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Stan bellowed in rage, and the police threw a storm of Potions of Slowness at the assassins to knock them out before they could drink their potions. But it was too late. The four assassins downed their potions in one gulp, and gave out one last valiant shout of, “VIVA LA NOCTEM!” The four hit the ground face-down at the same time. To be safe, the soldiers and police surrounded the four bodies, weapons at the ready should they be faking death, but when the four assassins disappeared, all doubt vanished.
As the panel started buzzing like bees, urgently discussing the implications of this latest turn of events, Stan’s face showed only grim resolve. He was mortified that this chain of horrific events should happen to him, to his people. He was furious that a new threat had arrived even before the last of King Kev’s supporters had been caught. Stan would not allow the Noctem Alliance to grow into an organization similar to the reign of King Kev. This time, Stan was determined to nip it in the bud.
The next day, Stan, on his first Proclamation Day of his second term as president, did just that. The court had decided with no doubt that the Noctem Alliance was supporting these assassins, and after a hastily organized council meeting, the Noctem Alliance had been pegged as a terrorist organization. When the citizens had gathered at the foot of Element Castle, Stan announced the new law, which had been implemented unanimously by the council.
“From this day forwards, it is illegal for anybody in Elementia to be a member of, or to be associated with, or to be sympathetic towards the terrorist group called the Noctem Alliance. This organization has tried to kill me as well as your councilmen, and they are opposed to equality for lower-level players. Any information regarding the Noctem Alliance and its members should be given to a soldier or policeman, and your help in defeating this threat is greatly appreciated.”
The cheers that reverberated over the packed courtyard seemed hollow and empty to Stan. He couldn’t help but wonder how many of those in the crowd were really advocates of the Noctem Alliance, whose applause of adulation were nothing more than facades, hiding true feelings of hatred, malevolence and spite.
Across the server, away from the fertile plains and forests of the motherland of Elementia, past the jungle, across the vast Ender Desert, sat the tundra, a dark plain biome of frigid badlands where no civilization had ever taken hold. There, deep in the most inhospitable stretches of the barren wasteland, another proclamation was imminent. If you looked hard enough through the snow that whipped the face and stung the skin, that kept the sky black even at high noon, you could see it. Indeed, there was a society out in the tundra, which at the moment was nothing more than one grand building, constructed of the finest stone brick and spruce wood. Makeshift dirt shelters speckled the permafrost surrounding the one ornate structure.
A total of about a hundred and twenty players stood clustered at the foot of the brick building. The wooden balcony above them sheltered them from the snow, and the torches on the walls provided heat. Though the warmth was faint, it was still a welcome break from the cold that these players had endured for months on end.
As they heard footsteps on the wood above them, the rabble of a hundred and twenty frozen players quickly rushed out from below the balcony, forming the rows they were expected to be in when addressed by their superiors.
Now that they had left the warm haven of the balcony, the players could see the three players standing on the balcony. These were the three generals of the Noctem Alliance, the organization to which all these players had pledged themselves. Barely visible in the torchlight, the players could make out the brown face and ornate armour of General Leonidas at the back right, the giant, hulking shape of General Minotaurus at the back left, and the white-robed form of General Caesar, head of the Noctem Freedom Fighters, at the front. Caesar opened his mouth and spoke.
“My brothers and sisters of the Noctem Alliance, I address you today bearing good tidings. The fifteen of our own that we have sent into Element City have submitted to the leaders of Elementia. They revealed their allegiance to our great leader, Lord Tenebris, before sending themselves in the same way as our great martyr, King Kev of Elementia. The beginning phase of our plan to retake Element City for our own is a success!”
As they were preprogrammed to do on such a rare occasion that news as good as this came their way, the hundred and twenty members of the Noctem Freedom Fighters gave the Noctem Alliance victory chant in perfect unison: “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”
“Furthermore, our spy within the hierarchy of the Element City government has informed me that Stan2012 has declared affiliation with the Noctem Alliance illegal. In their noble sacrifice, our brothers and sisters have instilled a germ of fear of the name of the Noctem Alliance. This germ shall multiply and spread within the populace, and shall before long infect the entirety of Element City!”
Again, the chant rang out in unison through the whistling winds of the never-ending blizzard: “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”
“Besides this, I bear news of even greater importance: our beloved leader, Lord Tenebris, has informed me that the construction of the Specialty Base is underway. In time, this shall spell doom for Stan2012 and the rest of the leadership of Element City, leaving the plot of land called Element City, which is rightfully ours, ripe for the picking!”
“VIVA LA NOCTEM!”
