by Zachery Nims
Chapter 23: Battle Plan
Source: Journal
Name: Mark Boggs
A man in full samurai armor sat near the entrance to the southern gate with an intricate Katana sword strapped to his back. It had blood smeared and stained on the folded steel as if fresh from battle.
“Kenshin,” Evo called out to him as our trio approached.
Kenshin turned and stared as if he were a visage. “Evo?” he said in a dazed state.
“Kenshin old friend, I was hoping you would show,” Evo said.
Kenshin came back into focus, “Where are the other inseparable three, you all disappeared for five years?” Kenshin asked with a concerned tone.
Evo brushed the question aside like it hadn’t even left his lips. “This is Mark and Gothamsreckoning,” Evo said.
Kenshin decided to not press the question, “Gothamsreckoning, the one that called me here. The call to rise up against the administrators. Outgunned but not outnumbered. I like these odds,” Kenshin said smiling.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve been following your records now for quite some time,” Silvia said shaking his hand.
“The pleasure is all mine, I never thought I would stand in the presence of the great and illusive Gothamsreckoning. My record pales in comparison,” Kenshin said doing a formal bow. “I’d have to say that I’m ashamed for thinking that you were a man,” Kenshin said as he rose back up to his full and upright position. Silvia’s cheeks blossomed with a bashful red.
Kenshin was truly an artist when it came to social situations, “let’s get down to business, shall we?” Kenshin pulled up a virtual map of Central Park. He began tapping away at it, manifesting all the known danger areas with Hydralisk and Zergling mobs. Then he continued, “I would try and show you my intricate plan to infiltrate their base but I’m sure it would look like child’s play compared to the masterpiece that you’ve surely orchestrated.”
Silvia stepped up without hesitation, taking on a new air of confidence that no one expected. VEG users crammed in around the four of them filling in every void until everyone’s body was supported by someone else’s. There was a pause, people sat motionless for a bit observing the phenomenon of feeling as one.
Silvia enlarged the virtual map, pointing to the clearing in front of the administrator’s fortress. “This is where their main bulk of summons will be, expect to see it all. Every summon you have read about, they will most likely possess and since they control the program, they will have ones you have never seen. Imagine that your strongest summons, spells, and weapons are their weakest.”
People shifted uneasily in the crowd of professional veterans. Silvia looked up feeling the hesitation of the unit, “It’s ok, I’ve fought them before. In their arrogance they get sloppy. This match is a joke to them, and they expect to win by a landslide. They will want to test all of their nifty new Frankenstein creations, so they will toy with us like mice. In that aspect we will have the advantage. Their impatience along with misdirection will be our key to victory.” She pointed at a spot on the map. “Once they begin casting here we will flee as a unit. We will lure each summon into traps that will be placed here.” She zoomed in on another area of the park a good distance away from the system administrator’s fortress.
“At first they won’t come, but give it time. I chose you all because you are the best gamers and grinders that VEG has ever seen. The system administrators will become impatient easily. They will send their summons into a zone that we will have covered with mines and traps. Expect two to three summons though. When they pursue, they will most likely not be careless. Once we kill the summons, we will split our army in two. A group of you will head east as fast as you possibly can and the others will sprint northwest at their base again but arriving from a different route. The northwest group will do the whole bait and kill again but change locations of their traps. The group on the east will circle around the outskirts of the park. The administrators will hopefully think that their summons killed off half the army, which will make them cast weaker spells to savor and prolong their war games. Once the second group of summons is killed I want you to sprint back to the base but this time fight. Cast your weakest summons you have. Pull out your low level ranged weapons. The administrators will see how pathetic we are and it will lure them out of the safety of their fortress. This is when I want you to unleash every monthly or annual cool down spell you’ve ever acquired. Show them why you’ve been listed as the top ranked VEG players. Show them that with every advantage stacked in their favor that they are weak.” The crowd cheered loud and long hooting and hollering like zoo animals crying out for freedom.
Silvia raised her hands up to calm their excitement. “While this all is going on, I want the eastern group to sneak around their entire fortress and attack them from the rear. There is a reinforced door here that can be broken with this weapon.” She placed an enormous Dwarvin warhammer on the table with a large spike protruding from its head.
“This is an item that they don’t know exists,” Silvia smiled looking around at the silenced crowd staring at the hammer’s intricate metal work. The head was inlayed with a futuristic timer in its central mass. “Slam this into the door, spike first, and it will activate the bomb inside. Once the timer on its face hits zero it will destroy any door ever created in VEG, killing everyone in its path within line of sight of the door. Storm the castle and go in for close combat kills. This is where our numbers will count and work in our favor. Get in and fight two to three on one. Focus fire on spell casters. At close range they won’t have time to conjure summons. Attack fast and with fury. If everything goes right we will walk away with victory.”
The crowd was now bouncing with excitement. Silvia placed the warhammer with a user named W@RCHILD. He was a skilled warrior that wielded an overlarge battle-axe, dressed in furs from head to toe, resembling a Viking lord. “W@RCHILD will lead the east army. Protect him at all costs. The warhammer must make it to the back of the fortress.”
Silvia began parting the army into east and west, picking them by hand. It was like she had been planning these teams for years. She walked down the line telling each player what to focus on and which combination of items would work best in the situation. A true leader was in their presence and I looked at her now, not as a lover but as a Genghis, a Caesar, or an Alexander. One could feel the greatness from her touch.
It was funny how you couldn’t see a person like that in our current world. Earth didn’t have time for heroes, leaders, and conquerors. Our great leaders were probably working on rig platforms as safety leads, teaching kids baseball while working as gas station attendants at night. The great battles had already been fought and won and leaders and warriors alike were now rotting away in their working class slumber, lost in the wrong time period.
Silvia spoke loudly disrupting my tangent, “finally I will have a small group with me and Mark for protection. This will be Kenshin, Evo, and Drogo.” Drogo was a speed knight. He was said to be the second best in the nation. “We will be a rogue group that will determine our plan of attack on the fly. If no one has any questions then I wish you all good luck and happy hunting.” The crowd formed ranks and began entering Central Park, confident and ready for battle.
