Axillon99

by Matthew S. Cox

  Their white-haired medic lobbed orb bots into the air like a coked-up juggler. Rallek waved his staff around, his defensive spell allowing him to control ambient energy and bend the constant barrage of incoming lasers into the wall. Kavan stood his ground, holding up his shield while trading fire with the pirate’s heavy trooper. Except for Fawkes (who remained hidden), everyone’s health bar fluctuated up and down too fast to keep track of.

  A few seconds later, the female pirate appeared out of nowhere next to Angel813, her right hand extended forward in a throwing motion. At a flash of bright energy in the face, their medic took on a zombie-like posture and began to stagger around while ‘stunned’ animation bits orbited her head.

  Before the assassin could move behind Angel813, Fawkes fired.

  The shot critted for 900 damage, knocking the assassin to four percent health in one hit. The pirate medic switched focus from their heavy trooper to her, raising his hand and projecting a golden beam of light into the woman’s chest. Her health bar raced upward. Fawkes fired as fast as she could, but no longer being hidden, her attacks only did around 170-200 points per shot. The assassin leapt at Angel813’s back, slashing at her twice with energy daggers. The first hit knocked off two-thirds of her health and caused her to drop to the ground.

  “Shit, she’s crippled,” yelled Fawkes, still firing as fast as she could.

  The boss pirate raised both his guns and fired a barrage that raked over the entire party. A sensation like a pelting of snowballs accompanied the loss of fifty-five percent of Fawkes’ health points. Since Angel813 had been lying on the floor, the attack passed over her; otherwise, it would’ve killed her.

  Nighthawk wheeled around and opened up on the assassin. With three guns pelting her, the incoming heal from the enemy medic stalled to a stalemate, leaving the pirate woman stuck at thirty-three percent health. The assassin sprang again at Angel813, but Rallek summoned a wall of techno-junk around her that provided a pool of temporary armor points. Energy knives struck the orbiting barrier with a series of metallic clanks, but the assassin didn’t inflict enough damage to break through.

  “Do something about that medic!” shouted Kavan.

  Fawkes Flickered into stealth and Shadowblinked to the far side of the bridge, nearest the viewscreen looking out to space. As fast as her brain could reorient itself after teleportation, she drew a bead on the pirate medic and fired.

  A 1026-point crit caused the man’s head to explode. The healing beam ceased, allowing Nighthawk to mow the assassin down in seconds. Angel813 moaned and dragged herself upright, still surrounded by a ring of floating random junk.

  “I fucking hate being stunned!” she shouted.

  Kavan glared at her.

  Nighthawk grinned.

  Angel813 pulled three orbs off her belt and set them flying in front of her, then waved her hand over them. Amid a spray of magical energy, the little robots doubled in size and radiated continuous light. One zipped over to Fawkes, hovering at her shoulder while projecting a stream of green energy into her. Her health bar rushed to the right, filling. The other two went for Kavan and Rallek.

  Rallek hit the pirate boss with a spell that made his laser pistols stop working. At the same moment, Nighthawk leapt out from cover and activated Showdown. He fired so fast at multiple targets his weapons appeared to be throwing off three separate streams of fire. Yellow damage numbers filled the air over the remaining enemies. A rifle-toting pirate dropped in seconds. The boss dipped to below thirty percent health, and their heavy trooper’s life bar fell a little below half.

  While Angel813 took a three-second break from wrangling heal bots to stab Nighthawk in the back with a comically huge syringe that have him bonus temporary health points, Fawkes fired at the boss from a blind angle. Positional advantage let her crit for 416, not quite as good as full stealth. The hit was, however, enough to get his attention. The boss pirate spun to face her and switched from his temporarily dead guns to a bright red sword.

  “Don’t get hit by that,” shouted Rallek.

  Fawkes backed off to the right. “Wasn’t planning on it.”

  “That’s the Scarlet Saber. It’s a one shot kill if you’re not a tank.” Rallek cast another spell, which caused one of the control stations to break apart and reconfigure into the shape of a humanoid robot, which leapt in front of her.

  The pirate swung the sword at the summoned creature, slicing it in half in a single stroke.

