Elsewhere

As the main ramp lowered, Duke saw his trio of Steel Tusks meet up with the limping mech. All four dismounted and embraced each other. They were quickly joined by another pair of orcs from the fortress. Duke decided to give them some space and started to sort through the rubble and fallen mechs.

He lifted what pieces he could and used his EARTH Ability to break the unwieldy portions up. Eventually, he was joined by the four Steel Tusks whose mechs were able to move the actual mechs they unburied. What no one had noticed was that Duke had collected the bodies of the deceased mech pilots from their mechs and placed them in his INVENTORY. He also went through the summary of his combat notifications.

*** Your participation in this battle has earned you 12,450 experience. ***

He had also had some gains in his Abilities but as he looked at his character sheet, he realized that he still had the 234 Characteristic points from his last 13 level gain. He thought about placement for a good second before pouring them all into Agility. I need to be faster. A lot faster if I’m going to be able to fight things like that demon.

When they had cleared the mechs from the rubble, Duke went around, pulling each of the mechs into his INVENTORY. He even was able to fit the titan mech in although things were starting to get tight again. With well over a million cubic meters of space, his INVENTORY was vast but so was the amount of things he was starting to pack in there.

When the titan mech disappeared, everyone took notice and someone who appeared to be a leader of the infantry came jogging up to Duke. As he approached, Duke realized that, once, again, he was encountering someone he would have to look up to. The creature that approached was somewhat reptilian in appearance with the oversized, slitted eyes of a snake surrounded by fine scales that grew larger as they traveled down his body. That, however, was not the most striking part of his appearance. He stood four meters tall and had four muscular arms. His entire body was also covered by a runescripted exoskeleton.

“You must be The Duke.” His voice was so deep it actually vibrated Duke’s chest.

“I am Duke, yes.”

“I am Commander Zarkon Thresh of the Thorned Rose Mercenaries. My men tell me that you are responsible for our relief here. I offer you our deepest thanks.” With his lower right hand, he offered a handshake while his upper one slammed into his chest in a salute.

Duke shook Zarkon’s hand, finding the grip to be strong but not overpowering, showing confidence and respect. Duke found himself liking the Commander immediately. He wasn’t sure why, but his XENOGLOSSIA was giving him a positive vibe from the reptilian Commander. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander. You are welcome for the relief, but it is the Steel Tusks that are truly responsible for us coming here to your aid. Had their clanmates not been here, I would not have even known about the existence of this planet, let alone come here to help you out.”

“I see. But we are still grateful for your intervention nonetheless.”

They were interrupted as the only four remaining operable mechs made their way to the pair. Operable was barely apt for three of the four. Ter’fald’s mech being the exception in only showing minor damage. When they arrived, all four mech pilots exited their mechs with broad grins. Two more orcs that had apparently been riding the most heavily damaged mech also jumped down.

“Duke, my friend, allow me to introduce some more of my clanmates. This is Urgoth, the leader of this Steel Tusk triad. These two are Morka and Murgan. Yes, they are brother and sister. Yes, they are twins, and no, you should not remark on it. Ever.”

The last comment brought grins to the pair of orc siblings. All three came forward to thank Duke for the rescue with Urgoth speaking, “Your rescue could not have been more timely. The gods of war have favored us with your meeting of Gro’nok’s Triad. We are in your debt, and it now seems we have a common enemy in the Syndicate.”

Duke smiled in response, “So it would seem. What are all of you doing in this desolate place anyway? Sure, you have a bit of a fortress here, but what the hell is here that is worth defending? All I see is sand and rock.”

Urgoth glanced at Gro’nok. Gro’nok spoke, “Duke is a friend of the clan. He has revealed many of his own secrets at great personal risk just to get us here. You can speak as if in the hall.”

Urgoth looked at Duke with a deeper respect before continuing, “What do you know about this planet and its history?”

“Not much to be honest. I know that a lot of fighting takes place here, but I have no idea why.”

“Well, that much is true. This planet has been the subject of countless wars and conflicts since its discovery. Many come here seeking its secrets, most only find their own deaths.”

“Secrets?”

“Yes, this planet was once the capital of a civilization so ancient that there are Entities who rose long after their fall. There are secrets buried in the rock and sand. Just discovering one could instantly propel you to great wealth and power.”

“I see the attraction. But if people have been fighting over it and searching it for so long, haven’t all the secrets been found?”

Zarkon added his voice to the conversation, “Perhaps, but perhaps not. That is one of the greatest lures. The first great discovery found here was the stardrive and that changed everything. Even the runescript library came from discoveries here. There is no telling what else could be found here.”

“So, you all just decided to take over a spot and do some searching?”

“Not exactly, Duke.” Gro’nok corrected. “We were hired to come here and protect this spot until the researchers could come and investigate it. The contract has been in place for ten years now. The researchers have yet to show.”

