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  "This is too important, Abbie. I need them in the game."

  Tad leaned on his crutch sipping coffee as he silently watched Abbie check outside the kitchen.

  "Oh dear, that's a lot of people."

  "If you have objections," offered Pete, "please take them up with Christian. He approved this."

  "You know," Tad added, "the president of this company." He fake laughed.

  Abbie's eyes almost closed. "No, I'm sure it's all right. But I'll remember this when I'm planning the next Christmas party." She tried to storm out of the kitchen, but Pete stopped her.

  "I promise, Abbie, it'll all work out. But I need a favor. I'll be bringing my team up to speed on their new permissions and I'm working on some patch edits. Can you go downstairs in my stead and contact the security team?" The community manager scrolled through his phone contacts and showed Abbie. "That's the number of the company."

  She grabbed the phone and blinked. "I... I wouldn't know what to tell them."

  "They've already been briefed on the basics. All you need to do is update them on the SoCal incident and ask them to come in ASAP. Tell them they're activated."

  She blew out hot air. "Why can't Tad do it?"

  They both turned to the programmer who smiled, still leaning against the counter with his hot beverage. He waved his crutch in the air.

  "Ugh. Fine!" Abbie made a beeline for the elevators.

  Pete, ever measured, flashed Tad a half smirk. "If you see Emilio, please get him up-to-date right away. Outside internet access is a priority. If anyone needs me, I'll be in Haven." The community manager led his team away.

  Tad eyed the empty kitchen, with its too-white lights and improperly filled recycle bin and full quiet except for the buzzing of the refrigerator. He took a slow breath, a cathartic breath, and sipped a hot cup of joe.

  Christian Everett had always known the truth about his company.

  As he turned his private key and the doors to the service elevator closed, the car rose above the Kablammy studio penthouse. Because of the sabotage, what had before been routine, habitual maintenance was now a high-wire act. Was his life in danger?

  The CEO had used foresight to get this far, an event years in the making and currently in the home stretch. He'd always known his company's assets would become a target, but he had no idea they'd be physically destroyed. Society was an unpredictable variable, but business was different. Business either held value or didn't. This was why Christian had always prepared for the eventuality of Haven being completely run from within.

  The simulation would be cut off from the outside world. No unnecessary tech support with developers on the inside. Drone launches would handle uploads of new residents and patches. Interfaces would run extensive crypto to prevent viruses or exploits that hijacked the core mission: for Haven to continue unabated no matter what happened on Earth.

  The elevator arrived at the top and Christian pulled the bronze key into his pocket. He advanced through a final stairway and unlocked a door that opened to sunlight. He wound around the outcropping on the roof to a small satellite dish with an external console. He scanned the payload module nestled between structural walls. Both units were unmolested.

  Christian brought a pair of binoculars to his eyes and gazed off the edge of the roof toward the water. Phoenix X was down, but Phoenix Y was alive and kicking. Kablammy still retained launch capabilities. The CEO's secrecy was proving to be another valuable exercise of foresight.

  Thousands of years from now, even if mankind had managed to completely annihilate itself, Haven would persist, either orbiting the planet or adrift in an asteroid field, where its servers running on a combination of solar and nuclear energy, would still house life.

  That was the ultimate evolution of the world. That was Haven's true gift. And Christian Everett intended to be a part of that future, right after he uploaded his consciousness and committed suicide.

  1620 Wing Commander

  Arrows rained from the sky in clusters, sending ranks of goblins panicking. Those who haphazardly pressed forward were met with a unified row of spears. Goblin sergeants regrouped and ordered their archers to return fire, but the paltry barrages pittered harmlessly off organized shield walls.

  The Stronghold legion was only at half strength, leaving another hundred to man the walls. That left them sorely outmatched, three to one. The training of Gladius and his men was proving all the difference.

