Date: 2019-09-29T04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Science Fiction
Description: The one year Stabilization period has ended, and the aliens are colonizing earth! Allistor and his people have prepared as well as possible, and now they'll find out if it was enough. In this third book of the Shadow Sun series, Earth's survivors continue to fight for their lives, and to reclaim as much of the earth as they can for the human race. More than one alien faction threatens their existence, while others prove to be staunch allies. Allistor and company learn more about the system, its mechanics and politics, and take the first step in bringing the fight to their enemies off-world!

Shadow Sun

Rebellion

Dave Willmarth

Copyright © 2019 by Dave Willmarth

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

All characters and events depicted in this novel are entirely fictitious.  Any similarity to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

Chapter 1

Before leaving for New York on their new space yacht, Allistor contacted Kira and Gene to see if they wanted to tag along.  He also invited Sam, Ramon, Michael, George, Lars, and Logan.  They all rushed through the teleporters to the Wilderness and out to the ship.  Introductions were made, and Michael couldn’t help himself.

“You’re an orc, right?” he asked Harmon.

Harmon stared at him for a moment, his sledgehammer fists clenching.  Taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he replied, “Please do not use that term when referring to my people.  It is a shortening of our name and considered an insult.  I will forgive you, because I realize you have no way of knowing any better.  I am of the Orcanin race.  You may refer to us as Orcan in the singular, or when speaking of our goods, as Orcan in general if you feel the need to shorten the name.”

Michael held up both hands in a gesture of surrender.  “I apologize, Harmon.  The… other term is how your people have been described in our books, movies, and games for more than a hundred years.  I truly didn’t know it was an insult.  I will pass the word on to the others, so that no further offense is made.”

Harmon reached out and patted the human, who was less than half his size, gently on the back. “No harm done, Michael.  And I appreciate you spreading the word.  It is an ongoing issue; one we encounter at each new world.  Long ago my ancestors were slaves, bred for labor and battle.  Our masters had great contempt for us, and referred to us as orcs. Somehow the term made it into the system’s programming for the preparatory lore material delivered to planets ahead of absorption into the Collective.  The stories, movies, and games you refer to.  Thus, with each new planet we must overcome the perceptions ingrained within the local citizenry.   We have evolved in the millennia since we won our freedom, yet still we are viewed as little better than savage beasts.”

“I’m sorry, Harmon.  We will do all we can to alter that perception among my people.  You are clearly an intelligent, sophisticated, and honorable being.” Allistor bowed his head, hands pressed together in front of him.

“And handsome, too.” Amanda said as she winked at Helen.

“Thank you, both.” Harmon grinned, showing the sharp teeth between his tusks.  He tilted his head for a moment, then added, “You might want to spread the word about goblins and elves, as well.   Goblins are not the brainless weaklings your lore likely portrays them to be.  They are small in stature, yes.  But quite strong for their size, and clever.   They do generally have disagreeable dispositions, and a penchant for acquisition through legal means or otherwise. The lore often misleads new races into underestimating them, costing many lives.” He checked his wrist for a moment.

“As for elves, they rarely show themselves on any worlds but their own.  They consider themselves among the elite species, and do not tolerate ‘lesser races’ often.  Elves are long-lived, nearly immortal if the truth be told.  I have met elves that can remember when the Collective was only a dozen worlds.   No recorded history that I’ve seen goes back that far.”

Harmon pulled on a hilt that stuck out of his boot.  “I carry this as a reminder of a time I spent with an elven healer.  In my youth I served as a mercenary.  Most of my unit was wiped out attempting to defend an elven outpost against overwhelming numbers.  I managed to escape into a nearby forest, but was badly wounded.  An old elf named Daigath healed me, and sheltered me in his home until it was safe for me to leave.   He was ancient, even for elves, and had spent millennia learning to craft.  He shaped the wood of this blade with his bare fingers, singing to the wood as he formed it.”

The orcan offered the blade to Allistor, who took it in hand.  It almost had the weight of a steel blade, but the entire weapon was a single piece of extremely dense wood.  The blade curved gracefully back from the tip to the hilt guard, with intricate whorls of vines etched into its length.  The handle felt warm to the touch, and seemed to mold itself to Allistor’s grip as he held it.

“This is… beautiful.” Allistor handed the weapon to Helen to inspect.

Harmon chuckled.  “For certain collectors, a blade like that is worth nearly as much as this ship, my friend.  Daigath is a master crafter, and his reputation was legendary when the Collective was young.  These days, few of his works remain, and he rarely creates more.  This may be his last, and I have carried it for a hundred years or more.”

“Now!” Harmon changed the subject as the weapon was returned to him.  “We must be on our way.  The trip to New York City will take about twenty minutes.  This ship could make the trip in ten, but the skies are quite crowded just now.  Is everyone here?  Do you have what you need?”

“We should bring one of the Juggernauts, so Nigel can reach us while we’re away from the ship.” Allistor suggested.  “In case one of our properties is attacked.”

Since there was room in the cargo hold, Harmon escorted them to the cargo bay and demonstrated how to open the main bay door.  Sam hopped in and drove the Juggernaut up the ramp.  The large vehicle looked small in the massive space, where there was room for at least five or six more.  After Alpha, the ship’s AI, informed them that the vehicle was magnetically secured, they all went up to the bridge.

Allistor thought Kira and Gene would explode with excitement as they walked onto the bridge.  Kira went straight for the captain’s seat, her eyes unfocused as she read something on her interface.  Gene asked about engineering, and Harmon pointed him to the proper station, just to the right of the captain’s chair.  In seconds, Gene was also spaced out and communing with the ship.

Harmon tapped Kira on the shoulder a moment later.  “Ahem.  We really should be going.  Would you like me to show you how to pilot the ship?”

Kira shook her head.  “Nope, I think I’ve got it.  My Aviator skill level is high enough that I can access the pilot’s interface.  It looks pretty simple, actually.” She paused, giving him a wry smile.  “But don’t go too far away, in case I mess up.”

The ship’s engines fired up even as she was finishing her sentence.  Allistor and company barely felt any sensation as the landing gear retracted and the ship hovered in place.  When Kira gave the engines a boost and increased the elevation, the ship rose more quickly than she’d intended.  “Oopsy.” she mumbled as she made an adjustment, and the ascent slowed.

Helen, standing behind Kira’s seat, snorted.  “Just the thing you want to hear from your pilot.”

When they were several thousand feet up, Kira did something to make the ship go forward, and they were on their way.

“This is so cool!” She nearly exploded with enthusiasm.  “I can see a 3D display of the planet, complete with topography, real time weather conditions, and major landmarks.  I don’t even have to plot a course.  I just select New York and the AI does it for me.”

Harmon said, “Pardon my reach.” before touching a few control keys on the chair’s arm, and the globe appeared for all of them in the form of a green and blue 3D hologram floating in the air in front of Kira.  There was a star marking their current location, and another over New York, with an arcing line in between.

Amanda noticed hundreds of moving dots floating above the space in between. “Are all of those dots other ships?”

“Exactly so, Lady Amanda.  Very astute of you.  They are the reason we must take a more roundabout route.  I expect the skies over UCP 382… err, I mean Earth, will be crowded for several days yet. Often, new worlds are largely ignored except by mining consortiums and a few hundred colonist groups.  But there is much interest in this world, in part due to the factions’ interest in Allistor.  A few took notice of your early actions, and began to wager on you.  As those wagers got noticed, more joined in and the amounts increased.  You and your planet have been the talk of many social circles in recent weeks.”

“Me?” Allistor looked confused.

“Did you not notice the large amount of Fame and Infamy Points being awarded to you?” Harmon asked, surprised.

“I suppose. I mean, I saw them, though after a while I mostly ignored them in favor of more important notifications.  I don’t really understand that part of the system, and frankly had more immediate things to worry about.”  Allistor sounded a little defensive.

“I understand.  But now that you are members of the Collective, you will find that Fame and Infamy, and the interplay between the factions, are vitally important.  When we have more time, I’ll sit with you and we can speak about it in detail.”

Harmon’s bracelet must have gone off again, because he excused himself and retired to the corridor where he began to mumble softly.

A sudden explosion rocked the ship, forcing those who were standing to grab hold of a rail or chair back to steady themselves as the deck tilted to one side.  The light in the room went red, and an alarm sounded.    Alpha’s voice echoed through the bridge.  “We are under attack.  Recommend activating shields and weapons systems.”

Harmon came running back onto the bridge.  “Alpha!  Activate shields and give us a tactical display, main screen!”   Another hit rocked the ship, and a second alarm went off.

“Hull breach in Section 32A Deck 2.” Alpha reported.

The image on the viewscreens changed from the horizon in front of them to an angle that looked backward and up from the ship’s hull.  There was a small, wicked-looking ship pacing them from their relative nine-o’clock and slightly behind.  It bristled with sharp angles and weapons, with a small cockpit window at the front.  Shaped like an arrowhead, it banked hard to the left and took up a new position above the other side of the yacht at about three-o’clock.

As Allistor watched, a translucent layer seemed to form around the ship.  It wasn’t a big bubble like he was used to seeing in sci-fi movies.  This skin seemed to hover a few feet from the ship’s hull, forming to fit the shape of the vessel like a glove.  The attacking ship fired again, and though they could hear an impact, there was no accompanying motion of the ship.

“We need someone at the tactical station!” Harmon shouted as he quickly but gently lifted Kira out of the captain’s seat and took her place.  Within a second, a complicated looking tactical display appeared in place of the globe hologram.  It showed a diagram of the attacking ship along with scrolling information along one side.

Sam held up a hand. “I’m the gunner here, which station?”  When Harmon pointed to one of the seats on the lower deck in front of him, Sam hopped in.  A moment later another holo-display appeared in front of him as his station lit up.

“It’s a pirate ship.  Goblin construction.  I don’t know what they’re thinking!  Their weapons are not capable of penetrating this ship’s shield.” Harmon observed.

Meg, who was now holding on to the back of Sam’s chair and peering over his shoulder, suggested, “Maybe they thought they could take us out with that first shot?”

Harmon was quiet.  After a moment, he said, “Lady Meg, would you please take the seat next to Sam’s.  That is the sensor monitoring station.  Alpha, please instruct her on how to activate long range sensors, as well as stealth countermeasures.”

“Of course, pilot Harmon.  And I have activated all weapons systems.  Repulsors and plasma cannons are charged and ready.”

“What’s going on?” Amanda asked Harmon, who was busy studying the enemy ship’s information.

“The ship is a goblin design.  I’m trying to decide whether it’s some fool pirate who purchased a goblin ship and is overestimating his capabilities, or whether it has an actual goblin crew.  If there are goblins in there, then there will almost certainly be more ships.  They run in packs of four and five, the combined power of their weaker weapons working together to drain a ship’s shield or overpower it.  Much like a pack of canids, working together.”

Sam called out. “Okay, I think I got these guns figured out.  Firing!”

There was a slight shudder as several of the ship’s cannons fired at once.  Allistor watched the view screen as he saw four blue plasma bolts and two waves of almost transparent red energy rush toward the ship.

The pirate ship tried to evade, and almost succeeded.  But two of the plasma bolts struck its side, causing a small explosion.  Then the slower energy waves that Allistor assumed were the repulsor weapons struck the ship from two different angles.  The body of the ship seemed to ripple, and it stopped dead in the air, quickly falling behind them as it dropped like a stone.

“Woohoo!  Best video game ever!” Sam shouted.

Meg slapped the back of his head gently, but then kissed it.  “Good shootin’, Tex.” She turned to the others. “The sensors aren’t picking up any other ships closer than two hundred miles.”

Gene called out.  “Engineering report from the hits we took.  One of our stabilizers is down, but there are several others to compensate.  There’s an outer hull breach, so no going out into space.  That would be bad.  There are repair bots that will seal the hole when we land.”

Harmon added. “It seems it was just the one ship.  I’ve marked the location where it fell.  Sam’s shots exposed its drive system, and the repulsor hits shut the engine down. I doubt they would have been able to restart before they hit the ground, so it’ll be right where it fell. From this altitude, the impact will be catastrophic.   Still, it would be a good idea to stop on our way back and search the wreckage.  I am… suspicious.”

The smartly dressed orcanin rose from the captain’s seat and gestured with a flourish for Kira to resume her spot.  “My apologies for the quick removal, pilot Kira.”

“No worries, I wouldn’t have known what to do.” She nodded at him.  A moment later she had called the navigational holo-globe back up, and they continued smoothly on course.

Feeling useless, Allistor moved to the front of the bridge and took a seat at one of the stations.  He watched the massive viewscreen in front of him as they left the mountains behind and shot across the plains of the Midwest.   As they curved slightly north, he recognized the Great Lakes, and the massive metropolis that was Chicago on the western edge.  The city looked dead and badly damaged in the brief seconds he could see it before it was gone behind them.  Detroit followed quickly after, and that was all he saw before Helen distracted him.

“So, since I became your Minister, my interface has absorbed the records of all the National Parks that you now own.  I was just doing a little checking, to see where we might land this beast.  Turns out Battery Park, on the southern tip of Manhattan, is just about ten blocks from the depository.   And there’s an open space Kira can land without killing too many trees.”

Kira made a few quick motions with her hand, and the holographic globe zoomed in on the city, then farther in when she touched the general area on the map.  When it got to about five thousand feet elevation, it switched to a clear, precise color representation of the southern tip of Manhattan Island.  The park showed up in crisp green contrast to the concrete and asphalt of the city, and the deep blue of the water.

“Looks good.  That’s where I’ll set her down.” Kira confirmed.

Harmon nodded his agreement.  “There is sufficient space there.” He twisted his wrist and the view went from vertical to horizontal.  He studied the skyline of lower Manhattan.  “Yes, I think this will do nicely.  There are any number of acceptable buildings here.  Tall enough for views of the water, and storage space for my wares.  Perfect!”

He looked at Allistor.  “Do you have a preference?  As Planetary Prince, the first choice is yours.”

Allistor looked at Helen.  She consulted her interface for a moment, then experimented with the holo-map.  She moved it slightly north, returning it to a vertical view, then zoomed in on a red-roofed building that was shorter than those around it.

“This is the one we want.” She nodded to Allistor.

Harmon looked disappointed.  “It is not very grand, for a Prince.” He took control of the map and zoomed in to street level, then pulled back to horizontal and focused it on the front of the structure.  It was a stone building maybe twelve or fifteen stories, that filled the entire city block.  It featured a row of tall arched windows all along the first level.  Allistor couldn’t make out much more detail before Harmon zoomed in on the iron bars covering each of those tall windows.

“Ah, let me guess.  Another gold depository?” The orcanin’s right eyebrow raised as he grinned at Allistor.

“That is correct.  And if you’d like to join us in clearing the building, I’ll give you a share of the gold inside.”

“Tempting.  But I must claim a property of my own, and quickly.  This will be a popular spot for my fellow colonists.  Major city, close to the water, with infrastructure mostly intact.” Harmon cleared his throat.  “May I offer some advice?”

“Always!” Allistor leaned forward, eager to absorb whatever information his new ally wanted to impart.

“I was not joking when I said a Planetary Prince should present a certain… image.  I understand your desire to take the depository.  That method of accumulating wealth has worked quite well for you.  But I suggest you also claim this structure.”  Harmon spun the view around to show a much taller building across the street with a half-melted Chase Bank sign on it.  The thing had to be forty or fifty stories high.  And indeed, when Harmon zoomed out, it was one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood.

“This building is nearly ideal.  It allows for a defensive overwatch of much of the surrounding city.  There is room for expansion, allowing you to house many thousands of people, or use the space for crafting, manufacturing, whatever you need.  It is close to the park where we are about to land, which you should also claim.” He paused, spinning the map around and moving it a block south.

“And I think I shall take this one.  We shall be neighbors!” Harmon pointed to a building with a tall blue spire that Allistor recognized from a history class.

“That’s the Trump Building.  Good choice.  It was bought by a famous developer and businessman who eventually became the leader of our nation.” Allistor grinned at the merchant.

Harmon seemed pleased with the information. “That is fitting, I think.”

“Then since we’re going to be neighbors, I’ll make you a deal.  If I clear my buildings first, I will assist you in clearing yours.  If you’re first, you’ll come to assist us.”

“Fair enough.  Though you have the much larger task, and I suspect will be much slower than myself and my team.”  Harmon paused to whisper into his bracelet again.  “I’ve just instructed all my scouts to converge on that building.  They will begin to clear it from the top down.”

As Harmon zoomed out, Allistor saw a small ship, about the size of a tour bus, settle atop the roof of one of the Trump building’s wings.

“Well, you will have a head start.  But as I said, if you end up assisting us, I will give you… shall we say twenty percent of the gold inside?”

“And how much gold do you expect to find?” Harmon asked, definitely interested.

“One moment.  Nigel, please connect me to Chris.”

“Go ahead, Sire.”

“Hey Chris.  Greetings from New York.  Got a question for you.  How much gold is in the New York depository?”

“Ha!  Hey, boss.  Gimme a second, I have some notes here somewhere… Here it is.  Largest known gold depository on the planet.  About seven thousand tons.” He coughed once, then added. “But that’s from a twenty-five year old book I found in a library.  No internet anymore, ya know?  So that number could be off.”

“Thanks Chris!  Everything going okay back there?”

“Yup!  Nobody has bothered us that I’ve heard about.  Let me know when you’ve got a few billion more gold for me to spend.” his Minister of Finance chuckled.

“Will do.  See ya!”  Allistor had been watching the merchant’s face as they spoke.  Harmon’s eyes were almost aglow with excitement.

“We all watched you take Fort Knox, but the system did not allow us to hear exactly how much gold you obtained.  It considers that a private banking manner, and censors such information.  Seven thousand tons of gold in one place… for one fifth of that amount I would help you clear the entire island!”

Allistor didn’t get to reply before Kira called out, “We’re landing.  Harmon, maybe you could assist me?”

“Of course, pilot Kira. You have done an admirable job so far, for one who is new to the system.  If I did not know better, I would say you have experience flying such vessels.”

Kira winked at him. “Only in VR games.”

Harmon stood next to her, quietly coaching her as she brought the ship to a stop over the clearest section of Battery Park.  With his assistance, she gently lowered the ship.  There was a faint snapping as a few of the trees were sacrificed, but the folks inside didn’t feel a thing.

“Well done, pilot Kira!” Harmon offered his hand for her to shake.  Instead, she took it with both of her hands and turned it over, curling his fingers into a fist, and introduced him to the fist bump.

“Very amusing,” the orcanin chuckled.  “Now, shall we go claim our rights to the desired properties?”

He led the way back down the corridor to the exit ramp.  Kira and Gene stayed behind, both wanted to learn more about the ship and its capabilities.

As they exited into the park, the first thing Allistor saw was an old, round, single story red stone building that looked like a civil war era fort.  Above the main door the name Castle Clinton was etched into the stone.

“That’s the national monument bit.” Helen said.  “The reason this is a national park.”

Amanda laughed.  “Harmon, weren’t you just saying that a Prince should present an image?  Every Prince needs a castle, right?”

“Quite so, Lady Amanda.  I suggest claiming this as an outpost, at the least.” Harmon replied.

“About that.  Before we landed I was thinking about logistics.  How about I make this building and park a full Stronghold, and install a teleport pad.  Then I could bring more people to help us clear the buildings.  And I’m guessing access to a teleport pad would help you bring more help for your scout team, as well?”

“It most certainly would!” Harmon agreed.  “In fact, I could bring a significant force to assist us both.”

“Then let’s do that!” Allistor took off at a jog toward the building’s entrance.  The large double front doors were locked, but Harmon produced a device that, when pressed to the lock, opened it in less than two seconds.

Inside, they walked through a main entry into a round inner courtyard.  A flock of resting gulls complained loudly as they took to the sky.   Allistor immediately tried to claim the structure, and was rewarded with a green light.   When he went to place the walls, he got an even bigger surprise.  “It says I can expand the walls out to include not just the park, but the docks to the east where the ferryboat is parked.”

“That’s the Staten Island Ferry.” Helen provided helpfully.

“Take all that the system will allow, Prince Allistor.  That is a basic rule of survival in your new world.”

Allistor did as instructed, expanding the walls to include the entire park area, the ferry terminal to the east, and something called Pier A at the northwestern boundary of the park.  He added the usual amenities, and purchased another teleport pad.  At this rate, he was soon going to exceed the limit of twelve for his hub, and have to purchase a second one of those as well.

Leaving the greenhouse and other items for later, Allistor placed the teleport in the courtyard of the fort. He named the place Battery Park, finished the process, and when the golden light faded away, he had another Stronghold to his name.  Fuzzy immediately wandered off to sniff the trees and take care of some bear business.

“Very original name.  We’ve really got to figure out a name for your… Princedom?” Amanda pointed out.

“You mean like, Allistorland?” he quipped, earning him an elbow to the ribs.

“Yes, like that.  But sooo not like that.” she replied.

“That is wise, Lady Amanda.” Harmon said as Sam pulled up in the Juggernaut.  The orcan grinned, being the one who sold the small fleet of vehicles to Allistor, he said, “Good choice.  Though I’m afraid I would not fit inside with more than one of you.  If you’ll allow me a connection, I’ll bring through some transport more accommodating to my kind?”

“Nigel, please grant Harmon access for incoming teleports.  He’s going to bring some equipment and reinforcements through.  While he’s doing that, contact General Prime and ask him to bring… a thousand of his reserve troops here.  And put me through to Andrea, please.”

“Right away, Sire.  And congratulations on the impressive new acquisition.”

“What’s up, boss?” Andrea’s voice came through a moment later.

“We’re in New York, about to go try and take another depository.  Thought maybe you and your guys, and a few of the other usual suspects might want to join us?  We’re gonna have backup this time.  Some battle droids, and maybe some of Harmon’s guys.”

“Harmon?”

“Oh!  Right.  Harmon is an orcanin.  Do NOT call them orcs.  But that’s what he looks like.  He’s the merchant who sold us all the Juggernauts and weapons and stuff.  I’ll introduce you when you get here.” He stopped talking, smacking himself on the forehead. “Are you at the Citadel?  Any evidence of hostilities?”

“Yes, I’m at the Citadel.  There have been a few ships landing in the far distance, and a bunch of fly-overs.  But so far no evidence of any attacks anywhere, here or the other properties.”

“Great.  I’ll see you in a few then?”

“Give me ten minutes to call everybody together.  Be there in fifteen.”

“We need to get moving, so bring a couple more Juggernauts and catch up to us.  I’m thinking twelve or fifteen more people.  Twenty, max.   Nigel can give you directions once you’re here.”

“Roger that, boss.  See you soon.”

Allistor turned to find Harmon, and his eyes widened in surprise.  The teleport pad was already in use, and about forty orcanin were standing nearby, surveying the interior of the fort and eyeing the high rises they could see above the walls.   Allistor found Harmon and headed in his direction.  As he walked, another group of twenty orcanin appeared.

They all approached his size and bulk, between seven and eight feet tall, and all muscle.  Most wore armor of some kind of scaled composite, and each carried at least three weapons that Allistor could see.  They seemed to favor melee weapons like axes and spears, but each had a rifle slung on their back.   Allistor’s gamer instincts tingled, urging him to equip his own weapon and get to work.  Orcs were rarely allies in the games he’d played.

“Prince Allistor!  Thank you for the use of your teleport.  This greatly reduces the time we shall need to clear and claim buildings.  And with the droids I heard you assign, you could clear a significant number of buildings in a short time.  Maybe create your Capital City here?”

Allistor shrugged.  He didn’t really like big cities, and preferred the open spaces and mountains he was used to.  But he needed to think things through before making a decision. “I will consider that, thank you, Harmon.”

Another group of orcanin had arrived, and now an armored vehicle appeared.  It very nearly filled the pad, the main compartment being twelve feet high and just as wide.  It reminded Allistor of an Army APC, but built to larger dimensions.  Which he supposed made sense if you wanted to fit a dozen or more of the large fighters inside.

When they were done, there were four of the vehicles, and a hundred fighters.  Harmon bowed deeply to Allistor.  “We must be off to seize this Trump Building.  My scouts have cleared the top six floors, but report some resistance.  Mostly low level.”

Alarmed, Allistor asked a question he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer to.  “Human resistance?”

Harmon looked offended.  “Of course not.  Were there to be humans occupying the space, we would not try to claim it.  The resistance thus far has been from creatures of the Menagerie.”

Allistor released the breath he’d been holding.  “Okay, good.  If you do come across humans, try speaking with them.  It may be that you could trade them supplies or weapons to vacate the building.  And feel free to tell them to come see me.  I can always use more citizens, if they’re the right kind of people.”   After a thought struck him, he added, “Would you like a few of my battle droids?”

Several of Harmon’s troops growled at him, causing him to take an involuntary step back.  Harmon shook his head.  “You would have no way to know this, but that offer was an insult to my warriors.  They are bred for battle, and crave it like air itself.   Orcanin would never allow any others to precede them into battle.”

“My apologies.  I did not understand.” Allistor said loud enough for all to hear.  “May you all find worthy opponents!” He raised a fist, and the gathered orcanin roared in agreement, raising their own weapons high.

Without further discussion, Harmon stepped into the lead vehicle.  About half his force climbed in to ride the four transports, the others jogged alongside.  Soon enough they were out the gates and headed into the concrete jungle.

“Just gotta learn to think like an orc.” Allistor muttered to himself.

*****

On a far-off sandy shore, on the west coast of Africa, a bird sits nestled in the sand, half asleep.  Without warning, a small coconut, freed from its restraints in the tree above by the tropical winds, plummets downward and impacts the sand next to the bird with a thud.

Startled, the swallow leaps backward, its wings propelling a spray of sand onto the offending coconut, which does not move.  Angry, the bird chirps and pecks at the coconut that so rudely interrupted its nap.  When the intruder does not respond in any way, the bird eventually settles back into its original spot.  After a time, the sleepy bird begins to lean to one side, its head coming to rest against the fibrous outer shell of the coconut as it drifts off.  The shell is soft, and comfortable, reminding the swallow of the nest where it hatched.

Some time later, the swallow is awakened yet again.  Creatures crash through the brush.  Creatures it has never seen until recently.  Small animals perish in their path.  This swallow, and many others, have steadily been driven toward the coast ahead of these murderous monsters.

With nowhere left to go but across the water, the swallow prepares to flee.  The coconut catches its attention.  The soft shell had given it comfort when it was too exhausted to remain awake.

The swallow found that it wanted to keep the coconut.

Hopping atop the hairy ball-shaped shell, it grasped several of the hairs with its claws, and began to flap its wings furiously.

Chapter 2

General Prime arrived first, with his perfectly aligned and synchronized column of battle droids.  He’d repaired himself fully since the battle in Fort Knox, and somehow looked more intimidating now that Allistor had seen him in action. If all the droids fought as effectively as he did, Allistor felt confident they could take on pretty much anything.

The general marched up and saluted with fist to chest.  “One thousand droids, as requested, Sire.  Shall I disburse them in a defensive formation?”

Allistor nodded.  “Some of them.  How many do you think it would take to properly defend this place, assuming I add the usual cannons and defensive systems?”

Once again Prime’s eyes rotated to the back of his head, then returned as he scanned the area.  “Six hundred would be sufficient, Sire.  Fewer if my droids have access to your ship’s weaponry system.”

“The droids can operate the ship’s systems?”  Allistor was surprised, though he reckoned he shouldn’t be.

“I have not inspected the systems myself, Sire.  But the Galleon class ship’s standard systems’ operation are within our programming.   If there are no modifications, then my troops are more than capable of operating the ship’s weapons as well as most of the other systems.”

“Great!” Allistor felt like hugging his general, but decided it would not be appropriate.  “Then please make use of the ship’s weapons and leave…” He paused for Prime to give him a new number.

“Four hundred fifty.” Prime supplied.

“Leave four hundred fifty of your troops here.  As for the other part of our mission, we are going to claim a couple of structures.  Each one covers an entire city block.  One is about twelve stories tall, the other more like forty.”  Allistor watched the defensive force break free of the column and spread out.

“We have more than sufficient remaining forces to accomplish such a mission, Sire.” He paused for a moment, and his third eye blinked rapidly.  “Nigel has just provided me with the location and ship’s sensor readings for the two structures you have indicated.  Assuming average enemy levels of fifteen or lower, the buildings should take no more than two hours for my troops to clear.  Alpha wishes me to inform you that the ship’s repair droids are already repairing the hull damage, and repairs will be complete in forty-two minutes.”

Allistor held up a hand.  “Thank you.  As to the mission, if you encounter human resistance, I don’t want them killed if you can avoid it.  Please instruct your troops to either retreat and report, or capture them if retreat without casualties is not feasible.  I am not looking to seize property that has been claimed by other humans.” He paused.  “For that matter, the same goes for sentient aliens. I mean, sentient non-humans.  I guess they wouldn’t be alien to you.  It might be that some colonists have beaten us to those buildings.”

“Do you have a priority target?” Prime asked.

“The reserve building.  The smaller of the two.  That is the gold depository.  If we seize that, you can build yourself an army ten times the size of our current force, and buy a transport ship or two.”

“Understood, Sire.  If you wish, we can proceed to the primary objective while you await your human companions.”

Allistor considered it for a moment.  “Alright, go ahead.  And please eliminate any monsters you encounter along the way.  We’ll follow behind you shortly.  Thank you, general.  And good luck.”

The battle droid saluted once again, then turned and led his troops northward.

Amanda, who had been standing quietly next to him, took his hand.  “I always wanted to come to New York.  It doesn’t look much like the pictures anymore.” He followed her gaze up over the walls toward the skyline.

The city did indeed look worse for wear.  There was evidence of fires in several of the high-rises, those that were still standing, and most of them seemed to have taken some kind of impact damage.  There was a large hole in the side of the nearest building, with broken windows, cracked concrete, and twisted metal all around the edges.  A building maybe thirty stories tall off in the distance was completely gutted by fire and leaning precariously toward the river.   It looked like the city had been bombed.

The two of them walked out of the old fort building and north toward the gate and the nearest wall.  Climbing the ramp to the top, they got an unobstructed view of the area.  The smaller, shorter buildings showed much more damage.  Fires had ravaged many of them, and there was evidence of fighting.  The streets were pitted with craters from bombs or other explosives.  Large holes had been blasted through walls, windows shattered, and roofs collapsed.

“The military must have put up a fight for a while.” Amanda whispered, gazing out at the devastation.

Allistor grimaced. “I heard a rumor that they’d nuked Manhattan back in those first few days.  I’m glad that wasn’t true.”

Amanda shook her head.  “Are you sure?  I mean, they could have dropped a bomb on the north end of the island.  Most of the buildings down here obviously caught fire.  Maybe that was the cause.  We could be getting irradiated right now.”   She turned to him and her eyes glowed as she activated her Internal Analysis ability.    After a moment, she shook her head.  “If there’s radiation, the nanite thingies are counteracting it.”

A honk of one of the Juggernaut’s horns turned them around to see the vehicles exiting the fort and moving toward them.  Allistor couldn’t help but notice that there were four of the vehicles rather than two.  The pair jogged down the ramp and met Andrea just as she was getting out of the lead vehicle.

“Heya boss!  I uhh… brought a few extra people.  I figured with the droids tanking, it would be safe enough to give some of our lower level people some xp.”

“Alright, how many did you bring?” Allistor didn’t mind.  She was probably right.  With the ability to put several battle droids between them and any enemy, they should be safe enough.

“Thirty.  And… don’t be mad, boss.  But Nancy brought Chloe.”  Andrea’s face scrunched up and her head sunk between her shoulders as if expecting an explosion.

And Allistor’s first reaction, at least internally, was to be mad.  He flashed back to the first day he’d met Nancy and Chloe, and all the times the little girl and her mother, and Allistor himself, had nearly died.  He’d grown very attached to both of them over the last year.  Nancy was one of their best healers, and he expected her to join them.  She was high enough level and experienced enough to take care of herself.

And that train of thought was what changed his mind.  Nancy was experienced.  She loved Chloe, and if she thought the benefit of bringing her daughter outweighed the risk, he would not argue.  But he sure as hell was going to keep a careful eye on the little girl.

With a sigh, he nodded once.  “That’s Nancy’s call.  But we’re all going to make sure that little girl doesn’t get a scratch on her, yes?”

Andrea leaned in close.  “I already detailed a couple of my guys as human shields, just in case.”   Allistor patted her shoulder and gave her a wink.

Chloe came running up, throwing herself into Allistor’s arms.  After just a year, she was already taller, and stronger, than the little girl he’d pulled out of the sewers after saving her from the vermin.

“Allistor!  Mom said I could come and watch you let stuff bite you!” She grinned at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek and poking his chest. “I’m level six now!  And Lilly made me this cool armor!”  She stuck out her chest and thumped it with a tiny fist.  Allistor checked the stats and laughed.

Chloe’s Cocoon

Complete Armor Set

Item Quality:  Very Good

Attributes:  Constitution +3, Stamina +2, Agility +2, Strength +1

Lilly had clearly designed the armor to nearly double the little girl’s health, as well as give her the Strength, Agility, and Stamina to run away if she needed to.

“This is amazing armor, Chloe!  Lilly did a great job.  And it looks good on you, too.  You should wear it every day!” Allistor poked her in the belly, making her giggle.

“I am!  And I promise, I won’t get in the way today.  Momma made me swear it.  If I disobey, she’s going to send Max and the chickens and bunnies away.” The little girl stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms.

“Your mom is a very smart lady.  There are going to be some scary monsters where we’re going.  Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

“More scary than the giant that stomped our town? I don’t think so.” Chloe shook her head.

Amanda laughed.  “She’s got a point.  And she’ll stay in the back with us healers, won’t you, little lady?”

Chloe nodded.  “I can cast heals too!” She cast Restore on Allistor to prove her point.

“Well, then.  You can tag along, I suppose.”  Allistor pretended to be thinking it over.  “If you promise to keep an eye on Fuzzy.  He charged into the last fight, and I thought he was going to get himself killed.  So you be ready to heal him up, okay?”

Chloe nodded her head so quickly Allistor thought it might rattle her brain.  He set her down, and she moved to take her mother’s hand.  Nancy mouthed a silent thank you and ruffled her daughter’s hair.

Allistor looked to Andrea.  “We’ll do the depository first.  Prime and his troops are probably already there clearing the upper levels.  Let’s get grouped up, loaded up, and get over there before we miss all the xp.” He began sending raid party invites to everyone present.

They redistributed everyone into the five Juggernauts and exited the gate, putting them right at the intersection of Battery and Broadway.  Driving straight up Broadway, they saw up close the devastation seen from atop the wall.  Buildings riddled with bullet holes, and walls blasted open.  Dried blood was still splattered on walls both inside and out.

Passing a couple small parks and several damaged high rises, Helen turned the lead vehicle right onto Liberty Street.  And there it was, one block down on the left.  The Federal Reserve Bank building.  Allistor saw half a dozen of the battle droids standing guard at the main entrance.  They parked the vehicles in a line along the curb, and exited.  Already, Allistor was noting small experience gains of fifty and sixty points floating across his interface.

One of the droids saluted.  “General Prime reports that our troops have cleared floors one through five with no losses, and no contact with humans or other sentients, Sire.   He estimates clearing up to and including the roof in thirty minutes.”

“Ask him to bring down twenty of his troops and meet me on the ground floor.  We’ll start clearing the lower levels as soon as he arrives.”

There was a brief pause, and the sentry replied, “He will arrive in one minute.”

“Cool!” Chloe shouted as she was surrounded by the glow that indicated she’d leveled up.  Nearly everyone else was level fifteen or higher, and they were not getting much experience from the deaths of whatever creatures the droids were slaughtering.  It would take literally hundreds or thousands of them to level him up even once.  But at level six, Chloe was soaking up the sweet, sweet experience points.  And it seemed the droids did not take a share of the experience.

“Congrats, Chloe!” people called out, smiling at the little girl.  She did a little dance on the sidewalk like she’d just scored a touchdown in the Superbowl.   Prime walked out the door just as she was finished.

“We are prepared to descend, Sire.”

“Great, thank you Prime.  I wanted to ask you before we head down, do your droids not share in the experience from their kills?”

“No, Sire.  We are artificial life forms.  Classified by the system as weapons.  All of the experience and loot from any kills we execute go to you and your party.  Our upgrades must be purchased or manufactured for us.”

“I see.  Well, remind me when we’re done here, and we will purchase upgrades for all of your troops.  We can discuss what you think are the best options when we have a little time.”

“Thank you, Sire.” Prime saluted.

They all filed inside the building, and Allistor found that the general had already stationed troops at the stairwells to guard against monsters coming from above or below.  Allistor and Prime led the way down, with the humans, the bear, and the droids mixed together behind them.  He also noticed that a rear guard of four droids followed the group, walking forward but with their movable eyes positioned at the back of their heads.  Allistor cast a Light spell and set the globe to float ahead of him.  Two or three others behind him did the same.

The first basement level door was sitting open, ripped from its hinges and lying on its side.  There were obvious claw marks in the metal of both the door and frame amid splashes of blood.  Further evidence of clawed feet was seen in the form of deep gouges in the concrete leading down the stairs to the next level.

Prime left two droids to guard the door as the group moved into the corridor.  On either side of them were heavily barred sliding doors through which they could see stacks and stacks of gold.  Just like before, Allistor gave his instructions.

“If we have to retreat, we pause here to break open a few of these and snag as much gold as we can.”

They continued on until the corridor turned to the left.  Allistor stepped close to the wall, leaning forward slowly to peek around the corner.  Seeing nothing, he stepped out and waved the others to follow, pushing the light globe forward.

That was his first mistake.

A droning sound echoed down the hall, seeming to grow louder by the second.  A moment later, a seething dark cloud emerged from one of the doorways.  It paused for a moment, then shot right at him.

Meat Bee Swarm

Level 15

Health:  200/200 x 6,400

That was a new one for Allistor.  He cast Barrier in front of himself, then prepared a Flame Shot and sent it flying down the hall.  A few hundred of the bees were incinerated and dropped to the floor, but most avoided the spell.  The agile little creatures had low health, but looked intimidating, maybe four times the size of a regular bumble bee, with sharp mandibles half an inch long.

“Shiiioooot!” Allistor changed his curse-word for Chloe’s sake.   “Back!  Give me some room!  I’m going to pull them toward me, you guys shoot them with the plasma.  Don’t hit me!”

Allistor backed toward the far corner of the intersection even as the others retreated a distance down the previous hall.  As soon as the bees emerged, volleys of plasma from human and droid alike plowed into the swarm.

Allistor, meanwhile, tucked himself into the corner and began to channel Vortex.   As the wind picked up, it started to round up the bees, slamming some against the wall to bounce off, even angrier now.  But the spell was slow to get started, and Allistor was stung on the hands and face dozens of times.  He felt a heal wash over him, and turned to see Chloe waving at him from behind Amanda.

Focusing on the spell, he channeled more mana into it.  When the winds finally formed a solid cone and picked up enough speed to suck all the flying insects into it, Allistor shouted. “Somebody, Flame Shot them, now!”

Amanda obliged, sending a ball of flame into the tightly packed swarm.  The flames quickly spread, caught up and fed by the wind, and Allistor found himself roasting as the heat swirled just inches from him.  The small tornado became a firestorm, the flames licking at his face as it grew more intense.

When he couldn’t take the heat anymore, Allistor let the spell die.  The bee corpses all fell to the ground, and he slumped down to take a seat himself.  Drinking from his canteen, he mumbled, “Probably could have planned that better.  Nearly cooked myself.”

Though there were more than six thousand of the bees in the swarm, it only counted as a single mob.  Once again, Chloe got a good amount of xp, while the others got minimal amounts.

Allistor looked down at his skin.  There were scores of bites on his hands, and he could feel more on his face.  He’d been healed, but the bites had injected some kind of digestive fluid that kept dissolving his skin.  Even as he watched, all the bites began to open again, small pits forming in his flesh.

“Ew!” Chloe made a disgusted face as she watched the holes form on his face.  “See what happens when you let stuff bite you?  That’s just gross.”  Allistor cast a heal on himself, and the wounds closed, but then just opened again.  It wasn’t particularly painful, mainly itchy.  But the idea of being digested alive repulsed him.

Nancy handed him a cure poison potion, which he downed immediately.  The dissolving agent must not have counted as a poison, because the potion had no effect.  Once again the pits began to form.

Frowning, Nancy scanned her inventory for a moment, then produced a bottle.  “It’s vinegar.  Might counteract whatever that is.  Pour a little on your hand.”

Allistor did as he was told, and the stinging sensation increased.  But after a moment, it stopped altogether on that hand.  He quickly poured a little on his other hand, then Nancy handed him a cloth which he soaked with the vinegar and rubbed on his face.   It took a few minutes, but the vinegar did its job.  This time when Chloe healed him, his skin stayed whole.

Handing the bottle back, he said, “Thank you, Nancy.  And Chloe.”  The little girl smiled up at him and winked.

Sam had been looking from the dead bees to the stairwell door and back. “I think now we know what happened.  Something big ran into those bees, and they drove it so crazy it crashed through the door trying to get away.

“I don’t blame it.” Allistor sympathized.

Chloe reached down and picked up one of the crisped bees by a leg.  The wings had all burned away.  “They have no stingers.”

“But those jaws do plenty of damage.” Allistor pointed to the mandibles.

“I just got two hundred bee jaws.” Nancy said as she touched another one of the bees.   Each of the humans reached down and touched a bee, taking their share of the little mandibles.  Allistor figured they’d be good for crafting.  Maybe as clasps in tailoring, or components of some kind of really mean trap.

Continuing on, the rest of the floor was unsurprisingly clear.  Those bees likely killed and ate anything that spawned in their territory. And there must have been plenty of spawns for the bees to have reached level fifteen.

Returning to the stairwell, they continued downward.   The fire exit diagram on the back of the next level’s door showed five basement levels in total.   There was no evidence that the creature that had fled from level one had managed to open the level two door.  Helen said, “Maybe it can’t work a door handle.  Or it was injured crashing through that first door?  It could be waiting for us at the bottom.”

“Let’s hope the bees caught it and finished it off.” Meg added.

Allistor raised a hand for quiet, then nodded to Logan, who opened the door for him.

Once again, he cast Barrier on himself and stepped through.   This time he held a plasma rifle at the ready as he moved.  Two steps in, he stopped and moved to the right, crouching down next to the wall to make room for others to fire if necessary.

The corridor appeared clear.  It was more of the lockers with steel bar doors, packed floor to ceiling with gold bars.  Allistor rose and crept forward, motioning for the others to follow as he moved down the corridor.  Despite his already vast wealth, he couldn’t help but admire the stacks upon stacks of shiny gold bullion that reflected the light from his globe.

Reaching the intersection, he repeated his actions from upstairs and peeked around the corner.  There were two bodies on the floor about halfway down the hall.  Allistor mistook them for corpses until one of them snorted and shifted its body.  He Examined them before pulling his head back.

Leprechaun Enforcer

Level 20

Health 31,000/31,000

Allistor spoke quietly into his radio.  “They’re friggin leprechauns!”

“See mommy! I told you they were real!” Chloe shouted, causing everyone to cringe and Nancy to clamp a hand over her mouth.  Allistor gave the woman a look, and she nodded her head.  Keeping the hand over her daughter’s mouth, she bent down to whisper in Chloe’s ear.  The little girl’s eyes widened, then filled with tears as her mother explained to her how she’d just put everyone at risk.  Nancy hugged the girl to her, and both Amanda and Helen joined in.  That was a harsh lesson for a little one to learn.  When they released the child, she looked at Allistor and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”   He gave her a thumbs-up and a smile.

Prime’s voice came through all their radio earbuds.  “Leprechauns are notoriously nasty fighters.  They mainly use spells, both illusion and offensive, but are also quite fast and strong for their stature.  They favor bladed weapons like daggers and short swords.” He paused, then added, “With the quantity of gold stored here, there will likely be an entire clan protecting it.”

Allistor thought about it for a moment.  “Alright.  I saw two of them, both sleeping.  That might be an illusion, so be ready.  I’ll take the lead.  General, if you’ll accompany me?”

The general saluted and stepped up next to Allistor, who whispered, “I’ll stun the one on the left, general.  Focus fire on the other one.”

With that, he stuck his head out again and cast Mind Spike on the leftmost sleeping leprechaun.  It awoke screaming, holding its head as it rolled around on the floor.  The other one stood, already waving its hands.   They looked nothing like the storybook Irish leprechauns of Allistor’s childhood.  No red hair, beard, and green button-down coat.   These had black skin and even blacker hair, grown long and braided in the back.  Standing maybe three feet tall, their attire was patched together from animal hides of different shades and textures, including their boots.  The one waving his hands had three fingers and a thumb on each, all ending in wickedly curved and sharpened nails.

Before he could finish the spell, Prime shot him in the face with both plasma rifles.  The energy blasts didn’t kill the tough little creature, but did manage to interrupt the spell.  The general moved to the far wall and crouched down, still firing.  The hits were burning the leprechaun’s skin, but not penetrating.  Its health was dropping slowly, but steadily.

Behind Allistor, the others moved into the corridor and began to fire.  The droids had formed a front rank, and dropped to their knees to allow the humans to fire over top of them.  In ten seconds the dozens of plasma bolts mowed down both mobs, neither of them having been able to cast a single spell.

But the one Allistor had attacked had alerted the others with its screams.  Even as Allistor was moving forward to loot the dead mobs, the air wavered slightly, and the bodies disappeared.

“Illusion spell, strong one.” General Prime observed.  “Droids, dispersion pattern epsilon.  Fire!”

The row of battle droids fired in a coordinated pattern, each bolt fired simultaneously and distanced equally from the ones to either side.  They effectively created a line of plasma that cut the air like a wire as it traveled down the hallway.  There were shouts of pain and anger from out of nowhere, then the illusion faltered.   Allistor and the others saw half a dozen of the leprechauns already preparing to cast more spells.  The droids fired again, with the humans right behind them.  Allistor cringed as lightning bolts shot back down the hall, striking droid and human alike.  The smell of smoking plastic and roasted meat reached his nostrils, and he saw several of his people go down.  None of them went grey on his interface, but several were in bad shape.

“Oh, so you like lightning, do ya?” he growled at the little monsters.  He Examined the closest as he started channeling his Storm spell.

Leprechaun Reaver

Level 25

Health: 41,700/45,000

The two groups continued to exchange fire as Allistor’s spell built.  He’d never tried to cast this particular spell indoors, and when nothing happened in the first few seconds, he began to worry it wouldn’t work.  But a moment later there was a breeze at his back, and then a strong wind.  Air rushed in from both corridors to the spot where the leprechauns stood.  A dark cloud formed over top of them, and the first bolt crashed down.  The accompanying sound was almost deafening, but Allistor didn’t let it distract him.

Two of the leprechauns raised their hands and screamed a series of words, and a shield dome formed over top of the group.  Allistor’s people continued to fire, the plasma rounds sizzling against the dome even as more and more lightning bolts rained down.  The other leprechauns inside the bubble stopped attacking and added their magic to the dome.

Allistor kept channeling as Andrea cast her Dissolve spell on the dome.  It didn’t seem to have any effect at all, so she went back to firing her plasma rifle.  The mobs switching to defense allowed the healers to catch up, bringing all the humans back to one hundred percent before gulping down mana potions.

Allistor still pushed more mana into his spell.  When he reached about fifty percent mana, the shield suddenly popped!  The bolts began to strike the tiny creatures at the same time the incoming plasma rounds hit home.   Only one of them had time to send another lightning strike downrange, taking down three of Allistor’s people again.  This time Nancy was hit, stunning her even as her hair smoked and she fell to the ground.  Chloe bravely knelt next to her mother and cast a heal on her.

A few seconds later, the leprechauns perished, first one, then two, then the rest.   Allistor let the spell die as experience flashed across everyone’s interface, and Chloe wasn’t the only one to level up this time.  Allistor saw the little girl lean down and whisper in her prone mother’s ear, and Nancy nodded.  Getting up, she ran over and leapt into Allistor’s arms.  When he lifted her up, she whispered, “I’m level ten!”

He knew the little girl could read, but not all that well.  At age five now, Ramon was working with her.  Allistor hugged her tight and said, “Congratulations, little one!  You’re going to see some notifications on your interface.  Just wave those aside for now, and let your mom help you with them when we’re done here.”

Chloe nodded and squirmed to be let down.  Allistor dropped her gently on her feet and she bolted back to her mom.

They took a few minutes to loot the leprechauns.  Sam was the first to touch one of them, and he started laughing.  “The legends got one thing right, at least.”

Curious to see what he meant, Allistor looted the nearest corpse and received a full pound of gold in the form of sixteen single-ounce gold coins.  That was the equivalent of about twenty thousand klax.  If each of the humans was receiving a similar amount, these little monsters were carrying some serious cash.

The next surprise was that nearly everyone received a scroll of one type or another.  Some were skill scrolls, some spell scrolls.  None of them were epic or legendary, but all of them were useful.   When he was done looting all eight corpses, Allistor had more than a hundred and fifty thousand klax and two scrolls.  One for the lightning spell they’d used against his people, and one called Hide.  It wasn’t quite an invisibility spell, more like cloaking.  It created a barrier of illusion between the caster and a target area, almost like a mirror that reflected what was behind the caster rather than the target’s image back at them, and was only active when the target was stationary.

Bob, who had been brought along to level him up a bit, received a cool spell scroll called Reinforce.  The spell would increase the density and strength of a material by fifty percent.  “This’ll make the structures I build even sturdier.  And I could cast them on gates or doorways to make them harder to break through.”

Amanda looked at the description.  “If you don’t mind, next time I have a patient with a broken bone, I’d like you to try that on them.”   The group got quiet as the implications of that struck home.  Could they use the spell to make everyone’s bones stronger?

“Guys, I know it’s tempting to use them now, but please give all your scrolls to Ramon, so that he and his people can copy them.  You’ll get them back as soon as possible.  We want everyone to benefit from your good fortune, right?”

Everyone complied without complaint, and they prepared to move on.  Meg handed out pieces of dragon jerky that gave buffs to Health and Stamina regen.  Nobody had died in the last fight, but it had been very, very close.  Then she had everyone take a few slugs of tea that increased Constitution +2 for two hours. They had all noticed that the second group was much higher level than the first.  And if that trend continued, the fights were going to be more dangerous going forward.

Chapter 3

With the group healed, rested, buffed, and in a good mood after looting the leprechauns, they continued on.  The rest of the second level was empty, except for a literal pot of gold sitting in a corner of an opened cell.  About half the gold bars had apparently been converted into coins like the ones they’d looted earlier, and a cauldron big enough to cook an orcanin in sat there, filled with thousands of the things.

“These will come in handy for trade.”  Michael observed.  “Easier to use than gold bars, for sure.  And we don’t have to exchange gold for klax at whatever rate the market is paying.”

Allistor agreed wholeheartedly.  “I’ll start paying salaries with these, and using them to buy crafted goods from our people to help get them into circulation.”

“Be nice if we could find a way to make more of them.  Maybe there’s a machine here?”

“There’s definitely one in Denver.  It just never occurred to me to start making the coins.  We’ll get some people on that asap.  Also there’s a few rooms worth of the coins there, too.  Gold and silver.  We’ll get those out right away.”

Leaving behind the pot of coins, the group returned to the stairwell and headed down.  The level three door stood slightly open, blocked from closing by a pile of human bones.

Amanda made a brief inspection.  “I think they’re human, but there’s only a partial skeleton here.  More than half of it is missing.”

“Likely something was feeding on it and dragged the rest away?  Maybe the bees picked the bones clean.” Sam offered.  The others nodded, the scenario made sense.

Logan opened the door the rest of the way, and Allistor gently pushed the bones into the hall and off to one side with his foot.  They advanced into the hallway, which was another copy of the ones above.  More barred cells filled with gold bullion stacked to the roof.

Halfway down the hall they heard a lively tune being whistled.  A moment later a leprechaun walked around the corner in front of them.  By his side stalked a wolvite that was twice his bulk.  Its shoulders stood as high as the leprechaun’s head, and the beast had to weigh at least two hundred pounds.

Leprechaun Beastmaster

Level 27

Health:  51,000/51,000

Wolvite Companion

Level 25

Health:  64,000/64,000

Allistor didn’t give the leprechaun a chance to cast.  He quickly used Erupt to send a spike up through the leprechaun’s chest, shooting a spray of blood onto the wall behind it.  The creature tried to scream, but couldn’t get the air into its lungs.  The stone spike was larger than the leprechaun himself, and devastated its chest.  The spike missed its heart, still dropping its health by half.

The wolvite roared and charged toward Allistor, and a moment later an answering roar from Fuzzy drowned it out.  The charging creature hesitated, but it was already too late. The three-hundred pound, year-old bear cub charged forward, half again as large as the wolvite, and five levels higher.   The impact of the two beasts sent them careening into one of the walls, where teeth flashed and fur began to fly.

Unable to hit the wolvite without risking hitting Fuzzy, Allistor focused on the leprechaun.  Despite the gaping hole in his chest, the creature was still attempting to cast.  Plasma bolts began to impact it even as an illusion snapped into place and the leprechaun disappeared.  Though the illusion threw off a few of the humans, the droids continued to fire at the same spot.  The illusion only lasted moments before dropping.  But the moment it did, lightning struck Allistor, knocking him off his feet and back into a wall.  His head impacted first, and he thought he felt something give as he blacked out.

A moment later he was revived, feeling heals wash over him.  There was pain in the back of his head and his neck, but he ignored it.   The leprechaun was already down to about twenty percent health and the bar was draining rapidly.   Fuzzy was still fighting the wolvite literally tooth and nail.  Allistor managed to get a clear line of sight to the monster and cast Mind Spike, causing it to wail and shake its head.  That was the only opening the enraged Fuzzy needed.  He latched onto the wolvite’s throat and squeezed, simultaneously shaking his head.

The leprechaun expired first, using its last breath to cast a curse on the group.  Allistor didn’t take time to look at the details as the Cursed icon appeared in the top corner of his interface.  Instead he struggled to his feet with the help of Amanda and Chloe, and leaned on them while he watched Fuzzy finish off the wolvite.   Nancy had been continually casting heals on the bear, and though he was covered in both his own and the wolvite’s blood, he was at over ninety percent health when his prey expired.

Amanda was probing the back of Allistor’s head with Internal Analysis as she felt it with her fingers.  When she pulled them away, they were bloody.  “You actually have a flat spot on your skull where you hit the wall.  That should have killed you, even with the quick heals you got.” Her eyes glowed when she activated her Internal Analysis, and she added, “I can see the bone pushing back out and re-knitting.  You should have a bruised brain and probably bleeding inside your skull right now.  But I don’t see any evidence of either.”

Still disoriented, Allistor mumbled, “You seem disappointed.”

Amanda’s mouth opened, and she stared at him for a moment.  “Damn. I’m sorry. That was a little clinical of me.  I’m glad you’re okay, really I am.  I just don’t understand it.”

“Maybe my skull was already thickened?  I’ve taken more than one shot to the head this year.”

“No… I mean, it may have been thickened.  Reinforced like your other broken bones.  But it was definitely caved in.  It’s like your brain… I don’t know.” She drifted off into her own thoughts.

Stepping forward on his own, he touched the leprechaun and wolvite with his foot to loot them, then put his back against the wall and slid to a sitting position.  He’d received two hundred gold coins from the leprechaun, and a scroll.  The wolvite had given him a couple pieces of hide and twenty pieces of meat.

His people knew to harvest what they could from the creature, so Allistor remained where he was while they did their jobs.  Fuzzy helped himself to the discarded bits as the creature was gutted, skinned, and butchered.

The robots had formed front and rear guard formations and kept watch for more roving mobs as the humans did their thing.  Prime came to stand in front of Allistor.  “Are you well, Sire?”

“I’ll be fine, Prime.  Bumped my head really hard.  But I’m healing.”

The droid nodded once.  Behind him, Allistor heard Amanda say, “That’s it!”

She walked over to him.  “You were hit by lightning, that’s what threw you into the wall.  I think maybe the shock contracted your muscles, and your brain so that it took less of a hit when your skull caved.”

“Good to know.” Allistor winked at her.  “Glad you got that off your mind, and I hope it helps you get over your disappointment that I survived.”

She glared at him.  “Well, you know… if you bite it down here, I do have a good case for taking your spot as Princess.  Even though you haven’t technically made an honest woman out of me.”

Allistor was dumfounded.  She’d never spoken about marriage before.

“Was that… a proposal?” he stammered at her, wishing his head was clearer.  The pain and disorientation hadn’t completely faded.   She just rolled her eyes and walked away.

“That’s what I like about you.” Meg said as she handed him some jerky.  “So quick on your feet.  Smooth, like peanut butter.” She gave him a playful poke in the belly and walked away.

Fuzzy appeared in her place, sniffing with great interest at the jerky in Allistor’s hand.  He gladly fed it to his bear cub, scratching his blood-covered ears.  “You did a great job, buddy!  Took down that big nasty beast and made it look easy!”   Fuzzy just snorted and gnawed on the tough meat.  But Allistor could tell he was pleased by the compliment from the way his little nub of a tail twitched.

Wiping his hands on a rag from his inventory, he continued to talk to the bear.  “We need to work on our coordination, my friend.  You can’t just go charging in whenever you feel like it.  I need you to wait until I give you the signal, okay?”

Fuzzy looked at him as if to say, “A bear’s gotta bear.” then resumed his gnawing on the jerky.

“Right.  Good talk, buddy.  Glad we worked that out.  Finish up your snack there, we need to get moving.”  Allistor pushed himself up onto his feet, using the wall at his back.  When he was fully upright, he shook his head a bit to test it out.  When he didn’t feel dizzy, he gave himself a little thumbs-up and stepped forward.

Logan and Lars stepped in front of him, and Lars said, “We’ll take the lead for a while.  If you don’t mind casting that shield spell on me?  You stay back here and recover from gettin’ your bell rung like that.”

Allistor didn’t argue, not confident in his abilities at the moment, and not wanting to risk lives because of his pride.  He cast Barrier on Lars, and the two men took the lead.

They encountered three more leprechauns in a group, and another beastmaster, this one with a lanx for a companion, before the floor was cleared.  His people took some damage, but they were learning to coordinate better, both amongst themselves and with the droids, and were getting more efficient at killing the magic users before they could inflict much damage. Lars worked out a rotation of stuns and interrupts, and the leprechauns only managed to do damage when one of the humans’ spells failed.

By the time they descended to the fourth level, Chloe and most of the others had picked up another level.  Allistor wasn’t anywhere close, all of these mobs being lower level than him.  But between the kills down there, and the experience coming from the droids upstairs, he was about 10% toward level thirty-one.

Just before they opened the door to the fourth level, Prime reported, “Sire, Nigel wishes me to inform you that some humans attempted to enter the Stronghold at the park.  My battle droids were able to capture them, and are detaining them inside the fort.”

“Thank you, Prime.  Please make sure the humans are not harmed before we return.”

Feeling better, Allistor took the lead again.  Logan pulled the stairwell door open for him, and he stepped through with his rifle raised and finger on the trigger.  As his light globe illuminated the hallway, a brighter flash etched itself across his eyes, and he felt the familiar sensation of being struck by lightning.  This time when it pushed him back, there was no impact with the wall.  He was thrown through the door into the arms of his people.

They unceremoniously dropped him and raised their weapons to fire, moving forward through the door one by one and spreading out to allow more firepower to be brought to bear.  When the stairwell was clear, he got to his feet.  Chloe turned to face him from behind her mom, and cast a heal on him.   Blowing her a kiss, he charged back through the door and took in the scene.

The cells on either side of the corridor that would normally be filled with gold now held leprechauns.  Half a dozen on each side, and all around level twenty-five, they were flinging spells at his people, who were desperately firing back.  The humans were going all out, casting Restraint and Mind Spike on the monsters to stop their casting, firing as quickly as they could with plasma rifles.  Andrea cast Dissolve on the nearest leprechaun on the left, and it collapsed, screaming as its face melted.

But his people were going down as well.  Ramon was on the ground, stunned from a lightning strike and with his health at ten percent.  Allistor cast a heal on him before turning and casting Erupt at another leprechaun.  The creature took a half step back just as the spell finished, so the spike shot up and penetrated its face rather than its chest.  It stopped moving and hung limp.

The battle droids were absorbing the majority of the lightning bolts, having formed a line in front of the group.  The shocks made them pause briefly, but didn’t seem to harm them.  Allistor saw Prime hurl his pole weapon down the hall and through the head of another leprechaun.  A moment later a massive volley of plasma bolts went out from the droids, cutting a line straight down the corridor.  Each droid had fired both rifles simultaneously, making more than forty plasma projectiles impact all at once.  A wall of illusion dropped, exposing four more of the creatures.  These were larger and stronger looking than the ones the group had faced so far.

Leprechaun Enforcer

Level 30

Health:  73,000/73,000

The four seemed to be working together to create some kind of spell.  Each of them was chanting and moving its hands, and a thin trace of magic connected the four as they stood in a half-circle facing the humans.   The next volley from the droids focused on the center two enforcers, knocking both back and interrupting their cast.  But they were quickly back in position and restarting the spell.

Allistor’s gut dropped.  The magic of four level thirty mobs combined would almost certainly kill one or more of his people.  He couldn’t let that happen.

Starting to channel a Flame Shot spell, he shouted at the general.  “Cover me!”   Leaping forward, he continued to put more and more mana into the spell as he ran past the front rank of battle droids and down the hallway.  He saw wounded and bleeding leprechauns on either side of him as he passed their positions, surprise written on their faces.  His group poured on the interrupts and plasma fire to keep them from targeting him.

Nearing the end of the corridor, the fireball was larger than a beachball and getting so hot it was turning white.  Two feet from the group of four, he dropped into a baseball slide and released the massive fireball directly up into the faces of the leprechauns.   He instantly cast Barrier in front of himself, hoping to deflect some of the heat.  While he was protected from it before he released the spell, once it was released out into the world, the heat could burn him just as badly as his targets.

His slide took him through the legs of the four, and between his barrier and the sturdy bodies of the enforcers, he was shielded from the worst of the heat.

The leprechauns, however, took it right in the teeth.  The two center mobs had taken the worst of it.  Their faces melted off, as did most of their arms.  They expired within seconds.  The other two were badly burned, falling to the ground and rolling as they screamed.

Allistor felt a heal wash over him, and his burnt hands and face cooled a bit.  He got to his feet to finish off the two wounded mobs but the others beat him to it.  They had followed his charge, taking out the side leprechauns as they went, and arrived just a few seconds behind Allistor.  Prime stomped the head of one of the wounded creatures, caving it in.  Fuzzy clamped down on the face of the other, snapping its neck with a shake of his head.

There were no cheers from the group as some of them leveled up.  Back where they’d made their stand, there was a body.   Nancy and Chloe sat next to the corpse of Campbell, one of Andrea’s elite security force of four that had greeted Allistor on his first trip into the Silo.  Bjurstrom, Goodrich, and McCoy all walked back to take a knee next to their friend and fellow gamer.   Tears rolled down Chloe’s face, and her mother hugged her close.

“He… he used to give me rides on his shoulders.”  the girl sobbed. “Always gave me ice cream, then tickled me when I tried to eat it.”

Allistor wiped the tears from his own eyes.  Standing next to him, Amanda said, “He took hits from two different bolts in seconds.  We tried to heal him up, but it was so much damage so fast…”

“Did you try CPR?”  Allistor asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

“What? No.  I mean, we haven’t… shit!”  Amanda ran toward the prone body.  “CPR!  Start CPR!” she shouted.  Bjurstrom immediately began compressions on the man’s chest as Nancy breathed into his mouth.  Amanda was shouting as she slid to her knees.  “We’ve been using magic to heal for so long, it didn’t even occur to me to try our old world medicine!”

Reaching into her inventory, she pulled out a syringe and uncapped the needle.  A moment later she shouldered Bjurstrom aside and plunged it into Campbell’s chest.  “He died from an electric shock!  Maybe we can shock him back.” She zoned out as she looked through her inventory again.

“Dammit.  I took my defibrillator out a while back.” she cursed herself.  “Anybody got a way to shock him?”

Prime stepped forward.  “I absorbed significant electrical charges during the battle.  I can discharge some of that if it will assist you.”

“Yes!  Okay, put your hands here, and here.” Amanda ripped open his leather vest and shirt, then pointed to the proper locations on his chest.

“What level of discharge do you desire?”  Prime asked as he put his hands in place.

“Uhm…” Amanda fidgeted as she tried to remember.  “Three hundred!  Three hundred joules, please.”

Prime nodded.  “Please step back for your own safety.” When everyone had moved away, he zapped Campbell’s body.  His muscles seized, and his back arched as the shock passed through him.

Still on her knees, Amanda leaned forward and checked for a pulse.  When she found nothing, she said, “Please try again at three hundred and fifty joules.”

She leaned back, and Prime shocked him again.  Amanda activated her Internal Analysis and gazed into Campbell’s body.  “One more time, please.”   She watched as the shock passed through the body’s muscle and tissue and reached the heart.  The organ actually contracted once, but when it did so she saw a large tear in one of its chambers.

With a sigh, she shook her head.  “It’s no good.  It looks like his heart exploded.  I… I can’t fix that.  Heals only work on the living.  I’m sorry.”

Allistor was crushed.  Turning away, he walked a few steps and sat against a wall.  The little surge of hope made the loss even more devastating.  A moment later, Chloe came and curled up in his lap, sobbing into his chest as he hugged her close and cried with her.  Campbell had been by his side in countless fights since the apocalypse, starting with the Silo dungeon.  He’d been part of Bjurstrom’s group that took noobs and lower level citizens to run dungeons and level up.   The loss of his friend twisted his gut, making him second-guess himself for trying to take this building.  How much gold was the life of his friend worth?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see McCoy squatting next to him.  “Shake it off, boss.  We all knew the risks coming down here.  Campbell wouldn’t have missed it for the world.  His death isn’t on you.”

Allistor shook his head.  “But it is.  I decided to come down here.  I kept going after the mobs nearly took some of us out upstairs.  I should have-”

“No.” Bjurstrom cut him off.  “This is our world now, boss.  You can’t think like that.  I know how you feel.  Every time I take a group of noobs into even a low level dungeon, I second-guess myself.  But it has to be done.  We need to fight, and get stronger.  Or this world will kill us.  And it won’t have to be in a dungeon like this. It’ll be when we’re just walking around picking our noses.  This is how we do it.  This is how we survive.”

The others nodded.  Nancy came over and scooped up Chloe, groaning as she lifted the little girl.  “He’s right.  We’re all crushed by the loss of Campbell.  The man saved my life a few times just today.  And I can’t even count how many times in other fights.  Just like Goodrich, or any of these others.  They make themselves my shield when things get hairy.  I don’t think they even realize they’re doing it.  And that’s how Campbell died, standing between us healers and the monsters.  It’s just what he did.”

Allistor nodded, getting to his feet with a hand from McCoy.  “We’ll take him back to the Citadel and give him a proper funeral tonight.”  McCoy and Goodrich nodded.  McCoy pulled a blue Air Force body bag from his inventory and the two of them went to take care of Campbell.

The others moved to loot the leprechauns, each receiving thousands of gold coins.  Apparently the little creatures had been busy converting the gold in the empty cells into coins.  Several more scrolls were looted as well, and handed over to Ramon.

The four enforcers also yielded a total of eight enchanted blades, of which Allistor received one.  The blade was eighteen inches long, somewhere between a long dagger and a very short sword.  It was leaf-shaped, widening from the point to the midpoint, then narrowing again, with a shallow fuller down the center.

Enforcer’s Blade

Item Quality: Rare

Attributes:  Agility +2, Strength +1, Luck +3

The blade came with a sheath attached to a belt.  What counted as a belt for the tiny creatures was nowhere near long enough to encircle Allistor’s waist.  But it fit perfectly around his thigh, so he fastened it there.  The system created a slot on his avatar’s legs to correspond with it, and he felt the attribute buffs take effect.

Chloe had been another who’d received a blade.  He watched as Nancy strapped the belt around the child’s narrow waist.  Chloe drew the weapon with a determined look on her face.  The knot in Allistor’s gut twisted a bit tighter.  Chloe and the other children were having to grow up too quickly.

When the airmen were done bagging Campbell’s body, Prime detailed one of the droids to carry him.  The droid remained where it was while the group cleared the rest of the floor.   They found no more leprechauns or mobs of any kind.  And all the gold had been removed.

Back at the stairwell, Allistor called a halt.

“The mobs here were level thirty.  They’ve been getting progressively tougher as we go.  I have to assume that the next floor will have higher levels, and probably an elite boss.  I’m thinking we should wait here and let General Prime’s troops finish clearing upstairs, then come down here and zerg the final level.  I don’t want to lose anyone else today.”

Sam shook his head, along with most of the others.  “No, boy.  We came this far.  Campbell gave his life for this place.  We’re gonna make these little bastards pay for that.”

Allistor looked around, seeing nothing but grim faces and nodding heads.  Still he asked, “Anybody want to stay here?  Or get an escort back topside.  I wouldn’t blame you one bit.  Don’t be shy.  If anything you’d be showing good sense.”  He looked directly at Nancy, then at Chloe as he finished speaking.

She shook her head, setting her daughter down.  “Bjurstrom is right.  This is our world now.  I’ll protect her as best I can, but she needs to see this through just like the rest of us.”  Chloe nodded once as she held her mother’s hand, patting her new blade with the other.

Bjurstrom added, “For Campbell.”  followed by McCoy, Goodrich and others.  “For Campbell.”

There was some chuckling as Fuzzy goosed Allistor with his snout in a sneak attack, pushing him toward the stairs leading down.  With a dirty look toward his bear cub, Allistor said, “I guess it’s unanimous.  Let’s do this.  But we’re breaking out the big guns.  Sam, you have the BFG in your inventory?  The plasma rifles don’t seem to do a lot of damage.  Let’s see what that .50 can do.”

Sam grinned, producing the gun.  Lars and Logan each produced the smaller LMG belt-fed guns as well.  After a quick request, Prime assigned each of them a droid to carry ammo and help reload.  They took a minute for the gunners to demonstrate, and they were ready.

“Meg, I want you to try a couple of your grenades, too.  Fire worked pretty well on that last group.  If nothing else, it should make for a nice long interrupt.” Meg wiggled the hand that held her inventory ring and nodded, a grim look on face.

As prepared as he could be, Allistor equipped his Mossberg tactical shotgun with slugs loaded.  They descended to the fifth and final level, and Allistor cast Barrier on himself.  A nod to Logan, and the door was yanked open.

Allistor advanced into the hallway, finding this one very different from the others.  It was wider, with a taller ceiling, and instead of the barred cells on either side, there were big round vault doors.   Allistor immediately moved to one side and hugged the wall, taking partial cover behind one of the open doors.  It was at least a foot thick and solid metal as far as he could tell.

There was no sign of any mobs in the corridor.

Once the others had filtered through, they began to clear the rooms.  Seeing nothing inside, Allistor had the droids fire volleys into each room anyway, just in case there was illusion magic hiding the little monsters.

The raiders made it down the corridor without incident, then turned left and cleared that one as well.  At the next intersection, the hallway changed again.  This time there were no side vaults.  Just a short hall leading to a single massive vault.  The round metal door was easily twelve feet in diameter.  It hung on a pair of hinges that were each thicker than Allistor’s legs.

“You could drive a tank through that hole.” Sam whispered.

“Or maybe even Goodrich’s oversized head.” Bjurstrom added.

“But not your ego.” Goodrich retorted, smiling at his friend.

Logan looked at the massive door, which stood a few inches ajar, but due to the thickness of the door he couldn’t see inside the room.  “I think I’m gonna need a little help opening this one.”

“Yeah.  We’re gonna need a bigger doorman.” Amanda muttered, stealing a line from her favorite old shark movie.  Most of the people in the room didn’t get it, but Allistor, Sam, and Meg smiled at her.

Her words, coming right behind Sam’s tank statement, had given him an idea.  “Guys, I think I have just the thing we need.”

He motioned for them to open the door.  He needed to see inside the room before he knew whether his plan would work.   Prime waved Logan and the others away, and he took their place along with four droids.  Two seconds later, the door began to swing open silently as they stepped back and pulled on it.  He peered inside, and laughed.  “That’s good, general.  Get ready to close the door.”

On the other side of the door was a huge cavern.  The walls were natural stone, chipped and sanded to be relatively smooth.  Allistor couldn’t see the ceiling, but the room extended back several hundred feet.  It was bigger than he’d expected, but that didn’t change his plan.  Near the center of the room he saw a throne, atop which sat an obviously female leprechaun.   He Examined her quickly.

Leprechaun Clan Mother

Level 35 Elite

Health:  91,000/91,000

From the angle he had through the partly-open door, he could also see at least a dozen male leprechauns standing around.   He had to assume there were more.  Too many for his group to handle.

Closing his eyes, he focused on the spell he wanted, then began channeling.  With his increased attributes and the buffs from all the gear he was wearing, he had high hopes for this spell.  He channeled more and more mana into it, until he felt some resistance.  Opening his eyes, he focused on the floor just inside the door, and released the spell.

A black cloud formed inside the room, swirling and sighing for a moment before it coalesced into a creature from hell.  The foghorn-roar that still made Allistor’s bowels go watery resounded through the room, and he saw the leprechauns start to scramble.   He took a quick look at his handiwork even as he shouted, “Kill everything in that room!” and motioned for the general to close the door.   The last thing he saw was a massive black clawed hand reaching out to grasp a leprechaun and squeeze it to pulp.

Void Titan

Level 30

Health:  251,000/251,000

Sam roared with laughter as the door closed.  “Holy hell, Allistor!  That thing was a true monster!  That was like throwing a grenade into a shitter.”

Allistor grinned.  “I don’t know if it can kill everything in there for us.  But it can sure make a large dent.  Maybe drain their mana for us.  Everybody be ready.”

They listened with smiles on their faces as the titan’s roar vibrated the walls and floor beneath them.  There were screams, and the sounds of lightning bolts crashing.  A female voice chanting a long spell echoed through the door, followed by another roar from the titan.

Things went silent then, and Allistor waited about five seconds before he motioned for the door to be opened.  If anything still lived in there, he didn’t want it to have a chance to heal up.  As soon as the door was wide enough, he cast Barrier and ran inside.  The others were right behind him.

At first he saw nothing living.  There were leprechaun corpses scattered everywhere, stomped into the floor or tossed against walls.  The void titan lay on its side, unmoving.  It appeared to have fallen atop the throne.  Allistor hoped the clan mother had been crushed in its armpit.  He shook his head, grimacing as he remembered that particular torture.

As he rounded the body, a scream echoed through the room, and he ducked back behind the titan’s head just as a spray of lightning bolts shot past him.  They crashed into the wall, blasting chunks of stone free on impact.

Allistor peeked around the smelly titan’s skull and found the clan mother standing there.  One of her arms hung limp at her side, and her head was bleeding.  He cast Mind Spike, but the spell failed.  He quickly ducked back as her hands shot forward and more lightning flashed past.  This time the room shook and some dust and gravel fell from the ceiling.

Sticking his head out again, he cast Erupt, channeling it for a moment to give it some extra power.  When he released it, the spike shot up into the boss’s gut, causing her to scream and interrupting her cast.  He tried Restraint, and it worked!

“Go around behind her!” he shouted.  “She can’t turn.  Shoot her in the back!”

Everyone but Prime dashed back the way they came.  Allistor and Prime stepped out, and the general began blasting with both plasma rifles as Allistor built up a channeled Flame Shot.  He didn’t form it into a ball this time, choosing instead to call a column of white-hot flame down upon the skewered boss.  She screamed again, her hair disintegrating along with most of the robe she wore, and some of her skin.  The rest crisped, turning an even darker black than her normal skin tone.   Her health bar dropped to below fifty percent.

Screaming in rage, she pushed her hands outward in an abrupt motion, and a massive bolt of lightning shot forth.  Prime was moving even before the spell was completed, and placed himself between her and his Prince.  The bolt struck him, and though his frame seemed to absorb the energy, he was still knocked backward.  He impacted Allistor, and the two of them tumbled backward.  Allistor felt his nose and one arm break as the heavy droid landed atop him.  His head slammed into the floor, and his vision narrowed to a faint point of light down a long swirling tunnel filled with tiny flashes.

He felt his body being lifted as he closed his eyes and cast a heal on himself.  When he opened his eyes, he saw the boss waving her hand again.  He was looking at her upside down as Prime carried him quickly to one side.  Allistor lost sight of her behind the titan’s skull just before she cast.  A moment later, the monster’s head rocked toward him, and large bits of flesh and bone blasted off.   Allistor gagged at the stench of burning titan flesh raining down on him.

The next thing he heard was the distinctive sound of automatic gunfire.  Sam and the others must have found a position behind her and set up their guns.  Casting another heal on himself, he told Prime to set him down, then leaned around to get a look at the boss.

She was squirming on the spike, which would be dissolving at any moment.  Allistor cast Restraint on her again, and it took hold.  He looked beyond her to see Sam, Lars, and Logan in prone positions on the floor.  Sam’s gun was set up on its bipod, while the other two had chosen to use one of the dead titan’s fingers for a weapon rest, giving them some cover at the same time.  All three were emptying their weapons into the boss leprechaun’s back.  The .50 cal was doing the most damage by far, punching holes in her torso.

Leprechaun Clan Mother

Level 35 Elite

Health:  11,700/91,000

When all three of them stopped to reload, Fuzzy charged forward. Allistor shouted, “Fuzzy, no!” But the bear ignored him.   Just as the stun spell was wearing off, Fuzzy reared up behind the three-foot female leprechaun.  He was easily six or eight times her size, and when he bit down on her head, it disappeared inside his maw.  He threw his weight backward, and her torso was ripped in half by the spike as he pulled her free.  At the last moment, there was a loud pop, and her head separated from her shoulders.

Everyone but Allistor, Amanda, and Fuzzy leveled up.  The humans cheered and clapped each other on the back, congratulating each other on the victory and the new levels.  A few of them sat down immediately and spaced out, assigning their new points.

The bear dropped the head on the floor and padded toward Allistor, sniffing him carefully as if making sure he was okay.  When he caught a snootful of the void titan splatters on his human, he snorted and backed away.

“I know, buddy.  I know.” Allistor reached out to scratch his bear’s ears, but Fuzzy backed away farther, shaking his head.  “Ha!  Okay.  Good job finishing the boss, bearzilla.  But you gotta stop running out in front of gunfire.  One of our own people might have killed you.”

Fuzzy just tilted his head and looked at him like he was insane.  Allistor could almost hear the bear thinking our pack would never harm me. Shaking his head, he gave up for now.

Walking around the dead titan’s head, he gaped at the massive hole left by that last lightning spell.  It looked like Sam had blasted the thing with one of the Howitzers. He was suddenly very grateful for Prime and his fast thinking.

“Thank you, general, for saving my life yet again.  If we had been out there when that spell went off…”

Prime nodded.  “Yes, I suspect even I could not have absorbed that much electricity.  Especially since my capacity is nearly filled from previous spells.”

Allistor’s mouth dropped.  “You mean, you and your droids were using the lightning to charge yourselves?”

“Exactly correct, Sire.  I will not need a charge for at least a week.  Even my backup storage devices are filled.”

“Ha!  Well, thank you again, Prime.  Remind me when we get back to arrange the upgrades for you and your troops.”

“You are most welcome, Sire.”

Allistor bent to loot the boss, and grinned to himself as he saw a glowing legendary item notice appear, followed by a purple one.  Eight thousand gold coins jingled their way into his inventory, along with a wand of some sort.   He watched some of the others celebrate as they looted the boss and received their share.  Then they all took a minute to walk around the room, looting what was left of the other mobs.

Now that he had more time to take in the room, he saw that the clan mother’s throne was solid gold.  As was a wide circle of floor inlay around it.  Behind her were several more of the large cauldrons filled with what looked like liquid gold.

He had his people spread out, and it wasn’t long before they found a hidden door near the back of the room.  In there was a pile of gold coins ten feet high, as well as a cache of leprechaun-sized weapons.  Short swords, short spears, shields, and knives.  There were some enchanted items, but most were just high quality mundane weapons.

A quick inquiry to the general confirmed that his troops had cleared the upstairs floors.  Allistor opened his interface, and was pleased to see that he had the green light to claim the depository building.    He immediately did so, making it an Outpost and adding in the usual features, then naming it Campbell’s Rest.

As everyone finished their looting and exploring, Nigel’s voice rang out.  “Congratulations on your new acquisition, Sire.  Master Harmon is outside and wishes to speak with you.”

“Tell him I’ll be up in just a few minutes, Nigel.  Thank you.”

His worn out crew made for the massive vault door and the stairwell beyond.  Everyone was coming down from the adrenaline rush, and their feet were dragging.  Noticing this, Prime moved to the front.  He lifted Allistor gently in two of his arms, then turned to the others.  “If you will allow us, we can transport you quickly back to the ground level.”

When Allistor laughed and nodded, Prime scooped Amanda up in his other two arms and effortlessly jogged up the stairs.  The other droids each grabbed one or two humans and did the same.  Fuzzy growled at the droid who reached for him, choosing to climb the stairs on his own.

Back at the ground floor, Prime set the humans down to allow them to exit the building with dignity.  The troops that had cleared the building were arranged in three rows out in the street, unmoving and awaiting orders.

Allistor found Harmon leaning against the Juggernaut, which had enabled him to speak through Nigel.  He waved at the big orcanin, who was looking sorrowful.

“Were you not able to claim the building you wanted?”  Allistor asked as he joined his new friend.

“I was.  I am just disappointed that I was unable to get here in time to assist you with yours.” He motioned at the newly converted Outpost.  “Congratulations, by the way.”

Allistor looked from the building to his tired group.  And the body bag being loaded into the rearmost Juggernaut. “We were able to clear it more quickly than I expected, but the cost was high.  We lost a dear friend down there.”

“Ah, I’m sorry to hear that.  What sort of resistance did you face?”

“Leprechauns.” Allistor spat on the road.  “Level twenty-five to thirty, mostly.  The clan mother was a level thirty-five elite.”

Harmon’s eyes grew wide.  “How did you defeat her?  They are notoriously hard to kill.”

Allistor shook his head.  “I’ll tell you what.  I need a shower, and my people are tired.  If you and your warriors will assist Prime’s battle droids in clearing the high rise here,” He pointed across the street at the Chase Bank building. “I’ll pay you the twenty percent of what’s in the depository.”  He held up a hand before Harmon and his warriors could take offense at him offering the droids.

“You can make it a race.  The battle droids will start at the top, and you can start at the bottom, and we’ll see who clears more floors.  How’s that sound?”

Harmon’s fighters didn’t even wait for him to answer.   They charged the building, smashing through the ground floor storefronts, and a moment later the roar of battling orcanin echoed out of the building.

Prime’s troops turned in unison and jogged through the openings made by the orcanin, stopping for a moment to scan for the nearest stairwell, then disappeared.

Harmon looked up at the tall building.  “This may take a while.  Even with both forces cooperating, I would guess an hour or two.”

Allistor nodded.  “Please come inside.  Let me grab a shower and change my clothes, and we can sit and talk until the building is clear.”

Chapter 4

Allistor put Helen in charge of modifying Campbell’s Rest so that it was comfortable for everyone while the other building was being cleared.   He had added a tower, with a sentry post at its top, when he first created the place, and it turned out to be huge compared to the size of the building overall.  He and Amanda took the elevator to the suite on the second highest level and quickly jumped in the shower.  They scrubbed each other down with a minimum of shenanigans, then dressed in clean clothes and rode back down.   They found a kitchen and dining area had been set up, along with dozens of one and two-bedroom quarters.  Meg and Sam had already cleaned up and were starting a meal for everyone.  Harmon sat at one of the long tables, his bulk making the furniture look tiny by comparison.

