“Hey Phil.”

“Hmm?”

“I need to go buy some leather armor.”

“Why? What’s wrong with good old plate mail?”

“Well, I was thinking of changing my class to something sneakier, you know?”

“So? It’s harder, but you can still be stealthy in actual armor.”

“Yeah, but leather armor is kind of the standard. After all, it’s made of…. HIDE!!”

…

“You’re not changing your class at all are you?”

“Not in the least.”

--Conversation between two Guards, Lenorian Dungeon. AC 1622.

As the light from the teleport fades, I can immediately tell something is wrong. We’re in a room somewhere, but one of the walls has been destroyed, debris littering the ground in front of us. A glowing red-light blinks on and off; providing dim illumination for the surrounding area. From the distance I can hear faint sounds of fighting; metal clanging and barking orders sounding out within the deep.

When I try to assess the situation, movement catches my attention. Something is crawling over the rubble towards us. As I look further, it appears to be some sort of bizarre looking insectile creature. I raise my claws and orient towards the movement, straining mightily to figure out whether the thing coming towards me is Friend or Foe. The others wordlessly take up defensive positions as well, encircling me and preparing for combat.

The light shifts, and I’m able to see a faint reflection in the dark. Details resolve and I’m able to make out the familiar camouflage pattern emblazoned on the metal armor. The plate mail is segmented oddly, and as I dredge my mind trying to identify it, a faint whisper from the Akasha informs me. I’m looking at an isopod.

I lower my claws; it doesn’t appear that we’ll be in immediate combat. As he slowly moves towards us, I can make out further details. His armor appears to be heavily damaged, faint cracks riddled throughout the piece, and before I can examine him further, he raises up on his segments and waves at us. As I wave back, I realize that he’s trying to get our attention for a specific reason. I realize the issue as I notice a faint beeping from the communication circuits in my armor. I switch to the requested comms channel and a tired and quiet voice begins to speak.

“No one is scheduled to come through here and we’re just repelled an attack. What are your orders?”

I'm confused for a moment, not sure what he's asking for. But my training kicks in and I begin to respond,

“I’m not sure what’s going on exactly. We were supposed to report to our new unit. We just graduated basic training.”

With every sentence I speak, Sergeant Isopod grows more and more tense. As I finish, he jerks to the side and lets out a string of curses. Finally, he calms down enough to address us.

“Alright, you’re not supposed to be here. You were supposed to be sent to the middle fortresses, and then introduced to the front lines a bit at a time.”

Okay, that makes sense. But if we’re not there, then that means…

He continues, “Congratulations! You’re less than a klick from the trench itself. Now, here's the situation, you six are now falling under my command. Less than thirty minutes ago, the corrupted launched a full-scale attack along the top of the trench.”

I can’t help but notice how worried the isopod appears as he says the last sentence. He quickly collects himself and wipes the expression away before continuing.

“Now, they haven’t done something like this in a generation or two. We’ve just dealt with probing attacks. While this outpost was only minorly hit, there is some crazy fighting happening pretty close from here. Our mission is to go scout out and investigate some tunnels that appeared during the course of the attack. Most of the engagements are happening in the open water right now; but the corrupted also tried to burrow beneath the lines. Which means that while the main force engages above, we need to make sure that they aren’t preparing a trap from below. Now, I need to know your capabilities.”

We quickly answer him, outlining our respective competencies. He replies with a simple,

I'm Sergeant Smith. I'm a Paladin of Dexterity.

A Paladin? As he speaks, images rise from the Akasha showing me shining knights and healing hands. Through virtue and piety, they channel their skills from a divine patron. I try to reconcile that image with what I see before me, a tired and grungy isopod with cracked armor. Hmm, maybe dexterity has different standards? I let idle thoughts fade away and focus on the situation. The mission brief is about to start.

The isopod takes over my position at the center of the formation and I move to join Luna at the front. As we fall in and prepare to move out, a dim outline appears in front of my vision. It’s a three-dimensional map of the area, and with a quick glance at the others I see they have one as well. I extend a claw, trying to interact with it.

*poke*poke*

As I do, the map spins to provide a better view.

Neat.

An idle thought seizes me, and I close my pincers. I stick it in the middle of the mana construct and slowly open them. As I do, the construct begins to grow bigger, essentially zooming in to provide a closer look. I idly wonder what the limits of the map skill is and start testing.

*Open Claw*

*Close Claw*

*Open*

*Close*

*Open*

*Clos….*

“Eh hem!”

A large noise comes over comms and I look around and see everyone staring at me. I finish closing my claw and return the map to its default position. As I do, Sergeant Smith begins the brief,

“After this we’ll move out. Like I said, our mission is to scout and survey the tunnels. The area was initially cleared in the first push, but only enough to secure the top side. There is no telling what’s lying below.”

I follow along with a red dot that appears on the diagram. It begins moving, showing our presumed route. I quickly realize that the map is incomplete, what I thought to be fully outlined tunnels actually just end caps of where it was previously surveyed.

Sergeant Smith says,

“The last report I received was that the front is currently dangerous but stable. We just need to make sure the enemy isn’t using the attack above as a front for something devious below. The closest tunnel access is approximately 100 meters to the west of our current position. We’ll be outside the walls of the outpost, where we’ll be open to attack. This will be the most dangerous time of our initial movement. I will attempt to camouflage and cloak us while we move through that open area. Any questions?”

I rock back a little in astonishment. I’ve never heard of a cloaking skill that works on a group before. And I certainly wouldn’t expect that kind of skill from someone like a Paladin. Apparently, I’m not the only one with the same thoughts because Bill raises a claw to speak. At Sergeant Smith’s nod he asks,

“You can camouflage all of us? Paladins can do that?”

Mina pipes up from the back,

“Remember Bill. This is Dexterity we’re talking about.” She seems to realize what she said and awkwardly turns to the Sergeant. She mutters,

“No offense, Sergeant. But your god is pretty sneaky sometimes.”

A brief chuckle comes from the isopod, and he waves a claw in dismissal,

“None taken, sneaky is kind of his whole thing.”

The situation is tense, but it grows a little easier with the moment of levity. Sergeant Smith follows up with,

“But make no mistake. We’ll need all the trickery and guile that we can manage to make it through this mission. We will be unable to deal with a large overwhelming force of corrupted. Keep the goal in mind, survey the area and report the information to higher.”

I nod, determination growing in my shell. A strange mix of nervousness and excitement is warring inside me. There’s a good chance that we could get a ton of contribution points out of a mission like this. A squad of new soldiers on a live mission into an enemy area? There is a lot of potential to do some good here. I try to bolster myself with some self-talk.

You can do this Crabby!

“Are there any more questions?”

Sergeant Smiths voice snaps me back to the matter at hand. No one has any follow up questions, so as the light fades and the map disappears, we begin to move out of the room and into the oceanic courtyard. I immediately notice that we’re surrounded on all sides by a high rampart. There is a gate to the left of us, but my attention is arrested by the gaping hole in the wall in front of us.

The surrounding area is quiet, and I see no movement in my field of view. The source of the flickering red light from before is revealed. I’m able to make out a shattered mana light hanging limply from a scarred and ruined wall. I try to stretch my vision, to see what lies in the murky waters ahead… to no avail.

A flicker of mana from Sergeant Smith covers us and as I glance down at my claws, I can hardly see them. They seem to meld into the surroundings, adaptive camouflage disguising our figures. As we walk towards the exit I hear Sergeant Smith mutter nervously,

“Once more unto the breach…”