by Jeff Sproul
Riley looked to Chrono. "If someone shows up claiming to be Parviz, make sure you use the incident between us and Sage as a questionnaire. There weren't many of us in his lair at the time. So it'd be a good test."
"I'll make sure one of you are around, if Sage isn't here," said Chrono with a nod.
"So what the hell are we doing now?" Carla asked. "We can't just sit around and do nothing. Let's kill something."
They all exchanged some looks before Laura spoke up. "I guess we can take some scorpions and head out into the wild areas and…see if we come across anything."
"Then let's do it," said Riley.
"Good luck. I'm going to keep an eye on Outpost Blood and see if anything starts poking its nose around," said Chrono. "I'll let everyone else know that the location is dangerous."
With that, the four of them headed out of Crimson HQ and found some scorpions for quick travel to the wild areas.
Chapter 23: All Together
Four days later.
Riley and Laura stood beside each other in the main room at Crimson Alliance HQ. Thrash dwarfed Riley, standing on his other side with his arms crossed.
Sage stood in the center of the room with Chrono nearby. Despite spending all his time at Crimson HQ, Chrono was still the current leader of The Royals.
Taurus and Spinner loomed around as well. Spinner was an arachnid hellion and leader of The Great Weavers. She managed their territory next to The Vigilant, and had been in one of the main skirmishing groups during the war between The Vigilant and Crimson Alliance.
As for The Vigilant, it was quickly discovered that Ice Block couldn't be fully relied upon with his power outages at home. The guild leader, Chalk, was absent, but had left Aegis as their emissary. Alone, Aegis couldn't really defend herself if she was attacked, so Ava was always at her side. The two of them combined were the voice of The Vigilant.
There were also The Sappers, who were led by a strange-looking hellion that resembled a cloaked figure with a long, pointy mouth. He was draped in a robe of shadows, hiding most of his features, but the head could be seen and was most prominently that of a mosquito. The Sappers were made of hellions that specialized in sabotage and breaking through sieges in a myriad of ways. They had been instrumental in bringing The Vigilant to surrender.
"You all represent the main fighting force of The Crimson Alliance," said Sage, finally speaking now that Ava and Aegis had just showed up.
"Where are the leaders of the other guilds?" Thrash asked. The question was also on Riley's mind.
"The other guilds will not know the full extent of our plans, which I'm about to divulge. Instead, they will be on guard duty. They will watch Crimson City while you're away," said Sage.
Everyone was quiet.
Sage glanced around the room. "As you've all been told by now, the entity known as Golem has come to Sigil Online. Some of you have had experience with it in the past week. Some, more than others," Sage said as he glanced to Riley, Laura, Taurus, and a couple other members. "You've all been told as much as we know about it. It's the worst threat that Sigil Online has ever faced. Even more so than my own ambitions for the game." The corner of his lips curled, and several players around the room smirked. It was hard to say if it was a joke, or a telling of Sage's future plans.
Chrono spoke up from behind Sage. "Thanks to constant reconnaissance, we've been able to determine where a likely Golem site is, due to information that a few alliance members have procured, albeit inadvertently. We've discovered that there's a large concentration of energy between Crimson City and Outpost Rose. On numerous occasions, Riley, Taurus, and myself have gone to Outpost Rose and found interference that prevents us from setting a communication line with HQ. We've determined that only a large energy signature could possibly be the cause. There aren't many guilds or alliances that could produce such a signature and this one has been growing and fluctuating. It took us a while to find, as the base is well hidden. We first thought it was a mere jammer but there's more to it. We suspect that it's a gateway to Mage World, and Golem has been using it for reinforcements."
"So we're attacking it?" asked Thrash.
"That's correct," said Sage. "An all-out assault. They should have no idea that we're coming for them. We only have one shot at it. Generally, a base that isn't under constant threat of attack, or in conflict, will have weaker defenses than it should have. This isn't to say that the base isn't defended, but it won't be able to prevent an attack from the majority of Crimson Alliance's might. That's why our smaller guilds are sticking behind to protect Crimson City, along with myself. The rest of you and whoever you've been able to muster will launch an attack to wipe out Golem from this location. It's likely that the area will be rich in resources, so establishing an outpost there will be the secondary priority. It will cost us quite a bit to launch this assault and if we're attacked, it will cost us even more. But a new resource base will help alleviate those losses over the next few weeks."
"Wait, I'm confused here," said Aegis. "You're saying that we're talking about fighting Golem, which none of The Vigilant have fought yet. That's fine, but I'm confused on your phrasing. You make it sound that we're also attacking a player base that might have fewer defenses from not being attacked very often."
"Sorry for the confusion," said Sage as he directed his attention to the Vigilant player. "It is our belief that Golem has hidden itself beneath a guild's base. There's a sizeable player-made base secreted away in the shadow of a crescent-shaped mountain. We believe that the base is on automated function, or that Golem is somehow in control of its player-built defenses. If that's possible, we're not entirely sure. But there are significant readings beneath the base. Greater than what a base of that size should have. Essentially, the defenses that we're able to see are inadequate to the capability of the energy source. We've passed over with several high stealth-sight drones that can also get a reading several feet below ground. We aren't seeing anything out of the ordinary as far as their defenses are concerned, but we can't get a good look under the base without a full assault."
