The entire ship seemed to be screaming in pain, with the sounds of metal tearing and shrieking in protest permeating their level. Kurt looked around for more guards before turning to Rouge. She was clambering out of her hiding spot and smiled widely at him. “We did it. C’mon, let’s go.” With that, she vaulted the railing and dropped down to his level, before turning and walking towards the hallway. She stowed her tiny shotgun beneath her top again and drew a wood handled handgun with a long, bulky suppressor attached.
“What pistol is that?” Kurt asked, his inquisitive gaze directed to her firearm as they stalked down the hallway.
Raising it to fire at an oncoming guard, she frowned at him. “Cover our back noob.” Rouge looked around for a moment, glanced at her map, and apparently decided they were safe enough to explain. “It’s a Tokarev.”
Kurt nodded as if that meant anything to him for a moment, following Rouge into the elevator. He leaned against the wall and raised an eyebrow. “So…why that gun?”
Rouge pressed the button for the main deck. “You don’t think much of other players having their own secrets, huh?” When his only response was a shrug coupled with a slight smile, she sighed and continued. “The scan screen won’t show this, but the Tokarev has some slight natural armor piercing. You can stack it to pretty good effect with stuff like steel core ammo. Punches right through heavy armor and does major damage when used to sneak attack.” She waved a hand. “Game is full of little easter egg details like that.”
Nodding again, a thoughtful look on his face, Kurt swiped his phone open to check his skills as the elevator moved slowly up. This coincided with a further comment from Rouge: “For example, this is a sort of a section break for this place. Any experience bonuses you’ve earned for a section are actually not applied until the section breaks. It can be hard to find out exactly where they are, but it tends to be location or loot based in the bigger raids.”
The elevator jostled softly to a stop, and the doors made a soft chime as they slid open. Kurt’s phone made a much noisier series of chimes, the same celebratory sound it had made when he unlocked the Infiltrator class. Since he was already browsing it, the notification commandeered his screen.
Class Upgrade
Ghost.
Good at getting into places they are not permitted and dispatching foes without being discovered; the Ghost is a powerful ally.
While the Ghost class is equipped, a bonus percentage equal to ten ranks is applied to each of the following skills:
Cartography, Disguise, Gunslinger, Liar, Planning, Small Arms, Sneak attack, Stealth, and Underhanded.
Specialty services, clothing, and weaponry have been unlocked for purchase and use. Lock Picking is 25% faster with this class equipped. Map presence is reduced by a further 25% with this class equipped.
Kurt stared at his upgrade, a smile growing wider as he read the benefits. “I just got a class upgrade!” He turned to see Rouge part way down the hallway in front of them and hurried to follow.
“Grats noob.” She turned back towards him with a scowl. “Easy part is over though, keep up. We have to go meet up with the rest of the group.”
Still smiling, Kurt fell into step beside her and happily opened the door onto the main deck.
17. An Evening With the Pirates
Chapter 17
An Evening with the Pirates
Chaos rolled across the deck, through the shops and activity areas. Civilians screamed, gunfire peppered the air, and at least one area in the food court was already on fire. The Pirates had boarded.
Kurt looked toward the rear of the cruise ship to see a wedge formation of Pirates players advancing towards them. Kitty was at the lead, in a burgundy admiralty coat, her short hair tied back into a bristling multicolored ponytail. She was firing her strange looking handgun from the hip, causing Kurt to glare at it in confusion. The rounds caused small bursts of flame anywhere they struck, including on the guards attempting to mount a defense against the incursion. Behind the first wave of Pirates, Kurt could see a boarding area with a group of defenders in heavy armor ensuring that the less equipped players could climb aboard via the various ladders or ropes scattered in the area.
A glance at his map showed Kurt that the Tug had attached to the rear of the cruise ship, and the Pirates were swarming from it en masse. An older man with stringy grey hair ran past him with a blood curdling battle cry, clinging to a rusted saber and charging towards a nearby guard station. He wore nothing beyond a pair of tattered trousers and a wild grin. Flinching at the sudden explosion of violence that occurred when he reached his target, Kurt turned to face Kitty and her entourage.
