Vaudevillain

D.Black:

Alright.

We’re still working on getting this place up and running, though.

Superfan39526:

Well, we made something of a plan.

I can fill you in while we finish up

D.Black:

Sure

But come tell me in person, it’s been too long since I got to play as Dextra

Sounds good

Maybe give us an hour?

D.Black:

Alright

Thomas turned to the others, “It looks like Dr. Zlo needs a lot of Alienite to enact his plan. With the Quli still assaulting Earth, I propose we lure some here and take their Alienite.”

“That changes up our timetable,” Rampart said.

“It won’t be that big a problem,” Nikola said.

“It might eat into our funds.”

“We can always sell the alien tech,” Dextra replied. “I’m sure any losses we take will be recouped from there.”

“I’m down with it,” Shizuka said, popping out from a smoke cloud. “Gives me a chance to test this guy.”

The ninja held a saber-toothed squirrel by the scruff of its neck. The monster squirmed in the woman’s grasp, squeaking angrily.

“Why do you have one of those squirrels?” Rampart asked.

“I saw this ancient television show a while back where people built catapults and chucked pumpkins with them. I’m wondering if I can’t do the same for this fella.”

“That’s kinda sick,” the hero replied.

“Oh, lighten up. It’s a game. I need to get Zlomboni or Jack’O’Lantern to build me something. We all know I’m not going to do it.”

“Couldn’t you do something with your ninja powers?” Nikola asked.

“You know, maybe I could do that,” the ninja mused. She twisted the squirrel around to face her, “What do you think? Should I use my ninja powers to catapult you into the sky?”

Shizuka shook the squirrel up and down and spoke in a squeaky voice, “Yes, I’d love to learn to fly!”

Nikola shook his head, “You got issues.”

“And you need to lighten up,” the ninja shot back.

“As much as I would love to discuss the logistics of a squirrel catapult,” Rampart started, “We still need a bit to finish the camps.”

“I’m going to call Jack and see if she can’t send down a group of construction robots,” Dextra said. “Now that the area seems clear.”

“Oh, thank god,” Nikola said.

“What are you complaining for?” Shizuka ribbed.

“Crafting is so boring.”

“Nikola is the type of person who tells others what to do,” Dextra said.

“D*mn straight I am,” the man responded.

“Alright then, what’s our next step?” Rampart challenged.

“Hire some more goons while we wait for the construction bots,” the villain answered.

Rampart shook his head, “And where do they construct? What do they construct?”

“Alright, fine. You can keep your dang leadership position,” Nikola grumbled.

“Thank you. Now, since the others want to use this place as a staging ground for Alienite farming, we need to think in terms of defenses.” Rampart turned to Dextra, “What can we expect to face?”

Dextra opened his power and searched through the information he’d accumulated on the Quli, “Basic forces consist of ground troops with ray guns. Some variations apply, like units with portable shield cover. Other variations are dependent on the environment. I’d expect there to be snipers in the trees.

“Their main armor, that’s to say their vehicles, are legged walkers. The walker unit types depend on how much resistance they encounter, with more legs meaning more dangerous. Finally, there have been reports of scout flyers, but these enemies are meant to search for entrenched positions and direct walkers to their direction.”

Rampart nodded along as Dextra spoke. As he finished, the monk pointed to a grove of trees.

“Okay, the treeline is a double-edged sword. We can hide all sorts of traps inside, but it also means we can’t easily track the enemy.”

“We could build a scanner,” Nikola said.

Dextra shook his head, “That would work for some enemies, but not all of them. Some troops are equipped with sensor jammers.”

“Man, why can’t they make this easy,” complained Nikola.

“Since we can’t use the treeline properly, we should trap up as much of it as possible and build in one area,” Rampart said.

“Doesn’t that make us vulnerable?” Nikola questioned.

“It does, but if we build correctly, the only thing that can take us down are the walkers.”

“And those are visible over the treeline,” Dextra realized.

Rampart nodded, “Right. We can worry about expansion later. I suggest building around the mine and hiring the miners and loggers. They’ll get started on collecting materials and bringing them back to the hill. Jack’s construction bots can then use said materials to build the fort.”

“We might need more people down here, then,” Nikola said.

“He’s right, just the five of us won’t cut it,” Dextra replied.

“More like four,” Nikola mumbled. “I doubt Shizuka will help.”

