You’ve got a gun. Take shots if you think you’ve got good ones. There are weapons stashed in the bunkers. Use the ones you know how to. Try not to friendly fire me, but if it comes down to it, don’t worry about it too much. I can take it better than them.”
“I… understand…”
“Follow it. If I can, I’ll try to direct you to where I can use you.”
It took a moment for Galen to realize that the man was referring to the horrid little monster.
He didn’t much like the thought of being in dim, tight spaces alone with it.
“One last thing. If you see white-skinned humanoid monsters… shoot yourself in the brain.”
“Got it— wait? What?”
The man gestured.
The horrid creature gibbered and tugged on Galen’s pant leg.
He stifled a shudder and followed in a daze.
The door to the murder bunker in the base of the pillar was indistinguishable from the surrounding stone.
It took the creature a few seconds to point it out to Galen.
He followed it into the yawning blackness and reluctantly pulled the door shut behind him.
Crystals lit up a moment later.
The dim red light did little to lessen the creature’s scary appearance as it beckoned to him.
It pointed to the wall where Galen found the lever to open the murder holes.
There were several covering the circumference of the roughly circular bunker.
He opened them all before activating his Skill.
Mist cold enough to make the creature hiss and shiver began to appear around him.
It continued to fill the bunker until it had nowhere else to go but out of the murder holes.
He couldn’t control it, not yet.
Perhaps if he leveled.
“Good. Just like that. Keep it up.”
The rasping voice returned.
His heart almost stopped permanently.
It had come from just over his right shoulder.
He glanced back to see nothing.
“They’re coming. Get ready. I’m sorry about your squad.”
Galen blinked.
He understood why the dark-armored man had said that a moment later.
He realized that he still carried hope, no matter how small, for Sgt. Tran and his squadmates.
No more.
His vision blurred as wet tracks trailed down his cheeks.
He hadn’t even gotten a chance to know them. To form the close-knit bonds of brothers and sisters in arms. Fighting the good fight. Together.
His heart grew colder.
Their murderers were within his reach.
His vision cleared.
He couldn’t do much, but he’d do everything he could.
No matter the cost.