Octowar's eyes narrowed. "You're saying Accolade is inside Venus Online?"
"That's right."
Octowar put the cigar back into his mouth and shook his head. "I don't believe it."
3Runner piped up from the back. "Neither do I."
Khloe jabbed him with her elbow. "Shut up, Runner."
Octowar exhaled a cloud of smoke. "But even if it is true, we have bigger problems. This is a bad time for the Resistance. We just received word that one of our cells on Qerrassa was attacked. A bomb blew up a meeting of senior personnel. But the worst part? Is that it was an inside job."
Princess leaned over the table. "What? No way."
He nodded. "They recovered the video of the meeting. One of the members shot and killed everyone in the room before he blew up the whole building."
"A suicide bomber. As a senior member? How? How could the Empire have infiltrated the Resistance at that level?"
"We don't know, but it makes things extremely sensitive right now. And we're not sending a team of operatives on a mission with someone we're never met before. So you're on your own."
He tapped on his tablet on the table. "This is the best I can do. I'm sending you a set of Imperial verification codes. They should get you past the blockade. We also have some maps of Nikor smuggled off the planet. Beyond that, you're on your own."
Xana looked at her tablet as the text scrolled across it. "It's enough."
They all shook hands and walked out.
In the hovering van, Princess said, "Okay, how can we do this?"
3Runner shrugged. "Do what? We're not freeing the whole planet by ourselves."
Byron nodded. "He's right. The mission is now rescue only. We find Accolade and get him out. When that's done, we work on overthrowing the Empire on Nikor. Maybe what he knows will help us."
3Runner leaned his elbow on the back of the seat. "Can't you just ask him how to escape? Why do we have to rescue him in person?"
"Because I haven't been able to contact him."
"How'd you do it the first time?"
Byron swallowed, trying to think of a way to put it then gave up. "I heard his voice. In my head."
3Runner clapped his hands. "That's it. I'm out."
Princess scowled. "What?"
"He's nuts. I wish he'd shared that little tidbit before we all embarrassed ourselves in front of Octowar."
"Hey, Accolade designed the game. Why would he not be able to hack it to send us a message in our minds?"
3Runner looked around at the others. "And he can't figure out how to get out? Nah, I'm done with this NPC fucker. You guys can do whatever you want. I'm staying at the hotel, gambling, and gettin' some Sal Sagev pussy."
Khloe sneered. "That's all you ever wanted to do."
3Runner shifted the van's gears. "And I'm sorry you guys talked me out of it."
Princess jabbed her finger at him. "You are coming on this mission or you're outta the clan."
He sneered at her. "You're not in charge, Princess. This is a democracy."
LostHobbit piped up. "I agree with her."
Khloe snapped, "Me, too. You're in or you're out, Runner."
3Runner sent the van roaring off through the city again. "You all fucking suck."
They headed back through the city in silence, bound for the hotel. When they got there, 3Runner drove the van to the nearby spaceport.
Princess looked up at the starships they passed. "The Empire knows our ship, the Lucky Strike. We will not get far in it. Can we take yours, Byron?"
"Sure. That'll work." Byron pointed. "We parked it over there, pad A-56."
He had to do a double-take when he saw the landing pad. He recognized the bird-like shape of the Icarus, but barely. It looked much different; bigger with more armor, more guns, and a new black paint job.
He tapped his bracelet to get the ship's new stats.
ICARUS - LEVEL 12 FRIGATE
SPEED: 18
MANEUVERABILITY: GOOD
AC 18; TL 15
HP 55; DT -; CT 11
SHIELDS: Light 80 (FORWARD 20, PORT 20, STARBOARD 20, AFT 20)
FORWARD: LIGHT PLASMA CANNON
TURRET: MISSILE BATTERY
Khloe nodded. "Wow. That's your ship? Nice."
LostHobbit gaped at it. "How can you afford a ship like that as a level six?"
Byron smiled, enjoying the attention. "When I killed Jokah, they gave me part of the buried treasure she was looking for, over five million credits."
Khloe pointed. "That's ours. The Lucky Strike."