“Hi Kurt! Glad to see you survived. Good work on the engines you two, we still have almost ten minutes before the Heat even starts. Our best attempt on this place yet.” Kitty fired off the remaining rounds in her pistol before dropping out a boxy rectangular magazine with a vibrant red line around its base. She slapped a replacement in and holstered the weapon, placing her hands on her hips and taking in the scene. Nodding her head at the nearby guard post, she moved to begin climbing up on top of it as the half-naked older gentleman emerged and began searching around for his next victims. He charged at a group of ships guards attempting to secure a hotel doorway, but they managed to gun him down before he could kill very many of them.
Kurt stepped up to the guard shack Kitty had managed to scale and looked up to her with confusion on his face. “So, we can use melee weapons? Nobody told me.”
“Nobody tells you things because you can’t be trusted Kurtis.” She wobbled a bit as she stood, and then straightened her coat once she stabilized. “Also, nobody uses melee weapons, for pretty obvious reasons, as Steve just demonstrated.” She gestured towards the body of the older man with the saber, nodding when it fell to dust. “They take up a slot, everybody else has guns…I think it’s a bit of a waste really. Steve there is…well he’s Steve. Steve likes melee. We mostly just let him do his own thing, and he…you know, mostly doesn’t team kill us with his swords…” She glanced upward, recalling a handful of memories. “Yeah, mostly. For sure not when it’s important, like tonight.”
A series of shouts sounded from the Tug behind them and Steve re-appeared, hauling himself up a ladder, rusted saber clutched between his teeth, a feral look in his eyes. All of the other Pirates in the area gave him a wide berth, moving out of his way as he charged off towards the hotel with a scream, bare feet slapping at the deck, saber raised in both hands above his head. This time, he used a series of large ceramic planters hedging the doorway to stagger his approach, and the guards didn’t survive the encounter. A wild look in his eyes, Steve searched the deck for a moment, before finding another set of targets and rushing after them with his customary battle cry.
A crowd had formed around the base of the guard shack, all eyes on Kitty as yet more Pirates swarmed over the deck from the rear of the ship. She looked around, searching for faces in the crowd and counting off on one hand. “OK…I think…yeah that looks like everybody. All my officers are going to be picking their crews from whoever’s already on board. Most of you guys are regulars and know where to go, so I’m not worried. Try to keep the wag casualties to a minimum, we have some important stuff going on here tonight and getting washed out by an instant ten bar will bum everybody out.” She glanced at her phone for a moment, eyebrows raising. “OK ladies and gents, we have a little less than 9 minutes before it starts getting hot in here, so let’s take this ship for everything she’s worth!!” She moved to step down as Jerome approached to offer her a hand. “Oh, and boss loot priority is whoever the hell you’re with at the time of the drop. Fall behind, get left that way.” The gathered Pirates roared a cheer at the phrase, and the various officers began barking orders and gathering their crews, dispersing the players to their gun battles and loot gathering.
Jerome was covered in grenades and various explosive weapons. His sawed off 40mm launcher was seated in a hard plastic holder at his thigh, a
short metal tube was in a sling over one shoulder, and a boxy green rocket launcher with four barrels was resting on his shoulder. He loosely held the monstrous weapon as he nodded at Kitty, expecting orders.
Kitty lit up when she saw him. “Oh good, Jerome! Can you handle…”
His lips pursed and he nodded, a scowl on his face. “Aye, I have the main deck and Company defense.” He moved to climb up onto the guard shack Kitty had recently vacated, grunting in exertion from the heavy loadout he wore. He wisely left the M202 Flash launcher below him, perched against the guard shack.
With a wide grin, Kitty smacked him on the rump. “You’re a peach Jerome! I couldn’t do a damn thing without you.”
Jerome fired his sawn-off grenade launcher into the air above his head, a piercing whistle cutting through the screams and gunfire before a vibrant flare sparked to life above the deck. “All stragglers to me fer assignments!! Every Pirate gets to raid, just get yer arses over here and I’ll find ye a spot!”
Kitty played with her phone for a moment, ignoring Kurt and Rouge standing in front of her. In that stretch of time, the rest of their group arrived. Jimmy and Gadot shoved their ways through the crowd and stood beside Kurt. “Hear you saved the whole raid or some nonsense.” Jimmy shoved Kurt lightly, a small smile on his lips. “Good work.” Gadot was silent and wouldn’t look at him, a slight scowl dominating her features.
