Multiplayer

by John C. Brewer

  We’re going to be dead in about two minutes,” said Sanjar.

  “Shoot me,” said Deion.

  “What?” said G0dd4rd as the first salvos came in long and sailed over his head.

  “The way you launched Izaak. I’ll get on Uber Pwn and see if I can distract them.”

  “But I don’t have any more pods or a parachute.”

  Deion climbed the ladder and lay down on the rails. “I’ve got a bubble shield. And I’ll boost my armor right before I hit and fire my chain gun to slow me down.”

  “You’ll just get killed.” said G0dd4rd. “And they’ll know who you are!”

  “Well, we know they’re coming now. Izaak’s out there and he’s got the list. So do it! Now!”

  Shells landed just in front of them and exploded. In a moment, they’d have the range. Hector couldn’t help but notice Sanjar’s salvos always hit the first time.

  G0dd4rd measured the range to Uber Pwn and calculated a firing solution. Then he adjusted the gun and weighed Darxhan. When he had his muzzle velocity set, he launched the merc. As soon as Darxhan was away, G0dd4rd slid down to the ground and ran from V2. And it was a good thing he did, for Uber Pwn’s next salvo would have sent G0dd4rd to the replication tank with Alkindi.

  “This is freaking awesome,” exclaimed Deion, soaring over the ground below. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at his screen.

  “What if you miss?” said Helen.

  “I didn’t think about that,” said Deion. “Sanjar?!”

  “You will hit,” said Sanjar.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quadratic equation and all that.”

  Uber Pwn expanded rapidly in size until it filled his entire screen. Just before impact, he activated the bubble shield and boosted his armor. It was a huge power draw but also his only hope. Then he aimed down and started firing. An instant later, he slammed into the massive craft about half way out on the right wing. He ripped through three decks and a vanguard before coming to a stop.

  “See,” said Sanjar. “Direct hit.”

  Darxhan’s shields were completely gone and his fusion cells virtually dead, but he was alive when he pulled himself out of a collapsed bulkhead. “Direct hit, my armored butt!”

  “You did bring some extra fusion cells?” said Hector, looking at his screen, and realizing that everyone seemed to be having fun. He hoped they wouldn’t remember what a jerk he was but knew it was only a matter of time.

  “What, you think I’m stupid?” Deion laughed, and replaced the cells with fresh ones from his inventory. Then Hector watched as Darxhan rose to his full height. “Gore,” he sang. “Daddy’s home.”

  Meanwhile, Izaak was making for the outer wall, even while Sanjar was pulling the Stryker out of the road-tunnel. T-Reg and c’Irith were organizing the defense with Shah and additional characters that popped in every few minutes. Before long, all the Spartans were accounted for except for Veyron, and there were a dozen extras, with more appearing all the time.

  A moment later, G0dd4rd came roaring up on the Stryker and Hector stopped to watch Sanjar’s screen as BayernFC and L3r0y climbed aboard with him. The other Spartans and mercenaries gathered around, several dozen in all, with more arriving all the time.

  “I’m not much on speeches,” G0dd4rd relayed from the driver’s station as Sanjar spoke on the couch, “but if we lose this battle, it might just start World War Three.” Everyone laughed, but Sanjar became deadly serious. “I’m not joking. Now, I don’t have time to explain it all, but me and a couple of Spartan buddies have found out there are some terrorists using Omega Wars to train for kidnapping the President during the Alanya Summit. For real. We know bin Laden’s involved. He isn’t dead.” Everyone grew quiet. Helen and Shah stared slack-jawed at Sanjar. “We don’t know how they do it,” G0dd4rd went on, “but if you get killed in the game, they can find out who you are, and find you and kill you in real life. Probably something with the rep tank.”

  Hector felt pride well up inside him. Sanjar believed him! And Deion nodded.

  “What are you talking about Sanjar?” said T-Reg.

  “That’s why Chaz is dead,” said Deion. “The terrorists killed him. Those Alanya creeps killed him in the game and found out who he really was.”

  “Don’t you be talking like that,” she said stiffly.

  “Tyra, this is Sanjar. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. We didn’t believe Hector either, but we’ve seen it with our own eyes now. These are terrorists. Hector says they’re planning to kill the President. We’ve got a list with their names on it.”

