by Alex Knight
Poisoned! You’ve been injected with a dose of intermediate level crippling serum. Your speed and base damage are halved for 1 minute.
Kaiden turned, trying to swing his hammer, but his arm felt sluggish, the hammer travelling lazily through the air. Jax stepped aside with a wink, then backpedaled so Kaiden had no hope of catching him. Burst of Speed was still on cooldown.
“Haven’t dealt with an enhanced warden for a long time,” Jax said in a snide voice. He lowered his rifle, aiming for Kaiden’s head. “So, lowbie, why are you chasing me?”
Kaiden’s stomach squirmed. Saying the unofficial reason would likely result in his head getting blown off.
“You just messed up a huge trade deal. Pretty darn illegal stuff. You’re under arrest,” he added jovially.
But Jax did not laugh. “Yeah? That the only reason? Tell the truth and I might give you a – what do your lot call it? – ‘week’s vacation’.”
Kaiden gulped. “Why else would we have been down there? It’s our job to protect in-game trade. Why assassinate the Hyperion rep, anyway? They were just doing business.”
Jax chuckled this time. “They’re doing their business, and I’m doing mine.” He reached up with one finger to tap the scope of his sniper, specifically the symbol plastered there. It showed a smiling skull, fire in its eyes, against the backdrop of a biohazard symbol.
A guild symbol, maybe? A personal calling card? Kaiden wasn’t sure.
Jax brought his finger back down to the trigger. “Alright then, do-gooder. I’ll send your level six ass back to relax in your cell. Better luck next tim—”
The sound of a shuttle’s engines roared from below the lip of the rooftop’s western edge. Jax snapped his head in its direction, giving Kaiden just enough time to crouch behind his shield. Jax frowned, shook his head, then turned, running toward the slender, obsidian-colored ship.
Green dots appeared on Kaiden’s minimap and Titus’ voice crackled over the comms.
“Nearly with you, kid. Can’t quite see you on our maps yet, though. You still with us?”
“Just,” Kaiden said, unable to hide his relief. “But he’s getting away. I’m poisoned and can’t catch him.”
“Not if I can help it,” Ellenton said.
But Jax was already hopping into the cockpit of his own craft.
Kaiden realized the crippling serum would lose its effect soon, but there was no way he would catch Jax now. The least he could do was get some further intel on him, though, so he moved the reticle on his visor over, locking onto Jax even as his ship began to lift off the concrete.
Jax
Class: Assassin
Faction: Unknown
Level: 15
Assassins are high in dexterity and intelligence, and low in endurance and strength. Though powerful when attacking from stealth and ranged, they are weak when caught in close combat.
Key Abilities: Kill Shot, Cloaking, Smoke Bomb, Assassinate, Venomous Strike
That’s a lot of good information, Kaiden thought. One key phrase stuck out to him. ‘Weak in direct combat’. With some more levels, I might be able to take this guy.
Jax’s ship angled upward as the Borrelly emerged into view.
“That’d be him, then?” Ellenton’s voice blared loudly in Kaiden’s ear. “Priming weapons, targeting his engines and —”
A boom shook the air as Jax’s ship blasted off into the sky.
“Ah, come on,” Ellenton shouted. A sound of fists hitting a control console followed.
“We need to go after him,” Zelda said.
“No can do, Ensign,” Ellenton said. “That was a Tychios Model F Blazar. On a good day, we’d have trouble keeping up with it. With the damage sustained to the Borrelly, we don’t have a chance.” She turned the Borrelly to face Kaiden up on the roof and began a landing procedure. “Gonna have to call this chase here. He’s gone.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was a long, tense flight back to the Anakoni, in which Kaiden relayed how he’d lost the assassin. The failure stung doubly so considering there was now no doubt the assassin matched the description of the one who’d killed Bernstein in-game.
Kaiden had almost had him – had been that close – and had let him get away.
