Gun Blade

by Rick Scott

  My thoughts leave me as the gangway suddenly shifts to the side with a sharp snap of steel.

  “Reece!” Angela cries from behind me, her translucent image clinging to the handrail as the entire gangway tilts sideways, threatening to dump us to the ground fifty feet below. “It’s collapsing!”

  My heart races in panic as I grab hold as well. Pieces of debris fall to the ground, rousing the androids below us. They whir to life, instantly looking up in our direction, but we’re still stealthed for now.

  “It can’t support our combined weight,” I say, shifting my brain into quick-solution mode. Only Angela needs to get to the control booth and I pray that her weight alone isn’t enough to bring this whole thing down. I draw my kunai and cast Shadow Copy before jumping over the rail.

  “Hey!” Angela cries.

  “Just get to it!” I shout as the robots open fire from below, bullets whizzing past my ears. “Before your spell runs out.”

  I plummet towards the ground, text scrolling fast and furious on my HUD as I double-check the one skill that will hopefully keep me alive.

  Veteran Points Status

  You have earned 20/20 Veteran Points.

  You have 5 Veteran Points to allocate.

  You have reached your Veteran Point limit and will not gain further Veteran Points or experience until you increase in rank.

  New Rank Quest Available: Rank 2

  Defeat 1 Legendary Monster

  Rewards: Veteran Rank 2: +5 VP Point Max, +1 Cross-Class Ability Slot Max

  Allocated Points

  Cross-Class Ability Slot [3/4] Allocated [15 points used]

  Slotted Abilities:

  Gun Blade: Bullet Weave [3/3] Slots used.

  It’s there, it’s active, but I’m still not even sure how to use it. It’s a passive though, so I’ll just have to go with my instincts. I hit the ground in a burst of nano-dust and flip onto my feet, dropping into a ready stance. At least ten side-show robots rush towards me. They point at me with their stubby forearms, their hands replaced by multiple gun barrels.

  The air erupts with gunfire and my heart leaps into my throat as I will myself to survive.

  I dodge and weave and instantly the world slows to a standstill.

  I see everything in brilliant clarity—each muzzle flash in fine detail, the ejection of each bullet as they fly towards me quick as arrows. I twist and flex as the bullets shoot by, one by one. I lose count as the robots open fire from all sides and I spin and flip to avoid them all. It feels like I’m tanking hits from a fast-moving opponent, but my tiny enemies are something I can barely see.

  The bullets are moving in slow motion, but I’m not. My endurance drains quickly as my mind goes into overdrive, taxing my senses as I struggle to keep track of each projectile and which way to move to avoid it.

  I can’t keep this up. I’ve got to take them down, or I’ll fall prey to them eventually.

  I dash towards the closest robot with a Charge Strike, cancelling the movement mid-way to immediately flying to a series of rapid strikes with my kunai.

  You use Charge Strike!

  You hit the Stagehand for 347 damage!

  Critical Hit!

  You hit the Stagehand for 523 damage!

  Stagehand is Stunned!

  You hit the Stagehand for 494 damage!

  You hit the Stagehand for 512 damage!

  Sparks and metal fly as I tear into the robot’s bulky frame with hit after hit. Finally it explodes with a burst of sparks and flames.

  You defeated the Stagehand!

  You gain 0 experience points!

  Darn…no more XP until I rank up.

  The same message repeats itself three more times as I jump from robot to robot, decimating them with my kunai. I work a Shadow Mist spell between my attacks and manage to land Paralyze and Slow, but not surprisingly, they resist the poison.

  The world zooms back to full speed as I take a quick breather to assess the situation. There are perhaps a half-dozen of them left and although they aren’t that tough, I hear more commotion in the distance.

  I glance up and look for Angela and to my horror I see the gangway now fully collapsed and Queen Angela picking herself up off the ground. Crap.

  “Can you get back up there?” I shout to her.

  “Kill them first!” she says.