  “I got to get out of here,” T-Reg spat, and started to back away.

  “Tyra, stop!” Hector blurted. “You’ve got to believe us.”

  “Hector? You and Sanjar were rolling around in the dirt a few hours ago!”

  Everyone paused for an explanation. “That should prove it. Do you think Deion and Sanjar would be playing Omega with me if it weren’t pretty serious? Please, just believe me for now. If you die in the game, you die in real life.”

  “Sweet,” said a tall, slim vanguard who was standing nearby.

  “Sweet?” exclaimed G0dd4rd. “What’s sweet about that!?!”

  “The game’s real, dude. It’s what I’ve always wanted. It’s what we all want. You mind if I invite some more friends?”

  “The more the merrier,” said Sanjar.

  “What an idiot,” said Hector.

  “Then, I guess we’re idiots, too,” said Deion. He and Hector locked eyes for an instant and Hector knew everything was going to be okay. “So Tyra,” added Deion. “What do you say?”

  “Just tell me what to do.”

  “Awesome!” Hector blurted, and focused his full attention back on getting away.

  “Now, Izaak Ersatz has the plans and a list of the names,” G0dd4rd went on. “But he’s surrounded up in the castle and we’ve got to get him out so we can download the VTT file.”

  “You mean they kept their plans on Virtual Paper in the game?” said the slim vanguard. “Whoa..!”

  Helen and Shah were growing more disbelieving by the second as Sanjar spoke. “Hector, what is he talking about?” demanded Helen.

  “What I’ve been trying to tell the FBI!” Hector roared back. “I’m not crying wolf. I’m getting eaten by it! We all are!”

  “Why don’t you just copy the list by hand?” she said.

  “Because…” said Sanjar, glancing at Izaak’s screen. Izaak was running along the base of the wall and they were chasing him. It was all he could do to stay out of their sight. “…If he stops they kill him and take it back.”

  “This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” exclaimed Shah. “This is a video ga –”

  “Just trust me, Shah,” pleaded Sanjar. “I think these guys are al-Qaeda!”

  Shah tossed his controller aside. “I’m going to call Dad.”

  “No!” barked Hector, so that everyone jumped. “They’ll just make us stop. And give me a bunch of drugs. I’ve tried with the FBI already. They want evidence. I’ve got evidence. I just have to get it out of here.”

  Shah picked up his controller, but hesitantly. “Okay, but first chance you get, I want to see these documents.”

  “Fine,” said Sanjar. “But until then, you have to defend this tunnel. Keep the Reaver’s distracted so they’ll bring Uber Pwn here. If they use it to search for Izaak, we will never get him out of there. I’m headed into the city to see if we can link up. So don’t get killed.” G0dd4rd pulled the hatch on the Stryker closed and raced off into the city to find Izaak.

  In the sky, Darxhan was storming through Uber Pwn with a plasmace and an auto-cannon. It was all Hector could do to watch both screens at once. Fortunately, most of what Darxhan met were MetroGnome techs and vanguards who did the driving and manned the heavy, fixed guns. They were easy prey for a well-trained and well-equipped merc who wasn’t supposed to be there.

  “Make for the control room,” said Hector, glancing betw
een windows. “Disable it. Force it to set down.”

  Together, they mapped a path that would take him through the center of the wing above the anti-grav unit, ascend the column, and then through the disc to the control room. It was a good thing they’d been on Uber Pwn before. And even knowing the way, he’d still have to battle for every inch.

  On the edge of the peninsula, Izaak was finally approaching the outer wall. There was no gate, but a half-dozen Reavers guarded the arched opening and he crouched down and peered through his targeting reticle. They were heavily armed. There was no way Izaak would be able to defeat them all, or even one of them one-on-one. Not without Vera. Then he noticed a familiar pauldron. “X1?” he said and deactivated his refractive armor. “Hey Deion, it’s Cygnus X1” He emerged from the brush and low trees growing along the castle wall and walked toward them with his weapon down.

  All five mercs spun around and leveled their weapons at Izaak. “Who’s that?” said a foreboding mechanical voice. But Hector knew the guy who controlled him was only twelve years old. One of his former Reaver cohorts and a good bit younger than Izaak.

