Last Bastion

by Rachel Aaron

  Just the possibility was enough to make her giddy. Her stonekin body's complete disinterest in fleshy concerns--and lack of compatible parts--would be a problem, but Tina bet she could make it work. Would he be willing to do the same, though? Part of her readily believed he'd give them a try, at least, but another, much more gun-shy part remembered how badly things had gone when she'd tried to get closer to him by suggesting the JET program. What if SilentBlayde's big secret was that he only liked her as a friend and couldn't bring himself to tell her?

  Tina squirmed uncomfortably. Maybe she wasn't ready to throw caution to the wind just yet. She was about to get up and get back to business when SB rolled over to hug her arm.

  She froze. Without her armor, she could feel every inch of his warm, solid chest. When her head stopped spinning, she looked down to see that his eyes were closed. She wasn't sure if he was asleep or just resting against her, but she didn't move a muscle. She just lay there, as still as the stone she resembled, barely daring to breathe until, far too soon, he pushed himself up again.

  "Sorry," he said, his face flushed. "I'm sure you have stuff to get back to."

  "No, no, it's fine," Tina said in a rush. "Though you should probably go to the hospital. Those heals got you off death's door, but you still look like you could use a lot more."

  He blinked in surprise. "We have a hospital?"

  Tina nodded proudly. "I had Zen set one up in the former first aid building. We're totes professional and shit now."

  SB laughed. "I'll have to go and see it, then," he said, but he still didn't move. Tina didn't, either, and not just because she didn't want this to end. Talking about how injured SB had been reminded her of the other giant worry that had weighed her down all night and day. The one she couldn't keep putting off.

  "I'm sorry if you don't want to talk about this," she said quietly, clenching her fists in the grass. "But I need to know what happened on your mission. Where's James? Is he still..."

  She couldn't finish. Her brother had been a thorn in her side since they were kids, but that didn't mean she didn't love him. It was because she loved him that his antics made her so angry. James never seemed to understand how much he could hurt her. If he'd run away and died out there alone, she would never forgive him, or herself for letting it happen.

  When SB didn't answer at once, a lump the size of a softball formed in Tina's throat. She was about to beg him to just spit it out when SilentBlayde said, "He defeated me."

  She couldn't have heard that right.

  "Wait," Tina said, shaking her head to make sure there wasn't still water in her ears. "What do you mean, 'defeated'?"

  "He beat me," SilentBlayde clarified, staring at the grass like he wanted to sink into it.

  Tina gaped at him. "How? You're--"

  "I know," he said, dragging his hands through his golden hair. "There was no way it should have happened. If this was still the game, it never could have, but your brother is a multiple black belt in real life. You and me and everyone else, we just played at being Knights and Assassins, but James has practiced fighting for years. He's the real deal, and when things got real, he was just better than me. In a lot of ways."

  If it had been anyone except SB, Tina never would have believed it. It didn't seem possible that her weak, spoiled, easily discouraged brother--the kid who'd dropped out of college and gotten their family into hundreds of thousands in debt for nothing rather than fail a few classes--was the same person Blayde was describing. She knew James was good at martial arts--she still had the kink in her arm where he'd broken it by accident trying to teach her a throw--but fights in this world weren't like sparring on a padded mat. They were real and terrifying and do-or-die, all the things the brother she knew couldn't handle. The whole thing just sounded crazy, but SilentBlayde had never lied to her before, and he certainly had no reason to lie about this.

  "So where is he now?"

  "I don't know," Blade said, shoulders slumping. "I was almost dead when our fight was over, so--"

  Tina jumped. "Wait, James tried to kill you?"

  "It was self-defense," SB said quickly, looking more ashamed than ever. "Things got... I let things get out of hand. Anyway, James defeated me and ran, and then the Bastion went up, so I couldn't follow. Last I heard, he was still headed for the castle, but I don't know more than that." He slumped over, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "I'm sorry, Tina. I failed you."

  "No," Tina said firmly, putting a giant stone hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I should never have sent you alone. I was cocky. I underestimated James, both his danger and his stubbornness, and I underestimated how dangerous the city was. I made the wrong call on every count. This is my fault."

