“Everytime I come here it makes me feel like I’m playing laser tag.” Richard chuckled as we stood in front of the doorway to the first basement floor.

Alice murmured thoughtfully, “I’d never thought of it like that. Never actually played laser tag.”

“I did once, back in college,” Terry clucked his tongue, “We got banned from there so fast.”

“How did you manage that?” Richard asked, drawing my attention as well with a befuddled expression.

“Ah, well, we were very drunk and may or may not have begun tackling each other.” He laughed.

A light smile played across my lips as I looked to the others. We totaled six as a team, and from what I’d seen that was fairly standard for most groups. Some went larger, namely newer teams or ones that wanted a safety net. Now that we were hunting for greater prey, it was probably fine to expand teams. So long as people were still making enough Matter Energy, I supposed it wouldn’t be a problem what size the teams were. They were mature enough, I think, that my Legionaries wouldn’t needlessly put themselves at risk for a few extra points of Matter Energy.

“Alright, there isn’t all that much time until the next operation, so we’re going big out the gate.” I said, checking over my gear once more as I did so. “We’re going to do the Gauntlet run, and go straight through each floor.”

They others nodded, likely expecting as much, “No rearming between floors, then, right?” Daniel asked, “That’s a hard one, I think only Strauss’ team has managed that, and it was close.”

“Strauss?” I asked, digging into my memories and drawing a blank. I filtered through the Legion archives after, and quickly pulled him up, “Ah, Last Call’s leader. I’m surprised they took the number one spot. Wait, Yomar joined up?” I squinted at the air, looking through the database. Yomar had been part of the Delve team, the dual-axe wielding exo-suit user had been injured last that I’d seen. It was good to know that he was back in the swing of things.

‘Ah… Smith would have noticed the bad joke.’ A spike of morose swelled within me before I refocused on the task at hand.

“Yeah, they’ve been doing well.” Daniel said off hand, “But we’ll be back up there in no time.”

“You were saying before how hard it would be, though?” Alice teased.

He scoffed, “Well, we’re all back in action. And it isn’t like we’ve been totally immobile. I’ve been practicing and fixing up my mech. Hopefully this thing can keep up.” At that, he tapped the minimalistic mech he was resting on the edge of the torso that folded open and revealing the cockpit.

“One way to find out. Follow my lead, I’m not planning on staying on the first two floors long.” I grinned, confirming that the four guns, four blades, and sixteen assorted grenades and mines were on my person. A larger weapon was on my back, a launcher that I intended on keeping for a very specific reason.

We were each outfitted in the closest approximation of equipment we could get our hands on. The worst off, perhaps, was Richard, who normally had a combination of a mesh and exo-suit that allowed him to be extremely light and fast. Ordinarily, he had a very prehensile ‘tail’ like limb, one of three. Right now, he had one, and it was definitely cruder than what he would normally use. If he had a problem with it, though, he certainly didn’t show it. And the rest of his considerably toxic arsenal was perfect, so he likely could work with it. Luckily, any gases or the ilk would be simulated by the augmented reality environment and not actually have a possibility of harming us. It’d be good to know what to expect out of them, though.

Alice had leaned in a similar direction, using mesh and exo-suit portions to allow for maximum mobility. Her bow and arrow style of combat hasn't changed much, from the look of it. I had no idea what her kit looked like now in reality, but given the fact that she had five separate quivers for arrows, I presumed that they were varied at the least. She likewise had wrist mounted projectile launchers, and a second pair of arms extended from the sides of the exo-suit, each one bearing similar dart launchers.

Magnetics were more common now allowing Fran to utilize a closer approximation to what she would normally have. However, the bulk of her suit was left to being digitized, acting off of her already trained nervous system to perceive what they wanted. The barest frames of wings were present, but instead of feathers they bore wide flat panels. They didn’t appear to disconnect, either, so I had to assume that they were there mostly to mimic weight distribution.

Terry had a smaller mech than Daniel, and the torso seemed to stop halfway up, changing into a wide dome that he could see through easily. Its midsection connected to collection of four hover platforms, nodes that zapped with mild electricity. For the most part, his collection of attacks would be simulated entirely by the computer as well. Not many used electricity as a weapon in the Legion, let alone in Gilramore, and that was for good reason. Without a strong grasp of electromagnetism, I imagine that injuring yourself would be very easy.

