"We breach the barrier, by creating dissonance between the various rings of the astrolabe. Once formed we stabilize the portal by locking the rings into place. Unfortunately the enchantments burn out within a minute," Clarissa explained.

"And finding the sphere beyond?" I asked.

"We look through to see if we spot anything." I nodded at this answer. "After that, well, we activate the helmets and go in. You would take point, then Gregor and Conner, followed by myself," she said. I narrowed my eyes at this explanation.

"You will be going with me, at my side. Once we are through, then we can adjust how our groups is arranged," I said.

"Of course," Clarissa replied. Our fates would be tied togeather for better or worse. I wasn't going to give her the opportunity to betray me. While unlikely, it was best to remove any such temptations. "Let's get this started," she called out.

"You both ready?" I asked the two large bodyguards Clarissa was bringing along as we all began putting on the helmets and the other equipment we were bringing along.

"Yes. We will support the flanks and protect Clarissa. If you wish to deploy one of the large bombs we are bringing along, let us know," Conner said.

"Just clench our assholes as tight as possible and hope we die horribly. Don't worry, we won't panic. We have been in the shit before," Gregor replied.

"Mercenaries before all this?" I asked.

"Special forces. We have long range beam attacks, we can provide support in a pinch, but we will be primarily protecting our supplies unless you order otherwise," Conner explained.

"We aren't going to be wearing red shirts," Gregor joked. "But we aren't going to run either. Not the first time we had to do something like this."

"Anything you willing to share? Not like I ran in those circles back on Earth?" I asked, a little bit curious what special forces were actually like.

"A lot like what we do now. Just less craziness. Train, maintain our gear, and then go ass clenching missions to kill bad people. We don't kiss and tell. If we talked about what we did on Earth, then it raises the question if we will talk about all of this," Conner said.

"Fair enough. Not like this is meant to be super-secret. Just a heads up, my combat style is based on high-speed movement. I won't be blocking attacks. You also know how the sphere fights?" I asked.

"Clarissa reviewed the last battle with us heavily. We will be maintaining a position behind you at an offset position from the primary angle of attack," Conner answered.

"We are likely going to be engaged in three-dimensional combat with no frame of reference. We will be attacking downwards. Your position will be upwards of me. The large bombs will be reserved for the sphere and the area around it. Any idea on the energy regeneration?" I asked.

"No limitations based on the reports," Conner answered, and I nodded at this as I finished strapping the helmet in place. Clarissa had been listening in the whole time, but combat was not her specialty. She was coming along as insurance for me.

"I will be deploying physical sheets of Magnite from the portable store. It won't be good as the enchanted tower shields, but hopefully they will block minor attacks directed at our position and give us positions to retreat to, if necessary," Clarissa said and I nodded at this.

"You know sound energy manipulation?" I asked both of them and they shook their heads.

"I can handle that, if we need to communicate," Clarissa answered.

"Good." I looked over at the spinning astrolabe as more and more energy built up. "Well, ready to save this place?" I asked. The were grim smiles from Clarissa's two henchmen as well as her. We made our way over to the portal. The two henchmen making sure to balance all the equipment they were bringing along carefully.

A multi-colored sphere ripped open and the astrolabe came to a sudden halt. Clarissa quickly moved forward and stuck her head into the multi-colored sphere. "I can spot some of the sphere's construction in the distance, let's go."

We all quickly rushed through the portal. It was weird moving in four dimensions. The portal was a sphere and we passed through it to a multi-colored hell. "This way," Clarissa's voice sounded distant and we traveled a small distance before the portal behind us disappeared. I had to mentally focus to move. It was strange. Like I was completely still and everything else around me was moving.

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"There," Clarissa pointed. Off in the distance in this rainbow vomit land, I saw what could only be described as a super fortress.

"It isn't being built with blocks. Metal and are those turrets? Drones?" I asked slowly while looking at the structure in the distance. It was hard to make out the scale without a good frame of reference, but it appeared to be massive.

"It is larger than it looks like, and yes," Clarissa replied.

"I am need to run combat tests first. If anything changes let me know," I said, and Clarissa nodded. I began going through my skills one after another. They all worked without issue. Regeneration wasn't a problem either. It was just as good as the higher-level zones if not better. The amount of energy in this place was high, but not as high as the level 7 zones. At best it was like a level 6 zone.

