15:40 P.M.

Alexius listened patiently in an assembly accompanied by four of his closest advisors. Leaning comfortably and complacently against an ionic column, he awaited the representing members of the five Orders to continue their discussion of recent reports within each individual state. The air was musty and old in this ancient structure. It became sickening to breathe for Alexius, the elderly stuffed the room with a stench he was unfortunately accustomed to.

Five people surrounded a table on the center floor. The Lords of each Order, discussing politics, military operations and the overall war on the Imperium. He remained outside of the conversation, the shadows concealing him and his associates.  

Alexius’s eyes rolled as each one spoke. Elders—higher-ups, they understood little of the reality of the war. They were oblivious to anyone who truly understood the terrors, soldiers that had lost more than their limbs to these things that challenged nature. Sentient machines, born only to destroy, tearing down walls and hundreds of people at a time.

“General,” 

“Can children not sleep at night without the worry of artillery protocols? Can we not all sleep without the constant dread of something that has long surpassed its time?” The shouts of the Lord Alya riled up a fraction of the assembly there, with support from her own people from the Naqadah Order. “We must cease military funding and begin to rebuild what we have lost. We cannot focus on what was once ours, we must focus on what we have now.” her voice strained and she quickly caught her breath from the power she’d put into her words.

Alexius left the support of the column and circled the table of Lords. The shadow revealed his well-defined cheekbones, his dark hair graying on the sides, and his smug eyes. He parted his lips to speak in his stern and soothing voice, “And then?”

The Lord Alya remained silent, letting the General speak.

“We’d have handed every human life into their hands,” he spoke with strong conviction. “When we lie defenseless, peace talks will not save us.”

“There hasn’t been a sighting of any machines in three years.” she responded, exerting herself.

“Three years too long!” his shout echoed throughout the hall, a clear hint of anger imbued within it. “They do not strategize like animals, yet it seems we do.” 

Arguments erupted from all sides of the assembly. The raising of voices filled the room, shouts and curses thrown at each other. A bell sounded to call order to everyone’s attention. At once, they settled and everyone proceeded to return to their seats, leaving Alexius the only one still standing. 

“I have seen the horrors. To put human life in vain is far worse than children being awoken by the very measures that are there to protect us.” The General made his final statement, giving each Lord a look of dismay. He turned his back to them, the light of the large lamp illuminating his shadow as he pushed a pair of heavy doors open with a strong force. Yelling began again, insults and the callings of a coward rang through his ears. Had he not upkept his duties as a civil protector of the Orders of humanity, he might have let a few more words slip. 

Once he’d left the large stone building, a strong scent of fresh air filled his nostrils, it cleared his mind and set him at ease. He was greeted by two soldiers dressed in gray attire, much akin to his black suit, a belt around his waist and knee-high leather boots. They handed him a dark blue cloak, with the Helio insignia sewn to the back, a phoenix-like creature spreading its wings in front of a Sun. 

Alexius thanked both of them as he attached it around his collar, his footsteps leading towards the walls of Troy. Magnificent and intelligently built, they had seen several battles with the Imperium. He made his way up an oak-lined stone staircase that led to the top of the walls, where he planned to observe the rest of the afternoon.

He stood above the walls, a hollowed-out stick lodged between his fingers. Raising it to his lips and inhaling from it, he closed his eyes and held his breath for a sweet moment. A moment of silence when the city felt as if it had fallen still. The sounds echoing from the streets ceased, and it was only him in his own reality, then he exhaled a blue-hued smoke. 

“General!” The courier ran up the stairs that led up the wall. Alexius sighed and blew on the end of the stick, snuffing out its source. He made eye contact with the courier when he had made it up the wall. “Lord Leci of the Quesir Order has requested to speak with you.”

“No.” he responded shortly.

The courier took in a large breath as he bowed once again, and ran down the wall.

“What a waste of time.” the man standing next to him said. Colonel Nicholas Demir, the second-in-command of Helio’s forces. A tall, young man with copper-colored hair and a strong physique. The promising leader of the Helio military’s latest generation.

Alexius chuckled. “Given the fact that no progress has been made, I would have to agree.”

Nicholas looked over to the General. “Do you think this assembly was organized by Quesir?” he asked in a hushed tone. 

“Sure,” Alexius said. “It was kept relatively anonymous, but I believe Quesir and Naqadah both intended for this chaos. I couldn’t put it above them.”

