| |
––––––––
TO THE THUNDER of the several-ton Immolators walking behind us, accompanied by Gerd Ayni, Tini and Denni Marko, I entered hangar number 8-505. In the center was the dumpy Shiamiru shuttle, which had been through so much, already prepared for its next voyage. Its Geckho crew was loading heavy containers of equipment for the planetary shield generator into the hold. When the walking combat robots arrived, the Geckho stopped just for a second and turned their heads, then casually got back to loading. It was as if a pair of Immolators just walked past their ship every day. I suspect they had paid for extremely limited stationing time on Kasti-Utsh III, and their cheapskate captain was rushing them to leave so they wouldn’t get hit with an overstay fine.
However, the group of players sitting on bales and bags at the very farthest wall of the hangar shot up in surprise, unable to believe their eyes. Or perhaps they were remembering their previous encounter with the Immolators. For many of them, it was not a particularly pleasant memory.
“Gnat?!” Uline Tar was first to come to her senses, throwing herself at me and very nearly strangling me in her embrace.
The Immolators jerked and all at once turned their cannons toward the huge Geckho woman. But clearly they saw her allied status and ignored the “attack on their master.” And they did the same to the big group of players jubilantly rushing over to greet me.
“Captain? Why war? And where did you get these big bastards?” asked Dmitry Zheltov, shaking my hand and not even trying to hide his surprise.
I took my sweet time to answer because I was also fairly surprised. Above all at the low number of newcomers (I was counting on fifteen to twenty to round out my forces). But I was also taken aback to see an NPC Dryad among the new players:
Nefertiti. Dryad. Antiquity Faction. Level-90 Artisan.
The supple-figured swarthy Dryad, whose only clothing consisted of a broad army belt with knives and three armor sheets that seemed glued to her body, picked up a bag clearly planning to follow the other newcomers.
“Who’s the stripper?” I didn’t even have to point for them to know what was bothering me. Everyone understood perfectly well.
“Leng Gnat La-Fin, she... I didn’t take her with on purpose, the Dryad came of her own accord...” boarding team leader Gerd T’yu-Pan the Shocktroop was embarrassed and stopped himself midsentence. But another player hurried to intervene:
“Commander... uh... Leng Gnat, the Dryad is with me! She’s my wife!” said a blocky muscleman, stepping out in front and hiding the NPC Dryad behind his body. Almost black with sunburn, he was carrying a heavy machinegun rakishly over his shoulder. Much to my surprise, I recognized the player. In fact, he was my original commander in the game that bends reality:
Kisly. Human. Faction [undefined]. Level-90 Machinegunner.
Kisly had leveled up pretty well since I last saw him! I remembered a man having a much more modest level. But the persnickety boarding team commander Gerd T’yu-Pan had selected him, so he must have seen him as a good fighter. But how was I supposed to understand his faction being “undefined?” What was more, he had no faction tag on his armor. I asked my question out loud.
“Commander...” he winced. Clearly this was not the most pleasant topic for him. “The Second Legion got a new leader, Rupor. And right away he started ranting and raving, instituting strict discipline and upending what he called Gerd Tamara’s ‘Cossack[1] democracy.’ Anyway, I ended up catching hell from the new commander and he punished me severely to make a point. I did give him a good reason though... I was accused of abandoning my post on the Centaur Plateau, which made me late for the arrival of a transport... But it was to attend my wedding in the Dryad village and, in their customs, such festivities are supposed to last all night!”
Kisly finally stepped aside, showing me his wife. By the looks of things, the Dryad did not understand spoken language, but she had a great sense for intonation. After she realized the storm had passed, she stopped worrying and began to smile.
“And afterward, the directors of the Human-3 Faction said a lot of very harsh and nasty things about Nefertiti and our relationship. Just so you know, we have a very true and sincere love, honest to God! In the end I had to choose: either the Dryad or faction membership. And so I left the faction. I wanted to go join the Germans in the Human-6 Faction, but they have way too many players as is. I even considered staying in the game forever and becoming an NPC, even if that meant mortality. But then I found out Team Gnat was looking for players and I came for the try-outs.”
“For the record, we did not choose to take the Dryad on the starship,” Dmitry Zheltov cut in. “We left her at the spaceport, even though she was twisting her hands all around and begging with gestures for us not to split her and her husband up. But once in space, Nefertiti appeared next to Kisly on the shuttle as if nothing had happened!”
Excuse me? I raised my brows in surprise. But none of it surprised Kisly:
“Yes, my wife respawns next to me whenever she dies or the distance between us becomes too great. During a tense firefight with the Dark Faction, when they were pressing in on us on the island in the middle of the swamp, Nefertiti was fighting alongside the rest of our faction. And three times she respawned at my side! She is no longer truly an NPC, but nearly a fully-fledged player, even though she can’t go into the real world.”
