Opening Moves (The Gam3 Book 1) (18 page)

“Alright, well, additional rewards and challenges are a good thing," Thiago said. "Although, I doubt we’ll be able to handle a Predecessor even if we manage to defeat the Haxlards. It looks like the Haxlards will be arriving by ship, thus they’ll need to dock or unload somewhere. All of us will meet the landing party on shore, while you snipe at them from afar, with Kitana as support if they manage to get past us.”

“Alright, sure,” Alan said, and they headed out.

As everyone emerged from the bunker an unnaturally thick mist greeted them. It had appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the afternoon, shrouding everything beyond a couple of feet. It was eerie. As the sounds of battle in the distance were gone, it suddenly seemed as though all of civilization had vanished, leaving them alone surrounded by a grey wall that disintegrated into nothingness.

Kitana and Alan split off from the main group, making their way slowly to the center of the Golden Gate Bridge. Eve had determined this was the most defensible position, as their enemies would need to enter one of the entrances before they fired upon them, and it gave a view of nearly the entire coastline. Although it would be difficult, Eve told Alan that she could assist him in making a shot by triangulating an enemy's likely location using only sound. As a result, Alan kept an open communication channel with Thiago so he could hear everything Thiago could. Unfortunately, Eve had been permanently banned from directly accessing another player’s vision, and there weren’t any portable cameras for sale.

As they walked next to the main road towards the bridge, Alan kept expecting a car to appear on the road, yet none ever did. In fact, there weren’t any signs of another living being. More and more, Alan had the peculiar feeling that he was leaving the last vestiges of human society behind him. He mused that this might be one of the last moments he had on Earth for a while. Earth in the Game, at least.

The silence continued.

***

They reached the center of the bridge shortly. Alan fired a test shot to determine how large the gap was, and based upon the time until the shot struck something, Eve calculated it to be at least 300 meters long. This made things slightly easier though, as Kitana could simply guard the entrance to the bridge while Alan set up a few hundred meters away.

A minute later, the timer for the third round disappeared, though Thiago let Alan know that they hadn’t engaged the enemy. They had no idea where along the coast the ship might have landed. Squinting his eyes, Alan tried to make out something in the distance, yet all he could see was the grey wall of fog.

A few more minutes passed as Thiago split the group up to scout along the edges of the coast, trying to find the Haxlards before the Predecessor arrived. Although Alan couldn’t see the rest of the group, Eve displayed blue silhouettes showing their location. Suddenly, Alan heard a yell, along with a sickening thud. Weapon fire sounded off in the distance.

Laser fire and muzzle flashes emerged, penetrating the fog. Multiple red silhouettes appeared, standing on the edge of the coast, barely within Alan’s line of fire as Ace leapt forwards into the enemies.

Alan focused on the nearest silhouette, firing into the mist. The shot hit, but simply depleted 10% of the Haxlard’s shields. His next shot was a headshot as Eve got a better estimate of where the Haxlard was, eliminating another 80% of the shields. The enemy dived to the side, and Alan’s next shot was met by a barrier of some sort he couldn’t see.

“They’re wearing black power armor of some sort,” Thiago yelled above the burst fire of his assault rifle. “There’s a miniature shield they set up to defend against our fire." There was a grunt of pain. "Damn, DaLong took a shot to the head.”

Alan heard a tremendous roar emerge, followed by multiple heavy footsteps.

“Holy shit. DaLong has gone mad. He’s emitting a red aura, charging at the Haxlards firing into their shield dual wielding two sub-machine guns. He’s broken through their shield now, but they’re taking him apart.”

It sounds like the Last Stand ability, a common Berserker ability,
Eve sent.
Resume firing.

Alan did so, firing at the Haxlard whose shields he’d damaged earlier. This time, the headshot eliminated the Haxlard, their health apparently minuscule compared to their shield energy. Alan earned half a level of XP. Ace had also successfully taken down another Haxlard, but had retreated back to Daisy as he’d sustained damage equal to almost 80% of his HP from the full frontal assault. He was some sort of monster though, to have jumped into the fray, no doubt taking multiple directs shots. Alan wondered what sort of enhancements Ace had as he continued firing at the Haxlards.

