by Alex Knight
“Since its creation, Nova has been a thorn in the side of the Party. It’s lined their pockets, sure, but it’s also always concerned them.” Kaiden gestured up to the hologram hovering above him as he flipped through more and more memos, meeting minutes, and even a few video call recordings. Each bore official seals, timestamps, and were sealed with authentication certificates and once-secure but now cracked Party encryption algorithms.
“This is old news!” someone heckled.
“You’re right,” Kaiden said, turning toward the voice. “We all knew this. It’s what led directly to the creation of the warden program and players like – well, like myself.” He placed a hand on his chest. “But what if I told you the Party didn’t stop there?”
“NextGen has held the Party at bay since day one,” someone shouted and several other voices rose in agreement. “This is a non-issue. The Party has no power here.”
Kaiden’s only response was to flip through the Killswitch folder to a specific document, open it, and begin reading the text therein.
“‘The game Nova Online, as overseen by the NextGen Games corporation, is a potential breeding ground for ideological dissidence. Such a space, if not brought under the rule of law, could serve as an echo chamber to encourage dangerous and violent actions. It is therefore the opinion of this council that a plan should be conceived to render such action impossible. Nova Online must become a completely Party-controlled space.’” Kaiden let that hang in the air a moment. Admittedly, it was nothing particularly surprising. Everyone knew the Party’s distaste for Nova. It was what came next that was the bombshell.
“‘On the authority of this council, and in the interest of the well-being of society, it is hereby ordered that Commander Moran will develop and oversee Operation Killswitch, which can be enacted to subdue Nova Online should the threat grow out of hand. Given the large revenue streams generated by the game, this will be an option of last resort. However, should the game or any of its players serve as a clear and immediate threat to the interests of this Party, military force is authorized to whatever extent is deemed necessary for the total and complete subjugation of NextGen and their creation Nova Online. Or, in the case that this is not possible, the termination of the game.’” Kaiden paused to catch his breath, then looked up from the document he’d been reading and out to the shadowy members of The Syndicate gathered around him.
Silence dominated the room.
I have their attention now.
“We know the Party doesn’t like the freedom we enjoy in Nova. We’ve also known there isn’t much they can do about it. There’s the Warden Corps, sure, but they can only do so much. And thanks to NextGen, Nova has remained a safe space. Largely free from Party influence. Largely free from the mess they’ve made of the real world. But Operation Killswitch stands to change all of that.”
Kaiden flipped through several documents again, focusing on them so the projection above would show them to the room.
“I will make these documents available to all of you. You are welcome to go through them for yourself, but let me summarize them for you.
“Operation Killswitch consists of three parts. Part one, the Party takes the internet offline for a few days. An unfortunate grid failure, they’ll bill it as. Part two, military forces will storm NextGen HQ and forcibly take control of Nova Online. With the internet down, word might not get out for some time. Or maybe it will, but it won’t matter, because by the time it does, the Party will control NextGen’s servers. They’ll turn them off, or maybe even destroy them. They’ll rip the heart out of Nova, and in an instant, all data, all backups – everything – will be gone. We’ll lose all of this.” He spread his arms out to encompass the room. But not just the room, he hoped they realized. So much more. Every planet. Every player. All of Nova. “The international fallout will be massive, but the Party is desperate.”
Kaiden took a deep breath.
“The last time I was here, I appealed to your sense of humanity. To your concern for the goings on of the world beyond Nova. But you weren’t interested in that. You thought you were safe in here, in Nova. And you were right. Until now. These documents on Killswitch aren’t new. The Party’s been developing this plan for months now, which means if everything isn’t already in place, it soon will be. The only reason they haven’t initiated Killswitch yet is because they’ve been seeking a quieter solution. Taking Nova offline would represent a major financial loss to the Party, as they wouldn’t be able to tax the in-game economy as they’ve done for so long. But when we make a move on Warden HQ, we’ll be forcing the Party’s hand. They’ll begin Killswitch in response, and at that point, there’ll be no turning back. We’ll have eighty minutes before they can take the internet offline. And if they do that, it’s all over. Nova as we know it will be dead.”
Kaiden gestured to the projection above him, to the details of Killswitch laid out bare for all to see.
“I’ve vetted all of this information with Thorne, a former captain of the Warden Corps. Everything outlined in Killswitch is actionable.”
Kaiden took a step forward and made a point of looking around the room, taking his time and letting his eyes slide from one booth to the next.
“The Party already controls everything else. Nova is our last escape. Our last gasp at a life not monitored and controlled by oligarchs. And now, even that is on the brink of destruction.” Kaiden focused his thoughts and steadied his voice. “The plan I proposed last time is still in effect and our attack is set to begin. We are not yet ready – my friends and I aren’t even max level – but we cannot wait. If we do it may be too late. We’re taking a stand to stop the Party. To save Nova. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.”
Kaiden spread his arms out to the entire room and gave the next words everything he had.
“We’re now fighting for the very life of Nova Online. Will you help us?”
Silence. And more silence. Silence for so long Kaiden began to feel ridiculous. And to realize that he’d failed. He’d given it his all and he’d come up short.
And then, a noise.
