Prelude: Occupation

Stronghold of Earth , Toraigh

Twelfth Month 32, 11 RC

From inside a darkened room of an inn, Heaven Sword and his group watched the streets of the city in the Merchant Alliance's cavern. The bodies of Beastmen and humans lay against the sides of the buildings where they had been dragged after the fighting between the Church players and the locals was over. Many of the corpses were not members of either side. They were simply players that were stupid enough to let themselves be used as pawns by the Church. They wanted to be on the forefront of the looting and died for the chance.

From the window of a bedroom in a suite of an inn, Heaven Sword stared at the bodies dragged to the sides of the street below, and his eyes radiated a mixture of contempt and sympathy. Many of the corpses were players, and since the entire player base of Primacy Online was in War Mode, they were as dead as dead can be. They would never awaken in their real bodies again. They had sought to be among the first to loot the Stronghold of Earth, and they had paid the ultimate price for their greed.

It was not that Heaven Sword did not understand the desire to accumulate wealth and treasures, but only a fool put himself or herself forth as a tool to be used in the Church's schemes. As long as one was born on Earth, it was almost impossible to completely avoid entanglements with the Church of the Resurrection, but it was best to stay as far away from them as possible.

Dark speculations filled Heaven Sword's thoughts. Since the Quantum Control Program has gone out of control, there are rumors that we will never be able to escape from the game. There are just as many rumors that this world is not a Quantum Construct but rather a real world. But whether this is a real word or a constructed reality does not matter. The only thing that matters is that we cannot escape from it. With the QCP out of control and the Church players following it as though it were a real god, this game has stepped over the boundary of insanity.

Heaven Sword opened his quest journal and stared at his latest quest.

Conquer the Stronghold of Earth: Irregular Version (Storyline) (Difficulty: Indeterminate )

» Deep beneath the surface lies the Stronghold of Earth. Centered around the only known entrance to the temporal prison of the city of Skye, similar to the "Gates", it was once an outpost of the city of Skye, but now, it is an unholy pit of degeneracy. Humans have joined with Beastmen to create an imitation of a civilization.

» The unholy alliance must be broken, and the Beastmen must be conquered and become the slaves of the Church of the Sun.

» As a Church of the Sun Irregular, you must aid the Church's forces in bringing the Stronghold of Earth under the hegemony of I, Quantum-El, the one True God.

» Conquer the Stronghold of Earth.

» Enslave the beastmen.

» Force the humans of the Stronghold of Earth to swear fealty to Quantum-El and the Church of the Sun.

» Reward: Unknown

» Failure: Unknown.

Heaven Sword had never chosen to take the quest. When his group had entered the Stronghold of Earth, it had just appeared in his quest journal. That was three days ago. Two days ago, the Church's army of nearly a million players and native Church of the Sun soldiers marched into the cavern.

The Stronghold of Earth had patrols in the surrounding tunnels of the Labyrinth. The Merchant Alliance had multiple guard posts set up in the tunnels approaching their cavern. There should have been warning of a force that size heading for the Stronghold of Earth, but the Stronghold's inhabitants were still caught flat-footed. No warnings preceded the Church's army.

Hundreds of thousands of players from the Church's force were inside the giant cavern before the Merchant Alliance's forces had their defences in place. While Heaven Sword and his group stayed in hiding , the Church's forces rolled though the streets of the city.

"It looks like things have calmed down out there, Boss."

Hearing the voice behind him, Heaven Sword stiffened for a fraction of a second before turning around. As he verified that the voice belonged to Silent Steps, Heaven Sword took in a slow breath to calm his suddenly racing heart. He had not heard even the sound of the suite's door opening and closing, let alone any sound from his chief scout.

"You should make some noise when you enter a room with your allies present."

"Sorry, Boss. Habit." Looking not the least bit contrite, Silent Steps made a very faint shrugging motion.

Drawing in a deep breath and releasing a sigh, Heaven Sword shook his head. "What would you have done if I had attacked before recognizing your voice.?"

Silent Steps made another faint shrugging motion, but there was no sign of any worry in face or posture. "Who knows?"

Heaven Sword repressed his frown. Silent Steps was one of the few people that Heaven Sword was not certain he could beat in a fight, especially one to the death. He was also one of the few that did not look down on anyone and everyone not of the Han people. No matter who the opponent or enemy, Silent Step always treated them as dangerous until they were dead or defeated.

Silent Steps was considerably older than Heaven Sword. On Earth, Silent Steps had been a cryogenic immortal for almost a millennium. Other than World War IV, he had been through every "World War" held in Primacy Online . From the last War Mode, during Primacy Online V , almost none of his enemies and very few of his opponents were still among the living.

Heaven Sword repressed his sigh along with a slight feeling of uneasiness. "What did you find?"

