Aether Gate

By A. M. Deuel

A group of ordinary friends stumble upon an opportunity of a lifetime. A shadowy criminal group has been conducting business within the game Nebula: Genesis, a new age dive massive multiplayer online role-playing game, where the player is fully immersed into the game world. The group decides to take down the organization when the developers were struggling to track them down. This leads to them being invited to test the companys new fantasy game, Project Aether. But when they finally get to dive into the new game, everything is not as it seems. The test players can only sit back and watch as a dark plot unfolds before their very eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984527684

A. M. Deuel

About the Author: A. M. Deuel has always been fond of fantasy and sci-fi arts, usually day dreaming his days away imagining great battle between armies or a planet being saved by a heroic soldier. If he isnt day dreaming, he can be found online with his friends immersed in the virtual world. Many of the inspirations for his writing come from the actual exploits of his gaming group. No matter the world virtual or real he always tries to help people in anyway he can, whether that is helping a new member explore the game or help a friend through a tough time.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The auditorium was crowded with camera crews and impatient onlookers all buzzing about what Jason Kirowack and the team at Focus Fire Interactive had in store for their flagship game Nebula. An announcement made its way across the web that FFI was going to be hosting a special live event of their web series; Down Range. They were going to be demonstrating their new system as well as their upcoming flagship Nebula: Genesis.

The crowd seemed anxious as time went on and just as things couldn’t drag on any longer the lights and screens on stage began to darken followed by the roar of applause and cheers. Excitement filled the dark room when the crowds cheering began to fade, and when all was silent, a booming voice began to speak. Legendary Fighter pilot James T. Reynolds once said, Give me a fully loaded Auric, and I’ll charge the gates of hell. The crowd erupted into applause as a Forge Runner Auric raced onto the screen near an asteroid belt surrounding a planet.

The sleek ship bobbed and weaved through the asteroids when a missile floated passed the nose of the ship and exploded on a nearby asteroid. The camera snapped into the pilot’s view, and he immediately began to take evasive action. Dodging under and over asteroids the pilot avoided flashes of green and red laser blasts. A loud beeping tone started to echo around the cockpit, and the radar began to flash red. Quickly tapping several buttons on a side panel the pilot grabbed the throttle control and slammed it to the maximum.

A massive asteroid began to come closer as the ship rocketed forward. A small screen appeared and showed the distance of the rocket in correlation to his ship, and it was closing in fast. Clicking a small red button on the throttle, the pilot engaged the afterburners causing him to lurch back into his seat. The asteroid was rotating in space, and the pilot saw a hole in the asteroid and pointed his ship’s nose towards the hole. Passing through the asteroid, the pilot banked hard left and dove back under the asteroid. Circling the asteroid, the pilot came to the flank of the enemy pilot, and he put his sights on the box like Mesmer.

The twin chain guns started to wind up and the deafening thunder from the array of weapons roared through the entire auditorium. A blue shield flashed and flickered as rounds tore into the smaller ship and with a small burst the shield flickered out. Rounds impacted the hull of the ship and slowly crept up towards the cockpit, as the ship began to drift it collided with a nearby asteroid.

Pulling up the pilot took his ship out of the asteroid belt, and gave the audience a quick thumbs up. Applause and cheers erupted as Jason walked out on stage and the stage lights began to brighten. Standing on stage he patiently waited for the applause to die down. When he felt it was time, he spread his arms wide and excitement exclaimed! Good afternoon! I personally would like to thank everyone here and watching around the world for joining us on this amazing day!

The applause continued to erupt from the crowd, and he raised his hands, trying to calm their enthusiasm. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so I would ask that you hold your applause until the end of the presentation. Today not only starts a new chapter in gaming history but one that will change the world! Hushed whispers stretch across the entire audience, and he sat with a smile on his face as they talked. On this day, March twenty-first, two thousand twenty-one, FFI proudly presents Project Vulcanium and Nebula: Genesis.

He pointed towards a nearby screen and a video of a woman standing near a cot with a computer tower and strange head rig resting on the pillow. Alright, Janet go ahead and plug yourself in. Mike, go ahead and get the program on screen to track her visual input so we are looking through her eyes. On another nearby screen large white letters scrolled across the screen blinking, Initializing waiting for input response, please wait.