A light hiss and the opaque glass front of the nearest booth retracted. Odditor stepped out and walked across the floor to join Kaiden. In the middle of the vast room he looked small, but his stride was confident and his back was straight. He gave several booths hard stares as he approached. The shadowy figures in them seemed to shift in their seats.
“Nova is my home. My livelihood. It’s where… where I keep my pets. I’m with you.” Odditor came to a stop beside Kaiden.
The booths Odditor had eyed hissed open and several figures Kaiden didn’t recognize stepped cautiously out.
Another hiss and another booth opened. PlayaSlaya emerged and joined them in the center of the room.
“You know I’m in,” he said and cracked his knuckles. “No way Maximus is missing out on the fight of a lifetime. Let’s kick some Party ass!”
Nando came next and gave Kaiden a slight but sharp nod.
“Let’s make this count, huh?” he said. “Make a difference. One for the better this time.”
A few more booths opened in response to the Maximus leadership showing their support. The group at the center of the room was, impossibly, growing.
They’re... they’re with us, Kaiden thought, seeing it but still having trouble believing it.
And then, one by one, the other booths opened and more and more players emerged until the entire room seemed a flood of motion and bodies.
They gathered at the center of the room as one. There was no shouting, no exclamations, no cheers. But Kaiden had his answer.
The Syndicate was with them.
Chapter Fifty-Three
With The Syndicate behind them, there was nothing more to do except assemble the biggest army possible, fine-tune the battle plan, then hit the Warden Corps with every single thing they had.
Maximus brought the elite fighters. Odditor brought the ships, the manpower of the guilds he led,
and, of course, his menagerie of monsters. The Syndicate brought the rest, which was to say, all of the above and then some. Even with their full backing behind the endeavor, few members of The Syndicate actually turned up to fight themselves. Instead they sent ships and soldiers and a good legion or two of loyal NPCs. A hodgepodge army that, if Kaiden was being honest with himself, actually seemed to have a pretty good chance of pulling this whole thing off.
It’d taken two days to assemble all of the forces at – or more appropriately, above – The Syndicate’s base on Aqukinho. With everything else in order, the wait was unbearable, but Thorne had suggested they grind as much as possible during that time. It was a welcome relief from nitpicking the battle plan over and over again, and in the end had paid dividends beyond just giving Kaiden’s mind a much-needed distraction. He and Zelda had picked up two levels, putting them both at fifty-two, while thanks to his extra EXP from his heroics in the arena, Titus was almost even with Thorne. They’d also gained two levels each and were painfully close to fifty-three. No new abilities for anyone, but a search online revealed those would come with the next level. Kaiden had half a mind to push through and get the remaining EXP needed, but when it was a choice between that and delaying the now assembled fleet, well, that was a tough call. Every moment spent waiting was another moment the Warden Corps might notice the massive fleet – even if it was assembling in a backwater corner of the galaxy.
No; the element of surprise was more important than a few new abilities. The attack had to move forward.
“Thank you, Braker,” Kaiden said. He’d taken the database back from the NPC several days ago – right before he’d discovered Killswitch – but he’d never properly thanked the mechanic. Technically he was an NPC and thus not sentient, but on the eve of such a monumental battle, Kaiden found himself feeling sentimental. He smiled and patted Braker on the shoulder. “You did a good job holding on to this for so long.”
The mechanic gave a quick nod.
“Got a ship needs fixin’, I’m your man.”
“If we get through this alive, we’ll promote you to head mechanic!” Titus said with a smile as he slapped the NPC on the back.
Braker gave another quick nod, indistinguishable from the first one.
“Ship’s running just fine, Captain.”
“All right, enough doting,” Acton said. “Back to work.” He snapped his fingers and shooed the mechanic from the cockpit. When Braker was gone, Acton returned to his co-pilot seat.
“Give them too much praise and they’ll get big heads,” he grumbled.
“Zelda,” Kaiden said, turning to her and holding out the database. “Keep it safe. Though I know I don’t need to tell you that.”
She took it carefully in hand.
“It’s the key to the whole plan,” she said and looked down to the open padlock. She added it to her inventory, and the small thing – on which so much hinged – disappeared from sight. Zelda looked up to everyone around her on the bridge of the Veritas II. “I know you’ll do your best to keep me alive, but if I go down, you loot me. Instantly. Custos is a PVP zone and we can’t lose the database. It’s more important than any of us.”
“The database, your hammer-rifle, anything else of value you have on you. Couldn’t pass up profit like that, after all,” Titus said with a wink.
Kaiden knew he was joking but he punched the big man in the shoulder anyway. Though perhaps a bit harder than he’d intended.
I’m on edge, he realized. There was no pain in Nova, but even so, Kaiden could feel how tense he was. Every bit of him was coiled as if ready to spring into motion. But he wouldn’t be doing that on the bridge of the Veritas II. Even if they were hurtling toward the coming fight as fast as their engines could carry them.
Take a breath. We got this. We’re as prepared as we can be. He forced himself to take several deep breaths.
Somehow during all of the grinding they’d found time to send Acton and the Veritas II off to the nearest turen space station to purchase new upgrades. Defense drones had been the bulk of the purchase and they weren’t even for the Veritas II, but for the Borrelly. Kaiden pulled up their information for one last review before things got crazy.
