Gamer 1 - Skotopia: A Gamelit novel for science fiction action fans

by Rodzil LaBraun

  Zaya had nothing to say. She was simply waiting for the team captain to respond to my suggestion. To me, that meant that it held some merit.

  Rhese was staring down at the game board projected on the table, her eyes occasionally darting from one location to another. It took forever before she spoke, but when she did, I was glad that it wasn't to contradict my opinion.

  "We can't all go to one side right away," she told us. "So, Memphis and I will go left as Boone and Zaya go right. We get our prized archer up in the tower right away as Boone makes his way to one of the forward walls on that side as quick as possible. Since he'll be in more danger than Zaya, we'll give him extra health packs."

  That sounded good to me.

  "Memphis and I will start left on the break, so they see us covering both sides. Then we'll quickly work our way up the center of the battlefield toward the score zone and then to the right to protect Boone. We want to be behind a wall before their archers can pinpoint our locations. Chances are they'll go with their top two people in the towers. One of them will be initially searching the side we vacated. That will give us more time to get in position without taking a hit. Then it will simply be a matter of dominating from behind cover as their two weaker players move forward. And snagging the ammo and health when it pops up. Once I get the large crossbow, I can take out at least one of their snipers from the halfway point. If I succeed in doing that, and all four of us are still in the game, it will be easy pickings from there on."

  "Are we sure that they'll use both towers?" I asked. That was pivotal to things going according to plan.

  "Considering the skill levels of their players," Zaya answered. "They probably have two longbows. Looking at this map it is hard to resist the idea of making good use of the watchtowers. The walls are so low that high ground will look like a great advantage."

  "The great thing about this plan," Rhese said, making a point of locking eyes with me. "If we get a man advantage early, we can get one of us in that score zone to rack up points before they can adjust their strategy. If we can get a five-point lead or more early, we'll be able to play defensively after that."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Right away I was thrown off by the visuals. I had basically expected the arena to be a box with plain square objects. Ball courts in the recreation area of our space station is what had come to mind when we were studying the map. What we actually encountered was not at all as I anticipated.

  Directly in front of us was a large wall, like the preview had shown. But it was covered in leaves and vines like an overgrown hedge. The ground was mostly flat, but instead of a smooth surface there was thick grass growing on it. Most of the blades were higher than my boot.

  Then there were the sounds. Birds chirping and hooting. Something roared in the distance just a few seconds after we entered the game. Most disturbing was the feint sound of voices chanting in another language.

  It wasn't just the sights and sounds either. I smelled the vegetation easily. It was almost an overpowering aroma. And actual birds were flying around, diving down to snag worms out of the soil. Not literal birds, certainly, but extremely realistic representations of them. Would they attack us, too? What about the creature that roared? Would we need to fight off a lion or bear, as well?

  "Don't worry about the accents," Rhese said, reading my mind. "It's just like we drew it up. Stay focused."

  Then the shimmering clear barrier around us dropped into the ground and released us to play. Though I thought I was ready, I was clearly a half step behind the rest of my team on the break. Even Memphis beat me out of the box.

  With everything else cleared from my brain I followed Zaya's tall and slender avatar as she bolted for the tower on the right side. She jumped to a rung halfway up and scurried to the top before I could even round the corner of the structure. Keeping my speed up I kept on going toward the wall farther up the right side. The one right before where the ammo and health cache would eventually appear at the center line.

  I slid legs first behind the short bunker, which was almost a mistake. An arrow nearly got me in the left shoulder as I dropped into the slide. Once behind the short barricade, I was safe for a while, I hoped. Their tower sniper got a shot off quick. The good news was that at least one of their players went for the high ground as predicted. There was a particularly good chance that it was one of their best players.

  Peaking around the left side of my thick hedge bunker I could clearly see the score zone box. There wasn't any activity around it just yet. That meant that the other team wasn't going for zone possession right away. That also was as we expected.

  There were two walls a good fifteen meters or so on our side of the box. Memphis and Rhese appeared there a moment later. Neither seemed to be injured. So far so good.

  "Two in towers," Zaya voice screamed to us. That was great to hear. "Each runner went wide."

  That told me that one of them was close to me, at their bunker on the other side of the ammo drop point. I then heard another arrow whizz through the air, this one headed the other direction, but not far from me.

  "Bee Rook Cross!" Zaya yelled.

  It took me a couple seconds to decipher. Bee, that was me. B for Boone. She was referring to the player closest to me. Rook, that meant rookie, of course. And not me. Their rookie, Frizz. Cross meant that he had a crossbow. We assumed as such, but confirmation was good.

  If their weakest player was on my side, that meant their level six player was on our unguarded side. I glanced back at Rhese to see her disappear. I figured that she had adjusted to watch the far side based on that new information. I personally would have no shot at Dogie over there because of the score zone barriers.

  "One on Rook!" Zaya screamed after she sent another arrow in that direction. "Hit!"

