War of Drekis:

Chapter 13:


Revelation



-----The galleons of Saramach moved across the ocean slowly; patiently approaching the shore as the torches along their sail-towers were lit with a bright green flame. The creatures occupying the ships could barely be seen, but their shrill cries could already be heard at the shoreline. Clouds of smoke immediately emerged from those fires, constantly masking the ships in a haze of pollution; though the purpose of such a charade was unknown to Captain Khazan since it hardly rendered them invisible. However, the sight was truly an ominous one: a giant black cloud floating over the ocean, steadily moving towards Raisa like a blight spreading across a valley.
-----The leader looked over the scene from the control tower; watching as pilots climbed into the cockpits of their mechs and as drivers pulled their long range cannon platforms onto the beach and across the docks. Raisa had once been a city so well known for its fine shopping, eateries, and Warf districts that it had become nothing short of a tourist attraction, but now it was clearly a militant area: every house near the north shore bordered by two or three combat vehicles while the finely crafted redwood docks cracked and trembled against all of the commotion. It pained Captain Khazan to see it come to this; to see such a beautiful location that had always represented the tranquility of Cretalia become its first battleground.
-----“Hours of inactivity,” the Captain said to himself as he shook his head, though his frustration provoked him to nearly shout the statement, “And after all of that…why now!? Why after we’ve mobilized? They had a perfect sneak attack before this…” he ended with a deep sigh, unable to think of any logical reason for the enemy tactics.
-----At a glance the Saramach appeared to be horribly outclassed; they were facing Khazan’s finest vehicles and war mechs while at the same time only bringing ancient galleons into the fray. Granted the strange warships looked eerily different from the standard ship of the sea, but they still gave off the look of something brittle and worn, like objects that had been in battle many times before but had never been repaired.
-----“Do you think they really intend to attack us with such a navy?” Natsumi asked as her ferret sikigami crawled atop her head, “I mean, it seems rather odd seeing as how we’ve managed to organize our defense.” The girl stood on the tip of her feet to stare over the wide control consoles and peer out of the window. The tower was high enough that she could see the entire vast sea opening up in front of her, though it was marred by the clouds that polluted the otherwise crystal blue waters.
-----“The child has a point,” Lex admitted, scratching his chin as if it were the only way he could think. “I still don’t like this. Captain Khazan, do any of the sensors pick up any additional information on those craft?”
-----“Nothing,” The Captain replied, “Even the composition of their hull is a mystery. They seem to be carrying little in the way of technology, so there isn’t much that our sensors have been able to detect.”
-----Shinsuke moved closer to the windows that looked over the city and peered into the ranks of the ships. The clouds that were spread across those dark hulls could not fool his senses; he was beginning to see them clearly now. “Legions of the undead,” he whispered coldly.
-----“What did you say?” Lara asked as she feverishly monitored the control tower readings. Dozens of electronic statements were appearing across the screen, informing military control of plans, authorizations, and readiness among the defense forces.
-----“They’re the legions of the undead,” Shinsuke repeated, “It’s just as the old story books say. The Empire of Saramach, perhaps one of the largest gatherings of the undead across Khazan or any other world. I can see them now, even through that cloud of smoke. Walking skeletons that look like they still have burning or rotting flesh falling from their bodies; some are dressed rather elaborately with some sort of red armor and bare helmets made from some kind of skull atop their head.”
-----“Your other senses besides your sight must be aiding you,” Captain Khazan remarked, “My sight is of a high caliber as well and yet the cloud dissuades me from seeing that many details. Tell me…what can you see of their weapons?”
-----“Much the same as their ships,” Shinsuke answered, “Swords, spears, axes, some of the oldest hand guns known to man.”
-----“Not much in the way of armaments,” Lara exclaimed, “But I wonder if everything is as it seems?” She flipped a few switches to modify the scanners and waited patiently for another sensor sweep to finish, but in the end she shook her head with a solemn frown. Absolutely nothing about them could be picked up, save for the fact that they physically existed there on the ocean waters.
-----Lexington placed a calm hand on Lara’s shoulder and glanced at the information flashing across the computer screens. Over three hundred counts of piloted mecha had listed themselves as ready for aerial takeoff while another group of one hundred and fifty automated mobile police mechs were on standby. At the very least they possessed the means and the numbers to strafe right through the enemy’s ranks. “This is all very convenient. It looks like we could obliterate them, but my own senses tell me this isn’t right. Saramach is known for magic right? Well then we don’t have many means of knowing exactly what they are capable of. For all we know those swords could be capable of shattering houses.” Cortelloni crossed his arms and spat into a nearby trash container with an annoyed groan, “Why don’t you stop wasting time and just have the machines fly out there and bomb them to hell? They’re certainly giving you the opportunity, for the love of God do something!”
-----“But why are they giving us the opportunity?” Lex asked, spinning around to confront Cortelloni, “They’re hiding something; that’s my guess.”
-----“For all you know it’s because they’re fools,” Cortelloni asserted, “Like you’ll be if you don’t do something quickly. Am I going to have to go out there and fight that whole fleet by myself because you’re all too lazy to get anything done around here? Because if that’s the case then I’m going to be very pissed off!”
-----“Yes your emotional state is very important to us,” Lex replied sarcastically as he walked over to Captain Khazan, “I would seriously advise holding the mech squadrons back until the enemy has shown what they’re made of.”
-----Captain Khazan nodded, “Agreed, but Cortelloni is right as well, we can’t do nothing while their fleet advances.”
-----Michael tugged his shirt out roughly and then folded his arms in frustration. “Well, in my humble opinion you’ve wasted your chance. You could have had first blood, but you’re all too frightened about your lack of information to take it. Now it’s too late. I think you’re being too soft ‘Captain,’ you should let the appointed military commanders give the orders and go back to organizing your little heroes. You may be afraid to make sacrifices, but I guarantee you those Generals down there aren’t.”
-----Shinsuke cracked his knuckles and approached the tower door without any apparent sense of urgency. “I’m going to go down by the shore to check things out for myself. Do whatever you have to do to defend the city Captain, I trust in your decisions.” Before waiting for a reply he threw open the door and jumped down several swirling stairways to swiftly land upon the ground beneath the tower.
-----“The ice man’s got some guts,” Cortelloni said, smirking in the direction of the swinging security door, “which is more than I can say for some of you.”
-----“We’ll be doing plenty of fighting I’m sure,” Captain Khazan retorted, “But War isn’t about heading into battle blindly. If you think you can make a better difference by going outside with him and joining the frontlines then by all means do so!”
-----“Ha, so the Captain actually barks some orders,” Cortelloni laughed.
-----“It’s a suggestion, not an order. I’m well aware of your stance on these issues Cortelloni!”
-----“Very well, then I’ll leave your little strategizing operation and go visit the sights of Raisa one last time. The frontlines don’t sound like a very entertaining place, so I’ll just hang out around the interiors of the city; oh, but if I come across any enemies I’ll be sure to take them out for you,” he said with a cocky smile and closed the door behind him.
-----“Now that that is settled,” Captain Khazan said, pointing to one of the soldiers sitting in the command tower communications station, “Open a channel to all military forces and all Sentinel heroes! Tell the mechs to hold their ground, but I want all long range cannons and mobile gunnery platforms on the beach and the docks to open fire as soon as the enemy ships are in range! Tell the heroes to be prepared for a fight if any of the Galleons make it to shore!”
-----“You plan to test them?” Lex asked curiously, “Their defenses I mean?”
-----“Exactly. Before we send the mechs out…let’s see just how their galleons stand up to modern firepower.”
-----“Thirty seconds until the ships are within range of our cannons!” A soldier’s voice reported through the comm.
-----Natsumi watched the cannons turning below, somewhat surprised at her own fascination in the weapons. Even after receiving the Sikigami and being designated as a hero, war was something that had never truly touched her young life. A part of her felt guilty for being there; as if she was too young and innocent to even look upon the spoils of war in such a fashion. And yet, at the same time there had been this growing feeling within her that she wanted to do more for them…for Captain Khazan, Uberman, and Shinsuke. Indeed, ever since her conversation with Shinsuke she had become more conscious of her status as a hero. She still hated the fact that she had been forced to make a decision to live this life, but somehow she began to feel drawn to the kind of life that Shinsuke and the others lived.
-----The Sentinels of Liberty and Justice…perhaps one day she would be among them; alongside Shinsuke and honored by all the people of Khazan. It all seemed too big for a little girl like her. But then again, she wouldn’t be a little girl forever; it dawned on her that she had given little thought to her future ever since she left her village. Perhaps she was reaching a point in her life where she was beginning to change, to imagine where she would be in the next few years.
-----From this vantage point even the mighty mecha and tanks looked like toys moving across the city streets, but among all of the tiny specs of soldiers one particular figure caught her eye. It was Shinsuke—he had already reached the docks and was quickly making his way towards the beach. That man who had always seemed so distant and harsh to her proved to have a sense of resolve that she began to admire—maybe even envy. For him to move to the frontlines, to be willing to fight so readily; it was the stuff of fairy tales.
-----Natsumi suddenly became aware of the piddling footsteps atop her head as the ferret began to cling on the front strands of her hair and hang down to look at her in the eyes. With a gasp she quickly grasped the little critter and prepared to throw it down to the ground, but in mid-swing she stopped and gently held the ferret in front of her.
-----Its head tilted slightly; it looked at her curiously as she stared back at it, pondering things that she would have never dreamed of just a year ago.
-----“Ten seconds until within firing range!” The voice updated.
-----“Moment of truth,” Lexington said, his eyes focused on the cloud, “now let’s see if these Saramach guys are even half as dangerous as the Drekis legions.”
-----“Enemy within range!” a voice shouted.
-----The control tower shook slightly as cannon-fire immediately followed the announcement. The thunderous roar reverberated throughout the city. Even the waves of the ocean seemed to leap up and crash against the approaching ships in response to the deafening booms.
-----Single and Double-barreled cannons fired simultaneously and then began delivering consecutive shots against designated targets. The shells and explosive artillery flew out like fireballs, arching high into the sky and then falling down upon the enemies like lightning. The entire crowd of soldiers cheered with one proud voice as they watched the artillery take flight; eagerly awaiting their imminent victory.
-----A flash swept across the docks, piercing everyone’s eyes and causing a startled commotion of confusion. Bright lights appeared over the galleons as the shots fell down and exploded several meters in front of the hulls. A pulse resounded and the shockwaves of the blasts stroked against illuminating images of rippling light.
-----The smoke that had slightly veiled the ships began to disperse as the shots increased their voracity; firing again and again upon the approaching vessels. Not a single target escaped the wrath of at least five coordinated assaults, but the result was the same. The smoke was being chipped away little by little, but as it disappeared it only became clear that some sort of ominous light was blocking the firepower.
-----“Not a single hit,” Lara reported, doing her best to take in the information on each fired shot, “it looks like they have all detonated prematurely. I’d say they have a force field of some kind.”
-----“But we detected no shields when we scanned them,” Captain Khazan remarked, “So then, it must be a magic barrier. Well, we’ll see how their magic stacks up against the Khazan military. Order all supporting batteries to join the attack!”
-----Within moments the military forces were releasing bright lights of their own. The silver, circular-shaped Short-wave Particle Accelerators joined the fray, humming like engines as they charged up and then firing their blasts across the sea. The surface of the water parted as the initial wave shots skipped over the ocean and collided with the nearest galleons, but again those barriers appeared and the impacts dissolved against them.
-----The explosions became chaotic as the attacks grew more numerous but the galleons continued on their voyage unscathed; the barriers showing no sign of wavering. Captain Khazan covered his mouth with his right hand and slowly wiped the sweat from his chin as he watched the scene unfold. Whatever magic this was, it was no ordinary barrier.
-----“What do we do now?” Lexington broke the silence. He looked to the surrounding soldiers for answers but all he received were scurrying attempts to communicate with the military commanders down below. “At their current speed, those ships will reach the beach in another ten to fifteen minutes. As someone who has dealt with a lot of different magic’s in the past, I’d have to say that those barriers are immune to conventional weaponry.”
-----“I agree,” Captain Khazan said, looking at the soldiers worriedly, “but if that’s the case, then there’s not much the military can do here. Not now at least. Perhaps we should pull the long range artillery back and tell the Sentinels to move in. I know we have at least a few magic users on our team today—I don’t know if it will be enough, but it’s better than nothing.”
-----“Sir,” a soldier interrupted as he held a headphone to his ears, “I’m getting a request from General Alvion!”
-----“Go ahead with it,”
-----“He’s requesting that you return military command of the Cretalia forces back to him, and that you personally take command of the Sentinels groups. He says he plans to utilize an attack strategy involving the mech-anized units.”
-----“Do you really think it’s wise to let the mech’s go out into combat with them?” Lara asked. “Based on what I’ve been seeing here none of the weapons aboard those mechs are going to get through the barriers. That and we don’t know the power of their weapons yet.”
-----“The pilots could be in danger, that’s true,” Lexington pondered, “but considering how close they are to shore we might have to try throwing everything at them. It wouldn’t hurt to have some cover fire if we’re really planning to rely on whatever magic the Sentinels have up their sleeves.”
-----“I may be a member of the Sentinels,” Captain Khazan said, turning away from the image of the approaching ships, “but General Alvion is a great man and true soldier of the Khazan military. I have the utmost faith and confidence in his abilities, so there is no reason for me to decline his request. Control of the military was never something I wanted, merely an extra responsibility placed on the high-ranking Sentinels when Elwin established the plan of action with the army. Let him do as he sees fit—he probably knows how to use the forces more competently than I do.”
-----“And what will you do?” Lexington said.
-----“I’ll return to doing what I do best…being a hero of the Sentinels. I’ll take the lead of all the Sentinels we have positioned here. Somehow, someway, I’ll work up a plan to get past that barrier. If I can do that, then I have no doubt in my mind that General Alvion and our soldiers can defeat them.”
-----“Valiant until the very end eh?” Lexington stated as he put his hands into his pockets and cracked his neck to one side, “I never will understand why the Sentinels always act so gung-ho about everything. But nevertheless…good luck.” He loosely mimicked a salute and nodded towards the Captain.
-----“Luck huh?” Captain Khazan said with a smile, “well then, same to you. Don’t think that I haven’t felt honored to fight alongside the Maniacal Heroes.”
-----“Hey now, those sound like ‘good-bye words’ Captain. I expect to see you being the one to hold the flag of victory in the air when this is all over.”
-----Lara spun around in her chair to face the two men and put her arms behind her head in a relaxed fashion, “Well, the moment is getting tense, and here you two are getting riled up for action.”
-----“C’mon Lara,” Lex replied, “You know how I like a good fight,” he threw a punch into his own palm and clenched his fingers around his fist.
-----“Yes I know, no matter what the stakes. I intend to do my share as well…but, it could get quite dangerous here, so you might want to…” she turned the chair slightly to look towards the back of the control tower but saw nothing there.
-----“Natsumi!” Lara shouted suddenly, jumping up from her chair.
-----“What is it?” Captain Khazan asked. As he stared at the empty wall he became aware of what was missing. “The child! Where is the girl, Natsumi?"
-----“Looks like we were too busy looking out the window to notice,” Lex stated, pointing his hand towards the door, which was just a little ajar.

