Limitless Lands
Book 4: Opposition
Dean Henegar
Copyright © 2019 by Dean Henegar
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Table of Contents
Map of Hayden’s Knoll
Introduction
Dedication
Recap
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
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Epilogue
Afterword
Map of Hayden’s Knoll
Introduction
I am a soldier. I fight where I’m told, and I win where I fight.
George S. Patton
Dedication
Like many authors, I keep various things in my office to inspire my writing. Pictures, memorabilia, and a plush toy or two that my daughter thinks will help me write (as I type this, the plush happens to be a pug unicorn). I even have a gladius within arm’s reach, as you never know when goblins might decide to launch a raid on my office. Several of the items around my office hold a special place for me.
On the wall directly across from my desk hangs an old black and white photograph. The photograph, from World War II, is of a soldier standing in front of the POW cage. The soldier is holding a Walther pistol and wearing a German officer’s leather coat, both items just liberated from a German officer whom the soldier had captured that day. The young man in the picture is attempting to smile, but you can see the weariness etched in his face.
The picture was taken in early 1945, and the man pictured in it is my grandfather. His unit—the 78th Infantry Division—saw fighting right after the Normandy invasion and battled its way step by step from France all the way into Germany. The men of his unit faced hard combat and a brutal winter as they fought the last die-hard soldiers of an evil and failed regime.
On the day this picture was taken, my grandfather was escorting some prisoners to the POW cage when one of the prisoners—a Polish man forced to serve in the German army—said he knew of others that wished to surrender. My grandfather was ordered to lead a small detail out to check on the prisoner’s story. They approached a pillbox, and the prisoner called to his comrades. Fifteen more Germans exited the bunker, surrendering to my grandfather’s small detail.
One of the new prisoners said he knew of another group that wished to surrender, the story continuing over and over until my grandfather’s detail of three or four men had captured ninety-nine prisoners that day. The German Reich was collapsing, and the war was nearly over. To see so many of the enemy surrendering when just weeks before they had been fighting to the death must have been hard for my grandfather to reconcile.
Of the 250 men in my grandfather’s company that left the United States in 1944, less than forty survived to the end of the war. Replacements came and went, with only a few of the old hands making it through unscathed. They were unscathed physically, but mentally, it was a different story. The horrors of war and the extreme environment he fought in took its toll on my grandfather. The young man in his early twenties that left for war came home with white hair, stress having aged him prematurely.
Despite the difficulties he faced, my grandfather lived a long life and had four daughters, including my mother. He worked as a farmer and car salesman, moving his family to sunny California before retiring in his native Tennessee. It was a different time, and the men that served in the military during World War II were hard men, forged in the trials of the Great Depression and a global war. Many could argue that the current generation doesn’t have what it takes to do the same, should the need arise once more.
But there’s one more picture hanging on my wall, just to the left, one that gives me hope for the future when I look at it: a picture of my basic training company standing in formation. I see in the eyes of my battle brothers the same determination that stopped the Nazi war machine. I see raw and untested soldiers, ready to do their duty and live the Army values. I see hope for our future, the line unbroken.
This book is dedicated to Ira Lee Ellison, my grandfather. Your stories sparked my imagination as a child, giving me a lifelong love of military history. Thank you.
Recap
I would recommend you read Book 1 if you are new to the series before starting this book. Book 1 is available here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/b07g7gwffl . Should you decide not to, or if it has been some time since you read the previous books, here is a quick recap of what has happened so far in the series.
The year is 2085 and great strides have been made in technology and gaming. Virtual reality (VR) games are now the most popular form of entertainment in the world. The top VR gaming company, Qualitranos, has launched its newest title, Limitless Lands. Limitless Lands is the first VR game to be controlled by an advanced artificial intelligence (AI).
Qualitranos and the medical device corporation Meditronax have codeveloped a state-of-the-art life-support medpod for critically ill patients. The AI used in the Limitless Lands game is also used to control the medpods, administering medication and controlling experimental nanobots. While they are treated, the AI creates a comforting virtual environment for the patient to experience.
The first medpod is used on one of the last remaining combat veterans in the United States. Colonel James Raytak is only days away from death, and his ninety-three-year-old body and mind are fading fast. Colonel Raytak is signed up for the program by his son, Trey, who also works for Qualitranos and heads the team developing the medpod. The test is a success, and the patient improves daily with the care of the AI.
What the parties involved don’t know is that the AI was having trouble restoring damaged memories. In order to acquire the data it needs to repair the memory gaps, the AI ports Raytak into the Limitless Lands game to monitor his responses while he plays. Raytak unlocks the unique commander class in-game and enjoys leading his fantasy army against various foes.
Raytak makes friends with several other players in the game, including an aspiring paladin named Jacoby Stone, a ten-year-old kid playing the halfling druid Yendys, the halfling rangers Drake and Quimby, and finally Delling, who is playing another unique class: town mayor. Raytak assists Mayor Delling in defending and helping rebuild the town of Hayden’s Knoll after it is destroyed by a player guild called the Bloody Blades.
