Core Establishment

Dimensional Dungeon Cores

Book 1

Jonathan Brooks

Cover Design: Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists

Edited by: Celestian Rince and Ellen Klowden

Copyright ©2021 Jonathan Brooks

All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The following is a work of fiction.  Any names, characters, businesses, corporations, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.  Any resemblance to any actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.

Cover Design Copyright ©2021 Yvonne Less, Art 4 Artists

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all my Patrons on Patreon who are supporting me through my writing endeavors, while also giving me valuable feedback on my works-in-progress!

In addition, I want to give a shout-out to all my beta-readers – thank you all so much for your input!

Brett Siegel

Brian O’Neil

Brian Oles

Christopher Burr

Daniel Bergeron

Dehlia Kaian

Grant Harrell

James Henley

Joshua Chausse

Kegan Hall

Kelly Linzey

Michael Huber

Nate Martin

Rickie Brown

Sean Hall

Zack Devney

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

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

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Author’s Note

Books by Jonathan Brooks

Footnotes/Tables

Foreword

Dimensional Dungeon Cores is technically a continuation of my complete Station Cores series (links to the eBook and audiobook for the Complete Box Set are at the end of this book). However, you can still thoroughly enjoy this story without having read a single word of the previous series.  Those who have experienced the awesomeness that is Milton and his Station Core will recognize many references to the series.

In addition, there are a lot of fun stats in this book that have been included in the footnote; these stats are completely optional to look at, but those who enjoy a visual representation of different stat tables or additional information can dig into them.  Those who don’t care for stats or just want to enjoy the flow of the story without all of the distractions won’t miss anything if they choose to ignore them.

However you choose to experience this book, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Chapter 1

“Evasive maneuvers!  Fire everything we’ve got!”

Milton lurched to the side as his ship was hit by another volley of what appeared to be missiles with explosive warheads.  At least, that was what his sensors said they were, though the exact nature of them was a bit of an unknown.

I guess that’s because our systems are nearly 5,000 years out of date.

He pushed that untimely thought out of his mind as he easily recovered his balance, though at the same time he absently noted that he had broken his wrist while catching himself from falling.  Thankfully, injuries like that didn’t actually hurt him; when Milton was controlling his synthetic avatar, he could choose to ignore such mundane things as distracting physical sensations, if that was what he chose.

“And what, by the Goddess, does that mean?!” he heard shouted back at him from one of the control stations.

Milton looked toward the speaker, who was frantically pushing the various blinking holographic buttons on his console.  The Proctan appeared entirely out of his depth, for which Milton couldn’t blame him; science fiction in relation to spaceships had never been his expertise, though he had seen more than his fair share of movies and TV shows.  Therefore, “Evasive maneuvers” and “Fire everything we’ve got” had sounded a lot like something he should be saying in this particular instance.

“Brint!” another voice, one from another Proctan in front of a different console, shouted back at the confused Weapons Tech.  “Just touch those contacts on your screen there, and the defensive weaponry should engage automatically; I’ll handle trying to get out of this mess.”

“Oh…okay.  On it, Whisp!”

Guidance Officer Whisp and Weapons Tech Brint were slight misnomers, if only for the fact that Milton had literally made up those terms only a few hours ago when they were ready to attempt their trans-dimensional drive journey to reach Collective space.  I guess we should’ve practiced a bit with our systems before we left; but then again, I wasn’t expecting us to get ambushed immediately after arriving.

“I don’t know how this happened again, Milton,” he suddenly heard at his side.  Milton briefly glanced away from the viewing screen to see ALANNA in her diminutive form covered in her usual skin-tight, stretchable, deep-purple one-piece outfit floating next to him.  “This is exactly what happened to the Promory—”

Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as yet another barrage of spaceship-borne projectiles slammed into the right (is that what they call starboard?) side of their Defender-Class Battlecruiser.  It was a fancy name for a fancy ship, but he still didn’t know nearly enough about it despite literally building it from scratch not that long ago.

This time, the impact knocked him off his feet, though he managed to catch himself before he smashed his head into the nearest command bridge wall.  As he got to his feet, he glanced at the viewscreen again and saw three of his Escort-Class Cruisers burst with an explosive decompression of their inner atmospheres, pierced by the explosive tips of even more missiles that had been shot by the opposing fleet of ships.

A fleet of ships that was originally nearly 5 times the size of his own, though with the destruction of 3 out of his 10 Escort-Class Cruisers and deaths of their bridge crews, it was now more like 6 times the size.

Milton quickly pulled up the short-range sensor data feeding into his fleet of ships, noticing for the first time that he was actually down 4 of his Cruisers.  Quickly rewinding the time of the sensor recordings, he saw that one of the Cruisers had been savaged by some sort of multi-colored lasers that shot out of the left flank of the opposing fleet, tearing through the metal plating of his ship like some sort of long-range cheese slicer.

It had all happened in a matter of seconds, when his crew was still reeling from the transitional emergence of that odd dimension where they were able to travel great distances in a short amount of time.  Even his avatar had felt a little of the sensation of being compacted and then shoved through a tiny hole in space, though he fortunately didn’t feel the aftereffects of the transition to their normal dimension.  In those precious seconds when his friends were sick from the experience, this random fleet of ships that appeared to have been just passing by their arrival point turned toward them and started firing, without any type of communication.

“Gilly?  You’re the only one of us that has any type of long-range weaponry – or at least you should have it, anyway.”

His contact with the captain of their Assault-Class Dreadnought, their only ship that was specifically designed for these types of encounters, was unnecessary.  Gilly, the Proctan in charge of the ship, barely acknowledged his communication before her ship erupted in a mass of every type of weapon she had at her disposal.  Even as he watched them leaving the ship, he recognized them (from the blueprints utilized in the creation of the ship) as Neutrino Missiles, Focused Gamma Emissions, and a trio of familiar full-sized Particle Accelerators.  Other than the Accelerator – which he knew would accelerate a large mass of subatomic particles at high velocity, tearing apart the molecular bonds of anything it contacted – the weaponry was a bit of a mystery. Not for the first (nor the last) time, he wished he had dug a little bit more into the weapon systems of his ships before he left Proctus.

However, ALANNA had been so insistent that they leave and see what was going on with The Collective that he stupidly put it off until it was too late.  As much as he’d like to blame his assistant, he knew that it was his own failing; his only defense was the fact that arriving in the heart of Collective space— near the home planet where the Collective government was centralized – was supposed to be the safest destination, at least according to ALANNA.  Then again, the information we have is extremely out of date.

The weapons slammed into the lead ships, which were all the same size and had the same appearance; they were nearly half the size of his 2 Defender-Class Battlecruisers, which were nearly a half-mile in length, but instead of the sleek design of his own ships, the attackers were relatively box-like in appearance.  Not quite “Borg”, though; more like “massive shipping container”.  Their shape didn’t seem to prevent their maneuverability, however, as 4 of the 5 lead ships managed to dodge most of the ordinance shot their way.  The fifth ship took the brunt of the attack by Gilly and her Dreadnought, and the enemy ship seemed to melt into a slag of metal in less than a second, destroyed utterly by the combined efforts of the Focused Gamma Emissions and the Particle Accelerator.

As for his own ship, Brint was pushing holographic buttons on his console at a frantic pace, and familiar weapons of his own shot out at the approaching fleet, where it appeared to do a little damage – but not nearly enough.  The weapons on their Defender-Class ships weren’t very powerful; if he were to equate it to something he was familiar with, he would say that his Battlecruiser was more of a tank that could soak up damage with very little in the way of offense.  The Dreadnought was like a powerful spellcaster, with long-range spells that could absolutely devastate their target.

Unfortunately, the old name for spellcasters came to mind as the opposing fleet turned their attention on the Dreadnought and unleashed another volley at the Assault-Class ship: Glass Cannons.

“Move to intercept this wave of attacks!” Milton shouted, though he took control of his Defender-Class Battlecruiser himself when he noticed that Whisp was on the floor of the bridge, a portion of her head caved in where she had slammed into something hard during the last attack.  Brint glanced at her unmoving form quickly before turning back to his own control panel, his teeth gritted in grief.  The poor Proctan never enjoyed seeing those he loved die, after all.

The engines on the Battlecruiser were powerful, but his movement toward the Dreadnought was too late.   Milton’s ship lurched as it took a small portion of the missiles and a few of the multi-colored laser shots on its hull, but the majority slammed into the larger attack ship with less protective armor plating.  He managed to keep his feet from absorbing some of the attack, but he was knocked to his knees when the Dreadnought exploded shortly thereafter.  The shockwave of the Zero-point Energy reactor inside of the large ship rippled across the intervening space and shook Milton’s ship, tossing Brint out of his chair and into the bridge wall, snapping his neck.  Darn.  Gotta do all of this by myself, I guess.

By the time he recovered, he looked at the viewscreen again to see that the hostile fleet was already firing again, this time focusing on his ship.  Oh, no.

“We’re on our way!  Get out of here, Milton!”

The sudden communications coming from the rest of his fleet intruded on his mind, and he saw that the other Defender-Class Battlecruiser was nearly in front of his own ship, and the remaining 6 Escort Cruisers were right behind it.

“They’re right, Milton Frederick,” ALANNA said from next to him again.  She appeared as put together as always, as if all of the shaking and damage to the ship hadn’t affected her at all.  Which it didn’t, of course, because being formed of nanites meant that his assistant could appear essentially any way she wanted.  “This might be like when Promory was destroyed, but it’s also completely different.  It’s not just your Station Core aboard this ship, but all of the people you brought along, as well.”

She was right.  If Milton was destroyed, the 25,000 Proctans he had brought with him on this expedition would also permanently die.  He had to leave, and he had to leave now.

“Is the trans-dimensional drive still operational?” he asked out loud, though he could see for himself that it was… technically… ready.  It required a few minutes of cooldown before it could be utilized safely again, but he figured it was long enough; plus, he didn’t have time to wait any longer.

The missiles and laser from the enemy fleet impacted the other Defender-Class Battlecruiser, lighting it up with an extensive explosion.  Connecting with the other ship, he saw that it had been essentially crippled, as additional explosions devastated its insides, though it didn’t break apart.  Instead, it was essentially a hunk of metal now floating dead in space – which made for a fairly good shield, he thought.

As he charged his trans-dimensional drive, he maneuvered his ship behind the half-destroyed Battlecruiser in front of him as another wave of attacks arrived to destroy him.  The Escort-Class ships managed to maneuver in time to add to the protection, but it was just barely enough.  A few missiles managed to squeeze through the gaps in the wall of ships protecting him, causing him to lose his feet again.  This time, there was no preventing his avatar’s descent to the scrap heap as it crashed through the viewscreen, where it was subsequently mangled and electrocuted.  Thankfully, he had already retreated his focus back from his synthetic body to his Core, right smack in the middle of the Battlecruiser where it was located in the safest area possible.  At least, it would normally be safe, though against the assault with which the hostile fleet was peppering his own ships, it wouldn’t stay safe for long.

His own Battlecruiser was beat up, though not severely; regardless, it couldn’t take much more of a pounding before something critical was damaged and he would be defenseless.  As for his fleet, all but 2 of the Escort-Class Cruisers had been destroyed from the last volley, though the debris left over from their wreckages was still acting like a good physical shield.

Another wave of ordinance was fired from the attacking fleet to finish the job, but Milton could feel that his trans-dimensional drive was charged up and ready to use.  A second before the missiles and multi-colored lasers finished off the damaged-yet-serviceable Escort-Class ships, he contacted those left on board.

“Thank you for your sacrifice.  I’m sure I’ll see you all soon.”

There was a brief acknowledgement of their fate that echoed back to him, right before they exploded in a fiery conflagration of shrapnel.  They didn’t manage to block all of the projectiles, unfortunately, but that didn’t matter too much to Milton; before they were able to hit his ship, he activated the trans-dimensional drive and was compacted down and shoved through a tiny hole into another dimension.

Chapter 2

“That didn’t work out so well, ALANNA.”

He couldn’t help the accusatory tone of his voice from reaching his assistant, who was staring at his mangled synthetic avatar that was half-in and half-out of the broken viewscreen.  Thankfully, Milton didn’t need the viewscreen to actually observe what was outside of the ship, because the exterior was filled with all different kinds of integrated sensors that were a lot more powerful than the smaller sensor orbs he was accustomed to using.  They weren’t quite as flexible as the floating sensor orbs he’d used back on Proctus, because they couldn’t be detached and sent out in a direction of his choosing, but they made up for that lack of locomotion by having sensitive and longer-range detection radii.

Regardless, it wasn’t as if there was a lot to see outside of the ship.  Moving through this particular dimension, utilized by the trans-dimensional drive, was a unique experience.  Milton wasn’t, by any means, an expert on multi-dimensional properties – especially since all he really knew about them was what he had seen on TV or in movies – but he was fairly certain that the dimension they were traveling through was probably one of the strangest out there.

Trying to even look out beyond his space-faring vehicle was a lesson in futility, because nothing he saw or his sensors picked up made any sense.  Rather than seeing the void of space and stars in the distance all around them, it was instead a distorted and constantly churning maelstrom of multi-colored light streaks with no natural form or substance to them.  Milton was convinced that if he had a stomach, he would be throwing up the contents of said organ if he was forced to look at the nauseating dimension for more than a few seconds.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how it was perceived), Milton didn’t have to worry about making his fragile body sick from those observations.  Having his consciousness installed inside of a giant metal egg-shaped Station Core had its benefits, after all.  Not having a living body anymore was a minor price to pay for being connected to the ship and controlling everything within it, as well as essentially being immortal.  At least, immortal in the sense that he wouldn’t die of old age; if the ship was destroyed, there was every chance that his Station Core would be destroyed right along with it, despite being made entirely of Tritanium.  He had gotten lucky once, when the Promory had been blown apart, sending him drifting through space for more than 4,000 years; he didn’t dare think that he would be that lucky again.

ALANNA’s form suddenly fragmented and dispersed into a greyish smoke-like substance, and Milton watched it flow quickly through the passageways of the ship.  One moment, the Artificial Logistic Autonomous Nanite-formed Neurological Assistant (ALANNA) was inside the command bridge, and the next she had arrived at what he was considering his Core room in the center and most protected part of the ship.  This was where his Station Core resided, encased behind extremely thick walls of Weightonite.

It was an augmentation that Milton had added to the blueprint that had created the Defender-Class Battlecruiser, though it had to be modified after the ship was already assembled from the Space Transport Dock back on Proctus.  Weightonite was the most resistant and durable substance other than Tritanium that Milton could create; the only drawback was that it weighed a lot, though in space that really didn’t matter as much.  It made his ship slightly less maneuverable in comparison to an identical Battlecruiser because it took longer to get moving, but it was fairly negligible when the benefits of the extra protection were considered.

“I’m… sorry, Milton,” his favorite guide said slowly as soon as her cloud of nanites coalesced into her normal form, which was a very diminutive woman wearing a skin-tight, purple, one-piece outfit that showed off her well-endowed figure.  Not that Milton even noticed her appearance anymore. It wasn’t that she wasn’t attractive to him, but after spending more than a century as an immovable object without a living body, such considerations had fallen by the wayside.  Controlling his synthetic avatar helped him to regain some of the physical feelings he had been missing, but the 1-foot-tall, nanite-formed guide wasn’t exactly the ideal object of attraction.  If anything, she was more of a sister to him; a foul-mouthed sister, who had originally been so derogatory toward his scrambling efforts at survival that it had driven him a bit crazy, but part of the family, nonetheless.  “I was so caught up in getting back to help The Collective that I hadn’t even considered the potential danger.”

He could tell that she was sincere in her apology, too, because it wasn’t laced in profanity.  While she had adjusted her personality settings over the last few decades so that every other word wasn’t a curse word or vulgar innuendo, she still occasionally slipped up. It was when she was confidently talking directly to Milton was when it happened the most, because she had a “reputation to uphold” with the Proctans she spent so much time with, who also didn’t care for her profanity. As a result, when she didn’t fill her apology with f-bombs, the Station Core knew she was feeling bad about what happened.

“I accept your apology,” Milton responded, speaking directly to her through his Station Core’s systems.  It was handy not having to speak out loud through his internal sensor orbs, because his communication could be transferred to her near-instantly, rather than through spoken word.  “But what does this mean for my quest?”

Shortly after leaving Proctus with his fleet, ALANNA had given him another quest (or goal, as she called them), which had led them to using the trans-dimensional drive to journey to Collective-held space.

Current Long-term Goal: The Savior Arises

- Travel to Collective-held space

- Protect and defend The Collective from the Heliothropes

Difficulty of Goal: Hard

Timeframe: 100 years

Rewards: The unending gratitude of The Collective leadership, potential upgrade to Station Core form

Unfortunately, it seemed as though that space was no longer held by The Collective; the presence of ships near the governmental planet which had fired on his fleet immediately dismissed the notion that it was the passive, non-violent Collective peoples.  From what ALANNA had told him, the different races of The Collective had banded together for mutual protection against hostile forces, using their greater science and technology to defend themselves without actually hurting anyone; to Milton, it sounded like a bunch of intelligent sheep had come together to repel the wolves that hunted them.  According to his guide, The Collective had succeeded in keeping the wolves away for more than a hundred years, but this last wolf wasn’t taking the hint to leave and never come back.

“Honestly, I don’t know.”  For the first time, ALANNA seemed lost and confused.  In all of the time Milton had known her, she had been confident and assured of everything, even if she was angry and short-tempered at the same time.  The driving force behind her very existence – and behind the existence of his Station Core, in fact – had been to instruct and guide Milton in how his new form would help him defend against the Heliothrope threat to The Collective.  Which explained why she was so insistent that Milton get back to Collective-held space immediately after leaving Proctus. Having been away for a while, she had used the star charts in his systems to plot a course through another dimension, appearing in the heart of The Collective’s core systems, thinking that it would be safer.

Obviously, it had not been at all safer.

The Long-term Goal, The Savior Arises, didn’t fade away from his Goal list – nor did it say failed, which he had to admit was what he expected it to say.  That meant that she still held out hope that it could still come to pass, though the Timeframe of it did change from “100 years” to “Indeterminate”.

“What I do know, however, is that we need some more information,” she continued.

Current Short-term Goal: What the hell is going on?

- Travel to a different inhabited area of the galaxy

- Investigate and learn about the state of The Collective

Difficulty of Goal: Average

Timeframe: 1 year

Rewards: Information about The Collective and the Heliothrope threat, +2 to Ingenuity/Wisdom

Another quest with stat rewards!

Before he left Proctus, many of the quests he had received from ALANNA had contained stat increases as rewards, though the last few quest rewards he had received had been simply results of his actions: such as Goodbye Planet, Hello Collective, the very first quest he had ever received and consequently the last quest he had completed.

Current Long-term Goal: Goodbye Planet, Hello Collective – Complete!

- Gather Units of Tritanium – Current: 900/900 – Complete!

- Greatly Repair (72) your Reactor Power and Structural Integrity – Current: RP – 110/72, SI – 110/72 – Complete!

- Achieve Reactor Output of at least 63% – Current: 550% -- Complete!

- Create Space-worthy Vehicle to Transport Station Core – 1/1 – Complete!

Difficulty of Goal: Nightmare-inducing

Timeframe: None

Rewards: Leave Current Planet

It had been a while since the time he had received any quest-borne stat increases and after his completion of Goodbye Planet, Hello Collective, Milton was looking forward to acquiring another bump to his already-stacked stats.[1]  It wouldn’t make as much of a difference having 127 Ingenuity/Wisdom compared to 125 (especially since his Station Core had been fully repaired), but every little bit helped.  What was going to be more important than his boost in his stats was the other reward, however: information about The Collective and the Heliothrope threat.

“Good idea, ALANNA.  In fact, I’ve already used the coordinates Whisp helped me to compute before we left.”

“Wait, what the fu—”

Milton cut her off before she could curse, as she had been doing so well up to that point.  “It was always a destination where I wanted—no, needed—to go, but I followed your wishes first.  It seems like the perfect time to go there now.”

“You’re going back to Earth?  Why?  All of the people you knew are dead by this point, as it has been 4,652 years, 2 months, and 8 days since you left—”

“Don’t you mean ‘since you were abducted against your will’?” he asked, but she ignored him.

“—and your Earth has likely changed since then.  That’s quite a long time, you know,” she finished, crossing her arms across her chest – as if his idea was the height of foolishness.

“Exactly.  If it’s one thing I know about Humans, it’s that we were always looking toward the stars.  It would boggle my mind if we hadn’t achieved some sort of space-faring capability in all of the time after I was abducted, drifted through space after the Promory exploded, crash-landed on a planet, protected myself against the local wildlife while I repaired my Station Core, and then worked with the people there to eliminate the threat down inside of the Quizard Mountains.  I know your directive is to work toward defending The Collective with my help, but perhaps we can find even more help from my people.  Who knows?  They could be working on fighting the Heliothropes even now.”

Milton thought it was entirely possible.  In fact, in most of the sci-fi TV shows and movies he’d watched in the past, as well as some of the books he’d read, after discovering how to travel the stars, his people had expanded rapidly throughout the galaxy, encompassing system after system with colonies as the Human population exploded into the trillions.  Within these—albeit fictional—stories, there was usually some alien existence that threatened their galactic empire; in the end, Humans were a thoroughly war-like race that used their technology to create super-powerful weapons that could eliminate these alien threats through some sort of colossal battle and heart-wrenching personal sacrifice for the main characters.  Sure, the stories varied, but they all had a recurring theme: Humans wouldn’t give up without a fight.

Unlike The Collective, Milton’s people weren’t afraid of killing others in order to protect themselves or their families.  Heck, there were—sadly—many that wouldn’t balk at going out and conquering neighboring systems if they thought there was something they wanted; it was just Human nature, unfortunately.

Thinking about that truth made Milton consider whether the ships that had destroyed his fleet – and nearly destroyed his own Battlecruiser – had been Human, but he immediately dismissed that possibility.  The shape of them alone, all shipping container-like, was enough to convince him that Humans couldn’t possibly be piloting them; his people were much more aesthetically cognizant of their ship designs in comparison to that.  At least, according to all the movies he’d watched, they were.

Granted, that could’ve changed in the nearly 5,000 years he had been away, with most of that drifting senselessly through space – but he doubted it.

“I still don’t know if that is a good idea, but I guess it couldn’t hurt.  You need to find somewhere that can give us some information, and I suppose Earth and the Humans might just be the best place to start.”  ALANNA still hovered above the decking of Milton’s Core room with her hands crossed across her chest, but at least her face didn’t look so despondent.  “Though, it might take a little bit of time at the snail’s pace we’re going.”

“What do you mean?”

As soon as the question was put to his guide, Milton discovered the truth of it himself – he just needed to look around and pay attention.  His ship’s engines were running at only about 5% of their normal output, meaning that they were indeed moving at a virtual crawl.  Being in this particular dimension helped, because the distance between one point and another was greatly reduced, but it still took some time to get to their destination.  What should’ve taken at most a few hours to get to Earth from Collective space, was instead going to take a few days.

The extra time didn’t mean so much to Milton, of course, because he was patient and could wait, but what worried him was what awaited him when he transitioned back to his normal dimension.  If he was confronted by another hostile fleet of ships – which he desperately hoped wouldn’t happen – then he wouldn’t be able to outrun them before he could activate his trans-dimensional drive again.  Looking at the damage to his ship from the last confrontation, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand up to much in the way of weaponry sent his way.

That damage was also the reason his engines were having so many problems.  He hadn’t really noticed until now, but something must have hit his rear engine array that contained 20 different thruster ports.  A full half-dozen of them were outright destroyed, while another 13 were disabled by minor damage.  Even the single engine thruster that was still working had suffered a little damage, likely from shrapnel, but it was still operating with full functionality.

“I see.  Well, it shouldn’t take too long to repair them; I’m sending out an army of drones to take care of it.”

The repair of the engines that were minorly damaged and simply disabled would probably be fairly quick, though he thought the ones that were entirely destroyed would take a lot longer – and require a lot more resources.  He only had a limited number of resources that he had accumulated on Proctus, especially Basic Metal Units or BMUs, but it should be more than enough to repair his entire ship, even if three-quarters of it was missing.

As the drones scrambled toward the rear of the ship to get started on the repairs, he thought about all of the resources he had been forced to leave behind at the site of the last battle.  It had taken him over a decade to mine enough BMUs to create all of the ships in the fleet that he had brought with him.  He had originally planned on taking a very small Scout-Class Shuttle that would transport his Core, leaving everyone else on Proctus; however, when 25,000 Proctans decided that they wanted to go with him, to journey into space, he had been forced to build more ships so that they could have their own to venture out and discover the wonders of the galaxy.

Now, except for his own ship, all of that had been wasted when they were destroyed.

“Yes, but at least everyone who died is still okay,” ALANNA abruptly said, after listening to his thoughts about the subject.

“True; their patterns are saved in my system so that I can bring them back with my Bioconversion Laboratory, but I hate that their first experience with space ended up with their destruction.”

She was right, of course; death really didn’t matter much to the Proctans by that point, as most everyone that had come with him had died many, many times before.  The patterns he acquired from them when shoved into his Molecular Converters meant that he could recreate them again and again and again, as long as he had the appropriate resources.  They lost a bit of their accumulated “experience” when they died, but at that point it was comparatively tiny in relation to their overall power.

Thinking of that, he figured he might as well bring Brint and Whisp back, as they were his two closest friends and would probably appreciate being the first to see Milton’s home planet.  He focused on two of the Bioconversion Laboratories that were set up in one of the Battlecruiser’s few holds, quickly located Brint’s and Whisp’s patterns, and activated the machine.

Error – insufficient resources!

What?

That was impossible.  He theoretically had enough Biological Mass to recreate every member of the expedition that came with him at least 10 times over, so the error message didn’t make sense.  He pulled up his Available Resources[2] list—and was shocked at what he saw!  Or, to be more accurate, what he didn’t see.

He was entirely out of resources.  Again, that was impossible… but obviously it was not.

“ALANNA!  WHAT IS GOING ON?” he practically shouted at his guide, panic setting in.  Without resources, his drones couldn’t repair his ship and he couldn’t bring anyone back to life with his Bioconversion Laboratories.

“What?  Oh.  Oh, my.  Hold on, let me look into this.  It could be a result of traveling through this dimension or damage to the Molecular Converter inside your Core, but I’ll have an answer for you soon.”  Before he could say anything else, ALANNA had broken up into her nanites again and flowed into a little hatch in the side of his Station Core.  It wasn’t absolutely necessary for the diminutive woman to do that in order to access all of the data Milton had at his disposal, but apparently she could work faster without having to worry about keeping her form intact.

It was less than a minute later – which was almost an eternity to the quick processing power of both Milton and ALANNA – when she flowed out of his Core, appearing as herself again.  She had a strange confused and pained expression on her face that was hard for Milton to decipher.

“Well?”  He had tried to follow along with what his guide had been looking at inside of his systems, but she had jumped around from one thing to another so quickly that he couldn’t comprehend what he was supposed to be concentrating on.  All he knew was that she had been looking at things involving the trans-dimensional drive and dimensions, but he wasn’t sure what kind of conclusion she had drawn.

“Well… I have some good news and some bad news.  Which would you like first?”

“The good news, please – and I hope it’s that my resources are all still there.”

She hesitated a split-second before she answered; normal people might not see it as a hesitation, but to those who could perceive and process information as fast as they could, it was like an awkwardly long pause.

“Yes, that is exactly what I was going to say.  Those resources are still held inside of the quantum bridge connecting all of your Molecular Converters together on Proctus.  I believe that the reason you don’t see those resources now is because quantum entanglement apparently does not cross through dimensional barriers.  As a result, those on Proctus still have access to all of your resources, but since you didn’t acquire them in this dimension, they effectively don’t exist.”

That was disappointing, but also a huge relief.  “So, when I exit this dimension, I should have it all back?”

ALANNA hesitated yet again, for an even longer pause than before.  “Yes… and no.  True, if we were to re-enter the dimension where you had accumulated all of those resources inside of your quantum-entangled Molecular Converters, then you would have access to them all again.  This is where the bad news comes in….”

“Uh, oh; I’m not going to want to hear this, am I?”

She shook her head as an expression of shame eclipsed her face.  “No, probably not.  The problem here is that, at the moment, I have no idea how to locate the dimension where you crash-landed on Proctus.”

That statement sent his mind spiraling out of control in incomprehension.  After a few minutes, however, he managed to put together what she was trying to say.

“Do you mean to say that we….”  He couldn’t even finish his question, but ALANNA knew what he was going to ask.

“Yes, you are correct.” She nodded.  “All of that time on Proctus, and we were in an entirely different dimension than the one we both are familiar with.”

Chapter 3

Being squeezed out through the transitional tunnel into what he would classify as a “normal” dimension didn’t really affect Milton all that much.  In his synthetic avatar, he felt a little bit of the effects of transitioning to a different dimension via the trans-dimensional drive, but with his consciousness safely held inside of his Station Core, he didn’t feel a thing.  Instead, what he was experiencing was a disappointment and depression unlike anything he’d suffered from before.

The first thing he did when he emerged into his familiar dimension was check the nearby area with his ship’s sensors; it only took a second or two to confirm that there was no waiting fleet of hostile ships waiting to ambush and destroy him.  Once his relative safety was established, Milton checked his Available Resources, hoping that ALANNA had been wrong.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t.

None of the accumulated resources he had acquired on Proctus were there, and his total – for the most part – were still at a big fat 0.  He had a small amount of Basic Metal, Focusing Crystals, Organic Material, and Biological Mass, though it was all from the efforts of his drones during their trip through the strange other dimension rather than reacquiring it from his connection with his Molecular Converters back on Proctus.  Essentially, Milton had used his drones to gut his Battlecruiser in an effort to acquire material that could be used to repair his engines; in the process, he also cleaned up the bodies of Brint and Whisp, as well as his own destroyed avatar, which was what gave him a little more variety in his available resources.

While he could now bring back his friends, as well as recreating his avatar, at the moment there really wasn’t a reason to do that.  In order to accumulate enough resources to repair the engines, which he felt was key to his ship’s safety, some of the life-support systems in the Battlecruiser had been sacrificed as a result.  With some additional restructuring of the internal workings of the ship, he was fairly certain he could repair those systems, but it wasn’t on his list of priorities.

“How do you know this is our ‘home’ dimension?  This could be a separate dimension altogether, couldn’t it?”

Milton wasn’t happy to find out that his efforts on Proctus had gone to waste, with most of what he had achieved on the planet he had crashed down on having been for naught.  He could barely wrap his mind around what had happened, and while ALANNA was showing signs of being annoyed at having to continually explain it to him, she did it again anyway.  The Station Core thought it was probably because she felt responsible for everything that happened, though Milton knew it was no one’s fault – unless he counted the Collective people who had abducted him.  Since they were all dead, it was hard to stay mad at them.

Hard; but not impossible.

“Each dimension has a particular signature to it that is accessed when the trans-dimensional drive is activated.  The two signatures that are imputed into our systems refer to the dimension we travel through at great speeds, and our ‘normal’ dimension – where The Collective and your Earth exists.  As I’ve been trying to tell you,” ALANNA said exasperatingly, “there is no way to arrive at another dimension without deliberately changing these signatures.  I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that we are currently in our own dimension.”

“Yes, but how did we end up in the other—”

His guide cut him off as she screamed in frustration.  “Aaargh!  I don’t know, alright?  It could be that either the Promory or another of the ships had been destroyed in the middle of their trans-dimensional drive activation, which pushed us through an uncontrolled dimensional access point, spitting us out in a random dimension.”  Before he could follow up that with another question, she beat him to it.  “And before you ask, again, I already told you that when we activated the drive back in the Proctan home dimension, it was already preprogrammed to return to this dimension after the travel was complete.  There is no record of the dimensional origination signature, as it wasn’t necessary in order to activate the drive.  Now, if you can let all of that go for now, let’s see what the fu—”

“We’ll get back to Proctus eventually; I just know it.”  He really hoped that was the case, and not only for the resources he left behind; even more of his friends, including Rosewyn and Moxwell, were still there, and he would love to see them again.

ALANNA nodded solemnly as she agreed with him.  “Yes, we will – but not today.  Right now, you should probably check around this system to see if any of this looks familiar.”

Brought back to his current situation, Milton really concentrated on looking through all of the space surrounding his ship, rather than solely looking for any ambushing ships.  It didn’t take him long to interpret what his long-range sensors were telling him, and he knew immediately that he had arrived in a familiar solar system.  Sol – at least what he thought it was normally called in all of the sci-fi shows he’d seen before.  Of course, according to the star charts inside of his systems, this system was called G45-8661; regardless of the name, it was… home.

His long-range sensors were amazing; back on Proctus, his sensor orbs had become fairly powerful by the time he had left the planet, seeing miles in the distance and even being able to penetrate solid ground for hundreds of feet.  His ship’s sensors, however, were capable of penetrating through the entire solar system.  ALANNA had mentioned shortly after leaving Proctus that it had to do with less interference outside of a planet’s influence or something like that; all Milton cared about was that he gained a lot of information about the vicinity in only a few seconds.

First and foremost was the sun, which was much bigger than he expected it to be; he remembered seeing models of the solar system as a kid, and even a scale model of a large clear sphere filled with tiny blue balls that supposedly represented how many Earths could fit inside the celestial body, but it was quite a bit different seeing it through his sensors for himself.  Proctus’ sun was large, granted, but it was probably only half the size of the sun he remembered from his life as a Human on Earth, while also being a different color.  His sun was a little more yellowish-white compared to the Proctan sun, which was darker and more orange-ish, but the major difference was the size.

In comparison to the sun, the planets that were detected by his sensors were tiny.  Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were all there as he remembered them from his classes touching on astronomy in high school, but Pluto was nowhere to be found.  He thought it likely that it was blending in with the belt of free-floating asteroids and comets that existed past the last planets that he saw, or something had destroyed the planet/non-planet at some point and it was no longer there. His sensors extended even past this belt, which his high school astronomy class reminded him was called the Kuiper Belt, and it stopped just as it approached a spherical-shaped mass of rocks and other material that surrounded the entire solar system.  Again, thanks to his education, he remembered that this encompassing sphere of material was called the Oort Cloud; apart from the names of these things, however, he couldn’t remember much else about them.

There were a number of other things in the solar system that caught his attention, however.  First, while there weren’t any hostile-looking fleets singling him out for destruction, that didn’t mean there weren’t any ships at all.  Most of the ones his sensors picked up were thankfully smaller than even the Escort-Class Cruisers he had in his fleet before they had been destroyed, though there were a few that were even larger than his Assault-Class Dreadnought.

Those larger ones were shaped more like what he expected them to look like, with massive rear sections that held their engines and what were likely cargo bays, while their front sections were tapered to a point; overall, they almost looked like giant, wide-load semi-trailers flying through space.  He was reminded of a time back on Earth when he had seen a small house being transported on a huge flatbed trailer, hauled by a single semi-truck – though in size comparison to this ship he saw, it was like a semi hauling an entire neighborhood.  His sensors were sensitive enough to not pick up any recognizable weaponry on any of the huge ships, so it was likely that these ships were massive freight ships and posed him no threat.  A quick look over the rest of the smaller ships his sensors picked up again showed no weapons on any of them, though it was entirely possible that his systems were simply out of date on “modern” weaponry.

“Is there such a thing as stealth technology?  Are there any ships that I can’t see?” he asked ALANNA.

“There is, though as far as my knowledge extends, only The Collective had perfected it.  That may have changed in the time we were gone.”  She just shrugged, not knowing the answer.

“Then why did the blueprints for my ships not have any way to add that?  And what about some sort of shields?  I can’t believe they didn’t have something like that—”

“The Collective did,” his guide said quickly, cutting him off.  “But they never included it in the blueprints because it was purely a defensive technology.  Like the stealth capabilities, implementing them on a ship requires most of the space that is taken up by the weapon systems a Dreadnought has or the extra armor protection your own Battlecruiser possesses,” she explained.  “Since everything about your Station Core was supposed to kill the Heliothropes for The Collective – because they couldn’t bring themselves to do that – defensive technologies on ships were a secondary consideration.  Now, ground-based defenses to protect a location, that was completely different.”

Now that was rather confusing.  As Milton continued to look through all of the information in the system his ship’s sensors were feeding him, he asked ALANNA about it.  “That makes no sense.  Why are the ships – for the most part – armed to attack, while everything else is created to defend?”  Almost everything he knew about being a Station Core was designed to defend a location in one way or another, though there were a multitude of different means in which to do that.

ALANNA looked at him funny, in a way that he knew meant he had messed up somewhere.  “Are you telling me you haven’t looked through the historical records of the Collective/Heliothrope conflict?  That was supposed to be the first thing all Station Cores accessed….”  She stopped, slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand.  “Stupid idiot!  Of course you didn’t!”

“Hey, I don’t appreciate you calling me—”

“Not you, moron!” she shouted, clearly exasperated.  “Me!  I thought we had gotten past all of the problems in your knowledge base by the time we left Proctus, but I hadn’t even considered that you didn’t—alright, it’s okay, it’ll be fine,” she continued, visibly trying to calm herself.  “It’s just a simple week-long training module that goes over the historical records from the 217 years of the Collective/Heliothrope conflict.  Now, Milton, all you need to do is access—”

“Hold on, there seems to be some sort of space station near Jupiter.”  He wasn’t intending to cut her off, but he couldn’t help but be fascinated by the appearance of the station.  Something inside of his form was inordinately drawn to the floating structure in a way he couldn’t exactly describe.

While it couldn’t compare to the massive size of Jupiter, the station was still huge.  The ships he had seen flying around the system – even the big old freighters – were relatively tiny when they flew up to the suspended space station, which seemed to be locked into the large planet’s orbit.  It was cylindrical-shaped, though it only looked like that because it was composed of a dozen fat, circular rings that were stacked on top of each other, with a small gap in between each ring.  Each of the rings was connected through a central pillar, where the inside edges of the rings had multiple struts attached to the pillar like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.  The top and bottom of the central pillar extended past the rings and seemed to break apart and shoot in all different directions; it only took Milton a second to figure out that the bottom and top of the space station were its docks, as that was where all of the ships he saw flying around were heading toward or leaving from.

It was… magnificent.

“I wonder if that’s Humanity’s space station?”

Milton was so enraptured by the sight of the massive station that he suddenly realized that, despite being in his home system, he hadn’t even looked at Earth yet.  As he wrenched his focus away from the glorious sight of the colossal structure, the first thing he noticed about the system was that there weren’t any ships coming or going from the middle planets.  In fact, none of them ventured past the asteroid belt nestled between Mars and Jupiter – though there were hundreds or thousands of ships and structures inside the asteroid belt.  Mining, is my guess.  As he moved closer to his own location, near his home planet, he suddenly understood why no one was coming from Earth.

The expected blue marble of life was gone.  Earth was still there, but from what he could tell, there was nothing living on it – and hadn’t been living on it for a while.  As he turned to his sensors for a better idea of what had happened to make it a charred husk of its former self, with no water or discernable land masses and only barren soil without a touch of green, the scans told the story of Humanity’s demise.

Radiation still permeated what little bit of the atmosphere was left, and gigantic craters dotted the landscape, thousands of them all over the world.  From what he could determine based on the closer look at the mountainous formations of what landscape was left, the biggest crater was likely in the middle of the United States, where it had penetrated so deep that it had cracked the outer layer of the planet, creating a massive lake of molten lava that engulfed the entire continent of North America.  His readings also said that the average temperature on the surface of the planet was similar to that of Venus, though potentially a little higher at about 900 degrees Fahrenheit.  Regardless of which one was hotter, it all meant one thing: There was nothing living down there.

“What… what happened?  Were we attacked and… exterminated?”  That was the only explanation that made sense to him.

ALANNA sucked in her breath as she also looked at all of the sensor readings, and a frown was suddenly plastered across her face.  He could tell she was looking closer at the information that Milton was too shocked to really delve into too deep, and she shook her head.

“Unfortunately… no.  If you look at the blast patterns, they are inconsistent with spatial bombardment.  Also, judging by the radioactive decay in what little of the atmosphere is left, this was done thousands of years ago, not too long after you and the other subjects were acquired for the Station Core project.  I’d say anywhere between 50 and 100 years afterward.”

“What does the timing have to do with anything?”

The diminutive woman shook her head, as if she didn’t want to say anything.  However, after a few seconds pause, she explained.  “Because it is highly improbable that any other space-faring races – even the Heliothropes – had ventured into this sector of the galaxy.  The Collective only knew of Earth because they had explored much farther distances than almost any other civilization they had known about at the time.  Now, I’m not saying that it is impossible, just very improbable.”

“So, who did this?!” he yelled at her, which was something he couldn’t help himself from doing.

If only I hadn’t been whisked away to another dimension, maybe I could’ve helped stop this from happening.  Rationally, he knew it was foolish to think that he could’ve prevented something like the annihilation of his entire planet – but his thinking was suddenly highly irrational.  It was like he had gone to war for a long time and when he came back to his family, all of them were dead – along with every other Human in the world.  Thoughts of returning to Earth one day had sustained him while he was working to survive and escape the dangerous world of Proctus; even though everyone he knew would be dead, coming home to his people had been at the forefront of his mind for so long that his mind suddenly felt adrift.

“From what the sensors say… they weren’t attacked by anyone.  They did this to themselves.”

“What?!  Impossible!”  Yet, even as he said the words, he knew that it was entirely possible.  Stories about thermonuclear war and the end of the world had been prevalent even in his day, and “mutually assured destruction” wasn’t just a random phrase that someone made up for fun.  He could only imagine that in 50 to 100 years from when he lived there, the weapons of mass destruction could have become so powerful that they could do that to the planet if enough were set off at the same time.

ALANNA didn’t say anything else, probably because she could certainly hear his thoughts as they contemplated what she had said.  Milton still wanted to deny it, but without any evidence to the contrary, he knew it was futile.

Regardless of what actually happened, the result was the same: Earth was essentially no more.  He wanted to weep for Humanity, but unfortunately Station Cores couldn’t cry.

“Look at it this way; if you hadn’t come with us, then you probably would’ve ended up being killed along with—”

“Too soon, ALANNA.  Too soon.”

Chapter 4

Milton wasn’t sure how long he went over all of the sensor data coming from Earth, but as time went on, the information became more and more complete.  Since his ship was located relatively close, as he had appeared approximately twice the distance from the Earth as the moon, he even sent a few external sensor orbs as probes to gather even more data for a more in-depth position.

Unfortunately, all of the new information still pointed to an absence of life and further evidence that Humanity had done this to themselves.  After a few hours of perusing the data, he started to become numb to it all as reality settled upon his Core.  As if waking up from a nightmare and shaking off the effects of it, Milton looked around at the moon, where he found the remains of a once-habitable outpost of some sort, with solid and clear domes that he deduced were some sort of growing centers by the rows of dirt he observed inside.  There was also a small landing pad a short distance away from the outpost, along with some squat-looking buildings connected to it.  Burn marks on the pad were enough to pinpoint that this was some sort of basic spaceport, though there weren’t any shuttles or other spaceships anywhere to be found.

All of the clear domes were cracked or broken in some way, and whatever had been growing there had died and disappeared long ago; a quick check with another batch of sensor orbs showed that all of the other domes were empty of any life whatsoever.  In fact, they were almost entirely empty of anything, like an apartment that had been packed up when the renter moved.  Despite seeming like there were living accommodations for nearly 200 or more people, there were no desiccated bones of the deceased, nor any evidence that anyone had died.  Overall, it was marginally encouraging that perhaps not every Human had died on Earth.

If that was only marginally encouraging, then the presence of an even larger outpost (or he might even classify it as a colony) that was found on Mars made him even more hopeful.  A veritable city of domes was found on Mars’ surface, encompassing a much larger area than the one on the moon.  If he thought that a few hundred people could live on Earth’s satellite, the colony on the red planet was perhaps large enough to hold tens or even hundreds of thousands.  There was evidence that mines had been in production at one point, along with huge greenhouse-type buildings that spread for miles like giant farms, and there was even a massive hollow holding tank located near the middle of the installation.  It took him a moment to understand what it was, but after seeing another small “town” near the huge sheet of ice near the southern part of the planet, along with apparently abandoned equipment used to break it up and transport ice, he recognized that the holding tank was, in all likelihood, some sort of water tower.

In all, the colony had places to grow food, large supplies of water, and some buildings that seemed to house pumps and other technology that seemed to supply oxygen for people.  Along with what he could only assume were mills and factories that seemed to have been used to extract material from the natural resources of the planet, there was everything Humanity needed to survive.  It might not have been as great as living on Earth, but it seemed as though his people had somehow managed to live on past the destruction of their home.

Sadly, there didn’t seem to be anyone living there now.  Like the moon outpost, there wasn’t a single thing living there anymore – no people and no growth in the farms.  The buildings appeared mostly intact, though they were as empty as what Milton had seen on the moon, but there was one main difference that he could spot.  A few of the buildings around the perimeter of the colony had been completely reduced to rubble and scrap, their twisted metal sheeting and stone walls shattered as if a bomb had gone off.

“Not a bomb,” ALANNA said slowly and sadly as she was looking over everything along with Milton.  “You can see from the fragmentation pattern that they were collapsed inward from the outside, through the application of great physical force.”

“So, they were attacked?  Who would do that?  It seems wasteful to do something like this.”

“Not necessarily wasteful; this was done with intent.”  ALANNA manipulated the nearest sensor orb that Milton had sent down to the red planet to show the destruction in better detail.  “You see this enormous indentation here on this steel plate?  This was probably what caused the initial collapse of the building.  What do you think caused that?”

“I have no idea.  A battering ram of some sort?  Seems kind of primitive if you ask me.”

The purple-garbed figure shook her head.  “No, not a battering ram.  From what it appears like to me, and it would probably appear to you if you had watched those historical records, is that this was caused by a weapon of some sort.  A melee weapon, more precisely, like a warhammer.”

Milton looked at the dent in the thick steel plate and considered ALANNA’s words.  The Proctans that had improved themselves so much with his help were powerful and could probably do something like this, but it was the sheer size of the dent that he was having trouble comprehending.  The one-time square, 5-inch-thick steel plate was at least 50 feet wide, and the slightly rectangular indentation in the middle of the plate was at least 20 feet wide; if that was the head of a warhammer – as ALANNA had indicated – slamming into the plate with enough force to bend the entire thing, then the weapon had to be enormous.

“That’s impossible; no one could wield a weapon like that.”

Something occurred to Milton as soon as he expressed his doubts.  ALANNA had mentioned something again about historical records, and the meaning behind that finally caught up to him.

“Wait… are you saying this was the Heliothropes?  Here?  And they’re big enough to hold a weapon that could do something like that?”  Milton had trouble imagining a person that large; sure, he had created and even fought against biological creatures on Proctus that were that large and even larger, but they weren’t actually people.  A dangerous race of space-faring people that were possibly 100 feet tall or taller was nearly incomprehensible to him.

“Not all of them, though many of their leaders are.  I’m not sure how they managed to get here, since it’s far outside of the region we previously found them in, but this looks very similar to what the historical documents relay.  They don’t cause wanton destruction for the fun of it, but only for a purpose.”

“And what purpose was that?”

She was silent for a moment before she answered.  “Conquest and superiority.”

“Conquest and… what?”

“Fine, I’ll give you the quicky version of what you need to know about the enemy,” ALANNA said, sighing.  “From what The Collective learned throughout all of the years defending against the Heliothropes, as well as from other races that had fallen under their sway, they are a very war-like race – even more so than your own.  Ten times as violent and war-like as you Humans, in fact, because their whole culture is based on fighting and dominating their victims.

“There is a lot of background behind their ascendancy to the level of threat they pose, but there is only one important thing that you need to know – the rest you can learn when you study the historical records.  And that important thing that you need to know is how they fight.

“When attacking a civilization, they are unfailingly driven to keep it on a personal level – at least when it comes to inhabited locations.  In space, and especially between ships, combat is initiated without remorse, and if a ship has any type of weaponry – offensive or defensive – they will attack and show no mercy, sending wave after wave of ships until their target is dead.

“On space stations and inhabited planets, their method of attacking is completely different – almost insanely so.  Essentially, they won’t attack any type of installation with their ships as long as there is a chance to challenge themselves with combat against the defenders, because they want to capture those inhabitants for the purpose of slavery or sacrifice to their ‘Sun God’ – or that was as close as The Collective could determine.

“This”—she continued, indicating the collapsed colony buildings on the surface of Mars—“was simply an attack by the Heliothropes, demonstrating their superiority and inviting those within to strike back and challenge them.  My assumption from looking through the colony was that there were very few weapons systems in place for defense – or even none at all – and fighting the Heliothropes face-to-face would’ve been suicide.

“Any type of defense the colony had was likely focused on these few buildings, and when they fell, so too did any resistance.  Once that happened, there was no reason to destroy the rest, because that might end up killing those they sought to capture for their own uses.”

The implications of what ALANNA told Milton made his mind shift into overdrive.  The first thing he realized, if she was correct, was that there was a chance that Humanity was still alive… somewhere.  If they had been taken captive and made into slaves, rather than being sacrificed to some ‘Sun God’, then there was the possibility that he might find the remnants of his own people.  Or they might have even grown in numbers since they were captured, as evidence on Mars said that the events that led to their disappearance happened thousands of years ago.

That was heartening, of course, but there was an epiphany of sorts concerning himself.  For the first time since he had become a Station Core, he finally understood why The Collective had abducted him and a hundred other people from Earth.  Sure, he knew it was because Humans were able to be violent and kill the Heliothropes because the pacifist Collective could not, but he hadn’t ever figured out exactly how they were supposed to do that.

For instance, if he had actually been installed in a space station or assigned to defend a planet, wouldn’t the ships just destroy the station or bombard the planet, making every defense he created worthless?  He hadn’t really dug into that mystery all that much while he had been fighting for his existence on Proctus, but with ALANNA’s explanation, it all made sense.

The Heliothropes were instinctively driven to attack any type of defenses set up against them.  He had read about some past cultures on Earth – as well as fictitious races in books and video games – that took fighting very seriously, so much so that they were “honor-bound” to take the field against an enemy in order to see which group was better.  Warriors were prideful of their strength, constantly seeking out challenges to test themselves – almost like a stereotypical Orc from many, many different books he’d read or games he’d played.  For The Collective to defend against a race that probably overwhelmed them with their single-minded attacks, he could well understand how desperate they were for any help.

Help that came in the form of an equally violent race that could be utilized to defend their space stations and planets in a static defense.  Even looking at Mars, he pictured what he could do with the resources he saw down there; setting up an underground dungeon nearby and drawing the attention of the Heliothropes as they arrived and invaded, would be simple with enough time and drones at his disposal.  There were plenty of resources nearby that he could utilize, and with help from the people nearby feeding him even more materials, he thought he could design something that could defend against even something 100 feet tall, if necessary.  Milton – along with millions of Proctans, of course – had killed Quizards, Bearillas, Hammerslugs, and even an incomprehensibly gigantic Hydrapede, after all, so these Heliothropes couldn’t be all that difficult.

A little voice at the back of his mind told him that if they were as easy to defeat as that, then The Collective and the other civilizations that had been conquered by the war-like race probably wouldn’t have had that much trouble.  He ignored that voice as he analyzed the terrain around the colony, calculating how many Basic Metal Units he would need to start setting up a defensible location down below, as well as planning out the quickest way for his drones to start breaking down all of the buildings for materials—

“Milton!  This isn’t the time or place to be doing that!” ALANNA shouted at the Station Core, which thankfully tore his focus away from his planning.  For a moment, he couldn’t understand what had come over his mind, because it seemed as though some sort of instinctual processes of the Station Core had taken over.  The smile on his guide’s face told him everything he needed to know, however.

“Was that something all of the Station Cores were programmed with?  That felt… odd.”

She nodded.  “Yes, and it’s good to see that it is still functioning, because it will help if we ever need to defend a position.  I was worried that it had been damaged entirely when it didn’t seem to activate on Proctus, so I’m glad that I was wrong.”

“I don’t know if I like that; it feels a bit invasive and—”

“Controlling?  It is, and it’s supposed to be; it was designed to keep Station Cores on track with what they needed to do to prepare their defenses against the Heliothropes, but it appears as though you can shut it off at a whim.  While it might seem invasive and controlling, in your figurative hands it will be more of a helpful tool than anything else.”

Milton wasn’t so sure of that, but he did have to admit that he could see some benefits.  Tearing his attention completely away from Earth, Earth’s moon, and Mars, he looked around for any other evidence of Humanity on any of the other planets in the solar system, but he didn’t see anything that pointed directly toward it being built by his own people.  On many of Jupiter’s moons there were different installations that his long-range sensors couldn’t provide details about, but from their appearance they didn’t seem like something Humans had made.  Whatever had happened to those that were captured on Mars wasn’t obvious, but he knew he needed to find out. The two quests that ALANNA had assigned him still called for his attention, both of which referenced Heliothropes and The Collective.  But that didn’t mean he couldn’t utilize them to solve two mysteries at the same time; it was entirely possible that he might find more about his people while at the same time obtaining information about The Collective.

Thankfully, there was the potential for information-gathering right there in the solar system, even if it didn’t come from Humans.  Then again, the space station near Jupiter could be filled with members of his people – but the only way to find out was to visit it for himself.

But first, there was an entire abandoned colony filled with resources right there for the plucking, and it wasn’t something he thought should go to waste.  If the remnants of Humanity knew it was being used for a good purpose, he was fairly sure they wouldn’t mind.

What he didn’t ask himself, and probably should have, was why no one had thought to take it before he arrived.

Chapter 5

After sending an army of hundreds of drones down to the surface of Mars, along with a dozen of his extra Molecular Converters, it only took Milton a few hours to break down enough resources to fully repair his ship – with a bit extra in case more repairs were necessary in the future.  Nearly half of the colony was dismantled using the directed beams on the front of the ground and flying drones, as their molecular bonds were literally broken apart so that the materials were small enough to shove inside of the Converters.

Once inside, the materials were broken down and converted into raw resources, such as Organic Material, Basic Metal, and Basic Gravel.  It was through these resources that he was able to put the drones still on the ship to work repairing everything that hadn’t been fixed as of yet, as well as replacing the parts of the ship that had been previously consumed in order to fix the engines.  Work was progressing quickly, as the necessary parts for repairs were created by the Molecular Converters he had on board the ship, and then transported by the drones to where they needed to go.  Thankfully, by accessing the blueprint for the Defender-Class Battlecruiser that was part of his system, he was able to see what was needed in order to fix everything; otherwise, he would have been at a loss to know what needed to go where.  It was also fortunate that the drones knew how everything was put together, so all he had to do was instruct them what needed to be done (i.e., “fix the ship”) and they got to work.

Less than half a day later, the ship was as fixed as it needed to be, though there were some… subtractions to the outside of the ship that he initiated after hearing about the Heliothropes from ALANNA.  It went against his natural impulses of defense, but he ended up eliminating any sign of weaponry along the outside of the hull, even going so far as to scrap every defensive system on the ship.

“Smart.  Judging by the other ships in the system, your ship would stand out a lot more if you flew up to the station bristling with weapons.”

That was exactly Milton’s thought, and he didn’t want to be blasted at the first sight of his ship.  Thankfully, there hadn’t been any indication that his presence had been noted in the inner system of planets, though he wasn’t sure why.  It was also a mystery why there wasn’t a single ship located past the asteroid belt, closer to the sun; all he knew was that he was fortunate that no one had seen him arrive and then dismantle the colony on Mars for resources.

Milton figured he could’ve stayed another few days and finished up the colony recycling process, but once he had enough for full repairs and a little bit more, he was eager to move on.  After checking his long-range sensors again to ensure he didn’t see any of those shipping container-shaped ships that had destroyed his fleet around the system, he made his way toward the space station near Jupiter.  He navigated his way through the asteroid belt instead of going around it, for the sole purpose of trying to act like he was there the entire time; while he wasn’t sure why there weren’t any ships near the inner 4 planets, he knew enough not to deliberately show he was coming from there.  Whether or not it worked was something he’d probably find out eventually.

Using the Cybernetic/Synthetic Organism Factory[3] he had on board, the only ship in his fleet that possessed the Factory, he created another synthetic avatar for himself.  The recycled components of his previous avatar thankfully weren’t even required because he picked up enough from the colony, despite the “Fully Synthetic Replicant (Proctan)” taking 400 Basic Metal Units and 1,600 Organic Material Units.  The Factory only required an hour or so to fully create his new synthetic body, which was technically “Proctan” instead of Human, but it was close enough.

The normal purplish skin color of Proctans on his avatar was so pale that it was nearly white in appearance, the larger eyes that were required to see in the darker light coming from the Proctan sun were shrunk to near-Human size, and the ears – which typically fanned out widely like the fin on a fish – had been reduced and shaped to resemble a “normal” Human ear, though it was still slightly larger than he liked.  His short, dark hair was an exact replica of what he remembered of his living body’s hair, at least, so that certainly helped him to identify with it and feel more at home inside the artificial creation.  All in all, it almost looked Human, but was just slightly off if one looked at it for more than a few minutes – and if you knew what a Human looked like, of course.

After his avatar was created, Milton had a choice to make.  His available Biological Mass was currently limited, as the millions of Bio Mass he’d had access to in the Proctan dimension were now unavailable.  The only biological resources he currently had at his disposal were what he had gotten from recycling Brint’s and Whisp’s bodies after they had died.  Milton suddenly wished he had brought hundreds of Proctans on the ship when they had traveled to Collective space, instead of “storing” them in his system to be brought back later.  It had been a relatively simple solution at the time, because feeding that many people – especially with how powerful they were – took a lot of resources, and traveling without any but bridge crews was more economical.

He was reminded of some movies he’d seen of long-distance space travel involving cryogenic pods where crews would sleep in a “frozen” state for years or even centuries to get where they were going.  While his method technically killed them and stored their patterns in his Station Core, it was still fairly similar in effect.  Of course, if the Proctans had been frozen like those movies, he’d be able to wake them up when he needed them.

He hadn’t even considered not having enough resources to bring more than a few back at a time.  It had been more than a century since he’d had those types of problems, after all.

Lacking the proper materials to create a lot more Proctans, Milton could only reproduce at most 2 of them inside of the Bioconversion Laboratories he had inside of the ship.  The Bio Labs were large, cylindrical, suspended holding containers filled with a clear Bioconversion fluid, which rapidly grew one of his Combat Units.  Once they were fully formed, they would drop down below the container into a pool of water, where they would be dried off by heaters located on the bottom side of the Lab.  The entire process didn’t take long to complete, especially for Proctans; with his current stats, as well as bonuses he’d unlocked previously that sped up the entire Combat Unit creation process, it took less than 5 minutes for a single person to be recreated.

So, it wasn’t necessarily time that he didn’t have enough of, but Units of Biological Mass, instead.  At most, some of the largest Proctans required a total of approximately 1,100 Bio Units, though those were usually the larger “Tank” specializations that had much more flesh on their bodies due to their higher Strength and Constitution stats.  At the lower end of the spectrum were some of the Elemental Caster and Inventor/Thinker specializations like Whisp, or those that had a unique combination of abilities like Brint.  The once-shy Proctan had really come out of his figurative shell once it had been revealed that he could control Milton’s Combat Units, but he was still a bit on the scrawny side despite some advancements to his stats.  While Whisp required a total of 800 Bio Units to create, Brint required a few more at 850 Bio Units.

Therefore, with a total of 1,650 Bio Units available for creating Combat Units, after recycling Brint’s and Whisp’s bodies, he was restricted as to what he could create.  Milton was planning on using his avatar to investigate the space station near Jupiter, but he wasn’t sure who to bring along.  His synthetic body wasn’t very powerful all by itself, though it was stronger than a normal Human, so his original thought was to bring along someone that could protect him – like a Proctan with a Tank-type Specialization Class.  However, doing that would mean he couldn’t create another person, as it would require more Bio Units than he had access to at the moment.

He could also recreate Brint along with some smaller Combat Units[4] that the Proctan could control, though it would largely be unnecessary, as it was likely that Milton could direct them just as easily.  Besides, with him not knowing what kind of reception he would receive, the Station Core was unsure if defending his avatar would even be necessary.

In the end, he decided that if he was on a fact-finding mission, his priority should probably be to keep a low profile.

“Probably a good idea to be as non-threatening as possible,” ALANNA agreed.  “If the Heliothropes truly have been here in this system and still maintain a presence, then it would be foolish to present yourself or those that come with you as threatening.  Well, not necessarily threatening,” she amended, “but presenting a challenge that they would want to test themselves against.  Even if you defeated them, it would invite too much attention to you and your ship.”

As she was probably right, Milton ended up just recreating Brint and Whisp, as they were as unassuming and non-threatening as they came.  Whisp, for instance, used to be an Inventor, someone that on Earth he would consider a nerdy brainiac – but in a good way.  While she hadn’t lost her enthusiasm for learning new things and using her knowledge to invent traps and defenses for his previous dungeon, the changes in her stats[5] as she developed herself gave her a bit of an innocent appearance.  She was far from innocent and could hold her own in a fight if it came down to it, as she had quite a few special traits at her disposal.  Adding traits through gene mutations via a Biological Recombinator was a bit of a specialty of Milton’s, in fact, which meant that the “harmless”-looking woman was anything but harmless.

Not only did she have a trait that could increase her Intelligence to even higher levels than it already was, but she also had a Basic Elemental Suite trait that gave her access to the manipulation of elements, such as Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, Dark, and even Spatial Void.  She wasn’t as experienced with the elements in terms of combat, but in a pinch she could certainly blow someone up with her Fire affinity.

Where she really excelled was with Enchanting, Item Shaping, and Object Animation.  She had learned how to create large Stone Golems that were essentially animated stone that could be controlled by an enchanted sensor orb.  The 100-foot-tall monstrosities had been a key part in their success in defeating the threat to Proctus, though Milton didn’t think an animated Golem was necessarily the right idea for a visit to a space station. Regardless, the Station Core wasn’t worried about her defending herself.

Brint[6] was a bit different than Whisp, as most of his special traits had to do with enhancing himself and others.  Healing, Boosts to his own Physical stats, Boosts to others’ physical stats, and taming beasts were what he specialized in, as well as controlling Combat Units with his Neural Uplink – which connected him to the Combat Units via Milton’s Station Core systems.

Despite their abilities, neither of them were what Milton would consider particularly powerful when it came to direct combat, but that wasn’t why the Station Core wanted to bring them along.  In truth, it was because he trusted them like no one else; they were two of his oldest friends – disregarding ALANNA, of course.  Brint would be able to utilize any sensor orbs that were brought along with the investigative party, while Whisp was smart enough to pick out things that Milton thought he would otherwise miss; he wasn’t ashamed to admit that Whisp was much smarter than him, even though he was technically a giant computer trapped inside of a giant metal eggshell.

With that decided, he queued up the production of his two friends inside of his Bio Labs, and they appeared about 15 minutes later on the bridge, dressed in clothing his Molecular Converters had whipped up for their use.  His avatar had already taken a seat in the captain’s chair, and he nodded to them when they arrived.

“Good to see you both again.  I hope you both aren’t too traumatized by what happened.”  He was fairly certain they weren’t, because the Neurological Control Unit installed in each of them muted any memories of their deaths upon their recreation. The NCUs they possessed were the only things that allowed his system to keep up to date on their condition, so that they were recreated in nearly the same state they were in when they died.  There was a small loss in their progress, but it was typically rather minimal – unless they died outside of his Communication Range, of course; in that instance, the last known state their pattern was in before they left his Range would be how they were recreated.

Thankfully, his Communication Range was quite far by this point, and could encompass basically an entire planet; in space, that range seemed to be even further, similar to how his sensors could see further.  Milton thought that he could communicate with one of his Combat Units at a distance from Earth orbit to Mars orbit, though as soon as they got within a planet’s atmosphere, that cut down the Range dramatically.  The distance between the Earth’s moon to the surface of the Earth would probably be the limit, in that case.

“No, I’m fine – but what happened?  The last thing I knew, we were getting bombarded by that other group of ships—where did they go?  More importantly, why were they there?” Whisp asked.

Milton, along with ALANNA’s help, explained their escape and the news about the Proctans being in another dimension altogether.  They seemed to take the revelation much better than he would’ve if he’d been in their position.

“I’m sure I’ll be able figure out the dimensional signature for home at some point,” Whisp explained.  “Until then, I’m not too worried about it; we left Proctus because we wanted to explore and to help you in your fight against these Heliothropes, after all.  I’m in no hurry to get back.”

Brint just shrugged in apparent agreement, before moving on.  “So, what now?  And where are we?”

“We’re near Milton’s home planet, though it was unfortunately destroyed quite a long time ago,” ALANNA explained.

“WHAT?!  I’m so sorry, Milton.”

Milton wasn’t trying to be nonchalant about it, but he waved off Whisp’s genuine-sounding sympathy.  “I know now that there was no way that I could’ve prevented it happening, and we apparently did it to ourselves.  There’s a chance that some Humans survived, however, which is why I need your help.  Actually,” he corrected, “that isn’t the only reason; we also need to find out more about what’s going on in this galaxy by gathering up information.  I have a promise I need to keep to a good friend of mine, but I need to figure out the best way to fulfill that promise.”

Milton smiled at ALANNA, who faked a swoon at his words.  Dramatics aside, she was definitely pleased.  “Thanks, Milton.  I know you didn’t necessarily sign up for this, but I appreciate you helping to fulfill both of our purposes.”

She was right; he didn’t sign up to protect The Collective, but he wasn’t going to let them suffer for their poor judgment cloaked in good intentions.  He honestly couldn’t say that he wouldn’t do the same thing at the time if he had been them, though that didn’t make his abduction right.  Still, he had promised ALANNA that he would do everything in his power to help The Collective once he was off of that planet, and he meant to do just that.

As Milton directed the ship to take a meandering route through the asteroid belt and steadily made the way to Jupiter’s space station, he explained what he wanted from them.  The two Proctans were a bit hesitant at first, because they would be journeying into a massive unknown, but Whisp finally shrugged in a similar fashion to what Brint did earlier.

“I think this will be a spectacular learning opportunity, though I can’t say I’m not a bit apprehensive going aboard someplace like that.”  She was looking at the sensor readings of the space station, seemingly almost as fascinated by it as he was – though for completely different reasons.  Regardless, it looked like she was on board for the investigation.

Brint, on the other hand, was a lot more hesitant.

“You know me, Milton; I’m not really big into people.  At least, not since I was labeled ‘useless’ in my youth.”

The Station Core knew all about his past, about how the unfortunate Proctan had been found to have no abilities when he came of age; as a result, he was ostracized by society, even to the point where he couldn’t have a relationship with Whisp for fear that he would pass on his “defect”.  It just so happened that his ability was one that couldn’t be tested by normal means, because it was one that allowed Brint to tap into Milton’s Station Core systems.

“I know, I know – but this will be fun.  Besides, I need you there to protect Whisp as she helps me discover the information I need.”  Milton was banking on the protectiveness of Brint when it came to Whisp to be the deciding factor in his agreement.

Thankfully, he was right.

“Fine.  Just so you know, I’m going to be extremely uncomfortable the entire time.”

Milton didn’t say it, but he was going to be in the exact same situation.  Docking with and entering a futuristic space station sounded like a science fiction fanatic’s dream, but it wasn’t his and was therefore terrifying.  Not in the least because he had no idea what to expect.

“Thank you both.  Now, let’s see if we can figure out a way to get inside.”

Chapter 6

“We’re picking up unsecured communications emanating from the space station, though I can’t tell if any are being directed toward us,” ALANNA announced, her head tilted to the side and her focus somewhere other than the bridge.  “I’m not sure if it’s because their communication technology is primitive compared to The Collective’s, or if they simply don’t care, but we’re essentially being bombarded by all of the different signals being sent out.” Milton’s guide suddenly regained her focus and looked at Whisp.  “Would you be able to help me filter out the majority of these so we can concentrate on only a few likely candidates?”

Milton was frankly amazed at how well Whisp caught on to technology and knowledge of subjects that their planet hadn’t even known existed before his Station Core crash-landed there.  Proctus had been a fairly medieval-type world before he woke up there, extremely damaged and barely holding his Zero-point Energy reactor together.  The leakage from his reactor ended up changing the surrounding wildlife, making them much more dangerous, as well as the Proctans, granting them abilities.  The Power they used to perform these abilities had a direct correlation to his reactor leakage entering widespread water sources, but overall it had been beneficial to their society.

In essence, it changed their society from medieval-esque to “fantasy”, complete with a Guardian Guild that acted like some sort of Adventurer’s Guild that possessed some powerful individuals.  They had held back the constant influx of deadly beasts roaming the Kingdom’s surrounding forests, using their special abilities to keep the “common man” safe from their attacks.  Granted, once Milton started to work with them, he helped them achieve even more than they could without his help, thanks to the dungeon he created where they could train.  After learning how to make them “respawn” using his Bioconversion Laboratories, death inside of a dungeon wasn’t that big of a deal anymore; it was treated more as an incentive to learn faster and unlock their potential so that they didn’t have to experience being killed again.

Whisp had been an Inventor, possessing an ability that she could trigger using her Power to increase her Intelligence, though she was innately intelligent to begin with.  As she flourished under Milton’s care, she became so much more; the evidence of that was how quickly she (and other Inventor-type individuals) had picked up on Collective technology and knowledge.  He readily admitted – if anyone asked – that a lot of it was beyond his full comprehension, though his mind could grasp the basic fundamentals of almost anything; for those like Whisp, they soaked up that knowledge and almost instinctively knew how to apply it.

Milton watched her and ALANNA work on parsing through the signals that the ship was picking up from the space station, which basically sounded like a bunch of static-y noise to the Station Core. Whisp’s fingers flew over her console almost faster than he thought was possible, but she seemed to know what she was doing.  Looking over at Brint, sitting at the weapons console, he looked confused and as amazed at what Whisp was doing as Milton was.

In less than a minute, the static and confusing babble of voices being sent through the sensors started to become clearer, as the number of incoming transmissions went from what seemed like millions to only a few dozen.  Even that number was reduced over the next few seconds as even more were filtered out, until only a few remained.  Being a Station Core with great processing power, Milton was able to clearly make out a half-dozen communications at the same time, though he didn’t have any idea what was being said.

His Communication/Charisma stat kicked in at that point, as his systems started to process the languages being spoken.  Strangely enough, it didn’t take very long for him to start understanding most of the communications flowing through his sensors; he expected it to take longer.

“It appears to be derived in part from a common known language, spoken by most of the members of The Collective.  It is altered in a way I don’t understand, but that’s why it was processed so quickly,” ALANNA said quickly, though she had a concerned look on her face.  Milton wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Regardless, it was something that would have to be addressed later, because the Station Core was currently sifting through the information being sent to his ship.

“…from dock 42-BZ.  You are now authorized to depart, Klepbire 85A.”

“No, you must proceed through the customs checkpoint if you wish to offload—”

“…on Worker Ship E432.  Loading cargo now…”

“Access to the lower decks requires Commander authorization; if you wish, I can contact—”

“…have materials we wish to offload for transfer to secondary manufacturing facilities.”

There seemed to be a lot going on in and around the space station, which made sense when he thought about it.  Considering that the massive object floating in space was nearly the size of the old United States – or perhaps larger – it was only logical that there would be a lot of business happening.  Most of what he heard was hard to understand because he didn’t have any context in which to apply it; that, and it was difficult to figure out how anyone could understand which communication was meant for them, but fortunately ALANNA seemed to catch on.

“It appears as if there is an embedded signal attached to all of these communications, which I believe is how specific targets receive their information.”

“What, like a phone number or something?”

ALANNA thought about that for a second, before shaking her head.  “No, that would be too simple.  To put it in terms you might understand, it’s more like a computer’s IP address, though a bit more complicated than that.”  She lost focus for a moment, before adding, “Hold on, I’m trying to isolate our underlying signal.  Whisp, can you cross-reference the—”

“On it!  I think I know what you’re looking for…and…there!  I got it.”

Milton’s diminutive guide looked impressed, nodding her head in the Proctan’s direction before turning back to his avatar.  “I believe Whisp found our designated signal signature; patching it through to you now.”

“…unidentified vessel.  If you do not turn on your transponder beacon, the local Commander will be informed of your approach.  Please respond.  I don’t want to have to report you, but our regulations are implemented for a reason.  This communication is sent out to the unidentified vessel.  If you do not…”

The message seemed to repeat from then on, coming from a harsh-toned yet feminine-sounding voice.  Oddly enough, it didn’t sound like a recording, but was instead probably from some sort of bored space station communication manager, doing what they were required to do – but not liking it one bit.  The comment about not wanting to report them was enough to reason that out.

“Can we respond?” Milton asked.  Whisp looked at ALANNA and the nanite-formed woman nodded.

“Putting you through to the signal origination signature,” the Proctan announced, before pointing to him to speak.  For a moment, he wasn’t sure what to say, but then it came to him.

“My apologies, we have had some external and internal damage from a cluster of unavoidable asteroid strikes.  Our transponder beacon has been entirely detached from our ship and we require a replacement.”

Milton held his figurative breath, even though his synthetic avatar technically didn’t need to breathe in the first place.  Still, he was thoroughly hoping that his brief explanation was enough to fib his way onto the station, though panic started to set in as there was no response for a few minutes as his ship drifted closer.  Finally, relief coursed through his mind as there was a response.

“Explanation accepted.  Please proceed to dock 346-SB to outfit your ship with the required transponder beacon.  As per Commander edict, all docking and installation fees are waived when obtaining the necessary beacons.  However, be warned that docking fees will resume 1 hour after installation is complete.  Ending communication from Station 23-E.”

“Thank you, Station 23-E.  Proceeding to dock 346-SB—”

ALANNA cut him off.  “I don’t think they are listening anymore.  That was rude as fu—”

“Can you tell where this dock is?” Milton asked, cutting ALANNA off in turn.

Whisp nodded even as his guide looked perturbed, which made him confused.  Did she understand the conversation?  It took him a very brief moment of consideration, but he suddenly understood that the Neurological Control Units inside of both Brint and Whisp had automatically translated the communication he was receiving.

“There was a lump of data sent over before the communication ended, which I believe pinpoints the dock.  Overlaying it on the viewscreen now.”

The sight of the space station on the viewscreen suddenly had a glowing target on it, located on what he considered the bottom of the gigantic structure.  Of course, in space, there really wasn’t a “top” and “bottom”, because up and down were abstract concepts in a void, but it was the closest he could figure.  As ALANNA zoomed in on the targeted location, Milton could see an empty dock platform that led further into the station; articulated metal arms with giant clamps – that appeared just the right fit for his ship’s size – were located on either side of the long dock.  A flexible metal tube was also attached to the self-contained dock, which Milton thought could be maneuvered either manually or remotely so that it lined up with any hatches on the ship.  Its role as a way inside of the station was obvious, as was that of the other, smaller retracted arms and clamps that were next to a huge hatchway, which seemed capable of unloading even one of the massive freighter ships he’d seen flying all around the station.

Even though he had never piloted a ship into a space dock before, it seemed fairly self-explanatory.  Milton took over the docking process, feeling confident in his abilities to do it.  He’d parked a car before back when he lived on Earth, so it couldn’t be much harder than that, right?

He was wrong, as it turned out.

