Station Cores

Strategy gamer Milton Frederick was abducted by aliens who transplanted his consciousness into a Station Core — but the ship exploded and he crash-landed on a strange primitive world, trapped inside a massive metal egg. With a snarky, foul-mouthed AI guide called ALANNA to explain what happened, Milton must defend his hazardously-damaged shell from dangerous local wildlife — including bloodthirsty squirrels — while figuring out how to get off the planet. Building a dungeon and filling it with Combat Units helps against beasts, but it's no use when something even more dangerous shows up: people.

Milton has barely survived the first concentrated attack by hostile Proctans, with his dungeon destroyed and most defenders dead. With Brint and Inventor Whisp now available to help, he has the tools to rebuild — but the Cordpower Corporation has contracted elite agents to find out what happened to their people, putting Milton's dungeon to the test. Meanwhile, Brint leads an expedition into the Quizard Mountains to find resources for the dungeon. What he finds there is far more dangerous than anticipated.

Stranded on an alien planet, Milton has used every resource at his disposal to protect his Core from hostile beasts and Proctans. Now, joined by new recruits Rosewyn and Moxwell, the group forms a plan to combat the threat Brint discovered beneath the Quizard Mountains. But the Guardian Guild — the organization tasked with defending the Proctan kingdom — has been caught in a political coup instigated by the Cordpower Company. Milton must address that crisis while also preparing for the inevitable threat from the mountains. New discoveries in Neurological Control Units may provide the edge they need — including something every gamer knows well: respawning.

The Station Core's fortress was completely destroyed in a brutal attack — but they won, barely. With the enemy force that attacked them only a small portion of what's coming, Milton and the Guardian Guild know they cannot defend the entire Kingdom alone. They must delay the northern army of Bearillas and Quizards while hatching plans to rally the citizenry to their cause. Meanwhile, the Cordpower Company still has it out for the Guild, and time is running out.

After the events near the northeastern border, Milton has much to do. He must hide his dungeon from rampaging hordes, find shelter for thousands of children heading to him for safety, and provide for millions of citizens counting on him — people who don't even know what he is. Milton's proposition for these new arrivals involves the acquisition of new abilities and a fresh education at his new Guardian University. But will they learn fast enough to face the army fielded by the other Core?