Dan entered the building while keeping his pistols drawn. It was quiet, but as he had learned during this bit of recon, it could all change in an instant.
“Don’t take too long in there,” Allen said again through the channel. “We made a lot of noise just now.”
Dan continued through the building and up the stairs. He got to the third floor and saw the carnage that Allen’s minigun had inflicted on the building. Allen had punched through not only the building’s outer walls, but even through the hallways inside the structure.
“You tore this place up pretty good,” Dan said.
“That’s what twenty millimeter casings filled with hot plasma does,” Allen said proudly. “Trust me, you haven’t seen the full arsenal Alpha has to offer yet.”
Dan arrived at the room where he’d shot and killed one of the Kodak agents. He leaned in and pointed his pistols at the corpse that lay in front of the window. He slowly made his way towards the dead agent, making sure to avoid stepping on debris from the damaged walls and ceiling.
He walked up to the corpse and had a much better look at the Kodak armor. Just like the one on the ground outside, this agent had the same bulky black armor with short spikes jutting out from the torso armor and the shoulder pieces. He didn’t know whether that was for intimidation or these agents used their own armor as lethal weapon by charging their enemies and stabbing them with their spikes. Sharp razor blades jutted out from the elbow and knee caps, indicating more dangerous hazards built in.
Dan’s eyes shifted to the assault rifle lying on the floor beside the dead agent. He picked it up and was surprised how heavy it was. He took a look at the rifle and noticed a vague resemblance to the old G36 line of assault rifles. His HUD immediately fed his eyes data on the weapon.
Name: CMA-40 assault rifle
Manufacturer: Cresh Manufacturing (Kodak-Cresh Subsidiary)
24-round magazine
7.62 x 57mm depleted uranium rounds
Effective against light and medium armor.
23% chance of jamming.
Description: A cheaply made assault rifle that is Kodak’s equivalent to the ZK-77. While much more common and easier to produce, this rifle is inferior to the ZK-77 in every category. Generally not recommended if the 77 is available.
As Dan was grabbing the magazines for the rifle off the agent, he saw the term “depleted uranium” and was already looking at the rifle in awe. Studying the history of firearms from the occasional books he stole from libraries was one of his pastimes. Depleted uranium was no joke in terms of its armor-piercing abilities. But to have such a material used in small caliber weapons was pure insanity.
And Dan approved.
“Holy shit. I think I’m in love,” Dan said through the channel. “Found an assault rifle off a Kodak agent. Depleted uranium rounds in a rifle. I thought those were only in tank shells.”
“You’re behind the times, kid,” Allen replied. “Everything improves with time, including the tools we use to kill each other. Hate to rain on your parade, but that CMA rifle is junk by our standards.”
“The hell? What do you mean?”
“Shitty magazine size and it jams almost a quarter of the time. Didn’t you see the stats your HUD gave you?”
Dan double-checked the readout that still floated in front of him. “I guess I only saw depleted uranium and was sold.”
“I mean, it’s better than what you have now, but that’s it. It’s an inferior rifle to the seventy-seven in every way. But I guess in your position, you take what you can get,” Allen said.
Dan didn’t let Allen’s grim facts damper his enjoyment of finally finding his first assault rifle.
“Are you done? Let’s get going. Judging by the matching staccatos I heard before I fired my minigun, you won’t find much else up there.”
“Alright then,” Dan said.
He was about to walk out the room and head down through the building but remembered he was an agent. He climbed out the window and simply jumped down.
Dan landed on the pavement next to the dead Kodak agent and saw Allen already on the ground waiting for him. The two resumed their walk through the streets. Allen led from the front once more while Dan remained behind him, now watching their rear with his newfound CMA assault rifle.
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The dark and overcast skies obscured the moonlight and the sporadic street lights and neon signs proved insufficient to light up the street. His eyes adjusted and painted the entirety of his surroundings in a bright outline.
“Woah, this is nice.”
“Your eyes will automatically adjust to dim lighting situations,” Allen said.
The two walked past a shop before the sound of shattering glass halted them in their tracks.
“What the hell?” Dan asked.
Before Allen could give him a reply, something dropped down from the sky and landed right in front of Dan. He raised his rifle at the figure in front of him, but it was smacked out of his hands. The outline in front of Dan shifted to a red color, indicating an enemy. The familiar bulky armor and spikes along the shoulders and chest told Dan everything he needed to know.
