by Tao Wong
“I think if I brought out such documentation, I’d find that there’s another law I’d have to deal with, no?”
“What can I say? Laws are laws,” Bimmox hisses after that, its body moving forward and backward. After a moment, I realize it’s the monster’s equivalent of laughter.
“Perhaps you can send these laws to me. My Companion can check them over to ensure we comply with them all.”
“Ah… that is impossible. Only the Administrators may see such information,” Bimmox says again, rocking back and forth.
“Sounds like he’s taking you for a ride,” Lana says over the comms. “We can pay it on our side, but the survivors…”
“Why don’t we cut the bullshit?” I say to Bimmox, my smile widening, the walls of peace and calm that surround my mind cracking. “Give me your bottom line.”
“Bottom line?” Bimmox looks puzzled for a second before clarity returns. “Ah, a colloquialism. We just want everyone to comply with the laws. If the individuals behind you are unable to do so, we can offer a loan of the five thousand Credits with appropriate interest rates.”
“I’m assuming we won’t be allowed to leave once we take the loan,” I say and get a nod from Bimmox. “You’re not giving us a lot of choice here.”
“The law is the law,” Bimmox replies.
“Don’t do this.”
“Are you threatening us? Just because your party managed to clear a few dungeons and receive some Credits to purchase equipment means little. You’re still weak,” Four Arms says behind me.
I turn my head slightly and glance at Mikito, who has her helmet down. The black-and-silver reflection from her helmet’s visor stares back at me impassively, offering nothing.
“Well, human, are you paying the fee?” Bimmox says, continuing to rock back and forth, obviously amused and reveling in his power.
I grin at him, my eyes going cold as the anger I’ve been pushing aside rushes in. I tried. I really did.
“Oh hell, here we go again,” Ali says.
***
The fireball ripples around their shield, spiking the temperature by hundreds of degrees in seconds. I see the shield flickering even as the aliens behind me shout in anger. Mikito shifts, her naginata spinning and lashing out at those behind us even as her ghost armor flickers into existence, taking a portion of the blast damage. My own exposed skin dries out, scorching and cracking, my body cooking.
Bimmox hisses and cackles, his translator not translating whatever he said. Probably good tactics since its likely orders. Long, clawed fingers dance across empty air, sending out an alert. His bodyguards have a gun and a crossbow leveled at me but do not shoot, waiting for the shield to fall. I’ve already shouted my warning to the rest of the party, trusting that the group can handle themselves. Sabre’s on automated defense mode, transformed and attacking, while Sam’s taken control of Mikito’s PAV.
My sword and the conjoined blades stab into the shield, punching a hole with ease, but the shield refuses to fall. I channel a Blade Strike, twisting with my hips to cut downward even as the attack feeds directly into the shield. The shield flickers as my Mana drops with the Skill, finally freeing my blades. Another twist and Cleave, the blades shattering the shield when they finally connect. A red dot behind me disappears as Mikito continues taking on all three Basic combat Classers at the same time.
The moment the shield falls, Bimmox hits me with a spell, the red beam throwing me through the door and down the corridor. Pain, as it cuts into my torso, halves my health in seconds. The bodyguards open fire, both of their shots missing my fast retreating body. The crossbow bolt tears into the side of one their friends who accidentally sidestepped into its path.
“Is that all?” Bimmox screeches, the automated translation carrying some of the mocking tone in his voice. “You people are too—”
“Weak?” I ask, standing.
I toss up a Soul Shield and Greater Regeneration, stalking forward. The bodyguards have already shifted to target Mikito, Six Arms dropping his crossbow to wade in with short swords while the other waits for an opening. Realizing I’m still up and moving, the other bodyguard swings his weapon to target me.
“How? You should be dead!” Bimmox says.
“We cheat,” I reply.
Bimmox jabs his hand forward again, the spell blasting. I twist out of the way but he’s already shifting the beam to track me, falling for my feint. The Shield flares as the bodyguard’s and Bimmox’s attack caresses its edges.