  In a burst of sparks, she sprints towards the robot closest her and launches it into the air with a savage high kick. She follows up by jumping straight after it, kicking it several more times in midair, reducing its HP to less than half before performing a somersault and slamming the robot back into the ground with a high-heeled stomp that destroys it completely.

  Angela defeats the Stagehand!

  You gain 0 experience points.

  “Wow!” I say. I wasn’t expecting to see moves like that from someone classed as a Medic. “That was awesome!”

  Queen Angela gives me a coy little smile. “I keep some Karate Master abilities slotted. Now stop gawking and come on!”

  My paralyze wears off and the robots resume their assault. I bob and weave again, literally dodging bullets, but Angela takes them head-on, her bronzed-skinned, chrome-capped body flashing with sparks as her huge HP bar barely depletes. It’s only then that I notice how much HP she actually has.

  Angela Level 85 Medic

  HP 17847/18750

  STAM: 970/1050

  TP: 235/250

  Holy smokes…! I’ve never seen so many hitpoints. But then again, she can’t be healed either. Heck of a trade-off, I guess. I rush in with her and together we take down the remaining robots, sending their parts flying.

  Angela is exuding a shimmer of heat by the time we finish. She grimaces at our surroundings and the fallen gangway behind us. “Not as smooth as I’d hoped.”

  I can still hear the commotion in the distance, more robots perhaps on their way. “We need to get you back up there somehow.”

  She scans above us, her dreadlocks swishing left and right as she flicks her head back and forth. “I don’t think any of this can support my weight.”

  “You’re pretty strong though, right?”

  She regards me quizzically. “Relatively.”

  I point at the fallen gangway. “Grab what’s left of that and use it like a ladder. You can brace it against the side of the tent.”

  She smiles at me again. “Good thinking.”

  Aiko and Lance appear on my HUD as the two connect to our party chat.

  “Angela, what’s going on?” Lance says gruffly. “I hear gun fire.”

  The eight-foot-tall android casually breaks the fallen gangway in two before lifting one half of it onto her shoulder. “Had a little skirmish, but it’s under control. I’m going to access the control panel now. How about you?”

  “Done,” he said. “First half of the park is deactivated. But I hear something moving in your direction. You sure you didn’t aggro more of them?”

  I hear the noise too, the commotion from before, only louder.

  “Reece,” Aiko says with concern in her voice. “We’ll come to you.”

  I’m just about to acknowledge her when the sound rises to a fever pitch—a rapid jackhammer-like pounding that shakes the entire ground like an earthquake.

  Angela freezes. “What the hell is that?”

  My breath tightens as I try to focus on the direction the sound is coming from. I’ve heard this before. I instinctively cast Shadow Copy a split-second before one of the tent sections explodes, sending scaffolding and canvas flying.

  The Gun Queen emerges where half the tent once stood, standing thirty feet high in her metal hoop skirt and wielding her Gatling-gun arms. My heart leaps into my throat. How the heck did we aggro the boss? I expect her to scream with that high-pitched wail, but instead she speaks with an augmented voice that cries out with just as much anguish.

  “WHY DID YOU ABANDON US, SHARD WALKER!?”

  Her face twists into a mask of rage as her gleaming red eyes focus sole
ly on me.

  Oh god…Panic floods my veins with adrenaline as my mind snaps into combat mode.

  “Aiko, forget just you getting to us,” I scream through the chat.

  “What?”

  “Bring everyone… now!”

  Chapter 35: King of Queens

  The air explodes like thunder as the Gun Queen lets loose with her twin Gatling cannons.

  In an instant, I blur like I’m using Active Dodge, weaving and ducking through the firehose-like stream of hypersonic rounds. The ground erupts all around me in a torrent of dust and debris as the bullets miss their mark.

  My mind is going a mile a minute just to keep up, but I need to think strategically as well. A sudden zen-like state overtakes me as my mind transitions to a new state of being.

  Expect the unexpected. Adapt!

  I scream with a War Cry and keep the LM focused on me as I relegate the Dodge Tanking to pure muscle memory alone. With my conscious mind I seek out Angela and see her transfixed by the massive android, half the gangway still resting on her shoulder.

