“Victor?” Boothe asked. “We’re here about the job you posted.”
The man looked them over, as if deciding if they were up to the task, then nodded and said, “Come with me and I’ll explain everything.”
Then he walked out the door of the Eagle’s Nest, and the three followed him.
2
Boothe, Scarlett, and Cthulwho followed Victor, out of the Eagle’s Nest and into the streets of New Wichita. The man in the suit silently walked in front, leading them away from the crowded street and into a side alley. Boothe’s fingers brushed anxiously against his pistol’s grip and he noticed Scarlett’s hand held close to the hatchet on her belt. Cthulwho, however, walked with no obvious fear, glancing around with a smile above his tentacled chin.
Parked in the alleyway that Victor had led them to was a long black van. It was in very good condition compared to the other vehicles that Boothe had seen in the Wasteland. Victor walked to the back of the van, looked around as if to make sure that nobody was watching, then opened the two doors there.
“Get inside,” he said.
“I’m supposed to get into the back of an unmarked van with you?” Boothe asked. “You didn’t even offer free candy.”
Cthulwho looked over to him. “Three of us against one bloke. I’m thinking we’ll be fine.” Then he climbed up into the van and out of Boothe’s sight.
Scarlett gave him a shrug. “Don’t worry Boothe. I’ll protect you.” She climbed in as well.
“There’s nothing fishy going on here,” Victor said. “But I must have privacy to tell you about this mission.”
Boothe walked around to the back of the van and looked inside. Scarlett and Cthulwho sat on bench seats on opposite sides of the van. Just past them, a large computer setup with multiple monitors displayed screens of maps and data.
“Wow,” Boothe said. “You can get all of that equipment to work in the back of a van? The engine is not even running. Where are you getting the power?”
“Solar,” Victor said with a smile at Boothe’s curiosity. “Get in.”
Boothe stepped up into the van. There, he had to make a decision. The thoughts raced through his head quickly. Both Scarlett and Cthulwho had a small space next to them on their bench seats. Whichever he sat next to, he would be slightly touching. It would show who he was more comfortable with. Should he sit next to Scarlett, because they had been traveling together longer, or would that be weird, because he was real life friends with Cthulwho? Would he be showing Scarlett that he liked her? Would she take offense if he didn’t sit next to her? Would it show that he was abandoning her, now that he’s with his old friend?
Just a small decision, but in Boothe’s head it had hundreds of repercussions.
He sat down next to Scarlett.
Victor climbed in behind him, shutting the door. The running lights across the ceiling turned on, and Victor moved past them at a crouch, sitting at a chair in front of the wall of computers.
He spun to face them, and said, “Let’s get right to the point. I need you to infiltrate a heavily guarded facility on the north side of New Wichita, hack into the computer system there, and steal a data package, then escape and bring it back to me.”
“How heavy is heavily guarded?” Cthulwho asked.
“Robot sentries, and a group of bandits working with them as well. They are mostly contained to a single floor of the high-rise where the computer system is.”
“What is this data package,” Scarlett asked. “Why do they want to protect it so badly?”
“I can’t tell you exactly what it is until you return it to me. However, I expect it to be valuable intelligence on the Bandit Lord Orion.”
“Orion?” Boothe asked. “Who’s that?”
Cthulwho and Scarlett both turned their heads to look at Boothe incredulously.
“How have you never heard of him?” Scarlett asked. “He’s the leader behind all the bandit clans in the Wasteland. Those guys that were trying to kidnap that boy back in Perry? Those were Orion’s men.”
“Nobody ever mentioned the name,” Boothe said, shrugging. “What does it matter who they work for?”
Victor said “It matters, because without Orion, the clans would fall apart, fighting each other again instead of focusing all their efforts against the more civilized cities. We believe that Orion has many plans in motion that have yet to come into fruition. If we could get knowledge of these plans before they happen, we can prepare a defense against them.”
“Why would a computer have all this information on it?” Boothe asked.
“We think that Orion is using old satellites to send information to the receiver on top of a high-rise building just south of here called the Epic Center. If this is true, the messages he’s sent should be stored on that computer somewhere. You’ll need somebody with some tech expertise to get past any security on the computer and get the information.”
“I can do that,” Boothe said.
“Like you did with the battery back in Perry?” Scarlett asked.
Boothe grimaced at her. “Really? You’re going to give me crap for that?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling.
“All this sounds good to me,” Cthulwho said. “Are we going to do it?”
NEW QUEST: Datathief
Infiltrate the Epic Center and steal the data package from the computer system located on the 22nd floor, then return to Victor at the Eagle’s Nest.
Reward: $1000, split amongst group
“Okay,” Boothe said. “We’ll do it.”
Scarlett nodded in agreement.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Victor said. He spun to point at a monitor that showed the city of New Wichita. At the southern portion of the map the walled off area was labeled Civilized Zone. And to the north a label simply stated Danger! Here, a star marked a building a mile north of the wall and a label above it read Epic Center.
Boothe’s goggles downloaded this map, allowing him to access it as needed.
