Concerned about what we could encounter the longer we were out here in the dark of night, I retraced the route we took earlier today and navigated the rough road conditions with expertise most would be incapable of. I blew past a few groups of mutated wildlife with my companion and, after hauling ass for a number of minutes, we entered the canyon that Nevada's 318 state highway ran through. And as we were passing through, I noticed a distinct lack of bandit corpses.
The wildlife must’ve dealt with the remains while I was away, huh.
Not paying it much mind, I kept chugging along, and before we knew it, the end of the canyon was insight. However, just as we reached a 1,000 ters away from the end of this enclosed route, I discovered a number of ard n lying in wait ahead via my Sparrows, who were acting as my eyes in the sky.
Of course, I can't drop off my friend here without encountering so trouble on the way, haa.
Unable to continue to our destination with an ambush laying ahead of us, I slowed down and swiftly ca to a stop, and just as I was about to inform my companion I noticed a familiar figure amongst the group lying in wait.
It appears that insidious elent has made its move. I thought the likelihood of spotting any movent from them would've been good enough with the birds I left behind, but I suppose their numbers were not sufficient for the expansive area the town covers. I guess it's ti to pump up the number of eyes in the sky then.
Planning on significantly expanding my scouting and intel gathering apparatus, I began explaining the reason for our sudden stop. "We got company ahead, and not the good kind from the looks of things."
"Ohh, what kind exactly?" The cowgirl asked, partly curious although mostly excited to get another chance to get so action.
Looks like it's ti to reveal what I noticed in town.
"The humankind and specifically a hostile elent that exists within your hotown."
"Oh, haha, Dom, who's actually trying to ambush us, so more rowdy bandit scum?"
"I'm not kidding, Mary. You actually have so sort of group hiding in your town."
The young beauty quickly realised I wasn't ssing around by my tone, so she asked with haste, looking ready to take off ho the very next instant. "Why didn't you tell about this earlier?"
"Well, I was planning to. I just wanted to hold off bringing all this up till I brought you back ho since I wanted you to enjoy your day out, but as you can see that's no longer possible seeing how we got a group of killers lying in wait, hence why I'm spilling the beans now."
"Having said that, whatever hostile entity you got hiding in your hotown doesn't appear to be ready to make any big moves just yet, so you have nothing to worry about for the ti being."
"How do you know that when you're standing here with ?"
"Because I assigned several of my birds to keep watch over your family while we were away, in case we needed to rush back."
Mary paused for the briefest of monts before hitting with. "I guess you got it all under control, huh, big guy?"
"For the most part." I answered, throwing humbleness to the wind.
"So, you want to help once more, handso? I'd sure appreciate it if you did." The gal requested whilst batting those long eyelashes and laying it on thick with that Southern charm of hers.
"Sure, but I'll expect a hefty reward one of these days." I played along.
"Oh, I'll be sure not to disappoint then, when that ti rolls around."
The instant our short conversation ended, the system made its appearance.
[ Ding! ]
[ New Bounty Gained ]
| Crystal Springs Clean Up | Objectives: Remove or eliminate the insidious elent that exists within the wasteland town of Crystal Springs. Rewards: Perk | Hmm... |, 10,000 Exp.
I already planned on doing that, but if the system wants to throw so rewards my way, you won't catch saying no.
Prepared to make my move on the low-level killers lying in wait at the canyon's exit to the south, I was going to start making my way towards the group to deal with them. However, Mary wanted to co along, so I had to explain to my overly eager partner why that wasn't such a bright idea.
"Where do you think you're going, firecracker?"
"With you, of course." She answered, ready and eager to go kick so ass.
"Yeah, sorry to burst your bubble, but that's not going to happen. You're going to stay nice and safe with the bike."
"How co? You let co along the other tis." The lass questioned, curious about why I wasn't allowing her participation.
"Well, our first two battles had environnts that were more advantageous to us. This one, on the other hand, involves enemies on either side of the road once we clear the canyon. I'm powerful, but not to such an extent that I would be capable of blocking bullets coming from multiple directions. So since I can't guarantee your safety, you're going to have to sit this one out, as much as I would love to have your help, beautiful."
Sigh "If you put it like that, handso, I suppose I can't help but agree with you." She relented reluctantly.
"I did promise your folks I'd keep you safe as best as I could, so I'm glad you can see where I'm coming from. That said, it's probably ti we've gotten you your own suit of armor, so small arms fire isn't as much of a concern."