  “Get moving,” I tell her. “I’ll keep it occupied till the others get here.”

  “They can’t come now!” Lance shouts back over the chat. “They’ll train half the zone right to you.”

  He’s right, but we have no other choice. The Gun Queen battle is starting now, and I need my team here to play our parts. Which means Queen Angela needs to play her part as well.

  “Angela,” I shout to her again. “You need to shut it down! Quick!”

  I wince as a stray round hits my shoulder and another slices through my thigh.

  Gah!

  Gun Queen hits you for 267 piercing damage!

  Gun Queen hits you for 267 piercing damage!

  Keep focused, I tell myself and strain to push through the pain while avoiding the next barrage of attacks. In the simulator, Aiko always had a mage to top her back up, but here I’m on my own. I can’t afford to make mistakes like that again.

  Suddenly a glitter of green sparkles surrounds me.

  Angela uses Major Reconstruction IV

  HP Regeneration massively increased!

  My HP Bar goes from 70% to full in just a few ticks. Hot damn! I’m just about to thank her when the Gun Queen spins in her direction.

  “You’re not one of mine!” she cries.

  Gun Queen readies Flame Barrage!

  “No!” I shout with a War Cry and the huge android spins back toward me just as the flames erupt from her guns. I barely cast Shadow Copy in time to absorb the hit.

  Gun Queen uses Flame Barrage!

  Your shadow absorbs the attack!

  My heart is still in my throat when the flames disappear. God that was close! The Gun Queen resumes her normal attacks and I begin tanking again. I squeeze a Shadow Darkness spell in between my dodges, trying to debuff the LM so I can land Shadow Mist. I can maybe get lucky and dodge another one of those flame attacks, but not it and an Aerial Barrage together.

  “Get here now, Aiko,” I shout through the chat. “I need you!”

  Everyone appears on the party list then as Aiko joins all our parties to form an alliance.

  “We’re coming, Reece,” she says. “Lexi, get to them now. The Gun Queen spawned on them!”

  “It what?” Val Helena shouts.

  “On my way,” Lexi says.

  Gilly: We’re coming, Reece. D: Just hang on!

  I ignore the cries of alarm from my teammates and focus on the Gun Queen. They’re coming, but it’ll all be for naught if Queen Angela can’t make it to that terminal. I check on her through the corner of my vision as I land a few attacks on the Gun Queen to keep her attention on me and not her.

  Angela braces the partial gangway against the platform where the control panel lies. She backs up a few steps and then sprints up the steep incline, her high heels digging into the metal with a flurry of sparks.

  Dang…way to go, Queen Angela.

  My Shadow Darkness spell finally lands and I follow up with Shadow Mist, engulfing the Gun Queen in a purple haze.

  You Cast Shadow Mist

  Gun Queen is Paralyzed!

  Gun Queen is Slowed!

  Gun Queen is immune to Poison!

  Yes! I use another War Cry to keep her attention while Queen Angela fiddles with the device just overhead. She stoops down and begins punching something into a keypad.

  Suddenly the Gun Queen reanimates, shaking off the CC.

  Gun Queen uses Hard Reset!

  Gun Queen is no longer Paralyzed!

  Gun Queen is no longer Slowed!

  Dang it!

  “I tire of you, Shard Walker!” The Gun Queen raises her cannons to the sky.

  Gun Queen readies Aerial Barrage.

  Oh crap….this is it!

  I check the timer on my Shadow Copy and thank the heavens when I see it off cooldown. Thin beams of brilliant blue light stream from the twin guns, disappearing through the hole in the top of the tent. A half-second later two beams shine back down, one on me and one on Queen Angela.

  Oh no…

  “Angela!”

  I launch forward with a Charge Strike, slamming into the LM to disrupt the attack.

  You hit the Gun Queen for 235(345) damage!

  Gun Queen resists the Stun!

  Damn, has it become immune to CC already?

