Chapter 05
The Two Powers
On the night of a full moon, the sound of drums bade a marching storm. Roars of monsters echoed, hums of soldiers loomed. The night was filled with the sinister coldness of an incoming force that was sure to shake the entire colony inside the fortress named Mooran
The horns blew.
The unified songs of the NPC mercenaries echoed.
In their frontlines were the beast tamers and those people who was paid a price to kill a lot of numbers. Included in them was the now infamous FlowerLord, probably the first girl user next to the Alcides member, Isis, to ever wield a Dark Spear.
She led the ranks with her Company under the 1st frontline division with the plan to surprise and flank those enemies that will come their way.
On both sides of her Company were two of her best in-game friends, the twins, Paak and Waan, sexy Korean badasses with gun passion, also leading the companies under their names. Since most of her friends circle are away on missions or currently undertaking a very hard quest, she was still lucky to share this so called practice with two of her best in-game friends.
Virtual Reality has this one purpose as well. People from all over the world can meet and become friends, bridging the gap of language using technology.
And who would have thought?
The once frail player who walked out the city of Eos for the first time to see the world of Virtual Reality and only her curiosity the only thing that pushed her, was now leading the ranks of players towards something that she really enjoyed in the game.
Thrilling practice.
Making her name has been her next big goal and now, she have that chance.
As the continuous sound of the drums, along with the roar of the monsters carrying and pulling the large catapults continued, FlowerLord raised a fist and the people under her all stopped in unison. Then the catapults came and started to crawl their way towards the wall of Mooran, 1km away.
The catapult ranks on monsters and mammoth tanks passed through the gap in between platoon and their large sizes bade a feeling of tremendous fright. In the walls of the fortress, the Sylphs started to gather and their forces all looked like they’re really ready for war.
The horn sounded on the other side and at the same time was the appearance of the large ships hovering above them. Those ships started to climb in height and in their shoulders and mouths, with the sesame seeds that surrounded them, the modified Cyclones began to take their defensive measures.
Being the frontlines, the TGG Cyclones began to fly out towards the fortress and flew passed their heads, leaving bombs on their wake inside Mooran walls.
These small crafts fitted with Vulcan Shanks and magic blast turrets flew at 300km/hr that enabled maneuverability and instantaneous change of direction possible.
But the aerial defense of the wall wasn’t to belittled.
Two kilometers above them, their warships started to release their escorts and the Cyclone versus Cyclone aerial battle began.
Missiles from the warships imbued with the Seeker, a Tier-1 magic spell, began to fire off from the floating warships. These missiles, engineered using the fusion of Terran in-game technology, magic, and real earth technological designs became a large variable in the past war. The third Guild War in Terroa that happened just a few months ago was the first to ever use the missile technology inside the game.
Such weaponry moved the tides of war towards that war’s victorious guild and the losing guild was forced to pay the price of being the loser. Not only they were forced to submit to the winner, they were also forced to pay all of the expenditures to point of disband.
And now, with all those months of preparation, the war event that’s been waited for by the whole world has finally began.
The warships of the defense began their move.
The Golgoda-class warship was their tanker. It had three layers of ironwood + blackrock frame defense, amplified by the mages inside casting Tier-2, Spell of Reduction. At the same time, it used its thrusters and began to move forward, slowly increasing its speed of 170kn (knots) to 250kn (approx 300kph to 460kph).
It doesn’t have as much firepower as the Hydra-class who just remained at the furthest back on the line of defense and kept its bombardment and missiles, or the speed of the Prontera who could reach up to 500kn, but the Golgoda-class, the first of its concept design, is like a raging bull who took down everything and anything that blocked its path.
The Hydra released seeker missiles and the targeted Cyclones had no choice but to change course, escape from the Hydra’s range, or, engage in full flight speed escape from the Mach-2 traveling seeker missiles.
But alas, since these Cyclones are modified and was fitted with the heavy Vulcan Shanks, their speedup dropped to 20% that made them snail moving targets for the missiles. And so, the Hydra became a menacing existence in the sky, feared by the attacking Cyclones, together with the solid defense of the Golgoda-class.
