Death's Revenge: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Adventure (Venus Online 5) Read online

  "Yeah." Scarlett flashed Silica a grin. "Well, exposing my machinery to it didn't help me too much, either."

  Silica's heavy footsteps clumped on the metal floor as she crossed the room to the vent on the wall leading out. "True enough. I will take the lead as I seem to be the least damaged."

  Byron watched her in awe as well. Silica had been through radiation that practically cooked the rest of them, and her health bar had barely moved. In fact, she had been through firefights and explosions, and still had most of her health left. Her mineral body could take a lot of punishment.

  He sucked up the pain so he could limp after Silica to the vent. She used her bare hands to twist off the grating, throw it to the floor, and climbed inside.

  For a moment, he caught himself staring at her rocky ass, like two perfect spheres side by side. He was a buttman, so he couldn't help at least checking it out, but he felt surprised to get a little hard. She looked like a stone carving of a woman, but had a femininity in the way she walked and moved. He had to admit she was kinda hot.

  He kept his eyes down while climbing into the air vent. The same hot air flowed through the narrow metal passage as he crawled after Silica, and the others crawled behind him.

  Magott winced as she pointed past Byron. "Straight ahead. That's the computer core."

  They kept going until they came to another grating covering a vent. Silica shifted to one side so Byron could see past her into the room on the other side. Through the metal bars, he could see a large center with consoles on the walls, all surrounding a glowing blue sphere the size of a basketball.

  "That's it," Magott whispered.

  Byron couldn't help smiling. Up until that moment, he hadn't been sure the computer center would be real. It seemed like they would be getting the codes to get to Necros.

  Byron looked around the room. He had hoped to find it empty, but there were three Death Troopers and two Necrosi men in white overalls, working on the computers.

  One of the technicians said, "We're getting some interference on the variable production subroutines. Did you check the interfaces on the--"

  Silica held out a grenade, but Byron shook his head. He didn't want to damage the computers. They had to take the guards down quickly to keep from sounding an alarm, but with a minimum of destruction.

  Byron reached for his pistol and held it out to Silica. She nodded, and balled up a fist. Holding it away from the grating, she waited. Byron silently counted to three for her with his mouth. On the third count, Silica punched out the grating.

  The moment the grating blew off, Byron swung out of the vent and fired shots with his pistol. He hoped to hit the guards or at least wound them so the others could finish them off.

  To his surprise, every one of his shots hit one of the men on the other side directly in the forehead. The guards and technicians all went down at once in a series of thuds that echoed through the computer room.

  Byron just stared in disbelief. His dexterity and strength had been heightened by Otis Accolade when he became a level twenty-five, but only now did he realize how much. He seemed to have become a crack shot.

  "Holy shit," Scarlett blurted. "You fucking nailed those guys, dude."

  Silica's face cracked into the first smile he'd ever seen on her. "Well done."

  Byron just nodded as he climbed out of the vent onto the floor of the computer room. The chilled room drove away the warm air of the vents, making him shiver, but also cooling the burns on his skin.

  OBJECTIVE COMPLETED

  +5,800 XP

  +8,000 CREDITS

  His pistol was empty, so he tossed it aside.

  While the others climbed out into the computer room, a box mounted on the wall caught Byron's attention. It read "Emergency" with a red "x" on it. He pried open the door on the box to find a pile of four medpacks.

  Byron smiled. "Always health when you need it."

  He pulled them out while Xana took a seat behind the computer console. She tapped keys while murmuring, "Yeah, this is it. This has access to all the ship's logs."

  Magott leaned over and typed in a code. "This is my authorization. They'll no doubt have locked down my access, though."

  The screen flashed red.

  "That's okay." Xana took over the screen. "It'll give me a head start."

  She glanced up at Byron. "Um, it'll take me a few minutes to hack into the system."

  He patted her on the shoulder. "No problem. I know you can do it. It'll give us a few minutes to rest."

  He pressed one of the medpacks into her back, and she sighed as it melted into her, making her skin fade back to normal and her health bar come back to almost full.

