Marcus crawled down the dark and claustrophobic tunnels, built primarily for the Goblin’s small size. What a nightmare it would be to attack this place against a determined defense and understood how hard it would have been for the tunnel rats clearing out tunnel complexes back in the Vietnam war.

He never did like caving. For every step Marcus took, the tunnel’s soft walls eroded every time his gear scraped along it and hoped that it had little chance of triggering a cave in.

Soon, the tunnel opened up ahead, and Marcus dropped into a dark basement. Breaking a glowstick, it was empty, with the single metal door leading into the room. The frame was warped; the walls cracked, and the door had been pried open enough to admit one person at at time. Looking at his goblin escorts, Marcus waved over to the door waited while the rest scouted the entrance out.

A minute later, the goblin came back and signaled an all clear. Marcus had spent the rest of yesterday practicing with these escorts on their mode of communication. Marcus could understand their broken way of speaking, but hand gestures are much safer and quicker, even if it required light.

Squeezing out of the gap, Marcus followed the stairs leading up to find an abandoned clothing store. The merchandise had long been taken by looters, leaving only the empty racks and broken glass windows. Glass scattered along the floor reflected the pale moonlight peeking over the buildings, showing the shadows of a dead city.

Creeping closer outside and peeking out, Marcus could see more of the city. Buildings bore with them stains of fire long extinguished. The hulks of long rusting cars littered the streets and rubble from collapsed buildings blocked the streets at intervals.

Raising Columbus’ thermal scope to his eyes, it only confirmed his initial assumption. Shades of detailed grays filled his vision to distances the eye could see. Seeing it clear, and their job done, Marcus waved for his escorts to go back.

Alone, Marcus climbed the building. Creeping slowly forwards and straining his ears, aided by his electronic headset. The device had the effect of amplifying low level sounds while dampening loud and ambient noise, making it easier to hear anything sneaking up ahead or around him. Once in a while, a roar would echo throughout the city, followed quickly by the faint electronic zap of an energy weapon’s discharge. For the first few times it happened, Marcus would tense up and stand still, listening in for more sounds of combat.

Soon, Marcus grew used to the sounds of the city as he steadily moved up the building. Sure, he might not be in any immediate danger, but a single player laying in ambush could easily take him out, even with his shields.

Reaching the top of the building, Marcus scouted out his immediate location. The broken ship’s massive silhouette dominated the city’s skyline to the south, and Marcus judged it to be a couple of miles away from his location. The scent of salt came with the breeze from the west and Marcus looked over in the direction to see the inland sea reaching to the horizon.

The pale moonlight shone from a clear night sky bathed the city in shades of gray. Pinpricks of light dotted along the skyline, likely brought about by players moving about in the dark or just making camp.

Raising the thermal to his eye, it gave him another view. Marcus could see warm spots scattered in the distance. Four legged nimble creatures climbed along the sides of buildings and ran along rooftops. They would pause and sniff at the air, followed by even more of their own kind, hunting. There were other creatures, too, standing on their hind legs, their heads swiveling and scanning the horizon. It reminded Marcus of gophers, but much larger and a face full of sharp teeth.

Checking his map, Marcus found his exact location. His was just a static map and so he had to find his position by checking the shapes of the nearby buildings and simply figuring it out. He was three kilometers north of the ship by the Map’s graduations and is smack in the middle of downtown.

He was bordering the PVP grounds further to the north, a place where the ship’s influence ended and where the lawlessness begins. Still, players can still kill other players in the PVE zone, only there would be punishments incurred within the ship. Bounties can be placed on the heads of these player killers and can be outrightly shot on sight, thus allowing the bandit play style.

Normally, it would have taken Marcus in a quick stroll an hour, maximum, to cover the distance. But in the game, he would have to take a lot more time, considering that he would have to take care not to get killed along the way. Sure, he could have just taken himself out in the station and respawn back at the ship, but he isn’t willing to pay for the lost level and six-hour game time penalty cost required for such a move.

