Tanguni Ambush

  General Sulmond took a deep breath after hearing the knock on his door. One last look at the picture of his family as he set it down on the desk. They, like all the other civilians, had evacuated off planet. “I hope I see you again.”, he thought as he told the person knocking to come in. Their eyes met for a few seconds as the young major who the council gave him as an executive officer now stood before him. “They ready?”

  “Yes, sir. Scouts have cleared the area and have placed our teleporter. The portal from the Drakes is also in position and ready. It’s…It’s time.” His so-called executive officer seemed to also understand their situation. The Draskari Sect was returning to mine the planet’s essence. It took four million years for the planet to reach its current high C-grade levels of essence after being previously mined. With the interference of the Drake Empire in the uncivilized newly integrated wilderness, the great sects were returning to the outskirts of the inner reaches to mine essence from the planets they had nearly destroyed once before.

  “Well, let’s go tie ourselves to a stake and see which tiger gets to eat us.” The world council had made a tough choice. Let the Draskari scum steal all the essence leaving the planet once again as a nearly dead F-grade or invite in the Drake Empire and their dungeons. The council decided to roll the dice. Officially in the inner reaches, the Drakes were pirating scum, terrorizing the newly integrated sectors forcing entire planet’s populations into slavery in their dungeons. However, quiet whispers on backwood planets away from the strongest influence of the great sects praised the empire for standing up to the multi-verses ruling powers. Whispers of wondrous dungeon built cities and fearless warriors were heard. The general knew he would be one of the first to find out the truth about the empire.

  General…he thought with a self-deprecating snort…retired lieutenant is the truth. One year ago he had been running his family’s weapons production facility with the remaining members of his old recon platoon before the council recalled him and made him a general. All the real generals were at the headquarters within spitting distance of a teleporter that could evacuate them off planet. Weibati didn’t get promoted to General.

  Stepping out the door he saw his team of bodyguards waitting. Fools every last one. Some of the richest men on his planet were just larping as bodyguards. He decided to give it one last chance. He looked at each of the men and made his decision. “Samso, Raphdi, Tornumb, and Brel. You are relieved of duty and will evacuate immediately. I am entrusting you with the safety of our families and rebuilding the company to provide for our tribe’s future.”

  An enchanter, a smith, an administrator and financial wiz, and the engineering guru to rebuild the machines that mass produce their products. That should give them an excellent chance for Sulmond Arms and the Weibati tribe to survive.

  “Sorry sir. We’re civilians. You can’t relieve us. We are currently working on a council approved contract with the Sulmond Arms company.” Raphdi replied.

  “I’m canceling your contract.”

  “You can’t sir. We…I mean the board approved it. Only the board can cancel it.” Brel smirked.

  “Gods dammit. We only need one goat. 8 men aren’t going to make any difference against what we are facing. Think of your families.”

  “We are sir. No Weibati woman would allow us to return to our families after abandoning you to your fate. We live or we die, but we will always be Weibati.” Samso gave the expected response.

  Shaking his head, the General gave up. He’d tried everything he could think of time and time again to talk some sense into these fools. They had no business here. Hells, he had no business here. “All right. Let’s stop by the situation room on the way.” The men turned with both Tornumb and Brel slapping him with their tan and black tails before leading the way. “I guess we deserve our fate if these idiots are some of the smartest this planet has ever produced.”

  Lacking in essence, the tribes of Tanguni had united under the world council and turned to developing technology as the ages passed on the essence starved planet. Projectile weapons and communication equipment were their greatest achievements. Both were system enhanced and technologically improved over the millenia. The planet’s primary exports were minerals and Sulmond Arms weapons to the other planets in the area struggling to recover from the lack of essence. After stealing the essence, the great sects had abandoned them.

  Stepping into the command center, a liaison with world command sent a message to his system interface offering to transfer the most current data on troop dispositions and enemy position. Nodding in thanks, the general stepped back out and opened his interface and set it to update in real time as he reviewed the situation. “Looks like the Dreskari will arrive in a few hours and we are beginning to narrow down their expected deployment points.”

  “No update on the makeup of the forces we’ll face?” the XO asked.

  “Those reports from the pirates saying they were coming in heavy with orbital support and thousands of their ravenous beasts is all we’ve received.” Stepping out into the courtyard he saw his “army”. 200 of the finest Weibati recon soldiers their tribe had ever produced. Stopping in front of the Sergeant Major with ancient scars crossing his scaled neck and face, the general asked, “Did you remind the men that this is a volunteer only mission, Sergeant Major?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “And all 200 volunteered?”

  “We are Weibati, sir.”

  “You are idiots.” the general replied.

  “Yes, sir. We are Weibati, sir.” the sergeant major agreed with a shrug thinking, They don’t make lieutenants like they used to.

  Raising his voice, the General called out, “All right men. We’ve gone over the plan. Secure the area. Report anything relevant you see. Stay within one kilometer of the portal until you receive further guidance. You’ve got 10 minutes to reach your positions. No need for a long drawn out speech you knuckleheads probably wouldn’t understand anyway, but thank you and be ready for anything. Let’s go.” the general nodded to his “bodyguards” and pulled his scarf up hiding his face and neck before they stepped onto the teleporter as the synchronized shout of “Weibati” rang out behind him.

  A Goat, a Lion, and a Monk walk into a Battle Position

  Sulmond looked around the valley they were in and reviewed his men’s positions in his interface. “Let them know we’re staking the goat XO.” He told his executive officer as he turned to walk over to the Sergeant Major and the portal. “Fire up the portal. It’s time.”

  The technician removed the precious essence crystals from their carriers and placed them in the portal controller. Each crystal represented an enormous fortune. The runes and glyphs on the controls lit up and the portal opened almost immediately. It should have taken a few minutes for the portal to open up to the wilderness territory of the empire, but the largest Lionkin he had ever seen immediately stepped out in heavy armor and quickly moved over to the Sergeant Major before changing his mind and turning to face him.

  “You in charge around here?” the lionkin growled as he looked around. After receiving a nod from Sulmond he sent an invitation to be linked into the Dungeon Expedition Force 1 command channel. “Share that with your entire force. It will update in real time.” Heavily armored soldiers were pouring out of the portal and taking a knee in a circle around the portal. Each man and woman cast and maintained a narrow essence shield that curved back over their heads and locked into the neighboring shields.

  Knowing he was turning over the positions of all of his men and removing any chance of escape they might have when the Drakes decided they were no longer needed, he started to say something when the lionkin continued. “I’m going to give you only one order and you are going to make sure everybody in your command follows it. No one dies outside of the dungeon. Inside the dungeon we’ll work you into our plans however you think you will be best utilized, but I don’t want a single death outside.” And the lionkin strode off leaving the general and sergeant major alone with a.lightly armored … monk? Where the hells did he come from?

