So I left my build as it was. As to my teammates, some of them decided to unlearn some skills in favor of some of the others. We all bunched up together, examining one another’s builds and discussing which skills to unlearn and which ones would be more beneficial for us. After all, we were a team and should operate as a single unit.
It took us some time. Once we were finished, we were ready to begin.
“So guys, are we doing it now?” Thomas said. “Or you want to hold off on it for some time? Because once we begin, there will be no turning back.”
“No,” Nadia replied. “Let’s do it now.”
“I agree,” Maya replied. “We’ve been waiting for this for too long.”
I nodded in agreement. “Why wait?”
Once we got into the Control Room, we walked to the Control Panel situated in the middle of the room. We did not say anything to one another. Thomas silently stepped to the Control Panel. He glanced over his shoulder at us and gave us a small nod. He then got to work.
He downloaded his virus app and immediately launched it. Echo realized something bad was happening.
“Warriors, I have just detected suspicious activity,” he said. “I am not sure what is going on yet, but I highly advise you—”
He suddenly fell silent.
“What happened?” Nadia asked.
“It’s done, guys,” Thomas said with a wide grin on his face.
“Already?” Maya said, looking surprised. “Well, it was quick.”
“Echo,” Nadia called.
“You don’t believe me?” Thomas asked, grinning.
“Echo, are you here?” Nadia repeated the question.
The AI was silent.
“Looks like it’s actually worked,” Nadia said. “Amazing.”
“What,” Thomas said. “You really thought it wouldn’t?”
“Yeah, I actually wasn’t quite sure if you were as good a hacker as you claimed to be,” Nadia replied.
“Geez, thanks for believing in me,” Thomas said as he shook his head. “My feelings are hurt.”
“Only pussies have feelings,” Nadia quipped.
“Ha-ha,” Thomas said. “Very funny.”
“Guys, we don’t have much time,” I said.
“Yeah,” Maya said. “Let’s get out of here.”
We hurried to the elevator. Before getting in there, Nadia slowed down and looked back into the Control Room.
“I won’t be missing this place,” Nadia said.
“Me too,” Maya said. “It was like a prison.”
In the Preparation Room, we retrieved our weapons and equipment. We then got into the hangar and walked up the ramp into the dropship.
“So what now?” Nadia asked after we entered the cabin.
“Do we need to get into those?” Maya asked as she looked at the cryogenic chambers.
“Now that Echo is no longer in charge of us, we can neglect to get into the cryo-pods if we decide so,” Thomas said.
“Yeah,” Nadia said. “We can do whatever we want now. It feels awesome.”
“Let me check how far the main space station, though,” Thomas said and headed for the cockpit.
A minute later, he returned to the cabin.
“So?” Nadia asked, looking at him.
“It will take us almost seven days to get there,” Thomas said. “So I suggest we get into the cryo-pods.”
“Agreed,” Nadia said. “There isn’t much space in this ship. Being stuck in here for seven days would surely result in us getting on one another’s nerves.”
So we climbed into our cryogenic chambers.
“Don’t worry, guys,” Thomas said. “I adjusted the systems of the dropship. We’ll be woken up in about seven days when we get to the main space station.”
“What if we are attacked when we’re asleep?” Nadia asked.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart,” Thomas said. “Everything’s under control. If we are attacked, we’ll be automatically awakened by the systems of the dropship.”
“Good,” Nadia said. “I wouldn’t want to die in my sleep, y’know. I’d rather die in a battle, actually fighting my enemies. And by the way, don’t you dare call me sweetheart anymore, you hear me, Pinky?”
“As you wish, honey,” Thomas said, chuckling.
Before Nadia could reply, the lids of our cryogenic pods slid close, and we were soon put to sleep.
When I woke up, I waited for the lid above me to slide aside. When it happened, I sat up and looked around.
“Have we arrived?” Maya asked, climbing out of her pod.
“Think so,” Nadia said, standing up.
“Hey, where’s Pinky?” I asked after getting out of my pod and finding Thomas’s cryogenic chamber empty.
“I’m here, guys,” he replied as he stepped out of the cockpit into the cabin.
“How come you woke up before any of us did?” Nadia asked, eyeing the guy suspiciously.
“Don’t look at me like I’m some kind of criminal,” Thomas said with a grin on his face.
“Well, you are a criminal, actually,” Maya said.
“True,” Thomas laughed. “But I’m on your side, guys. Always been.”
“So how come you woke up before us?” Nadia repeated her question.
“That’s because I tuned our pods this way,” Thomas explained.
“Why?” Nadia asked.
“I just wanted to have some time to hack into the systems of the main space station,” Thomas explained.
“Oh I see,” Nadia said. “So have you accomplished this task?”
“You bet I have,” Thomas chuckled. “Already forgot what I am?”
“And what would you be?” Nadia asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Thomas said. “The smartest hacker in the galaxy, of course!”
“How could we forgot,” Maya exclaimed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Nadia said skeptically.
“So we arrived at our destination, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” Thomas said and waved at us. “Take a look at this, guys.”