“Uh, you’re coming in too fast, Milton!  Slow down!” ALANNA shouted, and he fired the thrusters to slow down the ship before he crashed into the station.

It turned out that his momentum through space was deceiving, and parking a ship that weighed many times more than a car was a lot harder due to having to compensate for the weight.  Flying through space was easy enough, but some of the finer details in ship piloting in small spaces came only with practice.

Fortunately, ALANNA and Whisp were there to help him out, and they assisted in maneuvering him next to the dock with something approaching reasonable speed.  In the end, there was a minor bump against the lower dock plate, which Brint said (after he and Whisp picked themselves up from the floor) felt like he had run head-first into a stone wall.  With his sensors, he couldn’t see much more than a few dented places on the dock, but he couldn’t be sure they weren’t there before.

The long arms with docking clamps seemed to move threateningly toward the front and rear of his Battlecruiser, causing Milton to tense up momentarily, but all they did was attach themselves to the ship with a brief jolt.

“It appears as if they are magnetized for ideal security,” ALANNA mentioned.  The Station Core used his sensors to assess the same thing.  “It will prevent damage to the ship if there is any shifting, and releasing the ship upon departure is much easier.”

Milton supposed that made sense, but his attention was on the flexible metal tube that was moving on its own and angling toward the main right-side access hatch of the Battlecruiser.  It didn’t take long for it to attach to the ship’s hull through a magnetic adhesion, and Milton waited for something else to happen.  When the rest of the dock was completely still, and no new communications were sent through to his ship, the Station Core turned his avatar toward Brint and Whisp.

“Well, shall we?”

Whisp jumped up out of her seat, her enthusiasm obvious and infectious.  Brint, on the other hand, hesitated as he got out of his seat.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” the unsure Proctan asked.

“Absolutely not.  It’s probably extremely dangerous, but it’s not like we have any other choice.  Besides, if something happens to us, I’ll get the ship out of here and bring you both back later,” Milton answered with a shrug.

While that didn’t reassure his friend, Brint was less hesitant after that.  Immortality as far as being able to be brought back time and time again if he died tended to make dangerous situations seem less threatening.

Within minutes, they were at the hatch leading out to the metal tube attached to the outside of the ship’s hull.  With a quick sensor sweep of the tube, he was assured that it contained oxygen, though gravity was non-existent.  While the rings of the space station spun, which he assumed created artificial gravity, the docks were locked into place; unlike his ships, which had also had artificial gravity through means of a miniature gravity generator located near the reactor – which he understood only marginally – the docks didn’t have any at all.  Again, this made sense, because moving freight without gravity weighing it down was probably much easier and faster.

As the hatch opened up at his command, there was a brief equalization of the pressures between both areas, but it was barely enough to throw Brint or Whisp off-balance for more than a second.  Milton led the way after a moment with a smile on his face.

As far as I know, I could be the first Human to step inside of this space station.  I have to admit, I’m extremely interested to see what this place looks like, despite the danger.  A part of his mind was enraptured by the station itself – the Station Core part – but the nerdy gamer part of his mind was excited to see something he’d never thought he’d ever see in his lifetime: A space station filled with aliens.  Granted, the Proctans were technically “aliens”, but they were so similar to Humans that he barely saw a difference anymore.  Visions of tentacled races, viscous blobs of sentient ooze, and slick-skinned xenomorphs filled his thoughts as he and the two Proctans stepped out into the metal tube, the gravity leaving them abruptly.

They started to float almost immediately, though fortunately there were multiple smooth metal bars attached to the inside of the tunnel.  By using them to grab hold and propel themselves down the hatch tube, they were able to quickly traverse the tunnel after a brief adjustment to their situation.  Brint and Whisp adjusted quicker than he expected, especially since the vacuum of space and the lack of gravity weren’t necessarily two things that Proctans were very knowledgeable about.  Then again, most of their adult lives had been one strange circumstance to the next, so he figured he shouldn’t have been so surprised.

It didn’t take them long to come to the end of the tunnel, where they entered a large, low-ceilinged, and predominantly empty room.  At the far end of the room was a desk that was about chest-height on Milton’s avatar; behind the desk was a bored-looking alien, with its hoofed hand keeping its long-faced, horned head upright through what appeared to be a losing fight with sleep.  Shortly after they entered, however, the alien jerked upright from their slouch, looking at the three of them with soft brown eyes.

“Milton!  That’s a Bovene!  They’re part of The Collective, or at least they were!”

While ALANNA stayed on the ship, she was observing everything through Milton’s avatar.  The surprise and excitement in her voice made the Station Core look closer at the alien, and he couldn’t get over the fact that it looked just like someone had mixed a cow with a Human.  Not like a minotaur, or something powerful and intimidating, but a relatively docile cow that seemed entirely incapable of violence.

“Name and designation of your ship?” the Bovene called out as they approached using more handles attached to the ceiling, with Milton still trying to get over the fact that he was listening to a talking, thin, bipedal cow.  “We need the specifications so that we can install your transponder beacon.”  It took him a second or two to fully process what was being asked, but he managed to answer before the hesitation seemed suspicious.

“The Proctus 2018-E,” Milton said quickly.  He thought that the planet he had crash-landed on and the year he had been abducted from Earth would be appropriate.  The two Proctans by his side twitched a little at his words, but fortunately the Bovene didn’t see them, as she was currently inputting the information into some sort of holographic display in front of her.  It was only when he thought of the Bovene as a her that he realized that the cow-person he was conversing with was female.

“Bovene Males tend to be larger and have longer horns.”

Milton sarcastically thanked ALANNA for the completely unnecessary and untimely information, but she didn’t seem to care.  From her tone of voice, the Station Core could tell that she was excited to know that at least some of the members of The Collective had survived; he thought he would probably feel the same if he found some Humans somewhere inside the space station.

“Done.  My information tells me you’re here only for a replacement transponder beacon, correct?”  Milton nodded.  “Very well.  Installation starts in approximately 2 hours and the process shouldn’t take more than an hour after that.  If you don’t wish to incur a docking fee, you need to return in a maximum of 4 hours, preferably sooner.”

Milton nodded again.  “We’ll be here.  Where can we go to obtain some… information?  This is our first visit to Station 23-E.”

She appeared surprised, which was amazingly easy to read even on a bovine face.  “First time, huh?  Well, then welcome to Station 23-E!  We rarely get new visitors here, as this is normally just a minor material transportation hub for this sector.”  She looked around the room, as if there were someone potentially listening in, before turning back to Milton.  “And we like that just fine, I’d say.  Very rarely do the Commanders and their fleets pass through this system, so we’re a bit more relaxed here than in other parts of the galaxy.”

She held up her hooves, as if to forestall a comment, though Milton wasn’t sure how to respond.  “That’s not to say that we don’t follow every edict to the letter, because we do; however, we rarely have any complications worthy of calling the Commanders in.”  She suddenly slammed her hooves down on the desk, creating a sharp report that startled not only Milton but his two friends.  As she leaned forward threateningly, she said, “Please keep it that way.  We don’t want any trouble from you, and if the Station chief is informed of any trouble… well, let’s just say that a missing transponder beacon will be the least of your problems.”  She suddenly leaned back and her lips retracted slightly in what Milton could only assume was a smile.

“Now, as for information, since your time is limited, I would recommend Designated Dining Area 21-85, which is located near the dock exit and on the edge of Ring 6.  Now, if you don’t have any more questions, I have a lot of work I need to get back to.”  She suddenly crossed her arms across her chest and bowed in place, saying at the same time, “The weak will serve.”  It sounded ceremonial, and Milton suddenly had a bad feeling about it.

At the same time, he sensed there was some sort of response needed, so he quickly communicated to the others to repeat the gesture, even if they had no idea what was going on.  For Brint and Whisp, their words were a bit more garbled than his own, because speaking an unfamiliar language was something completely different from understanding it via their Neurological Control Units translating the words.

Milton crossed his arms over his chest and clearly and loudly repeated, “The weak will serve,” which covered up the issues his Proctan friends had in saying the words.  Thankfully, the Bovene didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, and with a dismissive glance in their direction, she concentrated on her holographic display as if it was suddenly the most important thing in the entire universe.

Communicating a mental shrug to Brint and Whisp, he pointed toward another tunnel leading further into the docks, which he assumed was the way to this Designated Dining Area the dock attendant was talking about.  When there wasn’t a shout behind them saying they were going the wrong way, he figured he was correct.

Before too long, the tunnel led to a closed doorway, which opened automatically as soon as they approached.  The movement startled the two Proctans, but Milton smiled; what the doors opened into appeared relatively familiar, even if it wasn’t inside of a hotel or office building.

“Come on, you two; I think this is some sort of elevator or lift.  Hurry, we don’t have much time.”  Scrambling inside, Milton looked over at one wall of the cylindrical box they entered, where a flashing holographic light was suspended approximately an inch away from the metal.  Shrugging, he pushed what could only be some sort of button, and a few things happened in quick succession.

First, the doors that had opened for them automatically closed behind them, sealing them inside.  Next, some sort of external force suddenly—but gently—pushed the three of them up against one wall, which he quickly discovered was lightly padded.  Milton found that he could still move and shift about, but it was as if his limbs suddenly felt heavy; he was reminded of a carnival ride or two he’d been on in his youth that used centrifugal force to push riders against the walls of the ride.  In those cases, it was possible to move, though very difficult; this felt a bit gentler, but he knew it was designed for his and his friends’ protection.

Because the next thing that happened was that the lift started to move quickly, shooting off from the docks and toward the rest of the station.  He only knew this because there were a few windows on the lift that showed the rings of the station quickly growing larger and larger, which probably meant that they were moving tens of thousands of miles per hour, or perhaps much faster.  If they weren’t stabilized against the wall, Milton had a feeling that the trip would be thoroughly uncomfortable, if not dangerous.

“Wow, this is amazing!  I wonder how they—”

“Not now, Whisp.  We’ll have time to talk it over when we get back to the ship, but for all we know the walls of this station have ears,” Milton warned.

“Ears?  What are you talking—  Oh, I think I know what you’re saying.”  She winked dramatically at him, before turning her undivided attention back to the window and their journey to the main part of the station.  Milton looked at Brint, who was the complete opposite; he appeared as if he wanted to throw up, and he was nearly hyperventilating as they sped along what seemed to be some sort of fragile-looking connecting line.

Thankfully, he didn’t have time for a complete freak-out, because they arrived at their destination faster than he expected – one of the rings that made up the bulk of the space station.  It was even more impressive up close, and he suddenly reevaluated his guess at how large it really was.  Just looking at the outside of a single ring, he thought that all of the United States could fit inside the one ring—with room to spare.  If that was the case, then it was entirely possible that there was enough room for billions of people to live on the space station, much more than the entire population of Earth when he lived there.

Granted, he didn’t know how much of the rings was taken up with other zoning concerns like places to grow food or storage for materials, or any number of other things that would be needed for a station this large.  What blew his mind even more was the fact that the dock attendant had mentioned that this station was a minor material transportation hub.  He couldn’t even picture what a major hub would look like – but he knew he wanted to see it one day.

A few seconds after their lift stopped and connected to the ring, the pressure keeping them up against walls released them, but then gravity seemed to kick in.  Dropping to the floor, Milton could tell that the gravity was a little bit weaker than what he was used to, but there wasn’t enough difference to make his movement too awkward.  The same couldn’t be said for the two Proctans, who walked around unsteadily, though by the time the lift doors opened up to a bustling marketplace, they seemed to have acquired enough of their balance to get along just fine.

“Well, my friends; shall we see what kind of information we can scrounge up?”

Based on what he had been told by the Bovene dock attendant, he had some ideas and suspicions of what the state of the galaxy was currently like, but he needed to have it confirmed somewhere.  As he looked over the plethora of different alien races inside of the station, where some were similar in appearance to the Bovene, though most of them appeared exotic and more what he was expecting and hoping to see, Milton knew if he was going to find out information anywhere, it would be here.

Noticing a sign on the nearest structure that his system automatically translated to “Designated Dining Area 21-85”, he led his friends toward where he hoped to find the answers he was looking for.

Chapter 7

Trinket looked up from her meal of delicious mixed greens, flavored with lemongrass from the station’s hydroponics labs.  As she continued to chew her food, she was reminded of the time she had been able to see the hyper-growing fields of scrumptious delicacies; there was a reason Mouslan like herself weren’t assigned to work those fields, because if she hadn’t been behind a clear barrier at the time, she was fairly certain she would’ve tried to roll around in the hydroponics lab like the plants were gifts for her naming day.  Not only would it have been embarrassing, but she probably wouldn’t have been able to keep herself from chewing on a little of everything as she passed by.

Thankfully, for the state of the hydroponics labs at least, Trinket worked in the docks.  Her small stature at only about 3 feet tall (which was fairly average for a Mouslan), flexible body, and instincts for danger were an asset when it came to accessing tight spaces and assessing damaged sections of the various ships that came through the station.  It was honest work, even if it was a bit dangerous, and the young Mouslan was happy enough with her life.

Granted, it was a life that was under the heel of their Masters, but it wasn’t so bad.  Especially here on Station 23-E; ever since she had been transferred to this system and its space station 5 years ago, they’d only been visited by a Commander once, and it had been a very brief visit.  So brief and uneventful that Trinket hadn’t even known about the visit until after the fleet had left.  Living out of the direct eye of their Masters had some benefits, one of which was a distinct lack of fear of doing something wrong in front of them, which could end up with corporal punishment, or even being led off for a sudden sacrifice.

Trinket shivered at the thought and put it out of her mind.  As she looked around the Dining Area, one of many of the plain establishments situated equidistantly around the station’s rings, her eyes caught the entrance of a strange trio of people who appeared… out of place.  After living on one space station or another most of her life, the Mouslan had an instinctual sense when there were those that might cause trouble or who didn’t belong there.

It wasn’t their appearance, even though she had never seen races like them before.  It wasn’t uncommon for there to be races that were unfamiliar, considering that their Masters had conquered and subjugated so many systems throughout the galaxy.  Plus, Trinket wasn’t very experienced when it came to even knowing all of the different types of people she worked with on the station; in the end, they were all alike in one way or another, so most differences were largely ignored.

No, it wasn’t their appearance or even their general air of surprise at what they were observing around them that alerted her that they didn’t belong. Their awkward gait as they walked inside Designated Dining Area 21-85 also hinted that they were unfamiliar with the station’s particular gravity – though that wasn’t it, either.  It could’ve been the fact that they were trying to look the others inside of the Dining Area in their eyes, because that was generally considered a bit rude and forward – but those were just some odd mannerisms.

Of all the things that stood out to her about these people, it was their smell that both alerted and intrigued her.  Or, more accurately, it was a distinct lack of a biological smell from one of them in particular, while the others smelled strangely… new.  She wasn’t exactly sure how to describe it, because it didn’t make any sense, but there was a distinct lack of what she could only classify as age; elder members of just about any race she had come across had a different smell associated with them compared to those that were either newly born or were in the earlier stages of their youth.

Trinket had always been particularly sensitive to different smells even more than most of her kind, which helped to warn her of danger inside of different ships’ systems.  Right now, though, she thought something was extremely wrong with her nose – because there was no way these people were newborns.  Hmm… unless that’s how their procreation works?  I haven’t heard of a race that creates fully grown members of their species, but I suppose that there is a first for everything.

As odd as the two “newborns” smelled, it was the one with the pale skin and a slightly different appearance from the others that caught her attention the most.  It didn’t smell “new” in relation to a newborn; it smelled “new” like some sort of part in a ship’s internal systems that she had just installed.  There was a distinct lack of biological presence to the figure, making it unnatural, artificial, and… intriguing.

Uh, oh.  It caught me looking—

Looking back down at her food didn’t seem to camouflage her interest, because she could smell the three of them heading her way across the Dining Area.  For the first time, she realized that not a single other person around her at the other dining benches had even looked up or perhaps noticed the new arrivals, so she had obviously stood out.

Before she could grab her tray and return her uneaten food to the disposal unit on the near wall, the three people had already approached her section of the benches and sat down across from her.  She tried to ignore them as she took another bite, but for some reason her meal didn’t taste as good as it had just moments ago.

“Hello!  It’s very good to see a friendly face around here.  Everyone seems a bit dour and uncommunicative, if you ask me.”

Trinket said nothing, as she could see out of her peripheral vision that this artificial person’s words had caught the attention of some neighbors in the Dining Area.  These people are trouble; I just know it.

However, for some reason, she couldn’t find the courage to get up from the bench and leave as fast as her legs could carry her.  Trinket looked around, hoping for some sort of help from the others nearby, but everyone was starting to mind their own business by that point.  Naturally, they were still all going to listen in to every word of their conversation, but none of them would interfere.

“Don’t worry, we’re not here to cause any trouble,” the person went on, causing Trinket to jump in surprise.  It was only after a moment that she realized he wasn’t speaking Galactic Common anymore, but had switched to a language she rarely, if ever, heard anymore.  It was the old language, which her great-great grandmother used to speak frequently in Trinket’s youth, but wasn’t used very often even by other Mouslan; it was easier and better to speak Galactic Common.  What surprised her the most was the fact that this… whatever it was, could speak it – and fluently, at that.  Trinket wasn’t as fluent in the language as she used to be when she was younger, as she could understand it better than speak it, but she thought she could get by.

She almost stopped herself from responding, because no good could come from it, but something in her – nostalgia, perhaps – prompted her to speak.  “How do you know this language?  Who—what are you?  Why are you here?”

The person – who for all she could tell was theoretically designed to appear male – chuckled lightly at her questions.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself,” he said, before pointing at himself.  “My name is Milton, and these are my friends, Brint and Whisp,” he continued, pointing to the newborn people in turn.  “As for who—or what—I am, you obviously have a good Perception stat, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have asked that question.”  The artificial person then pulled something out of one of his shirt pockets, an orb of some kind; after frowning at it, he muttered, “Still calibrating; must be adjusting to this dimension still.”

None of this was making the least bit of sense to Trinket, and yet there weren’t any instinctual signals flowing through her body that urged her to run.  Her people’s natural instinct was normally fairly good at helping to avoid or extract themselves from dangerous situations, but for some reason she didn’t feel anything except for curiosity.  What has gotten into me?

“Anyway, what I am is a synthetic avatar for… well, that’s a bit of a longer story.  Honestly, it isn’t that important right now.  What is important is why we are here: information.  We were wondering if you could help us out by answering some questions.”

She wasn’t sure why she did it, but she nodded.

The synthetic avatar – whatever that means – smiled and looked to the others with him, before he started with his questions.

“First, let’s just say that we are new here.  Not just this station, but this… galaxy?  I guess that would be the best way to explain our situation.  Regardless, we are unaware of the current situation here.  What do you know about the Heliothropes and The Collective?”

Trinket jumped first when he said Heliothropes and then even more at the mention of The Collective.  How do they know that name?

What was more intriguing than that was his insistence that he was new to the galaxy – because that was impossible.  Even their Masters weren’t able to travel to other galaxies quite yet, though it was rumored that they were working on something.  It wasn’t any of her business, of course, so she never investigated further.

But where did they come from?  Can they really travel that far?  And, perhaps, would they be able to take me with them?

The sudden rebellious thought startled her, but it had been a long time since there had been a people that weren’t under the yoke of the Masters.  A sliver of hope, of being able to live a life different from the one she lived right now, crept into her mind.  It was this sliver of hope that got her talking, the words spilling out of her almost unconsciously.

“The Heliothropes are who we call our Masters; their name has been passed on from generation to generation, though it is never used in their presence.  Instead, us slaves are required to call them our Masters, and their leaders Commanders, to show that we are weaker than them; we are forbidden from profaning their true name by speaking it out loud.

“As for The Collective, that is a very old term used for a coalition of planets that held out the longest against our Masters; but it was conquered and our people were subjugated to enslavement long ago.  While the name is still maintained within our broken societies, it essentially means nothing to anyone now.  The Collective is, effectively, no more; all that is left are the peoples who formed it, scattered across the galaxy.”

The being known as Milton was silent for a moment, a frown crossing his face.  “Wait; what do you mean by ‘the galaxy’?  Have the Heliothropes expanded upon their original systems?”

Trinket shook her head, though not in negation of his question.  “Wow, you really aren’t from around here.  I meant what I said: The Galaxy.  As in, the entire galaxy.  History passed down through our families says that after The Collective fell to our Masters, there was nothing preventing them from marauding across every system nearby, exponentially swelling their numbers through the use of their slaves, like myself.  Entire civilizations were forced to work toward creating more and more ships, using captured technology from one race after another to improve their travel speed capabilities.  Like an unstoppable plague, our Masters spread throughout the Galaxy, conquering star system after star system, which in turn fed them even more ships for traveling among the stars.

“After thousands of years, and by adapting technology that they acquired from thousands of different civilizations, they have been able to cut travel time from one end of the galaxy to the other end to under a year. No one and nothing could stand up to the great fleets they possess, millions strong from some reports – and that doesn’t even take into account the smaller, roaming fleets that keep all of their slaves in line, producing what they dictate and when they want it by.

“This space station, for instance, is simply a transport hub for materials that are brought to manufacturing facilities in this sector of the galaxy.  There are countless numbers of people working for our Masters in one way or another, though for the most part they don’t seem to care how it gets done.  One reason why we don’t see many Commanders stop by here is because we obey and stick to our quotas without fail, showing no reason for them to involve themselves in our business.  While there is plenty of legal and illegal trade occurring here, our Masters have no reason to worry about it since it doesn’t interfere with what they require of us.”

She wasn’t sure why she said that last part, because it was a bit of an unspoken rule not to talk about that part of the station.  Regardless, she felt as if it were imperative that she was as honest with these people as possible.

“How… people… resisting?  I think that the word; this my first time talking you language.  Apology.”  The female-looking newborn named Whisp practically garbled her pronunciation and grammar of the Mouslan language, but Trinket understood it enough to answer.

“No one rebels; at least, no one rebels anymore.  If you know anything about our Masters, it’s that they are very violent and will absolutely destroy any obstacles in their way.  Throughout their conquering of the galaxy, including The Collective, they always spared any space stations and land-based settlements from their swift and deadly ship attacks; instead, they conquered by invading and physically overpowering any opposition, taking slaves and offering sacrifices to their God.

“However, once they had proven their superior might over their defeated enemies, they promptly considered their slaves as property to be moved around as they want, separating entire families by sending individuals all over the galaxy to work where the Masters wanted.  And as ‘property’, if anyone rebelled in a certain location, they would treat them as a broken tool; not just those that rebelled, however, but the entire space station or settlement would be considered compromised and at risk of breaking in the future.

“At that point, after swiftly killing all of those responsible for rebelling, anyone else near them would be killed as well.  Past stories of entire space stations filled with billions of people from all over the galaxy being destroyed exist to this day, and there are heavily damaged, derelict stations out there still floating around.”  She shook her head again.  “It’s one thing to rebel and hope to make a change in your situation, but if doing so kills everyone you care about?  There are very few nowadays that would start something like that.”

She shuddered at the thought of something like that happening on her own station, even though her family had been broken up at the same time as her transfer there.  It was both a blessing and a curse to be so far from her family, though staying in communication with them periodically tended to help.

“That seems wasteful.  Why destroy an entire space station?”

They just don’t understand, do they?  “It’s because they don’t care; there are always more stations and planets fulfilling their every desire, so even if they destroy a million different habitations, killing trillions of people, it really doesn’t matter to them.  Especially since they succeeded in conquering the entire galaxy a few centuries ago, their need for ships to fuel their advance has subsided somewhat.”

It was actually a big mystery to her and the other workers on the station why so many materials were still needed, despite the full conquering of the galaxy.  Many proposed that the Masters were planning on attempting a trip to another galaxy with an enormous fleet of ships to start the conquering there, but something like that would probably take decades or even centuries of travel time.  There were also very quiet rumors among the races belonging to the now-defunct Collective that there was a unique drive once produced that could cut that travel time to weeks or months; but fortunately, a lot of The Collective’s advanced technology had been destroyed before it could be captured and utilized by the Masters.  It was bad enough that their Masters had conquered one galaxy; she couldn’t even imagine being responsible for unleashing their scourge over the entire universe.

“It makes sense, I suppose.  That just makes completing my quest a bit harder, though,” Milton sighed, visibly slumping on the bench across from Trinket.  “You have any more questions, Whisp?  Brint?”

The male newborn on Milton’s left shook his head, but the female named Whisp seemed to have one.  “Why… no ships near the sun?”  She seemed frustrated, as if she wanted to ask something specific, but didn’t have a great enough grasp of the language in order to do it.

“Huh?”

Thankfully, Milton seemed to understand.  “Ah, thank you, Whisp.  I nearly forgot to ask; this other news is disturbing enough that I can’t believe it slipped my mind.  First of all, do you happen to know what happened to the civilization that used to live on the third planet from the sun?”

Trinket shrugged.  “I have no idea; whatever happened there occurred before our Masters even spread to this sector of the galaxy.”

The synthetic avatar nodded.  “Fair enough.  Well then, what do you know about the colony on the fourth planet?”

Looking around the room, she noticed that while many of those still eating were still trying to listen in on their conversation, none of them appeared to understand anything that was being said courtesy of the old Mouslan language.  Still, it made her a little uncomfortable answering the question.

“Again, I have no idea of the specifics, but everyone agrees that the Masters conquered whoever was living there and then spread them throughout the galaxy.  However, that doesn’t explain the edict sent down by the Masters to avoid the inner part of this system, leaving everything on those planets untouched.  All everyone knows is that the one time a curious ship attempted to explore the inner system a few centuries ago gathering up resources from the colony you spoke about, there was a Commander fleet flying in within a day.  Let’s just say that there was nothing left of that curious ship afterwards, and now no one is stupid enough to test their luck for some easily obtainable materials.”

The face of Milton didn’t change, but she would have to be blind to miss the worried expressions on the faces of the two newborns.  Oh, no.

“Please don’t tell me you—” she started to ask, but Milton cut her off.

“Uh, maybe?  We should probably get out of here as soon as possible.”

Whisp turned to the synthetic avatar and said something quickly to him, though it was in a language that didn’t sound in the least familiar.  Milton said something back to her before looking at Trinket again, visibly trying to remain calm.

“Thank you for your help, but we have to go—”

“Take me with you!” she blurted out.  As soon as the words emerged, she wanted to take them back, but she also intuitively knew that was what she wanted.  Not because she desired a life of adventure or to see other parts of the galaxy, but for purely selfish survival reasons.

“What?  No!  I mean, why?”

“Because everyone saw me talking to you, and if you did something on one of those planets, it won’t take long for them to connect everything together.  They’ll kill me, and possibly everyone on this station if I’m still here when they come.  It is possible that they’ll be spared if they have to go running off to find me along with you.”

“Great, just great.  Okay, you can come with, but our ship is in the middle of having a transponder beacon – whatever that is – installed upon it.  We can’t leave quite yet.”

That’s the last thing we’ll need if we’re going to run!  “I can help with that; which dock?

“Uh, 346-SB?”

“Easy enough.  Let’s go.”

What did I just get myself into?

Chapter 8

Milton was trying not to panic, because he didn’t know for sure that he had messed up when he had dismantled a small portion of the Mars colony, but he had a bad feeling about it.  The Mouslan they had spoken with inside of Designated Dining Area 21-85 led them to some sort of equipment locker, where she quickly grabbed a large pack and then led the way to a different lift from the one in which they arrived.  This particular lift appeared to be a bit more worn, with scuff marks, dings, and even scratches along the inside walls, as well as being a bit larger than the previous one.  Without hesitation, the Mouslan pushed a few holographic buttons on the wall, which immediately pressed them against the walls as they started moving.

“Are you sure you want to come with us?” he asked as they were speeding along a completely different track.

She shook her head.  “No, but I have to now.  It’s the only way….”

Milton didn’t know how to respond to that.  He felt like his arrival had just put the entire station’s existence in jeopardy, and now he was basically abducting a person he didn’t even know in order to try and save them all.  At least this is her choice, instead of abducting her against her will.

“This isn’t the time for that, Milton.”

He chuckled wryly at needling ALANNA once again on his abrupt departure from Earth all of those years ago, but he supposed he should probably let up.  She had just found out that her creators, The Collective, had been utterly conquered and their coalition essentially dissolved.  After finding out that Humanity had likely been scattered all over the galaxy, as well as the Heliothropes in control of everything, their information-gathering was not having as great of an outcome as either of them had hoped.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

Somehow, despite the lift keeping them pinned to the wall, the Mouslan had managed to open up the bag she had obtained and was putting on what could only be some sort of space suit over her body.  It was difficult to wrap his mind around, because she was essentially a 3-foot-tall, upright-walking mouse with deep-brown fur, large rounded ears, and a pointed face.  Her whiskers were constantly moving, as if she was perpetually smelling the world around her, which he supposed she was; it was one of the things that drew Milton to her in the first place, in addition to her actually looking at them, when the rest of the crowd was basically silent and staring at their plates of food.

“It’s actually Trinketarsinistrect, but everyone just calls me Trinket for short.  Now, this lift will lead to the underside of the area where your ship is docked; it’s an access so that dockhands and us engineers don’t have to use the route you used to get to the rings.  There’s no gravity, but there is oxygen and heat, fortunately; however, there’s a small window where we’ll have to jump across to your ship’s hatch, so if you have any suits handy, get those prepared.  Sorry I couldn’t grab any more from the equipment storage, but it would’ve raised an alarm if I grabbed something that wasn’t allocated to me.  If we’re lucky, there will be a few extra suits inside the maintenance room; if not, I hope you know how to hold your breath.”

Milton looked at Brint and Whisp, who looked at each other sadly.  “Well, it was nice while it lasted,” the young Proctan said to Whisp.

“Hey, you never know – we could get lucky.”  Milton didn’t really believe that they’d be that lucky, but he didn’t want them giving up already.  “Besides, you might be able to heal each other to keep yourselves alive.”  Thankfully, he was speaking Proctan the entire time, because he didn’t want to have to explain what he was talking about to Trinket.

Just as the lift was slowing down, ALANNA broke into his thoughts.

“Milton, we’ve got new contacts on the edge of the system, heading on a direct course for Mars.  Being this close to the station and the planet is obscuring details, but it looks like a large fleet.”

“Crud.  Alright, Trinket; get done with whatever you need to do as fast as possible, because we need to get out of here.  It seems as though our meddling has attracted some attention.”

Milton didn’t think that a mouse-like person could go pale, but apparently he was wrong.  At the same time, she looked like she was going to bolt at the first opportunity.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright.  We have a way to leave quickly, but we need to be detached from the station to do that.  I know it’s a lot to put on your shoulders, but you can do this.”

His words seemed to have some sort of effect, as she calmed down a little.  Only time would tell if it was enough.

As soon as the doors opened, Trinket took off, heading for another doorway at the other end of the smallish maintenance room.  In less than 15 seconds, she was in and through the other doors, which closed behind her; a glimpse at what was inside told him that it was likely an airlock of some kind.

“Quick, look around for any type of suit or something you two can use,” Milton instructed, while he split his attention between searching and watching Trinket go to work outside of his ship.  She was attached by a thin cable to the outside wall of the dock, using small thrusters integrated in her suit to maneuver to the base of one of the clamps holding the ship in place.  At the same time, she narrowly avoided being smacked by an articulated arm that was carrying a large metal box toward his ship’s hull.  Must be the transponder beacon.

“Found what appears to be a helmet.  Not sure how it’s supposed to work, though.”

Milton turned his attention to Brint, who was holding something that looked like a cross between a fishbowl and a kid’s soft football – a strange combination.  Regardless of what it looked like, he could tell right away that it would be too small for either of the Proctans, as well as himself – though he didn’t need it in the least.  He didn’t need to breathe, and while the cold would impair his avatar slightly, it wouldn’t hurt him that much.

Another minute of searching turned up nothing else, so there wasn’t anything else to do but wait.  Brint and Whisp appeared resigned to their fate, though there was a good chance that they could survive until Milton could get them to the ship.

Trinket had opened up a small plate on the side of the clamp she was working on, and he could see her working on it with some tools she had attached to her belt.  Sooner than he expected, there was a sudden wrenching sound that seemed to reverberate through the entire dock; looking outside of his ship with his sensors, he could see that the two clamps and their magnetism had been deactivated, and the horrendous wrenching noise was them being manually pulled back and away from the hull.

“ALANNA, open up the hatch closest to our new friend.  We’re on our way over now.”

“Already done,” she responded.

Trinket seemed to jump when the hatch closest to her location opened up, the doorway sliding into the sides of the hull.  It didn’t take her long to recover, however, as she used her thrusters to get inside without having to be invited.  Milton used his sensors to judge the angle from the airlock to the ship’s hatch, and he thought he could make it with an easy jump.

“Time to go!” he shouted, using the handhold bars to bring him close to the doorway leading to the airlock, and it opened up automatically for himself and his friends.  Once they were inside, the doorway closed again, and he turned to Brint and Whisp.

“You may want to Boost yourselves and then jump with everything you have.”  There was a small window in the airlock door and he pointed at the Battlecruiser’s open hatch.  “It’s a fair distance to travel, but I think you can make it.  Don’t worry about me, I’ll follow behind.”

There was a quick round of using their Power to Boost each other, increasing their Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Perception stats; within seconds, each of them appeared even more fit than they had before, and they nodded to him.  Without waiting any longer, he slammed his hand against the large red holographic button on the side of the airlock, and he felt the air quickly being sucked out of the room; a few seconds later, when there was a complete vacuum, the doorway opened into the void of space.

Brint and Whisp shot past him, having launched themselves off the inner doorway, though within seconds of exiting the airlock he could see them stiffen up as the cold of the void started to freeze their bodies.  As for his own, it felt a little sluggish as he jumped off after them at a much slower speed.  He was only approximately halfway across when he saw the two Proctans enter the hatch, though one thing happened that he hadn’t thought about: Without a way to slow themselves down, they impacted the inner wall of the ship’s airlock with enough force to kill a normal person.  Thankfully, their Boosted Constitution meant that they were still alive even after all of that, but a quick scan of their Health showed it dropping dramatically as they froze and suffocated.

Thankfully, he arrived a moment later, and the hatch closed almost immediately as he passed the threshold.  Air and heat pumped into the small room, but it was already too late for both Brint and Whisp; they ran out of Health before he arrived, and had been suffering from some serious issues even if he hadn’t been slightly delayed in his arrival.

Turning away from his deceased friends, Milton looked at Trinket, who was staring at them in horror through her clear contoured helmet.  “Don’t worry about them, they’ll be fine.  Now, it’s about time we—”

“Milton!  They’re headed toward the station!  Looks like a fleet of at least 100 ships, similar in appearance to those we encountered in Collective territory, except for that larger one.”

The Station Core looked at the approaching ships himself, and saw that she was correct.  Whatever they had found on Mars led them to the space station, so now it was time to get away before it was too late.

“We’re heading up to the bridge now.  Start maneuvering us away from the station, if you will, ALANNA.  I want to make sure there is enough room between us before we activate the drive – and I also want the fleet to see us.”

“See us?  Why?”

“Because it’ll help pull their attention away from the station, I’m hoping.  I don’t want to be responsible for the deaths of billions.”

Milton grabbed Trinket’s shoulder and tore her gaze away from the two Proctans, as they headed for yet another lift – though this one led up to the bridge.  A brief moment was all it took to get there, and by the time they arrived the Battlecruiser had already put some distance between itself and the space station.

“The drive charged up?”

ALANNA put her hands on her hips and stared at him, as if he was stupid.  “That was the first thing I did when the ships appeared.  Now, can we go?”

The fleet of ships was approaching faster than he expected, and his sensors detected weapon launches, despite the distance.  “Yes, take us… somewhere.”  He really had no plan after coming to Earth, and he was at a loss for where to go.

“It’s a good thing you have me, otherwise you’d have died a million times by now,” the diminutive woman said, before activating the drive.

As he felt it powering up, opening up a tear in dimensional space in order to slip through, he warned Trinket, “This is going to feel a little wei—”

It was too late, however, as they passed through the tear into their traveling dimension ahead of the missiles that had been headed straight for his ship.  As they arrived and the tear closed behind them, he looked over to see that Trinket had passed out.

“Well then, that was fun.”

“Depends on your definition of fun, Milton.”

As he used his sensors on the outer hull to look at the multicolored streaks passing by his ship in this other dimension, the Station Core used his avatar to sigh heavily.  It was one of the benefits of having an external body, even if it wasn’t exactly “real”.

“I guess you’re right, especially with what we learned.  I assume you caught all of what was discussed?”

“Of course.”

He sat down heavily in the captain’s chair, putting his elbow on the armrest and his avatar’s head in his hand.  “So, then, what do we do?  It feels like we’ve lost before we even get started.”

Current Short-term Goal: What the hell is going on? – Complete!

- Travel to a different inhabited area of the galaxy – Complete!

- Investigate and learn about the state of The Collective – Complete!

Difficulty of Goal: Average

Timeframe: 1 year

Rewards: Information about The Collective and the Heliothrope threat, +2 to Ingenuity/Wisdom

“I know it might not mean much, but at least we have a little better understanding of the state of affairs,” ALANNA said softly.  “I just… never expected it to be this bad.”

“Me neither, to tell the truth.  I thought I could just waltz in and find a way to beat back the Heliothropes, perhaps devise a way to retake the systems that had been captured while we were away.  But the entire galaxy?!  I’m sorry, but this seems impossible, no matter how much time you assign to that other quest of yours.”

It also didn’t help that they would likely be constantly on the run from the Heliothropes, or the “Masters,” as Trinket had obviously been conditioned to call them.  What can we even do?  Liberating a planet or a space station seemed like it was plausible after he had gained some more resources, but he wasn’t sure what that would accomplish.  The Heliothropes, at least according to the Mouslan, would simply arrive with an unstoppable fleet of ships and bombard whatever he liberated until there was nothing left.  They wouldn’t arrive and challenge a dungeon that he might manage to dig into the ground somewhere; trying to set something up on a space station would simply put them all in danger, and there was no guarantee they would even know he was there.

The problem with installing his Station Core on an existing habitation that had already been “conquered” was the fact that the Heliothropes wouldn’t follow their usual MO and invade in order to show their superiority.  In the minds of the “Masters”, they had already proven themselves superior, so they would simply eliminate their malfunctioning tools without care.

Something tickled the back of his mind as they traveled, and it was only when Trinket woke up about an hour later that his idea started to crystallize.  What he needed was a way to emerge as a civilization that needed to be conquered, eliminating the threat of being blown away by Heliothrope ships.  A way to challenge the deadly people that took over the entire galaxy with their war-like approach to diplomacy, meeting them on their own terms.  A part of his Station Core yearned to challenge them, and an idea started to form about what he needed to do.

“Trinket?  Remember when you mentioned some half-destroyed space stations hanging about?  Do you happen to remember where those stations might be?”

Chapter 9

“What’s this about half-destroyed space stations?  Did the one we just left suffer for our presence?” Whisp said as she walked onto the bridge, still adjusting the clothing she had just donned after coming out of the Bio Conversion Lab.  Milton had put his drones to work shortly after they had shifted to this other dimension, bringing their bodies to his Molecular Converters in order to regain their resources.

Of course, Trinket had just woken up after passing out from the sudden dimensional shift, and seeing someone that she had thought was dead miraculously walking around was a bit too much for her.  As soon as Brint walked in right after her – another “dead” person – the young Mouslan passed out again on the floor of the bridge.

“What did I say?  Is she okay?”

Milton just shook his head with a hint of a smile on his face.  He understood what happened immediately, because it wasn’t often that people came back from the dead – even if he was used to it by now.  He hadn’t had a chance to explain anything to Trinket because there honestly hadn’t been time, but if the Mouslan engineer was going to be traveling with them, it was something she’d have to know.  As he looked at her unconscious body, he thought, in fact, I might be able to gain the ability to create some unique Combat Units with a Mouslan pattern—

“Yeah, please don’t go around killing everyone in the galaxy you meet in order to acquire their patterns, Milton.  It sounds a little too much like a serial killer to me.”

“But—”

“No, I’m serious.  It was done out of necessity on Proctus, but when you take a mental step back and think about it, the whole cloning thing is a bit creepy.  Useful, but creepy.  Just because you can do it, that doesn’t mean you should.”  ALANNA paused for a split second.  “Unless, of course, they want you to make them a clone of their own volition.  Then, well, go for it.”

“I suppose you’re right, ALANNA.  I guess she should have a choice, unlike the millions that were killed on Proctus defending their Kingdom, which I was able to bring back without their prior knowledge.  It was beneficial in the end, obviously, but I can’t just go around doing that kind of thing all willy-nilly.”

“Willy-nilly?  And here I thought you had matured after all this time.”

Milton ignored the diminutive guide’s relatively gentle jibe, their entire mental conversation taking less than a second, as he turned to his two Proctan friends.  “I’m glad you both could join us again.”

Brint slumped down in the bridge chair.  “Me too.  I’m getting tired of dying, though.  And we’re running out of the sparse amount of stockpiled food and water, by the way.”

“I know, I know.  I’m hoping that will be the last death you’ll have to suffer – at least for a while,” Milton said as Whisp sat down in her own chair, looking at her console.  “I’m also hoping there will be someplace where we can gather up some Bio Mass for our stores, allowing us to create more food and to produce more Combat Units if they’re needed – not to mention more Proctans.  Where are we headed?”

Whisp answered before ALANNA could respond, as she had been looking at her console and had already extrapolated their destination.  “Looks like we’re headed to a system near the outer rim of the galaxy.  Hold on, I’m getting more details now.”

Up on the viewscreen there appeared a condensed map of the galaxy, consisting of hundreds of billions of stars spread out over nearly 100,000 light-years of space.  As he watched, the map zoomed into a small corner of the galaxy near its edge, until he was looking at a star system that included a trio of planets, one of which was contained within the “goldilocks” zone, where life was more likely to be found.  There was also a series of informational notes, such as the system name, types of planets, its sun size, and its age.  This system in particular was called RD-413F, and while there was apparently plant life and a few minor species of beasts recorded to inhabit the planet, there was no sentient or sapient life.

The Station Core, of course, didn’t know about this system or this planet more than what he could see, but he was fairly confident he shouldn’t even know that much.  Remembering how much of the galaxy had been explored and mapped by The Collective and their knowledge at his virtual fingertips, he was fairly confident in saying that this system had neither been explored nor mapped to this great of detail.

“You weren’t the only one that was busy when we were docked at the station,” ALANNA abruptly said with a smirk on her face.  “I was able to get a complete map of the galaxy to update the woefully out-of-date one that The Collective had compiled over thousands of years.”

“Really?  How?  And what else did you get?” the Station Core asked, intrigued.

“Unfortunately, not much more than that.  It took me almost the entire time you were gone to properly interface with the unfamiliar systems of the station, and then I had to brute force my way through their surprisingly tight security.  I was actually lucky to get even this much before we were released from the dock, and I need physical proximity in order for my interface to work.”

“By interface, do you mean sending your nanites into the station itself?”

She nodded.  “Of course.  There’s nothing like a little external nanite penetration with a strange station to really—"

“And so, what all did you learn?” Milton quickly asked, cutting off whatever his guide was going to say.  By the innocent smile on her face, he was sure it was going to be offensively vulgar; he’d rather cut that off before he lost track of what they were supposed to be doing.

“Hmph.  Well, I was able to acquire the basic star maps for the entire galaxy, but anything more than that was buried behind more security I couldn’t get through.”

The Station Core’s avatar raised his eyebrow at her, uncertain he had heard her correctly.

“What?  It’s not like I couldn’t get through the security, but like I said, I ran out of time.  It’s not like I had performance issues or anything—”

“Alright, never mind that.  Why this place?”

The viewscreen zoomed in a little further into the system, until it was looking at the planet Milton was looking at a moment ago with life on it.  “I posited that we would need to acquire some more resources to replenish what is no longer accessible, and this seemed like the best place to do it.  From what I was able to learn, neither this planet – nor any planet in this system – has ever been inhabited by any sapient species.  While this circumstance isn’t necessarily rare, from what I’ve been able to determine, its vast distance from the home quadrant of the Heliothropes and from Collective space will hopefully be enough to protect us from detection for a while.”

Milton was nodding while she spoke.  “I like it.”  He moved the viewscreen to one of the other planets, approximately the same distance from this sun as the familiar Mars was from his own home sun, and he noted the information that came up about it.  “High concentrations of low-quality metallic elements?  That could be useful.”

“Exactly.  It’s probably one of the reasons why this system was never inhabited, apart from it being quite a distance away from other inhabited systems.  As you can imagine, high-quality minerals and other resources are important to space-faring races, which was why you saw a large mining operation underway in the asteroid belt near your Earth.  While the middle planet will sustain life, it also has very poor concentrations of high-quality minerals and metals; when neither of the other planets have high-quality minerals and metals, along with a quite piddly asteroid belt surrounding the system, that means there is very little reason to colonize this system.”

“But can’t they simply convert the low-quality material into high-quality in a Molecular Converter?” Brint asked.

ALANNA shook her head.  “Not likely.  Molecular Converters, along with many other forms of technology, were created by The Collective; from what I could determine of that station’s available specs, there were many low-tech devices in use that could’ve easily been replaced by something The Collective had invented that would work faster and without much in the way of waste.”

“It didn’t seem that low-tech to me,” Milton mentioned.

The diminutive woman scoffed at him.  “That’s because you’re still an uncultured primitive yourself, no offense, and you have no idea what was missing.  Seeing the sheer beauty and simplicity of Collective society, the advancements in technology and science, and the sheer ease with which they were able to do the most difficult of things would make you weep at how much was lost when they were conquered.  My assumption is that they destroyed most of their technological advancements when they knew the inevitable was forthcoming, so as not to allow the Heliothropes to use it against others.  If they hadn’t, then the collapse of the galaxy would’ve happened a lot sooner than it did.”

“That seems entirely plausible,” Whisp agreed.  “And I’m also assuming that re-inventing those lost technologies is not necessarily a priority to a conquered race, especially as they are essentially slaves.”

“Precisely.  Of course, we have access to many of those technologies – like the Molecular Converters – but we may be one of the only ones in the entire galaxy who could boast that.”

Very interesting.  That could definitely be something we could take advantage of at some point, though I’m at a loss for exactly how.

Regardless of the future uses of the technology to which Milton and his crew had access, they had to survive long enough to make use of it.  The journey to the system that ALANNA had picked out took nearly a week, due to its distance at nearly the other end of the galaxy. Milton, Brint, and Whisp used that entire time to familiarize themselves with the records of the Collective-Heliothrope conflict.  Only a few minutes into the process, the Station Core knew that it had been a mistake on ALANNA’s part not to have told him about the records previously – like when he had still been on Proctus and could’ve spent years reviewing everything – but he didn’t mention or even think that when she was around.  He knew that she already blamed herself and he didn’t need to pile on the guilt when it would accomplish nothing.

Much of what they learned backed up what his guide had said about the way the Heliothropes fought, as they essentially watched video of the early days of the conflict, when The Collective’s defenses were more than a match for the relatively small number of Heliothrope ships sent against them.  Over the years, however, reports showed that the Heliothropes started to branch out from their initial attacks into neighboring galactic sectors, conquering the sapient races living there.  As they acquired billions of slaves that were all focused on providing more ships for the Heliothropes, the fleets sent against The Collective became greater and greater.

Eventually and inevitably, some of the fringe systems of The Collective began to fall under the pressure.  Milton could see that it was because when they defended themselves, their protections were entirely non-lethal; that didn’t really work against a war-like race that would come back time and again with more fighters on their side.  Attrition was typically the name of the game when it came to a battle, but war games were some of the few that the passive Collective would not and could not play.

Hence, the Station Cores.  Unfortunately, he already knew how that ended up.

He also got a look at the recorded images and videos of these invasions, which were relatively non-bloody since there was virtually no resistance once the fleets got past the space-borne defenses.  Due to their inherently passive nature, The Collective was simply incapable of using violence to defend themselves; as a result, very, very few actually were killed in the initial invasion.  Unfortunately, the vast majority of the deaths came later, as nearly 1 in 20 of the captured Collective peoples were “sacrificed” to an image of some sort of shiny god statue that they took from one of their ships.  Looking at it through the lens of a camera (or sensor orb; he wasn’t sure), it looked like some sort of tall glass figure with LED lights illuminating it from the middle, though he was fairly sure it was some other kind of high-tech light he didn’t even know about.  What was strange about it, however, was that it only looked vaguely like the rest of the Heliothropes.

There seemed to be two types of Heliothropes, at least according to what the Collective could determine.  First and foremost were the warriors or fighters of the war-like people, who seemed to reproduce themselves quickly, though it was never determined exactly how it was done.  These warrior types were relatively humanoid in appearance, as far as having a head, a torso, and standing upright on two legs, but that was where the similarities ended.  First, the smallest of these people were at least 8 feet tall, had 6 arms that carried various melee weapons, and were blue.  Really blue.

As in, it appeared as if someone had dyed them to look like a blueberry, but instead of being plump like the delicious berries, these Heliothropes were ripped like they went to the gym every day for at least 10 hours, took a break for an hour or two, and then went back into the gym afterwards.  If he was going to compare them to anything, the Bearillas he had acquired access to back on Proctus would be very similar, though the Bearillas were taller.  Given that these Heliothropes had deadly weapons that seemed able to cut through nearly anything, possessed personal bubble shields that prevented just about any type of damage done to their person, and came in numbers that reminded him of the nightmare under the Quizard Mountains back on Proctus, he would put his money on a small squad of blue-skinned Heliothropes against a single Bearilla.  He wasn’t sure how powerful their shields were, because the only recordings of their presence were of a few Heliothropes being inadvertently hit by falling debris when a few buildings were destroyed on the surface of some Collective planet, but completely negating damage even once was an impressive feat.

Their heads and faces were a bit frightening, with big, black, round eyes that reminded him of the grey aliens he’d seen depictions of back on Earth from those that had been abducted and probed.  Their mouths were full of teeth, and their jaws appeared to be nearly half of their heads, so that when they were unhinged, their appearance seemed like a nightmarish monster from a horror movie.  Sturdy, skilled, and deadly, these Heliothropes would probably give a mid-ranged Proctan a problem if they were to go up against them one-on-one; depending on how powerful their shields were, it was entirely possible that even some of the most powerful Proctans that were left back on Proctus – like Moxwell and Rosewyn – would have problems killing even one of them.

That wasn’t all, either.  There were some other enemy warriors that were even more powerful, if that could be believed.  A slightly larger but more intelligent-seeming purple-skinned Heliothrope was next, also with 6 arms, and seemed to lead larger squads of the blue warriors; he saw no evidence of them actually fighting, but a simple look at their bald confidence was enough evidence to mark them as a bigger threat.

An even bigger threat were some red-skinned, devil-looking Heliothropes with 8 arms, standing around 20 feet tall.  They were tall enough to be comparable to a Bearilla, but as far as who Milton thought would win between an 8-armed, 20-foot-tall, shielded, red devil that was wielding giant melee weapons and a 20-foot-tall, hybrid gorilla/bear beast that simply used its hands to inflict damage and tough skin to protect from wounds, he’d have to go with the Heliothrope.  Just like the Proctans had learned how to wield their own weapons and protected themselves through the use of their abilities, tools and technology were much more powerful in the right hands.

Lastly, and there was only one recording in which it was seen, there was a 150-foot Heliothrope with deep-black skin, wielding weapons in all 12 of its hands.  This one seemed to be the leader, though what it looked more like was some sort of giant father surrounded by all of its children.  The difference between the smallest of the blue warriors and the massive leader was so ridiculous that it was hard to fathom that they were the same species, despite their general appearance.

The second type of Heliothrope was a much smaller group, or at least they were rarely seen.  These particular ones almost appeared to be servants of some kind, though some footage of them after a planet was conquered showed them to be more like administrators.  Perhaps even a scientist type, as the smallest of them, a pure white in color possessing only 2 arms and standing at most 4 or 5 feet tall, appeared the most intelligent of them all, including even being able to communicate marginally with the slaves they had captured.  It was these few Heliothropes they saw that seemed to be the ones that gave the orders to the captives that they had to carry out, as well as the ones who would enact the consequences of any actions that went against those orders.  Much more than that was unknown, however, as none of the recordings continued much longer after the fall of those planets.

There was another non-warrior Heliothrope with skin that was colored green, though it didn’t look anything like what Milton thought an Orc would look like.  Instead, it had 4 arms and seemed to be the most servant-like of them all, standing around 6 feet tall and being the one that carried certain things out of the Heliothrope ships that either docked with a space station or landed on a planet.

Speaking of those ships, the historical records seemed to indicate that the Heliothrope ships appeared different from the ones he’d seen since he came back to his own dimension.  The videos showed them to be a bit sleeker than the “shipping containers” he’d been arrayed against, though none of them were necessarily eye-catching.  Whisp and ALANNA proposed that over time, a simpler and more cost-effective shape had been adapted and could be constructed by most conquered races, which was why they appeared so different.  Milton had to admit that if you wanted something plain, simple, and quickly constructed, you couldn’t go wrong with all right angles, since air friction in space really didn’t matter to the overall shape.

Overall, the week they spent traveling to their destination was very informative, as it gave them an idea of who and what they were being chased by.  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to see any real tactics of the Heliothropes other than what had already been established, and the previously “current” information was now wildly out of date.  At the point where the Station Cores were being constructed, the Heliothrope threat had only encompassed a small sector of the galaxy in comparison to what the Collective defended, but that had obviously changed.

They had gained a little bit of info from Trinket, and they hoped to obtain more from the Mouslan, but she stayed unconscious the entire time they were traveling to their destination.  His sensor orbs said she was relatively fine as far as a health standpoint, and Brint even attempted to heal her, but nothing seemed to wake her up.

Nothing, that was, until they were squeezed through a tiny hole in the dimensional tear when they emerged back into normal space.

Chapter 10

Trinket felt as if her entire body was being compressed from the inside, which wasn’t possible.  At least, she didn’t think so.  Strange dreams of meeting a strange group of people, followed by an escape on an equally strange-looking ship shot through her mind as she experienced her body being wrenched around without her permission.  Not that she could’ve stopped it even if she knew how, because she was locked in an unending torment of—

It stopped.

Reverberating echoes of a scream pounded in her ears, and she immediately wished for it to stop.  As if obeying her command, the painful noise ended, only to be replaced by a dry and slightly painful throat.

Was that me screaming?

“Oh, hey!  I’m glad you’re awake—and sorry for not warning you before, but we had a lot of other things going on that I needed to take care of, and it slipped my mind,” she suddenly heard someone saying in the ancient Mouslan language.  Her eyes shot open and she saw the strange person from her nightmares standing over her, looking down with an odd expression on his face.  Is that amusement?

“Here, let me help you up; you’re probably a bit disoriented, which is understandable given what you’ve been through,” the figure said as he extended his hand to her – which she did not take.  Trinket was still trying to understand what was going on, and taking a relatively unfamiliar person’s hand after all of the painful body wrenching didn’t feel that prudent at the moment.  “I hope you don’t mind; we didn’t move you after you collapsed, other than to make you slightly more comfortable.  Wouldn’t want you waking up somewhere without a friendly face nearby, am I right?”

Friendly face?  I’m not so sure—

Movement out of the corner of her eye and past the somewhat familiar person caught her attention, and Trinket focused on what had made the movement.  As soon as she caught sight of another person, this one with purple-tinged skin, a wave of a very familiar scent of “newness” wafted into her nose, and she sat upright in shock.

“But I saw you die!  Both of you!  How?  What?  I don’t understand….”

Trinket suddenly felt an arm around her shoulders supporting her, which was a very strange sensation for the normally reserved Mouslan.  “Now, now; this is probably very confusing, but try not to pass out again before we can explain.  Or, more accurately, before Milton can explain, because he should’ve explained it to you before this.”

Tearing her eyes away from the two “dead” people sitting behind their bridge consoles, Trinket looked into the eyes of a small woman, darker in skin color than the one that offered her a hand, but overall they appeared to be the same race.  Except for the fact that she was even smaller than the Mouslan, which was certainly not a common occurrence.

“Wait, what?”  She was thoroughly confused by this point, even as all of her memories came crashing back into her mind all at once.  It was only the arm around her shoulders that kept her from freezing and passing out again as remembrances of fleeing Station 23-E flowed through her mind as everything that happened afterwards shocked her.

Milton (she just remembered his name) squatted down in front of Trinket, taking her unresponsive hands in his own.  “Again, I apologize for the abrupt departure and everything that you went through, and I also want to thank you for your assistance.  We couldn’t have escaped without your help.”

He suddenly stood up and beckoned to the two dead people, who miraculously got up and came over with nervous smiles on their faces.  Of course, that’s what she thought they were, because she was beginning to learn that she wasn’t as good at reading expressions on alien species as she thought.  Maybe their medical technology is better than anything I’ve heard of before?  That’s the only way I can explain how they are still alive, when I clearly saw them dead and broken in that bay.

“You’ve met Brint and Whisp before, of course, and you probably saw them die down in the cargo bay down below.”  There was an overly dramatic pause before he continued in a serious tone.  “You did.  There’s no way that I know of to heal someone that has suffered from those types of fatal injuries, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something that can be done.  No, what you are looking at are essentially… clones.”

“Clones?  How is that possible?”

Milton shrugged.  “Technology, how else?  And don’t worry, it isn’t like there are multiple copies of Brint and Whisp running around, as my systems only allow me to recreate one of them at a time, especially with the Neurological Control Units installed inside of them.  It wouldn’t work, otherwise.”

If this is supposed to be reassuring, it is far from that.

“Not that I use the NCUs to control them, of course, though I could—”

“Milton, you absolutely suck at explanations; I’m taking over from here,” the small woman at her side interjected.  Suddenly, Trinket watched the diminutive figure disappear into a cloud of smoke, only to materialize in front of the Mouslan, floating a few inches above the floor.  “Hello there, the name’s ALANNA.  Anyway, all you really need to know about the whole process is that Brint and Whisp, along with everyone else that Milton can recreate, are their own individuals; they are simply made stronger through the application of certain factors that allow his Station Core to repeatedly recreate them if they were to die. Each ‘clone’ is an exact copy of the last state they were in before they died; it is recorded through some technology that is infused in their body, like a saved memory, though there is a minimal loss in developmental progression each time they die.

“In short, they are immortal – as long as there are resources that Milton can use to bring them back.  We’re here, in RD-413F near the outer rim of the galaxy, to obtain more of these resources.  It appears as though the star charts were correct; this place is uninhabited.  Whisp?  Can you guide us to the planet and make landfall in the southern hemisphere?  I’ve marked a suitable landing site.”

The not-dead woman nodded and jumped back into the seat facing a console, where she started tapping away in a frenzy.  Turning her head, Trinket could see a viewscreen of a planet rapidly getting larger, and she realized they were approaching a very green and blue-covered planet.  Then something that the small woman said finally caught up with her.

“Did you say outer rim?  How long was I out?”  Trinket felt quite hungry and thirsty – as well as more than a bit weak from her forced unconsciousness – but not enough to account for the multiple months of travel time a trip like that would’ve taken, even on the fastest ships.

“Nearly a week.  Not too bad, if I do say so myself.”

A week?  How is that possible?

Trinket abruptly remembered Milton mentioning something about other dimensions, though it hadn’t made sense at the time.  It still didn’t make sense, but she thought it might have something to do with their quick travel.  “Does this have anything to do with other dimensions?”

There was silence on the bridge as everyone stared at her, before a laugh coming from the small woman – ALANNA, I think I heard her say her name is – broke the sudden tension.  “Where in the world did you pick this girl up, Milton?  She’s definitely a smart one.”

The woman then proceeded to explain how they could somehow tear through the fabric of this dimension in order to pass through into a separate dimension, one in which the distances between areas were distorted.  By traveling in one direction in this other dimension, they could complete a journey that could possibly take years and condense it to days or weeks.

“But the Masters can travel from one end of the galaxy to the other in less than a year,” Trinket noted.

ALANNA just shrugged.  “We’ve been away for a while, so it was inevitable that they would acquire better drives than what we’re equipped with – other than our trans-dimensional drive, of course.  We can’t allow them to get their hands on it, however, because that could spell disaster for the entire universe.”

An unconscious shiver spread through Trinket’s body at the thought of that happening, and she was suddenly worried about the ship they were on.  In some ways it was powerful – the dimensional drive-thing, for instance, not to mention the cloning (which she didn’t really want to even think about) – but it was also vulnerable; she wasn’t sure what would happen were the Masters able to locate them.  If they knew there was some technology that could allow them to travel to other galaxies, conquering as they went, then it was possible they could be boarded and captured rather than blown up immediately; she’d seen and heard what happened to captives that had rebelled, and she knew that nightmarish tortures would be in store for them.

Maybe the smartest thing is to just destroy this ship and hide out somewhere; this planet looks safe enough, in fact.

As they were talking, the ship was already descending through the atmosphere, the turbulence as they got closer to the surface increasing until they stabilized.  A few minutes later, they had set down on the alien planet, which just so happened to be the first one that Trinket had ever been on.  She had been born on a space station and lived her whole life on one or another; she was actually eager to see what a planet was like.

“I’m sending out my drone force along with a half-dozen Molecular Converters for Bio Mass acquisition.  Anyone want to join me as we check it out in person?”

Trinket jumped up, nearly falling on her rear in the process; her body was weaker than she thought after having been unconscious for nearly a week without food or water.  She could go a lot longer without sustenance than many of the races in the galaxy, but there was a limit even her body couldn’t push past without becoming extremely weak.

“Whoa, careful.  We’ll take it slowly, and by the time we get out there, we should have enough resources gathered to get you whatever kind of meal you want.  There is also a small lake nearby, which will allow me to gather up enough water for whatever may be needed in the future.  Let’s go.”

Milton steadied Trinket as she found her feet and balance, and they, along with Brint, walked through the ship until they came to a rear cargo hold.  The doors were already open, and a ramp led down to a grassy plain, which was surrounded by trees on all sides.  As the Mouslan stepped out onto a planet for the first time, she suddenly felt heavy, as if something were pressing down on her skin and bones from all sides.

Falling to her knees, Trinket suddenly had trouble breathing.

“Is this your first time on a planet?” the artificial person asked, kneeling by her side in concern.

“Yes… *gasp* it’s heavier… than *gasp* I expected.”

She looked up and around her, taking in the beauty of the environment; the grass underneath her hands looked delicious, and she unconsciously tore some up and shoved it in her mouth.  At the first bite, an overwhelmingly satisfying flavor seemed to infuse her mouth, blocking out any other discomfort she was feeling.

It was… real.  That was the only word she could think of to describe the difference between it and what was grown on the hydroponic farms set up throughout the space stations she’d lived on her entire life.  The space station-grown food wasn’t bad tasting, necessarily, but compared to the grass she was eating now, they tasted nearly as artificial as the being squatting down next to her.

“Well, we won’t stay too long; the gravity might be a little much for you, if you’re not used to it.  I noticed that the centrifugal gravity created on Space Station 23-E was a bit weaker than what my avatar was used to on Proctus, the weaker force which is also similar to the artificial gravity on my ship.  Until you’re acclimated to it, being out here will do more harm than good in the short-run.”

Trinket could feel exactly what he was saying; despite being able to finally eat after so long without food, she was feeling weaker than ever.  The planet seemed to press down on her even more as time went on, and the difficulty breathing was starting to become a problem.  However, taking a breath was its own reward; the scents that infused her nose were unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.  The planet had a natural and fresh scent to it, completely at odds with the stale and metallic odors of a space station.  All she wanted to do was roll around in the grass, soaking up the environment and inhaling every scent she could, but it was apparently going to have to wait until she was a bit stronger.

“Alright, back inside.  We’ll try to come back out as soon as you’ve rested, recovered, and satiated your appetite and thirst.  I’m not sure how long we’ll be here, but it will be at least until we’ve acquired what we need.”

Milton had to literally pick her up and carry her, as her muscles were too weak to stand up, let alone walk.  Shame at her weakness washed over her, but the artificial being didn’t even say a word about it; by the time they were back inside and the pressure on her body subsided almost entirely, she was determined to work on increasing her strength so that she could withstand being on the planet longer than a few seconds.

As Milton put her down just inside the ship’s doorway, she was thankfully able to still see outside, as well as enjoy the scents that wafted in.  They were mixed with the scents of Milton and the ship, but it was still an enjoyable experience while she rested.

“My sensors are detecting a handful of predators in the trees, though nothing at all like the ones on Proctus.  Would you mind taking out a few Combat Units and protecting the drones while they go to work?” Milton asked of Brint, the male, purple-skinned Proctan – if she remembered the name correctly.

“Yes.  Are… they being created… now?” Brint asked, his speech halting and heavily accented, but still intelligible.  For some reason, despite the fact that the language wasn’t as familiar to them as their own, they were still speaking ancient Mouslan.  She suspected it was for her benefit, so that she knew what was going on – albeit, when it came down to it, she nonetheless had very little understanding of what was going on.

“They are.  The drones are already bringing in materials, and I’ve obtained enough random Bio Mass from small mammals for them to create a Qwizard and a Quank that are now on their way.  I figure that the pair of them will be more than enough to handle anything you find out there.”

“Yes.  If not… then we may… need Whisp and her… expertise.”

Milton shook his head with a smile.  “I doubt that will be necessary.  Suit up from the armory, because it won’t be long.”

Brint took off out into the depths of the ship again, before coming back a few minutes later with what appeared to be some sort of rigid leather suit covering his vital areas, as well as a metal cutting implement hooked to a belt on his side.  The entire ensemble was so foreign to her that it didn’t really register with her what he was doing; the purpose behind it appeared to be for protection, at least from what she inferred, but it had been so long since anyone had needed to protect themselves throughout the galaxy that it was out of place.

If there was only one good thing about being conquered by the Masters, it was that their lives were relatively safe.  As long as the ones that commanded obedience weren’t crossed, of course; if they were crossed, then safety was a long way away.  Or if they were chosen at random for a sacrifice.  Or any number of other seemingly random offenses that might invoke retribution.

Okay, so it isn’t that safe.

Less than a minute after Brint came back all suited up in his protective gear, Trinket shrank back against the bulkhead she was resting against, wanting to hide from the monster that emerged from inside of the ship.

“Wha-what is that?!  Keep it away from me!”

Thankfully, the large lizard-type monster didn’t even stop as it entered, followed by another in quick succession.  Brint swung up lithely on top of one of them, heading out the door without so much as an apology, but then again, it didn’t appear as if he had much time.

“Don’t worry about them, Trinket,” Milton abruptly said when they were gone, causing the Mouslan to jerk in surprise.  “They’re my Combat Units that are under our complete control, and they are simply designed to protect us.  These particular hybrids I created from the Quizards – which I so named because of them being large, quick lizards – that I encountered on Proctus.  They might be a bit fierce-looking, but I assure you that they are only fierce against those wishing us harm.”

These people are crazy!  What kind of dream or nightmare am I living right now?

Trinket didn’t know how to respond to that, so she said nothing.  Instead, she looked outside and watched as Brint and the monsters raced toward a side of the forest, which was currently falling as trees were cut down.  She couldn’t see what was doing the cutting, but whatever they were, they were doing it quickly and efficiently.  It pained her a little bit to see so much natural growth being cut away, but then she remembered seeing how most of the landmass of the planet was covered in green, which she supposed meant that there were nearly endless forests all over.

“Alright, how about we go get you something to eat?  After that, I have some more questions for you, since you’re our only source of information right now.”

Trinket stood up, her body recovered enough that she was willing to walk just about anywhere for something to eat and drink.  “Like what?”

“That can wait until you’ve eaten; suffice it to say, I need some details about these space stations you mentioned that were destroyed,” Milton answered as he was walking away – so Trinket didn’t have any other choice but to follow him if she wanted some food.

Hmm.  I wonder what he wants with those half-destroyed stations?

Chapter 11

The progress made by his drone army, consisting of 150 ground drones and 100 flying drones, was impressive.  Within the first hour, they had essentially cut down, chopped up, and then fed into his Molecular Converters nearly 2,000 trees and various foliage in the area.  He wasn’t really worried about deforestation too much because what he was taking was a miniscule number compared to how many there were on this world, and he left a few scattered around in order to maintain the forest’s hold over the land.

He also directed a few of his drones to place one of the Molecular Converters inside of the nearby lake, where it quickly began to take in the water and store it into his usable resources for later use.  When the level of the lake dropped nearly 2 feet, he stopped the process and had the Converter removed, knowing that he had enough in there to hydrate thousands of people for decades – especially because whatever waste was produced by people would be recycled.  He was already planning on visiting the ocean to the west of the current location to absorb more for a nice cushion, but he wanted to make sure he had enough in case his ship was forced to flee.

Brint and his Combat Units, the Qwizards and Quanks (essentially fire-spitting giant lizards and thick-skinned giant lizards acting as defenders), were able to scare off the few larger predators that got close, though they were few and far between.  Nothing dangerous stayed around long enough to actually fight Brint and his posse; while obtaining some new powerful Combat Unit types would’ve been nice, it wasn’t really a priority right now.  Brint and his Combat Units were able to hunt down and kill some smaller mammals and reptiles that were similar in appearance to rabbits and snakes, but strangely they weren’t too different from the patterns he already had in his system.  Rather than hunt further afield, since he was on a self-imposed timetable and he couldn’t afford to waste time on hunting down potential targets, Milton instructed Brint to stay close and keep his drones safe.

The news that the Heliothropes were capable of navigating through space at vastly faster speeds than his own ship was worrisome.  Granted, he had the trans-dimensional drive at his disposal; but in a straight-up race, he was far outmatched.  Not to mention that there was only one of him and his ship, versus what sounded like billions of Heliothrope ships scattered around the galaxy.  All of that meant that he was eager to get everyone established somewhere permanent and relatively safe, because there was always a chance that the enemy could hunt them down at any time.

Another hour and an additional 2,000 trees, as well as a stop at the nearby ocean, was enough to satisfy Milton with his current reserves of Organic Material for simple food and Pure Water for hydration.  What he didn’t have more than a sprinkling of was Biological Mass.  While he could have instructed Brint and his two Quizard-based hybrids to continue hunting through the forests to gather up the corpses of what they killed and feed them to his Converters, Milton had a better idea.  His sensors showed that the oceans were filled with a much more diverse and dense amount of life beneath the surface of the water, including what appeared to be millions of giant six-finned whale-like creatures.  They seemed to be able to move faster than the whales he knew about back on old Earth, and had teeth that seemed more predatory than anything, but they were also perfect for what he had in mind.

After sucking up quite a few random simple fish inside of his Molecular Converter while he was storing water from the ocean, Milton killed the Qwizard and Quank that Brint had been using and used the Bio Mass from them and what he gained from the fish to create two Squirks.  The Squirks were a unique hybrid of a shark and a squid, with the front half of the Combat Unit appearing like a deadly shark and the back half utilizing the grasping tentacles of a squid.  The tentacles also allowed the Unit to move much faster in the water than a shark could, as it propelled itself with powerful thrusts of its appendages.  He briefly thought about altering them even further so that they were enhanced with additional genetic mutations inside of his Biological Recombinator, but he didn’t have enough Bio Mass to experiment too much at the moment.

“Unless you want to go for a swim, Brint, I’ll take care of this part,” he advised his friend, who seemed hesitant to enter the water.

“Go for it; I’d rather stay up here, if you don’t mind.”

Without further ado, the two newly created Squirks were deposited in the water from the shore, and Milton used their sight to maneuver them deeper into the ocean.  It only took a few minutes to pinpoint the nearest one of these Death Whales (as he was mentally calling them), and he sent his Combat Units in to attack.

One thing he didn’t consider enough was the sheer size difference between his Units and the Death Whale; each one of his Squirks looked like a small car attacking a blimp, which would’ve been funny if he didn’t need the Bio Mass he’d get from the creature once it was killed.  As a result of this difference, thankfully, the Death Whale barely even acknowledged it was under attack by the two Combat Units latched onto its side for nearly a minute, chewing through the thick layers of blubber that formed a natural defense against assault.

When it finally understood that it was being attacked, the massive Whale moved much quicker than even Milton expected.  It whipped around through the water fast enough to dislodge one of his Squirks, which promptly got snatched up by the snapping jaws of the aquatic behemoth, quicker than a snake’s strike.  His Combat Unit was easily chewed in half and swallowed up, dead before it had a chance to defend itself.

Thankfully, his other Squirk managed to hold on by impaling its tentacles into the blubber on either side of the opening it had chewed through.  Better yet, it was positioned in such a way that the Death Whale couldn’t contort itself such that it could bite the offending Combat Unit off of its body – though it certainly tried.  No matter what it did, however, his Squirk didn’t stop its relentless attack, burrowing deeper and deeper within the goliath creature. It took nearly a half hour for it to tear into the Whale’s vital organs and kill it from the inside, chomping through not just one heart but 3 of them, before it spasmed and died.

Success!

Milton had already created some Aquatic Drones using his meager resources from the Drone Assembly Plant[7] inside of his ship, which looked quite different from the beetle-like appearance of his ground and flying drones.  These ones appeared very similar to a small octopus, with flexible appendages instead of rigid legs, and they could speed through the water even faster than his Squirks.  They weren’t really combat-capable, though, and they were expensive to create; thankfully, his Ingenuity/Wisdom stat allowed him to replace up to 50% of the Basic Metal Units used in their construction with other materials, and further bonuses equaling a total of 25% were added to that amount.  As a result, he used most of his extra BMUs and a larger amount of Organic Material to produce a dozen of the Aquatic Drones, which went to work dragging the corpse of the Death Whale back to shore, where they were assisted by his other drones in cutting up the behemoth and feeding it into a half-dozen Molecular Converters that were set up.

Consequently, the Bio Mass really started to roll into his reserves, so much so that he created another dozen Squirks to join his surviving Combat Unit to hunt down a few more of these Death Whales.  The second one they took down ended up costing him 5 of his Squirks because they were spotted before they could get in close to attack, but the remaining 8 were able to get in close and latch on, using the same tactics as the first one that survived.  He produced more Squirks as a result and had them hunt down another half-dozen of the ocean creatures, before he had them stop.

He would’ve kept going a little longer, but his actions seemed to have stirred up some trouble from deep down below the surface of the water.  His sensors had difficulty detecting that far down so he couldn’t get a good look at what was there, but it was huge; it made the Death Whales appear like nothing more than small minnows in comparison.  It was probably even large enough that it could damage his ship if it attacked, so he stopped his Whale hunting; the last thing he needed was some sort of alien Kraken emerging from the depths to destroy his Battlecruiser along with his Station Core.

Shortly after eliminating all of the Death Whale corpses and feeding them to his Molecular Converters, they took off for the third planet in the solar system, which his sensors said contained large quantities of low-quality metallic deposits – perfect for what he needed.  Landing on the surface of the planet was easy enough because the atmosphere was nearly non-existent, meaning that only Milton could venture out safely with his drones – though Trinket suited up and enjoyed a walk on the lower-gravity planet, after only venturing out one more time at their previous stop before she couldn’t take it anymore.

