Alpha Agent: A Post Apocalyptic LitRPG

Dan

After numerous more attempts, Dan couldn’t reach Michael again. Li and Angie tried more attempts on their own but no luck. They had been cut off from their squad leader while sitting inside a hotel suite with a container and potentially more enemies converging on their location.

“Well, I’m not surprised,” Li said. “It wouldn’t be a high stakes mission without running into a few snags.”

“A few snags?” Angie said. “You have a funny definition of ‘we’re screwed’ you dickhead. So what the hell do we do?”

“Simple, we get the container up to the roof and wait for our ride. That’s our only hope,” Dan said.

Both of his teammates stared at him.

“Are you crazy?” Angie said, pointing her finger at Dan. “You said it yourself that the blond chick at the end of the hall is already a big threat by herself. And you still want to go ahead with this crazy mission?”

“It’s what Michael would want us to do. And since we can’t reach him, we’re on our own and must forge our own path to survive this mess. I’m sure Li would agree with me, so that means you lose the vote,” Dan said.

Angie glared at him. Dan didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but he knew that if he wanted to get out of this alive, they had to push through the enemy and fight. He didn’t imagine Kodak would treat him or his teammates well as prisoners if they were captured.

“I do agree,” Li said. “But we can’t just bulldoze our way through our opposition. We also can’t risk the container or its contents being damaged.”

“Then we do this,” Dan said. “You two will be the ones who will carry the container. I’ll be the one to escort you guys and provide cover. If we can’t gain access to that cargo elevator, then I guess it'll have to be the stairs. And if we encounter Kate, Adam or any other tier twos along the way, let me handle them. I’ll use my new powers to even the playing field.”

Angie stared at him with an open mouth.

“That’s fucking crazy,” she said. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one to carry all the heavy weapons and provide you guys with cover? You really think you’ll do any better than me because you have strange powers?”

“I won’t lie and say this is a good plan, because it’s not,” Li said. “But Dan has the best offensive capabilities compared to the both of us in dealing with enemy agents.” He looked at Dan. “Even so, your new abilities appear to take a heavy toll on you. Are you sure you can keep up the onslaught all the way to the rooftop?”

“No, I’m not,” Dan admitted. “And Angie, you do have a point. These new abilities demand a lot out of me and we can’t risk any firefights with the container in our hands. Let’s change it around then. I’ll instead carry the container with Li. Angie, how about you split off and cause some chaos elsewhere.”

Angie’s face immediately lit up. “I’m listening…”

“Since we can’t afford to have enemies shooting at us and risk hitting and damaging the container and its contents, the only practical solution I have in mind is misdirection. If we have someone going loud with blowing shit up in one part of the hotel, that should take most of the enemy’s attention away from me and Li,” Dan said. “Angie, since you’ll be the one making the most noise, the two of us won’t have to worry about needing an escort. All of Kodak will be focused on you making noise and hopefully whatever Michael is doing outside.”

Angie took the grenade launcher off her back and held it with both hands. “I like the way you think Dan. And bonus points for putting Michael’s training to use.”

Li nodded in agreement. Now it was time to execute.

“Angie, you go first and head to a different floor, preferably a floor or two below us,” Dan said. “Blow up a wall or something. Just make sure it’s loud to get their attention. That should get Kate off our backs. Li and I will try to use the cargo elevator. If that’s unavailable, then I guess we’re taking the stairs.”

Angie gave him a toothy grin. She was finally allowed to let loose and drop the subterfuge. “You got it. I’ll make sure to save the rockets for the rooftop in case we encounter enemy aircraft.”

“Noted, but if you encounter Kate or Adam directly, don’t hesitate to use your rockets against threats like them,” Dan warned. “Those two are no joke. Trust me.”

His female teammate opened the suite door and said, “Since we can’t communicate with each other through comms, I guess you’ll have to listen for the signal to get moving. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you guys hear it.”

Angie stepped out of the room and now Dan and Li were left to wait. In the awkward silence, Li finally piped up and asked something.

“You think she can pull this off?”

“I’ve never worked with her before this mission. But sometimes, you have to have faith in your teammates. I’m sure she’ll hold up her end so that we can get the container out of here.” Dan grabbed the silenced pistol from his coat. “Plus, she probably wants to buy some good gear with that one hundred thousand credit reward.”

“Noted,” Li said. “Sometimes, the anxiety gets to you, even with the enhancements the shard supposedly gives us to make us more resilient against that sort of thing.”

Dan looked to his teammate and said, “I don’t know if you can ever be one hundred percent bulletproof against stress or anything else that hurts morale. I just know that you have to work with what you have, even if the situation looks like dogshit.”

Li gave Dan a simple nod. A sudden bang and shakingof the light fixtures and the TV screen interrupted the general quiet in the room.

“I guess that would be our signal to get moving,” Li said.

Dan grabbed one handle of the container in his other hand. “Ready when you are.”