“You’ll be going directly to the Epic Center. Outside the walls of the Civilized Zone, New Wichita is a dangerous place. There are bandits and mutated creatures that live in the remains of the previous city.” He pressed a button on the computer, changing the map to show an interior floorplan. “We have blueprints of the inside of the Epic Center, but we expect that the current occupants have likely modified the interior.”
Boothe’s goggles stored these maps as well.
“I would suggest going now,” Victor said. “You’ll have a better chance of getting to the Epic Center unharmed under the cover of darkness, and the longer we wait without this information, the greater chance of Orion ordering an attack that we are not prepared for.”
“Who is we?” Boothe asked. “Who is behind all of this?”
“I can’t tell you that yet. When you bring us the data package, we will speak further.”
Cthulwho turned towards Boothe and Scarlett. “Are you two ready?”
“Hell yes,” Scarlett said.
Boothe nodded.
“Good luck,” Victor said. “And try to come back in one piece.”
The three of them climbed out of the back of the van and into the deserted alley. Victor quickly shut the doors behind them and they walked away. When they got back onto the main street, Boothe looked around to see if anybody was watching them, but the other people - players and NPCs both - all seemed preoccupied with their own lives and did not spare a glance in his direction.
“So, north then,” Cthulwho said, pointing down the street.
As they walked that direction, Boothe frequently looked over at the map floating in the corner of his vision. It updated as he moved, showing him as a yellow arrow in the middle. The streets branched off in different directions, with houses and businesses filling out the city, and at the edge of the Civilized Zone, there was the wall. The occasional sound of gunfire filled the night as the guards that lined the top spotted something, and blasted it to pieces.
Two guards
dressed in dark blue uniforms with a golden eagle patch on their left breasts and assault rifles in their hands stood in front of the closed gate that lead out of the Civilized Zone. As Boothe approached, one of the guards stepped forward, holding out a hand to him.
“There is no protection past this point,” the guard said. “Beasts and bandits roam outside of the walls. If you go through the gate, you will risk death.”
“We know, we know,” Cthulwho said. “Just open the bloody doors.”
The guard turned and motioned to another man who stood on top of the wall. He pulled a lever and the big metal doors began to slide apart. All the guards in the area held their guns ready, in case some monster tried to barge through.
Outside of the wall, the remaining city was rubble, bent metal, crumbling buildings, fire and smoke. Rising through all of that in the distance, Boothe saw a tall white building with a sloped roof. It was some distance away, but even from here, Boothe could see the broken windows and holes that had been blasted into the side of the structure. His goggles placed a tag above it that said Epic Center.
“Gate’s open,” the guard said. “Good luck.”
Scarlett led the way, her shotgun in her hands. Cthulwho and Boothe followed close behind. When they had walked through to the other side of the wall, the guards behind them closed the gate once again. Something howled in the distance, an eerie sound that made the hair on Boothe’s arms stand on end. He pulled his pistol and held it at the ready. His drone searched for any enemies, but found none that were close to them.
“Let’s get to the building as fast as possible,” Boothe said. “I don’t like being out in the open like this.”
“Agreed,” Scarlett said. “Let’s go.”
3
Boothe, Scarlett, and Cthulwho walked through the rubble of what was once downtown Wichita - now a hollow shell of what it had been. Empty burnt buildings were all that stood from what used to be a vibrant city. Most of the structures had been reduced to piles of rubble, while the ones that remained standing had been burnt, blown up, and riddled with bullet holes. They passed one tall apartment complex with a car stuck into a window on the third floor, the front half of it inside and only the trunk hanging out. Boothe had no idea how the car could have gotten up there.
They kept on towards the Epic Center they could see rising in the distance. Fires burned inside the top floor of the building, turning it into a beacon that pulled them forward. Fire likely meant that there were guards. Victor had told them that there were bandits inside, but part of Boothe had still hoped that they’d find the place empty.
Gunfire in the distance made all three of them turn towards the noise. They hadn’t spotted any enemies so far, but several times Boothe could have sworn he saw movement out of the side of his vision.
When they stood across the street from the Epic Center, beside a broken wall of what had once been another tall building, Cthulwho said “I have to admit, I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t run into any bandits or monsters on the way here.”
“Why do you have to say things like that?” Scarlett said.
“It’s true,” Cthulwho replied. “I thought we’d be attacked by something!”
“Don’t worry,” Boothe said. “There’s plenty of fights ahead, I think.”
Boothe looked over at the building and focused his goggles. A green wireframe map automatically appeared over the structure based on the floor plans he had downloaded in the van earlier. He pressed the button on the side of his goggles to turn the thermal vision on. Most of the building showed up nearly black, but he spotted some yellow-orange blobs.
“There’s at least two bandits on the bottom floor,” Booth said. “They’re standing guard in front of what I think is an elevator.” He pointed for his drone to take flight and look through the windows higher up in the building. He watched the camera feed as it highlighted important features while it scanned the area. “The floors in between the first and the 22nd are all empty. The top floor, however, is full of guards, both human and robotic. It looks like that is where the satellite terminal is located.”
“Nice,” Scarlett said. “So we go in, take the two guys out on the bottom, then ride the lift to the top and sneak past the enemies there to get the data package.”
