“Good,” Kaiden said with a nod. “I’m thinking they’re going to be the core of our force. Front and center on the battlefield.”
“They’ll prove their worth, wherever they’re placed,” Dawson said with no lack of confidence. He’d been so busy out of game that he hadn’t had much time to grind. He’d managed to work his way up to level forty-two, which was impressive given the circumstances, but would hardly be enough once the fighting began. Still, the former sergeant had refused any discussion of not joining the attack. He was coming, and that, it seemed, was that. Admittedly, Kaiden would be glad to have him.
“Once we’re spotted, there’ll be no turning back,” Kaiden said, as if anyone needed a reminder. “It won’t take long for the Warden Corps to report our presence to the Party, and after that, Moran will start putting the pieces together. We might have gotten the jump on him in this battle, but he still has the off-button.”
“Killswitch,” Titus said with a grim nod.
“Eighty minutes,” Zelda added. She did something on her UI and a timer appeared at the top of Kaiden’s screen and no doubt everyone else’s too.
“This is all the time we’ll have. And not just to broadcast the message and database, but for the players to download it,” Zelda continued. “So, we need to broadcast the database before this timer runs out. The actual download won’t take long per player, but they’ll each need time to decide to download it. As much time as we can give them.”
“Right,” Kaiden said. “If we’re going to change anything, enough players need to have the database that the Party can’t stop its spread. Once people realize what’s on it, they’ll share it. We just need to give them the power to do so.”
Thorne chuckled at that.
“I love this plan,” she said. “Wish I could see Moran’s face when he realizes. I’m almost a bit sad the whole thing will be finished before he has a chance to get here.”
“Attention SS Andronicus!” a voice rang out from the speakers on the dashboard. “This is the WCSS Rimrock. You are approaching restricted space.”
Kaiden looked out through the windshield to see two Warden Corps light cruisers in front of them. They were still small, but growing larger by the moment as the Veritas II hurtled toward the airspace around Custos and Warden HQ.
“S.S. Andronicus! Change your course and—” The voice cut off suddenly.
“Looks like they just spotted the rest of the fleet,” Acton said with just the slightest hint of a smile.
Kaiden looked out of the cockpit toward the port side of the ship, where half the fleet was formed up around them. Counting their number was near impossible, but that was what the command module was for.
Kaiden swallowed hard as he accessed it. It was just a program routed through his visor, but it came with a responsibility he wasn’t sure he was ready for – command of the combined forces. He was leader of the group that put this plan together, so it followed he’d be leader of the whole thing. Or that had been PlayaSlaya’s logic, at least. But there was no disputing it now. The others had mostly agreed, and it was done. The full force of the amassed army had been combined into one big group, and as far as Nova was concerned, Kaiden had been granted command status.
The command module opened up and Kaiden’s visor was populated with details of the forces under his command.
To the port side of the Veritas II were some three hundred ships; the bulk of Odditor’s forces. Most of those were fighters, but there was a core of light and heavy cruisers, corvettes, and the all-important freighters that would facilitate the ground assault.
To the starboard side were the combined ships from the rest of The Syndicate. The fact that Odditor rivaled their numbers on his own was impressive. Now, however, both sides were working in tandem. Some six hundred ships in total and more than twice that number in ground troops. Almost enough to match the Warden Corps forces they expected to encounter on the ground, and more than enough to take care of the two patrol vessels in front of them now.
The amount of fire that poured out toward the two unfortunate vessels painted the abyss of space bright as day, if only for a moment, before both ships’ shields failed and their cores detonated. Nothing could stand up to that much firepower for more than a few seconds.
Light cruiser destroyed – 0 EXP gained!
Light cruiser destroyed – 0 EXP gained!
-40 faction prestige with the Warden Corps
Kaiden saw the notifications only because of the command module. He didn’t receive any EXP because neither he nor his direct group of Titus, Zelda, Thorne, Ellenton, and Dawson had taken part in the brief fight. The whole army was really a collection of groups, all falling under the umbrella of Kaiden’s command, but when it came to assisted kill experience, each group received its own based on their actions. The faction prestige, however, was a different matter. As commander of the army, Kaiden was directly responsible for their actions. He’d be surprised if his Warden Corps prestige didn’t sink into the negative four digits before the day was out.
Kaiden went ahead and muted the assisted kill notifications from all the groups except his own. No need to have them cluttering up his notification feed. There’d be enough from just his little slice of the battle, he was sure.
The Veritas II’s shields lit up briefly as a few pieces of debris from the destroyed warden vessels whipped past.
“So, that’s it then,” Zelda said, staring straight ahead. At the top of Kaiden’s vision, the countdown timer began, and in the distance he could just make out a vaguely circular object. An asteroid, he knew. Custos. Home of Warden Corps HQ and the place where the fate of Nova – and the Party – would be determined.
“They know we’re coming now,” Zelda