BoneCrusher, FingerNels, and Godless followed shortly after them, moving to stand by Kitty and Rouge. Kitty made a small twirl in the air with her finger, moving away from the crowd as Jerome began handing out raid assignments and groups scattered across the decks. Kurt moved to follow her, and their group walked underneath a nearby awning.
“Ok, I think I’m patched into everything I NEED to be patched into.” She swiped at something in the air above her wrist. “Jerome darling, we’re off. Let me know if my presence is required in any of this glorious mess.” Moving towards a nearby covered doorway, Kitty waved nonchalantly at her group. FingerNels, Godless, Bonecrusher, Rouge, Jimmy, Gadot, and Kurt all followed her into what at first glance appeared to be a hotel lobby.
A massive chandelier still swayed from the impact of the Tug, crystals tinkling faintly above them as the sliding doors shut out most of the noise behind them on the main deck. Red leather and chrome trim dominated the decorating scheme, with giant fronded plants abutting each walkway. Behind a lavish counter, a single NPC huddled whimpering to himself as Kitty approached, bootheels clicking on the marble tile. She took out her strange looking gun and laid it on the counter, swiveling it to face him as she motioned with her other hand for him to stand up. Kurt wasted no time in scanning the firearm, drawing a disgusted look from Kitty.
FightLite Raider
Pistol. Sidearm. Weapon drops upon death only if equipped in the Primary/Secondary slot.
Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO
Rate of Fire: Semi-Automatic.
Capacity: 10 round magazine
“Ew, gun perv!” Kitty shoved Kurt away from the counter. “No respect for personal space, sheesh.” She turned back to the visibly terrified NPC behind the counter. “Sorry about that. Gimme the key for the elevator, I need to get to the Penthouse.” When he didn’t immediately respond, aside from raising his hands in surrender, Kitty gave a short sigh and drew one of her flintlock pistols, firing it into the ceiling above his head. “Do the thing!”
The hapless NPC shrieked as plaster dust rained down around him. He ducked beneath the counter and rummaged frantically for a moment before sliding a single key across the counter, only his hand appearing above it. Kitty blew him a kiss and sauntered away from the counter, snatching the key and her gun as she went. She tossed the empty flintlock over her shoulder, causing Kurt to step aside to avoid being struck.
Confused, he stooped to pick up the ancient weapon. “Don’t you need this?”
Kitty stopped and turned around, glancing at her wrist while holding her coat open so the brace of flintlocks was clearly visible, one missing from its place. “In…three…two…one…” As she finished counting down, the flintlock turned to dust in Kurt’s hand, falling through his fingers as it despawned. He looked up to see a fresh flintlock in its place on her chest. She drew it and fired past his head at the chandelier, causing a massive jangling crash as it fell into the center of the lobby. Kurt flinched away from her as she turned and headed toward a hallway, tossing the flintlock over her shoulder again.
Jimmy stepped up beside Kurt. “That’s her Unique item. It’s a brace of flintlocks that just respawn every thirty seconds, or three minutes if she uses all four of them. They hit like a truck, and get free ammo. It’s a pretty sweet item.”
Kurt looked at Kitty, nodding in understanding as she turned to move down the hallway while staring at the air above her wrist. Before the rest of the group could get to her, she appeared again, shaking her head. She entered the hallway opposite the one she had emerged from, still glaring at her phone. “Ok yeah, this way.”
Jimmy chuckled and moved to follow her, Gadot checking behind them as she walked beside him. Kurt narrowed his eyes as she passed him, carefully not looking his way. A quick shake of his head and he fell into step with the group. They all crammed into a small elevator and Kitty used the key to get it moving towards the penthouse.
“Alright gang, when these doors open we are going to be in one hell of a fight. Our objective is this man.” She held her wrist up and each member of the group tapped their own to it, accepting the file. “Do NOT shoot him please and thank you, he needs to open a locked briefcase for us, and our client on this run would like him left alive. We need every cent from tonight’s raid, so I’d love to be able to collect the bonus for not killing him.” Drawing her Raider, she stepped back behind Jimmy and placed a hand on his shoulder with a fierce smile.