The two agents hefted the container and began their walk toward the door of their hotel room. Before opening it, Dan pressed his ear against the slight gap in the door and heard a pair of rapid footsteps ruin across the hall in front of him before they eventually subsided. Whoever ran past the room was in a hurry.

“Li, get ready in case there’s trouble outside,” Dan said.

He turned the door knob and swung the door open. Carefully moving out into the hallway with the container, Dan also checked both ends of the current hall and saw no enemies. The two carried the container at a brisk pace. Dan stopped at the gap were he saw Kate Razor earlier.

“Li, I need your eyes. Is she still down the hallway?”

Li activated his x-ray vision and Dan watched Li’s eyes glow while scanning the wall in front of him.

“No signatures. I think we’re clear but let’s be ready for anything,” he said. Li put his pistol away and grabbed a concussion grenade out of his coat instead. “We could have cloaked enemies at the other end. Remember how they snuck up on us earlier while we were waiting for Angie?”

“Right,” Dan said. “Let’s go.”

The two picked up the pace again and walked down the hallway towards the other end. Dan stopped just short of a turn and kept his silenced pistol ready. He leaned around the corner and saw no one. At the other side, he also didn’t see anyone.

“We’re clear,” Dan said.

He walked a bit further down to see an elevator wider than most. Dan walked up to the control panel and saw it had been smashed and mangled beyond recognition. “That’s not good.”

“Let me guess, someone smashed the controls for the elevator,” Li said.

“Most likely Kate’s doing. If they know the container was stolen, they decided to render their cargo elevator inoperable to prevent us from moving anywhere fast with it. They’re hoping to keep us isolated within the VIP floors.”

“Well, that’s certainly what I would do in their shoes,” Li shrugged. “Stairs it is then.”

Dan held back a groan having to walk up more stairs. But he set aside his own personal feelings to see the mission through. Michael wouldn’t tolerate any excuses.

***

Angie

After firing off two grenades from her launcher, Angie crawled up the wall using her specialized gloves that could stick onto surfaces. From the chaos she had caused, she was shocked and a bit saddened at how little awareness Kodak agents had for their environment. So far, more than a handful of enemy agents had ran past her without bothering to look up.

Such agents met an unfortunate fate of being shot dead by her as she switched over to her Aero. Angie watched a small horde of Kodak agents, at least more than a dozen, emerge out of the stair case at the far end of the hall. She jumped down from her spot on the wall and then took the big hefty launcher from her back. Even as the Kodak agents spotted her, they stopped in their tracks when they noticed the heavy weapon she carried on her shoulder.

Angie squeezed the trigger and the air around her filled with smoke as the rocket was pushed out of her launcher and lit up the entire hallway as it soared toward the mass of targets. The entire end of the hallway exploded into a wall of smoke and flame, an explosion so intense she could feel the building shake in response.

Multi-kill! Six kills with the rocket launcher.

Bonus experience rewarded.

She took a few seconds to grab a second rocket inside her coat and loaded it into her rocket launcher. She knew she might need her heaviest hitting weapon ready to go for the next big threat, whether that be a tier two Kodak agent or an enemy aircraft on the rooftop.

Her ears picked up frantic and rapid footstep behind her. More enemies climbing up the stairs. She broke out into a run, though it was more like a jog because of all the weight she had to carry.

“I can’t wait to rank up,” she muttered to herself.

Knowing that Kodak agents tend to throw caution to the wind, she grabbed a proximity based detonation charge out of her inner coaty and slabbed it against the wall just beyond the turn ahead. Once any enemy crossed into this hallway, they wouldn’t react fast enough to get their face blown off by this charge.

She continued pushing herself as hard as she could will all the heavy weapons and ammo encumbering her. By the time she made it to the middle of the hall, she heard the satisfying detonation behind her and the screams that accompanied it.

Triple kill with a planted explosive.

Bonus experience rewarded.

“Fuck yeah, I got ‘em,” she said.

Congratulations!

You are now Tier 1 | Level 19

Strength: 20

Agility: 24

Endurance: 22

Intelligence: 21

Healing Factor: n/a

You have earned 5 stat points!

Even with the flames roaring behind her from the explosion, Angie could still hear voices and rapid footsteps in the general vicinity. Before she reached the end of the hall and possibly encountered more enemies that would gun her down, she stopped beside a wall and simply climbed. She climbed up high enough to reach the ceiling and she made herself as comfortable as possible with the hanging chandelier.

Angie watched while grinning ear to ear at Kodak agents running below her, being to preoccupied with the aftermath of the explosions and hauling away some of their dead and wounded.

She briefly wondered how Dan and Li were holding up on their end.

***

Dan

Dan and Li hefted the container up stairways and down numerous hallways, navigating the inconvenient layout of the Revelation hotel. By now, the two must have moved up five or six floors, encountering minimal resistance so far.

The two reached a floor that was eerily quiet. Even with both of their enhanced hearing, neither Dan or Li heard anything through the walls. No guests panicking over the loud explosions below. Dan pressed his ear against another door of a suite and still heard nothing.