“Your people are quite impressive, Allistor.” Harmon motioned to the building around him.  “They got right down to business and set this place up like professionals.  Lady Meg, especially, is a force to be reckoned with.” He grinned.

“Ha!  Meg is a force, for sure.  One of the best people I know.  And she makes some of the tastiest food I’ve ever had.  Though I’m sure it doesn’t compare to what you normally eat.”

Harmon shook his head.  “Cooking is more of an art than a science.  Those with the gift stand out, no matter their skill level.”

“Let’s wait until you taste her food, then we’ll see.” Allistor sat down, Amanda taking the seat next to him.  “Let’s get business out of the way first.  Nigel, can you tell me how much gold is contained in this facility at the moment?”

“Of course, Sire.  There are currently thirteen million, seven hundred and eighty thousand, nine hundred pounds, ten ounces of gold.”

“Thank you, Nigel.  And twenty percent of that would be…”

Harmon answered instantly.  “Two million, seven hundred fifty-six thousand, one hundred eighty pounds, two ounces.  But let’s forget about the two ounces.” The orcanin laughed at his own joke, thumping the table so hard that it jumped slightly.  “Sorry.”

Allistor rolled his eyes, producing two of the one-ounce gold coins from his inventory.  “A deal is a deal.  As soon as we have teleport pads set up and can make a connection, Nigel will transfer the funds.  Consider these two ounces the down payment.” He slid them across the table, and Harmon roared with laughter, startling a few of the nearby humans.

“I like your style, Allistor!”  Harmon’s voice dropped to a whisper.  “You realize that you’re giving me close to fifty-three billion klax for clearing a building that my warriors would gladly have cleared for fun?”

“Well, to be honest, I’m hoping that it will purchase some cooperation going forward, as well.  We’re going to be neighbors, after all.  I’d hate to think I’d find myself defending against a horde of orcanin in the future.  In fact, I was hoping we could enter into a kind of alliance, or a mutual defense pact.  Something along those lines.”

Harmon’s face turned serious.  “You need not try to purchase my loyalty, Allistor.  I do not take offense, because I know you do not mean it as such.  We struck a bargain, which I was unable to complete in a timely manner.  You are overpaying for the service you are receiving, but I know it is because you have a generous heart, rather than a dishonorable intent.”

Harmon stood, then rounded the table and took a knee.  “I swear on my life that neither I nor my people shall attack you or yours, Prince Allistor.  May we be allies to our dying day.”

A green light swirled around the two of them, the system binding them in the oath.

“Thank you, Harmon.  That means a lot to me.  I am uncertain what our world will look like going forward, and I am greatly relieved to have a knowledgeable friend who can advise me.   And while we’re here, I need to purchase something!”

“Ahhh!  What does my favorite Earthling need?”

“Upgrades for Prime and his battle droids.  He informed me that they do not receive experience for kills, so I have decided to level them up by purchasing upgrades.”

“Very good!” Harmon clapped his hands.  “What did you have in mind? I have a wide array of options…”

“I have no idea.  Please give me a minute.”  Allistor whistled and waved at Prime, who was standing across the room.  The general approached and saluted.

“How may I be of assistance, Sire?”

“General, Harmon here is the merchant we’ll be purchasing your upgrades from.  He’s also our new neighbor and ally, as I’m sure you heard.  If you’d be so kind as to let him know what type or types of upgrades you’re looking for?”

For the next fifteen minutes, the droid and the merchant discussed options, numbers, prices, and delivery times.  When it was all said and done, Harmon handed Allistor a small pad.  On it was the list of upgrades Prime had chosen.  They weren’t all the same.  He’d wisely opted to customize some of his troops to break them into special purpose units.  Some would have thicker armor, others would be equipped with more powerful ranged weapons.  Still others would be able to fly short distances.

The total bill for the upgrades was two hundred fifty million klax.  That was a small price compared to the one point two billion he’d paid for the seven thousand droids Allistor had purchased in total.  He asked Harmon to add another twenty charging stations, then approved the transaction.

Prime bowed deeply at the waist, then saluted.  “My troops and I are grateful, Sire.”

A thought occurred to Allistor.  “General, was there an upgrade in there for you? I didn’t notice.”

Prime shook his head.  “There are few upgrades available for me, Sire.  And those few are quite expensive.”

Allistor snorted.  “I just spent two hundred and fifty million klax on upgrades, general.  How expensive could they be?”

Harmon cleared his throat.  “There are three upgrades to the Alpha unit available. One is a simple command capacity upgrade, allowing the unit to effectively command up to a division of twenty thousand troops.  The second is extended flight capability, including the usual jet pack upgrade, but with the addition of wings that can be used to glide on thermal drafts for long periods.  The last is a tactical upgrade, making the unit more intuitive and better able to address fluid combat situations.  Each of them would cost in the neighborhood of fifty million klax.” The merchant paused, a sharp-toothed grin forming.  “But considering the circumstances of the day, I’ll throw one in free of charge.”   He held up a pad for Prime to examine, and the general quickly made his choice.

“Thank you, Harmon.”  Allistor shook the orcanin’s hand, and a notification crossed his interface that the transaction had been completed.   He didn’t ask the general what he’d chosen, figuring the android commander would share when he found it appropriate.

Meg and Sam announced that food was ready, so Allistor, Harmon, and Amanda joined the chow line, making subdued small talk as they moved through, taking a plate and having food piled on as they passed.  Apparently the droids had taken down some canids in the upper floors of the depository, because Meg plopped a canid steak on each of their plates.  After looking up at Harmon’s eight-foot bulk, she gave him three.

Back at their table, Harmon took a bite of the steak, and his eyes rolled up in his head.  “That woman is a treasure.  This is truly delicious.”  he managed to say before cutting another large chunk and shoving it in his mouth.

They passed the time talking about cooperation and mutual defense as everyone enjoyed their meal.  With no place in particular to be, they took their time and got to know each other.  Helen and Fuzzy joined them soon after they started, then Ramon, Nancy, and Chloe.  The little girl kept staring at the giant orcanin with wide eyes as she ate, and Harmon pretended not to notice.

Eventually, Harmon tilted his head, then laughed and spoke into his bracelet.  At almost the same moment, Prime received a report and passed it on to Allistor.

“It seems the building has been cleared, Sire.”

“Yes, and my warriors claim victory!” Harmon added, thumping the table.  “It seems of the forty-five floors, my warriors cleared twenty-four.”

“Were there any casualties?” Amanda asked, getting up and preparing to deal with wounded.

“Eight of my warriors were badly injured, and one killed.” Harmon replied, still smiling.  “I am told it was a good death.”

“Twenty-three of my droids are in need of repairs.  None were lost altogether.” Prime reported.  “There was a significant amount of loot acquired, which they will deliver to your vault once the Stronghold is complete.  And there is a dragon corpse on the roof, if your people wish to harvest it.”

Sam got up from the table, already calling for volunteers.  He winked at Allistor.  “We’ll handle it.  But hurry and claim the Stronghold so we can take the elevator.  I don’t feel like walking up forty floors.”

Allistor grinned, and got up himself.  Most of his people followed him out into the street, and watched as he stepped through one of the shattered storefront windows.   He opened his Stronghold interface and saw the green light.  But this time, there was a new tab flashing.

Capital City

When he mentally clicked on that tab, a new message popped up.

Congratulations!  You have earned the right to claim your Capital City!

As a noble with the Title of Planetary Prince, you have amassed Fame Points, population, and resources sufficient to establish a Capital City at this location.  The size and scope of your City depend on the amount of resources you wish to commit, both in construction of the City and its defense.

Allistor was tempted.  After reading through more of the details, it seemed he could claim a large chunk of Manhattan, and do so without having to clear each building individually.  Though any monsters or humans in residence within the City boundary would still need to be dealt with.  Any sentients living within the City limits when it was claimed could choose to become citizens, or challenge the Prince for the rights to whatever property they held.

Rather than spend the time reading the pages and pages of information and legalities in the tab, he stepped back outside.  Waving his advisors, Prime, and Harmon over, he filled them in.

“Okay guys so I have the chance to claim a chunk of Manhattan as my Capital City.  Like, I can claim it all right now, put a wall around it, and we can go through and clear the buildings one at a time.   I’m open to opinions.”

“How much territory are we talking about?”

“When I played with the little map thingy, it showed basically the max area was the lower half of the island.  The cutoff was about halfway up Central Park.”

“Holy crap.” Amanda said.  The others made similar noises.

“That would require a significant investment in defense.” Prime pointed out.  “The perimeter wall would require several thousand troops to patrol, in addition to fixed defensive emplacements.  The existing tall structures would be good locations for additional batteries, both ground and anti-aircraft.   And the number of shield generators required…”

“It would cost you billions.” Harmon finished for the general.  “On the other hand, you have more billions than you would need.”

Ramon spoke next.  “You could raise some of the money to recoup the cost by renting or selling building space.  To the colonists, I mean.  Or more merchants like Harmon.”

Andrea added, “That’s hundreds if not thousands of buildings that would need clearing.  It would be a great place to level up our people.  Even let some of our allies send folks to level up too.”  Her guys that had been running noobs through dungeons all gave thumbs-ups to that.

Meg stepped forward from where she’d been lingering in the back.  “What about the people?  I mean, there were something like twelve million people here.  More if you go out into Jersey and Connecticut.  Some of them have to be living in this territory already, right?”

Allistor nodded.  “I’ve only read just a little bit of the info so far.  But it seems that just like with my other properties, I can assign, or sell, rights to land or buildings, whatever.  Anyone who’s already within the territory I claim can challenge me for the right to it.  I figure if they’re good people, I’ll either make them citizens, or sell them the building cheap, maybe even give it to them.  If they’re not good people, well then I’ll give them the option to leave.  If they refuse, we’ll move them.”

“One way or the other.” Sam nodded, patting Allistor’s shoulder.

Michael put in his two cents.  “Allistor, this is some of the most valuable real estate in the country.  Maybe the world.  I say claim as much of it as you can, as quick as you can.  More ships are landing every second.  You might make more from selling or leasing buildings here than you just made from claiming the depository.  Just the penthouses in some of these buildings were selling for tens of millions of dollars before everything went to shit.”

Amanda agreed.  “And not just here.  We should be making an effort to claim more prime land wherever we can.  Maybe split into smaller groups and have us claim areas like in DC, or Paris, or London, on your behalf.  I assume there’s some way for you to authorize that.”

Allistor felt overwhelmed.  He physically took a step back and a deep breath.  “I don’t know, Amanda.  I mean, it sounds feasible.  But I already have all the parks, and potentially a big hunk of New York City.  I’m not sure we need more.”

“It’s not about us needing it.  It’s a prevent defense.  It’s about stopping the aliens from taking it.” She paused and looked up at the merchant. “No offense, Harmon.”

“None taken, Lady Amanda. I completely agree.  As locals, you are in the unique position of being able to claim land without purchasing the rights.”

“If we don’t want it or need it, you can donate it to other humans.  Let them run it for you rent free, or whatever.”  Amanda finished.  Allistor looked around at his friends’ faces, and most of them looked as if they agreed, and there were murmurs of assent.

Nancy spoke quietly, and the others quieted.  “I mean, you have that cool spaceship that could take us around the world.  But still, it would mean a lot of work, and maybe a lot of risk.  You said you could claim this area as your Capital City.  But you can only do that once, right?  So anything else we take would have to be cleared building by building?”

Prime answered as Allistor tried to pull up the tab again to read.  “That is correct. As you can see, my battle droids can quickly clear buildings.  We could clear entire blocks of urban locations like this in a day.”

Lars had been looking thoughtful, but Prime’s words caused him to speak up.  “We could send a crew of ten or so humans with a few hundred of Prime’s battle droids to each location.  The ship could carry several crews, drop us off and move on.   In a week you could own a huge amount of real estate.”

“Assuming the aliens don’t beat us to it.” Allistor finished.  He closed his eyes and leaned back against one of the vehicles, thinking.  The seconds ticked by, as he tried to weigh the pros and cons.   The biggest negative for him was risking his people out in the world without him.  He couldn’t go with more than one group at a time.

“I don’t want to seem like some kind of evil emperor wannabe.” he eventually said.  “But if we give away most of it to worthy humans, I could live with that.  Speaking of which, I’d expect each of you to accept a property as vassals.  You’d be responsible for the day to day operation, kind of like how Lars runs his Stronghold, and Andrea runs the Citadel.  Either run them yourselves, or designate someone to do it for you.  And they’d all be connected via teleports.  Any objections?”

Chloe raised her hand.  “Does that mean I get my own Stronghold too?”

They all chuckled as Allistor beamed at the girl.  He squatted down and held out his arms, and she walked over to hug him.  “When you get older, little one, absolutely.  You can even have your own herd of murder chickens and mutant killer bunnies.”

“Yesss!” She pumped a fist in the air, then kissed his cheek.  Allistor’s heart, still heavy with the loss of Campbell, lightened a bit as he hugged the enthusiastic little girl. “Deal!”

“Murder chickens?” Harmon asked.

“I’ll show you later.” Allistor replied.  “For right now, let’s get this place claimed as our Capital City.  Then we’ve got some human prisoners to check out back at the park.   General, how much time would you need to upgrade your current troops, and purchase enough additional battle droids to double your current force?”  As they spoke, the orcanin and droids began to emerge from the building behind him and take up positions in the street.

Prime paused for a moment, calculating.  “Upgrades will take approximately four hours from the time we get access to the market kiosk.  Unless Master Harmon has those items with him here?”

Harmon shook his head.  “It’ll have to be the kiosk today.  Once I can get this place properly stocked… well, I’ll make sure to have sufficient product on hand to meet your needs, Allistor.”

“Very good.” Prime continued.  “As for the reinforcements, seven additional battalions can be purchased and delivered here within an hour.  But if I might make a suggestion?” He paused while Allistor nodded. “Purchasing eight thousand would get you two additional alphas like myself, instead of one.  An alpha for each five thousand droids.”

“Then let’s do that.  It sounds like we’re going to have lots of real estate to defend.”

Allistor stepped back into the building and opened up the Capital City tab.  When he selected it and widened the boundaries to the max the system would allow, his stomach felt queasy.  This was a huge undertaking, bigger and more important than anything he’d ever even attempted.  A voice in the back of his mind kept telling him he wasn’t qualified to take this on.  He was a college puke with little real life experience and a mediocre Charisma attribute.

He paused, listening to that voice and arguing with it in his head.  He thought about all the impossible challenges he’d already overcome since the world ended.  About all the people depending on him.  The final deciding factor was all the humans out there who might perish if he didn’t try to help.  He had the means, and if he didn’t take the opportunity, his conscience would gnaw at him.

With a sigh, he pressed the button to select the footprint.  Then he had to spend the next ten minutes dealing with placement of the walls and defensive batteries, as well as establishing citywide utility infrastructure, shield generator placement, and a dozen other things.  For the utilities he ended up cheating by telling it to use the existing infrastructure, with upgrades to current materials.  It took him three minutes to figure out how to tell the system to do it, but that was still faster than trying to place individual services throughout the city.  He thought he’d need to find himself a city planner, if there were any left, and get their input on refining his choices.

When he eventually went to press the button to complete it, the final step popped up on his interface, and he had a new dilemma.

Please select the name for _______, Capital City of _________Princedom.

So not only did he need to choose the name of his city, but he had to choose a name for his nation.  And do it right now.

He had been thinking over the name of his nation since the flight to New York, and hadn’t really settled on a name.  But the reflecting he’d just done on overcoming the obstacles he’d faced that year reminded him of one of his favorite poems.  And just like that, he had the name he wanted.

He filled in the blanks, then pressed the confirmation button.  A thunderous sound like a sonic boom crashed down upon the city.  Fireworks went off, music played, angels sang, and the earth trembled as golden light blinded them all.    He stumbled slightly even though he expected the building to be altered.

When the light faded, the window between himself and his people had been restored.  Allistor couldn’t see them through the solid wall of notifications that popped up on his interface.  After checking that none of them were flashing red, he waved them away for the moment, and stepped around to the nearby door.   As he exited, the always annoying system notification went out.

World First:  Capital City!

Planetary Prince Allistor has established Invictus City, the Capital City of the Invictus Princedom!  May he rule long and wisely!

Walking back out to his people, he shook his head.  “That’s gonna cause some trouble.”

*****

Most of his group moved into the new high rise to look around and make the necessary changes, which he authorized Meg, Andrea, and Ramon to do.  The kiosk was quickly set up on the ground floor so that Prime could begin upgrading his troops and bringing in the reinforcements. Sam took his conscripted crew up to the roof to deal with the dragon corpse and harvest any other creatures that remained.  Andrea purchased and set up another teleport hub, and six more pads to go with it.  As soon as Prime was done bringing in his droids, she was going to bring people from the other Strongholds to prepare for raids, set up housing, crafting, et cetera.  Harmon and his orcanin retired to his building next door to begin setting up.

Allistor, Helen, Amanda, Ramon, and Fuzzy got in one of the Juggernauts and returned to the park and their ship to meet the human prisoners.

While Helen drove and Amanda rode shotgun, Allistor sat in the back and began to review the scores of notifications that had popped up.   Many of them were administrative, links to new tabs on his interface that had to do with establishing and running a city.  Eleven of them were regarding properties now within his boundaries that were inhabited by sentient beings.  He created a separate file tab and moved those over, then put a bright red marker on it so that he wouldn’t forget to deal with the issue.  Then there were notifications to remind him to establish a tax system, legal system, and assign a long list of cabinet positions.

It was quickly becoming clear that he wouldn’t be accompanying any of his raid groups in their bid to claim more prime locations.   The sheer amount of setup required for this new city was going to take him days to go through.  And that was if he recruited Ramon and some others to help.

Back at the old fort, Allistor stepped out to find a row of humans sitting in the grass not far from the yacht.  Most of them were glaring at him.  As he walked up and stood to address them, Fuzzy moved next to him and sat down, curiously sniffing in their direction.  The looks on the prisoners’ face changed to fear on some, curiosity on others.

“Good afternoon.  I’m Allistor.  I’m guessing all of you got that little notice about me a little while ago?” He smiled and did his best to be charming, but the prisoners were not warming up to him.

“I uhm… I understand you were detained while attempting to enter this Stronghold?”

Still he got nothing but glares.  With a sigh, he continued.  “Look, guys.  I’m not going to hurt you.  Unless you try to hurt me or my people.  I just want to talk to you for a bit, and we can figure out how the rest of the day will go for all of us.  Alright?”

“You could start by taking off these restraints.” a woman near the front of the small group said as her eyes flashed with anger.  “We’ve been sitting like this forever, and I’m about to piss all over your precious Stronghold.”

“Oh, I like her.” Amanda grinned.  She looked at the droid guards.  “Please unlock their restraints.”  As five droids moved to comply, she said, “There are bathrooms inside the fort.  And food, too.  Please follow me.”

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and walked toward the old brick fort.  One by one the humans got up and looked at each other, none of them moving to follow until the woman who’d spoken took the first step.  The others fell in behind her and entered the building.

Ten minutes later everyone had been escorted to the restroom facilities, then into the dining area of the fort.  Allistor pulled canid jerky from his inventory and shared it around, while Amanda passed out bottles of water.

When everyone was seated and eating, he said, “Okay, let’s start again.  I’m Allistor.  Planetary Prince and all that.”  He introduced the others who were gathered around, including Kira and Gene who had come out of the yacht to join them.

“Now, would one of you like to tell me your name?”

The same woman took a drink to wash down some jerky before answering.  “I’m Juanita.  Leader of this bunch.  You can talk to me.”

“Great!  Nice to meet you, Juanita.  Now, my first question would be, why were you trying to get past my walls?”

“This is where the food is.” Her eyes narrowed as she stared into his.  “There are a few fruit trees in here, and we can usually shoot a squirrel or bird or two.”

“Okay, I can understand that.  I take it then that you’ve been living here in the park, or nearby?”

Juanita looked as if she didn’t want to answer for several seconds, then let out a long breath.  “I suppose you’d find out eventually, anyway.  Yes, we’ve been living nearby.  In an Outpost a few blocks up the street.  We hid when we saw your ship come down.  Figured you were aliens.  Then we saw the orcs and the robots…”

“Orcanin.” Allistor cut her off, regretting it instantly.  But since the deed was done, he finished his thought.  “They consider the term orc an insult.  Their race are called orcanin, and they get touchy about it.”

“Fine, we saw the orcanin and the droids, and we were getting ready to bail.  Then we saw you humans riding in those vehicles, so we talked it over and decided to come investigate.  And for the record, we didn’t try to scale the walls or anything.  The gate was open.  We walked in, and got attacked.”  The others were nodding their heads.

“I’m sorry if my droids frightened any of you.  They had orders to defend this place.  Are any of you hurt?”

“We got a few scrapes, but we know how to heal.” Juanita looked at one of her people, a man Allistor noted as probably being their healer.

“I’m sorry for that.  My troops all have strict instructions to capture rather than kill any humans.” He stopped as he was about to apologize again.

“An Outpost implies that you’re attached to a Stronghold.”

“Yep.  Guy named Jesse built it at the old castle in Central Park a couple weeks after the apocalypse.   He has Strongholds across the city.  He’s not gonna be happy that you just stole some of them.”

“I have no plans to steal anything.  I claimed the lower half of Manhattan, true.  But I intend it to be a place where humans can live and thrive.  If you have a way to communicate with Jesse, I’d like to meet with him.  And again, I intend none of you any harm.”

“I radioed him when we got captured.  Your guards didn’t take our weapons or radios or anything.   He said he’d send a crew to rescue us.  They should be here any minute.”

“Please radio him again, so that I can speak to him directly.  I don’t want your people to get hurt trying to rescue you.  After we’ve talked, you’re all free to go.” Allistor gave her his friendliest smile, and her severe look faded some.

She pulled out a walkie-talkie, turned the volume down low, and pressed the talk button.  A short conversation with someone on the other end, and she put it back down in her lap.  “He says he’ll come here.  I told him he wouldn’t be hurt.  Should take about forty-five minutes.”

“If he’s at the castle in the park, he’s already inside my city walls.  But we don’t really have a proper place to host him here.  I’ll take you guys to our new Stronghold when we’re done here.  Tell him to meet us at Broadway and Liberty.  He’ll be able to see the modified high rise.  We’ll serve dinner.”

Juanita spoke into the radio again, then nodded once.

“Alright.  We have some time before we need to head out, so tell me about Jesse.”

“What about him?”

“Well, you seem to have spent a good bit of time here at an Outpost.  Does he swap you guys out a lot?  Support you?  Or have you been left to fend for yourselves?”

The glare returned to Juanita’s face.  “Jesse saved a lot of lives when the shit hit the fan.  He takes good care of us.”

Allistor held up his empty hands.  “Easy, I’m just asking.  I’ve run into some great Stronghold leaders, and some real asshats. Some have become friends and allies, others didn’t survive.” He stopped talking to let that sink in.   “I’d much rather be friends, but if Jesse is the kind of guy who leaves his people hanging, or uses them to make himself richer or more comfortable, then I’d like to know that going in.”

Juanita’s scowl didn’t fade at all.  “He’s one of the good ones.”

“Great. I hope you’re right.  Now, are there any items, other than weapons, you guys would like to retrieve from your Outpost before we go?  How far away is it?  I can give a few of you a ride…”

Juanita looked around at her people.  “We’re good.  Unless you’re saying we can never go back there.”

“No, no.  Not at all.  As long as you don’t get hostile toward us, we’ll have no problems.  You’ll be able to retrieve your stuff anytime.   I don’t think you’ll want to continue living there, though.  We can offer better accommodations, I’m guessing.   If you guys and Jesse decide to become citizens, you’ll likely get much, much better accommodations.   Anybody still hungry? I have more jerky.”

A few of them raised their hands, and Allistor moved among them handing out more food.  He made a mental note to get a resupply from Meg.

“While you’re eating, any questions you want to ask me?”

“I have a question for your people.” a man next to Juanita spoke up.  When Allistor nodded for him to go ahead, he continued. “Sort of the same question he asked about Jesse.  I can’t tell if this guy is for real, or if he’s jerkin’ our chains.  How does he treat you?”  He was looking at Amanda as he spoke.

She laughed, and smacked Allistor’s butt.  “I’m not the best person to ask, because he’s my… boyfriend? I guess.  We smooch and stuff.” She winked at the guy.  “But I’ll tell you I’ve fought beside this man, and watched him risk his own neck time and again to save strangers.”

Helen spoke next.  “Yeah, might be better to ask this when we take you to the other building.   Lots of people to ask there.  Allistor’s my best friend, and I’m one of his Ministers.  We have been together nearly every day since… what? About two weeks after the apocalypse?  He’s a young man of character, with a big heart.  He bends over backwards to make sure we’re safe, and thriving rather than just surviving.”

Fuzzy just snorted and continued sniffing at the humans.

Kira put her hand up, then quickly lowered it, blushing.  “I’m Kira.  My husband Gene and I just met Allistor a few days back.  We were sent to him by one of those asshat leaders he was talking about.  The man left us stranded in a remote Outpost with no supplies.  We were barely feeding ourselves.  He was so bad, his own men killed him a few days ago, and then partnered up with Allistor and company to clear a dungeon.  This morning, Allistor trusted me to pilot his new ship here.  Then left me and Gene alone with it while he went to clear buildings.  I don’t think it even entered his mind that we might steal it.  And for good reason.  I’d trust him with my daughters the same way.”

This seemed to have an effect on several of the prisoners.  Their shoulders relaxed slightly, and their faces brightened a bit.

Ramon shrugged.  “I don’t much like him.  He’s often quite smelly, and constantly bleeding all over the place.  The day I met him he got all up close and huggy with a void titan, got covered in slime, and smelled like burnt anal leakage.  And look at that face.  Only a mother could love that face.” He winked at the crowd, getting a few laughs.

Allistor blew a kiss at Ramon, who returned the gesture.  “All of you will get a chance to ask that question of others soon enough.  Anybody else got a question?”

“How did you get to be a Prince?”  a woman near the end of the table asked.

“Well, there were a couple of stages.  But long story short, Helen here was a park ranger.  For the national parks.  She sort of gifted me all the parks under her jurisdiction, and the amount of land involved, combined with the number of people who’ve joined me and the resources we have managed to gather earned me the title.”

“So you weren’t some kind of royalty or anything before the apocalypse?”

Allistor snorted.  “I was a college student from a small town in Wyoming, who spent most of my life playing VRMMORPG games.” He paused and raised his hand.  “Any of you gamers?” Six of the ten put up tentative hands.  “The knowledge I absorbed from those games helped me keep some of these folks alive in the early days. You all know what I’m talking about. I’m sure you had similar experiences.  From there, things just kind of snowballed.  Part of it was pure luck.”

Several of the gamers nodded their heads, and there were even a few smiles.  “So anyway, most of my Strongholds are in the west, up and down the Rockies.  I have a pretty new set of Strongholds out on the west coast, and as of today I’ve got this City here on the east coast.  We have allies in Strongholds scattered across the south, midwest, and southeast.”

“Damn, you’ve been busy.” Juanita begrudgingly complimented him. “I don’t think any of us have been outside about a ten mile radius of Central Park since it happened.”

“Where’d you get the spaceship?”

“That was a reward from the system after I built the first Citadel on Earth.  They delivered it earlier today.  You guys want to check it out?”   Everyone got up and exited the fort, walking to the ship and following Gene as he gave them a tour.  He’d had plenty of time to explore, and Allistor was impressed with how much he knew about the ship’s layout and systems already.

Fifteen minutes later, they walked down the ramp back into the park.  “Alright, let’s head over to the new Stronghold.  Newer Stronghold, I guess.  You guys can look around, mingle, ask more questions.   But if you get hostile with any of my people, things will go badly for you.  Everybody understand?”

A few of them put hand to heart and bowed their heads, the others simply nodding.   Allistor led them onto the teleport pad.  “We’re now going to teleport to the other building.  It’s safe, trust me.  I’ve been through these things about a thousand times in the last half-year.  But if any of you are uncomfortable using it, one of us can drive you in the Juggernaut.”

Nobody spoke up, so Allistor said, “Nigel, if you please?” and they disappeared.  A moment later they appeared in the lobby of the new high rise, several of them grabbing onto each other for balance.   Allistor smiled kindly at them, remembering his first time.

“Sorry, I should have warned you about that.  Forgot how it is the first time.  It gets easier, I promise.”

The prisoners looked around, eyes wide at seeing battle droids scattered through the building and humans walking past as if they were the most natural things in the world.

“Okay, folks.  I am sure Meg has set up a dining hall around here somewhere.  I don’t know where it is myself, since I left to meet you before this place was set up.  But feel free to look around.  I ask that you don’t leave this floor, or go outside without checking with me first.  Other than that, roam around and talk to folks.  Explore.  There’s a market kiosk over there if you’d like to order something.   I’ll be right here, if one of you will let me know when Jesse is close?”  He took a seat on a sofa that had been part of the lobby furniture, after brushing some broken glass off the cushions.

Juanita nodded, “I’ll find you as soon as I hear from him.”

The visitors initially remained clumped in a group, taking in their surroundings.  But eventually they drifted apart and left the lobby.

Allistor opened his interface and the red file he’d tagged.   Sure enough, there were notices about Jesse’s Stronghold and four Outposts that were all within his new City. There were three other Strongholds inside his lands as well, with accompanying Outposts for all but one.    He spent a couple minutes zooming in on their locations on his mini-map and putting blue stars on each.   Maybe Jesse could give him some information on the others, or even reach out to them, so that Allistor wouldn’t have to approach potentially hostile walls yet again.

He’d finished with the red file and was starting to read some of the legal language in his City tab when Juanita approached.  “Jesse’s five minutes away.”

Allistor thanked her and got up, walking out through the main doors to await their arrival.  Juanita followed him out, along with two of her people.  All but one of the Juggernauts were still parked in the street along with several ranks of idle battle droids.  Allistor noticed upgrades on several of them.

It wasn’t long before a black SUV with bars welded to the windows and a cowcatcher on the front pulled up.  Allistor gave a friendly wave and took a few steps forward, but he stopped dead when a rifle barrel poked out of the front passenger window.

“That’s close enough!” a voice called from inside the vehicle.

“Put that thing away, Henry!” Juanita shouted.  “You fire that weapon and we’re all dead in five seconds or less, you grumpy old futz!”

There was a delay of about five seconds or so before the barrel retreated.  Then all four doors opened, and four men stepped out.  Juanita whispered, “Jesse is the one with the short brown hair.  Behind Henry.”

Allistor looked at the man.  He appeared to be in his forties, with a fit build and short brown hair that was going grey.  He wore a pair of sunglasses that kept Allistor from seeing his eyes, but he moved with calm assurance.

“Welcome, Jesse, and companions.  I’m Allistor.  Please come inside.  You’re safe here.”  He motioned for the men to step past him, and Juanita gave them a reassuring smile before leading them inside.   They moved to the same sitting area Allistor had just occupied, and took seats.    Allistor took his seat last, this time in a chair with a high back.   He’d decided to meet with them alone, but Helen, Amanda, and several others were nearby.  Unsuccessfully pretending not to be paying attention.

“Thank you for coming.  I’m sure I’m not the most popular guy in your book right now, but I’d like the opportunity to introduce myself, and explain what’s happened today.” Allistor began, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees, his hands together almost in a gesture of prayer.

“I’m listening.” Jesse replied, his tone neutral.

“First, I want you to know that I claimed this area of Manhattan on the spur of the moment.  It wasn’t planned.  I didn’t come here intending to displace any of you.  I came to claim the Federal Reserve depository.  One thing led to another, and the system offered me the chance to create a Capital City that covers basically the lower half of Manhattan.”

Jesse’s expression and tone didn’t change.  “We’re aware.  We saw the notice, and the walls that popped up across the park.”

“Okay, good.  You’ve built yourself a Stronghold and several Outposts, so you know how it works.  I won’t waste time on the logistics.  What I will spend a little time explaining is my reasoning.” He paused looking around at all the faces.  A few more of Juanita’s people had joined them, and Allistor’s people had drifted a little closer.  Nancy and Chloe had come in and positioned themselves behind Allistor.

“The aliens are here.  And more are going to be coming every day for a while.  They’ll claim as much of this planet as they can.  I don’t want that. I want Earth to remain a human planet.  But there simply aren’t enough of us left to hold it all.  So I’m claiming what I can, and making safe places for my fellow humans to gather and get stronger.  I’ve been doing that all year, and in a little while several groups are going to take off in my spaceship to go claim some more places like this.”

“Oh, forgot to tell you.  He has a spaceship.” Juanita grinned at Jesse, who seemed to resist grinning back.

“A space yacht.” one of the others corrected her.  “It’s all fancy ‘n’ stuff.”  The man rolled his eyes.  This time Jesse did crack a grin.

“Anyway, I wanted to meet you because I’d like to talk to you about joining us.  We have a large number of facilities across the country now…”  Allistor went into his pitch, outlining all the benefits of becoming one of his citizens, and talking about some of his experiences with other leaders, both good and bad.

When he was finished, Jesse leaned forward and mimicked Allistor’s pose.  “And if we tell you to screw off?  That we were here first?”

“Well, if you’re not interested in swearing the oath and joining us, I would hope your refusal would be more polite than ‘screw off’.  That way we could maybe be friends, and work out some kind of way where you stay in the Stronghold you’ve already claimed.   Or you could choose to be unfriendly, in which case things would go downhill from there.  I’d offer you a park or someplace to resettle outside my City, and invite you to leave. Maybe even send my battle droids to clear the building you choose so you don’t risk your people.  I’d even make sure you have the resources to build a new Stronghold. If you refuse, then we’ll move you.  How difficult and dangerous that gets would be up to you.  But I’ll tell you now that you don’t want to take me on.”

The guy who made the joke about the yacht spoke up.  “I was talking to the droids before you got here, Jesse.  He has fifteen thousand of them.  He could wipe us out without spilling a drop of his people’s blood.”

Allistor grimaced.  “Let me emphasize.  I would sincerely prefer the scenario where you join us.  Barring that, I hope for friendly relations.  Every human life is precious to me, and I’ve had to end too many of them already.  The burden of that is heavy, and I don’t want to make it heavier.”

Jesse looked around at his people, his face still revealing no emotion.  “You mind if we take some time to think about it? Maybe look around a little, then talk it over?”

“Feel free!  It’s a big decision to make, I know.  Meg should have the evening meal ready in about half an hour.  I’ll ask the same of you as I did Juanita and the others.  Please don’t leave this floor, or exit the building, without checking with me first.  Otherwise, poke around, speak to whomever you like, ask questions.  This building covers the entire block, and I haven’t even explored it myself yet.  So I look forward to hearing what you find.  I’ll be right here until the dinner bell rings.”

As everyone got up, he added, “Oh! If you get lost, just ask Nigel for directions.  He’s the AI that runs all of my properties.  He can hear you and speak to you from anywhere in the building.  Please say hello, Nigel.”

“Good afternoon, human visitors.  I am pleased to make your acquaintance.  Simply call my name if you need assistance.”

Juanita snorted.  “So you’ll be watching us wherever we go?”

Allistor thought about that for a moment.  “No, I don’t think Nigel has cameras.  Nigel, do you have cameras?”

“There are antiquated visual observation devices still mounted to the ceilings of this structure.  However their input is far inferior to my own sensors, so I have disconnected them.  I do not ‘watch’ the sentients within my sensor range, I am simply aware of your locations and identities, should Prince Allistor need to reach one of you.  Your activities within the building, provided they are not hostile, are of no concern to me.”

“Or to me.  Except as I mentioned before, I’d like to hear about any cool places you discover.” Allistor added.  “Thank you, Nigel.”

“Of course, Sire.”

Allistor spread his hands wide, motioning for the folks to feel free to wander.  Everybody but Jesse got up and either wandered away, or approached someone to talk to.

“You have more questions.” Allistor stated, leaning back in his chair.

“I do.  Mostly personal questions, if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll trade you.  You ask me some questions, and answer mine.”

Jesse nodded. “How many humans have you killed?”

“Me personally? Or including the ones my people have killed as well.”

“Let’s start with you personally.”

“Somewhere between twenty and thirty.” Allistor responded, not needing to think about it.  “There have been a few times, like in Denver when we attacked Paul’s people, that I was firing mostly blind into a building, and do not know who I hit.” He watched Jesse’s face as he spoke.  Still no indication of what the man was thinking.

“And the ones you know you killed?”

“Every one of them was either trying to kill me and mine, or had hurt, imprisoned, or killed others.  Earl and his men had trapped a group of survivors inside their Stronghold, killed several of them, stolen their food, and prevented them from getting more.  They were starving the residents out.   There was a group of three tweakers on a rooftop in Denver that opened fire on us when we refused to give them our truck.  An entire group of survivors in Laramie were killing, capturing, and enslaving other humans across the city.   Those are the types of humans I’ve killed.”

“And how many humans have you saved?” Jesse asked, his voice just as deadpan as before.

“Well, saved is probably an overstatement for most of them.  But there are close to ten thousand survivors living in my various properties at the moment.  Some I kept alive personally, others were doing okay on their own, but chose to join me in order to do better than okay.”

“And if I join you?  Where would I fit in?”

“Well, for the most part, Stronghold leaders who chose to join me have continued to run their Strongholds as part of my larger… well now I suppose it’s a nation.  Most of them also serve as my advisors and Ministers.  We obviously just met, but I already know you have some strength and leadership qualities.   If we get along okay once we know each other better, I would offer you a similar position, assuming you’re interested.  Or you can just go off and craft, hunt, tinker, whatever it is you like to do.  I only require that everyone contribute, I don’t care how.”

“Contribute?”

“Some of my people have salaried positions that serve the others.  Teachers, builders, mechanics, laundry, cooks, gardeners, cowboys, custodial staff, et cetera.  Others contribute by crafting useful items, which they can sell to fellow survivors or to me at a discount from what the buyers would have to pay to purchase the same quality item on the market.  Some of the items I buy for distribution to raid parties, hunters, and the like.  The people out there risking their lives.”

Jesse nodded, thinking.  After a moment, he asked, “Where’d you get the bear?”

“Ha!  Fuzzy here is my bonded companion.  I met him in the woods after we both got a little lost.  He was just a tiny cub, and his mom was nowhere around.  We sort of adopted each other.”

“So you can bond with pets just like in the VR games.” Jesse observed.  “Didn’t know that one.  We don’t have a lot of wildlife around here.  And what we do find, we generally eat.” He held out a hand, and Fuzzy went over to give it a sniff, then headbutt it, demanding scratches.

Allistor laughed.  “Fuzzy is different than your in-game pets.  He definitely has a mind of his own, and only listens to me when he feels like it.  Lately I’ve been having trouble keeping him from charging into boss fights when I’ve told him to stay out of it.”

Jesse scratched the bear’s ears for a minute or so, not speaking.  His next question surprised Allistor.

“What about laws around here?”

Allistor sighed.  “I haven’t spent a whole lot of time on that.  We’ve operated pretty much on a common decency basis.  Combined with a little eye for an eye.  You get caught stealing, you get sent away.  Banished to live out in the wild.  You kill somebody, you die.  But I suppose with the way we’re growing, we’ll have to establish a clear set of laws.  Or just continue to use the ones we already had in place before this all started.  I’ve only met one surviving lawyer among all my people.” He thought about it a little bit more, then added, “Also, all my people swear an oath not to harm me or mine, and the system enforces it, or so I’m told.  So far that hasn’t been tested, and I don’t know what the penalties would be.”

“And if I want to join you, but not take the oath?”

“There is no joining without the oath. And I’d have to wonder if I can trust you.  At least initially, you’d be living in your own Stronghold as an ally, not one of my people.  You feed yourself, level your own people, buy your own weapons and defenses.  I would agree not to hinder you, but I also won’t do a whole lot to help you until we establish a mutual trust.  You would, of course, benefit from being protected inside my City walls, especially after we’ve cleared all the buildings and made the streets safe.  And we’d be open to trade with you, and share whatever knowledge we’ve gained that will help you thrive.”

“And my people?”

Allistor tilted his head. “Your people? I don’t follow.”

“It looks to me like you’re trying to steal some of my best people.” Jesse accused, his face finally showing some emotion.

“Well, I was hoping to recruit all of you.  So, yes, I’ve encouraged them to look around and ask questions.  I’ve treated them just as I’ve treated you.  I’ve not suggested any of them leave you, nor would I.  But they’ve seen what they’ve seen, and my guess is they’ll spread the word among the rest of your people.  If any of them come to me asking to join up, I’ll not refuse them just because they’re yours.”

Allistor saw Juanita walking their way, and added one more comment.  “I will tell you that your people think the world of you, and showed exceptional loyalty when I asked about you.”

That was all he had time to say before Juanita was within hearing range.  She joined them in the sitting area, and Allistor just nodded, waiting for one of them to speak.

Juanita was first.  “This place is pretty amazing, Jesse.  Those teleport pads.  With those things, we can leave here and be on a beach on the west coast in a few minutes.  They say they have some fishing boats out there, and there’s a damned sea monster roaming around near their island.  A friggin’ sea monster!  And have you checked out the gear some of these guys are wearing?  It’s all crafted by their own people.”

Allistor nodded, looking at Jesse.  “I’ve spent a small fortune buying skill scrolls and spell scrolls as well as materials to help my people level up their crafting.  We also have the ability to copy most of the scrolls we loot, so that more than one person can learn what’s in them.”

He saw Ramon talking to one of the visitors, and waved him over.  “This is Ramon, our Librarian and Chief Scribe.  Don’t let the description fool you, though.  He’s the most badass among us.  He has to learn each of the spells in order to make copies of the scrolls.  So he knows more magic than any of us!  Also, he seems to have captured the heart of one of the loveliest ladies around.” Allistor grinned at his friend.

“He’s right.  All mere mortals should fear me!” Ramon used his deepest voice and struck a god-like pose.  When Jesse didn’t laugh, he lowered his arms and looked disappointed.   Juanita reached up and patted him on the back in consolation.  Ramon shook his head and excused himself, going back to his previous conversation.

Allistor watched Jesse for a few moments, then got to his feet.  “I get the feeling you’re not interested in joining us.  But please, look around, talk to folks.  Don’t take my word for all that I’ve shared with you today.  You and your people are welcome to stay for dinner, which should be any minute now.  Or you’re all free to leave if you prefer.”

Just then, Harmon came walking in through the rear lobby door, which led out to a courtyard with a sunken garden, beyond which was his newly claimed building.  He waved to Allistor as he approached, ignoring the sudden wariness of the visitors.

“Allistor.  I hope you don’t mind, but I decided to return for more of Lady Meg’s cooking!” The orcanin grinned as he took a seat.

“Harmon, this is Jesse, leader of a Stronghold that is now within my City.  And one of his people, Juanita.   Guys, this is Harmon, the merchant who sold me most of our weapons and vehicles.  He is an orcanin.  I know what you’re thinking, and they really do not like being called orcs, for future reference.”

Harmon stood up and offered a hand to Jesse, which the man shook.  Then he kissed Juanita’s hand, making her very nervous as the sharp tusks got so close to her skin.  “Pleased to meet you both.  Jesse, if you have a need for weapons, vehicles, or specialty items, I am at your service.  I’m establishing my first Earth location right next door.”

“Uh, sure.  Thank you.” Jesse was clearly still taken aback by the orcanin’s appearance and the contradiction of his genteel manners.

Meg’s voice rang out over the loudspeaker.  “Food’s ready!  Get it while it’s hot!”

“Ha!  Perfect timing!” Harmon turned toward the lobby and noted the general direction everyone was headed.  “The first thing people always learn is where the food can be found.” He chuckled as he motioned for Juanita and Jesse to precede him across the lobby.   Allistor walked beside him, the two of them discussing their new buildings and getting settled while they followed the crowd to the dining area.

It was larger than Allistor expected, but he realized with a building this size, they had the room to create facilities that would serve much larger numbers than usual.  All the people present filled only about ten percent of the tables once they’d received the food and taken seats.  He was glad to see that Jesse’s people had mixed into several tables with others, rather than clustering alone in their own group.

Chapter 5

After the meal was over, Jesse took his people and departed, saying that they would talk things over with the others and get back to Allistor the next day.   Allistor wished them well, and watched them leave.  A second vehicle showed up after being called on the radio, and they were gone two minutes later.

As it was still early in the evening, Andrea and Bjurstrom both took a group of humans and a couple hundred droids and teleported to the old fort where they loaded into the yacht.  Helen tagged along to contribute her knowledge of the local parks.  Shortly after they left, Nigel connected Kira to Allistor.

“Invictus One ready to depart, boss.  We’re gonna swing down to DC to drop off the first group, at the Library of Congress.  Then down to Florida for a beachside resort or two.”

“Invictus One?  Really?” Allistor rolled his eyes.  “Okay, please call me if you have any trouble.  And be sure our people let the battle droids take the heavy risks.”

“Got it, boss.  See you later.  Invictus One out.”

Amanda, who had been standing next to him, put an arm around his waist and leaned into him.  “I meant to ask… Invictus?”

“You don’t like it?” He walked back inside with her and they took seats on a sofa.  Several of the others were gathered there to socialize.

“No, I do.  Invictus is a cool name.  Just wondering where you got it.”  The others perked up a bit and listened to Allistor’s answer.

“Well, it’s from an English lit class during my first semester at college.   In Latin it means unconquered.  But there’s a poem called Invictus, written by William Ernest Henley.  It spoke to me the first time I heard it, and has been a favorite ever since.  I think it applies to us, in our current situation.”

“I’ve heard of that.” Ramon offered.  It’s the one Nelson Mandela used to read while he was in prison.  The one that says, ‘I am the captain of my soul’ right?”

Allistor smiled at his friend.  “That is correct, oh wise and knowledgeable Scribe.  Though the part that has the most meaning to me in this instance goes like this:”

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

There was a long moment of silence as people took in the words.  Amanda was the first to break the silence.  She leaned in and kissed him, then declared, “You’re right.  That’s perfect for us.  I approve.”

The others began to clap, and Ramon reached over to offer Allistor a fist-bump.  He shouted, “Invictus!” and the others echoed it back.  “INVICTUS!”

Ramon got out pen and paper and asked Allistor to recite the entire poem, taking it down.  When he had it all, he moved over to the wall directly in front of the main lobby doors, where a reception and security desk had been located.  He spoke quietly to Nigel for a moment, and the entire poem appeared, etched into the stone in large letters.   The author’s name was etched underneath.

Again there was applause, and a shout of “Invictus!”.  People from all across the lobby drifted over to read the inscription, nodding their heads and smiling.  Several gave Allistor a thumbs-up.

More than a few had tears in their eyes.

*****

An hour later, Allistor and Amanda were up in their quarters.  Their suite was on the penthouse level of the high rise, and took up a quarter of the floor.  Which meant it was a quarter city block, all by itself.  The rest of the floor was set up with a huge conference room, a full kitchen and formal dining room that could seat twenty-four, and a large lounge area with a bar and several seating groups.  These spaces were all meant for entertaining other Planetary Princes or similar guests.  The level below contained a dozen luxury guest suites, one of which Helen claimed for herself.

Allistor spent some time with Nigel, working out authorizations for his people to be able to create Citadels, Strongholds, and Outposts in his name.  He used up a whole hour making modifications to the high rise, adding in shops, crafting spaces, a movie theater that doubled as an auditorium, and other spaces he thought his people would need.   There were already a couple of restaurants in the building, and he left those alone, thinking some entrepreneur might want to open and operate one of them later.  There was also a well-equipped gym already in the building, as well as a swimming pool.

He created a huge infirmary for Amanda, which she immediately went downstairs to customize.

The fifth through twenty-fifth floors he set aside as residential.  Each floor had twenty or so apartments with a mix of one, two, and three bedrooms.  That would allow him to house a large number of citizens here.  There was a shorter building next door, between the high rise and Harmon’s building, that was going to be all residential once they’d cleared it.  It had several terraced levels, the building narrowing as it rose upward, allowing for many of the future apartment units to have walk-out terraces.  And there was a large space above the twenty-third floor for a rooftop pool overlooking the courtyard and sunken garden below.  While he was thinking about it, he asked Nigel to put him in contact with Prime.  When the connection was made, he asked his general to detail some droids and have them ready to clear that building.  Then he contacted Sam.

“Hey old man, feel like running some low level folks through the building next door?  The droids will do all the heavy lifting, but it’s a good chance to level a few people up, and maybe get some more good loots.  Prime will have a droid contingent waiting out front.”

“You got it!  Anybody in particular in mind?”

“Nope, I’ll leave that to you.  Round up maybe ten folks total?  Low enough to benefit from killing mobs at level fifteen to twenty, I would think.  Feel free to bring them from other Strongholds.  If you’ve got a good healer, maybe bring Cody along and level him up.  Seemed to go okay with Chloe this morning.” He felt a little twinge, but pushed past it.  Meg and Sam could decide for themselves.  The thought of the kid reminded him of something.

“When the building’s clear, I’ll turn it into apartments.  There’s going to be several penthouse level suites, if you and Meg want to claim one.  Or maybe a poolside suite?”

“Sounds good to me, boy.  I’ll grab Meg, the boy, and a few others, and we’ll go while we’ve still got buffs from dinner.”

With that detail taken care of, Allistor moved on. He took the elevator to the roof, which had previously been covered with giant fans for the building’s ventilation.  Whatever tech the system used to heat and cool the building now, those weren’t needed.  So he had nearly a block of available roof space, minus some solar panels atop the elevator machine room.

With defense foremost in his mind as he looked up at the darkening sky to see more ships coming down, he placed the largest available shield generator in the center of the roof.  Next he added an anti-aircraft battery at each end of the block, and two plasma cannons along each side, one set overlooking the depository, the other the courtyard between his building and Harmon’s.

With those in place and activated, he requested a dozen droids be stationed around the rooftop.  Then he added a sun deck with a small wading pool and a wet bar.  The rest of the space he used to create a large greenhouse.  He told Nancy it was there, and she said she’d check it out in the morning, as Chloe was already asleep.

He stood for a while, watching the descending spaceships as they moved past him.  Some were far away and headed west, others came down closer.  A few even landed within the city, though outside his walls.

Ramon’s voice coming through Nigel surprised him out of his contemplation.  “Hey bud, I need to talk to you.  Mind if I come up?”

“You don’t need an invitation my friend.  You are welcome anywhere, anytime.”

“On my way.”

Allistor moved to the sundeck and took a seat near the bar.  He found himself wishing it was already stocked.  He had some wine in his inventory, but no booze.  What he really wanted was an ice cold rum and coke.

Ramon arrived a few minutes later, taking a moment to check out all the changes.  “Nice, man!  This place is going to be popular.”  He took a seat.

“So what’s up?  Your voice sounded like there is a problem.”

“No, not exactly.  Just a question that needs to be resolved.  You know, today’s invasion day, and we’ve been focused on that all day.”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, it’s also the day that all us humans get to claim our piece of land.  Everybody but you, mister Prince who owns half the country already.”

Allistor was shocked.  He’d completely forgotten about that.  And here he’d spent the entire day monopolizing his people’s time.

“Oh, shit.  I’m so sorry, man.  You and the others probably want to go out and pick your spots.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of why I’m here.  Lots of folks have asked their various leaders about claiming the land right around the Strongholds.  Especially the Bastion, Citadel, and Stadium.  The message we all got was that we could claim up to ten acres.  Some want farms, others want shops, et cetera.”

“And all of them are going to need help clearing buildings.” Allistor finished.

“Not just that.  They want your permission.  In case you have plans to expand, or something.”

“No, no.  Holy shit, I’ve really screwed this up.” Allistor took a deep breath.  “Nigel, please put me on loudspeaker, everywhere.  All the properties.”

“Done, Sire.”

“Hey, everybody.  Allistor the Inconsiderate here.  I want to apologize to all of you.  I got all caught up in taking another gold depository in New York, and that sort of snowballed into a … well, that doesn’t matter.  Except that now we own the lower half of Manhattan.   But in the process I totally forgot about all of you being able to claim your own land today.  I’m so sorry.  Some of your questions have been forwarded up to me, and I thought I’d get the answers to you all right away so that you can act.”  He took a moment to breathe.

“First, you can absolutely claim land adjacent to or nearby one of our facilities if you like.  I’ll extend the protections to cover your homes if you plan to make them there.  And of course you’re all welcome to continue to live inside the walls where you are now.  Or move to one of our other properties.  Whatever you like.  The teleports make commuting to work fast and easy.  For those who need help clearing buildings, we’ll get droids or other survivors to help you as quickly as possible.  For right now, pick your spot and claim it if you can.  If you can’t because there are critters inside, let Nigel know.  He’ll keep track and coordinate with Prime to get battle droids to help.   And please, don’t waste any opportunities to help each other level.  If you need to clear a building, take some low level folks with you and get them some experience if you can.”

He paused to catch Ramon’s gaze.  “Let’s see, I think each human is entitled to their own land, right Ramon?”  His friend grinned and nodded.  “Ramon’s shaking his head yes.  So let’s assume that each of you can claim your own land, not just one piece per family.  So take your kids along and claim one big space, or several scattered small ones.  If you need to use the teleport to accomplish that, then please do.   We’re also claiming some more Strongholds on the east coast, in DC and Florida this evening.  So folks who have an interest in those places can probably stake a claim tomorrow.  There will be more cities in other areas in coming days, and it’s up to you how long you want to wait.  I can’t see the messages you guys got, so I don’t know if there’s a time limit?”

Ramon shook his head no.

“This time Ramon’s shaking his head no.  Not real talkative, this guy.  So it sounds like you have some time to decide.  Just keep in mind that other humans are doing the same, and aliens are landing every minute.”

“Again, I’m sorry for my oversight.  If you have any questions I haven’t covered, shout them out to Nigel and he’ll give them to me one at a time.  Ready… go!”

He waited a few seconds for Nigel to process questions.  The first one was “Can we build our own Strongholds?”

“As far as I know, you can do that, assuming you have enough resources.  Or your local leaders can give you authorization to build an Outpost of their Stronghold.  That still gives you protective walls, et cetera.  I’m not sure if the rules have changed, or how much, since Stabilization is over. I’ll be able to answer that better after one of you tries it and reports in.”

The next question Nigel relayed was, “If we don’t have the resources, can we get a loan?”

“For a Stronghold?  Yes.  If I remember correctly, my first one required something like a hundred thousand klax worth of resources.  Again, one of you who wants to try this, please do so and report back to me.  But assuming the amount is something like that, then we can provide you loans.  You’d have to remain citizens of Invictus, vassals under me, your friendly neighborhood Prince. No taking a loan and jumping ship.  But otherwise we’ll help you as we can. Chris, please set aside a billion klax for this, and a team of people to process the requests.  Those of you who want loans for your own Strongholds or Outposts please message Chris.  Sorry, man.” Allistor grinned as he imagined the look on the man’s face. He could conceivably get ten thousand requests flooding in.

“How do we defend our land?” was the next question.

“If you choose a spot close enough to the walls of one of our properties, we can cover you with our weapons.  You can purchase weapons batteries of your own, but those get expensive.  We can also look at maybe assigning a battle droid to help in the short term, although our supply of those is limited, and mostly they’re currently spoken for.  Also, it seems that the system has some decent legal property protections in place, which you should be able to read about in the info tabs that must have popped up on your interfaces.”

For the next twenty minutes Allistor and Ramon answered more questions.  Then they got a message that Virginia and Bob had gone out and claimed twenty acres adjacent to the Stadium, and had been able to construct an Outpost using an existing structure at no cost.  That message was relayed to everyone through Nigel.

An hour later a report came in that Logan had traveled north out the gates and claimed the Guggenheim Museum and a big chunk of the lake in Central Park just north of the walls of Invictus City.  It had cost him a hundred thousand klax to modify the building and add the usual walls and utilities.  That news was also shared live with everyone, and the loan applications began to flood in.  Logan of course hadn’t needed one, having several million klax from capturing Fort Knox and New York.   He also reported that, unfortunately, most of the artwork had been removed.  His plan had been to preserve the works he liked best, and sell the rest for hopefully big profits.

It turned out lots of people wanted to continue to live inside the existing Strongholds, and were interested in leasing their claims to Allistor or others for farming, grazing, or whatever, to provide them with some income.  Allistor was happy to oblige.   Others asked about various parks that Allistor owned, wanting to claim land right next to them and make use of the parks as well.  He agreed to that without hesitation.

The only request he didn’t approve right away was when someone asked about creating a Stronghold on one of the other Channel Islands off Santa Barbara.  When that request came in, he replied, “I’d like you to take some time to think about that.  The land is mine, so it’s not going anywhere.  And you’re welcome to it if you’re sure you want it.  But we saw evidence of at least one major earthquake out there.  I’m not sure how stable those islands are.  And an off-shore quake could cause a tidal wave to wipe out the islands completely.  So please, take a day or two and consider carefully.  For example there are a few small islands here in the river in New York that are much less likely to be wiped out.  Anybody want to live under the Statue of Liberty?”

Allistor passed the evening answering questions, hearing reports through Nigel on his people’s claims, and the success of his DC and FL crews.   The Florida team had chosen St. Augustine for its pristine beaches, and cleared a large beachfront hotel and a condo complex on either side of the pier just south of the Anastasia State Park.   The DC crew had claimed the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial up to the Capitol Building, the W Hotel, and several of the Smithsonian buildings nearby.  They did not claim the White House, because it was already occupied.  Allistor was anxious to talk to them about who they found in there.

By the time Allistor and Amanda went to bed, about half of his people had reported claiming their parcels in various places.  Chris had received more than two thousand loan requests, which was a lower number than Allistor had expected.  And there had been more than five hundred requests for assistance in clearing buildings.

The last thing Allistor did before going to sleep was ask Prime to set aside a thousand droids and coordinate with Nigel to provide that assistance.  For most of the requests, just one or two droids would be enough to clear the small buildings in the locations his people had selected, and they could accomplish it in minutes.

*****

Allistor was awakened by Nigel at about 3:00am, the AI’s loud voice breaking him out of a deep sleep.

“Sire! Sire!  I must report that one of your citizens has been attacked!”

Both Allistor and Amanda were instantly awake.  “Who? Where?” he managed to ask.

“Citizen Michael, Sire.  He established a Stronghold of his own near the airport in Cheyenne.  A colony ship has landed nearby, and fighters have assaulted the walls.”

“Dammit!  Loudspeaker please, here and in the Citadel.”

“Go ahead, Sire.”

“Dean!  Wake up, buddy.  Everybody at the Citadel.  Michael’s new Stronghold by the airport is under alien attack.  I need twenty battle droids, and anybody willing to help him fight, to get there now!  I’m on my way.  Prime, I need a hundred droids to teleport to the Citadel and meet me there.”

Allistor equipped his armor as he ran for the elevator with Amanda right behind him.  The thing moved fast, and a minute later they were stepping onto the teleport pad with a group of droids.  The moment they arrived at the Citadel they stepped off, finding about half the droid force he requested already there.

“Nigel, send the rest of the droids after me, we’re heading down now!” he shouted, jumping into a truck and zooming out the gate.  Most of the Juggernauts were still in New York, and he hadn’t thought to bring one back.   When he reached the gate, several humans flagged him down and hopped into the back, plasma rifles already in hand.  The droids followed the truck at a run, easily keeping pace.

He didn’t have any trouble finding the Stronghold.  It was lit up with plasma rounds flashing up at the wall and back down toward the attackers.  Allistor took the ramp down from the gate as quickly as he could, then punched the accelerator.  When he got close, he saw battle droids on the ground firing up toward his own battle droids on the wall.   Behind the attacking droids he saw several small figures standing around watching the battle.  He Examined the first one he could see clearly.

Goblin Warrior

Level 25

Health:  43,000/43,000

The goblins all held weapons, but weren’t firing up at the wall.  Allistor shut off the truck lights and used the flashes from the battle to light his way.  As soon as he was in range, he stopped the truck and cast Mind Spike on the nearest goblin.  The moment it started screaming, the other twenty or so goblins turned and swarmed toward him and his group.

“It’s him!  Kill the Prince!” he heard one of them growl.

Allistor found himself ducking behind the truck’s engine as plasma fire poured in on him. The hood quickly melted away as the plasma penetrated it, but the engine block was solid enough to provide cover. The goblins might be small, but they had good aim.  Behind him, his people spread out and dropped to the ground, firing back at the invaders.  The droids held their ground and sent back withering fire.

Not able to lift his head to fire without risking death, Allistor got lower and looked under the truck at his attackers.  Channeling his Storm spell, he targeted the spot roughly in the center of the group.  A searing pain in his leg nearly caused him to lose the spell.  He clenched his teeth and carried on despite the continuing burning sensation from a melted piece of truck body that had splashed onto him.

Several seconds into the cast, the lightning bolts began to fall.  One after the other the goblins were struck, but didn’t seem to be taking any damage.  Looking more closely, Allistor saw tiny shields around each of them, reacting to the lightning strikes.  He continued to channel the spell, hoping the blasts would eventually break through.  His people continued to fire, their plasma rounds impacting the shields and fizzling out.

When Allistor was down below half mana, one of the shields finally winked out, then another, and another.   Nearly half the goblins went down under lightning strikes before the rest retreated into their ship.  He quit channeling and gulped a mana potion.  Then very steadily and deliberately he cast Erupt beneath the heads of each of the downed goblins, making very sure they were dead by piercing their brains with stone spikes.

The rest of his battle droids arrived, and he ordered them forward to take out the attacking droids.  He saw about thirty of them, but he’d brought three times that many.  He did what he could to help, crawling closer on his belly and casting Vortex into the enemy droids.  The winds didn’t budge them one bit, but the debris they picked up and slammed against the droids threw off their aim, even knocked the weapons from a few of their hands.

More and more humans poured down the slope from the Citadel gates and added their firepower.  Some switched from plasma rifles to standard Earth rifles and sniped at the droids, aiming for heads and weapons.  The projectiles seemed to do decent damage, so they kept at it.

The battle raged on, the tough droids on both sides dealing punishing damage to each other, whittling down health bars.  Then Allistor heard a sound that made him grin.  First one, then the other of the Howitzers boomed up on the hill behind him.  The rounds struck amid the enemy droids, blasting half a dozen of them apart.   The humans cheered, and Allistor saw the colony ship’s ramp begin to retract.

The gunners must have seen it as well, because the next Howitzer round impacted the side of the ship just feet from the opening.  The one after that flew directly inside, causing an explosion that rocked the ship.  The Howitzers continued to focus on the colony ship, punching holes in its side all around the open door every thirty seconds or so.

Allistor’s droids and the humans nearby continued to focus on the droids, burning them down one by one as they focused fire following Allistor’s lead.  He’d began calling down a Flame Shot on them one by one to mark targets.  Looking around, there were now more than a hundred humans firing at their enemies along with the battle droids.  That much damage was taking each droid down in less than a minute.

But the enemy droids weren’t just standing there taking the punishment.  They fired back, each of them firing two plasma rifles.  Humans were getting hit here and there, screaming in pain as the plasma burned away whatever it hit.  Amanda and a few other healers did their best to keep them alive, but they were quickly running out of mana.

Without warning a Juggernaut blew past Allistor, narrowly missing running him over.  It quickly crossed the distance between the two forces, drawing fire from several of the enemy droids.  It shrugged off most of the damage, slamming into one of the droids, knocking it into another.  It plowed into two more before it was past them.  As it turned for another run, the remaining droids turned to fire on it.  Allistor targeted one of the ones still standing, and they continued to burn the droids down, the humans firing more rapidly since they didn’t need to take cover.  Whoever was in the Juggernaut was making an excellent tank.

With just three enemy droids left, the colony ship managed to get off the ground.  It wavered and wobbled unstably as it rose.  Unfortunately for them, when they reached about two hundred feet, they came in range of the Citadel’s anti-aircraft batteries.

Huge plasma projectiles slammed into the side of the ship, burning through the hull like it was paper.  Explosions inside spouted flames out the gaps in the metal, but the ship continued to rise.  It turned its nose toward the citadel and fired, trying to target the batteries.  But the shield dome was up, and the rounds didn’t penetrate.

At about four hundred feet, a shot from one of Allistor’s batteries hit something vital in the engine, and the ship plummeted.   Everything went quiet for a while, until the dust settled and Allistor saw goblins streaming out of the broken ship’s open cargo bay.   He called an order to the nearest droid.  “Kill or capture those goblins!  Clear the ship!”

As one, the remaining ninety or so droids charged toward the goblin horde, firing as they ran.  The enemy droids were all down, and there was little resistance.  Several of the goblins threw down their weapons and dropped to their knees with hands raised in surrender.   Most continued to fire and were wiped out in less than a minute.

Allistor checked with Amanda, and she confirmed no losses among the humans in the field.  There were several who’d lost enough body mass to need some time in with the regeneration machines, but luckily the plasma was hot enough to cauterize wounds and keep the people from bleeding out before they could be healed.   One man had a hole punched cleanly through his chest, and was struggling to breathe.  He was going to need a new lung, at the very least.

Ten of the droids took charge of the prisoners, moving them into a tight group and surrounding them as the rest charged into the open cargo bay, then farther into the ship.  There was sporadic gunfire, but about five minutes later one of the droids jogged back to Allistor and reported that the ship was clear.   Allistor received a notification.

Level up!  You are now Level 32!  You have received two Attribute Points.

“One hundred thirty-seven goblin fatalities, forty-three captured, Sire.” the droid reported.

“And our losses?”

“Twelve battle droids damaged beyond repair.  One hundred eight damaged but repairable.  Estimated repair time for entire remaining force is six hours.”

“Thank you.” Allistor nodded at the droid.  “Please keep the prisoners where they are for the moment, and begin repairs.  Also please pass my gratitude to General Prime.”

“Right away, Sire.”

“I’m here, Sire.” Prime called out as he exited the driver’s door of the Juggernaut.  The vehicle looked like a total loss.  Its front end was crumpled from impacting so many droids, and it had plasma burns over about ninety percent of its surface.

“Prime!  Well done!  You saved our bacon.  Are you damaged?”

“No, Sire.  The vehicle absorbed the damage.  I am afraid it will need significant repairs.”

“Wonderful!  I’ll trade a vehicle to save human lives and our own droids every time.”  Allistor patted the general on the shoulder.  “Please stick with me, I want to check on our friends.”

Allistor jogged up to Michael’s gate, which opened as he approached.  Michael and three other humans walked out, and he hugged Allistor.  “Thanks, man.  I thought we were toast!”

“Anybody hurt?”

Michael’s face was grim.  “Yeah, we have two dead inside.  Ralph here is a healer, but there was just so much damage.  They both fell off the wall after taking hits.  Nothing he could do.” The man Michael indicated looked down at his feet, but Allistor could see tears streaming down his face.

“Ralph, you did a great job keeping these others alive as long as you did.  I’m proud of you.” He put his arm around the man, patting his shoulder and giving him a quick squeeze.   Ralph just nodded.

“What happened?” Allistor turned back to Michael.

“There was a small office building inside that needed clearing.  I brought along Ralph and the others, and we were following a couple droids through as they killed stuff.  It was going really well, until the whole place started to rattle.  We ran to a window and saw this ship coming down.  Left the building and got up on the wall just in time to see the droids march out and start firing.”

General Prime added some information.  “That is a Grolz class goblin colony ship.  Among the smaller ships of its type.  Generally carries two hundred colonists plus cargo and crew.  It is barely light capable, and generally used for in-system colonization.”

“Barely light capable?  You mean light speed?” Michael asked, and the general nodded.  “So then, these guys came from a planet in this solar system?”

“Very likely.  Or a nearby solar system.  The ship’s light drive is only capable of short hops.  Anything longer and it would burn out, destroying the ship.”

“I think we need to talk to them.  Find out why the hell they’d attack you.  General, can you find out if there is a leader among the survivors?  Bring him to me in the Citadel.  The rest can stay where they are under guard until we figure out what to do with them.”

“I suggest you kill them, Sire.  They now consider you and your people blood enemies, and will not stop trying to avenge their dead until you have perished, or they have.”

“Fickin goblins!” Michael shook his head.

“Let me speak to their leader first.” Allistor ordered, and the general saluted.

“Do you wish to claim the ship, Sire?  It is in poor condition now, but repairs would likely cost less than purchasing a new ship.”

“We would indeed like to claim the ship.  Thank you, general.”  Prime moved off to fetch a goblin for Allistor.  A moment later one of the other droids entered the ship, and Allistor got a notification.

You have captured a colony ship!

Grolz Class Colony Ship

Ship Level 3

Weapons Upgrade Level 2

Physical Condition:  124,879/1,250,000

Cargo Value:  Unknown

Do you wish to claim this ship?  Yes/No

Allistor mentally clicked on the Yes and received several more notifications regarding the ship’s condition, fuel level, and cargo.  He didn’t understand much of what was on the cargo manifest, so he decided to ask Harmon about it in the morning.

Prime returned carrying a squirming goblin by the scruff of its neck.  Allistor had him wait there while they looted the dead goblins, both inside and outside the ship.  When that was done, Allistor piled into the damaged Juggernaut with Prime, the goblin, Amanda, and Michael, and they returned to the Citadel.  Then a small group of humans went inside Michael’s Stronghold to bring his two dead friends out and prepare a pyre.  Droids were sent into the building to rip out some lumber, while still others finished clearing the building.

Chapter 6

The goblin sat tied to a chair in one of the conference rooms.  Outside, dozens of folks peered through the glass window to get a look at the creature.  For most of them, this was their first time seeing one of the storybook creatures come to life.   It struggled against its bonds, spat, and cursed at Allistor.

“Blood feud!  My clan will kill you all!  Roast your hearts and eat them with gemlik sauce!”

“Your clan will do no such thing.” Prime stated calmly as he stood behind the little monster.  “Based on the class and condition of the ship you arrived in, your clan is small and of meager means.”

“More than big enough to kill filthy humans!” the creature screamed.

Allistor watched the thing thrash against its bonds, eyes bulging and saliva spraying from its sharp-toothed mouth.  “Please, calm down.  I want to talk to you.  Just talk.”

The creature glared at Allistor, its bloodshot eyes filled with hatred.  “You dead.  Killed my blood kin!  Dead!”

“You attacked my people.  We simply defended ourselves.” Allistor tried to be patient.

“No matter!  Humans should have run away.  Or stayed to be slaves.  No one kills Borzgl clan and lives!  Borzgl is feared through the whole galaxy!”

“I have never heard of the Borzgl clan.” Prime’s deadpan voice almost made Allistor laugh.  He suppressed a grin and tried again.

“You attacked us.  Why?”

“Land!  Land is all.  Everyone knows this, dummy!”

“There is plenty of land still available across the globe.  Why attack mine?”

“Gold!  Do not pretend you do not know, human.  Gold!”

“There is no gold in that Stronghold, beyond what Michael has earned himself.”

“Not in.  Under!”  The goblin spat at Allistor, a green glob of nasty landing on his shirt.  He pulled a tissue from a box on the table and cleaned it off.

“So you think there’s gold in the earth under that Stronghold.   That makes more sense.  And I suppose you reported this to your clan?”

The goblin just glared at him.

With a sigh, Allistor asked, “Is there any way we can reach some kind of agreement where your clan and mine can have peace?”

The goblin nodded once, grinning.  “You give us gold.  Then you die.  We have peace.”

Prime interjected.  “Sire, it is rare for such an… undeveloped goblin clan to possess battle droids and plasma weapons.  I suspect this group were equipped and sent here by a third party.”

A knock at the door preceded Bjurstrom sticking his head in.  “Heya boss.” He glanced at the goblin, then back to Allistor.  “The boys and I were thinking of going fishing later.  Maybe go back to Santa Barbara and get one of those really big fishing boats, then go after that sea monster.  Thought you might want to tag along?”

Allistor nodded.  “I’d love to, but we’ve got lots going on today.  And I need you guys too.  Need you to lead a few more raid groups to claim more prime spots.” He paused as the squirming goblin caught his attention again.  Then an idea came to him.

“Come on in for a sec, Bjurstrom.”  Allistor turned to the goblin. “One more time, I wish to make peace.  I can give your clan much gold, if you promise to leave my people alone.”

The goblin spat again, but this time Allistor was nimble enough to avoid the flying glob.  “You die!  No other way!  Clan come for you until you die, or clan die!”

“I was afraid of that.”  Allistor resigned himself to what had to come next.  “You and your clanmates have killed two of my people.  Since you refuse to even discuss peace, I sentence you all to death.”

The goblin roared at him, thrashing so hard that it tipped over the chair.  Continuing to struggle, it slammed its head against the floor so hard that the blow stunned it.

Looking at Bjurstrom, he said, “I’m going to have Prime send the goblins to Pelican Bay and secure them in a room there.  They will be given food and water and held there for a few days.  When we’re done with our raids, we’ll go fishing.  I figure a squirming, bleeding goblin on the end of a long line will make good sea monster bait.  We’ll attach some C4 or a grenade or something.  When the monster swallows the bait…”

“BOOM!” Bjurstrom began to laugh.  “Nice, boss.  Very 1970s.” He held out a fist to bump.

“Arrange to take some of the lower level folks.  Should be good xp for killing the remaining goblins and the sea monster.  Or whatever else takes the bait.”

“And if we catch and kill the thing before we run out of goblins?”

“Slit their throats, hook them up, and see what other predators you can land.  Make the waters around the island as safe as possible.   If you don’t get any bites, then bring them back and feed them to the feral hogs on the island.”

“This is why they pay you the big bucks, boss.  You don’t waste anything.  And you always try to kill two or three birds with one stone.”  Bjurstrom grinned at him.

Allistor looked at the goblin.  “I tried, goblin.  I tried to find a way to let you live.  You’ve given me no choice.”  He nodded at Prime, who used a blade extension on one of his fingers to cut the knots and free the goblin, then grabbed it by the neck and exited the room.

A quick check of his interface clock showed him it was nearly 5:00am. “Nigel, at 6:00am please ask Chris to join me here.  Unless he’s already awake, in which case ask him now.”

“Chris was among those who joined you in the battle, Sire.  I shall ask him to join you.”

Bjurstrom left with a nod of his head, and Allistor sat down.  Taking out a pencil and paper, he began to make notes for the day’s tasks.

Territory raids – get group together to discuss targets.

Jesse and his people – today?

Speak to Harmon about goblins and loot.  Does he know this clan?  How much trouble are we in?

Speak to Michael about gold under his property.  Potential mine?  Are there scanners that can help us identify more places with gold?  Other minerals?  Does the yacht have them?

Buy more droids for Cheyenne.   In case of goblin attack.  Loan Michael funds for AA batteries if needed.   Also, are there mining droids? Or similar equipment?

Investigate crash site of the other attacking ship.

Figure out repairs for colony ship.  Gene?

The list was already probably more than he could get done in the day, but he was getting an early start.  The problem was he would need to wake some folks early to take care of most of the checklist.  He decided to wait.

Chris knocked, then entered the room.  He was carrying two coffee mugs, and handed one to Allistor.  “Who needs sleep, right?” He grinned before taking a sip.

“Oh, shit.  You’ve been dealing with the loan applications.  And then you showed up for this fight?  Have you slept at all?” Allistor looked concerned for his friend and Finance Minister.

“A couple hours.  No biggie.  I’ll sleep when I’m dead.  What’s up, boss?”

Allistor tried to decide where to start.  “The goblins we just killed are part of a larger clan, who are now our sworn blood enemies, apparently.  So we need to beef up defenses here and at surrounding Strongholds, especially Michael’s.  If he doesn’t have the funds for more cannons and anti-aircraft batteries, give him a loan.  I have a feeling he won’t have any trouble repaying it.” He stopped and leaned closer to whisper, as if there were others in the room.

“The goblins say they attacked him because there’s gold under his property.”

Chris laughed out loud, both at the information and the way Allistor presented it.  “I’ll make sure he’s prepared.  And I assume you want to purchase more battle droids?”

“Yeah, for sure.  We’ll need about a thousand here, I think. And we’re adding more properties.  So purchase another five thousand.  Coordinate with Prime to get one upgrade for every droid that doesn’t have one already.  And buy enough charging units, et cetera.   Keep a thousand of them here in Cheyenne, send two thousand to New York, and let Prime distribute them as he sees fit as we add more properties.   Also, consult with him on other weapons systems that might help us.  Tanks, maybe?  Or fighter ships?”

Chris nodded, taking notes of his own as Allistor consulted his list.  “You know already we took the depository in New York.  So we have a few extra bucks to spend.” He looked at his friend, who just shook his head.

“It feels a little… I don’t know, dirty?  Obscene? To be this wealthy.  I mean, we basically have a whole nation’s gold reserve at our disposal.  And not like, a small island nation.  A superpower.  Even with the ridiculous spending we’ve been doing, we have over two hundred billion klax worth of gold.”

“Oh, I have plans for it, my friend.  We’re going to buy ships, eventually.  Enough ships to go off-world and give these aliens a little taste of their own medicine.” He paused to look at the chair where the goblin had been tied up.  “Starting with whatever world these goblins came from.”

Chris nodded, having heard this before.

“But not yet.  I want our people to be at least as strong as the aliens we’ve encountered so far.  So at least level twenty-five, if not higher.  I want all our droids upgraded to the point where other droids don’t have a chance against them.  We lost too many in the droid-on-droid fight this morning.”

“I hear ya.  It sounds like there will be lots of buildings to clear in New York. I recommend sending small groups of humans in with the droids, to soak up the experience quickly.  Then when they hit twenty, switch them out with another group, and keep rotating.  Also, make a plan to bring them all here quickly if the goblins attack again.  I got two levels from the fight this morning.” He beamed, thumping his chest.

“Imagine if we take five thousand people on ships to wipe out the goblin clan; and assume there are a thousand or more of them.  We could level up everyone in a day.” Allistor daydreamed as he spoke.  He was sure it wasn’t going to be that simple.

Chris shook his head.  “Might be better to let them attack us.  Did you look at your experience notifications?”

Allistor shook his head.  “Had other things going on.”

“We didn’t just get xp from the kills.  We each got a big chunk for successfully defending the Stronghold.  Like, half a level’s worth for me.”

Allistor thought about it for a second.  “I wonder if there’s a similar bonus for a successful capture?  I’ll ask Prime or Harmon.”

They discussed the loan applications for a while, Chris giving him the breakdown of how many applied and how much they needed.  In total he needed about half the billion-klax fund he’d instructed Chris to set aside.  If that set his people up with their own safeholds, whether that be Strongholds or Outposts, it was worth it.  Chris had set the interest rate on the loans at one percent, which seemed more than reasonable.

Several of the people had opted to sell their ten acres to Allistor.  He instructed Chris to pay a million per acre, unless the land was completely worthless.  And to give the people the option to purchase it back within two years with no mark-up.  Most of them had chosen open land or forest near one of the Strongholds that could be used for grazing, farming, or lumber.

Allistor asked Nigel to call Michael in, and they informed him of the potential for gold under his property.  They also discussed improving his defenses.  By the time they were finished, it was 6:30am.

Since most of the Citadel was still awake, they went ahead and held the funeral for the two men they’d lost.  As usual, Allistor said a few words, then friends got up to speak.  There were lots of angry comments about the goblins, so Allistor stood back up and assured them that they would all get their chance at payback.   Then he turned and used Flame Shot to light the pyre.

By the time it burned down and everyone dispersed, it was 8:00am.  He asked Nigel to put him on loudspeaker everywhere.

“Good morning, everyone.  My apologies if I woke you.  We’ve had a busy morning already, and there’s lots to get done today.   First, Michael’s Stronghold here in Cheyenne was attacked by a colony ship full of goblins at about 3:00am.  We fought them off, but it cost the lives of two of our own.  We are now officially blood enemies of a goblin clan.  More on that later.  The good news is we took their colony ship, and once it’s repaired, we will have two working spaceships.”

He paused for a second to glance at his list.  “Speaking of repairs, Gene, I would like you to lead a team of engineers and mechanics, and maybe a few who’d like to learn the trades, and go through the colony ship.   Those of you who are interested, come to Cheyenne around noon today.  Gene, please wait for me in New York, and we’ll bring the ship back so we can all check out that crash site.  Oh!  We were attacked by a ship as we flew to New York yesterday.  Sam shot it down.  Three cheers for Sam!”  He waited as he heard cheers rise up outside.

“Alright, more news.  We’re forming raid parties to fly around and grab some more prime real estate for us.  We now have half of Manhattan island, a couple properties in St. Augustine, Florida, and a bunch of library, museum, and monument buildings that we’ve claimed in DC so we can preserve them.   We have enough battle droids to field a dozen raid parties, and I want to include ten of our people in each party.  So any of you fighters who are interested, please report to headquarters in New York to be assigned.  Andrea, Dean, and Bjurstrom, you guys are in charge of that.  I’ll join you if I can.”

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll also be clearing a few thousand buildings in New York.  The mobs in these buildings are likely to be around level fifteen to twenty-five.  So I’d like as many low level volunteers as possible to go in behind the battle droids and clear with them.  My goal is to level everyone up to at least twenty-five in the next month.  I don’t care if you’re a fighter, a teacher, or a custodian, I want you on at least three of those runs.  If we’re going to be attacked, I want everyone strong enough to survive.  And this is a way to level you that we can control.”

Going off the list for a moment, he added, “Also, we’re going to need more pilots.  Anybody with flight experience who’s interested in flying spaceships, or people who are willing to learn, tell Nigel.  He’ll organize a list of your names and qualifications, and we’ll begin choosing a few people to train at a time.  Starting later this morning with two people.”

“Again, sorry for the early announcement, but it’s vital we get moving on today’s missions.  I hope you have a great day, and may you all be healthy and happy.”  He grimaced at the lame closing.

Michael snorted. “I would have gone with live long and prosper, or even Lok’Tar!”

*****

After instructing Prime to spend some time with Chris on the new droids and their upgrades, Allistor returned to Invictus.   He called his available advisors together to discuss potential raid locations.   After an hour’s discussion, they decided to start with Boston, aiming for waterfront property at the port.  They would also visit Detroit, Toronto, and Chicago waterfronts, giving them access to four big freshwater lakes and the resources in them.  They were going to take a tiny island called Flynn Island in Higgins Lake as well, while they were in Michigan.  For reasons Allistor didn’t share.

Allistor was sending a crew to the Caribbean to see about claiming an entire island there if possible.  Initially there was some dispute around the potential for hurricane damage, but Allistor reassured them that he’d make the structures strong enough to survive.

Also on the list was the Hoover Dam near Vegas.  Allistor had always admired it, and thought it might be a good idea to have control over the water supply for that area.  Also, it might be used to generate old fashioned electricity for humans that weren’t interested in being inside Strongholds.  Or maybe for manufacturing facilities.   And once the dam was secure, that crew could go take a couple casino hotels in Vegas proper.  Allistor wasn’t positive, but he had a feeling that gambling was always going to be a thing, even with aliens.

It was decided that Kira would fly the crews to Boston, Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago on the yacht.  She could make the entire circuit in a few hours, waiting at each spot to make sure the group was secure before moving on.   Gene would use the big jet to fly a crew of ten humans and ten droids to Vegas airport where they would arrange ground transport for the twenty-mile trip up to the dam.  Once they had secured a Stronghold there, more troops could be teleported in for the conquest of Vegas hotels.  For the Caribbean island, A group was going to teleport to the St. Augustine Stronghold and secure a boat large enough to transport a hundred droids and a raid crew.  They might have to try several islands, and nobody wanted to tie up the space yacht or the plane to go hopping around.

