by Arthur Stone
“So wait—what’s across the canal?” Clown clarified.
“Some kind of field, like I said. I don’t know, wheat, rye, barley? I’m no zoologist.”
“Botanist,” Clown corrected. “And beyond the field? Any places where you can hide but still have good eyes on the road?”
“It’s a big field. I don’t remember where it ends. Probably some trees, but no, you couldn’t see the road from there; it’s too far away.”
“Yesterday, you stayed with Janitor while I ran to get some parts,” Clown continued. “When I came back, Janitor was sleeping, and you were nowhere to be seen. Were you gone for long?”
“Nah, maybe fifteen minutes. Some urgent business. So what’s wrong with the truck?”
“It’s gone to shit,” Clown murmured as he turned to March. “I don’t know who did this, nor how, but I’d bet my ass someone is waiting for us up ahead. Probably in the houses running along the road, on the other side of the river. If I had not been testing the brakes, they would’ve given out at that turn. You can’t stop a truck on a good descent with the gearbox and the handbrake alone. Turning off the engine wouldn’t work, either. So, we’d have to ride it out. If our luck were particularly poor, we’d end up in the river. Even if we didn’t, it would still be a bad trip. This truck is the bulk of our firepower. We’d be like a tiger stripped of its claws and teeth. Powerless.”
“Who did you say is waiting for us?” Nut jumped in.
“I just said that I don’t know. But I can definitely say it’s not a welcoming committee made up of our very best friends.”
“We stayed in Rainbow for too long,” Cheater complained. “Everyone knows we’re heading east. Anyone could try to intercept us. But hardly anyone knows how to sabotage a brake system like that. Wait... Nut, you know a lot of people in Rainbow, right? Have you ever heard any nasty rumors about the area you were just describing? Maybe a robbery or something?”
“They happen all the time out here, not just by the bridge.”
“Everywhere?” Clown grunted. “So we could be waylaid at any moment.”
“Nah,” Nut waved his hand dismissively. “Everyone knows that no one is stronger than us. Remember how all those people were staring at the wanted posters, where the Devils were offering a bounty for Cheater’s head? They did nothing else but look at those for half an hour straight.”
“They were learning his face. They wanted the reward,” Clown suggested.
“No,” Nut shook his head. “That picture sucked. You couldn’t ID Cheater on that. No, they were there out of respect. Or maybe they were dealing with some kind of spiritual shit. Who knows. These bandits aren’t from Rainbow. Yes, Rainbow’s an interesting place, but lawlessness is punished, and fast. You can’t just kill all the witnesses, either. Well, you can, sure. But once they respawn they’ll spill the beans on you. This applies to the whole area. So either this is their first such move, or they’re not from here. Also, they don’t know who they’re dealing with. Not really. Otherwise they’d know that we’re more trouble than we are worth.”
“Maybe it’s the Devils?” Cheater suggested.
“Perhaps,” March nodded. “Or Romeo. I hear you and he have a... special relationship. It could be your friends the NPCs, too, upset over their lost atomic arsenal. Clown’s right, Cheater: you’re a shit magnet.”
“Nut, is there a way around the river area you told me about?” Clown asked.
“Don’t you have a map?” the sapper blinked. “You went to get one. I gave you the address.”
“No map is as good as information from a man who knows the land. Even if he has a shit memory. So can we go around, or not?”
“Of course we can. Hang on, let me get my thinking in order...”
“Nut, thinking?” March scoffed. “That’ll be the day. No, you handle the explosions, and I’ll handle the thinking. We’re not going around.”
“We’re just going to charge into an ambush?” Clown said, hopefully, as if already reaching for the bag of popcorn.
“Yes, but we’ll be smart about it,” March said. “Or we could take the crazy option. There was something you wanted to try out, as I recall.”
“I’m not sure this is the time,” Clown doubted.
“Sure it is. Whoever is waiting for us needs to find out that we’re not some middle school volleyball team. We’re a serious force. We want to show them that anyone who tries to screw us over quickly finds the tables turned on them. And we have to do so in such a way that they never dare attack us again. Otherwise, they will come back. We still have a long way to go, and who knows what our enemy has planned? If they have significant resources, they might continue trying to end our mission. Let’s nip this in the bud. We’ll take them out, and we’ll drive on.”
Clown grinned. “Let’s do it.”
“What are you talking about? Try what?” asked Nut, who—along with Cheater—had no idea what was being discussed.
March turned his back to them and walked away, as was his habit. “Someone’s going to get fucked. We’re responsible members of society, after all. We must thank those who ruined our brakes.”
Chapter 13
Life Nine. Cannon Fodder
Cheater had a much more active role in this crossing than in the one before. They didn’t have enough people, and his skills as a marksman were best put to use, rather than confined in a poorly-armored truck.
