Hina Owari is in trouble. The HESO MARKET DISTRICT has become a war zone claimed by multiple gangs and she has risen to its defense, becoming general over the local resistance. But her forces are too few against the many enemies that surround her, and her defeat is only a matter of time.
Quest: Rout Hina Owari’s enemies.
Objective: Battle and force into retreat the besieging inter-warring factions that surround Hina Owari’s Marketplace.
Reward: Plus 700 reputation with Hina Owari. Alliance with Heso Marketplace.
It sounded tough. A siege conducted by inter-warring factions that she assumedly couldn’t escape spoke volumes. The chaos and confusion of war should mean gaps in the line. But her need to be rescued meant there was no escape.
Or else she and her people refused to leave.
The fact that they themselves couldn’t defeat the interwarring factions said something too. Those factions were strong enough to battle each other on the outskirts while also holding positions that kept the market ringed and stuck in place.
It’d be a tough fight.
I thought back to Hina, the last time I’d seen her. She’d been there at the battle for Gojira-X, and she’d been on my side. Her words said she wanted to kill me, but something else told me that she was a good person. Someone who was worth saving. Even if she was wound a bit tight. And an NPC.
Plus, now that the market district was apparently its own independent faction, they’d well be worth having as allies. Hell, they might be the most valuable ally, in terms of available resources, to have.
Also I had in excess of 65,000 Credits to burn.
I’d hit them first, making sure that they didn’t get overrun before I had a chance to save Hina and the other merchants.
I’d do the mines second. Honestly I was tempted to do them first, because if that park started filling with kids and they started exploding all over the place, it’d be a sandy combat hole-in-the-ground overseas all over again. And I didn’t think I could deal with knowing that I could have saved them. Even if they were almost all certain to be NPCs.
Then I’d save the cat. Because, while it wasn’t the highest priority, old ladies with pets needed heroes sometimes as well.
And all of that in hand, I’d kill the boss, assuming the Crosses hadn’t beaten me to it, and talk human to human with The Godfather, hoping we could get things fixed and get people saved.
I added all of the quests to my favorites, then started mapping out what that would entail.
Ideally I would take my griefers with. First I’d have to make sure defenses were solid at home base, though. Because I had no doubt that the Boss would seize upon my absence as the perfect opportunity to take my territory and kill real humans in the process.
Drilling the civilians, sending them out for random encounters to level up and get more cards was going to be an absolute necessity. But time was of the essence, I was sure. Those quests weren’t going to last forever and neither was this turf war.
I shook my head and headed out of the apartment. I needed to see the world. See what it was doing against Deus Ex. It’d put lead in my pipe, if nothing else. I walked down to the vidscreen by the elevator.
“Show me what’s happening in the world,” I stated. The screen flashed on, a live feed of the globe as seen from a hundred thousand kilometers above. It looked placid. Almost serene. As if nothing had changed.
“Zoom in on Europe.”
The screen telescoped in, capturing the whole of the continent within its confines. I saw massive glaciers and fields of ice in Denmark, a gargantuan borehole in part of Switzerland, some sort of unending storm of lightning and thunder, pitch black and huge, hanging over the forests of Bohemia.
“Show me the parts of the world still untaken by the game.”
The view shifted and now I was watching reports from street level at the outskirts of Kinshasa, where the burning heat of the weather radiated off the asphalt in visible waves. Soldiers in camouflage uniforms, sleeves rolled to their elbows, were hastily evacuating civilians into a series of ill-used and dilapidated helicopters. I recognized a huey and cobra among the mixed assortment of spinning blades and rotors. In the background, a flash lit the sky, coalescing into a tower of flames. The goo was there on the horizon, just barely visible but pulsing forward quickly.
“Turn it off,” I sighed. The screen clicked off, leaving me in silence. Everything I was doing felt pointless and broken. Right there on the screen, that was what I was fighting. I’d tried to break an insurgency of extremists before, and it wrecked me.
What was going to happen when I lost at this?
I moved to the elevator, just needing to get away. The door slid open and I absently stepped forward into the hard body of Eric Joel.
“Hey, boss, no need to get so close. If ya want a hug, just ask,” the NPC said. Then laughed. “Hey, I was just coming up to get you. Wanted to talk about how we’re going to go forward from here on out.”
