The Crystal Crusade

by Mars Dorian

  “Thanks.”

  He nodded, but the group silence vanished soon. Rokkit had to talk again. “This is a permanent death field mission, so don’t experiment with some whacky new tactics. We stay together at all times and compensate for each other’s weaknesses. Cool?”

  L’ocean and Wu nodded, I said, “Subzero.”

  “What?”

  “Subzero cool, which means cooler than cool.”

  Rokkit rolled his eyes. “On the field, you better talk plain English.”

  The support NPC sounded again. “We will reach the destination zone in T-minus five minutes and thirty-two seconds. Check your equipment. Once we land in the danger zone, there’s no way to change your layout.”

  The pressure hit me. My limbs, my real ones, shivered with excitement. I had read everything I could about squad tactics and class-specific playing styles, but absorbing information and applying them in live action scenarios stood worlds apart. Chaos dominated the battlefield, and using the right moves at the right time required concentration.

  “You’ll be fine,” L’ocean said. She must have noticed my anxiety. “Just listen to us and make the morally right choices.”

  Rokkit joined her smile. “I’d be happy if you hit more enemies than NPCs.”

  Even the Ranger chuckled now. I didn’t mind—laughter broke the tension, no matter whom it was thrown at.

  “It may sound strange, but it feels like the WarTech class was created for me. There’s a deeper connection I can’t put into words.”

  Rokkit leaned back and closed his eyes. Only the whooshing of the waves hitting the ship’s rear outside disturbed the silence. I wished I could smell the salty air of the ocean, but at least I could match my breathing to the crushing waves and relax before the big storm.

  Rokkit said, “The mission will show us whether you’re right.”

  He wanted to add something, but the next vibration shook us up. Either it was the biggest wave, or something else.

  Something far more dangerous…

  25

  Our transport boat shuddered. I thought it was a glitch, some error in the game mechanics, but Rokkit, Wu, and L’ocean reacted to the situation with confused glances.

  “What in the world?”

  The support NPC communicated with the captain of the transport ship and shared the gravity of the situation. “Enemy forces are defending the beachhead and have opened fire on us.”

  I looked out the narrow windows and spotted armored soldiers with gun sabers and deployed dart throwers that spat arrow-shaped projectiles in our direction. The volleys impacted with all transport ships and shredded the armor apart. Pieces splashed into the waves.

  “So much for their weak spot,” Wu said.

  “Tutorial time is over, suckers. This is the real shit.”

  Rokkit chuckled like he was having the best time of his game life. He seemed to feast on challenging situations.

  The boat swayed under the incoming firing, and I feared getting ripped apart before we’d even make it to the inner township.

  “Hold tight, this is going to be a rough landing,” the mission NPC said with forced calmness in her voice.

  I held onto the armrests and swayed with the motion, my mind set for battle. When we neared the beach bay, L’ocean shot up from her seat and ordered the NPC to release the rear hatches for immediate deployment.

  The wooden door with the metal-coating swung open. Rokkit, L’ocean, Wu, and I stormed outside and splashed into the knee-deep water. My eyes jerked toward the beach and analyzed the enemy situation. I counted twenty medium-armored soldiers equipped with blunders and gun sabers. Four iron-coated dart thrower turrets were positioned strategically across the beach, evenly distanced from each other. Together, they drowned our landing area with a storm of projectiles.

  Quest update: Secure the beach and enter the township of Montobay.

  Rokkit raised his massive square shield and guarded our rear while spearheading forward. The weight of his armor slowed him down, but the thickness would mitigate any incoming damage. L’ocean updated our squad commands. “Rokkit and I will focus on the sentries. Wu, and Dash, you flank the soldiers on the right and prevent them from cutting into our rear.”

  “Roger.”

  The world erupted in fire. A dozen meters to my left, a cadet from a nearby transport ship received the full brunt of the dart volleys and splashed into the water. His body drowned in the shallow water, never to appear again. Was he dead already? I couldn’t believe losing a character that fast.

