Fort Washington served as the New Xinjia colony’s primary military outpost, star port, and emergency bunker. It was at the foot of a massive mountain range half circled the colony’s city, sporting the nickname The Second Great Wall. Deep below Ft. Washington sits the fallback bunker for VIPs. Set 2,000 meters below the surface, the bunker is isolated from the surface world in almost every extreme. No signals can penetrate that deeply and while the Brotherhood lacks mages, it is not without money and resources. This resulted in a magically and physically hardened site impervious to all but a directed incursion.
An incursion Akamori and his squad are currently fighting off at this very moment. With the access lift disabled and destroyed by the retreating leadership and a scant few marines left alive, options for getting down were limited. The squad determined the necromancers were using earth golems to dig open an air ventilation shaft large enough for ingress and made use of it. Using the awkward stalemate, his random appearance with Scourge the Orc who’d pledged his allegiance to Akamori just moments prior, a quick and dirty plan was conceived.
Akamori channeled a large burst of void magic and cast it into the torn open shaft creating an opening for the squad and then started shoving his people in. At the same time Sala dove in first, the confusion that held the collective host of souls back shattered as realization set in. Rage at being duped by Akamori’s antics set in as they charged forward. Only to be burned to ectoplasm and soul crystals against Akamori’s radiant aura.
As the others plunged in one after another, Akamori slowly backed up to the opening. The spirits of the dead sneered at him.
“All ye’ve done is our job fer us. We’ll follow ye down an have our fill on the pathetic humans down there.”
The dead all spoke with one voice. That of the dwarven necromancer.
Akamori shrugged. This was a marathon, not a sprint. And it was only just getting started for his squad. So far, he’d claimed several golems and hundreds of undead and revenants. “Maybe. Maybe not. I’m betting I’ll get there first. I’ll slow you down. And you’ll drip feed your best at us. I’ll deal with it one obstacle at a time until I’ve exhausted your supply of goons, and you either come after me recklessly, or I come after you. Either way, when this is over? I’ll win.”
The ghosts grinned, taking the bait. “Ohhh. Is that a fact, is it?”
Akamori nodded, backpedaling slowly with his arms folded. A confident smirk on his lips, but his eyes continued to glare. Unable to completely mask the smoldering rage at the massive loss of life, this world suffered.
“It is. I’m going to save this world’s leadership and the survivors you haven’t been able to claim. And then I’m going to banish all the shackled souls you’ve brought here. But you? You won’t get absolution. I’m going to remove your soul from the System.”
“Big words from an up jumped godling.” the spirits chuckled as the necromancer would. The sound was raspy, like breathing with cotton in one’s throat. The revenants surged forward into Akamori’s aura. Each popping soul was like a spark against his aura. The shock of it took Akamori off guard for a moment. Even as they plunged forward, they spoke.
“I have an entire world of death to command, as do my peers. If you think you and your lot can beat us? By all means, try. We’ve been alive fer a very long time, and we haven’t had a good laugh in almost as long. So please. Entertain us.”
Akamori allowed himself a predatory grin. “And here I was starting to think you’d never ask.”
Uncertainty flickered across the faces of the undead, who had yet to hurl themselves into his aura. Void magic surged within him as he used his Enshroud ability. His blue coat darkened as void magic turned it into a hooded robe. Chitinous armor grew from his clothing. Dark red and black aether radiated from him as Thanaton grew into a long, menacing scythe. Frank appeared next to him, eager to fight.
Scourge was the last man in the breach, leaving just Akamori and the dead. Free of potential collateral casualties, Akamori was open to cut loose. He and Frank blurred forward. The front most revenants flinched, throwing up spectral arms to block as Thanaton cleaved through them as easily as a hot knife into butter. Vast swathes of ghosts ceased their existence in the astral realm with each sweep of the first blade.
As he did, Akamori slowly began to notice that glowing orbs of radiant light gathered near him.
They are the reclaimed souls you’re freeing from the necromancer’s control. They gather to you as a conduit back into the system . Bahumet said.
Akamori ducked beneath a beam of soul aether that shot into the crowd of souls and banked around, coming back for him. It crashed into Thanaton’s scythe blade, pushing Akamori back. His feet slid on the concrete a few inches before he summoned his void cloak. Shrieks of pain issued out that only Akamori could sense in his soul as revenants crashed into the cloak and incinerated.
There’s too many to fight. The real fight is below. You gain nothing burning time and resources against these useless souls. Bahumet advised.
“They. Are. Not. Useless.” Akamori growled, the skies darkened and cracked with thunder. Thanaton brimmed with eagerness. In the distance, a new golem approached. This one larger, and made of stone and fire. Gobbets of hot magma dripped from small streams that ran down massive elongated forearms giving the golem ape like proportions.
I’m in the camp of not wanting to hit by that thing . Frank said, shooting Akamori a glance that said he was nervous.