“It is in light of these joyous developments that I announce it is time to put our second phase of warfare into action! I now call all members of the second battalion of the Noctem Freedom Fighters to mobilize, for tomorrow, you follow General Leonidas into combat in the motherland of Elementia. The rest of you are dismissed. Good night, my brothers and sisters! Long live Lord Tenebris! Long live the Noctem Alliance!”
“VIVA LA NOCTEM!” the Freedom Fighters belted out for the last time, before running into their dirt shacks to prepare themselves for battle.
Caesar turned and retreated to the warmth of the building, followed by Leonidas and Minotaurus, who had to duck to enter the room.
It was pleasant inside. Books sat on shelves all over the walls, and a fire roaring on a Netherrack base projected warmth into the room around them. The walls were of stone brick, and the three generals’ prized weapons – Leonidas’s bow, Minotaurus’s double-ended battle-axe, and Caesar’s diamond sword – hung in frames on the mantel.
Leonidas and Caesar sat down on chairs facing the fire. Minotaurus spoke, “Excuse me, Caesar, but I will be back. It is time for me to tend to my potato farm,” and walked out the side door to attend to his hobby, accidentally breaking the wooden door off its hinges as it slammed behind him.
As Leonidas and Caesar stared into the fire, neither of them conversed, but both knew that there were unspoken words hanging in the air. It was a full minute before Caesar turned to his colleague and spoke, “Well, Leonidas, you clearly have something on your mind. What is it?”
Leonidas said nothing at first. He was lost in a train of long, confusing and never-ending thoughts. At last, he turned to Caesar, and voiced the most pressing of his concerns.
“Caesar … do ya remember the prisoners’ village?”
Caesar stood up and threw back his head. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Leonidas, don’t tell me you’re still on about that village!”
“No, of course not,” said Leonidas quickly, quite unsure of whether he was lying not only to Caesar but also to himself. “We did what had to be done, I wouldn’t have done it any other way, except for …” Leonidas chose his words carefully; he did not want to see Caesar upset. “Why is it that we didn’t even ask those players if they wanted to join us? I don’t know, but it’s kinda possible that we may have killed some potential allies.”
“Rubbish, Leonidas,” spat Caesar, shaking his head in contempt at Leonidas’s apparent foolishness. “There was nothing for us in that village. Those people in the prisoners’ village had been living on nothing for longer than was worth it. Trust me, we did all of them a mercy.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s right,” said Leonidas, his voice falsely cheery. “Yeah … there just woulda been more suffering if we’d left any of ’em alive.”
But the more Leonidas thought of his corporal’s reports of the carnage and slaughter the Noctem Alliance had committed in the prisoners’ village, the more Leonidas was reassuring himself that that was not true.
CHAPTER 5 (#ulink_f46bc652-79a6-5e72-b47a-1e86af78153b)
THE TENNIS MACHINE (#ulink_f46bc652-79a6-5e72-b47a-1e86af78153b)
Although Stan did not know exactly what the repercussions of the attack by the Noctem agents would be, he certainly did not expect that life would carry on as usual. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. The only significant difference in the daily flow of things was the cessation of rallies and protests by the Noctem Alliance.
“Don’t you think it’s weird?” Stan asked, a week after he’d banned the Noctem Alliance, as he walked out of the castle courtyard and onto the bustling main road lined with stores alongside Kat and Charlie. “I mean, these guys in black try to kill us, and they say they’re with the Noctem Alliance before committing suicide, and then there’s nothing for a week? What sense does that make?”
“It is odd,” replied Charlie slowly. “You’d think there would be some aftermath. But it’s like the Noctem Alliance completely vanished off the map. You don’t think they’re plotting something, do you?”
That thought sat unpleasantly in Stan’s stomach, and he was about to respond when Kat cut him off, and said in a superior drawl, “I think you two are reading too much into it. The Noctem Alliance was just a bunch of stuck-up, rich brats who didn’t like that they had to share with the lower-levels. They whined and had a tantrum about it, but some of them took it a step too far.”
“Well, if that’s the case, why haven’t they retaliated yet?” asked Charlie.
“Because they’re a bunch of cowards,” replied Kat, a note of disgust on her tongue. “They couldn’t get what they wanted through protesting, so the twenty or so of them who cared more than was good for them tried to attack us. They were OK with dying, because they didn’t think life would be worth it if they couldn’t get what they wanted. That’s why they were willing to kill themselves, and that’s why they had such good supplies, because they’re spoiled upper-levels. And now that those few radicals are dead, none of them left care enough to die for the cause of the Alliance.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Stan, nodding. “It is true that it’s really only the rich and upper-level people in this city who are against equality now. Well, besides the war prisoners we took from the battle.”
