Mission to the Moon

by Mark Cheverton

  But Gameknight didn’t hear any of their complaints; he was already in motion. Sprinting as fast as he could, he shot into the boss chamber with his diamond sword in his right hand, steeleaf shield in his left. Instantly, a gigantic skeleton appeared at the center of the chamber, a bow in each hand. Gameknight had never really understood how it fired the bows if it didn’t have a free hand to pull back the arrows, but logic and physics never seemed to stop Minecraft.

  Suddenly, a dual twang filled the air. Rolling across the ground, Gameknight ducked under the pair of arrows. When he stood, he held his shield before him, ready for the next attack.

  “I haven’t come here to fight,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said in a loud, clear voice. “I know a user like me was here earlier. You have to tell me what was discussed.”

  “I AM THE MOON BOSS!” the monster bellowed. It made the walls shake and some of the lava splatter out of the neat columns, falling on the ground. “You don’t demand anything in my domain.”

  Then, the huge monster fired not just one or two arrows at him, but a steady stream of projectiles. Gameknight moved quickly to the side, knowing that skeletons tended to shoot right at where you were in that moment, not where you could be a moment later. The arrows streaked past harmlessly, some embedding themselves in the gray brick walls, some of them splashing into the lava and bursting into flame.

  “I don’t want to fight, I just want to talk!” Gameknight yelled as he dodged the projectiles.

  “You’re here for the same reason as the other one,” the Moon Boss growled. “You want that which I keep in my treasure room. Well, you’ll never get it.”

  “Did Entity303 get it?” Gameknight asked. “Where did he go?”

  “The Moon Boss doesn’t know where Entity303 went!” a voice shouted from the chamber entrance.

  Hunter was just inside the chamber, standing behind a pair of cobblestone blocks she’d placed on the ground. The Moon Boss turned and fired a stream of arrows at her, but she ducked behind the stone, avoiding the pointed shafts.

  “You see … this skeleton doesn’t know anything,” she shouted. “He doesn’t even know where Entity303 went.”

  “I do so know,” the Moon Boss growled. “He went deeper into outer space, and you’ll never catch him.”

  “And why’s that?” Gameknight asked.

  The monster spun around and glared at the User-that-is-not-a-user.

  “Because I will not give you the key to the treasure chest,” the monster said. “I will take it to my grave before I give it away again.”

  “Listen, we don’t want to fight with you, but we need—”

  Gameknight couldn’t finish the sentence, because the skeleton suddenly charged forward. The monster picked him up and tossed him through the air, directly at the lava flowing down one corner. Fortunately, he hit some of the metal bars and avoided touching the molten stone.

  As Gameknight flew through the air toward the lava, Hunter opened fire, shooting as fast as she could. Stitcher stepped into the chamber and added her bow to the attack. Crafter and Weaver also stepped forward and opened fire, while Digger placed blocks of cobblestone down on the ground in front of the archers, giving them some protection from the Moon Boss’s attacks.

  A shrill whistle echoed off the walls, followed by proud, majestic howls. Herder’s wolves charged into the chamber and ran around the monster, confusing it. The skeleton tried to shoot at the wolves, but they moved too fast. When he realized they weren’t biting him, the massive creature turned his bow back on Hunter and the others.

  Gameknight charged forward and slashed at the skeleton with his diamond sword. The blade bounced off the creature’s bones as if they were made of iron. He saw tiny chips of bone fall off the monster’s pale legs, but the sword didn’t do very much damage.

  The skeleton king turned and fired at Gameknight. He raised his shield just in time, blocking most of the arrows, but one of them slipped past the edge and found Gameknight’s shoulder. He screamed in pain and fell to one knee.

  Hunter shouted her battle cry and fired with reckless abandon, aiming for the monster’s head. Her arrows bounced off the creature’s pale skull, one in five sticking into the bone and making the creature flash red with damage.

