In a silent afternoon in the full dive game of Dark World VR, a dense forest brimming with life, from deers roaming about and fireflies that turn the darkness of the forest into a lively place as the perfect moon looks down upon it from above, with a calm wind, and the sleep-inducing sounds of the peaceful forestry, a whirlwind sound is heard. The tall trees of the forest suddenly rustled and its peace disturbed by the unnatural song of machinery.
A MH-60M Blackhawk utility transport helicopter with its lights turned off flies over the trees, meters from its tips. The roaring sounds of the engines and rotors overwhelm the calm and peaceful atmosphere of the forest. The deers scatter as the flying metal bird soullessly reaches its destination.
There lies a battlefield, deep within this forest, where a large war occurred previously between two armies, NPC or Player control, no one knows. Heaps of leftover swords, shields and dead horses litter a burned part of the forest. In the midst of it all, lay a massive half Moon. Its surface is covered with countless icons of Angels and the battle that flattened the land created a space for the helicopter to land.
The chopper gently touches down in the small section of the dense and endless greenery that has now been tainted by the magics and weapons of man, where the smell of death and horrors of the fight still linger and the destroyed half Moon still smoldering in its wake.
The passenger doors slide open and an Eight-man squad of skeleton soldiers with glowing red eyes that pierce the ;late afternoon sky exit. Clad in all black combat uniforms and heavy plate carriers, armed with carbine and assault rifles, their combat helmets even came with Night Vision goggles as they frolicked on the devastated soil.
As they exit out tactically, securing a Three-Sixty Degree perimeter around the Blackhawk, the Black Ops squad leader gestures with his two fingers, pointing forward twice.
A human exits the helicopter in an all-black suit, fedora and trench coat. With a stoic posture, he walks into the middle of the battlefield with the soldiers protecting him, scanning their surroundings and checking for enemies. The only gesture from him was a simple shrug as he turned to the broken half Moon. “So, this is where the Devastating Star died huh? What Guild is this?”
Kneeling down, he checks one of the leftover shields. On it, the logo of a Griffin that wields two greatswords. “Hm. At Least it's not Breznick.” He had a deep and manly voice, that of someone who had been in and out of a life where screaming was the norm.
Suddenly, the man in the suit stops and with two fingers pointing forward, he makes a small cross, opening the Player Options Menu. The holographic tab shows his Player Stat, Inventory, Friends, Guild and Companions. He presses the Friends tab in-game and messages a man named "Sovietsty_Blyat" and types:
PilotMan: "Where are you? The area is clear." And a reply immediately pops from the menu. The icon of a microphone from another player, open.
Sovietsty_Blyat: "Wait, wait, wait, comrade. We aren’t that much used yet to this side of the Dark Continent. You guys have lands as open as our Urals and it's infested with Dragons!" he chuckled as he closed the Player Menu and looked around him again where he noticed a golden coffin with an image of a Man pushing a Planet forward. “Geez, they bought the Icon of the True God this close to it?” Sweeping his shoulders, he turns his head North.
Out in the distance, another sound of rotors vibrates through the luscious forestry, a heavy rotorcraft is flying about the lands, and after a few circles till it finally finds the former battlefield.
A Russian Mi-8MT Hip Medium Lift Transport Helicopter appears, flying low and near the treetop to avoid detection.
It lands quickly and a man wearing a Spetsnaz Uniform exits. He scans around the area as a Six-man fire team of Skeleton soldiers but donned Eastern uniforms, armed with the new age Kalashnikovs, the undead tactically exits the helicopter, performing a thorough robotic perimeter check, securing Three-Sixty perimeter of the helicopter's vicinity. PilotMan then messaged him.
PilotMan: Good, you're here. Let's talk through the in game voice. Menu Chats are public and this place might be frequented by Trader Players knowing a battle just took place."
They both walk to one another, navigating through leftover swords, shields, spears and lancers. A pop up appears on top of the weapons as they navigate over them, each of them having levels above thirty with different kinds of effects and magical status.
As they approach one another, their skeletal soldiers follow, aiming their guns at each other with lifeless intent.
The man in the suit speaks first, he spoke in perfect English, but his tone and language makes it obvious it isn’t his mother tongue.
"The briefcase is finally here, I guess Project Sun is successful?"
Sovietsty_Blyat looks at PilotMan with happiness, he removes his crimson beret and puts it under his arm, showing blonde hair, brown eyes, sharp nose and pale skin the man hides under all the body armor and uniform. He speaks with an obvious Slavic accent, though it's clear he has been speaking English as much as PilotMan.
"Yes! We're all very happy with it! It exploded just the way we wanted it to be! This is going to be an amazing grand finale if the time ever comes to use it! The briefcase has the code in it too."
PilotMan removes his black fedora, revealing jet black hair, parted 1/3 to the left, Caucasian eyes and face and brown eyes. He has the look of a Corporate goon but with a bit of a buff build, with the objective on his mind and results in his hands. His stance was strong and meant no nonsense.
