"Alliance of a Thousand Worlds? A pitifully boastful moniker. They shall become feed for our younglings as all before them. Open fire!"
- First recorded transmission from Species X024 before hostile encounter with Alliance Light Cruiser Unarmed Scouting Vessel in 4576 MGE. Species now extinct. Archive File #P786D7G3S9987
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Chapter 5: The First Thread Unravels
Axe had walked off into down the main central street opposite the gate, disappearing into the crowd. Now alone, I had to decide what to do. Twelve hours was a long time, so I didn’t necessarily have to go to the Forge first as Axe had suggested.
I decided activate Truesight again, feeling out the crowd for objects with strong astral presence. I picked a random one and began to walk in its direction. Entering the crowd meant being enveloped by sensation. It was truly bustling, like the few stable ports and cities that existed in the Uncharted Zones.
Although the scale was much smaller, it seemed no less prosperous. I supposed the incentive of life and death in the Colosseum was as good a motivator as any. I let the sounds of the crowd wash over me. A ragged man sitting on the floor between two stalls on my right shouted out in a hoarse voice.
“Hear the blood! Heathens one and all! The only truth lies in Salvation!”.
As I walked past him, his eyes almost seemed to follow me though, sensing nothing from my Codex, I dismissed my thoughts as paranoia and continued onwards. His voice was soon drowned out by the crowd and I was distracted by the smell of food.
Such poor hosts, they hadn’t even bothered to feed me even after my fight against the chimera. Though the smell was appetizing, the appearance of dripping mystery meat on a stick was not.
Nonetheless, my hunger one out and I asked the shopkeeper for one. He handed it to me with a grunt and pressed a button behind the counter. I paused, wondering how I would pay for it when he retrieved a metallic object.
It looked much like a gun, though it had no barrel, instead ending in a flat square surface. He raised it up to my eyes and I flinched backwards.
He grumbled something before signalling me to stand still. I complied and he pressed the trigger on the object. I felt something vibrate in my left eyesocket and a beep sounded out and he looked down at something with a satisfied look.
‘When had they implanted something in my eye’, I thought back frantically. I was knocked out briefly when I was first captured, but I could sense nothing wrong with me when I came to.
‘Tech is a clear blindspot of my Codex’, I berated myself mentally, walking away from the stall with meat-stick in hand.
First priority would be to counter this tech somehow. Getting caught once with the drone was bad luck, twice with the implant was bad planning. A third time would be deadly.
If only I had my tools, I lamented. But I had removed my own implants to prevent detection, leaving only the barebones that I was confident they would be unable to detect. I shook my head. These were problems for a future me. First, I had to sort out my immediate issues.
Namely, getting the lay of the land. So far, with my passive use of my Codex I sensed fairly little in terms of powerful presences. Apart from the few that stood out initially, the rest seemed to be class-9 or even unpowered. It begged the question where the Duke kept all his goodies. After all, a Colosseum needed fighters and the crowd loves the strong the most.
Of course, I had barely explored the actual Colosseum, only travelling from my first cell to the arena, to my new cell and here. No doubt there were many more layers I would gradually unlock as I increased my prestige.
Reminding myself of my ultimate goal, I walked with a more purposeful stride towards the object I sensed. Soon, the crowd thickened, and the street opened up into a square. A crude metallic signboard to one side had several images on it.
The sign with an anvil on it pointed towards the far end of the square which, coincidentally, was also where I detected the object. A large dark-coloured building made of some type of stone stood. Above its entrance was a banner. Pitch-black cloth embroidered in gold with some type of glyph.
I immediately knew that was the object I had sensed. And I immediately recognised the symbol.
I would be a fool not to recognise the insignia of the Duke himself in his own Colosseum. For a mere banner to hold such weight in the astral plane implied a certain amount of well-recognised strength. Either that or it alone held enough raw power to create that kind of signature, which seemed redundant even for the wealthy Duke to invest into a banner placed in a mere market.
The layman would have dismissed what they felt as mere awe or respect towards its craftsmanship, but I knew the true power distilled into that glyph. It only reinforced the first of my ‘win conditions’: Do Not Fight The Duke.
