MMORPG: Rise of the Interstellar God - Chapter 154: Suicide Mission
As the communication ended, Apophis’s mind was already racing at full speed.
Was Azerof telling the truth? Did he really have Antanria?!
Moreover, did he really want to convince Apophis to work for him again, or did he simply consider Apophis to be an enemy too dangerous to be left free.
Was this simply a trap meant to put Apophis in a prison he could never escape? What should he do now?
But no matter how much he tried to think strategically, one question kept repeating over and over in Apophis’s head: what if Antanria was already dead?!
Apophis turned towards the command deck’s exit. “I’m leaving now.”
Grand Admiral Oskiol responded sharply, “We’re not done here, Colonel!”
Apophis spun toward him and hissed, “Well, I’m done with you! So either you order Gezol to kill me and deal with the consequences, or you let me finish my mission!”
Oskiol considered all the new information he’d just learned. The events surrounding Apophis were certainly mysterious… but there was no positive evidence that Apophis was a traitor.
Moreover, the communication which had just taken place was good evidence that Apophis was no longer loyal to the traitor Azerof, if he ever had been in the past. So Oskiol said, “You’re free to go, Colonel. On one condition: that Colonel Gezol places a ~Mark~ on you before you leave.”
“~Mark~” was a Rare skill that was common to every class’s Talent Tree, though difficult to access and requiring a high Intelligence score.
It was a kind of interstellar tracker which recorded everything the user did, as well as allowing the Skill’s user to track the target anywhere in the universe.
For obvious reasons, the Skill was very popular with bounty hunters and law enforcement, but it had a fairly basic limitation: if the target’s Energy ever surpassed that of the user, the ~Mark~ would break.
Sorry, the player with the name “Apophis” is unreachable.
Hulk snarled, “Shit!”
White asked, “What’s going on?”
Hulk said, “Apophis’s team succeeded in their mission. They’ve found Antanria… but I don’t think they’re on Azerof’s ship, since I can reach them. I think they’re here on the planet.”
White frowned. “Then she isn’t on the Imperial flagship, where Apophis is now heading.”
Hulk nodded. “It’s a trap for sure, but I can’t reach him by message.”
White let out several curses. “We have to go get him! Right now!”
Hulk shook his head. “No! Apophis gave us the mission to retrieve his team and Antanria. We will continue on our mission, then consider our options afterwards.”
White snapped, “Shut up! Apophis has priority. Don’t you understand? He’s our real guild leader. If he’s captured and we can’t free him, then it’s over for all of us!”
Hulk’s voice became low and harsh. “That’s enough, White. Apophis made me leader of this mission, and we’ll do as I say!”
White laughed. “I didn’t join the guild to be ordered around by a little shit like you. I joined because of Apophis! I joined to do something great!”
Hulk realized she might very well leave, and that it would be impossible for him to complete the mission without her. He shifted his strategy. “Calm down, White. Look, this is exactly what Apophis himself would do. Remember Cronos I? He focused on his mission even when all his team was eliminated. That’s why he always wins, because he stays focused!
White thought about this for a few seconds. “Yes, you’re right. Sorry. I’ll follow your lead on this.”
Hulk didn’t let his relief show. “No apologies needed. Only focus. Let’s hurry up and find Antanria, so we can help Apophis as soon as possible. White, your team’s task is to find and disable the anti-air battery. If not, we have no hope of escape after we complete the mission.”
White nodded. “Alright!”
Everything was finally falling into place.
