Evil Mook: I see. Well, then...
* * *
“Signal’s up, Keith! They’re lighting the beacon!”
Keith Borland, also known as the Octopus, nodded in agreement. He gave a slight push to the steering wheel of his astral nave, preparing to turn on the spelljumper. A pack of birdies was flying up from the ship’s deck, splitting into three separate groups of twenty or thirty people each. The skiffs circling the massive frame of the Crabstrocity raised their sails, and the blue and red sparks of elementals flared up in their engines.
Crow: Don’t close in! Keep your distance! Where [censored] are you going, dipstick? Come back! Try turning on the Veils! On the count of three! One...
The entire gathering of ships and flying riders around the nave suddenly disappeared. The invisibility granted by the Maiden’s faction amulets was working, and the lonely Crabstrocity soared in the skies of a remote spot in the Astral Plane, surrounded by clouds of pink fog. Not a single trace of the almost fifty skiffs and a thousand players remained, even if they were just a few feet away.
Keith Borland: Are you ready? A portal’s coming up!
Crow: Roger that. Gaining speed toward the portal! Let’s go! Keep your distance!
Swirling Astral Portals lit up in the skies above Condor, further off from the sphere of ships circling the castle. A small group of airships came out: a galleon, three frigates, and several lesser vessels. They immediately gained speed, approaching the site of the battle at a tangent. But the group creating a diversion was far from the only one that arrived.
Crow: Keep your distance! Don’t rush! Maintain speed. If anyone drops their Veil, I’ll kill you!
An entire fleet of camouflaged skiffs, escorted by invisible players, swiftly approached Pandorum’s ships that surrounded the besieged castle. Myriads of birdies swarmed inside that cloud as lightning strikes and beams of naval artillery shot through it. The roar of hundreds of spells used by attackers and defenders alike fused together in a never-ending cannonade threatening to push the ice caps off the neighboring peaks.
Crow: Enemy’s close. Well, kamikaze, are you ready? First squad, start speeding up. Second squad, prepare! Primary target: Sunrise, mark’s up. Other squads, pick your targets. Try the expensive ships — galleons, frigates, carracks.
Each skiff was steered by the smallest possible crew and carried a few Crystal Bells in the cargo hold, transforming the boats into deadly weapons. Packed with explosives, just like kamikaze pilots, they gained speed, preparing to ram the enemy armada. The idea wasn’t new, but usually, such vessels were shot down before they could approach, as fragile alchemical bombs detonated at the first hit. The Veil allowed them to sneak close to the enemy fleet and carry out a sudden strike. Basically, the Maidens’ artifact gave birth to a new tactic and a new vessel type. They were tiny, similar to torpedo boats, but capable of blowing up an entire battleship. As for the combat efficiency of such tricks, we were about to find it out.
It was starting. One of Pandorum’s outermost galleons shook, pushed back by a powerful explosion. Its protective dome flickered and faded away, and the massive triple-decker spun helplessly in its place, losing speed. The two subsequent explosions fired at the same time, turning the picture-perfect vessel into a ball of fire, spitting out fiery debris.
Crow: Great job! Come on, keep blowing them up before they come around! Third squad, go! Fire up the reactors! Fourth squad, get ready!
The attack was exceptionally well-planned and well-coordinated. Nobody screwed up; everything went off like clockwork. One after another, with a five-second pause, waves of suicidal skiffs crashed into enemy ships, blowing them apart. The only way to see their small silhouettes was just the second before the attack when they lost the Veil. Almost half of the sphere of ships around Condor bloomed in a bright blaze. Explosions pushed players off the decks, smashing them against the cliffs and the citadel walls. Pieces of wreckage flew asunder, and everything that was flammable crashed and burned. In just a few minutes, Pandorum suffered heavy losses, their number still growing.
This turned out to be quite a nasty surprise for our enemies. Many ships perished, some lost their domes, and even more were heavily damaged by the explosions. Sails and rigging paid the highest price. The ships lost control, their crews lost and disoriented. Chats were full of people wondering what the hell was going on.
After the series of explosions that all but steamrolled over the enemy formation, Veil-wearing riders flew in, having arrived with the kamikaze fleet. Just like before, they were split into thirty groups acting independently. They didn’t allow the Pandas to recover, leaving invisibility only to deal the fatal blow. In the ensuing chaos, fighting them proved to be impossible, and they manifested and disappeared like ghosts, using the advantage granted by the amulets for all it was worth.
When the smoke dissipated, the sphere of ships, Pandorum’s battle formation, resembled a flattened disk falling apart. The fleet was in chaos, its ships indiscriminately crawling away from the besieged citadel. Many vessels were burning, and some rapidly descended, leaving trails of fumes. Some had been boarded, battle raging on their decks. And then, we saw new Astral Portals appear in the sky in the center of that horrible mess. Monstrous juggernauts slowly slithered out of them, intimidating in their unflappability.
Phantom wasn’t going to lose.
* * *
“What [censored], have you decided to play the hero?” Olaf yelled at me, effortlessly finding me at the resp point. “Where are you going? You have your own mission; you need to wait!”
I was going to reply but got distracted by the wave of explosions outside. A cannonade that sounded like fireworks drowned out the noise of battle raging behind the walls. The resulting
