The Rising Moon guild had rented out the entirety of a small hotel of the duration of the games. Most guilds that could afford it were doing the same, but in this case the owner had found out about the guilds current political situation, causing them to drop the rates, increase the deposit and take their staff out as quick as they could. They didn’t having anything against them personally, but they wanted no part in whatever fights would be brought to their door.

That was one of the reasons why they’d picked the place, even though it wasn’t the best they could get for their money. Set back in a side street it had only a single entrance, behind a small courtyard with tall wrought iron fences. The thick white stone walls of the building were sheer enough the only the most talented swashbucklers in the area had left marks above the first storey, and a lack of balconies gave them no reason to try. It was the most defensible location the guild could find, and they’d decided that was the most important feature for their stay.

And they were right of course, within an hour of them handing over the keys, they’d been attacked twice, four spies had tried to get in, and piles of garbage had been thrown at the windows. It could have been worse, but the city guards would only tolerate so much within the city limits, and as stressed as they were with the influx of tourists, no one wanted to push them too far. Even so, people were assigned guard duty, and those with the skills needed swept the building for bugs daily. The rest got to work on their main objective, that of the games, and improving their relations with other cities.

They’d broken alliances, trampled over neutral parties, and had made enemies that who would accept nothing less than their complete annihilation. When the protection over Ardenvale fell, they’d be set upon by everyone who could muster enough manpower to try and settle their grudges. Acquiring new allies wouldn’t make them untouchable by any means, but it could go a long way in making it something resembling a fair fight.

When the trio reunited with the guild, they’d first been checked over to confirm their identities, but that proved a challenge. Jicker didn’t have any features that could confirm it was him without revealing more than he was willing to, and no one was going to ask Gabe to prove himself. Oda was even worse, since they couldn’t even see him without his permission, let alone check his information. In the end that difficulty was considered good enough, since no one that stealthy would bother faking an identity.

“So Oda,” Jicker asked as they stabled their mounts and walked in. “What’s the plan now?”

“No idea, but the guy at the gate said the boss is holding a meeting, so maybe they have a plan.” Oda said as he looked around the hotel atrium.

“The boss? I thought you were in charge.”

“Not exactly true though I do have... authority. I can pretty much do what I want, give orders and expect them carried out... so yeah I could be in charge. But I'm terrible at organizing things, and looking after a handful of people is pretty much my limit on that. So me and Mary ‘delegated’,” he said with air quotes. “This mission to Athena. So I'm in charge, but she’s running everything.”

“And Athena, she’s fine with you just dropping your work off on her?”

“If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be doing it, that’s for damn sure. She’s one of the smartest and most determined people I know, but the game didn’t miss a beat when it made her a berserker.”

“A berserker?” Jicker asked incredulously. “The guild’s fate is being managed by a mindless frothing psychopath?”

“Normally you’d be right, but she never wanted to be a thug, so she dumped all her stats into intelligence and wisdom right out the gate. Eventually she got smart enough that she could stay sane during a berserker rage, which not only scared the hell out of people but got her the attention of a rare class trainer.”

“What can an intelligent savage become?”

“Something called a psionic raider, and no, we’d never heard of it either, nor had her old group.”

Jicker nodded in thought. During an interview with the developers, a programmer had once said that almost twenty percent of classes they’d created still hadn’t been found, to say nothing of things the system created itself. They normally refused to give any information on the game at all, but it was one of their last efforts to try and get people to change up their approaches and breathe some new life in to Genesis. But that still left him with a question.

“So what did she do to end up with the Rising Moon? It doesn’t sound like it’s an ‘evil’ class so did she start a fight or...?”

“Hah, she might not have started them but she definitely finished them, you see people didn't like that she wouldn't share, but she had good reason. While it‘s still a fighter type class, it’s got a few ...interesting abilities. She can generate psychic blades, can see a few moments into the future and, most importantly, can read minds.”

“That would definitely do it.” Jicker said with a wince.

Mind reading had been a problem since the games launch, and something that had fuelled several protests over the years. Since the system connected directly to a person’s mind, allowing them to control it with nothing but thought, it meant that those thoughts were filed by the system. If a person was lucky or skilled enough, they could acquire the ability to access those thoughts themselves. It had eventually led to legal action, and additional restrictions had been placed on the ability in one of the games few patches, limiting it to active surface thoughts, but the damage had been done, and people lost trust in them.

