The day of Grand Admiral Oskiol's announcement happened also to be the seven-month anniversary of the release of Horus.
At that time, most players were between Level 15 and Level 20. This was a power level high enough that most players had the capacity to pursue dangerous missions in space and in Dungeons, earning them great wealth.
Considering that most players gave a large portion of all their Galactic Coins to their guilds, this meant that most guilds with at least a thousand active members could afford to buy at least one corvette-class ship.
Moreover, the events on Terra had completely overwhelmed all other news and discussions about Horus. Every single player was aware of the huge manhunt that had taken place for the past three weeks on Terra, the most populated planet of the galactic sector known as the "Distant Suburb."
However, as in the past, many players remained passive. "After all," they said to one another, "what exactly are we supposed to do?" The few suicidal players who had bravely decided to reach Terra on their own and try to save the others had absolutely nothing good to show for their heroics.
But when Grand Admiral Oskiol made his grand announcement across the entire galaxy, his words touched the heart of every player. They were no longer mere passive spectators waiting for the adventures of others to come to an end. Instead, Oskiol offered them the chance to be the heroes of one of the greatest space battles in galactic history!
In fact, this was an even greater opportunity than they'd dreamed of: the chance to show that they could succeed in unity where the strengths of the SuperGuilds themselves were struggling!
And above all of these aspirations toward glory and heroism, one other emotion reigned supreme:
Hatred.
Hatred for Azerof.
The players gradually realized that Emperor Azerof had been the main antagonist of Horus since almost the beginning, back when he'd been only an admiral. It was he who had nuked the players' homeworld of Era while they were assaulting the capital city. It was he who had created discrimination against the Eternals inside the Federation.
Most of all, it was he who had decided to attack and kill players, not simply to defeat them, but to strip away all their game progress if they wouldn't bow down and serve his cause!
It was clear to everyone that Emperor Azerof was much more than a simple antagonist. He was the greatest threat to the betterment of their lives outside the game itself, a malevolent force who truly desired to prevent them from gaining the levels and GC that would earn them security and even wealth in the real world.
The world of Horus had granted a new opportunity for a good life to so many of the Worms who still lived on the surface of the Earth in their bubbled cities, the people who had no hope of ever finding freedom from debt or poverty in the miserable jobs which were available to them. The Celestials who had long ago escaped Earth merely viewed Horus as another opportunity for wealth, but to the Worms, it offered a chance at salvation.
And Emperor Azerof was trying to take that one chance away from them!
It was for this reason that, after Oskiol gave his intergalactic message, over 100,000,000 players banded together like they had never had before.
Their pride, and their livelihoods, were at stake. They would not let a mere NPC ruin their lives, even if it meant risking every single Galactic Coin and bit of EXP they had!
But, as usual, the seven SuperGuilds were playing a double game with their members as mere pawns. Officially, the SuperGuilds supported this great movement of solidarity. In reality, behind the scenes, they organized a non-aggression pact with Azerof, realizing that this route offered them the greatest odds of security and quick profit.
Only a handful of people, even within the leadership of the SuperGuilds themselves, were aware of this betrayal of the Coalition's stated values. If it were made public, of course, it would surely cause an outraged end to this unique, high-level alliance.
After all, once their forces were assembled together, they had the equivalent power of 10,000,000 corvettes, the power of 120,000,000 players! That is, nearly 20% of the roughly 500,000,000 active players of Horus had banded together for this effort!
Unfortunately, this fleet was nowhere nearly as organized as the assault on the weapons warehouse. Rather, it was a disorganized swarm of millions of ships which arrived in a continuous stream into the Isirus system to join the final assault!
But would this disjointed, enthusiastic fleet of players be enough to make any difference? Would passion and brotherhood be enough to defeat Azerof and his incredible resources?
***
Federation Resistance Flagship Icarus
Grand Admiral Oskiol stood on the bridge, staring at the communications display. All the surrounding officers were shocked, and everyone was wondering the same thing:
"How could a people who didn't even exist a few months ago become such a threat?!"
Suddenly, an officer said, "Incoming communication! It's Admiral Aizan!"
Oskiol replied, "Accept the communication!"
Aizan's voice came urgently over the channel. "Grand Admiral! I assume that we're seeing the same situation here! What's happening?! Why are we letting these unregulated ships penetrate the human borders without reacting?!"
Oskiol knew he was being watched carefully by his subordinates on the bridge. He thought for a second, then replied, "Admiral Aizan! I understand your fear, but we need all ships available who wish to help! Remember our numerical inferiority. These Eternals are a hasty, warlike people. If they wished us harm, they would have already opened fire. Therefore, it is clear they will ally with us. Don't forget that, according to the recent reports of the Secret Service, Azerof has used atomics on Era, their homeworld. We have a common enemy!"
Aizan's reply was slow in coming. "My orders are understood. I will obey. Only… I hope you know what you're doing, Grand Admiral."
Oskiol nodded, making sure to give a picture of dignified control to his subordinates. Then he turned to his communications officer. "Launch an open communication to the whole Federation fleet!" Once the light turned on, indicating an open channel, Oskiol said with authority, "Admirals of the Federation: do not fire! I repeat, do not fire!"
Oskiol himself was very impressed by the incredible amount of ships that the players had obtained. After all, the Eternals had possessed almost nothing several months ago, according to all the intelligence that the Secret Service had gathered during their full-time investigations. They'd assembled such an incredible force in such a short time!
But as ships kept arriving in an almost ceaseless stream, a problem became obvious in Oskiol's strategic mind: this fleet was as disorganized as it was huge. It would require careful leadership, but that leadership was clearly absent.
Even the Coalition of the Eternals, whose fleet consisted of over 125,000 ships (including three hundred destroyers and three cruisers), paled in comparison to the incredible mass of Eternals who were now present.
And it was even more incredible when one considered that all the most renowned players were already on Terra, rather than here! This was clearly an army of the people, closer to an armed mob than even a militia.
Grand Admiral Oskiol knew what he had to do. Someone needed to take the lead, and that "someone" must be him. The fate of the Federation—and the Eternals—was now in his hands.
So Oskiol opened a new open communication channel and broadcast a message to all the gathered ships.
"It is time, Comrades! Time to fight the evil empire of the traitor Azerof! Time to restore peace to the Federation! Time to throw down the infamous tyrant who has already killed billions of people throughout human civilization! I won't hide the truth: Azerof's fleet is extremely powerful. The losses we surely will suffer will be considerable. But if Azerof wins this war, no one will be safe ever again! Human, xeno, or Eternal: whatever your origin, today you fight as brothers! You die as brothers, for freedom and equality! Onward!"
Oskiol then ended the transmission and gave orders for the Icarus and the other ships in his own small fleet to enter hyperspace.
For a moment, everyone on the bridge held their breath. Would these insane Eternals really obey Oskiol when the moment of truth came? Would they really obey another member of the space nation which had given rise to Azerof himself, or would they turn on him and decide to do things their own way at last?
But then came a grandiose spectacle, nearly unimaginable to anyone who didn't see it with their own eyes: the rapid ignitions of the entire monumental fleet, like an aurora summoned out of the void, a manifestation of human-engineered chaos.
Then one ship, out of the millions that were gathered there, accelerated and darted into hyperspace.
