~Welcome Back~ Flashes your screen, or rather, your eyes as the built in hud display comes to life, lighting up the world and causing the swipe activated menu, to fade from view. For your first time, or for your hundredth time you have logged back into the game. Like always the Hub is bustling with activity, SBC Glocken over looks the city, its beams of light shinning across the world, the neo advertisements, for in-game and out content flashes before you eyes on the walls all around, the smell of the metal city, the damp, moisture all hits you.
Welcome to GGO.
~~~
In the main Central Plaza near the basic shops and registry a woman in purple checkered fatigues, looks around, taking her time to patrol around and causing some of the acount buyers and scammers to 'tch' at her passing. The nameplate above her head would read Dr. Akita to those who got close enough to read, but she was not unknown to many around here as she prowls about. The shops did not interest her, nor the Exchange counter, not the Operations desk where CPU's and AI's gave out quests, it was not the potential trade offers, rather it was people watching.
While she would help out newer players, she was here to recruit for her and Deca's squadron and sooner or later, all players ended up back here. To pick up quests, to appraise items or because they died outside of a dungeon and were teleported back, after exploding into red crystals. For now she would patrol all the areas, her hud looking out for names or those with unique skills and equipment, who she knew weren't total scum or problematic... Though there were a couple of the later case that she was hunting, the skills were just too good to ignore.
~~~
Elsewhere in the outskirts, Deca_Dent, commonly called Deca, took a seat in the corner of a player owned and ran bar, while there were many of them scatted about, this one, the Jolly Roger, was known for its quality drinks, snacks and an upper floor for private rooms where squadrons could meet in peace and even play a game of pool. He had been making the rounds, players looking to relax and that knew the game to an extent would always come to such an establishment more than they would the more classier, and thus, more expensive places. Unless they liked the atmosphere.
Deca was making a bit of a gamble here to find a few of the people he was looking for, leaning back in his chair, with a bottle of beer in front of him, Deca would soon move on if need be to try his luck elsewhere.
Asura and Handy_Man both would also take part in the recruitment Drive to search the lower Slums. Most newer players avoided it because of how "scary" it all looked. Fitting the name of a slum, there was however more, "life", here. Even Handy_Man had cause to come down here, the best shops and crafters would come down here to peddle their wares in shady looking Gunshops which were armories, second only to the Bazaar. For now it was a simple task. Search, recruit, find anything or one of note.
ConameKode, or Koda, was last, but not least of the Squadron to be given a place, initially teamed up with Akita, she would be given the Bazaar, more of a grand general shop, one could find a mall like structure that sold common guns and gear. Ran by NPC's it was a useful place to sell low quality and normal drops or to buy "okay" weapons upon death if one had lost most of what they had. It was a good place to catch players though and this was the first place newer players went to sell loot or upgrade basic weapons, Akita was also not very far away should the search be fruitless.
A grumble erupted from a larger man equipped with unique-looking armor. He was helmeted and his visage obstructed, leading only an unfriendly visor as a stand-in for a human face. The man had a hand outstretched slightly, a typical pose for one tapping away at their menu, or trying to anyone. This individual seemed frozen.
"Guys, come on. I'm just trying to get my paycheck. Don't make me block you."
It was unclear if he was talking to anyone in specific or simply allowed as he flicked away the various pop-ups brought on by squadron invites, offers to buy "cheap" currency, accounts, and blatant scams. Honestly, he wondered if these people actually looked at the people they were contacting, or simply scrolling through the hub list and shooting in the dark. Just because the hub was popular with newbies didn't mean it wasn't with higher ELO's.
"Jesus, imagine being able to make money off a video game doing anything in that game and choosing to basically be a used car salesman..."
He let out a modulated sigh, seemingly able to bypass the nuisances and get to exchanging his currency.
Asura was incredibly bored. If not for the fact that it was a squadron activity, this recruitment bullshit could kiss her ass. If it wasn't bad enough that she had to wander around aimlessly, the fact that she couldn't (or rather shouldn't) stream in the main hub was the cherry on top of the cow pie. Sure, she could just choose to walk around with the camera on, but it'd get her into shit again. Last time she walked around the hub, they demonetized her stream for the day. Who would've thought so many people would get pissy about free publicity?
She took one last look around the streets of the shithole of a slum she had been assigned to, praying to whatever gods may be out there that there at least be *someone* of interest so she could get done with this crappy job even a moment sooner. And the gods were generous. One of the players around the area looked pretty damned familiar for some reason. A moment later, she recognized him. The fucking grenade boy. Hell if she could remember his name. And he was on the list of persons of interest Akita had given her!
Almost skipping in anticipation of being done for now, Asura advanced towards her (perhaps) unlucky prey, tapping him on the shoulder as she approached. "Oi! You're that fucking grenade boy, aren't you? The one who uses the damned things to fly? You interested in joining a squadron?"
He damned well better be. Because she wasn't planning on giving up short of him turning and running in the opposite direction.
Handy_man
Location: Lower Slums
Interactions: OcelotChika & Healz_on_Wheelz
Meanwhile, Handy was taking a stroll through the streets. Unlike a certain impetuous, ill-mannered imp he could think of, he actually had a real stake in this recruitment. He really wanted those new materials to play with. And given his lack of actual shooting skill, he'd need to find someone particularly good at shooty things.
As he passed by one of the stalls on the street, a gun caught his eye. Wasn't that one of the ones he made recently? He didn't recall having sold any to this particular vendor, but maybe a player had gotten it stolen after dying or something? As he turned away from the gun, however, he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye. Someone on the list of people to go after? Maybe. Handy walked over, raising his voice. "Excuse me. Would you be interested in joining a squadron?"
"Yep! And if you turn and take the stairway up ahead you'll find it, should be good enough for new players."
Eine cheerfully said to a player in front of him, his tiny avatar only reached up to the other's chest despite him standing on a ledge. His tone and voice both starkly stood out against the backdrop of the miserable-looking slums. He had stumbled across a new player who got lost down here. "Oh, what? Friend request, I'm a guy you know?" The holographic UI in front of the small long-haired avatar, the symbol for males were displayed beside the characters 'Eineomy800'. The new player stepped back a few steps, Eine thought that he just shattered some nerd's fantasy of 'special lessons with kawaii female mentor', but quickly realized why as he got tapped on the shoulder.