My biggest concern and the primary issue was my skill Air Burst. It didn't move me as fast as I was expecting. No matter what I did, my speed remained constant. After my testing was done, I reconvened with the others.

"So, there is a big problem. My speed is limited. There seems to be a hard cap on speed in this place."

"You can't dodge as easily," Clarissa said, and I nodded.

"It is a major part of my combat style. Air Burst just let's me change directions rapidly, but no change in relative speed compared to the rest of you," I replied while thinking over the situation. The best time to come up with a plan was now, before we fought. Clarissa and her two henchmen were silent. I was in charge of the operation and the primary combat power.

If I couldn't use my normal fighting style, things would get rough. "I need two shields, as large as possible, the handles built right into them. Get ready with a second pair if I call out for it. I suspect I will be burning through a lot of shields." The portable store was going to come into use.

"How big compared to the tower shields? If you angle your body with your head facing down, the shield could be smaller," Clarissa asked.

"Same size as those tower shields. But thicker. And get ready with more." Clarissa nodded at this.

"Plan of attack?" she asked.

"That fortress is stupid. I counted at least a thousand golems, a hundred turrets, and five really large drones patrolling around. That is probably half their visible numbers. There are two options, long range bombardment and a battle of attrition, or directly attacking and forcing them to close the distance."

"You want to go for a battle of attrition first?" Clarissa asked me.

"There are too many unknowns. Speed of attack from those turrets and drones. Can they move faster than me or are they speed capped as well? That last question is really important. Also if a large group comes out, we can directly retreat, drawing them into a straight line pursuit, and I can handle them from one direction easily enough."

"We could try activating the super bombs and then sending one of them in. They are shielded from detection," Clarissa suggested and I considered that before shaking my head.

"If we had five of them, maybe. But we need to save them if possible. I have enough energy regeneration and reserves I would prefer to keep the non-renewable bombs for the sphere. Shame, we can't risk summoning," I muttered the last part.

"Only Michelle would have the expertise to risk something like that," Clarissa replied.

"Too late to worry about that now," I replied Clarissa made two shields and I had us observe for a little bit. I was specifically looking at how many attacks could be unleashed in my direction at once. There was no cover either.

I then had us orbit the massive structure where the sphere was. The fact that there were similar looking golems and the energy was familiar was enough confirmation in my eyes that the sphere was hiding in there. And while the construction was much more metallic, it was still blocky and angular.

Every angle was covered, there were no weak points I could make out after we had gone half an orbit around the structure. The structure itself was clearly designed to defend itself in all directions. Like a fractal pattern with off shoots from the main structure to provide overlapping angles of coverage, both at a range and close up.

I counted 16 different platforms, each with 4 turrets, and 20 golems each. There were at least 12 drones, that were about the size of a house, probably 16 as well patrolling around the structure. The structure's size was about a kilometer, or a sixth of a mile, across at the widest point, from offshoot to offshoot.

There were passages going into the interior of the structure as well. No doors that might impede progress. I was kept thinking about how a frontal assault would go, and I didn't like it. The amount of overlapping fire would be immense, and their range would be likely greater than my effective range.

That would mean, I would have to close the distance to be effective. It would be a killing field, without the ability to move more quickly. While I could alter my trajectory, without being able to alter my speed, or some form of cover, I would way too exposed.

"It is a death trap," I finally said.

"You can't win?" Clarissa asked.

"It is about getting close enough. Those platforms jutting out from the main structure at all angles, they are designed to create overlapping fields of fire from multiple angles. The drones are moving at my same speed, but they will no doubt spread out to create even more angles and attempt to circle behind in the event of an attack," I said.

"You have seen them before?" Clarissa asked me.

"No, but it is what I would do. Each of them are basically giant cubes with four cannons on them. That is not even counting any defensive ability they have. I bet anything they have some kind of shielding to make them very hard to destroy. It also doesn't matter what angle we attack from, they are all basically the same."

There was silence as we all considered how could even create a chance of winning. This wasn't some monster. It was an intelligent opponent that was very powerful.

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