Null Protocol: A LitRPG Space Marine Adventure (Omicron Sector Book 2)

by A. M. Reynolds

  Null Protocol

  Omicron Sector 2

  By A.M. Reynolds

  Published by Fallen Destiny Productions, Lewisburg, TN.

  First Edition

  Books by Fallen Destiny Productions Authors:

  Anita Reynolds

  Thief’s Fate:

  Touch of Magic

  Michael Reynolds

  Faemoch Cycle:

  Flames of Awakening

  A.M. Reynolds

  -In LitRPG-

  Omicron Sector:

  Extraction Protocol

  Null Protocol

  Attack Protocol: Coming Soon...

  Copyright © 2017 A.M. Reynolds

  This book is a work of fiction. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Table of Contents

  Books by Fallen Destiny Productions Authors:

  01

  02

  03

  04

  05

  06

  07

  08

  09

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  01

  The fuzzy, blue holo-projection of the officer flickered in and out. She had already ignored us for ten minutes, and I was starting to lose my patience.

  “Thank you, so much, for waiting, Captain …,” her voice trailed off.

  “Taylor. It’s Captain Aaron Taylor. We’ve just come from a mission on R6329. One of our crew is badly injured and needs some medical or maybe technical assistance,” I said.

  “One moment,” the woman said, and the holo-projection disappeared.

  I looked to J.T.

  She shrugged and said, “Perhaps, they are confused by the ship we took. No?”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But, somehow, I doubt that’s the case at all.”

  “Captain,” Schmidt called from the small crew quarters behind the cabin. “Colin’s not looking so great. Can we hurry?”

  “I’m doing the best I can. Just keep dosing him up and stitching him together.”

  We had all just been through a bit of an ordeal, Lance Corporal Colin O’Sullivan more than the rest of us. Everyone’s tempers were flaring, but I had to hand it to my team. They were sticking it out with me.

  In Omicron Sector, players could earn money by performing duties and taking jobs. Many of us elected to put our First Person Shooter skills to use and become space marines. It was a great way to blow off some steam and shoot some digital aliens. I was never really sure how the game company could afford to pay us by the job. I assumed it had to do with virtually connected research and development into other areas of technology or something. Or maybe we were all the inner workings of some elaborate BitCoin mining operation. I never really asked.

  Not everyone elected to play a space marine; some chose jobs in the sciences like our most recent pickup, Meiying Na. Meiying had the Sciences specialization. She earned her credits by performing experiments which I assumed helped the outside world in some way. She hadn’t said much on the trip to Omicron Sector Base. Not much except a brief ‘Thank you” and an introduction.

  That was fine with me. I didn’t need to know anything about her. I just needed to get her to Omicron Sector Base so I could turn in my mission and collect my credits. I know that was a harsh way to look at it, but I had other things on my mind. Why couldn’t Colin log out? Why wasn’t his wound healing? When we killed those things back on the planet, were we actually killing real people? Everything happened so fast I never really had time to think about what was going on.

  “Captain Taylor, we have confirmed your situation,” the stern female officer popped back up on the holo-projector.

  “Great. Where do we dock?”

  “You don’t.”

  “What do you mean, we don’t? I told you we have someone on board who is injured and needs to see someone on the base for medical.”

  “Our recommendation is to contact a GM.”

  Obviously, she had never attempted to contact a Game Master before. Maybe she was an NPC. I couldn’t really tell over the holo-projector since nameplates didn’t come over. Game Masters were notorious for taking entirely too long to respond to initial complaint tickets. Their notoriety turned to outright infamy when it came to actual issue resolution. It would have been better for us to forgo the ticket and just figure out the code ourselves. Besides, we had already tried to contact a GM.

  “They advised us to go ahead and turn in the mission to you.”

  “I see,” the woman said. “One moment.”

  Her holo-projection winked out again.

  “I’m getting real tired of her doing that,” I said.

  Her form flickered back into view after only a few seconds. “Omicron Sector Base is currently closed for docking. Our recommendation is to seek another docking station to refuel and resupply. Please check out O.S.B. online mission control until the Base is open again.”

  “Wait. What the hell is going on here?” I asked. This was starting to really piss me off. “I’m telling you one of the players… He’s a PLAYER by the way, did I mention that? One of the players can’t log out. And he’s currently very sick and hurt. We need you to look at him and the Game Masters who are AT OMICRON SECTOR BASE to look at his avatar and figure out what is going on.”

  Her lips pursed even tighter than they already had been. She exhaled a long breath and practically growled, “As I have stated, Omicron Sector Base is currently closed. We regret your situation, but all of our engineers and doctors are unable to assist at this time. Please seek assistance elsewhere. That is an order, Captain.”

  With all the finality of a slamming door, the holo-image collapsed.

  “Damnit!” I yelled. What was going on? Omicron Sector Base was the hub of the entire game. Why in the hell would it be closed?

