Chapter 26 - Carnelion IV Part III

(You ever enjoy doing something but then you start doing it a lot so it feels like a chore? That's why I've chilled a bit with the release rate. The last thing I want to happen is to burn out and I feel like I've hit the sweet spot with the release rate I'm currently at. That being one every other day. That probably won't happen because I am going back to college on Monday but I'll do my best. Sorry if you guys want more but I'd rather keep the story going than get bored of it. Enjoy the chapter!)

*Fisher, Mutant Juggernaut, World Boss*

*Level 65*

*Fisher, Mutant Hunter, Elite*

*Level 64*

Since this was the first world boss that Tyler had encountered, he was quite excited to see what it would be like to fight it. He quickly got to commanding his guildmates for the fight. "ONE TANK FOR EACH HUNTER! ALL OTHER TANKS ROTATE ON THE JUGGERNAUT! IF YOU GET INJURED FALL BACK FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION! MELEES FLANK AND RANGED KEEP YOUR DISTANCE! LET'S GET THE JUICE!"

Being the idiot that he is, Tyler runs forward, ignoring his own orders and starts to play with the Juggernaut. With his speed, he created a comical scene where he acted as a matador, taunting and dodging the juggernaut's strikes. Its meaty arms seemed like they would be hard to dodge but it was quite slow.

Unfortunately, a lightsaber was not enough to cut through the beast. It was able to make gashes but its armor and thickness was too much.

Tyler realized that he could tank the Juggernaut by himself. "Ummm, on second thought, all tanks double up on the Hunters. I'll handle the Jugg."

Everyone facepalmed as they hadn't even joined the fight yet. They were awestruck at Tyler's shenanigans.

Beowulf rolled his eyes. "EVERYONE GET OFF YOUR ASSES AND HELP!" They all shook themselves out of their stupor and went to help with the fight.

When everyone moved in, the Juggernaut let out a deafening roar. Everyone was momentarily stunned as it began to activate a skill. It ignored Tyler and jumped in the air towards the crowd of players. It was intent on smashing its fists into them and taking them out. Odds are that this would one shot most of the people in the crowd.

Having broken out of the stun, Tyler raised his arms. He reached out with the force and held the Juggernaut up in the air. It started flailing its arms and legs since it was floating in the air. Tyler swung his arms to the side and flung the Juggernaut into a building.

The side of the building exploded as the beast crashed through it. Concrete and stone chunks scattered through the air, raining upon the players. They had to dodge several chunks each to avoid injury. The Hunters just tanked the debris, taking a decent bit of damage from each hit.

Another deafening roar echoed through the city but this time everyone wasn't stunned. The building crumbled as the Juggernaut climbed out of the wreckage. As it emerged, it became apparent that it was seriously injured. One of its arms was mangled and severely broken. It would not be able to make use of it any time soon.

The Juggernaut shrieked in pain as the injuries set in. It now lost function of its other arm. This made it even more enraged. In its fury, it quickly turned and pushed off its back foot to launch itself forward.

Within the duration of a blink of an eye, it arrived before Tyler. Once it was there, it swung its right leg with extreme power and sent Tyler flying.

Tyler coughed up blood. "AHHHH FUCKKKK!" He screamed as he flew through the air and collided with a wall.

Beowulf grimaced at this. "MEDIC! GO TAKE CARE OF DRACO!"

A medic nodded and sprinted forward to help her guild leader. She quickly arrived next to him.

Beowulf took charge since Tyler was now out of commission. "KITE THE JUGGERNAUT! WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE CAPABLE OF TANKING IT! DODGE ALL ATTACKS!"

Tyler looked on to the shit storm that was ensuing before him. "I…" He then passed out from his injuries.

The medic panicked. "GUILD LEADER!" She frantically started injecting him with bacta. This situation was out of the ordinary. She had never seen someone fall unconscious in the game. Usually they would just die and respawn if they sustained injuries like this.

She checked his pulse and it was steady. In addition, the wounds were closing up and his HP was recovering rapidly. She heaved a sigh of relief before putting Tyler over her shoulder and bringing him to safety.