The screen blinked to life as if you were looking through her eyes out into the open world. Standing on a space platform, she looked down her body, showing the audience the bright white armor with a light blue suit underneath. Looking up and to her right, she turned, and the entire crowd saw a beautiful planet out in the distance, and they erupted in applause. Raising his hands once again he looked over the crowd, Ladies and gentlemen I give to you the first full dive virtual reality system: Project Vulcanium!

CHAPTER 2

Jason raised his hands to stay the crowd’s applause so he could continue along with the presentation. Mike, can we get a camera drone over to pad A2, please? With that, we can have a better visual when she begins to demonstrate her range of movements. A second screen appeared showing the woman standing amidst the ocean of stars. Jason gave the nod and several clouds of brilliant blue shards began to appear, and soon four round drones hovered around the woman.

Janet whenever you are ready, feel free to begin. A thumbs up was all she gave the crowd when she pulled a pistol and took aim at the drone in front of her. The drone glowed blue and discharged a bolt of energy at the perceived threat. Dodging left she fired several times, and as the rounds impacted the drone, it shields flashed blue. The other drones flashed blue and began their attack. Tumbling backward to avoid fire from the three incoming drones, she quickly sprang to her feet, threw a left hook that sent the nearby drone spinning into the pads deck.

The drone began to spark, and quickly the entire frame shimmered, exploding into brilliant blue shards. Her view flashed red as a bolt splashed across her back. Turning to face her attacker, she leveled the weapons sights as she unloaded the remainder of her magazine. Crashing down onto the pad, the drone sparked and shattered into shards blocking the view of her next target.

Quickly pulling a knife from behind her back she threw the blade at the obscured ball. The blade drove deep into the metal shell, and before the husk hit the pad, it exploded into shards. The final drone sat hovering twenty meters away. With a practiced hand, that moved at incredible speed; her weapon was reloaded as she turned to face her final target. Taking off a dead sprint towards the drone, she shifted her weight avoiding the first salvo.

The drone then combined its blasters and fired a blue wave at the floor of the pad. The wave caused the woman to vault over it and the drone. Landing gracefully, she raised her pistol as the drone rotated to see the flash from the barrel. Sputtering and shooting out sparks, the drone crashed to the padded floor. Let’s give Janet a round of applause for demonstrating her incredible athleticism and the full capabilities of our free movement technology.

Applause thundered through the auditorium as the woman on screen curtsied gracefully. Jason held up his hands as the crowd began to settle; he turned to the pilot still waiting in space. Victor, go ahead and jump to Janet’s coordinates and then you guys should be good to log out once you’ve docked. The pilot on screen pressed a button on a panel to his left, and an overlay appeared showing half a dozen destinations on screen. The pilot turned the nose of the ship towards a jump point labeled Port Forithun and clicked another button.

A small warp field began to appear in front of the ship, and slowly the field of view began to compress. The warp stream was a brilliant tube of lights, and after a few moments, the ship burst out into space. The starport sat like a jewel in a sea of blackness. Making his decent onto a platform, the ship came to rest as the pilot looked over at the woman waiting on the pad.

The pilot hopped out of the Auric, and he walked over to his partner, together they looked at the camera and waved. Their bodies dematerialize in a wave of blue shards, and soon they were gone. The camera feed snapped back, showing Janet removing her rig. Shaking out her long black hair she stretched and walked over to join an older gentleman. And a big round of applause to captain Victor Alberdeem.

CHAPTER 3

After a few moments, Jason raised his hands calming the crowd once again. Now that we have seen a few basic movements, it’s time to show you our new NPC interaction interface for the full dive world. As the crowd cheered, several screens on stage flashed to life with a mirrored message initializing. Almost instantly, the view transitioned to a player standing in a grey room.

Alright ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to introduce EX Special Forces member Marcus J Whitmore! The crowd erupts into applause as the man on screen waved back with a massive smile on his face. Marcus the floor is yours, please feel free to select any weapon from the armory. When you are ready, proceed out the airlock, and the encounter will start. Marcus gave a swift salute and turned towards the selection of weapons.

