Scoping out the camp was interesting. I never thought I would enjoy watching a camp for hours on end, thinking about possible attack vectors. The main thing that I wanted to hit was the machine. I noticed that there were over a dozen buildings that I could see. There were a lot of footpaths between buildings, but everything looked like it could be torn down quickly. I watched as the night started to bring in the darkness as I watched and I started to hear some drinking. Not far away, I heard some moaning of women and men enjoying each other's bodies.
Then again, the previous interaction with Emma made me think it might not be true.
I watched as they started to drink, and I noticed that they brought out legit barrels with taps on them. They seemed to have some people with some brewing knowledge to release their stress. I heard a bunch of them partying in the distance, and the night dragged on. I heard screaming and cries of panic, with cries of joy, cheering, and jeering.
There were a couple of patrols walking around me. My body felt a bit stiff as I remained as still as possible while watching. My quest was not quite specific on what to do, but I was only after the machine that allowed them to track bounty hunters coming into the forest. I found myself wishing I had some incendiary grenades to start some fires, but that would be stupid. Running for my life so far with this amount of underbush would not be good. Then again, I wondered how easy it would be to start a forest fire with this many criminals.
They had alcohol…
Did that mean they have distilleries?
If I remember correctly, Distilleries could easily blow up into a nice incendiary explosion for me. Maybe a couple of Molotovs would be good, and I could use things here to make it. The question was if I-
As I was thinking about it, I noticed a chimney building that the barrels came from earlier when they were taking it for whatever party, and I had a sudden thought. Maybe I did not need to be very stealthy with everything. If I took the things off me that are breaking up my shape—a lot of these pirates are humanoid, and I have seen humans—I could blend in. I could blend in by flattening my ears and wrapping my tail around my waist like I have been. I would look like a patrol with my guns.
The best part of all of this was that the building taking all that power was also where I suspected the distilleries were. If I worked things right and used a couple of frag grenades, I could flee the way I came and destroy everything, maybe even setting up a fire on my way out for them to handle.
I grinned and realized one last thing: I might have to kill to do it. I needed evidence for the bounty office, so I would take pictures of the machine. I did not know if that would be enough, so if I saw something in the machine that looked like a flash drive or something, I would steal it.
I winced at the precarious nature of this attack. It was all riding on a lot of fucking luck. But I felt that I could do it. There were a few wandering around now, and I had this nagging feeling. Now or never, Now or never. The party was in the distance, and the woman moaning and crying was in the distance, too. I did not like to think about the reason for the women crying, but that was beside the point.
Feeling the urge to move, I waited for the patrol behind me. I listened to the conversation as they walked by as well just in case. “-llow me to do that. But hey she is feisty in the sack. I wish that I did not pull up the patrol tonight.”
“Fuck, I heard that they are going to be sending some Harrow Herb in the next payment for information. Think about it: we are not going to be on rotation then. You know how those stupid whores get on Harrow Herb. You will have an even better time.”
“Bah, they get blissed out and take some of the fun. But you are also right; it will be a blast, haha.”
“Yeah, still miss the booze, though I am with you on that. I he-”
They passed, and I felt gross from their conversation, but now was the time to strike, and I picked up my bag. I moved out of the bush and moved to the dark corners of the light. The makeshift lights they had around the place left massive dark areas, and the moon was not enough to compensate for that darkness.
The distillery was the first building I was looking for, and it was a few buildings in. I had to pass three, but it was in a narrow corridor that I could see. Then I saw it. There was one person guarding it, and I thanked the heavens that I bought a silencer. There was only one guard, but they were bathed in light and looked bored as hell. I saw the woman leaning back against the wooden wall with a shotgun slung on her back.
I froze as I heard a sudden noise from the other side of a makeshift building, and I was in that narrow corridor. “Yi’ Nar, I am not allowing you into the booze area. You know why so fuck off,” The woman with busty breasts and she pulled her shotgun off her back.
A man strolled into my sight and hiccuped as he moved forward. Looked like a human from the back, but the orange tint on the woman made me think she might be a mixed human. “Fifi, you are too much of a stick in the mud, Hic! I'm just looking for a tankard,” he complained.
“Then go to the party, as again, and I will shove my shotgun up your useless ass and shoot. Maybe there you can act as a useful fucking silencer.”
“Fuck you, I am going to the Hic! Party,” The man stumbled away.
I was right about where their booze was, but the machine was more important. I wanted to check that out before I got into my plans. Honestly, it was stupid how easy this was sneaking around the camp. I moved around the building and gave the woman some space as she was in one of the most well-lit areas I had seen, and I moved west to where I saw all the solar panel wires leading, and it looked like the right place. The door was not open at the moment, but there was no guard at the door.
Was it the wrong spot?
