Raiders of the Lost Gate: Part 1
A couple of months have passed since our adventure with the Gorgon … in my Stel Faction I am now a hero, although they still do not let me enter the Supreme Headquarters because I am not a VIP Stel, but it does not matter … the fame obtained pleases me.
Katalina and her new armor are still in Greece… She has become the right hand of Queen Pentesílea, and I believe that she is now in talks with the Mirinyan to quell the rebellion. I miss her, but it is a great opportunity for her, and I will see her whenever my business allows it …
So now I am in Next Island, with my businesses and my new acquired fame … I thought about going to Rocktropía for a season with my good friend JoseGaltor, but surely we would end up in some trouble … In the end, I stayed here with my crafts and my vehicles …
One day I was in Crystal Bay having a drink at the bar when Desmond came up to me… He’s a nice Stel guy, and he has connections with the bosses, so it’s good to be okay with him… He sat next to me and started to talk to me.
Conversation transcript.
-Hi Dante, do you have a moment?
-Of course you do, Desmond … have one of those Rocktropian cocktails, I invite you.
-Thank you… er… you see… We need a special type of durasteel for the new vehicles… at the moment we have only found it in one place but it is something, let’s say, dangerous…
-Come on Desmond, tell me…
-You see, in Sherman Outpost they have seen a kind of humanoid robots, quite rough, but with a very hard type of steel that it would be interesting to have in our possession.
-Okay, and what do I do in this? Do you need me to refine it or something?
-Dante, we need you to bring it … to destroy some of those robots and get the steel to…
-Stop there, I told you that since Calypso I did not want to see a robot in my life again, only my L.A.R.A., so do not pretend…
-We will pay you well, Dante, in addition, you will be able to approach the status of VIP.
-Yes, but I must have powerful weapons, and you will have to pay me for the repairs of the armor and …
-Listen, we will also do something better, you will take an escort by your side … a tough guy, well armed, who will help you…
-But there is always a but…
-But he’s not a Stel … he’s from another faction … a mercenary…
-Mmmm … Okay, but he is preparing a good payment in Sorensen and Generic Fuses…
End of transcription.
Desmond made a gesture of satisfaction, while he took the Tablet from him and prepared to make a communication… without a doubt he would be calling the mercenary…
For my part, while he was savoring my cocktail, i wonder what new mess I was getting into.
–What the hell, I can’t believe it!!!
I turned in my seat to see who was speaking… It was certainly the mercenary Desmond had called.
GOT DAMN!!! He was the Resa who wanted to kill me in the PVP area of Greece … without a doubt, this mission is going to be very bumpy …
Raiders of the Lost Gate: Part 2
The bar became chaos: tables overturned, glasses thrown, customers fleeing… and the Resa and me locked in the middle of a fight.
-Damn Stel, you cut me with a damn SI Knife like I was a vulgar Wild boar.
-Resa, you wanted to take the merchandise from me… also, you revived and you’re here.
-Imbecile, the revives of Greece don’t work well… it took me 3 whole hours to regenerate and I have a huge scar.
-And you wanted to blow my head…
Poor Desmond didn’t know what to do … finally he drew his Chikara and, against all the rules outside of PVP, shot the roof of the bar… We all froze.
-Ok… have you finished with your teenage discussion? Well, let’s go to business…
The Resa and me looked at each other, took a couple of chairs that were still in good condition, and sat down to listen to what Desmond had to say to us.
-The thing is this: you will go to Sherman for the durasteel of the damn robots and I want you both to come back in one piece…
-I hope this damn stel comes back in more than one piece – Resa said looking at me askance.
-Listen, Simon… we are going to pay you very well because Dante returns whole with the durasteel, and your mission is to protect him, not kill him… understood?
Simon… that was the name of the old Resa who haunted me like a nightmare… Well, I hope he at least lets me do my job and doesn’t get in the way…
-And you, Dante, will receive a shipment of Generic Fuse of the same weight as the durasteel you bring… as long as Simon comes back with you whole… understood?