  “What’d she say, Captain?” Norax asked leaning on the doorframe to the cabin.

  “Nothing helpful,” I said.

  JT added, “She’s saying we can’t turn in our mission and collect our reward.”

  “So, we stayed for nothing?” Norax asked.

  “Not nothing, no,” I said. “We might still have a chance to save Colin’s life, and we got Meiying out of there.”

  “Yeah. Meiying,” Norax nodded. “And we can’t get her back into Omicron Base because it’s closed. So what’re we supposed to do with her? I personally don’t trust her.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do at all. I wasn’t expecting her. I wasn’t expecting Colin to not be able to log out. I need a minute to figure it all out,” I said. I pushed past the Rohviann to go check on Colin. In so doing, I nearly bowled right over Meiying.

  “I’m sorry I am such a bother to you and your crew,” she said. Tears filled her eyes. She turned and started walking away. “It’s not like I just watched all of my friends and coworkers get killed and brought back as monsters.”

  I walked up beside her and said, “Look, we’re going to figure out what’s going on. I can’t afford to log out and neither can half my crew. The other half are welcome to leave anytime!” I made sure Norax heard me clearly over my shoulder.

  The giant blue alien took the hint and huffed off down the hallway.

  “Is it true your Scout cannot log out?”

  “Seems so. Did you see anything back at the lab that could help us figure out what’s going on?” I asked.

  “
Not really. We were doing our research. We got a shipment of supplies and then about a week later, the first of the little things showed up.”

  “Crawlies.”

  “Crawlies?”

  “Yeah. We’re calling the little ones crawlies and the bigger ones hiders.”

  “That’s not exactly a scientific classification, but I guess it’s better than creepies and crawlies.”

  “Dang. I wish I’d have thought of that,” I said and put on my best dashing captain smile. “So, then what happened?”

  “The first of them attacked and everything just started happening. We hid for about a week. Then the… crawlies? … started picking off my crew one at a time until there was just me and Berrin left.”

  “What were you researching on the station?”

  “Microcell food growth procedures. We were miniaturizing crops that yielded ultra-dense fruits.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t get most of that. Sorry.”

  “That’s fine. I wouldn’t expect you to.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “That’s no way to thank the team that saved your life.”

  “Fine! Thank you,” she said.

  I nodded triumphantly and stopped in the middle of the hallway. Sure, I had pissed her off, but I was right. I tended to have that effect on people.

  She turned to face me. Her features softened as she turned. She almost looked like she was going to cry.

  “Look, I’m real sorry about your crew. Maybe they got out of the game before…” I said.

  “I know they didn’t. They all had the same fever and same symptoms your Scout has.”

  “Well, we’re going to get him fixed up.”

  Her posture slumped even further, “I’m very sorry, Captain. But you’re not.” She turned and went into the nearest crew quarters.

  “We’re going to get him fixed up!” I shouted. “Just you wait and see.”

  Talking to the scientist was a waste of breath. I couldn’t really blame her. She had just lost her entire crew. It felt like I was losing my crew, and we only had one soldier mostly out of commission. I spun on my heels and went back to the cabin where Schmidt tended Colin.

  His body vibrated and sweat poured off him in buckets.

  “His fever is spiking at 102 and 103. His breathing is getting shallow,” Schmidt said without turning away from his patient.

  I activated Scan. The familiar blue-green lines shot out to my two teammates. The line connecting to O’Sullivan flickered between blue-green and red for a moment before finally settling on the friendly color.

  LCpl Colin O’Sullivan. Rank 2. Human Male. HP 1 / 388. Armor 25%. Spec: Scout. Status: Unconscious

  PFC James Schmidt. Rank 3. Telisk Male. HP 495 / 495. Armor 50%. Spec: Support.

  “He’s still at one hit point. Why is that?”

  “I’m not one hundred percent sure. His wound refuses to close. I have him sedated for now, but we’ve got to get him to a real medical facility. Oh, and Captain, check this out.”

  The private pulled O’Sullivan’s shirt back to reveal the gaping hole in the Lance Corporal’s stomach. The skin around the hole had changed. It was not a rubbery black color.

  “He’s turning. Isn’t he?” I asked. I wondered what Colin’s body was doing outside in the real world.

  “I’m afraid so. Look, Captain, I was assigned a Support specialization, and that gives me a bit of medical knowledge. But, Captain, my Medicine skill is only a three. I’m not ready for this kind of thing.”

  “You’re doing fine. For now, you’re the best we have. Just keep him stable. I’ll be back.”

  I turned and left the room. I really wasn’t sure what to do, but, whatever it was, I knew I had to do it fast. The recruit sure was earning his pay on this mission. There was a growing issue on the team, and I figured now was as good a time as any to confront that elephant. I went looking for Norax.