No, I think it was the right spot. The absence of an outside sentry was because none of the gang members would probably raid the source of their income. So I decided quickly, grabbed my handgun, and double-checked the silencer. I had a full clip of armor piercers and a silencer rated to make this thing less than conversational in decimals.
Honestly, My heart was beating wildly in my chest right now. The party was raging in the distance, and I was in the middle of their camp now with nothing of a plan but to fucking wing it. I was moving forward toward the door, but no one even saw me as I walked toward it. I had no idea if I would even hear if they sounded an alarm, and I heard my heart beating in my ears as I reached the door. I was too heavily armed to be anything but an intruder, and so when I opened the door, I still kept my gun down just to create another moment of confusion if there was someone on the other side.
“Do you see something on sector four?” I heard a man's voice as I pulled open the door.
“Yeah, taxi spotted in sector four and parked at the edge. Clearly, bounty hunters. Noobs, too, I wonder what they will bring. The boss will want a group dispatched in the morning. At least they were smart enough to wait till nighttime. But damn,” I saw two men looking at computer screens, and I turned around, pulling the door closed behind me softly. I could only hear the sound of my heart thumping hard in my chest, and I brought my gun up, and neither of them noticed.
They were doing their job, and I aimed at the one who was not talking first. I had no idea how they could not hear my heart thumping in my chest at this moment as it was deafening. I found the aim at his head and saw no one else in the room as they looked over their monitors. My finger stroked the trigger, and a loud PHHHST sounded as my handgun fired, stopping the man from talking. I could not hear what he said anymore as he looked concerned. As my gun slowly moved over to him, my aim seemed oddly rock steady, and the NPC looked at me just in time for my finger to pull the trigger.
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PHHHST, Blood splattered back away from the monitors, coating the tent behind him with brain matter as his skull shattered from the bullet. My hands were shaking, but I quickly got to work. I had no time to think too much. I had no idea if they were supposed to be here all night, but I moved toward those consoles; I grabbed the Bounty Hunter Tablet and had it boot up while I looked for things I could pull from the consoles.
The whole thing was weird-looking. There were two monitor setups attached to a thick desk-like block with two indents. In between these ‘desks,’ there was a cylinder shape going up to the roof while wires were all leading into it. The thing did not make a fucking sound, but I did not doubt that this was the machine that Emma told me about. I grabbed the tablet, started taking pictures of it all over, and found a couple of booklets, which I decided to stuff into my backpack just in case.
I grabbed a bunch of things, took pictures of it all, and sat down where the guy I just blew the brains out sat moments before. I had to toss the body aside, and it hit the floor a little hard. I looked around and noticed a blip in the monitors, but I had no idea what I was doing. There did not seem to be something for me to interact with, so I just doubled up the pictures, hoping this was enough evidence.
Then something caught my eye, and I ducked below where your feet would go. I found something sticking out. I grabbed it and yanked it, and It came out. I ran around and found the same thing on the other side, and suddenly, the monitors shut down.
—--
Quest Updated- Hunted Bounty Hunters
You have collected evidence of a device tracking Bounty Hunters as they come into the forest. Bring the Evidence back to the Bounty Hunter Office to notify them of the risk.
Potential Completion:
1. Notify the Bounty Hunter Office
1. Collect evidence for the Bounty Hunter Office if that information is true for a reward.
1. Collect Evidence and destroy the device for the Hunter Office and receive a much larger reward.
Failure conditions: Death or someone else reports to the office before you.
—--
I grinned, and I wondered now what to do. I had to figure out a way to give myself some time to blow this shit up, destroying it without giving away that I was here. I did not have time to do anything elaborate. So I quickly decided.
Grabbing string from my backpack, I tied two frags up tight. The door pulled out, not in, so I strapped it to the Monitor set-ups and ensured that it would be tight. They would have two inches of clearance to cut the string before the pins were pulled, but I would have to finish making the trap outside the makeshift building.
I took a breath, and I decided that worse comes to worse. It did not get destroyed, and I got rewards anyway. So I put my gun in my holster. I had the string in one hand, cut it to the length I thought I could do everything, and tied it into itself. My heart was beating in my ears again, and I felt like I was going to have a heart attack as I stepped out of the building into the nosey night. I had no idea how someone could be so stupid to leave their camp this open. I wrapped the string around the building, closed the door, and felt my heart harshly beating in my chest. I walked out, all while looking around with night vision goggles. I could not believe how lucky I had been.
I moved toward my second objective. I wanted them panicking and making mistakes as I ran, and the booze was the best. I had flash bangs, and those were the most useful. I moved to where the woman guarding the building was. I noticed her as she laid back, but she was a bit more alert after that drunk fuck. But now, I walked forward, pulling my gun out, and loudly yawned.
