Kiki just stuck her tongue out at him. It seemed surprisingly long before it snapped back into her mouth.
Oversoul floated over to them, trailing smoke. "Speaking of ships, we're still in quite a predicament. How do we get out of this prison, let alone off this battleship?"
Scarlett jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "We can take our ship, the Icarus. It's still in the hangar bay, and my sensors say those fuckers left it in one piece."
Xana raised her eyebrows. "Um, yeah, they won't get through my security upgrades anytime soon."
Coldsteel looked down the hallway at the crowd of prisoners. "Can it hold all of us?"
Byron nodded. "It would be a tight squeeze, but yeah."
Oversoul drifted closer. "But we would have to make our way through the Vanquish to the Icarus, and we have to do it in less than four hours."
Coldsteel picked up the rifle and snapped the bolt. "Then we'd better get moving."
Chapter 4
BYRON LOOKED out at the crowd of prisoners, trying to think. "Okay, we all won't get very far like this. Besides me, Oversoul, and Chetaara, does anyone else have an NRG implant?"
One woman with a real-player star over her head and an elf-life appearance raised her hand. She had dark chocolate skin, pointy ears, and full lips that she constantly chewed on. He couldn't help noticing heavy breasts filled out the front of her black dress. "Uh, me. But I only got a level ten healing bubble code."
"It's enough. We'll need healers if we don't find more medpacks, and Chetaara could use the support. Thanks--"
"Misty," the elf-girl said with a hesitant smile.
He smiled, unable to stop noticing how cute she looked. "Thanks, Misty. Okay, we need more weapons, equipment, a direction. What's on the other side of that door?"
"I was hoping you wouldn't ask. Escaping our cell is just the beginning." Oversoul pointed at the thick metal door sealing off the prison area. "We memorized the blueprint. Past that door is the remainder of the prison cells. Usually about three guards there. With our numbers, we should be able to get past them, and get more weapons. Then there's the admissions area where we can find the elevator to the hangar bay. However, adjoining that is the barracks, where all the soldiers on the ship are quartered. Getting by them will not be easy."
Byron placed his hands on his hips. "That does sound tough. Is there another way out? Some way to bypass the barracks?"
"Not at all. The prison was built next to the barracks for that very reason, to contain escaping prisoners. However, if we can get through it, we'll have more opportunities to get to the hangar bay undetected. Of course, that depends on whether we can avoid tripping the alarms. If our escape is discovered, the entire ship will be locked down. Lifts will shut down, locks will be changed, essential areas will be sealed. We'll be trapped."
"Well, we don't have much choice, I guess." Byron headed to the door at the end of the hallway.
Oversoul pointed. "Coldsteel, you have the gun. Stay close to the entrance and start shooting if anything moves on the other side."
Byron glanced over his shoulder at the others before sliding the guard's keycard into the slot.
The door slid up, revealing another hallway with cells.
This one looked the same as the one Byron stood in, except for two red barrels up against the walls, and three Death Troopers standing in it. One soldier stood behind a control console, the other two stood to the left and right, casually as if they had been talking. All held rifles, but pointed down at the ground. They all looked up at the open doorway and froze.
They had caught the soldiers by surprise.
One of the Death Troopers began to say, "Hey, what--"
Coldsteel's rifle fired laser blasts that pounded the hallway. One shot hit the soldier behind the console in the chest. He went flying back with smoke pouring from his armor. The other two soldiers stumbled backward, crying out as more shots flew around them.
The soldier on the left fired his rifle, and the bolts slammed into a hairy alien prisoner standing next to Byron. The prisoner let out a strangled cry as he fell.
"Chobo," one of the other prisoners screamed.
Byron didn't have a weapon, but he couldn't just stand there and watch the attack. He decided the time had come to use some of his NRG to turn the tables. He went to the menu for his NRG cybernetic implant.
He had three programs he could use. One was for a force shield that could appear on his arm for a few seconds, another made him superstrong, and the third let him throw fireballs. The strongarm one was undoubtedly his most powerful, but had a twenty-four hour cooldown. He decided not to waste it, and activated the code for his fireball.
