Chapter 617: Rush

Haley stood on a balcony overlooking the palace entrance, forcing her mouth closed as she stared. There were thousands, many thousands of people coming in a giant mob, with plenty more running at the edges.

“Dios mio,” Rosa whispered beside her, fresh from the teleporter. “I brought everyone with a void store from Nassau. I thought it might be too much. But just look at them all…”

Haley took a steadying breath, and put away the overwhelmed feeling of panic. Mason was relying on her. On all of them. These were just scared, ordinary people, and the rules protected them all from danger. Mostly.

“OK,” she said, taking a breath and looking back at Sylvie, Lodie, and Mason’s new seneschal, Rahman.

There were dozens of key servants waiting for orders, and hundreds more they could use. Plus a small herd of goblins. They could do this, they just needed to get moving. To make a plan. She looked to the stoic, older man first. She didn’t trust him, or really any of these people, but Mason said she could rely on him, and she trusted Mason.

“We need every nurse or doctor in the city. Water. Places to triage the wounded. I’m thinking the guest wing rooms. We put as much of the crowd as we can into the outside courtyards.”

“There are training halls, auditoriums also,” said Rahman, “these are very large.”

Haley felt a little solid ground under her feet.

“Good. But somehow we have to guide people, get them calmed down at the gate. I don’t know where anything is. And they’ll just flood in and run everywhere unless we…”

“Farm zappers,” Lodie said, snapping her fingers. Everyone looked at the diminutive goblin princess, who just shrugged. “You know, prodders. We could zap ‘em like naughty squigs. Could make some double quick.”

Haley smiled politely. Maybe the goblins wouldn’t be all that useful.

“Thank you, Lodie, but…no. Rahman, is there an inner gate in that first courtyard? Maybe if we gather and hold them there, we can…” she threw up her hands. “Explain things.”

There was no ‘civilian wide’ message system like Mason had for his players. When it came to civilians, you had to do things the old fashioned way. But surely they had…radios. Beacons. Something.

“There is a gate,” Rahman confirmed, gesturing to one of his people. “It’s already closed. We can take maybe a few hundred there before things get….compact. If you wish to communicate, may I suggest we use the civilian Guilds?”

Haley took a breath and looked out at the looming crowd. She’d already realized how many classes, items and associations these people had she just didn’t (yet) understand.

“Please explain quickly.”

Rahman bowed his head and did. He explained that there were ‘Guilds’ here with civilian leadership that could send messages to all their people just like Mason could with his players.

“Jeong despised the guilds and had nothing to do with them, save for his wife, and one civilian council member, who were his primary civilian contacts.”

“This sounds promising, Rahman, but unless it helps us right now, I don’t think it’s much use.”

“I understand. I’ll have some guild leadership found directly. There are also civilians with useful classes.” He snapped his fingers, and a young woman stepped forward. “Mischa is a Town Crier. She can project her voice as if with a loudspeaker, and also send universal messages in text to anyone in a limited radius. You can also specify who receives them, if you wish.”

Haley blinked and looked at the young woman. It was perfect.

“OK,” she said, taking one more steadying breath. “Let’s head down. Stay with me please, Mischa. I’ll have a lot of information I need you to send. Sylvie…can I get you to…” she shrugged. “Solve the food and water problem? I know it’s a lot. There are so many kitchens and store rooms here. You’ll just have to…”

“I’m on it,” Sylvie said, squeezing her hand and pulling Rosie towards the door.

“What should we do, highest lady? Goblins are ready to help.”

Haley was about to smile politely again and say just to wait. Then she remembered goblins could kill (or at least manhandle) civilians with no penalty. She would never ask them to do such a thing, but the people didn’t know that.

“Can you stay with me, Lodie? Make sure I’m safe?” She kept her voice low. “I don’t trust all these people. Your warriors can help keep things peaceful.”

The princess nodded like this was very wise, and that she understood completely. She took what could only be described as an old, maybe flintlock pistol out from under a cloak.

“Warriors know I’m princess. They follow orders. And just say the word, pretty lady. Engineers also make red tunnels.”

Haley cleared her throat and hoped the nearby servants hadn’t heard. She put an arm around the goblin and took her towards the stairs.