The woman looked toward me, but I was still in the darkness, pulling out my silenced gun, and my heart was thumping. I don't know why I was doing it like this, and I said, “Yi’ Nar,” I said her name clumsily, “I can take over,” I said, my voice sounding oddly exasperated to my own ears, and I saw her eyebrows scrunch even as I had a heart attack.
My gun was pointed at her just as I came into vision, and her eyes widened, and her mouth opened.
PHHHST.
Red blossomed on her chest, cutting off what she wanted to say, but I was scared as she looked down.
PHHHST, PHHHST.
Two more shots, all center of mass, and she tumbled back and. I walked into the light, grabbed her body, and tried to open the door. But it did not open, and my heart beat harder and harder. They had a fucking lock for their booze but not their fucking money-making machine? How fucking stupid were these stupid fucks.
I quickly started to pat down the woman and found the key in her cleavage. She was a typical woman in some regards on that, as I did that sometimes, too. Especially with cock cages.
My hand was shaking, wasting moments as I tried to put it into the lock. Then I had it, and I unlocked the door and pulled the bitch into the building. There would be blood splatter outside, but I only needed a couple of moments. I looked around, and I grinned.
Distilleries were at work, and I decided what I was going to do. I pulled out two flash bangs and a frag grenade, and I just left the door open. I pulled the pin on the flash grenades as I walked out and held the trigger device. The countdown had not started, and I turned and tossed both into the distilleries, and a moment later, I was pulling the frag out and tossing that inside a moment later.
Then I turned, and I fucking ran. I put my handgun in the holster, and I got my hands on the handle of my assault rifle. I didn't give a fuck anymore. I had to fucking run because I had no goddamned idea how big the explosion was going to be, and every second counted. I only passed two makeshift buildings as I heard the partying continue, but then.
BANG! BANG! I heard something fall over loudly, and my ears flattened against my head just at the right moment.
BBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I felt a hot shock wave behind me as I moved past a building and the shattering and splintering of a building. I had no time to look at the explosion as the shockwave of the explosion propelled me forward slightly, and much to my shock; I saw a large splinter in a building just to my right. If I had been a few fucking inches to my right, that would have impaled my character.
Cold sweat met with raging hot sweat as I ran even faster. Seconds passed, and I heard curses and yells as the party came to an end. Then I saw two people shocked as the patrol was right before me, just stepping out of the trees, and my arms brought the gun up to my hip, and I did not bother to aim. I had the gun on rapid fire, and I just started to fucking shoot.
My mind was basically running on adrenaline at this moment, and my heart was attacking my senses as my flat ears muted the world around me. Both of the patrol members were caught bringing up their guns as I swept my gun back and forth, and the silencer on my assault rifle muted the sound but did not eliminate it.
I was face to face, stepping over their dead, broken bodies as guts and bleeding started to kill them. I unleashed my entire clip into them as I ran toward them and pulled my magazine out as I left their broken bodies behind me. My mind was on autopilot, and I noticed I was in a small clearing before the next tree. I looked back, and I saw the happiest sight.
FIRE!
Grinning, I continued to run. I let myself hear again, and I heard the screams and cursing as they started to fight the fire. They could not let it take out their base, and I heard them cursing as I pushed my way through the trees. Then something even better happened.
BANG! BANG!
I heard the sound of two grenades almost exploding at once, and subsequently, I got some notifications. I wanted to cheer, but instead.
I FUCKING RAN!
I jumped through bushes and past trees, and as I ran, I pushed a fresh magazine into my gun and continued to run till my lungs felt like they were going to burst, and I stopped. I pushed my side against a tree, coughed, and tried to control my breathing. My legs were burning, and I looked toward where I had just run from, but I could see nothing. I could hear no pursuit, so I pulled my backpack out and drank water, chugging it down my parched throat. I felt the urge to laugh. It was stupid, and I stifled it, but it escaped.
“Ha, Haha, Hahaha, Hahahaha, Oh, Fuck that was fucking stupid of me.” I started talking to myself before I even realized it. “Hahahahaha, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, I need to cover up my tracks and get back. Oh, Shit, I can't fucking believe I did it.” I rested my head against the tree for a moment, regaining my composure, and I took deep breaths trying to calm myself down.
“Can't stay, need to go, need to get to safety. But I am fucking out of this forest. Fuck staying here any longer after this. I need out because they are going to be after me. I have enough time to make it back, pack my shit and go. Maybe not even that. But, Damn, do I feel fucking good,” I told myself, and I started to walk.
I could not bring myself to sneak or cover my tracks. My lungs were burning, and my legs were sore, but I continued to walk and slowly recovered on the move. My adrenaline was pumping, and I was smiling. I felt good at this moment, on top of the damn world, and I could not believe what I just pulled off. Was it always going to be this easy? No, Fuck no, but I got lucky, and I knew that. Time to trek, I would save the notifications for when I was safe and recovered and could think more than just,” I CANT FUCKING BELEIVE WHAT I JUST DID.”