Forsaken 2027 Read online

  That was close, more to the right and it would have disabled my arm. Quickly checking the display settings then closing any warning prompts. Cain decided he or Enoch would change the settings after the combat, not now. Reacquiring the Boss within the M249’s aperture, Cain lifted the barrel slightly then pulled the trigger for the third time.

  Minor Hit: damage to upper chest 6x9 = - 54, Critical Hit: damage to upper chest 7x36 = - 252, (397/1125).

  Major Hit: damage to left shoulder plus left-arm buff, 1x126 = -126, (271/1125).

  The Boss dropped the other revolver and began angrily shouting at Cain, telling him to hurry and kill it. Lowering the M249 Cain closed the gap and drew his combat knife. Kneeling to reach the wounded Ratole, Cain pulled his knife across the throat of the nearly dead bodyguard. He then stood behind the still standing and swearing boss. Cain plunged his combat knife into the top of the Boss’ head, killing it in an instant.

  There I can have this mounted now, Cain wiped the blade on the Boss’ clothes after the body toppled forwards. Still kneeling beside the Boss a cacophony reached Cain before the pain registered, assaulting him. At the same time a warning prompt flashed before his eyes.

  "Aargh," Cain shouted out in pain as he fell behind the Boss’ body, inadvertently shielding him from several other hits. Bits of the Boss’ body flew in all directions. Even with his ears ringing, from the sound of an auto shotgun firing its seven rounds, he heard the reloading taking place. Looking above the Boss’ body, Cain noticed the badly wounded cook loading a semi-automatic shotgun, his game tag showing it had a health of, (97/543).

  Realising he could not manage the M249, he let it go pulling up the lighter and easier to use the one-handed MP7 from his battle harness, resting his right arm on the Boss to steady his aim. It was a race to who would fire first as the cook pushed the seventh shell into the shotgun, Cain pulled the trigger, emptying the magazine in two seconds. There were plenty of hits on the cook, Cain was only interested in reading the final tag which showed a bloody, bullet-riddled dead cook, (0/543) as cases were still spinning through the air. Looking at the cook, the MP7 had plastered a look of bemusement across its face, frozen in its death.

  Taking two first aid kits from his inventory, Cain watched as his health gained an instant 30 health and returned to (413/508), while his left arm lost the disabled buff. He struggled but reloaded his weapons his arm still not at one hundred percent. Thirty-five seconds later Cain noticed his health was a strong (473/508).

  Chapter 14

  Aftermath

  Checking the area for any movement, Cain quickly activated his UI, checking his points and level.

  While his stats barring mana were in good shape. Health was climbing slowly (487/508), stamina was a robust (421/487), while the mana was still a low (27/27). That means I have eight points to distribute, and I still have one hundred XP for completing the quest, once I get back to Col. Hope. Time for me to loot what I can, Cain said to himself before he picked up the dropped weapons. Deciding to loot the Boss Ratole, Cain went over to the cook’s body, which looked more like a hunk of Swiss cheese.

  "Damn, so much damage, I can’t even get any usable pelt," Cain said out loud.

  {Maybe you should stop filling them with holes, or using explosives and hand grenades. After all you emptied thirty rounds into the cook, each shot hit the body, ruining the Ratole pelt. } replied Enoch. Cain knelt beside the cook‘s body and retrieved from the inventory, a Benelli M4 auto shotgun, with a nine-shot magazine,

  Damn, no wonder the cook nearly made mincemeat of me too. He also removed 500 casino tokens and 200 rounds of seven pellet and one hundred rounds of slug shotgun ammunition. Emptying the cook’s inventory, Cain moved on throughout the battle area, retrieving what he could. Some Ratoles were so badly damaged it destroyed even their inventories.

  Enoch, how many Ratoles have I killed? I can’t see any kill list option. I know it told me after I completed the hidden quest, but where is the data hidden? Enoch checked the code options, which normally a player could not see.

