There was a certain tremble felt in my heart, I could feel it though I shouldn’t be able to.
It was Victor clawing desperately to stay within me, he got me through a brutal fight and wanted to remain longer.
But was fading the moment I saw her.
I wanted to fight that warmth but I–no Aleph–No my. It’s me..
I felt warm seeing Saiyah was fine…I could see her fighting.
Saiyah was right there!
I could pick her out no matter what, we wore the same armor purple grim and brutalist yet smooth, nearly indistinguishable with little variation, but she had a stature and something else about her I could just pinpoint.
Maybe we were twin siblings secretly.
I throw myself down the side of a dark greyish cliff face, the aftermath of the glassing, as they are in a terrible crater I thank God is not irradiated.
They were down in a death bowl, and magazines, and shell casings littered the ground around them with remains of their pods previously.
Trails of expended supplies, impact craters, and broken bits of their armor and blood led out of their pods and into their entrenched positions around simply rock, stone, and hope.
-
And here I was only magazine left was the one in my rifle, excluding sidearms and the spares for that!
Faster than I took to realize I was sliding down the side of a jagged cliff-face into the death bowl like a moron– I can explain!
On all accounts enemies surround us, I was undercutting the patrols they are more like amassed armies patrolling air and sky, a strange bug-like vehicle is in mass deployment–And I quickly made a mistake…one Victor wouldn’t of made...
soaring, through the air cutting the wind like buzzards, brutal vipers.
Assailing my friends, those I had to protect, those I couldn’t let down.
I was now beside as I slipped in and Saiyah threw her hand up to me, she made quick motions.
Tactically and unprofessionally signing
‘Where The Hell Were you!?’ in frantic hand motions.
“Engaged!” I stutter out quickly in reply
Asaph steals a glance back in the few moments his finger isn’t pounding a trigger next to Anna who lays down precise shots onto the heads of larger machines.
“Aleph!” Asaph starts again–Yeah it was again he had been trying to get my attention for awhile now and I can hear him quite literally break the barrier of sound of his helmet causing me to wince.
“Aleph, we got pinned the moment you split off from our drop path, we lost you the moment your pod vaporized the moment you launched!”
“What happened!?” I start to question
“Anti-Air weapons, enemy armor, been holding out for what feels like an eternity, but it’s just been seven hours.”
“That’s forever to you now!?” I found myself uncharacteristically laughing at that for some odd reason
Asaph is displeased by my sudden burst of humor and so am I, I don’t even know where that last comment came from but I’m refocusing.
“Status?”
“Ammunition running low, we’ve chewed through enough armored patrols to get a good idea on the variety of robots, little bastards run blades, big bastards arm-cannons.”
Anna cuts in rather than boom through helmet and communications she spoke low, strict and through her helmet speaker.
“Big bastards don’t need the blades, they got claws, that rip through your armor.” She corrects. And I notice immediately I can see her face, strands of hair almost in the way of her scope as she sights in.
‘Still a damn good shot regardless of VLIR’ I hear that little pin prick in my head, wanting to take over…Victor..
The machines were so heavy I could see whatever kept them up was purely inside of them, they sunk into the dirt immediately, as if they melted within the war-torn mud and soil.
Anna speaks breaking up my grim observation.; “If we let ourselves be here for more than hour more, we are going to die, I can assure you that.”
Asaph just looks in my direction, I can’t see his face under the helmet, but it feels like judgment, passed down, he should be in my position right now I don’t disagree.
But I take charge anyway using what I know.
“Countercharge, it’s the only option!”
Anna takes a shot fast, and I can see her whiff it, she ducks her head down behind the rock, heat and energy scalding it above her as fire is returned.
“Are you nuts!?” she motions, and I lower myself, we lay low as heat and energy travels above us, great lights streaming around.
It’s grown dark now.
“This is a textbook scenario; we do a staggered retreat and-!” She states matter-of-factly, aout to go on
I don’t even let her finish.
“We’re surrounded, flanked from all angles, they had our landings zeroed in before our ship made the jump to this system” I speak grimly
It was too obvious, it was so methodical, so analytical these machines in a literal sense had accounted for our landings to change even for these craters and changes to landscape and environment.
We were facing a hyper-intelligent machine, there was no conventional way out of this, they want us to be sensible so they can strangle us for being more predictable.
I make this clear “we strike hard and fast; they’ll never expect it because you’ll avoid getting hit.”
“We can afford to charge in we aren’t standard infantry you learn nothing from Krul?”
