+500 XP
+500 XP
+500 XP
+500 XP
+500 XP
While he felt some encouragement from his success, he knew this wasn't going to work. There were too many of the Empire's soldiers and not enough of the prisoners.
He looked again at the red barrels scattered around the area. They stood out, making no sense in the context of the room.
It hit him at that moment.
"Wait a minute," he whispered. "This is a first-person shooter."
Byron aimed at one of the barrels and fired a round at it.
When the shot hit the barrel, it exploded. The ground trembled as a fireball blew up into the air like a miniature mushroom cloud, and sent the soldiers flying with smoke and flames pouring off of them.
Kiki gasped. "Wow, what a blast! What's in those?"
Byron pointed. "Who cares? Aim for the barrels!"
Kiki and Coldsteel obeyed, firing shots at the barrels behind the soldiers. The walls shook as the explosions ripped through the open room, and Death Troopers flew through the air. Some soldiers landed in pieces while others just hit the ground and went still.
After shooting four barrels, all the Death Troopers lay dead, and smoke choked the air while tongues of fire licked at them.
Coldsteel looked at Byron with an open mouth. "How did you know they would blow up?"
Byron grinned. "Barrels always explode in first-person shooters."
Before they could celebrate, they all froze. They could hear and feel the rumble of boots pounding the ground, growing louder.
He looked up to see the elevator doors slide open, and Death Troopers come rushing out.
At the same time, more Death Troopers charged out of the barracks to kneel and take aim at Byron.
Byron grit his teeth. "Oh, come on. Second wave?"
***
Lieutenant Magott watched the battle along with everyone else on the bridge. The room had fallen silent, fixated on the view from cameras mounted in the prison. At first, it seemed like it would be a slaughter, but they all watched in shock as Byron and the other prisoners turned the tables on the Death Trooper. When the barrels began exploding, a gasp spread across the bridge.
Deth watched on the main monitor with clenched fists and a humorless smile. "Well, this is a surprise. They're actually winning."
He swept his cape back while he charged to a bank of controls. "Bring up the schematics for that room."
The officer at the engineering controls nodded while tapping keys in front of him.
When the wireframe image of the prison appeared on the screen, Deth's eyes swept the details before pointing at a grid of pipes. "Those are connected to the feedlines for the mioxinaze pumps, correct?"
The officer nodded. "Yes, general. The mioxinaze is a toxic gas used to clear the fuel systems on the--"
Deth smacked the officer's face with the back of his hand. "I didn't ask for a lesson on chemicals, you idiot. I know what mioxinaze is used for. The point is it runs right through the ceiling of that room."
He tapped a spot on the schematic. "Open the emergency vents on the pipes right here."
The officer froze. "Sir?"
"Are you deaf and stupid? I gave you a direct order."
The officer looked at Magott. She knew he wanted her to say what he couldn't, so she did.
She took a step towards Deth. "General, if he opens that vent, it will flood the barracks with mioxinaze gas."
Deth whipped his head around to bare his teeth at her. "That's precisely the point. Byron and his little band of rebels will be dead in seconds."
"But our soldiers aren't wearing their gas filters. The mioxinaze will kill all the men and women in that room, including our people."
Deth leaned back with his hands braced on his hips. "An acceptable loss, to be sure. Now do it."
Magott took a deep breath. She knew the general could be cruel and sadistic, but killing huge numbers of their own army for one person seemed to cross the line. At the same time, she knew she would be the next one to die for resisting him. She just nodded to the officer.
The engineering officer nodded back. "Yes, general."
He tapped keys, and they all watched the screens.
***
Byron had fallen back behind the desk after recovering a few more rifles from the floor. He handed them to Kiki who popped out the cartridges to snap them into their existing rifles. When a hiss came from the ceiling, it drew Byron's attention up.
A green smoke poured out of a vent on the ceiling across the room. It sank quickly to pool on the ground and began building up like water.
"That's mioxinaze!" Traumatize yelled from the cell block. "It's poison!"
As he spoke, the soldiers in the green smoke began to die. They clutched at their throats, gurgled and gasped, and collapsed on the floor. A wave started as more and more soldiers tumbled over, seemingly wracked with pain, and the smoke drew closer to Byron.
"They're gassing us!" Coldsteel yelled.
Chetaara pressed her hand to her lips. "They are killing their own soldiers to get to us."
Byron looked around for a way to escape. The poison stood between them and the elevators. The soldiers falling over to his left told him the barracks wouldn't help. They couldn't go back into the prison cells, because the door had been blown off, so it wouldn't stop the gas.
He couldn't see another exit. That meant they had to make their own.
He pointed to the wall next to him, opposite of the barracks. "What's on the other side of this?"
Coldsteel shook her head. "No idea."
"We're about to find out." Byron aimed his rifle at the wall and fired a stream of shots.
Coldsteel and Xin joined him, all firing their weapons into the metal surface. Chetaara slashed at the wall with her claws, which he'd seen tear through metal armor of Death Troopers.
The heat from the blast caused the wall to blacken and then sag. The wall melted away until the shots began to go through to the other side, and Byron raised his hands to get them all to stop firing.