  He shook his head frantically, but Tina didn't even let him say it. "My. Fault," she repeated firmly. "I never should have involved you in my family drama. If James is that determined to go do his bullshit, fuck it. I'm tired of trying to mom him, anyway. He can deal with the consequences of his actions on his own for once. I'm just glad to have you back."

  She'd hoped that would make him smile, but SB only looked grimmer. "There's more," he said quietly, meeting her eyes at last. "Malakai's alive."

  "No, he's not," Tina said. "I killed him."

  "You did," SB confirmed. "And then the Clerics at the castle rezzed him."

  Tina's mouth fell open, and then she shot to her feet in fury. "Those cheating fuckers! Bosses don't get to rez!"

  "Well, no one told him that, because he's up and on the warpath," SilentBlayde went on, speaking quickly and carefully, like he was trying his hardest to get this right. "He's still hunting players, but he doesn't seem to be hanging them anymore. He's taking hostages, and I'm pretty sure he means to use them against us. He knows about this base, and he's rallying all the knights plus a ton of other soldiers to attack. I don't know when, but it won't be long. They're already massing on the Royal Mile."

  Tina's scouts had seen that much already, but this was still bad news. "Well, when he comes, we'll be ready," she promised, looking around at the progress CraftyJohn had already made improving the island's defenses. "This won't be like the extermination camp. We've got an army, too, and I know how Malakai fights now. He won't catch me unprepared again, and when I kill him this time, I'm going to make sure he stays dead."

  She flashed SB a bloodthirsty grin, but he didn't return it. He just pushed himself shakily to his feet. "I think I'd better get to that hospital. If we're going to be in for a war, I can't afford to be walking around at low health."

  "You shouldn't be, anyway," Tina said, bending over to collect the armor she'd finished repairing and then forgotten about in her joy. "Give me a second to put my stuff back on, and I'll take you over."

  He nodded weakly and politely turned away while Tina strapped her armor back onto her sun-warmed stone body.

  ***

  "Hey, hey, GabbyBlayde is back!"

  Tina had barely led SB up the hill before NekoBaby shot out of nowhere, tackling the elf in her enthusiasm. "Did you staple-gun anyone good?"

  Before he could answer, a bunch of the other Roughnecks ran over, surrounding SB in hugs, back pats, and teasing while NekoBaby doused him in green light and glowing flowers. When the heals were done, Neko led the whole crowd toward the kitchen, shouting something about mandatory victory pizza. The last thing Tina heard was SB's silvery laugh as their guild dragged him inside. Smiling at the happy chaos, Tina turned and went in search of Frank, who was still exactly where she'd left him.

  "Hey there, boss," Frank said, taking his boots off the table. "Did I hear SilentBlayde was back?"

  "He is," she said, lowering her voice. "But we've got trouble. What's our status?"

  Frank nodded and pulled out the list he'd been keeping all morning, tracking every player's location and quest progress including the number of armaments made, tons of food acquired, the progress of the fortifications, the number of Royal Knight patrols killed, and so on. Just that would have made for quite an impre
ssive list, but Frank had saved the best for the big dramatic finish: the number of players rescued.

  "Wait," Tina said, grabbing the paper from him so she could see it for herself. "Two thousand? We've added two thousand lowbies?"

  "Numbers don't lie," Frank replied with a grin.

  Tina whistled in appreciation. She'd seen people streaming in all night and day but never counted them. "Where'd you put them all?"

  "Main hall and some of the empty supply buildings. Most are below level fifty, and a scary number ain't even twenty yet. There's also some non-players mixed in as well."

  "NPCs?" She scowled. "Who let them in?"

  "I did," Frank said, looking her in the eyes. "They had kids with 'em. I can't say no to kids."

  Tina smiled. "You're a good man, Frank."

  Frank pshawed and waved the compliment away, but Tina was already bent over his list again. "I think our luck might finally be turning around," she said excitedly. "This quest thing worked a lot better than I thought it would, and now we've got even more people to send out. A few more days at this rate, and we'd own this town."

