Players will be Dispatched

by Dahmiel

A new massive update has finally dropped, and a new Outland region has been introduced into the complex VRMMORPG game, Remnant: Online. Unbeknownst to the players, this new region is the bona fide World of Remnant that we all know and behold. Two worlds unknowingly collided; what is an army of gamers to do in this new world? Conqueror and wreak havoc, of course.

3. Chapter 3

I'd finally located the missing draft of the ORIGINAL concept of this story. I'll probably upload that one after I look over and edit it.

---

'Thoughts'

"Speech, different language"

"Speech"

---

Chapter 3:

[Remnant: Online]
[Alliance, Avalon-Estria Sovereignty]
[Alliance Central Assembly]

Avalon and Estria were once a separate alliance. Then an update introduced the merge feature for the alliance system, allowing people to merge into bigger alliances without the hassle of allocating resources and players. The collapse and disbandment of the Wolf Packs left a huge power vacuum in the region, causing every regional alliance to fight for control. Halfway in the chaotic battle for power did Avalon and Estria decide to put aside their minor differences and merge, creating the alliance now known as the Avalon-Estria Sovereignty.

Now, the alliance is a regional powerhouse with vast influences and resources. Though even with the merger of the two alliances, they still retain some of their distinctiveness due to the freeform features that allow alliances to customize their member's privileges and ranks.

The alliance leadership is interesting per se. Avalon retains their Senate/Council and Estria their Imperial Court with both sides tending to their original territories and needs. When a matter requires both leaderships, a Central Assembly is called. This also extends to their 'military' forces to a degree with their own specialties like mechanized cavalry, air force, and navy.

"Okay. I'm back." Archie Bolt's avatar flickers into a solid form.

Name: [Councilor] Archie Bolt
Level: 210
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 29663/29663
HP: [100%] 120/120
STR: 298
DEX: 242
AGI: 194
INT: 322
WIS: 150
RES: 81

"Welcome back. If there's nothing else the Central Assembly is resuming its session."

The Central Assembly Chamber is a sparse circular room with lavish decorations and bolted furniture. A total of sixteen players are currently occupying the room, every one of them is either a Senator or Councilor from Avalon or an Aristocrat from Estria.

"So, uh. Remind me again what our overarching plans in the new Outland region are?" Asked one of the Councilors.

"Construct outposts with automated defenses on the mountains and move down into the flatter terrains. Then we start building our railroad networks for moving people and resources. That's the initial plan."

"Already we have our outposts and defenses built near our point of interest before we begin building our fortress. The railroads come next."

"Did we encounter any other alliances in the Outlands yet?"

"Only our allies. We're sharing a mountain coastline with the Grimleal as agreed upon. Moving on, our scouts found something interesting that'll help with recon. Luka?"

Everyone turns their attention to a young man dressed in a white-colored officer's uniform with cedar-colored hair and faded grey eyes.

Name: [Aristocrat] Luka
Level: 204
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 21855/21855
HP: [100%] 100/100
MP: [100%] 2100/2100
STR: 119
DEX: 321
AGI: 222
INT: 208
WIS: 350
RES: 125

"It's an interesting find." Luka taps his metallic swagger stick on the ground. "Our scouts found a village a kilometer away from a river they've been exploring. Those villagers then provided them a map of the entire Outland when they asked for directions."

With another tap of his swagger stick, a projection of a map displayed itself in the center of the chamber.

[World Map of Remnant]

"If by world map, does that mean our map interface is completely cleared of any fog of war?"

"Yup. We can check on the areas far out, but not in great detail. It'll still save us time." Luka points at several marked spots on the map. "From what those NPCs told us, there are four kingdoms. City-states really. Mistral, Atlas, Vale, and Vacuo. Our alliance territory is in Mistral claimed lands."

"Which means we'll probably be forced to fight against that kingdom soon." Said a Senator, Andurmir.

