MMORPG : Rise of the Interstellar God

Four years after integration into Renovatio Imperii.

World of Warcraft II—end of Burning Crusade expansion—2nd war for the control of the Dark Portal.

A coalition of more than one hundred guilds had gathered together with the goal of breaking apart Renovatio Imperii's-SoulCalibure hegemony over the Dark Portal.

This portal was a vital tool for entering Outland, a continent of vital importance for high-level players.

About four thousand players dressed as Roman legionnaires stood alongside one another, fighting against a homogenous mass of enemies who sought to conquer them. The battle took place on the open highway, far from any major structures which would allow Renovatio Imperii to defend themselves well. If they weren't careful, the guild would be overwhelmed by the giant swarm of players who opposed them.

Renovatio Imperii's goal was simple: maintain control of the three area flags which gave their owner the right to control the Dark Portal. This goal could be contested once every six months, and that time had now come. At the end of the event, control over the portal would be divided between the factions which held each flag.

Indeed, for the last four years, Renovatio Imperii had held each of these flags tightly in an iron grip, and they weren't about to relinquish that grip now!

"Hold on, legionnaires!" shouted a man dressed as a Roman general, riding a beautiful white horse. "The zone challenge ends in ten minutes! Only ten minutes more and victory is ours!"

"Signa inferre!" shouted one of the Renovatio Imperii players. Others quickly took up the cry, shouting together, "Signa inferre! Signa inferre!"

This war cry motivated the players, and they held on even more firmly than before!

Several groups of the enemy guilds became enraged when they heard this. They gathered up their last remaining strength and charged, shouting spitefully in their fury!

But the Renovatio Imperii players raised their weapons and shouted a defiant cry in response. "Pro Roma!" they roared, then settled back into their square legionnaire formations.

The enemy players crashed against them like an ocean wave against a cliff face, but the Renovatio Imperii players slaughtered them with efficient discipline.

Just then, a player named "Azazel" arrived at the gallop on a magnificent gold-covered zebra. "Ceasar! Our left flank is about to break! My players lost all their motivation and our guild can't hold out much longer! Send me some players from your guild or we'll lose the Western Flag!"

Ceasar reflected on this as he smashed an enemy in the face with his hammer. Losing one of the three zone flags was simply not an option. Renovatio Imperii had maintained total control over this zone for four years. If they lost one of the three flags, they'd have to share control over the Dark Portal with an enemy guild… and their reputation and control over the territory would suffer greatly.

"I'm coming!" Ceasar replied. Then, in the guild chat, he said, "Groups 8 and 9, follow me! We are going to help SoulCalibure!"

The groups who he'd called out broke away from their ordinary formation, dodging magical projectiles as they rode to follow Ceasar. A few moments later, they arrived in what was known as "No Man's Land." This was a stretch of terrain which was so flat that no player could be protected from AoE spells if they ran through it.

It was also the most direct path to Ceasar's goal.

The allied enemy teams noticed his small party running through the zone on their mounts and began throwing AoEs at them! However, Ceasar had predicted this. He gave a short command, and his team immediately started a set of evasive maneuvers which separated them into smaller groups which made poor targets. This confused the enemies and made nearly all their most powerful AoEs miss their marks.

It was close, but Ceasar's team crossed the field with minimal losses. They eventually arrived in the contested zone—and just in time! Their allies from the SoulCalibure guild were standing bravely at their posts, but they didn't have many members left and were coming close to breaking. Over ten thousand enemies were trying to break through!

With three minutes left on the clock before the end of the event, Ceasar had to hold off 10,000 players with barely one hundred fresh fighters from his guild!

But without hesitation, Ceasar threw himself into the battle.

This was his job, after all. It was what he did best.

"Forward!" Ceasar shouted. He activated all his buffing skills at once and raised his legendary weapon—Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings!

He plunged the hammer into the ground, blasting shock waves outward from himself. The ground shook with this overwhelming force, applying the "Stunned" debuff to all enemy players within two hundred meters.

Some of the buffs Ceasar had used wouldn't cool down for a full hour or longer. He'd been saving them for an absolutely critical situation. His instincts told him that this was that moment, that it was now or never.

The "Stunned" debuff didn't last terribly long, and many of the enemies simply used cleanse abilities on themselves to get rid of the effect. Even still, the effect lasted long enough that Ceasar and his guildmates were able to kill over a hundred of the most powerful enemy players before they could recover. Meanwhile, others in his party simply hurled as many AoEs as they could into the enemy army.