“And they’re not in any position to do anything about it, they’re all locked up in Brimstone,” added Charlie. He was referring to the highest-end prison in Elementia, situated in the remnants of the Nether Fortress that RAT1 had blown up before the Battle for Elementia.
“Exactly,” said Kat. “Trust me, Stan, I think now that you’ve made it illegal, we aren’t gonna be hearing any more from the Noctem Alliance. On the other hand, there are probably going to be more rich people sulking in their houses about equality now that they can’t run around in black tunics whining about it.”
Stan chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right, Kat, I’m just over-thinking it.”
Charlie agreed. “So, what are we gonna do on our day off, guys? Let’s make it count.”
“Ooh, ooh! I know!” said Kat, jumping up and down in excitement. “How about we borrow Ivanhoe and have him defecate on the steps of the Avery Memorial Courthouse?”
“Kat, I built that courthouse as a memorial to my friend who sacrificed his life to save me from King Kev! I am not going to let a pig poop on the front steps!” said Stan in exasperation as Charlie laughed. Stan seriously wondered whether she was joking.
“Fine. Ooh! Better idea!” said Kat, her mouth wide open in an elated grin. “Let’s go over to the Apothecary Memorial Fountain … and have Ivanhoe defecate in the water!”
“NO!” cried Stan as Charlie clutched his sides in his hysterics. “The Apothecary saved my life too!”
“Good point. Ooh! I know!” cried Kat, her face glowing with amusement as she glanced at Charlie.
“Does it involve a pig taking a dump on something I built to honour my dead friends?” Stan asked, taking in just how ridiculous it was that he should have to ask such a question, as Charlie rolled on the ground laughing. Prolonged exposure to Oob the NPC villager had made Charlie susceptible to laughter at these kinds of jokes, a fact that Kat used to her advantage often.
“Wait, you have more dead friends? Well, I suppose we could go down to the Adorian Village or to Steve Memorial Farm …”
“Do you have a real idea, Kat?” Stan asked as Charlie pulled himself up and regained his composure.
“OK, OK. The Mechanist told me he’s unveiling his new machine today!” exclaimed Kat.
“You mean the one he’s been building in the park?” Charlie asked. “That’s being finished today?”
“That’s the one,” replied Kat. “I’m thinking we should spend the first part of the day seeing whatever that is.”
“Sounds like a plan!” said Stan, and Charlie nodded his approval. Together, the three friends turned and walked in the direction of the park where the Mechanist had spent all his free time for weeks, building a mysterious contraption. On the way, the talk turned to the Spleef Tournament.
“Oh, there’s no doubt about it, DZ is the best player on our team,” Kat assured Stan. “He was brought down by a lucky shot in that last match, I would be shocked if something like that ever happened again.”
“Regardless of who’s the best player, there’s no denying you three are the best team, right?” asked Stan. “I mean, you guys did those combo attacks like they were second nature, and the other team barely did anything!”
“Yes, and you’ll notice that we moved on, and they didn’t,” said Kat with a grimace. “We’ve got a long, hard road ahead of us, Stan. We only have two matches left, and we’re gonna have to put our noses to the grindstone if we want to have a chance of beating our next opponent.”
“Who is your next opponent, by the way?” asked Charlie. “I know that the only teams left in the tournament are the Bats, the Skeletons, the Ocelots, and you guys. But who are you up against next?”
“The Ocelots,” replied Kat. “I think that of the four of us, they’re probably tied with us and the Skeletons for the best. I don’t think the Skeletons will have any problems beating the Bats.”
“You can’t know that,” said Stan reasonably. “There’s always a chance the Bats get lu … oh, man,” he breathed as the three of them walked into a shadow and paused.
They were standing in the shadow of a giant box in the middle of the public park. The front was a square, nine blocks high by fifteen blocks long, composed entirely of redstone lamps. Protruding from this was a black box that extended twenty blocks back and probably contained the redstone wiring of the machine, which Stan assumed extended far underground. The machine was the only thing that extended up from the flat ground of the sunlit courtyard, besides the now dark lampposts that lined the sides of the gravel roads that crossed the grass park. As such, the machine commanded a good deal of attention from those strolling through the park.
“Beautiful, ain’t she?” came the smooth voice that Stan recognized as the Mechanist’s. He was leaning on a black wool table in front of the machine. On this table were two levers and a button.
“Man, Mechanist,” said Charlie as the trio walked over to him. “I don’t even know what this thing does yet and I’m already impressed!”
“Thanks, Charlie,” said the Mechanist, looking up at the towering electric marvel with a smile. “This thing’s my baby. Easily the most impressive thing I’ve built since the redstone supercomputer.”
