Harbinger (Nova Online #3) - A LitRPG Series

by Alex Knight

  Thorne launched into the air, her hammer crackling with energy.

  Ability: Earth Shatter

  You channel charge into your legs and leap into the air. Upon landing, a shockwave bursts out from around you. Opponents within 10 feet of you are knocked down.

  Cost: 25 charge.

  Cooldown: 1 minute.

  She slammed her weapon down as she landed and a shockwave exploded outward, knocking Esme onto her back. Thorne took advantage of the moment to dart in and unleash well-aimed strikes at her opponent. They connected, but not for nearly the damage Kaiden would have liked to see. By the time Esme was back on her feet she’d only lost eleven percent of her health.

  “I can keep her occupied,” Thorne said, gritting through a barrage of damage as Esme lashed out. “But I’m not winning this fight. Not one on one.”

  The two power wardens danced back and forth, weapons swinging so fast as to be nothing more than vaguely hammer-shaped blurs. Thorne was taking the worst of the damage, though, which made sense considering she was several levels weaker than her opponent.

  “Keep her off Zelda as long as you can,” Kaiden said, then sprang into motion. Range reigns supreme here. We need to take their blaster out of the fight.

  As if to hammer home the effectiveness of ranged classes, Alvarez spun from where he’d been slinging shots toward Zelda — since Titus had been beaten away from covering her — and caught Kaiden in the shoulder with a Paralyzing Shot.

  Deals base damage, slows me by half for ten seconds, he thought, then cursed but pushed on anyway. He sprinted toward Alvarez and the shield warden, Clarissa, but it was like his body was moving through tar; his legs were heavy and refused to move at their usual pace. He was a sitting duck.

  Alvarez lined up another shot, an ability charging on the end of his hammer-gun.

  “Oh, hell,” Kaiden mumbled as his visor read out what was coming.

  Ability: Inferno Shot

  Ignores some of the target’s armor and deals a massive amount of damage to enemies and allies within range.

  “Got you covered!” Zelda shouted and Kaiden flinched as a Kinetic Grenade arced from over his shoulder toward Alvarez. Zelda must have been in Sniper Mode to be able to get such distance on her grenade, hoping to knock down the enemy blast warden before his ability could charge. Unfortunately, Clarissa stepped in front of it at the last moment and blocked most of the damage with her shield. Inferno Shot was ready to fire.

  Then the boarding party burst into the fray, guns blazing to life and filling the corridor with a hail of screaming laser fire.

  Clarissa raised her shield to block the shots but there were too many to stop. Her health flashed as the marines’ attacks pecked away at it. Alvarez seemed caught off guard. He spun to aim his Inferno Shot at the marines, then seemed to think better of it and tried to spin back toward Kaiden. Too late, though. The attack finished charging and fired.

  Kaiden threw himself to the side, mostly out of the path of the attack as a screaming explosion of damage poured past. His health bar flashed as the attack winged him —dealing significantly less damage than a direct hit would have. It mostly missed him, but several marines were not so lucky. Two were killed instantly as the Inferno Shot detonated.

  Marine Ally Slain!

  Marine Ally Slain!

  Kaiden climbed to his feet as the slow effect from Paralyzing Shot wore off. He ducked behind his shield as Alvarez blasted an Improved Burst Arrow at him. It exploded against his shield in a flash of near-blinding light, but also filled his charge bar some. Enough, for the moment.

  Ability: Improved Blur

  Kaiden fired off the ability and two body doubles appeared beside him as he closed the remaining distance to Alvarez.

  It’s time to turn the tide of this fight. We’re gonna take ‘em out like a house of cards. Knock out the base and the whole thing comes down.

  More laser blasts rained down at him, but they were inaccurate, the blast warden clearly unsure which Kaiden to shoot at. All the better; his heath was already down to sixty-five percent.

  Kaiden side-stepped around the shielder, using his high dexterity stat to its fullest. It helped that his doppelgangers mimicked him, confusing his opponent as to which one was real. Kaiden raised his hammer and attacked Alvarez.

