“Derek, what did you bring today?” Phil asked as he watched his friend unbox his gear.
“Since we’re just doing a skirmish, I brought a 1200 point mixed Confederate force. I’m not going to tell you my build until we start playing,” Derek replied.
Phil shook his head as he continued to open up the carefully packed miniatures boxes that he had brought to the store today. Tuesday night was the only timeslot their small group of military wargamers could get time to occupy a table at their friendly local gaming store. Even more difficult than finding a time to play was finding a terrain setup that matched the era they played in—typically Napoleonic or American Civil War.
“We’ll which of these do we use today?” Phil asked him.
The miniatures shop was a decent size and featured six different terrain options ranging from three small skirmish tables to three huge multiplayer areas. They only had time for a skirmish tonight, which limited their choices to the three smaller tables. The first one was definitely out, it had terrain from as was decorated like the surface of some alien tech world. Not too many civil war battles were fought next to shattered power-armored mechs or blasted skyscrapers.
The second table was also out, it featured a desert landscape with large rock outcroppings. For the final choice, they had a grassy area interspersed with an elaborate trench system with concrete bunkers. They’d used this one in the past and just house ruled that the defensive structures were grassy flatlands for calculating line of sight.
“I guess we’ll just use the same one unless you want to build some alternate rules for alien invasions during the battle,” Derek replied. They joked about the space battle gamers who were the main customer base for the shop.
Phil had pretty much ignored the game the majority of the others played since it involved aliens, starships, mechs, and the like. It wasn’t anything he and the other five members of their historical gaming group were interested in. Sadly, it was what the majority of miniatures players wanted to play, and he and his group were a dying breed that was slowly being pushed out of venues to play in.
Historical miniature battles were now fought by players who were mostly retirement age. He was fifty-five and had only started playing in his early forties. A love of military history and the chance to recreate and perhaps change the outcome of a battle from history drew him into the hobby.
“Maybe we should stick with what we know. I’ve had about had enough of alien invasions,” Phil replied. He couldn’t ignore the Upgrade and the chaos it had caused, but in reality, his life wasn’t much different than it had been. He was a mid-level manager for the county and most of his skills were related to that task.
The only interesting bit was the skills granted by his love of gaming. He could look at a miniature and read the information on it, seeing the history of the unit, and knowing where it would work best in his current build. Sure, it wasn’t some superhero type of power, but it fit him.
“Cool, I think it’s going to just be us two today. Randy and Kyle had to work late, and Lance had a thing at his grandkid’s school,” Derek told him.
“No worries, I’ll just rout your army on my own today,” Phil joked as he began to place his units on the field. He had just finished painting up the last of the 55th Massachusetts regiment and couldn’t wait to bring them into the battle. It wasn’t the optimal build for their skirmish, lacking much in the way of artillery support, but he didn’t want to cut them out of his build after he had spent all the time painting them over the last few weeks.
“Meeting engagement?” Phil asked as he got his first peek at Derek’s build.
“Yeah, it’s the only fair thing to do unless we want to adjust some units. If we finish early maybe we can reconfigure for an attack on a fortified position if you want to,” Derek replied. Phil watched him pull out six companies of the 22nd Virginia along with some guns from the 2nd Virginia artillery. It looked like he had a battery of four twelve-pound Napoleon howitzers and a pair of six-pounder field guns. The only artillery that Phil was bringing to the field was a pair of the six-pounder guns.
On their fairly small battlefield and with them fighting a meeting engagement, Phil should have time to close some of the distance while Derek unlimbered the guns and brought them into firing position. With a turn or two of the guns being inactive, his ten companies of infantry should be able to overrun the six companies facing him and then push on, sweeping over the artillery before they caused too much damage. Still, facing six guns firing canister shot at close range was going to be murder on his forces.
Derek still had a few points to spend if Phil’s calculations were right. Digging into his box of miniatures, Derek pulled out three cavalry troops. The cavalry was from the 8th Virginia if he read their guidons correctly.
The individual cavalary troops were mounted on large bases that allowed them to remove casualties when the fight started, and it looked like Derek had opted to bring his cavalry units in understrength with several models missing from the unit base. The understrength units allowed him to exactly meet the point limit for the game.
His friend had only had time to paint two of the four cavalry companies. Their small group didn’t require a fully painted army like some groups did. It was preferred, but as long as the players were making progress on getting the whole unit painted, nobody cared.
“Nice build, Derek. Might be a rough night for me, but I wanted to bring the full regiment out for a spin,” Phil admitted.
“They look great, I’m glad you opted for the 55th instead of the 54th Massachusetts, everyone uses the 54th ever since the Glory movie,” Derek said.
“Gentlemen, are you Derek Hines and Phillip Dunwalt?” A man in a suit asked them. Both players were a little startled, not seeing the man or his three other, similarly dressed companions enter the store.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” A confused Phil replied.
