Three facts hit Gideon the moment they stepped outside the crashed spaceship. First, he became immediately aware that running was out of the question. Given the lower gravity on the moon’s surface, forward movement was more like a series of giant leaps, and he quickly had to shift his approach to avoid simply tumbling off into the distance, falling end over end.
Second, having a turtle stuck to your chest while you hurtled through space trying to keep yourself upright while scanning the area for enemies wasn’t fun. What made it worse was Bullseye’s insistence on grabbing tighter any time they bounced into the air.
Finally, neither Gideon, Mia nor Red had thought to test the comms in the EV suits. That meant that all three of them were bouncing across the moon’s surface, heading toward the distant buildings without the ability to communicate with one another. In the bulky EV suits, using hand gestures wasn’t likely to communicate any clear messages, so they would be left to instincts and luck if something nasty decided to attack them.
As it was, that something nasty came in the form of a trio of Stalkers moving at pace toward them from their right flank. The alien soldiers had come around the side of the crashed ship and it was only as he twisted unnaturally while bouncing from place to place that Gideon caught sight of the trio and started trying to point out the incoming danger to the others.
Unlike Gideon and his companions, the aliens seemed much more adept at moving across the moon’s surface. They traveled quickly and without bouncing with every step, somehow countering the light gravity.
There were two standard scouts and one Bloodborn, moving in a triangle formation and heading directly toward Red, though he seemed to have no idea they were there. Gideon tried pointing to the enemy, but it was difficult enough to stand let alone communicate the danger effectively.
In the end, he pulled a pistol from his inventory and fired a few rounds behind Red, hoping that the tank would notice and pay attention. The gunshots made no sound at all and, aside from a few puffs of dust coming up from the ground, there was very little to indicate what had happened. Except for the recoil, of course, which sent Gideon’s shoulder swinging backwards and made him spin in place like an awkward ballet dancer on his first day of lessons.
He put the gun back into his inventory and shifted direction, heading toward Red. That meant backtracking a little and then shifting to come up alongside the other man without overshooting and landing right in front of the oncoming enemy.
“What are you doing you buffoon!” Bullseye shouted. “Stop jostling me!”
“Shut your trap!” Gideon spat back, catching Red’s eye as he drew up beside the tank. This close he was able to point behind the pair and Red turned to see the enemy then promptly turned around and started moving as fast as he could towards the huge dome in the distance; the Lunar Transit Station they were roughly heading toward.
Mia, meanwhile, hadn’t seen either the enemy or Gideon doubling back. She was a good thirty feet ahead of the pair, moving with far more grace as she leaped from foot to foot in a straight line toward the building.
Gideon focused on driving his legs against the ground as hard he could manage, increasing the length of his strides and spending longer floating above ground. Red attempted to do the same but seemed to be having trouble coordinating the approach. He was jumping too high and not pushing himself forward enough, causing him to shoot far above the moon’s surface but without the necessary momentum to get him away from the oncoming enemy.
Twisting around to look behind, Gideon saw the problem. He had no way to communicate what was wrong to Red, though it was clear from the way the other man was flailing about with he knew something was wrong.
“Push forward, not up!” Gideon shouted, immediately feeling Bullseye tense up in response and consequently dig his turtle claws into his chest.
“The oaf cannot hear you, Gideon!” Bullseye barked.
The Stalkers were getting closer, staying low to the ground and kicking up dust as they moved towards the pair.
“Shit!” Gideon blurted, halting his movement and turning to face Red as the tank slowly fell toward the ground.
It was too late to run. The Stalkers would be on them in seconds, and they risked getting stabbed in the back if they continued the way they were going. Stuck only half way between the ship and the transit station, they were right out in the open, with no cover to hide behind and a clear disadvantage when it came to movement.
Trying to slow the advance and do some damage at range, he pulled the assault rifle from his inventory. As he looked through the weapon’s targeting sight, Gideon realized that he had never, in his life, shot a firearm.
He’d played thousands of games and even a few simulators which included assault rifles and a huge range of other weapons, but he’d never actually pulled the trigger on a real gun. Filled with confidence that probably wasn’t deserved, he braced his back leg, squatted down a little and fired.
Nothing happened.
The enemy Stalkers were getting closer, Red was just landing back on the ground, toppling over and showing his ass to the enemy as he struggled to right himself.
Gideon pressed the trigger again and nothing happened.
“The safety you imbecile!” Bullseye croaked. “Turn off the safety!”
Feeling like an idiot, Gideon lifted the gun and searched for the safety, finding a little switch just behind and above the trigger. He flipped the switch, repositioned himself and fired a burst of gunfire at the oncoming enemy.
The gun bucked in his grip, thudding into his shoulder and driving him backwards. His boots scrapped in the dirt, sending up puffs of dust as bullets sparked off the armor of the closest Stalker.
Undaunted, the enemy advanced, splitting from their arrow formation so that the two smaller scouts headed to the left and right, leaving the Bloodborn to charge straight ahead, its closed fist held in front of its body like a battering ram, giant sword held high at its side.
