War of Drekis

-----Elwin D’Larthi donned one of her oldest costumes—the original set of clothes that she had worn when she first challenged the Khazan league. That was a long time ago, but nonetheless she was one of the earliest champions of the current age; the costume represented the victory that she attained that year, as well as the heroism that she demonstrated in the following years.
-----It was dawn already; the night had come and gone, and it had been over seven hours since she last heard from Axia regarding the mission that Ubermam was leading. No news had come in since then, which could only mean that they were still down there, in the Endless caves.
-----Unfortunately, Elwin didn’t have time to worry about Uberman’s team. Today was the day that she had resolved to making a speech to the people of Khazan—a speech that would inform the citizens of the situation and put their fears to rest.
-----She gently moved a brush through her hair several times and began to recite the speech in her head. As she went over the words and promises of the address, she found herself unsatisfied with certain passages—she replaced a few words with lines that she believed to be more hopeful, more encouraging, but made sure to maintain the integrity and honesty of the original information.
-----With each recital in her mind she thought about how she would actually say the words. With what level of passion should she announce them with? Should it be matter-of-fact, or was she responsible for rallying the nation with a heroic declaration? The latter seemed to be most agreeable, but she had done the same thing for almost every catastrophe that Khazan had pulled itself through. How many times could she look at her citizens with a straight face and promise their safety when she was doomed to repeat her statements again? One war fell to be replaced with another; one aspiring bringer of the apocalypse was usurped by another.
-----The only thing she knew is that she had to try; she had to believe that she could grant the people of the nexus their security. Even if she couldn’t stop more wars from happening, even if she couldn’t keep the megalomaniacs and crime lords away from Khazan, the people had to come first. Protecting them from whatever threat currently hovered over the nexus—that was the duty of a Sentinel hero.
-----Her thoughts were interrupted by the irregular knocking of her chamber door. A young Sentinel entered the room with Elwin’s permission. “Excuse me Lady D’Larthi…you have a call from a ship in orbit. It’s the GDF.”
-----“I see…” she responded. “Patch it through to my room monitor.” She turned from her mirror and approached the plasma television screen that was perched on the wall across from her bed. She pressed a small green button on the side of the monitor, temporarily cutting off the digital television signal in favor of receiving transmissions.
-----Captain Nora Shire appeared on the monitor; her ship was still in orbit, docked at the Star of Khazan. “Good day to you Mrs. D’Larthi…I am sorry to intrude on your business once again, but I have some urgent matters to discuss with you.”
-----“I’m listening,” Elwin responded.
-----“As you know, our plans have been thrown into hiatus due to the rest of our fleet being MIA. However, we have recently received some unwelcome news from headquarters. It would appear that Drekis has already scurried his minions to the stars; we were given confirmation from several forces that the rest of our fleet was attacked by biological warships—living space creatures used as starships for off-world transportation and combat.”
-----“I assumed that Drekis and his Empire were situated on Khazan; I don’t see how such weapons could leave the planet without being detected.”
-----“Believe me, even the most advanced technology has a hard time detecting their presence. They’re capable of an ethereal cloak, something which our tech has yet to duplicate, or adequately counter for that matter. It would have been easy for Drekis to launch armadas of these beasts into Khazanian space without your knowing.”
-----“This puts us in a much more dire situation than I anticipated,” Elwin sighed. “Where was your fleet attacked?”
-----“It was several light years away, which is disconcerting. If Drekis has extended his reach that far…”
-----“But why? I was under the impression that he was focusing all of his efforts on the Nexus. What does he gain by dividing his forces across entire star systems.”
-----“The GDF has a history of fighting with the Drekis Empire. I’m pretty sure that Drekis doesn’t appreciate our interference, so the ships he released were probably being used as a shield.”
-----“A shield?”
-----Captain Shire folded her hands over her lap. “Yes, a shield, to prevent any Galaxy Defense Force fleets from nearing Khazan. However, it would be safe to assume that some of those creatures are right here, orbiting Khazan…waiting for something.”
-----“Then why has your ship escaped attack?” Elwin asked.
-----“My guess is that once we separated from the rest of the fleet, we were no longer viewed as a major threat. We are just one ship after all, so the Terror beasts probably weren’t very concerned with stopping us.”
-----“This is most unsettling. If these creatures are really in orbit around us, then it is my duty to report the threat to the citizens during my speech.”
-----“Speech?” Shire said. “You are going to address the nation?”
-----“I’m going to address them in Khazan City, though the broadcast of the speech intends to reach the farthest corners of the Nexus. As terrifying as this war is, it is still primarily centered around four State-Kingdoms on the main continent; there is still a lot of information that the citizens of our world do not know about it. Lack of understanding will only lead to fear and panic among our people.”
-----“I understand, but please remember that I am only suggesting it as a precaution. I have no evidence that any enemies are in orbit, but if I were in Drekis’ position, that is what I would do—if for no other reason than to counter the Dollarcorp ships in orbit.”