---2---
Revealed History

-----The golden doors opened without so much as a creak and revealed to Tim an elaborate room filled with some of the most expensive furniture and decorations that he had ever laid eyes upon. Despite the fact that Queen Relissan’s entire house was quite extravagant, this room by far held the most grandeur—and yet the room was also darker and more depressing when compared to the gold-trimmed halls that he had walked down just a few moments earlier.
-----Here he saw dark, non-royal colors that contrasted with the bright reds and purples that he had seen in the carpets and wall coverings of the previous rooms, and the ceiling—which was filled with an entire painted image, much like the roof of the room he had woken in—showed an image that expressed battle, loss, and torment. Once again the images somehow conveyed these things to him while the content remained a mystery; dark figures that he couldn’t recognize were engaged in some sort of combat, but it was a deeper understanding of the imagery that he felt—on the surface of it all he could make nothing of it.
-----His wonder of the Queen’s chambers had almost taken his attention away from the Queen herself, who sat waiting for him at the edge of a bed decorated in dark blue covers and sheets. It was of a rather modest size for a person of such high esteem and the covers were messy and wrinkled as if she had recently been sleeping.
-----Tim was surprised at how young the woman looked; he had always imagined that someone holding the title of Queen would be elderly lady, going with the idea that age brings wisdom and experience. On the other hand, many different species and demi-humans aged differently, so it was possible that the Queen was not native to Khazan. By all appearances though the Queen was human; she was rather small at no more than five feet five inches but very well proportioned and mature looking. Groups of light-red hair fell around her face; it was a truly striking color, like true flame that flowed from her head down to her shoulders. Several strands of the hair were clumped together into many curls near the edges that covered her forehead and nearly concealed a golden circlet that was embroidered with shining green emeralds. A royal, red gown flowed loosely over her body while dark, gold-trimmed crests covered her shoulders. She sat with a dignified posture but smiled warmly, showing no sign of superiority towards him as he approached her.
-----His first thought was to kneel and show some kind of respect, although he was unaware of Axian customs regarding meetings with the Queen. He lowered his head was stopped as the young queen raised her hand and shook her head.
-----“There is no need for you to be so formal,” she said with a soft, almost alluring voice, “I called you here so that we could have a private discussion about something very important; so don’t feel pressured into treating this so officially.”
-----Unaware of how to respond, Tim dropped his hands to his side and waited for to say something…anything, but she seemed content to look upon him in a way that made him nervous. He locked eyes with her unintentionally and blushed as her smile grew. Suddenly the one unworldly feature of the Queen became apparent: her eyes were a bright yellow and beamed like jewelry. The very sight of them provoked him to lose himself in their reflective power, but her soft voice brought him back to reality.
-----“So, you are Tim Shinestar,” she said, “Tim Sarachus…at last I meet you face to face.”
-----Tim stuttered horribly as he tried to reply; that name that sounded so familiar made his head throb with a jolt of pain, but only after he had recovered did he realize that she had called him by that strange word. “Sarachus?” he repeated the word exactly as she had said it, “Why did you call me Sarachus, my name is…”
-----“Because that is your proper name,” Queen Relissan exclaimed, “It is your birth name to be exact, but I’m sure you were never aware of that. Your mind aches…that is because you recognize that name; you were so young when it was changed, but you can’t help but remember the title of your bloodline.”
-----“Wait…” he began but found himself lost in the traffic of thoughts that flooded his mind. “I…what exactly are you trying to say to me? Listen, Queen…”
-----“Please call me Amanda.”
-----“What was that?”
-----“Amanda. That is my first name.”
-----Although formality had always been a tedious thing for Tim to cope with it was unnerving for her to establish such friendly relationship when he barely knew her. “Alright then, Amanda, I’m not sure why you think you know so much about my family, but that’s beside the point. You asked for Tiara to bring me here, and I…I know I’ve never met you before, so I…”
-----“You have a lot of questions,” she completed his thought, “and that is understandable. Perhaps it would be easier for you if you just came out and asked them.”
-----Tim put his hands on a nearby table and took a deep breath, “Alright, I will. Why me? Why did you send Tiara to get me of all people?”
-----“That’s a peculiar question isn’t it? I’m sure many would be confused about being sent for by a person they have never known, but I should think that one would be honored to be called upon by the Queen of Axia.”
-----“This isn’t about that…it’s…”
-----“You don’t think you’ve done anything worthy of my attention? Is that it? Young timothy, you really shouldn’t belittle yourself so. You should know that I am a very direct and confident woman, so rest assured that when I selected you to be brought here I knew exactly what I was doing.’
-----‘I called you here because I want to talk to you about an important operation I have planned for the war effort. Currently our enemies, the Drekis legions, are establishing an occupation force throughout Xaelon. When it is completed and Araelis, too, is occupied, they will be nothing to stop them from attacking my own State-Kingdom. To add to all of this, it would appear that the Empire of Saramach from the North Continent have allied themselves with Drekis as I had foreseen. If we are to survive this war, it is necessary that we stop Drekis before his power grows even further.”
-----“And you have a plan to do this—to stop Drekis?”
-----“Drekis…is not entirely unknown to me. I can tell you at least this much: that his army is limitless, and that his minions will continue to spread and thrive as long as he is alive. The Drekis Empire may consist of many, but only one person is essential to it all: Drekis himself. If you kill Drekis, then his empire will not survive; they would lose their power and disappear from this universe to be long forgotten. If Drekis is left alive however, then I can tell you that his armies cannot be defeated. Even if you achieve one victory, two, or a dozen, as long as he lives his armies will become more powerful and more determined. They will continue this war until we simply can’t fight it anymore. These constant battles in the cities of Khazan, while necessary to protect out way of life, are ultimately meaningless.’
-----‘Therefore, I have enacted a plan that would involve sending a small but powerful group of our worlds finest into the heart of Drekis’ territory. This would not be a battle of armies, but rather an attempt to infiltrate his hive fortress unseen and destroy the Chaos Avatar himself. I had Tiara bring you, Timothy Sarachus, because without you the operation cannot be a success.”
-----“Without me? But I…”
-----“I know what you are going to say Timothy, and this is not about comparing you with champions like Uberman or Tanin. This is about something much more; something about you that you would never have imagined. And I’m here to tell you that if Drekis is to be killed, then you need to be among the heroes that are sent into the lair of the demon himself.”
-----Tim began to step back and forth nervously, unable to accept the words that he was hearing. “This is…too much for me to understand. I need to know…what I need is to know why! Not why I’ve come here, not what I’m supposed to do on this mission of yours! I need to know what it is about me that makes me so special; why do I have to be the one to kill Drekis!?”
-----“I could tell you much more,” Amanda replied calmly, “but I’m not sure how you would react. Some of it was perhaps not meant to be known until you reached a proper age. As you are now you may not be capable of fully grasping who you are; however, the situation has changed now that Drekis is here. I need you to be on the team that gets sent into the hive fortress; if not to fulfill my request than to at least fight as a member of the Sentinels.”
-----“It is true that I am a Sentinel now, and I plan to do my part to fight against my enemies,” he paused and shook his head; his eyes were almost tearing for some reason, “but I’m not the one to depend on for fighting someone like Drekis. I took…one look at the Drekis army back in New Xaelis and I lost control of myself, nearly got myself killed! In the frozen wastes I charged forward…with all the courage I had and yet I still shook inside with fear! And when I unleashed this…this energy that people talk about I can’t remember anything about it—I was still exhausted from the whole ordeal until a few minutes ago!’
-----‘Now I know this is all temporary; that I’m young and inexperienced…my girlfriend assured me that it was all part of becoming a hero in the beginning. But nevertheless that tells me that I’m not ready to accept this kind of responsibility. If I can be of any help with this operation…then so be it, but if you want someone to fight against someone terrible enough to create and command that army then you should talk with Tanin or the leaders of the SLJ.”
-----He turned to leave; satisfied that he had vented all of his frustrations. It felt wrong to shun her hospitality so suddenly, but the thought of facing or even seeing Drekis was already making his body tremble. He was not ready to face such an enemy; he could barely handle the war as it was.
-----“I knew your father,” Amanda said quietly as his hand touched the doorknob. His hand froze in mid-turn and he stood without movement, waiting for her to continue, “You are so much like him—physically you remind me so much of him, but he was also very uncertain of himself when he was young.”
-----Tim turned around, his eyes stinging from the tears that tried to escape. Why was he crying? The tears seemed to come even though he felt no sadness, only shock. “You knew my father? I’ve…I’ve talked with dozens of people who knew him on the surface, but I’ve never found anyone who knew him beyond that; never anyone who could tell me anything about the man that he was, or the father that he was.”
-----“I see,” she said with a solemn tone, “Yes I knew him. He was a dear friend to me. Sadly I did not know your mother as well as I did him. We were not born on Khazan originally; we lived a long, happy life elsewhere in the sea of stars. For a while anyway. You were not born on Khazan either; your father brought you here at a very young age—about the same time that I came here in fact. It’s no surprise that you don’t remember, seeing as how young you were at the time.”
-----Tim moved towards her, suddenly feeling more comfortable with her words, “I wasn’t born on Khazan,” he whispered. He looked down at the floor almost in shame, “so that is why I have always felt different here.”
-----Amanda tilted her head to look up into his eyes once more, “Does that upset you so much? Much of Khazan’s population was born on another world, and even those who were don’t necessarily have their family’s roots in the nexus of all realities.”
-----“It’s not that,” Tim said, wiping away his tears and cracking a brief smile, “It’s just that I always felt that I came from somewhere else, but I never had any way of knowing you know? When I was young…the only time I knew my father, I was far too young to be thinking about things like that. By the time he disappeared…it was too late to ask him where we came from, what had happened to my mother. I’ve never known…until now.”
-----“Your father was a great man, and he hated having to leave you,” she raised herself from the bed and walked over to him, gently placing her hands upon his shoulders, “but he felt that it was too dangerous for you to go with him, so that is why he left you here, on Khazan.”
-----“My father…left me?” Tim said, his head still down and his eyes shifting to stare into the corner.
-----The Queen touched his chin with a single finger and lifted his head up to face her, “Your father loved you very much, and he never would have wanted to leave you. He came to Khazan to give you a life worth living, and he left Khazan to help ensure that you could live that life. He went to participate in something that is known as the War of Oblivion’s Fall, a conflict that took place far from Khazan. Few people on the nexus know of that war, but there were some heroes who left the planet, believing that it was their duty to assist those in need, even if it wasn’t on Khazan. Many of them never returned…including your father.”
-----“But why? Why did he leave to fight in this war?”
-----“Your father fought in that war because…it involved Drekis, and your father believed that it was time to settle something—he wanted to make sure that Khazan would never suffer the same fate that our home suffered.”
-----“My father, had connections to Drekis?” Tim asked. The very notion was unthinkable. Even if he had been Drekis’ enemy, to believe that his father was entwined with such a vile and hated being was staggering.
-----“Well…as far as connections are concerned, perhaps I was closer to Drekis than he was.”
-----“You know Drekis as well? But how…?”
-----“I am far older than I look,” Amanda responded, “and the history of your father, myself, and even Drekis goes back a long way. I dare not tell you everything, it would be…far too taxing on me. But you must believe me when I tell you, that Drekis can’t be killed by anyone on this planet—except for you.”

