Chapter 15

“Jose!” Luca yelled out. The man next to Jose looked up as well and Luca recognized him as one of the cronies which bullied him. “Jose, it’s Luca!” Jose’s bottom lip started quivering.

“What is happening Jose?”

“They’re going to kill us Luca you have to stop him!”

The large man with the pistol looked at Jose and where who he was talking to. With the butt of his gun he slammed Jose across his face.

“There are rules in this city! And it was your choice to break them!”

“We didn’t have any food left and nobody would give us any!” Jose yelled in response.

He hit him again, sending him falling over backwards.

“Rules are rules. Time to meet your maker.”

“Wait!” Luca yelled. The whole crowd looked at him, and luckily the big man as well.

“We are all stuck here, killing each other is not going to solve anything. The Crimson Regiment is sponsored by the Elite and so have massive advantages over us. We need everyone to work together, and maybe, just maybe we can come out of this alive.”

“Why should we listen to stranger?” The executioner questioned him.

“Because, we have spent the last month, tracking their movements and waging a war on them. We can show you everything, but we’re going to need all everyone…” He paused. “Alive.”

The big man thought about what Luca had just told him and holstered his pistol. Luca breathed a sigh of relief.

“What is your name?” He asked Luca.

“Luca sir, am I correct to assume you are Hussein?”

“Yes,” he looked to the crowd, “This execution will not continue until further notice. Let us hear what he has to say.” He invited Luca onto the lifted surface.

“Everyone!” He started, “We are prisoners of war inside this cocoon which the Elite has created. We were tricked into a death match when we were made to believe it is a way to riches, instead they have brought in experts of their own to kill us for entertainment purposes. They have been watching our every move, doing who knows what when one of us mere factory workers get killed. I do not want to be another number on the screen, and if you do. Then well, feel free to do as you wish. But should you want to make a stand against the Elite, then stand with me and we will show them what we are really made of!”

The crowd roared in agreement. Luca turned to Hussein who had been listening intently. “We cant do this without your numbers Hussein, tell us what we can do in return for you help. Please.” Seeing Luca had gained the crowds support, Hussein had no choice but to agree to Luca’s plan. He invited Luca to his large apartment in one of the tall buildings. Inside with them were five armed armed guards watching his every move. Hussein went to sit at a large table in the middle and invited Luca to sit opposite him.

“So tell me everything. What did you guys do? How many people did it take? How many do you need?”

“Thank you so much for giving us a chance Hussein. Together I believe we can topple the Crimson regiment and find the Golden Katana. We have spent the last month fighting the Crimson Regiment from a forest near Torat. Which is north of here.”

“Ah Torat, I used to play there a lot in The Shadow Domain.” Hussein reminisced.

“I believe we can’t win. I believe the odds are so stacked in the Crimson Regiments favor that we do not stand a chance and we are not expected to win. They do not die like we do when we die in game Hussein.” He looked at Hussein’s face for a sign of shock but there was none. “They just go back to the real world. We need to be in a position where the players call the shots and not the Elite anymore. We need to take control out of their hands. So I was thinking we do that by removing the Crimson Regiment from the game and not picking up the Katana. Until the game ends.”

“What happens when the game ends and no one picks up the Katana?”

“I don’t know honestly. But we have to have a little faith.”

“We are going to have a little faith in the Elite to safe us after they have tricked us into a deathmatch scenario, to then let us live because we dismantled their plan?” He said grudgingly.

“Well. Yes.”

“I guess we can’t do anything else. This afternoon I will call a meeting, and allow anyone who wants to, to train with you and your group. You will show them your tactics and train them and once we are ready, we will launch an onslaught of attacks and hope it works.”

————

After the meeting, many people came forward at the chance of taking action against the Elite, even if it was only in game. Luca declared Paul, Ana, Carlos, Emile, and Tahashi his captains who will start training the new recruits, while Hussein and himself will start organizing scout parties and see where they could gain a tactical advantage. They drew out large maps of the area on the walls of Hussein’s apartment and spent many hours discussing where who should be. Late that night, Hussein’s guard showed Luca where he and his party could sleep, an apartment a few floors below his.

Luca said goodnight and retired to his room where sleep overwhelmed him quickly and took him too a deep slumber.

The next day he met up with his captains and they spent the morning setting up a training routine. There were a lot more interest and they had to get more weapons. Luca spent all his experience points on rifles and handed them out and so did his captains. Jose was the first there and when Luca arrived he came running towards him.

“Thank you so much Luca, I know I didn’t deserve it and you had every right to have me killed there.”

“Forget about it alright? No one deserves to die because got tricked into some cruel game.”

As Jose finished thanking him he turned and walked away.

“Kiss-ass.” Ana muttered next to him.

“Oh good morning Ana, how are you feeling? Ready for this?”

