The Allbright System - A Sci-Fi Progression LitRPG Story

Thea’s eyes flickered open, a hazy fog clouding her consciousness. It felt as if she were submerged deep underwater—sounds were muffled, and her body felt distant, almost weightless.

Attempting to survey her surroundings, she groaned, realising she was seated and propped against an earthen wall. “Where... Where am I?” she mumbled.

Her vision was a blur, shapes and colours melding indistinctly. She attempted to raise her hands to her face, but her body seemed detached, distant. Familiar sensations—the contraction and expansion of her muscles, the subtle friction of her clothing and armour against her skin, the touch of her fingers brushing her forehead—all seemed muted, as if they were echoes of actions rather than the experiences themselves.

Just then, a series of System notifications popped up before her inner eye.

[System]: Vitality has increased by 0.01 points.

[System]: Vitality has increased by 0.01 points.

[System]: Vitality has increased by 0.01 points.

[System]: Vitality has increased by 0.01 points.

[System]: Recovery has increased by 0.01 points.

[System]: Recovery has increased by 0.01 points.

[System]: Participant's Blueprint has been updated.

"What the fuck happened to me?!" she wondered with exasperation, her frown deepening, as she quickly dismissed the notifications.

Glimpses of her recent past floated through her cloudy mind: visions of Alpha Squad, navigating a makeshift base. "The assessment…?" she mused aloud, her voice filled with uncertainty.

Then, as though a dam had burst, memories flooded back: The sight of a cloaked army of Stellar Republic soldiers stood out sharply in her mind as the last thing she remembered. With a jolt of recognition, she gasped, "I have to warn the others!"

Driven by urgency, she tried to stand, but her vision remained unfocused and her legs betrayed her. The unexpected thing was the absence of sensation when she crumpled to the ground—no feeling of the failed attempt to stand or the harsh impact against the gritty surface.

Huffing in frustration and wrestling with her disoriented senses, she chided herself, “Easy, Thea. Steady as you go. You won’t help anyone by being rash.”

Gradually, Thea extended her arms, guiding her hands with deliberate care toward her face. Upon reaching her eyes, she discerned that they were encrusted with dried blood, causing them to water incessantly.

“Seriously, just what the fuck is going on with me?” she murmured.

Relying on her high levels of Perception—since her body seemed to be relaying no tactile feedback whatsoever—Thea began to clear away the blood-caked crust. As she worked, her vision improved, each removal of a hardened flake revealing more of her surroundings and her eyes producing fewer tears in response.

Lying in the channel created by two adjacent earthen walls, she studied her environment. The peculiar hue of the soil underneath her was immediately striking. Instead of the familiar brown from Lumiosia, this dirt was tinged with a shade of azure.

“The Azure Forest...” Thea mumbled, connecting the dots despite her clouded state.

'I’m in the midst of the assessment, situated near the Azure Forest on Nova Serene. With Alpha Squad and the 32nd Company, I'm acting as a scout... We encountered an ambush, advanced to the Azure Forest, and were about to be ambushed again...'

A realisation, combined with the intermittent flashes she spotted at the edge of her vision, struck her with alarming clarity: “We’re in the middle of combat!”

Compelled by the urgency of her realisation, Thea attempted to gauge her circumstances. Though her body seemed untouched by injuries, the eerie absence of sensory input hampered her ability to move with precision. She felt as if she were trapped within a barrier, disconnected from the world around her.

Slowly, with deliberate, concentrated movements, Thea began to shift herself. She painstakingly manoeuvred her hand to grasp the edge of the trench wall, using it as leverage to hoist her upper body. The process felt both laborious and surreal—like trying to puppeteer her own limbs from a distance. Despite her lack of tactile sensations, her body's muscle memory and her mind's steely determination worked in tandem to get her into a sitting position.

As Thea tried to piece together her surroundings, a distinctive shape nearby caught her immediate attention. There, just within her line of sight, was a set of armour—its intricate design and characteristic markings glaringly obvious to her. It was not just any armour; it was one she was intimately familiar with, worn by someone she deeply cared for.

“Kara...” she whispered, her eyes widened in terror as a pang of dread washed over her.

Pushing past her physical limitations, Thea staggered towards the armour, every ounce of her will focused on reaching her friend. "Kara, can you hear me? Answer me!" she cried out, her voice tinged with desperation.

