Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 34B2 - : Empire State Tower: Executive Suites

Strosh trundled his way up the stairs alongside the dozens of heavily armed, armored, and prosthetic-enhanced megacorp troops. In addition, he was told a cargo elevator was heading up on the far side of the building carrying a good number of mechs.

Right now, the Myscape Industrial forces were dispersing themselves amongst the entire tower. Strosh, however, took a detour and headed towards the server room. Using the pass he had been given after his fall from above, he made his way through the numerous security doors and entered the chamber. It was hot, despite the large pool of water that was churning with fresh, cool liquid to chill the submerged servers.

“There you are,” he rumbled out to Flahjor. “You abandoned the roof: that is where they came.”

Flahjor was floating on his back on top of the pool of liquid, eyes shut as he let out a chuckle. “Really? They went the predictable route? I would’ve expected them to make their own path here.”

“They might still. One of their number can use anti gravity.”

“Did you read the brief? Of course not, why would you?” Flahjor glanced over at Strosh and the predatory, black slits zeroed in on the rock-man. “Pulsar Priest is the Oslia. The non-cybernetic Human is a Planet Protector. And the last one is the Dark Matter Aspirant.”

“We don’t know his Class?”

“Nope. Just what he looks like, his name, his codename, and his Cosmic Power. Nothing else is known. But Dark Matter includes Dark Energy as a subset: just how Planet includes Water as a subset. And Dark Energy can negate gravity.” Flahjor laughed aloud as alarm sirens blared, and the room locked down completely as the lights turned a bright white. “And they appear to have triggered something in the building…”

Ollie pulled his paw back and flew back up into Jace’s hood. “Access granted!”

“Right, I’m in.” Quinn’s voice was determined and she was all-business. The trio of Aspirants had forced open the elevator doors at the Executive Suites and found an office with a terminal. “Okay, the server room is in the basement level. It’s three stories because the server towers are much larger than Pheracorp’s, they’re submerged in coolant, and you use the walkways above the water to access the ports.”

Sirens began going off all around the trio, and Jace stood with his sword ready in the hallway. Greg took up a firing stance, partially behind cover in the doorway, while Priam was further behind him inside the small office they had found the terminal in. “Quinn? What happened?” Greg asked.

“Shit! They’ve got a full staff of Webwalkers. I’m blocked out! Here, I got a schematic of the building. But no camera access.” The map of the building showed up in the corner of Jace’s vision, and his sharp senses could pick up the clambering trod of boots coming up the stairs near the elevator doors.

Greg walked over to the staircase, kicked down the door, and pointed his rifle down and over the railing. A tremendous bang echoed up and down the stair well, and more pops, cracks, and bangs went off as he emptied his magazine before ducking back. A flurry of bullets flew up past him, and embedded themselves into the plasteel above. “We’ve got company!” He pulled a grenade off of his chest, pulled the pin, and tossed it over the side. There was a bright flash of white light, and he popped up as he continued firing rounds. “This is for my team you pieces of shit!”

Priam tapped Jace’s back, “Hey, there’s someone up here,” he said as he pointed back towards the hallway leading to more of the higher executive offices. “I heard movement!”

Jace turned and pushed Priam behind him. He could see the faintest indication of movement as something moved towards them. It was like a chameleon, blending in with the surrounding environment. “Ollie, get me a chalk bomb with one of those Common (Equipment) Boons.”

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[Using Boon: Common (Equipment).]

[Manifesting.]

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Jace held a small grenade in his hand, and cocking it back, he thumbed the release and threw it. There was small bang as the chalk spread out and coated the whole hallway, settling on the walls, floors, and roof. It also made the targets creeping up on them visible. Four black-armor clad figures wielding knives that had a slight vibration to them to enhance their cutting potential.

“Dark Matter Dart (Rank 3).” The six darts all formed behind him before launching into each of the figures, embedding deep. Their armor must have had the same type of foam as that Nebula Aspirant had way back on Velenar Prime, as the wounds were immediately patched over. Two of the darts that he had spare he had sent into the lighting fixtures above, as shattered plastic rained down on them.