Anna threw her fist into my shoulder.
Saiyah reluctantly agreed, giving a nod to Anna but a disappointed headshake to Aleph.
More heat warms all our bodies as bits of melted rock is flung around us flies near us as they keep up pressure.
I can almost see them in my peripheral motioning in hand to each other.
“We can’t afford to retreat, we are the command team, there’s 144,000 we are the leading unit, retreat here and end up likely further from any other group.” Asaph steps in for me, he remains silent but cut in sharp and clean.
I give a nod. Throwing a heavy nod to Asaph “We throw all in break them here.”
“We’ve been fighting them hours already Aleph.” Anna scolds angrily, her voice laced with rage now.
I can feel something almost snap and take her head, it’s Victor…..I take a cue from the side of me that knows what to do..–No not side..–The other me we are not the same–
“You’ve been holding out here, they can’t keep up the numbers you think they’ll send the moment we push. Or else you’d have been dead before I arrived.”.
I know this, these machines are unlike what you would usually expect, think of a machine hive mind, you think of an innumerable foe, they were powerful, and expensive.
They had doctrine, preservation, hell they may even retreat…things oddly human...
I’ve no hesitation leading the charge as I burst free from the habitation of our dwindling cover melted under the enemy’s relentless attack.
Together we launched out from over our cover.
Asaph Leaped, Saiyah dashed out from the side and I ran right through from between rocks, rubble and crater
Recklessly moving forwards charging ahead, I could see numerous enemies and a great danger looming in the sky like a giant insect waiting…
Each miniature sun launched from the machines is weaved, purely and horrendously we are doing something Yervandal strictly taught against.
Relying purely on our inherent nature, natural and trained agility, speed and strength to overwhelm them.
Our enemies ran a staggered line, kept up the heat and fire, machines that could calculate beyond what any human mind could comprehend in a lifetime.
And here I was weaving past their shots, it filled me with pride but even this pride was slowly shaved off each time a shot glanced on my armor, scorching a portion, leaving it black.
Asaph took point by throwing himself forwards and finally making use of what we had neglected.
He brought verticality to his combat, and I saw him soar up,
-2474lbs- of armored giant gained tremendous velocity into the air,
A fiery tail on the two gimbal thrusters on his mobility-pack.
The tails suddenly cut off leaving only trailing smoke as he was above a target and came down fast! Striking down as he landed onto the head of one of the larger ones, crushing it entirely, metal debris exploding around as he landed between others.
I then witnessed His aim snapped between two targets and dispatched them.
I cut in utilizing this brutal opening that drew great attention, he was far ahead of me battering the line of machines, now I picked off any I could with single shots from my rifle laying– Stopping any of them before they could kill his momentum
There was far too much for me to keep but support up.
But others far from him to the right flank coming into the bowl they are prepped to hold us up, I can see strange devices in their hands.
Grenades!
“Anna! Hostile counter-push!”
“They’re thirty meters to your right!” Anna screams breaking up static confirming she already spotted them.
She hits one of their bombs, a chain reaction that blows up the line of them, we’re far enough ahead that her rear overwatch allows her to provide efficient support with great focus–Did she even charge with us?
Saiyah seemed to weave around, the enemies were quickly adapting, focusing fire on her and us having twin mounted weapons on each arm.
Yet even with precision, an ability to split their minds that effectively, the moment Saiyah disappeared in a plume of smoke from an evaded energy projectile they went haywire.
I could see them, her ability had to be supernatural now, because she disappeared and only came back when in front of them weaving in and breaking machines with her RHINO shotgun.
It was energy based yet the blast of it was loud enough to almost cause the rumble of its destruction to reach me.
She drew enough fire and attention to give me a good opening.
I raised my bullpup. To attack larger foes that would are an issue for Asaph who I knew was drawing close fast was my priority
My index and middle fingers shift and take turns laying into my trigger, pounding out the last of the Viper Shells I have in quick bursts.
Blazing heat projected into my eyes, my rifle's explosive projection of rounds and heat burned into my retinas as rounds rocketed out and impacted the targets.
They crumpled momentarily staggering a moment before collapsing.
I can see the precise moment each projectile becomes quantum-entangled and repeats its impact thrice, and it is still just barely enough to eliminate each of them
My senses are drowned out by fiery metal cascading over soil and mud, and the roars of hostile and angered machines sound like garbled nonsense that I can almost understand in English.
If we don’t break them here, we are going to be encircled and killed.
Any more direct hits and my armor won't hold up… against a laser maybe but this had to be hotter, more powerful than most energy technology we have.