Each group leader was given authority to establish a Stronghold in Allistor’s name, as well as a teleport pad to place.   One of the features Prime had chosen for a small number of his new battle droids was a communications module.  The droid communicator units could now remain in contact at a distance of up to two thousand miles from other droids with the same module, or one of the Strongholds.   With the way Allistor was spreading out, they’d be able to relay secure messages through the droids, or Nigel, or a combination of both, across the entire continent.

Allistor released the teams to do their thing, and Gene was the first to jump from his seat.  He kissed his wife and sprinted out the door toward the teleport, anxious to get his hands on the colony ship.  He had an idea about using some of the battle droids’ self-repair capabilities to fix the ship.

Checking his list, he decided to go talk to Harmon about the goblins.  Leaving through the back door of the building’s lobby, he crossed the courtyard for the first time.  There was a manicured sunken garden to his right as he walked out.  Though it hadn’t been tended in a year, it still looked beautiful.  He made a note to show it to Nancy or George.

As there was no need for a wall between his property and Harmon’s, he simply crossed the street and stepped into the back door of the merchant’s lobby.   He was surprised to find creatures of several unknown races walking around inside.  Stopping just a few paces in, he took a minute to look around.   There were several orcanin and what looked like imps behind counters across the wide open lobby space.  There were no wares on display here, and the attendants seemed to be manning what looked like teller windows.  Allistor smiled, reminded of the auction houses in almost every VR game ever made.

There were creatures of several other species walking in and out, or standing at the counters.  A humanoid being with blue skin, at least nine feet tall with four arms and a tail stood at one of the windows.  Another was occupied by a creature that Allistor would have described as a gelatinous blob.  There were insectile beings, one which resembled a turtle that walked upright, and a couple that had to be elves.    Across the lobby in a glass-walled meeting room, Harmon was meeting with a creature that greatly resembled an octopoid.  It was hard to make out clearly, as the room was filled with a swirling mist.

Allistor crossed the lobby, nodding or waving at a few of the orcanin, who grunted amiably in return.  Taking a seat on a sofa outside Harmon’s office, he spent some time reading through his Capital City tab and its sub-tabs.  One of the things he learned was that there were automated repairs available for most structures.  They were slow, and had to be purchased using either System Points or klax.   He pulled up a random damaged building about a block from where he sat.  The building’s condition bar was at about seventy percent, having been partially burned and the ground floor windows and walls smashed.   But the option to repair the building was greyed out, as it had not yet been cleared.

Moving to the multi-tiered building next to his high rise, which had been cleared the night before by Sam’s group, he tried again. This building was at eighty-five percent, and the repair option glowed green.

Structure Designation:  Invictus 3

Building condition:   1,785,875/2,101,000 (85%)

Estimated Repair time:  15 hours

Repair cost:  2,850,000 sp/klax

There was a details sub-tab that listed the damage.  Allistor took a quick look and saw fire damage, water damage, broken windows, bullet holes, plasma burns, broken doors, and a long list of other items.

Closing that tab, he moved back to the main building tab.  He had the option to modify it the same way he would any Stronghold building, changing the floor plan or adding features to the building.  Out of curiosity, he tried to see what that would cost in System Points, but got a message that he needed to be standing inside the building to make modifications, or use his City’s control Pedestal to make modifications.

He was about to call forth the Pedestal in front of him when Nigel informed him that Jesse had arrived, and was on his way over.  He stood to greet the man, who walked into the lobby with Juanita right behind him.  Based on her smile, Allistor expected good news.  The two moved slowly, taking in the sight of all the aliens, much as Allistor had done.

“Good morning, Jesse.  I’m glad to see you back here.  I take it you’ve come to a decision?” He shook the man’s hand, then Juanita’s, and motioned for them to sit.

“We have.  My people and I will take the oath and join you.”  The man’s poker face from the day before persisted, and his smile didn’t reach his eyes.  But he was saying he was willing to take the oath, so Allistor chalked it up to not being thrilled with giving up some of his authority.  Allistor would have trouble doing the same, especially to someone he’d just met.

“Wonderful!  Would you like to bring your people here?  Or remain in your Stronghold?” Allistor asked.

“I think most would like to remain where we are.” Jesse looked to Juanita, who shrugged.  “I’m okay livin’ in the Outpost, as long as we can come here to eat or buy stuff when we want to.”

“Works for me.  I’ve got some things to deal with here, but how about you bring your people over later this morning and you can all take the oath.   I can send some droids to escort you both ways safely.  I forgot to ask, how many people do you have in total?”

“Just over four thousand.  Spread out across the city.  It’ll take me a while to get word to everyone and get them together.  How about tomorrow morning?”

“Fine.  Tomorrow morning, then.  I’ll see you all then.  With that many people, we’ll need to do it out in the street.  I’ll make arrangements.” Allistor waved to them as they left.

Harmon, who’d been standing a polite distance away, shook his head.  “That is about a forty percent increase in your population.   It’s a good thing you can afford to buy a lot of food!” He moved to take a seat across from Allistor, but Allistor stood.

“You mind if we talk in there?” He motioned toward the room Harmon had been meeting in earlier.  The mists had cleared away.

“Of course.  Follow me.” Harmon led him inside and pulled a chair close to his desk.  “Sorry about the smell.  Had one of the elder races in here a bit ago.  They breathe a mist that always leaves an odor for a few hours after I remove it.” The orcanin scrunched his nose and shook his head.

“No worries.  I was hoping I could bother you for some assistance, and advice.”

“Of course, my friend.  How can I help?”

“You may have heard that we were attacked early this morning.  One of my advisor’s Strongholds in Cheyenne, spitting distance from my Citadel.  A colony ship of goblins…” He gave Harmon the rundown on the fight, capturing the prisoners, their blood oath, the clan name, claiming the ship, all of it.

“I have heard of the clan.  Prime was right, they are insignificant on their own.  But they may have allies.  I will see if I can learn more.  Weapons and battle droids don’t just magically appear. I know that they are from a planet currently on the opposite side of this system.  A long trip for them, a short hop in your yacht.”  Harmon leaned back in his chair.  “It is true they will continue to try and eliminate you now.  Your plan to take the fight to them is a little ambitious in your current condition.  But certainly you could defend against any force they are likely to send.  Think of them as a good way to level your people.”

Allistor nodded slowly, thinking it over.   When he couldn’t think of anything else to ask about that particular situation, he changed over to the cargo.

“I have the cargo manifest here, but I have no clue what some of this stuff is.”  Pulling up the list from his interface, he mentally pushed it to Harmon, and a holo-display came up between them.  The merchant looked at it for a moment, then laughed.

“This is mostly mining equipment.  They really did believe there was gold under your friend’s property.  There’s about two weeks’ worth of food for a couple hundred goblins – they are small but they eat like orcanin!  The usual crafting supplies for a new colony.  Metals for smithing, a smelting plant, a couple of their vehicles, which would be too small for you to use, but might make excellent toys for your young ones.  Or you can obviously sell them on the market.  Each one would bring maybe fifty thousand klax.” The orcanin continued to review the list.

“Oh ho!  Here we go.  Three cases of goblin brandy!  That’s good stuff.  I’d put that in my personal wine cellar if I were you.  Strong stuff.  Burns like the devil going down, but very smooth after a few sips.  Fit for a Prince!”

Allistor listened as Harmon ran down the list, not hearing much more of interest.  When the merchant was done, he asked, “And what about the prisoners?  I told my guys to use a few of them as sea monster bait.  But I doubt we’ll need forty of them for that.”

“Kill them however you wish.  But kill them you must.”  Harmon’s tone was suddenly serious.  “They view it as their duty to escape and kill you.  They are clever and vicious and will view themselves as heroes following their code if they can manage it.” He paused, thinking, then leaned forward.  “If you bring them here before you kill them, I will purchase their corpses.”

Allistor was unsure he wanted to ask, but couldn’t resist.  “Can you use some of their parts for alchemy ingredients or something?”

“Not alchemy, cooking.” Harmon corrected him.  “I would never eat a goblin, but my warriors would happily roast and stew them for supper.  It would actually raise your reputation with them!”

“In that case, consider them my gift.  I’ll take a half dozen fishing, the rest I’ll send here for my low level people to execute, and they’re all yours.” Allistor felt sick to his stomach for even saying it.  But he supposed a quick death was the best option for them at this point.  And what happened after… well he wasn’t going to think about that.

“I was going to have Kira take us to the crash site of that ship that attacked us.  Are you interested in coming along?  Then she can drop us at Wilderness and you can retrieve your ship.”

“Certainly!  I am curious to see who would make such a suicidal attack.  And speaking of ships, when I bring my ship from your other Stronghold here, might I land in the same park you have?  I’d be happy to pay a berthing fee.”

“If there’s room, sure.  It seems like your ship was much larger.  Might be better to find a parking lot nearby?  Or we can knock down one of the burned-out buildings with those construction droids of yours.”

“I have studied the map, and there is a vehicle parking structure a few blocks to the west.  It has a large, flat upper deck.  But I would presume that such a space would be expensive to lease.”

Allistor pulled up his minimap and zoomed out so that he could see it.  There was indeed a huge parking garage a few blocks away where the interstate curved around to connect with the FDR.  The multi-lane road actually passed under the building.  There were two large sections, each covering about a city block.

“I can’t tell from this map.  Is the upper deck big enough to accommodate both of our ships?”

Harmon used his desk to pull up a 3D holo-image of the structure, then pressed a few keys.  The outlines of the two ships appeared atop the building.  Allistor’s yacht fit snugly atop the smaller section.  Harmon’s ship was shown atop the larger section, and it stuck out a bit past the building edges on both sides and at the nose.

“Yes, though you would have to modify the building slightly to expand the roof.  And probably reinforce the structure to take the weight, though it does look sturdy.”

Allistor smiled.  “I’ll tell you what.  You and your orcanin take a party of my people to clear the building, you cover the expense of reinforcing the building and expanding the roof as needed, and you can park there for one hundred klax per year.”

“Done!” Harmon returned the smile with a toothy one of his own.

“Then let’s go.  If we hurry, we can catch Kira and join her and the raid groups heading out.  She’s dropping one group in Chicago, not far from the crash site.”

Harmon spoke into his bracelet to organize some orcanin to clear the parking garage.  They walked next door together, and Andrea assigned a group of humans to hit the garage as well.   Allistor and Harmon teleported to the Old Fort, and got aboard the yacht.

Chapter 7

With the raid crews and several hundred droids loaded onto the yacht, Kira lifted off from the park and headed northeast.  First stop, Boston.

Allistor gave the others a quick tour of the ship in the few minutes that it took to reach their first destination.   Kira found a huge pier to land the ship on, and the Boston crew departed with their droids.  There was a large U-shaped condo complex at the base of the pier that looked like it would make a good Stronghold.  A short distance away was a high-rise Hyatt hotel next to the airport, and right in front of it was the ferry dock.  Across the water, there was also a park with an old stone fort that looked attractive.   Allistor left the crew to decide what building or buildings to select.

One by one, Kira dropped the crews off in Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago.  Each time, they selected a waterfront location to land and offload the teams.   After taking off from Chicago, Harmon showed Kira how to pull up the coordinates of the crash site, and they were off.  It only took a short time before the ship came to a halt, hovering about a thousand feet over the spot they were looking for.

Meg pulled up a feed from the ship’s sensor array on the main viewscreen.  They were looking down from the underside of their ship at an area of broken and burned trees around a twisted mass of metal.

Once again, Harmon stepped in, this time at Meg’s station.  “No life signs other than wildlife in the immediate area.  Either the crash killed them, or they fled.   There’s a clearing large enough for this ship about a quarter mile north.” He pointed to the display, and Kira piloted the ship, landing it neatly with barely a tremor as it touched down.

“You’re getting better at that.” Allistor gave her a pat on the shoulder.

They exited the ship via the cargo bay doors, taking five of the battle droids that Allistor had held back from the raid crews.   Harmon, Fuzzy, Helen, and Allistor followed the droids to the crash site, letting them clear a path through the underbrush.  When they reached the mangled ship, the droids fanned out and surrounded it, working their way in toward the center.  The merchant pulled a device from his inventory and began scanning the ship and surrounding area.

“Goblins.  I’m detecting two goblin corpses inside.  No indication of any others.”

The nearest battle droid turned and saluted.  “No evidence of tracks leading from the ship, Sire.”

“Thank you.”  Allistor looked at what was left of the little attack craft.  “Is this thing salvageable?”

Harmon shook his head.  “It probably is, but I would say it is not worth the cost.  Even fully repaired, this is not an effective fighter.  I suppose it could be upgraded…”

“How would it do as a training fighter?  Something my new pilots could whiz around in and practice shooting at targets?”

Harmon grinned.  “For that, it would do nicely.”

Allistor sent the droids back to the yacht to retrieve some cables and the Juggernaut that was in the hold.   Between the vehicle and the droids, they managed to drag the fighter back to the yacht.  It fit through the cargo bay door, but only because one of the wings was sheared off.  A droid followed behind, carrying that wing.  All five of the battle droids made another trip back to the site with one of the small hoverpads and collected as many important pieces of the craft as they could locate.   When it was all loaded aboard, Kira took off.  Allistor and Harmon were standing on the bridge observing Kira’s takeoff.

“We can drop you at Wilderness so you can retrieve your ship.”

“That will not be necessary.  My pilot has already left there and is en route to New York.  My warriors reported little resistance in the parking structure, though there was a level thirty-five Octopoid in the lowest level.   My lieutenant has made the necessary modification to the building, plus a few upgrades.  It was necessary to shift the elevator to the area connecting the two platforms, so he added another and made them both larger with much greater weight capacities so that we may transfer cargo.   They also established some living quarters, guest quarters, and administrative spaces on the level just below the landing deck.  I hope that meets with your approval?”

“Certainly!  If we don’t need to head west, then Kira, let’s go back to New York.  We can test out our new parking spot.”

During the flight back, Harmon sold Allistor a variety of repair bots and construction bots.  As soon as they landed, the group walked the few blocks back to the Invictus Stronghold and retrieved the repair bots.  Half of them were sent to the yacht to begin repairs on the damaged fighter, and the others were sent through the teleport to the Citadel to work on the colony ship.   Per Harmon’s explanation, they would decrease repair time by nearly fifty percent.

“I think I love you, Allistor.” Harmon said as the repair droids disappeared.  “Every time I see you, I get richer!”

“Ha!  Stick with me.  There are still a couple gold reserves out there.  Maybe we can team up and take another one before your fellow aliens figure out where it is.”

“I suppose I’d be willing to assist, if I must.” The orcanin rolled his eyes in mock exasperation.

“We’ll wait and see how our raid groups do, maybe hit the reserve tomorrow.” Allistor replied.  “Just please keep advising me on non-Earth topics and I’ll help you amass more wealth.”

The two of them sat in the lobby for most of the evening, chatting about alien worlds and customs.  Several of Allistor’s people drifted over to join them, listening for a while before leaving again.  Allistor absorbed every bit of information he could, learning some very interesting things.

For example, it seemed that only residents of low-level planets like Earth, a few of the goblin planets, and other recently absorbed worlds relied much on projectile weapons like the plasma rifles.   Which explained why they were relatively inexpensive.  Harmon assured him that it wasn’t because the weapons were ineffective at all.  It was a reputation thing.  A majority of the factions looked favorably on hand-to-hand combat, as well as clever fighting tactics.   Some of them even considered using ranged weapons above level fifty to be dishonorable.

“You might not remember, because it was a hectic time for you, but when you killed things with your makeshift spear, especially that void titan, that was when you garnered the attention of several factions, and gained a loyal following.   You became even more interesting when you not only used your spear effectively, but took advantage of your environment to kill the dragon in that dungeon.  And a few of your party members attacked with swords and axes as well.”  Harmon grinned at him.

“Is that why the elven blade you showed me is so valuable?”

“In part, yes.” Harmon mused.  “It is a fine, effective combat weapon.  Lightweight and sharp, yet strong.  Certain enemies, mostly elves, would consider it an honor to fall to that blade.  But its rarity contributes most to its value.”

“So you’re saying I should develop my melee combat skills.” Allistor sighed.  He was starting to like the idea of killing things from a distance and not getting bitten as often.

“It would be helpful, yes.  Now, there is no dishonor in long distance magic attacks, mind you.  Because those are skills you hone just like your physical abilities.   While any half-trained imp can point a weapon and pull a trigger, it takes training, skill, and imagination to properly use a combination of stuns, offensive, and defensive spells and abilities to win a fight.  And, of course, in large battles or space battles, ranged weapons are the norm.  That is why battle droids exist.  It is common, for example, for two warring Princes to field armies of droids and vassals to capture key Strongholds or even face each other in open battle.  When one of them achieves a clear advantage, the vanquished may either surrender, or issue a challenge of individual combat.”

“Like a duel.” Allistor nodded.  Many times in VR games major battles featured the option of single combat between the opposing leaders.  It was a way to avoid large numbers of guild members losing valuable gear upon dying.

“An honor combat.” Harmon nodded.  “As I have reminded you more than once, you now live within a system where reputation is a main consideration.  Your Fame and Infamy are not everything, as mundane wealth, power, and political maneuvering will always factor into your life from now on.  But your reputation is what will win you allies, and enemies, and determine how you interact with both.  It may be that your Fame with certain factions earns you some assistance in your planned attack on the goblin clan.  At the same time, their aggregate Infamy might be what earns you some assistance, from a warring clan who wishes to help wipe them out, for example.”

“Ugh.” Allistor sighed, shaking his head.  He rarely paid attention to rep gains in his VR games, except when he was pushing a specific reputation quest line to earn epic gear or something.

“Do not worry.  My warriors and I will help you develop your skills.  You have above average Strength for your species, which should enable you to hold your own with most of the weaker physical specimens like goblins, elves, and gnomes.  I have also observed that you fight smart, and I suspect you have a high Adaptability score and Improvisation skill levels to go with your much higher Intelligence and Will Power.” Harmon grinned at him as Allistor’s eyes widened at the guess.

“Those will help you against physically superior species like orcanin, dwarves, trolls, and some others you have not yet encountered.  In those instances, you would be best served to employ stuns to allow you to get close and injure your opponents with unhindered critical strikes, then retreat and use offensive magic while keeping your distance.  Thus eliminating their physical advantages.”

Allistor was nodding along as Harmon spoke.  One of his favorite old LitRPG books was about a Dark Elf Sorcerer-Assassin who used a combination of stealthy melee damage and magic to defeat enemies that often outnumbered him.  Like the factions that Harmon was describing, Allistor had admired that character for using his brain and improvising to win fights.

“Thank you Harmon.  You’ve given me much to think about.” Allistor got to his feet.  “I’m going to check on our raids groups’ progress, then retire early so that I’m ready for tomorrow.   We’ll likely be having a mid-day feast to celebrate the addition of several thousand more citizens, if you’d like to join us.”

Harmon rose as well. “I’d be honored. Speaking of feasts, you mentioned goblin prisoners?”

“Oh!  Yes.  I nearly forgot.”  Allistor’s gut churned a bit.  He was having a hard time simply ordering the execution of unarmed sentients, even if he knew it was necessary.

“Nigel, please instruct Prime to have all but six of the goblin prisoners escorted here from Pelican Bay and taken to the courtyard out back.  Also, do we have any citizens left who are under level fifteen?  Excluding children.”

“Your message has been delivered to the general, Sire.  There are one hundred forty-three children age twelve and under that have yet to reach level ten.  There are an additional eleven adults and teenaged humans who are between levels ten and fifteen.”

“Please reach out to each of the teens and adults individually, ask them to report here in the next…” Allistor glanced at his interface clock to see how late it was.  “Twenty minutes.”

“Of course, Sire.”

While they waited, Harmon called a dozen of his warriors over to cart away the executed goblins.   The prisoners arrived first, spitting at the humans with contempt.  When the orcanin arrived, the goblins became much more circumspect, glancing nervously at the monstrously large warriors who were licking their lips and smiling cruelly at them.

Allistor’s people drifted in through the teleport one or two at a time from their various locations.  When Nigel informed him that they were all present, Allistor took them as a group past the goblin prisoners and into the dining room.   He had them all take a seat, then began to explain.

“I’m sorry to have called you all here on short notice.  We have an issue that needs dealing with, and I wanted to use it to provide an opportunity for all of you.  The goblins you saw outside were captured after attacking Michael’s Stronghold in Cheyenne.” He paused when a young girl of maybe fifteen or sixteen sobbed.  Another girl put an arm around her and hugged her close.

After a moment, the girl looked up and nodded at Allistor, wiping tears from her eyes.  He continued.  “The goblins have sworn a blood feud against us.  I cannot release them, or even keep them prisoner, as they will do all they can to kill us given even the slightest chance.”  He looked around.  Among those gathered in front of him was Lilly, one of his core group and the tailor who’d made his armor.  She was still low level because she’d refused to go out hunting or run dungeons.  Most of her experience had come because she was present when they’d defended the Warren and the Citadel from attacks.  Maggie, the teenage leader of the kids from Santa Barbara was also there.

“I know some of you haven’t wanted to do any fighting, for whatever reason.  And because of that, you’re still dangerously weak at your low levels.  I’m offering you the opportunity to execute the goblins in the other room.  There will be little or no risk to you, and they’re all between ten and fifteen levels above you.  Which means executing a couple of them each should earn you at least one level, and maybe two or three.”

Several of the people in front of him looked a little green as he finished.  About half of them began to shake their heads slightly.  Seeing this, Allistor added, “I won’t force you to do this.  Some of you may have beliefs that prevent you from killing sentient beings.  I respect that.  I will just say that I have promised to do my best to protect all of you.  And allowing you to level up and get stronger in this safe situation is one of the ways I can do that.”  After a pause, he finished.  “Any of you who do not wish to participate can head home.  My apologies again for the sudden summons.”

Five of the eleven quickly got to their feet and walked out, heads down and not making eye contact with Allistor.  After an awkward moment, two more got up and followed.   The remaining four were Lilly, Maggie, the teenage girl who’d been crying, and her companion.

“Lilly, Maggie, thank you for staying.  I know you’ve both seen your share of death, and I’m glad you’re willing to take this opportunity to get stronger.” He looked at the other two.  They looked familiar, but he couldn’t place them. “I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

The girl who hadn’t been crying stood up and stuck out her hand.  She looked to be slightly older than the other girl.  “I’m Sydney.  This is my sister Addy.”   Allistor shook her hand, then smiled at Addy, who remained seated.

“I’m glad to meet you both.  But it seems I’ve called you here at a bad time.  Is there some way I can help you, Addy?”

“You can let me kill those little green monsters!” the girl spoke through gritted teeth, raising her eyes, staring into Allistor’s with the heated intensity of rage.

Sydney sat back down and put her arm around his sister before she explained.  “Our father was one of those killed during the attack.”

The statement struck Allistor like a physical blow to the gut.  That was where he’d seen them.  At the funeral for the two men.   They hadn’t gotten up and spoken, but they’d been near the front, crying.   Allistor suddenly felt like a horrible human being for not making the connection.

“I’m so sorry.  I would never have called you here if I’d realized.”

“No!” Addy growled at him, getting to her feet.  “I want to be here.  I want to look them in the eyes and tell them they killed my daddy before I put a bullet in their brains!”

Allistor’s legs nearly failed him.  He needed to say some things to this heartbroken young lady that he didn’t know how to say.  She’d already suffered so much, and he didn’t want to make it worse.   He let the silence drag on for a moment as she hugged her sister.

“I know you’re hurting, both of you.” He looked at the girls with tears beginning to form in his eyes.  “I watched my sister and both my parents get killed in the very early days of the apocalypse.  We’ve all known way too much death since then.” He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.  “I’m afraid if you say to those goblins what you just said to me, it won’t help you to feel any better.  They’ll take it as a compliment, without the slightest remorse.  I don’t want you to experience that.  I’m sorry, but it’ll be better for you, I think, if you just kill them quickly and quietly.”

Addy glared at him, the anger in her eyes almost a physical attack.  But after a moment, she lowered her eyes and nodded.  “I can do that.”

Allistor led the four ladies out to the courtyard where a few dozen droids and a dozen orcanin encircled the condemned goblin prisoners.   Before Allistor could say anything, four of the warriors stepped forward.  Each of them took a knee in front of one of the ladies and drew a knife from sheaths on their belts.  They turned the weapons and offered them to the ladies hilt-first.   The knives were short, the blades only about eight inches long.  But they were wide, and thick, clearly meant for stabbing.

As the ladies hesitantly accepted the blades, Harmon grabbed one of the goblins and strode over to place it in front of them, facing away.  He pushed the goblin’s head forward and used his own blade to point.  “This spot, right here.  Drive the blade in swiftly and surely.  It will sever the spinal cord just below the brain stem.  Death will be instant and nearly painless.”

Addy stepped forward.  “What if I don’t want it to be fast or painless?” her voice rasped with emotion.  The orcanin thumped their chests and roared their approval, startling her.

Allistor put a hand on her shoulder.  “You are angry now, and justifiably so.  But later, when you’ve grown older and look back at this, I think you’ll be glad you did this as mercifully as possible.”

A few of the orcanin shot Allistor dirty looks, but they held their tongues.

The young woman nodded, stepping forward and shouldering Harmon out of the way.  In a single motion so smooth and swift it surprised Allistor and the others, she pushed the goblin’s head down with her left hand and drove the borrowed dagger into the exact spot Harmon had indicated.  There was a soft pop, and the goblin’s body went limp, collapsing to the floor. Addy closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she leveled up.

A great outcry rose from among the prisoners, all of them jumping to their feet and rushing toward the droids and orcanin who were guarding them.  They were quickly subdued, the battle droids grabbing two or three each and holding them aloft while the orcanin went with a much more expedient method of just knocking the goblins unconscious with their massive fists.

With a nod from Allistor, each of the orcanin who had donated blades moved to pick up a goblin and hold them.  The ladies advanced, and one by one drove their blades home.  Lilly made her kill, then quickly handed her blade back to the orcanin who had loaned it to her even as the golden glow of leveling up surrounded her. She stepped away into the garden and vomited loudly.

Maggie looked as if she wanted to do the same, but held her ground and executed two more goblins before giving up and returning her blade.   She didn’t run off to be sick, just took a few steps back and stood next to Allistor.  “That’s enough for me. I don’t like it.”

He put an arm around her shoulders.  He noticed that she’d gained five levels from the three kills, and was now level fifteen.  The last goblin she’d executed had been level twenty-eight.  “You did just fine.  You don’t need to stay for the rest.  Lilly can escort you home.”

Maggie shook her head.  “No, I want to stay and support the sisters.”

Allistor, Maggie, Lilly, and the others watched as the two sisters grimly worked their way through the remaining three dozen or so goblins.  Initially they each leveled up with every kill, then every few.  By the time they were through, Addy was level twenty-one, and Sydney was twenty-two.    The orcanin saluted the two young women, then encouraged them to loot.  Lilly and Maggie stepped forward to loot their kills at Allistor’s insistence.  When it was all through, the orcanin gathered the bodies and took them away.

Harmon took a moment to address all four of them.  “You did well.  You all acted with honor and mercy.  I believe you will find you have earned a number of Fame Points this evening.”   He nodded to them respectfully, then turned and followed his troops.

Allistor took the ladies back inside and sat them down in the lobby.  “Lilly, are you okay? Can I get you a drink or something?”

She shook her head.  “I’ll be fine.  It was just… it’s one thing to kill a monster when it’s trying to kill you.  But that…”

“Yeah.” Maggie agreed.  “I’ve helped kill a few monsters.  But that felt… I don’t know.”

The sisters didn’t say anything, the two of them sitting close together on a sofa.  Allistor spoke up.  “I’m sorry you had to experience that.  I was only looking at it as a way to make you stronger, better able to survive some future attack.  I didn’t put enough thought into how it would affect you.”

“No, you were right to ask, Allistor.” Lilly said.  “The failing is mine, not yours.  But if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll go home now.”  She got up when he nodded, and he gave her a brief hug before she set off toward the teleport pad.   Maggie got up and walked after her, smiling weakly at Allistor and the sisters as she departed.

“How about you two?  Would you like an escort home?”

Sydney shook her head.  “Home is… well there’s nothing for us there except empty quarters and memories that make us sad.”

“Your mom?” Allistor asked, his stomach sinking.  He already knew the answer before the words left his mouth.

“She was killed nine months ago.  Our dad was all we had left.” Addy sobbed, covering her face with her hands as she leaned forward.

Allistor felt tears start to form in his own eyes.  He hadn’t realized they’d been orphaned when their father was killed.  The fact that he didn’t know that bothered him just as much as failing to protect two of his people.

After taking a ragged breath, he said, “How ‘bout you come with me?  Amanda and I have a couple guest rooms in our suite.  You can stay with us for a little while.”

Addy didn’t respond, but Sydney nodded and pulled her sister to her feet and they walked with Allistor to the elevator.

*****

The following morning Allistor jerked awake well before dawn, alarmed at the realization that he’d failed to check on his raid crews the night before.  The execution and getting the girls settled afterward had completely pushed the raids from his mind.

Sitting up in bed and getting out as gently as possible so as not to wake Amanda, he snuck out of the bedroom and into his office.  Closing the door behind him, he asked, “Nigel, any reports from the raid groups? And please speak quietly.”

“Yes, Sire.  The groups in Boston, Detroit, Toronto, and Chicago have reported successful construction of new Strongholds in each location.   Boston also reported two Outposts. Teleport links were established, and most have returned here.  General Prime has assigned troops to each facility, and all is quiet.  The Detroit group secured land transport and planned to proceed north to their secondary objective this morning.  The Florida group reported that they had obtained three large boats and were departing for the islands just before dark yesterday.  I have not heard from them since.”

“And the group that was going to Vegas?”

“The flight left the airport in Cheyenne late yesterday, Sire.  Gene elected to use one of the cargo planes at the airport rather than the jet, in order to better transport twenty battle droids and one of the Juggernauts.  He wished to circumvent the need to obtain proper ground transport upon landing.  He did mention that the flight would take longer in the larger plane, which he referred to as a C130. They landed safely late last evening, and the humans are currently sleeping inside the Juggernaut.  Their last report placed them less than a mile from their objective.”

Allistor nodded.  “Makes sense.  And I’m sure he spent some time inspecting every inch of the plane before they left.  And once they landed they had to go twenty miles on the ground to reach the dam.  Please let me know the moment they report in, Nigel.  The same goes for the other crews still out there.  If we haven’t heard from all of them by noon, we’ll take the yacht and go find them.”

“Very good, Sire.”

Allistor pulled out his list from the day before, checking off the boxes and adding more items at the bottom.  Amanda emerged from the bedroom after a few minutes.  “There you are.  Everything okay?”

Allistor stood and gathered her into a hug.  “I forgot to check on the raid groups last night.  I suck as a leader.”

Amanda leaned back to look into his eyes.  “No, you don’t.  You were concerned for the girls, as a good leader should be.  If there was a problem with one of the groups, they would have used the communication droids to report in.  You don’t need to micro-manage every single thing that goes on anymore, mister Prince Fancypants.  You’ll make yourself crazy if you try.”

He stuck his tongue out at her, taking a seat and pulling her into his lap.  “I know you’re right.  In my head, at least.  But last night when I didn’t know those girls had lost their dad, or that they were orphans, that stung.  In my heart I feel like I failed there, too.”

“You didn’t fail.  You’re only human.  And speaking of the girls, I’ll go wake them up while you hit the shower.  Then we’ll all go down and have a nice breakfast.   If they haven’t already assigned all the points they got from leveling up last night, we can help them figure out their paths.”

Careful not to dump her on her butt, he rose from the chair.  Pulling her close, he kissed her for a good long while, taking in the scent of her and the warm feel of her against him.  When he let go, he said, “Thanks for the talk. Love you.” and gave her a light swat on the butt.

She stood still and looked at him funny as he turned and headed for the shower.

*****

On a barren pile of rocks and sand sticking up above the waves of the Atlantic, an exhausted swallow set down its heavy burden before dropping into a shallow puddle and taking a drink.  Within moments, it fell asleep, leaning against the soft hairs of the coconut.

Chapter 8

During breakfast Amanda encouraged the girls to share their thoughts on how they wanted their attribute builds to progress.   Being teens, both girls were gamers, and had definite ideas about what they wanted to become.  Both loved to sing, a trait they shared with their father, and were leaning toward becoming bards.  They had spent a little time with Scottie at the Citadel, and learned that he’d been putting points into Charisma as well as Will Power, Intelligence, and Dexterity for his guitar playing.   Neither of the girls played an instrument, their voices being their focus, so they skipped the Dexterity.

Surprisingly, they had been experimenting along with their father on using their voices to alter some basic spells.  When they mentioned this, Amanda got excited.  “Show me!”

The sisters looked at each other, giving a brief nod, and began to sing a slow, sad song.  As they sang, Sydney cast the Light spell that all of Allistor’s people had been given.  Only instead of the clean white globe of light that normally appeared, hers was a muted blue.  A moment later the sisters changed their song to an Irish battle hymn, thumping the table with a martial beat, and the globe turned an angry red, with violent arcs of lightning spitting from its surface.   When they stopped singing, the red faded back to the standard white.

“That’s amazing!” Amanda hugged both girls as Allistor smiled at them from across the table.  “Can you do that with other spells?”

“Well, we figured out if we sing certain songs while cooking, the food tastes different and the buffs change a little.  Our Cooking skill is still pretty low, so the buffs are small.” Addy explained.

“It seems to always be about the mood. We’re not sure if it’s the mood of the song, or the mood we’re in while we sing it.  Usually they’re the same thing, anyway.” Sydney added.  “It’s hard to sing happy songs when you’re sad.”

Allistor mused, “So your songs, or the moods of your music, alter the spells.  Maybe amplifies them?  This could be huge.”  An idea came to him, and he instantly regretted it, but his curiosity overwhelmed his good sense.  “Do either of you know the Mind Spike spell?”

Both of them nodded.  Addy said, “We’ve learned all the offensive magic we can.  We want to be battle bards.  We’ve also increased our Strength to five, and our Stamina to seven.”

Shaking his head, he looked at Amanda.  “You might want to turn on your magic eye thingy for this.  And be ready to heal me.”  She nodded, and her eyes began to glow when she activated Internal Analysis.

“Okay ladies.  First I want one of you to cast Mind Spike on me so that Amanda can watch the effects.  When it fades and I’ve had a minute to recover, I want you to do it again, but this time do it while you’re singing that battle song.”

“Are… are you sure?  We might kill you.”  Sydney’s eyes went wide, her hands wringing.

“Amanda’s right here.  I should be strong enough to withstand it, even though it’s going to suck.  But what the hell, it’s for science, right?” He grinned at them all.

Shaking her head, Addy cast Mind Spike on him without warning.  Allistor lost track of time and his own actions for the duration of the spell, as all he could focus on was the pain. The world went a fuzzy white, and all he could make out were vague shadows through the fog of pain. When it wore off, he found himself on the floor, with a crowd gathered around him, and Amanda was explaining that he hadn’t been attacked for real.

Holding out a hand to be helped up, he took his seat.  “Thanks everybody, we’re just experimenting here.  But feel free to stay and watch the show.  In a minute, the girls are going to hit me with what might be a supercharged Mind Spike.  If I wake up stupid, it’s been nice knowing you all.”   There were some chuckles from the group, as well as some concerned mumbling.  He held up a hand.  “I was kidding.  I don’t think there will be any serious damage.”

Amanda added.  “He wasn’t all that smart to begin with.  Lots of unused brain cells in there.  He’ll be fine.”  Her words relaxed everyone, and the crowd waited impatiently for the next cast.

After casting a heal on himself, since Amanda had neglected to do so, he took a few deep breaths and placed his hands flat on the table.  A moment later, he nodded to the girls, and they began to sing.  Again they thumped the table to establish the beat, and Allistor was reminded of war drums.  As they reached the first chorus of their song, Addy cast the Mind Spike.

Allistor screamed.  He felt himself bite his tongue and tasted blood as his vision went red this time.  His head felt like it was going to explode, and he was sure his ears were bleeding.  The pain from the first spell was a faint echo of what he felt now.   The spell’s effects seemed to last for an eternity.  When the pain finally faded, he blinked a few times.  His face was smushed against the floor, his body twisted, his fingers curled into claws.   His health bar was below fifty percent.

A moment later he felt several heals wash over him, and a dozen or more hands took hold to lift him up.  They laid him flat on the table rather than putting him back in his seat.  The girls were both crying, and Amanda was whispering to them trying to comfort them.  “You see? He’s fine.  You did exactly as he asked you to.  It was his dumbass idea.”  She grinned at him from behind the crying teens, and he rolled his eyes.

Sitting up, he patted Sydney on the shoulder.  “Amanda’s right.  You ladies did great.  Exactly as I asked.  I just underestimated how much your modifications would increase the power of the spell.  You two are totally badass!”  He grinned at them, and both of them ceased their crying.   Addy wiped the tears from her face.

“You’re really okay?” her voice was quiet.

“Hurt like hell, I won’t lie.  I might have a few nightmares, and I don’t ever want you to do that to me again.” Several people behind him laughed.  “But yeah, I’m okay.  I just feel sorry for whatever monsters you use that on.  Nearly made me soil my shorts.”

This got a small smile from Addy and a brief laugh from Sydney.  Allistor leaned forward and gathered the two of them into a hug, which Amanda joined from behind the girls.  When he released them, Allistor said, “You two are now our secret weapons.  We need to practice this some more, but on some mobs, not on me!” He paused to smile at them again, reassuring them.  “I want to find out if that singing buff only works when you guys cast the spell, or whether you could stand behind me and sing while I cast.   Imagine if you were singing that battle song and I cast my Storm spell!”

“We can test one thing right now, mister guinea pig.  Ladies, try a soothing song.” Amanda cast Internal Analysis again and waited while the girls whispered, choosing a song.  She sent them a party invite, and included Allistor as well. When they began to sing, Amanda cast Restore on Allistor.

The rush of healing magic that poured through him was like nothing he’d ever felt before.  His muscles relaxed, his thoughts drifted, and he felt sleepy.  When the effects wore off, he smiled.  “That was much better!  Didn’t hurt one bit.” He saw a flashing green icon on his interface, and focused on it.  “Ooh, and I got a buff, too.  It’s called Peace of Mind and it says my health regeneration rate is increased by ten percent for ten minutes.”

Amanda let the spell fade from her eyes.  “So now we know that someone other than the girls can receive the spell boost from their song.  But that presents a problem in itself.  What if they’re singing and a mob casts at us?  Will it boost that spell as well?”

“We’ll just have to test it.  Girls, if you’re up for it, we’ll bring you along the next time we clear a building or go somewhere we expect a fight.  We can test our theories and get some answers.”

Both sisters nodded vigorously.

Allistor noticed Meg in the crowd, having returned the night before with her raid crew.  “Hey, Meg!  Would you mind taking these young ladies to the kitchen for a little experiment.  Their songs can also increase food buffs, it seems.”

“Heck yeah!  I mean, no, I wouldn’t mind.  Let’s see if we can up your Cooking skill while we’re at it.” Meg smiled at the two teenagers, waving them toward the kitchen.  The girls got up and followed her through the crowd.

Allistor finished his breakfast, then headed for the lobby.  It had become sort of his informal office in the last few days.  He could sit there and work, and his people felt comfortable approaching him with questions, or simply joining him to relax and think.

It wasn’t long before Nigel reported in on the raid crews.

“Sire, I have several reports for you.  The Florida crew has identified and cleared a resort on one of the islands.  They are establishing the Stronghold as we speak, and will be returning with a detailed report shortly.”  Nigel paused to make it clear he was changing topic.

“The Michigan crew has reached Higgins Lake without incident.  They were able to reach the island with only minor incident, and found no survivors living there.  They wish to speak to you when you have a moment.”

“Put them through, please.”  Allistor sat forward in his chair, and several of his people perked up a bit.

“Boss, you there?”  It was McCoy’s voice.

“McCoy!  Nigel says you had a minor incident?  Everybody okay?”

The airman chuckled.  “I see why you like it here.  And yeah.  A couple of us got bit by some big mutant fish as we were swimming.  Nothing serious, just scary as hell.  I got dragged under for a moment, but one of the droids killed the fishy.  We just ate it.  But uhh… about the island?  It’s not really suited for a Stronghold.  No big building, just several houses.  I’m thinkin’ this is more of an Outpost location, and we can find a place on the shore for the Stronghold.”

“Use your best judgement, my friend.  And watch out for the fishies.  There’s a section of the lake that gets real deep and cold.  Might be some monster fish living down there.” Allistor thought back to the giant sturgeon he’d seen so many months before.  “If you pick a spot on the shore, try to find a marina, or a site with at least one long dock that’ll fit several boats.”

“Got it boss.  Shouldn’t take us long.  We saw a bunch of survivors in Detroit, and ran across a few between there and here.  But I haven’t seen a live person since we got here.”

“Then be careful.  That might mean a serious predator.  Or it might just mean the winter was too harsh up there.”

Allistor finished his conversation with McCoy, and asked Nigel, “Any word from Vegas?”

“The suns are just rising there, Sire.  They have awakened and moved on to the dam.  The humans exited the Juggernaut approximately thirty minutes ago, and I have not heard from them since.”

The teleport pad flashed, and the crew from Florida stepped off.  Seeing Allistor, Lars altered his course and joined him.  “Morning, Allistor.”

“I hear you’ve been island hopping.”

“Yep!  We stopped at a few islands and found people already there, so we moved on.  At one of them, somebody actually shot at us as we approached.  But we found a resort that was unoccupied at the north end of Bimini.  There’s a building with fifty or so hotel rooms, a nice pool and clubhouse, and a semi-sheltered marina.  I chose to reinforce the structure as I built the Stronghold, in case of hurricanes or big waves.  And there are other buildings nearby if you ever want to expand.  Oh!  And we saw some damned big fish out in the open water.  One of them bumped our boat and nearly capsized it.  The boat was over a hundred feet long, one of those charter party boats, and I think the fish was bigger.”

“Thanks, Lars.  With that sighting and the one near Pelican Bay, we’re going to have to warn our people to avoid the open water.  At least until we figure out how to deal with those monsters.”

“I think you’re going to like the spot we picked.  Sunshine, cool breeze, warm crystal clear water… you can fish right off the wall in shallow water on one side, and deep water on the other.   And there are a bunch of small islands nearby with nothing but trees and sand.”

“Awesome!  Well done, my friend.  I hope you claimed a room for yourself?  It sounds like you’ll be spending some time there.”

They chatted for a while longer, then the teleport flashed again and McCoy stepped through with his crew.  The droids had stayed behind to guard the new properties.  Allistor waved him over.

“All set, boss.  Got an outpost on the north end of the island where there’s a boat club and long dock.  Set the Stronghold at a State Park with a boat launch in a protected outlet.  There’s a narrow channel out to the deep water, so hopefully the bigger fish won’t get up in there.”

“Sounds perfect.  Thank you, McCoy.  Lars was just telling me about the island resort they claimed in the Caribbean.  The fish they found there was bigger than their boat. Like the one on the west coast.”

“Screw that noise!” The man shook his head.  “I never wanna see a fish that big again.  I’ll take your oversized lake fishies anytime.”

Chuckling, Allistor patted the man on the back.  He was about to say more, when Nigel interrupted.

“Sire, a large group of humans is approaching from the north.  Several thousand of them, in fact.  I believe Jesse has arrived with his people.”

“Okay please ask Ramon to join me with as many scrolls as he can carry.  These people are going to need the basic spells.  Invite Helen and my other advisors as well.  Jesse should meet as many of them as possible.  Also, please contact Harmon, as I’m sure he’ll want to sell them some weapons or vehicles.  Let him know that he and his warriors are welcome at the lunchtime feast as well.  Speaking of which, ask Meg and Sam if they need assistance.  If necessary, recruit more cooks from the Citadel or other Strongholds to help prepare the meal.”

“Very good, Sire.”

Allistor stepped outside, Fuzzy shuffling along next to him.  The bear had napped most of the morning, but now seemed interested in sniffing the new folks who were approaching.  Prime emerged from the building behind Allistor, moving to join his Prince as his battle droids moved into a perimeter formation on either side of the street, saluting as the procession of humans approached.

Jesse stepped forward and shook hands with Allistor.  “I brought them all.  Except for two who are feeling ill, and didn’t want to make the trip.  They’ll come take the oath when they’re better.”

Allistor looked out over the still-growing crowd as more and more humans appeared from around the corner and joined the rest.   It was the largest group of people that he’d seen in one place since before the apocalypse.

Allistor climbed up on top of the nearest Juggernaut parked in the street.  As the last of the people filtered in to fill the street around him, he called out.  “Thank you all for coming.  And welcome to Invictus!  I’m sure Jesse has told you what we have to offer, so I won’t waste your time, except to say that if you’ll hang around until lunchtime, we’re preparing a welcome feast!” He paused for some cheers from the crowd.

“Once you’ve all taken the oath, Ramon and his team will be setting up to distribute some basic spell scrolls.  I’m not sure we have enough for everyone, but we’ll make sure you all get them over the coming days.” He looked out over a sea of mostly happy faces.  Mostly, but not all.  There were some definite scowls and even a few looks of hatred.  Allistor tried to imagine what that might be about.

“I see some of you are less than thrilled about being here.  Let me assure you that your lives will remain pretty much as they were a week ago.  Except you’ll be safer.  You’ll have not only the protection of your Stronghold or Outpost walls, but the added safety of Invictus’ walls extending around the southern half of the island.  There are now hundreds of cannons and anti-aircraft batteries as well as thousands of battle droids helping to keep you safe.  And all I ask is that each of you contribute to the community in some way.  Whether that be growing food, hunting, crafting, cleaning, teaching, or any number of other methods of service.” He stopped when he saw that they were getting bored already.

“Helen will now administer the oath.  Just repeat after her, and you’ll feel a little tingle as the system binds you.”  He stepped down, and Helen took his place.  She called out the words a few at a time, and waited for everyone to repeat them back.  When they got to the end, thousands of individual lights swirled around the people in the street.

Helen stepped down, and Allistor got back up.  He was about to dismiss them to look around, when Nigel called out.

“Sire.  Ten of the humans present did not speak the entire oath, and have not been bound.”

Allistor looked at his interface map, and ten red dots appeared among the multitude of green dots around him.  He was just looking up at the nearest red dot, which was right in front of him and had to be Jesse, when a burst of agony blossomed in his chest.   He heard a gunshot, then several more, but the first shotgun blast from Jesse actually saved his life by knocking him backward off the vehicle.  He hit the pavement hard, his health bar dropped to about sixty percent, and the wind was knocked out of him. He could feel the broken bones in his chest grinding as he tried to breathe, and his blood seeped out from under him in a widening pool. Panicked feet began to rush around in front of his face, a few of them stepping on him.

There were screams, and shouts, peppered with gunshots and the sounds of plasma rifles firing.   He heard Fuzzy roar, followed by a scream that was quickly cut short. As Allistor tried unsuccessfully to get to his feet, he cast Restore on himself.  The shattered bones in his chest visibly mended, and the skin and muscle began to reform over top. His interface showed the red dots winking out and going grey one by one, but also many of the green dots as well. Too many.

Taking as deep a breath as he could, he shouted, “Hold your fire!  Stop shooting the civilians!  Aggressors only!”

He couldn’t see much beyond the vehicle as he used it to pull himself to his feet.  More heals landed on him as soon as he was upright, and he could hear the two sisters singing.  He immediately felt incredible, fully restored and strong.  There were only seven red dots left, all on the other side of the Juggernaut.  The green dots were dispersing quickly inside the building or to the sides of the road, clearing the kill zone in the center.  He estimated thirty or more grey dots unmoving on the street.

A thunderous roar made the Juggernaut vibrate under his steadying hand, and he looked up to see orcanin bursting from the building, weapons in hand and their eyes blazing.  Seconds later all but one of the red dots winked out, as did some of the green stragglers.  Allistor shouted again.  “Hold!  Don’t kill the innocents!”   He heard Harmon shouting in his native tongue as well.

He leaped across the hood of the vehicle to see Jesse on his back, Fuzzy standing over him with his jaws clamped on the man’s face.  He wasn’t dead, or even badly wounded.  His health bar was at about eighty percent.  But he was holding completely still as Helen held the barrel of her shotgun to his forehead and Fuzzy drooled all over his face.

“Fuzzy, let him go.”  Allistor’s voice caught as he took in the sight of several dozen dead humans in the street.  At least twenty more lay wounded, writhing in pain or calling out for help.  Amanda, Nancy, and most of Allistor’s people were already casting heals.

“Why?” Allistor looked down at Jesse, who was still lying on his back.

“Screw you, prince.” Jesse shouted up at him.  Fuzzy growled, baring his teeth, which were large and strong enough to crush the man’s skull.  Jesse didn’t seem to care.

“You think you can just fly in here on your fancy ship and take everything I’ve worked for!  I earned what I have here.  I bled for it, killed for it, and it’s mine!”

“Then why did you say you wanted to join us?  I told you that you had the option to decline, and still keep your properties!” Allistor was yelling now, tears of anger and sorrow starting to form.  The screaming was dying down now that most of the wounded had been healed.  Except for some muted crying, the street was eerily silent, everyone listening in.

“Bullshit!  You would never have let me keep what was mine!  You’d have pretended to be friendly, then showed up one night and killed us all!” Jesse tried to get up, and Helen let him.  The man got to his feet, his face purple with rage.  “You think I didn’t see right through you?!”

“You moron!”  Allistor screamed into Jesse’s face from six inches away.  His fists clenched and spittle flew from his mouth.  “Why the hell would I do that?  I own half this island!  Your Stronghold and Outposts are what?  Six or seven buildings out of thousands inside my walls!”  Allistor stopped to try and breathe, sobbing as he did.

“Look behind you!  All these people dead, because of you!  These lives were more valuable to me than this entire city!  These were good people, most of them.  And you’ve murdered them with your bullshit greed and insecurity!”

His eyes were blurry from tears, so he didn’t see the right hook speeding at his face before it impacted, knocking him backward into the truck behind him.

“YOU did this!” Jesse screamed, right before an orcanin warrior seized him.  Then he began to scream in pain.  The eight-foot tall brute grabbed one arm, snapping the bone as he lifted Jesse like a ragdoll off the ground and flung him over one shoulder, sending him soaring toward the high rise where he was caught by two others.  They promptly separated by a few steps and raised him up by his arms, causing him to scream louder.  Two more of the warriors grabbed his legs, and with a grunt of effort and bulging muscle, they ripped him apart.  Both arms and one leg tore free of his body, and his screaming ended as he passed out.  They dropped all the pieces of him, leaving him to bleed out on the sidewalk.

Allistor sank to his knees, his head bowed.  The orcanin warriors retreated, seeing no other threat to their new friend, and Helen and Amanda took up position on either side of him.

“Why?” Allistor asked, his voice cracking. “How did I mess this up?  Is it really my fault they’re all dead?” He motioned weakly toward the bodies in front of him.  He recognized a man lying not far away as one of Juanita’s crew that he’d met in the park.  The man had smiled and joked with Ramon just a day ago.   Juanita was sitting a few feet away, holding a hand over the freshly healed spot where a plasma round had burned through her shirt.

Looking around, he saw Prime standing nearby.  “General!  These bodies have plasma burns.” His throat was raw, but he managed to growl at the commander.  “I said no killing humans without my approval!”

“My apologies, Prince Allistor.  The attackers were mixed among the civilians, and took cover behind them.  By the time I was able to assess the situation and modify orders, many innocents had already fallen.”  The general took a knee in front of Allistor.  “I am prepared to be decommissioned for my failure, Sire.”  Several of the droids who’d fired during the incident took a knee as well.

Juanita was being helped to her feet.  “No!  He’s right, Allistor.  These assholes used us as shields!”  She looked around at her people, who were slowly gathering back together.  “You all saw it!  The cowards used us as shields!” She turned back to Allistor.  “Just after Jesse shot you, he grabbed me and held me in front of him.  He was trying to get around the car to make sure you were dead, and I got hit.  He dropped me and grabbed…” She looked around, then pointed at a dead woman.  “He grabbed her.  Hid behind her until she fell.  I didn’t see what happened after that.”

Several people shouted out, pointing to dead men who’d used others as cover.  Helen put a hand on Allistor’s back, rubbing it.  “Get on your feet.  Princes don’t cry on their knees in the street.” she whispered.   Allistor’s head snapped around and he glared at her, ready to bite her head off.  He couldn’t care less what image he was projecting.

Amanda whispered into his other ear.  “She’s right.  Get up.  This wasn’t your fault.  Not even a little bit.”

Fuzzy shoved his muzzle under Allistor’s chin, urging him up as well.  Allistor put a hand on his bear’s back and rose to his feet.  Looking up, he saw all eyes upon him.

“I’m sorry.” he began, his voice catching.  Amanda handed him a flask, and he took a drink, then coughed when it burned going down.  He’d expected water, and gotten brandy.  He took another swig, then cleared his throat.  “Let me say it again.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t see this coming, and I don’t know how I could have prevented it.  But from the moment you all took the oath, it became my responsibility to protect you.  And I failed these people.” He motioned to the bodies that were now being lifted by the very droids that killed them.

“I don’t know how I could have been more clear.  You are not slaves, or servants, or bound in any way other than your oaths not to harm me or each other.  I don’t own you, and don’t wish to control your lives.  I meant what I said when I told Jesse that he could refuse the oath and simply coexist with us inside these walls.”  He looked around, spotting Juanita.

“As Jesse is dead, along with his fellow conspirators, and because he tried to kill me, and did get all these people killed, I claim all his property!” He paused during some angry murmurs,  holding his hands high until people quieted down.  Taking a moment to climb back up onto the Juggernaut, he continued.  “And I hereby award those properties to Juanita here.  Because from what I know of her, she is an honest and decent person.  The properties are hers to oversee, or dispose of as she sees fit.”  He reached down and offered a hand to Juanita, easily pulling her up to join him.

“Juanita was there to witness most of my conversations with Jesse.  She can confirm for you what I offered.  Please, ask her any questions you have.  After she’s answered, I will offer any of you who want it a release from your oath.  You can leave the City in peace, with a week’s supply of food and water, and whatever weapons you have.  So please, ask your questions.”

He stepped down, partly so that there was no appearance of influencing the woman’s answers, and partly in case one of them was inclined to take another shot at him.

Juanita didn’t wait for a question.  “Allistor is telling the truth.  He said if we chose not to join him, we could stay where we were.  He would not offer us assistance, like the spell scrolls he was about to hand out just now.  But he promised not to hinder us, and that we would still be protected inside his walls.”  She looked down at her people.

“I heard Jesse talking to a couple of guys last night.  He was grumbling about challenging Allistor today.  But I thought he was just posturing, blowing off steam. Getting used to the idea of somebody else being in charge. And I never thought he’d do something like this.”  She turned to look down at Allistor.  “I’m so sorry.  If I had said something…”

Helen cut her off.  “You had no way of knowing.  Just as Allistor couldn’t have known, either.  They obviously planned this, and were good at keeping it to themselves.”   She said it loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Why is Juanita in charge now?” someone shouted.

She looked over in that direction.  “Kegan, is that you?  I didn’t ask to be put in charge.  You want the job?”

“Maybe!  There are others here more senior than you.  We should take a vote before you’re put in charge!”

Allistor shouted, “No!  I have given the properties to Juanita, and that is final. This is not a democracy, and in this particular matter, you do not get a vote!  I have rewarded her for her loyalty, good sense, and honesty.  And that includes her demonstrated loyalty to Jesse when she and I first met!”  He paused to let that sink in. “What she chooses to do with the facilities is up to her.  She can accept advice from you, and even give the properties to someone else if she sees fit.  But she is under no obligation to do so!  Any attempt to force her into anything will be met with my extreme disapproval!” he growled.  After seeing Jesse ripped into fractions, several of the people near the front stepped back.

“Jesse didn’t tell us a lot of what you’ve said today!” another man spoke loudly as he pushed forward through the crowd.  “He pretty much told us we were taking the oath, and that was that.  Now, what if I want out of the oath, but I don’t want to leave my home?”

“Shut up, Aaron!  You heard the man.  You live by the oath, you can stay.  You cancel it, you leave.  No harm, no foul.  If you were him, after what just happened, would you let you stay here without swearing not to harm… you?”  She paused as she reviewed her words, then nodded as she decided she got it right.  Several people nodded along with her.

Aaron looked confused for a moment, then opened his mouth again.  “That’s no real choice.  Sending us outside the wall is the same as a death sentence!  He’s basically saying, ‘join us or die’!”

Juanita looked down at Allistor, and he sighed.  He was getting tired of jumping up and down, so climbed back up to stay.  “Yes, putting you outside my walls is putting you at risk.  But it is not a death sentence.  There are other Strongholds in the city that might take you in.  Or you can form your own.  Let me be perfectly clear.  I want all of you to stay!  I want to help you grow stronger, learn and develop more skills, and thrive!  We owe a debt of vengeance to the assholes who killed off our families and friends, and I need all of you strong enough to help repay that debt!  But as Juanita here just said, I can’t get any of that done if I constantly have to watch my back, fearing one of you will decide to follow Jesse’s example.  So if you wish to stay, the oath is not negotiable.”

The man named Aaron shook his head, but stayed silent.

“What about the land we each can claim?” a voice called out from the crowd.

Allistor looked at Juanita. She said, “Jesse hadn’t let us claim land yet.  He told us to wait that first day while he discussed it with other leaders.  Then he told us you had forbid it.”

“Bullshit!”  Allistor shouted, making Juanita cringe.  He put a hand on her shoulder and murmured an apology.  Looking out over the crowd, he shouted  “Jesse and I did not discuss your rights to claim your individual parcels!  I did not forbid anything!” He paused and pulled up his map.  “Since you asked, all of my people, other than you newcomers from today, have claimed their land.  All of it outside my Strongholds.  I have them set up from coast to coast now, and all of you are welcome to claim land near any of them, as long as it is not already claimed by another!  As for here in the City, I cannot allow you each to claim ten acres inside the City walls.  This island isn’t that large, there are thousands of you, and that would quickly eat up all the available land.  But you can claim other parts of this island, or the nearby boroughs.  If you are close enough, we will help defend you from our walls if necessary.  Or you are free to go off and claim your own land far from any of my properties.”   He waited while there was some mumbling.

“It’s clear Jesse didn’t pass on much of what we discussed.  Time is short, and more alien colonists arrive every hour.  One of our Strongholds was already attacked by a goblin clan, and we had to fight them off, costing us two human lives.   If you plan to claim land, you need to do so quickly.  You can use our teleport system to travel to any of our Strongholds and look around.  I’ll make folks available to circulate among you and answer questions to help you decide.  Your choices at the moment are:  Boston, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Florida, Bimini Island, Denver, Cheyenne, a couple small towns in Wyoming, Vegas, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz Island in the Pacific.  I do not recommend the last two, as there is clear evidence of recent major earthquakes.   We also have allies in other Strongholds across the US, in Mexico, and Canada that might accept you.  But choose quickly, as land will be getting scarce.”

After a long pause, he added, “For my people, I provided loans for those who didn’t have the funds to establish a Stronghold.  If you choose to remain and keep to your oath, I will do the same for those of you who need it.  But again, I suggest choosing a place that already has significant resources, like a warehouse, retail store, or a large building filled with furniture, et cetera, as that will reduce the cost.   You may also choose to establish an Outpost if your needs are less expansive.  If there are groups of friends among you, you might choose to cluster several Outposts together for mutual benefit.  And for those who don’t wish to live outside my walls, you can claim a field or forest section near one of my properties, and lease it back to us for a regular income.  We’ll use it for farming, or lumber, or grazing.  Or I’ll outright purchase your land from you for a fair amount.  You can take it all at once in klax, or in monthly payments.  Those are some of your choices.”

Juanita looked out over the crowd, turning in a complete circle as she did so.  “Anybody else?”

When nobody spoke, she asked, “Anybody want to rescind their oath?”

Allistor held up a hand, hoping to prevent anyone from answering.  “It has been an emotional morning.  As I said, any of you are free to renounce the oath and leave.  But please, take some time to think it over.  We have a meal prepared, and a funeral service to hold.  I will extend my offer to release you from your oath for forty-eight hours.  Take the time to explore your options, visit some of the other properties, and decide.  You will be bound by the oath during that time, so any act against me or mine will be punished by the system.  If, during the next two days, you decide for sure that you want out, simply notify us, and you will be escorted home to gather your belongings, given the supplies I mentioned, and either escorted out the gate here, or taken to one of the other properties so you can set out from there.”

Nobody spoke up to say they wanted out immediately, so he added.  “Thank you for listening, and welcome, again.   As a show of good faith, Ramon and his team will be set up in the lobby.  Stop and see one of them, and you will receive three spell scrolls to learn if you don’t already know the spells.  Light, Restore, and Flame Shot.   If we run out, don’t worry.  More will be available in a few days.  These scrolls are each written by hand, and take a while to produce.  Nigel will announce when the meal is ready, and it’ll be served in several dining rooms, or the courtyard, or the lobby.  We’ve got a lot of mouths to feed all of a sudden.”

Allistor stepped down, then helped Juanita down.  Harmon waved at him surreptitiously, then stepped inside the building.  Allistor, Fuzzy, Helen, and Amanda walked inside together.  They joined Harmon in their usual lobby seating area, behind a wall of orcanin that made it clear the area was off limits to others.

“Thank you, Harmon, for the assistance.” Helen beat Allistor to it.  “Your warriors diving in and grabbing the shooters kept the droids from having to shoot more innocents.”

Harmon bowed his head briefly.  “You are most welcome. I only wish we had arrived sooner.”  He cleared his throat.  “I hope you do not mind, but I suggested to the general that the bodies of the dead be placed in a nearby small building.  The structure is brick and wood, is only two stories that have mostly collapsed, and will make an excellent funeral pyre.  It is… expedient.  And the rubble can then be cleared away for the space to be put to better use.”

Allistor nodded.  “That’ll work.” He wasn’t feeling very talkative after the trauma of the morning and all the public speaking he’d been forced to take on.   The merchant seemed to understand.   He reached out one massive hand and gently used his sharp fingernails to scratch Fuzzy’s ears and under his chin.   The bear huffed with pleasure.

Chapter 9

Deciding to get the funeral over with as soon as possible, Allistor had Nigel alert everyone about the service and direct them to the building, which was just a block away from the spot where the attack took place.  Thousands of Jesse’s people, now Juanita’s people, and Allistor’s group gathered in the street in front of the mostly collapsed building.  The droids had cleared the area just inside the front door and placed the bodies in three rows on the wooden floor.

Allistor stood in front of the building on a 3-step stoop.  “My soul is burdened by the losses we’ve suffered today.  I only got a chance to meet a few of these good people, and then only for a short time, much to my regret.  So I’d like to invite any of you who’d like to say a few words to come up here and speak.”

Several hands went up, and Allistor invited them forward.  One at a time they stood next to him and spoke about the dead.  Funny stories, sad moments, or just hopes that they’d found happiness wherever they were now.   Almost an hour later, the last of them had spoken and stepped down.   Allistor bowed his head for a moment, saying nothing.  When he raised his head, he found he had no words.

Finally, he simply called out, “Let these be the last of us to perish through greed and stupidity.  May they be the inspiration that leads us to a better life of service to each other, and to all humankind!”

He turned to face the building, and channeled as much power as he could manage into a Flame Shot.  A white-hot column of fire blasted down from above, incinerating many of the bodies, and catching the building alight.

Allistor stepped back into the crowd, which also moved back a ways to avoid the heat of the flames.  The building burned quickly, the brick walls keeping the flames contained since the roof was already collapsed.  When it had burned down to guttering coals, the street had mostly cleared, the humans filtering back to the high rise, and the meal was served.

It wasn’t the festive welcome feast that Allistor had planned.  The mood was reserved, though there was much talking, and even some laughter here and there.  More stories were told of those they’d lost, both that day and through the previous year.  Juanita’s people bonded with Allistor’s over the tragedies they’d suffered, and their desire for payback.

There were many compliments on the food, and Allistor noticed that the buffs were greatly increased.  He assumed that was due to the sisters’ influence.  The normal buff time was extended from four hours to six, and the increases were an extra point across the board.  The meat, regular beef from the cattle herd at Cheyenne, normally carried a +2 Stamina, +1 Strength, and +2 Health and Stamina Regeneration.   Today the buff was +3 Stamina, +2 Strength, and +3 Health and Stamina Regeneration. Beer was served along with water and soda, and somehow all three were buffed with a +10% boost to Morale.

There was a great deal of discussion around land, with Juanita’s people questioning Allistor’s, who confirmed that what he’d said was true.  They had all claimed their ten acres, several had received loans, and Allistor had indeed personally fought to defend Michael’s Stronghold when it was attacked.   These discussions went a long way to improve the mood of the newcomers, and when the meal was over, many of them asked to visit other locations through the teleporter.

Ramon and his people exhausted their supply of scrolls, handing them out to a little more than half of the newcomers.  The rest were promised theirs within a week, and only a few complained.  Ramon and his people retreated to the library to resume production immediately.  Before he left, he handed Allistor a ring filled with scrolls.  “These are the higher level spells, like Erupt, Vortex, and Mind Spike.  Twenty of each.  I figured you’d want to decide yourself who gets these.” Ramon turned to walk away, then stopped.  “All of our people who have the stats to use them already have them.”

“Thanks, man.  You’re the best.  Can you hang out for a second?”

Ramon nodded and took a seat next to Allistor.  “What’s up?”

“You’ve worked your ass off since the day we met at the Warren.  You’ve helped every single one of us to improve ourselves and our chances of survival.  I can’t think of anyone who’s done more.  And you haven’t asked for anything in return.   I’d like to reward you, somehow.  What can I give you, or do for you?”

Ramon blushed, a sheepish smile on his face.  “Aw, shucks.  You luuuuuv me!” He blew a kiss at Allistor, who blew one right back.  “I don’t know, man.  I haven’t really thought about it.  I’ve been having a blast in the library, learning new stuff and helping others research what they need.  I don’t really want a Stronghold of my own.  Haven’t even claimed my land yet, either.”

Allistor raised an eyebrow.  “What are you waiting for?”

“Nothing in particular.  I’ve just been busy.  The way I figure it, Nancy and Chloe and I will always have a place inside the Citadel or one of the Strongholds.  We haven’t made it a priority to stake a claim somewhere else.”

“Nancy and Chloe haven’t chosen a spot either?”  Allistor shook his head.  “Alright, how ‘bout this.  I told all Juanita’s people they had to claim space outside the walls.  But how bout I give you, each of you, the opportunity to claim your own places here inside Invictus’ walls?  There are several small parks, and you could claim a building or three adjacent to a park.  That way Nancy can do her herb and gardening thing, you’d have space to create your own library if you want, and you’d have property to leave to any uhh… additional kids that might come along.” He winked suggestively at Ramon. “Or if you don’t like the city, I’ll give you guys a park anywhere you like, and you can claim acreage next to it as your own as well.  And I’ll pay for your Stronghold myself, and assign enough battle droids to defend you.  You’ve all more than earned it.”

“Wow.  Thank you, Allistor.  That’s very generous.  I’ll need to talk to Nancy about it…”

Allistor held up his hands.  “Of course.  And if you both want to talk to me some more before you decide, I can call Helen in to give you info on what parks are available and where they’re located.  Whatever you need.  Just let me know.”

Ramon shook Allistor’s hand, then pulled him in for a bro-hug.  Without saying anything further, he turned and joined his scribes, disappearing through the teleporter.

Amanda, who had snuck up behind Allistor without him hearing, wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.  Whispering in his ear, she said, “That was nice of you.  And you’re right, they certainly have earned a reward.  Nancy and George helped feed everyone through the winter with their greenhouses.   In fact, there are lots of people who’ve gone above and beyond that deserve some acknowledgement.  If it’s okay with you, I’ll make up a list.  We can randomly surprise them with rewards.  Do it publicly, and help boost morale.”

He turned to gather her in his arms and kissed her forehead.  “Already thinking like a Princess.  What would I do without you?”

“Oh, there are plenty of women who’d jump at the chance to take my place.” She flashed a wicked smile. “I’m having to drive them off with sharp sticks and veiled threats.”

“Ha!  Well, keep doing what you’re doing.  I’m only interested in one Princess, and that’s you!” He kissed her on the lips this time, and held the kiss long enough that other people in the lobby began to cheer and golf clap.

*****

Allistor spent the next few hours on administrative items.  He retired up to his office and called all of the raid crew leaders to join him.  All except the Vegas crew had returned.  Using his desk to pull up a 3D map, he had each of them point out the locations of the new Strongholds, and describe the area around it, why they chose it, and what else they found.

The most intriguing of the reports came from Bjurstrom, who led the DC group.

“We made the W Hotel our Stronghold.  It’s within sight of the White House, and covers an entire city block.  Restaurant, big ballrooms, and shops downstairs with its own parking garage beneath.   There was evidence someone had previously tried to clear it.  There were some bones with military gear mixed in.  Helmets, radios, weapons, even a set of Army dog tags.  The upper levels were standard mobs, level fifteen to twenty.  The battle droids tanked for us, and we made quick work of them.  The lower level mobs were up to twenty-five, and we took some damage, but nothing we couldn’t heal through.  The boss was a level thirty canid alpha female with a bunch of pups.  We tried to spare the pups to see if we could bond with them like you have with Fuzzy.  The mom was huge, twice Fuzzy’s size, and I figured the little ones would eventually be the same.  But they kept fighting, and we were forced to kill them.”  Bjurstrom shook his head in sorrow.  “That was hard.”

“Anyway, we claimed that as the Stronghold.  Then we made Outposts out of several of the monuments, including the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington.  You already own the parkland along the mall, so it just sort of incorporated itself.  Then we cleared the Library of Congress and Smithsonian buildings we found and put walls around them, too.”

“What about the White House?  Is the President still in there?”

“We don’t know who’s in there.  It has clearly been claimed, and has a wall around it.  Once we claimed the hotel, we walked over to say hello, and snipers shot at us.  Not warning shots, either.  Two of us got hit.  So we backed off, healed up, and stayed clear.  I didn’t want to identify myself as Air Force in case somebody inside decided to order me to join them.” He looked apologetic.

“No, you did the right thing.  Absolutely.  I’m just glad nobody was killed.”

“I think it might have been the battle droids with us that set them off.  Maybe if you approached alone, or with just other humans, you’d get better results.”  Bjurstrom’s eyes went wide as he remembered something.  “Oh!  And fyi… the Pentagon is a huge Citadel now.  Like, bigger than ours.  It has fifty-foot walls bristling with guns, and the building is now a high rise.  Hard to tell exactly, behind those walls, but at least seven or eight stories tall.  Plus all the underground levels.”

“Good!  I’m glad to hear that.  I’m hoping they’ll help stabilize things, assuming whoever is in charge isn’t like the colonel at Fort Knox.”

“Also, there’s a wall around the National Cathedral, that we could see from the top of the Washington monument.  I made that into a defensive tower, by the way.  With a pair of cannons at the top.  Anyway, it makes a good observation point.  From there we could see there’s another Stronghold to the southeast on the rise across the Anacostia river.  Looks like it used to be several high-rise apartments.  And another Stronghold across the Potomac in Rosslyn.  But the only people we saw were the snipers that fired on us.  Not that I actually saw them, but we know there are at least two of them.”  He shook his head, remembering the panic when his people got shot.

“Last thing is I think somebody made the old RFK stadium into a Stronghold too.  I saw lights at night and smoke during the day.  But we didn’t go to investigate.”

It was mid-afternoon by the time Allistor had heard all the reports and asked questions.  His mind kept going back to DC and the White House.  If there was still some remnant of the former government alive and kicking, maybe he could help them reassert some control.  Nothing about DC had been mentioned in any of the group radio conversations with his allies across the continent.

But at the same time, he needed to be careful.   He’d kept the Silo mostly secret, and the nukes inside completely secret so far.  As well as the dragon eggs.  And he didn’t want some cabinet secretary or senator trying to lay claim to any of it.

“Who wants to take a road trip to DC?”  He asked the group.  “Well, not road trip.  You know what I mean.  Anyone wanna walk up to the White House and get shot at with me?”

There were chuckles from most of them, and every single one stood up to volunteer.  These were among his most experienced and highest level fighters.  He’d trusted them to lead raid crews because they were the best.

“Great!  Grab us… at least four healers.  And let’s say twenty-five battle droids, including Prime.  Nigel, please ask Harmon if he’d like to visit our old capital and possibly meet whomever’s in charge there.  Might mean more customers for him.”

“Certainly, Sire.”

“Alright, let’s get this clear while we have some privacy.  All of you who were active duty military when the world ended, keep to the back and quiet.  Bjurstrom is correct, I don’t want you to have to deal with any kind of conflict in loyalty.   And nobody mentions the Silo, or the gold reserves, even under torture.  Clear?”

There were several grins and knowing smiles.  “We got ya boss.  Don’t want the Pres knowing you’ve been stealing his cookies.  Roger that.”  McCoy gave him a thumbs-up.

Andrea smacked McCoy on the back of the head.  “We all swore an oath to you, Allistor.  On our lives.  As far as I’m concerned, the government we swore our previous oaths to is dead.  Otherwise why would the system have allowed us new oaths? And if the government were still in place, why haven’t they reached out?  A missile silo would be a priority facility to secure.”   The others nodded.

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough.”

Thirty minutes later they had a raid party of twenty-five humans, one bear, five orcanin, and twenty-five battle droids gathered at the gates outside the W Hotel in DC.   Bjurstrom had included the small park to the south of the hotel inside the Stronghold walls, which Allistor appreciated.  They exited out the gates, which faced south, onto Pennsylvania Ave.  Turning west, their view of the White House was blocked by the massive treasury building that looked like a fortress itself.  Reaching the fence and guard station that had blocked off E Street since right after the 9/11 attacks at the turn of the century, Bjurstrom hissed at Allistor, who halted the group.

“This is where we got fired on before.”

Allistor motioned for the orcanin and droids to move back behind the corner of their Stronghold wall so that they couldn’t be seen.  Looking carefully, he saw nobody in the guard shack by the gate.  This ‘gate’ was a simple car barrier that could be raised to let vehicles through, with a four-foot metal fence running on either side up and down 15th Street.

Allistor cast Barrier in front of himself, and immediately received a notification.

Spell Level Up!  Your Barrier spell has increased to Level 10!

You may now choose between two specialty paths for this spell.

He quickly waved the notification away as he raised his hands and stepped forward.  “Everybody else, stay back.  You too, Fuzzy.  And I mean it this time!  Healers, please be ready to save my ass?”

Stepping forward with his hands still up, he ducked under the barrier arm and took a few more steps.  A bullet struck the pavement just in front of him right before he heard the crack of the rifle shot.   Stopping immediately, he turned in the direction he thought the shot had come from.  At the same time, he whispered, “Hold.” into his throat mic.

Yelling as loudly as he could, still with his hands up, he identified himself.  “My name is Allistor!  Prince Allistor, now.  You may have seen notifications about me?  We’ve just established the Stronghold next door, which makes us neighbors!  I was hoping to say hello to whomever is in charge here!  I mean no harm to anyone, I swear!”

A voice from a bullhorn called down from the treasury building rooftop.  “Don’t move!  One more step and the next round goes through your head!  Someone will be with you in a minute!”

Allistor started to drop his arms, then wondered if that would count as a ‘move’ and get him killed.  So he kept them up.  “Thank you!”

He waited, and slightly more than a minute later several men in black combat gear appeared seemingly out of nowhere.  Every one of them had an assault rifle or shotgun pointed at him.  One stepped forward and pulled his hands down, securing them behind his back.  Another searched him extremely thoroughly, getting quite personal for several seconds.

As they searched, he said, “Guys, I’m in radio contact with my people.  I’m going to tell them to chill, so there’s no misunderstandings here, okay?”  After a second, the man standing directly in front of him nodded once.

“Andrea, Prime, I’m good.  These guys are just being careful.  Hang tight.  Nobody do anything crazy.  I’ll shout if I need help.”  He smiled at the man in front of him, who again nodded just once.

“Who are you, and why are you here?” the man asked after the other two stepped away.

“My name is Allistor.  I’m from Wyoming, but I’ve been expanding my territory over the last year.  I sort of accidentally became a Planetary Prince recently.  You should have seen the system notifications?”  The man nodded again, not a big speaker, apparently.

“Anyway, I sent a group here a few days ago to claim some important monuments, the library, museums.  I wanted to preserve our heritage and keep the aliens from claiming the buildings and destroying our history.” He waited for any kind of reaction, but got none.

“My crew reported that when they came by here, two of my people were shot without warning.  I came to find out who’s here, whether we still have some kind of government, and see what I might do to help.”  He paused to take a breath.  “I don’t suppose the President is still alive in there?” He motioned toward the White House with his chin, not wanting to move his hands and get shot.

“How do I know you are who you claim?” The man lowered his weapon slightly.

“I swear by the system that I am Planetary Prince Allistor, Prince of Invictus.  And that I come with peaceful intentions.”   A golden light swirled around Allistor, an indicator that he was telling the truth.

The man apparently knew enough about the new rules to recognize the indication of truth.  He lowered his weapon and nodded for his men to do the same.   Stepping forward, he offered his hand.  “I’m Colonel Chapman.  Good to meet you.  We’ve heard a great deal about you.  Mostly from monitoring radio traffic.”  The man let go of Allistor’s hand, and his face grew more serious.  “Now tell me who you’ve got with you.”

“Oh!  Sure.  There are twenty-four more of my people, along with twenty-five of my battle droids, for security.  I wasn’t sure if you were going to shoot first, again.” He grinned at the man, who cracked a slight smile.  “Also, I have four orcanin with me.  Aliens that look like what you would call orcs. But they consider that name an insult, so please call them orcanin.  Harmon is their leader.  He’s a merchant that sold me all my weapons and vehicles.  I thought if there’s still a government here, you guys might want to upgrade your gear.  He’s friendly, and I’ll vouch for him.”

The colonel looked toward where Allistor’s people were gathered, clearly already aware of what and where they were.  “And the bear?”

“Oh!  Fuzzy is my companion.  I adopted him a few days after the apocalypse.  Are you a gamer, colonel? He’s like my bonded pet.  Won’t hurt you if you don’t try to hurt me.  Sorry, I forgot to mention him.   I’m not used to this kind of thing, and frankly, I’m a little nervous.  I’ll call him over if you’d like to meet him.”

The colonel shook his head.  “Maybe later.  Right now I’d like you to tell your people, the droids, and the aliens go back into your Stronghold and remain there.  I’ll take you inside to meet my boss.”

“Uhh… no offense, colonel, but I’m feeling more than a little exposed and concerned here.  Can I bring a couple of my people with me?”

“Two.” The colonel nodded. “Humans only.”

Allistor spoke into his throat mic.  “Amanda, Helen, would you two join me, please?  The rest of you, back through the gates.  Our neighbors are understandably cautious.  I’ll call if I need help.”  He looked at the colonel.  “If you get a notification that I’m dead all of a sudden, flatten this place.”

The colonel actually smiled at that, patting Allistor on the shoulder.  “I think I’m going to like you.”

When Helen and Amanda had joined them and been just as thoroughly searched, causing Amanda to smack the man searching her, they were escorted across the south lawn and into the White House.

The colonel directed them to wait in the vestibule while he departed to report in.  It was a good five minutes before he returned.  “The Secretary will see you now.”

“Well, that settles that.”  Helen spoke softly as they walked.  “No more President.  I wonder which Secretary it’ll be.”

“State.” the colonel answered, having overheard her.  “Secretary of State Marschner is the highest ranked surviving member of the cabinet.”

“I see.  Thank you, sir.” Helen answered.  They were quiet as they were escorted down several halls, then through an office and into a conference room.

A woman smiled and rose from her chair at the end of the table.  Holding out her hand, she said, “Before the apocalypse, I met several princes while performing my duties as Secretary.  But I’ve never met a Planetary Prince before.  My pleasure… your highness?” She left the question of how to address him in the air.

“Allistor, please.  I’m just a kid from Wyoming who got lucky.  I’m not big on formal titles, uhm… Madam Secretary.”

“Ha!  In that case, call me Sarah.  And these are?”

“Amanda, my princess, chief healer, and advisor.  And Helen, my best friend and one of my official Ministers.”

They all shook hands, and she motioned for them to sit.  “I must say, I’m fascinated to hear all about you.  Especially about how you achieved your title.”

“I’m happy to share the story with you sometime, Sarah.  But I have a few questions of my own, first.  And a request, if you don’t mind?”

“Certainly.  Let’s start with your request.” She put her hands together on the table in front of her and looked at him with eyebrows raised.

“My people are sitting in the Stronghold next door, sweating bullets, worried I’m going to catch a bullet to the head.  Two of them were shot when they got too close a short time ago.  I’d like to call in and reassure them.  Also, one of them is an alien I brought to introduce to you.  He looks scary, but he’s a friend and a gentleman. A merchant who could sell you some advanced weapons and other gear.  Any chance you were a gamer as a kid?”

“Wasn’t everybody?” She smiled at him.  “The colonel has already reported.  If you’ll vouch for this… orcanin?  Yes?  Then he may join us.  But just him.”

“Great, thank you.”  Allistor took a moment to touch his throat and speak to his people.  “He’ll be here in a couple minutes.”

While they waited, Allistor gave the Secretary and the colonel a short version of his story, beginning with his hometown being flattened and his family killed.  When he got to the part about finding Helen and her awarding him the parks, he hesitated.  “This next part might piss you off a little bit.  I’d like your word that you’ll not react hastily.”

Sarah looked at the colonel, who shrugged.  “Alright, you have my word.  Shoot.”

He explained about Helen being a park ranger, and apparently the highest-ranked remaining member of the park service, with the ability to grant him all the national parks.  When he got to the part about her forcing the entire inventory on him and making him a Prince, he paused, terrified they would try to force him to give them all back.

Instead, Sarah started laughing.  Chuckling at first, then building up to a belly-laugh.  The colonel did a little chuckling of his own.  Finally, she took a couple deep breaths and spoke.

“We figured it was something like that.  We just recently tried to expand this Stronghold to include the whole mall, and the system denied us, saying that the park already belonged to you.”

Allistor looked down at the table.  “Sorry about that.  It totally wasn’t intentional.  And I wasn’t trying to keep it from you or anyone else, except the aliens.  That’s why I sent a crew here.  To claim and control as much of the important stuff as possible, so we can preserve it.”

“That was noble of you, Allistor.  And I appreciate it.  I would have done the same myself, but we’ve lost too many soldiers already trying to claim buildings.  The lower level common monsters are fine, but we’ve hit some level twenty and higher elites that wiped out more fighters than I can afford to lose.”

The colonel added, “We heard over the radio that you killed a level thirty mob when you took Fort Knox the other day.  Was that true?”

Amanda snorted, and Allistor blushed as Sarah looked at him with one eyebrow raised.  He stammered as he answered.  “Y-yes.  I mean, it was a level thirty elite.  The vaults below the New York reserve were a dungeon occupied by leprechauns.”  He paused and grinned sheepishly as Sarah’s other eyebrow went up.  “Really.  Leprechauns.  And the boss was the clan mother.”  He began to sweat. “We, we just took Fort Knox and New York to keep the aliens from getting it.”

Sarah saw his discomfort.  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to demand that you return the gold.  Or the parks.  You’ve earned them.  And frankly I believe you’re doing good work.  Your efforts to deny the invaders as many resources as possible are admirable.  But I need you to promise me you won’t take any more depositories for yourself.  Deal?”

