Cool! I wanted to know more about our Leng’s new project, but our conversation was interrupted by Captain Rikki Pan-Miis emerging on the gangway with his ward Avi Wi-Rikki. Both Miyelonians were armed and on guard. Rikki found me with his gaze and shouted that he wanted to finish this up and get out of Geckho space quickly. I translated for my allies, and Lozovsky gave a wave to the soldiers around him. They started carrying heavy boxes from the nearby Peresvets and stacking them up next to the gangway.
The Miyelonian Gunner clicked open the lock on the nearest box and, using a device reminiscent of a soapbox camera, started checking the bars one after the next. I heard him tell the captain:
“All good. They’re solid bars, made of platinum. And the purity is impeccable!”
The captain purred in satisfaction and commanded the Supercargo to turn on the robot loader and bring my goods out of the hold while his assistant checked the rest of the bars. While the many boxes were taken out of the starship, I introduced my new companions to the faction. And I let them all know that these two Miyelonians would be staying with me, not going back home.
As expected, my announcement had Lozovsky flustered. The diplomat was silent but looked agitated, probably imagining the potential consequences. Hopefully, he wouldn’t forbid the Miyelonians to stay out of fear for our suzerains’ reaction...
“Kento duho, Ivan!” Ayni greeted Ivan Lozovsky politely in Geckho, and he answered mechanically. That automatically conferred the fluffy Translator the status of “friend of the faction,” though, which had some privileges, such as the right of abode and guaranteed protection.
“Aw hell...” the Diplomat cursed, realizing what he’d just done. Now, he’d have to bust his brains over the most delicate way of informing our suzerains that members of a competing race were now guests of our faction.
“I’ll talk with Kosta Dykhsh myself. I promise there won’t be any problems!” I assured the Diplomat, and Ivan Lozovsky immediately calmed down and even started smiling.
Meanwhile, the exchange of goods had finished, and payment time had come. I warned my boss that it would only be two million crystals, while the other million had been paid to me as an advance, which I used to buy all the supplies. I do not know why but, at the last moment, the Diplomat asked me to go elsewhere and let him talk with the trader one-to-one or, more accurately, through the Miyelonian Translator.
Was Ivan Lozovsky ashamed to accept the money in my presence, or did he want to discuss something in secret with the merchants? I had no idea, but I didn’t stop him. Especially given that Ayni would tell me what they said, if I asked. I helped the First Legion soldiers load our stuff into a Peresvet, spoke with now the level-30 Gladiator Imran and reassured my kitten, who was scared to be in an unfamiliar atmosphere. Then, I returned to the Diplomat.
“Everything is great. They agreed to buy more platinum, and we discussed trading other goods as well!” Lozovsky said, clearly satisfied with himself. He then waved farewell to the Miyelonians, who were already on the rising gangway. Then the hatch closed.
The Tiopeo-Myhh II roared its thrusters, started hovering, stowed its landing supports, then bumped its nose on the ground and loudly took off vertically into the heavy black clouds. A half a minute later, there were no reminders of the smuggler’s ship on the stony plateau.
“Done deal! Let’s get into the ATV’s and go back home!” Ivan Lozovsky ordered, himself heading to a Peresvet.
Mental Fortitude skill increased to level nineteen!
Another mental attack! I instantly turned to the Morphian, but Ayni was talking with Tini and seemingly had not triggered it. And Anya had already climbed into an armored vehicle and was now holding the door open for other soldiers, ruling her out as well. So, what was happening?
Most likely, if I had another few seconds, I would have thought to run a scan and figured it all out. But I didn’t. Events started unfolding at once.
On the mini-map among the blue ally markers, I immediately saw a few red enemies ones!!! At the same time, Ivan Lozovsky tripped on smooth rock, and a gray Dark Faction Saboteur silhouette appeared next to him, holding our Diplomat’s falling body. I saw the enemy stash a bag of crystals in his own inventory, then give everyone a middle finger. But next, he put his laser pistol to his temple and pulled the trigger. Damn!!! He was headed to respawn, taking with him all the money my faction had just earned trading with the Miyelonians! I wanted to howl in impotent rage. All that struggle down the drain! At the very last minute, our reward had been stolen!