  “Eep!” yelled Fawkes. She couldn’t Flicker again for another thirty-five seconds, so she did the next best thing: hauled ass.

  He chased her around the bridge, evidently not programmed to climb over consoles. She leapt from one computer desk to the next, using the terrain to keep the AI-controlled death machine far enough away that he couldn’t swing at her. After about ten seconds of that, he stopped, put the sword back in its scabbard, and switched to his pistols.

  With a deep groan, the pirate heavy trooper succumbed to Nighthawk and Kavan’s attacks. He collapsed to the floor, out of hit points.

  Roaring, Kavan faced the pirate captain and zoomed forward as though propelled by a rocket. He plowed shoulder-first into him, stopping dead and sending the smaller man over backward. The pirate fired both guns from the floor, shaving most of Kavan’s health points off in a single barrage.

  Angel813 let out a squeal of alarm and ran up behind him, stabbing Kavan with a big metal cylinder that spiked his health bar back up to full.

  Fawkes ran to the left, trying to circle around behind the boss while firing at him. Moving and shooting caused her to miss about half the time, but between her, Kavan, and Nighthawk all attacking at once, plus Rallek lobbing energy balls from his staff, the pirate captain dropped, only managing to get Kavan’s health down to eighteen percent.

  “Holy crap,” said Nighthawk. “That was a lot harder than I expected.”

  “I hate boss fights,” muttered Angel813.

  “Damn fine heals,” said Kavan.

  “Not bad for a medic.” Rallek winked.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Fawkes. “She kicked ass.”

  “A lot of players give up on medics because they’re complicated. Auramancers are much better single-target healers, and their AOE isn’t bad either. It takes a lot less skill to be decent as one of them.” Rallek patted Angel813 on the shoulder. “Medics are the best group healers in the game, but they have trouble keeping tanks alive through a hammering. Fortunately, we have a damn good medic.”

  Angel813 sighed. “Thanks. Wouldn’t have been so bad if I didn’t get stunned like that.” She glanced over at Fawkes. “Would’ve been a lot worse if I went down. Thanks for covering me.”

  “No problem.” She grinned.

  “Good call there,” said Kavan. “Their medic was less important than making sure that assassin didn’t get ours.”

  Nighthawk twirled his guns around his fingers in a fancy display of dexterity. “Might not have been pretty, but we won.”

  Kavan stooped to search the pirate, and opened a loot box. “Hmm. Key card, a set of light boots, and… ooh. Blue belt with +8% crit on it.”

  “Mine!” yelled Nighthawk.

  “Hey, what about Fawkes?” asked Rallek.

  Nighthawk spun on him. “But, she’s a rogue! She gets criticals automatically when she’s shooting from behind. If she’s ‘rogueing’ right, crit chance is a waste for her.”

  “Whatever.” Fawkes shrugged. “He’s kinda got a point. Let him have it.”

  Kavan, being the group leader, allocated the drop to Nighthawk. “Done. Anyone want these?”

  An icon of the boots appeared. Of the entire crew, only Rallek used light armor. One advantage the medic class had over the auramancer―they got to wear medium. Rogues and gunslingers also went for medium armor, and Kavan wore heavy.

  “Umm.” Rallek examined them. “They’re statted for an auramancer. Wouldn’t do me much good. Sell ’em and split the cash.”

  “Done.” Kav
an sent them to the ship’s storage hold. The next time they landed on a planet or docked at a station, the boots would become 3,500 credits.

  “Drat. Was hoping that sword would drop,” said Nighthawk.

  “Yeah right. I think it’s just a middle finger.” Rallek shook his head.

  “What?” asked Nighthawk. “A middle finger?”

  “He only pulls out the sword if he’s somehow prevented from using his guns. It does ridiculous damage. Heck, it would take Kavan down to ten percent in one hit and he’s a tank. I think it’s basically a ‘screw you for taking the gunslinger’s guns away’ mechanic. Like a punishment from the game developers more than a weapon.”

  Everyone chuckled.

