Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1)

by Cosimo Yap

  Scoping out the Competition Updated:

  2/10 Major players met

  Bonus: 0/10 Objectives found

  Alan was reminded of the class quest the Chief Administrator had given him, tasking him with meeting 10 major players, players that were capable of massively influencing the game, and finding their objectives in the Game, if he could. This meant that Elissandra was considered one such major player. He closed the message. Interesting.

  “I hope that I see you within these halls for many years to come, but before introductions are made I would like to offer a few words of advice. Year after year applicants make their way here with simple goals of wealth and power. I understand, as we are mercenaries, after all.”

  The swirling gold energy above her settled into a mountain of glimmering of gold coins, exuding a faint warmth that even Alan, standing over fifty feet away, could feel.

  “But we are so much more. We are a brotherhood, a united order. A guild. A band of allies with common purpose. You should begin to ask yourself, what will you do for the Black Rose Guild? And perhaps, more importantly, what can the Black Rose Guild do for you? Dream bigger than simple thoughts of credits and levels. Think of change, change that you can make.”

  The thousands of coins suddenly began shifting into golden balls of light, floating high up above everyone, close to the ceiling, illuminating more of the room. Alan watched as a single ball of light slowly settled above the head of every recruit.

  “For, after all, we are one of the strongest guilds the Game has ever seen. We have conquered planets, assassinated emperors, sacrificed gods and amassed wealth far beyond imagination. But we have not come this far without developing enemies.”

  To your right and left, Eve cautioned Alan.

  Resting his back along the wall, Alan watched as out of the shadows created by the balls of light players stepped out, members of the Black Rose Guild. They appeared seemingly out of nowhere, from the dim corners of the room, all wearing similar black suits of leather or metal armor, hiding their faces, names and levels. Two knights suddenly stepped out from the shadows on either side of Alan, hands rested on black metal broadswords at their sides. Glancing about, Alan could see most of the other recruits had only a single guild member next to them. He slowly moved his hands over to his laser pistols, wondering what was about to happen.

  Elissandra continued in a somber tone, “And this is why I must now ask that you reveal your complete character information to the guild member next to you. Your character information, your faction allies, and your quests. Everything. I realize this is a great deal of information, but this will help us determine if you have a place in our guild, and, if so, where. We will have to fail and detain anybody allied with one of our enemies. If you have a quest to infiltrate this guild, then it goes without saying you, too, will be detained.”

  A motion caught the corner of Alan’s eye, as a recruit suddenly tried to make a dash for the exit. The golden sphere of energy above him pulsed, turning black as it sent out a bolt of lightning that struck the recruit. They collapsed onto the floor, unconscious, as the guild member who had been watching the recruit calmly strode over, picked up the body and walked into the darkness.

  All the players around Alan began to slowly open up menus, showing them to the players that appeared by their side. Alan began to do the same, but Eve messaged him.

  I have transferred the requested information to the guild AI tasked with compiling the data.

  Oh?

  Yes, it is rather crude but each of the Black Rose guild members seem to be inputting the data into this database. I simply uploaded it straight there.

  Alright.

  The knight to Alan’s right coughed, holding up a tablet, motioning for Alan to open up his character screen.

  Alan turned to look at him, and said quietly, “Check your database. It should all be there.”

  The knight looked down, back up at Alan, then put the tablet away, shrugging.

  Alan watched the sea of recruits. More tried to make their escape, for whatever reason. A few adamantly resisted showing their information, while others tried to grab a weapon at their side or make a break for it. They were quickly silenced by a single bolt of lightning from the golden ball that floated above their head, then dragged off to who knows where. One girl managed to deflect the bolt headed her way with an energy shield of some sort, but another two bolts quickly struck at her from either side, silencing her. The moment felt sort of surreal. By the time everyone had finished showing their information, perhaps 5% of the recruits were gone.

  Elissandra, who had been calmly observing the proceedings, waved her hands, and the balls of energy all shot back to their respective places on the wall, illuminating the Great Hall once more. All around the room, the guild members began to take off their helmets and masks. The knight to Alan’s right was revealed to be a stone-faced cyborg, with the name and title, Specialist 3. To his left stood the cyborg’s mirror image, with the name Specialist 4.

  Elissandra smiled briefly, then said, “Now that that business is out of the way, I would officially like to welcome everyone to the 307th guild assessment. The rules are rather simple. By the end of the tomorrow, earn 1000 guild points. Those with 1000 points or more are allowed to join the guild. Those with less will be asked to leave.

  "Guild points are the main currency within the guild, and can be exchanged with a 1:10 ratio for credits, or for items or other services within the guild. Monthly wages, as well as bonuses will be awarded in guild points. Ranks within the guild all require a certain number of points in addition to other requirements. The way we do things here is a bit unique, with a more fluid chain-of-command, but more about that will be told to you after you pass the trial. These guild points may also be traded, sold or gambled freely, like any other currency, but for the purpose of the assessment the points must be earned. Now, I’m sure you are all wondering how you might earn said points.

