Ten Minutes Prior
In the past four years of training exercises, I had experienced a handful of close calls—but I never felt like anything was out of my control. That was my life pre purple tights. Had I known the change that was coming, I’d have insisted on modifying our training to include defense against medieval, monster-sized-assholes.
I strolled into the training arena thinking this was just another one of those many exercises. A verdant light on the arena gate flashed as I passed beneath it.
The monotone AI voice acknowledged my registration: Cadet Reeve Thompson. Fourth year squad leader. Standing: Top ranked.
The overhead LED volume dome cast a sterile, cool-blue glow across the length of the enormous arena. Slick surfaced, ten-story, metal walls lined the exterior, cutting into the distance until they disappeared beyond the horizon.
Within the thirty-kilometer arena, a sterile, desert landscape stretched out as far as my eyes could see. The size of this place never ceased to amaze me.
Knowing I was one of only a couple hundred people across the world who got to experience its uniqueness was awesome. Not to mention the fact that every time I stepped through the entrance gate, I got to play with the type of advanced technology most people could only ever dream of seeing. If having a man-crush on a location was possible, I’d have one for this place.
Surrounding the massive training arena was Area 52, a base that spread out over several hundred kilometers. An endless assortment of turrets and barricades occupied the perimeter along the massive walls, cutting the base off from the outside world, and a series of digital signals created interference along with cloaking technology to avoid external detection. Spreading out around the centralized training arena, weapons research labs, testing facilities, and an elite academy held dominion over the isolated expanse.
In the rest of the world, endless rumors and speculation stirred, mainly focused on strange technology from unknown origins and other government secrets housed within these confines. Inside the base, discussions about those topics were kept to whispers and vague references.
As I looked over the featureless expanse inside the arena, a jolt of excitement bounced around in my chest. Training always did this to me–filling me with a longing to put my skills to the test, to one day prove to the world and myself that I was the hero I’d been taught to be.
The arena’s stark appearance meant I hadn’t missed the formation of today’s course. I stepped further into the emptiness and noted the three other squad leaders that had taken up positions close to the outer walls.
Several of their cadets nervously meandered around them, forming a distinct cluster for each team.
“Squad Leader Thompson,” my squadmate Arjun called out, addressing me by my proper title. Arjun was the type of soldier anyone would be lucky to have in their team, always eager to get the job done, always squared away with his orange hair neatly trimmed and his uniform up to code. Other cadets would show up with their armor unpolished or a stray thread hanging loose from the gray uniform they wore underneath the armor, but not him.
He motioned the rest of my squad over toward me. Except, two of my cadets were missing. Where the hell were Briggs and Mace?
As the rest jogged over, I inspected their uniforms. Their red markings and team insignias all seemed to be in place. The environment reflected off their segmented, black, body armor and the charge-lights on their chunky, practice rifles shone full.
“Where are they?” I asked Arjun and then scanned for other Squad Leaders in hopes that nobody else had noticed I was missing two of my men. That would be an embarrassment I’d rather do without.
“Had a late night.” Arjun nudged the woman next to him, a new cadet whose name I hadn’t memorized yet with auburn hair tied into a bun and wearing a bit of unauthorized makeup to hide her freckles. Why anyone would do that was beyond me, but I’d always been a sucker for freckles. She gave him a scowl, then a guilty shrug my way.
Arjun nodded to the entrance gate. “Think I saw them just outside.”
Before I had a chance to go in search of them, a low whir filled the air. Next came the sound of metal doors sliding open, followed by a series of loud clangs. The nanotech swarm had been released.
My blood pumped faster as I focused on the horizon, craning my neck to get a better view. The coming spectacle of technological complexity always mesmerized me, like watching a turbulent flow of erupting lava.
Rolling over the expanse, the swarm took the shape of a large, black cloud. As the dust-sized, AI bots rolled closer, they flowed in undulating waves from the back of the arena. The nanotech moved incredibly fast, so watching it flow toward me at what seemed like a snail’s pace reminded me of the arena’s vast size.
Swirling forward over the terrain, the swarm broke off into several distinct blooms of micro-technology, each of which began to form recognizable shapes. An urban metropolis slowly emerged, complete with all manner of buildings, cars, parking structures, and construction zones. The nanotech flowed into place, flawlessly creating its designated design for the day’s exercise. As always, I had to remind myself that each object, each building, was composed of millions of individual, microscopic machines. In any other environment the nanotech might have been distinguishable from real objects up close, but the arena added holographic enhancements that made training in a nanotech environment feel like the real deal. Some days it gave us suburban terrain, others jungle warfare, and once we had been given the opportunity to train in a virtual resort beach town as a reward for a job well done. My favorite, though, was always urban warfare, because that’s where I felt most at home and where I could imagine a real attack coming. In those scenarios, I could pretend my family and friends were truly at risk. As the course settled into place, my gaze turned to the entrance gate, where I spotted my missing squadmates just outside the arena as Arjun had said. Mace’s blond hair showed in haphazard tufts under his helmet, and his stained, unkempt uniform spoke to his lack of time management, which might have been the norm for an eighteen year old, but was still incredibly annoying.