“Don't worry about it too much though,” Oda continued, catching Jicker’s expression. “She’s a good sport about keeping things she hears to herself, unless it affects the guild, or is really, really bad. She actually realised who you were straight away when we brought you in initially, but she kept quiet about it until other people found out.”

“Really? That was nice of her,” he said with honest surprise. “Most people would tell whoever’s around instantly.”

Oda grinned. “Yeah, she’s a good egg, and if she had a bit more ambition she’d probably end up running the whole guild. But enough talking about her behind her back, let’s go see the lady herself and see what the plan is.”

Walking through the hallway, they were directed to what normally served as a private dining room, now packed with guild officers. Against one wall someone had set up a large black board and desk, filled with the names of dozens of guild and their various relations. Standing on a small step ladder in front of it was a gnomish woman, just shy of three feet tall wearing a violet silken robe. Like most gnomes their hair was a vibrant affair, a neon blue ponytail that hung barely off the ground, swaying as she spun around to see who had just come in. Gnomes came in two general types, the first looking like a human child their whole life, right up until they went grey and wrinkly. Athena was in the second group looking like a beautiful human woman, simply at a reduced scale, almost doll like.

“Oda, Gabe!” she exclaimed happily as she identified them, her voice light and cheerful. “You finally made it in! Ok, we’re wrapping up now anyway, so a quick recap for you then, and for those rude enough to not be paying attention.

As I've said, our main purpose here is not to win the games, though if we can pull that off as well it would be great. Our first true objective is obtaining some legitimacy, showing we’re just another guild owned city to do business with, completely honest and above board. So that means that no matter what, even if every single opponent we face is cheating and getting away with it, even if there’s no way of being caught out, we need to be following every. Single. Rule. I can’t stress this enough, but any cheating or crimes will impact what we’re trying for here, so I’ve got permission to come down hard on anyone thinking this order doesn’t apply to them. Looking at you Larry.” She added harshly, glaring at a figure in black who sank deeper into their chair.

“Secondly, and this is the big one, we need friends. We burned pretty much every bridge we had when we took the city, and stomped on a lot of toes. If we’re going to survive the next few months and stabilize ourselves politically, we need allies and fast. So remember our options, and your assigned targets. Larry’s team will be hitting up the poorer guilds, the ones with substantial debts that we can cover financially. They might only be as loyal as mercenaries, but short term friends are better than none.

Ginger will be looking in to people with outstanding feuds with the previous guilds of Ardenvale. The old phrase ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ is obviously a lie, but again, if we can get them to join the fight it’ll help. A lot of them will find it hard to resist attacking their enemies while they’re going all in on trying to get vengeance against us.

Harvester and his people are going to be talking to the bigger neutral parties, especially the ones who have big stake in trade. They’re our best bet on getting some real allies, and there are plenty guilds out here today who’ve had nothing to do with Ardenvale before so they have nothing against us. We get a few of them signed up with some trade deals, and we’re suddenly looking at some real security. If nothing else, the guild still needs to make some coin to recoup what we lost during the takeover, so do what you can.

And finally the hardest arrangement to pull off: friendship. No way to plan for it, no real angle to work here. But if everyone plays nice with others, and does what they can to look out for opportunities, maybe we can find a group or two who’d be willing to stick their neck out for us.”

Ding!

Quest: You’ve got a friend in me.

The Rising Moon is short on allies and desperately needs new ones.

Success: Assist in forming an alliance with another guild.

Looking at the quest that popped up in front of him, Jicker noticed it didn’t actually have a failure state. Thinking about it for a moment, he realised it would probably be because there would never be a time when the guild didn’t want allies. Dismissing it he resumed paying attention as Athena wrapped up her talk.

“Ok then everyone, you’ve got your jobs, so if you’re not preparing for an event, I want you out there socialising as hard as you can. Make sure to keep me posted of your successes and failures, so we dont end up allying with a pair of mortal enemies. Oda, hang back for a minute with your lads, I need a word.”

The room slowly emptied, people filing out to get to work, the last shutting the door and leaving just the four of them inside.

“So,” she began, “Any problems getting here once we left the woods?”

“A couple of drunken players picking fights they couldn’t win, but we left everyone alive, if a little stuck. How about on your end, any major grief or news?”

