by Alex Knight
A shape appeared in front and below them, then manifested itself into a landing pad. Flat, roughly rectangular, and with “03” lasered across it with high-visibility paint.
“Easy now. Easy…” Acton said, as the pilot worked the throttle to bring them in. Another savage burst of wind howled against the hull and the ship was driven sideways, slipping past the edge of the pad. A burst of power to the starboard maneuvering thrusters eased them back toward center, then the pilot dropped them down with a thud. Kaiden was jostled to the side as the full weight of the ship fell on its landing gear, then bobbed up and down as the suspension leveled out.
The wind still howled and whistled outside, but now that they were landed, it seemed unable to move the ship.
“Welcome to Kyraxis, Andronicus,” the Maximus air traffic controller said. “Proceed to the visitor entrance for processing.”
Maximus’ guild base was in front of them – allegedly. The clouds were still thick as ever. Everything was a swirling fog of orange and tan as Kaiden strode across the pad with the others, struggling to catch a glimpse of the shadowy structure in front of them.
The pad was wide and flat. A bridge at one side led toward the hulking mass of some sort of building. And then, all at once, the clouds broke.
Sunlight poured in from above, and for a moment Kaiden could see everything around them.
A seemingly glass-domed building stood in front of them at the end of the bridge they were on. Except, it wasn’t standing at all – it was floating. Or flying. Whatever was keeping it up, it wasn’t the ground. Kaiden glanced down into an eternity of swirling gas and howling winds before remembering there was no ground. Not on Kyraxis. It was a gas giant, after all.
The clouds began to close in again and Kaiden snapped his attention back to the view in front of him, taking in as much detail as possible before everything was smothered again.
The bubble-like building in front was circular at its base and topped by a transparent dome. Inside, he could see smaller, squat buildings scattered throughout. Each structure looked to be modular, the same four smooth metal walls used to create a basic cube. In some places, larger buildings had been created by attaching several cubes together.
The clouds settled in and Kaiden glanced beyond the dome for a moment, straining to see more of the base. In the distance, he could just make out the silhouettes of more domes. They were connected by a latticework of sky bridges, their outsides reinforced with thick support columns. The bridges spanned between the domes, creating a web that stretched off into the distance. One particular dome caught Kaiden’s eye. It was open on top, unlike the others. And inside there were explosions and flashes of light. An arena of sorts? With a fight going on inside?
A blast of wind hit the bridge and Kaiden stumbled to the side as the whole thing moved. Except, it wasn’t just the bridge. The domed building in front of them moved as well. And the landing pad. And, as Kaiden watched, each bridge and domed building in the distance moved with them, one by one as the wind pushed through the interconnected web. Eventually, the entire base was drifting, driven by the harsh wind.
“This whole base is moving,” Kaiden exclaimed.
“Free-drifting,” Zelda said with a nod. “Pretty much the only way to exist in a place like this. No reason to waste resources fighting the winds. Instead, just let them carry you. It’s not like you’re going to run into anything in this atmosphere besides more wind.”
“Yeah. It’s a cool sight, but what are we going to say once we’re in there?” Thorne asked, nodding toward the domed building waiting at the end of their bridge. “Let’s not have a repeat of the conversations with Recruz, yeah?”
Kaiden set his eyes ahead and strode forward. “We’ll say whatever we have to. Whatever it takes to get a meeting with PlayaSlaya.” They’d all sent him friend requests on the off-chance he'd accept. He hadn’t, of course.
A few more steps and the Veritas II had disappeared behind them. All Kaiden could see was the bridge beneath his feet and the domed building rising at the end of it.
Transparent doors made of the same material as the dome slid open as they approached. Kaiden led the way inside, then paused, taking in the surroundings. With a fully see-through ceiling the building had little need of artificial light – at least during the day. The light from the system’s star, reflected and softened by the swirling clouds, lit up every inch of the space with a shining brilliance.
“Nicer digs than I expected from a PVP guild,” Titus said.
“King Street’s building isn’t bad either,” Zelda replied.
“Yeah, don’t let the decor distract you,” Thorne said as she followed them in. “This is all built on PVP spoils. Might look luxurious. Fragile, even. But the players here are anything but.”
“This way,” Kaiden said, leading them toward the interior building marked ‘Processing.’
There was a doorway on the front of it, but no door, and as he stepped through it, he realized there was no ceiling either. The walls stood tall and strong, but where a ceiling should have been there was only open air. He stared through it and up to the dome a good two hundred feet above. It was almost as if each of the little buildings inside the dome was a glorified cubicle, partitioning space off for specific purposes without being fully cut off from the atmosphere of the rest of the dome.
“Crew of the Andronicus, right? Pumped to have you!” an excited voice said from behind the front desk.
Halicar
Class: Cybernetic Knight
Faction: Maximus
Level: 55
Kaiden read the information and looked the player over. He wore a black and red suit of power armor, similar to their own but for its color and mass. It was a bulky thing, reinforced in the chest and neck such that Halicar looked less a man and more a walking combat suit. Which, considering he was in a PVP guild, probably wasn’t far off.
Level fifty-five, huh? They’re not playing around here, are they?
