Alpha poked the twisted, broken pieces of metal he pulled from what remained of the Beast Lord’s larger “body”. No. 7 had called it a -[Spiritual Armor]- but what that meant in context, they couldn’t say. It was something even they had little information on, as it was supposedly something only the most talented were capable of.

When Alpha asked if that meant the Beast Lord was a big shot, his mysterious friend shook their head as they spoke.

“No. While I wasn’t around when -Kusanagi- first appeared, I’ve heard the stories. The creature was little more than a glorified bandit with delusions of grandeur. He might have caused trouble for the mortals, but once he started stepping on the toes of the actual players, he didn’t last long. That someone like him could form a [Spiritual Armor] says there’s more going on here than it first appears.”

Alpha turned to the masked human and asked with a chuckle.

“You mean more than an army of undead and giant, swirling clouds of darkness?”

No. 7 stared back, silent.

Alpha sighed and tossed the metal scrap away. He’d scavenged a sizeable portion from the remains, but most of it was too contaminated to use. At least not without refining beyond what his internal factory was capable of. For a moment, he’d considered using another nanite seed, but decided against it. He’d gathered enough scrap to at least resupply. Anything else would be a waste for now.

What he’d really been hoping to find was more array samples. Unfortunately, there weren’t many that survived, and those that did were so badly warped and damaged that Alpha couldn’t deduce what their original shape had been, making them useless. He had the recording of the thick arrays carved into the metal portion of the Beast Lord’s actual body, but that had dissolved into ash. With nothing to actually test, he would have to copy them himself, and experience had already proven how dangerous that could be.

None the less, Alpha was tempted.

The power of these arrays and the strange energy that power them, was proving to be more than just a curiosity at this point. His latest toy was proof enough of that.

Granted, the, as yet unnamed, prototype was going to need a lot of refining, but for a spur-of-the-moment concept, it had more than proven worth of further development. Though that development would have to start from the ground up. Cluster bombs, as a concept, had been widely abandoned by the Federation. When dealing with the level of augmentation and equipment commonly found on a galactic scale battlefield, spreading out your firepower typically wasn’t a good move.

You got better results with targeted surgical strikes when even the common foot soldier could shrug off a sting of explosions like that. When the enemy couldn’t, then orbital bombardment was the go-to.

But where cluster bombs had gone out of style, one similar concept was as popular as ever.

Fireworks.

Being one of the ruling four species and one of the most populous, human culture had spread far and wide. Including the ancient art of blowing things up with style. Modern firework shows were no longer limited to planetwide spectacles, but could span entire systems.

It had taken a little jury-rigging, but modifying one of the smaller fireworks designs into a wide area dispenser for overcharged core fragments had worked like a charm. Getting some much firepower out of more conventional explosives would have proven difficult, given the size restraints. Thankfully, the core shards were relatively stable until they passed their threshold.

It was just a matter of stuffing a shell with the core shards and his miniaturized storage array, then getting the timing right.

If there was one thing Alpha was good at, it was blowing things up good.

With time ticking away, and not able to salvage anything of real value, Alpha made the call to continue on. With much of the undead army reduced to smoldering piles of ash, the rest of the trip was relaxing by comparison.

Only thirty minutes later, the pair stood under the massive walls. Alpha looked up and whistled.

“That’s impressive. I’d have never thought these people could build something like this.”

No. 7 landed on Alpha’s back and crossed their arms, looking toward the top of the wall. They laughed in response.

“They didn’t. The Prima Earth Temple and all the earth shrines in the Radiant Sea were built long before anyone stepped foot in these lands. The most popular theory is that it’s -#UjJD@%- built. Not that anyone can explain how a -#UjJD@%- got past the -$&#&#D@- without succumbing to its wrath.”

Alpha nodded along like he knew what half of that was…

The wall was an impressive construct. 100 meters of solid stone without a single seam or cut along its length, which itself stretched several dozen kilometers in either direction. He’d tried scouting over the walls several times on the way there, with [Wasps], with no luck. The closer to the wall they’d gotten, the stronger the interference. He’d already lost contact with the drones he’d left with the children and

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It would have been an impressive construct even in a Federation world, let alone on a planet like this. Was this more proof of an outside force? Or were the people of this world more capable than he suspected?

No. 7 pointed to the south and said,

“There’s a gate about four kilometers that way. That’s our best point of entry. The enemy likely knows that too, so expect heavy resistance.”

No. 7 lept off the TAWP and started walking toward the gate. Alpha turned and looked that direction, before turning back to the wall. His optical plate flashed, and a thin red laser scanned the wall.

The AI crunched the data and nodded, before turning back to No. 7 and speaking.

“No need.”

No 7, stopped and turned. He didn’t get to question what Alpha meant before the TAWP stood up on its hind legs. The tips of the front legs bubble and flowed before transforming into large, spiked claws. No. 7’s eyes went wide under their mask, and they rushed forward, yelling.

“No! Wait, the walls are — ”

The TAWP then fell forward, slamming into the wall and causing it to rumble. Its claws sank easily into the hard stone.

No. 7 finished speaking too late.

“ — spelled…”

Alpha’s side optics spun and focused on No. 7 as he asked.

