“Rats deserting a ship!” I heard someone sneering. I shook my head, unconvinced. The Golden Fairs were a starting location with lots of newbies, civilians, crafters, farmers, and merchants. With a war going on, the province transformed from peaceful into the arena of faction PVP, and those unwilling to participate were trying to play it safe and get away from the warzone. That was pretty understandable. I could imagine what a powerful enemy could do by occupying the faction capital. Getting your hands on the Crown and the Key allowed you to reshape the laws and make a previously safe city into a hive of scum and villainy, and an especially cynical group might even start slaughtering the NPCs, destroying their “home” resp point. Tao had given us a good lesson by taking Dan-na-Eyre. Back then, we got lucky, thanks to the rollback. But what would happen here?
The green hills facing the city were covered by a crawling blanket of enemy regiments. Just as I had suspected, those were the Irchi from the House of Darkness; their two-pronged banner couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. Lined up on the hilltops, they were in no hurry to attack, and swarms of screaming birdies roamed the skies above their heads. I had seen those creatures before — draxes, the flying cavalry of the House, resembled a cross between a dragon and a pterodactyl and were often ridden by goblins. Their V-shaped formations moved back and forth, approaching the city and swiftly going back. Were they baiting careless players?
Evil Mook: Raid rebuff. We’re waiting, guys. Prepare yourselves.
I watched several birdies break away from our raid and fly toward one of the Phoenix ships, a huge galleon with crimson sails decorated with golden firebirds. Our leaders wanted to talk to their allies, who were in charge of all stages of today’s show. That seemed interesting. I opened the interface of my Proxy archetype and activated the Shadow Eyes ability, probing the surroundings for a shadow spy. The Phoenix ship was bound to have some. I wanted to be aware of our plans.
* * *
Naturally, the high-sided galleon deck hosted a slew of lesser shadows invisible to the naked eye. Through them, I saw several birdies land on the ship and recognized Komtur, Olaf, and Don as they came up the bridge. However, after that, it was a disappointment — they disappeared in a blinding glow, looking at which seemed to horrify my underling. Someone had put up a Circle of Light or a similar spell to shield themselves from guests from the Shadow Plane. Good thinking! Still, I persisted and managed to partially achieve my goal, finding a small shadow under the stairs, close enough to the meeting. I couldn’t see anything through its eyes, but listening was a different story.
“...players.”
“How many?” Komtur asked, surprised.
“Six hundred players. PROJECT HELL, Heresy, and Legion. There will be no reinforcements; jammers are everywhere. The Astral Plane’s the only possibility. Around fifteen thousand NPCs, but without her, they can be ignored. Ananizarte’s alone, no retinue.”
“It’s a trap, an ambush. One hundred percent.” That was another familiar voice, most likely Mook.
“Of course, we had the same idea. Otherwise, it’s suicide.”
“Are you monitoring the Pandas?” It was Mook again. “Are juggernaut captains online?”
“Yes. They’re in Atrocity on full combat alert. Four juggernauts, more than fifty smaller vessels, three thousand players. They probably expect to get a drop on us when we’re engaged in battle.”
“...propose?”
“...in login trap, plus Hird and the Americans will back us up with their fleets from the Astral. They ambush us, we ambush them.”
“...on two fronts?”
“...early to rise up against the Pandas?”
“...three times their numbers in any case! High time. They have only four juggernauts.”
After that, the conversation became impossible to understand, as I couldn’t hear those standing away from the stairs. They seemed to argue excitedly. Suddenly, I heard Olaf’s voice — I had already forgotten he was a part of our delegation.
“...you’re forgetting about the factor of Ananizarte. She’s an unknown variable in our problem. You assume that we can defeat her. Remember — even the Pandas couldn’t. She destroyed their astral castle and left home-free. Players destroying a rank eight entity is unprecedented. And — ”
“...the only chance! She’s alone, with no retinue, and we have the numbers and the turf advantage. We’ll cut her off from the NPCs and try to kill her. If we do it, the war’s over for good.”
“Especially if you think about the unique loot, the unique achievements, and...”
“...Divine Blood, Racial Metamorphosis. We should take a gamble, the game’s worth the candle.”
Going by the scraps of conversation, they started haggling and counting their chickens before they were hatched. It was an ill omen. On the other hand, if no agreements existed, dividing the loot could make former allies into enemies. Divine Blood, Demon Blood — Olaf was especially interested in those items. I made a mental note to find out about that. One of the items I got from Daine, the Mistress of the Succubate, was that blood. Back then, I hadn’t paid it any attention, thinking it a unique alchemic ingredient, and the Prophet quickly took it off my hands. I wondered how it could be used.
“...plan. Let’s start. Send the invisibles.”
* * *
I was yanked out of my trance-like state by Flame, who poked me in the ribs.
“Are you asleep, Cat? You’re going to miss the best part! There’s a Courier broadcast!”
That was true. The attack mentioned on the Phoenix flagship had started, and we were shown a recording filmed by an invisible scout via Bird’s Eyes. The camera
