Exodus: Guns & Gore

After having breakfast with Anna he cleaned up the dishes and headed into the garage. His mom was taking her road bike down from the hooks. "Hey, want to go offroad instead?"

Tal smiled at her son and grabbed her mountain bike instead. "Awesome idea QJ."

They tossed their bikes in the back of Quinn's truck and headed out to the foothills. "Hope dad doesn't need his ride this morning."

"He can always take Anna's car if he really needs to." Tal rolled down the window, enjoying the warm breeze of a Vegas Morning.

"How's the Lark crystal coming along?"

"Today or tomorrow we'll attempt extraction." She spoke without opening her eyes.

"Lark is a really nice person mom, I'm not sure what you think about her." QJ glanced at his mom, she had opened her eyes and was watching him.

"Are you lobbying on her behalf?"

"Yep," QJ smiled at his mom as he pulled into to Redrock Park. "Try and take it easy on me today."

Tal laughed as she exited the truck and grabbed her bike. "Your dad always says the same thing."

**********

Two hours later QJ was back in his room, just exiting the shower. His desk hud showed that he had been called a few times while he was gone. He hit the reply button and almost instantly, Ringo's face smiled at him.

"Morning QJ. Been watching the forums at all?"

QJ shook his head, he noticed his teacher was using her GnG avatar. The eyes were blue instead of green and her hair was in a long braid. "Anything important?"

"New content is a huge deal in GnG." Ringo studied the relaxed expression of her ace, he was remarkably grounded given his position. "They are even talking about it on the Legends Server."

"Morbin is a huge deal on the Legends Server?" QJ knew they had effectively disrupted his power play.

"It's rumored that King Quilyn has lost all power on the Legends server and that Morbin is the one pulling the strings." Ringo frowned, "we may have disrupted some plans for players."

QJ nodded, "I was thinking the same thing. If you came from the Legends Server and were setting things up on the Phoenix Server to grab power when Morbin made his move..."

Ringo laughed aloud, "then you'd be pissed when a bunch of noobs turned your carefully made plans upside down."

"We have the inside lane now, let's not waste it." QJ glanced at his clock, "when are the servers coming back up?"

"At 01000 hrs. Normally we'd be grinding levels by then." Ringo leaned back in her chair, she was already in the classroom. "I'm making you vice-commander of One Problem QJ."

"Hmm... Do I get my own office?"

She winked at her student. "Sorry, that's not in our budget."

QJ made a face, "I'm taking the desk from the Dean's office."

"Interesting idea. See ya in a bit." Ringo cut comm leaving QJ staring at his desktop.


*********

Robin was sitting outside the Songbird Tavern, they were closed for business, but she was waiting for QJ who normally walked by on his way to the Academy. A few minutes later she spied two enormous black panthers, her target was walking between them.

"QJ!" Robin walked toward him, smiling when his face lit up. "Can I talk to you?"

He nodded at her, "walk with me to the Academy." QJ glanced at the orange haired Rogue, she seemed nervous about something. "Spill it Robs."

"I heard you were awarded a Keep in the Guns and Gore world." She slid a hand through his arm, smiling up at him.

"Not exactly true, my Guild was awarded the Thunder Keep. Although I am now the Vice-Commander."

"You'll need NPCs, right? I want to work for you QJ." Robin blushed when she said it, her dark eyes staring.

QJ returned her stare. "It's true we need staff. I was going to appoint someone to recruit workers, guards, and household help."

"I can do that QJ." Robin looked down at the ground, "I arranged for an extended leave of absence from the Songbirds."

"Thank you Robs, it would be nice to have someone I trust handling these things. However, I will have to run it past the Guild Leader."

Robin turned deep red and hugged him tightly for a moment before turning suddenly and running back toward the Songbird.

"Er... the hell was that reaction?" QJ watched the fleeing Songbird.

A few minutes later QJ walked into his classroom. Dessi and Ringo were leaning against the far windows talking. They were the only ones in the class.

QJ smiled at the two of them. "Morning."

Dessi returned his smile, "morning Dean Riley."

Ringo kept a straight face. "Morning Dean."

QJ sighed heavily and sat at his desk. "Doesn't that get old?"

Dessi glanced at her co-worker. "No, not really."

Ringo shook her head, "not a bit."

QJ stook up and walked toward the window. "An NPC friend wants to work for us as the Stronghold Commandant."