“They’re what, now?”

The wall flashed red as thousands of intricate, jerking patterns appeared over its surface, reminding Alpha of flickering flames. At first Alpha thought they were arrays, but unlike the static patterns of arrays, these lights were dynamic, constantly shifting and floating several millimeters above the surface of the wall, like holograms.

Alpha turned his focus to the new phenomenon.

“Oh…”

Suddenly, the patterns swirled and converged on Alpha’s legs. The stone wall surrounding the connected legs began to rapidly heating and soon the stone was so hot that it glowed a bright white. Alpha stared at the white hot stone and laughed.

“Come on now, you’re gonna have to try harder than that!”

The TAWP’s armor was strong enough to take hits from orbital defense lasers. A bit of hot rock wasn’t even going to peel the paint.

No. 7 silently stared, then chucked and shook their head.

Alpha turned to the masked figured and asked.

“Well? Are you coming?”

No. 7 didn’t bother responding, and simply lept back onto of the TAWP.

Alpha pulled the TAWP up, then pulled one leg out of the walk and slammed it further up the wall, where it stuck firmly. Again, the red holograms flashed red and converged on the leg, heating the stone until it glowed.

In such a manner, Alpha slowly scaled the 100 meter wall.

About 30 meters up, the lights changed. They transformed from red flickering flames into a green swirling pattern. The stone cooled and in its place, a cutting, gale force wind pounded Alpha from different directions, seemingly totally at random.

This new trap was a little more tricky than the last. The wind itself wasn’t very dangerous, but the TAWP’s large profile meant they risked being ripped off the wall with each step. Eventually No. 7 had to step up and help to redirect some of the strong wind with their mysterious power.

At 60 meters, the lights again changed. This time they became a blight blue, with a jagged pattern that spread across the surface. Suddenly, the temperature plummeted, and a thick, icy covering covered the wall. The icy shell grew thicker with each passing moment, and was harder than it look, sometimes taking several strikes from the TAWP to break through to the stone wall underneath.

To make matters worse, if Alpha took too long, the ice would begin creeping up the TAWP’s leg, making it harder to pull free.

Overall, it took 10 minutes to scale the wall with all the obstacles, but Alpha finally pulled the TAWP over the lip of the edge and onto the top of the wall. It was spacious enough to fit three TAWPs from front to back with ease. Alpha turned and gazed out over the wall; finally, he had a clear view.

“… Fudge.”

His rangefinder was placing the large, glowing pyramid he assumed was their destination at over 100 kilometers away. It sat in the middle of what Alpha could only describe as a sprawling metropolis stretching out in front of him. In many ways, it reminded him of the ruins he’d found with the other humans. Except someone was obviously taking good care of this place, even if only a fraction of the buildings appeared to be in use.

In fact, if Alpha’s calculations were right, the entire human population of Jadewalker city, and all the smaller cities and villages connected to it, would still only take up about a third of space here.

Why was there such a large city here? Why did it seem mostly abandoned when there were so many people wandering the prairies? There was a mystery here, he knew, but like many things recently, it would have to wait.

No. 7 lept off the TAWP and landed on the wide wall, and whistled.

“Wow. Now that’s a view. I’d heard the Prima Temples were large, but I’d only ever seen the Wind Temple from the ground. Air transport is strictly for the Priests. This… is something else.”

Alpha turned to No. 7 and asked,

“Wind Temple? I thought this was the Earth Temple?”

No. 7 folded their arms and nodded before responding.

“It is. There are four Prima Temples on the -Skybreaker- continent. The Earth, Wind and Fire Temples are all on the mainland, while the Water Temple is at the bottom of the hole on Abyssalplunge island. Terrible name, but the Abyssal Knights are known for their… eccentricities.”

Alpha turned back to the city and responded.

“Huh… neat.”

After a moment of silence, Alpha spoke up.

“So, there’s Fire, Wind, Water and Earth, right?”

No.7 nodded.

“That’s correct.”

Alpha continued.

“Just like the traps on the wall?”

No. 7 paused, then confirmed.

“Yeees? That wouldn’t be correct. I would assume whoever did the spellwork for these walls wanted to keep with a theme. It’s common enough.”

Alpha nodded and replied.

“I see… I see… Hey, No. 7, correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember only three traps on the climb up…”

No. 7 stood silent for a moment before sighing.

“…Well…fuc — ”

In the blink of an eye, a shifting yellow pattern that reminded Alpha of a sand garden, lit up under No. 7’s feet. At the same moment, a large, square pillar shot out of the top of the wall at a 45-degree angle and slammed into No. 7. The masked figure was sent flying back the way they’d come, flipped several time like a rag doll, before eventually dissolving into motes of air. They materialized back on the ground a few seconds later.

Alpha watched the scene in silence. Seeing they were fine, Alpha felt it their obligation and duty as their companion… to point and laugh.

He even turned up the volume on his external speakers so that he was sure No. 7 could hear him fine.

Alpha was such a good friend.

Nevertheless, Alpha thought he should probably go retrieve them. After all, No. 7 was his map.

But as Alpha turned around, a familiar flowing yellow pattern lit up under the TAWP.

“… Double fudge…”

— — — — — — —