Smuggler
Faction: Unaffiliated
Level: 12
Balthoz (NPC) **Deceased**
Merchant
Faction: Unaffiliated
Level: 8
Inkernal (NPC) **Deceased**
Merchant
Faction: Unaffiliated
Level: 15
Name after name flashed in Kaiden’s vision as he took in corpse after corpse. Seemed there were near forty dead NPCs strewn across all areas of the room.
“Shields up, hammers ready,” he said without thinking as he prepared for an ambush.
Zelda slipped into the back of the group with a curse while Titus shook out his shoulders and scanned the room. Thorne advanced a cautious step, mouth set in an angry frown.
“Whichever ‘bored kids’ rolled through here certainly had a good time,” Titus said.
“Shh,” Kaiden said, then switched from proximity chat to comms so no one could listen in. “Whoever did this might still be here.”
The station itself was cylindrical in shape, basically a big drum with solar panels extending from the top and bottom. It wasn’t that big, though, and most of the space inside seemed to be taken up by the room they were currently in. It was a wide, oval-shaped space. Crates of cargo, ship hulls in the process of being stripped for parts, and various other clearly illicit items filled the space. The partially broken-down ship hulls gave Kaiden the most concern. Anyone could have been hiding in among their shadowy forms, waiting for the right moment to attack.
At the back of the room, he caught sight of an elevator bay sitting idle.
“You think it’s like this on every level?” Titus asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Thorne said, striding further into the room. “Whoever did this killed the NPCs – and recently. They’ll respawn eventually, but in the meantime, the station can still serve its purpose.” She pointed toward a terminal against the far wall. “That’s where we buy our transponder.”
“Cover her,” Kaiden hissed, advancing slowly as he scanned every inch of the room.
If I had charge, I could use Improved Enhanced Senses…
But he didn’t have any charge, so that was out of the question.
Thorne was nearly at the terminal before the voice spoke.
“Agent Thorne. It’s good to see you,” it said, echoing out from the darkness.
Kaiden’s heart jumped in his chest as he spun toward what he thought was the source of the sound. Thorne, in contrast, shook her head and cursed.
“Werner. I should have expected as much. Things were far too pleasant without you around.”
The voice – Werner, apparently – chuckled, and then a warden stepped into view.
Werner08
Warden Captain
Class: Blast Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 20
“Thorne,” Kaiden said through comms. “Who is this guy?”
Thorne cursed in response. She seemed more annoyed than worried, though.
“You’re a warden now all of a sudden? And a captain, no less?” Thorne asked. “Thought you were only focused on the real world?”
Werner shrugged.
“I’m focused where the Party needs me to be focused. Since you refused our offer and pulled your little disappearing act, that’s been in this childish game.”
“What offer did you refuse?” Zelda asked.
Thorne flicked a glance back over her shoulder.
“They wanted me to join their little cabal,” she growled through proximity chat.
“Well now, that’s not entirely true, is it?” Werner chuckled. “Some of us wanted you. I knew you’d never make the cut. Not made of the right stuff. No, you’re more the sort to associate with scum like this, aren’t you?”
Kaiden raised his shield as Werner’s eyes fell on him.
“So, this is the famous Kaiden, is it? And the rest of the gang as well. Big man Titus! Quite the reformed gangster, I hear.”
“Why haven’t we offed this guy yet?” Titus growled. “He’s only level twenty.”
“And Zelda, too. The brains of the operation.” He frowned. “Oh, uh, my apologies about your parents. But you know how it goes. Play with fire and you’re likely to get burned.”
“Go to hell,” Zelda said then fired an Improved Burst Arrow. Werner didn’t even move to block it. Instead, he just took the blow to the chest, his health bar flashing down to eighty percent.
“Why are you here?” Thorne growled. “You can’t take us on, and if you had reinforcements we’d have picked up their ships on our scanners on the way in. You’re alone. That’s suicide.”
“Why am I here?” Werner paused, seeming to consider the question. He was silent for several long seconds before finally shrugging. “Well, the Party wants me to find you. Wants me to retrieve that database of yours. So, I put my skills to work. As it happens, tracking someone down in Nova isn’t that different from doing it in real life. The formula is strikingly similar. Know who the person is and what they want, and you can likely predict their next move. I know you, Thorne. Well enough, at least. Once that corvette spotted you a few systems over I knew you’d decide it was time to go dark. Try to throw us off your tail. The idea of a transponder isn’t a bad one. It is unoriginal, though. I didn’t know what station you’d turn up at, but it was a safe guess it’d be one that sold black market transponders. So, we spread out, paid visits to all of the stations.” He looked around the station, at the dead NPCs, and smiled. “Got a few levels in the process and, well, it looks like I got lucky.” He smiled wider. “I was very much hoping to run into you.”
“You sure do like to hear yourself talk,” Kaiden said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re outnumbered and out-leveled.”
“No, I’m afraid it doesn’t.”
“All you’ve done is kill a bunch of NPCs and buy yourself a one-week vacation out of game,” Kaiden said, raising his hammer and advancing. From behind, Zelda fired again. Werner only smiled as it hit him in the chest and exploded in a spray of sparks. His health dropped to sixty-two percent.
“While a week’s vacation does sound nice, I’m sure this meeting of ours has earned me more than that.” He held up one finger. “For instance, I’ve confirmed you’re after a transponder to hide your ship. Why do that if you weren’t planning to spend more time in-game?” He flicked up
