Winter Harvest

by Dawn Chapman

“So you don’t like…” Rytin asked.

  “Old school weapons like bows,” I replied. “I prefer technology to be honest.”

  “But you do like your sword and shield and have an affinity for learning, from what we’ve seen?”

  I nodded at him. Reece threw me a wooden sword. “Then train with this, you shall. It will serve you now, and when you get to play with the mechs.”

  I played with the weight, felt it and how it sat. I also knew I would more than likely get my ass handed to me. “Play with mechs?”

  “You have Battle Mage as a skill, right?”

  I nodded, and let him start to come in and feign attacks. I defended. “Yes, it’s there,” I admitted. “What does it mean though? I have a great rank in it.”

  “It means you can access and work with the nanites in Delta’s armoured mech units, a skill not all of us possess.”

  I thought I was doing okay, shaking off each of his attacks, and then he struck. I went down.

  CONGRATULATIONS SWORD PLAY RANK 1 ACHIEVED!

  Reece helped me up. “Nice job. He’s going easy on you, but that’s fair.”

  He was going easy on me? Oh. Crap. I wondered how easy till he ramped up a level, and my defence became questionable. The next time I went down wasn’t so good.

  I stayed down, holding the sword out for Derk. “No way, you fight him.”

  They all laughed at me, but Derk took the sword, and they began a round. I watched with Reece and Nehi giving me the rundown on their styles.

  This kind of fighting wasn’t what I wanted to do though. I could see the tech and weapons at the other side of the yard. I wanted those.

  Nehi noticed me looking. “You’re not ready for anything like that yet. You need to gain a few more levels before you can even think seriously about their upgrades and guns.”

  “How does it work?” I asked her. “The simple guns are easy—what’s stopping me from picking up anything and using it?”

  She laughed. “Look around here. What is this place?”

  “A training ground?”

  “Yeah, this is all simulated inside here. Anywhere else on the base, you’d be toast.”

  I knew that. Rytin had after all, killed me.

  “You can pick it up, sure.” She carried on. “But because you’re too low a level, you won’t be able to fire it. If for some reason you can, you sure as heck wouldn’t hit a target. The training is simple enough once you’ve got the levels, but you also need to acquire the funds to pay for the right tools to build your weapons. They give you the basic guns because without them you’d not be able to shoot at the monsters at the shield walls.”

  “Ah, so there’s an element of crafting too.”

  “Of course. Without doing that alongside the other missions, you don’t ever get to upgrade.”

  “What do I need to do?”

  “Follow their instructions, do what missions come in, and you’ll get some slightly better ones assigned because you’re with us. That should help a little, but on our off days you might want to try and get some extra work in. There’s a couple of others who might want the extra body on their missions.”

  “Okay, I can do that. When’s your next mission coming in?”

  “Rytin usually picks some things up for us every day or so. We might not get an offer of anything we’re skilled at.”

  “What kind of things do you usually do?”

  “It usually is just short monster kill runs while others tend to take the escort missions, meet and greet, collection. There’s plenty of things we need to do around here to survive on the whole.”

  I hadn’t thought of even the most basic of things. “I guess there really is. Presuming the collection missions are simple enough, right?”

  “Yes, you should get those easy enough, if that’s how you want to spend a few of your off days.”

  “It might help me get a good lay of the land around here.”

  As Rytin knocked Derk on his ass, there seemed to be a few people starting to work their way over. That’s when I noticed the Jackals walk in. Nehi saw me clock them and moved in my way so I couldn’t see where they were heading. I was about to step past her, but she put her hand up.

  “You don’t want to do that just yet. They’re going to cause you and us nothing but heartache if we start this now.”

  I lowered my head, as tough as it was. I didn’t want to upset the new group dynamics. But it seemed that no sooner had I stepped back than I saw Tyto in my view. He was a good head above the others, and Saskia stood out because of her beauty.

  I coughed. “Fuck. Too late, they already made me and are heading over.”

