Star Divers- Dungeons of Bane

by Stephen Landry

  Critical Affinity 40

  Defence75

  Detection (stealth) 40

  Evasion55

  Fire Resistance 15

  Focus 35

  Guard 5

  Heat Resistance 15

  Health Boost 15

  Ice Resistance 15

  Intimidation 20

  Luck25

  Nullification 15

  Paralysis Resistance 15

  Piercing (Damage Boost) 25

  Poison Resistance 55

  Recovery 45

  Reflexes 35

  Stamina 55

  Strength 20

  Stun Attack 35

  Stun Duration 5

  Stun Resistance 25

  In the remains of the Hollow Mass we found an artefact of a player recently killed, someone we had passed on our way from the hangar to the tower. Chaz picked up the artefact. It was a small wooden figure shaped like a mech. Nothing too special to us, but something that must have had special meaning to the character it came from. Chaz placed it in his satchel and we pressed forward. We still had a ways to go before we were completely outside the tower and it was possible we were in danger, especially now that Gorge had set fire to the tower’s basement.

  Aiko was leading us now, followed by Gorge, Kira, myself, Cass, Chaz, Shiru, and Pierce. We were nearing the surface level and could already hear gunshots from the streets above. Something had gone wrong while we were underground.

  Xato aka Guardian Class C - Special Operation Close Quarters

  Level 60

  Hostile

  ‘Looks like our luck is up,’ said Chaz. He was right. Inside the tower, blocking our way out, was a guardian. It was one of the smaller ones. Four-legged, like a centaur, and eight feet tall. Bulky armour that made it look like it was competing to win some heavyweight championship and a giant mace made of dwarf star alloy. The guardian targeted us as soon as we entered the room, swinging its mace down on the ground and cracking the floor below. No way the Chel were happy about us trespassing.

  ‘Form up, we can take it,’ yelled Gorge.

  ‘IT’S A GUARDIAN!’ yelled Pierce. Like the rest of us, he was unsure if it was even possible to take out one of these mech-like creatures.

  ‘Circle it and draw its attention, stay apart. The centaur can only go after one of us at a time,’ Chaz yelled. He was right. The noob had taken the lead. We separated out in a circle and began firing. I wasn’t able to get time to slow down again but I was still satisfied with my new affinity to Naomi. In a way, I felt like Hannah was actually fighting alongside me. Our party surrounded the close-quarters guardian while Aiko transformed and began jumping around drawing the guardian’s attention away from the others. As the guardian caught on to what we were doing it began to target us one by one. First, it set eyes on Pierce. Pierce jumped back and dodged losing half his health to a glancing blow of the mace, but still remaining in the game. His weapon had taken a nasty hit and he was out of commission until Chaz threw him an energy pistol. The rest of us distracted the guardian with flash grenades. Biding our time. It was a long drawn out bout but the guardian continued to weaken. Eventually, it came after me and I unsheathed Aegis from my back.

  Aegis - Re-forged Broadsword

  Cut down by the forces of Lintirmai, the depraved creature known only as the beast’s soul was imprisoned inside a great metal sword made from the hull of an ancient alien starship. Passed from one cursed soul to another the Aegis is a living weapon that not only protects its master but eventually devours their very being.

  That which may never die must be contained.

  Damage: 300 (with 25% chance of 420 damage critical)

  Class: None required

  Level Required: 50

  Weight: 10 Ibs

  Affinity: 90%

  Sharpness: None

  Elemental: Shadow - Unknown

  Modifiers: None

  I could still see tiny blemishes where I must have broken Aegis and re-forged parts of the sword. I thought of the Paladin in Stormcaller, the game Hannah and I had played. The way the sword had been sharp on both edges. The way it moved like an extension of the character’s body. I wanted to move like that. I sank one edge of Aegis into the guardian and jumped upward, swinging my body in the air, using my blade to climb up on top of the guardian’s shoulders. Once there I held Aegis with both hands and sank it into the neck of the guardian.

  It fell downward with my body still on top of it. Nothing but a lifeless piece of junk. There weren’t even any parts we could scavenge.