"Really? You're not joking, right?" The rowdy young woman asked with anticipation clearly displayed in those rare and equally beautiful gray eyes of hers.
"Why would I joke about your safety?" I countered.
"Looks like I'm gonna have to increase your reward so more when you co to claim it later, huh?"
"Absolutely." I played along before redirecting the conversation to the topic at hand. "So, do you have any idea what you want it to look like?"
"Not really, since I wasn't being serious back when I asked you."
"Alright, then just give it so thought whilst I go exterminate the bastards ahead." Having said my piece, I left a few of the robots behind with Mary and began approaching the n waiting to ambush us.
As I started to close the distance between and them, I pondered on what thod I wanted to use to dispatch them.
How do I want to approach this battle... I could go guns blazing like usual, I reckon. However, making a bunch of racket at this ti of night wouldn't exactly be the smartest idea given I have Mary's safety to worry about.
Yeah, I'm going to have to resort to using stealth then. Now the question is, what weapon do I want to use to get the job done... I don't really have much in terms of selection besides three knives and a suppressed .50 caliber anti-material rifle, so my options are rather limited, and a .50 cal is kind of overkill for this bunch, so knives it is.
Set on putting my knives to work, I soon enveloped the two groups of ambushers with my perception field and began scanning them several at a ti to see if I couldn't find a sort of leader amongst their numbers. I was going to need to acquire a bit of information, so I might as well figure out who was the best candidate before I initiated my slaughter.
Due to my brain's insane processing speed and my over 30 thought processes, I was able to distinguish a possible leader-like individual among the n on the left side in a matter of less than the blink of an eye.
I'll leave that guy and that fellow I recognized from my previous visit to the town alive and eliminate the rest.
With that finalized, I utilized the special power that was granted to via | Shadow Lurker | and called upon the shadows. The darkness swiftly enveloped my fra and turned into a void-like corporeal figure, sothing I’d only recently figured out how to do.
Still just as impressed with this ability as the day I discovered it, I examined it for a few seconds longer and quickly retrieved my two Commando Knives that were more sword than knife. The shadows virtually enveloped my weapons and coated them in that lightless darkness in an instant. And right as they did, I finally began speeding up and utilizing my full suite of stealth-related abilities and techniques.
My void-like figure shot forward silently along the canyon's steep craggy walls, and as soon as I rounded the corner, I made a beeline for the dozen ard n lying in wait on the right side. Hidden by a combination of my innate abilities and the natural darkness brought on by night, I effortlessly slipped past the spread out group, who were lying prone on the dry Nevada sand.
Now behind them I crept up to the nearest person first and the second I was hovering behind the man covered by a tan colored cloth, I got up close and personal and covered his mouth to prevent him from making a peep and ruthlessly slit his throat. The poor bastard struggled for a second or two futilely under my imnse strength, but he quickly succumbed to the lethal injury I inflicted and went limp as blood pumped out of his open major arteries.
I could've just as easily put him down with a simple flick of that Qi-like weapon energy of mine, and cleanly at that, but this is a great opportunity to gain a little real-life assassination experience. I didn't have a single opportunity to put these skills I've been cultivating over the years back at the undercity, so why pass up the first actual chance to use them?
Unwilling to let this great opportunity to sharpen my skills go, I got off the fresh corpse and proceeded to the next ambusher and executed the unaware pawn without even a hint of remorse for my actions. The wasteland was one hell of a dog eat dog world, so I wasn't about to start caring about those who wanted to do harm, especially when I'd already claid my fair share of lives up to now.
From that deceased man, I went to the next one and then the one after that and so on and so forth and used their lives to grind my skills and improve my techniques as blood flowed from their bodies and dyed the arid sandy ground blood red. Once I had sent every individual on this side to the afterlife, I continued taking advantage of the dark environnt as well as my spectre-like powers and circled around to the opposite side and began my silent slaughter of this half of the ambushers until only the two persons of interest were left.
The boss of this squad of ard killers might give so trouble if I capture the other guy first, so let nab him first.
Keen on capturing the both of them for information purposes, I approached the man decked out in rc gear and prepared myself to take him alive. The second I was a foot away from the unsuspecting bastard, I coated my right hand in electrical energy provided by a level 1 Spark spell, and leaned over and ripped the man's camouflage away. As the sand-colored cloth drifted in the wind, and my hand began buzzing like a taser, I reached down and swiftly grabbed the prone man, who I presud to be the leader of this group, by the back of the neck.
