Crimson Gauntlet: Factions: Crimson Gauntlet, #2

By I.O. Adler

Crimson Gauntlet can get under your skin…

 

Trapped following the deadly release of Crimson Gauntlet, Eddie Rush must fight to survive against hordes of murder machines and even his former allies.

 

As the game spreads destruction across the globe, Eddie will need to rely on his wits and the help of his guildmate Laura to uncover the truth behind the spreading disaster.

 

But beware. Crimson Gauntlet will do anything to protect its secrets.

 

Can they outwit the game before it's too late?

 

From the award-winning author of Shadows of Mars and The Seraph Engine.

Discover a new favorite series in this post-apocalyptic LitRPG adventure.

Grab your copy and enjoy the ride!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lucas Ross Publishing
• Release date: Jan 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224882946

Book preview

Crimson Gauntlet: Factions

An Apocalyptic LitRPG Adventure

Crimson Gauntlet Book Two

by

I.O. Adler

Chapter One - Eddie

1

S hoot it! Hit it! Kill it!

My group of Crimson Gauntlet survivors spread out around the last of the shredders. You know the chipper things the tree people haul around with them to grind up branches? Imagine that, but on two legs. It kept trying to jump on top of us, grinding maw spinning, so it could turn us into mulch.

Fortunately for us, the Shredder: Level Five was as slow as snot on a cold winter day.

But the thing was a damage sponge. I had already used my Fade in order to vanish and hit it with two stealth strikes and was waiting for the cooldown. I had moved out of range, not wanting to trust my high Dexterity on a dodge if I didn’t have to.

Laura, our healer-tank Brute, was front and center, keeping the thing occupied. Her virtual armor glowed red around her, and her fists were oversized boxing gloves made of light. She had taken a good amount of damage from the five blood locusts that were now dead at our feet. They had preceded the shredders and we had killed them fast. Fortunately, her attribute of choice was Health, and she wasn’t close to being in trouble and hadn’t bothered to use her Heal.

The intersection was littered with the scattered remains of the locusts’ mechanical bodies. They weren’t the objective, but they were adds, or enemy reinforcements, called by the shredders when we got close.

With Laura on point, I had tasked my other companions to take care of them before engaging with the shredders.

Caitlyn was one of our two Blasters. I hadn’t gotten more than single-word answers from her. She was in her early twenties, with coal-black hair and wearing a ripped down jacket. She knew how to throw her fire bolts, and that was all that mattered this morning.

Domingo was likewise a Blaster, level four like Caitlyn. Early forties, still wearing a once-white tuxedo shirt with stains. Either food or blood, I wasn’t sure. He flung ice bolts that had a slowdown debuff, but he missed a lot.

I put points in Strength, he had proclaimed to Laura and I during our first group chat back at base, because I want to be strong.

Laura and I had shared a look and rolled our eyes.

Eddie Rush’s First Rule of Winning? Use all your resources. Don’t bank a skill, potion, or item cooldown just to be frugal.

In our case, it meant using the people who had survived the initial slaughter of the first days of Crimson Gauntlet’s world premiere. An ice-specialized Blaster level four who wanted big muscles? Welcome onboard, Domingo.

Player number three was another Brute like Laura. Heath Price. Square jaw, tall, real muscles, and said he was a cop and a combat veteran. Balanced build split between Strength and Health, and he had selected all the damage resistance skills available to a level four.

Price also tried to take charge and change plans at the last minute, judging by his war cry of Everyone up! We go in now! just before we launched our assault on the intersection.

What would have been a surprise attack, with our Blasters opening with a salvo, followed by our Brutes intercepting the shredders, with me and our fourth recruit delivering the sucker punches and destruction of the bad guys before they could summon help, became our current situation.

Player four lay bleeding out.

Tainted Biscuit, real name unknown, was a level-four Hacker who hadn’t gotten around to taming a pet. One of his flip-flops lay at his side as he clutched a belly wound. A blood locust had carved him open before I had demolished the thing. The shredder would have finished him but for Laura’s Taunt skill.

My jaw was tight and I wanted to scream, but I kept it bottled up. We needed to finish the fight before addressing players not following simple instructions. I didn’t want to lose anyone. I also didn’t want to die.

