“I know that’s your programming talking, otherwise you’d agree with me. This is why the Station Cores were created, am I right?” he asked, trying to convince her, “This shell was designed to protect the harmless, innocent, and defenseless people of The Collective. Now, the Proctans on this planet are far from harmless and innocent, but they’ll be defenseless against what we just barely fought off ourselves,” he reasoned, before bringing home his point, “If I can’t help defend against these beasts here, how the heck am I supposed to defeat a space-faring, highly-aggressive, technologically-superior race of vicious aliens?”
She considered it for a while, her face expressing deep thought as she struggled against the programming that was instilled in her. “They were definitely not technologically superior to the The Collective, but I see your point. Let’s do what we can to save these Proctans – and maybe they’ll be so gracious they’ll give us all their metal and we can get out of here!” she finished up, her attitude switching back to the positive one she had been adopting as of late.
Milton was relieved that she had agreed, even if she did it for ultimately selfish reasons. He was beginning to care for the human-like Proctans – they almost felt like they were his offspring, changed into what they were by his own radiation leakage. And just like any parents, no matter what world you were on, he would do everything in his power to protect them.
It was time to focus on something other than himself; it was time to embrace his current incarnation and do what he was meant to do all along – protect the defenseless.
Now all he needed to do was figure out how to do that.
Epilogue – Long-laid plans
Gavin watched from afar as his agents infiltrated the King’s Castle, silently cursing the need to move ahead with their long-laid plans so quickly. If it wasn’t for those damn upstarts trying to compete with his Company, they would’ve had years with which to set up this operation so that it went off smoothly – and bloodlessly. Unfortunately, he couldn’t risk information getting out about what he was planning, so there were going to be some necessary…sacrifices.
He didn’t care overly much about the guards and nobles inside the castle, but it was almost guaranteed that some of them were going to fight back. He knew every single one of the agents he had recruited personally and losing even one of them in the ensuing battle was like wasting time and money on their development. And he didn’t like losing money.
It was almost a half-hour before explosions rocked the night, telling him that his people had finally been discovered. He was smiling though, because it was a good ten minutes longer than he figured they would be found out. All of which meant that if they had stuck to the plan, there were very few defenders remaining.
He had picked this day, of all possible days, because it was the annual “Beast War Remembrance Celebration”, where every noble across the land filled the castle until it was near bursting. It was originally created to celebrate the day when the Beast War ended, almost a century ago. Gavin thought it was an outdated holiday – once he was in charge, he’d have to rename it something like, “Cordpower Liberation Day”, or something like that. Since he was “liberating” the people from the oppressive control of the nobles across the land, he thought it was fitting.
Fifteen minutes later, a signal from the top of the gate watchtower told him that the castle was secure. Along with his personal guard, Gavin quickly walked across the bridge leading to the entrance. The portcullis raised as they neared, and he could see his own men stationed near the top, flashing smiles as they saw him pass. He would forgive them their breach of training – this was a day of celebration after all.
He hurried along until he got to the doors leading to his destination, barely succeeding in avoiding the blood on the ground from the dead guards scattered along the hallway. Here and there, he saw the fluffed-up accoutrements of some random noble or other, covered in blood just like all the rest.
His personal guard pushed open the heavy double-doors leading to the Throne Room; he took a deep breath and straightened his vest, wanting to look his best when he finally got what he wanted.
As he walked sedately down the royal carpet towards the end of the room, he could see that the King was there, secured and kneeling near the throne with a furious expression on his face.
When Gavin was close enough for the King – actually, former-King – to see who he was, the trussed-up monarch yelled out, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING? I WILL HAVE YOU FLAYED ALIVE AND YOUR BODY PARTS WILL BE BURIED AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE WORLD! UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT, OR I’LL—”
One of his people inexpertly cut his throat with their knife at Gavin’s signal, causing blood to spurt out and splash all over his perfectly tailored new suit. I was hoping to avoid getting my hands dirty, but I guess it’s for a good purpose. He still stared daggers at the now-nervous-looking agent, promising retribution for the mistake. He’ll be reprimanded alright; however, I’m inclined to show mercy because I’m in a good mood. Maybe he’ll remember my graciousness the next time he thinks about fucking up.