Gideon let fly another burst of gunfire, this time able to aim a little better and keep the damage to a cluster of contact points at the Stalker’s chest. The burst didn’t seem to do any damage, but it was enough to knock the Stalker off course a little, causing it to stumble and slide as it ran toward the pair.
Red had recovered from his tumble and drawn the oversized sword. The blade was almost twice his height, but he didn’t seem to have any trouble holding it. Instead of bracing himself for the fight, he actually charged toward the bulking Stalker, but he still hadn’t figured out how to move horizontally so that charge was more like a vertical leap that sent him high up above the moon’s surface while the enemy Stalker looked on in confusion.
Gideon swapped his assault rifle for a talon in each hand as the two regular scouts approached from the left and right. He’d see enough hunters die on Artemis by being outnumbered to know that the first thing he had to do here was take out one of the Stalkers as quickly as possible. That wasn’t going to be easy, given the low gravity, his reasonably limited ability set, and the fact that he was outnumbered two to one.
With no time to think, he immediately popped Marked for Death, then triggered Shadow Step as he turned to face the Stalker on his left. His view shifted and he moved through the space between them, coming up behind the Stalker and striking at the place just beneath the creature’s head.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
That was the plan, anyway, but in reality the Stalker was still moving and Gideon’s Shadow Step and placed him behind the enemy and out of reach with his talon thrust. Confused, the Stalker turned to the left and the right, giving Gideon precious moments to push himself toward the enemy, talons outstretched as he tried to make the best of the situation.
With normal gravity it might have gone very differently. The Shadow Step ability had positioned Gideon perfectly for a devastating double blade attack that might have ended the enemy in one hit, particularly given the bonuses from Marked for Death.
In low gravity, and with Gideon forced to lunge toward the enemy a good second after the ideal time to strike, the results were less than stellar. Gideon did manage to thrust one talon up between the armor plating of the Stalker, but only a moment before the alien soldier twisted around and tried to skewer Gideon with its claws.
The resulting momentum carried Gideon around the enemy, clinging to the talon sticking into the Stalker’s body while his other arm flailed about holding the second talon. It was like the most absurd, slow-motion ballet Gideon could imagine. He quickly stowed his second talon, reasoning that having a hand to grab hold of the enemy was going to be much better than attempting to stab out with a second blade while he was spinning around the enemy.
The pair pirouetted together with the Stalker scraping and swiping, its talons a hair’s breadth from shredding Gideon’s EV suite as the rogue held on for dear life, hoping the talon he gripped with his right hand didn’t suddenly slip out and send him hurtling through space.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, amid the ensuing chaos, Gideon was aware of several things. First, he was confident that Bullseye had drawn blood. The little turtle was clinging to his chest for dear life, screaming bloody murder while they spun around the Stalker currently attempting to rip Gideon to shreds.
Second, Gideon reflected that attempting to fight close up and personal with the Stalker while he was wearing an EV suit was just about the dumbest thing he’d ever done. One tear in the suit and he’d be done, whereas keeping some distance between himself and the enemy seemed like a much smarter ploy.
Thirdly, he was keenly aware that a second Stalker was somewhere nearby, doubtless moments from slicing through his suit and ending Gideon’s lunar jaunt quick smart.
All of this led him to do something either utterly brilliant, or downright stupid. As he swung around the Stalker, Gideon let go of the talon and felt reality shift around him as he flew off into the distance, traveling in a roughly horizontal arc away from the Stalkers and, he hoped, closer to the transit terminal.
As he flew through space, Gideon twisted his head in an attempt to see what had become of Red, finding that the tank was floating high up above the moon’s surface, either having already landed and launched himself upwards again, or still falling from the initial jump.
They were the most absurd pair imaginable, a circus of fools dancing on the surface of the moon while invading aliens conquered their home world.
Gideon was still floating and considering this fact when he caught sight of a vehicle driving at pace toward the Stalkers. Tracer rounds flew through space, peppering the three Stalkers and forcing them to retreat as fire flared around a pair of rear-mounted guns on the roof of the vehicle.
Moving further and further away from the action, Gideon watched as the Stalkers were driven off and Red finally landed on solid ground. Still holding his oversized sword, the tank stood staring at the approaching vehicle as it continued to harass the enemy aliens.
As he hit the ground, Gideon steadied himself, sliding to a halt rather than tumbling over. He turned and looked toward the transit station, squinting to see Mia standing at the doorway, looking out toward him. She’d managed to make it to the entrance without difficulty and without attracting the attention of the Stalkers.
Heading toward the station, Gideon set off again, moving as fast as he was able while Red bounced his way slowly forward, still unable to work out a more efficient way of moving across the lunar surface.
Within a few minutes the group entered the station and were ushered through a decompression and cleaning chamber before entering a small room where they promptly stripped out of their EV suits.
“Never again!” Bullseye practically screeched. “That was intolerable.”
Gideon was tempted to throw the little turtle onto the floor but instead placed it gently on a nearby bench.
“Ditto,” he said, pointing out the blood on his chest from where the turtle had dug its claws in.
