by Quinn Dallas
WE TRAVELLED CAREFULLY through Fort Apocalypse, keeping our eyes peeled for more PvP'rs. Feivel was obviously on edge. He'd summoned both his force field and gun drone.
Rachel had her sword in hand. It was a beautiful weapon, forged using strong steel. It also had an impossibly sharp edge. Which was capable of cutting even through energy shields. We reached our destination and I motioned for the group to stop.
"This is it?" Rachel wrinkled her nose.
"It's in a sewer?" Feivel interrupted.
"This is just camouflage!" I said as I pried open the manhole cover.
"If we run into a bunch of turtles down there," he continued. "I'm not going to be their surrogate father!"
"Shut up and follow me," I called out as i jumped into the sewer.
I landed with a splash and took my flashlight from my supply pack. Feivel and Rachel soon joined me. We worked our way through the labyrinth of tunnels until we arrived at a steel door.
"Dead end?" Rachel frowned.
"Nope," I smirked. Then I typed in a series of numbers into the keypad. There was a distinctive hiss and then the door slid open.
"Just like I was told!" I pronounced.
We stepped into a clean hi-tech corridor. The walls were covered in white tile. Both Feivel and Rachel were on edge. Being a Warrior Archetype, Rachel took point. Feivel and his drones brought up the rear. Each of us vigilant and ready for an ambush. We finally arrived at a steel door. There were no guards or visible defenses.
"Do we knock first?" Feivel's whiskers twitched.
"Smart ass Rat!" I answered.
"Well, here we go!" Rachel pushed open the door and in we went. Gunfire immediately rained down on us! The chamber was a wide open space. Feivel's shield drone provided damage protection, but we needed cover.
“Over there,” the Gadgeteer pointed to a stack of metal crates. We all dove behind it, as the hail of energy rifle fire continued. I scanned the room for the source of the attack and found it.
Robots! There were a countless number of armed robot drones targeting us. I focused on the nearest one and summoned up its item description:
NPC NAME: ATTACK DRONE
DAMAGE TYPE: RANGED ENERGY
HIT POINTS: 90
DESCRIPTION: THESE DRONES HAVE BEEN CRAFTED TO PROTECT THIS RESEARCH FACILITY. IF YOU WISH TO OBTAIN A LUNAR OPAL YOU MUST DEFEAT THEM ALL!
"Any ideas?" Rachel asked.
“They're trash mobs really," I responded. "With low hit points."
"But there's a ton of them!" She ducked as a bolt of energy struck the wall behind her.
"I can field craft an EMP grenade," Feivel chimed in. “But I need time”.
"OK, I'm going to tank 'em!" Rachel cracked her knuckles.
"What about that Bionic Bow?" I asked.
"It's on cooldown," she replied. "Can only be used once daily!"
"So we're just going to zerg this?"
"Yup," the Warrior responded before she dove into the nearest group of drones.
Feivel had set his shield drone to follow Rachel. And it did an excellent job of protecting her. She swung her blade in wide arcs, smashing drone after drone to bits. But I knew that without backup she'd soon be overwhelmed.
I targeted the nearest drone and then activated my lunge ability. Which warped me to the gun toting robot's side. Next, I slashed with my fighting claws. The mechanical NPC exploded on impact. I then repeated the same attack sequence again and again. Rapidly warping from target to target, ripping each one to shreds.
"Where in the hell is that damn EMP grenade?" Rachel shouted.
"Almost done!" Feivel called out from behind the crates.
I continued my relentless assault on the drones. I soon realized the genius of this lair's design. Individually, these drones were no threat. But as a group they could easily whittle down their opponent's defenses. We needed to end this battle fast.
"Done," Feivel screamed from his hiding place. "Fire in the hole!"
A grenade came sailing from over the stack of crates. It landed in the middle of the chamber. There was a loud boom, then a flash of bright light. After that, silence.
The robot drones collapsed one by one. Rachel dropped her sword in exhaustion and slumped against a wall.
"That wasn't so bad," Feivel emerged with a satisfied grin.
"Loot time!" I shouted as made my way towards the center of the chamber. Resting there sat a dull metal chest. I examined the box carefully. There appeared to be no way to open it.
"What's the matter?" Feivel asked.
"There seems to be more to this quest," I scratched my chin.
"Maybe it's just locked?" Rachel said.
"I'll blast it open," Feivel readied his pistol.