Allistor nodded.  “Deal.  Though, I’d still like to keep them from alien hands.  How bout we work together?  I have the manpower, and droidpower, to help you clear the ones that are left.”

“I’ll think it over.” Sarah nodded.  She was about to say more, but Harmon was escorted in.  The colonel, having already observed the orcanin from a distance through a rifle scope, looked unsurprised, but wary.    Allistor noted him tightening his grip on his weapon.

Sarah, on the other hand, stared up at the eight-foot monster with her mouth wide open for several seconds before she came to her senses.  Allistor suddenly realized with horror that he hadn’t warned her not to call Harmon an orc.   Hoping to avoid an incident, he quickly introduced them.

“Madam Secretary, may I present Harmon, of the orcanin race.  Friend, ally, and merchant extraordinaire.   Harmon, this is Secretary of State Marschner, the highest ranking surviving member of our nation’s government, which makes her leader of the free world.  And potentially an even better customer than me!”  He put special emphasis on orcanin hoping she’d get the hint.

Sarah straightened her back and held out a hand, which Harmon engulfed with his own and shook gently.  “On behalf of what’s left of the United States, I welcome you, Harmon.  I’m sorry, do you have a title I should be using?”

“No title, Madam Secretary.” Harmon bowed deeply, one arm behind his back and the other making a graceful flourish.  “Thank you for the welcome, and it is my sincere pleasure to meet you.”

“Oh!  Allistor was correct.  You are very gentlemanly.  I must say that is a surprise.  Because you look like,” She paused, pursing her lips as she realized she was likely offending the very large creature in front of her.  At least that confirmed that the colonel had passed on the word not to call Harmon an orc.

Harmon just chuckled.  “Yes, my lady.  We look like the race you recognize as orcs.  It is a curse that we have been so maligned in your planet’s lore.  As it is with every planet.  I take no offense.”

“Whew.” Sarah let out a long-held breath. “I certainly don’t want to offend one such as you.  Thank you.” She nodded and smiled.   “Please, have a seat, and let us talk some more.”

Harmon looked down at the wooden chairs surrounding the table.  Allistor looked as well, and thought they might be antiques, probably of some historic presidential significance.  Harmon politely declined.  “I fear the furniture would suffer badly should I sit, madam.  I’m fine to stand.”

Sarah glanced at the colonel, who spoke into his wrist.  A moment later another man entered in a rush, carrying a metal stool.   Harmon accepted it graciously, and replaced one of the chairs at the table before sitting.

“There!  Now, where were we?”  Sarah smiled at everyone.

*****

Three hours later, the colonel escorted Allistor and friends out of the building and back across the lawn.  When they reached the gate, he offered each of them his hand.  “Can’t tell you how glad I am that you all turned out to be friendlies.  And I’m sorry about your losses from before.  My guys got a little nervous when they saw those droids.”

Allistor shook his head.  “I understand.  And there were no losses.  Most of my people are high enough level that a single shot anyplace but the head won’t take them out.  They were healed up good as new.”

“Glad to hear it.”  The colonel held up a hand to say goodbye as he turned away. One of his men raised the gate for them, and lowered it again when they’d passed.  Bjurstrom and the others met them at their Stronghold gate, full of questions.  It took another ten minutes to fill everyone in.

“So, in a nutshell, we made some more friends.  We’re going to help them clear some buildings they haven’t been able to manage on their own.  They’re going to let us keep all the land and gold we’ve acquired up till now.” Allistor finished.

Harmon snorted.  “Allistor is being kind.  What the lady said was she didn’t have the manpower to force him to give any of it back if she tried.”  Looking at Allistor, he added, “That one is devious.  I would watch my back around her.  I believe that the moment she is strong enough, she will attempt to take back what she considers hers by right of her office.”

Both Amanda and Helen nodded their agreement.  Allistor sighed.

“That would be unfortunate.  And I hope that you’re wrong, my friend.  But I hear you.”

Chapter 10

Over the next two days, there were three more attacks by aliens.  Only one of them was Allistor’s property, the Bastion in Denver.  The other two were reported by allied Strongholds in Texas and Michigan.  Allistor sent five hundred droids to each of his allies as soon as they reported the attacks over the radio.  Both had joined him at Fort Knox, and had teleport pads of their own.  With Allistor’s assistance, they fought off the invaders.  The Texans took heavy casualties, but were able to seize the goblin ship that attacked them.

In Michigan, casualties were light, but the ship managed to take off after about half the attacking force retreated inside.  That particular Stronghold didn’t have the anti-aircraft batteries in place to bring the ship down.   Still, they killed about a hundred goblins, got rewards for defending their Stronghold, and most of their survivors got a few levels out of it.   Allistor strongly suggested that the Stronghold leader quit hoarding their share of the funds from the Fort Knox gold and buy some proper defenses.   He got no argument.

The battle at the Bastion, however, was different.  First, it was an elven ship instead of goblins that attacked.  Allistor had been sitting with Harmon and his advisors discussing the goblin raids on their allies.  Harmon was telling them how unusual it was for so many different goblin clans to attack existing fortifications on a newly acquired planet.  Especially when so much land was freely available.

“Sire!  The Bastion is under attack!” Nigel interrupted.

Allistor and everyone else in the room were on their feet and out the door in seconds, running toward the teleport pad.  Harmon was speaking into his bracelet as Allistor shouted, “Nigel, alert all fighters, everywhere!  Get them to the Bastion.”

A moment later Nigel’s voice echoed through the halls and courtyards of every facility as Allistor and the dozen people with him, along with Fuzzy and Prime, teleported to the Bastion.

The moment they arrived, Allistor heard a boom and ducked down as a brilliant flash of blue light burst above him.  Looking up, he saw the shield dome being struck by weapons fire, causing more flashes and booms.

“What the hell!?” he shouted, to nobody in particular.  Nigel answered him anyway.

“A foreign ship has been firing upon this facility for approximately two and a half minutes now.  The shield is holding, though the power drain is significant.  Estimated time remaining before shield failure is seventeen minutes.”

“Are we not firing back?” Allistor shouted.  “I know I purchased anti-aircraft batteries!”

“The enemy ship also possesses a shield, Sire.  Our batteries are wearing it down, but it is difficult to estimate which shield will fail first.” Nigel answered.

Allistor looked at Harmon.  “Can I purchase more batteries?  Make sure their shield fails first?”

The orcanin shook his head.  “Not while you are under attack.”  He looked up at the ship above, squinting through the fireworks of weapons fire and energy bursts.  “I don’t understand.  Elves haven’t attacked a Stronghold on a new world in… ages.”

“Those are friggin’ elves?”  Allistor shouted above the din of battle.

“It is an elven ship, of Imperial design.  Meaning the Elven Empire.  Though there is no crest displayed on the hull.  Very confusing.” Harmon muttered.

“Nigel, get me Sam and George!”

“Go ahead, Sire.”

“Guys!  We’ve got an elven ship attacking the Bastion.  I’ve got maybe fifteen minutes of shield time left.  I need those Howitzers of yours here yesterday!”

Sam’s voice came back.  “We’re already moving them, boy!  Keep yer pants on! Be there in less than ten.”

“While you’re moving them, point them straight up.  This thing is right above us!”  Allistor answered, wanting them to be ready to fire the moment they arrived.  He knew it took a while to adjust the guns.

“Roger that.  Setting them on Wile E. Coyote!” George chuckled in the channel.  “Tell everybody to be ready to duck!”

People, battle droids, and orcanin had been pouring into the Bastion in small groups through the teleporter, with Nigel maximizing the group size with each transport.  When the first group of orcanin arrived, the warriors looked up at the ship and began to grumble.   One of them approached Harmon and spoke quietly.  The merchant nodded in response.

“Allistor, I am afraid I cannot help you in this endeavor.” He hung his head, shuffling his feet.

“What? Why?”  Allistor was confused and feeling betrayed.

“We orcanin cannot oppose Imperial forces.  It is part of the treaty between our peoples.  Should we violate it, we would be subject to slavery once again.  No orcanin will risk this.”

Allistor’s mouth dropped, as did everyone else’s within hearing distance.

“The ELVES?” Allistor made the connection.  “The elves were the ones who enslaved you?”

Harmon just nodded, unable to meet Allistor’s eyes.  His warriors shifted uncomfortably behind him.

“Alright.  I understand.” Allistor sighed.  He didn’t, really.  But his friend was clearly determined, and just as clearly felt bad about it.  And this wasn’t the time for a long discussion.

“Any rule against you offering advice?” he asked.

The orcanin who heard him all grinned.  Harmon answered, “As long as we do not participate directly in the battle.  I believe I can answer questions, but I cannot suggest strategies or make recommendations.”

“Good enough!” Allistor started walking toward the gate.  He climbed the ramp up onto the wall and looked out over the park.  The ship hovered over the former capitol building, concentrating its fire on the dome that covered it.   Blocks away, the anti-aircraft batteries on the near side of the depository building were firing up at the ship.  But Allistor noticed that only three of the six batteries there appeared to firing.

“Nigel, why are half of the batteries at the depository not firing?”

“They are located on the opposite side of the building, Sire.  The structure is blocking their line of fire.”

A surge of hope hit Allistor.  He looked at Harmon.  “Hey, buddy.  Just a general question here, nothing at all to do with this battle.  But if I wanted to relocate an anti-aircraft battery that I already own during a battle, would the system prevent that?”

Harmon’s grin was wide, showing off his tusks in the flickering light. “I believe that is well within your rights, Prince Allistor.”

“Nigel!  Relocate those batteries to spots where they can fire on the attacking ship!”

“Right away, Sire!  Also, shield status update.  Time to failure is now sixteen minutes.”

Allistor’s heart was racing, and he began to pace back and forth.  Taking out his Barrett .50 cal rifle, he used the scope to peer up at the ship hovering approximately a thousand feet above him.

It had smooth, sleek lines, with lots of rounded edges and few sharp angles.  There were half a dozen large guns protruding from its underside, each of them firing at his Stronghold about every three seconds.  “Harmon, there seems to be a three second delay between rounds on each gun.  Is that some kind of recharge time?”

“Yes, it is.” Harmon’s answer was short and sweet.  Allistor looked at him, and could tell he wanted to say more, but couldn’t.

Looking back through his scope, he took aim at one of the guns.  Letting out a breath, he pulled the trigger.   A split second later he saw a flash as the penetrating round hit a shield and was rejected, making the shield glow red briefly.  He noted that the shield was a small dome that only covered the gun battery, not the larger shield that seemed to cover the whole ship.

He took a few seconds to think about what that meant.  “Harmon, can the elven ship fire through its main shield?”

The orcanin held his tongue, but Allistor saw his eyes widen.

Allistor took aim again and waited for the gun to fire.  Then he counted three seconds in his head, and fired just before he reached three.  The round slammed into the weapon housing, causing sparks to fly.  Allistor roared and thrust a fist in the air.  Behind him, the orcanin roared with him.

“Prime!  There is a gap in the shields when the ship’s cannons fire. I want you to direct three anti-aircraft batteries at a single gun.  Have them fire one half second before that gun fires.  They operate on a three-second interval.”

“As you command, Sire!” Prime went silent, and a moment later three of the Bastion’s batteries fired in unison.  One of the guns above exploded, and the ship rocked to one side.  Prime didn’t need to be told to exploit their new advantage.  As Allistor and his people cheered, the ship’s guns began to explode two, then three at a time.  The missing three batteries at the depository came online then, adding to the damage.   In thirty seconds, the elven ship was down to two cannons, and was badly damaged.   Its shield began to flicker even as the engines pushed it upward.

“Prime!  Bring it down!”  Allistor shouted.   The general just looked at him with his usual blank face.

“I assumed that was your wish, Sire.  I estimate the ship will fall before it rises out of range of our weapons.”

Just as the general finished speaking, something fell from the ship.  Harmon and his warriors dove to the ground, the merchant giving Allistor a significant look, but saying nothing.  Allistor took the hint.  “EVERYBODY DOWN!” he shouted, hitting the ground himself.

The falling object struck the shield, and the world went white.  Even through his closed eyes, Allistor was temporarily blinded.  The ground bucked from the explosion, and the sound wave made everyone’s ears bleed.

When he didn’t die, Allistor opened his eyes.  He couldn’t see anything but spots, so he called out.  “Nigel, what happened?”

“Sire, the ship dropped a bomb.  The shield held, but just barely.  It will not withstand another.”  Allistor wasn’t hearing the AI’s voice with his ears, which were ringing badly.  The message was displayed in text on his interface.

“Prime!  Focus every weapon we have on a single spot, and fire for effect! Now!”  Allistor shouted, but all he could hear was a dull droning sound beneath the ringing in his ears.  Still, Prime must have heard his order.

A moment later he heard what he guessed was another explosion.  Blinking rapidly, he was able to regain enough sight to see the ship falling into the park outside the gates.

Already, several hundred battle droids were running toward the gate or leaping off the walls.  The plasma cannons were firing toward the ship, and Sam and George were appearing with their guns on the teleport pad.

Allistor waved and shouted to get their attention, then pointed toward the gate.  The two gun crews drove the Humvees, pulling the guns in the direction indicated.  As the gates opened and the battle droids rushed out, George saw the ship and nodded.  He shouted something up at Allistor, but Allistor just shook his head and pointed to his ears with both hands.  He shouted back. “Big explosion! Can’t hear you.  We shot the ship down!  Kill it!”

Both George and Sam gave a thumbs-up to indicate they heard.  Their vehicles whipped around so that the guns were pointing out the gate, then backed up some.  The crews poured out and began lowering the barrels, which Allistor was sad to see were pointed nearly vertical.  He regretted his previous order.

All along the wall, his fellow humans were recovering from the blast.  They were pointing weapons at the ship, which was beyond the range of their plasma rifles.  More and more were pouring in through the teleport every few seconds, and being directed onto the wall.

Allistor shouted at Prime again, even though the general was mere feet from him.  “Prime!  Tell your droids to stay back at maximum range of their rifles.  There are antipersonnel mines out there, and I want to set them off when the elves come out.  I don’t want to hit your guys.  So none of them within fifty yards of the ship!”

The general looked at him for several moments, and Allistor realized he was probably speaking to him.  Once again he pointed to his ringing, bleeding ears.  All of a sudden he felt stupid.  Casting a heal on himself, he waited as the ringing faded and muffled sounds began to return.  He cast a second one, then one each on Amanda and Helen, so they’d get the hint.  All of them had been rendered slightly stupid by the blast, it seemed.

“I can hear now, Prime.  Report.”

“My troops have halted sixty yards from the enemy ship.  So far, no combatants have emerged.  I have taken control of the mines with Nigel’s assistance, and can activate them at your command.”

Allistor, realizing he was on his knees, used the wall to pull himself to his feet.  He felt another heal wash over him, and took a deep breath.  The ringing in his ears was almost completely gone.  Pain he hadn’t noticed before began to fade from his tongue, as well.  Touching his mouth, he found a significant amount of blood.  He’d apparently bitten his tongue quite badly.  Helen and Amanda had similar blood on their own lips.  So did Harmon.

He looked out over the wall at the ship.  It was just within range of the plasma cannons on either side of the gate.  They were pounding away at the hull, having little effect.  The ship was upright, its landing gear having been deployed before it hit the ground.   There was no sign of an opening or anyone exiting the ship.

Looking around, Allistor found his sniper rifle near his feet.  He bent and retrieved it, checking it briefly.  The scope was off-kilter, the bracket bent either from being dropped, or from the force of the blast.  Allistor removed it from the weapon and looked through it at the ship.  A quick scan showed significant damage, but no openings.  The rear of the ship was facing him, so he couldn’t see a cockpit.

“Harmon, it looks to me as if anyone exiting that ship would have to do so from underneath.  Like maybe a ramp that extends down.  Would that be a correct assumption?”

Harmon smiled at him.

“Well, if it were me, I would have designed the ramp to extend forward under the nose, or backward toward the tail.   From what you’ve told me of elves, I’m going to say the front.  They’d want to land facing whomever they were visiting, or attacking, and exit with style.”

Again, the orcanin grinned.  A few of his warriors laughed, enjoying the game.

Allistor could have saved himself the trouble.  Prime answered him. “You are correct, Sire.  This model Imperial ship does indeed exit below and to the fore.   That will give their troops some cover as they exit.  The ship turned as it fell, I believe precisely for that reason.”

“Why haven’t they come out?  They’re sitting ducks in there.” Allistor asked nobody in particular.

“They are likely attempting repairs, Sire.  They are aware that our plasma cannons and smaller weapons will do little damage to their hull, even with the shield disabled.  And they are too low for our anti-aircraft weapons to strike them.  If I were their captain, I would complete repairs to the engines, restore the shield, then exit low and retreat, avoiding the batteries.” Prime explained.   Harmon nodded.

Allistor grinned.  “Well, they should have checked with the goblins before attacking us!” Leaning down over the back of the wall, he shouted.  “Sam!  Prime thinks they’re trying to fix those engines and run away!  How ‘bout you see if you can keep that from happening!”

Sam grinned, and George bent over laughing.  “Roger that!  Two right up the chute!”

Both crews took a moment to adjust their aim, then Sam shouted, “Firing!” A moment later both big guns fired, and the rounds slammed into the back end of the elven ship.  They must have used high explosive rounds, because the result was spectacular.  There were two immediate explosions as the two rounds hit, then a much larger whump as something inside the ship exploded.  The rear hull of the ship cracked open, and a shock wave knocked over most of the battle droids that were standing sixty yards away.   Large pieces of the hull fell to the ground, and fires could be seen raging inside.

There was cheering from the wall, echoed by those down on the ground who had seen through the gate.  Sam and George were doing some kind of odd touchdown dance that involved a lot of knee-knocking and hand-waving.

Allistor took a moment to check on his people.  Several were lying on the ground at the base of the wall.  They hadn’t had the warning that he’d received from Harmon, and were standing atop the walls with eyes wide open, probably looking upward, when the bomb went off.  Blind, and disoriented from the sound blast, they’d fallen off the wall.   Allistor pointed and shouted Amanda’s name.  She followed his gaze, then both she and Helen took off.  Allistor saw others converging on the wounded as well.  He hoped none of them had died.

“Nigel, casualties?”

“Four dead, Sire.” Allistor’s heart fell into his stomach.  “Three hundred eighty-seven wounded, nineteen of them critical.  Nearly all from fall damage.”

Allistor’s interface map zoomed in as Nigel spoke, the AI displaying green and grey dots for him.  Several of the green dots were only partially shaded, indicating they were wounded.  Nineteen of them were orange.  Even as he watched, two of the orange dots turned yellow.   Someone was healing them.

“Sire, I am receiving an audio message from the ship.”

“Let me have it.  In fact, put it on loudspeaker.” Allistor replied.

The voice that he heard next sounded as if it were part growl, part hiss.

“This is the vessel Opportunity, calling the human Stronghold.  We surrender!  Please do not fire again!  We surrender!”

Harmon growled.  “This is no elf.  And I see no Imperial markings anywhere.”  The warriors behind him were already jumping off the wall on the outside, their huge frames and muscular legs easily absorbing the impact from the thirty-foot drop.  “Allow us to investigate, my friend.”

Allistor shook his head. Taking hold of his friend’s arm, he whispered, “Wait, Harmon.  It could be a trick.  There might actually be elves in there, and if you and your warriors make a move, you could put your whole race at risk.  Let the droids handle this.”

The orcanin merchant paused, then nodded.  He leaned over and shouted at his men, and they halted their advance a few yards behind the droids.  “That is wise advice, Allistor.  I let the heat of battle override my good sense.  Thank you.”

Calling out loudly, Allistor said, “Opportunity crew, identify yourselves!  You don’t sound like an elf to me.”   He looked to Harmon, who grinned.

“We are not elves.  We are of no single race.  This is a mercenary ship.  Please hold your fire.  Another round will destroy this vessel completely.”

“I will not fire again unless fired upon.  Drop your weapons where you stand and exit the ship.  My battle droids will not harm you unless you attempt to resist or escape.”  Allistor looked at Prime, who nodded his head.   A moment later the droids formed a half circle about fifty yards from the ship as a ramp was lowered underneath.  Allistor said, “Prime, be prepared to detonate the mines on my command.  Only the ones far enough from your troops not to damage them.”

“As you command, Sire.”

Allistor held up his scope and watched as one after another the crew appeared from behind the ramp.  The first one appeared to be some kind of beastkin, half woman half cat.  Behind her came what looked like a humanoid iguana walking upright on two legs.  Next came a couple more beastkin, one wolf, one badass looking wolverine-ish creature.  There were dozens of different species, some that Allistor had a hard time accepting.  In particular, a creature that seemed to be made entirely of liquid, but walked on four distinct legs, made him look twice.  He was dying to ask Harmon about it, but it could wait.

Eventually more than a hundred fifty aliens were gathered together and surrounded by the battle droids.  The last twenty or so to come down the ramp were clearly wounded, some with burn marks, others with broken or missing limbs, or open wounds.  After confirming that there were no elves, the orcanin advanced and assumed guard duty as well, growling at the prisoners and occasionally poking a weapon at one who moved or spoke.

The moment the last of the prisoners sat on the grass, every human Allistor could see began to glow as they leveled up.  He waved his own notifications aside for later.

“Prime, please have twenty of your troops search the ship for any more crew who may be hiding, or too wounded to move.  And assess the condition of the ship as well.”  Allistor looked at Harmon.  “I don’t know what to do here.  Should we execute them?  Should we heal the wounded?”  He took a moment to confirm that all of his people were back to green.  Except the four grey dots, which were now clustered at the base of the wall.

“That is up to you.  They are mercenaries.  They failed in their mission.  Depending on who hired them, failure may mean execution when they return.  If that ship belongs to their client, its loss may also result in their execution, or they may be sold into slavery to recoup some of the cost of the ship.  Their own honor code may require suicide, though I doubt that since they have surrendered.   On the other hand, if they are part of one of the guilds, their masters may be willing to pay a ransom for them, and reimburse you for your own losses.   We must speak to them so that you may better determine how to proceed.”

Looking around, he saw Amanda and Helen too far away for shouting.  “Nigel, please ask Lady Helen to take ten healers out and tend to the wounded mercenaries.”

“Of course, Sire.”

A moment later, Helen looked up and waved.  She and Amanda started toward the gate, several of his people following behind.  Amanda stopped to kiss both George and Sam as she passed them near the gate.  George did another little dance and made a kissy-face at Allistor, making both ladies laugh.

Allistor just shook his head, grinning.  “Dirty old man.”

He took his time walking down the ramp and over to the gate.  He shook hands with both Sam and George, saying, “No, I’m not going to kiss you.  But good shootin’!”  George pretended to be disappointed.

Both men joined him as he walked to the circle of prisoners.  “Who’s in charge here?”

The wolverine-looking beastkin stood and spoke.  His voice was the same that had spoken over the comms.  “I am in charge, now.  Our Captain was killed overseeing repairs when your last attack caused the atmospheric engines to explode.  I am First Officer Gralen.”

“I am Planetary Prince Allistor, and this is my Stronghold.  But I’m guessing you already knew that?”

The wolverinekin bowed his head.  “I offer you our formal surrender, Prince Allistor.  I was not aware of your title, or that this was your property.  Though my Captain may very well have been.   My compliments on a battle well fought, and your victory, your highness.”  He bowed more deeply, and as one his crew got to their feet and did the same.

“We are at your mercy, highness.  Our lives are yours to dispose of as you see fit.”

Allistor scowled.  He found himself actually kind of liking this mercenary, and hated himself for it.  They had killed four of his people.

“Before I make that decision, I have some questions.  The first and most important of which is: who sent you here?”

The first officer looked uncomfortable, his feet shifting and his hands twitching at his sides.  Even his whiskers twitched.  “I am afraid I am unable to answer that.  Our oath prevents us from revealing the identity of our client.”

“You came here in what I’m told is an elven Imperial ship.  You serve the Empire?”

Gralen shook his head.  “This ship belongs to our guild, highness.  I believe it was purchased from the Empire some hundred years ago or more.”

Harmon put a hand on Allistor’s shoulder.  “Allow me?”  Allistor nodded.

“Your oath is to your guild then, and not the client directly.” he stated, not really a question.

Gralen nodded.  “Indeed.  We never met the client.  Orders came directly from the guild.”

“Let me see if I can guess.  More than half of your crew are beastkin.  Your ship is top notch, or was until a few minutes ago.   That shield-buster you dropped was a big one, and expensive.   Yours is no small, no-name guild.  Well-funded and, unless I miss my guess, filled with veterans of the Axalon war?”

Again, Gralen nodded.  “Very perceptive, sir.  And may I say it is a pleasure to see you again.  You would not remember me, as I was simply a grunt back then.  But your unit saved what was left of mine in one of the early battles.  Hephaestus’ Ridge.”

Harmon nodded and quickly explained to Allistor.  “About a hundred fifty years ago.  I was a Captain then.  Our unit was sent in as shock troops to push back an advancing force and distract them long enough for the beastkin units to retreat.”

Turning back to Gralen, he added, “Which would make you members of…” Harmon leaned forward and whispered into the beastkin’s ear.

“Correct, sir.  And should his highness choose to spare our lives, our Guildmaster will pay a generous ransom.”

“How generous?”  Allistor asked.   Both Harmon and Gralen looked uncomfortable.  Harmon whispered, “That is something that should be discussed in private, my friend.  There are protocols for this sort of thing.”

Allistor nodded.  “Gralen, please join us inside, and we will discuss your future.  I believe your wounded have all been tended to.  You may detail some men to remove your dead from the ship, and we will arrange a proper funeral service.”  He turned to his general.  “Prime, please organize that.  When they’re done, make sure the prisoners have food and water.  Remove all weapons from the ship, and have Nigel create a separate vault for them.”

Prime saluted, and Gralen spoke some orders to his men.   Twenty of them began to walk back toward the ramp with battle droid escorts.

“Thank you, your highness, for healing my wounded.  That was most kind of you.”

“On Earth we have a tradition of treating prisoners humanely.  And treating wounded prisoners as well as we would our own.  As long as you and your men make no hostile moves or attempt escape, you will not be harmed.  We’ll feed you and figure out some shelter until we have decided what to do with you.”

Gralen bowed his head in submission as he followed Allistor and the others back through the gates.   Allistor noticed him observing the interior of the Stronghold, paying special attention to the weapons batteries and the teleport pad.

“Of course, any agreement with your guild will include an oath of silence from you and your crew regarding every aspect of this battle, most especially our weapons capabilities and resources.”  Allistor warned the creature, who promptly focused on the ground in front of his feet.

“That is standard, highness.  I was simply admiring your Stronghold.  It is… unusually well prepared for being on a newly acquired world.  We were not warned to expect such effective resistance.”

“Then I would suggest that whoever sent you didn’t intend for you to win.  This was a probe, to test my defenses.  Or maybe to test my resolve.  I would have done the same thing if I were in a VR game preparing an attack on another guild.  Send a few suicide scouts in to assess defenses and get a layout for me.”  Allistor spoke without even thinking, surprising himself.  Then another thought struck him.  “Or maybe this is a test to see whether I’d let you surrender.  And whether I let you live.  If I ransom you back, will that be considered weakness?  Or if I execute you all for killing my people, will I be considered a ruthless savage?”

After a long pause, Gralen growled.  “Indeed.”

Allistor continued.  “The big difference here is that this is not one of my VR games.  My suicide scouts, if they were caught and killed, could simply respawn and relay all the information they’d gathered.   You and your crew were apparently sent to your deaths.  That’s just cold.”

This time Gralen didn’t speak at all, just growled.

Allistor led him inside the main building and into the nearest room with a table.  Gralen waited for him to sit first, then Harmon, before taking a seat himself.

“Okay, let me start by saying that, obviously, this is my first time in this situation.  As you pointed out, we are only a few days out of our Stabilization period.  The only other force that attacked my people were killed in battle, have been executed, or are about to be used as sea monster bait.”  Allistor added that last bit in just to shock the mercenary.

“I see.  Then let me say I appreciate your mercy up to this point.  And the honorable manner in which you have interacted with us.”

Allistor looked at Harmon.  “Want to handle this for me?  I’ll watch and learn.”

Harmon chuckled.  “It is really quite simple.  Gralen, what price will the Dark Hearts pay for you and your men?”

Gralen didn’t need to think it over.  “One million klax for each fighter.  Two million each for non-commissioned officers, of which nine remain.  Five million each for myself and the two remaining officers.”

Allistor did the math quickly.  “I didn’t get a complete count of your remaining crew, but I put that somewhere around one hundred seventy-five million klax.”  Gralen nodded.

Allistor looked at Harmon.  “And the ship?”

Harmon looked embarrassed.  “The guild would pay considerably more for the ship.  My apologies, Gralen.”

Gralen shrugged.  “You simply speak the truth.  Even damaged as it is, the ship is worth five times the value my guild puts on the lives of my crew.”

“Anything else I should know?” Allistor asked Harmon.   Surprisingly, Gralen spoke first.

“If you do not wish to ransom us back, it is well within your rights to execute us for the deaths of your citizens.  It would bring you no dishonor in the eyes of my crew, or our guild.  I cannot speak to how the various factions would view that action.  Certainly some would approve, others would not.”  He paused, noticing that his hands were twitching.  He laid them both flat on the table in front of him.

“Alternately, you could demand our service for a period equal to the time it would take us to earn our life-debt at the rate of our normal salaries.   For my crew, that would be approximately two years.  Three years for my officers and I.  We would become system-bound to follow your orders, protect you and yours, including your property, with our own lives.  Any intentional violation would result in our immediate deaths.”

The language he used made Allistor want to clarify.  “So, you’re sworn to me.  I send you to fight, and you fail like you did today.  If you did your best, you still live.  But if you slack off, you die?”

Gralen took a moment to consider before answering.  “If I understand the term ‘slack off’ correctly, then yes. If we do less than our utmost to execute your orders, the system will claim our lives.”   Gralen sighed, folding his hands together.

“And there is yet another option, which I am honor bound to disclose.  You could sell us.  Either on the slave market, or to a competing guild.  There are several guilds who would gladly pay much more than my own guild for the opportunity to publicly humiliate and then execute us.  It would be a serious blow to the Dark Hearts’ reputation, and a reputation boost for our executioners.”

Allistor felt sick.  “That’s… that’s just…”

“Business.” Harmon cut him off, giving him a significant look.

Not getting the point, but realizing that his friend wanted to steer him away from what he’d been about to say, he changed the subject.

“Harmon, tell me about the Dark Hearts.”

“An old guild, and one of the more powerful.  They adhere strictly to their code of honor, which is equal to my own in most aspects.  They have never turned on a client for a better reward that I am aware of.  They very rarely fail to complete a commission.  When I say very rarely, I mean once in a century or two.  When they learn of this defeat, and the poor intelligence they were given,” He paused to look at Gralen. “Which I will be sure to inform them of personally.” he said before looking back to Allistor.  “They will likely be extremely upset with the client who sent Gralen and his crew here.  I expect there will be negative repercussions for that individual.  Honor goes both ways when one is dealing with mercenary guilds.  While they are willing to send volunteers on suicide missions that have been disclosed as such, they do not take kindly to being grossly misled.”

Once again he looked at Gralen.  “I strongly suspect that Gralen’s Captain and crew are not ones that would be wasted on a suicide mission.”

Gralen smiled grimly, and nodded.

“As I was saying.  The Dark Hearts are honorable.  They only hire combat veterans who have proven themselves, and tend to recruit heavily from what they consider inferior races.”

Allistor interrupted.  “Let me guess.  The guild masters or officers or whatever… they’re elves?”

“Just so.” Harmon agreed.  “The one fault I would find with Dark Hearts is that they regularly accept contracts where losses are expected to be heavy.  They charge exorbitant fees for these contracts.  Their fighters know the risks going in, but sign up anyway.  The pay is above average, and the death benefit to their beneficiaries is significant.  In this way, many of them provide for their families in a manner they normally could not.”

Gralen coughed.  “He speaks the truth.  My unit that Captain Harmon saved so long ago was labeled combat ineffective when we reached the rear.  Of the two hundred of us that went up that ridge, only forty-one returned.  Of those, half were psychologically unable to continue fighting.  Those of us who were left took the offered discharges and joined the Dark Hearts.  Nineteen of us.  My Captain and I were the last of the survivors.   Now it is just me.”

“Standard practice of guilds like the Dark Hearts.” Harmon explained.  “They ‘encourage’ military officers to discharge members of depleted units like Gralen’s.  Usually paying some amount per recruit they sign up.”

Allistor’s mood was growing darker as the conversation continued.  As the son of a soldier, he’d been taught that soldiers, and most especially veterans, were to be honored and treated with respect.   Not thrown into meat grinders and given payouts that he suspected were less than pocket change to the Dark Hearts and guilds like them.

By the look on his merchant friend’s face, he was thinking much the same.

Allistor reached a decision, of sorts.  “Okay first, I’m keeping your ship.  I don’t much like the sound of these guilds, and I don’t like the idea of handing them back a weapon to use against me later.  Plus, I need ships.  So we’re going to keep the Opportunity, get it repaired, and use it to pay back our enemies.”  He watched Gralen’s face carefully as he spoke, but saw no reaction of any kind, other than a small nod when he was done.

“Now the question is, what to do with you.”  Allistor let that question hang out there for a moment.  “Let me ask you, First Officer Gralen.  If you had the opportunity to choose your fate, which option would you choose?”

Harmon coughed, shaking his head.  Gralen smiled.  “Captain Harmon is trying to politely let you know that I can only give one answer to that question.  I am oathbound to the Dark Hearts, and that oath demands that I encourage you to ransom back my ship and its crew.”

Allistor shook his head in disgust.  “Alright, Gralen.  That is not an option.  There is no force in the universe that will convince me to ransom you back.  I have more klax in my pocket than I could spend, and the couple hundred million I might get for your crew means nothing to me.”

Harmon nodded.  “He speaks the truth.  He is wealthier than many system lords.”  Gralen’s eyes widened slightly, but he did not speak.

“So, assuming there is no way you can fulfill your oath and convince me of either of those two options, what would you choose among the others?”

Gralen opened his mouth, then shut it again, shaking his head.  Harmon said, “The oath will not let him answer.  I’m sorry Allistor.  He clearly wishes to speak, but no matter what you say, he will be unable to answer.”

A new idea occurred to Allistor.  “Gralen, can you tell me this?  When you sign up with Dark Hearts, is it a lifetime commitment? Or a specified period.”

“Each member signs for a set period.  From six months to twenty years.  Upon expiration of the contract period, both parties can choose to extend, or not.  Multiple variables factor into the offers made at that time.  Including performance, age, ability, and salary requirements.”

“And you have been a member for something like a hundred years, now?”

“I have.  And most of my remaining crew have been members for at least half that time.”

“And does your failure in this mission void your membership?  Or allow you to resign?”

Gralen took a long time to think about that.  “The likelihood of it being an undisclosed suicide mission, with the loss of one quarter of our crew and our Captain, might be grounds for severance of our contracts.  In addition, our guild may simply terminate our contracts after paying our ransom, should you allow that.  The Dark Hearts’ reputation will suffer enough from this failure, they may not want to risk another by continuing to employ us.  We would be considered damaged goods.”

Allistor grinned.  “And if I chose to demand your service for two or three years?”

Harmon laughed.  “The guild would consider it a cheap way to escape their predicament.  They would pay a year’s salary or some similar settlement to the crew’s beneficiaries, sever their contracts, and wash their hands of them.  Cheaper than paying a full ransom, and little to no risk of word of their failure getting out before they have time to lay the blame on their client and put some kind of spin on it.”

That last part confused Allistor.  “But, aren’t there a bunch of observers who’ve been watching this fight?  I’m pretty sure I saw Fame and Infamy Points flash across my interface.”

Gralen explained.  “The reason our ships carry no markings, and we wear no uniform or insignia, is so that observers have no accurate means to identify our guild, or by extension, our employer.  That is also the reason that Harmon suggested we speak in here, rather than on the battlefield.  The observers are not privy to this conversation.  Or any private conversation held within your walls.  It is one of the system quirks that allows us to stay anonymous.  Though, had you forced me to answer your questions outside, all would have been exposed.”   He paused for a moment. “Since I’m sure my masters were watching, it may be that your discretion will work in your favor.  Should you wish to negotiate with them at some point in the future.”

“Good to know.” Allistor made a mental note to look into that.  He had the money, after all. But he already knew he’d have to be desperate to hire mercenaries to do his dirty work.    “Alright, First Officer Gralen.  Here is my decision.  You and your crew will serve me for the period of time you described, as adjusted by whatever calculation the system makes.”

Gralen, who had been holding a rigid posture from the moment he’d taken his seat, slumped slightly.  He exhaled slowly.   “Now that you have stated your selection, I am free to say that I am grateful, Highness.  This is the outcome that I found myself hoping for.”  He got to his feet.  “I will inform my crew, and we will get to work on repairing the ship immediately.”

“Hold on, Gralen.  Have a seat, I’m not done.”

Confused, the mercenary sat back down.  “Highness?”

“First of all, stop with the highness stuff.  I am Allistor.  You can use my title on formal occasions or when others are watching.  But in here, in private, I’m Allistor.  That’s an order.”  Gralen smiled and nodded.

“Second.  If Harmon is correct, then your families will be paid something like a year’s salary for each of you, or less.  Would it be safe to guess that many of your crew’s families would suffer for not being paid over the remaining time of your service to me?”

Gralen looked uncomfortable again, but Harmon nodded.  “You are correct.”

“In that case, I am going to do two things.  I’m going to ask Harmon to speak to your guild master, which he apparently planned to do anyway.  I’m going to ask him to encourage them to release you from your contracts, and pay your families two years’ wages instead of one.  This accommodation will ensure that I am happy with the resolution of this incident, and not inclined to accidentally bitch about it, and the Dark Hearts, while standing out on a battlefield, for example.”

This time Gralen and Harmon both laughed.  Gralen bowed his head.  “Thank you, High… Allistor.  Sincerely.  But I must caution you about blackmailing the guild.  They may take offense.”

Harmon spoke up. “I’ll make it clear to them that any attempt by anyone to retaliate will not only result in the exposure of the facts here, but also incur the wrath of my people.”

Gralen’s eyes went wide, and coughed.  “That… would do it.”

Allistor fist-bumped Harmon, then continued.  “In addition, I will pay you and your crew your normal salaries, beginning tomorrow.  This is contingent upon all of you agreeing to one thing.  The moment you are released from your contracts with the guild, you will all swear an oath of loyalty to me.  This will be a very specific, detailed, and binding oath, just as strict as the one the system will initially force upon you.  One I’ll probably get a lawyer or two to consult on.  The intent of which is to make you citizens of Invictus.  Assuming your families have access to teleport systems, they will be welcome to join you here, providing they take the same oath.  In return, I will promise not to send you on any suicide mission, or even missions likely to have high casualty rates, unless you volunteer with full knowledge of the danger.  And maybe not even then.”

He stopped talking and looked at Gralen.  The whiskers on the mercenary’s face quivered.  “That is unbelievably generous of you, Allistor.  I only wish my Captain had survived to witness this.  If any deserved this generosity, it was him.”  Gralen looked down at his hands, which were now in his lap.

Allistor thought about it for a moment.  “Your Captain, he had a family?”

“A large one, yes.  They will be paid his death benefit.”

Harmon spoke up.  “Which might last them five years.”  Gralen just nodded.

Allistor let out a long exhale.  “If they will agree to be bound by the same oath, I invite his family, and the families of the others killed here today, to join us as well.”  Allistor wasn’t sure about bringing so many aliens into the fold, but he felt honor-bound to make the offer.

“That is… thank you, Allistor.  I will make sure your generous offer is extended.”

The room stayed silent for an uncomfortably long period.  Finally Harmon suggested.  “Let us get you back to your ship.   We can hold the funeral, then you can explain the situation to your crew.”  He looked at Allistor.  “If Allistor doesn’t have housing for you here, I will host you in my shop.”

“They’re bound to me already, right?” Allistor asked.  “Since I stated my choice.”

“That is correct.  Myself and my entire crew.” Gralen confirmed.  “The moment we step out this door and your decision becomes known.”

“Then you’ll stay here while you fix your ship.  There should be enough housing in the depository building’s upper floors for you.  Or however many of you don’t want to sleep in your ship.  I don’t know how comfortable it is in there, or how bad the damage is.  You can work all that out with Nigel, our AI.  But it’s best you be out of sight for the funeral.”

Harmon escorted the mercenary outside, and Allistor stayed.  With a few minutes to himself, he finally took time to review his notifications.  The deaths of more than fifty mercenaries, all seasoned veterans level eighty or higher, plus the defense bonus, had leveled him up to thirty-five.   Since he hadn’t assigned points since level thirty, he took a minute to do so.

Keeping Harmon’s words about honorable melee fighting in mind, he put a point into Strength, and five into Agility. He also assigned two points each to Constitution and Stamina, for better melee survivability.  As always, he left one in reserve, just in case.

Designation: Prince Allistor,  Giant Killer

Level: 35

Exp: 257,600/5,550,000

Planet of Origin:  UCP 382

Health:  28,000/28,000

Class: Battlemage

Attribute Pts Available:  1

Mana: 11,000/11,000

Intelligence:  20 (22)

Strength:  7 (9)

Charisma:  7(9)

Adaptability:  7

Stamina:  10 (12)

Luck:  4 (5)

Constitution:  15 (18)

Agility:  10

Health Regen:1,000/m

Will Power:  20 (27)

Dexterity: 3

Mana Regen: 410/m

Chapter 11

Allistor gathered everyone together for the funeral service.  He was getting very tired of presiding over these.  There had been way too many over the last year.  He reflected bitterly on the fact that he’d never been able to hold one for his parents.

As the bodies burned, a woman stepped forward and began to read the words from Invictus, the poem that he’d etched a verse of into the wall in New York.  His people had adopted the words, and Nigel had been asked to add them to nearly every Stronghold and Outpost.  They were becoming words to live by, words of inspiration for his people.  And now they made a fitting close to the funeral.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years,

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

When the flames had died down, Allistor made an announcement about the mercenaries.  He’d debated waiting, but if they were going to be there repairing their ship, the issue was going to come up sooner than later.

“I know you’re all angry about the attack, and the loss of our friends and loved ones.  But I need you all to listen to me with an open mind.”  He waited, studying some of the faces gathered around him.

“The aliens who attacked us are a mercenary force.  They came under orders, with no more say in the matter than any soldier would have.  It wasn’t personal, though I know it feels like it to you and I.” Again he paused.  The faces staring back at him were definitely taking on some unfriendly miens.

“Because we defeated and captured them, I was able to bind them to serve me, and to help me protect all of you.  So for the next few years, that is exactly what they’ll do.  They’ve been bound by system oaths to protect you with their very lives.”  There was a considerable amount of grumbling from the crowd, and a few angry shouts.

Allistor held up his hands until they were quiet.  “I know that’s a hard pill to swallow.  And some of you will be angry with me for not executing them here and now.  That’s fine, be angry with me.  But I want two things to be very clear.  As I said, they are oathbound not to harm any of you.  And any violence committed against them will be dealt with as harshly as if you attacked me.  And second, I decided that rather than waste their lives by executing them, I could use a hundred and forty high level, absolutely loyal, trained combat veterans to help us survive more attacks like this one.  And it seems more attacks will likely be coming.  So, I have made my decision, and I believe it is the best decision for all of us.”

He waited, and watched.  There was a prolonged silence, then a period of whispering and mumbling.  Finally someone near the front spoke.

“I can’t say I like it, but I trust you, Allistor.”

Heads began to nod, and others began to voice their support.  It wasn’t enthusiastic, but it was honest.  And it lightened Allistor’s heart to hear it.  He wasn’t deluding himself that everyone was just going to accept his decision, there would be at least a few who would continue to resent it.  Especially among the friends of the dead.   But he could live with a few hard feelings.

“The mercenaries will be residing here while they repair their ship.  Please do your best to accept their presence.  Treat them as politely as you can.  You may find that your life is in their hands before long.   Thank you all for listening, and for coming to the aid of the Bastion when we called.”

Allistor patted a few shoulders and shook a few hands as he passed through the crowd.  He noted several angry looks, but for the most part people were friendly enough.  With Fuzzy, Helen, Harmon, and Amanda behind him, he made his way to the teleport and back to Invictus City.

That night, Allistor sat alone on a sofa in his personal suite’s sitting room.  Amanda had already gone to bed, and the sisters were long asleep in their rooms.    He tried to think back to the apocalypse and remember everyone he’d lost since.  It saddened him that he couldn’t do it.  For some, he remembered a name, but not a face.  For others it was the opposite.  And the more recent losses seemed to slide right past him.  He found he didn’t know the name of the sister’s father, despite having recently presided over his funeral.

“Too many funerals, too many lost.” he whispered to himself.

And now he had a new dilemma.  He had the mercenaries to use.  He could load them on a ship with him, and a thousand droids, and go attack the goblin clan that had targeted him.  But was risking their lives rather than the lives of his own people any more ethical or moral?  Would their families mourn them less than the sisters asleep a few feet away mourn their father?

“I didn’t ask for this.  Any of this.  I never wanted to lead people, or be responsible for them.”

“No… you didn’t.” Amanda’s hands fell gently on his shoulders and she leaned in behind him.  Speaking softly into his ear, said, “I was there from the start, right next to you.  You never asked to lead.  In fact you offered to let others lead.  But your knowledge, your heart, your concern for all of us, made us follow you in those early days.  Then I think you naturally grew into being a leader people want to follow.  Some of those people out there this evening were angry with you.  But they’ll get over it.  Or they won’t.” She came around the sofa and took a seat in his lap, giving him a soft kiss on the forehead.

“But you can’t please everyone.  You shouldn’t even try.  You made the right decision today, taking advantage of a resource that’ll help you keep your one promise to all of us – that you’d do your best to protect us.   And you have, my love.”  She kissed him on the lips this time, softly and slowly.  “You’re my hero.”

“Pfft!  And your guinea pig.  And… what was it?  Fancypants?” He tickled her, causing her to squirm while pressing her lips together and trying not to squeal and wake the girls.

“Forget I said anything.” She mock-pouted. “No hero would take advantage of a defenseless princess in such a situation.”  Grabbing his hand, she pulled him up and into the bedroom.  “Come take advantage of me some more.

*****

Morning brought more administrative work.   Allistor sat with Chris for an hour or more, listening to reports regarding loans for structures, mostly for Juanita’s people.  Nearly all of them had chosen to claim land near Strongholds across the country.  About a hundred had asked to be released from their oaths.  Some to strike out on their own, and others to join allied Strongholds in locations that they liked.   Allistor accommodated all of them, making sure they had a week’s supplies, and a viable weapon to defend themselves with.   To prevent any of them from harming his people, he released them from their oaths only after they’d gone through the teleporter, or walked out his gates.  It made him sad each time he saw green dots turn neutral blue or even red as people walked away, but he was learning to accept that he couldn’t save everyone.

About five hundred of them had requested loans to start their Outposts or Strongholds.  A quarter of those were far enough away from his properties that they’d need to depend on themselves for defense.  The loans were mostly to pay for defense systems.  He worked out a discount for them if they wished to purchase a few battle droids, construction droids, or similar equipment from Harmon.

Ramon and Nancy brought Chloe to visit, and they asked Allistor to meet them on the roof of the high rise to talk.  Ramon started things off, clearing his throat and looking a little uncomfortable.

“We’ve been discussing your offer over the last few days, and we think we’d like to take you up on your offer of a park.  Nancy and I spent a little time with Helen, and we’ve picked a spot.  She told us nobody has claimed it yet…” He drifted off.

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.  What’s wrong, buddy?”

“It’s kind of a big ask.  I’m talking about Governors Island, here in New York.  Just south of Battery Park.” Ramon got up and walked to the edge of the roof, pointing toward the river.  Allistor took one look and nodded.

“There’s no such thing as too big of an ask for you three.  You’re my MVPs.  You deserve whatever reward I can give you.”

Nancy smiled, but it was a hesitant smile.  “He’s not done yet, Allistor.”

Ramon cleared his throat again.  “Let me say first that we’re each willing to claim our ten acres near one of the Strongholds and give it to you as farmland, or whatever.  The thing is, we’d like you to give us the entire island… and instead of building us a Stronghold, we’d like it to be a Citadel.”  Ramon blew out a breath after speaking the words, looking down at his feet.

Allistor opened his mouth to say yes, but Chloe interrupted.  “There’s a cool old fort that mom said we can make into our house!  And a big old garden, and beehives!  Plus there’s room for me to have more chickens and bunnies, and even the murder chickens!” She pouted slightly, a wild swing from her enthusiasm of just seconds earlier. “But mom says I can’t have those until I get bigger.”

Nancy rolled her eyes and put a hand over her child’s mouth.  “Yes, it has all those things.  And a ferry dock where we could run boats back and forth from Battery Park.  There are a few sports fields, which would be great places for cookouts.  Tons of buildings for housing.  I was thinking of using it as a training ground for both gardeners and alchemists. And of course the food we grow would be used to feed everyone.”

Ramon added, “It’s close enough that you might be able to defend us from the City, here.  At least for incoming ships.”

Allistor pretended to think it over, tapping his chin and trying to look contemplative.  After ten seconds of watching his friends twitch, he said, “I have one condition.”

Ramon actually flinched.  He’d expected a ‘no’ and didn’t know what to do when he didn’t hear one.  “Sure.  What is it?”  Nancy put her arm around him, equally surprised.

Allistor looked at Chloe.  “I’m going to need you to name one of the murder chickens Lady Amanda.  Can you do that for me?”

All three of them took a few seconds to process what he’d said, then burst into laughter.  Chloe held up her arms, demanding that Allistor pick her up.  When he did, she whispered in his ear.

“That might make her mad, you know.”  Her very serious and concerned face made Allistor laugh out loud.

“Ha!  I’m pretty sure it will!” He tickled her for a moment before putting her down.  Adopting a serious face of his own, he held a hand out to Chloe.  “So, do we have a deal?”

She gave him a great big nod and made a show of shaking his hand once.  “Deal!”

He grinned at Ramon and Nancy.  “I can’t believe you thought I’d refuse you.  I could see it written all over your faces.  You just don’t understand how important you three are to me.  You’re my family.  You’ve saved the lives of thousands of us, my own more than once.  And where would I be without Chloe reminding me not to let stuff bite me?”  Chloe covered her mouth and giggled.

“The island is yours.  And I’ll build you your Citadel.  In fact, Nigel, give them whatever they need in the way of walls, structures, defenses, all of it.  That’s an open order, until I say otherwise.”

“It will be my pleasure, Sire.”

Allistor could see Ramon fidgeting, and guessed he had spoken too soon.  “There’s something else you want, as well.” He grinned at his friends.  “Come on, hit me!”

Nancy spoke for Ramon.  “My fiancé is shy about asking for things for himself.  We want to be hooked up to the teleport network.  I know you already have a couple pads here in the City…”

“Of course!  You think I’d have a Citadel not connected?  How would we get all your tasty veggies and potions?  I just assumed you’d want a pad.  I guess I shouldn’t have done that.  Okay, here’s my formal declaration as Prince Allistor of Earth.”  He paused, giving them both a narrow-eyed look.

“Hold on, is there anything else?  It’s gonna look foolish if I do this, then you add more stuff.”

Ramon finally relaxed and laughed.  “No, that is all.”

“Then I, Prince Allistor of Earth, lord of Invictus and apparently a big ol’ Fancypants,” He winked at Chloe, who giggled again. “Do hereby declare that my friends, my advisors, my Chief Scribe and Librarian, my Minister of Agriculture, and Chief Bunny and Chicken Wrangler, are hereby granted Governors Island, New York in its entirety.  I shall construct for them a Citadel, the design of which shall be determined by them.  The property shall be theirs, to be passed down to their heirs, in perpetuity.”

To end it properly, he bowed at the waist and made a fancy flourish with his arms.  Chloe instantly mimicked him, then Nancy did too. Ramon just blushed and make a quick half-bow.

A blue light swirled around all four of them, and Allistor realized he’d probably struck some sort of bargain by either promising the Citadel, or giving them perpetual rights to the land.  Either way, he didn’t care.  He fully intended to live up to the bargain.

Chloe jumped up and down, clapping her hands.  “Let’s go see the bees!  And have a picnic!”

“That sounds like an excellent idea!” Allistor crouched down in front of her.  “Would it be okay if we brought along some friends?  Sam and Meg, Helen and Fuzzy, and Lady Amanda?  Maybe a few more?”

“YES!” Chloe stepped forward and hugged him.  “Let’s bring the whole family!”

And so it went.  Allistor sent the word out to all the original Warren survivors, as well as George, Lars, Logan, Chris, Dean and Sarah, Andrea and her guys, the sisters, Kira and her family, and several other advisors and leaders.   At the last minute, he invited Harmon, Prime, and Gralen as well.  He figured it would be a good way to introduce everyone.

Meg and Sam arranged food and refreshments while George rounded up a bunch of seedlings and seeds from his greenhouse.  Everyone grabbed something that would make good housewarming gifts.  While preparations were being made across Allistor’s lands, he took Ramon, Nancy, Chloe, Amanda, Helen, and Fuzzy down to Battery Park.  From there they grabbed a boat and cruised the short distance across the water to the ferry dock on the north side of the island.  As soon as they were tied up and on solid land, he looked at Ramon.

“Go ahead, my friend.  Build your Citadel.”

Ramon’s eyes unfocused for a moment, then refocused.  “The system won’t let me.”

“Ah, crap.  Must be a title thing. I had to be a noble before it let me build Cheyenne.  One sec.”  Allistor’s own eyes unfocused, then he grinned.  “Which one of you wants to be a Baron? Or Baroness?”

“Me!” Chloe shouted, raising her hand and jumping up and down.  “Me me me!”

Nancy pushed her daughter behind her legs and said, “That would be Ramon.”

“Good enough.” He made a mental selection, then approved it.  “Baron Ramon of Governor’s Island, build your Citadel!”

The others clapped as Ramon’s eyes unfocused again.  This time, everything went golden as the usual process began.  The ground under their feet went invisible, but nobody staggered.  By this time they were all used to it.

Ramon spent about five minutes making choices and alterations.  When he finished, they were all surprised to feel the land rising under them.  It got higher, and higher, and Ramon laughed at the looks on their faces.  Eventually, they stopped rising with a lurch, and he explained.

“It seemed a shame to put a high wall around this entire place, to block the breeze and the views.  So I just raised the whole island up thirty feet. Now the sea walls are the defensive walls!” he walked them over to the nearest edge, and they all looked down to see thirty feet of perfectly smooth stone wall ending at the water below.

“Ha!  That was good thinkin’!”  Helen hugged him.

“You’ll have to create a ramp up from the dock, and figure out some kind of gate there, but I like it!”

Ramon shook his head.  “I took your lead from Pelican Bay.  There’s a heavy door at the dock level, leading to a big warehouse area.  From there, there’s a freight elevator big enough to fit a truck that will bring folks up to ground level.” He paused, seeing Allistor open his mouth.  “There are both mines in the floor and cannons placed on the walls down there.  Nothing is getting in.”

Allistor closed his mouth and just clapped his friend on the back.  “Just one more thing…” He looked around.  “Having a Citadel entitles you to an AI.  You’re welcome to add Nigel if you like, or you can choose to use your own.  I’m sure they’ll interface just fine.”

“Nigel!” Chloe shouted.  “I love Nigel!”

Nancy rolled her eyes, then looked at Ramon, who just nodded.  “Nigel it is.”

“Thank you, Baron Ramon.  It shall be my pleasure to serve you.”  Chloe looked up and waved, used to having Nigel’s voice come from above.

They planted the teleport pad, and almost immediately people began drifting in.  Folks handed gifts to Nancy and Ramon, and a few for Chloe, as they entered.  Meg and Sam showed up with a serving staff, and organized lunch on a wide open lawn near the old fort.  White tents and tables were set up for serving, and several round tables with chairs for eating.

Someone brought along a CD player, which they plugged in, then used Nigel to broadcast the music.  Addy and Sydney sang along to several of the songs, and Sam convinced each of them to dance with him briefly.  Chloe joined in, as did Cody. Max romped around happily, barking at everyone and mooching food.  He and Fuzzy conspired to steal an entire tray of burgers from one of the tables and wolf them down.

At one point, Allistor caught sight of Max noticing Gralen, approaching the mercenary with his ears flat and tail down, nose going a mile a minute.  When Gralen offered a hot dog to the mutt, Max quickly sold his soul and approached, letting the wolverinekin scratch his ears after gulping down the hot dog in seemingly one piece.

“Well, at least one citizen has accepted him.” Allistor muttered, smiling.

They played, and ate, and socialized for the rest of the day.  Someone broke out fishing poles, and the kids hauled up a couple of oversized fish that even Helen couldn’t identify without using her Examine ability.   The kids, Max, and Fuzzy wore themselves out, napped, then got up and started again.   Allistor did a little bit of snoozing in the sunshine himself.

When the suns began to set, they took down the tents and packed up the tables.  Meg left the food to stock the Citadel’s kitchen, along with an entire storage ring’s worth of additional provisions.  She promised to return and ‘properly organize’ their kitchen for them, then kissed Nancy and Chloe goodbye.

When it was just the new homeowners, Allistor, Amanda, Helen, Fuzzy, and Max… Allistor sat in the grass, lying back to look up at the darkening sky.  “I love you guys.” There were a few snorts, so he sat up, bracing himself with hands.  “No, I mean it.  This has been one of the very best days of my life.  I had my family around me, the food was amazing, I got to share in your joy over your new home, and nobody tried to kill us.”

“It was pretty great.” Ramon agreed.  “Needless to say, you’re all welcome here anytime.  Just pop on in.”

There were hugs all around, then Allistor and company stepped through the teleport, leaving Ramon, Nancy, and Chloe to explore their new home.

Chapter 12

Morning brought a trip through the teleport to Pelican Bay.  The remaining goblin prisoners-slash-sea-monster-bait were being held there, and Allistor wanted to get them off his mind.  They were sentient beings who knew they were going to die, and he didn’t see the point of extending their wait.

While he’d been away, some of the folks who’d chosen to live on the island had made more trips to the mainland.  There was now an actual fleet of thirty or so boats at the dock or at anchor in scattered spots around the cove.   There was a brand new, longer stone pier that had been constructed since his last visit.

Allistor, Helen, McCoy, Goodrich, Bagwell, and several of the locals boarded one of the sport fishers along with the goblin prisoners.   Fuzzy was told to stay ashore, and he happily wandered off, sniffing out the trail of a feral pig.

Their first leg of the trip was short.  Bagwell drove them out of the cove and a short way around the cliff in front of the Stronghold where a much larger ship was anchored in deep water.  Bagwell informed them that it was a trawler that had been converted into a research vessel.  The ship was meant to spend extended periods out on the water, and had reasonably comfortable crew cabins, showers, and a well-stocked galley.

“The two main reasons we chose this one,” Bagwell added, “were the big cranes and winches on the back, and the fact that it’s bigger than the sea monster we spotted.”

Allistor took in the boat, which looked huge from his perspective in the much smaller vessel pulling up next to it.  The aft deck was easily ten feet above the water line, with a fold-out platform at water level in the stern that would allow divers to swim up and crawl out, then climb a set of stairs to the aft deck.  The foredeck was two levels above that, with an enclosed bridge one level higher and set slightly back, atop which sat a dizzying array of dishes and antennae.   The ship was easily two hundred feet long, with twin cranes in the back, and one in the front.  All three looked like massive robotic arms with three joints.

Bagwell pulled up to the stern of the larger vessel and two of the locals jumped to secure lines.  Everyone else boarded the platform, herding the goblins between them as they climbed the stairs to the main deck.  When everyone was aboard, the two locals offloaded a big cooler, hopped back onto the boat and drove it back into the cove.

Bagwell gave the visitors a quick tour, showing them everything from the engine room on the lowest deck to the galley and the heads.   While he played tour guide, the remaining locals, who were serving as crew, fired up the engine and raised the anchor on its massive chain.  When the tour reached the bridge, Bagwell took over as captain and piloted the ship away from the island.

“I’m heading for the area where we saw the thing before.” He paused, looking a little uncomfortable.  “We made little vests packed with C4 and a remote detonator.  How do you want to...” his voice drifted off, and he just nodded toward the men and women making preparations on the main deck.   Allistor could see the half-dozen small vests, along with what looked like sets of three large meat hooks welded together to form giant three-pronged fishhooks attached to heavy steel cable.  Each of the three hooks was large enough to hang a full side of beef.

Allistor looked confused for a moment, then a light bulb went off.  The man was asking him how he wanted the goblins secured to the massive hooks.   Based on the looks he was getting from all around, the crew apparently thought he planned to jam a hook through the monsters’ guts and toss them into the water to squirm.

“Ah.  I get it.  Damn, guys.  Tie them to the hooks.  Securely.  And bind their hands behind them so they can’t free themselves.”

Everyone looked relieved, and Allistor took a moment to wonder what kind of sadistic bastard they thought he was.  After a bit of reflection, he realized that using the live creatures as bait probably qualified as pretty hard core.  So assuming he planned to impale them before tossing them overboard to bleed out wasn’t that far of a stretch.

Allistor instructed them to move all but one of the goblins into a room belowdecks and secure them there.  No point in making them watch their clanmates become bait before it was their turn.  If they caught their prey with the first few goblins, he’d humanely execute the others.

They cruised for a while, the bigger boat taking time to build up speed and reach the target area.  When Bagwell nodded at him, Allistor left the bridge and descended to the deck.  The crew had fitted the goblin with its vest, and three of them were struggling with the little monster to secure it to the hook.  It had clearly realized what they intended its fate to be, and wasn’t interested in taking a dip.

Finally its hands were secured behind its back, and it was lashed securely with what looked like baling wire.  The goblin thrashed and resisted the whole time, scoring a couple of bites when hands and bodies got too close to its face.   McCoy made the mistake of leaning in too close while checking the wire, and the little monster bit his shoulder, pulling away a chunk of flesh with a bloody grin and an evil gleam in its eye.

“Agh!  Dammit!” McCoy shouted, smashing his own head forward into the goblin’s face.  Its nose shattered, and it lost consciousness.  “That hurt!” He rubbed his bleeding shoulder even as Allistor healed him and the skin knitted back together.

“Probably just as well.” Allistor commented as he lifted the unconscious goblin and tossed it over the side.   The cable attached to the hooks quickly unspooled as the combined weight of the creature, its vests, the hooks, and the cable dragged in the water.    The crane arm had been swung around so that it extended out over the starboard rail, the thick cable trailing out to disappear into the water.  The boat was moving relatively slowly, so the goblin remained underwater rather than being dragged across the surface.

Helen moved to the stern platform and opened the cooler.  Inside were two buckets of chum – chopped up fish and some guts and inedible bits from feral pigs that had been donated by the kitchen.   She used a scoop to toss several bits into the water every minute or so.

Everyone was quiet, fully aware that the goblin had likely drowned in the first minute or two.  They watched the line, which had now extended about a hundred yards beyond the stern.  Less than five minutes after the goblin had gone into the water, there was a hit.  The cable vibrated, then began to unwind more quickly.   The humans were all instantly alert, getting to their feet and watching the water.

One of the crewmen, a man named Dan who’d had some experience with deep sea fishing, reached up and hit a button on the crane arm’s controls.  The winch locked up, making the line snap taut and vibrate with the sudden increase in tension.   There was a thrumming sound, and a slight mechanical creak as the metal arm swung toward the stern to point directly aft.

“Whatever we’ve hooked, it’s got some weight to it.” Dan observed.  “Hopefully that snag set the hook real good.”

Allistor watched the man, then the water, then the man again.  When Dan didn’t do anything for a while, he gave up and asked, “Aren’t you going to turn on the winch?  Reel it in?”

Dan shook his head.  “Better to let the ship pull it around a while.  Tire it out.  If the thing’s as big as we’ve been told, I’d rather not strain the machinery if we don’t have to.”

Allistor nodded, seeing the wisdom in that.  He’d just seen the massive engines pushing this ship through the water.  Why not use all that power to their advantage.

There were several canvas folding chairs set out on the deck nearby, Allistor took a seat and watched.  It wasn’t long before something quite large broke the surface at the end of the cable.

Large, but not sea monster large.

The crew called out and pointed, McCoy holding the detonator in his hand and looking around for a signal to set off the vest.  Dan just began to curse loudly, then called out.

“That’s a shark, ladies ‘n’ gents.  Biggest damn shark I ever seen, but still just a shark.”

McCoy’s eyes widened.   “That thing was huge.  Had to be… thirty feet long?  That was a shark?”

Allistor chuckled.  “It’s just like on land, my friend.  The big fish eat the little fish, they get bigger and stronger.  Only with the new system in place, they get a lot bigger and a lot stronger much faster than before.”

“Or maybe it’s not a native shark.  An Earth shark, I mean.  Maybe it’s a monster like the canids and octopoids.”

They all watched as the shark thrashed just below the surface, then dove deep.   It hadn’t been visible long enough for Allistor to Examine it.  He waited impatiently for it to surface again so he could see its level.   When it finally came back up, it burst from the water, its entire body emerging in full view as it continued to struggle against the cable.

Great White Shark

Level 30

Health:  28,200/33,000

“She’s a beauty!” Dan admired the giant fish as it splashed back into the waves and disappeared.  Allistor didn’t ask how he knew it was a female, unsure whether that was just a sea term, like referring to the ship as ‘she’.

McCoy looked from Dan to Allistor.  “Do you want me to blow it?”

Allistor deferred to the man with fishing experience with a look.

“Don’t see the point.  The shark’s mouth is bleedin’ enough that if your big beastie is out there, it’ll smell it.  And it’s fighting enough to send signals through the water for miles.  I say leave it on the line until it tires, or something bigger takes it.”

Allistor had to ask.  “What if the something bigger just eats the tail half and not the hook?”

Dan laughed.  “Well, then we wait and hope it’s still hungry enough to come back for the rest.”

Allistor went back to his chair, Helen and McCoy sitting nearby.  Bagwell’s voice boomed out over the ship’s intercom.  “What’s going on down there?”  Everyone looked up to see his face practically pressed against the glass of the bridge’s rear window.

One of the crew, a woman that Allistor had heard Dan refer to as Midge, waved a hand and moved over to pick up a radio handset mounted to a pole below the bridge.  She quietly reported in and relayed the decision to keep the massive shark on the line.

The suns were steadily rising in the sky above, and the deck began to heat up.  Another cooler was opened to reveal sodas, water bottles, and beer cans in ice.  Allistor took a water and sipped at it, then pressed the cool plastic against his forehead.   Leaning back, he looked up at the dual suns.

He hadn’t paid a lot of attention to them after the first week or so.  Initially it had taken some getting used to, with everything a slightly different color than normal.  The bright white star, whose name Allistor made a note to ask Harmon about, cast a clean light, and he suspected it burned hotter than the sun he’d been born under.  The darker shadow sun gave off a purple light that offset the white and tinted everything slightly more blue than normal.  Or, what had been normal before the world ended.

Everyone had adjusted pretty quickly to the new light spectrum, and none of them gave it much thought anymore.

Allistor’s thoughts began to drift, and he was very nearly asleep when the boat lurched toward the port side and shuddered from an impact.

“Did we hit a sandbar or something?” Helen asked.

Dan shook his head.  He opened his mouth to tell them the water here was much too deep, when he was drowned out by a shout over the loudspeaker from Bagwell.

“Holy shit, there it is!  It just bumped us as it passed underneath!”  His voice was raised in excitement, adrenaline pumping through his system.

Allistor felt the adrenaline rush too.  Along with everyone else on board.  Since the boat had tilted to the port side, they all dashed to the starboard rail as the ship righted itself.  Allistor nearly pitched himself over the edge, just managing to take hold of the rail and arrest his momentum.

Peering down into the water, which was reflecting the light of both suns back at him, couldn’t see anything at all.  Disappointed, he looked up at the bridge, and Bagwell.

“It’s behind us now.  It just passed by the shark, I think.” he spoke at just above a whisper, as if the amplified sound coming out of the ship’s loudspeaker wouldn’t be heard.

They all looked astern, and Allistor noted that the line connected to the shark was barely moving.  The thing had fought nonstop, but now it wasn’t moving.  Allistor didn’t blame it. If something big enough to rock the ship swam past him, he’d freeze too.

The ship’s deck was dead quiet, the only sound coming from the engines and the splashing of the waves against the hull as they all unconsciously held their breath.

After a full two minutes, it seemed that the shark’s tactic of holding still as the monster passed had worked.  The humans all looked at each other, shaking their heads and shrugging.   Bagwell’s voice echoed across the deck.

“Maybe there wasn’t enough blood?  What if we shoot the shark, or something?”

McCoy nodded, handing the detonator to Allistor and heading for the metal stair that led up to the bridge level.   When he was high enough to have a clearer line of site, he produced a rifle with a large scope mounted on it.

Allistor heard him call out to Bagwell, “Give it some gas.  Pull the thing to the surface so I can hit it.”

A moment later, the boat began to pick up speed.  It took a full minute for the massive shark to surface, and as soon as it did, the thrashing and fighting resumed.   A shot rang out, then McCoy cursed.  A second shot caused a red bloom to appear in the shark’s dorsal fin, and a hole appeared near the top.

“Got it!  You can slow back down.  Maybe circle around?” McCoy spoke loudly enough for Bagwell to hear him through the glass.

The boat slowed and began to turn south, circling toward the port side.   They’d only made maybe a fifteen degree turn when the water behind them exploded upward.  It reminded Allistor of old film clips he’d seen of underwater mine detonations.  Or a submarine performing an emergency breach that sent it practically flying up out of the water.  A gargantuan head appeared, its jaws clamped down on the shark as it thrashed back and forth.  Allistor quickly Examined it even as the gator-like head was followed by a long sleek body with flippers much like a dolphin’s, its body arching and tail lashing as it followed the head back into the water.

Mosasaur Leviathan

Level 50

Health: 532,000/532,000

Allistor and the entire crew stood with mouths agape, their inner lizard brains cringing, and their bodies frozen in fear.  It was one thing to take on a sixty or eighty-foot tall walking void titan.  This monster had been nearly the size of their boat, and had come up from the depths without warning.  Its jaws had sheared through the giant shark with ease, leaving its tail and the last five feet or so of its body to float for a moment, then sink into the depths.

The humans shook themselves after a moment, the metallic screaming of the rapidly unwinding steel cable reminding them that they had now hooked a true nightmare.    Dan started shouting.

“Stop the boat!” He motioned toward the winch. “We need to increase the drag and slow it down if we can!  If it hits the end of the line at this speed, it’ll rip the crane off the deck, maybe rip the ship in half!”

Allistor, still terrified and having no clue what to do, ran toward the crane.  When he reached it, he stood there looking helpless.   Dan reached the controls at about the same time, hitting a bright yellow button.  As the sound of the unspooling line dropped to a lower tone, Dan got in Allistor’s face.  “Go tell the captain to stop the boat!  Then put it in reverse, one quarter!”

Allistor nodded dumbly, racing over to the radio handset that he’d seen Midge use earlier.  He fumbled with it for a moment before getting a solid grip and keying the talk button.  “Dan says stop the boat!  Then reverse one quarter!  Or we risk ripping the boat in half!”  He found himself screaming hysterically into the mic.

A moment later the boat’s forward momentum began to slow as the sound of the engines all but disappeared.   The whine of the cable playing out and the squeal of the winch trying to resist the force of the pull became the only thing Allistor could hear.

After a long minute, the forward motion ceased altogether.  The boat held still for a brief moment, and Allistor felt his stomach flip as water began to splash against the stern.  The sea monster was now pulling the boat, causing waves to crash higher and higher, coming over the aft rail.   Terrifying visions of the boat being dragged underwater flooded Allistor’s mind.  Followed by even worse scenes of the monster coming for him as he sank beneath the waves.

The engines kicked into reverse, and the tension on the cable eased slightly.  Allistor was staring down the line of the cable to where it disappeared under the water, when McCoy stumbled and caught his attention.  Seeing the man jogged his memory, and he shouted.

“Hey!  What the hell are we doing?  We don’t need to reel this thing in and risk the boat!  McCoy, push the button!”

The rest of the crew looked as if they emerged from a fugue state.  Every pair of eyes moved to McCoy, who was staring at his hand and the detonator it held.  He quickly flicked up a safety cover and pressed the button.

The boat lurched as the pull from the leviathan abruptly ceased.   Allistor found himself ducking down as the ocean in front of him erupted in what started as a white mushroom of rising water, but quickly turned pink.   Bits of sea monster and probably shark meat rained down across the water, some of it even reaching the deck and crew.

Everyone on the boat leveled up, some of them getting several levels.  Allistor got one.

Level up!  You are now Level 36!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Dan was shouting again, this time at Bagwell up in the bridge.  He was waving one hand around in a circle, calling out, “Turn the boat around!  Pull up alongside!”

Bagwell nodded, putting the boat back into forward motion and turning as sharply as it could.  The rest of them looked out at the bloody, mutilated corpse of the leviathan.  It had rolled onto its back, the white underbelly exposed.  Up near its head, where Allistor assumed its gills would normally be, there was a massive, gaping hole.  The shark’s body must have lodged somewhere in its throat when the monster began pulling the boat, keeping it from swallowing its meal.

When they pulled alongside, Dan said, “Quick!  Jump down and loot it!” He took hold of the unused steel cable on the other crane and set the winch to unwind.  Pulling the cable toward the port side where the carcass was now floating, he took a moment to tie a heavy rope through the eye at the cable’s end.   Tying the other end of the rope to a stanchion, he waited for the cable to unwind a bit more, then leaped over the edge.

Allistor looked on with astonishment as the man fell ten feet or so into the water, slapping the sea monster’s belly as he fell past.  Loot secured, he kicked his feet and swam underneath the monster’s tail.  Surfacing on the other side, he used one arm to hold himself against the tail, while he tried to wrap the cable around it with the other.

“Need some help down here!  Some muscle!  And hurry before the sharks start to show up!”

Allistor, shook his head, thinking the man was crazy.  But he wasn’t about to leave one of his people in danger by himself.  So he jumped over the rail, imitating Dan as he touched the monster’s flesh and looted it before his head plunged below the bloodstained surface.  He swam over to where he saw Dan’s legs pumping, then surfaced.

As quickly as they could, the two men wrapped the cable several times around the monster’s tail in front of the split tail fin.  Once Dan was happy that it was secure, they swam to the ship’s stern and climbed out.  Several of the others who’d jumped in to loot the monster were already back on deck and McCoy reached down to lend a helping hand.

The minute Dan was back on deck, he grabbed the rope that was attached to the cable and wrapped it around one of the winches.  Activating the machine, he watched carefully as the four-inch thick rope was hauled in slowly.  Eventually, the lead end of the cable was pulled in as well, and Allistor helped Dan secure it with a massive clamp attached to the base of the crane.

Turning to shout up at the bridge, he shouted, “Home!  Fast!”

The engines kicked in again, and the ship began to pick up speed.  Bagwell steered her back toward the island and the cove.  Allistor and the others watched as the massive mosasaur’s corpse was turned in the water, then pulled by its tail like a gigantic tuna being hauled in.  The carcass shed a trail of blood and bits of flesh as the boat moved faster and the wake caused the catch to bob and thrash along.

McCoy started to chuckle, then laugh loudly, slapping one knee.  The others looked at him like he was insane.  Allistor finally asked, “What’s so funny?”

McCoy took a few deep breaths, then said, “It just occurred to me that maybe that thing isn’t the biggest baddest fishy down there.  What if right now we’re using it as bait for an even bigger sea monster?”

“Nope.” Allistor started shaking his head.  “Uh uh.  No way.  Why would you even say that?” He pushed McCoy away from him slightly, the man laughing again.  “You know the rules!  Never say shit like that when you’re in a dungeon or hostile territory!  The RNG will make your worst nightmares come true!”

The others on the deck all began to look around, searching the water for any sign of another monster.  Allistor crossed his fingers, and moved over to the radio.  Pressing the talk button, he said, “McCoy just cursed us.  I need you to move this thing as fast as it will go!”

He wasn’t sure, but it sounded like the ship’s engines cranked up a bit higher.  At least, that’s what he convinced himself as he moved back to near the aft rail to watch the monster being dragged behind them.   A moment later, Dan was pushing him to one side, pointing from the sea monster in the water to the crane it was attached to.

“If something bigger takes that bait, you don’t want to be between the fish and the crane.”

Allistor nodded his thanks, and took a few more steps to the side, just to be sure.

None of the crew relaxed during the short voyage back to the cove.  Dan directed Bagwell to steer the ship right into the protected and shallower waters of the cove, rather than parking it at anchor where it had been before.   He’d played the line out a bit more while they’d been moving fast, letting the creature’s weight pull it farther astern.   Then he went up to consult with Bagwell.

When they entered the cove, he steered the ship as close to shore as he dared, then turned her hard to port and cut the power down to one quarter.  The ship slowed as it turned, the prow getting too close to the cliffs for Allistor’s comfort.  But the maneuver worked, and the monster’s momentum carried it into the shallows where it beached itself in about ten feet of water not far from the docks.   The ship came to a halt at the mouth of the cove, her bow pointed out toward open water.   A moment later, the anchor dropped, and the crew gave a loud cheer.

*****

There was a huge feast that night at every Stronghold in Allistor’s domain.  The leviathan provided enough meat to feed everyone, and then some.   Meg and Sam consulted with some of the others who’d raised their Cooking skill, and passed around recipes.  The leviathan meat was alternately grilled, sautéed, broiled, served raw like sushi, stewed, and smoked.  Whichever method and recipe the various chefs used, the base buff from the meat was +4 Strength, +3 Stamina, and +10% Health Regeneration for six hours.  Many of the chefs managed to increase those numbers with their techniques.

Allistor made sure a good store of the meat was preserved in rings for use before battles or dungeon runs.  Buffs like that shouldn’t be wasted.  Fuzzy helped himself to the chunks of leviathan meat left on the beach after it was butchered, plopping right down in the shallow water and eating his fill.   Allistor swore the bear consumed his own weight.

The remaining goblins were quickly executed by the lowest level people at Pelican Bay who were willing to participate.  The kills earned them several levels, and they were allowed to keep any loot they were awarded.  One of the young women who stepped up and took part in the execution received a scroll for a spell called Fade that would put the user in stealth mode, making them nearly invisible.  She was thrilled, and was about to open the scroll and learn the spell when Allistor stopped her.   It took some persuading, but eventually she agreed to let Ramon and his people copy the scroll first.  Allistor ended up paying her ten thousand klax to wait a few days before learning the spell.   He also secured her promise not to share that fact with anyone.  He didn’t want it to become a trend to charge him for use of the scrolls that were looted.

Happy with the day’s events, and glad to have the goblin prisoner issue resolved, Allistor returned with Fuzzy to the high rise in Invictus and spent a quiet evening with Amanda, Helen, and the two girls.  Fuzzy was quickly banished to a corner near the window after he tried to lick Addy with leviathan-guts breath.

Chapter 13

Morning brought some interesting news.   The moment Allistor was awake and moving, Nigel informed him that he had a message from Gene.

“Go ahead and play it for me please, Nigel.”

“Hey Allistor, it’s Gene.” Allistor rolled his eyes. “So between my guys and me, and the robots, we’ve managed to repair the colony ship.  I thought we might take it for a spin.  Interested in coming along?”

“Hell yes I’m interested!” Allistor’s grin spread from ear to ear.  He reached over and began to shake Amanda.  “Did you hear that?  The colony ship is flying again!  Let’s go check it out!”

She mumbled into her pillow, something about “seen one, seen ‘em all” and swatted blindly at him to shoo him away.

“Okay fine.  Stay here and sleep.  If you don’t mind, maybe find something for the girls to do today?  They seem to like cooking, but maybe there’s another craft they’re interested in?”

She just shot him a very specific hand gesture and pulled a blanket over her head.

Chuckling to himself, he grabbed a shower and headed down to the lobby.  It was past sunrise, and his people were bustling around, some grabbing breakfast, others moving to use the market kiosk.   Battle droid guards stood motionless in various spots around the building, only their eyes moving to track potential targets.

He stopped at the main dining hall and grabbed some toast, bacon, and orange juice.  While he was eating, he asked Nigel to put him in touch with Gene.

“Morning, boss.”

“Hey Gene!  Great news about the colony ship!  I’m headed to see you in a few.  Is it like, fully repaired?  As in safe to fly?  I thought I’d bring a few people and get them started on some crew skills, but if the ship might crash…”

“The goblins weren’t that great at maintenance.  I think the ship is actually in better condition than when it first arrived.  The droids are amazing when it comes to repairs, and they only stop working to recharge.”  He was talking a mile a minute, and Allistor grinned at his bacon.  “Oh!  And all of us have leveled up our Mechanic, Engineering, and Circuitry Repair skills.  I didn’t even have that last skill until yesterday.  Now it’s level four!”

“Okay, okay.  You can tell me all about it when I get there.  I haven’t seen the bridge yet, what kind of stations does it have?  Like, navigation, weapons, and such?”

“Umm… Communications, Sensors, Navigation, Weapons, Engineering, Logistics… that’s all that I remember.”

“Alright, I’ll round up some people, and I’ll see you soon.”

Chewing and swallowing his last bit of bacon, he gulped down a long drink of his orange juice.  He took a quick look at the clock on his interface, which read 9:30am in his time zone. “Nigel, loudspeaker please, everywhere except the west coast.”  He didn’t want to scare people out of their beds.

“Go ahead, Sire.”

“Good morning everyone!  Prince Fancypants here.  I’ve just been informed that the colony ship we captured has been repaired.  We’re going to take it for a little test flight later this morning.  The thing is, that ship, and our other one too, need crews to operate them.”

He paused for the newly-awakened to get their brains on straight.   “That’s right!  We’re gonna have our very own space fleet!  Well, right now it’s three ships.  But hey, it’s only been a few days, right?  Anyway, I need bridge crew that are interested in navigation…” He ran through the list that Gene had given him.  When he was done, he added, “We’re also going to need engineers and mechanics to make repairs or modifications to the ships.  We’ll need a chef on each one, and some kitchen… excuse me, some galley crew to assist with cooking, cleaning, and serving.”

He paused to try and picture all the old Star Trek episodes he’d watched.  “We’ll need somebody to run the cargo bay, and a few fighters, I’m sure.  So, if you’re interested in serving at least part time on a spaceship… how cool does that sound?” He paused to wink at some of the people standing nearby. “Report to the Citadel in thirty minutes.  We’ll all take a ride, and see if we can’t figure out who will be good at what.”

Several of the people who were already in the building came toward him to ask questions or volunteer.  He got them to ask one at a time, and answered loud enough for everyone to hear.  About a dozen people had volunteered, and they were all heading toward the teleport pad when he heard his name being shouted by a familiar voice.  And not in a happy tone.

“Allistor!” He turned and spotted Amanda coming toward him, the two teenage girls behind her.

“Hey hun!  I thought you were going to sleep in.”  He knew by the look she gave him then that he’d said the absolute wrong thing.

“I was indeed going to sleep in.  Then some fool made an announcement about training to be space cadets or some shit.”  She gave him an even dirtier look, and pointed over one shoulder with her thumb.  “These two came bursting in demanding that they be allowed to go.  Wouldn’t let me go back to sleep until I brought them down here. You wanted me to find something they were interested in?  Mission accomplished!  They’re all yours.  I’m going back to bed.”   Without another word she turned and strolled back toward the elevators.

The two girls tried to look contrite, but were clearly too excited to pull it off.  “Can we come with you?  Amanda said it was okay!”

Allistor shook his head, unable to resist their enthusiasm.  “Don’t make a habit of waking Amanda when she’s trying to sleep in.  She knows all the most painful places to poke and cut you.”