"Really?" Ringo raised an eyebrow, "wouldn't be the orange-haired Songbird would it?"

QJ nodded, "yep. How'd you know?"

Dessi whistled. "She definitely is qualified. Hasn't she worked as an operative for quite some time?"

"Don't happen to know her level, do you?" Ringo knew that the TAP NPCs were usually powerful, especially the Songbirds.

QJ shrugged, "around 180 I would guess. I could be wrong though."

"I was going to leave the staffing to you anyway QJ, with your NPC connections it only makes sense."

"QJ... my third years wish to join One Problem. What do you think?"

"Why ask me? That's a decision for the Guild Leader."

Dessi shot a glance at her friend, "Ringo has left that up to you."

QJ smiled pleasantly, "oh I see. Well then... denied."

Dessi frowned for a moment and then headed for the door. "Just think it over QJ."

Ringo waited until she had left and then turned back toward QJ. "What's your reasoning?"

QJ thought about it for a moment. "It would lead to a power struggle. They'd want their own classmate promoted to a leadership position eventually. I'd just as soon keep it like it is."

Ringo nodded in agreement, "I thought a similar thing. You have good instincts QJ."

QJ noticed that his classmates were starting to filter in. "They did help with the Keep, however, I think that the two levels everyone gain is more than enough reward for thirty minutes of work."

"I agree, besides it was your quest to start with. You and I spent an entire night being chased."

A few minutes later Ringo finished taking attendance. There were quite a few smiling faces looking at her.

"Good Morning Everyone. I don't need to tell you that One Problem impacted all of Guns and Gore last night." Ringo paused as her class cheered loudly. "Before we talk about anything else, let's take a look at the leaderboard."

Top Guild Level: 1) One Problem 18.5 2) Old Skool 18.4 3) Chupa Lupa 15.1

Class Leaderboard: Range Rider: Sexy Dexy-Lvl 19, Gunfighter: Oldman Crane-Lvl 23, Brave: Laffy Taffy-Lvl-19, Tracker: Carlotti Hottie-Lvl 18, Shaman: Dead Mimi-Lvl 18, Field Medic: Suga Pie-Lvl 20, Wrangler: Kingslayer QJ-Lvl 21, Scout: Cactus Flower Lvl 19, Commanchero: Breeze-Lvl 19, Cavalry: Iron Lou-Lvl 18, Raider: Devil Woman-Lvl 18, Gambler: Pinnacle-Lvl 19.

Top Five Ranking: 1) Oldman Crane, 2) Kingslayer QJ 3) Suga Pie 4) Breeze 5) Ringo

"As you can see, we have overtaken Old Skool thanks to our successful Raid on Thunder Keep. Additionally, we now have three members in the top five rankings." Ringo didn't bother to hide how happy that made her.

Breeze raised her hand. "What kind of changes come with a Guild Keep?"

"For starters, you will no longer report here in the mornings. Attendance will be taken at the Guild Stronghold, from there we will head to our morning activities." Ringo wasn't surprised when the class cheered again. "Please stand up QJ."

QJ stood up and walked to the front of the class. "Ringo has appointed me Vice-Commander of One Problem. I will do my best for the guild. We will be attempting the Kingslayer Raid today, with our increase in levels I expect it will be a fairly simple event. The main thing we want out of this raid is the 'Kingslayer' title for everyone. After the raid, we will be heading directly to our new Stronghold."

A soft knock at the door caused QJ to pause, a young woman with short black hair stood in the doorway. "Excuse me, I'm Rachel Brenner. I would like to see Dean QJ please."

QJ tried not to stare but it was difficult, she was a stunningly beautiful woman. "I'm just the Acting Dean until matters are settled."

Ringo frowned at the newcomer, the Board Chairman was Malcolm Brenner, she immediately made the connection. "Go on QJ, attend to those matters."

QJ led his guest down the hall to the Dean's office, he opened the first set of doors and walked by Veronica's desk. "Did you dismiss my assistant?"

Rachel glanced at the empty desk and swore to herself, someone had already messed up. "She was supposed to be here until I relieved her."

"Oh, I see." QJ walked into the office and sat behind the Dean's desk. "What can I do for you, Miss Brenner?"

"I apologize for overstepping, that wasn't my intent," Rachel spoke slowly, like a person carefully choosing their words.