---3---
Mobile Police

-----Jennifer Chase yawned and fell back into her chair, gladly smashing herself into the cockpit seat with enough force to jettison all of the air out of her in one great release. She carefully looked at her fingers as she rested her feet upon the mecha dashboard; all of her skin was littered with dust and grime.
-----Disgusted, she quickly wiped her hands across her pants and then wiped the sweat from her forehead. She suddenly remembered that she was still in uniform, but at the moment she didn’t really care. What was a little dirt to a Khazan mobile police officer? It was certainly nothing compared to what she had been through.
-----The Mobile Police had been involved in rigorous battles ever since the war had kicked off in Axia. They were the elites of the Khazan police department—to such an extent, even, that their reach and jurisdiction sometimes extended beyond Khazan City itself—and although their action in the war took a back seat to the trained military of the Khazan government, they were still expected to fight on the frontlines.
-----Mobilization of the KMP had been a little slow for Chase’s taste; as it was, she and her mechanized partner Metalneck had been prepared to go into battle from the very beginning but that was not to be the case. Few Mobile Police officers and their MARS units had been able to fight in Xaelon, where a great deal of the combat had begun, but for Chase and Metalneck the start of the war would be in Araelis.
-----The fights had certainly been far rougher than she had anticipated. She had gone into battle with a certain eagerness—she had always enjoyed fighting class-A threats with Metalneck, and to make matters worse she had just recently recovered from some injuries that had put her off duty temporarily—but although she had survived each battle with a bright smile Metalneck did not necessarily go unscathed.
-----Rarely had Jennifer spent so much time repairing Metalneck on her own. She had been working with the artificially intelligent mech for years now, and she knew the schematics of a MARS-550 like the back of her hand. Unfortunately, that didn’t make constant maintenance any easier, or any less tiresome. Even small skirmishes with the enemy would result in at least a few scratches and weapon malfunctions that would need to be corrected at the end of the day.
-----“I think that’s everything I needed to do pal,” she said in a tired voice, yawning once again. “Man I think that was the most rigorous repair yet.”
-----“I apologize for the inconvenience,” Metalneck’s artificial voice echoed throughout the cockpit, “and I do thank you for all of your hard work.”
-----“Don’t worry about it,” Chase responded, wiping some more sweat from her hair. She gave a small compartment on the cockpit roof a few knocks and it quickly responded by dropping down to reveal a small mirror. Her hair had become dirty as well, probably as a result of having to repair the interior circuits of the right arm. She shook her head wildly and was pleasantly surprised to see most of the dust fall straight off; her brunette strands recovering their youth as the grays dropped to the bottom of the cockpit.
-----‘This is a mutual relationship you know,” she continued as she sat back and relaxed, “I wouldn’t have survived most of what we’ve been through together unless I had your support. Whether I’m piloting your or your operating on your own, you’ve done a lot to watch my back when we’re in these kinds of situations. The least I can do is make sure you’re running properly after all these battles.”
-----“It is rare for me to participate in combat so frequently…or at least in such a large scale,” Metalneck stated.
-----Jennifer sighed, “Yeah, there were at least six thousand yesterday. We’ll be lucky if there aren’t any attacks today. These Drekis guys are a little too relentless for my tastes…probably have to do more repairs on you by this time tomorrow. Speaking of which, check your weapons systems for me; it would be a pain to do all that work and miss something along the way. You can never be too careful you know.”
-----“Quite right Officer Chase,” Metalneck beamed in response. “My scans indicate that the Positron Rifle is functioning properly; 70mm short-ranged cannons and gatling autocannons fully loaded and all Missiles and Napalms replenished. No errors detected in KOM-ium armor platings.”
-----“You’re all set then,” she said with a smile. She closed her eyes and covered the main dash-screen with her feet. “I’m going to take a little rest while I still can; please fall in line with the other units until we receive further instruction.”
-----“Sure thing.” The Mars-550 strolled down the city streets of Riverwatch gently, making sure not to crack the pavement under its weight. Metalneck’s head swerved slightly as it scanned the area and found several fellow MARS units in a circular formation around the city central plaza.
-----“I have taken up position with the other units Jennifer…although I must say, is it really a good idea for you to relax at such a time. I believe intelligence had stated that the enemy may be intending to move towards Arael at any moment.”
-----“You know how I like to take it easy,” she answered, opening one eye to look at the flashing lights on the console, “Besides, there’s not much else I can do but wait. The Drekis armies are too chaotic and unpredictable; one minute they’re telling us that they’re going to head for the capital, but then they go and attack East Matriach City. And now they tell us that they’re uncertain of their next target, but we have to wait here in Riverwatch simply because of the potential.”
-----“I’d say the recent attacks here make it look certain that something big is going to happen in Riverwatch,” Metalneck said, “And I think it will happen soon.”
-----“I here ya partner,” Jennifer smiled, “But who knows? We’ve dealt with several skirmishes over here and they haven’t led to anything big so far. It’s kind of frustrating…not knowing what the enemy is doing. I wish we knew more about them so that we could do our usual thing; you know, the way you and I would always be on the offensive side of things.”
-----“Perhaps if we knew exactly where their base is located,” Metalneck suggested.
-----“Whatever it is we need, we need it now. We need to launch an offensive counterattack that will lift Khazan’s spirits. I’m tired of seeing peaceful cities like this one suffer because of these attacks.” She looked out of the open cockpit and caught site of several transport trucks stopping in the middle of the plaza. The back doors flew open and dozens of armed soldiers spilled out. It appeared that more Khazan military officers were arriving with each passing day.
-----Riverwatch was a relatively small city even when compared with the smaller areas of the other state-kingdoms—certainly it wasn’t even worthy of being called an ant when compared with Khazan City itself—but it was steadily growing. It was the first city to have been constructed in Araelis since Vincentzo Maiinverno had become the governing ruler, so it was quite elaborate in design but modestly populated.
-----Jennifer had often gone into the Khazan Police Department headquarters to chat with her old friends from when she was just a regular officer—she had not always, of course, been a part of the mobile elite—and had overhead some conversations from officers that had been stationed here describing it as a “piss-ant town.” Although vulgar it was perhaps accurate to a small extent: it was certainly more of a town than a city in its current condition. It was, however, a unique bridge across the Falcon River which ran through both Xaelon and Araelis. The river itself ran underneath the city, flowing through the sewers which were a rather impressively designed canal-works area.
-----The city was of such a small stature that the Drekis legions would normally have no desire to bother with it; except for the fact that it lied directly between the Drekis army and the Araelis capital.
-----Jennifer sat up and stretched her arms above her head as she noticed the rooftops of the buildings filling up with soldiers. Watching the young men run into place as their commanders yelled out their orders reminded her of her days at the academy when she had been training for her Mobile police position. She had often been curious as to how different the military was from the KMP; of course it had to be more difficult and more demanding, but certainly it was an honor worth the initial pain. Several of the police officers she knew were, in fact, military veterans who had served anywhere from two to ten years and they had always made being in the armed forces sound like a privilege.
-----The mobile police, though, were just right for Jennifer. After all, leaving the KMP would mean leaving Metalneck behind, and over the years she had grown quite attached to the sixteen foot mech.
-----Something else among the scurrying soldiers caught her eye: a man clearly dressed in something other than a military costume strolled onto the Riverwatch plaza factory rooftop. A thin red cape was wrapped loosely around his neck almost like a scarf and his clothes appeared to be made of regular cotton but hugged his muscular build tightly. As the wind picked up and the cape waved like a flag she caught sight of the SLJ emblem on its back; it was hard to see because of the waving fabric but she could never be mistaken about that particular symbol.
-----“A hero,” she said quietly, “We haven’t seen one of those around here since…well, since we first arrived. Maybe we do have something big going on.”
-----“He appears to be the only Sentinel in the area,” Metalneck reported, “and my sensors also indicate that soldiers are carrying high-yield platform energy cannons up to the roof.”
-----“They want to turn Riverwatch into an armed fort?” she pondered, a suspicious glow in her eyes. “Hey Metalneck, sit tight for a while, I’m going to go check up on things myself.”
-----“If you say so,” Metalneck replied, sounding a little disappointed. The mech kneeled down to the ground gently and released a small cable that fell down from the cockpit.
-----Jennifer stood to her full height within the chamber and stretched once more; once she was sure she had all of her energy restored she quickly jumped out of the cockpit and slid down the cable. It was a rather dangerous way to exit a mecha cockpit, but Jennifer had had enough experience at it to make it look like child’s play.
-----Even though she was a little tired it felt good to have her feet touch solid ground—perhaps if she had enough time she would take a quick jog around the city to get her pumped up for whatever the day would bring. After all the day was passing by slowly; it was still mid-afternoon, at least a few hours before the sun would even reach the horizon.
-----It was problematic to try and get past the hurrying soldiers who were coming up and down the stairs of the buildings continuously. Most of the buildings that the soldiers were using had once been residential apartment complexes, which had of course been evacuated days ago. Even in the Riverwatch factory, though, it could become quite crowded. Metalneck had been quite right about the cannons being moved up to the rooftops; she found herself often waiting at the base of the stairways while a number of men carried the heavy equipment up.
-----When she finally reached the rooftop the Sentinel had his back to her, apparently gazing at the distant land of Araelis with some sort of binocular device. Gracefully she moved in and out of clumps of soldiers who were gathered across the rooftops and made her way to the edge where the man was standing.
-----“Excuse me sir,” she said with a sort of salute, treating him almost as if he were her superior. Although he was a Sentinel, and therefore not a part of the military or the KMP, it had become common to treat them as such ever since the war had begun. Since Elwin D’Larthi, a former hero, had become vice-president of the planet there had always been a fine line between the Sentinels and the armed forces during military times.
-----The man lowered the binoculars and turned his neck to look down at her. He was quite a tall man; she had misjudged his stature when she had noticed him back in Metalneck’s cockpit, for he stood head and shoulders above her. His face was middle-aged but bold and chiseled with a neatly trimmed beard of black hair covering only his chin and upper lip. “Is there something I can do for you,” he said, obviously not recognizing her, although he turned his entire body around to face her once he took notice of the gleaming badge on her uniform.
-----“I’m Officer Chase of the Khazan Mobile Police,” she said with a smile, extending her hand out, “I’ve always been quite fascinated with the heroes of the SLJ, seeing as how we tend to deal with the same kind of class-A criminals.”
-----“Is that so,” the man returned the smile and the handshake, “Yes I have heard of you Miss Chase; in fact, I’ve heard that you’re one of the best of the best among the crowd of Mobile Police stationed here…maybe even among all of the officers.”
-----“I’d hardly say that,” she said with a laugh, “although I’d like to think Metalneck and I try our best. Anyways, I was curious as to why there’s been such a commotion recently…is there anything the mobile police should know about?”
-----The man handed her the binoculars and pointed out to the distance where Jennifer could see nothing with her own eyes. “We were planning to hold a formal meeting with the KMP right after we assessed the situation, but since you’ve taken the initiative we might as well inform you first so that you can pass the word on to the rest of the pilots.’
-----‘My name is Gaiden, and as you know I’m with the Sentinels of Liberty and Justice. The SLJ have become quite taxed recently because of battles in Xaelon and now Cretalia, but since Araelis is governed by a fellow Sentinel we are doing our best to try and defend the capital from the Drekis legions. I was sent here by Maiinverno himself to oversee a defensive operation to prepare for what we believe to be a final attack on the capital; we have feared this for some time now, but in each case that we anticipated such an attack the enemy would always choose another target.”
-----Jennifer nodded as she put the binoculars up to her eyes, “I understand. And it forced you to keep sending out more of your defensive teams out into skirmishes with the enemy.” The binoculars gave her a crisp and clean image of the distant forests and grasslands ahead of her, but she saw no indication of danger.
-----“That may all change now,” Gaiden continued, “If you’ll turn on the thermal scanner I think you’ll see what I mean.”
-----She felt around the edge of the device and felt a small turning lever which she twisted until the scanner clicked on. The resulting image was a mass of red heat sources far in the distance, probably beyond West Matriarch City. As such they were only small blips on the scanner, but there were many of them.
-----Gaiden extended his hand out to take the device back and then used them to stare at the disturbing image again, “You see, we have proof of a large army amassing. This will be an attack larger than any of the other ones that were launched in Araelis before.”
-----“So they’re really going to attack the capital this time,” Jennifer said to herself as she looked up at the sky. The clouds were becoming dark and grey; a foreboding storm warning.
-----“It’s worse than we thought though,” Gaiden huffed. “Maiinverno didn’t anticipate this…not to this degree at least. If they head for the capital now they’re going to rip through Riverwatch like it never existed in the first place.”
-----“What are you trying to say?” Jennifer asked, raising an eyebrow, “It’s almost like you’re saying we should abandon Riverwatch.”
-----“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” Gaiden said, looking at her seriously. “We may have been able to defend it vigorously over the past four days, but this will be an attack that we can’t defend against…not here anyway. The cannons that the soldiers are setting up are automated models, designed to be our first line of defense which will hopefully cut down some of their numbers before they reach Arael.”
-----“Wait, wait, wait,” Jennifer shouted, holding her hands out, “Just what kind of numbers are we talking about here. Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Thirty?
-----Gaiden tried to hold back his laughter as he grabbed hold of his waving cape and threw it around his neck. “I’d like that. No, I’m afraid it’s more like eighty thousand at the moment.”