Mk. 5 Proximity Defense Drone Launchers
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 100%
Capacity: 10 drones
Quick facts: With the push of a button these launchers will deploy autonomous defense drones around the perimeter of your ship. When active, these drones will engage any incoming hostile objects including missiles, torpedoes, and enemy ships.
They’d loaded the drones with explosive ballistic rounds so they’d have a better chance at bringing down missiles and torpedoes in particular.
The second upgrade had also been for the Borrelly – a multi-facing shield generator. Normally a ship had one health pool shared between all of its surface. This upgrade changed that.
All Stop 6 Face Shield Generator
Rarity: Very Rare
Durability: 100%
+5 shield faces (individual overlapping shield generators each protecting a specific part of the ship independently)
-30% capacity per shield face
Quick facts: Six faces are better than one. For the fast, maneuverable ship on the go, this six-faced shield generator allows clever piloting to extend the life of a ship’s shields.
If anyone was going to make use of clever piloting, Kaiden knew it’d be Ellenton. She’d be ecstatic at the purchase.
For the next upgrade Zelda had wanted another shield generator, but the Veritas II didn’t have a strong enough core to support it. They needed a new one and there wasn’t a shipyard close enough to get one. Thus, they’d settled on additional armor instead.
Cetacean Hull Armor, Orca Class
Rarity: Uncommon
Durability: 100%
+10% ballistic resistance
+10% debris resistance
+20% explosive resistance
-10% speed
+15% radar signature
Armor was similar to a shield, but it slowed them a bit and made them easier to spot on radar. All the same, though, the ship had good engines, so the speed debuff wouldn’t be crippling, and it was well worth it when considered against the battle they were heading for.
And what was armor without offense? Their turrets had done a fine job so far, but an upgrade never hurt. Acton had insisted they change their turrets from the two-barrel variety to something a bit punchier.
AP-EX Four-Barrel Slugshot Turret
Rarity: Uncommon
Durability: 100%
0-second charge time.
-10% damage to shielded targets
-20% fire rate
+60% damage to unshielded targets
+65% damage to critical components
+65% damage to crew
Quick facts: Forgoing the rapid-fire approach of many of its competitors, the AP-EX Four-Barrel Slugshot Turret fires armor-piercing, high-explosive rounds. Designed to penetrate enemy hulls, then explode on a timed fuse, these rounds specialize in damaging critical components and eliminating enemy crew.
Lastly, they’d restocked on the munitions that had served them so well up until now. Particularly the torpedoes.
Mk. 2 ‘Tumbler’ Torpedo
Rarity: Uncommon
Durability: 100%
5-second lock-on required
+80% projective speed
+250% damage to shields and hulls
Quick facts: Once locked on to a target, the Mk. 2 ‘Tumbler’ Torpedo rarely misses. Upon striking a target, the missile is designed to flip end over end and ‘tumble’ through shields and hulls alike, opening massive holes in each.
With upgrades and munitions covered, there’d just been the crew to think about. They were in peak condition as well; for the first time, there’d been enough credits to please Acton and hire actual turret gunners. Crewmen that’d be incredibly useful considering they were about to fly into what Dawson l
iked to refer to as a ‘target-rich environment.’ Makes it easier to shoot the enemy when you’re completely surrounded by them, right?
Zelda had also loaded up as much as they could on boarding crew. Thanks to their soaring prestige with the Turen Geniocracy, turen marksmen were the best crew to hire for the cost.
Finally, in addition to the barracks now being fully stocked with crew, the pilot, Sias, had tiered up from all the grinding of the past week.
Sias (Turen Pilot) – Journeyman, tier 5
+26% Dodge Chance
+10% Mobility
+5% Speed
The tiering up had improved several stats, but mainly his ability to increase the ship’s dodge chance. A good thing, too, considering there was about to be a whole lot of explosives to dodge, and soon.
The Veritas II was as prepared as it’d even been. Well equipped, well crewed, and in perfect condition. Despite all of that, Kaiden was still worried.
“You okay there?” Thorne asked, looking up from where she’d been leaning against a window. “Sounds like you’re about to hyperventilate.”
“Just... nerves,” he said.
“I get it,” she said with a shrug. “Big day ahead. And an even bigger battle. I mean, everything we’ve done before has been leading up to this. We have a chance to change the world.” She said the words but her expression didn’t match the gravity of them. If anything, she looked… relaxed?
“The secret to this sort of thing,” she said, speaking to everyone now, “is just to relax. Breathe. Get out of your own heads.” She tapped a finger to her temple. “The plan’s in place.” She nodded out to the ships in formation around them. “The army’s assembled. ” She gestured to the group of them. “And we’re as prepared as we’re going to be. I mean, a few more levels would be nice, but otherwise we’re kitted up, finally restocked on stimpacks, and, if I’m being honest, there isn’t a worthier group of troublemakers I’d rather be fighting beside today.” She said the last part with a slight smile. Didn’t make the nerves go away, but at least for a moment, they weren’t at the forefront of his mind.