Name: [Senator] Andurmir
Level: 218
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 38821/38821
HP: [100%] 127/127
STR: 160
DEX: 209
AGI: 286
INT: 228
WIS: 228
RES: 142

"Maybe not." Luka refutes. "From what I've gathered, Mistral is a kingdom that has difficulties controlling its vast territory they claim. Bandits, organized crime… They can't enforce their law the further out from their capital city. At least, that's what the villagers told our scouts. I'll confirm it whether it's true or not when I head to the Outlands."

"The moment I heard bandits and criminals; I knew you'll be involved."

Luka shrugs. "It's in my element. Set a bandit to kill a bandit."

"We don't want banditries interfering with our assets. Not in the Outlands." Another Aristocrat named Niiya spoke up. "Luka. Are you stopping your raiding operations in Kay2 territories?"

Name: [Aristocrat] Niiya
Level: 212
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 46870/46870
HP: [100%] 120/120
MP: [100%] 3673/3673
STR: 192
DEX: 282
AGI: 246
INT: 359
WIS: 376
RES: 196

Ever since the Kay2 alliance betrayed them in the previous Outlands expedition, there have been constant raids on their territories. The grudge is deep enough for Avalon-Estria to still conduct massive skirmishes and raiding operations in Kay2 territories with vigor even though two years have passed since their betrayal.

"I plan on recalling all of my Chevauchee Brigade if you're okay with that."

"Recall them. Kay2 isn't not heading out to the Outlands to take advantage of anyway."

"I'd rather we have some people fucking up their place." Growled an Aristocrat named ThePack21.

[Sound Only – ThePack21]

Unlike most of the players in the chamber, ThePack21 isn't fully logged into the game due to being preoccupied and is instead connected to the meeting via sound only.

"We can do that later," Niiya said firmly. "Right now, we'll focus on our gains in the Outlands." He turns to Luka. "Dial back on your expansionism until we finish our fortress. Have the flying fortress stationed over the center in the meantime. We don't want to overextend."

"I'll see it done."

"And what about these Outland settlements? Are we going to explore these cities and towns on the map?" Andurmir highlights the marked areas that are 'closest' to their ever-expanding territories. "This is the first time we have multiple large in-game civilizations in the Outlands. They might become a threat very soon."

"Send a few of our guys and check it out." Archie Bolt waves dismissively. "Someone who won't bomb the place and have the country declare war on us like last time."

"Yeah. Dahmiel."

Everyone turns to Dahmiel with a scolding look.

Name: [Councilor] Dahmiel
Level: 173
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 20989/20989
HP: [100%] 100/100
STR: 196
DEX: 192
AGI: 150
INT: 202
WIS: 155
RES: 259

Due to an outdated prototype VR model Dahmiel is using, he's unable to speak and instead relies on the chat display and audio files to communicate.

[Dahmiel: Look. I was losing a fight and somebody's semblance teleported me to a random spot the moment I self-destructed. Not my fault some random VIP NPC was nearby. I was framed. We were framed.]

"You fucking suicide bombed the Queen of Arcadia!"

Archie Bolt lets out a wheeze, causing half of the players to break down in laughter at the recollection of that faithful day.

"Fucking killed what's essentially the in-game counterpart of the Queen of England. Holy shit. Funny as hell, but it sucks that our relation went into the negative values after that."

"Eh, we were never close with that crap kingdom anyway."

"Gives us an excuse to harvest their citizen's Aura for our military robots."

"We're getting off-topic. You guys want out of this meeting? Then let's finish our agenda for today."

/-/

[World of Remnant]
[Sanus Continent, Kingdom of Vale]
[Beacon Academy]

"What did you find?"

"Some answers and a lot of questions." Replied a silver-haired boy named Mercury Black.

"I was able to catch a glimpse of those medical personnel wheeling body bags and a picture." Emerald hands over her scroll to show the pictures she took. "Counted five body bags. Don't know who's inside."

Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury sat on their respective beds going over the information they've been gathering on the recent incident that's been the topic of the news outlet and rumor mill.

