"Where?" I said, because I hadn’t even seen it.
"Above," Lewit said breathlessly, when there was no immediate second blast. "Let’s go quick. That was heavy."
"Swap after every strike," Althea ordered tersely, as we all tried to see where the shot had come from and trot at the same time.
"Ceiling’s too uneven," Lewit added, as we rounded a bend and Althea hastily took a left. "Don’t think we’re going to get any warning."
I’d just taken over shield, and let out a little Oof! as another bolt made me stumble. In the low gravity, the impact definitely rocked me, but it was certainly easier than trying to balance a Skid at the same time. It was the winding, constantly intersecting tunnels that were the real obstacle. The choice in path wasn’t marked in any way, and there was no handy mini-map or quest pointer telling us which direction to head. I doubt we took the quickest way through, but it wasn’t too much longer before, without any warning, we trotted out into another big open cavern.
Gauntlet Successful.
Gauntlet Success Rate: 3/3 100%
Challenge Success Rate: 3/4 75%
Lux Points Earned: 5
Total Lux Points: 22
Challenge Reward:
[Tier 1 Apparel Pattern]
"Ah, we have done well!" Arlen said, with a delighted little dance step.
"Not too bad," Lewit said.
"No injuries, at least." Althea was frowning. "But the problem with that set-up is that we’re swapping off shields regularly, while randomly being hit. I took three shield strikes."
"And I none," Arlen said. "Yes, it is a good point."
"We can try changing shield-bearer only after a strike," I said, a little dubiously. "It depends on how long the gaps between shots are."
"It’s being struck that’s the big energy cost."
We took a quick break, and decided that all of us were still up for continuing. I read the Challenge description and found it identical, except that "Choose a Path" had been replaced with "Find your way down".
"Keep an eye out for slopes," Lewit suggested.
"They are not wordsmiths, these Cycogs," Arlen said, with a light chuckle. "Have you noticed how little music there is, in Challenge or out?"
"No zone themes," Lewit agreed. "A hint, maybe, that they’re more machine-like than they let on."
"Or don’t have ears," I said, amused. "I think music the way it’s usually used in games would have given away too much, anyway. My Cycog, at least, doesn’t like spoilers."
"Give away?" Lewit repeated.
"Oh, I see!" Arlen said. "The spritely tune means the safe zone. Then we venture somewhere new, and there are dramatically rising violins to tell us to expect danger. Drums arrive, and build tension…"
"I’m tense enough," Althea said, flatly.
Arlen laughed, and began to sing a high, clear rendition of The Dragonborn Comes.
"I think if that was playing while we were trying to get through these Challenges, it’d distract me terribly," I said.
"Yes, no distractions," Althea said. "Let’s get on."
"You have a great voice, Arlen," Lewit said, as we started into the entrance tunnel.
"I once was an excellent soprano—and here in this game I am again, which is most amusing. But for now I will be quiet, because I do not care for even a temporary death."
That was a common feeling, and we walked shoulders hunched to a four-way junction, and took the right-hand path. This time it opened out into a corridor similar to the first of this gauntlet series: comfortably wide, curving, with a series of regularly spaced laser ports on either side.
"During the first stage, those things shot faster than I could run," Lewit said. "If we’re going to be handing off the shielding job to each other, I think maybe we should stick to a walking pace."
Althea hesitated, and I said: "We can start out at a walk and speed up if the hand-off is easy or the strikes take too much of a toll."
"Yeah, let’s try that," she said, her red ponytail bobbing as she nodded.
Since the corridor had widened, we reverted to our originally planned formation—me beside Imoenne at the rear, Lewit beside Arlen in front of us, and Althea taking point directly in front of them. Althea took a hit almost immediately.
"Definitely heavier," she said. "And that came from before us, not beside."
We paused while Lewit built a shield over the top of Althea’s, and she let hers drop.
Lewit’s suggestion about sticking to a walking pace proved to be wise, because when it came time for me to take my third hit, I only just held it, stumbled in the weak gravity, and lost my shield. If we’d been moving faster, we might have trotted into the activation range of the next laser port before Imoenne could raise the next shield.
Thankfully, the gauntlet stage was only slightly longer than the first, and we were nearing the end. My relief at the Challenge completion message was balanced by an awareness that I looked to be the weak link of the team.
"Ouf, this is my limit!" Arlen declared. "I must rest before I can go on."
"Same," Lewit agreed.
"Wouldn’t be safe to go on at anything less than full strength," Althea said, paused, and then added: "I’ll be going ahead with my guildies for the rest of the gauntlet."
This was something I’d entirely expected, as soon as she’d mentioned four guild members who’d died during the next stage. They’d want to be full strength before they went on.
"It’s been great partying with you," I said. "Good luck getting through the rest."
"You too," she replied, then laughed. "I feel like I should shake hands or something. I don’t have the etiquette for gaming being so tangible."
I promptly held out my hand, and we smiled and shook, then she waved and headed toward the tram waiting area.
"I might be in the same sitch," Lewit said. "Most of my guild is playing catch-up, but the frontrunners are nagging me to wait for them so we can take on the System Challenge together."
"Most of my guild are playing around in Earth’s satellites, so far as I can tell," I said. "I’ll have to see where they’re at when I log back in, but currently there’s only one that looks likely to get to Mars any time soon. Send me a tell if you’re still looking for a group next login, because I don’t know how I’ll go hurrying them up. Otherwise, good luck."
"Luck to you, too." He laughed. "I won’t be waiting too long for my guildies, either. Tons of us weren’t on in time to get any of these first-to-rank awards, so everyone near the front wants to get to this System Challenge before anyone else."
With a wave, he followed Althea. I smiled, and shrugged, then gave the twins a thoughtful glance.
"Want to join a guild?"
30
recruits
[g]<Amelia Beerheart> Welcome Imoenne and Arlen to Corpse Light.
[g]<Far Cryinggame> Yo.
[g]<Silent> Hey.
[g]<Wraith> Fresh meat!
[g]<TALiSON> Welcome!
[g]<Imoenne> Hello.
[g]<Vasharda> Welcome!
[g]<Arlen> Thank you, thank you all. We have just had our first lesson on what it means to not have a guild in this game.
[g]<Leveret> The major lan trials definitely don’t look ideal for casual grouping. Especially when some of them are one-shot only, and rank difference appears to really matter.
[g]<Tornin> Welcome, both of you. We try to be a supportive, rather than a demanding guild. We’re still finding our feet in Dream Speed, but one of our aims is to ensure that we help each other out with content progression.