  ‘That was awesome!’ Chaz shouted towards me. He was giving me a thumbs up. Together, the seven of us and Aiko had killed a guardian.

  Outside, we found the streets were no longer filled with the hustle of players and NPCs. They were empty.

  ‘The Hollow Mass...’ Cass.

  ‘The reason it was so large...’ Chaz.

  ‘Nel, can you bring the ship to us?’ I asked through my comm.

  ‘Already on my way, urgent transmission, must hurry,’ Nel responded faster than I expected. It wasn’t the usual witty response either. Nel actually sounded very worried.

  25.

  Trespass

  Location: Outside the Tower

  The Spire

  We were trespassers.

  I aimed down the sights of my rifle as we took cover behind burning rubble just outside the tower. Between us and the tower gates was a long courtyard that hours earlier had been filled with a beautiful exotic garden of flowers ranging in colours from red and white to purple and grey. Most of the flowers were withered now, while others lay on the ground, burned. The air smelled of gunfire and smoke. Several dozen Hollows were forming around us. I fired and reacted as one appeared almost above me, reaching down to grab me and pull me away. It only took one shot from AKA Naomi for the Hollow to turn to ash and cover me in a dust that dissipated only moments after touching me. The dust was poison but I had built enough resistance in the Chel dungeon that it didn’t have any lasting effect. Nothing noticeable anyway, as my health only dropped from 100 HP to 98.

  In her battle form, Aiko leapt at one Hollow after another. It looked as if she was getting stronger with every kill, however she was starting to lose control. Another came from behind her and I screamed, telling her to turn. She did as I commanded but it was almost too late. Aiko kicked the Hollow, taking a small amount of damage before tearing into it with her teeth. If she had been a player the touch of a Hollow would have hurt her, maybe even killed her, but given her nature my familiar was immune. I also noticed her health was regenerating. Aiko had ten kills and counting before I called out to her at the top of my lungs, urging her back to us but catching the attention of three more Hollows.

  Cass threw down a shield, giving Kira enough time to trigger a blast of cascading energy that wiped the area around us clean. My two friends were drained of their mana, while the rest of us looked upward. The tower itself had been attacked from the right side and in the distance we could see the edge of a Titan, rising just enough above several of the smaller buildings that we knew that a large battle was raging around us.

  ‘Do you think that is Lady Gray?’ Chaz asked.

  ‘Not hers, different details, doesn’t look like it belongs to the Kings either,’ said Pierce.

  ‘Maybe someone else wanted to take a crack at becoming famous,’ said Kira. She was right. Since the chase there had been dozens of players that had attempted to copy what we had done and this was one of the reasons for the Spire’s increased security.

  Nel was coming in hot. I could still see clamps hanging down from the Ibanez where they had been blasted, broken apart in a desperate attempt to free the ship. As the back hatch opened to let us inside, we noticed another Hollow Mass forming across the street. Hurriedly, we exited the courtyard. Nel was there as the hatch opened, sitting inside a heavily modified version of the mech ‘Vex’, awaiting our arrival.

  Hollow Mass 1

  Level 41

 
; Hostile

  Hollow Mass 2

  Level 62

  Hostile

  Hollow Mass 3

  Level 53

  Hostile

  A fourth one was coalescing but Nel destroyed it with a guided grenade before it fully formed. They were weaker in their fluctuating state. Not that it mattered with three already coming towards us. Unlike the one in the tower, these three Hollows were shaped more like golems than snakes. The lowest level monster had a giant face covering its torso, along with massive teeth and one red, glowing eye. The other two were shaped like the silhouettes of giants come to life. As Gorge ordered Cass, Pierce and Shiru to the ship to provide support, Nel opened fire. The rest of us were taking cover behind another piece of debris, to blindfire at the three creatures.