“I’m special agent Dupree with the FBI and I need a moment of your time regarding a matter of national security,” the man said, holding out what appeared to be a real FBI badge.
“This is weird, but sure, what can we do for you?” Derek offered.
“We’ve had an unusual Upgrade occurrence, one that hasn’t hit the news yet,” Agent Dupree started, waiting to explain until after the rest of the store's customers and staff were escorted out.
“A cruise ship in the pacific was attacked by a powerful Upgrade creature and we were forced to use extreme measures to contain it. Sadly, it looks like our measures weren’t completely successful and parts of the monster are on the move,” the agent explained. It still wasn’t making any sense to Phil, what did some nearly retired county manager have to do with Upgrade creatures in the pacific ocean?
“I’m assuming you’re getting to the part that involves us?” Derek asked, voicing Phil’s very thoughts.
“Yes, and this is where it gets strange,” Dupree said. “I know, there is a lot of weirdness going on since the Upgrade, but this monster’s appearance is the first time since the initial messages that the GGS have contacted us directly. Up till now, we’ve been under the impression that we were cut off from all communication until a thousand years have passed and the closed beta portion of our development was over. Let me push this information to you so you can read for yourselves,” Dupree said as Phil got a notification in his interface.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
William Dupree has asked to share a report with you, will you allow access to your interface? Y/N.
Phil hit yes and was barraged by new information.
Notice to the government of the nation known as the United States. A large recreational vessels has uncovered a world boss creature in the Pacific Ocean. This event was unplanned and outside the scope of any challenge that we had intended at this early stage in your development. Your response with overwhelming force has severely damaged the creature and semi-autonomous parts of the monster are heading toward an island we had previously designated as its primary target.
The test of a new interaction feature based on the gaming systems of your world is required. Individuals in your nation have been selected and will be required to proceed to the designated island and mount a defense for humanity.
Should you decline to participate in this new feature test, the creature will continue to its target which is the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, consuming all biomass on the island before continuing to the coast of the state you call California. Participation in the test will mitigate and potentially stop the creature.
Currently, the creature’s power is being suppressed to a certain extent, and should you decline this offer, its full strength will be enabled, including its propensity to feed upon sapient life.
Our test requires the use of a particular type of gamer that specializes in historical miniatures as well as one gamer that specializes in another game. After careful analysis, these are the chosen historical gamers we wish to participate in this featured test.
The strange message from the GGS listed him, Derek, and some other guy they’d never met. He was a bit confused and wasn’t sure what to do or say next. How was he supposed to stop some giant creature, he didn’t have any special abilities?
“I can see the confusion on your face, I had the same expression when I was assigned to this task force. Our experts have come up with a theory on the purpose of the upgrade. Many of them postulate that the Upgrade is used to create an entertainment environment here on Earth since our planet is chock full of myths and monsters that these GGS guys seem to love creating.
“Also, they might just want to see new aspects of gaming they haven’t witnessed before. You guys are historical gamers and they insisted you each bring something called a 1200-point skirmish force, I assume you know what that is?” Agent Dupree asked.
“Sure, but bring it where and why?” Phil asked.
“We’re not sure why, from the instruction the government received, you will both receive skill upgrades once you agree to accept this quest. As for where… it’s a place called Midway Island. It used to be a military base, but that’s been closed down for years and now it’s just a wildlife refuge.
“The few people on the island have been evacuated and from what our observation planes have seen, all modern buildings have been taken apart by the nanobots infusing the island. What exactly will happen when you arrive is unknown, but it may be the only chance we have to stop this monster,” the agent advised. It was hard for Phil to believe, but then again, a lot of hard to believe things were happening in the last few months.
“Why couldn’t the military stop it and how are we supposed to?” Phil asked.
“This will be made public later, but the monster attacked a cruise ship and defeated a combined US and Japanese task force. The creature sunk three warships and was getting stronger the whole time. We were forced to used nuclear weapons on the beast and now, it seems, that the thing somehow survived.
“I’m not sure how you’re supposed to stop it, I only know the GGS has said you would have a chance to. If you can’t, I don’t think we can stop it short of a massive nuclear strike that would destroy almost as much as the monster. I can’t force you to do this, but understand there are dire consequences if you don’t try,” the agent added.
“Will we be in any danger?” Derek asked, expressing a concern Phil felt as well.
“We don’t know, but I would guess that yes, you could be in mortal danger. This is a lot to ask, I know, but I can tell a fellow history buff when I see one,” the agent said pointing at their minis. “If there’s one thing history shows us, it’s that some things are worth risking your safety to defend. In this case, its everyone in Hawaii and the west coast. Will you help us, will you help your fellow citizens, will you help the world?” The agent asked.
