Rise in Stakes

*First Person POV: Aspen*

After seeing Jarv and his crew disappear over the slight uphill of the street he was driving on, I turned to Ghost, and with a smile, I asked him, "So, what do you think about a penthouse for us to use as an HQ in the future?"

Ghost scoffed before responding in a sarcastic tone. "Oh, it's great, you know. No one will ever see us as we walk in and out of a luxury apartment building day after day."

"Oh, come on, don't be like that, see the bright side of things," I tried to make my point.

Ghost smirked at me as he turned around and started walking towards the building with me trailing behind him. "Well, in all fairness, no one would expect a man who claimed he wanted to lay low as he planned out his revenge to be living a lavish life in a penthouse and even making deals with unknown experimental technology. On that note, and excuse me if this offends you, but when the fuck did you become such a genius? Military knowledge, sure I give you that, piloting skills, well, you're better than me but not by much, we were both Epsilon-level pilots before I bit a bullet, but science? Yeah, no fucking way."

I act as if I'm hurt by his words as I bring my hands to my chest and clutch it. "Oh my dear Simon, you have no idea just how much that hurts my pride and ego…" We both break into a chuckle as we step into the elevator to go to the top floor and into the now-remodeled 2-bedroom apartment we had previously been using as our operations base.

"Today is a day that calls for celebration. First off, the Tiger Claws are now just whispers gone with the wind and now we have a reactor generating us money, a building fully operational, and soon enough, it will be bringing us some credits." I say with a joyful tone.

"That's something I'd drink to anytime. Though I doubt we are where you envisioned us to be on the revenge plan." Ghost said reminding me once again of what was one of the main things I wanted to enact. 

"Yeah, you're right, but everything will be done in its due time. We have, what, 2 maybe 3 weeks since we started down this path. Now we don't have to worry about a base, food, weapons, etc. We only need to get money for us to buy ourselves some mechs. In the meantime, I have a favor to ask you, it's a small matter."

Ghost eyed me for a second before nodding. "Sure, what is it?"

"Remember Michael?" I ask.

Ghost chuckled at my words. "Even if I had my memory wiped, how could I forget about a man I met not that long ago? He's the one with the kid and the hangar, right?"

I nod. "Yup, that's the one. I want you to go to his hangar and offer him the other 2-bedroom apartment on this floor. I'm also thinking of offering him a job with an alright salary to manage this building and maybe some other properties further down the line."

Ghost pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on as he replied to my request. "Roger that, I'll get going right away if that's no issue with you."

I nodded at him as I pointed towards the door. "Go on ahead, the sooner they're here the sooner we can start celebrating."

With that, Ghost quickly left the apartment, the hiss of the automatic sliding door confirming he had left.

"Alright, I guess it's about time I check in with you again, Jarvis."

"Ah, Host, you remember you have a system that you are not using to its fullest. What a surprise."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry for forgetting about you. Now what notifications do I have? I know for a fact that I completed that last quest since we took care of the Tiger claws." I stated confidently.

"The Host would be correct in assuming so!

Ding! Congratulations on completing the quest: Who Dares?

Reward: 3500 CSP

Additional killing rewards: 490 CSP"

"Woah, Jarvis why so much CSP when we barely killed anyone this time around?"

"Host, have you forgotten the rules for earning CSP while expediting the appointments of all these wretched souls with The Maker? 

Depending on how fowl they were, their souls may be worth more CSP. Do not forget the Host also killed the heads of the Tiger Claws, people whose souls were worth over 50 CSP each."

"Oh, right, I had forgotten about that… anyways, is there anything else? Let's check my inventory."

"The Host has a new quest and another quest has been updated. However, I will display the inventory information first.

Inventory:

Mech Repair Kit x1

Mech Upgrade Kit x1 (Both repair and upgrade kits can only be used when in possession of a mech. Repair kits will only offer the necessary parts for a mech to become 100% operational according to what said mech is missing. Upgrade kits will only offer an upgrade in capabilities of the mech, being capable of boosting a mech's ability to fight opposing mechs of a higher class to a certain extent. For example, if the Host uses this on a Valkyrie Class mech of the 3rd tier, he may be able to fight against a Valkyrie Class mech of the 4th tier.)

Holy Bible x1"

"I had completely forgotten that I had a mech repair and upgrade kit. Fuck, I could've taken one of the damaged mechs from the battlefield, taken Jess' mech, it was the least damaged. Now all of it has probably been scrapped. Fuck, I could've saved myself so much money. What a dumbass."

"Host, do not demean yourself even if you are correct in everything you're stating. You weren't in the right state of mind at the time, clashing between the memories of your past self and your actual self from Earth."

"I guess that's one way to put things. Alright, let me see what you mentioned before, about a new quest and an updated mission."

"Sure thing, Host!

Updated Mission: No Rest for the Wicked

Hunt down and Kill ??? Reward: 5000CSP -> 8000 CSP

Hunt down and Kill ??? Reward: 6000CSP -> 9000 CSP

Hunt down and Kill ??? Reward: 9000CSP -> 14000 CSP

Hunt down and Kill ??? Reward: 12000CSP -> 20000 CSP

Hunt down and Kill Ajax Reward: 20000CSP -> 28000 CSP

Hunt down and Kill Valina Reward: 25000CSP -> 35000 CSP

New Quest: Hunt the Hunters

Description: Members of Ajax's crew are in the city of Kloln looking for you or anything that can lead them your way. Take care of them but do so in a way that doesn't attract any more attention to you in Kloln. It is advised that the Host kills them in another city without letting any information be sent back to Ajax.