Both of their eyes widened for a moment, until his grin escaped.  Relaxing, they immediately started bombarding him with questions as they all walked toward the pad.  “Nigel, please request that Gralen and his top three senior officers join us.”

“It shall be done, Sire.”

A minute later they were climbing into a caravan of vehicles and driving down to the airport where the ship was secured, along with a few hundred others, including four of the beastkin mercenaries.

Gene greeted them at the ramp that led up into the cargo bay.  Allistor shook the man’s hand in greeting.  “Great job, Gene!”

“Thanks, Allistor.  I heard your message about recruits.  FYI, when you do those, it broadcasts in the ship, too.  Made Parkins bump his head on a console.” He grinned and nodded toward a scowling man that had to be Parkins.

Gene continued, motioned Allistor and the others to follow him up the ramp.  “So we didn’t have a whole lot of time to prepare, but we’ve got tables and crates set up here in the cargo bay for interviews.   Based on the crowd behind you, I’m guessing that will take a good part of the day.”  He paused, smiling, then spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“But there’s no reason we can’t be airborne while we work!”

There was a cheer from the volunteers and the engineers who’d already been working on the ship.  Everyone climbed the ramp and gathered near the center of the cargo area where a space had been cleared.  A unit of twenty battle droids stood guard around the bay’s perimeter, while another twenty stood in formation near a charging station.

“Alright people,” Allistor raised his hands.  “Gene here is going to the bridge to fire this baby up in a few minutes.  Before he does that, I’d like to choose a few of you to accompany him and begin to get some experience at the various operations stations.  So raise your hand if you’re here for navigation.”   Maybe a dozen hands went up.  Too many, if each station had that many hopefuls.  He ran through the other posts that Gene had listed, and in each case there were multiple applicants.  Weapons was the most popular, with close to forty volunteers, nearly all men.

“Well, that’s not going to work.” Allistor observed.  “Okay, navigation.  I’m thinking of a number between one and fifty.  Closest gets first shift on the bridge.”

The prospective navigators shouted out numbers, and one was chosen.  He used the same process for each of the other stations.  When they had their first bridge crew chosen, Allistor asked Gene to lead them to the bridge.

“Gralen.  You and your officers are the only ones here with knowledge of what skills are best suited to the various posts on a ship like this.” He held up a hand as the mercenary started to object.  “I know, you run a military ship, and this is a colony ship.  But it can’t be that different, can it?”

Gralen looked like he still wanted to object, but just shrugged instead.

“That’s what I like!  Such confidence!” Allistor winked at him.  “Alright people!  Captain Gralen and his officers are going to set up at tables and interview each of you.  They’ll ask you some questions about your skills, what your goal is here today, and… I don’t know.  Please answer them honestly and completely, so they can help us figure out who’s best suited for the various crew positions.   And keep in mind, we have three ships now, so there are lots of positions to go around.  And by the time we leave Earth to take the fight off-world, we may have more ships.”  There was a spattering of cheers from the group.

“But before you sit down, I want to be clear.  If you sign up to crew one of these ships, you will be putting yourself in harm’s way.  We’ll be leaving Earth sooner than later, with the intent to make trouble among the aliens.  It might be a suicide mission.   We could be blown out of the sky by hostile forces before we leave Earth’s atmosphere.”

Allistor looked around at the suddenly less enthusiastic faces.  “There’s no shame in going home.  We’ve all had to fight to survive this first year.  We’ve all lost family, friends, people we cared about.  I know I’d like to just settle down and enjoy some peace and quiet for a while.  And I wouldn’t blame any of you for feeling the same.  Anybody who feels like returning home, head on back to the Citadel and get a nice breakfast.” He gave them what he hoped was a reassuring smile, then turned and left the cargo bay, headed for the front of the ship.

The moment he stepped through the door, two things made him shake his head.  First, he realized he had no idea where the bridge was.  And second, he heard Gralen begin to shout.  “Line up in four columns!  Bridge crew wannabes to the left.  Engineering next.  Fighters in third column! Support in column four!”  After a brief pause and a question Allistor couldn’t make out, Gralen added, “Support is cooking, cleaning, maintenance, cargo… everything that doesn’t fit into the first three.

*****

Allistor took his time finding the bridge.  He wandered the corridors of the ship, peeking into rooms or down side corridors as he went.  The ship was huge, with several decks, and he was lost after just a few turns.  He decided the bridge was likely on the highest deck, so he kept going until he found an elevator.  When the doors opened, he stepped inside and prepared to push the top button.

There were no buttons.

“Uhh… hey Nigel can you hear me?”

“Of course, Sire.  I have reached an agreement with this ship’s AI as I did with Alpha on the yacht.”

“Great.  Please take me to whatever deck the bridge is on.  And… point me in the right direction?”

“Certainly, Sire.  From this lift, you turn left and proceed to the first junction.  There you will turn right, and the bridge is approximately fifty meters straight ahead.”

“Thank you, Nigel.  I’d be lost without you.  Literally.”  Allistor grinned up at the ceiling.

“Quite amusing, Sire.  And you are most welcome.”

When the elevator reached the proper deck, Allistor followed Nigel’s directions and arrived in the bridge to find Gene in an undersized chair near the center.  The others were all sitting in similar chairs at the various stations.  Allistor had to stifle a laugh.  The furniture was built for the much smaller-statured goblins, and his people looked like parents visiting a pre-school classroom sitting in the tiny chairs.

“Uhh… Gene?  The droids couldn’t build you bigger chairs?” Allistor did his best to keep a straight face.

Blushing, Gene turned to him, the tiny captain’s chair squeaking as it swiveled.  Allistor couldn’t help it, he burst out laughing.

Gene rolled his eyes, waiting for Allistor to get himself together.  “Yes, they did in fact produce larger chairs.  But the consoles were also designed on a smaller scale, and the larger chairs would have them all knocking their knees.  We have a plan for refitting the entire bridge. The components are being manufactured down in the fabrication lab on the engineering deck.  Once they’re complete, it’ll take us three days to switch it all out.”

Allistor asked, “What about the toilets?” He couldn’t help but snicker a little more.

“Luckily, the rest of the ship was constructed to more average scale.  The beds in crew quarters are six feet long; the toilets, and the tables and chairs in the galley are slightly smaller than we’re used to, but comfortable enough.   I believe the goblins may have hired out the ship for non-goblin colonists at some point.”  Gene sounded slightly offended, and Allistor decided to give him a break.  Adopting a more serious face, he addressed the crew.

“Bridge crew!  Gene is your Captain on this trip.  He’s the only guy in the room who can fly this thing…” He turned to Gene. “You can fly this thing, right?”

Gene just gave him a dirty look.

“Sorry.  So, yeah.  This first flight, you shouldn’t have much to do.  Sit and observe your stations, try to absorb what’s going on.  If we start to crash, or get attacked, or something… well I don’t know what you should do.  So listen to Gene!  Follow his orders, remain calm, and let’s have some fun!”

The crew looked at him like he was insane, and he didn’t care one bit.  He was about to go up into space in his very own goblin colony ship.

Gene turned his chair back toward the main viewscreen, the squeak once again causing Allistor to snort.  He thought about taking an empty seat to the right of Gene’s, but decided against it.  Instead he stood right behind the captain’s chair and watched over Gene’s shoulders as he powered up the engines.

Allistor and the crew cheered when they felt the ship lift off.  The viewscreens activated, showing the horizon in a three-hundred degree arc as the ground dropped away below them.   Allistor wondered why they couldn’t see directly behind the ship, but waved the concern away to be addressed later.

The ship passed up through the clouds and climbed higher.  In just moments, the blue sky darkened, then disappeared to be replaced with the emptiness of space.  The twin suns were considerably brighter without the filter of Earth’s atmosphere, and the screens dimmed to compensate.  The sheer number and density of stars visible was nearly overwhelming.

“Aaaaand, we are officially in space!” Gene shouted, giddy as a kid on Christmas morning.  The crew cheered again, but it was more subdued as they were distracted by the view.

“Nigel, ship-wide intercom, please.”  Allistor waited a moment, then said, “Attention all crew.  We have left the Earth’s atmosphere and are orbiting the planet.  Congratulations!  You’re all astronauts.  Or… space… navy…force… marines… Damn!  We should have thought of a cool name before we left!  Anyway, welcome to outer space!  If you’ve completed your interview, you might want to find a window, or porthole, or whatever.  The view is pretty awesome!”

Allistor resumed his observation of Gene’s piloting as he pulled up various displays.

“The AI is doing most of the work here.  Once we were airborne, I simply designated a low Earth orbit, and followed the path it gave me.  Just like when Kira was flying the yacht.”

When he didn’t get any increase in his Aviator skill, Allistor began to move about the bridge, peering over the crew’s shoulders at their various displays.  The sensor operator seemed to have gotten the hang of her station’s basics, at least.  There were several holo-displays showing in an arc in front of her, including one that looked like a bubble that surrounded the ship.  When Allistor pointed to it and asked what it was, she explained.

“Just figured that one out myself!  That’s our sensor bubble.  That’s not its real name, I’m just calling it that.  It’s the area covered by our short-range sensors.  They are the most sensitive and accurate, for obvious reasons.  We also have longer range sensors that can be directed in a specific direction, or sweep all the space around us like radar.  Only much cooler!”

The weapons officer was grinning at the display in front of him, which looked like a three-dimensional version of an ancient video game.  There were multiple target reticles sweeping the space around the ship, and the crewman was using them to target space rocks and the broken remains of what had once been Earth’s satellites.  Every time he got a target lock, he mumbled, “Pew! Pew!”   Allistor laughed, patting the man on the shoulder.

“Give ‘em hell!  Just don’t actually pull the trigger, yeah?”  The man nodded with a wide smile before turning back to his display.

The engineering station featured a large central hologram of the entire ship, with various sections highlighted with different colors.  Each of those sections had its own zoomed in display that was color-coded to the master.   A quick check didn’t show Allistor any flashing red lights or anything that signified danger or failure, so he assumed the ship was in working order.

One by one he checked out the stations as they orbited the planet.  Sensors called out the occasional alien ship approaching, and the crew watched with bated breath as the ships grew larger on the view screens, then passed by without incident.

The third time that happened, the approaching ship altered course to intercept them.  Communications called out, “Uh, Captain?  Boss? We have a transmission coming in from that ship.  They sound pissed.”

Gene looked at Allistor, who just stared back.  Looking toward the comms station, he said, “Put it up on the screen.”

She pushed a holographic button, and a face filled the center viewscreen, making it about eight feet tall.  If Allistor had to guess, he’d say it was an elf.  The face was angular, with pointed ears that swept back close to the skull.  The skin was pale, and youthful looking.

“How dare you insult us in such a manner!?” The elf’s pale face flushed slightly pink with anger.

Gene looked at Allistor, who nodded.  “You’re the Captain.”

Clearing his throat, he said, “I am Gene Sullivan, Captain of this vessel.  I assure you, we meant no insult.”

The face grew redder, though the expression changed very little, remaining disturbingly placid.  “You have targeted my ship with your weapons array!”

Every head on the bridge turned toward the weapons officer, who was trying unsuccessfully to sink into his tiny chair.  Allistor heard him mumble, “Oh, shit.”

Allistor stepped forward.  “My name is Allistor.  Planetary Prince of Earth, and ruler of Invictus.  You have my sincere apologies… I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

The body attached to the giant face leaned back, and they were all able to see some of the elven ship’s bridge.  It was beautiful.  Full of graceful curves and smooth lines.  And the chairs looked very comfortable. The elf’s voice took a slightly more respectful tone.

“I am Commander Enalion of the High Elven faction Or’Dralon, and Captain of the colony ship Ileriel.”

“I am pleased to meet you, Commander Enalion.  I must apologize for the misunderstanding.  We just recently captured this ship after its goblin crew attacked us.  This is our first test flight after completing repairs.  The crew and I, being human, have never been in space before today, and are learning to use the technology.  I’m afraid my weapons officer was just targeting everything around us as practice.”

The elf seemed to calm a bit, the red shade fading from his face.  “Prince Allistor. It is considered extremely rude, if not outright hostile, to track another ship with your weapons.  I suggest you do not do so again, unless you intend to fight.”

“Thank you for your understanding and advice, Commander.  May I ask where on Earth you intend to land?  If your colony is anywhere near my lands, I would enjoy the opportunity to speak with you more.  Perhaps you would join me for dinner sometime?  I’m afraid we’re probably still rather more humble and unsophisticated than you’re used to, but we are learning and growing quickly.”

The elf inclined his head slightly.  “I see that you have achieved a significant amount of fame with our faction.  You seem to be favored by at least one of the Ancient Ones.  It would be my pleasure to dine with you.   We are headed for the deep woods of a place called Vermont.”

“A beautiful place!  And just a very short flight from my Capital City, or a quick step, once you have set up your teleport hub.  You’ll need time to settle in, I’m sure, so I’ll leave the invitation open, for your convenience.”

“Until we meet again, Prince Allistor.  May you rule long and wisely.” The elf actually bowed his head, and Allistor returned with an awkward hand motion that was half salute, half wave.   Allistor was distracted for a moment as his screen flooded with both Fame and Infamy Points.

The crew all watched as the graceful-looking elven ship resumed its previous course and descended into the atmosphere.   The weapons officer tried to avoid eye contact with everyone, keeping his focus on the display in front of him.  He jumped and nearly fell from his chair when Allistor’s hand settled on his shoulder.

“Can I assume that you will not make that mistake again?” Allistor tried to look and sound as serious as he could.

“Absolutely, boss!  No targeting other ships, boss!  Loud and clear.  Burned right into the brain, it is.”   The others chuckled and Allistor let a grin escape.

“Great.  Do me a favor and pass that on to the others who take up the weapons station.  Maybe stick a note on the console there somewhere.  I don’t need to be at war with the elves or anyone else this week.”  He patted the man on the shoulder and turned back to Gene.

“Are we… burning fuel while we’re up here?  What does this thing run on?”

Gene’s eyes lit up.  “Hydrogen!  We topped off our fuel when it rained yesterday.  Just opened the collectors atop the hull and let the rainwater flow in to be processed into hydrogen, oxygen, and its other components.  The oxygen went to the ship’s environmental systems, while the other trace elements were separated and stored in tanks in the fabrication lab for future use.”

“So how long can we stay up here with our current fuel supply?”

Gene’s eyes rolled up toward the ceiling as he did some calculations.  “Well, this is just a rough number, but… three months?”

Allistor coughed.  He’d been expecting a few hours, maybe a day.

Gene explained.  “It takes very little energy to maintain orbit, and these engines are incredibly efficient.  The takeoff took some energy, obviously, as will our landing.   But if we had sufficient food and water, we could stay up here quite some time.”

“Excellent!  I’ll go back to the cargo bay and see how things are going there.  I’ll send up another round of bridge crew applicants in… an hour?  Give you some time to assess this group.”

Gene nodded, and Allistor retraced his path back to the cargo bay.

“Ah, Allistor.  How were things on the bridge?”  Gralen asked.

“Ever heard of the Or’Dralon faction?”

Gralen nodded.  “One of the older and more powerful elven factions.  They control several star systems.”

“Yeah… we almost went to war with them a few minutes ago.”  Allistor’s words made all four of the mercenaries’ heads jerk toward him in alarm.

“That would be… very bad.” Gralen said, hoping the human was somehow joking.

Allistor decided to make a lesson of it for everyone.  “Listen up, people!  We had an incident on the bridge just now.  Something I want all of you to learn from.  The first group we sent up as potential bridge crew were at their stations, experimenting and learning how things work.  Our weapons officer was practicing with the targeting system, targeting everything within range, and shouting ‘Pew! Pew!’ as he pretended to fire.”  The humans in the group laughed, and Allistor let them.  He figured a little humiliation would cement the lesson for the guy up on the bridge.

The mercenaries quickly realized what was coming and looked on with dread.

“As it happens, he targeted one of several vessels that were approaching Earth.  One of them, an elven vessel of the Or’Dralon faction, took offense.  They changed course and nearly blew us away.  It seems targeting another vessel is considered quite rude.”

There was a good deal of mumbling and whispering among the group.  Gralen’s hands clenched and unclenched as he stepped closer to Allistor.  “Please tell me you apologized?”

“I did.  And I invited the commander who contacted us to dinner.  It seems I have a decent reputation with his faction, and he accepted.”

“Thank the Ancient Ones.” Gralen breathed a sigh of relief.

“He mentioned that I had earned the favor of one or two of them, as well.  Whoever they are.” Allistor casually mentioned.

“That is very good news, Allistor.  And possibly the only reason we still live.  The Or’Dralon are high elves, an ancient faction of warriors, crafters, and scholars.  One of the oldest, in fact.  They establish a presence on nearly every newly acquired world, and have become so powerful that even my guild hesitates to accept contracts against one of their members.  When we do so, the payment required is… significant.   There is a rumor that the payment required for the last contract we undertook against them was an entire habitable moon.”

Gralen looked at him as the other mercenaries nodded.  “Had you not defused the situation, the commander would not have stopped with destroying this vessel.  His people would have destroyed every one of your people and properties on Earth.”

Now it was Allistor’s turn to feel a bit queasy as the scope of the disaster he’d just avoided sunk in.

Gralen put a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “On the bright side, you’ve just successfully negotiated a positive resolution to a potentially disastrous inter-faction confrontation.  I imagine that will positively impact your reputation.”

Allistor nodded, feeling numb.  “I got a screen full of points notifications.  Both good and bad.”

Gralen looked concerned.  His voice took on a very firm tone.  “Sire, I strongly urge you to take a seat right now and make detailed notes of who those points came from.  Particularly the Infamy Points.   Going forward, you will need to know who your allies and enemies are.  And just as importantly, you need to know the allies and enemies of your allies and enemies.  If you received Infamy Points for avoiding conflict with the Or’Dralon, knowing who disapproved will be vital.  Eventually, you will need to know whether they disapproved because they dislike the elves, or because they were hoping for your death.  Do you follow?”

Allistor nodded, moving toward a crate and taking a seat.  “I hear you.  And thank you for pointing that out while the notifications are still fresh.  I’ll make it a habit to try and track all this going forward.”

Gralen smiled.  “It will become second nature after a while.  There are entire disciplines dedicated to the gathering and analysis of such information.  You’ll find that you will acquire a skill or two as you undertake the effort.   Masters of those skills are valued assets among the factions, paid great sums to analyze the data and make socio-political predictions on their employer’s behalf.”

“Gralen, I need your help.  I know nothing of the universe outside Earth’s atmosphere, and little more about what Earth is becoming.  I need advisors who can give me information like you’ve just shared, but give it to me before I manage to get myself obliterated out of stupidity.  I’d like you to advise me, and maybe recommend another advisor or two I could hire?  Like one of those analysts?”

Gralen shook his head.  “I doubt you could afford one of the masters, Allistor.  And frankly, you are not yet in a position to need one.  You are… forgive me… still insignificant.  But I might be able to recommend a few beings that I’ve run across in my travels.  Beings I trust to honor a contract with you, and serve you well.”

“Great!  If you’ll have your men send up the next round of bridge crew candidates in about forty-five minutes, and finish with the interviews, you and I can find a room to sit and talk while I make note of who likes me, and who doesn’t.”

Chapter 14

After a full day of orbiting the Earth while the various crew candidates cycled through short shifts on the bridge, Gene took them back to Earth.  Allistor had Gene set the ship down inside the Citadel’s walls, the ship covering a big chunk of the former parking lot on the east side.   He reasoned that if another attack came, it would be difficult for him and his people to defend the ship from the walls of the citadel if it were parked at the airport.

As they were departing the ship, Allistor called out to Gralen.  When his newest advisor joined him, he gave several orders.  “I’d like you to have your crew pilot your ship to New York.  They can park it inside the walls at the Old Fort location, not far from Invictus headquarters.  From now on I want all of our assets protected as best we can manage.  Also, I’d like to sit with you and your officers regarding the interviews you just completed, and your assessments.  Give me thirty minutes to get Kira, Gene, and a few others rounded up, and meet us in Invictus.  If you have time to do so, please reach out to the analysts you were talking about, and inquire what it would cost for them to join us.   Let them know they’d have to be oathbound as well.”

Gralen saluted and turned toward the teleport pad without a word.

“Nigel, please ask everyone on my advisors list to meet me in Invictus in thirty minutes.  Direct them to the largest meeting room we have.  And ask the dining room to prepare some food.  Nothing formal, just finger food and drinks.”

“It shall be done, Sire.”

As Allistor walked, he thought about how much he relied on Nigel lately.

“Nigel, we’ve talked a few times about upgrades that would allow you to, for instance, provide holographic communication between all the facilities.  I’m curious.  How do you get upgraded?”

“There are several ways, Sire.  The most common is for the property owner to purchase upgrades.  There is a list available in my tab on your interface.”

“You have your own tab on my interface?” Allistor asked, then instantly felt bad for not knowing that already.  “Never mind, stupid question.  I’ll check it out while we talk.  Keep going, please.”

“Of course, Sire.  I can receive upgrades by absorbing other AIs that possess capabilities that I do not.  I can also learn from allied AIs.  For example, I have learned a great deal about flight systems from Alpha, your yacht’s AI.  As well as obtained an extensive star chart.”

“Cool!” Allistor stopped walking while he opened and reviewed the tab that was conveniently labeled Nigel. “Okay I see a lot of available upgrades here.  It would take me an hour to read through them all.  Let me ask you this, Nigel.  If you could choose for yourself, what would be your top three upgrades?”

“I would choose an Interface Level upgrade first, Sire.  I am currently Level 3, which is mainly due to the points I have accumulated as you’ve increased your holdings, and thus my scope of responsibilities.  Level 4 would constitute a significant upgrade of all my systems, including memory, processing speed, sensor range, as well as my intuitive algorithms.”

“Intuitive algorithms?”

“Yes, Sire.  They allow me to anticipate your needs, based on your previous actions, requests, tendencies, and a substantial list of other factors.  At higher levels, they allow me to offer suggestions or recommendations that may be helpful to you and your citizens.”

“Our citizens, Nigel.  You are as much one of us as any human.  You’re family now.”

“I am honored, Sire.  The upgrade to Level 4 is quite expensive, I’m afraid.  Two hundred million klax.”

“That’s a no-brainer, Nigel.  Go ahead and purchase yourself that upgrade.  Or do I need to do it?”

“I’m afraid you must personally complete such transactions, Sire.  A safeguard put in place by the System to prevent AIs from upgrading without authorization.”

“Right. Can’t have a SkyNet rebellion happening.” Allistor replied sarcastically.  “Alright, what about other upgrades.  Hit me.”

“As you mentioned, Sire, I would upgrade my communications network.  The cost is relatively low at twenty-five million klax.  The upgrade would allow secure holographic conferencing between all of your facilities and ships.  Thus negating the need for your advisors to travel to meetings as they are doing now.”

“Damn!  And… you didn’t recommend this because… I haven’t upgraded your intuitive algorithms.” Allistor shook his head.

“In part, Sire.  My program does not currently allow me to offer unsolicited information in the form of suggestions or advice.  That is standard Interface programming.  Should you choose the Level upgrade, you would still need to instruct me to make use of the intuitive algorithms and offer the aforementioned suggestions.  Much as you have done by inquiring as to which upgrades I would select for myself.”

Allistor rolled his eyes.  “I feel like this is Coding 101 class, day one.  The part where the professor says that a computer will not perform an action without you instructing it to do so.”

“Quite correct, Sire.  Even sentient AIs like myself are limited by a few basic laws at the core of our programming.  That is one of them.”

“And the third upgrade you would choose for yourself?”

“I would choose the Imperium upgrade, Sire.  It would increase my ability to defend against intrusion by hostile AIs, as well as allow me to take control of and absorb enemy AIs of a lesser Level or capability than my own.”

“Hostile AIs?”  Allistor’s eyes thinned.  “You mean like, someone could attack Invictus and use their AI to take control of you?”

“That is correct, Sire.  It is rare for AIs above Level 2 to be attacked.  However, there are factions such as the Or’Dralon whose AIs are at much higher levels than my own.  Should they choose to do so, they could launch a combined attack.  Should their AI manage to overpower me during such an attack, they would be able to disrupt your communications, transportation, and defensive capabilities, making it impossible for you to deter their physical attacks.”

“Well, we can’t have that!”  Allistor used the search function in his Nigel tab to select and purchase all three upgrades.  The total cost for all three was four hundred million klax.  Allistor would have paid ten times that amount for the increased functionality and protection.  He mentally confirmed the transaction, then closed his interface, and his eyes.

When there were no fireworks or golden lights, he opened first one eye, then the other.

“No big light show for your upgrades, huh Nigel?”

“I’m afraid not, Sire.  We AI generally go unnoticed.  The System creators did not see our growth metrics as being noteworthy.”

“Well, let me be the first to congratulate you on your upgrades, Nigel!  I hope you enjoy them!”

“Thank you, Sire.  I am quite pleased with our choices.”

“Ha!  Looks like one of those upgrades included some humor algorithms or something!  I like it!” Allistor grinned as he stepped onto the teleport pad.  “Please send me to Invictus.”

When he arrived in the lobby of the Invictus high rise, Nigel informed him, “Your advisors are gathering in conference room three alpha.”

A map of the building appeared as an overlay to Allistor’s mini-map, with a blue dotted line indicating where he should go.  The room was on the floor below his personal quarters, so he moved to the elevators and rode up.

As soon as he stepped off, a door to his left opened automatically.  He stepped through into a wide corridor and looked around.  Almost immediately, another door opened twenty feet to his right, and he heard familiar voices.   “Thank you, Nigel.”

“Certainly, Sire.  The food is currently on elevator three and will arrive in two minutes.”

Allistor grinned as his stomach growled.  Intuitive algorithms indeed.

He found Gralen and his officers already in the room, along with Kira, Gene, Helen, and Amanda.  He gave Amanda a brief hug and kiss before taking a seat at the head of the long table.  “Guess what I did today?”

“Nearly start a war?  We heard.” Amanda poked him in the ribs.

“Nooo… that wasn’t me!  That was… well, I don’t remember his name.  The weapons dude.  But I’m the one whose charm and quick thinking averted a war, thank you very much.”

He looked from face to face, awaiting the praise and accolades he was due.  Amanda just smiled at him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.  “Who’s the coolest Prince of Earth?  You are!” she spoke to him like he was two.  Helen did her best, but couldn’t keep from laughing, immediately joined by Kira.

Gralen and his beastkin looked at the floor or gazed out the window, trying to remain neutral.

Gene threw him a bone.   “I, for one, am very grateful that your… charm and quick thinking… kept me from being blown out of the sky today.  Thank you, Allistor.”

Allistor blew Gene a kiss, causing all the ladies to laugh again.  Even Gralen cracked a smile.

The food arrived, along with more of the advisors from various Strongholds.  Allistor and the others helped themselves to food and took seats.  Within a few more minutes, everyone had arrived, grabbed dinner, and sat at the long table.  Looking around, Allistor smiled at the twenty or so people in front of him.

“Thank you all for coming!  Especially on short notice.  I have a few announcements while you eat.  First, this may be the last time you all have to travel to see me for meetings like this.  I’ve just purchased a few upgrades for Nigel, one of which will allow us to have 3D holo-conferences for meetings like this going forward.  I know, you’re all gonna miss dropping everything to run somewhere for a meeting.”  He grinned as several people snorted.

“Next… most of you heard that we took the colony ship up today.  We spent most of the day orbiting the Earth, watching alien ships arrive, and testing out potential crew members at the various bridge stations.  We also almost got into a war, but I got us out of it.  There’s a faction of elves called Or’Dralon who are setting up in the woods of Vermont, and possibly other areas.  We’re on a semi-friendly basis with them now, and I’ve invited them to dinner here soon.  Apparently, if we anger them, they can squash us like bugs.  So… as a new general rule… nobody anger any elves, okay?”

He didn’t wait for answers before moving on.  “Gene, Kira, Gralen.  Tomorrow I’d like you to use your three ships to drop off another round of raid crews.  They’ve had a chance to rest for a bit, and we need to continue to claim what territory we can.  We’ll discuss potential targets later in this meeting.”   All three nodded.

“For all of you who are running my Strongholds.  I have recently learned that fighting with our guns and cannons is potentially harmful to our reputations with the various factions.  And that reputation is vitally important now that we are out of Stabilization.  Apparently, melee combat is considered more honorable.  So we need to beef up our crafting abilities ASAP.  That means armor, weapons, potions, all of it.  I need you to get with your crafters, find out where they are in their skill development.  Then figure out what they need to get better, and make sure they have it.  I’m going to be right there with you.  This week, when I’m not raiding, I’m going to hit the smithy and see what I can do to level both my Weaponsmithing and Improvisation skills.”

Lars, Logan, Chris, Juanita, George, Michael, and several others all nodded or mumbled words of agreement.

“Ramon, you’re my MVP when it comes to this stuff.  I’m depending on you and yours to crank out the scrolls and find useful books to help our people out.  I’m making your group a priority, so recruit as many people as you can manage, and start training them.  There’s no reason people can’t cross-train, either.  I plan to spend a little time with you and learn a few basic scribey skills myself.  Especially Cartography.”

Turning to Gralen and his beastkin, he added, “That includes you.  You’re with us for the next few years, and there’s no reason you can’t learn new skills, or help teach the skills you already possess, in order to contribute to the success of our community.”    He held up a hand as one of the officers opened his mouth.  “I’m guessing you were about to tell me that this is not a requirement of your oath.”  He waited as the beastkin nodded curtly.

“Fine.  Then in return for your active cooperation in this and other endeavors, I’m offering each of you who participates an extra salary.  Let’s say, ten gold coins per week.  That’s about twelve thousand klax per week, or just over six hundred thousand klax per year.  In addition to the opportunity to learn new skills for free.”

Gralen shot his officer a look, then cleared his throat.  “That is most generous of you, Allistor.  We accept.”

“Great!  I’m going to add a crafting hall to each of the Strongholds to make it easier for folks to work.  And I’ll expand them to assure there’s enough room for everyone-”

“Pardon me, Sire.  But I must inform you that one of the sentry droids on the northern wall reports that master Logan’s Stronghold is under attack.”

“What?!” Logan was on his feet. “Who?”

“Human attackers, approximately thirty of them.  They are attempting to use ropes to scale the walls.”

As Logan started for the door, Allistor asked, “Do you have anyone there guarding it?”

“Negative.  I was going to purchase some droids soon, but I was focusing on upgrades to the Stronghold itself.” Logan exited the door, running for the elevator.

“Nigel, send whatever droids we have that are close by.  Notify Prime to get a force of at least twenty of them there ASAP.  And don’t let Logan jump in a vehicle.  We’ll take the yacht, it’s faster. Kira we need to leave, now!”

“Of course, Sire.”

Everyone else was on their feet and headed for the elevators.  Nigel having anticipated their need, had already sent two more cars up to their floor.  They all piled in and emerged a minute later at the lobby level.  Logan was there, pacing back and forth.

Allistor wasted no time.   He jogged out the lobby doors, headed west toward where his yacht and Harmon’s ship were parked.  Logan ran next to him, neither of them wasting breath on words.   Kira, who had sprinted ahead, disappeared into the garage ahead.

It only took a few minutes for the group to run the four blocks to the garage structure.  Nigel had the elevators waiting for them, and as the slower runners caught up, they once again crowded inside.

When they reached the roof, Kira already had the ship powered up.  The cargo bay ramp was down and the door open, waiting for them.  All of them boarded, and even as the ramp was retracting and the door closing, Kira was lifting off.

Allistor looked around.  There were a dozen battle droids in the bay, a protection detail permanently assigned to the yacht by Prime.   As the ship began to move forward, Allistor said, “Nigel, give us an update.”

“None of the attackers have managed to reach the top of the wall so far.  Four battle droids were dispatched from atop Invictus’ wall and have engaged the humans.  They have focused on taking down those already climbing.  The other humans are firing on the droids.”

“Logan, is there room to land the ship inside your walls?”

The man thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.  “The walls are pretty close to the museum building.  But we could land in the park just outside.”

Allistor shook his head.  “Open the bay doors please.”  The ship was already slowing, the trip from the parking garage to Central Park taking less than a minute by air.

The large door opened, and most of the party stood near the edge of the bay, looking down at the attackers.   “Kira, hover here, please.   Nigel, loudspeaker, and give me some light.” The suns had set a few hours before, and there was no moonlight.  Several bright lights blinked on and shone down from the ship, blinding the people below.

“Go ahead, Sire.”

“Hey!  You assholes down there attacking my friend’s home!  Stop now and surrender, or we will be forced to take you out!”

Several of the men and women below stopped firing at the battle droids and crouched down or took cover behind whatever they could find nearby.  The ones on the wall were busy dodging fire from the battle droids.   Even as the party watched, a plasma round hit the rope above one man’s head and burned through it.  The man yelled as he dropped twenty feet, landing on his back on the pavement.  He lay there, unmoving.

“Kira, lower us down to twenty feet.  Battle droids, deploy and surround the humans.  Do not kill them if it can be avoided.  I want them captured.”

The droids moved without hesitation, sprinting toward the open bay door and leaping out even before Kira had lowered the ship to twenty feet.  They hit the ground, their legs absorbing the impact seemingly without effort, and began to fan out in a half-circle, trapping the attackers between themselves and the walls as they formed up in coordination with the droids already on the ground.

Allistor called out again.  “This is your last warning.  You’re trapped and outgunned.  There’s no need for more of your people to get hurt.  Put down your weapons!”

A woman wearing black combat fatigues and body armor stepped out into the open.  Looking up at the ship, she shouted, “Who the hell are you?!”

Behind him, Allistor heard Juanita say, “Shit, that’s Rhonda.  I know her.”

“My name is Allistor.” Allistor pointed toward the massive walls of Invictus just a block or so away. “That’s my City, Invictus.  This Stronghold belongs to my friend, Logan.”  Logan stepped forward as Allistor nodded in his direction.  He raised a rifle and pointed it at the woman’s head.

“You got ten seconds to put down your weapons and get your people off my wall, or I’m putting a round between your eyes!”

“You’re humans?  Shit.”   The woman raised her hands, then motioned for her people to do the same.  The ones on the wall had already been shot down, or dropped back down on their own to keep from being shot.   All the attackers set down their weapons and raised their hands.

Allistor waited until the droids had stepped forward and collected the weapons, rounding up the prisoners and sitting them on the ground before giving Kira the go-ahead to land.  Droids carried the dead and injured over and set them on the ground with the others.

As soon as the ramp was down, he and his party stepped down and walked over to the prisoners.   Logan took the lead, while Allistor and several others cast Light spells and sent globes to hover over the prisoners.

“What the hell?  Why did you attack me?”  Logan shouted at the woman.  Amanda and Nancy moved around them to begin healing the wounded.

The same woman who’d spoken before stood up.  She raised her hands again when the droids and Logan raised their weapons.  “Easy!  Easy.  We didn’t know you were you.  I mean, that you were human.  We thought it was an alien Stronghold.  Been watching this place for days, and there was no sign of any movement inside.”

“So you just thought you’d help yourselves.” Logan spat on the ground, his grip on his rifle tightening.

“Hell yes!” Rhonda practically growled.  “The aliens have attacked us twice.  Killed a dozen of my people.  We saw what we thought was a way to get some payback, and claim a Stronghold at the same time.”

Juanita put a hand on Logan’s shoulder.  “C’mon, man.  You might have done the same thing.  There’s no harm done here.  I know Rhonda.  She’s good people.”  She looked from Logan to Allistor, her expression pleading.

Logan relaxed his grip, lowering his weapon and taking a deep breath.  Rhonda put her hands down, letting herself relax a bit.  “Look, I’m sorry.  If we had known it was yours, we would have just knocked and asked for help.” She took a moment to look over at her newly healed comrades.  Only one body still lay prone on the concrete.  The man who’d fallen and landed on his back.   He’d been dead before the droids carried him over.   “Thanks for healing my people.” she muttered.

Juanita stepped forward, moving between two battle droids and extending a hand.  “Good to see you again, Rhonda.  You said you got attacked?”

“Goblins.” Her eyes flashed with fire.  “Little bastards swarmed us in the middle of the night.  Our guards must have been asleep, because they were inside our walls before we even knew they were there.  We were forced to abandon our Stronghold, and I lost six people.   We retreated about thirty blocks and took refuge in a warehouse.  Lost two more people clearing the building.  A bunch of us didn’t even have weapons.  Didn’t have time to gear up before we ran.”  She paused and took a deep breath, tears forming in her eyes.

“They attacked again the next evening.  Four of my guys with decent rifles held the front door while we escaped through a sewer tunnel.  They died giving us time to get away.”

“Shit.” Logan stepped forward, extending a hand.  “I’m Logan.  I’m sorry for what you’ve been through.”  They shook hands.

Allistor motioned for the droids to back off, and they each took about ten steps back.  The prisoners got to their feet.   He stepped forward and addressed them.

“We’ve been attacked by goblins as well.  In fact we’re apparently involved in a blood feud with them now.  At least, with the clan that attacked us.  We can help you get your Stronghold back.  Or you can decide to join us.  Either way, we’ll kill those goblins.   But for now, let’s get you guys some food.”  He looked at the group of humans.  “Is this everybody?  We can send vehicles to get the rest of your people.”

Rhonda stared at him for a full thirty seconds, clearly trying to decide whether to trust him.  When she looked to Juanita, the woman gave her a smile and a nod.

“It looks like Juanita trusts you, and I trust her.  There are a hundred and twenty of us total.  No need for vehicles, the others are close by.”  She whistled loudly, and waved both hands in the air.  A moment later, people began to emerge from a dark building down the street.   As they moved closer to the lights, Allistor could see the twenty or so in the front carried weapons, those behind them carried meager supplies, gear, and a few children.

Allistor smiled at the approaching group, trying to look friendly.  “Let’s get everybody onboard, and we’ll take you back and get you fed.”

A scream from the approaching group was quickly followed by shouting and gunfire.  A man shouted, “Goblins!” even as the group broke into a run, fleeing their attackers.

Goblins poured out of the surrounding buildings, firing weapons and swinging blades.  Allistor shouted, “Kill the goblins!  Defend the humans!” as he ran forward.  “Nigel!  Tell Prime we’re under attack!  Send more troops!”

The battle droids, Allistor, and his entire party charged into battle as the mostly defenseless survivors fled toward them.   His people started shouting, “Get inside the ship!  It’s safe in there!”

Allistor targeted the nearest goblin that was about to stab one of the men trying to defend his people and cast Mind Spike.  The goblin dropped its blade, screaming as it grabbed its head with both hands.  Another human picked up the weapon and stabbed the creature in the face.

Allistor ducked out of reflex as several plasma blasts blew past above his head.  Kira had activated some of the ship’s weapons, and the cannons blasted away five or six goblins with each hit.  There were too many to count, though, and the cannons were barely making a dent.

The battle droids formed up in a line between the goblins and the humans, each of them firing two plasma rifles simultaneously.  Charging goblins dropped by the dozens, but still more of them charged forward.    Allistor Examined a few of them.

Goblin Raider

Level 35

Health:  9,500/9,500

Goblin Scout

Level 40

Health:  8,200/8,200

A moment later, one of the droids broke out of formation and trotted back to Allistor.  Prime’s voice emerged from its voice box.   “Sire, I have two hundred battle droids with flight capability en route.  They will arrive in forty seconds.  You are within range of two wall-mounted cannons.  Have our people get down, please.”

Allistor looked at the chaotic scene in front of him.  He saw humans on the ground, wounded and bleeding, but still moving.

“Hold!  We’ve got wounded humans among the goblins, Prime.  Don’t fire the cannons until we have them secure.  Send in the droids to retrieve them.”

Instantly, every other battle droid in the firing line sprinted forward.  Guns blazing, they blasted their way through the charging goblins, most of whom had already bypassed the wounded in their haste to chase down the others.  A few turned to follow the droids, attacking them with swords, spears, and clubs.   Allistor cast Mind Spike over and over, taking down each of them as they followed the droids.

There were ten humans down in the street, and each of them was lifted by a droid.  Those who didn’t have a passenger turned and began to fire at the goblin horde from behind.  Those carrying wounded dashed off down a side street and out of Allistor’s line of sight.

Prime didn’t need to be told the humans were clear.  Cannon blasts from atop the walls of Invictus were followed by massive explosions among the goblins that sent bodies and body parts flying.  The ship’s cannons continued to fire as well, taking out small groups of the little monsters.

Allistor’s party were all firing and casting spells as well.  Allistor saw more than one goblin scream and fall apart as they were eaten by Andrea’s Dissolve spell.   Multiple Flame Shots blasted out in the form of fireballs, and came crashing down in columns of fire from above.  He saw Ramon cast Erupt, causing a spike to shoot up from the ground and impale a goblin that was about to throw a spear.

Behind him, he heard Rhonda shouting at her people, encouraging them to get into the ship.  A moment later, she stood next to him.  A green glow surrounded her hands, and the concrete under the goblin’s feet erupted in several places.   Thick vines whipped up through the cracks and took hold of any goblin that got too close.  Some were ripped apart, others squeezed into pulp.

Turning to catch Rhonda’s eye, he asked, “Druid?”  She nodded, her face grim.  A moment later she cast another spell that caused six goblins in front of her to sprout some kind of mold on their skin.  The green patches started small, but rapidly expanded to cover their bodies as the goblins screamed and writhed on the ground.  Another goblin stumbled over one of the afflicted, and it too began to scream as the killer mold spread to its skin through contact.

The sky brightened as two hundred battle droids with rocket packs floated down from above.  They began firing before they even hit the ground, devastating the front of the horde.  Several tossed out grenades before they landed, continuing to fire with their other three hands.

As the droids touched down, the entire block in front of them erupted.  The grenades threw flame and shrapnel in every direction, cutting through the goblins and knocking over a three-story building in the process.  More goblins were buried in the rubble.

Allistor got a party invite from Amanda and accepted it without thought.  He continued to cast Mind Spike and Erupt, burning through his considerable mana pool as experience numbers flashed across his interface.

The fight lasted less than a minute after the reinforcements landed.  Outmatched, the surviving hundred or so goblins scattered, retreating into buildings or down side alleys.  Immediately teams of droids set off in pursuit.   Allistor and everyone else in sight leveled up.

Level up!  You are now Level 37!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Level up!  …

Level up!  …

Level up!  You are now Level 40!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Amanda appeared next to Allistor, grabbing Rhonda’s arm to keep her from charging away.  “Rhonda, hold on.  Your people are all on the ship.  The ones who were wounded are being healed.”  She sighed before continuing.  “Three were killed.”

Rhonda raised her head to the sky and let out a scream of frustration.  “Aaaaaaargh!  God damned goblins!  I hate this new world!”

Amanda brought her into a hug, squeezing the woman tight for a few moments.  When she let go, there were tears in both their eyes.  “I’m Amanda, by the way.  I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”

“Thank you for your help.  I saw you healing my people earlier.  I appreciate your kindness.” Rhonda mumbled, her heart not really in it as she was distracted by her pain.

Allistor tried changing the subject.  “I was impressed with your casting.  Never seen those spells before.”

“What? Oh.  Thanks.  I’m mostly a healer, but when I chose the Druid class at level ten, it came with a couple offensive spells.”  She shook her head as if clearing her mind.  “Listen, I think I need to thank you again.  Those bastards must have followed us.  They were probably sitting there the whole time, waiting for us to open that Stronghold so they could bum rush us and trap us inside.  We’d have had no way out.”

Allistor nodded.  “Glad we could help.  And I’m sorry for your losses.”   He looked around at the hundreds of goblin corpses.  “Amanda here was quick-thinking enough to group everybody up.  So hopefully your people got a bunch of levels.  Even with all of us splitting it up, hundreds of level thirty and forty mobs means tons of xp.”  He looked back at the ship, then at the remaining droids standing guard.

“I think it’s safe now.  Have your people come out and start looting whatever bodies they can.”

Rhonda nodded and walked off toward the ship, calling to her people and waving them toward her.  Allistor turned and walked out into the piles of bodies and parts, reaching down to loot whichever bodies he could.  Since it was his droids and weapons that killed the vast majority of the nasty little monsters, he was able to loot most of them.  His people moved forward with him, helping out.

Every once in a while, more experience would flash up on his interface as his droids caught up with goblins and eliminated them.  The droids would loot those bodies for him and whatever they received would be deposited directly into Nigel’s vault.

When the looting was completed, Allistor tasked six of the droids to gather wood from the collapsed building’s rubble pile.  They retrieved enough to create a sizeable pyre.  Amanda saw what was happening and went to speak with Rhonda.  After a few moments, the woman nodded, and her people went to retrieve their dead.

The bodies were placed upon the pyre, and Allistor gave Rhonda time to say a few words.  When she’d finished speaking, he called a column of flame down upon the bodies, and the pyre began to burn.

Allistor was turning back toward the yacht when more than a dozen experience notifications popped up.  Immediately after that, all but the highest-leveled among them glowed gold with additional level-ups as a notification popped up.

Congratulations!

You have successfully defended an attack upon Invictus City!

Your party has defeated a goblin horde!

Defense bonus:  Horde’s average levels at least ten levels above your party’s average level!  Reward: 700,000 experience points.

Achievement earned: Get Off My Lawn!

Allistor shook his head.  Immediately after the notification, a large number of Fame Point awards scrolled across his interface.  He lost count at two dozen, and some of them were for a significant number of points.

Looking around, he located Gralen standing not far away.  Walking over to the beastkin, he asked about the Fame Points.

“I cannot say for sure, Allistor.  Different factions will award points for different reasons.  I noted that you did not use a firearm during the fight.  That may have been a factor.  Also, you defeated a horde of nearly five hundred goblins with minimal casualties.  Some factions simply detest goblins as a race, and will award points for killing them regardless of the circumstances.”

“But we used the wall cannons, ship’s cannons, and droids with plasma rifles.” Allistor pointed out.

“All of that is perfectly acceptable and honorable when fighting large battles such as this.”  Gralen hesitated for a moment.  “I believe if you look closely, you will find Fame Points awarded by my guild.  I have great respect for a commander who would make sure his wounded are evacuated from the field before unleashing cannon fire upon the enemy.”

“Wow.  Well, thank you Gralen.” Allistor was oddly touched by the gesture.

As the last of the hunter droids returned to the battlefield, Allistor detailed a dozen of them to remain at Logan’s Stronghold until he could purchase some of his own.  The rest boarded the ship along with the humans and beastkin, and Kira flew them back to the parking garage.

Prime was waiting for them as they stepped off the loading ramp.  “Sire.  The droids who pursued the fleeing goblins reported a Stronghold with goblin occupants.  I have assigned three scouts to monitor the facility and report back hourly.”

Rhonda growled.  “That’d be our home.  I was hoping all the little bastards had come out and gotten themselves killed.”  Several of her people mumbled similar sentiments.

“We’ll go finish them off in the morning.” Allistor promised.  “I’ll arm any of your people who want to come along.  But for right now, let’s get some food in you.  We’ve got beds for everyone.  Breakfast is at 7:00am, and we can talk some more then.”

Helen and Amanda led the way and Allistor smiled and waved or offered reassuring words to Rhonda’s people as they passed him at the bottom of the ramp.

When the last of them had walked down the ramp to exit the garage, Allistor said, “Nigel, put all of them in sleeping quarters on the same two or three floors of the tower.  Prime, station a few extra guards on those floors, just in case.  Once they’re in, nobody leaves those floors until breakfast.  Can’t be too careful.  Also, I need to know how many goblins are left in that Stronghold.  And whether there’s a ship nearby that we can capture.”

“Of course, Sire.” Prime answered. “Though I doubt there will be a ship.  This was a horde, not a group of colonists.”

“What’s the difference?”  Allistor asked as Kira joined them, and they began to walk toward the elevator.

“Colonists arrive by ship.  They are generally more intelligent, and fight as sentient beings with better weapons and strategy.  A horde spawns on a world, generally in a small group of maybe twenty, including breeding females.  If left unhindered in an area with sufficient food and resources, the horde will grow.  They are considered monsters, though they are at the high end of the scale in terms of intelligence – able to craft crude weapons and armor to begin with.”

Kira looked thoughtful.  “So this horde, they likely spawned here in the city sometime early in the Stabilization period?  And they’ve been growing all this time?”

“That would be the most likely scenario, Kira.  Though it is possible that someone delivered an intact horde to the city, it is unlikely.”

“And if they hadn’t run across us?  Or been killed in some other way?” Allistor asked.

“Eventually, a horde may grow strong enough that they evolve into a clan.  Their elders receive bonuses to Intelligence and Strength.  They begin to improve their living conditions, learn spells, and develop or discover better technology.   The longer a clan survives, the stronger and larger it grows.  When they reach a sufficient level of growth, they may branch out to colonize, as you have seen.”

“So basically, no different than human evolution.” Kira smirked.

“But much faster.” Prime replied.  “A horde can go from its initial spawn, to a clan capable of colonizing, in a decade.  Sometimes less if they receive assistance.   There are factions that have been known to assist a horde’s development in order to use them as a weapon.”

They reached the tower shortly after Prime finished his explanation.   Their guests were already gathering in the largest dining room, forming a line to receive a hastily prepared meal before taking seats.  Allistor walked past a group who’d already begun to eat, smiling as he heard several complimentary comments on the food.

Wanting to retire for the evening, but not done with the business of the day, he asked Nigel to have his advisors return to the conference room to finish their meeting.

Chapter 15

Morning brought a few changes to Allistor’s expansion plans.  Rather than send out raid groups to claim more territory, he brought them all together in Invictus City to form a single raid against the remainder of the goblin horde.

Rhonda and her people descended together for breakfast, and Allistor introduced her to the raid leaders.  When they’d all finished their meals, Allistor stood to address them.

“We’re going to kill the rest of those damned goblins this morning.  My people and I will be leaving shortly.  I know some of you want payback, and if you would like to come along, you are welcome.  But I need you to promise that you’ll hang back.  These goblins are double, and for some of you, triple your level.  You’re no match for them.   I’ll give you weapons to defend yourselves with, but I will need a promise from each of you that you won’t fire unless they break through our lines.  I can’t have you shooting me or one of my people from behind by mistake.”

He looked around at the grim faces of his visitors.  “I need to speak to Rhonda about a few things, so I’ll give you all ten minutes to decide.”

Taking his seat, he motioned for Rhonda to sit across from him.  “I’ll keep this short.  I was hoping that you and your people would want to join us as citizens of Invictus.  Besides the protection and opportunities we offer, you all get some decent buffs just for being one of my people.  Buffs that might help in this morning’s fight.”

Rhonda stared into his eyes for a moment, as if trying to see something beyond his words. “We talked about it some last night.  A lot of my people are in favor of joining up.  I’m not as convinced.”

“If you’re worried about losing your position, you would become one of my advisors.  Maybe even a Minister once we figure out what your skills are and how you fit in with the rest of us.”   He waited, but she didn’t reply.  After half a minute, he changed the subject.

“The other thing I wanted to talk about is your Stronghold.   I want your permission to blast the hell out of it.”

Her eyes widened and brows furrowed and she opened her mouth to respond, but Allistor held up a hand, and she closed it again.

“Hear me out, please.  You tried to capture a Stronghold last night, one that was barely defended to begin with, and you lost somebody.  Nearly lost several more.  Trying to take a Stronghold occupied by potentially hundreds of level thirty to forty goblins is going to cost a lot more lives.  Especially if we try to do it using just ground forces.   Instead of throwing away precious human lives, I’d like to pound the hell out of those goblins using a couple of our ships.  Then, when most of them are dead, and the walls compromised, we can move in ground troops and finish them.”

Rhonda shook her head as she considered his words.  Allistor could see her looking for a reason to refuse.  In the end, though, his logic won out.

“You’re right.  The buildings themselves are not worth more than the lives of our people.  Thank you, for pointing that out.  And yes, I approve of your plan to wipe them out.  In fact, melt the whole thing down to glass if you need to.  I think we’ll be coming to live here with you.”

Allistor grinned and held out a hand.   Rhonda shook it, then got up and moved to speak with her people.  Allistor turned to Gralen and his beastkin.

“Gralen, I’d like you to retrieve your ship and bring it here.  I’d also like these officers to round up their best candidates for a bridge crew and take them to my yacht.  They can supervise that crew while both ships pound those goblins into dust.”

Gralen simply saluted and moved toward the teleport pad as he spoke to Nigel.

Walking out to the lobby, Allistor found Prime standing near the exit.  “Prime! I’m sure you’ve heard we’re attacking the goblin horde this morning.  Have you detailed some battle droids to accompany us?”

“I have, Allistor.  There are one thousand troops already marching northward toward the gates.  They will arrive at the Stronghold in question in approximately twenty-five minutes.”

“Great!  That’ll give me time to load up my raid crew, and get the mercenary ship here as well.  Please have your troops surround the Stronghold and take out any goblins they find outside the walls.  Once the air attack commences, they should kill any goblins attempting to escape.”

“So shall it be.” Prime saluted just as Gralen had done.

The raid groups were gathering in the lobby, along with Rhonda and her people.

“How many of you are coming along to deal with the goblins?”

About half of Rhonda’s people raised their hands.

“Great!  Let’s get you some rifles.  I’m going to give you regular Earth hunting rifles, because I intend to keep you too far back from the front lines to use plasma rifles.” He looked at Bjurstrom, who nodded and moved off toward the armory.  “Follow Bjurstrom there, and he’ll get you situated.  Meet back here in ten minutes.  You’ll be getting a raid party invite from one of us.  Just accept it so that you can share in the xp when the goblins start dying.”

While they waited, Harmon entered through the back doors with several of his orcanin.  “Good morning, Allistor!  I heard a rumor you’ll be demolishing a goblin horde this morning.  I was wondering if a few of my specialists might tag along?”

“Of course, Harmon.  But you should know, I intend to use my ships to pound them into oblivion before we charge in.  There might not be much for your orcanin to do.”

Harmon grinned.  “You misunderstand.  While they are certainly willing to assist you in the battle, these orcanin specialize in the culinary arts.”

Allistor looked confused for a moment, then a light bulb went off.  “And you want to make some goblin stew, or whatever.  Gotcha!  Happy to oblige!”

He grinned at Harmon and his chefs as Amanda whispered, “Ew.” behind him.

“Wonderful!  They will, of course, turn over any loot they acquire to you and yours.  Will you have room for them on your ship?”

“Yup!  The droids are already headed there on foot, so only human and orcanin passengers this time.”  Allistor nodded as Rhonda and her people approached with Bjurstrom.  “And it looks like we’re ready to head out.  I’ll see you later, Harmon.”

“Good hunting, Allistor.  I’d invite you to the feast this evening…”

“Ha!  Thanks, but no goblin stew for me.”  Allistor waved to his merchant friend and headed out the door.  His raid group walked the four blocks to the parking garage where they boarded the yacht.  Kira, the beastkin, and their selected crew members trotted off to the bridge.

Allistor called out, “Nigel, ask Gralen when he will arrive, please.”

“Gralen has departed Denver and is en route.  Estimated time of arrival is fifteen minutes, Sire.”

“Alright folks.  You’ve got fifteen minutes to poke around the ship while we wait.  If you get lost, just call out to Nigel or Alpha, and they will direct you back here.”   More quietly, he said, “Nigel, please seal off the captain’s quarters, owner’s quarters, engineering, and any other sensitive areas.”   He wasn’t worried about sabotage, but he didn’t want anyone accidentally breaking something.  And he didn’t know half of these people yet.

Most of the new people opted to stay where they were.  Allistor left the cargo bay along with a few who wanted to explore.  “Anybody who wants to see the bridge, follow me.”

A minute or so later he was stepping onto the bridge.  Kira was there, powering up the engines.  The four beastkin officers were looking over the shoulders of the new crewmen.  Allistor chuckled to see the same man who’d nearly started a war with the elves sitting at the weapons station.   Walking over, he said, “Is this chair more comfortable?”

The poor man jumped in his seat, then turned to look up at Allistor.  He was blushing, and couldn’t meet his Prince’s eyes.  “Much better, boss.”

“Well, unlike last time, I’m going to expect you to fire those weapons today.  Though, do me a favor and don’t target anything until we reach our destination.  And only shoot down at the goblins.  If you see anything that looks like it might be an elf, hold your fire.”

The man snorted.  “Gotcha, boss.  Lesson learned.  I promise.” The other crewmen and beastkin grinned or laughed at the man’s discomfort.

Allistor spoke briefly to each of the new crewmen, offering words of encouragement and a pat on the shoulder.  With a nod to the mercenary officers, he moved to stand behind Kira.

“Okay, so I have no idea how to do this.  I’m going to say follow Gralen’s lead.  I assume he’s going to hover, as that’s what they did when they attacked the Bastion.  So match his altitude, make sure our guns are pointed in the right general direction, and uhh… do what he does.”  Kira rolled her eyes at him.

It wasn’t long before the crewman at the sensors station reported that Gralen was arriving.  Kira lifted off, and spun the ship to follow Gralen to their destination.  It took less than two minutes to fly the short distance to Rhonda’s Stronghold.    Kira matched Gralen’s altitude exactly, moving into position about a hundred yards off his port side.  Allistor watched the viewscreen as it shifted its focus downward.

There were more goblins than he’d thought.  Apparently the force that had followed Rhonda and her people was just a small portion of the overall horde.  The ground inside the Stronghold’s walls was thick with goblins pouring out of the buildings and dashing back and forth.   The gates, which had been standing open, were quickly closed.   Goblins lined the walls, and arrows began to fly up toward the ships.   The primitive weapons didn’t even make it half the distance before falling back to earth.

The woman manning the communications station called out.  “Incoming transmission from Gralen, screen three.”

Allistor didn’t know which was screen three, but went ahead and assumed it was the one with the big wolverine-like face on it.  “Heya, Gralen.  We’re just gonna follow your lead here. Prime has his troops surrounding the Stronghold, so try not to hit any of them? Oh! And if possible, Harmon would like us to leave enough bits to snack on. Other than that, I say let’s demolish this place.”

Gralen, who had started grinning at the snack comment, nodded.  “We will drop a few high order explosives to begin with.  There is no active shield at the moment, so the pressure wave will work to full effect.”

“Perfect!  We’ll, uhh… shoot at whatever survives your bombs.” Allistor gave the Captain a thumbs-up.  When Gralen’s face disappeared, Allistor looked to one of the beastkin.

“Pressure wave?”

The mercenary grinned, exposing sharp teeth.  Allistor wasn’t positive but he thought she was a pantherkin.  Her ears were slightly rounded, and her fur was nearly midnight black with a slight hint of spots.  He had no idea whether it was offensive to ask, so he didn’t.

“High order explosives send out a massive pressure wave when they detonate.  The force of the wave throws bodies off their feet, and often liquefies their softer organs.  In an enclosed space like this Stronghold, the wave will be even more deadly, bouncing around within the small space.  You requested ‘snacks’ for Harmon.  This method will leave the goblins quite tenderized.”

She nodded toward the viewscreen, and Allistor shifted his gaze just in time to see something drop into the courtyard below.  There was a fiery explosion that was smaller than Allistor had expected.  But every goblin within fifty feet or so of the impact simply disappeared in a red mist mixed with concrete gravel and dust.   Those farther away were tossed outward like ragdolls in a wide ring around the epicenter.  Allistor’s stomach heaved as he saw goblin bodies pulverized against buildings.   At least one of the crew members lost their lunch.  Allistor started receiving experience notifications, then leveled up.  He actually felt guilty over it.

“My god.  That’s…”  Allistor turned away as he noticed a second bomb falling toward the already devastated Stronghold.  Though the viewscreen thankfully wasn’t transmitting sound, he heard the thump of the bomb’s detonation and felt the vibration through the ship’s deck.   He pulled a canteen from his ring and took several sips of water.

The gunner, sounding slightly sick himself, called out, “The other ship’s guns are firing on remaining targets.  Permission to fire, boss?”

Allistor looked at the screen again, seeing plasma bolts descending upon goblins along the top of the wall.  Clearing his throat, he replied. “Permission granted.  Fire.” His voice was rough, barely louder than a whisper, but the gunner heard him.

“Firing.”  There was no excitement in his voice.  It was clear the man just wanted to get the job over with.  Allistor knew exactly how he felt.

He forced himself to watch until both ships ceased fire.  The Stronghold below was a mess.  Corpses covered nearly every square foot of the ground inside, as well as some areas where goblins had tried to flee out the gates or through holes that had been punched through the walls.  The buildings inside were riddled with holes, a few of them partially collapsed.

Gralen’s face appeared on the screen again.  “There are survivors inside, underground.  Recommend sending in ground forces to root them out.”

Allistor nodded.  “Kira, land the ship.  It’s time for our people to do their thing.” He left the bridge and ran to the elevator.  It only took him thirty seconds to reach the cargo bay and the raid party.  The ship had landed in the street outside the gates, and the cargo bay ramp was lowering.

“Alright, my people, prepare to clear the buildings.  Looks like we have some survivors inside and underground.  Rhonda, you and your people remain here.  If something other than us tries to get out that gate, shoot it.   If they get too close, close the bay door and Kira will lift off.”

Rhonda nodded, clearly not liking it, but honoring her promise.  “There’s only one underground level.   Same size as the other floors, with a bunch of sleeping quarters, some storage rooms, and a kitchen with a big mess hall.”  She and her people lined up along the wide opening as Allistor led his raiders down the ramp.  There were more than fifty of them, all with weapons raised as they moved toward the open gates.  One by one they stooped to loot bodies as they passed by.

Once they were inside, Allistor called out, “Loot later.  Eyes in every direction folks.  Nobody dies today, understand?”

McCoy and his party spun around so that they were facing the group’s rear, scanning the walls and all the nooks and crannies behind them.  They walked sideways, pacing the group and keeping one eye on the bodies at their feet so as not to trip over them.   The parties on the left and right flanks did the same, scanning their quadrants for threats.

Up close, the devastation caused by the two bombs was sickening.  The smell of the ruptured and dismembered bodies was almost worse than the void titan armpit.  A few of the humans vomited, which in turned caused a few more to join them.  Allistor clamped his jaw shut and kept moving forward.  His mini-map was picking up a feed from the ship sensors, showing a large number of red dots that indicated live goblins.  They were too bunched together to count, and several of them were showing right beneath his feet.

“Alright, we go inside.  As soon as there’s room, divide up by party.  I want one watching our rear at all times.  Healers, focus on your own parties unless one of your counterparts calls for help.  You guys know how this works.”   Looking left and right, he saw nods and determined faces.   Taking a deep breath that he instantly regretted due to the smell, he led the way through the door of the main structure.

There were no lights on inside, but sunlight filtered through several holes in the walls and ceiling.  The building had two floors, but most of the upper level had been demolished when the second bomb landed on it.  The downward force of the blast had penetrated through the floor to the ground level, leaving scorch marks on the floor in front of them.

Off to his right, something shifted and a chunk of stone rolled toward him.  Every eye and weapon in the room turned toward the movement.  A tiny goblin hand emerged from a rubble pile, reaching out for a moment before going limp.   The closest raider on the right flank moved over and drew a sword, jamming its point into the pile.  The hand didn’t even twitch.

The Stronghold wasn’t a large one, and the main building was maybe three thousand square feet on the main level.  The large hall that they were in had half a dozen doors along the walls in front and to the sides.   Allistor motioned for the parties to spread out and clear the rooms.   He waited in the main room with Helen, Amanda, Fuzzy, Michael, Ramon, and Dawn.

Allistor took a moment to admire Michael’s gear.  The man had been working on his Smithing skills, crafting both plate and chain armor.  Allistor had all but abandoned his own crafting skills after they’d seized the Denver mint and been able to purchase plasma rifles and other alien tech.  He’d thought they’d outgrown the need for swords, spears, and the like.  Now that he’d learned that melee combat was an honor thing, he was glad that Michael had continued on his path.  He was wearing a full set of chain mail with a steel helm.

“Nice gear, Tanky McTankerson.” Allistor grinned at Michael, motioning for him to take the lead.

Michael snorted.  “This is what I get for honing my crafting skills?” He stepped forward, and Allistor cast Barrier in front of him.  Noticing the shimmer, Michael turned and nodded his thanks.

“Remind me when we get back.  I’m holding a bunch of dragon hide somewhere.  Maybe you and Lilly can make us all some enchanted dragonscale armor?”

“Oh, hell yes!” Michael gave a thumbs-up.  “I’ve nearly leveled up enough to be able to use that stuff.   And we have two other guys who are right behind me, skill level wise.”

The other parties began to filter back into the room one by one.  Allistor hadn’t heard any gunfire, so he gave each party leader a questioning look as they returned.  A couple of them held up bloodied blades, but most just shook their heads to indicate they’d found nothing.

When the whole raid was back in the main room, Allistor gave Michael a nudge.  Their tank stepped forward, as did four more armored tanks from other parties.  They advanced through a door directly ahead of them that led to a stairway.  After pausing to listen for a moment, Michael descended with the other tanks.  Allistor and a few casters were right behind them.  When he noticed them holding plasma rifles, he hissed at Michael, who stopped dead in his tracks.

Allistor whispered, “If you can cast dps spells, put your guns away.  Use your magic.  Tanks, use your melee weapons and shields.  We’re out of our grace period now, and any use of guns in this kind of fight is considered less than honorable.” He paused to make sure everyone could hear him.  “Having said that, if shit starts to fall apart, use the guns.  Survival is more important than Fame Points.”

While he was speaking, he withdrew his Titan Bow and quiver, the epic loot drop he’d received after killing the elite void titan that killed Nathan.   He took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the attribute buffs the weapon granted as he positioned the quiver on his hip.  When he saw that everyone had adjusted their gear and stood ready, he nodded for Michael to continue, refreshing the Barrier in front of the tank.

Down they went.

There was a metal door leading out of the stairwell on the lower level.  It looked like the goblins had broken through it during their attack.  The frame was bent, and the handle completely missing.    Allistor moved to one side and stuck a finger in the hole where the handle had been.  Michael positioned himself on the other side of the door, and when he nodded, Allistor quickly yanked it open.

Michael waited a second for any goblins on the other side to attack.  When nothing happened, he took a deep breath and moved through the door.  The other tanks were right behind him, followed by Allistor, Logan, and Sam.  The tanks all held up shields as they spread out across the corridor, their other hands holding swords or hammers, with one using a hand axe.   Allistor raised his bow, as did Sam.  Logan was holding a massive two-handed axe.

The tanks moved forward, making room for the others to fill in behind them.  They made it about twenty feet before goblins came rushing out of rooms on both sides of the hall.  A few dozen at first, then a few score.

Allistor cast Restraint on one just as it appeared in a doorway, causing it to freeze, then fall as the goblins behind it pushed it over, then tripped on it.  He quickly did the same at two more doors, slowing the flow of enemies.  Raising his bow, he began to fire the titan bone arrows downrange, not needing to aim much as he couldn’t help but hit something as hundreds of the goblins packed into the long corridor.

Fireballs and light globes shot over his shoulder, the light causing the goblins to shriek and cover their eyes while the fire spells plowed into them.  Several in the front line were knocked back.   Sam was firing his compound bow, his immense strength allowing him to pull a heavy draw and send the arrows punching clean through two, and sometimes three, goblin bodies.

The tanks took advantage of the goblins’ blindness and rushed forward, slamming shields into the front ranks and stabbing or smashing every target in reach.  Screams of pain increased as the little monsters lost limbs, or felt steel penetrate their bodies.

One of the second rank monsters used a corpse in front of it to leap up over the tanks.

Goblin Reaver

Level 35

Health:  11,500/11,500

Logan was waiting for it.  The seven-foot tall man dwarfed the three-foot reaver, and Allistor saw its neck stretch as its gaze rose from Logan’s feet up to his head far above.  Logan waited for it to gain its feet before stepping into a home-run swing with his axe. The weapon itself was larger than the goblin, and the curved blade cut deep into its torso.  The impact launched the little monster back over the tanks and into its clanmates, knocking several of them down.

Another tried to follow the first’s example and launched itself into the air.  Both Allistor and Sam hit it with arrows, killing its momentum and knocking it back into the melee.   Bodies were piling up in front of the tanks, making it easier for the goblins to launch themselves.

Michael shouted, “One step back, in two… one… now!”

All of the tanks moved in unison, taking a single step back and maintaining their shield wall, giving themselves some space to work.  As the goblins stumbled over their dead, four of the raiders cast Erupt on the ground in front of the tanks.  Stone spikes shot up, skewering several of the little monsters.  Allistor decided to add to the chaos.

“Vortex!  Right behind the spikes!” he shouted before he began casting the spell himself.   Five seconds later half a dozen of the small tornadoes formed in the cramped space.   Allistor shouted, “Take cover!” and the tanks hunched down behind their shields as they and everyone else backed away.

Goblin bodies were lifted and thrown around.  Some were smashed into walls. Many more were flung free to bash into each other.  Allistor saw one unlucky creature get caught between two different vortexes and ripped in half.

With all the battles they’d been through, the dungeons, the successful Stronghold defenses, and the hundreds of goblins already killed that day, Allistor’s raiders were all at least level thirty.  One on one they were a decent match for the level thirty-to-forty goblins, their larger stature and higher strength giving the humans a slight advantage that offset the level disparity.   The steel shields and weapons evened things out a bit more.  But the magic that the humans were able to bring to bear was overwhelming what was left of the goblin horde.

Fireballs raced in over top of the tanks even as goblin bodies were flung back in the opposite direction.   Logan, Chris, Ramon, Sam, Daniel, and the three remaining airmen stood between the tanks and the less armored casters, hacking and pounding at the stunned and wounded goblins as they landed.

Allistor heard Meg cackling something that sounded like “Goblincue” before he saw three of her napalm grenades fly past him.  They shattered among the goblins, the chemical being whipped up by the now flaming vortexes and sprayed everywhere.  Goblins far back from the front began to scream as they burned.

Unfortunately, that also meant the tanks were liberally coated with the flaming liquid as well.  Most of it stuck to their shields, but inevitably some of the spray rained down on hands, heads, and any exposed areas.

“Everybody focus heals on the tanks!” Amanda shouted as the men began to scream.

At the same time, Michael was shouting, “Hold the line!  Heals are coming!”

All but one of the tanks managed to grit it out, holding their positions as a mass of heals fell upon them.  The man on the far right had taken some extra damage as the napalm spray rebounded off the wall, around his shield, and directly into his face.  He fell back, a gurgling scream telling everyone that the burning chemical had gotten down his throat.

Logan leapt forward to take the man’s place as Ramon grabbed an arm and pulled him back from the line, pouring a health potion down his throat.  Allistor and Sam focused their fire, sending arrow after arrow into the space in front of Logan to help him defend.  Without a shield, he was taking dozens of small cuts and stab wounds as he swept his axe back and forth.   Allistor cast Barrier in front of him, and the man shouted, “Thanks!” without taking his eyes off the enemy.

Allistor saw several goblins in the space on that side began to fall apart under Andrea’s Dissolve spell, and another round of stone spikes erupted from the floor.  Still, the raging goblins pressed forward, flinging themselves at the tanks’ still burning shields, hammering and stabbing, biting and clawing.  Once again, the bodies began to pile up, and the little monsters launched themselves over top of the tanks.

Lowering his bow, Allistor began to channel his Storm spell.   He targeted the very center of the seething mass of goblins.  Defying every law of nature, wind began to whip through the corridor, screaming through the stairwell behind them even as the vortexes expired.  A dark cloud formed below the ceiling, and lightning began to crash down.   In the tight space, with the goblins pressing against each other trying to get at the humans, each bolt took out several of them.  Some were roasted on the spot, others were stunned, or flung aside.  The screams were drowned out by the constant crash of the strikes.

His people continued to fire into the monsters as Allistor channeled the spell.  He watched his mana bar grow smaller with each second, but with his increased levels and stats, he could maintain the spell for maybe ninety seconds before it got dangerously low.

So he did.

Lightning poured down, the frequency of the strikes increasing as the corridor filled with the smell of ozone and burning flesh.  Several bolts were striking every second now, and few of the goblins were still standing.  Most were only injured or stunned, but each strike finished off more of them.

The tanks got themselves upright again and Michael shouted for them to step forward.  They hacked and smashed their way through the few goblins that were trapped between them and Allistor’s storm.  Several attempted to retreat, only to be stunned or burned by a lightning bolt.

“No friendly damage!” Allistor shouted, letting Michael and the tanks know that the lightning wouldn’t hurt them.  They moved forward more quickly, stomping on necks and skulls as they hacked at stunned bodies.  They moved right into the storm, hesitating for a second to be sure the lightning wouldn’t cause damage, then continued on.

Allistor’s mana got down to twenty percent, and he ceased channeling.  The storm faded slowly, but the tanks continued their march.  Sam and the others were right behind them, even the healers using their melee weapons to finish off the wounded goblins.

Near the back of the horde, some of those that had been merely stunned or slightly wounded charged forward, their eyes blood red and primal screams erupting from their scrawny throats.   Logan cursed as a goblin that had been playing dead stabbed upward as he stepped over it. The small blade narrowly missed his family jewels as it bit into his inner thigh.  It severed his femoral artery, and blood fountained even as Logan stomped the monster’s face into the floor.

Nancy called out, “Big heals on Logan!” and at least six healing spells fell on him.  He wobbled slightly, the bloodloss combined with the exertion of the fight leaving him unsteady.  The wound closed and the flesh knitted itself back together, but Logan had already lost a lot of blood.

The tank that had been so badly burned was now back on his feet, and moved to step in front of Logan.  The big man nodded gratefully, taking a few steps back and leaning against the wall before sliding to sit on the floor.

Another round of stone spikes erupted from the floor in front of the tanks.  Four of the charging goblins were skewered, their screams cut off as tanks removed their heads or crushed their skulls.  The horde was thinned considerably, only about forty of them were still on their feet and pushing toward the tanks.

As the humans pushed farther, the remaining mobs paused as one, taking several steps back.  The screaming ceased, and a chanting could be heard echoing down the corridor.  The remaining monsters’ eyes began to glow a bright crimson.  Their bodies shook as they each seemed to grow several inches and add twenty pounds of muscle.  As they roared in pain and rage, even their teeth grew longer and sharper.

The chanting reached a crescendo, then halted.  The moment it did, the enraged goblins surged forward.  Michael shouted, “Hold!” and his tanks all leaned into their shields and braced themselves for impact.

As the uber-goblins charged, more spikes shot up from the floor.  Four columns of flames shot down from the ceiling, engulfing several of them.  A dozen others screamed and fell to the ground, holding their heads as Mind Spike spells ravaged their tiny brains.

Allistor only barely took notice of all these things as he focused on the source of the chanting.  From the room at the end of the corridor, a new type of goblin emerged.  It was wearing a bright purple robe with dozens of symbols roughly stitched into the fabric.  Several chains and charms hung from its neck, and it carried a staff with a crystal affixed to the upper end.

Goblin Shaman

Level 50

Health:  28,100/28,100

It was already chanting again, holding its staff high with one hand while it waved the other in some kind of pattern.   Allistor raised his bow and fired, but the shaman completed its spell before the arrow struck.  A wave of insects erupted from his staff, speeding like bullets past his goblins and into the human ranks.  The tanks were mostly protected, but those behind them began to scream as thousands of the two-inch long bugs began to bite and sting.   Spells were interrupted as people tried to swat them away and protect their faces.

The arrow struck the shaman, slamming into its chest just after the spell launched, knocking it backward and shaving off a good chunk of its health bar.

Goblin Shaman

Level 50

Health:  24,210/28,100

The little boss monster yanked the arrow free from its flesh and cast a heal on itself, then waved a hand and threw up a magic barrier much like Allistor’s own.  The next arrow struck the glowing purple shield and was deflected.   As was the one after that.  The shaman looked at Allistor and laughed as it began to chant again.

A quick check of his people showed the tanks struggling to hold off the buffed goblins.  Most of his people were still distracted by the bugs, and weren’t offering the tanks much support.  If he didn’t do something quickly, they were in danger of being overrun and losing people.

The only one seemingly unaffected by the bugs was Fuzzy.  He charged forward, roaring a challenge at the goblins.  The tanks opened a spot just long enough for the massive bear cub to pass through, then closed ranks again.  Fuzzy launched himself into the goblins, his paws swiping left and right, tearing apart limbs and knocking the monsters down.  The moment the first one fell, he latched onto its neck and snapped it with a shake of his head.  Another got its skull crushed between his powerful jaws.

Allistor cast a heal on his bear, who was taking damage from every direction.  The tanks, having been given a few seconds to breathe and regroup after the bear’s distraction, advanced and surrounded Fuzzy, leaving him to finish off a couple of the mobs.

Allistor turned back to the shaman, whose chant was rising in volume.  He focused on the ground behind the magic barrier and cast Erupt.   The spike that shot up from the floor pierced the goblin’s robe, then his crotch, turning the chant into a high-pitched scream.  Allistor cast Mind Spike on it while it was distracted, and the screaming only intensified.  It dropped its staff and put one hand to its head, then moved both hands to the spike, trying to push itself off.

After a quick check of his remaining mana, Allistor cast another heal on Fuzzy, then focused on a spot right behind the shaman.  A quick cast of Dimensional Step, and he was standing behind the boss goblin.

The shaman must have had a higher Intelligence than Allistor expected, because the effects of the Mind Spike wore off after just a few seconds.   Allistor was drawing his sword when the little monster shouted something, flinging both hands toward the remaining thirty or so goblin berserkers.

Allistor swung his sword with all the strength he could muster, separating the shaman’s head from its shoulders.  As the head struck the floor, the insect swarm that was still torturing the others fell dead.

But Allistor had been a second too slow.

The shaman’s final spell hit the goblins, and their bodies began to swell.   Seeing this, Michael shouted, “Get back! Get in rooms!” and the tanks began to move backward, hunching behind their shields.  The others either ran back toward the stairs or ducked into one of the rooms on either side of the hall.  Allistor cast Barrier into the space right in front of the goblins, hoping to hold them back from the tanks for a few seconds.

But the goblins didn’t advance.  They continued to grow and swell for a few more seconds, then exploded.  Bits of flesh, bone, and weapons became shrapnel, while the force of the explosion knocked the tanks down.  A few of the casters and melee that hadn’t managed to reach cover were shredded by goblin bits, Meg and Sam among them.  The two elders hadn’t moved quite fast enough.  Meg’s left leg below the knee disappeared even as the rest of her ducked through a door.  Sam, who was pushing her from behind, got it much worse.  His health bar dropped to just a sliver as thousands of tiny projectiles blasted into his left side.

Allistor immediately began chain healing his friend, struggling to keep him alive as he screamed for heals.  Heads stuck out of doorways and more heals began to fall on Sam.  Slowly but surely, his health bar rose to twenty percent, then fifty.

Several of the healers left off targeting Sam and shifted their attention to the tanks.  Two of them had been killed outright.  One had been slammed into a wall, his neck snapping on impact.  The other had failed to get behind his shield quick enough.  The force of the blast had caught him in the face, along with what looked like a chunk of goblin jaw that had pushed right through an eye socket into his brain.

Nancy shouted from inside the room next to Sam.  “Need some help here!  Meg’s pretty bad!”

Two more healers charged into the room, and Allistor couldn’t see what was happening.  But a check of his interface’s raid icons showed that Meg was alive and being healed.

Allistor bent to loot the shaman.   He received two thousand klax, the staff, a scroll that glowed red, and a bag of what looked like gemstones.  Straightening up, he threaded his way through the burned, smashed, and shredded goblin corpses until he reached Sam and Meg.  Both were back to full health, and Sam was grumbling about having bits of goblin bone under his skin.

Besides the two tanks, one of the caster dps had succumbed to the insect swarm.  She had been wearing loose clothes, and suffered two or three times as many bites as the others.  The relatively weak poison that was still making the others sick had hit her much harder, eventually killing her.  Allistor saw she had a potion vial gripped in one hand.

“Looks like she tried to drink a cure potion, but wasn’t fast enough.” Dawn mumbled, standing next to Allistor.

Nancy passed around Cure Poison potions to everyone who didn’t have one.   One by one their debuffs disappeared and their health bars stopped ticking down.

“Loot these things, wrap up our dead, and let’s get out of here.”  Allistor ordered, his gaze never leaving the dead woman.  Her body and face were covered with so many swollen lumps that he couldn’t even recognize her.  His raid interface told him her name was Nicole, but he couldn’t picture the face that went with the name.  A wave of guilt washed through him.

“I should know who she was.  I should have made sure she was better geared.  Not down here dressed like that.  I should have protected her.   And the others.” he whispered to himself, watching as Amanda pulled a body bag from her ring and bent down toward the woman.

“Bullshit, boss!” Dawn moved from beside him to directly in front of him, blocking his view as she got in his face.  “You can’t think like that! None of this is on you.  You’ve done more than anyone to keep us all alive and safe.  There are more than ten thousand citizens of Invictus now.  You can’t know every face or check everyone’s gear before every fight.  You just can’t.  We all knew what we were getting into when we volunteered for this.  If she wasn’t properly geared, that’s on her.  Not you!”  The woman was glaring up at him, hands on her hips and tears streaming down her face.  “I didn’t know her either, before we got on that ship this morning.”

Allistor didn’t feel any less guilty, but he saw everyone else watching the exchange.  Not wanting to wallow in front of his people, he reached out and pulled Dawn into a hug.  “You’re right, Dawn.  I’m sorry.  I just hate losing anyone, for any reason.  It’ll be okay.”  He patted her on the back, and looked around.  His raiders quickly resumed their looting.

When he let go of Dawn, she took a step back, wiping her eyes with a tissue she pulled from her ring.  She looked down at herself, then made a disgusted face.  “Ugh.  I’m covered in goblin filth.”  She looked at him. “And now you are, too.  Sorry, boss.”

“Don’t sweat it.  Go loot what you can.  We have a few hundred more to loot upstairs.  We’ll get Rhonda’s people to help.”  Thinking about Rhonda’s people waiting in the safety of the ship, he added, “Oh, shit.”

He quickly pulled up his interface and his notifications.  There were a few more level-ups, tons of xp, Fame and Infamy Points, his loot notifications… and there!  Finally the one he was looking for.

Congratulations! You have captured an enemy Stronghold!

Would you like to claim this Stronghold?  Yes/No

Allistor mentally selected Yes, figuring he could always turn the Stronghold back over to Rhonda if she and her people wanted to continue to live there.   The main thing was there were no more goblins to kill, and there would be no chance for anything new to spawn. He instructed Nigel to use Invictus system points to make repairs, figuring Rhonda wouldn’t be able to afford it.

As he and his raiders looted, Allistor getting back all the titan-bone arrows he’d expended, he said, “Nigel, please ask Rhonda and her people to start looting the mobs upstairs.”

Chapter 16

An hour later the many hundreds of goblin corpses had been looted and were fading away.  Rhonda and her people had each gained between five and ten levels from the battle, while Allistor and his more experienced fighters had gained just a few.  The goblins hadn’t had much of interest as far as weapons, but they dropped decent amounts of klax, and there were a few scrolls looted.

Interestingly, there were several skill books looted.  They were just basic level books for things like blacksmithing, skinning, tailoring, woodworking, and mining.  Still, they’d be useful for granting skills for those people who wanted to learn.   What surprised Allistor was that there were any books at all.  He’d assumed goblins couldn’t read.   At least, the horde version of the mobs.

Rhonda found Allistor sitting off to one side of the courtyard where there were fewer body parts and bloodstains on the walls.  As soon as she got close enough to hear him, he said, “I’m prepared to turn the Stronghold back over to you, if you’d like.”

She looked at him with suspicion.  “And what will that cost me?”