-----“Dollarcorp ships?”
-----“Yes…there’s an entire fleet of Dollarcorp manufactured ships orbiting…” she paused and whispered something to one of her crew members, then nodded, “the Saedeen Coast Isles.”
-----“I was unaware of this,” Elwin said. The gathering of a Dollarcorp fleet could only mean one thing—but what could Marc Dollar be after? What kind of action could he take during a war against a common enemy? The answers to those questions might be quite horrifying if the Fallen were involved; Dollar had launched joint operations with the Fallen in the past, and they had always been some of the most devastating attacks against the Nexus, whether it be economic or physical. She had heard nothing of the Fallen’s actions aside from the steady movement of their island, but she knew that their damnable cult would not sit idle for long.
-----“We are still committed to the original plan,” Shire continued. “About half of our task force was destroyed, but the Admiral survived and is awaiting reinforcements as we speak. As soon as we get a sizeable armada of our own, we’ll break through their shield and land on Khazan as soon as possible.”
-----“I appreciate the help,” Elwin said, “Though hopefully it will not be necessary.”
-----“Not necessary? I don’t understand.”
-----“I received confirmation from Axia yesterday night that a team of our finest warriors and heroes have infiltrated Drekis’ lair in the Endless Caves. I’m sure they have reached the hive by now, and when they find Drekis, destroying him may end the war.”
-----“I pray that they have the strength to overcome such a foe. Drekis’ feats are the stuff of legends, overblown into tall tales that are so fantastical that we don’t really know what he can and cannot do.”
-----“I know that they will succeed,” Elwin affirmed. “They do have the strength, the will.”
-----Shire slumped in her seat slightly and rested her chin on her hands. “Well, even supposing that your hero team does pose a threat to Drekis…there’s still the possibility that he might pull off another disappearing act—perhaps fly off-world and hide on another planet. That would be unacceptable; we spent an entire decade searching for that monster, and we’ll not lose him again.”
-----“Then what are you suggesting?”
-----“If it’s possible for you to chase Drekis off of Khazan,” Shire began, “then it would be best for the GDF armada to form a filtering fleet upon their arrival.”
-----“A…filter? You intend to create a net to capture him with?”
-----“So to speak. When the armadas arrive, we’ll form a spherical wall around the Nexus to insure that nothing from Drekis escapes Khazanian space.”
-----“A filtering fleet….” Elwin thought to herself for a few moments. The idea of such a fleet was promising, especially if Uberman and the others were successful. Cooperation with the GDF was something that many citizens of the Nexus were tense about due to their reputation for declaring jurisdiction over the worlds they protect—Shire may have promised to exclude Khazan from their jurisdiction rule, but nonetheless it was a better idea to have the GDF’s actions occur primarily off-world. “Very well; it sounds like an excellent idea.”
-----“It’s decided then. I’ll inform my Admiral as well as my superiors at headquarters,” she gave a quick salute, “Good luck to your champions in the caves.” The image cut out, leaving nothing but static on the screen.
-----Elwin switched the monitor back to television signals and then turned the screen off. “Uberman…Captain Khazan—they won’t need luck.”

-----Skye sat on a lone, flat stump of marble just outside of what had once been the borderlines of Raisa. The city was now a wasteland—a contemptible, murky valley of rubble and corpses; the violent waves of the ocean nearby only helped to perpetuate the smell of death that hovered around him; the scent traveled with him, was propelled to his location no matter how far away he moved from the ruins.
-----A cold chill passed over his shoulders; the wind from the north brought with it a new scent—one of death, but different from the bodies that littered the burnt streets of Raisa. His tarnished, white trench coat waved through the air; slightly torn pieces of the cloth rapidly flapped in the wind like a small flag. The wind—the cold chill—was getting stronger.
-----For the first few moments, Skye didn’t feel like turning around to see what he already knew was coming. Inevitably, something took control of his curiosity, that peculiar kind of curiosity that forces people to see something with their own eyes, even if they already know what it is otherwise. He turned his head, raising his chin slightly in order to peek over the waving collar of his coat.
-----As he had surmised, more galleons of the Saramach were approaching the defeated city. With Raisa conquered, the Saramach were free to pour their lot onto the main continent and claim the area as their own; it would become a staging ground, a place for their ships to drop off their fighters—a place for their undead legions to gather.
-----The Saramach had apparently done the same thing before, only in a different legion. Far in the northern areas of Xaelon, they had once landed upon the continent and transformed a sprawling grassland into a dark, twisted deadland known as the wastes. Khazanian legends told of a fierce hero, unequaled in the art of freezing powers, who single handedly froze the wastes. In the process, the Saramach lost their staging ground, and the ancient conflict that they started with the people of Khazan came to a halt soon after.
