by Alex Knight
Critical hit streak (x 4)
I’m so close to Onslaught! Come on!
Kaiden had just enough energy left for a Shield Bash of his own. He used it on the spitter. The game’s system of diminishing returns meant the stun would only last for one and a half seconds this time, but he managed to get in two more head shots in that time.
Critical Hit!
+50% damage (Headshot)
Critical Hit!
+50% damage (Headshot)
Critical hit streak (x 6)
Onslaught Mode activated.
Current movement speed and damage is doubled for 5 seconds
“Yes!” Kaiden screamed. He felt the same mad rush as from Burst of Speed as he took off. The spitter’s health was so low by then that even Titus should be able to finish it. Question now was, did Kaiden risk trying to stack Riposte as well?
No guts, no glory, he thought. He’d make no impact on the titan if he didn’t stack as much as he could.
It didn’t matter what attacks he dodged. He approached a pair of basic spawn and blocked the first of their attacks for more charge. It was just enough, so he side-stepped a second and third swipe from their flailing tentacles, the Riposte notification flashing twice. Then, in the last seconds of Onslaught mode, he looked to the eye of the boss and used Hammer Toss.
His weapon flew. The armored lid retracted. Hammer Toss hit home.
Critical Hit!
+100% damage (Bloodied Eye)
+50% damage (Riposte x 2)
+100% damage (Onslaught)
Hammer Toss hit!
+100% damage
Kaiden felt awash with glee. His hammer flew back to his hand and he checked on the titan’s health. He couldn’t be sure if he’d caused all of it – blasters were still hitting it when they could – but its health had fallen to forty-five percent.
That’d been his all.
In the end, he was half the titan’s level; it was an elite boss, and he was one player. Only now, everything but Hammer Smash and Blur was on cooldown, and those wouldn’t help with much beside taking on spawn.
Acid still rained down. More friendly dots on his minimap blinked off.
Perhaps the boss was simply too much for them.
Maybe it won’t be so bad back in gen pop if Titus is also there.
“I’ve got an idea,” Captain Thorne’s voice rang in his ears. “Cover me. I’m heading to the west wall.”
The last remaining power wardens tailed Thorne as she sprinted for the closest ramp leading up to the parapets. Kaiden tried to keep one eye on her as he returned to fighting voidspawn, just trying to stay alive at this point.
Left with fewer targets, the voidspawn converged. Kaiden's health began to tick down, even as he darted around the battlefield.
Thorne made it to the top of the wall, and now she was almost of a height with the titan. Its great eye opened and swivelled to look at her, perhaps sensing it was in trouble. It tried to smash her with a lumbering tentacle, but Thorne dove aside, leaving the wall behind her to crumble.
She rose to her feet, and her entire body began crackling with energy. Her eyes became bright blue beacons. Kaiden checked it out.
Ability: Berserker
The warden does double base damage but also takes +50% damage for 20 seconds. Speed is halved for 1 minute following the ability. Cost: 50 charge. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Next, he saw her hammer glow with power and recognised that she’d activated Hammer Overload as well.
“This invasion ends here,” Thorne called. She broke into a run, much faster than before, then launched herself into the air. The momentum of her run took her higher and farther than a regular jump.
Ability: Stampede
The warden doubles movement speed for 3 seconds, causing double base damage upon impact. Cost: 40 charge. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Her hammer fell smack bang in the center of the titan’s eye.
Kaiden’s jaw dropped. He was utterly in awe of Thorne. No wonder Ellenton had been so admiring of her. With that stacked damage, the captain’s level and her surely powerful gear, that hit must have hurt.
The void titan’s health disappeared. Its tentacles went limp, fell to the ground, and slowly, it collapsed onto its side.
Void Titan assisted kill - 3,500 EXP gained!
Achievement Unlocked!
Boss Slayer – 1000 EXP!
You have downed your very first boss in Nova Online. May many more fall to your might and may the gear drops be in your favor.
Quest complete: Defend the Warden Corps Outpost on Andros
Part 2: Defeat the Void Titan (somehow) and save the Outpost on Andros.
Rewards received: +12,000 EXP, +6 faction prestige
Level 11 achieved!
Max health and stamina increased
+3 stat points
Level 12 achieved!
Max health and stamina increased
+3 stat points
Level 13 achieved!
Max health and stamina increased
+3 stat points
Kaiden didn’t hold back his joy, jumping and cheering in giddy relief. They’d done it. They’d really done it this time. To top it all, three extra levels was going to make subduing Jax a hell of a lot easier.
The dust cleared to reveal Captain Thorne, her hammer planted firmly in the middle of the titan’s eyeball, or what remained of it.
For the first time since the Borrelly had touched down, the battlefield was silent. Kaiden turned to look for Titus and Zelda. He found them also staring at their captain in awe.
“Remind me never to make an enemy of her,” Titus said, his jaw hanging open.
“Probably a good idea,” Kaiden agreed. “Probably a very good idea.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Andros station was largely in ruins, and smoke from burning acid was heavy in the air. Most wardens were now on a week’s vacation. Those who had survived the raid walked quietly to the fallen void titan.