  “Forgive him. The forces we face may be much greater than expected and he must hurry to do everything he can to ensure the dungeon is ready.” the monk explained as the shield over their head was completed and an enormous boulder was rolled out of the portal by an ogre wearing a bandolier of pouches that appeared to be dimensional storages. Oddly enough, the ogre seemed to be having an argument with the large rock. Something about him not being able to protect the rock if she was flying around everywhere.

  The ogre stopped in the center of the formation and the rock sank into the ground and the ogre kneeled, casting an enormous shield inside of the already emplaced shield. The ogre began pulling enormous essence crystals out of his bandolier and dropping them on ground where they disappeared, presumably being absorbed by the dungeon core. “Please, Inform your men that our scouts will be passing their positions in a few seconds and then join the command channel so we can begin our coordination. But do not forget. No man dies outside of the dungeon. The Dungeon will be able to revive them no matter what happens to them if they fall inside the dungeon. Everything else we can coordinate based on your wishes and abilities.”

  In for a copper, in for a gold. Sulmond thought while he sent out a warning of scouts heading out and sighed before accepting the invitation to the command channel. More monks, elves, beastkin, humans, and dwarves were pouring out of the portal, each one passing by the ogre and emptying a large bag of essence crystals onto the ground close to the ogre who was still maintaining his enormous shield. “Scout snipers…lightly armored…excellent camouflage. I could only pick out 3 positions from here. What is the range of their weapons?” the monk asked while Solmund watched the lionkin give a quick bow to a group of lean lightly armored beastkin, birdmen, elves, humans, and enlightened beasts that quickly disappeared and apparently moved out to begin their recons.

  “They are Weibati scouts armed with the finest Solmund Arms can produce each rated for at least 5-10 kilometers.” Solmund replied as he tried to decide what was more amazing: the wealth being casually dumped on the ground or the speed at which the scouts were moving on his interface. More and more soldiers were pouring out of the portal forming additional layers of shields around their position. His train of thought was interrupted as he stared in confusion at a female human in the light cloth robe of a priest or wizard exited the portal with an enormous hammer in her hands.

  “Ah…that reminds me. We will need to be put in touch with the owner of Solmund Arms. Apparently the Dragon Queen owes him a very large sum of credits and would like to formalize a deal with him. Oh, where are my manners…I’m as bad as that smelly lion. I’m Jafar. I am Crystal Rose’s dungeon master, but she prefers to be called Dungie. She is a big fan of the Battle Master and apparently they have strange naming traditions on his home planet. Birdie, Monkie which I am obviously not a fan of, Little Lionie, etc…I suspect he’s just too lazy to remember names. Dungie will provide security forces for your positions, would your men want to work solo or in pairs?” Jafar asked while doing something in his interface.

  “Pairs would be best. I’m Solmund by the way, but Tornumb over there is the one to talk to about making deals.” Solmund responded while watching the strangely equipped people pouring out of the portal. Who the hell wears heavy armor and carries a wand? Jafar seemed to pause in his work and muttered, “I am so good at my job. I”ll let the Dragon Queen’s representatives know who to ask for. And done. Thank you Dungie.”

  The lionkin stopped what he was doing for a few seconds before turning and giving Jafar a thumbs up. “I left your men in your current pairings. Each position will have a teleporter for withdrawal and a dungeon provided security force. In about…7 minutes I’ll have a position ready for you to approve or make adjustments too. If you approve our initial plan, please have your men move to their designated staging areas, but remind them until the dungeon is established, their survival is the top priority. They should return to our position instead of facing any kind of danger.” Jafar said while Solmund’s interface informed him of a battle plan waiting for his approval. Please drop one example of each of your projectiles for Dungie to absorb and she’ll handle resupply if needed.”

  “Master Jafar, I have reached the vein.” A female voice called out from over his shoulder. Turning Solmund was just barely able to perceive a glowing sphere that the voice had apparently originated from.

  “Excellent work, Dungie. Switch to 25% expansion 75% acquisition. Activate your interface and begin sharing with the other dungeons.” Jafar said before turning to Solmund but was interrupted by something in his interface as he mumbled to himself and Dungie. “Hmmm….65% essence remaining for 10 Heavy Guard…6 minutes…Adjust to 95%...no 90% will do it.” Solmund felt the intensity of some of the shields drop slightly only seconds later as Jafar was already talking. “...see if they have any needs and questions. Either I or your liaison will be with you in a few minutes.”

  Feeling like he was in a fever dream or had overindulged on hallucinogenic mushrooms, Sulmond had to call out to Jafar who was already striding away, “See if who has any needs or questions, sir?”

  Spinning to face him, Jafar sternly said, “Don’t call me sir. I work for a living. My name is Jafar.” he said before letting out a little giggle. “Sorry. Battlemaster humor. He’s an odd bloke, but he does have a few catchy phrases. See to your men. Make sure they understand what is going on and get their feedback on the battleplan.” He finished with a wink and began rapidly moving once again towards the Lionkin.

  Make sure they understand what is going on? I don’t even understand what is going on! Solmund grumbled to himself as he moved over to the Sergeant Major and his merry band of idiots who all seemed to be looking at something in their interfaces. “Anything to report?” He asked the XO.

  “Uhh…no sir. We went ahead and issued the orders for the men to move to the designated staging areas and have a countdown to some position we are supposed to approve in a few minutes. It is right over there, sir.” He said pointing to an area off to the right.

  Shit. Get it together Solmund. Process. Execu…

  “Toddlers playing as Weibati.” A disheartened looking Sergeant Major muttered to himself as he approached.

  ‘What’s that Sergeant Major?” Solmund asked, wondering what was wrong and why the sergeant major was so down.

  “We’re just kids playing at being soldiers. Do you see how they move? Smooth. Precise. No hesitancy. No rush. Do you see how they use the interface to plan and communicate? Orders issued and executed. No doubt. No fear. Like they’ve done it a million times. These are real Weibati.” the scarred Weibati replied as he looked at the General with a mix of shame and determination on his face.

  “They’ve had everybody maintaining high level shields for 15 minutes. I can understand the casters and maybe the tanks, but what about the dps? Are they all sheep in wolves clothing?” the XO asked with the typical Weibati disdain for casters.

  “Hah. If there’s a single sheep among them, I’ll eat my boots. Look at the eyes.” the sergeant major corrected as several “baaaaa’s” and snickers rang out from the nearest Drake positions. “Got the ears of wolves. That’s for sure.” the sergeant major scowled as a few howls rang out from the Drake troops and one even appeared to be hiking his leg in the direction of the trooper beside him.

  “Tighten it up gentlemen. We may be toddlers, but we’re still Weibati.” the general whispered as he pulled up the battle plan. He saw a series of triangular fortifications with one tip pointing up the valley, but something was wrong. Looking around the terrain wasn’t right. The valley was too narrow. The approach was too steep. The walls of the canyon were too high. “XO, did you look at these plans? The terrain doesn’t match. Are they moving us?”

