Even without a kill, her intel had nailed down the number of juggernauts they’d be facing.
“Nice work,” Reggie radioed June. “Hit solid ground, and keep out of the main fray. Targets of opportunity only. Watch for strays and stragglers.”
“Yes, sir,” June replied crisply.
Reggie had his thumb on the key to open his mic and correct June. She, of all people, knew better than to call a sergeant “sir.” But he stopped himself from saying so. Reggie wasn’t Sgt. King in here. Armored Souls had given him an informal promotion, and that’s what June was honoring.
Reggie swallowed back the jitters rising in his throat. These were real people. He was dragging real, living pilots into battle. Half of them were civilians; one was a senile relic.
He was going to get them all killed.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 4/44]
“Um, sorry,” Lin radioed. “Meant to mention that I was engaging the enemy.”
Light damage showed to Yulong’s right leg armor where she’d Jump Boost kicked a hostile Gargoyle, destroying it in one shot.
“They’re competent,” ASHARI said gently. “And each of them is safe, mind and body, outside the game.”
Reggie found himself sweating as Chase and Frank closed in on a cluster of House Sedietra mediums. Frank led the way, and when Reggie bought up wire frames on the enemy juggernauts, he was surprised to find detailed hit point information available on them.
And Frank was hewing those hit points out of arms and torsos twenty at a time with his massive swords.
Reggie turned to ASHARI. “How am I supposed going to get accustomed to commanding real soldiers under fire if I don’t treat this like it’s real? How am I going to earn my way back to active duty like that, huh? Answer me that!”
“That’s not the point, Sgt. King,” ASHARI said, meeting rage and frustration with calmness. “You aren’t here to lead battles. You are learning to stop worrying about getting people killed. In this particular environment, it isn’t even possible.”
Reggie watched the mini-map. He glanced quickly over the wire frames of the enemy juggernauts, the platoon status screen, the radio logs. Game. Game. Everywhere he looked, he saw game elements.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 7/44]
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 9/44]
Reggie shook his head in defiance. “All I care about is getting back to my unit and into a tank.”
ASHARI’s words hit him like a 120mm high-explosive shell. “Which is why you keep failing.”
Reggie’s breath came in short, panting gasps. It wasn’t true. He wasn’t sabotaging his own chances of getting out of Dr. Zimmerman’s nut-house. “You better clarify that—pronto—or you’re getting deleted.”
The last thing Reggie needed was a digitized shrink in the cockpit with him.
“Your goals aren’t in alignment with Dr. Zimmerman’s treatment plan. Your primary concern is returning to active duty. The doctor’s only goal is your mental well-being. However, you may think of that as a necessary first step you keep stumbling over because you refuse to acknowledge it.”
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 11/44]
“Yo, Reg,” Chase called out. “You planning on firing? I mean, those commander bonuses are nice, but I think your Wolverine is still armed.” Despite the admonishment, Reggie could hear the grin in Chase’s tone.
“They’re your friends,” ASHARI said. “Some newer than others, granted. But they’re here to play. Why aren’t you?”
ASHARI winked out. The absence of her soft blue glow left the cockpit a little darker.
Why am I not playing?
Reggie hadn’t been playing, even when he was enjoying the game. Somewhere in his head, he’d lumped Armored Souls in with rifle training, 40-mile hikes, and wilderness survival. No… it was most similar to chemical weapons training in boot camp. They’d thrown him in a cinder-block bunker with a half dozen other recruits, given them gas masks, and tossed in a tear gas canister. The test hadn’t been one of skill or technique, it had been about following simple, lifesaving instructions and keeping your head in a crisis.
Reggie was failing.
Hard.
Go play Armored Souls. It’s like tanking but in the future with giant robots. It’ll be fun.
Reggie hadn’t received any complicated instruction to follow. He was just supposed to be playing a game.
Taking a deep breath, Reggie cleared his throat and opened a radio channel to his platoon. “Sorry. A lot to process here. Not used to the detailed intel flooding in. Continue to advance on House Sedietra positions. I’m moving to Papa-niner-five-niner.”