---4---
The Blade’s Voice

----- Tim sunk into the velvet red cushion of the nearest chair and slowly drew his sword from the sheath; he looked at the finely crafted blade as if he had never laid eyes upon it before. It meant something different to him now; represented something that he had never realized before this very day.
-----He let the sheath fall to his feet and held the blade out in front of him. Within that cold steel he gazed at his reflection; it was an image he barely recognized. He knew the shape, the color, and the build of his features, but to him he was now looking at a stranger. As everything that he had learned began to sink into his thoughts his identity became clearer, but still he perceived only half of his reflection; there was something missing, something that prevented him from fully understanding himself.
-----The Queen had taken her seat at the edge of the bed again, her hands resting on her knees as she waited for the young man to speak.
-----Tim loosened his grip on the sword slightly, allowing the tip of the blade to touch the royal carpet beneath him. “So this sword of my father’s represents the power that my family possesses? So then are you saying that everything…everything that my father was has passed on to me?”
-----Amanda merely nodded in response. The confirmation hardly seemed satisfying to him.
-----“But what is it…what is this responsibility…this power, any of this?” he cried out. “It still doesn’t make any sense to me. I only have small pieces of this in my head, the rest I…I can’t figure it all out, it’s too much.”
-----“It will be a long time before you fully understand any of it,” Amanda replied, “and for that I am sorry, but all I can give you are words Timothy; knowledge that I can pass on to you. It will be up to you to take that knowledge and make what you will of it.”
-----Tim let the entire sword drop onto the floor; the soft carpet absorbed the impact but still the blade let out a slight ring that echoed in his ears. “So what am I exactly? What am I that I have to be the one to destroy Drekis?”
-----The Queen laid her hands behind her on the bed and laid back, staring at the paintings on the ceiling carefully, “Drekis is not necessarily all powerful, so it is not as if you are the only one who can overpower him. However, Drekis is an immortal; a being protected by something—call it a spell, a cosmic rule, or a curse if you will—that prevents him from dying at the hands of anyone else, including the fellow Avatars. Your father belonged to the one group that was the exception to this rule, and so you, as his son, have inherited this responsibility.’
-----‘In order to defeat Drekis he must be killed. There is no prison on Khazan or perhaps in this universe that could hold a being of such chaotic power for long. If this war is to come to an end he must be destroyed. That is why this mission, as well as your assistance, is so vital to our survival.”
-----“But why is that!? Who was my father!? I need to know more than a name and that he…that he knew Drekis and that he died in some war I’ve never heard of! I need to know what it is that I inherited.”
-----“I want to tell you that,” she said solemnly, “but I cannot. Tim, there are some things which you must discover for yourself, and I say that without derision. If I told you who you were, there would be an awakening that you, at your present age and condition, are not yet ready to face. Please understand that I am trying to help you slowly transition into this; I know that it seems like a lot for you to take at once but believe me, if you were to know everything at once it would truly be dangerous for your mind.”
-----Tim nodded slowly as he stared blankly at the wall. He felt a certain sense of relief pass over him; perhaps there was comfort in not knowing some things. What the Queen was saying was probably true, and maybe his incessant desire to know all of the truth at once was causing the sharp pain in his head. “I…I want to trust you Queen Relissan, so…I will wait until I have thought all of this through before I seek any more answers. It’s just that, ever since you first started talking there’s been something inside of me; something constantly pushing me forward, trying to make sense of it all.”
-----“You don’t need to fear that feeling,” she reassured him, “it will ultimately lead you to self discovery.”
-----“But if you say I’m not ready to accept this,” Tim began to wonder, “then how can I be ready to accept the burden of this mission into Drekis’ territory?”
-----The Queen looked down at the sword which lay glimmering on the floor, “It is a gamble I’m afraid. It was not my desire to push this onto you so quickly, but Khazan’s future is growing dire. Innocent people across the land are losing their lives, and Eric continues to persist in asking me to let him go out and fight beyond the Axian border. These events were not to transpire so fast; you people are simply not ready to deal with this kind of threat, but Drekis did not give us a choice in the matter. I had to make a decision, and that choice was to have the apprentices bring you here so that we could set this plan into motion.’
-----‘Even though you are not aware of whom you really are you’ve already displayed the ability to use that sword. The ability to wield the blade represents your ability to wield your own powers, which means that while it may be too early to place this responsibility on your shoulders it is still the best chance we have.”
-----“I see,” Tim said, “and you called them apprentices just then. So Eric was correct, you do know that they were servants of the Powers.”
-----“Of course I do,” Amanda said proudly, “The Powers that Be were the ones who originally assigned them to me in the beginning. Eric and Maya were told to act as my servants, but they were never told that I would be aware of their true identities. It is a rather complicated matter and I would not wish you to stress over it.”
-----With a slight groan Tim lifted himself from the comfort of the chair and took a few steps towards the door, then turned and looked at his sword, “I’ve just thought of one more thing. There’s one last thing that I need to know,” he pointed at the sword vigorously, “When I was in battle in the frozen wastes, I remember now that there was a voice. I distinctly heard a voice; in fact, I think it may have been several voices all crying in unison. It spoke to me, that sword there. The sword spoke with a voice that told me something about…about accepting a power that could corrupt, and how I should not be allowed to tamper with it.”
-----“So you have already heard it then,” Amanda said quietly, “Then you have already progressed further than I had anticipated. What you have heard is indeed the voice of the sword to some extent, though as I said before that blade is ultimately a reflection of your own interior strength. Likewise, the voices are an innate consciousness that dwells within you. They are there to guide you, and probably to warn you as well. All of your ancestors heard the same voices, and so they have accumulated the experiences of all your forbearers. They try to give you strength by applying the wisdom of your elders to you, and warn you by illustrating the mistakes that some of them have made.”
-----“Very well, I can accept that,” Tim said, “So then when it questioned me it was questioning my ability to understand everything, just like you told me here today. That much I realize now, but there’s something else.”
-----“Go on.”
-----“The sword,” he said with a gulp, “told me that I had to be careful with how I used the power, and with how I desired to use the power. It said that if I was not careful, then the power I could wield could become tainted or corrupted, just as it was with ‘him.’ This ‘he’ that the voice referred to…was it my father?”
-----Amanda had clearly become disturbed; her eyes trembled slightly as she looked down with frustration. “No. No that…was not your father.” She stared back into his eyes, this time with determination, but she said nothing more.
-----Tim could see that she did not wish to say anything more on the matter, but he was satisfied for now. He approached the chair and kneeled down to collect his sword, “I’m going to go with Uberman and the others on this mission of yours,” he said as he sheathed the blade and returned it to his belt. “I still feel that I’m not ready to do what you ask of me, but now that I know all of this, there is a part of me that wants to go down there and confront this head on. I can’t say whether or not you can trust me to end all of this by my hand as you say, but I will go…I’ll go and see what I can do.”
-----“I thank you,” Amanda said with a warm smile, “you are much more courageous than you give yourself credit for.”
-----Tim walked towards the door one final time; he placed his hand on the doorknob and paused for a moment, almost expecting her to say something more. “About everything you said,” he whispered as he opened the door slightly, “I won’t say anything to Eric and Maya, or Tiara if you wish.”
-----“Thank you,” Amanda replied. “I will be officially informing Uberman and the others about the plan in a few hours. Good luck to you.”
-----Tim pulled the door open a few more feet and slid out, closing the door behind him as he went.
-----Amanda listened for the footsteps to slowly fade away down the hall and then looked at the imagery on her ceiling. To Timothy it was likely to have affected him somehow, but he still couldn’t understand what these messages conveyed; not like she could. “I hope you find the answers that you’re looking for, and I hope that you make the right decisions,” she said to herself, “everything…everything depends on it.”