  Welcome Aboard the Good Ship Crazy Elf

  “Don’t worry about the terrain. The dungeon will fix it.” an elf in heavy armor and twin swords said from the nearest Drake position. She then motioned to the dwarf next to her who doubled the size of his shield as she dropped hers and came over to the Weibati. Her eyes jerked to the lionkin as she walked and Solmund saw him give her a thumbs up. “I am Kangrel. Little Lionie over there says it’s okay for me to be your liaison. Dungie should…” A message popped up informing them they had entered “The Blades of the Master Dungeon”. “Right on time, Dungie. Welcome to immortality gentlemen. In your battle plan, pick one of your positions. Now select the field of fire and choose all.”

  Solmund did as told and saw each position covering a 5km section of the valley in green and out to 10km in yellow. There were actually a series of positions for each team covering the length of the valley. “Ahh…defense in depth. Bleed them before the real fight even begins…”

  “Bleed them, Melt them. Strangle them, Cut them into pieces. We’re equal opportunity death dealers in the Battlemasters Playground, but you get the gist of it. Always nice to be working with someone with brains. I’m not tied into the dungeon like Jafar, but as liaison I can estimate your men will be safe in the dungeon within a half hour, well before the Draskari get here.”

  “What did you mean the dungeon will fix the terrain?” the xo asked as a large ramp rose behind them and four muscular goblins appeared out of nowhere on top holding onto chains attached to stops that were apparently holding a large boulder in place. “And what the hell is that?”

  Looking up, Kangrel rolled her eyes. “That is the Indiana or Jones trap. Lunatic battlemaster calls it both. He’s a big fan of the thing and anything he’s a fan of, Dungie does. It’s kind of our calling card. Don’t worry about it. If we use it, we’ll all be underground preparing to defend the dungeon from the inside. As to how the dungeon is going to fix the terrain, she’ll make it whatever she wants. She’s a dungeon.” Kangrel finished with a shrug.

  “Jafar said we’d have teleporters?” Sulmond asked as crenelated walls rose up and the defenders moved to positions on the walls and adjusted their shields.

  “Yeah. As soon as Dungie reaches the staging areas, she’ll tuck them away until their first set of positions are ready. Their dungeon creature liaison will show them how to modify it to their liking and let them know when a further out position is ready. Do you and your boyfriends here have the same ranged capabilities as your men or do you want to focus on command and control? I noticed your kit is a little different from your snipers, but I can’t see what’s in your storage.”

  “We are not Wormkin..” Betel started to respond while flaring his hood in anger before Raphdi slapped him in the back of the head. Solmund couldn’t help but smile at the scene that had played out so often centuries before when they were true Weibati and not businessmen. “We are still Weibati. Our field craft may be a little rusty and our bodies softer, but our aim is still true. Two sets of supporting positions with the ability to teleport to any of our other positions would seem a good strategy. I’ll split the idiot volunteers and send four with the XO and Sergeant Major and keep four with me”

  Kangrel nodded before looking slyly over at Jafar, “That is an excellent strategy, but would you be interested in maybe having a little more fun?”

  “Fun?” Solmund asked while the other men around him perked up and leaned forward seemingly thinking the same thing as him. Whatever is about to come out of her mouth is probably going to be the most Weibati thing we’ve ever heard.

  “Welllll…Let’s just say someone…say a dragon prince that is pretty much a genius at everything…got his hands on some of your weapons and built versions of it about 20 times larger, developed the most amazing optics you’ve ever seen, and given them a range of 25-30km…would that be something you’d be interested in trying? Assuming a certain monk can be talked into adding 12 of them to the plan?” Kangrel explained with a greedy look in her eyes as groans sounded and a couple whispered exclamations of “Cheater.” rang out from the nearest groups of troopers.

  Solmund felt 10 sets of pleading eyes boring into his skull as he stared at the elf to see if she was joking. He saw Jafar wave and he pointed over her shoulder in time for her to see him give her a thumbs up. By the time she turned back to face him, he already had an alert that the plan had been updated. Deciding to have some fun he replied, “I don’t know. One should never carry an unfamiliar…” Before he could finish he felt himself get slapped in the back of his head.

  “I’m so sorry sir. I don’t know what came over me.” His XO said with his head bowed down in shame before his general. All around them the shields suddenly winked out of existence and everybody sat down to start some sort of deep breathing meditation. The portal was shut down and the equipment for it sank into the ground. Six large holes opened up around where the portal previously was and large balls of liquid metal started rolling out.

  Solmund stood there stunned as the mercurial balls each shot out a tentacle that attached to the top of the nearest walls before being flung to the other side of the wall about 20 feet out. Once there, the balls disappeared almost completely leaving only a small outline and a slightly distorted appearance. SNAP…Kangrel’s fingers suddenly appeared in front of his face and he took a step back as he was shocked by an unexpectedly strong aura. Hard, dense, and impossibly sharp. She was only a C grade, but that was unlike any C grade aura he had ever felt before. Why did he only feel it when she was inches from him?

  “Hey, wake up. The positions are ready for your inspection and you need to approve the battle plan.” Kangrel snapped verbally this time. Solmund instantly opened his interface to see a series of larger positions higher and behind the positions for his men. Uhhhh…I guess that makes sense. He thought as he mentally pressed approve.

  “Good. Over here.” Kangrel ordered as she motioned to two mounds that had appeared a few meters away. There were steps going down on one side, but Kangrel led them around to the front. “As you can see, each position will be designed to blend into the terrain. There will be dummy positions located a safe distance away to distract enemy ranged attacks and you will have camo arrays hiding the firing portals and shields protecting them. A dungeon assistant will manage most of it for you.”

  Walking back towards the stairs in the rear of the smaller mound, Kangrel continued, “This is the position your men will fight from. Everybody inside. Space is manipulated so it’s a lot larger than it looks.” She said before stepping down and disappearing. Solmund felt like he had been sucked into a whirlpool and could no longer tell which way was up. The sergeant major gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he and the others hurried down behind her.

  As he entered, he saw the bunker contained 3 rooms. The side rooms had what looked like several teleporter arrays. The main room had a firing position and what looked like another teleportation array a step away from it. “Do you prefer prone, seated or standing positions?” Kangrel asked.

  “Prone.” the sergeant major answered as he moved closer to the firing position to take a look at a small glyph below the firing portal.

  “Go ahead and press one of your fingers against the glyph while circulating your essence through your hand.” She instructed him. As he was doing so, she nodded to the orc. “Gronk, bring up the displays.” The ceiling and surrounding walls all lit up with projections of what was outside.

  “The firing position should be linked to you now. Think of how you would like the position set up and it will adjust. If you switch shooters, make sure they link with the system. It is a legendary piece of equipment and gives significant bonuses to damage and accuracy.” The firing position changed to a large elevated bed of sand with a perfectly shaped mound at the front to rest his rifle.

  The sergeant major laid his rifle on the rest and got into position rapidly wiggling from side to side so that he sank in the sand. Once done, he picked up his weapon and sighted in on a small rock outside of the perimeter. The display above him on the front wall changed with part of the vision zooming in to show his sight picture. He then closed his eyes and breathed deeply three times. His sight was now aimed slightly above the rock. The front rest lowered slightly and he repeated the procedure, this time the sight did not move.

