As soon as the dropship touched down in the hangar bay there was a mad rush of medical activity . The marines, grim faced and weary, began to unload the craft, their movements swift and practiced. The air thick with urgency as Milford was carried off the dropship. The bright lights of the hangar bay bleaching whatever colour was left from his pallid skin. He lay still on the stretcher as medical personnel swarmed him, doctors barking orders to their staff “Get surgery bay 1 ready, Now!” as he waved the scanner over Milford’s body he spared a glance at Alpha team “Whoever did this deserves a medal, get them to come and see me when we’re done with him.”
As the medical team whisked Milford away the hangar bay seemed to shrink around Alpha team. They regrouped at hangar bay three to debrief with Lieutenant Brasseur. Sergeant Alfaro his mind paced restlessly, his thoughts racing as he replayed the ambush by the massive wolf over and over.
“Do we even know what we’re up against?” Chloe finally broke the silence her tired and edged with anxiety”.
“No,” Alfaro replied letting the tiredness seep into his voice, his gaze fixed on the massive door of the hangar bay leading to this new world. “But we need to prepare for worse. What we faced has to be barely scratching the surface”
Leon stepped into the bay, his authoritative presence cutting through the tension of Alpha. “We won’t be going in blind again.” he declared, his eyes full of conviction scanned each member of Alpha team. “When the admiral arrives, I want every little detail of what happened recorded for our logs, get those scientists here too.”
As the last of the science team that went out with Alpha filtered in, Leons eyes scanning each and every one of them,
“Let me start off by saying for the future, everyone will have weapons training before stepping one foot off this ship in the future. Since all of you will be staying with Alpha I can arrange joint training with special warfare. I don’t want to be caught out like that again.”
The room fell silent, the gravity of Leon’s words sinking in heavily. Each member of the science team nodded solemnly, their eyes reflecting a mixture of relief and embarrassment. They had barely escaped with their lives, and they all knew it, Without Alpha, all of them would have been food for the wolves.
Dr Anton, head researcher on Yadvek shifted uncomfortably. “With all due respect, Lieutenant, we didn’t expect to encounter anything like that.” his voice filled with uncertainty
Leons gaze found him his expression hardening “Neither did Milford and look where that landed him, heavily injured and barely clinging to life. I don’t expect you to become soldiers I just need to know that you’re capable of protecting yourself in the future.”
Dr Anton felt the lights of the hangar bay singling him out. As he nodded to the Lieutenant and took his place back with his team. The rest of them fidgeted, memories of the recent encounter lurking fresh in their minds.
“Now,” he continued, letting the silence stretch uncomfortably, “let’s debrief on what happened out there.” He motioned towards a nearby terminal, An image captured from Milford’s helmet camera materialised in front of them . Its teeth bared in a horrific snarl, it was a sight none of them would soon forget: dark grey fur with what looked like shadows rolling off of it, its fur and shadow seamlessly blending into the dark surrounding of the forest. “This,” Leon said with a gesture to the screen, “is what Milford was up against, a [WIND WOLF] , two metres tall, highly aggressive. His low velocity APERS rounds barely did anything against it.”
Murmurs rippled through the science team as one member leaned in closer to get a better view.Leon watched the faces of the science team twist with horror as he let the footage from Milford’s helmet play through from the beginning. He could see the thoughts racing through their minds - images of their protector, barely surviving that nightmare, and the realization that they had been woefully unprepared.
Dr Elizabeth, a biologist raised her hand tentatively. “Lieutenant, if this wolf is so well adapted what measures can we take to counter its advantages. Surely there’s something we can employ.” Leon noticed this was the same scientist that had looked away from what Milford’s helmet camera footage.
Leon appreciated her initiative but kept his expression steely. “That’s exactly why we need joint training, this isn’t just about understanding an alien species; it’s about survival now and the strategies we can take to make sure we survive everything thrown at us.” He gestured again to the screen. “Milford had state-of-the-art gear, yet it barely got him out of there alive, his training did.”
A cough sounded out behind the gathered members of the debrief. “Admiral,” Leon snapped a salute to Cooker “How long have you been here sir.”
