HotCat: What are those exactly? Maybe I can help.
Tailfeather: Destroy the spelljumper, disable the engines... And kill Phantom.
They wanted to immobilize the juggernaut and not let it jump to the Astral Plane. That was a great idea. Otherwise, even if critically damaged, the enemy flagship would be able to open a portal and retreat — at that moment, we didn’t have the option to chase wounded prey. We had our hands full with just surviving. I didn’t have a clue what our strategists were going to do with the other three ships. I had only one Blazing Warrior, and even the concentrated fire of castle artillery and the raid would barely scratch a juggernaut’s dome. Using the enemy’s confused state, our guys were aggressively firing at the Shockdown but only succeeded in removing five percent of its shields.
The skiff gathered speed, and someone poked me in the ribs — get ready! I climbed up the bowsprit, clutching at the ropes, and looked down at the giant translucent domes surrounded by scrapping birdies that loomed through the shroud of smoke, fire, and explosions.
Tailfeather: Shockdown’s right below us! We’re ready. We’ll follow you with a one-second delay.
HotCat: Got it. Stop the skiff. Jumping at the count of three. One...two...three!
Onward! The skiff flashed into being just behind me — as soon as I broke range, it lost the invisibility effect. The Pandas immediately opened heavy fire, mistaking it for another Bells-filled kamikaze vessel.
They were too late. Activating my Veil, I flew down in a long jump past the fireballs, lightning bolts, and thunder strikes, straight at the Shockdown hiding inside the bubble of its dome.
It felt like deja vu. The Astral Plane, the Ragnarok, the same jump... Unlike that time, however, when the Pandas hadn’t expected a trick, we were targeting a combat-ready flagship full of elite fighters. What would this reckless scheme result in?
Blazing Warrior! A few moments later, I burst through the glowing shield of the juggernaut and crashed into its hull in a bolide of True Fire. I decided against stopping the falling momentum and broke through the deck and several floorings, sinking into the juggernaut’s insides like a flaming needle. The attack turned out to be so powerful that I couldn’t retain my footing as I overcame the resistance of the unraveling elements of the hull. I received a pretty hefty amount of damage, saved only by the minute-long invincibility granted by Blazing Warrior. Everything in front of me reeled, the floor and the ceiling shaking. I waited out the three-second-long daze debuff and stood up while trying to draw Aelmaris from its sheath.
The deck of the ship burned and fumed, steel floorboards melting beneath my feet. Going by the round gun mounts and mobile raygun carriages, I had penetrated the Shockdown all the way to the artillery deck. A jagged hole gaped above me, its edges charred by the blue flame blazing inside, and the NPC gunners stared at me in confusion, clearly shocked by my visit.
Time to add more fuel to the fire! Flaming Bolides shot one after another transformed the deck into a sea of roaring flames, burning figures thrashing around in a futile hope of salvation. There was no time to lose. I touched the Consort’s Tiara, activating Grand Summoning.
“This place is as hot as the ocean of Infernis!” Mara growled, stepping out of the flashing pentagram. In her combat form, with black clawed wings and ember-like eyes glowing through the slits of her helmet, the seven-foot-tall demoness looked like a valkyrie of hell. She was accompanied by huge demonic consorts also in their battle forms, muscled and grey-skinned, while a swarm of winged succubi flew out of the portal behind them.
“So this is your condition?” Mara turned to me, drawing a circle around the burning deck with her scourge. “A player ship? What should we do?”
“Kill them all!”
* * *
Komtur: Dome’s down, it worked!
Evil Mook: Yes. Keep focusing on Shockdown! Armor’s coming down, come on, let’s do it!
Olaf: Attention: new signals approaching!
Evil Mook: This is NAVY. Today, all Sphere will fight here!
Komtur: Shockdown’s turning around. What’s going on?
Olaf: Our guys are onboard. They’re fighting, trying to get to the spelljumper, reactor room, and powder room. Several summoning spells are up. It’s like hell up here!
Evil Mook: Don’t let it get away!
* * *
“Shockdown. The Russians are so predictable!” Phantom snorted. “They probably think I’m onboard, too!”
“However, they brought down the dome in a second,” Kronk said. “Same story as with Ragnarok!”
“They used True Fire. The same player’s onboard, HotCat,” Phantom replied, nodding. “We considered this scenario. What’s there, demons summoned from the Netherworld, again?”
After getting a confirmation, he commanded, “Block the summoning with another summoning, whatever our nerds have prepared. Lead Shockdown away from fire, send it to the Astral Plane.”
“We’ve detected two more exit points! Lots of signals approaching! The first is here; the second’s next to the respawn point. Scouts say it’s NAVY!”
“I expected them, too! The Eaglings have arrived!” Phantom sneered. “How many?”
“Sixty-eight ships, about a thousand signals onboard.”
“Well, their plan is obvious. Jerkhan,” Phantom said, turning to the Steel Guard leader. “Return to Stormbringer. Take an escort and jump to the Astral Plane. We’ll light a beacon for you at the resp point. Hurry up; there’s no time to lose. Your task is blocking the resp point.”
“We won’t lose this fight,” Phantom said confidently. “Today, we’ll break their spine for good!”
* * *
Constructing a juggernaut’s frame took sixty days. The Forgeworlds shipyards required lots of epic and legendary ingredients to build it: the bones and hides of astral beasts, special metals and lumber, and lots of other items that only a strong alliance was capable of obtaining. It was a long, hard, and awfully expensive affair. In the end, however,