  ‘Fire at the red orbs,’ yelled Pierce. He was already inside the ship, holding a scanner in his hands. The scanner was old-school tech. A mod made by one of Gorge’s friends and a part of an ever growing collection of his that was filling up the storage on the Ibanez. During Aiden’s time with the ship Gorge had him gather several supply caches he had planted throughout various systems. The objects from them ranged from low-tech scanners like the one Pierce held in his hand to weapons of mass destruction that could wreck starships. Other items in the collection included rare artefacts that Gorge had given Aiden permission to trade for upgraded weapons and armour. Another reason he had been able to buy the Crimson Killer so easily. Gorge, of course, didn’t care. He considered it all a gift ever since Lady Gray had made him an official member of the Corpse Divers after we escaped the dungeon on Rem. I admired him for that.

  The scanner read enemy weak points and pointed them out. It could also be modified to attach to a mech suit or heavy rail gun but none of us had the time or engineering skill to quickly succeed in doing that.

  ‘Let’s roll the dice, see how much damage we can do,’ yelled Shiru supporting a rocket launcher. The rocket erupted, hitting the low level Hollow Mass in the lower jaw. Now with broken lower teeth, the creature lurched towards the ship. Nel stepped forward, drawing a large eight-foot sword. Another modification made to Vex. In losing about ten tons of armour and re-fabricating the frame, it was obvious that during our time away from the Ibanez everything had gone through a serious upgrade (or downgrade if you wanted a to still use the Vex as a mobile fortress). What was once a heavy, moved somewhere between a light and medium mobile suit of armour. The mech didn’t walk, instead it hovered across the pavement towards the Hollow Mass like it was on ice skates, gliding as it danced, blade in hand.

  Hollow Mass 1 died almost as quickly as it formed, as Nel swung the eight-foot blade into its broken jaw, breaking its upper row of teeth and next slicing it in half. The Hollow turned to ash. The second Hollow turned its attention away from our blindfire and began making its way towards Nel.

  Nel was ready. Lifting the sword into the air and gliding forward, Nel thrust the sword into the Hollow’s chest only for the Hollow to grab hold of it with both hands and toss Nel backwards. With a sound of thunder, Nel hit the ground and created a small fissure in the pavement. Steam blew up from underground. Although Nel had been stranded for only a moment, it was enough time for the Hollow Mass to jump on top of the mech suit and begin tearing it apart. The monster slowly changed form, one hand enlarging while the other grew smaller. It was manipulating its own body mass. The Hollow’s enlarged right hand turned into a blade and Nel ejected, skidding across the ground towards the ship. The Hollow continued to go rampant against the shell of the mech before picking it up and swinging it into a nearby building. The smoke covered the streets and it became harder to breath.

  As the dust from the air filled my virtual lungs, I felt my health drop. Kira moved beside me and handed me a breather from her stash. I was lucky she carried a spare. Somewhere along the way I had lost mine.

  Both Hollows were making their way towards the Ibanez now. Pierce and Shiru had already picked up a railgun called Heavy Hitter and a grenade launcher called Catapulta. Both did some serious damage but the Hollows were regenerating faster than we could damage them. Against just one, all of our attacks together could it down, but against two we were struggling. Gorge began planting several explosives on the ground running in the blindspot of the two beasts. Presumably, he was hoping to blow a sink hole in the street. His last three charges were thrown just in front of the two giants and he pressed the killswitch. The world went silent. The blast wasn’t enough. The streets caved in but only barely. Re-enforced from below the streets of the Spire were made to take heavy damage. Gorge’s attack was useless.

  ‘Plan B: focus fire on one and have Aiko distract the other,’ I yelled.

  Aiko went after the second and strongest of the Hollows only to be knocked back with a yelp. I ran towards her. Aiko’s health hadn’t dropped at all but she was stunned. Not enough resistance against an enemy at level 62. Most likely it saw Aiko coming and had poured its mass into that hit. I ordered Aiko to hold back while we formulated another plan.

  ‘Use the Ibanez’s defensive weapons!’ Cass shouted.

  Pierce was already moving through the ship. Great minds. It would still take him a few minutes to warm up the artillery though.

  ‘Three minutes,’ Pierce cried out through the comms. He must have sprinted, using all of his stamina to get to the control room that fast. We could already see the turrets on the side of the Ibanez targeting the two giant Hollows as we drew them away from the hangar. Shiru grabbed another heavy weapon and Pierce had no choice but to close the door and lock us out. With no escape, we had to finish the fight. Shiru immediately began firing at the Hollows, turning their attention away from us.

