The red energy crystal loaded in the railgun had lost its luster. He swapped it out with another one. "I hope I get more than two shots per crystal." Braxton said to himself as he was working. He only had three crystals left and seven more targets. The math wasn't good enough if he wanted to kill them all.
He blew the whistle and hopped on Icca. Braxton moved closer to his targets. He had the lizard move as quickly as he could get it to move. As he was moving he said "Alpha display current speed on UI interface." The UI updated with a small number in the bottom right corner 25mph.
"Nice." Braxton whispered to himself. He rode for a couple minutes then stopped. Climbed back on top of the hillside and summoned the laser rifle.
He scanned the campsite for the counter snipers. The laser would quickly pinpoint his location so he would only get one shot and he would have to move again. He had no intention of waiting around to see if he hit his target this time either. After a minute of searching he noticed a stronger heat source using the dead Tritops body to hide behind. "He isn't stupid." Braxton thought.
It was impossible to tell which opponent he was seeing. Laser or pulse rifle didn't matter all that much. He needed to get rid of them both before he could go after the remaining Tritops. He focused on his target. Then he set himself and squeezed the trigger yet again. He exhaled and the moved back down the hillside.
Seconds later he was back atop Icca. He was on the move again. Back north, he rode for ten minutes at full speed again. He went on top of the hill again. The creatures were all looking the other direction. The time display read 4:30. "Still plenty of darkness to confuse these guys." Braxton thought to himself.
He scanned the group again. Looking for the last sniper. It was clear he had the group rattled with his tactics. They were scanning all around and some had already started moving west with their hands full of gear. The lizard man's smaller heat signature was missing from that group. The large Tritops shape suggested he was holding something on his shoulder. The other sniper was on the ground beside him.
Braxton thought about his current options. He wanted a better view of the Tritops. If he had the pulse rocket launcher, he desperately wanted to try taking him out. He switched to the railgun again. He was really beginning to like this scope. He zoomed in on the back of the Tritops head. He lined up the red dot at the spot that he associated with where his spine joined his head. Then squeezed the trigger again.
Without hesitation, he shifted to the prone sniper. He wasn't as worried about a perfect shot on this one. A wound from this weapon would be fatal on the unarmored lizard man. Braxton locked the red dot on his back and squeezed the trigger again. Then he zoomed it back out so he could see both targets.
The Tritop was down on its face unmoving. The lizard man was sprawled out unmoving too. Then he noticed a red ring around the outside of the frame. He checked the energy crystal again and it was dull again. He swapped it out then refocused on the Tritops running away. They were still in range but quickly exiting it. He decided to not attack. They were on the move and their armor was too strong for guesswork. Braxton put his weapons away.
Braxton mounted up and rode into their campsite. He collected the four bodies and their gear.
"Tritops acquired x 2. Blood lizard acquired x 2. Backpack x 2 acquired. Rocket packs acquired x 2. Armor chest plate x 2 acquired. Pulse rocket launcher acquired. Power Axe acquired. Bullhead mace acquired." Alpha notified.
Braxton mounted back up and returned to the hills. He rode southeast quickly after he was hidden behind the mountains. Over the next few hours he turned back towards the base camp, following the green arrow. He was intent on making it back today. It would be a day early but he had something he felt important to report.
He ran Icca as much as he dared and made the forty mile trip a little after ten in the morning. "Morning Blackjack." Braxton said as he rode up.
"Nice ride! Where did you find a mount? I want one." Blackjack replied in awe.
"If i told you I'd have to kill you. It would cut into my business opportunities." He said jokingly.
"True true, how about you give me the family discount then?" Blackjack returned.
"We might be able to work something out there. Three processed blood vials should be a reasonable amount. This bad boy can go as fast as 25 mph. He also eats rats so he takes care of himself." Braxton gave his best sales pitch.
"Sure, I can do that. You want them now?" Blackjack asked eagerly.
"No, I don't have one to sell right now. I should have one soon though. As long as the Major will let me roam freely. Be careful up here. I ran across a group of Tritops out there. I killed two of them and the four Blood Lizard men that were traveling with them. There were six more heading this way. I cut short my trip to report in." Braxton warned.
"You killed two Tritops? Are you serious?" Blackjack questioned the validity of his statement.
"I've brought the bodies with me. I won't bother pulling them out but check out this bad boy." He summoned the pulse rocket launcher and held it on his shoulder.
"That's sick. I haven't seen one of those in years. How many rounds did you get with it?" Blackjack inquired.
"I don't know. I got to rocket packs but I don't know how many rockets are in each one." Braxton stated plainly and put the weapon away again.
"Nice. I'd keep that between the three of us or you will lose it. The Major will try and pull rank and take it off you." White Sparrow chimed in.
"Thanks for the warning. I need to go report in. I'll see you guys later. I got some whiskey to share too." Braxton replied.
"Damn kid you've been busy." Blackjack said to his back as he walked away.