Were other players here to fish in troubled waters!?
That was Little Knife's first reaction when figures suddenly appeared across the dirt road, but he quickly reconsidered.
No, there weren't many players in the closed beta yet, only five hundred. Everyone ran into each other all the time. Even those who'd never dealt with us wouldn't do something so thankless.
The operation was public, and Little Knife hadn't invited only players from Mountain Tiger. In fact, he welcomed anyone from the other warbands who was willing to tag along and follow orders.
There were quests for everyone, and everyone could earn reputation and event merit points together. What was there to fight over?
So Little Knife's second reaction was that they had uninvited guests... these men were from the Restoration Army, rivals here to compete with the players for Bolas Fortress!
"Fire! Fire! Kill them!"
Little Knife barked the order. He was the first to swing the Flintlock off his back and into his hands, aim at a figure across the road, and pull the trigger. The gun fired.
One man who was still staring blankly at them dropped on the spot.
The gunshot snapped both the players behind Little Knife and the roughly equal number of Restoration Army soldiers opposite them out of their daze. Both sides reacted and launched ranged attacks.
The players all used Flintlocks, while their enemies used hand crossbows, exchanging lead balls for bolts.
After one volley, only one unlucky, unarmored assistant gunner among Little Knife's thirteen men had taken a bolt. Across the road, nearly half the dozen or so men had fallen where they stood, while the rest scrambled for cover.
After firing, Little Knife neither reloaded his Flintlock nor charged over to cut them down with his newly purchased Eight-Faced Han Sword.