Chương 2: First Encounter

Ch. 2 - First Encounter Time was moving so fast that I didn't have time to think. We were nearing the structure and I hadn't processed whatever the heck that was. In fact, I realized I hadn't moved an inch. Not a single iota of muscle movement for the past twenty minutes. I was in such a daze that I was off course. Not by a lot, it was a straight line, but enough to garner my senior to feel the need to chastise me.

"I thought he was supposed to be good," said Eric over the comms.

"He can't even fly straight."

"Cut him a break," said Jacob.

"He's new. And it's his first day. You don't remember your first time?"

"With Phil's sister," said Eric.

"I am not the butt of your jokes, Eric. Stay on mission," said Phil. I shook my head and pushed down what I heard. What I felt. I'd have to ask team leader Jacob in private if he had had a similar experience.

"There he is," said Eric.

"Finally awake?"

"I apologize, sir," I said.

"The AI scan was... weird."

"Weird is a good description that's for sure," said team leader Jacob.

"Just get back in the center column. We're about to pass the storm cloud. It'll feel like-""Yes sir!" I interrupted.

"I've gone through the sims. I am ready."

"Suit yourself. Just remember to stay calm. Your armor will hold." What he meant to say is it SHOULD hold. The first trip in was always the most dangerous. One in every five hundred gatherers had a critical failure at the cockpit. The odds were low, but they were never zero. A fact that was beat into us on the first week to weed people out in the academy. That and the relentless PT and school work. Then if you had a critical failure your odds of survival were somewhere in the 25 percent range.

I closed my eyes and pushed forward on the thruster. The mech was shaking like a leaf in a wind turbine. If it weren't for the seatbelts, I'd be ragdolled all over the seat. My helmet hit metal as everything shook violently. My hands were glued to the throttles, but some random turbulence would peel a hand away. My stomach was hitting other organs. My brain was bashing my skull. It was worse than the sims. It was definitely worse than the sims. Then it stabilized, out to a large plain grey structure.

It looked like a road or pavement, just everywhere. It went further than I could see. But every few miles there was a blue hue that radiated in a circular pattern. A portal, with the hieroglyphs scribbled in a circular pattern around it. The first delvers must have been scared, not knowing exactly what it was. Phil landed first, his mech threads spinning rapidly towards the portal.

"Alright, rook," said team leader Jacob.

"Remember, get out of the storm quick. The Dungeon doesn't like stragglers and a random lightning bolt from the heavens might be curtains for you."

"Yes, sir!" I said. Jacob landed first, his mech not breaking stride, galloped to just behind Phil. Next was me. I landed a little further away than them, but I floored the gas pedal and synced the legs for bi-pedal mode. The gatherer slammed each leg further and further. There was no sound from outside, we were still in vacuum. But there was gravity. Eric galloped past me and I was still lagging behind Phil, though I was catching up.

Jacob entered the portal first and a bright flash of light popped him out of existence. Not a moment later was Eric who slid to a stop and vanished. Phil's mech rolled over the portal next, glowed a bright blue and was gone. I stepped in the center of it and was flooded with a mass of notifications.

[TIMES ENTERED: 0] [FRAME LEVEL: N/A] [INVENTORY DRONE ASSIGNED TO PARTICIPANT: STEFANO REYES] [NOTE: INVENTORY DRONE IS DNA LOCKED] [NOTE: INVENTORY DRONE FEATURES WILL UNLOCK UPON FRAME REGISTRATION] [CRADLE FRAME: NOT REGISTERED] A small metallic disk flew in front of the cockpit, beeping and chirping. It gave a slight head butt and latched itself atop the gatherer. I'd have to ask mom later to give it a name. She was good with names.

Storm clouds gathered overhead and a blue streak was headed my way when I zapped out and into the first floor. [1st FLOOR] [BOSSES: 3]"I thought the first floor didn't have Bosses left?" I asked in the comms.

"There aren't. At least not the ones we can find," said Phil.

"The ones left are hidden, and we'd rather they stay that way." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"If they are hidden, aren't they stronger?"

"That's why we'd rather not poke the bear," said Jacob.

"Just cause we can do something, doesn't always mean we should. I've fought one of them before, before the last reset. They are not easy. It took three squads to take it down."

"What was it?"

"He doesn't like talking about it," said Phil.

"Just stay close, we'll find you something."

"Yeah, no offense rook. You're pretty useless right now," said Eric.

"None taken, sir. I'm aware the capabilities of this mech aren't up to par."

"I wasn't only talking about the mech." I ignored what he meant. I'd prove him wrong, just needed the opportunity.

"Remember," said Jacob.

"Just because we're on the first floor, doesn't mean you get to underestimate anything here. I'm not talking about you in particular, Reyes. Right now a swift breeze could take you out. But more so for everyone."

"He means Eric," said Phil.

"Shut the hell up!" said Eric.

"Just don't get in the way, rook." I took the chance to see the surroundings by flicking on dark vision. It was a small switch on the switchboard above my head. It wasn't perfect, the picture on screen was still fuzzy as it translated the visual off the night vision spectrum. The screen wasn't green thankfully, but it wasn't clear either. Relative to the size of the mechs, the hallway was wide. Very wide. You could probably fit six Tank mechs shoulder width apart and still have room.