“I was just heading down. Gotta go see Nolan about new weapons, and Doug about some magic. Step on in.”
The elevator doors closed and I shared my plans with him as best as I could. By the time the elevator had completed its multi-floor trek, there was nothing more to say. The doors opened to the lobby and Eric Joel and I stepped out. The place was its usual shiny-eyed fury, polished marble floor reflecting in a way that always just managed to beam you in the eye while over it trod the countless NPCs and humans that I’d decided to help save. There was a lot of salvage coming in now, I saw.
No doubt from the state of war I’d pushed the city into.
From over by the crafting tables I could hear Nolan stomping about, berating the workers.
“What the hell is that? We already have enough Improvised Electro-Spear 10 feets,” he said, in a sentence that somehow made sense. “We’ve got high-grade stuff coming in, people. I want assault rifles, drones, a fricking bazooka! Let’s make magic, people!”
I strode over, Eric Joel locking step. Thought about giving him a talking to, but I saw the most amazing thing. While the weird dude talked and berated, the workers smiled and even laughed. Shocked, I stopped in my tracks just as Nolan noticed my presence.
“What’s wrong with your face?” Nolan asked. His crafters giggled and I couldn’t help but join in. He had some sort of fascinating Charisma that was so negative that it blasted about the orbit of nasty into the realm of pure jolly.
“Nothing. Nothing fixable at any rate.” I smirked while he stared, then his face crinkled and cracked as well.
“Good to have you here, Poombah. Am I saying it right? Seems like what everyone is calling you nowadays. Anyways, I assume you are here to browse the merchandise?”
I looked over the tables. They’d been doing a fine job of it. Rifles, grenades, some good-looking blades, bandoliers and even a couple of rucksacks could be seen in various stages of completion upon its surface.
Eric Joel stepped forward, catching the attention of both of us. He went to the long crafting table and grabbed up something that looked like the model of an engine.
“Boss, this is a V8 diesel turbine! I been lookin for one of these for ages!” His face was blank, his jaw slack. “It’s the last piece I’ve needed to complete my bike!”
Nolan and I shared a look. “Eric, are you telling me that you’ve got a mostly assembled motorbike hidden somewhere? Also, am I just learning that you are able to craft vehicles?”
He waved his hand as if to send the questions in another direction. “Just bikes. Dirt bikes, motorcycles, whatever has two wheels and needs an engine boss.”
I chewed his words. Having a bunch of bikes put out would be useful. Maybe, with the right weapons and armor, I could make a sort of urban cavalry regiment.
“Eric, we’re going to have to talk about this some more. Later. I think it might be time to give you a crafting section of your own.”
“Hells yeah,” Nolan said, his eyes shining behind his goggles. “And whatever you make, let me work with it. I can think of a million things to do to make those bikes awesome.”
My mind was in a bit of a whir. I imagined a dozen guys riding on bikes equipped with machine gun coaxial as well as anti-tank rockets. The sort of crap that my recruiter promised me when I joined. If this all panned out, I was going to be fighting the Boss in hella awesome style.
“Anyways, boss, goggles-dude, let’s see the good weapons and gear. I been here a week with no upgrades. Kinda hoping to see what you’ve got.”
We all moved away from the crafting tables and the common crafting bin, entering the room with the good stuff and closing it behind us. The first thing I noticed is that a few of the items had a faint purple aura when I browsed over them. The second thing I noticed was that there were a lot of items here now.
“Nolan, holy crap.”
He laughed. “Yeah, the fighting in the city is leaving scrap all over the place. We’re getting all kinds of good stuff.” He held up a vial of red liquid. “I assume you know what this is?”
“A healing potion? In cyber-punk?” I gasped, taking it from his hands.
“Yeah. The technical name seems to be Healer Juice, but it might well confirm a theory that I have about this whole game system.”
I waited. He stared. I couldn’t belie it, dude was going to make me ask.
“So what was that theory that you have about this whole game system?” I made sure to say the whole phrase so as to be just as annoying about the interaction as he was being.
Unfortunately, judging by the glee on his face, he didn’t notice.
“Some of the items are universal! Like here this is healer juice. But you take it into the next game over, and maybe it is a health potion. Maybe it is a potion of healing! Maybe it is knock-knock gatoonga juice. The names don’t matter, really. But, if I am right, some of the stuff that we are making will be able to come with us when we get the hell out of here!”
