Multiplayer (35 page)

Then she opened her eyes and screamed. The porch was covered with scarobs and the grounds below were a sea of mechanical, segmented insects. And they were all staring at Veyron.

Ch. 31

Izaak huddled against the wall, not more than a few hundred yards downslope from the collapsing resort hotel. Gunfire poured down like rain. He’d already been here too long. He checked his power level. Refrac would pull it down faster but he didn’t really have a choice. So he turned it on and faded into the background. Then hugged the wall following the road. The first thing he needed to do was get beyond the outer wall. Then, he could meet up with the Stryker somewhere in the city.

Hector’s screen was now halved, since Shah had logged in. Shah had brought a merc into the game and punched in Sanjar’s coordinates. But he didn’t ask if there was a way out until he was already in Alanya. He wasn’t happy with the answer, but now he was stuck.

Others started slipping in as well. The Germans arrived. Then c’Irith. Then more friends of Hector, Deion, and Sanjar.

“We’re fighting the Reavers here,” Darxhan said, loudly to those gathered around him. “If they win, they’ll take over all the slipgates in
Omega Wars
!” Everyone started shouting at once and went on complaining about the Reavers until Darxhan finally calmed them down and started giving out combat assignments.

“Take over the slipgates,” Sanjar laughed. “You’re a genius.” Deion beamed.

“Take over the slipgates?” T-Reg said in stupefaction. “You said this had something to do with Chaz!”

“It does,” Darxhan told her quietly. “I’ll tell you in a few minutes. Let us get things organized first.”

“
Uber Pwn
’s in the air,” said Izaak. From his position over the harbor, he watched as it slowly lifted from the water and rose into the sky.

“I’ve got a few more shots left,” said G0dd4rd. “As soon as it comes around the peninsula, I’ll lob an engine block at it.”

“It’s not going to do any real damage, you know,” said Deion.

Sanjar beamed. “But it’ll be so much fun!”

“Are you guys going to come get me?” asked Izaak.

“Let me take a few more shots,” said G0dd4rd. “It’ll get
Uber Pwn
moving this way so we don’t have to drive right underneath it!”

The massive ship moved slowly forward, and G0dd4rd waited until he could see the whole hull like a giant Frisbee coming at them. Then he calculated a firing solution, adjusted the elevation of the barrel, and launched a huge, green block. It tumbled through the sky as if thrown by a titan and slammed into one of
Uber Pwn’s
wings.

“Direct hit!” Izaak exclaimed.

“And I just told them exactly where we are,” replied Sanjar.

Uber Pwn
turned slowly until it was coming straight at them. It aimed its guns and started firing. And unlike Sanjar’s engine blocks, its shells were explosive.

We’re going to be dead in about two minutes,” said Sanjar.

“Shoot me,” said Deion.

“What?” said G0dd4rd as the first salvos came in long and sailed over his head.

“The way you launched Izaak. I’ll get on
Uber Pwn
and see if I can distract them.”

“But I don’t have any more pods or a parachute.”

Deion climbed the ladder and lay down on the rails. “I’ve got a bubble shield. And I’ll boost my armor right before I hit and fire my chain gun to slow me down.”

“You’ll just get killed.” said G0dd4rd. “And they’ll know who you are!”

“Well, we know they’re coming now. Izaak’s out there and he’s got the list. So do it! Now!”

Shells landed just in front of them and exploded. In a moment, they’d have the range. Hector couldn’t help but notice Sanjar’s salvos always hit the first time.

G0dd4rd measured the range to
Uber Pwn
and calculated a firing solution. Then he adjusted the gun and weighed Darxhan. When he had his muzzle velocity set, he launched the merc. As soon as Darxhan was away, G0dd4rd slid down to the ground and ran from V2. And it was a good thing he did, for
Uber Pwn’s
next salvo would have sent G0dd4rd to the replication tank with Alkindi.

“This is freaking awesome,” exclaimed Deion, soaring over the ground below. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at his screen.

“What if you miss?” said Helen.

“I didn’t think about that,” said Deion. “Sanjar?!”