"Charge!" Ceasar shouted. "For Rome!"

Renovatio Imperii and SoulCalibure's players charged side by side, allies defending their dominance of the three flags of the Dark Portal. Their enemies had an overwhelming numerical advantage, but they simply couldn't compare when it came to fighting spirit! Their frontline fighters panicked and were overwhelmed. They'd been expecting to dispatch the last SoulCalibure players who were at the end of their strength, but Ceasar's appearance had turned the tide!

Unfortunately for Ceasar and his allies, the Stunned effect eventually wore off and the numerical advantage of their opponents rose up again in full force. Ceasar and others took a huge amount of unavoidable damage in just a few seconds, thousands of points which drained them down to almost nothing in the blink of an eye.

However, in World Of Warcraft II, each class had an emergency spell which could make a player invincible for a few seconds. Most inexperienced and foolish players had already used their version of this ability by this point… but Ceasar had trained his allies better than that!

All the Renovatio Imperii players used their invincibility spells at Ceasar's command, then concentrated their attacks on the healers who had rushed up to the front lines to tend to their most damaged allies. These healers didn't stand a chance and fell at once.

At the same time, the enemy DPS players had expected the full support of a healer behind them in the last moments of this battle, and they'd eagerly rushed forward without a second thought for tactics.

Ceasar and his allies punished this stupidity with deadly precision, wiping out a huge number of players who had been on their last legs. Druids, Shamans, Priests, and Paladins all fell like flies, like they were nothing more than low-level players wandering into an open PvP zone without realizing it.

But the invincibility spells didn't last forever, and soon every single Renovatio Imperii player had died… including Ceasar.

Even still, their objective was successful.

The event ended just as the enemies were about to step onto the control zone, which would have allowed them to seize the Western Flag.

[Server Announcement: The open contest of the Dark Portal region has ended.]

[Server Announcement: The group led by the player "Ceasar" wins control of the Dark Portal.]

[Server Announcement: Next open contest of the Dark Portal begins in 179 days, 23 hours, and 59 seconds...]

***

Some hours later.

New York City Dome of Protection—BBC America Television Studio

In front of the studio audience, a huge projection screen showed a polished video clip with a smooth, London-accented voiceover.

"A major event took place today in Azeroth! The challenge for control of the Dark Portal has been won again by the Renovatio Imperii-SoulCalibure alliance! This strategic location has, of course, always been one of the most important zones in the whole game.

"Through their victory, the alliance has won their long-standing war against the Coalition of the Eastern Kingdom, an alliance which has invested vast resources in hopes of controlling this region. What a feat for Renovatio Imperii, this guild which climbs ever closer to the top of the game's guilds, with control of 28% of the Eastern Kingdom continent! Though Lord of War still stands supreme with its 53% control of Kalindor, Renovatio Imperii remains proudly in second place!"

The video faded away, and a spotlight illuminated a man sitting in a comfortable chair on the interview set. He was about fifty years old and gave a broad smile as he spoke into the sleek microphone in his hand.

"Hello everyone, I'm Kent Brockman! Today is a big day inr the history of Renovatio Imperii, which stands so proudly among the top guilds on the Eastern Kingdom continent! As a special guest to speak about this event, we have the honor of receiving one of the guild's most famous players. Please welcome Enzo Romano, alias Ceasar!"

At this cue, a handsome, dark-haired man in a three-piece Italian suit emerged from behind the stage, accompanied by loud applause and whistles from the studio audience.

"Wow! What a welcome!" Kent Brockman said. He rose and shook Enzo's hand, then gestured for his guest to sit in the elegant chair across from his own. "Thank you for accepting our invitation, Ceasar!"

"Thank you for inviting me," Enzo answered.

Kent continued, "I'm sure that many of our viewers are quite curious about you. In particular… Do you happen to be single?" Kent gave a laugh and a mischievous smile.

Enzo gave a strained grin. It was clear he wasn't here by choice. "I'm afraid I must stop you there. I have a confidentiality clause with my guild and, beyond that, wish to keep my privacy."

Kent was quite surprised to hear this. Most guests jumped at the chance to talk about themselves. At the very least, didn't Enzo realize that the question was a lighthearted joke? Nevertheless, he pressed onward. "My apologies, Ceasar! But I certainly understand. No doubt that if you confirmed your availability, every woman in the country would be fighting to the death for their chance to ask to you dinner!"

