Valentina scrambled over to his side. “You think they’re gone?” she whispered. “I thought for sure they’d see us here.”
“I think it was the landing craft that spotted us before,” he replied in a hushed tone. “And I doubt the aliens have much bushcraft. At least not for Earth. It probably never occurred to them there would be a hiding spot under a fallen tree’s roots.”
She pressed her plump lips together. “Now, are you going to tell me what the fuck happened with that lady before?”
Warren exhaled as he tried to figure out how to explain everything that had happened to him. He would have preferred Kassandra to be here for it, but she’d returned to the deck a few minutes earlier. He was on his own for this one.
“A group of aliens called the Slaviigolaris attacked my dad’s cabin,” he said, deciding to start at the beginning. “That’s the place where I ran into you. I stayed behind with Kassandra to hold them off while my sisters and the others tried to escape.” He slowed as he felt anger welling up again toward the aliens. “Kassandra… was killed—”
“Wait,” Valentina held up her hand to interrupt him. “If she’s dead, then how is she still here? Don’t tell me there are zombies now. I don’t think I could handle that.”
“I’m getting to that,” he continued. “There was an alien wearing golden armor among the others. My dad was a bit of a gun nut, and he had an old World War 2 anti-tank rifle. It took three rounds, but I managed to put the alien leader down. Once I did, I received notification that I had earned the rank of squire.” He held up his wristband and pointed at it. “This thing then harvested Kassandra’s soul and turned her into a card.”
“This is all too much.” Valentina rubbed a hand down her face. “Cards? Squire? What is this, like a video game or something?”
“Maybe to the aliens, is it?” Warren shrugged. “But I was granted a combat deck and a map of all the places where I could improve it.”
“Right.” Valentina stood up and adjusted her backpack. “We’re going to hump it back over the mountain and find my unit. I bet someone at HQ will know what to do with you. Maybe we can use you like a weapon to fight the aliens or something.”
Warren shook his head. “I can’t leave.”
“What?” Valentina furrowed her brow. “Why the fuck would you want to stay in this alien infested hell hole?”
“I received a prompt that said I’d relinquish control of the area to the invaders if I did. This whole thing doesn’t make much sense to me either.”
“New plan,” Valentina said. “I’m going to head over the mountain tomorrow morning to hand over the info I’ve gathered. I’ll do my best to convince them to send some reinforcements to help you. But that’s all way above my paygrade. No matter what, though, I’m coming back to help you.”
“I have some plans of my own while you’re gone.”
She cocked her head to the side, a strand of blonde hair falling over her cute face. “Why don’t I like the sound of that? You’re not going to try to take on the entire alien army alone again, are you? Because that was crazy. You know that, right?”
“I won’t do that again,” he replied with a grimace. “But we need a way to infiltrate the town to free my sister. While you’re gone, I’m going to try to find an alien patrol to ambush. Maybe if I’m wearing a suit of their armor, I can slip in undetected. "
“I really wish you’d come with me,” she replied, her face a mask of concern. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you behind, doc.”
“I give you my word I won’t do anything reckless again.”
“It’s not that.” She brushed back her hair with one hand and looked away. “You just seem like a good guy. And I owe you for patching me up.”
“I’m pretty sure you saved my life back there.” He pulled out a bottle of water from his backpack and handed it to Valentina. “Which makes us even.”
“I know you would have come to your senses.” Valentina unscrewed the cap and took a swig of water. “I promise I’m coming back to help you get your sister. And the might of the entire U.S military is going to be at my back.”
“I think my sister would have liked you if you weren’t army.”
Valentina raised a dark eyebrow.
Warren smiled. “She just finished her Marine Corps recruit training.”
“Oh, she’s a marine?” Valentina grinned. “There’s no way I’m saving her ass then.” Her smile died, and she crossed her arms. “Sorry, I didn’t really mean that. It’s just reflex with the marine corps.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied. “She probably wouldn’t want a grunt helping to save her, anyway.”
Warren needed to stop talking about his sister, as his worries were multiplying again. He turned around without another word and clambered out of the pit at the base of the tree. He stopped when he reached a thick bush and scanned the forest.
There was no sign of the Daskians.
He remained wary as he crouched behind cover, his eyes sweeping the forest. He strained to hear anything, but there was nothing except for the usual buzz of insects and the warbling calls of the birds. The last of the aliens must have retreated back to the town.
I wonder if they knew I was a squire.
While it was possible the aliens had identified him, he doubted they would have given up so easily if they knew they were hunting a squire. Most likely, the leader hadn’t spotted him from such a long distance.
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Or maybe the native population of a planet didn’t have any identification? There was still so much he didn’t know. He really wished the combat deck came with an instruction manual.
The thought of the deck made him remember the tiny icon flashing on the side of his vision. He glanced over and selected the notification.
A second later, a new prompt appeared:
The Eternal Emperor congratulates you on reaching Level 2.
New Stat Points Awarded:1
New Deck Improvements:1
Warren pulled up his character sheet and confirmed he had reached level 2. Also, he had one point awaiting allocation in his character sheet.
He turned toward Valentina, who was still crouched in the pit beneath the fallen tree’s roots. “The coast is clear. But I need a few minutes to take care of something. Do you mind taking point?”
“Take care of what?” She gave him a look like he was crazy.
“It has to do with my combat deck.”
