Dan
Dan along with his team were at the in-house clinic within the Combat Games’ main building. The nurses had given Dan a full diagnostic checkup of his body and found no significant injuries other than strained tendons and ligaments as well as excessive muscle fatigue from popping two booster stims and stacking his berserk ability. Dan was merely given a few doses of injections to ease the pain and soreness in his joints and muscles. Unfortunately, the nurses couldn’t spare anything to aid in Dan’s fatigue.
Angie was worse off, as one of the Prime Swords had kicked her ass during Dan’s struggle against Rachel Cutter. The agent had to be sedated to kickly mend two broken ribs and a cracked sternum. The nurse explained the nature of her injuries meant that a mere healing stim wouldn’t be sufficient to permanently heal the damage. It had been forty minutes since the procedure and Dan still awaited an update on her condition.
Li appeared the least injured and bothered after the cash grab round of the tournament. The stealth specialist was given a healing stim by a nurse to recover from general muscle fatigue and to address a minor headache. He sat across from Dan in the waiting area of the clinic.
“Angie better be okay,” Dan said, incessantly tapping his finger on the arm of his chair.
“Agents are built tougher than regular humans, even tier zeros,” Li assured. The stealth specialist sat crosslegged inspecting his silenced PX300. “Honestly, those nurses were just being nice sedating her. Angie didn’t need that royalty treatment.”
Dan didn’t feel any better, but at least Li was still his usual self.
“You should stop worrying about Angie. It’s in the tournament’s best interests to make sure she pulls through and gets back into operating condition to continue the Combat Games. It doesn’t hurt that she’s conventionally attractive and she might have some viewers fawning over her, giving the broadcast more views and increasing ratings. I had a nurse walk up to me and say that we’re quickly becoming fan favorites on the broadcast.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I rarely do,” Li said dryly. “Your use of the berserk mode has pulled in a lot of viewers and discussion. I was browsing the net and already found forum posts theorizing on what you strange power is.”
Dan stared blankly at the stealth specialist. “Well, shit. Does this mean we’re famous now?”
“Yes,” Li said. Dan admired his teammate’s consistency in tone. “So don’t worry about Angie. Her attitude is crude and unprofessional, but she’s a fully-fledged agent like the rest of us. Jane accepted her into the squad with open arms so she can’t be… what do people our age say, a scrub?”
“No, she’s not,” Dan said in agreement.
The door next to Dan opened and a nurse stepped through. “Mr. Orion? Angie has finally woken up. She’ll be back on her feet in a few minutes as her body is counteracting the effects of the sedative. She’s available if you want to see her.”
Dan breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
He stood up and the nurse stepped away from the doorway. Both he and Li walked into the room and saw Angie lying in bed staring at the ceiling.
“Hey, is everything good?” Dan asked.
“Yeah, I’m all healed up,” Angie said. “Honestly, I could have powered through the healing process without the sedative. Those nurses think I’m a baby.”
Angie was stripped down to a basic form-fitting black bodysuit all agents wore underneath their armor. Dan’s eyes wandered below Angie’s eyes but he quickly corrected himself, knowing that sort of conduct would get him into trouble.
It didn’t go unnoticed by his bedridden teammate as she gave Dan a sideways glance and a coy smirk. Luckily, she changed the subject.
“I’m more pissed off than hurt,” she said, clenching her fists. “That fucking asshole Piss Sword who pinned me back there. I can’t wait for some payback.”
“Uh, Piss Sword?” Dan said.
“I’m disappointed by the lack of creativity to that insult,” Li said, keeping his dry tone.
“So we’re addressing the elephant in the room huh?” Dan said. “Those Piss Swords as you call them are way stronger than they should be.”
“No shit? Seriously, how did that uppity bitch Rachel match you in strength while in berserk mode? No tier one agent should be as strong as you in that form,” Angie said, raising her voice by an octave.
A few other agents lying and recovering from injuries across the room jerked their heads in their direction.
“Keep your voice down,” Li said sternly. “There’s other patients here.”
“Oh shut the hell up Li. I’ll do a strip tease in front of them and they’ll let me talk all I want,” Angie said. Dan didn’t hold back his chuckle over his teammate’s vanity.
