The New Order (25 page)

“The commander of the Sea Base,” continued Blackraven, “sent out two more armed scouts to inspect the Mushroom Islands further. They were able to confirm that there is Noctem activity in the waters surrounding the Mushroom Islands. As a reward for her discovery and her bravery, the commander then promoted Elaine to the rank of corporal.”

“Well, I offer you my thanks, Corporal Elaine,” responded
Stan. “This information is imperative for winning the war, and we're in your debt. You are dismissed now.”

Elaine bowed her head. “Thank you, Mr. President,” she responded, before turning on her heel and marching out the door.

“The commander of the Sea Base assured me that we have the right spot,” continued Blackraven to the council. “He also has a blockade around the islands. The army is putting together an operation to stake out a network of old mining tunnels under the islands, making escaping by digging underground impossible. The commander's just not sure what to do now. The obvious next step would be to organize a naval invasion of the island. However, we have to approach the situation carefully. After all, this is the Mushroom Islands we're dealing with.”

Charlie, DZ, and the Mechanist all nodded wisely, but Stan, Kat, Jayden, and G were all confused.

“Why can't we launch a strike on the islands?” Jayden asked.

“Yeah, if we know the Noctem Alliance is there, then what are we waiting for?” asked Kat as Stan and Charlie nodded in agreement. Personally, Stan had no knowledge of the Mushroom Islands, or any islands in the Northwestern Ocean, for that matter. But if the Noctem Alliance was on the islands, then it didn't really matter to him what was on them.
They would have to be invaded.

Blackraven sighed in exasperation. “Weren't any of you there when we drafted the section of the constitution that dealt with the Mushroom Islands?”

Stan faltered. Honestly, he had forgotten about that part of the constitution. When they had been writing all the laws regarding the Mushroom Islands, the others had started talking about some pretty high-end political stuff, and he had just let them handle it, feeling in over his head. Clearly, Kat, G, and Jayden had all done the same. He didn't respond to Blackraven, though. He knew Blackraven would explain himself anyway.

“Because of some agreements that we made with some people back when we first drafted the constitution, we're not allowed to perform any military operations on the islands regardless of the situation.”

“It makes perfect sense that the Noctem Alliance would hide there, if you think about it,” said Charlie sullenly. “What better place to hide than somewhere we can't bring our military?”

“There's a loophole in that law,” responded the Mechanist shrewdly. “As president, Stan has the right to carry a small force of guards with him wherever he goes. He also has the right to inspect any part of Elementia at any time. Stan could go to the islands and say he's just there on a visit, but use
that as a secret cover to search the islands for the Noctem Alliance.”

“So what you're saying is,” said Stan slowly, trying to piece together what was being said, “you want me to use an inspection as an excuse to get onto the islands, and use my bodyguards as a way to get soldiers onto the island with me?”

“Exactly,” replied the Mechanist with a smile. “And we use an armed convoy of soldiers as your bodyguards.”

“I'll be in your convoy, Stan,” said Charlie, wiping the last of the tears from his cheeks. “I've read tons of books on the Mushroom Islands, and I know their geography too.”

“Count me in too,” added DZ, his terrifying rage gone, but a definite fire lingering in his eyes. “There's no way we plan a mission to destroy the Noctem Alliance once and for all and I'm not a part of it!”

Kat opened her mouth, her face showing her clear excitement to join the other three, but before she could speak, Blackraven cut in.

“I think it would be best if only those two went along with Stan,” he said.

“Why's that?” Kat demanded, looking outraged.

“If we're going to take the Noctem Alliance down, we should attack them from all angles at the same time. The council members should lead the troops in a massive attack to take back the Hot Front and the Cold Front at the same
time. We need to do it simultaneously with the attack on the Specialty Base. If we time it right, then all parts of the Alliance will be hit at once, and the organization will collapse.”

“That's good thinking, Blackraven,” replied the Mechanist, nodding his head as Kat did the same. “Stan, Charlie, and DZ, you sail out from Diamond Bay to the Mushroom Islands, locate the Specialty Base and assassinate the Noctem leaders. Jayden and G can go out and lead the charge on the Hot Front, while Ben and Kat do the same on the Cold Front. Gobbleguy and Blackraven, you stay here with me and run the council while the others are gone.”