Reward: 5,000 CSP"

At first, I was shaken, why were the rewards this high for the new quest I had just received, but then I looked back at the previous Mission and realized something. "Holy shit, wait, why did the rewards go up for the Mission?"

"The Host has earned himself a certain reputation associated with the name Reaper. Therefore the ones hunting the Host are more on edge than they previously were making it more likely for them to find the Host and for them to be ready to not even give the Host a chance to process what happened."

"Well, that's fucking great." I say as I grab my Nexus and select the contact under "Ghost". I wait for a few seconds before Ghost's voice comes through the other end.

"What's wrong?" he asks, his senses already letting him know that something is up.

"I have very reliable information that has given me more than enough reason to believe that some of Ajax's subordinates may be cracking down on us," I said, my voice oddly calm although inside I was panicking like crazy.

"Is this that power acting up again?" He asked.

I nodded to myself as I replied, "Yeah. Just be on the lookout, I don't know just how much information they might have on us or how close they are. I just know they're somewhere in the city and our reputation from 1 mission has caught their attention."

"Copy that." Ghost replied with a serene calm. "I'm almost at Michael's hangar, only a few minutes away. Once I get the and all their stuff I'll be making my way back to you… In the meantime, stay frosty. They might find you before they find me."

"Funny of you to say that, it's not my face that has been out this entire time," I say.

Ghost replied with a mocking tone. "Yeah, but you're the only one in the city between the two of us."

"Fair enough, stay on alert then…" I say as I end the communication.

Great… this is just what I needed. It was only one job, one fucking job, and we somehow got on their radar although what we did could in no way, shape, or form connect back to Aspen Del Santo.

Well, I can't let worries keep me from advancing the goals I already have in mind. So how about I set this thing up?

*Third Person POV*

Aspen stepped into the government agency, the air thick with the hum of machinery and the murmur of anxious voices. There was a surprisingly small amount of people.

He approached the registration desk, where a clerk with a neat bun and glasses perched on her nose was typing furiously on a holographic keyboard. She looked up as he approached, her expression shifting from focus to mild surprise.

"Welcome. Please provide your biometric data for registration," she said, her voice monotonous but professional.

Aspen nodded, stepping closer to the scanning unit. He pressed his palm against the cold glass panel, feeling the slight vibration as the device activated. A moment later, it prompted him to position his eyes for the iris scan. He felt a slight chill as the machine whirred and clicked, capturing his details. Finally, the clerk held out a small device for a blood sample.

"Just a quick prick," she assured him, her voice tinged with practiced reassurance.

She watched the data flow onto her screen, her expression shifting from routine efficiency to bewilderment.

"Um, this is unexpected," she murmured, squinting at the screen. "You're not in our database. That's… really unusual."

Aspen kept his calm as he asked her, "What does that mean for me?"

"Everyone is supposed to be registered," she said, typing away. "Even those born in remote areas. It's almost impossible for someone like you to slip through the cracks. You must have lived in a populated area, correct?"

He simply nodded. "What do I need to do?"

"Well, you'll need to register with your name since there's no existing record of you. What's your name?" she asked, her fingers still dancing over the keyboard.

"Azrael Fallcrest," he said, the name rolling off his tongue more easily than he expected.

"Okay, Azrael Fallcrest it is. There's a fee of 20,000 credits to initiate your registration and rental application," she replied, her brow still furrowed in confusion.

Aspen nodded as he took out his Nexus and pressed it against a scanner on the desk. The clerk waited for the payment to go through and once it did, her eyes darted back to the screen as she input his new name.

"Let me just finalize this…" she murmured, still trying to piece together the odd situation. After a moment, she looked up, a hint of skepticism lingering in her gaze. "All done. You're now registered."

"Thanks," Aspen replied as he stepped back from the desk.

He turned and exited the agency, the door sliding shut behind him with a soft hiss. As he stepped back into the street, the chaos of the city engulfed him as he took the public transportation back to his building.

Once he had gotten back into his apartment, he immediately got to typing away, creating advertisements for the available apartments. Once done, he sent them to some of the building owners who were being energy off of him in hopes that they would pass the information off to their workers.

The rental prices for Single-Bedroom Apartments started off at 2800 credits for the apartments on the first floor, increasing by 50 credits with every floor. Two-bedroom apartments started off at 3500 credits with an increase of 100 credits with each floor. If he managed to get all of these apartments rented out to workers from around the area, he could be netting in an extra 157,000 credits.

Now with a new identity and with the fact that his old identity had been pretty evidently wiped from all government records somehow, he felt much more comfortable about things, even no longer considering purchasing mechs from the black market anymore.

While he was thinking, Ghost entered the apartment. After a few seconds, Michael and Charlie came walking through the door as well.

"And here I was thinking you had forgotten about us. I'm sorry for telling you I didn't want any of your busi-" Michael started as he shook Aspen's hand only to be cut off by Aspen.

"I remember telling you I understood. No need to worry, I wouldn't want any trouble blowing my way if I were in your shoes." Aspen said. "Anyways, make yourselves at home, because as I'm pretty sure Ghost has told you, you'll be our neighbors from now on."

Word Count: 2282 Words 🙂