Quest: Shredder Hunt. Kill three shredders.

I cleared the quest log from my vision and blinked away sweat from my eyes. Price? Use your Taunt and get it off Laura. Laura, Heal on Biscuit! Domingo, Caitlyn, hit it with everything you got.

The shredder turned as if I had been addressing it. Over half its health remained. Price kept using his Punch. Laura’s hand glowed white, but before she could launch a Heal at Biscuit, the shredder jumped at her and nearly dropped its whirring mouth on top of her. I didn’t want to imagine what that would do, and guessed it would be enough damage to kill her. She dove aside at the last moment, but was too close.

The monster punted her. She caught the blow across her leg. Something snapped as she was knocked aside to the ground. The thing chortled, a deep ho-ho-ho like that old timey green giant selling canned vegetables. It snarled before coming at me.

I had my blades primed and ready, but still couldn’t Fade. I tore at the thing. My Stab got a critical hit, and I was rewarded by seeing almost a quarter of the shredder’s hit points vanish. It was slowed by the ice bolts and burning, taking a speck of damage every second. But it wasn’t enough.

Price landed a punch, denting the shell around its chugging motor and smashing one of its red eyes. But I still had its full attention. It kicked, kicked again, lurched forward, and tried to stomp me.

Fade’s cooldown ended. I used it, invisible as far as the game was concerned, and drove both silver wrist blades into its center.

I didn’t know if the thing had a heart, lungs, or other vitals, but the evil beast’s chortle turned into a howl. It stumbled away from me, knocking Price down. But then with a burst of newfound vitality, it jumped at him.

He raised his arms as if it would do anything to ward off the jaws about to turn him into chunky toothpaste.

An explosion flashed and deafened me. I flinched, but didn’t feel shrapnel nor shockwave.

The shredder disintegrated, raining pieces down on top of Price. The largest portions of whatever motor ran the thing’s twirling namesake chewer missed him by inches.

Dead monster or not, when a hundred pounds of steel drops on you, it hurts even inside the world of Crimson Gauntlet.

2

Laura saved Tainted Biscuit before the last of his hit points drained away.

The injury he had sustain included a bleed effect.

She clutched his hand. His health bar was up to full, the wounds closed, but his face remained screwed tight in an expression of pain.

He’ll live, she announced.

Quest Complete: Shredder Hunt.

Achievement: Oscillate! Masticate! Eliminate! Defeat your first shredder.

A glance at the combat log told the rest.

Player: Rosette used Grenade (Level One) and caused 19 explosive damage to Shredder (Level Five).

Rosette was on Laura’s game tag above her head. It was her registered character handle when we all thought Crimson Gauntlet was supposed to be a VR multiplayer game.

And the grenade? Laura had finally cashed in her crafting tokens before we set out that morning, and her one emergency item had just been squandered.

I marched towards Price. He stood over the shredder remains and was healing himself of what minor damage he had suffered.

You almost got Biscuit killed attacking early like that.

He looked down at me. You were about to hesitate. Caitlyn looked like she was about to run. That was our chance, so I took it. We won, didn’t we?

It was stupid. We shouldn’t have let them summon any blood locusts. That’s why we talked strategy before we even got here.

Strategy. Right. With you and Laura. And what’s your level of tactical training? You’ve been in the field against an enemy soldier trying to shoot you?

We both survived the first days of this game playing smart.

That’s the problem, isn’t it? You’re playing. We had a mission and it almost fell through. Get out of my face, Eddie, before I break it for real.

He marched back to where we had dropped our packs and found a water bottle.

What a dick, Domingo said. You want to try again with him? I’ll back you up. I’ve seen the Rambo act before. Bet he’s not even a real vet.

No. Drop it for now. We’ll need everyone able to fight if we keep getting handed quests like these. How close to level five are you?

One more XP bump like that, and I’ll be there.

Excellent.

Three blue boxes waited for us. One Asset: Weapon and two Asset: Crafting.

I told Domingo to take the weapon asset. He would have five in his inventory, including the ones he had picked up before coming to our faction base. An improved weapon for him. Getting one Blaster to their full potential sounded like a good policy.

Laura? Grab the crafting assets.

She remained by Tainted Biscuit’s side as he was now doubled over and dry-heaving.

