Head upstairs for a better vantage point.

Alan readily followed Eve's suggestion; he ran back into the building, racing up the stairs as adrenaline pumped through him. At the top of the twentieth floor he darted into a corner office with a window facing the action. Below, a fleet of sea ships had appeared out of nowhere in the bay, and were launching a series of attacks from the waterfront, while a few well placed explosions had knocked out various anti-ship defenses that had been set up by the United World Government military. There was so much smoke and fire everywhere that Alan couldn’t tell what was really happening.

This is our chance. Eve whispered into Alan’s mind, almost sinisterly.

What?

As I outlined beforehand, this seems like a good chance to take advantage of the chaos, and acquire both items and experience we need.

And exactly how do you plan on doing that?

Eve highlighted a number of nearby buildings.

There have been sniper shots from the highlighted buildings. Should we sneak up on one of the snipers, we should be able to easily assassinate them and take their gear. We may simply disguise these killings as the work of the Legion of Man, and no one should be the wiser. Unlike in most games, unless an action can be directly attributed to you, it has no bearing on your faction standing, except in certain scenarios, such as an officially declared war or battle.

I don’t know…

If you wish to become an effective, efficient mercenary you will need to start making such morally grey choices that benefit you. Think of the snipers as simply a rare mob that have a special drop item you need. Also, you didn’t seem to have much issue with buying stolen goods.

Alan began to formulate an argument with Eve in his head, but then, mulling it over, decided that it was in his best interest to try to take out a sniper for their weapon. Besides, it wasn’t like a single sniper would change the course of the battle: they’d respawn once they were killed, and he’d pay the United World Government back once he was done with the Tutorial. Maybe he'd even take the sniper's place, trying to eliminate Legion of Man soldiers. Conscience clear, Alan descended the stairs carefully, debating with Eve which building he should target.

***

A few minutes later, Alan approached the building he and Eve had decided upon. It was on top of a hill, on a street further away from downtown, towards the Presidio, where the tutorial base was. If something went wrong Alan could flee away from the Legion of Man forces. The battle, off in the distance, was still going strong, with more laser fire and reinforcements arriving every minute. Where a rebel military force Alan had never heard of before was getting such firepower Alan had no idea, but then again maybe the group only existed within the Game.

Alan was about to step into the lobby of the multistory apartment building, when—