Earth Tactics Advance: Volume 1

by Scottie Futch

  “You’re pretty fast for a little bike,” said Scott.

  “Thank you for praising Harley, Master,” she said in a mechanical voice.

  There were a lot of things that he wanted to ask her, but he was not certain where to start. She had claimed that she knew nothing more than her duty to serve him. He did not believe it, but it could be true.

  “Earlier, you said that you chose to answer my call. What did you mean?” he asked her.

  The mini-bike’s front wheel turned to the side a little. “Harley wanted to be born into this world.”

  “What do you mean by that?” he asked.

  Her headlights flared brightly for a brief moment before dimming. Her front tire turned to the side and she softly said, “Harley was alone. Now Harley is not alone.”

  “Oh,” said Scott.

  They were silent for a moment while her words hung in the air. All Scott had known was that he would get a pet. Now he was riding around town on a transforming robo-loli who possessed a mysterious unspoken backstory.

  “You, where were you before?” he asked.

  “Harley was somewhere else, somewhere dark and lonely,” she said.

  “Do you really not know much about yourself?” asked Scott.

  The bike did not answer that question. What was there to say? However, she did say, “Master, a life form is approaching.”

  “What is it?”

  “The life form is a level six mermaid,” said Harley, just before a sweet song reached Scott’s ears. The sweet song of a familiar voice echoed throughout the area.

  “Is…Is that coming from the river?” asked Scott weakly. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it of the mental fog that was attempting to overtake him.

  “Correct,” said Harley.

  “Come away, come away with me. My love burns for you eter-na-lly,” sang the sweet voice.

  Scott felt a powerful urge to go to the water, but it was not like the first time that a mermaid had sung to him. He knew what was happening and he was able to actively resist. The increased charisma had no doubt helped!

  “Scott, dear beloved… Do not go. Do not let our sweet love end,” sang the mermaid.

  “Wait.” Scott’s eyes widened. “That voice.”

  Was it possible that that she was the mermaid who had tried to drown him? Had she somehow found him again? Scott ran over toward the river, not drawn by an impossible to resist song, but sheer curiosity.

  When he arrived, he realized that she was not even looking his way. The mermaid from before was sitting on the riverbank with her tail bunched up like she had knees. She had her arms wrapped around the faux-knee section and she rocked back and forth slightly.

  A loud and lonesome sigh echoed through the air. She lifted one hand into the air and made a gesture like she was reaching out for something. “Why did you leave me? Why did you go that day? Why aren’t you with me…? Why did you take your love aw-a-a-ay?”

  The mermaid began to shake a little and the sounds of sobbing reached Scott’s ears. He almost felt bad for the murderous fish until he heard her next verse.

  She threw both hands outward and belted out her beautiful and heartfelt song like a professional pop artist. “A sweet girl just wants all the love that you can give her…” She drew her hands back to her chest then sweetly sang out, “She just wants to drown you in the river…”

  His eyes widened comically as the words she had sung became clear. Scott lifted his hands quietly and placed his palms out before slowly backed away. The same word rose up in his mind now that had arisen when he had seen a giant rat in a dumpster. Nope.

  The mermaid girl started to sob a little as she sang out, “Why did you go? Why won’t you stay?”

  Scott had almost made a clean get away when his new pet drove up and asked, “Master, are you in need of assistance?”

  The mermaid stopped singing then snapped her head around. She had an angry expression on her face briefly, but then it slowly shifted to one of pure ecstasy. “Scott!”

  She flopped over and reached out to him, her tail arched up in the air and her breasts pressing down against the river bank. “Beloved, you came back to me!”

  “Nope,” he said, before hoping on his new robo-loli. “Let’s get the hell out of here, Harley.”

  “Understood, Master,” said the pink mini-bike.

  The mermaid screamed out his name in despair and reached for him as the little bike sped away. “No-ohoo! Not again!”

  She pounded the riverbank and tears poured from her eyes. A trickle of snot slipped out of her nose and she revealed an ugly and despondent expression. “Is it the tail?!”

  Her eyes widened and she leaned back and sniffed the air. “Do I smell strange?”

  Her eyes began to shimmer with emotion once more. She wept bitter tears of regret and promised that she would use water-proof deodorant if only he would return to her. “Why! Please. Don't go.” Her body bucked and heaved. She sobbed loudly and looked at the bike retreating in the distance.

  Her tail and her upper body both arched upward simultaneously as she screamed out. “I can take a bath! I’ll even-” She made a pathetic hiccupping sound continued in a desperate tone. “let you soap me u-up.”

  She dropped to the ground for a moment and cried a little. “Scott…” The she-fish clawed at the ground a little and then gently gripped the dirt that she had piled up. She sniffled softly while playing with the mud. “Come back. Please come back. None of the other humans will even talk to me.”

  “It’s not fair,” She sniffled. “I just want to have you inside me forever …”

  A few minutes, and nearly a mile later, Harley asked. “Master, who was that?”

  “Hell if I know. She tried to drown me, and now she wants to have my babies or something.”