“The usual issues, nothing particularly unexpected though there is one amusing thing of note. Some people tried to blame the new Greycap zombie epidemic on us, but were laughed at by everyone else, saying a guild couldn’t manage that. I think it’s the first time in a while that people aren’t blaming us for something we did, or... Jicker were you part of the guild before or after that?”

“Like a few days before, but I'm willing to give the guild credit if you like.”

An odd look crossed her face. “Right, we should get this out of the way.”

Without any warning she rushed towards him at high speed, purple energy trailing her limbs before she embraced him in a hug.

“Welcome to the guild! It’s so good to have someone else to talk to who’s at the correct height for once!”

But before he could respond, she broke it off and punched him in the stomach, hard enough to lift his feet off the ground.

“Damn you Maser!” she said, suddenly sounding angry. “Do you have any idea how much work you cost me? How much inventory I had to track, how many spreadsheets I had to revise?! I’d even bought myself a small cottage that you vaporised!”

“S-sorry?” He managed to cough out as he fell to his knees. For a tiny person she could definitely hit hard.

“Apology accepted.” She said, he anger vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. “I get that it wasn’t personal, so no hard feelings. Still I am glad you joined up, I really would like someone to talk to who understands my pain. I mean even chairs...”

Jicker nodded solemnly. “Or meal sizes.”

“Forget the meals, even just the utensils.”

“It’s like eating with a pitchfork. And how about getting through crowds, or finding people in them?”

She sighed. “I’d learned to identify people by butt long before I learned how to read minds. And there’s being a ‘lightweight’ because of what a standard drink is...”

Gabe snorted. “Your fault you that can’t handle more than a mug or two.”

The two smaller people gave him a death stare before turning to each other in understanding.

“Hey, if you ever want to talk over a drink smaller than your head...” Jicker said, leaving the offer hanging.

“I might take you up on that, but for now, let’s talk about work. Normally, as someone who just joined the guild you’d be doing grunt work back at base for a few months like every other rookie recruit. But since you’re something of a special case that immediately fell in with a bunch of our commanders, I guess you’ll be skipping that step. Officially you are going to be under Oda’s command, which basically translates to do what you want and don't screw over the guild.”

Oda frowned. “That hurts you know? I could have orders and plans, maybe I had some jobs for him that you just don't know about.”

“Please, when was the last time you gave an order to anyone under your command?”

“Well I-“

“Other than telling people to go away or making Gabe behave?” She added with a raised eyebrow.

“...”

“That’s what I thought. Now then as I understand it, we’re entering you into the summoned creature combat section of the games, is that right? And you’re prepared?”

“Yes and no. I'm supposedly entering it, but I still need to put something together for it. Also... you were big on following the rules a moment ago, do my creations count?”

Athena paused in thought. “I think we can get them passed under the rules for fabricated golems, but I’ll have someone check just in case when we submit the entry forms. You’ve filled the forms out, right?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t touched any forms lately, in fact I'm trying to avoid signing things these days. It’s caused me some... problems.”

She walked back to her desk, climbing up and began digging though the various papers on it. “As a law student,” she said while searching. “I agree with that idea in theory, but unfortunately in today’s world you need to agree to things or you can’t get anywhere. Still I've looked over these and they’re fine, just basic stuff about agreeing to abide by the rules and who you’re representing. The guild’s already paid the fee so make sure you don't let us down.”

He looked over the form she handed him, and as best as he could tell she was being honest, but as it dissolved into pages of legal mumbo jumbo he sighed and gave up deciding to just trust her on this one. As soon as he’d signed it Athena sealed it in an envelope and called out into the hall having someone rush it over to the offices that ran the games.

“Right then, so you’re first events in two days, so make sure you have things worked out by then, and let me know if you need any materials, other than what I've heard you brought in. But now we move to slightly more personal subjects. You’ve heard about why the guilds here, but I understand you were on your way here for other reasons? Before you got waylaid and gave birth to a potential zombie apocalypse?”

“I was...” Jicker said cautiously, unsure of what to say. While some of the guild knew his identity, it was still kept under wraps as much as possible. And while the situation with the incoming asteroid needed to be resolved quickly, he wasn’t sure if he should bring them in or not.

“Good lord” Athena muttered with her eyes wide as she stared at him, face going pale. “I’m not sure how I feel about the lack of trust but I certainly understand in this case. You really didn’t do anything by half measures did you?”

