Kai was busy running around ensuring the events for Odina’s Advent Day went as smoothly as possible. He tried not to interfere too much in the tasks his subordinates carried out, but something like this was a true, no-fail mission. Odina must be kept in the dark about the discoveries that Kai and his proxies had made. Mars needed time to develop a plan to defeat Odina, and Kai would do everything possible to give him as much time as he could.
He was able to get to a point where he was satisfied with the preparations, and he found enough time to retreat to his office for some peace. He lounged in his chair, set a timer for forty-five minutes, and activated his Glia-Sphere. He needed to see again, first-hand, what had occurred the day that Burton Izcir defeated his ancestor, Zavyr Paxt, at the Battle of Lồfzenbrook. He selected 03 January 3011 from the menu and allowed himself to be swept away into his progenitor’s life…
The freezing wind was whipping at his face, chilling his ears through his thick winter hat. It was a blizzard of epic proportions, as if the gods of nature knew of the impending destruction of humanity, and they decided to add more obstacles for Zavyr to overcome. He looked out over the battlefield and could see that his Soldiers were losing ground to the Izcir Clones. He had the entirety of humanity’s firepower at his command, but he was losing ground to these fucking clones. He walked back to his Command Post to give the necessary orders.
“Commander Bronson, direct Overwatch to focus fire on the outliers and force them into the kill zone by Sector 7. Commander Black, we need your Nanites NOW. How much longer till they’re online?”
“Twenty-three minutes, sir. The techs are doing everything they can, but the blizzard is making it a bitch to get done.”
“Fuck excuses. This is what everything has come to. Gather all necessary personnel and equipment and get the launch ready in ten minutes. We will be out of time after that.”
Zavyr activated his augmented reality heads-up display and got an eagle-eye view of the battlefield and surrounding area from the thousands of drones hovering hundreds of feet in the air. How had the Izcir Clones gained access to the Lồfzenbrook silos so easily? He pushed the thoughts from his mind. The how didn’t matter right now. He needed to stop Burton Izcir from launching whatever it was he was intending to from the most secure site in Eurasia. Even the most high-tech, bunker-busting missiles couldn’t penetrate the outer layer of Lồfzenbrook, but that didn’t mean Zavyr wouldn’t still try. The barrage might deter the clones just enough to create an opening for Zavyr’s forces.
Zavyr could see that Bronson’s lasers had the desired effect, and that thousands of Izcir Clones were being slaughtered by his Soldiers in Section 7.
“Begin the barrage on the silo,” Zavyr commanded.
Near instantaneously, Lồfzenbrook became Hell. Missiles rained down from the Heaven’s Gate system and made impact with the silo—hundreds of them; then another volley came down. The thousands of overhead drones then fired their neutron lasers succinctly at a predetermined spot on the silos weakest point, the launching doors. Heaven’s Gate continued firing its missile volleys.
Zavyr needed the Nanites operational immediately. The timing needed to be perfect, or all was lost. Commander Black’s ten minutes were almost up and Zavyr hadn’t received a Situation Report yet.
“Commander Black, give me a SITREP immediately.”
Nothing but static came back through the comms. The barrage on the silo must have interfered with them.
“All channels, acknowledge good comms!” Zavyr shouted, and then waited. Multiple commanders radioed that their comms were good, so Zavyr knew there were other issues with Commander Black and his Nanites. “Acknowledged,” Zavyr said so his subordinate commanders didn’t keep radioing him.
“Bronson, I’m going down there to find Black. You’re in charge of overwatch until I return or until comms are back online. You know our endgame. Ensure you execute at all costs.”
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Zavyr ran faster than he thought he could at his age. He ran faster than he has when he was a muscular, fit eighteen-year-old boy signing his life away to the Army. The adrenaline coursing through his body gave him incredible energy. He ignored the searing cold as he traversed the battlefield. He needed to go faster. His leg muscles began screaming at him and his lungs were contracting in pain. None of that mattered; he willed his way through the pain, knowing he might not survive the next hour. Everything counted on the Nanites.
