I slammed the stun baton down on a fallen Bastion guard whom Hugh and AZTea had dragged over the counter of the wine kiosk we’d been forced to take cover in. The electricity crackled and arced all over their body, incapacitating them even as AZTea pulled a grenade from our limited supply, throwing it at the group of five guards that were between us and the doors leading to the back of the mall. I was hoping we’d find something akin to sewer access there, as almost every other exit had been cut off.

Hugh grabbed the pistol from the tight grip of the Bastion guard, having barely patched himself up at this point after being grazed across the face by one of the insanely overpowered rifles. Their own weapons were the only things we’d found that could do even minimal damage to them. The stun batons could incapacitate them for a little while, but their own guns could only dent their surprisingly sturdy armor. Not a single dead guard had been seen thus far.

An explosion roared outwards from where the grenade had been thrown, shrapnel flying over the top of the counter. AZTea took a quick peek over the top before ducking back down immediately as the report of a rifle sounded out. “They’re dug in! I can’t get enough time to throw any more grenades to flush them out!”

I held my Sten out to the side and blind fired until my gun clicked. I didn’t expect anything more than superficial damage, but suppressive fire was all I could think of right now, clacking my last magazine into place and pulling back the slide. “If anyone’s got any ideas, now would be a great time!” I was barely holding myself together, a warning flaring into existence every few seconds before fading.

“I’ve got one, but I have no idea if it’ll work!” Hugh grabbed a grenade from the bag, looking at both AZTea and I. “Get some grenades and be ready for when I start moving.” His breathing was labored but the man was positively manic, a wild look in his eyes as he held both the bucking bull of a handgun along with the explosive. AZTea fired off a shot from her Recycler Rifle, getting a response of several bullets tearing through the wooden counter, though thankfully none of us were hit.

It was at this moment that the game decided a notification was exactly what I needed.

----------------------

Your vehicle has been impounded by the Bastion SWAT Police Force

You may collect your vehicle from the Bastion Institution of Traffic department inside the Bastion Central Command building.

----------------------

Yeah I get it, things are bad! I know!

I dropped the baton from my off-hand, grabbed two grenades from the bag, and nodded at Hugh. “Whatever you’re gonna do, it needs to happen soon!” I fired a few unsteady shots over the counter, the noise no longer giving me any debuffs. Whether this was because of hidden stats or a soft patch to the game, I didn’t know. Regardless, I welcomed the cacophony of noise instead of muffled silence.

Hugh started moving as AZTea and I blind fired, tossing out his grenade and firing the pistol simultaneously. I didn’t bother hiding since it was do or die, exiting cover just as the grenade exploded, knocking two of the Bastion guards to the ground and throwing another one against the wall they’d been using for cover. The other three were already aiming for Hugh when I threw my first explosive at them like a rock. Three bullets shot out of their rifles and Hugh went down, the Bastion pistol clattering against the tile while AZTea rose from behind the kiosk.

The roar of the grenade wasn’t nearly as impactful as the shrapnel that hit the guards and myself with the force of a runaway train, a jagged piece of metal ripping straight through my arm. I ran past the now downed guards with AZTea in tow, dropping my second grenade in between the NPCs and moving on toward the doors.

The glass had shattered in the gunfight allowing me and AZTea through without issue, though a spotlight from an aircraft I couldn’t discern passed over us a moment later. I couldn’t delay for long, my health ticking down relentlessly as we sprinted toward the street and a manhole cover while bullets rained down around us. I could hear the sounds of more Bastion SWAT converging on us as we got to the cover. Lifting it was a nearly herculean effort from myself and AZTea, the solid slab of metal normally needing a tool of some sort.

We’d just gotten it moved when AZTea took a round in the head, not even able to lob her grenades back in retaliation before she shattered like glass, a piece of candy falling to the ground. I hurried down the hole, hoping the sewer system was big enough to accommodate my size.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it was. This in turn meant it could accommodate the SWAT NPCs as well. It also didn’t help that it was very dark down here and I had nothing but an extra lighter that I had brought with me for the fun of it.