Currently, the speculations have been that a group of highly trained assassins were planning on infiltrating Beacon Academy for some nefarious reasons and ran into Team RWBY and JNPR. Whatever went down, it resulted in both teams being admitted to the infirmary and the deaths of five out of six of the assassins. That remaining assassin broke free from the General's own ship, took out the security, somehow stole all the bodies, and confiscated items before disappearing into thin air.

What has been confirmed is that a team of cadets, Team RWBY and JNPR, had been attacked by assailants with unknown motivations and that they had a suspect in custody.

The keyword is had. They had a suspect in custody. While not much is known about the escapee, it is known that the suspect is a young male with black hair and blue eyes. Young enough to blend into a Huntsman Academy which caused a lockdown followed by a manhunt.

Cinder looked disappointed. "Is this all?"

"For now," Emerald said all too hastily. "I plan on talking with Team RWBY if I get the chance. They're not allowed visitors as of now."

"And our plans might be getting harder to pull off." Mercury taps on his scroll and showed them a news article. "Says here that the official total of 23 soldiers was severely injured. The people of Vale are calling into question the Vytal Festival security. The council too. The General is promising to up security by transferring some Specialists to safeguard the festival."

A flicker of flame erupts from Cinder's eyes as she read the article. The presence of Atlas Special Operatives will make things difficult for them. It wasn't a setback. Their chances of completing their tasks in Vale are still high. Atlas Military is an arrogant bunch. As long as Dr. Watt's virus is still in the system and the Creatures of Grimm swarming the kingdom, they will emerge victoriously.

"Keep a low profile. We will work to undermine Beacon while their attention is elsewhere."

"Got it." He resumes his browsing of the news section. "Media is in a frenzy about this. I like this one. 'Assassinate attempt on SDC heiress?' Makes the most sense so far with how many faunus and businesses they screwed over."

Emerald rolls her eyes and collapse on her bed. "Ugh. Nothing but gossips and 'oh my god, did you hear' this and that. It's all brain rot until the Vytal Festival starts."

"And a huge uptick in security. They didn't act like this after the Breach."

"Because what happened hit too close to home for Ozpin." Her amber-colored eyes scour the light blue sky outside their dorm's window. "The question is, what is it?"

/-/

[Remnant: Online]
[Alliance, Avalon-Estria Sovereignty]
[Floating Fortress, Ormshire]

Ormshire is the name of the large floating fortress owned and constructed by the Avalon-Estria Sovereignty. From what Kieran could recall, Avalon-Estria has five floating fortresses with Ormshire being the first. It supposedly took about 65 days for the structure to be completed.

Gravity Dust keeps the fortress afloat and can be steered like an airship. The overall structure has a circular width populated with numerous sturdy buildings and turrets. A series of transmitter towers were outfitted near the inner part of the fortress. Not communications or radio towers. A weapon. Each tower emits a frequency that can bring most Creatures of Grimm underneath the alliance control.

And that's not the only arsenal Ormshire possesses. The entire structure is armed to the teeth with mountain-shattering artilleries, anti-aircraft turrets, autocannons, giant laser guns… The list goes on. Of course, a massive floating target like Ormshire can't be called a flying fortress if it falls prey to all sorts of BFGs. That's where its all-encompassing multi-shield generator comes into play, allowing the fortress to absorb any attacks and retaliate in kind.

Name: [Mercenary {N/A}] Kieran
Level: 87
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 14968/14968
HP: [100%] 130/130
STR: 103
DEX: 220
AGI: 212
INT: 145
WIS: 192
RES: 60
Perks
Skills
Equipment
Inventory

Kieran continues to follow the path highlighted on the map interface that Huang marked for him. Ormshire is a large and complex place. A perfect place to get lost and unwelcomed visitors will have a difficult time infiltrating Ormshire. Only verified visitors, mercenaries, and allied alliance members are allowed onto the floating fortress.