“You will hit,” said Sanjar.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Quadratic equation and all that.”

Uber Pwn
expanded rapidly in size until it filled his entire screen. Just before impact, he activated the bubble shield and boosted his armor. It was a huge power draw but also his only hope. Then he aimed down and started firing. An instant later, he slammed into the massive craft about half way out on the right wing. He ripped through three decks and a vanguard before coming to a stop.

“See,” said Sanjar. “Direct hit.”

Darxhan’s shields were completely gone and his fusion cells virtually dead, but he was alive when he pulled himself out of a collapsed bulkhead. “Direct hit, my armored butt!”

“You did bring some extra fusion cells?” said Hector, looking at his screen, and realizing that everyone seemed to be having fun. He hoped they wouldn’t remember what a jerk he was but knew it was only a matter of time.

“What, you think I’m stupid?” Deion laughed, and replaced the cells with fresh ones from his inventory. Then Hector watched as Darxhan rose to his full height. “Gore,” he sang. “Daddy’s home.”

Meanwhile, Izaak was making for the outer wall, even while Sanjar was pulling the Stryker out of the road-tunnel. T-Reg and c’Irith were organizing the defense with Shah and additional characters that popped in every few minutes. Before long, all the Spartans were accounted for except for Veyron, and there were a dozen extras, with more appearing all the time.

A moment later, G0dd4rd came roaring up on the Stryker and Hector stopped to watch Sanjar’s screen as BayernFC and L3r0y climbed aboard with him. The other Spartans and mercenaries gathered around, several dozen in all, with more arriving all the time.

“I’m not much on speeches,” G0dd4rd relayed from the driver’s station as Sanjar spoke on the couch, “but if we lose this battle, it might just start World War Three.” Everyone laughed, but Sanjar became deadly serious. “I’m not joking. Now, I don’t have time to explain it all, but me and a couple of Spartan buddies have found out there are some terrorists using
Omega Wars
to train for kidnapping the President during the Alanya Summit. For real. We know bin Laden’s involved. He isn’t dead.” Everyone grew quiet. Helen and Shah stared slack-jawed at Sanjar. “We don’t know how they do it,” G0dd4rd went on, “but if you get killed in the game, they can find out who you are, and find you and kill you in real life. Probably something with the rep tank.”

Hector felt pride well up inside him. Sanjar believed him! And Deion nodded.

“What are you talking about Sanjar?” said T-Reg.

“That’s why Chaz is dead,” said Deion. “The terrorists killed him. Those Alanya creeps killed him in the game and found out who he really was.”

“Don’t you be talking like that,” she said stiffly.

“Tyra, this is Sanjar. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. We didn’t believe Hector either, but we’ve seen it with our own eyes now. These are terrorists. Hector says they’re planning to kill the President. We’ve got a list with their names on it.”

“I got to get out of here,” T-Reg spat, and started to back away.

“Tyra, stop!” Hector blurted. “You’ve got to believe us.”

“Hector? You and Sanjar were rolling around in the dirt a few hours ago!”

Everyone paused for an explanation. “That should prove it. Do you think Deion and Sanjar would be playing
Omega
with me if it weren’t pretty serious? Please, just believe me for now. If you die in the game, you die in real life.”

“
Sweet
,” said a tall, slim vanguard who was standing nearby.

“Sweet?” exclaimed G0dd4rd. “What’s sweet about that!?!”

“The game’s real, dude. It’s what I’ve always wanted. It’s what we all want. You mind if I invite some more friends?”

“The more the merrier,” said Sanjar.

“What an idiot,” said Hector.

“Then, I guess we’re idiots, too,” said Deion. He and Hector locked eyes for an instant and Hector knew everything was going to be okay. “So Tyra,” added Deion. “What do you say?”

“Just tell me what to do.”

“Awesome!” Hector blurted, and focused his full attention back on getting away.

“Now, Izaak Ersatz has the plans and a list of the names,” G0dd4rd went on. “But he’s surrounded up in the castle and we’ve got to get him out so we can download the VTT file.”

