Alpha Agent: A Post Apocalyptic LitRPG

Dan was tempted to roll his eyes at yet another training session, remembering all the times he got his ass whooped by Jane. But since it was Michael Cynosa that suggested it, Dan held back his initial reaction. Dan, Li and Angie followed Michael out of the briefing room and they walked through the hallways until they reached one of the combat arenas.

“Think of this as a short team-building exercise,” Michael said. “Since this is a high-stakes mission, I want you guys to feel comfortable with each other, or at least have the patience to put up with each other until the mission is over. You will gain an understanding of my expectations as well as a few of my tricks you will use on this mission and all future missions you take on.”

Michael was the first to step into the arena and everyone else followed. “Everyone follow me and stand in the middle of the arena.”

Dan wondered what the hell they were about to do. Considering this was just an open, empty arena, he assumed this would be another combat exercise where Michael would ask all three of them to work together and take him down.

As if reading Dan’s mind and his assumptions, Michael said, “The point of this exercise is not direct combat. Here’s the scenario. Your priority is to escape from the enemy who will be: yours truly. You guys are going to work together and execute a tactic that involves luring me into a position of your choosing, make your presence known to me, and then split off to link up at a different meeting point. This is what we call a successful misdirection. You’re essentially tricking me into running around in circles while you guys are already on your merry way elsewhere.”

Dan and the others exchanged looks with each other.

“It sounds simple on the surface, but I’ve used this many, many times in the past to evade my enemies. While they’re running around like headless chickens, I’ll be completing my objectives with little to no opposition. Sometimes, confusing the enemy serves you better than killing them.”

Angie raised her hand and asked, “Wait a second. What’s the point of this exercise if you already told us what we’re going to be doing? Since you’re the enemy here, doesn’t that mean you already know our intentions?”

“You would be right, but your goal isn’t to win. It’s for you all to develop a fundamental understanding of my tactics. Such treachery is what you will need to pull off this heist and any other mission that requires espionage and stealth. I could stand here and explain all the theory, but I want you guys to put what I told you into practice. Is that understood?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I hope we get better terrain to execute those tactics of yours,” Li said. “Trying to misdirect you on flat open ground like this will be impossible.”

“Not a problem,” Michael said. “Ask yourselves why I asked you all to stand right here in this exact spot.”

In the next two seconds, the entire room flickered and their surroundings drastically shifted around them. Now, all of them were on a high-speed train carrying cargo across a desert land.

“What type of shit is this?” Dan asked.

“I guess Jane hasn’t shown you this feature yet. She always sticks to the bare essentials,” Michael said. “What you’re seeing is the full feature set of our combat simulator. We have the ability to replicate various landscapes to serve as our training battlegrounds. Impressed?”

Dan could somehow feel the high-speed winds rushing past his unhelmeted face. All of them were standing in an open train car that carried some crates stapped down to the car itself. He looked off at the horizon on the simulated sun was bright enough that he had to put his hand over his eyes. A bit of sand blew into Li’s face and he stumbled and rubbed his eyes profusely.

“Wow, it’s that real, huh?” Dan said.

“Indeed,” Michael nodded. “Now, let’s begin. I’ll be running off about a hundred meters, a couple of train cars ahead. That should give you three enough distance to begin planning your move against me. Best of luck.”

The entire team watched in awe as Michael lept onto the next car. From a standing position, Michael must have jumped many dozens of meters into the air. Once he left, the team were left on their own.

Training exercise has now begun.

Objective: Evade and misdirect Michael Cynosa and escape.

Restraints: You are not allowed to jump off the train. You must complete your objective within the train.

“This should be interesting,” Li said. “I love a good logic puzzle.”

“Easy for you to say,” Angie snapped. “You’re used to crawling around and moving through an area like a rodent. You just always happen to stay out of sight.”

“Guys,” Dan said sternly. “Any suggestions on how to play this?”

Luckily, Dan stopped the bickering immediately. Michael had given them a task and he would take it seriously.