“Ten years? I might have started asking questions by now. I don’t think your researchers are coming.”

“It is becoming a more likely possibility every day,” Gro’nok said. “But now that we have access to a reliable ship, we can contact the Guild and find out for sure. The Steel Tusks and the Thorned Rose do not fail or abandon contracts. Still, ten years far exceeds the stated duration of the contract.”

“Why don’t we all head back into the fortress and see what is what?” Zarkon suggested. With nods of agreement, the orcs mounted back up on their mechs and headed into the fortress. Duke followed behind with Zarkon.

“So, you are allies with the Steel Tusks?”

“More than allies. Our Clans are all but joined. If not for the racial differences, we would be a single Clan. Our Orc brothers and sisters pilot their mechs while we Tzharak stay more mobile as the infantry. We compliment each other extremely well. What is your story? I rarely see humans working with orcs. The prejudices and stereotypes are just too strong.”

Duke laughed, “I have no prejudices, and I don’t care about stereotypes. You are who you prove yourself to be.”

“That is a good way to look at the world. I may adopt your phrase. It speaks of wisdom.”

“Looks like we are here. Care to show me around your fortress?”

“It would be an honor my new friend.”

The next few hours were spent exploring the fortress with Zarkon. After the first few minutes, Duke switched on his sensing Abilities and studied the fortress as they toured their way through. What he found was interesting. The tour ended in the core chamber that Duke had surreptitiously visited in the second phase of their battle plan. It was there that his senses told him something striking. There was a second core chamber hidden far underneath this one.

“Do you mind if I stay here and study this chamber? The magitech for the core that powers the shield looks different from what I have seen before.”

“Study all you wish. But please don’t disturb the core – it barely survived the last attack, and we are not sure how it recharges itself.”

“Fair enough. I won’t disturb this core.”

When Duke was alone, he TELEPORTED into the lower chamber and started to really study things. He used a combination of his SENSE MAGIC, DUNGEON SENSE, and XENOGLOSSIA to locate, study, and read the magitech runes. These runes were written completely differently than the ones used on the ship or in the mechs. The runescript was elegant and more detailed. Duke set to memorizing it as he tried to understand what it actually did. It was not long before he realized that the runescript went far down into the ground below the fortress. He followed the scripting with his senses as he formed a new core in his hands.

“Son of a bitch, this isn’t a fortress, it’s a supply depot. The question is, should I fire it up and see what’s stored down here or discuss it with the others first.” Duke sighed and finished charging up the newly made massive core with its 100 million Mana capacity. He waited for his Mana to regen before putting the core in his INVENTORY and TELEPORTING back to the shield core room.

Forty minutes later, he was in a conference room with Zarkon, Gro’nok, Urgoth, and Mira. “I still feel it odd not to have everyone else here. But here is what I have found.” Duke activated the viewscreen. The meeting would have been in five minutes, but it had taken him more than thirty to figure out how to get the images to display on the screen. He could have asked someone, but that would have been too easy. Fucking magical mental interfaces.

Duke pulled up the first image which was the fortress as everyone knew it. It was an exterior view and unremarkable. “This is the fortress as seen from the outside. Substantial and with one hell of a shield, right?” Agreement rumbled through the room. Duke changed the view to show the runescript running through the walls, ceilings, and floors of the fortress.

“This is what is underlying the whole place. It is runescripting unlike anything I have ever seen before. It carries more detail and description than anything I have seen in a mech or a ship. Does anyone recognize it?”

Heads shook as their interest suddenly snapped into focus. Duke nodded and expanded the view. “This is the runescripting that runs beneath the fortress as you know it. It goes deep and it is very regular. I have been able to translate much of the script and each of those nodes you see is likely an extra-dimensional storage space. This is not a fortress, it is a storage depot.”

The stunned looks around the room slowly broke into looks of greed. “The riches that could be hidden in those rooms could be unending,” Gro’nok announced.

“I call dibs on any ship parts.”

“Do we dare open them? They could be prison cells holding whatever it was that destroyed the civilization.”

“Way to dampen the mood, Zarkon.”

“Urgoth, you charge forward without thought or consideration. It is brave in battle, but we are not in a battle right now. Let us consider this carefully.”

Duke had been waiting for a consensus before offering up his suggestion, but it didn’t look like one was coming, “I can just power up the system and we can see if there is anything like an inventory system to tell us what is in the rooms.”

Mira laughed, “Yeah. Do that.” The others agreed and Duke TELEPORTED them to the hidden core room.

“What? What was that?” Urgoth asked.

“That’s just Duke doing Duke things. Don’t worry, you’re fine.”

Duke ignored the commentary and produced the new core. “Everyone, hang onto your hats. Time to power this thing up.” With no ceremony or additional discussion, Duke slotted the core into place and the room lit up with power.