“We’ll be ready,” Kaiden said from across the room. He, Titus, and Zelda were booting up their headsets around the dining table. Thorne was at her desk doing the same.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
“All right, then. See you on the other side, eh?”
Kaiden and Titus nodded. Zelda ignored her, still hot from the argument. Admittedly, that could have been handled better, Thorne knew. She hadn’t meant to belittle Bernstein – clearly Zelda admired him – but they also couldn’t risk—
Thorne stopped herself. There wasn’t time to get into all that now. She needed to be clearheaded for what was to come.
“Good luck, everyone,” she said, then pulled on her headset.
Welcome to Nova Online.
The text faded into view, then back out. Next, it would drop her into Nova. She’d seen the welcome screen so many times it all felt natural; the few seconds' pause after she launched Nova, then the welcome text, then the game. The world would materialize around her, would build itself up pixel by pixel in the blink of an eye, and she’d be in Nova Online once again.
Except that didn’t happen. The darkness surrounding her remained until another message appeared.
Log in unsuccessful. Account has been locked.
Locked? What the hell? In all her time as a warden she’d never had trouble with this sort of thing.
A password reset has been sent to the email address on file along with instructions to unlock your account.
You’re kidding me, right? I don’t have time for this! But there was no way around it. Thorne grumbled as she minimized the game and used the VR headset to find the email, follow the instructions therein, and unlock her account.
Welcome to Nova Online.
The message faded into view as she relaunched the game. A moment later, it was replaced with a familiar view: the hangar of the Anakoni. A place that had, for some time now, felt like home. From the looks of things, though, that was no longer the case.
“She’s here! Hammers at the ready, everyone!”
A line of wardens stood waiting for her. Seven in total, fully armed and armored. Thorne shook out her arms and reached for her hammer.
Two blasters, two shielders, and three power wardens, she thought, taking in their numbers. Levels twenty-nine, twenty-eight, thirty, thirty-four, twenty-one, twenty-five, and thirty-five respectively. Some lower than her, one higher. Mostly that was thanks to the Anakoni being in a low-level system. Not that it made much difference. Odds of seven to one were pretty much insurmountable even without taking levels into account.
And then there was the problem of the shuttles.
Thorne grimaced as she looked up at them. The side of the hangar she was on had been cleared, which left her no place to hide from the two shuttles hovering above. They were each tilted down, weaponry at the ready while their pilots watched through the windshields.
“What’s this all about?” Thorne asked, trying to look surprised.
The shuttles look like the strong point, but they’re a weakness, she thought, a plan already forming. A desperate one, and not likely to work, but a plan nonetheless. There’s no winning this fight on the ground, but if I can force my way on to a shuttle it’s my best chance to make it out alive. Heroic Leap will get me up to one of them, then I just have to bash open the door before the other shoots me off…
The plan was ridiculous, but it was the best she had.
“You know very well what this is all about,” a voice shouted, pulling Thorne from her plotting. It was a voice she recognized. Thorne looked toward it with a frown.
Dawson
Warden Drill Sergeant
Class: Power Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 32
Dawson. A proficient leader, talented drill sergeant, and as loyal to the Corps as any. She’d marked him for promotion for his excellent work thus far, though the way things were shaking out, she didn’t see herself handing out any more promotions in the future. His addition to the enemy ranks made it eight against one, not counting the two shuttles. The already insurmountable odds were being stacked even more against her.
One of the blast wardens fired a shot and Thorne ducked behind her buckler shield. Her health bar flashed and a bit of damage trickled through, but that wasn’t the point of the attack. You couldn’t log out of Nova when in combat. The attack officially marked the start of a combat session as far as the game was concerned.
They don’t want me leaving. I’m sure they’ll go for Shackle as soon as my health is low enough.
“You’ll have to forgive us, Captain, but orders are orders,” Sergeant Dawson said.
“Don’t waste time explaining yourself to her,” another warden said.
Tarsin
Warden Colonel
Class: Blast Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 21
Colonel Tarsin? Who the heck is that? Colonel wasn’t a rank frequently handed out in the Corps. Thorne knew all the ranking officers of note and she’d never heard of a Colonel Tarsin. Especially not at such a low level.
He was a wiry man, with long hair tucked into his helmet but still sticking from beneath it in several frazzled strands. His expression looked equally frazzled, though he was trying to hide it behind what Thorne figured was supposed to be cool confidence. Looked more like he was suffering from indigestion.
“You have your orders. Now see to them,” the colonel commanded.
There were several grumbles, and Thorne cocked her head to the side at that. That was strange. Since when did wardens complain about their orders?
“Don’t question me!” Tarsin barked. “Do your jobs!”
Several of his soldiers shook their heads, but Dawson clapped his hands and they fell into line. The shield wardens locked their shields together,
