4 Nancy Osa Rob couldn’t help worrying about his troopers dedication not to mention his own The cav alry had spent months battling griefers and hostile mobs before the city had even taken shape Now the six players itched to return to their chosen lifestyles Stormie to rambling the globe Frida to solitary jungle survival Turner to exchanging muscle for gems Jools to selling strategies and Kim to raising and training horses on her beloved sunflower plains Rob’s greatest desire lay not in this generated world but in the larger place from which he’d come not so long before a peaceful Western range that he hoped to find again He’d been flying back there from vacation when he found himself tumbling through space into a whole new ballgame Given that his spawn point was a moving airplane above an ocean going home would be problematic to say the least Down in the valley where Rob now stood in his customary chaps vest and cowboy boots spring time flowers had begun to bloom Their vigor and promise seemed to herald the new city This is it then he said We’re nearly open for business Pride and panic washed over him This latest effort would bring either salvation or doom to the Overworld and which one was anybody’s guess It’s a brave new world Captain Stormie said taking in the landscape
Spawn Point Zero 5 At their feet spread a lush vale of flower-specked turquoise grasses crisscrossed by sparkling blue streams that tumbled from snow-fed waterfalls Above them rose the extreme hills precipitous heights touching the clouds dividing the world hemispheres and nearly isolating them From down here the intri cate rock sculptures formed a gallery of cliffs canyons caverns and cantilevers From up there as Rob well knew the unobstructed view created a topographi cal map of every biome as far as the eye could see The already picturesque spot was being trans formed into a site worthy of its purpose the first cap ital city built in the Overworld since the destruction of Alpha in the long-ago war The unified government had operated piecemeal from each of the dozens of world biomes for years During that time dark forces had attempted to wrest the land from its residents until Battalion Zero had ridden in to stop them Now that the opposing griefer alliance had been subdued a central seat of power had become prac ticable Rob and his cavalry were among a handful of hopefuls who debated the idea In the end the Overworld’s defenders had come together to boost the project once their arguments had all been exhausted
6 Nancy Osa months earlier Only zombie pigmen would want to move to a place like that grumbled Turner Although he was the bat talion’s sergeant at arms the deeply tanned tattooed mercenary disliked the prospect of enforced order Far as I’m concerned he said town full of lawmen and lawmakers is barely a step up from the Nether Which you’ll recall is complete chaos Jools said drumming his pale slender fingers on the long table around which they sat surrounded by their bat talion mates and advisors Jools’s previous work as a detail consultant allowed him to see the big picture in most scenarios As cavalry quartermaster he meticu lously kept track of resources and offered a practical voice of reason He put in his valuable two cents now What we need is a happy medium Typical coming from you Frida the company vanguard threw in Just because you don’t like to take sides doesn’t mean everybody in the Overworld holds the middle ground Jools hiked up the sleeves of his tweed jacket and leaned across the table While you’d prefer to go it alone right I’m surprised you’re even considering defending a capital city If I’m not mistaken you’re the original renegade hailing from a long line of bitter loners
Spawn Point Zero 7 Frida’s olive-green face darkened a shade Look who’s talking How long did it take you to pick up a sword and fight with us A loner by birth the sur vivalist had still given her all to the battalion’s cause and with less prodding than the quartermaster had needed Frida’s friends Stormie and Kim glared at Jools daring the avowed separatist to continue his attack Captain Rob put up a hand Now now let’s take it easy This is a focus group not a reality show Judge Colonel Where were we on the agenda The top members of Battalion Zero Rob Turner Jools Frida Stormie and Kim had met in the con ference room with their advisors Judge Tome and Colonel M to hammer out a strategy for building a new Overworld capital First they’d see if it was doable Then they’d decide whether to commit to the mission Colonel M cleared his virtual throat He had lost track of the proceedings and would have shrugged his shoulders if he had any The old veteran had escaped the definitive First War battle with only his head which had grown to twenty times its size upon respawning It now sported a wild thicket of silver hair Judge Tome a bespectacled justice of the peace thumbed through the sheaf of papers before him searching for the group’s written agenda Although retired from official service the judge maintained a
