The New Order (9 page)

“Well I . . . um . . . I think that they both have their positives and negatives,” Kat stammered. Stan couldn't believe it. She was still undecided? Now was his chance to ensure that the constitution was upheld.

“Kat, why are you even debating this?” he asked. “The state of emergency is over, this deserves to be done right!”

“Don't listen to him, Kat!” replied Jayden. “Having an election now would be stupid! It would only allow time for the Noctem Alliance to regroup, which would lead to another attack, and more people being killed!”

“Kat, you were with me and Stan the entire time we were on the journey to take down King Kev,” said Charlie, a note of pleading in his voice. “We fought so hard so that we could have a constitution. Do you really want to ignore it now?”

“You're not ignoring it, Kat!” said Blackraven. “You'd be doing the best thing for our safety, and everyone else in Elementia, by getting this done as quickly as possible!”

“Archie wouldn't have wanted us to ignore the constitution, Kat!” shouted DZ.

“But he can't say that for himself, because the Noctem Alliance killed him!” cried G, grabbing Kat's shoulders and turning her to look him straight in the eye. “Think about it, Kat,” he said softly. “What if that was you who'd died? I don't think that I could bear it.”

“Enough, all of you!” cried the Mechanist, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. “Kat is more than capable of making her own decision, so everybody, stop talking! Kat, what is your vote?”

Kat had not said a word throughout the entire debate, but as she detached herself from G, she now looked more lost for words than ever. She looked slowly around the table, eyebrows knitted in confusion, sweat rolling down her forehead. Her eyes passed over the faces of all her fellows before finally resting on G, who raised his eyebrows expectantly. Kat opened her mouth, and it hung open for a moment, before . . .

“I vote . . . Pro-Emergency Powers,” she muttered in a resigned, uncomfortable voice.

A ripple of shock emanated from Kat and made its way
across the room. Stan felt as if he had just been slapped across the face. Kat, one of his best friends, who had fought long and hard alongside him to instate the constitution of Elementia, was now voting against it. He glared at her, and caught her eye for a moment. She seemed embarrassed and tense, and soon broke the connection to hug G, which did not seem to ease her tension or embarrassment at all. Stan gave a subtle scowl, and shot a determinedly neutral look at Blackraven as he lowered himself into Archie's chair, a faint air of smugness about him.

Stan was hardly listening as Blackraven dived straight into his ideas for hunting down the Noctem Alliance. After all, Stan trusted Blackraven as a strategist, and he knew that together with DZ and Charlie, the other two gifted strategists, they would figure out the best way to hunt down the remaining members of the Noctem Alliance.

It was undoubted, however, that something had changed within the council. The nine of them had always gotten along as friends, ever since the rebellion against King Kev. They had had their minor issues, sure, but they were always on the same side. This had been the way the council was, and it had served Elementia very well.

Now, as Stan looked around the table at the Council of Eight, he saw a divided group. As Blackraven spoke on, Charlie was huddled in deep conversation with the Mechanist,
while Jayden and G did the same. The two groups kept shooting dirty looks at each other. DZ glared down at the table, a brooding expression on his face, while Gobbleguy looked straight-up terrified at all that had gone down. And Stan was sure Kat was feeling a lot of things at that point, but no feeling was as evident as the discomfort reflected on her face as G hugged her in thanks for her support.

Even Stan himself felt like he had been torn apart from half the group. He could never see eye to eye with G, Jayden, and Blackraven, and he would have a hard time forgiving Gobbleguy too. And Kat . . . what Kat had done was outright betrayal, and he had no idea where they were going to go next.

As Stan looked around and saw all his friends arguing, it scared him more than a little bit. They were in the midst of fighting a war against an evil terrorist organization that had killed one of their own, and if they couldn't even cooperate with one another to take their common enemy down, then how was the Republic of Elementia possibly going to survive?

CHAPTER 9
THE BATTLE OF THE BASE

I
just don't understand!” cried Leonidas. “Since I came out here, nothin' you've had me do has made any sense!”