Zavyr found Black’s body next to the large 30ftx10ftx10ft Nanite weapon system, along with seventy other Soldiers that were the weapon system operators and support team. The overhead lasers and killing field of Section 7 hadn’t killed all the clones apparently. Zavyr radioed back to Overwatch since the comms were clearly online.
“Commander Black is dead, along with three of his platoons. Provide cover and keep me apprised of my situation down here. I need to get these Nanites operational. Send fifty Soldiers to my location immediately.”
Overwatch acknowledged, and Zavyr got to work.
The timer that Kai had set went off. He came back to his reality in a daze. He stood up and walked over to his bar and made himself a martini to help him relax. He stood by his office window and looked out over the magnificence of Lagos Pyrἰnas, one of the seven monuments of man’s eonian capabilities when united in a single cause. But not all factions of humanity were united anymore, and this single thought disturbed Kai immensely. Who was this rogue faction? He needed answers.
Gunnar came into Kai’s office and told Kai that Imperator Thegn Kane was waiting outside to see him.
“Send him in immediately, Gunnar.”
Kane entered Kai’s office and greeted Kai with a salute, which Kai returned. “Consul Blake, thank you for seeing me. Stratego Fleury told me to meet with you as soon as possible.”
“Indeed, Imperator Thegn. I am glad to finally have this meeting with you. We have much to discuss.”
Kai bade Mars to sit down and offered him a drink. Mars accepted a caffeine-infused water with lemon.
“Imperator Thegn,” Kai began. “I appreciate the incredible work you have accomplished these last few days. You are a credit to Lux Orbis and the whole of humanity.”
“Thank you, sir, for the kind words. There is much yet to be done though and I will not rest on laurels.”
“Indeed. We have had to nix many plans and come up with new ones to ensure our survival. Tell me, what do you need from me to carry out your plans against Odina?”
“I haven’t had much time to formulate a fool-proof plan, but the greatest thing I need is time...time to get Parabellum Scramasax V prepared, time to fully assess Jaxson Landry, and time to devise better methods to travel unnoticed in the Pillars.
Time, sir, is my greatest adversary at this moment.”
I understand, Imperator Thegn. I will do everything I can to keep Odina’s suspicions off you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“There is another matter I would like to discuss with you Imperator Thegn. I have had one of my Shadow Berserkrs investigating the assassination attempt on Stratego Fleury, and he has made some startling discoveries. I would like you to meet with him and use him as a resource. He might be able to relieve some of your arduous burdens.”
“Yes sir, I will meet with him immediately.”
Kai gave Mars the necessary information and dismissed him. He then went to his desk and began writing in his journal again.
The Continental Pillars were finished within a few years. The most difficult part was rebuilding the technology that had been lost to us, but we now knew how to replicate the great machines through the awakening of the Susurrus. Odina helped us by imparting technological advancements the clones had made since their departure from Earth, 5,000 years ago. Great factories were established on each continent, and the Pillars were built around them, increasing efficiency; besides the vital factories, infrastructure was built for basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter for the thousands arriving at the factory sites each day.
Odina and I continued traveling all over the world in her spaceship, awakening people, and bringing them into the new-world guild. The look of awakening was marvelous to see over and over as the blinders fell off their eyes. The most common and interesting reaction was sadness at the thought of the lives their ancestors had lived, not knowing the truth that had been lost millennia ago. I personally think this is the most important characteristic of humanity and vital element of what it means to be human…we empathize; we have the ability to feel others pain to the point that it becomes our pain.
At year ten of the Great Awakening, our Pillars were complete, and we began the process of ensuring that something like this could never happen again. We built great, underground bunkers full of information that our future generations would need. Much like the monk scribes of the past, thousands of people at each Pillar slaved away each day, month, and year to print the heaps of information required using computers and printers. We would not make the mistake of keeping our information digital, held as a slave to the servers they resided on. These books are now preserved for the rest of time, as the paper they were printed on is indestructible to any natural element known to us at this time.
Kai put his pen down, exhausted. This legacy book was more work than he thought it would be, but he knew it was vital. Humanity’s story must continue throughout time.