“He’s the highest-level player we’ve ever encountered,” Kaiden said, speaking through comms so only his party would hear him.
“Private communication isn’t allowed in the base,” Halicar said, rising from his chair and leaning across the desk. “You have something to say, you can say it in proximity chat.”
“Ah, sorry.” Kaiden winced. “Didn’t know.”
“All good, all good,” Halicar said with a wave. “You’re new here. So, you’ve come to join up, yeah?”
“Actually, no.” Kaiden focused on speaking confidently. He’d been uncertain when talking to Recruz, and everyone had seen how well that worked out. There was no room for indecision. Not here, not now.
“Ha, good one, dude,” Halicar said, then pulled up a screen on the terminal at his desk. “Okay, so I see you’re all pretty low level. You can’t officially join until you hit fifty-five, but we can work with you if you’re willing to put some effort in. Grind on your own, and when you get to fifty, you can fight in our arena.” He gestured out of the dome, off toward where Kaiden had seen a fight happening as they’d walked in. Even through the clouds the explosive effects of abilities being fired off were visible in flashing bursts of light.
“A few wins in there will get you some rep, you know? And if you take down the whole tournament, you’ll get to meet PlayaSlaya himself. Quite an honor,” Halicar said. “Also, you’re free wardens, which is good. Opens up some different combat combinations when we go into guild versus guild PVP.” He looked up with a smile. “The higher-ups love that, too. Versatility, they always—”
“We’re not trying to join,” Kaiden said, cutting him off mid-sentence.
This time, Halicar stopped what he was doing, frowned, then shouted over his shoulder.
“Nassus! Need you for a sec.”
Another player walked in. She wore black and red power armor similar to her partner's.
Nassus
Class: Brawler
Faction: Maximus
Level: 55
>
Never seen that class before, Kaiden thought. Though truly, they hadn’t seen much of Nova Online outside of the Warden Corps. There hadn’t exactly been time to freely explore since he’d started playing.
“Hey! Fresh meat,” Nassus said, smiling wide as she saw them in front of the desk. “Whoo! Finally, someone lower on the totem pole than us who'll have to work this crap job.” She paused. “Er, I mean, welcome! We’re so happy you’d like to join.”
“Said that’s not why they’re here.” Halicar clearly ruined Nassus’ good mood with that.
She looked at them, face all scrunched up in confusion.
“Then why the heck are you here?” She leaned down and pulled up a screen on the terminal. “You’re not on the guest list. And you don’t have an appointment.” She stood straight. “So what gives?”
Kaiden swallowed hard and prayed his voice would sound half as confident as it did internally.
“We’ve come to speak to PlayaSlaya. We have information he’ll want. And a proposition for him.”
Silence then, as both members of Maximus stared, uncomprehending. Finally, Halicar shook his head, then laughed quietly.
“You don’t understand how this works, do you? You think PlayaSlaya has time for people like you?”
Nassus laughed at that.
“Forget level fifty-five, forget the entrance requirements, these guys haven’t even passed level forty.” She shook her head as if in disbelief. “You’re wasting our time.”
“Not the only thing here I’m gonna waste,” Titus growled.
Kaiden waved back at him.
Stay calm, he wanted to say. I got this.
He turned away from Titus and took a step forward, pressed both hands into the desk, and leaned forward until he was up in both of the players’ faces.
These guys respect confidence, right?
“Why don’t we let PlayaSlaya decide what’s worth his time and what isn’t?” Kaiden said, forcing his voice into his best impression of a growl.
Halicar smirked.
“How about nah?”
Kaiden shrugged and leaned back.
“When we go around you and he hears what we have to say, we’ll be sure to mention it was you two who delayed us. Made things more difficult than they needed to be.” He smirked back as he delivered the last line.
What do you think about that, huh? Feeling big and strong now?
Halicar and Nassus burst out laughing at near the exact same moment. Nassus bent over forward, catching herself on the desk to stop from collapsing.
Kaiden felt his face go hot. Were he out of game, he knew he’d be blushing uncontrollably.
“Threatened by a level thirty-whatever,” Nassus said, whooping with laughter. “Man, no one told me today was gonna be this fun.”
“Enough of this.” Thorne stepped forward. Kaiden deflated a little as she did so. Clearly he wasn’t as good at this as he needed to be.
“You two are just bottom-of-the-barrel desk jockeys,” she said, a scowl stretched across her features. There was an intensity in her eyes as she spoke. “You don’t have any power here. You just do what you’re told when you’re told to do it.” She let that hang in the air a moment, then spoke again, her tone icy. “I’m telling you to get your superior. Someone here who actually matters.”
Neither of them was laughing now. Apparently Thorne had struck a chord with them.
These guys respect strength, confidence. But all their bluster is just fronting, Kaiden realized. Internally, they’re paranoid that they’re nowhere near as strong as those ranked more highly in the guild. That... makes sense. Thorne apparently had some experience dealing with just these sorts of people.
“You want to go higher up the chain of command?” Nassus said. “Fine. Here we go.” She waved to Halicar and he pulled up a video call on the terminal.
An unfamiliar voice answered and the hologram of a person appeared right after it.