“I’m being deadly serious right now,” Angie continued. She locked eyes with Dan. “You took on Kate Razor and Adam Torrent using your berserk form, both of whom are tier two level agents. There’s no way some random bitch like Rachel should compare. I’m telling you something is up with that team.”
“It certainly is fishy, but I don’t think we have any room to complain,” Li stated. “Our team has our own abilities that would be considered abnormal. You have your enchanted firearms while Dan has his berserk and glare technique.”
“I guess thenext time we see those Prime Swords, we’ll crush them for good,” Dan declared.
“Piss Swords,” Angie corrected.
“Right,” he said. “Can you move yet?”
“Yeah I can. You’ll have to give me some time to put on my armor, get my guns, reapply my makeup, you know. You two might be in the waiting area for a while.”
“I sincerely hope not,” Li said.
***
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Luckily, Angie didn’t take as long as she claimed and emerged out of the room with all of her gear. The trio walked out of the clinic and back into the same dreary hallways of the Combat Games’ building.
All agents please report to your respective waypoints and await further instructions for the 4th round.
Dan’s HUD updated with a way point leading him through the copy and pasted halls. During the walk, Dan asked Li a question.
“So, do you remember what’s in store for the fourth round of this tournament?”
“It’s a battle royale,” Li said. “All teams thrown into a situation and have to either survive or gain the most points possible. Only a top few teams will be allowed while the rest get eliminated.”
“So it’s us against literally everyone else? That shouldn’t be too tough,” Dan replied. “It will be easier to let everyone else fight each other while we progress forward with our own agenda right?”
“In theory, yes. But that doesn’t always reflect what a real combat scenario will throw at you,” Li said. The stealth specialist chuckled. “If Jane Sunheiser were here, she would turn your presumptuous comment into a lecture.”
“Yeah, she sure would,” Dan said fondly.
The team followed the waypoint to a door that was an exit out into the desolate landscape. Once outside, Dan saw groups of other agents, easily counter over a hundred fifty agents still competing in the Combat Games.
Angie delivered a low whistle. “They sure know how to clean house. You wouldn’t believe that the registrationprocess had the building jam packed.”
Dan scanned the crowd and spotted Rachel and her Prime Swords at the edge of the crowd. His averted his gaze and tried to find Miles and his team, but the crowds were so thick he couldn’t see beyond the second row of agents.
A thick pole that stood three meters tall in the middle of the crowd suddenly buzzed, with numerous agents jerking their heads and backing away from the pole. The odd structure then had its top section open like a jewel case on its side and a glass panel slid out from the opening and folded outward like a sheet of paper.
The same obnoxious branding and animated elements played before the announcer’s voice blasted out of the pole.
“Welcome to the 4th round of the Combat Games. For all contestants who have made this far, you should be proud of yourselves. But do not rest on your laurels, as this round will determine who will compete in the final round of this tournament. As a reminder, there is no crowned champion of the Combat Games in a traditional sense. The goal of this tournament is for judges to evaluate the performance of each agent and determine the best and most competent of the bunch. Those agents who’s performance stands out will reap the benefits, such as recommendations for higher-stakes missions, transfers to work with renowned agents of the Alpha Corp, and much more. Therefore, it is best to think of your continued progression through the Combat Games as giving you and your team morew chances to showcase your skills and abilities in the various rounds.”
Dan glanced at his teammates and noticed Li had narrowed his gaze at the display. He nudged the stealth specialist with his elbow.
“It’s redundant info the announcer his regurgitating, though it could also be to soften us up mentally for what is about to be the hardest round yet,” Li said.
“Our 4th round will be a battle royale competition taking place in one of the forests right next to the exclusion zone of former Chernobyl. You will be competing in a one thousand square kilometer area, consisting of a forest and small abandoned city.As the name suggests, all teams will be placed in an area and its every man for himself. All teams will be competing with each other to accomplish various objectives to progress to the fifth and final round. While all other teams are your enemy, your primary is not to eliminate all other teams, but survive. Otherwise, the round would devolve into a giant and disorganized deathmatch.”
“Not surprising,” Li remarked.