And once again, Alexius spaced out of reality, giving himself a peace of mind as he drifted into a blank state of thought, staring into the forests that lined the outskirts of Troy. Of all places he could be, this is where he wanted it the most. The security that the fortified city brought was unimaginable, it was a beacon for humanity, a light at the end of the tunnel. Troy was a place that stood up to the Imperium, halting their advances and creating a victory for the Orders. 

Troy was Helio’s capital, its pride that would stand above all else in this land. All believed it would stand forever, and if this assembly of the Orders had given the go-ahead for advancement into Imperium territory, it would create a new chapter for all across each Order.

How far off they were; Alexius knew this. He was forty-three years of age now, he was aware that he might see the Orders prevail against the Imperium, although by that point he would likely be nearing the end of his life. For now, he had to give everything to his people, to his Order. It was his only truth.

An explosion from behind him knocked the wind out of his lungs and snapped him out of his hazy thoughts. It came from the town hall, and as he rubbed the ash from his eyes, he could see through the smoke, a large figure. Roughly five meters in height, its figure faded in the clouded vision of the General.

He stumbled to his feet to observe the situation. Screams became louder and more prevalent. Nicholas was on his hands and knees, in shock. 

“Why,” he spoke softly, “did they breach us from within?” 

Shouting rang in the General’s ears once again, bringing him to turn around.

“General!” a nearby soldier shouted towards him.

His mind was still lost, yet his eyes never left the large figure that dreadfully headed closer and closer to the walls. 

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“Get measurements.” he said, completely joining reality once again. Alexius swiftly walked across the wall, making sure that their artillery cannons were prepared in the case of an attack from this machine.

“Approximately four meters!”

“Identify class.” 

“Unidentifiable, sir. We haven’t seen this one before.” 

The General’s heart rate began to increase. The sounds coming from this behemoth came closer by the second along with the chaos from within their own walls. The steam sizzling and the cranking of parts with every heavy footstep made the entire wall go quiet. Everytime it set its foot down, a slight tremor could be felt beneath them. Its giant stature was accompanied by heavy armor, crafted from ilysio. It was adorned with black and red, gold lining and a large tricorn hat that concealed its face.

“Blast it with artillery, wait on my command!” Alexius shouted.

Suddenly, it stopped. The artillerymen readied the cannons in seconds. Steam fumed from the sides of its head, as it cranked its head upwards as if to make eye contact with the General himself. It had a white mask on, and behind its dead shadowy eyes was a glint of red beams, the only life inside a monster like that. It remained thirty meters from the walls of Troy.

“Nicholas,” Alexius turned to his second-in-command, “ready an evacuation team for the district. Make sure we get an equal amount of responders in each district as well. If they’re inside the city, they have us at a severe disadvantage.”

“Yes sir,” Nicholas nodded, “What are we doing about that one?”

The two glanced towards the frozen machine that stood in the center of the road leading to the main gates. 

“I suspect they have a wave waiting in the treeline, they want to catch us in between the commotion. Be on the lookout in and out.”

The tension with each second that ticked by was horror for every soldier watching the wall. It began to raise its left arm, and from the elbow, it articulated its arm from a ninety-degree angle to a one-eighty. 

At that exact time, Alexius’s suspicions had been confirmed when he saw a glint of purple in the trees. When he shouted to open fire on the machine, it was already too late. From its arm, it fired. It was devastatingly powerful from the sound alone. It pierced their ears and destroyed any sense of readiness they once had. 

The purple orb of fire crashed into the gates of Troy, causing a catastrophic explosion as it ripped apart the front walls, rumbling the ground and creating screams of terror throughout the entrance of the city. Debris fell into homes, people, markets and even the assembly hall. The rumble was felt for miles on end. 

It was as if a dust storm rolled through the city, leaving a trail of devastation  from the gate being depleted. Nicholas was huddled just above the General after he had dived both of them to their safety when the orb had made contact with the gate. Alexius’s eyes were clouded and with sores in every muscle, he stood on his feet with the Colonel’s help. 

The screams created a dense atmosphere in his mind, he couldn’t assess the situation properly. The smoke, the debris, the utter madness of each and every citizen of the city running in any direction, it all attributed to this one situation with the machine. 

The machine.

The General turned around to face the gape in the wall where the gate had once been. Its bricks and stones continued to crumble from the aftermath, and there stood the monstrosity between the gap in the wall. Its clanking ringing in his ears, sharp pangs flew through his brain, as his eyes made contact with it, and behind it was an approaching offensive marching out of the woods. It was leading them into battle, the second battle of Troy had just begun.

