by Jeff Sproul
"Maybe we could disable its legs or something?" said Aegis. "Like in that one movie."
"What movie?" asked Ava. "There's a movie where they tie up a four-legged giant machine?"
"Yeah, you never saw…wow, you've really never seen it, have you?" said Aegis. "Well, never mind. Forget it."
"It's still just standing there," said Riley. "What's it doing? It just unstealthed. But it's too far back for my explosions to have hurt it. So why unstealth?
Two square compartments slid away on the front of the bastion hound.
"I'm seeing two barrels in there!" Silver quickly called over Aegis's comm.
Orange light suddenly emanated from the two compartments. Riley's eyes narrowed, trying to see as best he could. He didn't have a good angle of sight on the openings like Silver did.
A second later, two orange beams burst forth from the hound and tore into the buildings of Crimson City. The beams shot far above their heads and cut a swath of destruction through a dozen buildings about ten streets back. The beams had moved quickly from left to right, but only for about a second. But that was all that was needed to cause several towering buildings to slowly crunch and fall to the side as their supports connecting them to the rest of the foundation structure were severed.
Riley had turned and watched the destruction of the beams. His eyes were still wide from their display of power. How many more times could the hound do that? What was the total range? Could it fire at lower ground areas? If it could, why didn't it just sweep them?"
"Silver? Are you alright?" Aegis called out.
"I'm fine! The beams didn't get me," Silver replied.
"Did they hit your base?" Riley asked, looking into the distance.
"No, we're not in high structures," said Aegis, who was now looking at her map. There was a large red square located across the tracks now, but no smaller red indicators. "We can't fight this thing, though. Was that a warning shot?" She bit her lip and looked back up to the hound.
The two compartments on the front slowly closed.
"It's protecting its weaponry," said Riley. "Maybe that's how we beat it, if we can get on it, and try and break our way in, we may be able to clear it out from the inside."
The enormous hound began to move.
It lifted one leg, then stomped forward, one leg after the other.
"It's coming for us," said Aegis. "Everyone, the plan is to try and get on and infiltrate it! If it gets into the city, we won't have long until it's able to reach our base."
The hound slowly turned, showing the side of its blocky mechanical body. It turned slowly, leaving all of them to just stand there and stare.
"Should I go run for it?" Ava called over, being the first one to speak up as they all watched the metal hound gradually turn.
"Wait, what's it doing? Does it have weapons on the side it's going to hit us with?" asked Aegis.
The hound continued to move forward while slowly turning. Its hefty legs reached the tracks only as it had managed to fully turn. It kept marching, crushing smaller buildings in its path and ruining the unused train tracks that separated all the cities.
"It's still going," Riley muttered as they all watched it stomp away. It didn't stop. It just kept moving, one step at a time. The whole thing was ridiculously absurd for all of them to be standing around watching this bastion hound move farther and farther away from them.
"The hell is it doing? Is it going to enter from another angle? Between us?" Aegis asked.
"I told you it might," said Gem.
Everyone was tense as they watched the metal monstrosity move. But as it reached the halfway point where it could start to turn to avoid all their traps, it just kept going. It kept walking, going past the entry point of where Gem had trapped the area in their part of the city.
But the hound didn't stop. It kept walking, and walking, heading down the tracks and off toward the wilds.
"I don't understand, it could've headed into the city at any point," said Aegis. "Is it looking for a less defended area?”
Riley didn't have any suggestions to offer. He was equally as stumped as Aegis. "It's just walking away. Toward…the wild areas?" he asked.
"Yeah, the wilds are in that direction. So…I mean, are both their guilds in there? Are they picking up and leaving? Was that shot a parting gift? What was with all the ground troops then? Why not just leave?" Aegis shook her head, then yelled. "What the hell are you guys doing?"
Her shout echoed out, but no response was forthcoming.
They all stood there, waiting. Minutes went by as the machine marched off, until it was so far away that it couldn't possibly be a threat.
"I didn't get to kick anything," said Ava. "Is the fight over?"