  “Shit.” Nehi turned to look, then moved to the mat, calling for Rytin. “Jackals on their way in. They already saw Kyle.”

  He stopped fighting, and Derk got a nice blow in to the side of his chest.

  Rytin winced but didn’t let anything else show as Tyto’s form came in closer.

  “Good bit of combat there, Ry.”

  There was something about the guy and the way he talked already that I just didn’t like. His tone, his sheer attitude.

  Saskia moved in towards me, and I knew she was trying to use her version of scanning on me. Thankfully, she couldn’t see anything.

  “A little beyond you as a rank basic, shielding yourself.” She then glanced to Rytin as he moved in beside me, almost like I would have expected Craig or Paul to have done back home.

  Suddenly, I missed them and their banter, and it hit me really hard, but I couldn’t let any weakness show, not now.

  Rytin passed the sword to Reece, who took it and stood watching.

  Derk moved in as well, but Rytin didn’t say anything, he looked to Tyto waiting.

  “We have a few questions for your new recruit,” Tyto said.

  “Feel free.” Rytin crossed his arms. “Whatever you want to ask, you can do it right here.”

  Tyto waited for the others of his crew to join him and smiled at me. I was expecting him to do anything but ask me what he really wanted. And I was right, because he skirted the subject, while it seemed that the others were up to no good.

  Red flashed against my vision.

  Outside invasive waves detected. Shade holding.

  I smiled right back at him, hoping that it wouldn’t let me down. It was clear they were a shit load of levels above me. But master level, no, didn’t think so.

  I tried my best not to panic as the shade started to dip. Nehi nodded over towards the guards. “What you’re doing is illegal. I would suggest you stop the assault, or Borix will interfere.”

  “You wouldn’t call him,” Tyto said.

  Rytin took a few steps forward and I saw something else cross my screen. It was a mission.

  I read quickly.

  MISSION LOG - URGENT = ESCORT AND PROTECT.

  Seemed simple enough.

  “We gotta move.” Rytin then looked to me. “You’ll need to ask Borix for a pass on this one, go give him the details. Now!”

  I didn’t want to move away from them. It was clear as soon as I did that something else was going to happen. Tyto followed my every move. The mission was urgent, after all.

  I strode tall towards Borix, hearing the warning from Rytin for Tyto to back off. It wasn’t like I was actually worth anything to them. But I heard Saskia speak, and her voice carried further than his, and it was much clearer. “You already know the price on his head. Someone will take him out before the end of his trial. They want him gone.”

  I shivered, explaining the mission details to Borix quick. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a disc. “Will give you access to the pass. With the others you’ll be fine, but don’t let this get to your head. It’s a big mission.”

  I nodded. “Thanks.”

  “You’ll make it back, I’m sure of it. Rytin is no bad judge of character.” Borix patted me on the shoulder. “Good luck, kid.”

  I found that one act a little odd. He wasn’t a bad guy then, so why did R
ytin make out he was? With that warning and her choice words to Rytin, I started to walk back. Seeing that Tyto and his crew had finished the conversation with him, they passed me without looking, just laughing.

  Until Saskia caught my hand, spinning me around. “We might not get you in here, out there,” she pointed outside. “You are fair game.”

  I held her gaze. “I’m not scared.”

  She laughed and let me go, beginning to walk away. She turned and said over her shoulder, “Oh, dear boy, game on.”

  Her walk was more of a saunter, as if the way she swung her hips taunted men and she knew it. Every action of hers was to enhance her womanly figure. She knew it drove everyone wild.

  I pulled back and focussed on Rytin and the others as they came over. “I’m sorry you had to make them as enemies, kid,” Rytin said.

  What was with the kid all the time, I was young that was all. I sighed. “If it’s going to hurt you guys I’ll leave. I’m okay with that.”

