As for the number of ships which came to meet us?
Hundreds. They were stretched into a very long chain — dozens of nautical miles sideways, intelligence said. It was not just a military unit that had come upon us accidentally. These ships stretched out in a chain no shorter than the Great Ocean Wall itself and it could easily be that they were much more dangerous. We could not get around it. We would have to go right through.
The Black Baroness, like a pacing panther, had been walking nervously along the bridge all morning. But it was necessary to seem like a threat — so she calmed down and even started to smile. Although even earlier, thanks to information from the logbook, I concluded that the Fleet of Sleepless carried out considerable and very risky changes in armament. It was a very risky act — after all, almost everything that worked against various terrible monsters had been removed. All armaments were reconfigured in such a way as to maximally and quickly influence maneuverable and well-protected sailing ships. These were not my words — they were those of the Baroness. She had given the order last night.
The same was true of the underwater part of the armada. They had the same modifications, but on a smaller scale. That was probably also why the BB was nervous — because she was afraid that she miscalculated. Everyone was feverish. Literally shaking. And some players had already started praying since morning — for real, and not just in the game world.
And here were the handsome devils — they met us regally. We were separated by six miles and a quarter. Accurate data was constantly being transmitted to the bridge. Soon, we would start transmitting light signals asking them to let us in, so that no one would later say that the Sleepless did not try. Then a winged scout would be sent with the same message. If this did not help, the fleet would strike a preemptive blow. Everything was so obvious.
We had already completed restructuring the battle formations. And a lot of advice had been given by my father— who, it seemed to me, had begun to understand a little bit about the magical realities of Valdira. Some of the ships, according to his advice, went to the back, and others were herded to the side, and other groups were condensed. The fleet ceased to be a solid dense mess of ships. Now, we were more like a fishing net – with knots of dozens of different ships. Interesting…
Under the water it was the same. After all, the enemy was the same — and above and below the same winged ships. And for them it seemed like there was no difference between the elements — air or water. They move in both with the same speed and ease.
The combatants, bristling with weapons, were frozen in full combat readiness. And between them there were groups of defenders covered with shields and force fields. So much preparation, so much bustle, so many hasty additions and clarifications — and the enemy went quietly. Five and a half miles were between us. I look at them in through a very powerful telescope which allows me to look at their decks from a distance.
And there were the figures. At first I thought they were faceless tigers. Funny, but they really looked like that. Humanoid, their skin gray with black stripes, their muscular arms empty and hanging at their sides. Their thick amber hair stood on end, trembling in the wind. The faces … there were no face. Only a solid smooth surface. They did not have clothes. No male or female parts, either. But they looked like men. They were standing motionless on the decks, and their frightening faces were looking at us. Their levels were not specified — and the inscriptions above their heads were of a very strange color — purple and amber. Beautiful and scary. Above each was a single inscription: Edge Guardian.
And that was all.
And this was even more frightening.
More orders given. I did not stop looking into the telescope. After a second, I decided it would be wise to tell BB about what I saw, unceremoniously interrupting her conversation with the Scarlet Baron. It was worth it.
“You do not see it, do you?”
“What are you talking about, Ros?”
“The umbilical cords. The ropes on the puppets?”
“Huh?”
“Let us hear about them,” the Baroness said softly, and people eagerly gathered around her.
“These amber-haired tigers have long amber strings flowing from each of the ships,” I obediently explained. “And they stretch from that huge wall — like a crystal carved from amber. Did we get there? Is that it? Zar’Graad?”
“Where?” the Baron stared, snatching a telescope from me. “There is nothing!”
“He’s the Navigator! He sees differently! Ros, keep talking.”
“There is nothing more to say,” I spread my hands. ”The wall is seven miles away from us. Whole bundles of these threads stretch from it. Therefore, first I had the idea about puppets, and then about the umbilical cord.”
“Thank you! Process this! Ros, please, send us screenshots right now! And capture a video through your telescope — the view from your eyes.”
“Did you think it will work?”
“It is worth trying!”
“Just a sec…”
It did not take much time. I opened the menu, clicked on the settings, and displayed the screenshot for my public. It was a clear picture. Everything could be seen very clearly — the Baroness was not mistaken. The system captured everything exactly as I saw it. A continuous interlacing of yellow threads and an amber wall somewhere far behind them.
“My God …” someone breathed in awe. “We are here! This is it! Certainly!”
“To hell with the excitement! Prepare for battle!” The Baroness roared. ”Send us the screenshot, Ros. And the video! It is useful!”
“I am already doing it.”
“Four miles to the enemy! Pass the message!”
“And send scouts immediately! And a couple dozen birds, and one dragon!”
“Done!”
“Well then… Let us see how they meet our envoys …”
“Not with bread and salt,” I said mechanically. “That’s for sure. Those guys do not go in peace. You better shoot at once.”
“I have a fear of making mistakes,” the BB admitted openly. “What if they are some strange, peaceful creatures? And we’re going to tear them to pieces ...”
“They will not talk to you,” I said confidently. “They will not. We are not friends.”