  “Save that as your default position and a new position will automatically adjust to that when you log in. Did you catch that on video?” She asked.

  “I’m sorry, what video?” Solmund asked.

  “The video you’ve been transmitting to your troops and command. Your communication equipment is excellent, but not good enough to avoid our detection.” She stated with a raised eyebrow.

  “Confirm with your men in the staging area that the video was enough for them to understand the procedure and let them know their dungeon assistant will be able to answer any further questions they have. Oh…and remind them to drop one copy of all their ammo sets as soon as they get to their first position so that the dungeon can handle resupply for them. Now what do you say, let’s go check out the new toys?”

  As she walked to the exit, the XO gave him a thumbs up and Gronk gave them what Solmund hoped was a friendly smile before nodding and solemnly saying, “For Binxie.” Solmund looked around to see several shrugs. “Who is Binxie?” he asked the orc.

  “Binxie was the first hero of the empire. He saved goblin children from orc horde scouts, but died. It was before Destiny could bring us back. You’ll learn about him at the academy. Check out Professor Ragnel’s presentations if you can. The memory weaver is the son of the Warmaster and is the warrior princesses ancestor.” the orc explained...sort of…

  “Hurry up down there, we don’t have much time.” Kangrel shouted down and the weibati hurried to the door. As Solmund stepped outside, he started to follow the rest of his men over to the larger position. But before he reached them, chaos broke out. Troopers jumped up and began running everywhere but oddly enough, it almost seemed like nothing was really being done. Solmund swore he saw one trooper run into one teleportation station before exiting from another and running back to the first.

  The sergeant major reached out and squeezed his upper arm. All of the bodyguards looked at him with raised eyebrows. The lionkin and Jafar ran up. “The Draskari are almost here. They will be in range in 20 minutes. I’ve requested back up.” The lionkin said. Suddenly boo’s and hissing rang out as everybody briefly stopped what they were doing as six humanoids emerged from one of the tunnels.

  “Shit.” both the lionkin and Jafar said at once.

  “Six. Is that enough back up?” Solmund asked as the group approached. A middle aged man wearing light armor and carrying a combat staff walked towards them followed by an intimidating young woman and a scholarly looking young man who tapped the metallic looking man walking next to him and pointed up to the “Jonas” trap or whatever it was Kangrel called it. The metallic man smiled. Behind them was an elven warrior in heavy armor and twin swords crossing her back walking with a monk of a similar age to the leader.

  The elven warrior winked at Kangrel who looked upset about something. “It’s too much back up. The troops will be lucky to get any loot with those monsters here.” the lionkin explained before greeting the leader. “Just slow them down a little, John. Leave some loot for the kids or I’ll have a riot on my hands.”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Oh Krap!!!

  “We’ll try Mufasa.” the leader replied which caused the metallic man to let out a small laugh before the muscular young woman slapped the back of his head. “But you know how easy it is to get caught up in the moment when fighting.”

  The leader then turned to Solmund and held out his hand, “Greetings Solmund. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I’m John…John Drake.” he said with a confident smile.

  John Drake? THE JOHN DRAKE… Solmund thought before he and all his men dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. “Greetings, Emperor. I apologize. I did not expect you.” Solmund said as he felt his soul being pulled apart and each tiny piece being weighed and measured by the man in front of him.

  Suddenly all movement stopped. “NEVER SERVE SOMEONE WHO DEMANDS YOU KNEEL. NEVER TRUST SOMEONE THAT KNEELS BEFORE YOU. GET ON YOUR FEET WEIBATI.” was shouted at them by all within the compound before the chaos resumed.

  The emperor reached down, gently grasped his shoulder, and effortlessly lifted him to his feet with a smile. The young warrior woman shook her head. The elven warrior winked at him. The monk gave a small bow of his head. The metallic man looked bored and the bookish looking young man seemed to be studying something in his interface.

  Suddenly Solmund felt great danger. A rock the size of his head was flying at the back of the emperor. Hood flaring, he dove to push the emperor out of the way only to bounce off of what felt like a sharp edged brick wall. The emperor flicked one finger in the air and a shield of essence redirected the rock over the wall while a bolt of lightning slammed into the back side of the giant ogre from before that was apparently trying to hide behind two dwarven warriors that dove out of the way just a little to slowly.

  “Dammit Siegemaster, we don’t have the resistance that you do.” One dwarf said from the ground while sparks jumped between his wild beard hairs. The ogre stood up rubbing his backside and said, “Train more.”

  ‘Not the time Baby Ogre.” the emperor called out. “Get over here. I have a gift for you from your mother.”

  “Siegemaster.” the ogre roared.

  “You’ll always be Baby Ogre to me, old friend.” The emperor replied as he pulled a heavily enchanted bandolier out of his storage. Upon seeing the gift, the ogre jogged over and said, “Thanks, John. Train more later?” he asked.

  “Only after you visit your mother. I don’t want her hunting me down…. Again.” the emperor said earnestly before turning back to Solmund. “We have a World Cracker moving into position overhead. We’re about to put up the shields. You will want to remove your communication gear so that the backlash does not kill you.”

  Solmund and his men pulled the chips with the communication array out of their bracers. The Sergeant Major moved to throw his on the ground, but the monk flashed forward and caught it and handed it back, “You’ll want that soon.” the monk said. Around them, the chaos immediately stopped and the troopers began heading towards the teleporters in small groups.

  “Your council agreed with the Draskari to set up an ambush for us here. When we are done, I will evaluate each of them, but feel free to replace any of the survivors if you feel it is necessary. We will not stand in your way. I understand it is not the Weibati’s wish to rule, but for the good of your planet, I want you to have a say in who does. I must move out to meet the enemy now. We have three World Crackers moving into position each carrying a full B grade cohort of Draskari with mercenary back up. Little Kangrel can answer your questions after you get in position.” the emperor said and placed a recording crystal into his hand before jumping the walls and flashing off into the distance.

  The other members of the group followed the emperor except the elven warrior. She stopped in front of Kangrel. “Matron. What are you doing here? You and Elvin are not immortal like the others.”

  “Don’t worry Kanni. We are just closing the flanks and will not leave the dungeon. We will be fine.” She said hugging the young elven warrior.

  “Promise me.” Kangrel said and the warrior looked at her and nodded before flashing off.

  “She will be fine, kangrel. I swear for all my Weibati on this.” Solmund stepped forward and placed his fist over his heart.

  “There are three A grades, 3,000 B grades, and entire cohorts of C grades on those ships. Rage runs in my family's blood. She won’t be able to keep her promise. I appreciate the gesture, but it is meaningless.” kangrel explained.

  “You called her Matron. I assume she is not young like you?” the Sergeant major asked.

  “No. She isn’t. What does that matter?” Kangrel replied.

  “The rage of the youth roars. The rage of the old simmers. Not many know this because few battle ragers reach an old age. I know. I have not gained any new scars for 200 years. She will not lose control.” the ancient warrior explained. “Now tell us what to do next.”

