Campaign Preparations

"Wait, that snake thing tried to eat me?" Shien walked with Phoenicia through the hotel hallway.

"Don't worry. We defended you before that could happen. However, even if the enemy successfully consumed you, you would have been too short of a meal for it."

"Excuse me?"

"I did not say a word."

"You tin can!" Shien tackled Phoenicia.

The two wrestled with each other as they rolled downstairs. Naivern, Ritom, Elysia, and Enshiron sat together on a blue bench of the lounge, listening to Mivangeline and Chloridium's briefing. The two stood near a table that portrayed a holographic map of Tetrachrome. The group saw Shien and Phoenicia roll downstairs with Phoenicia landing on Shien.

"Bout time you woke up, pipsqueak," Elysia grinned.

"Nice. Brutal taunt!" Naivern laughed her brains out. "Shots fired. You're getting the hang of this!"

"Grrr!" Shien growled, pushing Phoenicia off. "Hug attack! Weeee!"

Shien dived into his friends. Elysia and Ritom tumbled off the bench as a result, leaving Naivern and Enshiron to feel the tightness of Shien's infamous hug attack.

"S-Shien," Mivangeline mumbled. "I-I'm happy that you're alright."

"Mivangeline!" Shien bounced to his crush.

"Eek!" She flinched.

"What's up?"

"Um... nothing much," Mivangeline blushed.

"So, what did I miss?" Shien plunged his face onto the map.

"Oh!" Mivangeline placed her hands together. "W-we just talking about our next move."

"Ah, you may wish to back up since we may expand our map for all to see," Chloridium gently pushed Shien's head off the map.

"Okie."

"Taking out the rocketeer cobra weakened the Cubic attack. Our police forces are driving the rest out of Tetrachrome's west frontier," Chloridium reported. "We thank you members for all of your hard work."

"Chillax! It's nothing," Ritom smiled. "We're happy to help."

"At least we players can rest for now," Naivern sighed.

"Y-yes, but we still need to beat the game to activate the antivirus," Mivangeline tapped her foot. "That will... uh, mean we need to beat the three factions and their s-superbosses."

"So there's the Cubic Regime, Dynastiotron Dynasty, and the DJ Meteonis, right?" Elysia asked.

"Let's not start with the DJ Meteonis," Naivern shook her head. "They're the hardest faction to fight."

"I agree with Naivern," Phoenicia crossed her arms. "I do believe that it would be most optimal to begin with the weaker factions to level up sufficiently before fighting the tougher enemies."

"U-uh, yeah," The Commander cleared her throat. "I-I think it's best to... um, attack the Cubic Regime first. S-since they're the weaker of the three and o-our recent battle weakened their army."

"I think we also know the Cubics better than the other factions so far," Ritom adjusted his red jacket. "That's probably the best bet, to be honest."

Mivangeline nodded. "W-we'll then prepare for a siege on the Cubic fortress, Kel Rectilinea."

"What are we waiting for?" Shien jumped. "Let's charge!"

"W-wait! We don't have enough people to help us!"

"Oh, right."

"Did any new players join yet?" Elysia wagged her tail. "We certainly could use their help."

"Not yet," Chloridium saw Ampyria walk in.

"I have a battalion of police droids ready to assist in our campaign," Ampyria reported. "The others are staying to protect the players from enemy attacks, but the catch is that us androids can't regenerate as we used to."

"You're kidding!" Shien exclaimed. "What do we do then?"

"There are lots of players in this hotel we didn't have the chance to invite. Why don't you fellow players recruit some new members while Commander Shuruuko and I discuss with Ampyria a strategy to raid Kel Rectilinea?"

"Ey! I'm dying to do something loud!" Naivern grinned.

"Will do!" Shien marched downstairs. "Time to socialize!"

***

Shien and his friends invited the players who hung out at the lobby's bar, but they were greeted with resentment.

"Why should we risk our lives if Fanghui promised us salvation? Get lost!"

