The grenade shot out, bounced once, then exploded directly in the middle of the robots, sending them flying in every direction. Two flew off the roof, and fell sixteen stories to the ground below. One was completely blown apart, instantly destroyed. Scarlett ran through the doorway and blasted another to pieces with her shotgun, while Mariko put a bullet in the last one’s head from the stairwell.
WARNING! Building has taken structural damage (14%).
Two anti-air turrets were mounted on the edges of the roof. Aimed at the sky, the guns didn’t pose any threat to their team. Boothe quickly hacked in and disabled both of them, then he took the radio that Victor had given them off his belt and twisted a knob to turn it on.
“Eagles, this is Atomic Massacre. Richardson is clear and ready for support.”
After a few moments and a quick burst of static, Victor’s voice spoke from the radio.
“We read you Atomic Massacre. Support incoming. Good work.”
“Yeah!” Caustic cheered. He held his huge hand up for a high five, and Mariko jumped up to slap her palm against his.
“Good job everybody,” Braddock said. He sat on the roof and began repairing his broken arm.
MISSION COMPLETE: Take the Palisades Central Tower
With the enemies cleared, The Eagles will arrive shortly to install the necessary defense and support in the Palisades Tower and create a forward base to press the attack against Orion.
Rewards: New Eagles Base, $2000
Boothe gains 5000XP
LEVEL UP!
Boothe reaches Level 10!
You have unlocked a new class power.
Scarlett and Braddock leveled up to 10 as well. Mariko had already reached level 10 earlier, and Caustic got to level 9 with the quest XP. With the area clear, they each took a moment to relax. They sat around the flaming scrap metal of the decimated robots and looked through their newly available powers.
Choose a New Class Power
Assistant Drone – As a Move action, send your drone to protect yourself or an ally, reducing all incoming attack chances by 15%.
Critical Laser – Your Combat Drone now has a +50% Critical Hit chance.
Lightning Shot – If you hit with your Combat Drone’s laser weapon, the enemy has a 50% chance of being stunned.
Machine Killer – All of your attacks now do +3 damage to robotic enemies.
Medical Protocol – Once every three rounds, your drone can administer a medkit to yourself or an ally as a free action. Your drone can carry 2 medkits at a time.
Overheat Processors – When you use Machine Master to disable a robotic enemy, you can force the enemy to explode, dealing damage to everything in the area.
“Time for me to log off guys,” Braddock said. “I have to work early in the morning.”
Boothe looked at the time: 11:50. Later than he expected. It always was.
“Yeah, I should get off too,” he said. He chose Lightning Shot as his new power and closed the menu.
“Yeah it’s late,” Scarlett agreed.
“Night,” Mariko said. She logged off before anybody had a chance to say anything in response, her avatar disappearing from the rooftop of the Palisades tower.
“See you tomorrow, everybody,” Braddock said, then he disappeared as well.
“I may play a little longer,” Caustic said. “Just to explore and take out some bandits or something.”
“Alright. Be careful,” Boothe said. “See you at school tomorrow.”
“Okay, see ya,” Caustic said.
“Goodnight Scarlett,” Boothe said.
“Night,” she replied.
Interlude 8
Phonecall
I closed the game, then shut down the computer to let it cool. The fans inside were spinning so fast, I thought it might catch fire. I probably shouldn’t play for so long at a time. Maybe one day, when I got a job, I could afford a better computer.
The phone on the desk rang, startling me. Dad usually didn’t call this late, expecting me to be asleep already. I answered the phone anxiously, hoping that everything was okay.
“Hello?”
“Hey Bran,” an unexpected voice replied. At first, I didn’t realize who it was. It was just so out of place, hearing it through the telephone instead of through my headset.
“You there?” she asked.
Scarlett. On my phone.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I said. “I’m just surprised that you called me.”
“You told me I could call any time,” she said.
“Yeah, I guess I did.” I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes. “So what’s up?”
“Oh nothing really,” she said. “That was a hell of a mission huh?”
“Yeah,” I said. “We did good though. I have no idea how many robots we killed, and almost no injuries.
“Yeah, so,” Scarlett said. “I just wanted to say that I liked that car ride earlier. I liked chatting with you about non-game stuff.”
“Me too,” I said. It was true. It had been a long trip, but I hadn’t gotten bored during it at all. I liked talking to her just as much as I liked shooting bad guys.
“And I wanted to say that it’s not really fair that I know where you live, but you don’t know where I live.”
“You know where I live?” I asked. I hadn’t been trying to hide it, but I couldn’t remember telling her.
“I did a Yahoo search on your phone number,” she said. “Dallas area code.”
“Ah, okay. Stalker.”
“Yeah sorry,” she said. “Anyways, do you know where Sherman is? About an hour north of Dallas.”
“Yeah I’ve heard of it,” I said.”
“That’s where I live. I go to Grayson County College, until I finish my basics and move to a University. Probably UT Dallas.”
“That’s really close,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to talk to you,” she said. “We’re only about an hour away from each other. What do you think about meeting up sometime?”