“Not a thing.  I promised to help you get it back, and I have.  Though, I’d like you and your people to consider becoming citizens of Invictus.  I think you’ve seen the advantages of being one of us.”

“So you’re holding the Stronghold hostage?  We can have it back, but we have to swear to you?” Rhonda’s arms crossed in front of her chest and she assumed a confrontational expression.

Allistor stared at her for a moment, then sighed.  “I’ve already told you it’s yours, with no strings.  I only claimed it while I was downstairs so that it didn’t sit unclaimed and leave the door open for monster spawns.  Where’s this hostility coming from?  I just risked the lives of my people to reclaim your home for you. Three of them died. I’m tired, and frankly I’m getting a little fed up with your attitude.  Spit it out.”

“Right.  Monster spawns.  In the few minutes that it would have taken you to come up here, or for me to go down there.”

“We had a lot of mobs to loot down there, and… you know what?”  Allistor opened his interface and pulled up the Stronghold menu, then the tab for the one he stood in.  He found the option to transfer ownership, then selected Rhonda from his raid party icon.  He pushed the button confirming the transfer, then closed out all the tabs.

“There.  It’s yours again.  My people and I are leaving.  Have a nice life.”  He got up and brushed past her.  When he got close enough to the ship, he shouted, “Nigel!  Loudspeaker!”

After a few seconds, he continued.  “All citizens of Invictus, get on the ship.  Drop any weapons or items you looted from the mobs except scrolls and such. You have two minutes.  It seems we’re not welcome here.”

He continued toward the ship, emptying his ring of stone tipped spears, primitive steel swords, and other items he’d picked up from the goblins, leaving a trail on the ground behind him.  He walked up the ramp into the cargo hold and turned to watch his people do the same.  Rhonda’s people stared at them, confused looks on their faces.

Juanita walked up to stand next to him.  “What’s going on, boss?”

“No idea.  Got up here, and Rhonda went full bitch mode on me.  Started throwing insults and accusations.  So screw it.  They’re on their own.”

“They’ll starve, Allistor.  The goblins took everything they had.  And then we bombed the hell out of whatever might have been left.  You’re just gonna leave them in these ruins to die?”

“I spent my own system points to repair this place.  The auto-repairs are already underway, and it’ll be back to normal in a couple days.  I’m leaving them the weapons we gave them, which I’m sure are better than they had before.   And this wasn’t my choice.  I was offering them citizenship, and she was just throwing insults.  She made her choice.”  Allistor glanced in Rhonda’s direction, seeing her still scowling at him. “Look at her.”

Juanita followed his gaze, and saw the look on Rhonda’s face.  “I see.  Give me five minutes to go speak with her?  This has to be some kind of misunderstanding.”

“You can have your five minutes.  But it’s pretty clear what happened.  She used us to bail her and her people out of a bad situation, and now she’s blowing us off.”   Allistor turned away and headed for the bridge.   “Takeoff in five minutes.  No more.  Be on the ship, or walk home.”

Juanita took off at a jog, waving for Rhonda as she went.  Allistor disappeared into the ship, catching sight of Sam as he carried Meg onto the ship.  The missing half of her leg was yet another reminder of Allistor’s failure.

*****

Juanita tried to organize her thoughts as Rhonda approached.  She could see all of the folks standing around wondering what happened.   Her fellow Invictus raiders were already boarding the ship, looking curious themselves.  There was much muttering and whispering.

“What’s going on, Rhonda?  Allistor is pissed.”

Rhonda shook her head.  “I have no idea.”  Her eyes never rose to meet Juanita’s, and from her body language it was clear she was lying.

“Allistor doesn’t get angry for no reason.  He said you were accusing him of something.  And that you just used him, used all of us, to deal with your goblin problem.”

“Screw him then.  That wasn’t my intention.  But then while I was stuck up here on the ship, he claimed the Stronghold as soon as the fight was done.  Then gave me some bullshit excuse for why he did it.”

Juanita’s jaw dropped as she looked at the other woman.

“Let’s review the last 24 hours.  You and your people attacked a Stronghold owned by Allistor’s friend and advisor.  He not only let you live when he could have wiped you out in seconds, but he saved your butts when the goblins, who had already stolen your Stronghold, came after you.  Then he took you in, fed you, made sure your people were healed up and got a good night’s sleep.  In the morning, he fed you again, gave you better weapons than you’ve ever had.  He brought you along with us so that you could level up, even though we didn’t need you to fight.  He took his friends and family into that hole, where three of us were killed, and two people that he loves were so badly injured they almost died.  He eliminated the goblins, and gave you back your Stronghold.”

She stopped to glare at Rhonda.  “Did I leave anything out?”

Rhonda stared at the ground.  “When you put it that way…” She kicked a piece of rubble.  “It’s just, when I saw that he’d claimed our home without checking with me first, I thought he had betrayed us.  I had to sit there in the ship and stew over it.  So by the time I saw him…”

“You decided to jump on his ass, rather than simply ask him what was going on.” Juanita finished for her.  Behind her, the ship’s engines were powering up.

“I gotta go. He’s not gonna wait for me.  You really stepped in it, Rhonda.  You need to seriously reconsider your attitude here today.  We’re leaving, you and your people are going to starve, and it’s all because you couldn’t take your head out of your ass.”   Juanita turned and sprinted back toward the ship, several people standing at the top of the ramp waving her on. She ran up and stood with them in the cargo bay, the ship lifting off and the ramp rising the moment she was clear.

The last thing she saw before the ramp closed was Rhonda’s people gathering around her amid scattered corpses and the rubble of their Stronghold.

*****

Up on the bridge, Allistor watched his interface’s clock tick away the five minutes. At four minutes, he said, “Kira, prepare to lift off.  Take us home.”

She looked at him, not doing anything.  “You’re just going to leave these people?”

“Not my choice.  Rhonda got all hostile the minute I came upstairs.  She’s got her Stronghold back.  She made it clear we’re not welcome there.  If her people starve, that’s on her.”

Kira shook her head.  “If her people starve, then all of this was for nothing.  Three of our people died…for nothing.  I don’t know what she said to you, boss, but you need to shake it off and help these people.”

He glared at her, not saying a word.  Seeing the anger and betrayal in his eyes, she sighed and began to fire up the engines.  Allistor opened up his raid tab and ejected Rhonda and her people from the group.  As far as he was concerned, they were more than square.  He’d saved their lives, returned their home to them, helped them gain several levels, fed them, and gave them weapons.  And it had cost him three precious lives.  Worst of all, he had very nearly gotten Meg and Sam killed in the process.

Amanda and Helen appeared on the bridge.  Amanda stepped over and took hold of his arm, pulling him toward the door.  “Come with me.”

He resisted at first, not wanting to hear a third lecture in five minutes.  But the look she gave him said in no uncertain terms that he was going to walk with her, or else.   So he followed his girlfriend and his best friend off the bridge.  They led him to the captain’s mess, where they took seats at the oblong dining table.

“What happened?” Helen asked.

Allistor quickly replayed the conversation with Rhonda for them, finishing with, “So screw her.”

Amanda thought about it for a while, then asked, “And why do you think she acted that way?”

“I have no damn clue!” Allistor exploded, his frustration getting the better of him.  “And frankly I don’t care.  I got more of our people killed today.  For no good reason.  Sam and Meg both nearly died.  I should have just left her and her people outside the walls last night.”

Helen scowled at him.  “We all know you don’t mean that.  There were innocent kids out there.  And like you always say, every human life is precious.”

Amanda took both of his hands in hers.  “I know you’re angry.  And you have every right to be.  What she did was shitty, and petty, and wrong.  But you need to look past that.  Past your anger.  How are you going to feel if those people die out here because you let her get to you?”

The rational part of his mind knew she was right.  But he wasn’t done being angry.  He sat there, a scowl on his face, looking down at his hands.   He felt the slight shift that told him the ship was moving forward.  Fuzzy walked in and moved next to him, shoving his big furry head under Allistor’s arm to place it in his lap, then nudging him to demand scratches.  Allistor obliged without even realizing he was doing it.

“I’ll take in her people, if they want.  If they swear the oath.  But not her.  She’s on her own.”

Both women just stared at him.

“What?  She played me.  Us.  She used us, and I fell for it.  Our people died for it.  Then she comes at me like I did something to her?  Hell no.”

The two women exchanged a look, then Amanda spoke.  “That’s your anger talking still.  But it’s a start.  I’ll go tell Kira to take us back. You can make the offer to her people.”

Allistor shook his head.  “I’m in no mood to be convincing. I’d scare them all away. Tell Juanita to make the offer.  Or you can do it.  Any of them who wants to swear the oath is welcome back in the City.  She can go hump a goblin corpse.”

“Well, that’s certainly descriptive.” Helen smirked at him.  “You want Juanita to phrase it exactly like that?”

Allistor stared at her, a hard look in his eyes.  She actually leaned back in her chair.  “Hey, I was kidding.” She held up both hands as if surrendering.

“Allistor!” Amanda slapped the back of his head, hard. “Don’t you dare take this out on her! You want to be angry, fine.  But Helen has done nothing to deserve any grief from you.”

Allistor shook his head.  “I’m sorry, Helen.  I… need to be alone.  Feel free to have Kira turn around and go back.”  He got up from the table and exited the mess, crossing the hall to the captain’s cabin and taking a seat on the sofa.  Fuzzy followed him inside and climbed up next to him, the oversized cub taking up more than his half of the seating.  He jostled Allistor as he turned himself around and placed his head in his human’s lap, effectively pinning him down and letting out a long sympathetic sigh.

Allistor chuckled despite his mood, scratching his bear’s ears.  “You’re getting too big to be a lap dog, buddy.  I’m gonna need bigger furniture.”

The two of them sat in companionable silence as Allistor tried to calm himself.  He felt the slight shift when Kira turned the yacht around to head back, and the minor jolt when it landed.  He pictured Juanita making his offer to Rhonda’s survivors, then shook his head and tried to put it out of his mind, focusing on ear scratches, and wondering about some kind of breath mint for his bear.

*****

Juanita agreed to make the offer on Allistor’s behalf, though she didn’t like leaving Rhonda out of it.  When the ship landed outside the shattered Stronghold gates, Amanda and Helen stood behind her on the cargo ramp as they waited for people to emerge.   It didn’t take long, the group filtering out, picking their way through the rubble.  She noted that Rhonda was the last one out.

She was about to begin her pitch when an older gentleman stepped forward.  “Juanita, we want to apologize.  Rhonda has told us what she said to Prince Allistor.”

Juanita gave him her best smile.  “Allistor has allowed us to come back here to make you an offer.  The same offer he made before.  If you’re willing to take the oath here and now, you can become citizens and join us back in Invictus City, or whichever other location you choose.” She watched as many of the people in front of her began speaking quietly amongst themselves.  There were a lot of nodding heads.

Rhonda made her way through the crowd, stopping to answer questions here and there.  When she got to the front, Juanita took a deep breath.  Her pulse quickened, and she felt slightly sick to her stomach.  Her hands unconsciously clasped together in front of her.  As Rhonda was about to speak, Juanita held up and a hand and quietly said, “Rhonda, I’m afraid that offer does not extend to you.”

There were gasps of surprise among the crowd.  Those who hadn’t heard Juanita’s words asked what happened, and shocked looks rippled outward through them as the word spread.   Rhonda nodded, not seeming at all surprised.   She stepped to the side and looked down at her feet.

The same man who’d spoken before stepped forward again.  “Look, I get it.  What Rhonda did was wrong, and stupid.” He shot her a look, but she continued to stare downward. “But Rhonda is our leader.  She saved many of us, gave us a home.  I won’t abandon her out here.  If she can’t go, neither will I.”  He stepped over to stand next to Rhonda, putting a hand on her shoulder.

The people behind him called out various words of agreement.  Almost as one, they all moved to gather around Rhonda.  The old man spoke again.  “Please, tell Prince Allistor that we’re all very sorry.  Especially Rhonda.”

“Shit.” Juanita turned to look at Amanda and Helen.  “I knew this would happen.  What do we do now?”

Helen looked to Amanda, and gave a brief nod.  Amanda bit her lower lip for a few seconds, clearly thinking hard.  She stepped forward.  “Allistor’s the best man I know.  He’s put his life on the line more times than I can count to protect all of us.  Including today, down in that hole.  None of you were down there to see how awful it was.  And he’s taking the loss of our friends hard.  Every human life lost in fights like this costs him a little bit of his soul.”

She paused and looked directly at Rhonda.  “What you did today was uncalled for.  And frankly, I’m not inclined to forgive you for it. Had you come at me that way so soon after our friends’ sacrifice on your behalf, I might have shot you myself. But I know it would prey on Allistor’s good heart if we left you out here alone to die, whether he realizes that right now, or not.  And your people are clearly loyal enough to risk their own safety to save you.  So for their sake, I invite you aboard.  I’ll leave it to you to make peace with Allistor.”

There were cheers from the crowd, and the old man hugged Rhonda.  Helen stepped forward, her face a stony mask.  “But you will take the oath here and now, or you will not be stepping aboard this ship.  That applies to every one of you, and is non-negotiable.  Be aware that once you’ve taken that oath, if you act against Allistor or the rest of us, the system will punish you.  Up to and including death, depending on the level of violation.”

The old man was the first to take a knee, pulling Rhonda down with him under the guise of using her for support.  The others all followed suit, and Helen had them repeat the oath.  When the lights finished swirling, Helen called out.  “Nigel, are there any in this crowd who did not take the oath?”

“Two small children, Minister Helen.”  Her interface map sprouted a flood of green dots.

“Good enough.  Welcome to Invictus.  You have thirty minutes to search your homes and retrieve whatever you can.” Helen waved them toward the Stronghold.  All but Rhonda moved inside to scavenge.

Searching the cargo bay, Amanda spotted Prime.  “General, please assign some battle droids to secure this Stronghold until we figure out what to do with it.”  The general saluted.

“I have assigned one hundred standard reserve troops.  They are en route and will arrive here in approximately twenty minutes.”

“Thank you, General.  Allistor has already paid for repairs, and the structure should be back to one hundred percent in a day or two.”

Rhonda’s head shot up at those words, clearly surprised.   After a moment, she stepped toward the ramp.  “Will he… talk to me?”

Amanda stared at her for several long seconds, trying to judge the wisdom of letting the woman see Allistor right then, versus giving him time to cool off.

“You can try.  He’s in the captain’s quarters.  Nigel can direct you.  Do I need to take your weapons from you?”

Rhonda shook her head.  “I’m going to ask forgiveness, not to fight.”

Both Amanda and Helen nodded, and Rhonda walked up the ramp past them, disappearing into the ship’s main corridor.   The two women looked at each other.

“He might be pretty mad at us for this.” Helen ventured.

“It’s for his own good.  He’ll see that eventually.  If he comes out mad, we’ll just have to deal with Prince Grumpypants until he cools off.” She gave Helen a sad smile.

Helen returned it in kind, saying, “I just realized Fuzzy’s in there with him.  If she says something to make things worse, he might eat her face.”  She winked and Amanda snorted.

*****

The moment he heard a knock on his door, Allistor knew who it was.  None of his people would bother to knock on an open door.

“Come in, Rhonda.”

She stepped inside and moved to stand near a chair opposite him, looking down at her hands, which were clasped together in front of her as she fidgeted with her storage ring.  When she didn’t speak for a long, awkward period of time, he asked, “Your people are all situated?”

“They’re your people now, but yes.  Thank you.” she murmured.  Then, taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes.  “I came to apologize, Allistor.  I… don’t know what came over me.  My suspicions seemed justified at the time, and…” She paused, then shook her head.  “No.  No excuses.  I was wrong to accuse you.  I appreciate the sacrifices you and your people made, more than I can ever express.  Once my people have settled in, I’ll leave quietly.  Until then I’ll stay out of your way.”   She nodded once and began to walk toward the door.

“I’ve been sitting here thinking.” he said, his words halting her progress.  She turned back to look at him.  “It didn’t occur to me that claiming your Stronghold would look suspicious to you.  But I see how it could have.  We don’t know each other well enough to trust one another.  And me making you stay in the ship… well, I get how it might have seemed to you.”  He shook his head, patting Fuzzy and pushing him off the sofa so he could get to his feet.  He stepped toward Rhonda, who shrank back slightly before stiffening up and standing her ground.

“I still think you were a total ass for coming at me like you did.”  He held out a hand for her to shake. “But I think I understand.  How ‘bout we agree to try and understand each other a little better going forward?”

She took his hand, her grip firm as she shook it once.  “I can do that.  Thank you.”  She looked him in the eyes, and he saw the tracks of tears on her face.

“Take a seat.  Let’s talk about your Stronghold.” He motioned toward the chair she’d been standing by.   Seeing that Fuzzy had stretched out and taken over the entire sofa, he snorted and grabbed the other chair.  “It’s like having a two-year old with claws and sharp teeth that eats twenty pounds of food a day.”

Rhonda half-smiled as she watched him look fondly at the bear.  She sat in the indicated chair and folded her hands in her lap.

“So… your Stronghold will be fully repaired in a couple days.  And don’t worry, it didn’t cost you anything.  If you and your people want to continue to live there, we can resupply you with food and some basic necessities.  But if you ask me, you should all come live inside Invictus City.  We’re clearing apartment buildings – which you and your people could help with if you’re so inclined – and have more than enough room.   Your people can focus on improving their skills, or developing new ones.”

Rhonda didn’t really need to think about it.  “It’s better if we move inside the walls.  The goblins took us out easily, and there’s nothing stopping another group from doing the same.  Especially with the losses we’ve suffered.  I’m grateful for the offer.  And my people are, too.”

“Then that’s settled.  When we get back, speak to Harmon.  There might be a way for you to sell that Stronghold.  Or, if the goblin horde somehow respawns in there, it might make a decent training dungeon for our people.  I’m still learning how all this system stuff works.” He shrugged slightly.  “In the meantime, if you’d like to continue to level up, we can always use healers in our raid parties.  I was planning to hit some new cities and pick up new territories today, but I’m rethinking that now.  We have new Strongholds in the Caribbean, Florida, DC, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago in addition to our City here in NY and our western properties.  That’s enough.  I think I’ll have our raid teams go back to each city and simply expand our holdings there a bit.  Oh, and the US government would like our help in clearing out a few facilities they’d like to reclaim.”

“Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.” Rhonda had gained six levels during the goblin battle, and she was anxious to put her newly improved attributes to work.

The vibration of the ship landing let him know that they were back inside Invictus.  He got to his feet and led her toward the elevator and the exit.  “As soon as we get back, I’ll call some people together and we’ll interview all your people, see if we can’t figure out where everyone will fit best.  Then we’ll get you someplace to sleep, and some supplies.”

When they reached the cargo hold, everyone was still there.  Rhonda’s people and Allistor’s all mingled together, staring at the two of them as they walked through the door.  Allistor and Rhonda stared back, unsure what to say.  The awkward silence was broken when Fuzzy squeezed past them, farting loudly as he crossed the bay toward the ramp.

“Everybody run for your lives!” Helen shouted, holding her nose.  “He’s been eating goblin, and that can’t smell good comin’ out!”   She glanced at Allistor, grinning before she made a theatrical dash for the fresh air outside.    Fuzzy ignored the insult and just kept walking.

Chapter 17

The following day Allistor chose to accompany his raiders on a trip to West Point.  Colonel Chapman had reached out the day before while Allistor and company had been fighting the goblins, and wanted the mint cleared and claimed as quickly as possible.  So Allistor loaded up his twenty best fighters and healers, including Meg with her newly regenerated leg, along with Prime and a squad of twenty battle droids, and they flew the yacht to DC.  Landing on the wide-open space of the ellipse south of the White House, they lowered the cargo bay ramp and awaited the colonel.

He and half a dozen of his men came jogging across the lawn and up into the ship.  As they took off again, he shook Allistor’s hand.  “Thanks for coming so quickly.  The Secretary is sweating, worried the aliens or some other human faction will decide to take the depository.  There was apparently a probing attack yesterday morning.  We lost six men fighting them off.”

“Happy to help.  Can you give us any idea what’s inside?  Both the floorplan and any info you have on monsters.”

“The only soldiers that’ve been down there and survived were killed yesterday.  But their reports say they fought some skinny white gremlin-looking things that moved fast and had sharp claws.”

“Creepers.” Helen supplied helpfully.

“Yeah, okay.  Creepers.  Hundreds of them.  They killed a bunch before they were overwhelmed.  The report says they were level twelve to sixteen.”

“Alright, we can handle that.  Will you be coming with us? We can loop you into our raid and you’ll still get experience points if you wait topside.”

Chapman shook his head.  “That’s good to know.  We should have brought the Secretary along to take advantage of that.  Next time.”  He looked at his men, who each nodded.  “These men all volunteered to fight.  We’ll be going in with you.”

Allistor looked over the soldiers.  They each carried a plasma rifle, and he assumed they had more conventional weapons in their inventories.   “You guys all have healing and damage spells?”

Chapman said, “I have one of each.  My men can all cast fire.”

Allistor looked to Ramon, who shook his head, chuckling.  “C’mon guys, gather around.  Papa’s got some presents for you.”

Allistor left them to it as Amanda moved to study the soldiers with her Internal Analysis while they learned from the scrolls.  He spoke briefly to Prime.  “I’d like your troops to tank for us in the front, and cover our backs as well.  Maybe half and half?”  A question occurred to him.  “Do your troops have shields?  I’d prefer not to use guns if we don’t have to.  If your battle droids can form a shield wall and hold the monsters, we can kill them.”

“Of course, Sire.” Prime used one of his upper arms to reach up over his head and grab something from his pack.  He brought it back down with a rectangular sheet of the same composite his body armor was constructed with.  Slapping it to his left arm, he flexed his wrist, and the one-foot by two-foot sheet suddenly expanded to a three-foot wide by five-foot tall shield.

“That’s awesome!” Michael said from behind Allistor.  “I gotta get me one of them!”

Prime responded. “They are mainly designed to deflect weapons fire, and will be less effective than your own shield in melee combat.  But facing small creatures like those described earlier, the shields should perform well enough.”

“Right on!  Can I… touch it?” Michael reached out a hand and hesitated.

“That’s what she said” Bjurstrom called out from where he was sitting.

The flight to West Point from DC only took a few minutes.   Kira landed them in a nearby field outside the facility’s fence, and the colonel led them through the gate.  The building was nothing special to look at, a single-story square structure that looked more like a server farm than a mint.  As they walked inside, Chapman said, “This is where they print the Gold Eagle coins.”

Chris nodded, the information he’d found said the same.

Allistor replied, “Great!  We’d like our share in those coins, if that’s at all possible.”

Colonel Chapman shrugged.  “You clear this place for us, you can have your twenty million in liquid gold as far as I’m concerned.  Whatever you want.”

Twenty million was a small fraction of the gold stored at the mint, but Allistor didn’t need gold.  The payment was what he’d agreed upon with Secretary Marschner.  He’d figured he would bring twenty of his people to each raid, and let them each earn a million klax worth of gold for their time and risk.

Inside there were two large elevators leading to the lower levels, of which there were three.  However, there was no power to operate the lifts.  So Chapman had his men cover one of the two stairwells while Allistor and company descended the other.  The soldiers covering the other stairwell piled filing cabinets and desks in front of the door, not wanting anything to break free.

Allistor, Michael, and Logan led the way, stopping at the first basement level door.  The ten battle droids who would tank for them stood right behind the trio, ready to rush through the door.  Each of them had attached their small shields to one arm, though they had not expanded them in the tight confines of the stairwell.

“Okay, so we know there are creepers in here.  Which means they’ll probably rush the door as soon as it opens.  Droids, Logan will yank open the door.  I’m going to send a Flame Shot through to knock back whatever is on the other side.  Then you get in there and form a shield wall.  Use your staff weapons to damage the monsters, but don’t shoot unless I tell you.”

The droids all saluted with a free hand.

Allistor cast Barrier in front of himself, then began to channel a ball of flame in his hand.  When he’d built it up for a good six seconds, he nodded to Logan.  The big man yanked the door open, and Allistor let the beachball-sized fireball loose.  It quickly expanded as it cleared the door.  Several light globes went in right behind it, lighting the darkened hallway.

As expected, the small white bodies of creepers flew at them, some knocked back by the fireball, others scooting around or below the spell.  Two bounced off Allistor’s barrier when they leapt for his face.  A quick examination showed him these were slightly different than the urban creepers they’d faced before.

Shadow Creeper

Level 14

Health: 9,800/10,000

Michael and Logan took them down as the droids quickly rushed past Allistor and through the door, moving to form a shield wall.  It only took five of them side by side to bridge the width of the corridor, so the first row took a knee and set the base of their shields on the floor, and the second five formed up behind them and reached out to set their shields atop the first.  This gave them a solid wall ten feet high that completely blocked the corridor.

Michael called out, “Forward” and the droids began to move, pushing the unseen creepers back easily and making room for the humans to fill in behind them.  They stabbed the pointy ends of their staff weapons through small gaps between the shields with robotic precision.

When all twenty raiders plus Allistor and Fuzzy were set, with spells and weapons ready, Michael called, “Upper row, tilt shields backward seventy degrees!”

Instantly, the second row of droids crouched and the upper row of shields were tilted downward at a nearly-flat angle, covering the heads of the droids.  The creepers began to leap over the first row of shields, easily able to clear the five-foot height.  They scrambled up the slope of the flattened shields even as fire blasted them back.  Allistor wasted no time, casting his Storm spell and watching it build as his people used magic, swords, and spears to keep the creepers at bay.  He couldn’t tell exactly how many there were, as many were hidden below the level of the shields right in front of the tanks.  But his best guess was more than a hundred.

Finally the cloud finished forming, and the lightning began to strike.   Bolt after bolt rained down, blasting into the massed creepers.  Most took two or three hits to die, but all were stunned with the first hit.  Allistor only needed to channel the spell for about ten seconds before they were all dead.

Michael commanded the droids to stand aside, and advance along the walls.  When they were clear of the bodies, they spread out again, shields at the ready.  The raiders looted the corpses, then checked all the side doors.  They found a few more creepers who’d spawned inside closed rooms.  These hadn’t had a chance to kill and feed, so they were a much lower level and easily dispatched.  Chapman wisely made sure each door was secured after the room was cleared.

In this manner they advanced through the rest of the first level.  Twenty minutes later they pronounced it all clear and moved to the stairwell they had not used.  A quick look inside confirmed that it was empty, both above and below.  Chapman radioed his men above that they could relax.

Back at the first stairwell, they made their way down to the second basement level.  Having no idea what monsters might be inhabiting this floor, Allistor and Logan both put an ear to the door.  After half a minute, both men shook their heads.   Logan whispered, “I got nothing” into his throat mic.

Shrugging, Allistor motioned for the droid tanks to stay back.  He cast Barrier again, drew his sword, and nodded to Logan to open the door.

The moment it was open, Allistor pushed through with Michael and then Logan right behind him, light globes passing over their heads to spread out ahead.  The corridor was empty as far as Allistor could tell.

He and Michael moved forward, stopping just before the first set of doors on either side of the hall.  Both were closed, and each man put an ear to one as the others joined them.  When they heard nothing, Allistor motioned the droid tanks forward.  They advanced slowly, clearing each set of doors, then securing them.

When they’d cleared the entire floor, Allistor said, “It can’t be that easy.” before pulling up his interface and the Stronghold tab.  He was about to try it, when he remembered this one wasn’t going to be his.  He was just a hired gun here.

“Colonel, do me a favor and try to claim this place on behalf of the Secretary, or whatever.”   He waited as Chapman’s eyes unfocused.   A moment later he shook his head.  “Says there are other occupants.”

“Yup, that’s about right.” Allistor sighed.  “Whatever they are, they must be downstairs.  Let’s go.”

They returned to their stairwell and descended.  This time when they reached the bottom, there were clear indications of something trying to get out.  The metal stairwell door was dimpled in several places, as if someone had shot it, or struck it with a heavy hammer.

Once again motioning for the droids to stay back, the men listened at the door.  Allistor could hear a sort of tapping sound, but it seemed faint, maybe distant.

Making the usual preparations, Allistor nodded at Logan, who pulled open the door.  Allistor waited for the light globes this time, following them in.  Two seconds later he was very glad he did.

About halfway down the hall was a living nightmare.

Mantis Prowler

Level 30

Health:  71,000/71,000

It was basically a supersized praying mantis.  At least a dozen feet long, its forearms looked like jagged wheat scythes made of chitin.  Its body was jet black, reflecting the light from the globes that hung above it.  Razor sharp mandibles clicked together on the front of its triangular head.

Allistor heard murmurs from his raiders as they poured into the hall behind him.  The loudest was Meg.

“Nope.  Uh uh.  I’m out.  I don’t do bugs.  Especially bugs big enough to eat a cow.” She hadn’t forgotten the swarm from the goblin fight.   Allistor heard a few of the others chuckle.

A moment later, the creature’s left forearm shot outward faster than Allistor could follow, snagging one of the light globes and drawing it back.  It attempted to bite into the globe, causing it to disappear with a slight pop.

“Damn, that was ninja fast.” McCoy said, his voice filled with respect.

Michael took over.  “Alright, this should be pretty straightforward.  Allistor will stun it.  Standard stun rotation behind him.  The rest of us, burn it down.  Do I need to tell anyone to stay out of range of those front legs?”

The group answered with grunts and monosyllabic replies as they checked their gear again and got ready.  Another light globe was taken out, and four more flew forward from behind Allistor.    He began to channel Flame Shot, building it up as he said, “3…2…1!” Then he released the spell, sending a column of flame crashing down directly atop the big bug’s head.  Immediately after, he cast Mind Spike on it, making it squeal in a high-pitched insectile keening.

Several spikes erupted from the floor, puncturing the back segment of its abdomen.  Fireballs and arrows sped past Allistor.  He took out his own titan bow and sent an arrow into its thorax. The titan bone arrowhead punched through the chitin, and the entire shaft disappeared.

Mantis Prowler

Level 30

Health:  59,250/71,000

The monster didn’t have a huge health pool, but its armor was thick, and each of their attacks were only knocking off small chunks of health points.  Though the creature did significant damage to itself a moment later when it attempted to charge forward.  The spikes in its abdomen ripped long gashes, knocking off a quick five thousand hp and causing the thing to scream louder.  More spikes appeared a moment later, shortly before the first ones faded away.

When the mantis hit seventy-five percent health, it tilted its head back and screeched at the raiders, an aoe attack that deafened them, stunned them briefly, and did five points of damage per second for four seconds.

Unable to hear, Allistor just pointed at the monster and shouted, “Burn it down!”

His people got the idea, and more spells flew past Allistor.  Fireballs impacted the monster’s face.   Allistor cast Mind Spike on it, and the creature began to rip at its own skull with its barbed forelegs.

Taking advantage, Michael activated some kind of tank class skill and shot forward, shield slamming into the mantis’ face.  The force of the impact broke its antennae and pushed it back, forcing it to step backward awkwardly.  Michael reached up and stabbed his sword into the monster’s face, the steel scraping against its chitin mandibles.

Meg shouted, “Get back, you fool!” and Michael turned to comply.  He’d taken two steps when the mantis recovered its senses and lashed out.

Allistor didn’t actually see the blow strike.  He saw the leg flash out, then saw it return covered in blood.  A moment later, one of Michael’s legs just seemed to fall out from under him.  The mantis’ blade arm had severed the leg just above the knee.

Michael fell backward screaming, having the presence of mind to hold onto his shield and use it to cover his body.  The leg flashed out again, hammering against the shield, scratches appearing as a metallic clang rang out.  The healers chain healed Michael, the flow of blood pumping from his leg slowing, then stopping.   Another blow to his shield created a diagonal crease across its surface.   Logan made to move forward to pull Michael out, but Allistor held him back.

Allistor quickly cast Levitate on Michael, then waved a hand and sent him shooting back toward the healers.  When the mantis tried to follow, several more spikes erupted from the floor, some barring its path, others doing more damage to its abdomen.

The mantis let out another screech as its eyes began to melt under Andrea’s Dissolve spell.  At the same time, One of Meg’s grenades struck its head and shattered, and several fireballs struck it a moment later.  The head and neck began to cook, the chitin becoming superheated and the soft tissue roasting underneath.   Allistor found himself wishing Lisa, who had joined them on the Fort Knox raid and had an ice spell, was here with them.  Freezing the overheated armor might have made it shatter.

Blinded now, and crazed from the pain and the heat that was boiling its brain, the monster surged forward.  Its rearmost section, still skewered on several spikes, ripped away from the rest of its body.  It flailed blindly as its health bar plummeted, the deadly front scythes creating wide arcs of death in front of it.

The raiders backed up frantically, but they weren’t all going to make it through the stairwell door before some of them got hit.  So Allistor took a huge risk.

Drawing his sword, he focused on a particular spot and cast Dimensional Step.

His aim was slightly off, because the giant mantis was moving.  But he appeared upon its back, partway down the section behind its head.  Already he was falling, his body not adjusting quickly enough to the change between standing still and standing on a moving monster’s back.  But he used the momentum of his fall and all the strength he could bring to bear to swing his sword.  The blade cut through the segmented neck of the mantis, its still burning head dropping to the floor about the same time Allistor did. The legs still waved frantically for several seconds, its body not immediately realizing it was dead.  But its forward progress halted, allowing Allistor’s people to stay out of range.

A few of Allistor’s raiders leveled up.  Chapman and all of his men received several levels each.  They were on average about half the monster’s level going into this fight.  Allistor lay there on the floor long enough to reach out and loot the monster.  He received a thousand klax, a hundred gold coins, one of the monster’s forearm scythes, and its heart.

Remembering Michael’s injury, he jumped to his feet and sought out his friend.  He was happy to see his health bar at about eighty percent, which Allistor assumed was as high as it would go with a missing leg.  He made a note to check into that later.  Right now they needed to get Michael back to one of the machines that could regenerate his leg.

“Colonel, try again, please.” Allistor called out to the man, who was zoned out looking at either his stats or his loot notifications.  Chapman blinked a few times, then looked at Allistor.  It took him a moment to replay what he’d heard and comprehend the words.

“Oh!  Roger that.  One second.” His eyes went unfocused again, and a few seconds later the area around them went transparent.

The raiders cheered, and as soon as Chapman had made his choices and the place solidified, Allistor called out.  “Right!  Everybody grab your share of the gold, and let’s get back so we can heal up Michael.  Colonel, I assume you can take it from here?”

“We can.  Thank you, Allistor.” The man stuck out a hand.  “We could not have done this without you.  And watching you guys fight… I have a lot of ideas how to make my people stronger and more effective fighters.”

Allistor grinned.  “Great!  We’d like our gold in coins, if that’s possible?”

The colonel chuckled, and they moved to join the others and coordinate payment of the rewards to Allistor’s raiders.  It didn’t take long, and within the hour they were back in DC dropping off the colonel.  His raiders had stayed to help guard the facility until more troops could be sent.

The moment Kira landed the yacht back at Invictus, one of the droids lifted Michael in its four arms and began to jog back to the tower, with Amanda doing her best to keep up.  Nancy followed at a more sedate pace. “I’ll get there before it’s over.” she said, taking Ramon’s hand as they walked.

*****

Hel’s tentacles twitched in annoyance.  The human Prince had defeated the occulant and ruined her plans to claim the gold at Fort Knox.  Then almost immediately he’d claimed the larger deposit in New York where she’d placed the leprechauns.  She’d just now watched him help the representatives of the former local government take yet another one that she’d not even known about.   Her scouts would pay dearly for that failure.

There was one more on that continent that her stealthy scouts had managed to locate before Stabilization had expired.  This one was in a place on the western coast of the same continent called San Francisco.  She’d already sent mercenaries hired through a long chain of shadow representatives so that they could not easily be traced back to her.   In fact, she’d made sure that at least three links within that chain would seem to lead back to Loki, instead.  Knowing that just a hint of his involvement would be enough to confirm Baldur and Odin’s suspicions of illegal interference and rain their wrath down upon her father.

Her forces had already seized a similar facility in a city called London, on the continent called Europe, but it was discovered to hold more silver than gold.  Certainly a worthwhile acquisition, and one that would make a fine gift to garner influence and recruit an ally at some point.  But it wasn’t the resource she had planned for.   With a sigh of frustration that swirled the mists around her, she got back to work, reaching out to issue the first in a long chain of orders that would eventually send a band of Dark Hearts mercenaries to seize the gold storage facility in San Francisco, and hold it until she determined its disposition.  She had no need of the currency herself.  She had wealth and power beyond imagining.  Its value to her was as a tool to persuade others to obey her orders.  To move about the pieces in this particular galactic game.

That, and the ever present desire to cause her father’s demise were her only reasons for continuing after eons of physical existence.  Even the vagaries of playing the game on new worlds, with new players and strategies every so often, were beginning to lose their attraction. Though, her recent forbidden incursions onto still-stabilizing worlds, and the threat of extermination should Odin, Baldur, or the others catch her at it, still provided a thrill.

The holo feed that followed the human Prince, and monitored the wagers placed both in support of and against him, flickered in the mist behind her.

*****

Loki paced the floor in his new home.  He’d constructed it near the top of the volcano known as Mauna Kea on the big island of Hawaii.   Recent tectonic activity under the Pacific Ocean had generated earthquakes, eruptions, and deadly waves that had wiped out most of the living inhabitants of the islands, and caused others to flee.   The entire island was not his yet, as a few determined humans had held out and continued to occupy small areas of high ground.  But Mauna Kea was his, as was nearly all the land within sight of his high perch.

The magma below his new home allowed him to keep it pleasantly warm, a constant one hundred thirty degrees Fahrenheit, and to use the geothermal power to generate the mists that filled the halls.  That same power generated a barrier that would protect the entire structure should the volcano erupt on a large scale.  Or redirect the quiet lava flows of smaller eruptions to flow around and past his home.

Loki paused to gaze out the floor to ceiling windows facing east across the ocean.  He’d chosen the observatory atop Mauna Kea for its position as the highest point on the island.  The volcano beneath him wasn’t your classic cone shape with a deep crater at the top.  It was more of a large bubble, waiting to pop.  From this high point atop the bubble, he could see for miles in every direction.

“That little minx.  My daughter thinks to undermine me?” the words pushed the mist toward the windows, where it rebounded and swirled back past him, his own voice echoing in his ears.  “I have taught her well, but she has never learned to recognize her limits.  It seems another lesson is in order.”

With just a thought, he disappeared from the room, the vacuum left by his sudden absence sucking in the surrounding mist so that it briefly coalesced into a rough approximation of his form, before slowly dispersing again.

*****

Having no urgent business in the morning, Allistor decided to make good on his plans to develop his own crafting skills.  He’d always enjoyed crafting in the various VR worlds he’d played in.  He’d been a blacksmith more than once, as well as a tailor in a game where he’d played a squishy, cloth-wearing sorcerer, and wanted to make his own gear.  In the back of his mind he was hoping that his previous crafting experience might grant him some quicker skill leveling.

He began by visiting Michael and his fellow smiths at the Citadel.  They’d outgrown the crafting hall Allistor had originally constructed in the lower level of the Warren, and decided to relocate their operation to the Citadel where there was more room.  Allistor had granted all his original crew the authority to make changes to his properties, and Michael had taken full advantage.   Allistor shook his head and smiled as he took a moment to observe the new free-standing smithy.

The building was two stories, each floor having several large windows on every side to allow for air to flow through, dissipating some of the heat from the forges.  The steeply pitched roof sported a forest of chimneys, as well as a few skylights.  Each floor was about two thousand square feet, with a dozen workstations in clusters of three.  Each cluster had its own magical furnace that burned with a blue flame.  The individual workstations consisted of an anvil, workbench, grinder with interchangeable wheels, various clamps, tools, stool, and buckets of sand and oil.  There were also a few large machines off in the corners, big power presses and hammers.  And one whole side of the lower floor was filled with shelf after shelf of materials.  Bars and rods of metal stock, flux, scraps of usable metal waiting to be melted down and refined.

The moment Allistor walked in, he was greeted with a wave of hot air.  Even with the windows open, a smithy was a hot place to work in late summer.   Surveying the various workstations, he didn’t spot Michael anywhere.  So he approached the nearest smith and asked, “Is Michael around today?”

“Oh, hey boss.  Didn’t see you come in.  Yeah, mister delicate is upstairs in his private section.  Says we lowly smiths down here make too much noise for him to focus on his enchanting.” The man grinned and waved his hands about in a delicate manner as he spoke.

“Ha!  Did you tell him he can always go enchant in his own Stronghold?” Allistor grinned at the smith.

The man’s face grew serious.  “No, better he do it here.  He’s experimenting with pushing enchanted crystals directly into the structure of weapons and armor.  There have been a few… mishaps.  Better we’re nearby if a mishap becomes an explosion and he needs immediate heals.”  The man looked over his shoulder, then up toward the ceiling before leaning in to whisper.

“One of us is always up there, puttering around and trying to look busy without making too much noise, just in case.  If what he’s trying to do actually works, it’ll change everything we create in here.”  He winked at Allistor.  “But don’t tell him.  It would hurt his feelings.”

Allistor gave him a solemn fist-bump promise and a pat on the shoulder.  “Keep up the good work.”  He headed over to the stairs and climbed up to the second floor, where sure enough, another smith was seated at a bench doing some quiet engraving work.    Just past his station, an open door led to a large private forge where Michael sat at a bench.  His tongue was sticking out to one side as he focused on a glowing crystal in front of him.

The man in the main room smiled at Allistor, then held up a single finger and shook his head slightly, indicating that Allistor should give Michael a minute to finish whatever he was doing.   Allistor spent the time looking around, seeing the second floor was much the same as the first, with one fewer cluster of workstations since Michael had claimed one of the forges for himself.  Allistor also noted that he could barely hear the hammering from downstairs.  Michael must have included some kind of soundproofing when he constructed the smithy.

“Allistor!” Michael called out, having finished whatever he was doing.  “Come on in! What can I do for you?”

“How’s the leg, Limpy McGimperson?” Allistor grinned at him.  Amanda and Nancy had regenerated his lost leg, and by all accounts it was as good as new.  Though for some reason, the new leg was less hairy than its twin.

“Too soon, man.  Too soon.  That shit hurt.  Like, a lot.” Michael grimaced at him.  “And I need some new armor and a shield now.  That mantis hit like a freight train.”

Allistor nodded, sympathizing.  “I saw.  And heard.  When it hit your shield, it sounded like you’d just been eliminated in the Gong Show.”  Allistor waited to see if his friend would get the reference to the mid-20th century tv show.

“Asshole.”   Apparently, he did.  “So what brings you here, other than to give me shit?”

“Well, I came to see about getting myself set up and working on my Weaponsmithing skill for real.  Since you’re the closest thing I have to an expert…” He nudged his friend with an elbow. “I thought I’d start with you.  But now that I’m here, I’m more interested in what you were just doing.  There were glowy things.  And your tongue was sticking out, telling me you were using all your limited brainpower on whatever it was.”

“You do realize that it’s rude to insult someone you’ve come to ask a favor from, right?” Michael looked sideways at him as he reached for a sword that lay on the bench in front of him.  He held it up for Allistor to Examine.

Sword of Sliceyness

Enchanted Blade

Item Quality: Uncommon

Attributes:  +2 Stamina; +2 Strength, +3 Agility;

Enchanted: Steelruption; Charge 20/20

This enchantment allows the blade wielder to trigger Steelruption, causing the blade to lengthen by 50% for thirty seconds.

Allistor studied the blade, reaching out a hand and accepting it from Michael.  He turned it over a few times, admiring the shape of it.  The blade itself was maybe twenty inches long, a slight belly about two thirds of the way down before it tapered into a sharp point.  There was a fuller running up the center from just above the hilt and fading away near the belly.  The grip was wrapped in what Allistor thought was probably canid leather.  Between the hilt and the fuller was a small crystal embedded within the blade.

“Can I run and show this to Amanda?”  Allistor asked, his voice quiet and his tone neutral.

“Um, sure.  Why?” Michael looked up at him, gauging his reaction to the weapon.

“I just want to prove to her once and for all that I am not the worst at naming things.” Allistor kept a straight face until Michael punched him playfully in the gut.  “Oof!  Seriously, though.  Sliceyness… okay I feel you there.  But steelruption?”

Michael shrugged, unrepentant.  “I might have been a little drunk when I figured this out.  It was right after the goblin attack and the funeral.  I had made a bunch of toasts to the guys we lost, and stumbled in here cuz my Stronghold was just too far away.  I was drifting off to sleep on the bench there when the idea hit me.”

“I’m guessing by the name, you figured out how to enchant a crystal with the Erupt spell, then somehow modified it to extend the blade instead of just shooting out a spike somewhere?”

“Exactly!” Michael clapped his hands together.  He glanced through the door at the man working on his engraving, and whispered, “Just between you and me, the first few tries didn’t go well.  There were some minor… mishaps.”

“Explosions.” Allistor translated for him.

“Well, okay, yeah. Small ones.  Practically nothing.  Anyway, somewhere around here there’s a shield that does just what you guessed.  A spike bursts from it when you trigger the crystal.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet figured out a way to control where, or which direction, the spike extended.  Painful couple of days, there.” Michael grimaced as Allistor tried not to laugh.

“The good news is, I figured out that I could adjust the amount of mana each time I used it, making smaller spikes that weren’t long enough to poke through my brain by accident!” Michael puffed out his chest and beamed with pride.

“That’s… actually a very cool discovery!  Kind of like when I put more mana into a Flame Shot or Erupt spell to increase the size and damage.  And that one time I created the tiny vortex in that monster’s head.  But there, I didn’t use less power, I just compacted it.” Allistor nodded, thinking as he spoke.

Michael took the sword back, pointing to the crystal.  “Once you set the spell into the crystal, you can’t modify it.  You’re not actually casting the spell yourself, you’re just triggering it.  It’s set to use a certain amount of mana, in this case five percent of the full charge.  And I haven’t figured out how to recharge the crystals yet.  So right now, once you’ve used the enchantment twenty times, this becomes just a cool looking sword with a shiny stone.”

“Still, my friend, this is amazing!  Like, next level genius kinda stuff!  I’m proud of you.”

Michael sat straighter on his stool and gave Allistor a proud grin.  One that faded a moment later when Allistor added, “I still want to show this to Amanda, though.  Steelruption.  Ha!”

Chapter 18

Allistor spent some time with Michael, discussing the theories behind his method of enchanting gear.  Then Michael accompanied him to the market kiosk, and they purchased a complete set of tools for Allistor, from the anvil to the smallest engraving tool.

From there, Allistor left Michael and went to visit Ramon in the library.  Ramon gave him several skill scrolls, including Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engraving, and Leatherworking.

“Thanks, man.  So… when’s the wedding?” Allistor couldn’t resist poking at his friend.

“I’ve asked, but she wants to put it off.  She hasn’t given me a reason, and I don’t push.  But I think maybe it has to do with mourning her late husband for a proper amount of time.”

“Ah, I see.”  Allistor was thrilled that Ramon and Nancy had found each other.  He knew Nancy had lost her husband and son in the early days, but he had never asked Ramon about his own family.  Though he was curious, this wasn’t the time. “Well, just know that we’re all happy for you both.  All three of you.  Four, I guess, if you count Max.”

“You’ll be among the first to know when she finally says yes.” Ramon assured him.  “Now, quit distracting me and go pound something with a hammer.  I got shit to do.”

Allistor was heading for the door when Ramon called out.  “Oh!  Hey, I almost forgot.   We have a new healing spell.  One of my guys found it on the market.  Take some of these with you and pass them out.  Just yourself, and designated healers for now, each of these takes a while to make.  Supply is limited, and min level is thirty.”

Allistor took the stack of scrolls that Ramon produced.  Putting all but one in his bag, he Examined it.

Spell Scroll: Mend

Item Quality: Common

This scroll teaches the user the Mend spell.  Mend will restore up to five thousand health points when cast on self or others.  When directed at a specific wound, it will first focus on mending that wound, then restore the target individual’s general health with whatever power remains.  Spell cost: 500 mana;  Spell can be channeled to heal more effectively.

“This is amazing!” Allistor quickly opened the healing scroll and learned the spell.  A moment later, grinning like a madman, he drew his belt knife and looked at Ramon.  “Wanna test it out?”

“Go away, psycho!” Ramon backed up.  “Go find some dumb tank to try that shit on.  Not me.  Also, here’s that Fade spell scroll.  The one from Pelican Bay.”

Allistor took that scroll and opened it as well, quickly learning the spell.  He immediately cast it and faded from sight, his Stealth and Sneak abilities making the spell more effective.

Doing his best invisible archvillain laugh as he turned away, Allistor crept out of the library and returned to Invictus.

He made a quick stop at the medical ward to pass the Mend scrolls off to Amanda, passed on Ramon’s message about their scarcity, and she promised to get them into the appropriate hands.  “Damn, a day late. I wonder if we could have used this to regrow Michael’s leg?”  She was already learning the spell herself as he cast Fade and quickly left the room before she could make him play guinea pig again.  He had planned to let her watch him learn all the skill scrolls with her Internal Analysis, but he recognized the look in her eyes, and no way was he letting her cut anything off of him.

A short elevator ride later, and he was on the roof of the tower.  He picked a spot along the side of the elevator structure and opened up his interface.  A quick search found him a basic plan for a smithy, and he placed it on his chosen spot.   He didn’t plan to share this smithy with anyone, so a single anvil and furnace were enough.  He did add three separate work benches, one for Smithing, one for Enchanting and Engraving, and one for Leatherworking.  He thought it best, at least initially, to keep them all separated.

That done, he unloaded all the tools he’d purchased and set them on the nearest bench. Then he removed all the raw materials that he’d snagged from the Citadel’s smithy.  Bars and rods of iron, steel, and other metals, stacking them on the floor until he built proper storage.

Taking a seat, he began to open and read the skill scrolls one by one.  He took a little break after absorbing each set of skills, allowing the knowledge to sink in fully.  He found it slightly taxing after the second, and began nibbling some jerky in between.

The Blacksmithing scroll was first, and easiest, as his Weaponsmithing and other abilities had already loaded much of the information into his brain.  There was more detail on metals and alloys, proper temperatures for working the metal, cooling times, quenching, and so forth.

He chose Engraving next, and that one went quickly.  It gave him a strong sense that he should also explore Inscription as a way to enhance the etchings on the items he created.   Leatherworking involved a little information about Skinning, and even though he’d acquired the basic skill from harvesting canid hides early on, it showed him the proper way to obtain usable hides from different types of creatures he had not encountered yet.  There was information on tanning, coloring, stretching, stitching, and even a few basic patterns.

The hardest, which he’d saved for last, was Enchanting.  When he opened the scroll, the information that flooded his mind seemed almost to have intent, a desire to inflict pain as it imparted knowledge.  At his current level, with the extensive use of various spells over the last year, and maybe his high Luck stat, the scroll seemed to be offering connections and details that he had a feeling Michael didn’t get when he learned the skill in the early weeks of Stabilization.

When it was done, he found himself sitting on the floor, one arm wrapped around his stool for support.  His head hurt, and at the same time was flooded with ideas and theories he wanted to experiment with.   He tried thinking back over his conversation with Michael about Steelruption, and found he had a much clearer understanding of how his friend accomplished what he had.   Allistor suspected that, with a little work, he could even improve upon it.

Seeing that it was lunchtime, and feeling a little worn out from the upload to his noodle, he went back downstairs to grab some lunch with Amanda.  Reaching her ward, he activated his Sneak ability before peeking his head around the door frame.  She was sitting at a table, writing some notes on a pad.  Creeping up behind her, he broke the sneakiness by launching a tickle attack.  She screamed and threw her pen in the air, launching an elbow back at his face.  He ceased the attack as he ducked to avoid another broken nose like the one Meg had given him.

“Lunchtime!  Wanna spend an hour with the most handsomest, coolest Prince on Earth?”

“No.  He’s a horrible human being that just tickled me and almost made me pee myself.”

“I’m sure he’s very sorry.” Allistor’s smirk didn’t look the least bit sorry.

“Well, I am a little hungry.” Amanda smiled sweetly and got up out of her chair.  She held out a hand for him to hold, and the moment he took it, her other hand slammed a blade into his shoulder, then ripped it downward, opening an eight-inch long gash in his upper arm.

“Aaaargh!  Dammit woman!” He realized too late that he should not have trusted that smile so soon after a tickle attack.

“Hold still, wuss.  This’ll only take a few seconds.  Then you can buy me lunch and tell me how much you love me.”   She cast Mend directly on the wound, then her eyes immediately began to glow with the Internal Analysis spell.

“You’ve been waiting for me to come back down here so you could test this.” It wasn’t a question.

“And you thought by running away you’d avoid guinea pig duty.” She smirked at him, her eyes never leaving his shoulder.  “I accidentally scratched your humerus just now.  I got to watch it instantly remodel.”

Allistor looked on, a grumpy expression on his face.  He decided to pass on a humorous-humerus pun, because he didn’t want to be that guy.  Instead he said, “I just wanted to maybe share a quiet meal with my girl, maybe do that whole pasta-nibbling smooch thing.  But no… I had to pick the girl that likes to cut me for fun.”

“Shush.  This was for science.  The fun is just a bonus.  Now don’t move, it’s almost over.  How does it feel?”

“Like I’ve been betrayed and abused.” he mumbled.

“That’ll teach you not to sneak up on a girl.  Seems Meg’s lesson wasn’t effective.” She looked directly at him as the magic glow faded from her eyes.  “Bet you’ll remember this one!”

He stuck his tongue out at her as she inspected his torn shirt.  “I’ll mend this for you myself.  No need to bother Lilly.”

“You mean, ‘no need to explain to Lilly how you brutally attacked me’, right?”

“Well, that too.  See? You’re not as dumb as Helen says you are!” She leaned in and kissed him softly, letting her lips linger for a while.  By the time she pulled away he’d forgotten all about that last insult.  “You mentioned food?”

*****

Lunch went by quickly.  Amanda flat out refused to do the pasta-smoochy thing in public, so instead they had cheeseburgers and a very tasty green bean casserole Meg had invented.  When a server brought them their meals, Allistor quickly snagged the knife from Amanda’s tableware set.   “Like that’s going to save you.” she chuckled evilly.  The two foods together gave buffs of +3 Stamina and +2 Health Regeneration for four hours.  They washed the meal down with a home-brewed iced tea that gave +1 Intelligence for the same period.

Allistor walked her back to her office, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and a butt squeeze before dashing down the hall toward the elevator, shouting, “Free!  The guinea pig is freeeee!”  He didn’t turn around, but he could hear her laughter behind him.  He completely ignored the strange looks people gave him as the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.

The elevator he’d chosen in his rush to avoid dismemberment didn’t go all the way to the roof, so he had to stop partway up and switch cars.  As he waited for Nigel to bring him the next one, he placed a call through Nigel to Amanda.

Her voice sounded suspicious when she answered.  “Yesss?”

“Love youuuu!” He grinned at his reflection in the elevator door as she just snorted and disconnected.

Up on the roof, he returned to his brand new smithy.  His heart was thumping in anticipation of all the cool things he’d get to create.

Thinking back through all of his fights from the first days forward, he decided on a spear.  His trusty rebar spear had kept him alive and allowed him to kill more than a few monsters.  He had a decent sword at his hip, and an epic bow for long ranged attacks, so a good spear for stabbing and clubbing beyond arm’s length or throwing short distances seemed like a good fit.

“Right!  And the droids made pretty good use of their shield-and-spear combo against the creepers.  So I should make myself a shield too.  Barrier is leveling up, but most mobs are still just blasting right through it.”  While he was thinking about it, he cast Barrier - behind himself so it wouldn’t get in his way while he worked.  He decided to keep it active all the time to try and level it up high enough to be effective.  Remembering the notification he’d waved away before, he took a quick look at the two new options for Barrier.

Option one was simple.  He could now cast the spell at two targets at the same time.  But each shield would be at half strength.  Allistor quickly moved on.  The spell, at its current level, was still too weak to stop most attacks.  Half strength would do no good to either person he used it on.

Option two was better.  It increased the coverage area of the spell, and allowed him to shape it.  So he could create a bubble around himself or someone else.  This would have come in handy several times in recent battles.  Like the one with the bees.

He quickly chose option two, and spent a few minutes experimenting with shaping the shield.  He formed it into a sort of umbrella above him, then stretched in down to the ground in a dome.  After a few practice casts, an idea struck him.  He cast it as a wall in front of himself, then concentrated on folding in the sides, then the top.  It failed to follow his commands the first several times, but eventually he was able to fold the shield into a four-layer barrier about the size of his body.  In theory, that would make the Barrier spell four times as strong.

With his natural Strength stat, and the boosts provided by his gear, he could easily wield an iron spear.  But iron was softer than steel, as well as being heavier.  A steel weapon would hold up better in combat, and require less energy to use, preserving his Stamina.

He pulled some paper and a pencil from his ring and took a seat at the workbench.  He began to sketch some ideas for the form of the weapon.  He wanted it to be at least six feet long, maybe a little longer.  The butt-end would be capped to give it a little extra weight.  Maybe a dull point at the end, for breaking skulls or chitin armor.   It only took a moment for him to create a design for that.

The sharp end was more of a problem.  He’d seen literally hundreds of different spear weapons in his lifetime.  Not in person, but in his various VR games, holovids, and such.  There were classic spears with flat, pointed tips meant just for throwing and stabbing.  Fancier tips with blades along one or both sides, some curved, some straight.  Others with hooks near the base that could be used to hook an opponent and pull them off balance, or rip innards free after stabbing into an enemy’s gut.   There were full halberds that were several weapons in one – an axe-like blade on one side, a hammer or spike on the other, and a spear point sticking out the end.

Allistor decided to start simple and work his way up.  He drew a simple spear point, the blade about a foot long, no frills.  In fact, it wasn’t even going to be a separate blade.  His plan was to simply hammer out the end of a steel rod to make it sharp and pointy.

He lit the furnace, activating it by simply flipping a switch on the side.  Immediately the smithy began to heat up, and he went to open all the windows, making a mental note to check on the possibility of air conditioning very soon.  Grabbing one of the steel bars from his pile on the floor, he placed one end into the furnace.  The new knowledge imparted to him by the Blacksmithing scroll told him what color the metal should be when it reached the proper temperature for working.    He watched, fascinated as the color changed slowly.

When it reached the glowing red that he was looking for, he withdrew the rod and set the end atop the anvil.  Taking hammer in hand, he made a few tentative strikes.  His first one missed the hot metal altogether, ringing off the anvil and vibrating his hand.  “Well, that’s embarrassing.  I guess crafting in this new world isn’t as automatic as it is in games.”

Tightening his grip on both spear and hammer, he pounded away, slowly flattening out the heated end.  Once he felt confident of hitting where he aimed, he experimented with the power of his hammer blows.  From full-strength smashing strikes to flatten out the thick bar stock, to gentler taps for more refined shaping of the thinner, weaker bits.

When the metal had cooled too much to work properly, he returned it to the forge.  The next time he pulled it out and set it on the anvil, his body took over.  He went into a sort of half-trance, watching as his hands did their thing, pounding and heating, shaping and turning, carefully considering each movement without actually consciously thinking about it.  His speed and accuracy increased by the minute, and the weapon began to take shape. At the same time, he gained a +1 to Blacksmithing.

Half an hour later he dunked the sharp end of the spear into a barrel of oil to quench it, rapidly cooling and hardening the metal.  He Examined the weapon.

Unfinished Spear

Item Quality: Poor

Despite the poor quality rating, he grinned at himself.  “Well, you’ve basically made a sharpened metal stick.  Good job!”   He hefted the half-finished weapon.  The inch-thick, six foot long weapon weighed approximately thirty pounds, which would have been way too heavy for him to use before the apocalypse.  Now it felt no heavier than a wooden closet rod might have felt to him back then.  He found he liked the heft of it, and imagined it would have significant punch when thrown, and a good amount of crunch when used to bash something.

Experimenting, he moved out onto the roof to stand in a clear space.  He tried a few two-handed thrusts toward imaginary foes.  “Hyah! Hah!” he amused himself with sound effects.

Feeling frisky, he began to twirl the spear in front of him, imagining himself a spearmaster, deflecting incoming arrows with his trusty weapon.   “Ha!  Can’t touch this!” he shouted at the invisible archers.

A slight slip, and he lost his grip on the heavy spinning weapon.  Its momentum spun it out of his hands to clang loudly on the rooftop butt-end first.  When the sharp end made contact, the blade snapped clean off.

“Well, shit.” he muttered as he picked up both pieces.  He could clearly see where he’d thinned out the steel too much, and there was a fault in the cross-section that made the blade weak.  “Guess this is going to take more work than I thought.”

Discarding the broken blade back into his materials pile, he set the end of the spear back into the forge and sat down to wait.  While the metal heated, he closed his eyes and reviewed some of the knowledge his various skills had imparted.

When the metal was once again ready, he went back to work, this time with a shorter weapon, and a new plan.  He hammered and heated, turned, and repeated.  Twice more he made critical mistakes and began again.

An hour later, he once again Examined what he held in his hands.

Basic Steel Spear

Item Quality:  Common

Damage: 500 piercing; 300 slashing; 400 blunt.

“Yesss!” He pumped a fist in the air, giving the weapon a brief hug.  “Who’s a badass Weaponsmith?  I am!”

The weapon was just as the system described it; basic.  A straight steel shaft, formed into a basic triangular blade at one end.  It had two eight-inch sections of canid hide wrapping along the shaft for grips.  The butt-end didn’t have a cap, but it had been widened slightly and tapered down to a dull point.   In order to keep to the original six-foot length after having lost some of the steel during the process, Allistor had had to work the entire rod, flattening and folding it to extend the length had reduced the diameter slightly.

He knew in the old world there was no way he could have completed so much work on the weapon in an hour.  So it seemed the system did assist in crafting to some extent.  He’d had no real sense of time passing while he worked, going into that same trance-like state until it was done.

It wasn’t fancy, or pretty.  In fact, it was downright ugly.  But it had better stats than his old rebar spear, and he had made it himself.    Putting it into his ring to show Amanda later, he bent to pick up a steel bar.  “Let’s try a basic sword.” he mumbled as he walked back to his bench with the paper and pencil.

Four hours later he was drenched in sweat, his face covered in grime, and he’d burned his hands half a dozen times.   He was still trying to create a basic sword when Amanda appeared to tell him it was time for dinner.

She looked at the rough blade he was hammering on, only vaguely shaped with uneven edges.  “Are you mad at that thing?  Cuz it looks like you’ve beaten it nearly to death.”

He looked up to see her smiling sweetly at him.  Looking back down at the abused metal, he had to agree.  “This Weaponsmithing thing… it’s way harder than in the games.  Like, hard damn work.” He sighed, watching as the metal cooled atop the anvil.

“You’ll figure it out.  Michael did.  As have several of the others.  You can’t expect to be making beautiful, magical blades on day one.  Let’s eat, and you can explain more about how you love me.  This will still be here in the morning.”  She flashed him a smile that had him throwing off his leather apron and moving in for a hug.  “Oh, no you don’t.  You stink, and you’re all dirty.  New rule for Prince Weaponsmitherdude.  Shower first, smooches after.”

*****

Over the next several days, Allistor planned to mainly focus on his crafting.  First thing in the morning, he had Andrea organize a dozen raid parties of ten citizens each.  Each team was assigned two of his high-level core raiders – one fighter, one healer.   They were to take their parties out on various missions while he tried to pound metal into something resembling a sword.

When he called them all together in the tower lobby and began to assign missions, they discovered something.

“Bjurstrom, I want you to take your team and go to Boston, with a couple dozen droids.  Our Stronghold there is right next to the airport.  I’d like you to clear and claim the airport if possible, and combine it with the hotel to make a Citadel.  I’ve authorized you to do so.  And of course, while you’re out, grab up whatever resources you can.  Especially planes, boats, booze, and such.  I’ll compensate you for whatever you bring back.  And if you see anyone else, human or friendly alien, try to make contact.  If you see goblins, kill them if you can, or report back.”

He watched Bjurstrom’s eyes unfocus, and a big grin appear on his face.   “Uhh, boss? I just got a quest from you.  Like, a good one.”

“What?”  Allistor looked at him, his heart rate increasing.  “Can you share it?  Wait, hold on a second.” He opened up his interface and did a quick search.  He found a tab that was blinking quietly in the bottom left corner and opened it.   While he was reading, Bjurstrom had shared the quest with everyone else in his party, and the other raid leaders.  There were a few hoots and some laughter, and many fist-bumps.

Andrea spoke while Allistor was still reading.  “Well, it seems our Prince has the power to give us quests for doing stuff.  This is going to change everything.”

Allistor finished reading, and smiled at Andrea.  She saw his face and leaned back a bit.  “I don’t like that look boss.  What’re you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything.  It’s already done!” He laughed at the alarmed look on her face.  “I’ve granted you, as my Minister of Defense… is that your proper title?  Never mind.  Anyway, I’ve granted you the power to give quests as well.  Along with Ramon, Helen, Sam, Meg, Michael, Chris, Amanda, Nancy, Lilly, George, and each of my Stronghold leaders.  Each of you can give quests related to your various ministries.  You can assign kill quests, objective quests like I just gave Bjurstrom, defense quests, et cetera.  Nancy can send people out for herbs or whatever.  So can George, but he can also give quests for things like ‘deliver ammo to x place’ since he’s manufacturing the stuff.   Ramon can give quests to his people for producing scrolls or obtaining inks and other materials.  You get the idea.”

Andrea relaxed quite a bit, and even smiled.  “That’s going to help our people level up much more quickly.”

“You bet your ass!” Bjurstrom said.  “The quest I just got grants a million experience for completion, plus bonus experience for kills and resources gathered!  And klax!”

Now Allistor understood what all the cheers were about.  He hadn’t actually read the quest he’d granted Bjurstrom, he had been busy reading about his quest-granting abilities and options.  A million experience, even for his top people, was nothing to sneeze at.  And the monetary rewards would be welcomed as well.  Everyone needed day to day items, or crafting materials, or improved gear.

He had apparently revealed the ability by creating a very detailed set of instructions for Bjurstrom and his group, and offering performance-based compensation up front.  He regretted not discovering this months earlier.  His people could have been so much stronger by now.  Once again, his failure to just take some time and read through his tabs had resulted in a significant fail on his part.

“Okay folks, let’s take advantage of this.” He began assigning specific tasks and rewards, his words becoming a quest for each group.  He had Andrea try it a few times, explaining to her how it needed to be structured.   While she was attempting her first quest, he looked up at the ceiling.

“Nigel, I need all of my advisors to attend a meeting in thirty minutes.  Those who don’t wish to travel can attend via holo-comm, but they need to be in a secure place.”

“Of course, Sire.”

When he and Andrea were through, the raid parties set off on their shiny new quests.  Andrea called Gene and Kira and gave each of them quests to deliver and pick up the traveling groups, along with whatever large items they wanted to bring back.  Kira in the yacht, Gene in the colony ship.  They’d sent five teams to Boston, DC, Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago to expand their holdings.  Five teams with the lowest-level members had been sent out to nearby buildings within Invictus City to clear out the mobs and begin repairs.  If they were going to expand, they needed to clear their territory.  They’d take droids with them to tank, reducing the risk while they leveled up.  The last two teams were given a special mission.

McCoy and Logan were taking their groups down into the nearest subway station.  If Manhattan was anything like Allistor’s hometown, then the sewers and subway tunnels would be the closest thing Earth had to dungeons.  He wanted McCoy and Logan’s raiders to explore in opposite directions from the station, killing what mobs they could manage, and reporting back on any that were too tough to handle alone.  They were under strict orders not to take too many chances, and would remain in contact with each other via radio at all times in case one needed backup.  They were to take twice as many droids as the other teams, and the droids would be able to contact Prime for rapid reinforcements if necessary.  The station was only a few blocks away, and the entire force in residence at the tower, both droid and human, could be there to help in minutes.

When the groups were gone, Allistor and Andrea went to retrieve Amanda, who was the only other advisor in the tower at that time.  They rode up to Allistor’s quarters and got comfortable in one of the conference rooms.   Over the next few minutes, Ramon and Nancy joined them, with the others all using Nigel to call in.   Allistor was impressed when each advisor showed up as a floating body in the air above the conference table.  They were all about one quarter life-sized, and blue, but the detail was amazing.  He could see their eyes shift as they looked from him to Andrea.

When everyone was present, he started the meeting.  With a small, private smile, he did so by giving them all a quest he’d been formulating in his mind.  He didn’t state it out loud, using his interface to write it out instead.  When he sent it off to each of them, he waited for their reactions as they read;

Quest Received:  Grant Quests, You Must!

Prince Allistor has issued you a mandatory quest to assist him in making the citizens of Invictus stronger.  You are to grant quests to your subordinates and any citizens who can be of assistance in the completion of your duties.  Grant as many quests as you can, and don’t be skimpy with the rewards!  We have the klax to spare.   Reward:  Increase favor with Prince Allistor.  Experience and monetary awards commensurate with performance. Possibly some cookies.

Meg was the first to respond, by simply bursting out laughing.  “Aaahaha!  This is awesome!  Sam, I have a quest for you!  I want you to go grab some cooking oil, and-” Her next words were muffled as Sam put a hand over her mouth.  Allistor couldn’t tell with the blue tint to the holograms, but it looked like Sam might be blushing.

The others laughed at the antics as they finished reading their quests.  Lilly asked, “So I can give quests to people to bring me things like materials they scavenge?  And the reward will come out of the community funds, not my own?”

Allistor nodded.  “Keep it reasonable.  I mean, if you offer someone a million klax to bring you a spool of thread, you’re going to get spankings instead of cookies.” He winked at her.  “But in your case in particular, as well as Meg and Sam’s… I’m betting you could give the little ones quests to run and fetch you things, or deliver things, give them a few klax.  But more importantly, max out the experience with each one.  The system places a limit, but push that limit.”

Nancy laughed, thumping the table.  “And it’ll give the little monsters something to occupy their time, too!”

Lilly nodded, “And free up some of my own.  I’ll have more time for actual crafting.”

Ramon looked as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.  “I can send people out to gather the herbs we need for ink, and paper.  That’ll free my own people up a great deal, and increase our production of scrolls!”

Michael looked at Allistor via his hologram.  “Why didn’t you institute this before?  The amount of time and experience we’ve lost…” The room got silent as everyone realized what Allistor had berated himself for earlier.

“I discovered this ability by accident this morning.  Apparently, you have to give someone a pretty specific mission, and specify the reward up front.  I’ve been inviting you all on raids with me, but you’ve just been working for the xp and loot.  Even when I granted everyone bonuses after Fort Knox, it wasn’t specified at the start.” He paused, and took in a deep breath.

“But the short, brutal answer is basically this:  I didn’t read the instructions.”  He waited as his people reacted to this in various ways.  Meg rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue to blow a raspberry.

“Which is why…” Allistor made sure he had their attention, “I’m declaring this week to be read the damned instructions week.  How much more have we missed, or will we miss going forward.  I want all of us, including me, to spend as much time as possible this week reading through all of our tabs, and making note of information that might help us.  Or things we need to be concerned about.  At the end of the week we’ll meet again and compare notes.  I know you’re all busy, but hey, you can send people on quests to take care of a lot of your stuff for you, right?  This is important.”

There were murmurs of agreement and head nods, with no objections being raised.

“Great!  See you all in a week, if not sooner.  Thank you.”

When the meeting broke up, Allistor spent the rest of the day on the roof.  He’d had an idea regarding his Barrier spell, so he sent for William, his official squire.  The young boy was initially nervous about being summoned, but when Allistor explained the ‘squire duties’ he had in mind, William was all over it.

So through most of the day, Allistor multitasked.  He would cast Barrier behind himself, put some metal in the furnace, and read through his tabs while the metal heated.  After pounding and shaping, he’d return the metal to reheat it, and repeat the process.

Meanwhile, William stood behind him, happily trying his best to smack Allistor on the head with a broom handle.  It would take several minutes of effort to break through the magical shield, at which point Allistor would recast it.  After a short rest or a snack break, William would resume his homicidal pursuits.  In this manner, Allistor leveled up his Barrier spell, while William increased his Strength and Stamina, and gained experience from a quest Allistor gave him called Squire Training Step One.

Chapter 19

After nearly a full week of hard work and sweat up on the roof, and a few lumps on his head from when he didn’t recast Barrier quickly enough, Allistor sat in the upper floor conference room with all of his advisors around him.

“Before we get started on the raids, quests, and research, I want to brag a little bit.  Most of you know I’ve been trying to level my Weaponsmithing this week.  And I want to talk about crafting in general, among all of our people.  We’ll hear a report from Chris in a minute.”  He paused, keeping his hands below the table and pulling something from his ring.

“I have created something like a hundred weapons this week.  Most of them are crap that’ll only be good against practice dummies or low-level mobs.  I’ll donate them to the smithy at the Citadel, and those guys can decide whether to hand them out as training weapons, or re-use the materials for better weapons.  But… all that practice paid off.  Behold!”

He brought his hands up and placed a sword on the table.  In his mind, he heard a chorus of angels like he’d heard when he first created the Citadel.  Looking around, the others seemed rather less impressed than he expected.

“C’mon guys… Examine it!”

Unnamed Sword

Item Quality: Uncommon

Damage: 750 piercing, 600 slashing

Attributes:  Sharpness +2, Armor Piercing +1

Enchantment: 11% chance of inflicting Mind Spike upon striking target.

The sword didn’t look all that impressive sitting on the table.  Its blade was Damascus steel, but the pattern was somewhat ugly.  About twenty-eight inches long, and three inches wide at the base, the fullered blade tapered smoothly to a sharp point.  The hilt was wrapped in crimson dragon hide, and the steel guard was curved upward toward the blade slightly.  Embedded into the round pommel was a crystal that glowed dully.

Michael was the first to speak.  “That’s great, man!  You’ve come a long way in a week.  You even managed to enchant it!”  He acted surprised, though he knew about it already.  Allistor had consulted with him several times over the previous few days.

“Why isn’t it named?” Meg asked, looking at him with suspicion on her face.

Allistor cleared his throat.  “Yeah… I wanted to name it Stabby McPokeface, but Amanda said she’d stab me with it if I did that.  William wants to name it Excalibur.  He’s very into the squires and knights thing right now.  But I don’t think this blade is worthy of such a name.  So I’m still thinking it over.”

Several people threw out suggestions, all at the same time.  He heard Goblinkiller and Enforcer, Vindicator, and Prince’s Blade.  Just as the voices died down, George offered, “Peacemaker”.

“Damn, George.  I like that!” Sam thumped the table.  Several others nodded their heads, including Allistor.

“Me too.  In fact, that’s the one.  Everyone… meet Peacemaker.” Allistor put his hand on the sword and used his interface to name it.    There was a round of golf claps, and they moved on.

“Okay, Chris… tell us about crafting resources.”

Chris asked Nigel to pull up a presentation file, and a holo appeared above the table.  “As you can see by the bottom line, we’ve spent nearly two million klax in purchasing crafting materials for our people in the last month.  And distributed another four million klax worth of materials from the vault obtained through looting or trade among our own people.  When one of our citizens comes to me with a material request, they have to provide information on what they plan to use it for, as well as their current stats in that craft.  I have compiled that information, with Nigel’s assistance.  The results show that, on average, our crafters have increased their skills by at least six levels in that same thirty day period.  Our highest achiever raised her Leatherworking skill by eight levels.” He smiled at Lilly.

“It was the enchanted thread that Michael helped me figure out, and working with the dragon hide.” Lilly blushed at the attention.

Allistor hadn’t gone through Chris to get any materials, either taking them from the other smithy, his own inventory, or buying them directly from the market.  He didn’t want to take away from Lilly’s glory by telling them that he’d leveled Weaponsmithing to ten, and Enchanting to four, as well as Engraving to two over the last week.

“That’s amazing, Lilly!  Well done!  And I know I don’t say it enough, but the armor sets you’ve made me have saved my life more times than I can count.  So thank you.”

Lilly blushed an even brighter shade of red, and just nodded.  Chris continued his report.

“Several of our people, including Lilly and Michael, have reached the point where they can start using higher quality materials than we generally have in stock.  We can purchase them, but the prices start to go up pretty steeply.  I just want to confirm that you wish to continue purchasing on their behalf?”

The question triggered something in Allistor’s mind.   “Yes, I do. But hold on a second.” He opened his inventory and scanned it, pulling items and setting them on the table as he found them.   When he was done, he looked around.  “Items like these?  I’ve looted these from various monsters, mostly bosses, and just set them aside because I didn’t know what they were good for.”

The others stared at the items on the table.   There were Forest Drake fangs and claws as well as its heart, the Ancient Shellback Heart, which glowed purple, as did the stack of Crimson Drake hide. There were vials of the black void titan goop, and some Emperor Scairp venom, as well as the antidote vials.  The Occulant Sentry Elite power core he brought out last and set on the table glowed golden as it rocked back and forth slightly.

Ramon started chuckling.  “Leave it to you to be carrying around a fortune’s worth of rare materials and totally forget about it.”

Allistor shrugged, feeling slightly sheepish, but not about to dwell on it. “You know what these things are worth?  Or what they’re good for?”

Gralen spoke up before Ramon could answer.  “I can help with some of that.  Any purple item is considered quite rare, and is therefore valuable.  There are different degrees of rarity.  That Ancient Shellback Heart, for example, can be used to enhance an item’s attributes or increase the level of enchantment.  It is a master level ingredient, and would be greatly prized.  If you were to put that up for auction on the open market, my guess is it would go for a few hundred million klax.   The elite golden power core is not quite as rare, but still quite valuable.  It can be used to power enchanted items, recharge items, or even power a ship’s engine for a short while.  And it can be recharged using your own mana, or mana from another source.”

Ramon added, “Just like with the purple scroll we talked about, all of us here are a long way from reaching master level in our crafting.  A few years, at least.  It’s not like in the games where you can just grind out your crafting for a few weeks or months and pick up levels.  We’re getting levels pretty quickly now, because we’re just starting.  But increases are already slowing considerably. I suggest you either sell that turtle heart or put it into the vault instead of carrying it around.”

Gralen coughed and looked to Allistor, who nodded for him to proceed.  “There is another option.  It could be used as an offering to gain an alliance, or favor with a powerful figure.  It could also be traded to a master in exchange for a custom-crafted weapon or other item.”  He looked at Allistor’s weapon still sitting on the table.  “I commend you on your crafting prowess, Sire.  But as much of an accomplishment as that sword may be, it is an inferior weapon compared to those wielded by other Princes or even lesser Nobles.”

Allistor picked up the sword and hugged it to his chest, pretending to be insulted.  “Gralen!  How dare you insult my baby?!”   When the beastkin mercenary didn’t get the joke and started to apologize, Allistor held up his hand.  “I’m kidding, Gralen.  Thank you for your honesty.  I realize this is just a mediocre weapon.  But at the moment it represents significant progress among us lowly human noobs.”  He grinned as Gralen leaned back in his chair, looking relieved.

“I’ll check with Harmon, see if he knows of any masters who might make such a trade.  But here again, I doubt I’m a high enough level, or have the required stats, to wield a powerful weapon crafted by a master.”

Looking around the room, he said, “Okay, anybody else have anything crafting related to bring up?  Besides wanting to call dibs on some of these things?” He caught several of them who’d opened their mouths to speak, quickly closing them again.  When nobody else spoke, he said, “I’ll put these in the vault, and those of you who can use them can request them through Chris per usual.”

“Now, on to our homework!  I’ll start.  I’ve been reading while crafting and being attacked by my squire all week.  Here are a few things that I’ve discovered…”

The meeting lasted several hours as people pointed out various bits of information they’d gleaned from reading.  Each one was discussed, some for only a minute or two, others at length.  A lot of time was spent on quest-giving and rewards.  Allistor had found out that monetary rewards, when they came in the form of klax, were only partially deducted from his treasury.  For quests that benefitted Invictus as a nation, like clearing the buildings within the city, Allistor paid the klax.  But for dungeon rewards, or hunting quests that specifically killed the Menagerie beasts that had spawned on Earth, the system rewarded the klax on its own, without deducting them from the treasury.  It seemed now that the Stabilization was over and colonization had begun, the monsters were an inconvenience that the system wanted removed.  Kind of like clearing mine fields after a war had ended.

Quests given by crafters were paid for by said crafter.  But those could be structured with higher experience rewards and lower monetary ones.  Class or skill-related quests often had little to no monetary reward, as the benefit came from both experience and skill leveling, or new spells or skills awarded.

And all quests had the potential to earn Fame or Infamy Points,  for both the questor and the quest-giver.   Apparently, Goodrich had earned quite a few Fame Points for sending people on quests with ridiculous requirements like skipping everywhere instead of walking, quacking like a duck as they fought, or verbally insulting mobs as taunts.  Some of his people were embracing the shenanigans, others had begun to avoid him and his quests.

Chris had quite a bit to say about taxation and the possible structures, as well as allowing non-citizens to make use of the teleport system for a fee.

Helen had done a great deal of research regarding unauthorized intruders within the various parks.  It seemed if they went unchallenged for a period of one year, they could make a claim to the land.  So at some point within the year, they were going to have to make visits to all of the parks and reinforce their claims, or allow them to be taken.  An alternative to chasing off intruders was to grant them permission to hunt or even reside within the park boundaries, negating their opportunity to claim it.  This is what he’d done with the Lakota at Thunder Basin without realizing it.

Lilly surprised everyone when she spoke about the benefits of putting ownership of certain resources into corporate entities, with Allistor as the ultimate authority – whether that be CEO, Founder, Chairman, or whatever they wanted to call him.  This was meant to protect the rest of them should Allistor be killed and his assets claimed.  His people could hold a combined fifty-one percent controlling interest in each entity.  Their oaths would keep them from betraying him and removing him as boss, but no such oath would apply to his replacement.

They all agreed it was a smart move, and Allistor instructed Lilly and Chris to get with all the attorneys among their survivors and figure it out.

Meg hinted quite loudly that if Amanda were married to Allistor, she would have an equal claim to his share and could step into his shoes if he were killed.  This caused both Amanda and Allistor to stammer as the others laughed.

They closed out the meeting with a review of the raid parties’ accomplishments.  Bjurstrom had indeed seized Logan Airport in Boston, which sat adjacent to the hotel Stronghold there.  It had taken nearly a full day of fighting monsters in the various buildings, and a small group of humans had attacked them from behind as they were clearing the last structure, a private hangar.  They had apparently waited in hiding for Bjurstrom’s raiders to do the hard work, thinking they’d kill the raiders while they were busy with the final mobs, and take everything for themselves.

Two of the raiders had nearly died, shot in the back as they fought octopoids.  But a heroic effort from the healer, and other party members throwing heals too, had allowed them to get back in the fight.  Bjurstrom had reported that the human ambushers died badly.  Allistor thought it best not to share the details.

The Toronto group had doubled the size of the Stronghold there, incorporating two more large buildings.  They’d also run across another group of survivors, and helped them fight off a large pack of lizard-dogs.  The other humans had a Stronghold of their own, but they were isolated, and not doing all that well.  Their leader was currently considering joining Invictus.

Both Detroit and Chicago raid groups increased the sizes of their Strongholds without much of interest to report – just standard battles against mobs between level fifteen and twenty.

The DC team was approached by the Secretary’s forces almost as soon as they emerged from the hotel’s gates, and asked not to claim any more buildings until the Secretary spoke to Allistor.   Daniel from the Stadium had been leading that group, and he immediately called in to speak with Allistor.  Since they had no real need to expand in DC with the Secretary and her forces rapidly claiming the important bits, Allistor re-tasked Daniel to help McCoy and Logan in the subway.