"Heh, I can't believe we're actually doing this. The first ever nuke in this game that isn’t powered or uses magic. Just pure Mana Core infused madness…" the Slavic player on the other hand tilts his head. “You seem to not be as cheery as the others, comrade. The Men of the Woods Guild will be happy to know we got an ICBM to function finally. The Space Guild though will be swimming in our resources as payment.”
“Well, it's not like I was in the whole thing. I knew it was either this, or we got eaten up by the larger factions…” The player in the suit just shrugged his head as he breathed a long sigh. “I wanted to avoid this in a full dive game about Medieval High Fantasy, but I’ve built a good relationship with those of Eldwood. I respect them like I respected my brothers when I was still in service. If I have to pick up a gun again, so be it. Though swords are cooler in my opinion. Hah-hah.”
Though he ended his sentence with a laugh, the player opposite of him wasn’t impressed. Merely shrugging off the sense of dread the suited man was feeling as he sighed.
"You a Vet of the Third World War comrade? Heh. This stuff, It’s just like low level players making their fireball spin till it turns violet. Everything has a recipe."
"I actually do that alot. But I usually only do it to create temporary cover. Fire and Water magic to create Steam. I am guessing you did this to somehow miniaturize a Mana Core into an ICBM?" Seeing the man completely ignore his main question, the player just continued the conversation. "Eh, I prefer just casting it through my mind and calling it a day. Comrade, those are precious seconds you are wasting making chemical reactions. But yes, and the ICBMs are all functional as they would in real life. Ahahahaha!"
Breathing in, the Slavic player looked around the battlefield and up to the skies. “You people are really something, comrade. A small Guild in the Dark Continent. I am really surprised.”
“It’s way better than the Mid Continent. Less people, less guilds, and less headaches for us. Yeah, every mountain range might have a Wyvern of two but it's better than the large player Guilds. I am more shocked that you guys have not been attacked yet.”
“We are located at the tip, only the most daring would go there with their wooden ships! Ahahahaha! So comrade, is Eldwood gonna be safe? Your prototype city is being besieged, da?”
"We have our ways, Sovietsty. The briefcase please.”
The Slav reaches for his uniform's inner pockets and unlocks the cuffs and puts his arm out with the Briefcase "To a bright future comrade. You may not be fully in agreement of what we are doing, but it's either his or we fall. I heard Breznick had already discovered the forests of Eldwood not too long ago in an Event in the Dark Continent and are now in your abandoned city."
“Yeah… we were also at that event. Bahamut did a great job carrying us as usual. She’s such a wonderful companion. Don’t think too much about us being discovered. We’ll both handle this as per agreement.”
“Bahamut…? You mean the Black Dragon of the Void, comrade?”
“Yes. I did the Chinese New Year Event many years ago and summoned her. I couldn’t be any happier to this day. She’s a bundle of joy and annoyance. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Huh, she must be very powerful then?” Jackson just smiled and shrugged. “Nyet?”
“Not really. Though she does retain some of her stats, it's mostly the useless ones. Devs really nerfed her summonable version, as per usual.”
“I see. But I hope you get to use her, comrade. She will come handy in the upcoming battle, da.”
“I’ll think about it. I am on the fence about using her against Breznick’s forces. After all, if they knew we had a Dragon of such a caliber in our roster. They won’t hold back at bringing out their Air Force at us.”
“Pfft! Comrade! Do you not remember what our Pantsir did to their griffins! We will do the same to their white Dragons!” PilotMan just smirks and takes the thick briefcase and cuffs it to his wrist and the key is given to him. Opening it, not only did it have a GPS computer, but also multiple books about procedures and the location of ICBM launchers. “Is good, comrade?”
Jackson nodded and Sovietsty_Blyat put his beret back on. "Let's just have fun with this little business venture, comrade. The Rostock Guild sends its regards to the Knights of Eldwood.” With a devilish smile, he takes one step back and salutes. “I just want this to be over and go back to playing as a Dark Knight again. Thank you, Vlad. I’ll be sure to give this to Hassan."
The Slavic player just giggled and turned back to the Russian helicopter and started walking back to it with a victorious smile to himself. His Skeletal Spetsnaz soldiers start retreating, still pointing their all metal Kalashnikovs at their Eldwood counterparts, trampling on the equipment littered all over the battlefield they stood upon.
PilotMan does the same and his Black Ops soldiers take turns in Bounding. While Retreating, one point, one retreats, stops retreating, looks at the enemy, while another retreats. This is constantly repeated till the two had safely entered their rotorcrafts.
As the doors closed, both the helicopters pour torque in their engines, roaring it like metallic beasts within the forest, even in a distant farm, two players, a young and well built Swordsman with basic steel chest plate and a helmet that resembles Roman Legionnaires and a low level busty red haired woman in Mage Robes are talking to a farmer. ““Thank you, Mister Harold. We’ll be sure to come back here next week and help you out again with those Mutated Wolves.”
“My, aren’t you two such great Chosen Ones. No wonder God had given you the gift of rebirth. Please, come inside. I have some bread saved up. Thanks to you and that girl, the harvest yield has been perfect!” The young man just had a cute smile to himself as he shrugged and scratched the back of his head. “Ah, no. Me and Aisha have already had enough. Please, keep it to yourself.” They then hear audible sounds of the engines, deep in the forest to their left.