He was assigned to the pickup. It was only crewed by two people, and that was all it needed. Fatso steered, and Cheater manned the two heavy machine guns. One pull of the trigger on these bad boys could tear the limb off any infected weaker than a manmincer. Even a manmincer might find the volley fatal. Civilian vehicles, even those armored to better withstand the Continent, could not handle 50-cal. steel-core rounds. He might even be able to deal with lightly armored military vehicles, especially at short distances. The guns munched on ammo belts holding 150 rounds each. In the truck, they had enough ammunition for several reloads, along with spare barrels.
He could have all kinds of fun with these.
However, Cheater didn’t like these particular machine guns. He preferred larger calibers, like 14.5 mm. After all, he had once mown down innumerable creatures with precisely that size of bullet. There were some advantages to his current pair, though, such as the higher rate of fire. But he would still have to see them in action.
The convoy stopped a mile away from the river descent. There, they turned off to hide behind a motel sitting along the road. Clown and Janitor got to work, and not on truck repairs. They yanked the machine guns off and replaced them with something they had worked up. Even the most untrained eye would be able to see it had been built in haste.
Its bulky angles mimicked the bastard child of a moonshine distillery and a starship control panel. The disparate components were somehow held together with duct tape and foil, and numerous colored wires twisted into one thick, sloppy cable that stretched from one part of the device to the other. The receiving part resembled a dual car battery, and it was secured into a socked that they had crudely welded onto the main body.
Yet the shape of it somehow came through to Cheater as something vaguely familiar. The very same gadget he had dragged out of the truck as it fell into the reservoir near the Devils’ former fortress. It was a part from the Elite Nold’s suit. Nearly everything he had stripped from the monster had plummeted into the depths, but two trophies had survived: the machine’s shoulder turret and the Nold’s bracelet, which he had prudently stuffed into the backpack where he kept the most valuable mods.
He did not know how this bracelet functioned. But since a bracelet from an ordinary Nold gave an extra life, and perhaps two, an Elite Nold’s bracelet would likely offer even more good stuff.
Of course, the retribution that followed might be worse. Perhaps no one knew how much worse. Cheater was, it seemed, the first person in the Continent’s history to defeat an Elite Nold. There was simply no one to ask for more details.
> Not did he ever have a chance to try it in action and see for himself.
Cheater couldn’t resist glancing at his right arm. The Nold bracelet was there, though disguised. Once he had activated it, he had given Kitty an extra life, and the bracelet had clamped itself into his arm. However, once the Elite Nold had been slain, he became the bracelet’s master once more. He could take it off, or continue wearing it.
But the most important aspect of the bracelet was only revealed when he used inspect mode on it.
Nold Infantry Control Bracelet. Simple device of the Nolds. This item’s manufacturer warranty has been voided, and it has been hacked. Its beacon no longer functions. However, some of its original functions are still available for the hacker’s use. Guaranteed to accept 4 modifications, with a 75% chance of accepting a 5th and a 50% chance of accepting a 6th. Note: Attempting to install a 7th modification has a high probability of causing the loss of all modifications and breakage of the weapon!
Active modifications: 7. Modification list: Center of Agility, Center of Willpower, Center of Reaction, Center of Perception, Center of Luck, Item Power Duplication, Last Chance.
Modification Properties:
Strength +17
Agility +18
Willpower +18
Reaction +20
Perception +19
Luck +20
This item’s core properties are doubled, where possible. This duplication does not apply to modifications.
The wearer of the item has a 71% chance of avoiding instant death by becoming immune to all harmful effects for 2 seconds in a situation that is guaranteed to lead to death. Property cooldown: 90 seconds. Note: If the bearer carries a second item with this property, the items are in conflict, and this effect has a 99% chance of failing (for this item, for the other, or even for them both).
Lost properties: code entry; automated call for reinforcements.
Unlocked properties: the bearer of this bracelet can interact with some Nold devices without authorization. The bracelet is also able to protect the arm from a wide assortment of threats.
+0.2x Physical Strength +12 (enhanced by duplication)
+0.1x Agility +12 (enhanced by duplication)
+0.1x Speed +12 (enhanced by duplication)
+0.1x Stamina +12 (enhanced by duplication)
+0.1x Reaction +12 (enhanced by duplication)
Hidden properties: the owner can make this item invisible, imperceptible to other players and creatures. Note: This property may fail if the observer has a high Perception.
This item is bound. Current owner: Cheater. This item’s owner has named it: Thanks Nolds!
The bracelet was now inestimably more useful than it had been before. Even without modifications, it gave significant increases to his stats, and with them, it boosted Cheater several levels. Taking it off made him feel like a different person.
A sad weakling.
It was an amazing feeling. After all, it wasn’t that much compared to all of the boosts from his other artifacts and stats. Yet he could feel the difference.