“The decisions are not mine, Leonidas,” replied Caesar, a note of irritation in his voice as he paced the main floor of the Jungle Base. “Lord Tenebris has assured me that he has a plan that will make complete sense in retrospect, but will only succeed if you, Minotaurus, and I follow his instructions to the letter!”

“Are ya tellin' me he hasn't told ya stuff? Ya know, ya being his right-hand man and all?” asked Leonidas.

“I never said that,” replied Caesar coolly. “As the apprentice of Lord Tenebris, I naturally have access to more information than either you or Minotaurus.”

“So why can't ya tell me?” asked Leonidas, exasperation ripe in his voice. “I've done all this stuff that seems ridiculous to me! Takin' over this base, sendin' half my guys into Element City just to kill themselves. And now you're takin' even more of my guys back with ya?” For that was the reason Caesar had made the journey out to the Jungle Base. He was to collect half the men remaining there with Leonidas for use in a separate mission of his own.

“Now see here, Leonidas—” started Caesar, but Leonidas cut in.

“NO!” he bellowed, his anger over running around the server on blind instructions finally bursting forward. “I will
not
see here! The three of us went into this as equals, ya know! There is no reason why ya should get to be best pals with Lord Tenebris while I go around and do your dirty work!”

“Enough!” yelled Caesar aggressively, whipping his glowing diamond sword from its sheath and driving it forward into Leonidas's leather armor, pinning him against the wall. Leonidas was dumbstruck. He had not expected the conversation to turn hostile.

“Leonidas, when we joined this organization,” spoke Caesar, a fearsome power radiating from him, “we pledged that we would do whatever it took to return Elementia to its former glory, and to subjugate all the lower-level scum! Your role in the plan of Lord Tenebris is to be a field commander, while mine is to be an adviser and an apprentice. If you take issue with that, then you are a threat to the Alliance, and you know how I deal with threats to the Alliance,” he finished with a growl, punctuating each word with another poke of the sword into Leonidas's armor.

Leonidas's and Caesar's eyes were locked, neither player willing to back down. Leonidas was conflicted. He was not scared of Caesar. He was positive that, if the need arose, he himself would win in a fight. That being said, he was terrified of Lord Tenebris, having heard rumors of his limitless
powers from his first days in Minecraft. As much as he hated to admit it, Leonidas realized that he had locked himself into a position of no escape. To contradict Caesar was to contradict the Noctem Alliance, and by extension Lord Tenebris himself. If he did that, he would die, plain and simple.

Recognizing defeat, Leonidas lowered his eyes. “Fine,” he mumbled, humility forced into his voice. “Take half my men. Go do whatever ya have to do.”

Caesar smiled, and slowly drew back his sword, returning it to the sheath at his side. “Now that is what I like to hear.”

Leonidas refused to give Caesar the satisfaction of a response to the quip. That, at least, was still in his power. Instead he asked a question: “So what does Lord Tenebris want me to do?”

“He wants you to stay here at the base,” replied Caesar simply. “The army of Element City will be here soon enough, as soon as they've recovered from the offensive on Elementia Day. When they arrive, let them take the base. Put up a fight, take as many of them down as you can . . . but let them win.”

Leonidas looked up. This was far too ludicrous for him not to question. “So, what? Ya want us all to die for no reason? Ya just want to give them this base back? Why? What is the point of that?”

“Oh, so silly of me! I forgot to mention one thing.” Caesar's
upper-class accent was prominent in the statement, and he followed it up with an amused chuckle. “All who remain at the base must die . . . except for you, my friend. When the attack comes, lead your defenses, but when you are beginning to fall behind, use Ender Pearls to escape from the base, and then make your way back to Nocturia as soon as possible.”

Leonidas opened his mouth, his face showing utter disbelief. But then he closed it again. There was no point in questioning this. If Lord Tenebris wanted something done, Leonidas would have to do it, or be killed. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “So wait for Elementia to attack us, and when they do, we let them win, but I escape and head back to the capital?”

Caesar smiled. “Now you're catching on, my friend. All right, I'd best be off.” And with that, he walked over to a hole in the stone floor and descended the wooden ladder to the hillside. Leonidas watched out the window as Caesar and five men walked down the hill into the dense jungle, continuing on until the opaque foliage finally blocked them from sight.