---5---
Bizarre Weapons

-----Mecha swarmed around the galleons of Saramach like dogged hornets, stinging and lashing out with every available armament as the ships came dangerously close to the Raisa docks.
-----The cannons on the shoreline continued with their assault; artillery and particle accelerators carefully firing upon the enemy as the mecha swooped by. There was enough firepower being thrown at the galleons that the radiant barriers seemed to be permanently active; continuously absorbing damage from every direction.
-----During the entire time Cortelloni saw not so much as a flicker among the shields that protected those ancient ships. Already he could loosely perceive the figures of those on board; they were holding their arms up in the air and screaming loudly, already certain of their superiority. It was a rather sickening display, but what was even more disconcerting to him was that they could do nothing break those cackling maniacs as they strolled forward.
-----He had been standing near the railways of the rear docks for some time now; from here he had a good view of the Raisa beaches as well as of the approaching galleons. As he had affirmed to Captain Khazan before he left he had stood rather complacently and watched as the weapon fire unfolded. On occasion his boredom had given rise to the desire to throw something at the enemy; and so he had, at one point, lifted some of the rubble left over from the massacre of the Warf and hurled it with great speed towards the head ship. As he had expected the objects snapped and tore apart as they smashed into the shields, but it still felt rewarding to let out a little frustration.
-----The most interesting thing of all, however, was Shinsuke, who had arrived much earlier than he had and even stood directly on the warm, sultry sands of the beach where the enemy was most likely to first set foot once they reached the continent. Shinsuke had actually tried attacking a galleon with his ice beam, not only once but on two separate occasions. Failing that, the Sentinel had taken to firing in front of the ships; freezing the water to create a massive iceberg directly in the path of the ships.
-----It had been quite a spectacle—certainly the surrounding soldiers had enjoyed it very much—but it amounted to a distraction in the long run. The barrier still activated to protect the galleons from the collision, although the sheer size and mass of the icebergs temporarily slowed down the advance of the ships.
-----Even now Shinsuke was still launching more freeze blasts; freezing the water again and again until he was creating barriers of ice out of the violent waves.
-----“Little fool,” Cortelloni whispered to himself, “You’ve certainly got determination, but why bother if you know you’re not going to accomplish anything. We might as well let them come so they can leave those ships behind; I’d like to see if they’re half as tough in person as they are on their ships.”
-----The desire to see the Saramach in combat was not spurred on by the strength of their shields, but rather the fact that Cortelloni had not once witnessed the galleons return fire. He had been certain that the swarms of mecha would provoke at least a small counterattack but the Saramach seemed content to approach the shoreline without launching so much as an arrow. To Michael that illustrated either overconfidence or gall, and either one was enough to make him want to crush them underneath his boot—if for no other reason than to teach the insolent bastards a lesson.
-----A sudden change in the air behind him made him spin around and rest his open hand across his handgun holster. Something was approaching him, and whatever it was, it was coming at him faster than any human could possibly move.
-----He tightened his grip on the gun handle as he saw the gust of wind flying toward him. Cortelloni could barely make out the figure of the approaching man, although it was humanoid and moving fast enough to leave dust trails behind him.
-----There was a screeching sound as a leg stretched out from the swirling winds and skidded across the rough city streets; the figure slowed down abruptly and came to a sharp stop a few feet in front of Cortelloni. The wind picked up and dust flew around Michael’s face. The ex-marauder closed one eye and shielded his face with an open palm until the dust had settled. He now looked into the determined face of Lexington and saw upon his forehead a glowing emblem; a rune of sorts, perhaps a symbol or a word written in a language he did not know.
-----Lexington began to breathe heavily and his hair was waving about wildly; although he had indeed come to a complete stop there were still parts of him that continued to blur and rapidly shake. At last he took in one mighty breath and slowly exhaled; the purple letter on his forehead faded little by little as his hair fell down into place.
-----“Just what the hell was that!?” Cortelloni yelled. He had half-expected something like this. It certainly wasn’t the first time that he had encountered people who moved faster than any human should be allowed to. Super speed…another in a long line of things that pissed him off, and he had encountered them all in one stupendous day.
-----Lex blinked several times as if he had just come to his senses and looked over at Cortelloni, “Oh, you. I thought you said you would be in the city’s interior.”
-----“I say a lot of things,” Michael retorted, crossing his arms, “but I do whatever I feel like doing.”
-----“So you say,” Lex said as he looked around, “you wouldn’t have happened to see the girl around here would you?”
-----“What?”
-----“The girl, Natsumi,” Lex elaborated, “She disappeared shortly after you and Shinsuke left the lookout tower. We think she decided to be a hero…literally. But this is a dangerous situation and we don’t want her running around here by herself.”
-----“Haven’t seen her, but then again I’ve been busy with all the explosions and fireworks,” he said, thrusting a thumb back towards the approaching galleons and the roaring gun platforms. “Is that why you came rushing out here like a goddamn hurricane, just to look for a little girl?”
-----Lexington narrowed his eyes in Michael’s direction as he walked up to the railing.
-----“Relax,” Cortelloni said, “the kid is at least old enough to take care of herself in a situation like this. At the very least you can count on that damn ferret of hers to protect her.”
-----“Is that Shinsuke down there?” Lex asked, seemingly ignoring Michael’s previous comment.
-----“’Course it is. Can’t you see him trying to make snow cones out of the ocean? The guy’s been going at it like that for the past ten minutes or so. Absolutely futile…”
-----“Maybe, but he is buying us time.”
-----“Time for what!?” Michael yelled, “More time to watch those mecha buzz around and shoot at a shield all day.”
-----“And who was the one who suggested that the mecha be allowed to attack the galleons in the first place,” Lex replied, having no qualms about thrusting his finger right in front of Cortelloni’s face. “Besides, what makes you so sure we don’t have a chance of getting past those barriers?”
-----“You better tell me something I don’t know or else that is one dumbshit question,” Cortelloni barked.
-----Lexington pulled his headband up slightly and pointed towards the ocean, where Cortelloni could not see small objects flying in the air above the galleons. They were far too small to be mecha and lacked the grace of an aerodynamic fighter.
-----“More heroes…” Michael said, unimpressed. “And you think they can break through?”
-----“We have no choice but to try. Captain Khazan has rallied all the magic users he has on his Sentinels roster here in Raisa, so they might have a better chance of breaching the shield that we would if we used conventional weapons.”
-----“Heh, I doubt….”
-----“INCOMING!!” A voice rang throughout the city streets.
-----Cortelloni and Lex saw Shinsuke kicking up sand as he literally jumped from one side of the beach to another, waving his hand for the soldiers to clear out. “Incoming!!” he shouted once more. “Everyone take cover!”
-----“Incoming?” Lex said with wide eyes. “What is he…?”
-----“Take cover?” Michael pondered, “Does that mean…oh shit!”
-----Both men dived to the ground in different directions as something was catapulted from the nearest Saramach galleon; in seconds it tore through the beach, ripped apart a section of the docks and plowed through the streets directly where Lex and Michael had been standing.
-----Lex shook his head and looked at the extending crater next to him. The very ground had disappeared up to five feet deep; a perfectly shaped crater that was ten feet wide and carried of into the distance as evidence of something’s trail. He had not been able to get a glimpse of the projectile, but it was something that had taken away the ground as if it had never been there before. There was no smell of gunpowder or, for that matter, even so much as a vapor trail or leftover flames. It had all been cleanly removed from the rest of the surrounding matter.
-----Before they had lifted themselves from the oily surface of the city streets another cannon fired aboard a Saramach galleon. The projectile was a smooth, clear sphere; unlike any projectile they had ever seen. It did not appear as any kind of energy or matter; rather, it waved like a gelatinous substance and yet kept the perfect shape of a sphere. It was like a globe of water ten feet in diameter, only even more transparent; perhaps even invisible to the eyes of one who was not looking out for it.
-----It came towards the city with speed that rivaled the fastest artillery at their disposal, and as it came upon one of Raisa’s shining structures it met absolutely no resistance; it moved through the building and erased an entire section of it.
-----Lexington’s mouth dropped in astonishment as he watched the globe continue on its path. Not once did it seem to slow down or fall; it betrayed the very laws of gravity and took away anything that was in its path. There was not smoke or ash left behind; everything had literally been deleted. It was like a giant eraser, and everything that it touched disappeared into oblivion.
-----Suddenly the globe exploded, releasing a loud bang but no apparent shockwave as it split into four smaller globes, each identical in size and appearance. The four spheres spread out diagonally in an X pattern, stretching out through the port city and still showing no sign of wavering.
-----Again there was a loud bang that resounded throughout Raisa, and this time each of the four spheres had split into another four; each one slightly smaller but just as deadly. These ones flew North, South, West, and East in a cross formation, spreading themselves over several hundred meters before dividing again and again, diagonally and horizontally until the spheres had finally decreased themselves into nothingness.
-----Michael and Lex stood with their backs to the sea, gazing at the destruction in awe and shock. There were no flames or explosions, just entire sections of a once beautiful city removed from existence. Towers and buildings that had had their lower rungs erased collapsed while bits and pieces of other structures had been cleanly carved out by the passing spheres.
-----“What kind of weapon was that!?” Cortelloni asked as he looked back at the galleons. “Was that magic too?”
-----“Undoubtedly,” Lex said, breathing heavily, “That looked like a spell of non-existence. It’s a form of ancient magic; the unholy union of Chaos and Void powers, but I’ve never seen it used in such a way…and that pattern of spreading…all of that damage from two shots—unbelievable.”
-----“I’m glad you’re impressed…” Cortelloni muttered as Shinsuke appeared before them, his hair and face were decorated with sand. Michael cracked his neck slowly and gave the approaching Sentinel a cold stare, “Unfortunately I guess I owe you.”
-----“What are you two doing!?” Shinsuke shouted, “Those were only warning shots! They’re preparing to fire from all of the galleons within the next few seconds; we have to take cover before…!”
-----There was a resounding boom in the air that deafened Shinsuke’s next words. The shattering sounds seemed to resonate as one, but it was over a hundred cannons that had fired. The silvery-clear spheres jolted forth one after another; an entire wave of the uncanny weapons paved their way through the beaches and the docks, leaving nothing in their wake. The first wave was followed by a second volley and a third, with each successive attack bolstered by additional galleons that joined in the attack.
-----There was little that they could do at this point but hit the ground once more as the spheres flew overhead. Most of the shots seemed to be aimed at the weapon platforms arranged around the Warf and the beaches, but with no resistance to encounter the spheres were free to fly on random paths throughout the city. By the time each new wave had fired the previous spheres had already split, dividing themselves throughout the streets of Raisa and systematically erasing anything that the earlier shots had missed.
-----Shinsuke pushed off of the ground with his hands and grabbed Michael and Lex by the shirts to help drag them to their feet; pushing all of them to safety just as one of the spheres slid by.
-----The three of them began to run; there was no destination to reach or cover to be found, all they could do was aimlessly move in and out of the winding streets while the galleons continued their onslaught.
-----A feeling of pain passed through Shinsuke’s mind; a stinging sensation that felt like a painful variation of his danger sense. When the Saramach ships had first begun their assault he had been able to sense the incoming blasts just before they were fired, but now that he looked at those dark galleons he could see that their cannons were firing those bizarre weapons at an alarming rate. His senses were going wild; there was no way he could keep track of that many shots as they were constantly splitting in mid-flight.
-----And so it was almost by pure chance that they avoided the screeching spheres, but even as the blasts began to die down they could hear the vanishing screams of soldiers being carried away to oblivion as spheres passed over them in a flash.
-----There was nothing left of the Warf now and the beach had been diminished to such an extent that the ocean had extended its reach further into the city borders. With almost nothing to be found of the weapon platforms that had been established within Raisa the Saramach had stopped firing their paranormal cannons into the city itself and began to concentrate on the mecha that were still swarming around them.
-----Even as most of Raisa lay in ruin the mecha had yet to make any progress in penetrating the barriers. The Sentinels who were flying amidst their groups had also tried their hand at several incantations; in each case receiving a moderately better effect but never sufficient enough to decisively break their defenses. And by now, the galleons were less than a minute away from the crumbled shoreline.
-----At the very least they could still strike back once the enemy had disembarked; Shinsuke noticed many survivors from the sphere attacks throughout the rubble. It seemed that many had been fortunate just as they had been, but he had a feeling that the enemy had achieved exactly what they wanted so far.
-----“Well,” Michael said as he wiped a mound of dirt from his mouth and spit on the ground, “This has turned out to be a shitty day.”
-----“They’ve stopped firing at Raisa?” Lexington exclaimed with a hoarse voice. There were several cuts bleeding across his face but the chaos that had consumed him made him forget about all injury, “I don’t get it…why approach us so cautiously, why wait for so long if they had that kind of magic weaponry?”
-----“In any case,” Shinsuke said, “I think they’re done firing at Raisa. They’ll probably try to take out most of the mecha before they decide to leave those Galleons.”
-----“Bah!” Michael yelled, spitting on the ground again, “I’d like to see if they’re half as tough as those goddamn ships!”
-----Lex looked into the sky and saw several sentinels barely escape a group of spheres, “Do you think it’s safe for Captain Khazan and the others to be over there!? We should call them back right now before they all get killed.”
-----“Captain Khazan and the others can take care of themselves,” Shinsuke replied calmly, “I’m not worried about them right now so much…it’s the people that were in this city that I fear for; we don’t know how many casualties we’ve had already—for all we know General Alvion could be dead and our communications could all be in disarray.”
-----As the galleons slowly pulled their massive hulls upon the shores Cortelloni looked around at what had once been Cretalia’s beautiful port city. “What a waste,” he said, feeling the smell of blood in the ocean air, “You know…I think I know why they waited out there for so long and allowed you to prepare. It wasn’t because they were being cautious or because they were scared. They wanted you to be prepared; they wanted as many of your military forces stationed here when they attacked because that was there target.”
-----“What are you mumbling about!?” Lexington yelled out in frustration. He took a few deep breaths to recover himself as he stepped back and then fell down to his knees.
-----“It makes sense,” Shinsuke said upon further reflection, “they never really wanted the city in the first place. They wanted us; they wanted to destroy as much of our equipment and kill as many of our men as they could in one fell swoop.”
-----“The probably don’t even care if they win or lose this fight,” Cortelloni continued, “I bet its all about attrition.”
-----“Oh no…” Lexington suddenly said in a slow whisper, then repeated louder as he shook his head violently.
-----“What is it?” Yagami asked as he kept his eyes on the Saramach galleons. The ships had parked themselves directly on the edge of the city; if they wanted to they could have already disembarked but they were strangely content to remain and fire voraciously at the mecha that were beginning to dwindle in numbers.
-----“Natsumi,” Lex said as he looked up at him with a look of worry, “That’s the reason I came out here in the first place; I was looking for Natsumi. She left the control tower shortly after you did and we didn’t notice.”
-----“Natsumi came out here? In all of this!?” Shinsuke said, his calm demeanor disappearing as a glare of astonishment briefly adorned his face.
-----Lex nodded slowly as he stood up, “I didn’t locate her before the attack. I pray to God that she’s alright.”
-----“I’m afraid we have other things to worry about than just that girl,” Cortelloni muttered in a depressed tone. He pointed back into the ruins of the city to a familiar but demolished site.
-----“The control tower!” Shinsuke gasped. Or rather, what was left of the control tower after several spheres had swept through it. Bits and pieces of the tower itself remained barely standing but the entire top level complex had completely vanished.
-----“No!” Lex said, his eyes were beginning to convulse as anger and fear swelled up inside of him. How, even in all of this commotion and danger, could he have forgotten about the tower! “Lara…Lara!!!!”

