“Ulrik.”

“Dennet.”

“How long will it take to reach 70?”

“Anniversaries will pass. Summer after summer. Halloweens! More than one. Then we will beat up a mummy.”

“Itching for coal, are we? No point in complaining. Why, I'm almost 50 already.”

“That's great Quille, but the amount of fodder you need to gain a level goes up.”

“The time it takes to get it goes down. Pierce and Bash! There you have it. The tank kills as fast as the DPS used to, so what of the DPS?”

“They'd better, since we're . . . we have two tanks this time. Preparatory Bolt!”

“He wanted to say 'we're stuck with,' but he chickened out. What can you achieve with your coward's heart? Now watch me.” Ulrik ran to the Experimental Siege Engine that had appeared seconds earlier and wrenched its barrel up toward the sky. “You see what courage does?”

“I've seen that three times, Ulrik, and it's pretty good, but you've gotta get a new trick eventually.”

“I want to. But for that I need new foes to challenge me. I need to move forward!”

“Yes, we heard you the first several times,” Clyse said. “But this midboss drops Material Facsimiles.”

“Then so will later ones!”

“Yeah!”

“It disappoints me more and more each time that we don't get the Collaborators wheeling in the cannon and fighting alongside it, like in Story mode,” Reginald said.

“See? Reginald's disappointed.”

“Is this a DPS thing? All right, you won't find me being stubborn. We'll advance after this. There are five of us.”

The DPS trifecta of a Reaper, Warper, and Harasser assaulted the Experimental Siege Engine with enthusiasm seldom seen outside a video in which somebody finally recruits Hilliarde Feablas. The secondary machine guns played over the officers, but even Rare Harassers gained some Defense when they leveled. Tiny pew pew bullets meant nothing to them.

The midboss did drop a Common Material Facsimile. It went to Quille for alphabetical reasons, and the prospect of progress excited Reginald too much for him to think of arguing that he should come before Treten. What lay beyond the border fort they had just conquered, or rather would have conquered if they had been in Story and brought Cadmos along to say something about friendship and freedom between fights? More fortifications guarded by more Collaborator Soldiers, Collaborator Skirmishers, and a shocking new enemy.

“Aren't these Alben Guardians the same as those catacomb guys? They aren't even palette-swapped. And they're still Eclipses.”

“Correct, Dennet. This is a further sign that Alben's strange powers are derived from alien technology like that of Perandra Imperia's founders. I don't remember when we find out his real name is Albennereon Fax and he arrived on this planet from space. It's either this chapter or the next.”

“Now I hate aliens. Regular enemies shouldn't be Eclipses.”

“That's right, Ulrik.”

“They should all be Quakes.”

“That's wrong, Ulrik.”

“Or Infernos.”

“Right again.”

The Alben Guardians did not need new colors in the opinion of the designers, only new stats and skills. They added the Phoenix status despite it being the considered opinion of every player and officer that enemies should not be allowed to revive once after being killed. That effect was for their enjoyment alone. The feeling of unloading a Complete Inspection and not ending the wave right then and there could be compared to nothing but that of finally recruiting an Ultra Rare and discovering it to be Bel Felicitous Fasde instead of Night Shift Lynissia.

The Rares noticed the new stats less than the designers would have been gratified to hear, since their Pirate gear's Vampirism in conjunction with their excessive levels and double tanks ensured their survival. Collaborators teamed up with the Guardians, and yet the inclusion of weaker enemies somehow failed to raise the challenge. It did raise something else, though.

“Fodder's dropping like crazy from these guys! There's another Perandran Soldier, and an Eclipse Bat, and another Eclipse Bat. I'm 51 already!”

“Clyse. Dennet is 51 already.”

“Me too. I'm Reginald, by the way.”

“I can't quite figure out why you said that, Reginald.”

“I wanted to assert my identity to these man-made creations that are bereft of their own so they'd realize they're Alben's victims as much as we are.”

“Oh, I see. How thoughtful of you, but do keep killing them.”

“Of course. Routine Inspection!”