Akamori cursed under his breath. He could destroy the golem, but Bahumet was right, and giving into the impulse to smash all the necromancer’s toys was exactly what he wanted. Letting go of Thanaton, the reaper turned and strode for the shaft entrance and fell in. As the air whipped at his cloak, he twisted mid fall and aimed his palm at the opening and unleashed several fireballs of high magnitude that hit the shaft mouth like bombs, collapsing the entrance while spreading a sealing ward he’d cast at the tail of the attack. Like hurling a magic lock on a door from a distance.
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“That should keep him busy for a while,” Akamori said as he twisted to land, eventually. He wasn’t pleased about walking away from a fight, but he stopped the necromancer from getting access. They would have to find their own way in. Of which he was sure they would. It would just take longer.
When his feet touched down he landed softly, his void cloak evaporating away to reveal the blue and gold trim coat he was wearing. The metal shoulder plates glinted in the soft fluorescent lighting of the underground bunker. Ahead of him, a barrel waved right in front of his nose, with a Brotherhood marine behind it.
“You must be the backup,” the marine said. She was firmly built, with years of training and muscle packed into a small but deadly frame. She lowered her weapon and gestured for the squad to follow her.
“Dunno how the brass’ll feel about your big green friend there.”
“He’s new. But he hits hard. They’ll want him.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because when the brown stuff hits the fan? You’ll want big green there up front swinging that hammer of his.”
She smirked and nodded. “Just checking.” The marine, whose body armor had a name tape that read “Rogers” swiped an id card. The reader flashed green and a lift door open. She and several privates filed in, and then the squad did. When the doors closed, turrets popped up out of the floor, ceiling, and walls. Akamori chuckled, half impressed. He doubted it would amount too much, but it was impressive at stopping a zero at least.
As the lift descend her caught the gold orbs of the freed souls still floating near him and pushed down the urge to unconsciously swat them away.
They seek release. Allow them to pass into the System. Bahumet said.
He nodded, closing his eyes and willing them to move on from the astral realm. A spiritual breeze teased his hair and face like a gentle exhalation. When he opened his eyes, the souls were gone. No longer stuck in the realm of light and living.
Freeing them yields temporary divinity, as it will imprint your mark upon them. That mark will carry through the Maw. When a new soul is formed, it will form to worship you. In this manner, you won’t lose worshippers to war.
“Sure. I just have to wait for them to be reborn.” Akamori said mentally.
True. A process that can take any amount of time. Bahumet replied.
Dropping that matter for later, Akamori figured it was time to get the lay of the land. He glanced over at Rogers, who had two gold bars on her armor. He had a base familiarity with Brotherhood ranks and assumed it to be a captain’s rank.
“Captain Rogers, care to brief us on the situation?”
“Not my place, sir. The brass will want to do that themselves. I can tell you we’re holed up down here, but that it’s only a matter of time before those ghouls find a way down.”
“Will your defenses hold out?”
“If you’d have asked me about fifteen minutes ago? I probably would have said no.”
“And now?”
“Now? We might have a fighting chance.”
Akamori nodded. He could work with that. Fighting chances were all he’d been given of late. From there, it was up to him to make the most of it. “That’s enough to count for me. How many troops do you have left?”
“Three squads. The rest are too wounded to fight.”
“Keep the wounded with your command team. We’ll set up a layered defensive position with sequential fall back points. What munitions are you working with?”
Akamori knew brotherhood weapons for being chronically underwhelming against magic using enemies. Though they were worked just fine against undead. And he thought he’d caught a rumor the Brotherhood was even developing explosive rounds that detonated salt to disperse spiritual opponents. He hoped it wasn’t asking too much if they had those on hand.
“We’re running pretty light, unfortunately. Every man has his battle rifle and a few spare mags. We’ve got a few squad heavy weapons that are emplaced. Half a crate of grenades. We weren’t able to get much out of the armory before the horde pushed us back to here. On the plus side, the brass paid the Artificers of Aeryn a pretty penny for all kinds of fun magical defenses. Traps, wards, emplaced spell weapons. The works. This place is locked up tighter than Ft. Knox…” she paused, looking a little confused as though she’d made a reference she didn’t understand.
“What’s Ft. Knox?”
Rogers shrugged. “Who knows? I’m told no one broke into it, though.”
Akamori nodded and looked up. He could sense the undead scrabbling at the cave in which he’d caused. It wouldn’t hold for long. “Well, I hate to break it to you, captain, but they will break into here.”
Rogers sighed, pulling the slide of her sidearm back and chambering a round. “Yeah. We know. Our backs to the wall. Time to do or die.”
“Hell yeah. Let’s kick those undead fuckers in the nuts.” Sirsir said with a broad grin. Everyone was feeling a little better morale wise now that they had some people to protect and a mission they could execute. A bell chimed and the doors slowly peeled apart. Akamori nodded. Time to get to work. “Helldivers, let’s move.”