  Bandit swooped low and opportunistically raked at the horde. Dagger-sized claws toppled heads and rent flesh from bone. My dragonspear was put to similar use, but the kills we racked up weren't the primary objective. We were now the distraction, the flying beast of destruction keeping pagan eyes on the sky while the legionnaires steadfastly advanced.

  I spotted a pair of trolls barreling through the shield wall. Well-timed arrows from the horde followed, cutting down soldiers. The trolls were large targets and not exempt from friendly fire, but their impressive regeneration restored them to full health. Centurions charged forward to stave off the gray giants. The lanky troll arms were faster than they looked. They battered the trained men away as if they were dolls.

  I set my jaw and spurred Bandit forward. Flying low to the ground, an arrow managed to pierce the dragon's leathery wing. The girl snarled and lost altitude. Large paws crushed imps into the ground as she stumbled forward. Bandit planted her claws into a terrified ogre and launched back into the air.

  We were practically untouchable, but the trolls were causing chaos on an otherwise favorable battlefield.

  "See what you got," I said.

  As we converged on the problem area, Bandit forced a beam of light from her throat. The shine rolled unevenly and blasted one of the trolls in the back. Her breath sputtered out before it could complete the kill. The troll pitched forward on the ground, half its shoulder missing.

  Then its regeneration kicked in.

  I growled. "I guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way."

  Bandit slammed into the recovering beastie. I leapt off her back, dashed toward the other troll, and activated deadshot, powering past the troll's swinging arm and burying the dragonspear in the center of its chest.

  Combo!

  Savage!

  You dealt 180 damage to [Troll]

  Red-hot eyes under grimy orange hair locked on me, just inches away. I recoiled from rotting teeth but missed the punch that rocked me to the ground.

  46 damage

  I shook off the daze. Despite being level 10, trolls still packed a literal punch. I turned to find the monster bearing down on me, spear still embedded in its chest. Despite the lodged weapon, its health bar was already refilling. I spat blood on the floor and drew an assassin needle. The blade wasn't built for a fair fight, but I was mostly concerned with not being hit again. The +8 boost to agility assisted with that.

  I ducked a wild swipe and dashed away from a ground pound. The reach of the beast was terrifying. During my acrobatics, I noticed Bandit having fun in the mosh pit. Her troll was down for the count, but by landing on the ground she'd invited every single nearby pagan to leap on her back. Instead of finding herself in trouble, she used the opportunity to walk back the enemies who'd broken through the legionnaire line.

  So I was on my own for a little while. Fine by me.

  I feinted to the left and rolled forward, under the troll's guard. My dagger punched into its gray belly, spilling rancid fluid. I reached for my spear but the monster twisted for a grapple, giving me no space to remove it. Rather than turn into troll jerky, I slipped between its legs, making sure to take my weapon with me this time. Another flash of the dagger opened the back of its knee.

  The troll spun wildly, landing a glancing blow that shoved me away. I grunted in frustration and watched its health begin to refill. I didn't have any poisons or DoTs to counteract its magic.

  As I pondered how to most efficiently clump my damage together, a flaming sword chopped the distracted troll's hand clean off. The beast roar
ed and instinctively swiped its arm to counter, but the half-limb missed the commander of the city watch.

  "Too dumb, too slow," muttered Gladius as he drove his sword into the troll's heart.

  The centurion released his weapon and hopped back as the troll's working arm jabbed. Gladius braced behind his shield and shoved forward. The troll stumbled backward, stunned. It was still at half health, but the flames on the magical sword seared the flesh it contacted. The damage itself was inconsequential, but it kept the beast from regenerating.

  The centurion's gold helmet swiveled my way. "You mind taking it from here? I'm not much of a boxer."

  I grinned fiercely. "With pleasure."

  With my combat skills recharged, I plowed forward and lodged the assassin needle through the troll's eye. It collapsed on its knees, still clinging to life. We ripped our weapons free from its chest and Gladius spun around and lopped its warty head off.

  "I gotta get me one of those," I said in awe.

  "Not for sale." Gladius immediately turned and regrouped his men.