“Michael relocated himself to the cars ahead,” Li said. “We need to get him to towards some of the cars in the back, secretly make our way to the front, and then cut one of the cars loose to separate us from Michael.”

“How are we supposed to do that?” Angie pouted. “We’re limited to only two directions. These train cars might be wider than subways, but how do we sneak around Michael once we lure him towards the back?”

Li snorted. “Your negativity is contagious. Not every combat scenario will have factors in our favor. What matters is our ability to make the best of it. We’re agents, not crybabies.”

Angie narrowed her eyes at the stealth specialist. Dan put his hand on her shoulder which seemingly calmed her down.

“I got the tool we need to cut the train car to separate us from Michael,” Li said. He pulled out a black sword seemingly out of thin air. “I found this among the cargo.”

“Woah what the hell? How did you find that?” Angie asked.

“I make observations while you think with your mouth always seems ahead of your brain,” Li deadpanned.

Dan watched the blade as white electrical arcs and static coarse through the length of the blade. “What makes that sword so special?”

“It’s modified to have increased cutting power. It should be enough to cut the links of a train car with a few swings. Ideally, this would be a lot easier with a viper fang, but you work with what you have.”

“Good,” Dan said. He pulled out his Initiate pistol and shot a few rounds into the air. Both his teammates stared daggers at him.

“This will lure Michael closer to us. Let’s get moving towards the back,” Dan said.

As the trio began jogging their way through the current cargo train and accessed the next train, which was a cabin for passengers, Angie tapped Dan on the shoulder.

“You guys still didn’t answer me. How are we going to get around Michael once he catches up with us?”

Dan glanced to the side and jogged past a few windows. “Once we get to the desired car, we’ll break some windows and leave the interiors. We’ll either make a run for it on top of the cars or hang and grab the side railings.”

Li chimed in. “I’ve hacked the cameras on this train. I can see Michael making is way from one car to the next. He’s following us alright.”

“Nice,” Dan said.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Angie said.

“It’s our only way of evading Michael without jumping off the train altogether,” Dan said. “You got any better ideas?”

Angie frowned. “I guess not. But you better grab me in case I lose my footing or I’ll kill you.”

The trio continued moving from car to car until they reached six cars later from their starting point. It was another passenger car with an interior cabin. Li opened the door and planted something near the door.

“What’s that?” Dan asked.

Li looked over his shoulder at him. “It’s a proximity-based smoke bomb. When Michael comes in, he’ll get a nasty surprise that will slow him down and buy time for us to get to the front. Our evasion will be pointless if he catches up with us while we’re trying to make our getaway.”

“Good thinking,” Dan said.

“Wait a minute,” Angie said. “If we’re going out the windows, wouldn’t the rushing air also release all the smoke when the trap triggers?”

“Then we open the windows and try to close them from the outside,” Li said. “Even if we can only get them down to narrow slits, that should be sufficient.” He walked towards a window and stood in front of it. Dan thought Li was admiring the scenery before he said, “Michael is three cars away. Now’s our chance to get out.”

“I hope this works,” Angie muttered.

Li unlocked the latches and opened his window while Dan chose a window across and released the latches on his window as well. “Angie, do you mind closing Li’s window once he gets out? I’ll go next and then you’ll close the window from the outside once you’re the last one out.”

Angie slapped on the shoulder and said, “Okay Dan. I’ll only do it because I like you.”

She moved towards Li’s window and Dan crawled through his window to meet the rushing air against his face. He looked in the other direction and to avoid the wind and gradually got himself out of the train and outside. Dan breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the current passenger car and the rest of the cars ahead had small side railings at the top.

Dan grabbed hold of the railing and shifted his hands along the metal bars and making his way towards the next car. He couldn’t see Li on the other side of the train so he had to assume he was there doing the same thing. Dan looked to his right and saw Angie had gotten herself out of the window and was not too far behind him.

He opened a private channel to the other two. “Are you guys alright?”

“I’m out and moving along the railing on my side,” Li said.

“I closed Li’s window and yours too,” Angie said. “I hate this shit.”