I touched my left hand on the wall so I could feel my way around, and ran as fast as my legs could carry me even as shouts were heard from behind. My hand suddenly left the wall and I very nearly fell into the sewage that was likely flowing by just a few inches away. I could definitely smell it and I did not want to fall in. It was like an outhouse in the middle of summer after bad tacos.

I turned back quickly, finding the wall once more before continuing on. Part of me wanted to flick on the lighter, but the logical part of me said that doing so was the worst idea I could possibly have. I no longer moved as fast, hoping instead that the NPCs didn’t have anything akin to night vision.

I travelled as fast as I could, occasionally being forced to move through sludge I didn’t even want to begin to think about. While the game had been beautiful in some places, the sewers were not one of them. The shouts faded away after some time, my hand running along what I could only assume were ladders to the surface.

I had no idea how far I had travelled or where I had ended up, but when I finally decided to resurface, I emerged outside the walls. Furthermore, I had gone further than I had expected to. The Ruined Zone was now behind me, and I found myself in what the forums had dubbed the Bandit Lands.

What little I knew of the place spoke of roving bandit gangs big enough to take on even the guilds. All the buildings around me were covered in vines and plants, along with gang signs and poorly made graffiti art. I could hear engines revving and gunfire all over the place even though night had already fallen.

I shoved the manhole cover back into place, deciding to keep it in mind until I could find a flashlight to help me get back into the city. Exploring hadn’t been on my immediate plans but it was either bandits or Bastion SWAT, and I figured the former couldn't be any worse than the latter.

I ducked inside a nearby coffee shop, using what little water I found inside to wash the stink and sludge off. I still felt absolutely vile, but I was clean enough for the moment. My Sten was just about out of ammunition and all I had left were four frag grenades in the bag I’d brought. On the bright side, I still had a fully loaded P850. On the not so bright side, I hadn’t thought about acquiring any extra magazines for it.

I sighed audibly in the back room, my lighter flickering every now and then as I pulled up the forums and let my feet rest against the top of an office desk. I found a message from Jolly, Hugh, and finally AZTea, all of whom were saying that they’d managed to get out okay after dying, though they’d had to pay a fine for committing a crime within city limits. Jolly was the one to ask if I’d made it out okay, since none of the others had come out of the respawn area with me.

I messaged them all with what was more or less a copy and paste, that I was fine for the moment, though I was now in the Bandit Lands with far less equipment than I would’ve liked. AZTea and Jolly said they would check on the shed while Hugh said he had to get off for a little while. I bid him farewell and then got to work on thinking about how I’d get myself out of this new mess.

“If I go out scavenging there’s a good chance I get into a gunfight against bandits. The amount of weapons I have are decent, but I can’t survive an extended battle. Perhaps scout local locations first and then head back into the sewers? Less risk, but also less reward. Since I’m out here I could try and bring something decent back. Maybe find something I can use against Bastion SWAT if that happens again. No, bad idea. Don’t want to make the only city available an enemy. Didn’t kill anyone so they shouldn’t have a negative reputation with me just yet. Whitman Arms Dealers might’ve been involved. Lion’s Mane is also a possibility.” I took my legs off the desk and spun around in the cheap swivel chair, making sure not to let the wet clothing get too close to me. I still felt filthy and while I wasn’t a total germaphobe, I abhorred unclean things.

It took me almost half an hour until I was dry enough to walk around again, in which I did my best to read up on the area. From what information was available via the more experienced or skilled players, what you had to watch out for wasn’t monsters so much as it was the bandits roaming around in groups ranging anywhere from a small four enemies, to massive thirty six or more warbands. Their weapons were of a similar quality, from pipe guns that barely worked to the odd energy weapon or two.

The buildings were more run down than the Ruined Zone, most of the readily accessible loot hidden in underground areas or guarded by mobs of enemies in a similar manner to dungeons, refreshing just the same way. There were also events that would happen every now and then where bandit gangs would be out in force, all of them fighting to expand their territories. Players could even join these bandit gangs if they had the drop on them first, or offered up a decent enough initiation gift. Several guilds were already a part of the endless warring for power in the area, though things were relatively quiet when the events were inactive.

I decided that once we’d built enough weapons, getting in on the bandit war might be a fun thing to attempt. I’d need to hire more people in the future. For now I had work to do. I sat up and flicked off the lighter.