Planet Dhorbuk

Entering the streets, various car-sized vehicles zipped past the large buildings that surrounded him. These were special vehicles referred to by their brand name, FlyPods.

These flypods allowed users to fuse their mechs with its operating system to control it as if it was part of their body. This allowed people to control them safely even through the most convoluted urban centres.

However, they were only restricted for certain individuals. Regardless of their safety, it simply wasn't practical to let anyone access them. They were reserved for mech combatants for efficient aerial travel, and other individuals like high-ranking politicians or police officers.

Reaching the skyscraper, it reached more than a kilometre into the air and pierced through the fluffy clouds above. It resembled a prism and was also surrounded by a massive foundation that occupied a large portion of the urban centre it was within.

The city was somewhat fragmented, where there were large urban centres outside of the main centre.

Its base was covered by a pastel yellow dust that was slightly lighter and smoother than the sandstone on Kernei.

Providing his identification, he was given permission into the territory and had to register for access to a pocket realm. After searching through the options in one of the skyscraper's common rooms, a certain one had crossed his mind.

"Hmm. I like the sound of this. Pocket Realm H311." He whispered, looking at a floating panel with information on it.

This pocket realm gained this special title for a reason. Its dungeon planet, Dhorbuk, resembled the hell of religion. Magma rivers. Demon-like beasts and extreme heat.

"Looks like I'll need a better coolant to enter this one." He whispered once again.

Its average surface temperature ranged from 125 to 150 degrees celsius. Without a mech, a human would literally be burned to death. Near the magma-spewing volcanoes, it would get so hot that human skin would literally catch fire.

He had already spent the 10000 credits he had recently acquired in Kernei on his Blackmetal arm. With slightly over 1000 credits left to spend, he had to settle on the minimum requirement.

Unluckily, healing modules weren't usually used to let mechs adapt to them. It was commonplace to simply have a healing module for battles and so, they didn't get cheaper the more they were used that much.

[IceFergo Lite]

IceFergo were a popular company that produced modules pertaining to coolants and temperature regulation. They were an interplanetary organisation but operated across the Planets of Sol and only the Earth realm.

Even their basic modules like this 'lite' version outclassed many other competitors' products.

Looking at its description, he was pleased with what he saw.

[10th hand model. Handles temperature ranges of -55 degrees celsius to 200 degrees celsius. Avoid use for temperatures near the edge of this range due to excessive power use. Lightweight and fast adaptation to changes in temperature. For less extreme temperatures, efficiency is very high.]

'Only 1000 credits? It is 10th hand but oh well, let's just use it for now.' Alonso said internally.

He was sure that he was being watched and so, didn't act rashly by purchasing the item in broad daylight. As secure as the world had become, private places like bathrooms remained unwatched.

Entering the closest toilet, he quickly purchased the module. It was a cube, and was a dark grey colour.

Slamming it to his chest, he activated his mech and as he did so, the cube started to fragment and become the amorphous flowing piece of mass like his mech.

Forming across his skin, there were several light clicks and vibrations as his mech was taking on this module.

Bzzip!

The vibrations suddenly halted, and he deactivated his mech before returning to the common room.

With his new model, he was ready to head to planet Dhorbuk.

Swiftly, he filled out the paperwork that he had been assigned. He would have to sign documents like consent documents because the agencies wanted to make sure that they weren't responsible for his injury.

This was why these free trips were so freely accessible. The injuries and deaths of those that were sent to dungeon planets were totally on those individuals and not the agency. Nonetheless, there still were various age limits used by PRAs to prevent unnecessary human cost.

Since he was only a few floors up, he took the skyscraper's stairs to reach the base once again.

He was directed by some officials, suited in mechs. Across their dark-coloured mechs, they had special badges that showcased their rank. It was an easy way to distinguish ordinary mech users from workers on the site.

Chop-chop-chop!