The walls themselves were barren and brown. The ceiling had to be over a mile away. In the academy, they did say it was the first floor that quad units struggle the most in. They started pace. Phil was towards the front with Eric and Jacob flanking just behind him. It was a good formation. Phil took the punishment while the two quad units circled around. In theory, it meant that they could take out any enemy if they had the space and speed. Again, being limited with a gatherer had so many drawbacks.

They had a better HUD than I did. Access to their inventory drone. And even menus they could interact with. I felt blind. Phil's pulse pinged every six seconds. It sounded like sonar but it wasn't. It scanned directly ahead, but I didn't have the specifics. The group suddenly stopped.

"Three of them," said Phil.

"Level 2 Kabal Sentries."

"Alright, here's the plan," said Jacob.

"We'll take out two and back up Reyes for three. Better to help him get the first kill over and done with."

"Now?" I asked. It's like he snapped his fingers and my heart exploded into a sprint. It thrashed at my chest and my breathing went erratic.

"Yeah. Don't worry. We got you." Both quad units lowered to the ground. Phil extended his hand and his I-Drone unzipped to the size of his mech's hand. He reached inside and pulled a shield, slamming it onto the ground. The drone curled onto his arm, awaiting further instructions. I was breathing so fast I couldn't even register what my move would be. I had it all planned out before I was in the mech. Now that I'm here, it felt so ridiculous to make a contingency before I even faced my first enemy.

Eric pounced first, hurling his mech towards the Kabal Sentry. It was a shiny metallic eye that floated in the air with three of them all turning towards us. Gaps in their plating shifted and moved as it danced in the air. Their eyes glowed red and they sent a beam towards us. One dinged the shoulder and I finally remembered. Some of the enemies can recognize who the weakest one is. All three fired at me and only one had managed to damage me.

I hurled the throttle and slid to the ground behind the giant mech shield that was Phil. More lasers spammed Phil's shield. Each one crackled with energy before suddenly stopping when met with resistance. A clashing of metal on metal rang through the halls and two sentries fell. Phil lifted the shield and angled himself away from the line of fire. I was panting, pulling in as much air as I could. The HUD on my suit complained that I was using too much air. Ah idiot! I forgot to take the helmet off.

The air here is breathable. I rolled the throttle and slammed the pedal, pushing off the wall and behind Phil again.

"One sec, sorry," I said. I fumbled with the safety locks and disabled them, throwing the helmet off my head.

"What's the hold-up?" I didn't register who spoke. I was just moving.

"Sorry, rookie mistake," I said. I slammed both pedals and flicked on the thrusters. I pulled the gatherer onto its hands and cartwheeled to a runner position. My hands and feet were moving faster than I could will them. I slammed forward, using Phil's shield as a catapult and pulling the minigun from behind. I centered the target and squeezed the trigger. It sent a beam flying my way. I rolled under it, twisting the joystick and using my left pedal to push off the ground. I didn't stop firing.

But it wasn't going down. It shot again and it hit armor plating. The simple HUD exclaimed I had taken damage. I ignored it. It shot again, but I spun out of the way, using the thrusters to spin faster. I pulled the tungsten pickaxe from its holster and slammed the sharp end against the sentry. It sputtered, fighting to stay in the air but it was jammed into the pick. Its eye went red like it was going to shoot again. I slammed the pick onto the ground and it burst open. Someone whistled on the comms.

"Okay," said Eric.

"I take it back. He is good."

"I'll say," said Jacob.

"And you were somehow second?"

"Yes, sir," I panted.

"Alright, I'll level with you, Reyes. You weren't supposed to beat it. We were going to swoop in at the last minute to remind you how dangerous this place can be. That maybe you should do something else. Now I'm looking stupid."

"Yeah. No offense, kid," said Phil.

"We operate better as a three man crew. If you were going to be with us, you'd need some brass cajones."

"I think he's good there. He's crazy!" said Eric.

"Now don't get me wrong, I could do that too. But in a gatherer? No way in hell." [ENERGY LEVEL WARNING: 50% REMAINING]"Hey, uh, sir," I said.

"I might have used up too much energy. I'm at fifty percent now."

"Then it's probably best you take it easy," said Jacob.

"Leave the rest of the fighting for us. That suit isn't meant for the punishment you just put it through. We still have to get to the second floor and hopefully we can find you something. But, worst case scenario, the third floor will sell one. The boys would have to pitch in, but yeah, you can pay us back later with that fancy piloting!" My inventory drone zoomed to my feet, scanned the remains of the sentry and sucked it up like a vacuum bot. Just like that, no trace of the sentry was left.

"What about the inventory? What did I get?"

"I didn't get anything crazy," said Eric.

"So you probably didn't either. Just some crappy loot that can be exchanged in the third floor for credits."

"Wait, credits? Like the money we use on the ship?"

"Yes," said Phil.

"The common misconception is that the ship traded credits first. No, it's the Dungeon that had credits and it's what the colony started using. Easier than having an exchange when your only trading partner is in this place." We kept moving and the few enemies we encountered were dispatched with ferocious efficiency. There wasn't a delay between when Phil found an enemy and the others destroying them. I felt inadequate but I had to remind myself that it was because I was in a gatherer unit.

An hour later, we found a portal. Or I found a portal, they knew it was here. We stepped one at a time, zapped into the next floor down.