by D Richardson
He turned to me. "The Black Lions own everything from the west coast to the deadlands. It is the largest, most powerful nation many times over, and now the remnant coalition armies are regrouping there." He paused. "Alex, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“What choice do we have?” I knew what his heart wanted to say. I knew that he wanted to ask, in the humblest and most respectful way, if we could just surrender ourselves and go back into our simple lives as video game cattle, that perhaps our lot in life was an acceptable one. I knew his pride prevented him asking, or maybe his fear of me, or maybe some other reason, yet I knew he would never come to ask.
Footsteps at the doorway - Willow. "It's not just the Black Lions," she said. "It's the balance council."
"What about them?" I asked. "They don't have an army to attack with, and we’re already fighting their coalition."
"No," she said. Her eyes looked past me, worry on her face. "The Balance Council is headquartered in Muskvana. Now that they have been annexed, the Black Lions control them."
"Why should I care?" I asked.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're not understanding, Alex. The Balance Council has more power than you realize. They're not just grumpy old bureaumancers who make stupid rules, but they can also create magic."
"I thought that was illegal," I said.
"Not to them," the President said. "It's sanctioned. If a person kills another, that's murder, but if a cop does it, it's justice."
This was bad. They didn't need to tell me any more for me to understand the gravity of the situation, and I cursed myself for not learning more about them beforehand. If I did, I could've foreseen this outcome, but now it was too late. Smith had these stand-in developers under his control, and if he wanted, he could bring them under heel, force them to submit to his every whim. No, he would do it - I expect him to. This was far too much power for a rat to have.
"We need to either save them," Willow said, "or kill them."
The room was silent. The clock on the wall ticked at us. "I want them alive," I said. "I will show the council my strength, my power, my cause. If we can rescue the ones who sought to kill us, then we can show the world for what we stand." I turned to the President. "Send word to the generals. We invade tomorrow."
***
"I never got to say thanks," Tae said.
Behind him, the wounded airships were lined in rows, a mass of people covering the hulls like ants, hurrying to make quick repairs for the coming battle. The Anhur itself was missing entire sections, revealing the layers of iron underneath. The sun was setting, and the air was getting chilly.
"No need," I said. "We couldn't have done anything without your help."
He smiled. "It felt great finally getting revenge on that guy." He shook his head at the memory. "Man, what an asshole."
I grinned in return, but it felt hollow. Those players who had jumped us back in town were just everyday shitheads, and my revenge was yet to be had. But soon - soon I will have the chance to take everything from Smith, to defeat him strategically, tactically, absolutely.
"Did you get your memories back?" Simone asked.
"No," I said. "Turns out, I won't need them."
She looked at me with expectant eyes. "Can you close the gate now?"
"I need to stop Smith first." I let my eyes drift across the faces of my player friends. "Then everything will be over." I knew it was a lie. It wouldn't be over. Bundled in with my spells was a way to lock out the players, sure, but I've already read the code, and I knew that the world engine itself would reset the lock. I would have to use the entirety of my mana ten times over just to advance time fast enough for the world to enjoy as much peace as it can, but that would only postpone the players for a few more days – roughly twenty years, our time. Then it would be back to square one, again and again and again.
But not this time.
This time I would find a way to reach higher, to bring us further beyond, but I didn’t know how to get there yet. Once Smith's empire was gone and shattered, I could’ve just conquered the world again, and enforce our sovereignty against the players right as they spawn in for the first time, but would that work? It didn't matter, as now the players have too much power to threaten the livelihood of the people of this world, of my world, and it must come to an end.
"We're here for you," Simone said, "and we believe in you."
I smiled. "Thanks."
"Dude, I gotta say," Relce chuckled. "We're chillin' with the raid boss. It's kinda cool."
We laughed at the thought. I almost regretted not remembering it entirely, and I yearned to head back to my secret room to uncover that bit of history, but it would have to wait.