Price had finished his drink and came over. He picked up one of the crafting assets.

I stopped him when he reached for the second one. Don’t. Laura gets those for now. She’ll be able to make more grenades.

I need a health potion. I’m taking it.

You wouldn’t need a health potion and she’d still have a grenade if you had only hung back and waited.

He pushed me. I stumbled back but didn’t interfere as he snatched the last of the loot. Caitlyn chewed a thumbnail as she watched. We had Laura’s attention, too. She shook her head at me, as if I was going to get into a fistfight.

I had never been in an actual fight with a real person before.

I’d slain tens of thousands of creatures with everything from summoned meteor storms to an enchanted letter opener. But regardless of whether Price was an actual soldier, he was objectively bigger, stronger, and could probably break me into pieces by flexing his jaw.

He strode to Laura and Biscuit. Gave Biscuit a slap on the back. You alright, bud? Before Biscuit could answer, Price said, Okay, let’s stop moping about and get back to base. Good work out here, people.

He took point, marching down the road that led back to our faction base. The others fell in.

Laura hung back to walk next to me. I’ll talk to him.

It’s not your job anymore. Not mine, either. What he did was stupid, but we don’t have to pretend we’re in a guild. Price is free to do whatever he wants.

Is this the Eddie Rush I know? Price’s freedom ends precisely where it gets other people killed.

Then we leave him out when we next go questing.

We could. But the group quests pay out the biggest XP. And like it or not, Caitlyn, Biscuit, and Domingo are looking to us to take care of them.

I didn’t say anything as we walked. I tried to dismiss the should-have-saids and ignore the rising tide of acid from my stomach at the thought of confronting Price again. We weren’t in the army, navy, guild, or scout troop. We were a collection of survivors thrown together by a psychotic game.

I wasn’t looking to take care of anyone. But I wanted to beat Crimson Gauntlet, and Price (Allied Player / Level Four Brute) wasn’t going to stand in my way.

3

Our faction base had a dozen guests. The handful of blue-labeled level zero staff took good care of us, keeping our rooms clean, the food hot, and the smiles ever-present.

The forced cheeriness didn’t go unnoticed.

Laura, me, and Biscuit took a corner table in the massive dining room of what had once been a Days Inn. Breakfast had been cleaned up. A sandwich station with meats, bread, and condiments waited, but for the moment, Price was the only one filling a plate.

The three of us contented ourselves with glasses of ice water. The weather outside was warm, a late summer spike in heat.

Some of Biscuit’s hair hung loose from his man-bun. He had his shirt up and was checking himself. What had been a deep gash was now an angry pink scar running from hip to hip. He prodded it. It’s tender.

Laura chewed her ice. I can’t help that.

No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’ve gotten thrashed on rocks while surfing but never had anything like that. All that blood, and I’m barely dizzy.

I swirled the water in my glass. Well, get your strength back. We don’t know what’s coming next.

You had something like this happen to you?

Almost dying? Yeah. Not a cut like yours, but I had my close calls since this started. It’s why we do better as a team and why we organize before a fight.

He nodded as if this was sage advice. The game even gave me an achievement. Stare Into the Abyss. It knew this could happen, didn’t it?

Don’t take what the game says too seriously.

How can you say that? Dude, it sent us there against that shredder. We barely beat it.

A balanced encounter, I said plainly.

So that means it knew we might not all make it.

Laura put a hand on his. But we did. Maybe get some food. You’ll feel better.

He looked paler than before. He looked over at the sandwich buffet before removing a small pipe from a pocket. He filled it with a pinch of weed from a plastic bag and fired it up with a lighter.

Price set his plate and a glass of milk down next to us. Put that out.

I’m freaking out here, Biscuit said. I need to get my head right.

Then go outside and do it elsewhere.

Laura pointed to the hallway exit. There’s a balcony at the end of the hall with some ashtrays.

Biscuit nodded and left us.

Price spoke through a full mouth of pastrami and rye. He’s deadweight.

That’s harsh coming from someone who hasn’t made level five, Laura said.

I’m still figuring the game out. But it’s not just about the levels. The others are in bad physical condition, they don’t think on their feet, and they look like they’re going to shit their pants at the first sign of trouble.