"Huh? Grenade boy?" Eine turned around and hopped off the ledge, looking up at the person who just yelled in his ear. "Well, you mentioned flying, so I suppose that's me..."I should be glad she didn't say 'grenade girl...'. He tilted his head and realized that the girl in front of him looked somewhat familiar, ah right, it was the sniper who got him in the last Squad Jam. What's the part about a squadron now, Eine thought all snipers were anti-social loners...well, maybe that's a bit harsh.
"...Hmm, maybe?" Eine did his best dramatic thinking pose, he wasn't too sure on the squadron thing, but this girl but either be desperate or have some capable people behind her to be out recruiting like this. "If you're gonna recruit, maybe you should be more polite, how about this, I'll consider it if you ask me nicely and say 'please'!."
I like Fantasy, Modern, Modern Fantasy, Yaoi, Yuri, and Romance. Please do not be shy in bringing up another genre. I just might be interested in it ^^
"I understand killing him, but did you have to teabag him too?"
"Didn't you hear the cocky bastard? He was so confident that he was gonna kill me; made fun of me too! I had to embarrass him."
Two siblings would be walking through the streets of the lower slums, Hiro's brand new weapon held within the holster of his belt. They encountered someone who wasn't interested in being friends and tried to kill him. Luckily, his sister was nearby and was able to cover him long enough for Hiro to get the shot in, killing their opponent, and grabbing what was the prettiest gun he'd seen in the entire game.
Didn't look like anything he saw in the game's stores, so that meant someone with a pretty good crafting skill must have made it. That, or it was some limited edition gun that the guy was lucky enough to win from somewhere.
Unfortunately for him, it was Hiro's now.
They stopped when they heard a voice calling out to them, both turning towards the source of it. It was a man neither of them remembered seeing. Passing by? Maybe, but he wasn't a friend.
That didn't stop Hiro though.
He walked right up to Handy_man, forcing his sister to follow suit behind him. "A squadron you say?"
Without warning, Hirohito stepped closer and planted a full smooch on Handy_man's lips, keeping the kiss brief before Chiaki reached over and grabbed her brother by the collar. She pulled him away sharply, letting him go when he was at her side.
"Hah! Next kiss is yours, Chi."
"He's an idiot. She quickly added. "We're interested if the sudden kiss hasn't made you revoke your offer."
Josuke Mitarashi HighBlitz Location: Central Plaza
Interactions: None
Mentions: @RedArmyShogun
Josuke entered his room after a long day of school and then soccer practice, luckily for him there was nothing else he had to do today. He told his parents he had no homework to do and did not have any test coming up, which was all true. So his parents weren't going to get on his case about studying for the evening. Yosuke set down his school bag and his athletic bag and then plopped on his bed for a few moments. The teen would scroll through his phone for a few minutes before he finally decided to get his night of gaming started.
Josuke got up from his bed and went over and grabbed the nerve gear that it takes to play gun gale online. Josuke would lay back on his bed and put the headset on as he then would be brought into the online world of gun gale online otherwise known as GGO. Josuke had just bought the headgear and GGO about two weeks prior, he had saved up some money and was able to buy it himself without having to ask his parents, who likely would have said no because it was a waste of time. Josuke didn't care that this game wasn't going to as his parents said "help with his future" Josuke liked to game and it relaxed him of all the stresses in his life.
Soon enough Josuke was brought into the online world of GGO, Josuke or HighBlitz or Blitz as he told most people to call him, would be placed in the central plaza of the main city in the game. Blitz would smile and take a deep breath as he looked around at all of the activity happening in the main plaza, while he had only been playing for two weeks the boy already knew to stay away from the scammers that waited to prey on the newer players. He had a bad experience with a scammer the very first time he played the game, so he's learned to spot them out and to stay away from them.
Josuke decided to walk around the main plaza for a bit before deciding what he should do moving forward. Blitz had gotten pretty good at the game in a short amount of time, was he on the level of some of the more experienced players in the game or as good as some of the professionals? No of course he wasn't, but he could hold his own and some people had started to take notice of his skills.
Blitz wasn't sure what he wanted to do today, he would probably take up a quest to gain more money, so he decided to walk around the square and see what NPC quest there were today, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a woman wearing purple, was she looking at him? No she couldn't be right? I mean why would she? Blitz tried to not pay any attention to her, but was going to be cautious in case she came after him.
"Ahh, man," the pink-haired girl Codename Blush, or simply Blush, groaned stepping out of some unscrupulous armory in the seedy slums. Since Blush regularly had gear from killed players, she pawned them off in the slums. She never really made a choice to, but simply ran a few errands in the slums at the same time. Hence why she was buying ammo outside of a more respected store. She had just bought a couple box magazines of ammo for her trusty rifle and some nades to wreck fools with. At least that was something, but right now she was in a right shitty mood.
Her real world counterpart had a deal fall through so she came home miffed and booted up GGO to blow off some steam. Which she was about to go and freaking do. Cuz like, she couldn't do any drugs to help with her mood, so.. might as well cap some idiots.
The short pink girl yawned and stretched, blinking lazily.
Okay... Blush pulled up her cloak to cover her mouth, where to?
~~
A short while later, a hooded, masked figure leaned at the edge of broken window, peering out. What lay before her was the ruins of a city. It was dusty and dilapidated like any ruins would be. She was high up in a skyscraper. She pulled up her sexy scoped rifle. A perfect sniper spot.
She dropped to the floor, and snuck to the edge, but stayed back in the shadows. There was a sweet spot where she could aim, but not be spotted. She searched for her next potential victim using the scope. Ghost Shot was about to make an appearance. Blow some poor unsuspecting fool's head right off. Collect the loot. Get out of there.
Snipe. Ghost the place.
Eerie.
The exact MO of Ghost Shot.
Ah. There was a target. Easy. There were always people around these places hunting their own prey. The corner of her lips curled, as her finger began to pull on the trigger. But there was always bigger fish.