I Blink Step behind Bimmox, twisting at the hips and knees to let me build up momentum for the cut that enters his waist. He might have a few powerful spells and a decent amount of hit points, but my sword is boosted with Mana Imbue and Cleave as I attack. The first blade cuts into his waist and exits just above the middle of his chest, tearing flesh and cracking ribs. Then the follow-up blades land.
Bimmox screams, his body butchered as his reflexive dodge puts new parts of his body into line with the floating blades that follow my attack. Fingers twist and jerk, clawed tips flashing outward to catch his balance, then Bimmox disappears, leaving my follow-up stab to strike air. His bodyguard elbows me in the face, throwing me backward before bringing his rifle to bear, triggering a series of shots I deal with by cutting his rifle apart.
“Ali!” I shout, knowing we can’t let Bimmox heal. That attack of his would have killed most of my friends.
“I’m on it!” Ali spins in a circle, searching.
The remains of his rifle discarded, the bodyguard charges me with a pair of punch knives in his hands. We clash, spinning and cutting, blood flying and my shield failing. A lunge cuts across my face, tearing my cheek open even as I impale the Hakarta. I leave the sword inside him while calling another to hand and finish lopping off his arm, leaving me staggering back as the bodyguard kicks me away. Mikito appears behind him. Her naginata tears through the air and he drops, neck separated by a surgical cut. As suddenly as that, the fight in the office is over.
“Lana,” I order Mikito, and she dashes out, her Hasted body blurring.
“Behind you. He’s in the city core room,” Ali instructs me.
I spin around, staring at the wall behind me, then cut into it. I trigger Cleave again and again, ignoring the Mana cost as I race to get in as fast as possible. If Kamloops is anything like Whitehorse, the city has some automated defenses that are controlled from the city core. I need to turn them off. In the background, I hear shouts and gasped words as my friends fight outside.
A fist-sized hole finally appears and I look inside, triggering Blink Step the moment I can see within the simple cream-colored room. The Skill carries me within and above the waiting Bimmox, my sword swinging as I release a Blade Strike. The attack catches Bimmox across his shoulders, ripping loose his already injured shoulder and bathing the room in too-bright red blood. The avian falls, gasping in pain as its lungs no longer work. Even the regeneration potion it’s drunk is unable to keep up with the damage I lay on it as I land, stabbing again and again into the body.
With the alien dead, I grasp the floating city core, the diamond-shaped core fitting easily into my hand. Nothing happens at first, the core taking a moment to check its requirements before it flashes a notification.
Would you like to take control of the Town of Kamloops?
(Y/N)
“Yes,” I snap, mentally willing acknowledgement.
I snarl as the damn core makes me wait again, a small counter appearing in the corner of my eye. Two minutes. I have to sit and wait for two minutes while the damn System lets everyone who is anyone know that I’m trying to take the city.
Congratulations! You are now the owner of the Town of Kamloops
Current Population: 8,785
City Treasury: 11.7 Million Credits
City Mana: 2,309 Mana Points
Taxes: 20% Sales Tax on Shop
Facilities: Shop, City Center, Educational Institution (1), Retail Outlets (15), Butchering Yard (1), Farms (7)
> Defenses: Tier IV Defense Shield, Automated Tier IV Defense Turrets (17), 6 Automated Internal Sentries
First Settlement Acquired!
Bonus +10,000 Experience
A moment and the six changed to five automated sentries. It only takes me a moment to realize why. I snarl, raising my hand as I desperately try to figure out how to turn them off.
“Defense targets change. Target all individuals marked as Thirteen Moons,” Ali chants as he floats up to me, fingers waggling in mid-air, then he shoots me a bemused look. “What are you waiting for, boy-o? I got this. Go help the ladies.”
I pause, conflicted. If someone gets in here…
“Go,” Ali snaps.
I nod, trusting the little olive-skinned Spirit, and run out. Even as I run, I see the dots in my minimap flickering as friends, foes, and neutrals die. Time to finish this.