However, as she drew nearer and her vision honed in on the armour's front plate, her heart felt like it plummeted into an abyss. The sight was harrowing—a gaping hole right where Karania's heart and left lung should have been. The brutal reality of the injury was crystal clear. Such a wound was unequivocally fatal.

The realisation was a sledgehammer to Thea's already fragile state: Karania was dead.

Several moments of stillness elapsed, punctuated only by the sporadic flicker of lights overhead, signalling the persistent conflict beyond the confines of the trench she found herself in.

‘Come on, Thea, pull yourself together. In war, death is inevitable. Besides, she'll be back. There's no need for panic,’ she silently reassured herself. She took a deep, stabilising breath, intentionally redirecting her gaze away from the chilling sight of her lifeless friend.

‘What's the next step?’ she mused, her mind striving for clarity amidst the fog. ‘Right, weapons! We're under attack, after all.’

Her gaze swept the immediate area, quickly settling on a familiar heap of gear nearby. Manoeuvring herself gingerly towards the pile, ever cautious not to trip again given her present state, a wave of recognition washed over her.

‘There they are! My Gram and Caliburn!’ A triumphant smirk began to take shape on her face, only to be abruptly replaced by bewilderment as she noticed a blood-smeared face-mask carelessly tossed atop what seemed like her backpack.

‘Is that…? My Spectre's mask. Why’s it like that?’ As she gingerly picked it up, a chilling realisation hit her. The blood was on the inside. Memories of her blood-crusted eyes and impaired hearing crystalized in her mind. With increasing trepidation, she lifted her helmet slightly to access her ears, scratching gently. As she pulled her hand back, it was as she'd feared—flakes of dried blood coated her gloves.

A torrent of thoughts rushed in, ‘Bleeding from both ears and eyes? That's no minor injury. What on Lumiosia could have caused this?’ A pang of guilt and anguish filled her as she cast a sorrowful glance back at Karania’s body. 'She probably saved me and ended up dying as a result…’

Thea suddenly snapped to attention, chiding herself for zoning out yet again. "Dammit! What's happening to me? I need to stay focused!" she exclaimed.

As she bent to inspect her backpack, manoeuvring her hands felt like attempting to extricate them from a mire of semi-set rock-crete. But thanks to her meticulous packing before the assessment, she was quickly able to locate what she sought near the top. Drawing out a bandolier filled with injectors of varying hues, she hesitated.

‘Hold on… which one is for what again?’ The mere thought sent alarm bells ringing in her mind.

‘Wait… I can’t remember? How can this be? My memory has always been my forte. Why can't I remember something as crucial as the function of each injector? Did I get hit in the head…?’

After a moment, she leaned against the trench wall, letting herself slide into a seated position. Without the distraction of trying to command her uncooperative limbs, she could focus all her mental energy on the task at hand. She took deliberate, calming breaths, sinking deeper into a meditative state.

‘Think, Thea. Think! The colours! What do they mean?!’

After what felt like an eternity, a revelation jolted her from her trance.

"The red! That’s the booster!"

Without missing a beat, she snatched the red injector from the bandolier. Before her fickle memory could betray her again, she swiftly administered the stim to her neck.

Almost immediately, a wave of invigoration washed over Thea as the booster coursed through her system and passed through the blood-brain barrier in an instant. It felt like a storm clearing, giving way to the first rays of morning sunlight, as a large portion of the fog that shrouded her mind lifted.

The world around her began to snap into sharper focus, and her thoughts raced at their usual lightning pace.

With newfound clarity, she recognized the urgency of the situation.

There was an ambush, and she needed to act—fast.

A brief moment of indecision gripped her as she contemplated taking her Caliburn, but she dismissed the thought just as quickly. It was unlikely she would be able to fire the massive railgun more than once or twice, considering the vast amount of enemies she remembered Alpha Squad and the 32nd having run into, and her less than stellar physical condition made the Gram a vastly more suitable choice.

Swiftly, she slung the Gram over her shoulder, making sure it was secure. She then loaded her armour's pouches with a few extra capacitor-magazines for the weapon. Though her mind was racing, ready to plunge into the heat of battle, her body remained a challenge.

It was an odd sensation—like wearing a full suit of packing-wrap. Her limbs felt distant, detached. Every movement she made seemed like it was being filtered through layers of dense fabric, muffling the immediate feedback she was so accustomed to. The disconnect between her brain and body was profound, and while the booster had sharpened her cognitive faculties, her tactile senses were still alarmingly dulled.