“You ever hear of a floor of a hotel that literally has no one checked in?” Dan asked.

“Well, it’s not unheard of, but I’ve never seen it myself. The only logical reason I could think of is either repairs or inspections. But here, I don’t know if that’s the case. The chaos Angie is causing below us has probably at least put the building into lockdown. No regular civilian is sticking their neck out. But it is indeed strange that not a single one of these rooms have been booked.”

During their journey up the hotel, Dan realized he hadn’t been able to hear footsteps other than his own. Li’s footsteps were somehow completely silent. If his teammate wasn’t carrying the container with him, Dan wouldn’t have noticed Li.

“Hey Li, what’s so special about your stealth outfit?” Dan asked. “Any special advantages over my armor I should know about?”

“My stealth variant of the standard Alpha armor is pretty much standard issue for all Hellhound agents, since we specialize in a lot of ops requiring more… subtlety. When I got transferred to work under the main shard, they allowed me to keep my current armor. For everyone else, this is a separate armor set that would cost you fifteen thousand credits.”

“Wow, that’s quite a bit,” Dan said.

“Worth every credit. This armor doesn’t feel like armor. It feels like just another suit you would wear at a corporate job. It’s lighter weight and flexibility allow me to outmaneuver my enemies and make it easier to perform acrobatics. And as for my footsteps, the set comesd with boots with build in noise dampeners.”

Dan took another good look at Li’s armor and admittedly, he was reminded of the same first impressions of the suit when he first met Li. The silver color scheme along with the scale textures and patterns on both the coat and armor underneath made the entire set look like something Dan would buy on impulse.

“Any drawbacks?”

“Yeah, the durability is a lot weaker. I’m a glass cannon,” Li said. “But that doesn’t matter. I kill silently before my enemy can even comprehend the situation. That’s why I’m eager to continue leveling up to become stronger and more agile. The superhuman stats being a tier two and above will make my job easier.”

Dan and Li eventually reached the end of the current hall and stopped in front of a wide door that didn’t quite fit with the rest of the hotel’s inner aesthetics. Unlike the red carpets and expensive chandeliers hanging off the high ceilings, this was simple a silver metal door.

Looking down, the yellow chevrons produced by his HUD told him to go through this door to get to the roof.

Dan simply pressed a button beside the set of metal doors and they slowly slid open. Looking through the opened doors, Dan and Li saw a cold empty rooms with a spotlight shining down into the middle. The outer edges of the room had some pillars sporadically spaced along with deep shadows.

“I don’t like the look of this place,” Li said.

“Neither do I,” Dan replied.

The two agents jerked their heads at the rapid footsteps behind them. Turning around, both Dan and Li aimed their silenced pistols down at the hall, only to see their third teammate huffing and puffing.

Li winced at watching Angie’s loud approach. “See Dan? I never want to announce my presence to the enemy like that.”

Angie barely managed to stop right before colliding with Li and the container. She breathed heavily and Dan could see her face drenched in sweat and some blood splatter on her right cheek.

“Holy fuck,” she said breathlessly. “This mission can’t end soon enough.”

“Good work on keeping Kodak busy, Angie,” Dan said. “How was it down there?”

“What do you think?” Angie said, straightening her posture. “Blew up a bunch of Kodak scrubs, got some bonus experience for some multikills, and got some good explosive traps going. I placed a few proximity charges along the stairs behind me. If they try to follow, they’re going to hit a few snags.”

“Good, now let’s get going,” Dan said.

Angie pointed her finger ahead. “You mean through here?”

“It’s the route that got fed to my HUD thanks to Li’s drone,” Dan said. “I don’t see any other way. Plus the cargo elevator was shot.”

Dan and Li carried the container into the strange room with Angie following behind them. The atmosphere of the room filled Dan with a strange sense of unease. The single light source from above only illuminated the main center of the hall. The pillars around the sides and all of the far corners and edges of the room were obscured in shadows so deep that Dan’s naturally enhanced vision couldn’t properly make out anything in the darkness.

Before he took another step, Dan felt resistance keeping the container from coming with him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Li staring past him with the familiar glow of x-ray eyes.

“Better stop Dan,” Li said grimly. “We got trouble behind the pillars ahead.”

Immediately, Li took the initiative and tossed a concussion grenade into the darkness beyond the pillars ahead. The grenade detonated and one agent stumbled out from behind the pillar. Dan saw the familiar blond hair and knew immediately who it was.

Kate Razor.

Quickly recovering, Kate stopped herself from stumbling and regained her composure.

“Unbelievable,” Li muttered. “Those concussion grenades can disorientate an entire group of rioters in a six meter radius.”

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, a second Kodak agent walked out from behind another pillar and stepped into the shining light in the center of the room. Dan recognized the white skull paint on the agent’s dark helmet. Adam Torrent was here as well.

“I fucking swear,” Dan whispered.

Kate stepped forward and said one simple sentence. “Lower the container and step away. Or die.”