“Think you can say ‘niner’ a few more times?” Chase asked, giggling.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 14/44]
“Commander, smoke,” Lin reported. “Someone’s started a forest fire.”
It’s just a game…
“ASHARI, what are the odds of us completing this mission if we burn down that forest with two allied platoons inside?” Reggie asked. “Better or worse?”
“Mission success stands at 88 percent already,” ASHARI reported. “However, if 18 enemy units are inside that forest, and all juggernauts currently in forest hexes are unable to escape, the odds of victory rise to 91 percent.”
It’s just a game…
Play to win.
No commander in the US Army would sacrifice two thirds of his own men to gain a slight edge in a battle that was already in the bag. But 88 percent wasn’t 100 percent, and Badger3 and his cronies weren’t allies in any traditional sense.
“Chase, Frank, light up some pine cigars,” Reggie ordered. “House Sedietra has more troops in there than we do.”
There were no objections, just a pair of quick affirmations that orders had been received. Frank’s secondary weaponry cut into trees nearly halfway into the forest while Chase’s Plasma Launchers blasted trees to flaming ruin and scattered flaming debris that spread rapidly among the dry tinder.
Reggie’s radio blinked with incoming calls.
A coward could have just ignored them until they went away.
Reggie picked up and unmuted. “Hey, Badger3, status report?”
“You bleeping bleep bag!”
“Are you still in that forest?” Reggie asked innocently. “I thought I told you to exit the far side so we could burn it. If it wasn’t us, they were bound to smoke you out.”
“I’m overheated. I can’t get out. You little bleep. I was almost level 11!”
Reggie hit the mute again, not needing the distraction of Badger3 berating him as enemy juggernauts came into range.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 25/44]
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 32/44]
The messages stopped popping up as the fires spread to engulf nearly the entire forest. Anything trapped inside wasn’t getting out now. Anything that had been caught seemed to have already been added to the objective tally.
“I’ve got eyes on the munitions depot,” June reported. “There are two Jackals guarding it. MRM-2 and Beam Cannon-M on both. Stock configuration.”
“Lin. We want that munitions depot intact. Close to CQC and engage.”
“Fuzzy on the ‘CQC’ bit,” Lin replied, though she already had Yulong headed for the depot. The 50m masonry wall wouldn’t stop her thanks to the Jump Boost on her Dragon.
“Close Quarters Combat. Take ‘em out with your sword to limit chances for them blowing the depot.”
“Estimated explosion range, 200m,” June added. “Keep them with their backs to the depot, and if they blow it themselves, you’ll be out of range.”
“Got it,” Lin replied.
Reggie licked dry lips. This wasn’t real. It was surreal. Thinking, imaginative minds were helping with the mission. He hadn’t needed to specify way-points, tag targets, or listen
to inane, jabbering buffoons—except possibly Chase. They even coordinated actions without his intervention.
Down on the mini-map, Reggie noticed that the fight was advancing without him. More important than his own firepower was his continued bestowal of the +6 bonus to Gunnery and +3 to Piloting for his platoon.
Adjusting his heading, Reggie piloted Vortex to maintain a Command Radius that covered everyone. He’d had to accept that Lin would be out of range once she hopped the wall, but that was unavoidable.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 38/44]
Reggie knew he’d catch a load of shit back at base if the post-mission stats showed a goose egg for his contribution. Taking aim, he locked onto a hostile Shinigami.
[Shinigami[3] - 92% To Hit - Left Leg: 6/40]
Reggie unloaded with his Plasma Launcher. The Shinigami took the blast in the leg, and the plasma tore through armor as well as the joint and actuators beneath. The Shinigami toppled over.
A follow-up blast from Vortex’s Beam Cannon-M was enough to take out the downed juggernaut.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 39/44]
But that was the last Reggie saw of real action.
