A shiver ran through the Unklarn named Golgarn as he watched safely from a window. A large, armored lizardman plodded through the gate, dragging a sack even larger than him. The sack made both thudding and sloshing noises as the objects inside bumped together with their walk.

The outsider walked on the inside of the wall that protected the entrance to their mountain base. The wall was only about eight feet tall, and most of it had metal spikes protruding. The Scyrric passed the nearby spikes since they wouldn't serve his purpose.

Originally the spikes were meant to hamper those who would climb the wall, a clear message that none were welcome here. However, now almost all the spikes were occupied. Heads or other identifying features were jammed onto the spikes, displaying for the world those conquered by the Scyrric.

Unfortunately, the first fifty of the spikes had the heads of other Unklarn. They had been the leaders of this base. It had been 27 cycles since the Scyrric had arrived. He had not arrived as a friend. This base was one of the Scyrric's conquests. The first.

The heads of those who opposed him joined the leaders upon the spikes. Then it was those made as an example to the rest, followed by those the Scyrric felt were unnecessary to his goals.

So many friends had died, and every glance at the gates reminded Golgarn. It filled him with fury, and a depressing hopelessness. There was nothing that could be done by the remaining Unklarn to stop the murderous Scyrric. There had been nothing those on the wall had been able to do either.

Every time a new world was discovered, the Unklarn purchased bases in different environments. There was no intention of spreading their influence through conquest. The Unklarn were crafters and builders. Some of the best in the universes.

Coming to new worlds afforded them access to new materials to experiment with. It wasn't every time, but often they could discover some trick to make metal more solid, or plants to enhance known draughts. Sometimes the strength of basic runes could be enhanced. There was no knowing what they would find or how they could use it, but the unknown, and their results with it, kept them involved.

They were encouraged, not only by the [System], but also by other races to participate since the gains the Unklarn made translated to better products that they sold. Unklarn weren't a powerful race through combat, but their crafting and wealth were greater than most. During the exploring of new worlds, Unklarn bases became ports of trade. Somewhere that knowing races could re-equip on the fly or sell materials they found.

Because of all that, there was an unspoken rule that the Unklarn wouldn't engage in combat with other races and the races would leave the Unklarn bases alone until the late stages of the battles to conquer the new worlds. That had not happened this time.

Golgarn clenched his fists as he remembered the Scyrric's arrival. It had been a Metallic Berserker. Walking through their gates without the traditional metal armor that the class relied upon made them think he was here to gain new armor. A Metallic Berserker that was still alive but didn't have their armor seemed unlikely to be strong.

The deep breath that Golgarn blew out was strong enough to disturb his ample beard. It carried with it the frustration he felt, but as it subsided the hopelessness at the memories returned. The Scyrric hadn't been weak, and he hadn't followed the respect the Unklarn were usually treated with.

The Scyrric had gone straight for their base leader. He had raged faster than a defense could be mounted. With only his claws and tail, the Scyrric had ripped out heads and spines, grabbing the control crystal, and conquering their base.

With the base changing hands, the portal back to their home world had vanished. There was no escape for those left behind. In no time the Scyrric had also changed the security so no calls could be made to others. There would be no help and no reinforcements. Since the Unklarn spread their bases out so far to maximize the chance of gaining a variety of materials, they were stranded. That was what the Scyrric wanted.

"Are you ready, lad?" asked a figure who came up behind Golgarn.

Turnock handed him a single sided hand axe and a double-edged short sword with a wide blade. The blade went into his sheath in the lower back while the axe was hung from his shoulder. There was already a small sickle on one leg and a wide headed trowel on the other. A belt of pouches was filled with all kinds of powders, trinkets, and tools. A large pack waited at his side.

"I know the plan, sir," Golgarn responded as he nodded to the older blacksmith. "The others will bring the monster to the forges and then us explorers scatter."

