by Oliver Mayes
“Andrew! So glad you could make it! I wouldn’t have got through the Path of Deceit without your help, now you’re kind enough to show up here!”
Andrew glanced around at the players, who were an even split of puzzled looks and stink eyes. He understood the game immediately and put on a matching smile of his own.
“And we wouldn’t have got through our challenges without your help, either. Thanks for inviting me.”
“Have you been looking after Lillian?”
“As best as I can, not that she needs looking after. What do you think, Lillian? Have I been looking after you?”
Lillian put a finger to her pouting lips and answered in the same stage whisper, for everyone to hear.
“Meeeeeeh. He’s doing alright. Hasn’t pushed me down any holes, recently.”
She clamped her lips together and did her very best not to laugh. Freaking Lillian. She knew exactly what she was doing. Damien gave up on the act and turned to address the room directly.
“Everyone. These are my guests, and my friends. Be nice. After we’re done you’ll be able to get autographs from all three of us: the Queen of Camelot, the streaming competition winner and...uuuh...”
It was Andrew who chipped in to save Damien from his faux pas, his flaring eyes menacing even without their customary green tinge.
“And the Big Bad Evil Guy himself! Where’s my one true nemesis, Scorepeeus63? Is he here?”
One of the boys ran up to him and thumbed at himself, his feet planted wide. Scorepeeus63 acted almost exactly the same in real life as he did online. It was not endearing.
“Here I am! You screamed like a big girl and I killed you stone dead!”
Oof. This appeared to be one level past Andrew’s tolerance threshold. Lillian didn’t seem thrilled by the ‘big girl’ reference either, but Andrew was taking it a bit worse, his teeth grinding together.
“You certainly did, you little—”
Lillian elbowed him in the ribs, her eyes wide and warning.
“—man. It was a good kill, you caught me off guard. Can I get your autograph after we’ve finished up here?”
That was all it took. Score’s face lit up and he puffed out his chest.
“S-sure! If you pay me.”
Score’s minder swept in, mouthed an apology and dragged Score to the other side of the room by his arm, through the laughing plainclothes occultists. Lillian rubbed Andrew’s back, soothing him and hurting Damien in equal measure.
“You did good. Nice touch, asking for his autograph. Very clever.”
“None of our autographs will be worth much if we don’t win this fight.”
“True enough. Damien, hope you don’t mind, but is there somewhere we can bed down separately? I’m used to playing in the privacy of my own home, you know? Damien?”
“Sorry, I was just...yeah, there are some pods available, as it happens. I’ll talk to Antonio and let him know we’re using them. Maybe after this is all over the three of us can sit down and have a chat?”
“No can do, I have a make-up work shift tonight. Not sure how I’ll manage but I’ll do my best. Maybe if I can stomach traveling alone you and Andrew can have at it? I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.”
That was one way of putting it. Andrew spoke for both of them.
“One crisis at a time. I’m getting in a pod before any more children attack me. See you in there, Lillian. You too, Damien, maybe.”
He gave them each a nod in turn and made for a pod, trying to give the occultists he was trapped with as wide a berth as possible. He clambered in and closed it before anyone could tell him not to, leaving Damien free to ask Lillian the burning question.
“So, you’re seeing Andrew again, huh?”
“No! We’re still clearing the air. Getting Excalibur with him gave me a lot to think about. How come you didn’t freak out when he showed up?”
Damien thought back to the night they’d got past Archimonde, the state Lillian had been in and the action Andrew had taken.
“I kinda did. If you thought I’d freak out you could’ve at least told me he was coming! What’s the deal?”
“I don’t like traveling alone and I didn’t want Andrew to be alone tonight either. I know there’s a lot at stake for us, but he’s even more worried about this than we are. You’re still helping us, right? This isn’t some occultist plot to stab us in the back?”
“Stab players in the back? Me? Never! Not you, anyway. Everyone here is showing up to the battle, and there are a few more logging in to join us from their own homes. You should log in as well, I’ll message you in game.”
He led her to one of the pods and gave her a nod. Lillian squeezed him by the shoulder before he could get away.
“Good luck.”
“You too.”
Lillian logged in and opened her eyes on her frontline encampment. The Queen’s Guard squad hadn’t moved an inch since she’d logged out, so she’d fallen right back into formation. Saga Online was moving into the evening stage, the light turning from clear and bright to the dimmer, golden hue. It was joined by the hubbub of conversation, construction noises, the sharpening of weapons, the crackling of campfires and the squelch of footsteps, all blending together in a single roar. The sound of a thousand raid parties, all raring to go.
Fifteen minutes left.
Lillian went straight to Hammertime and found Andrew already there, grilling him. Hammertime was standing stiffly, his arms tightly folded across his barrel chest, but he could barely get a word in as Andrew assailed him with one question after another. Their exchange looked every inch like a miniature poodle trying to intimidate a good-natured St. Bernard.
This was exactly why Lillian had always dealt with the people side of Rising Tide and had left Andrew with the numbers. Hammertime saw her squad coming and looked visibly relieved. Lillian tapped Andrew on the shoulder mid-rant.
