«Lord Arthur, the humans have destroyed, the last line, we need to fall back.”

Since the war between humans and Celts exploded five hundred years ago, Arthur has led his people against humanity.

When he rebelled, he was a mere captain. Somehow, he was elected as the leader as he had the more experience among his brothers and sisters.

Using what he knew, he managed to fight back humanity and hide the Avalon.

They transformed Avalon in a flying fortress.

As the ship was transformed, he changed his name to Arthur. He found it amusing.

the control room was transformed into a throne room on which Arthur sat, connected to the city by his implant, and controlling the ships to fight against the humans.

His people were too few to waste on the ships, so he took the full weight of the war on his mind and fought, as the sword and shield of his people. Two AI supported him, Morgana and Merlin. While Morgana helped him manage the ship and wage war, Merlin took care of his people needed.

He was not the one to name them, they chose the names for themselves as a jokes since it made the whole story of Arthur funnier.

Many Celts saw Arthur as some kind of indestructible entity; a wall which hid them from danger. With their evolution, they managed to unlock their reproductive ability which the humans sealed. Their population increased but they were still too few. They tried to make more of themselves by cloning, but Merlin forbade it.

The children grew with the battle story of Arthur, and many of them had the clear goal to be of use to him.

The one that spoke to him was Morgana, she was the one that had managed the defence line while Arthur worked on a grand project with Merlin.

“I know” he weakly said.

Ever since he became the leader, or king, as they called him, he remained on his throne, to ensure his people's safety. For over five hundred years he was on this throne. His body lost his muscles, his beard grew and his eyes remained closed. He had the look of an elder sage from legends.

He moved his hand and a window appear in the air.

“People of Avalon, I failed you. I couldn’t push back the humans.”

The Celts were surprised, to say the least. Never before did Arthur speak to them directly, but the window that appeared everywhere did not lie, HE was speaking to them. They hoped it was good news, but the grave voice made them shiver, and listening to him, many lost hope and fell to their knees.

None of them dared to blame him. For years, he fought. For years, he protected them. It just proved that humanity was too strong for them to handle.

“But fear not for I will not allow humanity to touch you.”

In front of them a small crystal appeared.

“Take this in your hand.”

They obeyed, unsure of what their leader was doing.

“I failed you, but I will make amends for it. This crystal will send you to a place where humanity will never touch you, for it never existed in this place.”

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The panel got bigger and revealed a man with a white beard looking at them.

“Strive my kind, show the power of those deemed weak by their creator. No longer will you be subject to hate, no longer will you be subject to extinction. This is my last order: live and do not repeat humanity's mistake.”

As he said so, the crystals began to glow, and one by one, the Celts disappeared. They had no time to react as the kind smile of their king was the last thing they saw.

“Merlin, report.”

A green orb floated in front of him.

“All the civilians have been sent to the dimensional pocket. All preparations are finished.”

Arthur nodded.

“Morgana.”

A purple orb floated next to him.

“The dreadnought is standing its ground. Five hours until they break through.”

He nodded again and sighted.

“Initiate protocol Dawn of a Race.”

Merlin blinked out of existence as morgana appeared in the form of a young woman near him.

“Why didn’t you go with them?”

She spent most of her “life,” if she could call it that, near him, and thought she could understand him, but this decision made her think otherwise.

Arthur looked at her and smiled.

“I’m tired, Morgana. So tired and old. My people need someone new to lead them. Someone with new ideas. This war made me weary, and I don’t think I will be able to see things in another light. I was needed to protect them, to wear the shield and the sword, but now, our people need someone to push them, to make them grow. My time is up.”

The AI nodded and disappeared. Soon after, a woman appeared and sat near him. A young child was behind her. Merlin was younger than her by many years, and his child-like mind was perfect for this body. They sat next to his throne, next to him, a smile on their face.

A window appeared in front of Arthur, a man in uniform was standing and glaring at him.

“King Arthur. This is your last chance. Surrender to humanity and deactivate your defences.”

Arthur snarled and his kind smile disappeared.

“Human. I’ll be honest with you. I resent your race. In the past years I kept sending you message on our stance of neutrality, but even so, you attacked us. I hoped, back then, that you would see reason and stop this war but you proved me wrong. I made sure to hide my people, and never will you find them.”

The human seemed angered by what he said and yelled

“You! What did you do! Where are they?!”

Arthur snorted. Near the video panel, a red button appeared.

“Fool. I know of your plan and why you need my people, but you brought your doom upon yourself. Merlin, now.”

Morgana smiled kindly and grabbed his right hand.

“I love you.”

Merlin grabbed his left hand.

“I love you dad.”

In front of the human fleet, Avalon disappeared; it was as if it never existed. A black hole had sucked the continent sized ship out of existence.

“Humanity never failed, everything thrown at us was answered tenfold, but the Celts… More precisely King Arthur… We were not prepared for this opponent. Usually, a man in a corner would fight desperately, and while it is fearsome, it also causes mistakes. This man, however, fought brilliantly, and when we finally caught up to him, he had managed to protect his people and their location by sacrificing himself. Even if he was an enemy I have to say he was an honorable enemy.”

Battle log of Commander Anderson. First fleet, Second company.

“Many historians tried to understand why our king did not leave with us. Some think he had to supervise everything while others thought he wished to fight back the humans one last time. One thing everyone agrees on is that he was the wisest leader we had. While he did make mistakes, he never stopped because of them and kept on advancing, but more importantly, we now understand that he sacrificed his life for us. For hundreds of years he kept us safe and made sure of our well-being. Many children don’t know him, but our historians keep his story alive and transmit it to the new generation.”

Councilor Valern, year 20 K.A.D (King Arthur Death)