Codename: Freedom - Book 4 - Chapter 16

It wasn’t my first time seeing psionics used against psionics in battle. The world quest in Freedom had introduced mobs that used a variety of psionic abilities. Most of them were offensive ones like an empowering aura or Voli bolts, but defensive ones weren’t unheard of.

I kept a scrutinizing eye on the beginning of the battle below to see how this new tech performed. Pswords and pspears against force fields and body armor—random Volis were thrown in and even bursts of gunfire joined the fray—it all added a whole new complexity to war that none of us had experienced before.

“Our men are getting SP for defeating the enemy,” Victoria announced through the command channel. “It’s an insignificant sum, however.”

“Yeah, only two or three per kill,” Kline added.

I asked my Captains if their men were having the same experience. They were. I relayed that to the command channel and ordered my men to tell me if that changed. If the goblins gave more SP according to their combat levels, then the incentive to kill them in bulk became even more enticing.

Captain Ma chose that moment to take to the front line. His seven-foot frame was covered in sleek silvery ballistic armor. He stepped out to meet the coming horde in a slow, almost drowsy saunter.

The enemy was being cut down around him by his men but the throng of goblins wasn’t yet so thick that forward progress was impossible. However, the instructions I’d given was to hold the line.

Destiny’s responded to my focus on the Captain and relayed to me his last command to his men that she’d overheard. He’d told them to stay back as he got warmed up. I didn’t know him well, but we’d fought together enough for me to get a feel for his personality. Instead of worry or rebuke, I decided to trust him.

I gave my master drone, Destiny, a quick glance at her perch high above our heads. The fact that she was observing me close enough to respond to my unasked questions while also scouting out the entire battlefield and directing who knew how many lines of communication was baffling. I’d have to ask her about all the operations she was doing later to get a better grasp of just how much processing power she now possessed.

Turning back to Captain Ma, I watched as he held his arm out to the side and his shadow drone flew in. Its flat, cylindrical body spun like a floating coatrack to offer the Asian giant a double-edged sword three times the length of the more common short swords that had been popular in Freedom.

The goblin swarm was growing to the point that Captain Ma would soon be trampled. He drew the two-handed sword back toward his shoulder. Sliding a foot backward, he lowered his stance.

It wasn’t just one high-tech goblin soldier that was about to engage him but a whole group of six. More of them were close enough to pile in if they were so inclined.

The moment Ma’s aura glowed a dull orange, he lunged. His sword wasn’t just cold steel, but drank in the psionic energy of his aura, recycling it into a faint orange-reddish light that ignited his blade.

His weapon flashed in a wide arch as he twisted at the waist. Two goblin weapons were brushed aside like twigs as the Captain’s long blade ripped through their energy shields, only to be dulled against their ballistic armor. It didn’t matter. His rank F psionics were enough to cleave inches into the armor regardless, and the momentum of the heavy blade battered them aside. His next swing took one out at the knees, and a follow-up removed a goblin’s head clean from its body. Captain Ma’s swings were gangly, but his momentum grew with each. It seemed he really was just getting warmed up.

It wasn’t just the group of five that he cut down. The superhuman speed and strength his psionics added to his already abnormal frame made the next few minutes an invigorating sight.

His men cried out even as they went to work on their own goblins with shield and spear. Their experience in a shield wall made the exercise a breeze. Jerrek and his men atop the outer wall weren’t just focusing on firing bolts at those approaching the gate, but also those that had already entered. Seeing Ma tear apart any goblin that approached sent them into a frenzy.

For the first time, I gave the scoreboard painted across the sky in vivid blue font a good look. I saw exactly what I thought I’d see. Our Prodos Battalion was sitting in the first place. The whole idea of us competing for viewers was an unfair one. How were the Genesis battalions supposed to compete with Freedom in popularity? Of course, we had started with the most viewers. Which forced me to contemplate what kind of trials the other battalions were facing? If the developers didn’t give our competitors an advantage then they’d just be handing us a win. The notion left me feeling uneasy.

Soon the horde of goblins became fog-dense, forcing Captain Ma to step back and his men to open up the line to let him retreat. He had successfully riled everyone up.

Unlike our experience in the battle for the goblin city, the bodies of the goblins my men killed didn’t stick around to get in the way. Because of the way the outer gate funneled the enemy, this was one of the rare situations where the lack of mounds of bodies worked against us. They melted away moment’s after their defeat. There was no gear or drops left behind. Only SP was given to the person who killed them.