My jaw set. Like you shouting, ‘Leroy Jenkins’ and running into combat?

No clue what you’re talking about. This was our first time fighting together. My last group didn’t make it. But you two seem to know your way around. If we’re going to get through this, then I need to know you’ll follow orders.

Laura spat the unchewed ice back into her glass. Orders. From you? That’s not how this works. Eddie and I have survived this long being careful and doing things a certain way.

That got you here. But as we know, the game’s changing. It’s like when Zelda gets his boomerang. Time to learn new skills.

Laura and I kept quiet as he gobbled up the last of his sandwich, washed it down with milk, and left.

He’s really full of himself, isn’t he? Laura said. We can always get others for the five person quests.

I’ve talked to some of the newcomers. Most are pretty shaky after what they’ve been through. We have the best of the bunch.

So you’re saying we need him.

‘Need’ is kind of strong. If he keeps almost getting us killed, anyone would be better. So which one of us gets to tell him that Zelda is the princess’s name?

Chapter Two - Chewie

1

Keith Chewie Paulson kept his head down as he spied on the figure taking a pry bar to a padlock fixed to the cargo trailer.

Looter (Level One).

They were moving too smoothly and silently to be a machine. Chewie took his game glasses off. The only thing that changed was the label vanished. It was a person, but they had no player designation and weren’t listed as an enemy.

Their label? A faint purple, but not the same as his allies. Not Twilight Palace.

He fixed the glasses behind his ears again and scanned the quest objective in case he had missed anything.

Quest: Stop the Bandit.

The lock fell to the concrete with a clatter. The bandit undid the locking bar and threw open the door to the trailer. A truck sits half-off the road near a strip mall. All was dark that night, with no moon or stars. But the quest tracker pointed at the trailer. The bandit needed to be stopped, but there was no text description telling Chewie what that meant, exactly.

Kill them? Chase them off? Recruit them to the purple team?

This was the last place he wanted to be. The burning skull man—no name given—had recruited Chewie after he had fled from the Red Faction base. It was the day he had lost his wife to Crimson Gauntlet while trying to leave via the game exit.

The burning skull had promised him something. Tools to destroy Crimson Gauntlet. Power to punish Eddie Rush and their former Night World Online guild master Laura. Because of their negligence, Chewie’s wife Carol had died.

But the burning skull man had also told him the game could bring back the dead. Chewie had resurrected Shadow, hadn’t he? And while his wife Carol, according to the burning skull man, was gone, Chewie had been offered a way to recover her.

He had yet to learn what that meant.

The burning skull man hadn’t returned after dropping them off at the Ikea furniture store. It was where Shadow had decided they would stay for the night.

So many promises. But first, Chewie needed to stop a bandit.

They stepped from the trailer a moment later with an armload of bagged bread.

Chewie emerged from the bushes. Drop it.

The bandit was thinner than Chewie had imagined, wearing a bulky hoodie and sweats. They ran. In better shape too, and probably younger.

Chewie chased after them, a cramp squeezing his sides in moments and his breath burning in his lungs. The game kept a target square on his quarry. But they were slipping away.

His game skills. He had almost forgotten. As a level one player, Chewie had two options. Punch was grayed out because of range.

His Shoot strobed a burst of light from his palm. The bandit cried out and fell into the weeds on the opposite side of the road. The bread in their hands flew everywhere.

Wheezing now, Chewie made it to the fallen bandit as they were getting up.

S-stop, he panted.

A brilliant light in the bandit’s hands illuminated the ground for a moment before blinding Chewie. The looter, a teenage girl, he guessed from the brief glimpse of her face. He raised his hand again. Hesitated. The bread lay scattered in the milkweed.

Quest Complete: Stop the Bandit.

You are now Level Two. Congratulations! You are one step closer in helping us bring down Crimson Gauntlet. Please choose your attribute points and new skill wisely. Twilight Palace thanks you.

Before he could read through his options, another flash of light, green this time, erupted from behind him. A ball of sickly yellow impacted the fleeing teen. She screamed, slapping at the corrosive orb of acid before falling. She writhed on the ground moaning.

Shadow appeared next to him. Chewie’s former guildmate was a pasty, thin man wearing the tattered remains of a trench coat. His long greasy hair clung to his face.