With a mix of frustration and determination, Thea reminded herself, "One step at a time." She'd have to rely more on her instinct and training now, more than ever, to compensate for her body's current deficiencies.

Approaching what she discerned to be the front, Thea spotted a notch in the trench wall, seemingly hastily dug into the side for easier access to the battlefield view.

She focused intently on her limbs. Though they reacted with slightly more precision, they still lacked the innate feedback she was accustomed to, making every movement feel like a calculated guess. Using this notch as her first step, she cautiously ascended and peered over the trench's edge.

The horizon before Thea was almost unrecognisable.

The once verdant fringes of the Azure Forest, which had previously fascinated Thea with their ethereal hues and diverse flora, were now transformed into a grim tableau of utter devastation. The vibrancy had been replaced by vast expanses of black, scorched and charred earth, punctuated intermittently by enormous craters that marred the approach to the forest's heart.

Against this backdrop of destruction, a formidable line of Stellar Republic soldiers stood resolute, their weapons discharging continuously, their heavy weapon emplacements raining an endless amount of destruction down upon the UHF’s forces. Their volleys were targeted towards the remnants of the 32nd Company, who, despite the onslaught, still clung to their last lines of defence.

The Marines, in their battered state, huddled behind scorched, cracked shields and makeshift barricades, which bore witness to the brutality of the battle they had endured. Thea frowned slightly as she quickly took a tally of the UHF’s remaining fighting force in the 32nd - less than a hundred.

A series of haphazard trenches snaked its way across the battlefield, connecting some of the beleaguered shields of the Spear Platoon. It was evident that in the heat of the combat, these trenches were dug as a desperate attempt to provide some semblance of cover for troop movements and brief areas of respite, more so than battle-ready trenches to return fire from.

A slight hesitant feeling of relief washed over Thea, however, as her gaze settled on her comrades amidst the chaos.

Lucas, ever a pillar of strength in the squad, clutched the Stalwart shield with both hands, a sign of his unwavering resolve. The formidable shield, that had protected their Squad since the beginning of the assessment and made from exclusively T1 material plating, bore signs of severe damage.

Cracks had sprouted near its outer edges, suggesting that it had absorbed some unbelievably ferocious blows. Half of Lucas's helmet had also been completely shattered, revealing a face below that was streaked with sweat and blood, yet it was a face set in grim determination. His eyes still bore the fiery essence of someone who wasn’t ready to give in.

Corvus, always known for his strategic mind and leadership, was multitasking under pressure. With his right hand, he discharged rounds from his rifle towards the Stellar Republic’s lines, while his left hand, which seemed lifeless and limp, hung at his side — an obvious injury sustained.

His comms module was constantly abuzz, as he barked commands and coordinated with the other squads. It was clear that he was not only fighting the enemy directly but also trying to figure out a way for them all to get through this.

Isabella, in her usual fiery spirit, stood atop a mound of spent casings. She operated her Devastation with relentless fury, sending barrages of fire towards the enemy lines. While she managed to shield most of her body behind Lucas's shield, a worrying pool of blood under her feet hinted at the fact that she wasn't in the best of conditions.

Her ferocity, combined with her position, made her appear as a goddess of war, standing atop her achievements, bearing the scars of the battle with pride. Thea couldn’t help but be reminded of a certain Lieutenant she had met during her first ever encounter with the UHF, a slight grin forming involuntarily on her face at the memories.

Desmond was making calculated shots, re-positioning himself strategically between individual volleys. His back bore the Drone Forge, which hummed and whirred, working overtime to produce another drone.

It was apparent he had lost his previous one in the heat of the battle. Every few moments, he'd check on its progress, his face a mix of concern and focus, curses flowing out of his mouth at every opportunity.

The sight of her squad, battered yet unwavering, ignited a fierce determination within Thea, dispelling some of the numbness that had so thoroughly consumed her. Despite the impaired feedback from her limbs, she sprang forward, vaulting the remainder of the trench wall and sprinting towards the protective embrace of the Stalwart’s shield, Gram at the ready.

But as she neared her destination, a sharp pang in her chest spoke of impending danger. Not willing to let Karania’s sacrifice go in vain - and most definitely not because she’d look like a complete idiot if she died immediately after getting back up - Thea pivoted, hurling herself onto the ground. She slid smoothly into the protective shadow of the shield, narrowly avoiding the lethal beam of an enemy laser.

