NOVEL NEXT Chapter 64 - Into the Fortress
The portal's swirling energy cast strange shadows on their faces. Luca took a deep breath, pushing aside his doubts and letting the familiar anticipation for the mission wash over him. He ran a hand along the edge of his energy tomahawk, the faint hum of the blade a comforting, familiar sound. He trusted his gear. It was the damn chemical hazard that had him on edge.
"You okay?" Emily asked, stepping up beside him. Her voice was soft, her eyes full of concern.
"Yeah," he said, meeting her gaze. "Just thinking."
"About the chemicals?"
"About everything," he admitted. "This feels... different. Bigger, somehow."
Zoe rejoined them, her focus sharp. "Alright, you guys ready to do this?"
He gave Emily's hand a quick squeeze before stepping through the portal, into the unknown.
The world shifted. The familiar, stomach-lurching weightlessness grabbed hold for a second before they landed on solid ground. Luca blinked, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. The forest of New Dawn was gone. They stood on a rocky ledge overlooking a sprawling, ruined military base as the portal behind them fizzled and popped out of existence.
The military complex sprawled before them like the skeleton of a dead titan. Reinforced blast barriers formed concentric rings around a central fortress, their surfaces scarred by weapon impacts and time. Ruined defense platforms jutted from the walls at irregular intervals, their automated turrets long since powered down. Energy conduit networks ran like glowing veins across the blackened metal, pulsing with residual power. A thick, yellow-green chemical haze rolled between the structures, distorting the distant towers and making them seem to shift like mirages in the toxic air.
Movement caught his eye. Small figures paced along the perimeter. Luca raised a hand, signaling the crew to halt as he activated his visors integrated HUD and zoomed in.
The image sharpened, and he got his first good look. Humanoid, but distinctly alien. They were tall and lean, covered in sleek, dark fur that seemed to absorb light. Their elongated skulls tapered to pointed snouts, with large, triangular ears that swiveled independently. Behind transparent breathing masks, their amber eyes glowed with an unsettling intelligence. Their limbs were longer than human proportions, ending in clawed hands that gripped their weapons with predatory precision.
They carried plasma rifles that pulsed with blue-white energy, their adaptive armor shifting color subtly to match the surrounding environment. Every movement was that of natural hunters adapted to high-tech warfare.
He reached for his multitool, then cursed under his breath. Right. He hadn't brought it. Too bulky and too heavy. He regretted that now. The multitool would have given him detailed material analysis, structural weak points, maybe even identified what had damaged this place. His hacking pad was great for electronic systems, but it couldn't tell him what he needed to know about the potential enemy before him.
With no other option, he triggered Combat Predictive Modeling, and his interface pulsed with flickering overlays and threat vectors.
[Target Identified: Varnathi Skirmisher – Level 64]
Threat Profile: Mid-Tier Infantry Unit
Tactical Forecast:
– Likely to initiate combat via coordinated surprise strike
– Plasma-based ranged weapons
– Expected to disengage if outnumbered or under sustained pressure
Armor Assessment: Lightweight adaptive plating (TL9)
– Life Support Dependency: Gas masks required in current environment. Mask failure likely fatal.
– Armor Gaps: Vulnerable at joint seams.
– Energy Vulnerability: High-energy plasma can disrupt adaptive coating, exposing critical systems.
Tactical Note: Movement patterns suggest squad cohesion. Probability of coordinated ambush: High.
Better. Still vague as hell, but at least now he knew what he was looking at. Their armor was TL9, which meant these weren't just some random scavengers playing dress-up with old tech. They had gear that was straight-up better than theirs. Not a comforting thought.
"Hold position," Luca whispered into the comms. "We've got company."
"Well, this is new," Zoe muttered over the comms. "Furries with plasma guns. That's a first."
"And their tech level outclasses ours," he replied, his tone sharp as he scanned the base for an entry point. "We're not going through the front gate."
"So, what's the plan?" Chris's voice crackled.
Ryan's voice cut through. "Listen up. Luca and Zoe, you two are on infiltration. Light, fast, quiet. Find a way to open that main gate from the inside and disable any automated defenses. If things go sideways, you exfil immediately and we'll regroup."
Luca adjusted his grip on his rifle. Ryan was good at this, rattling off orders with a natural confidence. It was impressive. A little annoying, too.
"Sounds like a party," Zoe quipped over the comms.
Ryan ignored her. "Emily," he continued, "get on overwatch. Find a high vantage point and cover their approach. Danny, Chris, you're with me. Joey, stick close. We're counting on you to keep people patched up. And try not to get shot."
Luca clenched his jaw, swallowing down the urge to say something. Maybe push back, just a little. But what was he gonna do? Argue? The plan was solid. Hell, he probably would've said the same thing, just… not as smooth.
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Ryan gave the plan one final once-over, then nodded. "Alright. Luca, Zoe, you're up. Let's get this done."
Luca gave Zoe a nod. "Ready?"
"Always," she replied.
Luca took one last look at the base, his eyes scanning the perimeter, searching for a weakness, an entry point. The haze made it difficult, but there, to the left, he spotted a section of wall that looked more damaged than the rest, with what appeared to be a collapsed section of an old watchtower. It was a long shot, but it might just work.
He turned to Zoe, whose entire posture was coiled energy. She moved with a silence that always impressed him, a professional in her element. Her focus was absolute.
"Let's check out that collapsed tower," he murmured into the comms. "Visors down, stay low. We don't know what this chemical crap does."
He moved first, slipping forward into the mist, his tomahawk now in hand. Zoe was right behind him, her footsteps as silent as his, each placement deliberate and soundless. There was no need for words. They moved as one, a two-person blade aimed at the heart of the enemy base.