Heat washed over him as his hands burst into flames. He threw twin balls of fire into the chests of the soldiers. The Death Troopers screamed and dropped their rifles to wave their arms and legs from the flames. Their health bars began to decline, but not fast enough. Byron couldn't hope that the fireballs would finish the job.
He charged at one who fell on the ground, shrieking and rolling in fire. He kicked the fallen one in the gut, and the soldier went flying into the corner. Coldsteel fired another shot that pierced his helmet, silencing him.
Another soldier grabbed Byron's ankle and yanked him to the ground. Byron's jaw hit the floor, almost shaking his teeth out, but it didn't lower his health bar too much. Byron ignored the pain to kick at the soldier's head, forcing him to let go. Another shot by Coldsteel ended him.
"Good shot," Byron yelled.
Coldsteel just smiled.
He turned to the remaining soldier behind the console. Instead of lying on the ground dead, the soldier had survived and managed to crawl up again. Before anyone could stop him, the soldier punched a button.
Red lights began flashing as sirens blared all through the ship.
Traumatize rolled his eyes. "So much for that plan."
With the bodies of the soldiers gone, Byron dove for one of the two fallen rifles left behind. As he picked it up, stats flashed in front of him:
NECRALIA ASSAULT RIFLE
LEVEL REQUIRED: 10
DMG: 20
ACCURACY: MEDIUM
AMMO: 20
He landed on his side while twisting and shot the remaining soldier in the head.
+250 XP
Coldsteel tightened her grip on her rifle while she shook her head. "Sorry, I thought I got that one."
Oversoul clapped her on the shoulder. "It's all right. You did a splendid job. So did you, Byron. That was impressive."
Byron eased onto his side with a groan. "It didn't feel impressive."
Traumatize pointed at the flashing red light above him. "Fuck impressive. They set off the alarm. There's no way we're getting out now."
"It'll be harder." Byron glared at the light. "But we can still do this."
***
Nothing relaxed General Deth more than his beloved ziola string instrument. He had personally pulled it from the limp hand of Omayo, the greatest ziola player in the Galaxy after Deth finished bombarding the planet Hetoven Nine with fusion bombs. Some of Omayo's ashes still clung to its surface. Deth liked to believe they added to the quality of the music.
In his quarters, General Deth had his eyes closed while drawing the bow to complete the third aria of Orak'Nen's best opera when sirens rang out. He set down the bow and reached for the communicator next to his bed.
When the captain appeared, Deth didn't even allow him to speak before asking, "Why am I being interrupted?"
The captain bowed his head. "Sorry, general, but we're getting an alert from the brig. Not getting a response from the guards on rotation, so we have troops heading there now."
Deth blinked as the truth dawned on him. "Jones has escaped."
The captain tried to hold back a smirk. "Uh, general, I'm sure it's nothing but an oversight or some unruly prisoners. We've held some of the most dangerous prisoners in the Galaxy in that cell for months. Surely Jones couldn't escape from his cell in just fif
teen minutes."
"You've never seen Jones in action."
The smirk died away. The captain knew Deth wasn't a man to take things lightly or scare easily. "No, sir, I haven't. But even if he has escaped somehow, he won't get far. We'll lock it down."
Deth set his ziola onto its stand and rose to his feet. "Turn off those blasted sirens, but I want the ship on level five alert. Shut down all elevators, have the crew on battle stations, recycle the security codes, and send a special alert to the barracks to be ready for an attack."
The captain's face had grown deadly serious. "Of course, general. If you feel that's necessary."
"I do." Deth looked up at the flashing lights on the ceiling. "If there's one thing I've learned about Byron Jones is that he cannot be underestimated. If we haven't eliminated Jones by the time we reach Necros, I'll destroy this ship and everyone on it."
Other than myself, he thought.
***
With the soldiers dead, Byron turned his attention to the prisoners locked in their cells. It looked like only half the cells were occupied, all with alien creatures. No humans or real players in the mix.
