New Equipment & New Quest

I entered the command center and turned to the armory. Once I opened the door to the armory, there was something that I should have noticed earlier.

On the left side of the armory, there was a large sign that said [T-Apparel and Weaponries]. Below that sign was a large metal door that opened automatically once a player stepped next to it. Why didn't I notice something that obvious?

Well, I headed there first. It seemed to be a shop or something, but well, I'd never know if I didn't enter that place. The door opened once I stepped my feet right next to the door. Immediately, I noticed that the real armory was this place.

Several tactical gears were aligned in a mannequin. Multiple items were displayed from famous tactical brands. I was talking 5.11, Blackhawk!, Condor, OpsCore, Crye Precision, etc. It was filled to the brim with tactical gears. To be honest, if there was a tactical store like this on Earth, I'd love to visit it.

I looked at one of the plate carriers displayed in the store. It was an UARM-made plate carrier, albeit it was without any plate at all. However, the price tag wasn't really that friendly for me.

[UPC Ultralight Light Carrier] [MOD 2] [4.000 Credits]

An ultralight plate carrier made by UARM. A plate carrier consisted of net-like chassis to ensure maximum mobility without sacrificing too much protection. Popular among high-mobility units that prioritize mobility over anything else.

Armor Equipped: -

Effect: [+40% Armor Rating] [-20% Reload Speed] [+30% Mobility]

For what it was, it was too expensive for me, especially since the net-like appearance of that armor didn't give me too much confidence. I needed a chest rig, not a plate carrier. Time to move to the next item.

It seemed that the shop was separated into two sections. One was the weapon section, while the other was the apparel section. Naturally, as expected, the apparel section was larger than the weapon section, even though it was dominated by pants and shirts.

I looked for a section marked with [Chest Rig]. It wouldn't include the armor, that was for sure. However, it would be way cheaper than the plate carrier that didn't have any plate at all.

As expected, multiple chest rigs were placed on a cloth hanger in the display. Some of them were gears from the Soviet era, some of them were modern. However, one of the chest rigs caught my attention.

[Condor RA Chest Rig] [MOD 0] [50 Credits]

A chest rig made by Condor. It is equipped with 6 mag pouches as default and has customizable MOLLE webbing in front of it for custom attachments and pockets. A good choice for a new contractor.

Effect: -

It was cheap, and it was rather good. I grabbed that chest rig from the display and headed to the cashier. It seemed that the store owner was a soldier as well, considering how he dressed.

"Ah, nice choice," I put the chest rig on the table.

"Thanks."

"That'll be 50 credits,"

[Confirmation of Purchase?] [Yes] [No]

I pressed the yes button.

"Thank you for the purchase."

I put the chest rig on and put all of the magazines into the chest rig. There were still three empty magazine pockets left, and the rest of those magazines were empty. I needed to buy ammo too.

"Do you have any 5.56 ammo?" I asked.

"Of course I have. What do you want? FMJ? AP? Tracer? I have it all."

"FMJ is good enough."

"It's 0,50 credits per round? How many will you buy?"

"120 rounds."

"Alright, that should be 60 credits."

[Confirmation of Purchase?] [Yes] [No]

I pressed the yes button. For an anti-scam program, this was good, but I had to admit that this was annoying. Every time I purchased something, this screen would always appear.

"Thanks. Here ya go, four boxes of 30 rounds 5.56 ammunition." The man put four boxes on top of the cashier, and I picked them all up. Well, I had to put all of the bullets into the magazine one by one.

There was an empty table in the store. There was also a speedloader on that table. I put all empty magazines on the table and put all rounds on the table. I put the bullets one by one using the speedloader. It didn't take too long until the magazine was filled to the brim again.

I put one of the magazines into my AR-15 and the rest into my chest rig. I thanked the store owner before I went outside to the receptionist to get a quest or assignment. I headed to the receptionist desk and asked, "Excuse me, where can I get a quest?"

"Do you see the computer on the left and on the right? That's where you can get an assignment," he replied.

"Thanks."

I approached one of the empty computers. I pressed the computer quest and selected the [Assignment] screen. There was a list of assignments that were available for me. There were lots of them, I wouldn't lie about it.

[Medical Supplies for Outpost C-15] [100 Credits] [100 RP]

[Providing Support for Outpost C-13] [500 Credits] [300 RP]

[Solving Logistic Issue for Outpost C-12] [200 Credits] [500 RP]

[Looking for The Missing Medical Supply] [2,000 Credits] [2,000 RP]

[Request for Goblin Extermination] [1,000 Credits] [1,500 RP]

[Security Request from Iberia Village] [4,000 Credits] [2,000 RP]

[Fire Support for Fireteam #02] [100 Credits] [4,500 RP]

It seemed that it had varieties of rewards. It seemed that providing a logistic kind of mission provided much less reward in comparison to the other quest. It seemed to be easier too. Still, it was not something I wanted. On the other hand, [Looking for The Medical Supply] seemed to be pretty balanced.