Leonidas sighed. Not for the first time, he sat down on the floor, his back against the temple wall, and told himself to think. This was something that seemed to happen a lot these days, as he was sitting around the Jungle Base with nothing to do.

Why was he, Leonidas, part of the Noctem Alliance? Because he had agreed to join it alongside Caesar and Minotaurus. Why did he agree to join? Because he had just lost everything in the Battle for Elementia, including his partners, Geno and Becca, and his ruler, King Kev. Why did he lose those players? Because of Stan, a piece of lower-level scum who had driven the inferior lower-level players to rebel against their masters. Why did Stan do that? Because he believed that the lower-level players deserved all the rights that the upper-level players had. And why don't they? Because they were inferior. And why were they inferior?

Leonidas faltered for a moment. He had always accepted, without question, from the moment that he had joined RAT1, that the lower-level players were inferior. But . . . why? Leonidas shook his head. He didn't need justification for that, it was simply nature, it was the reason he was now going through all this trouble to take down Stan. It was just the way it should be. But then . . . why was it that whenever he went to kill a lower-level player, who he vastly outclassed in combat skills . . . why did killing those players never fail to make him uneasy? Even if, in the heat of combat, Leonidas had no inhibitions, they would inevitably come back to haunt him after the fact.

Leonidas looked up and realized that all his remaining five men were gathered in front of him. He had apparently
been lost in his thoughts for a while. Leonidas shook the fog from his head. There was no time to be thinking about reason. An attack from Element City was inbound, and they had to be prepared for it when it came.

“Prepare for battle, men!” Leonidas yelled, pulling himself to his feet. “Man the defensive positions, and prepare yourselves! Stan and his guys are comin' and we're gonna make our last stand, right here, right now!” Leonidas whipped out his bow and brandished it above his head, flourishing it up and down as he led a round of cheers at the proclamation. He felt a knot in his gut as he realized that within the day, all five of these players would be dead and he would still be alive, fleeing the scene.

Leonidas shook his head again.
Don't think
, Leonidas told himself.
Just defend. Just defend the base until they make their way in, and then ya can run.
Leonidas climbed the ladder to the top floor of the base, which stood open to the sky and offered a gorgeous view of the setting sun.

As Leonidas took his position atop the tower, arrow nocked into his bow, he did not allow himself to think, lest he convince himself to do something against his orders. No, instead he forced himself to repeat over and over in his head the creed that had become his entire life.

Viva la Noctem, Viva la Noctem, Viva la Noctem, Viva la Noctem . . .

Stan was on edge as he marched through the jungle, geared up with a diamond axe in hand, hacking his way through the bush alongside Kat and Charlie. The council's decision to take back the Jungle Base had taken way too long. Even more irritating was the fact that Stan had had to fight tooth and nail to even be a part of the raid. To top it all off, Kat still refused to apologize for her vote against him.

Had Blackraven not been on the council, Stan was sure that the eight of them would have put a plan together in minutes. But what should have been a simple assignment turned into a gigantic snowball of arguments over the most insignificant, pointless details. Stan now led Kat, Charlie, and ten other soldiers to the base, irritated that the decision had taken up so much precious time.

Stan was convinced the council was just angry and wanted to argue about something. Indeed, all the discussion about the offensive had been a battle with Stan, Charlie, and DZ on one side, and Blackraven, G, and Jayden on the other. The Mechanist had tried to stay moderate, but had ending up agreeing with Stan on almost everything. Gobbleguy and Kat had just stayed out of the debates, which Stan saw as cowardice. This did not elevate Stan's feelings for Kat as they bushwhacked their way through the jungle together.

Stan remembered the good old days, when the three of them had traveled across the entire land of Elementia together, all with a common goal. It had been one of the best times of his life, despite all the dangers. It was amazing how the pressures of running a country had turned them, once three inseparable friends, into a divided group, barely willing to look one another in the eye. And thus it was in uncomfortable silence that the three of them led their soldiers through the jungle and toward the outpost.