  “We have a mission to do; we’ll get you the levels you need to move to another location, then you can make all the decisions yourself. In here, with them around, you’re nothing more than good target practice. You’re worth more than that to me.”

  I wanted to think so, but the more I watched the Jackals as they carried on with their threatening behaviour in the corner, the more I just wanted to get outside and away from them.

  “This mission where is it?”

  “Come, we’ll talk more on the way out. We’ll need a few bits of extra gear from the armoury. I’ll make sure you’re kitted out in slightly better stuff. We don’t want you to fail before we’ve even got to them.”

  I nodded. “Thanks, I know you don’t have to do that.”

  They didn’t, and they knew it. But I could see something else in Rytin’s eyes. “You want revenge against him. Why, Rytin? What did he do?”

  Rytin lowered his head, and he walked away from me, not wanting to answer.

  I looked to Nehi, who frowned. “That’s not for us to say, but if he wants you to know the truth let him tell you in his own time.”

  I liked Rytin. He was a guy with a lot going on, a man of mystery and of power that I wanted to learn from in all ways. Being here, now, wasn’t just a little bit of fate. I knew I was destined for a few other things. Even if they didn’t see it or believe it, I had to. I wasn’t just going to let this be my life, knowing that now everything I wanted to do wasn’t part of their plan, their system, their war effort. Be it gaming in style or not, real or not. I wanted more answers. It seemed we’d all been lied to. I needed to know the extent of those lies—and the sooner the better. For all of us.

  Chapter Ten

  The armoury wasn’t what I expected either. I let Rytin lead the way in— it was clear that the men on the desk weren’t going to let me anywhere near it.

  I could see them scanning me over. “I can see Borix has allowed him out. There’s still only his Shade Brain showing up. Know what you’re doing?”

  “He’s with us,” Rytin said turning away.

  Nehi was the one who picked up the gear she wanted me to have, throwing a suit my way. It was way better than what I had on, that was for sure.

  MICRO SUIT = BASIC = Level 15

  I only touched it, and I felt something stirring inside me.

  She grinned. “You’re not going to get the full use out of it. You’re too low a level, but it will give you extra armour against some of what’s out there.”

  I shivered. If the things I’d already fought were anything to go by, then I might be in trouble on my own. But as I watched Nehi and Rytin pick out other items and pay the guy at the desk, I grinned inwardly. They were now armed to the teeth.

  Nehi moved to stand beside her brother. I could do nothing but nod in appreciation. “So you don’t always get to keep the gear you wish from a mission?”

  “We have standards to go out with in emergencies, like before. But no. If we’re hired to do a mission, we can pick up extra gear to the mission’s tastes. It just means it costs and has to be given back.”

  “Why is that?”

  Rytin patted his new gun. “There’s only so many of these babies on the base. Not everyone can have one or use it. It wouldn’t be fair for someone to keep it all the time because they don’t want to take the mission when the base might need the benefit from someone else.”

  “You mean everyone but Tyto and his crew?”

  “At the moment, there are only two Elite teams, so yes. Tyto has what he wants when he wants. If he wants to keep it, he will.”

  I could see that. It was better to hire it out to the many than have one asshole holding it back.

  I moved to get dressed, slipping the suit over my clothes. Nehi came up behind me to help.

  “I can’t let you struggle with it.”

  I let her, her fingers lightly holding out the arms so I could shrug into it. When I was done, she smiled at me again, her fingers running down my chest as she made sure it was tight enough.

  Was she flirting with me? I could almost feel the heat from her breath, her body so close to mine.

  “Takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of things it becomes much easier. It’s quite a few levels above you; you won’t be able to use the nano tech or heals, but the added strength and armour should come in handy if we’re up against anything big.”

  It was the way she said big that stuck with me. She was defo flirting. “You like big, huh?” I replied with a wink.

  Nehi this time just giggled and looked away. Rytin rolled his eyes and slung his gun over his shoulder, moving a few seconds later towards the main doors. We watched as two crews went outside first. I could see which direction they were heading off in but not where we were going to go.

