Chapter 48 - Assaulting the Scrapper Camp (Part Four)

Neeka waited patiently, crouched in the middle of three large razorleaf bushes, her scales impervious to the sharp edges the plant was named for. In the past, her people had used dried leaves from the bush as makeshift blades for simple, crude work. They weren't very good at stabbing any thing or any creature, but they were good enough to cut with and they were plentiful in the area. It was likely the Scrappers had chosen this hollow between the three hills because of the numerous razorleaf bushes surrounding it. They provided a natural barrier to most anyone attempting to get close to the camp.

Sehro had quickly dispatched the five Scrappers in the tents on this side, cutting his way in to their tents quietly and ending them in their drunken sleep. Prior to her awakening as a Traveler, the notion of killing enemies in their sleep would have disturbed her. Not that she wasn't happy about it, but what needed to be done, had to be done.

Probably yet another alteration of our minds by the games system, she thought to herself. It was still rather disturbing to her and Sehro. Especially around those of her people that had yet to awaken. It almost felt like they weren't real enough. That a light was missing from them. Neeka shook her head slightly and cleared her own mind. She couldn't let herself be distracted from clearing this camp of Scrappers. She would have preferred to avoid them, but the mission from the games system had been warning enough that the Scrappers would be a threat to her home.

She brought up the video feed from the drone and docked it to the side of her interface. Sehro was nearly on the other side of the camp now and Søren was still hidden among the boulders at the top of the hill behind her, to the south of the camp. Neeka tensed up, her claws wrapped tightly around the halt of her spear. Two Scrappers were headed towards one of the tents Sehro had cleared. The taller of the two was about to enter the tent when their companion, hanging off their arm, dragged them away. Neeka sent off a message to Søren.

Neeka > Take the shot Søren. We're going to lose the initiative here.

Søren > Taking the shot.

The quiet *phut* sound from behind her was the only warning she had before the camp erupted into chaos. She dashed forward and vanished into one of the tents with sleeping Scrappers that Sehro had skipped. The two inside were still trying to sort out what was going on when Neeka ended their lives with a single thrust of her spear to each in turn.

*ding* Your party has defeated a Scrapper Raider (Copper III).

*ding* Your party has defeated a Scrapper Raider (Copper III).

Their blood darkened their blankets and clothes, though it would have been difficult to tell it was blood given how dirty the blankets were. The Scrappers in the next tent moved a little more quickly than those at Neeka's feet, so she waited.

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As they passed in front of the tent she was hidden within, she thrust the spear through the canvas and into the nearest Scrapper. With a twist on the haft, she left the spear embedded in the now screaming Scrapper and rushed out of the tent, drawing a short, pointed, double sided blade. Distracted by their entangled ally, the second Scrapper, wearing nothing but some ratty boxers with hearts on them, didn't notice Neeka rounding the corner of the tent. He did notice her blade in his kidney and a talon ripping into the back of his thigh. He dropped to the ground from the sudden pain and loss of blood.

*ding* Your party has defeated a Scrapper Brawler (Copper IV).

Neeka used the momentum from her attack to shoulder check the brawler away from her and onto the ground between the two tents. He didn't get up again. The female Scrapper entangled with the tent and spear managed to tear herself away and whipped the blunt end of the spear at Neeka. She easily caught the blood slicked haft of the spear, pulled towards her, and lashed out at the Scrapper with another brutal kick, the talons of her foot leading the way.

*ding* Your party has defeated a Scrapper Raider (Copper V).

Neeka paused a moment to check the count on the mission log. She saw that over half had been eliminated already and that a hidden objective and new reward were added. Something about Shadowblades and a token. Something to worry about after the battle. She quickly wiped down the haft of her spear, removing the Scrapper's blood from the rough wood as best she could. Neeka charged into the camp and dealt with several more Scrappers that had been watching Sehro and a particularly dangerous looking Scrapper face off against each other. They lost interest pretty soon after the first of them fell to the ground with blood pouring out of their mouth.

Søren's silver tier rifle was putting a heavy dent in the remaining Scrappers. They had decided he was the greater threat and several ran off in that direction again to take him out. Neeka tripped one by thrusting her spear between their feet and followed up with a slash of her talons on her feet through the neck of the Scrapper. The second running in that direction stopped for just a moment, just long enough for Søren to get a bead on them apparently, because they dropped to the ground and Neeka felt, more than heard the bullet whiz by her after it exited the body of the now dead Scrapper. The third and last Scrapper in the camp, not paying attention to the rest of the camp, charged through a patch of razorleaf plants and screamed in pain.

Neeka hurled her spear from thirty yards away and put it through their chest.

23 / 23 Scrapper Raider slain

1 / 1 Scrapper Raider Captain slain

1 / 1 Scrapper Captive rescued (mission fails if captive is slain)

1 / 1 Scrapper Assassin impressed (hidden mission objective completed)

Rewards

• 1500 TEK

• 1 settlement build point

• [Uncommon] engram

• [Token of the Shadowblades]

A bright green object shaped like an eight-sided die fell to the ground at Neeka's feet. She picked it up and shoved it into her inventory to be analyzed later. Right now, she had a captive in a cage to release and interrogate.