Looking at the table, Phil recalled the history of the unit he was pretending to play tonight, the 55th Massachusetts. There, on the table, he saw the bright blue uniforms and dark skin of the soldiers. Free men who took up arms in the fight to free others from the yoke of slavery. There, among the soldiers represented by these miniatures were the stories of two medal of honor winners, a man risking his life to save their commander and a man risking his life to save the unit’s colors.
He was no soldier, but neither were any of the men in the regiment before the war started. The call came and they answered, they fought and died for something greater than themselves. Here Phil was playing games that resembled history, but now, now he had a chance to make it.
“So, you want us, two older guys with no special Upgrade powers, to stop some monster that the military couldn’t stop even when they used nuclear weapons. Oh, and we’re supposed to do it with our plastic miniatures. Sure, I’m in,” Phil said.
“Not without me, the other guys are going to be so mad that they didn’t show up play tonight,” Derek added. Phil had hoped his friend would come to the same conclusions he had.
The FBI agents brought in special cases to help hold their miniatures. Both the gamers took a lot of care to protect their minis inside foam-lined cases, but their cases were now further protected by some kind of hard plastic munitions crate that looked like it could survive being dropped off a building. The men were able to make a quick call home, but time was critical, so they were taken directly to the nearest airport.
His wife, of course, didn’t believe him, hanging up angrily on Phil until an agent showed up at their home to explain as much as he could about what was happening. Their second call was more tearful and made him almost regret his decision to help.
They took a military C-5 Galaxy from the airfield to Hawaii, and then after refueling, they would make it to Midway. Phil forgot his fear and concern for a while, excited to ride in a genuine military aircraft, one of the largest in the world. One of the aircrew handed them each an MRE and a couple of bottles of water. He wasn’t really hungry but figured he needed the calories for whatever they were going to do.
After a bit of fumbling, the airman showed him how to use the flameless ration heater to make his cheese tortellini main course something approaching lukewarm. It wasn’t the best meal he ever had, but it also wasn’t the worst. He couldn’t finish the whole thing, saving the trail mix and chocolate peanut butter spread for a snack later.
Phil tried to talk to the aircrew and agent Dupree, but a military transport aircraft isn’t the quietest thing in the air, making conversation nearly impossible. Their flight was long and it isn’t easy to rest on a military aircraft, but somehow he fell asleep during the trip. The whine of the flaps and the thump of the landing gear going down alerted him to their imminent landing.
It was just past sunrise and he really wanted to get a look at Midway Island, a place he had read about in World War 2 history books but never thought he would see in real life. Sadly, military aircraft also aren’t known for their lovely view, no widow seats here, except for the pilots.
With a bump, the giant transport set down, braking hard as the engines howled in reverse to bleed off their speed. After a few minutes, the engines shut down and the rear ramp began to descend. Sticky heat that smelled of the sea and rotting vegetation seeped into the plane along with the bright light of a new day. Agent Dupree stood and waved them off the plane. A pair of soldiers in army uniforms walked up the ramp to grab their miniature cases. It looked like this was a joint operation, not just an air force thing.
“Gentlemen, I’m Colonel Hallowell. I realize you didn’t have much time to prepare, so we’ve had some uniforms set aside for you along with toiletries if you want to get cleaned up before we start. You do need to move with a purpose though, gentlemen, the clock is ticking,” the colonel said.
Still confused, but realizing he wasn’t exactly dressed for a battle or whatever was going to go on here, Phil followed a soldier over to a tent with fresh uniforms and boots along with a pile of small travel toiletries. Behind the tent was a field shower that he took advantage of. He had come to the game store right after work wearing dress slacks and long sleeve shirt with a tie. Casual dress shoes didn’t look like they would be all that useful here on the island.
Knowing time was limited, Phil took a quick shower and threw on his uniform, finding it surprisingly comfortable. He thought the camo pattern looked pretty cool and wondered if they would let him keep the uniform after this was over. His boots were a little bit too big, but close enough where he didn’t think they would give him problems, after all, he wasn’t going to run around in combat, was he?
“I guess we’re kind of old for a pair of new recruits, eh Phil?” Derek said as they left the tent. Colonel Hallowell waved them over to a table with a map draped over it. He could see their cases holding the miniatures were stacked up nearby. It was time to figure out what the heck they were supposed to do.
This was quite a unique situation that Phil and Derek found themselves in. The GGS had pretty much cut off communication after our leaders botched that first day of the Upgrade. The theory that this whole world transformation was done to make Earth a sort of role-playing amusement park is a popular one.
None of us can know for sure until we leave the closed beta portion of our development. Phil’s story lends credence to my own theory that the GGS messed up in placing the world bosses too early and needed to create something new to clean up the mess. Phil, Derek, and one other person were now the only things standing between the remains of the world boss and humanity. They seemed an odd choice, but the GGS has always been a bit strange in how they do things…