The group fights off other players, goblins, a corrupted dryad, and eventually a group of giant spiders led by a boss creature. During the battle with the spiders, Raytak’s forces are nearly destroyed, having already defended some goblin miners near the town. His last few units are saved by another player bringing in reinforcements at the last minute.
This new player turns out to be Ty, Raytak’s roommate in the VA hospital, who has b
een accepted as the second test subject in the medpod program. Ty, an old combat veteran Marine gunnery sergeant, knows little about gaming, but he does have a lifetime of experience in real combat.
The two elderly soldiers proceed with their quest to play the game while the AI attempts to repair their damaged minds and bodies. At the end of Book 1, Lou, the head tech assigned to the medpod project, makes a discovery. The AI has, without their knowledge, ported the two patients into the game.
In Book 2, Conquest , Raytak is tasked with helping his friend Delling unify the zone of Hayden’s Knoll under the banner of the Imperium. Raytak faces incursions by Drebix tribesmen and finds the true enemy is not the tribesmen but a band of gnolls that have begun to raid the area. Raytak helps defeat the gnolls and brokers a tenuous peace with the nearby Drebix tribe.
On his way back from defeating the gnolls, Raytak finds shelter from a storm in an abandoned farm. He and his men are attacked by ghouls that emerge in the night. Raytak and his remaining soldiers are killed, and the ghouls that attacked him become more powerful.
After respawning back in the town of Hayden’s Knoll, a quest to defeat the ghouls is created by Mayor Delling. During this time, Raytak learns more about Delling’s school contest at his university. Winning the competition to design a fantasy government would give Delling a scholarship that he desperately needs to continue his education.
One of the other students competing with Delling plays a character in-game called Narbos the Grimm. Narbos seeks to sabotage Delling and the other players from his school by using the vast resources of the guild Chaotic Outcomes. Narbos races to conquer his zone and arranges to have both Raytak and Delling assassinated by another player in order to slow their progress. Narbos sees to it that blame for the assassination is placed on Raytak’s previous foes, the Bloody Blades.
The leader of the Chaotic Outcomes guild, Vhellia, works for a company that is trying to see if there is money to be made in controlling and selling resources in a virtual game. The company funds the guild for a time and then decides the potential bad publicity from Narbos’s actions is not worth the risk and cancels the project. Vhellia dissolves the guild and leaves Narbos without his source of funds. He alludes to several schemes he has in place to take Raytak out of the picture and leave Haden’s Knoll open to conquest.
Raytak is notified by Delling that the adventurers sent to defeat the ghouls have failed and the ghouls have now grown into a threat to the entire zone. Raytak mobilizes his newly upgraded forces and is joined by several other players to fight the ghoul threat. Raytak, Ty, Jacoby, Drake, Quimby, and Yendys are joined in the quest by two new characters, Kathala and Nitor; Kathala is a healer and Nitor is a type of bard called a skald.
The party faces an epic battle against the ghoul lord and his army of undead, including a giant zombie hydra. The players are victorious, barely, and Yendys has the honor of dealing the final blow that ends the ghoul lord. As the book closes, Raytak’s son, Trey, receives a call from his friend Lou, who has found something interesting while reviewing game footage. He realizes that Trey’s daughter, Lauren, is the one playing the character Yendys, and she knows she is playing with her grandfather. Raytak doesn’t know he’s playing with his own granddaughter, as the AI masks any revealing information from him.
In Book 3, Retribution , Raytak is framed and imprisoned by a corrupt officer in the pay of Narbos. He is given the choice by the AI to either fight in the arena to earn his freedom or to start with a new character. Raytak chooses to fight, battling hordes of monsters and a final grand melee before Emperor Trodaxius himself.
While Raytak is fighting to earn his freedom, his granddaughter Yendys and her friends seek evidence to prove Raytak’s innocence. They journey to the neighboring zone of Bharga’s Crossing, catching a glimpse of Narbos’s forces as they finish their conquest of the zone. The necromancer player Darkfallow, who is aligned with Narbos, is cornered and killed. Inside Darkfallow’s lair, evidence of Raytak’s innocence is found, and the party presents this evidence at the grand melee to help clear Raytak’s name.
All is not well in Hayden’s Knoll during Raytak’s absence. An ancient evil, the parasitic Gul Dorg, has awakened. The town of Holdfast is taken over and all humanoids in the area are infected with the parasite and forced to serve the Gul Dorg Master. Raytak’s replacement—the incompetent Lieutenant Burnside—blunders into Holdfast and his whole unit is killed or converted into Gul Dorg.
Raytak returns after clearing his name, only to find the entire zone being taken over by the Gul Dorg. He rallies his troops, upgrading his abilities and gear before moving to face the threat. His friend in-game and fellow medpod patient Ty is unable to assist in this battle. Ty has healed up enough to return to the real world. Ty reunites with his family, and the old Marine finally gets a chance to meet Yendys and Smashem—who is the grandson of one of his nurses—in real life.
