Cogworks Mission

The World Builder and The Orb before the final battle.

**Cogworks** is the sixth mission in the Golden Phantom Series. The Space Time Continuum Task Force take on The World Builder at his sanctuary called The Cogworks where they must complete the tasks of the Arena to defeat him. Following the events of the Ghost Stories Series, The Orb has finally located the STCTF Operators and joins the final battle to stop the destruction of The Multiverse.

## Synopsis

### Background

Following the events of Carpe Noctem where the members of the STCTF are warped to The Cogworks somewhere unknown in The Multiverse, The Orb contracts the help of former US military personnel living on the Dominion of Muri to become the Sub-Continuum Force. This new team helps locate the missing STCTF members in The Multiverse, which allows The Orb to lend assistance in their final battle with The World Builder.

### Arrival

After jumping into the sinkhole portal in the Norwegian wetlands, the STCTF are warped to The Cogworks—a barren and chaotic world where The World Builder resides. The team emerge from a small pond in the middle of a rocky cove and begin to investigate the surrounding area. The group manage to find a series of shrines that unlock a portal into the Arena. Once stepping through the portal, the men are teleported to a different rocky cove filled with trees and foliage.

### The Sanctum

Inside this area known as The Sanctum, the team find a note etched in the floor next to a skeleton allegedly being the remains of a former STCTF operator. The note describes that he and his team were unable to complete the tasks of the Arena and thus they were destined to die alone in this world. The team also located a computer console that appeared to unlock the door into the next section of the Arena with a note on it that read:

*"...If anyone who comes through here thinks that they can defeat him, I humbly provide you with this information to do so. After living in here for what seems like years, I have managed to gather lots of information on the arena, but I never had enough hands to beat it myself. Take this device with you so that my data can guide you to completing the challenge and gaining an audience with Him. And when you've managed that... take Him down. Godspeed. // M, STCTF."*

With the information provided in M's computer console, the team proceeded to the hidden gate into the next area of the Arena.

### Arena

Moving through the various sections of the Arena, the team encounter countless Minutemen and strange anomalies that they must fight with. M's intel suggested that there were three areas of the Arena with distinct tasks needing to be completed in order for the main gate atop "The Watchtower" to be open, leading the team to The World Builder.

The first of the three areas was the *Pillars of Conflict* where operators needed to defend the battlefield from a wave of Minutemen and anomalies. The second area was the *Tree of Beauty* which was a heavily fortified bunker system surrounding a large tree that needed to be assaulted and destroyed. The third and final task area were the *Bridges of Vanity* in which the operators needed to locate a certain key that existed on one of the bridge routes while being engaged by Minutemen atop Arena towers.

Once all three objectives were completed, a unique tower in the center of the arena would become activated and the operators would be able to warp to the next zone.

### The Final Offensive

During the final act, the team are warped to a linear arena where they run into The Orb floating in a Time Gate. The Orb informs the team that it is the only thing capable of stopping The World Builder, but it must be moved very close to him to succeed. The operators fought against countless Minutemen who guarded various structures blocking The World Builder, and every area they passed The Orb would advance with them.

Upon reaching the final area of the arena at the base of The World Builder's shrine, the world began falling apart as the two omnipotent beings engaged one another. The team rushed back to the last Time Gate in a full out push and warped away as the world levelled itself and disappeared.