As Kaiden picked his way across the battlefield over voidspawn and warden bodies alike, he passed a familiar face. Sergeant Dawson. Kaiden felt a rush of gratitude for the man for helping him through that fight. Dawson's body, along with the others, only remained to further Nova Online’s attempt at realism, but it was still saddening to see him lying there with blank eyes.
“He’s probably already cracked open a beer back in the office.” Captain Thorne had picked her way over to his side.
“He saved me,” Kaiden said.
“Yeah?” Thorne said. “Well, he’s good at his job. He likes it, too. Probably for the best he gets back to see his kids for a while this week.”
Kaiden did a double-take. It was hard to imagine Dawson living a regular life outside of his role in the game. He looked to Thorne then and wondered what her life was like. Did she enjoy doing this? It was hard to tell how she felt behind that hardened expression and those cold brown eyes. He didn’t think it his place to ask her.
“You did well, Kaiden,” Thorne said. “And you're levelling far quicker than most. You could have a very bright future with us.” She clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Go loot the boss. You and your friends earned it. Then come find me to discuss the special mission you were on.”
“Okay,” Kaiden said, still a little dazed from everything that had just happened. “Don’t you want to loot it as well?”
Thorne laughed. “I have the best possible gear a power warden in this level bracket can get, my charge capacity is most higher than most wardens. Won’t be able to find better in this area of Nova Online unless Command reassigns me to a higher-level region. Anyway,” she added with an air of finality. “I'd best speak to the rest of the troops. Talk later.”
She moved off and Kaiden started back on his journey toward the corpse of the void titan. Zelda and Titus were already there, holding up gleaming new hammers and grinning broadly.
“We got weapon upgrades!” Zelda exclaimed. “This has way higher damage than the b
asic one I’ve been using, and it gives my perception stat a nice boost too.”
“Same story here,” Titus said. “Except I got strength and endurance.”
“Maybe I’ll get lucky, too,” Kaiden said. He’d already upgraded his weapon once by finding a hammer better suited for critical hits back on the Mochinki, but this was a level twenty boss so he was hopeful he’d find even better.
As he approached the boss, a line of text appeared.
Loot corpse?
Oh yes, Kaiden thought.
What he found did not disappoint. There was indeed a hammer icon there, and its name was in heavy blue text.
Void-Warped Enhanced Hammer (Rare)
Quality: Superior
One-Handed
Base Damage: 15 bludgeoning, 18 smashing
+ 25% damage inflicted on critical hits
+ 2 dexterity
+ 2 strength
The hammer was more ornate than the others, with arcane symbols etched along its surface.
“Well that’s a good upgrade,” Kaiden said. “Certainly makes all that hell worth it!”
“We should assign our new stat points, too,” Zelda said.
“Yeah, I gained a bunch of levels at the end there,” Titus said.
Kaiden brought up his character sheet. He thought it was starting to look quite fleshed out – a darn sight more impressive than when he’d first logged in, for sure. Both Sola and Thorne had noted how quickly he’d been levelling, so it was safe to say the chain quest to capture Jax was paying major dividends. Surviving the raid had been huge as well, of course.
The single biggest EXP gain I’ve ever had at one time. Three levels in one pop and a new hammer. What more could a guy ask for?
He’d liked dealing more damage in that battle, and after his panic about dying, his desire to have some more health and be a bit less squishy had not vanished. Kaiden had nine unassigned stat points and chose to distribute them equally between strength, endurance and dexterity.
Character
Name: Kaiden
Race: Human
Level: 13
Class: Enhanced Warden
Attributes:
Strength: 28 (+2) Intelligence: 22
Endurance: 28 Perception: 22
Dexterity: 46 (+2) Unassigned: 0
Abilities:
Hammer Smash, Shield Bash, Hammer Toss, Shackle, Burst of Speed, Enhanced Senses, Riposte, Flash Bang, Blur, Onslaught
Perks:
Turen Tinkering
Satisfied, Kaiden closed his sheet down.
“All good?” he asked the others.
“Healed up, stats picked, and ready to go,” Titus said. “Although I have to say, even though this is a game, I feel exhausted after that raid.”
“I know what you mean,” Zelda said. “But as much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, we are under something of a time constraint.” She lowered her voice. “Titus has...somewhere to be, remember?”
“I remember, don’t worry,” Kaiden said. “Captain Thorne asked to speak with us about that, actually. We'd better go find her.”
They found the captain inside the surprisingly unharmed communications tower on the east side of the base. She and a group of higher-level wardens were huddled together before a three-dimensional holographic projection of the Greater Spiral Arm System.
Thorne was pointing to a swirling green nebula. “The Anakoni is sitting tight between the main guild forces. They’ve promised a ceasefire for three more days, but we’ll need to get back there quickly if we want to take advantage of that and try to find a settlement.” She looked to see who had just arrived. “Ah, the heroes of the Mochinki prevailed.”