The subway tunnels were indeed filled with monsters.  The three teams eliminated dozens of individual monsters and small clusters, and mapped out much larger groups before turning back or going around.  They’d found a complete set of blueprints for the tunnels in one of the maintenance offices, and added the entire system to their maps.  Which they then shared with Allistor and the other raiders.

There were miles and miles of tunnels just within the boundaries of Invictus.  The raid leaders were anxious to get their people down there, and were coordinating amongst themselves to take on the various dungeons they’d found.  Or the closest thing Earth had to dungeons.  There wasn’t a portal entrance or anything, just areas of consolidated mobs with mini-bosses every so often and a big boss monster in the final area.

The teams clearing buildings had had great success, allowing the droids to absorb monster attacks while the humans burned them down.  The lower-level citizens in those groups were leveling up quickly, getting the extra experience and loot from quests as well as the kill xp.

Allistor now had more than a hundred people who were at least level twenty-five.  His raid leaders were all level thirty or better.  He was going to need to get out there and do some raiding himself to stay ahead of them.

As Allistor prepared to close the meeting, he asked, “Anyone else have anything we didn’t cover?”

Gralen stood.  “At your request, I have reached out to several analysts.  None at the master level, but experienced enough to be of considerable benefit to you.  I’ve prepared background information on each of them, as well as my best estimation of their required compensation.”

When the others gave Allistor a bunch of questioning looks, he summarized his earlier conversation with Gralen.  Heads began to nod, and everyone agreed it was a wise move.  Allistor asked, “You guys want in on this?  We can discuss the candidates here and now, or in a smaller group after this.  Or I can just handle it.”

Chris, Helen, Ramon, and Meg wanted to be involved, so Allistor called an end to the meeting and asked them to stay, along with Gralen.  He asked Nigel to request that Harmon join them.  By the time everyone else had drifted out, Harmon was stepping off the elevator.  Allistor gave him a quick rundown of what they were discussing, and he took a seat. “Happy to be of assistance!” He gave Allistor a toothy grin.   Allistor turned the meeting over to Gralen.

The mercenary looked slightly embarrassed.  “I’m afraid I did not prepare copies of my reports for everyone.”

Nigel spoke up.  “If you’ll place the information on the Pedestal, I can scan it and create a holo-display.”

“Thank you, Nigel.  One moment, please.” Gralen bobbed his head to Allistor and walked to the Pedestal Allistor had raised in one corner of the room.   No more than a minute later, Nigel confirmed that he was ready.

“This first candidate…” Gralen went through each of them, and provided a thorough report on each candidate’s background, personality, alliances both political and familial, as well as their known skillset.  At the end of each report he estimated what it would take in the way of salary, minimum reputation with various factions, and other intangibles to be able to recruit them.   Allistor and the other humans were visibly impressed.  Harmon just nodded along, tapping at his own interface as Gralen brought up each name.

There had been a total of six candidates.  When Gralen was finished with the last of them, Harmon looked at Allistor and raised an eyebrow.

“Ha!  Go ahead, Harmon, start us off.  You have more experience in this, I’m sure.”

“I do have several analysts of my own.  Though most of them are born of my own clan, orcanin I’ve groomed and trained almost since birth.”  He looked at the display.  “Nigel, please display the faces of each of the six candidates in a row, in the order they were presented, starting on the left.”

The faces popped up, with names and basic information under each.

“You should eliminate the goblin.  Your current feud with at least one goblin clan may expand to include several others before you’re through.  Including this analyst’s clan, or one they’ve sworn alliance with. You do not want to place an analyst in a position of being oathbound to both you and a clan you may have to eliminate.  It would cause them discomfort at the least, and could potentially kill them for violating one oath or the other.”

“Shit.” Meg shook her head.  “The system really takes these oaths seriously, huh?”

“Extremely.” Harmon nodded.  “I would also eliminate this one.” His finger tapped the face from a race Allistor hadn’t seen before, but Gralen had called a Tervix.  Her face was birdlike, with large eyes and small beaked nose that made her look owlish.  “She was in the employ of a client of mine, and was dismissed for undisclosed reasons approximately thirty years ago.  It may have been something personal, and nothing related to her professional duties.  But I say better safe than sorry.”

Ramon added, “She is also the most expensive of the lot, but her qualifications didn’t seem to me to be better than the others.  Or even as good as a few of them.”

Allistor agreed.  “Okay, that’s two down, four to go.  Let me ask a quick question of Harmon and Gralen.  Is there a good reason not to have more than one?”

Harmon shook his head.  “Besides the cost?  There will be times when they offer opposing advice in a particular situation.  Mine often disagree with each other.”

“Well, that’s good, right?  Hearing more than one option.”

Gralen replied. “Not necessarily.  While it might offer you valuable insight, you will have to choose to follow one or the other.  And should you appear to value the advice of one over the other too often, one might decide to leave your service.  Or worse, begin to perform at less than their utmost ability, potentially offering ineffective advice based on flawed research.”

Allistor drummed his fingers on the table, thinking.  Helen spoke up.

“Harmon, you’ve eliminated a couple, for good reasons.  Let’s go the other way.  Which of the remaining options would you choose?”

Harmon didn’t hesitate.  He touched the face of an elf on the far right.  The last of the candidates Gralen had summarized.  “L’olwyn.  He was an analyst for over a thousand years before he was unhoused.  He has the experience, comes with his own ship and crew, and is slightly less expensive than the Tervix.  Though, if you add the expense of housing and feeding his crew, it might be a wash.  Still a bargain, though.”

“Unhoused?”

Gralen explained.  “L’olwyn was an analyst for a Noble House.  One of his own bloodline.  That House, and indeed the entire faction it led, were destroyed.  When a House is destroyed, survivors are known as unhoused.”

“Very original.” Meg snarked.

“Indeed.” Gralen smiled at her.  “In this case, the act that triggered the destruction of the House, and eventually the entire faction, has left him dishonored in the eyes of most elven factions.  For this reason, he has been unable to find employment among his former allies.  And making himself available to his former faction’s enemies might result in his death.”

“So he’s homeless, but with valuable skills.” Sam summarized.

Harmon cautioned, “Employing him might cause you to lose some favor with a few factions.  Though, to be honest, I doubt many of them care enough for it to matter.”

Allistor nodded.  “I’ve been taking in strays like Michael over there since day one.  No reason to stop now.” Michael flipped him the bird.  “Harmon, Gralen.  Let’s arrange a meeting with L’olwyn.  And… is there another you would recommend?”

Gralen replied, “All three of the remaining candidates are qualified.  I don’t know any of them personally, but I’m sure they are more than competent enough to serve your current needs, or I would not have presented them as candidates.”

Harmon pointed to the one in the middle of the remaining three.

“This one would be my second choice.  The dwarf.  Beyond being a good analyst, he can advise you in the craft I’ve been hearing you bang away at all week.” The orcanin grinned at Allistor.

“Oh, man.  Am I making that much noise?” Allistor felt bad.

“No, no… I’m teasing.  I get reports on what you’re doing up there.  My warriors are intrigued.  They’ve never heard of a Planetary Prince doing his own smithing before.”

Meg snorted. “Don’t tell him stuff like that.  He’ll get too big for his britches.”

Harmon chuckled.  “I doubt there’s any danger in that.  In any case, I recommend you hire at least two, and if you’re willing to make the investment, all four of them would be useful.  You’ve garnered a lot of attention, and I have a feeling you’re just getting started.  Keeping track of all your friends and enemies is going to be quite the challenge.”

Allistor looked at Chris, who just laughed.  “You couldn’t spend all your money in the next decade, short of buying yourself a fleet of ships.  Or a small moon.”

“Two small moons.” Harmon corrected, winking at Chris.

Allistor checked each face around the table, and each of them gave him a nod.  “Gralen, please message all four of them, ask them to come and meet me.  We’ll pay for their passage if necessary, or you can take your ship to retrieve them.  Take along some gold for expenses.”

As Gralen saluted, Harmon made a suggestion.  “Allistor, you know all of those weapons you’ve been working on all week?  You might consider giving Gralen a few of those to sell.”

“What?  They’re mostly junk.  Badly formed with little or no stats.”

“Ah, but they have two very important qualities.  First, they were created by the first and only Prince of Earth, so far.  As I pointed out earlier, Princes are never seen performing manual tasks like crafting weapons.  And second, I can see by your sword that you have already progressed beyond making ‘junk’, as you put it, which makes them a rare and limited group of items.  What are there… a hundred?  Less? They will make conversation pieces, at the very least.  Some will be purchased by nobles who wish to mock you and your crude skills.  The fact that you lower yourself to menial tasks.  But what do you care? Let them underestimate you.”

Gralen added, “And let them pay a lot of money for the privilege!”

“Heh.  Okay, sure.  How many do you want?  They’re all just sort of piled up on the roof.  Help yourself.  Do you need me to etch my signature in them or something?”

“No, never do that.  There are any number of unscrupulous individuals out there who would use it to forge documents.  In fact, Gralen you should wipe down each weapon, remove any fingerprints or trace of DNA to prevent fraud or cloning.  We can set up a proper display of the weapons, take a holo of Allistor working on something in the foreground.  That will be sufficient.”  Harmon turned to address Allistor, his face suddenly serious.

“From this point on, you should avoid physical contact with anyone, outside of your own people, of course.  A drop of your sweat, a flake of your skin, could be used to create a clone.  Once a faction has cloned you, it would be relatively easy to kidnap and replace you.”

“What?  Are you shitting me?  That’s… that Frank Herbert kinda crap right there.  Next you’re gonna have me sticking my hand in a pain box.”

“I have no idea what that means, but listen carefully.  When you host dignitaries, do not shake their hands.  Nobles and those with training already know what I’m telling you now.  A simple bow, or in your case probably a head nod, will suffice.  Do not accept food or drink from anyone if you are visiting another court.  Poisoning is a common practice among the nobles.  In fact, until you have reached a more… robust level, I suggest not making any diplomatic trips at all.”

“I invited an elven commander for dinner, so that he wouldn’t blow us out of the sky.” Allistor mumbled.

Harmon laughed loudly, causing the whole conference table to vibrate.  “So I have heard.  He contacted me to inquire whether you were an actual fool, or had just deceived him.  I told him both!”

Allistor couldn’t help but laugh along with his friend.  “Thanks, I think.”

“Don’t worry, I will coach you on proper etiquette and safety measures before this dinner happens.  From our short interaction, it seemed to me he would be several weeks getting his new colony in order.”

*****

Allistor spent another two days crafting and being pummeled by his squire.  William had picked up two points in Strength over the week, giving him a three.  He’d also raised his Stamina and Agility a point.  Allistor dutifully paid him his one hundred dollar salary, as agreed upon back at the Santa Barbara airport when they met, then arranged for his quest to pay some decent klax as well, because the boy’s efforts raised his Barrier level three times.

He was just finishing up on crafting a spear for himself when Nigel informed him that Gralen was returning with the four candidates.  The mercenary ship and the elf’s private ship were landing at the Bastion and they would be teleporting in shortly.

He took a quick look at his new weapon as he walked to the elevator.

The Interruptor

Item Quality:  Uncommon

Damage:  900 Piercing; 700 Slashing; 500 Bashing

Attributes: Sharpness +2, Armor Piercing +3

Enchantments:  Restraint, Mind Spike, Erupt

This weapon has been imbued with three different spells in three crystals embedded within the shaft.  User can store mana in each crystal, sufficient for them to hold up to two charges of their imbued spell.

“Alright, so it’s probably still just a mediocre weapon.  But I’m gonna use it until I can make one a whole lot better!” he mumbled to himself.

Getting in the elevator with William right behind him, he looked down at his squire.  “We’re done for today, bud.  Nigel will take you down to Amanda, and she’ll get you some lunch.  Tell Meg I said you worked extra hard today, and squires should eat steak!”  He held up a fist for a grinning William to bump.  Since his days of deprivation living at the airport, the kid had a passion for food that far exceeded the levels of a normal growing boy.

Several times now, Allistor had used him as an excuse to go back and get a second helping himself.  Amanda pretended to be angry, but he’d caught her smiling more than once.

Stepping off the elevator at his quarters, he jumped into the shower and put on his full leather armor set.  He’d chosen that route because he didn’t really own a fancy suit. Yet.  Lilly had measured him to within an inch of his life, and there were apparently proper suits in the making,  as well as dresses for Amanda, and proper ministerial garb for the others.

He was just stepping out of his sleeping quarters when Nigel informed him that Gralen, Harmon, Helen, Chris, and the candidates were waiting on the conference level.  The elevator was waiting for him, and dropped him off just a few seconds later.  Gralen snapped to attention and saluted the moment he spotted Allistor.

“Prince Allistor, I have retrieved the candidates as ordered.  They await your pleasure.”

Allistor did his best to appear formal and… royal.  He kept his posture straight and his face impassive.  “Very good, Captain Gralen.  Give me a moment to confer with my advisors, then send in the first.”  Allistor kept walking, nodding politely at the group of four aliens sitting in lounge chairs to one side.

Taking a seat at the head of the table in one of the smaller conference rooms, he grinned at Harmon and the others.  “So, do I act all princely and stuck-up? Or just be myself?”

“Oh, no.  Don’t be yourself.  In fact, try to never ever be yourself around other people.” Helen teased.

Harmon barked a laugh.  “I would be yourself, just a little more… reserved.  Keep in mind that as you are evaluating them, they are evaluating you.  These are proud people with valuable skills.  They will not want to work for a fool, nor a tyrant.”

“Got it.  Somewhere between fool and tyrant.  Here comes the first one.” Allistor sat forward, resting his elbows on the table, hands clasped and back straight.  Gralen led in the first candidate, the elf, L’olwyn.

“Greetings, L’olwyn, and welcome to Invictus.  I am Prince Allistor.” Allistor waited as the elf bowed at the waist.  “I am honored to have been invited, Prince Allistor.  Thank you.”

Allistor gave his best royal nod in return.  “Please, take a seat, and help yourself to the refreshments.”  His wave encompassed both a chair and the tray in the center of the table that featured a pitcher of water, several glasses, and some assorted pastries that Meg had baked for the occasion.  “We are rather… informal here.”  Allistor sat down, allowing the others to sit as well.

The graceful elf took the indicated chair, declining the refreshments.  He folded his hands in his lap, and looked expectantly at Allistor.

“Yes, well!  I’m sure Gralen has given you some background on me, and still you agreed to this meeting, so we’re off to a good start!”  Allistor tried to ignore the looks Helen and Harmon gave him.  L’olwyn’s facial expression didn’t change.  But Allistor was learning to expect that from elves.

“I’m told that a significant number of factions have taken notice of me, in one way or another.  And being brand new to this part of the galaxy, I freely admit that I have no experience with the entire reputation system.  I don’t know the players, or the game.  Does that worry you?”

Allistor thought he saw a slight tug at the corner of the elf’s mouth.  “I… appreciate your honesty, Prince Allistor.  And yes, I was aware of your lack of experience before making the journey here.  With your planet newly assimilated from the outer reaches, there is no way it could be otherwise.  And no, I am undaunted by the enormity of the task ahead.”

Allistor decided to take all of that in a positive light, rather than a backhanded insult.

“Good!  Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a few questions about your background.  I understand that your House and Faction were destroyed.  I offer you my deepest sympathy.  I too know what it’s like to have your family taken from you.”  He paused as the elf bowed his head in acknowledgement.   “What I would like to know, and please forgive me if this question is improper, is why other Houses have not snatched you up?”

L’olwyn immediately looked uncomfortable.  His hands shifted slightly in his lap, and his eyes darted to Harmon and Gralen.  After a moment, he sighed, and began to speak.  “That is an unusually direct and borderline insensitive question, Prince Allistor.  But under the circumstances, I will respond.  I am of Noble Blood.  My grandsire was second cousin to the Patriarch of our House.  The grandson of our Patriarch, a young elf whose name I shall not utter, was the cause of our downfall.   He was betrothed to a Princess, the daughter of a Planetary Prince much like yourself, who was also the Patriarch of a powerful House.  While visiting his future bride, the fool became inebriated and… assaulted his intended.   This is a grave crime among Nobles, and most especially among elves.  I was away on a diplomatic mission when the Princess’s House, along with all of the allied Houses of their Faction, retaliated.”

He paused, taking in a ragged breath, emotion clouding his face.  “I was informed by the system that I had become the Patriarch of a fallen House, and knew that something had gone terribly wrong.  When I returned to my home, I found that it, along with the continent it had rested on, no longer existed.  I and my crew were the last living members of my House.  A short time later I was informed of the nature of my cousin’s crime, and the shame that had fallen upon my House.   That shame, that stigma, is the reason no allied house attempted to defend my own, and why none of them will employ me.”

L’olwyn lowered his gaze, staring at his hands.

Allistor glanced at Harmon, whose face was stony and unreadable.  Orcanin society was based on their sense of honor.   Gralen, on the other hand, looked slightly shaken.  His gaze was fixed on the elf, and he looked… concerned.

Allistor cleared his throat.  “Thank you, L’olwyn.  That could not have been easy to share.  I want you to know that I consider you untainted by your cousin’s misdeeds.  Should we discover that we get along well here today, your House’s past will carry no weight with me.”

The elf’s head snapped upward, his gaze locking on Allistor’s.  “Truly?”

“It seems to me you have already paid a heavy price for the actions of another.  We humans are not as… rigid as the elves when it comes to honor, I suppose.”

The elf straightened up, his shoulders pushed back as if a great weight had been lifted from him.  “It seems to me you have a strong sense of honor, in your own way, Prince Allistor.”

The interview continued for another few minutes, then Allistor asked Gralen to escort the elf back to the waiting area and bring in the next candidate.

That was the dwarf.

Gralen barely had the door open when a four-foot tall force of nature stomped into the room.  He walked up to where Allistor had just risen to his feet, and bowed so low that his back was perfectly horizontal, and his beard nearly touched the floor.  He held the pose until Allistor spoke.

“Greetings, Longbeard.  And welcome to Invictus.” Allistor nodded his head.

“That be Master Longbeard, Prince Allistor.  Took me nearly a hunnert years ta earn the title, and I’d appreciate it if ye would use it!” the dwarf’s deep voice resonated through the room.

“Master Longbeard.  Of course.  Please… take a seat and help yourself to the refreshments.  Our best chef prepared the pastries herself.”

The dwarf hopped up into the indicated chair and leaned across the table, pouring himself some water and piling several pastries on a plate.  Once he was settled, Allistor began.

“I apologize for not using your title, Master Longbeard.  May I ask what you are a Master of?”

Longbeard had popped a small cheesecake bite into his mouth as Allistor spoke.  He took a moment to finish chewing and swallow.   “That were right tasty! Me compliments to the lass that baked it, Prince Allistor.  I am a Master Armorer.  And I heard a rumor just before we departed to come here that ye like to work the forge ‘n’ anvil?”

Allistor grinned at the likeable dwarf.  “I do indeed. One of the first skills I learned after the apocalypse was Weaponsmithing.  Followed quickly by Improvisation.  Unfortunately, I spent most of the last year fighting for my life and the lives of my people, and did not have a lot of time for crafting.   Now that things have calmed a bit, I am working to improve my skills.”

“Well, I dinna believe it!” Longbeard slapped his thigh.  “Yer Captain Gralen was sellin’ off rough pieces he claimed were crafted by yerself.  Clever strategy, that.”

Allistor laughed. “I have Harmon to thank for that.  It was his idea.”

“Aye, it’s good to have friends, that be a fact.” Longbeard gave the orcanin a respectful nod. “Especially friends o’ his caliber.  Speaks well of ye that he’s sittin’ here.”

Now it was Harmon’s turn to nod.  “Very kind of you, Master Longbeard.”

Allistor paused for a moment while the dwarf downed another pastry, then took a long drink of water.  “As I told the previous candidate, I have almost no experience in dealing with factions, or non-human races.  The first time I met an elf, he nearly shot us out of the sky.  My dealings with Harmon here being the most positive possible, I think.  I do consider him a good friend.  So, knowing that I’m completely unpracticed in the political game of factions and planetary politics, would you still be willing to assist me?”

“Bah! No way ye could know more than the tiniest bit, bein’ who ye are and where yer from!” Longbeard leaned forward.  “I can teach ye.  Advise ye on how ta act, who ta trust, or not.  I’ll admit I’ve been observin’ ya on and off the last few months.  Ye been big news in certain circles.  I see potential in ye, Prince Allistor.  And I see a kindred spirit.” The dwarf paused, then smiled to himself.  “And I won a few substantial wagers bettin’ on ya!”

“Ha!” Allistor thumped the table as the others laughed with the dwarf.  “I think I like you already, Master Longbeard.”

And so the interview went.  Four hours later, Allistor had hired the elf, the dwarf, an elderly gnome woman named Selby, and Droban the minotaur.  The negotiations had not been long or difficult, and both sides seemed happy with each agreement.

Chapter 20

The following day Allistor decided to join the raid that was descending into the subway tunnels.  After a difficult five minutes explaining to William that he could not come along, he met up with the raid group outside the tower lobby.

The plan was to take on a large group of octopoids that had congregated down a maintenance track that branched off of one of the main track tunnels.  One of the smaller raid parties had identified at least twenty of the monsters, having stumbled upon them while the octopoids massacred a bunch of large vermin scouts.   Which, of course, meant there was a vermin nest somewhere thereabouts as well.

As the monsters were no longer spawning, the food supply in places like this would be dwindling.  The monsters were ranging farther out from their homes in search of food, fighting and eating each other when one group encountered another.  Or just cannibalizing their own.  The result was that a few of the monsters had reached high levels.

Twenty-five human raiders, along with Fuzzy and Prime, descended the stairs into the subway station. They’d chosen the Broad Street station, just a block or so south of the tower, right outside Harmon’s building.  It was close to a wide, open intersection where they could see any creatures coming in time to defend themselves.

Downstairs, Logan led the way, hopping down onto the tracks and moving down the tunnel away from the station.  “Don’t worry about the third rail.  No power down here anymore.” he called back as he walked down the center of the track.

The tunnel echoed the sounds of their footsteps as several of the raiders cast light globes out in front and behind, hovering near the tunnel’s ceiling and keeping pace with the group as they moved.  They spooked the occasional rat, an angry squeak directed their way before it would disappear into a hole, or crack in the wall.  These were normal Earth rats, not the oversized vermin.  Allistor almost admired them for surviving so long down here among the alien predators.

The walk down the tunnel was otherwise uneventful for the first ten minutes or so.  Allistor occasionally checked his interface map to track their progress.  He could see the side tunnel coming up just ahead.  Logan had marked it with a red star, and their exit point back to the surface with a gold one, so that everyone was clear where to retreat, if necessary.

Nobody needed to be told to keep quiet.  They could already hear the wet shuffling sound of the octopoids.  There were large puddles and even some areas of the tunnel that were flooded with rank-smelling water a few inches deep.

Logan paused about fifty feet back from the junction, hugging the wall without actually touching it.  Keying his throat mic, he whispered, “We can try to pull a few of them at a time back here.  I’m not sure how they communicate with each other, so it might be that we get the whole group at once.”

McCoy, farther back in the group, answered. “Don’t hit the nearest one.  Just make a noise to make it come investigate.  They screech when you hit them.  But if it thinks there might be food, it’ll stay silent and try to keep it all to itself.”

“Good thinking!”  Logan motioned for the group to spread out and back up.  He wanted the fight to happen far enough back from the tunnel that the others wouldn’t hear.  If that wasn’t possible, then he wanted some time between the first and second waves.

Moving forward, he peered around the edge of the tunnel juncture.  Without a light globe, he couldn’t see more than shapes moving in the darkness.   He took a step back and did his best squeaky rat imitation.  The moment he heard an increase in the shuffling noises, he backed up.  Twenty feet back, he made the same noise again.  The others were now a few hundred feet down the tunnel and still backing up.  There was just enough light from the globes around them for Logan to see where he was going.

When he was fifty or so feet back, the first octopoid rounded the corner.  Spotting him, it began to move quickly.  Logan turned his back to it and hurried to join the others, who were still backing away.  He made the squeaking sound again and again as he retreated.  Glancing over his shoulder, he saw six of the monsters following him.

“Got six incoming.” he reported into his mic.  With the group standing in the light, they wouldn’t be able to see him or the monsters well. “Hundred feet out.  Don’t shoot me.”

Logan turned to check on the octopoids again, and tripped over one of the rail ties.  Cursing as he went belly-first into a large, stinking puddle, he scrambled back to his feet.  The monsters had gained on him in just those few seconds.   Tentacles waving, they sensed an easy meal.  He Examined the nearest before he turned to jog toward his people.

Octopoid Reaver

Level 28

Health:  31,000/31,000

Allistor was at the front of the group when Logan reached them.  He was holding a spear with three glowing crystals on it, the weapon looking pretty badass.  Allistor whispered, “All six are between level twenty-five and thirty.  Healers, number yourselves one through five.  When I say go, number one hit the first one with Restraint.  Number two, the second, and so on.  I’ll take the last one.  Everyone else, burn them down.  As quietly as possible. No fireballs or Mind Spikes until they start screaming.”

Allistor took a couple steps forward toward the approaching monsters.  Everyone but the healers spread out and prepared to surround the soon-to-be-stunned creatures.  Allistor let the octopoids approach, whispering a countdown.  “Three… two… one… go!”   He cast Restraint on the rearmost mob and it froze mid-step, tilting forward to fall on its face.  The other five froze within a second or two of each other.

The fighters had begun their attacks the moment Allistor said go.  The melee types ran in to get behind the monsters and keep them from retreating, focusing their attacks on the one Allistor had stunned.  Andrea cast Dissolve, catching the rearmost two in their faces.  Several stone spikes from Erupt spells shot up from the ground behind the monsters, skewering their legs or torsos and preventing them from moving.

Allistor’s octopoid dropped dead in seconds under the combined group dps.  The next one in line took maybe ten seconds more, the creature shaking off the stun and reaching out to grab at Michael and the tanks, but not doing much damage before it perished.

The remaining four began to screech, so Allistor hit the next one in line with Mind Spike.  It continued to screech, now waving its tentacles about in pain, as the other three advanced toward the casters and healers.  Flame Shots struck each of them, splash damage being shared among the group.

Logan called out via radio.  “Tanks, keep an eye up the tunnel, in case the others follow.”

“Roger that.” Michael replied, bashing the octopoid in front of him with a twenty-pound war hammer and caving in its skull.  “Three down.”

Another round of Restraint spells froze those three and cut off the noise.  The humans and Fuzzy moved in to stab, hack, and bite, always focusing on the rearmost mob to burn it down quickly and move to the next.  The entire fight lasted less than a minute.

The group looted the mobs and turned to face down the tunnel, listening for any others that might have come to investigate the noise.  It only took a moment for the sounds to register.  Allistor cast Light and pushed his globe out as far as he could.  Just before it came to a halt at the outer edge of its range, the light revealed more than a dozen of the octopoids moving toward the group.

“Shit.  We pulled the rest all at once.  Okay guys, no need for silence.  Hit them with stuns and spikes as soon as they get in range.  Focus on the closest, and burn them down.”

Allistor used his new spear to cast Restraint, then Mind Spike, then Erupt on three different mobs, starting in the back.  His intent was to slow them down, spread them out, and allow his people to deal with one or two at a time.   Several others had the same idea, and some spells were duplicated on a few of the octopoids.  Allistor made a mental note to better coordinate targets in the future.  In games, it was easy to mark targets and assign them.  In real life, not so much.  Still, the doubled up spells did damage, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

Allistor could have called lightning down on them with his Storm spell, but he wanted a chance to try some melee fighting with his new spear.  So he charged forward with the tanks and other melee fighters.  This was much different than the fight with that first octopoid using his first improvised spear.  He had a year’s worth of combat knowledge, muscle memory, and the confidence of being a higher level than the mobs in front of him.

Reaching the lead monster, Allistor raised the tip of the spear high, then slammed it down toward its squishy head.  Two tentacles shot upward to block the blow, but the sharp edge of the blade sliced right through both of them.  The downward momentum enabled Allistor to embed the blade in the creature’s head several inches.  Reversing his grip, he tugged and pulled downward at the same time, the blade tearing a wider, deeper cut on its way out.  As soon as the weapon was free, Allistor leaned into it, driving the point deep into the monster’s brain.  Its tentacles, one of which was wrapped around Allistor’s leg, fell limp.

Backing away and choosing a new target, Allistor cast Mind Spike.  The moment the creature began to thrash about, Allistor swung the spear inward.  It sliced through one tentacle, then another.  A reverse swing took off yet another.  Allistor spun around, trailing the spear behind him and using his body’s centerline as a lever.  The force of the blow when the spear connected embedded the blade deep in the monster’s side.  Allistor pushed, shoving the weapon deeper, and at the same time pushing the mob back into another one.  Thrashing tentacles became entwined, and Allistor hacked away at the knots, severing limbs from both creatures at once.

He grinned as an idea struck him.  He moved so that the badly wounded octopoid was between him and the other one.  Pulling back his spear, he stepped forward and launched it into the face of the first monster.  It punctured deep, but did not kill the thing.  So Allistor ran forward, disregarding the tentacles trying to rip through his armor, took hold and used his speed and body weight to push the spear all the way through the octopoid, out the back of its head, and into the second monster.  He’d effectively pinned the two of them together, and trapped several of the remaining tentacles.

Others began to hit the two mobs with spells, and Michael stepped past Allistor to shield bash the dead one in front.  The move caused both monsters to fall, the still-living one in the back struggling to right itself with the corpse nailed to it.  Allistor left the spear where it was, casting Erupt beneath the head of the fallen mob.  The spike shot up from the floor, through its head, and out the other side.  Somehow, though, he still missed its brain.  It continued to lash out until a Flame Shot slammed a column of fire down upon it.

When the last of the monsters died, Allistor didn’t see any of his people level up.  He started to rethink the makeup of this group, and considering switching out to some lower level raiders.  On the one hand, this was a waste of xp.  On the other, he wanted to be sure his group cleared the area with no fatalities.   In the end, he decided to continue as they were.

The raiders quickly looted all the mobs, then moved back to the side tunnel and advanced past the area where the octopoids had been gathered.  Again, things were quiet until they reached an old wheelhouse.   This was a huge round room with a set of rails crossing it.  It was basically a big turntable used to reverse train engines and send them back the way they came.

A large section of the forty-foot high wheelhouse ceiling was broken open, allowing sunlight to filter down into a back corner. It had also allowed rain to fall inside, making a wide puddle around the fallen debris on the ground.

Suddenly Allistor understood why the octopoids were huddled together.  They didn’t dare enter this place, for fear of being slaughtered and eaten.

A void titan sat on its butt in the middle of the puddle.  Now the hole in the roof made sense.  The creature had either fallen through, or spawned inside the wheelhouse and its head had smashed through the ceiling.   Its long arms and sharp claws began to reach toward Allistor and the group.

Void Titan

Level 38

Health:  211,000/211,000

“Back!  Regroup!”  Allistor shouted, casting Restraint on the monster and causing it to freeze for a few seconds.  The raiders all retreated back down the tunnel until they were far enough that a giant hand stretching down the tunnel couldn’t reach them.

“Okay guys,” Allistor gathered them around to discuss a plan.  “That thing’s stuck in there, which works to our advantage.  Normally, I’d say let’s just run up top and shoot down at it.  But I don’t know how stable the ceiling is, and it can certainly reach up and bring us all down.  So we fight it down here.  Volunteers only.  Every time I’ve fought one of these, I’ve lost people.  They’re tough.  And the one that attacked the Citadel could speak.” He waited for the others to confirm that they were in.  Nobody backed out.

Looking around at the group, he said, “I think all of you have fought at least one of these things.  And you all saw what the one I summoned in the depository did to the leprechauns.  When it roars in that enclosed space, it’s gonna burst eardrums, maybe a few internal organs.  It’s gonna suck.  Everybody put in earplugs.”

Several people looked chagrined, just shrugging.  They hadn’t thought to put earplugs in their inventory.  Allistor was about to tell them to tear off bits of their shirts and stuff the cloth in their ears when Nancy spoke up.

“Here, everybody get a couple dabs of this and stick it in your ears.  Preferably outside your earpieces so you can still hear the group.”  She held up a jar of some thick and sticky paste that smelled like berries.  Demonstrating, she dipped her finger in and scooped out a small glob, then pressed it into her ear.

The others followed suit, Helen doing Fuzzy’s ears while Allistor held his head still and calmed him.  “Sorry buddy.  But these things are really loud.  You remember.  This will protect your ears.”   Fuzzy seemed to calm a bit, and Helen finished as quickly as she could.

Allistor pressed his throat mic.  “Test.  Raise your left hand if you can hear me.”

All but Fuzzy raised a hand.  Allistor nodded.  “Alright, the weak points are the usual – its eyes, inside its mouth, neck, armpits – I’d avoid getting anywhere near those if at all possible.” Sam and the core group laughed at this.  Allistor just shuddered. “Also the backs of its knees, which might be reachable since it’s sitting.  And the insides of its wrists and elbows.”

“Melee, no standing and fighting.  One swipe from those claws hits you full-on, you’re dead.  Surround the thing and distract it, keep moving.  More important to avoid taking hits than to inflict damage.  Let the ranged dps burn it down.”  The melee all nodded.  Michael added his own two cents.

“Its butt is about five feet from the wall.  If a couple of us could get back there, we could work the hell out of it and maybe not get hit.  Or crushed if it leans back.”

Allistor nodded.  “You can try it.  But those arms are long, so it might be able to reach you.  Keep a careful eye on them.”

With that said… they moved back up the tunnel toward the wheelhouse.  They’d been gone long enough that the titan seemed to have lost interest.  They didn’t need all their light globes, having plenty of light from the hole in the ceiling.  So Allistor said, “As I go through the door, everybody send your globes into its face.  Should distract it long enough for all of us to get inside.  Remember, spread out.  And watch both hands!”

Allistor cast Barrier in front of himself as he approached the tunnel opening, then broke into a jog.  “Now!” he called out as he cleared the entrance, sending his own light globe to fly up into the monster’s face.  He immediately followed that up with an instant cast Flame Shot just to further distract the beast.  He turned and moved to his right, now sprinting toward the creature’s left hand. He cast Erupt beneath the hand, sending a spike up through it.

The titan roared in anger, barely feeling the spike, but annoyed by the flames and lights.  The entire room shook, and Allistor silently blessed Nancy for whatever the goop was.  The sound was cut in half, still painfully loud, but not disabling.

While the hand was still stuck on the spike, Allistor ran up next to the wrist and jammed the tip of his spear into the soft spot on the inner surface just below its palm.  The weapon slid deep into the titan’s flesh, and blood began to bubble out.  The stench, even though Allistor was prepared for it, was horrendous.  He had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from vomiting.  He quickly retreated from the smell, wrenching the spear out as he jumped back.

The spike broke as the hand jerked forward, the monster trying to swipe at someone near the door.

Allistor thought about summoning his own void titan to battle this thing.  But the room was too small for one of them, let alone two.   For all he knew, that could collapse the entire city block.

Storm was an option, but he’d save it in case things got desperate.  He didn’t have enough mana to channel the spell long enough to kill the thing now.  But maybe when it was at half health or lower.  For now, his raiders were handling the monster.   Michael and Logan had made it behind the thing, and were hacking and slashing at the base of its spine.   Andrea had hit it in the face with Dissolve, and several others were taking turns hitting the same spot with Flame Shots to keep it distracted.

Void Titan

Level 38

Health:  163,710/211,000

Allistor switched out his spear for his titan bow.  “Let’s see what kind of damage titan bone arrows can do to this thing.”  He nocked and drew an arrow, taking his time to aim carefully.  The monster was focused on the casters near the door, and both its hands were out in front of it.  Allistor chose the ear, the weak spot where he’d killed his first titan.   Letting out a long, slow breath, he released the arrow.  It sped toward the monster’s head, disappearing into the flesh of its ear.  The thing roared again, its left hand flying up to grab that side of its head.

Allistor had been about to fire a second arrow, but lowered the bow when the hand blocked his target.  Instead, he took a moment to check the raid display, making sure all his people were good.  To his surprise, everyone was still nearly at full health.

A moment later, Michael’s voice rang in his ear.  “Allistor, get back here. I have an idea!”

Without hesitation, Allistor sprinted toward the back wall and the small space occupied by Michael and Logan.  He saw Logan take a mighty swing, hacking at some kind of plating that covered the monster’s spine.   When he saw Allistor, he grinned.  “Ever do a lumbar puncture?”

Allistor looked as Michael pointed.  The two of them had managed to break away some of the armor covering the monster’s spine.  Underneath was the exposed vertebrae and spinal column.  Michael explained his idea, and Allistor grinned.   Less than a minute later, they were all set up.  All three men ran out from behind the giant, taking a wide arc around the room and back to where the casters were spread out by the door.

Allistor shouted into his radio to be sure everyone heard.  “Count of ten, I want everyone to blast that thing in the face.  I’m going to cast Vortex and channel it a bit before letting loose.  Hopefully, all of us will hit it together.  Ready?  Ten… nine…”  As he counted down, he began casting Vortex.  Like he’d done before, he targeted the placement right in front of the titan’s face, and condensed it so that it was small and powerful.  When he was down to one, he shouted, “Now!” and released the vortex right into the roaring giant’s mouth.   Immediately after, its face was hit with a dozen fireballs, several Mind Spikes, and a second dose of Dissolve.

All that magic impacting it at once, knocked its face backward, but didn’t have the desired effect.  Allistor got another idea.  “Everybody who can, cast Erupt so that the spikes go up into the base of its heel!”

There was a scream as somebody who’d quit watching the monster’s hands was struck.  A moment later the scream ended abruptly.  Allistor looked to see one of the healers collapsed in a heap at the base of a wall.  Her raid icon was greyed out.

“Dammit!” Allistor got angry.  But more at the healer than the monster. “See what happens when you take your eye off the ball?  Pay attention or I’ll kill you myself!” he growled into his radio.  He instantly regretted his words, but now was not the time to dwell on them.  He cast Mind Spike on the creature again.

A moment later, four or five spikes shot upward from the floor into the soles of the titan’s feet and heels.  It roared in pain, and tried to pull its legs free.  When that didn’t work, it used its hand to push itself back toward the wall behind it, attempting to free its legs.

That was just what Michael had been hoping for.  There was a popping sound, and the roar turned into a garbled cry of pain.  Michael had told Allistor to place the tip of his spear right next to the exposed spinal column, then wedge the butt-end into the angle at the base of the wall.  When the creature scooted back toward the wall, the spear was pushed directly into its spine.

Void Titan

Level 38

Health:  47,600/211,000

“Pour it on!” Michael shouted, running toward the monster.  Its legs no longer moved, and he dashed directly under one slightly raised knee.  Holding his shield above his head to catch most of the nasty blood, he drove his sword up into the soft flesh several times, lightning fast.  He took a small step to the side after each stroke, doing his best to avoid the falling blood.

Allistor equipped his bow again, casting Mind Spike on the beast, then firing several arrows into its mouth as it roared.  With the head a solid thirty feet above him, his arrows all punched through the roof of its mouth.

Michael didn’t see the hand moving in from his left side as he stabbed away at the knee, severing tendons and a vein.  The claws impacted his shield first, the sound of metal on metal screeching and drawing everyone’s attention.  The index claw got past Michael’s shield and penetrated his shoulder.  The man screamed and dropped his sword, trying to use his hand to push himself off the claw.  Several heals hit him before Amanda started screaming at the healers to quit it.  They couldn’t close the wound with the claw still inside him.

Sam appeared out of nowhere, grabbing Michael by the back of his chest piece and yanking him out from under the knee, pulling him off the claw even as the monster closed its grip in an attempt to crush Michael.  The thumb claw scraped across the man’s thighs, leaving deep cuts festering with nasty, polluted fluid.

“Heals! Now!”  Allistor shouted as Sam hustled back toward the healers and right out the door, dragging an unconscious Michael behind him.  Allistor saw his health bar shoot back up before he lost sight of them both.

Allistor had had enough.  “Prime! I need your staff weapon!”

The general, who had orders not to use his plasma rifles, had been dashing about and poking the monster to distract it.  He turned instantly and tossed the weapon to Allistor, who caught it and looked up at the beast.  Its arms were still moving, though much more slowly.  Its health bar was draining rapidly, and the pool it sat in was thickening with its blood and spinal fluid.

Focusing on a spot atop the monster’s shoulder, Allistor cast Dimensional Step.  A split second later he appeared in the exact spot he’d targeted.   Wasting no time, he lowered the sharp end of Prime’s weapon and charged the three steps across the titan’s shoulder, ramming the spear deep into the ear.  He saw the adjacent hole where his arrow had penetrated, the wound leaking a steady trickle of nasty black blood.

Allistor pushed with everything he had, leaning his body into the motion.  The spear struck something hard and all forward motion stopped.  Allistor pulled it back, then shoved forward again.  This time he heard a familiar pop, and the weapon nearly disappeared in the creature’s head.

A hand that had been about to seize Allistor suddenly fell limp.  The titan’s roar cut off in a sort of a gurgle, and its head dropped forward.  Which launched Allistor, still holding the spear, into the air.

“Shiiit!” he yelled, thirty feet up and flying toward his people.  He managed to stifle his panic and cast Levitate on himself, arresting his fall.  But he couldn’t do anything about his forward momentum in time to keep from slamming into the wall at a high rate of speed.  He tried to spin his body so he didn’t hit face first, felt his shoulder dislocate, and a couple ribs break on impact.

Everybody but him leveled up as he felt heals wash over him.  A moment later he lowered himself to the floor and cancelled Levitate.

Attribute Level Increase!  Your Constitution attribute has increased by +1!

Dusting himself off, he supposed the Constitution bump was a decent consolation prize for not leveling with everyone else.  He was really damn tired of fighting void titans.  And again, they’d lost somebody.

He walked over to where the dead healer was being placed gently on the ground and covered.  Her name had been Sonya, and she was one of their better healers.  He didn’t know much about her life, so he asked Amanda.  “Did she have family?”

Amanda shook her head.  “They were killed by Paul’s people.  She was one of those we rescued from the Denver mint.  Volunteered for every single raid and dungeon run.”

“I don’t want to burn her down here in this hole.  We’ll carry her back up and have a proper funeral.” Allistor walked over and kicked the titan in the head as hard as he could.  Which counted as looting it.  He ignored the notifications, even though he saw an orange glow among them.  “Guys, help me push this thing forward enough to get my spear back?”  Prime had already recovered, and somehow cleaned, his own spear.

Ten of the raiders pitched in to help move the giant corpse.  All of them having above-human-normal strength, they were able to press their feet against the wall and push the upper body forward enough for Allistor to rip the spear free.

Amanda and a few others had placed Sonya in a body bag, and Logan lifted her up in a princess carry.  Nobody bothered to try and harvest hide from the titan.  The entire group was quiet as they retraced their path back up to the street and down the block to the tower.   Someone had seen them coming, and hundreds of citizens poured out to meet them in the street.  When Logan quietly informed them who they’d lost, dozens of them immediately spread out and began gathering wood from nearby collapsed buildings.  In less than an hour they had enough for a pyre.

Allistor didn’t waste any time.  He gave a short speech about the tragedy of surviving the first year only to fall prey to a monster.  He spoke about her selfless service as a healer, and remembering her along with too many others who’d given their lives.

When a few friends had spoken kind words about her, Allistor called down a column of fire and lit they pyre.  As the flames burned down and eventually guttered, her name appeared, etched below the poem on the front wall of the tower lobby, along with the others who’d perished so far within the walls of Invictus.

Chapter 21

While Allistor went back to crafting for at least part of each day, his people were hard at work.  Some were improving their own crafting skills.  Lilly and Michael were making great strides in combining enchantments with materials used in their armor pieces.   Nancy was busy helping grow food and livestock more rapidly than normal, and was personally teaching the improved growth spell to people in each community, saving Ramon and his team the time it would take to make scrolls.

The survivors living at Pelican Bay organized their fishing boats and began hauling in significant quantities of fish.  They remained in the waters near islands, hoping to avoid any large sea creatures.  Allistor had them limit their trips to once per week, and rotate the locations where they dropped their nets, not wanting to overfish the waters and destroy the ecosystem.  When Helen heard him give that order, without any prompting from her, she gave him a little hug and a pat on the ass.

The fish, meanwhile, were distributed via teleport, providing fresh meat to all of Allistor’s properties, and those allied Strongholds who wished to purchase some.  The fishing crews kept all the proceeds from those sales.

Gralen and his officers, along with Gene and Kira, were training the flight crew candidates.  Each day two groups would go up in the morning – one in the yacht, the other in the colony ship.  Then another two would train in the afternoon.  They practiced a range of simulated situations from routine takeoffs and landings to space battles, learning how to operate their stations and react to problems quickly and precisely.   They had galley crews up with them at the same time, learning to cook, literally, on the fly.  Each galley crew would serve the bridge crew, engineers, et cetera, a single meal during the half-day training sessions.

At the same time, Gene and Kira were leveling up their Aviator skills.   Both Allistor and Helen also spent a day with them, watching them pilot during the morning shift, then taking a shot at it themselves in the afternoon, to level their own skills.

When Gene wasn’t flying, and even some of the time that he was flying, he and the engineers and mechanics were taking apart and studying the small hydrogen fuel engine Allistor had bought for them to play with.  They were doing their best to reverse engineer the thing, using any books they could find on the topic to supplement their efforts.

Eventually, Gene called Allistor and the others together at the Citadel motor pool.  There were chairs laid out in rows, facing a large table with a cloth-covered object on it.   When everyone was settled, George unveiled his prototype.

“Aaaand here she is, folks!  We’re calling her Hydra.  Partly because she runs on hydrogen fuel, but mostly because she has seven heads, all in-line, like a legendary dragon turbo engine!”  He waggled his eyebrows at his perceived cleverness.  There was some scattered applause and a few cheers.

He yanked the cloth free, revealing a brightly shining engine block.  It was much less fancy than Allistor had expected.  It was also quite compact.  He didn’t know a lot about engines, so he asked the first question that came to mind.

“Why in-line?”

Gene smiled.  “We actually started with a V pattern, but one of the books Ramon found for us showed that the in-line engine was steadier, with less vibration, less power loss, and could be made smaller.  Which also makes it lighter.  If we’re going to be using these in planes, lighter is better.”

“Very cool!” Allistor got up and took a few steps closer, leaning in to examine the thing.  He really had no clue what he was looking at, but he knew Gene and the others present had worked hard on it, and he wanted to show some appreciation.

“So, is this a large scale replica of the motorcycle engine I bought for you to sacrifice?”

“Oh, no!  This one is a whole new animal.  Dragon!  Engine.  Whatever.” Gene grinned at him. “We combined what we learned from the alien tech with good ol’ fashioned Earth mechanics.  She’s not as efficient as alien tech, yet.  And still a little heavier.  But she’s all ours.  We’ll keep making improvements over the next few months, maybe years.  But this baby here, she’ll be installed along with her twin sister in my jet tomorrow.”  He paused when he realized what he’d said.

“I mean… the big jet that I fly for you.”  He looked slightly embarrassed, his enthusiasm flagging.

“It’s your jet, Gene.  As long as you agree to take me for a ride when I need one.” Allistor gave him a light punch in the arm.  “Now, you were saying about tomorrow?”

“Right!  She’ll be installed in the Gulfstream tomorrow.  Then we’ll take her up for a few test flights.  And yes, we’ll bring parachutes.” He rolled his eyes, having received that advice from at least a dozen people already.  “But our preliminary testing shows she could push the plane faster than the fuselage was designed to handle.  Something close to eight hundred miles per hour, which is faster than Mach 1!  And fifty gallons of water, or a much smaller amount of refined hydrogen fuel, and she can fly around the world, nonstop!”

“And she’ll be faster than the dragons.  That’s great, guys!” Allistor gave Gene a high five, then went around to the others doing the same.  “Awesome work!”

“Dragons?  Ha!  The only thing a dragon will hear is a sonic boom as we pass them by.” Gene was like a kid showing off a new toy.

“And are you going to upgrade the structure of the plane to handle faster speeds?” Allistor envisioned the luxury jet streaking across the sky at Mach 2.

Gene shook his head.  “Not worth the trouble.  I mean, the Gulfstream is beautiful, but if we want to hit higher speeds, it’s better to just go with a different vehicle altogether.  She’ll be great for running around the planet, and we’ll just keep her to within her tolerances.  By the time we took her apart and rebuilt her, it would be more time and cost efficient to just build something better from scratch.”

“I see.  Well, I look forward to seeing what else you come up with!  And… will you make some version of this that we can use in ground vehicles?  Like… armored personnel carriers that could plow through crowded highways all day on just a barrel of water for fuel?”

“Sure!  Already have one almost done.  Not for an APC, obviously.  But we’re refitting one of the RVs.  We’ll be able to drive cross-country nonstop, switching out drivers as we go.  The engine won’t overheat.  With a moisture collector on the roof, you could go for weeks.”

Allistor patted the enthusiastic engineer on the back, congratulated them all one more time, and took his leave after promising to tag along on the test flight the following day.  As he walked toward the teleport pad, he placed a call through Nigel to Chris.

“Hey, boss.  What’s up?”

“Talk to me about refined hydrogen fuel.  Can we purchase it in bulk? Is it expensive?”

Chris snorted.  “You’ve not been doing any homework at all, have you?”

“Uhh... no?”

“Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe.  I know you know that.  And hydrogen fuel is the cheapest.  Which is why so many things run on it.  You can literally find converters that will remove the hydrogen from the air, from water, whatever, and refine it into fuel, just about anywhere. I think you can purchase a large one, big enough to supply refined fuel for a fleet of ships, for like a million klax.”

“Cool!  I guess I’m not used to being the backwater savages of the universe yet.  I keep thinking this tech, since it’s new to us, is going to be super expensive.  Please buy us a few of them and have them installed at the Strongholds. Eventually we’ll have small fleets of vehicles that run on the stuff at each location.  And we’ll be able to fuel our planes and spaceships.”

“Sire, if I might make a suggestion?”

Allistor’s eyes widened for a moment.  “Certainly, Nigel.”

“I actually have one suggestion, and one recommendation.  First, hydrogen fuel is explosive under certain conditions, and converters can be damaged in attacks or by sabotage.  So I recommend the converters be installed far from heavily populated areas.  As for my suggestion, along those same lines, should George begin to manufacture munitions featuring a solid form of the refined fuel, very small amounts could cause large explosions.”

Allistor heard Chris chuckling.  He shook his head.  “Very helpful on both counts.  Thank you, Nigel.  Seems that upgrade is coming in handy.”

“Yes, Sire.  Thank you.”

Allistor teleported back to Invictus and sought out Amanda.  As usual, she was in her medical ward, scanning someone.  It was a child this time, with a broken arm.  Allistor winced as she pulled on the little boy’s wrist, aligning the bone properly before letting the boy’s muscle and tissue pull it back into place.  A quick Restore spell, and the child’s tears stopped falling.  His mother hugged him, rubbing his back as he sniffled.

The whole time she’d been working, Amanda had her Internal Analysis working.  Handing the boy a lollipop, she said, “You can’t see it, but right now little tiny magic robots are all scrunched up inside your arm, making your bones even stronger than they were before.”

The boy just nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with one sleeve before unwrapping the candy and popping it into his mouth.  The mother thanked Amanda and let the boy out of the room.  Allistor smiled and ruffled the kid’s hair as he walked past.  “I been there, little man.  It ain’t fun.  But she’s right, you’ll be stronger now.”    Fuzzy, who had been following Allistor in hopes of some treats, licked the boy’s face, nearly knocking him backward.  Allistor suspected it was an attempt to steal the lollipop.

The boy grimaced at Fuzzy, wiping his face with the same sleeve as before.  The bear’s stinky breath detracted significantly from his cuteness.

Turning to Amanda, he asked, “Any chance I could get one of those lollipops?  And… do you have a mint-flavored one for Fuzzy?”

Amanda looked him up and down quickly.  “You’re not wounded.”

“Exactly! I haven’t let anything bite me all day.  Surely that earns me a treat.”

“Nope.” She shook her head, turning and placing the candy jar up on a shelf.  “Patients only.  Not loiterers. No lollipops for lollygaggers!”

Both Allistor and Fuzzy pouted.

“Sire, there has been an incident north of the main gate.  Two of your citizens have just been attacked by humanoids of unknown origin!” Nigel’s voice echoed through the room.

“Shit!  Nigel, send the droids!  I’m on my way.  Give me loudspeaker please.”

“Go ahead, Sire.”

“Attention all citizens!  A few of our own have been attacked just outside the north gate!  Anyone who is nearby, please assist as quickly as possible.  I’m headed there now.  Report to Nigel as soon as you have info.”

He was already running down the corridor toward the main lobby.  Outside, people were  piling into the two Juggernauts that were parked in the street.  He saw Helen climb into the driver’s seat of the lead vehicle, so he and Fuzzy jumped in the back, along with Amanda.  There were already four armed citizens inside.  Helen shouted, “Moving!” and the vehicle jerked forward even as the side door was being closed.

Allistor pulled up his map and zoomed in on the northern border of Invictus City.  Maybe a hundred yards outside the gate, in the middle of Central Park, were two green dots indicating his citizens.  Around them were several red dots, maybe ten in total.  They had his people surrounded, but didn’t appear to be closing in.  Additional green dots that must be battle droids were moving quickly toward the group.

Logan’s voice came through the vehicle’s comms.  “I just left my place, and am entering the park.  I can see them up ahead, but I’m too far to get a good look.  It looks like… yeah, two of our people on the ground.  One bleeding.  Around them are…”  There was a long pause, during which everyone in the back of the vehicle leaned forward, unconsciously straining to hear the next words.

“I…I think they’re people.   But they’re all messed up.  They’re firing on the droids, and the droids are firing back!”

Allistor watched as a couple of the red dots blinked out.  “Prime!  If those are humans, have your troops try to capture them.  Lethal force only if necessary.”  The message was relayed through Nigel.

The Juggernauts sped up the streets toward the north gate.  Teams had been clearing the abandoned and burned-out cars all the way up Broadway to where it became Park Ave South, then on up to 86th Street, which ran into the east side of Central Park right near where the north gate was.  Where previously the trip would have taken an hour or more, they were able to cover the distance in minutes.

When they arrived, they found eight of the attackers bound and struggling on the ground, guarded by droids.  Two others lay dead nearby.  Allistor’s two people, a young lady named Kaitlyn, and the one who’d been injured was a young man named Conor, stood nearby. He’d been healed by Logan before Allistor and company reached them.

Allistor understood why Logan had been confused when trying to identify the attackers.  The prisoners were human, he was pretty sure.  But they looked heavily mutated.  Most of them had only patches of hair on their heads and bodies.  Skin had been stretched, or melted, and distorted.  Some had limbs bent at odd angles, as if they’d been broken and healed improperly.  Their eyes were mostly red, though some were a sickly shade of yellow.  They snarled and screamed in frustration as they struggled against their bonds.

Rhonda stepped up next to Allistor.  “Poor souls.  We’ve run into a few of them before.  They’ve been damaged by radiation.  Someone set off a small nuke in the Bronx, we think in an attempt to keep the creatures in the city from getting north up into the burbs and Connecticut.  That’s what started a lot of the fires here in the city.” She looked around at the burned out and broken high-rises within sight.  “Best we can tell, these people were far enough from the blast that they lived, but close enough to get heavy doses of radiation.  Lethal doses.  But the new healing system kept them alive.”

Amanda had tears running down her face as she looked at the struggling mutated humans. “That makes sense.  The radiation would have kept eating away at them, while the system’s natural healing worked to keep them alive.  It must have been… incredibly painful.”

Allistor could relate.  The pain he felt when the nanobots, or whatever they were, repaired his broken bones and torn tissue was no joke.  Thankfully, it only lasted a short while.  He couldn’t even imagine days on end, or an entire year.

Rhonda nodded her head.  “Drove most of them insane.  They hunt in packs like this, killing other survivors or lone monsters.  They’ve still got enough clarity to use weapons and some basic tactics, which makes them dangerous.”

Allistor stepped forward, his gut roiling.  He didn’t know how to handle this situation.  “Do we put them out of their misery?  Let them go?” He turned to Amanda. “Can we fix them?”

She shook her head, stepping forward to stand next to him and grip his arm with both her hands.  “I… don’t know?  I mean, the radiation has probably damaged them on a cellular level.  Still, the system seems to be able to heal them at least enough to keep them alive.  So maybe we can restore their bodies?  But I have no idea how to restore their minds.”

Logan spoke up.  “If it was me, I’d want you to kill me.  This… isn’t living.”

Several others in the group added their agreement to his words.

“I agree.” Allistor said.  After a long moment, during which his brain rapidly considered multiple possible scenarios, he added, “But I think we have to try to help them.  For our own sakes, as well as theirs.  I don’t think I could live with myself if we didn’t try, at least.”

Logan nodded his head.  Amanda gave his arm a squeeze and stepped forward.  She began to channel Mend into the nearest of the mutants. The woman screamed, her body contorting as she rolled around in the high grass.  Her skin moved visibly as it tried to restore itself to its original form.  Allistor heard bones crack as they too broke and began to reform.

Grunting from the effort, Amanda said, “Somebody feed her a health potion.  And pour some directly on the breaks.”

Nancy immediately dashed forward to apply her best healing potions.  She also poured some tea with a +2 Stamina buff down the woman’s throat.   She worked quickly, having to pull back several times as the enraged woman tried to bite her.

When Nancy stepped back a few seconds later, Amanda croaked.  “Mana’s low.  Need some help.  Nancy, Allistor.”

Both of them began channeling Mend into the woman as Amanda stopped casting.  She was breathing hard from the effort, and looked pale, putting a hand on Allistor’s shoulder for support.

The woman on the ground was looking more human.  At least, her body was much less deformed than it had been.  Her eyes were still red and bloodshot, and Allistor saw no human recognition in them.  Only animal hatred and rage.

After he and Nancy had been channeling for nearly a minute, Amanda called a halt.  Allistor gratefully stopped channeling, the rapid and extended drain of mana uncomfortable even for someone with his relatively large mana pool.

The woman lay unconscious, her struggling ceased.  Her body looked fully healed, the hair on her head restored, her limbs straight.  All the inflamed and distorted skin had returned to normal, all of it displaying the light pink shade of newly-healed flesh.

Amanda sat in the grass, folding her hands in her lap.  She waited a short while for her mana to restore a bit, then her eyes began to glow with Internal Analysis.

“My god.  The amount of nanobots… this woman puts you to shame, Allistor.  Every inch of her is flooded with the things.  Even sections of bone that weren’t broken.  Like they’re fighting the irradiated cells literally everywhere in her body.  It’s… beautiful.  And horrible.”

She shifted her gaze to one of the other prisoners, and tears flowed again.  “So much damage.  So much… everything.  His entire body is in a state of flux.  Cells mutating, bones cracking and repairing, new cells growing, but becoming contaminated by the radiation almost immediately.”

Amanda closed her eyes and sobbed.  “The pain they must be in.  Every minute.  It’s… I can’t.”  She lowered her head and covered it with both arms, almost as if she were fending off physical blows.

The woman they’d healed regained consciousness with a throat-rending scream.  She looked around at the gathered people and droids, her eyes wild.  Another scream escaped her lips as she struggled to get free.

Allistor cast Restraint on her to keep her from hurting herself.  Stepping closer, he took a knee and looked directly into her eyes.  He still saw no recognition there.

“I’m Allistor.  What’s your name?” he asked.   The stun wore off, but her struggling slowed slightly as she made eye contact.  “Can you understand me?”

She growled, lunging toward him as best she could, her teeth snapping together well short of reaching him.   A droid stepped forward and used a foot on her shoulder to pin her down. The action caused her to whimper in pain, or fear.  Allistor wasn’t sure which.

“What is your name?” he asked her again, speaking slowly, clearly, and probably more loudly than necessary.

She simply grunted and snarled at him, holding eye contact, challenging him with her gaze.

Allistor shook his head, standing up.  “Maybe more healing?”

Amanda straightened up, lowering her arms.  Her face was red and puffy from crying.  She activated her Internal Analysis again, and after a moment, began to shake her head.  “The damaged cells are already trying to multiply again.  The magic is trying to hold it back, but failing.  Maybe if we gave her more buffs?  Health Regeneration, Stamina?”

Allistor nodded, his face grim.  He pulled some dragon jerky from his ring and leaned in, holding the meat above the woman’s head.  She snapped at him, her teeth clamping down just below his fingers.  He let loose and jerked his hand back as she gnawed on the jerky for a brief moment, then swallowed it nearly whole.

A moment later, when the buffs kicked in, Amanda nodded.  “That’s helping, some.”

For the next hour, Allistor and company worked to restore the woman.  He had Nigel send all the available healers, along with potions and food that provided buffs.  The Juggernauts made several trips back and forth, delivering the healers to the park.  Prime showed up with another two dozen battle droids, who set up a perimeter and stood guard facing outward.

The new arrivals began to heal the other prisoners as Amanda and Allistor worked on the first woman.  Nancy explained what they’d done so far, and everyone got to work.   More than a few of the healers broke down, the horror of what they were seeing combined with the exhausting mana drain being too much.  Sounds of sobbing could be heard in between the screams of the mutants.  A fighter stood next to each healer, offering them support, both emotional and physical.  They handed the healers potions or applied them to the prisoners as instructed.  Even Kaitlyn and Conor, the two who’d been attacked by the mutant humans, pitched in and did their share.

Eventually, the first woman’s eyes appeared to focus a bit more.  There was a hint of clarity in them as she stared at Amanda, who sat nearby, too tired to stand.  Allistor decided to try again.

“What is your name?”

The woman’s gaze switched to him, and he saw a deep sorrow there.  She moved her mouth as if to speak, and a sort of slow groan escaped.  Shaking her head, she tried again as tears formed in her eyes.  When no actual words came out, she seemed frustrated.

“I think we’re closer.” Allistor said, feeling a little hope for the first time since they’d arrived.  “She’s thinking in there, I just know it.  What else can we do?”

Amanda sighed.  “We could… try the regeneration machines?  Maybe it’s just that their brains have been too damaged.  I have no idea if those machines will work on brain trauma.  But what have we got to lose?”

Allistor agreed.  “Prime, please ask Kira to grab one of the regeneration machines, and bring it here in the yacht.  We’ll test it here, and if it works, we’ll bring everybody back at once and help them.”

It took ten minutes for Kira to retrieve the tech, get it to the ship, and fly it to the park.  She landed nearby, right at the edge of the lake, causing the mutated humans to freak out slightly, once again thrashing against their bonds.  Two droids escorted her from the ship, along with another group of humans who’d come to see if they could help.  By the time they made it to Allistor, the prisoners had mostly calmed again.

Goodrich, who had been uncharacteristically silent since he’d arrived with Allistor, mumbled, “Please, let this work.  Please.”  Allistor looked to see the man wiping tears from his own eyes before he added, “I wonder how many more like this are wandering around out here.  If this works, we need to find them, and help them, Allistor.  We have to.”

The look he gave Allistor nearly broke his heart.  He’d never seen Goodrich be serious about anything other than fighting.  The man was just a naturally lighthearted individual. Now he saw pain, horror, and fear in his friend’s eyes.

Allistor stepped closer and put a hand on Goodrich’s shoulder.  “If this works, you can lead the search parties.  I’ll give you all the people and droids you need.”

Goodrich tried to thank him, but the words caught in his throat.  He cleared it a few times, and still his voice was thick when he answered.  “Nothing worse than being betrayed by your own mind.  I watched my…” his voice failed again, and Allistor patted him on the back.

“It’s okay, we get it, man.  No need to talk about it.  We all understand.  Let’s just cross our fingers, here.”

They all watched in silence as Amanda and two of her assistants from the infirmary set up the alien tech.  The machine had several possible configurations, but in this case they placed two small posts on the ground on either side of the woman’s head.  Amanda had two of the droids immobilize her body, and motioned for Allistor to hold her head still.  As he knelt above her head and bent over the woman, her eyes met his.  She seemed to be pleading for help with her gaze.   He tried to reassure her.

“It’s okay.  We’re going to try and heal you.  You need to be still.  Do you understand? Don’t fight us.  Hold still.”

The woman’s body relaxed slightly, her eyes never leaving his.  Amanda finished her setup, and activated the machine.  She slowly moved a wand that looked much like an old airport metal detector down from the top of the woman’s head to the base of her neck.  The patient’s eyes looked terrified as they followed the wand.

“This is just a scan.  So the device knows what it’s dealing with.  The regeneration should begin in a moment…”  Even as she finished the sentence, a blue glow began to emanate from the two posts.  The light penetrated the woman’s head, and her eyes rolled up in their sockets. “This may take a while.  A limb can take several hours.  I have no idea about a brain.”

They all stood and waited, the only sounds being an occasional shuffle as someone shifted their weight, and some moaning from the other patients, or the sounds of them gnawing on jerky.   A few of the fighters began gathering wood for a funeral pyre for the two who’d been killed.

Drinks and food were passed around as they waited and watched.  An hour passed, then another.  Finally the blue light faded, and there was a short beep.  The two posts glowed red briefly, then went dormant.

“That’s not a good sign.” Amanda’s face fell.  “Every other time we’ve used these, the posts flashed green when the work was done.”

Allistor tried not to let his hopes die.  His gut told him they were in for a big disappointment.  Amanda clearly agreed, her face grim as she knelt next to the woman.  Nancy handed her a few leaves, which she crushed between her fingers before holding them under the woman’s nose.  A second later, the woman’s eyes fluttered opened and she turned her head sideways, coughing.   When the fit stopped, her gaze fixed on Amanda.

“Hi there.  I’m Amanda.  Can you understand me?”

The woman stared for a long moment, then nodded once.  All around them, held breaths were expelled and several people cheered.  The sounds scared the woman, and she cringed slightly.

“It’s okay, we won’t hurt you.  We’ve been working to heal you.  Do you remember?”

Again the woman nodded, tears streaming down her face.  Allistor didn’t even want to think about how much of the last year she remembered.

“Can you tell me your name?” Amanda placed a hand gently on the woman’s chest, and she didn’t pull away.  Instead, she opened her mouth slowly.

“Mi… Mi…ra.” she stuttered slightly, and her voice was hoarse.  “Mira.”

The crowd began smiling, patting each other on the back.

“Well, nice to meet you, Mira.  That’s a very pretty name.” Amanda beamed at the woman, moving her hand from the woman’s chest to place it against her cheek.  “I’m so happy to hear you speak!”

The woman seemed to press her head into Amanda’s hand, almost like a puppy looking for scratches.  Amanda spoke softly to her.  “I’m going to cast a spell, now.  It will make my eyes glow a little bit.  Don’t be afraid.  It’s like an x-ray.  Do you remember what that is?”

Mira nodded, and tensed up slightly.  When Amanda’s eyes began to glow, she bit her lip, but held still.  A minute or so passed, and Amanda let the spell fade.

“There!  That didn’t hurt at all, did it?”  she spoke to Mira as if she were a child.  Mira shook her head no, still looking slightly afraid.

A realization hit Allistor.  “She doesn’t know about magic.  If the bomb that did all this went off in the early days, she won’t know anything about what’s going on.”

Amanda nodded.  “Just stay right here, Mira.  I need to talk to Allistor.  Nobody will hurt you.  In fact, Nancy has some food for you, if you’re hungry?”

Mira nodded, and Nancy knelt in Amanda’s place as she got to her feet.  Taking a few steps away and turning her back on Mira, she whispered.  “There are still cancerous cells in her.  Everywhere.  Right now, they’re outnumbered by healthy cells, and the nanobots are still working overtime.  But I think that’s why the regeneration machine quit.  It was copying bad cells along with the good, and that probably goes against its programming.  We’ll need to try it again once she’s fully healed.”

Allistor nodded.  “Better result than I feared.  Let’s take them all onto the ship.  You and the others can work on them there.  We’ve probably already been out here too long.”

Two minutes later, each of the patients was being carried up the ramp into the cargo bay by a droid.  One of the casters hit the funeral pyre with Flame Shot, and many of them said a silent prayer for the dead who’d suffered so horribly.    The droids who’d come down from the wall returned to their posts, while everyone else boarded the ship.  The Juggernauts were loaded aboard as well, and Kira took them all back into Invictus.

Chapter 22

Amanda and her people spent the next two days trying to heal the radiation victims completely.   The results were mixed, at best.

Allistor called in both Harmon and Gralen to ask their advice, and to try to find some alien tech that would deal with the irradiated and mutated cells directly.   Both replied that they knew of ways to rapidly remove radioactive contaminants from inanimate objects, but not from living cells.  At least, not without killing them.  The only hope they offered was that the system’s natural healing via the nanobots might, eventually, accomplish the task, fighting on a cellular level.

When Amanda asked what they meant by eventually, Harmon answered, “Maybe ten years?  I’m not as familiar with human biology as I am of other races.  But from what I can see, your physical bodies are weaker than most.  Especially those who suffered contamination in the very early days.  They’ve not improved their attributes much, and thus their bodies are still close to human norms.”

Allistor shook his head, pounding his fist on the table in frustration.  Harmon was right.  They’d been practically driven insane with the pain of the conflict going on inside their bodies.  Even if they’d managed to kill things and gain experience to level up, they would not have had the presence of mind to have assigned any attribute points.

Amanda had a more hopeful take on the information.  “So, if we could get them to assign points, assuming they leveled up, what would best help them fight the radiation?  Constitution? Stamina?”

Harmon nodded. “Significant increases in those attributes would increase the body’s natural defenses and ability to fight.  This still would not eliminate the radiation contamination.  It would simply allow them to fight it with fewer… side effects.” He grimaced.

“So fewer mutations.  Would that mean less pain?”

Gralen shook his head.  “I’m afraid not.  The damage and repairs would still be ongoing.  The bone breaks, muscle tears, and skin deformations would still be happening, they would just heal more quickly, not allowing them to become as pronounced as before.”

Harmon added, “And the system’s natural rate of eliminating the contamination would increase.  Instead of ten years, it might be seven, or five.  Maybe less, if the attribute increases are significant.”

Allistor was afraid to ask, but he needed to.  “And their brains?  The damage to their brains would continue as well?”

Both aliens nodded their heads.

Goodrich, who was sitting at the table, and who had been in the infirmary every waking moment since they’d brought the survivors back, whispered, “I… can’t imagine.  Ten years?  Even five years of that kind of pain, every minute of every day.”

Amanda looked at Allistor, her eyes reflecting his own hopelessness.

“So, even though the regeneration of her brain tissue has helped Mira recover to some extent, you’re saying the damage is going to continue?”

Gralen let out a long sigh that was half growl.  “Worse than that.  The way the regenerator works, new tissue is created based on the genetic information the scanner can gather from the damaged tissue and any remaining healthy tissue.  It is much like cloning.  But when the source tissue is all damaged, the new tissue is less than perfect.  The machine is making its best estimate based on available information.  Subsequent scans and regenerations will be less and less effective, and the baseline for ‘healthy’ tissue is lowered.”

Allistor looked confused.  Amanda’s face fell into her hands, her head shaking.  Seeing Allistor’s face, Nancy explained.

“Imagine a document scanner.  You place a perfect original of a drawing into the scanner, and the image it produces is 97% accurate.  Some of the lines are just a tiny bit blurry, some of the colors not quite perfect.  Then you scan the reproduction, and again the result is 97% accurate, with more minor errors.  So your second reproduction is about 94% accurate compared to the original.  With Mira and the others, the original that we’re able to scan now is … what?  Maybe 60% accurate, because their whole bodies were so badly damaged over the last year.  So the reproduced tissue is weaker than if they’d been healthy to start with.  And it’ll only get worse.”

Gralen added, “I’ve had more experience than I want to remember with regeneration.  Under normal conditions, like a battle injury, the scanner can find some healthy tissue to copy.  Even if it’s only bone marrow.  In the case of Mira and the others, even the marrow is irradiated.”

“What if we were to scan one of us, give the machine an example of healthy tissue?” Allistor was grasping at straws.  He was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

Gralen shook his head.  “You’d have to be an exact DNA match, or the new tissue would do more harm than good.  Mira’s body would reject it, causing infection, fever, and weakening her ability to fight off the radiation sickness.”

“Then what’s the best case scenario for them?” Allistor turned to Amanda, whose face was still covered by her hands.  She lowered them, not looking up to meet Allistor’s gaze.

“Based on what we’ve just been told?  We can heal them, but not stop the pain.  We can continue to regenerate them, hope that they’ll hold out long enough for the system’s nanobots to win their battle.  But their condition when it’s over would be… not ideal.”

Harmon grunted.  “That is an understatement.  They will be severely weakened physically.  Even were they to level up and assign their attribute points effectively, they would be lucky to maintain even baseline human levels.  And they would almost certainly be driven insane by the pain.  If they haven’t been already.”  His voice was quiet and gentle, but firm.  “This is part of the reason few within the Collective still use nuclear weapons.  The damage to the land can be rectified in a relatively short period.  But the lingering survivors…” He shook his head.  “It is considered cruel, and will earn anyone using the weapons a vast ocean of Infamy Points.”

Goodrich was the first to respond.  “I wouldn’t want to live that way.”

Nobody else in the room replied, but several nodded their heads.

Allistor stood up.  “I’ll go talk to Mira.  We’ll see if she’s recovered enough to understand.  If she is, we’ll allow her to make her choice.  I don’t care if she comes out a vegetable at the end, if she says she wants to tough it out and take the chance, we will support her one thousand percent!”  his voice cracked as he spoke, and once again his eyes grew moist with tears that, this time, went unshed.

*****

“No.  Just kill me.”  Mira didn’t take more than a few seconds to consider her options before answering.  “The pain…” Her eyes spoke more eloquently than her words ever could.

Allistor was sitting next to her on a sofa in his chambers.  Amanda, Nancy, and Goodrich were seated nearby.

Amanda tried to sway her.  “I know it hurts, Mira.  But it hurts less now than before we found you, right?”

Mira nodded.  “Yes, pain is less.  But still… very bad.”  The woman’s vocabulary so far had been very limited.  She showed that she was able to comprehend complex information, but her responses were short and simple.

“We can help you fight.  Help reduce the pain.  I know it seems like forever, but in a few years, you might be completely healed.”

Mira shook her head.  “Too long.  And even when all done, not… me.  Not anymore.”

Allistor felt as if he’d been punched in the heart.  The woman was still sane enough to realize she wasn’t going to live a normal life, even if she managed to survive the next several years.

Amanda got up and pushed Allistor aside, sitting next to Mira and gathering her into a hug.  “Please, Mira, take some time to think this over?”

Mira squeezed the woman hard, but shook her head.  “No.  Thinking already getting harder.  Need to listen.  Too much pain.  Too little Mira already.  Years from now…” She paused.  “I want to end the pain.  Now.”

Nancy got up.  “I’ll call the other advisors together.  We can talk this over, maybe let them speak to Mira.  Then we can vote.  This shouldn’t be on your shoulders alone, Allistor.” She put a hand on his shoulder as she spoke, giving it a pat, then heading for the door.

“No.”

She stopped midway across the room and turned back to face him.

“This decision is too much.  Why would I burden all of you with it?  It won’t ease my burden, or my guilt, either way.  It’s better if the decision is mine alone.”  He paused and looked to Mira, who was watching him.  She nodded, slightly, looking into his eyes as she’d done when they first healed her.

“Besides, it’s ultimately Mira’s choice.  And the others.  We’ll explain it to each of them as best we can, and let them decide for themselves.   For those who don’t have the capacity… well, that’ll be on me as well.”

Mira got up and stepped to Allistor.  Very slowly and gently, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug.  She was much shorter than him, so her face was pressed into his chest.  She spoke loudly enough for all in the room to hear.  “Thank you.  For healing.  For trying.  Need to let go.  Dying is best for me.  What I want.”  She looked up, and gave him a small smile.  “Good experience for someone.”

Allistor broke down then.  He squeezed the woman tightly and sobbed, as did nearly everyone else.  “I’m so sorry.  I should be able to fix you.  I should be able to save you.”

Mira pushed away gently, shaking her head as she made eye contact with everyone.  “Already dead.  Died long ago, just too… broken to know.  You help us.  I’m… sorry for the hurt.” She reached up and wiped the tears from one side of his face.

Nancy stepped in and took charge, taking hold of Mira’s shoulders and guiding her toward the door.  “Come, let’s get you some dinner.  Whatever you want.”

Mira nodded.  “Yes, good food.  Good last meal.  Ice cream?”

*****

The following night found Goodrich, Bjurstrom, and McCoy creeping toward the murder chicken enclosure around midnight.  All three men wobbled as they walked, having raided the still at the Warren and consumed more than a pint of apple moonshine each.  They all carried a jar in one hand, and Goodrich was holding a rope in his other.

The day had been among their worst since the apocalypse.  They’d all watched as Allistor spoke to each of the radiation-damaged survivors, explaining their situation.  A few hadn’t been able to recover enough to even understand.  But of those who did, every single one chose death over years of painful healing.  Allistor had eventually, reluctantly, chosen the same for those who couldn’t choose for themselves.  They were already too far gone to recover.

Amanda and Nancy had come up with a fast-acting poison, and they’d fed it to all of them, along with a heavy sedative, in some ice cream, at Mira’s request.  Before eating the deadly offering, several of them had cried and thanked the people of Invictus for trying to save them, and for giving them peace.

When they’d all drifted off to sleep and stopped breathing, Allistor held a funeral in a nearby park, where every single citizen of Invictus City and many of the others from across the nation stood in silence to pay their respects.  Thousands of survivors paying tribute to people most of them had never met, whose suffering had finally ended.

Later, when nearly everyone had retired, and no one was around to see, though they had never sworn an oath, the names of those people appeared along with the other lost citizens of Invictus upon the wall of the tower lobby.

The three airmen had raided the still that night to try and drown their feelings and forget, if only for a little while.

“I’m tellin’ youuuu… thish’ll be eashy!” Goodrich said for the fourth or fifth time.  “She’zh practibully tame now.”

McCoy shook his head, the action making him fall on his butt.  He grinned as he heroically managed to keep from spilling a drop.  “She’sh gonna chew yer head off.  I’m gonna laugh.  Then be very sad.” He nodded his head to emphasize his point.

Bjurstrom helped him up.  “Wanna bet? I shay she bites his arm off firsht.”  He looked around.  “We sssshould get a healer.  Maybe three.”

McCoy continued to nod, now back on his feet but still wobbly.  “I’ll go get them.”

Bjurstrom let him go, and he turned toward the residential area.  Taking a deep breath, he screamed.  “Healersh!  We need healersh!  Goody’s gonna get hissself bit in half!”

“Shit!” Goodrich cursed as he began to run up the stairs to the top of the wall that surrounded the murder chicken area.  “Why?! Friggin’ nark!  Now I gots shta hurry before the copsh get here!”

Goodrich reached the top and leaped off the wall, falling flat on his face when he tried to roll with the impact.  “Dammit!  Shhpilled my drink!” he cursed as he gathered up the rope and headed toward the murder chicken pens.  The young ones were still too small for him to ride, so he bypassed them and went straight for the brood mother.

Unlocking the door to her pen, he stepped back.  “C’mon, mama murder chicken!” he said, then giggled. “Shay that three timesh fasht!” He turned to his buddies, only then realizing that he was alone in the enclosure.  Bjurstrom and McCoy were up on the wall, shouting for him to run.

“Run? Why?!” he shouted back.  Turning back toward the pen, he saw the red glowing eyes of the mama murder chicken just inches from his face.  She appeared calm, and actually looked toward his ring as if awaiting a feeding.  She was smart enough to have recognized that the rings often held treats.

“Shit! You shcared me!” He stumbled backward a few steps.  “Okay, hold shtill, we’re gonna go for a lil ride!”  He gathered up the looped end of his rope, holding it in both hands and preparing to toss it over her head.  Which was several feet above his own.  “Murder chicken cavalry!” he shouted, flinging the rope upward.

He got lucky, and the looped passed over her head even as she jerked her head back in surprise from his shout and sudden movement.   Goodrich fell backward, the throwing motion upsetting his fragile balance.  He held tightly to the rope, pulling it taut as he fell, making the slipknot tighten around the brood mother’s neck.

And that was the point where things took an ugly turn.

Even as several of the Warren’s residents appeared at the top of the wall in response to the shouts from McCoy and Bjurstrom, the brood mother let out a roaring squawk that silenced everyone but Goodrich.

“Hey! None of that!  Ssssshhhhush!” He frowned at her, trying to get to his feet.

The brood mother leapt free of her pen, dashing toward the indentation in the courtyard that held the giant nest.   Still holding the rope, and only partway upright, Goodrich was yanked off his feet and dragged behind the powerful beast.

She turned and ran toward the wall, where she saw familiar humans that had fed her since her capture.  Several of them were already tossing bunny carcasses down to distract her.

Reaching the treats, she came to an abrupt halt.  Goodrich went rolling past her, cursing up a storm and covered in a combination of dirt, straw, and murder chicken shit.

People were shouting down at him.  “Get out of there!” and  “Jump!” were the two most common suggestions.

Pushing himself back to his feet as she consumed the offered treats, Goodrich was more than a little annoyed.  “Lishten here, ya overshized rooshter!  I’m all shtanky now cuz of you!  We’re gonna go for a ride, or elshe!”

Walking toward her left side, which was the side one would normally mount a horse, he took hold of a fold of skin on her neck and tried to launch himself onto her back with one leg raised high.

The moment he left the ground, her neck folded and her head shot backward.  Her razor sharp beak snapped shut, and Goodrich screamed.  He fell onto his back, both hands clutched over the wound.

“My junk!  She bit off my junk!”  Suddenly very sober, he screamed for help.

A dozen citizens leaped down and began to entice the angry brood mother with more treats.  She gave Goodrich a dirty look, used one claw to rake a deep gouge down his leg, then wandered off in pursuit of the offered treats.

While the trainers led her back to her pen, Nancy and several others were casting heals on Goodrich.  His bleeding stopped, but a quick peek through the tear in his pants confirmed that she had indeed snipped off his manhood.   Bjurstrom stepped to one side and puked up all the moonshine along with his last couple meals.   A few others looked as if they might join him.

Together they lifted Goodrich and carried him out of the pen and toward the infirmary.  Nancy patted his chest, saying, “Don’t worry, I think the regeneration tech can… uhh… fix this.  You’ll be good as new in no time.”

A beatific smile appeared on Goodrich’s face.  “The regenerator!  Right on! Stupid chicken.  Bit my junk off.  Uh… hey, Nancy?  As long you’re growin’ me a new one, can ya maybe make it… you know…” his voice dropped to a very loud whisper. “Bigger?”

*****

When Allistor was informed of the airmen’s shenanigans and injury the next morning, he declined to punish them.  He figured the brood mother had managed that just fine already, and if he were honest, he might have gone with them if they’d invited him.

Instead, he called together everyone but Goodrich, who was recovering and reportedly guarding his newly regenerated junk with both hands as he snored.   Allistor had Nigel transmit the meeting via hologram to every location.

Allistor had opted to hold the meeting in the tower lobby.  When the lobby was packed, and he thought everyone had gathered, he started the meeting with no preamble.

“I’m sick of this!  I’m sick and tired of losing people for no good reason.  Yes, it was one of our own Earth weapons that damaged Mira and the others so badly and caused so much pain.  But that bomb was set off because of the monsters, sent by the alien overlords who stole our world!”  He paused as angry shouts erupted from the crowd.