Daniel, on the other hand, was mostly outfitted with real metal tech, given the popularity of mechs and their need to feel the weight of the machine. It was a pale imitation of the real thing given that his mech had been much larger, and probably even more so now. Several of the hardpoints were mounted with what appeared to be stunted, heavy metal cylinders. He closed the hatch and the mech began to move, flexing and twisting as to check the balance of the overall assortment.

We walked into the wide expanse that was the first floor, hexagonal floor tiles and walls of slate grey, with more than a small amount of scuff marks and scrapes, greeted us.

A musical tone filled the air for a moment before the lights cut out, leaving us in the dark for several seconds. I frowned, waiting for something to happen.

And kept waiting for several seconds longer. Perplexed, I was about to speak out when I noticed a subtle change in the light.

It was dim at first, but slowly came online the rest of the way, almost like dawn coming over the countryside. Grass, more luminescent and somewhat indistinct at the edges, sprouted up all across the world that we could see, ending only at the edge of a large and looming forest that surrounded us after what seemed like hundreds of meters. Finally the light matched the position of the sun, not quite afternoon, casting a brighter gleam across the relatively flat field.

“Interesting.” I noted aloud, “You can tell it’s fake, but this is still leagues better than anything we had on old earth.”

“It’s a new project,” Terry informed me, “There are still some bugs, but it’s overall pretty balanced. Admittedly, we’re keeping it on a tight leash, don’t want people getting stuck in places like this, burying their heads in the sand.”

“Anyways,” Alice cut in, moving the topic along, “The first floor is pretty easy, overall. Just a few groups of wolves, really.”

I decided not to bring up any more about what might have been a touchy subject between Alice and Terry. “I can see some of them now.”

Not wanting to wait any longer, I pulled out a rifle. I put it to my shoulder, and after pulling the dimensions of the gun into my thoughts, I could approximate with extreme accuracy exactly where I was aiming, regardless of how I held the gun. “How many are there on the first floor?”

“Only twelve per person.” Richard squinted against the sunlight, trying to see what I was aiming at. “I can barely even see them.”

“Seventy two,” I nodded, factoring how far the bullet would fall, the tug of ‘wind’ on expected trajectory, and finally the expected movement of the wolf I was targeting.

I pulled the trigger, the gun unable to move in my iron grip. I moved to the next target instantly, firing again, and repeated the gesture. After the fifth fell, the rest of the group in the area responded, and the sound likely drew more.

With every shot I murmured a countdown, “Seventy-one, seventy, sixty-nine…” and continued downward. I felt relaxed as I did this, and when the clip was empty I moved my hands and arms rapidly, virtually tearing out the old clip and slapping in a fresh one in seconds.

Scarcely a minute later, silence returned to the floor, a few spent magazines at my feet and a gathering of people around me staring wordlessly at the closest wolf.

Which was still nearly a hundred meters away.

[Floor cleared, new time record! Reaper’s Team ‘Alpha’ registered! Has attained 1st place for ‘Extermination, Gauntlet,’ and would place 1st for ‘Extermination, Classic’ condition!] The A.I. sounded out as I stowed my rifle.

“So…” Terry cleared his throat first, “You, uh, you’re a pretty good shot, yeah?”

“Shit, that was beautiful.” Daniel laughed, “I know I was saying we could get the top spot, but holy shit, I don’t think anyone will be clearing that record.”

There was a mixture between laughter and flabbergasted expressions, “Ah, sorry, I just wanted to get through that one fast.”

“I mean, we basically don’t need to be here on that one,” Alice shrugged, “I expected that much. But the next one, let us have a turn, ‘kay?”

“Right,” I nodded, “Thanks in advance.”

She smiled, “Next one!”

We moved together to the elevator down, “So this one we can either exterminate all of them or clear to the ‘Goal Point’, right?”

“Yep,” Richard nodded, “Most people looking for the time trial find it easier to just hop on a mech user and bulldoze through to the exit. But I think it might be faster to just kill the biotics after you get to the middle, since they just rush you.”

“It’s still strange that that’s how they act,” Fran sighed, “It almost doesn’t seem fair.”

“I’m glad they’re so dumb, though,” Terry shivered, “I’ve had enough of the smart ones to last me a lifetime.”

We wordlessly agreed unanimously to that sentiment.