  I turned on my minimap and the small map popped into the corner of my field of vision. Glowing dots indicated movement, and I quickly picked out the doctor and Meiying where I had left them. The only dot out of place was in the cargo hold. That had to be Norax; so, I headed that way.

  The brute had taken his armor off and set it to the side. I watched him from the railing above the hold for a moment while he lifted and moved crates and boxes around the room.

  “You know, if you’re going to stand there, you could help out a bit,” he said without looking up.

  “Sure,” I said walking down the stairs into the hold. “You wanna tell me what’s going on here?”

  “We’re stuck with no way to make money. On a ship that we don’t own. With a crew that’s busted up and scared. And a cargo hold full of stuff. I’m taking stock.”

  “Norax, this stuff isn’t ours.”

  “Finders keepers. You never heard of that?”

  “Doing the right thing. You heard of that?”

  He stopped working long enough to stare down at me. His eyes were almost feral. “What you said earlier… you can’t afford to abandon the mission? Well, you ain’t the only one. You think a military pension pays much out there in the real world? Why the hell do you think I play this stupid game… for funsies?”

  I hadn’t really thought that he needed the money before. He always seemed to be ready for missions just for the heck of it. I thought it was some military induced adrenaline rush addiction or something.

  “I.. I didn’t know.”

  “Well, now you do. So, I’m going through these crates and anything I find is ours. If they’re going to close off Omicron Base, screw ‘em. Omicron Sector Galactic Security isn’t the only paying gig in the game. Grab a crate… Captain.”

  I nodded and said, “I tell you what. You work on this. I’m gonna work on a plan to get Colin some medical attention. Let me know when you’ve got a good inventory, and we’ll see what we can do with it. Be careful. Meiying said the crawlies showed up after they got a shipment.”

  “Yeah, but not from these guys. Besides, haven’t you already scanned the ship?”

  “Several times. I just don’t trust anything at this point.”

  I hated not knowing what to do. I needed information, and I needed it yesterday. I felt dizzy. The ship had already started to feel confining.

  “Captain, this is J.T.,” Pascale’s thick French accent sounded over the ship’s speakers.

  “Yeah. I get that,” I said, rolling my eyes. Did I really need the only French woman on the ship to tell me who she was?

  “Can I see you on the bridge?” she said.

  “Be right there.”

  In the few short minutes since I had left the bridge, J.T. rearranged everything. Most of the computer systems were gone. The flight controls were gone. The bridge of the ship was comprised of a communications chair facing a single large viewport in the wall and two chairs set in the center of the room. I assumed one was a pilot’s chair, and the other was a first officer’s.

  “You work fast,” I said.

  “Oui.”

  “Comms? Ops? And Piloting?” I asked, pointing to the stations.

  “Oui.”

  “So, what’s up?”

  “Captain,” she said. “I know you are struggling with what to do. I think I have a few options.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Before I joined the Corp, I had an avatar that was a member of a number… questionable organizations. I think we may be able to get around the bureaucratie.”

  “How?”

  She punched up a few windows on the Comms screen. A star chart caught my eye. Beside it was a page full of what looked like mug shots.

  “Okay. But what am I looking at?” I asked.

  “Well, we may be able to find work here, here, and here.” She pointed to a few lit up places on the map and then motioned to the mug shots. “And we could always hunt bounties for some spare money if we need. I took the liberty of contacting one of my old guildies, and he’s running a makeshift hospital for anyone who’s b
een hit by these things.”

  “Anyone else? You mean, there are more of these things out there?”

  “Afraid so. Rand said pretty much every active mission or quest in the past two weeks has had something to do with the crawlies. And he says everyone who has sought help from Omicron Base or the bourgeoisie has been turned away.” She did little to mask her irritation with our current situation, but she did have the only plan.

  A yellow quest screen popped into view. Usually, you could only receive quests from your faction. In my case, that meant, I could only get quests from the Corp. I shrugged and read the contents.

  Quest:

  With Omicron Sector Base closed for operation, you must procure work and supplies for your crew. You can access the ship’s menus to find additional work.

  Objectives:

  Find work for your crew.

  Reward:

  +1 Team Rank.

  Accept: Y/N

  I immediately selected yes, and a second quest screen took its place. I had no idea what a Team Rank was, but I would come back to that later.

  Quest:

  Colin is badly injured and infected by alien DNA. He needs better medical care than your team can provide. Since Omicron Sector Base is closed, seek out another medical facility to help your dying friend.

  Objectives:

  Find a hospital for Colin.

  Reward:

  +1 Team Rank.

  Accept: Y/N

  That quest was a no-brainer. I said, “What are you waiting for? Set course for this Rand guy’s hospital.”

  “Oui, Captain.”

  Corporal J.T. Pascale manned the systems on the bridge with a cruel efficiency.

  “Open a channel, Pascale,” I said. “I want to let everyone know the plan.”