ARC1/C21 – Death Match Part 2
The floating score board overhead flashed again as this time one of their team mates was killed (Score 1:1) with only a minute or so into the match. This caused stirring within the crowd, as new bets were made and placed. Every new death allowed for a change of odds and new bets to be placed within a twenty second window. The new odds also floated up above them but Lopez paid them little attention, he was after all well aware of the odds.
The momentary distraction almost made him get hit by an opponent who was trying to locate them by using an AOE ice blast, that might not be devastating unless hit in close proximity but would alert the other side to their position and slow your movements enough to move in for a kill.
Lopez looked to see how his own assigned team mates were doing. And saw there were at least holding their own though worryingly their main threat on the opposing side had disappeared. He looked around to see if he could find any trace of the threat and also to think of a plan. Usually the battle ground would lend itself to some kind of tactical bonus even if it was design solely by the other side. What could he do? The ice elemental gave him an idea.
Traksis had kept on the trail of the elusive attacker but was starting to wonder what was going on. He had followed the attacks twice now, each on a separate target but each with the same method – a construct attack to the chest. This was a critical hit point, more so even than a head shot as it was where someone’s core resided. Damaging the core would usually result in a fatality. Why this was so, she didn’t know but it was common knowledge.
But the attacks that should have resulted in a critical merely resulted in a drain of the target’s psionic energy, which she could sense – puzzling. The attacker didn’t want to kill them but did want to deplete their valuable psionic reserves.
Lopez watched as another of his team were taken down, this time by the modder who hit Bartholomew, causing the score to flash again making it now 1:2 against them. But now his plan was completed he couldn’t move even if he wanted to from this spot, like a spider he would have to wait patiently for his prey. Around him was a 3 meter radius of sand turned to glass which would only fool a rank amateur, possibly one of the normal opponents from the other side. However he had his sights still on the big game which he hoped would be tempted by the clear giveaway of his position.
Panicking their last visible teammate made a suicidal move and was killed in turn. Score 2:3. Three of their team remaining, one decent modder, an ice elemental and their mystery foe.
Traksis was bothered. She knew it would not bode well if those she’d come to find died here, in the arena. But to risk her own life was also stupid. So she had played safe and watched, observed. Now though when Traksis saw the move coming for Bartholomew, another direct thrust, she just reacted.
She went into fury. And attacked the attacker using her newest skill [Absorbing Regeneration] but focused all the skill on the attacker’s core center from behind. Waves of nausea ripped into her as she was flooded with foreign energies. She blacked out.
An amazed smile, grow on Lopez’s face as he saw a body materialise and fall to the sand. It could only be an opponent killed by Bartholomew, as only him and the mystery attacker were also stealthed. The now dead attacker. Score 3:3.
Lopez was tempted to leave his trap and join up with Bartholomew to try and finish off the two remaining opponents but surely his partner would be able to hold out. Or was he seriously injured? There was simply no way of knowing.
In the instance Lopez paused, both remaining attackers, homed in on Bartholomew’s location.
Bartholomew started in disbelief at the dead man at his feet and strangely a dark creature of some kind. A weapon perhaps? Hearing the crunch of sand under foot, from one direction, thankfully brought him out of his stupor. And he reacted in time by jumping back out of the way. It had been lucky the attacker didn’t use his AOE skill.
His opponent reached the spot were he had been and Bartholomew flicked the switch on the remote incendiaries. Nothing happened. Bartholomew then looked down to see that the remote he was holding had been damaged. What the? The switch was jammed.
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Then things just got crazier, as the second attacker arrived on the scene, the two started fighting.
Bartholomew finally realised – they were after their dead teammate’s core. Well he clearly had been a ringer brought in to ensure the match was well and truly crooked and that they won.
As any core retrieved through combat, especially in a match, was the property of whoever got hold of it. It made perfect sense.
Traksis tried to move when awoken from her unconscious state by a blast of ice from the warring attacker but found she could no longer fly, in fact she could feel her life force slipping away from being almost in the epicentre of the blast. She should by all rights be dead.
