Connection Unknown: Chapter 1 Part 9 of 9 (Patreon)

Luke did one last check of his new gear and followed the path of the other squads. Weaving through the containers, rock outcroppings, and machinery. Someone poked their head out; Luke’s entire body tensed, just releasing the trigger when he saw the nameplate above their head. “Shit, nearly shot you. How’s things?”

“Scared the shit out of me too. Fucking place is a maze. I’m watching the rear—rest of the squad’s chasing. I’d say push for the point—mess in there.” He waved at the tunnels.

“Thanks.” Luke waved the others forward and toward the sounds of shooting. They moved between the haphazard buildings and containers.

Something exploded on the other side of the cave.

“Woo-hoo—got their factory!”

“Another drop coming in. Where you want it?” a Turtle pilot asked.

“Bring it right up to the gate, if you want,” Luke said.

“Will do—front door delivery. I get a missile up my cargo bay, I’m blaming you, Torjak four-eight-nine!” He called out Luke’s gamer tag.

“Sounds good.” Luke laughed as he poked his head around a corner. Rounds sparked beside him, and he ducked back.

“Camping in the corner.” Luke recalled the open area he’d seen and the containers the shots had to have come from. He pulled a grenade, tore the tab, and tossed it, followed with a second offset to the right.

“Get ready,” he said.

The first grenade went off, and Luke moved. The second went off, half-shredding a bot as it ran to the right. Luke shot and killed them with a burst, covering the area.

Fin moved to his left. “Got left.”

“I’m right.” Jynx trailed behind.

Fin fired. “Got one.”

Luke’s eyes were twitching, forgetting to blink as he moved up to the smoking corner of a container, peppered with holes.

He peeked around the side to a group of bots running through a corridor of containers on the left. “Enemy running in the containers!” He moved as he talked, kneeling, pinging and firing as he finished talking.

He stitched rounds through the thin containers, rounds shot back through the container.

Jynx fired over Luke’s head, her rounds cutting a line through the containers.

Luke held his fired, scanning as Jynx stopped firing.

“Think they’re dead?” Jynx asked, silence filled the air.

“I’ll check, cover me.”

Luke stepped to the side out of her way, checked both sides with his rifle up and ran to the container.

Several bots lay on the ground.

“Yep you got them, come on!” Luke wanted to get out of there before others were attracted by the noise.

Luke laughed and shook his head. He took point again and they moved into the building opposite, Jynx recovering her rifle from where she’d tossed it.

He cleared through the modular one story building, and looked through the hexagon-latticed windows, spiderwebbed by shrapnel and rounds hitting the glass.

“All right, so the CP has containers creating four walls at the exits—”

“Grenades?” Fin asked.

“Some small crates have been thrown up between the containers for cover.”

“Grenades,” Fin agreed.

Luke tried to glare at Fin through his bot. “They’re shooting over the wall.”

“That sounds like grenades to me.” Fin sighed.

“Grenades?” Jynx asked.

“Fucking grenades,” Luke agreed, to laughter. “They’re not shooting at us yet. Use that door—pitch them over the containers as hard as you can. Wait for them to pop and then run in.”

“All right, I’ll cover. You two are better at throwing,” Jynx said.

“Sounds good.” Luke jumped to command. “Hey, we’re going to throw grenades in from the—” He checked his map. “East side. Once they go off, we’re going to charge. Golf Squad, you with us?”

“Pinned down right now!”

Luke looked towards the building the squad were hiding in. Rounds were sparking all around them.

“Jynx, hit that building there, give Golf some cover.” He pinged where the rounds were coming from.

“Gotcha.”

“Ready?”

“Yup!” Jynx had her machine gun just below the window, looking through the spiderwebbed window.

“Grenades!” Fin held up one, holding the pull tab. He’d been collecting them.

“The Gollum of grenades.” Luke shook his head.

“At least he can let them go—be messy otherwise,” Jynx said.

Fin caressed the grenade-baby.

“All right! Three, two, one—go!”

Jynx stepped up, smashing her barrel into the top of the window and using it to clear around to the side.

She rested her gun on the ledge as the armored window drooped to the side.

Luke and Fin pulled their tabs and stepped out of the doorway, throwing them over the container walls around the CP and ran back inside. Fin got off a second grenade before they were inside.

Luke grabbed his rifle as Fin pulled out a submachine gun he’d looted.

The grenades went off.

“We’re winning the cap race!”

[Capturing]

[20%>]

“Move it!” Luke yelled.

Fin was the first out.

