Man, this guy sure talks a lot. Long-winded if ever I’ve—
Kaiden froze in place as the realization hit him.
“Thorne, buy that transponder, now!” He switched to comms. “Acton, prepare the ship for immediate departure. We need to leave.”
“What’s up, Kai?” Titus asked. “This dude’s level twenty and there’s four of us. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
“He’s buying time. I’m sure he’s already called for reinforcements. They’re likely on the way now. We need to get that transponder and disappear.” Kaiden switched back to proximity chat. “Enjoy your vacation, asshole.” He raised his hammer.
Werner only smiled wider.
“You think this is my only account? You think the Party doesn’t have people power-leveling accounts for all of us this very moment? You think—”
Kaiden brought his hammer down on the man’s head. The blow cut him off and sent him stumbling backwards as his health dropped into the red. Another hammer strike and he was on his back, health nearly gone.
“Enjoy this, Kaiden Moore,” he said. “The next time we meet, things won’t be this easy.”
Kaiden’s only response was to swing his hammer one more time.
Blast Warden Werner08 assisted kill - 1,000 EXP gained!
Werner went limp and, finally, stopped talking.
“Got the transponder,” Thorne said, stepping away from the console. “And good call sniffing out what he was doing.”
Kaiden nodded as he walked back toward the airlock.
“We’ll install the transponder in flight. If Werner sent out a call for backup, this place is about to be swarmed by wardens. Let’s not be here when that happens.”
“Oh, hey, look at that,” Titus said as the airlock closed and began to cycle. “Killing that punk was just enough EXP. We leveled up after all.”
Chapter Sixteen
The planet had appeared in front of them some time ago as a glowing orange dot, impossibly far in the distance. By the second, though, it’d grown larger as they drew closer. Now, it was almost all they could see.
As it happened, the planet was a gas giant. And it wasn’t orange, but a mix of reds, tans, and pinks, striped through the atmosphere in shifting, flowing belts of what Kaiden assumed were high altitude wind currents. A planet-wide jet stream of sorts, churning and mixing the various gases of the atmosphere together. In about a dozen spots, violent storms raged through the atmosphere, hurricane-looking pockets of swirling, angry red.
“Onwards and downwards, pilot,” Acton said with a sharp nod.
Location discovered: Kyraxis, Player-Controlled Planet
Faction Alignment: None
Resident Guild(s): Maximus
“Just Maximus?” Kaiden asked, reading the message. “You mean to tell me this entire planet houses only one guild?” Player-controlled planets were common throughout Nova Online. Most were used as home bases for guild headquarters. Purchasing land claims on one was a massive undertaking and required the accumulated resources of, usually, hundreds of players. But the demand to own a land claim and set up a town for one’s guild was high; as such, most planets were over-crowded, with up to a hundred or more guilds calling them home. But Kyraxis had only one resident guild.
“They can’t be that big,” Kaiden said. “Big enough to own the entire planet. Right?”
“I’m not sure it’s a matter of size so much as no one wants to be their neighbor,” Zelda said. “Settle next to the largest PVP guild in-game and you shouldn’t be surprised when they use you as training fodder.”
“Huh, yeah. I guess that makes sense,” Kaiden said with a nod. “Where are they, though?” He leaned closer to the hull window they were peering through, trying to catch a glimpse of any man-made structures below. “All I see are clouds.” Even as he said it, the soupy, churning mix of gasses outside grew thicker. So thick he couldn’t see further than a few feet beyond the window.
“They’re down there,” Acton said. “Should be visible any minute now.”
The Veritas II shook as what must have been a particularly violent blast of wind broadsided the ship. The engines complained and the pilot feathered the afterburners to keep them on course.
“S.S. Andronicus, this is Maximus ATC. We have you on approach,” a voice said from a speaker in the cockpit. Thorne grinned wide at the sound of the new name that she’d picked for the Veritas II – or, more precisely, had entered into the transponder before anyone could react. Apparently, she still found it hilarious. Zelda had had to explain it to them, but Kaiden didn’t really see what was so funny about a reference to ancient literature.
“The name is temporary,” Zelda said to Thorne, but she only grinned wider.
“You’re cleared for landing on visitor pad oh-three,” the air traffic controller said.
“Very good. Landing presently,” Acton said back, then directed the pilot toward what looked to Kaiden like more clouds. The ship’s instruments had apparently picked up the pad, though, and as Kaiden watched, they eased downward.
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,”