Kiki picked up one of the rifles left behind by the soldiers, and squealed while flicking switches on it. "Oh, cool, those guys left their guns behind! Nice ones, too. This one's an Essow L-84 with a heat-treated tellian polymer stock. I like how it's compatible with conventional factory ammunition, but I'd want to boost the internal buffers to increase accuracy, and maybe swap out the receiver for increased resistance."
Byron stared at her. "Wow. You, uh, know a lot about guns, huh?"
Kiki rolled her eyes and pouted. "I mean, sort of. Not as much as my dad, though. He used to take us hunting when I was little, and when I joined the Resistance, I learned way more stuff. I guess I'm just really into guns. Go figure."
For some reason, Byron thought Kiki's skill with the gun made her even sexier. Maybe because her confidence and skill made her seem smarter, and he found smart women sexy. Maybe it was because she held the long metal shaft in both hands, reminding him of a cock.
Scarlett stood behind Kiki, and he caught the look on the robot's face as she mouthed "sexy" and waved a hand to fan herself.
He shook himself. "Anyway, we've got three more rifles. It's still not enough, but it's a start."
Kiki waved her keycard. "Yeah, we're doing awesome, baby. Let's get these other prisoners out of their cells."
She hurried down the hallway, swiping her keycard to unlock doors.
When the first cell door swung open, a huge alien like a gorilla with four arms lumbered out. The alien glared at Kiki for a moment, turned to Byron, and lunged with a roar.
"Watch out," Scarlett yelled.
The gorilla alien swung one of its fists into Byron's jaw in an uppercut that sent him flying to the ceiling. The pain in his jaw competed with the pain in his head as Byron slammed into the roof and down to the floor. He landed on his side, gasping for air, and felt the draining sensation of his health bar dropping by twenty points.
The prisoners Byron had helped to escape scrambled for cover as the gorilla alien rushed at them, tearing into the crowd with its massive arms.
Oversoul yelled, "Kiki, stop, no more!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Kiki had already released two more prisoners. One looked like an armadillo with an armored body that sprouted tentacles. The armadillo alien whipped its tentacles out to wrap up several of the prisoners and squeeze them like a boa constrictor.
As Kiki turned away from the door she had unlocked, a mass of blubber lurched out to knock her over. She screamed as it wrapped its green bulk over her, and she disappeared under it.
"Kiki, no!" Coldsteel yelled.
Byron struggled to sit up from the pain wracking his body, but couldn't just watch the other prisoners being torn apart by the released aliens. The creature with the tentacles had Scarlett wrapped in two of them, and sparks flew from her joints as it tightened its grip.
"Get the fuck off me," Scarlett yelled while kicking the rubbery arms.
Byron breathed hard, struggling against the panic clutching at his chest. This had turned into a disaster. So far, the rampaging alien prisoners had caused more damage to them than the Empire's soldiers.
From a corner, Coldsteel fired shots at the creatures. Her laser bolts hit the armadillo-alien and only knocked four or five points off its health at a time, not even enough to drop its health bar by a third. The gorilla-alien just roared when she shot it, and charged her with its shoulder to knock her to the ground.
Byron grit his teeth as pain wracked his body. His NRG was still in cooldown mode, so he couldn't use his fireball or strongman powers. He had to get his rifle. It had slid across the hallway only a few feet but seemed miles away.
He dug his fingers into the floor and dragged himself, inch by inch, to the rifle. All around him, people screamed in fear and pain. The three monster prisoners tore through the group like a tornado. If they weren't stopped, they would finish the job the Necralia Empire couldn't.
His hands finally closed around the rifle.
He rolled over onto his back, and aimed at the gorilla-alien that pounded its fists on a pile of dead bodies. He felt like saying something cool, so he yelled, "Fuck you, Harambe."
He fired three shots that hit the gorilla-alien in the side, head, and neck. The creature howled as its health bar dropped, but it remained standing. It whipped its head around at Byron and charged.
Byron took a deep breath, lined up a shot, and fired. The laser bolt hit the creature in the eye, sending it rolling to the ground and its health bar collapsed.