“Thank you, Lodie. That’s very…comforting. But please don’t shoot anyone unless I specifically ask.”

Lodie winked like she got it. Like maybe this was some kind of special code and there was no need to explain further. Haley didn’t have time to figure it out.

**

“Come on, move, move! Hit it again!”

Phuong sprinted his team towards the gate, only killing undead if they got immediately in his way. Mason had said ‘as fast as possible’. Their dangerous young patron didn’t use words flippantly. If he said it was a rush, it was a fucking rush.

Chinua had said he was too slow to be useful, going instead to help civilians near the palace. But he’d sent his main killer and a support. The support class player finished another of his incredible wind powers, and Phuong shivered with pleasure as the effect filled him and the street with energy.

It boosted powers. Re-filled mana and other resources. It gave a kind of muscular, physical boost, plus the added reflexes to handle it. All this in a huge, kind of wide line. It was one of the best powers he’d seen in the game, and he had John literally carrying the man on his shoulders just so he could focus and use the thing on cooldown.

Their team of seven flew across the holy city in a path of focused destruction. Seamus and the chakram-wielding soldier blew apart anything on the flanks. Phuong, John, Garet and Annie cut forward like a driving spear. Alex jogged along silently in the middle.

Blake had offered to clear the western gate alone, but Phuong made him take Demi and Becky. He wasn’t failing in his task because of one arrogant man. Everyone else—mostly Chinua and the remainder of his people, plus every easterner they had—he sent out protecting civilians.

He had plenty of firepower. Hopefully enough to complete his task without any delay to whatever Mason was doing. Then they’d cross the city again and make for the south gate, ready for whatever was coming.

He weaved a Blast and knocked an over-sized zombie into an alley, rushing past without a second thought.

“There is gate beast,” Alex yelled behind him. “Close now. Many guards.”

Phuong nodded and slashed a zombie’s head off, shouldering it over without slowing down. Alex had some kind of ‘undead detection’ power now, sort of like Mason’s personal map. It was already proving extremely useful to avoid the bigger clusters.

They cut, stabbed and burned another block, apparently collecting a few random eastern players on the way.

“Tell them to go protect civilians instead,” he ordered, glancing at Garet. The young man he was beginning to think of as a junior officer turned and started yelling, getting the hangers-on to go do something more useful.

Finally the string of dense buildings opened up to a larger intersection, and the wall came into view. Phuong grit his teeth as he saw the gate.

The same ‘eldritch horror’, as Carl had described it, had replaced the entire structure. Apparently the thing could face both inwards and outwards. Phuong wasn’t surprised. Tyrants were always more concerned about their own people than outwards threats.

Dozens of tentacles slithered and waved as if waiting for the players. A huge, beak-like maw snapped in the center, surrounded by circular rows of smaller teeth like spinning saws. Maybe a hundred skeletons and zombies of different shapes and sizes waited on the front and on the wall. The stone-like flyers circled above.

“Orders,” said Adela—Chinua’s hybrid killer, her face calm but eyes staring at the creature. Julio, the support, hopped off John’s back and didn’t do quite as well at hiding his concern.

“That’s, uh, big,” he muttered. “We sure we don’t need those other guys?”

Phuong didn’t bother responding to the second.

“No time for clearing everything—the gate is our target. John leads us in. Focus on striking at the body. Protect yourselves, but you can rely on Alex. Anything but Apocalypse, Seamus. Otherwise fire at will. Any questions?”

His people unsurprisingly shook their heads. He glanced at Annie, but the little red head looked as ready as anyone. She’d been unreliable in the past, but since coming back from the orc towers with Blake she seemed as ice cold as any soldier he’d ever met.

Chinua’s people appeared more concerned, but nodded. It would do. Phuong already trusted Alex more than any other man in the post-apocalypse, but he had a feeling the ‘life cleric’ was particularly effective against undead. Ordinarily, he made protecting the powerful defensive support in battle one of his key tactics. But this time…

Let the rotting bastards hit him, he thought, I want to see what happens.

He activated his improved Spirit Blade, and his almost ethereal purple weapon hummed with fresh power. He nodded at John to charge straight in.