I was confounded and spent a few seconds batting my eyes helplessly, just watching. But while I stood there in shock, a slaughter began. People were firing on the First Legion soldiers from all sides. We lost two in the very first seconds. Finally, my consternation passed, and I could think and move again.
“Fight back! Attack the people in the gray suits!” I shouted in Miyelonian, throwing the Listener suit into my armor slot, and the Annihilator into main weapon.
Blam! Blam! The two Dark Faction Assassins nearest to me, seemingly trying to grab me, went to respawn with huge holes in their chests.
Sharpshooter skill increased to level twenty-eight!
Rifles skill increased to level forty-five!
You have reached level fifty-seven!
You have received three skill points! (total points accumulated: six)
I dismissed the messages. Sure they were nice, but this was not the time. I rolled behind a big boulder and tried to get a clearer picture of the battle. Seemingly, the enemies had us surrounded and were firing from all sides, but... my Danger Sense was silent! Strange. That must have meant they weren’t shooting at me! And that could only mean the enemy intended to take me alive.
Then before my eyes, after several precision blows, Ivan Lozovsky fell just as he was beginning to return to his senses. Not good! We were dropping like flies! The enemy fire had also fallen in intensity, though, so they were also taking losses. Then I noticed the Miyelonians, bounding around the battlefield and cutting enemies down one by one. By the way...
“Imran, catch!” I said, tossing the Miyelonian blade to him as he crouched between the wheels of an armored vehicle, trying to shoot his laser pistol.
The Dagestani athlete caught the weapon in midair, putting the nearly useless pistol into his inventory. Then he equipped his old curved blade in his left hand, and the new Miyelonian one in his right, glimmering with electric sparks. An instant later, my friend was a hundred feet away, slicing the head clean off an enemy gunman. At the same time, one of the Peresvets’ high-speed cannons thundered into action, raining down molten lead on an enemy firing point. Now we’ll see who gets the upper hand!
The battle entered the next phase. There were no more enemies nearby, but the snipers crouching in the distance were making sure we didn’t stick our noses out. Then I saw a First Legion soldier take out his automatic and hide behind a rock, hissing in pain and trying to tie off his bleeding arm above the elbow. Anya instantly ran over to help, jumping out of the secure Peresvet and taking out her first aid kit. But... she didn’t make it. Our courageous Medic was bowled over by the flicker of a bright beam. An enemy sniper. Not good! Not good at all!
And what was I doing just sitting here?! After all, this was the perfect time for a Prospector! I activated Scanning and saw enemies hiding on the mini-map. There actually weren’t many of them, just eight.
“Hey you, on the Peresvet! Put me in your group! I’ll set targets!” I shouted. And a few seconds later, the game system confirmed it.
At the left edge of my field of vision, I could now see three semi-transparent First Legion soldier icons. One of them was seriously wounded. I also got some accuracy and armor bonuses, but that didn’t matter. One after the other, I marked the enemies, revealing them to every group member. Eight targets, eight markers.
Targeting skill increased to level fourteen!
Targeting skill increased to level fifteen!
The Peresvet tower pivot
ed instantly, and the cannon spit fire, bringing the enemy-count down to seven. Another sniper accidentally revealed himself and was seen and killed by Ayni. Then, another enemy got up and tried to find better cover, but our gunman took him down as well.
Targeting skill increased to level sixteen!
Eagle Eye skill increased to level fifty-four!
You have reached level fifty-eight!
You have received three skill points! (total points accumulated: nine)
The battle was clearly already over, and we had won. The surviving enemies, held down tight by our fire, were hiding and couldn’t afford to move a muscle. After all the stress and grief, a wave of composed confidence and power rolled over me. I stood up and walked straight toward the enemy, changing out my Constitution rings for Intelligence ones as I went. No, I hadn’t lost my mind or fallen victim to shell shock. I simply calculated that one or two shots from the Dark Faction snipers couldn’t get through my force field, and they wouldn’t have the time to get off any more.