Plotting his course, Marcus came down to the streets and made for the direction of the ship.

Soon, the light of the moon brightened as dawn fast approached. Marcus chose this time as he surmised this is when the nocturnal creatures of the city would start moving towards their dens to rest for the day and also the time where players are just preparing to head out, allowing Marcus an easier time to move about in the city.

Checking his surroundings with his thermal scope, and moving quickly between buildings, Marcus was making good progress. He covered half a mile’s distance closer to the ship in an hour when he heard the scraping of claws against concrete. Quickly, Marcus took cover inside the nearby building. It used to be an ice cream shop, judging from the signs out front and the menu posted inside. Marcus backed into the shadows, rifle at the ready, as he saw a pack of shadows dart past the windows. They were moving too fast that Marcus didn’t have time to make out individual features and identify them.

Marcus waited, making sure that the coast was clear. More skittering sounds came from around the corner, forcing Marcus to back further into the building and go up to the second floor parlor. It allowed him the height advantage along with being out of sight of anything looking in standing on the street.

As he stepped on the landing, he made it just in time as a clatter sounded outside. Marcus crept towards the windows and looked over to see a group moving south and cursed as they were in a direct course towards his spot.

There were five of them, walking in the middle of the street, formed in a sort of dotted diamond formation. Each point of the diamond facing their sectors while the center held the biggest gun in the group.

Hugging his rifle close, he flicked the selector off safety and weighed whether it would just be better to take them out of let them pass. From the thermals, their gear was set up for PVE. They held the bulky energy weapons, wore a lack of interceptor plates and slung bulging backpacks. Their formation also resembled more of a medieval formation, designed to protect from attacks coming from all sides rather than the more modern one, which focused on minimal exposure while maximizing available firepower.

Being outnumbered, his decision was easy. Marcus backed away from the window and crept to a corner, facing the only stairs leading up to his floor. The footsteps grew closer. Marcus felt his heart race as the steps came almost from under him and eased off as the steps faded. Waiting a minute, Marcus was about to peek out of the window to see their position when he once again heard skittering claws against concrete.

“Contact north!” Came the distant shout, followed by the zaps of energy rifles. A shower of red and green lasers traced past the window, making a rather pretty light show. The laser lights lit up the street, casting chaotic flickering shadows against the building walls.

Marcus waited, content for the group to take care of the mobs, but the fighting grew longer. What Marcus initially thought was a minute long battle turned into five, then ten. It didn’t seem to be going well for the players. There were audibly fewer people shooting too, and Marcus peeked out to confirm it.

One player was down, another player was busy tending to his wounds. The three remaining surrounded their wounded comrades in a defensive triangle and were steadily being pushed further back into each other.

Marcus could see why. The creatures used a two pronged attack comprising a creature running up the walls, exposing themselves to be shot while another would run up from the ground to hit the players on the ground. It was simple and effective as they were able to resist an initial burst from the laser fire, allowing them precious seconds to disengage and retreat.

The creatures repeated the same attack over and over. The players soon developed their own cadence to defend their position and dug in. Despite the players being outnumbered four to one, both sides fell into a stalemate a minute later.

Marcus would have been fine enough just walking away from the fight and let the group deal with them and tie them down. But that notion relied on the group to stand their ground and keep the monsters’ attention and keep them there. But there were too many factors which could change. The players can run out of ammunition, or the monsters may just call in reinforcements and overwhelm them. The monsters may retreat towards Marcus’ direction, forcing to fight them on his own among many others.

“Fuck.” Marcus muttered. He didn’t want to make contact with other players outside the ship, but his situation practically dictated it. He needed more eyes to cover his back and more guns on line in case of an attack. Leaning out the window enough to have a clear angle of the ensuing fight, he centered his sights on one of the climbers a hundred yards away. He reasoned that even if he missed something vital and failed to kill the creature, the bullet would make it fall and gravity will do the rest. “They better owe me after this.”