“When you started playing the helmet camera footage.” Admiral Cooker stepped forward, his presence instantly commanding the attention of the room
“Lieutenant Brasseur has made an important point,” he began his voice steady and full of authority. “We cannot afford to operate under the assumption that we’re safe. Our encounter on Yadvek has proven danger always lurks in ways we can’t predict.”
“With your permission, sir, I’d like to draft a training sched
ule immediately. We need every member looking to step off the ship to understand not only how to protect themselves, but how to work together with our expedition teams.”
Cooker raised an eyebrow, considering Leon’s words “Make it happen. We’ll prioritize it within our current operations he replied.
“But we also need intelligence on these creatures. Dr Anton,” he turned to face the head researcher directly, “I expect you and your team to analyse every piece of data we have from this incident. We need profiles of anything we come up against in the future”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Send me everything relating to this meeting. I’ll have to get up to speed another time; duty calls,” Cooker said as he turned and started to walk out of Hangar Bay Three.
The members of Alpha that unlocked the system sat at the table in the team’s shared dorm
“Can you believe it?” Chloe murmered, her eyes not all there, a sign she was checking her systems ‘character sheet’ as the holographic interface sat in front of here. Stats and skills filled the screen. With each passing second she felt a rush - a mixture of disbelief and anticipation.
“Believe it?” Sergeant Alfaro scoffed, adjusting his collar as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that we’re now part of some... game.” His voice dripped with scepticism, but Chloe could see the spark of curiosity behind his furrowed brows.
“It’s not a game , sarge” she replied her tone steady but infused with enthusiasm. “It’s an evolution of our reality. Think about it - skills that we might already know are being enhanced with further knowledge. We can enhance ourselves, there’s a strength number here imagine if we keep levelling it up! We could become stronger, faster, more resilient!” Chloe’s voice rose with excitement. “I’ve had first aid training but what happened with Milford was crazy its like something was telling me where to put things to make them work perfectly”
Sergeant Alfaro’s skepticism lingered, but he couldn’t deny the gleam in Chloe’s eyes. He leaned forward, intrigued despite himself. “And what if it changes us in ways we can’t control? we’re marines not… characters in a game. What happens if we fully engage with this interface in a real fight.”
Chloe’s arms paused mid-air, her expression momentarily clouded by his words. “I get that, but Imagine having a real-time boost during an engagement or strategies that could turn the tide of battle.”
“Or becoming overconfident and making reckless decisions,” Alfaro countered, his tone even. “We need to tread carefully.”
A heavy silence hung between them, punctuated only by the soft hum of the room’s systems. Finally, Corporal Wescott broke it with a determined nod.”Then we train with it, if we know how to use it instinctively before we even think about taking a step off the ship.”
“Training is key,” Sergi Agafonov added, his voice ponderous as he leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. “If we can learn this system, it could be a game-changer.”
Chloe’s fingers danced over the holographic keyboard as she pulled up all sorts of training modules from the database. “I was thinking we could start with a combat simulation using the new skills we’ve unlocked. We could test our progress against a controlled enemy AI. It’ll give us insight into how our stats translate into real battle scenarios.”
Sergi nodded “It could show us our weaknesses, we need to understand how this all works before we’re in a real situation relying on our skills. Better to face ATLAS controlled enemies than a real one.”
Alfaro sighed heavily, rubbing his chin as he considered their options. The idea sparked a flame inside him “Fine but we start off slow, maybe basic marksmanship and squad maneuvers. Then we work up to the difficult stuff.
Over the next two weeks alpha trained on how to get the most out of their current skills and gaining some new ones that would serve them well in their upcoming expeditions.
They were again sitting in their shared room when a chime came from the door.
“Come in” Alfaro said confused at who would be looking for them at this time.
As the door slid open there was the newly minted corporal Milford back from his life threatening injuries and sporting a wide goofy smile, any tension instantly melting away. Milford’s uniform bore fresh rank patches indicating he had been promoted during his recovery.
“Look who’s back from the dead!” Agafonov exclaimed, standing up and clapping his hands together with exuberance. Wescott followed suit, her face breaking into a grin as she stepped forward to embrace her injured comrade.
“it’s good to be back.” His eyes darted around the room, taking in the familiar faces of his squad. “What did I miss?, wheres everyone else?”
“You might want to sit down for this” Alfaro said a smile on his face.
“Damn, I thought I hallucinated it, so all I have to do is think ‘status window’ everything shows up?”