-----But now they had the Drekis legions as their allies. They could confidently claim their new territories and know that Horror’s army would protect their borders. Of course, Skye was not so naive as to believe that either side really trusted the other. He had been told that there was some history behind the Saramach and Drekis, a relation that might shed some light on Drekis’ reasons for ending his crusade on this particular world. However, Skye knew that such a relation meant nothing; it was all in the past, and not likely to uphold an alliance between such voracious empires.
-----Drekis was most likely using the Saramach as extra numbers, and the Saramach only intended to use Drekis’ war as an excuse to reclaim the power and glory that they once had. When it was all over, they would both backstab each other; that’s how it worked, that was the kind of world that Skye lived in.
-----A shadow was cast over him, and out of the corner of his eyes he spotted the General, Horror. Horror loomed over him, staring into his eyes with a hint of contempt.
-----“You have done very little since the fall of Raisa,” Horror commented. His deep, raging voice rebounded through Skye’s skull, forcing him to shudder from the sound.
-----“I don’t have the will to do anymore,” Skye uttered, staring down at his feet to avoid the cold glare of the General.
-----“How many times have you given me that excuse?” Horror asked. “And yet, in the end, you always end up on the battlefield”—he waved his hand to showcase the ruins of Raisa—“remember, you participated in this.”
-----“It was not by my choice!” Skye shouted defiantly.
-----“Of course it was,” Horror countered. “You made a choice a long time ago. And no matter what happened in the years afterward, you can’t move away from that decision. You made a promise to us, to me, to him! A promise that you would see this through to the end.”
-----“When I made that decision, I saw things differently. I believed that there was nothing left that was good in the universe, and I wanted desperately to make things different. Drekis’ goals seemed to promise everything that I had ever wanted, so that is why I followed him; I knew that I would have to do things, questionable—no—horrible things. But I believed that it was worth it…”
-----“Because it was for a better world,” Horror said. “A world free of the pain that people like you and I suffered. It was an alternative to the path of the void, one that did not promise freedom in nothingness, but in Chaos. You had passion back then Skye…you had the strength to do what was necessary.”
-----“Now I do not know. I have killed—I killed so many people. Ravaged worlds, massacred innocents. How much have I done and seen in the last few centuries? I’ve lost track of it all…can’t even remember the faces of the ones I slaughtered with my own two hands—they all blend together now, one putrid, horrified face, one screaming voice, all shouting in my nightmares.”
-----“You are becoming weak Skye, that is all. You knew what had to be done for our ideal universe to exist, and yet now you falter when we are so close to completing it!”
-----“I don’t know if it was worth fighting for! This universe we want…I can no longer believe that it is worth this…genocide! I’m tired of killing, of death. I’m losing myself in this war Horror—I don’t know if you can understand…”
-----“I understand more than you. All that has happened, is that you have become lost in this crusade. It has taken centuries to complete, and the time has taken its toll on your mind. What you have forgotten along the way, and what you must remember, is the pain that you went through that day. Do you remember what happened Skye, do you remember why it happened, why the ones you loved had to die!?”
-----Skye gripped his pants and clenched them tightly. He knew what would happen next.
-----“Do you want me to remind you?” Horror offered.
-----“No!” Skye pleaded, closing his eyes. “I remember…I remember it all…I…just want to, move past it…I,”
-----“What good will moving past it do?” Horror asked. “You run away from it, and the problem just persists. You aren’t just doing yourself a favor Skye…the entire multiverse will benefit from our actions. You must have the strength to do this for a little while longer—and if you do not, then you know that I will have to kill you.”
-----“I know that,” Skye spat out. “I…I still wish to see Drekis complete his mission. Please understand that, I simply have fears…doubts. What Drekis could do, what he could become…it scares me. I committed myself to something that so large, so grand that it was clearly beyond me, and now I don’t even know if what I’m doing is right anymore. I don’t know if I’ll be able to live with myself in the new world with all of the blood that is on my hands. But I…I’ll see it through, to whatever end.”
-----“Good!” Horror said. “And you will fight when you’re needed, even if you don’t like it. Your commitment to Drekis cannot be broken.” He turned his attention away from Skye to look upon the dark galleons that were docking at the Raisa shoreline. “It would appear that the Saramach have arrived in full force. Perhaps this time they will bring their leaders to meet with us.”
-----Marching footsteps sounded off in the background; an entire army of deminites moved towards the ruins of Raisa. At the front of their legion stood Sinril, the disciple of Horror. There was a wicked smile on that man’s face which Skye recognized—he knew exactly what he had done, and that he had enjoyed it.
-----“There,” Horror said, turning to greet his returning army. “There you see what I expect of an advocate like you Skye. Sinril is not afraid to do what is necessary.”
-----That was because Sinril gained a sense of pleasure from destruction, from murder. He ignored Horror’s comment and changed the subject. “What about Maria Halesinger? Do we know anything about her whereabouts.”