This first wave of goblins, though far more powerful than the goblins we faced on our first night of Freedom, were little more than practice dummies to us now. They allowed my men to get a feel for modern combat tech.

“Sufficient data collected,” Destiny suddenly said. The image of a goblin from below was enlarged into a display window as she explained. “Because of the addition of modern tech, I’d like to update the creature identification system. I’ll keep it simple by using the same rating system where ranks climb from G to F, E, D, C, B, and A, going from lowest to highest. If an even higher rank is discovered seemingly breaking the system, S, SS, and so on will be added to the higher end. I’ll keep the more detailed breakdown available at your request, but I think this is necessary so that you can gauge your enemy’s combat prowess at a glance. Don’t you agree?”

“What do you have in mind?” I replied, giving the popup window with the image of the goblin my full attention.

The text above the creature’s head changed.

Goblin Warrior

Atk: F

Def: F

The text she brought up was easy to see and would change depending on the background. It was almost an oversimplification. Atk was short for attack and Def was short for defense. After looking at it for over two seconds, more information automatically populated.

Atk: E

Phys: F

Psi: G

Tech: —

Def: F

Phys: F

Psi: ­—

Tech: G

“I intend to keep the text displayed to a minimum to save you from distractions,” she said. “Attack and Defense will display the creature’s maximum potential when the three subcategories of physical, psionic, and tech are considered. In this example under attack, its physical, psionic, and tech rank isn’t equal to E, but when the goblin’s psionic aura is added to its physical rank that changes. The sword it’s wielding isn’t given a rank because, even though it allows it to make use of its full potential, it doesn’t enhance it. Under defense, it’s just the opposite. Even though the goblin has a psionic ability of rank G, it hasn’t shown any defensive psionics, so I’ve left it nill so that you can pick up on that quickly. However, it’s technically possible for me to be wrong. In this context where there are thousands of similar creatures that is unlikely, but if you’re facing off with humans or Ekseliksi, then it’s more likely that they might be hiding what they are capable of.

“One final note. This goblin’s physical and tech defense together doesn’t boost the creature’s maximum potential, so its overall defense ranting remains at rank F. This is because it’s using an energy shield that doesn’t make use of its psionics.”

She showed me the thorough breakdown of the goblin next. It went into everything I was used to in regard to its physical and psionic stats, but its tech was listed as well. Its energy shield, ballistic armor, and sword were graded just as my own gear was. By the time I got done reading through it, I thanked her profusely for the simplified version of everything.

Time passed quickly. My augmented lenses slid down over my eyes as Destiny brought up panels through my headset that allowed me to view the battle from different angles. It wasn’t just my gate visible, but the entire fort. I made use of it to quickly scan the other three gates and spied Cornelius, Harrison, and Kline. Everything was going well on all fronts. Destiny was making full use of her microdrones and giving me a small glimpse at what it was like for Victoria in her role as a Combat General. The novelty of the battle quickly wore off. That left it feeling eerily similar to the ones we were used to fighting in Freedom. Before I could voice my concern, Vector’s voice sounded over the command channel.

“I think we might have a problem.”

“Go ahead,” Victoria replied robotically.

“If I’m not overestimating, with the number of goblin warriors, it might be hours before the hobgoblin bosses reach us.”

“You think our force might grow exhausted?” Peter said.

“Not at all. If things don’t change, our men can go all day and into the night, but that’s just it. The addition of new gear is nice and all, but let’s face it, we’re handling these mobs the same way we would’ve in Freedom. The way things are going, everyone watching will eventually grow bored and move on to see how the other battalion’s trials are going.”

Taking in the scoreboard painted across the sky, I didn’t hesitate to say that I’d just been thinking something similar.

Destiny didn’t leave us any cause for doubt. “According to the current kill rate and the enemy’s approach, the soonest the hobgoblins will reach the gates in one hour and forty-five minutes. We are also losing viewers at a rate of approximately 27,000 every second, and the rate is only increasing. We started with 4.7 billion viewers. If things keep going at the current pace, we’ll fall from first place in less than twenty minutes.”

“What do we know of those two battalions in second and third on the scoreboard in the sky?” Cornelius growled, joining the conversation.

“The second spot, the Forefathers battalion, is like a dream team made of Freedom and Genesis participants put together by a group of US Senators. They have a number of members of the Genesis top 500, and some of the better Freedom guilds that couldn’t be added to Prodos. They are led by Colonel Alexander Ruiz.”

