The Gauntlet [Quest - Like No One Ever Was]

[Mad Maggie]

Several other passengers sit down in the waiting area of this curious convienience shop-cum-space taxi. I clutch a frankly unhealthy amount of frozen sugar syrup in a cup and take easy sips to bring down my body temperature. The disinterested counter woman explained there was a garage for vehicles, so I stowed my ATV and packed it a bit more carefully this time.

"Next stop, Erde Nona, with transfers to Nos'Talgia, Opealon, and emergency refugee service to and from Cevanti."

An announcement breaks the awkward silence and I turn through the plain pamphlet that was in the rack by the door. "Abraxas University...." My eyes widen at the preponderance of good fortune falling into my lap. Exactly what I had been searching for in Karim. This seemed to be a much more traditional academic space, and professors do so love their contemporaries. I was sure I could find what I needed to get started in this system here. A grant, perhaps.

More time passes and I feel the jolt of re-entry and takeoff as we leave Nonan airspace, several passengers having dismbarked or arrived. A thin man in a purple suit constantly checking a watch, a pink haired woman spraying paint into symbols behind her chair as if we couldn't see her, and an african youth wearing goggles and carrying a sword. He gives me a look that tells me he can already sense the blood on my hands. I move seats and nod curtly.

Finally, we land on "Kraw" in the heart of New Abraxas itself. The flying convienience store settles into a well worn square of marshy dirt, and I can see a long line of students, academics, and some rougher types such as mercenaries or special consultants. When you've spent your upbringing in a corporate environment, you learn to pick out the people they rely on for off the books endeavors. Clearly Kraw offered many such opportunities, as unspoiled as it was.

Unspoiled. I stop and take a deep breath, lifting off my mask.

Disgusting!

"Hkkkkk! Koff, hhggggcck." I spit on the ground. The air is so....clean. I can taste loam and grass on the wind, humidity and a fungal, herbaceous flavor to the wind that makes me grimace.

The University buildings dominate what could be called the "Town Center". Clearly, the university grew from an outpost, and natural urban sprawl followed. Creating something very much like a contemporary university town with the soft edges gone. There was the stink of gunpowder, sweat, blood, and fear here as well.


I would most definitely insinuate myself easily here.

Quest Progress - 430/2500+ words

 

[Mad Maggie]

Closer to the main campus was a sort of marketplace, stalls and buildings lining the wide street approaching the largeer buildings. Here, like on Karim, was where to start. However....here, my manner and style of dress fit in much more. An antire squad of mercenaries wearing familiar full face masks marched by, intent on murdering something out in the jungle.

I took a moment to think about some of my fellow Legends i'd inadvertently left behind. Not through any sort of pathetic emotional weakness, of course. Pragmatism. Blödhūnder's philosophy and lessons would serve me best on an untamed wilderness such as this. If they could only see me mucking about on a dirtball like this...

A sudden crashing sound pulled me from my musings, a body armor wearing woman getting thrown headfirst out of the door of a drinking establishment. She sat up, spat out a tooth, flexed her fist to extend a metal baton into her waiting palm, and then charged back inside to a din of punches and physical confrontation.

Across the street was another bar, just as lively, full of gangly academics and students. Sudden shouts rose as a ring of people crowded around a table, cheers and jeers ringing out across the street. I made my way to the table, elbowing a space large enough to see just what the commotion was about.

Slooooowly making their way across the table, leaving thick trails of slime, were two bright orange slugs the size of an index finger. They were betting on slug races.

I look back at the other bar and honestly have to think about which company I would enjoy keeping.

"You know..." I say, raising my voice enough to be heard. "Did you conduct any analysis of this particular specimen's mucus viscosity?"

An angry voice next to me yells out in agreement. "Yeah! You had at LEAST two days out in the field before you brough these back, Jameson! How do we know you didn't do preliminaries?!"

Just that was enough to cause a shouting match which slowly devolved into another fistfight. The fracas across the street had died down, and I made my way to the handful of patrons that had wandered out to watch the academics fight amongst themselves.

A chuckle came from one of the strangers, a man wearing a large rawhide hat and a reflective, shiny paneled waistcoat with about a dozen sidearms strapped to various parts of his body. "Ha! You sure seem to know how to get nerds fighting there, buddy."

"Doctor Caustic." I correct him with a disinterested wave.

"Come on now, kegger. I see the guns on yer hip, and the fancy pants clothes you're wearing. You're the real deal, ain'tcha? Theory and practice?"

I look over at the man to see him wearing a killer's smirk. "You can tell, we keep to our own on the offtimes. 'S only when there's something big to get done we actually work together with those eggheads." I see the truth in his statement and nod to agree.