This made him walk back from the farmshed and look into the darkness of the forest. "Aisha, you hear that?"
The woman just stopped what she was doing and listened to the air. "Hm…? No.” As the Blackhawk’s Pilot pulls the collective up, pushing the engine to high RPM, the noise echoes through the forest become even louder. “Wait, I do."
“Oh my, just what is that sound? Is it some machination from the Demons?”
“No, Mister Harold. It’s a helicopter.”
“A what’ster now?”
“Nothing. Just ignore it. They're just a small fraction of the community. Thank you again, we’ll make good use of the gold coins you’ve given us!” The old farmer gave the two a warm smile again as he headed back inside his home and the two gave a distant look into the dense forest next to the farm. “Just what are those players up to now?” he grips the pommel of his sword tightly, leaning the scabbard forward.
“Ken, let’s just go. I don’t even know how to cast magic to stop bullets.” She just turned around and started walking to the dirt path in the direction of a nearby village. “Yeah. Let’s.”
The two helicopters take off, taking to the skies as they fly off opposite of each other’s direction. PilotMan opens his player tab once again and presses the "Friends" tab in-game calls a person named "MustardLovingBarrel".
"PilotMan: Yo, John, I got the briefcase and the code. Rostock says the ICBM actually worked." The person accepts and a voice with a very upbeat and positive tone responds.
"MustardLovingBarrel: Noice. Just wait a bit Paul, land at the Airbase, we have a C-5M Super Galaxy still waiting in for ATC to give permission to land at Runway 16."
"PilotMan: Yea, no probs. It’s gonna be long till we get there anyways."
"MustardLovingBarrel: Yep, have a good one bud."
"PilotMan: Hm. But we should really start investing in a long range teleporter like the ones the bigger Guilds use."
"MustardLovingBarrel: Eh. I think Hassan should have something in mind with that. Our Mana Core should have enough power for some of those magic circles."
“PilotMan: Yea. Because no way are we actually gonna try simulating a real world transcontinental military supply chain.”
“MustardLovingBarrel: You’ll never know. We might do it.”
“PilotMan: We don’t even have infantry level radios in mass use and you want to do that? Imagine the paperwork. We’ll have to do it World War 2 style bro.”
“MustardLovingBarrel: Bah, just get back here. We’ll plan when we get there.”
The call ends and the MH-60M Blackhawk transport helicopter flies into the darkness of the night. Down below, there was nothing much to be seen as the forest was all encompassing and the mountain range in the horizon seemed so tiny and insignificant. The player just leaned on the glass as his eyes tracked whatever was moving.
Far in the horizon, he could notice a small Castle was situated on top of a hill that guarded the mouth of a valley, flying around it seemed to be Big Birds. Falcons and Eagles that’s been upsized to the point that a man in full plate armor could ride them freely and even carry equipment and wear armor.
After what could be 40 to 50 minutes of nonstop flying in a straight flight path, the terrain slowly changes from flat - hilly - mountainous.
The surroundings became so dangerous as the helicopter had to start swerving like a fighter jet as it navigated through the harrowing terrain where Red and Brown Dragons, Armored Troglodytes, high level Orcs, and Demonic beasts roam.
The Dragons only had a pair of wings and legs, though thrice the size of the chopper he rode. They didn’t pay too much attention to the metallic bird flying through the area. “Man… I miss Bahamut already. Feels like a part of me is missing.” As he leans more down to see the winged lizards, he notices the Brown ones were nestling on the top as the Red Dragons marked their territory with a fiery wall. “Damn Wyverns ruining the mountain tops again...”
The four skeleton flight crew of the helicopter is lifeless as the lower ranking beasts of the game roam below them, catching whatever animal that had been out in sundown and the two undead Pilots maneuver the helicopter as if it’s part of their body.
Performing yaws and swings like they've done it hundreds of times.
Far away from any NPC or player-led settlement or base, the Blackhawk gets a transmission from the airbase’s Air Traffic Control Tower.
"Transport One. You're cleared to land at Ramp Bravo. General, welcome back to Eldwood Airbase One." The Pilots turn on the helicopter's Navigation and Collision lights as it approaches a well lit plot of land that’s flanked by the mountainous terrain.
As the helicopter goes over the tip of the elevation, a massive 5,000 Hectare Airbase is revealed. It outshines the lonely blue of the Moon, buzzling with Skeleton soldiers wearing replica United States Army and Air Force uniforms with its patches and insignias replaced with Eldwoods logo.
C-130s and C-17s cargo planes perfectly aligned in the two large open tarmacs. Modern military vehicles of all sizes, from Humvees to 5 Ton trucks of all variations constantly move around the base like blood cells, giving life to the large undead NPC manned base. Transport trucks exit the base with only their headlights seen as it illuminates their path into the dark forest outside the base.
F-16 Fighting Falcon Multirole Fighter Jets take off from the active Runway 34. Upon reaching not even a thousand feet, they quickly turned around and headed into the direction the helicopter took.