Well, well! Something like the situation with the Morphians. Also something in between an NPC and living player. Or perhaps like an NPC pet which would also continuously respawn next to its master. That warranted a consultation with Valeri the Tailaxian. The Beastmaster knew how pets worked much better than me. Also, I couldn’t help but notice that Kisly still referred to Human-3 as “our faction.” Seemingly, even though he was no longer a member, he still unconsciously felt like he belonged to it. Oh well, I used to be the same way. I only started to truly recognize that I now had my own faction in the last day or two.
“Alright, Kisly. I accept your explanation. I see no reason to restrict or forbid the NPC Dryad. She will just come back again and again regardless. I don’t know what Artisans are good for yet, but Uline Tar will find a use for your wife and put her to use. But make sure you keep her quirk in mind as well – otherwise we might send you onto an asteroid with a group of other soldiers and end up with Nefertiti dying in an infinite loop with all the accompanying consequences. After all, can a Dryad even wear a space suit?”
“No, Dryads cannot wear armor of any kind. Most of them don’t even wear basic clothing and think nudism to be natural and attractive. Dryads also consider it natural for men to stare at them. I had to explain to my wife that nakedness is not always viewed as normal in human society, and Nefertiti agreed to cover her body at least somewhat.”
I personally had no problem with the Dryad’s appearance. Really, if you think about it, why should a Meleyephatian Programmer be able to walk around the starship in just a toolbelt, but not a Dryad Artisan? And even Gerd T’yu-Pan, who was once very embarrassed to see Gerd Tamara naked, had seemingly already grown used to his underling’s wife’s appearance and had no problem with it. But Denni Marko on the other hand was thunderstruck, staring wide-eyed at the unusual NPC. And that earned him some grief from Valeri. I could sense the waves of annoyance and jealousy emanating from the Tailaxian lady from here.
Psionic skill increased to level ninety-six!
Successful Perception check!
I slowly lowered a hand and allowed the invisible Little Sister to sniff my palm. And after determining the creature’s position, I even risked trying to pet the dangerous Shadow Panther. And she was just fine with that.
“You’re finally learning how to treat Little Sister!” a stream of thoughts from Valeri rang out in my head. “She missed you, captain. As, by the way, did I.”
Valeri-Urla was teasing me again. But I didn’t respond to the Tailaxian’s provocative message, just turned my attention to the three remaining newcomers. There was another I already knew:
Svetlana Vereshchagina. Human. Human-3 Faction. Level-94 Assassin.
Though I knew her as the phy-ed instructor for Human-3 Faction newbies, she was also a capable First Legion killer. I wonder who is training newcomers under the Dome now. Wearing a form-fitting Dark Faction temperature-regulating scout suit, she was smiling carelessly although I could feel her internal tension and lack of confidence. I could have read her thoughts if I wanted, but I didn’t. I had no questions or remarks for my new teammate. Svetlana was a strong fighter in close combat and a clear boon to our boarding team.
I turned to the remaining two. A light-haired young man in a shapeless ghillie suit and a blonde lady in a track suit the colors of the German flag. Very similar faces. Twins? That looked very possible, although they were of different genders:
Destroying Angel. Human. Human-6 Faction. Level-78 Gunfighter.
Grim Reaper. Human. Human-6 Faction. Level-72 Sniper.
And they both went by a nickname? They were standing very close to one another as well. Unusual. Noticing my interest in the newcomers, giant boarding team leader Gerd T’yu-Pan walked up:
“Captain, I only took four people from the whole list of candidates you sent. And it wasn’t that the rest were bad fighters. Nothing of the sort. There were some very solid candidates from the First Legion, and the Second Legion too. There was also a Monk from the Chinese Human-1 Faction I liked. He had an intriguing hand-to-hand combat style. But I was instructed to take only the best of the best, and only those that wouldn’t shine too bright and would be willing to bust their butts and work as part of a team. Kisly made an immediate impression on me. He was much stronger and more dangerous than his level might suggest, able to hit any target at two hundred yards with short machine-gun bursts, and seemingly able to even outdo Geckho in feats of strength. Svetlana has also proven herself a master killer.”
“But these two?” I nodded at the two Germans standing nearby. “Their level isn’t too impressive. Seventy. Most of the people in the crew are already ninety or above. They’ll be the farthest behind.”