Jicker frowned, annoyed at his own slip up. “I thought you were good about reading minds.”

“I'm good at not sharing things I learn, but the actual reading is more like another pair of ears, ones I can’t really turn off. Does... anyone else know about...it?” she asked nervously, eyeing Gabe and Oda who looked at the pair of them in confusion.

“A few people know who are also trying to deal with it but I’d appreciate it if you could stay as quiet about this as possible.”

“You’re honestly trying to cover up a freaking meteor?!” she exclaimed, beginning to panic.

“Wait, can someone explain this to us? What’s this about a meteor?” Oda asked, trying to keep things calm.

“Look it’s a little bit-” He paused as he received a message from outside the game, reading it quickly.

“Matt,

We set up a filter to track anything about the meteor, and we just got a few small pings around you. Did you do something, or are we going to need to try and silence some people about this?

-Sarah”

“Man, they are fast when they want to be.” He muttered, beginning to write up a reply.

“Jicker, by the sound of it we really need an answer on this.” Oda said louder, concern showing in his voice.

“Just...hold on a moment, I'm trying to deal with this issue right now. You really weren’t supposed to find out about this.”

“Sarah,

Turns out there’s a mind reader in the guild and they picked up on some stray thoughts about it. Right now it’s limited to them and two others I’d actually trust on the matter, both to help and keep quiet. The mind reader is apparently good at staying quiet normally, but this freaked them out a bit.

-Matt”

A few tense moments passed as the three stared down at Jicker, waiting.

“Matt,

Ok, we’ve looked a little closer, and its those two you travel with, plus another? While we can’t get them to sign anything, make sure they know not to tell people and cause a panic. If they can help then great but this has to stay quiet. I’ll also tell the other teams to do what they can to avoid psychics as well.

-Sarah”

“Ok,” he said with a sigh, “I have something resembling permission to explain what’s going on, but first, this has to stay between us. And I mean that, it doesn’t even spread elsewhere in the guild, not even Mary. I can only say there will be some nasty fallout if this news went public right now. So first of all, we need a place to talk, where we can be sure we won’t be overheard.”

“R-right, that makes sense,” Athena said, trying to calm back down, “Don't want people freaking out or anything. There’s a wine cellar down stairs, it’s the most secure room, since we’ve already set it up to double as a prison cell if need be.”

They made their way quickly through the hotel; the stress radiating from them getting a few questing looks, which were met by harsh glares. In a guild full of murderers and evil mages, you didn’t get far by asking too many questions. By the time they reached the converted cellar, word had spread and everyone else in the guild had found themselves suddenly needed at the other end of the building.

“So now that we’re here,” Gabe said as he locked the door behind them, “Can someone explain what’s going on? Because I'm normally confused about things, but I'm getting worried seeing other people confused as well.”

“Look, I don't know how to put this, but what I say now doesn’t leave this room. It’s kind of complicated, but back when I was Maser, it seems I wasn’t quite as precise in a few spots as I’d thought...”

It took a while to explain the situation, and more importantly that no one could find out it was going to happen. Insider trading was a real crime, not just in the game, and this sort of thing could be an economic disaster. If they failed and everything was destroyed, then not only would it be a digital tragedy, but if it was found out that the company knew it was going to happen, it would spill out in ways no one could predict.

“So, we just keep it to ourselves then? That everything will get destroyed and everyone’s going to die, again.” Athena said, pacing in frustration.

“As I said, we’re trying to stop it. So if everything goes well, we just won’t be telling them what could have happened, which the government does all the time.” Jicker said.

“And what, pray tell, is your plan to stop it?” Oda questioned, rubbing his eyes.

“First up would be tracking down the beacon I made to summon the asteroid in the first place. That’s what caused it to materialise, and it should still be linked to it enough to give us a connection. If we’re lucky we can either dispel it, or redirect it enough that people will just see a particularly bright shooting star.”

“And when we’re not lucky?” Gabe asked.

“Then... We stop it... Somehow... But we still need that beacon to get a fix on it.” He said, falling against a wall and sitting down on the floor. “I really didn’t mean to cause a problem like this one. I wanted to bring it all down, but only so people could build it back up again, not to have it gone completely. I didn’t want...this.”

“You really didn’t, did you?” Athena said quietly. “Ok then, that’s where we start. First, Gabe, grab one of the bottles behind you and a few glasses, I think we all need a drink. Second, you need to tell us where you left the beacon, and what it looks like. I hadn’t planned on combing the city for an item you lost, but if that’s what we’ve got to do then... that’s what we do.”