“Nando here. How’s it going, guys? You need something?”
“Yeah, we got some—” Halicar began to say then was cut off by a sharp elbow from Nassus.
“Butt dial, sir. Sorry about that.”
“Ah, no worries then.” The hologram of whoever Nando was disappeared.
Halicar gave his counterpart a confused look.
“That’s not who I wanted you to call.” She pressed a button on the terminal and another voice call started. An all-too-familiar voice answered this time.
“Sup?” Recruz said as his hologram resolved itself above the desk.
“Got some morons here that want a meeting with the commander,” Nassus said. “We told them no, but they’re persistent.”
The ghostly image of Recruz turned around to face Thorne. Then his eyes moved to Kaiden and he frowned.
“You again? Seriously?” He shook his head.
“We’re not going to accept no for an answer,” Kaiden said, stepping forward and forcing himself to look confident. “I’m telling you right now, your commander wants to hear what we have to say.”
Recruz looked back to the two at the desk.
“See them out,” he said, hitching a thumb over his shoulder. “And don’t call me about stupid stuff like this next time.”
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
Nassus ended the video call and then looked up, a smug expression on her face.
“I’m over this,” Titus growled, then pushed past Kaiden and Thorne. “I’m over your attitudes. Over taking crap from you and your boss.” He slammed his hand down on the desk. “If this were King Street, you’d have a little more respect.”
Halicar seemed to flinch at the mention of Titus’ old gang, but Nassus seemed unfazed.
“This ain’t King Street,” she said, smiling smugly once more. “Maybe everyone thinks you’re the man there. Maybe they all think you’re hot shit. But this is Nova, and in here, you’re no one.” Nassus stood up and leaned in close, voice dropping to a whisper. “Unless... you think you can prove otherwise?”
Duel requested: Nassus (55) versus Titus (35).
Achievement Unlocked!
Walking the Walk – 100 EXP!
You, or one of your party, have instigated a duel! Congrats! Now you can finally back up all that smack talk. Or just get whooped. Let’s see what happens.
“Hold on, now,” Kaiden warned, stepping up and resting a hand on the big man’s shoulder. “This is an unwinnable fight, man. And if she kills you, you’ll be out for a week. We can’t afford to lose that much time.”
Titus didn’t respond, utterly silent as he stared directly into Nassus’ eyes.
“Come on, big man,” she taunted. “We’re bored to death in here all day. Why don’t you give us a little entertainment? Hell, I won’t even use a weapon.” She raised two empty hands and smirked.
“Don’t do it, Titus,” Zelda said. “She’s baiting you.”
“I know,” he growled, long and low. “I know. And it’s working.”
Duel accepted: Nassus (55) versus Titus (35).
“Oh damn,” Thorne cursed, then yanked Kaiden and Zelda back a step.
Ability: Ambush
Launches at the target with incredible speed, deals additional damage on next hit.
Nassus leapt over the desk in a burst of motion. Titus flicked his shield on and raised his hammer but she was already on him. Her promise not to use weapons rang empty as Kaiden realized her fists were her main weapon. They fell in a blurred frenzy, pounding on Titus' shield, then his armor. Even with his larger shield, he couldn’t block everything as she darted left and right; he was just too slow. His health plummeted to forty percent before he managed to attack back. He led with Shield Slam, trying to get a stun on Nassus and stop her onslaught. The attack slammed into the ground and energy and dust exploded outward in a wave.
When it cleared, Nassus was gone.
Titus looked up in confusion, trying to figure out where she’d gone. Kaiden was doing the same when she dropped from th
e ceiling and brought both fists down on Titus’ head, scoring a critical hit. His health flashed and he roared as he swung at her again and again to little avail.
Nassus ducked and dodged and darted side to side. Titus could barely keep up. Wherever he attacked he found only empty space, his opponent moving like she was an enhanced warden at near full speed.
She’s playing with him, Kaiden realized, noticing that she’d stopped attacking back. Instead, she was dodging his attacks. Almost looked like she was waiting as long as possible before slipping out of the way. She’s enjoying this too much. She knows the way her class is built, and with their level difference, there’s no way Titus can land a hit unless she lets him. The big man simply isn’t used to fighting a seasoned player, especially not one on one. His class isn’t built for it. Even without the level difference he would need a perfect strategy to bring her down. But he isn’t even thinking right now.
Titus finally got a hit with the area-of-effect damage from Shield of Rage. Nassus’ health budged all of one percent.
“Oh, there ya go,” Nassus said, laughing, then struck back with a side kick. Her boot burst into flame as it shot forward. An explosion like a Kinetic Grenade detonating filled the room as her attack connected.
Ability: Dismiss
Deals additional damage and knockback on successful hit.
Why didn’t he use Reflection? Kaiden wondered. Then he realized: in a normal battle, Kaiden would have been helping with by sharing the data available via his visor, calling out all the big abilities and giving his allies the information they needed to plan their next move. Titus wasn’t used to fighting alone.
The massive hit flung him into the wall, but didn’t stop there. His health flashed frantically as momentum carried him through the thin wall and out into the middle of the dome, debris clattering down around him. His health fell to four percent, then held steady.