Simon and me look at each other sideways … quarrels can wait as long as there is money involved… so for now we will become allies until all this is over.
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The next morning we prepared everything… as additional weaponry to my sparkbite they gave me an Armatrix BC 35 and several Piron pistols… Recalling past events, my healing chip was charged and my armor repaired, courtesy of the Stel faction… Meanwhile, I looked at Simon… that guy was a walking arsenal, he had at least a dozen weapons hidden in different parts of his body and his armor… that day in Greece I killed him because he was careless… next time I would be the dead…
Desmond give us some indications more and we took our luggage and weapons…
A couple of hours later we made our way to a TP that would drop us off at Sherman Outpost… A flash of light and we dematerialized…
A blink and we appeared in Sherman, but our mind was not prepared for what we were seeing…
Raiders of the Lost Gate: Part 3
Sherman outpost was in chaos: the entire site was wrecked, the machines were sprawled on the ground, the Revive was sputtering pitifully, and the power towers were overturned.
Simon and me prepared for the worst… we looked around hoping to see that he had destroyed the place, but… nothing… just the sound of the birds and some noise made by the boar…
Whatever had caused the wreckage, the outpost scientists had escaped: Either they had died and been revived elsewhere, or they had been able to take the TP…
Suddenly Simon made a sign to me… a pitiful sound, like a wounded animal to our left… we approached the place, with weapons ready to fire, and we saw…
On the ground was a terribly injured and mutilated man… the stump of his right hand was near a shattered healing chip… his legs… they were missing.
That scientist could not regenerate, nor could he flee to the TP, nor did he die … he had been there for hours suffering in an unimaginable way, waiting for a death that did not come… because he was still alive in a miraculous way…
We approached… we spoke to him… a single eye looked at us…
Conversation transcript:
-They came… They came…
-Quiet… tell me, who came?
-Robots… are… the portal…
-Wait, I’m going to regenerate you and now you’ll keep talking…
-NO !!! … it hurts a lot… I don’t want to…
-Come on, let us heal you…
-Kill me… Kill me… I…
End of transcription.
We understood… the regeneration was going to be enormously long due to the magnitude of his injuries… It was easier to die and appear in another place, in a Revive…
But we were not in the PVP zone, it was prohibited, and also… it was not a threat to defend ourselves…
BLAM !!! A BLP shot and that guy’s head literally exploded… I turned to Simon, who was holstering his Ozpyn with a tired gesture… that guy had no qualms… but on the other hand, it was the best way to end that suffering… he would appear shortly whole in a Revive, without pain…
-Well, Dante… it seems that those famous robots are dangerous…
-Wait, that poor guy said something about a portal…
-It doesn’t matter what I said, the thing is to find some robots, kill them, take out the durasteel and get out of here quickly…
Simon was right… We had a mission, and we had to do it quickly and safely for ourselves…
Sherman Outpost was at the foot of a hill, so we began to climb little by little… The heat tightened as we ascended… We reached the top and looked…
At the foot of the hill, on the other side, a flat area stretched out… Huge beings swarmed there… Robots…
They looked like something unfinished, without color, without elegance… Their metallic feet trampled the ground, while their clamps echoed… Where had they come from? What was its purpose? Desmond hadn’t told us anything about them, only about the quality of the durasteel they had…
As he thought about it, Simon looked through a viewer, studying them…
One of those beings stopped in his tracks… he began to look around… he looked up, and red eyes looked at us… with a metallic sound he began to ascend the hill… followed by a dozen other robots of various sizes…
-Dante, I think we have a problem… -Simon said as he checked his BLP rifle.
Yes… we have problems… and very serious…
I started loading ammo into my Armatrix…
Raiders of the Lost Gate: Part 4
Those metallic masses were approaching, staggering, between metallic sounds and the noise of claws closing…
We prepared to defend ourselves… Simon and me looked at each other for a moment and, almost simultaneously, we got up and left the slope that protected us… the height benefited us.