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The first of the now-revealed figures dashed forward and stabbed several times with their knife. Jace was easily able to deflect the weapon before slamming his fist into their face, hearing the crunch as he saw the armor warp and bend inward. There was a grunt of pain as the person reeled, and he used that opening to stab them through the neck before following up with a savage kick that sent them flying back to their allies: who all deftly dodged the flying body.

The other three all descended on Jace at once, and he was fully focused on defense. Not a single blow got through his Swordmage Stance’s innate mastery of bladed weapons, and he deflected, parried, and riposted every single slice from these individuals. But the more they fought, the more they seemed to speed up, and he could make out the tiny surges of some type of fluid from the joints of the armor.

And he began to suffer hits. Priam’s barrier held up just fine, and only had small chips and nicks taken out of it: so he wasn’t in any real danger. But the fact that he was unable to land a blow of his own because he was fully focused on defense was a problem. “Priam, go help Greg!”

“Right!” Priam ran back to the firefight still in the stairwell, which let Jace have more room behind himself to maneuver.

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Shadow Nebula Smokescreen. Jace saw the inky blackness envelope the space, and the figures he was fighting flattened themselves against the walls to defend themselves as their vision vanished. Jace expertly brought his blade across each of their necks in the pitch-black that only he could see through. Each collapsed to the ground, and he grabbed one of the knives as he flipped it in his grip and found the off switch for the vibration function.

Turning back to his allies at the stairwell, he saw Greg pull out of the stairwell and slam the door shut. “I’m out of rifle ammo, and there’s a lot still coming!” He slung the rifle and pulled out his pistol.

Jace pointed to the elevator, “Let’s go. We know where we need to be.”

Greg looked back at the door and Jace could see the look of rage surge across his eyes. “Fine. But promise me you’ll bring the building down when we’re done here.”

“Deal.”

Greg nodded and got into the elevator shaft, helping Priam reach the ladder inside. Then, Jace joined the two, and the larger Aspirants shut the elevator doors.

As Greg descended, he felt the calm sense of resolve settle into him. I’ve killed plenty of them. Enough for vengeance. And when Jace brings the Tower down…well, the rest are goners.

He felt the adrenaline pumping through him, and as they continued their descent down the ladders, he felt a sense of calm begin to set in. An inner peace for his fallen allies being avenged. The surging adrenaline faded, and he felt resolute. Sure in his actions. He saw a message pop into his vision. One that he had seen already, when he was taking his vengeance at the portal earlier.

But this time, the Class Expansion name was different.

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[Extreme emotional state detected.]

[Qualifier of 50 levels in a base Class met.]

[Class Expansion available.]

[Protector <Resolute Guardian>]

[Confirm selection?]

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That sounds much better than <Revenger>, he thought. “Darrin, let’s take that,” he whispered.

“Okay, confirming now,” the spider Wayfinder replied.

Greg felt that same sense of calm and peace wash over him. He had achieved his vengeance, and he knew he had done what he needed to. For his friends. For those whose lives were cut short. And now? Now he had new friends to protect. And he would guard them from danger as best he could.

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[Attention! Free Skill Evolution for Protector’s Vow has been activated due to the adoption of <Resolute Guardian>]

[Using Boon: Class Expansion (Skill Evolution).]

[Applying to Skill.]

[Skill Name: Protector’s Vow.]

[Evolution Name: Guardian’s Vow.]

[Effect: The user designates any number of targets or objects (up to a number equal to their Tier), instead of a single target or object. This Skill enables the use of other <Resolute Guardian> Skills upon those with the mark, in addition to the usual effects of Protector’s Vow.]

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Jace glanced sideways as Greg flared with a slight, azure-blue color. “What was that?”

“Class Expansion,” he replied as he looked at Jace with a smile. “Finally hit the requirement. I mean, I did earlier at The Cosmic Corridor portal…but I didn’t like how angry it felt.”

Versus me who took Wrathblade immediately, Jace thought. But, it’s served me well so far.

Priam was grumbling slightly, “I still don’t have a Class Expansion.”

“Surprising, honestly,” Greg replied as they reached the top of the elevator that blocked their path. “You’ve had some mood swings that I’ve seen.”

