“Hey guys, Fomalhaut07 here with an officer preview. This one's about Night Shift Lynissia. You knew that from the title though, though even if you didn't, who else would it be, because, like . . . you know.

“I'm gonna say upfront that you don't need her. You can use her, but you don't need her. For starters, for sure she isn't replacing Hillie, uh, that's Hilliarde, if you have him, but even if you don't, just look at your on-element options. Havamal, Lasva, Summer Inorrea, Sibyl . . . OK, but even if you don't have those, or all of them, which is a lot harder than having some of them, you've got three-stars like Youl, who's free, or Summer Nesetta, and if you're old you've got Christmas Hemt who's almost as good.

“Or . . . almost? Right now he might be better. I know some of you think she, that Lynissia, Eclipse Lynissia is a sign that Max HP Down's going to be a bigger deal in the future, like they'll have bosses with a bunch of Phoenix stacks and you'll want to use her, but I think if they do do that, they'll bring out other characters for it. And they'll bring back this one, too, so . . . yeah.

“And let's not forget with these Priority summons you're really going for two URs, and you're not going for Bel. You're just not. If you get him, fine, build and use him, but you're not going for him. So the value isn't there unless you get lucky, and even then. So that's the summary, so, uh, now I guess I'll talk about her skills.”

Electricity! Devices capable of running Commandment of Hero needed it to function. But also, the very air inside Freegate sizzled and crackled. Officers walked erect and alert to the Practice Ring, to Base Exploration and Monster Elimination, and to the Convoy Raid as if those were real content rather than dailies. Characters crisscrossing the carpet in the main hall sometimes stopped and stabbed the air with their swords or fans or whatever they wielded. Lasva ran around interviewing random passersby.

“Rylweadh! What do you think about this so-called 'rate up?' Does it even exist?”

“Speaking personally, I've seen no convincing evidence of it.”

“General Wakve! A question, General? What do you make of this theorized 'Desire Sensor?'”

“The very idea! If I suspected for a moment someone was going around sensing my desires, or anyone else's, I would have something to say about it. It simply isn't done.”

A wedding, a camping trip, the opening of a new jar of peanut butter. All of those are exciting. The very prospect of them creates anticipation. None of those compare, however, to the sure knowledge that a bunch of people are about to blow through unreasonable amounts of currency as fast as, or possibly faster than, they can afford. Except the wedding. Even the Rares threw off their usual surliness, though the new Vigilant Patrol mode might have been responsible for that. They somersaulted through the halls and chuckled at jokes nobody told. Strangest of all, they stopped scurrying under the furniture when they saw an Ultra Rare with that old delegation gleam in the eye.

“Cheerful, aren't we? I was told to expect your sort popping in and out, so go ahead and do your whatever it is you do. I will have to lock up early this evening, just so you know,” Castru said. He sat in the Armory guard chair with his suitcase beside him and a brochure from a Beruvian resort.

“Oh, I'm sure! It would be terrible if anyone missed the show. Why, have you seen the decorations? There's a banner hanging over the center seats, poles with pennons trailing from them, and just so much tinsel you have no idea. No idea at all. Isn't the artistic sense of a Beruvian queen something else? Of course, it probably took someone or someones a lot of work to set that all up. Everyone probably wants to thank them for their incredible patience and thoroughness,” Sindze U. Radalo said. Then she waited.

“I imagine so.” Castru also waited.

“Level 25 dagger! Let's get going. The others already left.” Dennet hoisted Sindze and walked out of the Armory, but her eyes never left Castru's or lost the steel of the dedicated compliment-fisher.

In the action zone, the Pirates were subjected to the oppressive might of level 25 green gear, which is a sentence the useful officers could never have finished without laughing, if they even understood it. Fighters in the position of Tiboleus the Experimenter or Jonathan Brightwater invariably developed a peculiar form of colorblindness that rendered them unable to perceive anything not red, purple, or gold. Comprehending numbers below 50 also became impossible. Medics were studying the phenomenon, but only the less useful ones.

“I'd like a Medic. Even one of the less useful ones, like Vinnette Melban,” Quille said.

“Only her Rarity holds her back,” said Ulrik.

“And how late she came in,” Dennet added. “There were too many better Medics by then.”

“Well, what a couple of gentlemen! It's not only your stats that are improving, hm? Any lady would be relieved to know there are still gallant officers out there who won't stand for any backbiting.”

“Just keep shooting, you bargain-bin Robin Hood. I offer you that little Reaper joke as a sign of my respect. I sometimes forget that Quille there managed to split the groups up so that the other one has two Storm DPS and our one Medic. The cause of my forgetfulness? That you dispatch these Pirates so viciously.” Dennet nodded in agreement with Ulrik's speech and started yanking hairs out of Quille Treten's prized beard.

“Stop that. It's needed for me to qualify as Santa. Don't blame me for trusting in Sindze's viciousness when I was right to do so.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean! You can really count on that when you plan your stratagems. How vicious Sindze is, is what I'm saying,” said Ipons Ulsrada.

Sindze looked unsure whether to condone the latest trend in praise or not, and Ulrik made use of her hesitation to switch topics. “I started developing stratagems too. A little while ago. Two days. I could use some examples from the experts, to learn. What's your dumb plan?”

“Oh, right, I mentioned that, but nobody was interested. It's based on a simple principle anyone can understand. See, you can't win a battle if you don't show up, and you can't hold territory if you aren't in it, right? Or at least nearby. I think it's the same with events and stuff like that. Think about polls. Theena was real popular early on, if you remember, and she even got a swimsuit alt, or a captain alt I guess. Solid Foundation! But Captain Theena wasn't great, so she was used less and less as more URs came out, Eclipses especially. And now it's like players forgot about her. Invigorating Design! But then, Gradis P. Dorenz, or he's Santa C. Dorenz now, he was never all that good, right? He's decent. But the writers put him in events all the time, they love using him, so he's stayed kinda popular forever. So my idea is that I should try to show up places where the attention is, like the recruitment tonight, or the main hall at login so everyone gets reminded I exist. In case something happens like the writers say, oh, we need a Strategist, we just used Aerywe, who else is there? It's me! I'm there.”