To match them up, on the TGG’s side, three flying tubes that looked like an inverted version of the Hydra, with ten linear long-barreled versions of the Basilisk cannons placed below the hull, hovered above them on a height of 12km, just a few kilometers more until the edge of troposphere.
Those cannons began to release bombardment fires towards the Hydra and so the Hydra had no choice but perform evasive maneuvers.
The Cyclones of both forces that looked like flies in the sky exchanged their combat fires. Their Vulcans that can pierce through the armor plating of the other Cyclones demonstrated why they’re called the fastest maneuverable machines in the sky. The pursuit and the contest between similar units became an awing sight as seen from an angle on the ground.
Their movements were so fast that you just have to applaud how good their pilots are.
Dodging assault fires of other Vulcan fitted Cyclones are a feat itself, especially the act of actually getting close to their large warships.
Basic design of Cyclones have smaller wings if it’s compared to the current units used in this war. Since considerations for instantaneous variation on speed and direction (agility) of the Cyclones were considered when they were created, their designs were modified to focus not on speed but to the expansion of its wings and having ailerons, a rudder, and the more “jet-ish” concept on it. In a way, it opened a path to the new-Gen of aerial combat and Cyclone designs.
Skilled pilots used Basic Fighter Maneuvers to drive or outrun their opponents while those commanders of their fleet that’s skilled enough to perform advanced BFMs displayed their might in an aerial dogfight.
The three tubes that flew so high above are special warships of the TGG, (1) Amaya, (2) Ayala, (3) Acala, dubbed as the Three Sisters for they are fundamentally similar to each other.
Almost all of their armaments were fitted below the hull. And on their upper decks, for defensive purposes, are four layers of concentrated armor platings and the pods for sky diving infantry units and Cyclones with jet powered engines. These three are not made for battles that happens at a height of less than 5km. They are, in few words, the snipers of the skies at 15km high.
At that, the Captain of the Missouri warship on the Sylph’s side, Captain Nash, a senior student at PANMS (Pacific Aeronautical and Nautical Mastery School) in Oregon, had staked his pride and honor on his area of expertise as he maneuvered his ship to shield the Hydra using his very peculiar ship design.
The Missouri, a warship solely designed for battles within the atmosphere, does not have the aeronautical aspects and symmetrical measurements of those using the wind resistance as means to take flight.
Since there was the hard to find and expensive, but really useful hoverstones, him and his friends designed Missouri to be a blitzkrieg aerial slugger.
Its portside (left) is pumped with five layers of armor platings, also plied with Mages that utilized defensive magic. So while its left side received the damage, a single burst from a side thruster engine will change its course instantly to switch to a position for counter fire.
This would allow for the starboard (right) side that was equipped with the long-barrel cannon, Lambda Sword, to launch a quick counter fire.
Lambda Sword has the same concept as Samara’s Morrigan Cannon that uses Lightstone Disbursement Technology to fire a pure volley of condensed sunlight traveling in sub-light speeds, except that it was bigger and has an indubitably larger LD-Core for increased damage output —thankfully the engineering on this Weapon Tech was just a push of a button during design stages for it doesn’t actually exists in the real world.
The weapon itself wouldn’t be of much use if it’s a single directional weapon and so Nash designed it be able to fire at a 320 degrees angle all over the ship.
In a way, the Missouri actually looked like a knight from the medieval ages with a shield on one arm and a long spear on the other. And it just so happens that the idea was adapted to the warship and not only that, but on the main deck of the Missouri, too, are smaller types of battery that deals anti-air suppressive fire to all the flying Cyclones that brazenly try to challenge it.
As it happened, a strong light pillar brightened the dark sky and the moon surrounded by rings of colorful lights was dyed in it. The bluish white blast of energy, created by the Lightstone Disbursement Technology hit where the middle sister was. But then, something that resembled a force field protected the ship and from the Missouri’s command bridge, that one phenomenon was something that shouldn’t have happened.