Dan grabbed the rifle in the Kodak agent’s hands and smacked the barrel away from his body. The agent popped off a few shots before Dan shoved two of his fingers into his enemy’s eyes.
The Kodak agent staggered backward, giving Dan the chance to rip the rifle out of his enemy’s hands and even the playing field. He briefly saw Allen handling his own close encounter with another Kodak agent.
Dan counterattacked with two solid punches to the face before diving and grabbing the agent’s lower torso. He tackled them to the ground and delivered another few blows to their face. His HUD pulled up the enemy agent’s stats.
Agent: Arnold Solid
Age: 22 M
Shard: Kodak-Cresh
Rank: Tier 1 | Level 16
Strength: 16
Agility: 18
Endurance: 16
Intelligence: 17
Healing Factor: n/a
The agent—Arnold—had Dan outclassed in every stat, though the gap wasn’t as huge compared to Jane and the others. Arnold was still dazed from the barrage of attacks but had already brought up his arms to defend from Dan’s rapid punches.
Dan’s next move was desperate, but he had little other choice. He moved his arms past the agent’s guard and tried squeezing his neck as hard as he could.
The Kodak agent immediately grabbed Dan’s wrists but couldn’t pull his arms off. Dan was putting as much as he possibly could into his hand and fingers to choke the life out of his enemy. The Kodak’s strength was gradually waning, and Dan released one hand and grabbed his pistol from his coat. He fired three shots right into Arnold’s forehead, killing the agent instantly.
Dan looked up and saw Allen standing over him watching.
“You dealt with the other guy already?” Dan said.
Allen raised his eyebrows. “He was a tier one and I’m close to tier three. What do you think?”
“But does that mean you were watching me the whole time?”
“You could say that. I would have helped if things got bad, but it looked like you had the situation handled. And hey, that was impressive. At your level, that agent wasn’t a lightweight. You kicked the shit out of someone above your level. Good work.”
Dan smiled beneath his mask. Out of curiosity, he pulled up his own stats.
Agent: Dan “Arctic” Orion
Age: 18 M
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 0 | Level 6
Strength: 10
Agility: 6
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 7
Supernatural: n/a | Supernatural stat is not yet available. Agent level too low.
Healing Factor: n/a
Reflex: Average +
You have 15 stat points available to use.
“It’s hard to believe I won,” Dan said. “My stats are quite pitiful in comparison.”
Allen tapped him on the shoulder. “Sometimes raw numbers don’t determine the outcome of a fight between agents. Timing, positioning and gear can influence it.”
“I just realized that I forgot to allocate my stat points before the start of this mission,” Dan said, standing back up. “I’ve got fifteen.”
“Better start allocating, kid. You’re going to need the buff to keep up with these Kodak agents. I have a feeling these first tiers are small fry compared to what’s here.”
Dan followed closely behind Allen while focusing on his stat menu. With fifteen points to use, Dan had no clue where to start. As plentiful as his options were, he was currently in a mission and there were enemy agents in the area. If he encountered any more Kodak forces, he knew he couldn’t afford to put his points in the wrong stats.
“Hey Allen, how do you think I should play this? Which stats do you think would suit me best in fighting Kodak agents?”
Allen kept his eyes forward, aiming his minigun ahead of him. “You got lucky back there against that agent you fought up close. I think at your level, it’s best to minimize those encounters. Trying to fight those guys with your own power won’t end well.”
Dan thought about his close encounter with the Kodak agent and decided he didn’t want to keep tempting his odds against agents higher ranked than himself.
“I would recommend you prioritize putting points into intelligence and endurance. You're crafty when you need to be, so increasing your intelligence stat will make it easier for you to outsmart Kodak. Then for endurance, well, I’m anticipating this mission is going to take longer than we originally planned. So you’re going to need to keep pushing yourself to be on the move. We don’t have the luxury of getting tired out here.”
“Alright, thanks, Allen,” Dan said.
Dan put points in to nearly every category.
Endurance: 10 (+5)
Intelligence 7 (+3)
Agility: 6 (+5)
Congratulations. Your updated stats are now:
Endurance: 15
Intelligence: 10
Agility: 11
You have 2 stat points left.
Dan followed Allen’s advice on putting points into his endurance and intelligence. With points left over, he decided to put more points into his agility which was his only stat still in the single digit range.
“Well, let’s get this shit done,” Dan said with vigor.