The other four were overwhelmed by the force of reason, unwilling in good conscience to argue or to try wiping the wide smile off his youthful face when everything he said sounded plausible. Quille said, “Not bad, not bad. I might try that too, but only after I'm all Fortified.”

“A 15% bonus to outgoing and incoming crit chance instead of 10%. Does that really matter, guys? When you think about it, like, I don't think they hand out costumes for that. Hey, stop living, you dumb Pirates!”

Ulrik planted his scimitar in the ground and leaned on it while waiting for the Pirates to regroup after Sindze's irresistible assault. “Players don't think. They look at an officer with no Fortification who isn't a UR and they ignore him. They pick the red one over the green one even if the set bonus is better. They don't use Strategist logic. They use Reaper logic, and that's why. That's the reason why I made a Reaper plan!”

“Oh!” Ipons started clapping and tried to whistle for a bit before he gave up on it. “Hey Ulrik, I changed my mind, can I come? I want to see a Reaper plan!”

“Of course. Reaper plans are made to be seen.”

“Great! Now watch this! City of Brick and Marble!” Marble statues and brick houses erected themselves around Ipons while he leapt in the air and raised one fist, giving all allies invulnerability against the next non-Nova attack, inability to Flinch one time, and Defense Up that stacked with Solid Foundation's for twelve seconds.

“Dennet, I will never accept this tardiness. Eight out of twenty? Three thousand out of eighteen? What out of what? We have to know.”

“Lmmgn.” Dennet pried Ulrik's hand off his mouth. “It's a three out of five. The city is impressive, but Ipons just looks like he picked a nice place to live. I don't get the sense that he's responsible for it. Even your basic fantasy fire AoE has that. And I'm not going to announce the grade every time.”

“Because you know you can't keep up with Reaper Nova rates? Admit it! Flames of Dovesk!”

“I give that a C out of SSS, so stop whining about it.”

“Do you two ever shut up?” Sindze asked. “At least give Quille a chance to say something, don't you think?”

“Found a bracelet.”

“See? Just think if we'd missed out on that news. I can't bear even to think about that kind of thing, can you? When you realize how much you'll never know?”

Meanwhile, the other group enjoyed a sober and friendly conversation about how much Reginald and Clyse wanted to be Eclipses. Tramda Olex and Burmin Trivvis allowed that they also would not mind getting Eclipse versions. Vinnette Melban's attention never wandered from her new Pirate Sword, leaving it unclear how she would react to becoming an Eclipse.

Castru watched both groups dash in an out of the Armory to get those numbers up. Normal, everyday Reapers started hitting numbers like 20,313 HP and 5,514 Attack, up from 1,470 and 324 or even 488 and 106 before their ambitions bloomed, which demonstrated just what kind of game Commandment of Hero was. Ulrik also made it to 281 Speed.

“I never had to care before,” Clyse said when the two teams met in the Armory. “Remind me how Speed works?”

“If one attack every 10 seconds is 0 Speed, then every 5 seconds is 300.” Castru was holding his copy of A Photographic Tour of Archens sideways to examine an eye-catching composition.

“I'm sorry?”

He placed his reading material on his lap and addressed Clyse. “Subtract your speed from 600. Divide the result by 60. That is how many seconds transpire between your attacks. If tank Champions ever attack, that is. Exceeding 420 Speed does nothing unless something on your Skill Star states it does in explicit terms. Harassers also are limited to 420 listed Speed, but their class bonus takes effect afterwards and raises it to 462 or 483, depending on Fortification.”

“I see! Thank you very much.”

“I find myself being in an Archens mood today, or else I might have charged for the consultation.” The seated Inferno Strategist smiled, but none of the Rares took that to mean he was joking.

“But then, I should be attacking a tad faster than every six seconds,” Quille Treten said.

“That is to be expected with your quality of gear, yes.”

“What troubles me is that I attack faster than that.”

“Surely you fight on triple speed.”

“Triple?! But six times three is, hold on, once every eighteen seconds! As bad as that tank game!”

Castru's smile remained, but none of the Rares took that to mean he was happy.

“Mechanics aren't for everyone,” Ipons Ulsrada opined as he and Ulrik shoved their tank out of the room. “The rest of us got it though. Nice lecture, Castru. Very clear. Bye!” The rest concurred and followed, leaving Castru to his lone vigil.

The Brenlond coast served as host to continued violence, more one-sided than ever as the Rares approached power levels similar to those the players had when they completed those early chapters. If anything, the Vigilant Patrollers ought to have outperformed near-launch parties that operated on full auto as soon as their players found the option.

“Barbed Arrow!”

“Inferno Strike!”

“Covering Advance!”

“Solid Foundation!”

“Cracking Bolt!”

“Drop some slivers already! Final Arrow!”

Except the Rares used all their skills and Novas on cooldown anyway, so it made no difference. Speaking of making no difference, Warp Enhancement Monthly may have been right about Warp Enhancement materials starting to drop in Chapter 4, but it was even more right about the drop rates. “Don't bother,” the Rares had not asked if it said, which it did. All their aggression had won them green gear, levels in the low 20s, and one or two Warpshaped Slivers each when they needed dozens for the first Enhancement stage.

Ending up more disappointed by their setbacks than delighted by their successes was what Rares liked to do, but not that day. Their spirits rose as the sun began to set, and they returned to Freegate so excited they feared the URs would notice.