Chapter 107

Sleipnir’s Landing

“Captain?” Yuki’s voice carried an edge of controlled panic. “The ship isn’t responding to the controls.”

Carmen leaned over the helm station, her fingers moving across the displays. “Everything is green.”

Reaching through the ship’s systems with his powers, Alexander traced every connection between the console and the thrusters. Everything registered as functional. The commands were being received. The ship was responding to the pilot’s commands, thrusters firing; it just wasn’t changing course.

Tentatively, he tried to slow the ship with Metallokinesis… only for his attempt to shatter against the mass and speed of the ship.

The planet filled the viewscreen ahead of them, growing closer by the second.

They hit atmosphere.

The hull shuddered. External temperatures spiked as friction heated the ablative armor.

“Is a ship like this supposed to enter the atmosphere?” Talia asked.

Carmen’s reply was terse. “No.”

The ship began to slow, deceleration smooth and controlled despite no one at the helm giving those orders.

A city came into view below. Concrete buildings spread across the landscape in organized blocks, their construction simple and functional. The roads between them mostly packed dirt. It looked almost modern, but stripped down to bare necessities.

The ship screamed over the rooftops, close enough that Alexander could make out individual structures. Then it slowed further, impossibly smooth for something traveling at orbital velocities just moments before.

A massive park appeared ahead. An open space ringed by trees, near the city’s edge.

“We’re going down,” Carmen said, her voice tight.

The Sleipnir descended toward the park. Trees cracked and splintered beneath them as the ship’s mass pushed through the canopy. The vessel settled lower, stopping five meters above the ground.

And hovered there.

Alexander felt it through his connection to the ship. Something was holding them suspended against physics. Not the thrusters. Not his own power. Not even hovertech. The ship existed in a state that defied every law of motion he understood, supported by forces his powers couldn’t identify.

The quest notification appeared across his vision.

—

[QUEST]

Multiversal Invasion – Defensive

Defend the GSS Sleipnir from the Cult of Entropy, City 14.

If captured, your vessel becomes a permanent beachhead for the Entropists to consume all life in your universe.

Warning: At the center of the city, the Entropists are enacting a ritual that will sacrifice all living people within City 14.

Reward: Continue the Dream achievement upgrade (+1% → +3%)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes.

—

The notification vanished as Alexander dismissed it. Everyone was reading their own version, expressions ranging from grim determination to barely controlled fear.

“Ten minutes,” Carmen said. She turned to her crew. “Secure the ship. Move.”

The bridge crew scattered to their tasks. Alexander moved toward the exit. They had been expecting a portal to open inside the ship, requiring them to clear the ship room by room.

They hadn’t expected this. The planet had looked like Earth, though it was several jumps behind them now. Once again, the System had caught them off guard and ill-prepared.

They made their way through the corridors to the cargo bay. Carmen and Ryan had arrived first, overseeing the deployment. The space was already active with crew members hauling equipment. Spencer directed traffic with the ease of someone who’d commanded people before. Several of the aliens worked alongside the crew, moving boxes of ammunition and explosives into organized stacks.

Krrsh’s multiple limbs made the alien particularly efficient at the task, carrying half a dozen containers at once while a crew member struggled with one. The downside was that the alien couldn’t wield any of the weapons Grimnir provided. He wasn’t the only one.

The cargo bay doors were already cycling open, the ramp lowering toward the ground below. It was designed with extending cargo airlocks in mind, but it lowered enough for their purposes.

Afternoon light spilled into the bay, carrying air that tasted faintly of dust and something else Alexander couldn’t identify.

He walked down the ramp, boots clanging against metal. The others followed.

The park spread around them in every direction. Crushed trees lay scattered where the ship had descended, branches broken and trunks split. The grass beneath the hovering vessel looked scorched from residual heat.

And surrounding the entire park, a barrier shimmered in the air. Translucent, almost invisible except where light caught it at certain angles. It stretched up into the sky, curving overhead like a dome.

Movement beyond the barrier caught his attention.

People emerged from the tree line, coming from the direction of the city. Their movements were mechanical. Step. Step. Step. They reached the barrier and stopped, standing perfectly still. More appeared behind them, adding to the growing crowd. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands.

“What’s wrong with them?” Annie asked quietly.

Extending his senses, Alexander felt for the bioelectrical signatures of the people outside. The readings came back distorted. Present, but muted. Like something was dampening their neural activity.