As the elevator opened, we were greeted with the sight of a forest, not unlike the ones outside of Gilramore. Deciduous trees, filtering light from an ash covered sky somehow grounded the illusion in enough reality to add a sense of threat and ominous tidings to the challenge. Any Legion team could beat this, given one of two things.

They were either a veteran team and had been hunting for a long time, or had a larger team than average by a few members. Even so, until you got to the upper thirty teams there would often be some kind of casualty involved.

The system didn’t factor any kind of intelligence into the biotics on this floor, just sheer numbers.

As one, we bolted forward, no single one of us limited to human speeds. We crashed through the forest, stealth an abandoned notion. The goal was to draw attention in any case, so this worked out nicely.

And, as the forest came alive with the howling of wolves, we knew that we’d succeeded. The distorted sounds crackled and I could feel the vibrations on the metal skin of my power armor. To our flanks I could detect the position of several dozens of wolves, closing rapidly.

My HUD alighted with confirmations of those contacts, whatever sensory equipment Alice was using seeming to be on par with my own, followed immediately by Richard.

I fell into formation at the center, leaving Daniel to bulldoze through anything large enough to get in our way. I took a moment to appreciate how the augmented reality performed, the previously simple metal cylinders that looked out of place on Daniel’s mech now appeared to be fully functional weaponry.

And, even though the terrain was fake, the armors were built to ‘shunt’ force at us to indicate if we hit something, and would lock up a limb in the event that we ‘tripped’ from an object that we couldn’t simply smash through. It wasn’t a perfect system, but it was fairly adaptable. The sound was also quite good, considering the moment that Daniel opened fire with a gatling gun my armor began to vibrate from being so close to him. Spent shells bounced against the ground as he bore through targets in front of us.

Behind me, Terry kept his firepower in reserve, watching alongside me as Alice and Richard split off from the group by about a dozen meters, speeding ahead of us and attacking the outskirts of the flanking groups. Behind us, Fran decimated anything that attempted to gain on us, allowing her to abuse the fact that anything that came at us in a straight line was going to be pinned and shredded by dozens of steel feathers, which would then come right back to her with the magnetic tug of her wings.

“Fifteen seconds,” I said, “And we’ll hit the center of the map. According to the map, there’s a cottage with a river on one side, soggy terrain. I want to stop before we hit the water. Terry will take that side, Daniel will take southside. I’ll take east and Fran will take west. Richard and Alice, play keep-away, get them chasing their tails. We’ll keep an eye out for you. Ready?”

“Ready.” I heard the responses one after the other.

All at once, the tree cover lessened, what had once been what appeared to be a cottage now run down and in a state of absolute disrepair melting into view between the quickly thinning foliage. Daniel got to his position first, spinning from a mobile position and digging deep furrows into the earth as he did so. The scraping sounds of concrete broke the immersion of the illusion for a moment, but the howling and snarling masses of the wolves around us brought my attention snapping back. I ran straight to him, and I could see a brief moment of hesitation in his stance before he resolved himself to trust whatever I was planning.

I jumped, and he balanced himself as I lept off of his shoulder, snapping onto the buildings chimney and scaling it rapidly, coming to sit partly in the chute and locking myself in place with my legs, aiming eastwards. Moments later a humming sound announced that Fran had assumed a similar, albeit aerial perch. Terry put himself to the side of the house, facing northward, his mech stooping over low as several rods jettisoned, arcing gracefully through the air and marking a line of demarcation for anything coming from the north. Puddles and slick mud covered the ground around them, the shallow river just beyond that. Even from here, I could feel my body tingle with electricity, perhaps even more so due to the biosteel.

“Primed!” Terry shouted out, “Stay away from the northern flank!”

“Heard!” Alice called back, both she and Richard coming back together further south, right in Daniel’s line of fire.

Behind them, I could hear the thundering of a hundred or more biotics, and - more amusingly - could see the fog of glittering green dust that drifted through the woods behind Richard.

“What did you do?” I asked Richard, sparing a glance as I saw Alice’s biotics coming out of the forest.

“A harsh abrasive that sticks to biotics like crazy,” He snickered, “It’s not good for much else, but it’s excellent for screwing up their senses.”

“I like it.” I nodded, watching as the pair of them darted suddenly westward after crossing only ten meters in front of Daniel.

