by Alex Knight
Kaiden realized he was a good distance away now, and had just enough charge left for—
Hammer Toss.
Kaiden launched his hammer at the smiling mercenary. It conked him on the head.
Critical Hit!
+50% damage (Headshot)
Hammer Toss hit!
+100% damage
The mercenary fell back and his health dropped all the way to red, no longer smiling.
Kaiden’s hammer flew magnetically back to his hand as he sprinted to the fallen merc. He swung down with a final blow.
Human mercenary killed - 250 EXP gained!
The crowd went wild. Marty’s voice boomed out once more, encouraging them further.
“Calm down, superstar. You’re supposed to be challenged by these fights. At least make it look like you’re trying, huh?”
Kaiden turned to the man and shrugged.
I’m here to survive three rounds, not make a good show out of it.
“No matter, though.” Marty reached for a third lever. “We’ve reached the final act of our performance. And folks, it’s sure to be a wild one.”
Chapter Thirty
Kaiden did a double take as the third door opened and his new adversaries came out. The last thing he’d expected to see were turen.
Ealis (NPC)
Turen Marksman
Faction: Turen Geniocracy
Level: 9
He focused on the second of the two turen that had emerged from the tunnel.
Silae (NPC)
Turen Marksman
Faction: Turen Geniocracy
Level: 9
Each turen warrior held a strange-looking blaster, with thin, translucent tubes spiraling around the barrel.
“Presenting your home field favorites! Your reigning arena champions!” Marty called out to cheers from the crowd. “The Twin Turen Terrors, Ealis and Silae!”
The crowd’s response was deafening. The turen ignored it, however, opting to spread out to either side, guns raised as they maneuvered around Kaiden.
Kaiden countered their movements, backing toward the wall behind him. If they got on either side of him, he couldn’t stop their shots with his shield. No matter which way he blocked, one side of him would always be exposed.
From what I’ve learned about the turen, I need to get in close to get the upper hand; even if they are each a level above me.
“Luck is a widespread human misconception,” Ealis said. “Nonetheless, we understand it is customary to wish one’s opponent ‘good luck’ before engaging in combat. Good luck, human warden.”
“Huh. That’s awful polite of you,” Kaiden said. “Good luck to you, as we—”
Silae’s blast slammed into his shoulder, sending him to the ground.
His health, already lowered from the last round of fighting, dropped to twenty-three percent.
Another blast from that and I’ll just about be finishe–
A piercing bright light flared on his right and the translucent coils around Ealis’ gun began to glow. A moment later, she fired. Kaiden rolled to the side as an unseen force exploded a wide patch of ground beside him in a blast of steaming dirt.
Jeez, that’s bright, Kaiden thought, squinting and turning his eyes from Ealis’ blaster as she revved it to fire again. A humming from behind betrayed the fact that Silae was charging his gun as well.
I can’t get hit, Kaiden thought, then remembered his stimpack. He activated it.
-1 Stimpack
The healing serum was injected into him through his armor. His health bar filled to forty-eight percent, putting him just back in the yellow.
He had just enough time to be disappointed about that fact before both siblings fired. The first blast came from the right. Kaiden spun away from it.
He leaned into the second shot with his shield, expecting to absorb the blow and fill his charge bar. His charge bar filled, but as the blast detonated on his shield, he was thrown backward, stumbling to catch his balance. Before he did, he slammed into the wall of the arena. Electricity jolted through him and his health bar flashed in warning.
“Gahhh!” Kaiden pulled himself off the wall before it did too much damage.
“I just regained that health!” he shouted, scowling at Silae.
“Our objective is to win this fight. Your lost health brings us closer to this goal. I do not regret my actions.”
“Regret this, four-eyes!” Kaiden used Hammer Toss and flung his weapon at Silae.
The turen blinked all four eyes at once. Kaiden's hammer stopped mid-flight, then shot back to his hand.
Hammer Toss blocked by Telekinetic Pulse.
Right, they’re minorly telekinetic. Apparently, that means my ranged attacks are going to be entirely ineffective.
The siblings were charging their weapons now and maintaining their angle on him, one on either side.
Kaiden charged the nearest one, Silae, shield held in front of him. He got about halfway to his target before Ealis’ blaster fired from behind. Kaiden sidestepped and the shot whirred past him. Silae fired next, before Kaiden could ready himself to dodge again. The blast hit him square on his shield, filling his charge bar to near-max and knocking him on his rear.
“Argh…” he groaned. His plan so far – block their shots, build charge, and get in close – was getting him nowhere. He needed a new strategy. But what?
Burst of Speed is still on cooldown, so that’s no good. Hammer Toss is useless. Enhanced Senses...I doubt that’s going to do much. And Riposte isn’t good for anything if I can’t get close to them. What do I do?
For a moment, Kaiden considered trying to get them to shoot each other. If he dodged at the last minute, maybe they’d miss him and hit one another?
Rising to his feet, he lined up with Silae such that if Ealis missed, the blast would hit her sibling. Silae moved with Kaiden, however, keeping himself out of a direct line with his counterpart as both of them charged their weapons for another volley.