  “Shuttle will take us to the outpost. We’ll pick up the cargo and the train there; we should be able to escort them to the base without issues unless we encounter anything on the road. We’ll be there and back in a few days.”

  I liked the sound of that. A couple of days out would do me some good I was sure.

  As a shuttle moved into my view, I suddenly felt a lot more nervous than I think I should have.

  Reece moved in beside me. “Big, aren’t they?”

  I watched as it landed up ahead of us, the ground rumbling as it settled down. “Yeah, where are we going again?”

  Reece tapped the side of his head. “Look on the map. It should light up now that you’re officially part of the team. You should familiarize yourself with your extra views. Our stats keep them basic, so health and mana. They’re the ones we need more of, to help if we’re wounded. I think you should be able to see a lot of things better, even our full mission parameters.”

  I focussed inside and saw all their details. I did what he said and minimised the stats I would see if I looked closer at any of them, and then within a second, I pulled up the map. There it was, the pinpoint, a tiny flag.

  It was a fair distance, possibly more miles than I wanted to be away. But I’d be far enough from the Jackals, right?

  Cursing, I remembered how close I had come to getting something good. Only for that asshole to take it all away. Only keeping some of what I was entitled to.

  PARTY ESCORT TO BASE SEVEN.

  TRIP = FORTY MILES ACROSS MECOLK MOUNTAINS.

  Yeah, I wondered why there were shuttles that we had to escort, but just by looking at the terrain, it was obvious. The cargo couldn’t be flown in. Maybe we were going underground. No sooner had I thought that then the map changed, and yes, I could see some of the terrain taking us underground. That was pretty interesting.

  I tracked the course we were given, but something felt off to me. Like they weren’t seeing the whole picture. Something wasn’t right, that was for sure. But we boarded the shuttle, and Nehi strapped me into the seat next to her.

  “Rytin, something feels off,” I said.

  He stared at me, but nodded. “Nerves just your first real mission out the base, right?
We’ll be fine. Keep calm.”

  It was too hard for me to do that. With everything going on around me, I was sucked into the now, not what could happen.

  Nehi sat next to me and pulled on her own straps. “You feeling okay? You’re a little pale?”

  “It’s not like I hadn’t done this a hundred times in VR games,” I said to her smile.

  “Over the many years I bet there’s been a lot of changes.”

  “Yes, I can only imagine what that feels like,” I stated simply, though it was far from the simplest of actual conversation starters, and I worried it would put her off me.

  I watched her reactions, gauged the way she held my eyes with hers. How close she was, our thighs touching, her warmth radiating through to me. She didn’t look away.

  She was interested even as deep as it was, so I added, “They don’t want us to talk, to understand each other, to know where we came from, what it’s like now.”

  “What is it like, at home now?” she asked.

  I could tell she really did want to know, and it was probably a question that would forever be weird to those who had entered the system all those years ago, especially like Rytin.

  I looked to Rytin, and I shook my head.

  “It’s still a beautiful planet,” I said. “But it seems there’s a lot of darkness going on that we need to stop.”

  I saw her face visibly change. “What are you thinking?”

  “I can’t stay with you guys, but I want to.” I admitted the truth. I knew my main quest was going to be very much on my own. “I want to have people with me who will have my back. But it’s too soon. I’m not ready to tackle what I need to, and I need to get my levels up so that I can. What do I want…” I looked at her directly and risked taking her hand in mine. “What I do want are friends I can call on at the drop of a hat. I mean when I really need them. There’s some shit coming. I don’t know you or this team that well, but I do believe you’re exactly what I need with me. I feel like I can really trust you with my life, and my memories.”

  Her eyes didn’t falter, and she gently squeezed my hand. “Rytin hasn’t trusted anyone from outside in a long time. The fact he let you in and is doing all of this—” She waved over my gear, “—means he’s seen a lot more than we have.”