THE GALACTIC REACTION.
EVERGLADES, FLORIDA - GROUNDED STARSHIP. DAYTIME.
The Orc crew and their client waited in the ship. According to Narell, all the readings were appropriate and the machine was “synchronizing”. He neglected to answer any questions.
He spent his time focusing the mana dispersal system on several areas on a display of the greater area, spending about ten minutes on each one.
One of the sergeants had stepped in a pile of soft paste outside. A smell had followed him inside, and was getting more intense all the time. Each of the crew had been assaulted by insects while outside, and had welts.
“Are we sure we don’t know when it will happen?” Asked a sergeant.
“Today!” snapped Narell. The ever-calm, if manic-eyed, Grobbin had gone. He made wheezing sounds and twitched. His ears dropped, giving him a sullen, angry look.
If the Captain had ever seen him like this during the two year preparation, he would have called off the mission. Narell had been patient and even-tempered at all times. No longer. But, the die was cast, and they had to wait out the roll.
The Captain’s voice spoke. He drew on years of experience and his own belief in himself. “We all know the risks and the stakes for this mission. The System does not reward safety, and those who dare greatly can harvest greatness. Brothers, sister, keep steady. Here, or safe in some burrow, death will come for us someday. By doing this, we strive. We hope. And we may achieve that greatness.”
“And perhaps redemption...” he breathed nearly silently at the end.
The only sound was the harsh breathing of the Grobbin, looking at the Captain with shining eyes.
A buzzer sounded and everyone jumped.
“Captain! A land vehicle is slowing near the junction with the road! It may enter the retreat!”
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Narell barked, “Always a possibility! Have drilled for this! Attend duty!” The lack of System enhancements seemed to have inhibited his speech. He also looked more feral.
The Captain swept an angry look to the Grobbin, who hissed and backed down. “If they continue through without stopping, let them. If they open the vehicle, take them.”
“Narell, prepare the mana dispersal for local injection. We might need to advance the timetable.”
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MAKING DO
EVERGLADES, FLORIDA - PASSENGER BUS. DAYTIME.
Mr. Marks looked at the upcoming road ahead. “Ok, I saw the sign, but are you sure that’s a park?”
“Yep,” said Al. “Not a big one. Some of these are just little walking paths off the road. And a Porta-John.”
“What!” A cry rose from the students.
Al shrugged. “I said facilities.”
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PREPARATIONS
EVERGLADES, FLORIDA. OUTSIDE THE STARSHIP. DAYTIME.
The two Orc sergeants mentally reviewed their plans. Intense debate had occurred about the possibility of encountering natives before System integration.
With their System advantages, the squad could reasonably expect to fight off a battalion or more of any Earth forces. The Earth weapons might even break before they could do any damage. Any small wounds could easily be healed, and their return fire would be orders of magnitude more effective.
The problem was that the System was not backing these fighters now. With such a small force, and with so much to gain, the aliens decided to cheat.
The plan to create themselves as new, invincible warriors sounded impossible. It needed the System to work. It also needed the System to not be working. To reconcile these, Narell dug deep into forbidden Researcher Lore and found the answer. A device whose origins were lost to time, the mana dispersal system did not make mana go away. Instead it used massive mana batteries to inject mana into the environment where it did NOT exist. The aliens intended to create a mini System before the actual integration. Narell would then use his Hacker skill to bully the much smaller System into what he wanted. It would never work if the full resilience of the System came into play. Narell found the loophole from a 40 second video showing an Ambassador to a world that would be welcomed into the System a millennia ago. The Ambassador lost control of his vehicle and bailed out as it fell. With wreckage falling all around him a mana battery happened to burst right below him. For a split second, the Ambassador’s Status showed brightly and he cast a spell to slow his fall. Unfortunately for him, the mana dissolved into the atmosphere and the spell failed. The Ambassador was crushed under the falling ship.
Added to this was his discovery from the earlier expedition, that users without a class or System integration could have their choice of Class taken away. This would never happen with the full System running properly. In the Lost Zone, that process was inevitably fatal. A mana dispersal with its partial integration could create a point allowing the creation of “low level” Advanced Classes, who took the choice from the non-registered user. The “chance” to get these Classes was eliminated and certainty was put into the hands of the deserving. Like him. And the Orc.
Using the mana dispersal system also let registered users get their Skills and abilities back to a certain degree. Enough to overpower non-registered natives, for sure.
And since they needed these users anyway, it let them gather up the needed materials.
The Orc moved to the edge of the stealth fence and prepared to move on the bus.