-----“Halesinger?” Horror said, still facing Sinril’s approaching army. “She is under the command of Avalon. She is not my concern.”
-----“I merely asked if you knew anything…”
-----“She is behind enemy lines somewhere,” Horror answered. “She will be a spy for us, lurking in the heart of the enemy’s society. But where she is and what she is doing, that is only for Avalon to know.”
-----“I see…”
-----The frontline of the deminite army halted, and only Sinril continued his trek towards Horror’s location. Upon arrival, he kneeled and crossed his arm. “Lord Horror, I have returned.” He was a tall, muscular humanoid with sharp teeth and a green glow in his eyes. He had dark skin with various tattoos adorning his body, the likes of which included a small, wyrm-like dragon that was tattooed over his slightly enlarged left eye. As usual, he was adorned in a dark green shirt that matched his disordered hair as well as silver shoulder plates and black pants; a red cape was tied around his neck almost like a scarf, with the better half of its mass draped over his right shoulder.
-----“What do you have to tell me Sinrel?” Horror replied.
-----“As you wished, we took the city of Zaira my lord.” He stood to his full height and showcased his proud smile again. “The enemy is too busy fighting in Xaelon to offer much of a resistance over here; Zaira fell easily enough, though a large percentage of their population fled to Morisato City. We pursued them, but found Morisato City’s defenses to be more troublesome. A Khazan army had already landed there to defend the city, but I doubt that they’ll pursue us here.”
-----“Very well. We shall wait for the Saramach to gather their forces here. When they are done, we will storm into Morisato City as one legion.”
-----“Please allow me to lead the siege against them my lord.” Sinril said, bowing his head a little.
-----“No, you shall not do this alone. Morisato City is the capital of this State-Kingdom, and the military will not let that city fall without a fight. For this fight…”—he turned his head and gave Skye a knowing smile—“you two will work together.”

-----Pain gripped Tim’s spine and slithered up his neck as he awoke in darkness. The right side of his face was buried in the cold, rocky ground—he lifted his head up to gently wipe at the cuts that adorned his cheek, but the chamber was so dark that he could barely see the blood dripping down his fingers.
-----A familiar arm gripped his shoulders and shook his body. The motion made him feel sick.
-----“Tim! C’mon Tim, wake up!” Raea said worriedly. Her voice was cracking, like she had been saying the same thing over and over again for hours already.
-----“I’m awake,” Tim forced the words out and placed his hand over hers. Raea helped Tim to his feet, but pain strolled down his spine once more and her bent over in agony. “Damn it! My back…”
-----“You’re hurt?” Raea said, inspecting him with her arm light; Tim cringed as the brightness struck his pupils. “I’d be surprised if you were hurt. I was the one whose back took the brunt of the attack, and it didn’t look like you suffered much of a fall.”
-----“Not much of a fall?” Tim questioned. “I woke up with half my face in the dirt—but…how far did I…”
-----“Not far at all,” Tiara chipped in. The disciple of the Powers that Be slowly descended next to him; a small gust escaped from her feet as she landed. “The pit itself was a good twenty stories at least; I managed to get to Raea about mid-way, but before I could get to you your sword went crazy.”
-----“My sword?” Tim exclaimed. He looked down and suddenly realized that he had been clutching the weapon in his other hand; he had held onto it throughout the fall and while unconscious.
-----“It started to glow again,” Tiara explained, “And before I knew what was going on, the light enshrouded you and your body began slow down. You never really fell from that point on; it was more like some invisible person picked you up and gently placed you on the floor when you got there.”
-----Tim looked at the sword in amazement. The blue glow had faded, but the blade itself was just as polished as ever. “Is that so. How long was I out.”
-----“It’s only been a minute or so since you two fell,” Tiara informed him. “I don’t even know why you blanked out in the first place.”
-----“The battle with that girl!” Tim suddenly remembered.
-----“I’ve felt a few quakes that were probably from the battle,” Tiara said, looking up into the chasm that they had fallen through. “I think its winding down, but I don’t know what the outcome will be.”
-----“We need to get back to the others,” Raea suggested. She checked her system diagnostics and ran a check on the booster system for her power suit. “Looks like the boosters are still functioning. I should be able to ride the twelve stories on my own—Tiara, you can take Tim back up.”
-----“Alright…” Tim began to sheath his sword, but before the tip of the blade reached the holster it began to glow again. It was a light blue pulse that caressed the metal—the same kind of warning light that he had seen when the hunter-killers attacked him in Khazan City, and when the phantom sorcerer had appeared to attack the group earlier. “Wait, something’s here.”
-----A sudden patter echoed through the shadowy chamber; Raea quickly sprayed her light in the direction of the disturbance to see a sprinkle of pebbles falling onto the cavern floor. A barely visible cloud of dust sprinkled downward, but all she could see was a plain wall of bedrock. “I don’t…” but then there was movement. Or at least, she thought she saw movement. It was as if a small portion of the wall began to slither, began to uncurl and sway.