Now, they were back at square one. Or square one and a half. The only saving grace was the symbol he’d seen on the assassin’s rifle. A fiery-eyed skull against the backdrop of a biohazard symbol. They could at least follow that lead. Maybe it belonged to some known criminal group? Some guild of assassins? Was that even a thing in Nova? Kaiden didn’t know, but it was the only hope he had as they returned to base.
The other silver lining was Kaiden now had a class. He opened his character sheet to view his new stats.
Character
Name: Kaiden
Race: Human
Level: 6
Class: Enhanced Warden
Attributes:
Strength: 15 Intelligence: 15
Endurance: 15 Perception: 15
Dexterity: 30 Unassigned: 0
Abilities:
Hammer Smash, Shield Bash, Hammer Toss, Shackle, Burst of Speed
Perks:
None
He was an enhanced warden. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Power wardens could hit hard, sure, but they were often a blunt force, smashing down obstacles. As the enhanced class, Kaiden would have more flexibility. His speed would allow him to get around the battlefield quickly, while his higher critical hit chance meant he could still deal serious damage. The high dexterity might even make up for his lack of endurance, allowing him to dodge more blows. It suited his playstyle; allowed him to think, plan his attacks, rather than just smashing away.
Sirens were blaring and emergency lights flashed in the Anakoni’s hangar when they landed. The Borrelly, still smoking, touched down with a series of sharp jerks and shakes amid a rush of wardens and ship staff rushing to and fro.
“Well, safe to say someone noticed the commotion down on Nassau,” Lieutenant Ellenton said, shutting the shuttle’s systems down.
“I can only imagine.” Kaiden’s eyes flicked down to the system message at the corner of his vision. It’d been there since they’d left Nassau and he hadn’t had the heart to close it out yet.
Quest failed: Provide security for the trade deal between Hyperion Mercantile and the Vega Trading Alliance
Rewards received: 0 EXP, -2 faction prestige
“Something tells me this has to do with that gang war we may have failed to stop” Titus said, frowning at the commotion outside.
“They’re not gangs, Titus,” Zelda corrected him. “They’re guilds. Trading guilds, specifically. Which means they’re trying to make a profit. I doubt war is really in their best interests. They’ll talk this out, won’t they?”
“Oh, I doubt that,” Lieutenant Ellenton answered from the front. “Hyperion and Vega have always loved to argue with each other. And, thanks to their enormous wealth, they each own a considerable number of big guns to drive their points home.”
Titus nodded at her words.
“Guilds, gangs, same thing, really. I’ve seen more than a few turf wars kick off. Might be these guys aren’t fighting over who owns what street, but it’s the same difference.”
Zelda sighed, covering her face with her hands.
“Captain Thorne can’t take away our Shackle ability, can she?” Kaiden asked.
Zelda parted her fingers to reveal one eye and part of a furrowed brow.
“I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve never heard of that happening. But Shackle isn’t exactly a normal ability.”
“You’ll be the last thing on Command’s mind right now,” Ellenton said, striding past them and toward the now-opening rear loading ramp. “Just keep your heads down, do what you’re told, and you’ll be fine. Might even find time for a nap or two.” She paused, turning back to them. “That’s how I made lieutenant, after all. Now log off and get some grub. Things will be
crazy when you’re back tomorrow.”
For the first time, Kaiden dreaded returning to Nova Online. Although his fear of Manson outweighed that dread a hundredfold, so it was still some relief when he finished scarfing down his disgusting breakfast and made his way to his pod.
Welcome to Nova Online.
The message faded to white as Kaiden found himself in the all-too familiar scene of the Anakoni’s hangar bay. Before he could look around, another message flashed in his vision.
Priority alert. All wardens are to report to the deck ten assembly hall for an emergency briefing on the Vega-Hyperion trade war at 08:30 Nova time.
Well, that’s a pleasant welcome.
Kaiden turned to find Titus and Zelda logging in beside him. As they materialized, they each paused, no doubt reading the message.
“‘Vega-Hyperion trade war.’ That, uh, doesn’t sound promising,” Titus said.
