Johnny stalked into the command center in a foul mood. Two weeks back in the war zone of Orchestral Meridian and the nightmares hadn’t stopped. He had been expecting it but was hoping that doing dangerous stuff would’ve at least distracted him from thinking about them. In retrospect, it was a dumb thing to think that, but in his defense he was desperate. Distraction was dangerous in battle.
“Yo,” Johnny waved.
“You don’t have to agree to this,” Remy said.
Johnny eyed Caretaker, who was standing at the central command console. A three-dimensional map was projected above it. He recognized the section as the one they were currently trying to reclaim from the Inheritors and their combined force of wild, mad skinless-Threnosh and the more normal-looking ones, basically standard Threnosh, but with pale white skin and a more violent attitude.
His eyes lit up.
Did he dare to hope?
“Um… I hope you aren’t about to disappoint me,” he said to Caretaker. He avoided looking at the disapproval on Remy’s scowling face.
“There is a task for you if you desire it.”
“Depends on what it is.”
“Elimination of a Trumdiq-type Inheritor.”
“So… you want me to assassinate an HVT? Just to make it clear…”
Remy sighed, but Johnny only had eyes on Caretaker.
Was this his best shot?
“That is accurate. I am assigning this task using the intent and language you have been persistently… requesting… for several months,” Caretaker said.
“You son of a bitch, I’m in!” Johnny grinned as the music in his head moved to the back.
“Don’t take this lightly!” Remy snapped.
“Er… okay,” Johnny shrugged.
“I mean it. You know what Trumdiqs are, don’t you?” Remy continued.
“Yeah, sure. They’ve got some kind of weird hive mind thing going with the skinless and the whiteys. Makes them dumber and angrier than they already are but allows them to single focus on our own HVT’s.”
“Research has finally confirmed that upon death Trumdiqs send out a call through the hive mind that all non-Inheritor hostiles in the vicinity converge on,” Caretaker said.
“That’s what I thought. Good to finally get it— oh…” Johnny realized what that meant.
“I’m glad you realize what that means for you,” Remy said. “We need to focus on alternative paths. Instead of this—”
“Whoa! Hold on. I’m still in, just— what’s the actual plan?” Johnny said.
Remy shot him, then Caretaker a disgruntled look.
“Your Skills allow you to bypass their detection methods. You will do so and eliminate the Trumdiq. We will launch multiple offensives disguised as feints to provide cover for your infiltration,” Caretaker said.
“Why bother? They’re dumb. They react to every attack, feint or not, with all-out aggression. The only times they act with any semblance of strategy and tactics are when one of the big Inheritors are in command and you would’ve mentioned if any were in that section. The Trumdiqs just straight up suck when it comes to that sort of thing.”
“You are correct. It is good to practice for future engagements with more intelligent opposition.” Caretaker directed Johnny’s attention to the holographic map with a gesture. “This is your optimum path to the target.” A red line lit up and moved from the outer edge of the section to a sub-level structure near the rear. “As well as our assault vectors. If you agree to the task, this map will be transmitted to your PID.”
“So, after I kill the target every fucker in the section will be headed my way…”
“Most of them,” Remy chimed in.
“You will only need to evade the closest hostiles. We will commence our own all-out assault at that point. The disruption will allow us to overwhelm and destroy them. We will seize the security station and drone facility immediately to begin fortifying the section for the inevitable counterattack,” Caretaker said.
“I don’t see an escape route on the map,” Johnny said.
“I have decided to leave that to your discretion. The section will be too chaotic to predesignate an expeditious rout,” Caretaker said.
“Can I get an Uber?” Johnny looked to Remy.
“I’ll be keeping those big Inheritors busy with a deep strike into their main section in this area. Just so you know. There won’t be any last-minute bail outs if you need one. You’re truly on your own,” Remy replied.
“That’s a bit of a bummer, but I want— need to pull this off. For the Class, you know?”
“No, I don’t. We’re not a hundred percent sure that there are improved or special classes. Let alone how you’d go about getting them. It seems stupid to me to risk your life in reckless ways in pursuit of that,” Remy said.
“I see it as a win-win. I succeed or I don’t,” Johnny threw his hands up.
Remy’s mouth actually dropped.
Johnny chuckled. “If I pull off the former then maybe I finally get what I’ve been trying for over the last year. If I don’t, then I’m dead and that means I can finally rest. No more nightmares. No more creepy, but somehow uplifting music in my head. A break, even if it’s the permanent sort sounds really nice right now,” he explained.
“We’ll figure that out. You just have to be patient,” Remy’s gaze softened. “You and those that care about you will regret it if you give up.”