  The hole Bandit cleared could've fit a Vegas hotel pool. The shield wall quickly reformed and the legionnaire advance didn't miss a step.

  I made my way over to Bandit, pulled an arrow from her wing and a dagger from her side, and scratched her chin as she panted like a good doggo. "Scars make you look tough," I joked.

  She growled like a lion, the noise reverberating through the earth.

  "Okay, okay, you already look tough." I scanned the battlefield between passing friendly soldiers. "What do you say? Bird's-eye-view?" As I climbed on the dragon's back, alarm horns sounded from the city. We burst into the air.

  Talon: What's the problem? Nobody broke through our line.

  Izzy: We're fine on the wall. The horns are coming from the east gate. I'm on my way.

  Talon: Ditto.

  I scowled as we rocketed out of the skirmish. It was faster to fly over the city, but I wanted a better handle on what was going on. I surveyed the open desert plains to the south and the fields to the north. The tended lands were clear. I played a hunch and steered Bandit northward.

  As we rounded the wall, I scanned for flanking troops. The yellowing Mediterranean grass was unmarred. Given the current threat, even the noob dungeons were abandoned. The forested tree line beyond provided ample cover up to a point, but there was no way the goblins could've skirted the city after the woods ended.

  Then again, the siege had gone on for days. There was nothing stopping any number of enemies from retreating and converging from whichever direction they liked.

  We kicked lower to the ground and hurried to the eastern tended land. In the distance down the east road, a troop of a hundred bandits marched for the wall. Shorehome combatants, loyal to Hadrian. There were humans and goblins among them, but none belonged to the pagan faction. Which meant, technically, they could breach the city.

  As we approached to scout the situation, we rounded the wall and had full sight of the second gate. A small mass of bandits on horseback drove straight along the road, far ahead of the rest of their army. There were no more than twenty of them, but they escorted a speeding double-wide wagon headed straight for the east gate. It was a monstrosity, with an armored shell and anti-cavalry prongs protecting its mass. With a metal extension stretching ahead, it looked like a cross between a tank and a battering ram.

  "Damn it."

  I tugged Bandit's reins and redirected her away from the distant army. We needed to stop the siege engine. As we raced to the bore on oversize wheels, I realized they were too fast. We wouldn't make it in time.

  I growled again. The horde had kept us a step behind, but I wasn't gonna let a little distraction smash down our gates. I pushed Bandit to her limit and ordered, "Give 'em all you've got."

  Her mighty jaws barely coughed up a spark.

  I grimaced. Dragonrunning was still new to me. In the absence of explicit menus, mounts and pets were directed by voice commands. I trusted the bongo-turned-dragon with my life, but her capabilities weren't a simple Dragon Breath: 0/5 menu item. This battle was the most I'd pushed her so far, and I was learning a lot.

  A few horsemen broke away and pointed long lances to defend the superbore. I pulled Bandit up, hoping to bypass them and take down the wagon. I cursed as I canceled the maneuver, flying past. The spikes protecting the superbore weren't anti-cavalry, they were anti-dragon. If Bandit attempted to smash the vehicle with a body blow, she would mostly succeed at impaling herself in several places.

  Our speed necessitated a wide-angle turn away from the wall. By the time we regained a bead on the riders we were behind them, over the road, between the horsemen and their distant army. They were gonna make it to the gate.

  DEVELOPER CONSOLE

  >> city watch

  >> archers_

  Taking direct control of the guards at the gate probably wasn't necessary, but I wanted to ensure full coordination. Unfortunately, most of the archers were stationed on the west wall watching the horde. I reallocated some resources. They wouldn't arrive in time for the cavalry, though they'd come in handy against the bandit army. The few archers that were present harried the horsemen but were ineffective at slowing their forward progress.

  As we sped along the road, several Rough Riders broke away from our target to cover their rear. The riders faced us in a line with lances ready. Attempting to go over them so closely to the bore was dangerous. I decided to go through.

