by Alex Knight
**Full System Alert! Full System Alert!**
This is a Warden Corps All-Frequencies Broadcast. The Warden Corps is seeking the following fugitives currently believed to be in-game:
Player name: Kaiden
Player name: Zelda
Player name: Titus
Player name: Thorne
A bounty of 1,000,000 credits will be awarded to any player who provides information leading to the fugitives’ capture. An additional bounty of 500,000 credits will be awarded to any player who engages or delays the fugitives until a warden is able to Shackle them.
He’d been keeping track of the broadcasts with something approaching morbid fascination. The Corps had been steadily raising the bounty with each day that passed. How long until we’re worth ten million credits? One hundred million?
“The corvette was just a drop in the bucket,” Thorne said, appearing from the turret she’d been manning and joining Kaiden on the way back to the front of the ship. “If anything, it just pissed Moran off because they were close to having us and failed.” She frowned a moment as if thinking an unpleasant thought. “He’s gonna squeeze this game as tight as he can to stop us. He might not know what we’re doing, but he’ll know he needs to stop it. He’s not going to just assume we’re lying low and waiting for everything to blow over.”
“All the more reason to be here, then,” Zelda said.
Kaiden peered out a window as he passed, then nodded. The station wasn’t listed in this system’s list of registered facilities, but Thorne had assured them it was here and, considering they were on approach to it now, she’d been right.
Their scans had been unable to pick it up, and now that they were closer, Kaiden could see why. The station was thoroughly shielded. There were no landing lights visible from a distance; all the windows had been painted over to hide them, and likely the body of the station itself was entirely covered in signal-suppressing metals. Enough to hide the electromagnetic signal of their core and any excess heat it was venting.
Considering the system was officially listed as empty, there was no reason for players to come here. Nova’s AI considered empty space boring, though, and in pursuit of engaging gameplay it tended to fill it with random pirate spawns. Kaiden had made sure everyone always had one of the general “pirate purging” quests active so they’d all been able to keep themselves occupied and grinding as they navigated through the allegedly empty space. Combined with the quests they’d been picking up from every station they stopped at to refuel, it’d made for an effective and consistent amount of grinding. And, considering this was the closest place to pick up the transponder they were after, it was kind of on the way.
“You’re sure this transponder’s going to work?” Kaiden asked, looking to Thorne who was walking in step beside him.
“Trust me, the amount of time I’ve spent trying to catch players using one of these things is absurd. We’d ID the criminals’ ship and go after them. Next thing you know, their transponder code has changed and they show up on scans as a completely different ship. All for the cost of a hundred thousand credits. It’s honestly ridiculous. We’ve been telling NextGen these things are OP for years now, but they won’t nerf the transponders. Probably just to annoy the Corps.” She chuckled. “Seems like that’s gonna work to our advantage now.”
“Captains?” Acton said through comms. “We’ve hailed the station for landing clearance but there’s no response.”
“This place is hardly civilized enough to require landing clearance,” Thorne said with a laugh. “Just pick an open pad and take us in.”
Location discovered: Blue Hex Station
Faction Alignment: None
Achievement Unlocked!
Finding the Unfindable - 300 EXP!
The legendary Blue Hex Station is a myth, of course. It certainly doesn’t exist. But if it did, and if you found it, you’d get an achievement for doing so.
Kaiden dismissed the achievement with a slight smile as they stepped off the Veritas II, then frowned as something else caught his attention.
“Uh, should we be worried about that? Or is flaming wreckage strewn across the landing pads just part of the aesthetic here?”
Thorne frowned at it for a moment, then shrugged.
“This is a PVP zone. You know how players can get sometimes. Probably just some bored kids rolled through here with nothing better to do.”
“Acton, keep an active watch and let us know the moment you see anything amiss,” Zelda said back to the ship through comms.
“Of course, Captain.”
“Well, welcome to Blue Hex, anyway,” Thorne said, stretching her arms out as they crossed the landing platform. Instead of a hangar, as larger, more traditional stations had, Blue Hex had only exterior landing pads. Arrows painted on them led to an airlock that would, presumably, lead them into the station.
“Nice place,” Kaiden said, careful to step around the burning debris of what had once been a shuttle.
“It can get... rowdy,” Thorne said. “But nothing we can’t handle at our current levels.”
“Any chance we can pick up some missions here? I’m a pathetically small amount of EXP away from thirty-five,” Titus said as they arrived in front of the airlock. Thorne waved her hand in front of it and it opened.
“The NPCs here will have missions. At least, I’ve heard they do. They would never speak to me when I visited previously. You know, me being a warden and all.”
That makes sense, Kaiden thought. Will they speak to her now that she’s a free warden? If not, our prestige with Nassau’s criminal underground might come in handy.
The answer quickly became irrelevant, though, as the airlock cycled, then opened. The NPCs at Blue Hex weren’t going to be speaking to anybody.
The lights inside the station were flickering, but even still, it was easy enough to see the space was littered with bodies.