“I’ll message the group,” Dextra said.

D.Black:

I know some of you are busy but if we want to get this resource pool going we need some help.

Surfsup26:

I thought we were going to meet in an hour dude?

Superfan39526:

Something change?

D.Black:

Rampart says that we need some of Jack’s construction bots.

And before that we’ll need all hands on deck to build the space for the NPCs

JackOleen:

We’re still discussing the tsunami plan.

And After that I need to get started on building the drones.

And Dr. Zlo needs to build the cloud machine.

That way Skyline isn’t attacked if we all leave.

Superfan39526:

In that case I should build the teleporter too.

...which needs Alienite.

We’ve come full circle.

Candequeen:

What if we leave Zlo and Jack up here to build while we get everything down there completed

They can start building the drones and other machines while we build the houses

Once we’re done we start grinding and send whatever Alienite we can to Zlo until he builds the teleporter.

Surfsup26:

Heck yeah, let’s do it dudes!

Dextra looked over at the others, “What do you think?”

“It’s not a bad plan. I’m down to do it,” Rampart said. “As long as Jack sends construction bots.”

Dextra looked back at the group chat to see Rampart posting the same message.

JackOleen:

Yeah, I can send down a couple of squads of bots with everyone in the shuttle.

Make sure no one breaks them.

Like Riptide

Candequeen:

He won’t

Surfsup26:

Yeah, scouts honor.

Superfan39526:

I’ll let you guys know when I have enough Alienite for the teleporter then.

And I’m going to order a few more things.

Replace Quartet and build some other stuff.

D.Black:

Okay, we’ll keep you posted on our end as well.

“Okay, what do we do while waiting for the others to come back?” Nikola said.

“We should discuss the best type of weapons to use,” Rampart said. “Since we’re in a forest, fire is out. And since we don’t want to ruin our resources, we need to keep explosions to a minimum.”

“What about electricity?” Nikola asked.

“Can you aim it, and will it start a fire?”

“Yes to the first, and it didn’t when I hit that giant so probably not.”

“Then it should be fine.”

“I doubt simple guns would work well against the walkers,” Dextra said.

“How about lasers? Or disintegration beams? We could see if Jack can make something like that,” Rampart said.

“What about magic?” Nikola asked.

“Merla can’t make anything others can use,” Rampart responded.

“But could Jack?”

“I don’t think so,” Dextra answered. “But, we can ask.”

“Cool. I’m going to start placing logs around the hill so we can hire the NPCs. If you guys think of anything else, let me know,” Rampart said.

Dextra nodded to the hero as he walked off. Nikola stepped in closer, “So. When are we planning to betray the heroes for Skyline?”

“You’re thinking too far into the future,” Dextra said. “We aren’t even sure we can protect Skyline from all the others out there. I’m not about to start a fight we can’t win.”

Nikola scoffed, “Boring.”

Dextra rolled his eyes, “Oh come now, just because we can’t fight heroes twenty-four-seven doesn’t mean things are boring.”

“Maybe for you,” Nikola said. “But I built myself to fight. Sitting around like this makes me antsy.”

“Then, how about searching for some more patches of land? You can fight anything in the area, and we secure more resources.”

Nikola pulled out his scooter, “Well since you say so, I’ll get right on that.”

Before Thomas could stop him, Nikola flew into the sky. Rolling his eyes, the player opened up the faction tab and allocated some funds to Nikola. He’d need them if he wanted to buy more land. With that done, Thomas jogged over to Rampart. He had to let everyone know Nikola went to do his own thing.

The others landed in the shuttle a few minutes later, Sweet Dream and Riptide hopping off first. Jack’s construction robots followed behind the pair, the spiderlike drones scuttling around. Titan and Oro appeared next, the two players talking about some sports match. They all walked towards Rampart, huddling up once they got close.

“Where do you need us?” Sweet Dream asked.

“Well, we got a couple of houses up, and it’s enough to recruit a couple of NPCs, but we definitely need more housing,” Rampart answered.

Sweet Dream nodded and turned to the construction drones, “Jack programmed these to obey voice commands. I’ve already calibrated my voice so I can give them any instructions you need. I’ll have them start on housing, and if we need to switch, let me know.”

“Awesome,” Rampart said. “We’ll make sure they get the resources they need. I’m thinking simple wood homes for now. Once we get enough miners, that’s when things will really get going.”

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