Braxton spent a day repairing the light armor suit. Then absorbed the skill Scout Vision. The Major made it public knowledge the gate was functional again. That meant it was time for Braxton to be on the move again. He had wanted to repair the other set too. It was too risky for him to stay in camp right now. He needed to offload some gear before he headed out or he might max out.
He quickly brought Jax on board with his plans. After seeing the hoard of items he was offloading and hearing the plan, Jax was more than willing to come on board. Each of his partners would receive 10% cut for their part. He was tasked with repairing the second set of armor.
When he equipped his personnel set of armor again, Alpha chimed in. "Armor upgrade available. Scout Vision download in progress."
He collected the chain sword too for trading purposes. The mace and Power axe were also retained for trading. They were too big for normal people to use anyway. He kept ten energy cells and ten energy crystals from the gear and took the cylinders with him. There were four of them and he didn't want to leave any in the camp.
"Alpha review stats." Braxton ordered.
Braxton Ace age fifteen.
Strength 4
Agility 5
Vitality 9
Constitution 10
Intelligence 6
Skills: Combat Camouflage (Mirage 10%), Knifehand thrust, Skullcrusher heel stomp, Shadowstep 10 feet, Burrow 5 feet, Antitoxin level 1, Scout Vision uploading
Storage capacity 100
"Alpha can you advise when I will level up again? Or what requirement will push me over the hump?" Braxton requested.
"When stats hit a milestone you will level up again. Milestones are reached at 10, 20, 30 etc." Alpha informed.
"So close. Thanks Alpha." Braxton replied happily. His initial thought was confirmed.
Braxton was topside before the first person was allowed to enter the portal. They were going back in stages. The Major was going first and was going to return as the first test case. After that, they would work out a rotation order. Raven graciously took care of her promise the night before the gate was made public knowledge.
Braxton blew his whistle and Icca came promptly. He headed northwest. He wanted to scout and see if he could pick up the trail of the Tritops he left alive. They would be a problem if they weren't dealt with.
Jax had given him the blood vials from his other kills. He drank one of the Tritops blood first. Those creatures looked strong. The rocket launcher was heavy and hard for him to control. He suspected their blood would help with his strength.
It had only been just over two days since he left them running away scared. Braxton wasn't moving excessively fast. He scanned the horizon every hour on flat surfaces for any targets. He saw some birds on he second hour. They were circling like buzzards above a fresh kill. He couldn't see anything under where they were. Unfortunately, the area under them was a place he figured was within the Tritops range of travel.
"We got to get closer, Icca. Stop if you sense danger." He said in his most gentle tone. He had no idea if the animal could understand him but it couldn't hurt.
The two slowly proceeded. About a mile later, Braxton could tell there was a crater ahead. Braxton dismounted and activated his Combat Camo. He slowly approached and looked down into the crater. He saw the six Tritops locked in combat with four giant red scorpion looking creatures. They were surrounded. It looked like two opposing tank battalions going to war with one another. Neither one had strong enough ammo to break through the other's armor. It would come down to who ran out of energy first at the rate it was going.
Either way Braxton didn't care. The scorpions would be useful as armor for his customers. The Tritops were a threat. He wanted both of these groups dead for selfish reasons. He watched calmly and let them fight it out.
"Scout Vision download completed. Skill available for use." Alpha replied about fifteen minutes later.
Braxton activated it immediately it zoomed in as far on the scene as he wanted it to go. He saw the Tritops formation weakening. He also noticed wounds on both the scorpions and the Tritops. The poison from the scorpions must be having an effect. Of a sudden Braxton got to wondering if the rocket launcher could fire the canisters. The toxin cylinders looks to be approximately the same diameter. He decided to test his theory while he waited. The conversation he had with Blackjack and White Sparrow about the lizards using it to kill the Tritops flashed though his head.
Braxton removed the rocket and slid the canister into the launcher. Then looked into the sight. There was a green light. The sight wasn't as user friendly as the other ones he had. This one had a bunch of flat lines and no real guidance system built in. It was better that he had the opportunity to try it with his opponents trapped and weakened. He put the center line on the mass and checked his rangefinder built into the UI. He was a mile away and centered the group in his sight. He slowly squeezed the trigger.
The canister went about 3/4 of the way there and bounced once. The scorpions didn't react at all, but the Tritops started to panic.
Braxton loaded another canister, then readied to fire again. He looked into the sight and saw a red ring around the outside of the sight. He glance at the energy crystal and noticed it had to be swapped out. After replacing the crystal, he lined it up again. He went to the next line down centered on the mass. Then he squeezed he trigger yet again. The thump sounded as expected. The canister landed a little short and bounced under the scorpion. The green cloud filled the area and quickly all ten creatures succumbed to the poison.
Braxton waited to make sure none of them survived. He was also wary of the birds flying above the site. They were circling lower and lower. They looked to be waiting for the vapors to clear too. Half hour later the three birds landed. The heads looked like scissors. Their jaws had sharp looking teeth too. What annoyed him more is the birds were moving in on his kills.
Braxton summoned his pulse rifle intent on adding another creature to his total. The birds were chomping away. The furthest one was facing him and was moving around a good bit. It took about five minutes for him to get its rhythm of movement down. Then he took aim and timed his shot the best he could. He squeezed the trigger and watched and as mayhem ensued.
The bird closest to him picked up one of the Tritops corpse. The round hit his rocket pack. The primary explosion set off the rocket inside the pack. There were three explosions following that and more followed. It was like a cluster bomb going off in the center of the crater.
"Talk about rotten fucking luck." Braxton said aloud as he waited for the dust to settle over his treasures.
The bodies were scattered all over. None of the Tritops bodies were even recognizable from where he was. The only plus side was, he didn't have to worry about the birds anymore. There was enough of the scorpions left to collect there armor. Two of the birds had enough left to collect too.
Braxton blew his whistle and Icca returned to his side. He mounted up and rode into the crater. He collected the six corpses and set his marker on he Hazul camp once more. He wasn't sure if any of the scorpion meat would even be edible after ingesting the toxins.
He was still ten miles away from the camp, when it began to get too dark. He didn't want to try and reach the camp in the dark. His sight and vision weren't good enough at night either. Braxton decided to stop and collect some dried roots. He started a small fire. Then decided to test the Scout Vision to see if it had night vision. He was disappointed.
His disappointment quickly faded when Alpha's voice popped up again. "Skill acquired, thick skin level 1. Strength increased."
Braxton summoned another vial of Tritop's blood and downed it. Then summoned an MRE and ate it too. After that he summoned a bird and drained the blood from. He boiled and readied it for consumption. He still wasn't tired. So he prepped the other one too.
He summoned the journal and listed out the skills he acquired. Then recorded the creatures he learned them from. Now, Braxton wished he had paid closer attention to what stats he had earned from each. Knowledge would be important for his money making plans.
Once he finished making his records he activated Burrow. Sleep finally claimed him an hour later.