The camera transitioned into the first-person view, and the world got a look at the integrated heads-up display. Walking down the corridor, he quickly selected his preferred weapons. Picking up a pistol, he looked it over as an expanded window appeared giving a detailed description of the weapon. Dark Horse full sized machine pistol, pulling the slide back he leveled the weapons sights as the HUD scanned the pistol. Instantly a small pistol icon appeared on the lower right-hand side of the HUD.

Happy with the selection he slid the weapon into a holster on his right leg. As he picked up his main weapon, Jason addressed the audience. As you can see in the HUD, this is the Falcon Pulse Rifle. Similar to modern combat rifles, this weapon comes with an array of attachments. Grabbing a small firing core, Jason explains the change to rifles energy output. This is the scout variant core, which comes with a semi-automatic trigger as well as a charged shot function.

Releasing the breach catch, revealed a space. Placing a cell into the slot, he gave a quick flick causing the barrel to snap shut, and the rifle glowed to life. Marcus pulled the weapon up and leveled his sights on the audience. The HUD flashed again as a small rifle icon appeared above the pistol. Stopping at a crate on a nearby table, he opened the lid. Instead of selecting standard fragmentation or sticky grenades, Marcus selected the Mark Seven Seeker grenades.

At this point, Jason interrupted, Marcus, if I may ask, why the Mark sevens? With a small chuckle, Marcus replies, You will find out soon enough, and proceeds to the airlock. The doors behind him close and a panel on the wall flashes green causing the space doors to hiss open.

CHAPTER 4

The players HUD polarized, as blinding light poured through the expanding doorway. When a message appeared on his HUD, Urgent message for all personnel. A voice recording soon followed, "This is Captain Tyerius of the planetary police force. We have just received a report of bandits attacking lone traders in the system, stealing ships and cargo. Last known ship to be stolen was a Beris Longhorn with the tag BB-one seven C.

If you see this ship or make contact, do not engage. They are known to be armed and extremely dangerous. Please contact your local authorities. From his current vantage point, he saw a cargo pad full of crates and other various containers. Glancing around, he noticed a large panel on the left far wall. Tapping his wrist pad, a message flashed across his player HUD, Designate Target selection. Holding his gaze on the panel for a few seconds, a confirmation message appeared, First target locked."

Glancing across the platform he noticed a cluster of barrels sitting amidst several towers of containers. After a few seconds another confirmation message appeared, Target two locked. Confirming his two targets, Marcus took up a covered position. Taking a calm breath, his HUD lit up with a proximity alert. He looked up to see a ship heading straight towards his position.

The HUD sent out a scan, and a small visual of a Longhorn appeared in the top left corner followed by simple ship information. A flashing red line caught his attention, and he looked closer to see the ships tag, BB-one seven C flashing. The twin thrusters shifted downward slowing the ship decent as it slowly began landing procedures. The landing feet extended down touching the pad and with several loud hisses from the pressure valves the large ship came to rest.

Another loud hiss was followed by the exterior door extending down from the neck of the ship to the pad. Four armored men descend onto the pad laughing and shoving each other around. The lead man looked over towards the lone man standing across the pad, and soon the others turned their attention to him as well. If I were you, I would be stepping off quick like, old man, as he drew his sidearm and smirked at his friends. Are you deaf or something? growing angrier the man took a step forward and cocked the hammer on his pistol.

Marcus didn’t move or respond, and the lead man turned and looked at one of his men who also aimed Marcus. Last chance fuck face before we dust your dumb ass for being stupid. The other men started to put their hands on their weapons when Marcus finally responded, That’s a fancy looking ship you got there, and how did you come by it? The men were all shocked by the question and looked at the lead man. The previous owner didn’t have much use for her anymore, as they collectively laughed.

Pulling the trigger of the energy rifle a small percentage appeared on his HUD that started to rise. That’s an Interesting story because a report came over that a ship looking just like this one was stolen by a band of morons. Just so happens that I have myself a pack of morons. The lead man didn’t move an inch, So what if we did steal it? The man was on his last leg and looked like he needed to be put down, besides there are four of us and one of you. What could you possibly hope to accomplish?