“You mean they kept their plans on Virtual Paper
in
the game?” said the slim vanguard. “Whoa..!”

Helen and Shah were growing more disbelieving by the second as Sanjar spoke. “Hector, what is he talking about?” demanded Helen.

“What I’ve been trying to tell the FBI!” Hector roared back. “I’m not crying wolf. I’m getting eaten by it! We all are!”

“Why don’t you just copy the list by hand?” she said.

“Because…” said Sanjar, glancing at Izaak’s screen. Izaak was running along the base of the wall and they were chasing him. It was all he could do to stay out of their sight. “…If he stops they kill him and take it back.”

“This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” exclaimed Shah. “This is a video ga –”

“Just trust me, Shah,” pleaded Sanjar. “I think these guys are al-Qaeda!”

Shah tossed his controller aside. “I’m going to call Dad.”

“No!” barked Hector, so that everyone jumped. “They’ll just make us stop. And give me a bunch of drugs. I’ve tried with the FBI already. They want evidence. I’ve got evidence. I just have to get it out of here.”

Shah picked up his controller, but hesitantly. “Okay, but first chance you get, I want to see these documents.”

“Fine,” said Sanjar. “But until then, you have to defend this tunnel. Keep the Reaver’s distracted so they’ll bring
Uber Pwn
here. If they use it to search for Izaak, we will never get him out of there. I’m headed into the city to see if we can link up. So don’t get killed.” G0dd4rd pulled the hatch on the Stryker closed and raced off into the city to find Izaak.

In the sky, Darxhan was storming through
Uber Pwn
with a plasmace and an auto-cannon. It was all Hector could do to watch both screens at once. Fortunately, most of what Darxhan met were MetroGnome techs and vanguards who did the driving and manned the heavy, fixed guns. They were easy prey for a well-trained and well-equipped merc who wasn’t supposed to be there.

“Make for the control room,” said Hector, glancing between windows. “Disable it. Force it to set down.”

Together, they mapped a path that would take him through the center of the wing above the anti-grav unit, ascend the column, and then through the disc to the control room. It was a good thing they’d been on
Uber Pwn
before. And even knowing the way, he’d still have to battle for every inch.

On the edge of the peninsula, Izaak was finally approaching the outer wall. There was no gate, but a half-dozen Reavers guarded the arched opening and he crouched down and peered through his targeting reticle. They were heavily armed. There was no way Izaak would be able to defeat them all, or even one of them one-on-one. Not without Vera. Then he noticed a familiar pauldron. “X1?” he said and deactivated his refractive armor. “Hey Deion, it’s Cygnus X1” He emerged from the brush and low trees growing along the castle wall and walked toward them with his weapon down.

All five mercs spun around and leveled their weapons at Izaak. “Who’s that?” said a foreboding mechanical voice. But Hector knew the guy who controlled him was only twelve years old. One of his former Reaver cohorts and a good bit younger than Izaak.

“It’s me, Izaak Ersatz. I used to be a Reaver.”

A massive, brick-red battleship of a character lowered his chain gun. “Izzy, how’s it going? Haven’t seen you since Darxhan blasted Gore. Funniest thing I ever saw!”

“And we all got killed at Athens like you said we would,” added another merc standing next to Cygnus. “Should have punched out with you. Your armor’s different. I like it.”

Izaak recognized the voice. “R1ng0! Didn’t notice you. Your armor’s different, too. Mark-Three, huh? Nice.”

“Where are you headed?” asked the big red Cygnus X1. The other mercs circled close by.

Guards from the peninsula emerged from the brush along the fence about a hundred yards away.

“These dorks are trying to kill me,” said Izaak. “I was wondering if you could help me get away?”

“What do they want you for?”

“I swiped some stuff from his boss, al-Nib. I’m sure you know him.”

“Al - Who?” asked R1ng0.

“The guy paying GoreFiendHell to guard the peninsula,” answered Izaak nonchalantly, watching the guards close the gap between them.

“Paying GoreFiendHell?” they blurted together.