Chapter One—Max-a-Million

Kyle ran down the corridor, his assault rifle butted firmly against his shoulder. All he had to do was get to the other side and break into the bridge and this would be over.

Except right now there were at least five of the Tien Lau Pirates in his way. He leaned out from cover and shot off a burst of energy rounds. They ripped through the lead guy’s head, spraying blood and brains everywhere.

“Yeah!”

He moved forward, ducking between the crates, barely missing enemy fire as it came at him. That’s when he activated his Primal Stim, jabbing the syringe into his leg. New energy coursed through him, making his vision pulse red, the blood vessels in his eyes visible in his vision as veiny shadows.

With his newfound abilities, Kyle ran at the wall, ran across it and landed on the pirate that had nearly shot him. He beat the pirate down with the butt of his rifle.

Then another pirate shot him.

Kyle took several shots to the side, the pain from the energy rounds making him cry out, but not killing him.

No—with the Primal Stim, he was too powerful to die from a few energy rounds that would otherwise puncture metal walls leaving behind scored holes with melted slag.

Turning his weapon on the shooter, he fired, ripping six holes through his chest and spraying the wall red behind him.

With these guys dead, the corridor looked to be empty, but of course there were more pirates on the bridge—there always were.

The corridors were darkened, the emergency claxons sounding and red lights flashed, making his vision even more red.

Kyle moved forward at great speed, cracking a Life Hack syringe bringing his damaged vitals back to normal as he came upon another pirate that jumped out from behind cover where he had been hiding. The guy got three shots off, but Kyle smacked him with his rigle, then picked him up and brought him back down over his knee. The pirate died, his back crunched.

Kyle laughed.

“Not a chance, pal!”

He came to the bridge doors. Of course they were locked, so he bashed them with his fist, putting a thick dent in the metal.

Shouts came from the other side.

Kyle stepped aside as shots punched through, long trails of bright light coming after them. They flickered as the men behind the door moved about, blocking and unblocking the holes with their bodies.

Kyle put half an energy clip through the door, returning fire. One man screamed, and he knew he’d taken one down.

From his pack, he brought out a charge, stuck it to the wall and jumped away with a backflip.

Then he pushed the detonator.

The explosion rocked the corridor and a gust of heated air hit him, but otherwise didn’t hurt him.

Kyle grinned.

“Hells yeah!”

The ship’s control room was visible now that the doors had been destroyed. The two guys guarding the spot came into the corridor single file. Kyle switched weapons, bringing out his G-36 Hand Canon and put a single shot through the corridor. It went through the first guy and into the second.

DOUBLE KILL!

 Kyle stepped into the chamber to activate the autopilot lift off function when suddenly a hole was punched through the bridge windows, a powerful energy shot  making contact with the bulkhead behind him.

Turning, he looked at the scored hole there, then back through the windows. Another shot came through.

He crouched.

Damn, he thought. It’s a sniper.

Kyle didn’t have sufficient long range weapons to deal with the problem, but it didn’t matter. He was on the bridge and the controls were his.

He activated the systems and the ship’s engines roared to life.

Easy.

He peeked up above the controls and then flew through the air before slamming on his back.

XxXSnipesUdEdXxX domed Max a Million.

He tried to move, but his body wouldn’t obey. Turning his head, he saw the blood covering the decking, pooling out under him as his vision swayed.

All faded to black.

That’s when the MISSION FAILED message showed up in red on the screen.

 “Dammit!” Kyle yelled.

With a heavy sigh, he looked at the game stats. His team had nearly won. He had been the last one left alive to complete the mission against the pirate players and then he got shot in the head.

“Dude!” HellRazer exclaimed. “Why did you do that?”

“Damn snipers.”

“Yeah, try to keep your head down, noob!” DD8873847 said with a laugh.

“Sorry guys,” Kyle said.

“Better luck next time, losers,” HellRazer said.

Kyle could continue playing, but he looked at the play-time clock. Almost seven hours of non-stop gaming.

“I’m out guys.”

“What? No,” DD8873847 whined. “Just one more, Kyle.”

“Yeah,” Bigguy Commando said. “You should listen to the only girl in our group.”

Kyle chuckled. “Not today.”

“Oh, all right,” DD8873847 said.

“See you later,” Kyle said.

“Yep, see ya, man,” HellRazer said.

Kyle disconnected.

The motion capture laser projectors flipped closed.

With another heavy sigh, and feeling that he needed some cool air, he shut off the VR station and left the booth.

In the old days you actually had to wear goggles and other gear, but now, with laser acuity and a bank of screens within the booth that adjusted to the player’s movements, a gamer could just walk in and start playing, then walk out.

That sucked. He almost had it.

“Man…”

Just two wins today. Was he that bad?

And what is that…

Yep, he definitely needed a shower. Leaving the gaming room, Kyle went to go take one, then after he would see what John was up to.