“And in the third spot, Lethal Accord possesses the highest number of top 500 Genesis participants of any battalion. They are commanded by Colonel Edmond. Both should be considered among our closest competitors, but Edmond’s force has the highest probability of winning all of Vanguard if things remain as they are.”

Everyone was quiet as they digested the information. I wasn’t surprised to learn Colonel Edmond would be our closest competition.

Victoria broke the silence, answering the question everyone was already thinking. “You will take turns. Each gate will put on a spectacle for a quarter-hour at a time so that you get opportunities to rest and we can focus our viewers on one place at a time. You can fight yourselves, but make use of any ideas your men might have. Remember, this doesn’t have to rely on just you.”

I got the feeling she was directing the last comment more to me than the others. As I was thinking that, I got a private message from her.

“Do you mind going first? Any ideas?”

I gave the question some serious thought. What came to mind won’t apply to my men, but there were a few things I’d been wanting to test in a battle scenario. They weren’t completely untested, for the last few months in Freedom had mostly been training. Did I have any ideas? Dozens. Coming up with ideas was the easy part, but executing them with others might prove difficult…

“I’ll do it,” I responded.

Her reply came in the form of a message to the entire command group. “Lucius will go first, then Cornelius, Harrison, and Kline. Be sure to rest, and have those participating do it as well between turns. Hopefully, this will keep you all in good enough shape for the boss fights. If anything more dangerous appears I will call this off and we’ll come up with a new strategy. Oh, and whoever’s gate earns the most views will be given a special reward. Now get to work.” The chuckle was one of the few breaks in her robotic tone.

I immediately turned my attention to the problem at hand and assessed what I needed. Destiny was already relaying the information to my Captains. When she was finished giving a basic breakdown of what we were being called on to do, I began issuing orders.

“Barrell and Mel, meet me at the center rear of our ground formation,” I said, turning to face Mel who was standing beside me. I held up my hand to delay his departure. “Captain Ma, put the word out to all squad leads to ask for any ideas that might come to mind. No one is to execute any until I say, but all kinds are welcome. Destiny, make a list of even the craziest ones you hear over general chatter.”

After everyone had acquiesced, I gave Mel my full attention.

He was waiting with a serious squint.

“Grab a squad of your best men and tell them to join us. Someone that’s sure to have our backs. Maybe Isamu?” I couldn’t say that I didn’t have my reservations with Isamu still, but despite having a duel to the death in Freedom and going our separate ways, he later rejoined us under Mel’s lead and was one of the most competent swordsmen we had.

He nodded, and asked. “What exactly is the plan?

“Well, we improvise.”

“That doesn’t sound ‘comfortable’.”

“Don’t worry so much. I’m the one that’s going to be trying something foolish. I just need you and Barrell because you have a knack for being in the right place at the right time.”

“Foolish?”

“Get going. The other Majors are probably already watching us through their new tech and mocking.”

He snorted. “Beat you there.” He took off jogging down the rampart toward the stairs.

“No, you won’t.” I mumbled under my breath. This really wasn’t the best time to try this. If I failed, at least it should make a number of highlight vids.

Stepping forward, I placed my hands on the stone wall that came up to my gut and pushed myself up. I was soon standing a yard from the rampart’s edge, looking down at the ground two hundred feet below.

“Any words of wisdom?” I asked, knowing Destiny had already guessed what I was about to do.

“Sure, don’t,” she replied with a giggle. “The ground beneath you has the right make up, and your pushing ability should be sufficient even if you use rank F psionics. The trickiest part is the distance. Don’t lean forward, or even lower your chin when you look down so as to keep from tilting forward and bellyflopping. Also, don’t push against the wall that will be behind you. It will mess with your trajectory. Other than that, good luck.”

“It should be possible though, right?”

“Besides all the awkward ways you could land, of course. Just don’t overthink it. You’ll be fine…”

I could hear the amusement in her voice.

At least, even if I failed, it should be epic either way…

Closing my eyes, I spun my shoulders a few times and rounded my neck. Steadying my breathing, I openned my eyes and set my eyes, not on the ground far beneath me, but the goblin horde. After a glance at the scoreboard in the sky, I then looked down. I pushed away all objections and imagined catastrophies, and focused on nothing but what I was about to do. With that firm in my mind, I took a step and jumped.