Then she paused.
Delirious?
That was the name of the person she was staring at through her scope. Delirious was another big-name PKer. And a personal rival of hers. Delirious constantly got in the way. Even had killed Blush a few times before, which irritated the pink-haired girl. Perfect. The bitch was in her sights.
Just had to finish pulling the trigger... Steady aim. Draw in a breath...
Then Delirious did something funky. The other player turned, with those lips curling into a smirk. A knowing smirk.
It appeared as if it was meant for her. With Delirious seemingly looking straight at her. -But that was impossible! From here she shouldn't be able to be seen! Blush had been meticulous about that!
Blush's finger lightened up on the trigger, but she remained aimed and ready.
What was that smirk about? Surely Delirious had no idea the pink-haired ghost-like sniper was here. No, the smirk was coincidence. Meant for someone else. Her finger pressed against the trigger again.
But what if...?
What did it mean?
Blush narrowed her eyes and didn't fire. Leaving her prey to escape; Delirious opened a door to some rundown building and disappeared inside. The sniper laid there on her stomach contemplating. What did it mean? That smirk had done no favors for her mood -if anything it only pissed her off even more. So, Blush was irritated that she had let her prey escape. But the sniper known as Ghost Shot was nothing if not careful. It was a large reason no one knew who she -or he- was. Any slight deviation. Any strange occurrence could mean something. And Ghost Shot would ghost.
Koda, or rather ConamiKode, had been tasked by her Squadron leader to seek out new recruits. Apparently, she wanted her looking for as new as you can get, placing her firmly in the middle of the Bazaar. Ironically, for the scale and grandeur of the establishment, the gear here would be out scaled pretty quickly. Though the effective infinite supply of weapons was helpful at times when she was grinding lower level areas for drops. Still, she thought she'd use the typical clientele to her advantage. Sorta just a way to stick her foot in the door so they listen just long enough to know what she's about.
"Alright, trade complete! That should give you the boost in power you need to punch through Big Bandit's armor. Oh! And watch out for the mines he's laid!... Aaaand he's gone..." She had brought in her collection of semi rare drops from the a few bosses. All lower level gear, but it would last a bit longer than what was found here. She had been advertising her Squad, letting people know what they've got over others. The answer is one of the best information networks on quests, secrets, builds, PvE and PvP Metas. Which in all honesty doesn't sound super interesting to join if you aren't in to that stuff. A lot of people just want to shoot some bitches.
Koda let out a sigh as the eager greenhorn ran back into the wastes with reckless abandon. He's likely to lose that new piece of gear. Oh well. No skin off her back. She still had a hundred or so of them back in her bank. Still, the time she had spent there seemed fruitless. Mostly everyone here was either salty about a recent death, or a newbie who wasn't sure about Squadrons just quite yet. She wondered if she should just head back to Akita...
A sigh escaped her facemask (As her head gear typically covered her mouth). Maybe she just wasn't inviting enough? Maybe people didn't trust her knowledge of the game or appreciate it. Slightly discouraged, Koda was ready to return with her tail between her legs. She walked back up towards the main square to return to Akita. She had managed to hold the attention of 20 or so people, but none of them gave a concrete answer to her invitation. She didn't expect to hear back from them. She turned her back around, ready to return, but stopped herself. No, she needed to be more direct in her recruitment.
"Alright! I have rare drops available! No cash, not trades, all I need is for you to listen to me about joining up in a Squadron."
This was definitely the grenade guy. Asura gave him a look of disbelief. Was he fucking messing with her? "Ask politely and say please"? But... she did need to find someone at risk of getting in trouble for shrugging off the recruitment thing. To hell with asking nicely, though. The fucker seemed to have gotten a big head just because she'd asked about the squadron thing.
She quickly retrained her face into an almost sickly sweet, venomous smile. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for identifying you by your most memorable feature. Would you ever be so gracious as to consider joining a measly little squadron, oh great and skillful explosive airman?"
There you go. Sarcasm was an art form. She used the word please, and the phrasing of the sentence was polite enough. And if he bitched about it, she could just insist it was her natural tone of voice and not sarcasm at all.
Handy_man
Location: Lower Slums
Interactions: OcelotChika & Healz_on_Wheelz
Just a case of mistaken identity. The pair (he could see that it was a pair of players together now), was most definitely not on the list. However, as he was about to say so, the gun the male was carrying caught his eye. He could've sworn it went to a pretty decent player a few weeks back. Not good enough to be famous, but still good.
As he was considering how to continue, the male stepped straight up and kissed him. Handy froze up. What the fuck? The man stepped back mentioning the next kiss went to the sister, who rejected it. Handy stood there blinking a moment, before speaking back up. "You French or something?"
They were certainly oddballs. And probably decent. So they definitely met the criteria Akira had set. "Nah, it's fine. Surprised me, but I don't really mind. And the invitation's still open."
Handy waved a hand, bringing up the in-game menu, before sending each of them a squadron invite.
A frustrated shout erupted from one of the dilapidated buildings overlooking the same stretch of street Delirious passed. Gripping the sill of an open window, a thin girl with messy hair and clothing scuffed, stained and worn, pulled against the wood in anger before suddenly slumping forward in defeat. Her forehead rested against the bottom of the window as her shout weakened into a pouting whine.
Violen had come here, all the way here, to the middle of friggen nowhere because of that smug bastard. Delirious had the gall to get one over on her during a little excursion. It didn't matter who shot first, or threw a bomb first; how dare he! The prick!
She had managed to follow him and lay out a trap in the road; a perfect ambush--IF THE DAMN THING WENT OFF!
Once again, the growl increased in intensity, but stopped this time as her posture straightened. Turning, the woman began to stomp through the building towards its exit, mumbling incoherently about what a bastard Delirious, and the bomb she set was. All she wanted to do was blow him up and shoot him a bit. So much for that.
"Fuckin' wire. Fuckin' bomb. Fuckin edgelord..."
As she opened the door to the building, the large minigun on her back was more prevalent as she moseyed over to where Delirious once was and knelt in front of an adjacent building's door, appearing to fiddle with something as her mumbling continued.