My Armatrix began to pierce the armor of those beings, while Simon, with an Ozpyn in each hand, machine-gunned their legs… when their joints failed, they fell loudly and sometimes dragged another robot in their fall… a deadly game of billiards…
Despite all our efforts, several robots reached our height… At that time my Armatrix was not so effective in melee… imitating Simon, I drew the chikaras that Desmond had gotten for me and the combat was closer…
Those damn robots were very fast, but they were slowly falling under our crossfire… Wait, I can’t hear Simon’s shots…
Simon was badly injured a few meters below me, and he was having a hard time connecting his healing chip… Damn robot… I didn’t have time… if Simon fell, me too and we would appear God knows where, because Sherman’s Revive was broken.
With a quick gesture I threw the Chikara from my right hand while grabbing my old Sparkbite… I turned it on and threw it like a Boomerang in the direction of the robot that was threatening Simon…
Simon was already seeing death very close, when the Sparkbite cut the robot cleanly in half… His astonished eyes looked at me as he managed to press the button on the healing chip…
Those seconds helping Simon were now my downfall… three robots on me hitting my old Viceroy and the ammo counter dropping dangerously… Damn…
Suddenly, a BLP blast shattered the heads of the three robots… That Simon had taken from I don’t know where a huge Ardener and was literally sweeping them while the BLP pods piled up at his feet…
It all ended as quickly as it had started… a sizzling pile of junk appeared before our eyes… There was enough durasteel to build a small starship… good business…
Simon approached me… We looked at each other for a moment and, as professionals that we are, we wasted no time in gratitude… it was our job and that included protecting each other…
Now our real work began… With our laser cutters we started to get lots of durasteel veneer… Desmond would pay me well, no doubt.
Still something was on my mind… Where did those robots come from? What portal was talking about the poor scientist that we found dying…
There are still many unknowns, but for now, we must concentrate on obtaining the durasteel… We will leave the exploration and the search for answers for later …
Raiders of the Lost Gate: Part 5
During the rest of the day we cut sheet durasteel, we piled up Robot Residues and other materials … The loot was huge, not only for the durasteel, but for the other materials obtained… Of course, I had to share them with Simon, but I did not care… After all, he was turning out to be a nice guy …
That night we did alternate guard duty, and morning came… We got ready to pack everything, put it in the compartment of one of our vehicles and send them remotely to the planetary storage.
-Well, Dante, I think we’re done here… there is no robot left, and we already have what we came to look for… So, to the TP…
We grabbed our luggage and were about to leave when a familiar sound reached our ears… Hell, are there more robots here?
We carefully climbed a nearby mound… indeed, a couple of robots were looking for something, without a doubt their companions… where did they come from?
A couple of minutes later we had more metal to pack, but something caught our attention: a few flashes from a nearby rock formation… Simon and me looked at each other wearily as we proceeded to climb…
Incredible… in the middle of the rocks there was something on the ground… it looked like the base of an Entropia Universe TP system, but it had no controls, nor did it seem activated… A new TP? Or a TP to some place unknown to us…
We decided to communicate with Desmond first, in case he could give us some information, but… something was interfering with our communications… Maybe some energetic pulse from that kind of gate…
The only way to get information was trying to activate the TP, but we didn’t see how…
Simon and me looked for any kind of control or switch that would start the TP, but there was nothing in sight… just the two last robots that we had destroyed… Wait… what if the activation system was on the same robots?
We began to look closely at the pile of junk… apparently the two robots were the same, but one of them had an attached panel under his right forearm… we had not noticed before…
The panel was showing a couple of indicator lights… it looked like it still had power… at the bottom there was something similar to a slider… I pressed it…
With a great flash, a jet of energy surged from the base of the supposed TP towards the sky… Surely something had activated…
The question is: Will something else come from the other side? Or should we go through it?
-Hey Dante, I think we should see what’s on the other side, don’t you think?
That’s it… we prepared our weapons, we stepped forward and stood in the center of the TP… The energy enveloped us and…