"Actually, I should apologize," Willow said. Her face was strangely red, ears pink from humbling herself. "I was kind of an asshole to some of you before."
"It's cool," Relce said. "I enjoy hangin' out with you guys." He nodded at her and Yun, his mustache bobbed, and they smiled back.
Willow turned to me and took a deep breath. "You were right, some of the players aren't all that bad."
"And word is spreading fast," Tae said. "With our victories, the forums are blowing up over the drama. Some good things, some bad, but the important part is that now AI rights are being openly discussed."
"Good," I said. "Then with this battle, we will show them our legitimacy."
***
I stood atop the wooden platform, felt the morning breeze pull at my uniform and my cloak, the crisp air, the scent of rainfall from the night prior. In front of me, fifty thousand men and women and allied players, lined in columns and rows - military formations - standing dutifully beside artillery pieces and gunships.
Beams of sunlight poured out of the fading overcast skies, tracing across the valley and mountains and over us. The banners flapped in the wind, and when it stopped, the silence returned.
My voice echoed far. "People of the republic." I spoke with the authority of a queen, of a savior. "My soldiers, my people, my friends. This battle we are about to begin will be a decisive one. This is not just a battle between empires, no. This is a war between ideologies, a war against the players who reject our independence. This is where we will show not just the world, but the worlds, that we are here - and that we demand what is rightfully ours. We demand to be respected as a people, as sovereigns of our own fates, not to be treated like the cattle of a video game, not to have our rights set aside for the idle pleasures of those in the other world. Let our victory against the coalition echo our resolve far throughout the world, far into the heavens, far into the players' world, so that they may understand our strength.”
“For justice! For sovereignty!” I thrust my fist into the air. "All hail! The People's Republic!
A warcry. A beating chant – justice, justice. I felt the drums echo against my chest and the adrenaline course through me. It felt that the cards fell into place, and I was now standing where I should be. I had come a long way from the girl who spawned at the shore, and I regretted not having Leila or Trell with me to bear witness to what I've become.
The officers spun on their heels and barked their orders. The soldiers relaxed, cheered to each other, patted one another on the backs and gave encouragement. I hoped more than anything that this last gamble would pay off, that these veterans could soon find peace, that we all could.
"Charcoal grey and rustic red," Tae said to himself. "Was that on purpose?"
"Yes," Willow answered for me. "It was the colors of Lord Gaia's army." She turned to me and smiled. "Or I suppose Lady Gaia now."
"Those are the colors of MESA," Tae said. "Mars Exploratory Space Agency. Those are the uniforms of the Stella Vallis military - or the closest thing they have to one."
"So it is," I said. "I wonder if an outsider could tell the difference between my soldiers and theirs." I shot him a sly smile.
He returned it. "I believe that might count for the Turing Test."
"Oh my god," Simone hushed,
"I am so pumped."
Relce slapped at her back, almost knocking her off the platform. "Relax dude," he chuckled. "You're gonna make it weird."
"Too late," Yun said. "We've already gone full Prussia."
Tae burst into laughter. "How do you know about Prussia?"
"Cause I read," Yun smiled.
A shout hit us from the group. Boot-hat man and Huge guy waltzed up into a clearing of the crowd. "Hey buddies, we ready or what?"
I took a deep breath. This was it, this was the battle that would decide everything, and failing here would mean the end of us, likely the end of my people forever. Even with my god-like powers, I still didn’t feel ready. Perhaps no one ever was. "Yes."
After the generals and officers reformed the troops and manned the equipment, Boot-hat man and Huge guy ripped open the portals to ferry them through. Airships were sent over, guns and ammunition, thousands upon thousands of cannons and mortars, regiments of marching columns.
Then we stepped inside.
Fields of white, a foot of snow that stretched as far as the plains around us. I was reminded that it was still winter, and the fog of my breath, the frosty chill, was testament to that. The skies were overcast, darker in the distance. It would snow soon.