Before her teammates could even register her sudden reappearance, she was already demanding an update. "Corvus!" she called to her Squad Leader, her voice firm amidst the chaos, "Give me the low-down! What do you need?”

Corvus's eyes widened briefly at the sight of Thea, relief evident even in his battle-hardened demeanour behind his visor. "By the Emperor," he whispered, more to himself than anyone else, "at least one good piece of news amidst this bullshit."

Without hesitation, he pointed to specific areas on their impromptu battlefield, "Thea, we've got heavy weapons to deal with - las-cannon emplacements at 115 and 175 degrees. Take them out. They’re the only weapons capable of seriously damaging our shields. That's your top priority!"

As Thea processed the information, Corvus began to relay a rapid, concise update on the events that had transpired in her absence. "After the cloaking device detonated, we managed to land some solid shots initially. But numbers caught up to us fast, putting us on the defensive. Marines from Spear Platoon with trench-digging Abilities started working on these trenches you see almost immediately. They’ve been a fucking life-saver," he motioned with his one good arm to the network of trenches behind her.

"The fighting's been going on for about fifteen minutes," he continued, his tone slightly grimmer. "Staff-Sergeant Venn attempted to level the playing field by calling in more Blue Flame Rockets. But those were swiftly neutralised by some anti-rocket emplacement deeper in the forest, as well as these strange trees themselves. Something about them made them completely impervious to the destructive potential of the Blue Flames... At some point, we realised Kara had been hit while helping you. We couldn’t do anything for her anymore, but we put you down into the trenches to recover. I’m glad it worked." His eyes briefly met Thea's. "We're in a tight spot. Glad you're back, we could use some of your magical shooting right about now."

Even with her ears still muffled due to the residue of her prior complications, Thea managed to catch Corvus's muted directives. With a determined nod, she dropped into a prone position, readying her Gram and adjusting her scope.

Recalling her prior assessment of the Stellar Republic's ambush locations, she tried reconciling it with Corvus' instructions. '115 and 175… The one at 115 is approximately 800m out, the one at 175 around a kilometre. Manageable,' she thought.

Her memories were slightly muddled, but the critical details, like her current task, remained sharp. She took a few seconds to observe the onslaught: a relentless flood of bullets, lasers, and other projectiles that either slammed into Lucas' Stalwart or whizzed dangerously close by.

It became painfully clear; if she aimed to neutralise the gunners, she would have to risk exposing herself beyond the safety of the shield. And with the current barrage, that seemed near suicidal.

'I might not be at my best now, but…’ She paused, steeling herself with resolve, 'Alpha Squad is counting on me. I have to dismantle those guns before they obliterate the Stalwart.'

Gearing up to invoke her Ability, she mentally commanded the System.

‘Sensory Overd—’

But before she could complete the command, a gut-wrenching sensation of impending doom and a guarantee of death brutally gripped her chest. Her breath caught, heart racing, she tried to discern the source of this sudden dread.

A sudden realisation hit her, as she wondered why she couldn’t access her Ability. ‘The bleeding from my eyes and ears… The fog in my mind... I can't access my Ability…!’

Pulling up her status display, her fears were confirmed.

[Status]

Thea McKay - Level 4.26 - Contribution Points: 117.55 / 440 - Unspent Attribute Points: 0

HP: 93 / 123 - Stamina: 155 / 155 - Focus: 33 / 215 - TBD - TBD

Class: None - Specialization: None - Title: None - TBD - TBD

“I’m a fucking moron…! I overdrew my Focus again, just like in the Cube Trial!” Before her self-reproach could intensify, the pragmatic side of her mind intervened, emphasising the need to remain concentrated on the task at hand.

‘Okay, think. Without [Sensory Overdrive], how am I going to expose myself, locate the guns, take a shot, change targets, and then shoot again, all while returning to safety without getting hit? The perception boost it provides would have been invaluable now…’

Thea's keen eyes darted around, scanning the battlefield, her mind working overtime as she tried to piece together a viable strategy. Her Perception, always a valuable asset, allowed her to process the minute details of the firefight at an accelerated pace. She watched the patterns of gunfire, the movements of the soldiers, and the positioning of her allies.

Everywhere she looked, she noticed a similarity - the Stellar Republic soldiers, disciplined and trained as they were, always aimed for the centre of mass.

This wasn't just evident from how they fired at Alpha Squad, but it was consistent across the entire battlefield. Their shots, whether directed at Marines or shields, predominantly concentrated around the centre and then dispersed towards the sides.