It was a valuable item. However, as obsessed as Clown was with metal gadgets and unique sights, only one property of the bracelet had attracted him.
Indeed, Cheater’s friend had been delighted to hear what the younger player carried on his arm.
Nold technology was powerful. Sadly, it was usually inaccessible to players. Their devices were rare finds, and usually players were unable to make use of them. Nearly all of them were protected by some kind of firewall. Some with special skills or inherited knowledge could hack the devices. However, this usually only unlocked some of their functions.
Usually, the devices were disassembled for parts, such as batteries. Incredible batteries. A coin-sized Nold battery could power a modern smartphone for months. That was assuming you had weak signal and were playing the latest 3D games.
Cheater’s bracelet gave him a unique power. Nold devices recognized him as one of their own and granted him access. The detailed description hinted that not all such technology would obey him, and not at all times, but Clown had quickly realized that the seemingly wrecked shoulder turret was among the tech which did obey.
This made him immediately desire to put the gun to use, of course. That was where Janitor came in. The quasi was a devoted fan of big guns, and Nold weapons were among the biggest.
Despite the irreverence with which Cheater and Clown had yanked the shoulder turret from the dead monster, the weapon remained functional. But it needed some things. Without those things, its only offensive use was as a club—Cheater had indeed used it in this capacity during their trek the day the Devils’ fortress fell. The weapon’s control interface had remained somewhere inside the defeated giant’s harness of wiring and circuitry. The power source, too. It had been crushed underneath the vanquished villain, and furthermore had been housed in a massive case of steel. Even the two of them could not have lifted it and had had neither the time nor the strength to devise some mechanical means to extract it.
This was, however, far from the first Nold device the player community had gotten their hands own. Plus, money solves everything. The cutting-edge battery they had found in Rainbow was significantly inferior in power and functionality to that which had powered the Elite Nold’s huge exoskeleton. But it only had to power a turret, not an entire mech. They had to get to work with a soldering iron, of course, and there wasn’t time to make it pretty.
Janitor and Clown assured everyone that their masterpiece should not be judged by its appearance. The product was a deadly weapon.
Or so they said—it had not been tested in action. Shooting groundhogs didn’t count.
It was also impossible to keep the device in constant combat readiness. Even Clown and Janitor had not been able to address all of the issues with the hacked-together power supply, so the weapon couldn’t hold a charge under all conditions. It could not be jostled too violently. Once it was assembled and switched on, the weapon could only be transported a short distance, and only along a very smooth road. Without significant precautions, it would only hold out for a mile or two, after which the harness would require serious repair work.
This was why Cheater manned the twin machine guns now, not the Nold’s super gun. The machine guns were fine with the bumpy road, as long as they were cleaned often enough.
But the greatest disadvantage of the turret was its expense. Even the most popular brand of autocannon didn’t cost as much as the shoulder turret to fire. A whole box of shells was orders of magnitude cheaper than a single blast from the Nold gun.
All Nold devices worked with nodium in some capacity. They actually consumed it, as a gun consumed ammo or a car consumed gasoline. One shot from this weapon spent so much of the priceless substance that Cheater would, a month ago, have clutched his head in amazement at the cost. Even now, it seemed excessive. He still had some mods, and some of the loot from Bugle’s lair, but arming the party with nodium weapons was out of the question. A handful of serious conflicts would drive him to ruin.
Clown had assured him that a single shot cost 447 spores, going by average prices in Rainbow. Prices in Rainbow were, sadly, astronomical. It was the nodium shortage that primarily drove many of the trade caravans, who traveled to places where the raw material was easier to acquire. The party had possessed no reserves of nodium, and there had been no cheaper sources in the vicinity. So they had paid through the nose. They didn’t even get a discount for buying wholesale—to the contrary, the merchants began kicking up their prices as they smelled rich clients.
One test shot would cost nearly five hundred spores.
Cheater had to make that test shot in battle. He knew that their decision to hit the ambush party with everything they had was a correct one. The identity of those lying in wait was unknown, but they were certainly enemies. They were malicious, hiding by the bridge and waiting not just for any unfortunate travelers but for this party in particular.
This enemy was cunning, to
o—so cunning that their method for ruining the truck’s brakes still had the experienced Clown and March utterly stumped. It was only thanks to Clown’s vigilant testing that the failure had been triggered in a safe place, instead of in front of a river ravine.
The enemy was dangerous. What else might they have planned? The party had to wipe them out, quickly and cruelly.
None of them moved to scout out whether an ambush was in fact there, nor whether the terrain up ahead matched Clown’s theory on brake sabotage. An enemy as thoughtful as this one would be cautious to a fault. Meaning they would see the scouts and realize that their ambush was discovered.