The Blackhawk approaches the cargo ramp where the Humvees and M939 Transport truck await to collect the skeleton soldiers Jackson took with him and as the chopper gently lands and the passenger doors immediately slide open. He exits first and heads over to the Hangar where John awaits him in skeleton form.
The large cargo hangar has two C-5M Super Galaxy cargo planes in it. With the one he is nearest to having with its back ramp open, being loaded with AH-64D Apaches and numerous Skeleton soldiers performing preflight on the aircraft. The plane was so large it seemed as if he was a mere insignificant creature to the size of the plane.
MustardLovingBarrel is standing at the gigantic nose of the aircraft, looking at the magnificence of the flying machine. PilotMan casually walks up to MustardLovingBarrel and calls him out.
"Yo John, is this the C-5? Or is it another one?"
"Neither. It’s another one that's about to land. This one is transporting some Apaches for the upcoming battle and other, Battle Trains for the Greater Japan Guild." This made him tilt his head in confusion. “Battle trains?!” The player then takes him around to the second Super Galaxy and inside its cargo hold is a massive disassembled locomotive. The boiler itself has composite armor around it and the drive wheels.
“When it all comes down, this baby will be the one that will be defending the rail lines we’ve built alongside the Men of the Woods.” Jackson’s eyes widened at the sight of the train. Even in its disassembled form, he already felt it would dwarf him. “The tender will have to be shipped. The plane alone will have to do three runs. So that investment in a Magic Circle could be a good future project.”
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“Yeah, no shit. Like the Magicians Association in there Centrum Magica has a literal underground warehouse just for teleporting Dragon corpses and supplies.”
“Maybe one should be built on Iron Mountain. That place should have the space for it.”
"And, can I hand this thing to you already? These handcuffs are really annoying me."
"Just stay with it for now, some F-16s are being scrambled. Radar detected some lowly Red Wyverns just ascending from the mountains. We can't have those beasts flying around when we're having transport planes land and take off."
"So that's why. I saw those planes as the Blackhawk approached the airbase. You know, we really need a better strat against those beasts rather than leading them away."
"Yep we do, but let’s hope the skeletors won’t die this time. I don’t want more write offs and Iron Mountain’s factories are busy making plans for themself.” He then starts walking far from Jackson and proceeds to turn around. Standing at ease, his green uniform with ribbons and medals on his chest was in perfect view of the man. “Also, what do you think of the look? This is a replica of the General Uniform of the United States Army. Pretty lit eh?"
"It totally doesn't suit your voice though, way too friendly."
"But man, look at how badass I look. A Skeleton wearing a US Army General Service Uniform. I also like this color way more than our previous black leather one."
“True, you look like you came straight out of a death metal album cover."
"Hell yea, what about you? Why are you still in human form?"
"I'll transform later. I don't like switching from one to another, it’s a hassle and I’d like to go back to Bahamut. Poor Dragon must be worried sick about me."
"Alright, alright. But you better get used to it. We'll have to hide our characters' identities as much as we can."
"I know. Don't worry." he sighs and walks back to the hangar doors and looks out to the active air base. The various coloured lights gave the night a lively feel to it as the sounds of machines and rumbling and tumbling about the flat base surrounded by peaks seemed like a sight he’d see back then. “How are you holding up? If you want, you can still opt out of this bro.”
“No.” He smiles and looks at the player. “My thing is not as bad as others. I play Military Full Dive games, my bro. Oh wait, you don’t join us in Armaverse, right?” John shrugged. “No, ahahahah. Wife always has my balls locked in tight so I can’t really join you guys.”
“Yeah well, you’ll get to see another part of me when we’re there. Even Hassan said it's a bit scary. But yeah, don’t worry about me. We’ve built something great here, this bond and brotherhood. I won’t let Breznick take it all away.”
“But it's not that bad really. From what I heard, the Guilds they took over are all given pretty good funding and extra training to get in touch with their overall-” he was then briefly cut off by Jackson.
“Don’t think about what to do when we lose. Think about what we’ll do when we win.”
“Cocktail and Pool party in City Zero One! Bwahahahaha!” The suited player just had a smirk on him.
As the two chatted on, Air Traffic Control gave a clearance for the C-5M Super Galaxy to land at Runway 34 and head to the cargo ramp. The heavy cargo plane slowly appears in the distance, a massive silhouette of the largest aircraft in the United States Air Force inventory, the metal bird slowly descends and makes contact with the runway. As the aircraft starts slowing down, its size can be seen from afar, as it towers over the smaller cargo planes parked on the tarmac.
After slowing down enough, it heads straight into the cargo ramp of the airbase. With the aircraft looming over everything in its path, Tanker trucks immediately rush to the aircraft for refueling, and skeleton soldiers in combat uniform start inspecting the aircraft’s exterior for damage. Its crew door opens and the cargo planes' lifeless skeletal operators exit and start helping in preparing it for take-off once again.
"Looks like she's here. You got the key?"
"Yep."
“Code?”
“It’s inside the Briefcase.” Paul takes the key from his jacket pocket and uncuffs himself. John then takes it and hands it over to a skeleton aircrew. "Alright, here's to hoping this gets delivered to the abandoned city zero one."