The other ship was larger but not as well armed or defended.
LostHobbit shook his head. "Yeah, and it took all of us pooling our credits to get it. You got handed a VR pod, got rich, leveled up fast, got a great ship, and you're surrounded by hot women. I want to be you when I grow up."
Byron laughed, feeling uncomfortable. It wasn't until that moment that he realized how far ahead he was of other players in the game.
Scarlett pointed at the Icarus, and somehow sent a signal to lower the boarding ramp. They all walked up the ramp, stepped in through the airlock, and the Powerhouse Clan looked around the interior with wide eyes and open mouths.
"Nice," Khloe whispered, then said, "Mind if we look around?"
Byron shook his head. "The place is yours. We'll go up front and set the course."
NEW MISSION: BREACH NIKOR'S BLOCKADE
REWARDS: 3000 XP, 250 CREDITS
He walked through the lounge into the bridge, where Chetaara, Scarlett, and Xana followed.
As she closed the door to the bridge, Chetaara's tail flicked. "I found that whole conversation with the Clan very confusing. You come to us from outside our Galaxy?"
He didn't want to get into it, so he just said, "Uh, sort of."
"And this Accolade person will help us escape the Necralia Empire's tyranny. I understand." She sat down in the co-pilot seats and began typing in coordinates.
He let it go. Apparently, whenever they talked about escaping Venus Online, the NPCs would hear it as a conversation about the Necralia Empire.
Scarlett sat down at the pilot's chair, but looked up at Byron with raised eyebrows. "I think AwesomeAss likes you."
Chetaara nodded. "Yes. It is harder to tell with human girls, though. On Nikor, she would have simply asked you to have sex with her. But your customs are different."
He sat down in the co-pilot's chair. "Very different. And I don't know what to do about it."
Xana frowned. "I-I don't understand. Just tell her you like her."
He caught himself rubbing his cheek, the one with the scar in the real world. "Well, you see, I've never been good with women."
Her eyebrows flicked up. "You're good with us."
"I mean real women." When he say the look fall on her face, he quickly added, "I mean, women from the world I come from. Back there, I've always been afraid to ask girls out. In the rest of the Galaxy, it's easier, but the fact that Khloe is a real - uh, human girl, it changes things between us."
Scarlett blew out her lips and waved him off. "No, it doesn't. Just pretend she's like the rest of the girls you've met. Pull her in the back of the ship and fuck her."
He held out his hand with the fingers pinched. "See, on my world? That would get me arrested."
Xana smirked. "Um, no offense? But your world sucks."
Scarlett leaned closer to him. "Hey, Captain, you know she can't join the harem, right?"
That took him by surprise. He tried to sound casual but ended up sounding upset. "I didn't think she would. And why not?"
"Because she's a real person. She can be a part of your crew, but she can leave any time she wants."
"That's fine. I mean, I just like her." He turned away, admitting to himself that he was disappointed. She was hot, and he'd love to keep her around. Still, he knew real people didn't work like that. She might not be comfortable with him having sex with other women. She might not even be attracted to him. Then again, he could ask
her to join him the old-fashioned way, by asking her out.
Chapter 10
BYRON TOOK deep breaths as the Icarus dropped out of hyperspace with a loud whine. Normal space replaced the rainbow effects outside, showing a lush green world ahead of them. If it hadn't been for the different shape of continents, he would have thought they had come to Earth.
He felt a lot of fear over the mission. There were so many ways it could go wrong. Yet he didn't feel like he had a choice. If he couldn't find Accolade and escape Venus Online, he'd be trapped for a long time. Maybe forever. Or he'd be killed.
Chetaara's whole face lit up with a smile. "There is Nikor. My home."
Xana worked on her engineering console. "The signal came from these coordinates."
She pushed a key that threw a glowing square onto the forward window, highlighting a spot on the planet's surface.
Chetaara's smile collapsed into a frown. "It is Camp Alpha-Seven, the worst gulag on Nikor. Whenever anyone rebels against the Empire, they are sent there. It is a labor camp where prisoners are forced to mine the trallium crystals that are exported off the planet. All those who don't die of hunger or heat die of exhaustion from the work."