Those who are not verified will have to fight through endless automated weapons platforms, patrols of Aura-enhanced combat androids, and skilled high-level players. Even if he were to go full stealth with his semblance, he'll be vaporized after several steps. Fortunately, Huang verified and granted Kieran the Mercenary role, allowing him permission to enter Ormshire.

Kieran stepped to the side to allow another patrol of Aura enhanced combat androids through. Standing six feet tall, these combat androids looked like something out of a Halo game due to the appearance of their armor and weapons. Whoever designed them must have been a Halo fan. Accompanying the combat androids are a series of combat robots. Unmanned ground combat machines in the form of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

It felt like the entire fortress has been automated, which isn't far from the truth. Still, there are a lot of players hanging around. Most of them are from Avalon-Estria, but a decent number of them are mercenaries and allied alliances.

"Kieran!" Someone calls out to him.

Name: [Imperial Guard] Ian
Level: 202
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 36294/36294
HP: [100%] 197/197
STR: 293
DEX: 286
AGI: 277
INT: 185
WIS: 130
RES: 145

Kieran's older cousin, Ian, is a fit young man with medium-length ashy colored hair and pale eyes. His in-game alliance uniform is a light grey combat uniform with a faded silver segmented cuirass covering his entire torso. A pair of shin guards, kneepads, heavy black boots, and faulds protected the lower half while Ian's arms were lacking any protective gear in exchange for the freedom of movement. On his shoulder is his distinctive unit insignia depicting a phoenix biting on a crown with its beak, and clutching a sword and buckler with its talons.

Another one of the alliance's creative work and dedication. Avalon-Estria likes to keep its members organized, semi-professional, but flexible. Especially their best fighters like Ian, hence his rank as an Imperial Guard.

Kieran ran up to his cousin and bump fists.

"Hey, we getting ready to go?" Kieran noted that there was a platoon of Avalon-Estrian fighters standing by an airfield nearby. "What's with the lineup?"

"We're waiting for Luka to arrive. The Central Assembly thing took longer than expected, so we've been getting more people on board while we wait." Ian swiveled his head at the sound of an engine running. "Just on time."

A grey camouflage airship roars overhead, slowly coming to a halt over the airfield.

It lands and immediately the hatch opens to reveal Luka in his white-colored officer's uniform.

Name: [Aristocrat] Luka
Level: 204
Alliance: Avalon-Estria Sovereignty
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 21855/21855
HP: [100%] 100/100
MP: [100%] 2100/2100
STR: 119
DEX: 321
AGI: 222
INT: 208
WIS: 350
RES: 125

"Sorry for the wait! Let's get this party started."

He strolls with a controlled gait, rhythmically tapping the floor with his metallic swagger stick. He acknowledged the group waiting for him with a nod.

Luka is a well-known and infamous figure in Remnant: Online within certain regions. He's one of the first people to obtain the in-game achievement and title "The Bandit Emperor" for uniting every NPC bandit clan in the Dalton region and using them as a personal army to control the region. Then he intentionally pissed off every player with his taunting and PvP banditry resulting in one of the massive bandit exterminations in-game. By the end of it all, the Dalton region was devoid of bandit mobs and Luka escaped with a ton of loot.

It doesn't help that his semblance boosts his stats whenever there are 'negative emotions' nearby, giving him all the more reasons to antagonize people. In addition to his semblance, he has mana that grants him access to magic spells. 'Souvenirs' he got from killing remnants of the First Humans and other players possessing mana making him a dangerous and experienced player.

"Hello, Ian. Glad to see you're my bodyguard today."

"Yo. Took you long enough."

"Had to deal with some things behind the scene." Luka nudged his head at the aircraft where more players were getting off. "Gathered a few extra hands for the recon missions." He turns his attention to Kieran. "And good job taking care of Xtravert and his boys."

"Thanks."

Ian looked at the roster. "Joan not here today?"

"She wants to finish binging her TV shows. Hopefully, she doesn't burn down our house."

"So, what are we doing exactly? Sightseeing?" Asked Kieran.

