*Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!"
To be honest I think Qitar is having a little too much fun blowing the pirate island to rubble. Using the Ion pulse canon would be overkill, and the turrets were more like tiny rain fall. Numerous and deadly, but not enough power to cause heavy damage, however the new guns mounted on the port and starboard side of the Acheron packed quite a punch. Every shot from them was leaving craters on the island, and Qitar was very much true to her sharpshooter persona.
Every shot she squeezed out was. .h.i.tting definite and recognized weak point on the island, more than a quarter of it had shaken off and sunk into the ocean below, and while I wanted us to be on our way so as not to attract anymore attention, I couldn"t deny her a chance to vent, and seeing as how everyone else was cheering her on, telling her to stop would probably get me killed.
I shook my head and went into the s.h.i.+p with Sky in tow, she was bigger now, however it seems changing her size was something she could do. The first thing I noticed was the common area, Mack"s bar was still there, though it was bigger and a kitchen seems to have been added. There were tables at the edge, each with soft looking leather seats, and then sofas arranged around a ma.s.sive table. Which used to be the place where holograms were once projected, seems that has changed.
I moved through and went towards a set of stairs that would take me down to the cabin area where everyone else would sleep. I noticed a screen on the wall, and after five minutes of interacting with it, I realized there really wasn"t a need to move around. The screen needed access codes, but the codes were based on biometrics and already the recognized crew of the s.h.i.+p had theirs imputed. It gave me a full layout of the entire s.h.i.+p, and even had cameras placed In strategic places so that I could view what was happening on the s.h.i.+p.
The screen was placed allover and could also serve as messaging system from one part of the s.h.i.+p to the next, plus it was connected to the Internet, which made it cool. Though that"s just an option available strictly to players, I doubt the AIs would even notice it. The hull was huge, it was kind of a place where we could store cargo, and it was even big enough to hold an extra vehicle or two, there were a pair jet skis...or something like that. Speaking of which I need an armory, I wonder what I have to do to get that.
There were no cameras in my quarters though, and none in the cabin which means I have to go inspect it myself. However the cabin itself was the entire second floor, and it was now divided into a couple of rooms, there were about eight doors on each side. I"ve no idea how large those rooms are yet, but it was enough to hold the crew of this s.h.i.+p and then some.
I left the panel and took the stairs down, I didn"t stop at the second floor but went down to the third. The hull was open to me and I could see those jet skis, however that was not my destination as there was a door with a one way window beside it. I walked into the room and almost had to blanche at the heavy scent of antiseptic, this f.u.c.king place smelled so much like a hospital or a lab. But since it"s the infirmary that much is to be expected. I ignored the rows of beds and went to the pair of stasis pods that were placed at the end of the room. It was surprising that there were two pods instead of one, seems like the s.h.i.+p had replicated the Pod jack was in, and left an extra one. Which was great, I heard these things are deadly expensive.
Jack was just there, silently floating in a bubbling pool of water with a breathing mask over his face. To others it might seem as if he was just asleep, than at the very next second he would be able to open his eyes and be a part of the world he left behind, right now I wish he would just do that. But things can"t be that easy, not in real life, and definitely not in the game either, but at the very least in the game, you can make the impossible possible.
"He"s going to be fine, we"ll find that priestess and settle everything once and for all. And then we"ll find an uncharted island kick back and relax and have fun. Because we really need a vacation, every second with you is so f.u.c.king! captain." Raven Song said to me as he stood beside me looking at the pod that held Jack.
"Yeah we could use a small vacation." I answered back in agreement.
"Well there"s something I need to talk to you about, so far I"ve just chosen to ignore what was happening, but I need answers. I know for sure that you"re a player, I understand that much and I believe that to be true, unless of course you"re an AI that"s somehow impersonating a player, but that would be impossible right?" He asked me as he turned to face me, a fierce look in his eyes.
"Not impossible, it"s inevitable but we"ve not yet reached that stage. However I can guarantee that I"m fully human, hooked into a vr pod just like your are." I answered him as I turned to face him.
"Great! That clears one thing, however even if we have to ignore how very real this game has become since it"s last update. There was already a high degree of realism ever since it"s inception, but after the update, things went from fantasy or f.u.c.king! Real! very, very, very fast! But as players we can deal with this much, it just means that the rush gained from playing games is heightened even more than it already is. However back in port Yurtek, that girl you fought.....I might not have been online on that day, but there were recordings of your battle on the s.h.i.+p, the sounds might have been intense with all of the destruction happening but I"ve been an a.n.a.lyst for an intelligence agency for seven years of my life, I"m pretty sure the people who can read lips as good as I can in the entire world can be counted on one hand.