  The blaster let loose an Improved Scatter Shot but it was aimed at one of the body doubles. Kaiden kept swinging, scoring three more hits. Alvarez’s health flashed, but dropped far less than Kaiden would have liked.

  Back in the midst of the fighting, Kaiden saw a burst of light as Esme fired off an ability. Thorne was flung up into the ceiling then tumbled back down to the floor with a resounding crash. Her health dropped by a good twenty percent. While she was down, Esme turned to the turen marksmen now firing on her and started swinging. They flew like bowling pins, launched this way and that, but dutifully still firing as she plunged into their ranks.

  Turen Marksman Ally Slain!

  Turen Marksman Ally Slain!

  Turen Marksman Ally Slain!

  Many more of them were going to die, Kaiden knew, but all they needed to do was buy time.

  Turen Marksmen Ally Slain!

  While Esme made a mess of the marksmen, Kaiden kept swinging at Alvarez. The shielder, Clarissa, tried to focus on covering him from the attacks, but the four remaining marines kept a steady stream of fire coming in and peppering them both, ticking away at their health.

  Ability: Improved Barrier

  The shielder popped the ability and a force field materialized around her and Alvarez, swallowing up the incoming fire. As it did, Kaiden found the full attention of both players turned toward him.

  He dodged to the side as Alvarez let loose three rapid-fire shots, one at each body double and Kaiden. He moved quickly, but not quickly enough, and the attack caught on his shield, sparking as it hit. Alvarez spotted the hit and smirked, having identified which Kaiden was real.

  “Titus! Zelda!” Kaiden shouted through comms, getting their attention through the hail of fire. “Hit Clarissa and Alvarez from behind!”

  “On it!” Titus shouted back, then jumped into a charge. Zelda must have been forced out of Sniper Mode at some point because she followed him step for step, firing off abilities as she approached. The attacks landed on Clarissa’s Improved Barrier and it shook under the assault.

  Alvarez was still firing, though, and Kaiden backpedaled, weaving back and forth to avoid the continued barrage of fire that was starting to make mincemeat of his health bar. A moment later, though, the attacks stopped as Alvarez was forced to respond to Titus and Zelda’s advance. The opposing blast warden charged up an Improved Kinetic Grenade and hurled it at them.

  “Shield Link with Zelda!” Kaiden shouted and Titus smiled.

  Ability: Shield Link

  Your charge is redirected to flow into a nearby ally. For a duration of 15 seconds, all charge you absorb is sent to a warden ally within 50 feet.

  Cost: 30 charge.

  Cooldown: 2 minutes.

  The grenade exploded and Titus’s health dropped to seventy-two percent. Zelda took some of the splash damage as well, but she responded immediately and hit the Improved Barrier with another blast. Cracks were beginning to show in its surface now.

  "It’s better to give than receive,” Zelda said.

  Ability: Lock On

  You direct charge into your hammer-gun. For 5 seconds, as long as the last target you damaged is within your line of sight, your attacks will not miss. You cannot attack any other target. If you take damage this effect deactivates.

  Cost: 30 charge.

  Cooldown: 30 seconds.

  Ability: Improved Warden’s Bolt

  You fire two bolts of lightning instead of one. Discharge bolts of lightning that jump to multiple targets within range of the impact target. Initial range 50 feet, jump range 10 feet. Deals +150% base damage, reducing by half with each successive jump.

  Cost: 25 charge.

  Cooldown:
30 seconds.

  Zelda locked on to Alvarez and unleashed her Improved Warden’s Bolt at almost the same moment. Two bolts of lightning arced from the barrel of her hammer and into Clarissa’s Improved Barrier. What charge the shield warden might have had was depleted now as the damage from Zelda’s attack forced the barrier to flicker, then disappear entirely. Its second ability triggered then and formed a protective shield around Clarissa. It absorbed the damage coming in from Zelda’s Improved Warden’s Bolt, but she wasn’t the target of the attack. The bolt jumped to the only other enemy target within range: Alvarez. The blast warden cursed as the lightning electrocuted him with a savage hiss and his health dropped significantly. It’d already been around eighty-five percent from the few attacks that had connected, but now it was driven further down to sixty-nine percent.