  Byron held out one of the other medpacks to Xin, who just took it with a nod. He assumed that was as close to thanks as Byron would get.

  The bodies of the soldiers and technicians had faded, leaving behind credits. The other girls bent to gather up the loot while Byron settled onto a chair and used a medpack on himself.

  It felt like heaven to just sit down at all. He realized it had only been a few hours since they had been captured by the Empire, but it felt like he had been trapped in the battleship for days. The pain and chaos of the Vanquish never seemed to end.

  Scarlett dropped into his lap and gave him a kiss. "How's my sexy stud holding up?"

  Byron sighed. "Not great. I can't wait to get out of this battleship. And I really want to get out of the game."

  Scarlett tilted her head to one side. "I know, baby. And I want what you want. But what happens to us?"

  "What's that mean?"

  She rolled her glowing blue eyes. "Well, I mean, let's say you leave the game. That's great for you, but I can't leave the game and go back to the real world."

  Byron blinked as a dawning sense of dread crept over him. He looked over at Chetaara and Xana, thinking about how he would be leaving them, too. "I-I guess I never really thought about it. I guess you'd stay here. But you'd be okay, right?"

  She ran a finger down his cheek while gazing into his eyes. "Baby, I thought we already settled this. I love you, motherfucker. I don't wanna be without you. None of us do. But it's more than that. Let's say you shut down the game on your way out. What happens to me? To all of us?"

  He felt a little sick to his stomach at the realization that she was right. "I-I dunno. I mean, I think you'd just disappear. I never thought about that, either."

  Scarlett kissed him. "I know, baby. And I don't mean to get you down. It's just something I thought we should talk about, get it all out. But let's talk about something happier, like that hot bitch, Silica."

  He glanced over at where Silica stood in a corner with her arms crossed, glaring at him. He gave her a quick smile, but she didn't even change expression.

  "I don't think she likes me," Byron whispered.

  Scarlett poked him in the chest with a finger. "Are you kidding? For a Voloxx, she's practically dry humping you."

  He turned away a little bit. "But biologically, I don't know how it would work. I mean, she's made of rock. Does she even have a, uh, vagina? Would it be like having sex with a boulder? Would it feel like sandpaper?"

  Scarlett smirked. "Byron, the Voloxx aren't actually made of rocks. It's just really tough skin like an armadillo or a turtle's shell. Trust me, she's really soft inside there. And yeah, she's got holes."

  She made a circle with the fingers of one hand and poked her index finger of the other hand through it.

  He pushed her hands down. "Well, to be honest, she's kind of intimidating. Okay, well, let's see if it works out. I'm kind of fine with just Kiki, anyway. If we survive this."

  She clasped her hands. "Aw, are you crushing on Kiki? She's pretty hot, all right. Can't wait to get me some o' that. Wait'll you try her other holes."

  He gave her a double-take. "Wait, what other holes?"

  She leaned an arm on his shoulder. "You have much to learn, grasshopper. Hey, we should get married."

  The shift in tone made him blink
and shake his head. "Uh, yeah. That would be nice."

  "Then let's do it."

  He looked around the computer room at the others and himself. "What, now?"

  Scarlett flipped a hand into the air. "Fuck, yeah. Right here."

  Byron shook his head, feeling like he had crossed into another reality. Just a few minutes ago, he had been fighting for his life. Now he had Scarlett proposing marriage to him. "How? We're not exactly in Las Vegas."

  "Chetaara's a priestess." She waved at Chetaara, who leaned against the wall near them, combing her tail with her fingers. "Hey, kitty, you feel like marrying me and Byron?"

  Chetaara broke into a wide smile that showed her fangs. "I would be honored to bond the two of you in holy matrimony. But only if I can marry him as well."

  "It's a deal. Oo, Byron, you're gonna be a bigamist." Scarlett tickled him under the arm

  He smiled, but looked away, feeling weird about the whole thing. He did wonder if this was acceptable in Venus Online. If so, it was just another reason to love being in the game.