Silent Steps shrugged. "The Church of the Sun is doing something strange. The NPCs not the players. You should probably see if for yourself."

For a moment, Heaven Sword stared at Silent Steps, but he could not read anything from the other man's emotionless countenance. "Where?"

"Near the center of this cavern. Outside the Merchant Alliance's headquarters."

"Lead the way."

* * * * *

The fight between the Church of the Sun's invading forces and the defenders of the Stronghold of Earth's Merchant Alliance had yet to finish. There were pockets of fighting scattered throughout the cavern city, and Silent Steps led Heaven Sword on a roundabout path to avoid getting caught up in them. After more than an hour of skirting the ongoing conflicts, the pair reached an alley that opened onto Alliance Square, which fronted the Merchant Alliance's headquarters.

On the far side of the square, a rectangular block of white marble sat on the stone floor of the cavern. Rising from opposite corners of the block, two curved, gold poles held a globe of gold, which emitted a faint golden glow . Upon the altar, a Beastman was chained face up. As a Priest chanted, the glow from the gold globes intensified, and beams of light shone on the Beastman's head.

"AAAAARRRRRRRR!"

The Beastman's agonized howl filled the square.

Ranks of Church soldiers, wearing chainmail and white surcoats with the Sun Discs embroidered on them with gold-colored thread stood at attention on either side of the altar. Their razor sharp heads spears pointed toward the roof of the cavern, and oval metal shields were strapped to their arms. More ranks of Church Soldiers surrounded the perimeter of the square.

Trapped inside the square by the soldiers, thousands of Beastmen with a smattering of humans scattered among them looked around with a mix of hostility and fear . Many of them sported wounds of varying severity, and all of them were unarmed. They could only watch as their fellow citizen of the Stronghold of Earth was tortured.

After more than a minute, the glow from the golden globes dimmed, and the beams of light shining on the Beastman's head faded away. On either side of the altar, a Priest released the shackles on the Beastman's limbs.

Rising to his feet, the Beastman turned to face the Priest who had chanted and bowed. "All glory to Quantum-El, the one True God."

"Return to your home and report anyone you suspect of not having undergone the Baptism of the Sun."

"I hear and obey." The Beastman bowed once more and walked toward a less than two meter wide gap in the ranks of Church Soldiers at an exit from the square.

*Those Church soldiers are not players. They're natives.*

Heaven Sword glanced at Silent Steps. *I never would have taken you for one to call NPCs natives.*

*It looks like Quantum-El, or the QCP by another name, is out to conquer the world.*

*This is just a game with an out of control quantum program running it. Does it matter what happens to NPCs? We should be worried about ourselves.*

Turning to Heaven Sword, Silent Steps stared calmly into his eyes. *You have only seen one World War, but you must have questions about the truth of Primacy Online . What exactly is 'Constructed Reality'? Do you understand the physics behind it? A couple World Wars back, I had a friend who was an expert in quantum physics. He spent decades trying to make sense of the published data on the Constructed Reality. He couldn't. He said that there was no way the Church could create a stable quantum reality with the models they published. So, what exactly are we inside of?*

Heaven Sword frowned. *You sound like a conspiracy theorist.*

*Where any form of bureaucracy is involved, most conspiracies are closer to fact that anyone is willing to admit. You cannot trust governments, religions, or bureaucracies. The Church of the Resurrection is all three at the same time.*

Heaven Sword's frown deepened. *Let's just say for argument's sake, you're not a total lunatic. If this is not a Constructed Reality, where in all the hells of ever religion are we?*

Silent Steps shrugged. *Another world. Another dimension. Considering that magic works here, my money is on another dimension. Even if you've only been through one World War, you never thought about it? The reality of this world?*

*No. Your ideas are crazy.* Heaven Sword's eyes evasively shifted away from Silent Steps' steady gaze. He was lying, but he had no intention of admitting to it. Just the idea of another dimension was already crazy talk. Even if physics said that it was possible, no one had ever managed to prove it. The idea of the Church of the Resurrection connecting people's minds to another dimension to play a game was just too insane.

*Did you know the Church has been reprogramming the minds of people on Earth?*

Heaven Sword's eyes snapped around to stare into Silent Step's calm eyes. *Do you believe that?*

*It happened to someone I used to know. His entire personality changed overnight. They either can't do it indiscriminately or they refrain from doing it for some reason.*

After a few moments of silence, Heaven Sword turned his attention back to the altar. One by one the Beastmen and humans were dragged to the altar and chained to it. Once they were bathed in the light from the golden orbs, they would swear their loyalty to Quantum-El.

*Do you think the Church can do that to us?*

Silent Steps shrugged. *Who knows? Probably.*

‎