“Yo, dude! Not giving up. Definitely not that. All I’ve done since the spires showed up is moved forward no matter how piss my pants terrified I’ve been,” Johnny looked at Caretaker, “Earthian pants don’t have self-cleaning systems, so that’s, like, bad,” he explained, “… also, we pee...”
“I am aware of this aspect of your species.”
“Look, I’m doing this, not as a suicide mission, but as an achievable quest, make that Quest…” Johnny looked to the ceiling. “Wait for it…”
Seconds passed in silence.
“That’s not going to work. Please, be serious…” Remy sighed.
A loud chime rang in Johnny’s ears. “O. M. G. It actually worked!” he pumped his fists and shadow-boxed a four-punch combination.
Congratulations!
You have received a Quest.
Infiltrate Section 37, Area 52 of Orchestral Meridian and assassinate Trumdiq-type Inheritor.
Success Parameters: Assassinate the target. Survive.
Failure Parameters: Target survival. Death or capture.
Reward: 100000 Universal Points.
Will you accept?
Bonus!
Contingent on performance.
Reward: Variable.
“Fuck yeah! I do!”
“Did you just—” Remy started.
“Get an official Quest? Yup!” Johnny grinned smugly. “100K and a possible bonus, which, cross my fingers, is that new and improved Class change.”
Remy regarded Caretaker.
The Threnosh shrugged. “I have noted the potential path to generate official Tasks. It is gratifying to see a theoretical path followed to a confirmed conclusion.”
“We just got to think hard enough. Like that manifest bullshit,” Johnny tapped his temple.
“What is this you refer to?” Caretaker said.
“You don’t want nor need to know. Just a waste of your brain power,” Remy said.
“So, when do I start?” Johnny said.
“With the exception of Remy’s strike team all our forces are in position. We will proceed when you are ready,” Caretaker said.
“I’ll need 30 minutes,” Remy said.
“Sounds good to me,” Johnny said. “I just need to arm up and I can go. Sooner the better.”
“Then we are set on our paths,” Caretaker said. “Any further concerns?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter now. You, take this seriously,” Remy warned Johnny.
“As a heart attack,” Johnny saluted. He turned on his heel and left the command center at a brisk walk. His hands had suddenly gone sweaty and he hadn’t wanted the other two to notice. He hurried back to his team’s barracks and found them all getting ready. “Well… shit. You guys wouldn’t happen to be going on strike mission with Remy?”
“What the fuck do you mean?” Gene glared. “It sounds to me like you aren’t going with us.”
“Yup, got another mission… or should I say, Quest,” Johnny wagged his brows.
“Bullshit,” Mads said with a bitter laugh.
“You’re the one that managed to generate a spires Quest?” Bastien said.
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“Well, he is the most self-deluded one here, so it sorta makes sense,” Olo chimed.
“In a surprising moment of candor, I have to admit that I don’t think it was all my doing. I think Caretaker also worded and crafted the entire mission with an eye toward this end. I just had to wish hard enough on my half of it to get the magic going,” Johnny held his hands out wide expectantly.
Gene frowned at him, then sighed and finally grinned. He approached Johnny and hugged him with a rueful shake of the head. “Congrats! I’m guessing this is an assassination Quest?”
Johnny nodded with a nervous grin.
“Fitting. The word ass is in it twice… I can’t think of a better way to describe you,” Mads said with a smirk.
Johnny tipped his head toward her with the same expression. “It’s unfortunate that unlike me, you don’t know who you truly are… deep down.”
“Guess this’ll go a long way in confirming if we were right about classes being strongly based on self-image and actions,” Bastien said. “I know you have to do this alone, but I don’t like that part of it. Would you like a blessing buff?”
“I don’t think so. I feel like I need to try this with as little direct outside help as possible,” Johnny replied. “Besides you should probably save that for your own mission. Hitting Inheritors deep in their territory is serious business, even if you’re going along with Remy.”
“With a few of the unique Threnosh as well, so I don’t think it’ll be as dangerous for us as it sounds. Tessa’s got a tougher job,” Olo said.
“Inheritors are making a push into Section 8 of Area 137. She’s got to go and be the big gun of that defense, crappy dreams and shitty music in her head and all,” Gene spat.
“Yeah, well, we all know how that is,” Johnny sobered. “And thanks, by the way for reminding of the song. I had managed to lower the volume a bit, which is now done. Back to loudness… dick.”
“Welcome back to the fold,” Gene mocked.
Bitter laughter filled the cozy barracks.
“Get it done, but don’t take unnecessary risks,” Gene said as he headed for the door. “We’ve got to get armed and armored.”
The others expressed similar sentiments as they followed their team leader out.
Bastien lingered and whispered something under his breath.