The burn had left a hole in the wall about two feet wide. It would be a tight squeeze, but they could make it. Smoke meant he couldn't see through to the other side, but it had to be better than where they were.
The poison mist had filled most of the room behind him. All the Death Troopers lay dead, and the other prisoners huddled behind Byron, covering their mouths and noses with their hands while coughing.
He nodded to Xana, the smallest of the group. "Can you peek through and see what's on the other side?"
"I'll do more than that." She ran over to the hole and dove through it.
"No!" Byron rushed to the still smoking hole.
Xana's head appeared in the hole again with a smirk. "Come on in. The wall's fine."
Byron waved everyone through, and they all forced their way into the narrow hole in the metal.
He looked back to see a few of the prisoners coughing up blood and collapsing on the floor. It was too late to save them.
As the green cloud crept towards him, just as he began to smell a sour odor like lemon juice, he threw himself into the hole in the wall. The metal felt hot enough to burn, but he forced his shoulders into it.
Chapter 7
BYRON WASN'T sure what he had expected when he climbed through the hole in the wall to the other side, but it wasn't a garden.
At first, he thought he had somehow ended up outside. It looked like they had climbed through into a clearing in a small forest. A golden light shining above warmed his face like an afternoon sun, and a steady breeze wafted over him with the scent of flowers and wood. The chilling cold had been replaced by a welcome heat.
Grass covered the ground, and trees grew all around him. Some even had fruit hanging from their branches. Clusters of bushes scattered everywhere had fruit as well.
When he looked up, the view confirmed he was still trapped on a spaceship. What had seemed like the sun turned
out to be a pulsating ball of plasma. Beyond it, a transparent ceiling showed clusters of stars through the swirling void of hyperspace.
Some of the other prisoners slumped on the ground, coughing and gasping for air. A group of five prisoners worked together to push a huge metal box up against the hole just as Byron climbed through it. With the hole covered, the green poison stopped flowing in.
OBJECTIVE COMPLETED
+10,000 XP
+25,000 CREDITS
Byron counted heads. There were only twelve of them left.
He eased himself to his feet. "Where are we?"
Traumatize shrugged. "Uh, I guess we're in the ship's hydroponics bay. All big ships have 'em. They grow plants to generate oxygen, filter the air and water, grow fresh food."
Kiki spun around with her arms out, and Byron's eyes went to her heart-shaped ass spinning in front of him. "Yay, it's totally like a paradise in here! Who knew those big evil guys could make something so pretty, huh?"
Coldsteel used the back of her hands to wipe sweat from her face. "Well, we can't enjoy it for long. They'll know we're in here and they'll send someone after us. We have to get out and keep going."
NEW OBJECTIVE: ESCAPE THE HYDROPONICS BAY
REWARDS: 5,000 XP, 5,000 CREDITS
Chetaara had a big smile on her face as she spread her arms. "Look around you, my friends. This bay is large and filled with vegetation. It would be difficult to find us. I believe we must take a moment to rest, and this is the place to do it."
Xin nodded. "The feline one has a point. I do not see an exit or cameras, which means they cannot see us. While there may be sensors, the abundant plants will affect the signal, and it will take time to locate us here. Several of us are tired and injured. We can rest for a few minutes."
Byron sighed, rubbing his aching body. "Yeah. I agree. Let's take five, everybody."
He took a good look around the hydroponics bay, searching for cameras or windows. He couldn't really see more than a few feet through the plant growth. "We do need to find a way out of here. I'll see if I can find the nearest exit."
Kiki jumped up and hopped alongside him, making her breasts jiggle. "Oo, I can totally help! My antennae are really good at picking up electronic signals, and this place looks so pretty, I wanna see more of it. Can I come, too? Pretty, pretty please?"
As she leaned closer, her double cleavage swelled under her top, making it easier for him to say "yes."
She rewarded him by bouncing up and down again. "Whee, hooray, awesome! Let's go, Outsider! Bye, gang!"
She hooked her rifle's strap around one shoulder, slipped her arms around his left elbow, and hugged him close as they walked away
They hadn't taken more than a few steps out of the clearing before Kiki stopped him with her hands on his chest. She looked deep into his eyes with her jeweled gaze before leaning in for a kiss.
Her lips tasted like honey as she explored his mouth with her tongue. Her hands slipped up his chest to circle around his neck.
He felt a tickling sensation and leaned back to see her antennae tracing his cheeks.
She smiled. "I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to feel you with them. It's another sense we have. It's like I can smell you, taste you with them."
Byron thought it sounded sweet. "Uh, no. Go ahead."
She bit her lower lip as her antennae gently flicked over his forehead, nose, and mouth. The sensation felt so intimate that it made his cheeks warm with a blush.
Her smile softened. "You feel so good."
When the antennae finally pulled away, she chewed on her lower lip before whispering, "Hey, Byron, you wanna know a really big secret I never told anybody else in the world?"
Byron nodded as he smiled, wondering what would come next.
She leaned closer, and he could see reflections of himself in the facets of her eyes. "Remember how I told you I used to dream about the Outsider when I was little? Well, they were really naughty dreams. My Mom and Dad would tell me stories about how the Outsider would be brave and strong, and I would lie in my nest at night and think about him. And sometimes when I got older, I'd play with myself, and I'd cum calling out the Outsider's name."