Far out into the plains, we could see it. A massive castle complex, a city of keeps and stone walls and cannon towers that dominated the landscape. This was the capital of the Black Lions empire, the place that the Balance Council had been taken to, the seat of Smith's throne.
We had our fleet of airships ease along our marching formations as we closed the distance in silence, my Anubis hovering just above at the center. Like snakes coiled for the strike, they hung low beside us to minimize their profile, for our army to close the gap as much as they could before the fighting broke out.
A flash in the distance, a pause, then a passing rumble. A cannon tower crumbled in smoke and flame, huge chunks of stone tossed and rolled into the snow beneath. A bell sounded, then another, then a chorus of them.
My special forces acted a little too early, but maybe they had to. We were close enough now that the castle guards should've seen us, and now it was time to give the order. "Commence the attack!"
The airships shot off and blossomed outward, offering the world its trembling thunder and flashes. Then the sky lit up in fire. Spells and bullets and return fire zipped between the dancing airships and the castle defenses, even the mages of both sides were taking blind shots at each other.
I looked down from my spot on the deck, at one of the generals below. His horse shook off the snow in its mane. "I'll leave this to you," I shouted.
He nodded. "Godspeed," he replied.
The regiments formed into a battle line, hastily set up the equipment and cannons and artillery, and went right to work. Just as the Anubis gained altitude, I heard the screeching of rockets hurling past, over the walls and into the castle city. A barrage of cannons that thumped and echoed and erupted into the walls, stones scattering and smashing to the world below.
The snowfall was getting heavier, the sky darker, the air colder, the wind faster, the noise louder. On the other end of the city, The Anhur soared across the far wall and unleashed a full broadside at point-blank range. The behemoth ship was getting pelted with cannon emplacements and small arms fire, but the airship shrugged it off without effort. Tae stood beside me, and he watched his ship with pride.
Then I saw them. The enemy's real army. The militia had been pouring out of the city, torn to shreds by automatic rifle fire, but in the distance, a wide swathe of an army marched toward ours, more than twice our size. Willow had seen it too and was already relaying the information. Our battle lines shifted to greet the incoming forces, new defensive walls in place, pikes moved around, and barrages to thin out the numbers. Distant explosions dotted the enemy formations, punching holes into their columns, but they didn't falter.
But this, however, was left for my own army to deal with.
The Anubis spun the autocannon and ripped into a nearby tower. Smoke and shards of stone bloomed out before the entire thing toppled over, sending soldiers and guards with it.
"We have a location!" Willow shouted. "On the Northwest corner, there's a prison."
I nodded to the pilot. "Take us."
The ship turned hard, and I struggled to keep my balance. The wind shifted, and the snow changed direction, my hair pulling away from me. The Anubis flew over the castle town, bullets and cannon shot and passing spells thumping against the underside of our hull. When we came to a stop, some hundreds of meters above, we formed up the party.
I looked at my friends - Simone, Relce, Willow, and Tae. All in uniform and swaying cloaks, all with faces and eyes of determination. "At once!"
We jumped over.
The sharp sting of charred wood and ash flooded my senses. The cold air pulled goosebumps from my skin. The rush of the fall tugged at my hair, and I lost my awesome officer's cap on the descent. With a click of my fingers, we flashed onto the streets as bolts of lightning.
I’ve done this before.
As soon as we landed, enemy guards and players charged at us. I conjured a sword and shield, both formless and made of pure light, to counter the attack with slashes and stabs. Another mob of them came from a nearby ally. With a wave of my hand, the cluster of buildings on one side slammed against the other. Air from the force rushed past, pushing eddies of frost around me. Pebbles plinked along the rubble and into the snow.
More were converging, but this was child's play. The spells I had recovered included a wealth of cost and damage modifiers, lowering the mana requirements to below my regeneration rate. If all I did was cast simple attack magic, I would have functionally infinite mana.
A group of mages threw spells at us - water to carry the lightning, fire to boil it. Poisons, explosions, silences, and roots - all careening at us to tear us to shreds.