  Kiki skipped over to them with her hands clasped against her chest. "Oh, you're getting married? Oh my gosh, I totally love weddings. I wanna get married to you, too, Byron."

  That made him pause. "You-you do? You just met me."

  Kiki looked down at her toe and poked the floor with it. "I told you, I've been crushing on the Outsider most of my life. Now that I found you, it's like I've known you forever. I'm not going anywhere so we might as well get married, too. Pretty please?"

  Xana raised her hand. "Um, me too."

  Byron felt a sense of panic crushing his chest. He'd thought about marriage before but never found the right girl. Now in the game, he had four women begging to marry him.

  "But," Xana added, "we'll have to do this later because I'm in the system and found the code. I also triggered a warning alarm so the Empire will know we're in here."

  She pulled a small crystal out of a slot on the wall and slid it into the console in front of her. "I'm downloading the code onto a data crystal. I'm also going to unlock the emergency doors so we can get to the hangar bay."

  The heavy door over the exit slid away when she tapped a key.

  Scarlet laughed and rolled off Byron's lap. "Ha, saved by the fucking bell. You should've seen your face, Byron. Don't worry, we'll get married later, and I can't wait for the honeymoon."

  Xin leaned against a wall, glaring at him. "You people are childish."

  Scarlett flipped her off again. "You wish you had four hot chicks begging for your pussy."

  Magott walked as fast as she could for the door. "We have to move fast. The hangar is on the levels below us. They'll know we're here and the Empire is surely sending someone after us right now."

  ***

  General Deth paced the bridge, chuckling to himself in ways that made everyone else on the bridge nervous. He kept thinking about the look on Lieutenant General Magott's face right before the feed cut off. A look of annoyance but also victory. Deth kept imagining different things he would do to that face when he got a hold of it, mostly involving sharp objects.

  Magott had tricked Deth into believing that she could be trusted. It took a lot to become one of his lieutenant generals. He thought the years they had spent together had proved her loyalty with the brutal acts she had committed for him. Now at the moment he needed her most, she failed him.

  He also kept thinking about the escaped prisoners. They had damaged or destroyed most of the decks in the Vanquish's starboard side, killed hundreds of men, and disappeared. The troops found an open vent but no idea where the prisoners had gone. Flooding the entire deck with gas hadn't flushed them out.

  He knew where Byron headed; the hangar bay. Without the escape pods, the hangar bay remained the only place left to find a way off the Vanquish, especially with his broken down ship. Deth had most of his Troopers guarding the ship and trying to bypass the Icarus' force fields. He also had put a guard on his personal shuttle, just in case Byron tried to go after that.

  Yet Deth knew it couldn't be that simple. Jones wouldn't be just trying to escape. He was too resourceful and determined for that. He would be trying to find a way to stop General Deth himself. Deth just had to figure out how.

  Time was running out. Necros was only one-and-a-half hyper-hours away.

  He could only assume Magott was helping Jones for some reason, perhaps to save her own skin. She had triggered the self-destruct on the Death Troopers, and unlocked one of the armories. What else could she do?

  The battleship had already been set to self-destruct, and that couldn't be changed without authorization. Even Magott and Byron couldn't stop that. What else could Magott and her new partners do? As a senior member of Deth's inner circle, she had also been given secure access to the computer systems.

  The answer hit him, freezing him in his tracks.

  "The shield code," he whispered.

  Some officers on the bridge began gathering and whispering at one of the consoles. They drew his attention, and he charged over to the group.

  "Report," he snapped.

  The technicians widened their eyes and snapped salutes.

  "Sir," one stammered, "someone is accessing the ship's computer. The lockdown order has been lifted. And what's worse, one of the cores has been breached--"

  Deth nodded. "Let me guess. It's the Delta Four server?"

  The technicians exchanged a shocked glance.

