“Your Veils have arrived! Let’s see what Crow does!”
I switched to the video streamed by one of our scouts via Bird’s Eye. The aerial view of the castle made it clear that the Pandorum fleet was in shambles, burning and crawling away, trying to escape the fire of the castle artillery. The enemy strike teams, who had successfully captured several sections of the ring-shaped gallery and one of the towers, were retreating from the foothold they fought so hard to establish, swarming back to their ships. The citadel kept firing back, and the epicenter of the events shifted toward the enemy squadron caught in a furious scuffle in the air.
Komtur: Mook, it’s time! Rally everyone, let’s strike them from the back!
Evil Mook: No! It’s too early. They’ll come; there’s no other way.
As usual, the veteran raid leader was right. In less than two minutes, enemy juggernauts showed their monstrous muzzles out of new Astral Portals. One, two, three...all four of them were there. The Invincible Armada had arrived prepared to do what it did best — crush us.
Evil Mook: Now it’s really time.
Evil Mook: Scouts! Light up beacons for NAVY.
Evil Mook: Attention! Guys, our allies are coming. The Americans will block the nearest resp point and help us here as much as they can. Still, count only on yourselves. You’ll have to give it your all! Unpack your stashes; we have nothing to lose. Use everything you have! We’re going to need maximum DPS.
Evil Mook: Primary target is Shockdown!
Interlude: Phantom
“WELL, WELL, WELL.” Phantom slowly raised the silver chain of the amulet handed to him by a newly arrived scout.
“So it was dropped by one of the invisibles? What a curious trinket. Faction reward of the Order of Maidens... I’ve never heard of them. A space-distorting veil. Effect canceled upon touch...”
“We’re still losing ships!” Jerkhan bellowed. “Shockdown’s under fire!”
“Have you scanned their gear?” Pandorum’s leader continued, ignoring his pleas.
“Yes. All invisibles have these amulets. They’re protected from being dropped. This one must have forgotten to do it or got too greedy.”
Phantom was known for his quick and cold thinking. Despite the unpleasant surprise presented by their enemies, the alliance quickly took countermeasures.
“I see. First, close the distance with the juggernauts, range: five hundred. Second, activate AOE damage auras. Third, cast Circle of Blades on each shield on cooldown! Four, sustained fire in all directions of possible attack!”
Despite the dismay of the other clan leaders, he looked completely calm. Yes, they had suffered heavy losses — fifty ships lost forever and just as many damaged — but the Russians’ supply of fireboats couldn’t be endless. Despite the unexpected uppercut, Pandorum retained their footing, still having thrice the numbers of the castle defenders and outclassing them in equipment and skill. Losing this battle would put a stain on their reputation comparable only to the recent shameful loss of two juggernauts.
“Oh, and don’t touch the castle!” Phantom added after a short pause. “I want to capture it intact.”
Chapter 11
THE FLAT SUMMIT of the Condor castle keep that served as a landing pad for airships was strewn with bodies. We kept slipping on the many stains of blood. Going by their gear, the people who had fallen there were NPCs from Eyre Nation. Pandorum’s first attack was surprisingly fierce; nobody expected such fervor. If not for the kamikaze skiffs, who knows how it might have turned out — our enemies had already secured several areas and were prepared to break into the castle itself.
“Come on! Come on!”
One of the skiffs removed its Veil right next to us, taking us onboard. As we embarked, it immediately departed, turning on the invisibility. Several players covered me with their shields, protecting me from possible fire. The ship started gaining altitude, actively maneuvering and trying to move above the battleground. I looked down, making note of the turning juggernauts. Like a school of clingfish, each was escorted by a host of smaller ships and a swarm of dragon riders. Despite the blazing fire and the disarray, not to mention the battle raging around, Pandorum’s fleet was clearly trying to accomplish some maneuver. Most of the vessels were trying to get closer to the flagships. The carnage on the decks, hundreds of birdies grappling in the air, fire, the effects of spells — the sight below was truly impressive. Processions of lightning balls stretched toward one of the juggernauts, multitudes of beams crossing right in its center, while spectral swords slashed at its dome — the entire might of the Northern Alliance was focused on the Shockdown, which flew under Phantom’s flag.
Olaf: HotCat, do you understand everything? Turn on the Veil and jump. Use Blazing Warrior right before reaching the dome! Tailfeather’s people will cover you from the Shadow.
HotCat: Got it. Let’s try to repeat this trick.
Two mobile teams of flying riders flocked around the skiffs, also hidden by the Veil — around fifty men in total. The only ones I knew were Abel and a couple of other Watchers. The rest belonged to different clans, and half of them weren’t even in our alliance. They were commanded by someone called Tailfeather. As I understood it, this select group was our “special ops” destined to clear the juggernaut if I managed to destroy the dome. I had no idea how they were going to take down the crew with such low numbers, which is why I decided to voice my concerns.
Tailfeather: The plan? We’ll cover you; just stay away from combat.
HotCat: As soon as we land on deck, you can forget about me. I’ll use a cool summoning spell; it’s going to be fun. Just take care of yourself.
Tailfeather: A summoning spell? Hmm, that’s even better. If you engage the Pandas, we’ll jump
