Dan’s HUD updated him with a new waypoint to follow that would take him and his team to the arena for the deathmatch rounds. Dan and his team had to travel through a surprising number of hallways before they reached a waiting room just before the arena simulation. A large display hung just underneath the ceiling and above the doors that would lead into the arena.
A spinning icon in the center of the screen eventually transitioned to displaying the match up for Dan and his team. The selection for their opposing team was finalized and Dan saw the other team pop up on the display.
Dan saw a trio of agents wearing armored suits without coats and with angular protrusions from their backs. Their opponents were from the Genesis Talons.
The second Dan saw their match up, his HUD lit up with some brief text to give him ore background on his opponents.
Genesis Talons | Subsidiary of the Alpha Corporation
Occupying the regions of former Norway, Sweden, Finland, and other regions within the Arctic Circle, the Genesis Talons were established as an independent sub-shard that operates in the fringes of Alpha-controlled territory. The Talons specialize in shock and awe tactics, using their jetpacks to gain the high ground or simply fly through the air while subjecting their enemies to heavy fire from above. Agents are trained to manoeuvre through the air while also remaining accurate with specialized, hard-hitting firepower such as rocket launchers, miniguns, crackshot cannons, etc.
Already, Dan could feel himself sweating under his armor. He glanced at his teammates and saw Li staring intently at the display, likely studying his opponents. Then the stat readouts popped up on screen.
The window for the stats was brief, but they painted a grim picture for Dan and his odds of making it through this match.
Every single Genesis Talon were between levels twenty-two to twenty-four, already borderline tier twos. And since equipment loadouts for agents are now unrestricted, the Talons were allowed to use their jetpacks and abuse the perks of their extra mobility.
Dan also remembered the constrictions set in place. He pulled up his HUD and it reminded him of the conditions of this fight.
Constrictions in place.
Environmental hazard: Acid pools will litter the combat arena for this round.
Your constriction: Malfunctioning guns: weapons will have an increased chance of jamming (up to 35%).
After rereading the constrictions, Dan turned to his teammates. “So, you guys read for this?”
“Dan, normally I’d think we’re screwed,” Angie said plainly. “But with our new powers, we might tip the odds into our favor.”
“I’m wondering how they’ll apply the weapon malfunctions if we’re bringing in our own weapons,” Li said. “The only possibility I can think of is that the attendant who took our guns must have sabotaged them to meet the requirements of that constriction. But even that is a stretch.”
“Well, if we were as is, then our chances don’t look too good against those Talons and their jetpacks,” Dan said. “But luckily, we have our own asymmetric advantages.”
Angie’s face lit up, probably remembering she had the ability to literally curve her bullets. “Hell yeah.”
A small terminal beside the door brightened up to life.
Dan’s HUD popped up with a message.
Please approach the terminal and input your team composition for round one.
“So, who wants to go first?” Li said.
“How about you and me go for round one?” Dan said.
“Smart,” Li said. “I can use this round to study them and their tactics while you run distraction. By the time it’s round two, I can relay my observations to Angie and we’ll take victory in the second round as well.”
“Well Angie, wish us luck,” Dan said.
“Oh I know you’ll win,” she said. “If you can take on Kate and Adam, you’ll crush them.”
Dan walked up to the terminal and inputted their information. After pressing the giant ‘enter’ button on the display, the door slid open to reveal an arena similar in general look and layout to the match with the Prime Swords.
As he and Li walked through and entered the arena, Dan looked up and saw that the chosen setting was at dawn. The lighting was dimming with the glare from a fake sun blaring at them from the Talons’ end of the arena. Dan spotted the duo of Talons entering through their respective side. The realistic backdrop of the urban environment behind the Talons was interrupted by the bizarre opened doorway, a strange break in the illusion.
His HUD popped up more info.
Welcome to the second round of the Combat Games!
Round 1:
Dan Orion and Li Phantom (Alpha Corp)
- - - VS - - -
Alice Throne and Peter Force (Genesis Talons)
His HUD began a ten second countdown before the match began. During that time, Li opened a private channel and reached out to him.
“Dan, I got a plan in mind. Do you trust me?”
“One hundred percent Li,” Dan said. “Tell me where I’m needed.”