  "But we don't have a few days, do we?" Frank asked, glancing nervously across the river toward the city. "Scouts keep coming back with reports of a big army massing at the castle. You don't get that many people together unless there's something you want to crush, and we're the only other show in town."

  "It gets worse than that," Tina said, straightening up. "Leave the quests for now. I need you to find CincoDeMurder and Assets and have them meet me in the main hall. Tell 'em to bring their officers as well. We've gotta make a plan."

  "Yes, ma'am," Frank said, giving her a salute before jogging off. Meanwhile, Tina turned around and walked back toward the kitchen, where every Roughneck in the base seemed to have gathered to watch NekoBaby trying to make SilentBlayde eat a pile of food bigger than he was. The crowd went silent when she walked in, smiles falling off their faces when they caught sight of hers.

  "Officers, get yourselves together and meet me in the main building in five minutes."

  Neko and the others got up reluctantly.

  "What's going on, Roxxy?" Killbox asked.

  "Fighting time is coming sooner than we'd like," she answered, turning to address the whole room. "I need all of you here to go out and spread the word. Everyone in the city needs to come back before dark. No one goes back out."

  This declaration was met with looks of alarm and fear but no hustle.

  "Move it, people," Tina ordered, clapping her hands.

  The crowd broke up and ran off in different directions while the officers picked up their weapons and started toward the main building. Satisfied everyone was on task, Tina marched off to find the only Roughneck who hadn't shown up to Neko's impromptu 'Welcome back, SB!" party, who also happened to be the one she most wanted to talk to.

  Despite hearing a lot about it, she hadn't actually been inside the temporary hospital Zen had set up in the medic trainers' hut. It turned out it looked a lot like a World War II–style field hospital. The building--which was really more like a large shed--was filled with neat rows of cots and tons of cabinets stuffed full of supplies against the building's only wall. Most of the beds were occupied, but Tina didn't see many wounded. The majority of the people in here seemed to just be exhausted, starved players from the city.

  Zen looked up when Tina barged in, her face instantly serious. "What's wrong?"

  Glancing at the players watching them nervously, Tina walked over to Zen and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I need you to take a handful of our best Rangers and go scout the Royal Mile."

  "Okay, but why me?" she asked. "You've plenty of scouts."

  "Because I need you to be fast, and you're the only one I trust to make sure no one overdoes it with the godly speed," Tina explained. "I also need someone who can look at a possible emergency situation and not freak out."

  The former ER nurse nodded grimly and set down the plate of bread and water she'd been carrying. "I'll get right on it."

  "Thanks," Tina said, but the Ranger had already shot out the door, moving so fast she looked like an electric-green blur.

  Tina hurried after her before the players in the hospital could bombard her with questions. Everyone would find out soon enough. First, she had to make sure she had good answers, so she marched her way over to the island's main building.

  The former Trainers' Hall was an open two-story stone-barn of a building. The inside was a massive circle ringed with six alcoves, one for each class in FFO. CincoDeMurder and Shankfest were already there, dragging Tina's quest-giving table into the middle of the room so they'd have somewhere to meet. Assets and his two attractive assistants showed up next. As Tina was piling paper and charcoal writing sticks onto the table, her officers started showing up. A lot of other players wanted to come in as well to find out what the ruckus was about, but Cinco, as on the ball as always, had stationed his PVP squads at both doors to keep this from becoming a circus. Even so, three guildmasters plus their officers made quite the crowd. There wasn't room for everyone at the table, so only Tina, Cinco, and Assets sat down while their officers stood behind them. When everyone was assembled, Tina straightened up and cleared her throat.

  "All right, everyone," she said. "We've got fresh intel that says the Royal Knights are massing for an attack sooner rather than later. Also, Captain Malakai, their level eighty-one four-skull boss, is back in action."

  Assets arched a golden eyebrow. "Was he out?"

  "We killed him yesterday," Tina explained. "But it looks like NPCs can cast Raise Ally as well, because he's back up and leading the charge. We should expect big guns and a lot of troops."