  Kavan led the way out of the bridge and down the main central corridor to the cargo hold. With the pirate captain dead, no security robots spawned to challenge them. Minutes later, they stared open-mouthed at a huge cargo hold full of coffin-sized pods, each holding an unconscious human or alien in the basic ‘underwear’ outfit.

  “Wow…” Fawkes whistled. “There’s got to be five hundred people here.”

  “Glad we didn’t murder them,” said Nighthawk.

  “They’re computer characters.” Angel813 shook her head.

  “This one’s a child,” said Rallek. “Like twelve or so.”

  The medic sighed. “All right, all right. I’m glad we saved them.”

  “Which one gives the quest?” asked Kavan.

  “Umm.” Rallek stared into space for a few seconds. “Fifteenth pod on the left side.” He pointed at one with a yellow aura surrounding it. “See? It’s interactable.”

  “Interactable’s not a word, dumbass,” muttered Nighthawk.

  Rallek frowned at him.

  Nighthawk kicked at the ground. “Sorry.”

  Don’t Stand In Bad

  7

  Fawkes approached the highlighted stasis pod, swept her pink hair out of her eyes, and took a knee to peer through the clear lid. Within a cloud of cryogenic fog lay the willowy form of a young woman with cobalt blue hair. A metal collar kept a boxy enclosure with a slow-flashing red light tight at her throat. She appeared somewhere between fifteen and eighteen, and slept peacefully.

  “Hmm. I think she’s wearing a bomb. Is that going to blow up if I open this?” asked Fawkes.

  “One sec. Reading.” Rallek kept quiet for a minute or so before closing a floating window and shaking his head. “Nope. It only blows up if we try to take her off the ship without killing the pirate captain. She’s some kinda princess. The quest she gives is taking her home to her parents.”

  Everyone groaned.

  “It’s not that bad. A quick flight. Really easy.” Rallek grinned. “It’s worth a lot of XP because it’s an easy quest to miss. Most people just open the first slave pod they find and let them go, then leave. If no one talks to her specifically, she acts like any other slave being freed.”

  “Right…” Fawkes hacked the panel and hit the open button.

  Cryogenic mist receded into vents, and the interior color-shifted from frigid blue to a warm orange. The lid motored open, as did the lids of all the other pods.

  The girl’s eyes fluttered. She sat up and smiled. “Thank you for rescuing me.” She bowed her head, sniffled, and started to walk into a group with the rest of the people who’d climbed out of pods.

  “We’re here to take you home,” said Fawkes.

  The girl ignored her.

  “Don’t you wanna go home to your family?” asked Nighthawk.

  “Uhh, how do we start the quest? She’s not reacting,” asked Angel813.

  Rallek glanced at the small hovering screen again, reading for a second. “You look sad. Is something wrong?”

  The girl’s dejected expression evaporated to a hopeful smile. “Yes! I know you have done so much already, but I would ask another favor of you. My name is Siana Marchand, daughter of King Marchand of the planet Antimedes. My parents will reward you greatly if you were to see me safely home.”

  Nighthawk stared dumbly at her. “Wow, she’s pretty.”

  Siana looked at him and blushed. “Thank you. I am sorry for being so poorly dressed. The people who kidnapped me took all my equipment and weapons. They are in a storage case nearby.”

  Fawkes examined the detonator collar, which had a tiny keypad and code lock. “Let me get this off you first.” She took her override kit from her belt and plugged its wire into the collar’s jack.

  “Oh, thank you!” Siana beamed at her. “I don’t like having a bomb around my neck. It’s scary.”

  Rallek leaned toward Kavan and mumbled, “Who writes this dialogue?”

  Kavan snickered.

  A mass of people, an even mix of men and women plus a handful of children, gathered around. Only Siana had a bomb on her throat, probably intended as another clue of a hidden quest.

  “I see the trunk,” said Angel813. “It’s all the way on the other side of the cargo hold.”

  “Why do we have to go open it?” asked Nighthawk. “Can’t one of them do it?”

  “They’re NPCs,” said Rallek, starting to walk for the storage box. “They don’t do quests. We do.”

  With a beep, the bomb collar popped open and fell to the ground.