  I took a big risk and left my bunker, bolting for the next barrier beyond the cache spawn point. Frizz was still standing there with an arrow through his chest. When Zaya's next shot came his way, he frantically ducked for cover. I kept on running as a crossbow bolt from Dogie hit the ground beside me. Rounding the corner of their rookie's bunker I found him fumbling with a health pack, staring up in shock when he saw me. But it was too late.

  I swung my sword as hard as I could with my eyes closed. Vibration up my arms registered that I made contact. A second after that was pain in my back. I'd been shot by their tower sniper. My thought was they would be hesitant to shoot toward one of their own. Evidently, they valued his life even less than my team valued mine. Zaya had suggested as much.

  Dropping to all fours I scrambled to get on the safe side on the bunker. Looking up at green scoreboard hovering above the center zone I was relieved to see that the Black Vipers were down to just three players. I had a confirmed kill. What I didn't care for was the time remaining. Only one minute had passed so far. Nineteen more to go.

  No heads up display in this game, evidently. The score board would provide any updates. There weren’t any non-playing characters to receive data on while in my sights anyway. Eliminated players wouldn’t be hanging around, so that meant no salvaging from corpses.

  I pulled out one of my health packs and pressed it to my back. The pain instantly retreated, and I was back at full health. That move was definitely worth it, even if it wasn't in Rhese's game plan. One health pack gone for us. A whole player down for them. They also lost whatever health packs and ammo that guy was carrying, plus the small crossbow.

  Now I was across centerfield with my back against the barrier. In front of me was the dot where one of the caches would appear in less than four minutes. In that regard I was in great position. The only problem would be hiding from Dogie, the forward placed opponent on the other side. The fact that I hadn't seen a shot from him yet since taking the new cover suggested that our captain had him pinned.

  "Bee Snipe Lock!" Zaya yelled. The near side longbow shooter was waiting for me to show myself. "Number one!" she added. The guy eyeballing my bunker was Sihon, their captain and level nine play
er.

  "Em clear! Bee gone!" Zaya was shouting out calls for us.

  I had trouble deciphering that one until I saw Memphis make a move for the bunker that I left when I rushed forward. She reached the short structure without drawing a shot from any opponents. I was certain that my girl would never have attempted the move without Zaya's instruction to do so. I could see how trust was an especially important factor in teamwork in these games.

  "Defend zone, stall eight!" I heard the Black Viper captain call out.

  Though quite revealing in their tactics I wasn't sure that I could put that information to good use. They wanted to keep us from scoring zone points while waiting for the eight-minute mark when the large crossbow would appear. I decided to wait for more instructions before making another move.

  The clock read eighteen minutes remaining. They had two long bows in towers and a crossbow on the far side. We had three people in reach of the scoring zone with one longbow in a tower for support. Rhese said that we should try to establish a lead if we got a man advantage.

  I heard the captain saying something to Memphis, but I couldn't make out the words. Then she shouted something back to Zaya, who in turn told me to stay put.

  I went prone to minimize my exposure as I watched the scene play out. Both Rhese and Memphis jumped up and ran forward. The captain headed all the way to the scoring zone, dodging an arrow but getting caught by a crossbow bolt as she reached her destination. Memphis took cover behind the outside wall of the zone on our team's side without taking injury.

  I could see both Rhese and Dogie with my perspective. Surprisingly, my team's leader did not apply health. She could take one or two more hits without being knocked out of the game and was reserving the precious lifesaving item.

  "Number one down, bee side," Zaya called out. Their top player had left the tower and was preceding on foot toward me. He had a bow and I only had a sword. What should I do? Trust that Rhese would protect me?

  Any hope of that happening fled when Rhese focused her weapon across the field at their forward most player. Then I saw Memphis pop out the near side of her bunker steadying aim just beyond me. My girl had my back. I wasn't sure how far Zaya could shoot accurately to discourage their team captain from sneaking up on me. She did hit Frizz at this distance. I seriously doubted that it was just a lucky shot.

  Then nothing happened for a while as everybody apparently held their positions awaiting a mistake by the opponent. If I were Sihon, I would be anxious to even the body count by taking out my team's weakest player. That would be me.

  Seventeen minutes remaining. As I stared at the scoreboard, another point went up for the Orange Dragons. Rhese had spent a whole minute in the score zone to put our team on top by two.

  Chapter Seventeen

  A crossbow bolt flew toward me but landed well short. It was fired from the far side of the battlefield. Rhese must have been the intended target while she and Dogie were focused on each other. With such limited ammunition, I would assume each player would only fire when they had an excellent shot.

  Zaya released another arrow to my side, landing well beyond my location. I figured that Sihon was trying to advance on me. With me taking a completely defensive stance, due to the lack of a ranged weapon, he would practically have to be right beside me to be a threat.