  I cast Shadow Copy just as the ground erupts beneath my feet in a torrent of heat and bright white light. I lock eyes with Queen Angela as she stands helpless atop the platform, a white pool of light forming at her feet as well. She cries out with a horrid shriek as the light engulfs both her and the platform, disintegrating it completely.

  Angela...!

  Gun Queen uses Aerial Barrage!

  Your shadow absorbs the attack!

  Angela takes 16000(30000) Plasma damage!

  My body explodes with nano-dust, taking the hit. I look for Queen Angela on the party list and am both shocked and relieved to see her still alive, but barely so, sitting at 10% health. As the debris clears I see her body smoldering on the ground.

  “Angela, are you okay?”

  A ragged groan comes through the party chat as she slowly stirs, lifting herself off the ground. “I can’t take another hit like that.” She then looks back to where the platform once stood. “The terminal!”

  There’s nothing left of it or the gangway, only a pile of black ash.

  “Crap!” I shout. “What the heck are we going to do now?”

  I look back to the Gun Queen just in time to see her open fire at me again. I shift back into tanking mode, but my thoughts are going a mile a minute. My Shadow Copy is down. If the Gun Queen uses another flame attack right now, we’re both done for!

  “I’ve got you, Reece!”

  I look up to see Aiko drop down onto the Gun Queen’s back from above, sinking her kunai into her shoulder with a massive clang!

  Aiko Backstabs the Gun Queen for 1262(425) damage.

  She takes off a decent 1% of her health and then flips off the android, yelling at her with a War Cry. “I’ll take it now, Reece! Get reorganized! Recover!”

  The Gun Queen opens fire on her and Aiko shifts in a blur as she Dodge Tanks the rounds. The roar of an engine comes from behind me and I look over my shoulder to see Lexi sliding the buggy to a halt with a screech of rubber. My friends all dismount, jumping through the tubular frame of the vehicle.

  Val Helena immediately rushes to my side.

  “Get into formation,” she cries, materializing her massive sword and shield, still contrasting vibrantly against her Chinese-dress transmuted armor. “Becky, you’re up for the first rotation. Gilly, buff us!”

  “On it,” Gilly says as she emerges from the buggy and raises her Spellbow to the sky.

  Gilly casts Major Favor of the Gods!

  Max HP, Stamina, and TP Increased.

  Gilly casts Great Rejuvenation!

  Your HP is slowly being replenished.

  Rembrandt and Maxis join in t
he fight, Rembrandt opening fire with his dual pistols while my brother flies in with a kick and begins working the Gun Queen’s hoopskirt like a heavy bag. They use Power Attacks and damage buffs, ripping through the LM’s hitpoint pool at a rapid pace.

  It drops down to 93%, 87%, 81%.

  “We’ve got this,” Maxis says, his arms moving in a blur. “Just stick to the plan!”

  “What about them?” Lexi cries from behind the wheel and gestures behind her to where a mob of some hundred or so robots are charging towards the tent. They’re less than a football field’s length away—a mixture of all types, some of them as big as an Overlord.

  “Bloody heck!” Rembrandt says, glancing over his shoulder at the mob as he fires a constant stream of bullets into the Gun Queen. “Looks like even more of them. Angela, did you activate the device?”

  “No,” Angela says as she limps towards the buggy. “The control panel is destroyed. I can’t shut them down anymore.”

  Lance appears from stealth next to her, draping her arm over his shoulders as he helps her to the side of the buggy. He grimaces at the tsunami of clanking steel headed our way. “Once they get here, it’s all over.”

  “Dammit!” Val Helena curses. “We didn’t plan for this! Everything’s screwed!”

  I can’t let this fall apart!

  “Val!” I shout up at her. “We can still do this. You’re the best tank when it comes to multiple enemies. You need to tank that mob while we hold the boss.”

  “What?” Maxis shouts. “That’s suicide, man!”

  “She’s the only one who can do it!” I say.

  Val Helena’s eyes go wide as she stares at me and even wider when she looks to the mass of robots. “I don’t know if I can tank that many…”