  "Well, at another point in time you were given a task by a member of the guild. Each of these tasks were actually carefully proctored events, and you will now be granted points according to how you did. The number of points you possess will appear on your guild mark, which must remain in clear sight at all times.”

  A golden energy flowed out of Elissandra’s hands, spreading and striking every recruit, engulfing them in a sudden flash of light. Alan watched as a bright burst of energy snaked towards him, then struck him, engulfing him in a warm embrace. A message popped up.

  Faction Change! Title Established.

  You are now a (temporary) member of the Black Rose Guild, granted the title Black Rose Recruit. Guild standings reset. Guild points awarded.

  Increased renown for being affiliated with a well known guild. As a faction member, your Faction Standings will be influenced, and your actions will influence your faction’s reputation as well as your own.

  Suddenly, a slew of additional messages popped up, hundreds in total. Alan was barely able to close them quickly enough as additional messages continually popped up. They were along the lines of the following:

  Faction Bonus! 10% Discount at all stores on Khersath.

  Faction Bonus! Increased experience gain while in Black Rose Guild territory.

  Faction Bonus! Increased attack damage while in Black Rose Guild territory.

  Faction Bonus! Allowed to travel to freely within the Empire.

  Faction Bonus! Allowed to purchase a Republic Universal Travel Permit at a discounted rate.

  Faction Bonus! Increased performance from Black Rose Guild equipment.

  Gaping at the huge number of bonuses, feeling a bit stronger, Alan grinned. Trying to join this guild was definitely the right choice. A new faction window appeared too, showing the Black Rose Guild’s reputation with hundreds of different groups.

  Alan glanced at his guild mark as a new icon appeared beneath the rose, for guild points. He looked at how many points he was awarded, then looked again. He’d been given 5000 points
, 4000 more than he needed to join the guild. Grinning, he looked back up at Elissandra. He was already in, it seemed.

  Looking in Alan’s direction, Elissandra suddenly gave a devilish grin, then spoke aloud to the crowd, “But like all other forms of wealth, these guild points may quickly change hands. After this presentation everyone will proceed to the Simulation Dome, and the first trial will begin. A series of free for all duels, standard coliseum rules, with each recruit’s own guild points on the line.

  "Each recruit is allowed to issue 10 challenges to any other recruit they desire, and each recruit must accept any challenge they receive. All recruits must go through at least five duels before retiring for the night. Any undefeated recruit will be given 100 guild points, any undefeated recruit with more than 10 wins will be given 500 points, and the recruit with the most wins will be given 1000 points.

  "To be fair, there are a few additional rules, like you can only challenge the same person multiple times if they agree, purposely losing a duel will lose you points, and you can’t wager more points than a recruit has. Once all of the duels are finished, you may proceed to the lodgings provided and prepare for tomorrow's assessments. There will be a general assessment of your abilities, followed by more specific testing by the major divisions within the guild. Points will be adjusted, depending on how these assessments go.

  "Now, I would like to introduce the heads of the guild’s main divisions, and what they are looking for in recruits. As the guild leader and one of the strongest psionics in the Game, I occasionally take apprentices from the guild’s Psionics Corps, more on which will be explained later. Other than that, you will generally report to your direct superior, thus my interaction with the guild at large is fairly limited. Good luck in the assessments.” She then turned, and strode over to stand at the side of the altar.

  Mason, who had apparently been near to the front, stepped up.

  “I am Mason, the head Arms Master. Each and every member of the Black Rose Guild is expected to be proficient in at least basic combat, and I’m in charge of getting you lot into shape. If you impress me or one of my fellow brothers at arms in tomorrow’s assessments, we will consider taking you as a trainee, or squire, as they are called in this guild. All members are expected to achieve at least an F ranking in tomorrow’s combat assessments. If you have decent combat skills, and no one else wants you, you’ll join our general forces. If you wish to join you must have at least rank D combat abilities right now and achieve an expected combat rank of at least B. More on this later.”

  Mason was soon followed by a thin, skeletal hawk-eyed man, who appeared tiny standing next to Mason.

  He said in an excited, squeaky voice, “I am Admiral Thrag, one of the two commanders of the Black Rose fleet. The other commander being my wife, Thrasha. You may have heard of the fleet, as it was the one that led the Empire’s Prime fleet on a wild goose chase during the most recent rebellion. Now, it all began on a cold, clear night. Well, I suppose all nights in space are cold and clear, but this one seemed especially cold as my wife had just kicked me out of the bridge for—” Elissandra let out a small cough.

  Thrag glanced over at her, then said, “Um, right, but that’s a story for another time. Talk to me later if you want to hear the grand and glorious tale of—” Another cough. “Um, never mind. Where was I? Right, while the fleet is rather small, with only a single capital ship, my baby, the Scarlet Rose, we are particularly looking for those who are able to distinguish themselves as exceptional, rank B or above fighter pilots and engineers skilled in ship repair, whatever rank. For those who wish to join the fleet as an Ensign, you will be required to undergo a series of additional assessments and rank highly in various other fields. Um, right, I’m done now.”