But it didn't work.
When the dust settled, we stood proud underneath the faint blue glow of mana shields, unscathed by the will of my comrades. The players shook back at the sight, but it would be the last thing they would see in this battle.
I clicked my fingers.
Rows of icy spears thrust up from the snow and into the crowds. Above them, a sky darkened with arrows to rain down. Then, a wave of ash to consume them and sweep them aside. With a gust of wind to push away the scarlet, gray, and white, there was not even a trace.
"This way!" Willow yelled.
We burst through a nearby door and sprinted down the hallway of a prison. Rooms separated by iron bars, concrete beds, the faint smell of blood and metal. We searched frantically for any trace of the council members, but there was nothing here but a terrified guard and a trail of smeared blood.
"Speak," I demanded. A knife snapped into existence before me, and I grasped it.
"H-holy shit, wait," he stammered. He was a young guy, scared in the eyes with patchy stubble on his chin. "What are you even—"
"The Balance Council," I said.
"The old dudes?"
I took a step closer. "Yes." The knife dangled in my hands.
"They - they took the surviving ones to the inner keep!" The man fell to his knees, shaking terribly at the sight of me.
I turned back to my friends. "We might be too late," I said. "We have to hurry!"
We rushed back onto the street and again into the battle. The war outside was spilling over the walls and into the castle city. Gunshots and swords clashing on every other street corner. Parties of players facing down our elite squads. The faces of buildings erupting into glass and debris and pouring out onto the fighting. The inner keep was the tallest one that stuck out from the rest, domineering the flashing, rumbling sky. One of our airships caught fire, crashed through a far building, and drifted to a stop in the road. It exploded in a blinding flash, knocking snow from roofs and pulsing a shockwave that took a split second to reach us. The streets were getting busier now, and we wouldn’t have time to force o
ur way through.
I farstepped to the end of the main road, felt the cobblestone beneath my heels, and ripped open the player party beside me. The bodies shredded against the invisible force, twisted and gnarled and dropped like spaghetti into the snow. With my focus now on my own friends, I invoked nearstep to put them at my side.
Before Simone could even ask what happened, I was gone to the next street. I blinked them at my side again, over and over, each time getting a different taste of the war around us. Screams of agony, blades clashing, a falling building, roar of a fire. Within seconds we were at the entrance to the inner keep.
The royal guards jolted back at our sudden presence. Halberds and spears pointed at us in defiance, an order was barked, and they charged to throw away their lives for the wrong cause.
I waved out my hand, a slash of wind so infinitely small, so incredibly strong, that it sliced right through them, through the castle gates and digging into the walls. Stone and wood and metal crumpled, streams of scarlet sprayed into the snow. With a click of my fingers, the heavy iron door froze solid, then shattered like glass. We stepped inside, crunching on the frozen pieces, feeling the inside warmth of the castle on our faces.
It was quieter here. Torches hummed and danced, suits of armor rattled down the hallway toward us, shouts echoed from within. Outside, the thumps and pops of the battle were muffled. We sprinted along, the red carpet soft under our feet, the warm light guiding our way up the stairs, down a hall, and into another party of players - all max level.
"Halt!" the lead knight yelled. "I am Lieutenant Colonel Derrik of the Black Lions 5th Army! Surrender now!"
His comrades took up their arms, forming a shield wall across the way - a foolish attempt to slow us down. Rifles peaked over the shoulders of the knights and clicked.
"Wall 3(tungsten)." It shimmered into existence, a metallic gray shield that caught the light of the torches and reflected my friends' impatient stares. Dull thumps tapped against it, stopped, then I hurled the tungsten shield through the length of the hall, ripping ornaments and paintings and chandeliers, crushing the players and throwing them out of the castle. The far wall was blasted open, offering a view of the burning city and the battling armies in the distance. Wind swirled inside, bringing in snow and gunsmoke.
