New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"Thank you. But I'm sure that's not the reason you are here."

"Not even remotely. I came here to warn you about Azamus and his stupid PVP war. If it continues, it will knock many important pieces off the board. Someone needs to stop him."

"And I'm guessing you want me to do that?"

"No. I have something better in mind. But for that, you will need to grow the guild extremely quickly. Sadly, that will also require you to take part in the war."

"I already intended to do so. He attacked my people, and he needs to pay."

"That is how Azamus operates. He attacks everyone, expecting them to fight back. His sponsors guarantee him to have a steady advantage."

"I doubt money can solve all the problems I'm about to dump on his head."

"Not all, but most. His guild headquarters will already be vastly more developed than this fortress. Even if it isn't as well defendable, they will be prepared for a fight."

"Good. I hope they fight back as much as possible. If not, I won't enjoy tearing them down."

"Shut up, Astaroth. You aren't seeing the point I'm trying to make."

"Then stop spinning around the pot!"

"I don't want you to take the fight to him. I want you to force all the guilds to come and fight you here."

Phoenix reacted this time.

"Why the heck would we do that?! The guild base is barely ours. We have no way of defending from a player attack. That would be a guild suicide!"

Khalor smiled widely.

"Not if I'm here."

Astaroth looked at him with a serious frown.

"I understand you are strong, Khalor. But don't you think you are exaggerating? Even I don't think I could take on hundreds of players at the same time, especially guild-backed players."

"We won't need to. This place still only has one entrance. As long as that stays that way, we have the advantage. I can unleash my full army outside the walls while you hold any player trying to enter the gate."

Phoenix started thinking about the strategy he was offering. She had to admit it had some viability to it, but there were many loopholes.

Khalor could already see the wheels spinning in the woman's head. She had been renowned as a brilliant strategist in his past life, and he knew that bringing just the sketch of a plan to her would be enough.

But Astaroth was still not convinced.

"What about coming over the walls? Surely you don't think you are the only player that can fly?"

"I'm not that stupid. But if we position the right people over the top of the wall, we can snipe them down before they make it up and over."

"What about their snipers taking down the people on the walls? Azamus is a great shot, and his damage is almost on a par with mine."

Khalor's face became gloomy.

"I will take care of Azamus myself. It is his fault I even have to think about this dumb plan at all. My previous plan was well thought of, and it would have bought us time."

Phoenix interrupted her thoughts to snicker.

"And whose fault is that? The post you did online was most likely the trigger for Azamus' plan for a PVP war. He saw your demand as a challenge, I'm certain."

"Khalor, I know what you wanted to convey with that message, but Phoenix is right. For all your careful thinking, you miscalculated human greed."

Khalor growled low. He hated getting admonished for his mistakes, but he was at least mature enough to recognize he had dropped the ball.

"I know! I know that already, but I was hoping to strike at the player's rationale. If I announced an event after the update that required level fifty, wouldn't more players try to reach that level faster?"

"I understand what you were aiming for, but you shot and you missed. Now, how does shifting the war on us solve the problem?"

Before Khalor could even respond, Phoenix's eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, you don't care about the number of players over level fifty! You're hoping certain players can reach that level. You know what the event is, and who should be there."

"I do. I can't say yet, but I do. And I need some very specific players to be over level fifty. The problem is that those players won't listen to me."

"And you're hoping you can catch their attention by bringing the fight to us," Astaroth completed the thought.

"Yes. If I can get the fight here, and make enough people think we can win, I could make the players we need to join the guild. This way, we could ensure they reach level fifty before the event."

Phoenix let her brain calculate the odds of them fending off many guilds, and with the strategy Khalor offered, plus the more detailed solutions she thought of, it was workable.

Khalor knew he struck the right chord when Phoenix started mumbling to herself. Astaroth also noticed the mumbling, accompanied by Khalor's grin, and understood his true objective.

'You didn't really want to talk to me. You wanted your plan to reach Phoenix. What a sly man.'

Astaroth waited for Phoenix's rambling to end, before asking her what Khalor also wanted to know.

"So. Can you make it work?"

Phoenix looked at both men before a confident smile lifted the corner of her lips.

"I can bolster our chances a lot. I'd say… eighty percent chance of success. As long as Khalor can produce a large enough army to hold off an army of players."

Khalor grinned.

"In that case, let me show you."

He rose to his feet, looking at the empty plains below, next to the worked fields, before whispering to himself.

"Legacy Skill; Death's Door."

The next moment, both Phoenix and Astaroth looked on in horror at the ground below. Both thought the same thing.

'He's gotten more powerful again.'