“Yes Luca, But are you sure we can trust all these people?”

“We don’t have to trust them, they just need to carry out the immediate orders. We’ll worry about the rest later.”

“Okay, well I trust you Luca,” she gave him a hug and joined Carlos in front of the gathering crowd. He oversaw the trainings start and then when they seemed they were fine off on their own, he couldn’t help but feel proud of himself and what he had created. Even if I die, this will be my way of avenging my father and Turner.

Hussein called him over and he walked over. When he came close, Hussein said, “You can go out with the hunting parties today, get some experience and clear your mind. Sometimes, it helps me focus on things and see it in a different light.”

Luca liked the idea and agreed, he called for Ana and she was thrilled to go along with Luca and the party.

“What’s south of Everport?” Luca asked as the map was empty.

“It’s just a vast empty desert, some say it is for future expansions for the game, but it has been like that for many years.

“Odd,” Luka said as his mind wandered off. Ana spent most of the way talking about what Jose said when he joined them. Most of it was gibberish, but he knows they are torturing captives inside of Torat.

“Torturing? What for?”

“Information? I don’t know. He didn’t give a specific reason.”

“Luca, this is where our hunt starts. We’ve never run into other parties, but the chance is always there. Most of the players get here by crossing the bridge, but it is possible passing on west on the otherside of the mountains, though, chances of surviving that far without food and water is scarce.”

They got off their truck and Luca unslung his rifle from his shoulder. They walked south towards a large forest and he remembered Hussein talked about a forest with lots of creatures dwelling inside it. Ana stuck to his side, he appreciated it and enjoyed her company. It reminded him of the day they spent in town on their way down to Motril. They followed the group into the forest, staying low to the ground and listening for any sign of movement.

The leader of the group, a short and skinny man with long blonde hair, held his hand up and pointed to something in front. He called Luca forward and showed him a beast in front of him. It was dark red with brown fur patches and two large buffalo like horns on its head.

“What is that?” Luca asked.

“It’s a Rakdon,” Ana said from behind him. “Very aggressive animals but can be tamed and used as a pack animal in the main game.”

“Or lots of meat for food.” The blonde man shrugged. “Luca, do you want to shoot it?” Luca looked at the players around him. He was one of the youngest, but still felt like he had more experience than most.

“No, give someone else a chance.” Luca said.

He called up one of the other players, a green player, and pointed at the beast. “Remember what they taught you at the academy, line up the sights and squeeze the trigger gently.” He did as asked and with a loud BANG! the large beast’s legs gave way and it fell to the ground. The man patted the shooter on his shoulder and congratulated him on a good shot.

The beast disintegrated and left a pile of loot on the floor consisting of meat and hides. The shooter picked it up and they continued their trip south. The forest was alive and Luca saw plenty of flauvil’s hopping from tree to tree and they seem like quite a common species over here.

“Luca, I’ve been thinking about your proposal to train our men and conduct an attack on Torat, and want to offer my services as a tracker and scout. I have experience in here and in Shadow Domain for hunting bosses and players, so I could be an asset to your project. And I still kind of want to mean something in my life.” The blonde man looked at his feet. Luca put his hand on his shoulder. “First tell me your name.”

“Isak.”

“Very well, I will be honored to have you on our side.”

Luca had grown quite a liking for the guy, as he was always helping and showing, explaining why he is performing his current actions. He was quick on his feet and handled his firearm well.

After a few successful hunts they returned to Everport, where players were sitting around and discussing the days training. Luca and Ana met up with Emile and Carlos and they gave them a rundown of what had been done during the day.

———

They trained the men for a week and Luca spent many hours with Hussein in his apartment, going over plans and maps which had been scouted out by Isak and his party. After they had practiced all the plans out, and took a headcount of the available soldiers, Luca concluded they will have 385 men to do a large assault with.

The following night, the party gathered all of their gear and vehicles and headed out across the bridge. Initially Luca told Ana she should stay in the base but she wouldn’t listen.

“We are playing with our lives here Ana, who knows what could happen.” Luca had told her.

“Exactly, who knows what could happen, you don’t even know what could happen to you.”

He wasn’t able to come up with a counterargument and in the end she came along. They drove along the edge of the forest, out of sight from the Torat city gates and with the vehicles lights switched off. The climbed off and spread out along the edge of the forest. Luca’s heart started hammering in his throat and he took Ana’s hand and gave it a squeeze and felt her hand tighten around his as well. “Ready?” Luca looked at Ana. She returned a determined nod.

A long line of vehicles started driving towards the gates with the soldiers walking behind them for cover. Luca had bought RPGs with some of his experience points for the gates, and he saw the soldiers on the backs of the pickups with them in their arms.

When they were able to make out the torches on the gates, he blew three times on a carved wooden whistle, and the line lit up as RPGs were fired at the gate.

Woosh.