“Oh, c’mon man! You’ve got to save that,” Johnny said. Even as he spoke, he felt something warm wash over him. He instantly felt just a little lighter and less nervous. The ever-present song dwindled from an 11 to a 4 and he was momentarily happy. Unfortunately, he knew it wouldn’t last. “Thanks anyways you stubborn asshole. Now, go and kick ass.”
“Don’t die,” Bastien said.
“You too.”
Johnny went to his locker and picked through his collection of small blades.
Trumdiqs had small, frail bodies with a bulbous head and belly. Easy to kill, so he didn’t take too much time. In the end he grabbed a dagger with an 8-inch-long triangular blade and—
“Actually, my usual loadout should be fine.”
The armory had his standard weapons alongside his Threnosh armor.
“No… if I want to be an Assassin then I need to approach this with that in mind.” He viewed the dagger in his hand as an assassin’s weapon, so he needed to complete the Quest with that or something else like it. To that end he added a few more knives that he felt were assassin-y enough. “Recoilless guns are quiet enough that they don’t need silencers. Does that mean they basically count as silenced weapons? Shit… I should’ve asked the guys.”
Unwilling to waste time, he rushed to the armory muttering about garrotes and poison to the confusion of the Threnosh that happened to cross his path.
Less than an hour later, Johnny was skulking through the darkness.
His target was in a sub-level and both the skinless and whiteys had been created with natural night vision.
This was fine for him. His helmet had its own enhanced visual modes and sensors. He could navigate in pitch black environments as if he was out in a moon-lit night.
His armor had also been outfitted with the best stealth and camouflage systems that the Threnosh could offer. It wasn’t nearly on the same level as the unique Threnosh he had not seen several times, the aptly named Unseen, but it was good enough against these enemies.
He crept through the sub-level, doing his best to keep his distance from the skinless, who were gathered in clusters in what appeared to be a random fashion. More like animals huddling for warmth than proper thinking beings, unlike the whiteys that patrolled in a somewhat organized manner with their crude versions of Threnosh arms and armor.
Johnny found himself uncomfortably close to one such patrol. His armor’s stealth wouldn’t be enough to avoid notice, so he took a deep breath and engaged his Hide Skill. He disappeared from their potential notice.
He simply walked right by the dozen-strong patrol. Ten feet and not a one so much as twitched in his direction.
Two minutes.
Then three.
He held his breath all the way down the street then through several twists and turns in narrower corridors before he decided that he was far enough away from the monsters to release his breath.
Who knew that he would need to train like a free diver to maximize his Rogue Skill?
Well… he did.
He checked the clock in his faceplate.
It was about time—
A series of explosions shook the silence loose from the section, along with the years of accumulated dust that rained down on him from the metallic corridor’s ceiling.
The Threnosh had lost the city and everyone in it when the spires had appeared on their world around two decades ago. The skinless ones had been once those people, at least some of them. The Inheritors had been making new ones in re-purposed birthing creches along with the whiteys.
At least Cal had taken care of Mother Madrigal. Johnny had gone through those reports, which included plenty of video shot by the Threnosh helmet cams.
The giant woman with skin instead of clothes was a nightmare.
To think that something like that once lurked in the depths of Orchestral Meridian was enough to taint one’s dreams and he had enough problems in that realm as it was.
He tried to put that out of his mind as he reviewed the map projected into his faceplate.
With Caretaker’s attack in progress, he could move faster to his target.
Only about halfway there, he thought.
The pounding of flesh-less feet, like slapping and not the good kind had him suck in a deep breath while pressing himself up against the smooth metallic surface.
Almost a year since I last— no! Johnny! Keep your mind on the prize. Collect enough Universal Points and survive to go home. Then you can take care of it, he chastised himself for getting distracted.
Skinless Threnosh rushed past his hiding place.
He waited another minute after the sound of their snarling had dwindled in the distance before releasing his breath and peeking out of the corridor.
The coast looked clear, so he headed toward his target, following the route highlighted in his faceplate.
The structure that housed the Trumdiq was small. Only four levels deep and approximately 3,000 square meters of space for each floor. Scans had placed the target on the lowest level right in the center of the floor.
Johnny’s problem was getting in without alerting the enemy.
The only entrance to the cylinder-shaped structure was a door which was guarded by a squad of whiteys.
They weren’t a huge threat with the way he could hit them from hiding. Their frail bodies were augmented, but that was only with old Threnosh exoskeleton technology. A strong human being from the pre-spires days could’ve beaten the whole squad in a fist fight. Even Johnny’s stealth-centric armor was practically impenetrable to their melee weapons.
He considered just wiping them out but knew that would only alert his target.
Instead, he made his way to the opposite side of the structure unnoticed.