  Taking a deep breath, Kangrel refocused herself. Solmund felt her aura pulling back in and solidifying. All of the troopers had disappeared. The balls of metal continued to pour out of the holes as the first of the triangular defensive positions and the terrain of the valley began changing. “Will the dungeon provide creatures to man the defenses?” Solmund asked.

  “Oh. Yes, but the positions are mainly a distraction. We’ll fight from the hills, in the middle of their formations, behind their backs, under their feet, or wherever else someone wants to try something. Follow me, we need to get out of the way.” Kangrel explained as she moved towards the tunnels heading down. The Weibati followed.

  Solmund glanced at his interface as he walked. His men had left the staging area and some were already relocated into their 2nd firing positions as the dungeon expanded its influence. As if the cobwebs had finally cleared out of his mind, he began to understand, “Is the Emperor still here or has he already moved on to where the real battle is?”

  “Oh he’s still here. We’re going to be in for one hell of a show. He hates the sects. Apparently he has moved from planet to planet for hundreds of years integrating over and over trying to find one that the sects don’t steal all the essence from. You’re right though. This isn’t the real battle. He’s the bait. B34$TR4ND0 and the traveler’s are fighting the real battle. Dammit. You too Dungie? Come on.” she said after she stepped onto a teleporter. “Choose Cheater’s Loot Pinata as your destination.” She added before disappearing.

  Stepping onto the teleporter, Solmund quickly found Cheater’s Loot Pinata, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Baby Ogre’s Crib was. Arriving at their new location, the air was heavy with essence and Solmund could feel it being sucked into his cells and flowing to his core. Checking his interface he saw they were deep underground. In front of him were the mock up positions he and his men would use to control their weapons. He chose the center one while the xo and the sergeant major settled in beside him.

  While Solmund synced up with his position, Gronk fired up the displays around the room. Everybody settled in and made minor adjustments. “You can reactivate your communicators in a second, the backlash concern was a lie. But before you do, remember to think about what you say. The story is the empire has thrown all their might into securing a foothold here. If we fail, the Draskari will cripple the empire.” Kangrel told them.

  “How can being underground protect us from world crackers?” Tornumb asked.

  “The world crackers aren’t going to be a factor. The only reason we’re even letting them deploy is so we can draw out the reserve fleets after Dungie destroys the three ships that are here. Dungie is going to destroy them and it will take 6 hrs to recharge her weapon. Remember that. No matter what you think you feel or didn’t feel. Dungie destroyed them and it will take her 6 hrs to recharge. No nonsense about dungeons in space or any other crazy scheme you can come up with. Dungie destroyed them and it will take 6 hrs to recharge. Got it?” she asked with a wink.

  “Not really.” Raphdi shrugged.

  “Then just keep your mouth shut.” the sergeant major replied. Everybody took out their chips, but Solmund stopped them before they reinserted the chips into their bracers.

  “How much of what you're showing us is real? You keep throwing dung at us then rushing us off to the next task before we have a chance to think if what we’re seeing is real. I don’t see any reason for why you care what we think, but how do we know what’s really going on?”

  Kangrel looked at them for a few seconds. “You’re right. You have no idea. However, you’re also right that there would be no reason to continue a charade for you at this point. So, do you want to play with the big guns or not? Your help in the charade will most likely make other things go more smoothly, but it won’t make too much of a difference in the end. Follow your instincts and do what you think is right…or at least what you think would be the most fun.” she finished and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

  Solmund looked around, finally turning to Gronk who shrugged and said, “Above my paygrade. I just operate the big guns.” With a few seconds thought and long exhalation, Solmund nodded and said, “You’re right. You had me with the big guns.” Of course, the idiots cheered and Kangrel winked at him.

  Everybody reinserted their chips into their bracers. The XO immediately began communicating with the units letting them know the goat had been moved back into the barn.

  “So the emperor is going out to buy us more time?” Tornumb asked.

  “Yes. We’re throwing everything we have at them. Tanguni will give us a foothold to expand here closer to the inner reaches. We’ll finally have the chance to take the fight to these bastards.” Kangrel replied.

  “What if we fail?” Raphdi asked, looking very proud of himself.

  “Then the sects will slowly grind us to dust. We have to try though. We can’t keep fighting from our backfoot. We have to secure this foothold.” Kangrel replied.

  “Heads up. I see the Draskari.” Solmund called out.

  “The emperor is moving out to meet them.” The XO added. Suddenly all the projections flashed a brilliant white. “What the hells was that?”

  “Relax, it was just Dungie dealing with the ships. It’s all part of the plan.” Kangrel replied.

  “What if they send another fleet?” Solmund asked

  “They’d have to arrive within six hours. Those Draskari scum will be trying to figure out what happened before they respond. No way will they get their reserve fleets here before Dungie can recharge the weapon and is ready for the next group.” Kangrel replied with a predatory grin.

  Step Into my Parlor Said the Fly to the Spider

  “Sir, we have confirmation that all troops have been deployed. They are releasing the hounds and will proceed to the designated target shortly.” communications officer Raltune announced.

  “Excellent. These pirating scum will soon learn the folly of engaging in a real battle. Prepare to begin bombardment in 15 minutes.” Admiral Thrawn replied.

  “Sir. Those asteroids you asked us to scan. They have extremely high essence signatures. I guarantee there will be valuable natural treasures within them.” one of the technicians called out.

  “Should we maneuver to bring them in?”

  “Will it take us out of firing position?”

  “No sir. We only need to make a minor adjustment.”

  “Targeting can you confirm?”

  After adjusting his projections for a second, another technician replied, “Yes sir. No problem at all.”

  “Bring them in then. Have the other ships bring in the ones close to them.” Let’s see what those pricks at command that STILL joke about me losing a world cracker to a fleet of suicide bombers have to say about me returning with a hold full of valuable treasure.

  Minutes later in the hold of Thrawn’s world cracker, 4 dungeons began expanding their territory in hair thin strands following air ducts, maintenance pathways, and power lines throughout the ship. No one noticed a few maintenance workers and technicians here and there disappearing when they suddenly received a notice of entering a dungeon before being viciously stabbed in the back and erased from existence.

  Back on the bridge, alarms began sounding and red lights flashing. “Sir we’ve lost communications” “Sir we’ve lost navigation control.” “Sir, all weapons are down.” On the projection showing Tanguni, an enormous white light flared. Admiral Thrawn received an alert. “You have entered the Dungeon: Star Command 493”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, you are now prisoners of the Drake Empire. You may surrender or fight. However, I feel it is only fair that I warn you that choosing to fight will delay your release.” said a lightly armored man with a bald head standing next to the admiral. “Please follow me to begin your processing.”