Before I could stop him a bolt of energy struck him from behind. Both Rachel and I spun round. Floating there was the weirdest thing I'd ever laid eyes on in-game. What I could only describe as a giant brain in a goldfish bowl hovered before us. Eight snaking steel cables were attached to its base.
"Step away from the Lunar Opals!" A robotic voice commanded.
"What in the hell is that?" Rachel pointed.
I called up my HUD overlay to get a look at the monster's stats.
NPC NAME: SUPERIOR DRONE
DAMAGE TYPE: RANGED ENERGY
HIT POINTS: 750
DESCRIPTION: THIS HOVERING DRONE IS CONTROLLED BY A CLONED HUMAN BRAIN. CAPABLE OF AN INCREDIBLE NUMBER OF CALCULATIONS PER SECOND, IT MAY BE THE MOST DANGEROUS FOE YOU'VE EVER BATTLED.
"We are so fucked!" I answered.
"I'm going to blast that thing to bits!" Feivel screamed as he produced his dual energy pistols. He fired rapidly, the bolts hit the Drone's energy shield harmlessly.
"It's heavily shielded!" Rachel called out as she readied her sword.
The Superior Drone glowed and then arcs of electrical energy shot out in all directions! My heart sank, since AOE's effectively neutered my stealth abilities. How in the hell were we going to beat this thing?
Rachel let out a rebel yell, and lunged. Her sword striking the drone across its clear glass dome. But her blow did no damage. The drone reached out a freakishly long tendril and ensnared the warrior. She squirmed helplessly before it threw her against the white tiled wall.
I winced as her body struck the wall with enough force to make the entire room tremble. I faded into invisibility. If I could get close enough to land a stealth attack, perhaps I could penetrate this monstrosity's shield.
But the Superior Drone had a built-in protection from such attacks. As soon as I entered melee range the floating brain-in-a-jar detected me. Electricity arced out in all directions. The AOE blast sent me flying backwards.
"What are we going to do?" Rachel was clearly injured as she limped towards me.
"I'm not sure!" I shook my head, still dizzy from the blast.
"Let's see how likes an EMP grenade!" Feivel tossed the metal sphere towards the Superior Drone. It landed and exploded in a bright flash of light.
I shielded my eyes instinctively. Then peered through my fingers. The Superior Drone stood motionless. I also noticed a familiar whirling icon floating over it.
"You stunned it!" I yelled.
Wasting no time, I shifted into invisibility. Stuns only lasted a few seconds. In that time, all toggle abilities were shut down. That meant this drone would be vulnerable. I summoned my HUD overlay and peeked at its stats again:
NPC NAME: SUPERIOR DRONE
DAMAGE TYPE: RANGED ENERGY
HIT POINTS: 350
STATUS: STUNNED
Excellent! Without shielding his hit points were severely reduced. I lunged and swiped with both claws. My melee attack hit full force and I grinned as the damage notification message scrolled by.
YOUR ASSASSINATION STRIKE HAS DEALT 200 SLASHING DAMAGE TO SUPERIOR DRONE!
The floating drone sputtered to life, "Significant Damage Taken! Initiating Counter Measures!"
Rachel and Feivel joined the battle. My at
tack appeared to have damaged the Superior Drone's shielding systems. She shaved off a huge chunk of the creature's hit points with her tech-sword. While the Gadgeteer's pistols did additional DPS. The drone sparked and shook. Finally, exploding violently. We all instinctively ducked as shrapnel flew wildly throughout the area.
When the commotion ended, no trace of the Superior Drone was to be found. The gray metal chest now glowed brightly, its lid wide open. A status message scrolled by:
YOU HAVE DEFEATED THE SUPERIOR DRONE! GO TO THE REWARD CIRCLE TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE!
We approached the glowing treasure chest and peered inside. Within lay three translucent milk-white ovals. They were the most beautiful loot drops I'd ever seen!
"Holy shit," Feival stroked his whiskers. “We did it!”
Epilogue:
THE CROWD AT THE RUSTY Robot was louder and rowdier than ever. Of course it could have been due to the third round of drinks on the house bought by Feivel! The Lunar Opals sold for a small fortune. Though I had little doubt that my rat faced friend will have blown through most of it by sunrise.
I'd earned a few points and was going through my character sheet. I figured I'd beef up my hit point's and possibly max out my invisibility device. The harder I was to see, the better. Also, I looked into reducing my cool down times. The faster my abilities recharged the more effective I'd be.