Also, I needed to take risks and push forward. I didn’t believe this reinforced Dark Faction sabotage group had just happened to be here. So, it was very important to grab one alive, interrogate the crap out of them and figure out who told them the secret time and location of our meeting with the alien merchants.
Anyhow, I could now see two enemies. They were crouching behind the same boulder and, apparently, preparing to leave the battle by shooting themselves. No such luck! I chose one of them at random. This one had already stuck his pistol in his mouth. I sharply extended my fist and... Bam! Got you, little birdie!!!
Just then, someone shot me and seemingly even threw a grenade, but I didn’t let it get to me. Danger Sense would warn me and give me plenty of time to take cover. The main thing now was not to let the enemy escape my mental control!
Before, I had only ever used this ability when training with Tini, but this was a work of art. As soon as I issued the mental command, the soldier threw his pistol aside, and knocked the grenade out of his ally’s hand before he could blow himself up.
Psionic skill increased to level twenty-one!
Psionic skill increased to level twenty-two!
Mental Fortitude skill increased to level twenty!
A pitched battle started between the two Dark Faction soldiers, and “my” guy was losing, taking a knife to the chest. But their fight was of little concern to me now, because I had spotted a much more interesting target: Minn-O La-Fin! The Dark Faction Leng’s very own granddaughter!!! Most likely, she was the ringleader of this operation, and would have a lot to tell us.
In order not to waste my valuable, quickly diminishing Magic Points, I relinquished mental control over the enemy soldier. It wasn’t even necessary anymore, either. Each of the two grappling soldiers thought the other a traitor and was rabidly trying to kill their opponent using knives, fists and even teeth. I meanwhile was concentrating on the more interesting target...
Minn-O La-Fin, without wanting to, played right into my hand and met gazes with me. I didn’t even know if I had the strength remaining to take her under my control. At any rate, the granddaughter of the great mage had decent Intelligence. So then... work! Obeying my command, the enemy cartographer threw a grenade away before pulling the pin.
Psionic skill increased to level twenty-three!
“Ayni, tie up that prisoner!” I pointed the Translator toward Minn-O, and the bushy-tailed Miyelonian dashed off.
That was it. The granddaughter of the Dark Faction coruler was the last enemy left. Victory! I put my Annihilator away and changed back into my unprepossessing jacket.
At that moment, I thought I felt a light mental touch, as if someone was trying very cautiously to probe my thoughts. However, after looking around carefully, I couldn’t see anything suspicious.
Chapter Twenty-Six. Distant War
WHAT A CATASTROPHE! There was just no other way to call it. Shortly afterward, the faction started reviewing every detail in the Dome administration building in the real world. Seeing the unique gravity of the events, the investigation was entrusted not to players, but the project curators or, to be more accurate, investigators they brought in. I saw a group of people with military bearing led into the headquarters by the “fed” Aleksandr Antipov, who was treating the new arrivals with obvious deference. All three faction leaders were forced to attend, as well as the leaders of both legions and everyone who knew anything about the deal with the merchants before it happened.
The building was surrounded by men with automatics, shooing the curious Dome residents. What happened behind those closed doors I could only guess because... I was not allowed in! Yes, believe it or not, it was true! I figured I counted as a person who knew in advance but, when I tried to get into the building, Antipov stopped me on the stoop. He told me that, together with the outside investigators, he had closely studied all security footage from the last few days. From those recordings it was concluded that, right after Radugin told me the coordinates to land the starship, I went straight to my virt pod and into the game, which I did not exit until after I landed. The only person I had talked with on the way was Svetlana from the First Legion, who was on a run. A recording of that conversation had been made, as far as I knew, by one of my bodyguards and the fed already had it. I hadn’t disclosed any secret information, so there was no way I could have been the source of the leak. So, the investigators had already crossed me off the list of suspects, and the deputy director advised me to get some rest after my two days of uninterrupted gaming.