Ceasar stared calmly back at him, not reacting.

Kent sighed. This was going to be a tough interview for sure. But that's why he got paid the big bucks. "Now, let's talk about today's amazing event: your jaw-dropping victory at the Dark Portal, during which you led barely more than a hundred players to fight off over ten thousand invaders."

At these words, a video clip of Ceasar's savage charge played on the giant projection screen. "For Rome!" Ceasar shouted in the recording. Triumphant music swelled up as the view shifted to his few remaining allies surging forward.

The audio-video team had really done an excellent job exploiting the drama of the scene, interspersing clips from various points in the skirmish. The footage slowed down into smooth slow motion and the music reached a crescendo as Ceasar raised Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings, and then brought it down.

The video went black, and the studio audience burst into even more cheering and applause than before.

Kent grinned to himself. Whether his guest wanted to cooperate or not, the crowd loved what they were seeing. "This scene is unbelievable!" Kent said as soon as the cheering died down. "I get goosebumps every time I watch it. Your fans must have been ecstatic. You have a real performer's eye, my friend."

Enzo finally reacted, sitting forward in his seat as he spoke. "It's a sort of performance, yes, but not intended for the fans. The battle cry reminds allies that they fight like brothers, that they're not lone heroes in a PvP arena. Everyone must maintain discipline and remember that he is responsible for the players who stand on either side of him. To be reminded that you are one important part of an ultimately important whole is vital to maintain the guild's identity."

Kent was overjoyed at these words. Enzo was finally participating. Indeed, there was a tinge of passion to his voice as he spoke about the battlefield. However, Kent also knew that a nonchalant person like Enzo might close up again at any moment. He needed to take full advantage of this moment.

"I see," said Kent. "Very inspiring. It's easy to see how Renovatio Imperii has maintained such dominance in WoW II. However, even though the New York Times has ranked you as the second best guild in WoW II, they refuse to call you a "SuperGuild" because you lack a world-class tank. How do you feel about that?"

Enzo replied quietly, "Yes, it's undeniable. We have a lot of trouble maintaining quality tank players. Tanking in this game is an extremely precise role, far more so than in more traditional MMOs. Unlike with our healers and DPS players, we don't have the structure in place to properly recruit and train world-class tanks.

"This is where our partnership with SoulCalibure has been so useful. Allies are one of the most important weapons in the world, and our alliance has given us access to SoulCalibure's own extremely competent tanks. When all is taken into account, it doesn't matter what label anyone attaches to us. Our records in both PvP and PvE are in many ways superior to even Lord of War."

Kent replied with a mischievous smile, "Yes, that's exactly the root of the NYT's opinion! They consider you to lean far too heavily on SoulCalibure. Let's be honest, as much as allies are important… if they were to leave you, your roster could collapse in an instant!

"The NYT report quotes a Renovatio Imperii executive with some rather unfortunate information. Your guild's shareholders have deliberately refused to finance a tank-recruiting structure until your guild income is more stable. That is, until the Dark Gate is fully under your control and not shared with your ally—according to the report, your share of the gate currently represents about half of your guild's income—your shareholders refuse to give you the funds to become independent of your ally. A bit of a catch-22, don't you agree?"

Enzo answered calmly, "To answer your first point, SoulCalibure is much more than an ally of convenience to us. Yes, they provide us with the best tanks in the game. But they are, moreover, our friends and brothers in war. In many ways, there are no distinctions between our members. Azazel, the chief player in their roster, is a good personal friend of mine. He even offered me my legendary hammer, Val'anyr, which I carry as my primary weapon and which is worth several million credits.

"What you're suggesting is that our close friends and allies might leave us at any moment, but that would be as absurd as though my own guild fractured in half. It's simply out of the question."

Kent felt a moment of pity for the naivety of his guest. One day, he knew, Enzo would be forced to face the realities of the corporate world. And on that day, Kent would be there to remind him of this conversation. That would stir up some drama for sure.

But all he said was, "I see! I certainly hope you're right, my friend. Thank you for joining us today!"

The audience broke into applause once more as Enzo stood up and left the stage.

Then Kent turned back to the camera and flashed another huge grin. "Alright, now let's talk about the second piece of today's news. ABC Games has just released preliminary images of their upcoming project…"

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