“Pretty much,” Chloe said “If you want to show us you just have to think about that too.”
“Holy fuck, umm…what level are you guys this can’t be right.” Miller exclaimed, flinching the first time the sheet showed up
“I’m level 2, same with Sergi and the sarge doesn’t have a level but he started with some good skills, why? is it bad?”
“It’s better you all see it” he said sheepishly
“Holy fuck!, level 12, how did you manage that? Surge killed two smaller ones but only got two levels from it, check your log.”
As Milford checked the log on direction from Chloe, Alfaro just stared at Milford, the careless now corporal was the highest levelled out of anyone that had system access.
“It says I killed a [LEVEL 25 WIND WOLF ALPHA] and I gained 16417 Exp. Did anyone else get stat points or achievements?”
“I received an achievement, it gave me a +1 to my first aid skill.”
“I received two both giving me +1 and +2 to all stats.”
Alfaro leaned in, steering the conversation back to business. “Alright, enough comparing for now. We need to strategize our next steps. With your new levels and abilities, we might stand a chance against stronger foes.” He gestured for everyone to gather around the central table, where holographic maps and data from previous missions flickered to life. “Right now the rest of Alpha is trying to gain access to the system but it seems to be related to interacting with things already a part of this system. All the scientists we took out gained access once they started physical experiments with the flora we bought back.”
“I want everyone to share their stat sheets so we know where we stand for now” Alfaro said looking between the remaining Alpha members. “All this information stays with us, lieutenant Brasseur, and admiral Cooker”
After receiving nods from his team Alfaro was the first to pull up his stat sheet.
> SGT Jose Alfaro
>
> LVL 0
>
> EXP 0
>
> STR 12
>
> DEX 8
>
> CON 11
>
> INT 13
>
> CHA 12
>
> LUCK 10
>
> PER (p) 12
>
> MANA 0/1984
>
> SKILLS
>
> Leadership 2
>
> Strategy 2
>
> Tactics 3
>
> Squad tactics 3
Everyone agreed the stats didn’t look too bad with nothing to reference them. They continued. “I’ll go next” Chloe was beaming with the chance to show off her stats
> CPL Chloe Wescott
>
> LVL2
>
> EXP3000
>
> STR 9
>
> DEX 15
>
> CON 8
>
> INT 14
>
> CHA 13
>
> LUCK 8
>
> PER (p) 10
>
> MANA 0/2250
>
> SKILLS
>
> Emergency Surgery 1
>
> Surgical Procedure 1
>
> First aid 2
>
> Squad tactics 3
The rest of the rolled their eyes while Milford looked sheepish after she had flaunted her fifteen dexterity “Me next, I received a new skill after the last skirmish we had with the AI ” Sergi rumbled “You mean the one where you ran out of ammo and beat the ai to death with your gun?” Chloe said
> CPL Sergi Agafonov
>
> LVL 2
>
> EXP 3286
>
> STR 13
>
> DEX 5
>
> CON 13
>
> INT 10
>
> CHA 11
>
> LUCK 8
>
> PER (p) 5
>
> MANA 0/600
>
> SKILLS
>
> Berserker
>
> Squad tactics 3
“The description said ‘temporarily ignore damage if charging into an enemy with nothing but a melee weapon. +2 strength +2 constitution when active” Sergi smirked at Chloe
“Guess I’m left huh.” Milford couldn’t make eye contact with the rest of the team knowing none of his stats were below 10 and he still had 4 stat points to allocate somehow.
> CPL Jeffery Milford
>
> LVL 12
>
> EXP 16417
>
> STR 11
>
> DEX 14
>
> CON 12
>
> INT 11
>
> CHA 18
>
> LUCK 15
>
> PER (p) 14
>
> MANA 0/1340
>
> SKILLS
>
> Survivor
>
> Pistol 5
>
> Giant slayer
Everyone just stared at Milford, his stats were higher than everyone else’s as he thought about allocating them to his strength and constitution stats. They both ticked up by two making Chloe’s jaw drop.
“Holy crap, Jeff, what the actual fuck how are they all so high?” Chloe finally said
“We still need to get you the [SQUAD TACTICS] skill before we head out again with Anton's people. And speaking of them, Elizabeth wanted to know when you were up and about again,” Alfaro said with a smirk.