He squatted down in front of the almost-dead former King, so he could look him square in the face. As the light started to dim from his eyes, Gavin told him, “Your Kingdom is now mine. I hereby dissolve the monarchy and install the Cordpower Company as its leader, while we assist the people in hunting down the ones responsible for these heinous acts committed here tonight.”
He could see the understanding in the King’s eyes as his life-blood continued to leak from his neck. Gavin turned away from him and sat on the throne nearby, just as he heard the previous occupant hit the ground, dead before impact.
Looking around at his agents as they gathered in the Throne Room, he gave them his biggest smile and conveyed his thanks for their job well done. He noticed a few missing, but this part of the operation was far more successful than he originally worried it was going to be.
Now it was time for phase two.
* * *
Deep in the bowels of what Milton called the Quizard Mountains, a shape emerged from the dark recesses of the smallest cave in the extensive cavern. It walked on four legs and appeared frail – hunched over so far that it was almost bent double – but when it stood up to its fullest height of ten feet, one could see that it was as healthy as anything else in the cavern. It gazed upon the army of Bearillas and Quizards with what looked like a smile on its face; however, it was hard tell because its entire head was so foreign-looking that one couldn’t compare it to anything else.
A long hiss escaped its mouth, causing those beasts nearby to run around in a frenzy. “Patiencccce, my petssss,” it said as a long tongue snaked out of its mouth, “ssssoon we will conquer the fragile two-legssss up above. Oncccce they are gone, we’ll have the freedom we’ve alwayssss dessssired.”
As if they could understand the figure, the entire cavern roared their approval, including the gigantic figures bathed in shadows alongside the outer ring. What normally would have deafened anyone else, only seemed to increase the frenzy of the creatures arrayed about.
With a final “smile”, the figure hunched over again and entered the cave again, as the rest of the cavern slowly settled down, returning to their training and feeding.
End of Book 2
Final Stats
Core Status
Name:
Milton Frederick
Type:
Station Core Prototype 3-B
Combat Level:
16
Experience:
607960/915000
Reactor Type:
Zero-point Energy
Reactor Output:
19%
Current Statistics/Attributes
Reactor Power/Strength:
19
Processing Power/Intelligence:
50
Structural Integrity/Constitution:
18
Ingenuity/Wisdom:
50
Processing Speed/Agility:
Communication/Charisma:
50
Insight/Luck:
40
Sensor Interpretation/Perception
47
16 Attribute Points Left to Spend
Skill List
Name
Level
Name
Level
Sensor Control
4
Overdrive
3
Kamikaze
7
Basic Technological Engineering
2
Sensor Enhancement
2
Advanced Engineering
3
Drone Manipulation
3
Primitive Defensive Weaponry
3
Formation Fighting
7
Combat Communication
7
Cooperation
7
Geneticist
4
Survivor
4
Tactical Mapping
3
Available Resources
Resource Type
# of Units
Basic Earth
24865
Basic Gravel
1247
Basic Metal
1785
Focusing Crystals
17
Pure Water
30154
Organic Material
115478
Biological Mass
218457
Current Facilities
Type
Description
Ore Refinery
Refines ore, providing 2X more usable Basic Metal Units
Bioconversion Lab
Allows for the creation of larger Combat Units
Biological Recombinator
Experiment with different types of units, recombining the DNA from multiple sources to form hybrids
Defensive Weaponry Factory
Creates high-tech defensive weaponry that is powered by your Core
Drone Assembly Plant
Creates and repairs non-combat drones and sensor orbs
Workshop
Your subordinates can use this to develop and improve new and existing defenses
Farm
Provides renewable Organic Material and Biological Mass
Combat Unit Status
Reactor Power: 19%
Total Controllable Bio Units: 190000
Name
# of Units
Bio Units Used
Blood-thirsty Squirrel (Scout)
126
630
Scaly Pygmy Wolves (Group Attacker)
12
720
Fluffy (Speed Striker)
1
110
Qwizard (Speed/Melee Fighter)
1
3500
Total Bio Units Used: 4960
Gene Mutation
Type
Effect
Description
Power Usage
Intelligence Boost +1
Intelligence +10 for 300 seconds
Provides a boost to a Combat Units’ Intelligence stat for a limited amount of time.