"It will, the two massive player Kingdoms are having a battle there. No way they'd notice a small team of operatives sneaking into the heart of it. With it preplaced and activated. Hassan’s contingency plan should be in full swing by then."
"Here goes nothing I guess." Paul walks to the C-5M Super Galaxy, he looks up to its cockpit and down to the Crew Chief. The man immediately saluted him, the player was in his human form and was shocked to see the high ranking officer on the deck. "At ease."
The lifeless skeletal pilot puts their right arm down in a snappy fashion alongside the player. Looking at the safe under the desk, he sees it's already locked tight. "You know your orders. Keep it safe and give it to Captain Elixor. He'll do the rest with Trevor."
“Yes sir. These skeleton pilots are top notch. We’ll have it airdropped in no time.”
“Good. Remember, keep your flight path. Act like a normal cargo plane flying about. DO NOT deviate or do anything rash. That goes to you NPCs. Got it?” The skeleton pilots didn’t reply, merely static in their respective seats. “Yeah… good luck to you. Keep these boneheads in check.”
As he was about to leave, Jackson stopped and turned around. “Open it again.”
The Crew Chief takes the key and reveals the thick briefcase that’s neatly inside the big safe. “Alright. It's all on Trevor and his skeletons.” One last salute, he heads into the large cargo plane. Paul's eyes lit up as he thought of stuff he had to do before going to war. "Well that does that. Better head back to the village and complete the quests I took and prepare for battle."
Walking out of the plane as it got loaded with palletized boxes of ammo. John salutes the man. “You need to work more on that.” the player just giggled and smirked as he put his arms over Jackson. “So, what’re you gonna be doing till then? Go back to that Dragon of yours.”
“Er, yeah. Bahamut must be sleepless right now. Poor girl.” He fixes his suit, adjusts his tie, and swipes his jacket with his hands. With a corporate and clean look, he was completely out of place in the Airbase where everyone was in camouflage or in military attire. “I also want to complete more quests before we go in.” After cleaning himself, he walks off into a Humvee waiting to transport him to the airbase's Northern Exit.
Entering the passenger seat, Jackson leaves the door open as he leans out to look at John. With a nice buff built, he looked like a stone wall with the General uniform on and his silky black hair hidden by the visor cap he has on. “I’ll see you later, John. Be sure to keep the planes flying. No slacking off.” The uniformed player made a thumbs up paired with a grin. “No problemo jose. Tell Bahamut I said hi. I’ll notify the Guild Chat if wifey calls for me and I have to log off.”
“Right.” He closes the door of the Humvee and it drives off whilst the C-5M Super Galaxy slowly gets towed after getting refueled, loaded, and cleared for special take-off. The aircraft slowly rumbles its way into the Runway from the Taxiway, a massive aircraft no normal beast or creature can compete in terms of weight and length puts half the airbase to silence as its four massive engines roar into life and the Pilots start giving it some more throttle.
After a few seconds, the Skeletal Pilots release the landing gear brakes and the massive cargo plane lumbers its way down the runway and takes off, nearly taking up the entire length of the runway. The lone player acting as the Crew Chief starts looking at the navigation of their plane and the path it's supposed to take.
Looking at the city, their aircraft was meant to fly just over the outskirts whilst marked on its surroundings were the factions vying for power over the abandoned modern metropolis. “Time to put this show on the road.” he looked over to the cockpit and the well lit dashboard. The skeleton pilots slowly turned the yoke. Following the flight path to a tee.
In the Abandoned City, two medieval armies fight in a massive costly war. Players constantly respawning at mobile Altars of the True God and dying over brutal sword fights, magical spells, and cavalry attacks. The city is reminiscent of a modern era infrastructure once a sprawling Haven for players tired of the game’s brutality, now a battlefield over the control of its derelict ports.
The Crew Chief looked over the briefing note of the two factions that needed to be put into special attention.
“The two player-led armies, the Kingdom of Breznick, a Kingdom built on Knighthood, have reported having over a million inhabitants in their lands they conquered, owned, and control, powering their military with an overabundance of equipment and magic items, they lead with old age Monarchy while the Kingdom of Libertus has a more modern Republic system in place, akin to the modern United States, they have just as the same amount of citizens and the same level of power with Breznick, their difference only seen with their Knights, as Breznick touts their Knights power and luxury while Libertus has better equipped common soldiers but their Knights are sometimes treated the same as a common troop.
In no case shall you, as an aircrew, give them any information nor share technology. Quickly log off via killing yourself to respawn in a far away place that’s labeled as a Safe zone. If available reinforcements are nearby, do notify them of the crash via the Guild Chat Room in the Crash section and if the carcass of the aircraft has been destroyed. If not, a Cruise Missile will be briefly sent over.”
He then goes over the other procedures given to him as he opens his inventory and pops open a bottle of beer. The player proceeds to lift both his shoes into the desk and reclined the seat. Relaxing whilst he held the document on one hand.
“In an event of survival after the crash, open the safe next to the FAK and remove the explosives. Plant one in the main cockpit and another over the struts of the wings. Both Kingdoms are notorious for owning a large part of the Mid and Beginner Continents, even having the capability to stand toe to toe with one of the super powerful NPC-led Kingdoms like the Imperial Kingdom of Jude, a Holy Kingdom built on Knighthood and Religion. Home of the game's main hero, Derrick the Great.