  The Moon Boss turned to fire back at Hunter. This gave Gameknight the chance to attack again. This time, he pulled out the weapon King Iago had given him back in Mystcraft. It was a yellow-glowing infused-sword identical to the one Entity303 carried. The User-that-is-not-a-user charged, slashing at the monster. The glowing blade bit deep into the creature, making the skeleton howl in pain. The Moon Boss quickly reached down and picked Gameknight up. Aiming for the lava, the monster started to throw his enemy again.

  Suddenly, one of the wolves flipped off its space helmet and jumped into the air, grabbing the monster’s arm with its sharp teeth. The other wolves did the same, casting aside their life-preserving helmets so they could bring their powerful jaws to bear. The monster dropped Gameknight as it screamed in pain.

  “No!” Herder screamed, but the young boy could not do anything to help his wolves.

  Gameknight stood and saw the wolves flashing red; they were taking damage because of the lack of air. He had to do something … fast. Glancing at the bars ringing the room, he ran and jumped as high as possible. He landed on the first row of bars, then leapt up through the diminished gravity and grabbed the next row. Turning, he pushed off and floated through the room.

  Gameknight finally landed on the Moon Boss’s back. With the infused-sword, he slashed at the monster, smashing the glowing blade against the pale bones. The monster flashed red as it took damage, but the wolves continued to flash as well.

  “Empech, Forpech … healing potions for the wolves, quick,” Gameknight shouted.

  The pechs ran forward while the User-that-is-not-a-user continued his attacks. He struck harder and harder as Hunter and the others fired their bows. Their arrows were now finding weak points in the skeleton’s bones, doing more damage. The creature fell to a knee, then collapsed to the ground.

  Gameknight did not relent. He continued his attack until a strange laughter came from the monster.

  “Everyone, get back,” the User-that-is-not-a-user yelled.

  He put away his sword and scooped up a wolf and a helmet. Shoving the glass block back on the creature’s head, Gameknight placed the animal on the ground, then grabbed another.

  The laughter from the Moon Boss grew louder as his HP slowly fell. Hunter and Stitcher kept firing while the others helped the wolves.

  “You will never stop him,” the monster croaked. “He’s probably already there, and soon he will destroy …”

  The last of the monster’s HP finally disappeared. The Moon Boss exploded in a flash of light and smoke, throwing glowing balls of XP all across the room. When the room finally cleared, a shining gold key floated on the ground where the creature had perished.

  “Is it over?” Hunter asked.

  Gameknight nodded. He turned and glanced at Herder. “Are the wolves okay?”

  “Yeah, the healing potions kept them alive until we got their helmets on,” Herder said. He walked to the pechs and gave each a gigantic hug. “Thank you.”

  Empech and Forpech both bowed to the boy, then put the remaining healing potions back into their oversized backpacks.

  “Come on, let’s check the treasure room,” Gameknight said.

  He sprinted across the chamber and into a side passage. It turned a couple of times until it led them to a room with columns of glowstone in the corners. At the center of the room sat a wooden chest.

  “Why is the chest still here?” Crafter asked. “If Entity303 had already been here, I’d think he would have taken everything.”

  “I think it’s because he didn’t destroy the Moon Boss completely,” Gameknight replied.

  “You think that evil user actually showed some compassion?” Stitcher asked.

  “I’d never believe that,” Hunter said.
“Entity303 doesn’t know the meaning of the word mercy.”

  “As I remember, if you don’t destroy the boss and you leave the room, it respawns at full health when you enter again,” Gameknight explained. “I bet because the boss respawned, so did the loot in the chest.”

  “Who cares?” Hunter said. “Let’s just get whatever is needed and get out of here.”

  Gameknight knelt at the chest and inserted the gold key. Some internal mechanism clicked, and grabbed hold of the key, unlocking the chest. Lifting the lid, Gameknight and his friends peered inside.

  “Well?” Hunter asked.

  Gameknight reached in and pulled out some pieces of iron and a safari net.

  “Well, is it there?” Hunter asked again, sounding impatient.

  Gameknight withdrew some pieces of bread and a potion of swiftness.

  “Well?” She bonked him on the glass helmet with her bow, causing him to turn. “Did you find what you needed?”