“That sounds like a plan to me,” replied Stan. “We'll leave at daybreak tomorrow morning. Does anybody have any objections?”

There was silence around the table.

“Okay then!” exclaimed DZ, punching his fist in the air. “Let's do this thing!”

As the ten players in the room scattered, the only feeling apparent in the air was that of charged excitement. Gone were the days when they stood on guard, waiting for the Noctem Alliance to strike and praying that they would be able to counter them. They were on the offensive now; at long last, the Grand Republic of Elementia had a plan of attack to take the Noctem Alliance down, once and for all.

CHAPTER 23
THE BATTLE OF THE ARCHIPELAGO

S
tan rubbed his eyes and yawned, a bit of annoyance clouding his mind. He knew he had ordered that they leave on their missions at the break of dawn, but he was still irritated that the Mechanist had woken him up literally at the instant the sun had broken the skyline. Stan sighed. Why do old people have to wake up so early?

As tired as he was, Stan knew it was for the best that they had gotten such an early start. The night before, he, Charlie, and DZ had equipped themselves with all the gear they would need for their trip. After they had finished the early morning preparations, they made the long hike to the Diamond Bay Naval Harbor.

Element City was situated on a plain, and Element Castle sat at the edge of the plain farthest from the forest. Directly behind Element Castle, a sheer cliff dropped down to the ground below. Stan, Charlie, and DZ had taken a path down this cliff face, taking each step down the precarious pathway slowly and carefully until, finally, they reached sea level. At the bottom of the cliff was a swamp biome. They had to trek through it for a good distance before they finally got to the naval harbor. Thankfully, their early start allowed them to reach their destination around noon.

This was the first time Stan had personally been
down to inspect the Diamond Bay Naval Harbor, and he was very impressed by it. The jagged coastline where the swampland met the ocean had been filled in by cobblestone blocks, making a giant, flat surface of rock that sat at sea level. On top of this flat surface sat tall warehouses, which Stan assumed were full of military supplies.

Where the cobblestone surface met the ocean, wooden docks extended out into the seemingly endless water, and lined up next to these docks were hundreds of single-man boats, more than Stan cared to count. As Stan glanced down the rows of docks, he could see shelters, around which soldiers were already moving. Stan subconsciously nodded his head in approval. He knew that, as hard as the war may be on land, the military of Elementia was well prepared for an attack by sea. Stan looked over the bunkers of the troops until, before long, a soldier came jogging up to him from the army barracks, dressed in full iron armor with a brown face visible.

“Good morning, Mr. President,” the soldier said, standing at a full salute. “Our forces have just finished preparing your escort of ships. We'll take you as far as the Elementia Sea Base, which is about three quarters of the way to the Lesser Mushroom Island. There, you can plan out your visit with the commander of the base.”

“Thank you, soldier,” replied Stan, nodding his head.

The use of the word “visit” by the soldier was not lost on
Stan. He reminded himself that they would have to be careful as they undertook their raid on the Noctem base. The word had been given out to the soldiers that Stan, Charlie, and DZ were on a presidential visit to the Mushroom Islands, just to inspect them. Only the commander of the Sea Base and the Elementia ambassador who lived on the Lesser Mushroom Island were told that the visit was actually just a facade to locate and conduct a raid on a Noctem base.

Although Stan still wasn't entirely sure why all this secrecy was necessary, the Mechanist had reminded him how crucial it was to keep up the front. He reminded DZ and Charlie of this need for secrecy as they boarded their one-man boats.

“Are you kidding me, Stan?” exclaimed DZ as Charlie nodded his head in understanding. “When have I ever spilled the beans about anything?”

“Well, there was that time you swore you wouldn't tell Kat that I changed the color of Rex's collar on April Fools' Day, but you told her anyway,” said Charlie, raising one eyebrow in accusation.

“Oh, come on, you should have been happy to take credit for that!” said DZ, as though this should be obvious. “It was the best prank ever! Rex looks so generic that Kat couldn't tell him apart from literally any of the other dogs with green collars!”

“And there was that time you told Oob his real name
after we convinced him it was actually ‘Testificate.'”

“Come on, guys, that was cruel and you know it, the poor little guy was beginning to question whether or not everything in his life was a lie after that!”