Mace stood behind Briggs, adjusting the battery pack on the smaller man’s shoulders.
“What the hell are you doing?” I shouted, exiting the arena and jogging over to their position. “Get your asses in there before you both get disqualified. The nano course is already set.”
“Something’s wrong with the charging port on his suit.” Mace tugged on the other man’s equipment. “He can’t get the battery cord to link and the arena won’t let him register.”
“Move your ass into the arena,” I barked at Mace. “I’ll take care of this.”
“I’ve almost got it.” Mace gave the cord on the battery pack another tug. “Trust me.”
I pushed him out of the way so I could examine Briggs’s equipment myself. “I don’t give trust, I give orders. Now, follow my command and get your ass through that entrance.”
“Whatever you say,” Mace replied as he raised his eyebrows and added, “big bro.”
“Don’t address me like that here.” I examined Briggs’s charge cord, looking for kinks or a frayed section in the cable. “When we’re on this base and in uniform, you call me Squad Leader.”
“What about Reeve?” Mace asked with a slanted smile.
“Follow my orders, now, cadet.” The little shit really knew how to get under my skin. “Listen to what I say, then do what I say, so you don’t end up getting booted out before the end of your first year.”
Mace took a step toward the entrance gate. “What about, Mr. Reeve?”
I shot him a look that let him know I was about to rip his head off. Were all little brothers this cocky and clueless?
“Okay, okay,” Mace replied, as he began to jog away. “But you know how Mom feels about you using your angry voice in public.”
Knowing that nothing good would come of it, I did not reply.
Mace went through the gate and passed by another team’s squad leader, Carter. The clean cut prick was staring right at me and I could see the rusted cogs in his head turning, slowly. He was always only one statement away from making some smartass, condescending comment.
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Right on cue, Carter’s mouth opened and he threw an insult my way. “Was that another one of your siblings that doesn’t deserve to be here? How many is that now, twelve?”
The prick knew damn well that there were only four of us, which granted, was an oddly high number.
“Guess if my mom was a high-rolling administrator on this base,” Carter continued, “and she had a weakness for adopting every troubled little shit that stumbled into her house, she’d pull some strings and take advantage of the free tuition, too.”
“Fuck off, Carter.” I didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking in his direction. “When it comes to squad leaders, at least all my siblings know they’re related to the one who’s on top of the leader’s board.”
“That’s gonna change after today.” Carter walked off with a cocky glance over his shoulder. “Keep an eye on the standings.”
“What a dick,” Briggs said.
I turned back to face the first year cadet and couldn’t help but allow a hint of a smile. He wasn’t supposed to speak like that about anyone who outranked him, but I had to let it slide.
“He is the ultimate asshole,” I told the young cadet. “People like that, they’re always going to be on their own. It takes a team to excel here. You and me, our squad, we’re gonna set records today. Got me?”
“Ready to serve, Squad Leader.”
Every young cadet joined the academy with their head halfway up their own ass, but with a positive attitude like his, I could tell Briggs would find his way.
“So you got a problem with your equipment?” I gave him a nod, continuing to check his gear. With a quick motion, I unplugged my power cord and attached it to his battery. His power light glowed green. “Your cord is bad, so you’ll need to use your spare.”
“I... don’t have it,” Briggs said, his shoulders drooping slightly.
I took back my main cord and handed the young cadet my spare. “Take mine. If you forget yours again, there will be hell to pay.”
“Copy that, Squad Leader,” the cadet replied, not making eye contact.
“Let’s go.” I motioned for Briggs to follow me. Passing back under the arch and entering the arena, I gave Mace a nod to let him know it was handled, ignoring the glare he gave me in return.
A loud clang echoed out behind me. I turned around to see Briggs’s battery pack on the ground, but the young cadet was nowhere to be seen.
“Briggs?”
Where the hell had he gone?
High above, an odd noise drew my attention. It sounded like flapping wings. I stepped back to the gate, then leaned out and turned my gaze to the sky. Several stories above the ground, Briggs was flailing his legs and arms and still ascending. How the hell was this happening? It looked like he was flying against his will.
The young cadet’s upward momentum slowed. He came to a stop… then he started to fall. Hurtling toward the ground, he let out a scream that thrust my stomach up into my throat.
I put my hands up as if that would be able to somehow stop him, then willed my eyes closed or my head to turn away, but neither happened. Instead, I stared in shock as he slammed into the ground with a solid crunch.
Without a doubt, Briggs was Dead.
What. The. Fuck?!
Screams sounded. Outside the arena, several dozen more individuals fell from the sky, crunching and splattering when they hit the pavement or tops of buildings. Technicians, cadets, and mechanics all fell, meeting their horrific ends in mortified, twisted piles. Blood pooled on the ground and dripped from turrets and the tops of dorms and the mess hall.
My head spun as I searched for an explanation. Everyone outside the arena had been lifted off the ground only to be thrust back down to their death. I couldn’t be sure that being inside the arena was what had kept me safe, but for now, I couldn’t risk stepping outside the gates to check for survivors.
Had anyone outside of the arena survived? How big was this attack?