Seeming to figure where Alan was firing from, the Haxlards pushed forwards inland, out of his line of sight. With a last scream of incoherent cursing, DaLong disappeared from Alan's minimap, having fallen in battle. Alan managed to get a few more shots off, eliminating the majority of four additional Haxlards’ shields, killing another, gaining a level. Thiago and the rest of the party rapidly backed away from the oncoming Haxlards, unable to match their superior weaponry. All Alan could do was watch his minimap, listening to the shouts of Thiago as he led the rest of the party.

Soon, two more Haxlards were eliminated by a grenade trap set up by Thiago. Aphrodite died shortly after, a well placed laser blast finishing her off with one blow. According to Thiago, she couldn’t keep up with the rest of the group, but thought she had a psionic skill that might save her. It clearly hadn’t.

Daisy soon ran out of energy next, but Ace wasn’t willing to leave her behind, convincing Thiago to join him in a final stand. Sounds of gunfire and fighting soon emerged once more, then rapidly cut off as Thiago was eliminated. Worriedly Alan stared at his minimap, thinking he’d see Ace and Daisy also disappear at any second. Alan didn’t want to risk distracting them by opening up a communication channel.

Then, against all his expectations, the number of remaining Haxlards slowly dwindled until finally there were only two left.

Ace is initiating a basic unsecured voice only communication procedure, accept?

Um, yeah. What’s with the more elaborate notification?

Additional details from data I’ve acquired outlining the details of various methods of in-game communication. Those with various tools may actually listen in on basic “calling” in-game, while more secure lines cost credits.

Wait, shouldn’t you have mentioned something about this before we opened up the insecure line between me and Thiago?

You didn’t ask. I don’t believe it would have made any difference upon the outcome of the battle, as we were simply listening as Thiago outlined his position. Accepting communication now.

“Hey, Alan," Ace said. "I’ve managed to eliminate the rest of the Haxlards, with Daisy’s healing. She apparently bought some sort of skill, and managed to boost my strength. It’s temporary though, so we should try to find the remaining enemies soon. I have no idea where the last two Haxlards might be, so be careful. It looks like the Predecessor will arrive in a few minutes too.”

“Um, alright," Alan said. "Good job. Do you think we should head out, searching for them?”

“I’m not sure… they could be anywhere, with this mist and all. Why don’t you stay in position, we’ll make our way to you once we’ve rested a bit.”

“Sure.”

Ace ended the conversation while Alan let Kitana know what had happened. Kitana told him to remain vigilant. There was something that was making her uneasy. A few seconds later, a sudden flash of light emerged in the distance as Kitana’s blade met another. Alan swung his sniper rifle to try to aim at Kitana’s attacker.

STOP.

Out of nowhere a glowing, fiery light blue sword emerged, right at the tip of Alan’s jugular. Alan halted in his tracks, watching as a Haxlard shimmered into existence. The Haxlard had a monochrome light silver faceplate, covering his face like all the other Haxlards Alan had seen. He was wearing armor similar to Alan’s, although while Alan’s was black, the Haxlards was a light grey, blending in seamlessly with the fog. The blade in his hand was a long blade, jagged on one edge, straight, razor-sharp on the other. It was covered in a soft blue fiery glow similar to the red glow that covered Alan’s laser knife when it was activated.

“Tell your comrade to stop fighting," the figure said. "We do not wish to fight you; it would not please the Three. If we wished to, we could have eliminated you long before now.”

Do it, 
Eve commanded.

Alan quickly sent a message to Kitana, telling her to stop fighting. A few seconds passed, then the sound of clashing blades stopped.

The Haxlard nodded, and removed his blade from Alan’s throat, deactivating it. It was made of a silvery material.

“We have detected a Predecessor incoming to the location of a Tutorial base," the Haxlard said. "We assume this is the base you began in, correct?”

“Uh, yeah,” Alan replied.

