by Alex Knight
“The guys in the next room over are still fighting,” Zelda said, pressing her ear to the wall. “Sounds like they’re in the thick of it, too.”
“Good.” Thorne nodded at that. “Let’s move while they’re busy.”
Kaiden sucked in a deep breath. This whole plan was insane, but he had to admit it’d been working. Normally, when they fought mobs, they were in limited numbers; or worse, killing enough of them would level him above the mobs. Once that happened, killing them didn’t make much sense. The EXP gained was too little. The Grinder had sidestepped that problem entirely, though.
Kaiden flipped the lock on the door and it snapped open. He peered out cautiously. No one in the hallway.
Good.
“The next several rooms are all level forty-five or six. Easy to get to, but…”
“Too low-level,” Zelda said. She joined him, peeking into the hallway as well. “There,” she nodded. “I can see a few level fifty rooms just beyond that next intersection.”
“Big level jump,” Titus said. “I dig it.”
“We’ll have to be careful, but I think it’s worth it,” Kaiden said. “The sooner we hit level fifty, the sooner we can get out of here.”
“He’s right,” Thorne said. “No reason to tempt fate.”
“Level fifty it is.” Kaiden sucked down another deep breath, checked the hallway was still clear, then stepped out of the room.
Stand up straight. Look casual. No one knows who you are unless they get close enough to read your name. Play it cool, he told himself. But there was no one else in the hallway.
He heard the others join him as he set a brisk pace down the hall. The lights above cast the space in a constant yellow glow. It reflected off minerals in the stone walls in a thousand little pinpoints. The wall was punctuated every twenty or so steps by another door. Kaiden couldn’t help but read their displays as he passed.
Room status: Unoccupied.
Mob status: 0/0 Voidspawn, Level: 45
Looked like someone had already cleared that room out. Maybe it’d been them? Honestly, Kaiden couldn’t remember. All of the rooms they’d been in were blurring together.
Room status: Occupied.
Mob status: 15/15 Ramrunners **Huntsman**, Level: 30
The sounds of abilities firing off echoed out of that one, paired with the shouts and exclamations of a team of wardens coordinating their attacks. Kaiden winced and picked up the pace as he passed the door.
They’re busy in there, though. We’re fine. We’re fine.
He paused again as he reached the intersection. To either side, more doors and rooms stretched into the distance. Down the right-side route, though, Kaiden could see a change in the layout of the base. The hall ended in some sort of larger room. A barracks or something, from the looks of it.
“Don’t wanna head that way,” Thorne hissed as she stepped past him and continued toward their next room.
“Come on, Kai,” Zelda said, nudging his shoulder as she followed Thorne through the intersection.
“Right, right.” Kaiden shook off the trance that had come over him. The mental exhaustion was really messing with him now. It mixed with the constant worry of being discovered to create what he could only think of as a significant real-life debuff. His status in-game was fine, but his mind in real life was tired. He shook the feeling off – no time to be off my game – and followed the others to the far side of the intersection.
“Yo! Hold up a second!”
A voice called out from down by the barracks. Kaiden near jumped out of his armor from the shock of it. It took all the concentration he had to force his body to keep walking at a steady pace as if he hadn’t heard the shout. It was three painfully long steps before he was out of the intersection and back into the hall.
“Go, go, go!” Thorne hissed, breaking into a run toward the next room. She pulled up short at the last moment, then ducked into a different room.
Room status: Unoccupied.
Mob status: 0/0 Weirdlings, Level: 10
“This one’s empty,” Titus said as he ducked in.
“If they come after us, we don’t want to be pinched between them and a room full of mobs,” Thorne explained.
“Yeah, uh, bad news about that,” Kaiden said, stealing one last look back out into the hall. The warden who’d shouted was approaching at a jog. Kaiden snapped the door shut.
“Where’d you go?” The warden’s voice trickled through the door, still approaching in the hallway. “Shift’s up, guys. We’re swapping out.”
“This guy’s not gonna pass us,” Kaiden said, ear to the door and listening as the jogging footsteps drew closer and closer.
“All right, time’s up,” Zelda said. “We’ll take this guy out and make a run for the Borrelly.”
Thorne cursed at that.
“Thought we’d get more levels out of this,” she sighed. “Ellenton, have the shuttle ready.”
“Something happening?” Ellenton’s voice came back through comms after a short delay.
“No time,” Kaiden said, then raised his hammer as the door opened.
Hendell
Warden Sergeant
Class: Blast Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 48
“Gah!” Kaiden shouted as he jumped forward and brought his hammer down on Hendell. The man was too startled to react and the blow landed for a headshot and a critical hit.
Before Hendell could recover from the attack, Kaiden was swinging again and Thorne was on him. The warden’s health bar drained as three more blows landed. An Improved Burst Arrow zipped over Kaiden’s shoulder then exploded against the already overwhelmed warden’s chest in a shower of sparks.