The bunny-boy’s ears drooped a little more than they usually did, “I mean…I’m not emotional, am I?”

Jace shook his head, “You’re mostly happy-go-lucky with a hint of concern.” He ripped off the elevator’s top latch and dropped into the compartment. And came face-to-face with the open elevator doors, and a middle-aged man who was seemingly waiting for the elevator.

“Oh…go ahead,” he muttered as he stepped aside and gestured for Jace to exit the elevator. He had a small cart with him, and his eyes were filled with the look of someone who just wanted to end their shift.

Jace raised an eyebrow quizzically, “You…you’re still working? Now?”

“Someone has to clean the floors,” the man replied nonchalantly. “Why, what’s going on?”

Jace gestured to himself, “Seriously?”

“Look, lots of freaks coming and going recently since those portals opened, okay?”

Greg walked up to the man, “Are the staff still here?”

“The night shift, yessir.”

Greg looked back to Jace, “I know you have a different view on this, but I don’t want these innocents to get caught up in it. Quinn, can you do anything to alert them all?”

“The building is locked up,” Quinn replied. “No one in, no one out, except security personnel.”

Jace looked to the janitor, “You need to get everyone you can and get them out of here. Understand?” Activate the Terrifying augmentation. The man began to tremble in place, and he nodded as the magical aura amplified Jace’s already intimidating presence.

“Lift the lockdown and I can get a message out,” Quinn stated. “You can do that from the server room.”

Jace nodded and went back to the elevator, cutting a hole in the floor with his sword. “Come on, let’s go.”

His allies joined him, and the janitor scrambled off, screaming about a monster in human form. Jace just shook his head as he continued his descent.

Priam was going down the ladders with his allies. They had almost reached the bottom floor, and based on the schematic from Quinn, they would be able to either go into the basement level from the elevator doors, and then through a few corridors with some stairs…or cut through the stone and go right to the server room from above.

As they clambered their way down, Priam felt a sense of jealousy wash over him.

Bloopa must have been able to read his emotions under the hat in some way: perhaps his (Insightful) Dad’s Hat was assisting in that matter, the weird object that it was: and she talked to him by gently cycling through the various shapes of her form and tapping on his head. I would advise you holding off on a Class Expansion until you are on a magic-heavy world.

“Why?” Priam whispered.

The world you acquire it on can influence how it acts. Extreme emotional state is not the only trigger for a Class Expansion, either. You are above level 75: you can manually trigger a Class Expansion, or Advanced Class Expansion, once you are level 75 or higher. It is only for people who are between level 50 and 74 that the extreme emotional state condition must be met. I presume that Greg did not know this, judging from his earlier comments. His Wayfinder must not be as well informed as I am.

“Cool! But what’s the benefit of being on a magic-heavy world?”

Your Class Expansion options on a technology-based world like this one would not suit your current setup. Your options for an Expansion to the Priest Class would be limited. Whereas on a magic-heavy world, where the role of a Priest is more prevalent, there would be more options.

“Good to know,” Priam muttered. “Is that why Jace got <Wrathblade>?”

I don’t know. Priest is a well-known, established Class. But his Swordmage Class was custom-made by Xera, and even she had no Signer who had gone above level 15 before with that specific Class. It’s uncharted waters. I would assume that since Swordmage is a mage, he had a large variety of options on Nihilethelea…but he unlocked his Class Expansion through extreme emotion, so his selection at that time was predetermined. Whereas Greg’s Protector is more ‘broad’ and could be equally viable on any world.

Well, more reason to go to a magic-heavy world next, then. Hopefully get to Tier 5 so we can return to my home world and take down Wricen.

They arrived on the bottom floor, and Greg gripped one side of the elevator doors with Jace as the pulled them open and both offered hands down to help Priam get out of the slight dip in the floor. He just hopped up. “Thanks, I’m good,” he said in his usual voice.

Jace took the lead with Greg a step behind as the trio made their way through the basement level. I’ll get a Class Expansion soon enough, Priam thought. We’re almost done with Earth, anyway. Just this megacorp, and then two more. And this has been a breeze.