His drones went to work mining out the ore deposits that were located by his roaming sensor orbs, which were filled with very low-quality metallic material.  Milton didn’t have to wonder why no one had settled in the system before he arrived, because the material was just barely passable as metal; if he had to compare it to something he was familiar with, he would say that it was softer and more brittle than tin, similar to a soft pewter in some respects.  The metal on Proctus was like iron or steel in comparison, so obviously what he was mining was poor; most space-faring civilizations couldn’t use it effectively, so it was next to worthless.

But to Milton, it was priceless.

Because all he needed to convert one metallic material to another was Basic Metal Units (BMUs), he could use this low-quality metal to great effect.  Granted, a basketball’s worth of this material was equal in BMUs to a golf ball’s worth of metal back on Proctus, but there was a lot of the material on the planet.  His drones sometimes only needed to mine a foot beneath the surface to get to massive deposits, some of which were practically the size of a professional football stadium back on Earth – old Earth, of course.  It was also light enough – with the lower gravity added in – that a single drone could carve out and carry a chunk of the metal to a Molecular Converter, where it would just barely fit inside.

Because of this, his drone army tore into the nearby deposits with a fervor, cutting out vast swathes of the landscape, stripping all of the valuable material away.  Even more than that, when his drones went deep enough – with the aid of his sensor orbs, which could practically x-ray through solid rock up to a certain distance – Milton was able to find a few concentrations of Focusing Crystals.  The highly valuable resource was an important part of some of the higher-tech defenses he could create, as well as being necessary for creating additional ships.  He didn’t find enough to create more than a few of the smallest of the Scout-Class Shuttles available, which wouldn’t do much for him.  Regardless, he’d rather have the Focusing Crystals than not.

Milton and his drones spent just over 12 hours on the planet mining out as many materials as he could before he reached the minimum point where he was satisfied[8].  It wasn’t nearly what he had access to when he was in the Proctan dimension, but he was feeling more and more confident that he could maintain his ship and at least start the next part of his plan.  He resolved to continue mining for at least the next day to ensure he had plenty of BMUs to fall back on, and perhaps even venture back to the life-filled planet to harvest more of the Death Whales.

Unfortunately, that plan just wasn’t in the cards.

“Milton!”

The Station Core tore his focus away from his mining operations on the planet, his drones scurrying over miles of terrain, and looked at Whisp.  “What’s wrong—oh, no.  How did they find us?!”

On the viewscreen was a fleet of familiar-looking ships, seen on the longest-range sensors his ships possessed.  In all, it wasn’t very far due to the planet and atmosphere interfering with their range, but it was at least better than on the other planet.

“I’m not sure how they found you, but they do have a network of communication arrays that can pass information from one side of the galaxy to the other in less than a day,” Trinket said in a small voice as she stared at the viewscreen along with everyone else.  “I was actually born on a station near one of those arrays—”

“However they found us, we need to get out of here, Milton!” ALANNA shouted, which spurred him into action.

Milton had frozen at the sight of the Heliothrope fleet, but now he sent all of his processes into overdrive in preparation to depart.  While he technically expected to be found out eventually, because he wouldn’t put it past their enemy to keep tabs on every single system they conquered – even if there were no people there – he had been hoping for at least a few days or a week.

“Charge the trans-dimensional drive, ALANNA; I’m bringing in all of the drones.”

“Milton!” Whisp shouted again.  “There’s a squad of drones more than 10 miles away; they won’t make it before we have to leave, based on the speed of the fleet heading our way.”

Some quick calculations thanks to Whisp’s work and ALANNA computing all of the different factors showed that the Proctan was correct.  Milton regretted sending out 20 drones to a deposit about 12 miles away from the ship, but in his defense he thought he had more time.  The major problem was that there was also a Molecular Converter with them, which he couldn’t leave behind for the Heliothropes to gain control of; from everything he had learned from Trinket, much of the technology that The Collective had previously possessed – including the Converters – had supposedly been destroyed and wiped from any of their computer systems before they could fall into the hands of the enemy.  He had to believe that it was probably prudent to continue that precaution.

While all of the other drones and Molecular Converters were brought back on board, Milton went through the process of having all but two of his drones enter the remaining Molecular Converter still on the planet, essentially destroying themselves.  Then, with the last pair of drones, he had them quickly carve the Converter up into thousands of pieces, eliminating any trace of how it was put together and how it worked.  Lastly, the two drones – which had a miniature directed Molecular Converter on their heads that allowed them to cut through just about anything – swiftly dismantled themselves, ending with them pointing their Converter beams toward each other, deactivating them entirely and without chance of recovery.

In the end, as one of his sensor orbs, which could move at incredible speeds, passed over the site, all he could see was a pile of metal parts, practically indistinguishable from the landscape.  It was mentally painful having to sacrifice his drones like that, but he knew it was necessary.

“They’re all in, Whisp; take us up and prepare to activate the drive!” Milton shouted once everything was inside.

The second after they lifted off at full speed, an explosion erupted underneath them as a long-range missile fired from the lead Heliothrope ship impacted their landing site.

“We’ve got more incoming!” Brint yelled, putting the details of his own console up on the viewscreen.

Milton didn’t need that in order to see it, since he was focused on all of his sensors, but it certainly did ramp up the urgency when he saw a swarm of missiles and a scattering of familiar multi-colored energy beams tracking them as they ascended into space.

“There’s no time to get clear of the planet; I’m activating the drive now!”  Without any other thought, he initiated the drive sequence, which would open up a tear in dimensional space.

“Wait!  I’m not sure what will happen if this is opened so close to a pl—” ALANNA warned, before the ship shook and shuddered uncontrollably, flinging everyone on the bridge against practically every surface as gravity seemed to fail.  As the Battlecruiser stabilized, Milton saw that his sensors reported that they had managed to pass through to the traveling dimension, through which they were currently passing with great speed.  A quick check of the ship itself showed a few signs of damage, but fortunately none of it was major or catastrophic.  A look around the bridge showed everyone there in about the same shape, as everyone was hurt, Whisp badly, but everyone was alive.  His avatar had lost its left arm as it got caught on something during the commotion, but on the whole it was still functional.

“Brint, can you take Whisp and Trinket to the Bio Labs for healing? No, don’t worry about me; I’ll fix this later when we have some time.”  Brint was bleeding from multiple cuts all over his body, but he didn’t seem to have anything broken; Whisp had been knocked unconscious and one of her legs was bent at an unnatural angle, but she didn’t wake up even when Brint picked her up and jostled her injuries.  The important part was that she was still breathing, which meant that she would be fine after a dip in the liquid of a Bioconversion Laboratory to heal her injuries.

As for Trinket, she was also bleeding from a few cuts, as well as having her right arm hanging loosely by her side.  It didn’t take a doctor to see that she had broken it, but she put on a relatively brave face as she was led away by Brint.  Milton thought that the process would probably be a little traumatizing to the Mouslan because she had to voluntarily throw herself into a large vat of unknown liquid, but it was necessary if she wanted to be healed from her injuries.

“You’re lucky you didn’t tear this ship apart!” ALANNA rounded on him once the others were gone.  “As it is, there’s damage to almost every portion of the Battlecruiser, but fortunately none of it to the ship’s systems.  Any closer to the planet and its gravitational field and this ship would’ve been crushed like a beer can against a frat boy’s forehead.”

“I know, ALANNA, but it was necessary,” Milton said as he sighed heavily, practically collapsing in the captain’s chair.  “We really didn’t have any other choice.”

His guide sniffed.  “Yes, well, you could’ve waited at least another second to put some distance between us and the planet, at least.”  She just shook her head after that, sighing dramatically and slumping in place… before perking back up.  “Anyway, we’re heading toward that system Trinket told us about, which reportedly has a half-destroyed and abandoned space station floating around it.  We should be there in less than a day, which will give you plenty of time to make repairs.  Especially to your avatar, which is leaking some sort of synthetic fluid, it seems.”

She waved toward his body, which Milton saw was indeed slowly leaking out a clear-ish substance.  He’d have to take care of that later, he supposed.  He had more important things to do, such as those things she mentioned – like repairing the ship.

“Oh, and I figured I would wait to give this to you until you were ready for it, but I suppose now will do as well as any other time.”

Current Short-term Goal: A New Home

- Investigate and claim a derelict space station

- Set up defenses to prevent the annihilation of your Station Core

Difficulty of Goal: Average

Timeframe: 6 months

Rewards: A new refuge, +2 to Insight/Luck

Excellent.

*          *         *

“They are gone.  Again.”

“Any sign of their method of travel?”

“None—wait.  Investigating.”

“What has been found?”

“There is a small tear in what appears to be the dimensional fabric of space just above the satellite.  Analyzing.”

“And?”

“The tear is unstable and starting to collapse.  Data has been collected and potential for future applications has been noted.”

“Pass on this information immediately.  The Commander must be informed so that we can catch them when they next surface.”

“Done.”

“Back to our patrol route, then.”

Chapter 12

The repairs to the ship didn’t take as long as Milton feared, and with ample resources available to his drones, there wasn’t any need to gut the ship this time in order to apply those fixes.  The repairs to those living on his ship took even less time, and within a few minutes of their submersion into the Bioconversion Laboratories, Brint and Whisp were good as new.

The wary Mouslan took a bit more coaxing, but eventually the shock of her broken arm and her numerous cuts finally convinced Trinket that she needed to take the risk and jump inside the Lab – especially after she saw Brint and Whisp emerge completely unscathed and healthy after passing through.

One thing that he wasn’t expecting from the whole process was to acquire the pattern to create a Mouslan as a Combat Unit.

“I thought I had to throw new species into the Molecular Converters in order to unlock their patterns; how did that happen?” he asked ALANNA, excited but also confused at the turn of events.

“Well, you did have to do that when your Core was horrendously damaged after crash-landing on Proctus, but after you fully repaired all of your internal systems, a simple bath in the Bio Labs is all that is needed to extrapolate a pattern from a subject,” she replied, shaking her head at his avatar as if he were an ignorant rube fresh off the farm.  “But I guess that part of things was kind of missed when I was explaining things to you back on Proctus.”

“I don’t remember that.”  Milton had perfect memory, too, thanks to everything he sensed being automatically recorded – but he had to know what he was looking for to find it.  He did a quick search through all of the information ALANNA had given him after he was fully repaired, but he couldn’t find what he was looking for.

“Well, I’m sure I told you at some point, but you probably weren’t listening,” she said quickly, which told Milton that she suddenly figured out that she hadn’t said a single thing about it.  “Regardless, that means you don’t have to slaughter your way across the galaxy in order to unlock new Combat Unit patterns.  This was originally what The Collective intended, because they weren’t very keen on killing, as you know.”

He did know, of course, which was why they ended up being conquered in the first place.  Milton didn’t allow that thought to broadcast itself, since ALANNA could be a little touchy when it came to The Collective and how they eventually ended up.

What the revelation meant, though, was quite revolutionary for the Station Core.  Not having to kill everything in order to gain its pattern was a boon… except that there currently weren’t any new people or beasts to obtain a pattern from at the moment.  If everything worked out with his upcoming plan and ALANNA’s quest, however, that could certainly change.

Soon enough, with Brint, Whisp, Trinket, and the ship all fixed up and back to normal, the Battlecruiser (which was a bit of a misnomer since he still hadn’t replaced the weapons he had scrapped earlier) emerged back into their normal dimension through another tear in the dimensional fabric.

“We’re here!  The Gardreva System coming right up!” ALANNA announced as they abruptly found themselves in a new solar system.

Milton tensed up as he rapidly assessed all of the sensor information feeding through his system, looking for any evidence that the Heliothropes were waiting for them.  Thankfully, nothing seemed to be active, and there were no ships at all in the previously inhabited system.  Nor did there seem to be any trace of sapient life left on the fourth or fifth planet from the sun, which had obvious traces of a civilization that had once lived there.  Now all that was left were ruins scattered over a heavily bombarded landscape, the natural wildlife taking over the rubble to a point where they were barely recognizable.

If anything had lived through the attacks, they certainly wouldn’t be rebelling anytime soon.

“Like I told you,” Trinket said in the silence as everyone monitored all of the sensor input, “the Gardrevians thought to rebel against the control of the Masters over 500 years ago, and you can see the result.  The recordings of the bombardment and subsequent search and slaughter of everyone living on these two planets and their space station is a common tool used by the Masters to discourage trouble.  It certainly isn’t the only one, of course, nor is it the worst atrocity that they have enacted upon a people, but it certainly is an effective lesson in futility.  The Gardrevians had actually managed to build a large fleet of thousands of ships in secret, utilizing slightly advanced technology and weaponry that was researched out of the scrutiny of the Masters – but it availed them not a whit once it was discovered what they had done.

“Despite destroying ten times their number of ships by utilizing superior tactics, there was no end to the fleets that assaulted the system and the Gardrevian people.  Seeing the recordings, of the space around each planet filled with millions of ships by the end of the retributive assault, was enough to convince nearly every conquered civilization in the galaxy that they had no hope to defeat the Masters, let alone gain a foothold for rebellion.

“Which brings us to what we’re even doing here.  I still don’t understand what you hope to achieve with all of this.”

Milton looked over the planets briefly before answering, seeing that what the Mouslan said appeared to be true.  Any sign of an advanced civilization left on the surface had essentially been obliterated, and there were a few scattered remains of what appeared to be ship pieces left floating around, though most of it seemed to have either drifted into the nearby planets’ gravity or crashed down below.  Either that, or any larger pieces had drifted far out of range in the intervening 500 years since the slaughter had taken place, leaving barely a sign that anything had even happened there.

No sign other than the remains of a space station still in orbit around the fourth planet, the largest of the two that had contained the majority of the Gardrevian civilization.  When they were discussing their future course of action in the previous system, Trinket had mentioned that the Gardrevian people lived on, because not all of the members of the species had been in the system; however, they were a people that no longer had a home planet that they could call their own, and were subsequently scattered across the entire galaxy.

Instead of vowing revenge for the massacre of their people, such as what Milton knew Humans would be contemplating, the Gardrevians instead acted as a warning to whoever saw them.  The Mouslan said she met a couple of them once on a previous station, and they were a visibly beaten-down race that appeared to be going through the motions of life and simply existing.  Milton thought it was that, more than the recordings of the assault on the Gardreva System, which was probably the psychological factor that kept the Heliothrope’s slaves in line.

After looking at the remnants of a long-destroyed civilization on the surface of the planet, Milton turned his attention to the reason they had come there: the Gardrevian space station.  Or, at least, the remnant of a space station still floating in orbit above the fourth planet.  It was in no way comparable to the station near Jupiter back in his home solar system, which had been so unbelievably large that it was still difficult for the Core to fully comprehend its size, but it was impressive, nonetheless.  Granted, it was more impressive that it hadn’t completely broken open and shattered into millions of pieces – but he’d take what he could get.

Instead of a series of rings around a central pillar like Station 23-E near Jupiter, this station – at one time – had two large, donut-shaped rings connected to a much smaller pillar in the middle that extended down below quite a distance.  The uppermost portion of the pillar flared out just above the broken pieces of the rings, culminating in what appeared to be some sort of main command center – though that had been almost completely obliterated by weapons’ fire; only the basic structure of it remained, and even that was nearly gone.

Overall, the Gardrevian space station looked like a large spinning top, though it was missing massive chunks of its structure in every single section, making it appear more like the framework of a spinning top than anything else.  Milton had the impression that there might have even been more to the pillar length on the bottom, and broken struts hanging off the outer portions of the rings hinted at something being attached at one time, but it was impossible to tell at that point.  The station was so full of holes and damaged by a barrage of weapons that he was surprised that it was still in one piece, even if that piece was broken and damaged so much that anything that survived the initial attack would have had nowhere to hide.

It wasn’t until they drifted closer to the station that he finally obtained a relatively good impression of its size, which was difficult to tell at the location where they first arrived in the system.  His sensors’ estimates said that it was at least 500 miles long from the tip of the destroyed top to the remains of the bottom pillar, and the ring remnants had a diameter of at least 350 miles; when he considered that the outer circumference of each ring was around 1,100 miles – and there were two of them – he was shocked at how unbelievably massive the entire structure was.  Thinking back to his time on Proctus, he realized that just one of the rings would probably be larger than the entire Proctan Kingdom he had helped to defend, though of course the entire ring wasn’t habitable.  Instead, with a thickness of only about 10 miles wide, each ring only consisted of about 10,600 miles in area – which was still a significant amount of space.  Depending on how they utilized that area, they could potentially double or triple the potential living space for everyone on board the station.

That didn’t even count what the central pillar and the large command center could house.  Regardless of the exact dimensions and habitable area, Milton could imagine that millions or even tens of millions of people could have been living on the station when it was attacked.  All of them were wiped out when they dared to defy the enslavement by the Heliothropes, just like the planet down below.

The space station was a torn-up mess, but Milton thought it would do for his plans.

Before he could answer Trinket, Whisp interrupted him.  “Your sensors are detecting a very faint signal being transmitted out of the system; it’s so faint that I wouldn’t have even noticed it with all of the other noise being picked up, but I was specifically looking for it.”

“Do you think it’s some sort of warning system set up by the Heliothropes?”

The Proctan nodded.  “Most likely; I didn’t notice it in the last system, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they left some sort of sensor for incoming ships in every solar system in the galaxy.  It makes sense when you consider how quickly they responded to us in the last system.”

“Can we destroy it?  Stop them from knowing we’re here?” Brint asked.

Whisp just shook her head.  “Whatever is sending the signal is so small that I can’t even locate it, and it’s probably too late by now anyway.  The signal doesn’t seem too complex, so it likely doesn’t contain any more information than ‘something is here that shouldn’t be’, but it’s out, nonetheless.  Stopping the signal would only confirm that we’re here.”

Milton couldn’t help but agree, and searching around for it would only waste time.  “How long do you think we have until we have company?”

ALANNA answered this time, having done the calculations.  “The star maps indicate that a few inhabited systems are relatively nearby, which means that they likely have Heliothrope presence.  I think we had gotten lucky in our last location because the system was relatively isolated on the outer rim, but here is a different story.  I’m conservatively giving us approximately 4 hours before we can expect visitors.”

“No time to waste then, I guess.  Take us in, Whisp.”  While Milton could’ve handled piloting the ship, Whisp had almost intuitively taken to the controls of the Battlecruiser like a fish to water, and he wasn’t ashamed to say that she controlled it much better than he thought he could.  Besides, it freed him up to concentrate on other tasks, like monitoring his sensors with almost his complete attention – and explaining the ultimate plan to Trinket.

“To answer your question, we’re going to turn this ruined space station into our new home, which I hope can defend against the Heliothropes when they attack.”

The Mouslan appeared rightly skeptical.  “How?  There are no weapons on that station, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see anything on your ship, either.”

“Exactly,” he agreed, but he paused when their recent addition to their crew didn’t seem to comprehend.  “You see, we’re not going to defend the station from space, but from within.  We’re going to present ourselves as a new civilization that needs to be conquered, rather than a rebellious one they need to simply destroy.  Our own records, as well as what information you’ve imparted, show that the Heliothropes won’t simply blow us up; instead, they will invade the station in order to attempt to conquer and capture us. It’s in their nature – they can’t help it.

“And installing my Core inside of a space station or other defensive installation is what my Station Core was designed for all those thousands of years ago, by your own people, no less.”

“WHAT?!”

Milton smiled at the incredulous expression on the Mouslan’s face.  “I know, it sounds a bit far-fetched, but it’s true.  As ALANNA can attest, The Collective got together for an ambitious plan when it seemed they were going to lose the war against the Heliothropes; since you and the other members of this Collective were incapable of abject violence and killing others, 100 Station Cores were created as an experiment.  These Cores were to be installed in defensible locations like space stations and outposts, in order to draw the attention of the Heliothropes when they invaded so that there was a target other than the people living nearby.

“An AI wouldn’t work to operate them, however, because that autonomy necessary for them to function correctly was too much for the AIs, and they ended up getting out of control.  That’s where I and other Humans came in; a number of ships snuck near Earth and abducted us, where they incorporated our consciousnesses inside of the Station Cores.  While this technically killed us, it actually extended our lives so that we lived on perpetually inside of the Cores; I’m not sure how they handled this in their own consciences, but they didn’t have long to worry about it, as it turned out.

“On the way back to Collective-controlled space, they were ambushed by a fleet of Heliothropes and destroyed, along with all but 2 of the Cores inside.  According to what ALANNA can put together, my own Core and another were transported to another dimension due to the trans-dimensional drives initiating during the destruction of the ships, propelling us into a completely different dimension, where I crash-landed on a planet a number of years later.  I won’t go into detail what all happened there, but suffice it to say that I had to repair my nearly destroyed Core while defending against hostile beasts, and when I was finally able to leave the planet, we ended up back in my own dimension – and right in the middle of a Heliothrope fleet.  Most of my own fleet was destroyed as I fled to my home system, where we found Station 23-E… and you know most of the rest from there.”

Trinket was silent for a long time as she took that in, staring at the viewscreen as they traveled closer to the Gardrevian space station.  Though it won’t be called that for long once I take possession.  Finally, after nearly 5 minutes of silence, the Mouslan spoke.  “That’s… unbelievable.  If I hadn’t seen some of the things you can do, as well as knowing the Mouslan language, I would think that you weren’t telling the truth.”  She turned to Milton, who had repaired his own avatar shortly before they arrived in the system.  “Since I have seen what you can do, however, I have no reason to doubt your story, as outrageous as it seems.  But that doesn’t exactly explain what you hope to gain from all of this.  Defending Collective installations thousands of years ago might have made sense at the time, but against the Mast—Heliothropes—now?  It seems like a delayed form of suicide if you ask me, because they won’t stop coming.  I’ve seen the recordings, and while they might not immediately blow up this station, you have no hope of stopping their impossibly huge army once they invade.”

As much as Milton wanted to protest that he had defended against much more powerful enemies back on Proctus and ended up on top, Trinket did have a point.  If he simply rebuilt some of the space station, installed a few defenses and filled a few portions of it with powerful Combat Units, he probably wouldn’t last long against wave after wave of Heliothropes invading his new home.

Naturally, he had a plan for that, though it was going to take some time and experimentation.

“You’re right, at least partially.  The defenses I have access to, as well as my Combat Units, are quite powerful, and I have no doubt they would be largely effective; still, if we simply stayed in place and let them overwhelm us with numbers, we would fall within a few days, if not sooner.  That’s why we won’t be staying in one place—”

“We’re ‘docking’ now, though I wouldn’t really call this a dock,” Whisp announced, cutting off his explanation.

Milton told Trinket that he would explain what he had in mind a little later, but he had a bit of work to take care of first.  “I’m taking out my drones again, along with a few of the Molecular Converters; keep an eye on the sensors as I work, as I’ll be a little distracted for a bit,” he asked of the others on the bridge.  ALANNA nodded along with Brint and Whisp, and even Trinket went to a console and started tapping away at it.  I have to remember that unlike the Proctans, she’s actually from this era and likely knows her way around a computer console as well as anyone else.

He had formerly thought of the Mouslan as an unfortunate side-effect of visiting Station 23-E, forced to flee because of their presence there talking to her; now, though, he realized that she could be a valuable crew member – and friend, perhaps? – that had just as much invested in their success as anyone else.  Perhaps even more invested than them, considering that she was under the yoke of the Heliothropes, and the Station Core was a source of freedom she had never considered before.

Milton was going to do everything in his power to ensure she stayed free and alive – though that was a somewhat harder prospect, all things considered.

Chapter 13

Whisp had guided the Battlecruiser into the top of the derelict space station, where he thought the command center had likely been located.  Since it was essentially just the framework of the structure left, it was easy enough to slip inside – which was much bigger than he expected.  His ship felt like it was the size of a toddler standing in the middle of a field inside of a massive stadium, but he supposed that was a good thing; he wouldn’t be able to hide his ship, otherwise.

Hiding was the name of the game right now, because they were in no shape to fight off any assaults by the Heliothropes just yet.

It wasn’t until he opened up one of the rear hatches that he realized that the space station was actually still rotating clockwise, as he thought that it had stopped entirely.  It was a very slow rotation, especially near the middle of the central pillar, but it was noticeable; getting it up and rotating again for gravity purposes would be a priority, but for now it didn’t really matter, other than to ensure that the ship was matching the slow rotation.

Once that was done through the gentle thrust of a few of the ship’s external boosters, his drones flooded out of the cargo bay he opened up, the aerial drones acting as transport for the ground-based drones; thankfully, his drones didn’t need air to fly, as they used the same internal propulsion mechanics as his floating sensor orbs, applying a mixture of gravitational and magnetic forces to propel themselves in whichever direction they chose.  Left alone in the middle of space with no ships or large masses nearby, they would be essentially dead in the water; with so much metal and a large planet nearby, his aerial drones had no problem controlling where they went.

His ground-based drones, however, could magnetically attach themselves securely to the station once they reached it, but had no easy way to guide themselves through empty space to get to it in the first place – hence, the aerial drones acting as transport.  Once the ground drones were dropped off, they immediately went to work, tearing into the semi-intact top of the station, where ALANNA had mentioned the reactor that had powered the entire structure was likely located.  That it hadn’t exploded and destroyed the whole station in the process meant that it had likely been shut down beforehand, or else the shielding protecting it from outside interference – which his drones were currently tearing into – had been enough to preserve it.

It didn’t take long for enough of the shielding to be cut away to expose the reactor room, where Milton could detect faint energy signatures coming from below.  Whatever it had been that had shielded the reactor had worked extremely well, because he hadn’t even detected it until then.

“It appears to be some sort of titanium-lead alloy, though not one that The Collective ever used,” ALANNA mentioned.  “Tritanium was always their go-to for protection; as you well know, considering that your entire Core was crafted from it.”

Regardless of what it was, his drones moved even more of it out of the way by cutting it into manageable chunks, stacking thick sheets of it to the side.  Once enough of it was removed, which took nearly an hour because of the sheer thickness of the material, he had Whisp guide the entire ship through the hole that was made, and Milton got his first real look at what was inside.  His sensors couldn’t penetrate the interior very well, due to the shielding – or so ALANNA explained – but once the ship was actually inside, it was as if a veil had been lifted.

The reactor chamber was gigantic, though it was only a small part of the entire station.  Nevertheless, it was large enough that he could’ve comfortably fit at least 50 Battlecruisers inside without them touching.  It was a spherical-shaped cavity with perfectly smooth, mirrored sides that made defining the walls a bit difficult because of the reflections; thankfully, there wasn’t much light inside the reactor chamber, so his sensors were able to define them well enough.

Floating in the center of the chamber was a large red-glowing ball of… something.  His sensors distorted around it a bit, so he wasn’t able to get a good look at it, but fortunately ALANNA had an idea of what it was.

“That appears to be a sub-Fulsite reactor core, though it’s currently dormant.  This reactor chamber makes a lot more sense now, as once this core is bombarded with certain subatomic particles, it will start a chain reaction that can last for thousands of years, providing enough energy that is reflected off of the walls and absorbed in collection wells to power this entire station, and then some.”

“Is it more powerful than my own Zero-point Energy reactor?” Milton asked off-hand, while he worked on getting his drones to start replacing what they had cut away.  His goal was to make it appear as if nothing had disturbed the station since it was mostly destroyed centuries ago.

“More powerful?  Not necessarily, though this is the largest reactor of its kind that I’ve ever seen before.  So… possibly?  However, The Collective would never have used this for a reactor this size, because of the danger of having sub-Fulsite in such quantities.”

Her words made him literally pause what he was doing with his drones.  “Umm, what does that mean?  Are we in danger here?”

ALANNA shrugged, which was frustrating.  “Maybe?  Sub-Fulsite had always been unstable, resulting in massive explosions during large-scale tests, but perhaps the Gardrevians managed to figure out how to stabilize it.  They weren’t known to The Collective at the time, so it’s entirely possible.”

“Or maybe they didn’t, and that’s why the Heliothropes didn’t completely destroy this station,” Brint mused, his statement seemingly coming out of nowhere.  When the others – including Milton – looked at him in surprise, he also shrugged.  “It just seemed strange that this portion of the station wasn’t damaged quite as much, and that could explain it.”

The Station Core thought the Proctan could be on to something.  “ALANNA, how big of an explosion are we talking about here?”

She considered it for a few seconds, which he had noted before was a long time for someone with her processing power.  “Well, the reactors that The Collective had experimented with had sub-Fulsite cores that were approximately the size of my fist,” she finally said, holding up her fist in demonstration, which Milton thought was about the size of a golf ball.  “When it became unstable and collapsed in upon itself, the explosion destroyed the research lab as well as the entire outpost, though fortunately everyone was able to evacuate in time.”

“How big was the explosion that it could destroy an entire outpost?”

“To put it in perspective for you, Milton, the nuclear bombs detonated during one of your past wars had a destructive range of around 15 to 21 kilotons.  Some of the largest explosions of those bombs we saw on Earth while we were there not too long ago were probably in the 300 to 500 megaton range, which was enough to crack some of the landmasses in half.

“The explosion caused by Collective scientists was probably in the 5 to 10 megaton range; so, quite powerful.  Luckily, the outpost was on an uninhabited planet, so no one was hurt by the resulting detonation.”

It took a few seconds for Milton to catch up with what she was saying, as he was distracted by the progress of his drones.  When he finally understood what she was saying, he looked at the core again, and while it was still a bit distorted, he had a decent approximation of its size.

It was nearly 250 feet in diameter – a far cry from the golf-ball sized amount that had caused such an explosion in The Collective.

“Uh… should we even be this close to it?  How large of an explosion would this thing create were it to explode?” Brint asked.

“Probably not, but it’s not like we have any choice, right?  Besides, it has lasted this long, so it’s likely stable.”  Milton wasn’t as assured as ALANNA seemed to be, but she was right; they didn’t really have much choice at the moment.  It was either this or continue running from the Heliothropes.  “As for the explosion it would cause were it to collapse in upon itself, I’m not entirely sure; it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that it could rival the destructiveness of a star suddenly appearing right here in less than a second.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely why they left it alone,” Trinket said abruptly.  “If they were close enough to attack the station and damage this reactor, which is made of something I’ve never heard of before, then they would’ve been destroyed, along with this planet and possibly the nearby planets, as well.  They might be conquering killers who enslave entire civilizations and enact extreme retribution upon anyone who might rebel, but from what I’ve heard they aren’t deliberately suicidal.”

None of that was making Milton feel any better, but at least he was fairly certain that the Heliothropes wouldn’t simply fire on the station when they arrived.  At least, he hoped not; he was still working on assumptions here, but he was hopeful that they would stay true to their past tactics and try to conquer a location rather than blow it up.  Granted, he didn’t want anyone to invade the space station right now; not until he could fix it up with some defenses, first.

Before the drones at the top of the reactor chamber sealed everything back up – from the inside – Milton had one of his sensor orbs float out and up to just outside of the chamber, where he hid it next to one of the destroyed struts.  Almost immediately after it left the chamber, his connection to it was nearly cut off, but he found that if it was touching the outside of the chamber he could still establish a link with it; even when everything was put together in place and his drones were carried back into his ship, the physical contact was just barely enough to keep the connection.

He didn’t have long to wait before he was glad he had moved quickly to get inside of the chamber.  Approximately 3 hours after they arrived, a fleet of ships suddenly arrived near the station where his sensor orb could detect them; Milton wasn’t sure how long they had actually been in-system because his smaller orb didn’t have the same range as his ship, but he doubted they had been there more than a few minutes based on how quickly they appeared.

“Do you think they can detect us in here?” Brint asked in a whisper, though it wasn’t really necessary.  If they could hear them talking, then there was no way they would be able to hide the noise a ship this size made naturally.

“They shouldn’t, unless they have sensors far advanced from our own,” ALANNA answered in her normal voice.  “Somehow, I doubt that, based on what we’ve learned so far.”

While his sensor orb had limited range and field of view, Milton could still see the fleet of ships break apart and start roaming around the station, at least as far as he could detect.  From the orb’s perspective, the work that his drones had done to break into the reactor chamber looked flawless – a little too good, perhaps.  However, none of the ships seemed to stay in one place too long, and although he couldn’t actually detect anything, he was sure they were scanning every inch of the station looking for him.

More ships arrived a half-hour later, followed by more an hour after that, and Milton watched as they continued to scan over every inch of the giant space station looking for his ship.  Eventually, a large group of approximately 50 of them broke off and swarmed around the planet, looking there as well.  He couldn’t detect anything that far away, but he was sure that they were also looking at the other habitable planet in the system, hoping to track him down.

Thankfully, ALANNA was correct – they couldn’t seem to penetrate the shielding of the reactor chamber at all.

It was a bit stressful sitting there in the middle of a barely intact space station’s potentially unstable reactor chamber while hostile enemies were looking for his ship, but they somehow managed.  Brint and Whisp told stories to Trinket about their lives on Proctus, about how Milton had changed everything just by simply being there, and about the Power that they possessed and could make use of.  Demonstrating such power was something Milton warned against at the moment, because he wasn’t sure what might be detected outside of the chamber, but the Station Core could tell that the different abilities they had were intriguing to the Mouslan.

“…and this is something I could acquire, myself?”

For ease of conversation, everyone had started speaking in what Trinket called “Galactic Standard” some time ago; the Mouslan language was a bit difficult for Brint and Whisp to speak, as they had trouble making the appropriate sounds.  “Of course,” Brint said, before Whisp put her hand on his arm to stop him.

“I’m not so sure of that, unfortunately,” she said apologetically.  “As far as I understand it, the gene mutations that Milton can apply are based on Proctan genetics, and they may not work for other species.”

“But they work on other Combat Units, don’t they?” Brint asked, and Milton knew it was time to clarify some things.

“That’s true, Brint, but only a few things can be added to non-sapient Combat Units, and even those are… altered in some way.  I can’t guarantee that any of the gene mutations would actually work for a Mouslan, and that would take some experimentation – which I’d rather not attempt at the moment, with everything else going on.”

“Well, at least consider it, Trinket.  Granted, that means that he’d probably have to rebuild you from scratch, but it’s worth it.”  Brint’s smile didn’t appear very encouraging, at least to Milton, and he didn’t think the Mouslan felt encouraged, either.

The conversation after that drifted off into other directions, until everyone was tired enough to get something to eat and head to bed.  All but Milton and ALANNA, of course, because they didn’t need rest.

“How long do you think they’ll stay out there?” Milton asked his guide.

“It seems as though they are determined to find you, so it’s hard to tell.  Could be another few hours or a few days.  Maybe longer.”

“Great.  Meanwhile, we’re sitting next to a dormant bomb that, if we look at it the wrong way, could explode and wipe out not only this entire space station, but the planet next to us at the same time.”

“Again, it’s doubtful that it will collapse upon itself, but it definitely is a concern.  What are you going to do with it?”

“Do?  What do you mean?  I was going to leave it alone once we got out of this chamber.”

ALANNA shook her head.  “Not a good idea.  Just because it didn’t explode now, that doesn’t mean it won’t in the future, though the fact that it has been relatively dormant for this long is a good sign that it will stay relatively safe for the time being.  However, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how stupid it would be to have a bomb in the middle of your defenses—”

“Okay, I get your point.”  Milton threw up his hands in defeat.  “Well then, what do you suggest I do with it?”

“Remove it and then attempt to carve it up for your Molecular Converters.  From a very far distance away, of course, and you’ll have to be very cautious during the whole process”

That seemed inordinately dangerous.  “Why?”

ALANNA shook her head, sighing; Milton knew that reaction, and it was due to him being ignorant of something.  Again.  Thankfully, he had learned to ignore those types of reactions, because he was well aware that he didn’t know everything – and it seemed as if every day there was something else he had to learn.  “Do you even know what sub-Fulsite is created from?”

“Uh, no?”

“Why don’t you look it up in the system, then.  It will be much faster that way.”

Milton did what she suggested and sifted through the system files that were included in his Station Core.  He normally didn’t do it because it wasn’t exactly sorted and organized in any manner he was used to, and unless he knew exactly what he was looking for – and where to find it – he could be looking around for a specific point of information for years.  Sadly, it was as if The Collective didn’t have any idea of the benefit of a search function.

Gratefully, ALANNA directed the information to him, and it only took half a second to understand why it was easier to look it up than for her to explain it.  Apparently, sub-Fulsite was a unique amalgamation of condensed subatomic particles, cobbled together in such a way that it was highly reactive; what she left to him to find out was exactly what those particles were made of.

In short, after sifting through the information for nearly a minute, he determined that it was made from… everything.  Well, not everything, but he surmised that if he fed it into a Molecular Converter, he would receive concentrated quantities of every resource that he could gather, including Basic Metal, Organic Material, and even Focusing Crystals – which would be extremely useful.  The only thing it didn’t contain was any Biological Mass; he’d have to find another source of that in the future.

But the danger of even moving it was so great, that even contemplating it made him hesitate to go through with it.  Especially since going through the information ALANNA had pointed out had shown that it matched what she said about it being extremely unstable. Then again, as she said that it seemed to be dormant here on the space station, there was always a possibility that it could be stable enough to move and even carve up like she said.

Regardless, it was a risk no matter what he did, but it was something he could figure out at a later date when he had time to seriously consider a solution.  At that moment, though, he still had a few Heliothrope fleets searching for his ship, and they didn’t appear ready to give up the hunt.

An entire week passed before the last of the ships left the range of his sensor orb outside of the chamber, but Milton waited another few days with no noticeable activity before he emerged.  In all that time, nothing seemed to activate the red-glowing orb of sub-Fulsite, and Milton was starting to believe it might just be possible to move it out.  Either that, or he could simply leave and attempt to find another half-destroyed space station to take over.  However, when he even broached the thought in his mind, he immediately rejected it; there was something about this installation that called to him as a Station Core, and he wasn’t ready to give up on it.

Everyone was tense as Milton had his drones start removing large chunks of the shielding along the top of the chamber, and even as he had Whisp direct them out, he was poised to hit the engines and then the charged trans-dimensional drive at the first sight of a Heliothrope ship anywhere within range.  Thankfully, as his Battlecruiser emerged back into the void of space and away from the shielding, his long-range sensors scanned the system and found no trace of those that had been hunting him.

“Phew!  Looks like we lost them,” ALANNA said, awkwardly high-fiving his avatar.  “At least for now,” she amended.

“Exactly.  Now it is time we get to work.”

His diminutive guide nodded, but warned, “Don’t venture too far away from the station, or else whatever noticed us when we first arrived might end up detecting the ship again.”

“Will do.  Whisp?  Can you take us around the station and near the base of this main command center?” Milton asked.  “I want us to be as central as possible before we initiate the next step in the plan.”

“And what exactly is the plan?” the Proctan shot back, though she was already doing as Milton asked.  “You’ve been a bit tight-lipped about it, which is understandable given our uncertain circumstances, but I think we deserve to know what we’re getting into.”

Milton sat up in his captain’s chair, straightening his back unnecessarily, as he prepared to unload the entire idea he had to his friends and new crew.  ALANNA knew, since it was difficult to keep things like this from her with her always being in his mind, and her endorsement was all he needed to have to know that he was making the right move.  It was dangerous, but it was also the only real chance he could see of success.

In short, he had to go big or go home – and he didn’t have a home that he could go back to.

“Alright, so it’s like this….”

Chapter 14

“You all know that I want to use this space station as a sort of floating defensive structure, similar to the dungeons I had constructed on Proctus,” Milton said while looking at Brint and Whisp.  Trinket looked only slightly confused; it was helpful that the lot of them had a chance to share stories of the underground defenses he had set up to protect his Station Core back on Proctus, as well as the training dungeon rooms he had prepared to help get the people ready to fight back against the threat targeting their Kingdom.  “But what you may not have suspected is what else I want to do with this place.”

“Like what?” Brint asked.

“Well, for one, I want to make this place livable again, using my Core’s Zero-point Energy Reactor to power the entire station.  It is what I’m meant for, after all, and ALANNA has already said that I have more than enough power to handle it, now that I’m fully repaired.  If I can accumulate enough resources, I may even be able to create another reactor to replace the need for my own contribution, but that is down the road yet.”

“Why would you need to make the entire thing livable again?” Trinket questioned.  “There’s only a few of us, after all.”

Milton smiled at her, nodding in answer.  “Very true, but you remember how I told you I came with 25,000 people?  I want to make sure I have a place for them to live.”

“Oh.  You mean… you’re going to create their clones?”  The word clone didn’t have as much hesitation or disgust as it used to coming from the Mouslan, which Milton attributed to the fact that Trinket had really gotten to know Whisp and Brint over the last week.

“Absolutely.  They’re trusting me to bring them back, and if I don’t, then it will be like they died permanently.”  He had been tempted to bring more of them back over the last week, just so that the ship didn’t feel so empty, but he held off until he had a real place for them to live.  While they were a mixture of powerful fighters and intelligent Thinkers like Whisp, most of the work he needed done was better suited for his drones outside in the deadly void of space.  Maybe if I create some space suits or something?  There might be a pattern for one in my system….

Getting back on track, Milton went on.  “But more than just them.  There have to be people out there in the galaxy who are looking for a chance to break free from Heliothrope rule, while also being willing to fight back.  As much as I’d like to be able to take on refugees from all over, I need individuals who can fight, or at least participate in the defense of the station in one way or another.  And, it might be a bit selfish, but I’m hoping to find any remnants of the Human race and invite them on board; no matter what situation they are in at the moment, I know that they can fight when they need to.  But more importantly, they no longer have a home to go back to; this station can be their home, just like it will be ours.”

Milton felt that he was going to get a little emotional if he kept talking about that, so he quickly continued on to the next topic.  “Anyway, in order to really make this place livable, as well as defend it, we’re going to need all of the resources available to us.  We made some good progress in the last system with replenishing my reserves, but it’s barely a drop in the bucket compared to what we’re going to require.  To help with that… we’re going to dismantle the ship, incorporate its life-support components to make a small living space inside the station, and then use the rest of the material from its structure – along with what was gathered previously – to start making repairs.”

“But that means….”

“Yes, Brint; it means that we’ll no longer have a way to escape if the Heliothropes come back once we start that process.”

Milton let that sink in with Brint, Whisp, and Trinket for a moment before he went on.  “However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to move at all.  I’ll be taking the blueprints for the thrusters used on the ships I have access to and placing them on the outside of the station to aid in rotation, supplying gravity; the engines from the ship, as well as a few more that I’ll be attempting to create, will be attached to the structure of this installation, providing it with the means to travel.  It won’t be fast traveling, but it’ll be better than nothing.”

Trinket looked rightfully confused.  “What will that accomplish?  You won’t be able to outrun even the slowest of ships.”

“Very true, but I’m not planning on trying to outrun them… in this dimension.  My plan ultimately hinges on whether or not Whisp and ALANNA, along with potentially a few of the other Thinkers I can bring back, can adapt the trans-dimensional drive that is on this ship so that it will work to transport this station.  That, above all else, is the only thing that will allow us to survive.”

To be fair, it was a bold plan that had a small chance of succeeding, but Milton knew that this was what he was made for.  Not necessarily against these kinds of odds, but I’ve got to play with the hand I’ve been dealt, I guess.

There was silence across the bridge as he finished his general explanation of his plan, until Whisp finally nodded.  “I’m in.  Out of curiosity, I’ve researched how your trans-dimensional drive works, and while I’m still trying to understand it, I think it can probably be scaled up.  What do you think, ALANNA?”

“I agree, but it will end up costing a lot of resources, especially Focusing Crystals.  Thankfully, I believe Milton was able to gather up enough in the other system to cover it, but it will leave a lot less for some of the higher-tech defenses.”

Brint saw that Whisp was on board after ALANNA’s explanation, so he shrugged and said, “I guess I’m in for this, too.”

The normally wary Mouslan didn’t take long to agree.  “I’ve never really had someplace I could call home before, and I’d do just about anything to gain something like that.  I’ll help however I can, no matter what – even if I have to become a clone to do so.”

“You never have to be reborn as a clone, Trinket,” Milton said softly.  “The choice is yours; if you want to live on if you were to die, then I can bring you back.  If you want this one life to be all you want to live, then that is also your prerogative.  And if you want to perhaps experiment with possibly gaining some new abilities, which I can’t say with any positivity will work, then we can try that too.  The point is, it is your life to do with as you please, and if you want to leave to go somewhere else, I’ll do my best to try and make that happen.  The moment you helped us back on Station 23-E, you were no longer a slave; the entire galaxy should not be subject to being enslaved by the Heliothropes, and I want them to be free – just like you.”  He turned to Brint and Whisp and looked them directly in their eyes.  “And that goes for you two, as well as everyone else I’ve yet to bring back.”

“Very profound, Milton.  I couldn’t have said it better myself,” ALANNA mentally communicated to him.

“Thanks; I’d like to think I’m getting better at this type of thing.”

His guide snorted in his mind, which was a strange thing to experience.  “At least you’re getting better at something.”

“Ha, ha; very funny.”

Trinket thought about what he said for a few seconds before she nodded.  “I’ll stick with you all for now, and I’ll let you know about my decision about the cloning later.  Now, shall we get started?”

Milton laughed at the Mouslan’s eagerness, while also being glad that everyone seemed to be keen on following him on this dangerous enterprise.  “Absolutely.  There’s no time like the present.”

After securing his ship to the underside of the main command center – at least what was left of it – underneath the reactor chamber above, Milton and Brint got to work.  Since both of them could control drones, through the use of his Neural Uplink ability, it made sense to utilize both of them to start the repair and retrofit process.  It also didn’t take more than a few minutes for Milton to realize that he needed more drones, so he spent a significant portion of his available BMUs to create an additional 20 aerial and 80 ground-based drones as an investment.

Almost the entire command center, which was nearly 10 miles wide, looked like it had taken the brunt of the attacks on the station centuries ago, with the only undamaged sections nearest the reactor chamber.  At one time, at least as far as he could tell with the numerous remaining warped struts, beams, and outer plating delineating different areas, it had been a large bowl-shaped section that sat underneath the mostly circular chamber above.  With the main center column sticking out beneath it for hundreds of miles, it reminded him a little of an Olympic torch with the sub-Fulsite reactor chamber as a spherical “flame”.

Large connecting structures were connected to the top of the command center, radiating outward toward the dual rings that made up the bulk of the station.  From what he could tell, these long, straight connections were like the spokes of a wheel, a half-dozen in total, with three leading to each ring in alternating connections as they went around the command center.  Two of these connections had been broken, and only a few sections still sticking out gave evidence that they were there in the first place, while a trio of the remaining connections were heavily damaged, but for the most part, intact.  Only one of them was lightly damaged and relatively functional, and when he sent a few sensor orbs inside, he saw that it had once been a major thoroughfare linking the rings of the station to the command center.

If the command center had been the heart of the station, these connecting struts were the arteries that led to where the people lived and worked, providing power from the reactor.

The first order of business was to set up a place where his crew could live on the station, which was harder than it looked.  As most of the plating around the destroyed command center up near the reactor was still relatively intact, Milton and Brint used the drones to start fixing what appeared to have been large rooms at one point, straightening the bent and warped beams, until they had a framework of a fairly large-sized rectangular room with one wall and ceiling already in place.  All it took from there was to have the drones carve up large sections of the plating still intact in other sections of the command center, pushing them over to the wire-frame structure, and then essentially welding them together flawlessly, thanks to the drones’ portable Converter beams.

Once that was complete and airtight, the ship was moved so that it was right next to the massive room, which ended up being nearly a mile long and a half-mile wide.  A permanent connection was made between a hatch on the ship and the room, and when it was opened up, heat and oxygen from the ship poured out into the newly built space.  It wasn’t quite enough to live in yet, because the life-support systems were concentrated on the ship, but that was just the first step.

Next came the transfer of almost everything that the Battlecruiser had on board.  First were the Environmental Stabilizer and Atmospheric Expanders, which were what created a stabilized environment with heat to ward off the chill that came from the void of space, as well as creating an atmosphere full of oxygen that was needed to breathe.  What was unique about them was that they were the opposite of two of the “traps” he could create in a Defensive Weapons Factory: Environmental Destabilization[9] and Atmospheric Condensers[10].  The ones that were on the ship – and now on the station – were much more powerful and were hooked directly to the small Zero-point Energy Reactor that powered the ship.  Along with those, the Gravity Manipulator, a beefed-up version of another defensive weapon he could create[11], was also moved over so as to add in some gravity to the new space.  As a consequence of those needing power that wasn’t connected to his Core, he moved the ship’s Energy Reactor along with the three systems, so as to keep them running and intact, even in the larger space.

Next came all of the various factories, labs, and plants that had been small enough to add to his ship.  The Drone Assembly Plant was moved over, piece by piece by the very drones it could create, followed by the aforementioned Defensive Weapons Factory[12] – one of the most important parts to his upcoming defense of the station.  It was capable of producing all sorts of “traps” that he could place within the spaces he was defending, from the more primitive to higher-tech defenses that could be highly destructive.

Milton’s Cybernetic/Synthetic Organism Factory[13] was next, as this was what allowed him to create his synthetic avatar that his consciousness inhabited.  It could also add biomechanical and cybernetic parts to a Combat Unit, or even a powered exoskeleton, which some of the more “tanky” Proctans had taken advantage of in the past.  While he was moving it, the Station Core was surprised to see that he could theoretically make a synthetic Mouslan for an avatar, as well as create an exoskeleton for a Mouslan with a cybernetic brain – though he doubted he would be doing either of those anytime soon.

After that came a full half-dozen Bioconversion Labs, which were what allowed him to create Combat Units up to a certain size.  There were larger sizes of Labs, such as the Bioconversion Lab (Upgraded) and (Advanced), but they were much larger than could be easily fit on the ship.  Now that he had room, though, he would have to think about rebuilding some in the future.

A Biological Recombinator, which was a machine that essentially spliced genes from different Combat Units together to make something new, was also brought over from the ship and placed in the large room.  It was relatively small compared to the other plants and factories, due to it essentially being a console, but it was yet another important part of any proper defense.

Lastly, all of the available accommodations for his crew were brought over, including beds and bathrooms, which utilized miniature Molecular Converters specially designed for creating Pure Water for drinking and washing, and then absorbing wastewater that could be recycled for use again.  It was a very efficient system that returned most of the water used every day, so it would likely be millennia before they ran out.

Additional rooms were built using created beams and sheets of wood and stone, as he had plenty of that material to go around, giving Brint, Whisp, and Trinket a measure of privacy.  For lighting, sensor orbs worked easily for the time being, as they could be brightened and dimmed on command, though eventually Milton was thinking of adding some of the lights that Whisp had created many years ago.  They weren’t dependent on controlling them, but instead could be manually turned on or off with a simple voice command – similar to smart-home lights that Milton remembered back on Earth.

It took more than two full days to finally complete the construction and the move, but by the end of the second day, Milton was proud of what they had all accomplished.  As his own Station Core was then moved into the new space, he felt – for the first time since he woke up on a strange planet, finding himself inside of a giant metal egg-shaped Core all those years ago – like he was finally home.

Chapter 15

“No, you’re going to need some extra braces here for the main engine thrusters; otherwise, you’re going to rip the station apart once you fire them up,” Trinket said into the sensor orb in her helmet as she pointed near the rear of the bottom station ring.  Milton watched as the suited-up Mouslan snagged the back of the nearby aerial drone, hanging on as the Station Core brought it in closer to the part she was talking about.  With a few simple waves of her hands over the section, pointing out the spots where the engine thruster was currently connected to the outside of the ring, he finally understood.

“Ah, I see.  I’ll need to reinforce this entire section so that it doesn’t tear away.  Great catch, Trinket.”

The young Mouslan had been a massive help after they had all gotten settled inside of the station’s command center, especially as Milton moved on to everything else.  As he didn’t have nearly enough extra resources to completely rebuild the entire thing, he had to make some difficult choices about what to do next.  The hardest decision had been a necessary one, but it also decreased the size of the entire structure: namely, eliminating one of the rings.

Basically, what it amounted to was that the topmost ring surrounding the central pillar was nearly two-thirds gone, while the bottom ring was sitting at about half of it being still there.  In order to have enough material to—mostly—rebuild one of the rings and make it habitable, which it was far from being at the moment, Milton was forced to start dismantling the one that had suffered the most damage.  By cutting up and moving over the pieces of the outer hull and plating of the demolished ring, his drones were able to slowly rebuild the outer structure of the bottom ring, if not replacing whatever had been inside.  From what was actually still intact, it seemed to have been millions of compartmentalized spaces, similar to apartments, though most of it had damage in one way or another.

Fires and various projectiles had obviously been fired inside of the ring from a distance, as if once the Heliothropes opened up a hole, they proceeded to shoot everything inside like fish in a barrel.  If Milton had any doubts about whether there had been a premeditated slaughter of everyone on board the station, this was evidence enough.

It was when his drones were dismantling the insides of the bottom ring that he found the first bodies of the Gardrevians.  Exposed to the vacuum of space, they were decently preserved – which made the whole experience even worse.  The people who had lived and died on the station looked humanoid in appearance, though they had greyish skin covered in a dense fur, ranging from a light tan to a very dark brown.  They also each had a small, likely prehensile, tail that extended about 2 feet out the back of their rears, hands that contained 6 fingers and two thumbs, and their faces held 4 eyes instead of 2… but basically humanoid.  Milton tried not to pay attention when his drones cut them up and deposited their remains inside of his Molecular Converters, especially when there were quite a few that were quite a bit smaller than the rest.

He was well aware that the “decent” thing to do was to move all of the bodies down to the surface of the planet, where they could be buried – or burned, or whatever religious rites these Gardrevians practiced – but Milton could not afford to do that.  Not only did he not have a ship capable of making the journey anymore, as it was already being disabled and put to use elsewhere, but anything going down to the surface would likely invite attention they didn’t need.  Storing them for movement later was also out of the question, as the time and space needed to move and store them all would be extreme, as there turned out to be thousands of bodies that were found – and his drones had only searched a small portion of the rings.

“I think that the fact that their bodies will be reused and converted to fight the Heliothropes will satisfy whatever religious rites they should have,” ALANNA noted.  Milton wasn’t so sure, but it wasn’t as if he had any other choice at the moment.

On the bright side, he gained quite a bit of Bio Mass and unlocked the ability to create a generic Gardrevian as a Combat Unit.  It was horrible, obviously, but he thought it was at least prudent to get as much out of salvaging their bodies as possible.  Unfortunately, either through some fluke or from their bodies being in the cold void of space for an extended amount of time, he was unable to acquire patterns for any of the individuals he converted; as a result, he wouldn’t be able to make clones of them. He’d seen the same thing happen back on Proctus when one of the Proctans was sucked into something called an Unstable Void, and Milton was unable to recreate the individual’s body in his Bioconversion Lab afterward.  It was possible that this was something like that, but neither he nor ALANNA were able to know for certain.

Once the process of clearing out the inner parts of the rings was underway, he found that he was fairly certain he would have enough material to at least finish repairing the shell of the bottom ring, which was the bare minimum of what he needed.  In addition to the ring, Milton also replaced the missing connections between the ring and the central pillar, as well as redirecting the connections from the ring that was being dismantled for materials, which meant that there were now 6 supports keeping everything together – which he was learning was very important, especially if he wanted to move the station in the future.

Time passed while all of this was going on, as dismantling parts of the station to feed into the Molecular Converters, or simply moving pieces around to repair other sections, took a long while.  Milton ended up adding another 50 drones to help with the work, even going so far as to create a much more expensive Drone Overseer; the specialized drone had an improved AI controlling it, which could direct many other drones without much in the way of supervision, even solving problems that constantly sprung up.  It was especially useful when Brint had to sleep, when he couldn’t be there to take on the load of directing a portion of the drones along with Milton.

The work was a lot more mentally taxing than he thought it would be.  Normally, his drones were easy enough to operate, because either Milton knew exactly what he needed built or dismantled or he could assign them a repetitive task such as mining, but neither of those applied in this situation.  The limited AI of the drones wasn’t precisely up to the task of deciding whether a certain portion of a section they were dismantling would be better to keep intact and simply moved to the ring undergoing repairs, or cut into pieces and fed into a Molecular Converter.  A little over two-thirds of the time, there were materials that were so badly damaged that they weren’t salvageable, and Milton would have to whip up a blueprint for a new section on the fly and have it created piece-by-piece by the Converters.  It was a time-consuming process, but it was getting done.

Months passed as work progressed, the command center’s bowl-like shell became repaired – if relatively empty – and the ring finally took on its full shape after a little over 6 months, with hundreds of drones working non-stop.  It was amazing to see it completed, though technically it was entirely empty of anything; essentially, it was a ten-mile-wide tube that extended for 1,100 miles around in a circle, but the main structure was at least there.  The top ring had been entirely dismantled, its materials in reserve through his Molecular Converters, and a very basic but thick steel layer was now protecting the top of the reactor chamber.

Down below the command center along the central pillar, Milton discovered that it had previously been used for ship docking and cargo storage, and that in general it had been the main way in and out of the space station.  While he might end up using some of that for similar things in the future, for now all he did was repair what was there and then block off all access to it from either the ring or the command center.  What he had planned for it was part of the next stage of the process of getting the station up and moving.

While the inside of his Battlecruiser had been largely gutted, it was now time to move everything else.  The long-range sensors were the first things to be moved to the outside of the command center and the ring, so as to ascertain if there were any incoming threats.  Not that there was much they could do about it if there were, but Milton believed that being forewarned was being forearmed.

Next, the engines and maneuvering thrusters along the exterior of the ship were taken off and moved.  These were connected directly to his own Core for power, so they could essentially be placed anywhere.  The maneuvering thrusters were placed on the outside of the ring to aid with rotation, which in turn added gravity, thanks to centrifugal force to the ring and partially to the central command center.  It took nearly a day to get the rotation up to speed, as well as some adjustments so that it wasn’t too fast.

Then came the main engine thrusters, which he ended up placing on both the outside of the ring and the central pillar, with 8 on the pillar and the remaining 12 on the ring.  This came with a whole new set of problems, however, because the thrusters were quite powerful – and could potentially rip the station apart if they weren’t secured properly.  Thankfully, Trinket had been invaluable over the last few months, not only looking over nearly every part of the construction, acting as both inspector and potential problem solver, but also she was now ensuring that all of their hard work wasn’t destroyed when a few of the powerful thrusters tore the station apart.

“You may even want to add additional reinforcement to the central pillar connections, both along their junction points and their basic framework.  These engines generate a lot of thrust, and this station wasn’t necessarily made for anything but the most gentle of movements through space.”

“Got it.  Looks like we’ve got a little more work ahead of us, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does, but believe me, it will be worth it.  I’ve seen what happens when a thruster isn’t secured properly in its housing, and it isn’t pretty,” Trinket added, shivering in her suit as she then asked to be brought back to the command center.  Actually, what she said was “bring me back home,” which Milton had to say had a nice ring to it.  Eventually, he knew he would probably have to think of a name for the entire structure other than just “The Station”, but he was putting it off until it was mostly complete.  It felt wrong naming it before then.

While Trinket had been helping with the construction, where her engineering background was quite invaluable, and Brint had been helping with the drones performing the work, Whisp and ALANNA had been working on arguably the most important part: the trans-dimensional drive.  The drive itself was a surprisingly small installation on the Battlecruiser: a large, 15-foot-wide square box that was situated near the previous reactor room.  It was only when it was brought into the command center and opened up that he was able to get a glimpse of what was inside…

…and it was also surprisingly disappointing.  A large, clear, spherical crystal was held suspended between two thick, vertical metal poles; the sphere was connected along its sides to the vertical poles by a pair of other, thinner poles that seemed permanently fused to the crystal sphere.  However, when the drive was charged up, Milton could see the crystal spin and start to glow, radiating energy that seemed to distort the very air around it.

There was a reason for the thick metal box that had been around it, because Whisp – who had been watching in fascination along with ALANNA as it charged up – was practically ripped apart when the waves of distorted energy hit her.  Milton’s diminutive guide was a bit faster to move, but even she dispersed into her nanite cloud as she escaped, losing thousands of her nanites in the process as they dropped to the floor of the command center room completely devoid of life.

Needless to say, she wasn’t happy about that.

Fortunately, she could produce more by using a miniscule amount of resources from Milton, all told about 1 Basic Metal Unit, but she didn’t want to get anywhere near the drive until it was closed back up in its shielding box.  After witnessing it in action, though, Whisp and ALANNA went to work on figuring out how to scale it up.  A few days into their work, they asked for some assistance, and Milton eagerly tried to help—

“No, not you; we need some other Proctan Thinkers, thank you,” ALANNA said before he could get involved.  The Station Core was only moderately annoyed at that, but then he realized that he probably shouldn’t get involved and let those whose expertise far exceeded his when it came to things like that handle it.  As a result, he ended up recreating 3 more Master Thinkers from the self-named Think Tank, who were originally super-intelligent Inventor-types back on Proctus, but now had many other abilities to round out their skills.  None of them had stats that compared to Whisp, but they were all amazing at what they could accomplish when they worked together.

It took nearly a day for the new arrivals to acclimate to the new environment, especially since they had a ton of questions that they wanted answered as far as what was going on, but after that they slid in smoothly with Whisp and ALANNA on the trans-dimensional drive problem as if they had been there the whole time.  Since they were talking about things that went far above his comprehension, he left them to it.

When the station was just about finished, with just a few tweaks to the reinforcements Milton had been forced to make to compensate for the engines’ thrust, Milton checked in on the progress – only to find that the Proctans were at each other’s throats.  Without violence, at least, but there was a lot of shouting.

“—and I told you that won’t work, due to the adverse spatial relationship to the—”

“PURE CONJECTURE!  You don’t even know what you’re talking about, you—”

“—can’t expand the field, because that will cause a backlash that will—”

“—if you had actually listened to what I proposed, then you would see that this was the only—”

ALANNA was watching the other 4 with amusement, and was briefly startled when Milton spoke directly to her.

“Uh… is there something wrong?  Are they going to come to blows?” he asked.

“What?  This?  Of course not; this is how they work out their differences of opinion, and it works surprisingly well… sometimes.”

It seemed strange to him, but then again, he hadn’t really been paying attention to their work lately.  “You don’t get involved?”

She shook her head sadly.  “No, though I used to.  However, after the first few times I participated, I found that my programming lacks a few things that these Proctans seem to have oodles of: imagination and the ability to achieve epiphanies.”

“Really?  That’s pretty sad.”

ALANNA put her hands on her hips and stared at the sensor orb looking down on her.  “And who asked you, you stupid motherfu—”

Milton quickly tried to backtrack.  “Hey, wait, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.  What I meant was that it was unfortunate that your creators didn’t include those types of things.  It would be very useful right now.”

The small woman was silent for a moment, before nodding curtly.  “Yes, that is definitely for sure.  I sense that I’ve hit the limit of what I can contribute to this group, other than as a way to access specific information contained in your system.  In a way, I feel like a glorified internet search engine right now.”

That was definitely unfortunate, but he couldn’t have his bestest guide in the whole galaxy feeling like she wasn’t appreciated.  “You are more than that, and you know it.  We wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for your awesomeness; I wouldn’t be as awesome as I am without you to guide me.”

A smile crossed her lips, which was encouraging to see.  “You’re definitely right about that, though I think I’m a lot more awesome than you are.  Just sayin’.”

“You might be right about that.”  He thought for a moment as he watched the intellectual argument going on.  “Should I bring back a few more?  I think there are at least a dozen or so that I can recreate.”

ALANNA shook her head.  “No, that might only complicate matters.  It might not look like it, but they’ve got a good rapport going on between the four of them; they just need some time to work it out.  If it can even be worked out, of course.”

“We better hope it can be, because otherwise we won’t live that long once it’s been discovered what we’ve done.”

She just shrugged, unable to answer whether it was possible.  While she understood the concepts of how the drive worked, she wasn’t blessed with the ability to invent new ways to utilize it, because she wasn’t programmed to do that sort of thing.  Minor alterations might be possible, but changing it from only being able to pass a ship into another dimension to being able to convince a whole space station… well, that was pushing it for her.

While they worked on that problem, there was one of Milton’s own that he had to solve.  Now that the station was as put together as could be at the moment, protection and defense were his next priorities.  There wouldn’t be any external weaponry, of course, because that would simply invite the Heliothropes to directly attack the station; instead, he was thinking of how to protect the station from the inside.

Like any good dungeon, he would need to have a route that led from point A to point B, with point A being the entrance and point B being the command center.  For further protection against a ship simply flying in and cutting a hole through the walls of the command center to get to his Station Core and the others within, Milton started the process of lining – via his drones – the interior walls of the command center with Weightonite.  The Weightonite material was essentially a stone that was extremely heavy because of its density, and that density also made it extremely durable, more so than almost any other metal other than the tritanium his Station Core was made from.  It wouldn’t stop a determined attack, but it would hold back anyone trying to barge their way directly into the heart of the station.

Milton figured he also needed something to distract the enemy from even attempting that.  What better way to draw their attention away from the central pillar than to make an entrance so inviting that they would immediately be drawn in to investigate and conquer everything in their path.  If the Heliothropes were the challenge-hungry murderhobos he thought they were, they wouldn’t give up a chance to test their might against what he had in store for them.

Alright then, let’s get started….

Chapter 16

Trinket looked at the entrance to what Milton was calling his “dungeon” with almost complete confusion.  Despite hearing the stories from Brint and Whisp about the Station Core’s defenses he’d placed back on the planet they came from, the whole concept was so foreign and, frankly, repulsive to her that she had trouble comprehending it.  However, she was forcing herself to go over and personally witness all of what was inside of this dungeon thing so that she would at least know what was supposed to keep her safe.

“Why is this entrance so large?” she asked, peering at the portal leading into the side of the ring, which now had a platform extending out from it that would fit an entire ship belonging to the Masters—No, Heliothropes; I have to remember to call them that because they aren’t my masters anymore.  The way inside was approximately 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide, which seemed excessive to the Mouslan; it wasn’t large enough to fit anything but the smallest shuttles inside, but she couldn’t see any reason to risk making it that big.

“It’s because if any of those really tall Heliothropes appear, I don’t want them trying to break in anywhere else due to not being able to fit.  This way, the entrance should be able to fit just about anything they come with, though it won’t allow them to simply fly inside with their ships and wreak havoc.”

She supposed that made sense.  All of these defenses would be for naught if her former Masters decided to simply blow a hole in the station in order to get inside. From everything she had learned of their past conquests of other civilizations throughout the galaxy, the Heliothropes would typically take a pathway in their assaults that passed through everything the defenders had in store for them; it was almost as if bypassing the challenge that they were being put through was somehow cheating, and their competitive and war-like nature wouldn’t allow it.  That didn’t mean they wouldn’t “open” an access point if there wasn’t any visible way to get inside, though.

It was actually quite smart when she thought about it, and she knew immediately that she wouldn’t have even considered it at all.  Her people, like the other members of The Collective, were pacifist in nature, though they weren’t above protecting themselves – just not through any violent means.  Defending themselves typically meant misdirection, powerful technology designed to prevent damage, and staying hidden; at least, that’s what it used to mean when The Collective was still together, based on the stories passed down from generation to generation.  Now, all she and the rest of the people in the galaxy could do was work for the Heliothropes and do at least a passable job at their tasks, so as to avoid any undue attention.

But this whole “dungeon” idea was something that was devious, unforgiving, and designed to kill.  It was anathema to her very nature, but she was also beginning to believe that it was necessary, if they ever dreamed about having a chance to free the galaxy from the tyrannical rule of the Heliothropes.

Looking again at the edges of the entrance, there were multiple images of long cutting implements, which she heard mentioned were “swords” and “battleaxes” carved into the ring’s outer sheeting, along with what appeared to be stylized skulls everywhere, even arranged in piles.  Flashing red spotlights shone on the images, lighting it all up with the impression that it was all on fire.  It was all grotesque and disturbing, but she remembered Milton mentioning that it was simply for effect, and to make the entrance more inviting; she wasn’t sure about all of that, as it was anything but inviting to her, but he assured the Mouslan that it would work.

Trinket floated inside, carried by the aerial drone that pulled her gently through the entrance doorway.  Once through the large portal, she found herself in a large room, nearly 200 feet wide and tall; the walls were made of a smooth metal, likely steel – which most of the station was comprised of, as it was the most durable and apparently most cost-effective of materials for certain purposes – and there wasn’t a single visible join anywhere she could see.  She had noticed how clean the construction had been when the drones were working, because they seemed to be able to fuse two pieces together seamlessly, as if they had always been one piece instead of separate.  It was very handy, she had to admit, because the entire project had required absolutely no tools – just the drones themselves.

As soon as she was inside, the drone deposited her along one wall, where she immediately felt the gravity she was used to taking hold.  The entrance to the ring was technically a little off-center on the ring, so once she was brought inside, she was able to move over to the floor, which was basically the reinforced outer edge of the ring.  To some people who weren’t used to the variable “up and down” of space, it might have been strange to essentially be walking sideways along the edge of the internal area of the ring, but to someone like Trinket – who had been living in space stations all of her life – it was completely normal.

Once she was flat on the floor and stable, one massive door started to close over the entrance, and the Mouslan nearly panicked, thinking she had fallen for a trap.  However, once it closed entirely, she looked above her to see two small holes in the ceiling start to make noise; in less than 10 seconds, the entire room was filled with heat and oxygen, and Trinket took off her helmet.

“This is a pretty big airlock, Milton,” she said out loud, amazed at how quickly the room had gone from feeling like the cold void of space to the warm-yet-sterile environment it was now.

“I know, but I didn’t really have any other choice.  The force fields I’d seen in movies and games that keep all of the atmosphere inside of a hangar don’t seem to exist here, though I’m still thinking of ways to make that happen.  Regardless, while this is a big airlock, it will also prevent the Heliothropes from simply swarming in one after another.”

“Good point.”  From the recordings she had seen, while her former Masters were still powerful individually, their strength came from their sheer numbers.  By limiting how many could come inside at the same time, there was less chance that the defenses would be quickly overwhelmed.

“Now, not everything is finished yet, but with Brint and Whisp’s help I was able to finish the first few rooms of the dungeon.  Eventually, these rooms – as well as a whole bunch more – are going to lead to the only access point leading to my Station Core through the structures acting as connections between the command center and the ring.  The other ones are completely blocked off, so this is the only way through.”

“Why are you even leaving a way through?  Wouldn’t it make sense to block it off completely?”

“Absolutely.  However, I needed to leave an access point for two main reasons.  The first is because I need to have a way for my Combat Units that are being constructed in the command center to get to the dungeon.  I don’t want to risk the technology of the Bioconversion Labs and Molecular Converters getting into the Heliothropes’ hands, so I’d rather they stay near my Core.

“Secondly, and this is probably the most important, it’s because I can’t guarantee that the Heliothropes don’t have a way to tell if the way to my Core is open or not.  If they suddenly figure out that venturing into the dungeon is a waste of time, because there isn’t a way to get to the command center, then there might not be anything preventing them from blowing a hole in the side of the station.”

Again, this made sense – and went completely against her instincts as a Mouslan.  Trinket nodded and watched as a wall slid open in the wall opposite of the entrance.  What she saw inside was enough for her to want to take a step back, but she held firm in her resolve to at least see a little of what Milton had created here.  Thankfully, these things are somewhat familiar.

Lined up 20 across in an evenly spaced-out row, with 3 full rows, were some of the large lizard things that she had seen Brint control back in the previous star system.  Each of the Quanks – if she remembered the name correctly – were at least 3 times taller than her and probably weighed at least 20 times her own weight, and their skin appeared extremely durable – as if it would be hard to penetrate.  She wasn’t sure how they would hold up against the weapons that the Heliothropes wielded, but she thought they might at least hold their own for a bit.  Wicked-looking claws on their front and back feet were probably sharp enough to slice through the smaller Mouslan without much resistance, and Trinket shivered as she imagined them coming for her.

Thankfully, they were all standing unnaturally still, without even acknowledging that she was there in front of them.  It only made her slightly more comfortable, at least until she looked around the 200-foot-wide room and saw a different kind of lizard sitting on top of what appeared to be grey stone columns at differing heights.  She counted at least 50 of these “Qwizards” scattered around the perimeter of the room, all focused on the area in front of the Quanks; from what she remembered hearing of them, these particular creatures could spit a tiny flame at a target and then use that little spark to create a much larger explosion of fire.  She wasn’t sure how any of that worked, exactly, because it wasn’t through any easily explainable normal means, but Brint and Whisp had mentioned it was simply use of their abilities.

As time went on, hearing about and seeing small uses of these “abilities” of theirs, Trinket had become more than a bit envious.  She wasn’t necessarily envious of the ability to create explosions of flames, like these Qwizards, but to do other things like control drones as Brint was capable of doing, or to manipulate solid objects like they were soft clay as Whisp had shown her one time.

Then there was the ability to miraculously heal wounds at a touch, which had come in handy a few weeks before when Trinket had broken her wrist as she had been trying to guide a strut into place.  She thought that she was going to have to take another bath in the strange gel-like substance that had healed her before, but when she came back to the command center, Brint had simply placed his hand on her shoulder and a warm energy flowed through her entire body.  There had been a sharp flare of intense pain in her wrist, which almost caused her to flinch away, but then it seemed to go numb as she watched her injured limb repair itself before her eyes.

That, more than anything, was what made her the most envious.  It was, to put it plainly, magical.

Putting those thoughts out of her head for a later time, she looked around the first defensive room again to see if she had missed anything.

“This is just the first room, of course, so there isn’t anything particularly impressive.  I prefer a gradual buildup of defenses so that my traps and Combat Units can wear down any opposition as they progress, ending with the most powerful of my defenses near the end.  Basic dungeon-building 101, I would say.

“What you won’t be able to see very well in these rooms are the traps that I’ve placed in here.  Most of the time I prefer to have reusable traps that I don’t have to replace, but in this room I decided to experiment to see what might work.

“Arrayed in front of the Quanks are a dozen hidden floor traps, designed to propel anything that steps on them upwards with the tremendous force of an explosion.  You may or may not have noticed that I have designed the ceiling to have sharp metal spikes coming out of the structure, blending in with the natural color of the steel walls so as to not be too obvious.

“That’s about it for this room, though.  I’ve got a lot more to show you, so if you make your way around the outside of the Quanks, you should be able to avoid being blown up—”

“You know, I think I’m good,” Trinket said quickly, interrupting Milton.  Being that she didn’t think she could force her feet to move anywhere near the first room, along with the uncontrollable shaking in her legs that made them a bit wobbly, going any further into the rooms of death sounded like a bad idea.  “I think I’d rather just take your word for it that we’ll be safe.”

“Fair enough.  I know that this is probably a bit uncomfortable for you, but I do appreciate you at least attempting to look at the defenses.  It’s actually good for me to have some outside input, because sometimes I can get in my head a little too much and it’s hard to think of my defenses from an outsider’s perspective.  Head on back to the command center and I’ll simply describe them for you; seeing them in person isn’t necessary.”

Trinket sagged in relief as she nodded, putting her helmet back on with the sensor orb slipping inside.  Almost as soon as she had it in place, she saw the door separating herself and the frightening lizards close, followed up by the rapid expulsion of the air in the room.  She couldn’t feel it thanks to her suit, but she was fairly certain that any heat that had been in the room disappeared as well.

When the entrance door slid open and an aerial drone sped in to pick her up, she thought it was the most wonderful thing she’d ever seen.