-----The apparition emerged from the shadows, extending its snake like body from the cavern wall. The eyeless beast opened its mouth, revealing two sets of jagged mandibles that stretched towards the trio; a thick slime dripped from the extending claws, and the monster’s scaly body continued to slither out, chasing its intended victims as they moved away from it.
-----“That thing is…” Raea started.
-----“One of those monsters that spawns the spider-things,” Tiara finished.
-----The Arachnis Queen launched itself forward like a cobra; a sharp assortment of fangs clamped down while the mandibles reached out like claws, intending to seize and pull its prey into its jaws.
-----The strike was unperceivable to Raea and Tiara, but Tim saw its primal attack in slow motion. With both hands gripping the hilt of his sword, Tim swung the weapon like a bat, slicing the lower mandibles off with one attack.
-----The Arachnis Queen instinctively pulled back and swayed its head from side to side, screaming in pain. It drew its head into the air, revealing its crested belly to the group. Tim saw a multitude of spider-like legs along the side of its long body, as well as a series of bulges which appeared around its underside. The bulges broke open right after Tim them, spewing forth a tiny swarm of arachnis creatures.
-----The tireless legs of the arachnis carred them over the cavern floor with great speed, and they moved with such a unified motion that they looked like one massive puddle strolling towards them.
-----“Tim, get back!” Raea shouted, moving in front of him. The concealed laser gun in her suit’s right forearm revealed itself and began blasting immediately. A continuous stream of individual laser fire lit up the caves—the stream of small arachnis creatures split into two groups as soon as the first of their numbers was scorched by the beams. Raea alternated between the two swarms, killing anything in front of her that moved.
-----A few of the arachnis stopped their advance and spat tiny projectiles at the young Sentinel. Their miniature harpoons stuck into Raea’s power armor; she gasped at the unexpected maneuver and covered her face with her arms to block additional needles from hitting her unprotected areas. Fortunately, the venomous tips failed to reach the surface of her skin.
-----The arachnis used her moment of defense to close in, but a winter wind swept over them and blasted them away. Tiara moved to the front of the group, whisking her arms out and increasing the power of her storm. The gusts she summoned hit the arachnis with enough force to rupture their minuscule frames.
-----The queen seemed unmoved by the death of her children. The creature sneered at apprentice Power and slowly, cautiously closed in. Tiara summoned a furious, freezing wind around her body, creating a shield of force; the queen wasn’t frightened by the display, but instead approached even closer and inspected her defenses with curiosity. Its mouth gradually opened, revealing its two remaining mandibles.
-----“Come and attack me…” Tiara whispered. “…when you do, Neva and I will cut you down.”
-----The monster reared back as if to prepare for a strike, but before its dripping jaws could lash out a heavy object fell from above, crushing the arachnis queen’s head under its weight; the monsters head was forced into the ground and a brief tremor rocked the area.
-----The dust fell, and a large, muscular man stood up from the corpse of the arachnis queen. It had been him that had fallen upon the creature and struck it down. Captain Khazan strolled into Raea’s light and brushed the dust away from his costume.
-----“Captain!” Raea called out, “You’re all right!”
-----“I’m all right?” Captain Khazan replied. “I’m the one who was worried about you! In any case it looks like all of you are unharmed—I’m relieved.”
-----The light of Tim’s sword faded, and finally he managed to sheath the weapon. “So the battle above is over then?”
-----“Of course it is,” Captain Khazan said with a smile. “You didn’t think that a group such as ours would fail to bring down a single opponent like that, did you? The battle was won, though the girl escaped with some help from an unseen enemy. I came down to get you, and arrived just in time I see. We need to get moving though—sorry to be in a rush after your fall and everything, but we’ve lost a lot of time in this room. We’ll rejoin with the others and head for the hive immediately.”

-----Vincentzo nearly tore through the door to the palace wall; in a hurry he pushed his way through a mass of armed guards and walked up the stone steps to the highest walkways of the walls. The palace of Arael, which Maiinverno had had constructed in his honor, was the center of Araelis’ new government. It was from this royal compound that Vincentzo wished to rightfully take his place on an authentic throne—to simply be the leader of Araelis was not enough, he was born to be a true king, a leader among leaders, and that is what he would be.
-----The palace easily catered to Vincentzo’s tastes. It was crafted with golden edges, platinum-trimmed windows, interior fountains, oversized redwood doors, and lavish furniture that had no purpose other than to look refined; giant, exaggerated statues of Maiinverno stood at each corner of the castle, running alongside the primary towers. The enormous palace was not necessarily the largest building in Arael, but it appeared to be; the castle was constructed on a tall hill within the city that placed the highest towers of the palace above the tallest buildings of Arael. Of course, while Arael was the largest city in Araelis, it was comparatively small compared to other cities on Khazan. After all, Araelis was a relatively new State-Kingdom that had been united under Maiinverno’s flag, and his only concern was that his castle was the most magnificent thing about the capital.