They do and have the means to recover an aircraft as large as your C-5M Super Galaxy. Moreso if a high level Mage with teleportation magic is in hand which albeit rare in the community, the larger Guilds has no endless supply of. Before this happens, destruction of the carcass must be your utmost priority. IF the aircraft has been destroyed. Kill yourself to respawn in a safe area and log off. If given procedures cannot be applied due to the event of either the explosives not being enough nor lost. Quickly trace its location and send the coordinates to the Guild Chat.”
He yawns and looks at the map. Both sides, with Breznick coming from the North and controlling a portion of the Airport, and Libertus from the South having total control of the Seapot and using it as their main headquarters, have labels as to where the frontlines are and their current movements.
“Not had any sort of progress in the second week of warfare.” was written in the middle of the city. WhileBreznick has been given special attention. The only use of the derelict airport was a place to keep their Dragon army and housing for the player and NPC soldiers was put on the top 1 list of places to avoid.
The same could be said with the Kingdom of Libertus, as the Port has been long emptied, spaces once used by players for container transport have been left open and now used as space for their own Dragon army and Navy. The Man o Wars and Galleons using their cannons to keep Breznick’s forces in check as written on a contact line on the map near the main municipality and the aquarium.
“They really want that shitty city, huh. Ben, Bon. What do you guys think?” The two skeleton pilots just remained silent as they kept to their duty on flying the aircraft. “Yeah, but dang. I’ve only seen these numbers in wars for the Mid Continent. They're really coming down to the Dark Continent. Soon, this place might be flanked with bustling Kingdoms and Fortress cities." He goes back into his inventory once again and materializes an apple.
“I don’t get it, the Shine Guards and their rumored Golden King have already tried to civilize this place. But the large amounts of Dragons and Demonic Creatures just makes it logistically impossible even with Teleporters as those get corrupted and start shitting out monsters." After consuming the Apple, he flips the document to one of its final pages.
On the side of Breznick, in the old derelict Airport that once ferried players from one Continent to another, a Knight Player was given her own space with a label of “EXTREMELY DANGEROUS” with the character name of "Lord Elizadeath the Community Voted Sword Saint of the Year" and player name "ElizadeathMotherf". This made the Crew Chief lean forward, as seeing her Avatar. That of a Blue Eyed European Beauty with Blonde hair with a fit body. He couldn’t help but nod. “Dang, I still can’t believe she became the Sword Saint for the year.”
Down below, in the city itself, that's still far from the cargo plane. A woman carries on her daily duty of leading the Honour Guard of King Breznick, with gleaming blue eyes that could give a man hope, sparkling long blonde hair that stood out in the gray and destroyed buildings that surrounded her, and donning a Golden Knight Armor that fits her curvy body shape shines even from afar.
Alongside her were Knights in white and blue and Elves wielding gambensons and capes whilst having compound bows.
Written on the document was a warning. “She's known for being a ruthless field commander with a heroic heart and a talent in sword fighting and knowledge in Medieval warfare. In no circumstance is anyone except those Leveled One Hundred and above are to engage her. If you are below this, you are to run away or delay her." The Crew Chief just looked out of the windows of the cockpit as he sighed. “It’s gonna be a long night.”
The blonde haired woman enters a large tent located in a worn aircraft hangar that once stored the giant airliners used by the airport, now empty and overgrown plants live, the large shelter was littered with Maps, a decorated commanding Knight and 4 Generals are talking and arguing on how to break the tie between the two armies.
The noise could be heard outside of it. Out of all the people inside it, one of them stands out, from a war room full of players with human characters, a tall Elven Knight player wearing a gleaming Silver armor that's shrouded by leather and wool, is seen in the middle of the arguing players. He has jet black hair that reaches at the length of his shoulders with beautiful blue eyes and a well-built face.
The plaque in front of him has the player name "ElvenBroThomas12". The 4 Generals and the Knight Commander leaned over the table, in conversation on how to break the tie between the two armies.
General "ShamelessBeerlot" speaks with a loud commanding voice. Smacking the table and making the plaque with his name fall. "What if we try the sewers? It's foolproof! Way more than another frontal assault! Libertus’ ships are on the verge of preparing for a Naval assault on the Airport!"
A Knight Commander with the name "MotorideKiller" then replied calmly with a pompous attitude. His plate armor is embroidered with laces of velvet and silk. "We don't even know what's in there." Another General with the name "DebrisEaterMe" who was wearing nothing but bulky heavy plate armor shrugged his head. "Then why not try to flank them from the ocean? We have hundreds of ships on standby! We should leave the trading routes to our partners so that we can fully focus on this campaign with the full brunt of Breznick’s mighty navy on hand!"
Commander Motoride once again replies. "No, that Port might be armed with modern weaponry previously left by the people that lived in this city, that's a big risk we can't take. What if Libertus started using them? It’d be a turkey shoot. We still have no idea of just how far Eldwood has reached and what they’ve left over."
