Flying through the Gods' Formation was still a bit of a weird feeling, always expecting that it might say no or sothing... Yet it never happened. I wonder if this was what the Vasas felt in the past? Then, to just find out one day that they could no longer pass through. Had to be... devastating. From the bridge of the Calot, I watched as we flew through, arriving at our destination, and we began descending toward Avalon's Pride.
“Altitude steady at two hundred ters,” called one of the flight officers from the forward console cluster. “Wind from the north cos in bursts, but we are compensating."
"Keep it stable," Kustov grunted, looking like a proper, old boat captain now. He just needs a pipe, and he would sell the look perfectly. "We’re in docking range, Sovereign.”
“Take us down, captain,” I said, watching the landscape, “And run the scanners at full strength and mix in a ping at every fifteen minutes. I want to know if anything is even looking at our way.”
"Understood."
As Kustov began executing my orders, I listened as a series of deep thuds echoed across the deck as the magnetic clamps extended from the bottom, locking us into one of the six docking towers built into the fortress itself after we got down low enough. It was ti to get down... When the doors finally opened, the blast of icy wind hit full in the face as it was much colder here than it was in Avalon. Or the wind made it feel like it, because it was blowing way too violently.
As I walked out, Pion was already striding ahead of , while the rest of his squadron fell beside . It was already agreed that whenever I left Avalon, I would have my personal guards, who were led and recruited by him from the best of our people. All of the guards with were not only veterans with long service records, but also individuals with distinguished feats from the battle against the Guardian. As we ca down, the soldiers along the battlents snapped to attention as I crossed the gangway. The sea of black armor shifted in perfect unison, saluting as one entity, which I returned sharply. It was a weird but also proud feeling, seeing everyone acting with such discipline.
Welcoming us, Lucca stood at the end, waiting, while at his side stood Seltana, now fully dressed in an officer’s uniform, with the insignia of Field Coordination stitched onto her chest, saluting just the sa as any of the other soldiers.
“Welco to Avalon’s Pride, Sovereign,” Lucca said, clicking his feet together.
“Lucca,” I greeted, returning the military salute. “I gather there were no more sightings?”
"Three, in fact..." He grunted, glancing out towards the treeline. “All of them had riders, as far as our Imaginary allowed us to see.”
"We have prepared still images for you," Seltana expressed as she stepped forward, offering the docunts, which she held tightly between her fingers to prevent the wind from stealing them. “Every ti, they were the sa creatures. It seems as if they ca, checked sothing, then left...”
“I know what they are looking for,” I answered, looking at the docunt, shaking my head. “How long since their last appearance?”
“Two hours ago,” she answered instantly. “Since the first sighting, we’ve had them co in four-hour intervals. They are twenty to thirty ters tall, by estimation... Their riders appear human or human-shaped, but we can’t confirm many of the details.”
“Scouting behavior,” Lucca added as we began walking, heading to the central command tower. “Testing reactions, maybe. But if you already know, then I won't make any more theories.”
"Sovereign," Pion shifted behind , his voice rumbling through the comm in his helt. “Permission to increase patrol range.”
“Denied,” I said imdiately. “No need to leave the Pride and especially there is no need to go out far enough... They are here to see if my son ca to the fortress... He won't, but I bet they would be able to sense my presence, even if my blood is thinner. Let them co to us if they want to talk, hmph!”
"So..." Lucca’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You expect them to co again? And we are letting them close?”
“Oh, I expect more than that,” I nodded, pulling my coat tighter. “They’re not random beasts. They’re Vasas."
"What...?" Lucca blinked once, doing it very slowly, looking around, making sure we were inside and out of earshot of anybody else before speaking again. “The Vasas… Sovereign, are you sure?"
"Positive." I shrugged, looking at Seltana, who was a bit confused, which I wasn't surprised by. She hadn't yet gone through all the history we are teaching in our schools, not to ntion that it's still being recorded and explored, so... Oh well. As for Lucca, I knew he would have at least a basic understanding of the na.
"I thought those were just old legends Pascal used to justify his actions.”
“I bet he did!" I grunted, "But yes, most of it is true, and they have been connecting to my son's brain since he was a baby. Leyla shut them off and cut herself off so well that they can no longer sense her. My stupid boy was too curious... and now it's too late to do anything about it.”
"Damn... Now it makes sense," The 'old' general’s gaze drifted toward the top of my head, looking at my red hair. “And to think Pascal didn't take it seriously... Heh."
"Take what seriously?" Seltana finally asked us, getting lost no matter how hard she tried to follow.
"When I was a boy, we used to hear stories about them,” Lucca explained, “They were an ancient... kingdom. They worked like one, I think... And they tried to reach the power of the Gods, to wield it in the sa way, to open the heavens and ascend to their ranks. They nearly succeeded, too."
"They did?" She asked, not even questioning it.
"Almost." He nodded, "The Ishillians, one of their subordinate factions, rose up, led a full-on rebellion, and in the war, they destroyed them before they could finish… but... If they survived and were hiding and rebuilding here...?” He trailed off, shaking his head.
"Do they send the monsters through?" Seltana gulped, trying to put things together.
"I don't think so." I joined the explanation. "All the proof points towards sothing else to be the reason for that, sothing more natural." I pointed backwards, towards the Gods' Formation.
“They were ruthless, Sovereign." Lucca warned , turning deadly serious, "No conscience. They believed that creation itself was just another weapon, and they began modifying people. The shipslaves? They are based on Vasa magic. They played with blood, flesh, and bones, carving magic into themselves to create mages because naturally born ones were too rare! Do you think it worked from the start? No... They had to go through countless tests, waste thousands upon thousands, dooming them to an abominable existence, while the lucky ones just died! Sovereign... Do not trust what they say, what they ask, or what they think.”
