“All good over there?” Kurt prodded his friend with the storage tube.
Jimmy swatted him away. “Yeah, man. This was just a really crazy night. I haven’t played things this way for a long time. Causing some thoughts.” Jimmy didn’t look away from the windshield. “Let’s get that thing fenced and get back to my safe-house. I need to log off for the night. It’s like two am in the real world.”
Kurt threw the waypoint up on the windshield and they drove to the drop off. As they neared their destination, the neighborhood became less welcoming. The streetlights overhead were mostly off or broken, and the city’s taller buildings gave way to low-slung warehouses and industrial compounds.
The waypoint terminated at a railyard, nestled beneath a freeway overpass. The road leading into the railyard had a rolling gate blocking the way, with a single man standing behind it. He shined a large flashlight at them, as two others with intimidating black military rifles stepped up on either side of the car. They scanned the interior quickly before one of them made a hand signal over his head and the gate clunked into motion.
Kurt looked around, shocked at the amount of firepower on display, as Jimmy drove through the gate. The railyard around them seemed to be a cargo depot during the day, with forklifts parked neatly in a row near the rails and large open cargo containers lined up against a nearby warehouse. None of the overhead lights were on, making it difficult for Kurt to see very far, and reducing most of the trains and buildings nearby to dim shapes at the edge of his vision. A dozen men walked into the area, each with an automatic rifle either cradled in their arms or strapped close to their abdomens. The waypoint and armed guards all led to a simple train car seated on the tracks. As they parked up beside it, the train car’s sliding door was hauled open and yet another armed guard stepped down to menacingly welcome them. Each of the guards was dressed in dark-colored street clothes, but they all had a thick tactical armored vest strapped on over their outfits.
The carriage guard stood waiting for them as they exited the car, staring. He and the other guards scanned the area for possible threats. As Kurt and Jimmy approached, he gave a quick head jerk in the direction of the train car but remained silent, refusing to even look directly at them.
Jimmy’s eyes were wide as he took everything in. “I’ve never seen this faction before,” he whispered. “What have you dragged me into?”
Kurt ignored him as he climbed into the train car. Jimmy sighed and followed him into the car.
It was dark inside, aside from a small directional lamp that illuminated an ornate wooden desk at the far end. Kurt stepped towards it, noticing the armed guards on either side as his eyes grew accustomed to the dark. Both were carrying some kind of automatic, magazine-fed shotguns, easily identified by the red shells peeking from inside the cutaway drum magazines.
The desk had one chair, and a weathered old woman sat in it. She pressed the tips of her fingers together and frowned. “You’re late.”
With a shrug, Kurt placed the tube container on the desk. “Wasn’t aware I was on a clock.”
She reached out and snatched the tube, giving Kurt a sharp glare. “When you work for me, Mr. Kurtis, you are always on the clock.” She popped off the top and unrolled the painting onto the desk in front of her. “Results do matter more than strict punctuality, of course.”
Turning in her chair, she handed both the tube and painting to one of her guards, who promptly rolled it back up and sealed it back in the container. The other guard stepped forward and dropped a black duffel bag onto the desk, before stepping back to his post. Jimmy wasted no time in unzipping it to inspect the contents. He gave a whistle and nudged Kurt, pointing to the large amount of cash within.
This earned him a sharp look from the woman at the desk, who turned her attention to him. “You simply must introduce me to your charming companion, Mr. Kurtis.”
Kurt gave Jimmy a quick glance. “This is Mr. James, my associate.”
She stood and looked Jimmy up and down, her stern expression never changing. “You may refer to me as Crane. Quite the spectacle you gentlemen put on tonight. Gave the IPD an interesting goose chase. It was wise of you not to bring them to my door, and wiser still to remember that on any future jobs I find for you.” After a moment, she pressed a switch on the desk which illuminated the back wall of the train car. “Take your pick.”
A wooden cabinet was lit up, with two mannequins on either side. The mannequins were minimalist, with only a torso to display their products. Each of them wore an armored vest, each different from the other. The mannequin on Jimmy’s side was decked out in a heavy armor chest-piece, with a molded plate on the front and attached shoulder guards. The mannequin on Kurt’s side was far more modest, sporting a minimalist black vest that could be easily concealed beneath clothing.