General Beerlot once again tries to recommend a way, however, there was annoyance in his tone. "How about we lead a night attack and cut their escapes and then trap them? This is a big city after all and we have people with Dark Vision. Libertus’ isn’t known for its night battles. We can easily go again but at night this time."
The Knight Commander once again replied calmly. "Exactly why we can't just do that. This is a big city, it has many routes and passages. We have no idea what Libertus had set up, everything we’ve tried had ended up in a mess. What we need is a dealbreaker. The navy won’t be coming as the Trade routes need to be further strengthened. I will not fight a war without supplies."
Elizabeath approaches the table and her first step already catches everyone's eyes in the room. She walks with great elegance even in her armor, every part of her speaks with respect and power and her beautiful blue eyes could be seen judging the room, looking down at the generals. "Can we all be silent for a moment and actually start thinking about a method to break through them rather than arguing? We're all adults here."
Her low and mature female voice commands and demands respect instantly, it silences everyone in the war room and one General by the name of "CaptchaRobotico" raises his hand.
"Lord Elizadeath, you finally came back. May I ask where have you been these past days?"
"I've been in the front with the Honor Guards and the Elven Guardian Bowmen. These past days have been absolute Hell for us. The Knights of Sir Rombart has had us in a tight choke. Anymore and the frontline will collapse as Sir Rodney and his ships had started further bombardment of the city. Their magicians aren't any better news as they have started using long range spell attacks on unsuspecting patrols."
"Ah I see, so you finally realized you can't just solo your way into this one and finally came here to talk."
"I've left my old Solo days, if I hadn’t. I wouldn’t be here would I? Now, about the stalemate right now.”
An adult and calming male voice with a very soothing tone then interrupts.
"May I recommend a tactic? What if we try to concentrate our efforts in one of their defenses? They've left the Western side of the city largely undefended due to the mountains. We Elves are great in such terrains. If you could mount a frontal attack while leaving the side to us, we may be able to gather a victory." One of the Generals with the name "SpectralEye" raises his hand in conjecture of the Elf. "Hmmm…” he then lowered it and rubbed his chin. “Actually, I could see that, Lord Elizadeath, what do you think? You're our Ace here. Our battle plan is shaped by your positioning."
The beautiful and attractive Sword Saint thinks about it and notices a big problem immediately.
"Unless we have the extra troops, this could be possible. But this isn't an easy walk." She breathes in and starts explaining with a sharp look in her eyes. "They left that lightly defended since they know that they can reinforce it if an attack comes. It’s simply bait, there should be a cavalry or a large amount of reserves waiting behind the lines."
The Elven Knight then raises his right hand politely. With his long blonde hair reaching his back and a commanding presence, the beautiful Knight lets him speak. "Then, what if we cut off their reserves before they could do that? It might be possible with you and me and our Knights together. General Beerlot mentioned of the sewers, we could be able to use that."
Elizabeth then thinks about it deeply and looks in the direction of Robotico "Anthious, do you have the men to spare for this attack? The sewers of this place are large and go everywhere. Players with Ranger traits are preferable." The general thinks about it, and leans into the table. After a minute of breathing in and out deeply. He stands straight up, concluding his thoughts.
"Yea, I can. I have some extra scout players here, and near the old Bus Terminal. I'm sure they're bored out of their minds. I could spare them to help you and the Royal Elf guy." he on the other hand had medals stamped on his plate armor alongside a cape that goes over his left shoulder. “They’re a mixture of Rangers and Archers. They should be able to do the job you want.”
The Saint smiles and with confidence, she lifts her right arm and points her hand at the Elven Knight. "Sir Anthony of the Elven Kingdom of Keyneth, may you see this as a test of the alliance that we have built upon war. Maybe with this, Libertus may no longer endanger your territorial claims."
What formerly stood as the airport's massive parking lot is now used as a staging area for soldiers gathering in an operation or attack. Tents were set about the place alongside salvaged microwaves and ovens being used to cook food. The areas were all properly divided with the Commanders and higher leveled players having their own space in the middle of the camp.
One of the players, a Level 15 Grunt with the name "BlackOps204" is talking to a Level 21 player soldier with the name "LensFlare2Ey" outside of a Tent. Black Ops was sitting on an empty crate and Lens was learning on the tent’s door frame. The two completely bored out of their minds as soldiers marched on by and the two would yawn.
BlackOps mumbles to the other player as he removes his Breznick Legionnaire Helmet. Revealing a young and up character with brown hair and gray eyes. He looked at Lens and spoke with the voice of a young boy.
"Have you heard of this place before? They say it used to be a Haven for low levels like us who wants to go to the Dark Continent and a testbed of sorts for the usage of skeleton soldiers for menial tasks"
The man that leaned on the door frame replies with a more mature tone of a young adult. One could immediately see him as a Veteran and has his fair share of battles from the scars and dents in his chest plate and mail.
"Mhm. Now look at it, abandoned and falling apart. If only I was deployed in this area a few months back. I might've seen this city still active and was there when it fell. But then again, Eldwood was crazy enough to build a modern city in the Dark Continent of all places."