The piercing light burst out again, forcing Kaiden to look away.
And then an idea struck him. What if he tried funneling charge out of his shield, in the same way that he did with his hammer when performing attacks? Maybe it would emit enough light to throw off the turens’ aim, giving him a better dodge chance. He had a near-full charge bar and nothing to do with it.
Worth a shot.
Praying his plan would work, or do something, at least, Kaiden funneled charge out of his shield as he ran at Silae. It wasn’t something he’d done before, or even realized that he knew how to do. But when he tried, it worked. His charge bar drained by a fifth, and as it did, his shield began to glow.
Kaiden pointed it at Silae as he neared him. The turen frowned for a moment, then raised his blaster to take aim. Kaiden’s shield went off first.
The glowing reached peak brightness, then exploded outward in a burst of white-hot light. Even from behind his shield, Kaiden was forced to look away.
Silae flinched, startled from the explosion, and his shot went high, blasting into the air to detonate against an invisible energy barrier over the arena.
“That’s new,” Ealis said, then fired.
Kaiden dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding her shot.
“I can’t see!”
He turned to find Silae stumbling backward, a hand reaching out as if feeling for the wall. He found it, then yelped as it sent an electric jolt through his system.
“Brother?” Ealis called, concern in her voice. “What has happened?”
“He has blinded me!”
Natural Ability Unlocked!
Flash Bang: Discharge an intense light from your shield that blinds opponents within 10 feet for 5 seconds. Has a 3-second cast time. Cost: 25 charge. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Now that’s useful!
Wasting no time, Kaiden rushed at Silae, hammer raised. Still blinded, the turen couldn’t evade him. He hit Silae right between his four eyes, cracking his head back and sending him stumblin
g into the electric wall once more.
Critical Hit!
+50% damage (Headshot)
This dropped Silae’s health into the red – turen really were weak to physical damage, weren’t they? – and the wall promptly finished him off.
In the span of a heartbeat, Silae collapsed to the ground, health bar empty as steam rose from his burned skin.
Turen warrior killed - 400 EXP gained!
“Brother!” Ealis fired a shot from her blaster, but Kaiden was already moving. He dodged the attack and charged.
Ealis’ eyes were wide as he drew closer, fear clear in her expression. She charged her blaster again, aiming dead center at Kaiden’s chest.
This is going to be close.
Kaiden raised his hammer and shield, praying he made it to his opponent before she fired again. He was so close now she was highly unlikely to miss, and he wasn’t sure if his shield would overload on impact. He was committed now. It was all or nothing.
Ealis jabbed the barrel toward him, the weapon glowing with a taser charge, and Kaiden dodged aside, gaining a stack of Riposte. Kaiden turned and swung, as did Ealis. They hit each other at the same time.
Kaiden felt a shock from the taser and his health fell to ten percent.
That was too close.
Ealis was quick, lunging again with her taser. Kaiden met her using Shield Bash, and his shield left her stunned. An easy headshot ended the fight.
Turen warrior killed - 400 EXP gained!
Quest Complete: Survive 3 rounds in Marty’s arena
Rewards received: + 3,000 EXP, + 5 faction prestige with Nassau’s criminal underground, - 15 faction prestige with the Warden Corps (if they find out, that is).
Bonus reward: Access granted to the services of Nassau’s finest ‘theatre’.
Level 9 achieved!
Max health and stamina increased
+3 stat points
Ability Unlocked!
Blur: You discharge a small energy field so that your movements appear to blur, increasing your dodge chance by 25%. Does not affect the chances of AOE effects to hit you. Cost: 5 charge per second for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.
Relief flooded through Kaiden as the level up restored his health.
“That’s...that’s unbelievable.” Marty’s voice boomed through the arena, for the first time sounding unsure. “Our champions, the Twin Turen Terrors, have been...dethroned!”
For a moment, there was stunned silence. Then someone in the back started clapping. It grew like a wave, rising through the arena until the sound was all Kaiden could hear.
He couldn’t help but feel a rush of pride as the applause washed over him. He’d done it. The others had been worried, Titus had even offered to take his place, but Kaiden had won. It felt good.
He quickly made his way over to Marty, looking up at the theatre owner’s booth with his arms crossed.
“Can we talk business now?”
Clapping along with the rest of his arena, Marty broke into a smile.
“Can we ever, officer. Can we ever.”
Chapter Thirty-One
It was thirty minutes later when Kaiden returned to the others, waiting in the Borrelly on the far side of the district.
“You did it?” Titus said.
“You won?” Zelda asked at almost the same time.
Kaiden smiled as he walked up the rear loading ramp of the shuttle, then clapped Titus on the shoulder.
“Good news, my friend. I’ve successfully hired Jax to kill you.”
A quest prompt appeared on his screen.
Quest Complete: Capture the assassin Jax, part 3 complete!
Part 3: Find a way to capture the assassin
Rewards received: +7,000 EXP, +5 faction prestige
**Update**
Quest: Capture the assassin Jax
Part 4: Capture the assassin
Expected Difficulty: Master
Rewards: +8,000 EXP, +10 faction prestige
Level 10 achieved!