  The battering ram pounded the huge double doors of the east gate. Wood buckled and bounced within the reinforced frame. The metal arm of the superbore had expended its best strike with its maximum momentum. Maybe the gate had a chance. But then, by some mechanism hidden beneath the armored shell, the arm of the superbore pulled back and lurched forward, punching the gate again. As it wound up to speed, its movement became a blur, pounding repeatedly like a jackhammer.

  I clenched my jaw, knuckles going white on the dragonspear. Bandit sped toward a waiting line of death.

  "You're gonna have to trust me, girl."

  She snorted like it was ridiculous to expect anything less.

  We bore down on the Rough Riders, their trio of leadership sitting center: Colt, the cowboy; Chico, the highwayman; and that bitch dragoon in the center.

  "Come on, you bastard," she howled. "I ain't scared of you!"

  [Jackie] cast Jade Fire

  Her lance lit up with green flames. We sped closer, seconds till impact, and my eyes narrowed.

  I leapt forward and activated dash, shooting just ahead of the speeding chestnut dragon. As I hit the line of lances I triggered spinshield and became a whirling ball of armor. The lances spun off to the side as I bowled into them, breaking rank. The magical flame seared me on all sides, but the damage had been done. Their coordinated line was now a shambles of lances in disarray.

  Jackie's eyes widened. "You interminable son of a—"

  Razor-sharp teeth chomped her in half, right through her plate armor. Swiping claws took out her cohorts, Colt and Chico and others whose names weren't worth knowing. Horses tumbled and crushed me to the ground. I skidded out and kept bouncing.

  Fall Damage!

  11 damage

  Fall Damage!

  6 damage

  Ignoring a healthy dose of road rash, I kicked to my feet and continued my momentum toward the superbore. Some of the cavalry headed me off so I postponed my chase as the battering ram worked on the wall.

  Several armed horsemen flanked me, with others charging the dragon.

  "That's one way to go," I muttered.

  I had to respect their determination. Each one was willing to sacrifice themselves for precious seconds that might be the difference between success and failure. And buy that time they did. As confident as I was of our chances of victory, I couldn't easily skirt a vanguard of mounted fighters.

  Their lances lowered to meet me. My stance widened, boots scraping the dirt.

  Magical icicles impaled the horsemen from b
ehind. Izzy stood atop the wall, raining down cold death. The cavalry spun on their horses and panicked.

  The enemy distracted, I activated deadshot and uprooted a rider from his horse. I took the reins and galloped ahead, leaving Bandit on mop-up duty.

  My first priority was the superbore operators. I dispatched them from behind but one managed to take an axe to the rear wheel. The bore jerked, off balance, sending my horse into a tumble that pinned my leg to the ground. I scraped out from under the mount, cursing as I considered the hobbled siege engine. Without a wheel, the operator had ensured the bore would stay in place.

  I rose to my feet to face the remaining Rough Riders. Izzy and the archers above had clean shots. When Bandit joined us, it was over. The last of them fell just as the siege engine whined to a stop. Without operators to constantly wind the mechanism, it no longer had juice. Their first strike was down and the bore was inactive.

  I limped to the door. The metal arm had punched through half of the thick wood, right below the locking bar. If the pounding had kept up another minute, they would have—

  A spark caught my eye. The metal arm wasn't just a battering ram. Something was wedged into its tip. Something that—

  My eyes widened.

  "It's a bomb!" I yelled. I braced my body against the wagon and tried to cart it away, but it was a no-go. The axle with the broken wheel was firmly lodged in the ground. "Bandit!"

  The dragon shoved me aside with her muzzle and swiped at the lances protecting the vehicle's shell, snapping the wooden points away. She reared and barreled her shoulder into the superbore, lifting its wheels off the ground and shifting it a couple of feet. The metal arm was still in the wall, but the strike had dislodged it. Bandit's next blow shoved the superbore loose. Her limbs surged against the ground and the wagon drove sideways. Wheels snapped. The bore and the bomb tumbled. White-hot fire seared to life.