"What makes me think is how this place fell. I heard it had the protection of a modern army. No way could Kingdoms with a Medieval army destroy a place like this as not only is it far, but it is also in the most dangerous continent.” He then goes to his inventory and picks his canteen. Taking a sip, he shrugged his head as he looked around him. The once active terminal was now just a husk of titles and broken glass.
“Let alone get near it, or is it true the player Kingdoms secretly waged a war against it and its owners? Using the most destructive and secretive magic in the game to capitulate its owners?"
LensFlare2Ey looks down on the sitting BlackOps204. “See, that's the thing. No one knows what happened here. Everyone just left the place. I think Eldwood knew after the Bahamut event that no city is safe and opted to go the other route. Bunkers maybe."
"You met people who used to live here?"
"Yea man, they wouldn't tell me any details. Just kept saying that it wasn't worth it or something along those lines. I think they were just told to say this as their faces said the opposite."
“Could it be that some of the Kingdoms used Guerrilla warfare like how they did with those three clans that tried to show off their modern arms? Since no one has seen a large Modern force in Dark World since the first Bahamut open world event"
"No idea. This place still baffles everyone. Even with its construction, nobody expected it to be a modern city. Everyone thought it was gonna be a Neutral Kingdom with medieval architecture. Though I’ve heard there’s larger groups that have built cities larger than Los Angeles or Vegas somewhere out there. Heck, there’s scary rumors that there’s a League of Modern Guilds. If that’s so, you better be ready for this game to be turned into a MilSim with civilian roleplay and magic."
BlackOps looks down on his helmet, holding it with his hands. In deep thought and his imagination flying as he turned it around to look at the bolts on it. "Something doesn't feel right. This place and its purpose is still a great mystery to us all. Don’t you think they probably still have interest in this city?"
"Don't think, just fight. C'mon man. Don't let this cloud you. We still have a long way to go to get that sweet Legend Title and the prestige that comes with it."
"Dude, I’ve been playing for two weeks now. Do you seriously think it'll be that easy? Even our Generals are only in the Nineties. That's only Hero title and their prestige ain’t really that high when the Sword Saint comes around the area."
"Gotta believe in magic as they say. You know those two Legends? The Swords woman and that Elven Knight?" BlackOps204 looks up to LensFlare2Ey with curiosity. "Yea, what about them?" Lens smirks and crosses his arms as his finger waved. "I've heard those two have been playing this game day and night. It's crazy but I think those two are so into it, they think this is their life now and you can’t really say we haven’t had the same thoughts. This place, it's amazing. A real second life where we can be someone we aren’t."
BlackOps replies with an even happier tone. "Ahahahah, With their levels and equipment? You must have no life or job to be able to achieve those."
"Yea, and I've heard that Swordswoman was actually Solo before. Geez, that's a lot of time in your hands."
"Mhm. Not like us with 9 to 5 jobs."
“Also, have you heard that the Vampire clan has recently had trouble with the Elves?”
“Oh yea? What about it?”
“Seems that one of the Elven Ambassadors made a joke about how they all looked the same and only the fangs were different.”
“And?”
“You know how it is with the Vampire players in this game, they’re just as worse as the Werewolves or the Scalies. They’re so into it that one of the Noble Vampires took the Elves head off right at the conference room from what I heard.”
“Oh fuck. Are they serious with this move? Mid Continent is gonna be on fire again if the Vampires start shitting the bed like they did six months ago.”
“Yea… but it's far away. So far, the Elves have been way too busy with their territorial problems with Libertus.” Lens then stood straight up and walked over to BlackOps. Squatting next to him as he put his hands near one another. “But do you know what’s more damning from what I’ve heard around the Forums and public spaces?”
BlackOps then leans into him. His eyes brimming with excitement. “I heard the Men of the Woods, this underground Guild is producing ten thousand rifles a month with Rostock. I believe some Cold War nuts are saying that the Modern guilds are nearing the Eighties level of rearmament." This made the man lean back in absolute shock. “E-Eh?! Ten thousand guns?!”
“Shhhh… that’s just rumors though. No one really knows just how big and powerful these Modern Guilds are. But you saw it, everyone saw it years ago in the Bahamut event. They had helicopters, fighter jets, submarines, Destroyers, Aircraft carriers and even Battleships.”
“Yeah, it took the community by the storm as they helped the Sword Saint of the year Sir Richards in taking down Bahamut.”
“Since many years have passed. Just imagine what they are fielding now. They probably have hundreds of thousands of bullets being made as we speak for all I know.” A whistle interrupts the two's conversation and soldiers run outside of their tents, heading to the Parking Lot’s unused area.
There, they fall in line. 3 Formations of 200 soldiers each. Weapons ready, and they stood at ease looking proud and mighty. 2 more Formations formed behind them, all on Horseback. One was full of Elven Knights, all well above Level 90 and 100.
Clad in shining Silver Armor and another one was full of Breznick's Honor Guards with Elizabeth leading the formation. Clad in sparkling Gold and Silver, their presence could be seen miles away. As if they could redirect the Sun's glare if they gobbled up together, their competence inspires the grunts that look at the beautiful formation.