And that is exactly what I did. I was totally burned out, and not even so much physically as mentally. I really was falling off my feet. I can barely remember walking to my room or getting undressed and falling into bed, because I was fully on autopilot.
I felt like I’d just fallen asleep when someone came to bother me. With a groan of dismay, I peeked open one eye to see the foolhardy suicidal who dared disturb my sleep. As it turned out, it was Anya. Oh yeah, she did promise to come visit me. Well, that was a different matter. Wake me up any time for that! I immediately lit up and extended my hands, preparing to embrace Anya and pull her to bed, but she wriggled away and took a step back:
“Not now, Kirill, I’m on business! I was sent to wake you up and say that Geckho Diplomat Kosta Dykhsh is asking for you. They wanted me to tell you he is angry and wants to see you as soon as possible. From what I gathered, the Geckho Diplomat had never acted like this before, so Ivan Lozovsky is alarmed and wants you in the game at our central base. He said he would go with you to Kosta Dykhsh’s hut and provide support.”
Crap, the last thing I needed was to piss off our suzerains... The last shreds of sleep instantly flew out of my head and I sat up. The lighting in the Dome was still in night mode. The clock was showing just past four. As it turned out, I managed to sleep seven hours, which was not bad. While I got dressed and put myself in order, Anya gave me a brief recap of recent events.
According to her, a group of heavy-handed outside investigators had arrived yesterday. They then interrogated a bunch of people: the director and deputies, the leaders of both legions, all the recon guys who scoped out the stony plateau, everyone who made deals with the Centaurs, anyone who came to meet the starship, the heads of our three laboratories, and the players who stored and transported the platinum. Also, Antipov quickly regained spirit and was not ashamed to curse, shouting that far too many people knew about this operation, which he thought should have been top secret.
Yes, Antipov had been struck from the suspects list as well. First, he didn’t have all the information about the deal, neither the meeting place, nor the time. Second, he didn’t even have a character in the game, so he could not make direct contact with the Dark Faction. The theory that he was revealing secret information through a middleman was also quickly refuted. Antipov had prepared well for the meeting and asked the non-player guards now keeping watch over the Dome to give him a copy of every video and audio recording he was part o
f for the last 72 hours. After that, he convincingly proved that he hadn’t discussed this matter with anyone.
However, even without Antipov, there were plenty of suspects. Thankfully, most suspects had only partial information. That was the only thing we’d done right and even then, it wasn’t much. Some knew the place but didn’t know why the faction leadership was looking for a starship landing platform. Some knew we could suddenly order rare goods from space and that a merchant starship would be arriving, but they didn’t know where or when. Some knew that platinum was being brought into the game and stockpiled but didn’t know why. Those who truly knew everything could be counted on one hand: the level-86 Administrator, Faction Leader Leng Radugin, the level-83 Diplomat Ivan Lozovsky, the Leader of the First Legion level-92 Sniper Gerd Tarasov, his deputy and trusted aid level-80 Scout Shoot_to_Kill, and my level-58 Prospector, who looked quite meek compared with these high-level bruisers. But Gnat was already proven innocent, so the remaining four were now the main suspects.
Nearer to nightfall, a lie detector was brought in. Some specialists had to come set it up, too. One of them was carrying a case of hypodermic needles and injection ampules. Faction leader Radugin was called into the office first and twenty minutes later carried out by the arms. The tired and stress-addled man was no spring chicken. As could have been expected, he had a heart attack.
“It was gruesome!” Anya admitted, having seen this all firsthand. “Our director looked ten years older. He was convulsing, clutching his chest and muttering the same thing over and over again, barely intelligibly: “Checkmate... The Dark Faction has us in checkmate... maybe not in three days but still... they have us in checkmate.’”
External Threat (Reality Benders Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 27