One thing quickly stood out to her: There was a stark absence of shots being fired over the top of the shields.

‘With 33 Focus left...’ An idea took shape in her mind, and a sly grin crept across her face. 'This is madness, Thea, absolute madness! But... It just might work...'

With her audacious plan fixed firmly in mind and no clear alternatives presenting themselves, Thea prepared to spring into action. Rising from her prone position, she strategically distanced herself from the shield, angling for a running start. She leaned a tad more to the right, capitalising on the heavier covering fire Isabella’s Devastation provided against the relentless barrage from the Stellar Republic.

“Desmond, hold fire and give me a boost!” she comm’ed to the drone operator, motioning upwards towards the shield's apex.

A pause hung in the air as Desmond swivelled towards her, his body language speaking of sheer surprise — both at her sudden reappearance and her audacious request. His gaze darted between her and the shield's top, his disbelief evident.

Yet, much to his credit, he let his firearm fall into its armour-mounted sling almost immediately and assumed a stance to propel Thea skyward, all the while shaking his head in incredulity beneath his medium-type helmet.

“You rejoin the fight and the first thing you want is to pull this shit? Whatever the fuck you're planning—”

His words were suddenly cut short as Thea took several brisk steps in his direction, planting her foot in his outstretched hands. With a concerted effort, Desmond launched her upward, while she simultaneously pushed off with force and immediately aimed through the Gram’s scope.

Just as she reached the apex of the boosted jump, she passed the top of the extended Stalwart and she could see the full extent of the battlefield beyond. With a brief mental command, she activated one of her Abilities.

‘Skystep.’

Beneath her, an intangible platform manifested, anchoring Thea a good three metres above the chaos. Time was a luxury she couldn’t afford; every fraction of a second was vital. She anchored herself, and despite her pulse racing and the pervasive numbness, she exhaled halfway and stilled her breath.

With unwavering resolve, she decisively squeezed the Gram’s trigger.

The brilliant beam from Thea’s Gram streaked through the battlefield, homing in unerringly on the heavy weapon emplacement of the Stellar Republic's las-cannon. With pinpoint precision and thanks to Thea’s elevated position, it sliced through the intricate components of the firing mechanism, rendering it unusable in an instant. Without missing a beat, the laser bore into the gunner's chest, leaving a cauterised hole, smoke wisping from its edges. The gunner's body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

Without giving herself even a moment to acknowledge her success, Thea's nimble fingers and acute Perception pivoted the Gram towards the second emplacement. She let another shot loose almost immediately, the concentrated beam lancing forth, in pursuit of its next target.

As the lethal beam streaked across the battlefield, Stellar Republic soldiers paused, attempting to grapple with this unforeseen menace. Their gaze followed the path of destruction, shock registering on their faces as a second beam lanced out, severing the next las-cannon emplacement.

This beam, however, missed its mark slightly, managing only to eliminate the gunner instead of disabling the mechanism. The greater distance had altered her shot's potential vectors, making a precise hit on both targets impossible.

Triumph lit her features, realising she had effectively neutralised one of the primary threats and temporarily incapacitated the other. As she surveyed the field, the eyes of several Stellar Republic soldiers met hers from behind their defensive barricades. The expressions she saw were an amalgam of surprise, confusion, and what Thea could only interpret as a tinge of fear.

Hovering slightly above the pinnacle of the Stalwart shield, the tumultuous backdrop framed Thea dramatically. The deep shadows cast by her hood, combined with her Spectre's cloak that seemed to merge with the surrounding chaos, painted her as a spectral figure in the midst of battle, defying even gravity itself by simply floating in the air.

A fleeting moment of stillness ensued, as the roar of warfare appeared to diminish, the soldiers trading glances that spoke volumes of their collective shock and awe at the dauntless marksman who had momentarily swung the momentum in her favour. Just as the first soldiers woke from their stupor and aimed at her position however, it was already too late.

The brief respite was all it had taken for her [Skystep] to deplete, and the intangible platform beneath her to dissipate, allowing her to gracefully descend back behind the Stalwart unscathed.

"115 is neutralized. 175 down but not out," she promptly relayed to Corvus over the comms.

The swift series of events meant Desmond was still rooted in his prior position, his eyes, visible through his visor, locked onto her in disbelief.

A stillness settled between them before he finally broke it, shaking his head in incredulity.

"You're absolutely, 100% insane."