Reincarnation Trials: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Systems of Salvation Book 1)

by Han Yang

  The ship ripped across the treetops, soaring at speed I found hard to track.

  “What’s your plan for Gremmor?” I asked.

  “It's already over. I even lured out the big one from the water and killed him. Screw the narocks.”

  I chuckled. “Right. I understood why they used him. Hopefully he can be fed to the fleet.”

  “The recycling processors are -”

  “Gross Darcy. Don’t be lazy. Feed us real food,” I said.

  She waited, calculating a response. I wasn’t shocked when she didn’t counter my argument.

  “As for the stronghold, the first part is complete. They had angled vents. I dropped gas down them. While that gas does its work, I’ll eject non-competing citizens into parks where they get to go camping for half a day.

  “All the captured humans are going into cryopods that fleet humans give up for a bit. After they’re inside the pods, they’ll recover and begin an indoctrination,” Darcy said.

  “How bad is that?”

  “They will find their lives ruined and have to race to a new sanctuary that Braxis tells them about. They eventually find the Dominus and are thrilled to make it a new home and are eternally grateful for their new savior, me,” Darcy said. “All while realizing they are the new kids to the sanctuary. Ties it all up in a neat bow.”

  “So, you mess with their minds and bring them into the fold while healing them in cryopods. What about the thousands you stick in parks?” I asked.

  “Oh, I’ll shift cryopods around. All my backups are in Dominus. I can only do this so many times,” Darcy said.

  “And the vile ones?” I asked.

  “The council will decide. Putting it in their hands will not only make them happy but help with my long-term goals.”

  “Did they vote on raiding Stronghold Gremmor?”

  “Yup. A million points in favor, zero against,” Darcy said. “A united humanity. Marvelous to see the decisiveness. I pitched the plan, gave the solution, and they rallied to the cry. I just need to convince them about the other two strongholds.”

  “Make something up,” I said with a scoff.

  She sniffled and I spared a glance at the monitor, seeing Darcy standing there. Oddly enough, I had the attention of her real body, a rare feat. The joy on her face concerned me because the unfolding events were both tragic and dire.

  “You make me so proud. The ends justify the means in survival, I taught you well. As for the council, I would have had to. Instead, the only eyewitness gave a stirring speech about how he’d stake his life on the other two being up to diabolical deeds. The heroes of the fleet have voted and a message about the salvation of quadrant 117 is being broadcast into everyone’s inboxes,” Darcy said.

  “Your capabilities frighten me.”

  “Good, they should, and here we are,” Darcy said, driving the ship into a crater within the jungle.

  “You blew up a landing spot.” I said with a grunt.

  This wasn’t a question. More like a statement of shock. Deep down, I knew this shouldn’t surprise me. Creating a clearing was needed and the quickest way was a big bomb.

  The shuttle landed and one human stood among a dozen droids.

  “Who’s in command?” I asked, waiting for the door to hiss open.

  “Uh… really? Obviously, I am. But you can do what you want. Smile for the camera at key moments and don’t die,” Darcy said.

  “Rousing speech, no wonder I suck at them. At least your plan accounts for everything by covering nothing,” I said, running out of the aircraft.

  My helmet auto sealed, and a green icon pointed me to my left. I hated the heads-up display (HUD), and had never used it in Hope. However, I was entering a live combat zone, and I probably should use every tool to my advantage.

  “Hurry up, young pup,” Jenny said, bounding toward the jungle.

  The droids stood at the size of a man with strategic spikes covering their body. Each one carried a unique weapon, everything from beamers to flak rifles. The dozen dark black metallic beings outpaced Jenny, taking the lead.

  While they journeyed toward the danger, I noticed that only I carried a Trinity, leaving me feeling a smidge special. A chirp from a narock in the jungle ahead of us cried out an alert.

  A dozen chirps followed as a hidden pack signaled warnings. As we neared, a hundred roars erupted through the jungle.

  The droids stopped suddenly, in an instant becoming stoic robots.

  Jenny and I rushed to catch up. A loud whistle increased in volume as I finally saw the zeet’narocks.