Chapter 17

The construction of the rooms inside of the ring went quickly after he had designed the entrance.  The array of swords, battleaxes, and skulls accompanied by flashing red spotlights was a bit over the top in his own opinion, but to a war-like civilization like the Heliothropes, it was exactly what he thought might entice them.  Thinking that they were the most powerful race in the galaxy, it would be difficult for them to pass up an opportunity to see what kind of challenge awaited them.  As Milton considered the video games he’d played in the past, he had felt the same when encountering a new dungeon or area that was a bit above his in-game level; there were few times when he hadn’t gone ahead and tested his abilities against something that might or might not be a bit more difficult than he could handle.

Hopefully, the Heliothropes would be foolish enough to be consumed by his defenses.  While he knew they had some sort of shield around them, according to the historical records of them provided by The Collective all those years ago, he doubted that they could stand up to the abuse his traps and Combat Units would throw against them.  Neither ALANNA nor the records could tell him exactly how powerful the shields were, since they were rarely if ever tested by The Collective, but his guide presumed that they couldn’t be that powerful; to make a protective shield stand up to large amounts of damage would take a lot of power, so it was likely minimal, at best.

Making the doorways for the airlocks had been a puzzle at first, but he eventually adapted the way the hatches and doorways in his old Battlecruiser had operated, though of course he had to scale it up a bit.  Thankfully, he was able to hook their operation to his control and to his internal Energy Reactor, despite it being only a portion of a spaceship, along with almost everything else on the station.  Ideally, he would love to produce an extra Zero-Point Energy Reactor that he could apply to powering the entire station, but the only one that would be up to the task cost a lot of resources to create.

The Hemispheric Zero-Point Energy Reactor[14] was quite expensive at 2 billion Basic Metal Units, and it was something that he couldn’t quite afford at the moment. In fact, as he continued to set up the defenses for the station, his resource reserve was starting to dwindle rapidly due to the sheer size of everything he had to build.  The rooms he had to construct were made primarily of steel, as it was the most durable of metals that didn’t cost an arm and a leg.  After fixing up most of the station so that it was at least mostly stable and wouldn’t break apart when he wanted to move it, he had ended up using a large portion of his Basic Metal Unit reserve on top of reusing most of the damaged parts of the installation.

Normally, when he was low on BMUs, he would substitute other materials in place of those, but there was only so much available to him.  On a planet, stone and dirt would be plentiful and could be utilized to create rooms made of Weightonite, his go-to material for strength and protection; without access to a planet, however, he only had available what he had been able to accumulate in the previous system – which wasn’t a lot, as it turned out.  Scaling up to match the sizes of the rooms he needed to create meant that Weightonite was out of the question for the most part, and basic grey stone was utilized instead when possible.

But not for the rooms’ walls, though, because he needed those as strong as possible.  If the Heliothropes were to shatter a rock wall and escape into the greater ring space, of which his rooms only encompassed the tiniest fraction, they could bypass all of the defenses he’d created and go straight to the connection bridge between the ring and the command center.  Granted, with enough work, they could probably break through the 2-foot-thick steel walls, but his hope was that he would be able to stop them before it came to that.

In the first room after the airlock – which was a unique combination of upgraded elements originally utilized in his Battlecruiser – Milton hadn’t spent a lot of resources designing the room.  Stone around the perimeter of the room was used to hold his Qwizards[15], which were perfect for their long-range fire-based attacks.  They weren’t overly powerful, because they were essentially Combat Level 1 without advancements to their Fire Affinity, but they could still be quite effective.  That was the main problem with giving those certain types of Gene Mutations to Combat Units that weren’t individuals like the Proctans; if they constantly died and had to be replaced, then they would never be overly powerful.

As for his Quanks[16], they were simply aligned in rows, their powerful Exoskeletons hopefully resistant to the attacks by the Heliothropes.  Everything was purely hypothetical at this point, of course, because they didn’t have any records of actual battle, but Milton thought they had a fairly good chance of withstanding any attacks.  The Quanks had a defense of nearly 5,000, which was extremely difficult to break through by any normal means.  He did, of course, have Combat Units that had even more defense, but those would be coming later.

As far as traps went, what he had told Trinket was true.  He preferred to have reusable traps for the simple fact that single-use traps were particularly time-consuming to replace and cost a bit as far as resources went, but he wanted to test out a few throughout the dungeon to see how they performed.  They could sometimes be extremely powerful because of their single-use mechanic, but which ones might be worth the expense would have to be tested.

The only other rooms that were fully complete were the next two, with a whole bunch of others planned once construction of their actual rooms were finished.  Dividing the 200-foot-wide square rooms from each other was yet another door, though this one was more of a double door that would slide perpendicularly into opposite walls once a room was cleared.  It was a way to hopefully prevent the Heliothropes from simply running through without having to fight, though the doors were relatively weak and thin compared to the thickness of the walls.

The room after the Quanks and Qwizards was a bit of a step-up in deadliness toward any incoming Heliothropes, as it featured the first two of the more powerful defensive traps he had at his disposal: Auditory Assault Fields[17] and Optical Barrages[18].  The first would create an auditory assault, similar to a perpetual sonic boom in a certain direction, while the other would create an onslaught of painfully intense bright lights also in a certain direction.  It was Milton’s thought that if the shields of these Heliothropes only prevented them from taking damage, then they would be particularly susceptible to these types of traps.

They required a bit of BMUs to set up, as well as some few of his precious Focusing Crystals, but it was worth it.  As for Combat Units that would help take advantage of the enemy being confused, blinded, deaf, and disoriented, he utilized one of the upgrades to one of his Bioconversion Labs he initiated the week before.  While he could create extra-small to small Combat Units in a Molecular Converter, and medium to large Combat Units in a Bioconversion Lab – which included Units a little larger than the 7-foot-tall Quanks and Qwizards – the Bioconversion Lab (Upgraded) could make extra-large Units.  The upgraded version was very large, around 200 feet wide compared to the normal Lab’s 20 feet, which was why he hadn’t had one on his ship.  Of course, there was an Advanced Bioconversion Lab (Upgraded) that he could theoretically create, which was much bigger, but it was so expensive to create – over a million BMUs, even with bonuses – that he held off until he knew he could afford it.

Out of this Bioconversion Lab he created two Bearillas, one of the hybrid Units he had acquired back on Proctus that he had not actually created himself – but that was a story for another day.  The Bearilla[19] was a 20-foot-tall bear-gorilla hybrid that was extremely powerful, both in terms of attack and defense.  With enough time, they could probably punch through a steel wall or crack through a Weightonite block; even given that, many of his Proctan friends had been able to take on these Bearillas 1-on-1 by the time they had raised their strength enough, though it was still dangerous for them to attempt.  The Proctans had adopted a balanced party approach that worked well in RPGs, though, including a tank, healer, support, and DPS classes, all with specialized abilities for each type.  If given the choice, it was much better to go up against a Bearilla with a balanced party, needless to say.

Unfortunately, the larger Combat Units invariably had some sort of downside; it was a trade-off for being so powerful.  Some larger Units were very slow but powerful; some were the exact opposite, where they could run 100 miles an hour but couldn’t fight worth a darn.  He once made a massive lizard that was hundreds of feet tall in an Advanced Bioconversion Lab, but it was slow and blind as a result.  Even with all of the advancements he had made after he had fully repaired his Station Core, there were a few things that he couldn’t change.

For the Bearilla, its downside was that it had an insatiable appetite.  It needed to consume vast quantities of food every day in order to survive; if it didn’t, then it would quickly grow weaker and eventually collapse, dying within an hour of the first sign that it needed to eat.  To get a good idea of what it needed to survive, it would eat the equivalent of a cow every few hours, which was why he only had a pair of them in the second room.  He had a limited supply of Bio Mass, after all, and he hadn’t had a chance to get any type of farm full of fast-growing plants and Picow Livestock (a quick-maturing breed of a cow/pig hybrid he had developed on Proctus) yet.  The reason for that was because he hadn’t figured out how to conserve water on a farm like that yet, since it required many Pure Water units every day to keep it running.  Since he wasn’t on a planet with a ready supply, he had to be careful.

There were also some ranged Combat Units he placed in the room, including a dozen D-Ranged Monkeys[20] that were essentially 6-armed monkeys that could throw steel javelins tipped in Weightonite.  Unlike the Heliothropes, who seemed to also possess additional upper limbs, the Monkeys were relatively weak in close-quarters combat; as a result, Milton created two wooden platforms 50 feet above the floor on opposite walls where the Monkeys could stay out of range.  From up there, protected by height for the most part, they could launch their javelins at their disoriented prey, which would then be beaten to a pulp by the Bearillas.  Simple, yet effective.

Milton wasn’t going for elaborate or sophisticated defenses quite yet; all he needed right now was an efficient and effective way to stop the Heliothropes from progressing further inside.

The third and last room that was completed was another step up, though it was still far from being the most effective defense he could create.  As a Station Core, he had many different types of defenses available to make in his Defensive Weapons Factory[21], though some of the most powerful ones he would create last, due to their reliance on Focusing Crystals, of which he only had a relatively small quantity at the moment.  In this room, however, he utilized an array of Laser Cannon Emplacements around the perimeter, built on stone pedestals 80 feet high and reached by climbing up handholds carved into the sides of the pedestals.

The Laser Cannon Emplacements[22] were probably the weakest of the higher-tech long-range defensive weapons, but they were sure to pack a wallop.  They were expensive at originally 75,000 BMUs and 75 Focusing Crystals, but with Milton’s bonuses and ability to substitute a portion of the requirements with other materials, it only required about half that amount – which was still hefty.  Six of the Emplacements was all he could easily afford to place in the room, but they would be put to good use.

The defensive weapon was basically a powerful laser, shooting out a beam of harmful amplified light particles at a target.  The laser beam would rapidly heat up the extremities of whatever it hit, even going so far as to set them on fire, and he had seen how effective they could be back on Proctus against the same Bearillas he was now using in his previous room.

There were two downsides to the trap, however, and one of them was that they had to be operated by a Combat Unit.  That essentially meant that Milton couldn’t simply control and aim them from his Station Core back in the command center – which would’ve been much easier.  To properly operate these Emplacements, the ideal operator would probably be a Proctan – but he didn’t want to have any Proctans inside of that room, standing on top of the pedestals for hours or days at a time.  Instead, he went the Synthetic Replicant route, creating 6 generic-looking Proctans that were identical in construction to his own avatar, but looking more like the overall form of a Proctan.

They were a bit eerie in the fact that they were genderless and all appeared exactly the same, like the clones that Trinket was so worried about, but they were able to do the job.  As far as how powerful they were, Milton estimated that they were probably a little stronger than an average human, perhaps a little faster, but they weren’t anything special – not like the individual Proctans, who could use abilities that these things couldn’t.  Instead, the replicants were simply there to act like any other Combat Unit in his defenses, though these ones could easily be controlled to fire the Emplacements at his command.

They got some worried looks from Brint, Whisp, and the Think Tank when he created them and sent them into the dungeon he was creating, but they understood the reasoning behind it.

As for the main defense in the room, the object that would stop the Heliothropes so that the Laser Cannons could attack them, was currently growing inside of the room.  Buried under a layer of dirt that was 15 feet deep, which ate into his reserves – but for a good reason – was a Titanaconda[23].  This Combat Unit was a massive constrictor snake with an extra-large head, able to burrow through dirt and use its Earth Affinity to manipulate it around it as it moved, so that it could ambush its targets from down below.  The jaws of the Titanaconda were so large that it could swallow even a 20-foot-tall Bearilla were it to stretch them wide open, and its bite did extreme damage to anything it pierced.  In addition, the Combat Unit’s scaly hide was very tough, only relatively weaker than a Bearilla’s furry hide – but it was large and could strike extremely fast, though its movement was slightly hampered by its semi-flexible scales.

The biggest downside of these Titanacondas was the speed at which they matured, which took 3 days.  At the moment there were 5 of them inside the dirt of the third room, placed just about a day before, so it would take a few more days until they were up to the point where they could cause some serious devastation.

Unfortunately, it didn’t appear as though they would have the time to grow up to eat any of the bad guys.

“Milton, we have incoming.”

Chapter 18

“Sensors are detecting a ship on the edge of the solar system, passing through at an angle,” Brint said when Milton brought his focus back to his avatar and away from the dungeon he was still constructing.

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?  It looks like it’s moving away.” he asked as he looked at the viewscreen.  ALANNA shook her head, though, so he guessed not.

“Not likely.  While it’s certainly just a scout ship checking up on the system, it’s more than probable that it will see—and there it is.”

The ship on the outskirts of the solar system had been angling so that it would take a shallow dip into the general space shared by the sun and planets, as if it was simply doing a drive-by.  However, as his guide was talking, it suddenly adjusted its course so that it was now on a direct line toward the station.

“I’m assuming it saw the changes in the station and is now taking a look?” he asked unnecessarily, because anyone could see that was the case.  Whisp and the other members working on the trans-dimensional drive problem weren’t in the new command “bridge” of the station, but Brint and Trinket – along with ALANNA – were staring at the screen in worry.  Thankfully, Milton wasn’t too worried, because he was fairly confident in the defenses he had made so far, and the scout ship wasn’t that large; at most, it probably held a few dozen Heliothropes, and none of the really large ones that would worry him had they been present.

Despite his confidence, Milton still queued up a Bearilla in his Upgraded Bioconversion Lab, along with a few Proctans in the others.  He hadn’t brought back anyone other than those that had been helping Whisp as of yet, mainly because he hadn’t had a chance to really make additional housing, as well as a sustainable food source.  Powerful Proctans tended to eat a lot because their bodies burned calories at an astounding rate, though not anywhere near the Bearilla’s near-constant starvation.  Still, even having just under the half-dozen Proctans he currently had around eating food was slowly cutting into his reserves.  Not enough to make a huge difference at the moment, but if he were to add even another 15 to 20, he would see his reserves in Organic Material and Biological Mass start to drop precipitously without an easy way to replace any of it.

But right now was an emergency, and safety was more of a priority rather than cutting down the amount being used of his reserves.

“There is also a communication packet being sent out of the system in the direction of the Thygel-9R system, which I can only assume is the location of the nearest communication relay,” ALANNA added.  “I have no doubt that this information will be all over the galaxy in the next day or so.”

Milton shrugged, a bodily expression that he couldn’t help but savor being able to do now that he had access to a body; he had gone more than a century before he had been able to do that again, and he still wasn’t over the pleasure it gave him to do something so simple.  “So?  It’s not like they actually know that it’s me or my ship that did this, right?”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.  I guess we’ll find out within the next few minutes, won’t we?”

She was right.  Either the ship would investigate the entrance that he had conspicuously placed on the outside of the ring… or it would fire on the station without warning.

There was no attempt at communication as it sped closer, or at least none that could be detected.  “From the stories I’ve been told, they don’t seem to speak to anyone normally; what orders are given to conquered civilizations are provided after the battles,” Trinket added into the silence on the bridge.  “They don’t seek to understand who they are fighting, and there is no avenue for negotiation.  You’re either a people that need to be conquered and be made slaves, or you’re dead.”

That sounded like what Milton had thought would be the case, and it didn’t surprise him.  He quickly warned Whisp and the others of the incoming ship, and a minute later they had all arrived on the bridge to watch alongside them in silence.

Just as the first of the newly brought-back Proctans fell out of the bottom of the Bioconversion Labs, the ship was already arriving in range to seriously mess the station up if they chose to do so.  The people on the bridge held their collective breaths, and only released them when the ship turned sharply to head for the entrance.  Milton’s avatar collapsed into the captain’s chair in relief, and he actually smiled.  “Phew, that was a little bit stressful, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but you realize that it’s not over yet, right?” ALANNA said softly next to him.

“Of course, but I’m not too worried.  They won’t stand a chance against what I’ve assembled so far.”

His diminutive guide sighed.  “Milton, don’t be overconfident and underestimate them.  It’s what The Collective did, and look at my creators now.”

A little worm of worry wiggled into his thoughts at that, but he couldn’t help but be confident.  He had survived way worse odds back on Proctus, so this should be nothing.

“What’s the situation?” Milton suddenly heard, and he realized that the group of 5 Proctans that had just been recreated were already on the bridge after he told them where to go.  Micke was already armored in steel plate with a diamine-mesh interior, which was impervious enough to prevent most weapons from piercing through it, and he had a high-grade steel shield hanging off of his left arm.  In his right hand was a lightweight diamine-compressed sword, its durability and sharpness so great that it could pierce through even the tough skin of a Bearilla, especially in the hands of a Physical Augmenter like Micke, who was the “tank” Class of the group.

Behind him was Phyra, an Elemental Caster dressed in free-flowing red robes, one of the high-damage DPS Classes of the group, the color of her robes indicating her weapon of choice – Fire.  While she could use all of the elements, such as Water and Light, and use them quite well, most Casters tended to have a favorite.  Around her waist was a belt that contained pouches of different elemental sources, such as a bottle of water to initiate Water-based abilities, a pouch of dirt for Earth, and of course a large stack of quick-strike matches, which would give her access to Fire.  It was one of the limitations of the Caster Class that dealt with elements: In order to manipulate one of the elements, they had to have a physical source to draw from and then amplify.  They couldn’t simply create fire out of nothing, for instance.

Next to her was a Proctan that seemed to blend into his surroundings, seemingly nondescript but present all the same.  Fendle was the party’s Rogue Class, dressed in dark-grey leather armor, and he was able to sneak about with alacrity, possessing an ability to even go invisible to the normal light spectrum.  He was also one of the Rogues that had advanced enough to possess Intangibility, which was an ability that allowed him to pass through solid objects.  Fendle was technically part of the DPS classes, because he was able to get close and do tremendous amounts of damage to a target before escaping retribution.

Bringing up the rear were the Healer and Support Class Proctans, Trond and Pilora, respectively.  Each of them was wearing tight-fitting cloth-and-leather armor, giving them ease of movement in a fight.  Trond, the Healer and Booster of the group, was outfitted mostly in a creamy white color, though it had accents in blue, showing that he focused more on boosting physical attributes of others than himself.  Pilora’s armor was a little more padded than Trond’s, because she tended to be a little more in the action than the Healer, and it was colored in different shades of green and grey, which indicated her predilection for Flora Manipulation and Atmokinesis.  While manipulating the weather wasn’t necessarily a boon inside of a space station, with enough moisture in the air she could make her own weather – and electrical discharges like lightning.

Milton quickly went over the gist of what was happening at the moment, telling Micke and the other newcomers that they would likely only be needed as a last resort.  They would be stationed right in front of the only connection leading from the ring to the command center, as a final defense.  The Bearilla – which was still being grown in the Upgraded Bioconversion Lab – would join them as soon as it was able to, in about 15 minutes.

“Alright, we can do that.  I’m eager to hear all of what’s been going on since we left Proctus, but it seems like that can wait,” Phyra said as they headed off to take their positions.  On the viewscreen, Milton could see that the small-ish Heliothrope ship was setting down on the platform that extended out from the entrance, and a hatch was starting to open on the shipping container-shaped space vehicle.  Before the Proctans had fully disappeared, Phyra turned back to ask a question.  “By the way, where are we exactly?  Does this place have a name?”

Milton was about to answer, “No, it’s just a space station,” but he held his tongue.  Quickly thinking about it, he realized that now was as good a time to name it as any, since it was getting used as a defensive dungeon for the first time.  While he wasn’t great at naming things (such as the Blood-thirsty Squirrel back on Proctus), he knew they couldn’t just keep calling it The Station.

“Because I’m hoping this place will eventually be a place of sanctuary and refuge to free the people of this galaxy against the oppressive rule of the Heliothropes, I think it is only fitting to call this station—”

“Kill Those Murdering Bastards… Station!” ALANNA shouted, cutting off what he was hoping was going to be a momentous occasion.  Chuckles of genuine laughter greeted her announcement, and Milton put his avatar’s head in his hands. As horrible as the name was, it seemed to lighten the mood in the command center’s bridge, and he didn’t want to mess with that.  He figured he could always change it later.

“You know, I was going to call it something like ‘Station of Freedom’ or ‘Independence Refuge’, but I guess ‘Murder Station’ works for now,” he said, to the smiles of everyone but Trinket and himself.  The Mouslan looked like she was going to be sick, even as more chuckles greeted his annoyed statement.

Milton was suddenly worried for the young engineer, and he got up to put his hand on her shoulder.  “You know, you don’t have to watch this.”  Trinket was literally shaking under his hand, and his touch only seemed to amplify the shuddering.

She shook her head a few times.  “No, I need to see… this.  Just the sight of them is making me want to run and hide, but I have to remember that they’re not my Masters anymore.”

Milton looked at the viewscreen to see that the Heliothropes were starting to disembark, their blue-ish skin standing out stark and clear in the light shining from inside the entrance.  Each of them was larger than he recalled from the historical records ALANNA had directed him to watch a while ago, but it could be just because this was the first time actually seeing them in the flesh.  In each of their six heavily muscled arms, which were large enough to nearly rival a 20-foot-tall Bearilla’s, was a different type of melee weapon.

In one hand was a sword that was at least 5 feet long and 6 inches wide, with a double edge and slight hook on the tip that indicated that it could also be used to marginally pull a victim closer to the Heliothrope, or else it was for extra damage with each strike.  Another hand held a spiked mace that was the size of their head, which was bald and disturbingly broken up by a jaw that could open up far too wide for normalcy, and it looked capable of inflicting not only blunt damage, but incredible piercing damage, as well.

Two other hands held what he would only classify as a halberd and a trident, though they were just slightly off from what he remembered them looking like back in the video games he’d played back on Earth.  Still, they both had some serious reach to them, which meant that getting up close to the Heliothrope would be difficult without being stabbed in one way or another.

The last pair of hands held a warhammer and a battleaxe, which appeared perfectly created to smash and chop anything getting within close-quarters combat range.  The head of the warhammer alone was nearly the size of a Mouslan and must have been quite heavy, but the Heliothrope handled it like it was a toy.

There was also a subtle glow that surrounded each of the weapons that he only noticed when he looked through the full-spectrum abilities of his sensors; on the viewscreen itself, which was only displaying visible light at the moment, there was nothing.  In addition to the glow on the weapons, there was also a faint shimmer around each of the blue-skinned individuals, which he assumed was some sort of shield.

What was even odder, once he stopped to think about it, was that none of the Heliothropes was wearing more than a loincloth around their waists.  Normally, that wouldn’t be a huge deal, but when they stepped out of the ship and proceeded to walk across the platform as if the vacuum and utter cold of space were of no consequence, it took the Station Core a little aback.  Essentially it meant that they could spacewalk without having to resort to any type of suit, a technology of which Milton was a little envious.

An even 10 of the blue-skinned Heliothropes filed out of the hatchway of their ship, followed by a slightly larger purple-skinned individual, who looked around the platform and entrance with a little more of something that Milton would classify as curiosity.  Or wariness.  Or deliberation.  In all honesty, he wasn’t quite sure how to evaluate their expressions or reactions, but the larger one was the only one that actually reacted; the blue-skinned Heliothropes marched forward like robotic soldiers, their weapons held at exactly the same angle and positioning, almost like they were at a parade.

None of that particularly surprised the Station Core, though, because he had seen much of the same in the historical records.  It was only their ability to spacewalk that was new, as he couldn’t remember reviewing any incidents where the Heliothropes took over a space station and the footage of it actually remained.  It hadn’t seemed that important at the time, but now he was wondering what else he might have been missing.

The only thing out of the ordinary with the 11 Heliothropes now parade-marching through his entrance was a metal cylinder that was strapped to the chest of the purple-skinned leader.  His sensors focused on it to try to get a better look at what it might be, but as soon as he concentrated on its location, his connection with the nearest sensor started to grow fuzzy, like an old-school CRT TV that was losing signal with a channel.

That… had never happened before.  He’d had his connection with sensor orbs and Combat Units start to gradually fade as they approached the limit to his Communication Range, and even had a foreign communication source cut it off abruptly when he attempted to send some Units under the Quizard Mountains, but it was nothing like this.  It was almost as if there was something being emitted from the cylinder on the purple Heliothrope’s chest that was messing with his ability to Communicate with his sensor.

“This isn’t good.  ALANNA, what is that?”

Of course, she had no idea.  “I have no clue, because that is impossible.  There shouldn’t be anything that can interrupt your connection like that, as they are integrated into your Station Core system.”

“Well, impossible or not, it’s happening.”  What was worse was that the fuzziness only increased as the Heliothropes marched on by, until he lost connection with it entirely.  Thankfully, he had another sensor a little bit further away on the side of the ring, and he could see that it hadn’t actually been destroyed, but that fact wasn’t exactly a comforting one.

In the airlock, his sensors around the room started to fuzz out similarly to the one outside, but before they could lose their connection entirely, Milton thought to see if the sensors could evaluate the Heliothropes to get a better idea of their strength.  It hadn’t worked on Trinket for some reason he didn’t understand, but it actually worked for both the blue-skinned[24] and the purple-skinned[25] people.

What he found was encouraging, at least.  Overall, the blue-skinned Heliothropes (which were apparently named “Fodder”) weren’t very powerful as far as their Attack and Defense strength went; in comparison to his Quanks, for example, his Combat Unit had a defense of over 4,000, whereas the Fodder type of enemy only had 750.  These were, of course, approximate values because it was difficult to tell exactly what the numbers were until there was more physical evidence through battle, but they were usually fairly close.  As for Attack, it only had 500 points in that statistic, which was just barely over his D-Ranged Monkeys who had an Attack of just under 400.

Those Attack and Defense values were only the beginning of determining how much damage was dished out and taken, because weapons and armor could make a huge difference.  For instance, a person with an Attack of 50 might do more damage with a Diamine sword compared to someone with an Attack of 200 with a rusty iron sword, because the Diamine sword could cut through just about anything with ease, as its edge was microscopically thin.

The purple-skinned Heliothropes – which seemed to be called “Soldiers” – were only marginally better in physical stats, but the biggest difference seemed to come through Intelligence.  Essentially, the Fodder types were dumb as rocks and were controlled telepathically by the Soldiers, but he doubted it was an all-or-nothing situation.  Based on some of the Skills highlighted by his analyzation of the two types, they seemed fairly intent on pushing through and conquering no matter what happened; even if he were to kill the Soldier, ostensibly the “leader” of the group, the others would continue on – though probably without individual direction.

That was the other thing he noticed about their Skills and Special Traits: they religiously followed what they called the Sun God, Helios.  Most of their Traits had a theme, like Strength of Resolve or Arms of the Righteous, and Will of the Sun God was apparently what gave their weapons a bit of a glow.  Faith of the Blessed was what worried him the most, because apparently it wasn’t some sort of technology that created the shield-like field around them, but their “faith” in this Sun God.

“ALANNA, how does my sensor analysis know all of this?  It seems a bit far-fetched to pick up this stuff about a Sun God just by looking at them,” Milton asked.

His guide tapped her finger against her chin in thought.  “Hmm… well, the Collective learned a bit about them while they were trying to defend against their constant onslaughts, though apparently not enough to save them.  I’m going to assume that when you look closely at them, the system is filling in any gaps with knowledge acquired a long time ago.  I’m not sure how much of that is accurate.”

“Regardless, I’m liking this less and less as time goes on.”  Just then, his two sensor orbs he had in the room fuzzed out and he lost connection with them, which wasn’t a good sign.  Thankfully, whatever was happening wasn’t affecting his environmental systems, because there was still heat and air in the room.

Before he was truly ready because of the unexpected developments with his sensors, he opened up the doorway leading into the first room of his dungeon.

Chapter 19

Almost as soon as the Heliothropes entered the room, Milton started to feel his connection with his Quanks and Qwizards begin to distort and fray.  Those were the only words he could think of to describe the feeling, because it was unlike anything he’d felt before.

“How?!  This makes no sense!  Brint, can you connect with them?” the panicked Station Core asked of the Proctan watching on the viewscreen inside the command bridge.

“Sort of, but it feels extremely tenuous, like it’s a string that’s being pulled taut and ready to snap at any time,” Brint answered, holding his head in his hand as if it was hurting him.  “Can’t you set them to defend automatically?”

“Yes!  Of course, I had momentarily forgotten.”  Milton immediately set every Combat Unit in the room to defend automatically instead of waiting for orders from him or someone else, and they immediately did just that.  He could give fairly complex orders to a Combat Unit if given enough time to work out exactly what to have them do, but automatic defense was a good fallback that he previously used in his dungeons on Proctus, especially when he had thousands of Combat Units at one time.  What it basically meant was that they would fight according to their instincts, and those instincts were usually pretty good; it was only when he wanted them to do something specific to coincide with a trap or another Combat Unit that he altered their “programming”.

One of his sensor orbs up in the far corner away from the Heliothropes was still functioning enough to watch the battle unfold.  The Quanks, which Milton made sure knew about the trap triggers for the Explosive Floor Plates, didn’t rush ahead and attack; instead, they stayed back and clumped up together so that there were 6 of them for each of the Fodder charging ahead.  The purple-skinned Soldier led from the back, letting its minions take the fight to Milton’s Combat Units, though it stayed close enough that it could respond if needed.

Almost in unison, 6 of the blue-skinned Heliothropes stepped on and depressed the trapped floor plates, and an enormous explosion from underneath shot them straight up into the ceiling, where the metal spikes protruded specifically for that purpose.  Milton smiled as his traps seemed to work perfectly, flinging the Fodder up with so much force that it was almost painful to watch….

But it was all for nothing.  The upflung Heliothropes hit the spikes with a tremendous impact, but then they seemed to stop in place as a visible light flared around them momentarily, preventing the spikes from doing any damage.  Instead of falling 200 feet below after the arrested impact, which would’ve likely hurt them a bit, they drifted back down at a steady pace with a faint glow around them, entirely unscathed.

Meanwhile, the other 4 Fodder didn’t even seem to notice or care about their comrades being sent flying into the ceiling, because they charged ahead without slowing one bit.  The Soldier paused momentarily to stare down at the floor, and then simply followed the pathway that one of the Fodder that hadn’t been flung upwards had taken.

His Quanks were ready for them.  Emitting a pheromone that, when inhaled by an opposing enemy, caused their targets to concentrate only on the Quank – similar to drawing aggro – they bunched up around each of the Fodder that had made it through.  There was a visible flaring of the Heliothropes’ special shields as the pheromones were intercepted, and the frenzy that they should have elicited was nowhere to be seen.  Milton watched as multiple Quanks attempted to bite and then scratch the blue-skinned enemies, only for their attacks to be reflected off of the glowing shields of the Fodder.  There was definitely a lessening in the glow with all the constant assault by his Quanks, but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

As for the Heliothropes, they had no problem at all attacking and landing a hit.  In a display of martial ability that shocked him, the Fodder all struck out with all 6 weapons they were wielding simultaneously in different directions, connecting with their targets unerringly.  It probably didn’t help that the Quanks, because of their durable and relatively rigid hides, were fairly slow and couldn’t dodge the attacks, but they usually didn’t have to.

Not so in this case, unfortunately.

As each weapon was poised to strike, there was a flare of visible light that seemed to enhance the attacks, because there was no other way to explain the way a sword was able to penetrate the defensive rating of their exoskeletons, cutting off a head here and there with ease.  Or how a simple smash by a warhammer was able not only to shatter just the exoskeleton of the Quank, but also turn all of the Quank’s bones to mush underneath the blow.  Or how a stab of a trident was able to pass through almost the entire body of the 6-foot-tall lizard so that it looked like some sort of meal that was being spitted for roasting above a giant campfire.

While not every attack landed with such devastating impact, killing his Quanks near-instantly, it happened enough that his 60 Quanks were cut in half in a matter of seconds, and it was obvious that they weren’t going to be able to recover.  The half-dozen Fodder that had been shot upwards were still floating gently down, so all of the devastation had been caused by 4 of the Heliothropes—only 4!

His Qwizards around the perimeter, late to the attack as they were waiting for the Quanks to delay the enemy, started shooting out their flame-based spit, striking the glowing shields of the descending Fodder.  As they were struck by the spit, it flared up with a brief spark, which was then manipulated by the Qwizards to create an explosion of flames.  As each of the floating Heliothropes was hit multiple times, they were blown backwards anywhere between 20 to 30 feet, tumbling through the air…

…and yet, they were completely unhurt.  They simply righted themselves once they slowed down, and continued to drift back down to the ground.

“This isn’t fair,” Milton complained.  His Combat Units were being slaughtered, and it was all because of those stupid shields.

“No one said this would be fair, Milton,” ALANNA reminded him.  “I told you not to underestimate them; there’s a reason they’ve taken over the entire galaxy, you know.”

“Yes, but no one said that they’d be completely invulnerable.”

The diminutive woman shook her head.  “They’re not invulnerable, it only looks that way.  See?”

His Quanks, despite the beating they had been taking, had developed a strategy all on their own: ganging up on a single Heliothrope with their remaining numbers.  With some of the nearby Qwizards on the perimeter joining in with their attacks from a distance, one of the Fodder-type enemies was surrounded by so many Quanks that it couldn’t properly move and consequently attack.  Fiery explosions, bites, and scratches assaulted the Heliothrope even as his Combat Units were slaughtered from behind, but progress was being made, nonetheless.  The glow around the surrounded Fodder quickly dimmed and then faded altogether, and for the first time the enemy was taking actual damage.  Huge gashes and ripped-off skin from bites marked its body, and an explosion seemed to blind the large black orbs acting as the Heliothrope’s eyes, and it started striking out randomly.

Seeing one of the Fodder “on the ropes”, so to say, all of the Qwizards quickly focused on that single enemy, and there was suddenly a conflagration of flames that wreathed its body as dozens of Qwizards joined together to manipulate the fire near it.  A lucky bite to the Heliothrope’s leg ended up with it being half-torn off, which caused the blinded Fodder to fall to the ground, where it was quickly piled on and ripped apart.

Unfortunately, that was all that went well, because the other Heliothropes quickly finished the process of slaughtering all of the Quanks, their weapons defeating the defense-based Combat Units with efficiency.  After a short time, the Qwizards were out of Power and couldn’t use their Fire Affinity anymore, so they jumped down from their locations and joined in on the attack – but despite their faster Agility, they couldn’t avoid the powerful strikes of the Heliothropes and were swiftly put down.

There was a moment’s pause in the Heliothropes, but as one they turned toward the door opening ahead of them and walked through, leaving their fallen comrade without a second glance. I guess with a name like Fodder, that makes sense; they are essentially expendable.  One down, ten to go.

But now it was time for them to go up against something they probably weren’t prepared for: Bearillas.  Milton remembered the first time he had seen one of the bear/gorilla hybrids, and how it had completely devastated his dungeon before it was stopped.  It was a powerful enemy then, but it was an equally powerful ally now.

The Fodder marched inside the room in a line, evenly spaced out with the Soldier following up behind – which he just realized hadn’t actually participated in the prior battle – and Milton felt his connection with the Bearillas and D-Ranged Monkeys in the room start to fade away.  Thankfully, his sensor orbs in the far corners were still working—barely—so he was still able to watch the proceedings.

The Auditory Assault Field and Optical Barrage defenses initiated shortly after the Heliothropes entered the room, and Milton watched as both the extreme sight and sound of the traps slammed almost physically into the Fodder.  The shields protecting them flared up with an accompanying glow as the Heliothropes – including the purple-skinned Soldier behind – were frozen in place, unable to move.  The Station Core could see the glow of the shields slowly diminish as the Heliothropes were protected from the deafening and blinding that was supposed to be happening to them, and after a few seconds they started moving through the Assault and Barrage as if they were simply a minor inconvenience.

Weightonite-tipped javelins suddenly rained down on the Heliothropes from above as the D-Ranged Monkeys started their bombardment. The first volley hit the protective barriers of the enemy and bounced off, and Milton saw that there was a significant reduction in the glow of the shields, which was still diminishing because of the defenses.  The second volley was batted out of the air by unnaturally fast blocks by more than one melee weapon, which meant that the javelins were essentially useless other than as a distraction.

At least as far as his Combat Units went, unfortunately.

As the Fodder continued to block the javelins as they pushed forward, the Soldier transferred its mace to the hand carrying a battleaxe so that it was holding two weapons in the same grip, and picked up one of the javelins that had been deflected.  With a deft throw, the salvaged projectile slammed into the small box that produced the Optical Barrages ahead of them; when it hit, there was a minor explosion as the Barrage box was penetrated entirely by the javelin, and the defense was destroyed.  A second picked-up javelin was quickly tossed at the Auditory Assault Field device, which miraculously survived the direct hit, though the phonograph-looking defense fell on its side and stopped working.

Freed from the constant assault, the glow of the Heliothropes’ shields, which had been diminished to the point where they had nearly faded away, started to somehow regenerate – which was entirely unfair, yet again.  What the deactivation of the defenses also did, however, was free up his Bearillas to attack – which they did with enthusiasm.

A powerful leap from the location at which they were originally instructed to wait brought them to within a dozen feet of the front line of Fodder, who turned to meet this new threat; even with their attention away from the javelins still being rained upon their heads, they were still able to block most of the projectiles from hitting them, and those that actually struck them bounced off the regenerating shields – though Milton noticed that the regeneration stopped for a few seconds upon a successful strike.

SLAM!  One of Milton’s Bearillas performed a quick hook with its right arm at the closest Fodder, hitting it with such force that it was sent flying, slamming into the nearest wall with a bone-crunching impact.  At least, it would’ve been bone-crunching had the shield not protected the Heliothrope, but even with that protective barrier, the blue-skinned enemy got back to its feet slower than Milton had previously seen it move.

That was the only “free” hit to the Heliothropes, however, because the others were ready for more attacks.  Weapons were brought up to block a few more strikes, which helped, but they were ultimately sent flying as well; unfortunately, it appeared as though the glow upon the weapons of the Fodder was able to penetrate the fur and skin of the Bearillas, something that Milton knew was difficult even for some of the more powerful Proctans.

Fists were almost instantly torn up with multiple lacerations and even broken fingers as they were sliced up against the Heliothropes’ melee weapons, but the Bearillas didn’t care – they waded into the fight without fear.  The Fodder were tossed all over the room by powerful blows, but they always got up and came back to the fight with renewed determination, getting hit by javelins from up above, until one after another of their shields faded enough that a fist pounding them into the floor was enough to kill them.

Four of the Fodder were killed all within the first minute of the Bearillas joining the fight, leaving five more along with the Soldier, who was currently targeting all of the D-Ranged Monkeys up above.  First, it started to toss back the javelins that were littering the floor, but eventually it floated up to the wooden platforms above and started slaughtering them up close and personal-like.  The projectiles they sent toward the Soldier were either deflected by weapons or bounced off the Heliothrope’s shield harmlessly, which meant that the Monkeys were helpless to prevent their deaths.

One more of the Fodder fell to a Bearilla before the Heliothropes started to gain the upper hand.  Extremely deep cuts to Milton’s powerful Combat Units started to slow them down, until one fell to its knees as the blood loss started to get the better of it, even as it hit away another Heliothrope that tried to take advantage.  Unfortunately, without the barrage of javelins constantly depleting the glowing shields of the Heliothropes, none of the strikes did any lasting damage – though Milton still noticed that the Fodder were moving slower and slower with each successive hit they suffered.

Disaster struck as one of the Bearillas attempted to grab and squeeze the life out of one of the enemy, but the problem with that was all of the weaponry; it was like squeezing on a fist full of extremely sharp knives.  As a consequence, when the Bearilla squeezed it almost immediately had three of its fingers sliced cleanly off, prompting it to roar in pain as it dropped the Fodder, which took advantage and attacked with abandon once it found its feet.

The D-Ranged Monkeys up above having been entirely eradicated, the Soldier jumped down and finally joined the fight against the Bearillas.  Showing a tactical mind, it threw a javelin at the kneeling one, and when the Combat Unit swept its arms up to knock it aside, the Soldier quickly ducked inside its guard and stabbed its halberd tip deep inside of the Bearilla’s body, piercing its heart.  It got knocked away in the Bearilla’s death throes, losing its weapon inside of the massive beast, but it was ultimately unhurt as it picked itself up.

It was only a matter of a minute or two before the other Bearilla succumbed to the concerted efforts of the remaining 5 Heliothropes, who finished it off with brutal efficiency.  A small twitch of the Soldier’s disturbingly large mouth when it was all over made Milton think it was some sort of smile, and after collecting the halberd stuck in the other Bearilla, it marched with the others toward the doorway leading to the next room, just as the sensor orb finally lost connection with his Station Core.

“Hmm, I guess I have to rethink my strategy a bit,” Milton muttered a little nervously.  He was still confident that if the next room didn’t stop the remaining Heliothropes, then the Proctan team would, but the entire situation was worrying, nonetheless.  “That was… unexpected.”

“It sure was, but I think we’ve got this,” Whisp said confidently.  “From what I’ve been able to analyze of the shields around the Heliothropes, which is unfortunately little because of your tenuous connection with your sensor orbs, it seems as though the barriers slowly degrade after some abuse.  What that ultimately means is that the more they are damaged, the less they can recharge to absorb attacks and the longer it takes to recharge in the first place.  I’m sure that after a period of time without them being in battle, the shields will fully reset, but at the moment you have the advantage.”

That was good to hear, because he was eager to take advantage of whatever he could at the moment.  Already, the remaining 4 Fodder Heliothropes with their Soldier leader were already marching into the next room, which opened up for them automatically.  Theoretically, he still had control over the operation of the doors and could keep them closed, but he didn’t want them trying to break them down – which he was sure they could do at this point, after witnessing their weapons in action.  For them to be able to damage a Bearilla that easily, slicing and smashing through a few inches of steel wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Besides, delaying would only allow their shields to recover a bit, if Whisp was accurate in her analysis.

There was a slight hesitation by the Soldier as the flooring in the new room turned out to be dirt, but the Fodder marched ahead seemingly without a thought.  About a third of the way through the room, there was a rumbling underneath three of the blue-skinned Heliothropes, which was quickly revealed to be the gaping maws of large snakes that were just barely big enough to snatch up the trio of Fodder with their fangs, the teeth literally bending as they attempted to pierce through the glowing shields of the enemy.

One of the Titanacondas actually managed to do enough damage to cause a shield to collapse, and its fangs pierced through two of the Heliothrope’s arms, practically severing them from the Fodder’s body.  Unfortunately, that was the only high point in the ambush, because the enemy recovered fast enough to use its other weapons to attack the scaled head of the large snake.  The abrupt pain caused the Titanaconda to whip its head around, flinging the Heliothrope against the ground with a snap of yet another arm, but the Fodder was up and back in the fight, despite having three injured arms.  With the help of the fourth blue-skinned Heliothrope, they were able to finish off the injured Combat Unit with a few attacks that basically cut the head off of the snake.

Because they were only about a third of the way through growing, the size, strength, and durable scales of the Titanacondas weren’t that great, which was also shown in how easily they were taken down.  The other two Combat Units hadn’t been able to injure the ones they had picked up in their ambush and were forced to fling their targets to the side before they could be skewered by melee weapons.  This tactic didn’t work for them long, because the Fodder immediately counter-attacked once they got to their feet, using their weapons to block subsequent strikes by fangs and even a Titanaconda tail or two, slicing them up as they went.  In less than 15 seconds, by what Milton could figure, his reptilian Combat Units were dead.

But that just gave the other defenses he had set up in the room free rein to fire.  Having given the synthetic replicants instructions to concentrate on a single target at a time before he lost connection with them, the Laser Cannon Emplacements performed exactly how he had hoped.  Targeting the Fodder that had been injured, the lasers shot out with tremendous accuracy, sending out a half-dozen beams of amplified light particles that almost immediately eroded what little the shield had recharged.  With the protective barrier gone, the blue skin of the Heliothrope began to melt off its body when all 6 beams hit it, the very air around the Fodder shimmering with heat waves as the enemy was cooked alive.

That was all done in a matter of seconds, and by the time the other Heliothropes caught on to what was happening, the replicants had moved on from the melting Fodder and targeted another blue-skinned figure, blasting through its shield before it really knew what was happening.  As it began to heat up from the beams, it suddenly brought all of its melee weapons in front of it to block out most of the beams’ heat, but not even the weapons were invulnerable; as the powerful Cannons blasted into the metal weapons, they rapidly absorbed the heat and shattered, leaving the Heliothrope vulnerable to the continued barrage.

The Fodder started to melt away even as a trident launched by the Soldier slammed into one of the Emplacements, shearing entirely through the Cannon and the replicant behind it, destroying both.  Similarly, a battleaxe was flung end over end by one of the blue-skinned Heliothropes, shearing through yet another Emplacement and replicant, leaving only 4 of them—

Scratch that, there goes another one.  A halberd was launched like a spear at yet another Laser Cannon right in its emitter, causing the Emplacement to rapidly overheat and then explode, killing the replicant controlling it.  Even down to just 3, the defenses were enough to finish off the second of the Heliothropes they had targeted, but that was unfortunately the extent of the carnage.

Instead of launching any other weapons, the 3 remaining Heliothropes jumped and sailed through the air courtesy of their unfair, overpowered shields, closing the distance before the slowly overheating Laser Cannons could retarget another Heliothrope.  Without anything else to defend themselves, the replicants were quickly destroyed along with the Emplacements, defeating any hope that the room would be able to continue the defense against the invading enemy.

The three remaining Heliothropes calmly gathered up their flung melee weapons and floated back down to the dirt floor, facing toward the accessway that would allow them to progress further into Murder Station.

Strangely, that name is kind of growing on me.  Granted, it’s the Heliothropes that are doing most of the murdering, but hopefully that will change.

With only a slight hesitation and a warning to the Proctans waiting in the next room, Milton opened up the door.

Chapter 20

“I thought you said you’ve done this kind of thing before,” Trinket suddenly said, visibly shivering as she watched all of the events unfolding in Milton’s dungeon.  “This doesn’t exactly build a lot of confidence in our safety.”

Milton secretly shared her concerns, but he really didn’t feel like admitting that.  While he wasn’t above admitting that he was in over his head, he wanted to at least pretend like everything was under control – even when it wasn’t.  “I have, but this is a unique situation I hadn’t exactly planned for.  Now that I know what we’re up against, I can alter the dungeon in the future to better deal with them.”  Granted, he wasn’t exactly sure how to go about that yet, but now that there was a problem to solve, he was sure he could find a solution.

“That depends on whether we survive the next few minutes, though,” ALANNA noted pessimistically, watching the viewscreen of the room the Heliothropes were just now entering.

“Very true.  I have the utmost confidence in Micke and his team, however.  Plus, the extra Bearilla is finishing up… now.”

Brint suddenly stood up from where he was watching the viewscreen.  “I have an idea I want to try out,” he said before he suddenly took off from the command center bridge.  Milton was confused at first, at least until he saw the Proctan intercepting the Bearilla on its way out of the command center and through the connecting support leading to the ring.  Hmm… that might work, but we’ll have to see, I guess.

Milton took his attention away from Brint and the Bearilla, and instead focused on what was happening down in the dungeon.  The room was bare of decoration because he had yet to start working on it, but it wasn’t empty.  The 5 Proctans he had brought back earlier were standing there and ready to defend themselves, looking determined to not go down as quickly as the rest of Milton’s defenses.  I certainly hope they do better, because I’m more than a bit disappointed in my performance thus far.  It had been a while since his defenses had been so thoroughly defeated, and he didn’t like the feeling one bit.

As the three Heliothropes marched forward, Micke stepped out in front of the other Heliothropes and braced himself for what was coming. With his shield held out in front of him and his sword at his side, ready to flick out and sever limbs, the large Proctan was the epitome of what he would classify as a “Tank”, ready to lay down his life to protect his teammates.

The two blue-skinned Fodder reached him first, attacking him at the same time as they separated in synchronization so that they attacked him from either side.  Twelve weapons descended or stabbed toward him, ready to skewer, slice, and crush the smaller Proctan with their superior skill and the uncanny ability of their weapons to cut through just about anything.

There was a brief flash of blue light as a blueish force field that looked like a bubble flared around Micke, deflecting the weapons off so that they rebounded with enough impact to send the Fodder back a step.  Milton could see a smile underneath Micke’s helmet as he said, “Whoops!  Looks like you’re not the only special ones.  I think it’s time for you to lose.”

The use of his Force Field Generation ability was a costly one in terms of Power, but it certainly had the right effect.  Even the Soldier was momentarily stunned at the sudden protective barrier around Micke, and while it probably didn’t understand his words, it could probably decipher the tone.  With a flick of his sword, the tank sliced up against the shield of the right-hand Fodder, making it flare in response, and that was all that was needed to start the battle off properly.

A quick-strike match was lit near the back line of Proctans, and Phyra immediately used its flame to create an extremely powerful jet of pure fire that seemed to materialize in the air above the Heliothrope that Micke had targeted with his sword.  Unlike the explosions of flames that Milton’s Qwizards had created earlier, this was a manipulation of fire done by a master Elemental Caster; the fire burned with a concentrated heat that likely rivaled the sun, enhanced with an infusion of oxygen from the air around it – which was manipulated by Phyra, as well.  The jet of flame crashed into the top of the Heliothrope and pushed against the shield with near-physical force, rapidly depleting the shield so that it faded away in less than a second’s time.

However, as it started to burn the top of the Fodder’s head, it was suddenly directed toward the other blue-skinned enemy, leaving the Heliothrope relatively unharmed.  As it attacked Micke yet again, it stopped as a long sword was suddenly thrust through its back and ultimately through its stomach. Even this wasn’t enough to incapacitate the enemy, despite what had to have been its spine being severed, but the Rogue Fendle wasn’t done yet.  The non-descript Proctan reached out with his hand and simply touched the blue skin of his victim, before unsheathing his sword from the back of the Fodder and disappearing from the visible light spectrum using yet another ability.

The Heliothrope he touched immediately started to convulse as the use of a host of abilities in the Bad Touch Suite Fendle had access to quickly started to activate.  While he had to get close and physically touch his target, and the more powerful the target the less effective it was, it was certainly effective against the Fodder Heliothrope.  The blood inside of his blue-skinned target started to painfully boil, spreading a whole host of different types of poisons designed to incapacitate its victim.  Since the Fodder wasn’t technically that powerful when you took away the protective shield and weapons, his poisons wreaked absolute havoc on internal systems of the Rogue’s target.

Meanwhile, as that Fodder fell to its knees and dropped its weapons, doubled over in unimaginable pain, the other Fodder was attempting to avoid the stream of hot flames aimed at it.  Unfortunately for it, Micke was ready and waiting for it to move out of the way, and he slammed his shield into the side of the Heliothrope, knocking it right back into its pathway.  Weapons went up to attempt to deflect the stream of fire, which marginally worked, but that just left it open for Micke to go to work.

Having seen the Healer, Trond, use his abilities to increase the Physical stats of the Tank on top of Micke’s own physical stat boosts, the armored Proctan was a blur of attacks as his sword stabbed at the glowing shield surrounding the Heliothrope.  Before the Fodder could do anything to stop it, the protective barrier faded, which then meant that the blue-skinned foe was being cooked and sliced up from two different directions.  It attempted to divide its attention and its arms in order to stave off a little of either of the attacks, but that only seemed to hasten its demise.  In less than five seconds, the skin started to melt off of its face even as it collapsed when Micke cut cleanly through its left leg.

A battleaxe suddenly crashed down on the Tank’s left side, shearing through the plate armor and embedding itself inside of Micke’s shoulder.  A yell of pain was suddenly cut off as he turned his head to see the Soldier standing behind him, yanking on the weapon to dislodge it from the body of the Proctan.  Blood squirted out even as Micke dodged to the side of another strike, this time with a sword, and Milton could tell that the Tank had activated his Pain Immunity ability to help him think, as well as his Self-Regeneration to fix his wound.

A sudden blast of pure concentrated force erupted from Micke as he used yet another ability called Force Blast, which shot the Soldier across the room.  The Proctan collapsed on the floor after using so much of his Power in such a short time – and of course blood loss from his giant wound – and Trond slipped up to him to add his own healing abilities to the Tank in order to get him back on his feet.  Fendle also appeared near both Heliothropes that were on the floor, mostly incapacitated, and cut their throats. The one he had poisoned had gotten a small amount of his shield regenerated, but all it took was a quick strike before it collapsed again, allowing the Rogue to dispatch it in no time at all.

The Soldier picked itself up, still entirely unharmed, and started running back toward the group, who was now down their Tank for the moment.  That was when Pilora, the Support member of the team, showed her worth.

Pilora was at heart a master of Flora Manipulation, which meant that she could take plants and bend them to her will, as well as increasing their size and strength.  While she had a number of other abilities, including Atmokinesis, her strength was still based on what she could do with plants. Similar to Elemental Casters that carried around elemental sources to be used in their casting abilities, Flora Manipulators carried around tiny potted plants of different varieties, which could be used for a number of different purposes.  She could even grow a tree and ride on top of it, utilizing it as a melee fighter with its branches, or she could grow a plant that had poisonous barbs that could be flung out as projectiles, providing ranged support.

In this instance, however, the plant she used was called a Viper Vine.  While not exactly a “viper” in relation to a snake like Milton’s Titanacondas, the Viper Vine was a mass of vines that could wrap around a target with venomous thorns that caused a minor paralysis if the venom managed to get into the bloodstream.  It wasn’t particularly potent, but what it lacked in potency it more than made up for with tenacity: The vines were quick to strike and surround a victim with multiple tendrils, trapping its limbs against its body so that it couldn’t escape.  Granted, the “victim” had to be a certain size and shape for this to work – it was next to useless against a Bearilla, for example – but on almost anything smaller, it worked quite well.

In this case, either the Soldier had dismissed the vines it was running over as no threat, or it just didn’t care; regardless of the reason, it was ambushed by the two dozen vines suddenly snaking up and wrapping themselves around the arms and body of the Heliothrope.  The Soldier’s sword and battleaxe managed to cut through a half-dozen vines as they tightened around it, but the rest were relatively safe.  The strength of the vines wasn’t enough to actually constrict tighter around the Heliothrope, but the glow of the protective barrier was certainly visible, doing enough to protect against the thorns trying to stab it.  While the Soldier strained at its restraints and looked capable of getting out in a minute or two, it wasn’t going to have that long.

“Do you think these weapons will work for me?” Phyra asked innocently, using her Telekinesis ability to lift up one of the dead Fodder’s battleaxes, which then floated over top of the struggling Heliothrope’s neck.

“I don’t know – give it a try,” Fendle said with a chuckle.

With a gesture of her hand, Phyra caused the battleaxe to slam down on the neck of the bound Soldier… but then something unexpected happened.

Instead of banging into the glowing shield and being reflected, as everyone including Milton thought would happen, the battleaxe somehow melted like a hot stick of butter.  As soon as its melting metal touched the protective barrier, there was some sort of explosive reaction.  Molten metal flew out in all directions, shredding through most of the vines keeping the Soldier bound, but also flinging into Phyra, Trond, Fendle, and Pilora – all of whom were entirely unprepared and took the brunt of the shards.  Pilora was killed outright with a huge chunk of her head being ripped apart by the metal, while Phyra was clutching her stomach on her knees, where she was trying to keep herself from laying her innards bare to the world.  Trond appeared to have had one of his knees cut off from underneath him, and he was desperately attempting to stem the flow of blood with his abilities.  Fendle, quicker to react than the others, managed to end up with only a few cuts along his arm and torso, but there was also a cut along his forehead that was bleeding into his eyes.  As for Micke, while he was still recovering from his previous wound, his armor managed to deflect all of the pieces that made it through to him, leaving him in the same state as he had been before the explosion.

The Heliothrope, its arms mostly freed from the vine restraints, quickly cut the rest of the vines keeping it bound, and then pushed itself to its feet.  Seeing the carnage caused by the explosion, which hadn’t hurt the Soldier in the least, it stomped forward with a murderous grin that was so obvious that even being on the face of an alien, Milton could recognize it.

“Hold on, I’m here!”

The Station Core heard Brint’s voice and he watched as the Proctan raced across the large room on the back of the Bearilla that had just been created.  Milton wasn’t so sure that was a good idea, mainly because the Bearillas could be a bit touchy when they were first created and hadn’t eaten yet, unless you had a tight rein on them.  With it going into the space where the connection with his Combat Units was getting cut off, the Bearilla was likely to reach over its back, eat Brint, and then continue on with what it was doing.

With a gigantic leap, the Bearilla jumped toward the Soldier, who took the appearance of the Bearilla in stride.  It held its weapons up in order to block the strike it knew was coming… but that wasn’t what Brint had in mind.  A sudden levitation field formed underneath the falling Bearilla that was created by Brint’s Self-levitation ability, for just long enough that the arc of the jump landed behind the Heliothrope.  Now, the Soldier wasn’t slow by any means, but by the time it figured out what happened and turned to attack the Bearilla, a boulder-like fist pounded down on its head.

Unhurt because of its glowing shield, the sheer force of the hit still made the six-armed figure collapse into the ground, looking a bit wobbly from the hit and sitting in a depression on the floor created by the shield being slammed into it.  Before the purple-skinned foe could recover, a second and then a third fist pounded it from above, making the protective barrier lose more and more of its vibrant glow.  A sword and a mace managed to be raised in time for the next strike, which ended up doing a bit of damage to the Bearilla’s fist, but it didn’t care by that time.

Milton watched as Brint held on tight to the back and shoulders of the large Combat Unit, barely keeping his seat as he visibly controlled it.  The Station Core wanted to ask how he was able to control the Bearilla, but he thought he knew: physical contact.  There was no interruption when commands didn’t have to travel through the fuzzy area created by the metal cylinder on the chest of the Soldier.

As if thinking of that made it happen, one of the downward-striking fists barely missed the head of the Heliothrope, who was attempting to wiggle out of its predicament before its shield collapsed entirely – which was noticeably able to withstand a lot more damage than its subordinate Fodder friends’ – and the fist struck the metal cylinder just as the protective barrier faded out of existence.

There was no explosion when the metal object was struck, but it was mangled and ripped off of the Soldier as a result.  As if someone had suddenly lifted a blindfold, the fuzziness that had affected his sensor orbs and connection to his Combat Units disappeared, and he could finally watch the battle in full panorama from the multiple orbs he had in the room.

The arms and fists of the Bearilla were looking torn up by that point, but Brint was already healing the Combat Unit with his Major Healing Touch ability, which quickly closed up some of the shallower wounds within seconds.  He was also likely sending the Bearilla a boost to its physical stats with another ability, and it was obvious that the beast was still ready and able to keep going.

The Soldier, not so much.

It couldn’t get up.  Its shield recharged a little bit, faster than the Fodder’s had, but it wasn’t enough to save it as it was pounded repeatedly into the floor, the wounds it was inflicting ignored while Brint continued to Hulk-smash the Heliothrope into a smooshed paste.

“Brint?  I think it’s dead.”

“Well, good,” he responded, stopping the Bearilla immediately… which instantly collapsed underneath him. The constant starvation, coupled with the physical exertion and healing, was already killing the giant beast.  Unconcerned now that it had done its job, Brint hopped off and approached the mess on the floor.  “Those things are quite scary.  At least I know that I can control a Combat Unit through touch, but getting this close isn’t really my normal forte.”

“That was a bit of a risk, but I’d say it was worth it.”

Brint stopped looking at the mess he had made and went to help the other Proctans, who were slowly trying to get a handle on their injuries.  All but Pilora would eventually be fine; all it would take was a dip in a Bioconversion Lab to fix them all up, including Trond and his detached lower leg.  The Support member of the team would have to be recreated, but that wasn’t that big of a deal.

Suddenly, a notification that the Station Core hadn’t seen in years popped up, startling him momentarily.

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Fodder x10!  You gain (10x5000) 50,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Soldier x1!  You gain (1x6000) 6,000 combat experience!

You have unlocked an achievement:

Proof of Concept

Defeat your first Heliothrope

Bonus – +5 to Insight/Luck

Milton was all for more stat increases, but he was a bit saddened to see how little combat experience he had gained from killing the Heliothropes.  Then again, when he looked back at some of his final battles on Proctus, he was only gaining 0 or 1 from most of the enemies that were defeated because they were relatively easy for his Combat Units to basically exterminate.  Of course, he had a bit more resources and people at his disposal then, but that was just the way it was.  So, he supposed he shouldn’t be too disappointed for gaining a total of 56,000 combat experience from killing 11 enemies.  Granted, it was but a drop in the bucket for what he needed to increase his Combat Level again, but it was better than nothing.

Along with the combat experience notices, he also received something from ALANNA.

Current Short-term Goal: A New Home – Complete!

- Investigate and claim a derelict space station – Complete!

- Set up defenses to prevent the annihilation of your Station Core – Complete!

Difficulty of Goal: Average

Timeframe: 6 months

Rewards: A new refuge, +2 to Insight/Luck

“Thanks, ALANNA.  I don’t feel like I really succeeded all that much, considering all that went wrong there, but I appreciate the support.”

“Despite the failures of your defense, you weren’t to blame,” his guide assured him.  “Not one of The Collective actually knew how powerful the Heliothropes were because they didn’t directly oppose them on a personal level, and it’s also quite possible that they’ve gotten stronger over the intervening years.”

He nodded, knowing that was entirely possible, but still feeling a bit like a failure.  “So, now what?  Another quest?”

“No, not yet.  You already know what needs to happen with the trans-dimensional drive, and your overarching drive to help The Collective now includes the entire galaxy.  How you go about that is up to you.”

At her words, he checked his long-term quest, A Savior Arises, and saw that it had changed from “Protect and defend The Collective from the Heliothropes” to “Protect and defend the galaxy from the Heliothropes”.  So, you know, so much easier.  Right?

“Well, then, shall we check and see what we might learn from what these Heliothropes left behind—”

As if it were reacting to his words, the station juddered slightly as the Heliothrope ship still docked on the entrance platform blew up.

Chapter 21

“Whoa, what happened?!”

The explosion of the Heliothrope ship was unexpected, but at least it didn’t seem to do more than superficially damage the entrance platform; his drones could fix that up in a matter of minutes, but it was the second explosion inside of the room where the battle finished up that was more concerning.  The battered metal cylinder the Soldier had been carrying shattered a few seconds after the ship, in what could only be some sort of self-destruct mechanism.  Milton was disappointed, because he was hoping to learn exactly what the device had been, especially since it had been able to affect his connection with his Combat Units and sensor orbs.

“I’m not sure, but I’m checking…  Whisp, can you look at—?” ALANNA asked, but the hyper-intelligent Proctan cut her off.

“Already on it.”  The three other members of the Think Tank that had been brought back to help with the trans-dimensional drive problem also sat down at a few consoles, brought directly to the command bridge from his former ship.  They were all connected to the sensors around the ship, as well as the information from the sensor orbs, and as an added benefit, they were hooked into his Station Core systems.  With all of them, along with ALANNA, parsing through all of the information his sensors logged, it felt as if multiple someones were reaching into his mind and then wiggling their fingers around.  It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, thankfully, just strange – and unlike anything he’d felt before.

“Do you see that?”

“What are you—oh, yes, that would do it.”

“But isn’t that kind of dichotomous?  I didn’t think—”

“Well, it certainly seems that way, despite it being impossible.  In fact, I believe this might be—”

“Exactly what we’ve been missing!”

“But you’d have to compensate for the larger field and then—”

Milton listened to them discussing things that made absolutely no sense to the Station Core, and while he wanted answers, they seemed so excited and on to something that he didn’t want to interrupt their processes.  In the meantime, he used his drones to start reining in some of the Heliothrope ship’s larger pieces, knowing that he could use the extra material in one way or another.

Surprisingly, most of the explosion that had destroyed the vessel had been concentrated in the forward section, likely where the bridge was located.  What that told Milton was that the explosion was deliberate, because as his drones started to piece together what they could gather up and that hadn’t drifted entirely too far away, none of it seemed to contain the ship’s computer systems.  Or whatever they used to control their ship and communicate with others of their kind; whether or not it was a computer of some sort was unknown.  Regardless, he couldn’t find any trace of anything intact that might give them a little insight into the inner workings of the Heliothropes.

“It was a sympathetic bond between all of the members of the force that departed the ship, rather than the leader.”

It took him a few moments to realize that Whisp was talking to him now, as she and the others had been discussing things for nearly an hour.  In that time, Milton had not only gathered up most of the destroyed ship’s pieces, but he was in the process of salvaging the Bio Mass and materials from the carnage that had just happened throughout the dungeon.  In the process of cutting up and shoving the Heliothrope corpses into his portable Molecular Converters, he found that he had unlocked a Heliothrope as a Combat Unit.  It was only that, though, “Heliothrope”; there was no distinction between the Fodder and the Soldier that had been slain and shoved into the Converters.

Their powerful melee weapons were also rather plain as far as that went, with them simply being a high-quality steel-like material, with no special properties that he could detect.  Rather than risk them melting and exploding again, he didn’t allow any of the Proctans to touch them; instead, they were immediately shoved into the Converters with all haste.  It won’t do to have potential bombs just sitting around.

He was interested to see exactly what his new Heliothrope Combat Unit looked like, but he knew that would have to wait for a little bit.  In the meantime, he had his Bioconversion Labs working non-stop to replace the Units he had lost, so that he would at least have some semblance of defense while he devised another strategy for the next few rooms.  Traps were also replaced where they had been destroyed, which was nearly all of them, and everything was progressing rapidly to get some defenses back up and functioning.

“Uh… what?”  Milton might be able to access and process information faster than any computer back on Earth, but that didn’t mean he understood even a fraction of it unless it was part of a skill or training manual.  Even then, some things were a little more difficult than others to understand; all of which meant he was glad he had the help of those much more accustomed to understanding abstract or unusual concepts.  If only I didn’t feel like they have to dumb everything down for me all of the time.

“The explosion, Milton,” ALANNA explained.  That still didn’t help, and from the look on Whisp’s face, she could tell he wasn’t understanding.

Sounding as if she was trying to explain something to a child, she started slowly and at the beginning.  “First, upon the death of the final Heliothrope, the purple-skinned leader, there was a… signal of sorts that was transmitted back to their ship.  While your sensors picked up the signal, it is unintelligible – or it might not even be a language, but more of a non-verbal transmission.

“Now, it was hard to pinpoint where this signal came from, but with your sensors back up and functioning just before that Heliothrope died, we were able to determine this from running it through some of the filters your sensors seem to possess.”

Up on the viewscreen was a multi-windowed look at all of the Heliothrope corpses throughout all of the different rooms, a recording of when the Soldier had died.  At first, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then there was a shift in the sensor filters as Whisp hit a button on the console, and a faint light seemed to envelop the corpses like some sort of cloud, unlike the shield he had seen but also slightly similar.  Another view joined the rest on the viewscreen, a shot of the ship – which also seemed to glow toward its front, right where Milton thought the explosion had come from.  As the recording progressed, the light cloud around the corpses seemed to shoot unbelievably fast toward the ship, which then exploded once all of the light had been gathered up.  A second after the initial explosion, the light cloud seemed to hover in place, completely undisturbed by the devastation around it, before it shot back into the dungeon and targeted the metal cylinder that then blew up as soon as it was touched by the cloud.  After that, it seemed to disappear.

“As you can see, they were all connected in some way, by a sympathetic bond that initiated different actions after the Heliothropes all perished,” Whisp went on after the recording stopped.

“Does that mean that if we destroy their ship after they exit, it will kill them, too?”

The Master Thinker shook her head.  “Doubtful.  It appears as though there was some sort of self-destruct mechanism on board the ship that would initiate if the life-forces of the Heliothropes all disappeared, which is what I think that light cloud indicates.  We’re not exactly sure how it operates, but the fact that it does is not really a question.

“But there’s more,” Whisp explained.  “Just before the ship exploded entirely, there was another signal sent out, though it wasn’t aimed back into the station.  Instead, it was aimed out of the solar system, directed toward the Thygel-9R system, which ALANNA indicated was probably where their nearest communication array is located.”

“Was this ‘signal’ unintelligible, as well?”

“No, it wasn’t, in fact.  We had to run it through your Communication processes a few times for it to translate properly, but we think we got it.  Playing it for you now.”

There was a harsh, gravely, yet robotic-sounding voice that played inside of the command bridge, in a language that was at first unfamiliar, but his Station Core quickly translated it for him automatically.

“Failure.  Subjugation of unworthy lifeforms unsuccessful.  Failure.”

That was it, short and sweet.  Well, not exactly sweet, but certainly short.

“Great.  So I’m assuming that the entire galaxy will soon know that these Heliothropes investigated this station, the information was probably sent out as soon as they saw the repairs, and that they died in their attempt to ‘subjugate unworthy lifeforms’?”

“Assumably so.”

Milton sighed.  “Please tell me there is some sort of silver lining here.”

Whisp and the others looked confused at the idiom, so he rephrased his request.  “I simply meant that hopefully there is some good news to all of this, which it seems like from your excited expressions a moment ago.”

“Oh, yes, there is some good news. I think by applying the harmonic and symbiotic principles rendered operable by the pre-filtered—”

His synthetic avatar held up a hand to cut her off before she could get into too much technical jargon.  “In plain speak, please.”

That made her pause for a moment while she visibly tried to think about how to explain what she was trying to say, which allowed ALANNA to sum it up in terms Milton would understand. “They figured out how to operate the trans-dimensional drive for Murder Station.”

It still sounded a little strange calling the large space station by that name, but he was getting used to it.  “Really?  How—no, don’t tell me; it will probably just confuse me.  When can we use it?”

Now that ALANNA had explained the situation to Milton’s satisfaction, Whisp took back the direction of the conversation.  “There are a few aspects of full-station dimensional travel that we’ve worked out that you need to be aware of, before we go starting the process.  The application of our new theory is actually quite simple, but there is a bit that needs to go into it.

“First, you’ll need to construct another trans-dimensional drive.”

Milton thought about that and internally winced at the cost.  Since he had a working drive, it would be easy enough to replicate it even without the Space Transport Dock facility, which had previously been the only way to construct it – along with the ships he had created for the voyage to Collective space.  Creating another ship would probably be impossible without the facility, but he was fairly certain he could get away with creating another trans-dimensional drive.

The overall problem with creating one, however, was the sheer cost of the drive’s creation.  Although fairly inexpensive compared to the ships’ costs in the Space Transport Dock facility[26], at 15 million BMUs and not being affected by bonuses that allowed him to substitute some materials for others, it would essentially wipe out all of his reserves, meaning that he couldn’t properly finish up the dungeon the way he wanted.  Unless he started to dismantle and cannibalize more of Murder Station than he was comfortable with, it also meant that he had to put a stop to some of the defenses he was currently replacing, as the Laser Cannon Emplacements used hundreds of thousands of BMUs in the reconstruction of all of them, and only a portion of what was salvaged from them was reusable.

It might eventually come down to destroying parts of the station in order to save it, but that was the last thing he wanted to do after spending so much time and resources fixing it up.

Thankfully, he also had a Heliothrope ship that, while in pieces, could be converted to resources just as the bodies of the Fodder and the Soldier were turned into useable Bio Mass for Combat Units.  It would be more than enough to cover fixing up the defenses in his dungeon, though it was hard to determine if it would be enough to continue expanding what he had already made.  He currently had just over 10 million Basic Metal Units to play with to finish it all off, which had been more than enough to cover the dungeon construction with a good chunk of it to spare, but the prospect of eliminating his cushion was a daunting prospect to say the least.  There were some extraneous parts of the station that he had already earmarked for demolition and material conversion to pay for the trans-dimensional drive, but there was only so much he could remove before he started to affect its structural stability.

Of course, there was another option entirely: Find some more resources elsewhere.  The most obvious place to find some Basic Metal Units was on the planet down below, where the Gardrevians had lived before they were wiped out by the Heliothropes.  He had previously been hesitant to use his one shuttle that had been docked in the Battlecruiser to visit the deserted planet, because of the risk that it would be detected by whatever was watching the system.  Small movements in and around the station were already pushing the boundaries of what would’ve been likely noticed, but even a ship as small as a 40-foot-long shuttle was probably pushing it, especially when it was separated from Murder Station.

Now that the word was out that they were here, he supposed it really didn’t matter if they were seen anymore.

The risk there was that either Milton or Brint would have to visit the surface along with a mass of drones in order to give them instructions; the atmosphere of the planet was thick enough that communication would be difficult, unlike when he had sent drones to the surface of Earth’s moon and Mars to scrounge up resources.  The thicker atmosphere of a planet like the one where the Gardrevians had lived, as well as Earth before it was basically destroyed, made direct communication with his drones difficult; not impossible, but it would be much easier and faster if there was someone physically there on the surface to direct them.

The connection with his synthetic avatar was a lot stronger than the connections with his drones or even Combat Units at that range, and it almost acted like an amplifier at longer distances. Brint’s Neural Uplink ability was the same way, and he could technically control any of the drones even outside of Milton’s Communication Range.

“Okay, I think that can be done; it will put us in a bit of a crunch when it comes to resources, but it’s doable.  Now that we’ve been found out, it might even be possible to visit the surface and load up on resources while we have the time,” he mused.

“We don’t have that much time, but that’s probably a good idea,” ALANNA warned.  “I estimate that we have less than a day before more Heliothropes arrive; it could even be much less if there are any fleets close by.”

“Good point, so let’s get working on it all.”

As Milton started the process of getting the trans-dimensional drive constructed, Brint – who had just recently come back to the command bridge after his stint riding on the back of a Bearilla – ran to where the shuttle was parked, in an airlock situated on one side of the command center.  While he was running there, Milton was stuffing the small craft full of as many drones and Molecular Converters as he could, leaving just enough room for Brint; he wouldn’t need to control the shuttle, fortunately, because his Station Core could pilot it remotely.

Whisp wasn’t quite done in her explanations of the process, however, only delayed as Milton got things working in the background.

“That’s only the first piece of information you need to know, Milton,” she continued.  “The second is that while it only takes approximately 10 minutes to overcharge both drives in order to have enough power for opening a tear into another dimension, you’ll have to wait at least 48 hours before tearing through the dimensional barrier again.  That includes while we’re in the traveling dimension, but since the speed of the station is slower than our former ship, that shouldn’t matter too much because the trips to our destinations will take longer.”

“What?  Why?  There didn’t seem to be a limitation before.”

“That’s because there wasn’t,” ALANNA answered.  “The tears in the dimensional fabric were relatively small in comparison to what we’re contemplating, and a tear of this size takes some time to… heal, I guess you could say.  Opening up another tear relatively close to a previous tear within 48 hours could have some disastrous effects.”

“Like what?”

Whisp took back over with a sigh.  “Like creating a permanent hole between this dimension and another, for instance.  While that might seem like a benefit, so that you could go through it any time you wanted, it would more likely result in the destruction of both dimensions when the comparatively small tear becomes a massive rip, and then the entire dimensional fabric could completely fall apart.  If that happens, then it’s entirely possible that the clash of the two dimensions fighting to exist in the same place could end up eradicating everything within both dimensions.”

“Okay, so that would be bad.  48 hours?  I guess I can do that.”  Two days was a relatively short time to wait in order to prevent the complete destruction of the universe.

“Lastly, the process with these trans-dimensional drives will create a large ripple in the aforementioned dimensional fabric that can be detected even at large distances, as long as one knows what to look for.  While I’m fairly positive that the Heliothropes can’t detect it right now, that could change in the future; what that essentially means is that they might be able to find us even faster than they do right now, if they are watching for where you come out.”

Great.  More and more problems it feels like.  Regardless, it was something that had to be done, and Milton thought that perhaps they might find a way to reduce the ability to detect their exit from the dimensional tear in the future.  Either way, it was already a done deal, and he wasn’t able to really back out now.