My face grew hot and I felt like all the air had been sucked from my lungs. I did want to meet her. I couldn’t think of many things I’d rather do. But the idea of her seeing the real me was petrifying.
“Uhh…” I stammered.
“I mean, it doesn’t have to be tomorrow or anything,” Scarlett said. “What I was thinking was, since we’re getting close to the fight with Orion, and since I’m pretty sure that’s going to be the final boss fight, maybe we could meet up for that. You could bring your computer and hook it up here at my house, and we could play next to each other. Finish the game in style, you know? What do you think?”
“Uhh…” I repeated.
“If you don’t think it’s a good idea, I understand. It’s not a big deal…”
“It’s a great idea,” I interrupted. “Let’s do it.”
“Really?” Scarlett asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “I do really want to meet you, and playing the finale together seems super fun. Side by side, from the beginning to the end.”
“Yeah!” Scarlett said. “That’s what I was thinking!”
“Cool,” I said.
Then there was silence. There was rarely ever silence like this when we played the game together. Even if we didn’t have anything to talk about, there was still the game spurring on some conversation.
“I really like you Bran,” she said.
I practically melted into my bed. I couldn’t believe this was real. How could she like me? She’d never even seen me. But, then again, I’d never seen her either and I thought about her nearly every minute of the day.
“I really like you too.”
Level 10
Chop Shop
1
When Boothe logged in the next day, he saw that the Palisades tower was crowded with Eagles from New Wichita. Scientists, engineers, and workers walked the halls, repairing damage and implementing new defenses. Offices were set up and a new conference room was designated. Most of the activity w
as limited to the second floor, with the higher floors being used for housing. The place was filling up fast, with people travelling from all over the Wasteland to this location.
“Hello, [BOOTHE],” a familiar voice called out, as he walked down the second-floor hallway.
“Robert?” Boothe asked. The robot stood outside an open office door. “What are you doing here?”
“[CADEN’S OUTPOST] has temporarily closed its flagship location and moved here to help with the [ASSAULT ON THAT BASTARD ORION].” Robert made a mechanical spitting sound.
“Caden’s here too?” Boothe asked.
“Yes. Come inside and browse our wares.”
Boothe walked into the office, which was being converted into a small shop. Shelves were filled with supplies and robot parts. Caden stood in the corner, unloading items from crates and placing them on display.
“Hey there!” he said when Boothe approached. “What do you think about the new place? Sure, it’s smaller, but I always say location is what really matters, and this seems to be where all the action is going to happen.”
“Good to see you Caden,” Boothe said. “Glad you’re here to help.”
“Well, I had to, didn’t I? Who else is going to repair all the broken robots and get the security for this place running so that you all don’t get slaughtered by Orion?”
Other vendors had moved into the building as well, also sensing an opportunity to make money. Andre, the big-muscled mutant from New Wichita had a forge in the underground level, while Wulfa, from Perry, set up right next door to Caden. She greeted Boothe enthusiastically when he walked into her shop.
“Hey, new blood!” she said. “Who knew when I sold you that starter’s pack that you’d be leading the top team in the Eagles one day. Strange world huh?”
“I guess so,” Boothe said.
She looked Boothe up and down. “Well you’re all decked out now huh? No need for old Wulfa anymore. Wait!” she rushed around her counter and reached for Boothe’s belt. “You’re still using that same old .45?”
“Well not very often,” Boothe admitted. He couldn’t even remember the last time he shot it. Mostly he just kept it on his belt as a backup, in case his rifle ever ran out of ammo in the middle of battle, or he needed to shoot something that was right on top of him.
“I can see why. It hasn’t been upgraded at all. We can fix that. How about a power upgrade, or some flame rounds? They explode with fire on impact. How does roasted bandit sound to you, new blood?”
“Sounds fun,” Boothe said with a grin.
“Ah, see that’s why I like you.”
So he paid $300 to upgrade the pistol to allow for specialized bullets and more firepower, extending the gun’s range and adding a point of damage. Then he bought two 8-round clips of flame rounds for $100 each. Expensive bullets. He’d better make them count. He loaded them into his pistol to have them at the ready for later.
Caustic logged in shortly after Boothe, then Mariko, Braddock, and finally Scarlett followed. All of them spent some time looking around at the new base and getting accustomed to the location of all the new vendors. Other players were walking through the halls now too.
Information boards had been hung on the walls, detailing where each vendor was and also showing the top teams in the Eagles currently. The top four had changed a bit since the previous day.
Atomic Massacre - 728
Orange Horizon - 675
Laserdix - 601
Chaotic Decay 582
Orange Horizon had bypassed Laserdix somehow, and Miami Digital was completely gone from the rankings, replaced by a team called Chaotic Decay. Boothe looked all the way down to 20 in the rankings, but didn’t see Miami Digital anywhere. He wondered what had happened on the other team’s missions.
There were other notice boards hanging nearby that offered minor rewards for small errands and NPCs asking for people to bring them things. Boothe wasn’t interested in all these small-time fetch-quests anymore. Not when there was Orion to deal with.
The Eagles didn’t seem to plan on letting them rest either. Soon after his whole team had logged in, Boothe received a notification.