She gave them a smile for all to see. “You three just keep accomplishing the impossible, don’t you?”
“Well, just like on the Mochinki, we had some top-notch help, without which we wouldn’t have succeeded,” Kaiden said.
“Flattery won’t work on me,” Thorne said. “Only results.”
The other wardens chuckled to themselves at that.
Thorne stepped away from her officers. “Excuse me one moment. I must speak to these rising stars.”
She motioned for them to follow her into the hallway, checking nobody was eavesdropping before speaking in a low voice. “How are things coming with that assassin, then?”
She’s probably worried we’re taking too long with the mission. We did lose a lot of time between Jonduu, Kal Reya, and the arena.
“Things are going great,” Kaiden said, putting on his best confident smile.
“They are?”
Does she look a bit surprised? All the more reason to be encouraging.
“Yes, they are,” Zelda chimed in. “We’ve identified the assassin’s guild, located its headquarters, and have laid a trap to capture him. We’ll have all the answers you wanted – and the assassin himself – by the end of today, with any luck.”
“You will?” Thorne blinked once, then broke into a smile. “You will! That’s great. You three really are well on your way to promotion. We could use a dozen more like you.” She clapped her hands together, still smiling. “Really great work, truly. But don’t let me hold you up. You should get back to it!”
“Absolutely, ma’am.” Kaiden nodded and the others followed suit.
Thorne gave them a quick salute, then headed back into comms room.
When we capture Jax, I’m taking the evidence of my innocence straight to Captain Thorne. She’ll know what to do with it. And she probably has connections in government that can help me, too.
The raid had been mentally exhausting, if nothing else. But now, the hope Kaiden had felt after his theatre performance, the hope that he’d soon have evidence of his innocence, was renewed. He was getting out of this prison, and sooner rather than later. He smiled.
“Who’s ready for a trip back to Nassau?”
The stars that shone outside the shuttle were more varied than Kaiden had expected. Every time he travelled through the vast void Nova Online had created, he saw something new. Far-off planets, distant constellations, meteors and sometimes even other ships, often covered in alien symbols or sporting sleek, futuristic designs. It really was an impressive simulation. No loops, no cookie-cutter planets copy-pasted to fill the empty space. It was all unique.
Kaiden might even have enjoyed the trip if not for the serious nature of the task at hand. Jax was the final piece of the puzzle, the last stage of the chain quest and Kaiden’s only chance of clearing his name. If they could manage to Shackle Jax, they might just be able to get him to reveal who hired him. That evidence would likely be enough for them to re-open his case. The police would realise their mistake and Kaiden would be free.
With such high stakes, things needed to go perfectly. If they didn’t, Jax would know they were onto him. The assassin might disappear, or even stop logging in. If that happened, they might not get another chance.
Manson would, though. He’d get a lot of chances.
Turning from the awe-inspiring view, Kaiden let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He needed to shake off the nerves, focus on something else.
“I assume I’m not the only one who has gained some new skills lately? We should catch up on each other’s moves so we can better work together.” Kaiden went first, quickly outlining Riposte, Onslaught and Blur for Titus and Zelda. He hadn’t had a chance to do so before the raid and without his visor’s analyse ability they weren’t able to glean such information on the fly.
Zelda nodded along. “With these new ones, and Burst of Speed, it sounds like you're going to have a clear playstyle from here on in.”
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Titus nodded. “It’s a good way to fight”.
“Except that if I do get hit, I won’t last long,” Kaiden replied. “Dodging and scoring all those crits requires a lot of dexterity. I've been dumping most of my stats into that, so my endurance is laughable.”
“That’s why
you have me,” the big man grinned. “And my new Barrier.”
Kaiden turned to Zelda. “And grenades, too,” he said, remembering the carnage those Kinetic Grenades had caused to the voidspawn.
“And lightning.”
“Yeah, and light— wait, what?” Kaiden turned toward Zelda, who was smiling from ear to ear.
“Let’s just say my new ability is rather shocking.”
Titus groaned.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Hours later, Kaiden found himself perched in the rafters of the warehouse, his armour blending nicely against the gray metal beam. Everything was set; they were as prepared as they could possibly be. They had created an open area in the center of the warehouse, removing most of the stored contents. This gave them a clear view of the main entrance. Only a few boxes remained, stacked against the walls.
The warehouse doors were rigged, set to slam closed and lock at the slightest sign of movement. The windows had been reinforced and bolted closed. Any additional entrances had been sought out and blocked. As best they could, Kaiden and the others had worked to ensure there was only one way in and one way out.
They had contacted Marty from the shuttle to let him know the target was expected to be in place at the warehouse for the next three hours. This gave enough of a window for Jax to arrive, but not so much that it would seem suspicious.
The trap was set.
Titus had placed himself in plain view on the mostly open warehouse floor. He was making a show of inspecting the few boxes that remained in the partially emptied building. Kaiden hoped this wouldn't raise suspicion; wardens sometimes did such checks to ensure the proper tariffs had been paid on trade shipments.
The trap was baited.