“What does it do?” asked Stan, his interest piqued.
“Well, how’d you like to test it out? Stan, you take the lever on the left, Charlie, the one on the right,” said the Mechanist, and he gestured to the two levers, which the boys ran over to and enthusiastically clutched.
“Now, press the button, and let the magic begin,” said the Mechanist, stepping back next to Kat as the two of them prepared to watch the invention on its maiden run. Stan watched in awe as the screen of the mechanism flashed on and off at strobe speed before settling on what could only be the game screen. A single light shined in the centre of the screen, while two vertical lines three lights high glowed on opposite sides.
From somewhere within the mechanized obelisk, a series of note block chimes rang out in a catchy melody, and the Mechanist said, with glee in his voice, “Push the levers up and down.”
Stan pushed up on the lever on his side, and the effect was instantaneous. The line on his side of the screen moved to the top in a fluid animation. Stan saw the line on the other side of the screen move downwards. Charlie had pulled down on his lever simultaneously. Stan now realized what this game was. He had his hand firmly grasped on the lever when the dot of light in the centre of the screen flew upwards and to the right, then bounced off the top of the screen and came down to the left. Stan pulled down on his lever and the line of lights on his side sank down to his side of the screen. The bouncing ball of light struck the line of Stan’s lights and ricocheted off towards Charlie’s line as Charlie manoeuvred it to return the ball towards Stan.
“You made Pong!” exclaimed Charlie in wonder as he scored his first point on Stan, and a light lit up the top of his side indicating that a point had been earned.
“That I did,” replied the Mechanist. “I call it my Tennis Machine. Was absolute torture developing a point-tracking system, but I think I did all right. What say you guys?”
“This is awesome!” replied Stan.
“Yeah, I can’t believe you figured all this out! Is there nothing you can’t do?” asked Charlie.
“That is what I like to tell myself. Mostly for morale, but still,” said the Mechanist with a smirk.
“Well, you’re right,” said Stan, devoting his last ounce of attention to the response before becoming totally engrossed in the game. It was a blowout. Charlie was exceptionally skilled at the game, which was, indeed, a perfect replica of Pong. After the first game, Kat took Stan’s place, and she was much more closely matched to Charlie than Stan was. In fact, she was tied with him, and was about to score when a shout rang out from behind Stan.
“Hey, Kat! What’re you doing?”
Kat whipped around to face G, ignoring the fact that Charlie had scored on her and won the game. “G? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you!” replied G. He sounded irritated. “You promised that you’d spend some time with me soon. And, well, it’s your day off. Here I am.” And he opened his arms in front of him. Charlie rolled his eyes as he gave up his spot on the machine to two pedestrians who asked for a turn to play the game.
“Wait a second. G, today isn’t your day off. Why aren’t you with the council?” Kat said.
“Oh, I changed it so that I could spend the entire day with you,” said G with a grin. “Frankly, Jayden, Archie and DZ seemed a little upset. But who cares? Spending time with you is more important than stupid political squabbles.”
“G, those ‘stupid political squabbles’ are actually really important, if you haven’t noticed! It’s nice that you want to spend time with me, but you can’t just ditch work because of it!” moaned Kat. She seemed legitimately upset.
“Whoa, Kat! I thought you’d be happy! Do you not want to see me or something? ’Cause if that’s the case, then …”
“No, that’s not the case, G! I do like spending time with you, but you have to admit that we have been seeing each other a lot lately, and to cut work so that you can see me more …”
And the two of them went on and on. Charlie simply looked amused, occasionally giving a sigh or an eye roll of amusement. Stan, on the other hand, was slowly coming to a realization.
Ever since the incident with the Noctem Alliance had been put to rest, the biggest issues that faced Stan today were Kat’s overly clingy boyfriend and an argument starting about whose turn it was on the Tennis Machine. The Grand Republic of Elementia was now on the threshold of the greatest period of peace and prosperity that DZ, Blackraven and the other older players could remember. Just in the past week, Charlie had discovered an underground mine rich in diamonds, gold and iron. The day afterwards, the railway to Blackstone had been extended to reach the Southeastern Mountains, and a glut of coal from the region was inbound.
As all this recent success crashed into Stan like a wave, he allowed himself, for the first time that he could remember, to give himself credit. In truth, from the time he had joined Elementia, he had just done what seemed natural, and he had ended up as the leader of the whole server. However, it was just now that Stan realized he had done an exceedingly good job in creating a country that he himself would gladly be a citizen of, a country of justice. And it was all due to the efforts of him and his friends.