Lin made short work of the two Jackals at the munitions depot.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 41/44]
[Secondary Objective Complete: Secure Munitions Depot]
Chase and Frank took out the last remaining Badger and Titan, respectively.
[Primary Objective: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 43/44]
June caught up with a Chi-Ri that was attempting to fall back to cover in the mountains beyond the outpost.
[Primary Objective Complete: Destroy House Sedietra Juggernauts 44/44]
“Nice work, everyone,” Reggie radioed to the platoon. “Meet up at the command center and end this.”
“End it?” Chase echoed, incredulity heavy in his tone. “Bleep that. Start tagging salvage. We’re here for the cash, and there’s no one to stop us.”
Reggie looked into the sky. There was no sign of unwelcome guests. Maybe this was a day he’d dodge the bullet that was The Mechromancer. A nagging worry clawed at his spine, but Reggie shook loose from his personal demons long enough to make a decision.
“Correction,” Reggie radioed. “Done with shooting; time for the looting. Check in when you’ve all had your fill of plunder, then we’ll blow this place sky high.”
“Like the Fourth of July,” Frank added in rhyme, then cackled at his own joke.
Ten minutes later, the five of them gathered at the House Sedietra command center. It was a squat, armored bunker bristling with communications towers and anti-orbital gun emplacements that did them little good defending against a ground assault.
House Sedietra must have felt that 44 juggernauts were enough defense from terrestrial opponents.
They were wrong.
The command center went up in a column of flame. Smoke billowed as a warning to any fleeing enemy personnel.
[Primary Objective Complete: Destroy House Sedietra Command Center]
“Now, let’s pack up and head… home.”
[Mission Successful - 5500 XP - 18,000Cr]
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
The rec room of Reggie’s secret headquarters was raucous. Billiard balls crashed, and glass clinked as beer was served—even to Chase. The television blared one of the music channels that played hair metal from the 1980’s, complete with cheesy old music videos.
Everyone had been assigned a region of the base as their personal domain, and with the 33,000Cr plus whatever they’d saved up, they were all keyed up to start shopping.
Reggie grew misty-eyed at the idea that they were turning his lonely, quiet hidden base into a home.
Chase waved his tablet as he boasted. “And then, this guy looks at me from musta been five hundred meters out—turns his juggernaut’s head right at me—and lifts both arms. He was all like, ‘Dude, I’m in this forest you’re burning.’ And I was all, ‘Yeah, well maybe you should have considered not standing in a bunch of kindling during a battle’ and kept firing.”
Frank grunted as he lined up a shot, playing nine-ball against Lin. “Had two of those computer-driven no-goodniks take aim at me from 150 yards out. I could’ve hunkered down, traded lasers with ‘em. Sure. But I bet those circuits in their heads didn’t know what’s what when I charged the both of them. Knocked over one with a shoulder rush, clocked the other in the schnoz with my fist—toppled him right over, too. Hacking up downed robots with a sword’s a whole lot like chopping firewood. Gotta let gravity do most of the work for you.”
Frank took his shot. Though Reggie had no angle from the couch to see what was going on, he guessed that since Lin was now lining up a shot, Frank had missed.
“You guys are lucky you weren’t on the commanders’ channel,” Reggie said between swigs of his beer. “One of the guys didn’t say boo; the other wouldn’t shut up about his ace plan to sneak through the forest.”
Frank grumbled something about “Pickett’s Charge.”
A crash of billiard balls and a muttered ‘bleep’ from Frank said that Lin had made her shot. “It was pretty cold-blooded, burning that forest down. I like it.”
June plopped down on the couch beside Reggie and clinked her beer mug against his, sloshing the contents of both. “And the best part is: The Mechromancer didn’t show up.”
“The what, now?” Frank asked.
Chase fiddled with his tablet until the television went mute. “Yeah, what’s this about a necromancer?”
“Mechromancer,” Reggie said with a sigh.
June slid over to the next cushion on the couch. “I see. They didn’t know.”