Titus flexed his arms, then did a few quick squats, as he always did after logging in. Then he shrugged.
“At the least, it’ll be interesting.”
“Actually, I was thinking about this last night,” Zelda said, leaning in close and whispering conspiratorially. “This could work to our advantage. It could keep Command and the rest of the wardens distracted, which means we’d have the freedom to capture the assassin. If we can find him, then we can Shackle him and get all the information we need about, you know…” She raised her eyebrows. “The murder.”
She has a point. But we can’t. Not right now. Command is probably pissed at us. Which means they’ll either not let us do anything, or they’ll be watching our every move to make sure we don’t screw up again.
“I’m not sure a system-wide trade war is exactly a good time to go on a manhunt,” Kaiden said. “And besides, command will be watch–”
“Command will be watching what, now?”
Kaiden felt the bottom of his stomach fall away as a voice spoke from behind him. There was a bite to the words, a simmering, ever-present anger he could only attribute to one type of person: a drill sergeant. And specifically – he turned to confirm his fears – Sergeant Dawson. Worse, he wasn’t alone. Kaiden swallowed hard. Captain Thorne was at the sergeant’s side.
The two officers towered over them, faces stern.
Kaiden snapped to attention on instinct.
“Captain. Sergeant,” he said, trying to hide the nervousness in his voice.
They’re going to take away our Shackle ability. And who knows what other punishment.
“Hello again, ensigns.” Thorne gave them each a brief nod in turn.
“You three probably got that priority alert on login, yeah?” Sergeant Dawson said, his tone sounding all the coarser in contrast to the captain.
“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.
“Yeah, ignore that.”
Oh jeez. That can’t be good. Nothing about this can be good.
The sergeant inhaled, as if preparing to launch into a long explanation, then paused and frowned.
“Shield warden, Ensign Titus?” He gestured to the big man’s hammer. “I mean, I expected a support class from Ensign Kaiden. He’s a little odd like that. And a ranged class from her.” He nodded to Zelda. “Sure, nothing wrong with killing from a distance. But you? A shielder? Thought for sure I’d see you smashing skulls in with the other power wardens.”
Titus seemed flustered, but after a moment, his face hardened and he spoke.
“I’d rather protect people than, uh, smash skulls, sir.”
“Nonsense!” Dawson barked. “Powereds do plenty of protecting. A player does a bad thing, you smash his head in. Then he doesn’t do any more bad things. Not for a week, at least. That’s protection at its finest, that is.”
“I suppose so, sir,” Titus said.
“No supposing about it, Ensign.” He nodded like he was satisfied with his explanation, then start to speak again. “Anyway, the captain wanted to see you three personally.” He extended a hand toward her.
Kaiden sighed.
“This is because we failed to protect the trade deal, isn’t it?”
“Failed, yes,” Captain Thorne said. Then, in a gentler tone: “But it’s easy to fail when the game is rigged.”
Huh? What does she mean? Kaiden shot a glance at Zelda and Titus.
“We send wardens to oversee trade deals to keep things civil. But someone wanted to use that deal to start a war. Lieutenant Ellenton’s report made that quite clear. The assassin knew where the deal was going to happen, and far enough in advance to set up an ambush. Whatever this plot was, it was in place long before you three arrived. No one could possibly expect you to stop that.”
“So we’re not being punished?” Titus asked what Kaiden had been wondering.
“No,” Captain Thorne laughed. “You’re not being punished.”
“I don’t know, Captain. I’d like to make them run a few laps, if you wouldn’t mind.” Sergeant Dawson scowled at them.
Truly, the sergeant was a dedicated role-player. Running laps didn’t do much more than drain stamina bars – oh, and make everyone mindlessly bored. Maybe that was the point.
“Later, maybe. For now, I think these three need to learn their new mission."
“Ahem. Right.” Sergeant Dawson cleared his throat as Kaiden watched on, thoughts buzzing in his head.
New mission? Something feels off.