Stepping up to the wooden cabinet, Kurt gingerly opened the doors to reveal a small arsenal. Handguns and submachine guns were displayed on one side, rifles and shotguns on the other. Kurt scanned his options as Jimmy turned to the woman once more.
Pointing to the shotgun her guard held, he spoke in a reverent tone. “That . . . is a Fostech Origin 12. I would greatly enjoy owning one of those.” He placed his hands in his pockets and spoke with unusual respect. “What must I do for it?”
She turned to see what he was referencing and waved a hand dismissively. “Such ordinance is not something I hand out to just anyone. We can discuss the matter further once your standing with my organization is on more solid ground. For now, you may each have the armor and your choice of one firearm from the cabinet.”
With an understanding nod, Jimmy turned and browsed a moment, not taking long with his decision. He drew out a black shotgun with collapsible stock from the cabinet and turned to set it down on the desk behind them, before turning his attention to the armor. Kurt quickly scanned his friend’s choice.
Benelli M4 Super 90
Shotgun. Primary/Secondary. Firearm drops upon death and can be picked up by any player.
Caliber: 12 Gauge.
Rate of Fire: Semi-Automatic.
Capacity: 6+1
He had picked a monster of a shotgun. The weapon scan also revealed a list of possible modifications that scrolled a long way, to the point that Kurt gave up looking at them. An aggro warning was also present, but Kurt was beginning to see a pattern with Jimmy and aggro-heavy firearms and was not surprised.
Frowning, Kurt turned back to the weapons case and raised his wrist to scan his options. He quickly found that he wasn’t interested in any of the rifles or shotguns on display, drawn instead to the selection of handguns. One in particular stood out to him, boasting impressive stealth statistics.
The Silencerco Maxim 9 was a clear choice. It was an integrally suppressed 9mm handgun that looked like it would be easily concealed under clothing. It had an impressive ammunition capacity upgrade and looked like a standard black Glock-style handgun, but the barrel was enshrouded in a blocky suppressor. Kurt was in love at first sight. The gun allowed him to exchange it for his starting handgun and fit nicely into his hidden holster.
Silencerco Maxim 9
Pistol. Sidearm. Weapon drops upon death only if equipped in the Primary/Secondary slot.
Caliber: 9mm.
Rate of Fire: Semi-Automatic.
Capacity: 17 Round Magazine.
Once they had both taken their new guns and armor, Crane gave her guards a nod. The men stepped forward and escorted Kurt and Jimmy from the train car. They moved to their car and turned back to watch. The NPC guards in the area bustled Crane into a black SUV and formed up a motorcade to exit the area.
Jimmy looked after them with a scowl on his face. “Who the hell are these guys? I’m not even playing, Kurt, those guys were better armed and organized than any faction I’ve seen in this game. They make the Russians look sloppy, and that’s saying something.” Jimmy seemed to remember something and began scrolling through his phone.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Kurt remembered he had shut off the reputation and skill notifications, and quickly pulled up the menu on his own phone. He had gone up two more levels each in Liar, Small Arms, and Stealth, while getting a single level up in Planning. His Cartography skill had shot up by an impressive three levels, and there was a personal reputation gain with a faction named The Lace. His new rank in Stealth combined with his faction reputation had unlocked his Maxim 9 handgun and showed that he had several new modifications and clothing options available.
Secondary
Sneak Attack Rank 1 (Combat)
“Catch you fuckers at a bad time?” Blade - 1998
Attacking your opponents while they are unaware has clear advantages in combat. Increases damage and armor penetration of all attacks made while opponent is unaware of your exact location by 2%.
Secondary
Gunslinger Rank 1 (Combat)
“God may have made men, but Samuel Colt made them equal.” Thought to be a Colt Industries advertisement - mid 1800s
A handgun or revolver is an adaptable and commonly used firearm platform in all criminal activities. Skilled use can produce incredible benefits. Armor penetration with handguns is increased by 1%. Damage with revolvers is increased by 1%. Additional handguns and revolvers are unlocked for purchase. This skill is currently stacking with Small Arms.
Secondary
Strategist Rank 1 (Interaction)
“To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.” Sun Tzu-The Art of War - 5th century BC
Making and executing plans in combat is not a simple thing but can result in victories where defeat was all but certain. Increases combat tactics success rate by 1%, increasing by 1% with each team-mate included in said tactic. This skill stacks with Planning when applied to combat scenarios.