That was good news. But we still had a lot to learn about what getting out of here entailed. I knew I had to beat the main quest. When I did that, could everyone leave? Or would they have to do it too? Would the level reset for them?
It’d be super crappy if it did.
My guess was that it wouldn’t, which was good. But I also guessed that any human not associated with me wouldn’t be able to come with me. And there was a good chance that when I crossed over to the other side, we’d all have our levels reset or whatever. So it might be best to leave everyone behind and go in on my own.
Luckily, whatever the case ended up being, I’d possibly have a bunch of universal items that I could bring with me.
“Good to hear,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. I didn’t add any of the rest of my thoughts. Everyone had stuff right here and right now to deal with. I could bring it all up with them later. “How did you make that by the way?”
Nolan took the vial back and shook it. “It’s the strangest thing. The way you craft these bad boys is to take something poisonous, then mix it with equal parts cherry red dye. That’s it.”
I leaned back and barked a laugh. “Red dye and poison?”
Nolan grinned. “Yep. And we even cracked the code on mana potions. One recipe for it anyways. Not that anyone other than Doug has any use for them at the moment.”
I searched my head, trying to think of what nonsensical solution the system might have created for making mana. It came to me. “Some sort of blue dye, and poison?”
“Nope!” he exclaimed. “Gotta try all solutions here. We’re very scientific method around these parts. Battery acid and blue koolaid mix.” He grinned. “We are rather proud of that one, by the by. And speaking of magic, if you mix the mana with a non-complex object, you get this.”
He hefted up a longsword that glowed a mix of light-blue and orange. Then he flipped out the info box for us all to see.
Elegant Sword
DMG 6-36
Spd Ultra-Fast
Melee only. Adds +10% to hit, allows damage reduction 50% versus ballistic missile weapons. Enchanted.
AN ELEGANT SWORD — SUITABLE FOR AN OFFICER OF ANY GRADE, FORGED IN THE FLAMES OF ANCIENT SHINTO SHRINES. THE BLADE HAS BEEN PRONOUNCED COMPETENT BY THE GREATEST OF SWORDSMEN.
It wasn’t bad, but it was incredibly underwhelming. I wondered what the limit might be on enchanted weapons. And that description, well, it was something.
“Forged in the flames of ancient Shinto shrines?” I asked, raising a single eyebrow.
He shrugged. “Description came with the item. No truth to any of it, really.”
Figured. “So, what happens if you enchant a machine gun? A missile launcher?” I rubbed my hands together. The fact that we could enchant items was incredibly exciting, despite the minor effects I’d seen so far. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the ability to enchant leveled up as it was used. I looked forward, envisioning a future with incredible area of effect coupled with unbelievable amounts of damage.
“Oh, yeah, about that. Any weapon with a decent amount of modern technology to them either ends up cursed, or if they are more advanced, they explode.”
The wind flew out of my sails. Damn.
“Alright. Well, it isn’t Excalibur but I bet Dragon would love to have that sword as a backup. Got anything for me and Eric?”
Nolan turned, grabbing a clipboard that hung from a loose peg on the wall. “I had my peeps jot down items that might catch your interest. Got a flame thrower here that is practically screaming good for bunker roasting.
He flipped out the stats and description.
Flame Gun! Take the work out of winter with intense bursts of flame. Warning: may char, burn or blister human flesh. Keep out of reach of children ages 5 and younger.
Flame Gun
DMG 3-18 + 1-10fire, (additional fire debuff effects on failed save)
Spd Slow
Special - 65 foot range. May fill up to 121 feet of space with flame. Criticals in confined spaces.
Nolan tossed one final box. This one, well, it was quite bizarre. A simple headband with metal extendable rabbit ears rising up from its sides.
Roger roger! Intercept enemy communications on the fly with MAGIC, the Ears of the Future!
Captures 20% of data sent in given vicinity, whether it be text messages or audio. Upgradeable.
“20%. Yeah, that’s something, but keep working on figuring out an upgrade.”
Nolan nodded. “Will do, Poombah.”
“Good work, anyways. Thanks for the loot, Nolan. Now we’re off to see the wizard.”
Nolan smiled and waved, turning back to his work. Eric and I set back off for the elevator, ready to see what new bizarro world wonders Doug was up to.
