This is our chance. Eve whispered into Alan’s mind, almost sinisterly.
What?
As I outlined beforehand, this seems like a good chance to take advantage of the chaos, and acquire both items and experience we need.
And exactly how do you plan on doing that?
Eve highlighted a number of nearby buildings.
There have been sniper shots from the highlighted buildings. Should we sneak up on one of the snipers, we should be able to easily assassinate them and take their gear. We may simply disguise these killings as the work of the Legion of Man, and no one should be the wiser. Unlike in most games, unless an action can be directly attributed to you, it has no bearing on your faction standing, except in certain scenarios, such as an officially declared war or battle.
I don’t know…
If you wish to become an effective, efficient mercenary you will need to start making such morally grey choices that benefit you. Think of the snipers as simply a rare mob that have a special drop item you need. Also, you didn’t seem to have much issue with buying stolen goods.
Alan began to formulate an argument with Eve in his head, but then, mulling it over, decided that it was in his best interest to try to take out a sniper for their weapon. Besides, it wasn’t like a single sniper would change the course of the battle: they’d respawn once they were killed, and he’d pay the United World Government back once he was done with the Tutorial. Maybe he'd even take the sniper's place, trying to eliminate Legion of Man soldiers. Conscience clear, Alan descended the stairs carefully, debating with Eve which building he should target.
***
A few minutes later, Alan approached the building he and Eve had decided upon. It was on top of a hill, on a street further away from downtown, towards the Presidio, where the tutorial base was. If something went wrong Alan could flee away from the Legion of Man forces. The battle, off in the distance, was still going strong, with more laser fire and reinforcements arriving every minute. Where a rebel military force Alan had never heard of before was getting such firepower Alan had no idea, but then again maybe the group only existed within the Game.
Alan was about to step into the lobby of the multistory apartment building, when—
HALT.
Alan halted.
There are motion detectors set up to detect if someone enters the building.
Two small devices besides the doors into the building were highlighted, showing a red screen surrounding the entrance. Alan assumed this was the field Eve detected. As Alan looped around outside the building, he saw that the detection field surrounded the entire first floor. Well, so much for that plan.
Negative. Proceed to the fire escape.
Eve highlighted a fire escape on the side of the building that Alan hadn’t noticed. The detection field didn’t expand outside the building, at least as far as he could see. The only problem was that the fire escape was a bit over 12 feet off the ground.
You should be capable of leaping up and climbing onto it.
Alan carefully considered the jump. He was definitely feeling stronger than he’d ever been before, and he could probably make it if Eve told him he could. It just might hurt a lot. He walked underneath the fire escape, and leapt up with all his might. To his surprise, his fingers managed to brush against the bottom of the un-extended ladder. After a few more leaps, Alan managed to catch on to the edge of the fire escape and pull himself up. The metal squeaked and shifted a bit as it bore the brunt of his weight, but it didn’t give way.
Alan traversed up the fire escape to the 7th floor, the floor below where Eve calculated the sniper to be, remaining invisible all the while. He’d been maintaining his invisibility for about an hour total since getting the power armor. Taking into account the regained energy, he was left with 200 shield energy. It was 2:13 p.m., with a bit over three hours left until the next round in the Survival Test. That meant the shields wouldn’t be done regenerating by the time the round began, unfortunately.
So, um, why’d you have me stop on the 7th floor? Alan sent to Eve.
You will attack the sniper from below, cutting out the floor beneath the sniper, silently, quickly, and carefully, at my direction. How did you expect to get to the sniper? Climb in through the window they’re shooting out of, or through the door that’s no doubt booby trapped?
Alan, who had actually been considering climbing around the outside of the building, replied, No. But wouldn’t maybe coming from above make more sense?
Negative, I have pinpointed their location, and the drop should be disorienting enough for you to finish them off.
All right.
The window to get into the building from the fire escape was locked, but Eve assured Alan that he could cut through it with the laser knife, and the alarms were all turned off as the building no longer had power. Alan took out the knife, and, sure enough, once activated it cut through the glass and metal like it was butter. As he cut a man-sized hole into the side of the building Alan smiled with glee. It was like his fantasy of wielding a lightsaber was coming true! Unlike a lightsaber, the knife didn’t make a low buzzing sound, or any noise at all, actually. That was probably due to the modifications.
Unfortunately, the laser portion of the knife could only last for 10 seconds, and it took seven seconds to cut through the window. Thus, Alan had to wait a few minutes for it to recharge before he could take on the sniper. Eve told him to be patient, so she could triangulate where exactly the sniper was. Somehow, using the slight movements and noise Alan heard above, in addition to the occasional laser shot Alan could see shoot out from above him towards downtown, Eve created a red silhouette of where the sniper was shooting from. Apparently they were in the corner of the room above, resting their rifle on a desk to steady their aim.
Following an outline Eve displayed, Alan made a series of cuts in the ceiling, and, three seconds later, with a resounding crash, the entire floor of the room above collapsed inwards.
LEAP BACK, Eve suddenly warned Alan.
Alan leapt back into the hallway, leaving the door open, deactivating the laser knife and reactivating his armor's invisibility. He watched as a figure in camouflage colored power armor collapsed onto the floor and reached for a laser pistol sidearm with his right hand. The sniper had around 2000 HP left after the fall, but no shields for some reason. Their level was a series of question marks.
Following a shadow figure Eve provided, Alan silently charged at the sniper, invisible. Somehow, when he was a few feet away, the sniper detected him, and began firing laser shots wildly in his direction. Alan narrowly dodged the shots with Eve's help.
Deactivating his armor's invisibility field, Alan powered up the laser knife as the sniper lifted up his left forearm, a small blue shield appearing on it. Following the shadow outline Eve displayed, Alan feinted a downwards slash at the sniper’s left leg then suddenly shifted the knife to his left hand and sliced into the Sniper’s right arm, holding the pistol. He activated and deactivated the knife as he did so, making it disappear and then reappear out of nowhere. The sniper let out a scream of pain as he dropped the pistol in his right hand, his HP shrinking down to 1600.