From the previous chat message with Ian, Luka wants people to do some exploration on major towns and cities. Kieran is all down for that. There's more to entertainment and enjoying a VR game than fighting and crafting. Exploration is a key feature of Remnant: Online and it's always exhilarating to travel and discover new things. Add in some possible firefights in a shady part of town or a Grimm stampede mid-travel and it's your typical frontier adventure.

"That's one way to put it." The Aristocrat's eyes glint in the sun. "We're dividing people into groups. Most of us will remain in our territories to manage, defend, and speed up the construction rate. Another will go out to clear the field for construction, and the rest will be doing recon." An eager grin spread across Luka's face. "But before we go exploring, let's go pay the village that helped provide us the information about this Outland region called Remnant. Right after briefing, of course."

"And hope we don't encounter any high-level Korean, Chinese, Norwegian, Swedish, or Swiss alliances out there," Ian mutters under his breath.

The grin slips from Luka's face and he narrows his eyes. "That's what the Ormshire is here for. Though most of the Swiss alliances are good neighbors."

"Attention! This is your captain speaking. We're about to enter the Outlands, so please do not kill each other and then start whining about damaged or loss of items." A player on the intercom announced. "Blah, blah. Not responsible for death and damages and so on. Thank you for traveling with us on Ormshire airline!"

The towering pillar of light that acts as the gateway between worlds grew larger as the floating fortress flies closer and closer to the interdimensional gate. Light wash across the Ormshire like a rowboat passing through a waterfall and into its cavern, carrying the massive floating fortress into a new world.

/-/

[World of Remnant]
[Anima Continent, Kingdom of Mistral]
[Sarabetsu Village]

Enokida Yugoro had seen a lot of things in his lifetime.

He was born during the Great War, saw the end of it at the age of five, survived the destruction of two settlements by the Creatures of Grimm, and witnessed the countless changes occurring throughout the Kingdom of Mistral. After years of traveling and learning, he settled down and started a family in a village called Sarabetsu.

Sarabetsu village resides cozily by a mountain stream. The terrain is favorable, providing the villagers with fresh water and food, and the difficult mountain range makes it difficult for land-based Grimm to attack their village in large numbers.

A man well in his late eighties and now the village mayor, Yugoro lived a fulfilling life and thought he had seen it all. Until the arrival of a small party of nine people appearing from the mountain ranges.

They arrived on motorcycles that that can shift into hoverbikes and had large guns mounted on them. Most wore light grey body armor and helmets; others had a completely different attire and wield a vast assortment of weapons. What unified them was a symbol etched into the shoulder of their uniforms. A winged dragon on the left, and a phoenix on the right, both holding up a decorative shield with odd symbols.

The villagers thought they were Huntsmen or Huntresses in training on a field trip as most were teens around the age of 16 or 17 and had transforming weapons. Weapons you wouldn't see ordinary people normally using.

The oldest of the group and apparent leader approached them and asked if they have a map, which they happily obliged to help out the lost group. The confusion begins to settle in when the group leader seemed ignorant about the four kingdoms and Huntsman Academies. Still, Yugoro answered their questions and was able to get some answers out of the group leader. They represent a union. An alliance called the Avalon-Estria Sovereignty, or Avalon-Estria for short.

And with that, they simply left.

The next thing he knew, he's in a meeting with one of their leaders.

"A pleasure to meet you." A young man dressed in a white-colored officer's uniform greeted them with a courtesy bow after their introduction. He has cedar-colored hair and faded grey eyes with a cunning glint in them.

He calls himself Luka and one would be forgiven if they'd mistaken him for an Atlesian. After all, only the Atlesians wore dress uniforms with that much white. The only minuscule difference is that his dress uniform is paired with folded outlines of black, not red, or blue. Luka arrived on an airship along with another individual who Yugoro presume to be his bodyguard though the young man dismissed him.

Very Atlesian like.

"And you as well." Yugoro returns, "May I ask what is the purpose of your visit?"

"To give you, my thanks. Your village has done us a great service by assisting our scouts in understanding the lands we've found ourselves in."