The howling wind proceeded to weave its way through the abandoned crumbling corners of the Ruined City. Once a busy and bustling metropolis, now in between bouts of distant gunfire only silence reigned. Having claimed the domain for itself among Man's noisome conflict. Entreating upon this eerie ambiance, first faintly and in the distance a low hum could be picked up on one's environmental sensors. Intensifying, the hum grew louder before turning into the distinct sound of tires on uneven pavement. A rock tune struggled to be heard over radio static as a military Jeep rounded the corner at the end of the street. Keeping to a steady speed, the party bundled together in the vehicle were in no visible hurry. Telling jokes while chiding one another, they seemed to be having a good time.
Driver Seat, Nishida Yuudai ... Duelist. Save him for last.
~
Shotgun, Shibata Jun... Breacher. Shotgun riding Shogun. Fitting. You get peppered.
~
Passenger 1, Higa Ryuu... Specialist. It's your lucky day Doc.
~
Passenger 2, Abe Ryuu... Gunner. Mr. trigger finger.
From the confines of an abandoned hospital, a crouched figure leered at the approaching targets from the shadows. Silently marking them, they steadily approached. Still yet too far out of range to pop up on anyone's hud. Taking in their smiling, laughing faces at the end of his barrel. The outline of a tear eyed young girl stared back at him. Face an emotionless mask save for the water in her eyes, she had nothing save for the game's base clothing. Everything she owned, which amounted to practically nothing, he had taken for this moment.
Jack intended to make it worth the money.
~~~
The crack of a shotgun echo'd, shattering the oppressing silence of the Ruined City. From his position only the party and immediate buildings would notice the muzzle flash. Having swept the ruins prior, Jack insured it would be just the two of them. Following the crack, the front of the Jeep dipped near the driver's side. The tire had popped, and following an audible "ping" the engine began making an awful racket as it sent up a stream of smoke. The Jeep lurched as the driver flinched. but The Gunner wasn't phased. His Nerves of Steel allowing him to return fire on where Jack had been moments ago. He was now on the move, reloading and aiming to catch them all before they had the chance to scatter.
Despite the flat and a hole in the engine block, the Jeep kept advancing strong. Pulling to the left as it did, the party debated briefly whether to regroup or answer the ambush head on. Just then, The Gunner caught a glimpse of a robbed figure to their right. Raising his SAW he let loose another volley of fire, this time firing into the entire side of an office building. The driver naturally avoiding the line of fire, swerved to the left pulling hard on the wheel. Leaving the pavement for the relative safety of the sideline sands, abruptly turned into an obvious mistake.
The Jeep lurched as the sand collapsed under its weight. Revealing a makeshift trench, it slammed to a halt scarcely avoiding being hurled in tail up. Mildly jarred if not disoriented the party leader, The Gunner, began barking orders. As they began to scramble a figure launched itself from the second story window next to them. From a distance the movement would seem "unnatural", and too "swift" to be human. As if rigged to some kind of tether. Draped in a desert cloak, it would seem to "float" above the party for a moment before The Gunner, always quick to display his skills, filled it with holes.
POP!
~~~
Bursting into shreds, the cloak would be snatched by the wind to reveal a dummy. No. A balloon? There wasn't time to really contemplate it as the object attached to it dropped on the party. A cloud of smoke poured out all around them as the smoke bomb smothered the wreckage. A repeat from before, and another figure leaped from the second story window. Deja Vu! No, this one was slower, and didn't fall nearly as graceful. Pulled upward at the last second, Jack's body was saved from most of the impact. Unfortunately, The Doc wouldn't be so lucky. Slamming the stock of his shotgun with the force of the fall into the man's face, his skull caved in under the weight and impact.
Passenger 1. Zero.
Turning towards the driver, while still atop the Doc, Jack lined up a shot on the man's knee caps. With another crack of his shotgun, The Duelist soon lost his ability to "bend over" properly along with most of his knee joint as a slug tore through both legs.
Driver. One-Half. Two minutes. Gotta be quick.
Ignoring the man's screams as he fell to the ground, Jack chambered his next round and popped up over the side of the Jeep. Face to face with The Breacher and The Gunner he rapid fired two shells into The Breacher before ducking. A flurry from the SAW whizzing by his head. Seconds later, with a whine from his back he was in the air and sailing over, towards the office building behind them.
The Gunner, yet again didn't fail to seize his opportunity to spray downrange. Emptying the last of his clip into Jack as he gravitated overhead, a weight soon came crashing down atop him. He had hit true and landed his mark, but said mark turned out to be The Specialist turned cheese.
"Nice shootin sherrrrriff! HAHAHAHAHA! You really know how to put holes in your teammate!"
Spotted across the road, standing upright on the side of the second story of an office. Cackling with amusement, Jack reloaded his shotgun while idly defying gravity. Meanwhile, struggling to his feet The Gunner followed suit before glaring at his teammate who remained hidden behind his shield.
"The fuck are you doing under there!? Shoot him! What are you doing!?"
"HaCK!... HaCK!... Ha!... I-i can'... brea...th" Answered a dry voice. With bloodshot eyes, The Breacher dropped to a knee, mucus and saliva streaming from his mouth and nose.
Ducking as hot lead was thrown his way by The Gunner. Jack quickly scurried back behind the relative safety of the building's cover. Crouching behind a concrete pillar, he sat a moment and waited for the affects of the CS agent to disperse.
Of course. I don't blame you. Tear Gas is a bitch first time round.
He mused to himself.
~~~
"HaCK!..."
Hearing his cue, Jack darted from window to window alongside the building front. Rolling under another storm of metal he reached into his pouch for a handful of "lemons".
"Catch!"
With a practiced baseball pitch, the ribbed outline of grenades rained on the pair in the smoke and gas. Grabbing The Gunner by the collar, The Breacher stepped forward, leveled his shield, and waited for the concussive impacts to follow. Only, there were none.
"Ahahahahah! What a pair of dumb shits!"
