Chapter 20

It was… hot. Three miles wasn’t much to walk, but in a basically barren, rocky area, with almost no shade it was a bit brutal. Why did Tay have to program this to be so accurate? I wondered if I was sweating on the outside.

JAMES TO ADMIN CHAT: Hey, am I sweating out there?

DIONDRE TO ADMIN CHAT: No, why?

JAMES: Just wondering, its really hot in here.

DIONDRE: Some of the environments can be quite brutal. While you are “feeling” it, you aren’t at risk of things like overheating, dehydration, or hypothermia. It can be quite uncomfortable, and your body will react appropriately at times. But no, right now you just look like your taking a stroll.

JAMES: Ok, thanks.

As I continued North, I crested a second hill, and looking down I could see the edge of the first forest I’ve seen since walking almost an hour ago. The terrain here was weird, it was just a bunch of scattered scrub brush, and rocky hills. Far in the distance I could see what looked like “traditional” desert terrain like how I thought of it - mounds of sand as far as the eye could see.

I would have to assume that wherever my allies were, they had to be inside that forest somewhere, so I started working my way down the hill; climbing off small boulders, and down outcroppings. I’m sure there was an easier way to get down, but I took what Tay said to heart about improving stats; I figured doing a bit climbing down wouldn’t be a bad thing.

As I approached the edge of the small forest, I slowed down, hearing some voices suddenly.

“Area clear, heading south towards base. Copy?” The voice said.

I quickly realized this must be one of those recon patrols mentioned in the introduction. Just my luck, exposed and unarmed, and running into enemies right away.

I looked around quickly, scanning for somewhere I could cram myself to get out of sight. I found myself wondering if they had some sort of skills or items to locate people easier, it was a recon team after all. But that was too much to think about, I had to get out of sight quickly.

I spotted a boulder to my right that was perfect to hide behind, and while it wasn’t the most elegant solution I figured it was better than standing in the open. I quickly scrambled over, tucking myself behind it. Trying to control my breathing from the unexpected sprint, I decided to peek around the boulder.

It took a few minutes, but a team of three heavily armed Soldiers walked from under the forest. One was facing backward, walking slowly, while the two in front scanned in front of them, rifles at the ready. From where I was they were too far away to properly examine, but it was obvious they had a variety of grenades hanging from straps and belts, clips for their guns, and all were decked out with helmets and full body armor.

Once they were about 400 feet or so from the tree line, one of the soldiers in front held his right hand up in a fist and they all stopped. Suddenly they all dropped to a crouch, and I could see him reach up to his right ear, speaking again.

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“Base, Recon 2.” the lead soldier said. He nodded as he got a reply back in his ear piece. “We are clear of the forest, resuming south heading, copy?”

He must have gotten the appropriate response, “Lets double time back, I’m starving.” That seemed to get his team going, as they stood, turned, and started a jog back the way I had come from. As they moved, they passed closer to me and I found I could actually inspect the lead soldier from this distance, Tays voice welcoming me to new information;

RECON SERGEANT - NPC

JOB: RECON LEADER

LEVEL: 3

FUELED BY RIP-IT ENERGY DRINKS, RAGING ALCOHOLISM, AND A BIT OF PTSD, THIS IS A RECON SERGEANT. HE LEADS HIS TEAM THE BEST HE CAN, BUT ALL HE WANTS TO DO IS GET HOME AND RESOLVE HIS SECOND PENDING DIVORCE. TAKE CAUTION WHEN ENGAGING HIM, HE IS DEADLY ACCURATE WITH THAT M-4.

TAYS TIDBITS

Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill Reconnaissance - Level 1. It has been added to your skills under your status menu.

I blinked in surprise. How did that unlock a skill? All i did was look at them. Maybe it was how I did it, or from where I did it from?

“Congrats James!” Diondre’s voice cut in, interrupting my reverie. I had to stifle a gasp as it surprised me. “You unlocked your first skill. As you complete actions in Babylon, you can unlock a wide variety of skills with different uses. Some can be unlocked through mundane means, while others take you performing actions in a specific way. In this case the Reconnaissance skill was unlocked because you observed a patrol from a safe position, didn’t get caught, and gained information on a prime target. Its not very easy to achieve, especially at later levels, and as a first skill its excellent!

“Lets go ahead and assign your skills. Go to your status menu, and you should see a Skills menu if you flip through now. You can equip up to eight active skills and eight passive skills. Go ahead and do it now.”

I followed Diondres instructions, getting to my skills menu and focusing on the Reconnaissance skill that was there now, Tays voice once again echoing in my brain;

RECONNAISSANCE

LEVEL: 1

TYPE: Passive Skill

BENEFITS: The Reconnaissance skill reduces the chance you will be spotted by enemies by 20% when actively hiding. Additionally, this increases the range you can inspect items, enemies, defenses, traps, and more by 10 yards per level. You must be able to see the item you can inspect; you aren’t Superman, no matter how hard you try!

Wow, that is pretty good, and this will be extremely useful especially given we will be attacking a defended position. Maybe this could lead me down the path of gaining additional information on enemies status’ like I initially thought, but I’m definitely happy with it. I went ahead and equipped it, suddenly feeling a surge of adrenaline in my body. It felt like a lightning bolt, working from my head, and exiting through my feet. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, just… weird. I found myself gasping, thankful I did this after that Recon team had crested the hill and was out of sight.

“Well, thanks for the warning of how that would feel,” I grumbled.

“Its different for everyone my friend,” Diondre said, a hint of sadness carrying in his tone. “I don’t know if its based on the skill, or the person, but sometimes people say its painful to equip a skill, sometimes theres nothing, and sometimes… they have a random orgasm.”

I scoffed, “What the fuck… really?”

Diondre chuckled, “Yeah, really. I don’t get it either. My only caution would be, NEVER equip a skill in the middle of battle, unless its life or death. Also, you will have a reaction even if you are reequipping a skill you previously had, so keep that in mind.”

I mulled that over, this was another one of those things that won’t ever make sense I realized. So many of these things seemed unnecessary; we were supposed to be fighting war, deciding conflicts that impacted millions of people around the globe. Why did so much of this feel like a cruel joke, like someone playing a prank?

“Hate to interrupt… whatever your thinking about James, but your team is about a half a mile away still. I’m surprised they haven’t moved yet, so they must be at a camp or something and are waiting on others to gather. So you might want to get moving.”

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