Max health and stamina increased
+3 stat points
Ability Choice Unlocked!
You may choose 1 of 2 abilities
Onslaught: Following 6 consecutive critical strikes, Onslaught mode is triggered for 5 seconds. While in Onslaught mode you deal double base damage and have double current movement speed. Cooldown: 3 minutes.
OR
Disengage: Endurance and speed are doubled for the duration of 20 seconds, but you are unable to perform attacks during this time period. Cost: 20 charge. Cooldown: 3 minutes.
A choice! That was new.
Kaiden slumped into his seat in the cockpit and considered his decision. Disengage would be useful to…well, disengage if he was taking hits, particularly if his shield overcharged and he needed to get away.
At the same time, though, Burst of Speed was already a similar, albeit more costly, squishier version of it, and Kaiden had found dodging and riposting had served him well against the mercs. Who needed defense when you were too fast and nimble to hit, anyway?
Meanwhile, Onslaught could come in very useful, especially if he ever had to take on a big opponent. Stacked with Riposte, Kaiden could do some serious damage.
He selected Onslaught, feeling no regrets. Then it was on to the stat points.
Kaiden accessed his character sheet and for a moment his finger hovered over dexterity once again, but then he paused. Did he need to be faster, or continue to help improve dodge and critical hit chance? It couldn’t hurt, but he wasn’t so sure it was what he needed most right now.
He remembered his critical hit against the blinded Silae. It hadn’t even finished the turen off – that had been the electrified wall - and turen were notoriously weak against melee damage. A little more strength and Kaiden could have killed it in one shot.
Then there was the near miss with Ealis; ten percent of health was too close for comfort. He could do with a bit more of a buffer there.
Kaiden decided and assigned three points to strength, three to endurance.
Character
Name: Kaiden
Race: Human
Level: 10
Class: Enhanced Warden
Attributes:
Strength: 22 Intelligence: 19
Endurance: 22 Perception: 19
Dexterity: 40 Unassigned: 0
Abilities:
Hammer Smash, Shield Bash, Hammer Toss, Shackle, Burst of Speed, Enhanced Senses, Riposte, Flash Bang, Blur, Onslaught
Perks:
Turen Tinkering
Perfect! Two level ups almost back to back, four new abilities, and a trap laid for our assassin. It’s about time things started going our way.
He noticed Titus and Zelda seemed to be finishing up allocating their own new stat points too.
“All good guys?” Kaiden asked.
They nodded.
“Great,” Kaiden said, slipping into the pilot seat of the Borrelly. “I gave Marty, the owner of the ‘theatre,’ enough information that Jax should have no problem tracking Titus to the warehouse we scoped out. Now we just need to get there, set the trap and give Marty a call when we’re ready.”
“Good thing our bait won’t be hard to spot,” Zelda added with a nod toward Titus. The big man laughed, then hefted his hammer.
“Might be Jax finds this bait has a bit of fight in him.”
“He was a pretty powerful player,” Kaiden said, thinking back to his encounter with Jax. “We shouldn’t take any chances. He was level fifteen, and we’re each level ten or thereabouts. Three on one means we have a better chance of winning, but it’ll still be tough.”
“We will win,” Zelda said, her voice firm. “This is too important.”
Kaiden nodded. A lot was riding on them shackling Jax and getting the information on Bernstein’s true killers. He turned his attention to the navigation console, selecting the warehouse from their list of recently visited locations, and the shuttle plotted a course back to it.
I
t was across Boyd City, deep in an industrial district. With any luck, it’d be removed enough to give them some privacy to capture, then – if luck was with them – interrogate the assassin.
“Alright. Course plotted. Let’s get to it.” Kaiden hit the ignition switch and the Borrelly hummed to life. Then a siren started blaring and red lights flooded the shuttle’s interior.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” Zelda asked, rushing to the cockpit.
“Nothing, as far as I can tell!” Kaiden scanned the panels, searching for a sign of what caused the alert.
“Uh oh,” Titus laughed, “Lieutenant Ellenton won’t be thrilled. Whatever you’ve done, it sounds bad.”
All the consoles in the cockpit flashed as one, then cut to a video screen. Captain Thorne stood on the bridge of the Anakoni, a grim expression stretched across her face.
“Calling all wardens in the Greater Spiral Arm system. This is a priority one alert. I repeat, we have a priority one alert.”
That can’t be good, Kaiden thought, frowning at the video.
“Fifteen minutes ago, our outpost on Andros’ scanners picked up a voidspawn Leviathan emerging from a rift at the edge of the system. Be advised, this is not the Leviathan we engaged en route to Nassau. This is a new one.”
“A new Leviathan?” Even from a pace away, Kaiden heard Zelda swallow hard. “They only finished off the first one a few days ago.”
“Apparently the voidspawn are back for round two.” Titus grabbed a seat and strapped in.
“The Leviathan will arrive at Andros any moment now. I’ve ordered our outpost there to fortify and hold out for reinforcements. They cannot win this fight on their own.” She frowned deeper. “All wardens are hereby re-assigned to Andros, effective immediately. Rallying coordinates on the planet have been sent along with this message.”