“My brothers and sisters of the Noctem Alliance, I address you today bearing good tidings. The fifteen of our own that we have sent into Element City have submitted to the leaders of Elementia. They revealed their allegiance to our great leader, Lord Tenebris, before sending themselves in the same way as our great martyr, King Kev of Elementia. The beginning phase of our plan to retake Element City for our own is a success!”
As they were preprogrammed to do on such a rare occasion that news as good as this came their way, the hundred and twenty members of the Noctem Freedom Fighters gave the Noctem Alliance victory chant in perfect unison: “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”
“Furthermore, our spy within the hierarchy of the Element City government has informed me that Stan2012 has declared affiliation with the Noctem Alliance illegal. In their noble sacrifice, our brothers and sisters have instilled a germ of fear of the name of the Noctem Alliance. This germ shall multiply and spread within the populace, and shall before long infect the entirety of Element City!”
Again, the chant rang out in unison through the whistling winds of the never-ending blizzard: “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”
“Besides this, I bear news of even greater importance: our beloved leader, Lord Tenebris, has informed me that the construction of the Specialty Base is underway. In time, this shall spell doom for Stan2012 and the rest of the leadership of Element City, leaving the plot of land called Element City, which is rightfully ours, ripe for the picking!”
“VIVA LA NOCTEM!”
“It is in light of these joyous developments that I announce it is time to put our second phase of warfare into action! I now call all members of the second battalion of the Noctem Freedom Fighters to mobilize, for tomorrow, you follow General Leonidas into combat in the motherland of Elementia. The rest of you are dismissed. Good night, my brothers and sisters! Long live Lord Tenebris! Long live the Noctem Alliance!”
“VIVA LA NOCTEM!” the Freedom Fighters belted out for the last time, before running into their dirt shacks to prepare themselves for battle.
Caesar turned and retreated to the warmth of the building, followed by Leonidas and Minotaurus, who had to duck to enter the room.
It was pleasant inside. Books sat on shelves all over the walls, and a fire roaring on a Netherrack base projected warmth into the room around them. The walls were of stone brick, and the three generals’ prized weapons – Leonidas’s bow, Minotaurus’s double-ended battle-axe, and Caesar’s diamond sword – hung in frames on the mantel.
Leonidas and Caesar sat down on chairs facing the fire. Minotaurus spoke, “Excuse me, Caesar, but I will be back. It is time for me to tend to my potato farm,” and walked out the side door to attend to his hobby, accidentally breaking the wooden door off its hinges as it slammed behind him.
As Leonidas and Caesar stared into the fire, neither of them conversed, but both knew that there were unspoken words hanging in the air. It was a full minute before Caesar turned to his colleague and spoke, “Well, Leonidas, you clearly have something on your mind. What is it?”
Leonidas said nothing at first. He was lost in a train of long, confusing and never-ending thoughts. At last, he turned to Caesar, and voiced the most pressing of his concerns.
“Caesar … do ya remember the prisoners’ village?”
Caesar stood up and threw back his head. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Leonidas, don’t tell me you’re still on about that village!”
“No, of course not,” said Leonidas quickly, quite unsure of whether he was lying not only to Caesar but also to himself. “We did what had to be done, I wouldn’t have done it any other way, except for …” Leonidas chose his words carefully; he did not want to see Caesar upset. “Why is it that we didn’t even ask those players if they wanted to join us? I don’t know, but it’s kinda possible that we may have killed some potential allies.”
“Rubbish, Leonidas,” spat Caesar, shaking his head in contempt at Leonidas’s apparent foolishness. “There was nothing for us in that village. Those people in the prisoners’ village had been living on nothing for longer than was worth it. Trust me, we did all of them a mercy.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s right,” said Leonidas, his voice falsely cheery. “Yeah … there just woulda been more suffering if we’d left any of ’em alive.”
But the more Leonidas thought of his corporal’s reports of the carnage and slaughter the Noctem Alliance had committed in the prisoners’ village, the more Leonidas was reassuring himself that that was not true.
Although Stan did not know exactly what the repercussions of the attack by the Noctem agents would be, he certainly did not expect that life would carry on as usual. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. The only significant difference in the daily flow of things was the cessation of rallies and protests by the Noctem Alliance.
“Don’t you think it’s weird?” Stan asked, a week after he’d banned the Noctem Alliance, as he walked out of the castle courtyard and onto the bustling main road lined with stores alongside Kat and Charlie. “I mean, these guys in black try to kill us, and they say they’re with the Noctem Alliance before committing suicide, and then there’s nothing for a week? What sense does that make?”
“It is odd,” replied Charlie slowly. “You’d think there would be some aftermath. But it’s like the Noctem Alliance completely vanished off the map. You don’t think they’re plotting something, do you?”
That thought sat unpleasantly in Stan’s stomach, and he was about to respond when Kat cut him off, and said in a superior drawl, “I think you two are reading too much into it. The Noctem Alliance was just a bunch of stuck-up, rich brats who didn’t like that they had to share with the lower-levels. They whined and had a tantrum about it, but some of them took it a step too far.”
“Well, if that’s the case, why haven’t they retaliated yet?” asked Charlie.
“Because they’re a bunch of cowards,” replied Kat, a note of disgust on her tongue. “They couldn’t get what they wanted through protesting, so the twenty or so of them who cared more than was good for them tried to attack us. They were OK with dying, because they didn’t think life would be worth it if they couldn’t get what they wanted. That’s why they were willing to kill themselves, and that’s why they had such good supplies, because they’re spoiled upper-levels. And now that those few radicals are dead, none of them left care enough to die for the cause of the Alliance.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Stan, nodding. “It is true that it’s really only the rich and upper-level people in this city who are against equality now. Well, besides the war prisoners we took from the battle.”
“And they’re not in any position to do anything about it, they’re all locked up in Brimstone,” added Charlie. He was referring to the highest-end prison in Elementia, situated in the remnants of the Nether Fortress that RAT1 had blown up before the Battle for Elementia.
“Exactly,” said Kat. “Trust me, Stan, I think now that you’ve made it illegal, we aren’t gonna be hearing any more from the Noctem Alliance. On the other hand, there are probably going to be more rich people sulking in their houses about equality now that they can’t run around in black tunics whining about it.”
Stan chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right, Kat, I’m just over-thinking it.”
Charlie