Li gave him a glance. “I need the Talons to think you’re an easy target. Face them head-on guns blazing. I’m going to lure them and get them where I want them. We’re going to crush them and take this round.”
“Understood,” Dan replied.
In the precious few seconds left in the countdown, Dan observed his new environment and took in whatever details he could. While the scenery with the collapsed pillars, concrete barriers and wrecked cars was familiar, he saw distant pools of fluids with fine smoke floating above. He assumed those were the acid pools.
Squinting, he didn’t notice until now that there was some strange dust-like substance floating in the air.
The countdown timer reached zero.
Fight!
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Dan speed straight ahead, immedaitely opening fire with bursts from his seventy-seven at the duo. One Talon took glancing hits from his rifle before engaging his jetpack and flying away. The other Talon dived to the side, evading the barrage of of gunfire.
He gazed up at the sky as the Talon flew up a few dozen meters, flying in erratic patterns and making himself a difficult target. The Talon zigzagged and performed twirls in the air as Dan tried firing bursts at the Talon, his rounds hitting nothing.
His rifle clicked empty and Dan smacked the magazine out of his seventy-seven and rammed a new mag into his gun. He took another step to get a better angle but his face was hit with a wave of heat and a repugnant stench that punched through even the filters of his mask.
Dan took his eyes off the sky and glanced down to his side. He almost recklessly dipped his foot into a pool of acid. He backed away from the pool of acid and his ears picked up the whirring of propulsions system as he watched another Talon take to the skies.
Now, Dan had to flying targets who were almost impossible to hit. Both Talons flew in zigzags along with rolls and rapid ascents and descents with such seamless transitions that Dan assumed these agents learned how to fly before they could crawl.
Then the real pain began.
The two Talons stopped their air show and dived straight down to Dan’s position at rapid speed. Dan raised his rifle at the incoming Talons, firing a few rounds that flew past them, only grazing the armor of one Talon. Even Dan saw the minute adjustments these Talons made into their flying while descending at high speed to avoid hits by his tungsten rounds.
“Oh fuc—,”
One Talon punched the ground behind Dan, causing a shockwave the lifted Dan off his feet and flat on his ass a second later. The other Talon followed up with a hard kick to Dan’s abdomen before he could stand back up.
Dan saw how that kick had that much power behind it. The Talon and small boosters in his legs, likely acting to aid the jet pack in flight and for more creative uses such as powering a kick. Dan’s back hit a concreter pillar, chipping off small chunks from the impact. He wasn’t out of the fight yet.
He raised his seventy-seven and pulled the trigger, only for the rifle to click and not fire a single bullet.
Warning: firing mechanism jammed.
Probably cause: minor damage by acid pool and fine dust in the air.
“This isn’t good,” he muttered.
The same Talon who kicked him used his legs once again and kicked Dan’s seventy-seven out of his hand. The agent picked Dan by the neck, using his jetpack to propel both of them off the ground, though not very high up.
The two briefly looked eyes and simply levitated off the ground for the short moment before the Talon shoved his knee into Dan’s abdomen. Again.
The impact forced Dan back into the pillar again. This blow was deemed sufficient enough to take Dan out of the fight as his HUD flashed red in the corners of his vision with a message that popped up that said:
You are out of the fight.
Dan landed back on his feet and stood for a split second before collapsing to the ground.
The two Talon stepped away from him, briefly staring down at their fallen opponent. They both quickly exchanged glances before an object landed behind them. Dan, still conscious, initially thought it was a rock.
An loud pop invaded his ears and he realized it was a grenade. During the duration of the fight, Dan hadn’t thought about Li or what moves he was making while he got his ass kicked by the Talons. But now, he had the opportunity to see what the stealth specialist was cooking up.
The grenade didn’t explode, but instead released a green mist into the air. The jetpack on one Talon roared to life as it propelled her upwards back into the skies. The second Talon wasn’t so lucky as he was caught in the green cloud of gas, without a helmet.
He remained standing in the gas cloud for another few second before she collapsed
Peter Force has been eliminated.
Now, the fight was down to a one-on-one between Li and the female Genesis Talon. Dan was still reeling from the attack to his gut and could barely prop himself against the pillar. He watched as the Talon flew around in circles, trying to track down Li who had thrown the grenade.