  He held it for two minutes before running out of ammo and taking cover behind some store wreckage. All he had now was a Ki rifle.

  The second Hollow hit Gorge, knocking his HP down to 30. Gorge’s cybernetic arm was torn up and he could barely hold his rifle as he used it to stand himself back up.

  The third Hollow hit both Cass and Chaz, knocking their HP down to 40. The attack wasn’t very strong but both of them had tried blocking, with all of their stamina being used in the process. Kira and I flanked the third Hollow, firing blue energy at it from behind. The smell of burning metal and concrete dust in the air was all around us. I could feel my lungs choke as I pulled Aegis from my back and attempted to climb atop the giant the same way I had the guardian but found myself knocked back against the side of a wall, leaving an impression as I fell to the ground. My armour’s shield fell to 0, my HP dropped 10 points and I was sitting at 80. Kira wasn’t so lucky when she attacked after pulling an extendable staff from her stash. I could see bolts of red and yellow electricity cover the area around her as her shield burst into pieces of digital debris. She managed to deal a heavy amount of damage to the creature but her health dropped down to 20 in the process.

  It was enough. The turrets from the Ibanez locked onto the Hollows and began firing. Red orbs began to appear all across the Hollow’s bodies as they made a noise that sounded like I imagined how the Wilhem scream sounded. The stronger Hollow poured its mass into one swiping attack extending its arm like a whip as its body shrank and a moment later the turrets were gone. The firing stopped and there was silence again. Damaged but not done, the two monsters fused into a massive Hollow with a level of 115. Shiru fired a shot from behind cover. Draining his HP with the Ki rifle he managed to stop the Hollow mid-transformation. It took quick notice of him focusing its raw energy into a single melee attack. Arm bearing down over him, Shiru continued to fire until there was nothing left. His HP dropped to 0 and his avatar rolled over dead.

  ‘No!’ I shouted getting the monster’s attention. It turned its second attack towards me as I rolled. More angry than afraid I stood up and fired again until Gorge called out to me to get cover.

  A hundred thousand HP. The Hollow mass increased as it sucked up pieces of debris from around its body including the corpse of Shiru. Most of it looked almost mec
hanical as pieces of window, steel bars, blocks of tile and concrete swarmed around red orbs, covering the Hollow in a hardened shell. At its core I could see Shiru’s body wrapped like a fly in a spider’s web. It absorbed him and whatever echo/artefact he might have left behind. The massive Hollow stood twenty-five-feet high, like the most powerful of guardians.

  Hollow Leviathan

  Hostile

  Level 115

  The Leviathan’s jaws formed teeth as it began to take the form of a giant alligator. A black alligator with red orbs, covered in metal plating made from ruins. Its teeth bit down hard against the back of the Ibanez as Nel announced they were going to take off and that we had to regroup with them several blocks away. Chaz and Cass raced into a nearby building, only to be followed by the Leviathan, which tore through the Spire like it was made of paper mache. I felt the world slow down again as I regained my focus. I moved with the shadows around me, letting the darkness guide me through the void as I shot from my rifle, my life force draining away until my HP was as low as 40. I missed. I shot again. This time my life force drained to 20 and as the world sped back up around me: I felt my adrenaline spike. I had hit one of the red orbs and knocked the Leviathan on its side.

  Just as I had hoped, Aiko took advantage. No longer stunned, my familiar grabbed hold of one of the red orbs and bit down hard, tearing away bits and pieces of armour revealing red flesh below the surface. The Hollow was evolving into an organic being made of flesh and bone. Basing its form around a mutated form of Shiru’s avatar.

  Quick Lore

  Hollows have three forms:

  Stage 1 - After a player or NPC dies they leave behind an echo or artefact. If the echo meets certain parameters then a Hollow appears to try and attain the echo. Born of the death of the player or NPC, Hollows guard the echo as if it were their own. These Hollows are made of energy. Energy that can hurt and kill, taking the lifeforce of players as their own. The parameters that create a Hollow are currently unknown but could be as simple as a roll of the dice.