Stars flew past the window. Adama had known the ship would be in hyperspace but the sight took his breath away nonetheless. Down to business, he thought, and headed along the coridor he had spawned in. He reached a cross roads and heard gunfire off to his left. Still armed with his Enforcer he ran towards the noise. He saw two people, a figure darting through a doorway into the central chamber and someone giving chase. The second man turned his Enforcer on Adama and let off a series of blasts. He was holding it side on, a style that was known as 'gangsta'. Stupid tit, thought Adama as all the bullets went wide. He brought up his own weapon and put a bullet through the player's head, he dropped like a stone. Adama did not give the man a second thought and was already after the other opponent he had seen. As he entered the arena he spotted him lying in a pool of his own blood, he also spotted the shock rifle he had been heading for. By the look of the body we have a sniper camping it up in here. He looked up and judged the offending player to be on a ledge directly above him, not worth the risk, he thought and exited the way he came in. He wandered the halls for a while not finding any weapons and then he remembered what made this arena so frustrating, all the hardware was in the central room. Grinding his teeth Adama set off for one of the higher levels and an enty point to the central room. He practically ran into the player he met on the way up, it was the same one that he had killed a moment ago and Adama took grim satisfaction in dispatching the beginner again. So much for that new blood of yours Mace. He reached the third level out of four and decided it was high time he got into the thick of things. He ran for the doorway and just as he was about to enter he heard something.
Theres someone there, duck and roll. Not knowing why, Adama dived through the doorway and rolled, turning as he did so. A blast of blue energy filled the space where his head would have been had he entered normally. Having come to a stop after his roll Adama leveled his weapon and let forth a stream of bullets that dropped the woman with the rifle. He picked it up with a smile and turned to the room. Then he lost his head. He respawned in a coridor somewhere with only his Enforcer for company once more. "Fuck! I hate snipers." He decided that he or she must be on the top floor to have gotten a shot like that.
I bet they've got a juicy number of kills as well. He made for the sloping platforms that created the access to the higher levels but as he passed an opening to another passage a barrage of plasma flew at him, gouging deep marks in the side of his breastplate. He fell to the floor just past the doorway, his side was burning as the plasma ate away merrily at his skin. He turned towards the opening and aimed his Enforcer, ready to put an end to the player that had maimed him.
If it were me, i'd come around and through that other door there. Adama was confused, that had sounded, or rather felt, like Tactician.
But none of you have ever spoken to me before? Thought Adama, a question in his voice. There was no reply. Adama did change his aim though and was rewarded by a look of surprise on the face of his assailant as he burst out of the other doorway expecting to take Adama unawares. He fell to his knees with a bullet between his eyes. Adama had always prided himself on his deadeye shooting, his aim was superb. How many is that? Four, must be four. What was the limit again? Then he remembered that it was a timed battle. Good, i'm never gonna reach that sniper's score but I have a good chance of making the top five. He got to his feet and wished there were medpacks in sim matches, God this hurts, he thought. He was just about to recommence his climb when a thought came to him unbidden, I wonder how good that sniper is? He caught me unawares last time, as I guess he caught most others. He could feel Rage's desire to run out, grab a weapon and blast the sniper from down here. He also felt the touch of another set of memories, this one felt almost mechanical.
Theres a four second delay between loading with a standard issue Tournament sniper rifle, add a second for aiming and thats how long you've got to nail the bugger. Adama was so confused, he was getting advice from the friends in his head, that in itself was absurd. But it was useful information he had to admit. He turned and walked to the doorway that led into the ground floor of the central column shaped room. He could see the shock rifle still lying in the middle of the room.
Seven or Eight meters, cant be any more. I could make it. He knew the rough possition of the sniper above him and apparently he had five whole seconds to get the weapon and squeeze off a shot. Only if the barstard misses, he thought. He felt himself begin to run, one step, two steps.
Now dive, came the dark brooding thoughts that Adama had linked to Assassin. He did, and heard the crack of a shot behind him. He felt no pain and as he rose he started to count.
One, only a few meters left. Two, almost there. Three, he dived and grabbed up the weapon. Four, he turned and found his target. Five, he pulled the trigger hard and saw the beam lance forward, he also heard another crack. The beam passed the bullet in mid-air and took the sniper square in the chest, he flew backwards and lay still. The bullet impacted with Adama's shoulder and sprawled him onto the floor, the pain was immense but so was the joy at having made the shot. He lay there breathing heavily and probed his mind for any reaction by his friends. Is that...smugness? Ha! Another player ran into the ground floor and mistook Adama for a corpse, he had his arm removed by Adama's shock rifle, a shot meant for the chest but his aim was off because of the pain in his shoulder. The second shot finished the job and Adama pulled himself to his feet. He looked up just in time to see a barrage of rockets flying towards him, mesmerising in their deadly beauty.
He respawned and took stock. God it feels good to be whole again, the plasma wounds to his side were gone and there was no longer a gaping hole in his shoulder. Those two make six, I need more to garuntee my placing. He glanced into the central chamber to see what level he was on, the third again it seemed, and made his way to the ramp leading up. He was determined to find that sniper rifle and put it to good use. The rest of the battle passed in a blur. Adama succeded in getting his hands on the rifle and roamed around the higher levels making life a misery for the other players whenever he paused to take aim. He was eventually put down by a woman with a flak cannon who managed to get close behind him. The battle ended shortly after that and back in the chamber the players removed their visors as the computers awoke them from their catatonic states.
Adama smiled, it had gone well, he had needed a good performance and had delivered, all be it with a little help from his friends. He had finished the match with fifteen kills to his name, and had only died three times. He got up and went to look at the leader board. To his mild surprise his name was in the second place spot. Excellent, definately enough to get me through.
That was a good fight, loads o' blood, just how I like it, came Rage's voice in Adama's head.
Well fought tactically, good use of the high ground, well done, came Tactician's calculated voice / feeling.
Ok guys, we really need to talk, now that you finally are talking I mean, said Adama in his mind.