A cybernetic thought overlaid the wire frame schematic of the structure in his faceplate. It took a few seconds to find the best spot. Once he did that, he took a small, one-use laser cutter from a compartment at his waist and cut himself a small opening in the metallic wall.
He put the spent device back and crawled into the structure.
The interior was patrolled by squads of whiteys, but it was easy to slip past them unnoticed. Hide even allowed him to walk right through one. They simply moved around him like a school of fish around a piece of drifting debris.
The lift was clear, intelligence had indicated that the enemy wasn’t plugged into the operating systems of the structure beyond the rudimentary level. It helped that so much of it was automated that as long as there was power things like doors and lifts worked without need of user input. Doors opened when a body approached. The lifts went up or down with a simple wave of the hand. The whiteys were intelligent enough to do that much.
What mattered to Johnny’s purpose was that none of the enemy would even notice that the lifts were moving if they weren’t looking. And so, he rode one all the way to the bottom level without any problems.
His luck would run out when he saw what waited for him outside his target’s chamber. The one entrance was surrounded by a cluster of skinless Threnosh.
A silent curse joined the maddening song in his head.
Plan B.
He went back to the lift and up one level.
The map in his faceplate led him to the exact chamber above his target’s.
He took a small vial filled with green-ish liquid from another compartment and smashed it on the floor directly over the Trumdiq.
The caustic substance was like acid on steroids. It ate through the metallic floor in seconds. Just enough time for Johnny to draw the stabby dagger from its sheath and get ready.
The moment the hole was big enough he dropped down and plunged the dagger into the top of the sitting Trumdiq’s bulbous head.
The Inheritor twitched and flailed while Johnny twisted the knife while choking it with his free arm. The small creature was light, he pulled it up off the floor.
It couldn’t verbally call out as it died, but the hive mind made that unnecessary.
Johnny dropped the dead body like a sack of potatoes and pulled a small device from yet another compartment at his waist. He hit the button and tossed it at the door, which was sliding open with the slavering snarls from the skinless in the corridor.
The monsters had been driven into a mad frenzy by the Trumdiqs death throes echoing across its connection to their lesser intellect.
The explosive device bathed the open door in flames that didn’t disappear immediately.
The skinless had been blown back into the corridor. Those closest to the blast were dead, but Johnny could see that a good number were only injured and stunned.
That wouldn’t last long, he knew that the flames wouldn’t keep them back in their frenzy.
He needed to leave.
He looked up to the hole in the ceiling.
No.
Every skinless and whitey would be converging on this structure, just as planned.
He couldn’t leave the section the same way he had come in.
He scanned the chamber.
The wire frame schematic showed him a potential path.
A set of drone tunnels behind the far wall.
He hurled another vial of caustic liquid.
The first skinless rushed through the burning doorway. Maddened beyond reason, it ignored the flames clinging to its oozing red exposed muscles.
Johnny drew his recoilless pistol and blew its head apart.
More came behind it.
He sprayed projectiles.
A few dropped, but not enough. His weapon didn’t have the stopping power of the larger versions.
He took a deep breath and disappeared from their notice.
The skinless suddenly stopped.
They milled around for a moment as Johnny moved toward the hole in the wall.
The skinless exploded into sudden frenzy. They spread out in the chamber, swinging their clawed hands wildly, biting at air. Jumping and charging into the walls and each other.
Johnny chanced a glance back only to see more skinless filling the chamber. Along with one that was about to land a lucky bite on his face.
He was forced to stop hiding as he stabbed it with his stabby dagger.
He pushed the skinless away as he fell back into the hole.
He tossed a second incendiary grenade into the chamber before scrambling as fast as he could down the narrow tunnel.
A desperate run ensued.
The explosion and fire had given him enough of a head start that he had lost all pursuit after a few minutes.
He followed the map and made his way through what felt like miles of twisting tunnels and passageways until he came to a large vertical shaft. Vehicle access according to the signage.
All he had to do was climb until he reached open air.
He activated the communicator in his helmet. “This is Johnny, copy?”
“Copy, status report?” Caretaker replied.
“Target is neutralized.”
“Acknowledged. Things are proceeding as planned on our end. Hostiles did indeed lose cohesion and attempted to disengage and return to the Trumdiq.”
“Awesome… so, I’m in this shaft and the map says if I go up I’ll end up at the surface. Can I get a pickup?”
“Transport has been dispatched. You may wait at your location.”
“Yeah, I kinda don’t want to get caught. So, I’ll climb and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle, I hope.”
“Acknowledged. Well done on successfully completing the Task… Quest.”
A chime sounded in Johnny’s ears.
“Thanks, boss, signing out.”
He started to climb.
He wanted to check the spires message but thought better of the distraction. It was smarter to do it when he was no longer in the bowels of a dark, metallic undercity being pursued by monsters.