“I said the same thing! But then the specialist suggested it. Diplomacy, you know… Anyway. Prepare for the hit.”
“A warning one?” Asked someone from the table.
“No. At the signal, strike. No warnings. We’re tracking down the scouts. And we will immediately understand everything from the reaction of the tigers. Ros, I need video.”
“Look at this one, Baroness, as soon as you can. There is something interesting and unpleasant here.”
“M? Show me ...”
Clinging to the telescope — another, even more powerful one — I concentrated on the place of the amber wall that stood before our path and to where the guiding light that came out of my chest was beating. And so, I did not see the first fateful seconds of the meeting with the tiger-guards. Only having heard the screams, did I look below. And I saw how the dragon fell into the sea. Already dead. And next to him were silvery clouds of fog, falling slowly. And then I saw the phoenix, scattered into shreds. It fell to the ocean with a mournful weeping hiss.
“Damn it! Damn it! Intentions are clear!!”
“Fire!” The order of the Baroness sounded like an alarm bell. Hundreds of ships shot at the foreign fleet at once.
I continued to look at the deck of one of the enemy ships, amazed at what I saw. Birds and dragons were not shot down by ship guns. The team had done it. And it happened in a very strange way. All the guards stood on round elevations — at first, they reminded me of mushrooms. Now I perceived these growths as the bases of toy soldiers. The platform on which they stood. During their defense, the soldiers did not take a single step. They leaned a little, lifted their arms, and generated energy disks in their fingers. The blades of the disks cut through a
rmor — and with ridiculous ease.
“Look this video urgently! Not the battle, but the place where the beam points! Urgently!”
“Now is not the time!”
“Do what he says!” The Baroness snapped, putting the binoculars to her eyes. “Watch the video!”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Counter attack!” the scream came from everywhere — magical transmitters spread a warning throughout the armada.
Gray tigers did not wait to reached us. They bent down, “picked up” the energy blades again, and threw them like Olympic-level athletes. Hundreds of glowing discs flying over the water and cutting off the tops of waves rushed towards us. From a long distance it looked as if the sun itself had sent us a huge flock of sunbeams….
“Take off the boarders!” This was the roar of Baron, who had already left the stern bridge and run to the nose, while lifting the quadruple “Nyusha” gun onto his shoulder. “If the damn bees return to us, I will tear up this damn artifact on the spot!”
And so, it seemed the hive of captive divine bees was still acting strange. And how would one control them? You could not…
But some of the artifact’s hits still succeeded.
“Hit! Miss! Hit! Hit! Miss!” said a player like a parrot, rushing hurriedly around. Buteveryone saw what was happening on the screens. No voice notification was necessary. One thing was clear — the enemy was strong, but had trouble with maneuverability during battle. None of the gray tigers managed to dodge the impact of the furious divine bee bullets. Only one managed to duck and let the bee pass over him. The rest were instantly knocked off course, and along with their energy disks. Gray somersaulting figures fell into the water, and then immediately dissolved without a trace. Then they appeared back on deck again, with some of their life drained. The strikes removed about fifty percent of life. They had stunning survivability. And incredible evacuation skills. Were these umbilical cords like rubber bands, or something? Or tentacles? They shrank and dragged their own soldiers back to the ships. They put them back on their pedestals — and their lives slowly crept back up again.
“Raise the water obstacles!” The order came from Goldie instead of the BB — Goldie dressed in a full navy coat and wearing a cocked hat. ”Nine barriers! Come on!”
The Baroness herself, who left fleet command, was engaged with the analysts.
“These elevated things are not only their arsenal, but also a life recharger! We will call them “batteries”. Apparently, they work only when they are in contact with them. Find opportunities to neutralize these energy charges — thereby we freeze not only their gun batteries, but also their field hospitals! Learn the video sent by the Navigator — second-by-second! Search for any way to tear off those yellow threads! Underwater connections — fight alone! Do not expect immediate response from us — the delay will be up to a minute!”
“Done!”
“Yes ma’am!”
“The course! The course!” I shouted, watching as the beam beating from my chest quickly deviated to the side. “Damn! BB!”
“Yes?!”
“Watch the second video! You could see a bright strip on the wall! And the beam beats there! I think this is the passage! And we change course!”
“So indicate the course!”
“The beam is jumping back and forth like crazy! Going from side to side on the wall! I do not had time! It is time to give the wheel, BB!”
“Damn it! Damn it…”
“Well,” I said, crunching my neck, and tying a black bandanna over my head. “Here comes a promotion! Or downgrade? To hell with it! Move, green beast!”
The half-orc muttered something unhappily, but moved aside, and I took hold of the steering wheel.
“Our maneuverability is so-so!” I panted, after the first test turn of the wheel and the response of the vessel.
“This is not a racing car!”
“Okay, fine,” I sighed, looking at the approaching wall. “I will try not to miss it! But I cannot vouch for the other ships!”
“Transfer the problem to the commander specialist! Everyone should be ready for battle formation “needle”!”
“Obstacles!”