  {They, the system reporting, hide the kill count from all players, but if you make a request of the system, a quest update, it will provide you with a list of the kills. It is better to wait for the quest to finish as the system gives a more complete list. I understand what you want. If you would like I can keep you informed, outside of the game reporting, would that help? } Enoch replied.

  Replying with an affirmative Cain checked his own inventory before he emptied the Boss’s bag. He had collected a wide range of equipment, from AK47s, MP5s, G3s and two more MP7s in weapons. Even with all the damage to the pelts he now had twenty-one full pelts along with forty-three pieces of fur. For the first time, he had the ubiquitous mining gear, helmets with and without lamps, picks and shovels.

  What concerned Cain was he now carried forty-seven pieces of an unknown food. After seeing the cook prepare the food here, Cain was even more unsure of the contents. Taking a packet, Cain smelled the contents, there was no discernible smell, that did not mean he would taste the contents. Wrapping the sample up he placed it back into his inventory with the other packets. With everything in his own inventory, Cain had just a touch less than thirty-two thousand tokens. Impressive, to say this is still my first quest. Now for the boss.

  Sitting on the cot next to the Boss' body, it stunned Cain after clicking on the boss’s inventory as he found more than he was expecting. There were two old-fashioned revolvers, which were old Colt Anacondas, with six-inch barrels. Highly polished stainless steel with scroll work made the revolvers a weapon of beauty, but useless compared to the Glock, which is two pounds lighter and six shots compared to the extended mags of fifteen with the Glocks.

  Cain also found, still in its original packing box an M203, the under barrel 40mm grenade launcher. An M16 would be ideal for this, then away we go. Boom, Boom, Boom. The boss also had three boxes of 40mm ammo, in a mix of rounds. Most were the High-Explosive. Dual Purpose Round (HEDP) with half a case of the High-Explosive Round (HE). There was also a satchel with twelve Star Parachute Round (SPR).

  Cain wondered where the star round would be useful underground. Obviously, there must be some huge underground caverns. The extra light a star round gives off would help, either in mining or a fight at night-time. Although Cain had looted a small quantity of gold and silver ores from two Ratoles earlier, it was like hitting the mother lode when he looted the boss. He found both ores, with one hundred and sixty-five gold with four hundred and forty-three silver.

  Alongside the ores were the casino tokens. The boss was carrying after he had counted it over thirty-seven thousand casino tokens. The boss’ inventory backpack had a larger carrying capacity, Cain deftly swapped them over. He now could carry one hundred items, plus the unlimited money pouch.

  Thinking he’d collected everything Cain nearly exited the inventory but thought he better double check the space. That was when he found, rolled up in a dull grey coloured metal tube, hand-drawn a map of the airport. There was writing on the paper which showed places to dig.

  Strange, this looks like someone provided it for the boss, not something he drew himself. Looking closely, Cain could see that someone had crossed off several of the crosses, the writing showed those areas didn’t contain the treasure.

  Laughing to himself Cain wondered if the airfield plan itself didn’t hold the clue to where the treasure could be, then rolled the map back up. I think I’ll keep this when I have the time maybe I’ll come back and have a look. He noticed on the end cap of the tube was the imprint of a star.

  Exiting the boss’s inventory, Cain picked up its head, using one of the cot blankets, wrapping it he placed the wrapped head in his own inventory. Before he could do a final check, a system prompt flashed in his UI.

  Level or Trap

  Excellent, Enoch I need to go pay a visit to Col Hope, hand in the quest then I’ll have finished my first given quest, Cain said to Enoch. Who promptly told him to check his level and ho
w much he was carrying. Listening to Enoch’s advice, Cain opened his inventory first. He noticed that after emptying the inventory of the boss, he now was a smidge short of one hundred and forty-two thousand casino tokens.

  As the Ratoles were all dissolving, now Cain had looted them, he grabbed the inventory backpack he’d swapped out with the Boss. Holding on to it while the Boss dissolved, he now had a boost to his inventory carrying ability. He could now carry one hundred and forty-nine items rather than the original fifty. His old inventory backpack had to fit inside his new backpack that took up one slot in the new backpack.