Starting his cackling once more, it was The Breacher who took the initiative this time around. A rather burly man, without command he seized The Gunner by the waist and began a winded charge towards the office building's first floor.
Raining down a flurry of standard shotgun shells at the mobile tank, to little effect. The rounds uselessly ricocheted off his wall of steel. When it was time to reload, a new buzz from the SAW sent Jack retreating into the recesses of the building. The Gunner and Breacher in mad pursuit and search of the stairs.
The stage shifting to the interior of the ruined office building, the pair soon located the stairs or what remained of them. With no direct route to the upper story, they discussed their options when Jack reappeared. Running along the empty and dilapidated second story, he found an opening to their right. Reaching for more "lemons" he pelted them with rocks carved in the likeness of grenades. Adding on to their earlier harassment.
"Catch!"
Cackling echoed from above as he watched them scatter. Wondering how much longer he could keep up the game. Jack checked the time on his hud. It had been nearly two minutes already. Which meant The Duelist would soon be either on his way to a safe zone or seeking revenge. Jack didn't rely on it being the latter, and let out a bit of a disappointed sigh.
On the ground floor the pair were deciding to relocate and regroup with their Duelist. Aware of the time themselves. Communicating through their comms, back to back, they eye'd the ceiling with hawkish focus. A moment later, Jack came crashing through a weakened section of the floor(the ceiling) to their left. Jack's shotgun cracked, they turned and opened up in return. A moment later and a blinding flash enveloped everything.
"Ack!"
"Fuckin! …"
Roll diving out of their line of fire as the Flashbang worked its charm. Jack snickered underneath his helmet. Chambering his next round he charged The Breacher. Flipping the shotgun in his hands to be used as a club. He zigzagged out of a near hit from The Breacher's blind firing. Upon closing in, Jack smashed into the man's ribs, laughing as the wind left his lungs. Following up on his shield arm, the shield clanged to the floor under the sudden injury.
Everytime.
Jack mused.
Adding to the number of players he had faced who couldn't stand up under the pain of being clubbed. Were others simply more squeamish about the prospect of torturing themselves than he was?
"Shiba!?"
Disregarding that thought, Jack replied.
"Shiba can't answer you right now, please leave a message after the tone. Bee-"
"Fuck you!"
Kicking The Breacher in the family jewels as he summoned the energy to try and latch onto Jack. The Gunner whipped around with his SAW.
"April sends her regards."
Were Jack's choice last words to The Breacher before his winch revved and he was dragged out of the line of fire. Cackling at the team kill as it unfolded.
Shotgun. Zero.
"What a team killing bastard! Ahahaha! Are you retarded!? Actual fucking idiot. HAHAHAHA!"
He added while whizzing by The Gunner. As he dragged his SAW back around following the direction of Jack's voice, and his vision began to clear. A solid object smashed into his face, throwing off his aim. Another lemon, but this one was live.
"Here, big guy! This one's from April."
Jack shouted, following an audible "POP". Next there was a crack from his shotgun into The Gunner's knees much like The Duelist before. Falling forward, he would likely sense the Grenade somewhere between his crotch and sternum.
Perfect. Passenger 2. Zero.
~~~
Outside, the muffled sound of an explosion could be heard by the party's "survivor". The Duelist. Who had managed to crawl into the cover of the adjacent Hospital building. Relatively out of the way, he had rushed through his hud for his spare aid kit and was tending to his legs. Attempting to get a read on the situation he kept trying to get in contact with the rest of his team, but no one was replying to his voice chat. Giving up on that, he began radioing his Group to see if anyone was nearby. Hearing a voice finally, it wasn't the one he had hoped for.
"Sloooooow down there buddy. You got plenty of time to heal, don't worry. I get paid by the hour."
Whipping his head and Photon sword around towards the voice, a boot violently answered his face and sent him to the floor. A moment later the crack of a shotgun echoed as a reminder appeared on Jack's hud. Warning him that his KS-23's durability would be draining rapidly.
Chambering his last Shrapnel-10 shell, he let it rip into The Duelist's torso. Feeling the sting of the ricocheting steel flechette embedding into his skin over the man's screams.
Always a Duelist who enjoys playing with their damned knives too fucking much.
A distant hum echoed down the otherwise quiet 'hallways' of the ruined city. A jeep appeared in the distance. A squad were driving it, having a blast. They were quite obnoxious and seemingly naïve. Though their playful natures suggested they were used to this. Blush wouldn't be pulled into the obvious trap right out the gate. A sniper extraordinaire knew how to wait, new how to find the perfect shot.
As she pulled up her sniper, watching the jeep, a second later all hell broke loose. "Huh?!" Like usual, many of the other players went wild in these arenas. It was a common sight for a sniper. Two factions warring. Crazy bulletstorms. This was apart of the appeal of being a sniper -you got to watch it all go down with "front row seats" at a safe distance.
Jack.
Of course. This had his MO written all over it. Only a nutjob like him would attack a squad like that out of the blue.
Watching for a moment, she lined up a shot as he was busy on the side of the jeep, shotgunning people in their legs or whatever, she assumed. "Goodnight Jackie, boy..." the harsh sizzle of Ghost Shot's distorted voice hissed through her mask. Once again, Blush's finger on the trigger lightened up.
She narrowed her eyes. Then decided against it. "If I were a lesser sniper.." She would take the shot here. Miss. Then be compromised, and get screwed.
"You live to see another day, Jack. Be grateful."
The tides turned at that point. Jack was forced to retreat into the nearby building. He was chased "mobile-tank" style. Hm. Her eyes darkened. 'Good luck, Jack..' She thought about sniping his pursuers in the back. Give him a chance. Why not? The occasional aid also made sniping fun. Jack ingratiated to her would be useful, too.
Then again, like he'd be grateful. He'd probably be pissed.
But that could be fun, too...
The battle entered the building. Even from here, there were really no good sight lines, which meant no good shots. A sniper of the caliber like Blush had a good chance to still hit someone. Even through a wall. But... "Tch. Show's over," she murmured, snaking back into the shadows. 'That was amusing Jack, thanks for the show.'
That was an amusing distraction, but the uneasy feeling Blush had still persisted -hence her restraint in firing.