Chapter 7
The rest of the fight was simple enough. The other Advanced Class Sect member disappeared, never engaging us. The other combat Classers never got their balance long enough to attack us as a group, which meant that my team tore through them without stop. It didn’t help them that Ingrid kept assassinating anyone who showed any real leadership qualities. Afterward, it was just a matter of calming the population down. Thankfully, I could leave that to Lana as I walked back into the City Center.
“Hey, the Serfs are going to be fine, right? No death spells or soul chains or anything that will kill them when the Sect is kicked out? Or if it’s commanded?” I ask Ali as I walk in, the thought striking me only now. A cold sweat breaks out on my skin as I wonder if I’ve just condemned a bunch of people to death.
“Not that I can see. It’s possible but rare and expensive. And not effective in the long-term. Kind of like the sterility shots,” Ali says.
I blink as the System quest updates when Ali mentions that. Well, learning that the System wants us alive, or at least not dead immediately, is interesting but not important at this second.
“How deep in the hole are we?” I say to the Spirit, dismissing the System notification.
“Yes, how badly did we step in it?” Ingrid’s voice floats from the corner where shadows gather. Her Skill drops and reveals the young First Nation woman leaning against the wall. She’s attempting to look blasé, but I know her well enough to read the tension.
“Ingrid.” I nod to her and watch the Assassin pull out a nail file to clean her nails of the accumulated blood. For a moment, I wonder why she doesn’t use a Clean spell, but she’s probably doing it on purpose.
“Depends. The Sect isn’t going to take this lying down, and the fact that you missed a few means they’ll probably know sooner rather than later. On the other hand, they don’t have a portal or a communication array set up, so they’re probably not meant to report in that often. My guess is courier check-ins and arranged meetings via the Shop,” Ali says.
I nod, knowing that some Shops even set up specific inter-dimensional meeting rooms to facilitate such transactions. Guilds, for example, all run their own Shop.
“If the survivors really have left, we’ve probably got a few hours before the Earthbound Sect learns of your attack. For the main Sect? Figure a few weeks to a month at most before they know something went wrong,” Ali says.
“And then…?” I extract a piece of chocolate while I wait for the other shoe to drop.
“Then they’ll likely try to take it back. They’re not the talking type, so they’ll come for you. Probably start local first. Kelowna probably, because it’s closer, unless they feel they need more heavy hitters,” Ali says. “If that fails, they’ll pull from Vancouver and Seattle, where they’ve got their real big boys. If all that fails, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled from their Galactic forces.”
“Master Classes?” I say, rubbing my chin. I got my ass kicked the last time I fought a high-level Advanced Combat class. I can’t even imagine what a Master Class is like.
“Unlikely,” Ali says. “It’s a steep pyramid and the Sect isn’t exactly, well, that tight knit. It’s not like the Duchess, who can just order her people around. Most of them are relatively independent. Master Classes are a power onto themselves. They’ll likely send some mid-to-Advanced tier Combat classes to deal with you. It’s easier to dig up a few of those than a single Master. I’d be surprised if they even sent a single Master Class to Earth.”
I nod slowly, understanding Ali’s point. My Advanced Class is already over-powered compared to a Basic Class, so a Master Class would be an entirely different existence. While Earth has a few Master Class-worthy locations—a certain dragon comes to mind—I’ve yet to come across many locations that would be worthwhile for them to visit. As I understand it, it’ll take a while for the ambient Mana pools to deepen sufficiently. The fact that my experience gain has slowed down also drives home how hard it is to advance after a certain point. And I’ve got the advantage that I didn’t have to go through all the Basic Class levels.
“Great. Just a couple of Advanced Classes.” Ingrid snorts, shaking her head.
I glance at her, still seeing the bunch of question marks hanging over her head on her Status bar, before smiling slightly. I understand her point though. Mikito is only in the beginning stages of the Advanced Classes, and the rest of the team hasn’t even reached that point yet. If we were to tangle with a bunch of mid-tier Advanced Classes right now, we’d be in real trouble. We only stood a chance today because everyone around here is so low-Leveled that the Sect didn’t bother to send high-Level enforcers.
