Skyfall

“Chester to D28,” the screen reads, Jack perplexed at his opponent’s move. 

For the last two years, after getting home from school, Jack has thrown himself into Nations of Victorious Arms (NOVA), an online PvP strategic war simulator. His friend, Connor, introduced the game to him when it first came out. Back then, they played every night for at least three hours, those nights often filled with laughter. By the end of every session, not a single soul in their vicinity was awake. Darkness engulfed their rooms with their monitor screens being the only source of light left. As time went on, the game was overshadowed by other trending games, and now, Jack plays NOVA by himself.

He has played thousands of rounds of NOVA but has never once seen such a move. Not because it was good. But because it was desperate. If Jack was right, this player should have a few more battalions in their deck. At this rank (top 1% of the playerbase), most players would deploy battalions onto the west side of the city, forcing Jack to expend resources to counter the move. Either way, it didn’t mean much to him, a win is all he’s looking for.

“Skyfall on D28,” Jack selects. The screen plays an animation of a UFO floating over the chosen square, shooting a beam downwards. The Chester explodes. Jack’s kill count increases, a statistic to determine the winner if neither side earned a conclusive victory after exhausting their resources.

The game skips his opponent’s turn. And Jack, aside from his usual fifteen options, gets an extra choice: “cut off elixir supply.” This phenomenon is well documented by the playerbase and has been dubbed the “golden button.” These options are believed to appear at random towards the end of games. Their benefits are too good to pass by and with the opponent’s turn skipped, the golden button was indubitably the best option.

Without hesitation, Jack hovers his mouse over the option and selects it. Elixirs are generated through pumps built on specific parts of the map. However, eerily, the screen plays an animation of roads being blockaded. Again, Jack’s kill count increases. Then, again. And again. No moves have been made.

The opponent surrenders. A little confused, Jack examined the postgame statistics. 518 kills. Nothing out of the ordinary, it seems. Perhaps, a counting glitch. More importantly, the kill count is not bad considering that the game ended early. He would’ve loved to maintain his 800 killstreak though. How silly that game was, Jack thought. Mindlessly, he queues up another, bloodthirsty for his next victory.

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“What did you do last night? Surely, not gaming. It’s a Sunday night.” Connor asks as the two friends walk to school together.

“Spreading democracy,” Jack jokes.

Connor rolls his eyes, “of course, you were gaming.”

“By the way, I got a golden button. It made the guy surrender right away.”

“What is that? Never heard of it?”

“Right, you stopped playing a bit before it was added. It’s just an extra option they added to your playdeck to make the game more interesting. You should hop back on.”

“No way. I can’t believe you’re still playing that game. I heard weird stories about it. Some guy apparently _____ himself and left a note that said may god forgive me for my sins.”

“Can’t tell me you seriously believe that? You always joke about stuff like this.”

“Sorry, Jack, I can’t help but try to scare you a little. But I’ve seriously heard some f***ed up things to some of the people playing the game. That’s why I stopped.”

Their conversations shifted to schoolwork and the upcoming school dance happening at the end of the week.

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Mission Objective: defeat the gorilla warriors and secure elixir plants

The first move is to set up a base. It is best to choose a discrete location with higher ground. Since Jack is on offense, roads and avenues of transportation are most important. Most of the map is flat desert with not much cover. The best options are heavily armed vehicles and air assault options.

At the base, Jack spends science research points and metal resources to set up an airway. He secures an elixir pump from a nearby location. With this, he can manufacture skyfalls (his preferred air assault option).

The operation is simple. Destroy the bases of the gorilla warriors and take control of their elixir plants. And fortunately, it seems the gorillas are rather primitive. They don’t have many armed vehicles and mostly deploy foot soldiers.

Jack drags a few icons onto the map, the desert grid flickering with blue highlights as his vehicles roll out. He deploys two Leviathan Tanks at the east edge of the base perimeter. They are powerful but slow. For air coverage, he queues up a squadron of skyhawks, light jets that can scout and strike. With his secured airway and newly built elixir pump, production begins immediately.

The gorilla warriors, although underarmed, are nimble. From the southwest, a mass of red dots scatter across the minimap. Jack zooms in to see them: dozens of foot soldiers rushing forward, carrying homemade rocket launchers and makeshift shields of welded scrap.

Jack doesn’t waste time. He positions the Leviathans at D12, covering the approach, and commands a Skyfall bombardment two tiles ahead of the swarm. The desert explodes into a cloud of sand and flame. 153

Another wave of red dots rush Jack’s screen from the Northeast. This time, the gorilla fighters have five Soviet T-34s in their formation, lined up like a pointer. A wave of anger rushes through Jack. He has been deceived. Most of his troops have been stationed on the opposite of the map to counter the previous attack. However, that attack was just a decoy for the guerilla fighters to sneak around.

He orders his M4 Sherman to keep pushing Southwest. The oil is near. A victory for the nation. Jack drags icons onto the map to order the F-22 Raptors to regroup in the Northeast. Airstrike, he commands.

The gorilla warriors put up one last valiant stand. But it wasn’t enough. Jack pings the map to order the Leviathan Tanks to continue marching towards the elixir sights. The skyhawks pierced through the air searching for any prey. 813

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The next morning, as Jack drowsily pulls himself out of bed after another night of dozens of rounds of NOVA, he peeks at his phone. Oh, it’s a Monday. Below the time, he receives a notification of an article from the New York Times: “Airstrike on hospital, humanitarian aid attacked and looted during Vizil’s invasion of Pawa.” Jack doesn’t often read the news but he leaves the notifications on just in case something catches his eye. This article certainly did. But he quickly brushes it off as he’s late for school. These matters are way too out of his control anyway. Those who care too much about these things are delusional; spend time worrying about your life instead. More people would be employed if they weren’t busy virtue signaling.

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“Did you hear what happened on the news this morning?” Connor asked Jack as they warmed up for their P.E. class.

“Please tell”

“Apparently, we have declared war with Shrumail. They were bombed and 813 people died. People are speculating it is for their oil reserves.” Connor explains with a grave tone.

“How many people did you say?” A shiver runs down his spine.

“Eight hundred and thirteen.”

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During Vizil’s brutal invasion of Pawa, an airstrike struck a hospital, killing patients and medical staff, leaving the city in chaos. Humanitarian aid shipments meant for civilians were attacked and looted, worsening the suffering of thousands already trapped in the conflict. Jack, general of Vizil, has become infamous for orchestrating the assault, with reports attributing a staggering 518 confirmed kills to his command. Once a place of refuge, Pawa is now gripped by fear and devastation, as survivors struggle to find safety amid relentless violence and the collapse of essential services. The humanitarian crisis deepens daily.

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“Skyfall to C13.” Jack selects with his right hand, a potato chip on his left. 212

Jack’s eyes scan the chat bar: “please spare us.”

His mouth curved into a smile. “Skyfall to G8.” 313

The Leviathan Tanks battalion runs down the bases of the Pawas. The skyhawks roam the sky, so free, like democracy itself. The Pawains look so tiny from up there. Tiny red dots.

A message popped up in the middle of the screen. “Ceasefire.” No, Jack selects. Again. “Ceasefire.” No, Jack again selects.

Skyfall D13. Skyfall A2. Skyfall…

65,141.