No pity could stay their hands, not when they pitied themselves for being unable to beat General Mummy yet. Chapter 7 seemed to be the point when the main Story, or rather Suppression, or rather the Vigilant Patrol version of Suppression which was the farmable version of Story started coughing up the good stuff. Commons left and right, the occasional Warpshaped Sliver in the middle, and even a few Pure Orbs on the side as garnish. The aspirational Rares were breaking into not just Perandra Regna, but the golden country of character advancement where every peach was juicer than the last.

When the Alben Fort Warden appeared, the Rares had strong words for it. “What do you drop? Tell me what you drop!” And so on. What else did one say to a much bigger, halberd-wielding Alben Guardian, which was an Imperia Tomb Warden with higher numbers? Congratulate it on its promotion, probably.

“The final fortress is commanded by Appulinus Verisa in the story, whose sister was the spy the hero killed in Beruvia. He arrives standing on top of an Experimental Siege Engine. That situation necessitates the two be fought simultaneously.”

“Is he an Eclipse, too?”

“He most certainly is.”

“Hm.” Quille Treten stroked his beard, deep in thought. “Eclipses may not be quite so thin on the ground as I believed.”

“Exactly! The power of the Eclipse is within all of us. Sign up for a seminar today and find out how you can manifest your Eclipse force.”

“Nah, they won't make Eclipses for everybody until we get the next level of power creep, UURs or something. Cracking Bolt!”

“I really thought we'd see a new rarity at the second anniversary, but nothing,” Clyse said.

“They've only done like five Class Evolutions so far. Lots of those to go before five-stars. When Tiboleus the Experimenter becomes Experimenter Tiboleus, watch what happens next! Desperate Defense!”

“I watched intently. Phoenix triggered and he revived. Finishing Strike!” For the first time, Ulrik's Finishing Strike finished off an enemy by triggering its bonus against targets under 30% HP, but nobody baked him a cake or even shook his hand. Such is the loneliness of heroism. The boss dropped an Eclipse Bat and two Eclipse Slivers, essential Eclipse items for improving the skills of Eclipse officers. Eclipse.

“I hate this boss,” Ulrik announced to widespread agreement. Nevertheless the Rares farmed the last section till the sun took its daily break, and when they returned to Freegate, their destination was the Armory.

“Nothing's here,” Youl said when they entered. “You know that. You moved it. Is this a zany scheme? Do it in the next shift.”

“You seem tense. Have you tried doing Eclipse exercises? Many officers have been reporting great results, and there's no fee yet.”

“Wait, she said it out loud. Was she muttering it before just to get a rise out of Tramda?” Dennet whispered to Ulrik and Quille.

“Clyse is a good friend,” the latter said.

“Amazing,” Ulrik said, and Dennet agreed.

Meanwhile, Youl was allowing the possibility that what was good enough for Lua DeMereanch might be good enough for her. Reginald showed enough restraint to let Clyse make the sale while he considered the ins and outs of Warp Enhancement. “Does anyone know what's considered a good roll with this?”

“I heard you want the substats to double more or less at each stage, and that players Scrap gear that doesn't hit that at stage two at least, no questions asked. I definitely can't afford to do that, though,” Dennet said.

“Understood. All right. I'm nervous. OK. Here. I'm doing it.” Reginald breathed deep and sacrificed his gold and SR Warpshaped Slivers to the gods of green gear. “122 to 245! That's good, right? You established that it's good.”

Dennet shrugged. “I went from 83 to 160, so better than me.”

“Do you two have weapons with one substat? Mine has four.”

“Only one worth caring about.”

“Hmph. Can't relate. 262 to 318 HP. Bah.”

“Don't you have like 40k HP? That's not much of an improvement.”

“The first Warp Enhancement out of three on seven pieces of equipment, so it adds up. Right, uh, Ulrik?”

“Ask Quille. Decisions confront me. Yes. This sword is my weapon now!” Ulrik made his own offering. “111 to 208. No, Reginald, it does not add up.”

Disregarding the lies born from disappointment, the Rares did indeed increase their numbers, even if Ulrik chose not to mention he had reached a whopping 22% Critical Chance. They left a thoughtful Youl behind and rushed to the lounge where they could ask Hyune Giling if killing General Mummy seemed possible yet.

“No,” he said.