He takes this as an open invitation to grasp my shoulder in what he percieves is a friendly way. "Good, cuz you can't be going around town thinkin' you're anybody about anybody without showing your stuff first." He leads me into the bar past several other rough looking types who wouldn't look out of place in the washout leagues of the Apex Games.

Knocking on the bar counter, he yells to the entire room. "AAAAAYYYYYAAAAAAYYY!"

Every head turns to face us. I was not expecting this.

He grins to the room, pulling a pistol from a holster and using it to flip his hat up. "Y'all know me, and since I'm here, you know what that means!"

Their gaze shifts to me as one.

"NEW GUY RUNNIN' THE GAUNTLEEEEEEEEEETTTTTT!"

Half the bar erupts in cheers and hypermasculine grunting, while the other half, the dangerous half, tighten their grips on their weapons and stare at me like Legends do.

A smile comes to my face under my mask.

They have no idea who I am.

Quest Progress - 430 + 682 / 2500+

 

[Mad Maggie]

The Gauntlet turned out to be a long winding arena situated just on the outside of New Abraxas's gates. It was built into the framework, and was only a short walk away from the central temple of the university and the market row. I was waiting with two other contestants on an elevated platform in front of an obstacle course, and monitors fixed to the sides of the fence showed two other teams on their own tracks. All three courses terminated in a central pit, into which a wild animal would be released for the remaining contenders to subdue and/or kill.

What kind of creature wasn't specified, but this sort of physical challenge was a walk in the park for me. The Apex Games were much more grueling than a simple obstacle course and single combat. I could do this in my sleep, and the rest of these so called hunters would soon seen that another predator walked among them. The rules had been explained to me upon entry, and the only rule was that explicitly murdering your opponents was considered bad form. You were supposed to leave that to the traps.

A horn blared and my "friend" from earlier yelled into a speaker system. "GOOOOO!!!"

My boots hit the sloped ground of the first ramp to the central arena. Dropping to my knees, I easily slid forward ahead of my competitors, who had attempted to stay upright and were tottering dangerously. The ramp terminated in a chokepoint that opened up into a wide corridor lined with slicing blades. As I passed the choke, I tossed a gas trap behind me to slow the fools down even further. Turning ny body sideways, I shimmy around a bladed wheel passing by, the rusty edge nicking my chemical containment pipe. Ducking and diving forward, I dodge another blade swooping down lazily and murderously from the ceiling. Standing for a moment past the hazard, I call back mockingly as the gas trap explodes and the two other contestants go down in coughing fits. "Being fundamentally better sours the taste of victory, you know."

Now that my competitors were incapacitated, I could take my time clearing the next few obstacles, as pitiful as they were. A short gap across a pit full of water was cleared with barely any effort, with the secondary surprise of a pressure plate tied to a log avoided at the last second. Of course, i'd known it was coming. No one puts a simple pit trap by itself, and it's always the least obvious trap that kills you.

Finally, I could see the arena at the end of a long slide dotted with spikes and pits cut out of it. Rolling my eyes, I take a running leap and hit the incline sliding. Only 4 others have made it to the arena, and they are busy readying themselves for the beast to be unleashed. They do not suspect my intentions until I'm wiping the dusty floor with them, although the final opponent did manage to stab me in the gut with a blade. Not deep enough to penetrate any organs, but enough to make me wince.

Booing from the spectators. And the announcer. "Ooooiii, bad form! You're supposed to work together on this part!" I scoff and crack my knuckles, watching the cage door as it opens. "That wasn't made clear at the beginning." Any further response is lost in a bestial roar, as something entirely unexpected grips the upper part of the cage door and rips it into splinters.

A grey mass of flesh and muscle charges out of the cage at me, two massive forearms pounding the dirt like paddles. "HHRRRRRUUUOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!" The thing cries, beady pink eyes focusing in a lopsided skull on me. Enlarged forearms tipped with large scythe claws support a muscular upper body, with a head that was almost entirely neck. It's tail was thick and muscular, knots of flesh winding together to direct the motion of an even larger bladed tail. For a split second analysis, i'd guess this was a native tree dweller of Kraw, distantly related to the Megalocnidae family.

Any further musing was cut short when the thing's tail sliced open my gas containment, releasing my entire stock of refined gas in a corrosive burst all over us.

Quest Progress - 430+682+781/2500+

 

[Mad Maggie]

I warily backed away just in time, the beast's claws scything frantically through the air as it scrabbled at it's face. Tears streamed from it's burning eyes, it's chest rising and falling irregularly as it choked on my Nox Gas. Stupid beast had brought it on itself. I drew my R-99 and sprayed the thing down with light ammunition.