"Aye," nodded Turnock. "Just remember, he will go after you all. We don't know if any can even escape, but this is our last chance. Either one of you finds someone willing to stop him, or the rest of us die. Only return if you find a force strong enough to go against a Tier 4 Scyrric."

Golgarn gritted his teeth. This wasn't likely to recapture the base. Few had the intent and strength to stand against the Scyrric. This was just an attempt to get some of their people to safety and to let their home world know of the treachery. Although even knowing was unlikely to result in any sanctions against a race as powerful as the Scyrric.

The Scyrric had hit Tier 4 shortly after arriving. Everyone had expected him to select the Grand Metallic Berserker class, but it seemed there was something wrong with him. He constantly muttered to himself regarding a lock and an aberration before lashing out at the walls to the former Unklarn base.

Instead of evolving immediately upon gaining the required levels, the Scyrric had waited, missing out on early skills for the new class. He raided other bases and races to gain materials for the Unklarn to forge stronger metals with for his weapons and armor and eventually evolved to a different class. He became a Chromium Titan.

The class wasn't as powerful in theory as the Grand Metallic Berserker, but it hardly mattered when he was Tier 4 before the [System] allowed the portaling of such high ranks to the new world. None could stand against him at the moment. Why he was alone and evolving his classes oddly wasn't something the Unklarn were privy to, but it left them even more concerned. A rogue powerhouse could upset the balance of everything.

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Now the Unklarn were left to smelt, make alloys, and forge based on the bones and blood brought by the Scyrric from his raids, combined with the ores they mined or brought with them. Everything to make the Scyrric stronger.

Golgarn and Turnock watched the Scyrric finish adorning the walls with his trophies and then head to the main entrance.

"Be ready," said Turnock, with a hand on Golgarn's shoulder. "It will be soon. Move quietly and quickly."

"Aye, sir," acknowledged Golgarn. "Quiet and quickly. I have been assigned the direction of the rising sun."

"Good. May the mountains forever be at your back," prayed Turlock as he shuffled back down the hallway, knowing it was unlikely they would ever meet again.

***

…All natives included in Dimensional Convergence Rift will receive the title "Invasion Conqueror".

Invasion Conqueror For defeating an enemy of your planet and preventing their rampage from continuing you will receive +2 to all stats. Claiming more Dimensional Convergence Rifts will increase this title.

This dimensional layer has been merged with the planetary reality. For an energy penalty within the next planetary day, you may uncouple this dimensional layer from the planetary reality returning it to a Dimensional Convergence Rift.

Would you like to decouple dimensional layer? [ Yes / No ]

Gregor stared at the message. Gasps occurred all around him. He looked back at the nearly two hundred humans crammed into the base they had just conquered. Two stat points might not be much for him, but for those with levels lower than ten it was significant.

The large Blood Berserker was still breathing heavily and was bleeding from nearly a dozen places. That had been a challenging fight, and honestly, he was glad it was over. He never would have tried to take over a base if not for the need of a safe place for the people they had found along the way. Now, he wondered if he should have tried attacking bases along the way.

"That General punk!" swore Jack Fleming, with the Tier 3 Flamethrower [33] class. "That's how they got so much stronger than us. One base is worth +2 to all stats, and they captured so many bases. If we had known sooner, then Commander Rexus could have wiped the floor with him!"

Tyler Zito, Tier 3 Domain Master [32], was trying to heal people without his domain due to running low on mana. Gregor was willing to go last, knowing that if he just ate some meat, he could self-heal faster than those more in need. There was too much damage to his group after that fight, though no casualties. All the low-level people had been kept back when they engaged.

"We were around those kids and their faux army for a bit and no one mentioned it," added Jamari Gillum, Tier 3 Outrider [31]. "It seems weird that so many people wouldn't mention something like that, even in those packs of information we were able to get from them. Even the guys we conscripted never mentioned it. Secrets are hard to keep, and they had thousands raiding the invader bases."

"Maybe most people didn't know?" asked Cody Sloan, Storm Invoke [33].