Over the next few hours, with Brint on the planet with dozens of drones gathering all sorts of resources – including dirt, stone, and even more water – and Milton breaking down the few extraneous areas of the station for more BMUs, things progressed exactly as he had hoped.  His reserves[27] were steadily climbing, even after spending 15 million BMUs on a second trans-dimensional drive, and Whisp along with her Think Tank told him where to place the new drive, as well as where to move the older one.  Trinket, with her engineering background, helped him coordinate the process of moving the drives and placing them, with one on the top of Murder Station above the large reactor and the other at the far bottom of the central pillar.

Once they were in place, Whisp again tried to explain what would be happening as she calibrated something in his system with ALANNA’s help.  While most of it went over his head, he understood that the process would create a harmonic reverberation between the two drives, building in intensity until a symbiotic bond was created – whatever that was.  It was that bond that, once it was accessed by his Station Core, was able to create a large enough “stable” tear in the dimensional fabric for Murder Station to pass through.  The specifics were beyond his comprehension, but for the most part he understood the principle of the process on a large scale.

Just after 16 hours and 12 minutes after the Heliothrope ship blew up on his entrance platform, there was a sudden alert from his long-range sensors.

“Milton—”

“I see them.  Charge the drives,” he instructed.

To Brint down on the surface, he mentally communicated, “Pack it up!  Time to get out of here; you have 5 mins before I’m bringing the shuttle back.”

“Will do; we should be ready to go in plenty of time.”

It was going to be tight, but Milton thought that they would be able to escape before the Heliothrope fleet with a dozen familiar-looking ships and one larger, command-type ship arrived.

Chapter 22

“We’re in—”

“Initiate the trans-dimensional drives!” Milton shouted.  According to his sensors along the outside of the station, the Heliothrope fleet was approximately a minute out from being in range to dock at his dungeon entrance.  Whisp had belatedly warned him that any ships within about 1,000 miles might be sucked into the other dimension along with them, so he wanted to ensure none of the Heliothropes got pulled along for the ride.

The next second, a strange force passed through all of Murder Station, originating from seemingly two different directions.  The drives had been activated and were passing a resonating force between them, back-and-forth, at an increasingly faster speed.  The force wasn’t exactly harmful, but those on the command bridge looked more than a little uncomfortable at the feeling.

Thankfully, it only lasted about 10 seconds before the resonating force became steady, and then it disappeared as it was used to open up a gigantic tear in the dimensional fabric separating this dimension from the traveling dimension.  Normally, the process felt as if they were being squeezed through a tiny hole in order to fit through the tear, but this time he could see through his sensors the other dimension directly in front of the station, its multicolored light streaks there as if he was looking through a window.  The second after this window opened, all of Murder Station was pulled violently through it as if it were being sucked through an enormous straw.  Instead of feeling like they were compressed, it felt like what he would imagine the g-forces in a fighter jet would feel like back on Earth.

The sensation lasted for a brief eternity before things went back to normal, and Milton touched his avatar’s body, feeling for any type of damage.  When nothing seemed to be wrong, he looked around the command bridge and saw that everyone else had apparently passed out.  Checking them over quickly with concern, especially Trinket, he was relieved that they seemed fine, though unconscious.  He supposed it was like the g-force training in the Air Force, where pilots would have to undergo being spun around at increasingly faster speeds, and they would invariably pass out from the sheer forces at play against their bodies.  Hmm… I think the astronauts did that too – now I know why.

“That was… uncomfortable,” ALANNA said, reforming into her usual form after she had been dispersed into a cloud of nanites during the dimensional transmission.  “Where did you want to go, by the way?”

That was a good question.  Milton had been so intent on leaving from the system that he hadn’t even thought about where they were going to end up.

“Let’s put a bit of distance between this last system and our destination, if you will.  We could use the time to fully recover from our disastrous defense.”  He wasn’t ashamed to call it what it was with ALANNA without anyone else listening in: a disaster.  If it hadn’t been for Brint and the Bearilla at the end, it was entirely possible the Soldier-type Heliothrope would’ve made it to the command center.

“Will do; how about we simply venture into the void between systems?  That way we can regroup without much chance of them finding us.”

Milton nodded.  “Good idea.  There won’t be anything there for us to convert into resources, though, so it won’t be a permanent solution by any means.  But for now, I agree – to the void it is.”

Travel time to the other side of the galaxy, at the speed that Murder Station could move – which was surprisingly fast once it got up to speed – took a total of a month, which Milton and his Proctan friends used to think up some ideas on how to improve his dungeon.  Before they left, he had ended up replacing most of the Combat Units and defenses that had been destroyed, only leaving out the Bearillas because they required constant upkeep, as well as the Laser Cannon Emplacements because of the Focusing Crystal requirements.  In all of Brint’s excavations of the Gardrevian homeworld, he had only found a handful of Crystals, meaning that it was still the one resource of which he didn’t have enough.

Of course, he could always use more of everything, but he was flush with resources after the Proctan’s expedition to the surface.

On the trip to their destination, Pilora was brought back to join Micke’s team as they discussed the battle against the Heliothropes – and the mistakes they had made.  It was a common practice that Proctan teams would undergo when they had trained in Milton’s dungeon back on Proctus, and they continued it now.  Overall, however, while they had made some mistakes, most of them had been due to the limited knowledge and experience they had about the Heliothropes’ abilities in a fight, so a little bit of leeway was given as a result.

Whisp and the other members of the Think Tank discussed potential possibilities for applying the defensive weapons he had access to, as well as trying to develop additional defenses that might work.  Suffocation, drowning, deadly projectiles, deep spear-lined pits, gravity manipulation, ejection into space, blinding, and any number of other potential ways to hurt or kill the Heliothropes were pondered and rejected, for the simple reason that their enemies’ protective shields were just too powerful.  Sure, some Proctans like Micke could use a force field to block an attack, like he had done during the last fight, but that was all it did – protect from being hit with something.  It didn’t act as a source of gravity, oxygen, or likely anything else necessary to keep them alive; heck, it wouldn’t surprise Milton that it acted as some sort of nutritional sustenance.

Now, all of that didn’t mean that the Heliothropes couldn’t be hurt, because he and the others had seen that invulnerability was certainly not the case.  The problem was that it took a lot of damage for one of the Heliothropes’ barriers to go down, and even then, it wasn’t permanent.

“What about crushing them?” Brint proposed.  “What if you simply created a space where two walls came together to crush them, trapping them in place while their shields depleted?”

“That’s actually a good idea, but we’d have to worry about them destroying the defense with their weapons; you all saw how powerful they are in their hands, and I have no doubt they could easily cut through even the strongest materials if given enough time,” Milton pointed out.  “The Bearillas are one of the most durable Combat Units I have – at that size, of course – and even they suffered tremendously against those weapons.  Only Weightonite is more durable than a Bearilla’s fur and skin, but it’s also vulnerable to shattering.”

Still, it was a possibility that Milton looked into, and with the Think Tank’s help, he was able to put a few things together that didn’t use a tremendous amount of resources.  In the first room, he ended up creating a trio of pathways leading through 15-foot-high walls made of 1 part Weightonite and 6 parts steel, and then used a plethora of door-opening actuators applied from his ship-building knowledge to have them crush together at high speed.  It seemed to work in practice, but whether or not it would be effective – only by using them could they tell for sure.

In addition, another room partially resembled one of his first really effective rooms back on Proctus.  Large, unsteady-looking columns of Weightonite were used to hold up a small false ceiling of the heavy, black-with-white-flecks material; with enough force, the column would come crashing down, and the large blocks of Weightonite up above would come crashing down, landing on anything below it.  The stone-like material was so heavy that Milton’s synthetic avatar couldn’t lift more than a chunk of it smaller than the size of his fist, and that was if he used every ounce of strength his artificial body possessed.

The problem with that was that it had to be reset every single time it was used, which was fine, but once the defense was sprung – that was it.  It would probably crush any Heliothropes beneath it, but he couldn’t make the Weightonite ceiling too large – because it was then too heavy for his drones to manipulate properly.  That, and the risk of ripping the structure of the ring apart when the Weightonite slammed against the floor was already a concern at its current 10-foot-wide-and-long size; any larger and the artificial gravity created by the spin of the station might send the material crashing through the floor, tearing a hole right out into space.

That type of thing was certainly something he hadn’t ever had to consider before back on Proctus, because there was no risk of tearing a hole through a planet.

More defenses were bandied about and implemented, but for the most part they were only stop-gap measures that might or might not work; it was difficult to tell what the protective barriers would shrug off or succumb to, except by testing them against a Heliothrope.  Fortunately, he had unlocked a Heliothrope Combat Unit after he had converted their bodies into resources, so he used his Bioconversion Lab to create one of his own.  Milton wasn’t above using an enemy’s form to further his own purposes, which was how he had ended up applying a Quizard to so many of his hybrid Combat Units, as well as using the Bearilla for his own defense.

Unfortunately, when he created the Heliothrope, it turned out to be a weak, two-armed, pure white-skinned representative of its kind, rising to a height very similar to a Mouslan.  It had absolutely no traits and was rather pathetic-looking except for a slightly elevated Intelligence stat, but that was the only thing remarkable about it.  It also only took a few moments to realize that it had no protective shield to call up automatically or at will, because it didn’t seem to have any of the benefits that the Fodder and Soldier seemed to have naturally.

With utilizing the enemy’s strength against them out of the running, the ideas turned from static defenses to Combat Units.  It wasn’t as though there weren’t any defenses he had in his arsenal that would potentially work; the problem was that they weren’t sustainable.  He had Railgun Penetrators[28] that shot out microscopically thin slivers of charged tritanium at high velocity, breaking the molecular bonds of anything it came in contact with and causing a small explosion… but it could only shoot once every 30 seconds, so sustained fire couldn’t be utilized to wear down a shield.  With enough of them firing at a single target, sure, they could work – but they were also quite expensive resource-wise and would eat into his Focusing Crystal reserves quickly if he started making dozens of them.  That was even assuming that the sliver of tritanium wouldn’t simply ricochet off of the barriers, doing minimal damage and causing explosions all over the room – which was a distinct possibility.

Then he had a Molecular Disruptor, which was a pressure-triggered defense that utilized the same technology as a Molecular Converter in a wider space, breaking down and scrambling the molecules of anything in a wide area.  This might actually work against the Heliothropes, but the downside was this was a single-use defense, as it destroyed itself in the process.

Then he had some Plasma Bombs, both Small and Large, which were one-time-use defenses that caused an explosion of supremely high-temperatures, caused by the sudden introduction of heat into a highly concentrated and condensed quantity of ionized gas.  Smaller explosions might be enough to reduce the regenerative shielding belonging to the Heliothropes a bit, but it might not deplete it all the way.  Larger explosions might work – or they might also blow a hole in the side of the ring – something that he’d prefer to avoid.  Either way, these were one-time-use defenses and required Focusing Crystals, which really didn’t make them a viable defense other than as a last resort.

Unstable Void[29] defenses were powerful and expensive, but they would almost certainly kill a Heliothrope – or a group of them.  It created a semi-solid void sphere that would pull anything within 50 feet away into a subatomic implosion, ripping it apart while also fueling the void.  The void could grow up to a 30-foot-wide sphere, meaning that nearly everything in one of his rooms would be sucked inside; what that meant was that it would be difficult to place any other Combat Units in the same room and have them survive.  When it also had the potential of destroying a portion of the station in the process, this defense also seemed as if it was more trouble than it was worth.

Lastly was the Portable Particle Accelerator[30], the most powerful defense to which he had access.  While no one could tell him exactly what the shields of the Heliothropes were made of or how exactly they originated, an accelerated mass of subatomic particles moving at high velocities would probably be more than enough to quickly bring down the shield of a Heliothrope and then completely obliterate the body of the victim a second later.  It was an extremely powerful defensive weapon that could fire up to 2,000 feet away – and had even been able to take down the 500-foot-tall Hammerslugs that he had fought back on Proctus.

As with seemingly everything this powerful, the cost to simply create this defensive weapon was outrageous.  Even with bonuses to cut down the requirements, it would still end up using a third of his BMUs and a quarter of his Focusing Crystals – for a single Particle Accelerator!  When he added in the dozen portable Power Generators[31] he’d have to create to power the defense, as well as requiring 200 more Focusing Crystals for each 30-second discharge of the Particle Accelerator, the costs added up substantially.

Therefore, what they needed for a defense was something that was sustainable, and apart from the few defenses he would experiment with coming up, that meant Combat Units.  The Bearillas had already proven to be effective, but their maintenance in terms of ongoing Bio Mass in the form of food (because the Bearillas were not vegetarians) was restrictive.  Until he had a farm up and running sustainably, which he still wasn’t sure how to do without depleting his water reserves.  Thankfully, Trinket had some thoughts on that, having seen some of the processes up close on Station 23-E, and it was in development for the future.

Turning to the other Combat Units he could create, there were a few options that he could concentrate on.  First, the most obvious one, was to create more powerful Units than even the Bearilla, of which he had a few options.  First was the Big Ol’ Badger[32], a larger version of a Clawed Badger, which had claws that could cut through just about anything; the damage to one of the Heliothrope’s shields would be considerable, similar to a Bearilla’s, but its strength came in the form of its Defense rating – which was even higher than the bear/gorilla hybrid’s.  The downside of the Big Ol’ Badger was that it was completely blind, deaf, and couldn’t smell, using vibrations to find its targets.  It also burrowed quickly underground, attacking from underneath as it didn’t fare as well out in the open.

Then there was a Quelephine[33], which was basically a fast elephant/triceratops-looking beast that used ramming attacks to inflict massive amounts of damage.  Other than having difficulty stopping once it got going, there weren’t a lot of drawbacks to the Quelephine, though it only had about the same defensive resistances as one of Milton’s Quanks.

A Diamine Quagonling was another option, which was a smaller version of his Quagon – a large winged lizard that had been his best attempt at making a dragon.  The Quagonlings were much smaller, looking almost like pterodactyls in size, but they were also quite powerful – and they could fly!  With a defense rating in line with a Bearilla, and extremely sharp teeth and claws made from diamine, a material that produced microscopically durable and sharp edges, the Quagonlings were certainly an option.  The only worry about the Quagonlings was their need to use Power in the form of Air Manipulation to stay aloft, because their wings were rigid; they couldn’t flap them to gain or keep altitude.

There were a few other larger Combat Units that he had access to, but none of them would be quite as good as these.  They all had downsides, some more than others, but they could be a good alternative to the Bearilla – because they didn’t require much in the way of upkeep like the bear/gorilla hybrids.  The issue with utilizing these Combat Units was the fact that they had to be created with an Upgraded Bioconversion Lab, of which Milton only had one at the moment; they also took some time to “grow” in comparison to much smaller Units, as well as requiring a lot more Bio Mass to create.

Now, the Station Core could create more Upgraded Bioconversion Labs, but that would also cut into his BMU reserve.  He could also theoretically produce an Advanced Bioconversion Laboratory (Upgraded), which would allow him to produce giant Combat Units, but the expense of that wasn’t worth it.  He had yet to find a good combination of traits to add to a large Combat Unit that wouldn’t make its vulnerabilities detrimental to its existence, and while he had unlocked the 500-foot-tall Hammerslug[34], which was an outrageously powerful beast that was stronger than anything else he’d be able to create, it was also very slow and required more sustenance to not die than even the Bearillas.  In fact, if he remembered correctly, the Hammerslug actually ate Bearillas at a prodigious rate in order to survive.  His Bio Mass, even if he were able to create one of the Hammerslugs, would be gone in a matter of days if he was forced to keep feeding something like that, plus the time it would take to create one wouldn’t be just hours or days, but weeks.  Altogether, it ultimately wasn’t worth it.

There was always the possibility that he could eschew the larger Combat Units for masses of smaller ones, of which there were plenty of possibilities.  He could theoretically go even smaller than the Quanks and Qwizards he had already used, and end up creating enough Units to overwhelm the Heliothropes with sheer numbers.  Again, the problem with that was a matter of strength, as even if a mass of Blood-thirsty Squirrels – or their larger, deadlier brethren called Squirrelings – managed to break through the shields, it was unlikely they would be able to do any damage to the natural defenses of the enemy.  While the Fodder and the Soldier weren’t nearly as tough-skinned as most of his larger Combat Units, debilitating or mortal attacks (even from hundreds of different sources) would be unlikely to happen with his smaller, weaker Combat Units.

So, what did that leave?

The Proctans, of course.

While maintaining a large force of Proctans to act as defenders wouldn’t use up as many resources as even a few Bearillas, it was still a concern until a farm of sorts was up and running.  Once that happened, it wouldn’t be a big deal as they expanded the output of the farm over time, up to the point where he could eventually bring back all 25,000 of the Proctans that had come with him on this journey.  It was his intention from the beginning of the station takeover to bring them back to life on Murder Station, exploring the galaxy looking for a way to end the threat of the Heliothropes; he just hadn’t expected to need all of the Proctans to be there to help defend it like Combat Units in his dungeon.  Still, it was what he had to work with, so he would do it if he had to.

Thankfully, they were more than happy to live with that arrangement.

Chapter 23

The journey to their destination through the traveling dimension took just over a month, and when they emerged from the dimensional tear, they were as ready as they were going to be.  The entire dungeon had been revamped with new ideas and new defenses, a smattering of different Combat Units, and positions for the Proctans he had brought back to defend.

The first three rooms were dedicated to defenses that had to be sprung or activated remotely, along with his beastly Combat Units, utilizing a few different strategies in each space.  They were all fairly simple in their design and construction, without any of the deviousness he had designed back on Proctus.  Some of the methods he had utilized in the past to surprise or discourage Proctans training in his dungeon weren’t really suited for Heliothropes. Collapsing bridges were useless against the shields that allowed them to float; darkness was dispelled by a steady glow emitted by the protective barriers; and mazes were ineffective unless he made walls stretching up to the ceiling, because they could float over them or simply batter them down with their weapons.

All of that meant that the dungeon layout was fairly linear in construction, though as time went on, Milton would seek to discover whether branching pathways leading to dead ends would actually work.  He wasn’t sure if the Heliothropes had an innate sense of pathfinding, but it was certainly something to explore in the future.

Three more rooms were constructed after the initial three, which would contain the Proctan forces that he had brought back – all 200 of them.  The farm that he was designing with the help of Trinket was still undergoing construction, so bringing back more than that was risking his dwindling resources.  Once the farm was up and running, though, in order to expand it to compensate for more Proctans, he would need to find more dirt somewhere, because the fast-growing grass he grew in there, along with the quick-maturing Picow Livestock, needed a lot of soil to grow and for the animals to move about.  It was going to be similar to the farms he had built back on Proctus, but this one was going to be focused on water preservation and recycling, as he didn’t have a nearly endless supply of the precious liquid.

In those rooms, different fortifications were set up to aid in the Proctans’ positioning, which also included a few defensive weapons that could be operated to attack from afar.  However, most of the defense would be the responsibility of the Proctans and their special abilities… at least, all but in the final room that blocked off access to the command center.  In that room was his fail-safe weapon, the Particle Accelerator that he thought hard about including because of its expense, but in the end he decided he’d rather be safe than sorry.  Although every 30 seconds of its use would require another 200 Focusing Crystals, of which his supply was currently under 4,000, it was something that would help to act as a final defense.  If anything got through the Combat Units and Proctans, they wouldn’t be able to withstand an Accelerator blast to their faces.

With the setup he had made in the dungeon, created with the help and input of the Think Tank and the other Proctans he had brought back, as well as the farm that was finishing up and the new spaces that the Proctans were using for housing, Milton was down to very little when it came to some of the more important resources[35].  Creating Weightonite in the dungeon used a lot of his Basic Gravel, Basic Earth was taken up both by the dungeon and the farm, and his Basic Metal Units had all but been used up by all of the construction in the dungeon and command center, as well as the production of a few more Molecular Converters and the two types of Bioconversion Labs, regular and upgraded.

At the moment, he still had plenty of Bio Mass for creating more Combat Units, but both that and the water he had in his reserves were steadily going down as he had to feed and hydrate his Proctan defenders, though most of the water would be coming back in waste.  Fortunately, the Proctans weren’t even a bit squeamish at the thought of essentially drinking recycled urine.  As for replacing Bio Mass, when it was up and working, the farm would start adding more of that resource, easily balancing out the upkeep of 200+ Proctans, and probably even having a little extra.

Overall, they were as ready as they could be for another attack on the dungeon by the Heliothropes – within reason, of course.  Unfortunately, the only thing that they weren’t able to figure out was how to counter the effect the metal cylinder strapped to the Soldier had wreaked on Milton’s connection to his Combat Units and sensor orbs.

“Anyone have an idea what exactly that was?  Or better yet, how to stop it?” he had asked more than once, hoping for some other reply after weeks of contemplation.

Unfortunately, both Whisp and ALANNA always shook their heads.  “It is unlike any other technology I know of, and while I can hypothesize that it creates a disruptive field that shuts off all passive and active forms of known communication – including your connection to your Units and orbs – I have no idea how to disrupt something like that,” his diminutive guide said regretfully.

“I know you’ve mentioned that no one in this dimension seems to utilize special genetic traits like we do,” Whisp added, “but that object – as well as the shields and ability to manipulate their weapons – seems more like what you would probably classify as ‘magic’ than technology.  I don’t believe that’s what it is, but it could be adjacent, at least.”

That sort of thinking was worrisome, but then again, the glowing protective barriers and allover utility shields they possessed seemed to be something the Heliothropes possessed naturally, as it wasn’t part of any technology.  Could it be that the mystery metal cylinder is simply something that enhances an innate ability in the Heliothropes?  Is it really not a piece of technology that can be studied and duplicated – and as a result, countered – but only a focus of their power?

Over the many years that Milton was on Proctus with ALANNA, he had learned that The Collective hadn’t ever encountered another race in their extensive explorations that possessed anything the Station Core would consider “magical”, other than some minor uses of telepathy.  Nothing like what he witnessed and was awed by on Proctus, but then again it was technically jumpstarted by his own reactor leakage, and not a natural part of the world.  In either dimension, there likely wasn’t some sort of fantasy world filled with wizards, adventurers, dungeons, and mythical beasts out there.  The reality of that was in the name: Fantasy; it was only for stories and games to have fun with.

But he had come back to his dimension – unknowingly, of course – with ships full of “magic”-users, for want of a better term, and he had thought that made them unique and all-powerful.  With them at his side, along with the high technology he possessed as a Station Core, he figured he was unstoppable and could take on just about anything the galaxy threw at him.

Not for the first time, he was wrong.

But also not for the first time, he was determined to not let that get him down.  He was still a gamer at heart, and persistence along with the courage to admit that something wasn’t working, allowing for a change in strategy, was an important part of being a gamer.  Can’t kill that boss using the strategies that worked for a different boss?  Change it up.  Is your guild getting whooped in the PVP standings, week after week?  Devise a new strategy and shake up some of the methods that served in prior engagements, but weren’t working now.  It was all about adaptability, as well as being able to see that nothing stayed the same; new metas were being developed all of the time, new expansions and new rules were constantly being introduced, which meant that the ones on top were the ones that could adapt and take advantage of those changes.

In essence, what it all meant was that Milton had needed to change things up in order to survive in this new world, because it was definitely nothing like Proctus.  Different enemy, different strategy.  The problem was that he wasn’t confident in his ability to ultimately survive against a determined attack on his dungeon by the Heliothropes.  Sure, yes, what he had devised and would likely utilize in the near future would stave off the inevitable, but his newest crewmate, Trinket, had mentioned time and time again how numerous the enemy was.

On Proctus, he had millions of Proctans to help fight against literally billions of foes there, but none of them were as hard to kill as these Heliothropes were.  Reportedly, if the Mouslan was correct, then there were billions of Heliothrope fleets out there, roaming around the galaxy; if even a large fleet attacked his dungeon right now, he wasn’t sure if his defenses would survive.

“Activating the trans-dimensional drives now,” Whisp said unnecessarily.  Milton could see and detect it happening already, so it wasn’t surprising.

Another large dimensional tear opened up in front of the ship very similar to the last one he had seen over a month ago, and the ship flew through it at speed.  It had been posited that the reason everyone had been knocked unconscious before was due to the fact that the tear had to pull the station into itself, because the station hadn’t been moving; now that it was moving at speed, they drifted through the tear with only a slightly uncomfortable tug.  In the span of a few seconds, they were through and the tear closed up behind them, or at least mostly closed up.

“Now that we’re in our own dimensional space, I’ve calibrated your sensors to detect the presence of dimensional anomalies, such as the one we’ve just created,” ALANNA said after they arrived in the middle of the void of space, nowhere close to any of the nearby star systems.  “This should give us a better idea of how long it will take for the tear to heal, so we might be able to cut the 48-hour delay between uses of the drive down a little bit if it heals faster than Whisp and the others expected.”

The Proctan mentioned pushed a few buttons on her console and a view of space appeared on the viewscreen on the station’s command bridge.  Milton could tell that it was looking behind them as they drifted through space at a fairly high speed, as their momentum from the now-deactivated engine thrusters was keeping them moving.  In the spot where they had emerged into this dimension, there was a red, spherical-shaped, transparent distortion that was highlighted by the sensors, denoting the tear in the dimensional fabric.  Even just a minute or so after they went through, there was a barely visible reduction of the distortion along its edges.  Even given the change at that rate, he worked out that it would likely take quite a few hours for it to disappear altogether.

“How far away can we be to see the changes?” he asked, curious.  The distortion on the screen was already getting smaller relative to the distance Murder Station had traveled, though he was sure accurate information would still be available even after they lost visible sight of the area.

“That’s the best part,” Whisp answered immediately.  “With the way your sensors are calibrated to detect distortions in the dimensional fabric, we should be able to detect it even if it were on the other side of the galaxy.”

“What?  How does that work?”

ALANNA laughed at his incredulity.  “It’s because the dimensional fabric is fragile, remember?”  Suddenly, a small cloud of nanites flowed out of her fingers, coalescing in what appeared to be a small, white bedsheet that she held in her hands.  “Think of that fabric like this cloth here; if I shake it like this,” she continued, gently jiggling a corner of the cloth, which caused a ripple to flow through all of it, “then you can see the reaction through the entirety of the fabric.  The sensors are sensitive enough to detect these fluctuations even millions of light-years away from the origin point, using a series of algorithms to detect the source.  This is what Whisp warned about when she said that the Heliothropes might be able to track our entrance and exit points, because we’re really shaking the fabric when we do this.”

ALANNA made the cloth disappear into formless nanites again, before her fingers reabsorbed them.  Milton thought that over and realized it made a lot of sense; the ship had only ended up making a tiny little hole, more like a pinprick, really, and it hadn’t really disturbed the dimensional fabric all that much.  What they were doing now, though, was essentially using a holepunch to create a way through, but fortunately it appeared as though the fabric was self-healing, which was a good thing.  Creating permanent holes all over the galaxy could result in the circumstance happening that Whisp had warned about, with the destruction of the entire dimension and universe, not just this particular galaxy.

At the speed they were traveling, which was slower than a singular ship could travel but still impressive, they would arrive at a nearby star system in approximately 2 weeks.  Milton’s hope was that they would be able to drift into the system, park next to a planet, and then pilfer it for some resources before they were inevitably noticed by either the locals or through whatever detector was located in the system.  As soon as they saw what was sent after them, they would decide to stay or leave via trans-dimensional drives again.  If it was a few smaller ships, that they could handle; if it was a giant fleet, then they’d have to run.  Eventually, he hoped to be able to build up his dungeon to a point where he could take on a giant fleet – but that time was definitely not now.

Unfortunately, they never made it to the system they were aiming for.  In fact, they didn’t even make it long enough for the tear in the dimensional fabric to completely fade away.

Chapter 24

“It looks as though they’ve already adapted,” ALANNA muttered.  “They’re a bit more resourceful than I think any of us predicted.”

Outside of the interference even a wide-open star system could produce, Murder Station’s long-range sensors picked up a small fleet of 11 Heliothrope ships quite a distance away from where they had entered their current dimensional space – but they were closing fast.  Even if they didn’t detect the station within the next few minutes, they certainly would soon after, and then the chase would be on.

“Not much of a chase, Milton,” ALANNA responded to the thought in his mind.  “They are much faster than us and will catch up to us in less than an hour, by my estimates.”

“Great.  How long until the tear is healed?”

“At least another 10 hours at the rate it’s closing,” Whisp answered.

Milton nodded, realizing that this could be a good opportunity to try out his dungeon, as long as no more ships showed up in the next 10 hours.  “Alright, come to a full stop.”

As Whisp initiated the reverse engine thrusters for the maneuver, Brint asked, “Full stop?  Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be.  We’re not going to outrun them, so we might as well roll out the red carpet.”

“Red carpet?  Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.”

As they waited for the fleet to arrive, they were able to see it in better definition.  It turned out that 10 of the 11 ships were identical to the one that had attacked the dungeon before, while the last one was about twice as large.  Based on the dimensions, he was relieved to know that one of the massive 100-foot-tall Heliothropes wouldn’t be on that ship, unless it was somehow curled up in a ball – which he doubted was the case.  Regardless, if the others had the same numbers as the one he had faced before, then he was about to invite at least 100 of the Fodder and 10 of the Soldier Heliothropes inside of the dungeon, plus whatever was in the larger ship.

He was both eager and a bit trepidatious to see how the revamped defenses would work; as a precaution, he started to produce 2 Bearillas in his Upgraded Bioconversion Labs.  He didn’t have any in the dungeon at the moment because of their constant upkeep, but right now he was willing to pay the price in Bio Mass in order to have a little extra insurance.  He just hoped they wouldn’t be needed.

Meanwhile, Milton alerted the Proctans to the incoming Heliothropes, and they immediately jumped up to get to their positions in the dungeon.  The Station Core felt a little awkward integrating them into his dungeon’s defenses, because it was something he hadn’t ever done before; all of his Combat Units he thought of as relatively mindless beasts under his control, and it didn’t bother him when they died.  All of the Proctans, however, were both individuals and good friends, so he hesitated to install them into positions like cogs in a machine.  While he had directed a battle both aboveground and underground with the Proctans participating, all of it had been outside of his dungeon; other than a rare time or two when a few of them had to intervene to stop a threat to his Core, this type of defense was new to them all.

It only took a few minutes for the engine thrusters to slow their speed enough to come to a complete stop, and Milton nervously awaited the arrival of the Heliothrope fleet.  There was every possibility that they would immediately try to blow his station up, but for some reason he didn’t think that was going to happen.  If the message they had intercepted was any indication, they would want to conquer and subjugate the “unworthy” lifeforms inside, rather than blowing it up.  His station was an objective that hadn’t been completed, so it wasn’t worthy of destruction due to rebelling.

At least, he certainly hoped so.

Thankfully, dozens of missiles didn’t come flying out of the Heliothrope fleet when they approached, though they did slow down, stop, and then look at Murder Station for a few minutes at a respectful distance.  That was the only delay there was, however, as they instantly started setting down their ships on the entrance platform.

First came the doubly-large ship, which was a little bit sleeker in design than the others, setting down on the platform with very little room to spare.  Milton thought it would simply unload its passengers and then a remaining Heliothrope on board might move it, but that wasn’t quite what happened.  Instead, the smaller shipping container-shaped ships set down on top of the large vessel, stacking on top each other until there were 10 “boxes” sitting on top of each other.  When they were all in place, Milton couldn’t help but compare it to an ocean-bound cargo ship back on Earth carrying shipping containers to another continent.

Instead of opening individually, only the larger ship opened up a hatch, easily 25 feet tall, onto the platform.  The blue-skinned Fodder-type of Heliothropes immediately marched out, their shields working to keep them attached to the metal of the platform instead of drifting away.  10 of them filed out, followed by a Soldier, then 10 more, then a Soldier, until there were 10 sets of 10 Fodder and a Soldier – but they weren’t done.

Another 3 sets of 11 (10 Fodder and 1 Soldier) marched out, followed by the largest Heliothrope he’d seen in person.  The 20-foot-tall Heliothrope had red skin that reminded him of what “demons” were supposed to look like in those cheesy horror movies back on Earth, but this demon had 8 arms and all of them were holding melee weapons.  In addition to the ones the Fodder and Soldiers carried, this one also had a flail-like weapon that was essentially a stick with a spiked ball connected by a relatively thin wire, instead of a chain like Milton was used to seeing in games and at the renaissance faire.  In the other extra hand it possessed, it carried a wide, flat, notched swordbreaker, which also had an edge to it that appeared more than capable of doing enormous amounts of damage.

All of the weapons, despite most of them being similar to the ones wielded by its blue and purple-skinned comrades, were huge.  The strength needed to hold the warhammer it held alone, which was nearly larger than its entire Soldier cousin, had to have been enormous; unless the weapon was made of aluminum and therefore lightweight, Milton estimated that it had to have weighed half a ton, if not more.

What was most concerning, however, as his sensor nearest the platform started to become fuzzy from whatever interference the Soldiers were emitting from the visible metal cylinders strapped to their chests, was the intelligence and malice he saw in the expression of the demonic-looking Heliothrope.  It looked at everything, taking in and assessing each aspect of the entrance, a perpetual sneer (or so it appeared to Milton) on its face, and its body language promoted the act that his space station was named after: Murder.  Everything about it screamed danger, and it was honestly the most frightening thing the Station Core had seen in a long time.  It almost overshadowed the first squirrel he had seen on Proctus, but there was very little that could top those blood-thirsty rodents to someone with Sciurophobia, otherwise known as fear of squirrels.

Hmm…  Perhaps if this thing looked like a demonic squirrel, then that would be more frightening.

“Milton, focus,” ALANNA admonished.  He ignored her and watched from multiple perspectives as the force assembled in a large group, with all of the Fodder out front in a big block of 13 rows of ten, each with a Soldier directly behind the last in line.  The big one brought up the rear, though it was certainly not because of any fear; instead, it was as if it was sending the others ahead of it to soften up the defenses so that it could sweep in and mop up afterwards.

Milton focused on the object of his fear before his sensor connection faded out completely, bringing up its approximate statistics[36].

“Not good, but definitely not impossible to kill,” he said on the command bridge, displaying the information up on the viewscreen.  The information displayed said that the new Heliothrope was called an Elite, and it was stronger, faster, and more intelligent than even the Soldiers, by far.  What worried him the most was how much more powerful the shield of the Elite would be, as there had definitely been a significant difference between the Fodder and the Soldiers.

“I guess it’s time to find out.  Everyone ready?” he asked, sending out his message to all of the Proctans waiting down below.  It was almost guaranteed that they would be seeing some carnage soon, but Milton just hoped that his first few rooms would be able to thin out some of the numbers before they arrived at the Proctan defenses.

As the airlock did its thing and then let the entire force into the room, Milton noticed that the space inside of the airlock was just barely big enough to fit them; he figured that there was enough room for another dozen or so Fodder, but that was about it; 150 or so at a time wasn’t that bad, actually.

Unless they were all Elites, of course, because that would be very bad.

The doorway opened up into the first room and it was on.  Milton had to watch through a fuzzy connection again as the Fodder marched inside at the ready, immediately heading for the three passageways that were created by the Weightonite and steel wall defenses he had placed there.  As soon as a few were inside, the defenses activated automatically as they were triggered by a pressure plate, and with an abrupt activation of the installed actuators and pushers, the walls slammed together, trapping anywhere between 6 to 8 of the Fodder inside each pathway.

Unfortunately, “trapped” wasn’t quite the right word for what happened.  Milton had hoped that the defense would squish the Heliothropes with extreme force, breaking through their shields and eventually flattening them as if they were in a garbage compactor.  Instead, all it did was stop when it hit their shields, like an object in the way of a garage door closing.  The glow around the Fodder did start to fade, but not nearly enough, and the Heliothropes were able to continue walking through the two walls attempting to flatten them, with their shields scraping against the sides.

A few seconds after the defenses triggered, while the Fodder were still working their way out, the rest had stopped and were obviously instructed telepathically to start demolishing the traps, using all of their weapons in tandem to destroy the wall, with their warhammers being the most useful for that purpose.  Weightonite cracked and shattered like Milton had never seen before, and even the edged weapons they used seemed to cut into the material, though only like an inch or two at a time.  Regardless, when wielded by over 100 Heliothropes at the same time, with 6 weapons going all out on the walls, even the Weightonite and steel walls of the defense weren’t enough to stand up to the assault for long.

Thankfully, there was a little bit of a delay to their destruction, because these wall-squishing defenses weren’t the only things he had placed in the room.  Perched high up on the walls were a dozen Diamine Quagonlings, and when they hopped off of their small metal platforms, they rained death and dismemberment onto the Fodder – or at least that was their intention.

The Quagonlings drifted down like dive-bombing airplanes, striking at the Heliothropes, many of whom didn’t have a chance to get any weapons up to defend themselves.  A few of the Fodder were hit so hard that they tumbled backwards, the claws and teeth of the gliding Combat Units scraping against the glowing protective barriers and causing them to fade quite a bit.  As they swooped back up, they were able to turn quickly using their Air Affinity to strike again before they could recover, targeting only a handful of Heliothropes to concentrate their efforts.

Two of the Fodder got their weapons up for the next dive bomb of the Quagonlings, slicing through the wings of the Units even as their shields were shredded in the process; dark blood leaked through large rents in their chests and arms caused by a flurry of scratching claws and frantic bites, even as the Quagonlings lost their ability to fly.  Even wounded, though, the Fodder were able to hold their own against the now land-bound Combat Units, fending off further injuries while their shields recharged and allies came to their aid.

Two other Fodder didn’t fare as well, mainly because they weren’t able to recover fast enough to defend themselves properly.  As the Quagonlings dive-bombed them, they didn’t pull up again afterwards, instead electing to attach themselves to the outside of the glowing shield and tear into them and the Heliothropes underneath, burying them in Quagonling flesh and diamine-tipped natural weapons that absolutely tore the Fodder apart in a matter of seconds.  By the time they were done with them, leaving the pair of blue-skinned foes dead on the floor, help had arrived in the form of a dozen more Heliothropes, who quickly cut them down before they could escape.

A total of 2 Fodder died in the first room, where Milton had been hoping for a lot more.  Two others were injured, but not severely; a minute or so later, those that had been sliced up stopped bleeding out of their wounds, with their shields regenerated back to full, or as close to full as his fading sensor orbs could tell.  He was thankful to see that they didn’t seem to have any visible self-regeneration other than apparently really effective blood clotting, but it was a small victory.

Five minutes was all it took for the Heliothropes to finish demolishing his wall traps after that, with none of them ultimately hurt.  It was possible that the Fodder that had sprung the defenses now had less strength in their protective shields, but it was too hard to tell.  As they marched ahead through the rubble, Milton couldn’t help but notice that – just like the last attack – the Soldiers didn’t seem to contribute at all, and the larger Elite had simply sat at the back and watched everything with the air of someone bored, yet ready to unleash bloodshed on anything in its path.  It was a strange combination, but the red-skinned Heliothrope seemed to pull it off.

Milton had higher hopes for the next room, because it was the pure Weightonite traps that he was looking forward to seeing in action.  They had been particularly effective back on Proctus, and while the gravity in the rotating station wasn’t nearly as strong, it was still significant enough to cause some immense damage.  Six slabs of Weightonite were stacked on top of unsteady columns throughout the room, with each 5-foot-wide slab weighing more than a jumbo jet back on Earth.  When dropped from nearly 200 feet, the impact was enough to deform the highly reinforced steel floor, so it would certainly hurt any Heliothropes underneath them when they fell.

As the Fodder spread throughout the room, avoiding touching the spread-out columns of Weightonite, they were fully uncontested.  It wasn’t until one of the Heliothropes stepped on a pressure plate that quickly jerked the entire floor about 3 inches to the right, courtesy of mechanisms turning the floor effectively into a door that only moved a small distance, that the attack began in earnest.  The unsteady columns of Weightonite toppled, bringing down their own weight in smaller blocks as well as the slabs they were holding up above.

It was as effective as he had hoped.

While the smaller blocks from the columns were almost universally shrugged off, landing with a *thwomp* nearby as they impacted the glowing shields, the slabs weren’t willing to be ignored.  At least two dozen Fodder fell underneath the slabs at least in part, slamming down to the floor with tremendous force.  The extremely heavy material pushed down on them with constant pressure, which turned out to be too much for the protective barriers.  The glow around them faded quickly, even as some of them tried to break free by destroying the Weightonite with their weapons, but for nearly a dozen of them, it was too late.  Their shields faded rapidly, followed by an instant crushing of their trapped bodies, splattering them like eggs thrown against a sidewalk.

14 down – 130 left to go.

As soon as the slabs above were dropped down on the Heliothropes, the second stage of the room began, something that Milton liked to call death by a thousand cuts.  Or, in this case, death by a million cuts, because that was what rained down on the unsuspecting Heliothropes as they struggled to get through the rubble caused by the Weightonite that dropped down.

In his dungeon back on Proctus, he had only used a few thousand of the Tiny Wolfites[37] to drop down on a group of Proctans, mainly because he had a limit to how many Combat Units he could control at the time.  By the time he had removed most of that limit as he repaired his Station Core, the need to have even more of the little 4-inch-wide fluffballs that were basically just teeth and claws just wasn’t there, because wide-ranging AOE (Area-of-effect) abilities were too prevalent among the Proctans for them to be of any good use.  They didn’t have much in the way of attack and could literally be killed just by stepping on them, but they were really cheap to produce and could be created very quickly simply through Molecular Converters.

Therefore, a million of them rained down from the ceiling after the slabs keeping them up there fell down, and the shower of multicolored Tiny Wolfites with color-changing fur swarmed over the Heliothropes that had entered the room.  Dozens of Fodder were literally covered in biting and scratching tiny Combat Units, and the entire room looked like some sort of giant ball pit that the enemy had to swim through.  Hundreds of Tiny Wolfites were dying every second as the Heliothropes frantically stomped on, sliced through, or simply bashed the little buggers into paste, but there were simply too many of them to make much headway.

From the little he could see in the melee, the shields of the Heliothropes that were overwhelmed gradually started to fade, as even tiny little pinpricks of damage could wear down their protection.  That was exactly what he was hoping to see, because it proved that strength alone wasn’t the only way to bring down the glowing barriers; repeated and constant damage worked just as well.

One after another, the shields of approximately 50 of the Fodder faded away, despite the help from their comrades and even the Soldiers chipping in to assist.  The two wounded Fodder from the previous room were soon facing off against thousands of Wolfites without a shield, and their open wounds allowed a way inside of their bodies that they weren’t prepared to defend.  The Wolfites’ bodies were actually smaller than they looked, because their fluffy fur puffed them up to a much larger visible size; in actuality, they were small enough to start burrowing inside the wounds of the Fodder tearing them up from the inside.

It didn’t take long for those 2 wounded Heliothropes to succumb from internal damage, but the rest of the Fodder were faring much better.  Despite many of their shields falling, the Wolfites just couldn’t penetrate the skin of the enemy with any depth, as all they could do was create small scratches that didn’t even bleed.  A few got lucky and were able to scratch an eye or two, but for the most part they were ineffective.

At least, ineffective in ultimately killing them; as for a way to take down their glowing protective barriers, they were very effective.  That’s all he could ask for at the moment, because he was softening them up for the next room.

It took nearly 15 minutes for all of the Tiny Wolfites to be hunted down and killed, because the survivors blended in with all of the fluffy corpses covered in blood.  When it got to the point where nothing moved, the Heliothropes waded through the carnage, leaving their fallen behind, and headed into the third room.

As they stepped onto the dirt covering the floor, which was deeper than it had been during the last attack, Milton’s Combat Units at the end of the room prepared to attack.  However, the herd of 15 Quelephines had previous instructions to wait until something specific happened, which the Station Core was glad of because his connection to them was already starting to fade.

The Fodder out front marched ahead, stepping approximately a third of the way through the 200-foot-long room, before the lead Heliothropes triggered another defensive weapon in a few choice areas.  Underneath the dirt and hidden from sight, Gravity Manipulators activated and affected the gravity of everything above the defenses, shooting all the way up to the ceiling.  Rather than eliminating gravity, however, these defensive weapons increased the gravity of everything covering the front half of the room.

As expected, the change in the gravity caused most of the Heliothropes in the room to stumble, but their protective barriers kicked in to steady them in the gravity change, so that they were thus largely unaffected.  However, what they realized at the last moment was that there was a cracking *snap* above them – and suddenly the ceiling was falling on them.  While not the steel ceiling of the rooms, it was still a wooden structure that had thousands of spikes fitted along the bottom, tipped in sharp steel heads.  With the increase in gravity to nearly 10 times the normal gravity in the dungeon, the thin ropes holding the wooden contraption suspended up above snapped as its relative weight increased, and even the steel ceiling just barely affected by the manipulated gravity started to groan as it was stressed—but it held.

While the Heliothropes were largely unaffected, that didn’t mean the wooden structure wasn’t affected by the higher gravity.  It shot down upon the unsuspecting Heliothropes with tremendous speed, crashing into them with 10 times its normal weight.  Now, because it was wood, most of the trap shattered into a million pieces – just as the Gravity Manipulators switched off the higher gravity.  Instead of being pulled down to the dirt floor, the pieces shot off in all directions, flinging into the battered Heliothropes who had just had a large chunk of their protective barriers chipped away by the initial impact.

While the secondary explosion of wood and steel shrapnel continued to cause their shields to fade away, it ultimately didn’t do much damage to the Fodder other than to stagger them in place.  Which was why they were unprepared when the Quelephines crashed into them after running full speed across the room, their enormous heads – larger than the Fodder themselves – drove their three horns into the enemy in a wave of hybrid giant elephant flesh.

Shields failed, Heliothropes were impaled and trampled, and death and destruction were left in their wake as the Quelephines didn’t stop their charge until they had passed through all of the ranks of the Fodder lined up for them.  Unfortunately, not nearly enough of them died outright, only just over 25 of them, but it was an impressive first attack by the Quelephines.  Also unfortunately, they didn’t get a chance to attack again; those that hadn’t been immediately hit by the charging Combat Units fell upon the Quelephines with a vengeance, easily hacking them apart while they attempted to stop and turn around for another charge.  That was one of the downsides of these particular Units, as they couldn’t turn quickly and relied on an initial charge to take down their targets.

As the Quelephines were being diced up by the Heliothropes, with the Soldiers lending their own assistance in taking them down, the last surprise of the room made itself known.  Buried underneath the dirt floor was a Big Ol’ Badger, who erupted from below into the melee, a massive 80-foot-long Combat Unit sending Heliothropes and Quelephines alike flying through the air at its arrival, as it swept its large claws back and forth around its entry point.  Each one of its large claws was longer than a Fodder was tall, and they were exceptionally sharp; when they weren’t being deflected by the faded but still glowing shield of a Heliothrope, they were cutting through blue and even purple skin and the flesh beneath like they were nothing.  Another two dozen Fodder died within a few seconds of its arrival, as well as 2 Soldiers, who were unprepared for the large Combat Unit.

With so many vibrations along the ground for the Badger to concentrate on, due to it being deaf, blind, and unable to smell, it started to move in the direction of the nearest disturbances and—

—the sight of the 20-foot-tall Elite Heliothrope descending upon the Badger was one of the last things he saw in his sensor orb before his connection to it faded out.  With its weapons poised in front of it and the Combat Unit unaware of the danger, the red-skinned leader crashed down on the back of the Badger, splitting it in half all the way to its head, killing it almost instantly.  Despite the Badger having a defense stat that put a Bearilla’s to shame, the Elite cracked its Extra-reinforced Scales open like Gallagher sledgehammering a watermelon.  In short, it was frightening how easily his Combat Unit was destroyed.

With the Big Ol’ Badger dead before it could really cause trouble, the mop-up of the Quelephines was almost simple in comparison.  Just like that, the Heliothropes were ready for the next room.

“Get ready, everyone – you’re up.”

Chapter 25

The Proctans proved to be more than a match for the remaining Fodder and Soldiers, as they were both prepared and had numbers on their side.  With fortifications that gave them the high ground inside of the rooms, multiple members of their teams were able to attack from afar, utilizing long-range effects and casts of elemental affinities to batter the shields of the Heliothropes down to nothing, before wiping them out with a variety of abilities for which the enemy had no counter.  The most effective elemental affinity was the Spatial Void Affinity that many of the Casters had acquired: The ability to spend a large amount of their innate Power to create a literal void in the middle of the dungeon that ignored any rules of physics that Milton knew about on Earth was powerful.

Yet, it still wasn’t powerful enough to pass through the glowing shield of the Heliothropes, though it certainly did make it fade quite quickly.  Once it was gone, if the spatial void was set up the right way, acting as a thin circle that could cut through just about anything, it was able to cut through not only weapons but bodies as well.  The problem was that Spatial Voids cost a lot of Power to create, so once they were spent, it took a while for the Proctans’ Power to regenerate; at that point, the fight was usually up to the rest of the team members, for good or ill.

Support team members, with time to prepare and with a focus on Flora Manipulation, created large 50-foot-tall Tree Golems, which they could control as large extensions of their ability, battering Fodder and Soldiers into the floor, though they were of course very vulnerable to just about any type of attack.  Battleaxes wielded by the Heliothropes were the most damaging against them, as a few determined swings could completely destroy one of the Tree Golems in a matter of seconds.

Temporal Distortion specialists could speed up small areas of the battlefield, allowing Tanks and Rogues to attack quickly before retreating to safety, and clouds of detrimental poisons and other maladies wafted over the lines of Heliothropes, continuously battering at shields that just never seemed to want to fall.  It soon was discovered that both the Soldiers and the Elite Heliothrope could see Rogues even when they were using their Light Spectrum Invisibility, and it was always possible that the Fodder could as well, but they never acted on it.  Many a Rogue lost their current lives when they attempted to attack an enemy and were turned upon before they could strike up close.

Many abilities relied on physical contact with their targets, which meant that the teams of Proctans were hampered in what was effective, as everything harmful seemed to be absorbed or deflected by the protective barriers of the Heliothropes.  Still, they weren’t alone in their defense, as more Laser Cannon Emplacements and Railgun Penetrators were set up in multiple rooms to assist in the defense as a long-range solution; as they were quite effective, at least in short bursts, Force Field specialists were able to protect them from tossed weapons coming from the Heliothropes, which was what ultimately helped to whittle the force of Fodder and Soldiers down to nothing within the first two rooms.

As Milton had suspected when he first saw the Elite type of Heliothrope in action, the red-skinned leader was a formidable foe.  Not only was it large, fast, and powerful, but its protective barrier was insanely strong.  Despite everything that was thrown its way, after the Proctans devastated the Fodder and Soldiers with everything they had at their disposal, it was the Elite that came in like a wrecking ball inside of a tornado, destroying everything in its path with ease.  Its shield faded somewhat from the onslaught the defenders threw at it, but it absorbed Spatial Voids, slashes from Diamine-edged swords, pounding by Tree Golems, boulders tossed at it via Telekinesis, and all manner of different abilities and techniques devised over years of training that had very little effect.

In the third and last Proctan room (which was a little bit bigger than the others, of necessity), Whisp and five other Support Class Proctans were waiting on top of 6 large Stone Golems, which were made of part Weightonite and part granite.  They used their Object Animation, Item Shaping, and Enchantment abilities to form the 60-foot-tall bipedal Golems, which in turn were controlled by physical contact with the creations.  Sitting on a platform near what one would consider their ear, Whisp and the others were able to see and direct their stone creations quite well, using their Power conservatively to keep them moving for hours.  Normally, a modified sensor orb was placed inside of them to act as an external control point, but with the fuzziness sent out by the Soldiers, which seemed to inundate the entire dungeon even after they had died, it was more reliable to have the Golems’ makers there to control them, even if it put them in harm’s way.

Along with the Golems were two Bearillas that Milton had created and quickly fed a meal of a large Picow he created at the same time, and it was interesting to see the match-up between the Elite Heliothrope and the Bearillas – mainly because they would be the same height if the Bearilla ever stood up straight.

“If this doesn’t work, I’m not sure what else will.  Even if we had 10,000 Proctans, I’m not sure we can get through its shield,” Milton said to ALANNA as they watched from a distance up the connection between the dungeon and the command center.  He had lost control of his sensor orb in the actual room, but he still had at least one a bit further away that was working – and even that was starting to become a little fuzzy.

“That’s definitely a problem, but I think they can handle it.  Plus, Brint is operating your Portable Particle Accelerator, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”  Despite her confidence, the Station Core still worried.

The fight began with a bang, namely the bang of a warhammer against the leg of a Stone Golem, which immediately shattered under the impact.  As it crumpled under its own weight while the Animator up top frantically attempted to put the damaged leg back together, the other Golems attacked, moving faster than would be expected of a large, animated, stone object.  Powerful fists came down on the Elite’s shield as it couldn’t dodge every blow, making the barrier fade more than Milton had seen before.  Those were, however, the only free hit, as the Elite used its speed – enhanced by subtle movements somehow coming from the shield – to run around the Stone Golems, delivering blows not only with its warhammer but its other weapons, as well.

While cuts with a sword or deep stabs with a trident weren’t necessarily super effective, they definitely weakened the overall stability of the Golems, causing pieces of them to crumble off.  In less than a minute, most of the stone creations were a mess, with 2 (including the one that was heavily damaged at the beginning) lying crippled on the floor, their Animators attempting to put them back together.  It was then that the Elite attacked one of the Proctans attempting to do just that, skewering the poor woman while she had her hands placed against the Golem; even as she was reassembling its leg from the scattered stone, the Golem immediately froze in place when she was killed.

That was the beginning of the end, because the Elite was now cognizant of how to defeat the Golems.  Lifting itself in the air via its glowing barrier, it flew straight at the Golem operators, attacking them with quick strikes that avoided flailing stone arms trying to knock it out of the air.  Another Animator was killed, freezing the enchanted stone Golem in place, and then it was Whisp that ended up being pulverized by the Elite’s flail, her body obliterated under the spiked ball when it hit.

Thankfully, Brint didn’t lose his mind at that point, seeing Whisp taken down like that, and he held off firing the Particle Accelerator he was in control of.  That restraint didn’t have to last long, however, because it wasn’t long before the other Golem Animators were cut down, ending the defense of the 60-foot-tall Golems almost immediately after that.

“Do it, Brint.”

Without having to be told twice, as soon as the Elite touched down from his flying attack on the Golem operators, Brint fired the Particle Accelerator at the red-skinned Heliothrope from his slightly elevated platform near the end of the room.  It was technically a bit dangerous even firing it inside of the space station, given that the Accelerator’s beam could literally cut through the walls of the station itself, but fortunately the Proctan didn’t miss.

The impact of the subatomic particles hitting the shield of the Heliothrope made it stagger under the assault, and it took a few involuntary steps backwards.  As it quickly recovered, it pushed back against the Particle Accelerator’s force, stepping forward the few steps it had been pushed back, before cocking its arm holding its battleaxe back.  Instinctively knowing what was about to happen, Brint subtly changed the angle of the weapon he was operating, which was sending out essentially a beam of what should be death to anything it touched.

That turned out to be at least partially correct as the battleaxe was released in a toss, heading straight for the Particle Accelerator in order to destroy it; however, as soon as it passed beyond the boundary of the rapidly fading shield, it disintegrated as its molecular bonds were ripped apart by the beam that Brint focused on it.

It had only been moved away from directly hitting the Elite for a little more than a second, but that second was enough for the Heliothrope to recover, running forward with the intent to destroy Brint and the Accelerator.  Thankfully, it was blocked from reaching him by the two Bearillas, who sprang out of their locations near the elevated platform, slamming into the Elite with two powerful punches that stopped the enemy cold – and did no damage other than making the shield fade a little bit more.

The delay was just long enough for the Particle Accelerator beam to hit it again, depleting its barrier even further.  Along its sides the two Bearillas circled around, looking for an opening to attack while staying away from the beam of death, but they were confronted with weapons directed at them at every opening.  The Bearillas weren’t stupid, and Milton had given directions to them before the fight to wait until there was an opening or opportunity to attack, rather than go straight in and die, like they would normally.

The shield of the Elite faded nearly to nothingness, and the Heliothrope was basically trapped, unable to move quickly because of the pressure the beam was putting on it, which Brint was intent on keeping on target.  It continued to walk slowly forward, pushing against the pressure like someone trying to walk against powerful waves crashing into them in the ocean.

This is it!  Kill it—

The Accelerator Beam suddenly shut off, the 30 seconds of firing time elapsing without completely taking the protective barrier off of the Elite.  Brint had some extra packs of 200-count Focusing Crystals nearby to feed into the Accelerator in order to “reload” it, but the precious few seconds required to do that could spell his end.

Luckily, the Elite wasn’t prepared for the beam to suddenly disappear and it stumbled forward, the first real mistake it had made.  The Bearillas flanking it attacked immediately, pounding their fists into the shield of the Heliothrope, staggering their foe even more, and then once again.  The first Bearilla’s fist rebounded off of the barrier, but the other one managed to actually hit the Elite, its fist hitting with a powerful strike against its leg, and Milton’s sensor orb could hear the crack of broken bone even from a distance away.

As it went to one knee from the injury, the Heliothrope seemed to become enraged, striking out at the Bearillas who attempted to follow up their successful attack.  He couldn’t blame them, because he probably would’ve done the same thing, but it was the wrong play.  Fists flew at the struggling Heliothrope, which were sliced off with rapid strikes of a sword and a swordbreaker whipping around at insane speeds.  These were followed up by a few other strikes by its longer-reach weapons directed toward the Bearillas, smashing into or severing multiple body parts almost faster than Milton could follow; while it wasn’t the fastest in terms of movement, the Elite could handle its weapons with extreme skill, speed, and accuracy – a frightening combination.

The Bearillas tried to retreat, but both of them collapsed when they realized their legs had been nearly severed from the swift retaliation.  Just as the Heliothrope went to finish them off, the Particle Accelerator beam was back, blasting through the tiny bit of recharged shield that had come back; once that was down, the 2-foot-wide beam literally tore the Heliothrope apart, starting with its chest and expanding outward as Brint washed it over its head and severed its arms.  Thankfully, he shut it off before he could destroy the floor and walls behind the Elite – at least more than the little bit that was already damaged.

It felt like coming up for air when the Elite died, the fuzziness over all of his sensor orbs suddenly disappearing.  As soon as he felt that happen, he focused on the series of Magnetic Repulsors[38] – which were another type of Defensive Weapon – embedded in the middle of the entrance platform and activated them.  Just in time, the 11 ships that had connected together and landed on the platform were magnetically ejected from the platform – where they predictably blew up.  The explosion was a lot larger than just the one Heliothrope ship that had landed on the platform before, and he was suddenly glad that Whisp had recommended a way to shed them before they damaged the station.

Around the same time, the metal cylinders strapped to the Soldiers also exploded, but fortunately no one was around to suffer from the explosion.  Though, when Milton thought about it, the situation wasn’t really fortunate – because all but Brint had died, and even his survival had been a close thing.  The Bearillas that had attacked the Elite at the end bled out from their multiple missing limbs over the next few minutes, leaving a single Particle Accelerator and Brint the only survivors.

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Fodder x130!  You gain (130x5000) 650,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Soldier x13!  You gain (13x6000) 78,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Elite x1!  You gain (1x15000) 15,000 combat experience!

You have upgraded the skill: Survivor (Level 6)

Current Bonus: 30% increase in defense of all Combat Units

Despite the gains in one of his skills, as well as the experience – which brought him a little bit closer to his next Combat Level[39] – this wasn’t what he considered a success.  Not through any fault of his or of those helping him defend his dungeon, but because they were up against a foe that they weren’t exactly prepared to defeat.  True, they survived… but just barely.  If he were attacked by a force that contained more Elites than just the one or even hordes of Fodder-type Heliothropes, it was doubtful they would survive.  Adding more Proctans might help, but as he had observed before, it was doubtful it would make a difference.

More resources would certainly help, but therein lay the difficulty; since the Heliothropes could pinpoint the station’s location faster than ever, he would be scrounging up whatever he could find at every opportunity.  The added BMUs from the destroyed ships just outside his dungeon entrance would certainly also help, but that was only a temporary measure.

“This kind of defense isn’t sustainable,” ALANNA noted unnecessarily.  “Eventually, you’ll run out of Focusing Crystals for the Accelerators, as well as the other Defensive Weapons that proved effective – at least against the smaller Heliothropes.”

Instead of answering, Milton looked around the command bridge and saw Trinket on the floor, unconscious.  He was momentarily worried, but then he belatedly realized she had fainted at some point during all of the carnage being displayed on the viewscreen. He thought it might have been when all of the Tiny Wolfites had filled up an entire room with their corpses, but he couldn’t be sure without reviewing the recordings – which he didn’t feel were important to look at right now.  The fact that she was fine – other than being unconscious – was a relief, but as he looked down at her sprawled form, something occurred to him.

“Maybe we don’t need to do this all by ourselves,” he said slowly out loud, working it out in his mind.  “Maybe we can find someone to help us fight back against the Heliothropes.”

“Good luck with that, Milton,” ALANNA responded as she shook her head.  “The Collective already scoured a good portion of the galaxy – though no means all of it – and found virtually no one with both the ability and willingness to help.  That’s why you were volunteered—okay, abducted—to help with the Station Core problem, remember?”

“That’s a fair point, but that’s not exactly what I was thinking.”

It took ALANNA less than a second to figure out what he was getting at.  “You want to try to get back to Proctus to gather up some more help?”

Milton shrugged.  “Perhaps.  I’m not sure that would do any good, other than gaining access to my resources again.  That certainly would help, but I can’t help but think that would only be a stopgap measure.  Sure, it would allow for the production of many more Particle Accelerators and other Defensive Weapons, but I can’t help but think that there must be something that could kill these Heliothropes more efficiently than what we’ve tried so far.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged yet again.  “I… don’t know.  But there has to be something.”

With that left undetermined, Milton started the process of putting the dungeon back together, recreating the Proctans and Combat Units that had been slain, and resetting/rebuilding the defenses that had been destroyed. He also collected all of the debris from the Heliothrope ships that exploded and wasn’t surprised to find that they had destroyed any type of computer like the last one had, before starting up the engines again.  Heading toward the nearest planet for resources was his goal, though he doubted that he’d make it before he was found.  If that was the case, then he’d have to activate the trans-dimensional drive and escape… yet again.

There has to be a way – but what is it?

Chapter 26

The answer didn’t come right away, nor did it come to him over the next few months.  Milton and his crew on Murder Station used their trans-dimensional drive to travel all over the galaxy, spending weeks inside the traveling dimension in order to recover from the inevitable attacks on the dungeon whenever they appeared.  It didn’t matter where they traveled throughout the entire galaxy, because there was almost inevitably a fleet of Heliothrope ships within a day or two that came to investigate the station’s appearance.  The appearances happened a lot faster whenever they ventured into a solar system, which gave them very little opportunity to pilfer some resources from planets, asteroid belts, or even the clouds of material floating just outside of the systems, left over from when the stars and planets were initially formed billions of years ago.

That wasn’t to say that they weren’t able to gather any resources, because they certainly did – but most of it was to replace what was slowly being depleted, the most important of which was water.  Milton had a huge farm set up on the opposite side of the ring from the dungeon and its entrance, spanning for acres and acres, using irrigation drip piping in the soil to conserve water.  Fast-growing plants were the biggest crops, though more than half of it was being utilized as feed for the Picow Livestock growing there, which fed their constant need for Bio Mass to feed Combat Units, including the Proctans; the leftover plants were harvested for additional Organic Material, which was also used for feed and substitute materials for things that were created.

Thankfully, a comet filled with a combination of rock and ice passed by the station soon after appearing in a star system one day, which they immediately started to mine and harvest for the water it contained; it was too large to fully mine all of it, but it certainly helped to replenish the station’s resources for a few months.

That was the rub, though: the struggle to find resources before they were forced to flee.  A few times after they arrived in an empty system that was ripe for resource gathering, they were attacked within a few hours; by the time the station had moved into position to send down a shuttle to a planet, they had to abort the mission because it was too dangerous to allow anyone to be outside of the station when the Heliothropes were there.  The possibility that they would capture the shuttle filled with Brint, the drones doing the work, and multiple Molecular Converters before they tackled his dungeon was too great to risk.

When they managed to defeat the attackers, there were inevitably a lot of repairs and replacements that had to be initiated immediately afterwards, which occupied the drones that would otherwise be heading down to the planet to gather resources.  There was one occasion where Milton delayed some of the repairs and replacement of Combat Units in the dungeon to send down Brint anyway, but that just happened to be when they were attacked again, a short half-hour after the work got started on the planet.  It was a close call during that second attack, as the Proctans that were still alive and those that he had to recreate in the Bioconversion Labs rushed to the first few rooms to slow the Heliothropes down while defenses were replaced.  It ended up with the Particle Accelerator having to be used to stop the rest of the Soldiers that managed to make it through to the final room.

The presence of the Elite form of Heliothrope, the red-skinned, 8-armed demon of warfare was thankfully a rarity, as they only had to deal with 2 more of them throughout all of their travels.  Fortunately, they were both solitary in their arrival – though they came with a large force of Fodder and Soldiers in tow – so they didn’t have to face a pair or more of them at once.

Because that would’ve been a disaster.

As it was, they tried to improve their methods of fighting the larger Heliothropes, though only with incremental success.  Each time they attacked, the only thing that managed to defeat them was the Particle Accelerator, though none of the assaults on the dungeon had been nearly as close as that first large-scale attack.  As more and more Bio Mass was accumulated, however, Milton was able to provide many more Bearillas for the cause – but it was still a temporary measure altogether.

When the Elites weren’t present, the fleets they faced ranged anywhere from 5 to 30 ships filled with Fodder and Soldiers, which the Proctans were getting fairly good at killing. The attack by 30 ships was a difficult one, though, because of the sheer number of Heliothropes, which just about equaled the number of Proctans Milton had brought back, which now totaled 300.  They came in two waves of 165 each, and once the first wave had devastated the dungeon’s traps and Combat Units, losing quite a few in the process, it was easy enough for the next wave to progress straight to the Proctans waiting for them.  Having that many Heliothropes to deal with at the same time was literally a killer for his defenders, but they managed to survive without having to resort to the Particle Accelerator – though only a few of the Stone Golems had still been intact by the end of the fight.

“Any more progress?”

Milton had tasked ALANNA and the Think Tank, which had expanded to a total of 10 over the last few months, with figuring out how to get back to the Proctans’ original dimension.  The thought of reinforcements was still a possibility, but so also was the thought of replenishing his resources without having to look over his shoulder should the Heliothropes appear.  Of course, even if they figured it out, it would require a lot of preparation to ensure he was able to keep anything he acquired there.  That was because as soon as he moved to another dimension other than the traveling dimension, which seemed to still allow him access to what he had gathered in his own dimension (thankfully), that meant that he had to physically create all of the material inside of his station gathered in another dimension, so that when he returned to his own it would still be available.

It was all very confusing, but he thought he understood it now.  From what ALANNA explained, going back and forth from his dimension to the traveling dimension meant that he was able to keep all of his resources gained in his own dimension, because they were minutely connected by the dimensional tears he had created in the fabric.  The moment he moved to a completely different dimension, however, anything that was contained in the extra-dimensional space connecting all of the Molecular Converters he was currently using (including the one inside of his Station Core), was inaccessible until he went back to his own dimension.  To keep his resources around, he would have to physically create them so that they could travel back and forth.  Thankfully, there was plenty of space inside of the ring, but at the moment he needed most of it available to use in his Converters, which meant very little he could create simply for storage.

It was all complicated and unfortunate, but that was just the way it was.

“No, not yet,” ALANNA responded for the group, who were currently researching through all of the information in his Core system, as well as working on complicated math problems that were beyond his comprehension.  Sometimes he envied the Proctans’ ability to expand their Intelligence to the point where abstract or complicated concepts were like simple arithmetic to them.  “The problem we’re having is that we have no information about how The Collective went about discovering the signatures of different dimensions, let alone how they managed to find the traveling dimension.  It was likely never included because the trans-dimensional drive was still part of an experimental project, and it was likely that most if not all of the people that went to Earth to acquire help with the Station Core program knew no more about the drives than how to operate them.  The theory and dimensional signature discoveries were done elsewhere, by separate people.”

That was what he had feared, given that they hadn’t found anything about it right away, but the group and ALANNA were thorough in their parsing of all of the information contained in his Station Core.  His guide thought that it was entirely possible that some information was hidden as confidential, or else filed away somewhere unassociated with dimensional travel, so they had continued looking these past few months, going over just about everything Milton’s Core contained.  It was… a lot of information; if he had to guess, he would say that all of the information on the internet back when he was living on Earth was a tiny fraction of what his systems currently held inside of them, but as he had lamented before, there was no search engine for finding anything easily.

“Have you thought about Trinket’s proposition?” ALANNA asked quietly, though the Mouslan she was talking about wasn’t on the command bridge at that time.  In fact, the weary engineer was asleep in her room, having spent the last day mapping out an expansion of the farm – provided they acquired more materials such as dirt and enough water to sustain it without sacrificing it somewhere else it was needed.

“I have, and I don’t like it.  Even if another station or planet was receptive to helping out, our mere presence will endanger everyone nearby.  I would love to be able to take aboard many of the people who are looking for a way to fight back against their ‘Masters’, but if taking some of them away might end up with retaliation against everyone left behind…”  He held up his hands as if weighing a decision.  “Nope, we can’t risk it.  What good is saving a few hundred or even a few thousand people in the time we’d be able to evacuate them to the station, when millions or billions of the ones left behind were killed because of our actions.  We already put Station 23-E by Jupiter in jeopardy, and I don’t even want to think about what actually happened to them there because we visited.”

“Trinket said it was probably fine, especially as everything you did could be pointed straight to you and your ship, and perhaps herself,” his guide answered.  “And you’re probably right about the risk, but eventually you’re going to want to expand who you have on the station, if only to acquire more help, more information, and better access to resources in the future.”

Milton nodded.  “I know, and it’s what I want to do, but I won’t do it until I’m sure Murder Station—it is still really weird to call it by that name—will be able to withstand larger attacks while anyone who doesn’t want to come with us can evacuate.  Smaller colonies at first, perhaps, before working our way up.”

“Seems like a good plan, but don’t wait too long.  There might just be some of your people out there, you know.”

In all honesty, that was exactly why he wanted to be out searching for allies in the fight against the Heliothropes; overall, it was just a desire to see some of his own people again.  The Proctans were awesome, but they weren’t Human; as much as he had assimilated into his new existence, he still missed seeing those that weren’t immediately foreign to him at every turn, even if the Proctans were very close to Humans in appearance.

“I’m well aware of that, but that really doesn’t get any closer to—”

“Milton, ALANNA?  I think you’re going to want to see this.”

The Station Core immediately focused on his long-range sensors, looking for any sign of a Heliothrope fleet heading in their direction.  They had come out of the traveling dimension almost 48 hours ago without being attacked, which was a new record for them, and the expected confrontation was a bit overdue.  It may have been because they were in between star systems again, hoping to spot another comet somewhere that they could mine for resources, but that hadn’t stopped the enemy from finding them before.

As far as he could tell, there wasn’t any sign of a fleet either near or far, unless they somehow discovered stealth technology over the last few weeks – but he doubted that was the case.  He got the impression that the Heliothropes weren’t exactly ones to move about the galaxy stealthily; they were all about showing their superiority with their strength and to intimidate with their presence, so slinking around hidden wasn’t really their thing.

The long-range sensors could reach a long way out here in the void between the stars, and over the last few months Whisp and the other members of the Think Tank had improved their detection ability incrementally as they started to really learn how the sensors worked.  Milton couldn’t help but think that, given enough time, the Proctans and their ability to improve their Intelligence through the use of their Power could probably rediscover or improve upon everything that The Collective had invented or developed at the height of their power.

Despite the longer range, there was no sight of any fleet.  Milton didn’t think that they had actually made a difference in the number of ships the Heliothropes possessed, despite having basically destroyed hundreds of them after their crews were killed.

“Here, I’m bringing it up,” Whisp continued.

Up on the viewscreen was something that surprised the Station Core, because it wasn’t a view of their relatively immediate surroundings.  By “relatively immediate” he meant the void of space they occupied and the dozen or so nearest star systems which could be – at least marginally – observed by Murder Station’s sensors.  Instead, it was a wider view of the entire lower quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy.

“What—oh.”

The view wasn’t looking through the normal filters of his long-range sensors, but of the special calibration and filter that was looking at the dimensional fabric that separated this dimension from all of the others.  He could pinpoint the station on the upper right part of the quadrant, near a very small pinprick of a reddish color that indicated the tear in the fabric they had created when they arrived, which was just about closed up.

On the lower left part of the quadrant, however, there was a pulsing red blob, ragged-looking and almost angry in appearance, like some sort of infected wound in the dimensional fabric.

“That’s where The Collective estimated the Heliothrope’s home systems were located, though they were never able to positively confirm that information,” ALANNA noted.

“Yes, but what exactly is that?  It’s a lot larger than the tear we create when we pass through.”

Whisp pushed a few things on the console, which zoomed into the angry red blob the sensors had detected in the dimensional fabric.  The fact that the sensors could detect a disturbance even at that distance proved how easily his station was found whenever they arrived in this dimension.

“I’m not really sure, but we’re working on the analysis now,” Whisp explained, and a few other members of the Think Tank were nearby, working furiously on their own consoles.  “Whatever it is, it’s at least 100 times larger than what we use to move this station through to other dimensions.”

The thought of its size sent figurative chills through Milton’s Station Core, because it reminded him of the warnings Whisp and ALANNA had delivered about using the trans-dimensional drive too often.  If it was bad opening up two holes next to each other, how bad was a hole in the fabric that was 100 times larger than what they created?

A few minutes went by as Milton stared at the red blob on the viewscreen, even as he internally looked at the information running through his Station Core systems, trying to work out what exactly they were looking at here.  Not having the knowledge to fully comprehend the data that was being interpreted by the sensors, he was at a loss to explain what was going on.

“Alright, I think we’ve come to a consensus, though of course this is all hypothetical; given our still relatively new knowledge of dimensional physics and its applications, that’s about the best we can achieve at this point,” Whisp finally said as she turned around to look at Milton.

“I’ll take whatever you’ve got, because this thing seems like bad news.”  He couldn’t explain it, but when he was looking at the large red tear in the fabric, all he could gather from it was a sense of impending doom.

“As well it should, because it could well end up destroying the entire dimensional barrier between this dimension and the dimension it drilled a hole into, like I’ve warned you about before.”

Well, that’s not ominous or anything.  “I can well believe that, but what is it?”

“It’s a tear in the dimensional fabric, obviously, but it’s also more than that,” Whisp started to explain.  “Whereas the tears we make using our drive are more like clean cuts made by a large scalpel that the dimensional fabric can easily repair over time, this thing is more like an infected wound caused by a dirty spike hammered into the barrier repeatedly until it bursts open.”

“Okay, I can follow that, especially given its size and shape, but what does that ultimately mean?”

The image on the screen paused for a second and then started to change as Whisp manipulated a few things on the console.  “I’ve made these projections based on what information we’ve been able to gather so far.  This infected wound won’t close on its own because it can’t be repaired from this end, and it will only grow as time goes on.”  On the viewscreen the red blob slowly started to expand, and text on the side of the screen showed 1 year, then 5 years, and then 10 years.  As “time” went on, the pace of the expansion sped up exponentially, so that within 100 years it had consumed almost the entire galaxy.

