59 Unraveled Conspiracy

After spending two hours with their LAI friends, the roommates spent the rest of the evening in the pool. It was late by the time they turned in; for once nobody logged in.

[Welcome to Guns and Gore, the Phoenix Server.]

Location: Briar Rose

Time: 0730

Server Population: 57,828 Your current level is 44.

QJ purposefully logged out just inside the gates of Briar Rose the previous evening so he could return before roll call. Two dark elf commandos stood guard at the reinforced front entrance. The sounds of sparring and the smell of cookfires filled the brisk morning air.

"My son!"

QJ turned at the sound of a familiar voice. In full battle regalia, the scarred Princess approached and placed both hands on his shoulders. "Good morning, Mojo."

Mojo smiled and kissed his forehead fondly. "You look so handsome in your GnG gear."

"Thanks... Handsome is what I was aiming for." QJ glanced sideways at her when she didn't follow up. By and large, most sarcasm was lost on the dark elf queen. "Why are you here?"

"Oh... Just visiting my mother and righting a wrong." Mojo grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the side courtyard that marked the entrance to the caretaker's cottage.

"Not bad," Yaya complimented the dark elf who they were training. "QJ! You're just in time."

Aji leaned heavily on her spear, panting like a wolf on the hunt. She bowed respectfully when she noticed QJ. "I've been working hard."

[Aji Sai]

Level 46

NPC Class: Dark Valkyrie

Strength 65

Endurance 53

Intelligence 38

Agility 51

Luck 5

Charisma 28

Skills

Tailor 100

Scholar 100

Spear Specialist IV 33/100

Dual Revolvers II 88/100

[Class Skills]

Capture: Hold your target in place until you are ready to deal with them. Any damage to the target breaks capture; using capture on a second target releases the first. (Range: 15 meters Cool Down N/A)

Break: Slam your spear into your target's legs hampering movement and combat speed by half. Has a chance to damage armor. (Range: 2 meters Cool Down 3 seconds)

Jump Charge: Jump to any target within twenty meters and stun them for 5 seconds. (Cool Down 15 seconds)

All In: Fire all your bullets down range at a single target without missing. (Cool Down 3 minutes)

Strike of the Valkyrie: Instantly kill any target when its health drops below one percent.

QJ took note that she now possessed a combat class, although he'd never heard of a Dark Valkyrie. "Twin pistols and spear? Very well done, Aji."

Mojo nodded in agreement. "She is a natural. According to my mother, this is a new class for our people ."

Being the son of the NPC Assassin, QJ knew firsthand how NPCs gained skills; endless repetition. "Lots of nice control skills there. [Capture] is basically a single-point mezz, [Break] is a slow, and [Jump] is a stun. Once you learn how to incorporate everything, you'll be hell on wheels."

"Hell on wheels?" Aji asked.

"It means 'really good'," QJ explained. "Keep up the great work; if I have the chance, we'll spar later."

"I look forward to it," Aji responded.

"Going to need our assistance for the Keep Defense?" Mojo asked.

QJ shook his head. "Stay here and guard my place. We should be able to deal with it. I'll let you know if things go sideways."

"Okay, QJ." Mojo's dark lips curved in a smile. "This is a very nice estate."

QJ mounted Scorch and left the courtyard at a full gallop. Something felt wrong about the Keep Defense quest. If they were facing those responsible for the King's death, then that would probably mean the Queen's personal forces, along with whatever allies she had. His buzzing hud interrupted his thought.

Rachel Brenner's face popped up in front of him a moment later. "Is this a bad time?" She could tell he was riding hard.

QJ eased back on the reins. "Just letting Scorch run a bit." He gave her a questioning look. They'd chatted casually quite often when he was acting dean. She had never reached out to him personally before. Her casual attire lent him to believe that she wasn't in the office. "What does the Acting Dean of Exodus Academy want with me? Is this about my grades?"

Rachel's serious expression cracked into a beautiful smile. "Off the record conversation," Rachel stated.

QJ pulled back until Scorch slowed to a walk. "Sounds serious... Okay, off the record."