Aegis was still holding her cell in her hand, leaving it on speaker. "Gem, stay in position. Domi, stay in position. Ava, come back to me. Silver, do you see anything?"
"I've got nothing. I can still see the machine. You want me to keep an eye on it?" Silver asked.
"Just stay where you are for now," said Aegis. "I want you to keep overwatch of the area. Let me know if you spot anything suspicious."
"Sure thing," said Silver.
Aegis turned her cellphone's speaker mode off but still held it. She turned to Riley. "They had us dead in their sights. Surely that thing had other weaponry. But they just shot up our useless scenery buildings and left? After we decimated their troops?"
"Maybe they needed those lighter troops to cover the ground?" Riley said, unsure. "I suspect that they were either decoys or light ground cover. But I don't know. I really don't. I'm just as lost here as you are. What's your plan now?"
"My plan?" Aegis asked. She pointed out to the distance, where the hound had walked off. "I have no plan! You had a plan, you did your plan, and then something terrible appeared. But then it just…left us alone! So yeah, I've got no idea. I really don't. The fight's over as far as I'm concerned."
Riley sighed and shook his head. "I've got nothing. But, if there's nothing to do, I should head out and take care of some stuff."
"Yeah, I won't keep you," said Aegis. "Looks like the emergency has passed. That thing could return at any time, but I'm going to get some surveillance on it. So thanks for stopping by and helping us out. It was nice to get a little backup from Crimson for once."
Riley smiled. "It was nice to help some other paragons for once. Glad we're on the same side again."
Aegis smiled back. "Me too."
"Me three," said Ava as she came stepping out of the nearby alleyway. "And if you wanna be extra cool in my book, you should totally leave the blue scorpion here with us," she said as she grinned from ear to ear.
"Sorry, I don't know how much these things cost and it's not my call," said Riley as he glanced to the three scorpions. "I'll try and convince Chrono and Sage to push more assets your way. That's going to be an uphill battle, even for me. But I'll see what I can do."
"Fine, fine," Ava sighed. "We'll catch you later then."
Riley nodded. "Sure thing. Take it easy." He then looked to Aegis. "I know it won't sound like a big deal, but seriously, tell your guild about the white orb thing I mentioned, and to be really cautious around any creatures that have oily black scales. Alright?"
Aegis shrugged. "Sure thing. I'll bring it up next time I'm back at base."
Riley was about to turn, but stopped. He glanced at Ava. "I still have one of those cans left. I'm assuming you want it?" he asked with a half-smile, hoping he could keep it.
"No, you keep it. I'm sure you'll use it. We got someone who makes them relatively cheap. Well, about as cheap as it can get, I guess. Still expensive. But yeah, it's just one, keep it. Regardless of what the hell just happened, it was sweet to watch their side of the city go up in flames."
"Thanks," said Riley. "I appreciate it."
"No problem."
With that, Riley turned and got back on the metallic scorpion. He waved goodbye to Ava and Aegis, then sped away on scorpion back.
It really wasn't a bad way to travel.
He pulled his cell out and brought it to his ear while he kept his other hand firmly gripping the scorpion's armor. "Navigate me to Aaron's hideout," he said. This created an instant marker in his vision, directing him accordingly through the streets.
As he headed through the red streets, he called Chrono. The communication only rang once before he got a response.
"What happened out there?" Chrono immediately asked.
"Well, I wish I could fully explain it. Cause it doesn't make a lot of sense. But I think we took out a number of their lighter forces, or they might've been decoys. They also had a large mechanical bastion-like hound. I think this was one of the smaller possible models, since it wasn't as big as a fortress or anything. But it fired into the city and then walked off. It didn't make much sense."
"Yeah, I got some damage alerts from the attack. I also lost communication with Ice Block and didn't know who was in charge, but I had some light conflicts elsewhere that needed my direct attention. I figured you had things under control."
"Well, mostly," said Riley with a sigh. "The mobile bastion just walked off. It left the city, I think. It headed into the wild areas. I have no idea why it didn't try to destroy us."