+1000 XP
Coldsteel had managed to get her rifle back as well, and she joined Byron in firing lasers at the two remaining creatures. Kiki had broken free of the jelly creature, pounding it with a flurry of punches and kicks. Coldsteel and Byron focused their fire on it until the blob finally collapsed into an oozing pile.
+1000 XP
Byron let his rifle drop and collapsed on the chilled floor.
Xana and Chetaara ran up to kneel over him.
"Are you well, Master?" Chetaara gasped.
"Yeah, I'll-I'll be okay. How's Scarlett?"
Scarlett limped over to him, twisting her shoulder back into place. "Fuckin' A. Nothing a good welding torch won't fix."
"Oversoul," Coldsteel screamed. "No!"
Byron sat up to see her on her knees next to Oversoul. He lay on the floor of the hallway, floating off the ground by an inch or so, but faded away until nothing remained but wisps of smoke. He left some coins behind, along with a couple of medpacks.
Byron felt sick at the old man's death. He hadn't known Oversoul long, but he'd been looking forward to the grizzled player's advice and guidance. Without him, Byron felt alone and panicked.
Kiki stood off to one side, wringing her hands while her antennae twitched around her head. "Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry. It's totally my fault. I shouldn't have let those prisoners out."
"No." Coldsteel took a deep breath while rising to her feet. "You couldn't have known. We should have expected that some of the prisoners on this ship might actually deserve to be in cells."
She wiped tears from her face and spun to take in the group of prisoners who remained. "All right, Oversoul is gone. Who do we have left?"
Byron looked at the men and women still standing, compared to ones who lay dead on the floor. He counted only about fifteen survivors, including himself, Kiki, Misty, Scarlett, Xana, Chetaara, Coldsteel, and Traumatize.
When they managed to get themselves back in order, Chetaara used her healing powers on some of the wounded while two of the most injured were treated with the medpacks Oversoul had left behind. Byron let himself take some healing from Chetaara to ease the pain, but didn't want to drain her.
That done, they all turned towards the next door at the end of the hall, one that supposedly would lead them out of the prison. The sirens had stopped, but the red lights continued to flash abo
ve them.
Xana said what everyone thought. "They know we're coming."
"Yeah." Byron swept the hallway with his gaze to take everyone in. "Then there's no need to be subtle."
He checked out the people around him while tapping his bracelet to check their stats. He found one female NPC in the back with the same green skin as Xana, and a high Strength stat. For a moment, he felt shock at the sight of another alien the same species as Xana. She looked much the same except that the other Chamella was taller and had no hair. He had been told by the others that the Chamella were very secluded and resisted mixing with other races. Yet her stats were undeniable.
Byron pointed at the Chamella. "You can handle a gun, right?"
The alien nodded. "Yes. Quite well. I'm Sergeant Xin Ja'qa of the Chamella army, thirty-third battalion."
Byron picked up the third rifle and tossed it to her. "You, Coldsteel, and Kiki all line up front with me. The rest of you fall back."
Xin took the rifle and held it with her eyes sighting down the barrel as she approached.
Byron tried the keycard on the door, but it just buzzed. "They disabled the keycard. Fine."
Byron lowered his rifle and activated his NRG menu to launch his fireball code again. The blazing sphere slammed into the door, causing it to tear loose from its hinges. Without waiting for the smoke to subside, Byron charged through the open doorway to the other side.
Chapter 5
MOLLY JONES felt like her whole world had turned upside-down in a matter of hours. Last night, she talked to her brother Byron over the phone where he was frustrated about getting rejected by a girl at his job. Everything seemed normal.
The next morning, she had gone to meet Byron for breakfast, only to find him unconscious and lying in some strange white pod. When she couldn't wake him up, she had called an ambulance, only to find the paramedics couldn't take him out of the pod's chair without killing him. The paramedics didn't know what happened to her brother, but her research online told her he wasn't alone.
Death's Revenge: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure (Venus Online 5) Page 4