“As you can see, the wound will grow larger at a faster pace as the years go on, and anything that it touches will immediately be wiped out from existence.  We estimate that in about three centuries, it will have expanded enough to essentially destroy both dimensions; even worse, based on the research and information we’ve gained over the last few months, we don’t believe that the destruction will stop there.”

“What do you mean?”

ALANNA took over when Whisp paused uncomfortably before responding.  “What she’s trying to say, if I’m understanding their conclusions correctly, is that the failure of this particular dimensional fabric could have a cascading effect on all of the barriers separating the infinite number of dimensions out there.  While there are relatively few that are actually similar to our own dimension, with many of them like the traveling dimension where physics, space, and reality are basically abstract concepts there, if the barriers separating them were to fall….”

Whisp nodded.  “Yes, exactly.  It could wipe out not only this universe, but every universe and existence as it is known.  That would include the dimension where Proctus exists.”

So, they were looking at a potentially life-ending wound in the fabric of this dimension, which would wipe out the existence of every dimension out there.  No big deal, really.  Just another day in the life of Milton Frederick, Station Core and avid gamer.

He shook his head as he sat back down in the nearest chair, more than a bit overwhelmed.  “Who did this?”

ALANNA had the answer for that.  “Well, instead of someone using a scalpel to neatly cut a way through the dimensional barrier, someone brute-forced their way through.  Now, who do you think that could be, hmm?”

It was a stupid question, because obviously it couldn’t be anyone else but them.  “Why did the Heliothropes do this?  Actually, better question: how did they do this?”

“As for how, I can take some guesses, but it’s really not that important.  The more important part is that they are playing with things they don’t understand fully, but have more than enough resources to experiment, regardless.  It’s like a young Proctan just after receiving their ability looking upon those much more experienced than them and thinking they can do just as well, even when they don’t have the experience or Power available to them.”

It didn’t take Milton long to parse out what she was trying to say.  “So they saw what we’re doing and decided to try and replicate it?  Are you saying this is… my fault?”  He wasn’t intending to be harsh, but his voice couldn’t help but reflect the horror of the thought that he had caused this – all because he wanted to take over a station and had to use larger tears in the dimensional fabric to escape time and time again.

Whisp and the others shrank back at his tone, but ALANNA wasn’t having any of it.  “Yes, now get over it,” she said harshly, smacking his avatar on the back of the head hard enough that he nearly fell out of his chair.  “But you can’t blame yourself for what they did, because even we had no idea they would do something as dangerous as this.”

Even though pain wasn’t necessarily something that his synthetic avatar experienced or transmitted to his Station Core, Milton rubbed the back of his head as if trying to soothe away the blow from ALANNA.  It took him a few seconds to really let what his guide had said sink in, and he calmed down enough to apologize to those on the command bridge.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t blaming you; I was more angry at my selfish actions that caused all of this.  I’m the one that wanted to take control of a space station, because it was what my Core was designed for, and as a result it will end up with the destruction of existence as we know it.  That’s a bit much even for me to take.”

Whisp smiled at him, and Milton felt a little bit better knowing that he hadn’t just alienated his friends.  “Understandable, but don’t give up hope yet.  There are a couple of other things you need to know, and they have to do with your other question: why did they do this?  That one is a bit more straightforward, based on what we’ve learned about these Heliothropes.  With the galaxy conquered, there is nowhere else to go; traveling to another galaxy is possible, but even with the advancements they’ve made to their engines, allowing them to travel from one side of the galaxy to the other in less than a year – according to Trinket – the journey to another galaxy could take centuries.  Why go through all of that trouble when there is something else to conquer right next door?  Figuratively speaking, of course.”

“Great, so they’re not doing this because they are curious and experimenting, but to invade and conquer another dimension.  Wonderful.  And if they have as many ships as Trinket claims they do, then they are probably already invading, killing, and enslaving as we speak.  That really doesn’t help my disposition any, you know.”

Whisp giggled, which was an awkward response, but her next words explained it.  “Oh, you don’t have to worry too much about that.  The wound they created is so unstable that it is deadly to anything living going through its horizon, so they would all die instantly when going through.  Their ships would undoubtedly be fine, but any Heliothropes traveling there would be dead before they hit the other dimension.”

Now that was something he could revel in picturing.  He could well imagine a huge fleet of Heliothrope ships crossing through at the same time, intent on conquering the other dimension… but then they all died as they passed through the barrier’s wound, leaving empty ships on the other side.

Something occurred to Milton about what Whisp had said earlier.  “You said something about this ‘wound’ not being able to be closed from this side, I think – what did you mean by that?”

Whisp looked at the other members of the Think Tank in the command bridge as if seeking confirmation for what she was about to say.  As she turned around back to Milton, she said, “Well, we can almost guarantee there is no way to fix the damage done to this side of the fabric, but there might be one that we don’t know about; regardless, I wouldn’t count on it, because even if there was a way, we would probably have to get up close and personal with it to affect it.”

“Yeah, I think that would be suicide heading into the heart of Heliothrope territory, where millions of ships are probably swarming all over the wound,” ALANNA said as she crossed her arms over her chest with emphasis.  Milton agreed with her.

“But the other side… well, we think that we’ve been thinking of the fabric as one piece, but in actuality it is more like two.  Two membranes, I guess you could say, that surround each dimension.  When we cut through our membrane, the signature of the other dimension is like its location, pushing right up against our membrane, and we cut through that one as well.  It’s how we know where we’re going, rather than ending up somewhere randomly.”

“Okay, I think I can understand that.  It’s like 2-ply toilet paper – there’s 2 sheets instead of just 1.”

Whisp shrugged.  “I guess, even though I only have the vaguest idea of what you’re talking about,” she responded doubtfully.  “Anyway, this wound and its damage was done to our membrane, though something is keeping the other membrane attached to it, while also keeping it open and expanding along with it; the wound is using the undamaged other side as a sort of fuel to keep expanding, like wood for a fire.  If we were able to forcibly detach the membranes from each other, the undamaged dimensional fabric will begin to close, healing itself naturally.  Without fuel to keep expanding, it is our guess that the ‘infection’ will die out, allowing the wound to close naturally, as well.”

“That’s a lot of ‘somethings’, ‘ifs’, and ‘guesses’ there, but if that’s what we got, then I guess it’s something we’ll have to do,” Milton said with a grin, excited that there seemed to be a solution – if a far-fetched one.

ALANNA just shook her head in shame.  “That was weak, Milton, but you’re absolutely correct.  You caused this, even if unintentionally, so it’s time to go clean up your mess.”

Current Average-term Goal: Triage

- Travel to this other dimension

- Investigate and discover what is keeping the dimensional barriers attached

- Destroy this “something” and heal the wound created by the Heliothropes

Difficulty of Goal: Hard

Timeframe: 1 year

Rewards: Saving all of existence as you know it, +5 to Processing Speed/Agility, Processing Power/Intelligence, and Ingenuity/Wisdom

“We have been able to identify the dimensional signature of this other dimension from the wound, so we should be able to go in about an hour or so,” Whisp added.

“And using our drive won’t make things worse?”

The Proctan shrugged and shook her head at the same time.  “Maybe?  We honestly doubt that it will have any major effect on things, unless you do it repeatedly near the wound.  It should be fine for a one-off tear, however.”

“Alright, set a course for the traveling dimension, coming out in this new dimension we’re heading to; I want to be relatively close to the opening so we can get a good look at it and figure out how to detach them.”  He paused for a moment as he considered something.  “It might take a little bit longer than an hour, though, but we’ll leave as soon as possible.  I’ve got a little work to do first.”

With that, Milton started to convert a lot of the resources inside of his Molecular Converters into physical objects, filling up some sections of the command center and the ring where he needed to.  He might not be able to create everything before they really needed to leave, but he was determined to keep a hold of everything important.

After about 6 hours, he was fairly certain he’d created just about everything he could, and not wanting to wait any longer, he gave the order.

“Alright, let’s go figure out how to save… well… everything.  Let’s do it.”

Chapter 27

The journey through the traveling dimension was remarkably short, as the distance between their location and the area around the wound was relatively little.  Milton still wasn’t positive how Whisp, ALANNA, and the Think Tank were able to accurately calculate how long and in what direction they needed to travel in order to arrive at the destination, but in the end he supposed it didn’t matter.  Eventually, ALANNA was going to finish up the program she was designing to simply input galactic coordinates for a destination, but there were seemingly countless variables to consider and it wasn’t always accurate.  For now, manually calculating the route was the way to go, though it turned out that even that wasn’t enough to ensure their correct heading in a different dimension than their own.

As soon as they came out of the traveling dimension, an alert from his sensors immediately had Milton taking control of the engines and correcting their course.  The few seconds after transitioning through the dimensional tear were always a bit rough on the Proctans as well as Trinket, and he couldn’t afford to wait for them to recover and take control.

“This is going to be close!  Hang on to something, this is likely going to be a little rocky!” he shouted, and a second later it proved true as the entire station started to shake as it nearly tore itself apart.

“What *gasp* are you doing?” Whisp asked, holding on to her console as she tried to recover from the experience of traveling to another dimension.  It only took a brief look at the viewscreen in front of her for her to follow up her question with an, “Oh.  Never mind.”

Where they were supposed to arrive was in a void of space, no more than a day’s travel away from the area the fabric had been ripped open, but instead Milton found Murder Station racing toward a planet that was quickly growing closer by the second.  Knowing instinctively – and because he had a fairly good grasp on how long it took to stop the station once it was going full speed – that he would never be able to stop the station’s momentum in time to prevent them from crashing into the planet, he instead utilized the engines along the outside of the large structure to turn its headlong rush into the planet to a curving route around the outside.

However, the stress of trying to shift the momentum of such a large structure was immense, and Milton worried he was going to end up tearing the whole thing apart.  Thankfully, Whisp recovered enough to focus on her console over the next few seconds, and started to change a few things; rather than ask her what she was doing, he let the changes go through.  She was much better at this sort of thing and could work out complex course corrections faster than even he could, despite his incredible Processing Speed.

“This planar trajectory will work better if we don’t want to end up burning up in the atmosphere as we pass by, and it should bounce us off if we increase our speed,” she noted, and Milton could see ALANNA nodding in agreement next to him.  “However, there might be some damage, nonetheless.”

She was correct – there was some damage, though not as much as there would’ve been if she hadn’t made those course corrections.  Still, losing the bottom tip of the station – including 2 engine thrusters – when tearing across the upper atmosphere of the planet they nearly collided into, was a small price to pay for their survival.  The entire station had shaken badly with the maneuver, but fortunately no one had died – though most of the Combat Units waiting in the dungeon were floating around, as the thrusters used to maintain rotation had been commandeered to increase their speed, thus ending the gravity they normally enjoyed.

But they lived – that was all that mattered.

A quick check of the long-range sensors didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary in the vicinity – other than the fact that they weren’t exactly where they should’ve ended up when they arrived.

“What happened?”

Whisp and the Think Tank were already at their consoles, rapidly flipping through different screens in an effort to come up with an answer.  The reason for the miscalculation turned out not to be any of their faults, but because this dimension was more than a bit different from their own.

“The size of this universe, as far as I can tell, is probably only about 10% of the size of yours, Milton,” Whisp finally determined.  “Everything is skewed a bit, but I think we can compensate.”

A moment later, there was an image on the viewscreen, showing the dimensional “wound” at a distance away from their location, but it didn’t look nearly as angry and red as it did before.  The Proctan Think Tank explained that it was because it wasn’t “infected” like the other dimension, though it would continue growing larger as it was still attached to the wound.

“The smaller universe here means that the collapse of the dimensional fabric could occur even sooner than expected, because as soon as this one falls, it will take the other with it,” ALANNA warned.

“Fun.  So even less time than estimated.  I can work with that.”

The close call with the planet had caused some stress damage to many parts of the station, so while they moved to the location where the dimensional tear was growing larger, Milton looked at his resources to see that, for some reason, they were exactly as he had left them.  There wasn’t a lot left in his actual Molecular Converters, of course, because he had converted most of it to physical materials; nevertheless, it was strange.

Whisp thought that it could be because the wound was technically still open to the other dimension, so he still technically had access to what he had accumulated there.  Regardless, converting the material he had physically created before they left back into usable resources took little time, and repairs were under way at the same time.  He nearly stopped off at the same planet that they had nearly run into to acquire even more, but right now it was more important to see what could be done to stop all of existence from collapsing.

It took nearly 2 weeks of travel to arrive near the location of the dimensional wound, and during that time the station had been fully repaired – other than the pair of engine thrusters that had been lost on bottom as they were burnt off from hitting the atmosphere at tremendous speed.  Thankfully, he was able to recreate them using a mixture of resources and the blueprints in his system, though it required nearly all of his remaining Focusing Crystals in order to accomplish that.  Leaving them off would’ve been the more economical choice, but their progress was noticeably a lot slower without them, because they were two of the main thrusters that added stability to the entire station as they rocketed through space.

They didn’t have any star maps of this dimension, which meant that they had to go around another surprise star system on their way to their destination, and from what they had observed so far, none of the systems resembled any that were in his dimension.  For one, most systems they could see through their long-range sensors only had a single planet around each star, and all of them were capable of supporting life.  Secondly, there was no evidence of any space-faring civilizations, though that wasn’t surprising since quick sensor sweeps of the planets themselves showed no intelligent life.  Or at least nothing that they classified as intelligent life; there were strange beasts and other life forms, but there was no sign of any people – living aboveground, at least.

Lastly, and this was the strangest difference, was that all of the stars appeared exactly the same, as if they were all created at the same time.  In his dimension, there were all sorts of different kinds of stars like red supergiants or white dwarfs, neutrinos and stellar nebulas – all sorts of different stars depending on where they were on their life cycle.  Here, though, they were all yellow dwarf stars, very similar in appearance and size as the one he grew up with on Earth.

“We’re getting an adequate visual of the wound now,” Whisp informed him, which was a relief after their relatively long journey to their destination.  The ever-widening hole in the dimensional fabric was located outside of one of the aforementioned star systems, which – based on the models Whisp had whipped up to show the expansion of it in this dimension – would encompass the planet and star there in about a year.

Up on the viewscreen was a view of their objective, and as he had thought, there was evidence of debris all over the wound’s entrance; the ships that had come through the portal to another dimension had immediately had all of their people on board killed; and just like they did when the Heliothropes attacked his dungeon, the ships exploded.  It was essentially a ship’s graveyard with the scattered pieces of approximately 200 ships as far as could be determined, including one that appeared to have been much larger than the others – though there was very little of it left.  The pieces of most of the ships had either been flung so far out that from the explosions that they weren’t even visible anymore, or they had gone back through the wound.

“Was that—?”

“That’s the remains of a Commander ship,” Trinket said with awe as she looked at the viewscreen.  “I never thought I would see the day when one of them was destroyed.”

“Are those the 150-foot-tall Heliothropes?” Milton asked.  “There were a few records of them in the historical recordings, but they were rarely seen at that time. Most of the work was apparently done by the ones we’ve seen here in Murder Station’s dungeon.”

“Yes, that is what one of the Commanders looks like, or so my memory serves.  I only saw one from a distance when I was very young, but thankfully it was a very fleeting glance; the sheer menace radiating from it was enough to give me nightmares for years.”  Milton saw Trinket shiver as she was likely recalling the memory.

“Well, I for one am glad that it didn’t make it through unscathed, because we couldn’t handle something like that right now.”  They had enough trouble handling a single Elite; he couldn’t imagine trying to battle a 150-foot-tall Heliothrope.

Whisp brought something else up on the viewscreen as she turned toward Milton.  “There’s something else that I’m detecting here, though it’s difficult to make out exactly what it is.  Take a look.”

The filter on the screen suddenly shifted, so that he could plainly see the wound behind all of the ships’ debris – but that wasn’t all.  There was a faint series of lines that seemed to be coming off of the massive dimensional tear, almost imperceptible, and attached in a vague circle shape around the entire wound.  They flowed forward and came together, twisting up with each other and forming some kind of rope-like structure that shot out into the distance.

“You can’t tell what that is?” he asked.

She shook her head once, but she offered some hope.  “I’ve never seen something like that before or could even have imagined it before seeing it, but the purpose behind it is obvious.  It’s what is keeping the two membranes I was talking about before attached to each other.”

“And how is it doing that?  Where do these lines lead?”

A quick change of the viewpoint, to one that was more of a three-fourths perspective he recognized from many video games he’d played in the past, showed the rope of these lines leading straight into the star system nearby.  Zooming into the system, he could see that it was leading straight to the only planet there, where it stopped.  It was only when he was looking closer at the lines as the viewpoint was zoomed in that he realized the reddish glow of the dimensional lines was pulsing, as if it was pushing energy or something toward the wound in the distance.

“I have no idea what I’m looking at here,” he wasn’t ashamed to say.  None of this made any sense.

“It’s an anchor,” one of the Think Tank Proctans named Rhiole suddenly blurted out, which caused all of the others to crowd around Rhiole’s console.  It only took a minute or so before Whisp was back, acting as the spokesperson (as usual) for the band of Master Thinkers.

“Ok, so, we think we know what it is.”

“Go on.”

“Well, remember when I said that this wound was like a dirty spike hammered into the barrier to force its way through?  At the time, I thought that was just something I had used to explain what we were seeing, but it looks like I was at least partially right. However the Heliothropes did what they did, they seemed to shove something through the wound when they were opening it, like the spike I mentioned, and it seemed to seek out the nearest planet in order to ‘anchor’ itself.

“What you’re seeing in these pulses is some sort of energy siphoned from the planet, powering these lines that are keeping this dimensional membrane attached to the other membrane.  It’s actually quite ingenious and I’m curious as to how they accomplished all of this; dangerous, of course, but ingenious, nonetheless.”

What Milton got from that explanation was that this was what needed to be eliminated in order for the tear on this side to close.  “Can we cut those lines?  Or interrupt them somehow?”

Sadly, she shook her head.  “No, these lines are relatively intangible, and the only reason we can even see that they exist is through the filter on your sensors,” Whisp answered.  She then held up her hand, forestalling his next question.  “And before you ask, opening up another tear in the fabric with our own drive to somehow ‘cut the lines’ would likely be catastrophic, because the energy pulsing through them could strengthen the tear out of our control.  The result of that could finish the job the Heliothropes started in a few minutes, rather than years down the line.”

“So, what you’re saying is that would be bad.  Gotcha.  Therefore, we destroy this anchor, yes?”

“Exactly.  If we find and destroy this anchor, that should shut down the energy keeping the tear open.”

He had a thought.  “Won’t the anchor simply be destroyed once this thing expands to envelop this star system?”

That actually made Whisp and the others think about it for a moment.  “You make a good point, but for some reason I don’t think it will be that easy.  There’s every indication that the anchor can move on its own, given that it sought out the planet, so it could theoretically move away to find another planet once the one it’s inhabiting is destroyed.”

“Glorious.  A sentient anchor moving through the galaxy here, leapfrogging from planet to planet, keeping this thing open.  Sounds like we’ve got some destroying to do.”

But first… there was a small feast of resources waiting by the wound, just waiting for him to collect it all up.

Chapter 28

“Is that what I think it is?”

Milton looked down on the planet through the station’s sensors, his eyes as unbelieving as everyone else’s in the command bridge.  Whisp zoomed in the view to get a better vantage of the area they were looking at, and now there was no denying what was there.

People.  There were people on this planet, which was definitely a change from the rest of the planets they had seen so far in this dimension.  Also unlike the rest of the planets they had seen, there was a faint haze to the atmosphere that his sensors said wasn’t particulates or a strange weather pattern, but more like a visible force that encased the entire world.  It wasn’t a barrier, necessarily, but it was certainly something that made him scratch his head in confusion.  It also made detecting anything below on the planet difficult until they arrived in orbit, when the world opened up before them like a fog of war effect he’d seen in many RTS games[40] he’d played in the past.

On the planet below, most of the land seemed to be made up of forested areas, thick with trees and mountains, but there were also very delineated areas where it seemed civilization had taken hold.  There were a number of different areas filled with what appeared to be cities, towns, and villages, though from up in orbit it was hard to see more than that they existed.  There were also obvious roadways leading between all of these areas of population, though none of them were paved or were more than dirt tracks, and even from space he could see large dust clouds drifting up from behind large caravans.

As far as what the buildings in the habitations looked like, there were so many different kinds that it was difficult to pick a specific one.  The only thing he could tell for sure was that there weren’t any of what he would call “modern” Earth buildings like skyscrapers or sporting arenas, nor were there any “futuristic”-looking ones – though he wasn’t precisely sure what that would look like.  ALANNA, listening to his thoughts, sent him a few files to look at that showed what The Collective had possessed thousands of years ago, but he pushed those away as he concentrated on learning as much about this place as possible.

Apart from Proctus, this was the first alien planet that he’d been to that still had people living on it.  There had been a few planets they had visited in his own dimension during their journey through the galaxy that had remnants of civilizations, such as the Gardrevians who used to possess the space station he converted to his own purposes, but they had specifically stayed away from any concentrations of people.  It was safer that way; not for Milton and his friends, but for the people they encountered.

His view of the ground was obscured enough by this faint haze in the atmosphere that it was impossible to see any actual people moving about, but the fact that he could see caravans moving around told him that they must actually be there.

What do they look like?  Are they strange aliens like I’d see in some of those sci-fi movies?  Or are they similar in appearance to my own race, or like the Proctans, or anthropomorphized beasts like an intelligent Bearilla?

“That’s certainly what it looks like, Milton,” ALANNA said suddenly, answering the question he nearly forgot he asked.  “But that’s not why we’re here, is it?”

Her words made him break away from his fascination with the civilization he was seeing down below, instead turning toward the southern part of the continent where there were no obvious signs of people nearby.  By overlaying the filter that allowed them to see the dimensional energy coming from the rope of pulsing lines, they were able to see where it ended up.  Far to the south, in the middle of a huge forest that spanned for what looked like hundreds of miles in every direction, was where this anchor was located.

The problem was that it didn’t look like any kind of anchor he’d seen before.  Instead of the small object he was expecting, it was a massive structure that appeared to have been simply set down there, a dullish dark grey in appearance.  In fact, it almost looks like some sort of massive ship, so large that it would probably have trouble fitting inside Murder Station’s ring.  But where did it—

Trinket gasped out loud, pointing at the viewscreen with a trembling hand.  “That’s… that’s a Breeder Ship!” she whispered, as if afraid to say the name.

“What’s a Breeder Ship?” Whisp asked, beating Milton to the question.  He tried to think if he had seen anything like what was down on the planet in any of the historical records, but he couldn’t remember anything like that.  And if Whisp didn’t know, then it wasn’t likely in there anywhere.

It took almost a minute for Trinket to recover from whatever fright she had taken at the sight of the mysterious ship, but eventually she started talking.  “My mother told me about them when I was very young, before I came of age and was sent away for my first position as a slave.  I think I was 7 when I was sent to another station, and I only saw her once more after that….

“Anyway, my mother told me about these Breeder Ships, which were essentially massive fortresses that housed hundreds of thousands of the Mast—Heliothropes—and were generally regarded as impregnable and sacred.  No one could say what they actually were, because anyone who was sent to them were never heard of again, but rumor had it that these ships were the source of power for the Heliothropes.

“From what I know about them, which sadly isn’t much other than to fear them, there aren’t any actual Heliothrope children that have ever been seen; again, rumor said that the reason there are so many Heliothropes is because they are grown, not unlike how you create Combat Units or bring back the Proctans in your Bioconversion Labs.  I can’t say that is the truth for certain, but I do know that these Breeder Ships are some of the most protected in the entire galaxy – or at least, our galaxy.”

“If that’s true, then what is it doing here?” Milton asked.

But Whisp was already on top of that.  “They’ve already figured out how to bypass the unstable nature of the wound which kills everyone on board their ship.  If what Trinket says is true, there were at least a few Heliothropes in the process of being ‘grown’ as this Breeder Ship went through, so they were only alive after they were already here.  My assumption is that they are here to protect the anchor, and aren’t actually the anchor.  If these ships are so important, they have a lot riding on making sure the anchor stays in place, doing what it was made to do.”

There was silence on the command bridge after that as everyone considered Whisp’s words.  If this Breeder Ship really did contain a growing mass of Heliothropes, then it was imperative that they start the process of destroying the anchor as quickly as possible, before the threat of the Heliothropes became too much to handle.

Rhiole suddenly spoke up.  “I was wrong; it’s not an anchor,” she blurted out, which caught everyone’s attention in the relative silence.  “Or at least, not just an anchor,” she explained, throwing up another view of the solar system and the dimensional wound.  “I was just thinking why they needed the anchor in the first place if they weren’t able to come through in any great numbers, and figured that they just didn’t know what they were doing and made a mistake.  However, looking at these lines, these ‘threads’ that are pumping some sort of energy to the wound, I realized something else.”

“They’re not just keeping the dimensional fabrics attached, are they?” Whisp asked in obvious horror.  Milton was lost, however.

“No, they are not,” Rhiole agreed.  “I think we’ve underestimated these Heliothropes because they act like vicious brutes and want to kill or enslave everyone, but they obviously aren’t unintelligent.  Or else they have enslaved the greatest minds in the galaxy to do their thinking for them.  I don’t really think it matters at this point, however.”

“Alright, what are you talking about?” Milton finally asked.

Whisp took over the explanation, now that she was looking at the same thing Rhiole had noticed.  “This isn’t just an anchor, though that’s the purpose it is serving right now.  It’s also a… stabilizer of sorts, which will eventually be able to stabilize the wound, keep it from expanding, and create a permanent portal between these two dimensions.”

“But I thought you said it wasn’t possible to fix the ‘infection’ in the wound?”

“That I did, and I was essentially correct; there is no way to fix it from your dimension,” Whisp answered.  “However, it can likely be contained so that it doesn’t rage out of control from this dimension.  Think of this anchor and stabilizer as creating a kind of semi-permanent suture along the edges of the wound, keeping it from growing any larger; at the same time, as the infection is halted, the deadly nature of the passage through to this dimension is negated, allowing for millions of ships to pass through with their crews intact.”

Milton was silent along with the rest of the others on the bridge.  Thinking about the Heliothropes, it appeared as though they missed a step in the whole “traveling to other dimensions” thing.  Instead of sending a few ships through at a time, individually, which they probably didn’t know how to do, they went all out on their endeavor to conquer more civilizations by devising a way to create a permanent portal to another dimension.

It was, frankly, frightening in a way Milton had never experienced before.

“Does this mean they are probably opening up these wounds to multiple dimensions right now, with the aim to conquer every single one they can get into?” Brint asked, which was something that the Station Core hadn’t even thought about.

Thankfully, Whisp calmed those fears.  “Doubtful.  Having a single one of these open is dangerous enough, and I doubt even the Heliothropes would be ignorant enough to try opening another one at the same time.  At least I hope so; if they do attempt it, I doubt we would even know as they destroyed everything in existence.”

“Well that’s one thing we don’t have to worry about.”  Milton was relieved that this wasn’t happening in multiple dimensions; just this one instance was bad enough.  “How long do we have until the wound is stable?”  That would give them a timeline in which they had to destroy the anchor, because if millions of ships suddenly poured through the newly stabilized dimensional portal, there was no chance he and his friends would be able to stop them.  At that point, the dimension would fall to the Heliothropes as they spread through this entire galaxy and perhaps beyond, if the galaxies were close enough to each other to make travel feasible.

While it sounded as though stabilizing the wound would stop the expansion from destroying all of existence, which was a good thing, Milton now felt responsible for what happened to the people in this dimension.  If it hadn’t been for his arrival and using the trans-dimensional drive, this entire dimension wouldn’t be in danger of being conquered.  He already felt a little bit bad about not being able to help The Collective all those years ago after he was turned into a Station Core, even if it wasn’t technically his responsibility; he would be darned if he didn’t do everything he could to stop another civilization from suffering the same fate.

“It’s hard to tell exactly,” Rhiole answered.  “Judging by the minute slowdown of the expansion since we’ve arrived here, it could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few decades.  However, my best guess is that it will be at least a month before we have to worry about the wound stabilizing enough to allow populated ships to pass through it.”

Current Average-term Goal: Triage

- Travel to this other dimension – Complete!

- Investigate and discover what is keeping the dimensional barriers attached – Complete!

- Destroy the Stabilizing Anchor to prevent the Heliothropes from invading en masse

Difficulty of Goal: Very Hard

Timeframe: 30 days

Rewards: Saving a different dimension from a scourge of Heliothropes, +5 to Processing Speed/Agility, Processing Power/Intelligence, and Ingenuity/Wisdom

Milton’s quest/goal updated to reflect all of this new information, including a shorter timeline.  Now he just had to figure out how to destroy the Stabilizing Anchor the quest mentioned – which was easier said than done.

Now that they had a better idea of what needed to be accomplished, Milton turned his attention to the Breeder Ship and where the Stabilizing Anchor was located.  According to where the dimensional strings of energy were originating, the Anchor appeared to be either right under or near the massive Heliothrope ship.

“How are we supposed to destroy that thing?  It’s not like I can bombard the planet from space. If the Breeder Ship is as powerful as you made it sound, Trinket,” Milton said as he nodded toward the Mouslan, “then that would be futile; moreover, it could cause some sort of retribution – which our station cannot handle.  Besides, all of the weapons that had been on the Battlecruiser were eliminated so as not to present a threat to the Heliothrope ships that were assaulting the dungeon, so that idea is out anyway.”

“Well, we could just go down and—” Brint suggested, but ALANNA cut him off.

“With what?  All told, you have a single shuttle that can land down there, which can hold a few groups of Proctans, perhaps, but if they have an Elite down there already?  They’d be slaughtered.  We also can’t exactly park the station down there and unleash everything inside the ring, because it isn’t designed for atmospheric travel and will burn up if we attempt to land, even taking things slow.  Not only that, but the gravity when near the surface will start ripping the ring off of the connecting supports, as well as a whole host of other issues.”

It was a bit harsher than Milton would’ve said it, but she was right.  Murder Station had to stay up in orbit, but that didn’t leave them a lot of options.  If he had enough resources to create a Space Transport Dock on the station and then create a few transport ships, he might be able to move down some larger Combat Units to throw at the Heliothropes, but even then, they might be blown out of the sky as they tried to descend anywhere near the Breeder Ship.

Milton knew that sort of thing wouldn’t work, even if he had the resources to play with, because they were too outmatched by the Heliothrope ship to attempt an airborne assault.  A ground assault might be possible, but constantly ferrying people down to the ground from the station also left open the possibility that the shuttle would be shot down – unless they landed a long way away and then marched over land to get to where the Stabilizing Anchor was located.

Then again, there was another possibility.  If he didn’t want to risk the constant ferrying of Proctans and Combat Units from the station to the ground below, he could always set up a base of some kind, where he could acquire resources and then build up a force on the planet rather than up on the Station.  But in order to do that, he’d probably have to get permission from the locals, because the last thing he wanted to do was to have it appear as if he was invading and be attacked by those who didn’t know he was ultimately there to help them.

Out of all of the options, after discussing it with ALANNA, Brint, Trinket, Whisp, and the rest of the Think Tank, the last option seemed like the one most likely to succeed – because it was ultimately a lot safer.  It would take a bit longer, naturally, but he’d rather play it a little safe rather than lose days or weeks of effort in an attack that wasn’t successful and have to start from scratch afterwards.

Besides, Milton thought that it was always possible that the locals might even be able to help.  In order to discover whether that was a possibility, as well as to hopefully get permission to set up some sort of base, Milton put together an expedition – with himself included – down to the surface.  North of the Breeder Ship and Anchor’s location, there were 4 large areas surrounded and separated by forest, from space looking almost like a Four Square court on a playground.  However, in the middle of the quartet of cleared areas was a spot where all four corners met in a lush-looking area; in the center of that area was a city unlike any of the others he could observe from up above.

It was a city that had large buildings, larger than many others he could see elsewhere, though it wasn’t made of wood; instead, the entire thing – including the wide circular base of the city – seemed to be made of stone and glass.  “That place looks like the one in charge of the region should be there, so I think we’ll try that first.  If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to expand further out.”

Without anything better to go on, Milton made ready to leave.

Chapter 29

Milton descended through the atmosphere in Murder Station’s only shuttle, his avatar joined by Micke and his group as the Station Core stayed both out of range and as much out of line-of-sight as possible of the Breeder Ship to the far south.  Coming in at an angle from the far north was Whisp’s idea, so that the shuttle would be largely out of view from the Heliothropes, though it was more than likely they already knew Murder Station was sitting in orbit.

It was a bit large to try to hide something like that.

Regardless, neither the station’s presence nor the shuttle seemed to raise the ire of the Heliothropes on the Breeder Ship, which he took as a good sign.  He thought they were likely still building up their forces or they were intent on staying near the Stabilizing Anchor; either way, their non-reaction to Milton’s presence was a welcome sight.

Soon enough, the shuttle passed through the upper layer of haze that covered the planet—

—and it was as if a set of curtains opened up and let in the sunshine.  A barrage of information that had previously been blocked was fed into the shuttle’s sensors and consequently into his own mind.  Milton was momentarily overwhelmed and had to stop the shuttle while they were still descending into the atmosphere, mainly so that he could look at all of the data being picked up by the sensors.

“We’re processing it all as well, Milton,” he heard in his mind as ALANNA relayed that the station was also seeing what he was seeing.

It took nearly a half hour of parsing through and defining what was being detected, and it was like nothing he had expected.

“What is all of this?” he finally asked when they seemed to be slowing down.  The frantic pace at which ALANNA, Whisp, and the Think Tank assessed the information was amazing – all because they loved what they did.  Discovering new things, gaining new knowledge; they were reveling in all they had learned over the last few months.

The “this” he was referring to was what seemed like bright emanations coming from the planet below, concentrated in specific areas that originated underground.  Looking at the overall areas, these emanations appeared to be concentrated in the forest borders of the lands they were flying over, though there were a very few outliers.  It was hard to tell more than that at first, though, because the bright energy coming from these places seemed to saturate everything blocking out most of what the sensors could pick up.

Eventually, as Whisp and the others applied various filters to the sensors, a few things became obvious.  First, the energy emanations he was seeing that came from a few specific areas were in fact permeating every little part of the world, from the land, the oceans, and the air.  Secondly, there were two types of energy his sensors were picking up, though they were difficult to differentiate at first.  The first type seemed to be largely concentrated in the populated cities, towns, and villages, as well as the people he was finally able to make out walking around – which he would look more closely at later.

The second type, however, he immediately felt drawn to for some inexplicable reason.  This energy was everywhere like the first, but it was concentrated belowground; the largest concentrations were so bright that they looked like buried energy reactors of some kind, though there was definitely a noticeable difference between them all.  If he had to put what he was feeling about the energy concentrated in those energy reactors, he would say that every concentrated spot had a different… taste to it.  Again, the feeling was inexplicable, but it was there.

Each of these underground concentrations also appeared to have a large bubble around them of the same “flavor”, like some sort of boundary; this bubble was relatively dim in comparison to the reactors, like they were showing how far the energy being created could reach or something.  Underground and surrounding the reactors, however, the energy was much more concentrated; while his sensors could theoretically penetrate a few hundred feet through solid ground, they were having trouble seeing more than a few feet on this planet.  However, by detecting these energy emanations, he was able to see what appeared to be rooms separated by tunnels, like some sort of secret underground bunker.

“We’re not exactly sure what we’re seeing, but from what little information we can gather, this is some sort of energy that is part of the nature of this world,” Whisp responded on the command bridge, trying to answer his question.  “It’s unlike any type of energy either we or The Collective has seen before, though it is very similar to something we’re very familiar with.”

He suddenly knew exactly what she was talking about.  “Power.”

His sensor orbs back on Murder Station saw her nod.  “Exactly.  What that means, well, we’re not exactly sure.”

For once, Milton was almost certain he knew more about this world than anyone part of the Think Tank.  His suspicions were confirmed as he looked down below at some people that were emerging from one of the entrances of the secret underground bunkers, their appearance almost immediately recognizable.

An Elf.

A Gnome.

A Dwarf.

And an Orc, of all people.  All of them dressed and armed like fantasy characters from an RPG.

But no Humans.  It was possible that they existed elsewhere on the planet, and Milton was tempted to go looking for them, but he had a task to do first.  A task that might be a little bit easier now that he suspected the nature of what he was looking at.

That wasn’t a secret underground bunker with a reactor.  No, that was a dungeon, and the people that came out of the dungeon were some sort of adventurers, or whatever they were called here.  He’d played entirely too many games in the past, many of which he would count as his favorites of all time, to mistake what he was looking at.  As his sensors also picked out fearsome-looking monsters prowling through the deeper forests, that only cemented his belief that he was looking at some sort of medieval fantasy world, filled with monsters, dungeons, adventurers, and – presumably – magic.

As he zoomed in on the group of diverse races that had emerged from the dungeon, that presumption was confirmed when he saw the Elf point toward the Orc, and the energy that infused her dimmed a tiny bit as it was transferred to the green-skinned warrior.  It was hard to tell exactly what it did from his distance, but he would bet anything that the Orc had just been healed.  He’d seen enough of that type of thing from the Proctans to recognize what was going on – and so had everyone on the command bridge.

“Well, that confirms it.  They have Power of some kind here, just like we do.  Did another Station Core crash-land here?” Whisp asked.

He immediately started to say no, but ALANNA beat him to the punch.  “No, there aren’t any Zero-point Energy signatures anywhere on the planet.  This world, this dimension perhaps, contains energy in the form of what Milton would probably call mana or magic.  And yes, I can hear your inner self squealing like a crazed fanboy right now, but you need to focus, Milton.”

There was no point in denying what she said, because it was true.  What was even better, Milton had a relatively good idea what the “reactors” in the dungeons were: Dungeon Cores.  According to quite a few books he’d read in the past, as well as the games he’d played, there was a sentient Core controlling the dungeons that adventurers delved through, creating the rooms, traps, and monsters that were designed to protect them from greedy invaders.  It was actually quite familiar; he had done the same as a Station Core, after all, just like the Dungeon Cores did down on this planet.

Looking at the area where the large city made of stone and glass was located, he could see that there was a very large dungeon and subsequent Dungeon Core underneath it, which was very unusual in comparison to the rest of the land.  Most of the other dungeons were away from habitations, as if they were dangerous – which they were, if his history with books and games had anything to say.  But there was something much different with this dungeon, and it wasn’t just its location.

Looking closer at it, and with some alterations with the filters, he could see that there were people moving around inside of the dungeon – and they weren’t adventurers delving through it, challenging its depths.  While he couldn’t actually see anything but the energy they emanated, the people appeared to be working or leisurely walking around, and even leaving the dungeon from one of the various entrances.  At first, having just come from a dimension where the Heliothropes had enslaved everyone, he thought that might be the situation here; after watching for nearly an hour, however, it almost appeared to be a harmonious relationship between the people and the dungeon, and subsequently the Dungeon Core.

It was possible that all of the Dungeon Cores in this world could think, reason, and work with the people near them, though for some reason he doubted that.  If that was the case, then he would probably see more than just this one habitation near the other dungeons, which just wasn’t so.  Even more than that, the stone and glass city itself had a glow about it that told him that it might have even been created by the Dungeon Core’s energy.

“That’s it; that’s our way in.”  Milton thought that if he could somehow gain permission from these people and the Dungeon Core to set up some Labs and Facilities nearby, and potentially gain their help, then he could definitely see the destruction of the Stabilizing Anchor as a sure thing.  While he wasn’t exactly sure how powerful these people down there were in comparison to the Proctans with him, any help from them to help protect not only their world but their dimension would be extremely appreciated.

Knowing that dropping down in the middle of the city – or even relatively near it – would probably be a bad idea (too many alien invasion movies and the reactions of the people below made that a no-no), Milton brought the shuttle down until he spotted what appeared to be a very small clearing in the forest to the north of the stone city.  It only took about a minute or so to maneuver the vehicle so that it fit in between the trees—barely—and settled down onto the grass and foliage below.

“This place looks odd,” Micke said.  “Too much green.”

Milton forgot that Micke and his group hadn’t been part of the few expeditions down to the surface of a planet when they first got back to Milton’s dimension, and the sight of green plants and trees was probably a bit disconcerting.  Back on Proctus, there were green plants, of course, but the vast majority of trees and other foliage had been in various shades of blue and purple.

To the Station Core, however, it was like being home.  He hadn’t realized how much he had missed the green trees of Earth, which these ones appeared very similar to, if not identical.  How does something like that work?  Having the same plants as Earth is a crazy coincidence.

As he opened up the back hatch of the shuttle, he suddenly worried that it might not be safe for the Proctans to breathe; just because they also breathed oxygen like most of the species in his own dimension didn’t mean that those in this other dimension did.  Thankfully, the first full breath of air wafting into the shuttle after opening it up was perfectly fine, and he heard sighs of relief from the others.

“I’ll take too much green any day; it’s amazing being on a planet instead of that blasted station,” Fendle said, before he backtracked a bit.  “Not that it isn’t a great place to live, of course.”

“Of course.”  Milton chuckled.  “But I know exactly what you mean; Murder Station can be a bit sterile and artificial.  Eventually, I’d like to recreate as much about being on a planet as possible, so that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.  Unfortunately, I’ll need a lot more resources for that, as well as time.”

They walked out of the shuttle and took a deep breath as they looked around, their eyes squinting against the sun beating down through the nearby trees.  Proctus had a much dimmer sun than the one shining on this planet, but these Proctans also had enough stats in Constitution and Perception to manage even with the brighter light.

“The city is located in that direction,” Milton said as he pointed off toward where the sensors on the shuttle and the station above told him his destination was in relation to his current location.  “For now, I’m going to only take two of you so as not to scare the locals; the rest of you can stay here and protect the shuttle, though you can look around if you want.  I have Whisp and the others monitoring the shuttle’s sensors, so if they see someone or something coming, they’ll let me – and by extension, you – know.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?” Fendle asked.

“Absolutely sure?  No, but if Micke and Phyra can’t handle anything we come up against, then I’d rather have the rest of you here to get that shuttle back to the station. We can all be recreated; but that shuttle is currently our only means to get down to the surface.”  The strangeness of telling people they could be recreated had lost its awkwardness a long time ago, and Fendle, Trond, and Pilora all nodded in agreement.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Micke clanked a little as they traveled through the forest, seeing very little other than small wildlife on their journey.  The group tank was on the lookout for anything more dangerous, while Milton was on the lookout for any blood-thirsty squirrels, and Phyra was ready to strike a match for access to manipulating fire at a split-second’s notice.  She could also manipulate the dirt beneath the trees if it came down to it, but she was more comfortable with simply burning things.

The trip took less than an hour because they were at a quick jog most of the time, which his synthetic avatar could maintain indefinitely.  Micke and Phyra both had much higher Agility stats, which would allow them to move faster, but they were there to protect him – so they jogged alongside Milton as they made their way closer to the stone city and the Dungeon Core beneath it.

There was an almost visible demarcation as the land around them changed, as the forest they had been running through turned into a different forest – but this one seemed new somehow.  As if it had just been grown, and he was reminded of some of his dungeon rooms back on Proctus where he had included trees that had been fast-growing; this felt much like that, though subtly different.

The trees and plants (and even the dirt), when he looked at them with the sensors that were integrated into his avatar’s eyes, had a faint glow around them that matched the dungeon and Core below, as if they were created inside, using whatever energy permeated the dungeon, and then somehow were all transplanted up here.  If that was the case, then a lot of work had gone into creating this artificial forest, filled with trees, grasses, and a myriad of flowers.

Finally, they arrived at a cleared area around the stone city, and Milton slowed his walk.  “Alright, just follow my lead,” he said softly to Micke and Phyra.  “Due to the distance from my Station Core and the haze covering the planet, I might or might not be able to transmit the translations to your NCUs once I’m able to decipher the language, but do your best to be as non-threatening as possible.  Remember,” he warned them, “we come in peace; we’re ultimately here to help them, not get into a fight.”

“Which I’m sure we’d win.”

He shook his head slightly at Micke as they started to approach what appeared to be the front entrance of the large stone city, which was fairly glowing with energy.  Some of it was the Dungeon Core-based energy he recognized, but the rest was very similar to what was observed in the people of this world.  That was a very reassuring sight, as it meant that the two different entities – the Core and the people – had worked together to build this city.  Perhaps they would be receptive to working with him and his people to save the entire world.  “Don’t get cocky, Micke.  Until you know for sure, always treat unknown players as better than you, so you don’t get overconfident and lose because you make a stupid mistake; that’s a rule I always tried to follow during every matchup, every quest, and every dungeon I ever participated in, and it served me well.”

Micke grunted, but Milton could tell he had listened to him, at least in part.  His and Phyra’s expressions appeared bored as they approached the gap in the wall that led inside of the surprisingly magnificent city.  While it wasn’t all one piece of stone shaped into the semblance of a city, there was certainly something making it appear that way.  He was reminded of some of the enchantments that Whisp and other Enchanter-type Proctans had been able to perform on different materials, though this was on a whole other level.

Before they were within 50 feet of the entrance, multiple groups of people blocked the way inside, looking not particularly happy to see them.  It was hard to tell how receptive the Orcs he saw were – which were a lot taller in person than he expected – because their expressions seemed to be affixed in a perpetual scowl, but the Dwarves, Gnomes, and Elves (squee!) definitely had expressions that ranged from annoyed to outright hostile.  I guess that judging people by their facial expressions is multi-dimensional.

Nearly all of the Dwarves had some sort of armor in subtly different colors covering their bodies from head to toe, crafted exquisitely by what was likely a master artisan, and they put the armor Micke was wearing to shame.  All of them also carried a wicked-looking battleaxe over their shoulder and a shield on their left arm, and they appeared quite adept at defending themselves in a fight.  Despite their smaller size than the Orcs and Elves, they were quite stocky and appeared strong, given that they were probably a head taller than a Mouslan.

The Gnomes, however, were probably as tall as Trinket, or perhaps a little shorter.  The ones he saw were dressed in either leathers or in loose clothes, as if some were dressing down because they were in the city, but that didn’t make them appear any less capable.  There was a subtle air around them that indicated that they were dangerous, though until he had trouble looking at the leather-wearing Gnomes, he wasn’t sure what it was.  There was definitely some sort of effect – magical or otherwise – that was trying to convince his eyes to look away, but thankfully his sensors weren’t fooled into doing that.

All of the tall, dark-green-skinned Orcs were wearing a combination of sparse leather and metal armor, only covering their vital organs, private parts, and occasionally their arms.  They carried a variety of different weapons, from swords to warhammers to more exotic weapons like something resembling a polearm, and it wasn’t immediately evident why there was a difference in weapon choice.  The only thing he could tell was that they all looked deadly in their casual handling of their weapons.

Lastly, the Elves were either as tall or taller than the Orcs, and Milton was enamored at their pointed ears sticking out from their long hair, which came in a variety of exotic colors.  Some of them wore short robes, while others wore an outfit that he could only describe as hunting leathers.  The ones in robes either carried staves or nothing at all, but it was entirely possible that their hands were their weapons.  It was almost alarmingly obvious that these robed Elves were some sort of spell-casters, while the hunting-leather Elves were holding bows – so, some sort of archer or hunter.

What stood out the most about everyone that lined up to block access to the city was a concentration of energy attached to each person, though in different places.  Some had these strange-looking gems embedded in their palms, while the majority of them had a piece of jewelry, like a necklace, that contained a similar-looking gem – though in a variety of different colors.  The strangest part of these gems, however, was that all of them seemed to be a mixture of the “magical” energy of the people that he’d seen and the energy that he associated with Dungeon Cores.  It was a mystery, but not one he was going to solve right now – especially when being confronted by an angry mob.

As soon as one of the Dwarves – who was the only one present not covered in armor –began talking to him, he immediately stopped walking, followed by Micke and Phyra at his sides.  It took a few questions from the angry-sounding Dwarf for his Communication/Charisma stat to kick in and translate the words, though it was probably because he was hearing a few different languages as people were talking amongst themselves behind the spokes-Dwarf.

The first thing he noticed was that the language the Dwarf was speaking was not the same as what a few Dwarves further back were speaking, which took him a second to understand.  When he did, he nearly smiled but kept his expression friendly and relatively neutral when all he wanted to do was jump for joy.

They obviously recognized him, or at least the race he was most closely resembling, and chose to speak that language… which was probably whatever the Humans spoke on this world.  There are Humans here on this planet!  Since he hadn’t seen any around this area, either from up above or currently, it was likely that Humans weren’t particularly favored around these parts.  Therefore, instead of speaking the Human language that this Dwarf was, well, attempting to speak, he decided to speak in the language he overheard from a few Dwarves behind this fellow.

The Dwarf spoke one more time in barely comprehensible Human, saying, “I’ll ask one more time; answer, or we will forcibly remove you.  What do you want?”

“I would like to meet with whoever is in charge of the dungeon down below,” Milton said in Dwarven, which caused no little tightening of grips on weapons and shifting from those behind the spokes-Dwarf.

Hmm… this could be more complicated than I anticipated.  It seems as though this might be some sort of secret – either on these people’s part, the Core’s, or both.

Milton knew he had to play it carefully here, or else he might have to rebuild his avatar soon.

Chapter 30

“Dungeon?  I don’t know what you are talking about.”  The Dwarf not wearing armor said quickly as he crossed his arms across his chest.

I guess there’s no choice but to lay all my cards on the table.

“All deflections aside, I’m well aware that there is a Dungeon Core underneath this area, and I came looking for an introduction instead of barging in.  I’m well aware of how stupid that would be, and while I’m sure my friends might be able to handle themselves, I really don’t want to be de—killed,” Milton said, correcting what he was going to say at the last moment.  While he really didn’t want to be killed, death wasn’t permanent for his avatar.

He could always make another one.

Before anyone could respond to that, Milton suddenly had a feeling that he was being watched – and it wasn’t any of the people assembled outside of the city entrance.  It took him less than a second to identify where the sense of being observed was coming from, and he looked up to find a pair of scissors floating 150 feet above his avatar’s head.  Or, those might be a pair of shears based on the length alone.  Regardless of what it was, the watched feeling was coming right from the strange, floating, cutting object above.  Some intuition told him that this pair of shears might act similar to his sensor orbs, and it was likely the Dungeon Core was watching him right now.

“Don’t worry, I don’t mean you any harm,” he blurted out while looking at the floating shears.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that doesn’t assure most people,” ALANNA said to him, but he ignored that.

There was a sudden commotion among some of the angry people and Milton overheard some protests, though they weren’t directed toward him and his Proctan guards.

“What?  Are you sure?”

“That’s not a good idea; this is a Human, after all.”

“If he tries anything funny, I’ll split him in half.”

Milton pretended like he didn’t hear any of that, but he was pleased when he was told to follow the Dwarf and what appeared to be his group, heading off to one of the dungeon entrances.  Instead of one of the smaller entrances that his sensors had already identified, he was led to the much larger entrance; it was so large that it reminded him a little of his own dungeon entrance on Murder Station.

The trip there didn’t take overly long, though it felt like an eternity with all of the distrustful looks sent his way from those leading him there.  Milton ignored them as much as he could, and Micke and Phyra kept their bored expressions on their faces as they flanked him; half of their expressions came from the fact that he hadn’t shared the translations with them quite yet, despite discovering that he could.  Because of some of the disparaging remarks these people had made, he didn’t want them reacting poorly.

The entrance of the dungeon fairly radiated energy that he could see with his sensors, to the point where he needed to start filtering out most of it because it was both distracting and blinding.  As he walked toward it he did just this, and was shocked at what was revealed.

The first thing he saw were massive metal men standing at least 100 feet tall, made entirely of what appeared to be steel.  They were relatively “blocky”-looking and plain, as if they had walked right out of a sandbox block-building game that had been so popular back on Earth, but it was their size that was the most impressive part about them – they were certainly imposing.

Then there were some 20-foot-tall person-shaped forms; through a few gaps in the metal armor that covered their metal forms, he could see that they were made from some sort of strange clockwork mechanism.  Their right hands held a long sword that was held straight up in front of them at the ready, as well as a shield strapped to their left arm.  Along their backs were large metal boxes that looked like some sort of odd backpack, but he wasn’t exactly sure what they were supposed to be.

In front of those 20-foot-tall metal people, there were a few of what he could only classify as 10-foot-tall knights.  They were much more defined than the other two types of metal forms he saw, but aside from that, they were relatively unremarkable – except that they weren’t.  They radiated so much more energy than even the 100-foot-tall monstrosities, including the same energy that the people escorting Milton and his friends seemed to be full of.  It was quite confusing, but a lot of what he had learned about this planet was at least a little confusing.

Aside from those obvious metal defenders, his muted sensors also noticed large blobs of Dungeon Core-based energy lined up across the threshold of the entrance.  It didn’t take him more than a second to work out that they were likely some sort of defensive traps created to keep anyone out of the dungeon, and he knew that it would be foolish to try stepping across that line.

All of that he took in within a second or two, but it was what they were actually guarding that took his breath away.

Seated on a grand throne made of some sort of local stone, was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.  And she wasn’t a Dwarf, Gnome, Orc, or even an Elf, who he couldn’t help but notice were as gorgeous as most of the depictions of them in media made them seen; no, she was Human.  Long black hair framed a perfectly symmetrical face, with lips pursed in a disapproving-yet-intrigued smirk, and she was dressed in a tight-fitting leather and cloth dress with accompanying thigh-high boots.  Her legs were crossed and her arms were sitting on the throne’s armrests, so it was hard to tell how tall she was, but Milton estimated that she was probably on the tall side – and probably taller than his own avatar.

He was so shocked at seeing a Human woman seated so regally instead of what he imagined a Dungeon Core would look like that he literally missed a step, tripping over basically nothing on the ground outside of the dungeon.  Thankfully, his avatar’s heightened reflexes were greater than his old Human body’s back on Earth, otherwise he would’ve fallen face-first in the dirt.

That certainly wouldn’t give the best first impression to a prospective ally.  Especially one that practically radiated Dungeon Core energy that even with his dampened sensors filtering most of it out, she still glowed like some sort of divine being.  Maybe she is a divine being?

“Keep it in your pants there, Milton,” ALANNA mentally acknowledged.  “And stop staring like a teenage boy getting his first look at a naked woman; it’s unbecoming and not something you can afford to focus on right now.  Don’t giggle, either, because I can sense you wanting to.”

Milton straightened himself up and tried to school the expression on his face, but chuckling from his two “defenders” and ALANNA’s words created some heat in his cheeks.  This avatar can blush?  How did I not know that?

As he walked up to the entrance and stopped just short of the threshold, he recovered and pushed his embarrassment back down.  You heard her; stop acting like you’re 14 and you’ve just discovered some inappropriate sites on the internet.  At the thought of how he must look, Milton tried to project a sense of maturity and confidence; it actually wasn’t that hard, considering that he was technically nearly 5,000 years old, even if he had only been awake for less than 200 of those years.

“Welcome,” the woman on the throne said imperiously, and Milton couldn’t help but be enamored by her voice as much as her appearance.  It was a commanding tone mixed with a shred of innocence that he instantly recognized – because he heard it in his own voice enough to know it when he heard it.  “I overheard that you were looking for me?”

As he had thought, this woman—Dungeon Core—was listening to him speak through those flying shears.

“I was!” he said excitedly.  Too excitedly, he realized, so he brought his excitement down a notch or ten.  “Well, not you precisely, because I had no idea who was in charge of the dungeon here, but I have to admit that I’m surprised at your appearance.  I was expecting something more along the lines of… well….”  He tried to pantomime a shape of some sort of large orb or crystal, which was typically what was depicted as the heart of a dungeon.

It suddenly occurred to him that he might have just offended her, which was the last thing he wanted.  “I apologize—that was rude of me.  I guess it really doesn’t matter what you look like.  Anyway, before I get down to business, is there a name I can call you?”

There was a bit of impatience in her voice when she answered.  “You may call me Sandra—because that’s my name.”

Milton nodded, thinking that was a rather pretty name.  “Yes, that makes sense, I guess.”  For some reason, he was getting more than a bit nervous looking at this woman staring down at him.  Scratching the back of his head, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.  “Anyway, I’ve been looking for someone like you.”

That was not exactly what he meant to say, but there was no way to take it back.  “Um… what do you mean by that?” she asked, shrinking back on her throne a bit.  She didn’t necessarily look scared; it was more like she was preparing to defend herself.  “Are you here to try to kill me?”

What?  Oh geez, I’m making a mess of things.  He waved his hands back and forth in what he hoped conveyed denial; for all he knew, in this dimension it was a threatening gesture.  “Oh, no—nothing like that!  Actually, I’m here with a proposal for you.”

Great; that sounded equally bad… and creepy.

Sandra looked confused as she continued to stare at him, before she narrowed her eyes as if seeing something for the first time.  “A proposal?  What is this all about?  Who—no, what are you?”

She’s more observant than I thought.  I wonder if she recognizes a fellow Core?  Milton couldn’t help but smile at her as he thought that this might be easier than he previously thought.  “A very astute question – and one that I will explain in time.  For the moment, however, you may call me Milton.  It’s very nice to meet you, Sandra.”

Rather than putting her at ease, that only seemed to annoy her more.  “Either you tell me what you are and what you’re doing here, or you can leave.”

Milton sighed, knowing that he was going to have to do a bit more to win her over to his cause.  He thought it wouldn’t be hard once she knew the danger she and everyone else on the planet were in, but it would take a bit of explanation first.

He turned around to speak to Phyra. “If you want, you can make yourselves somewhere to sit; I have a feeling this is going to take a while,” he said in Dwarven to her, so as to not exclude those listening in.  “And you’ll notice that you’ll be able to understand these people now, as your NCU should be receiving translation updates.”

In a little bit lower voice, Milton added, “Maybe get to know these people here,” while pointing at the group that was still eyeing him suspiciously.  Strangely enough, they didn’t seem to be hostile towards the Proctans, despite the obvious weapon that Micke had at his side, only the unarmed and harmless-looking Human.  “The Elf over there, yes, the tall one in the robe, is probably a caster of some kind.  You might have some things in common.”  He didn’t know that for sure, but he figured it couldn’t hurt to have them mingle a little.

As he turned back to Sandra, he immediately apologized again.  “Sorry about that.  Now, where was I?”  He snapped his fingers dramatically.  “Oh, yes; I remember now.  You want me to explain who I am and what I’m doing here?  Well, this is probably going to sound unbelievable, but I’ll swear on anything you want me to that it’ll be the truth.”

A split second after he finished speaking, Sandra said, “Swear it on The Creator.”

Hmm… I wonder if gods exist in this dimension?  I suppose it’s possible.  “The Creator?  I can do that, I suppose,” he said, before formally stating an oath he hoped she would accept.  “I swear that everything I say regarding who I am and what I’m doing here is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so may The Creator strike me down.”

A sudden energy that was nothing like the energy the people utilized, nor was it similar to the Dungeon Core energy he sensed almost everywhere around his location, infused his avatar.  It was a bit tingly in sensation as it reverberated throughout his body, and by the time it faded, it felt like there was a heavy weight upon his shoulders. In spite of his body not being physically capable of being tired, Milton immediately felt drained by the powerful energy that had coursed through his avatar. I guess they do have gods here, or at least something equivalent.  It makes me wonder if this Sun God of the Heliothropes really exists.

“Wow, okay, that was strange,” Milton said as he swayed in place, before deciding to sit on the ground.  He collapsed in an undignified heap, waving away the concern that Micke and Phyra had at his state.  “Well, where to start?”

“At the beginning, perhaps?”  Sandra leaned a bit forward, much of the concern she had shown previously gone or at least hidden.  “Seeing as you were dumb enough to tell me the whole truth in your oath to The Creator.”

He shook his head, realizing she was right.  He was just trying to somewhat copy the oath that people taking the stand in court back on Earth used to give, but that appeared to have backfired a little.  “Fine, but it’s a very uninteresting story until we get to the—you know what?  I better just get started.

“I was born in a little town in the United States of America on a planet called Earth.  You wouldn’t know it, of course, because it’s in another dimension….”

Chapter 31

Thankfully, Milton didn’t feel compelled to share every detail of his life as a Human or as a Station Core, but what he shared was more than enough.  For nearly 8 hours, lasting all the way until the sun went down, he told Sandra a little bit about old Earth, but he mainly focused on his life as a Station Core, about how he was able to use technology to create defenses, Combat Units, and to produce just about anything in his Molecular Converters.  There were a few things that he didn’t feel necessary to share, like his personal thoughts and feelings on matters, but for the most part he explained everything to Sandra as if he were unburdening his soul in a confessional.

He told her about The Collective, his abduction and conversion into a Station Core, and his arrival on Proctus.  The reactor leakage from his Core and how it ended up affecting the beasts and local population of Proctans, giving them “magic”-like powers, was of particular interest to Sandra, as well as how he was able to “bring people back from the dead”.  She didn’t actually say anything the whole time, but he could definitely feel her fascination when he described how some of the Proctans, like Whisp, were originally inventors, using their heightened Intelligence to create different things, and her eyes sparkled when he talked about the Stone Golems she had designed and animated.

But then came Milton’s arrival back into his own dimension, the knowledge of the Heliothropes conquering the entire galaxy, enslaving all of the people, and his decision to fight back by taking control of a half-destroyed space station.  His explanation of the trans-dimensional drives was unintentionally vague, because he couldn’t say he understood it as well as Whisp and ALANNA, but it was enough to convey the danger that the Heliothropes posed to not only their planet, but to their entire galaxy/universe.

“…and so I came down here, having an idea about dungeons and Dungeon Cores based on stories from Earth, seeking your help to eliminate the Heliothropes before they can stabilize the dimensional wound – or at least permission to set up a base of sorts down here, where I can create enough forces to attack and destroy it on my own.”

With that, Milton finally quit talking, after speaking non-stop for hours.  As soon as he was done, he felt the weight that had been on his shoulders lift off, his oath fulfilled to this mysterious Creator.  He rolled his avatar’s shoulders as if loosening them up from having the weight removed, but it wasn’t exactly a physical weight that had been on them; it was something magical, something divine in origin.

He didn’t necessarily believe in The Creator, just like he didn’t believe in the Goddess that the Proctans believed in, but belief obviously wasn’t required or even needed for them to still affect him.  It was a humbling experience, and he knew he would be more wary in the future when making oaths – at least in this dimension; not that he planned on breaking any oaths, but it was a bit nerve-wracking having some divine presence watching his every move or judging the words coming out of his avatar’s mouth.

Sandra was silent for a few minutes after he finished, looking down at her hands which had fallen into her lap at some point during his explanations.  Eventually, she looked up and asked, “These… Heliothropes… they’re here because of you, aren’t they?”  Her voice was hard and accusatory, but that wasn’t surprising considering what she was asking.

Milton had avoided implying that he was ultimately at fault for the Heliothropes experimenting with traveling to other dimensions, but Sandra had obviously read between the lines.  He nodded and prevented himself from looking away, even though he wanted to hide his eyes in shame.  It wasn’t a good feeling.

“And you’re here to stop them?  To make up for your mistakes?  Is this what you want to do… or are you here because you feel guilty?”

Milton wanted to deny that it was guilt that brought him to this dimension, because stopping the Heliothropes would somehow atone for everything that had happened.  However, he didn’t deny it, as guilt was only one part of why he was there.  Shaking his head, he said slowly, really thinking about it, “Yes, I do feel guilty, but it’s more than that.  I generally want to help people, which is what I was trying to figure out how to do in my own dimension.  There, though, I’m outnumbered, outmatched, and have very little or no control over the situation.

“Here, though, I have a chance to make a difference.  To help a dimension, a planet, and a multitude of people that would otherwise suffer if I did nothing.  And, admittedly, once we succeed, gain a little breathing room before we head back to our own dimension better prepared and with a plan for how to finally fight back against the tyrannical rule of the Heliothropes throughout the galaxy.”

He wasn’t under the oath anymore, at least as far as he could tell, but he told the truth of his feelings and motivations.

“What assurances do I have that you aren’t here to do something to my people just as bad as these Heliothropes?” Sandra asked, her voice a bit softer than it had been before.

Milton shrugged.  “Honestly, there’s nothing I could tell you that would assure you of my intentions, unless you want me to take another oath?”

She just smiled and shook her head.  “The fact that you would be willing to do that is assurance enough for me.  I too had to learn to atone for mistakes that I had made after I became a Dungeon Core, which ended up costing the lives of many of the people living around here, as well as those living farther away later on.  That you’re willing to clean up your mistakes, as well as ask for help and even permission to do so says something about you, though I’m not exactly sure what that is quite yet.”

Milton was relieved to hear all of that, because he really was truthful about why he was wanting to do what he planned.

“I’ve been checking to the south of Gnomeria, using my Shears to travel past the forest borders, and I see the massive structure—or you said it was a ship?—in the distance.  Unfortunately, it is out of my Area of Influence, so I’m unable to tell for certain where this Anchor you mentioned is located.  I might be able to reach it if I upgrade my Core Size, but that brings with it a few problems as my Area of Influence overlaps the AOIs of other Cores – who are definitely not as nice as I am.”

Milton held up his hand and shook his head.  “There’s no need; we can identify its precise location once we get close enough; the issue we’re going to have is that it will likely be heavily defended.  I can start making facilities down here on the surface, but it may be difficult to outpace the development of the Heliothropes, given what we think we know about them.”  He had already explained to her the theory of how the Heliothropes reproduced, so he didn’t need to explain it again.

“I cannot control my Dungeon Monsters outside of my Area of Influence, but any of the Guild members that are Bonded to me can,” Sandra admitted, waving behind Milton.  He turned his avatar around to see Micke and Phyra sitting with the formerly hostile group that had brought them to see Sandra, laughing and joking with each other.  It was warming to his artificial heart to see them getting along so well.  “But I don’t control them; nor do I wish to.  After taking part in protecting these lands from a variety of threats, I’ve withdrawn from many of the everyday activities that the Guild and Crossroads partake in.  All I ever wanted was to work on my crafting in peace, but now you’ve disturbed that.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

She shrugged, before looking at Micke’s armor, and especially his sword.  “I’m always looking to learn about new crafts, however, and I’m intrigued by what I’m seeing there.  What is it made from?”

“What are you—oh, you mean the Diamine sword?” he asked.

“If that’s what it’s called, then yes.”  Sandra was visibly thinking for a moment, so Milton didn’t say anything else.  “How about this: I agree to help you fight your way through and destroy this Anchor of yours, and you teach me some more crafts, some of this ‘technology’ you seem to have.  However,” she said as she held her hand up to forestall anything he was going to say, “it all depends on whether any of the Guild is willing to volunteer to help you.  Since I can’t reach that far south, they will be the ones that will have to control any of my Dungeon Monsters I send along with you.”

Milton was screaming with joy on the inside, but he nodded seriously at Sandra and stood up, knocking the dust of the ground outside the dungeon entrance off of his pants.  “You have a deal; I think there is a lot that we can learn from each other, and I know a few people up on the station who would love to learn everything they can about the way you manipulate your energy here.  What do you call it, by the way?”

“Energy?  You mean my Mana?”

“Yes, exactly.  It seems as though the Proctans and your people already share a few things in common, and it might be useful for them to work with each other, as well.”

“That would be up to them, but I’ll definitely encourage it.”

“Awesome!  Well, on my world, we always liked to finalize an agreement with a handshake, and—”

Milton took a step forward, completely forgetting that he was just barely across the threshold of the dungeon.  Extremely hot flames sprung up around his body, followed by multiple spikes of stone that bisected it in a few places, tearing his avatar apart.

Suddenly, his focus was back in his Station Core.  The abrupt destruction of his avatar confused him for a moment, but then he sent his focus down to Micke and Phyra, who he could sense through their NCUs were more than a bit alarmed.

“That was entirely my fault, so don’t panic.  Let them know I’ll be back soon, but you’ll have to head back to Fendle and the others to bring the shuttle up to the station.  If you would, let Sandra know I’ll be down with some things to get started on facilities and preparing for our assault down south.”

“We can do that.  See you later,” Micke replied, but he could hear amusement in his voice.  Soon enough, he could sense that both Micke and Phyra were chuckling at his accidental death, and he could just imagine the horror of the local people as they watched his avatar burn up and get destroyed near-instantly.

*          *         *

Sandra jumped in surprise as Milton triggered the traps she had placed on the threshold of her dungeon hours ago, when she wasn’t sure if he was a threat or not.  The way he completely avoided crossing over into her actual dungeon told her that he could see or sense it somehow, and she had honestly forgotten about them even being there.  It was only when he was stepping forward that she remembered, but by that time it had been too late to absorb them to make it safe.

Her eyes went wide as she watched this self-proclaimed “Station Core” burn up and get cut into four different pieces by the stone shards that erupted out of the floor.  Sandra was momentarily worried that she had inadvertently killed him, but then she remembered all he had said about making an artificial body that his consciousness could inhabit; unlike her own artificial body, created originally from a Stabilized Shapeshifter, if this “avatar” of his was destroyed, his Core wasn’t destroyed at the same time.

The two Proctans that had come with him had jumped up in alarm from where they were sitting with Gerold, Echo, and the rest of their CAMP Guild group.  After a tense moment when they appeared ready to attack and avenge Milton’s death, they suddenly relaxed and started chuckling.  Soon enough they were full-on laughing, as if the death of their nominal leader was an everyday occurrence.

Though, I suppose it is.  If what he said is true, then death doesn’t mean much to these Proctans anymore, if they can be brought back time and time again.

“Sandra?  Milton wanted to let you know that his avatar’s destruction was all his fault and that he will be back down with some supplies to get started making some facilities and whatnot,” the male Proctan wearing armor and carrying his unique-looking swords said with mirth in his voice.  He shook his head with a smirk on his face.  “Oh, that Milton; never a dull moment when he’s around.”

These people are crazy.  I sense that they’re decent folk, but repeatedly dying has got to mess with their heads after a while.

“Tell him that I apologize for not absorbing the traps, and that I’m looking forward to seeing him again.”  As the words left her mouth, she realized they were true.  She really was looking forward to seeing him again – and not because he was willing to teach her more crafts.  She was drawn to him in a way she hadn’t been drawn to anyone before, and it was a strange feeling.  Almost frighteningly strange, in fact.

She was inwardly searching through these feelings when Winxa suddenly appeared by her side, and Sandra started paying attention to the world around her again.  She instantly noticed that the two Proctans were gone, along with Gerold and his Guild group; she hadn’t even been paying attention to when they had left, because she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts.  That kind of thing rarely happened except for when she was deeply concentrating on her crafting, so this made it stand out a bit to her.

“He’s right, you know.”

It took her a second to realize Winxa was speaking to her.  “Huh?  Right about what?”

“This Milton guy, Station Core, whatever.  He’s right about the dimensional boundary being in trouble.”

“Uh… how would you know?”

Winxa suddenly opened up a portal in front of Sandra, one that the Dungeon Core had seen many times before – it was a portal to the Dungeon Fairy Realm.  Except that it was subtly different from what she had seen before, like the edges were slightly ruffled or wavy; if Winxa hadn’t created it while they were talking about dimensional whatsits, Sandra probably wouldn’t have noticed.

“The Dungeon Fairy Realm is actually a different dimension, though it’s more like a pocket dimension than anything else,” Winxa explained.  “We just call it our Realm because dimension sounds so mundane, but the principle is the same as any other dimension.  What you’re seeing here is something neither I nor anyone else has ever seen before, and it can only have to do with what this Milton character was telling you.  I’m not going to go into the specifics of how the dimensional fabric in this dimension can reverberate through the fabric of all dimensions, but suffice it to say that there is something wrong.  Without actually seeing this ourselves, though, we’ll have to take his word for it – and give him whatever help we can until he fixes the problem.”

That accomplished more than any convincing that Station Core could’ve done toward ensuring Sandra helped Milton out with his endeavors.  While she didn’t understand everything he had told her, she understood enough; it was bad enough that their entire world was in danger, but now it seemed that Winxa’s Dungeon Fairy Realm was at risk, as well.  Her Dungeon Fairy was her friend, and she would do whatever she could to prevent the worst happening to Winxa or her Realm – as well as her own world and the people living upon it.

Having learned about the vulnerabilities of these Heliothrope savages from Milton, Sandra started creating a whole host of constructs and other Dungeon Monsters that she thought would be beneficial for taking down these magical shields these dimensional enemies were purported to have.  She wasn’t going to wait for the Station Core to come back and start his own preparations, because she didn’t have to prepare all that much; Sandra had the capability to create many, many Dungeon Monsters – especially given the fact that she had a lot of Monster Seeds and Elemental Orbs for extra Mana saved up in her treasury.

She was going to teach these Heliothropes that it was a mistake to invade her world and threaten their lives, with or without Milton.

But I’d rather do it with Milton’s help, for some strange reason.

“You can worry about your feelings for Milton later, Sandra; right now, you have a dimension to save.”

Sandra wasn’t exactly sure what the Dungeon Fairy meant by that, but she took Winxa’s advice and concentrated on producing an army of Dungeon Monsters the world had never seen the likes of before.

Chapter 32

Even before his avatar was recreated in the Cybernetic/Synthetic Organism Factory, the shuttle was already making trips down to the surface, delivering Molecular Converters, Drones, and Proctans by the score.  He ended up recreating another 500 Proctans in addition to what was on Murder Station, because he was reluctant to remove the ones helping with the defense – just in case.  The worst thing that could happen would be the Breeder Ship sending up some sort of vehicle to assault the dungeon on the station, so he wanted to make sure it was protected.  He relocated most of those who had been defending the station for months to the surface, however, as a sort of reward for the spectacular job that they had done so far.  If things down on the planet took longer than he expected, however, he would be rotating people in and out so that they weren’t stuck and bored up on the station.

Most of the materials he needed were down on the planet, in an area located to the northeast of the stone city – which he learned was named Crossroads – and in what was apparently the Dwarven Kingdom.  Sandra and the other Dwarves had given their approval for the location, mainly because it was going to be a long time until the Dwarves expanded out of their mountainous strongholds to take the land back from where the local dungeons had pushed them out.  It sounded like an interesting story, but he didn’t have time to hear it – because he was entirely too busy to think about things like that.

Portable Molecular Converters were one of the greatest and most versatile of technologies that Milton had access to, because they were essentially the basis of what built everything else.  By using the resources he had accumulated, the Station Core could select a facility from his Facility Fabrication[41] list, and his Molecular Converters would immediately start creating the parts needed for the facility, bring them to the selected area where Milton wanted it built, and then start constructing it automatically.  Most of the things on the list he didn’t really need right now – or couldn’t afford without a lot more resources – like the Space Transport Dock, Planetary Bombardment Dome, and Hemispheric Zero-point Energy Reactor; those were what Milton liked to call “late-game” facilities, and they weren’t necessary for what was currently required.

Instead, a Bioconversion Lab – both regular and the Upgraded variety for larger Combat Units – was essential to start creating his army, as was the Drone Assembly Plant for creating more drones that could harvest more resources while he was building facilities.  Once those were done, he would move on to the Defensive Weapons Factory and the Vehicle Assembly Plant[42].  Once he was ready to move his Combat Units, those that were slower than the others would need some sort of transport, plus he was looking forward to using a few of the options in the Plant that he hadn’t been able to properly utilize previously.