"That's strange," Chrono mused. "Are you heading back to base?"
"I'm heading to Aaron's base to discuss some things with him. Then…um, well, I need to check on that outpost, right? I also need to log off and use the bathroom and eat something."
"Hmm," Chrono murmured. "I'll pop on over to the outpost myself. Sage is here now, he can watch the base while I check your work and bring some supplies."
"Alright, just be careful, said Riley. "I wasn't able to communicate between the outpost and the Crimson base. So, keep that in mind. Also, watch out for white orbs and black-scaled creatures that sometimes look oily. They can cloak and sneak up on you. Don't look at any white orbs, there's a flying stealthed creature above them, they'll try and eat you."
"Um…ok, I feel like there's more to this story," said Chrono.
"Riley?" came the sudden sound of Sage's voice.
"Hey Sage," Riley replied. "Just get online?"
"Yes. I need to speak with you as soon as you're able. After you're done with Aaron, I need you back at Crimson Base. I'm sure you can wait another thirty minutes to log off. This is urgent."
"Uh, alright," Riley said. He rolled his eyes. Sage was such a tyrant sometimes. "I'll try and be quick at Aaron's and head right over. I've got these scorpions with me, so it shouldn't be long."
"I'll see you then," said Sage.
"I might not be here when you arrive," Chrono spoke up. "So just fill Sage in on the details of what you did at the outpost and what you found there, along with whatever just happened with The Vigilant. Catch you later."
"See ya," said Riley, as the call ended.
Riley shook his head as he rushed through the streets of Crimson City.
Chapter 12: Lockbox
Riley glanced around Aaron's base. It was a small tucked-away structure deep underground. It was located just inside Colossal City borders.
He sat on a gray couch while Aaron sat in front of a terminal with various holographic displays coming from it. The room they were in wasn't all that big. There were some terminals around and some compartments in the walls with a single door on the wall behind Riley. Just outside of it, his three scorpions waited out of view. He wasn't sure if they would secretly record the things he said and relay anything back to Chrono or Sage, so he left them in the other room.
There was a desk beside Aaron which had various contraptions that mostly looked like microwaves, data-drives, or port-hubs, all with cables going back to the terminal he was at.
Sitting on the table were the fifteen encrypted wallets that Riley had found back in the outpost he'd been at earlier.
"So that's been my day," Riley murmured as he then leaned back on the couch. "I take it yours has been equally as exciting, cooped up in this room?"
"My day has been just fine, thank you," said Aaron. "But if you're going to patronize me, you can always take these wallets somewhere else and see how well you do with decrypting them and then sharing whatever's on them. Or having the person con you out of what they're holding."
"I was just kidding," Riley sighed. He reached up and scratched at the side of his head as he crossed his arms, watching Aaron from across the room. "I don't even really care what's on them, I'm just curious. I honestly didn't think I'd find any buried treasure this early."
Aaron nodded. He hadn't turned around yet and was focused on tapping different buttons and tabs on the displays. "Yeah. Well, you've got to get out and see the sights, if you're going to find people's treasure. Sounds like Sage has you all pretty busy.”
"I had planned on doing some light leveling today. But things took a while at the outpost," said Riley. "If it's even still there. Hopefully I didn't spend my morning seizing that base only to have it fall to someone else."
"But at least you nabbed these wallets," said Aaron. A small hum sounded from one of the contraptions on the desk beside him. He reached over and slotted one of the wallets into an available port on one of the microwave-like boxes. "Hopefully they aren't defense-encrypted," he murmured.
"How long do you think it'll take?" Riley asked.
Aaron shrugged. "No idea. I'm going to have to run a query on each one, just to see how it's encrypted. Then, I'll start trying to hack into it. Which doesn't give me any sort of timeframe. It'll either break the wallet, break my machine, or work. And one of those outcomes will happen sometime in the future. So, with fifteen wallets to check, this could take a while. But I'll set them all up to run one after another," he said as he scooted over in the chair and started pulling small cables from each one, only to then connect it to the next in a chain.