She struggled lamely as the fight continued to reach any place of safety. The only place was to hide under or as she chose in the body of the dead man. There she burrowed using her [Absorbing Regeneration] to its fullest to try and save herself.
Bartholomew continued to jam his fingers harden onto the button of the detonator, willing it to work. And he thanked his lucky stars when it finally clicked detonating the incendiaries placed all around where the fight was ongoing. The two combatants were flung in opposite directions, coming back down to the ground several meters away. Bloodied and limp they didn’t look like they were going to get up and sure enough the cruel score board flashed 5:3, followed by a claxon sounding their team’s win.
Lopez saw what he thought was Bartholomew sagging visibly with relief then realised it was something less mundane, as the sag turned into a collapse onto the sand. He rushed over while the crowd went into some kind of uproar and people started to leave the stands.
Reaching his comrade he grabbed him under the arms, then paused for a second wondering where to take him. He had no way of healing him and believed there would be no one there to help. So started to drag him towards one of the exits everyone was leaving from.
Traksis found to her surprise that she was alive. She they it what little was left of the man’s body, feeling surprisingly full of psi-energy. Trying she found she could move her wings. She also noted that she had a new ability.
Name: Traksis Level 15
Health Points: 155/155 Skill Points: 24/24 Stamina: 158/158
Vitality: 1 Strength: 1 Endurance: 2 Agility: 2 Intellect: 3 Perception: 5
Acquired Path: PSI
Strand: null
Abilities:
[Pursuit Level 107] [Psychic Energy Absorption Level 101]
[Tier-F abilities
[Energy Drain Level 5] [Absorbing Regeneration Level 11]
[Psi Shadow Level 1]
[Psi Shadow - The ability to mask psychic presence and obscure the perceptions of psychic trackers.]
She turned the ability on and followed Lopez across the Arena.
-----
Back at the “Star Corps” incarceration unit Sam was still trying to get what useful information he could out of legal AI he had been supplied. It wasn’t to say he had had zero success the AI had acted for him and had arranged the transportation of his “property”, the stolen equipment from the hotel and had already traded it for some much needed funds, 19000 credits.
But now he had the problem of what to tell Sarah and Maria when they awoke. The burden of having to be the leader, in each and every endeavour was weighing on him heavily, as he sat not knowing if Bartholomew and Lopez were alive or dead. He thought most probably they were dead, dropping the count of friendly contacts to zero.
As he was waiting the AI told him he had a message from an unknown source. His immediate thoughts were that the trade on the equipment had gone sour, he had felt it was too good to be true to be able to off load such dubiously acquired items. But no it was a complete unknown. It was a warning from persons unknown.
“The Seracian’s are aware of your location, you have a couple of minutes to break out of there before it is to late. And your fate is sealed” was the message.
Sam was struck by the wording, which was a phrase used commonly on Earth. He went with his gut feeling and made his escape, popping his manacles with psi-pressure and then proceeding to make swiss cheese out of the walls as a direct exit out of the place. He took the AI with him.
The unknown message had also given a location of a safe house to aim for. The messenger also said that Bartholomew and Lopez were still alive. Whether the match had taken place Sam did not know.
-----
Quato Vex had received two bits of information almost simultaneously. Information that for once was of interest. An applicant with an abnormal core and levels way outside the normal range had been brought to his attention several minutes before the final match had begun. Then the seer Prosso had gifted up the location of the applicant to him. The absolute idiot. Did they teach them nothing? Or was he just to greedy? Quato was a greedy man himself. Veracious. But he had a sense of self preservation that others seemed to lack. Prosso would not last the night.
Now how to discreetly remove himself from the scene and deal with this most important matter personally. The Seer was here and apparently the Star Corps too, there was a raid apparently. Well no reason not to act like there wasn’t one.
Quato Vex, prodded his nearest subordinate to take up the cry. Thirty seconds after he had made for the nearest exit that was, he heard the shouts of “RAID!” That in itself would probably take care of Prosso, Quato mused as he got into his flightcraft and headed directly for the Star Corps building which was already being locked down.