While it didn't bring to mind any notions of a harbor, it seemed that was where we were being herded, only a few crates remaining that were being loaded onto a cargo ship. There was a tower near the back for what was likely steering, with another smaller tower set into the front end of the ship with a large autocannon at the top. It looked like an anti air weapon ripped from World War Two that had sci-fi elements bolted on, four separate gun barrels all glowing an eerie neon green. Just behind that I could see what looked like a power box that probably supplied the energy to be used in combat.
It didn't take long for the rest of us to be corralled in the middle of the ship, in a similar holding area to before. The troublemakers and myself however were brought to the front of the boat where we could be thrown off if we tried anything. As various safety checks were made I figured now was as good a time as any to figure out how to open the menu, disregarding anyone who stared.
I found the basics pretty quickly, settings, friend lists, and quests that had been changed to 'objectives.' From there I spent a minute or so figuring out how to start recording. Once it turned on a small red dot appeared in the right corner of my vision before slowly fading until it was just barely visible.
Another bright side about being near the front of the ship was that each of us were unbound. One of the players immediately tried to steal a gun. He was simply thrown overboard, the splash of water audible even over the sounds of birds and the ship coming to full power.
My HUD finally appeared as well, a red bar in the upper left corner of the my vision which obviously denoted health. Surprisingly there wasn't much more than that at the moment other than a transparent body which I guessed was meant to inform the player of specific injuries. It was surprisingly user friendly, not getting in the way of my sight at all.
It showed its use fairly quickly as I was totally unprepared when the ship lurched forward into open water, moving far faster than any cargo ship I knew of had any right to. I fell to the floor hard, my elbows both impacting against metal. My health dropped slightly and the body display had two slightly yellow marks around my elbows that even now were slowly fading back into transparency. I let out an annoyed grunt as I got back to my feet, glad to see that I wasn't the only one to have fallen, letting me feel far less embarrassed.
The city of Horizon came into full view, shining buildings of gold and silver as far as the eye could see rapidly growing smaller. Whether our speed was granted by the boat itself or the fact that this was still clearly the tutorial area was something I could only speculate about, though my bet was on the latter.
It didn't take long before the other players began to shuffle around, voicing their annoyance while a select few like myself leaned against the nearby railing, watching the water or staring out into space.
Personally, I was having a far better time than everyone else due to the fact that I barely even got to go outside anymore without looking over my shoulder. Even simulated wind and water spraying up onto my face brought with it a feeling of freedom I hadn't had in years, not that I'd let it show on my face of course. Giving others the chance to exploit vulnerability just seemed to come back to bite me.
After another solid minute of people grumbling, I could see land coming into view. It looked like a war torn beach, gitantic walls of solid metal stretching up into the sky, possibly thirty meters tall, if not more. There were a few areas near the top where I could see catwalks and what seemed like supply rooms exposed to open air, though there was no possibility of scaling the wall as it was completely sheer.
I also recognized various gun emplacements nestled into areas near the top, likely to ward against ground and air assailants. What caught my eye aside from all this was that there were stone docks set into the water and sand, with a few less well armed and armored guards standing at attention behind a folding table.
They were outfitted in dingy looking grey combat armor that seemed a few steps down from our current entourage. Dull metal helmets covered the tops of their heads while their rifles seemed cast from cylindrical tubes with syringe style barrels at the end, a box magazine hanging from the bottom with a trigger at the back, ending with a wire frame folding stock.
Spotlights lit up the whole area between the docks and the blast door which served as the entrance to Bastion. It took a moment as we got closer, but I realized that on the folding table were sets of medical kits, dirty grey boots, and basic combat knives, all of which were lesser in quality than the presentation we were shown.
"Line up! Anyone out of order will be thrown overboard!" The guards herded us into two separate lines as the cargo ship slowly slid into place beside the dock, the anchor dropping into the water with a loud splash.
The supplies were offloaded first via some sort of levitation tech that I couldn't even begin to understand, crates and crates of unknown materials moving past the docks and into the city proper. As they passed, the guards behind the folding table bowed their heads in deference to those better equipped than them. I decided I would look into the lore for that later, when I had the chance to really settle down.
The players soon began stepping off the boat, grabbing a medical kit, a knife, and boots as they went. Nobody bothered to make trouble, though I assumed it was the lack of decent gear more than anything else, along with the fact that someone had been thrown off the boat earlier.
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The guards that had delivered the crates came back onboard while I watched the non-troublemakers. Some stopped to put their new boots on while others just kept going, carrying everything up toward the open blast door as one of the mainland guards directed them up the beach, shouting something I couldn't quite make out.
The guards began shoving our group forward just as an almost imperceptible whistle began to sound in the air. Most of us stopped walking, the guards also taking a look around. I was the last player on the boat by this point, my bare feet starting to get a bit cold as the metal sapped the heat from my body.