"But there's a chance that this could just be a poorly defended player-made base?" Aegis asked.
"It's a possibility," said Sage. "But if that's the case, then it's all the more important that we go ahead and seize the location now. Even if it happens to be just a player base, we need both the resources and the technology behind whatever they've created. But we've spotted a number of still-stealthed but detectable signatures around the base, both above and below ground. This would usually allude to a well-defended base with stealth units, but based on their movements, we suspect that they're some of the things Riley and Taurus have fought, as far as the sky ones are concerned. The signatures are also moving freely within the base's scan radius, which is unlike how they acted around Outpost Rose."
"So, whether it's a player base, or a Golem lair, we don't really care. It's good for us to attack it either way?" Laura asked.
"That's correct," said Chrono. "At this point, we're about seventy-five percent sure that it's connected somehow to Golem. But, there's still a decent chance that it's a poorly defended player base. Either way, we gain significantly from its destruction and seizure."
"As you're all aware," Sage spoke back up. "We've seen numerous minor conflicts within the last week. Players are becoming more paranoid now that they're realizing that Golem is real. But it's still incredibly elusive until it's ready to strike. Guilds are bunkering down and not seizing as much territory."
"Like that giant shielded bastion over in Colossal City," said Aegis. "They've somehow managed to close themselves off from everything."
Riley slowly turned to Laura and whispered, "That shielded bastion belongs to Warcry and her alliance."
Laura glanced back to him, keeping her voice low as well. "Really? Your friend Warcry?"
Riley nodded. "She told me she was working on something big," he whispered back, even as Sage spoke with Chrono about some of the attack details. "Apparentl
y that was it. She says she's well protected from just about anything as long as they can keep it powered. They have the means to teleport out and collect enough to keep the whole thing going, too. So, they're going to be just fine as the rest of the world burns around them, if Golem expands too far."
"I bet," Laura murmured, as she shifted her attention back to Sage.
Sage turned back to the group now. "We've been building up our forces since we learned about Golem's potential arrival. Unfortunately, this has cut slightly into our dividends. Our dividend payout is going to be a little lower until we deal with Golem. I think we can all agree that it's going to be hard to make any money for ourselves in Sigil Online if there is no Sigil Online."
A few murmurs of agreement resounded around the room from the gathered players. Some sounded a little less pleased than others.
Riley was glad that he'd started to save some money, else this could've been an even more difficult time. But he'd learned from his past mistakes. At least, his financial ones.
"In other news, we need to keep tabs on the outskirts of our territory," said Sage. "System, bring up a map of the region."
A large holographic map appeared in front of Sage. He brought his hands up and manipulated it, zooming in on Crimson City, and then using a finger to leave a white circle on a spot on the map, west of Crimson City. "Here, the Shellers have lost ground. We aren't in good relations with this guild, so we can't get definite information, but they had a group of five outposts in this area, and they are now down to three. We're seeing what we think is Golem-like movement in the area, but only in the form of aerial units."
Sage circled another spot to the east. "Over here, the Grand Jury had three outposts, and are now at one. The above-base is relatively gone, but we're reading movement below it. Now, we're not detecting working structures. So we don't imagine there are bases here at these places, but we think there could be a substantial number of resource-gathering minions. Most of you have seen, or are familiar with the sludge that Golem creates. We aren't able to detect it on scanners, so it could be leaching materials all around it and we wouldn't be able to detect it unless we saw it with our own eyes."
"Have we tried checking into these locations?" asked Thrash. "If we think there's stuff there, why not investigate further?"
"We have, in a limited capacity," said Sage. "We have to be very careful. Many players are on edge in this region. If we start deploying scouting parties to territories that are near our own, then we might spook guilds that we're not currently hostile with. They may align against us with other guilds or even attack us themselves, as a warning to us. We might be one of the biggest threats around, but enough small threats and we can be whittled down. These guilds have also displayed the ability to manufacture aerial combat units that could pose a problem for us, if we venture out too far with an inadequate force. These investigations require a player."
"Why not send a scorpion?" Riley spoke up, as he was very familiar with their tunnel abilities.
"For the reason I just specified," said Sage. "We're the only one in the area that uses scorpions. We manufacture them and sell lower-standard ones up to farther-away hellion guilds. If a scorpion is sighted in any of these areas, then we'll be assumed as the aggressors, immediately."
"Ah," Riley murmured, nodding a little. "I gotcha."
"Any further questions so far?" Sage asked, looking around the room.
"So what's the battle plan?" Thrash asked.
"Each of you have guilds that specialize in different aspects," said Sage. "Play to your strengths. Chrono will have priority command of the battle, then, each guild leader will be ranked beneath him. Then, each guild leader will appoint a second-in-command, should they fall."
"Are we estimating high losses with this?" asked Aegis.