“Know what?” Lin asked, walking over with her pool cue still in hand.
Reggie swept a hand toward June. If she wanted to spill the beans, by all means, she could explain the details.
June stalled by taking a long drink. When she was finished, she looked around at each member of the platoon. “Reggie had been getting griefed—pretty hard too—by a guy who calls himself The Mechromancer. He’s got some sort of hack to take over destroyed mechs and got them running enough to rejoin battle on his side.”
“Bleeped up,” Lin said, wrinkling her nose.
Chase ignored June, meeting Reggie eye to eye from across the gap between couches. “Care to tell us why you kept that under wraps?”
“Sure he had his reasons,” Frank said, leaning on his cue.
“Like, maybe he didn’t want us knowing he was damaged goods?” Lin suggested.
Reggie stood and set down his beer. This was no time for stonewalling or hiding from his choices. “I’m sorry. I wanted to get free from that griefer. I figured forming a real platoon instead of using NPCs would make me a harder target for him. It saps the fun from the game always looking over your shoulder for a guy that can curb-stomp you and has a hang-up about some mission I ran weeks ago against his faction.”
“Bum deal,” Frank said with a nod. “That fella shows up, we’ll feed him his teeth.”
Chase just shrugged. “Whatever. If we run into him, we run into him. Not gonna bail on you guys like a chicken bleep.” He gave Frank a sly look as he stole one of the old-timer’s terms.
Lin blew a sigh and rolled her eyes. “You know what? Bleep that guy. I’m not finding another new platoon. Plus, you guys actually bleep stuff up pretty good.”
June was in already. She’d known all along, apparently still in contact with Doc Zimmerman and getting the inside scoop on his therapy sessions.
Reggie wasn’t sure how to feel having a potential mole in place, reporting his every minor behavior back to Doc Zimmerman. But she was a damn sight to have around, and he would trade her spying on him any day of the week and twice on Sundays if it kept her in the platoon. If Reggie was going to be damned for what he did in the game, at least he’d have someone on his side to report it with a friendly angle.
&n
bsp; “So,” Chase said, setting down his tablet and beer so he could cross his arms. “We gonna head out for another mission? I’ve got time before class.”
Lin shrugged. “I guess. You losers aren’t going to show me up. I’ll hang as long as everyone else is in.”
Frank cracked his knuckles. “Wouldn’t mind a little more smashy-smashy, shooty-shooty tonight.”
Before she answered, June checked the clock. “OK. I might run a little late in the morning, but I can skip yoga,” she said with a smirk.
“Great,” Reggie said, clapping his hands once with a note of finality. “Gimme a few minutes to rustle up a mission, and we’ll head out.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
If someone had built Detroit, Pittsburg, and Gotham City all on top of one another, they’d have invented the City of Darrek—located on the edge of Star League space, on a planet with dozens of other major cities, hundreds of minor ones, and countless smaller habitats.
According to the Star League galactic survey, it was a safe planet.
[Primary Objective: Locate and Destroy Secret Gone-Star Lab]
On the surface, the mission sounded easy. But the briefing had included such gems as “unknown number of enemy combatants,” “may be located potentially anywhere,” and “armed civilian populace.”
The entire mission was only possible because they had June along. She had good enough scanners to match the radiation profile given in the briefing to a specific building. Anyone less equipped would have had to find the lab by spycraft at ground level or just level the city until they got lucky.
The mission briefing was wildly accommodating on how they accomplished the lab’s destruction.
“Don’t engage,” Reggie warned. “Ignore all communications from planetary authorities. Let them think this is just one of the factions saber-rattling.”
The platoon radioed back their acknowledgments in a rough chorus. They already had their orders. June was on point for this one; the rest of them were on guard duty and demolition detail.
“This is a brave mission,” ASHARI commented, picking that moment to appear on the console. “You’ve avoided urban warfare in your recent encounters.”
Dead Mech Walking: a mech LitRPG novel (Armored Souls Book 1) Page 28