  “Understood,” said Harley, as though any of that had made sense. For a brief moment Scott's eyes narrowed. It was possible that she actually did think that made sense for reasons she had not explained.

  Whatever the case might be, the man and his new robo-loli rode off toward their oncoming destiny. No longer restricted to walking, it would not take long to arrive at the place that Scott tried to get to all day.

  Chapter 12

  The long journey was quickly coming to an end, as the sight that he most wanted to see came clearly into view before him. On the way to his destination he battled goblins, raiders, the affections of a hot barbarian kobold, and the ninja stealth skills of a flying eyeball. He even ran into a recently made mermaid acquaintance, and kicked a killer clown in his circus balls. In truth, his cross-city flight proved to be a grand adventure indeed.

  Near the end of the journey he even managed to snag another Loot Master MK I after a short battle with a small raider group. His grand total of loot master weapons rose to two. It was the start of an arsenal!

  His ultimate destination was a well-appointed manor situated a good distance off the road. A long concrete drive way led down to a set of steel gates.

  Scott took note of the manor frequently whenever he took the long way home from his classes. It was a three story house that could easily be converted into enough room for twenty people. Certainly it would still be a bit cozier than most people might like. But it would be better than trying to cram everyone into his house, or make them attempt to live in the apartments next to the shopping arcade. It was far enough from town that the main monster issue was not a problem at the moment.

  Roving bands of non-humans might wander across them or even follow them home, but most of the activity of that type was still focused on the city itself. The monsters seemed to be at war with each other over rival claims on the local turf. Once a clear victor was observed, things would become more dangerous in the nearby areas, but that was a concern for another time.

  Scott directed Harley down the path and they stopped at the gate. A short individual in police style body armor popped up and pointed a weapon at him. “Hold it right there!”

  The bike s
topped. The feminine sounding officer called out. “Drop your weapons, hands in the air!”

  Scott did as directed. He saw no reason not to comply, and there was no way to determine if this new individual would prove to be friend or foe.

  “Alright, now turn around and walk away,” said the supposed police officer. It did not take much to notice that the black clad individual was covered head-to-toe in everything that they could wear, including a gas mask. The only key to their gender identity was the feminine sounding voice.

  “Not doing that one,” said Scott.

  “I will shoot if you don’t,” said the armored officer. The rifle was used to make an emphasizing gesture.

  “You really a police officer?” asked Scott.

  “I ask the questions!” said the officer.

  “Thought you were giving orders,” said Scott.

  “I also give the orders,” replied the officer without missing a beat.

  Scott could not get a read on her, rather he assumed the officer was a woman. He was almost certain that she was human. “Hey, Harley. Can you read the one in front of us?”

  “Who are you talking to?” asked the officer in agitation. She looked around as though she expected other people to appear out of thin air.

  “Yes. She is a modified human with a current level capacity of one,” said the bike.

  “So, level one?” Scott looked over to the armored woman. A few pieces of the puzzle began to come clear for him. “You haven't left this place since the beginning, have you?”

  “What are you talking about? Who are you talking to?” she asked, gun rising up once more in a show of agitation and fear.

  “How are you even still alive?” asked Scott in surprise. There was a lone human player living outside the city who was this low in level? Anyone with common sense would train daily and occasionally try to raise their level in order to survive better.

  In the city, a level one might make sense due to how densely packed the monsters could be. Fighting those numbers would be suicide, so people hid instead. Outside of the city the monsters came in smaller groups, barring the occasional random wave of ghouls.

  Had this woman merely lucked out this whole time? He assumed that she was alone based on the fact that she was level one and also pulled guard duty. It was not necessarily an intelligent assumption, but it felt right to him.

  “Look. Just turn around and walk away. This is the last time I’m going to warn you,” she said.

  “Go ahead and shoot for all the good it will do you,” he said.

  She raised her weapon and shook it at him. “Are you crazy?”

  “Master, that weapon’s output is weaker than your firearm. Given her biological potential, it poses no threat to you,” said Harley.

  “Who’s talking? Do you have a radio?” snapped the woman.

  Scott understood now. She had been here alone the entire time, while surviving at a low-level with a weapon that was barely capable of killing the weakest of monsters. She was probably low on ammo as well since she had never gone to get more.

  “Look, stop pointing that thing at me. About twenty people are supposed to be heading this way. Who knows when or if they’ll arrive, but we agreed to meet up here,” said Scott.

  “Home invaders! You’re coming to take over. I won’t let you!” cried the woman.

  “Uh, no. Survivors. I planned to see if the south bridge was clear so that I can cross the river and collect a few more people.”

  “The South… there are monsters there. Lots of monsters. They don’t die if you shoot them,” she said, a slight hint of hysteria in her voice.

  “I can kill them. The people coming can kill them,” he said. He did take note that she knew about the monsters on the bridge. Due to that fact, he assumed that she had at least tried to leave, but found her weapon to not be up to the task. It was a wonder that she was still alive if that was the case.

  “You— No. They won’t die even if you shoot them, the bullets bounce right off." She shook her head, it was not true. It could not be true, the monsters just wouldn't die. "All you can do is run far enough away that they turn back to the river.”