  Blast wardens are always squishy once you get damage on them, Kaiden thought, then put the second part of his plan into action. Titus and Zelda’s push, combined with the concentrated fire from the marines, had been like a flurry of jabs. Not too damaging, but quick and designed to attract attention. Now that Alvarez and Clarissa were distracted, Kaiden loaded up for the heavy left hook that, with any luck, was going to be crippling.

  Ability: Lightspeed

  Dangerous levels of charge are channeled into your leg implants, increasing movement speed by 200% for 10 seconds. You will take double damage if hit during Lightspeed.

  Cost: 30 charge.

  Cooldown: 1 minute.

  Double damage if I get hit, Kaiden thought, then smirked. Good thing no one’s looking at me.

  He exploded forward with so much speed it was almost hard to control. He came in swinging and used his momentum to hasten his attacks on Alvarez’s back.

  Critical hit!

  +50% damage (Headshot)

  Critical hit!

  +25% damage (Shattered Elbow)

  The already injured blast warden was damaged even further. His health dropped by another ten percent.

  “Get ready, Titus!” Kaiden shouted.

  “Ready for what?” the big man shouted back. He was able to lower his shield, since Alvarez had turned in response to Kaiden’s flanking attack.

  “I had you advance so you’d be close enough,” Kaiden said, feinting in toward Alvarez. The blast warden backpedaled, trying to get outside of Kaiden’s attack range – and that was his critical mistake.

  “Close enough so you could grab and smash,” Kaiden said, feeling a smile break across his face. He pointed with his hammer toward the blast warden who had just unknowingly left the cover provided by his shield warden teammate.

  Titus got the idea instantly and struck out with Energy Grip. The crackling whip of energy lashed around the blast warden’s leg, then dragged him across the floor and well out of the protection Clarissa had been providing.

  Zelda focused her full attention to the blast warden and unleashed a string of attacks. Titus did the same, abandoning any attempt to protect Zelda in favor of landing several crushing blows on Alvarez. The blast warden was higher level than any of them, but that hardly made much difference when caught in the open and getting focus fired.

  “No!” Clarissa shouted, then made to cover her teammate.

  “Not today,” Kaiden said and darted after the shielder.

  Ability: Shield Bash

  The warden strikes out with their shield, dealing no damage but stunning the target for 2 seconds.

  Cost: 15 charge.

  Cooldown: 2 minutes.

  The stun caught Clarissa in the back and stopped her movement for two seconds – a critical two seconds in which Zelda and Titus continued their attack on Alvarez. Though nearly dead, he was returning fire as he beat a retreat toward the cover of his shielder. His health was low – twenty-two percent now – but high enough that there was a chance he’d make it back. At least, as long as Clarissa kept heading to meet him. Shield Bash’s stun wore off and she made to do just that.

  Ability: Hamstring

  Charge is redirected into your hammer. On your next successful critical attack this charge cripples your opponent. Their movement speed is reduced by 50% for 10 seconds.

  Costs: 60 charge.

  Cooldown: 2 minutes.

  Kaiden poured what was left of his charge into his new ability, then swung at the back of Clarissa’s legs. The blow connected and she cried out, then stumbled forward. She tried to keep moving, but her movement speed was crippled and all at once she looked like she was trudging through molasses instead of down a hallway. Her limbs were slow and clumsy, as if they were numb.

  Alvarez’s eye went wide as he realized what was happening. He was close to Clarissa, but not close enough. Zelda detonated an Improved Kinetic Grenade at his back and combined with the still persistent fire from the marines, his health bar flashed and emptied to zero.