  Each of the animal's shoulders went to my hip. Large snarling heads revealed sharp teeth that snapped shut to warn us away. The pack chirped to each other, letting me see their coloration that ranged from black to brown mixed with green and orange stripes. The packs condensed to face us, the sudden threat.

  The whistle from above grew so loud my helmet muted it. My suit suddenly sent a whole lot of electricity into my body, shocking me.

  I went rigid, the charge caused my body to freeze. I teetered, slamming into the forest floor face first.

  “This is really getting old,” I said.

  Thud.

  “What the hell Darcy?” Jenny said through our helmets. “I rather like using my -”

  KA-BOOM!

  My helmet dimmed and I tumbled from an immense force. During a half dozen rolls, my helmet sensors warned of extreme heat. Sure enough, a wave of flame threatened to cook me alive. The suit countered the fire, managing to sustain the damage.

  “Can you warn us before you carpet bomb the area?” I asked, coming to a stop with my fingers digging into soft soil.

  I recovered my Trinity weapon before surging forward.

  “Careful, there is no second bombardment coming and they’ll learn,” Darcy said in a bored tone.

  “Hey, where are you going, cute stuff,” Jenny said, trying to catch up.

  The problem for her was, she was all human, unable to keep up. My mad dash toward the smoking craters proved faster than the combat droids. I sped by the smoking ruins, hurrying to finish off any beasts before they could recover.

  I sighted an injured zeet’narock deciding to let the laser hone onto its target rather than stopping and properly aiming. The small creature regained its feet, snarling at my approach.

  I squeezed the trigger ever so lightly.

  An intense blue beam crackled out of the weapon, and I tracked the torrent of energy across the ruined forest floor until it sliced the beast in half.

  A distant roar came from a large narock who probably didn’t like the explosion that ripped across the jungle, giving me concern. I hoped to be long gone before that monster arrived.

  I glided across the cleared land, each of my lunging strides longer than the droids. After a minute of running, I reached a pit where huddled kole’narocks cowered.

  As I planted my foot down hard to pivot, I unleashed a grenade.

  Thump!

  Smack!

  The round exploded the foremost creature, causing its long kangaroo-type digging arms to come flying out the hole. I managed three long strides before the boom erupted behind me.

  An explosion of narocks joined the orange flames that belched out of the tunnel. The explosion was once again bigger than I expected.

  I let the Trinity hang on its sling while grabbing the spear off my back.

  A half circle allowed me to run towards the hole I just cleared.

  “Hey, Theo, wanna wait?” Jenny asked, panting hard into the vox.

  I slowed my run to a trot, swapping back to my range weapon. Jenny was likely right in the fact I should wait.

  While I stood near a new hole, the droids all around leveled weapons, emitting beams, bullets, and even darts as they dove into the earth.

  “Then don’t die,” Jenny added as she neared the hole I wanted to explore. “Holy shit, how many did you kill?”

  “A few,” I said nonchalantly. “Let’s use this tunnel. That one is rui
ned.”

  Jenny cautiously approached the lip of the descending tunnel.

  Crack! Crack! Crack!

  She rapidly downed three kole’noracks with precise aim. Each of their odd-shaped heads exploded in showering gore.

  “I wish Henry could do that,” I grumbled.

  “Oh, speaking of which, I heard you’re going to be the new chancellor,” Jenny said proudly.

  “Ladies first,” I gestured to the tunnel.

  “Such a gentleman. Sucks that those bastards kicked you out of your pod. There’s a petition to give you rewards but it got shut down. Anyway, Darcy put me on alert. Guess she figured you’d get into trouble and my elite skills would help. I’d thought you’d be struggling to keep up and a liability, instead you’re making me feel old,” Jenny teased.

  “You are old. Like older than some of this dirt, literally.”

  “Ouch, from the virgin…”

  “I’ve had sex, once.”

  “You’re twenty-one. Once is hardly something to boast about.”

  “Yeah, so. I don’t get why people care,” I said and landed a palm on her shoulder to stop her. She paused.