"We're stuck in here because of people like you!" Now, you demand us to beat the game to escape?"

Shien and Elysia walked upstairs back to Mivangeline, huffing in disappointment. The Commander examined a map of Kel Rectilinea, preparing a plan for the attack while Shien's friends regrouped.

"I would assume you all didn't have the greatest of luck as well?" Enshiron brushed his purple robe.

Shien shook his head. "You guys didn't get anyone either?"

"The players we interacted with weren't as receptive to our generous invitations as we hoped," Phoenicia reported.

"Seriously? Do they have a death wish?" Naivern stomped. "We can't go home if nobody helps us. Just why?"

"They're scared to die," Shien said.

"Well, fine! If they want to kiss Fanghui's feet!" Ritom clenched his fist.

"But he's a killer!" Elysia stammered. "He persecutes us Vulpi!"

"I don't know what to say, my dear Vulpi companion," Enshiron swiped a tab, taking out masala chai cups from his item storage. "Please, let us take a moment to ease our bewildered minds."

As the group drank Nashura's famous tea, Shien swiped a tab to tap on Isrina's profile. Shien frowned when he couldn't reach his Mom.

"Shien," Phoenicia rubbed his back. "It's your mother, isn't it?"

He nodded and broke down in tears. The friends huddled with him.

"Hey, Shien," Ritom patted Shien's shoulder. "I'm sure your mom is doing fine. She's the Desert Cardinal!"

"Will we ever return?" Shien covered his face. "Will I get to see her again?"

"Yes, dear Shien!" Enshiron hugged him. "We will beat the game together!"

"But nobody will help us."

"Sure, but we have each other!" Naivern held a fist. "We promised to stick together!"

Elysia joined fists with her. "Shien, your relationships taught me what true friends are. Let's fight with Mivangeline and get out of here alive! Alright?"

Shien nodded as he joined fists with Naivern, Ritom, Enshiron, Phoenicia, and Elysia.

"When we get out of here, dear comrades, we're telling Dorian, Nashura, and Calice about our epic adventure!" Enshiron proposed. "Sound good?"

"Yeah!"

Mivangeline checked her notifications.

"How's it going, Mivangeline?" Shien jumped.

"Two new players joined our party!"

"Hoho! Good job, guys!" Chloridium told the group.

The friends were puzzled. "But we didn't get anyone!"

An elevator nearby rang. When the door opened, a bunch of brown cards flew across the lounge.

"My Yu-Gi-Oh cards!" A familiar, muscular African man with a mohawk scampered across the floor, picking the cards up. "Sorry, everyone! So sorry!"

"Meh! Hurry it up, sunny boy!" A small old man with a cane trampled out of the elevator. "The youngsters over there don't have all day! Don't make 'em turn old like me, waiting for your darn o cards on the floor!"

"Wait a minute," Shien recognized the two. "Ruddigus? Esarin?"

"Oh, God. Not these guys!" Ritom rolled his eyes, knowing they were the guys he cheated money out of earlier.

Ruddigus picked up his cards. "Oh! Shien! Naivern, Phoenicia, and wow! It's the whole gang. Great! Well, except for you, Ritom. You're still a cheater to me."

"It's that darn swindler!" Esarin faced his cane at Ritom, which turned into a huge rocket launcher. "I'm going to bust you up and send you the moon!"

"Hey, wait!" Ritom begged. "I already paid you back, grumpy!"

"Yo, Dad!" Ruddigus pointed Esarin's weapon down. "Come on, my old-timer. Save your rockets for the actual fights! We can slug Ritom later!"

"Meh, fine. This little sucker ain't worth killing anyway!" Esarin's launcher transformed back into his cane. "Since we heard you youngsters take down that big snake, so we wanted to kick some butt with you fellows!"

"Nice," Shien smiled. "Great to see you guys again!"

"We, um... we could use your help," Mivangeline greeted Ruddigus and Esarin. "I-I can brief you two on our plan to attack the Cubic fortress."