Cultists moved among the crowd, dressed exactly as he imagined. Black robes, hoods pulled up to shadow their faces. One approached a civilian standing near the barrier, a middle-aged woman who stared straight ahead with empty eyes.

The cultist drew a curved blade from beneath their robes.

They drove it into the woman’s stomach.

She didn’t react. Didn’t scream. Didn’t try to defend herself. Just stood there as the blade entered her body. The cultist twisted and pulled the weapon free. The woman remained standing for three heartbeats, then collapsed.

Black energy rose from her corpse, coalescing into a stream. The cultist directed it toward the barrier with one hand, the dark power flowing from their palm to splash against the translucent surface.

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Nothing happened. The barrier held without even a ripple.

Alexander’s hands clenched. Anger flickered through him, cold and controlled. Not his world. Not his people. But watching someone murdered without the ability to defend themselves, watching power abused so casually, made something tighten in his chest.

“They’re testing the barrier,” Talia said, her voice analytical despite the horror they’d just witnessed. “Trying to find a way through.”

More cultists were repeating the process along the barrier’s edge. More civilians dying without resistance. More black energy being channeled.

Augustus’s voice cut through the moment. “We need to establish a defensive perimeter. Grab what we can from the ship and set up firing positions.”

Alexander turned to him, then looked back at the ship. “Wait.”

Carmen stood with Ryan, both of them surveying the situation. Despite the sudden change in plans, their crew, and the aliens, had switched gears with efficiency.

“The ship has multiple layers of armor, correct?” he asked.

Carmen nodded. “Outer ablative layer designed to burn away under fire. Inner shock-absorbing layer for impact distribution. Then the hull itself.”

“Would it compromise the ship if I removed parts of the ablative layer?”

Carmen considered for a moment, then shook her head. “Not structurally. We’d be more vulnerable to sustained weapons fire, but if you’re using it for cover down here, that’s a trade worth making.”

Sleipnir hovered above them. “Sorry about this,” Alexander muttered.

He spread his arms.

His powers flooded through the ship’s structure. Metallokinesis seized the modular ablative plates that formed the outer skin. They were designed to be replaceable, attached to the hull through electromagnetic clamps. He released those clamps simultaneously across most of the starboard side.

The sound was visceral. Metal groaning as plates tore free from their moorings. The crew members in the cargo bay flinched at the noise, hands moving toward weapons on instinct.

Dozens of plates, each one roughly eight feet by four feet, slowly floated down from the ship’s hull. He guided them through the air with care, aware of everyone nearby. The plates descended in a controlled stream, carrying the weight of several tons of reinforced armor with only a little strain.

He drove them into the ground in organized rows. The ablative material bit deep into the soil, standing four to five feet tall. He created multiple lines radiating out from the ship, each one positioned so defenders could duck between the rows while the higher sections on the flanks prevented shots from the sides or rear.

The entire process took a minute.

When he lowered his arms, a proper defensive position surrounded the cargo bay ramp. It wasn’t elegant, but it was functional. A bead of sweat ran down his temple. Not even the cannon vortex had weighed as much as the thick armor plates.

Spencer was already moving toward the defensive positions, gesturing for crew members to take their places. Ryan joined him, the two of them coordinating the deployment with military efficiency. “First line here! Second line staggers behind! Keep your firing lanes clear!”

Several crew members hurried to comply. Others continued hauling supplies from the ship. Krrsh deposited another load of ammunition boxes near one of the defensive lines, their alien features unreadable but moving swiftly.

At the base of the ramp, Grimnir gathered with Carmen. Talia stood with her rifle across her back. Augustus had his wand already in hand. Annie shifted from foot to foot. Felix sat alert, golden fur catching the strange afternoon light.

“Defenses are good,” Talia said quietly. “But they won’t solve the problem of the ritual.”

Augustus nodded. “We can hold here, but if that ritual completes, it won’t matter.”

Alexander thought for a moment, pieces clicking together in his mind. “I wonder if that’s why everyone except Annie was going to die.”

Annie turned to him. “Huh?”

Talia’s eyes widened slightly. “The ritual targets living things. If Annie were fully or mostly MetaMetal transformed, it might not register her as alive.”

“And if most of the enemies are dead by the time it triggers,” Augustus added, following the logic, “she’d only need to survive whoever performed the ritual. They’d probably be exhausted afterward.”

“She’d likely be very angry by then,” Talia finished.

They all looked at Annie.

She glanced between them, expression awkward. “That’s a terrible plan.”