  Taking a drink from the new flask, Cain enjoyed the coolness of the water, as it flowed down his parched throat. He noticed he also received a minor healing bonus of twenty-five health over ten seconds. He received a UI prompt of a large mana draw after he used the flask as it was a full sixth of his mana pool, being such a small mana pool. Returning to his levels and stats, he brought them back up on his UI.

  All I need now is a bed and four hours of game sleep time, but only after I distribute my points. Better to think about the which ones when I can relax, I still have the return journey to undertake. My health will maximise, and I can see where I used the five mana.

  The sound of metal falling to the floor snapped Cain back into battle mode. Scanning the area for any threat and finding none he relaxed a little. The sound of breaking wood pulled his attention to the other tunnel that entered the area.

  Equipping the MP5 and the G3, both ready to fire burst shots, Cain carefully walked towards the dark hole of the tunnel mouth, leading with the G3. Becoming one with the shadows, Cain moved into the tunnel and reached the corner that turned left. More sounds of wood breaking along with chittering and talking came from deeper down the unlit tunnel.

  Turning the night optics on, placed his back to the wall and moved across the shadows into the corner. Cain saw the movement of two female Ratoles at the right side of the tunnel. Opposite them, he noticed the faint outline of stacked crates and what looked like a large, wire animal cage. Cages with some occupants. Moving carefully down the tunnel, nearer the Ratoles, with the G3 ready to fire, Cain paid attention to the Ratoles and their chittering.

  "Listen to your stupid animals, keep quiet. From the sounds of fighting and now the deathly silence, I’d say my former pig of a boss and his bodyguards are all dead. Including my brother. If only you could understand our common language.”

  The Ratole bashed the cage with her fist. "Your impairment must be all mental, you look fit for a bah, why do I bother. If we can’t find anything to open your cages, I’m afraid you will die here with us. When what killed the boss comes down this tunnel, we will all be dead, or taken as slaves, or possibly eaten,"said the other Ratole female. While the other one had turned and was now rooting through a smashed open storage case. Then one of what initially Cain thought were creatures in the cages spoke. It shocked Cain to hear a female voice.

  "Stop your chittering, you dense animals. If you were only brighter, you could understand our language, even our names. My name for the last time is Dr Emily, I’m an animal behaviour expert, an Ethologist. I trained at the Dr Jane Goodall university, in Cambridge, UK. before the WWD. I came to Las Vegas to study the strange selection of mutated creatures, such as you Ratoles. Three years I’ve been here, you’re the first I’ve listened to. While they have held me captive.

  I hope you’re not taking me where they removed the other man to. I heard him scream, begging, crying and shouting, all so they’d spare him. He was an idiot, they have held us captive for two months. Initially, there was seventeen of us. Now, just look around you, damn it. Just look, there are five of us, all female. Why have you left us, not taken us like the males, I don’t know, but when they come for another, it will be a female they’ll take? Damn, I wish you could understand," the woman almost shouted in frustration. Banging on the cage door with her fists before sitting back in the enclosed cage.

  Knowing nothing would come from the service tunnels or the circular cavern, Cain slipped past the cages and the rooting Ratoles, he walked about five minutes further down the tunnel. The noise of the two Ratole females disappeared as Cain walked around two corners, further into the tunnel system.

  This should be far enough to make a warning trap it is far enough away and the slop will make any cave-in harder to clear. Deciding to make an improvised explosive trap he looked for a section with strong wooden props. Finding two sets of props close together at the top of a slight decline in the tunnel, Cain removed sixteen sticks of dynamite, blasting caps, two reels of wire and one detonator box.

  Joining the dynamite in units of four sticks, fastened with the rawhide, inserting the blasting caps in each stick rather than in one of the four. Cain fastened them at the base of each wooden prop. Tying them down to the wooden props using more rawhide, Cain ran the detonator wire from each location back to the detonator box.