CHAPTER 5

The three cronies didn’t have time to react as Marcus aimed his rifle and unloaded the charged shot into the lead man. The round hit with such force that his body instantly exploded into a wave of shards. Marcus ducked into cover as the remaining three returned fire. The containers rattled as bullets impacted all around him. He looked into the mirror glass above and saw two pirates hastily running and gunning down the sides of the platform, while the last man continued to suppress his position with a heavy machine gun.

Pulling the two grenades from his chest, he clicked the priming buttons and threw them both straight up into the air. He heard the men screaming to get down as the rockets launched from the grenades. He watched in the glass as the first cluster of missiles impacted the panel on the wall. He felt his feet start to leave the pad and the containers that weren’t tied down began to float. The man charging on the right side was hovering near the pile of crates that held the explosive barrels.

The entire pad shook violently as the containers exploded scattering debris in every direction. He tapped his wrist pad, and his boots pulled him back down to the metal deck, and after regaining his bearings, he readied his weapon. Looking up at the mirrored glass, he uses his HUD to identify his targets amidst the debris field. Unable to acquire any targets using the mirrors, he rolled to the right and started to scan his sectors. Catching sight of a hand behind a container he moved his view to where center mass would be and as the containers moved he saw the grizzly sight.

The man was twisted and contorted from the impact. The pirate wasn’t moving but Marcus charged a small shot and fired through his visor. He barely had time to react to the sound of an energy shotgun discharging to his left. Several rounds impacted his side and arm causing him to spasm and release his rifle into the air. Gaining enough control of his body, he ducked into cover while pulling his sidearm. The pirate was shouting and firing wildly in his direction. Looking back up into the glass, he could see the man floating closer to his position.

When the man was just a few meters away, Marcus turned and kicked several of the containers as hard as he could sending them racing towards the man. The man swore as containers slammed into him sending him floating off balance and Marcus emerged from behind the last few containers and unloaded the automatic pistol into his target. Several rounds penetrated the armor streaming up his gut to his collarbone. Red wounds spread across his body in places where the bullets went through the armor. The wounded pirate struggled to return fire.

Marcus fired the remainder of the magazine into his helmet sending him tumbling backward into a wave of shards. Ejecting the magazine, he quickly retrieved another from his belt and as he reached to pull the slide back the crates in front of the Longhorn began to move.

CHAPTER 6

The remaining pirate looked around panicked until his view locked onto Marcus. Swearing he began to unload his ballistic machine gun in a haphazard hail of gunfire. Diving for cover, Marcus took around to the right bicep causing him to drop his pistol. Safely in cover, he saw that a small figure had appeared on his HUD and the right arm was flashing red. Swearing to himself, he pulled out a small tube from a side pouch and quickly pressed it to his upper right arm.

A quick discharge of air was heard as the wound on his arm slowly began to fade. Without a moments rest, he had to adjust his cover as bullets penetrated through quickly. When he came to the edge of the containers, he braced himself for the next volley, but it never happened. Leaning out he looked at the pirate across the pad, who was swearing and shaking his weapon trying to unhinge the clunky box magazine. The pirate quickly discards his gun and began searching for a replacement.

The pirate launched himself across the platform as Marcus engaged his own movement thrusters. Racing across the pad to meet his foe, Marcus saw what the Pirate was after. The energy shotgun sat floating in the middle of the pad where the last Pirate had died. Marcus adjusted his flight path as he pushed the thrusters to the limit but realized the pirate would get there first. Reaching out Marcus grabbed a piece of floating debris and steadied himself as they closed in on the weapon.

The pirate reached for the shotgun and began to fire before he had his target in sight. Marcus reached out and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun as the pirate continued to fire. Struggling to line the barrel up with his target’s chest, Marcus swung the piece of debris with all his might. The pirates head jerked back, and Marcus grabbed the shotgun with his other hand and planted his boots firmly on his chest. Kicking his feet, he was able to pull the weapon away from the pirate and sent him sailing backward. Stabilizing himself, the pirate turned his gaze back to Marcus only to be met with the barrel of the shotgun.

You have no idea who you just fucked with, old man. We are just the tip of the iceberg but when the big boss finds out that you disrupted the flow of his business. Marcus calmly smiled as the pirate started in again, "For fuck sake, he was an old man! The