  Gameknight just smiled, then held up a piece of paper. It had intricate drawings and equations scrawled across the white sheet.

  “That’s what we fought for, a piece of paper?” Hunter exclaimed, then turned and stormed to the other side of the room.

  “This is exactly what we came for,” Gameknight said. “These are the plans to a new space ship. It’ll unlock the tier-two rocket designs. When we build this bigger ship, we’ll be able to access planets farther away than the moon. I’m sure Entity303 is heading into the deepest parts of outer space, just like the Moon Boss said.”

  “But why do you think he’s heading out there?” Digger asked.

  “Because then he’ll be near the edges of the Minecraft universe, in the Far Lands of outer space,” Crafter said.

  “What are the Far Lands?” Stitcher asked.

  “It’s the edge of the world, the border between the chunks of land that have been spawned, and the area where no one has ever set foot,” replied Crafter.

  “Exactly,” Gameknight said.

  “The Far Lands, yes, yes, that makes much sense,” Empech said, nodding his head.

  “Hmmm … our enemy plans on tearing the fabric of Minecraft open there,” Forpech grumbled, his deep voice causing the glowstone blocks in the corner of the room to vibrate.

  “But how is he gonna do it?” Gameknight asked the gnome.

  “How indeed,” the two pechs responded as if they were the same person.

  “I think maybe we should go catch this user before he does any more damage,” Digger said slowly, his deep voice filled with uncertainty.

  “Absolutely,” Gameknight said. “Let’s go build us a rocket.”

  CHAPTER 8

  LIFT OFF

  “How do we get out of here?” Herder asked.

  The lanky boy moved to the entrance of the treasure room and peered into the darkened corridor.

  “With all the spawners destroyed, we could just go back the way we came in,” Crafter suggested.

  “But when we pass through the Boss chamber, the Moon Boss will respawn,” Gameknight said. “I’d rather not take the chance of that skeleton hitting someone with an arrow or two.”

  “Well, what do you suggest?” Hunter asked.

  Gameknight moved to one of the corners and found a hole that went straight up to the surface of the moon.

  “I think we dig.” Gameknight glanced at Digger. “Can you get us out of here?”

  The stocky NPC smiled, then nodded, his warm green eyes brightening just a bit. He tossed one of his pickaxes to Gameknight999, then pulled out his other tool. The two companions started to dig, forming a set of stairs that led to the surface. The User-that-is-not-a-user sweated as he dug, the inside of his helmet fogging up a bit. As his arms grew weary, Gameknight handed off the pick to Weaver, but Digger never relinquished his tool. In fact, none of them could keep up with him; the big villager outpaced them all.

  In a short time, they made it to the surface of the moon.

  “Herder, have your wolves scout for our footprints,” Gameknight said. “They should be able to find them quickly enough, and then we can follow those back to Entity303’s base.”

  With a series of whistles and gestures, the boy commanded the wolves to do as instructed. Within minutes, one of them was howling victoriously.

  “Come on,” Gameknight said.

  They ran across the desolate surface, following their footprints. Soon they saw the moon village, the blue-skinned NPCs shuffling about.

  “Entity303’s camp should be off to the right,” Weaver said. “I remember it’s right behind that big hill. Follow me.”

  He took off at an angle, veering away from the village and back toward Entity303’s base.

  They climbed the hill in huge bounds, the reduced gravity on the moon allowing them to make three- and four-block jumps, something that would have been impossible in the Overworld.

  When he reached the top of the hill, Weaver stopped, his posture slumping ever so slightly, as if he were defeated. Gameknight reached his side.

  “What is it?” the User-that-is-not-a-user asked, concerned.

  Weaver pointed.

  Where Entity303’s base had once stood was now just a collection of a few blocks of leaves and the shattered remains of his tier-one rocket. All of the supplies, all of the equipment, and all of the oxygen generation gear was gone.

  “It’s all gone … he took it all,” Hunter growled.

  “That’s okay, we have our own stuff,” Gameknight said. “Let’s get moving.”