---6---
Saramach

-----Denes’Takai…never in its millions of years had the continent ever been a vibrant place. On the contrary, the entire nation reeked of death and decay; the very land itself was of ash and grey soil where no life could grow. Few trees now remained in the desolate continent; all the failed attempts of the Khazanians to turn Denes’Takai into a thriving land. They were withered and dried up husks, most of which had been taken down to be used for what little lumber they could provide.
-----There was no water across this barren land—the dead continent the people of Khazan had called it—a clichéd but accurate title to be sure. None of the exotic elements of life existed upon this tarnished surface; even the very air was thick and polluted with dire, perpetuating smog.
-----Nine times the people of Khazan had attempted to make a home of this place; nine times people had immigrated to the dead continent and built a kingdom, but in each case they had expectedly fallen to ruin before the passing of a decade.
-----Only the Saramach Empire owned this cursed land, for they were the living dead, and—rather ironically—only the dead could survive in such a hellish place. There had been a time when their legions had thrived across Khazan; Denes’Takai had always been the genesis of their Empire, but they had once extended their bloody grasp across the continents.
-----That had always been there desire: to fight, to conquer, and to kill the living. It was what they ‘lived’ for, the only reason that the skeletons and bloodied corpses continued to move and think. After all, that is what Ceregodoth had made them for so long ago, during the time of Khazan’s shaping.
-----Unfortunately, the Saramach had been largely inactive in the last few thousand years; rarely had they had to chance to engage in any kind of combat with the living even on their own borders—for none dared approach the cursed land anymore—and deep within their ancient stone castles the undead festered in their impatience.
-----With their power dwindling and Ceregodoth vanquished from this universe, the Saramach’s leaders had felt abandoned and weak. Even now as their forces reported victory from the shores of Cretalia there was always the knowledge that most of their entire military power and magical might had been devoted to this one engagement.
-----But Drekis could change all that. Whether by rejuvenation or re-imagination, the Saramach Empire could and would be reborn under his guidance.
-----The council of Saramach had been drawn to Drekis ever since his Chaos armies had begun to hunt across Khazan. A feeling of longing and familiarity pulled their attention to the main continent where they watched every event unfold with scrupulous detail. There was something within Drekis, something about his very presence on this world that reawakened the Saramach’s failing knowledge and faith in Ceregodoth, the one also known as Selegon.
-----There could be no doubt that the two had a connection somehow; the god of all chaos and the one who claimed to be chaos’ supreme avatar—of course there had to be a connection! But how and why was another matter that the council had not yet discovered. Attragon, the greatest of their warriors, had gone to Drekis to confirm everything which the Council now believed to be true. And if his journey should reveal all that they believed to be true, then it was possible for the Saramach to be reborn in a way they had never believed possible. However, it would not be the council that Attragon would report to; only the lord of Saramach could tell them what they yearned to know.
-----At present the Council was well aware that their mediocre forces would not bolster the ranks of the Drekis legions by any significant amount, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in the strength of their magic. At the very least they knew that Drekis could make use of what the Saramach had to offer; they had already witnessed how the chaos minions had assimilated the very nature of Khazanian mechas to evolve their own creatures, so perhaps a similar combination of their respective powers could be beneficial.
-----And yet, there was so much that they did not know. There was so much that they must find out!
The Council of Saramach walked together through the wide halls of the Saramach Legion Castle; all four of them an individual person, but all four walking in perfect unison with the same blank stare. Their feet sank deep into the stagnant, murky waters that filled the inner corridors of the castle as they walked; the castle, like much of the continent, was solemn and decayed. It was magic that kept the ancient palace from falling apart under its own weight, for the Saramach saw no reason to refurbish any of their territories. It was a place as dead and deconstructed as the undead themselves.
-----But compared to the skeletons and ghouls that stalked the continent, the Council members were vaguely human in appearance. They were pale and yellow-eyed with somewhat bony figures, but their skin was otherwise fresh and their blood, while dark, still pulsed in their veins.
-----Above all else it was Saraphus that seemed to linger on to the light of vitality with every last breath. His face was flush with vibrant colors that often dimmed and brightened to reflect his moods, although many would testify that it was the fire, quite literally, that burned within him and gave the otherwise decaying flesh an imposing glow. He cracked a short smile as his eyes found the passageway that they had been seeking; his brown and hollowed teeth began to grind as he impatiently broke formation, taking a few steps ahead of the rest of the Council.
-----The other three did not seem interested in keeping pace; in fact, one could say that they slowed their pace to allow Saraphus to approach the slouching caretaker of the chamber door—their reason for doing this was indiscernible, and their ghostly, vague steps made it hard to tell if they had really slowed down at all. The only one whose movements could be clearly seen was Valaris, and that was ironic, for his movements were also the most random and uncanny.
-----Valaris was the most pale of the Council, certainly if anyone of the living world has seen him floating about their household they would have called him a ghost—and perhaps that was not too far from the truth. He floated gently above the murky waters of the castle floors, the only council member who made neither a step nor slush as he floated from side to side in a whimsical manner, like his very movement was a peculiar dance.
-----It was Valaris who then broke formation, coming up just behind Seraphus as they looked down at the guard; the door was already open and the caretaker gazed at them knowingly, a gleaming torch of ethereal green crackling in his hand, but even as his one good eye quivered at the sight of Council he stood firm and blocked the doorway with his own feeble body.
-----Seraphus looked down upon the ghoul with a contemptuous glare; his eyes began to glow as he looked upon the rotting flesh that dripped down that emotionless skull. “Why do you stand before us?” he said, quietly but determinedly. He made sure to stand upright, bringing his broad shoulders to bear. From the Ghoul’s perspective he must surely have been a giant, like a green night from an Arthurian legend: surreal and yet commanding.
-----“I apologize,” the ghoul replied as a piece of flesh leapt from his neck and dived into the waters, “but Lord Saramach Melfyre has made it clear that he would have no interruptions. I understand, my lords, that the council wishes a time with his majesty, but I was told to let no one in.”
-----Melissa Kale stepped forward next, a stunning and quiet beauty with a deceptive innocence. While still pale compared to Seraphus she was ripe with another fire of life: the aspects of beauty and charm. No other member of the council looked quite as normal, quite as ordinary, as Melissa did. Her frail limbs did not foretell her strength, and her quiet gaze did not portend her cruelty. Her hair, like the precious element of life that she commanded, was a clear blue that was constantly flowing in serene waves. “Much of Lord Melfyre’s thoughts are directed at the battle I see…” she turned her head to the ghoul and motioned it to the side of the doorway with a calm wave of her graceful hand, “You need not worry servant, for we shall not endeavor to break the concentration of our leader.”
-----“Certainly our lord intends to share with us the meaning of this feeling…” Valaris declared,”—his voice, like his movement, was musical in nature; as eerie and frightening as it was entrancing, “…this familiar power that has consumed us. We must know.”
-----A voice called out from within the depths of the chamber, “Come! Council of Saramach…enter my chambers!”
-----At last the ghoul kneeled and retreated from the area. It seemed that he was a creature made only to follow the will of Lord Melfyre and no one else.
-----Valaris flew high into the chamber, which, like an upside down cone, extended towards the sky and narrowed to a sharp point; he circled around and round with his arms toward the ceiling, shouting “Here! Here! I can feel the presence of Drekis here! What is this power that comes to Khazan now? What is this eye that gazes out from chaos’ gate? That knows not time nor follows any fate! It is the voice I hear…the loud call of the one who forged this army…it is he that demands that we move towards thee!”
-----“You let your lively emotions control you Valaris,” Seraphus said grudgingly as his mighty armored feet strolled through the thick liquids and came before the throne of Saramach. “Let the spirits of the earth that move you quell their hunger and allow our lord and master to divulge to us the truth.”
-----The ghostly man stopped spinning and looked upon the throne eagerly. There sat Saramach Melfyre, the weakened but resolute master of the undead. A chimeric hybrid of sorts, Melfyre had retained a degree of his original humanity but was also a part of all other abominable things: Vampires, wraiths, demons, ghouls; they were all a part of him in some way. There he sat, his head cradled in one hand as if he were engaged in some frustrating thought. Like the Council he appeared human, though in his jagged teeth and wolf-like eyes he was clearly something else. His black hair was long and smooth like a woman’s, but his chiseled jaw and stern gaze countered the feminine locks, giving him a most unnatural and unnerving appearance even to those who had been in his presence for generations.
-----Around his thin and bony body—which was covered only by a rather ordinary looking robe—was a barrier that was responsible for creating much of the light in the room; it’s glow had intensified to such an extent, in fact, that many of the torches that circled the chamber had automatically ceased their arcane flames as the room became alive with dancing colors. The shield, much like a glowing bubble, encapsulated not only the king of Saramach himself, but the entire throne and most of the steps leading up to his post.
-----Kerrison, fourth and final member of the Council, came forward to look upon the fury of her leader’s power with her emerald-green eyes. It was a rarity to see Melfyre demonstrate his vast abilities, and even as her lord’s power had waned over the centuries he was still a sight to behold.
-----“The barrier flashes so violently,” Kerrison said calmly, “It speaks of the desperate violence being cast against it.”
-----“Desperate…yes,” Melfyre whispered, his eyes closed and his mouth bearing the smile of certain victory. “Desperate…and hopeless my dear Kerrison, speaker of dark wind…but our time is only beginning. Now we will see our brethren walk among the land of the living once more; it is a beautiful sight that I wish you could all see.”
-----“Then the people of Khazan cannot break your shield,” Valaris called out, “so it was in the time long ago…so it is that Saramach carries on, refusing to yield.”
-----“They have always found a way around the shield in the past,” Seraphus reminded him, “but while our empire has weakened in numbers and strength we cannot deny that some of our…greater magics have been better mastered over the past few decades,”—he turned his attention to the throne and humbly kneeled down where the water was shallow, “But my lord, once our minions leave the galleons, you shall no longer be able to protect them, isn’t that so?”
-----“The shield has served its purpose,” Melfyre responded confidently with a raspy tone, “the galleons have reached the shores of Cretalia unscathed, and now it is up to our legions to claim victory. We may not have the power we once had as an empire, but with Drekis on our side there is renewed life and purpose to our tarnished existence.”
-----“My lord,” Melissa broke in, “We have come before you to inquire about this Drekis…the one that we have made a pact with. Who is he that commands our attention so…that can lead us to a new purpose?”
-----“What is the eye that looks out from chaos’ gate!?” Valaris shouted as Melissa ended her question.
-----Melfyre cracked his neck to one side and opened a single eye, “My dear kin, lovely speaker of dark water, he is our brother…and he is much more. He is our savior and the one who stands far above all other creations of Ceregodoth.”
-----“So the rumors were true,” Kerrison said, the flashing lights streaming across her dark, warm skin. “He was born of the one who birthed us…”
-----“My dear, he is much more that just another one of us,” Melfyre continued, “He is successor to the legacy of our fallen master, the great Ceregodoth, the master also known as Selegon. In his wisdom, which some call madness, he created us as a blight across this world which the Powers that Be had worked so hard to construct. We were to be the scourge of the nexus, the bane of all living things…and yet in the end we were nothing but petty creations forged to carry out the wars of gods.’
-----‘Our master was cast away from the nexus, that is true, but he was not doomed to the hells of gods just yet. He survived to plunder one more world; to plot one last act of revenge against the Powers, and in that time Drekis came to be…his servant…his apprentice…his avatar. This much I have foreseen in my dreams of late; within Drekis exists the will of Ceregodoth, and so he is the true inheritor of Chaos, the one who has the power…no, the right to guide us.”
-----“How strange it seems…that all of this you have seen in your dreams?” Valaris asked with a curious stare.
-----“Some in quiet dreams,” Melfyre said, closing both eyes again, “and some in harsh nightmares, where the booming voice of some unknown being tells me of these things, nay, forces them upon me. You might even say that I have been compelled by nature, not my own will, to seek out the Drekis Empire. I know nothing about Drekis other than what I have just told you; I do not know why he was created, who he once was, and where he will lead us, only that we must follow him if we are to have any kind of future.’
-----‘This is not to say that my curiosity in the matter has wavered; no, quite the opposite! I have dispatched Attragon, as some of you perhaps know, to meet face to face with Drekis just as Ashvaraad did. From this meeting we shall learn more of his history with Selegon, and of what great things Drekis will bring us.”
-----Seraphus scowled slightly as the gleaming bubble around his master began to dim, “If we are to join with Drekis, then what is to become of the Saramach?”
-----“Do not fear, speaker of dark fire,” Melfyre said, “There will no longer be a need for a Saramach in this universe; we will become one with Drekis’ legions, and within the army of chaos I promise that you will achieve even greater power and status than you have now.”
-----The barrier flashed a few times, and then disappeared altogether. Melfyre took in a deep breath and then slowly opened his eyes.
-----“The barrier has…” Kerrison started.
-----“My lord, what has happened!?” Melissa asked as the room darkened.
-----Half of Lord Saramach’s face appeared in the dark as the torches began to blaze, “It is time,” he whispered, “Our minions have left the Galleons.”