  Siana let out a squeal of delight and hugged Fawkes. A faint flower-scented perfume surrounded her, and her skin had a surprising amount of warmth. The embrace felt so genuine, like she really had her arms around a terrified teenager, that Fawkes choked up a little.

  “Intruder alert,” said a painfully loud electronic voice.

  The former slaves screamed and scattered like roaches to hide behind the empty stasis pods.

  Earthquake-level shaking rumbled the ship. Fawkes peered up over Siana’s shoulder, gawking at a twenty-foot tall robot emerging from a previously hidden compartment in the wall behind the storage trunk. Two backward-jointed legs supported a main body shaped somewhat like the nose end of an attack helicopter. Angled doors on either side of the center looked frighteningly like missile bays. Rather than arms, it had a pair of stubby extensions with long laser barrels on each side.

  “Shit,” said Rallek.

  Nighthawk stuck his tongue out at Kavan’s back when he glared at Rallek.

  “Geez. I feel like I’m at work all over again,” said Fawkes.

  Siana screamed in terror.

  “Work? Huh?” asked Kavan.

  “Every time I swear, my boss yells at me. You just gave Rallek the stink eye.” Fawkes scooped Siana up and set her on her feet behind cover. “Find somewhere to hide.”

  “Keep that thing pointed away from the pods,” yelled Rallek. “It’ll kill these people, too.”

  “Dammit.” Kavan hurled himself into a shield charge at the giant robot. The force barrier emanating from his left forearm flashed and sparked on contact as he bounced off its right leg and stumbled between them. Once past, he whirled to face the room and fired a red laser blast up into the robot’s rear end.

  A defensive-specialized soldier’s Rush ability forced the target to attack only them for about ten seconds, enough to make the machine turn around, limiting collateral damage.

  Siana ran in among the pods and crouched.

  “Everyone get in front of it so it doesn’t melt down the civilians,” roared Kavan.

  Fawkes dropped into stealth and stayed put while sending, “I’ll move in front after I get off an ambush,” over the party chat.

  Everyone else scrambled forward.

  The robot opened up on Kavan with lasers so large they belonged on a vehicle. The first shot torched his personal shield and went halfway through his health. Angel813 threw a health grenade at him in the brief pause between its first and second shots. The explosion of green positive energy and subsequent laser blast left Kavan at twelve percent health.

  “Damn,” muttered Rallek. He hurled a spell that surrounded the bot in red light and made it swoon a little.

  Kavan grunted and pounded his fist on his knee.
His shields came back up, and a mass of techno-spaghetti ran down his legs into the floor, fusing him to the spot. Another health bar, pale grey, appeared above his green life points.

  “Die!” yelled Nighthawk, as he activated Showdown and stood there firing as fast as he could pull the trigger. Orange pulses streaked across the dim cargo hold, leaving glowing spots in the robot’s armor plating. Its health bar chipped down bit by bit.

  Where the hell should I aim on this thing? After a short pause to consider, Fawkes took a shot for the middle of its back. Her dark blue laser beam slammed into it for a 990 point critical hit that made a deep, reverberating clonk and knocked the giant walker forward half a step. The machine whirled around to aim at her, but before it could line up a shot, she Flickered back into hiding. Rather than risk it melting down the innocent, she hurried as fast as stealth allowed to a better position closer to the robot.

  It fired at Kavan again, though this time, the laser blast only took away a third of his grey bar. After that, the angled doors on either side of the main body opened, and a rain of small missiles pelted the area around the whole party, creating four distinct patches of burning flames.

  Kavan couldn’t go anywhere, since while his Dig In ability greatly reduced incoming damage, it rooted him in place. Rallek and Angel813 moved enough to get out of the flame patch, but Nighthawk stood there and burned, merrily firing away.

  “Hawk, get out of the damn fire!” shouted Angel813, while scrambling to throw healing orbs at him and Kavan.

  Both of their health bars sank alarmingly fast.

  “If I move, my DPS will plummet,” shouted Nighthawk, still firing. “Just heal me through it.”

  “You’re not a goddamned tank,” shouted Angel813. “You have five seconds to move or I’m going to let you die.”

  “Don’t be like that,” said Nighthawk.