“What were you two doing?” Mia asked, brushing a hand through her hair. “I figured you were both right behind me but when I turned around you were miles behind.”
Red snorted. “Can’t help it if you’re a freak. The rest of us aren’t used to bouncing around in low gravity.”
“You were the only one bouncing!” Bullseye hissed. “Then Goodfellow Gideon over there decides to come rescue you and puts us both at risk.”
“He didn’t rescue shit!” Red retorted. “I was handling it fine before you boys showed up.”
“You were about to have your body split in half by a trio of Stalkers you moron!” Bullseye countered. “If it wasn’t for this bumbling fool you’d be dead.”
Gideon held out his hands, trying to calm the pair.
“Look, let’s just agree it didn’t go as well as it could have, but at least we made it here in once piece. Next time, I think we should figure out comms first though, so at least we can communicate.”
“Agreed,” Mia said.
A series of announcements appeared on Gideon’s HUD including a party-wide communication advising that the group had all successfully completed a mission.
MISSION COMPLETE: Reach the Transit Station
You have successfully reached the transit station.
REWARD: 5 Enhancement Points
Gideon watched as five points were allotted to his enhancement store. He turned to Bullseye.
“Is this gonna work the same way it does in Artemis?” he asked. “Assigning enhancement points, I mean.”
“How can it?” the little turtle replied. “We’re not on Artemis are we?”
The little figure’s tone was more than a little snarky, but Gideon resisted the temptation to fire back.
“Let me rephrase the question then. How do we go about assigning enhancement points seeing as we’re not on Artemis?”
The turtle didn’t answer right away. Bullseye closed his eyes and stayed perfectly still for a few moments.
“Is he okay?” Mia asked, stepping up beside Gideon.
Red grunted. “Looks like he’s taking a dump.”
“I’m not taking a dump,” Bullseye responded. “I’m communicating with the Artemis code in Gideon’s echo. I can’t say for sure, but it seems you should be able to add enhancements points any time you wish. Provided you’re not in immediate danger and sufficient time has passed since you were last involved in a fight.”
Gideon nodded. “How long do you think?”
“An hour. Perhaps less. You will simply need to test it out.”
“Already tried,” Red said. “No luck on my end.”
“Me neither,” Mia confirmed. “We should try again in a little while.”
Gideon flicked through the other notifications.
+1 Firearms
+1 Grappling
+1 Endurance
+1 Leadership
Achievement Awarded: Low Gravity Fight!
Congratulations! You just fought an enemy in low gravity. You lost…badly, but at least you gave it your best! Maybe next time you should stick to higher gravity combat areas.
Gideon chuckled, remembering seeing similarly snarky announcements while watching feeds of the Great Hunt back home. He brought up a quick tally of his Basic Skills and arranged them from highest to lowest.
** BASIC SKILLS **
Endurance: 7
Dodge: 5
Leadership: 4
Tactical Insight: 2
Improvised Tools: 1
Bladed Weaponry: 1
Stealth: 1
Counterattack: 1
Grappling: 1
Firearms: 1
There was nothing too surprising in the list, except perhaps for the leadership skill. Most hunters on Artemis didn’t start developing leadership abilities until they had increased to Exemplar level.
Considering their roles in hunting parties it was normally tanks or healers that went for leadership buffs, not rogues. Sneaking around in the shadows didn’t tend to make for an effective party leader and Gideon had specifically chosen the rogue class so that he could climb the ranks quickly and efficiently without having to rely on group hunts.
Circumstances had dramatically changed, however, and for some reason he’d assumed a de facto role as leader within this little party. Gideon didn’t think this would be a permanent situation, especially since they were being coopted into the Ministry’s armed forces, but it explained why his leadership skill level was near the top of his tally.
“Wow!” Mia said, chuckling to herself. “You weren’t wrong, Gideon.”
He turned to her, perplexed.
“We’re in a party, so I can see some of your stats. You’ve already racked up an ether debt of sixty.”
“You can see that shit?”
She nodded. “Of course. It counts as a party debt while we’re together so even though it only relates to you individually, we can both see it.”
Red snorted. “Oh yeah, I see it. Shit dude. Talk about starting off behind the eight ball.”
“Yeah well, if they want to come and get their ether, they’re welcome to try. In the meantime, I’ve got twenty I picked up from that Bloodborn Stalker back at the ship. I could try and divide it three ways—”
“Keep it,” Mia insisted. “We can’t use it yet anyway, so there’s no point giving it to us. Besides, you’re the one with the ether debt.”
“Shit!” Red barked. “We gotta find us a Ministry tech who can fix our echoes. No way I’m risking my ass against these Stalker bitches if I can even use ether.”
“My suggestion,” Bullseye said, “is to stop talking out of your ass and then perhaps—”
Gideon scooped up the turtle before he could finish the sentiment, slipping it into his pocket as the door to the chamber slid open and a man dressed in Ministry fatigues and holding a clipboard greeted them with a nervous smile.
Gideon grinned. “You Book?”
He nodded. “Yes, and you must be Gideon.”