“Only the top five teams in this battle royale will be allowed to progress to the next round in the Combat Games. In order to win, a team must earn points earned from either eliminating other teams or completing specific mini-objectives. Similar to the previous two rounds, live ammo will be in use and killing is permitted. Fun fact: there have been a total of twenty-three deaths and sixty-seven injuries so far in this year’s Combat Games.”
Many of the agents in the crowd looked aroun exchangin glances with each other. Dan could easily tell that the majority of the competition left weren't the same obnoxious and gung-ho fools from his transport. The agents that were left had made it to this point through competence or possibly blind luck.
“In this round, killing another team will add their points to your own. Eliminations are now a high risk, high reward path to gaining the points you need to place in the top five. The entire battle royal will be on a thirty minute time limit. You will have thirty minutes to gain as much points as possible and you need to make back to the safe house to properly place before time runs out. In this version of our battle royale, we have made efforts to address complaints regarding previous iterations of this round. The biggest amendment we have made is that once a team places in the top five in points, a constant bullseye will be placed on the team that is visible to the HUDs of all competitors at all times. And eliminating a top five team will also mark your team with a bullseye as you take their place in the rankings.”
The murmurs and raised voices in the crowd suggested middling opinions regarding this particular rule. But Dan understood that once any teak reached a top five spot, it would become too easy to defend your lead and it would give you a free pass to be lazy. He knew it wouldn’t breed good habits for a young agent nor would it look exciting for viewers.
The announcer continued. “All teams are encouraged to review a map of the area and finalize their starting position before our transports carry you all and drop you off at your designated starting positions. The gamemasters have now enforced that all teams are not allowed to select new weapons and must continue with their current equipped weapons. There will be no ammo restocking either. Any additional weapons and special equipment must be obtained at various weapon caches in the battle royale arena. The constrictions will be decided shortly as you ready yourselves for the upcoming round. Good luck to all.”
The crowds roared in objection to such a harsh condition and Dan saw may fists being eaves in the air. He wouldn’t have been surprised if someone shot at the pole and the display. The announcer didn’t respond to any of the feedback and the crowds eventually dispersed. Dan and his team headed back inside as their updated waypoints led them to rooms with computer terminals that each contained the topographic map of the arena.
Dan, trying to anticipate the sort of landscape he would be dropped in, knew he would be most flexible with a mid-range loadout. His current ZK-77T and PX-300 handgun were his current options and he breathed a sigh of relief while holding his rifle in hishands. His ammo reserves for both his weapons were okay but not abundant.
“Well, this won’t be ideal,” Li said. “I have a Sniper rifle that’s down to three rounds and my sidearm. That’s it.”
“Did you bring in your Aero SMG from the heist?” Dan said.
“I did, but swapped it out for this sniper. I’m not allowed to exchange it back as per the rules for this round.”
“That’s rough,” Dan said. “Angie, how are you with ammo?”
Angie’s serious expression didn’t fill Dan with enthusiasm. “Not too bad. Still plenty of mags for my pistol but I have one spare mag left for my Aero.”
“So we’re all in agreement that we’re not seeking out any enemy teams to eliminate, or at least at the start?”
“It also wouldn’t hurt to go out find those weapon caches the announcer spoke of,” Li added.
Dan saw a message pop up in his vision.
Constrictions in place.
Mutated wildlife: some local animals and even plants are mutated to be much stronger and tougher with deadly hazards to contestants.
Church agent on the loose: a captured Church agent is now released into the arena. All contestants must exercise extreme caution.
Tough guardians: certain pickups on the arena will be guarded by either a tier 2 agent or a mutated beast.
Your constriction: No ammo. Your team starts without any bullets.
Constriction reward: Unlock a Deathdealer grenade launcher (one per team).
“Uhhh…” Dan didn’t know what else to say.
“What type of fucking bullshit?!” Angie had a much more expressive response. His teammate slammed her fist on a table in the armory.
“That complicates things…” Li said.
“You think!?” Angie shouted. “How the fuck are we supposed to do this without ammo? We might as well use our guns as clubs.”
As frustrated as Dan was, he held his tongue. He clenched his fist at the harsh handicap placed on his team.
“Alright then, bring it on,” he whispered.