  "How many troops?" Cinco asked, scratching his newly shaved face.

  Tina shook her head. "Not sure yet. Zen is scouting now, though, so we'll know soon."

  "Should we wait for her?" Assets asked, tapping his clipboard nervously.

  "No. We've lots to do before she gets back," Tina said, pulling out the list she'd borrowed from Frank. "My Knight officer has been keeping a tally of our numbers as we get new arrivals. Counting the three guilds we already had, we should now be able to field six full raids of level-fifty-and-over players. That's a lot of ass-whoop, but we've still got too many people without proper weapons and armor, so I think equipment needs to be our first priority. We should empty the warehouse into the forges and get our army geared."

  Assets made a strangled noise at the word empty. "And what, pray tell, will we do for replenishment and materials after this battle is over?"

  "This is the king's big push against us," Tina replied. "If we rout his army, he may not be able to hold the city anymore, which means this whole place could fall to us. That opens a lot of options for new supplies, including a siege on the bank. All the stuff in there is ours, anyway."

  The elf's golden eyes gleamed with greed. "I do have a great deal of investments I'd like to reclaim."

  "I'm more interested in deployment," Cinco said, grabbing one of the charcoal writing sticks Tina had brought to draw a quick, very rough map of Camp Comeback. "The Herald's River is deep and fast, which makes a water assault hard but not impossible. We've got three bridges here, here, and here." He drew three lines sticking out of the island north, east, and south. "Those are the obvious routes of attack. How are we covering them?"

  "Seems obvious to me," Tina said, leaning in with her own pencil to draw a circle on each bridge. "Three bridges, three guilds. We'll each make a raid of our best people and take a bridge to hold. The other three raids are full of randoms who haven't worked together before, so we'll station them between us on the shore, where their lack of discipline and experience won't matter as much. That way, they'll only have to fight the guys who are willing to wade through deep water, and they'll be close enough to run over and reinforce any of the main bridge groups, should we need it."

  "Sounds like a plan," Cinco said. "But why are we still using raids? There's no interface anymore telling us
that we have to have fifty people. We could field specialized units: melee-only, ranged-only, spellcasters, that sort of thing."

  "That would be great if we had more time to practice," Tina said. "But things are already hard enough without us having to learn an entirely new way of fighting together. Raids are what everyone's used to. Do you really want to add to our difficulties right now?"

  "Good points," Cinco grumbled, scowling. "Fine, raids, it is."

  "Glad you agree," Tina said. "Because I need your help. You used to put together big PVP mash-up groups all the time, so I want you to organize the non-guilded raids. You know, fill them with people, balance out high and low levels, assign chains of command, get them working together as a team, that sort of stuff."

  "Can do," Cinco said, cracking his knuckles. "You wouldn't believe the randos I whipped into shape during pickup battleground season, and they were usually stoned. Organizing sober people fighting for their lives should be no problem at all."

  "What about the players who are too low-level to fight?" Assets asked. "We have a lot of them now."

  "There's going to be a lot more to this than just the front lines," Tina said. "We need fire-fighters, people to drag away the injured and dead, people to bring whatever food, weapons, potions, lumber, et cetera we might need during the battle. Messengers too. Most importantly, though, even low-level healers still have the crap version of Raise Ally, which can save lives if we're quick enough with it. The Royal Knights outnumber us, but that'll change fast if they're taking fatalities and we aren't."

  "Sounds like you want a support raid," Assets said, scribbling notes on his clipboard. "I'll handle that. Have everyone too low to fight report to me, and I'll make sure our back end is covered."

  Tina grinned. "That's what I'd hoped you would say."

  With the main plan decided, everyone dug down into the details. There was a lot of talk about raid balances and supplies deployment. Intelligence characters did calculations in their heads to determine how many healers would be needed and how fast they should cast which spells to ensure maximum efficiency. Tina and Cinco were shoulder to shoulder over their map, plotting out the best arrangement for the melee on each bridge, when the chatter in the room suddenly died out.