Chapter 45 - Assaulting the Scrapper Camp (Part One)

"We need a plan, quickly," Søren said. He tapped some controls on the dataslate and put the drone into an autonomous hover over the captive, marking them as the follow-along target. They were highlighted in green on the camera feed. "How many do you think you can take out before an alarm is raised, Sehro?"

The former hunter, turned assassin peered at the holo display, taking in the disposition of the Scrappers and the shadows cast by the campfires.

"If they're all as poorly geared as the sentry, I think these five on the south side," he said, using a claw to circle two tents. The synthetic intelligence in the dataslate added a red circle around them. "I can then retreat and wait a few minutes, circle around to the north, and take out four more near this tent." Sehro tapped a tent a little further outside the light of the campfire than the rest. Another red circle appeared around that tent.

"I will sneak up with you Sehro," Neeka said, one eye on the holo and the other flicking back and forth, keeping a watch even while discussing the imminent raid on the Scrapper's camp. "Søren, use your awful disguise and take the sentry's place. It may buy you enough time to defend yourself if someone comes up to replace them. Keep a watch through your drone and put that rifle to use once trouble begins."

Søren nodded and pulled up his inventory screen. He then slotted the [Scrap Armor Holo] into the empty holo slot in the bottom right corner of his character sheet. Neeka and Sehro, prepared for the visual change this time, didn't react as badly as they had the first time Søren used the cosmetic armor hologram.

"Good plan," Søren said. "Keep in touch through the party chat window if anything comes up, but you're not detected."

Neeka and Sehro nodded and headed out, melting into the shadows. Søren crouched down next to the boulder after the dead Scrapper had been dragged down the hillside and hidden beneath a tangle of tall grass and covered with a few fallen branches and leaves. He tapped the dataslate and transferred the stream from the drone into his interface, mirroring it to the other party members as well.

"The militaries back home would be absolutely bonkers over this tech," Søren mused as he settled into place, keeping watch on the camp below, both through the drone's camera feed and looking down into the hollow. The captive stirred a little in the cage, but not enough to be noticed by any of their captors standing around nearby. Søren focused his gaze on some of the Scrappers nearest to him and used [Analyze] on each of them.

Three of the Scrappers showed up as Scrapper Raider (Copper II), while two others were a step higher at Copper III. The last Scrapper, bearing some kind of insignia on their shoulder armor, registered as a Scrapper Brawler (Copper VI). A difficult encounter, if they were the only enemies present. Probably too difficult if Søren was attempting this by himself. Neeka had ranked up to Copper VII during the trek northwards, gaining a few ranks in several skills had been the tipping point. Sehro had worked hard to raise his skills and matched Søren's rank at Copper V, using a few of the [Experience Booster I]'s Søren had gifted to him. Søren had spent his time training his [Art of the Spear] techniques and using his attribute enhancements.

Søren brought out the dataslate again, curious if he could use [Analyze] on targets seen through the drone. He selected every Scrapper in the camp and focused on using [Analyze]. His TEK dropped significantly with the use of the skill. He felt a deep, gnawing pain in his body as it responded to the loss of such a large amount of TEK. A notification popped up on his interface.

Congratulations Traveler! You have discovered [Mass Analyze]. Would you like to spend a skill point to learn this skill? Y/N

He quickly tapped yes, feeling the flow of information settling into his mind like a breath of warm air across his scalp. On the dataslate, dozens of icons appeared next to each Scrapper, the captive, and next to Neeka and Sehro. He had inadvertently included them as well. The majority of the Scrappers were in the Copper II to IV range, with three notable exceptions. The Copper VII brawler and two unidentified individuals inside the biggest test; an Unknown (Copper IX)] and an Unknown (Copper X). The captive was listed as Unknown (Copper IV). He sent a thought into the interface and a message appeared in the party chat.

Søren > Heads up, there's a couple of fairly strong Scrappers in the big tent.

Neeka > We see. The view from the drone just updated. The Copper X is a priority target for you Dirt.

Søren > Acknowledged.

Søren double tapped the Unknown (Copper X) on the dataslate, bringing up a small context menu next to the Scrapper's infrared outline. Analyze and Invite to Party were both greyed out. At the bottom of the context menu was a Mark Targets option. This opened a submenu with a list of icons. Top of the list was a skull, an X, and a crosshair reticule. Søren tapped on the crosshairs and a color flyout appeared next to it. He assigned it a deep red color and then cleared the menus. The crosshairs floated next to the Unknown (Copper X) on the display.

Søren > Ready to start this when you are.

Sehro > almost in position

Does Sehro think in lowercase or something? Søren laughed to himself with a slight grin. He then took aim with the [Artemis Scout Rifle (Silver I)] at the Unknown (Copper X) inside the tent, settled the crosshairs over the outline of the infrared target in the scope, and waited.

Author's Notes.

I did stick with popular item rarity colors though. They make sense to me after years of playing WoW and other mmo's.

Interface Threat Colors Chart

Grey - No threat

White - Two to four ranks below

Blue - One rank above or below or the same rank

Green - Two to four ranks above

Yellow - Five to ten ranks above

Orange - Eleven to twenty ranks above

Red - Twenty or more ranks

Skill / Item Rarity Colors

Grey (trash - d4)

White (common - d6)

Green (uncommon - d8)

Blue (rare - d10)

Purple (epic - d12)

Orange (legendary - d20)

Red (mythic - d30)

Søren's Stat Sheet (04-15-22)

Derived stat formulas are pretty simple.

Hit Points (HP) = 10 * ((STA + AGI) / 2) | HP Regen = 5% per hour

Endurance (END) = 10 * ((STR + STA) / 2) | END Regen = 10% per hour

Nanotech (TEK) = 10 * ((STA + INT) / 2) | TEK Regen = n/a (can only earn TEK through missions, kills, etc)

Attributes Base Enhancements Total Strength (STR) 15 +10 25 Stamina (STA) 15 +10 25 Agility (AGI) 15 +10 25 Intellect (INT) 20 +10 30 Derived Stats Base Enhancements Current / Maximum Hit Points (HP) 250 100 350 / 350 Endurance (END) 250 0 250 / 250 Nanotech (TEK) 1675 200% 840 / 3350 Rank Copper V n/a Copper X Bonus Points Attributes Skill Points Perks Remaining 4 39 0 Skills Tier Rank Analyze Uncommon Copper V Art of the Spear Uncommon Copper III Athletics Common Copper IV Hunter's Parry Uncommon (Variant) Copper III Leaping Strike Common Copper II First Aid Uncommon Copper V Logos Epic Copper V Mass Analyze Rare Copper I Melee Attack Common Copper V Melee Defense Common Copper V Path of the Artificer Uncommon Copper V Path of the Shaper Legendary Copper II Ranged Attack Common Copper V Ranged Defense Common Copper V Sense Crystallized Aether Rare Copper V Shaping Uncommon Copper V Soaring Hawk Mythic (Unique) Copper II Tracking Uncommon Copper V Unarmed Combat Common Copper V Perks Tier Big Spender Legendary Brave Common Quickdraw Uncommon Quick Leaner Rare Resilient Common Sharpshooter Uncommon Thick Skin Common True North Common