  “It’s me, Izaak Ersatz. I used to be a Reaver.”

  A massive, brick-red battleship of a character lowered his chain gun. “Izzy, how’s it going? Haven’t seen you since Darxhan blasted Gore. Funniest thing I ever saw!”

  “And we all got killed at Athens like you said we would,” added another merc standing next to Cygnus. “Should have punched out with you. Your armor’s different. I like it.”

  Izaak recognized the voice. “R1ng0! Didn’t notice you. Your armor’s different, too. Mark-Three, huh? Nice.”

  “Where are you headed?” asked the big red Cygnus X1. The other mercs circled close by.

  Guards from the peninsula emerged from the brush along the fence about a hundred yards away.

  “These dorks are trying to kill me,” said Izaak. “I was wondering if you could help me get away?”

  “What do they want you for?”

  “I swiped some stuff from his boss, al-Nib. I’m sure you know him.”

  “Al - Who?” asked R1ng0.

  “The guy paying GoreFiendHell to guard the peninsula,” answered Izaak nonchalantly, watching the guards close the gap between them.

  “Paying GoreFiendHell?” they blurted together.

  “Yeah, real money. GoreFiendHell is being paid to use the Reavers to defend this place. You mean, he didn’t cut you in?” Of course Hector knew Gore wouldn’t have.

  “So that’s what this is all about,” said a merc he didn’t recognize. A large, dull gray behemoth with standard Mk.II armor. “Been standing here for two weeks for nothing, while GFH is getting paid!” He spooled up his chain gun and fired a stream of tracers into the sky toward Uber Pwn. “Jerk!” he yelled. “I hate that choad.”

  “Guess he’s not sharing it with you.” The guards were closing fast. “So you going to help me?”

  “You know Gore’s got a price on your head,” said R1ng0. “And Darxhan’s, too.”

  “How much?” asked Izaak.

  “Hundred dollars on you. Two hundred on Darxhan. Real money.”

  Deion nudged him in the side and grinned. “I’m higher than you!”

  Hector turned back to his screen. “Why’s Darxhan’s higher than mine?”

  “Well, he did kill GFH,” said the dull-gray mountain.

  “Stop calling him GFH,” said one of the other mercs.

  The guards came running up. “Seize him,” said the one in the lead.

  Cygnus stepped forward. “Why should we, choad?”

  They were vanguards, as were all the guards, with the khaki uniform and the tight, close-fitting white turban. It seemed more like they were trying to duplicate actual policemen than be competitive Omega Wars characters, which made sense from the standpoint of war games. They wore only light body armor and were armed with standard weaponry. “Because… he is a thief!”

  “No, he’s a vanguard,” said Cygnus.

  “Omega Wars doesn’t even have a thief character-type,” added the gray merc, and Hector caught on to their ruse.

  “Yeah, they call it a smuggler,” said R1ng0, also catching on. “Thieves are like in World of Warcraft.”

  “No thieves in WOW,” corrected the gray merc. “That’s a rogue.”

  “Hand him over!” demanded the leader. “He is a criminal.”

  “Do we get paid, too?” asked Cygnus.

  “Yeah, why are they paying GFH and not us?” asked the gray merc. “We’re doing all the work.” The guards backed away a few steps and just stood there.

  “ESP!” said Cygnus, and the three friendlies opened up with their heavy weapons. In seconds, the guards were nothing but a smudge. The other two mercs stood awkwardly to the side.

  Izaak said, “Thanks Cygnus. R1ng0. Gray dude.”

  “I’m called Rhin0,” growled the big merc.

  Izaak thanked them all again, asked them to watch his back, and turned to leave. “Hey, Izaak,” called Rhin0. “What’s your clan?”

  “Spartans,” said Izaak. “We’re the Spartans.”

  “Mind if I join? I’m sick of the Reavers. GFH is a dick.”

  “Me, too,” said Cygnus and R1ng0.

  “You guys can’t do that!” said one of the other mercs.

  Oh yes they can! thought Izaak excitedly. And it couldn’t have come at better time.

  “Gore’s going to freak,” said the other.

  “GFH is a freak,” said Rhin0. “Why don’t you come with us? You’re pretty good in a fight.”

  “No way! Reavers rule!” they cried.