"I see." Riley nodded. "So, what do you make of the whole 'connected to another game' situation?"
Aaron finished hooking all the wallets together, then turned to look at Riley. "Sounds pretty interesting. There were some rumors of it being a possibility. I didn't think it was anything more than speculation, though. Sounds like we might be in for some trouble with this Golem thing you mentioned. It's killing a whole other game?"
Riley nodded. "Sounded pretty bad, the way Gella talked about it."
"I'll do some research on the game tonight. Mage World, right?"
"Yeah, that's where she said she was from. I think it's been around a few years longer than Sigil. So I take it you've never played it either?"
Aaron shook his head. "Nope. Didn't sound like the world I wanted to play in. But we were…what, like, thirteen at the time it came out?"
Riley shrugged. "I don't know. I only vaguely remember."
"Hmm," Aaron murmured as he sat there in his chair. "I'm sure there'll be information on their forums about this Golem thing, if it's as bad as that woman said it was."
"She sounded pretty worried about it and she looked pretty strong. It makes me wonder how all this stuff is going to work. If we're leveling, and then entering other games the day they come out, then what's going to happen to players who join games on the actual server the day they come out?"
"I imagine that the Celenion Framework will take certain measures to give players some lead-time in a new game. Maybe a year? There's also the possibility that items, resources, or some stats might get stripped away from you or balanced, when you cross games."
"So you think I'd still be able to steal powers if I went to Mage World Online?" Riley asked.
Aaron tilted his head from one side to the other. "I guess it depends how players and NPCs work in that game. From what I remember, players cast spells in that game. I don't think you'd be able to steal that. I think anyone in their game can learn and use magic. But if you try to copy that power, I think…well, I doubt anything will happen. So be careful if you run into any hostile players that are from Mage World. Use what you have."
"I was wondering ab
out that," said Riley. "I didn't know a lot about that game, but I wasn't sure if I'd still be able to steal their powers."
"I guess it's still something you may want to try, but I wouldn't risk your life on the gamble."
Riley nodded. "Yeah, definitely." His gaze fell to the floor in thought.
"So you said the rover got wrecked by one of those Golem things?" Aaron asked.
Riley glanced up and immediately noticed that Aaron's eyes had narrowed. "It's not destroyed!" he claimed. "It's just a little banged up. It's still functional. I just need to repair it a little. Do you think you could spare me some of that stuff it needs?"
"Itium?" Aaron asked.
"Yeah, that. I didn't see any being extracted in the outpost, so I don't think I'm going to be getting any on my own, and to my knowledge, I don't remember Chrono ever talking about the stuff, so I don't think it's used in most of the hellion-centric things that they're making."
"Yeah, it's more of a metal used in hero vehicles and machines," said Aaron. "It's not overly expensive. But that vehicle wasn't cheap to make, so don't lose it. Did you at least hide it at the base?"
Riley nodded. "Yeah, I drove it in and cloaked it by one of the walls on the inside. I left it with fuel to last a little bit. I figured it'd be fine until I got back. But if someone were to walk by it, they'd hear the hum it makes. So not much I could do in that regard."
"Yeah, that makes sense. So, besides the wallets, any other reason for stopping by?" Aaron asked as he watched Riley.
"Not really. Just wanted to get those wallets to you and see if you could do anything with them. I didn't tell anyone in the alliance about them, obviously."
"I figured." Aaron grinned.
"I don't suppose you have any new gadgets or items for me to try out?"
Aaron lifted a brow and then rolled his eyes. "I literally just made you those boots. Are you still having problems with mobility?"
Riley quirked his lips from one side to the other. "Well, I do kinda miss the ring of climbing, but I like having my hands free. The boots are great, just a little awkward to use. Walking up walls isn't really one of the first things that comes to mind for me. Oh! That reminds me, I did want to check with you about any sort of power-source amplifiers. Something that can help me keep a charge longer on my battery. I've been putting some heavy use on the stealth-sight goggles."