The entire clip had only managed to cause a series of welts across the beast's stony gray hide, the raw flesh looking irritated and oozing orange pus. Interesting effect, but not the intended one for emptying an entire clip. The beast then charged at me while I was staring at it's wounds. "Oh-"

Impact. Injuries non critical. I'm thrown backwards nearly twenty feet and then the beast is on me again, slamming my body into the dirt like a ball. "HRRRUUUUOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!" It bleats, pawing at it's face as it retreats and swats at one of the other groaning gauntlet runners i'd incapacitated earlier. My R-99 has been knocked to the side, but on another unconscious body next to me there is a large jagged knife. I grab it quickly and rise to my feet, shaking the dizziness away and running towards the thing while it's occupied.

I manage to make a flying leap onto the creature's back, holding tightly to it's muscled shoulders. Immediately, the bladed tail rises up to stab the annoyance of my weight off. The knife comes into play here as I fence with the beast'd tail, waving off kill strikes with wild slashes as I get a grip on the creature's neck and begin to squeeze. The roar is loud enough to deafen momentarily, a tinny ringing sounding in my ear as I manage to dig the knife blade into the base of the creature's tail weapon, cracking the hardened keratin and causing another shriek of pain to come from the beast. The threat of impalement neutralized, I still had to deal with the thing's claws. Said claws had finally managed to grab purchase on my waist, squeezing and slicing through my flesh.

"Unngh." I grunt, driving the knife into the thing's neck, expecting a kill. The metal blade faces heavy resistance and almost bounces off as I'm hurled bodily once again, bouncing off a wooden pillar that cracks under the impact, splinters showering to the floor.

This time, when the creature charges me, I'm ready with my Wingman.

BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM
BLAM

The thing skids to a stop, knocking into my boots and causing me to waver off balance a moment, before stepping forward and placing my boot atop the thing's oozing, lifeless skull. "I claim victory."

The crowd reaction is mixed, so to say.

450 words

 

[Mad Maggie]

The horror I knew was coming arrived precisely when expected. Knowing about it did nothing to prepare for it either, despite having lived through every such occasion so far.

I CAN SWALLOW-A
BOTTLE-A
ALCOHOL AND I
FEEL LIKE GODZILLA
BETTER HIT THE DECK LIKE A CARD DEALER

The invariable celebration. After victory, such is natural. But these people were, unfortunately, my people, which was to say violent hunters of man and game. Which was to say they were akin to Legend-aspirants, which meant they fit precisely within that personality type. Suffice to say there was drinking and loud music.

Something fizzy and green sat in front of me untouched, courtesy of some fan who had appreciated my toxic flourish. My friend from before, the shiny outdoorsman, sat next to me and grinned his grin. "Caustic, eh? Well, ya cleared the Gauntlet pretty brutal! Gonna be a while before someone tops that!" He knocked back a shot of something dark red and smoking. "Neva got proprly introduced before! I'm Dukeranger Rorrim!" He extended a hand to shake.

Gingerly, I accepted, and he gripped my wrist tightly. "Still though...impressive as that was, don't go thinkin' yer the best." I withdrew my hand and stared at him placidly.

"What you kilt was basically a cow. We call em Treeskippers, cuz they use them claws to swing away from bigger crap that eats them. They're "erbivores", mate! Them claws is for cutting the carnivorous plants and eatin' em!" Dukeranger laughs and signals a waiter for another round while I decide to sip my free beverage. It's tropical yet sour, with a bitter aftertaste I enjoy. "Of course. Anyone would be a fool to think so."

I lean forward and bring my own veiled threat to bear. "However, I'm not from around here. And assuming anyone who is a newcomer is a wet behind the ears green horn is also foolish." I lean back and sip my drink. "I'm from another part of space. Where I am a champion of a bloodsport known as the Apex Games. Standard teamed battle royale competition. Your Gauntlet was merely a warm up for me."

Rorrim lets out a low whistle. "Fancy, fancy! So yer a professional hunta! What ya doin 'ere, mate?"

I tell him the truth. "The University. I wish to be among fellow academics, and find those who would help me in my endeavors. First of which being perfecting a pesticide to deal with the interminable wildlife on this planet."

Rorrim coughs loudly and smacks me on the back. "ER HEM ER HEM HUKK KKK mate, keep yer voice down. That's a...that's an unpopular idea. See...Kraw's one of the last frontiers...wild, untamed. Lotsa money, lotsa power in that. You deforest it, you're gonna make some enemies."

I lean back in my seat. "Nonsense. I merely wish to see if the required chemical -can- be made. I as it's maker would be held at no fault if someone were simply to purchase and use it as a convienient tool." The rest of my drink is quickly finished and I stand up to leave.

"Enjoy your wilds, Dukeranger Rorrim. While you can."

Quest Progression: 430 + 682+781+450+509=2852/2500

COMPLETE!