He watched for another few seconds as the Talon struggled to find Li. The Talon finally lost her patience and slowly descended downward.
During her gradual descent, she lowered herself down a straight path. But it soon proved to be her undoing.
Dan almost missed it, but he saw an object fly through the air and slash the female Talon in the cheek. Whatever hit her, she somehow loss control of her descent and plummeted to the ground at around a dozen meters. Dan watched and winced as she face planted into the ground.
The Talon was still flat on her stomach on the ground. She placed her hands on the ground and tried to push herself back up, but something caused her to collapse back into the dirt. She tried raising herself back up but some invisible force seemingly kept her on the ground.
Then it happened.
A foot planted directly on the Talon’s back and a silenced PX300 sidearm aimed right at her head materialized out of thin air. Dan squinted and noticed the transparent, yet shimmering figure standing on top of the fallen Talon fully reveal himself as Li. The cloak of invisibility gradually faded away to reveal the stealth specialist.
Dan never recalled his teammate ever telling him he had purchased a cloaking module to use for the Combat Games.
Li Phantom has incapacitated Alice Throne.
The winner of round 1: Dan Orion and Li Phantom.
Dan just regained enough strength to walk and pick up his seventy-seven rifle on the ground before making his way to the teammate.
“Okay jackass, you can take your foot off me now,” the Talon spat.
Li obliged and stepped back from his opponent. He looked up and saw Dan. “Thanks for running distraction. My execution had to be perfect against such mobile and maneuverable foes.”
“What were you doing while I was getting my ass kicked,” Dan said. His voice was strained but not because he was pissed off. His stomach still disagreed with him walking.
“I had to study our competition and watch how they move. Once they took to the skies, I knew that even I wouldn’t stand much of a chance trying to play ariel whack-a-mole. You have already demonstrated how disastrous that would be.”
Dan pointed his finger at his teammate. “Now I get it. So while I was attacking them, you used that opportunity to observe how they responded to my direct attack. After seeing enough, you determined the best possible action against these Talons.
“You said that we had our own asymmetric advantages. The Genesis Talons have their superior mobility with their jet packs. But for me, I’m a stealth specialist.”
“Let me guess, you used some of that money from the heist to buy yourself a stealth module for your armor,” Dan said.
The slight narrowing of Li’s eyes told him all he needed to know. “Correct.”
“Bastards,” a voice muttered. Dan and Li turned and saw the female Talon, Alice, lifting up her unconscious teammate who was caught by Li’s gas grenade. “You won’t do that again,” she seethed as she glanced back at them both.
“You sure about that hon?” Li taunted.
The female Talon turned around without saying a word, carrying her teammate back to their side of the arena.
Dan and Li also walked back to their side and through the opened door to their respective waiting area.
“Wow, she was pissed,” Dan said.
“She has no idea who she’s dealing with,” Li reassured. “For whatever reason you haven’t used either your berserk mode or your glare ability to fry her to a crisp. She has no clue that you were generous in letting yourself getting your ass beaten.”
“True, but those powers have to be used sparingly. Remember how much of a toll they took on me during the heist. Even now, I can’t keep spamming those and have them be my auto win buttons.”
Dan could painfully recall the toll both of his bizarre new abilities took on his body. The headaches that bordered on searing migraines, the blood coming out of his eyes, and feeling like he got every muscle and ligament pulled from the overuse of the berserk mode.
The two walked through the opened doorway and were greeted by Angie.
“Geez, that was fucked up Li,” she said, jabbing her finger into Li’s chest.
“In what way? Those Talon were our enemies,” he responded.
“No not that. Did you really let Dan get his ass whooped like that and just watched?” she said. Angie turned her attention to Dan. “And as for you, somehow you took that ass beating and didn’t use any of your powers on those two. Are you a fucking masochist?”
Dan put his palm up. “The answer is no. And as I just said to Li, I can’t use those powers recklessly.”
A spinning icon in the center of Dan’s vision popped up and revealed a strange message.
A competitor in the Combat Games has placed a rival bounty on you.
Alice Throne of the Genesis Talons has placed a 10000 credit bet on round two of the deathmatch.
Accept? Yes/No.
Dan blinked twice at the message. “What the hell is this?”