"Oye, look whose here to crash the party,"the owner of the bar chuckled allowed grabbing a drink as a rather chill tale fellow entered in. The player's name easily seen as Aeronaut Crash for all those who were curious why the bar owner himself, and announced his arrival so loudly. Well to be fair this was the only bar Crash went to.
"Ya ya ya you use that lame line so many times I get headaches hearing it," he mulled with a soft laugh paying up as he took the drink the bartender had already pulled out for him. Rather curiously, he was a grenadier player as gloriously evident of his primary weapon, a rather rare grenade launcher with some heavy modification thrown into it. There was also an M9 at his side with a few upgrades itself. Clearly, this was a heavy player, but oddly the air about him suggested he was extremely laid back as he sat alone pulling up his menu going over the loot he had earned from today yields. He primarily was going over some loot from a few player hunters. Apparently, there was a bounty on his head... again no shock he did run into assholes a lot more lately who thought it would be easy to kill a solo grenadier.
"Ugh might be time to leave the solo game," he mumbled as he finished going through the list of gear he had taken from the latest bounty hunter group. Mulling over her rubbed his temple as he thoroughly thought how to sell his new stuff.
"You did it again, Bradley!" exclaimed one gunner as he walked alongside the last surviving member of the Blitz Batter Squadron. The young man was just finishing his weekly activity of helping newer players settle in the game. And from the looks of it, its time for this bird to leave the nest. "Glad I could help, seems like you guys are good enough to move forward on your own now." Bradley smiled while patting the greenhorn's back. There is certain satisfaction in seeing the growth of new players, of course not everyone will understand this feeling. This "job" doesn't exactly pay well, but having a good reputation certainly has its own merits. However, every now and then, Bradley does get bored from the lack of challenge in doing these type of missions, even the players he matchmake against don't offer much in entertainment or challenge. And with that, the baseballer disbanded the party. The new players tried their best to sway the batter, but he had already made up his mind.
Bradley went over to the bazaar to find more new players to help, or perhaps join whatever event was going on that could give him some form of entertainment. As always there was a plethora of merchants and recruiters trying to sell their own goods or promote their squadron. Since there was so many of them, Bradely decided to choose the player based on a complex and nuanced method that only a few players would even dare to attempt...
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe." As luck would have it, his finger happened to land on a player who was promoting both her gear and her squadron. "Hello there! Care to tell me more about this squadron of yours?" The items she was selling was of little interest for him since he could already get most of it himself, or just take it from the blitz batter vault.
Dr. Akita / Miura, Hikari Location: Central Hub Interactions: Blitz @timv999 GospelGorou @EmperorsChosen
Noticing the first player, Akita thinks of them as a new player, likely not a pro or pro focus, gear was alright, but he seemed rather avoidant, not in the bad way either, so much as the sad one. Either way they wouldn't stop the good doctor who never wore her heart on her sleeve. Walking up to him she waves with a "Yo!" She had a funny feeling about this one and not in the bad way either. "Say, wanna join a Squadron? Not one of those player farms either, Me and another pro in the information broker scene are trying to become world first in unlocking and finding the hidden expansion content. Should be fun, getting to see a place no has been in bef- Oh, excuse me."
With that she does motion with her hand for the other one to follow as she sees another player fighting with his menu, she knew of him in passing, he would be a worthy addition. Waving at him with her face partially hidden by her coat she approaches.
"You know, there are a couple ways to block all of those? Go into settings, messages, system settings, notifications, Friends only. Then back into settings, Marketing, Advertisements, place an ad, advanced configure, Billboard ads only. They seem to make the UI Difficult on purpose." Checking to see if the other is behind her, Akita introduces herself and makes her offer;
"And hate to do this to you, but I'm Doctor Akita, I'm with Deca_Dent, trying to form a new Squadron. We found a few trails in the code in unlocking some of the content, aiming to world first most of it, or join in on the rumored large scale events. I think you both would do well at it. Plus if we find any new drops you can gain a brief price monopoly." With that she awaits the responses of both.
The Grenade Launcher, immediately caught Deca's eye and the conversation, his ears. Speaking up, the man stays in his seat with arms crossed as he looks toward the pair; "Put what he's having on me. If you got a few, I have an offer for you in regards to your solo problem." He says, speaking up above the ambient sounds coming from outside. "Name's Deca_Dent, most call me Deca."
As the trio get into their own shenanigans, they had no idea on the hell they were about to call down upon themselves. The sniper was in fact, correct, on what she had seen, as Delirious stared at where they were, using himself as bait. Or at least partial bait, ducking into a few side allies, he had heard the fight from Jack and was unaware of Violen. But his pair of Guardian Angels had not been, not in the least.
"Zhukov here, Me and Mil have eyes on not one, but three shitheads."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, that crazy bitch Violen, Savage Jack and we caught a glimpse of that bitch Ghost Shot. Frankerz and his team got dusted by Jack. What do we want to do? We came here to hunt the Sniper."
"Yeah, we are running an anti-sniper team here, uh, we'll go with Plan B. Have Alfonze and Kazemura to take their fire teams and begin the Siege, blast any of the three that try to leave the cluster, then we'll have some of the others work on kiting the Droid troops into them, are a couple of the Behemoths and an air striker there, plus a few of the Orb Drones and a few of the basic Infantry types.. For now we'll keep them from escaping and I'll send out a few mail messages, see who is interested. We got 30 of us still left, don't play stupid though. Let the dumb bots file in as our frontline."
"Roger, everyone else get that?" A wide range of voices replied with everything from 'fuck yeah!' to 'affirmative'. The tallies on all three of these people we worth throwing the Bounty Hunters Guild into headfirst. But for now they had numbers on their side and they wanted to herd the trio together, maybe they would be stupid enough to kill one another, and no help would be coming to break this ring of steel.