-----From the walkways that traveled along the top of the castle walls, Maiinverno looked towards the north and shaded his eyes from the burning sun. The smell of decay traveled with the tense winds that flowed from that direction. In the distance he could see the Drekis army approaching; an entire legion of horrific creatures bobbed up and down impatiently as they marched toward their target, their bodies enshrouded in a sparkling red glow that the sun cast upon them.
-----As usual, the army swarmed over the horizon and moved as one large mass, as if the surface of the nexus was steadily advancing towards Arael. The frontline of the army was already close enough that he could see their leader, Aigonis Zekruel, who unabashedly led his forces. Aigonis and his minions were only around ten minutes away from reaching the border of Arael if they began to pick up their pace, but that is what Vincentzo was counting on.
-----Tanin flew down from one of the towers and slowly levitated next to the sorcerer. “Well, they’ve finally arrived. And Aigonis is there as well…I guess we’ll get to finish what we started back in the canyon.”
-----Vincentzo let out a confident laugh just to showcase his pride, “Just as I deducted. They’d send their full force as one group to attack from the North. Well, when they attack they’ll be in for quite the surprise. These Drekis fools have no idea what kind of brilliant tactician they’re up against.”
-----“Considering that they’ve been sweeping through cities from north to south so far,” Tanin pointed out, “it seems only natural that they’d attack from the north. Although, that has me worried. I haven’t seen any sign of the aerial minions; the skies are clear.”
-----“Obviously they’ve seen the brilliance of my defenses,” Vincentzo explained, “I’ve concentrated all of the airships, fighters, and mechs that we have in the air around the city.” He looked to the sky with a haughty expression and let out a happy sigh as he saw the looming airships soaring overhead. A group of mecha and an escort of speeding fighter craft zoomed by the palace. “Any attempt to attack the city by air would be futile, so their only choice is to attack from there.”
-----The northern border of Arael was defended by a sparse army that was made up mostly of the Arael National Guard. A number of mobile police MARS units that had retreated from RiverWatch had joined up with the guards, forming a small but powerful frontline. This defense group formed a tight, physical wall across the northern border, but their numbers were dwarfed by the Drekis legions. It was, however, Maiinverno’s intent that the Drekis minions see this disadvantage and try to capitalize on it. Much larger forces of Khazan military units were gathered at the western and eastern borders of the city, all of whom were led by teams of heroes and sentinels that had pledged themselves to the protection of Arael.
-----With the northern defense group appearing comparatively weak, the Drekis forces were bound to attack the north border, but Vincentzo had set them up to walk into a trap that he deemed to be quite clever. Just one mile away from the northern defense force, and not too far from where the Drekis legions were now, Vincentzo had set up a mine field. A mixture of incendiary, concussion, plasma, and radiation mines filled the open meadow in front of Arael, and despite the sheer size of the army, the field covered enough distance to effectively engulf their entire frontline.
-----Vincentzo expected the Drekis minions to tenaciously pursue their targets in spite of the damage that the mines would inflict; after all, that tenacity had been one of the key reasons for the Drekis’ Empires victories in the war so far; it was something that Maiinverno could count on. The army would continue to drive through the mine field, continuously losing more and more of its demonic soldiers—of course, in the end there would be many of their kind remaining, but by the time they broke through the mine field the western and eastern defense groups would have joined with the north, and victory would be at hand.
-----“They’ll fall straight into my trap,” Vincentzo said with an eager smile. “I can’t wait to see the look on that Aigonis fellow’s face when half of his army goes up in smoke before the combat even starts! Ha, this mine field really was a most genius idea of mine.”
-----“Do you really think that those KOMBG mines will be enough to take down half of that?” Tanin asked, pointing to the black mass of minions that moved in from the horizon. “Not that I doubt the efficiency of KOMBG products mind you.”
-----“Of course they will. I had over four thousand mines placed into that field—a bit drastic maybe, or even theatrical, but necessary. There’s enough explosive power in that field to lay waste to Balthius.”
-----The Drekis legions stopped their advance and stood in place. Only Aigonis moved forward slightly, holding his head up and sniffing the air. With one motion he thrust the end of the Starblade, which was in the form of a halberd, into the ground, and crossed his arms.
-----“What are they doing?” Vincentzo exclaimed. “They’re supposed to be walking into the mine field.”
-----“Looks like things aren’t going according to plan,” Tanin said as he surveyed the situation. “Maybe they know about the mines.”
-----“Impossible! We’ve never seen any indication that they have the technology to detect mines underground.”
-----“Just because we’ve never seen the enemy with the tech or the ability doesn’t mean they don’t have it.”
-----“Yes, yes, don’t lecture me on tactics.”
-----“You do have a plan ready in case they avoid the mine field right?” Tanin asked.