His mech roared to life as soon as they left his line of fire, and suddenly the only sound that could claim dominion was the spitting of two vulcan guns, belching hot shells into a hundred biotics.

Mindful of ammo, he only fired for a few seconds, and in alternating bursts. Even so, the wolves were shredded, as well as the forest behind them. As the disoriented group came through the forest, they were treated with even less care, brief bursts that killed eight at a time speeding forth from the entrenched mech.

Finally, the east began to show several biotics, and I switched to a pair of assault rifles. I held one in each hand, barrel magazines full of deadly payload. They were bulkier than standard rifles, kitted with a prototype mag-rail to speed large metal slugs faster. I could tell exactly where they were aiming, and once more I felt less like a human and more like an automated turret, brutally efficient in my task.

I fired one round at a time, intent on saving ammo for later. Even so, my rate of fire was very near equal to if I were to be firing on full-auto.

Behind me, I heard Fran speak, “Bring them in, Alice, Richard.”

“Order comin’ right up,” Richard chuckled, and I listened as Fran began to emanate a gradually deepening humm, my own metallic tissues feeling the slightest tug. I shook my head at the sensation; it was like going down a hill fast and feeling momentum pull you backwards.

And then that sensation reversed alongside whistling sounds. I looked back in time to see pin-point strikes on bodies of wolves, Richard and Alice turning and firing additional projectiles into the fray. The only thing they needed to do was slow them down from there, Fran would save them ammo by reusing her feathers.

A sudden and very loud series of popping noises filled the air from the river, and looking there I could see dozens of wolves running into the water before electricity jumped to them.

It wasn’t dramatic, what I was seeing. They would belch smoke, their more liquid internals superheating to gases and escaping through explosively made cracks in their bodies. In moments they fell and twitched, more and more of them surging over the bodies.

The problem they faced, I suppose, was that biotics were fairly conductive too. Their fellows promptly joined them as a wall of corpses.

I turned my attention back to my side, upping my tempo for several seconds, waves of biotics falling until they were dying even within the confines of the forest. With the extra time, I quickly reloaded my guns. Each one took four seconds, the Reaper ammo storage space still one of the ironically most advanced pieces of equipment we’d ever seen.

Such was the situation that I found myself annoyed at the fact that most other ammo storage spaces were far more limited in maximum size, and regularly required recharging. The kind standardly available were so expensive that very few teams had more than one per team. I’d have to see how many I could buy, perhaps I could use it as a reward for teams who did exceedingly well?

‘Not the time,’ I chastised myself, refocusing on the effort. We’d been fighting for ten minutes, and the only one who’d ended up needing a moment of coverage was Terry. He needed to cycle over to a secondary generator while the first one caught back up and recharged his first battery bank. He had a second set specifically for this, something that he was caught between swapping out for a more direct combat system when he decided that his purposes would likely always be more for zone control.

Not that he needed much of any coverage, really. In the ten seconds he needed to swap over, I’d only had to shoot four or so wolves as they managed to get over the veritable mountain of corpses he’d built up.

Daniel hadn’t even let up on the stream of death, either, but now he was down to intermittent bursts with longer and longer moments of silence between.

Finally the last wolf had appeared, and the system tone sounded.

[Floor cleared, The Reaper’s Team ‘Alpha’ has attained 1st place in ‘Extermination, Gauntlet Run’ and would place 2nd place in the ‘Extermination, Classic’ condition!]

I blinked at that, “Who has first place in classic?”

“Iron Chariot,” Daniel stood to his full height, “Though personally I think it was because of a bug.”

“It’s not a bug when you level the forest with artillery.” Terry helpfully added, “Granted, they clearly wouldn’t take that setup out in the real world, wouldn’t want to flash-burn a real forest. Plus it takes a little time to set up. Probably why they couldn’t clear the first one as fast either.”

I hummed thoughtfully at that, before shrugging. We talked as we moved to the elevator for the 3rd basement floor, noting a few things about our formation that might be improved. There wasn’t much, all told, when we were fighting something that simply ran at us. The real test would be the next floor, with much more intelligent biotics.

And, as the doors to the elevator opened, revealing yawning blackness and a much smaller corridor, I couldn’t help but clench my fists upon seeing it.

‘This time,’ I promised myself, ‘This time we’re prepared for this gods damned place.’