Chapter 32 - Rain of Dirt (1/2)
"3 more days…" Edward Teach mumbled to himself. It would be close but they would be able to get all of the incubation pods ready for the mass release.
"Margo, have we received any intel about the Hegemony's progress?" Edward asked.
"Sir, based upon our last report, we have determined that we are ahead of them in terms of military hardware capacity and will be better prepared once the Eurasia Treaty expires." Said Margo.
Edward nodded his head with affirmation "And the sea transports will be able to get the general infantry mech forces over to Europe and Africa in time?"
"It will be close, based upon my calculations we only have 1 hour 43 minutes and 17 seconds of spare time, if we are unable to make it, we can just limit the amount of players allowed to join for a few days and blame it on servers being overloaded." Replied Margo
"Good, lastly, do whatever is necessary to get as many players into Alterra Online as possible."
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"Caleb, what is the best bait for rats?" asked Gray
"It depends upon the species of Rat. If the species is unknown, peanut butter is the best type of bait for all rats, otherwise dried fruits and even nesting materials work. Rats will not just eat anything that is given to them, they need to smell a combination of Carbon disulfide and a food odor to feel comfortable eating a new food." Said Caleb
"You're really taking this human encyclopedia thing all the way aren't you…" said Geoff
Caleb shrugged and said "It's just knowledge, having it and using it are two different things."
Gray suddenly turned to Stacia and asked "What kinds of food did you bring along in that basket?"
Everyone else looked questioningly at Gray and Stacia, Geoff said "Why would you bring a basket of food on a mission, especially one involving killing things?"
"Ummm, I thought it would be nice if we could all have a picnic together after the mission." Stacia replied shyly.
"Fair enough, but it's not exactly a picnicking environment now is it. What did you take out of the basket and stuff in your backpack?" asked Gray.
"Umm, a jar of peanut butter, jelly, and a loaf of bread. I just… I just sometimes get hungry and want a snack and for some reason I found that it happens in this game too!" said Stacia hurriedly.
Gray and Geoff looked at each other with a knowing glance remembering the ridiculous amount of food they ate last night and had to agree with her.
"One jar won't be enough by itself, but we only need to attract them though, not feed them." Said Gray. "Let's make a kill box for the whole family of rats. We're going to need an ideal location and probably all of your fuel in the flamethrower, so I'll break down what I need everyone to do once we find the ideal location."
"What would be the ideal location?" asked Geoff
"An open area with at least one side at the bottom of a very small cliff, but given the lack of cliffs, we can make do with steep hill if needed." Said Gray.
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The group looked through the forest for anywhere with a small cliff and fairly clear area, but they soon realized that the area they were in was very flat.
"Well, that didn't go as planned." Said Gray.
"Might I suggest a crater then?" said Caleb