Kurt’s new reputation gains had also unlocked more clothing and modification options, but the big thing that drew his attention was that safe houses and front businesses had been unlocked. His latest reputation gain information screen sported a link to the map and highlighted several areas that claimed to contain either a safe house for sale, or an available front business if he claimed turf there.
“Hey, Jimmy, what’s the whole ‘front’ thing about again?” He scanned over the map zones, zooming in to see the areas better.
Jimmy barely looked up from his own wrist, “Money is split into dirty and clean. When your money is clean, it’s safe from other players and can be traded on the real-world market. But you have to do stuff to wash the cash, like run it through a front or pay a broker to change it out. Brokers are a rip off, but they work fast.”
With a frown, Kurt hefted the duffle bag of cash and tossed it into the trunk of Jimmy’s lowrider with his new armor. “So we can’t spend this?”
With a quick shake of his head, Jimmy popped the driver’s side door open and leaned on it. “We could, for the most part. Stuff like safe houses have to be bought with clean money, though. It’s more about blocking other players from stealing your take, you know? There’s a handful of ‘safe’ places you can stash stuff, but the sizes are limited.” He said. “Hey, how much is that, by the way?”
Kurt zipped the bag open again and tilted his wrist to scan it. After clearing the results and re-scanning it twice more, he looked up at Jimmy with a disbelieving expression. “Six million.”
“Woah.” Jimmy nodded in appreciation. “I like our new crew. We should grind this rep out a bit more. Three mill each is a healthy take, and this was just the start-up run. We keep this up, I might have a chance at that surgery after all.” He slid into the driver’s seat.
Hauling the zipper closed again, Kurt shoved the bag behind Jimmy’s new armor and shotgun before slamming the trunk closed and got into the car. “Two mill each,” he said. “We never would have made it out without Gadot, and she said we blew her op.”
Pulling the car out of the train yard, Jimmy shrugged and nodded. “Oh yeah, she was kind of helpful . . . after she shot me in the face.”
Jimmy drove towards the nearby residential areas, giving Kurt a chance to inspect his new reputation.
New Faction Unlocked: The Lace
The Lace is a secretive group of high end heisters. The less said about them the better, as they demand absolute discretion. Your contact within The Lace will tell you more as your reputation increases.
Current Rank: 1
Current Contacts: “Crane”
Jobs successfully completed: 1
“This new faction of ours looks interesting.” Kurt closed his phone display and looked out the window, happy to see regular-looking houses go by.
Jimmy nodded as he made a turn. “Yeah, I browsed the forums real fast and there’s nothing on there. Probably new, or just that secret, but either way I’m all in.” He yawned. “You know. Tomorrow.”
Kurt nodded, feeling the fatigue of their marathon session. It had been a hell of a first night, though, and he was not looking forward to dealing with the real world in the coming days. He went to say something to Jimmy but stopped with a frown as he saw the Jeeps sitting at the end of the cul de sac they had turned into. They were raised up on large, off-road wheels and sported armor plating on the doors, painted with light blue digital urban camouflage.
Cutting the wheel, Jimmy used his Lowrider’s bulk to block the street, narrowing his eyes. “Oh man, not these jokers. What the hell are they doing on my turf?” He swiped at his phone for a moment, shrugging with a heavy sigh. “Right. Guess those turf pings I’ve been ignoring were them clearing out my NPCs. Only thing they can be here for is ownership. Stay out of it, buddy, they might let you live.”
After getting out of the car, Jimmy opened his arms wide and faced the men lounging around the jeeps. There were eight of them, with various gear and weapons strapped across their bodies. They all wore the same style of ballistic helmets, bulky across the top and back of the head with undignified chin straps holding them in place.
“Hey there, boys, ya lost?” Jimmy approached, casually unfolding the magazine well on his SMG as he went.
The man out front raised a hand as his men began to lift weapons. He stepped forward and offered Jimmy a handshake, smiling sadly when Jimmy looked at his hand with disdain. “Captain Ocelot, GoonStorm 43rd armored. Good to meet you.”
Shifting from one foot to the other, Jimmy casually eyed the others. They were sporting various military-style rifles, and all of them seemed ready to turn on him. “Yeah, I know the Goons. You guys get matching kneepads with those helmets?” His eyebrows went up and down twice as he smirked at the men in helmets.