Gabe created some glasses out of ice, but before he could open a bottle of wine, Oda looked at the label and quickly changed it for a different one, muttering about reds never being served cold.

“Well it shouldn’t be that bad, it’s something unique, and its appearance should stand out. It was bronze cube a bit less than a foot wide, with five gold spikes coming out the top in a spiralling cone-”

“Around a white stone crystal? Engravings of mountains on the sides of the cube?” Athena said, gritting her teeth.

“Arou- yes, that’s it, did you pick it out of my thoughts? Have you seen it? I left it up on a tower out of the way, secured and hidden in a chest, but I suppose it would have been easier to find now that I’m a new character.”

“Oh, it’s definitely been found. Everyone in the city knows where it is.” she said, drinking deeply as Gabe passed her a glass.

“This is supposed to be good news, but it isn’t, is it?” Jicker said, already knowing the answer.

“Everyone finish your drinks, and after that let’s go take a little walk down to the doomsday machine.”

They were standing at the edge of the main city square, and it was all Jicker could do to avoid breaking down in tears or burst out laughing. They stood staring across the square as Athena explained the situation.

“It showed up during the upheaval, but it was assumed to be either an unrelated project that was cancelled in the chaos, or the act of a god protecting the city. Since so many people believed the second version, it’s taken on a bit of a sacred role in the city, with an altar built around it since they couldn’t move it if they tried.”

“And no one’s questioned it? Brought it up with the developers, or just had a decent wizard look at it?” Oda asked incredulously.

“The devs never answer this sort of thing, so no one would ever ask. But notice how the altar is actually pretty shoddy, with a good space away from making actual contact? When you get too close, things can get a little...messy. And it kept spreading for a few weeks, lots of people got torn apart out of nowhere, so they sealed it off and now no one gets near it.”

“No one? I get that it’s dangerous but would they stop us if we wanted to risk it? Because I'm willing to risk it.” Gabe said, looking eagerly at the problem in front of them.

“They know it’s deadly, but they also know it’s incredibly valuable, and it’s becoming more recognizable as well. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if people don't figure it out on their own sooner rather than later.”

It was definitely recognizable to the four of them, since the rising moon had a bit more experience in dealing with them than most. When he had poisoned a forest the magic had formed a crystal several feet long, the blast in Ardenvale had created a node almost two storeys tall. Those however, had gone to plan, whereas Macross had definitely not. Towering above the buildings around it, the node spun gently, the crystal structure a cloudy grey with flecks of both white and black moving around inside. The energies released during the upheaval had formed natural crystals in other locations, but here it was still anchored to an existing object designed to hold power. The previously small beacon had been twisted and shattered by the vast amount of power, creating mass just to dump the excess. The bronze cube was barely visible, driven into the ground by its own weight, yet a few feet still remain above, shining as no dust seemed to be able find purchase despite the fine inscriptions that covered it. The gold that he’d used to make the spirals originally had only cost him a few dozen coins, only slightly more than if he’d melted the coins himself. Now they were rose up like vast trees, branches splitting of and fusing with others as they rose and spun, forming a golden cage around the node inside. At a guess, Jicker put the node at around a hundred and forty feet long as it floated inside its prison with the air, or more accurately, space itself gently rippling. Stone work had been built up around the base, white marble staircases rising up to form a ring around the gold almost third of the way up. But looking closer it was clear that people had given up on the construction, wooden scaffolding left in place, tool scattered about amongst blocks of loose stone.

“Well, if I'm going to do this I need to get to work on it, who do I need to speak with to get permission?” Jicker said after a moment.

“And here’d where the bad news get worse.” Athena said with a chuckle. “A couple of groups tried to claim it already, so they needed to take measures to stop fights breaking out, and since this is the city of the games...

“They didn’t.” Oda said aghast.

“Yup, they locked it up in barriers powered by the Genesis trade system, and its being held in stasis as one of the prizes for the champion games. The only way people can get close to it now is by placing high enough in the games.”

“Only place? It’s not the grand prize?” Gabe asked as he continued to stare up at it.

“They’re doing some of the medal ceremonies up on the altar they built around it. So congratulations, the world isn’t doomed if we don't win the gold medal. Bronze will do.”