  Both guards by the door drew energy weapons and fired on the man who raised one eyebrow as the projectiles reversed direction and struck the two guards in the head. The admiral and the other B grade officials in the bridge felt the complicated manipulation of essence that defied their understanding. The bodies fell and crumbled into nothing. “Do not fear for those two. They are low enough level that they can repay their essence debt to the dungeon in a matter of weeks and be released. Our intent is to bash the sects on the head with a big stick before handing you a carrot and pointing the way towards the future. We have plenty of big sticks if you do not choose wisely” The bald man said before exiting the secure doors that opened without him presenting any credentials as he waved for the others to follow him.

  Another Boring Day at the Office

  If anybody with extremely high perception on Tanguni had been paying attention, they might have noticed a twinkling of lights as 3 world crackers disappeared and 17 asteroids grew thrusters and moved off into space. Nobody was looking up though. The emperor and his companions were expressing their displeasure with the Draskari sect. Except for the man who looked oddly metallic. He had disappeared.

  “So the emperor is a caster. Does he really expect to be able to just stand there and wipe them all out before he is overrun?” Solmund asked as he watched fire, ice, and lightning rain down on the horde of hellish beasts the Draskari had unleashed.

  “Oh he’s a hell of a caster, but he prefers to work in close on tougher opponents. You’ll see. He’s just not wanting to engage them outside of our range. He’ll do something to draw them in closer once the scum start taking him seriously. Take a peek at the ranged attack overlay in your interface. You’ll get the idea.” Kangrel answered.

  Solmund pulled up the overlay and saw she was right. The emperor was standing just outside the area designated as the maximum effective range. “You’re right he’s barely out of range now. Should be easy for him to kite them back.”

  “Barely outside?” Kangrel raised up from her scope as she was obviously flipping through her interface. “And they call me a cheat. That bastard Jafar has given half the expedition force mega solmunds in indirect fire mode.” Seeing the confused Weibati faces, Kangrel held her weapon at a 45 degree angle and pantomimed a high arcing shot ending in an explosion.

  “I’d ask for a change, but Jafar is probably coordinating with the other dungeons, running a hundred different scenarios, and eating a late lunch right now. Wouldn’t be right to bother him.” Kangrel continued.

  “Mam, the horde is splitting from the back and a B grade force is heading straight for the emperor.” Brel called out.

  Looking back through her scope, Kangrel agreed. “Looks like about 200. Tanks, damage, not much range, no support. Standard formation. Moving fast. I doubt if he’ll bother bringing that few back to us, but look sharp just in case.”

  “The nerd just took off running.” the XO reported.

  “So did the bodybuilder.” the sergeant major added.

  “Probably going to help push the flanks back in towards the emperor. He’s hitting the B-grade force hard now. Well at least, he’s making it look like he’s trying to hit them harder.” Kangrel said as Solmund tried to locate the B grade element moving forward in the light show the emperor was putting on. The emperor paused in his casting and quickly pulled out a potion.

  “They were shielded.” Solmund called out. “One of the A grades must be nearby or they just wasted a hell of a lot of talismans.” The emperor dropped his flask and used a movement skill to flash back a few kilometers closer to the dungeon. The force of B grades charged forward as they broke through the splitting horde. The indirect fire began to arrive as small explosions or bursts of lightning started dropping the beasts, and annoying the B grades whose tanks began channeling shields over their heads as they ran.

  The emperor began alternating casting and moving back as he struggled to slow the force down enough to escape. To the far left, a wall of swirling wind blades cut into the flanking horde even reaching into the C-grade Draskari maneuvering behind them pushing the attack towards the nerd who was casually sending waves of lightning balls in front of him. Kangrel swung her weapon controller to the left looking for something then raised her head to check her interface.

  “The Matron is within the dungeon limits and in no danger Kangrel. Dungie is keeping an eye on her.” Gronk calmly stated. Kangrel nodded and focused on her sector once more. The right side of the enemy formation was also under pressure as two enormous blades of essence enhanced lightning cut through their ranks.

  “That’s pretty cool.” Raphdi said as the projection from his scope shifted to the right to show a monk sitting in a meditative pose casually moving his arms back and forth in a cutting motion. To the left of his attacks, waves of flame,and lava spewing volcanoes squeezed the horde further back towards the center.

  Elvin sat calmly only a couple steps away from his teleporter. He used simple attacks with great power while meditating to maintain his reserves. His specialized core and robust delivery system were perfect for this style of fighting. He did maintain his awareness as he felt a powerful presence within the mercenary brigade positioned not far from the base of his dungeon created mountain.

  Feeling the surge of power as the A grade Draskari rushed toward his position, he calmly stood up, threw a few punches, spun a few kicks, and finished with a powerful double front kick. After pausing to pour essence into his attack, make a few adjustments, and add a trigger , Elvin calmy stepped onto the teleporter and moved back into his second fighting position on top of a mountain further back where he sat down and continued his meditation.

  “What do you mean you are surrendering?” the commander of the third Draskari cohort screamed.

  “We have received a system alert that we face overwhelming odds and strongly suggests we should surrender.” the mercenary commander replied.

  “I should strike you all down for your cowardice. The sects will know of your treasonous behavior.”

  “I cannot stop you if you choose to do so, but you and your superiors will face system judgement for violating a system backed contract.” Frustrated, the cohort commander had no reply as he charged off to take out his anger on the annoying monk sitting on the hill.

  “Why haven’t the Drake’s responded?” the mercenary commander asked his assistant. Who shrugged and pointed up at the stunned A grade flying off the mountain and over their heads, “I don’t think they are all that worried about us changing our minds.”

  Half a universe away at the mercenary commander’s headquarters, the guards put their hands on their weapons and began moving forward as a rather shady looking character brazenly sauntered toward the reception desk. Holding his hands in the air, he continued at a leisurely pace.

  “I am a member of Paul John’s Raiders representing the Drake Empire. I wish to speak with whoever is in charge.” He slowly moved his right hand forward offering a small metallic token while pointing with his left hand at a dimensional storage bag hanging off his belt. “I come bearing gifts.”

  The receptionist cautiously took the token and saw that it provided both admission and transportation to and from the Drake Academy. All expenses paid. “One moment sir.” he replied before he turned to go down the hallway to the acting commander’s office assuming the token was not something that should be discussed over a communicator. Hours later, the entire building appeared to shrink and transform into a fortress in clear violation of the local building codes. The owner of the restaurant next door was not amused in the slightest. Well, at least not until she received a rather generous business proposition the next day.

  The emperor had almost made it back within Solmund’s and the other’s maximum effective range when Solmundi received a fire mission. There was a large X a few hundred meters from the edge of their field of fire and sectors ready to be assigned with arrows pointing in from the outside edge. Quickly figuring out what the emperor wanted he assigned the sectors and called out, “He wants us working outside in. Get ready boys. Rapid Fire. Fire at will.”

  The Emperor reached the X not far ahead of the still charging Draskari B grades. He turned and readied his staff, but was breathing heavily and his head was bent down, shoulders slumped in exhaustion. The Weibati opened fire and soon realized that each one was controlling more than one weapon as rounds began breaking shields and penetrating into Draskari flesh. Being B grades, not many went down, but a few did. They continued firing and working their way closer to the emperor.