-----Vincentzo huffed and closed his eyes as if insulted, “Your worries are misplaced. The field’s over two miles wide; if they knew about it they’d have to move around to one side or the other. By the time they do that, the eastern or western groups can move in to counter them. It won’t be the slaughter I envisioned, but the people of Arael will get through this. I am their leader after all.”
-----Tanin watched as two new figures emerged from the horde. The Avatar of Light had never seen these two before, and they were far more human-looking than any of the other creatures in the army. The first was a petite young girl, no more than five feet tall, with delicate skin and wiry black hair. She was provocatively dressed in thin black silk; the top half was wrapped around her chest, while the bottom was loosely adorned around her waste and dropped down like a skirt. On all accounts she was human in appearance, but there was something ghostly in her eyes; the irises were bright red, and although her skin had a natural tanned complexion, the area around her eyes seemed to be perpetually shadowed.
-----The second was an enormous man, at least seven feet tall, and bursting with muscles. There was nothing unnatural about him save for the fact that his build was monstrous; the man wore only dark black pants, and his bare chest was covered in scars.
-----“It looks like Aigonis brought some friends with him this time.” Tanin observed.
-----“He can bring all the friends he likes,” Vincentzo uttered. “He still won’t survive this. I trust that you can still take him out.”
-----“Aigonis? Well sure, although I hadn’t counted on fighting his two body guards along with him. It shouldn’t be much of a problem, though I’d like to see what those two are capable of before I go in swinging my sword.”
-----The tall man stayed in place, while the dark haired girl moved forward to the head of the army. Aigonis watched her with an ugly grin.
-----“Just a little further…” Vincentzo whispered. “Just ten more meters or so and she’ll be blown to kingdom come.”
-----The deminites that stood behind Aigonis stretched their bodies out and reached into the air with hand and talon. A fierce, unanimous roar swept over the field as the creatures repeated some indiscernible noise. With each repetitious beat of their cries the deminites threw their hands into the air.
-----“Just what the hell do they think they’re doing!?” Vincentzo shouted impatiently. “I wanted to see them get blown to Tartarus in the flames of my glory, not bear witness to some ill manner of song.”
-----Tanin leaned against the foundation of the palace walls and took a closer look at the action. “I’d say that they’re uttering some sort of battle cry.”
-----“A battle cry? Absurd! And just where is this battle of theirs? Not over here, that’s for sure.”
-----“Not that kind of battle cry,” Tanin explained, “It’s more like they’re cheering for her.”
-----“Her? The girl in front who’s dressed like a freakish pop star!? And just what has she done.”
-----The girl reached behind her back and pulled out a large sword. Tanin stared intently at the broad blade, which was even taller than the girl herself. Exactly how she hid a weapon that size behind her was anyone’s guess. She held the blade close to her darkened face and licked the blade playfully; her expression became serious, murderous; her arm drew back as far as it could, pointing the tip of the weapon behind her; the muscles in her arm were visibly flexing as she shifted her body weight.
-----Tanin frowned as he saw the girl throw her shoulder forward. “Not what she’s done…what’s she’s about to do.”
-----The girl completed her motion, swinging the sword to the other side with furious power. A visible wave of energy and a ripple of pressure were discharged from the movement of the blade. The entire center of the field was crushed by attack; like a strong wind it swayed over the ground, spreading out farther and farther. The mines were detonated immediately, sending bright flashes throughout the meadow. One mine explosion caused two more to go, two explosions caused five, five ignited ten more—over two hundred of the mines were hit by the blast that the girl had released, creating a giant chain reaction of explosions that ripped through the field.
-----The different colored flashes of light blinded Vincentzo momentarily. He squinted through the fiery display to gaze in disbelief at the disaster before him. Explosions continued to spread out to the left and right, leaving an entire land of deep craters in their wake.
-----“They have safe passage to the northern border now.” Tanin said. He drew Chrysillium and jumped on the edge of the wall. “I’m going down to the front. You better prepare for battle.” He floated off of the palace wall and went to join with the defense forces below.
-----“Damn the insolence of these Drekis buffoons,” Vincentzo growled. He violently turned to one of his captains, who seemed dumbfounded by the series of explosions. “You! Order the long range batteries to start firing immediately! Contact POWAAA-MAN’s western defense group and tell them to start moving for the northern border right now! Have the eastern group move around and try to flank the enemy when they advance!”
-----The smoke from the detonated mine field began to clear, and Aigonis Zekruel’s howling army charged forward without hesitation.

-----Maria Halesinger walked though the crowded streets of Khazan City. The Uptown district was the busiest area that she had visisted, though she was sure that Elwin’s impending speech was making the throng even worse.
-----Thousands of people gathered at Khazan downtown square, a large gathering area with pearl-white tile floors and a massive stage at its center. The downtown square was surrounded on all sides by the magnificent skyscrapers of the city, but within the square itself there was only one small office building, shaped vaguely like a horseshoe, that wrapped around the stage. Outside of the tile area that surrounded the stage were delicately arranged patches of grass and planted trees.