My chest clenched with anxiety and worry over my other cadet siblings. In the midst of my distress, a glimmer of comfort emerged as I recalled their current assignment—they were serving on a space station in orbit, carrying out a specialized mission. My anxiety subsided as I found humor in the situation, reflecting on how much both of them had complained when they first learned of the assignment.
As I tried to plan my next move, an announcement came over the loudspeaker, emotionless and monotone:
Code Red. Base breached. Internal attack detected.
Monitors near the entrance flickered. Normally, they displayed each cadet’s progress, team standings, and other information on the day’s training exercise. They went black, flashed, then images of three nearby cities filled the screens–footage from surveillance cameras. Government feeds, judging by the clarity of the images, and optimal viewing angles.
The feeds showed more than one city as thousands of individuals flew into the sky, like specks of discarded trash caught in a swirling updraft. Purses, shoes, and briefcases dropped as they ascended. Some people flew upwards of seven stories high, some only three. Then they all plummeted back to earth.
Several individuals standing under marquees and large metal awnings flew up and smashed into the underside of the structures, crashing into the surfaces like they’d been hit by a train. Cars jumped and their roofs dented outward as their occupants slammed into them. Buses carrying dozens of civilians lifted off the ground from the unified impact of all the riders simultaneously crashing into the underside of their roofs.
As more and more bodies fell back to the ground, bloody splotches painted the concrete, mixed with shards of glass and a mingled assortment of scattered personal items.
External attack detected. Three cities impacted. Multiple fatalities.
“This is fucking insane,” the woman cadet called out from not far off.
Arjun was just past her, looking like his knees were about to give out. He rocked back and forth before awkwardly leaning against the wall. I would have lunged to stabilize the guy, but I was in a state of shock myself.
Most of the cadets had gathered around the monitors. I ran in that direction, looking for the rest of my squad, Mace in particular. Halfway there, the nanotech swarm shifted under my feet. I fell and rolled to a stop. Every nano-object in the arena jolted, as if an abrupt earthquake-shockwave had just passed through it. Next, a nanotech, concrete barrier flew by my face and smashed into Arjun, smearing the cadet across the ground.
Bile rose in my mouth and my insides clenched, threatening to unleash my breakfast all over the floor.
Internal attack detected. Take evasive action.
“No fucking shit!” I shouted at the digital voice, spinning in desperation.
I froze at the sight of Mace. Somehow, I had to get to my younger brother… save him.
Before I could take a single step in his direction, the entire arena erupted in chaos. The nanotech swarm had transformed into a chaotic killing machine. Cadets scattered as buildings collapsed, cars smashed together, and entire sections of street folded back on themselves. Many of the cadets were unable to avoid the mayhem. The carnage swallowed them whole.
Explosions rang out, casting hues of orange and yellow across the moving landscape. I dove behind a body as a fireball erupted nearby. The force pushed me and the body backward, but at least I’d been shielded from the flame. I spun counterclockwise a few revolutions before I came to a stop. Soot flew out of my mouth and I bit down to make sure I hadn’t lost any teeth. When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see Mace or anyone else.
The explosions and nanotech chaos continued until the entire environment jolted again, then stood still. The whirling sounds of large objects cutting through the air ceased, and for a brief second, silence reigned, almost as if the entire system had just rebooted.
Then, the nanotech ground moved beneath me. It built in velocity and I leaned forward to counter the momentum. The sensation was akin to inadvertently stepping onto a malfunctioning airport walkway, but with an added feeling of perilous uncertainty. Wind whipped across my cheeks and I put my forearm in front of my face for protection. I had no idea how fast I was going, but I was moving at a good clip.
The nanotech ground I was riding on came to a quick stop, but I did not. After a few bumpy summersaults, my head slammed into the ground with a thud.
Darkness overtook me.
***
Orange light burned through my eyelids, pulling me back to consciousness. My head still spun. How long had I been out?
Determined to see what had just happened, I got to one knee, then pushed off of it with my right hand and stood up.
A new, amazing panorama filled my vision. I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was seeing things clearly.
Was that… a castle? Immediately in front of me stood a stone wall on the other side of a moat, drawbridge up. My head swiveled to take in my surroundings. This was much more than one castle–I was in an entire medieval landscape.
The ominous shades of a setting sun painted the outlines of castles, casting elongated shadows over an expanse of rolling hills. Some of these formidable structures stood as haunting ruins, while others on the distant horizon asserted their dominance with towering heights that seemed to pierce the gathering darkness.
Trees with gnarled branches contorted into sinister shapes and stood tall to obscure my sight, yet even within the woodland, glimpses of more castles emerged. My attention was drawn to the jagged battlements, towering spires crowned with cone-shaped turrets, and tattered flags that fluttered in the chilling breeze. Those flags displayed emblems and heraldry that hinted at a deeper story.
It was as if my entire surrounding had succumbed to a fucked up medieval curse, dominated by the sinister presence of these looming castles.
To top it off, a booming voice called out from the sky:
Welcome to Castle Crawl! I am the Elder Wizard, your guide on this most adventurous quest.
A twinge in my gut warned me that things were about to take an even stranger turn. Whatever came next was going to be even more insane than the chaos I had just barely managed to survive.