Jimmy sighed and moved forward in the elevator, taking a position beside Bonecrusher. Both heavily armored men readied their shotguns and took an aggressive stance at the front of the group, ready to step out when the doors opened. FingerNels stepped up behind Bonecrusher and drew back the bolt on his rifle before placing a hand on his partners shoulder to indicate his readiness. Godless and Gadot each went to a knee behind the front men, shouldering their rifles and taking sight between the crew members in front of them. Rouge nodded to Kurt and they flattened themselves against the walls towards the front of the elevator, ready to slip out at the first opportunity. Rouge drew her Tokarev, and Kurt his Coonan. The elevator pinged as it reached the penthouse floor and the doors began to slide open.
Gunfire erupted from the room in front of them, sparking off from the walls and spattering into the armor of those in front. Jimmy lifted his long barreled shotgun and unleashed eight booming rounds into the armed guards in front of them, taking a few quick steps forward as he did. He performed a speed reload, grabbing four shells from his belt rack and practically throwing them into the underside of the shotgun before doing it again. Jimmy was back to firing within a few seconds, drawing looks from the Pirates. Bonecrusher in particular looked at him with amazement, struggling to hurriedly reload his own shotgun. The gunfire died down as Kitty’s team charged into the room, allowing Kurt a moment to squeeze around the corner and look for a place to hide.
The room was populated by a handful of armed guards, their numbers shrinking quickly under the onslaught emerging from the elevator. Only a few of them remained by the time Kurt entered the room, and they were tucked away behind an overturned table facing the elevator. Keeping low, he darted to the edge of a long couch and used it as cover to approach the group of guards unnoticed. They were focused on Jimmy and the others, who were clustered in the elevator doorway firing at their cover. Standing up with a shrug during a lull in the firefight, Kurt hopped onto the arm of the couch and vaulted over the upended table, landing gracelessly on his side next to the stunned NPC guards. A smile and three gunshots later, the room was clear. He stood up and dusted off his suit jacket sleeve, turning to face his fri
ends in front of the elevator.
Kitty rolled her eyes at him. “Yep, that’s our Kurtis.”
The Pirates spread out and cleared the room, finding no further armed foes. The penthouse suite took up an entire wing of the hotel, spreading along the top floor from aft to stern, each room large and spacious. As they peeked into various areas, a fresh hail of gunfire erupted from a nearby double door leading further aft. Kitty flinched away, lightly closing the door with an amusing expression on her face. “Think it might be this way.”
Jimmy had found a fire extinguisher and was busy putting out the table and couch Kitty had managed to set ablaze. Bonecrusher approached hesitantly, his SPAS-12 cradled in his arms. “Hey man…how do you reload that fast?”
Jimmy barked a short laugh, making sure the flames were out before setting down the extinguisher and pulling his Super 90 around from his back. He flipped the shotgun over and pointed to the loading port. “First thing you’ll want is a filed loading port. It’s a quick reload mod, allows for speed loading. It’s really basic and low level though, so a lot of players overlook it.” He paused there, pointing to his belt. “I also use a lot of these quad loader ammo rigs. They only hold four shells each, but you can grab them in a specific way, and that really helps a lot.” Jimmy finished with a shrug and a parting thought. “After that, it’s just up to you. Research and practice man. Hit up the old web, there’s plenty of instructional videos you can find on it.”
Bonecrusher looked thoughtful, turning away and nodding. “Appreciate it. Kitty wasn’t joking about you.” He appeared slightly unhappy, and Kitty walked over to throw an arm over his shoulder. She spoke under her breath in his ear and he started laughing, shoving her away. His mood appropriately improved, he moved to the balcony to look down the line of windows on their deck. The moment he drew the blinds, glass shattered and he grunted, a heavy round striking him in the chest and flattening against his armor. Bonecrusher closed the blinds again and stepped back, instinctively drawing his sidearm from a covered holster at his hip. It was also a FightLight Raider, leading Kurt to the conclusion that it was a popular firearm in the Pirates, the advantages of a sidearm classed weapon that fired rifle rounds rather clear. “We have snipers.”
The Life- Illusion Page 28