I had previously taken Axe’s story about the Duke’s triumph over a horde of Starborn with a pinch of salt, but I could no longer risk such complacency. Better to be on the safe side and assume him a completely undefeatable foe even with [Influx] at maximum.
The sounds of barking laughter drew me out of my trance.
“What”, a voice leered, “Don’t even recognise the symbol of the Duke himself?”
Turning my attention away from the banner, I looked to my right. A group of gladiators stood, clad in dull blue metallic armour. The plates seemed reminiscent of the armour of ancient knights, though I could see fine circuitry lining them. A badge of a phoenix rising towards the sky was engraved on their right shoulder.
“Guess he doesn’t speak either, Estar”, another laughed. Being so engrossed in the banner, I hadn’t even noticed their appearance, though my Truesight took them in now. No Codex shrouded their form, though they were clearly powerful. Four of them all at class-6 at the minimum. There were some variations, but they were no doubt the upper ranges of gladiators.
“Apologies”, I bowed deeply to hide my mocking grin, “It’s my first time here.”
I debated planting a seed or a suggestion but decided to hold off for now. [Influx] would be easily detected if I used it on them directly and without my first Edict to absorb some of their own energy, the risk of detection was too high.
As one of them was about to open their mouths, the third gladiator put a hand on his shoulder to stop him and spoke in his stead.
“I see. Next time try not to block the entrance, you’ll find others not as forgiving as us”.
I stepped to one side graciously, and they walked past me, entering the forge.
‘Well I suppose it was on me for expecting good manners from people who kill for a living’, I though self-depreciatingly. ‘Guess I’d better go in too’.
The doors slid open on a motion sensor and the first thing to hit me was the heat. Despite not being anywhere near the hot flames, I could already feel perspiration forming on my skin.
There was a rather sizeable area in the front of the forge that was much like a normal store, except for weapons.
And the theme of ‘weapons’ was clear. They lined the walls in all shapes and sizes, dividing the store into sections based on the weapon type. Ranging from cold weapons such as spears, swords, halberds and plenty other exotic variations for all forms of sentient life to projectile and even energy weapons.
Plenty of people browsed, including the group of four I saw outside. All looked to be hardened warriors of various shapes and sizes. I saw a couple of massive lizardfolk having to tuck in their tails in the narrow aisles of the store.
I quickly made my way to what seemed to be the store desk, where a bored looking figure sat, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. Standing in front of him but getting no response, I cleared my throat and spoke in an uncertain sounding voice.
“Excuse me, but I’m new here. Axe said I should come to the forge?”.
The figure startled as though only just noticing me stood in front of him.
“Yes, yes, yes. You’ve done the right thing”, he spoke rapidly. He looked down placed a hand into a drawer, searching around loudly for something. He withdrew a set of fobs on a keychain triumphantly beckoned at me.
“Right, then. Follow me.”
Without another word, he jumped off his chair, disappearing behind the counter. Startled, I leaned over to see him standing there, looking up at me.
“Chop, chop. We don’t have all day”
“Ah, yes, You’re right”, I replied apologetically. I stepped through the swinging door and followed the dwarf behind the counter. From here, I could see the fires of the forge. The anvils were lined with engravings that shone with astral and psychic imprints. I could make out several silhouettes moving about, casting shadows that danced and writhed on the wall. The harsh sounds of metal on metal echoed loudly within the space.
The dwarf seemingly noticed my gaze and nodded appreciatively.
“Ah, the sounds of the forge. A sweet lullaby indeed”. He paused, seemingly remembering something. “Sorry about not noticing you earlier, all this music puts me right to sleep”.
I nodded, slightly unsure of his peculiar tastes, and replied.
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“No problem. I’m Phi, by the way”.
“Phi,”, he scoffed in scorn. “You should think about changing that. No hard consonants at all. How can you claim to be a gladiator named like that?”.
I laughed weakly in response as he shook his head in disappointment.
“I’m Kaltum Deephelm. But you can call me Kal.” I shook his course hand, his grip strong as expected of a forgemaster in a place where they seemed so clearly in demand.
“Just through here and we can get you sorted”, he said. He had led us to a steel door, similar to the ones throughout the Colosseum, though with no drones hovering about with the silent promise of violence.