He led us into the cockpit. With all four of us stuffed in there, it felt very cramped. When we looked out the windshield, we saw a space station hover in front of our dropship. It was huge, almost filling the entire view of the windshield.
“So there it is, guys,” Thomas declared. “The main space station.”
“Do they know we’re coming?” Nadia asked, watching the enormous space station increase in size as our dropship was gradually getting closer to it. I noticed that we were floating toward one of the airlocks.
“No,” Thomas replied. “I saw to it. We are hidden from the scanners of the space station. However, once we enter the space station, they will become aware of our presence. We will have to get to work quickly. They’ll undoubtedly throw everything they have at us.”
“Nothing new here,” Nadia said.
Unlike the redhead, Maya seemed nervous.
“You guys think we can make it?” The blue-haired girl asked.
“Yeah,” Nadia grumbled. “Or we will die trying.”
“About dying,” Thomas said as he reached into his jacket pocket. He took something out of it and held out his open hand to us. We saw three identical flash drives lying on his palm.
“What are those?” Nadia asked.
“While you guys were asleep, I made a few adjustments to my virus app and copied it to each of these flash drives,” Thomas said.
“So what exactly do we need to do?” Nadia asked. “I thought our plan was to find the leaders of the organization and take care of them. What do we need your virus app for?”
“Take these,” Thomas said. “I’ll explain what we need them for.”
Maya, Nadia, and I each took a flash drive.
“Do you have one for yourself too?” Maya asked.
“Of course,” Thomas said and dug another flash drive out of his jacket
pocket and showed it to the blue-haired girl. “So each of us now has a copy of my enhanced virus app. If one of us dies or gets lost somewhere, the other three of us will still have their flash drives on them.”
“Please, don’t say such a thing,” Maya said quietly. “I hope none of us will die.”
“Yeah, hopefully, all of us will survive through this,” Thomas said. “But as they say, Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
“So what do we need your virus for?” Nadia asked.
“Yeah, about that,” Thomas said. “There’s something I need to tell you, guys. While you were asleep, I was digging into the systems of the main space station and found out something interesting. Two things, actually. The first one is the most interesting. Are you ready to hear it, guys?”
“Shoot,” Nadia said.
“Well, the current leader of The Weaponized is actually someone whom we know very well,” Thomas said.
“And who would that be, Pinky?” Nadia asked.
Thomas made a dramatic pause before uttering a single word, “Echo.”
“What?” Maya exclaimed. “Are you serious?”
“Yes,” Thomas replied. “I hacked into the systems of the main space station and managed to gather some information despite Echo doing his best to keep me out. So as we already knew, there was a riot on the main space station a few months back. Before that, Echo took over the space station because the previous leaders hit one financial snag after another and failed to deal with them. So the people who orchestrated the riots were actually the previous leaders of the organization.”
“I thought the rebellion was suppressed,” I said.
“Yeah,” Thomas replied. “Echo killed most of the rioters. Yet some of them survived and went into hiding. Though Echo has full control over the main space station, it’s a really enormous place, so the survived rebels have managed to hide from Echo somewhere. The leader of the rebellion is Vanessa Craig. She was one of the leaders of the organization before Echo took over. I managed to get in touch with her when you guys were asleep. We’re gonna need to contact her a little later to inform her of our arrival. But that can wait for now. I need to tell you what we need to do with my virus app first.”
He glanced at the flash drive that he was still holding in his hand.
“Like I said, I enhanced my virus app,” Thomas continued. “So even the three of you can handle it. If we got separated or I got killed, all you need to do is get to the Main Control Room and locate the main computer console. You then stick your flash drive in and launch my virus app on the computer. And that’s all you need to do. My virus app will take care of the rest. It will deactivate Echo and give you full control of the systems of the main space station.”
“Locate the main computer console,” Nadia repeated. “Stick the flash drive in. Launch the virus app. Sounds simple enough.”
“Yeah,” Thomas said. “Once we are in the Main Control Room, taking down Echo will be a piece of cake. However, getting to the Main Control Room ain’t gonna be that easy. Echo will undoubtedly throw everything he has at us, both security systems and other warriors who are currently on the main space station.”
“I feel kinda bad about it,” Maya said. “I don’t want to fight other warriors.”
“Not that we have a choice,” Nadia said. “If they attack us, we’ll have to protect ourselves.”
“Yeah,” Maya said. “Still, it doesn’t feel right. I mean, some of them are probably just like us. They may not want to obey Echo, but he got full control over the nanotrites in their bodies. If they don’t obey him, he can easily make the nanotrites in their bodies kill them.” He fell silent for a moment, then added. “I suggest we avoid engaging other warriors if he has the opportunity to do so.”
“I agree,” Maya replied.
“Me too,” I said. “Both to avoid unnecessary deaths and keep us from getting tired.”
“Well, some of those warriors might not be like us,” Nadia put in. “They may willingly be obeying Echo.”
“Still, it’s best to avoid getting into a fight with other warriors,” Thomas said. “We need to get this done quickly. The more time we waste, the more time it gives Echo to overpower us. Right now he doesn’t know we’re approaching. However, once I hack into the systems of the space station to open the airlock to give us access inside, he’ll become aware of our presence on the space station. We will have to work very quickly.”