Rachel lowered her voice, even though she was obviously at her personal residence. "Two hundred Striker bracelets have been reserved for the next 72 hours."

QJ let out a long breath. "Mid or upper tier?" QJ asked. Exodus supplied the current Striker roster with their accounts. However, those accounts belonged to Exodus and not the individual. "Is someone marshaling the Striker community?"

Rachel nodded her head. "Righteous Hand has reserved the entire Upper tier catalog of GnG characters. Sending you a list of classes."

"Thanks for the heads up," QJ said. "This makes us friends... I never forget my friends."

When QJ rode through the Keep Gates a few minutes later, his eyes scanned the recent changes. A sniper nest was constructed on the central tower. From there, OP's Riders could thin down any force that approached within 800 meters of the Keep. The reality was, OP's forces needed to expand quite a bit to ensure their HQ's security.

The Guild Hall was bustling when QJ entered a few minutes later. Most of OP had already taken their seats, and an empty chair next to Ringo had been left for him, along with a pastry from Dave the Baker.

"How many did you have to fight off to secure this?" QJ gestured toward the pastry, some sort of peach Danish.

"Several!" Ringo moved her personal hud to the table display so she could share the screen. "I activated our Alliance icons; here's what we can expect.

[Princess Lilianna Strom] Personal Guard.

[Sandhealer Faction] The One Sun Archers.

[Romani Faction] Unknown.

[Arachni City] Undeclared.

QJ frowned at the list. "Archers for the walls would be nice." He wasn't sure what to think about the status of the Gypsy and Spider forces. "Hard to make any plans around Unknown and Undeclared."

"The Ally icon is counting down from 24 hours; once that expires, I'll be able to summon them here." Ringo considered the current Keep forces. "Still... We have the dark elf guards, a flight of Ba'Avriel Winged Assassins, our members, and of course, Robin, the Keep Commandant."

"Add Sara; she'll participate as a cleric. However, I am aware of a small hitch." QJ told her about the Striker bands acquired by Righteous Hand. "Take a look at the server guild list."

Ringo listed the Phoenix server guild list, her face darkening with a scowl. "I should have known."

"It's fine," QJ stated. "We'll discuss our options after roll call."

[OP: QJ] Good morning, everyone. First things first, let's take a look at the leaderboard.

[Top Guild Level]

1) One Problem 38.1

2) Old Skool 36.7

3) Gunsmoke 35.5

[Class Leaderboard]

Range Rider: Unchained-Lvl 39

Gunfighter: Ringo-Lvl 40

Brave: Laffy Taffy-Lvl-22

Tracker: Carlotti Hottie-Lvl 37

Shaman: Three-Tails-Lvl 38

Field Medic: Suga Pie-Lvl 38

Wrangler: Kingslayer QJ-Lvl 44

Scout: Sato Lvl 38

Commanchero: Breeze-Lvl 38

Cavalry: Iron Lou-Lvl 38

Raider: Devil Woman-Lvl 36

Gambler: Pinnacle-Lvl 37.

[Top Five Ranking]

1) Kingslayer QJ

2) Ringo

3) Lotte

4) Oldman Crane

5) Unchained

[OP: QJ] As you can see, we are doing good. However, we are about to be tested. We have another Major Faction Event, and everything we've built here is on the line.

[OP: Ringo] Before we get started on the brief, does anyone have anything to say?

Unexpectedly, Lotte raised her hand. "I was contacted this morning by Old Man Crane, the slinger from Old Skool."

[OP: QJ] In guild chat, please.

[OP: Lotte] Sorry. Old Man Crane told me that Righteous Hand has created a guild on this server. More than that, they've annexed several small guilds. They are buying accounts from players already here, or hiring them as new members.

[OP: Sato] Why would someone join RH on this server? We are the big dogs here.

[OP: Unchained] I can answer that. It comes down to credits. A conglomerate backs RH. They are at the top on every other GnG server.

[OP: Sato] Aren't they late for the party? Why not join on day one?

[OP: Unchained] The same reason Haven didn't. They were content to let this server wallow in mediocrity. That's no longer an option.