Waves of air blasted out toward the group of suited up warriors, and a special helicopter-like aircraft landed ahead of them. It was like a typical aircraft used for ventures to pocket realms, but was a matte black.

Even under the bright sun above, its textures remained blurred and dull.

"Enjoy your journey!" A male official said, stepping aside to let the warriors board the plane.

He was clad in a bruiser-type mech that was a matte grey colour. He stood at 6'5 and had an imposing figure, and he lifted his arm to point to the opening aircraft.

Once everyone was strapped down, the aircraft lifted off before blasting off into the air.

BOOM!

It parted a cloud as it broke the sound barrier, and climbed above even the largest buildings of Sago City.

VOOM!

Its speed then increased immensely and it reached Mach 20. Reaching the seas on the coast of Sago in minutes, it entered a FTL Outpost and sped into the new pocket realm.

"Welcome to pocket Realm H-3-1-1." The aircraft stated, upon entering the realm.

The dark black sky surrounded a large planet that seemed even larger than Earth. It was covered in dark red material, and the large magma rivers were even visible from outer space. Descending into the planet's thick atmosphere, there was a special dome that the aircraft headed toward.

Within were earthly buildings and greenery just like it was in the main realm. This was a military station that was used for operations on the planet. To mitigate the issues due to the extreme temperature, special hubs were set up on the planet to shield military bases.

At its base was a long extension to the translucent dome where the aircraft could enter. Surrounding the dome were other extensions that were smaller but longer. It hovered metres above the hard, cracked rock beneath and released waves of air in its advance.

The air was much easier to see through within this hub and resembled Earth much more closely.

"To exit, access one of the exit routes. You should be let right through." A worker said, emerging from the cockpit.

Dum!

The aircraft landed on a helipad, and the passengers were let free to roam the planet.

'here we go!' Alonso said to himself, activating his mech's helmet.

Even in this hub, they struggled to maintain temperatures of 35 degrees celsius. It would be impractical to roam around the streets of even this base without a mech.

He reached the centre of this paved base, and reached large metal double doors that were guarded by mech combatants. They were two muscular men that towered over Alonso. They were close to 2 metres and took down their helmets to nod at him with respect.

Ahead of him was a tube that he entered. As he walked forward, he was surrounded by the view of the dangerous environment, and he could feel his coolant getting more and more active as he approached the exit.

As he reached the end, the translucent barrier started to rumble.

The sight was odd, and he reached out to touch it to see that it felt like a tough, brick wall.

'I wonder what this is?' He thought, touching it.

Just as he did this, the barrier opened, exposing him to the thick, harsh winds of the Dhorbuk's terrain.

"Please exit the exit path." A sound system rang out from his feet.

Stepping out, the barrier shut behind him, and he took his first steps on the red rock of Dhorbuk.

Even through his suit, he could smell the slight impurities within the air. His mech was filtering the majority of the air's contents, but he could still smell sulphur and other materials he couldn't immediately place a name on.

His turbo boosters took effect once again, and he blasted off into the distance to try and find his first victims.

Traversing the uneven terrain, he ended up near a bubbling, flowing magma river. It flowed slower than water rivers, and he felt intense heat emitting from near its surface.

*growl*

From beside him stood a gorilla-like beast. However, flames flowed out from its mouth and nose.

Embers flowed off its skin into the sky, and there seemed to be glowing cracks of heat on its skin.

'What an abomination!' He thought, making his stance.

Dum-dum!

The beast charged at him, striking its knuckles into the ground with every stride. Clouds of smoke blasted out from its fists as they struck the ground, then it leapt forward to attack Alonso.

Using his energy shield, he caught the initial attack and slid across the hot rock beneath.

The beast continued charging forward and snarled, revealing its large fangs.

As it advanced, Alonso manifested his mecha arm and walloped the gorilla right in its face.

Pow!

The beast fell back about a step and shook its stricken head before looking up to Alonso. It roared and released a wave of fiery orange flames from its mouth.