"Player losses should be minimal, depending on how you all fight," said Sage. "It's why we're attacking with such force, so that we can purely overwhelm the enemy. We will deploy a large number of The Crimson Alliance forces. Scorpions, mainly. Any weaker troops would just get slaughtered needlessly. We've created a highly functional and efficient ground unit. So we will be utilizing them almost exclusively. Your powers will be able to bridge the gap between their weaknesses. Shield them as needed, provide anti-air support, and use your powers to bring down heavy opposition. The scorpions can tunnel and deal high damage. They are quick and agile, allowing them to get you to where you need to be quickly, and also able to dodge when they need to. We've put a lot of resources into their research. We need to use them and gain more of an advantage."
"The Weavers have switched exclusively to the scorpion units," said Spinner. "My clan has a lot of command points to tap into. We should be able to field a decent number of them amongst our ranks."
"We will be crafting the maximum amount of scorpions that your guilds can command," said Sage, as he gestured to all of them. "So give Chrono an update on your command-point counts so he can start crafting whatever extras we might need."
Another series of nods came from the gathered players.
"When's the attack?" asked Riley.
Sage glanced around the room for a moment, then spoke. "Tomorrow morning as the sun rises. Too many of our members lack night vision. When the sun comes up, we'll strike."
Chapter 24: Crimson Tide
Riley gripped the armor segments on the back of the scorpion as it rushed through the tunnel. The tunnel was roughly three scorpions wide. All of the scorpions had been painted crimson for the battle. According to Chrono, it was an easy change.
Laura was just ahead of him. Green Melter was up with her, while Red Shotgun and Amber Impaler were closer to him. Chase and Carla were just behind them, while Brenda and Glint brought up the rear of their part of the convoy.
Chrono had been the first one to log on that morning. He'd logged on early so that he could send a small group of scorpions to start tunneling an underground path all the way to their destination. They were far enough below ground that scanners shouldn't be able to reach them, but other detection sources might, depending on what players had made in the area. On their path toward their target, named 'Alpha Site,' they would be passing very close to the scan range of a few other outposts, all miles apart. Unless one of the guilds who owned those outposts was feeling especially adventurous, they shouldn't have any problems from them.
The convoy order was: The Sappers in front, then The Great Weavers, The Thrashers, Bunker Brawlers, The Pale Ones, The Royals, The Crimsons, and The Vigilant.
Despite how 'Crimsons' was technically the name of all of them, Sage still had a guild of subordinates that followed him without question. They were seldom seen, as they were usually out on missions. Chrono, despite being the leader of The Royals, had become Sage's right hand.
Sage had 22 players in his direct care within his guild. That number had fallen from where it was during his invasion of Gargantuan City and some had never returned. The bulk of Sage's invasion force had been self-made minions that he had worked tirelessly with his guild to create at the time. Each of those units had been made with one of the fruits from the trees down in The Royals’ base. Each fruit was made of the energy absorbed by numerous NPCs.
Sage had effectively lured The Royals into abducting the NPC populace of Gargantuan City so that he could seize the fruit to then attack Gargantuan City himself. Even through all this, The Royals, now led by Chrono, still joined him.
Almost everyone's early-morning arrival had been a bit sluggish. But now that they were part of an eight-guild strong attack force, comprised of over a hundred players, everyone's spirits had lifted and determination appeared in their eyes. This was one of the largest attacks that they'd made in recent weeks. The bulk of The Crimson Alliance had been deployed for a single purpose.
It was true that they were vulnerable back in Crimson City. None of the guilds that remained to defend had more than five players to their names. None of them could try and seize the city alone, even if they wanted to. Sage
was still protecting Crimson City from the HQ. Alone, and with the capabilities of the alliance's resources, he could surely slaughter the minor guilds and most forces that would try to attack the city. If anything, he could hold most of the nearby guilds at bay until they were at least finished with their own mission. There would be losses, but they wouldn't fall so easily.
But the faster they attacked Alpha Site, the better.
There was no information on the guild that either was or had been at the location. It was a hellion clan that owned it, so they wouldn't be fighting with human-looking troops.
A bit of dirt fell on Riley from overhead. He looked up and watched as the ceiling crawled. All of the extra scorpions that were part of the battle were running tightly together on the ceiling above them as the players rode on scorpion-back beneath them.
The Royals had been tasked with base construction once the hostiles at the base had been eliminated. There were some specialized 'large-bodied' scorpions in the group that would have the resources required to construct a base and some proper defenses. Even if they got a teleporter running, they'd still send the bulk of their forces back to Crimson Cit, using the same tunnel they were travelling in now. No reason to send them via teleporter if they had a perfectly viable tunnel set up. Of course, Chrono had said something about The Sappers needing to demolish the tunnel once they were finished with the operation.
"How you been, Riley?" Red called over from nearby. She wasn't too far away, but the sound of all the scorpion legs was creating a very distinct noise all around them.
"Almost got eaten by this Golem thing a couple times, how are you and Green?"
"We've been pretty great!" Red replied. "Tons of enemy hellion guilds out here in the wild areas. We've been running ops to weaken them. Mostly teaming up with The Sappers. Green loves killing herself some bug-looking hellions. So I try to accommodate her. I couldn't tell you how many times she's almost melted our own allies. But I keep her in check."