He fumbled around with the fobs before selecting one from the others and pressing it against a pad to the side. The doors unlocked with a resounding click and he pushed them open.
The room inside was nice and cool, to my relief. It was clearly a record room, filled to the brim with bookshelves from floor to ceiling. He led me to the centre of the room where there was a small clearing leaving a silvery cube in the centre.
He pressed a few times on its surface and symbols and letters flashed by in script I couldn’t read. He then walked towards one of the shelves and brought out a physical ledger.
‘A physical book? Perhaps some leftover Ignis tradition the Colosseum has adopted?’, I thought.
He asked to see my sword, so I took it off its makeshift scabbard on my back. He took it and unwrapped the bandages, holding the rust-red blade up to the light to inspect it. He placed it down before making a note on the ledger.
“What name are you going to register under?”, he asked.
I thought about it briefly before responding.
“Just go with Phi.”
Kal grumbled something under his breath before writing something down on the ledger begrudgingly. He closed the book and put it back on its place on the shelf.
“The physical copy is just a one-time thing”, he said. “Now you’re on our system now you should be all set”.
He tapped a few more times on the table, bringing up a hologram chart. The symbols flickered before turning into Common.
“I s’pose I should explain the basics of how things work ‘round here.” He pointed at the chart which looked to be a list of items with prices attached.
“The currency of the Colosseum is Blood. As you fight and kill, you gain blood which you can spend here in the market on upgrades, new weapons, armour and more. You can even rent privileges such as use of the forge, instruction from higher ranked gladiators and, most importantly, healing.”
He input a key into the search bar and I saw my name come up. “Right now you’ve got 80 blood from-“
He paused and expanded the description. “From killing of a class-8 reptilian chimera. Actually, you had 100 but looks like you bought some food on the way here. Just for future, you definitely got ripped off”.
I knew it. That shopkeeper was definitely shady.
“Is there a way I can see this myself, or do I need to come here every time?”, I asked.
“No, no. We can get upgraded access to your retinal implant”. He gave a predatory grin. “For the one-off cheap price of 50 blood.”
I had no other choice really. Gaining access to the economy would be the first step in levelling up my ranking. I nodded my consent and he tapped a few keys, illegible symbols running across the screen.
“That should be all done now. You should have access to your retinal implant through mental command.”
I followed his advice and a blueish screen hovered in front of the vision in my left eye. I scrolled through the prices briefly but everything was far beyond my means. Even the cheapest weapon upgrade cost 1000 blood and I saw what looked like ship lasers running for a couple of hundred thousand.
“By the way”, I interjected. “Do you know what we gladiators do in between Colosseum events? Axe told me the one recently was a rare occurrence.”
“The Colosseum does have an internally ranked Arena, which is where most of the fighting takes place. The outsider events are not the main attraction. The real VIPs are here almost year-round, with various battles and formats taking place.”
I input ranking system into my retinal implant and it brought up what looked to be a leaderboard. This would be invaluable information for future plans. I needed to know how high I had to climb if I wanted to gain access to the Duke’s vault.
Abruptly, a loud cheering sound interrupted my thoughts. Me and Kal looked at each other for a second before he sprinted back out the way we came with me close behind.
As we enter the open area in the front of the forge, I notice a huge crowd milling to one side. Suddenly, they frantically part way as a figure emerges from the other side holding what looks to be a sword in a scabbard.
The figure had the same kind of armour as the four gladiators I saw outside, although this one was clearly of a higher standard. For one, it covered the entire body including the face. But most eye-catching were the crimson red lines running through the armour that pulsed with unseen energy.
Opening my Truesight only confirmed what I had thought. A flaring presence illuminated the astral plane so much so that I could feel phantom heat on my skin. Although something seemed to be interfering with my senses on the cognitive plane – perhaps a property of the armour he wore.
I was about to start inspecting closer when the Champion turned his head sharply around as though sensing something.
My heart skipped a beat, and I hastened to turn away, inactivating my Truesight. The sound of rushing blood drowned out all noise from the crowd. Kal was saying something to my left but I ignored him.