What I could get from that fight told me one thing.....she"s your sister or at least wearing your sister"s face. But you were both very familiar with each other. No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn"t place my finger on it....Captain, what"s going on?"
Raven Song is the only player on my crew, the things the others would accept as normal in this world would be something that raises flags for him, however flags were now raised in my head. An a.n.a.lyst for an intelligence organization? And I was working with him! It"s hard not to be suspicious, however our meeting and subsequent team up has been based on chance and my own machinations. And the fact that he"s telling me he"s an a.n.a.lyst, effectively blowing his cover(if there ever was one) means he has no idea who I really am. But I won"t take a chance with this.
But never the less, my sister or rather my niece was an issue I needed to tackle, and Raven needed an answer, just as much as I did. When it came to her, nothing seemed to make sense, and while I have half a mind to march up to Henry and demand an answer, I can"t expect to get it from him, not unless I"m hanging upside down from the top of a building...….hmm, I think I"m gonna do just that.
"I don"t know what"s going on Raven, there"s much I can"t tell you, but that girl really is my sister. Funny thing is she"s supposed to be dead, dead for about six if not seven years now. But then I met her, in a game, corrupted with some virus, or rather she is the virus, and her body is rotting somewhere else. I"m just as lost as you are, but as soon I get answers, real answers I"ll let you know." I said to him with a smile.
"Look you don"t owe me anything, it was just weird and I tend to poke at things I find weird. Probably why I was recruited for the agency in the first place. None the less that"s just a side job, I"m a full time gamer anyway. But seriously though, we need that vacation!"
"Hahahaha! Yeah Raven don"t worry, I"ll find a nice warm private beach where your dark elf skin can get even more darker than it already is. Maybe the black and purple will turn red?"
"Now that"s just rude! But that would be a sight.....say do you think it"s possible for my skin to change color?"
I turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously?"
>>>>>
The Acheron cruised across the open ocean, the wind on her sails as we drew ever closer to our destination. For the past three hours; given how crowded the s.h.i.+p was, everything has been really lively. But before we head on to Atlantis we have to drop the Nereids off, which was our first stop anyway.
The main city; the Atlantis of legends was still very much lost, or rather I should say hidden under the sea and only accessible to players and AIs of the aquatic race, and even then it would take a significant amount of reputation and clout to be able to visit it. But there were variations of it allover the Atlantic rim, there was the Ocean city of Atlantis, the Coral city of Atlantis, The Wave city of Atlantis, and then the Trident city of Atlantis; which was more of a holy land for aquatic races, and where we will find a home for the nereids.
After that i believe our next destination would be the Ocean city of Atlantis. After the original city of Atlantis, it was the largest and is rumored to have a direct line to the real city of Atlantis. Either way after looking around and dropping the Nereids off, we will begin our search for the priestess from there, but since we"re heading to the Trident city, we will use that opportunity to find her.
"Land Ho!"
I heard someone shout as I s.h.i.+fted my gaze ahead. I could see an island in front of us, it was huge and from where we were I could see the statue of a man with a trident pointed in our direction. Almost immediately I felt the sword on my back vibrate in antic.i.p.ation, it was weird! But I think this place was special to the sword and maybe.....the last piece was here.
*BOOM!!*
We weren"t even close enough but we could hear loud explosions coming from the island, something was wrong. And it wasn"t until we move forward a bit that we noticed smoke rising from one part of the island, and the sounds of an ongoing battle filled the air. I ran to the front of the s.h.i.+p and turned to look behind me.
"Darke! Full speed ahead!"
"Yes Captain!"
(SEA SPRINT! ACTIVATED)
I had to hold on to the edge of the s.h.i.+p, most of the people on the deck had to hunch down as the s.h.i.+p cut through the ocean, parting waves and winds it advanced towards the island. I could see s.h.i.+ps, lots of them, and each of those s.h.i.+ps were flying a flag, a skull with cross bones on it. Of course they were pirates, however the skull itself was that of a Dragon! And as we drew closer the smell of blood and smoke filled the air. And right in the water in front of us was the dead body of a dragon.....an elemental dragon! s.h.i.+t!
(SYSTEM ALERT: QUEST: you have witnessed the slain corpse of a juvenile ice dragon at the hands of a guild of pirates. your blood boils in rage as your calling demands you give justice to the young dragonling. Destroy them all and repel the attack on the island./ Reward: +1 level, this t.i.tle PIRATE HUNTER, one Augmented Racial trait.]
"s.h.i.+t!"
"you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! How dare you! Dieeee!"
"G.o.ddammit Zareth! Hold on! Qitar! Battle stations! Get the guns ready, let"s wreck this party, and their faces!!"