  Scott was at a loss for a moment. He needed to convince this half-cracked woman that he was serious. It took a moment but an obvious solution arose. “Shoot me.”

  “What?” she asked, confused.

  “Simple. If I’m a bandit and lying, I’ll die. If I’m telling the truth, I’ll live. Either way, you’ll know,” said Scott in a serious tone.

  “You’re crazy! Just walk away,” she said, an incredulous tone in her voice.

  Scott sighed loudly. “I’m coming in there one way or the other. Shoot me, or don’t.”

  He stepped forward and she raised her weapon again. “Don’t!”

  “You’ll have to shoot me,” said Scott.

  Her hands began to shake. “Just, please…”

  Scott reached the gate. “I’m coming in. Shoot me.”

  “Dammit!” she snarled. The terrified woman ran forward and slammed the buttstock of her weapon against Scott’s hand. He barely noticed the effort.

  His eyes filled with pity. “You don’t even have any bullets, do you?”

  She beat at his hands with her weapon and started to cry. “No. no.”

  “Hold on.” He walked over and picked up his gun. Her eyes widened and she took a step back.

  Scott reared back and threw it over the top of the gate. “That has something akin to infinite ammo due to a special option. Try shooting me again.”

  “Infinite…” she said, hollowly.

  He ran toward her in a threatening manner and she fired off three rounds instinctively. They pinged off his body armor uselessly.

  Scott counseled her on her new equipment. “That sort of weapon is something you’ll need to survive in this world. It can kill weak monsters, even if you're level one.”

  “It… What?” She was so confused. Blanks did not fire like that. She had just seen a man shrug off automatic weapons fire.

  “Look. I’m human. I’m not a bandit. Let me in and I can try to help you,” said Scott.

  “I don’t… I.” She hesitated. The last few days had been terrifying.

  She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. “I- Yes, I’ll open the gate.”

  Scott retrieved his kaiser blade and mounted Harley. He rode her into the yard, and the officer locked the gate.

  “Are you here alone?” asked Scott.

  “Yes…” she said softly.

  "What's your name?" he asked her as quietly as he could while still being heard.

  "Name...? It's Rosalina, Rosalina Sanchez." she said after a moment of consideration. "I like to be called Rosa."

  He looked at her for a moment then nodded. “My name's Scott. Let’s get out of sight, Rosa. Are there any monsters inside the gate or house?”

  “No. I-I don’t think there are.” She shook her head. Gone was the attempt at being tough that she had shown earlier. Now she sounded like a frightened young girl.

  They walked toward the house and Scott took note of a few things. The way she moved in her body armor seemed a little awkward, and the armor itself did not fit well. Her helmet wobbled a little when she walked. He suspected that it was the wrong size for her head.

  “How long you been here by yourself?” he asked.

  “A little after it started,” she admitted.

  Scott nodded. She would have had to have been, though it made no sense that monsters had not come to this place. He asked her about it and she said, “I don’t see many here, mostly the animal ones. Some of the other kind hang around near town and the bridge, but don't stray too far from here.”

  It was as he had thought. The monsters currently hung out near places where people lived. The suburbs had less monsters than the city proper. People had become monsters after they were killed. If there were fewer people in the area, fewer monsters existed in that area.

  “What kind of monsters are there at the b
ridge?” he asked as they reached the front door.

  “I don’t know what they are, but they look like people covered in green scales,” said Rosa while avoiding his gaze.

  Scott thought about that. “They have a tail and a crocodile head?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” she said.

  They went inside while Harley remained outside to stand guard. The police girl was a little confused when it came to the idea of a mini-bike standing guard, but she didn’t argue. She did, however, ask how he could kill monsters like he claimed.

  "Have you noticed the occasional weird little screen that pops up? It often says random things?" he asked her.

  "Yes, I've seen that a few times," she admitted.

  "Well, somehow reality has turned into some sort of weird game. You can gain levels, increase your stats, and need to constantly find stronger equipment if you want to survive." Scott continued to tell her things about the world, about what he knew of the current situation.

  "Is it... How can it be safe to fight those things?" she asked, incredulous.

  “It's not safe. I've come close to dying several times," admitted Scott. He looked over to the girl and nodded confidently, "I’m still alive and I can fight those things. You'll have to do it yourself until you're too bad ass to be taken out. That’s as close to safe as you’re going to get in this world.”

  “Fight those things.” She bit her lower lip. “I can kill those things if I use a stronger weapon?”

  “Damn right,” said Scott.

  “Yeah, you already have one of my guns. You might as well keep it until we can get you something better. It can kill some weak things, at least once you gain a few levels."

  "Are you sure? Don't you need it?" she tilted her head toward him carefully as though she was eyeing him.

  "Yes, but you can consider it temporary payment, like collateral. It's a bit of payment for letting me stay here and for bringing in other survivors. That is, if you're willing to do so."

  "I... I suppose that would be better than trying to survive here alone," she admitted slowly. She slowly ran her hand over the newly gifted weapon.