“Sounds like a bloody good plan to me,” Cthulwho said.
“I’ll lead,” Scarlett said. “I’m best up close.”
With that, she crossed the street quickly, moving from cover to cover until they reached the entrance to the Epic Center. Large doors that had once led into a wide beautiful lobby now lay on the ground. All the glass from the windows had been broken away, leaving only metal frames. Scarlett ducked behind the wall near the entry and looked over the wide lobby. Boothe and Cthulwho took cover next to her. The lobby was all open area, with little cover. An empty basin in the middle of the place looked to have once been a fountain, but now was as dry as the rest of the Wasteland. Two guards, dressed in leather and spikes, leaned casually against the wall on the other side of the lobby, shotguns held in their hands. The lift was between them, a dangerous looking construction inside the old elevator shaft. Jumper cables ran from it to a generator nearby that had several old car batteries hooked up in a series.
“Get ready,” Scarlett said. She held her shotgun in both hands and positioned herself, getting ready to run.
“Hold on,” Cthulwho said. He began unwrapping the scarf from his neck. When it was free, it revealed a half-inch wide hole in the middle of his throat, partially hidden beneath the tentacles hanging from his chin.
“What the hell is that?” Boothe asked.
“You’ll see. Scarlett I’ll give you a distraction, then you can charge in.”
“Okay,” she said, giving Cthulwho’s throat-hole a disgusted look before turning towards the enemies. She positioned herself in a crouch, on her toes, ready to attack.
Boothe held his pistol in both hands, preparing to pop out of cover and fire when the battle began.
Cthulwho gave them both a smile, took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the wall. He faced the guards, who hadn’t yet noticed him, and released the air held in his lungs. It pushed up from his chest and shot out of the hole in his throat. Like a bullet, a visible pocket of air flew across the lobby and smashed into the face of one of the guards. His head popped backwards as if he had been slapped, then all his muscles relaxed at once and he slumped to the ground. The other guard turned and looked down at the one on the floor.
“What the hell man?” the guard said.
Then Scarlett blew the back of his skull off with her shotgun.
Boothe ran out of cover, following Scarlett across the lobby towards the lift. The guard that Cthulwho had disabled still lay on the ground, his eyes moved from Scarlett to Boothe and back again, wide with fear. His hands and legs twitched uncontrollably.
“What did you do to him?” Boothe asked.
“It’s a paralyzation shot,” Cthulwho replied. “But it’s only temporary, so you should finish him off.”
Boothe looked down at the helpless man. He was completely defenseless. Pitiful really.
“It’s kind of like murder, isn’t it?” Boothe asked. “I mean, he’s helpless, right? Maybe we could just arrest him or something.”
Then the guard reached out towards his gun on the ground next to him. Scarlett’s hands moved quicker, pointing her shotgun directly at the guard’s face and pulling the trigger.
Boothe had to turn his head away from the disgusting sight of the bandit’s head splattering across the floor.
“I told you it was temporary,” Cthulwho said. “Don’t be such a baby. If I disable them, you kill them.”
Boothe nodded. Paul was right, they couldn’t show these bandits any mercy. They all seemed to be psychotic anyways. No coming back from that.
“We’re going to ride up on this thing?” Scarlett asked, running her hand along the frayed ropes that held up the lift platform. She leaned over and looked d
own into the basements, then tilted her head and looked up the elevator shaft that rose until it disappeared into darkness.
“Let’s do this,” Cthulwho said, then pressed the switch on the generator, which began pulling the lift up.
“What the hell man,” Boothe said.
“Just shut up and get on,” Cthulwho ordered, jumping onto the shaky lift. Scarlett stepped on after him, and then Boothe climbed on as well, just before the lift raised up too high to reach.
“You could have waited ‘til we were ready,” Boothe said.
Cthulwho sighed. “Then there would be all the talking and the debating and the planning. Better to just get going. We’ll figure it out on the way.”
The lift groaned as it slowly rose up the elevator shaft. Boothe looked up but couldn’t see the top of the building. Scarlett shoved two shells into her shotgun and gave it a pump. Cthulwho whistled a tune out of the hole in his throat.
“Ew, don’t do that,” Scarlett said. “That’s gross.”
“To a mutant, your face is gross,” Cthulwho replied.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes at him, but didn’t respond.
“Can we stop the lift before we reach the top?” Boothe asked. I could send the drone up to look around.
“Doesn’t look like we can control it from here,” Scarlett said. “I guess they just start and stop the lift from the generator.”
“The generator that’s downstairs,” Boothe said. “So how do we get back?”
Scarlett looked to Cthulwho. “I don’t know. Maybe we should have thought this through.”
“We’ll be fine,” Cthulwho said.
Boothe refilled his pistol clip, loaded a round into the chamber, and they prepared to face whatever waited for them at the top of the building.
4
“Someone’s coming up!” a voice above them yelled.
“It’s probably Bernie,” another voice replied.
Boothe looked up the elevator shaft, and saw a man with wild platinum blonde hair lean out of the doorway to the top floor and look down at them.
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