You didn’t need to do that, Chewie said. We finished the quest.

And you need to learn not to turn down easy XP.

Shadow beckoned something from the darkness. A lumbering shape crept up next to him. A level-six ice ghoul. The monsters could stealth like a Hellion, and Shadow had used them against Chewie, Carol, and his guildmates while trying to stop them from reaching the game exit. Shadow was also level six, Hacker-class, and could have two pets.

But if there was a second one, it remained hidden and despite them belonging to the same faction, Chewie couldn’t see it. There’s no XP. We stopped them.

Shadow crouched next to the suffering girl. Odd, isn’t it? No enemy game tag. That’s new.

Quest Available. Recruit Player.

The girl was once again the objective. All he needed was a Twilight Palace circlet from a crafting station and she’d be part of the team.

Chewie accepted the quest. Did you get that too?

I always take the quest when it comes up. Unfortunately, I’m out of crafting assets to make a new circlet and there’s no nearby station. Waste not, want not.

He waved a finger towards the bandit. The ice ghoul lumbered towards her. Before Chewie could react, the monster slammed two metal fists down onto her with a horrific crunch. The ghoul raised its hands again and was about to drop a haymaker when it hesitated. A second blow wasn’t necessary.

Chewie’s stomach turned. Why? Why did you do that?

Shadow crouched over her and looted a red coin and an Asset: Weapon. Because as the song goes, there’s too many fish in the sea.

2

No XP for the kill . No loot for him. Another death, and this one left a pit in his stomach.

Chewie considered his options as they hoofed it back to the IKEA.

He had chosen Hacker as his class. He had refused to take the Tame Pet skill. Just looking at the metal monsters lurking about gave him the willies. But a second skill, Remote Weapon, was his only other choice. He had yet to try it out. Had hoped he wouldn’t need to use it against another person. His other skill? Corrosive Blast, like Shadow. With level two, he could either take Improved Remote Weapon, Tame Pet, or Improved Corrosive Blast.

The idea of not having to fight remained the best option. Wisdom appeared to be the skill for controlling pets, along with Charm. Charm specifically stated it worked best out of combat. That’s what Shadow used, Chewie was certain, and why he had tamed pets higher level than him.

How Eddie Rush would go on about making sure every talent, attribute, and skill decision be deliberate and correct in order to be of use for their guild raids. Hadn’t he taken Carol under his proverbial wing after they had rescued her? Talked her into playing even when they were on the cusp of leaving. And once you’re in, whoo-boy, but Crimson Gauntlet plunged its hooks in deep.

Whatever disease or poison they had in their blood could kill at the whim of the game.

He thought of the bandit Shadow had murdered.

No game rig on her head. She hadn’t actually been struck by acid. But her skin had burned. And then Shadow’s ghoul had finished the job.

New Skill: Improved Remote Weapon.

With a gesture, he summoned what looked like a machine gun made of light mounted on top of a knee-high pyramid. The weapon matched his eye motion, jerking about back and forth and sweeping the sky before aiming at Shadow.

A virtual curtain of purple crossed the sky ahead. It shimmered and flowed as if struck by a breeze.

Shadow had stopped at the last intersection before the mall. About time you found your skills. You won’t get what you want without them.

The Remote Weapon activation remained grayed out. No Target. Not that Chewie would. Shadow was much higher level, and Twilight Palace didn’t want its conscripts fighting among themselves. Or were they still operating under Crimson Gauntlet rules?

Yet the ice ghoul could doubtlessly break every bone in Chewie’s body, allied status notwithstanding.

Even if he could make his Remote Weapon shoot at the space where Shadow stood, Shadow had more hit points and Chewie’s turret couldn’t do enough damage.

Chewie regretted his skill purchase even as he dismissed the turret.

The glow of the barrier cast enough light to make Shadow’s grimace visible. "Tempting, isn’t it? Those are the thoughts I can understand. You want a shot at me? Take it. But I’m not going to stop getting stronger. And the better you get, the sooner we can go after Eddie. Don’t think for a second Mr. Speed-Level-Through-Content is going to slow down so you can catch up. He’s a power gamer, through and through. Learn your skills.