Lark Helling (NPC) **Deceased**
Smuggler
Faction: Unaffiliated
Level: 12
Balthoz (NPC) **Deceased**
Merchant
Faction: Unaffiliated
Level: 8
Inkernal (NPC) **Deceased**
Merchant
Faction: Unaffiliated
Level: 15
Name after name flashed in Kaiden’s vision as he took in corpse after corpse. Seemed there were near forty dead NPCs strewn across all areas of the room.
“Shields up, hammers ready,” he said without thinking as he prepared for an ambush.
Zelda slipped into the back of the group with a curse while Titus shook out his shoulders and scanned the room. Thorne advanced a cautious step, mouth set in an angry frown.
“Whichever ‘bored kids’ rolled through here certainly had a good time,” Titus said.
“Shh,” Kaiden said, then switched from proximity chat to comms so no one could listen in. “Whoever did this might still be here.”
The station itself was cylindrical in shape, basically a big drum with solar panels extending from the top and bottom. It wasn’t that big, though, and most of the space inside seemed to be taken up by the room they were currently in. It was a wide, oval-shaped space. Crates of cargo, ship hulls in the process of being stripped for parts, and various other clearly illicit items filled the space. The partially broken-down ship hulls gave Kaiden the most concern. Anyone could have been hiding in among their shadowy forms, waiting for the right moment to attack.
At the back of the room, he caught sight of an elevator bay sitting idle.
“You think it’s like this on every level?” Titus asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” Thorne said, striding further into the room. “Whoever did this killed the NPCs – and recently. They’ll respawn eventually, but in the meantime, the station can still serve its purpose.” She pointed toward a terminal against the far wall. “That’s where we buy our transponder.”
“Cover her,” Kaiden hissed, advancing slowly as he scanned e
very inch of the room.
If I had charge, I could use Improved Enhanced Senses…
But he didn’t have any charge, so that was out of the question.
Thorne was nearly at the terminal before the voice spoke.
“Agent Thorne. It’s good to see you,” it said, echoing out from the darkness.
Kaiden’s heart jumped in his chest as he spun toward what he thought was the source of the sound. Thorne, in contrast, shook her head and cursed.
“Werner. I should have expected as much. Things were far too pleasant without you around.”
The voice – Werner, apparently – chuckled, and then a warden stepped into view.
Werner08
Warden Captain
Class: Blast Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 20
“Thorne,” Kaiden said through comms. “Who is this guy?”
Thorne cursed in response. She seemed more annoyed than worried, though.
“You’re a warden now all of a sudden? And a captain, no less?” Thorne asked. “Thought you were only focused on the real world?”
Werner shrugged.
“I’m focused where the Party needs me to be focused. Since you refused our offer and pulled your little disappearing act, that’s been in this childish game.”
“What offer did you refuse?” Zelda asked.
Thorne flicked a glance back over her shoulder.
“They wanted me to join their little cabal,” she growled through proximity chat.
“Well now, that’s not entirely true, is it?” Werner chuckled. “Some of us wanted you. I knew you’d never make the cut. Not made of the right stuff. No, you’re more the sort to associate with scum like this, aren’t you?”
Kaiden raised his shield as Werner’s eyes fell on him.
“So, this is the famous Kaiden, is it? And the rest of the gang as well. Big man Titus! Quite the reformed gangster, I hear.”
“Why haven’t we offed this guy yet?” Titus growled. “He’s only level twenty.”
“And Zelda, too. The brains of the operation.” He frowned. “Oh, uh, my apologies about your parents. But you know how it goes. Play with fire and you’re likely to get burned.”
“Go to hell,” Zelda said then fired an Improved Burst Arrow. Werner didn’t even move to block it. Instead, he just took the blow to the chest, his health bar flashing down to eighty percent.
“Why are you here?” Thorne growled. “You can’t take us on, and if you had reinforcements we’d have picked up their ships on our scanners on the way in. You’re alone. That’s suicide.”
“Why am I here?” Werner paused, seeming to consider the question. He was silent for several long seconds before finally shrugging. “Well, the Party wants me to find you. Wants me to retrieve that database of yours. So, I put my skills to work. As it happens, tracking someone down in Nova isn’t that different from doing it in real life. The formula is strikingly similar. Know who the person is and what they want, and you can likely predict their next move. I know you, Thorne. Well enough, at least. Once that corvette spotted you a few systems over I knew you’d decide it was time to go dark. Try to throw us off your tail. The idea of a transponder isn’t a bad one. It is unoriginal, though. I didn’t know what station you’d turn up at, but it was a safe guess it’d be one that sold black market transponders. So, we spread out, paid visits to all of the stations.” He looked around the station, at the dead NPCs, and smiled. “Got a few levels in the process and, well, it looks like I got lucky.” He smiled wider. “I was very much hoping to run into you.”
“You sure do like to hear yourself talk,” Kaiden said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re outnumbered and out-leveled.”
“No, I’m afraid it doesn’t.”
“All you’ve done is kill a bunch of NPCs and buy yourself a one-week vacation out of game,” Kaiden said, raising his hammer and advancing. From behind, Zelda fired again. Werner only smiled as it hit him in the chest and exploded in a spray of sparks. His health dropped to sixty-two percent.