“Thank you, Andrew, I’ll take it from here. Please take a party outside and give me a status report, I want a rough estimate of how many players there are and their state of readiness.”
“But Hammertime’s already done that through messages!”
“Yes, Andrew, and I want you to physically look and tell me that what you see matches the information other guilds have been sending him. Now, please.”
Andrew stalked off, messaging to pull a Rising Tide party onto him before he reached the gate. Lillian waited until he’d passed through to start conferring with Hammertime.
“Anything to report?”
“About an hour ago, Magnitude sent three battalions of NPC Carlisle-Elites in front of the wall. We prepared to defend our position, but they never came this way. My best guess is they’ve been put there to slow us down so the enemy gets more time to fire on us before we reach the wall. Most of the guilds still haven’t shown up and I don’t think they will.”
“How many do we have?”
“Twelve.”
“Twelve? Out of the twenty-four in the Round Table war council? On a Saturday evening? With the entire Human Realm at stake?”
“Yeah, I wasn’t pleased, either. Most of them are low-tier guilds looking to get the rewards you promised. Those who answered are here in full force, but a lot of the guilds not participating are the highest-tier ones.”
Lillian had figured out the reason why while Hammertime was talking. It’s much easier to rationalize a ridiculous thing that has happened than a ridiculous thing you thought had no chance of happening.
“They’d rather sit on the fence and see who wins than participate and risk being on the losing side. Cowards.”
“Yes, but technically, no. While you were out, I recruited several thousand new members into Godhammer.”
Lillian couldn’t see his face underneath the helmet, though she wished she could. He’d delivered the line as if he were making a statement about the weather, or noting he’d completed a milk run.
“Where did you get several thousand members from?”
�
��It turns out most players wanted in on the combat. The problem was that their leaders forbade it, on pain of being kicked from the guild. So I made a post, offering anyone in a nonparticipating guild to join Godhammer, under Camelot’s new Warmaster. It went viral. You’re looking at the leader of the largest guild in video game history.”
“You’ve always been good at pinching other guilds’ players, but this is a masterstroke.”
“I just opened a door, they’re the ones who used it.”
“And now I’ve sent Andrew out to check on our forces, and in addition to whatever other players have shown up he’s going to find several thousand Godhammer guild members?”
She didn’t need to see his face to read this reply. Hammertime could only just about hold back his laughter, his answer coming out as a strained yelp.
“Yup.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have much to complain about, but he probably will anyway. Good work. How many players would you say we have, altogether?”
“It’s over nine thousand.”
“What, nine thousand? There’s no way that can be right! Can it?”
“I think it’s right. After all, you’re probably thinking of high-level, serious players. I’m afraid most of these players are less—”
Hammertime’s voice trailed off and Lillian turned to see what had stopped him. Andrew was marching toward them from the gate, his hands behind his back and a wan smile on his lips. He turned to Lillian, ignoring the person he was talking about completely.
“Hammertime has amassed a fine army of filthy casuals. Noobs, as far as the eye can see.”
“Andrew, don’t be negative. He’s done great.”
“Did that seem negative? That wasn’t my intention, I guess it comes naturally. He’s done well, I’m very impressed.”
He managed to turn his head to Hammertime and inclined his head ever so slightly before continuing.
“I need to get Rising Tide formed up. In the battle, I suggest you give orders to guild leaders and we relay them to our own troops. We’ll operate better with the people we’re familiar with, our players are more likely to respond to us and we can give more precise instructions. You give us objectives, we’ll decide how to carry them out. How Hammertime will manage that with thousands of new recruits, I have no idea. Should be interesting. Now might be a good time for the two of you to figure that out.”
He reached up to slap Hammertime on the shoulder, thought better of it, gave him another curt nod and then left to gather up his raid party. His suggestion was a lot better than what Lillian had been thinking of doing. Hammertime, his whole body encased in armor, was unmoving and inscrutable. Nevertheless, Lillian could hazard a guess as to what he was thinking about.
“You don’t know how to manage several thousand players simultaneously, do you?”
“Not as such. Do you?”
“Nope, I had one bad idea for myself until Andrew suggested delegating responsibility. I guess it’ll have to do for you: stick them all in a separate raid group, designate yourself and me as the only people who can speak and order them like that. They won’t win any synchronized dancing competitions, but it’s enough to tell them to go forward or back.”
“What if they don’t listen to me?”
“Guess you weren’t thinking about that when you recruited them, huh? Don’t worry, in Rising Tide I had to deal with large amounts of new recruits all the time. I recommend shouting very loudly, possibly cursing as well. Either it works, or you feel a little better when it doesn’t.”
“That’s not encouraging.”
“Unless you think of something better in the next few minutes, that’s all I have for you. I’ll be front and center with my Queen’s Guard, going for the front gate. If I die, you’re in charge. That means you’ll stay at the back, with your core guild members operating the trebuchets.”
“You want me in the back? I thought as your Warmaster we’d be fighting side by side.”
“I’d much rather have you on the front line with me, but I need you to do something far more important: be my eyes. We’ll maintain communication at all times. Tell me everything you see. Movements on the wall, where the line is weakening, any opportunities that present themselves.”