Back in Hayden’s Knoll, the Stonefinder Clan of dwarves and the Drebix tribe answer the call to arms, adding their strength to the defense of the zone. The battle is long and brutal, culminating in the defeat of a giant Gul Dorg abomination. The fight is costly, but the town of Holdfast is now under Imperium control.
Narbos the Grimm has not been idle, having conquered the entire zone of Bharga’s Crossing, and the dark overlord prepares for invasion. A pact with the imp Zipzisilerpicazant throws a wrench into Narbos’s plans as he is whisked away to an unknown location to perform some service for the conniving imp.
In the real world, Raytak’s son Trey must deal with his mother and father both being in medpods now that his mom also faces a health emergency. Trey and his whole family are eventually able to visit his mother in VR, enjoying their time together in her secluded cabin. The family has hope now, a growing belief that they will all be reunited soon.
Raytak sets up camp in Holdfast, slowly replacing his losses as Narbos races to complete his task for the imp. The specter of invasion looms over Hayden’s Knoll, and Raytak must attempt to discern friend from foe as he unites the zone under the banner of the Imperium.
Chapter 1
Narbos hurtled through the blackness of the imp’s portal before being spat out the other end. Unlike the transition points or short-range teleport spells he had experienced, this portal dumped him out five feet in the air. The wind was briefly knocked from him as he landed on the rocky soil. Before he could stand or regain his senses, a large furry missile flew from the portal and hit him—his dire rat had followed him through.
You have taken 14 fall damage. *Note that greater distances fallen will have an exponential effect on the damage taken as well as the possibility of stun effects or crippling debuffs. You have failed your save vs. stun and been stunned for 1 second.
You have taken 3 damage from the impact with Dire Rat.
Narbos waved away the system notification and pulled up his interface as he stood to look around. For some reason, the interface options had all reset when he went through the portal.
You have entered the Hypogean Realm.
Congratulations! You are the first player to find this region.
Reward: 5000 experience.
Congratulations! You have reached level 16. Open your character sheet to review changes.
The Hypogean Realm is a series of underground zones controlled by dark powers that constantly war with each other for control over the limited but useful resources available here.
“Where exactly are we?” Narbos said to his rat companion as he looked around. He stood on a small ledge that jutted out over a deep chasm. Molten lava flowed at the bottom of the chasm, the heat rising to create a hellish breeze where Narbos stood. Thankfully, the lava provided enough of a glow to light up the area around him.
The other end of the ledge he was on ended in a seemingly impenetrable wall of stone that jutted up to the ceiling of the cavern. Looking up, the small imp named Zipzisilerpicazant—or “Zipp” as he asked to be called—lazily floated from the portal and onto the back of
Narbos’s dire rat companion.
“Glad you made it through okay. You just might be the first of your kind here other than the slaves we transport in, but we usually send them in a containment field. What do you think of the place?” Zipp asked as he waved his hands in a grand gesture.
“Not entirely sure where ‘here’ is or why you brought me. Care to cut to the chase, Zipp?” Narbos growled, grateful for the huge experience boost that he had just gained but annoyed that it would delay his plans for the coming war against Hayden’s Knoll.
“Settle down, Mr. Dark and Grim. We have an agreement that says you need to provide me a service when I call . . . and I’m calling. Of course, you can decline and pay the penalty the contract stipulates. I believe it’s referred to in section 14b. Surrender of your immortal soul and all that,” Zipp said as he pulled a monocle from his vest pocket and proceeded to examine a scroll that had somehow appeared in his hand.
“Remember that I have kept my part of the deal and provided you with Snuggles and his pack.” The scroll glowed as the appropriate section of the contract was highlighted.
“Wait a minute! I selected the Pact with a Dark Power upgrade and never saw all this fine print, just some vague warning about unknown tasks,” Narbos said, getting angrier by the second.
“Not my fault you didn’t heed the warning. I don’t think I like your tone, Narbos the Grimm. You seem angry. Perhaps you need a bit of an attitude adjustment,” Zipp said, red flames flickering around the imp’s eyes. The imp made a pushing motion with his hands and Narbos found himself hurled off the cliff face. He accelerated quickly toward the river of lava below him. A scream ripped from his throat as the hot air rushed past his body. Shivering in fear, Narbos tried to remind himself this was only a game. Logic was thrown out the window, overcome by fear as he experienced falling for a mile toward a river of lava.
As Narbos neared the bottom, searing pain crept across his body as the heat increased. Breathing became difficult, and huge chunks of health were wiped away as he bounced off the sides of the canyon during his descent. His hands and exposed parts of his arm blistered from the heat as his clothes began to smoke. Just before impacting with the river of lava—but not before almost dying from the heat—another portal opened beneath him and Narbos fell into it.
Limitless Lands Book 4: Opposition (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 1