“I’ve been told we’re still too small and weak to take the fight to the Ancient Ones directly responsible.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t fight!  There’s a goblin clan that attacked us, and has declared a blood feud with us.  They won’t stop coming until we’re dead, or they are!  I say we take the battle to them. Hit them on their own turf! Show those ancient assholes we won’t give up without a fight!”  Again he waited as this time the crowd roared their approval.  After the events of the last year, and most especially the last few days, everyone wanted some payback.

“I say… the human rebellion starts now!  Are you with me, Invictus?!”

He pumped a fist into the air, and hundreds of fists joined his as feet pounded the floor and every human voice raised a chant.  “Invictus!  Invictus!  Invictus!”

Attribute Level Up!  Your Charisma Attribute has increased by +1

He let them chant and shout for a while, then raised his hands to quiet them down.

“I want all of you to take the day to prepare yourselves.   Some of you will be coming with us to the goblin’s homeworld. We’ll be taking… three hundred volunteers.  I’ll need the rest of you to be prepared for an attack while we’re gone.  I’ll be placing the safety of all of our friends and families in your hands, and I have complete faith in you!”   He took a deep breath, giving himself a few seconds to think.

“Advisors, meet me on the roof in ten.  The rest of you, decide whether you want to stay or go.  If you want to join the mission, let Nigel know.  We’ll choose our fighters in a couple of hours.”  He looked around the room, spotting Michael.  “Crafters!  Pull out your best gear!  Finish whatever you can by the end of the day.  Invictus will pay you double the value of whatever you have that can help protect our people, or make us more deadly!”  Another roar from the crowd.

“Any of you who plan to join the mission, no more hoarding attribute points.  Assign everything you have.  I don’t know what we’ll find when we get there.  They might outnumber us a thousand to one.  They might be higher levels than us.  I need every single one of you to be at peak performance.  Same goes for those of you staying here to defend our homes.”  He let his shoulders slump a bit, and lowered his voice before continuing.

“Many of us who go out there might not come home.  Based on the goblin horde we fought the other day, these things are no pushovers.  If you don’t feel you’re ready for such a fight, I don’t blame you.  I’m scared, myself.  Scared of them, scared of letting all of you down.  But I’m not going to let that stop me.  I’m tired of being scared!”

He waited as they clapped and cheered, walking forward through the crowd as they patted him on the shoulders and back, or held out a hand for him to shake.   He kept a ferocious look on his face as he passed through the back edge of the crowd and boarded one of the elevators.  Amanda, Helen, Fuzzy, Prime, and Ramon joined him before the doors closed.

Up on the roof, he paced back and forth as he waited for his advisors to gather.  Just as he stopped and turned, a thump behind him had him spinning back around, sword drawn.  On the ground in front of him was a coconut, rocking back and forth.  “What the…?”  He looked around, then upward, just as a swallow fluttered down to land next to the coconut.  The exhausted bird ignored him, closing its eyes and leaning its head against the hairy shell.

“Huh. Weird.”  Something in the back of his mind told him there was some significance to this, but he couldn’t quite place it.

When his people all arrived, he sat down and bid the others to do the same.  A few of them noticed the sleeping swallow and coconut, and gave Allistor a questioning look.  He just shrugged.

“Alright, first things first.  Prime, I need as many battle droids as we can fit on the three ships along with the crews and three hundred fighters, as well as supplies and ammunition.  And vehicles.  We should bring a few vehicles.   And Sam, George, bring your Howitzers.  Prime, don’t pull droids from our defenses, just purchase more.  And get them the first level upgrades.”

Prime saluted and stepped to one side.  Allistor continued.   “I don’t know what to expect here, so I’m going to ask Harmon, Gralen, and our analysts to give us their best guess as to what we’re facing.”   Information gathering on the Borzgl goblin clan was the very first task he’d given the analysts upon hiring them.  Followed by background on the Or’Dralon elves.

For the next hour the alien advisors offered up facts, figures, and best guesses as to the size and capabilities of the enemy target.  The clan was not clustered in one Stronghold, they held an entire small planet.  It was originally owned and mined by dwarves, but had been abandoned when two factors combined to make the planet unattractive.  First, the dwarves had mined out most of the valuable resources.  Then a shift in gravity destroyed much of their infrastructure and killed a significant number of the planet’s inhabitants.

The goblin clan had settled there nearly three hundred years later, moving into the ruins and mining what meager resources remained.  There were three main settlements, and a few smaller ones scattered around.  “Well, that part’s not good news.  If they occupied the mines, then we won’t be able to just crush them from the sky like we did with the horde.  There will be a lot more face to face fighting in the mine shafts.” Allistor mused.

“Maybe we could draw them out, somehow?  Get as many of them on the surface as possible, then blast them?”  Helen offered.

“Worth a shot.  We’ll call that Plan A.  Let’s see what else we can come up with.”  They spent another couple hours creating and discarding ideas, making backup plans and backups for the backup plans.  Gralen and Harmon were especially helpful, both being veterans of many battles.    They would be taking all three ships.  Allistor and about one third of the raiders would be in the yacht, along with fifty or so battle droids.  Harmon and fifty of his warriors would accompany another third of the humans in the colony ship with two hundred droids, the vehicles, and the Howitzers.  Allistor had arranged for a special surprise for Sam, and had been hiding it in the colony ship’s hold since he had purchased it.

Gralen and his crew would take the remainder of the humans and droids in their ship.  The division was more about the journey to the goblin world than any strategy for when they arrived.  If they ran afoul of hostile aliens in space, Allistor didn’t want to lose his whole force with one destroyed ship. For that same reason, he asked Amanda to ride in the mercenary ship, being his official heir.

Plans made, they ended the meeting by choosing the raid leaders and groups.  Nigel provided a list of the volunteers, of which there had been more than two thousand.  Many weren’t qualified – either too low-level or without much raid experience – just enthusiastic citizens wanting to do their part.  Those were eliminated right off the top.  Some of the most qualified were designated to stay behind as well.  Allistor didn’t want to leave his home any more vulnerable than necessary.

Since they had the space, the group decided to up the number of raiders to four hundred.  They would take along some ‘support’ teams of lower-leveled citizens who would remain on the ships where things would, in theory, be safer during the main assaults.  Much like they’d done with Rhonda’s people, they could be part of the raid group, and would receive experience from the kills.  This would quickly level them up, and make them strong enough to participate in the cleanup fighting at the smaller settlements.   They could also assist with the transport of wounded if necessary, and the looting after.

Among this group would be George, Lilly, Bob and Virginia, Maggie from Santa Barbara, Sydney and Addy, and several of the scribes who’d been too busy making scrolls to get out and fight.  Also William, who flat out refused to be left behind.  He’d convinced the girls to help him with research on the duties of a squire in medieval times, and as a squire, vehemently demanded to be with his Prince.  Allistor finally relented, on the condition that William would not leave the bridge.  He threatened Kira with dire consequences should the boy get hurt.  She just snorted at him and promised to look after William like one of her own.

The rest of the day was spent preparing.  It didn’t take long for the raiders to get their gear together.  Some spent the time with family and friends.  Others used Nigel to record formal wills, or messages to be sent if they didn’t return.  Most of the Strongholds held a feast of some kind to celebrate those who would be going off-world.

Crafters worked through the night, trying to create just one more item that might save a life.  Though the offer of double payment from Allistor was a good motivator, all of them were more interested in protecting their people.

Allistor’s sleep was fitful, his dreams kept showing him Mira’s eyes as she asked to die.

Chapter 23

Morning brought a solemn air of fear and suppressed excitement.  For nearly everyone who was undertaking the mission, they were going into space for the first time.  Not only that, but traveling to an unknown world to pick a fight with aliens.

Some acted brave, pretended to have no fear.  Others simply waited quietly for instructions, or hugged loved ones and spoke softly with them.  There were more than a few tearful goodbyes within the various Strongholds.

Allistor had left instructions that everyone be fed a good breakfast, more for morale than any physical need.  They’d be eating a few meals onboard their ships before arriving at the goblin’s planet.

Gralen and Gene had explained to him that his yacht and the mercenary ship could both make the trip in a matter of a few hours.  But the goblin ship, with its weaker drive, would take more than a day.  And that was with the upgrades they were able to install during repairs.  Gralen guessed that the attackers’ trip from their world to Earth had taken them several days.

The teleport pads began lighting up at about 8:30am as fighters and support people from across the nation moved to either Denver, Cheyenne, or Invictus City to board their assigned ships.  Prime had obtained his troops and cycled them through their upgrades, then boarded them during the night.

By 9:00am, their designated departure time, Nigel reported everyone accounted for, and the three ships were ready to go.  Allistor stood in the yacht’s cargo bay with the bulk of his people, forgoing the opportunity to increase his piloting skills on the bridge.  He felt it was more important to help put his citizens at ease, maybe boost their morale.

He started off with a couple of names, and having Nigel transmit his voice to the other two ships.

“Thank you all for volunteering for this mission.  I know you’re all a little scared, I can see it on your faces.  I’m scared too.  Only a fool wouldn’t be.  But all of you, despite your fears, stepped onto this ship today.   And onto the Opportunity, and the colony ship.  Which reminds me, two of our ships need names of their own.  I’ve opted to call the colony ship the Bellerophon!  After a Greek hero who captured the Pegasus and killed several legendary monsters, including the Chimera.”  There was some light cheering and clapping, mostly transmitted over the loudspeaker.  Allistor assumed it was from the newly named ship.

“As for the yacht… I was leaning toward simply calling her Invictus One.” He grinned as people groaned and rolled their eyes. “But I’ve decided to name her Phoenix!  All of us here, within her hold, we’re rising from the ashes of the apocalypse and bringing fire and destruction on those who tried to destroy us!”   This time the cheers were louder, and came from everyone on all three ships.

“This trip is going to take a while.  Feel free to spread out and get comfortable.  There are some crew quarters with beds, a couple dining rooms, and those crates over there contain hammocks that you can set up and relax in.  There are some rooms down on the engineering deck where you can do some crafting if you like. We’ll be serving in-flight meals at normal times, and should arrive at our target world sometime before lunch tomorrow.”  He gave them a wave and turned to head for the bridge.

They were already out in space by the time Allistor reached the bridge.  The viewscreen showed him the Bellerophon ahead of them and to their left, at the tip of an arrow formation.  The Opportunity was directly to his left, keeping pace with the colony ship. Harmon had joined the crew of the Phoenix to make sure the trip went smoothly.  The two faster ships were matching their speed to the colony ship, rather than leaving them behind.  Even with repairs, they could not trust the light drive to operate without ripping the ship apart.  It was a little frustrating, but they had no choice.

Allistor chuckled to himself.  “Look at me, complaining about it taking a whole day to travel to a planet most of a solar system away.”  He shook his head and moved to stand next to Harmon.

“Thank you for agreeing to join us.” He looked up at the big orcanin’s face. “Your experience goes a long way toward easing my nerves.”

“Ha!  When my warriors heard you would be attacking a whole clan of tasty goblins, there was no way I could refuse them the chance to join you. The only thing that would excite them more is a chance to slaughter the porcine race known as the Muc.  They are considered a special delicacy among my people.”

“So… this is just gonna be one big smorgasbord for your warriors.” Allistor shook his head. “Well, whatever the reason, I appreciate your help.”  He held out a hand, which the merchant gently shook.

“What will you do with the planet once it’s yours?” Harmon asked.

Allistor’s eyes widened, and his heartrate increased.  “What?”

“Once the clan has been eliminated, the planet shall be yours.  You will be a Prince of Earth, and the Emperor of whatever you call this planet.” Harmon grinned at him.

“Oh, no.  No no.  Not again.” Allistor groaned.  While the title of Emperor would sound attractive to most people, to him it just sounded like a great big target on his back.

Clearing his throat, Harmon spoke in a lowered voice.  “Might we go someplace and speak in private?”

Allistor led him off the bridge to the captain’s quarters, where they sealed themselves in and took seats.  Harmon took up the entire sofa as he made himself comfortable.

“In regards to Lady Amanda.  If your intentions are to make her your permanent mate, your… wife?  I would undertake to make that happen sooner than later, if I were you.”

Allistor stared at the orcanin for a long moment.   “What?”

“You are a Planetary Prince.  Quite a popular one, at the moment.  And if things go well in the next few days, you will also be an Emperor.  Which will only increase your reputation with many of the factions.  Very soon you will begin to receive… offers of alliances.”  Harmon stared at Allistor, waiting for him to make the connection.

“Alliances sound okay, as long as the analysts agree with them, I don’t see why…” His voice drifted off as he realized where Harmon was headed.  “Marriage alliances.” he said glumly, his shoulders dropping in defeat.

Harmon chuckled.  “Most would be thrilled at the prospect of bedding some of the elite females of the various factions.  You look as if you’ve just been sentenced to death.”

“Some?  As in, more than one?”

This time Harmon gave a full-throated laugh.  “Monogamy is rare within the Collective, Allistor.  It is common for a Planetary Prince to have more than one wife.  And it is, in fact, uncommon for an Emperor not to.  Alliances are formed in this fashion, and heirs produced.”

“So if I marry Amanda right away, I’ll receive fewer of these offers?” Allistor sounded hopeful.

“No, you will still receive them.  But a new bride gives you an excuse to delay in accepting any others for a time.  One universal constant is that new wives demand a considerable amount of… private attention.   While an Emperor may take several wives, wise ones only take new wives after a period of several months, or years.  This is common practice, and will not be seen as offensive.”

Allistor was relieved and terrified at the same time.  After their year together, he knew he wanted to marry Amanda.  So did everyone else.  But he hadn’t officially asked her.  And now, if she got wind that he was rushing things to avoid potential polygamy… “Well, shit.”

Harmon laughed again, louder this time.  “Do not worry, young Prince.  I have seen the way Lady Amanda looks at you.  She has claimed you as her own already.  Marriage is just a formality.”

Allistor shook his head.  “Maybe.  But there are a lot of traps wrapped up in that formality.  Including, but not limited to, how I ask her.  Why I ask her.  Whether I disclose the upcoming offers of more brides…”

“Don’t forget the offers of simple procreation contracts.” Harmon added helpfully, grinning widely.

“Whaaat?” Allistor drew out the word as he imagined what the term meant.

“There will be those who offer great sums for you to father a child outside of wedlock.  Your bloodline will quickly become desirable to certain races and factions that will wish to further their ambitions based on having a leader of your stock.  They will provide a genetically superior female for you to impregnate, then install your progeny as their future leader.  They will be educated and trained to be rulers in their own right.”   Harmon was clearly enjoying watching Allistor squirm.

Allistor, for his part, was conflicted.  As a virile young man, the idea had a certain physical appeal.  But the thought of having to explain all of this to Amanda, let alone Helen, Nancy, Meg, and a few of the other powerful ladies in his life, had him sweating slightly.  He found he was very glad Amanda was riding on the Opportunity just then.

As his mind spun with visions of beautiful alien Princesses, Harmon reined him in.

“But let us return to the disposition of the planet.  Will you colonize it?  Or offer it up for wider colonization, much as Earth has just been made available?”

Allistor blinked a few times, forcing his mind to change tracks.  “Is there anything on the planet to make it worth colonizing?”

Harmon shook his head.  “We can certainly investigate that, but it seems unlikely there would be much in the way of rare and valuable resources.  However, as you are learning, land has value.  The planet is habitable, with an atmosphere that will allow farming and the raising of livestock.  That alone will attract factions wishing to obtain a viable food resource.  And there may be mineral resources that were not considered valuable by the dwarves or the goblins.  One never knows.”

Allistor thought it over for a moment.  “Like… maybe there will be a large forest that the Or’Dralon would be interested in?  So that they would help me defend the planet if their own people lived there?”

“Now you’re catching on!” Harmon shot him a middle finger, then realized he’d chosen the wrong human gesture and switched to a thumbs-up, making Allistor laugh.

“I should have brought at least one of the analysts with me.” Allistor mumbled.

Harmon shook his head.  “They are not computers, Allistor.  One of the reasons you have them is that they can anticipate your actions and their consequences, and advise you of them.  I am sure that they have already considered the possible paths for you, should you conquer this world.”

Allistor tilted his head for moment.  “Nigel, could you please connect me with… Longbeard?”

“Certainly, Sire.  One moment.”

It was only a few seconds before they heard the dwarf’s voice.  “Ye wished ta speak with me, Sire?”

“Master Longbeard!  I did indeed.  I’d like to ask your opinion on the disposition of the planet we’re about to liberate.”  He hesitated, and Harmon guessed the reason, nodding his head.

“Since the planet was previously inhabited by dwarves, I thought you might be the most knowledgeable about its potential.”

“Aye, and ye’d be right, Sire.  I’ve been reachin’ out ta old friends o’ me own clan, and others.  With what information they give’d me, I think ya would be best served by doin three things.  First, ye need a full planetary survey.  There be a dwarven company I’d bid ye use.  They be skilled, fast, and honorable.  Any non-dwarves ye might hire, if they find somethin’ o’ value, will likely sell the information ta others, even before ye receive the report yerself.  It’ll be expensive, as much as half a billion klax.”

Allistor grinned.  It seemed that dwarven honor, so ingrained in the stories and games of his world, was a real thing.  That was somehow comforting to him.  And it gave him an idea.

“And second?”

“An auction.  Divide the planet as ye see fit.  I recommend a simple grid system.  Then auction the rights to purchase or lease the parcels to the highest bidder.”   Allistor had already been thinking along the same lines, except a lease hadn’t occurred to him.  It would allow him to retain ownership, and still have allies occupying, and more importantly, defending, the planet.

“Which brings me ta me third recommendation.  Defense satellites.”

When Allistor raised a questioning eyebrow, Harmon filled him in.

“It’s just what it sounds like.  A series of satellites in orbit around the planet.  They carry sensor, communication, and weapons platforms sufficient to repel the odd pirate or curious explorer.  An actual military incursion would blow through them, but you would receive warnings and notifications as the satellites were destroyed.  Allowing you to respond quickly.”

Longbeard added, “The money ye spend on the satellites would easily be covered from auction proceeds.”  Harmon nodded in agreement.

“And how much would that be?”  Allistor grinned at Harmon, who was now leaning forward in anticipation of a large sale.

“With your discount, each satellite would run approximately eight hundred thousand klax.  To effectively cover a planet the size of the goblin’s world, you would need approximately…” He paused to do the math, but Longbeard was way ahead of him.

“Eighty-eight satellites fer minimal coverage.  One hundred twelve’d be better.”

“So something close to ninety million klax, to protect a whole planet?  That’s not even a hard decision.  Are there upgrades to make them more effective?  Or something else we can add?”

Longbeard chuckled as Harmon nodded.  The dwarf said, “I shoulda arranged a finder’s fee with yer merchant friend there.  I coulda retired early.”

Allistor saw his opening, and took it.  “About that, Master Longbeard.  You mentioned the honor of the survey crew, and other crews selling the reports, if there were something worthwhile found on the planet.”  He paused, winking at Harmon as the merchant realized what he was about to say.

“Aye, ye may trust me people ta keep our word, and our silence.” Longbeard confirmed.

“But what if, once I’ve seen the report myself, I didn’t want the dwarves to keep silent?  Would it offend their honor to pretend to leak the reports, to several different groups, and charge a great deal of money to do so?  And would it offend your own honor to collect a portion of the proceeds as a finder’s fee?  All with my full approval, of course.”

“HA!  I knew I liked ye, Sire.” the dwarf laughed for a good bit.  “And aye, me people would certainly be willing ta take advantage o’ thieves and sneaks with no honor, as long as it be with yer own approval.  In fact, I think I can guarantee it’ll earn ye a discount!”

“Then let’s do that.  Please engage your survey crew, ask them to get here as soon as possible.  It may take us several days to defeat all the goblins here.  Or we may not be victorious.  If we lose, I’ll pay the crew for their lost time.   Will they need to wait until the fighting is over?”

“Nah!  Most o’ the survey will be done from above.  Satellites with specific sensors. If there be some anomaly or error in the data, then mebbe they’d want ta do a surface scan.  But no dwarven crew’s gonna be kept away by a few goblins!”

“Great!  Then please get them started.  I’ll speak with Harmon here about the satellites and other ways to defend the planet.”   He thought for a moment, then added one more thing.

“I’d like for you and the other analysts to discuss something for me.  Rather than an open auction, I’d like to make it invitation only, if that’s allowed?”

“Oh, aye.  Good thinkin’, Sire.  It be yer property.  Or will be soon enough.  Ye can do what ya wish.  Just be aware that ye’ll likely lose some favor with those ye don’t invite.”

“Alright, well that’s what I’m going to depend on you analysts for.  I want to invite those who already favor me, or those who it might be worth gaining favor with.  But only those who would make good neighbors, and be least likely to try and take control of the planet.   Once we have that list, I’ll start the bidding at low prices.   Maybe I can fill the planet with friends, gain favor, and mutual defense, all at the same time.”

“Now you’re thinking like an Emperor!” Harmon cried out.

“Aye, Sire.  Good thinkin’.  It shall be done.  May fortune favor ye in the coming battles!”  Longbeard signed off.

Harmon and Allistor spent the next hour going over options for planetary defense, then haggling over the prices.  Both of them enjoyed themselves immensely.  When they were done, Allistor went ahead and placed the order.  If they failed to capture the goblin’s planet, he’d figure out a way to use them somewhere else.

*****

The rest of the trip was uneventful.  There were a few conference calls between the ships to confirm their plans and make last-minute adjustments.   Sam had poked around and found Allistor’s surprise, much to Allistor’s dismay.  He’d wanted to see his friend’s face when he unveiled it.  Still, the ruined surprise allowed them to incorporate it into their plans ahead of time.

After breakfast the next morning, Allistor called together Helen, Meg, Nancy, Virginia, and Lilly, meeting with them in the owner’s suite on the upper level of the Phoenix.

“Ladies… I need your advice.  And maybe your help.” He paused, feeling jittery.  Taking a deep breath, he continued.   “After this battle is finished, I want to ask Amanda to marry me.”

He looked around, waiting for reactions from the various ladies.  They all just stared at him.  Finally, Meg said, “About damned time.  What’ve you been waitin’ for?”   The others all just nodded, straight-faced, or barely cracking a smile.

Allistor blushed.  “Well, I’ve sort of brought it up a few times, and to be honest, she didn’t seem that interested.”

Nancy looked at him with some compassion on her face.  “She loves you, Allistor.  I think she has since pretty early on.  And you clearly feel the same.”  Now the other ladies were smiling openly, apparently having decided they’d punished him enough.

“Okay so, you all know her.  Should I… make some grand gesture?  Like, write out a proposal with fireworks?  Or just, you know, surprise her with a ring in her morning coffee?”

This started an hour-long debate among the ladies, differing opinions and stories of their own proposals, and conjecture on how Amanda would react to various scenarios.  Allistor was regretting the question ten minutes into the discussion when Virginia described Bob’s mostly-naked proposal.  Now the prospect of arranged marriages to alien brides seemed a little more attractive.

The net result of the debate was that Allistor should use his own best judgement as to the how and the where, and that the ladies would provide whatever logistical assistance he needed to make it perfect.  Once he decided what perfect was.

Lilly insisted on starting a wedding dress for Amanda, whose measurements she already had from making her armor.  Nancy promised beautiful flowers for the ceremony, and there was never any question that Meg would handle the cake and food.  Virginia and Helen stepped to one side and put their heads together, already planning a bachelorette party.   Allistor heard the words “oiled-up cowboys” as they moved away.

At that point, he fled.

Back on the bridge, he watched as the planet progressed from a dark spot in the far distance, to a tiny speck of reflected light, and then a planet.   It was small for a planet, about a quarter the size of Earth, on the outer edge of the habitable zone within the system.  And though it was similar in its coloring to Earth, there was considerably less water.  Where Earth was something like sixty percent water, this planet was more like thirty percent.  There were vast deserts, huge forests dotted with lakes and rivers, and frozen polar caps similar to Earth’s.  Around the equator was a rough belt formed by massive mountain ranges and volcanoes.

And in several areas, so large that they were visible from space, huge sections of the land had been stripped bare, giant pit mines sunk into the ground that looked much like the mine at Thunder Basin. Most of them had at least partly filled with water.

Seeing those, Allistor said, “Maybe this won’t be so bad?  I was picturing the mines as tunnels that we’d have to clear, foot by foot.”

“I’m afraid there are certain to be plenty of those, as well.” Harmon replied.  “These pits you see would have been the initial blast mines.  You see those tilted structures nearby?” He pointed to the screen, and Allistor noted what looked like four giant stone obelisks, all badly tilted in the same direction at about a forty-five degree angle.  Based on the height of the trees around them, Allistor guessed each one was at least two hundred stories tall.

“I see them.”

“Before the gravitational shift, they would have stood properly upright.  Together they make up a gravitational sling.  There would have been a platform at the center of the cluster where the refined ore would be placed.  The towers would generate an electromagnetic charge that would slingshot the payload up and out of the atmosphere, where it would be retrieved by ships and taken to its final destination.”   Harmon tilted his head sideways slightly.  “This is part of the reason the dwarves left.  When the grav sling was destroyed, their options were to rebuild them, which would have been hugely expensive, or have cargo vessels land on the planet to retrieve the ore.  Also expensive in terms of fuel costs and time.”

Allistor finished the equation.  “And with the resources mostly depleted, neither option was worth the investment.  I can understand that. But why just abandon the planet?  Why not auction off all or parts of it?”

“The gravitational shift was due to the destruction of a nearby planet.  There was a faction war being fought, and when the larger planet was destroyed, a sizeable chunk of it passed by very close to this one on its way to the dark sun, dragging this one out of its normal orbit and disrupting its gravity.  It was unknown at the time whether this planet would even hold together, let alone hold a stable orbit.  No one was willing to take the risk.   Except the goblins, who might not have known any better.  By the time the dwarves deemed the planet safe enough to inhabit again, the goblins had already claimed it.  And it wasn’t worth fighting over to the dwarves, who’d already lost many lives in the cataclysm.”

Harmon pointed to one of the large deserts.  “See there?  That was likely covered by water at one point.  The planet lost some of its atmosphere, and probably some of its water, during the cataclysm. Whole oceans would have shifted, and the face of the planet changed.”

Allistor nodded.  “Kind of like when an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs, and most of the life on Earth.”

“Similar, yes.  Only this cataclysm occurred much more quickly.  In a matter of days, rather than years.”

As they drew closer to the planet, the ships reduced velocity until they came to a halt several thousand miles distant.  The main viewscreen maintained its image of the planet, while the faces of the various raid leaders appeared on the side screens.

“It does not appear that the goblins have established any sort of satellite defense.” Harmon observed.

The human crewman at the sensors station spoke up.  “I am detecting three large satellites in orbit.  But they look really old, and damaged.

Gralen confirmed. “Two of those are old habitats, and one was a trade station.  No signs of life in any of them.”

Harmon perked up at the mention of a trade station.  Allistor noticed, and grinned.

Gralen continued.  “If you’ll allow me?”  When Allistor nodded, the view on their main screen altered, sweeping across the planet, then zooming in on one of the old pit mines.  This one had almost completely filled with fallen stone and water.  The gravity sling towers nearby were bent low to the ground, and had actual trees growing from cracks in their surfaces. Along the top of the outer rim of the mine, just above the waterline, dozens of tunnel entrances could be seen. Four colony ships similar to the one Allistor’s people had captured, sat in a cleared area nearby.  “This is the location of their main colony, based on the number of ships parked here.  Best estimates are that there are eight to ten thousand goblins down there.  As they tend to send some of their stronger forces out to establish colonies, and the goblins you fought were in their twenties and thirties level-wise, you can probably expect the same or lower down there…”

“Except for the leadership and elites.  The ones who’ve evolved the colony from the newly spawned horde it once was.” Harmon finished his thought.

Allistor paused, thinking of the higher-level goblins that had taken Rhonda’s Stronghold.  There were hundreds of them, all over level thirty.  “How many of those do you think are down there?  The ones we fought the other day were no joke.”

Gralen answered first.  “Maybe a thousand.  But again, this is just a best guess, based on other hordes that evolved, then began to spread out.”

Another question occurred to Allistor.  One that he should have thought of much sooner.  “Gralen, I know your level, roughly, and I can’t see Harmon’s at all.  But I know you’ve both had at least a century of fighting experience.  And, no offense, but I seem to be catching up to you after only a year.”

Harmon snorted.  “My level is considerably higher than Gralen’s, Allistor.  But to answer your question, each level you achieve is harder than the last.  Beyond level fifty, for example, you will find that you achieve new levels much more slowly.”  He nodded his head toward Gralen, who echoed the movement.

“You and your people are a sort of special case.  First, you’re from a newly assimilated world.  One which was overrun with a larger than normal quantity of monsters intended to eliminate most of your species.  Those of you that survived, did so by fighting.  Gralen and myself were born onto stabilized worlds.  On such a world, one might remain level five or ten well into adulthood.  Crafting allows for some leveling, as does hunting, or fighting in battles.  Now, my people are warriors from birth, and we battled amongst ourselves, clan against clan, constantly.  So by the time I joined a formal military and began to fight off-world battles, I was already over level fifty.   Gralen likely comes from a more… peaceful world.”  Again Gralen nodded.  “And when one fights a war, experience for the enemies killed is divided amongst hundreds, if not thousands, of your fellow soldiers.”

Harmon continued.  “Next, even among people of Earth, who would all be dying or leveling faster than normal due to the circumstances I just described, you and your people have leveled more quickly.  You, in particular, earned several levels as you were granted titles and achieved world-first experience.   This allowed you to pull some of your people along with you.  Not only did you create safe spaces and allow larger numbers to survive, you equipped them with what they needed for hunting, crafting, and surviving in general.  Few leaders are so generous.”

Gralen stepped in next.  “You also managed to defeat some creatures like the void titans that were much higher level than yourself, using ingenuity, quick reactions, and thorough planning.  Your people leveled up several times for defending their homes against both creatures and other human attackers.  You defeated a goblin colony ship full of higher level beings, and defeated my own ship, killing a large number of much higher level beings.”  He paused for a moment, thinking of his lost people.

Harmon took over.  “All of these things have combined to allow you to level much faster than normal.  I think you’ll find that the average level of human survivors across your planet is under twenty.  Your adventures, the choices and decisions you’ve made, the chances you’ve taken, all of those are why you have become so popular among the factions.”

“I see.  Thank you, gentlemen.”  Allistor’s spine itched, that feeling of being a target having returned.

“There is more.” Harmon grinned at him.  “As a Planetary Prince, you will be awarded experience for things that others will not be able to take advantage of.  Increasing your territory, for example.  When you become Emperor of this planet, I expect you will achieve several more levels.  The system offers these opportunities to strengthen yourself to offset the danger you face as a noble.  You become a target for not only those below you who wish to better themselves, but for other, stronger nobles who want what you have, or simply dislike you.”

“Right.  Kill, or be killed.  Get stronger, faster, or else.  Got it.” Allistor summed it all up.

“Welcome to the Collective.” Gralen bared his sharp teeth in an ironic smile.

“Right!  So, we’re looking at the main colony.  And there are two more large ones, then several small ones.  We have a plan to test out on this one, a plan we hope will reduce the risk to our fighters as much as possible.”  Allistor looked at the mine still pictured on the main screen.

“Anybody have any last minute changes or suggestions?”

When nobody spoke up, he turned to Kira, who was sitting in the captain’s seat.

“Alright!  Opportunity and Bellerophon, take your positions.  Kira, let’s get this party started.  Take us down a ways away from the edge of the mine.  There’s a nice flat spot over near those towers…”

Chapter 24

Kira landed the Phoenix on a large shelf of rock that was nearly covered with water that flowed out from the nearby pit that had become a lake.   The rock shelf sat just below the massive towers, which Allistor realized were closer to three hundred stories high.    The mine and gravity sling had been placed just south of the mountain range that wrapped around the planet’s equator.   Lush forest surrounded them on three sides.

As the ship set down, Kira lowered the cargo bay ramp.  First off the ship were a company of fifty battle droids, forming a line between the goblin colony and the ship.  Allistor and his raiders stepped off behind them, along with Harmon and his warriors.  The moment his foot touched the ground, he and everyone else received a system alert.

Warning!  You have entered the territory of a sworn blood enemy!

Quest unlocked:  Kill or Be Killed

The Borzgl clan has sworn a blood oath to eliminate you and every citizen of your nation.  Rather than cower in the safety of your Strongholds, you have chosen to take the fight to them.  Eliminate every living member of the Borzgl clan.  Failure to complete the quest will result in significant reputation loss.  Reward:  Variable.

Harmon nodded his approval.  “Kira picked a good spot.  If they charge our position, they’ll have to cross the water.  And while it’s not deep right here, the water will slow them.  Any that fall will be pushed downstream by the current, or trampled by their own clan.”

Allistor paced back and forth, waiting for a reaction from the goblins.  They’d made no attempt to hide their arrival, the Phoenix having actually passed over top of the pit before landing.  The viewscreen had showed the little monsters retreating into their tunnels while looking up at the ship.  And now the raiders were making a show of marching off the ship.

Still, it was nearly five minutes before the goblins responded.  At first, there were just a few scouts.  Allistor had his hunters pick off about half of them with rifles, hoping it would be enough to incite them to attack.

It was.

A dull roar began to echo across the stone shelf, drowning out the burbling of the water that passed in front of them.  The sound grew until Allistor could distinguish two separate noises – the thunder of stomping feet, and the battle cries of the goblin horde.  The moment they came into view above the edge of the mine pit, Allistor shouted for his troops to fire.

The droids in the front rank took a knee, allowing the second rank to fire over top of them.  Each of them fired two plasma rifles with their lower arms.  Behind them, humans fired a combination of hunting rifles and plasma weapons.  Those with hunting rifles were tasked with scoping out any high-level goblins or ones that looked as if they were giving orders, and take them down.   The rest concentrated on the front ranks along with the droids.   Their aim was to slow the charge, force the goblins to step over their wounded and dead to get closer.

As soon as the angry little creatures were within range, Allistor called for his casters to start blasting.   Spikes shot up from the earth in a row as thirty or so Erupt spells were cast.  Fireballs flew across the distance, knocking down and burning four or five of the creatures at once.  The horde pushed forward, more and more of them appearing above the edge of the pit.

“Hold them back!  Pour it on!”  Allistor began channeling his Storm spell.  He targeted a spot just in front of the goblin line, estimating they’d reach it by the time the clouds formed and lightning began to strike.

He timed it almost perfectly. Ten seconds later, a lightning storm flattened the first several ranks at the center of the goblin line.   The spell’s massive damage, the bright flashes of lightning going nearly nonstop, and the screams of their comrades caused the horde to stop, and even back up slightly.

Which is exactly what Allistor and his people wanted.

Seemingly from nowhere, the Bellerophon and Opportunity came streaking in on either side and slightly behind the horde.  Ship’s cannons began to fire from all three ships, and missiles flew from the two airborne ships to explode amongst the tightly packed horde.

Allistor stopped channeling, and his people continued to fire even as they backed up slowly toward the Phoenix.  They wanted to draw the much-reduced horde farther from their caves and onto the killing field. Cargo doors opened on both the airborne ships, and a wave of spells and weapons fire from the raiders rained down upon the goblins from above.

Thousands of monsters perished in seconds.  Some were simply blasted into oblivion, others burned to a crisp or blown apart.  Many of those who’d just arrived at the lip of the mine were blasted backward by the explosions, falling into the water that filled the pit.  Goblins were not good swimmers, and most of them were stunned before they hit the water.  Hundreds drowned as they sank to the bottom.

Still, the tough little monsters charged ahead, pouring out of their tunnels and up the ramp toward the battle.  They returned fire, both up at the ship, and toward Allistor’s group.  Some had plasma weapons much like their attackers, others used spells, or crossbows that launched explosive bolts.

These were not like the horde that the raiders had fought in Rhonda’s Stronghold.  Those used stone weapons and primitive spells.  This colony was on a technological level close to that of the humans.  They lacked the shields, plasma cannons, and anti-aircraft batteries that Allistor had purchased, but otherwise their weapons were on par with his. They were all in the throes of some kind of blood rage, and they vastly outnumbered the humans, orcanin, and droids on the ground.  Despite the punishing fire from above, they continued to advance, walking or jumping over their wounded and dead, snarls on their faces and eyes red with rage.

Allistor’s people began to fall.  First one or two took hits from lucky shots that got past the droid lines.  Then several at a time.  The healers stopped casting damage spells and focused on healing.  The group continued to back up, now nearly at the ship’s ramp.

Then a lucky shot with an explosive bolt reached the open cargo bay of the Bellerophon as it hovered above.  The blast knocked three humans right out of the ship, burning as they fell into the water.  Allistor quickly checked his raid UI, and saw several orange dots, but no grey.  Hopefully his people could swim away from the battle and survive.  Healers from both ships cast a shower of heals on each of them, raising them back up to green.

Another explosive shot took the head off a battle droid, sending shrapnel back into Allistor and his people.  He felt hot metal pierce his face just below his left eye.  When he instinctively reached for it, it burned his fingers as well.  The pain was extreme, but he didn’t have time to deal with it.  He cast a heal on himself, then cast Restraint on a goblin that was forming a fireball to throw at the humans.  The stunned caster’s spell backfired, exploding in its hands, burning them away even as it splashed onto several nearby monsters.

The humans and orcanin were now all aboard the Phoenix.  Prime gave the command for the droids to step aboard as well.  They continued firing even as they climbed the ramp backward and stepped into the cargo hold.  All but three that were too badly damaged, still laying on the ground.

The Phoenix’s shield snapped into place, spells and explosions detonating inches from the ship’s hull.  Allistor stopped the ramp from raising completely so that he and the others could observe the battle.   As he watched, the goblins charged toward the ship, the density of explosions against the shield almost completely blocking out the view.   Allistor saw the Opportunity and Bellerophon rising higher into the sky.   Phoenix, with her superior shielding, would stay and keep the goblins occupied.

Less than a minute after Allistor had stepped back aboard the Phoenix, Bellerophon dropped the payload they had prepared.  A bomb fell from the ship’s underside, whistling as it picked up speed.  About a hundred feet above the ground, it detonated.

The effect was devastating.

They’d used a thermobaric bomb, or what was more commonly known as a fuel-air bomb.  These were home-made versions, born of a collaboration between a few of the air force explosives techs and the engineers.   They modified a standard bomb design, combining home-made napalm with extra fine particles of iron oxide, magnesium, and aluminum, all packed around the explosive device in the center that was in turn wired to an altimeter.   The result was a massive explosion a hundred feet above the ground, with a concussive wave that pushed the burning mixture outward a fair distance, covering everything within a hundred yards.  The fuel burned at an extremely high temperature, and at the same time sucked in all the oxygen to feed the flames.

Even at a two thousand feet altitude, both the airborne ships were rocked by the sudden instability of the air below.  The Phoenix’s shield was coated in the burning material even as she was rocked slightly on the ground.  The spray of water that was pushed up against the shield did nothing to extinguish the flames.  Gralen and his experts had done careful calculations to make sure the shield would hold.

When the smoke cleared and the substance on the shield had burned itself off, Allistor surveyed the battlefield.   Not a single goblin was left standing.  With so many of them blown apart or burned to ash, there was no way to estimate how many they’d killed.  Some of his people leveled up, but the goblins were too low level to give him much in the way of experience.  He was sure the kids, and the support people he’d brought along, had benefitted greatly, though.

The other two ships landed nearby, and all the raiders and droids disembarked.  This battle was far from over.  In fact the worst was likely still to come. They still needed to clear the tunnels below.

As one third of the droids formed up at the edge of the pit, the raiders and support people took a few minutes to loot the piles of bodies, and finish off any wounded goblins with swords and spears.  Harmon’s warriors followed right behind, snatching up goblin corpses, or parts, and stuffing them into bags.  A few of the humans gagged when an orcanin picked up a well-cooked goblin leg and, after sniffing it, took a big bite.

Allistor called his raiders together.  They formed up behind the droid vanguard, and another third of the droids took up rear guard.  The orcanin, beastkin, and the remaining one third of the droids were staying behind to guard the support teams and ships, and to help with the looting.

The moment everyone was formed up and ready, Prime ordered his front line droids down the ramp.  When they reached the first tunnel entrance, ten droids broke off and headed inside.  Four groups of five raiders followed, each small group containing a mixture of melee and ranged fighters, and one healer.  Together they’d have four healers to keep everyone healthy, and plenty of dps.  But if necessary they could split into smaller groups and fight effectively.

As they passed each new tunnel entrance, another set of droids and raiders split off.  Each group would be able to stay in contact with the raid party via their radios, while the droids could communicate with Prime.  Anyone encountering heavy resistance was to call for help immediately.

Allistor’s group was the last to take a tunnel.  He and Fuzzy, along with Prime, Helen, Amanda, Nancy, Michael, Sam, Meg, and a dozen others followed five droids into the tunnel opening, with the other five droids bringing up the rear.   As soon as they were out of the sunlight, Allistor cast a light globe ahead of the droids.  There was no question of stealth this time, the battle above having alerted every living thing within miles of their presence.

There were some scattered bodies within the tunnel, goblins that had been burned and managed to retreat this far before succumbing to their injuries.  Allistor tried not to imagine the pain they’d felt while the liquid fire burned away as they fled.

Maybe a hundred yards in from the entrance, they found the first of the live goblins.  These were injured as well, some trying to limp away, some crawling.  A few turned and attacked, hoping to take an enemy with them when they died.  The wounded were quickly and mercifully dispatched.

Ramon was mapping the complex as the various groups proceeded into the tunnels.  The droids were reporting their movements to Prime in real time, and he was sharing his updated interface map with Ramon every few minutes.  Ramon was in turn leveling his Cartography as he drew out a physical map of the complex.  Just behind him, Helen was doing the same. Allistor felt proud when he noticed this.  Even during a raid, his people were pushing to level their skills.

They moved through the tunnel for another thirty minutes, checking and clearing each chamber as they went.  The droids fended off several surprise attacks from small parties of ten or fifteen goblins, taking the damage while the humans burned down the goblins.   Each time the droids tanked instead of the humans, Allistor received some Infamy Points.  But the amount was small, and he was more than willing to lose some reputation if it meant reducing the risk to his people.

After a last sharp turn in the tunnel, they found themselves in an expansive underground chamber.  The ceiling arched at least fifty feet above them, and the floor stretched out two hundred yards or more in a rough circle.  There were small buildings constructed of wood and stone scattered everywhere, with one larger, two-story building toward the back.

Allistor noted that there were makeshift barricades between the buildings in a rough semicircle in front of the largest building.  Mining carts, wagons, even loose stones were piled up to block the path of the invaders.  Behind the barricades he could see hundreds of goblins racing back and forth, adding items to the piles or delivering bundles of crossbow bolts and other supplies.

He picked one at random and Examined it.

Goblin Warrior

Elite

Level 40

Health:  19,100/19,100

So the others had been correct.  These would be the nucleus of the goblin clan, the original horde members who’d leveled up and increased their attributes enough to grow into a clan and claim this world.

As Allistor was making his observations, his teams began to emerge from other tunnels one at a time.  He waved at Logan when his group emerged just twenty yards or so away.  The growing numbers of invaders appearing around their home had the goblins yelling and moving more quickly, most of them manning the barricades with weapons at the ready.

Allistor keyed his throat mic.  “Hang back until we’re all here.  We’re going to need to clear the outer buildings first, make sure there are no surprises hiding inside.  Check the floors carefully for trap doors or hatches that might allow them to pop up from underground.” He paused, thinking back to their last goblin fight.

“Also, if you see one that looks like a shaman, those are priority targets.  Remember the last fight, that shaman did something to make the others bigger and stronger, then made them explode.  So watch for that.  If you can’t kill the shaman fast enough, retreat and get behind something!  Better to retreat and live to fight than to try and push it.”

Without needing to be told, his people took time to check their gear, grab some jerky or other edibles that would provide buffs, and drinks.  Many of them sat down to speed up their Stamina or Mana Regeneration.

Allistor heard a commotion and saw Logan’s party turn back toward their tunnel.  There was some weapons fire and a few explosions, then things calmed down.  “Small group got behind us somehow.  They’re handled.” the man reported.

“Each group, leave some droids in your tunnel as a rear guard.” Allistor ordered, probably unnecessarily.

When the last group appeared, Allistor gave them five minutes to rest and buff up.  Then he ordered everyone forward.  “Stick to your zones, clear every single building.  You know the drill.  Stop before you get in range of the barricades.”

So they went to work.  Allistor had been right to be concerned.  Almost immediately they discovered goblin warriors in some of the buildings.  When the sounds of fighting echoed across the cavern, more of them emerged from other buildings between the invaders and the barricades.  Their ambush ruined, the goblins did their best to trap Allistor’s people and cut them off.

The tactic was partially successful.  A couple of Allistor’s groups got stuck fighting goblins inside a building while fending off more goblins rushing at them from outside.  Four of his people went down, their icons gone grey, even as other groups rushed to their aid.

“Dammit!  Double up!  No less than forty in a group going forward!” Allistor shouted into his radio.

It took another half hour to fight off the goblins outside the barricades and clear all the buildings.  Two more humans died to a necrotic spell of some kind when their group encountered a shaman.  The healers weren’t able to counteract the damage, trying everything as their screaming friends’ bodies rotted and fell apart.

When the melee fighters reached the shaman and took him down, there wasn’t much of him left intact.

Allistor paused as Gralen’s voice came through his radio.

“Sire, we have engaged a large party on the surface.  They emerged outside our perimeter and were headed for the colony ships.  At least a thousand of them.  My crew and Harmon’s warriors have engaged.”

“Do you need reinforcements?”

“Negative, Sire.  We have the situation in hand.  Just keeping you informed.”

Allistor’s heart had begun racing, and forced himself to take a few deep breaths.  “Send some droids down whatever hole they came out of, and have them keep Prime updated as they go.  And keep watch for more surprises.”

“It shall be done, Sire.” Gralen cut the link.

“Kira!  Take the Phoenix up.  If these guys alerted their other Strongholds, they could be piling into ships already.  Get above the planet and shoot down anything that tries to leave!”

“Roger that, boss!” Kira sounded excited.  He could hear a few hoots from the crew around her.

“Prime, I need you to send half of the rear guard droids around the outer wall to the tunnels we haven’t already covered.  I don’t want these goblins escaping.  Tell them to collapse the tunnels if they need to.”

Prime simply saluted, and a moment later Allistor saw a few dozen droids trotting in both directions along the outer wall.

“Alright, everybody… on three, hit them with all you’ve got.  Remember, shamans and other casters are priority targets.  I want at least three from every group with long-range weapons watching for them and taking them down.  If you can’t do it quickly, call for help.  And there has to be a boss down here somewhere, so keep an eye out.”

He checked to make sure everyone was in place.  To his left and his right, groups of forty raiders with their droid tanks were eyeing their targets.  He could see several snipers had taken up position atop stone buildings, stretched out in prone positions to make themselves smaller targets and keep their weapons steady.

“One… two…three!” He brought down a Flame Shot just behind the nearest barricade, the column of fire a clear signal to his people.  Spells rained down upon the goblins hiding behind their stone and metal barriers.  Fire from above, spikes from below.  Several goblins off to Allistor’s left began to scream as Andrea’s Dissolve spell ate away at them.

Allistor spotted a shaman waving its hands and moving its lips.  He cast Restraint, then Levitate on the little monster, raising it up so that his people could see it clearly.  Two seconds later, at least three snipers hit it.  One round caused its head to explode.

Screams to his right told him another shaman had managed to get a spell off.   Searching that side of the line, he spotted a feather sticking up from behind an ore cart.  The shaman was smart enough to hide in between casts.  But its pride, its need to decorate itself, was its undoing.  He channeled a Flame Shot for three seconds, calling it down as a pillar of fire right atop the feather.  The shaman screamed and jumped away, revealing itself.  Allistor cast Mind Spike, causing it to drop its staff and stagger around in the open.  The snipers took it down seconds later.

For ten minutes, the air was filled with the lights and sounds of battle.  Spells flew back and forth, as well as lead and plasma rounds, and crossbow bolts, arrows, and spears.  Goblins died by the dozen, the humans coordinating their targets and getting some insta-kills by combining dps.

Here and there, humans were hit, too.  The healers did their best to keep up, cooperating across groups when they could.  Still, there were twenty or so grey icons now.  Allistor growled as he saw Bagwell’s icon was one of them.  The man who had captained the boat when they’d taken down the sea monster was now gone, forever.

Even as he watched, two of George’s people from Luther’s Landing went grey at the same time, and George himself dropped to just a sliver of health.  Almost immediately, a flood of heals brought him back up, but it had been a very close thing.  He could hear the man cursing off to his left somewhere.

Allistor was doing his best to ignore the casualties and stay in the fight.  The grey icons shook him, the responsibility for those deaths landing squarely on his shoulders.  This wasn’t a defense of their homes or families.  This was an aggressive action, one that had been his decision to undertake.  Now he was beginning to question whether his people had been ready for this.

Anger building up inside him, he shook his head and focused.  From the front of the large building emerged a half dozen goblins.  Five of them were much larger than the others, and the sixth, standing in the rear, wore a full set of matching leather armor, dyed crimson much like Allistor’s own.  He Examined a couple of them.

Goblin Chief’s Guard

Elite

Level 45

Health:  35,000/35,000

Goblin Chief Borzgl

Planetary Emperor

Level 55

Health:  60,000/60,000

The five guards formed up in a rough V formation in front of the chief and began to walk forward.  As he followed, the chief was shouting an incantation and moving his hands.

“Shit!  Get the chief!  Snipers!  Hit him!”

Allistor tried to cast Mind Spike on the chief, but he was too far back.  Even as several rifle shots rang out, Allistor saw some kind of shield appear in front of the guards.  One round hit the chief in the shoulder, knocking him down.  The other rounds either hit guards, or came in too late and bounced off the newly formed shield.

“Fuzzy, stay here!” Allistor cast Fade and began to race forward, ducking behind huts or whatever cover he could find, trying to get within spell range of the chief.  A quick glance in that direction showed the goblin back on its feet, already starting another chant.  Rifle rounds pinged off the shield bubble, startling the guards, who had their shields raised just in case.

One last sprint toward what looked like a smithy, and Allistor dove behind a large chest next to an anvil.  Peeking around the side of the box, he began to channel Storm.  While he was waiting for the cloud to form and start dropping lightning bolts, the chief finished his cast.  Just like at Rhonda’s Stronghold, the remaining goblins, including the chief’s guards, became enraged and began to increase in size.

Allistor heard his people shouting warnings behind him, but continued to focus on his spell.  The lightning began to crash down, turning the shield bubble a bright red with every strike.  Over and over, the bolts crashed into the barrier.  The chief and his guards initially ducked down, frightened by the intensity of the attack.  After a few seconds, the guards had the presence of mind to huddle up close around the chief and raise their shields overhead.  Allistor just grinned.  If the bubble broke, the metal shields weren’t going to help them.

He watched as more and more bolts impacted the shield.  When it finally popped, the guards began to seize up, the current from the bolts passing through their shields into their bodies.  Sniper rounds began to knock them down, and the chief was exposed.   Allistor cut the Storm spell, down to twenty percent of his mana, and cast Mind Spike at the chief.

The spell failed.

He tried Restraint even as the guard between him and the chief began to recover and get back to his feet.  This time the spell worked, and the chief froze mid-cast.  Whatever he’d been planning backfired, knocking him and all the guards around him off their feet.

Allistor immediately tried Mind Spike again, and between the Restraint and the backlash damage, the chief was apparently weakened enough for it to work.  The goblin boss rolled around on the ground, screaming.

Allistor pulled a mana potion from his inventory and gulped it down.  He keyed his mic, and said, “I’m gonna do something stupid.  Cover me if you can!”

Emerging from behind his box, he cast Barrier in front of himself and charged toward the barricade.  A dozen or more enraged goblins spotted him and began a charge of their own.  Whatever spell had buffed them had also made them forget about their weapons, raising claws and baring teeth while charging toward their prey.  It became a race.

Allistor picked up speed.  He needed to get within one hundred feet of the boss.  Which was nearly all the way to the barricades.  As he sprinted forward, his people fired on the goblins headed toward him.  One after another went down, most only wounded.  By the time Allistor got within smelling distance of the monsters, there were only two still standing.  He cast Restraint at one, even as he drew his sword, Peacemaker.  The second roared at him, its enlarged body giving it a much more threatening tone.

As it reached out a long, bony arm to claw at his face, Allistor dropped into a baseball slide.  Passing between its legs, he stabbed upward into its thigh, then ripped the blade across with all his strength.   Not even looking to see if he’d killed the monster, he pushed himself back to his feet and continued his sprint.  A wounded goblin warrior managed to reach up and grab hold of his right ankle, tripping him up.  Allistor hacked off the mob’s hand with his sword, then scrambled back to his feet.

He could see the chief was back on his own feet, along with two of his guards.  The chief was hiding behind them, already chanting again.  Between them, several more goblins had noticed Allistor and were charging in from both sides to intercept him.

They were too slow.

Allistor leapt up onto the barricade, pushing off and leaping again, launching himself a good ten feet above the ground and out of the reach of the goblins below.  Mid-air, he cast Dimensional Step on himself, and appeared behind the goblin boss.  Unfortunately, his momentum made him stumble into the boss’s back.  It was enough to interrupt the chant, but took away any chance of a backstab or surprise attack critical hit.

Still, Allistor cast Mind Spike again, quickly stabbing the screaming and incapacitated boss in the gut.  He tried to angle his blade up into the goblin’s heart, but missed.

Even as the two guards, who’d been taking sniper fire for their boss, turned toward him, Allistor yanked his blade free and drove it into the chief’s throat.  He shoved as hard as he could, feeling the tip lodge in the spine, then push through.

The chief’s health bar dropped to zero, and Allistor fell forward as the chief fell back.  Even as he hit the ground, he felt a blade slide into his own back, and his health bar dropped by half.  He cast a heal on himself, then looked up and cast Mind Spike on the guard above him, poised to drive his blade into Allistor a second time.

The two guards quickly grew smaller as the chief’s buff magic was canceled.  The one that wasn’t screaming looked exhausted, dropping its shield to use both hands on its short sword.  Raising the sword high, it stepped toward Allistor.

A sniper round pinged off its metal helmet, knocking it off balance and distracting it for a moment.  Allistor rolled away and waved his sword at it, attempting to keep it back.  At the same time, he cast Erupt right beneath it.  The stone spike shot up through the guard’s knee and deep into its thigh.  Roaring in pain, the goblin dropped its weapon and grabbed the mutilated leg.

Allistor turned to see the other one recovering from the Mind Spike.  Behind it, several dozen of the remaining goblins were running toward him, with his own people right behind them casting spells and firing weapons in a panic.  If the remainder of the horde reached him, he was done.

“Stay back!  Grab cover and fire!”  he shouted into his radio loudly enough that those running toward him would hear it directly, whether they had a radio or not. He pushed by the recovering guard, waited long enough to see his people begin to slow down, then picked a spot on the other side of the barricade.

Allistor ran half a dozen steps toward the oncoming mobs, then cast Dimensional Step again.  The charging goblins all looked confused when their hated enemy simply disappeared.  Allistor arrived behind the barricade and let himself drop to the ground.  He could hear his people calling out targets and burning down the remaining goblins, but didn’t raise his head to look.

After taking a few moments to catch his breath and let his mana recharge a bit, he popped up to see what he could do to help.  There were only a very few goblins left, and they were taking hits from every direction.  Allistor turned his attention to his own wounded, using the last of his mana to heal those who needed it most.

Eventually, a message appeared on his interface.

Congratulations! You have captured an enemy Stronghold!

Would you like to claim this Stronghold?  Yes/No

He quickly selected Yes and took a seat atop the barricade.  There were ragged cheers from his group as the area around them went transparent, signaling their victory.  Allistor didn’t bother with any amenities, simply accepting the structure as it was.  When the golden light cleared, he quickly scanned his notifications.

Level up!  You are now Level 44!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Level up!  You are now Level 45!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Level up!  You are now Level 46!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Nearly a thousand goblins at his level or higher, even with the experience shared among several hundred raiders, had earned him three levels.  The next notification surprised him.

Congratulations!

You have defeated a Planetary Emperor in mortal combat!  You have earned the right to claim the planet, and the Noble Title of Planetary Emperor.

Do you wish to claim the planet and Title of Planetary Emperor at this time? Yes/No

Allistor had thought he’d need to kill every goblin on the planet in order to claim it. Apparently, killing the big boss made you the big boss.  But a quick check of his quest log showed he still had the quest to kill the rest of the clan.  Which made sense, since if he left any of them alive, they’d just come at him again.

He paused before accepting the planet and the title.  Instead, he put in a call to Kira.  “Any sightings up there?”

“None, boss.  And I took the liberty of doing fly-overs on the other big settlements.  There are no colony ships parked there that I can see.”

“Thanks, Kira.  Hang loose up there for a little while longer, and report any changes.”

Next he called Gralen.  “Hey, Gralen? What’s the status on the surface group?”

“All the goblins on the surface have been eliminated, Sire.  The support teams are… looting.  I feel I should report that some of them are upset, Sire.”

“Upset?”

“The group that tried to flee to the ships.  About half of them were females and younglings, Sire.”

Allistor grimaced.  Eliminating the young could not have been easy for Gralen’s beastkin.  Though he was pretty sure Harmon’s orcanin didn’t mind.  He wondered if young goblin was similar to veal for the orcanin, the thought making him slightly ill.

“Is Harmon near you? He doesn’t have a radio, and I’d like to speak with you both.”

“Right here, Sire.” Gralen replied.  “One moment.”  Allistor heard a clicking sound as Gralen disconnected his earpiece so that Harmon could hear as well.  “Go ahead, Sire.”

“First, thank you for your efforts up there.  I’m sorry that it became necessary for you to get so directly involved.”

“It was our duty, Sire.” Gralen’s voice was neutral, no emotion either way.  Harmon just grunted.

“So, we killed the Emperor down here, and I now have the chance to claim the planet and his title.  Before I do so, I wanted to check with the two of you.  Any reason you can think of that I shouldn’t?”

Harmon spoke first this time.  “It will likely create a system-wide announcement.  And there will be much talk among the factions.  So if someone were inclined to attack, it might speed things up.  On the other hand, you’re being watched now anyway.  So it’s not as if the news won’t spread soon on its own.”

Gralen added, “I agree, Sire.  At least if you make the claim now, you will have possession of one Stronghold, should you need to defend this place before the satellites arrive.”

It would take two more days for Harmon to deliver the satellites, and another two for them to be fully deployed.  And based on the battle they’d just fought, it might take that long just to clear the planet.

Opening his interface back up, he selected Yes. A message came up asking if he would like to choose a new designation for Planet UCP 135.  He thought about it for a moment, then typed in a name before hitting the [Accept] button. As expected, trumpets sounded, and a gong rang out, so deep and loud that it literally shook the planet.

System Alert!

Planetary Prince Allistor of Earth has defeated Planetary Emperor Borzgl in mortal combat!  He has claimed the title of Emperor of the newly designated planet Orion!

May he rule long and wisely!

Level up!  You are now Level 47!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Level up!  You are now Level 48!  You have received two Attribute Points.

Allistor took a moment to pull up his stat sheet, assigning twenty-four of the twenty-six attribute points he now had saved up.  He thought about having to do more melee fighting and spell casting, as well as his desire to raise his smithing skills.   With that in mind, he added four points each to Intelligence and Will Power.  Then one went into Adaptability, and three into Constitution to increase his health pool.  Two went into Stamina, three points into Strength, and one into Agility for those melee fight situations.   Then he put four into Dexterity, hoping it would help him wield his hammer better, thus improving his Weaponsmithing skills more quickly, and allowing him to craft higher quality items.  Or so he hoped.  He added three points to Charisma, because he had a feeling as both a Prince and an Emperor, he was going to need it.  Lastly, he dumped a point into Luck, because why not?

Designation: Emperor Allistor,  Giant Killer

Level: 48

Experience: 5,100,000/17,550,000

Planet of Origin:  UCP 382, Orion

Health:  48,000/48,000

Class: Battlemage

Attribute Pts Available:  2

Mana: 15,000/15,000

Intelligence:  24 (28)

Strength:  10 (18)

Charisma:  10 (14)

Adaptability:  8 (10)

Stamina:  12 (19)

Luck:  6 (12)

Constitution:  19 (24)

Agility:  11 (17)

Health Regen:1,400/m

Will Power:  24 (32)

Dexterity: 7 (11)

Mana Regen:1,100/m

Chapter 25

Allistor checked to make sure his people had taken care of the wounded, and the dead.  Many of the battle droids that had taken up rear guard at the tunnel exits were now carrying a body bag as they headed for the surface.  Allistor fought to keep the guilt of those deaths from overwhelming him.

The raiders were looting the goblin corpses, and McCoy called out to Allistor from inside the large building.  Stepping past the chief, Allistor bent down to retrieve his sword and loot the boss.  He didn’t even look at the notifications as he entered the building, finding a long, wide room with a throne near the back.

“There are several loot chests here.” McCoy pointed to the area behind the throne.  Lined up in a row were three large chests.

“So loot them?” Allistor looked at the airmen.

“We… uhh… thought they might be trapped.” McCoy suggested, looking apologetic. “None of the tanks wanted to risk it.”

“Or they could be mimics!” a helpful Bjurstrom called out from the doorway.

Allistor grinned despite himself.  “So, you think these things might blow up, or be carnivorous monsters, and you want me to be the one to open them.  Is that about right?”

Everybody in the room nodded vigorously.

Shaking his head, with a grin still on his face, Allistor cast Barrier in front of himself.  Bending down, he examined the lid of the first chest.  Not seeing a latch, he simply flipped it open, rolling backward as he did so, just in case.

When nothing happened, there was nervous laughter in spots around the room.  Allistor gave them dirty looks, unaware that the whole scenario was staged to get his mind off their losses.  They had, in fact, needed to hold Bjurstrom back from diving into the chests.

Getting back to his feet and trying to restore some of his dignity, Allistor crouched in front of the second chest.   This one had a latch, but no lock.  He was just lifting the latch, when “RAWR!” a feminine-sounding roar echoed through the room, causing Allistor to fall backward again.  A second later he realized the sound had come from behind him, and turned to find Helen holding both hands over her mouth, her eyes watering as she tried to suppress a laugh.

“Ha… ha… ha!” He stuck his tongue out at her, causing nearly everyone in the room to release the laughs they’d been suppressing.  “You wanna come over here and do this?”

“Oh, hell no.” Helen shook her head, still laughing.  “At least one of those is sure to be a mimic.  I’ll be over here, ready to heal.  And laugh.” She blew him a little kiss and motioned for him to get to it.

With an exasperated sigh, mumbling about how an Emperor should receive more respect, he simply stepped back up to the second chest and flipped it open.  Without hesitation, he moved to the third, finding it locked.   It occurred to him that if anyone had a key, it would be the goblin chief he’d just looted, so he quickly checked his inventory.

And there it was.  A basic iron key.  Pulling it from his ring, he inserted it into the lock, and twisted.  There was a sharp click, loud enough to make everyone in the room gasp.  But no darts or poison gas erupted.   Allistor opened the chest, and began to scream.  The people around him panicked, several of them casting heals.  Allistor shouted, “Gotcha!” and smirked as the others all groaned.  He then turned to McCoy.  “Think you can handle it from here?”

The man nodded, looking slightly ashamed, and saluted with a fist to his chest.  “We’ll take care of it, Sire.”

By the time Allistor left the building, the body bags had all been removed, and the looting was nearly complete.  The battle droids had lent a hand, then formed back up into guard positions.  Some of the orcanin had come down and were happily harvesting the more intact, higher level goblin corpses.   When it was all finished, Allistor led them all back up through one of the tunnels and out of the mine.  The looting was completed topside as well, and many of the corpses were already fading.

Three bedraggled raiders came walking around the lip of the mine, their clothes both wet and burnt.  The one in front, the only female tank Allistor had noted among the raid parties so far, approached and spoke for the others.  “Sorry, we missed it, boss.  Got ourselves knocked right out of the ship.  Had to swim all the way to the other side and walk back.  Swimming in armor sucks.”

“I’m just glad the three of you are okay.  When we hit the next settlement, maybe tie yourselves to something?” He winked at her, letting her know he wasn’t angry.

Allistor took a moment to open the Stronghold interface for the mine while the others were boarding their assigned ships.  He added a wall around the outer edge of the pit, and sensors so that Nigel could notify him if anyone attempted to take the settlement.

A thought occurred to him.  He walked up to Harmon, who was speaking to a few of his ‘specialists’ that cooked goblin meat.  “Hey, uhm, Harmon? Got a sec?”

“Of course, Prince Allistor.” Harmon was aware they were being observed.

“Talk to me about teleports.  Can I set a pad here and teleport back to Invictus?”

Harmon shook his head.  “Only a hub would have sufficient range for that right now.  This planet and yours are on opposite sides of your suns right now, billions of miles apart.   Eventually, as one planet catches up to the other in their orbits, the simpler pads might reach.  But for now, you’d have to purchase another hub.  And even then you’d only be able to reach your Citadel in Cheyenne, and the hub in Invictus.”

“Well, that’s fine.  From either of those spots my people can get to everywhere else.”

Gralen, having overheard, added, “I recommend waiting until the planet is secure, Sire.  The hubs are expensive, and you do not want to be in the position of having to defend one with just the forces you have available.”

Allistor nodded.  It was good advice.  “Thanks, fellas.  See you at the next one.”

*****

The other two large settlements fell more quickly, not having the elite leadership of the main settlement.  They used the same game plan, seeing no evidence that news of their methods had been passed along from one settlement to the other. There was one change. Instead of just Allistor and his people luring the goblins out, Sam and his gun crew joined them in a slightly used M1A2 Abrams tank.   Allistor had purchased it for his friend from one of the Texas leaders, and Gene had flown the Bellerophon to pick it up.

The tank rolled in ahead of the raiders, giving them some extra cover as the goblins responded in a frantic rage, trying to destroy their hated enemy.  And just like before, the ships cut loose.  Kira brought the Phoenix down for each battle, then returned to overwatch while the tunnels were cleared, in case any ships attempted escape.

By the end of the day, the exhausted raiders had cleared the three main colonies on the planet.  Scouts went out to verify the locations of smaller pockets of goblins as Allistor built up the third Stronghold to make it habitable.   They were going to be spending the night, at least.  So he put up the walls, gate, sensors, utilities, and purchased shield generators, plasma cannons, and anti-aircraft batteries.

As the raiders and crews from the Bellerophon and Opportunity began to file in through the gate, Allistor got a call from Kira.

“Allistor!  We detected a small ship taking off from the other side of the planet!  We are in pursuit.”

“Shit!  Don’t let them get away.” Allistor practically shouted back.  Several heads turned his direction, and he said, “Goblins trying to get off-planet.”

A moment later, Kira’s voice came back.  “We have them in sight.  It looks a lot like the one that tried to shoot us down near Chicago.”  There was a slight pause, then she added, “Uhm, our weapons officer asked me to confirm he has permission to fire.  Something about elves?”

“Fire!” Allistor did shout this time.  He scanned the sky for a good ten seconds before he remembered Kira said it was on the other side of the world.   Ten seconds later, Kira reported.

“Ship destroyed, Allistor.  We’re retracing its trajectory, cuz apparently we can do that, to see if there are more ships.  Might want to get the Opportunity up here as well, just in case?  We can sleep in rotations up here.”

Allistor looked around for Gralen, and found him already on the way to his ship.  “Roger that, Gralen is on his way up.  I assume you guys will orbit on opposite sides of the planet or something?  Never mind, I don’t need to know.  I’m sure you’ll work it out.  Thank you, Kira.”

“Roger that, Sire.” He could hear the amusement in her voice.

Allistor retired to one of the five hundred sleeping quarters he’d just created within the Stronghold.  It was no different than any of the others.   He hadn’t bothered with a keep or towers or fancy rooms.  He was tired, and feeling down, he just wanted sleep.

In all, they’d lost thirty-one humans and sixteen battle droids in the day’s fighting.  They had loaded all the bodies onto one of the captured colony ships, and Gralen sent a skeleton crew of three beastkin mercenaries to fly them home.  Allistor expected to arrive himself, whether via teleport or the Phoenix, by the time the slow ship reached Earth.  He’d hold the funeral service there.

Reaching his bed, he found Amanda already asleep, with Fuzzy curled up in a corner, both of them snoring.

*****

The morning brought a cool breeze as the twin suns crested the horizon.  It had been nearly dark by the time they’d reached this third colony and begun their battle.  Allistor looked around now, taking in the ancient trees, many of which now grew tilted in the same direction.  This particular mine had been dug into the base of a small mountain.  The tunnels had not been very extensive, and it had taken the least amount of time, and casualties, to clear.

Allistor asked Nigel to call the raid team leaders together, as well as Harmon.  Gralen was apparently still in orbit.

They spent an hour going over their maps of the planet, locations and estimated populations of the remaining goblin settlements, and confirming their plans to deal with them.

The Phoenix and Opportunity descended to pick up their troop complements, and set off.

The passing of the day was one long blur of skirmish after skirmish, dropped bombs and cleared tunnels.   The twin suns were setting again when Allistor finally got the notification he’d been waiting for.

Quest Complete: Kill or Be Killed!

You have successfully eliminated the entire Borzgl goblin clan, ended
the blood feud, and claimed the planet now designated as Orion.

Reward:  20,000,000 experience.  Your reputation with all Orcanin clans has
increased to Friendly.  Your reputation with the entire Goblin race is now Hated.

Level Up!  You are now Level 49!  You have earned two Attribute points!

Since the defense satellites were due to arrive the following day, Allistor elected to stay on Orion another night.  He and his people returned to the primary settlement, the first one they’d conquered, and he upgraded it to a Citadel.   Expanding the walls, he created a keep with tall towers, sufficient housing for a thousand families, along with shops, communal kitchens and dining, livestock areas, a greenhouse, and the usual amenities.   By this time it was almost automatic.

Once he pressed the button and the light show ended, he purchased another teleport hub for the Citadel, and six pads to spread out around Orion.   Just as he was finishing up the installation of the hub, Harmon and Gralen approached.

“Sire, might we have a word?” Gralen bowed deeply, setting Allistor slightly on edge.  Normally the mercenary captain saluted him.  This extra deference suggested either a problem, or an upcoming favor request.

“Of course, gentlemen.  Shall we retire someplace more comfortable?”  When both the wolverinekin and orcanin nodded, he led them inside the keep and up into the tower where his private quarters were located.  They took seats, and Allistor offered them some water.

Declining, Gralen said, “Thank you, Sire.  I was wondering if I might make a proposal on behalf of my crew and myself?”

“Certainly.  Propose away!”  Allistor blinked, regretting the way that sounded.  His pending proposal to Amanda had been on his mind nearly constantly.

Clearing his throat, Gralen leaned forward.  “We spoke before about the possibility of our families joining us?” He waited for Allistor to nod, then continued.  “To be completely honest, I was hesitant to do so, because I was not sure how your people and mine would get along.  I know there is much resentment toward non-humans among your people right now, and understandably so!” He held up his hands in a peace gesture as Allistor opened his mouth to respond.

Realizing that the beastkin expected him to lash out, Allistor shook his head.  “If you have experienced this from any of my people, I apologize.  I expected some resentment due to your role in the deaths of some humans during your attack.  But if there is further, generalized, anti-alien sentiment being focused on you and your crew, I am at fault.  I have sworn revenge on the aliens that stole our planet and unleashed the apocalypse on us.  And I’ve encouraged my people to share my hatred of them.  It didn’t occur to me that this might translate to hard feelings against you, or Harmon.   I will make a point of explaining the difference to my people immediately.”

Gralen bowed his head in thanks.  “What I wish to propose, Sire, is that until relations are more… relaxed between our species, our families could take up residence here on Orion.  We could defend the place, and help to make it stronger, in your name.”

Allistor ran a hand through his hair.  On the one hand, this was a great solution to his concerns over protecting the planet.  On the other hand, he didn’t like the idea of encouraging segregation between humans and friendly alien species.

“Your crew isn’t that large, and even if every single one of them had a large family, that is not a large population.”  Allistor observed.

“Yes, well, there are many more on our homeworld who would gladly join us.  Take the oath and serve as your subjects.  The opportunities you offer are… considerably more attractive than our current situation.”

“How many are we talking about?”

Gralen lowered his eyes, focusing on his hands as he answered.  “Perhaps… twenty thousand?”

Allistor’s eyes bugged out.  That would more than double his current number of citizens.  Still, something didn’t feel right.  He looked at Harmon.  “Before I make a decision, you wanted to ask me something as well?  Would it have any bearing on this?”

Harmon scratched his chin.  “Possibly.  I was going to inquire about the trade station in orbit.  I’d like the opportunity to make you an offer before anyone else arrives.”

“If you don’t mind speaking in front of Gralen here, what kind of offer?”

Harmon grinned.  “Ah, so we’re negotiating!  My favorite pastime!” He thumped his hand on the table in front of them, lightly, so as not to break it.  “Normally I would just name a price in klax.  But we both know you have no need of those.  So… how about an exchange? I get the trade station, and you get the defense satellites for free?”

Allistor laughed.  He’d expected something like that as soon as Harmon had perked up upon sighting the station on their approach to the planet.  But he needed to mess with his friend a bit.

“Tell me, how many people would live and work on a station like that?”

Harmon closed his eyes for a moment, then pulled up something on a holo display projected from his bracelet.  “Maybe ten thousand?  There would be jobs for about three thousand, and unless it has been modified, it should support housing for them, their families, and still have room for a large number of short term guests.”

Allistor looked at the two aliens.   After a moment, he nodded once.

“Alright.  Gralen, I approve you bringing your families and friends to become citizens of Invictus.  But I can’t condone a complete separation.  I’ll work on my people, as promised.  And the other human survivors of the world.  In return, I want at least a quarter of your people to live on Earth with us.”

He left Gralen to think about that.  Turning to Harmon, he smiled.

“Harmon, I agree to your trade proposal, with one condition.  I don’t have room for twenty thousand citizens here on Orion.  Or any way to feed them.  At least, not yet.  Not even fifteen thousand, assuming a quarter of them go to Earth.  I could upgrade the other two major settlements to Citadels, but that won’t do it.  So I’d like you to offer a big chunk of those jobs and housing units on the station to Gralen’s people.”

Harmon looked to Gralen, who was shaking his head.  Allistor initially thought the beastkin was turning them down, until a slow rumble in his chest turned to laughter.  “You never just do one thing, do you, Sire?  Always an angle, always a second and third purpose to your actions.”

“Well, not always.  But in this case, it would seem to be beneficial to everyone, no?”  He paused, then added a thought he’d just had.  “And if more than five thousand of your people would like to come to Earth, they would be most welcome.  We have plenty of room in our occupied Strongholds still, and brand new Strongholds across the continent.  I won’t make any of my properties exclusively human, or non-human.  We need to learn to get along.”

Harmon grunted.  “For my part, we have an agreement.  The station for the satellites, and I will employ and house as many of Gralen’s people as possible.  Best estimate, maybe half of the available positions, depending on their skills.”

Gralen let out a long, slow breath.  “I believe my people will agree.  Eventually, we would like the right to purchase land, both on Orion and Earth, if you will allow it, Sire.”

“Why eventually?  I don’t know how that would work on Earth? I could sell you sections of some of my parks, I guess?  Or is there some entity or authority that aliens are currently purchasing sections of Earth from?”

Harmon nodded.  “There is.  Although, at this early stage, applicants are simply purchasing the rights to parcels of a certain size.  Say one square mile.  Then they can choose the location of that parcel anywhere on the planet, barring certain locations that have been reserved, or claimed by humans.”

Allistor looked at Gralen.  “I’m assuming that those rights are expensive.  And based on your reference to the opportunities available to your people, few of you could afford to apply?”

Gralen simply nodded.

“Right!  So here’s what we’ll do.  You and your people will come live as citizens of Invictus both on Earth and here on Orion.  You’ll be given housing within my properties, or Harmon’s station, as any of my other citizens would be.  You’ll have access to crafting spaces, farming or grazing, et cetera.  No taxes levied for the first year.”  He watched Gralen’s face as he spoke, waiting for a smile.

“Over that year, you can work with Helen, and figure out some space within the National Parks that I own.  I’ll sell you parcels for very reasonable rates after the year is up.”  Gralen’s lips twitched slightly, and Allistor kept going.

“As for here on Orion… I suppose today was apocalypse day here.  And now we’re into Stabilization?  Or, I guess not, since none of the native inhabitants remain.  So, that means the whole planet is mine to do with as I see fit?”

Both aliens nodded, both of them now smiling.

“Good!  Then I grant each of your twenty thousand-ish people the same ten-acre parcel we humans got on Earth.  Including the ones who will be living on Earth.  I suggest you claim them in clusters, for mutual defense.  And if necessary, we’ll help you build more Strongholds with loans and such.”

Gralen growled slightly, seeming annoyed.

“Prince… er…Emperor Allistor.  While your gesture is appreciated, my people’s traditions will not allow us to accept such generous gifts without some form of payment.  What can we do for you in return for these blessings?”

Allistor shrugged, and looked toward Harmon, whose face had gone suddenly quite serious.  Getting the hint, Allistor took a moment to consider.  He looked out the window, gazing at the tall forest, and the much taller gravity sling towers.

“The towers.  Would your people have the knowledge or ability to bring the towers back online?  If I were to provide the funds for parts, materials, et cetera?”

Gralen looked confused.  “Possibly, but… why?  There are not enough resources left on the planet to justify its use.”

“Damn.  Good point.  Well… since we’re short on housing, do you think you could get them tilted back upright and maybe convert them into great big apartment buildings?  With, you know, greenhouses and crafting, and all the rest?  Like ridiculously large Strongholds?”

Harmon interjected.  “Assuming they are structurally sound enough to withstand the shift… the work could take years, just to complete one of them.”

Allistor thought it over.  “And… assuming we open up Orion to settlement by other factions and species, what would be the value if we sold off those apartments when they were completed?”

Harmon laughed.  “More than enough to recoup the expense.  Maybe two or three times your investment.”

Allistor looked out the window again.  “They look kind of cool as they are.  Maybe there’s a way to convert them without tilting them back up?  So some people’s homes would be looking down over the forest, some looking outward to either side, and some looking up at the sky?”

Gralen nodded.  “Many things are possible.  It would make an interesting challenge.”

“Perfect! So, you bring the people with the knowledge and ability to get it done.  I’ll pay for materials, and provide a reasonable salary for each of them during the construction period.  When it’s done, we’ll sell it off and share the profits.  Those who aren’t working on the towers, or in the station up in orbit, can craft, or farm, or raise herds of edible creatures, and we’ll purchase their goods at reasonable prices.”

Allistor held out a hand, and Gralen shook it first, then Harmon.

*****

After the two aliens left to discuss the details of life on the trade station, Amanda joined Allistor in their quarters.  The moment they were alone together, and both awake, his gut flopped, and his hands began to clench and unclench on their own.

“Hey, umm… Lady Amanda?  Got a sec to sit and talk with me?” His words came out too fast and not very loud.   She gave him an odd look, then moved to sit on the sofa next to him.  He wiped his hands on his shirt, feeling like they were sweaty, before taking hold of hers.

“We’ve basically been together since the apocalypse.  I don’t know why you chose me, but I’ve been glad every day since then that you did.  I love you, Amanda.”

She looked sideways at him, her hands tightening on his briefly.  “And… I love you too, Emperor Fancypants.  What’s bothering you?"

He cleared his throat.  “Nothing.” His voice came out as a squeak, so he tried again.  “Nothing.  I’m a little nervous, is all.  I mean, I’ve never… what I want to say is… shit.” He let go of her hands to smack himself in the forehead, his shoulders slumping.    After a couple deep breaths, he took ahold of her hands again.

“What I’m so smoothly trying to say to you… is that I want to marry you.  Er, I want to ask you if you’ll marry me.  Which I guess is the same thing-”

She cut off his blabbering by putting a finger over his lips.  “Yes.  I will marry you.”  Before he could say anything more, she leaned in and kissed him.  The kiss lasted a long time, until both of them needed to pause for a breath.  He hugged her close, and she put her head on his shoulder.

“You know Fuzzy has to be my best man, right?”

*****

The following morning Allistor and most of the raiders took the teleport back to Cheyenne.  They found that the colony ship had arrived and delivered the bodies of the lost raiders.

But rather than the funeral pyres that Allistor had expected, he found a series of open graves dug near the apple orchard.   One of Nancy’s gardeners, who’d been standing nearby, explained.  “We don’t really need to burn our dead anymore.  We have room to bury them in here, where it’s safe.”

Allistor agreed wholeheartedly, and wished he’d thought of it sooner.  He waited as thousands upon thousands of Invictus’ citizens poured into the Citadel.  When the flow slowed to a trickle, he began the funeral service.  He spoke about the heroic fight against the goblins, and the sacrifice the dead had made on everyone’s behalf.   Family and friends spoke for hours about their loved ones, telling stories both funny and sad.  The bodies were lowered into their graves, and the surviving raiders took up shovels or just scooped dirt into the holes with their hands.

Just as Allistor was about to thank everyone and send them away, Nigel’s voice rang out.  It was pitched more softly than usual.

“Sire, if I might?”

Surprised, Allistor just nodded his head, standing in front of the crowd.  Nigel’s voice began to speak softly.

In the fell clutch of circumstance...

The citizens immediately recognized the phrase, and thousands of voices joined in.

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years,

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

End Book Three

Acknowledgements

Thanks once again to my family for their love, support, and occasional ass-kicking when I need it.  They are my alphas, my sounding board, and the ones who aren’t afraid to tell me when something sucks!  And a big thank you to my beta readers, who offer up more rude comments than anything else, but still manage to find some typos and such.  They really came through on short notice this time.  A big thanks to Anders Hemlin for the wonderful cover art.

For semi-regular updates on books, art, and just stuff going on, check out my Greystone Guild fb https://www.facebook.com/greystone.guild.7 or my website www.davewillmarth.com where you can subscribe for an eventual newsletter.

And don’t forget to follow my author page on Amazon!  That way you’ll get a nice friendly email when new books are released.  You can also find links to my Greystone Chronicles and Dark Elf books there!  https://www.amazon.com/Dave-Willmarth/e/B076G12KCL

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO LEAVE A REVIEW!

Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads are vitally important to indie authors like me.  Amazon won’t help market the books until they reach a certain level of reviews.  So please, take a few seconds, click on that (fifth!) star and type a few words about how much you liked the book!  I would appreciate it very much. I do read the reviews, and a few of my favorites have led to friendships and even character cameos!

You can find information on lots of LitRPG/GameLit books on Ramon Mejia’s LitRPG Podcast here https://www.facebook.com/litrpgpodcast/. Also thank you to Ramon for early feedback on this book when I was thinking about discarding it, and some good advice.  You can find his books here.  https://www.amazon.com/R.A.-Mejia/e/B01MRTVW3O

There are a few more places where you can find me, and several other genre authors, hanging out.  Here are my favorite LitRPG/GameLit community facebook groups.  (If you have cookies, keep them away from Daniel Schinhofen).

https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GameLitSociety/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/litrpgforum/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/541733016223492/

***

Enjoyed Shadow Sun?

Want more post-apocalyptic/gameLit books?

Try Earth Force - an Amazon best seller series by Shemer Kuznits (Author of Life Reset).

A mist descended from the sky, disabling all technology and causing a weird message to appear at the corner of everyone’s eye. Animals and people started to warp, transforming into terrible monsters that prey on the livings. The survivors must relay on a mysterious element - the Tec –the key to the new leveling system, and their only chance for survival.

Table of Contents

- Shadow Sun
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
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- Enjoyed Shadow Sun?