I was so engrossed with my tinkering that I didn't notice Rachel sit down at my table.
"Why are you even bothering?" She asked.
"Excuse me," I peered over my character overlay.
"You're quitting the game"" she pouted. "So why upgrade at all?"
"Guess I'm a completionist," I shrugged. "And maybe I'll come back!"
"I don't see why you got to chase the new shiny," she covered my hand with her own.
My cheeks reddened and grew hot. Even though we were in a simulated environment, it all felt so real. Besides, I really liked Rachel. Maybe there was something to pursue here.
"So what gives Rach?" I asked her.
"Don't know what you mean?" She responded.
"You do too!" I leaned back in my chair. "Come on out with it!"
"I don't want you to go!" She blurted out.
"How serious are you about me?" I locked eyes with her.
"What kind of question is that?" Rachel shifted in her seat.
"Come on," I continued. "Let's lay it all on the table!"
"Well," she paused. "I like you!"
"And I like you too!" I dismissed my character sheet. "But is that enough?"
"Dammit!" She smacked her hand on the table. "You're always so freaking logical!"
I shook my head, "Not really."
"So where do we go from here?" She asked.
"Friends with benefits?" I took her hand.
Rachel leaned over the table and kissed me hard. I didn't fight it. Instead, I returned her kiss. What seemed like an eternity passed. Then Rach pulled away.
"Let's go for a walk,"'she said.
I took her hand and we exited the pub. The moon hung low in the sky, providing just the right amount of romantic lighting. Rachel and I still held hands. People walked past not seeming to notice or care about our public display of intimacy.
"So are you just plain bored with Cybercell?" She asked.
"Maybe," I answered honestly. "But I'm also excited about Odyssey Online! It's supposed to be the next level in VRMMO's!"
"I get why you want to try it," she squeezed my hand.
“You want to join me?" I asked.
"You know I can't," she shook her head. "I run a large guild here. And I can barely keep up with one game."
"Understandable," I kissed her forehead.
Rachel wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her body against my own. Her full breasts crushed against me. Then she leaned in for another kiss. God, kissing her felt so good! I found myself lost in warm, wet wonderfulness of it.
Intimate memories flashed through my mind. Of the many passionate nights we'd spent together. How well our bodies fit together. We'd always struggled to keep things casual. Sometimes I wanted more, but Rachel always cooled things down.
Now here we were sharing what was possibly our very last kiss. Rachel's tongue speared into my mouth. Aggressively exploring, hungry and fevered. I returned her kiss with just as much passion.
"Will you spend one more night with me?" Her dark brown eyes searched for an answer.
"Yes!" I whispered.
Perhaps I was leaving this game for a while. But that didn't mean I couldn't come back. We held hands again and walked together under the impossibly gorgeous star filled sky. I didn't know what adventures Odyssey Online held for me, but I knew I'd never forget my time in Cybercell.
Author Notes:
FORT APOCALYPSE TAKES place a few days before Cassie gets caught up in the events of "Shadow of the Rogue". In this story I wanted to show more of her softer romantic side. I also wanted to give the character more back story.
We learn a little about her play style preferences and some of her emotional issues. Her inability to commit and her habit of running when things get too serious are highlighted in this story.
Writing short stories is a fun passion of mine that I hope to continue. In addition to my novels, I'll also be posting FREE short stories regularly on Amazon U.S.
For some weird reason, Amazon won't allow me to publish permanently free in non-US stores. So the minimum price will be charged in countries like Canada, Germany, and the UK.
I hope you enjoyed reading Fort Apocalypse: PvP Battle!
You can find other books by me on Amazon!
About The Author:
QUINN DALLAS IS THE pen name of a part-time writer from Michigan. A lifelong fan of Sci-fi & Fantasy he's discovered a new favorite genre in LitRPG!
Quinn spent eighteen long years working as a Social Media Manager in the Bay Area tech scene. Tiring of the rat race, he returned to the Midwest for an early retirement.
When he found the quiet life too boring, he started writing and publishing. Quinn lives in small town with his family. He enjoys bike riding, hiking, and spending time in nature. When the winter's prove too cold, he fantasizes about Florida!
Social Media Links
AUTHOR PAGE: AMAZON.com/author/quinndallas
Facebook: facebook.com/quinndallaswrites
My Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/LustyFantasyRealms/
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