Captain Ocelot shook his head, his lips going tight in an unpleasant smile. “This guy’s a funny one. I like that. Spirited, too. Look, funny man, I’ve just wasted my night cleaning out your turf and sitting here waiting for you to respond. I’ve been authorized to make you a cash offer for the territory, if you agree to work for the GoonStorm Company.”
Jimmy scratched his ear, squinting one eye. “Yeah, I heard you guys are snatching up turf all over Illusion. People really bite for the buyouts?”
“Oh, you’d be surprised. Considering the other options, I would recommend biting.” He thumbed the release on his holster, clearly trying to look bored as he spoke.
“Yeah, I bet. All the same, I’ll take the other option,” Jimmy said while raising his SMG. He opened fire, taking down four NPCs that reacted faster than the player in front of them. Ocelot was no slouch and hauled a massive steel revolver from his thigh holster. He put two booming rounds into Jimmy at point blank range as the other man swiveled his SMG towards him. Jimmy’s round pinged off the side of Ocelot’s helmet, while the second revolver shot went into Jimmy’s face and dropped him. The whole fight was over before Kurt could get his gun out of its holster, so he calmly let it go and raised his hands.
Captain Ocelot held up a finger to him, checking his wrist. “And . . . there we go. Turf transferred to GoonStorm and I can get out of this rat hole.” He scowled as he looked at Jimmy’s SMG on the ground in front of him, bending to pick it up. Holstering his own revolver, he raised the SMG and fired a couple of test shots up into the night air with a smile. “Hey, not bad.”
Unable to stop himself, Kurt stepped forward. “Captain? Look, I dunno what all this was about, but that’s my friend’s favorite gun. Be a good sport and give it back?” His mind raced at the thought of the stash in the trunk behind him.
Captain Ocelot smiled, before lowering the gun and shooting Kurt four times in the chest. Pain flared with each impact, and he fell over, his vision going dark. Before his character died, he heard Captain Ocelot speak once more. “Yeah, not bad at all. Let’s go!”
Kurt spawned in a house a few seconds later, moving quickly to a nearby window. Shoving the curtains out of his way, he watched the GoonStorm troops ram into Jimmy’s lowrider as they drove out of the cul-de-sac.
Jimmy stepped up behind him, nodding to himself. “Yep. That’s GoonStorm for you. Worst crew in the game, I swear.” He flopped down onto a luxurious leather couch nearby. “At least they were too stupid to check the trunk.”
Kurt sighed in relief. “What the hell was that? Why’d they just kill us like that?”
With a smirk, Jimmy shrugged. “GoonStorm is taking over all of Illusion, if the forum conspiracies are to be believed. Guess they might be if they came after my pathetic little tract of turf. It’s literally just this cul-de-sac, and the block around it.”
They went out and retrieved the car, driving it into the garage. Jimmy hauled the duffle bag of cash out of the trunk with his new shotgun and armor, taking them down into the basement with him. A large metal safe stood in the middle of the room and opened to Jimmy’s thumbprint to show an interior with a few small cloth bags and bundles of cash inside. Jimmy shoved the duffle bag onto a low shelf, before turning to carefully place his new shotgun into a rack set against the wall, hanging the armor next to it on a coat hanger.
He turned to look at Kurt. “Stuff is safe in there. It’s my personal stash. You get one when you buy a safe house. Space is limited, is all. We can deal with all this tomorrow. I’m gonna log off for the night.”
Kurt eyed his friend carefully, but only nodded. As he watched, Jimmy pressed his finger to a space in the air above his wrist and vanished. Kurt followed his friend’s example, and the world around him faded to black before being replaced with his bedroom once more.
He quickly pulled up Jimmy on his phone and sent him a text. “You good man?”
His response was nearly immediate, as it always was from Jimmy. “Yeah. Great session, just kind of heavy, you know? My turf is no big thing really, I’m just tired and need my meds.”
Kurt nodded to himself, feeling guilty for having put off this game with his friend for so long. He thought for a moment, and then texted Jimmy back. “Lunch tomorrow? I’ve missed our fusion joint.”
As he moved from the plug-in couch to his bed, his phone chirped at him one more time. “Hell yeah man. Pick me up around eleven.”
Kurt was barely in the sheets before he was asleep, dreaming of Illusion.