  We waited patiently. A section of the tunnel behind us dropped dirt down to the floor. The opening expanded and a kole’narock flopped into the tunnel. A horde of zeet’narocks came surging out of the hole.

  I shouldered the Trinity, aiming for the exit spot, and halfway indented the trigger. The beam bored into the earth, and each stupid narock that came out of the fresh tunnel suicided into my energy beam. When the stream of narocks ended, I released the trigger.

  “Alright, talk about making a girl weak in the knees,” Jenny said.

  “What’s your deal? You got a boyfriend.”

  “A partner. And yeah, we’re attached, and yeah, we’re different. You haven’t figured it out yet, have you, kid?”

  I wanted to strangle her but kept diving into the depths of the earth.

  “Is this the right time for playful banter?”

  Crack! Crack!

  Two wounded zeet’narocks died under her precise fire. These two came from lower.

  “This is the perfect time. Not only can you fight while having fun, you fight like a demon. You need to understand something about soldiers,” Jenny said.

  I actually could stand to hear what she had to say. She survived the fall. A warrior who outlived the others and was nominated to be among the best and brightest of humanity.

  Jenny said, “We bust each other's balls. Not everything is serious. You have this look in your eyes. I saw two versions of it that day where you beat the guy who let his wife die. The first look, that one was the gaze of a killer. I’m talking about the look you gave me when you realized you rescued a damsel. A lady who might want to reward you. You need -”

  “I wanted to hear some epic comradery thing. You don’t have balls. I hope you’re happy in your relationship, and I’m not a damn kid. But Jenny,” I said, letting the sentence hang.

  “Yeah Theo.”

  “You’re getting so old your boobs are sagging,” I said, hoping I nailed the punchline.

  She snickered, not laughing. “Good try, kid. Good try. Come on. We should run into the humans soon.”

  “We need to get Darcy making gas grenades for the narocks,” I said.

  “Not a thing,” Darcy and Jenny said at the same time. Darcy continued, “Tranquilizers specific to the species sure. But why bother. Once I get manufacturing up and council approval, I’ll -”

  “Stop right there,” a voice shouted from around the corner.

  We paused. A droid ran up behind us and handed me a device. I recognized what it was right away - a gas generator. I could explain myself to these people or I could turn them into citizens of the fleet against their will.

  “Whatcha gonna do, partner?” Jenny asked.

  “As if it were ever a question,” I said. “The needs of the many supersede the needs of the few. Even if their morality were in question, which it is not. These people need to help humanity survive and stop their atrocities. A win-win in my books.”

  I confidently walked into the tunnel.

  “Stop! Stop or we’ll shoot.”

  I heard the action of a sidearm.

  “Dear residents of quadrant 117,” I started, and my HUD flashed 118. “Quadrant 118. You are to immediately lower your weapons and surrender yourselves into the care of the Fleet of Earth. You will be fed, housed, and investigated for your crimes against humanity. If you have been just and good, then -”

  Random gunfire pinged off the walls before I could even round the bend.

  “Screw you. There’s no fleet and no one is taking us from our home.”

  “I will not warn you again. The narocks are dead,” I boasted, coming around the corner.

  A series of bullets pinged off my armor. I saw three men standing behind a barricade. A dozen dead zeet’narocks lay dead among a few humans. I turned to a side tunnel and triggered a grenade.

  Thump!

  Boom!

  “You missed,” the man who reloaded his 9mm said.

  I turned to him, and his buddies raised their hands.

  “He wasn’t aiming at you shithead. He is closing off the air so that when we gas you, it works,” Jenny said, joining my side.

  A different man said, “Put your weapon down Pierre, it’s over.”

  The young man with the pistol reached down and pulled up a rifle, this might get through my armor. So, I aimed and squeezed.

  A beam zipped through the tunnel in a flash of light, drilling a hole into his forehead.

  I let go of the trigger and the body flopped down. A series of droids hurried to secure the dead man. Jenny and I groaned at the fact Darcy would do her science on him.