"What is your intent?" QJ pushed his chair back from the desk, "want me to step down? I can get my father on the hud now and let you discuss it with him." QJ brought up his hud, a small bit of mischief shining in his eye.

"Oh god no, " Rachel stepped forward her hands held outward. "Please don't involve Quinn Riley, I'm merely.."

She was interrupted when an orange haired woman popped up on QJ's desk hud. "QJ! Have you considered my offer?"

QJ smiled at her. "Yes, since it seems to be my call. I'm placing you as the Stronghold Commandant., responsible for all staffing. Can you handle that Robs?"

"Yes..." Robin said softly.

"I look forward to working with you." QJ could barely hear her voice.

"Me too, QJ." She smiled at him, "I won't let you down."

QJ closed his hud and then glanced at the woman in his office. She looked slightly frazzled. "I know why you are here. You need to protect the interest of the Board."

Rachel took a deep breath, "I'm only here to assist you. I will do nothing to counter any ideas or decisions you make."

QJ nodded, "you can handle all the day to day items. Leave security to the Silverleaf Company, do not interfere in anything they do."

Over the next hour, QJ showed her the log of changes he had implemented regarding the Good Will Games. He then turned over the desk to her.

"QJ, this is more authority then I was asked to handle." Rachel seemed to be confused by his willingness to take a step back.

QJ shrugged, "I know how that feels. Do your best."

**********

QJ returned to class and took his seat; the class was studying the map area around their new Guild Base. Lotte had moved to the back of the class to work with Breeze, so QJ opened up his own hud and took a closer look. A TAP on his shoulder caused him to look up.

"We've never really talked, even though we are classmates. I'm Sato." QJ smiled pleasantly; this was a case of the avatar looking nothing like the actual person. Seamus Sullivan was a redhead with a face full of freckles, his scout avatar was named Sato and had brown skin with long jet-black hair that hung to his waist.

"You're a scout right?" QJ shook the hand that Sato offered. "Almost chose that class myself, have a seat."

Sato nodded and took seat in Lotte's empty desk. "Just wanted to say hi since we are practically neighbors."

"California ?" QJ

Sato shook his head, "nope. Henderson."

"Oh god..." QJ consoled him with a pat on the back, "poor chap."

Sato made a face at him, "only people who aren't from Henderson say that. It's jealousy talking."

Henderson Nevada was a small town about a half hour South of Vegas, by any standards it was a complete armpit. QJ tried not to laugh, "right, cuz all of Nevada wishes they lived in Henderson."

"See? You are smart." Sato snuck a look at the back of the class and lowered his voice. "Three questions for you. Trapped on an island for three months with one companion, Breeze or Lotte."

QJ didn't hesitate, "Lotte."

Sato look surprised, "unconventional but I like it. Ringo or Dessi."

QJ scratched his head and glanced toward his teacher. "Dessi."

"Whoah... I would never have thought that. Okay last one, Nina or Maya?"

"Nina." QJ grinned at his shocked expression. "She's so damn feisty."

"Brother, you're a brave man." Sato lowered his voice when he saw Lotte returning. "Nice talk, later QJ!"

QJ waved as the scout promptly retreated.

"You buds with Sato?" Lotte sat down next to QJ.

QJ shrugged, "first time I've spoken with him. Poor guy is from Henderson."

"That's bad right?" Lotte hadn't lived in Nevada long, but even noobs learned quickly.

Ringo walked from the window and stood in front of her class. "Okay everyone, it's time for the server to come back up. We'll be doing the Kingslayer Raid, QJ will be raid leader. Let's assemble at the Laredo platform."

Welcome to Guns and Gore the Phoenix Server.

Laredo 10 AM, Player population 27,209. Your current level is 21.

QJ looked at the player population. "Holy crap, it really went up."

Ringo did a quick headcount as QJ assembled the raid teams. "It's the new content, even the old players want in."

QJ quickly formed the raid into teams, he put himself with Sato, Ringo and Lotte. They slowly made their way to the rear entrance of the Bee Cavern. The mobs that had been threatening the week before were no longer a problem. Within a few minutes the entire raid was below the entrance.

"I"ll go up first with Sato and we will make sure Circa and Sajana are spawned. If they are the entire raid will assemble just inside the entrance." QJ took out his last large piece of Bee Wax and broke off a chunk before passing it to Ringo. "Make sure to use the wax, once I take the first shot everyone rush in."

Breeze raised her hand, "can we hit stuff?"