"You're very much welcome."

"And we too would like to return the favor."

"You're too kind. But there's no need for that. We're just happy to help those in need."

Yugoro is warily about Luka. While Luka claims he is not an Atlesian and has no knowledge of the Kingdom of Atlas, his attire and mannerism say otherwise. Furthermore, the 'scouts' were equipped with advanced technology, weapons, and uniforms screamed military or private security. Avalon-Estria might as well be the company's name. He's heard of private companies exploiting towns and villages with sweet words and doesn't wish Sarabetsu village to have the same fate.

Needless to say, Atlas doesn't have a good track record in instances of private enterprises like the Schnee Dust Company. It doesn't help Atlas is the only kingdom with a military, and if Luka isn't with the Atlas Military he could represent a private security firm, most of which are from Atlas.

Sarabetsu village is built far away from Mistral and by extension, Atlas. All for good reasons. They don't like the kingdom's handling of things. Whatever Luka is offering, the entire village is likely to turn it down.

"I understand." The expression on Luka's smiling face didn't change. "You wish to preserve your independence. Would you like to hear more about my offer before rejecting it? Even if you do, it'll still stand."

Yugoro didn't like this. But he'll be foolish to dismiss something without hearing it first.

"What is it you are offering?"

"Reconstruction. Improvements. Increased quality of life to this lovely village." Luka gestures at the world outside his window. "Free of charge of course."

An offer too vague and too good to be true.

"Of monetary value. Surely there is something you would gain out of this."

"That there is." He taps his metallic stagger stick on the floor. "A thriving and self-sustaining village will grow. It'll become a town, and maybe someday… A city. Of course, such a thing can't happen without investments."

"Forgive me if I'm sounding skeptical or rude, but why?" Yugoro furrows his eyebrows. "Why are you interested in this village?"

"Because we've claimed the mountain ranges as our own. No longer shall it be a part of Mistral, but of Avalon-Estria. We seek to expand our territories and we will be establishing our stronghold and operations as the time passes." Luka looked him in the eyes. "We wish to be good neighbors and this is our goodwill."

Yugoro was at a loss for words, unsure what Luka is saying. "I'm afraid I'm not following."

"Quite simple, really. We'll be taking from Mistral. A kingdom with this much land and cannot control it does not deserve it. From what I heard, bandits and organized crime run rampant throughout this kingdom." Luka's eyes gleamed as he grinned, sending chills down Yugoro's spine. "I have a simple solution to that, but that shouldn't be of concern."

Frantic footsteps could be heard down the hallway. One of the village elders burst into the room, looking out of breath.

"Enokida-sama!" An elderly woman in her seventies gasped for air. "There's Grimm! Out eastward in the sky… Many Grimm is flying around something in the sky! Too many!"

"What?!"

Luka was unfazed and put his hand out, smiling. "Shall we see what it is?"

Yugoro hurried out of the building with Luka and the village elder on his heel. He feared for the worst. Sarabetsu village is far from helpless. Their defenses can deal with flying Grimm, but there's a limit to how many Grimm they can bring down before getting overwhelmed.

He came to a skittering halt just outside the building, watching in awe and horror. Far out and flying above the forest mountains is a massive structure that floats silently in the sky, surrounded by numerous flying Grimm. He could hardly pick out what type of Grimm were swarming the floating structure, but their black bodies and glowing red marking and eyes are very distinguishable from where they stand. What happened next was by far the most baffling.

The Creatures of Grimm flying around the floating structure suddenly became organized, flying in formation and making perfect shapes in the sky. Like a school of fish performing tricks for the audience's entertainment.

"Wha-"

"Wonderful, is it not?" Luka chips in and points at the floating structure with his stick. "That's the Ormshire. The first flying fortress we've built out of five."

"You…"

"Worry not. Those Grimm over there obey us now." He continues. "Regardless of whether you accept or decline our offer, we shall respect your decision. Consider us friendly neighbors. You won't need to worry about the Grimm from this side now. That much we can promise."

