“Remind me again why we had to hike all this way out?” moaned Dakota as they surveyed the area.

Mai looked around, then down at the hard-top road they’d just driven up.

“Um. No hiking involved. We had a pleasant drive up a road. And we’re here so that we can kill as many enemy soldiers as possible when they try to come out of the tunnel.”

“It’s bloody wide,” Dakota noted, indicating the six-lane road which led out of the cave system. Although Mai and her people had taken some unorthodox routes into Nether City, it appeared that other ways were far more civilised, and safer. Yet another one of the programmers’ many foibles.

“It’s got good clearance as well. The roof has to be at least three hundred paces above us,” Mai craned her neck, trying to spot the roof and giving up as the light got too dim to see. “They’ll be able to get air units in this way.”

“Do you think this road existed before we arrived and started causing trouble?” Biyu joined them, taking measurements with a laser sighting device.

“Do you think we’d actually know if they did?” Mai countered. The idea that their world could be changed at a whim by its creators, and without their even realising it, was decidedly unsettling.

“Thanks a fucking bunch, boss. Not something I even want to think about. Should I ask a player?”

“No,” Mai held both hands up. “Like you said, I don’t want to even think about how our memories could be manipulated. Let’s just assume it was here all the time. It doesn’t make any real difference anyway. We still have to defend it.”

“And on that subject. I propose extending the walls of the tunnel by building a set of our own walls down and out away from it, adding angles so that the enemy either has to try to blast through the wall, or follow it. Each turn will be tight enough that they have to slow down. Which will give our people and the turrets longer to shoot them. I’ll also build in ‘weak points’ which we’ll mine. Anyone trying to break out will be destroyed.”

“How many turrets are you thinking?”

“I want at least ten anti-armour turrets, further back we’ll add artillery. The height of the tunnel means we can lob shells from quite far back, and if we build walls around them, they’ll be pretty well hidden from any units in the kill zone.”

Mai tried to hide a wince as she worked out the cost.

“Have we got enough bio-mass?”

“Plenty. We only need to build the first couple of buildings using bio-mass, and then we’ll be able to start using expansion points and build back that way. And don’t worry, we’re going to use the cheapest building we can to establish control.”

“Get some trenches up on the slope to the left. If we put anti-mech and heavy support squads up there they’ll be in a good position to engage mecha and infantry. And see if you can put a couple of artillery units on the reverse slope. The infantry can spot for them,” Mai ordered, picturing the coming battle in her mind’s eye.

“Good idea. Can we have some droids?”

“Build a droid station to the rear, and out of sight. Only use anti-infantry and anti-mech, nothing else. Once you’ve got a couple of platoons built, send them up the tunnel so that they can start a delaying action. It’ll test just how serious the enemy is and force them to use bio-mass before they’ve even reached the defences here.”

“You know who they’re going to send down here first don’t you,” Dakota said. It wasn’t a question.

“Our fellow minions. Unknowingly doing the programmer’s bidding in a blind hope that they’ll be able to drag themselves out of the gutter they were put in,” spat Biyu, clenching her fists as she spoke.

“Do you think our people will be able to pull the trigger when it comes to it?” Mai hadn’t given a thought to the idea that her people would have a problem fighting.

“Once the turrets start firing, and the enemy starts returning the compliment, I doubt many will hesitate. They’re fighting for their homes and families after all.”

“Recruitment continues to climb, as well,” Dakota held out a table with the latest figures. “We’ve opened up to everyone from the age of sixteen through to sixty five. Mothers with children under sixteen are exempt, as are single fathers. So far we’ve managed to raise and train another three regiments, six thousand strong each. We have another five in accelerated training. They’re not going to be much more than militia though.”

“And on top of that, we have the factions,” finished Biyu. “Whether we win or not, we’re going to make the Emperor regret he ever sent his people down here.”

They turned to watch as the first of the buildings went up. As soon as it was completed, their minimaps showed how they could expand beyond the initial point and the engineers started work on adding further small buildings, expanding the control point they had rapidly.

“You know, I never even questioned how buildings could just appear like that. How we could change buildings at a whim. I just thought it was the nanites,” Dakota grimaced as another building popped up. “I know that technically it is the nanites doing it, but still, it makes me wonder how buildings are made in the player’s world.”

Mai didn’t answer, just staring off down the tunnel.

“Mai?”

“Shhhhhh,” Mai continued to stare. Something had moved at the corner of her eye, disappearing when she tried to look straight at it. Opening her menu, she scrolled down to GROUND CARS, ARMOURED and selected a three-wheeled gun buggy. It had a crew of three, one driver, a passenger gunner, and a rear gunner with a tri-barrel laser.

Dakota jumped as the vehicle appeared next to them.

“Bit of warning next time!”

Mai didn’t answer, just jumped into the driver’s seat, looking at Dakota and Biyu expectantly.

There was a split second where they stared back at her completely nonplussed before a wide grin split Biyu’s face.

“Shotgun!” Biyu leapt into the rear gunner’s station, powering up the tri-barrel before Dakota had managed to get settled in her seat.

Mai slammed the accelerator pedal to the floor and the electric-powered vehicle leapt forward, the acceleration pressing them all into their seats.

“Biyu, be ready. STEALTHED enemy troops three hundred paces down the road.”

“Now you fucking warn us,” grumbled Dakota as she racked the cocking handle on her thirty millimetre grenade machine gun.

Mai activated her own STEALTH, and URBAN CAMOUFLAGE, the former wouldn’t necessarily help that much, but she wanted to take every advantage she could if it meant the difference between living or not.

URBAN CAMOUFLAGE would not only help her blend into her surroundings, but also help her identify the best way of keeping her vehicle tucked in behind cover.

A light flickered ahead of them, no more than one hundred and fifty paces ahead, a bullet cracking past her head, causing her to flinch.

“Firing!” Biyu’s tri-barrel fizzed into life, strobes of light pulsing into the area the STEALTHED enemy soldier had fire from. Mai started to zig zag, using all of the six lanes as she tried to shake of the enemy’s sights.

“Get some!” Dakota opened up with her grenade machine gun, the weapon spitting out the heavy grenades at two a second. Explosions filled the tunnel with light and a body tumbled through the air, becoming visible as its STEALTH ability was brought to a sudden end.

More lights winked into existence, bullets cracking into the chassis and armoured windscreen. Biyu cursed, sweeping her tri-barrel across the line of enemy troops. Dakota added her grenades into the same area as the distance continued to close. Judging by the whoops each was giving, Mai could tell they were getting kills. Although she found it odd that she wasn’t getting assists.

She ploughed through the enemy line before spinning the buggy around, the sudden turn causing Biyu to screech in surprise. Before they even had time to catch their breath, she slammed her foot down again and charged at the enemy troopers’ position. More cries of victory from the other two and then they were through the enemy and racing for their own defences once more.

“Not going back?” asked Dakota as they continued to race away from the enemy.

“No, I just wanted to make a statement. They think they can come and spy on us, they got another think coming.”

COUNTER-RECON

SIX KILL ASSISTS

NEW SKILL – TRI-BUGGY DRIVER RANK 1

What the hells is up with the lag? She didn’t know what might have caused it, but she could most certainly guess.

“Biyu, get those defences finished. The enemy is coming.”