  Gameknight jumped down the hill, soaring high in the air, only to land on the ground and leap up again. When he reached the base, he quickly began placing blocks of leaves on the ground, rebuilding his original moon base. Placing the oxygen collector near the leaves, he ran the glass pipes to the bubble distributor, then attached the coal generators. Instantly, oxygen began flowing from the collector to the distributor. A bubble of air grew from the distributor, becoming wider and taller until it stretched out a distance of ten blocks in each direction.

  “You see,” Gameknight said. “We don’t need his stuff. We have our own …”

  A hissing sound filled his helmet. Was something leaking? Was a pipe broken? The hissing grew louder and louder until …

  “CREEPER!” Digger shouted.

  The stocky NPC threw one of his pickaxes toward Gameknight999. It brushed his shoulder as it shot past, then hit something behind him with a thud. Gameknight turned and found he was face-to-face with an evolved creeper, complete with space helmet and oxygen gear. He quickly drew his diamond sword and attacked, hitting the monster hard on the shoulder, then kicked it backward, away from his friends. Before the User-that-is-not-a-user could advance to finish the job, Herder and Weaver charged at the beast, slashing at it with their swords until its HP was consumed and it vanished, leaving behind three balls of XP and a pile of gunpowder.

  “Digger, check for a spawner,” Gameknight said. “That creeper had to come from somewhere.”

  “I found it,” the stocky NPC said. He smashed the cube with his pickaxe, destroying it just as another creeper was about to spawn.

  “Now, let’s get building.”

  Gameknight pulled out his NASA workbench, courtesy of King Iago in Mystcraft, and set it on the ground. It was a dark box with long, spindly arms that stuck up into the air like the legs of an upturned spider. The specialized crafting bench was necessary to build a rocket in the Galacticraft mod.

  Placing the plans for the tier-two rocket in the bench, the User-that-is-not-a-user unlocked the next space ship, making it possible to build. Pulling pieces of heavy duty hull plating, fins, and nose cone from his inventory—items that had been given to him back in Mystcraft by King Iago,—he slowly assembled their next space ship.

  “Iago must have had a suspicion about Entity303’s plans in space,” Crafter said. “He gave us everything we need to build this ship.”

  “And probably parts to build the next one as well,” Gameknight said, nodding.<
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  “You mean this isn’t the last rocket?” Hunter asked.

  “Nope.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  In minutes, he had the rocket complete and on the launch pad.

  Crafter approached the rocket and ran a hand along its smooth metallic side. “Gameknight, do you have any idea where Entity303 went?”

  “There’s only one place he’s likely to go,” the user-that-is-not-a-user replied.

  “Where’s that?” the young NPC asked.

  “Mars,” Gameknight said.

  Hunter moved to Crafter’s side and stared up at the space ship. “I suppose there are Mars monsters, as well as a Mars Boss, there?”

  “Yep.”

  She rolled her eyes again. “Great.”

  Gameknight shrugged.

  “When I get to Mars, I’ll use the teleportation ring and bring you all there,” Gameknight said.

  “You need to set up the base first,” Crafter said.

  “No, I’d rather leave this stuff here, to make sure you’ll have air,” the User-that-is-not-a-user said. “We don’t have two sets of oxygen generation equipment.”

  “Then you need to take this and get a safe place prepared for us,” Crafter said.

  “If you were to use the teleportation ring before we disassembled the base, then we’d be left with nothing,” Stitcher said. “You have to take it with you.”

  “Are you sure?” Gameknight asked. “You have enough air?”

  Crafter nodded his head, but didn’t reply.

  “OK, then all of you sit down and conserve your supplies.”

  They sat on the lunar surface as Gameknight and Digger broke down all of the equipment with their pickaxes. Once it was all taken apart, the User-that-is-not-a-user put the parts into his inventory, then moved to the door of the rocket.

  “Tux,” Gameknight said, extending a hand as if he expected her to take it.

  The penguin waddled forward and climbed into the rocket, then stepped back, away from the door.

  “I’ll be quick, I promise,” Gameknight said to his friends, a worried expression etched into his square face.

  “Just hurry up, and don’t be an idiot,” Hunter replied.