Hendell was a blast warden, caught off-guard and already in close quarters with his attackers. He might’ve been higher level than them but it hardly mattered. All the same, winning this fight didn’t earn them anything, Kaiden knew. Hendell finally had his shield on and was leveling his hammer-gun to retaliate, but there wasn’t any attack he could throw at them that was more damaging than what he’d already done: called for help. Kaiden hadn’t heard him, but he’d seen the man’s mouth move. He’d used a private comm channel to call for backup.
It was a good plan, but the gig’s up. Time to get the hell out of here.
Hendell fired an Improved Scatter Shot into Thorne’s chest that set her health bar to flashing as a chunk of HP fell away. Thorne responded with a Gravity Sledge that slammed him into the far wall, denting it outward. Zelda blasted again. Kaiden darted in and landed two crits. And then Titus was there, fighting like a man possessed. The focus in his eyes was intense as he unloaded attack after attack on the warden. Hendell’s health plummeted into the red before he could get back to his feet. His knees extended, pushing him upright, then his health dropped to zero and he collapsed right back down.
Blast Warden Hendell assisted kill – 5,000 EXP gained!
Kaiden paid no mind to the notification, sprinting into the hallway instead. It was a long run back to the emergency exit. Clearing rooms had led them further and further into the base. It was only then that he realized exactly how far in they’d come.
“We can make it,” he growled, pushing himself to run as fast as he could. “We can make it.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“We can’t make it.” Kaiden slid to a halt and cursed.
The hallway in front of him was filled with wardens. A group of four were the closest, but further behind them he could see a group of six. Then there was shouting behind him and Kaiden turned to see a door had opened in the distance. Another group was pouring out. At least seven players, maybe more. And all this was only the wardens that had been close by. Considering the alarm now blaring through the entirety of the base, Kaiden had no doubt all hundred or so wardens would be on them before long.
“We’ll go down fighting,” Titus said, raising his shield and setting his feet. “Get as much EXP as we can before we do.”
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br /> “Don’t fight them in the open,” Zelda said, grabbing Titus and pulling him toward the door to an empty room. “We’ll create a chokepoint. Make their numbers less relevant.”
“It won’t be enough,” Thorne shouted. “We need to make a run for it.”
“Who’s able to run through that?” Zelda asked, pointing toward the oncoming wall of wardens. The blast wardens among their ranks opened fire and Kaiden ducked into the room with everyone else as lasers exploded all around them.
“Titus, Kaiden. Hold the door with me,” Thorne said, taking up position just inside it. “Zelda, dish out all of the damage you can from the rear.”
Kaiden moved into position beside Titus, but his mind was reeling.
We can’t hold out forever. Hell, we won’t be able to hold out for more than a few minutes, if we even make it that long.
“This isn’t going to work!” Kaiden said.
“You got a better plan?” Thorne snarled back. “Cause I’m trying to find one and coming up awfully empty.” She lashed out with a hammer strike as the first of the wardens arrived in the doorway.
Erick Day02
Warden Captain
Class: Power Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 48
Titus stepped up and smashed his shield into the power warden, holding him in the doorway. Erick Day02 slammed his massive hammer into it and set its surface to shaking, then attacked again, and again, trying to beat him back and make way for more wardens to rush into the room, but Titus held his ground. Might’ve even gained a step, actually. All the while, his Improved Volt Field nipped back, sparking and biting at Erick’s health.
Ability: Rallying Cry
All party members within 50 feet gain a 20% boost to base stats for 30 seconds.
Cost: 20 charge.
Titus used the surge of charge pouring into him from blocking the attacks to fire off the ability. Glowing light swarmed around Thorne then Kaiden as the stat buff kicked into effect. Kaiden lashed out with another hammer strike. It hit for a couple percent of damage – mainly thanks to the buff from Titus. Kaiden wanted to activate an ability but he didn’t have any charge yet. The power warden was just focusing on Titus. Thorne had been building charge with each hammer strike thanks to her passives, though, and she used it to pair Rallying Cry’s buff with an ability of her own.
Ability: Improved Chained Fury
Your combat prowess allows you to chain attacks together. For the next 5 seconds, each attack deals an additional 20% damage for every successful attack before it.
With her damage boosted through the roof, Thorne set in, swinging again and again at Erick, bashing his health away with each hit. The other wardens were arriving now, though. They stacked up behind the lead power warden, each jostling and pushing to get into the action. The doorway was jammed, though. Between Erick trying to get in, Titus trying to keep him out, and Thorne and Kaiden swinging away every chance they got, there just wasn’t any more room. Didn’t stop the blast wardens, though.
Ability: Improved Warden’s Bolt
You fire two bolts of lightning instead of one. Discharge bolts of lightning that jump to multiple targets within range of the impact target. Initial range 50 feet, jump range 10 feet. Deals +150% base damage, reducing by half with each successive jump.
Zelda’s attack flew over Kaiden’s head, and from the size of it, he could tell Zelda had fired it from Sniper Mode. The Improved Warden’s Bolt arced into the crowd, where it went crazy, zapping from one opponent to the next and chewing away at their health. Not a moment later, though, the same attack was fired back at Zelda. It detonated and Kaiden found himself swimming in electricity as the ability tore into him and the others. His health dropped to ninety-two percent.