“Do you know what the Predecessor’s purpose in coming here is?”

“Um, why do you want to know?”

“My brother and I wish to test our might against this warrior, and bring glory to the Three.”

Alan was pretty sure that the Haxlard was grinning widely as it made this statement.

“Oh, okay," he said. "It’s a bonus round for the survival test, I managed to catch its attention while I was running a search for nearby players somehow. I’m supposed to try to defeat it in battle, that’s all I know.”

“Very well, let us face this warrior together. Is this acceptable?” the Haxlard asked.

“Yeah, sure!” Alan said excitedly. Having two assassins would definitely help.

“Agreed, then. Let us wait for the Predecessors arrival.”

The Haxlard sat down on the ground, crossing his legs, staring up at the sky. Alan glanced at the countdown. There was a minute remaining until the Predecessor arrived. He wondered what the Haxlard was doing, maybe some sort of pre-battle meditation? Maybe he should try to take advantage of the situation
—

“It comes,” the Haxlard solemnly intoned.

Look up,
Eve sent.
 
Alan looked up, simply seeing the grey sky above.

Eve highlighted a tiny, glowing white light in the sky. It slowly grew larger as Alan stared at it.

Wait, is that
—

Yes, it is the Predecessor. Be quiet, let me calculate its trajectory and anticipated landing speed.

Alan stared at the light in the sky. Was this some sort of spaceship? Where was the Predecessor coming from? The light grew larger, looking like a falling meteor. The light was so bright it was almost unbearably painful to look at, yet Alan continued to stare up at it at Eve’s command.

Wait, is that the
—

YES. JUMP OFF THE BRIDGE NOW. FEET FIRST.

Without hesitation, Alan followed Eve’s command, leaping feet first off the edge of the bridge into the water below.

SECURE YOUR RIFLE THEN PENCIL DIVE.
 A series of actions formed in Alan’s mind, which he quickly replicated. Alan attached his plasma sniper rifle to his armor, ramming it in place as hard as he could. Then, he pinned his arms to the side, legs together, pointing downwards. Alan felt an exhilarating rush as he fell towards the surface of the ocean. Then he realized this was going to hurt. A lot. At Eve's command Alan looked up, and saw that the Predecessor was a few seconds away from colliding with the earth, showing no signs of slowing down.

Alan crashed into the surface of water as his breath was knocked out of him. The remaining energy of his power armor vanished as various lower portions of the armor shattered, cutting into Alan’s skin. A few of his bones shattered as well, his health halved in an instant. It was mind numbingly cold as well, yet before Alan could even get over the initial shock, there was a resounding crash as a sudden, immense force pushed Alan back, away from the city. It felt like being blown away by a tornado, multiplying the pain Alan felt in his legs immeasurably. A few seconds later, when the force pushing him backwards through the water subsided, a message popped up, which Alan was barely able to read as he struggled upwards, desperate for air.

The ice cold water seemed to be good for something, as it helped to numb the pain, yet soon all that begin to fill Alan’s mind was the desperate need for air. Portions of his vision were beginning to swim in and out of focus. Eve was yelling something at him, yet he was finding it difficult to focus on her words. It was a struggle to force his arms to move upwards, every motion pure agony.

Yet he pushed onwards.

And then, almost miraculously, Alan surfaced. He took a deep breath, coughing up water. Somehow, he managed to stay afloat, the power armor set to some special mode by Eve. It hurt too much to think about it. Alan had somehow been blown all the way to beneath the far side of the bridge.

He slowly made his way to a rocky outcrop beneath a cliff. Using his upper body, Alan forced himself onto the rocks, collapsing in a heap of pain, shutting his eyes, trying to ignore it all. His backpack had been lost in the water, but his knife was still in a side compartment, and Alan had a few pain reliever pills from the med-kit stashed in another pocket, placed there after the previous battle. Avoiding looking at his legs, he took the pills out and swallowed a handful. A minute passed, and Eve's words finally made it to him.

OPEN YOUR EYES. LOOK TOWARDS THE CITY.