Looking at Johnson and, specifically, Braker – who they’d entrusted the database to – Kaiden was starting to think maybe it wasn’t the best plan after all.
I don’t have a better one, though.
“Even if we get boarded, and we get defeated, and whoever does all that thinks to search the crew, they still won’t be able to loot the database unless the ship is in a PVP zone,” Zelda said. “And Acton won’t let that happen. He has his orders. He’ll self-destruct the Veritas II long before any boarders take control of it.”
“No, no, I get all that,” Kaiden said, swallowing his doubts. “It’s just…” He gestured to Braker. “I’m worried he doesn’t understand everything we’ve told him. It seems a bit... above his pay grade.”
Braker gave a sharp nod. “Ship’s running just fine, Captain,” he said.
“Braker,” Titus said, leaning in close. “All you have to do is your job. Don’t worry about the item we traded you. We’ll come get it back whenever we need it. Got it?”
Braker nodded again.
“Got a ship needs fixin’, I’m your man.”
“See?” Titus held out a hand. “He’s got this, no problem.”
Kaiden sighed and started back toward the bridge.
“I hope so. It just feels wrong, giving up the database.”
“We’re not giving it up. We’re protecting it,” Zelda said. “Trust me, I don’t love the idea either, but you know what I like even less? Carrying that database into a PVP zone.”
Fair enough.
“Anyway, we can’t worry about it now,” Zelda said. “We have to keep thinking ahead. You all sent friend requests to Maximus’ head recruiting officer, right?”
“Sent,” Kaiden affirmed, then checked in the game’s social window.
Friend request to Recruz: sent
Status: awaiting response
In the interest of protecting players’ privacy, you couldn’t directly message someone in Nova unless they were on your friends list. Well, you could, but it’d go to their spam folder, and considering the amount of spammers advertising mostly less than legitimate services, who checked their spam folder these days?
“No response here, either,” Titus said. “You think maybe he didn’t see the request?”
“I think he’s a busy guy,” Zelda said. “Remember, we skipped the regional recruiters and went straight to the head recruiting officer for one of the biggest guilds in-game. He’ll get back to us, but it probably won’t be quick. Don’t worry about it. In the meantime, let’s get this ship fixed.” She peered through one of the hull windows and toward the approaching cluster of lights that was a turen space station. “And then grab any quests we can. While Thorne’s figuring out her... situation on the Anakoni, we might as well get a head start on some grinding.”
“I wonder how she’s doing?” Kaiden mused. From how she’d described things, it sounded likely she was going to be making a new character. “I can’t imagine she logged on to many friendly faces.”
Chapter Eight
The shuttle on the left opened fire. Thorne sprinted forward; shield raised to block what little of the damage she could. Except, it wasn’t firing at her.
Huh?
She looked up to find the shuttle on the left had turned its guns on the one on the right. The wardens seemed caught by surprise as well, their eyes wide as one shuttle obliterated the other.
The defending ship’s shields flared to life, flashing with each impact as round after round screamed through the hangar. Under the direct barrage and from so close, the shields didn’t hold out long. Just about long enough for the pilot to spin the shuttle to face the assault, then catch the full force of the attack on the nose.
Chunks of armor and metal were blasted off the shuttle, and as Thorne watched, the health bar above the ship ticked away in a constant stream of damage. She could imagine the alarms going off inside it.
Shields offline! Hull integrity low!
“Who’s piloting that thing?” one of the wardens shouted. “Do we fire on it, sir? Sir?”
Sergeant Dawson wasn’t responding, though.
“Lieutenant!” Colonel Tarsin shouted up at the firing shuttle. “What the hell are you doing? I demand you stop!” Clearly this hadn’t been part of the plan. “Stop firing!”
All the better for me. Thorne tightened her grip on her hammer, then continued her charge toward the distracted wardens. She didn’t understand what was happening, but it didn’t take a strategist to see she could bend it in her favor. Maybe her odds had just become a bit less insurmountable.
“Sir!” One of the blast wardens was up in Sergeant Dawson’s face now. “Orders, sir?”
A message appeared in Thorne’s vision.
DM from: Dawson
“Good to have you back, Captain. This’ll take just a moment.”
What? Thorne hesitated, trying to understand the message. A moment later, its meaning became clear.
Sergeant Dawson swung his hammer in a rising blow and caught the blast warden in front of him right under the chin. The surprised soldier staggered back, then raised his hammer-gun and fired.
Sergeant Dawson blocked the blast with his buckler-like shield, then swung again and again, driving the warden back.
“This is treason, Sergeant!” Colonel Tarsin shouted, then gestured to the rest of the wardens. “Take him in, too.”
The wardens seemed to hesitate again, but the sight of Dawson attacking one of their own spurred them to motion a second later.
Thorne didn’t waste any time trying to make sense of everything. Clearly circumstances here had changed, but the pressing matter was to attack, so she did.
The wardens were just starting to respond to Sergeant Dawson’s surprise onslaught when Thorne reached them. She tore into the back of Colonel Tarsin first, landing two solid hammer strikes to the back of his helmet.
Critical hit!
+50% damage (Headshot)
Critical hit!
+50% damage (Headshot)
The colonel’s health bar flashed, then dropped to around sixty-five percent, but Thorne wasn’t interested in the damage so much as the charge she gained with each strike.