  Then an arrow lodged into the hedge where Memphis was peeking out the near side to watch my back. She ducked for cover in panic when she heard the sound. The portion protruding out of the leafy barrier suggested that it had gone halfway through. That made me wonder if an arrow with enough velocity could go through the hedge. If so, the captain of the Black Vipers need only get close enough to propel his arrow at high force to strike me. Except that he couldn't know exactly where I was behind the barricade. Surely, he wouldn't waste a shot. I ducked down farther just to be sure.

  Pushing my hand through the rubbery vegetation I found a solid barrier in the middle of the hedge. I sincerely doubted that anything we were shooting could get through it. But this is a game, and those kinds of things are unpredictable.

  I glanced over at Rhese as she stared skyward for a couple seconds. A loud bird call had drawn her attention. The sound coincided with another point going up for the Orange Dragons. Two minutes of zone time for Rhese. My team took a three-point lead. My captain flashed me a quick smile before she went back to watching out the other side of her bunker. It placed her avatar's sizable rump in my direction. I pulled my eyes away as quick as I could.

  The scoring system for this game definitely encouraged action. The Vipers couldn't afford to just sit back and play defensively. They would need to take a calculated risk soon.

  "Center eye switch!" Zaya shouted from her high perch.

  I had learned the lingo a bit during our game prep, but there were way too many possibilities to memorize. That was why the wording wasn't too coded. I could reason things out usually. When I saw Rhese shift her attention to my side and Memphis's beautiful face disappear, I understood. The updated positioning of the opponents made it advisable for our two center map players to switch which side they guarded.

  Dogie hadn't moved. I could still see his legs where he was cowering behind the bunker. That meant that Sihon must have advanced. Or his attention had focused on the scoring zone instead of me. Strategically it had to be a tough call whether to try to take out our lowest ranked player or to end the march of points for our team by going after our captain.

  Silence again for a little while. Then, all the sudden, thunder erupted from above. Then a lightning strike that hit the ground directly in front of me. I jerked back in panic, prepared to flee. Thankfully, I didn't leave the protection of my bunker as smoke from the scorched grass just a few meters in front of me cleared.

  The cache drop had been much more dramatic than I had anticipated. I only hoped that it shook the other players as much as it did me. Not likely, though, since most of them had played these types of games before.

  I braced myself in case someone on the other team was going to use the distraction as an opportunity to advance. Zaya remained quiet and I didn't hear any movement. There was an increase in bird noises as they flapped and chirped while leaving the two zones that just got struck by lightning. Dogie was nearly as close to his drop as I was mine, only on the opposite side of the bunker.

  I decided to keep a closer eye on the clock. I could use the next drop distraction to make a move, though the players would surely be less traumatized by the thunder and lightning on the next go around. But no one could completely ignore the intrusion. If it was my real body, I would definitely have peed myself.

  Oh no! Please tell me that my pants were not going to be soiled with urine when I wake up from this game! That would be so embarrassing.

  I couldn't think about that now. Though the fear of Memphis smelling spilt body fluids on me was hard to clear from my mind entirely. I even considered letting myself get killed so I could clear the room before anyone else. But that would be letting down my team. And my family and friends who were no doubt watching this match. This irrational fear could cost us a chance to play in the new league. And I wasn't even sure if my real bladder had even emptied.

  I took a deep breath, braced myself like a sprinter, then took off for the health and ammo cache. It was in the form of a glowing box with a handle on top. My plan was to snag it and continue running to get behind the barrier on the other side. The one directly in front of Zaya. From that position I could more easily share my spoils with my teammates. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too heavy. That would be awkward to have the object yank me to the ground because I couldn't lift it. But then, what good would that kind of cache be to the players?

  Pain shot down my arm from my shoulder as I grabbed the handle causing me to scream out. I didn't understand why at first. The box was nearly weightless compared to the strength of my avatar. Then I realized that I had been shot.

  The shock made me stumble and I fell face first onto the ground. A second arrow s
truck me in the butt just after I landed. I grimaced from the new wound and did my best not to think about how I would be appearing on the monitors of viewers.

  Glancing to the center of the battlefield I saw Memphis’ panicked face as she scrambled to the near side of her bunker. She then released two quick bolts from her crossbow to keep the Viper captain from shooting me again.

  I tried desperately to crawl toward her, but not all parts of my body were working. I was lucky that I still had a grip in the dropped supply box. I had one more health pack on me, so I slapped it on my back side to gain some instant relief and mobility. As I got back up on my hands and knees another arrow hit with a thump. Right in the side of the box awfully close to my hand. Based on the angle of the lodged projectile it had been fired from Charr who was in the far-left side tower.

  I made it safely to Memphis' side before I could be hit again. A quick fantasy of her giving me a kiss and asking if I was okay was completely unrealistic. It wouldn't be our mouths meeting. And it wasn't my body that was being affected. The arrows had vanished as soon as I applied the health, so she knew I was fine.