Dan reached the end of the current car and stretched his arm out to reach for the railing on the next one. He grabbed the next car’s railing and then inched his way along the outside of the car. Dan had faith that he had the strength and endurance to keep this up until he reached back to the starting point. He didn’t worry for his teammates since both were higher level than he was. Still, this was time consuming

“Li, you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“If you’re thinking of simply running along the top of the cars to get farther ahead faster, it’s a no go. This train is moving at over a hundred and seventy kilometers an hour. And it’s still picking up speed. We might struggle to keep our balance. Plus, our footsteps might be heard by Michael and it would give us away.”

“You think so?” Angie asked.

“Michael is a tier four agent with the best senses out of all of us. What do you think?” Li stated.

“Then I guess it’s monkey bars for the whole way through,” Dan sighed. “Luckily, I did my pull-ups when I was a kid.”

“This. Fucking. Sucks,” Angie said.

The team continued this nonsensical approach towards the middle car with the cargo. Dan was on the last car when Li contacted him.

“I got a notification. Michael tripped the smoke bomb.”

“Nice,” Dan said.

That should keep him busy for… wait,” Li said.

“Oh what is it now?” Angie said, exasperated.

“I’m checking the cameras, Michael is making a beeline back to us. That smoke bomb didn’t buy us much after all. He’s blitzing through the cars.”

“Shit, how long before he reaches us?” Dan asked.

“I estimate twenty-two seconds at best.”

That news was the kick in the ass Dan needed to hurry it up. He made wider grabs with his hands and then dropped off at the gap between the last passenger car and the cargo car. Dan got his feet firmly on solid ground and Li followed soon after. Angie was the last one who finally caught up with the other two.

Without hesitation, Li got to work with his sword and hacked away at the joints linking the two cars together. The passenger car in front of them had its door opened and the team were horrified watching the gradually growing silhouette of Michael running straight toward them. Li’s sword had cut through only two thirds of the interlocking metal. Dan tried something desperate.

“Li, pull back for a second,” he said.

Dan pulled out his dual Initiate pistols and began firing poth handguns frantically at the final bit of metal. After emptying both magazines, Dan saw that he warped the metal but it was still attached.

“Let’s try this one more time,” Li said.

“You guys better hurry the hell up,” Angie said frantically.

Li lifted the black blade up and made one last swing that finally cut the metal and separated the cargo car from the passenger one in front of them. Michael was only halfway through the last car when it separated. Dan reloaded his pistol and he and Angie fired at Michael’s position to prevent the agent from leaving the car and trying to jump.

The entire environment around them flickered and shimmered until they were all brought back to the same combat arena they had originally entered. The high-speed winds and the roar of the train wheels against the metal tracks transitioned to an uncomfotable silence.

Objective completed.

Bonus experience awarded.

The team heard a slow clap coming from the other side of the arena and they watched Michael walked toward them.

“There you go, agents. Congratulations on the exercise,” Michael said. “Li, good observational skills finding the blade I had hidden on the cargo train. I assume you were the one who planted that smoke bomb?”

Li bowed. “Thank you sir. And yes sir, That was intended as a trap for you to buy us time. It didn’t seem to do much.”

“You would have had better luck if you jerry-rigged a flashbang instead. That would have at least scrambled my senses and disorientate me.” Michael glanced over at Dan. “I assume you were the crazy one who came up with the idea of moving along the outside of the train cars by grabbing the side railings?”

“Yeah, that was fun, wasn’t it guys?”

“It was a good workout,” Li said.

“It sucked. I hated every minute of it,” Angie said.

Michael let out more boisterous laughter from Angie’s lack of enthusiasm. “Well Angie, at least you got the chance to shoot me at the end there.”

Angie shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Well everyone, hopefully you learned something from this exercise. I’m sure you had to plan and make alterations on the fly as you lured me towards the back and tried making your escape. Deception and misdirection can be two of your most powerful weapons outside of just guns alone. This heist will put you through the true test of what you learned here. Now, let’s get you all equipped at the armory.”