"Seems impossible," said Dalton Coleman, with the class of Sagittarii [30]. Then he pointed to the low-level people. "Based on their reactions, all those Sentinel guys would have received the same message. Most likely numerous times."

"I'm sure there was a reason they kept it secret," suggested Kevin Spence, Breakdown Pugilist [35]. "Did you have any idea, big guy? …hey, Gregor!"

"What? Oh yeah," responded Gregor after Kevin backhanded his shoulder to get his attention. "Before we left, Adam told me that the real power comes more from conquering bases than just leveling. This must be what he meant. He also did mention it was a secret and not to say anything."

"It seems pretty important to have been kept a secret for this long," said Coleman. "Are you saying that even the invaders don't know?"

"Well, the message did say it was specific to natives," said Zito, standing up from healing Spence's leg. "With how difficult these raids are, maybe no native was able to survive long after conquering a base."

"If any native being invaded even managed to capture a base before," said Sloan cryptically.

"As if," dismissed Fleming. "I just can't believe that punk was special enough to do what no one else before did."

"Whether he was the first or not, we need to make sure everyone knows to keep this a complete secret. It will be even more dangerous if these damned aliens have another reason to wipe us out," said Gillum, before gasping. "Wait! What is that?"

As they were talking, suddenly the glen where they had fought this base's boss became dark. It was like an eclipse was happening, even darker than a cloud passing by. Everyone looked upwards.

Way up in the sky there was a floating mass. It was moving southwest. They couldn't tell what it was made from, but it was larger than the base they had just fought their way through. There was no noise as it passed above. Gillum pulled out some binoculars with a night vision option and looked through them.

"The bottom is jagged, like rocks. I can't really see anything noticeable," he said. They all grew silent and watched, but then Gillum spoke with more concern. "There is something, or somethings, coming out from the top of it. This could be dangerous. They look like lizards, but with bat wings."

"Lizards with wings? Do you mean dragons?!" grunted Coleman, aiming his bow and using a skill to see further. It didn't allow him to see through the shadow, but the shapes were coming from the edges of the floating mass where light was still visible.

"I don't think we're in shape to fight off any new beasts," sighed Zito. "We just can't get a break, can we?"

ALERT: Hostile forces have entered your territory.

Gregor scowled at the new window notification. Then he pulled up the previous message and select Yes on it. Immediately the sky was cut off as a black shell surrounded the base and then a fake sky replaced it. The land around them still looked the same but in the distance was a black boundary. Everyone pulled their weapons and put their backs together while looking in all directions.

"What just happened?" demanded Fleming.

"It's ok," stated Gregor. "I decoupled the base. It's now one of those black nests."

"Why did you do that?" asked Spence.

"Adam told me that the nests had a nearly impenetrable barrier. I thought it would be safer for the people here. I don't think any of us are in a position for a new fight."

"Impenetrable? Didn't the brat get through one?" asked Fleming.

Gregor simply shrugged and then lowered himself to the ground, where he finally took a moment to relax. "He said it would be safe. No one this early in the invasions will be able to get through the barrier, as far as he believed. At least it'll be safer than not activating it. We can all use some safety."

Fleming clicked his tongue and turned away, but everyone else nodded. Since leaving Jackson, they had been forced to sneak, creep, and fight their way through a lot of invader-controlled lands. They avoided fighting and looked for surviving humans when they could, but overall, it had been an extremely difficult trip.

Technically they travelled rather quickly, thanks to their high stats, able to minimize their rest while moving with pace. At least, until they had encountered lower-level people who needed protection. They were now getting closer to Washington but needed a place to keep all these people before continuing. That was why Gregor had finally decided to attack this invader base in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

They had scouted around to find the easiest one they could, but this number of people was difficult to hide, and well, beggars can't be choosers. Now they had a safe haven and were within spitting distance of DC. Their main group could move on while having this base as a fallback point.

More importantly, they needed the rest and time to prepare. From what Gregor had experienced, anything could happen to them from here on out.

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