The Unknown Commander smiles at this thought as Plan B goes into effect, first a barrage of launched Grenades land amongst Jack and Violen as a HMG raked the building Blush was in. Other heavy rounds started landing from surrounding buildings as more hidden heavy guns open up on the street and building exits sporadically. Elsewhere and curiously, Delirious joins a few others in a very curious effort, opening fire upon the two huge battle Robots and the Flyer, which would be at home in Gundam, its huge weapon arrays firing with disregard for accuracy till it could home in upon a target. Elsewhere, squadrons of the human sized robots that were armed with an assortment of Optical weapons begin to search the nearby buildings as they are pulled ever closer to the small area the hunters wanted to contain the trio in. No one here expected it would be easy, in fact most of them may die, but in the end those three would be out of ammo and then fit for the pickings as more explosives land amongst them.
Eine was perfectly aware that the sniper girl wasn't going to be happy about his proposition, both her voice and demeanor seemed rather strained, snipers were all anti-social loners after all, or perhaps he was the weird one in the world of GGO. The sarcastic tone was about expected ranged, but it wasn't like he was actually serious about things like this.
"Haha, you're pretty fun, Asura-san, even though your Squad Jam performance is real conservative." The small avatar laughed lightly with a fittingly high-pitched voice, "I'll consider it, though I wonder what the others in this squadron of your's are like, would people that you get along with like me?" His last question was in a joking manner as well, though Eine didn't want to join a squadron full of grumpy loner types either. Plenty of people were grumpy in GGO, it's probably the genre and the whole realism aspect. Although its realism was only by VRMMO standards, it didn't really hold a candle to the cutting-edge research used FullDive experiences. Maybe I could write a short essay on that...I wonder who'll publish it though...Eine spaced out a bit as he stared at the sniper girl for a bit.
"Anyways, call me Eine, or E800 if you like movies." He smiled a bit and hopped onto a nearby metal crate, so his extended hand for a handshake is on the same level as the sniper.
I like Fantasy, Modern, Modern Fantasy, Yaoi, Yuri, and Romance. Please do not be shy in bringing up another genre. I just might be interested in it ^^
To Chiaki's surprise, the guy didn't rescind his offer nor was he offended that her brother would dare kiss him. Thank god she didn't have to fight him for shooting Hiro or something... even though that wouldn't be the first time.
Handy seemed to be pretty cool, which was good. Sometimes listening to a bunch of tryhards yell at them for being "shit" at the game or getting mad because the siblings wouldn't go down so easily got to them.
Both opened their invitations, but before pressing 'accept,' Hiro decided to ask.
"You need help with a mission or do ya just want some pals?"
"We usually go through the game as a duo. Not often we get another team member."
Grenade boy seemed to find Asura's sarcasm funny. Perhaps they would get along? Now that she listened a bit closer, she could hear he was joking, but just in case... "Should be fine. The boss wanted quirky, so I'm pretty sure you'll get along. If you're actually concerned, we could go track down the leader and vice-leader."
Eine jumped up onto a crate, extending a hand. Asura took it and gave it a shake, giving him a joking smile. "Well, I suppose people might be a bit pissed if you blow them up on accident, but everyone has a misfire every now and again."
Asura looks around to make sure she doesn't see anyone else from the squadron around, then leans in and whispers conspiratorially. "In fact, could make things more interesting to have the occasionally 'oopsie' with a grenade in lower-stress situations, if you know what I mean."
Handy gave the pair a smile. He was actually kind of surprised they'd gotten this far without asking the squadron purpose. "Bit of both? Personally, I like having people to chat with, and I think the leader has been looking for dungeons to go explore. And I'm in it for materials. Kinda hard to source the things unless you go adventuring yourself. Not many people have a use for them, and they take up bag space."
The squadron invite was still there for them if they so desired to join. If they still weren't sure, however, Handy was happy to offer up another option. "If you want to, we can try to find the leader or vice-leader. I think they're hanging around town doing their own recruitment at the moment..."
@TreasureSniper
Koda was beginning to loose faith that someone will come by, even after admitting to giving rare drops. That was until, rather unceremoniously, someone dressed in as close to baseball duds as you can get popped up in front of her. "Oh shii-----oot! Hi! Yeah, my squad. Well, we're kinda small right now all things considered. The most active members right now is the Squad Leader, and another, myself aside. To be honest, most of us aren't exactly as microgame focused."
She shifted to a more and casual approach. She felt a bit of kinship with this guy, even if it was only from the gear he currently wore. She loved baseball all the same. "Throw me into a BoB and I'll be at a big disadvantage (I specialized in energy weapons). But although we're small, I can promise you that we have some valuable contacts and intel. In fact, I write guides online when not in game! And I am not the only info dump. The Squad Leader knows almost every NPC there is inside and out, and another of us keeps keen eye on competitive scene and the metagame."
"We're new," So much so we're still deciding upon a name but she left that out for now, "and looking to recruit some more faces into our team. And If you're looking for a crew to play with, you won't be disappointed! In fact, looking at you, I can go ahead and guess that you're the type who is used to that right? I used to play a lot of baseball myself." She looked at him and placed her hand on her hip sizing up his gear. Catcher's gear for the most part, but that's really what was available to them in game from her time studying. Unless it was custom made, there wasn't much else to use. "Sorry, I sorta took your gear for granted. You play at all?"
While busying himself with delivering his own personal variant of justice. Jack hardly noticed the flurry of grenade shells lobbed his way. After their impact with the concrete next to him, there wasn't much to hear except the ringing in his ears even among the cacophony of gunfire that followed. Thankfully, his reflexes having developed over countless hours of surprise scenarios kicked into motion, sparing him from ending up a standing target. Toppling to the ground next to the Duelist, Jack grabbed him by the collar and dragged him in close. Unable to hear the familiar rev of his winch, Jack instead felt it fire into action reflexively. Before being dragged across the floor further into the interior of the Hospital's first floor.
The grenade shells continued to chased after him up until a point. In which Jack ditched his personal sandbag, but not before nicking the man's photon sword. Jumping to his feet, he began a dash further into the Hospital. Noting a warmth from his head and a hole in his 0-Type helmet where a piece of concrete had punctured it. Cursing aloud, he soon heard the clamor of footsteps echoing behind him in pursuit. Not fleeing aimlessly however, he soon approached a hole in the ceiling he had marked earlier. Standing underneath it and scouting behind him for a shot, his winch once again did all the heavy lifting as his figure disappeared into the upper floors. Beneath him he could hear a winded breath call out.