“Repercussions for the population?” I say, glancing outward. If we leave now, we could probably run. I don’t like it, but if leaving means the people here aren’t killed…
“Varies. Those who fought on your side or helped out? Probably some torture, extended services,” Ali says. “The rest will likely be left alone. Higher overall taxes, maybe some beatings and more pressure applied to drive the point home.”
“Not horrible,” I say, grimacing. “You said they’ve got Kelowna and Vancouver though?”
“Pretty much all of BC. However, they’re focusing their attention on Seattle right now. From the information I’ve garnered, it’s been more troublesome than they expected.”
“Interesting,” I say.
We could go, take everyone up to Prince George, but I’m not entirely sure bringing a ton of people, especially some indentured individuals, would work out as well as we’d like. If the city didn’t take them in, we’d have to drag them over to Edmonton. Hell, I don’t think we have a way to transport this many even if we want to.
“We planning on leaving?” Ingrid says, looking at me.
“No. Maybe. I’m exploring options,” I say, grimacing.
“We’re not leaving,” Ingrid says, her tone flat. “We started this, we’re finishing it. We can’t just go.”
“But…” I want to point out the amount of time we’d waste. How big an opponent we’re facing. And I shut up, because I realize it doesn’t matter. Not to Ingrid. Or me. She’s right. We started this. “Fine. Get the girls to clean up and start looking for help. We’re likely going to have a bunch of visitors in the next few days and we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“Of course,” Ingrid says, bowing slightly then fading from view.
“You know, you just called Sam a girl,” Ali teases me. When I just stare at the Spirit, he drops the act and gets serious. “What do you want me to do?”
“They lost because they underestimated us and let us in past their defenses. We can’t let them do that to us. Let’s see what we can do about upgrading the city’s defenses,” I say. With bad guys on the way, defense is the number one priority.
A moment later, Ali pulls information from the city core, sending it directly to me to review.
Tier IV Defense Shield
HP: 15000/15000
HP Regeneration Rate: 250/minute
Automated Tier IV Defense Turrets (17)
Base Damage: 75
4 Automated Internal Sentries (2 damaged)
Core: Tier II Numax Mana Engine
Battery Duration: 6 Hours Standby, 30 Minutes Active
Weapons: Musashi Grisin Mark III Beam Rifle
Interesting. One thing I’ve learned is that while beam rifles are ubiquitous, they’re also generally considered the lowest form of weaponry. Not because they can’t do much damage, but because the amount of damage they can do is limited to their initial construction. Mass manufactured weaponry can do damage, but it isn’t as effective as something individually crafted by a support Class. In contrast, projectile weaponry generally varies in damage, especially if you’re willing and able to pay for the hand-crafted—and Skill-generated—ammunition.
With a flick of my hand, I call up the map of Kamloops again and pull the map out a bit. The town is settled at a crossing of two rivers. The Thompson River runs west to east and is joined by the North Thompson River, dividing the city into three parts. The northwest section is the most expansive and holds a large number of residential houses, the MacArthur Island Park, and the Kamloops Airport. Northeast, there’s little development, mostly industrial and farming locations. Lastly, south of the Thompson River is downtown Kamloops, which the adjusted town boundaries contained.
Another thought and the map flickers, showing the extent of the shield. It covers the entirety of the adjusted town boundaries and reaches almost to the edge of the highway that runs south of the city proper. The seventeen defense turrets are spread equally around the perimeter of the shield wall. The automated sentries are located in the town center. From the looks of it, we managed to damage two of the six sentries from the earlier fight. Oops.
“Hey, why are the turrets on buildings?” I ask Ali.
“Makes it easier to create the safe zone. Building a turret on an existing building adds it to the System, adjusting the Mana flows and property requirements. Also, where else would they put them? In the middle of the road?” Ali says.