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The place it hit was filled with a field of mist that expanded from where the damage should have been but when the mist had finally subsided, there was a flat shaped ship that resembled a reverse field that covered the Ayala.
It wasn’t just any ordinary ship, Nash knew it, it was the pirate ship Nicholas who’s the base of the Maurice Martin Clan (Guild). In terms of size, Nicholas is as big as a football field, or slightly larger, and it was said that next to the Garuda of the Alcides Guild, it was the second heaviest ship ever to be designed by a player.
And at that, Nash knew that this aerial war of theirs will be on their disadvantage from now on. So he clicked his tongue as he gave out commands, trying his best not to lose focus and throw away his composure.
“Aim at the gap between the Nicholas’s wings! We have to take those sisters out!”
“Captain! Incoming transmission from Prontera!”
“Patch it through!”
On his command, a video call popped out on the main screen of the command bridge and the mercenary NPC Captain, Nidus, spoke with a stern expression.
[Captain Nash. I have come to help.]
Nash nodded on his timing. “Captain Nidus, we have to take down the Three Sisters but the Nicholas is on our away. Can you maneuver to flank their side?”
[I can. But I need cover and diversion.]
“We’ll provide it.”
[Then I will contact you later.]
As their call was cut, Nash then shouted on their bridge. “Where is the Osiris?”
“It’s fighting the Nebuchadnezzar!”
“Damn it!” On the main screen, the sight of a white warship in a deadlock with a red and blue one, the Big Bad Boy of the sky, the Nebuchadnezzar, was making Nash’s nostrils burn with irritation.
The two spiraling ships were locked with each other, firing off their cannons, dodging, countering, and doing a what could only be called a classic fight between two warships. Their cannons were those old fashioned ones, projectile types like the Basilisk, but with a touch of the modern (in-game storyline) human technology, Hyper Magnetic Propulsion System (HyMaProS).
Morrigan cannons just like the ones Samara used were also present on their decks and their bigger sizes meant meaner problems.
The lag between consecutive fires were longer and with the volleys of missiles going on their way, the two ships were locked in that unmoving stalemate of whoever’s better at finding the right opening on their battle of attrition shall win the fight.
In the end, for the defense of Mooran to succeed, and also for the aerial superiority to go to their side, their winning key relied on the mission the Prontera had. No matter what happens, they had to take down the sisters.
In terms of numbers of aerial units, the Sylph’s defense force were outnumbered 5 to 1. The Hydra is the only strong wall they had that was stopping the aerial assault of the TGG forces. And so as much as he doesn’t want to admit it, Nash’s Missouri really had no choice but to be stuck defending the Hydra. And this, in Nash’s opinion, is the worst Shogi game that he ever had.
Looking below, the forces of the TGG had entered their first defensive zone and they were fighting off the first line of defenses composed of the tanks, to monster riders, to the first until the fourth infantry divisions.
But even with that, seeing flashes of light here and there that would literally gnash out some forces on their side and push them back, warned him that a problem of bigger proportions are going to be on their way if he do not succeed on the plan.
Nash punched the armrest of his seat in frustration.
In the game of Shogi, once you ran out of plans, your King and your generals shall fall almost immediately as you stumbled. Also, in terms of war, according to all of his studies before this big event, what wins a battle is not just pure brutality, but actually wits and the soldiers that follow the command.
“ThinkTwice.” He yelled and sat on the captain seat.
The mentioned person was the Comms Officer and his surprised face was clearly seen behind his Harry-sized spectacles. “Y-Your orders, Captain?”
“Contact the Prontera. Tell them to coordinate their movements to my command. The situation demands that we slightly changed our initial plans.”
Hearing this, the crew in the bridge all had worried faces and Nash’s first officer spoke in behalf of them.
“Captain. The order has been given earlier. Prontera will enter enemy firing range in just a minute. Are you planning to sacrifice them here?”
“I am not so fool as to sacrifice my comrades!” Nash shouted as he pointed a finger towards the Weapons Officer. “You. Prepare the Longhorn!”
