Chapter 65: Kane’s Last Stand
The main plaza in Genesis Outpost #7 was a giant party. The huge screen set up by the god Warden showed a live map of the Shattered Peaks.
Two big blue circles were slowly filling up, one labeled "Node Alpha" and the other, much more impressively, "Node Gamma." Both had a timer counting down from one hour.
The crowd roared every time the timer ticked down another minute.
In the Outpost’s private chat, the messages were flying so fast they were hard to read.
Ace Striker: A MASTERSTROKE! A FLAWLESS STRATEGY! Governor Stone knew the Apex Titan was the key! He faced the beast alone, a true hero, while our brave Scarlett secured another point! Victory is already ours! I am composing a victory song in his honor!
Player_117: Someone get Ace a glass of water. He’s going to pass out.
Chris "Boulder" Magnus (from the battlefield): Hah! We’re doing great! This is way easier than fighting those angry teenage birds!
Everyone was happy. They were winning. It felt like their team was ahead by a hundred points with only a few minutes left in the game. They were already planning the celebration.
Miles away, on a floating island littered with the smoking bodies of dead Sky Titans, the mood was very different. There was no party here. There was only the bitter smell of burnt feathers and the quiet groans of an injured man.
Tom Kane, the proud leader of the Crimson Banner, stood over the pulsing light of Node Beta. The node was finally his. His team had fought hard, their discipline and training shining through as they battled the fierce creatures.
But the cost had been high. One of his best men, a soldier named Roric, was lying on the ground, his leg bent at a sickeningly wrong angle. He was out of the fight.