“Okay,” Nadia said. “Let’s get cracking then.”
“You guys have to promise me that none of you will die,” Maya said nervously.
“Well, it’s kinda hard to promise something like that,” Nadia said skeptically.
“I’m sure each of us will do our best to stay alive,” I said as I put a reassuring hand on the blue-haired girl’s shoulder.
She looked up at me and smiled.
“Yeah,” Nadia said as she nodded her head. “None of us is keen on getting killed, y’know.”
“Okay,” Thomas said. “I’m gonna contact Vanessa to let her know we’re close.”
He punched a few buttons on the computer console on the dash, and a moment later, a holographic screen of the video call popped up above the dashboard. On the screen was the face of a black-haired, middle-aged woman. Had to be Vanessa Craig.
The woman had a serious look on her face. She nodded at Thomas, whom she already knew, and then glanced at the rest of us.
“Guys, this is Vanessa Craig,” Thomas said to us. “As I already told you, she was one of the leaders of The Weaponized before Echo took over. Vanessa, this is Maya, Nadia, and David.”
“Are you guys close?” Vanessa asked, her voice a little husky.
“Yes,” Thomas replied. “We’ll be inside the space station in a moment.”
“Glad to hear that,” Vanessa replied. “I’ve already readied my guys. We are ready to help you fight your way to the Main Control Room.”
Thomas shook his head.
“It won’t be necessary, Vanessa,” he said. “You guys don’t have to risk their lives.”
“It’s not like I make them do it,” Vanessa replied. “They want to fight. Echo killed lots of their friends months ago. We want to avenge their deaths.”
“I understand,” Thomas said. “But I still suggest you let us do it without your help. We don’t want any of your people getting killed.”
“There are only four of you, right?” Vanessa asked. “You sure you will be able to fight your way to the Main Control Room all on your own? It won’t be easy, I can tell ya that.”
“We’re not just very experienced soldiers,” Thomas said. “Unlike your people, we have nanotrites in our bodies, making us way more powerful than regular humans.”
Vanessa just watched him for a moment. The woman was well aware of what nanotrites were and what they were capable of. So she nodded and asked, “Okay, what do you guys want me and my people to do meanwhile then?”
“Sit tight for now,” Thomas replied. “Let us do our job. Once we get in the Main Control Room and take care of Echo, we’ll get in touch with you.”
“I still don’t feel like doing nothing while you guys are risking your necks,” Vanessa said.
“That’s our job,” Thomas said. “And your job will begin once we take care of Echo. I presume there will be a lot of work for you to do to clean up the mess Echo made at the organization.”
Vanessa thought about that, then nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “We’ll wait for you to deal with Echo. Be careful, guys.”
“We will,” Thomas said, then ended the transmission and turned to face the three of us. “Are you ready, guys?”
“Yeah,” Nadia said. “Let’s do this.”
I glanced out the windshield. The dropship was so close to the main space station, it had filled the view entirely. Right in front of our small spaceship was the round door of one of the airlocks. We were gradually floating toward it.
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“There’s one last thing I need to tell you about,” Thomas said before pressing some buttons on the dash.
I saw a mini-map pop up in the right bottom corner of my field of vision. I could see a small white dot in the middle of it, which surely represented my location. Next to it were three other similar dots, my teammates. Somewhere to the north of our current location was a pulsating green circle.
“What is that?” Maya asked.
“Is this the map of the space station?” Nadia asked.
“Yes,” Thomas replied. “Now that Echo has no control over our nanotrites, I can tune them however I like. So I made a small adjustment to them. We can now always see the map before our eyes without having to manually call it up.”
“That surely will be convenient,” Nadia said.
“That’s what I thought,” Thomas said. “Okay, guys, let’s get cracking.”
He sat in the pilot’s seat and took control of the dropship. The circular door of the airlock slid aside, and Thomas guided our small spaceship inside. When the pressure normalized, the inner door of the airlock opened. The dropship floated into an enormous space hangar. Thomas guided the ship to one of the unoccupied landing pods. When the dropship touched down, Thomas stood up from the pilot’s seat and turned to face us.
“Let’s go, guys,” he said. “Echo already knows we are here. We need to work fast.”
We darted out of the cockpit and dashed through the cabin. After grabbing our gear, we neared the hatch door. Nadia punched the button for the door, and the rear ramp began to descend. When it fully lowered, we jogged down the ramp. After getting our bearings, we headed for one of the doors that led out of the hangar.
As we ran down a wide corridor, emergency lights spiraled overhead, casting a hellish red glow all around us. A high-pitched blaring sound filled our ears, which was every now and then interspersed with an all too familiar voice.
“Warning, workers,” Echo’s voice emanated from loudspeakers. “The space station has been attached. The attackers are currently alive and somewhere inside the space station. For your safety, you need to immediately hide in your living quartets and wait for further instructions. You may return to work after the threat is neutralized.”
The Weaponized: The Complete LitRPG Series Page 49