He was so sick of all the stupid talking his job as president entailed, and he was looking forward to a straight fight. At the moment, the only thing Stan wanted was to do something directly against the Noctem Alliance, instead of debating about it in a council room. He was looking forward to his assignment on the mission. While Kat's and Charlie's job was to apprehend as many of the Noctem forces in the base as possible, Stan's job was simple: find and capture Leonidas.

Stan was still a little thrown off by the fact that Leonidas was alive. Until two days ago, he had been convinced that Leonidas was dead, blown to bits in a crater during the Battle for Elementia alongside his partner Becca. Yet somehow he had survived, and he had joined the Noctem Alliance. This told Stan that the Alliance was made up not just of random prejudiced players, but the remnants of King Kev's army as
well. The last time Stan had seen Leonidas up close, they had been in the Ender Desert, and Leonidas had hit him with a Potion of Slowness and stomped on his chest before Stan had gotten the upper hand, and Leonidas fled. Taking him down would be the most satisfying thing Stan had done in a long time.

After almost a half day of walking, the setting sun cast a cloak of darkness over the land. Not too long afterward, the glowing torchlight of the Elementia Jungle Base came into view. Stan knew the outpost was actually a jungle temple, a ruin of a structure that was generated there, and not built by players.

At the foot of the hill, Stan glanced back at Kat and Charlie. Now that they were on the brink of battle, all thoughts of disagreements in the council room were gone. All they were now were three warriors, ready to lead a charge on an evil organization that needed to be taken down.

As they had planned, Stan pulled a pale blue potion from his inventory. He downed the potion in one gulp, with the other twelve following his lead. Stan knew that the effect of the Potion of Swiftness would be countered by the Potions of Slowness that the Noctems were bound to be using in combat, but the rush of adrenaline was nice while it lasted.

Now that they were ready and enriched with the potion, Stan ordered the charge. Silently, the first of the soldiers
climbed the vines that stretched up the side of the hill, reached the top, and burst into the base with a savage yell. Stan heard yells of surprise followed by the metallic clangs of swords, and before long, a wave of dark gray gas rolled out the windows of the base. As the last soldier ascended the vines, Stan offered one last encouraging look at Kat as he pulled himself up the vines, kicked off the hill face, and dive-rolled into the jungle temple.

The gray Potion of Slowness in the air immediately made him feel like his normal self again, but his normal self was still full of adrenaline. All around him, his soldiers were locked in combat with four figures clad in black leather armor, surrounded by potion clouds of all colors and swords colliding.
This is where I belong
, thought Stan as Charlie and Kat appeared behind him.

“Okay, you know what to do!” yelled Stan. His friends nodded and ran to join the fray, Kat with her diamond sword already whistling forward to meet a Noctem soldier in combat, and Charlie with a diamond pickaxe ready in hand. Stan glanced around. No Leonidas. He noticed a ladder on the side of the stone wall that seemed to lead to an upper level. Wasting no time, Stan gripped his diamond axe firmly in hand and pulled himself up the ladder in no time flat.

Standing atop the roof, Stan looked up, only to find an arrow flying toward him. Stan dive-rolled to the side and saw
this arrow did not come from Leonidas. Although Leonidas was indeed standing there on the roof, clad in black armor, a grim look on his face, it was a Noctem trooper attacking. The soldier rushed Stan with a diamond sword in hand. The fight was over before it began. One quick sidestep and Stan's axe had cut the soldier's black leather armor in two, knocking him to the ground with a decent-size gash across his exposed chest.

As if programmed, the fallen soldier pulled a bottle from his inventory containing bloodred liquid. Alarm bells sounded in Stan's head. Determined to keep the soldier alive for questioning, he dived forward to knock the bottle out of the soldier's hand. As he moved, however, Stan felt a dull pain in his chest, and he flew backward as three arrows glanced off his diamond armor, leaving a distinct crack in the center of the chestplate. Stan jumped back up to his feet. He saw Leonidas pulling out another arrow and the soldier on the ground, his inventory scattered about him, an empty potion bottle in his hand.