"He's headed to the upper floors of the Hospital!"
Shit.
Following those words a HMG cracked the air of the battlefield from somewhere across the street. Shattering what windows remained and making mulch of forgotten furniture around him. It seemed to Jack that he was ascending like molasses when any other time his targets wouldn't have gotten a glimpse of where he went. The rounds flying by him fortunately missed their mark, but ominously followed after him as he went one, two, three floors up. They had definitely seen him. Disengaging his winch at the fourth floor, no sooner than his feet had hit the floor the HMG began to tear into his surroundings. Making a run for a concrete support pillar running the vertical length of the building. He dove behind it for cover.
Seconds seemed to carry on for minutes under a torrent of concentrated fire. Given they wouldn't change targets meant he was pinned. And as the concrete between him and pain withered under a steady stream of hot metal. His options for how to deal with the situation grew fewer. Slouched, with his back and ass almost completely on the floor, Jack hatched a diversion similar to the one he had previously used. A moment later, a figure darted out to the right of the pillar. Popping up their head halfway between it and the next one. The HMG quickly turned and laid into it. At that exact moment another figure appeared to the left, making a beeline for a destroyed window frame.
POP!
~~~
"Haha! Dumbass!"
Still yet maintaining his bravado, Jack's mind raced as the situation had drastically been flipped on its head. Between staying alive for the very next moment and getting a grasp on all that was happening around him. Jack leapt from the fourth story of the Hospital and began to plummet toward the ground. Sensing the motion of his winch coil returning to him he spun midair and aimed it for the roof of the adjacent building. Nearing the second floor and the hard asphalt below his body gave a quick jerk as his momentum shifted. Activating the photo sword, he held it beneath his shoulder as it and his body smashed through a second story window.
Ungracefully doing a flip as his winch jolted before un-tethering, he slammed to the ground with a grunt.
"Goddamn it" He grumbled.
Ignoring the cuts from the glass and hurrying to a place with cover. Jack at once married another concrete pillar, this one surrounded by furniture piled up in a makeshift barrier. Slumping to the ground he breathed an audible sigh. Listening as the HMG pelted the floors above him, but couldn't manage to reach his position. Slowly, he began to process what had just happened. His body's instincts were insisting that he keep moving, but he knew better than to give into the panic. That just meant making mistakes.
As he sat and listened, he picked up the sound of more gunfire in the distance. Another HMG was echoing, likely making pieces of a building further down. There was also... the sound of the Behemoths and Air Striker?
Who the hell would aggro them on their own?
The question came with its own answer. Suggesting that this simply wasn't the act of an ambush squad. This was a larger op.
With a bit of time, the situation began to sink in and a plan formed. It wasn't likely he would get away from this one. Jack realized as much from the three shells he held which were his last. Settling them into his KS-23 he chambered the first, and came to the conclusion of having two options at this point. First, would be to go out in a futile blaze of glory and take as many with him as he could. Which given the odds and difference in firepower, wouldn't be more than two or three. The prospect of this gave rise to a demented chuckle which echo'd in the abandoned office.
The second, wasn't nearly as glorious a prospect, but one which promised the greater satisfaction. Gripping his shotgun tightly in his hands, the chuckle turned to a snicker through gritted teeth.
"Alright you ballless bastards. Come and get me. I'll will make you fucking sweat and bleed for it. No way in hell am I volunteering to die to you bunch of gutless runts. That'd be too merciful."
With that final word to himself, Jack settled on the second option. To tear a gap through their forces from above and within while making them give chase. To be a mad gorilla that rained hell on them from the steel and concrete trees. He would throw a wrench into there little operation, just to spite them for it.
At least... until a sniper picks me off.
At that thought, the sound of footsteps assailing stairs preceded a voice calling out to him.
"We're gonna pay you back for what you did to Frankerz and his team. Jack!"
"I know you're here! You coward!"
Remaining still and not budging from his concealed position, Jack noted something "odd" about the footsteps. They were metallic and heavier than what he was use to. Glancing through a hole in the barricade of furniture, his suspicions were soon confirmed.
Invulnerable to flash bangs and CS agents. Generally unphased by ambush tactics and the use of smoke. Lacking any emotional response made psychological antics useless. They were no fun. They couldn't be surprised or toyed with. They were nothing more than walking targets which could manage to return fire when given enough time for their beyond basic CPU to register an enemy. An ammunition sponge were their primary use in battle.
Unfortunately for them, Jack didn't have much of a lunch to offer. Sizing up their numbers through the limited view he had, he figured there was a little under a squad of them. With a grunt at the head.
"Pathetic. You're just like the others. Once cornered, you hide like a fucking rat!
... ...
Well, that just saves me the work then!"
Juggling a handful of possible attack combos in his head for a second, the whirl of a gatling gun nearby caught both of their attention. Hearing it rip through the lower floors, Jack's instincts seized the opportunity of surprise before his mind settled on a best course of action. An instant later, he was barreling through a stack of chairs, raising his KS-23 and fired. Clamping his eyes shut until the flash bang, well... rang. They flew back open as he chambered the next round and sent it into the mob of droids. The grenade round rocking several of them and sending others toppling.
After "softening" the group, Jack charged head long toward them. Keeping the grunt between himself and the remaining droids he bet his chances of survival on two factors. First, being that in the line of fire they wouldn't open up with their ally nearby. Second, the kid had been forced to carry a shield generator to avoid ending up as Swiss cheese in the event he fucked up. Zigzagging while keeping low to the floor Jack made himself as small a target possible while rushing the distance between them. Closing in he gripped the photon sword from earlier.
A tap to the chest, and a flip of the switch would be all it took. Remove the legs and although still heavy, Jack would have a mobile shield. One way or another. Afterwards, he had to move and keep moving. It wouldn't do to stay in one spot anymore. Jack would have to get past the thin squad in order to carry on and locate the other targets of this mess. And while the mob had their backs turned focused on the other rats, he would strike.