  Next stepped up an odd-looking, squat man with a funny nose Alan couldn’t quite see, wearing what looked to be highly advanced Revenant armor. He intoned in an emotionless voice without inflection, “I am Enigma, quartermaster and lead research officer. You have already been informed if you may join our ranks, and will be receiving additional assessments as they are deemed necessary.”

  A number of other guild officers slowly made their way up, introducing themselves, outlining what they were looking for, but Alan slowly began to lose focus. All this organization stuff was rather boring, and if he understood correctly it looked like he’d either end up under Phantom, who was under Enigma, or with the general armed forces. The healers/medics, the psionic corps, the robotic specialists and researchers, none of those really mattered to him, at least not for now. Eve would record it all and give him any important information he missed anyways. Still, he had a few questions for Eve regarding what he heard.

  What is it with all these rankings? Like I know some abilities have various rankings, but can overall combat ability or piloting skill be ranked like that?

  With the proper tools, certainly. We shall see how it’s done tomorrow. Similar to how other systems categorize things in term of rare to legendary or normal to godlike, the Game simply assigns a rank and associated number. Overall abilities and creatures are similarly ranked, as well as things like ships and even guilds. As you have surely noticed, various enemies with the same levels have far different capabilities. A general rule of thumb used is it takes 100 players of the same rank to take on someone with one higher rank. Thus, 300 rank C soldiers might take on 3 rank B soldiers. This is a generalization of course, as ranks are further assigned numbers in the range of 1 to a bit over two billion (2^31 – 1, to be precise), the lower the number the better. Predecessors and major bosses like space dragons are generally assigned a rank of S, humans a rank from F to A, depending on equipment and ability, and Haxlards a rank of D to S, for example. Once I possess more information, I will be able to also display enemy's ranks in addition to level.

  After a few more introductions, Alan and the rest of the recruits were sent out in groups to tour the guild grounds, at least the parts they were allowed into. Alan had Aurora and Sidestep in his group, but stayed at the back, away from them

  The tour turned out to be rather simple. First, they were taken to a capsule center aboveground holding hundreds of capsules, where they were told to set their spawn point. Then their guide, an android with limited intelligence, like a city guard NPC that you might find in an ordinary MMORPG, led them directly to an elevator within the keep. It showed them two floors, the training floor, which was a cool sort of futuristic gym, and their temporary rooms in an underground barracks. Those were the only floors they were allowed on.

  Then they were led to the Simulation Dome. The building was, as its name suggested, a massive dome. The dome was made up of a huge array of tessellated, silver metal triangles. Surrounding it were huge power generators, filling the air with a low humming sound. Alan stepped into the dome, which was about the size of a football stadium, wondering what he’d find. A message appeared:

  You have entered a simulated zone! All damage will be simulated and not actually affect the player. No death penalties. Severe XP penalties while in the zone.

  Permissions: Recruit Level, unable to call into being or change the simulation. Basic interaction with simulated environment.

  Alan glanced around, it looked as if he had stepped into a different world. The dome was split in half by a giant wall. On one side, there was a bright white artificial light, filled with a multitude of steel dueling rings about the size of a small field and stern looking arms masters in brown robes, Mason among them. On the other side there was a dark orange landscape, along with a squadron of Black Rose soldiers fighting what looked to be waves of Haxlardian soldiers.

  Sidestep looked back at Alan.

  “You think this is cool, newbie? I bet you’ve never been inside a spaceship simulator either, where you’re able to drop into any major space battle at will. I’d like to see your first test run. You’ll probably fire on your allies or break out of formation before the fight even starts. I bet your planet didn’t even have spaceships. What planet did
you come from again? Dirt?”

  Alan tore his gaze away from the simulated exercise and glared at Sidestep. He knew that he didn’t even know all the rules of dueling, and the accused would probably be better off, but he angrily blurted out, “I challenge Sidestep to a duel.”

  Sidestep grinned, and Alan instantly knew this was what Sidestep had wanted.

  Shit, Eve, why didn’t you stop me?

  I believe this is actually to our advantage. Sidestep likely highly underestimates you. Standard coliseum rules go as follows: The person who is challenged will choose either the number of points wagered or the rules of the duel from pre-set rule sets. The challenger will decide upon whatever was left undetermined.

  Confidently, Sidestep looked over at Alan, and said, “I accept.”

  With a flash of light, Alan found himself suddenly standing in a silver ring the size of a kiddy pool next to Sidestep. Right next to them was Mason, who was looking bored, resting his hands and chin on the handle of his war axe.

  With a great roar, Mason lifted up the war axe, and cheerily said, “Finally! Actual warriors. Usually recruits dick around for half an hour trying to figure out all the rules and who best to challenge, waiting to challenge someone weak. 50 guild points to both of you for not standing about comparing dick sizes! Now, who challenged whom? Ah, Alan challenged Sidestep. Very well, Sidestep you may determine either the wager or rule-set now.”

  Sidestep confidently stated, “Let the wager be 1000 guild points. How you got 5000 points I don’t know, but by the end of tonight I’d be surprised if you had a single point to your name. I’ll have to thank the examiners that felt sorry for your sad planet and wanted to give you a leg up at the start.”