Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 172

Chapter 172

We met up with the rest of the Crimson Company near the middle of the city, near a massive sinkhole that swallowed the entire city center. It was a cataclysmic sinkhole, looking as though a titanic cavern had collapsed, leading to the earth swallowing several dozen skyscrapers. Sand coated the site of destruction in thick dunes, though the tops of skyscrapers and shattered buildings stuck out of the sand-filled hole, reflecting the sunlight all around. 

Interestingly, inside of the crater and the surrounding areas were entirely free from the plant life infesting the rest of the city. I was half tempted to flick on Aetherial Perception to see if there was a magical reason behind such a peculiarity, but cold fear that immediately followed stopped me. 

Thankfully, the Opera House wasn’t part of the swallowed buildings, but it was a near miss. Just off to the side of the sinkhole, across a tattered street half falling in, sat our target. It lay buried under thick carpets of sand, causing the half-sphere-styled building to look like one massive artificial dune. It had perfect camouflage with its surroundings, so much so that I doubt anyone would’ve picked it out without the exact coordinates of the building. It didn’t help that the building was already originally built half-underground.

The convoy pulled out onto a grassy road on the other side of the building from the pit, pausing as Captain Roger’s voice crackled over the comms. “Right, listen up. For those of you who haven’t been here yet, the entire building is in lockdown. Some nasty defense systems are still active even after all this time, so no one enters without my say-so.”

There was a pause, almost as if the Captain was listening to someone else for a few moments before continuing. “Chek, we’ll set up camp in the connected parking garage. We’re in the city now, so a squad at both entrances. Red-Four and Five, that’s you. Red-One, go contact Triton and offer an exchange of ammo for water. Red-Two, you’re on scouting duty still. I want another sweep of the premises.”

”What about us, Captain?” Tyrone asked. 

“T-1, you’re responsible for setting up camp while the techie checks the APC over.” I knew for a fact I’d have to replace the sensors at least. No telling what kind of damage internally the vehicle took from the rockets either. “Red-Six, stay at camp with Zuku. Red-Three, you’re on external guard. If something is approaching, I want to know beforehand. Golds, join T-1. Nomads, you’re free to do whatever.” 

As soon as the orders were given, the entire convoy split into action. We followed the Mice toward our new base camp, which was a bitch and a half to get into. The entirety of T-1, except for the Adept who had Doctor Jerad with him, had to get out and start shoveling sand away from the buried entrance.

Instead of joining that… fun experience, I took the time to look over the APC itself. I ran onboard diagnostics from the vehicle's built-in terminal, which revealed a loss in efficiency with the drivetrain, probably due to the inferior components I had to use. There were also minor issues with the fuel line and electrical systems, but nothing that couldn’t be put off for a day or two. 

The real kicker was the sensors. I thought I’d have to replace just a few at first. Looking at the diagnostic report though, over thirty percent of the various sensors had been blown off. Most of them were for the main cannon, though there were other supplemental devices that wouldn’t work without the data provided by the sensors. That wasn’t including the several dozen cameras that had been hit with stray bullets or the thorn attacks of the Growths, which just added more to my plate.

If I was back home in the city, such a repair would be time-consuming but not impossible. Out here though? I couldn’t just go buy new ones. And I sure as hell didn’t have the stuff on hand to make them- or at least, I didn’t think so.

I paused my thought process to clamber up onto the APC and take a look at the remaining sensors. A quick pulse through them with Technical Expertise, and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to just make them. The kind of microelectronics I’d need would take way, way too long to try and shape by hand, not to mention they needed to be exact else the readings would be out of wack. If I had access to my SITCH metal printer, I could do it. 

I took the opportunity to go around the entire vehicle and scan it, disguising my actions as checking for damages. Slowly but surely, I built up the APC's entire blueprint in the back of my head, including the several modifications to the vehicle. Most of them had to do with turrets and the gun system’s various autoloaders, which was a handy schematic to know. 

I did recognize quite a few hidden compartments though from the blueprints I took from the Neo-Jokers. Ninety percent of them were various hidden ammo storages for the auto feeders, but I did pick up on a small armored vault hidden below the driver's seat. Not that I’d go pilfer through it or anything. Stealing from the Crimson Company while on a mission with them was bound to cause problems.

Anyway, aside from the sensors and cameras, the damages weren’t that bad. The armor was a little warped from the rockets, but nothing too severe. Or, at least, nothing I wanted to risk fixing. I had some knowledge on how to fix the armor if I needed to, but it was entirely book knowledge from Tech I had yet to apply anywhere. No telling if I’d just make it worse.

I jotted down a list of everything I’d need, then did a final checkup of the vehicle before looking around. Aside from the Squads keeping watch, everyone else was helping dig up the hidden entrance. I watched for a moment, amused as one guy kept digging the same spot, not realizing the sand he threw out kept sliding back into the hole. 

Then I headed off to find Captain Roger. I asked a few people before finding a guy who actually knew where he was. A member of Red-Four, I think. The man leaned up against one of the Mice, checking his rifle. “Uh- yeah. Captain is up on top of the dune, looking over the area.”