-----She moved to the front of the group that faced the stage, but made sure to stay at least a few rows back before she made her move. Maria gazed at the podium that was centered at the front of the stage, but Elwin wasn’t there yet. She stood in place, intending to wait, but her patience was being tested by frantic Khazanians who pushed and shoved in order to get a better view.
-----All of this for one woman’s speech? Are they so desperate for information that they’d act so foolish? She thought to herself.
-----Cheers rang up from the crowd, and countless hands raised up as Elwin D’Larthi took the stage. The woman was accompanied by two men, Sentinels most likely, who took their place at her side while she stepped up to the podium. A theater-sized screen that protruded from the roof of the office building activated with a zing, displaying a crisp image of the Vice-President that everyone in the square could see.
-----Maria quickly analyzed the two Sentinels at Elwin’s side. The one to her right was a well-built man dressed from neck to toe in some kind of red tights; an unknown symbol decorated his chest. The one to Elwin’s left was a shorter, stockier man with dark hair and a short beard; he wore a bright green robe with long sleeves that sheltered his hands.
-----A few more people crowded in front of Maria as the speech began. She quickly looked for any possible threats to her operation, but found only armed guards who patrolled the sides of the stage. They were of no concern to her. More people crowded in front of her; she could barely see now, but they could barely see her.
-----Elwin’s strong voice brought silence among her people; everyone listened intently as her words were carried over downtown Khazan by a networked system of speakers and microphones.
-----“Citizens of Khazan…” she began.
-----More people shuffled their way in front of Maria. With her entire body hidden behind a wall of Khazanians, Maria slowly moved her left hand out, and a gleaming sword materialized in her grip.

-----The Fallen Tower began to shake; there was an imbalance, a force that was ever so slightly disrupting the flow of magic that kept the Fallen Island in the air. Devyn Soyokaze calmly walked towards an interdimensional window, an anomaly that allowed those in the interiors of the Tower to look upon the outside world while denying those that were outside from looking in. The clouds above the Fallen Island were dark; a furious storm was about to begin.
-----“There is a presence,” Zalrafel said, not bothering to look through the windows. He could sense their imminent arrival…could feel the power of chaos pushing against the power of the void. “The time has come.”
-----“Do you think he is with them?” Devyn asked curiously.
-----“We shall see,” Zalrafel said as he walked towards a large circle of glowing lights. The illuminated area was a magical teleportation device, a quick means of exiting the tower when one was in the higher levels. “Drekis would be a fool not to come…and the presence of chaos is strong.”
-----“You’re going then?” Devyn said with a smile.
-----“As I said, I wish to fight Drekis myself.”
-----“As I recall, Kaas will try his hand at the chaos Avatar first. He’s already at the base of the tower with a small army of our people. Dollarcorp’s new war machines are spread out through the island, and the Tower’s defenses are set to maximum output. It should be an amusing show to watch.”
-----“I am not satisfied with watching Devyn,” Zalrafel replied. “Not this time. I’ll fight outside with the rest of the Fallen.”
-----Devyn moved one of his hands in front of his face and seemed to study his fingers; he clenched them into a tight fist and smiled as their ambitious enemies finally revealed themselves.
-----Dozens of large, irregularly shaped creatures appeared in the sky, de-cloaking in large groups.
-----“There they are,” Devyn said. “Quite an impressive sight. We’ll see just how powerful they really are.”
-----Zalrafel stepped onto the circle. A multitude of lights shot up around him. “Are you coming as well?” he asked.
-----“I am,” Devyn replied. “It’s been a while since I fought personally—and perhaps these Drekis minions will actually put up a good fight.” He turned from the window and stepped onto the circular transporter. The light engulfed the two Fallen; their bodies became one with the radiance, and with a jolt of power they disappeared.

-----The terror beasts advanced on the Fallen Island; they descended as soon as they reached the edge of the floating land, ready to release their compliment of deminites and other minions.
-----Drekis watched from the lead terror beast as gun turrets along the rim of the island shot at the biological warships.
-----Relinqiest smiled as the enemy weapons bounced off of their creature’s shields. “The defeat of the Fallen will be one of our greatest victories on this world.”
-----“We have yet to encounter the worst of their weapons,” Attragon warned. “This will be the hardest battle that your forces have ever fought.”
-----“That is why I am here,” Drekis boomed. “The greatest powers of the Fallen are gathered here. Devyn Soyokaze, Zalrafel, Marc Dollar…it is I who will bring these feared tyrants of Khazan to their knees.”
-----“And what of the heroes that infiltrated the caves?” Attragon asked. “It’s been hours since their attack; by now they could be in the hives.”
-----“I shall take care of them as well.” Drekis hissed.
-----Attragon turned to the chaos lord in disbelief. “What?”