  “Focus, Boltzmann, this is happening.”

  Rokkit acted as the tank unit of our squad. He used his massive shield to draw in the devastating dart fire. The arrows bounced off the armored surface layers—I wondered how much incoming fire he could take. Eight other players reached the first line of soldiers who stopped shooting once we entered the close combat zone. They switched to sword mode.

  Enemy: Renegade Melee Soldier

  Type: Human

  HP: 65-85/ Armor: Light plating (+2)

  Weakness: Armor-piercing

  Drops: Gun saber, smokers, low potions, light plate armor

  Straight into the fray. I snatched an exploda and targeted the soldiers standing closest to each other. The arrow pointer in my vision curved toward the target zone. The fuse lit, and I threw the cylinder-shaped container with all my strength. Two soldiers were KO’d upon impact, and two others stunned by the explosive’s area damage—indicated by the semi-transparent stars circling over their helmets. Thanks to my Machine Spirit skill, I caused extra damage.

  “Let me get those,” Wu said as he guarded my rear.

  Two soldiers tried to flank me from the left, but two darts fractured their chest plate armor. They staggered for a couple seconds which gave me an opening to attack. Up close, my light melee blade ripped through their plates. The neosteel material ignored their armor and caused serious bleed damage. I aimed the vertical slash and ripped through their last defense. The two soldiers fell.

  Wu positioned himself three meters behind me and supported me with his tek-bow attacks. He had bought diamond-coated darts which devastated the enemy’s medium armor—highly expensive, and highly effective. I had to admit, the teamwork worked pretty well so far.

  To my far left, Lancer Rokkit smashed the stationary dart throwers with his slow and dull hammer swipes. L’ocean backed him up with buffs that increased his accuracy and attack speed, all powered by the Reepo crystals embedded in her staff.

  Rokkit hammered himself to victory.

  One other dart thrower remained active and fired at the last squad of cadets invading the beach. The turret’s back was turned to me so I had the perfect opportunity to sneak up from behind and deactivate it. Wu stood ready to sacrifice an expensive boom arrow, but hesitated.

  “Machinery is my expertise.”

  With my skill, I deactivated the thrower from behind. The unit cooled down with steaming barrels. I placed the baby into my inventory. Unfortunately, my skill was too low to use it yet.

  “Watch out,” Wu said.

  Three renegade soldiers, previously entangled with an ally squad, stormed after me to reactivate the dart thrower or kill me. Probably both. Wu swapped his ammunition style and fired a bulky projectile. The arrow curved down and impacted the two, knocking them off their boots.

  I dashed forward and slashed their final hit points with my light melee chopper, using the horizontal slash to disarm them. The two soldiers joined the digital graveyard and allowed me to take a deep breath. A quick glance around the battlefield allowed me to update the situation. All player squads dominated the beachhead. Rokkit and L’ocean had taken out the sentries and soldiers on their side, aided by two Rangers and a damage dealing Lancer from another squad. When Rokkit smashed the last staggering soldier, the update flickered.

  You have taken the beach.

  Proceed toward the Central Plaza of Montobay.

  Rokkit swung his hammer-holding fist up in the a
ir and howled. “That’s how you win.”

  All the nearby players cheered except for me. We merely landed at the target zone and faced already cruel resistance. I worried about the enemy forces guarding the township’s center—they would only increase in numbers and strength.

  “Any losses?”

  The allied squad leaders spoke up. One player had died during the assault. I pictured his character drowning in the murky waters of the red sea. I wondered about his reaction right now, as he sat in front of his computer with the VR set on, with all the experience and equipment wasted forever in the digital abyss of the database. The prospect lowered my battle spirit, so I swapped back to character mode. Rokkit spoke for all the squads and ordered group tactics and explained the best routes toward the comm tower. My head craned toward the brick houses behind the boardwalk promenade. Far above, at least a kilometer toward the township’s center, stood the mountain which the city was attached to. Its peak harbored the comm tower, the final destination of our field mission.