”On top?” I glanced back toward the dune covering our location, my eyes glazing over the sand until I locked onto a few sets of tracks leading up the dune. “Right. Thanks.”

”Don’t mention it.”

I left the guy behind, following in the steps of the group heading up. About halfway up, I left the cool shadows of the city behind for the blazing desert sun. A quick adjustment of my poncho back to cooling helped fix that little issue, as did taking several gulps of fresh water from the canteen now that I was mostly out of sight. The water tasted so much better than the swill everyone had in their canteens. It’s just too bad that it would raise some brows if I were to wave the gem-encrusted canteen around.

As I crested the dune, I spotted the Captain amongst two other Crimson Company members. They weren’t talking to each other, so probably here just to give the Captain some additional protection so far away from the rest of the group. Not that the guy looked like he needed it. Being the Captain of a bunch of Private Military Contractors probably meant something about his own personal skills.

I stepped down loudly, intentionally crunching the sand underfoot. Captain Roger’s head snapped back slightly as his eyes darted to me before he once more relaxed. “Ah, Zuku! What can I do for you?”

I handed over a slip of paper. “This is what I need to fix the APC.”

”Can’t just find it in any old store, I take it?” Captain Roger tilted his head slightly. “Could you make do with slightly different models?”

”Chek. Probably be able to jury rig it, but they need to be of at least a certain level for me to get everything hooked up and working. Doubt there’d be too many places with the kind of stuff I need considering the city is so old…” I shrugged.

The Captain looked over the list one more time before leaning back and tapping his chin. I followed his gaze to the massive pit that lay just before us. He nodded to himself, seemingly coming to a decision before reaching for his walkie-talkie. “Sergeant Hampton, come up to me atop the dune… Bring Lenny Deseren up with you.”

The handheld device cracked briefly. “Chek.”

A few minutes later, the squad leader of Red-Six and five other people walked up. I recognized four of the five as several of the Nomads I had yet to meet, and the other one was Lenny, the guy who looked related to Drake Deseren, the Patriarch of the Deseren Family.

“Captain Roger.” Lenny greeted the man, casting a speculative glance at me before nodding to the other Nomads. They split off, giving space for us to talk.

“Lenny.” The Captain nodded to the man before asking Hampton a question. “You remember what we talked about when we first got here?”

”P?na Coladas are best served-“

”No, the other thing.” The captain swiftly got him back on track.

Hampton shrugged, his gaze briefly looking over me before looking out toward the horizon. “That it sure sucked not having anything set up here. If we had some kind of data, we could use it to predict and take care of any hostile groups.”

”Precisely… Lenny, you know where a news channel would’ve been set up here?” 

The Nomad squinted up the sun before sweeping the horizon with his eyes. He pointed out towards a tall tower rising above the cityscape on the opposite side of the pit. “Hmm… New Tress Radio might still be standing in Karaoke Plaza. Everywhere else probably would’ve been scavenged by now.“

“Good.” Captain Roger seemed to be throwing a plan together as he asked me one final question. “Zuku, you think New Tress Radio’s building would have what you needed?”

I could put two and two together as I realized what the man intended. “If they have weather monitoring equipment, then yeah, I could repurpose the sensors. It won’t be as good, but it’ll work.”

His voice slipped back into a commanding tone. “Hampton, take Zuku with you to hit up New Tress Radio’s building for the parts she needs to fix up the APC. Having the gun’s targeting array back online will help make short work of any other drones the Urjune Company pulls out.”

”Sir.”

Captain Roger turned to me. “While there, Zuku, see if you can’t get the remaining weather monitoring equipment back up and running. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just enough for us to detect movements and frequencies within the city. If not, don’t worry too much about it.”

Lenny stopped us before we could set off. “Ah, before you go, I should warn you. There is a reason it hasn’t been scavenged yet. We heard the tales back when the Family passed by this place that Karaoke Plaza is supposedly haunted. It is said that all who go in never come out.”

Spooky. Hate to be the one who has to go there- oh, wait…

”Haunted, you say?” Hampton’s body went rigid as a look passed through his eyes. How is it that I ended up with a coward as the leader of my guardian squad?

“That’s what the tales say.” Lenny shrugged. “There’s probably some truth to it considering New Tress Radio has yet to be scavenged. And not from a lack of effort, I reckon; all sorts of old tech there waiting to be sold.”

Hampton backed away slowly, his tensed limbs seeming to grow even tenser. “Captain, I don’t know about this. Can you send another squad?”

Captain Roger sighed deeply. “Hampton, we’ve been over this. There’s no such thing as ghosts! You’ll be fine. Escort Zuku to New Tress Radio. End of discussion.”

”Captain!” Hampton called, though the Crimson Company leader completely ignored him as he turned away and started talking to Lenny.

I turned away from the frantic sergeant, heading back down to the vehicles to prepare. Next stop, New Tress Radio.