[Dungeon of Stories] 48 – Uninvited Visitor Part 1

[Prometheus: I have a question to ask.]

[Grasping Roots: Ah, the flower has finally bloomed! Tell us, young one, what is it you wish to ask?]

[Necrotic Life: Speak.]

[Wandering Hunter: Reveal yourself! I shall hunt you down and feast on your essence!]

[Light's Hammer: Come, my brothers and sisters, let's see what this youngling wishes to ask of us!]

[Caders's Folly: So this is the young core you all spoke of, I wonder what theme he expresses?] 

[Prometheus: I wish to ask, have any of you encountered guns or firearms?]

[Wandering Hunter: Bah, the tools of weaklings]

[Cader's Folly: Many races across the universe use such weapons, yes, what about them?]

[Light's Hammer: The weapons of the Dwarves, how quaint it is to remember such small folk again, it has been some time since they had entered my pillar of light.]

[Prometheus: I feel that these 'Guns' are too much of a threat. Is it wise to establish a rule within my dungeon to forbid their use?]

[Wandering Hunter: Do it!]

[Grasping Roots: Ignore him, child. To answer your question, the choice ultimately lies with you, our...rules are precious, and sparse.]

[Cader's Folly: Grasping Roots is correct, they have the potential to solve many problems or traps, but the weapons are ultimately a weapon like any other, attempting to block them will only lead to more devastating loopholes that may cause more grief later on.]

[Necrotic Life: Do not waste something as valuable as a Rule on weapons that monsters can easily counter.]

[Prometheus: I will take this all into account. You have my thanks.]

Closing the chat, Kohl, after multiple hours of thought, decided that he would not establish a rule. He would let the humans use their guns, but if they wished to do so, they would do so to their own peril, as he began the process of making new monster variations that simple firearms would have little to no effect against.

Creatures that were made of energy, or of a semi-liquid material, or even creatures that had toughened armor that could deflect most glancing shots from the simple firearms, but in the end, Kohl knew that the humans would advance and innovate, finding ways to fight these creatures even when faced with a massive disadvantage, such was human tenacity and willpower.

Despite it all, Kohl was enjoying the challenge, as he made both beasts and monsters that would give mortal men nightmares or mental scars.

...

Three days had passed since the three human expeditions entered Invicitus, and already Kohl had noticed something strange with all three. For some reason unknown to it, Kohl was surprised to see that all three expeditions avoided nearly every single dangerous encounter that was around them through seemingly sheer luck.

Yet, when he looked, he found nothing strange with the monsters nor the humans themselves, that was, until he noticed a presence seemingly blending in with the crowd of humans from New Vegas.

A creature in the shape of a man with a trench coat and a fedora. At the creature's side was a simple revolver as it trailed behind one of the mercenaries, somehow invisible to all but Kohl.

It looked human, but it was anything but.

It walked perfectly, as if it were human; it didn't appear to breathe, nor did it blink. It looked alive, but it wasn't.

Whatever it was, it hitched a ride into the Dungeon without Kohl having noticed its presence until now.

Without any hesitation, Kohl enacted his control over the monsters in the area, first by guiding several Ant Vanguard parties into the path of the mercenary group, while also guiding the nearby patrolling [Corrupt Defense Units] to attack the party behind.

...

Colin Moriarty, a veteran mercenary with over thirty years of experience and the leader of his own mercenary group that travels between the NCR territories and New Vegas, never stressed for work when there's plenty of it to find.

Despite his experience, Colin was not expecting this. Nobody did. This job was one that suddenly landed on their lap and came with a huge amount of caps if they finished it, enough for each of them to purchase their own mansions in California and live out the rest of their days in luxury.

The city around them had everyone on edge; it was quiet, yet creepy, the air was damp, and the atmosphere was stifling. Everyone felt like they were being watched by something, yet despite two days of walking and exploring this city, they had yet to come across something alive outside of the greenery, something not very common outside of Shady Sands and the surrounding cities of the NCR.

The city was also advanced, so advanced that it seemed even more advanced than what was shown in some Pre-War photos and comics sold in bulk in the NCR. The cars were sleek and polished, although some of them had been damaged in crashes. The buildings were sharp and angular, featuring a substantial amount of metal and a glass-like material in their construction, yet they were completely covered in greenery. Copious amounts of trees, vines, and grass littered the streets, crawled up the sides of the buildings, over and in cars, and yet, there were no skeletons. 

Before Colin could continue that thought, he stopped, raising his hand to signal for the mercenaries behind him to stop and raise their rifles.

Colin could hear something in the distance, something that sounded like chittering or screeching. 

Raising his own marksman's rifle, he readied himself for whatever was approaching.

Not even a minute later, the threat revealed itself in the form of a group of strange-looking, giant ants, all with a black carapace and red eyes that made them appear evil.

Catching a whiff of the mercenaries' scent, the Ants instantly swiveled to their location and charged without fear.

"Shoot 'em!" Colin ordered, taking aim and firing.

A hail of gunfire and lasers rained upon the group of charging ants, killing most of them in one or two well-placed shots, or that was the case until the larger ants reached the front of the charge, their carapace designed to take far more damage than that of the worker ants.

Then the ground began to shake.

"Shi-" Colin only managed to start cursing before he was shoved aside as multiple gigantic ants burst out from the ground into the middle of the group. These ants were far larger than the ones they had just fought.

Just as one of the ants was going to bite him with their mandibles, Colin could have sworn he heard the faint strum of a guitar before the sound of a revolver, and the entire head of the ant exploded, spraying the concrete with a greenish blood and chitin fragments.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Colin spotted what looked like a man in a trench coat with a fedora before they disappeared with a blink of his eyes.

Cursing, Colin grabbed his rifle and started firing at the near dozen worker ants that rushed out from the burrow, before throwing one of the few valuable plasma grenades he had down the burrow, liking gooafying who knows how many more ants.

"Retreat!" Colin sounded the order, climbing to his feet and rallying his men to escape from the area as only more and more ants appeared. Luckily, they were faster than the ants, but little did they know that while they were fleeing from the ants, they were heading straight towards a far more dangerous foe.