---7---
The Message

-----Attragon angrily crushed the scattered rocks beneath his heel as he stumbled about the endless caves. He found the hive of Drekis to be a rather cumbersome and diminutive place for someone of his size, but then again, he towered over everyone that he came across; all of the minions gazed in awe at his stature—only the hive guards matched his build, but even they stretched themselves along the smoothened cavern walls to make way for his arrival.
-----It was quite inviting when one considered the bland and repetitious scenery, certainly an easier entrance than Ashvaraad had been forced to make. From the very moment that he had stepped into their domain the creatures had seemed to recognize him, and with due respect they bowed down to allow him clear passage to the fortress. Drekis was obviously expecting him.
-----He found the castle itself to be much more to his liking; it was still dark and ominous within the crafted halls, and yet they were generous enough to be fit for kings. The winding stairways and platforms could have forged a perpetual maze to any stranger, so it was a wonder to Attragon that the lesser creatures, who even in their mundane and drone-like existences appeared to lack any kind of higher brain functions, could move through the winding pathways so quickly and with such certainty.
-----For him though there was no need for an instinct to lead the way; when his first footstep had rung throughout the cavernous fortress he had been greeted by a strange voice that called out to him. It had been a whisper in the beginning, and that was not to say that it was not a demanding call—indeed it had been both direct and firm—but as he advanced with each step, each chitinous clang, the voice would grow louder and louder.
-----Attragon had followed that voice almost unconsciously; allowing himself to be guided by the commanding tone. A kind of curiosity had overwhelmed him in this fortress, one which beckoned him to seek Drekis out.
-----Within minutes the voice had become a deafening roar and the armor across his body became to vibrate uncontrollably. He ignored the peculiar reaction and stepped into Drekis’ chamber. There could be no doubt that this was the place: the stench of Ashvaraad still permeated it!
-----“Drekis,” he called out without fear or reverence, “Reveal yourself to me, so that I may know your true self! I am Attragon, the one promised by Ashvaraad to meet with you!” He raised a fist into the air and clenched it tightly; the sound of scraping metal echoed throughout the chamber.
-----He paused for a moment, expecting an immediate response but receiving none. He looked around the chamber and saw only the mysterious floating lanterns sprawled out in no particular order. Pocket sections of the room were illuminated while others were dark: untouched by the engrossing light.
-----“What do you seek to accomplish,” a voice replied, “by acting so boldly?”
-----Every pocket of darkness vanished from the room. At once all of the lanterns flew like escaping phantoms to the ceiling and circled about; their presence was no longer required, for now the chamber was rife with light, though from where he could not tell.
-----A heated breath of steam shot out from the mouth of Attragon’s armored mask as he looked upon the figure that the light had revealed to him. It was a strange thing he saw, for although no darkness existed in the room there he stood as a shadow among all things bright; a creature that was hard to describe in form or shape. It was an ambiguous thing, and before his eyes it seemed to change and mutate into something else, constantly shifting from something humanoid to something that wasn’t even vaguely mortal.
-----“Immortal Drekis,” Attragon said as he kneeled to the ground, nearly cracking the darkstone beneath the weight of his armor in the process, “I sought only to prove my courage and will, forgive me.”
-----“So the mighty Attragon appears at last,” something vaguely resembling an arm, or perhaps a tentacle, emerged from the mass. It slowly formed a set of fingers and was followed by another limb, and then a vision of a draconic head which crowned a pulsating body. “I have awaited your arrival for some time now…I was beginning to think the Saramach would disappoint me…”
-----“Never!” Attragon shouted, quickly defending the strength of his allies, “Although I am not originally a part of the Saramach, I was there, by Lord Ceregodoth’s side when the undead were first unleashed, and I know how capable they are. We may have had our failures in the past, but with your aid I can foresee only great things.”
-----“Chaos,” Drekis said with a knowing voice, “is a mischievous thing, you must understand that as a creation of Chaos yourself, do you not? Simply because the Saramach were unearthed by my late creator does not mean that they hold any value to me. I have given you…what we shall consider a chance—and if the Saramach should prove themselves to be worthy of my name, then and only then shall you see great things!”
-----Attragon rose to his full height and looked up at the Chaos Avatar with wonder. Either it was his imagination, or the towering entity seemed to be growing larger. Never before had Attragon encountered a physical being who had made him tremble within his armored exteriors, not even Saramach Melfyre had ever invoked such a response. But then again, Attragon was not a part of the Saramach…he was superior. Even Melfyre, strong as he was, was not Attragon’s equal. He had stayed with the undead only because he was welcome no where else on Khazan; after all, it had been the last refuge for Ceregodoth’s creations within the nexus.
-----Drekis cracked what appeared to be as smile, shown only by a small gleam of light across the darkness of that draconic head. A deep laughter filled the chamber as he looked upon the armored figure; from head to toe he was covered in thick plating. Not an inch of skin was visible, not even on his head which was covered by a full armored mask and helm. The armor was very well crafted, although it was peculiar that few pieces seemed to match. The cuirass was a crimson red and decorated with short, jagged tusks in two rows running vertically while the gauntlets and arm pieces were a smooth, pitch black color. The helm was a chrome-colored object that was shaped to cover his head to exact proportions, and on its top were three razor blade talons that arched away from him. Covering his eyes was some kind of solid network of small metal wires, and around his mouth was a plate of steel with cleanly shaped circular holes throughout. The pauldrons were a shimmering green, and the greaves were also black but not nearly as smooth or consuming—it was also the oldest piece of the armor by the look of things, as dark blood stains could be seen around his legs.
-----The most interesting thing to Drekis was the twin battleaxes attached to his backside. The weapons were large and their dual blades were thick, yet their presence never encumbered the warrior. With a slight gesture from one of Drekis’ arms a battle axe was lifted from its harnesses and flew across the room to land firmly in his grip.
-----“You, Attragon…I do not deny your strength at all,” he said as he admired the Ax-blade, “You are not part of the Saramach, you are part of something greater, a creation of my master that is worthy of any general that I have ever spawned. Even this blade here: it is a thing of great magic in the eyes of a mortal, but to you and I, we know it to be a thing of dust. These weapons do not adequately represent the power that you hold as an embodiment of war itself.”
-----“Ceregodoth created me out of Chaos…to represent all aspects of war, that is, the good and evil, its strengths and its weaknesses, its pain and its virtue,” he pulled out the other ax and admired it in a similar fashion, “True, my power does not even require me to hold a weapon at all, but these things, these modest tools I keep to remind myself of the kind of conflicted being that I am.”
-----Drekis flipped his wrist out gently and the ax was sent flying towards Attragon; its blade burying itself into the smooth stone ground at Attragon’s feet. “Conflict is in the heart of every Chaos being Attragon, but here I can teach you to embrace that conflict…to live for the moment of allowing the universe at large to embrace it. With me you could be so much more…a general within my armies, yes that would be a perfect place for a being of war would it not? Yes, and the power you would wield in such a position would be far greater than that which you have now.”
-----“Whatever I can do to aid the will of Chaos,” Attragon said humbly, “I shall do without hesitation. Although millennia have passed, we have not strayed from the purpose and vision of Ceregodoth, I assure…”
-----“Ceregodoth…” Drekis interrupted with a booming voice, “…Selegon, is no longer. Your people have clung to the past for too long now. You must embrace the new vision of Chaos now…you and your Empire must embrace me! And my purpose!”
-----Attragon pulled the other ax out of the ground and held his weapons in each hand, “That shall not be a problem. As the true inheritor to Selegon, you are by default the lord and master of Saramach…Melfyre will have no concerns with merging with your forces. As we speak he has already launched an attack against Raisa, the port city of Cretalia, and hopes to prove Saramach’s worth to you by presenting you with a devastated wasteland.”
-----“Yes, I have heard of the attack, although it has not grabbed my attention until recently. The strength of their armies is limited, but their chaos magic is strong; under my influence it could be even stronger…imagine the possibilities. Hmmm, and perhaps this is an opportunity that I cannot overlook—Relinqiest!!”
-----The wizard appeared between the two of them in an instant, “Yes my lord,” he said quietly as the blazing flames that had engulfed him upon his entrance died down.
-----“Contact Horror immediately, his forces now march through the Cispanaar Forest,” Drekis ordered, “Give him this message: tell him to head straight for Raisa instead of Adohn!”
-----“As you wish,” Relinqiest replied, and again he was bathed in flames and disappeared from the chamber.
-----“Do you intend a joint attack then?” Attragon asked as he harnessed the two axes across his back.
-----“With these Khazanians, it never hurts to be careful. From this day forward, your Saramach Empire belongs to me, and you, Attragon, as you did with my master before me, will take your place at my side.”
-----“The flames of war,” he replied as he placed his right arm over his chest, “shall forever aid you. I pledge my allegiance to you, Drekis, and Saramach…is yours.”
-----“Then Welcome, Attragon, entity of war…seventh general of Drekis.”

---8---
Acceptance

-----Takuma smashed his fist into the locker doors, denting the metal slightly and bruising his fingers upon impact. He shrugged off the pain and sat down on the wooden bench to take a few breaths; he was panting heavily—he had lost track of how long he had been taking his anger out on the objects around him, and now as he began to wipe the sweat from his face the pain began to swell up inside of his hands.
-----Looking upon the dent in the locker door he became relieved that he could pour out all of his emotional turmoil, but he was also disgusted…it was an image of the things he couldn’t accept, of the things that he couldn’t get over. Even more frustrating was the realization that none of it made any difference; in the end the satisfaction and relief it brought were too short-lived to be worth the pain.
-----“Gotta stop torturing myself,” he said to himself. He shook his head and then realized that someone might have seen his emotional display—an embarrassing moment to be sure for someone of his rank, but a quick look around the barren locker room told him that no one else was there.
-----Relieved, Takuma pulled his backpack up onto the bench and opened a small pouch to pull out a small canteen of Kalieden Whisky, the joy of many a Khazan soldier during the off hours. He took a quick sip and then, overcome by his salivation, threw his head back and took down half of the canteen. A jolt came over him that tingled his brain and forced his eyes to open and close rapidly; there was a moment of intense disorientation and then a dissatisfactory aftertaste in his mouth. He looked at the canteen and scowled at the small label which he could barely read now. Even this was nothing more than a temporary relief.
-----At some point Takuma became convinced of the foolishness of his actions and shoved the canteen back into his pack.
-----“Had enough of the stuff?” a voice behind him called out.
-----Kitazawa slowly twisted his body around the bench, already knowing whose face he would find greeting him. He smiled and gave a salute, then extended his hand out, “General Martin, long time no see sir! Excuse me, I…I’m not exactly in the condition to stand right now.”
-----The man leaned over the shake his hand firmly and returned the smile, “Kitazawa…perfectly alright, I know you’re off duty at the moment, and in that case there’s no reason to be so formal among friends, am I right?”
-----Takuma nodded slowly; the whisky was starting to catch up with him, though he was certain he had stopped well before absorbing enough to get him truly drunk, “I wasn’t even aware that you were in Axia.”
-----“Well I wasn’t,” the General said, holding his hands out in an exasperated fashion, “That is until the higher ups decided to make a drastic change in our strategy. My division was ready to partake in an operation in Xaelon before we received a rather impromptu request to come here. Seems they want to formulate something new now that Axia has joined the good fight,”—he walked over and sat down besides Takuma, “But you know the real reason I’m here is to look after the survivors from the frozen wastes incident. We were delighted to hear that we had survivors from what could have been a disaster! I know we’ve been a little slow in picking you guys up, but like I’ve said, everything’s chaotic right now.”
-----“There’s no problem General,” Takuma replied, “being in Axia hasn’t been so bad. The war’s likely to move towards this State-Kingdom pretty soon anyway.”
-----“Yes, yes,” General Martin looked up at the ceiling as he would often do when he was in deep thought. Takuma had known him ever since he first enlisted, and during the first few years that he had known him the man had been full of vigor and youth; never was there a day where his age dared to show its true colors. Now things were different; it had been only a few months since he had last seen General Martin, and while the man was definitely a determined and resolute individual he was beginning to show signs of graying hairs and wrinkles that filled his cheeks. “Listen…Captain,” he folded his hands together as he became serious, “I’d like to discuss something with you now—and the people of Axia have been kind enough to give me a temporary room while I’m here; I’d like you to come with me so that we can further discuss the matter there.”
-----Having no reason to reject, Kitazawa weakly lifted himself from the bench and stumbled out of the locker room. He followed a few feet behind the general, occasionally scraping his shoulders against a wall or missing a step as he descended deeper into the underground compounds of the Axian military outposts. The journey was short but difficult; he found that he had perhaps drunk more that he had initially surmised, for he had trouble seeing more than twenty feet in front of him. By the time he reached the General’s office, however, his vision and clarity were beginning to come back to him.
-----He sat in a cushioned chair at the General’s insistence and waited as Martin pulled up a chair behind his desk and sat down. Martin was quiet for a few moments, looking over a few papers on his desk before speaking.
-----“So,” he began, “I realize that we have had a great loss in your unit.”
-----Takuma was suddenly aware of why he had been summoned. He sighed heavily and even began to let out a groan, but as he locked eyes with his superior officer he held it within him and took a deep breath. “Dezzman was a good friend; he was like a big brother to a lot of us. He was also a good soldier, and a good family man…it’s a crime that he isn’t here with us today sir,” he was surprised that he was able to speak so clearly on the matter. General Martin, too, seemed relieved to see this response.
-----“Captain…I’m going to be perfectly, well, frank with you on this matter, you see I know what kind of soldier you are, what kind of high caliber individual—and yes I know that this is not the first time that you have lost a member of your team; you’ve been through it before, we all have at some point in our careers, but you have to understand my concern here. You have, quite frankly, a poor track record with accepting these losses.”
-----“I…” Takuma tried to respond.
-----“No, wait,” General Martin held up his hand, “Let me finish. Now, as I said you have not always been very accepting, of…the losses that we as soldiers are expected to face. I’m not blaming it on any weakness on your part; you’re just an emotional character and for the most part I think it makes you a good man.” -----“But…”
-----“You don’t have to start a tone with me soldier, I know you feel like you’ve been through the drill before, but its standard procedure now! I can understand if your unit had built a sort of family relationship—when I was in the infantry my groups used to be tightly knit as well—but all we’re asking Kitazawa is that you don’t beat yourself up over these losses. I know you’re angry…but use that anger! Strike back at the enemy! Don’t lash out against yourself…for God’s sake there was nothing anyone could have done under the circumstances.”
-----“I know what my responsibilities are as Captain of my team Sir,” Takuma said quietly, “And I have been forced to accept the losses of my team as all leaders are expected to do. The only thing is that, as a leader, I always feel responsible for whatever happens to the unit as a whole. I realize that I’ve been acting foolish in this…depression of sorts, but I get over it; I get over it every time and you know it—I won’t disappoint you sir.”
-----“I have no doubts about that, but you shouldn’t be questioning yourself at all, it’s not something you should be getting over with a struggle. I just want you to be level headed Captain, that’s all. If you’re going to go out into combat assuming that you’re responsible for all of the casualties that you’ll see in your lifetime then I can’t allow you to be in active service…but that aside, if you can work things out with yourself then you’ve had an otherwise polished record with the mecha-nized infantry.”
-----“Thank you sir,” Takuma thought about asking Martin directly if he had been brought to this room only to hear the same lecture again, but he felt that the question was too brazen and backed off.
-----General Martin, however, could read the question in his expressions, and took up the piece of paper on his desk and looked over it, “I didn’t call you over here just to give you this talk Captain. I respect you at least enough not to do that to you.”
-----Martin put the paper on the desk and with a short thrust of his wrist he sent the paper spinning across the desk towards where Kitazawa sat. Takuma picked up the collection of reports and read through it quickly; he discerned enough of it with a quick glance to see that it was a new operation.
-----“Operation Takedown,” General Martin said with a hint of pride, “The first, and if we’re lucky the last of our allied operations in this war. This one’s going to be vastly different though. The Queen of Axia is absolutely certain that the Drekis legion cannot be defeated through military combat. Now although I personally think this is mere conjecture on her part she has stressed that Drekis is our one and only target here.’
-----‘So…that being said, the plan, such as it is now, is to send a small team composed of SLJ and other empowered heroes into the endless caves where Drekis’ base is hidden. They believe the best way to find the location of the base in those endless caverns is to enter from the new surface base that appeared in the Champion Mountains district, I’m assuming you’ve kept up on things?”
-----Takuma nodded.
-----“Good, anyways, the team is planning to use stealth over tactical or numerical advantages. They want to sneak into the Mountain base and find one of the tunnels leading to Drekis’ so called ‘fortress,’ and there they plan to assassinate him if at all possible. Now here’s where you come in. In order for them to be able to sneak past such a presence they are going to need a diversion, and the military has agreed upon a tactical operation to achieve just that. We need a team of Mecha with heavy artillery to launch a ruse attack on the base; cause enough confusion so that the hero team can sneak in unnoticed. Considering how stressed we are at the moment in Xaelon and Cretalia, I’m sorry to say that we can’t spend a lot of our resources on this little deception, but from what I’ve been told the team will only need a few minutes distraction to get in, and we only need one highly esteemed unit to take this assignment.’
-----‘You might be surprised Captain, but amongst those currently in Axia I would consider your team to be among the best of the best; certainly by the numbers and experience you’d be the ones to naturally go on this mission.”
-----“Thank you sir,” Takuma said, a little surprised at the praise, “My team has always worked hard to accomplish their goals sir, and if we can be of any assistance in this…”
-----“Hold on Captain, hold on,” General Martin coughed out, “I’ve chosen the 478th not only because of your track record and your experience on the field, but because your group works well together. You communicate well, your team respects your decisions, and quite frankly I think that will be of extreme importance on this mission. However, as that may be I am required to tell you that this mission is…highly irregular, and also extremely dangerous. Therefore we cannot order you, or in any other way force your team to participate in this mission. I am prepared to announce a full report to the soldiers stationed here within the hour to ask for volunteers, but since I think you’re the team for the job I decided to give you the opportunity first—remember I’m not expecting you to do it just because…it’s your choice in the matter.”
-----Takuma was prepared to jump at the chance to volunteer; it was a moment for him to strike back at the enemy, to prove himself in battle once again, and to bring the war to an end. There were others to consider though; the rest of his team, although he was certain that they felt as he did, had a say in the matter. “I would be honored to volunteer for this mission sir! Especially if it will help bring about an end to all of this! I have no doubt that the 478th will unanimously agree, but before I officially sign for this mission I would like to talk with the rest of my team.”
-----“Of course,” the General responded, “Meet with them ASAP and then report back to me with your final decision. I’ll hold off on asking anyone else until you give me the word.”