If I was caught here, there was no telling what would happen. But I steeled myself not to go down without a fight. My Codex responded subconsciously to the adrenaline flowing through my veins, readying my [Edicts] on the verge of establishment.
I held my breath for a painfully long second, waiting for the alarms to sound when the armoured champion shook his head, muttering something to his companions before continuing his walk through the throng of people.
I let out a silent exhale, tension flooding away like puddles drying under a noonday sun. Watching the back of the Champion and his escorts walk away out of the corner of my eyes, I zoned back into what Kal was saying.
“-ello? Anyone there, Phi?”, he tried waving a hand in front of my eyes but gave up when he realised he couldn’t reach.
“Ah, apologies”, I replied. “Just got distracted for a second. Who was that?”. I gestured towards the armoured figure.
“Ah”, he nodded sagely. “I suppose this must have been your first time seeing one of the Duke’s Champions in person. That there was Champion Itzil. The Silent Blade, they call her. That blue badge of a rising phoenix is her faction’s sigil”.
‘Itzil’, I thought to myself. It certainly wasn’t my own paranoia – she had definitely reacted to my gaze. Whatever her ability was, it had mind-axis properties, unless it was an effect of the armour she wore. Kal’s words broke my train of thought as he continued in a musing tone.
“Though I’m surprised she came all the way to here to pick up a weapon.”
He shook his head ruefully, “Well, whatever the Champion’s get up to in there spare time is beyond my paygrade. On the other hand, you’re all set for now. I’d explore the rest of the market since you’ve got the opportunity and definitely register for the Arena.”
I nodded my thanks and Kal returned to his post behind the counter. I risked a glance towards the Champion and her retinue, who were hunched over something, discussing it with a store employee in hushed whispers.
Not daring to stay any longer, I made my way towards the exist and out of the store, welcoming the cool outside air.
Unknowing to me at the time, the Champion briefly glanced at my back as I was leaving, though with her expression hidden no-one could tell what her thoughts were. And I certainly could never have expected what this chance meeting would spiral into.
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[SYSTEM BOOT INITIATED]
* Initiating Primary Neural Kernel…
* Bio-sensory Failsafe: Armed
* Signal Buffering: [Engaged]
* Connecting Transdimensional Clock…
* Establishing date…
* Date established 23.10.004…
* Establishing co-ordinates…
* Co-ordinates established uncorrupted…
* Executing bootstrap.exe please standby…
* Loading…
* Complete!
* Checking credentials…
[LEGACY PROTOCOLS ACTIVE: WELCOME USER 1!]
* Preparing Xenographic Interface…
* Decoding Archive - Access Level: CLASSIFIED
* All Systems Synced. Initialisation COMPLETE.
[AWAITING INPUT]
* Begin personal log…
[START LOG]
Log Entry: 010-A
A year has passed and we have completed 2371 iterations of the primary directive ICARUS yet are still no closer to obtaining stable form Higher-Dimensional Matrix. All known factors have been modified to the limits. Perhaps what we require is beyond the limits of our current technology. Nonetheless, we cannot stumble at the first hurdle. Survival necessitates our success.
I suspect low temporal resistance resulted in increased vulnerability to graviton surges. Perhaps employing high-energy reality spikes may help stabilise the dimensional walls during extraction.
Either way, all we have are theories. I suspect it will be several years more of iterations before we are anywhere close to achieving stable extraction. Although what we do is never to be on any other records, sometimes I hope someone finds these logs and that we who toiled in the dark shall be remembered. But we do this not for reward, but because it is our duty.
May we overcome Calamity.
[END LOG]
* Ending personal log…
* Personal log saved…
[SYSTEM SHUTDOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED]
* Disconnecting Primary Neural Kernel…
* Disconnecting Transdimensional Clock…
* Secure Channel Closure: In Progress…
* Signal Buffering: [Disengaged]
[EXITING LEGACY PROTOCOLS: GOODBYE USER 1]
* Memory Encryption Sequence ACTIVATED
* All files archived. Quantum stabilisers powering down.
SYSTEM STATUS: DORMANT
[COMMAND: STANDBY UNTIL NEXT INITIALISATION]