A bright light pierced through Tyler's eyes and he reacted to it. He raised his arm. "Ahh, get that out of my eyes!"

The medic sighed. "So you're finally awake."

Tyler raised his brow. "What happened?"

She frowned. "You got clapped by the Juggernaut and got knocked out. You've been out for 3 hours."

Tyler sat up in a panic. "Holy fuċk. Is everyone okay?"

She nodded. "Yep. We finished the fight without you. Your padawan has been waiting patiently for you to wake up."

Tyler smiled. "Good, I'm glad that I didn't fuċk everything up."

She giggled. "Nooo, without you disabling its arms, we would have been wiped."

Tyler stood up. "Well then, I think it's time we resume our journey then."

He walked out of the tent and everyone turned to him. "Alright everyone, I am okay now. No, I will not be taking questions. Let's just get out of this shit hole."

Once they emerged from the gas, the settlement was in sight. It was actually much nicer than the Open base. There were proper walls and defensive structures surrounding the settlement. There was also barbed wire on top of the walls.

Tyler led the group towards the gate. A guard stopped them. "HALT! State your business."

Tyler smiled. "We are here to speak to your leader."

The guard smirked. "And who might you guys be?"

Tyler sighed. "We are from Limitless. I am Lord Draco. May we come in now?"

The guard's expression became gloomy. "Of course. Please enjoy your stay."

Tyler raised his brow. That was an interesting reaction. It was probably due to the show they put on in the battle that they interfered in.

Once they got inside, they were greeted by a few guild members. "Guild Leader! Glad to see you guys doing alright."

Tyler nodded. "That was a pain in the ȧss but we made it. Did you guys bring transports?"

He nodded. "Yes we did. They are parked on the airstrip."

Tyler smiled. "Wonderful. We will be heading back soon so go and prep the transports."

He nodded. "Will do. See you guys in a bit."

Tyler sent everyone except the Jedi and Beowulf to the transports before continuing towards the Closed Leader's office. This settlement was very similar to the Open one in that there were lots of civilians. It was quite interesting that the conditions were significantly better here.

A guard led the group through the building and to a door. He knocked on it and a voice called out. "Come in."

The guard opened the door to reveal a luxurious office. There was nice carpeting on the floors, a few bookshelves stocked with books and datapads, and a large wooden desk.

Tyler smiled. "This is a very nice office you have here. I'm a bit jealous."

The man sitting behind the desk laughed. "I'm sure you jest. I am General Krom. Who do I have the pŀėȧsurė of speaking with today?"

Tyler nodded. "It is nice to meet you General. I am Lord Draco. I am here to discuss the ongoing conflict on behalf of the Galactic Republic."

Krom sighed. "There is not much to say about it. Those despicable Opens drowned our planet in poison. They must be eliminated."

Tyler sighed. "I don't care if there isn't much to say. Please just tell me the story. I have already heard what the Open had to say. Now it is your turn."

Krom sunk in his chair a bit. "Very well then. I must go back to the beginning. Several generations ago, we were living peacefully on the planet. However, something that we called The Tremors started occurring. They began soon after the Open began their efforts to harness the power of the gas that was leaking out of the planet's crust. They overestimated their abilities and lost control of the gas leading to a series of accidents. The gas flooded out of the crust and covered most of the planet."

"I guess you have already encountered the abominations that my people have turned into due to the gas. There is nothing we can do to save them. However, we can avenge them by wiping out the Open."

Tyler sighed. "It seems that neither side knows the whole story then."

Krom scoffed. "What do you speak of? There is nothing more to it."

Tyler laughed. "I doubt that. It would seem that both of you are missing something. Neither of you knows the origin of the gas."

Krom raised his brow. "Are you insinuating that the Open are not to blame for this?"

Tyler shook his head. "I have a feeling that neither of your groups are at fault for this tragedy. Please refrain from any hostilities for a bit. We will conduct an investigation into the source of the gas. Something is telling me that there is more to this that it may seem."