As Stan stepped forwards to break up the argument among the players in line for the Tennis Machine, and Charlie did the same with Kat and G, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. He looked around the sunny courtyard with a pleasantly liberating feeling that all was well, and nothing could go wrong today.
Although Leonidas still wasn’t sure what the point of the upcoming offensive was, at least he was finally comfortable. The steamy, humid climate of the jungle was much more pleasing to him than the whipping frigid winds of Nocturia. Bushwhacking through the deep underbrush with an iron sword, followed by five men trooping behind him in unison, Leonidas felt more at home than he had in a long, long time.
Leonidas glanced at the redstone compass in his hand, and he rubbed the condensation off the glass face to see the red needle. The needle indicated that they were going the right way, and the sight he saw when he burst out of the bushes confirmed this.
Situated in a small valley, cleared of trees, was a little house made of wood, with a small farm at the back. Leonidas recognized this house. He had come here months before, back when his partners Geno and Becca were still alive. They had searched this very house for the player who had since become president of the Grand Republic of Elementia. Leonidas knew the house was full of booby traps, so looting it would be more trouble than it was worth.
Leonidas knew the house would be empty. Its owner had been killed in the same battle as Geno, Becca and King Kev. And so Leonidas led his men past this house. He knew the house was situated on the most direct path between Nocturia and the Elementia Jungle Base, and indeed, they only had to walk for another ten minutes before the outpost came into view.
The Elementia Jungle Base was located within a jungle temple, an ancient naturally generated structure of mossy cobblestone and stone brick, on the side of a hill. The trees and the cliff face created a natural defence. Leonidas signalled to his men to halt as he noticed the Elementia soldiers standing on patrol atop the base, bows raised. Leonidas had anticipated this. He had listened to an entire strategy session by Caesar indicating the most efficient way to attack this base, as described by the spy within Element City.
He gestured to his two frontmost soldiers, two privates, to circle the outpost through the trees, to the left and right. The two fighters pulled off their black tunics and pulled on their green ones, expertly dyed the exact same colour as the jungle leaves. They set off in opposite directions, preparing to sneak in close and fill the base with gas at Leonidas’s command. Meanwhile, Leonidas led his remaining three men straight towards the front of the temple.
As the players approached the jungle temple, with another two circling to the sides, Leonidas’s breath began to quicken, his blood began to pump faster and faster. All the moral and strategic objections that he had to this plan to take the Jungle Base seemed to diminish as he got closer and closer to the battle. From the time he was new on the server, this had been what he had lived for. Leonidas was a fighter – he always was, and he always would be.
He pulled out a shovel with sweaty hands and led his party tunnelling the last bit of the way to the outpost. Re-emerging in a blind spot pressed right up against the wall of the outpost, the guards could not see the soldiers pulling themselves out of the ground. The timing was precise. No sooner had the last of his men pulled themselves up out of the hole than a cloud of noxious grey gas burst from the open window above them.
Leonidas and his team acted almost robotically as they pulled the Potions of Swiftness from their inventories and downed them in a single gulp. Instantly, Leonidas’s senses were charged to the highest level of acuteness, his muscles primed for the ultimate battling stature. This effect of the potion would make him and his men invulnerable to the effects of the toxic Potion of Slowness that now hung in the air within the base. His pulse beating in anticipation, Leonidas scurried up the vines on the side of the base and drew his glimmering bow. Immediately, he downed three of the guards with flaming arrows as his men followed him into the base.
As his men swarmed the temple, Leonidas noticed that each one of the dead men’s spilled inventories contained a book, the same book. The covers showed that it was The Constitution of the Republic of Elementia by Bookbinder55. Leonidas sneered. How noble, he thought, that each of these men carried the constitution of their country with them on their scouting missions. What a pity that it did not help them in the least against the supreme power of the Noctem Alliance. Then, in disgust, Leonidas tossed one of the books into the air and shot it against the wall with another flaming arrow.
Leonidas had been conflicted about this attack before, but that was all gone now. He knew nothing but an all-consuming taste for war, as the potion erased all his inhibitions. And with that, Leonidas continued the slaughter, leaving his inner compassion as useless, pathetic and forgotten as the burning constitution of Elementia pinned on the temple wall.
CHAPTER 6 (#ulink_9c40c601-a634-5407-beb8-0541b49a3351)
ELEMENTIA DAY (#ulink_9c40c601-a634-5407-beb8-0541b49a3351)
The next morning, Stan looked up and gave a groggy glance out the window. When he saw the red and blue wool blocks decorating the tops of the courtyard wall, he immediately jumped out of bed – it was an important day. As he walked downstairs from his room to eat breakfast in the castle common room, Stan remembered that the previous night, the moon had been barely a sliver. It would be dark tonight.