  Taking another Ratole pelt, making thinner rawhide twine, Cain made five tripwires, four visible, one hidden. He ran them at roughly his own knee height from prop to prop, further down the tunnel on the decline. He ran them diagonally across the tunnel. Four of the trip wires Cain made visible. They were dummy trips, not connected to the dynamite or plunger but tin cans Cain had found. His idea was for whoever tripped these wires would think all they did was make a small amount of noise.

  For the final, only connected tripwire, Cain made of the thinnest darkest rawhide twine. Making drag marks and footprints on the floor, so everything looked normal, should anything look. Running the live tripwire back and forth across the tunnel six times, using large nails he removed from some wooden props as anchor points, the trap covered an area no larger than the width of his stride.

  The wire ended on the base of the detonator box, hidden as it was in a slight alcove in the tunnel wall. It was hanging upside down, resting on its handle. Everything was under tension, everything was ready. All the trap needed was for someone or something to put less than a pound of pressure on any part of the wire, and it would snap. Another system message popped up.

  Another skill level up, all from playing the game as though it was real life. Cain’s mind ran over several things, he wondered how Toni was keeping. He was longing to meet her in the game. He knew player to player chat activated once the players reached level six. He guessed it would only activate after a player had allocated their points and slept for four or more hours.

  Retracing his steps faster than he left them, Cain approached the two Ratoles, they were still trying to open the cages, hitting one with a mining tool. "Hurry, hurry,"said one Ratole. "We can’t have long. The beast that killed the others will come here soon. We need to free these animals,"said the other, "I’m sure they are cleverer than the boss told us they were. I keep telling you he met with four of them when he got that map of his.”

  Enoch, would you be able to change my voice using the game code so I can speak like the Ratoles? After asking Enoch to adapt his voice so he could speak to the Ratoles, then getting an affirmative from Enoch, Cain spoke.

  "STOP, what you are doing. Kneel before me now or meet the fate of your boss and all the others." Both Ratoles dropped their mining tools, followed by themselves down to the floor, kneeling with their heads touching the hard ground. "Cover your eyes, it will get bright in here," Cain said in Ratole.

  Thinking he better tell the captive humans, Cain banged his hand on one cage, telling them the same regarding the bright lights. Cain took three lanterns out of his inventory, lanterns he had collected from further down the tunnel. Turning his night sight off then lighting all lamps tuning up their brightness, everybody could now see much better, with the lamps on top of the animal cages.

  Talking to the Ratoles before the humans, Cain told them to stand. He removed the boss’ head from his inventory, telling the Ratoles to look at the boss’s head, then placed it back. Showing them the head had the desired effect, both females agreed to help with the caged humans.

&nb
sp; Still on their knees one female told Cain they were now clanless and as two females another clan would only take them in if they were unmarked. Which as they both said they were not. As they were both low caste females, their likely fate was prostitution or death.

  Their words angered Cain, it was not their fault their former boss had been such a tool. He told them he would try to protect them, then an idea came to his mind, the two males he had left trussed in rawhide, they could join the females make a new clan.

  Picking up the mining tool while the Ratoles stood Cain snapped each lock from the cages. Cain urged the females out of the cages, one at a time, he left Dr Emily till last.

  Chapter 15

  Journey Revelations

  Helping the freed captives to stand, Cain for the first time looked at their game tags. Four of the captive women standing together were troopers, still under the command of the Gunny or Col Hope back at the tower. Like the male trooper who died they were each level two, though with different levels of health, each had less than twenty percent remaining. One had the health of (38/205), another a health of (34/205) while two both had the positive, glowing health of (40/205). Giving those four each a small health kit and a flask of water, he watched as each of them improved.

  The player still stood away, from the others, she seemed reluctant to talk. Cain handed her a small first aid kit, with a forty health restore and a water flask. The female had a smile on her face as she received the first aid kit and the water.