“I’ll cover you!” Jynx said, keeping up her fire on the walls.

“’Kay!” Luke ran after Fin.

Golf Squad of six and some other random friendly bots ran out from around the Command Post, rushing the containers.

“Grenades if you’ve got ’em!” Luke yelled on local as they reached the containers.

“Fuck you!” a defenders yelled on local, running out.

Fin, Luke, and three others shot the bot, killing it.

“We defend in peace!” a defender called out.

“In pieces more like, can’t you just die quietly!” an attacker complained, they were right on the other side.

Fin was holding a grenade and the tab was in his hand. Luke’s stomach crawled up into his lungs as Fin popped it over the wall.

Grenades hit the containers and the CP with the sound of metal on metal.

“Fu-“

Luke went around the corner, finding broken bots.

“Hold your grenades, friendlies pushing in!”

Luke saw a bot missing its legs raise its rifle. Two rounds turned off their lights.

“Move up, goddammit!” the Golf Squad leader yelled at the rest of the units camped around the Command Post.

[Capturing]

[85%>]

The Command Post was falling fast now that they’d cleared out more of the defenders.

“Door!” Fin yelled.

“You shall not enter!”

“I bring presents!” Fin yelled and threw three grenades into the doorway hard.

They went off, Luke ran in, he shot a bot behind a console, another stood, Luke took them down, Luke felt rounds hitting around him as a third shot at him.

This is it!

They were cut down before Luke could look at them, Fin had cut them down, other friendly bots moved in through other entrances, taking out others hiding in the room.

Bots popped up from where they were hiding.

Luke watched Fin drop from a spray of rounds, catching the attacker with his own burst.

“Dammit!”

[Capturing]

[99%]

[Victory]

The attackers slowed their shooting to a halt as the defenders’ bots went inert. None in the CP made it out alive, everyone was too hopped up.

“Woo-hoo!” Jynx let out a yell.

“GG. Shit, that was good!” Others joined in on the local chat.

“Damn!”

“So what do we get?”

“Defenders?”

“Fin, we just won. Can you respawn?” Luke asked.

“Uh, yeah. Dude, look at your account!”

Luke checked through the after-action report, detailing his contribution to the attack.

“Looks like, based on our contributions, we get more or less a percentage of the loot of everything the enemy had.” Fin said, distracted as he read through some information.

[Victory]

[Gained: 2120057 Platinum/1060 Credit(s)]

[Spawn Point “Monkey’s Balls” now available]

[Sell to Sphere World or Keep?]

“Holy shit,” Luke hissed. “Is that for real?” It  was more credits than he’d earned in the last couple of years all in one shot. It’s a good portion of a month’s rent!

“Damn, that’s a ton of points. I guess that’s for everything here?” Jynx said.

People started talking with one another in the chat log to organize pickup, while others worked on defense.

“What’s going on?” Luke used local chat next to the Golf Squad leader.

“So, we capped the node. If you want to get your creds, you need to sell your loot to Sphere World. They’ll send a shuttle down and collect all the materials that have been sold to them and you’ll get your payout. If you want to keep the materials or gear, you need to load that up on our transport and take it back to SW. Can’t sell miners, factories, or the Command Post unless you’re the one who placed them.”

“Okay. So why would you defend, though?” Luke asked. He could barely keep himself from pressing the sell button. His skin hot and cold with anticipation, worried that it was all some large hoax. It could be the answer he was looking for.

“The longer you defend, the more the miners will extract, and the more gear you can make or build. Every time people attack a node, it gets stronger from the last time. More walls, more turrets, more miners, and factories. Defenders can spawn in factory-built bots, while the attackers have to come in from Sphere World.”

“Anyone who’s leaving, we’ll buy your bot off you with materials!” the commander yelled. The whole compound had turned into a sea of bartering.

Luke looked at Jynx. “Why don’t we sell them? Then we can meet up with Fin in SW and attack another node?”

“That sounds good to me!” Fin yelled.

“Got it.” Luke laughed. He hit the sell button as a chime went off in his suit.

[Joey Scheduled for suit time]

Luke let out a low growl.

“Sorry, its my brother’s turn, I have to jump off.”

“Aww! Damn dude,” Fin said.

“You going to be able to get on later tonight.”

“Probably not I think Marissa has it after him. Catch you tomorrow?”

“Sure thing, see you then!” Jynx said.

Luke smiled, others might bug him about the fact he shared the net suits with the rest of his family.

He logged off, feeling the suit loosen around him as the suit unlocked and opened.