  As the first Draskari reached the emperor and swung, a reactive shield exploded sending razor sharp shards of essence flying in all directions. Next was an explosion of ice freezing those nearby followed by a blast of lightning stunning those that were still moving. Finally a blast of fire was released and the cycle began repeating itself, shards, ice, lightning, fire. The emperor began swinging his weapon which now had enormous blades on both ends as he casually walked forward cutting down the frozen and stunned Draskari while the Weibati worked their way in from the outside.

  “Five seconds…Five seconds and two hundred dead B grades.” The Sergeant Major whispered as all the Weibati received loot notifications and another fire mission appeared, this time just showing an approximate point of engagement within the dungeon limits. They quickly adjusted their positions as the emperor turned around and exhaustedly limped back towards the dungeon forces.

  “A grade coming in at the emperor.” Gronk called out. With a thought, Solmund created another fire plan, this time including the rest of the Weibati hidden in the hills. “An A grade will be too fast for us to hit reliably and too strong to do much damage to. Disruptive fire 1 meter off center mass.” Solmund ordered as everybody settled in ready to squeeze their triggers. The emperor disappeared and reappeared near the new kill zone.

  Seconds later an updated fire plan was received, the emperor had moved the targets for the Weibati firing normal Solmund arms with the question, “Explosive rounds?” written underneath. Solmund approved the plan, guessing that the emperor wanted to disrupt the A grades footing as much as possible.

  “It’s the Primalll Hunterrr. Duh, duh dunt, da” a metallic voice rang out as everybody looked at a projection Gronk had zoomed in on as metallic tentacles holding bows or punch daggers rose up among one of the Draskari caster formations. Arrows and daggers dripping green with acidic slime.

  As the casters fell, a metallic humanoid formed and rapidly moved backwards towards another formation of casters despite it appearing like his legs were walking forward. The casters opened fire as the metallic voice rang out once again. “You’ve been hit by. You’ve been struck by. A smooth criminal. Dunt dun dunna da dunt dunt tttt. Yeeowww!” as the tentacles appeared in a totally different formation of casters as they all fell.

  “What the hells is a Primal Hunter?” Solmund asked while watching the strange silver balls being launched from catapults towards the A grade who was nearing the edge of the dungeon proper.

  “I asked once while that maniac was trying to make friends with a sassy little bird who was screeching at him to get away from her nest, but his reply was that ‘I shouldn’t worry about that because Willy was the main character, but it would be cool to have a cosmic space worm.’ I think his entire world was insane. Apparently they named their planet Dirt.” Kangrel explained as she opened fire on the A grade.

  The metallic voice began chanting, “Let the bodies hit the floor” as the bows and knives and tentacles had disappeared and a giant mass of whirling blades grew legs and jumped into the next formation. That chant was apparently more than enough to break the spirits of the summoned demonic beasts as the remainder of the horde disappeared leaving behind steaming puddles where they had emptied their bladders before leaving.

  The entirety of the three cohorts of the Draskari charged as they apparently had seen enough and decided the emperor was the safer target.

  The flying silver balls all became masses of blades as they slammed into the A grade. They didn’t appear to do much damage, but the weight definitely slowed him down. The emperor smoothly side stepped an overhead chop from the heavily armored Draskari’s sword. The staff now much thicker on the ends was covered in spikes and slammed into a knee, an elbow, the other elbow, and finally the other knee before the emperor ducked under a wild swing from the Draskari who was struggling to keep his footing as the ground beneath his feet was continuously being torn apart by small explosions and his arms and shoulders were continuously being rocked by rounds coming from the Mega Solmunds.

  The Weibati struggled following their aiming points as the A grade kept moving. Boulders with alternating blasts of fire and ice were now raining down from somewhere with one nearly striking the emperor who stepped back quickly out of the way. “Not the time Baby Ogre.”

  “Not my fault you keep moving.” the ogre shouted back. Apparently getting frustrated, the A grade released a powerful stunning skill sending the silver orbs flying and stunning the emperor. The weibati fired as quickly as they could, knocking the sword offline but it still managed to cut through the emperor from shoulder to hip as his body crumpled into dust.

  A roar rang out as the ogre came into vision from their left charging towards the A grade rapidly pulling boulders out of his bandolier and throwing them straight at the Draskari. Suddenly he dove to the right as a massive shadow swam across the charging Draskari troops as an enormous blue dragon released a breath of lightning straight at the A grade before sharply turning to the right as an even larger red dragon barreled into the Draskari commander in an explosion of dust and dirt and fire.

  The emperor reappeared armed with vicious looking twin war hammers, but stopped short as the dragon suddenly flew out of the cloud of debris and circled around meeting the blue dragon and landing behind the Draskari troops. The emporer shook his head and summoned a strong wind to clear the air so he could look down into the now empty enormous crater.

  The sergeant major jerked to the left and cursed before saying a quick prayer as Gronk adjusted another of the projections to show the elvin matron battling a large group of Draskari B grades while another of the cohort commanders was casting a spell from the distance behind her.

  “That’s not…” Kangrel and Gronk both started to say “necessary.” However, they were too late as his body turned to ash as he sacrificed his life force to save the matron. A giant black and tan serpent rose from the sand behind the caster and sunk its fangs into his shoulder just before a silver ax wielded by a tentacle cut through him and a sword of condensed air chopped off his head.

  All of the remaining Draskari froze as they found themselves surrounded by gleaming silver snakes. The matron pointed towards the emperor and the Draskari lowered their weapons and shuffled away. Troopers began appearing all around the emperor and Jafar began guiding the enemy fighters towards a seating area that had risen from the ground that included goblins selling snacks and beverages from concession stands. The matron turned and wiggled her fingers in some form of elvin sign language while several silver hands rose from the ground to send a much cruder message with a single finger.

  “The matron says thank you, but your sacrifice was not necessary. The battlemaster says…well I think you know what he said.” Kangrel said to the sergeant major who was coming from the teleportation room and apparently trying to sneak back to his position before anybody noticed anything.

  At the rear of the main Draskari formation, some soldiers turned to run but changed their mind immediately when a young man dressed in blue transformed his hand into an enormous claw and pointed towards the emperor while a red haired muscular woman animatedly told him a story involving a lot of scratching while smoke leaked out of her mouth and fire danced across her arms.

  Let the Games Begin

  “Hurry up, there is still time to get into the first battle royal.” Kangrel excitedly stood up.

  “The what?” The Weibati asked but she was already gone and Gronk stood in the doorway to the teleporters waving for them to hurry. They appeared on the battlefield next to a catapult.

  “Sneak attack!!!” the monk from the mountain earlier shouted out as he gleefully led a brigade of mercenaries toward the lines of Drake troopers and one of the annoying flashing, “enemy surrenders” alerts disappeared from Solmunds interface.

  The ogre ran to the front and began launching boulders at the monk and Kagnel picked up one of the metal balls out of the catapult and jumped in herself. The other catapults were already launching and the air filled with a loud whistling noise as metal balls flew through the air. “What’s going on?” Solmund asked Kangrel, but she too was already flying through the air.