  "Uh, yes, general," one stammered. "At first, it looked like someone trying to use Lieutenant General Magott's login, but that's been denied access. But the request came through again, and we don't recognize the login. It seems to be a hacker. How did you--"

  Deth tightened his fists. "Well done, Byron Jones. I knew that wouldn't stop you. And they even managed to cancel the lockdown. Well done."

  The technicians exchanged another nervous look before another blurted, "Sir, we have to report the intrusion. They accessed--"

  "The shield code," Deth snapped. "I was expecting this."

  The computer technicians sagged in relief. It seemed like they had been afraid to break the news.

  "Yes, sir." Another one of the technicians went to his console and punched keys. "I'll file the report--"

  Deth drew his pistol and shot the technician in the back of the head.

  As the technician slumped to the floor, Deth raised his eyebrows at the others. "What did he think he was doing?"

  The technicians stepped closer together as if trying to hide behind each other.

  "General Deth," the first technician stammered, "Protocol requires that we report the loss of the code immediately."

  Deth holstered his pistol. "Don't be ridiculous. if Necros finds out that shield code is taken, Lady Necralia will destroy the ship five seconds later."

  "But, general, the shield code is the most guarded secret in all of the Empire. If Jones was to escape with it--"

  Deth held up a gloved hand. "I'm well aware of the ramifications. But Jones is not leaving this ship. I want all the blast doors locked down again immediately. They'll be trying to get down to the hangar bay so I want the lifts shut down and soldiers posted at all the lift doors between the engineering and hangar levels to catch anyone trying to climb down the elevator shafts."

  He pointed at another officer. "I want every ship on this battleship ejected into space. That means fighters, transports, cargo haulers. All of them except the Icarus and my personal transport. Put the remaining guards on patrol at both of them. Also, get me Doctor Morg."

  He turned towards the holographic projector on the bridge that showed Morg's flesh-and-metal scowl. "Doctor, are the Death Dogs ready?"

  Morg grunted as he leaned over to tap a console. "Of course. They were ready long before you ever called."

  One of the other screens showed the interior of the ship's prison. Death Troopers held the leashes of four of the creatures from Morg's lab. Outside of the tanks, the creatures looked even more terrifying. The skin of the
Death Dogs looked scaly like lizards but as red as blood, the same color of their piercing eyes. Spikes ran along their backs, and down their four legs which ended in long claws.

  The Death Dogs snapped and snarled, pulling the Death Troopers holding their leashes off their feet.

  Morg spoke, and his voice carried into the prison. "Death Dogs, find your targets."

  The pointed ears of the Death Dogs flicked up as the creatures raised their heads. Their noses twitched as they sniffed around the cells.

  "Now," Morg yelled, "seek and destroy."

  The Death Dogs snapped their leashes like thread, and tore their way through a nearby wall. One of the Death Troopers stood in their path and he was torn apart, screaming, as the beasts clawed through him and solid metal into the next room. They continued to rip through wall after wall, headed in a straight line.

  Morg's fleshy lips twisted into a smile. "Trust me, General, Jones is already dead."

  Chapter 14

  WITHOUT THE blast doors, Byron and the other prisoners could move more quickly. They headed down the corridor outside of the computer room towards the elevator. Two Death Troopers came around a corner, and faced a line of shotguns to blast them out of the way.

  Just as they reached the elevator doors, the blast doors slammed shut behind them again. Kiki squealed a little bit as it almost came down right on top of her.

  Byron headed for the elevator doors which should have opened automatically, but stayed shut.

  "They locked them down again." Magott kicked the polished metal surface of the door. "We need to get in the elevator shaft. It's the only way down to the lower levels."

  She walked over to a case on the wall next to the elevator and smashed the glass that read "Emergency Access." When she pulled the lever inside, the doors eased open to expose a dark abyss.

  Byron switched on the flashlight mounted on his collar to shine it into the darkness. The shaft plunged below them until his light couldn't reach it anymore.

  OBJECTIVE: REACH THE NEXT LEVEL

  REWARDS: 2,500 XP, 20,000 CREDITS