She paused, waiting for some sign of acknowledgment from Hammertime. A few seconds passed before his helmet faded from view. The last time he’d done this, it had been to show Lillian how completely unfazed he was by her verbal assault. Now it was the complete opposite. He was afraid. It didn’t sit right on his ruggedly handsome tailored face, which only made it more apparent.
“I’ve never done anything like this before, Lillian. Most units I’ve ever managed in combat was about a hundred, and that was against you. This isn’t a guild fight, this is a war. The scale is too big. I don’t know if I can handle it.”
“Don’t worry, Hammertime. We’ll figure it out together. I know you’ll do your best. I don’t think there’s anyone else out there who could do better. I trust you.”
She stuck her hand out and Hammertime shook it, his face hardening back into the confident expression he’d crafted it with the view to expressing. However, she didn’t want him to be too comfortable.
“I trust you, except for your choice of siege engine.”
“Nobody’s perfect.”
That came out of nowhere, and so quickly. She gave his hand a squeeze to mask her surprise.
“You’re damn right, but we’re more than good enough. I’ll give you some time to prepare. Keep an eye out for my voice chat invitation, then keep an eye out for me.”
Lillian did not share Andrew’s reservations. She smacked Hammertime on the shoulder and was both surprised and pleased when Hammertime smacked her back. She couldn’t keep herself from smiling. This was a relationship that might outlast this conflict, whichever way it went. She turned and called all her Queen’s Guard onto her location as she invited all the guild leaders into a group. They were quick to accept, and she was quick to get to the point.
“No more typed messages to me, anything you need to share comes through here. Urgent messages only. Not everyone came, but you did. Thank you. Good luck out there.”
To her annoyance, while she’d been talking there had come an incessant string of chat box pings.
Daemien: Yo.
Daemien: Yoyo.
Daemien: Yoyoyo.
Daemien: Yoyoyoyo.
Lillian: WHAT?
Daemien: Yoyoyoyoyo.
Daemien: We can’t get anywhere near the front line, we’re blocked by thousands of red names. If you want us to help, you need to cancel our ‘Enemies of the Realm’ status! We’re literally here to fight for the realm!
Lillian: Wait.
How to balance this out? Lillian didn’t want to use the occultists unless she had to. Nor could she afford to offend them, in case she needed them. In which case, she could hold them in reserve with Hammertime. Lillian called her Warmaster and he immediately picked up.
“I’m getting them lined up as fast as I—”
“There’s something else. Damien is behind us with an occultist raid party.”
“Should we call off the attack?”
“No! They’re here to help. When we move in for the attack, I’ll tell him to move the occultists up. If you see us struggling somewhere, send the occultists in before you go yourself. I’m rescinding their ‘Enemies of the Realm’ status for this fight. If they do something stupid, let me know.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“If they wanted to screw this up, Damien wouldn’t be telling us where they are. I’d rather be diplomatic than encourage a bunch of battle-ready occultists to attack us from behind. Damien won’t, but I can’t speak for the rest of them. Your role just became even more important. Try to be friendly. I’ll make sure Damien listens to you and hopefully they’ll listen to him.”
“Understood.”
“Keep this line open. Wheel the trebuchets into the open the moment we mo
ve out. Call for silence on your group chat. It’s time.”
Lillian went onto her guild leader channel.
“Everyone take your positions. Sixty seconds, then we charge. If we wait until everyone’s ready we’ll be here all night. Put me through to all your guilds, now. I need to say something before we go.”
She went into Damien’s chat box.
Lillian: I’m removing ‘Enemies of the Realm’ from occultists now. You’re hanging back with Hammertime. Wait until he orders you to move in. Follow his instructions as if he were me.
The multitasking required for this was insane. Lillian had just thirty seconds left to run her checks on herself, now she’d finished helping everyone else. She opened her stat page.
Class: Paladin
Level: 51
Health: 2,050/2,050 Stamina: 2,050/2050 Mana: 1,550/1,550
Strength: 635 Agility: 60 Intelligence: 60
Constitution: 205 Endurance: 205 Wisdom: 155
Stat points: 0
Experience: 14,158/110,000
Nope, she was still fine. The level 50 gear she’d commissioned herself in Camelot with her newfound wealth was a big part of it, but Excalibur granted her 255 strength all by itself. With a 3 x strength multiplier on her weapon and 510 base damage on top, there was only one way to describe her: obscene. Let alone if she activated Divine Might. A single Divine Might-buffed hit with Excalibur would do over 4,000 damage, if Andrew’s calculations proved correct. Closer to 8,500 if it was a critical hit, which was very much the basis on which she played with bladed weapons.
She was a one-shot killer queen. She’d leave the dynamite and laser beams to Trinytea and Andrew, respectively.
Lillian wanted to do away with the prefight tension and get stuck in, but there was one task left: she had to properly motivate her army. The guild leaders had patched her through to their combined forces. She was going out live to some ten thousand players.
What could she say to so many people, from so many walks of life, to strike a chord with as many of them as possible? To instill the spirit required for this endeavor? Not too cringy, not too careless, not too boring, a speech that united all of them?