“And there was the time you told Gobbleguy where we had stored the castle's anvil collection, even though we specifically told you . . .”

“Hey!” DZ cut in. “He wouldn't stop bugging me about it, and I thought, ‘Hey, what's the worst that could happen?' And that was the Mechanist's fault. Who designs a room so that the lever that retracts the shelves holding the anvils is next to the light switch?”

Charlie was about to come up with another example (he could think of dozens just off the top of his head) when a soldier came up to them and told them it was time to depart.

“We will finish this conversation later.” Charlie smirked back at DZ as the two of them pulled out in front of Stan and into the harbor.

Stan was a bit hesitant to pilot the boat. He had never driven a boat in real life before, let alone in Minecraft. The soldier had explained to Stan that the way to pilot the boat was to use his mind to give commands. He hoped it would work. The rest of the fleet had already moved out, and Stan saw no oars, sails, motor, or any other means of propulsion on his boat.

Tentatively, Stan thought,
Forward
, and immediately, the boat gave a sudden lurch out toward the sea, sending Stan reeling backward, nearly tumbling off the stern. After he recovered, amazed at what he had just done, Stan tried again, and tried to think about the word with a little bit more finesse. After a little bit of experimenting, Stan was able to fully control his boat with his mind, including accelerating, braking, and turning.

Contented with his mastery of the controls, Stan then gunned it at high speed to catch up with the approximately fifty boats that formed his military escort to the Sea Base. Thankfully, the escort was waiting for him at the mouth to Diamond Bay. As he joined them, the soldier at the head of the fleet addressed them all.

“Okay, we're all ready to move out to the Elementia Sea Base. We're going to have to make a slight roundabout to avoid the ice around the Taiga Archipelago, but it's a straight shot after that. Expect to be at the Sea Base by nightfall. Just match my speed and we'll get there quickly and without incident.”

And with that, the soldier headed out of the mouth of the bay and into the vast expanse of water that was the Northwestern Ocean. Stan looked back over his shoulder like a curious child seeing the world for the first time as, slowly, the shorelines of Elementia grew farther and farther away. Stan
was soon treated to the brilliant spectacle of Element Castle, reaching into the sky from atop the cliff that overlooked the swamp and sea. As the convoy of ships traveled farther and farther into the endless flat expanse of blue, an eerie feeling came over Stan. As he looked over his shoulder at his castle, which was now disappearing into the far-off render fog, Stan was captivated by the ominous feeling that he would never see Element City again.

Stan was jolted out of this feeling just as soon as it came on, because DZ's wooden craft came careening toward him, ramming his boat to the side on impact and nearly knocking Stan into the ocean.

“What was that for?” demanded Stan as he steadied himself in his boat.

“Shots fired, man! What're you gonna do about it?” asked DZ slyly, a devious smirk on his face.

Realizing what DZ had done, Stan returned the expression on his own face, and willed his boat to swerve back toward DZ's, knocking him sideways.

“Oh, it's on now, Stan! BOO-YAH!” bellowed DZ as he made to smash back into Stan's boat just as Stan did the same, sending them both spinning randomly away from each other, laughing wildly. Stan was having the time of his life. In all the intensity of the war, all the stress he had felt over the Noctem Alliance, and all his grief over the fate of the
NPC villagers, Stan had forgotten just how good it felt to have fun every now and then.

“Hey,” said Stan in a soft voice, a brilliant plan coming into his mind as he saw DZ readying another assault.

“What?” DZ asked, halting his preparations.

“Let's do a sneak attack on Charlie,” replied Stan, barely able to keep in his excited laughter as he gestured to Charlie, who was calmly poring over his papers, blind to the world as he sailed peacefully in front of them.

DZ gasped. “YES!” he exclaimed as his face lit up. “Stan, are you familiar with Operation Gravel Trap? You know, the Spleef technique that I made up back in the day?”

“Not at all,” replied Stan.

“Excellent! Let's try it!” said DZ in elation as he quickly pulled his boat away from Stan. DZ maneuvered directly to the back right of Charlie, before glancing meaningfully at Stan and giving him a series of hand motions. Stan had no idea what he was doing, and decided on a whim to circle around to Charlie's back left side. DZ nodded his approval, indicating that Stan had clearly done something right.