[Looking For The Missing Medical Supply] [2,000 Credits] [2,000 RP]

Outpost C-12 has been missing medical supplies lately. Hubert suspected that a junkie stole the drugs because the missing drugs are drugs that will get people high. However, a further investigation suggested that military personnel stole it. Your job is to investigate and report back to Hubert.

Objective: Go To Medical Bay

Where the hell was the medical bay? Suddenly, a marker appeared in my sight. It was the quest marker, and it pointed where I should go. Convenient. Looking at the compass direction, it seemed that the medical bay was on the third floor. I headed for the elevator.

I pressed the button to head to the third floor. The door of the elevator closed, and the elevator lifted me up to the third floor. The elevator door opened again as it reached the third floor. To the right, it seemed to be the high-end barracks consisting of many rooms for officers.

To the left was the medical bay. Lots of people with white coats and stethoscopes walked back and forth. All of them were from the Carmine Federation. Still, who was Hubert? Luckily, the quest marker showed me the way. It was the doctor standing right next to the elevator for some unknown reason.

"Excuse me, are you doctor Hubert?" I asked the doctor.

"Yes, I am doctor Hubert." The man looked old. He really fit the criteria of an old man with his white hair of his and the wrinkles on his face. "They are sending the greens again, aren't they?" He sighed. "I assume you're here for the missing medical supply."

"I am."

[Tips: Several people will treat you according to your rank]

That warning suddenly appeared out of nowhere. However, it was pretty much understandable. As far as this NPC was concerned, I was a private. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Let's go somewhere more private, shall we?" Hubert said.

He walked in the direction of the barracks. It was more like a series of hallways littered with wooden doors left and right. However, considering that this was for officers, there might be more than enough luxury for them in those rooms. He then stopped when we got far enough from the clinic.

"Here's the thing, I've been missing a supply of painkillers lately. With how many soldiers that kept getting themselves injured, I don't have any time to investigate the missing medicines."

I asked him back, "Anywhere should I start looking?"

"Try the soldier barracks on the tents. You might be able to find a clue or two."

"What kind of painkiller are we talking about? Heroin? Morphine? Codeine? Tramadol? Ibuprofen? I want a more specific answer, doc."

"Oh, you're well-versed in medicine? We might have some chances here then. Alright, we are missing several bottles of morphine and several strips of Diazepam. My guess? Someone wanted to get high and created a cocktail of drugs."

Morphine, huh? Although it was quite common to be used to treat pain caused by bullet wounds, it was really addictive. Combined with Diazepam, it was something that would make someone really, really high. Unless intended, the usage of both at the same time wasn't recommended, and in fact, should be avoided.

"I see. Well, I should be looking at the withdrawal symptoms then. Still, I should be looking at the guard's patrol. This cocktail will get people very high, as far as I know, at least," I said to Hubert.

"Exactly. You're smart, and I like that. Anyway, if you want more information, try asking Staff Sergeant Robert in the commissary. He might know one thing or two about these missing drugs. He has the patrol schedule of the whole outpost. He might know a thing or two," Hubert said.

"Thanks for the information, doc. I'll do my best."

And the quest marker reappeared at a different place. Time to head downstairs then, to the commissary. I headed for the elevator again. Maybe the quest didn't involve any shooting whatsoever, but it still had its own difficulty.

The commissary. How to think of it? Grocery store combined with drug store might be the closest way to describe it. It was a store where you could buy pretty much anything except clothes and weapons. Items ranging from Pringles to catheter tubing could be found there. On the other side of the commissary, there were tables and chairs.

Staff Sergeant Robert was sitting down on one of those tables. I wondered what Staff Sergeant Robert was doing in here. I approached him, and I would be mindful this time, I'd call him "Sir."

"Excuse me, sir, I am Private Beuer. I'm tasked by doctor Hubert to gain information about the stolen medicine," I said.

He was sipping on a cup of coffee. "Please, sit down, although you are disturbing my break."

I sat down right in front of him. He put his coffee away and glared at me sharply. There was this hostile look directed at me. Well, I didn't know about it, to be honest. "My men are clean. Unless you have something more concrete than asking me whether I noticed my men are smuggling drugs or not, I suggest you ask someone else," Robert said.

Lieutenant Colonel? No wonder he was so old.

I should have asked a different question. "Sir, did you notice one of your men have been late on their patrol lately?"

"As far as I'm considered. There is no record of my men being late on patrol."

Different question then, "Did you notice one of your men acting weird?"

"Such as?"

"Loss of concentration, dilated pupils, tremor, or anything?"

"You need to be more specific, kid. I didn't have time to notice those things."

"Anyone scored terribly on the shooting range lately?" I asked a different question then.

"I have four people scored terribly on the shooting range. Private James, Private Del, Private Moore, and Private Elizabeth. What? Do you think the drugs have something to do with it?" He asked.

"I think so. Anyone acting delirious lately?" I asked.

"Let's see, Private Moore and Private Elizabeth are mumbling to themselves lately. Still, send a person to 24-hours patrol, and you'll end up like that. If you want to talk those four, just go to the tents," Robert said.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

"Anything else?"

"I don't think I have anything else."

"Thank you. Now please, I have three minutes of break remaining." He 'politely' told me to scram from his face. I complied with the request and scrammed from the place.