The whistling grew louder, more and more NPCs and players stopping to try and find the source of the noise. There were a few players who didn't stop, instead they began to run for the wall as fast as they could. I found out why a moment later, as the whistling stopped abruptly, a bright blue light flashing by and slamming into the wall, electricity arcing up the walls and hitting every gun that had been operational just moments before. There was a series of thuds as the guns all went offline. All I could think of was the word 'EMP' before the beach descended into madness, a smooth aircraft that had previously been invisible materializing out of thin air with a shimmer.
It had short and fat wings, small engines surrounding the bottom coming to life, a loud hum accompanying the visual presence, an oval shaped cockpit at the front of the craft, almost entirely opaque even with the moon shining down upon it.
Twin cannons swiftly appeared between the engines even as a glowing blue barrier sprang to life around the UFO. It sat there for only a moment before the guns began to strafe the path leading up to the city, green energy blasts tearing up the sand and sending shards of stone from the docks, churning the bodies of players and Bastion guards alike. Strangely enough, not a single one hit the boat from Horizon, though I did notice someone already manning the autocannon, tracking its movements carefully. Not a single shot was taken against the aircraft even as the neon green along the barrels turned crimson red.
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Objectives updated
Welcome to the Jungle:
Main Objective: Survive
-Additional objective: Enter the city
-Additional objective: Obtain your beginner equipment
-Additional objective: ???
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Before I could make any remarks about the gunner not shooting at the obvious threat, I was roughly grabbed and summarily tossed from the ship, hearing one of them say "You were warned," even as I flew over the railing and down into the water below, the impact disorienting me badly.
A slowly diminishing white bar appeared at the top of my vision while my health dropped just a bit due to the fall. I assumed it was my oxygen. As it turned out, I didn't actually need to breathe, though I still held my breath out of subconscious habit.
I dimly heard the sound of something beginning to chug along behind me, and I spun around to get a look. Then I remembered I was underwater and couldn't see more than a foot in front of me at most. I felt myself moving though.
The engine.
I swam as fast as I possibly could away from the source of the noise, before grabbing onto the edge of the stone docks. My fingers dug into the stone as the sound passed me by, pulling me away for a moment before shoving me back as the water currents slammed into me, throwing my body against the foundation of the docks. I lost a bit more health.
With that over I kicked my legs as hard as I could, swimming to the surface and gasping for air out of pure reflex, foamy water splashing all around me. The cargo ship was pulling away from the beach even as the alien craft continued shredding players who were fleeing up the beach.
An explosion cracked the air around me as medical kits, boots, and knives were sent flying everywhere, into the sand and water all over.
My mind began going black as the cannonfire rang out again and again, forcing me back into my memories where a gun lay in my hand and a fresh corpse occupied my bed, the loud cracks of the handgun going off again and again as dull thuds landed into soft flesh, spraying mists of blood out and onto my face and arm.
I faintly heard rapid beeping in the background as I pulled the trigger again and again. I started screaming. Rage, fear, sorrow, grief, all mixing together into one solitary wail as everything came back into focus all at once. Every single part of my body felt like it was shrieking at inhuman volumes. There was a warning directly across my vision that was saying something about my heartrate being too high and that if it got any higher I would be logged out. My rational mind ceased to be, survival instincts taking total control.
Knife underwater, guns above, Medical below, boots too. Go!
I kept roaring even as I went underwater, grabbing a jagged piece of metal in my hand, feeling the pressure as the blade bit into my skin, my health lowering just a bit more. Searching through the murky sand with my blood howling in my ears, my nerves exploding, every nightmare I'd ever had coming back all at once, I grabbed a bag and ripped it through the water to my chest, hugging it close.
The beeping got louder, saying that I needed to calm down immediately. I swam back to the surface, my heart pounding harder and harder in my chest, a jackhammer against concrete. Coming out of the water I was almost unaware of the oxygen refilling and fading away.
Knife held in my teeth, an animalistic growl rumbling from deep in my chest, I used my only free hand to haul myself out of the water and onto the docks. There were players running to and fro, some being cut down and turning into fragments of light while others desperately dodged the strafing blasts, sand flying into the air like dust floating through a sunbeam.
The guns attached to the wall were beginning to come back online, though they were far too slow to do anything. I saw one of the rifles the Bastion guards had been carrying, its owner dissolving into light.
My blood burned as I leapt for the rifle, dropping the medical kit and rolling onto my back with the gun in my hands. The stock was jammed back into my shoulder as I pulled the trigger and held it down, the gun bucking again and again as it and I screamed defiance, my shots plinking harmlessly against the shielded opponent. My knife fell from my mouth and clinked against the ground as the steady rata-tat-tat of the gun satisfied whatever demon that was thrashing about in my head, the warning fading away.
The constant roar of the blood in my ears quieted down to a consistent hum and my heartbeat slowed to the sound of a war drum. My senses dulled as the guns of the aircraft were slowly turned toward me, my breathing shallow as the reality of my situation set in
I couldn't kill this thing.