“While a week’s vacation does sound nice, I’m sure this meeting of ours has earned me more than that.” He held up one finger. “For instance, I’ve confirmed you’re after a transponder to hide your ship. Why do that if you weren’t planning to spend more time in-game?” He flicked up another finger. “Secondly, based on your new levels, I’ve learned you’ve been grinding. Trying to get stronger for something. Further confirmation your plans involve Nova.” He raised another finger. “And finally, I know you’re moving from one end of the universe to another.” He chuckled. “Oh, isn’t this a fun game? You’ve given me the pieces of the puzzle and now I get to put them together.”
Man, this guy sure talks a lot. Long-winded if ever I’ve—
Kaiden froze in place as the realization hit him.
“Thorne, buy that transponder, now!” He switched to comms. “Acton, prepare the ship for immediate departure. We need to leave.”
“What’s up, Kai?” Titus asked. “This dude’s level twenty and there’s four of us. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
“He’s buying time. I’m sure he’s already called for reinforcements. They’re likely on the way now. We need to get that transponder and disappear.” Kaiden switched back to proximity chat. “Enjoy your vacation, asshole.” He raised his hammer.
Werner only smiled wider.
“You think this is my only account? You think the Party doesn’t have people power-leveling accounts for all of us this very moment? You think—”
Kaiden brought his hammer down on the man’s head. The blow cut him off and sent him stumbling backwards as his health dropped into the red. Another hammer strike and he was on his back, health nearly gone.
“Enjoy this, Kaiden Moore,” he said. “The next time we meet, things won’t be this easy.”
Kaiden’s only response was to swing his hammer one more time.
Blast Warden Werner08 assisted kill - 1,000 EXP gained!
Werner went limp and, finally, stopped talking.
“Got the transponder,” Thorne said, stepping away from the console. “And good call sniffing out what he was doing.”
Kaiden nodded as he walked back toward the airlock.
“We’ll install the transponder in flight. If Werner sent out a call for backup, this place is about to be swarmed by wardens. Let’s not be here when that happens.”
“Oh, hey, look at that,” Titus said as the airlock closed and began to cycle. “Killing that punk was just enough EXP. We leveled up after all.”
Chapter Sixteen
The planet had appeared in front of them some time ago as a glowing orange dot, impossibly far in the distance. By the second, though, it’d grown larger as they drew closer. Now, it was almost all they could see.
As it happened, the planet was a gas giant. And it wasn’t orange, but a mix of reds, tans, and pinks, striped through the atmosphere in shifting, flowing belts of what Kaiden assumed were high altitude wind currents. A planet-wide jet stream of sorts, churning and mixing the various gases of the atmosphere together. In about a dozen spots, violent storms raged through the atmosphere, hurricane-looking pockets of swirling, angry red.
“Onwards and downwards, pilot,” Acton said with a sharp nod.
Location discovered: Kyraxis, Player-Controlled Planet
Faction Alignment: None
Resident Guild(s): Maximus
“Just Maximus?” Kaiden asked, reading the message. “You mean to tell me this entire planet houses only one guild?” Player-controlled planets were common throughout Nova Online. Most were used as home bases for guild headquarters. Purchasing land claims on one was a massive undertaking and required the accumulated resources of, usually, hundreds of players. But the demand to own a land claim and set up a town for one’s guild was high; as such, most planets were over-crowded, with up to a hundred or more guilds calling them home. But Kyraxis had only one resident guild.
“They can’t be that big,” Kaiden said. “Big enough to own the entire planet. Right?”
“I’m not sure it’s a matter of size so much as no one wants to be their neighbor,” Zelda said. “Settle next to the largest PVP guild in-game and you shouldn’t be surprised when they use you as training fodder.”
“Huh, yeah. I guess that makes sense,” Kaiden said with a nod. “Where are they, though?” He leaned closer to the hull window they were peering through, trying to catch a glimpse of any man-made structures below. “All I see are clouds.” Even as he said it, the soupy, churning mix of gasses outside grew thicker. So thick he couldn’t see further than a few feet beyond the window.
“They’re down there,” Acton said. “Should be visible any minute now.”
The Veritas II shook as what must have been a particularly violent blast of wind broadsided the ship. The engines complained and the pilot feathered the afterburners to keep them on course.
“S.S. Andronicus, this is Maximus ATC. We have you on approach,” a voice said from a speaker in the cockpit. Thorne grinned wide at the sound of the new name that she’d picked for the Veritas II – or, more precisely, had entered into the transponder before anyone could react. Apparently, she still found it hilarious. Zelda had had to explain it to them, but Kaiden didn’t really see what was so funny about a reference to ancient literature.
“The name is temporary,” Zelda said to Thorne, but she only grinned wider.
“You’re cleared for landing on visitor pad oh-three,” the air traffic controller said.
“Very good. Landing presently,” Acton said back, then directed the pilot toward what looked to Kaiden like more clouds. The ship’s instruments had apparently picked up the pad, though, and as Kaiden watched, they eased downward.