Princess nodded. "And that's where they're keeping Accolade. If they're working him there, he won't last very long."
3Runner pointed at the planet. "And there's the Imperial blockade."
All around the planet, huge battleships floated in orbit. When he used the crosshairs, they all tracked as level fifty or higher. To attack them directly would be pointless.
Chetaara clicked keys. "The Empire has satellites surrounding the planet on all sides, giving them a clear view of every inch from orbit. Any ship trying to enter without authorization would be caught immediately."
She continued tapping on her console. "I'm contacting the Imperial space traffic control for clearance."
3Runner shook his head. "This isn't gonna work. Didn't you guys see Star Wars? The Imperial codes will be old, they won't check out."
Khloe sneered. "This isn't Star Wars, dumbass."
3Runner shrugged. "Kind of. A lot of this stuff is a ripoff of Star Wars. They weren't too original when they designed this place."
Khloe rolled her eyes. "Not this again. It's totally different. There's no Jedi in here."
"Yeah, but everything's all beat-up like in the original movies, and the Necralia Empire is a ripoff of the Galactic Empire."
"What, you think Star Wars invented the evil empire?"
"Okay, fine, but Lady Necralia? Lord Vader? Stormtroopers? Death Troopers?"
She grit her teeth. "I'll give you that one."
"And the trips through hyperspace even do that streaking effect."
LostHobbit leaned against the wall. "Actually, the more colorful hyperspace effect reminds me more of Star Trek, the new movies. It--"
Princess swept her hand. "Will you all knock it off? Runner, try and be positive for once."
Chetaara's console beeped and she smiled again. "We have clearance. They think we're a supply freighter bound for Camp Delta-Fourteen."
"But that's a problem." Scarlett winced. "That's on the wrong side of the planet. How do we get from there to Alpha Seven without being spotted?"
Byron leaned in. "Can we head for Delta-Fourteen and then change course to Alpha-Seven?"
"Yeah, if we go into the atmosphere below the level of the satellite monitoring, but we'd have to fly in as low as a motherfucker to keep out of range of the anti-aircraft system down there."
He shook his head. "It's our best option. Let's do it."
Scarlett nodded and adjusted the ship's levers.
As the Icarus closed in on Nikor, 3Runner folded his arms. "Still don't know why you let an NPC fly your ship."
She whipped her head around to glare at him. "I've had enough of your bigoted anti-AI shit, asshole. Keep it up and I'll personally drive my metal foot up your ass."
LostHobbit's mustache curled up in a grin. "I have to say, I agree with 3Runner on this one."
"What?" Scarlett yelled. "Fuck you!"
3Runner threw his hand up. "Thank you. You can't trust it, right?"
LostHobbit shrugged. "Not at all. I just enjoy flying the Lucky Strike. That's half the fun of the game for me."
Byron faced the window. "Well, I haven't actually learned how to fly this ship yet. But I'm working on it."
3Runner shook his head. "You're a real piece of work, Byron. You're the reason why they make us go through orientation before playing the game."
"Shut up," Khloe yelled before turning back to Byron. "Don't listen to him. He's just jealous."
They exchanged a smile. He liked her more than the others.
Scarlett pulled back on some levers. The Icarus dropped into the clouds over the planet.
As the white mist swirled past the windows, Scarlett adjusted the ship's course, and everyone leaned to one side as the ship banked around. "I'm out of satellite range. Changing course."
The Icarus veered to the left, and continued to drop. The clouds fell away, leaving a view of a lush but sparse surface rushing underneath the ship. Vast fields of grassland spread under them, broken by small and spread apart clumps of trees. It reminded him of an African savanna except that herds of large gray six-legged creatures lumbered or grazed on the land below.
As the Icarus bobbed over hills rising from the ground, Chetaara leaned over to point down. "Those are night-heart beasts. They are very hard to kill, but taste delicious. Most of the Nikora live as nomads, traveling to follow the migration of the animals, but certain regions are known to be the territory of certain tribes. This is the land of the Grr'alla tribe. They were almost wiped out during the wars before occupation."