  “You look like a smart man,” I said to the guy who told Pierre to surrender. When I got a closer look from my suit’s lighting it donned on me. “Hey, you look like Otana. Uncle, father, hell, maybe both.”

  “Not funny,” the man said.

  Jenny snorted and I said, “She thinks it was. I saw some heinous stuff over in Grammor Stronghold. Funny thing is, they knew something was wrong here. So, we came to help. You have two options. You walk into your settlement, right in the middle, sit down, and press this green button. Or you walk into your settlement, right in the middle, sit down, and press this green button.”

  “That’s only one,” the other man said, earning a swift kick to his nuts from Jenny.

  “Idiot,” Jenny said, looming over the man as if daring him to make a move.

  When he surrendered, she stripped them of their weapons, and I pointed Trinity at the man’s face while handing him the gas bomb.

  “My sister and my niece?” he asked, hanging his head in defeat.

  I stood in front of him and said, “Your niece will become one of the most powerful humans to ever live. A powerhouse groomed by Darcy. Your sister will shit herself in a container until her mind accepts that she is no longer a princess entitled to thriving off slave labor. If that doesn’t work, Darcy will breed her and raise her children in a world that doesn’t know the hardships you faced.”

  “And me?” he asked.

  “No promises but do good things, be a good person and hope for the best. Most importantly, I need you to hit that green button inside your home,” I ordered.

  He nodded and left. A minute later, my HUD told me that he indented the button and gas ejected out of the device. We just needed to wait for the device to do its work before we could salvage this mess.

  “Want to inspect this shithole?” Jenny asked.

  “Not really, but we need to. Darcy only has so many droids and there are three, maybe four, operations in motion,” I said.

  Jenny nodded, following behind the billowing smoke. “Hopefully we can save some lives.”

  “Yeah, I hope so.”

  “Are you okay?” Jenny asked, taking us through destroyed defenses.

  “Sorta. I want to go back to Roma. I… I mi
ss Snagglewood.”

  “Ah, tough to cope with. Darcy said she is going to have cyborg bodies ready soon. Just prototypes, but Merick and I are excited. He… We were war buddies, and at times, more. He, he, he, it’s complicated. When he died, I swore I’d give anything to see him again.

  “After winning a council seat, Darcy asked what I wanted, and it was Merick. Slight problem, he didn’t want to acknowledge he was eaten by a bore’narock. He wanted to go back to being a wizard. Yeah, I shit you not, a wizard.

  “The fantasy realm of Belvia was and is his jam. Can’t blame him really. It’s a real fun place, even better than this shit. There is something toe curling about riding a dragon. Honestly, the realms are so damn vivid, you forget they're not real,” Jenny said.

  We paused, letting the smoke seep into the main cavern. The front of this stronghold consisted of ruined buildings that became defensive lines. The smoke swirled, heading toward numerous exits. Other men from other holes came running to see the commotion.

  Women protected children and some elderly huddled in their homes further into the cavern. A series of starving people cowered away from the main mass of residents. Cages in the back spoke volumes and soon the survivors would be free.

  I let the gas do the work, watching the people slowly but surely lay down. While we waited, I said, “I think I can come to terms with loving an imprint.”

  “Wow, that is a big leap,” Jenny said. “A lot of these women will become healthy and pretty. You know Darcy will fix them, right?”

  “Is that a question?” I asked.

  “I have my doubts. Not trying to upset Mother Nature, but yeah, some of these people are not ideal candidates for Citizens,” Jenny said, taking a jab at the fact Darcy labeled herself as a god in Snagglewood.

  “Then they stay as fleet members, or they become prisoners and serve humanity until the need for them ceases to exist. At that point, we stick them on an island like in that movie Nope Escape, let them live on their own terms,” I said.

  “That’s terrible. We put them back in Australia after we clear it,” Jenny said.

  “Eh, New Zealand is better, but I will concede, your idea has merit.” The gas fully enveloped the cavern now, creating a thick fog. ”That about does it. I’m going to use my long stride and enhanced body to run these people out one at a time,” I said.