  “The time has come to raid the raiders,” Wu said from behind me.

  He salvaged what he could from the corpses of the fallen soldiers and found useful items. “Here, a potion and two smokers.” He paused. “What about this gun saber? Their reload times are slow and the damage is low, but at least they offer range attacks.”

  My heart yelped. Smoke bangers were orb-shaped explodas with paralyzing gas. They stunned the enemy with area-wide smoke clouds and allowed players to move in for the close-range kill, causing 150% of the normal damage. And with my growing tech mastery, I could throw them farther than other players. Wu picked up his blood-spattered standard bolts from the corpses and returned them to his geared quiver.

  “Damn darts are expensive, but they do a lot damage against low-to-medium armored troops.”

  “Sure do.”

  What a great player, I thought. He could have kept all the dropped items to himself but chose to share. I accepted the trade and exchanged my abysmal light weight uniform for the light armor from the soldiers. They offered +1 in protection. I rejoined Rokkit and L’ocean where they were waiting for us near the boardwalk entrance. They looked at their e-scrolls and chose the best route to enter the besieged city. The adrenaline rocked my body, but I had to admit, I was pumped. This beachhead infiltration marked the most exciting part of my gaming life so far.

  I couldn’t wait for the main battle.

  26

  When I looked at the city map of Montobay, ideas sparked. I had learned enough about Fourlando to offer my input. “The fastest route toward the central plaza is the main road of course, but I reckon it will be loaded with enemies. I suggest using the narrow, back alleys.”

  Rokkit craned his head after me. “Who asked you?”

  “I asked myself.”

  “That’s actually a smart idea,” L’ocean said in my defense. “We could also use the side alleys as chokepoints to trap the enemy forces.”

  Rokkit hesitated, but even his ego must have seen the advantages. “Let’s vote democratically,” I said.

  Wu and L’ocean agreed to my suggestion, which left Rokkit as the last man standing. “Fine.”

  I smiled inside as our squad marched toward one of the many side streets. It reminded me of industrial European historical districts with the stone roadways, the crossed windows, and smoke steaming from the brick houses. A beautiful industrialized township worth a holiday visit under normal circumstances.

  “Watch out,” Rokkit said. “The enemy might flank us. Remember they can also go in and out of houses.”

  I had forgotten about that possibility. The buildings around us were not just polygon models with pretty textures; they also functioned as destructible environments. Crosses smeared the closed doors of the civilian houses. The entire township had been put under a strict curfew, which turned the side streets into empty ghost alleys. Better for us, because we needed the little space available for our evasive maneuvers. And with few civilians on the streets, we could avoid some collateral damage that influenced our field test score. Still, the war surrounded us. Shots and shouts echoed from three blocks away. The dull sound of detonators shook the walls and roared through our side street. Urban war had been unleashed. As far as I had understood, we collected experience from any enemy killed by an ally within a hundred meter radius. So the closer I was to my allies, the more points trickled in.

  “Looks like Alpha and Beta squads are already engaging the enemy,” L’ocean said.

  “We have plenty of foes for ourselves,” I said. “Just look at the size of the map.”

  The end of our back alley led to a city plaza. In the middle of the plaza was a well surrounded by exotic flowerbeds, and two squads of enemy soldiers led by a crimson captain in medium gear. The group had lined up ten civilians who knelt on the stony plaza ground, heads bowed down like slaves.

  Oh no… “A firing squad.”

  My vision updated with a time-sensitive sub-quest:

  Optional side quest: Save the 10 civilians before the firing squad executes them.

  Reward: 500 credits, EXP

  I knew this quest was going to be more complex. Going from A to B rarely worked in the world of Fourlando. Every zone had to feature multiple challenges. I looked up at L’ocean who seemed to read my thoughts.