That was about the only facilities he would have time and resources for, but fortunately ones like the PPPPPP, which stood for the Portable Power-Providing-Pack Production Plant, were unneeded; this facility produced a variety of different methods that aided in the regeneration of Power for the Proctans.

Thankfully, before he left Proctus and knowing that he couldn’t take along a PPPPPP because it was so large, he had created nearly a million of the smaller Portable Power-Providing-Packs that were available for the Proctans to grab and insert easily under their skin when they were created, giving them the ability to regenerate their Power at all times.  What was even better was that they rarely ever got destroyed after any Proctans had been killed in Murder Station’s dungeon, so that meant that they were reusable.

The reasons he didn’t have the time to build much more than that were two-fold.  First, obtaining more resources through mining with his drones was slow-going, as well as proving fruitless to finding more Focusing Crystals – which were needed for many of the more-advanced Facilities.  When he learned that Sandra could miraculously turn simple dirt into metal with an application of her Mana, though, he almost grabbed her up and kissed her, he was so happy – but he fortunately restrained himself before he caused an incident.

But with a steady influx of BMUs into his available resources, he was more than able to produce everything else that he wanted.  There were plenty of different Defensive Weapons that he could produce that only required metal instead of Focusing Crystals, and he could also produce vehicles and even synthetic replicants – though he refrained from using those, as they had been more than a little disturbing on the station, and there honestly wasn’t any need.  He could create individual Proctans by the score if he needed to, especially when he found out that Sandra could also create Bio Mass out of virtual thin air.

The Dungeon Core was full of surprises, and over the next few days as he got everything set up and rolling on the surface, he was constantly thankful that he had approached her for help.  He would’ve been struggling to gather enough resources to fully create what he needed; he would’ve been able to do it eventually, but it would’ve taken a whole lot longer.

Sandra was also the reason he didn’t have a lot of time to build more than those types of Facilities – because she was pushing to leave for the south as soon as possible. The Dungeon Core had taken his warning to heart and had been creating metallic constructs and large Dungeon Monsters that were assembling near his compound of Facilities, and it was impressive.  His own construction was taking a lot longer to get up and running, because he had to build all of the necessary things first, but it was coming along.

In the middle of his compound was the Drone Assembly Plant, right next to the Defensive Weapons Factory.  These were the two most important Facilities because they were what created everything else. Drones were obviously what were used to construct all of the buildings and collect resources, but the Defensive Weapons Factory also produced Portable Molecular Converters and Power Generators, which were frequently used for Defensive Weapons.

In a ring around those two facilities were 25 Bioconversion Labs, which could create Proctans and up to large sizes of Combat Units.  Near these normal Labs were small sheds that contained all manner of armor, weapons, and Power-Providing-Packs for all different classes.  Most of that equipment had been stored on his ship when it left Proctus and was then carried by shuttle down to the planet, but others were actually provided by Sandra, who apparently had storerooms full of gear that she or someone else working in her dungeon had crafted by hand.  His were all essentially mass-produced through the Molecular Converters, but hers were all unique in their own ways – as well as being much finer and more protective, other than when he used materials to which she didn’t have access.

In an outer ring beyond the normal Bio Labs was a ring of 10 Upgraded Bioconversion Labs, which were constantly being used to grow Combat Units.  All of the Labs were in constant use, in fact, and his own army was slowly approaching the size of Sandra’s, despite her head start.  Not that it was a race or anything, because they were both on the same side, but a little friendly competition was always good.

Lastly, there were 2 Vehicle Assembly Plants a little to the south of the outer ring of Upgraded Labs, which were pumping out Single Combat Unit Transports, which were essentially ATVs that the Proctans could use to get to where they were going down south.  They were only 200 BMUs per Transport, but they also cost 2,500 Organic Material Units to produce; fortunately he had plenty of Organic Material in his reserves.  In addition, Milton was also producing Heavy Armor Defense Vehicles, which needed to be controlled by himself, but they weren’t for transports.  Instead, he had another idea for them that didn’t have anything to do with getting his people to the south.

“I would like to get started tomorrow morning, Milton.”

The Station Core was walking with Sandra through her dungeon, inside what she called her Home Room, which he thought was an appropriate name for where she seemed the most comfortable.  Milton had found that she was just slightly taller than him when she was walking around, though that didn’t bother him in the slightest.  Not that it should matter; we have much more important matters than whether she is taller than my avatar.

Most of their dealings so far had been with either intermediaries, i.e. the CAMP Guild members that lived and operated out of the city of Crossroads, or brief visits to the same entrance where he had inadvertently destroyed his previous avatar.  Earlier that evening, however, Sandra invited him inside of her dungeon to discuss something, and since he wasn’t physically needed out near the compound, he jumped at the chance.

After arriving and hopping on a floating platform she called a mag-form, they journeyed through the large tunnel and rooms that made up this portion of her dungeon, while she pointed out the various Dungeon Monsters they passed by, as well as the traps she needed to deactivate so they could pass by unscathed.  He remembered hearing that she had Pegasi, and – out of all the other dangerous-looking beasts she had in her dungeon – seeing them in person was like a dream come true.  He liked Unicorns and Pegasi—he wasn’t ashamed of admitting that.

But it was when they arrived at Sandra’s Home Room that she really relaxed, taking the time to tell a brief tale of her own story – though not in as much truthy detail as he had been forced by oath to recount.  Still, Milton thought that she was honest enough with her story that he didn’t doubt it was 100% truthful, and it sounded almost as crazy and wild as his own.  There weren’t lasers, spaceships, dimensional travel, and respawning Proctans – but still crazy and wild.

He also started to understand why his presence at Crossroads was looked at with anger and suspicion.  Apparently, the Humans of this world weren’t necessarily bad, but they also sounded like typical Humans in stories he’d read and games he’d played.  They were constantly on the hunt for challenges; they were greedy and passionate; they were brave and strong in their own way, though none of them were as specialized in casting spells like the Elves, creating enchantments like the Gnomes, utilizing the elemental energy they had access to inside of their bodies as the Orcs did, nor could they infuse their energy into their armor similar to the Dwarves.

All in all, they were just… okay at everything they did, but they constantly wanted to improve and tackle harder challenges.  All of which had turned their attention to the lands that Sandra helped to defend, and he could well understand their desire to keep the Humans out.  He had no illusions that many of them were an altruistic ideal of what a Hero should be, and even Sandra – despite being Human before she became a Dungeon Core – knew better than to invite them in.

In addition, while he had gotten hints of it before, she also explained in greater detail her passion for crafting – and why she was so eager to get back to it.  It turned out that she had retreated from the world once most of the danger had been excised from the surrounding lands so that she could concentrate on her crafting.  The arrival of the Heliothropes, as well as his own arrival, interrupted the peace that brought so much joy to her new life.

She wanted it gone so she could get back to what she loved most in the world.  Milton could understand and respect that, but he could tell that she wasn’t trying to be impatient or curt; instead, she seemed genuinely concerned about the welfare of her world, even if she wasn’t thinking of the greater dimension she existed within.

As if of their own volition, his hands naturally sought out and took her own after she made her proclamation.  “Then so it shall be.  We will be ready to move out at dawn,” he said, and he could feel the surprising warmth in her hands.  His own were more cool than warm, being a synthetic replicant, so holding her hands was almost like touching real flesh and blood.  Even though he knew that she was inhabiting a form that wasn’t technically her old body, it felt real enough that he didn’t think it mattered.

For her part, she looked absolutely shocked that he had actually touched her, and he hastily dropped her hands and asked, “Uh, well, so… did any of the CAMP Guild volunteer to come with us?  Did you know that the Proctans have a Guild as well?  It’s called the Guardian Guild and, well, it actually contains pretty much every Proctan either here in this dimension or back on Proctus.  You know, I wonder how they’re doing; I hope one day I’ll be able to revisit there, though we still have yet to figure out the particular dimensional signature—”

Milton stopped talking because he found himself nervously rambling, but at least Sandra seemed to have recovered from her shock.  “Yes, Gerold, Echo, and the rest of their group will be heading south with you.”  She paused for a moment before going on.  “Please promise me that you will keep them safe, as they are some of my best friends I have amongst the Guild; I would be heartbroken if anything were to happen to them.  Plus, if they aren’t there, there won’t be any other way to control my Dungeon Monsters… so keep them safe and sound, though I don’t doubt that they will want to be in the thick of the action.”

Milton nodded.  “Of course.  I will keep them even safer than I would keep my own family.  Not that I could do that, considering they’re all dead, but you know what I mean, I hope.”  He was starting to ramble again and forcibly stopped the deluge of words that were threatening to burst forth.

Sandra either didn’t notice or didn’t care, because she turned away to grab something from a table.  When she turned back, Milton could see a multi-colored gem in her hand, glowing with a life of its own.  For some reason, he felt drawn to it in the same way he felt drawn to the Dungeon Core herself.

“It’s beautiful.  What is it?”

She held it up so that it was nearly eye-level.  “It’s something I call a Resonating Prismatic Core.  It holds a little piece of my soul, and I use it to Bond with the nearby Dungeon Cores to calm their murderous impulses, at least partially.

“I’ve been trying to figure out a way to communicate with you at a distance considering that I can’t Bond with you normally.  Did you know that my dungeon doesn’t even recognize you as an intruder?  Typically, many of my functions shut down when there is a non-Bonded within my domain, which is just one of the restrictions The Creator imposes on the Dungeon Cores of the world so that they don’t become too powerful.

“But you, well, seem not to register as a hostile intruder.  Whether it’s your artificial body or because you’re from a different dimension, I’m not sure it matters; what does matter, to me at least, is that I wish to be able to communicate with you even over long distances.  With this, I’m hoping to do just that, even if your actual Core is somewhere else.”

Milton wasn’t sure what to think about that, because it felt very… intimate.  He could definitely understand the communication part of it, because being able to speak with the Proctans via the NCU in their bodies had been a key part of their success.  However, the fact that his avatar was just that—an avatar—he wasn’t sure this “Bond” she was talking about would work, especially given that he was from another dimension altogether.

However, he was always willing to give it a try.

“It would be my honor.  What do I do?”

Sandra smiled, which was like a balm on an open wound he didn’t even realize he had.  It was beautiful, just like she was, though not just in a physical sense; it was her very nature that resplendently shone through her outer appearance as if it didn’t matter.  He identified with the way she wanted to help the people around her, to right the wrongs she had inadvertently created, touched with a bit of selfishness; just like his leaky reactor on Proctus, her very presence made the surrounding area much more dangerous for the people living nearby.  By helping them survive and thrive against the threat of the overpowered Dungeon Cores she had accidentally created, she was able to get back to her love of crafting. For Milton, helping the Proctans survive and thrive against the beasts that got stronger because of him allowed him to eventually leave the planet and fulfill his promise to ALANNA and The Collective.

“All you have to do is hold this, and I’ll do the rest.  As long as it works, of course,” Sandra replied as she held the shining multi-colored Core out for Milton to take.  When he looked at it without all of the filters, he could see that it was glowing with the pure energy that Dungeon Cores utilized, though it didn’t glow nearly as brightly as Sandra, herself.  With only a slight hesitation because he wasn’t exactly sure what it would do, Milton reached out and grasped the Resonating Prismatic Core with both hands, expecting something momentous to happen.

Nothing.

The Core was warmer than he expected, though not nearly as warm as Sandra’s hands had been.  There was a barely imperceptible pulsing to the object in his hands, almost as if it was a beating heart of something alive.  He became lost in the swirling colors inside of the gem-like object he was holding, staring into the depths as though he was searching for an answer to a long-lost question.  A virtual eternity passed as he continued to plumb for some sort of evidence of what this Core was supposed to do.

Eventually, he snapped out of it and looked up apologetically at Sandra who had a look of extreme concentration on her face.  “I’m sorry, I don’t think it—”

The Resonating Prismatic Core suddenly exploded, shards of the gem-like object flinging out in all directions – only to be interrupted in mid-flight to come back and slam into his avatar’s artificial flesh.  Instead of piercing his outer layers, however, the shards seemed to melt and then be absorbed inside of his synthetic body somehow, disappearing rapidly until there was no trace of them.  He froze in shock, waiting for something else to happen, when his avatar suddenly dropped to the floor like a marionette with its strings broken.

His consciousness slammed back into his Station Core so quickly that he was momentarily stunned, before a wave of exotic warmth flowed into his mind, infusing every part of his Core with an invasive-yet-welcome blanket of Sandra.  It was as if he could feel it, which was physically impossible outside of his avatar, but somehow that didn’t matter; her presence was around and inside of his Core, infusing his large egg-shaped metal form like a firm caress…

…and then it was gone.

But not completely.  There was still a lingering warmth that didn’t go away, even if the larger portion of Sandra’s presence was gone.

“Can you hear me?”

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to hear Sandra’s voice in his mind, but after what had just happened it shocked him a little bit.  “Yes, I can hear you,” he thought back, hoping that it would work.  Normally, he communicated with ALANNA and the Proctans through their technological connection with his Core, so he wasn’t sure if this method would still work for whatever this Bond turned out to be.

“Excellent!  Sorry about your avatar, but it should be alright in just a moment.  I was having difficulty reaching you through the use of your artificial body, so I kind of had to force my way through the strange connection you share with it.”

Sandra was correct; over the next few seconds, he could feel his connection with his avatar return, and he transferred his focus back to his artificial body.  He woke up on the floor of Sandra’s Home Room in an uncomfortable-looking heap, but he didn’t seem to be damaged – which was fortunate; he didn’t want to have to make yet another body to use.

“Are you alright?  I hope I didn’t damage you too much,” she asked as she gave him her hand to help him up off of the floor.  He gratefully took it and pulled himself up, letting his hand linger a little longer than probably appropriate in hers as he looked at her – and mentally explored this “Bond” thing he had with her.  It was like a sense of her general presence at the back of his mind, a feeling of vibrant life in his otherwise cold and mechanical Core; rather than being distracting, it was actually quite comforting.

“No, I’m fine.  That was just a bit more intense than I was expecting.”

Sandra grinned slyly at him.  “More than what I was expecting, as well.  I’ve never done something like that before, but I can definitely say it was a unique experience.  Your Core feels very… odd to me, but not necessarily in a bad way.”

The conversation was becoming more than a little bit awkward for Milton, and he practically stammered as he said, “So, uh, so the connection seems like it works, at least.  Is that what you were going for?”

“Oh, yes, that worked out much better than I expected.  I should be able to communicate with your Core at any time now,” she replied with another of her room-brightening smiles, which seemed to have a hint of mischief to it.  He wasn’t sure exactly what was behind that, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know; regardless, he sent his attention back outside of Sandra’s dungeon – only to see that it was already night, and dawn was a few hours away.

“Uh, oh – I better get going if I’m going to ensure everything is ready to go at first light,” he said apologetically, his focus coming back to Sandra.  “Would you show me out?”

“Absolutely.  We can take this mag-form again, and I’ll have another, smaller one for you that you can utilize to get back to your people,” the Dungeon Core said quickly, ushering him onto the moving platform.  In less than a minute, they were at the entrance of the dungeon after speeding through faster than he expected.

“Thank you for showing me some of your dungeon, I really enjoyed checking it out,” Milton said as he got off of the moving platform, seeing a very small floating object waiting for him outside.  It was shaped like a blocky floating motorcycle, which made him smile when he saw it.  He was never one for speeding down the highway on one of those 2-wheeled death machines when he lived on Earth, but he had always been curious what it would feel like.  He guessed it literally couldn’t hurt if he tried it now – he just hoped he didn’t crash into a tree.

“It was my pleasure, Milton.  Once all of this is over and done with, I’ll have to show you even more; there’s still a lot I have under here that you haven’t seen yet,” Sandra said, which caused Milton to turn back to her in surprise.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was—but no, that’s impossible.  The genuinely innocent smile on her face made him wonder where the thought had come from, however.

“I’d love that.  Now, we’ve got some Heliothropes to kill and an Anchor to destroy; we’ll follow your people’s lead here, because they know the environment much better than we do.  If you need me, you know how to communicate with me now, which is definitely a blessing,” he said as he waved to her in goodbye, settling himself on the floating motorcycle thingy.  She nodded back still with the smile on her face, and he tried to utilize the same actions on the controls as he had seen Sandra do with the mag-form in the dungeon.

He shot off like a rocket, and it was all he could do to hold on.  Thankfully, there were no trees immediately nearby or he would’ve crashed right into one, and he was able to dial back the speed at which he traveled, getting the hang of it as he entered the trees and forest on his way back to his compound.  I’ve got to get me one of these!

*        *        *

“You do know that you’re grinning like a lovesick puppy, right?”

Sandra frowned, not realizing that Winxa had appeared next to her as she watched Milton head off on the personal mag-form and nearly crash into a tree.  Thankfully, he seemed to intuitively grasp the controls after a while, and he mercifully moved around the Oak tree he was about to float head-on into.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I’m doing no such thing.”

“O-kay, my mistake; I must be going blind,” the Dungeon Fairy said sarcastically.  “It must be this dimensional crisis that is affecting it.  You remember that there is a potentially world-ending threat down south that you need to help eliminate, correct?  And what’s got into you?  You seem a bit different now; what did you do?”

“Nothing,” Sandra responded.  “Everything.  I don’t know.  My emotions are suddenly all over the place, and I don’t know what’s going on or what I’m feeling.  There’s just something about Milton that I’m… attracted to, though not necessarily in a physical sense.  It’s grown even more intense since I Bonded with his Core, to the point where I’m having trouble concentrating.”

Sandra sighed, shaking her head to try and focus on something else.  “Anyway, you’re right; it’s not important.  I need to concentrate on finishing up my constructs and Dungeon Monsters so that they’re ready to go in a few hours.  Even with my mag-forms, I suspect the trip will take about 2 days of travel, considering my slowest-moving constructs; I might be able to add a few more before whatever fight there is going to be commences, but I’m worried about not being able to control anything myself.”

Winxa sat on her shoulder and patted her head gently.  “I know, but Gerold and Echo will see to it that they succeed.  They’ve been through some more difficult situations than this, you know?”

That was true, but she had a bad feeling that this time was different.  “I do, but I’m also worried that some or all of them might not make it back.”

Winxa was silent for a moment before she spoke.  “Unfortunately, there’s always a risk.  They know this even every time they enter a dungeon to cull it of Monsters; this is just a much larger and more-difficult dungeon.  They aren’t going alone, though.  They’ll have your constructs and Dungeon Monsters to help them, as well as your new allies.  I’m actually interested to see how powerful they really are.”

Sandra was interested to see that, too, because she’d seen almost everything that had been built outside of Milton’s facilities.  It was an impressive display, but it was hard to gauge how effective they were, especially considering that they’d already had issues defeating the Heliothropes in the past.

As she looked back out of the entrance, she couldn’t help but grin again as her Shears floating above tracked the strangely fascinating Station Core as he nearly collided with yet another tree, jerking away from the obstacle at the last moment.

Chapter 33

A little more than 48 hours later, the day dawned with a blood-red sunrise, which Milton thought was appropriate given how much of the life-giving substance was going to be spilled later.  The journey to the south was relatively uneventful, other than the awe-filled looks coming from the Gnomes that watched their incredible army pass by.  It would’ve been amusing if Milton hadn’t also been more than a little filled with awe at the force that had been assembled in such a short amount of time.

For his own army, he had 600 Proctans armed and ready to put the hurt on whatever defenses they came up against, after deciding to add an additional 100 at the last moment.  In addition to them, he had a variety of Combat Units in different sizes that filled out his forces, including 100 Qwizards that could manipulate the sparks they created with their spit, 50 of the large elephant and triceratops-like Quelephines for charging straight into enemy lines, 70 Diamine Quagonlings to attack from the air, 25 Titanacondas that were fully grown and able to move quite fast over the ground by manipulating the Earth beneath them, and a full 100 Bearillas.

In order to keep the Bearillas fed, Milton had needed to constantly produce thousands of Picow Livestock, each of which was large enough (when mature) to feed a Bearilla for around 2 hours, so it was a bit of a challenge to keep them fed.  When they were ready to move out, however, he switched over from Picow Livestock to Quizards, as they would be able to transport themselves along with the army much easier, and were easily fast enough to catch up as a mobile supply line as the army moved south, catching up to them as he continued creating them even after they left the compound.  It was a pain to have to keep the Bearillas fed, but since they were some of the strongest Combat Units that could move quickly over the terrain, he put up with the necessary cost – though after all of the constant production, his Bio Mass was starting to dip dangerously low.

Accompanying them all were 250 Heavy Armor Defense Vehicles, though all but 50 of them were unmanned.  Instead, he equipped them with Defensive Weaponry from his Defensive Weapons Factory by attaching these “traps” to the outside of the thick armor these vehicles possessed.  While he wished he could’ve attached Laser Cannon Emplacements, Railgun Penetrators, and Particle Accelerators to all of them, he was basically bereft of Focusing Crystals at the moment – and all of those weapons required them.  Instead, he made do with traps that only required the resources he actually had access to, which mainly consisted of Basic Metal Units.

All told, he created 5 different kinds of wheeled machines of death.  On the front of one group of 50 vehicles that reminded him of futuristic-looking armored personnel carriers, he placed dozens of Explosive Floor Plates, which would create an explosive force that would propel anything in its path away.  These were going to join the Quelephines he had in the first wave to disrupt any formations the Heliothropes might have; given what he had seen of them in his dungeon, they certainly preferred to have clean lines of marching Fodder, which he figured was because they were easier to control.

On the next group he placed 100 small bundles of Nanite Swarms[43], which were essentially swarms of basic, low-grade nanites that would converge on a nearby target and attempt to insert themselves inside their victims, causing all sorts of internal havoc.  While Milton knew the glowing shields of the Heliothropes would block them, he was counting on multiple swarms of the little buggers working together to wear down those same protective barriers at a rapid pace.  It was something he had considered in Murder Station’s dungeon, but they were single-use defenses and would’ve cost entirely too much to set up and replace.  Thankfully, he had plenty of BMUs on the planet, thanks to Sandra.

The third group of vehicles had 20 Magnetic Repulsors/Attractors attached to them, powered by multiple portable Power Generators that were housed inside of the armored shell for protection.  The greatest thing about these particular defenses was that the magnetic fields that were created – to either repulse or attract metallic objects – could be finely tuned to only target a specific area.  As such, Milton directed them so that they produced long and narrow fields that converged in front of the vehicle in alternating bands of repulse or attract fields.  His hope was that the fields would require the glowing barriers of the Heliothropes to constantly adjust and protect against the pulling upon or pushing against their metallic weapons, thereby effectively freezing the enemy in place.  Whether or not it would work was something he didn’t know, but it was worth the effort and resources to test it out.

The fourth group of 50 vehicles had multiple High-Voltage Electrified Gates[44] essentially bolted to their fronts like battering rams, as well as acting as extra “armor” along the rest of their outsides.  The idea behind these was quite straight-forward: They were basically mobile electric fences. While he doubted they would do much damage, the electrical currents flowing through them would undoubtedly have to be absorbed by the shields of the enemy, which was precisely what they were there for. Taking down shields was the priority of most of his Combat Units, so that the relatively vulnerable Heliothropes underneath could be focused upon and eliminated as soon as possible.

Lastly, there was a group of 50 Heavy Armor Defense Vehicles that were each occupied by a pair of Elemental Caster-type Proctans.  These would be their long-range bombardment crews, utilizing a strategy of “Vacuum Cannons” that acted like artillery.  By creating a hardened tube of air using the Air Manipulation, they could lift ordinance such as solid stone or metal shells into the tube, seal the end, and then reduce the air pressure in the end at the bottom of the tube.  By “piercing” the tube end with another application of air, the low-pressure side of the tube would try to equalize with the air outside, rushing in air at a tremendous rate, propelling the ammunition forward.  It had worked quite well against Bearillas, so Milton hoped it would work here just as well.  The insides of all of their vehicles were filled with all of the ammunition they would likely need, and they could easily stand on top of the portable ammunition depots and fire continuously at long-range.

As for Sandra, she didn’t have fancy technology on her side, but what she did have was what Milton would call a diverse amalgamation of pure destruction.  First and foremost were the mechanical constructs, of which there were many different kinds.  There were smallish metal spiders that were present in their thousands, dozens of wolves, and what appeared to be some sort of large cats with claws and teeth that appeared capable of tearing a flesh-and-blood body apart, tens of small white cylinders that Sandra mentioned were for healing, hundreds of V-shaped poles that flew through the air which were a mystery to Milton, scores of metal apes wielding warhammers that had the tell-tale glow of some sort of magic enchantment embedded in their hammers’ heads, an even 20 large steel cubes that could move across the ground with no visible means of propulsion, and then entire platoons of the same constructs he had seen when he had first met Sandra.

She called the 20-foot-tall constructs with a metal backpack-looking block on their backs Clockwork Kings, the 10-foot-tall knights Alloyed Defenders, and the 100-foot-tall blocky behemoths Steel Colossi – but other than a vague description of what they did, he wasn’t exactly sure how powerful they were.  His sensor orb analyzation didn’t work on any of them, but he figured it was probably because they were all created from Sandra’s Mana, and technically weren’t “real”.  All he knew about them was that there were 30 Clockwork Kings, 20 Steel Colossi, and only 10 of the Alloyed Defenders, despite being the smaller of these particular constructs.

But her metal-formed constructs weren’t the only contribution to her army.  She also had these dark-furred reptilian cat-looking creatures that were capable of turning practically invisible and somehow teleporting through shadows, as well as phoenixes that flew through the air that were so hot that very little could come near them without burning up.  Then there were the angels—angels!—that were like bright winged beings of light, wielding swords of the same type of light; he wasn’t religious by any means, but he had to admit after seeing the angels lined up in an impressively illuminated row, he could certainly see why they might be blessed by the divine.

Lastly, but not least, were the giant birds that he immediately recognized as Rocs, which were so large that he thought they would dwarf even a 747 back on Earth.  There were only 10 of the larger Rocs present, but they were impressive enough that he doubted they would need any more than that.

At least, he hoped not.

This was the day they would find out.  Their travel so far was only hindered by the slowest of the forces that traveled with them, which were the Steel Colossi – though they weren’t what one would consider slow.  Most of the other forces – his included – could travel quite quickly over the terrain or above it, or else used large mag-forms that Sandra provided for her slower Dungeon Monsters.  Only the Colossi couldn’t fit, but they certainly had long enough strides that their walk was still at an impressive pace.

As for Milton, he was traveling on the same mag-form that Sandra had given him to use, because he had finally gotten the hang of it over the last few days of travel.  Brint – his trusted co-leader when it came to controlling all of the Combat Units and vehicles on the field – was up on a Quagon[45], which was basically the closest approximation of a dragon that Milton could create.  It had rigid wings, so it had difficulty getting up off the ground and maintaining a steady altitude, but it moved quickly by diving and boosting its upward ascension with a bit of Air Manipulation.  It was a good way for Brint to get a good look at everything from a bird’s-eye view; for Milton, he was going to use the sensor orbs he had created in the Drone Assembly Plant to do his scouting for him, at least initially.  He was expecting the same sort of interference he had experienced in his station dungeon to mess with his connection to his Combat Units and sensors, but there was nothing he could do but plan ahead for it.

What he didn’t know was whether that would affect the group of Sandra’s friends from being able to control their constructs and Dungeon Monsters.  If it did, then they might be in trouble.

But now it was time to find out what exactly they were up against.  Milton was unable to see clearly, up on the station, what was going on around the area where the Heliothropes’ Breeder ship was located, as there was a mixture of trees and the same magical “haze” that was obscuring many important details.  He had deliberately kept his sensors away from the area because they weren’t exactly inconspicuous, and it was likely that the sensors and technology their enemy possessed could detect it.  He figured that the less warning they gave of their approach, the better, though that time was done.  In a few hours’ travel, even through the dense forest, they would arrive near the Ship and hopefully the Stabilizing Anchor.

“We don’t normally venture far into the bordering forests; especially this far,” Gerold, the Dwarven member of the group that was controlling the constructs, told him early that morning as he was getting ready to finally scout out the Heliothropes.  Different from when Milton had first seen him, the Dwarf was now inside of a metal suit of armor that appeared to be made of all one piece, though it moved and shifted with him like it was alive.  The more Milton saw of this world, the more awesome and incredible it all seemed to him.

“Why is that?” the Station Core asked as he sent off two dozen sensor orbs, heading toward the massive ship to the not-so-distant south.

Milton could see the Dwarf smile through the small grate protecting his face.  “Because of all of the horrific monsters that live in their depths,” he said with a chuckle.  “Normally, the nearby dungeons have enough of a topside presence with their own monsters to keep them at bay, but as most of the Cores around our lands are pacified, we’ve recently had forays of these forest monstrosities attacking local villages.  The CAMP Guild can handle it, but it seems like the forest is thick with danger lately.”

That didn’t make much sense to Milton.  “So why haven’t we seen any of these ‘monstrosities’ you speak of on our way through this forest?”

“That’s a good question, isn’t it?  It feels like this entire area has been cleared out of any type of hostile sources; I wonder who could’ve done that?”

It didn’t take long for him to discover the reason, but it should’ve been obvious. His sensor orbs shot up high into the air, at least 5,000 feet above the forest, and Milton was able to look down on the Breeder Ship with a better perspective than he’d had to date.  The Heliothrope ship was impressively large, he’d give them that, but it was also as aesthetically unpleasing as it was large.  It basically looked like a massive block of metal sitting in the middle of the forest, with evidence of tens of thousands of trees crushed beneath its bulk.

Just south of the Breeder Ship was a cleared area that he hadn’t been able to see from orbit, with acres of forest removed down to bare stumps sticking out of the ground an inch or two, leaving a bare space that was full of dead leaves and chopped-up foliage.  In the middle of the clearing was a metal spire, at least 25 feet tall, sticking out of the ground like some sort of straw stuck into an orange.  Instead of orange juice leaking out, thick dimensional energy was being sucked up and sent out to the dimensional wound located outside of the solar system.

“That looks like it could be the Stabilizing Anchor, Milton,” Whisp told him from the command bridge.  She and the rest of the Think Tank – along with ALANNA – were watching everything he was sending them from the sensor orbs.  He didn’t respond other than with a quick affirmative, because it was obvious that this was their objective.

Unfortunately, destroying it would likely prove to be a bit difficult.  Surrounding the Anchor was an army of Heliothropes, lined up and waiting to attack anything that came near enough to pose a threat.  Even as he was watching, some sort of dark-furred beast that appeared to be a mixture between a spider, an ape, and a lion came charging out of the nearby forest’s edge.  It was probably 15 feet tall at the shoulder and three times longer than that, its overly large nightmare mouth was filled with sharp, reddish teeth, and its multiple arms that ended in wicked claws were arrayed around it with an intent to strike.

It knocked over one of the blue-skinned Fodder Heliothropes that moved to intercept it, though the familiar glow of a shield prevented the 6-armed enemy from getting hurt.  As 5 more Fodder moved to contain it, the monstrosity struck out at them, only to have its legs bounce off their barriers; before it could recover from the unsuccessful attacks, it was quickly surrounded and attacked with dozens of weapons, which all cut through its thick fur, skin, and bones as if they were dried spaghetti noodles.

It was quick, dirty, and efficient.  The Heliothropes involved in the very brief melee went back to their places in the formation as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.  Out from the direction of the Breeder Ship, there came a small host of pure-white-skinned Heliothropes with only 2 arms, the first that Milton had seen in person.  They walked out of a very large hatch in the side of the ship, which the sensor orbs estimated to be around 200 feet tall and wide.  Unfortunately, the hatch was positioned in such a way that he couldn’t get a glimpse of more than the fact that it was wide open inside, but aside from that, it was a mystery.

The white Heliothropes, now that he could see them with his sensor orbs, were able to be analyzed.  It turned out that these 2-armed Heliothropes were called Neophytes[46] – and they were some of the weakest people he’d ever analyzed before.  Bottom line: They were weak.  As in, slightly stronger than an average Proctan or Human who had no abilities or genetic traits, but otherwise unremarkable – except for 2 things.  One was that they had a lot more Charisma than would be expected (at 150); considering that 100 was probably average for a normal person, that mean that these Neophytes were like the really popular people at a party, the ones that could get along with everyone in the crowd no matter who they were.  Or perhaps they were like really good salesmen, who could sell a used car to the Amish – when they had no need of one.

The other odd factor of their stats was a Special Trait that was called Future of the Blessed; other than the description saying that they were “Born of the seed of Helios,” he wasn’t sure what that meant.  Are these the children?  They were certainly small enough, but they were also called Heliothropic Servants, so that just didn’t seem right to Milton.

Regardless of who or what they were, the Neophytes ran out to where the mess of monster parts was leaking into the dirt, where they gathered it all up with quick efficiency.  The next moment they were running with it back to the ship, disappearing inside a minute later.

Turning his attention back to the forces they had to contend with, he started his sensor orbs doing a count of them all.  He was initially encouraged because he only saw a handful of the 20-foot-tall red-skinned Elites, but the number of other Heliothropes was still a bit of a concern.  However, with the army of Combat Units, vehicles, constructs, and Dungeon Monsters, he wasn’t too worried.

It only took a few seconds to get a fairly accurate count of the Heliothropes.  Ringing the outside of the Heliothrope force, closest to the outer tree line and furthest from the Stabilizing Anchor was a group of 430 blue-skinned Fodder, arranged in a circular formation facing outwards.  A ring of Soldiers was just inside of where the Fodder were lined up, keeping with the same sort of numeric system he’d seen in his dungeons; there were 10 Fodder for every Soldier, which meant that there were 43 Soldiers that were hanging out behind their blue-skinned subordinates.

Nearest to the Anchor were 4 of the 8-armed Elites, which appeared to follow a similar system as there was a single Elite for every 100 Fodder and 10 Soldiers.  He wasn’t sure if this was standard practice throughout all of the Heliothropic galactic empire, but it was at least what he had observed.

All told, there were 477 Heliothropes guarding the Anchor, which was a lot more than he’d ever faced in his dungeon, but then again he had a lot more Combat Units and allies here on this planet.  Looking at the Heliothropes and the Anchor, Milton had a sudden thought.

“Whisp?  What do we need to do to deactivate this thing?  Just destroy it?”

There was only the slightest hesitation from Whisp and the Think Tank.  “We believe so.  In all likelihood, it will be protected somehow; if it was able to survive being slammed through the dimensional fabrics connecting these two dimensions, then it’s probable that it will be a bit difficult to destroy.  ALANNA wants to say that she has faith that you’ll be able to find some way to break it, just like you nearly broke your Station Core when you freaked out about a squirrel?  I don’t understand that.”

“She could’ve told me that herself, but I appreciate the confidence.”

Milton ignored the intentional gibe from his guide as he started to relay what he saw to everyone waiting for his reconnaissance, which he just realized hadn’t been interrupted by any fuzziness once.  Looking back at the Soldiers, he didn’t see any of them with the metal cylinder strapped to their chests.

“It could be that they would interfere with the Anchor’s systems, which is a benefit for you and your army,” Whisp added as she saw that he was concentrating on the Soldiers.

“Thanks.”

Echo, one of the Elves from the CAMP Guild that accompanied them, spoke up when Milton was finished describing what they were up against.  “It’s possible that one of the Rocs could create a Traveling Vortex that will emerge from the middle of that Anchor thing, ripping it apart; I’ve seen it do that to some serious monsters before, so it could work.”

He nodded at her suggestion.  “Let’s keep that as an option, because I have a feeling that it won’t be that easy.  Besides, we’re going to have to eliminate these Heliothropes anyway, otherwise I’m sure they’ll cause all sorts of trouble on this world if their Anchor suddenly breaks on them.  I haven’t seen them particularly angry before, but I’m sure that would do it.”

“Fair enough.  How do you want to do this?”

Milton had been thinking about that for the last few days, after getting a basic understanding from Sandra as they progressed south.  The ability to communicate with the Dungeon Core from any distance was an amazing boon, and he relished hearing her voice in his mind—because it was very beneficial and stuff, that was all.  Yes, very beneficial.

Anyway, he had thought about a myriad of different strategies depending upon what they ultimately found, and the defense of the Anchor he saw lined up with a few of them.

Now he just had to pick the one he thought had the best chance of succeeding.  While all of them would be effective, he knew that playing it safe would probably be the best idea, especially when he had people he needed to protect.

Milton just hoped that they followed his lead and didn’t go off and get themselves killed.

Chapter 34

Echo took to the sky on Starlight 3, the Radiant Pegasus she had brought with her from Sandra’s dungeon, where it had been permanently stabled – for just such an occasion such as this when she might need it.  It had been months since she had gotten a chance to ride her faithful flying mount, and she even thought that the dungeon monster had been happy to see her when she took it out from the dungeon.

Despite Gerold and the others making fun of her for thinking that a dungeon monster could think and feel for itself, she really believed that it could happen.

Then again, when she looked down at the gleaming hair along Starlight 3’s mane, she realized that this might not even be the same Pegasus she had ridden months ago.  They all looked pretty much identical, after all.

Echo put the thought out of her mind as she took her mount up into the air above the trees, her specially enchanted power bow in her hand and her quiver of special bolts at her side.  She wasn’t necessarily planning on personally taking part in this battle, but she wanted to make sure that she was prepared for anything, even if what she was mostly doing was directing Sandra’s constructs and dungeon monsters down below and in the air.  Then again, she didn’t think she could handle much more than that, because there were a lot of different entities that she needed to order around, and on top of that she needed to coordinate with Milton and his co-leader, Brint.

What she was really interested in seeing, though, was how the Proctans fought. While she had seen them do some impressive things, she was intrigued at how they seemed to be able to die and come back to life again.  She had physically seen how they were created in a big tank filled with liquid, which was strange enough by itself, but what was even stranger was the fact that none of the Proctans seemed to have any qualms about the practice.  After talking to a few of them, she knew that they weren’t just mindless automatons like one of Sandra’s dungeon monsters; they were their own individual people, with their own skills and wants and desires.  They were real – but they just happened to be able to come back to life after they were killed, in a brand-new body.  It was disturbing, impossible, and very, very intriguing all at once.

She put those thoughts away as she looked down at the rest of her group, who would be staying back and out of danger, each of them handling the control of a few select groups of constructs so that Echo didn’t have to worry about them – either her group or the constructs.  As much as she knew Gerold wanted to test his Deep Diver suit against the supposedly powerful weapons these Heliothropes carried, she knew that the scale of this battle was going to be such that he would be subjected to incredible danger if he went out there.  Even Echo felt a little vulnerable in her current position, despite being over 300 feet away from where the edge of the action was going to take place.

Moving all of their forces into position was a bit nerve-wracking, because it required making themselves known to the enemy – there was no way to hide 30 Explosive Phoenixes and 10 massive High Peak Rocs in the air, not to mention the 100-foot-tall Steel Colossi walking through the forest, sticking out above the treetops.  The large structure that Echo was told was some sort of ship was facing east to west, with the clearing with this Anchor to the south of it, so she needed to move quite a few of the units under her control so that they were surrounding the Heliothropes on three sides.  Ideally, all four sides would’ve been optimal, but the northern side of the clearing was too close to the ship to easily slide a force inside.

Despite the noise, the appearance of flying constructs and monsters, and the time to get everything in position, there was absolutely no reaction from the enemy.  They were eerily silent and still, almost as if they were statues, but she could also sense that they were anything but that; there was a feeling about them that was like a coiled snake, ready to strike out at anything that got close to them.  The fact that the Heliothropes didn’t move from their positions, even as everything assembled in place from Echo, Milton, and Brint’s side, was more than a bit unnerving.

Makes it easier, I guess.

Milton had provided plans of attack in case these dangerous foes decided to attack before everything was in position, but he also said that it wasn’t likely.  Something about following orders to protect the Stabilizing Anchor or some such nonsense – or so she thought at the time; now, it seemed as if he was correct.

A small floating sphere zipped down next to Echo on Starlight 3, and she heard Milton’s voice coming out of it.  “Everyone looks like they’re in position.  Are you ready?”

She took a deep breath and let it out, before double-checking that everything was as ready as possible.  When everything appeared ready to go, she nodded.  “Yes, I’m ready.”

“On three, then.  One… two… three!”

Mentally communicating with most of the constructs and dungeon monsters at the same time was a bit difficult, but she’d had a lot of practice over the last few days – as well as her experience over the last year or so on other projects. As a result, all of the ones she was in charge of started to move, followed quickly by the ones Gerold and the other members of her group were in charge of on the ground.

All 20 Expanded Mobile Fortifications zoomed forward out of the trees, the large metal cubes slamming into the front lines of the 6-armed, blue-skinned “Fodder” type of Heliothropes, sending the first few ranks flying to the side as their now-visible shields protected them from getting hurt.  To any other monster she’d seen, that kind of blow would’ve hurt them severely, or at least given them something to think about; for the enemy here that were hit by the cubes, they were simply flung aside with no actual damage done to their targets.  While she hadn’t disbelieved Milton’s assertion that they were protected somehow, it was one thing to be told that and another to see it herself.

Somewhere between 5 and 6 ranks of the Fodder were flung away before the Fortifications were stopped – though not by Echo’s direction.  Melee weapons wielded by the blue-skinned enemy literally stabbed into the solid steel of the cube constructs, halting them in place.  When she saw this, the Pegasus-riding Elf had them start to convert into their other forms; though there were three of them that must have been pierced a bit too deeply as they froze in place and then started to dissolve.

For the other 17, though, they suddenly exploded into motion, the steel of their cubes morphing at a rapid pace to create multiple legs, swinging swords, pounding hammers, and a central platform containing their vulnerable “heart”, lifted off of the ground at least 15 feet.  In all, they appeared to be large spiders, though they were also capable of standing on a few of their legs in order to gain height, stabbing out with their appendages.

None of them had a chance to do that, however, because even as they changed into their new forms, the Fortifications were visibly damaged by the weapons that had stopped them.  Weapons had been sliced away before they could fully form, legs were either broken or missing, and a pair of them had major damage to the protective metal barrier around their “heart”.  That didn’t stop them from attacking, however, as they quickly scuttled around and stabbed down at their foes, using every weapon they had available to inflict injuries – and succeeded in causing absolutely no damage to the Fodder when their protective barriers prevented any and all injury.

The weapons wielded by the Heliothropes were extremely effective even against the metal Fortifications, and they were quickly being swarmed and started to be sliced apart – when a wave of large greyish behemoths that Milton called Quelephines charged into the now-broken formations of the blue-skinned foes, sending them tumbling as they were hit from behind.  Again, there wasn’t any damage to them due to the glowing shields around them, but it gave the Fortifications time to recover slightly and fight back a little.

But the hits kept coming.  From one direction, 4,000 Powered Arachnids converged on a small group of Fodder that were recovering from the sudden charges of the Quelephines, covering the bodies and barriers of a dozen Heliothropes, stabbing with their legs repeatedly.  They didn’t do large amounts of damage, but with hundreds of them swarming over the Fodder, it was more about quantity over quality, and they were so numerous that it was difficult for the Heliothropes to kill them quickly enough to uncover themselves.

From another direction, 100 of the spark-creating Qwizards (which was a strange name) emerged from the trees, spitting gobs of flammable saliva unerringly at a score of Fodder, covering them in flames that were effectively absorbed by the protective barriers the Heliothropes possessed.

Echo sent 50 Powered Jaguars and 50 Powered Wolves into the fray, surrounding and assaulting the blue-skinned enemies from all sides, nipping and slashing at their shields before retreating.  Even when they were hit, they were able to take a blow or two that would’ve killed a flesh-and-blood beast; while slightly damaged, they were able to keep fighting and wearing down the Heliothropes.

Small metal soldiers marched in step from all around, created in multiple from the blocks on the back of the 30 Clockwork Kings, and the hundreds of them immediately engaged another 50 or so of the Fodder.  They weren’t too effective and ended up getting destroyed easily by large sweeps of the Heliothropes’ melee weapons, but they were also numerous enough to do some effective damage to the protective barriers of the 6-armed enemies.

100 metal carriages that Milton called Heavy Armor Defense Vehicles sped into the fray, their outsides covered in special “traps”.  As soon as they collided with and touched any of the Fodder, directional explosions went off, sending the Heliothropes flying in all directions or covering them in a greyish cloud of what she could only describe as tiny gnats that constantly drained their glowing shields.

Lastly, 250 of Echo’s Sonic Blademasters swooped in and circled the entire outer lines of the blue-skinned Fodder, revving up their sonically charged attack, which created a constant reverberation of sound that ate into the protective barriers of the Heliothropes.

It was chaos – but they were winning.  Already, Echo could see that a handful of Fodder had fallen as their protective barriers were depleted, as if they had run out of elemental energy.  She knew that this was only the beginning, however, because the purple and red-skinned Heliothropes hadn’t even moved from their positions to help, instead just watching their subordinates struggle against the sudden onslaught.

“I think now looks to be just about right, don’t you think?” came Brint’s voice, and she looked up to see the Proctan flying on the back of his strange-looking lizard, which in no way resembled a dragon like Milton claimed.  Echo replied, “Probably as good of time as any; sending them in now.”

From up above, 30 Explosive Phoenixes dove down from where they had been in a holding pattern, and she could feel the heat from the nearest ones even as they passed 50 feet away from her.  Without stopping, the fiery birds crashed into the largest concentrations of the blue-skinned Heliothropes, depleting the shields of the Fodder with their extreme heat.  At the same time, they landed so roughly and without a thought of staying alive that they hit with bone-crunching force – as in, their own bones.

Almost immediately after impact, the Phoenixes showed why they were called “Explosive” as they erupted into massive balls of flames as they died, sending out enough force to throw the nearby Fodder around in all directions.  To say that the suicidal attack was unexpected would be a bit of an understatement, because it was obvious that the blue-skinned Heliothropes were sent into a bit of disarray.  Another dozen or so Fodder died as a result of the explosion, which was excellent, but not quite what was intended to be achieved.  Instead, the fiery explosions had another purpose.

Apparently, the way the Proctans manipulated fire wasn’t through creating it themselves like her own people were adept at, but by taking what was already present and… enhancing it exponentially.  Echo watched the 100 Proctan Elemental Casters walk out of the tree line at the same time as the Phoenixes were diving in their suicidal explosions, so they were prepared when there was a large heap of flames for them to work with.

As a result, the explosions – which were already impressive enough to have done serious damage to the Fodder type of Heliothropes – were taken and strengthened by the combined spellpower of the Proctans.  All within a few seconds, the flames expanded to encase the entire formation, including the purple and red-skinned Heliothropes that had so far been frozen in place, with flames so bright and reaching so far into the air that it was like looking at an enormous bonfire that was raging out of control.  Through her ability to use Air energy, she could tell that large gusts of wind were being pumped into the bonfire, stoking it to outrageous proportions, and Echo had to move Starlight 3 back a few dozen feet from the sheer heat that it was giving off hundreds of feet away.

Her connection with Sandra’s constructs winked out quickly, starting with the Powered Arachnids, then the Clockwork King’s soldiers, and then a number of Powered Jaguars and Wolves – but not all of them.  Dozens of Sonic Blademasters melted in the middle of the air, but most of them had started moving away when the Phoenixes made their move, so more than 150 survived and moved to join the remaining 250 she had in reserve.

Multiple explosions went off in the middle of the inferno as the remainder of the explosive plates on Milton’s metal vehicles went off next, and as the blaze continued, she felt the connection to the rest of the Jaguars and Wolves disappear, along with the Expanded Mobile Fortifications as even they melted from the heat one-by-one.  It was a frightening display of raw power that the Proctans demonstrated, but it was also a glorious end to the threat directed toward their world.  At least, so she thought, because nothing should be able to survive such an enormous bonfire of pure heat and flames.

Nearly a minute after the Phoenixes had exploded, the flames abruptly died away, leaving an afterimage in Echo’s eyes even in the middle of the day – it was just that bright.  Watching the flames was almost like looking into the sun for too long, but she couldn’t help peeking glances at it despite the risk to her eyesight.  Now that it was gone, though, she could finally see what kind of destruction it had wrought.

The first thing she confirmed was that all of the constructs that had been inside of the inferno had been destroyed, along with all of the blue-skinned Fodder and purple-skinned Heliothropes, who were laid out on the ground in the same positions that they had been in before the conflagration.  The red-skinned, 8-armed Heliothropes that Milton called Elites were still standing, however, and the Anchor they were guarding was inflicted with a few obvious scorch marks – but was essentially undamaged.

I guess it’s up to phase 2 of Milton’s strategy.  I really didn’t think we’d need it, but he was right yet again.

Contrary to the prior immobility of the Elites, a second after the flames suddenly died away, the red-skinned Heliothropes leapt into action.  The Explosive Phoenixes, having survived the fire that had killed just about everything else because they were immune to heat and fire, were tiny little figures that were flopping around in a bed of ashes; after a set amount of time, they would regenerate and reform back into another Phoenix, though typically only about half the size and strength as their first incarnation.  Unfortunately, they never had the chance to live again as they were cut down in a frenzy of melee weapons as the Heliothropes zipped around the charred ground, killing the baby Phoenixes before they could become a threat again.

They didn’t stop there, however, as once they were done they turned their malicious gazes on the surrounding trees, where the remainder of the combined forces were held in reserve.  Or at least they were held in reserve, but now there were dungeon monsters, additional Proctans, more vehicles, and Milton’s “Combat Units” streaming out of the trees.  For the moment, Echo held back sending any more constructs in, if only due to the fact that a large group of 50 vehicles possessing magnetic manipulator traps was about to be deployed, which would likely severely mess up Sandra’s metallic constructs.

Everything else, though, was more than welcome to join in on the slaughter.

As the 50 vehicles containing those magnetic manipulators rolled out in front of everything else, they were all activated at the same time, targeting the 4 Elites that were already dashing toward the trees.  Although she couldn’t actually see it, there was an intense surge of magnetic fields being activated upon the clearing, which instantly went to work on the melee weapons wielded by the Elites.  Even at a distance, Echo could see them struggling with their swords, tridents, and other implements of death, as they were alternately pulled and pushed away.  The glowing shield flared around them constantly, slowly evening out the repulsion and attraction of the fields, until the Elites seemed to have recovered and were walking forward again.  Their progress was a lot slower, however, because they almost appeared to be fighting against a resistance that was dragging them backwards – but on they came.

Of course, this was when multiple things happened at the same time.  All 60 of Echo’s Enhanced Celestial Authorities flew up from where they were hiding in the trees, their glowing wings holding their angelic bodies aloft as they shot out beams of shining light that burned into the protective barriers of the Elites.  With 15 of them blasting into the fronts of each Heliothrope left alive, they were joined by just under 20 flying lizards that were a bit smaller than the one Brint was flying, attacking the Elites from behind, scratching and biting at their shields in diving attacks before lifting themselves back up on their rigid wings.  A few of them were split in half as the Heliothropes counter-attacked, but their movements were hindered by the continued use of the magnetic manipulation vehicles – so many more came away unscathed.

Echo shivered as she watched a quartet of massive snakes erupt from below the ground, their heads and jaws wide enough to close around the Elites the moment the Holy elemental energy ran out from the Celestial Authorities, and the Heliothropes were lifted into the air with their sudden appearance.  Fangs scratched against the quickly fading protective barriers, but the Elites weren’t having any of that as they struck out with their still-hindered melee weapons, easily cutting through the entire jaw structure of the snakes, releasing them to fall gently to the ground.

It was at that moment that 20 Shadow Wyvines per Heliothrope appeared, their lizard-like feline appearance surrounding the Elite as they emerged from the shadows the gigantic snakes cast along the ground.  With a silent roar, they pounced on the Heliothropes, scratching and biting at the shields even as they were hacked apart with brutal efficiency.

During this distraction, a dozen of the bear/monkey beasts that Milton called Bearillas loped out of the trees and leapt into the air, one after another, as a trio of the Combat Units slammed their fists down on the embattled Elites.  All but one of the Heliothropes were pounded down into the ground, their shields finally depleting enough from the constant attacks to make them vulnerable.  When their protective barriers fell, their weapons were wrenched from their hands and were either pulled toward the vehicles in their semi-circular pattern around the clearing, or sent flying off into the distance with surprising force.  Weaponless, the attack by the still-living Wyvines and the Bearillas ended them quickly.

The last Elite managed to avoid the blows of the jumping Bearillas by sheer luck, having seen them coming a second before they arrived.  Dodging out of the way with an acrobatic roll that ended up squishing a few Wyvines, the Heliothrope fought back with frantic energy, easily slicing through the limbs of even the powerful Bearillas despite the restraints it was under.  Two of the Bearillas died even while the rest of the Wyvines were quickly dispatched, and it appeared as if the last Bearilla was done for – when the Enhanced Celestial Authorities swooped in to attack with their blades made of pure light.

While they were depleted of their Holy elemental energy to use their light beam attacks, that wasn’t their only means of attack.  With 60 additional attackers able to aid the wounded but still alive Bearilla, they managed to whittle the Elite’s shield down with astonishing speed, until it finally faded away completely.

A second later, the magnetic manipulators on the vehicles stopped, and the Heliothrope was free to defend itself properly.  Except, having been warned by Milton that they would have to stop to recharge soon, Echo quickly brought in all of her remaining Sonic Blademasters and had them begin their spinning.  As the Elite slaughtered its way through the Celestial Authorities and split the Bearilla in half, the constructs were in position and up to speed.  Before it could move on from the carnage, the Heliothrope was suddenly bombarded by intense sonic blasts created by the whirling reverberations of hundreds of constructs, all aiming toward its body.

Echo hadn’t seen more than a dozen or so Sonic Blademasters used against a monster before, and they were quite deadly to flesh-and-blood creatures.  The vibrations created by the constructs practically melted the flesh off of their targets, causing unbelievable damage as it tore through skin and muscle with equal ease, though it had trouble against armored individuals or those with hard shells or inorganic bodies.

Against the basically unarmored and now unprotected Heliothrope, though, the Elite literally exploded as all of the concentrated sound waves crashed into it all at once, blasting its body apart in hundreds of directions.

As the Blademasters slowed their rotations and consequently their devastating sound-based attacks, silence fell over the forest and clearing, before the cheers of the Proctans broke the stillness.  Echo couldn’t help but smile as well, relieved that it all hadn’t been as bad as she had feared.  She still had most of her strongest constructs left, including the Clockwork Kings, Steel Colossi, and the devastatingly powerful Alloyed Defenders, not to mention 120 Titanium Ape Savages and the majority of the Blademasters she had brought with the army.  Milton still had all of his Proctans and nearly 100 Bearillas, a score of giant snakes, almost all of his Qwizards that retreated before the inferno hit, and at least 50 of the smaller flying lizards.

Complete overkill.  But it was better to have brought them and not needed them, than not to have brought them at all.

“That was impressive, Echo.  Tell your team that they performed awesomely; we’re going to bombard the Anchor from a distance, as we’re not sure what will happen once it’s destroyed.”

She nodded, even as large heavy-looking stones suddenly erupted from the forest with tremendous speed.  Echo barely saw them flying through the air they were so fast, but she certainly heard it when they hit the metal pillar that was apparently the Stabilizing Anchor with loud *clangs*.

There were a few obvious dents in the metal pillar, but she knew it was going to take a lot more than that to destroy the Anchor.  She thought about suggesting opening up a traveling vortex right in the middle of the object, but something at the corner of her eye caught her attention.  Almost as if the clangs made by the launched rocks were some sort of door-knocker, a figure appeared at the giant hatchway of the Heliothropes’ massive ship.

“Uh, Milton?  We’ve got a problem,” she said to the floating sphere next to her, pointing towards a nightmare.

Chapter 35

The attack was a resounding success.  Milton knew that it could’ve been much worse, but they managed to pull it off with relatively minor losses to their combined forces, and most of those that had perished were of the weaker variety.  All that was left in the clearing were the remains of Quelephines, melted Heavy Armor Defense Vehicles, a few Titanacondas, a trio of Bearillas, and just under 20 Diamine Quagonlings – in addition to nearly 500 Heliothropes.  Sandra had lost a bit more than that, but the constructs and other dungeon monsters that had been destroyed were also some of the more “expendable” variety.  They were necessary losses, though, because he needed to make sure that all of the Heliothropes were bunched up instead of spread out over the battlefield so that the insanely hot Phoenixes and subsequent Fire Manipulation inferno brought on by the Proctan Elemental Casters could do the most damage.

“Yes, your friend Echo performed excellently, as well as Gerold and the other members of the CAMP Guild with them.  It went as smoothly as I had hoped it would, with relatively minor losses, all things considered.  We’re in the middle of destroying the anchor now, but it shouldn’t be long—” Milton was explaining to Sandra through their unique Bond, when the aforementioned Elf got his attention through the sensor orb he had nearby her Pegasus mount – which still made him a little awestruck when he looked at it.

“Uh, Milton?  We’ve got a problem.”  She pointed toward the Breeder Ship, and his figurative stomach dropped at what he saw.

Standing in the middle of the hatchway was a 12-armed Heliothrope standing just under 100 feet tall, its deep-black skin so dark that it looked nearly like the void of space had opened up on the side of the ship.  Its weapons were similar to its smaller brethren with a few additions, but that wasn’t what caught Milton’s attention.  All along its body, large chunks of flesh appeared to have been either cut or ripped off, with semi-healed or still-bleeding wounds evident in random places.  To the Station Core, it looked like this Heliothrope had gotten into a fight with some sort of gigantic wild animal and barely survived, but for some reason he didn’t think that was what happened.

Taking the opportunity to use his sensor orbs to analyze the figure, he quickly learned enough to partially understand what had or currently was happening, and it was more than a bit disturbing.

The Commander-type[47] Heliothrope had heightened stats, as he had figured; with maximum health of 100,000 compared to the 9,000 that an Elite possessed, it was significantly more difficult to kill – especially with its Constitution at 20,000 and an Agility of 3,000, which was probably fast enough that it wouldn’t experience any significant slowdown in its movements because of its sheer size.  However, that had never been the worrying part; just as the Elites’ shields had been much more resilient than the Soldiers’ shields, which in turn were more resilient than the Fodders’, the Commander’s protective barrier was likely to be extremely hard to crack to get to the actual flesh underneath.

Speaking of that flesh, one of the Commander’s special traits gave him a clue about why it looked to have been attacked by a wild animal – and it was nothing good.  The Chosen of Helios trait apparently allowed the Heliothrope Leader to sacrifice a part of its flesh to create more Heliothropes!  Milton could only compare it to how he used Bio Mass to create Combat Units; instead of random Bio Mass, though, the Commander apparently applied its own flesh to the process, which would then heal up quickly, only to be used again and again.

“No wonder there are so many Heliothropes,” ALANNA said directly to his Core.  “They have an unlimited supply of flesh in these Commanders, so they basically have a never-ending supply of troops.  Even you, Milton, are restrained by how many resources you can gather, but these Heliothropes don’t seem to have those same limitations.”

“I agree, ALANNA, but now is not the time for that,” he shot back to her.

In the few seconds he was analyzing the Commander, it had already begun to move from the hatchway.  It moved with surprising grace considering its size and wounds, as it strode forth with a look on its face that was even more menacing than the murderous expressions on the Elites that Milton had seen.

“Echo!  There’s no time for a plan – send everything you’ve got!”

After sending the instructions to the Pegasus-riding Elf, Milton followed the exact same orders while trying to figure out what to do.  He hadn’t planned for a Commander to be here, but he realized he should have; why would they send such an important ship without the means to protect it?

All of the remaining Bearillas shot ahead, their speed fast enough to outpace just about everything else.  Even though they were 20 feet tall, they looked like tiny toddlers compared to the Commander, who eyed them with obvious disdain as it swung all of its weapons downward at the pesky Combat Units.  With barely any resistance, swords sheared through 2 or 3 at a time, spears and tridents poked through multiple Bearillas like some sort of kabob, a warhammer flattened two at a time, and a sweep of a battleaxe cut horizontally through 5 of them with little effort.

Even more were killed with equal ease, but some few actually made it through to attack the Commander.  Again, Milton was reminded of a tiny toddler throwing a tantrum and hitting an adult, because that was all the good that occurred from the successful hits that made it through the gauntlet of oversized melee weapons.  The glow of its shield flared to life, strong and vibrant, and Milton intuitively knew that simple attrition wouldn’t necessarily do the job.  They were going to need to use something else.

While the Bearillas were getting slaughtered, other units of their combined forces arrived to add their own attacks against the massive Heliothrope.  The very effective Sonic Blademasters arrived and added their sonic attacks against its shield, making no obvious progress; the same went for Milton’s Diamine Quagonlings as they attacked it from behind, with a few being smacked into a crumpled mess with a weapon that was almost negligently flicked behind the Commander’s body.

The rest of his Titanacondas – just over 20 of them – burst out of the ground around the 12-armed enemy, attempting to latch on to its legs, but finding no real purchase on its protective barrier.  Milton’s vehicles with the High-Voltage Electrified Gates rushed forward, ramming into the feet of the Commander, causing constant electrical shocks that activated the glowing shield, but the effect was visibly negligible.

Over 120 metal Apes armed with warhammers leapt over the others and slammed their weapons against the protective barrier covering the Heliothrope, and large bursts of force occurred where the warhammer head impacted, but apart from an additional flare of the shield, they didn’t seem to do much good.

But then came the rest of Sandra’s constructs.  The army-on-demand Clockwork Kings sped forward, getting in close and attacking the Commander as quickly as they could before retreating and attacking again. They were joined by the smaller Alloyed Defenders, who were amazing in their movement, using some sort of ability to enhance their speed, give them the ability to jump to greater heights, and add some magical effects to their attacks – for all the good it did them.  Out of all of the other fighters on the field, they were the most adept at avoiding getting destroyed, but they were also unable to do any real damage, either.

20 Steel Colossi stomped up to battle with the Commander from three different directions, narrowly avoiding stepping on many of the other units arrayed against the Heliothrope.  They attempted to attack, but then the massive Heliothrope demonstrated why it was so dangerous.

Attacked by the weaker, smaller Combat Units and constructs down near its legs, the Commander didn’t bother with anything fancier than simply swiping at them with its weapons and slaughtering them by the dozens without much effort.  Confronted by an enemy that was its same size, however, the 12-armed monstrosity took the fight to them.

Utilizing the glowing shield’s properties, it suddenly flew straight toward the nearest Colossus, bringing all of its weapons to bear on the construct.  Sandra’s metal dungeon monster was cut up and crushed like a soda can in a compactor in seconds, as the construct was unable to defend itself with any particular speed.  Once it was destroyed, the Commander went around in the semi-circle of Colossi, moving between them fast enough that they weren’t able to defend themselves.  One after another of them fell apart under the onslaught, all the while the other forces arrayed against the Heliothrope attempted to chase it down so they could continue their attack.

All of the Proctans on the Vehicles turned their attention away from the Anchor and started using their Vacuum Cannon technique on the Commander, but their projectiles simply bounced off and were more of a danger to the nearby Combat Units than help. Without hesitation, Milton turned their attention back to the Anchor and ordered the rest of the Proctans waiting in the trees to rush the Commander – all except the Elemental Casters.

“I need you all to do something for me,” he asked them.  “How many of you have the Spatial Void Affinity?”  Milton could find that out for himself if he wanted by looking at them, but he had neither the time nor the concentration to waste on the effort.  When half of them raised their hands, he kept them aside and sent the others to join the fight against the Commander.

“Alright, I’m going to need some unstable void explosions – do you think you can handle that?”  They only hesitated a moment before nodding.  He didn’t blame them for hesitating, because when they combined two different Spatial Voids, the feedback from the explosion it caused would knock them out or even kill them – but fortunately it wasn’t permanent.  Just… uncomfortable, or so he’d heard.

As he quickly sent them to where they would be able to do the most damage, he caught sight of the massive Rocs in the air getting ready to dive toward the Commander, so he caught Echo’s attention again.

“Echo!  Can you do what you were talking about earlier with the Roc’s traveling vortex?”

It took a few seconds for the Elf to respond, and when he looked in her direction, he realized she was moving on her Pegasus to avoid being overrun by the Commander.  “On the big guy over there?”

He was about to say yes, of course, when he had a thought.  “Actually, hold on for a moment.”

Switching his viewpoint to the command bridge, he used the sensor orb there to speak to Whisp and ALANNA.  “Quick question; do you think that destroying the Anchor will close off the connection between this dimension and the Heliothropes’ dimension?”

Thankfully, it only took a few seconds for Whisp to answer for them both.

“Yes, it should; it will effectively separate the two membranes so that they can both start to heal, cutting the connection entirely – which also means that they won’t be able to send any more ships through.  Why are you worried about—?”

“Thanks!”

Back in his avatar, he took a look around the area, seeing that things were going even more poorly than they had been only a few seconds ago.  “Echo, no – direct them to destroy the Anchor!”

She didn’t answer, however, and he instantly saw why.  One of the Commander’s hands held a strange-looking knife the size of a longsword attached to a chain, which it could whip out to attack a target at long range; it had apparently done this while he had been distracted, spearing the poor Elf and her mount at the same time, decapitating the poor Pegasus and essentially ripping Echo in half.  He was a moment too late to do anything, however, but he saw her fall in a spray of blood as the massive knife was ripped away, disappearing into the trees below.

Milton felt his artificial heart ache at the loss, but he didn’t have time to mourn.  If they didn’t stop the powerful Heliothrope now, there would be a lot more dead around the world than just a single Elf.  Moving his attention to the sensor orb near Gerold, he communicated with the Dwarf.  “Gerold!  Can you instruct the Rocs to use their traveling vortex to appear inside of that Anchor?”

“What?  But Echo should be handling them,” the Dwarf said quickly.  Oh no, he didn’t see.

“She’s… indisposed at the moment.  Can you do it?”

He nodded inside of his strange suit of armor.  The next moment, Milton watched the giant birds opening up some sort of portal in the middle of the air in front of where they were flying, and as soon as they flew inside, the portals closed with a *snap*.  Less than a second later, one after another, portals *snapped* into existence along the metal column in the clearing.

The first few did absolutely nothing, or else they missed hitting the Anchor altogether.  The massive Rocs flew through the traveling vortexes at high speed, however, and crashed into the anchor with bone-shattering force.  Either it was the impacts that softened up the defense of the Anchor or something else, but the remaining vortexes opened up right in the middle of the Anchor, causing the metal to shear and bend, until the final one caused an explosion that rocked the entire clearing.

Milton used his sensor orbs to look below the ground as the explosion occurred, sending fragments of metal flying everywhere, and he saw that whatever was on the surface was only a small part of the Stabilizing Anchor.  Whatever the Rocs had ended up doing had started a chain reaction that sent explosions rocking through a significantly large structure underground, which he hadn’t been able to see before because of the dimensional energy interference.  The ground rumbled underneath everyone’s feet as the explosions continued, and Milton focused on Murder Station’s long-range sensors trained on the dimensional wound.

A few seconds after the explosions started, the lines of dimensional energy flowing out from the planet shut off completely, and there was a visible shift in the massive dimensional tear.  Almost instantly it shrunk by nearly 5% of its previous size as whatever was forcibly holding it open lost its hold on it.

We did it!

But that wasn’t the only thing that had been done; when he looked back at the Commander, it had fallen to its knees, its eyes wildly manic in its head.  As one of Sandra’s remaining warhammer-wielding Apes struck at it while it was down, Milton was excited to see that his idea had worked – because the weapon struck flesh, blasting a small chunk of skin away in the process.

“What?  How?” came Whisp’s voice from the command bridge, before Milton heard her say, “Oh.  Wow.  Good thinking, Milton!”

He smiled to himself, but then remembered the sight of Echo falling off of her Pegasus.  He had to finish this now, otherwise even more would end up dying.

“Proctans!  Its shield is down; give it everything you’ve got!”

There was no holding back now as Milton and Brint instructed everything they still had left at the Commander, including the Quagonlings, Qwizards, few remaining Bearillas, the handful of Titanacondas, as well as the Proctans using their Vacuum Cannons to attack with everything they had without holding back.  Gerold did the same thing for Sandra’s constructs, as Alloyed Defenders, Clockwork Kings, shining angels, V-shaped Blademasters, and the few remaining Apes all converged on the Commander from all sides.

The Heliothrope fought like a wild animal, all sense of the controlled martial ability it had displayed previously now gone.  With its protective barrier now miraculously gone, Milton thought about a Special Trait he had seen on most of the Heliothropes’ Target Statuses: Faith of the Blessed.  It was what created the protective barrier in the first place, and it was linked to their faith in Helios, their Sun God.  Whether or not it was actually a Sun God that they held their faith in didn’t really matter; what mattered was why the Heliothropes tried to create a permanent opening to another dimension in the first place.

What they had done was much more complicated and involved than what The Collective – and consequently what Milton’s space station – used to travel between dimensions; he was 99% positive that they could’ve figured out how to move through to another dimension without all of this mess.  So, why do it?  The answer hadn’t occurred to him until he really thought about why his resource pool had still been intact when he arrived, when they had been sure it would be gone – it was because the dimensions were still open to each other.

While the Heliothropes weren’t needing resources acquired by a Molecular Converter like Milton, they still needed access to something else:

Their Sun God, Helios.

That was the only explanation that made sense, and he had taken a gamble to see if it would pay off.  Now that it had, there was another problem.

Cut off from the Sun God, the Commander was going crazy.  It had no connection anymore to the other dimension, which meant no protective barrier, and when he looked at its stats again, they were dropping quickly.  Even its Absolute Dedication Skill was dropping rapidly, which was basically its “Unswerving loyalty to Helios, the Sun God”.  He actually didn’t think that it was possible to lose Skills, but he was learning about a lot of things lately that he thought were impossible.

Their powerful army had been devastated, but they were still valiantly fighting on even as they died by the dozens from the attacks of the berserk Commander, who was stomping on Combat Units and constructs, swinging its weapons back and forth blindly, hitting anything it could in its rage.  Projectiles from the Vacuum Cannons took chunks out of its flesh, adding to what damage was already there, and the remaining Proctan Casters that could use their Spatial Void abilities still were causing massive explosions that were wounding it even further.  Proctan Tanks were zipping up to its feet and legs and carving slices out of its skin and a little of the muscle underneath, but they were more like pinpricks for all that the Commander cared.

Rogues appeared and disappeared, striking where they could, and many of the Support Proctans were animating nearby trees to bash and stab at the Heliothrope, only to be kicked aside or batted away by a melee weapon when the Commander started to thrash about uncontrollably.  It was a slaughter on both sides of the fight, but Milton could see that attrition would eventually get the Commander in the end as it started to slow down.  Its Health was dropping precipitously close to 0, but still it fought on with every ounce of its strength.

Just when Milton thought it was starting to make a comeback, its Absolute Dedication hit Level 0 and disappeared off of the Skill list.  The instant that happened, it froze in place, dropped to its knees, and then fell flat on its face, crushing a few Combat Units, around 50 Proctans, and a multitude of constructs at the same time.  When he looked at its Status, its Health was at 0.

They had done it.

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Fodder x430!  You gain (430x500) 215,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Soldier x43!  You gain (43x2000) 86,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Elite x4!  You gain (4x10000) 40,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  Your Combat Units have defeated Commander x1!  You gain (1x500000) 500,000 combat experience!

Congratulations!  You have increased your Combat Level!

Current Combat Level: 27

Experience: 112,702,157/182,089,500

By raising your Combat Level, you can choose to prioritize the development of certain statistics.  In addition, your Combat Units will receive a 2% (per Combat Level) increase in their own attack and defensive abilities.

Current Points to Allocate: 27

Current Combat Unit A/D Increase: 54%

It was a hard-fought battle, but even if it resulted in Echo’s death, at least they had succeeded—

“Milton?  Something is happening.  It looks familiar—” ALANNA communicated to him, and the Station Core immediately looked to see what she was talking about.  Using his sensor orbs overlooking the destructive battle, he couldn’t see what she was talking about at first.  Then he saw it, collecting over the corpse of the Commander, a hazy energy that only took him a split-second to recognize.

“Gerold!  Take cover and protect yourselves!  This ship is about to blow!”

Milton was about to fling a warning up to Brint on his Quagon above, but it was too late.  Throwing himself in a small hole next to his avatar’s current position, he hit the dirt just in time for the energy to zip towards the Breeder Ship – and he lost all awareness of his synthetic body as the massive ship exploded.

Current Average-term Goal: Triage – Complete!

- Travel to this other dimension – Complete!

- Investigate and discover what is keeping the dimensional barriers attached – Complete!

- Destroy the Stabilizing Anchor to prevent the Heliothropes from invading en masse – Complete!

Difficulty of Goal: Very Hard

Timeframe: 30 days

Rewards: Saving a different dimension from a scourge of Heliothropes, +5 to Processing Speed/Agility, Processing Power/Intelligence, and Ingenuity/Wisdom[48]

Chapter 36

Milton had to recreate his avatar up on Murder Station, but it wasn’t that much of a hassle at that point.  What was annoying was the wait for the shuttle to bring him back down to the surface in search of survivors.

Every single Proctan, Combat Unit, and sensor orb he had on the surface had been taken to the south and killed in the explosion, along with what he could only assume was every one of Sandra’s constructs and dungeon monsters.  He just hoped that Gerold and the rest of his group had been far enough away from the ship that they had survived.  He was already mass-producing sensor orbs to scour the area, but it would be a few hours before they arrived to investigate.

“Milton.  What happened?”

A few moments after the explosion, Sandra had contacted his Core with the Bond that they shared.  It was the most difficult thing he had ever done, but he told her the truth of what happened, with Echo’s death and the potential death of Gerold and the rest of his Guild group.  However, he also said that it was possible that they had survived, and that he was doing his best to find them and bring them back alive.

She didn’t say much for a few minutes, and Milton thought she had stopped talking to him.  Finally, two words came through the Bond, their tone harsh and unyielding.  “Find them.”

He hadn’t heard a word from her since then.

But now he was descending down to the surface in his avatar with a complement of 10 Proctans and dozens of drones, to follow up on some discoveries that his sensor orbs had made.  The crater left by the exploding ship had been surprisingly shallow, as most of the explosion was centered on some internal areas of the vessel, but the sheer force of it had flattened trees for nearly a mile in every direction. As such, it was hard to find just about anything in all of the mess, especially as bodies nearer the ship had been either obliterated or flung out so far that some were found miles away.

But his sensor orbs, concentrating on the area where he thought Gerold and his other groupmates had been, had detected some traces of the same type of “people” energy that he knew the Guild used, but there was a bit of interference in the area from the remnants of the ship and it was difficult to get a good read.  Which was why he was going down there himself with a rescue team.

The trip down seemed to take forever, but when they finally arrived it was a mad scramble to start removing trees and other debris from the area where the energy was found.  Thankfully, his drones were quick, and with some help and the strength of the Proctans he had brought along, they were able to clear their way to the bottom of the pile.

The first thing he saw was Gerold, though his strange armor was gone, crumpled pieces of it scattered around him as if it had rusted and fallen apart.  There were numerous cuts and a deep wound along his back that had likely severed his spine… but he was alive, if barely.