“Things have been a bit crazy around here lately. We were already spread thin with the whole ongoing Leviathan situation.”
The sergeant waved his hand as if it didn’t matter.
“What I’m trying to say is, we already had our hands full before these penny-pinching guilds decided to touch off a system-wide trade war. It’ll take time for us to settle things down. A third of our forces have already been sent screaming into mandatory vacation, and we’re losing more every day. Problem is, if you let a war like this go on too long, the other guilds get worried. Uncertainty kills business. They stop making deals, stop making trades. No trades means no taxes. No taxes means a drop in funds for the Party. You don’t need me to tell you that’s hardly acceptable.”
Captain Thorne nodded along as the sergeant spoke, then jumped in herself.
“Long story short, we’re all going to have our hands doubly full finishing up with the Leviathan and calming this trade war. In the meantime, we’re putting all the ensign squads on pirate patrol duty. Except for you three.
“You had an up-close and personal look at the assassin who started this war. Lieutenant Ellenton’s report gave us a clear description of him – red streak of hair, nose ring – but it’s not enough to positively identify him. Does he have a guild affiliation? Who is this guy and where did he come from? Normally, we’d send a veteran squad out to bring him in and answer all these questions, but all of our vets are busy.”
“I wasn’t too happy sending low-level wardens on such a crucial mission,” Sergeant Dawson growled. “But Captain Thorne has seen something in you. Be grateful to her.”
“Now, we know who hired this assassin,” Thorne said, shaking her head at the gruff sergeant with a smile. “One of Hyperion’s rival trade guilds, and they’ll be punished properly for breach of system laws, disturbing the peace, and a dozen other things. But we need you three to find the assassin himself. We need you to Shackle him, then bring him back here. I want to question him personally. Only then will we be able to scan him and send the data to the Party. They’ll track him down and make sure the law and him get acquainted nice and well in the real world.” Thorne crossed her arms before continuing.
“Assassins, as you know, are a very legal and playable class in Nova. Assassinations are a mechanic of the game, after all. But assassinations that interfere this greatly with government taxes are off limits. Everyone knows that and most players respect that. Those who don’t, well, you don’t hear too much about them, and that’s for good reason. If we don’t come down hard and fast on assassins who take contracts that interfere with trade,
things will get very ugly, very quickly. That’s why we need you to get this guy.”
It took Kaiden a good ten seconds after Thorne had stopped speaking to process everything she’d said. Apparently, the others were having the same problem. After a long silence, Kaiden was the first to say something.
“My visor showed the assassin was level fifteen. Are you sure we can take him down? That’s quite the level gap.”
Thorne smiled at that and gave an encouraging nod.
“You three have shown great promise so far. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll bring this guy in.”
“This sounds far better than pulling pirate patrol duty. It almost...” Kaiden smiled. “It almost sounds like a reward.”
“You could think of it as such,” Captain Thorne said. “After our veteran squads, you three are our best bet at catching this assassin.”
“Now, don’t go getting their egos all inflated, Captain,” Dawson said. “I just spent the last few days deflating them.”
She laughed at that.
“Give them the rest of the news, Sergeant.”
He gestured for them to follow, then led them across the hangar to where the Borrelly was sitting. Repairs had been made to the shuttle overnight and it looked good as new.
“We’ll need every pilot we have for this, and Lieutenant Ellenton is one of our best. Until this war is all wrapped up, command’s putting her in a combat class transport. She’ll make scrap of those cheap merc pilots the traders have hired. While she does that, you three will need a way to freely travel to pursue your investigation. That’s why we’re assigning you the Borrelly here.”
“And the lieutenant is okay with this?” Kaiden asked.
It’d take a direct order from an admiral, or someone even higher up the chain of command, to get her to part from her shuttle.
“She seemed fine enough. Though she did have a message for you.” He paused as if thinking. “Said if you wreck her baby, she’s going to get your accounts...what was the wording? Oh, right. ‘Perma-banned.’”