  “Ditch it,” Rokkit said. “We need to focus on the central plaza and then the tower.”

  “Remember what the mission master said about keeping collateral down? If we ditch this quest, we’ll suffer consequences.”

  “He’s right,” L’ocean said, helping me once again. “It will negatively impact our scores.”

  Rokkit looked at the plaza from afar. One of the soldiers motioned to behead one of the civilians with his gun saber. I couldn’t detect a timer, but I swore our seconds ran out, breath by breath. I offered my advice.

  “Wu and I collected smokers from the fallen soldiers on the beachhead. We can use them to cloud the perimeter and distract the enemy soldiers from hurting the civilians.”

  Rokkit reluctantly agreed to my suggestion. At this point, I wasn’t interested in pissing him off, I just wanted to finish this operation with as few casualties as possible.

  “Fine, you do range support and I’ll charge in with my shield. Remember to aim for the captain first—squads with a leader act as a single unit with tactical maneuvers.”

  “Roger.”

  We moved into position—Rokkit in front of me, L’ocean next to me, and Wu behind.

  “Charge.”

  I snapped a smoker from my multi-belt and aimed it the captain and his firing squad. The aim pointer showed me a twenty-three meter distance. The second the orb-shaped device clonked on the stone ground, Rokkit acted as the tank again and spearheaded into the open space. We followed him from behind and prepared for the fray. Behind me, Wu unleashed bolts that cut down the soldiers escaping the smoke blast. He knocked out a standard unit with a critical hit. Good shot.

  Rokkit charged at the armored captain and unleashed a devastating hammer swing. The armor plates splattered upon impact and bounced off the ground like ceramic fragments. But as a captain, the enemy unit could take serious damage and would retaliate. I picked the soldiers close to the civilians and bolted forward. Despite the smoke clouding my vision, the target pointer encircled their silhouettes in red glows.

  I pierced the first targets with great force. One soldier was knocked over, while the other was greeted with a standard mid-range pellet shot that knocked him off balance and pushed him two meters back. I wanted to unleash another shot, but the cooldown took ten seconds. Rokkit killed the squad leader captain with a forward shield dash. The poor sucker died on impact. The smoke from the bangers dissipated and allowed me to view the plaza. All enemy soldiers lay on the ground with broken armor pieces. Only one got away near one of the back alleys. I was ready to welcome the success message when I spotted the casualties. One civilian moaned on the plaza ground, another one lay five meters away with dark
blood bubbling from his chest. The menu updated in my virtual vision. A yellow bar highlighted the text, showing only a partial success.

  Quest solved. You have saved 8 out of 10 civilians.

  I wanted to save all 10 but the assault proved more challenging than I had anticipated. With the captain present, the enemy squad acted like a single unit.

  Nevertheless, the experience rolled in, both from the quest success and the slain units. I upgraded to Level 6 and unlocked a new skill point, which I promptly invested in the Machine Spirit.

  Rokkit lowered his shield. “Good job, Boltzmann. You are almost an asset to my squad.”

  I thought my hearing had malfunctioned for a sec. “Is your ping device broken?”

  “Don’t be foolish. I give credit when it’s due. Blasting team members for the heck of it is bad for troop morale.”

  “You don’t say.”

  We regrouped and investigated the items near the well in the plaza. The next step of our goal to retake the city showed up:

  Quest update:

  Secure the beach and enter the township of Montobay.

  Reach the Central Plaza and secure it.

  “Hurry up,” Rokkit said.

  L’ocean and Wu shot me apologetic glances, but for once, Rokkit was right. I could always respec my skills later on once I gained enough credits. Speed and efficiency mattered more than anything now. Together, we left the plaza massacre and charged toward one of the routes leading to the city center. The sub-quest had just shown me anything was possible from now on, so I prepared for the worst.

  27

  “What happened to you?” L’ocean asked with surprise in her voice.