The chemical mist was even thicker here, distorting shapes and muffling sounds. Visibility was down to maybe ten feet, and every breath tasted like burnt metal and something else, something sickly sweet that made his stomach churn. This was worse than he'd anticipated.
But as they crept closer, the scale of the structure loomed larger, swallowing the sky.
He had to suppress the sudden, unwelcome thought curling at the base of his spine: maybe they were in over their heads.
Zoe shifted beside him, her breathing soft. "Shit," she murmured, barely audible through comms. "This thing's a damn fortress."
He swallowed, his throat dry. "Yeah," he muttered. "Starting to feel real small."
They were two scouts creeping along the bones of a dead war machine. He wasn't sure if they were the hunters or the prey.
The thought hit him hard, unshakable. They weren't some elite black ops squad, not some legendary infiltration team. They were two twenty-year-olds in barely upgraded suits, playing ghost in a place that would have swallowed bigger, badder people than them. And all it would take was one slip-up, one wrong step, one unseen trigger, and this whole mission would end with their bodies crumpled on this poisoned ground.
Zoe shifted slightly, her eyes still locked on the fortress as they crouched behind the low, crumbling wall. "You ever wonder if these places are real?" she whispered. "Like, does the System just make them up, or is it pulling from something that actually existed?"
Luca frowned, following her gaze up the massive, towering walls. That was a damn good question.
"I don't know," he admitted, keeping his voice low. "But looking at this? Feels too… deliberate to be random."
Because who the hell builds something like this unless they have to? The sheer scale of it, the layers of reinforced plating, and the remnants of automated defenses were still humming with power.
Zoe exhaled slowly. "Yeah. That's what's messing with me. If the System pulls from real events, real places, then… who the hell needed this? And against what?"
He didn't have an answer, but the thought felt like a cold blade against his ribs.
"Someone who was scared," he muttered finally. "Someone who knew what was coming for them."
He shook the thought away, forcing his focus back to the mission. No room for doubt. He pointed toward the collapsed tower. Zoe saw it and gave a sharp, affirmative nod. They had a job to do.
The imposing fortress loomed above them, its immense walls stretching into the hazy sky like jagged monoliths. Up close, the scale of it was even more overwhelming—thick blackened plating, reinforced with heavy ridges and those glowing energy lines running in uneven pulses across its surface.
Luca and Zoe moved along the base of the wall, the ground a mix of weathered metal and cracked stone. Fissures vented wisps of toxic vapor. His boots crunched softly over debris as he scanned for a way in.
Zoe nudged his arm lightly, tilting her head upward. "There."
He followed her gaze to a collapsed section of the outer wall, about thirty feet up, where jagged metal beams jutted out like broken ribs. The structure must have taken quite a bit of damage at some point, whether from an old battle or just time eating away at it.
He exhaled. "Alright. We go up."
Zoe's grin was instant. "Finally, something fun."
He rolled his eyes. "You have a weird definition of fun."
She stepped back, took a running start, and launched herself toward the wall. Luca cupped his hands, providing a firm platform for her foot. He pushed upward, giving her the momentum she needed to catch the lowest beam. Her movements were quick as she hoisted herself up in one swift motion.
He followed right after, vaulting onto the first ledge. The climb was tough; the beams were slick with condensation, and the structure's surface hummed faintly with energy beneath his gloves. He pulled himself up fast, muscles burning.
Above him, Zoe had already reached the top of the breach. She turned, dropping into a crouch and offering a hand.
He didn't hesitate. He scrambled up the last section, and her grip on his forearm was steady, helping him onto the ledge beside her. They broke apart, dropping low and scanning the interior.
They moved fast, scaling the side of the fortress. Their suits muffled any sound of metal shifting under their weight. The higher they climbed, the thinner the mist became, revealing other breaches in the walls where something big had ripped through. This place had been built for defense, and it had been attacked.
By what?
And more importantly, where was this?
Zoe reached the top of the breach first, peering inside. He pulled himself up beside her, his breath steady despite the pounding in his chest.
"Welcome to the abyss," she murmured.
He exhaled sharply, scanning the dark, hollow corridors stretching before them. "Let's not get lost in it."
From their vantage point, they had a clear view of the perimeter entrance. Two of the weasel-like creatures stood guard, armed with plasma rifles and chittering to each other in a strange, growling language.
Luca looked at Zoe, catching her eye, and tapped his Energy Tomahawk. Her grin widened as she nodded, pulling out her Energy Dagger and giving it a small spin for emphasis. That was her way of saying, Your move, but I'm right behind you.
They crept closer, the suits doing their job. His Stealth Movement Proficiency was doing its thing, guiding his steps to avoid anything that might give them away. It was like his body just knew where to step. Zoe was right there with him, every bit as quiet and deliberate.
When they got close enough to see the shimmer of heat rising off the guards' armor, he slowed, crouching behind a chunk of rubble. He let himself feel that familiar thrill. The tomahawk had turned out to be his favorite weapon. Light, silent, and precise. Perfect for infiltration.
They weren't much use to anyone without the skill to handle them, though. Lucky for him, he'd leveled up his skill with the tomahawk so much it felt like an extension of his arm. And Zoe with that dagger... it was like she was born to use it.
He motioned to Zoe, pointing to the guard on the right. She nodded, her grin sharp. He tightened his grip on the tomahawk, feeling the energy coursing through it. This was a guaranteed hit.
The guard shifted, turning slightly. There it was, the gap between shoulder and chest plate. Unshielded and vulnerable.
Luca drew back his arm, muscles coiled like a spring. The tomahawk hummed with deadly energy, ready to strike. Beside him, Zoe tensed, her dagger gleaming in the dim light.
This was it. The moment that would either open their path into the fortress or bring the entire base down on their heads.
He took a breath, steadied his aim, and let the tomahawk fly.