---9---
Raisa, City of Ruins

-----The port city had been reduced to a ravage and crumbling image of ancient ruins and deteriorated architecture, all within a half hour of the Saramach’s attack. What had once been a completely unscathed city was now, for the most part, a memory held on only by the few remaining buildings that somehow continued to stand.
-----The city was not destroyed in the sense that all of it had been reduced to ashes; on the contrary, much of what once made up the city of Raisa lay in rubble on the cracked pavement and stone streets, all of which had fallen apart when the spheres had erased the rest of their foundations. Some of the buildings which still stood had gaping holes carved out of them, while other places that had taken the brunt of the galleon’s assault were completely void of anything but the cold, hard ground.
-----Lexington had nearly collapsed in agony when he finally reached the remains of the control tower. Most of the surroundings had been completely erased, but the tower must have taken its hit somewhere in the base of the structure, causing the top to then collapse. Only a few soldiers had been inside at the time…and Lara.
-----None of their losses were acceptable—the entire attack was infuriating, even to the point that Shinsuke seemed to burn up inside—but above all he could not stand to think of losing her. She was everything to him, and he meant that in the most sincere way possible; before he had met her he had been a much different man, and she had helped him become something better. Their relationship had gone beyond friendship, even transcended, at least in his eyes, love; to him she was not a person, she was a savior and happiest, most carefree being he had ever met.
-----The thought of losing her was painful enough to shut down all other comprehension; even as he kneeled down before the ruins of the control tower and pulled at his hair he was unaware that the Galleon’s had released their ramps so that the undead could make their long awaited appearance. Fortunately the pain was brief, for he was not about to give up on her so easily. Many people had actually survived the attack for no conceivable reason other than that the Saramach seemed more interested in destroying their weapons than actually killing them with those spheres—this had given rise to hope, the possibility that she was still alive somewhere in those ruins.
-----Frantically he began to throw the rubble aside, digging like a dog at the soft earth to grip the heavier pieces from underneath and lift them with all of his strength. Shinsuke admired his strength, but after a few minutes he was compelled to grab Lex by the arms and pull him away. The Saramach were getting much too close.
-----Lex hollered and screamed as he extended a hand out towards the ruins of the tower. He reached out as if it were some cherished object that was just out of reach. He babbled about being able to rescue her; that she could still be there.
-----“I’m not saying we should give up on Lara,” Shinsuke said as he locked both of his arms around Lex’s shoulders, “but the Saramach are already pouring into the city, if we wait here any longer they’ll surround us.”
-----“I don’t care!” Lex yelled, “You go if you have to. I’m staying right here, and if any of them get in my way…”
-----“No, we have to keep moving,” Shinsuke retorted, “We need to get to the south end of the city…that part is relatively undamaged compared to the rest of it. Lara’s a smart woman; I’m willing to bet that she would do the exact same thing.”
-----Lexington began to calm down, and looked to the south. He had failed to notice that there were indeed a handful of buildings stretched out along the south end. There were still numerous holes marked throughout, but it appeared as if only the smaller spheres had struck in several key places. If Lara, or anyone for that matter, had survived the attack they would head straight for that sector. Even now he could see various people moving in and around the rubble, heading straight for that area.
-----“Looks like you got to him a little,” Cortelloni said as he walked upon them, “I figured you’d be gone by now, but I see he’s been wallowing around here…too bad…”
-----“Michael…” Lex said with a disgusted tone, “you could have used your power to lift the rubble from the tower you know…”
-----“I was busy protecting your ass from the damn skeletons back there,” Cortelloni replied, “and I wouldn’t have done it in the first place if Shinsuke here hadn’t convinced me to; when you thought your girl was gone you freaked out and the enemy was catching up with us, but this is the thanks I get huh?”
-----“Never mind him,” Shinsuke interrupted, “he’s going through a bit of shock but he’s recovering. What did you find out about their strengths?”
-----“I tangled with some of ‘em,” Cortelloni said proudly, “Their weapons were enchanted somehow so I couldn’t mess with them, but the guys themselves…that was a different matter. I made short work of those shitheads; they look tough but they’re no match for anyone who’s reasonably empowered. Have no idea myself why they didn’t keep attacking from the ships…guess the amount of stuff they can throw around is limited. Didn’t like the numbers I was facing near the end though,” he brushed off his sleeves with a few strokes and then stuck his thumb out in the direction of the south sector.
-----“Right,” Shinsuke nodded as he let Lex go, “Don’t worry; I’m sure we’ll find Lara over there.”
-----Lex slowly motioned his hands to the back of his head and pulled the bandana loose with one quick tug. He clenched it in his right hand and looked at it intently but said nothing.
-----“You going to get moving?” Cortelloni asked as he darted off.
-----Lex shoved the bandana in his shirt pocket and stared into the mass of undead abominations that now walked across the northern half of Raisa. Wherever their emaciated feet fell the ground beneath them began to die; even the brown dirt became gray and brittle as they passed—in fact, when the undead had first stepped off of the galleons a wailing economancer had shouted that Khazan itself was weeping. They were such disgusting creatures; each of them an emissary of death, and he hated them all. He loathed them, despised them more than any Drekis minion he had encountered; and it didn’t even matter if they had truly killed Lara or not, he hated them just for making him agonize.
-----Shinsuke began to climb over some of the rubble to follow Cortelloni. “C’mon Lex, we’ll all find Natsumi and Lara together. We have to hurry; don’t want them getting in our way before we get there!”
-----“Let them come,” Lex said sternly as he suddenly jumped over the rubble, landing a few feet ahead of Shinsuke, “If they get in my way…I’ll tear them apart.”

---10---
Entrapped

-----Lara awoke slowly, almost forgetting where she was and when, only to suddenly have the horrific images of those attacks come back to her; she sat up immediately and felt a stinging pain throughout her back. She tried to stand but found the ordeal to be rather painful.
-----“Be careful, you’re hurt,” a timid voice said. Lara could barely hear it over the shouts and commotion that kept her head ringing.
-----She was able to see that the voice belonged to Natsumi Shirai, truly a sight for true eyes. She wanted to reach out and hug the little girl, though she found that that too was quite excruciating.
-----“Where were you? When you left the tower, we got so worried, but then everything…” she took a quick look around and didn’t recognize the area as where she had collapsed. She remembered evacuating the tower shortly after the galleons had begun to release the spheres; it had not been ten seconds after leaving that the tower had been hit, taking the few soldiers that had decided to remain with it. At the insistence of the remaining soldiers she had fled towards the southern end, but one of the spheres had forced a building to collapse over her. After that she could remember nothing, “Where am I, and how…Where is Lex, and the others?” she found herself unable to ask just one question.
-----Natsumi held her left arm shyly, “We’re near the south entrance; I brought you here. I left the tower because I wanted to help Shinsuke fight…at least, that’s what I thought I wanted. I decided to take the Shikigami and try, but then those attacks started to happen. I freaked out and tried to return to the tower but I found it collapsed when I got back, so I started to follow some of the evacuating people and found you along the way. The Shikigami helped me carry you here.”
-----“So the south entrance isn’t so damaged after all,” Lara said, feeling her back with her sore hands, “But it won’t be like this for long. We have to get out of here…where’s Lex and the…”
-----“I don’t know where they are,” Natsumi said as she instructed the Green Snare to act as support for Lara’s back. “I didn’t seem them on my way here. But I’m worried about you, I don’t know if you’re healthy enough to walk on your own. The shikigami could carry you, but that was so slow…”
-----“Heh, its alright dear,” Lara muttered. She tried to give her a calm look but was only able to barely open one eye while she struggled against the pain. “Why don’t you get out of here…get yourself to the capital, that’s where you should go. I have to wait for Lex and the others before I leave.”
-----Natsumi shook her head almost violently; “No!” she said emphatically, “I’m not leaving without you guys either. It was like that when we were in Zel’Myas fighting the Marauders. We didn’t leave until we had everyone accounted for, and I don’t plan on running away on that trust now.”
-----Lara could see that Natsumi was trembling slightly. A part of the girl was attempting to be strong, to be resolute in spite of her young fears. “Natsumi…you’re a brave girl, but I don’t think…”
-----“I still have these…things,” Natsumi exclaimed, holding her hands out to bring attention to the Shikigami. The blob bounced slightly in response while the ferret looked around curiously. Shirai reached out to grab the bat Shikigami that was fluttering around her, but just as her delicate hands touched its oily skin she backed up and wiped her hands across her clothes with a disgusted look on her face, “I think…I think this bat thing might help. And the blob too…they can absorb the mental and physical strength of someone and then transfer it to someone else. Maybe if I have them take a little bit from a lot of different people, well, I guess then it might heal you without knocking anyone else out,” she placed a finger on her chin and thought the idea over again.
-----“Maybe…” Lara said as he looked at the Shikigami with a smile, “you could try…if I can move then we can both get out of the city before the Saramach get over here. I’m sure Lex and the others will be right behind us.”
-----A slew of profane words caught their attention as soldiers began running towards the city gates in an agitated manner.
-----A soldier’s voice cried out, “We’ve been cut off!! Call in all remaining Mecha…we need them to cover our escape route to the south, now!!”
-----The rest of their voices blended together into a desperate murmur; the entire mass of soldiers, in turn, became a mirage of worried expressions.
-----“What is it?” Lara asked softly as she tried to sit up higher, “Natsumi…find out what’s going on.”
-----The girl scurried towards the front gates and was immediately followed by the bat and the ferret. She met with a mass of frantic soldiers, some of which were shoving their way through the city exit while others stood their ground in shock. Others still ran to the east and west, hoping to run around the south walls of the city to escape through the ruins that the Saramach galleons had created.
-----With a few jumps she attempted to look over the soldiers but was blinded by their broad shoulders. With each successive jump she saw a little more, and then a little more still until she began to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. She gasped in disbelief, even threw her hands over her mouth to hold in the scream which would have surely thrown the soldiers in front of her across the fields.
-----More and more soldiers were moving away now, and mecha were beginning to fly overhead. Deep in the fields where the Cispanaar forest was just beginning, the Drekis legions emerged.


END

Next:
Chapter 14:
The Gathering