Stan glanced tentatively in front of him and saw that, to his amusement, Charlie still had not noticed them closing in, being far too devoted to poring over information on the islands that they were about to visit.
Well
, Stan thought with a grin,
it's about time for Charlie to take a break and have some
fun.
He saw DZ wave his hand forward toward Charlie and, as it was obvious what this signal meant, the two players willed their boats forward at top speeds and rammed Charlie's vessel from behind.

Charlie's boat burst apart. The tiny wooden dinghy erupted into a puff of white smoke and ceased to exist, spewing three wooden blocks and two sticks into the air. They fell back down and sunk, presumably to the seafloor (Stan, as alarmed as he was, found this odd; he assumed that the wooden materials would have floated). Charlie fell into the water with a splash, his papers flying haphazardly into the air.

There was a moment of stunned silence as DZ and Stan realized what had happened. Then, with incredible agility, DZ whipped out his sword and, with the extended range, managed to skewer all of Charlie's papers on the point before they could fall into the water, where Charlie now flailed, disoriented.

Stan steered his boat over to Charlie, ready to reach into the water to help him out and apologize for the accident. However, before he got a chance, an arrow sunk into Charlie's leather armor, and he slowly slipped below the surface.

Stan was thunderstruck for a moment. Then, as his brain connected what had happened, he needed no time for further thinking. Stan heard the sounds of arrows whizzing
through the air and the soldiers beginning to shout in alarm as he jumped out of his boat and into the water.

Stan took a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dark, blurred world of the underwater seascape of dirt and sand below him, with cerulean water turning everything blue. And in the midst of this foreboding setting, Charlie was sinking fast, bubbles spewing from his mouth. Stan was relieved to find that it was much easier to hold his breath underwater in Minecraft than in real life. As such, he managed to dive down and reach Charlie relatively quickly, just as Charlie settled on the ocean floor, dangerously close to a deep abyss.

Stan put his arms underneath Charlie's, trying to regulate his air supply as he did so. It would be a long swim back up to the surface, swimming with just his legs and carrying the weight of an extra player. Stan looked skyward, preparing to swim, but was forced to drop Charlie when he saw what was overhead. Stan barely managed to lunge sideway to dodge the swing of the sword from above him.

As Stan found his footing on the seafloor and Charlie sank yet again, Stan could see a player, all features obscured by his black leather armor and a pumpkin on his head. The figure had a diamond sword drawn and was once again swimming toward Stan. Trying not to panic, Stan drew his diamond axe and engaged the player in combat.

The water all around them bent this fight in ways that
Stan had never experienced before. This player was clearly practiced in underwater fighting, as he swam gracefully through the water and delivered strikes with his sword in equal precision. Regardless, Stan, disoriented as he was, managed to block all the attacks, the force of each one sending both players reeling backward through the omnipresent liquid.

As the fight went on, Stan felt the strain of continuously holding his breath. After one particularly hard strike of the sword, Stan went flailing downward, landing squarely on his back on the gravel seabed. All the remaining air he had been rationing so carefully burst out of his mouth in a colossal bubble, and Stan felt his mouth fill with salty brine.

Dazed and delirious, Stan looked up at his assailant. The pumpkin helmet on his head was clearly helping him breathe in some way. As the dark form came closer and closer, Stan willed his failing nervous system to react, to raise his diamond axe over his chest and at least attempt to defend himself.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Stan noticed something. A jet of bubbles, streaming rapidly down from the surface, approaching the trio of players. The Noctem attacker looked over his shoulder a split second before DZ's diamond sword, outstretched in his hand, impaled the attacker through the back. Stan noticed a faint purple tint on DZ's blade, almost
imperceptible in the water, before the Knockback enchantment took effect, sending the Noctem soldier careening deep into the nearby trench, disappearing into the darkness almost instantly.

Stan could barely feel anything through his delirium now, and he was only vaguely aware of DZ snatching Charlie under one arm and him under the other. Then, all of a sudden, Stan was shooting upward like a rocket, breaking the surface in a matter of seconds. Stan spewed up water like a hose for about half a minute, during which the sounds of warfare became more and more apparent. Stan finally gained the strength to open his eyes and look down below them. The three players were sitting draped over a boat. DZ must have set it up underwater and let the buoyancy of the boat propel them to the surface. Then, Stan looked at the source of the fighting.