/-/

[Remnant: Online]
[Outlands [?], Sanus Continent]
[Mountain Glenn]

"Now this is a good place to set up."

Fifty-four players from the alliance Runningflags trek through the ruined city that is Mountain Glenn while another thirty-seven rolled in with their armored vehicles. Scores of desolated buildings remain standing with broken roads and sidewalks cracked. Whatever infrastructure that was once in place is now a skeleton of its former self. All the better to claim this place for their own. It's not every day one would find an intact city laying around.

Besides the ever-present Grimm, it's not much of a threat to the players. Even the towering and damage-soaking Goliaths are no match for the heavy hitters and weaponry they've employed. There's no reason not to recycle this ruined city.

"Oh wow. There's even an underground city and subway."

"It's got everything for us."

"It's free real estate!"

Their team leader, Davi, tuts disapprovingly. "Dead meme."

Name: [Captain] Davi
Level: 210
Alliance: Runningflags
Status: None
Aura: [100%] 41186/41186
HP: [100%] 130/130
MP: [89%] 1660/1865
STR: 333
DEX: 224
AGI: 206
INT: 284
WIS: 200
RES: 182

"Okay, millennial."

"Don't make me kill you." Ignoring the jeering laughs from his peers, Davi pulls up his interface and motion the others to secure the place. "Clear the area! Gather materials! I'm beginning construction!"

[Constructing: Fortress Design v6]
[Materials Expedited: 685620 Concrete, 458953 Lignum Wood, …]

A bright blue orb materializes on his palm.

[Select a suitable location for construction]

He tossed the blue orb onto the crossroad. It sank into the floor and begin the construction process. Digital blue particles quickly spread out from the ground, assimilating the area around it. The paved asphalt was assimilated as the interior architecture takes shape followed by a basic perimeter.

[Constructing: Fortress Design v6] {2%}

While a small squad of them had the boring task of guarding the construction, the others were already exploring Mountain Glenn. Half went down to the underground cavern that had a railroad system while the other half explored the above including those within their vehicles.

"Whoa. The devs really went all out with this underground city."

A complex underground city was a sight to see. Not the most impressive, but it's something worth admiring.

"Wonder where this subway tunnel goes."

One of the scouts turned on his night-vision goggles and zoom down the tunnel. All he saw are piles of rubbles that filled nearly the entire tunnel and something that crumpled underneath it. Like a giant mech.

"There's a cave in up ahead. I can see some giant metal arm sticking from underneath."

"Captain. Shall we investigate?" One of the players asked Davi.

"Why not? Dorick, send your section in. Brutalize, go clear the rubble with your semblance. Shmadie, get a tank and APC down there." A notification ping alerted Davi. He opened the message chat and saw that it was from a friend of his. "Hang on. Let me answer this."

He collapsed his chain gun and readjust his ammo backpack to sling his weapon over.

---

[Private Chat]

[Andurmir] Everything alright on your end?

[Davi] Constructing a fortress right now.

[Davi] We found a city ruin intact. We're going to reuse it as our base of operations for the Outlands.

[Andurmir] Really? Lucky.

[Andurmir] Any shortcomings? No opposition on our end, so we have some people to spare.

[Davi] It's Raid Day, so most of us are conducting boss raids. Few to send out to Outlands.

[Davi] Any of them like exploring?

[Andurmir] A lot.

[Andurmir] Is that it?

[Davi] This city ruin is big and there's an underground city to boot.

[Davi] Has a subway system that leads to somewhere. It's caved in.

[Davi] Found a mech.

[Andurmir] Mech? Shitty things.

[Davi] We'll scrap it when we get it out or something.

[Davi] Need more people to help explore and fight.

[Andurmir] I'll see who wants to join you guys. Any specific time?

[Davi] Hard to say. Maybe in an hour or two when everyone is finished with the boss raids.

[Davi] If they want to join up with a big group.

[Andurmir] Got it.

[Davi] They can join us anytime.

[Andurmir] k