I wasn’t built for this, Kaiden thought, growling as more attacks poured in. Improved Burst Arrows and Improved Scatter Shots from the blast wardens, Hammer Tosses from the power wardens – he blocked what he could, his shield wavering under the assault, and lashed out at Erick whenever there was an opening. On the upside, all the attacks meant Kaiden finally had charge. On the downside, he couldn’t ignore his health bar, flashing near constantly now and dropping rapidly.
Seventy percent. Sixty-eight. I’m not a shielder. And even less a power warden…
“We need a plan,” Zelda shouted between blasts of her hammer-gun. “A way out. Something!”
“Let ‘em come,” Titus growled, teeth gritted against the assault on his shield. He was fighting with a focus Kaiden hadn’t seen before. Had a look in his eye like each of the wardens out there had personally insulted him and he’d come for payback. There was an opening between Erick’s attacks and Titus fired off a Shield Slam, stunning his opponent. He followed with Shield of Rage and a burst of energy rushed from his shield, dealing damage to Erick and the wardens right behind him.
The stun wore off and Erick came back swinging hard, but Titus was ready.
Ability: Reflection
Reflects 20% of damage absorbed by the warden’s shield back against the attacker for 10 seconds.
“Let the bastards come,” Titus growled again.
“These are just the wardens that were closest to us,” Thorne said, then paused to land a blow on Erick. “But there are certainly higher-level wardens here. Their wing is just further away. You can bet they’re on their w—"
“Gah!” Erick was in the red now, but he wasn’t giving up. He shouted a battle cry as he reared back his hammer.
Ability: Gravity Sledge
He swung the attack into Titus’ shield and Kaiden prepared for the big man to launch backwards and the rest of the wardens to come rushing in. Erick’s hammer exploded with energy as it connected, but Titus absorbed the attack. He gritted his teeth and held his ground.
“Intransigence. Bad luck for you,” Titus said with a snarl, then struck back with a flurry of hammer strikes to Erick’s head and shoulders.
Power Warden Erick Day02 assisted kill - 4,800 EXP gained!
Erick went down, and for the briefest of moments before Last Rites triggered, there was a gap. Kaiden’s view filled with names as his visor scanned the enemies in the hallway.
Manzer
Warden Sergeant
Class: Shield Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 47
Tomson
Warden Sergeant
Class: Power Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 47
QuertyBoy01
Warden Captain
Class: Blast Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 49
Too many names to read. Still more filled his view.
Frankie04, Enhanced Warden
Panzerpants, Power Warden
Werner06, Blast Warden
HaroldMay, Shield Warden
Even in that brief moment, another group of wardens arrived and still more names filled his view. There was even a Werner account, removing any doubt that this was where his alternate accounts were being levelled for him.
We can’t fight this. There’s no way we can take them all.
“Traitor scum!” A power warden named Tomson came in swinging. Titus blocked the first flurry of attacks, then activated Shield Link with its target set to Zelda.
“Appreciated,” she shouted from behind, then let loose a renewed barrage of attacks.
Two Improved Kinetic Grenades flew in from the hallway and Kaiden ducked as they detonated, blasting damage through the room. His health flashed wildly at the hit. Titus absorbed the damage, his large health pool built for the task, and even Thorne seemed mostly okay. They were each floating at around seventy percent health. But Kaiden didn’t have stats meant for tanking damage like them. Neither did Zelda. Even a couple of paces removed from the fighting her health was taking a beating. Down to sixty-two percent.
But it didn’t matter. None of it did, he thought as Zelda flung a grenade, bouncing it off of the
wall so it angled around the corner and exploded out of sight among the wardens.
We can’t win this fight, Kaiden thought. It’s purely a numbers game. All we’re doing right now is delaying. And I’m no use just bludgeoning away at whoever steps into the doorway. That’s not what my class is built for.
Hold up. He paused at that, stopping his attack mid-strike as a thought exploded in his mind.
“I’m not built for this sort of fight,” he said through comms.
“We need you anyway!” Thorne shouted back. “Keep fighting!”
“I will,” Kaiden said and began charging Flash Bang. “But not like this. You said these doors lock, right?” he asked Thorne.
“Even if we managed to get it closed, they’d just unlock it. That won’t do us any good,” she grunted between swings of her massive hammer.
“Not why I was asking,” Kaiden said as a plan came together in his mind. A stupid plan, maybe. And one that was as like to get them killed as it was their enemies. But there wasn’t time for doubt now.
Ability: Flash Bang
The attack burst outward, searing the assembled wardens’ eyes.
“Hold the door as long as you can,” Kaiden shouted, then lowered his shield.
“What are you doing?” Zelda shouted back.
“Something stupid, probably.” Kaiden eyed one of the few spots in the hallway not already filled with wardens.
Ability: Matter Shift