Atomic Massacre, please report to the new conference room on the second floor of Palisades Nest.
“Looks like they need us again,” Scarlett said. “Let’s go see what the mission is this time.”
The conference room here was much like the one back in New Wichita. Rows of seats, with a table up front, a podium, and a screen on the wall behind it. Instead of Victor, however, a tall severe woman with short black hair and a tight-fitting suit stood behind the podium.
“Good afternoon, Atomic Massacre,” she said, her voice reminding Boothe of a stern Algebra teacher he had in ninth grade. “Take a seat.”
They all sat in the chairs and looked up at her. The lines on her face and gray in her hair placed her in her late forties, but she was extremely fit and showed no other signs of age. She had a saber on one side of her belt, and a pistol on the other, and Boothe had no doubt that she knew how to use both to deadly effect.
“My name is Abigail Fincher,” she said. “For now, Victor is staying in New Wichita, so I have been assigned as the commander of this branch of the Eagles. We’d like to express our deepest gratitude to you for what you have done to secure this location. It will obviously play a formidable part in our future attacks against Orion. My duty is now to ensure that this place operates smoothly, and to deliver updates and missions to you and the other cells that will be deployed from this location. Do you have any questions?”
“What is the status of the other bases?” Braddock asked. “Did the other cells succeed?”
“Yes, and no,” Abi said. She pressed a button on the podium and brought up a map of the surrounding area on the wall behind her. The same cities were marked here once again - Arlington, Grapevine, Richardson, and Mesquite.
“You have done a great job of taking Richardson,” she said. “This place is now referred to as the Palisades Nest.” She zoomed in to the Arlington location. “We sent Laserdix to clear out the mutants at the Arlington Convention Center. They were successful in eliminating the mutants there, but unfortunately they caused too much structural damage to the building, making it unusable for our purposes.” A large red X appeared over the city on the map.
“Miami Digital went to the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine,” the screen panned over to this location. “Shortly after entering the hotel, they were ambushed by bandits and the entire team was killed. We have decided not to pursue this base, as the bandits there are too embedded, and have instead opted to destroy it completely. Tonight, we are sending another cell to blow the place up.”
The map panned again, this time moving past Richardson, and focusing Mesquite.
“Finally, we sent Orange Horizon to the Mesquite Municipal Complex. There, they successfully cleared the place of enemies and secured the location. That has become our third base, called the Mesquite Nest, and we are setting it up very similarly to this tower. With two forward bases, we have a good chance of catching Orion off-guard during our upcoming attacks.”
She dimmed the map, and turned back towards the group. “Any more questions?”
“What’s next?” Scarlett asked. “When are we going to attack Orion?”
“Soon,” Abi said. “But not yet. We have another mission for you first. Unfortunately,” she looked down at a large watch on her arm, “I have run out of time to fully explain everything to you. This dossier should suffice.” She placed a folder onto the table in front of the podium, then next to it, she sat a black leather bag. “And here are supplies that will help you during the mission. Good luck Atomic Massacre. Now I must ask you to clear out, so I can speak to the next cell.”
She quickly shooed them from the room, giving Boothe only enough time to grab the dossier and sling the leather bag over his shoulder.
When they exited into the hallway, Lucas was standing there, leaning against the opposite wall. “Nice
purse, Boothe. You have the heels to match it?” He looked down at Boothe’s impact boots with their platform soles. “Hey, it looks like you do!”
“Laserdix,” Abi called from the room. “You may come in to discuss your next mission now.”
“Nice job in Arlington, by the way,” Scarlett said. “Blowing up a whole building by accident huh? Good to know we have such professionals like you on our side.”
Lucas just smiled back at them. “We’ll see. Good luck on your next mission, morons.” He smacked Boothe on the back, then followed the rest of his team into the conference room and shut the door behind him.
“Don’t worry about them,” Braddock said.
“Yeah, who cares?” Caustic said. “What’s in the bag?”
Boothe unzipped the top of the duffle bag and opened it for the rest of the group to peer inside.
A huge smile spread to Caustic’s face.
“Oh, this is going to be fun.”
There must have been a hundred red sticks of dynamite inside.
2
Boothe drove the Vandura southeast towards the destination marked on their map. They had taken off as soon as they saw that this mission had a time limit. The entire team was crammed inside the vehicle - Braddock in the passenger seat, Mariko, Caustic, and Scarlett in the back.
Braddock read out loud from the dossier.
“Orion has set up ‘Chop Shops’ at several locations around Dallas. His bandits steal cars from across the wasteland and deliver them to these shops to be torn apart and reassembled to make his fleet of armed vehicles. Several cells are being sent out to these shops to destroy them, eliminating Orion’s vehicle capabilities.
“Our target is the shop 2 miles southeast of the Palisades, in Garland. Explosives have been provided. Eliminate the guards as you deem fit, plant the explosives, and detonate them to destroy the operation.”
NEW MISSION: Chop Shop
Use the provided explosives to destroy Orion’s vehicle manufacturing plant and eliminate his operation in Garland within the next two hours.
Apocalypse 2020: A Wasteland LitRPG Page 25