The giant roaring waves swelled directly in front of us. One by one, steadily rising higher and higher.
“Freeze!”
The noses of dozens of ships were enveloped in a cold blue glow, and the magicians standing there lowered their hands sharply. The waves that rose before us turned into parallel ice hills with ocean inhabitants frozen inside. Bloody hell! And what if I broke this ship against the ice wall? They would blame me for everything …
“Contact!”
The energy discs rushed to the first ice wall with a hissing sound and, passing through it like a hot knife through oil, flew on. They were weakened by our force fields and the second wave of ice. The discs themselves shrunk. Soon, unbelievably, the discs turned into “remnants”. But the remaining strength in them was enough to pierce the armor of several ships.
Four of six of these discs were aimed directly at us. They were intercepted by protective escort ships, but this coincidence made me think. Less than two miles were between us. My hands shook on the wheel, and I leaned to the left and leaned on the wheel. And the flagship dutifully followed me, aiming its nose at the point where the amber light beat down.
“Break through the aisles!” Goldie’s cry echoed over all the ships.
Right before us appeared several small and flimsy river boats. They were clearly protected. The ships gaily galloped across the waves, and then exploded. And the charge in them was something special — the blast wave went sideways, literally splitting the strange grayish ice and simultaneously melting it. After a couple of minutes, the flagship passed through the mush of ice. The floating water hissed in surprise, clearly expressing respect for such skill.
Ignoring the cheering of my companions, I changed the course again — and abruptly. The flagship groaned, and the sailors and fighters rolled along the deck with cursing pleas.
“Ros! Are you insane?!”
“I have to follow the ray! I will do what I want! Do not like this? I could leave this to you!”
“Drive, drive! You are doing well! Great even!”
“I am driving!” I answered, changing course again.
I under stood them perfectly, and that’s why I did not mind. I was more interested in the expression on my father’s face, when he asked the question: “What kind of shameless nonsense is this?” Which would be followed by an immediate answer: “Your son is at the helm!”
And what choice did I have?!
I did not expect that, in the literal sense of the word, I would have to take control myself!
Yet I had failed to overthrow the Baron. The half-orc stood on the nose and aimed at the next enemy. Having seen this, I stopped my maneuvers and gave the riflemen a couple of seconds of calm. I am not working for the enemies, after all! They did not miss a second, and sent a few more energy discs at us at the next opportunity. But we fired back.
Seven of the creatures were shot down. And then another ten. A few of them managed to intercept the ship we had sent forward. A fierce battle began on the deck. I did not have time to blink, when these striped pirates grew their long curved scimitars right out of their hand — and in the other, they had a thing more reminiscent of an ancient pistol! But it could not be so, right?”
B-bah!
Then Scarlet Baron was knocked down, and ricocheted back onto the deck. A magical gun…
B-bah!
I was knocked down to Goldie’s feet. Apparently, a bullet had flown right by me.
“They’re shooting at the helmsmen!” she notified me.
“Or the Navigator,” I replied grimly, getting up faster and grabbing at the wheel to change course immediately. “Did you not see? All their ammo is aimed at me.”
“Or the flagship!” She corrected.
“I am the flagship now!” I corrected.
“And ei
ther way… this is bad!”
“Fire! Fire! Fire!”
The gray tigers were fast approaching. They did not wait for the results of previous firing before throwing the next discs. All the space between the allied and alien ships filled with buzzing and sparkling disks of death.
“Barriers all the way up! Stone hail on the water! Raise the reefs! Underwater support — use shields!”
“Snipers!” this was the cry of the Baroness. “Fire at will at their batteries — we need results, so that we can understand whether it works or not! Use different ammo! Start piercing their armor!”
“Easy!” I said, and twisted the steering wheel strongly – the ship tilted dangerously on its side.
“What are you doing?!”
“I had no idea!” I yelled back, not at all adding to the optimism of the others. “Get ready! I am starting!”
“What exactly?!”
“Howler! Rampage!”
This ship was far from the legendary Black Queen. But the roar was still impressive and menacing. Still – not as hoarse and imperious.
The roaring flagship rushed forward and sideways like a shot wolf. A dozen shots passed us, unable to hit the target. But they did not stay without a goal — the hits got to the other ships. Due to my unexpected maneuver, the flagship’s nose was aimed at a place in the wall where there was no hint of a vertical light strip. The beam pointed the other way. And only I knew this.”
“Where are you doing ?!”
“Trust me,” I grumbled. “There’s no time to explain! And let everyone follow us exactly as we go! I think if we get there, the passage will be frozen in place!”
“What?!”
“It doesn’t matter!”
“Maneuverability of the released disks and fighters is zero!”
“Done! Use this! Maneuver! Maneuver! Get out of the way of impact! Do not take it! Move from side to side like crazy monkeys!”
“So — just do like Rosgard?”
“Right! All helmsmen! Do like Rosgard!”
“Well, thank you,” I said, never missing a single unflattering comparison. “If you say so, then … Shining Example!”
The Way of the Clan 9 Page 24