Byron swallowed, feeling his mouth growing dry as his cock tingled and swelled.
Kiki tilted her head to one side as she leaned in so close that her boobs pressed up against his chest. Her face came in until their lips almost touched. "And I'd think about how badly I wanted to fuck the Outsider, and I never stopped wanting that, and now that you're here, I'm so horny that I can't wait any longer. I know it's a bad time, what with us trapped on this battleship, and the Empire coming to kill us any minute, but my pussy is so wet. Can we do it right here?"
He felt a moment of disbelief at how strongly she came onto him, but couldn't deny he wanted her. It felt a little weird knowing she was hot for a fairy tale he had stepped into. Still, this might end up being his only chance if he didn't survive.
He nodded. "Absolutely."
He leaned in to kiss her again and her hands slid around him to trace his shoulders. He dropped his rifle to reach down her back, and she jumped into his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her deeper into the artificial garden.
***
Lieutenant General Magott watched the doors of the prison slide open, telling herself she knew what she was going to see. She had watched the gas pump in on the security cameras on the prison, right up until the gas destroyed the cameras and cut the feed. She had watched the soldiers of the Empire die.
The moment she looked in, she knew she had been wrong.
It looked much worse to see the aftermath in front of her. Through the visor of her gas mask, she could only stare at the bodies of the soldiers lying on the floor. Their useless armor buckled as the bodies they contained lay twisted in positions of agony. She thought she could smell the acidic traces of the gas in the air, even though the mask should have filtered it out.
More than anything else, she felt a sick feeling at the sight of dozens of dead soldiers with only two prisoners lying among them. So many lives had been lost for so little.
"Report," General Deth snapped in her ear.
She shook herself and marched forward, followed by her Death Troopers. "All dead, general. Our people, anyway."
"I don't care about them, lieutenant. You know the only lives I care about are mine and Jones. Where is he?"
"I only see two bodies of the prisoners."
"Jones?"
Magott felt some satisfaction knowing it would anger him as she said, "No sign of Jones."
"That's not possible." She heard a bang she assumed would be him punching or kicking something before he spoke again. "He got away. How could he get away?"
As she walked in, she caught a blackened hole in the wall. Walking over to it, she said, "It looks like they managed to cut a hole in the wall to escape."
Two of her soldiers walked over to push on the metal plate over the hole before shaking their heads.
Magott said, "It's blocked with something. We can't get through."
She took out her data tablet and tapped the screen to bring up ship schematics. "The hydroponics bay is on the other side of this."
"Get in there. Find Jones and kill him. Or I will have your head in his place."
"Yes, sir." Magott turned away and headed for the elevators.
They could cut through the wall like the prisoners had, but that would take time and by the time they burned through, the prisoners would be gone. That would also spoil the element of surprise. They had to go to the front door instead.
Meanwhile, the sickening feeling inside herself grew. She had seen firsthand General Deth's obsession with the Outsider and the lives it had cost. She knew her life meant no more to Deth than those of the soldiers lying at her feet.
She had served in the army of Lady Necralia for years, and rose up through the ranks with her skill and keen mind. She could think several steps ahead, and did that now.
&
nbsp; This could only end one of two ways. Either she would die or Byron Jones would die.
She knew what she had to do.
***
Byron stumbled through the brush, never taking his lips off Kiki but wanting to put some distance between them and the rest of the group. All the while, he felt her grinding her crotch into his, making his cock even harder.
"Right here," she moaned. "Please, take me here."
He pressed her up against a tree, and slid his hands up to tear away her top. Her three breasts sprang out and pressed up against his chest. He stroked the firm boobs with both hands, and another one always bobbed alongside it. At the same time, her hands slid down to unzip his jumpsuit and traced circles on his bare chest.
She looked up at him with wide eyes and a wicked smile. "When I was watching you from my cell, I was so jealous of Xana. I always wondered what the Outsider would taste like."
She pushed him back to slide down his body. While her glittering eyes fixed on his, she tugged his jumpsuit down his arms, off his waist, and down his legs. The anticipation as she made her way down to his cock made him breathe harder.
She looked down at his bulge running down the leg of his boxers, and gasped.
"Oh wow," she breathed, "it's bigger than I thought it would be."
She pulled his underwear down his thighs, and his thick cock slipped out into view. Her antennae bent down to gently stroke the length of his erection and their delicate probing made him quiver. She took his length into her small hands and stroked it while looking up at him. When her mouth opened and her tongue slid out, he jumped back.
The tongue snaked out six inches to lick the head of his cock like a snake's tongue.
She giggled at his panic. "You've never been with an Acarid before?"
He stood with his back against a tree, taking deep breaths to try to calm down. "Yeah, no, I haven't."
She narrowed her compound eyes while giggling again. "Oh, you're gonna like it. Come on, get back over here, sweetie. Don't be scared. I don't bite unless you beg me to. Kidding! Sort of. Come on."
Death's Revenge: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure (Venus Online 5) Page 6