“But Captain! The Prontera, its…” Cried his deputy.
“Just do it!” He yelled and insisted. “Give me full visual range of Nicholas. Synchronize the location of the Prontera with our locator chart. Transfer all power to the Longhorn’s reactor core! Deputy, move the ship on the location that I will specify and give me the controls to the Longhorn trigger.”
“Transferring energy initiated!”
“Synchronization complete!”
“Captain! Prontera is currently taking damage from heavy assault fires from the Acala!”
“On my signal, move the ship three degrees, north-northeast.”
“Readying on your signal!”
“Prepare for full speed thrust after the one minute cool down! Fire volley missiles to Nicholas’s direction! Target their engine! Spend them all to cover Prontera!”
“But we don’t have a lock sir!”
“Just do it! Use manual targeting of the Seeker spells to predict direction and location coordinates. What is the Prontera’s situation?”
“They don’t have shields sir! Armor is down to 60% and still falling!”
At that, Nash hammer pressed a green button on his console. “Golgoda! Protect the Hydra!”
[We’re on it!]
Then the weapon’s officer reported.
“Longhorn charged at 89%! 90%! 20 seconds until firing capacity sir!”
“Deputy!”
“Setting course to three degrees! Angle correction synchronization initiated! Thruster Engines are now offline, sir! The ship’s all yours, captain!”
“Captain, the Prontera is suffering from Nicholas’s bombardment fires!”
As Nash sat down on his Captain’s chair, his whole body had been slightly inclined with a head support that fastened his neck in place on the backrest. A head gear in Real@D bluish lines acted as a reticule for an electronic scope for a sniper rifle and on his right eye was the vision of the crosshair for the Longhorn.
“Captain! They’re flanking behind the Prontera!”
Hearing the report of the Radar Officer, a strand of sweat flowed down on his cheek. The tickling sensation it had somehow made him focus more on the single chance of this sniper shot.
“Captain!” The first officer beside him screamed but Nash ignored and focused on the reticule in his eye as he forcefully slowed down his heart rate and calmed down his breathing.
The large base of the Nicholas filled the entire vision on his scope and the burst lights of its cannons could be seen lighting up the dim sky.
Nicholas was a rectangular, blitz designed warship, just like the Missouri, only bigger and had full artillery placed on the main deck. In general, it was a Cruiser-type hull and so to place such numbers of Tomahawk cannons meant that its design only focused on three dimensions: Blitz, bombardment, and base protection, that maxed out everything else that its modification slots had.
Basically it was a warship that has superior shielding placed at the base and focused bombardment cannons at the main deck. When it’s on its Plundering Mode, it will spread its supposedly flat reflector shields from two sides, amplified by their Mages’ Tier-2 Spell of Reduction magic to decrease attack damages, while the rest of its pirate crew plunder the towns and castles it had targeted. After all, Nicholas is owned by pirates.
It doesn’t sit well on pursuit missions and so could only use stealth as travel means from place to place.
Hence, it doesn’t have to meet the Prontera who had a mission to take it down, waiting for it until it goes into firing range was one of its strong points. But Nash only needed for it to go out of the way so that he could fire the Longhorn, the Missouri’s main cannon in the main deck of the ship to break the Three Sisters’ tri-angular bombardment formation.
A little more. A little more.
The angle of the fire entered his vision and he could barely see the target on sight.
“Prontera armor, down to 35%! They had a breach!”
“Longhorn charging complete!”
“Captain!” Again, his first officer called for him!
Nash continued to ignore them as he solidified his will, “Prepare the Armadura!” He yelled back and did a last exhale as his mind, finger, eye, and heartbeat had become one in that single moment where everything slowed down until he pulled the Real@D rendering of the stock and trigger on his right shoulder. “Mages, bare with it for a while.”
As he spoke on the online communicator, the voice of the ship’s Mages commander spoke. “Aye, Captain.”
In the Navigation System console of the ship, a Red Bar Indicator showed that all power from the ship had been transferred and so he smiled in satisfaction.
Then…
Kaboom, baby.
He pulled the trigger.