“It’s not a plan,” Alexander said. “But it might be why our paths were ending, and yours wasn’t.”

Talia changed the subject. “We need to split up. Someone has to stop the ritual.”

Augustus nodded. “I need to stay. My shielding will be invaluable for the defense. Those cultists are going to throw everything they have at this position.”

“I should stay as well,” Talia said. “I haven’t mastered my third ability enough for close combat yet. But I can provide support from here.”

Felix met Alexander’s eyes. “I’ll assist with healing.”

Annie crossed her arms. “So that leaves Alexander and me to go stop the ritual.” She gestured toward the barrier, where more civilians were being systematically murdered. “But what about all those people? Something is wrong with them.”

Alexander turned to look at the barrier. The mechanical movements. The empty stares. The complete lack of self-preservation. The unnerving stillness. He didn’t know what had been done to them, but whatever it was, it was beyond his ability to fix.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do,” he said quietly.

Augustus met his eyes. “Leave it to us. We’ll figure something out. Use non-lethals as much as we can.”

“How are we supposed to find the ritual?” Annie asked.

Carmen pointed toward the city. “The quest said it was at the center. Based on what we saw coming in, you’ll need to head in that direction. I just don’t know how you’re supposed to get through all those people.”

Alexander followed her gesture, orienting himself. The city center would be several kilometers away. Through streets filled with who knows how many mind-controlled civilians and cultists who’d just demonstrated their willingness to kill without hesitation.

He nodded. “We’ll manage.”

Turning to Augustus, he said, “I need the Storage Closet.”

Augustus pointed at the wall of the cargo bay. His wand moved through practiced motions, and with a command the familiar door materialized on the metal surface. He pulled it open.

Drones erupted from the opening in a coordinated stream. Droney led the way, its sensors sweeping the area with a long, dramatic beeeeeep.

“Drama queen,” Annie muttered.

Three drones split off from the formation, each one settling into position above their designated partners. Augustus’s drone hovered at his shoulder. Talia’s took position near her head. Annie’s floated just behind her, already anticipating her movements.

The remaining drones spread into a wide formation around Alexander. Droney and fifteen others, arranged in a defensive pattern that gave him three hundred sixty degrees of coverage.

Alexander ran through a final equipment check. Black jacket secure. Gauntlets powered and responsive. Armor plates fitted properly. Boots locked. Belt with all its nasty metal components in place.

He hesitated, then turned to Augustus and Talia. “Are you sure? Annie and I can help deal with the assault first, then go.”

Augustus glanced at Spencer, still assisting the crew and pointedly not looking in their direction. He shook his head. “That’s why you can’t do that. That’s your first instinct, which means that’s probably how we would have done it without the crew’s support.”

The logic was sound. Alexander couldn’t argue against it.

The timer reached one minute.

Annie stepped forward, holding out her hand palm-down. “Come on. Hands in.”

Alexander placed his on top of hers. Augustus added his. Talia placed hers next. Felix sat up on his haunches and rested a paw on the pile.

Carmen hesitated.

Alexander raised an eyebrow at her.

She placed her hand in.

“Stay alive,” Alexander said.

They broke.

Augustus turned back toward the defensive positions, already calling out orders. Talia moved with him. Felix trotted after them. Carmen headed toward where Spencer and Ryan were organizing the final preparations.

Annie turned to Alexander. “So how are we getting past them?”

He smiled.

Drones swarmed around Annie, forming a structure beneath her. She laughed as they lifted, creating something like a chair. “Best seat in the house!”

She fell back into the formation, trusting the drones completely. They rose smoothly, carrying her up.

Alexander swept Metallokinesis through his own gear, pulsing the wave with the skill of someone who’d spent hundreds of hours flying since figuring out the trick. He lifted off the ground, moving around the side of the ship. His Hyperawareness registered the reactions below. Elevated heart rates. Sharp intakes of breath.

He glanced down. Several crew members were pointing up at them, expressions ranging from awe to envy.

Alexander and Annie rose above the Sleipnir’s hull. From this height, the entire situation spread out below them. The ship hovering in the center of the park. The defensive positions radiating outward. The crew and aliens taking their places. The barrier surrounding everything. The mass of people beyond it, growing larger by the second.

And in the distance, the city center where the ritual was being performed.

He spied a box of stun grenades left unattended. With a wave, the metal container floated up and into Annie’s surprised hands.

“Make yourself useful.”

The timer hit zero.

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