Chapter 28:

Ace loaded into another game, this would probably be his last game of the night, as it was already quite close to midnight. So far, he had not actually lost any games, but he had lost rounds, usually when he met multiple enemies, and while he could kill one or two, any more than that, and as long as they had a passable aim, they would still kill him from the combined damage. It was his fault, he had still not gotten used to using the drones they were given and played like CSGO, this was a danger as he was usually spotted by a camera and opponent's would sneak upon him.

However, he was improving, and had already found a few good spots on some maps, they would allow him to hide his drone, but still be able to get information on the enemy team, he had also been getting used to avoiding cameras or just outright shooting. He had memorised the spots where they were found, but it still took conscious effort for him to remember to shoot them when he could.

They were now playing on House, one of the maps that allowed for the most destruction and modification, almost all walls and floors could be broken or made holes in, which meant attackers had to be careful when they came in, any random bullet hole could have a potential enemy behind it. Ace picked Thermite as his operator for the round, Thermite's ability was 2 Exothermic Charges that allowed him to make extremely large holes on walls that were reinforced. He also had a quite good gun and flashbangs available as his secondary gadget. He was good in this map, due to the fact that if the defenders had to go on garage, even if they reinforced the walls, Ace had the ability to make gaping holes from where they could enter and have full control of the area.

They were playing a different game mode this time, the area capture game mode, where the attackers had to stay in a specific room for a period of time in order to secure it. The enemies would defend it, if an attacker went into the area when a defender was already there, the area would be contested. This meant that all defenders in the area had to be killed before the attackers could begin to secure the area.

2 teammates went in with Ace, one was a Thatcher, a character whose ability consisted of EMP grenades that could negate Thermite's only counter: Bandit. Bandit had the ability to put electrical devices on reinforced walls that could stop Thermite from being able to place a charge on it, however, Thatcher could easily throw an EMP grenade and destroy the electrical devices, and that is what they did.

Ace had no idea of what place the defenders would have to defend, however, Thermite was useful in all areas, especially if they had to defend the garage, which they had. From the viewer count icon in the chat monitor, Ace could see he currently had 6 viewers, 3 of which had stuck with him for multiple hours, and seemed impressed with the gameplay. They had typed in the chat at the start, but had not said much after, they seemed more focused on the gameplay than anything.

Thatcher EMPed the electrical charges, and Ace an Exothermic Charge that would break the reinforced walls. They all got into position and after noticing they were all ready, Ace triggered a charge. A short sound followed, and a large explosion, after which, a large hole was made on the wall. However, things went downhill from there, three enemies popped out from different angles, one killed the Fuze, the third teammate that had gone with Ace, Ace managed to kill one of them with a precise shot to the head and the Thatcher killed his, but not without taking a lot of damage from the firefight. This proved critical as the opponent that had killed the Fuze, then killed Thatcher. As if dominoes, Ace's other two teammates died from the same guy in cadence, which left Ace alone against three opponents. It was not the first time he had been left alone against three opponents, hell, he had won a 1v4 round a few games prior.

The difference with this was that these opponents seemed good, really good. They had expected the Thermite charges, and had a perfect counter lined up, the only reason why not all three of them were dead was that Ace had managed to quickly kill one, and through a combination of luck and skill, Thatcher had also killed another. They also had a player that had enough map knowledge to sneak up on the players and kill them both in a short amount of time, probably in the same firefight.

These people had most definitely played just as much - if not more, than Ace, and had bothered to study the maps beforehand as well. Ace then remembered something he had noticed before, at the end of their names, they all had '.THY', Ace then reasoned that they were probably a gaming clan, with this knowledge, Ace now also knew that they were probably communicating, which meant that the dead players would actually be doing their jobs, and instead of spectating their teammates, they would be looking through the cameras trying to spot him. This newfound knowledge, however, allowed Ace to form a plan, it would maybe not win him the round but it would probably be quite entertaining for his viewers.

"Ok dear viewers, pay attention, because this is how you lay a perfect bait and trap."

Ace walked around the outside of the map, he had shot the camera that was in his direct path before even breaking through garage, which meant he had to go all the way around, he was walking slowly, aiming at a door, when he received the message he was waiting for: [You have been detected], a red ping would now mark his location for about 5 seconds. He acted like he was panicking, and as if he had found the camera by luck, he destroyed it. He now had about 7 seconds to find a good position. The enemy was on the middle floor stairs when he killed his two teammates, but he could be anywhere now, which left Ace with a lot of angles to look at.

There was more than one reason why he assumed it would be that the enemy to come at him would be the one that was not in base. For one, he was the Bandit, which meant he had a higher movement speed than the other two that were probably around the base. Another reason had nothing to do with the game but more to do with psychology, he had just been in a firefight, where he had killed two enemies without any problems, this probably boosted his confidence, and he was more likely to want to get another kill, confident in his own ability. It was basic psychology, but many actions in games usually where, it was one of the reasons Ace loved watching streams so much.

Ace camped behind one of the cars, and smiled when he heard the sound of a barricade being destroyed. However, to his surprise, it was not the Bandit that came out, it was a Rook, the enemy that had not been involved in any of the fights. 'Ahh, so he wanted to prove himself', however, that was not to be, the moment Ace spotted him, he let a precise burst to the torso and neck of the Rook which killed him instantly before he could even see where it had come from.

Ace relaxed, but he then heard a sound to his left, which caused him to instantaneously flick to the sound, where a Bandit was running at him, Ace instantly locked onto the head and shot, killing him before he had any chance of responding with shots of his own.

"And that, dear viewers, is how you carry out a bait and trap."

Ace received his first-ever donation that night, and a young man behind a screen, smiled...