She nodded her head. “Oh… I get it. Just follow the road, right? Wait, where’s the road?”
“The road is just over there through the trees.” He pointed in a vaguely northwest direction. As they set out, he turned his attention back to his deck.
He tried to add points to his energy first, but nothing happened. The points must be limited to his five main stats: Melee Attack, Ranged Attack, Defense, Health, and Shield. Once again, he wished he had a primer on the deck, but for now, he’d just have to muddle through.
For the time being, he didn’t want to put any points into Melee Attack. The aliens he’d encountered so far had crazy armor and most likely had artifacts on top of that. The last thing he wanted to do was get in close combat with them.
But then he remembered that he’d run out of bullets during the battle. He popped out his magazine to confirm it was empty and not a single bullet remained. Which meant he might have to improve his melee skill in the near future. Unless he could somehow scrounge up one of the alien’s beam weapons at some point.
Next, he turned his attention to Defense, Shield, and Health stats. While it would be nice to have a stronger shield, he still wasn’t sure how it worked. Would it prevent melee attacks? Or only ranged attacks? Until he knew better, he decided to focus on Defense and Health.
It was a harder decision deciding between the two remaining stats. At first, he was leaning toward Defense, but then he realized his top priority was just staying alive. And Health should help with that.
His mind made up, he dumped the single point into Health and waited for something to happen. After a few seconds, nothing major had changed, though he felt somehow stronger than before. However, that could all be in his mind.
Valentina glanced over at him. “All done?”
“Not quite yet.”
Warren concentrated on his deck and new writing appeared.
Combat Deck Improvements
- Energy
- Cards
- Duration
- Summons
- Bodyguard
Now, this was more interesting. He brought up the Energy option first and noted it simply added another point to his existing pool. Still, it might come in handy being able to summon the Blade of Deimos and Nocturne at the same time. Not that he had any urge to charge a horde of aliens with nothing more than a sword in his hand.
The Card option listed under the Combat Deck Improvements was similarly limited. If he selected it, he would gain a random card for his deck. At this point, it might be his best option. He doubted he could win a duel with only two cards.
He quickly read through Duration and Summons next. Duration doubled the amount of time his deck was active to 30 minutes, while Summons allowed him to reduce the summoning time by half. If his observations were correct, he could only use his combat deck twice a day. It seemed to have a recharge time of around 12 hours. By choosing the Summon option, he’d be able to use it four times a day.
While the Summons upgrade was interesting, the Bodyguard option was by far the most tempting of the choices. It allowed him to choose a minion card that cost 1 energy, and it would then act as his bodyguard while his combat deck wasn’t active.
Not only would this option give him some added protection while his deck was on cooldown, but it had the added benefit of allowing Kassandra to escape from her void.
He considered his options for a few minutes as they hiked through the forest. Finally, after a few miles had passed, he selected the Bodyguard improvement. While a second card would have significantly increased his power, he could only use his deck twice a day. And Kassandra had proven herself deadly during their encounter with the aliens. Until he could improve his deck further, he needed her at his side.
Bodyguard Improvement Selected
Please choose one of the following cards to act as your bodyguard:
- Nocturne
“It’s not like I have many choices,” he muttered to himself as he selected Nocturne.
A cloud of shadows swirled in the air before Kassandra leapt forth. The dark-haired woman landed in a traditional hero pose, with her hand down and legs spread apart.
As Kassandra appeared, Valentina swung around, her weapon held at the ready. The green beret exhaled as she lowered her weapon. “Maybe give a girl a little warning next time?”
“Sorry,” Warren said sheepishly, holding out his hand. “I didn’t realize she was going to appear right away.”
Next to him, Kassandra straightened up and placed a hand on her shapely hip. “Trouble again?”
“Not really,” he replied. “After our fight with the aliens, I reached level two. I was given a list of deck improvements to choose from, and one of them was a bodyguard perk. As long as the deck isn’t active, you’re going to act as my bodyguard.”
Kassandra’s face brightened as the information sank in. “Does that mean I don’t have to go back?”
Warren nodded.
“That’s amazing!” She stopped and glanced down at her skintight outfit. “But please tell me you found a new outfit for me.”
“Not yet,” he said. “But I’m working on it.”
Kassandra tried to frown, but her smile won out. “Where are we anyway?”
“We’re a few miles from my dad’s cabin.”
“Great,” she said. “Maybe we can still catch up with Lisa.”
His expression darkened at her words. During the battle, he hadn’t had time to explain everything to Kassandra. But before he could speak, Valentina stepped forward with her hand thrust out.
“Hi,” she said. “My name is Valentina.”
“I guess I should have introduced you to each other.” Warren scrubbed a hand through his hair.
“I’m Kassandra.” The dark-haired woman took the soldier’s hand and shook it firmly. “Nice to meet you. Or maybe my name is Nocturne now? That’s why the little title above my head says. Either way, great shooting back there. I used to do target practice with my dad, but I’m nowhere near as good as you.”
Valentina brightened at her words. “I was one of the best shots in my unit.”
Kassandra released Valentina’s hand and turned back to face Warren. “What happened to Lisa? Don’t think I can’t read your face. You couldn’t hide anything from me when we were kids and you still can’t.”
“I’ll fill you in on the way back,” Warren said as he adjusted his backpack. “While you’ve been in the deck, you’ve missed a lot.”