  Solmund felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to Gronk who explained, “Elvin is probably just helping them make some extra credits from their death premium.” And predictably the other Weibati immediately all rushed to be next onto the catapult.

  Earlier the mercenary commander sat with his men waiting for a representative of the Drake Empire to arrive. Seeing the monk from the mountain rapidly approaching he stood, removed his weapons, and walked forward with his hands in the air.

  The monk slowed as he approached and said, “Hello, I’m Elvin. I understand that you fine soldiers would like to surrender?”

  “Yes. We had a system approved contract and it included an overwhelming clause.” the commander replied.

  “Great. Great. Did you also happen to include a death penalty?” the monk asked.

  “I must remind you that murdering us would be in violation of system approved protocols and you and your superiors would suffer severe punishment.” the commander hopefully pointed out as his men began to stand and prepare themselves.

  “Not what I meant at all. Is it significant?”

  “Of course, it’s significant. The system does not take violation of its protocols lightly.”

  “I meant the penalty. Is it worth a few days of your time?” the monk continued. “If it is, this is what I have in mind...” The commander could only thank the gods that he always took all his contracts seriously as the insane monk laid out his outrageous plan. But hey, credits are credits. A few days' time for a few months' pay is always a good deal.

  BRRRRRRRRRTTT. A fiery streak shot low across the horizon before rising up and turning back the direction it came from. “What was that?” the commander asked.

  “The cohort commander I kicked off the mountain was trying to escape.” the monk explained as the commander wondered why he ever accepted this job.

  A few hours later, Solmund slowly picked up his rifle as he glanced up at the scoreboard suspended in the sky. The timer had ten seconds remaining before the battle royale began. The scoreboard showed the score of 0’s for all the teams involved. The timer hit zero.

  “Better luck next time new guy.” a voice sounded in his ear as he felt heat on the back of his neck and he turned his head to see a few red scales and enormous teeth. A lot of enormous teeth. He was still screaming as he opened his eyes to a still image of his horrified face.

  “Don’t worry there will be another one, once this one is over.” Jafar said between bites of popcorn as he sat in a comfortable looking chair surrounded by projections of the battleground which had totally transformed into a massive arena including forested areas, open plains, rolling hills, small villages, and the ruins of a city in one corner.

  “Dammit Dungie. Enough. Your master has spoken.” Jafar called out as he saw the screen change from Dungie and Jafar to Jafar and Dungie. The Draskari were in last place and the Battlemaster was in first as his numbers rarely stopped scrolling. The Weibati were doing well in second place, but their numbers were barely changing as they ran out of easy targets to pick off. The twins and John were starting to catch up. Solmund chuckled as he saw the name for the Dungeon team change once again.

  Solmund and the rest of the Weibati sat in the stands watching as the Sergeant Major crawled slowly up a ravine looking for a new position higher up in the terrain. The Weibati had been able to hold on to 4th place behind the Battlemaster, John, and the twins. Admittedly it was mostly because they were harder for the Battlemaster to locate, but a win is a win. Suddenly a silver ax cut into the ground next to the sergeant major’s head as a Metallic voice whispered, “There you are, you little sneak.”

  “I surrender.” The sergeant major called out.

  “Winner and still undefeated multi-versal champion…THEEEE BATTLEMASTER!!!” rang out as a metallic man in black pants and a black and white shirt raised the champs hand and an extremely feminine looking metallic person wearing just a few small pieces of pink cloth strapped an enormous gold and black belt around his waist.

  The entire crowd in the stands booed and the emperor's voice rang out, “Hurry up show off. The warmaster is requesting our presence and I have training to do.” as the battlemaster continued jumping up and down with both arms raised above his head.

  On a nearby planet, 5 fat scalekin covering their faces with scarves stepped off the teleporter and looked around. A shady looking character leaning against a wall looked away before motioning with his thumb towards a pathway between two buildings. Just before they reached the end of the alley a shadow stepped out behind them. Purple eyes glowed beneath a hood and dark hands flashed holding curved swords. Five heads rolled. Five bodies fell.

  “Judgement is guilty. Sentence is death.” The shadow stated before he turned and a lock of long white hair flew out from inside the hood as he disappeared back into the shadows. The shady looking character from before walked down the alley and placed the bodies and heads into a dimensional storage.

  John and the Battlemaster stood in the Tanguni capital with the Battlemaster. He looked around the room at the remaining council members. He stared at each one for a few seconds before moving to the next. He pointed at four of them. “You four are off the council and can never hold a governmental position again. The rest can remain on the council.”

  After waiting for the 4 to quickly leave, John continued, “As some of you are aware, we were invited here to be ambushed. I wish to thank you for that. It provided an excellent distraction. Your first order of business will be to form a temporary council to determine how the planet will be governed moving forward. I want positions offered to all the minor tribes, even the Weibati. No tribe can have more than three representatives. The Weibati will hold at least one. Your Imperial liaison will arrive shortly. You’ll have one month to establish a government. That government can work with the dungeon masters and the liaison to rebuild this planet however you want as long as they follow the imperial laws”

  John dropped a dimensional storage bag on the floor. “This bag is for the Weibati.” He dropped five more. “The rest are to be divided evenly among all the tribes. They contain tokens for transportation to and from the Drake Academy. I recommend you send a few representatives from each of the tribes to learn what is available.” John and the Battlemaster walked out.

  “I suggest we do exactly what he says.” one council member recommended.

  “You think so. They secured footholds on dozens of planets in the inner reaches, crippled one of the great sects, and reportedly killed a god in three days all while their strongest fighters were supposedly being ambushed here. I amend that we do exactly what he says after confirming with the liaison and dungeon master that we are doing exactly what they want the way they want it done.”

  “I second that motion and suggest we move forward immediately.” a third council member confirmed.

  “Excellent plan.” a feminine voice giggled as the entire council turned to see a curvy young elven maid dusting a bust on the back shelf of the meeting room.

  “Who are you miss?” one of the council members asked.

  “Oh, Don’t mind me. I’m just a maid.” she responded. “But I’ll tell you, John’s easy to get along with. Let him train and breath a little fire on him when he asks and he’ll make sure you have everything you want.” her eyes changed to reptilian slits and her teeth grew sharper and longer as she smiled much too widely and continued, “No, John’s not the one you have to worry about at all if you decide to cross the empire”

  She curtsied and gave a little wave over her shoulder as she quickly walked out of the room. One of the council members quickly stood and announced, “I’ll take the Weibati their tokens and inform them of what’s going on. Three of you meet with the dungeon masters. At least one of you wait for the liaison. The rest get the tokens and information to the other tribes.”

  “Seconded.” Everybody shouted as they stood and quickly began moving.

  The memory weaver leaned back. That was his favorite presentation. He frequently updated it and adjusted it as he interviewed more participants. Looking at his watch, he stood and headed out the door. He was starting a new series today and it was time to go to the presentation hall.