20
Agility Boost +1
Agility +10 for 300 seconds
Provides a boost to a Combat Units’ Agility stat for a limited amount of time.
20
Perception Boost +1
Perception +10 for 300 seconds
Provides a boost to a Combat Units’ Perception stat for a limited amount of time.
20
Strength Boost +2
Strength +20 for 600 seconds
Provides a boost to a Combat Units’ Strength stat for a limited amount of time.
20
Flora Manipulation +1
Weakly influence living plants
Allows for the manipulation of living plants. Unit must have a minimum of 10 Intelligence.
1 - all
Air Affinity +1
Weakly manipulate air in short bursts
Allows for the manipulation of air. Unit must have a minimum of 10 Intelligence.
10 per use
Fire Affinity +1
Weakly manipulate fire in short bursts
Allows for the manipulation of fire. Unit must have a minimum of 10 Intelligence.
10 per use
Self-Regeneration +2
Use Power to regenerate Health
Heal all non-mortal wounds. 20 Health/min, duration determined by available power.
1 - all
Author’s Note
Thanks for reading The Quizard Mountains, book 2 of my Station Cores series!
After an influx of reviews and feedback, I decided to change something that had been bugging many of my readers in the first book. ALANNA’s use of language was originally meant to be humorous and just a quirk of the AI, but it apparently came across as childish, offensive, and off-putting. Therefore, having her experiment with different personalities was my attempt to make the use of language less harsh and more supportive to the other main characters. I’m not even sure how she will eventually end up; it will be a journey we will take together.
As for Milton, Brint, and Whisp, they started to work together to achieve a common goal – survival. In the first book, Milton had to understand why what he was doing was incorrect; he had to learn from his mistakes and do things differently in order to succeed. Now it’s not just him against the world – he now has a team, a party, a guild perhaps? It may not be quite as defined as that, but only time will tell as they battle the forces arrayed against them.
Enjoyed the book? Please leave a review! As an indie author, reviews help other readers find great books – like this one!
Want more Station Cores? Look for Book 3 in early 2019!
If you enjoy dungeon core, dungeon corps, dungeon master, dungeon lord, dungeonlit or any other type of dungeon-themed stories and content, check out the Dungeon Corps Facebook group where you can find all sorts of dungeon content.
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Books by Jonathan Brooks
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy
Dungeon Player
Dungeon Crisis
Dungeon Guild
Glendaria Awakens Trilogy Compilation (November 21, 2018)
Uniworld Online Trilogy
The Song Maiden
The Song Mistress
The Song Matron (End of 2018)
Station Cores Series
The Station Core
The Quizard Mountains
Book 3 (Early 2019)
Tables
* * *
[1]
Molecular Converter
Resource Type
Units
Conversion
Conversion Ratio
Conversion
Conversion Ratio
Org. Material
60452
Basic Linen Shirt
1:5
Basic Linen Pants
1:5
Basic Cotton Shirt
1:5
Basic Cotton Pants
1:5
Basic Ramie Shirt
/> 1:5
Basic Ramie Pants
1:5
Basic Denim Shirt
1:7
Basic Denim Pants
1:7
Basic Rayon Shirt
1:15
Basic Rayon Pants
1:15
Basic Nylon Shirt
1:15
(more)
[2]
Core Status
Name:
Milton Frederick
Type:
Station Core Prototype 3-B
Combat Level:
12
Experience:
125260/133500
Reactor Type:
Zero-point Energy
Reactor Output:
17%
Current Statistics/Attributes
Reactor Power/Strength:
17
Processing Power/Intelligence:
40
Structural Integrity/Constitution:
16
Ingenuity/Wisdom:
42
Processing Speed/Agility:
The Quizard Mountains: A Dungeon Core Epic (Station Cores Book 2) Page 30