Krom sighed. "Very well. I am certainly not in a position to resist your demands regardless. However, if there is hope of finding a solution to the gas problem, that would be great. It would be even better if we could find a cure for those who were mutated into those monsters."

Tyler nodded. "I will do my best. Notice will be sent regarding this to the Open as well. I appreciate your cooperation."

*Rank: Legendary*

*Description: Find the source of the gas leak on Carnelion IV. Resolve the problem and restore the planet to its former health.*

*Rewards: Unknown*

Obi Wan nodded. "Indeed General. I am confident that we will be able to find a peaceful resolution to this conflict."

Krom smiled. "I'll do anything for my people. Even if it means reconciling with the Open. That is if it turns out that the gas problem wasn't their fault."

Tyler nodded. "Of course General. We'll be in touch."

Krom nodded. "I look forward to the results of your investigation."

Tyler and the group then headed out of the office and went to the airstrip. They were all desperate for some rest after the nightmare they were stuck in. They boarded and LAAT and headed back to their base camp. This time, they made sure to stay well above the gas.

After about an hour of flying, they arrived back at their camp. Tyler went straight to his tent and shut the flap. He stripped off his cloak and helmet before sliding onto his futon and instantly knocking out.

The next morning, he woke up with a chill. It really was cold on this planet. Fortunately he had the force protecting his body. Otherwise he would have surely gotten some kind of negative status effect.

He sat up and rotated, letting his feet drop onto the ground. He raised his arms and stretched with a yawn. He reached into his inventory and took out a still hot thermos of tea. It really is a blessing that items placed in the inventory are frozen in stasis.

Tyler lifted the thermos to his mouth and took a small sip. The hot beverage washed through his mouth and warmed his entire body. "Ahhhhh, nothing like a hot cup of tea on a cold morning."

He placed down the tea and put on his cloak before placing his helmet into his inventory. He walked out of his tent. He groggily walked through the camp and eventually found himself at the edge.

Right outside of the camp there was a drop off since they were on a mountain. Tyler plopped down and let his feet hang off the edge.

The sun was rising over the sea of poison gas. Despite the disgusting environment, it was quite a beautiful sight. The sun ascended over a mountain range in the distance.

Tyler was in bliss. He just fully relaxed for a bit and sipped his tea. Unfortunately, his peace wouldn't last for long. "Guild Leader, we found something interesting."

Tyler raised his brow. "Something interesting? Do tell."

The guild member shook his head. "Come to the mobile command center with me and we can show you."

Tyler smiled. "Very well." He placed his tea down and hopped up. He then picked up the thermos. "Lead the way!" He then followed the guild member back to the camp. On the edge of the airstrip, there was a modified Juggernaut with a staircase extended down to the ground.

The guild member led him inside. Around a holotable stood Beowulf, Obi Wan, Anakin, and Kai.

Tyler smiled. "So what did we find?"

Beowulf perked up. "Ah Draco. Nice of you to join us. How are your injuries?"

Tyler chuckled. "All better. Something like that can't stop me."

Beowulf smiled. "That is good to hear. Anyways, the Venators in orbit have been constantly trying to find a scanning method that can penetrate the gas. Fortunately, they were able to get a certain frequency of low intensity gamma waves through to the surface. Once we did that, we were able to get a full scan of the planet."

"That is where it gets interesting. We also did a meteorological scan to see wind directions and then this tied it all together. There is a singular source of a majority of the gas on the planet. We looked at the gamma scans for that part of the planet and we found something crazy."

He pointed to the hologram on the table. Tyler was confused. "What the fuċk is that abomination?"

The hologram depicted several gigantic spires made of stone. Connecting them all were crudely built walls and a few gates. Inside was a monstrosity of a structure that was carved into the mountain face.

Beowulf grinned. "It appears to be some kind of fortress built into the mountain. It is inside the gas and appears to have been constructed after the gas covered the surface. I would put money on this being the place we need to go."

Tyler let on a maniacal smirk. "What are we waiting for then? Let's check it out!"