He turned to Nicholas quickly, regaining his bearings a final time. “Organize an evacuation relief force immediately, head to whatever is left of the assembly hall first,” he said. “I want every street, every block and every home empty within less than half an hour.”

“Yes sir,” the Colonel replied. “And you?” 

“I will get the defensive forces together to buy you enough time. The Lancers will be with me,” The General brushed himself off and placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Good luck, Nicholas.”

The Colonel gave him a nod, knowing full well what was to happen soon. Alexius watched him run towards the hall, while he turned back towards the crumbling wall and began to climb it. His feet slipped and his hands scraped against the stone, and once he was atop, many of the cannoneers had opened fire on the enemy. 

“You,” he pointed towards one of the comm-men. “Come here.”

The man ran over and squatted down, facing the General with a radioized backpack. Alexius turned two dials and placed a round earpiece to his head, listening in to contact the others scattered along the wall. “Come in,” he said. “This is General Alexius Reun, we are under siege, I need the Landes Unit on the southern wall. Repeat, we are under siege, I need Landes Unit on the southern wall. Over.” He hung the earpiece back onto a latch attached to the backpack and sent the comm-man on his way, taking another look towards the impending doom that had been set upon this fortress-city. 

Altogether, the mechanical marching launched the entire city into an even worse panic, realizing that the machines had been there to slaughter them all, entirely. The General had seen this before. Every human would be wiped within a matter of hours if they would not slow them down. 

He unsheathed his blade, and as he drew it, a purple spark lined across the sharp edge. The purple continued to burn along the edge as he held it below his waist, jumping down the demolished gate, and landing only a few meters from the machine.

The one machine.

He gripped the blade with his right hand, waiting for it to step through the walls. With its heavy feet, it finally crossed into Troy, the first time a machine had ever stepped foot into this free city. Alexius charged towards it as it moved every slowly in his own direction. The general slid as it swung its own large sword that it wielded in its right arm. He was able to barely scrape through its armor. 

The finest ilysio.

They had advanced over the past three years. He circled the machine as it turned its waist slowly to follow his movement. The army came closer and closer to the walls as the cannons continued to bombard them, even though the effort was futile. All they could possibly do at this point was hold them until the evacuation was complete. The machine lifted its arm and swung its sword down on Alexius, still allowing him enough time to dodge and study its movements. He wouldn’t dare strike yet, he needed to read its strategy. 

In close encounters its sword seemed to be the prime option always. A cannon would be off the table considering the immense power of it, it would be foolish even for a machine to fire that close to itself. The General noticed its armor as well, the design was similar to Marine class machines, heavily armored, yet much larger and seemingly more powerful. It was brutish. 

Any vulnerabilities? 

Alexius could not identify any on the machine, most of the time the easiest place to target a Marine class would be the sides of its neck, or between its thigh armor and torso armor. There, you would find weaknesses in design so as to incapacitate it and then finish it off.

This was not the case with this thing.

He could hear running coming from the road just ahead, the Landes Unit had finally arrived, staring in awe at the new class before them. 

“Are there any others?” A different voice.

The general’s attention strictly remained on the machine, not pulling his eyes away for even a moment. 

“General.”

Alexius recognized the voice, Captain Phillip Landes, of the Acadia Order. Adorned in his traditional black uniform, lined by orange on every article of clothing.  

“Why are you not with Nicholas?” Alexius asked.

Phillip removed his rifle from his shoulder. “I spoke with him and Lord Darius of the situation, Acadia would be more useful in a defense effort–”

“You have orders. My unit and the Helio military will remain the prime defense force in this battle,” he said as the machine moved its arm to begin a swing. “Assist the Colonel, now.”

A thundering sound came upon them as the monster’s blade hit the ground. The General backed away as Phillip grasped the situation, slowly walking the opposite direction in a manner to leave it to the General, this was more than some minor attack, it was a message to their species. 

The machine fumed steam from the sides of its head again. Alexius maintained a strong position, his feet planted and his eyes set on it. It approached him and raised its arm, bringing its blade down on the General at an increased speed, but he was able to catch the attack with his own sword. Holding his enemy there, he could feel its rage as it put a pressure against him. A few more seconds passed and he gained his opportunity, sliding out from under the pressure, he struck its leg.

Nothing at all, it was unphased from his hit. And then he noticed the machine had moved from where it had been standing the entire hold, on his right. He had underestimated its speed. 

“Stubborn.”

There wasn’t even a single scratch on its armor. The General had missed every attack.