  He collapsed like a bag of rocks, armor clanking against the metal floor as he went down.

  Blast Warden Alvarez assisted kill - 3,000 EXP gained!

  For a moment there was something approaching silence, but for the sounds of Thorne being smashed around the hall some distance away. Then Clarissa slammed a fist into the wall.

  “Well, let’s get on with it, then!” she snarled and advanced on Kaiden, still hamstrung but hammer raised anyway.

  Zelda launched several attacks into her back and the shielder spun and raised her shield. She leaned into the assault, blocking most of the damage.

  Ability: Shield Link

  Kaiden’s visor alerted him to Clarissa activating an ability.

  Shield Link? Alvarez is dead, so who’s she...

  “Stop shooting!” Kaiden shouted. There were only two enemies left, which meant the only person Clarissa could be Shield Linking with was Esme. Kaiden turned his attention to the back of the hall in time to see Thorne launched through the air again. She landed, health at seven percent now, but threw herself into a roll and managed to make it most of the way to Zelda and Titus.

  “Might be time for some backup,” she grunted.

  Zelda stepped past her and toward Esme, who launched into the air in a blur.

  Ability: Heroic Leap

  Esme landed in an explosive wave of damage. Zelda’s health dropped to thirty-two percent. Esme, apparently, had gained a fair amount of charge from Clarissa’s surprise Shield Link.

  Titus rushed to get between her and Zelda, his shield raised.

  Ability: Improved Shield Break

  Deals damage through armor and staggers the target.

  Kaiden sprinted forward, his visor reading out vague details on Esme’s ability as he bypassed Clarissa and ducked under a wild attack from her. He left her in the dust, leaning on his dexterity to close the distance between himself and the fight brewing over the injured Thorne. Not fast enough, though.

  Esme’s Improved Shield Break connected with Titus’ shield. The blow crushed a chunk of his health and staggered him backward. He tried to recover, but Esme had all the time she needed to get at Zelda.

  Ability: Improved Grip Like Iron

  Grapples the target, roots them in place, and weakens their attack while grappled.

  Ability: Improved Chained Fury

  A series of attacks, each dealing more damage than the last.

  The power warden lunged forward with an outstretched hand that closed around Zelda’s throat, then lifted her into the air.

  “What the—” she began, then was cut off as Esme bashed her with a flurry of hammer strikes. Improved Chained Fury amplified the damage of each successive strike. Every attack did a bit more damage to Zelda than the last.

  She managed to block the first few blows, but then her shield was overloaded and she was left entirely exposed. Her health fell to twenty-eight percent, then twenty-three.

  Kaiden raised his hammer as he drew in behind Esme but then he toppled forward, health flashing as he faceplanted. The reason why became obvious as he turned to find Clarissa’s Energy Grip wrapped around his ankle. She yanked hard and
he slid back toward her.

  He rolled over on to his back with a curse and charged an ability.

  Ability: Flash Bang

  Discharge an intense light from your shield that blinds opponents within 10 feet for 5 seconds. Has a 3-second cast time.

  Cost: 25 charge.

  Cooldown: 5 minutes.

  Clarissa lashed out with a Shield Slam, trying to stun Kaiden. It worked, but Flash Bang fired off right as her ability did. She reeled back, covering her eyes while Kaiden froze, stunned for two seconds.

  All the while, Esme’s Improved Grip Like Iron held Zelda in place and her assault continued.

  Seventeen percent. Ten percent. Zelda was just about done.

  But Titus wasn’t. He was back on his feet and lashing out with a Shield Slam. The attack broke Esme’s hold and Zelda fell to the ground. Titus moved forward and pressed the assault. He got several good blows in before Esme climbed to her feet and retaliated.

  Ability: Gravity Sledge

  Deals additional damage, launches the target on a successful hit.

  Energy surged into her hammer, then exploded as she swung it into Titus’ chest. He was launched backward to slam into a wall, leaving Zelda on her own.