QJ nodded, "if you like. You may be better served shooting at the ceiling."

QJ lead Sato up to the entrance of the cavern, he quickly stealthed and walked inside.

Sato did the same and then followed him in. "Damn, I heard you could stealth."

"First we'll check for Empress Sajana." QJ avoided the bees that were busy moving around and walked toward the central chamber.

"She sounds hot." Sato wiped sweat from his brow, QJ hadn't mentioned that it was a furnace inside.

QJ nodded, "the most beautiful thing you've ever seen."

The pair stopped suddenly as the large bee came into view. Sato glanced at QJ in disgust, "damn... you lied to me."

QJ had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as he led the way to the wax wall. With the two of them working together it only took a few minutes before they created a man-sized opening. Circa was in plain sight. "Looks like we are in luck, restealth and move against the wall."

"You wiped out both caverns by yourself?" Sato shook his head in disbelief, "incredible."

QJ stealthed and tied his rope onto one of the Stalagtites hanging from the ceiling.

*Raid Speak: Ringo* We've moved just inside the entrance, had to kill two bees to make room for everyone.

*Raid Speak: QJ* Okay, going to start now. Rush in when the commotion starts.

QJ walked back to the hole in the wax wall and took aim at Circa the Ant King.

*Quickshot*

Circa has been hit for 2320 damage.

QJ turned and ran for the rope, he was halfway up when he heard Circa burst through the wax wall. He aimed overhead and shot into the ceiling. A moment later all hell broke loose. Circa and Sajana instantly started fighting beneath him as both ants and bees joined the battleground. The raid members charged in and started shooting at the ceiling. The vibration was many times stronger then it had been when it was just QJ shooting.

*Raid Speak: Sato* You totally scammed this place QJ.

*Raid Speak: QJ* I didn't make the trap, I only sprang it.

Within five minutes everything in both caverns was dead, as before the Ant King dropped nothing while a glowing chest was visible next to Sajana's corpse.

QJ looked at the raid list, everyone now had Kingslayer in front of their names.

*Raid Speak: Lotte* Thanks QJ, nice stat boost too.

QJ walked over to the chest and looted it.

Crown of the Empress

Grants Human form to the

Insect Queen.

He laughed when he linked it to the raid.

*Raid Speak: QJ* I actually gave this to a Spider Queen the last time it dropped.

*Raid Speak: Breeze* Why am I not surprised that you know a Spider Queen?

QJ looked at the crown in his hands, "I wonder..." He held one hand out. "Come."

A moment later Cleo appeared in front of him. Immediately he was flooded with feelings of warmth. He patted her head gently and held out the crown to her.

*Raid Speak: Sato* Bro... you can do way better.

Cleo looked at the crown for a moment and then picked it up in her hands. QJ could see the confusion in her movements.

"Here, let me." QJ took the crown back and then placed it gently on her head, careful not to hit her antennae.

The rest of his class had gathered around. They had heard stories of his Spider-Bee pet, but not many of them had seen her. Nothing happened when he placed the crown on her head.

QJ sighed heavily, "I suppose it was too much to ask for. " He reached for the crown just as a wave of powerful energy swept outward from Cleo, knocking him to the ground.

Sato groaned next to him, "Damn QJ, warn a brother first."

A quick glance showed him that the entire Raid had been flattened. "Sorry everyone, that was way stronger then it should have been. Last time it..." He stopped in mid-sentence when his eyes fell on Cleo.

Cleo was staring down at her bare legs in wonder, as her hands reached up to touch the crown on her head. Her skin was a pale yellow like a canary, the hair on her head was black but it also had a few stripes of yellow in it. Her dark golden eyes stared at QJ in wonder.

Cleo [Crowned: Human Form] Evolving

Level 26

HP 11250/11250

Strength 45

Agility 80

Stamina 49

BR:12

"Not quite human, but it looks pretty good on you." He quickly handed her some leather armor to cover herself with.

Lotte walked up beside him and smiled at her, "she looks powerful now."

QJ nodded, "she originally from TAP, but she's evolved a few times already." He noticed that she was staring at the corpse of Empress Sajana; he felt the hunger from her. "Take your time Cleo."

*Raid Speak: QJ* All done here.

*Raid Speak: Ringo* Okay everyone, I'm activating the Guild Base Icon. Everyone should have a 'Return to Base' option on their hud. Let's check it out.

QJ canceled the raid and activated the Return option.