  The fight was short but intense. “I guess Reavers don’t rule,” said Izaak, looking at the charred and blasted bodies of the two mercs. “Let’s blow.”

  “Just a second,” said Rhin0.

  Izaak watched as the Reaver symbols faded from the armor of his new converts. Three clan requests appeared at the bottom of his screen and he granted them. On the armor of each emerged the deep crimson inverted-V as if it were burning into place. The lambda-symbol of the Spartans. “Welcome to the club, boys,” said Izaak. “We’ll do the oath later.”

  Ch. 32

  As he ran through the city with his new comrades, Hector tried to keep up with events back at their base where T-Reg organized the defense. Several dozen mercs, vanguards, smugglers and techs from various clans all over Omega Wars had gathered behind the high, earthen ramparts at the front tunnel entrance for what was shaping up as a final, epic battle. The Reavers had attacked just about everyone at one time or another, and had made a lot of enemies. Shah was there with his merc, Osman, from the Janissaries. There were Minutemen from North America and DreadNaughts from England, standing shoulder to shoulder with Russian SpetsNazis and Japanese Pokemen and BushidoBoyz, all looking to dole out some payback. c’Irith was at the top of the hill and yelled back down that the Stryker had disappeared into the city.

  “We’ve got to start distracting again,” came T-Reg’s voice over the comm link. “Or they’re going to see Alkindi. Or G0dd4rd. Or whoever it is this time!”

  “We’re not going to last long,” said Shah. “Not with Uber Pwn up there.”

  “It doesn’t have to be for long,” said T-Reg. “Just long enough for Alkindi, I mean G0dd4rd, to get through to Izaak. It is still Izaak, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” said Hector.

  “But if we get killed, they’ll know who we are!” cried c’Irith.

  “They can’t kill us all,” said Deion, maneuvering Darxhan through the long, dimly lit corridors of Uber Pwn. “Even if we are just a bunch of kids. Cause everybody knows…” He stumbled on three techs in a corridor. “… that kids…” His auto-cannon targeted and eliminated them before they got off a clean shot, “…rule on video games.”

  Back at the tunnel, they saw a white puff of smoke emerge from Uber Pwn.

  “Merc torpedo incoming,” said Shah.

  The disc-like control section of Uber Pwn sat atop
a long, narrow dorsal fin that launched mercs like gigantic aerial torpedoes. They could see the pods coming in, two dark shapes hurtling toward them. And since mercs were anywhere from eight to twelve feet tall, the drop pods were well over twenty feet long. At the last second they deployed speed brakes, pitched over, and augured into the ground where they stuck fast. Then the sides popped off and out of each emerged two fully-armed mercs.

  “You’re going to have to take that merc dispenser offline, Deion,” said Shah, as a huge merc in Mk.III armor battled through their defenses before Shah engaged and destroyed him in a quick but vicious melee.

  Everybody in Sanjar’s game room took a moment to watch as Darxhan smashed through a hatch and emerged on the top of the wing. There were Reavers on the edge, shooting over the rail. It was almost like a flying castle. They were all to busy to notice he wasn’t a Reaver, so he ran across until he arrived at the base of the fin and plunged through a hatch.

  Inside were two tall stacks of merc drop pods like bullets in the magazine of a pistol. At the top of the stack was a platform where a dozen mercs were waiting to enter drop pods. After each one launched, a big piston at the base of the stack lifted the next pod into place. Darxhan watched as a merc climbed in high above and the hatch closed. An instant later, there was a thud as the pod was launched away. Everyone’s eyes went to Shah’s screen where they saw the mercs arcing through the air toward the defenders.

  “Limpet mine,” said Hector.

  “Exactly what I was thinking, Izzy.” Darxhan slapped one of Izaak’s limpet mines on the motor that lifted the next drop pod into place. He was just setting the timer when he heard, “Hey, you’re not a Reaver!”

  He turned and found a MetroGnome cybertech staring at him. Like most techs, he was a cyborg and had electromechanical enhancements on his limbs and head. Eliminating him was trivial, though Darnxhan’s auto-cannon attracted attention.

  “It’s Darxhan Gideon!” Someone cried from the platform. “Two hundred bucks!” yelled a second. “And fifty from Val!” Cried a third. They started down the stairs toward him.