They flew over a valley and a huge black building spread beneath them. Towering smokestacks gushed black clouds into the sky. From their height, Byron could still see several Necralia ships landing and taking off landing pads nearby.
Chetaara growled as her ears flattened against her head. "That's one of the refineries for the crystal they mine. The Empire is destroying my world because of the abundance of trallium crystals found on Nikor. Their harvesting and processing of the crystal will leave my beautiful planet in ruins."
She bit her lower lip as her eyes shimmered.
Byron took her hand and pulled her into a hug as she burst into tears. "We'll stop them, Chetaara. I promise you that."
Scarlett looked down at a screen flashing lights and symbols. "Shit. We got trouble."
Byron let Chetaara go to look at her. "What is it?"
"I'm picking up another vessel incoming. Make that two! They're on a direct intercept course!"
She tapped a screen that showed the rear view of the Icarus. Two Death Wing fighters came rushing up behind them.
The communications screen flashed with an icon for an incoming message.
Chetaara went to her console. "The nearest control tower is trying to hail us."
Byron climbed into the passenger seat and flicked switches to activate the weapons systems. "Don't answer it."
"I'll receive the message, but won't broadcast back." She typed on her screen.
The screen lit up with the helmet of a Necralia Death Trooper. "This is Base Tango-Fourteen Control Tower to unidentified vessel. Your identification as a Necralia cargo transport has been confirmed as a forgery, and you are trespassing on Imperial airspace. You will immediately land your ship and prepare to be boarded or you will be fired upon."
"Oh, fuck," Scarlett muttered. "So much for that plan."
Princess brushed her long black hair out of her eyes. "Those fighters are level fifteens. We cannot fight them. We should abort the mission and get out while we can."
Byron shook his head. "No way."
As he activated the weapons systems and the control stick popped into his hands, 3Runner yelled, "Are you crazy? You're gonna try to fight two level fifteen Necralia Death Wings?"
"Absolutely." Byron grit his teeth as he fired th
e rear turrets.
On the rear view screen, the two fighters broke off in opposite directions as his laser fire streamed between them. The Death Wing fighters spun in spirals before coming around and firing back. The Icarus shuddered as laser bolts slammed into it.
Scarlett yelled, "Rear shields down fifty percent!"
3Runner grabbed Byron's shoulder. "No way! Maybe you're suicidal, but I'm not!"
Khloe yanked on his arm. "And maybe that's how Byron is so much better at the game than you."
"He's not better at the game! He got some lucky breaks, but I've spent more time scratching my balls in Venus Online than he's been alive in here!" 3Runner drew his laser pistol and pointed it at Byron's head. "Now tell your robot to pull off the planet right now or I blow your fucking head off!"
A knife came flying out of nowhere to jam into 3Runner's arm holding the gun.
As he let out a shriek of pain, Xana became visible and twisted her knife to cut off his right hand.
3Runner staggered back, clutching the stump of his arm. "You bitch!"
Xana twirled a knife on each hand. "Threaten Byron again, and I'll cut your fucking head off."
Princess grabbed the front of 3Runner's shirt and slammed him up against a wall. "Not another word out of you."
She shoved him back while turning towards Byron. "I want to believe you can do this, Byron-san. Do not make me a liar."
"I won't." Byron flipped the switch and fired two heat-seeking missiles.
The Death Wing fighters swooped around as the missiles sailed past them. The missiles arced around again. One hit a Death Wing fighter, causing it to spin out and crash into the savanna below.
Khloe clapped her hands. "I don't believe it!"
Byron couldn't help smiling. He had done it. One fighter down, even when he was less powerful. He could do this.
The second missile came after the other Death Wing, but exploded too soon.
Before Byron could get more missiles ready, the remaining Death Wing fighter launched missiles of its own.
"Everybody hang on to your asses," Scarlet screamed.
She wrenched the controls, and the Icarus turned, almost flipping upside down. There weren't enough seats for everyone so the clan members screamed and hung on to whatever they could as the ship tilted.
Mine Shaft: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Harem Adventure (Venus Online Book 4) Page 7