The instant my hand made contact with him, the shocking energy covering my right arm flooded into his body and overwheld him, causing his muscles to lock up and beco unresponsive. With the poor bastard unable to respond, I lifted the relatively large guy as if he were no more than a kitten and started heading over to the last target. However, because of the noise my spell made, he quickly popped up from the prone position he had been holding for who knows how long, with his cover still draping over his body, and aligned his weapon in my direction.
"I'd put the gun down, buddy, before you get yourself killed." I warned the reckless fool.
The unnad man looked ready to unload his suppressed TBT Sniper Rifle into , but when he caught sight of who I had in my grasp, he froze for a split second before speaking rather aggressively. "-Why should I listen to you, fucker?"
Imdiately noticing that initial reaction of his, I pretty much knew this man I had taken ahold of had at least so value, so I used him to see if I couldn't capture the two of them together without having to rough them up i.e. break a couple of bones. "Well, for starters, you and this guy here are the only ones left alive, and two, I think this guy might be your superior."
"You're full of shit. Get out here, guys." The moron said whilst preparing to line up a shot on .
However, after no one responded for a handful of seconds, the man I saw in town earlier began sweating as a hint of fear made its way onto his mug.
"You want to try again? I don't think they heard you." I jabbed the man.
His expression worsened at my words, but he remained silent, so I repeated my previous command. "Alright, looks like you've co to understand the situation, so I'm going to tell you one last ti. Lower your weapon, NOW!"
My command got what I wanted this ti around, so I approached the man, but before I could reach him, he attempted to raise his weapon again, so I dropped the guy I was holding onto and charged him. Due to our vastly different physical abilities, I was able to close the short distance between us in an instant and, most importantly, before he could even align his gun with myself, not that it would’ve done anything to had a round hit .
As soon as I was upon the man, I ramd him with a minute fraction of my strength, so I wouldn't kill him outright, and brought him to the ground.
"Argh." The man cried out in pain as the snapping of a couple of ribs resounded within his chest.
I didn't need to injure him, but this is paynt for not following my orders.
Not a mont after I brought the fucker to the ground, I filled his body with current and incapacitated him. Once I had that guy disabled and under control, I picked him up and collected his other friend and brought out the rest of the Multibots so they could go around, strip the gear from the deceased, and bring it to . While my forces were rounding up the loot for , I set off in the direction of my chopper with the two limp n, and when I rejoined Mary, I unceremoniously dropped them roughly onto the cracked asphalt in front of her.
"These two bastards should be able to give us the information we need to find out who's got it out for you and your family... Or at least lead us in the right direction."
"You don't say." Mary responded to my statent whilst shooting a scrutinizing gaze at the two n.
As our captives were looking between her and with a mix of emotions combined with a sizable amount of fear, the firecracker asked. "So, how do you want to get the information out of them?"
"Why don't we ask these two first?" I recomnded.
"I'll leave you in charge, big guy."
Giving her a nod in response, I turned to the two unard n who were lying on the ground still recovering from the shock therapy I administered. "Okay, here are the options. You can either choose to make it easy on yourselves and answer my questions willingly."
I paused briefly to build up so ntal pressure on the two captives before unleashing that bloody aura I've been cultivating and continued. "Or you can choose not to, and I do what I have to do to get the information I’m looking for out of ya."
"..."
"So what's it going to be, fellas? You want to take the easy way or the hard way; the choice is yours?"
I let my slaughterer aura wash over the both of them for several seconds before relenting, and the second I did, the breaths they'd been holding released. The two of them gasped for air for a few monts, but one of them inevitably gave in to my demands.
"I know when I've been beat, so I'll tell you what I know." The one who I suspected to be the leader of the group.
"DON’T OPEN YOUR FUC-" The other man yelled before I swung out my fist and unleashed a burst of my unard energy that popped his head like a waterlon and flattened the fragnted remains into the canyon wall.
"My patience is wearing thin tonight, so when I ask you a question, you answer it, GOT IT!" I told the sole remaining captive.
"Got it." The man in his mid-30s responded.
[ Creatures Killed & EXP Gained ]
Human rcenaries (24) Exp 32,580
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