[OP: Sato] Why not?

[OP: Unchained] Simply put, this Keep and OP's position. This is the single most valuable real estate in Maelstrom. It was fine when Morbin owned it, but now that a guild owns it, RH has rethought its position.

[OP: QJ] What's Haven's position?

[OP: Unchained] Haven is losing ground to RH on the Legends server; they lack the resources to battle for Phoenix.

[OP: QJ] RH has acquired two hundred upper-tier Striker bands to use in this conflict for the next 72 hours.

[OP: Sato] Is that legal? Why would Exodus let that happen?

[OP: QJ] Yes, it's legal. The whole purpose of Strikers is as extra personnel for raids and guild wars. This amounts to a guild war.

[OP: Sato] What does RH have to do with this? I thought we were fighting Queen Iya and her forces.

The conference room's double doors opened suddenly, revealing Dessi, the guild leader of Gunsmoke. "My apologies for the intrusion, OP."

QJ motioned her in. "We were just discussing Queen Iya and her forces. Since you are here, I assume you've been made aware."

Dessi nodded. "Two of my members took part in a Major Faction event to assassinate the King. Dover and Boce acted as agents for Queen Iya so she could become the ruler of Maelstrom. They were to implicate Annabelle in the murder; she's Princess Lilliana's operative. Somehow Annabelle involved QJ, and he ended up taking the blame."

QJ frowned suddenly. When the guards were closing in on Annabelle, he had the feeling they were going to kill her on the spot. "I didn't know this part. Annabelle is the one who originally gave us the Main Faction quest. That fills in some blanks. Anything else?

Dessi nodded. "This was done in secret, without my knowledge."

Ringo felt a sense of relief at her words; if Dessi were involved, she wouldn't have denied it. "How did you find out?"

"A polite man in a suit contacted me. I was offered an officer position in Righteous Hand on this server. In exchange, they would absorb Gunsmoke and enlist us as allies of Queen Iya." Dessi shook her head in disgust. "Dover and Boce left the guild when I notified them that we would not take part in this mess."

"Thank you for coming, Dessi." QJ paused for a moment; he believed her words but not to the point where he'd risk everything to trust her.

Dessi held up her hand. "Say no more, QJ. I understand the difficult position this has put you in. As a show of good faith, the third years will remain offline for the next three days. Kick their ass for us."

"Done. Thank you, Dessi." QJ waited until after she left before continuing.

[OP: QJ] We'll be giving out assignments today; feel free to grind levels while we piece together our defenses.

[OP: Lotte] What level are upper-tier Striker accounts?

[OP: QJ] They are locked at 70. They don't gain xp and can only wear gear issued by the Exodus Quartermaster. Assume that it takes three of us to take down one of them.

[OP: Unchained] Reserving 200 Striker bands for three days amounts to an astronomical pile of credits. They are going all out. Let's feed them a shit sandwich.

[OP: Ringo] Did Old Skool say what they were going to do?

[OP: Lotte] They are leaving the continent immediately, somewhere called Hydrista or something like that.

[OP: Unchained] Hai'dysta?

[OP: Lotte] Yep, that's it.

[OP: Unchained] Interesting choice... If you don't mind naval battles.

[OP: QJ] Any more questions?

[OP: Sato] How do we win or lose?

[OP: QJ] They have to win within the allotted time; not sure what that is yet. Either by eliminating two-thirds of our defenders or, capturing OP's Guild Flag.

[OP: Sato] We have a Guild Flag? Where is it?

[OP: QJ] On the wall above the Keep Commandant's desk.

[OP: Ringo] Go grind, while we figure this out. Dismissed.

QJ closed his hud and sampled the pastry he'd been given. The room slowly emptied until only he and Ringo were left. "Tomorrow or the next day?"

Ringo considered the question. "What's your opinion?"

"Tomorrow," QJ replied. "Why give them more time to build up."

"Agreed."

[Phoenix Server Announcement] Tomorrow at 0800, part one of a Major Faction Event is taking place. All forces will be subject to the rules of war.