“Destroying Angel is a seven-time champion of your world and a two-time Olympic champion in a sport involving cross-country ski racing and ancient rifle marksmanship. I think it’s called biathlon. Nimble, high endurance, deadly. She also has a solid grasp on the language of the magocratic world and is quickly making strides in Geckho as well. She can understand us right now perfectly well, for example. And yet, she’s standing still as a statue. I was never able to make her flinch even though I was really trying and provoking her on purpose. If I’m not mistaken, her name is Laura, but she doesn’t respond to that name, only to the nickname Destroying Angel. But she can shoot fast as lightning and with deadly accuracy. Look!”
T’yu-Pan suddenly threw a small red crystal toward the hangar ceiling – the lowest denomination of Geckho currency.
“Fire!”
The shot was nearly instantaneous. Despite my high Perception, I had a hard time telling exactly when the snub-nosed rifle appeared in her hands. In the space of a second, the weapon was stashed back in her inventory and the crystal had been dashed to a sprinkling of red dust.
Eagle Eye skill increased to level eighty-three!
Okay, impressive! And she was a seven-time world champion and a two-time Olympic champion. A true star of the Human-6 Faction! It was definitely worth letting her join Team Gnat, despite her fairly modest level.
Her brother (and it really was a twin brother, I was not wrong) as it turned out had not taken to sport and instead pursued the life of a professional soldier. A shooting instructor. A sniper with real-world combat experience. T’yu Pan turned on his palmtop and started reading off the places he’d served, words unknown in his world. Iraq. Afghanistan. Syria. The Central African Republic. Then he was sent to play the game that bends reality in the ranks of the H6 Faction.
“I think he even shot me once in Karelia,” the Shocktroop laughed with no resentment, turning off his computer. “And there’s another interesting peculiarity. When brother and sister are working together in a group, they both get a twenty-percent bonus to accuracy and action speed.”
Well, well! Interesting to know that twins had that feature. I’d have to ask Basha and Vasha Tushihh if they also got bonuses from working together. And if the German soldiers got bonuses from our Bard on top of that, they’d make a truly spectacular pair!
When I’d finished meeting the beginners and looked at the time, I had my team line up and told them their mission:
“As I’m sure you’ve all realized, we’re at war with some Miyelonian pirates. Veterans of Team Gnat already know, but I’ll explain for the newbies. The Pride of the Bushy Shadow has been trying to trip us up for a long time, and brawling with them is practically a daily occurrence at this point. Those cosmic scoundrels only understand the language of force and, after every beatdown we give them, they go quiet for a bit to lick their wounds. In the past we would hole up for defense. But for the first time, we’re truly stronger and can go teach the local Bushy Shadow just how bad they messed up when they decided to go against us!”
Authority increased to 65!
My crewmembers started buzzing. I heard war cries from all directions. After I said that, no one was afraid of the pirates anymore. In fact, they were raring for a fight.
“Captain, I have a question,” raising his hand before like a schoolboy, Space Commando Eduard Boyko stepped forward in his heavy exoskeleton suit. “Sorry for interrupting your fiery speech. But there’s something I’m failing to understand. When was it that we holed up and defended ourselves exactly? When we broke into that dock and pinned the pirate captain to the wall by the ears? Or when we attacked and capture the pirate treasure vault on Medu-Ro IV?”
“I bet he means a bit earlier, when we captured the pirate interceptor in open space,” Tini the kitten answered Eduard with a predatory smirk.
I smiled and didn’t tell my friends off for poking holes. I understood that it was just nerves before a fight and Eduard was trying to show off to the new girls and boasting of his past feats. So I simply continued:
“When I said we holed up, I was talking about our most recent encounter when we were just seven against fifty pirates. We had to defend ourselves and repel an attack. But you know my rule: the best defense is a good offense! So now, with the balance changed, we are going for the kill! And we will come at them with excessive force to make a point. We’ll even have to be extra cruel so we don’t merely win, but smack the Pride of the Bushy Shadow down so hard they’ll never want to tangle with us again. We have around four hours until the pirate pride’s main forces get to the station. Let’s spend that time intelligently and wipe out the Bushy Shadow’s fighters to get the pirates shivering in fear! We’ll destroy and capture everything the pirate pride owns here on Kasti-Utsh III. And after that, we’ll secure our flanks and be ready to greet pirate leader Big Abi and his goons right at dock and try to take them out there along with their starship! We’ve got four million crypto riding on this, that’s twenty-eight million Geckho crystals. A lot of money. A damn lot I’d say. That’s what the winner of this war stands to gain. And I am planning to spend a significant portion of it improving the starship and buying the very best weapons and armor in existence for my crew! So, let’s get this party started! We’re gonna tear them to pieces!!!”