“That was two thousand years ago,” I muttered under my breath, but then, I answered a bit more seriously, “And I do not trust them. But I am willing to hear them out, that’s why I ca myself. Zah’Ratil, their supposed leader, had contacted Arthur through his blood, and he said emissaries would arrive soon. They want my son, but I am not giving him to them. They mumbled in the past about so ritual, and I told that bastard to fuck off. He isn't fucking off, so he is pretty desperate... Still. If I don't like what they have to say, I will tell them with cannons to... fuck off.”
"Everybody will be ready," Lucca’s brows furrowed deeply, moving his head in a way that prompted Seltana to nod and begin scratching down orders, already at work. “You think these things are his emissaries?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I can't think of anything else.”
I turned my gaze back toward the room's windows, towards the beasts' holand, and from where all of our troubles but also from where all of our powers co from.
“General!” a voice from one of the tower lookouts ca through Lucca's open comms, his voice a bit distorted from the wind. “Movent beyond the rivers! Multiple signatures... large ones! Three at least!”
"Get into positions!" Lucca ordered at once, “Hold fire!”
"It is confird." Pion spoke up, in contact with the Calot that was already rising, getting into battle position, "Three is heading towards us while six others are still within the faraway forest, out of sight."
"Let's head out." I looked at Pion, "They most likely sensed us... or ."
By the ti I was out, the entire fortress was like a disturbed beehive. Inside, sirens blared, gears whined as the topside artillery turned toward the forest, while slots within the wall opened and cannons began appearing, facing toward the front. I watched as Seltana was already barking her own orders into her comm, coordinating the different sections, telling them in what sequence they should fire if it cos down to it, while telling the others to keep the shields active, at full capacity.
Standing on the wall, surrounded by Pion and the rest, I watched and waited, waited until the beasts got close enough. From the three creatures, all looking like so kind of repurposed Godzilla, I got a weird sensation as they got close enough. I could sense one presence commanding the three creatures... at least, that was how I felt. Yet, on their backs, there were three humans.
“...My Sovereign,” Pion spoke up beside , handing a tiny projector, linking it to the Calot's Imaginary, “They’re corpses.”
“Yeah,” I said, narrowing my eyes, watching the feed. “They are.”
On their backs, those 'humans' were indeed like the ship slaves I knew about. They were bald, skinny, and ashen-colored. Their eyes were nonexistent; instead, CC was squeezed into their sockets, while their lover's half was fused with the beast's scales, their hands stuck in their nape, like a handle. So the creature and corpse we once found were one of these... Tsk. Lucca was right, these Vasas are ruthless to use up their own like this, even now.
"They are stopping," Lucca spoke up, and true enough, the three beasts halted about fifty ters away from the Pride, just standing there in a triangle formation, the tip facing towards us.
"What now...?" Seltana ca up to us, asking, being unsure.
"Good question," I chuckled, "It will be... their job to start talking and tell us what they want."
Just as I finished, the three riders, or more precisely, controllers, tilted their heads, and from their CC-filled eyes, a projected image rose above the triangle of beasts. First, it was fuzzy, like a holographic projection, before the static slowly cleared, revealing an armored, twelve-ter-tall image of a figure before us. It wore a very slick, but evidently monster-made armor, forged from out their scales, just like ours. The difference was that his was sleek and refined, crimson-colored, while his helt was elongated at a slightly curved angle.
I was about to say sothing when I watched the helt split with a hiss and observed as it slid apart like so futuristic puzzle, folding in on itself and returning to the man's back, revealing his young, pretty, handso face with long, flowing red hair. Damn, the poster boy is being sent out to speak to us, huh?
"My na is," he began talking, with a deep-sounding accent but remaining perfectly understandable, "Ur'Tokh, First-Grade Commander of the Demon Hunters. I am here in the na of Sect Master Zah'Ratil, to co, speak, and et with the Savior."
"I am Leon of Avalon," I answered before anyone could say anything, and as I shouted, I was surprised that the image did look at , evidently hearing my words without issue, wherever he really was. "My son is not here. But you have my attention. Speak."
"I was told this may happen... No wonder the sensation of our blood was so weak." He continued, making not one but almost a hundred soldiers twitch at that. Cheeky bastard! "So be it. Father of the Savior. I will talk to you, then."
"Why not co here by yourself? I would rather have that talk face-to-face than speak to a projection." I shot back.
"Would you give your word for my personal safety?" He asked, surprising . Oh... were they... afraid we would kill on sight? Huh, that's new.
"Yes." I nodded solemnly.
I watched as the image seed to think for a mont, then the whole figure began to turn fuzzy as it all dissipated. Just as it did so, the first beast opened its mouth and I watched as from within, the body of Ur'Tokh walked out, like... erging from the belly of the beast... ew. But he didn't stop there... he just stepped into the air, as if there was an invisible staircase there, walking straight up to us. He was fast... one of his steps took him about five to ten ters at once! Damn... That's... Dangerous... even if he held no weapons on him. In just a few monts, he was standing before , surrounded by Pion and his n, their hands on their weapons, not letting him get a step closer than he already was. He just looked at them, and as far as I could tell, he didn't take it as an offense. Watching the contrast between him and Pion... He was tall... Taller than my soldiers by about a head, but also, this Vasa was so much thinner. Of course, it wasn't just who studied him because his green eyes were locked onto , examining my face, probably reading my power level or sothing, heh.
"Well..." He began, speaking calmly, "Welco to the lands that were forsaken by all the Gods."
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