Apophis gathered Jiraya and ThreeDog, who had also upgraded their skills during the break.
Though they hadn't obtained the same rewards as Apophis, they'd each received 100 Skill Points as a result of receiving a grade of "S" for completing the quest. It was an incredible reward! Neither of them could have ever imagined receiving the equivalent of a hundred levels from any quest.
After they finished upgrading, Apophis said, "Our current plan is simple. We must force the Coalition to negotiate with us! To do this, we'll simply inflict maximum damage on them. I'll go to Nokful as bait while you two lead the forces still loyal to the Federation on my behalf."
Jiraya nodded. "How many players do we have left at this point? We lost quite a few of them."
Apophis said, "Yes, you're not wrong. There's only about 1,200,000 players left. We'll assign them to the Planetary Capital, which should be enough. About seventeen million players have rebelled and joined the Coalition camp, which will be a difficult obstacle.
"However, we have the advantage of organization. We can directly command the Federation forces, as well as the Eternal Expeditionary Corps, while the Coalition can't rely on the military command structure and tools available to us, only the archaic chat system! Of course, the biggest problem is the elite forces of the three SuperGuilds. We might find those complicated to handle."
At this point, ThreeDog interjected. "Seventeen million?! That means the vast majority of the big guilds are supporting the Coalition! Shouldn't we be retreating to Era? We still have the Federation landing ships and their soldiers! Our objective is accomplished! We have the manpower to control an entire solar system!"
Apophis replied, "Exactly right. If we step back now, the revolts on Era will just happen again, especially since it's the planet where new players spawn. The planet's importance is greater than you imagine! We'll have to make our mark once and for all to deter any further Eternal attacks on our territory... We'll strike a blow and force them to recognize our domination over the Era System."
The teammates looked at each other and nodded. They hadn't expected Apophis to agree with ThreeDog's suggestion.
They were used to dealing with guild leaders who were so arrogant that they would insult the suggestions of anybody else, then pretend that they'd come up with the ideas on their own. Their admiration for Apophis grew.
Apophis continued speaking, ignoring the almost silly expressions on his men's faces. "Well, I'm going to Nokful, as it's the place with the most desertions. Our forces won't be able to hold this strategically important city on their own… besides, I have an old friend to meet there! You two will go to the Planetary Capital where I'm sending the other players. Do everything to keep the city in our grasp, all right?"
Jiraya and ThreeDog said in unison, "Yes, Supreme Leader!" Though their guild was tiny, the recent events had settled a belief firmly in their hearts: Eclipse would one day be the strongest guild in "Horus," far stronger than any of the SuperGuilds were now.
With Apophis leading them, there could be no other future in sight.
***
PLANETARY ATMOSPHERE—COALITION FLEET
Ceasar and Lucifer stood in the destroyer's command center, looking through its command window to the planet below. The swirling atmosphere looked very strange, as though the spirits of the slaughtered soldiers and civilians were haunting it.
Lucifer glanced towards his companion and said, "Is everything going according to plan?"
Ceasar replied, "Yes. The number of players who've joined our side is much higher than even our most optimistic predictions. Considering the opposition's strength, the planet will fall in one day at the most. Distribution after the war will be much more complicated. We've promised a lot of things to a lot of people, including territories that we'd already accounted for..."
Lucifer nodded. "We'll settle those little details later once we occupy the planet. The combined power of our three SuperGuilds will be so overwhelming that no other guild will dare to challenge us."
Ceasar said, "Right. We intend to occupy 80% of the planet, when all's said and done. At this point, the war will effectively be over and we'll have filled all of 'Horus's' faction founding requirements."
Lucifer said, "At that point, anything will be possible! We'll have licenses to exploit the solar system's mines and this planet's agricultural systems. It should earn us billions of GC per month! Not to mention the glory of victory…"
At that moment, the chamber door hissed open and one of their subordinates entered the room, out of breath. "My lords!" he said between gasps, "We have a problem in Nokful!"
Ceasar turned towards him. "Well, what's going on?"
"A single player… It was only one man, but he just slaughtered one of our elite squads!"
Ceasar and Lucifer looked at each other. They both had the same thought. This threat must be dealt with immediately. It must be reduced to ashes. And they both knew who it must be.
Lucifer's voice hissed through the room. "Apophis?"
Ceasar's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to the front lines to take care of this. Alone. It'll hardly take me a minute." After all this battlefield nonsense, he could use a good duel against someone who could actually take a hit before dying.
But Apophis 'would' die. This time would be different. Ceasar was considerably stronger than the last time they'd fought.
Lucifer glared sharply at Ceasar and snapped, "That's enough! We're not fighting this war to satisfy your personal vendetta! I'm coming too, as well as Scorpion and our personal escorts. It's time to put that little upstart in his place, and we must be 'certain' that nothing goes wrong. There's more at stake here than you can imagine."
He turned to his control panel and began pressing keys, ordering a surface scan of the planet. "Get our elite squad ready. We're undertaking a mission to the front lines!"
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