Underneath him was the rest of the group, unconscious, battered… and also alive.  Milton had the Proctans he had brought with him who were able to heal touch the group to stabilize their wounds and bring back some normal health to them, before packing them all up into the shuttle.  They all appeared to need some additional healing to recover completely, but Gerold was going to have to take a dip in a Bioconversion Lab in order to fix his spine and be able to walk again.

He didn’t go back north right away, however.  Instead, he visited the spot where he thought he had seen Echo fall from her Pegasus, and with another few minutes of searching, he was able to locate her body, though it was currently in two separate parts.  Wrapping it up gently in a sheet he had brought down from the station just for that purpose, he carried her up to the shuttle and took off for the north.

“They’re safe, Sandra.  They’ll need some additional healing, but they should be fine.  Echo… I’m bringing her body back, as well.”

There was silence for most of the ride back to his compound, both from the Proctans on the shuttle and from Sandra.  Milton hated the silence but put up with it because he was at a loss for what to say that could make the Dungeon Core understand that he had tried to do all that he could to keep those that went south with him safe.  He had promised to look after them, and while most of them would recover… Echo was gone.

As the shuttle set down in his compound and the Proctans he had brought with him carried out the still-unconscious figures of Gerold, Hazel, Serafira, Owchet, and Belta, Milton finally heard from Sandra.

“Can you… can you bring her back?  With your technology?”

Her request wasn’t surprising, as the Dungeon Core was aware of the situation with the Proctans and Milton’s ability to bring them back via the Bioconversion Labs to which he had access.  He had actually thought about it a bit when they were flying back to the compound, but had dismissed it because Sandra had seemed a bit weirded out by the whole concept.  That she was looking at it as a means for getting one of her friends back didn’t mean she was for the whole idea, but out of desperation, she was willing to try anything to see if it would work.

“I can – or at least I think so.  However, she will likely be changed from what she was before,” Milton warned.

The joy in her voice was like a soothing breeze through his soul, as she had seemed so despondent and angry after learning about what had happened to the south.  He was worried that he had completely soured their friendship by allowing one of her friends to die, which was the last thing he had wanted to do.  “That’s excellent!  What do you mean by changed, though?”

Milton explained how, with the Proctans, when he brought them back to life they had lost all progress on the Power that they had cultivated over years and years of use.  That was because the way they became stronger in their abilities was through constant use of the Power inside of their bodies, draining their Power pool repeatedly so that when it filled up again it was just the tiniest bit bigger.  Bringing them back as a clone of themselves reset them back to essentially Level 1, because the Bioconversion Lab had no reference as to how large their pools had been; it was only when he had Neurological Control Units implanted in them that the technology was able to record those changes, allowing their future incarnations to keep their progress.

He also mentioned that the Bond that Sandra had with the Elf might not be present anymore, as he didn’t exactly know how all of that worked because it was beyond his comprehension.  He still didn’t know what had really happened with his own Bond, so it was impossible for him to know how this would change when Echo was reborn.

“Do it.  Echo mentioned before she left how curious she was about the whole process, and while I’m not happy that she died, I’m sure she would get a kick out of being the first of her people to try it.”

That the Elf had been curious about the process was news to Milton.  Then again, it would probably only be natural to the people who knew about the process of “rebirthing” (as many of the Proctans called it) to wonder what it would be like.

“If that is your wish, I will do so.  I’m going to heal all of the rest first so that they can get back on their feet, and then I’ll work on Echo.”

She approved of this idea, especially since Milton had told her about Gerold’s severed spine.  The others were still unconscious for some unknown reason; the Proctans had healed their wounds enough to theoretically wake them up, but Milton was worried that the explosive shockwave had damaged the brain tissue inside their heads, which was working to keep them unconscious.  Whatever it was, he didn’t want to force the issue and accidentally kill each of them – it was much easier to dump them in a Bioconversion Lab and let the facility fix all of the problems at a cellular level.

Gerold, being the worst off, was gently dropped in first.  After only 5 minutes, he dropped out below into a pool of liquid, and he almost immediately stood up and looked around in astonishment.  Milton missed whatever the Dwarf might have said as the Proctans helped him out of the Lab after drying off, because he was distracted by some notifications.

The first one was one that he had been expecting to see, which was an update to his Combat Unit options, which now included “Dwarf”.  What he wasn’t expecting was the notification afterwards.

New Discovery!

After analyzing the DNA of one of the sapient subjects of this planet, you have discovered multiple unknown mutations unique to this dimension. At the current level of your bio-dimensional knowledge, these mutations are only compatible with subjects originating in this particular dimension.

New options available for Gene Mutations:

- Nether Affinity (Creator dimension)

- Water Affinity (Creator dimension)

In addition, all of your previously discovered Gene Mutations have been relabeled with (Proctan dimension) to differentiate their viability inside of the Biological Recombinator.

“ALANNA?  Are you seeing this?”

It didn’t take her long for her to answer.  “I sure do, and it’s up on everyone’s console.  This could be big, Milton.”

That was definitely for sure.  It appeared as though these Gene Mutations were only available to be used with people found in this dimension, which was more than a little disappointing, but it probably had to do with the way they were able to take in and use the energy this dimension had in abundance.  Looking at the notification, however, he saw that it mentioned something about his “current level of bio-dimensional knowledge”, so it was entirely possible those limitations might change in the future.

Especially with Whisp and the Think Tank constantly working on expanding their knowledge base.

The rest of the CAMP Guild members followed up with their healing process in the Labs, the helpful facility putting them back together as good as new.  From Serafira, the other Elf from the group, Milton received Air and Fire Affinity mutations; the Orc named Belta provided a Spirit Affinity and access to a generic Orc Combat Unit; and the Gnome named Hazel gave Natural and Earth Affinity mutations, as well as the ability to create Gnome Combat Units.  Nothing new came from Owchet, the other Orc, but that wasn’t surprising; from what Milton understood, the powerful Warrior had a Fire Affinity, for which the Station Core had already received a mutation.  Milton also knew that Echo had access to Air and Holy elements, which covered the entire spectrum of elements available in this world, or perhaps this dimension.

“Sandra?  I’m about to attempt to bring Echo back.”

The Dungeon Core was speaking with Gerold and the other CAMP Guild members, who were just now being informed of Echo’s earlier demise – at least that’s what Milton assumed when the Gnome, Hazel, abruptly started sobbing, and the others were visibly upset.  It was nearly a minute before Sandra responded to him.

“I… need to apologize for my behavior.  I don’t blame you for what happened to Echo down south.  I was more frustrated at myself for my inability to be there, and my helplessness turned to anger at you.  I hope that you can forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive.”

She paused a moment before she went on.  “From speaking briefly with Gerold and the others, as well as from your own account of the events, you had taken even more precautions than I would’ve taken to ensure their safety.  It is a blessing that any of them survived, and you have my thanks for bringing them back to me.”

That bolstered his mood a little, as he had been feeling down about getting one of her friends killed, even if he had done everything he could to protect the Elf.  After it happened, he had felt as if his relationship with Sandra had been irrevocably damaged, which affected him more than he realized.  Not for the first time, he wondered why this Dungeon Core’s opinion of him mattered so much, especially since he would be leaving and going back to his own dimension as soon as possible.  Whisp had mentioned that the Heliothropes wouldn’t be able to open up another dimensional wound until the one they had already made closed up completely, but he needed to be present in his own dimension to prepare for that occurrence.

“Let’s see what we can do to bring them all back to you, then,” he said to Sandra, starting the process of converting the Elf’s body inside of a Molecular Converter.  Thankfully, as Echo had already been cut in half, it wasn’t necessary to cut her body in order for it to fit, because he didn’t think Sandra would be able to handle that.

As soon as her body disappeared in the blue glowing light of the Molecular Converter, Milton found her on his list of individual Combat Units, which still technically included millions of patterns of the Proctans back on Proctus, but fortunately the list was easily searchable with a thought. He selected the name for the Bioconversion Lab to produce, and he waited for a minute while nothing happened; eventually, another notification popped up.

Error!

Unable to complete Combat Unit Creation for 1 reason:

1. Concentrated elemental energy signatures required for identical DNA recreation

Do you wish to create generic “Elf” Combat Unit?  Y/N

“Uh, Sandra?  It appears as though we have a problem.”

“What is the problem?”

Milton described what his notification said, which didn’t make any sense to him.  Thankfully, Sandra seemed to know exactly what was needed.  A few seconds later, Serafira walked up to him and handed him two glowing orbs that she took out of a pouch at her side, one white and one yellow.  “We always carry around extra Energy Orbs in case we meet someone who needs one; plus, it’s a good recruiting tactic to entice others to join the Guild.”

He recognized them instantly, because they were the same colors of the orbs that had been embedded in Echo’s hands.  When he looked at them with his sensor filters, he could see that they radiated a mixture of “people” and “dungeon” energy, which Sandra had mentioned because they were converting condensed dungeon Mana orbs into usable elemental energy that people could utilize.  “Thanks; hopefully this should do the trick.”

Walking up the staircase that led to the top of the Bioconversion Lab, he dropped the two orbs inside of the liquid and restarted the process of bringing Echo back.  This time, there was no error; Milton could see within seconds that it was already working.

Waiting down at the bottom of the Lab were Echo’s Guildmates, who were watching eagerly for the Elf to be reborn.  The process took more than twice as long as it did with a Proctan, but the Station Core thought it was because there were some extra elements – as in, the elemental energy orbs he had added – that slowed down the process; yet, it still finished before 15 minutes were up.

A naked Elf suddenly fell from the bottom of the cylinder, landing in a pool of liquid down below.  Serafira suddenly jumped in and gathered the awakening Echo up in her arms as she was automatically dried off by the Lab, before dressing the confused and shaking CAMP Guild member in some clothes that Milton had created via a Molecular Converter.

“Wh-what happened?” Echo asked, all while looking down at her torso and running her hands over it as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.  “The last thing I remember... how?”  The Elf shook her head in disbelief and horror, the memories of her death probably fresh in her mind.  “How was I healed?”

Normally, the NCU inside of the Proctans made the memory of their previous death a little bit hazy and the feelings associated with it were detached, so as to not have the memory of dying dozens or hundreds of times act as traumatizing events.  For Echo, however, she was brought back exactly the way she was – memory included – as she expired, other than the grievous wound, of course.  Therefore, she knew exactly how badly she had been hurt, so it wasn’t surprising that she wondered how she had been healed from the fatal wound.

“You weren’t healed, Echo.  Unfortunately, you died – and were just reborn,” Milton answered.  The Guild members were looking at Echo in both awe and worry, as they had just witnessed a miracle and the concerning birth of a clone at the same time.  “I’m not sure exactly how you feel, but you may have experienced a loss in your ability to use your Holy and Air elemental energies.”  He thought he said that right; the terminology for the way they manipulated the elements was still new to him.

Echo’s eyes lost focus for a moment before her face transformed into one that had just experienced a horrible realization.  So, it’s true; she lost all of her progress with her rebirth.  However, instead of bemoaning the loss, she smiled and said, “It’s almost all gone – but I’m alive.  And I’m… me.  I can’t describe it properly, but it feels like I was actually reborn as an adult newborn.”

“Thank you, Milton,” Sandra spoke to him suddenly.  “Even better, my Bond with her is still intact.  I don’t know how to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“Aren’t you disappointed that she’s a lot weaker now?”

Sandra laughed, a beautiful sound that made his avatar smile involuntarily.  “No, not at all.  It might take a year or two to get to where she was before, but the important part is that she is alive to be able to do that.  All thanks to you.”

“Well, I aim to please.  On another note, throughout all of the healing and bringing back Echo, I learned some new Genetic Mutations that are only accessible to those living in this dimension.”

She sounded intrigued.  “Oh, yes?  What does that mean, precisely?”

Milton marshalled his thoughts, trying to figure out how to explain it.  “What I think it means is that, through some rearranging of the genetic makeup of individual people for whom I have their pattern, I may be able to add additional elemental affinities to what they can access.  If I were to use it on Echo, for instance, I might be able to add the ability for her to use Water or Fire in addition to the Air and Holy she can already access.”

“That is… incredible.  And extremely dangerous, most likely.”  The Station Core wondered why something like that might be dangerous.  “Why don’t you come back to my dungeon and we can discuss things… say, over dinner?”

He shrugged automatically, even as he responded.  “Sure, I think I can swing that.  But I don’t necessarily have to eat anything.”

“Neither do I.”

Milton chuckled, finding it funny that she even suggested dinner.  Nonetheless, he was looking forward to seeing her again.

Chapter 37

“Are you sure you have to go?”

Milton turned to Sandra as he slowed his leisurely stride to a stop.  He had spent the last few hours walking around Sandra’s entire dungeon, including all of the defensive rooms she had running from her original entrance – though the traps were temporarily removed so his avatar wasn’t killed again, thankfully.  The Dungeon Core showed off all of her workshops scattered around, including forges, leatherworking stations, jewelry-making workstations, and a multitude of other areas, some of which he hadn’t ever seen or heard of before.  While crafting was a big part of many games he had played in the past, he never really had a desire to learn how to perform the same actions that simply required the press of a button in real life.

But Sandra loved crafting with a passion, and he felt himself interested in it because of her genuine enthusiasm.  She even demonstrated how she just recently started making paper, which was a process he hadn’t really thought about before; objectively, he knew what paper was made from, but he never really cared about how it was made – until now.  He couldn’t help but be interested in the process she demonstrated, and he began to finally understand the fascination of people back home with “handmade” crafts, because there was definitely something special about them.

He had also seen the transportation system Sandra had made in the middle of her dungeon, her VATS; it was basically like a magic-powered air-elevator system that allowed people to move up and down multiple levels in order to reach different areas of the dungeon.  It was quite ingenious, he thought, and a practical use of her traps for a purpose other than to hurt invaders.  In fact, all of the different crafting workshops made use of traps for a beneficial purpose – and it was all done without the need for electricity.  Everything was powered by the ambient Mana permeating the world, as well as an initial investment of Sandra’s own accumulated Mana.

Lastly, Milton had seen the farms that the Dwarves living underground were working with the aid of Sandra’s constructs – not to mention the Brewery and Distillery she had going on there.  He wasn’t a big drinker himself, and in fact alcohol wouldn’t do anything to his synthetic avatar, but he was sure that some of the Proctans might like to try some of what they were producing.  However, it was the fact that Sandra could use her Mana to grow food and other plants at an accelerated rate that was incredible, and he had to admit that he was quite envious.  It was the same thing that the Proctans could achieve, though the process was a little slower with their abilities; unless they were Flora Manipulators, of course, but their accelerated growth tended to use up the plants so that they died after the Proctans were done with them.

All in all, Milton was thoroughly impressed at what she had accomplished in what was an astonishingly short time of only a few years after she had become a Dungeon Core.  Milton thought back to his first few years as a Station Core after he had woken up on Proctus, and he hadn’t done even a fraction of what Sandra had seemed to easily achieve.  There were even decades where he essentially went to sleep while his drones accumulated resources automatically for him, so he felt relatively lazy in comparison.

“As much as I’d prefer to stay and learn all about this wonderful world of yours, which I have to say is pretty awesome with all of the magic and dungeons and, well, you… I, unfortunately, have to leave,” Milton answered Sandra, again unconsciously taking her hands in his own, and he reveled yet again at their warmth.  “My drones are nearly finished breaking down all of the facilities that I set up to the north as well as converting as much debris from the Breeder Ship as can be found into resources, and although we’re confident that the Heliothrope threat has been taken care of here in your dimension, that isn’t true for our own.

“Whisp and the Think Tank don’t believe they will attempt to come back to this dimension once they’re able to tear open another wound in the dimensional fabric, but it’s always possible; ALANNA thinks that they will head to another dimension with the thought that they’ll have better success.  Either way, we need to be ready to help out whatever dimension is their next target, because that is the one thing that everyone agrees on: The Heliothropes aren’t done yet, and they will try again.  And they will keep trying until they succeed, unless we can find a way to stop them completely.”

It was a daunting problem that he wasn’t sure they would ever solve, but they had to try.  “Perhaps we’ll even find a way to end their rule over our galaxy and free everyone from the chains of slavery,” he added wistfully, because the chance of that happening was even less than stopping the Heliothropes from playing around in other dimensions.

“A very worthy endeavor,” Sandra said seriously, accompanied by a nod.  “So, what’s stopping you?”

Milton nearly laughed at the question, but he ceased when he saw that she was still completely serious.  “Well, apart from the sheer scope of the problem – the millions of Heliothrope ships and billions of Heliothropes themselves – and the impossibility of fighting against something that had enough strength to conquer hundreds of millions of star systems, I guess what’s stopping us is a lack of time and resources.  Ideally, I’d love to go around the galaxy and liberate the worlds under the shackles of slavery, but we can’t move around without catching the attention of a fleet of Heliothrope ships.  It doesn’t give us a lot of time to even contact and convince people to fight, considering that they may even suffer for our very presence near them.

“We’ve been able to fight those that come after us by utilizing the dungeon I’ve created, but it’s frighteningly small compared to what you have here.  That brings me to the lack of resources, which we’ve also had trouble accumulating while on the run.  What you’ve helped to provide us has been a literal life-saver, and I envy the way you can turn any type of raw material into metal or other objects using your Mana.  The Basic Metal Units alone that you’ve provided will hopefully last us for a few months or more.

“But the real obstacle in our way is the lack of Focusing Crystals.  Almost everything that has a chance of really being effective defending against the Heliothropes, as well as being a possibility of achieving some sort of progress in our fight to liberate our galaxy, requires these Crystals.  My drones haven’t been able to find any of these Crystals on this planet, so I’m worried that they might not even exist in this dimension.”

Milton had, of course, asked Sandra about them almost as soon as he had started setting up his compound to the north, especially after he learned how she could turn dirt or any other raw material into metal.  Unfortunately, even after she had absorbed one of the crystals, she said that it hadn’t been recognized as an Origination Material, and so, it couldn’t be reproduced.  He took that to mean that it wasn’t something that the world recognized, so it obviously couldn’t be recreated magically.

That would’ve been entirely too easy, otherwise.

“I’m sorry that I’m not able to reproduce them, Milton,” Sandra said, placing her hand on his arm in sympathy for his plight.  “However….”  She trailed off, her eyes looking through him as if she was looking at something other than him.  After a few seconds, she shook her head and smiled at Milton, her attention back on his face.  “I might be able to craft them for you.”

The Station Core felt his chances of success against the Heliothropes shoot way up, if what Sandra said was true.  “Really?  That would be incredible!  How long do you think you need?”

The Dungeon Core shook her head with a shrug.  “I’m not even sure it’s possible, but all I can do is try.  It could be that I’ll succeed today, or it might take me months.  Or not at all.”

Milton felt his raised hopes start to crash and flatline when he heard that. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can wait that long,” he said regretfully.  “While we think we have at least a couple of weeks until the Heliothropes can try again, all of this theoretical dimensional physics is still new to most of us, and it’s entirely possible that they could be up and running in a few days.  We’ve got to get the station back as soon as we can.”  He smirked at her and said playfully, “If only I could steal you away to come back to my dimension; I could really use your help to expand and defend the dungeon I’ve set up.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe I can leave my Area of Influence, and perhaps even my dungeon – though I haven’t tried to push that with my new form yet.  Otherwise, I would love to journey through the stars with you,” Sandra replied with a sad smile.  “I was a merchant, if you remember, and one of my favorite parts of that life – aside from learning about crafting – was seeing strange new places and meeting people I’d never met before.”

Milton also wished she was able to come along with him to help fight against the Heliothropes, but not only because she would be a valuable ally.  No, it was because he was drawn to Sandra in a way he couldn’t explain.

He sighed, knowing that he better start moving so that he could finish up with the preparations for their departure.  “I wish I could stay, but I must take my leave.  Perhaps I’ll be able to visit again in the future, especially since we now have your dimensional signature.”

Milton realized he still had hold of her hands, and he was surprised she hadn’t pulled them away in awkwardness after it had been so long.  Since he really didn’t want to let them go for some reason, as he was enjoying the warmth she radiated on his skin like a hot sun on a cold day, he bent down slightly and brought one of her hands up to his avatar’s lips, kissing the back of her hand in goodbye.

In mid-kiss, ALANNA apparently thought it was the right time to interrupt him.  “Ooh, you like her, don’t you?  Never mind, I already know; it’s not like you can hide it from me.”

Frozen with his lips pressed against the warmth of Sandra’s hand, he shot back, “Not the time, ALANNA!”

“Oh, but what better time than now?” she asked, deliberately chuckling in his mind.  “Though, you might want to remove your lips from her hand so that she doesn’t think you’re some kind of freak.”

Spurred into motion, he lifted back up and looked at Sandra, who was looking at him with an amused expression on her face. “Sorry, I was interrupted by something super important up on the station,” he apologized quickly.  To ALANNA, he asked, “Were you just messing with me, or is there something important you wanted to tell me?  Maybe so that I didn’t just lie to her?”

Instead of answering herself, ALANNA seemed to relinquish her part of the conversation to Whisp.  “Sorry about that, Milton.  ALANNA was just supposed to let you know that we may have a solution to your little problem.”

“What little problem?”  Milton was suddenly glad that this conversation wasn’t happening back on Earth; “little problem” back then was a roundabout way of saying there was something that might be fixed with a little blue pill.

“Oh, well, we couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Sandra, and—”

“You were listening in?” Milton asked, shocked.  While he knew his activities with his avatar weren’t exactly private, he wasn’t sure what they had gained in watching him inside of Sandra’s dungeon.

“Yes, well, we wanted to make sure you were okay,” Whisp said quickly.  Too quickly.  “But anyway, we think there might be a way for Sandra to come with us.  Well, not technically come with us, but we can stay connected to her and this world.”

“How would you go about accomplishing that?”

It took him a few seconds to realize that Sandra had just spoken – as if she could hear what was being said in his mind.  “Wait—  Can you—  How—?”  Milton was finding it difficult to articulate what he wanted to ask.

“Oh, I’ve been able to hear some of your conversations with whoever you’re speaking with up there since we Bonded, though it comes and goes,” Sandra explained with a determinedly innocent expression on her face.  “It’s a bit stronger when your body is nearby, however.”

Great.  That means she overheard ALANNA earlier and—  Embarrassed, he tried to recover by moving the conversation back to what Whisp had mentioned.  “Yes, Whisp, what was it that you were saying?”

Milton could hear the amusement in Whisp’s voice now as she went on.  “Well, we’ve been analyzing all of the sensor data that was collected on the Stabilizing Anchor and the dimensional wound that was created – from what was detected in both dimensions – and Rhiole thinks that we might be able to reproduce the effect on a much, much smaller scale.  As in, creating a stable dimensional portal that would connect these two dimensions – but only about 10 feet wide and tall.”

It didn’t take him long to understand what kind of benefit that would be, but he needed more information.  “How would that work?  Would it simply be a small stationary void in space?”

“No, not at all.  Instead, these stable portals are a bit more fluid than you would think, and we could attach it to the inside of the station, as well as a small space inside of Sandra’s dungeon.  It would move with us wherever we went, even to other dimensions; however, if they ever needed to be closed in an emergency, that could be accomplished in a matter of seconds.  Reestablishing the Portal would require a visit to this dimension again, however.”

Milton was so shocked at the sudden information that he wasn’t sure how to respond.  Sandra, however, was all over it.  “Let’s do that, then.  What do you need from me?” she asked excitedly, practically bouncing in place.

“Just a space where we can place an object in your dungeon, preferably away from anything vital – in case the portal is a little larger than we’ve calculated.”

“Alright, I can do that.  Now, Milton, why don’t you head on back and I’ll wait here for this object this Whisp woman was talking about.”  Sandra used her hands which were still being held by Milton to pull him closer, before giving him a little peck on his cheek – to his astonishment.  Instead of moving away immediately, she whispered, “I like you, too.”

Milton was in a daze as he boarded the Mag-form that Sandra operated to deliver him to the dungeon’s entrance, and by the time he disembarked and was cognizant enough to turn around and say goodbye, she was already moving back toward her Home Room.

After that, he was too busy to think about what had just happened as he worked on finishing up the preparations to leave.  With his drones working at a rapid pace to break everything down, Milton took the time to send some sensor orbs toward the west to see where Sandra had mentioned the Human lands of Muriel were located.  As much as he wanted to meet and visit his people, he didn’t have time; the best he could do was look over their towns and cities from the air via his orbs, and what he saw brought a small smile to his face.  It all looked like some sort of medieval fantasy game to him, which brought him no little bit of nostalgia.

However, as he continued to take in the sight of the Human lands of this world, he realized that they weren’t his Humans.  They might look like him, but they weren’t the Humans he knew from his own dimension.  Nevertheless, he hoped to visit this dimension again in the future and finally have a chance to get to know them, as right now they were the only link to his race that he’d found since he left Proctus.

In less than 8 hours after he left Sandra’s dungeon, they were ready to depart this dimension, though not before Whisp and Rhiole descended to the surface with a strange boxy object in their hands.  It was approximately the size of a basketball if it were square instead of round, and it didn’t look too heavy.

“This is what the Stabilizing Anchor should’ve looked like, if it hadn’t been made to be so destructive like what the Heliothropes produced,” Whisp explained.  Milton’s sensors were able to penetrate the outer metal covering to see what looked to be a very, very tiny trans-dimensional drive accompanied by a dozen portable Power Generators.  He knew that the Generators were like small Zero-point Energy Reactors and would last indefinitely, so that took care of the power issue.

Milton nearly asked how it worked, but realized a split second before the question came out that it didn’t matter – and he probably wouldn’t understand it anyway.  Maybe one day he would be knowledgeable about dimensional physics and technology, but that day was not today.

After they delivered the cube-shaped object, it only took a few minutes for the crew to be ready to activate the trans-dimensional drives for the transition to their home dimension.  Based on calculations that Whisp and the Think Tank had done earlier, they didn’t even need to use the traveling dimension, because they were assumedly going to already come out in the void of space nowhere near another star system.

“See you soon….”

Sandra’s voice reached him even as the station was in the middle of the solar system, away from the planet, and he smiled to himself as the drive was activated.  A few disorienting seconds later and they were back in his own dimension, approximately in the area of the galaxy that Whisp had calculated.

“A little off from our projected destination, but close enough,” the super-intelligent Proctan remarked.  “This data will help fine-tune it for the next time, though.”

A few minutes later, Milton was down with Whisp, Rhiole, and the Think Tank in a non-populated area of the station’s command center.  It was a large area, a 200-foot-wide cube, surrounded by steel walls.  In the middle of the floor was an object identical-looking to the one that had been delivered to Sandra.

“So, these two boxes are dimensionally linked on a quantum level, so that we can operate them both from just this cube – but it can easily be shut down from either side with a few button presses,” Whisp explained, pointing to a few buttons on the top of the cube that he hadn’t noticed before.  “This first one activates it, the second one simply shuts it down, and the third one will basically self-destruct the contents safely, destroying everything inside without causing a huge explosion.  We explained it to Sandra, so she can shut it down from her side if necessary, just as we can.  It’s also hardwired into your systems, so you can operate it remotely, as well.”

“It seems like you’ve thought of everything,” Milton replied, proud of what they had accomplished.  “Shall we?”

At her instruction, Milton touched the button on top of the cube that would activate the portal and then stepped back.  He could feel a huge upwelling of energy coming from the Power Generators inside of the box, and it slowly built in intensity for approximately 30 seconds. Once it reached a point that the energy was so great that Milton thought that Whisp and the others had made a mistake, he nearly deactivated it.  However, before he could act, he sensed the energy draining away and being altered at a rapid pace, and a wavy-looking square 10 feet high and wide suddenly appeared about 15 feet away from the front of the cube, its bottom edge slicing into the floor a few inches.

It was opaque at first, like looking at a wobbly, frosted-glass window.  A few seconds later, the edges started to firm up until it was no longer wobbly, and the frosted look started to clear up.  Suddenly, in a split-second of time, the frost disappeared with an audible *snap*, and Milton could see clearly into a brightly lit stone-walled room that he didn’t recognize entirely, but it looked like Sandra’s style of hardened stone walls in her dungeon.

Standing in front of the portal was the Dungeon Core, a huge grin on her face as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back a little.  It was then that Milton realized his sensors were picking up the same energy he recognized on her planet, only now it was suffusing almost his entire station.  It ended where Sandra’s Area of Influence ended, which had a large enough diameter that all of the ring was included, with only a small portion of the bottom column out of range.

Sandra opened up her eyes and stepped through the portal without fear, stopping a few feet past the edge of the window into another dimension, and she looked at Milton with a smirk on her face.

“Winxa, my Dungeon Fairy, said to say something you might understand when I arrived, though I’m not sure that I understand it.”

Milton was confused.

“Honey, I’m ho-ome!”

Now isn’t that interesting.

The End

Author’s Note

Thank you for reading the first book in the Dimensional Dungeon Cores series!

I’ve been planning this for a while now, ever since I finished my Station Cores series – though I hadn’t actually been planning, at the time, for a crossover of this magnitude!  The idea came from a bonus short story I included at the end of my Station Cores Box Set, where I explored the idea of what would happen if Milton visited Dungeon World, though it was just for fun at the time.  However, the idea never really left my mind, so when it came time to include a bonus short story at the end of my Dungeon World Box Set, I got to planning.

Oh yes, I made some very interesting plans.  However, my plans didn’t fully crystallize until the second Dungeon Fairy book – and it took off from there.

There is so much more to the Dimensional Dungeon Cores story that will be coming in future books, and the introduction of Sandra is just the beginning.  Look for more in 2022!

Again, thank you for reading, and I implore you to consider leaving a rating and/or review on Amazon – I love 5-star ones!  Reviews make it more likely that others will pick up a good book and read it!

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.

If you would like to learn more about the GameLit genre, please join the GameLit Society Facebook group.

LitRPG is a growing subgenre of GameLit – if you are fond of LitRPG, Fantasy, Space Opera, and the Cyberpunk styles of books, please join the LitRPG Books Facebook group.

For other great Facebook groups, visit LitRPG Rebels and LitRPG Forum.

Also, on Amazon, check out the LitRPG storefront for a large selection of LitRPG, GameLit, and Dungeon Core books from the biggest authors in the genre!

If you would like to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions for future books you would like to see, you can reach me at jonathanbrooksauthor@gmail.com.

Visit my Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/jonathanbrooksauthor and become a patron for as little as $2 a month!  As a patron, you have access to my current works-in-progress, which I update with (unedited) chapters every Friday.  So, if you can’t wait to find out what happens next in one of my series, this is the place for you!

I will try to keep my blog updated on any new developments, which you can find on my Author Page on Amazon.  In addition, you can check out and like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/dungeoncorejonathanbrooks

To sign up for my mailing list, please visit: http://eepurl.com/dl0bK5

To learn more about LitRPG, talk to authors including myself, and just have an awesome time, please join the LitRPG Group.

Books by Jonathan Brooks

Glendaria Awakens Trilogy

Dungeon Player (Audiobook available)

Dungeon Crisis (Audiobook available)

Dungeon Guild (Audiobook available)

Glendaria Awakens Trilogy Compilation w/bonus material (Audiobook available)

Uniworld Online Trilogy (2nd Edition)

The Song Maiden (Audiobook available)

The Song Mistress (Audiobook available)

The Song Matron (Audiobook available)

Uniworld Online Trilogy Compilation (Audiobook available)

Station Cores Series

The Station Core (Audiobook available)

The Quizard Mountains (Audiobook available)

The Guardian Guild (Audiobook available)

The Kingdom Rises (Audiobook available)

The Other Core (Audiobook available)

Station Cores Compilation Complete: Books 1-5 (Audiobook available)

Spirit Cores Series

Core of Fear (Audiobook available)

Children of Fear (Audiobook available)

Carnival of Fear (Audiobook available)

Community of Fear

Dungeon World Series

Dungeon World (Audiobook available)

Dungeon World 2 (Audiobook available)

Dungeon World 3 (Audiobook available)

Dungeon World 4 (Audiobook available)

Dungeon World 5 (Audiobook available)

Dungeon World Box Set: Books 1-5 (Audiobook available)

Dungeon Crafting Series

The Crafter’s Dungeon (Audiobook available)

The Crafter’s Defense (Audiobook available)

The Crafter’s Dilemma (Audiobook available)

The Crafter’s Darkness (Audiobook available)

The Crafter’s Dominion (Audiobook available)

The Crafter’s Dynasty (Audiobook available)

Dungeon Crafting Series: Books 1 – 3 (Audiobook available)

Dungeon Crafting Series: Books 4 – 6 (Audiobook coming soon)

The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Series

The Dungeon Fairy (Audiobook available)

The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices (Audiobook available)

The Dungeon Fairy: Three Lives (Audiobook available)

The Dungeon Fairy: Four Days (Audiobook available)

Serious Probabilities Series

Dungeon of Chance: Even Odds (Audiobook available)

Dungeon of Chance: Double or Nothing (Audiobook available)

Book 3 (eBook coming soon)

The Body’s Dungeon (with Jeffrey “Falcon” Logue)

Bio Dungeon: Symbiote (Audiobook available)

Bio Dungeon: Parasyte (Audiobook available)

Bio Dungeon: Hemostasis (Audiobook available)

Tales of Dungeons Anthology

Tales of Dungeons Vol. 2

Tales of Dungeons Vol. 3

Tales of Dungeons All Hallows 2020

Footnotes/Tables

[1]

Core Status

Name:

Milton Frederick

Type:

Station Core Prototype 3-B

Combat Level:

26

Experience:

109943157/112537500

Reactor Type:

Zero-point Energy

Reactor Output:

550%

Current Statistics/Attributes

Reactor Power/Strength:

110

Processing Power/Intelligence:

125

Structural Integrity/Constitution:

110

Ingenuity/Wisdom:

125

Processing Speed/Agility:

125

Communication/Charisma:

125

Insight/Luck:

82

Sensor Interpretation/Perception

121

[2]

Available Resources

Resource Type

# of Units

Basic Earth

0

Basic Gravel

0

Basic Metal

0

Focusing Crystals

0

Pure Water

0

Organic Material

0

Biological Mass

0

[3]

Cybernetic/Synthetic Organism Factory

Product Name

Description

Cost Range (Basic Metal Units)

Cost Range (Organic Material)

Cost Range (Biological Mass)

Biomechanical Component – Legs & Arms

Replaces the legs and arms of a Combat Unit and interfaces directly into either an organic or cybernetic brain.  Increases Agility moderately.

1 – 50

N/A

1 – 200

Biomechanical Component – Feet & Hands

Replaces the feet and hands of a Combat Unit and interfaces directly into either an organic or cybernetic brain.  Increases Strength and Attack moderately.

1 – 25

N/A

1 - 100

Biomechanical Component -- Torso

Replaces the torso of a Combat Unit and interfaces directly into either an organic or cybernetic brain.  Increases Constitution moderately.

2 – 100

N/A

1 - 400

Cybernetic Component – Eyes

Replaces the eyes of a Combat Unit and requires a cybernetic brain for interfacing.  Increases Perception significantly and provides available information on targets.  Powered physical boosts have no effect.

1 – 5

1 – 20

N/A

Cybernetic Component – Ears

Replaces the ears of a Combat Unit and requires a cybernetic brain for interfacing.  Increases Perception significantly.  Powered physical boosts have no effect.

1 – 5

1 – 20

N/A

Cybernetic Component – Nose

Replaces the nose of a Combat Unit and requires a cybernetic brain for interfacing.  Increases Perception significantly.  Powered physical boosts have no effect.

1 – 5

1 – 20

N/A

Cybernetic Component – Brain

Required for other cybernetic components, the cybernetic brain provides enhanced tactics adopted from other Combat Units.  Increases Intelligence significantly.  Powered Intelligence boosts have no effect.

1 – 20

1 - 40

N/A

Fully Synthetic Base Specimen Replicant (Non-sentient)

Create a fully synthetic replicant of a non-sentient Combat Unit up to 2000 Biological Mass Units in size.  Replicated base specimens share most characteristics, but Power is not one of them.

3 – 800

12 - 3200

N/A

Fully Synthetic Replicant (Proctan)

Create a fully synthetic replicant of a Proctan body of your choice.  Replicants can have slightly increased statistics, but do not share the ability to use Power in any form.

375 - 450

1500 - 1800

N/A

Powered Cybernetic Exoskeleton (Proctan)

A Powered Cybernetic Exoskeleton is an external form of armor for a Proctan body that provides moderate boosts in Strength and Constitution, but a significant decrease in Agility.  Requires a cybernetic brain for proper interfacing.

18750 – 22500

75000 - 90000

N/A

[4]

Combat Unit Creation (Partial List)

Biological Mass (Bio Units)

1650

Basic Metal (BM Units)

3562

Unit Name (Type)

Bio Units

Neurological Control Unit

BM Units

Blood-thirsty Squirrel (Scout)

5

Type-1a

1

Lollipop Snake (Stealth Fighter)

10

Type-1a

1

Miniature Pygmy Wolf (Group Attacker)

10

Type-1a

1

Jackalope (Speed Striker)

15

Type-1a

1

Pygmy Wolf (Group Attacker)

50

Type-2b

2

Greywiener (Speed Striker)

100

Type-2b

2

Big Yellow Bird (Aerial Attacker)

125

Type-2b

2

Clawed Badger (Melee Fighter)

300

Type-3c

3

Ombre Jaguar (Stealth Fighter)

500

Type-3c

3

[5]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Whisp #7

Type:

Master Thinker

Age:

42

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

Divine, Accomplished (6 – 3)

Health

125/125

Power

74900/74900

Attack

48 (+52%)

Defense

128 (+77%)

Strength

14

Constitution

25

Agility

60

Perception

152

Intelligence

7250

Wisdom

14980

Charisma

115

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Supreme Intelligence Boost +14: Supremely increase Intelligence by 6260 for 30 minutes

Enchanting +225: Imbue objects with a permanent effect

Object Animation +205: Animate normally inanimate objects

Item Shaping +201: Shape the structure of natural materials

Master Air Affinity +14: Masterfully manipulate Air

Master Earth Affinity +9: Masterfully manipulate Earth

Expert Water Affinity +48: Expertly manipulate Water

Expert Fire Affinity +37: Expertly manipulate Fire

Advanced Light Affinity +20: Strongly manipulate Light

Advanced Dark Affinity +18: Strongly manipulate Dark

Weak Spatial Void Affinity +10: Weakly manipulate Spatial Voids

Force Field Generation +114: Generate a force field made from Power

Advanced Strength Boost – On Touch +20: Strongly boost another’s Strength on touch by 700 for 30 minutes

Advanced Constitution Boost – On Touch +19: Strongly boost another’s Constitution on touch by 690 for 30 minutes

Advanced Agility Boost – On Touch +18: Strongly boost another’s Agility on touch by 680 for 30 minutes

Advanced Perception Boost – On Touch +17: Strongly boost another’s Perception on touch by 670 for 30 minutes

[6]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Brint #45

Type:

Communications Specialist

Age:

33

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

Divine, Greater (6 – 4)

Health

1000/1000

Power

3000/3000

Attack

182 (+52%)

Defense

354 (+77%)

Strength

120

Constitution

200

Agility

75

Perception

70

Intelligence

550

Wisdom

600

Charisma

55

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Proctan Savant: +100 to Intelligence and Wisdom

Obscurement: Personal Information is concealed

Supreme Neural Uplink +327: Can neurally communicate with Station Cores, allowing control over Combat Units and other designated systems

Self-Levitation +250: Lift self into the air by generating a levitation field

Major Physical Boost Suite +215: Boosts your own physical attributes

Major Physical Boost – On Touch Suite +196: Boost physical attributes of others on touch

Major Healing Touch +186: Can heal others by utilizing target’s flesh to repair injuries

Minor Beast Control +57: Tame and control beasts

[7]

Drone Assembly Plant

Name

Description

Cost

(Basic Metal Units)

Power Requirements

(% of Reactor Output)

Repair Ground Drone

Repairs Ground Drone to full functionality

100-1000 (25-250 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

N/A

Repair Flying Drone

Repairs Flying Drone to full functionality

100-1000 (25-250 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

N/A

Repair Aquatic Drone

Repairs Aquatic Drone to full functionality

100-1000 (25-250 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

N/A

Repair Sensor Orb

Repairs Sensor Orb to full functionality

10-100 (3-25 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

N/A

Build Ground Drone

Build a new Ground Drone

5,000 (1,250 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

0% if within Communication Range

Build Flying Drone

Build a new Flying Drone

7,000 (1,750 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

0% if within Communication Range

Build Aquatic Drone

Build a new Aquatic Drone

6,000 (1,500 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

0% if within Communication Range

Build Drone Overseer

Build a new Drone Overseer

60,000 (15,000 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses

0% if within Communication Range

Build Sensor Orb

Build a new Sensor Orb

300 (75 with Ing/Wis stat and bonuses)

0% if within Communication Range

[8]

Available Resources

Resource Type

# of Units

Basic Earth

245185

Basic Gravel

85945

Basic Metal

415286

Focusing Crystals

11537

Pure Water

567412

Organic Material

349523

Biological Mass

692354

[9] Environmental Destabilization: Instead of manipulating air, this trap creates extreme heat or cold within a space.  This temperature change is best utilized in a non-sealed room, otherwise it may have detrimental effects on the defensive mechanism.  Vulnerable to its own extreme temperature changes if subjected to them for long periods of time.  Limited to 2 minutes before self-inflicted damage is imminent.  Cost: 1,000 Basic Metal Units.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[10] Atmospheric Condensers: This trap requires the room it is deployed within to be sealed air-tight to be effective.  Once triggered, the Atmospheric Condenser will begin to remove all air and heat within a room, creating a vacuum within the sealed space.  Can remove the atmosphere of a room 20 ft by 20 ft by 20 ft.  Multiple Condensers may be used on a larger-volume room.  Vulnerable to extreme humidity and high concentrations of particulates in the air.  Cost: 1,000 Basic Metal Units.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.  Reusable.

[11] Gravity Manipulators: Gravity Manipulators act as their name would imply – they manipulate gravity.  The gravity fields produced can be up to 30 feet wide and can affect up to 200 feet above the Gravity Manipulator placement.  Gravity field can be finely controlled, producing negative and positive gravity changes.  Vulnerable to blunt-force impacts and excessive heat.  Cost: 60,000 BMUs, 60 Focusing Crystals.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable (2).

[12]

Defensive Weapons Factory

Monomel Filament Wire Grids

High-Voltage Electrified Gates

Molecular Disruptor

Explosive Floor Plates

Harmonic Force Fields

Particle Accelerator – Portable

Alternate Gas Traps

Gravity Manipulators

Plasma Bomb – Small

Nanite Swarms

Auditory Assault Fields

Plasma Bomb – Large

Nitinol Morph Plastics

Optical Barrages

Unstable Void

Atmospheric Condensers

Holographic Illusions

Power Generators – Portable

Environmental Destabilization

Laser Cannon Emplacements

Molecular Converters – Portable

Magnetic Repulsors/Attractors

Railgun Penetrators

(More)

[13]

Cybernetic/Synthetic Organism Factory

Product Name

Description

Cost Range (Basic Metal Units)

Cost Range (Organic Material)

Cost Range (Biological Mass)

Biomechanical Component – Legs & Arms

Replaces the legs and arms of a Combat Unit and interfaces directly into either an organic or cybernetic brain.  Increases Agility moderately.

1 – 50

N/A

1 – 200

Biomechanical Component – Feet & Hands

Replaces the feet and hands of a Combat Unit and interfaces directly into either an organic or cybernetic brain.  Increases Strength and Attack moderately.

1 – 25

N/A

1 - 100

Biomechanical Component -- Torso

Replaces the torso of a Combat Unit and interfaces directly into either an organic or cybernetic brain.  Increases Constitution moderately.

2 – 100

N/A

1 - 400

Cybernetic Component – Eyes

Replaces the eyes of a Combat Unit and requires a cybernetic brain for interfacing.  Increases Perception significantly and provides available information on targets.  Powered physical boosts have no effect.

1 – 5

1 – 20

N/A

Cybernetic Component – Ears

Replaces the ears of a Combat Unit and requires a cybernetic brain for interfacing.  Increases Perception significantly.  Powered physical boosts have no effect.

1 – 5

1 – 20

N/A

Cybernetic Component – Nose

Replaces the nose of a Combat Unit and requires a cybernetic brain for interfacing.  Increases Perception significantly.  Powered physical boosts have no effect.

1 – 5

1 – 20

N/A

Cybernetic Component – Brain

Required for other cybernetic components, the cybernetic brain provides enhanced tactics adopted from other Combat Units.  Increases Intelligence significantly.  Powered Intelligence boosts have no effect.

1 – 20

1 - 40

N/A

Fully Synthetic Base Specimen Replicant (Non-sentient)

Create a fully synthetic replicant of a non-sentient Combat Unit up to 2000 Biological Mass Units in size.  Replicated base specimens share most characteristics, but Power is not one of them.

3 – 800

12 - 3200

N/A

Fully Synthetic Replicant (Proctan)

Create a fully synthetic replicant of a Proctan body of your choice.  Replicants can have slightly increased statistics, but do not share the ability to use Power in any form.

375 - 450

1500 - 1800

N/A

Fully Synthetic Replicant (Mouslan)

Create a fully synthetic replicant of a Mouslan body of your choice.  Replicants can have slightly increased statistics, but do not share the ability to use Power in any form.

200 - 325

1000 - 1200

N/A

Powered Cybernetic Exoskeleton (Proctan)

A Powered Cybernetic Exoskeleton is an external form of armor for a Proctan body that provides moderate boosts in Strength and Constitution, but a significant decrease in Agility.  Requires a cybernetic brain for proper interfacing.

18750 – 22500

75000 - 90000

N/A

Powered Cybernetic Exoskeleton (Mouslan)

A Powered Cybernetic Exoskeleton is an external form of armor for a Mouslan body that provides moderate boosts in Strength and Constitution, but a significant decrease in Agility.  Requires a cybernetic brain for proper interfacing.

14000 – 17500

60000 - 75000

N/A

[14]

Facility Fabrication

Name

Description

Cost

(Basic Metal Units)

Power Requirements

(% of Reactor Output)

Hemispheric Zero-Point Energy Reactor

The Hemispheric Zero-Point Energy Reactor is designed to provide ambient power to an entire hemisphere of an average-sized planet; it also has a max Reactor Output of 300% for facilities unable to be powered by ambient power levels; additionally, it acts as a depository for knowledge and contains a rudimentary neural network for access to Station Core systems

2,000,000,000 (not affected by bonuses)

N/A

[15]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Qwizard #5241

Type:

Speed/Melee Fighter

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

14

Experience:

0/3000

Health

1300/1300

Power

400/400

Attack

192 (+92%)

Defense

460 (+77%)

Strength

100

Constitution

260

Agility

140

Perception

50

Intelligence

90

Wisdom

80

Charisma

15

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Fire Affinity +1: Manipulate Fire in short bursts

Limber Legs: +20 to Agility

Ultra-strong and Sharp Claws: +40% Attack damage

Athletic Prodigy: +10 to Strength and Agility

Combustion Sacs: Qwizard spit creates a tiny, near-harmless flame

Reinforced Scaled Armor Skin: +200 to Constitution

Pack Mentality: +10 to all stats when in a party/-10 when solo

Proctan Genius: +50 to Intelligence and Wisdom

[16]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Quank #6584

Type:

Front-line Defender

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

14

Experience:

0/3000

Health

6250/6250

Power

275/275

Attack

241 (+52%)

Defense

4713 (+277%)

Strength

188

Constitution

1250

Agility

40

Perception

63

Intelligence

100

Wisdom

55

Charisma

25

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Self-Regeneration +2: 20 Health/min

Semi-flexible Hyper-reinforced Exoskeleton: +1000 to Constitution, +200% to Defense, -25% to Strength, -90% to Agility, -75% to Perception

Threatening Pheromones: Causes nearby enemies to target the Quank

[17] Auditory Assault Fields: The field produced by this defense projects a near-visible auditory assault in a semi-directional wide array, similar to a perpetual sonic boom.  The auditory assault can cause permanent damage to its victims’ hearing, as well as incapacitating those with less Constitution.  Ear protection is recommended while in use.  Assault can reach up to 500 feet or more.  Vulnerable to extreme humidity, excessive heat, and electric shock.  Cost: 15,000 BMUs, 25 Focusing Crystals.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[18] Optical Barrages: This defense creates a barrage of disorienting images, ranging from painfully intense bright lights to confusing, nightmarish scenes of horror and dismemberment – your choice.  The Barrage housing contains directional emitters, which can cover up to 10,000 square feet of area.  Vulnerable to any type of impact, and will start to degrade after 30 minutes of constant use.  Cost: 25,000 BMUs, 25 Focusing Crystals.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[19]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Bearilla #1

Type:

Strong Melee Attacker

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

23

Experience:

0/25000

Health

42500/42500

Power

1500/1500

Attack

13680 (+52%)

Defense

15045 (+77%)

Strength

9000

Constitution

8500

Agility

7000

Perception

1200

Intelligence

300

Wisdom

300

Charisma

10

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Bear-like Power: +2000 to Strength

Unbreakable Bones: +2000 to Constitution

Swift Strikes: +5000 to Agility

Smell of a Lifetime: +1000 to Perception

Gorilla-infused Power: +2500 to Strength

Armored Fur: +1500 to Constitution

Voice of the Wild: Roaring grants the chance to stun or confuse opponents

Hunger Pains: Must consume vast quantities of food to survive

[20]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

D-Ranged Monkey #7234

Type:

Ranged Support

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

10

Experience:

0/600

Health

200/200

Power

550/550

Attack

380 (+52%)

Defense

71 (+77%)

Strength

250

Constitution

40

Agility

40

Perception

150

Intelligence

110

Wisdom

110

Charisma

6

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Strength Boost +2: +20 Strength for 600 seconds

Beary Strong: +100 to Strength

Ambidextrous: Each arm has identical accuracy

Bodybuilder: +50 to Strength

Precise Aim: +50 to Perception

Multi-limbed Freak: Has 6 arms instead of 2, -80% to Charisma

Pack Mentality: +10 to all stats when in a party/-10 when solo

Proctan Smarts: +10 to Intelligence and Wisdom

[21]

Defensive Weapons Factory

Monomel Filament Wire Grids

High-Voltage Electrified Gates

Molecular Disruptor

Explosive Floor Plates

Harmonic Force Fields

Particle Accelerator – Portable

Alternate Gas Traps

Gravity Manipulators

Plasma Bomb – Small

Nanite Swarms

Auditory Assault Fields

Plasma Bomb – Large

Nitinol Morph Plastics

Optical Barrages

Unstable Void

Atmospheric Condensers

Holographic Illusions

Power Generators – Portable

Environmental Destabilization

Laser Cannon Emplacements

Molecular Converters – Portable

Magnetic Repulsors/Attractors

Railgun Penetrators

(More)

[22] Laser Cannon Emplacements: Best placed with a wide range of fire, the Laser Cannon Emplacements must be manually controlled by your Combat Units.  By firing out a highly volatile, super-concentrated beam of harmful amplified light particles, those controlling the Cannon Emplacement can severely damage an attacker with the extremely rapid heating of their extremities.  Can effectively impact targets up to 200 feet away while in current atmosphere – farther distances will have less of an effect.  Continuous firing of more than 15 seconds every minute can damage the Laser Cannon Emplacement due to overheating.  Vulnerable to impact damage, overheating, and radiation leakage.  Cost: 75,000 BMUs, 75 Focusing Crystals.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[23]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Titanaconda #79

Type:

Stealth Constrictor/Attacker

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

20

Experience:

0/4500

Health

25000/25000

Power

400/400

Attack

10640 (+52%)

Defense

13850 (+177%)

Strength

7000

Constitution

5000

Agility

260

Perception

100

Intelligence

80

Wisdom

80

Charisma

30

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Proctan Genius: +50 to Intelligence and Wisdom

Weak Neck: Head is oversized for the rest of its body and must be supported

Semi-flexible Extra-reinforced Scales: +800 to Constitution, +100% to Defense, -15% to Strength, -75% to Agility, -75% to Perception

Earth Affinity +15: Weakly manipulate Earth

Reinforced Vertebrae: Fuses the vertebrae near the neck for additional support

Snappy-Beary Jaws: Bites by the Titanaconda inflict 200% more Attack damage

[24]

Target Status (Approximate Value)

Name:

Fodder

Type:

Strong Melee Attacker

Age:

???

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

N/A

Health

3750/3750

Power

N/A

Attack

500

Defense

750

Strength

500

Constitution

750

Agility

250

Perception

100

Intelligence

10

Wisdom

N/A

Charisma

5

Skills

Discipline (lvl 10)

Follows orders without question

Martial Prowess (lvl 15)

Increased Attack +15% with melee weapons

Single-minded Approach (lvl 7)

Will not stop until glory has been achieved

Absolute Dedication (lvl 99)

Unswerving loyalty to Helios, the Sun God

Special Traits

Strength of Resolve: +200 to Strength

Protection of the Loyal: +350 to Constitution

Tenet of War: +150 to Agility

Cannon Fodder: -90 to Intelligence and -45 to Charisma

Arms of the Righteous: Three pairs of arms allow for the application of righteousness

One mind: Can follow orders given telepathically

Will of the Sun God: Melee weapons are infused with the power of Helios

Faith of the Blessed: Automatically creates a rechargeable protection field

[25]

Target Status (Approximate Value)

Name:

Soldier

Type:

Strong Melee Attacker

Age:

???

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

N/A

Health

4250/4250

Power

N/A

Attack

600

Defense

850

Strength

600

Constitution

850

Agility

300

Perception

200

Intelligence

150

Wisdom

N/A

Charisma

50

Skills

Disciplinarian (lvl 20)

Given orders are followed without question

Martial Prowess (lvl 20)

Increased Attack +20% with melee weapons

Single-minded Approach (lvl 15)

Will not stop until glory has been achieved

Absolute Dedication (lvl 99)

Unswerving loyalty to Helios, the Sun God

Special Traits

Strength of Resolve: +300 to Strength

Protection of the Loyal: +450 to Constitution

Tenet of War: +200 to Agility

Soldier Smarts: +50 to Intelligence and +100 to Perception

Arms of the Righteous: Three pairs of arms allow for the application of righteousness

Mind manipulation: Can give orders telepathically

Will of the Sun God: Melee weapons are infused with the power of Helios

Faith of the Blessed: Automatically creates a rechargeable protection field

[26]

Space Transport Dock

Spacecraft Type

Description

Cost (Basic Metal Units)

Cost (Focusing Crystals)

Scout-Class Shuttle

A relatively small, highly maneuverable craft designed to encompass the Station Core alone; no life support systems, no defensive weapons systems

20,000,000 (10,000,000 with bonuses)

5,000 (2,500 with bonuses)

Transport Freighter

A large transport craft designed to hold supplies or personnel; life support systems operational, no defensive weapons systems

500,000,000 (250,000,000 with bonuses)

80,000 (40,000 with bonuses)

Escort-Class Cruiser

An average-sized defensive craft with decent maneuverability designed to transport supplies and personnel as well as having the ability to defend itself; life support systems operational, short-range defensive weapons systems

600,000,000 (300,000,000 with bonuses)

150,000 (75,000 with bonuses)

Defender-Class Battlecruiser

A large defensive craft specifically designed to protect itself and accompanying ships; extended life support systems operational, heavy defensive weapons systems

1,400,000,000 (700,000,000 with bonuses)

1,000,000 (500,000 with bonuses)

Assault-Class Dreadnought

A large assault craft specifically designed for eliminating threats; extended life support systems, heavy short and long-range offensive weapons systems

2,000,000,000 (1,000,000,000 with bonuses)

5,000,000 (2,500,000 with bonuses)

Trans-dimensional Drive Upgrade

Adds a trans-dimensional drive to any craft

15,000,000 (unaffected by bonuses)

0

(Other options also available)

[27]

Available Resources

Resource Type

# of Units

Basic Earth

358241

Basic Gravel

654215

Basic Metal

815958

Focusing Crystals

9507

Pure Water

782411

Organic Material

2854982

Biological Mass

3685941

[28] Railgun Penetrators: The wall-mounted Railgun Penetrators project a microscopically thin sliver of charged tritanium at high velocity, allowing it to penetrate nearly any type of defense with impunity.  Upon impact with a surface, the charged tritanium sliver will break its molecular bonds, causing a small explosion nanoseconds after contact.  While this defense is manually controlled and targeted, the fire-rate should be kept low – no more than 1 shot per 30 seconds as the slivers generate extreme heat while firing.  The small block of tritanium used for the projectile source will provide enough ammunition to fire approximately 120,000 shots.  Extremely vulnerable to overheating, blunt-force impacts, and electrical discharges.  Effective Range While in Current Atmosphere: 500 feet.  Cost: 400,000 BMUs, 15 Focusing Crystals.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[29] Unstable Void: This defense creates an Unstable Void in a specified place up to 300 feet away from the apparatus.  Anything within 50 feet of the 10-foot diameter semi-solid void sphere is instantly pulled into the unstable vortex of a relatively controlled subatomic implosion, ripping it to pieces and fueling the void.  The Unstable Void can grow up to a 30-foot diameter before it breaks apart, or after 1 minute the void will collapse upon itself, destroying the defense in the process.  Apparatus is vulnerable to blunt-force impacts and submersion in water; the unstable void is invulnerable.  One-time use.  Cost: 1,500,000 BMUs, 500 Focusing Crystals.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable (4).

[30] Particle Accelerator – Portable: The Portable Particle Accelerator is the pinnacle of defensive weaponry available for small to large engagements.  This tripod-mounted defense is unfortunately large and unwieldy, but it also packs more stopping power than you will probably need.  By accelerating a mass of subatomic particles to high velocities by means of a small zero-point energy reactor inside the long tube mounted on the tripod, this weapon will deliver a high-energy beam of unstoppable destruction up to 2,000 feet away.  Anything standing before it will be instantly disintegrated by the bombardment of masses of particles, tearing the molecular bonds of anything it is pointed at.  Spread of the beam is up to 2 feet wide and will not degrade until after 2,000 feet.  Multiple use – but requires an additional infusion of 200 Focusing Crystals after every 30-second discharge.  After every discharge, a 1 hour waiting time is recommended to prevent overheating.  Vulnerable to blunt-force impacts and overheating.  Cost: 3,000,000 BMUs, 5,000 Focusing Crystals, 200 Focusing Crystals per 30-second discharge.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable (12).

[31] Power Generator – Portable: This portable Power Generator utilizes the same principles of a Station Core’s zero-point energy reactor, but on a much smaller scale.  Contained in a tritanium-lined box the size of one of Earth’s low-tech portable hard drives is enough inexhaustible power to operate every trap and defense you can create.  Each defense that is powered by the Generator must be within 20 feet of its area of influence.  Power is automatically transferred without the need of wiring.  Cost: 25,000 Basic Metal Units.

[32]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Big Ol’ Badger #349

Type:

Underground Stealth Attacker

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

20

Experience:

0/18000

Health

25000/25000

Power

650/650

Attack

14350 (+102%)

Defense

23760 (+197%)

Strength

7000

Constitution

8000

Agility

345

Perception

12

Intelligence

23

Wisdom

23

Charisma

13

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Proctan Smarts: +10 to Intelligence and Wisdom

Virtually Senseless: The Big Ol’ Badger is completely blind, deaf, and cannot smell; uses vibrations to track prey, -45% to Perception

Semi-flexible Extra-reinforced Scales: +2000 to Constitution, +100% to Defense, -15% to Strength, -50% to Agility, -50% to Perception

Gargantuan Size: Big Ol’ Badger is 15 times the size of a Clawed Badger, +5000 Strength, +5000 to Constitution, -700 to Agility, +20% to Attack/Defense

Diamine-formed Teeth and Claws: +40% to Attack

Earth Affinity +5: Weakly manipulate Earth

Limber Bones: +300 to Agility and squeeze through openings easier

Quizard-like Reflexes: +1000 to Agility

[33]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Quelephine #652

Type:

Battering Ram Attacker

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

16

Experience:

0/21000

Health

20000/20000

Power

315/315

Attack

3876 (+52%)

Defense

7080 (+77%)

Strength

2550

Constitution

4000

Agility

633

Perception

63

Intelligence

63

Wisdom

63

Charisma

13

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Proctan Genius: +50 to Intelligence and Wisdom

Elephine Girth: +1000 to Strength and Constitution

Semi-flexible Extra-reinforced Scales: +2000 to Constitution, +100% to Defense, -15% to Strength, -50% to Agility, -50% to Perception

Quizard-like Reflexes: +1000 to Agility

Oversized Head: A weighty, oversized head makes it difficult for the Quelephine to stop once it gets moving

Three-horned Wonder: Three strong horns on the front of the Quelephine also protect its vulnerable head

[34]

Target Status (Approximate Value)

Name:

Hammerslug

Type:

Gargantuan Demolisher

Age:

615

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

N/A

Health

3 mil /3 mil

Power

N/A

Attack

3.8 mil (+52%)

Defense

5.3 mil (+77%)

Strength

500000

Constitution

600000

Agility

100

Perception

400

Intelligence

10

Wisdom

N/A

Charisma

1

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Hammer Time: +75000 Strength per arm

Lava-formed Exterior Plating: +400000 to Constitution

No Foot to Stand On: Uses body undulations to move over smooth ground

Tremor-sense: Uses vibrations to “see” +300 to Perception

Ambidextrous: Each hammer arm has equal power

Ugly SOB: Charisma is permanently set at 1

Ponderous Movement: Low Intelligence leads to slow decisions -95% to Agility

Hunger Pains: Must consume vast quantities of food to survive

[35]

Available Resources

Resource Type

# of Units

Basic Earth

17241

Basic Gravel

25215

Basic Metal

283958

Focusing Crystals

3984

Pure Water

755411

Organic Material

1954982

Biological Mass

2185941

[36]

Target Status (Approximate Value)

Name:

Elite

Type:

Very Strong Melee Leader

Age:

???

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

N/A

Health

9000/9000

Power

N/A

Attack

2000

Defense

1800

Strength

2000

Constitution

1800

Agility

750

Perception

550

Intelligence

400

Wisdom

N/A

Charisma

100

Skills

Disciplinarian (lvl 80)

Given orders are followed without question

Martial Prowess (lvl 52)

Increased Attack +52% with melee weapons

Tactician (lvl 16)

Can assess and apply appropriate tactics in battle

Absolute Dedication (lvl 99)

Unswerving loyalty to Helios, the Sun God

Special Traits

Strength of Resolve: +1200 to Strength

Protection of the Loyal: +1000 to Constitution

Tenet of War: +550 to Agility

Elite Intellect: +300 to Intelligence and +450 to Perception

Arms of the Dedicated: Four pairs of arms allow for appropriate subjugation

Mind manipulation: Can give orders telepathically

Will of the Sun God: Melee weapons are infused with the power of Helios

Faith of the Blessed: Automatically creates a rechargeable protection field

[37]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Tiny Wolfite #654128

Type:

Group Attacker

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

2

Experience:

0/5

Health

100/100

Power

55/55

Attack

26 (+72%)

Defense

35 (+77%)

Strength

15

Constitution

20

Agility

15

Perception

35

Intelligence

11

Wisdom

11

Charisma

12

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Bite-sized: -10 to Strength and Constitution

Deadly Claws: +10% Attack damage

Fluffy fur: Appear larger than actual size

Scaly Skin: +5 to Constitution

Sharp Teeth: +10% to Attack damage

Adaptable Camouflage: Change shade of fur to any color

Pack Mentality: +10 to all stats when in a party/-10 when solo

Heightened Sense of Smell: +10 to Perception

[38] Magnetic Repulsors/Attractors: When an electrical current is passed through these magnets, a high-yield magnetic field is created.  This field will either attract or repulse all metallic material depending on the charge polarity.  Vulnerable to submersion in water and external disruptions in the magnetic field.  Cost: 2,000 Basic Metal Units.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[39]

Core Status

Name:

Milton Frederick

Type:

Station Core Prototype 3-B

Combat Level:

26

Experience:

110157157/112537500

Reactor Type:

Zero-point Energy

Reactor Output:

550%

Current Statistics/Attributes

Reactor Power/Strength:

110

Processing Power/Intelligence:

125

Structural Integrity/Constitution:

110

Ingenuity/Wisdom:

127

Processing Speed/Agility:

125

Communication/Charisma:

125

Insight/Luck:

89

Sensor Interpretation/Perception

121

[40] RTS stands for Real-time Strategy, which is a genre of strategy video games that does not take turns, but allows all players to play at the same time.

[41]

Facility Fabrication (New and Updated)

Name

Description

Cost

(Basic Metal Units)

Power Requirements

(% of Reactor Output)

Ore Refinery

Refines ore, providing 2X more usable Basic Metal Units

40,000 (10,000 with bonuses)

1.5% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Bioconversion Lab

Allows for the creation of larger Combat Units

30,000 (7,500 with bonuses)

1% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Bioconversion Lab (Upgraded)

Allows for the creation of extra-large Combat Units

80,000 (20,000 with bonuses) Requires: Bioconversion Lab

2% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Advanced Bioconversion Laboratory (Upgraded)

Allows for the creation of Giant Combat Units

5,000,000 (1,250,000 with bonuses) Requires: Bioconversion Lab (Upgraded)

20% (ambient energy too little for power requirements)

Biological Recombinator

Experiment with different types of units, recombining the DNA from multiple sources to form hybrids

50,000 (12,500 with bonuses)

1.5% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Defensive Weapons Factory

Creates high-tech defensive weaponry that is powered by your Core

45,000 (11,250 with bonuses)

2% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Drone Assembly Plant

Creates and repairs non-combat drones and sensor orbs.

35,000 (30,450 with Ing/Wis stat)

2% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Geothermal Transmutation Station

Converts geothermal energy into Ambient Power

200,000 (50,000 with bonuses), 200 Focusing Crystals (170 with bonus)

N/A: Requires Power Generator – Portable (2)

Rapid Coalification Facility

Rapidly Converts Organic material into Coal using intense heat and pressure

150,000 (37,500 with bonuses), 150 Focusing Crystals (128 with bonus)

4% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Destructive Distillery

Destroys materials and changes them into various substances needed by the Molecular Converter to produce certain other materials

150,000 (37,500 with bonuses)

Requires: Rapid Coalification Facility

4% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Planetary Bombardment Dome

Primarily for defense, this dome can encompass your entire fortification and prevent most off-planet bombardments from reaching the ground

700,000 (175,000 with bonuses), 700 Focusing Crystals (595 with bonus)

30% when activated (ambient energy too little for power requirements)

Vehicle Assembly Plant

Produce various armored vehicles for use by your Combat Units

200,000 (50,000 with bonuses)

5% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Cybernetic/Synthetic Organism Factory

Allows for the creation of synthetic-based Combat Units

1,000,000 (250,000 with bonuses) 1,000 Focusing Crystals (850 with Bonus)

Requires: Destructive Distillery

5% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Space Transport Dock

Create space-worthy transport vehicles for use in space

3,000,000 (750,000 with bonuses) 3,000 Focusing Crystals (2550 with bonus)

Requires: Planetary Bombardment Dome

40% (ambient energy too little for power requirements)

PPPPPP

Produces Power Providers

20,000,000 (Not affected by bonuses)

5% (0% if located within 5 miles of Station Core)

Hemispheric Zero-Point Energy Reactor

The Hemispheric Zero-Point Energy Reactor is designed to provide ambient power to an entire hemisphere of an average-sized planet; it also has a max Reactor Output of 300% for facilities unable to be powered by ambient power levels; additionally, it acts as a depository for knowledge and contains a rudimentary neural network for access to Station Core systems

2,000,000,000 (not affected by bonuses)

N/A

[42]

Vehicle Assembly Plant

Vehicle Name

Description

Cost (Basic Metal Units)

Cost (Organic Material)

Single Combat Unit Transport

A small, four-wheeled open transport vehicle capable of holding a single sentient Combat Unit.  Can only be controlled by the single Combat Unit.

400 (200 with bonuses)

5,000 (2,500 with bonuses)

Multiple Combat Unit Transport

A larger, eight-wheeled closed transport vehicle capable of holding up to a dozen sentient Combat Units.  Can be controlled by the Station Core or by a single Combat Unit.

2,000 (1,000 with bonuses)

25,000 (12,500 with bonuses)

Front-line Transports

These long transports can be set up on micro-tracks to funnel Combat Units to the front line of your defense.  Holds up to 60 sentient Combat Units per vehicle and can only be controlled by the Station Core.  Micro-tracks are 10 BMUs per mile.

5,000 (2,500 with bonuses)

75,000 (37,500 with bonuses)

Light Armor Scout Vehicle

A small, lightly armored closed scouting vehicle with a single, light-duty optional defensive weapon mount.  Fits up to two sentient Combat Units and can be controlled by the Station Core or by a single Combat Unit.

800 (400 with bonuses)

10,000 (5,000 with bonuses)

Heavy Armor Defense Vehicle

A large, heavily armored closed vehicle designed for protecting embattled areas with six mounts for heavy defensive weapons.  Can fit up to six sentient Combat units and can only be controlled by the Station Core.

10,000 (5,000 with bonuses)

150,000 (75,000 with bonuses)

Aquatic Light Armor Sentry Submarine

This sentry submarine is lightly armored, which allows it to move through aquatic environments very quickly.  Can fit two sentient Combat Units and can be controlled by the Station Core or a single Combat Unit.

800 (400 with bonuses)

10,000 (5,000 with bonuses)

Aquatic Heavy Armor Guard Station

These aquatic powerhouses are heavily armored, which limits their movement to little more than a crawl.  However, with a dozen mounts for heavy defensive weapons, they can defend a location with efficiency.  Can fit up to a dozen sentient Combat Units and can only be controlled by the Station Core.

15,000 (7,500 with bonuses)

200,000 (100,000 with bonuses)

Airborne Patrol Glider

These fast, lightweight, unarmored powered gliders can fit and only be operated by a single sentient Combat Unit for patrol purposes.  No defensive weapons.

300 (150 with bonuses)

4,500 (2,250 with bonuses)

Airborne Security Craft

This aircraft is lightly armored, with two mounts for lightweight defensive weapons.  Can fit up to two sentient Combat Units and can be controlled by the Station Core or a single Combat Unit.

1,500 (750 with bonuses)

20,000 (10,000 with bonuses)

[43] Nanite Swarms: Upon activation, a swarm of basic low-grade nanites converges on a nearby target and insert themselves inside the victim.  Once inside, the nanites will start to break down internal organs, degrade musculature, and disassemble bone structure.  Any nanites used in this manner are inoperable afterwards.  Vulnerable to hyper-responsive natural immune systems and high-voltage electrical shocks.  Cost: 500 Basic Metal Units per 100,000 low-grade nanites.  Single use.

[44] High-Voltage Electrified Gates: These gates are made up of an impact-resistant, high-grade conductive metal that transmits high-voltage electrical surges.  Can be made solid or as a reactive mesh that will allow for better flexibility against assault.  Vulnerable to extreme impacts and submersion in water.  Cost: 10,000 Basic Metal Units for solid door, 8,000 Basic Metal Units for mesh door.  Requires: Power Generator – Portable.

[45]

Combat Unit Status

Name:

Quagon #398

Type:

Airborne Scout/Attacker

Combat Level:

1

Max Level:

25

Experience:

0/30000

Health

25000/25000

Power

650/650

Attack

11340 (+62%)

Defense

22960 (+187%)

Strength

7000

Constitution

8000

Agility

900

Perception

200

Intelligence

130

Wisdom

130

Charisma

10

A/D Bonus

52%

Skills

Survivor (Lvl 5)

Permanent 25% increase in Defense

Kamikaze (Lvl 9)

1000% more damage during a suicidal attack

Large-scale Battle Tactics (Lvl 4)

25% increase in attack/abilities when fighting with more than 50 participants

Cooperation (Lvl 9)

45% increase in defense when fighting alongside natural enemies

Special Traits

Proctan Savant: +100 to Intelligence and Wisdom

Overweight: Quagon cannot lift itself from the ground

Semi-flexible Extra-reinforced Scales: +2000 to Constitution, +100% to Defense, -15% to Strength, -50% to Agility, -50% to Perception

Weak Air Affinity +5: Weakly manipulate air

Rigid Wing Membranes: Skin flaps allow for gliding and keep the Quagon aloft

Snappy-Beary Jaws: Bites by the Quagon inflict 200% more Attack damage

Anaconda Venom: Bites by the Quagon can paralyze an attacker for up to 30 seconds

Multi-limbed Freak: Has an extra pair of limbs -80% to Charisma

Quizard-like Reflexes: +1000 to Agility

Gargantuan Size: Quagon is 8 times the size of a Quizard, +3000 Strength, +3000 to Constitution, -300 to Agility, +10% to Attack/Defense

[46]

Target Status (Approximate Value)

Name:

Neophyte

Type:

Heliothropic Servant

Age:

???

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

N/A

Health

50/50

Power

N/A

Attack

20

Defense

10

Strength

20

Constitution

10

Agility

15

Perception

10

Intelligence

30

Wisdom

N/A

Charisma

150

Skills

Discipline (lvl 12)

Follows orders without question

Servant’s Charm (lvl 8)

Increased ability to perform duties effectively

Upward Mobility (lvl 8)

Perfect performance produces possible positions

Absolute Dedication (lvl 99)

Unswerving loyalty to Helios, the Sun God

Special Traits

Strength of Obedience: +10 to Strength

Swift Resolution: +5 to Agility

The Good Faith: +50 to Charisma

Future of the Blessed: Born of the seed of Helios

[47]

Target Status (Approximate Value)

Name:

Commander

Type:

Heliothrope Leader

Age:

???

Power Ranking: (Major, Minor)

N/A

Health

65250/100000

Power

N/A

Attack

12000

Defense

20000

Strength

12000

Constitution

20000

Agility

3000

Perception

2500

Intelligence

800

Wisdom

N/A

Charisma

500

Skills

Disciplinarian (lvl 99)

Given orders are followed without question

Martial Prowess (lvl 99)

Increased Attack +99% with melee weapons

Tactician (lvl 99)

Can assess and apply appropriate tactics in battle

Absolute Dedication (lvl 99)

Unswerving loyalty to Helios, the Sun God

Special Traits

Strength of Resolve: +11000 to Strength

Protection of the Loyal: +19000 to Constitution

Tenet of War: +2800 to Agility

Commander’s Duty: +700 to Intelligence and +2400 to Perception

Arms of the Dedicated: Six pairs of arms allow for appropriate subjugation

Mind manipulation: Can give orders telepathically

Will of the Sun God: Melee weapons are infused with the power of Helios

Faith of the Blessed: Automatically creates a rechargeable protection field

Chosen of Helios: Sacrifice the holy flesh of the body to produce additional Faithful; flesh sacrificed in this process will experience a heightened rate of healing

[48]

Core Status (Points to Allocate: 27)

Name:

Milton Frederick

Type:

Station Core Prototype 3-B

Combat Level:

27

Experience:

112702157/182089500

Reactor Type:

Zero-point Energy

Reactor Output:

550%

Current Statistics/Attributes

Reactor Power/Strength:

110

Processing Power/Intelligence:

130

Structural Integrity/Constitution:

110

Ingenuity/Wisdom:

132

Processing Speed/Agility:

130

Communication/Charisma:

125

Insight/Luck:

89

Sensor Interpretation/Perception

121