And yet It’s so common it’s all I see in my vision flying at me, as I weave, roll, and leap around the battlefield, I become a hyper-active predator purely so I can evade.
Occasionally whilst I evade, I see an enemy crash and slump where they otherwise would’ve been able to get me... unaware of what is happening.
I take advantage of that opening given by strange help I can’t credit properly.
I ensured the next nine rounds were precise, I fragged nine more in a snap and burst of white sparks flying upwards from each impact point on their torsos
Within half a second, I was forced to engage with that much speed.
But now with that opening, I gave him! I saw him thunder in and clear their formations!
This allowed mean Saiyah to push get more aggressive as she casually weaves through like a ghost causing disturbance against the lines of machines dedicated to gunwork,
even I was in spitting distance to get dirty with my hands, low on ammo I throw my fists into machines cleaving through, leaving me feeling like a trained boxer in a warzone.
But they were still smart enough to work around our strengths They changed up tactics,
Adjusted and rather invited us to close distance now, charging in but were still ripped to shreds and we kept closing in, one would bounce back, having deceptive agility for its size, leaping back fifteen paces.
Me or Saiyah could dash twenty more and cleave through with fists and blade, and cull another with a quick utility of firearm
“Saiyah! Two marksmen!” my eyes scope battlefield amidst rock and in new fresh craters from our fighting, I spot them, angled to hit Asaph.
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Saiyah seems to hear me, but all I get is static in reply, and action in adherence to order.
She cleaves through two machines with lithe frames and large handheld rifles, whipping through them like lightning as she shoots between and eviscerates them with a blade.
Good Asaph should be working in now!
I peek to left and witness and confirm my asumption, Asaph is rampaging through with fists, and shreds nine more than me in seconds with his hands. His fists are like frag grenades each time he hits a machine, and it explodes.
He’s out of ammo not good! Happy to see him rip into them as well as if he had his bullpup– But limiting any ease I can have knowing he’s out of ammo too!
They’re armored enough to be comparable to that of an AFV even standard and we work through them.
I was nearly out of the one magazine I had left, reaching an end to this magazine.
Saiyah was flanking, giving me signal to push further,
She became a ghost to their sensors, the sheath clattering on her hip remained empty , and the blade it was supposed to hold was being buried in the machine after machine.
Her ability to become like a ghost and disappear in the smokes and fire caused the machines to panic in a way I could only guess it wasn’t something they could understand like we ourselves couldn’t understand.
The smell of smelted metal was stronger letting me know she was cleaving her way closer to me.
I was getting in close, keeping the crowd controlled, I was throwing my aim around as I hit the selector on my bullpup and felt the click rather than heard it.
I felt a rumble.
And my senses, my seventh sense tickled my brain, my mind the only thing that can bring me do death should it fall.
I didn’t notice the fiery tails. I evaded them without a second glance, missiles flew in toward me thundering in, they broke the sound barrier and went far past hypersonic.
I leapt and flipped to the side, shouting to Asaph and Anna a garbled warning.
They were quick to evade as well.
Our projectiles were coming from the air.
We can’t deal with this!
This seemed minor but the robots were fast, we lost ground as the robots reengaged us with ferocity at the mere presence of whatever threw those missiles, any opening to strike them was halted as we evaded them, their close-range strikes, the missiles, and projectiles.
I was glad I couldn’t become dizzy; I threw myself around, feeling the heat of projectiles, I could only turn into glancing hits rather than fully evaded strikes.
My armor burning, the smell of my flesh cooking inside as the heat turned up on us.
Hope died in my chest in this moment as I saw whatever was providing incredible support sweep down.
Twin autocannons linked and locked on to me, the machines around us focusing fire as if to try and push us off.
I was struck with a full burst, my armor held up, solid projectiles large enough to be used against tanks ripped into me, my chest plate soaked up a beating I didn’t know it could take.
A whole new respect was gained in this moment for my armor as it saved my life from each shell exploding in my face, fire, and hell raining into me.
This new aerial hostile firing precisely to harass us was about to land! Thundering in as its engine roared loudly, the massive white and black mechanical flying beast with four wings each with burning thrusters as it readjusted itself every second.
It was larger than me, armed more than any attack helicopter, missile, autocannon. It looked ready to use its four legs as weapons too!
The three of us are in for it now.
I didn’t bother hammering the trigger, I could keep track of ammunition–And I was out!
I’m quick to get respond to it “Anna! Left Autocannon!” I bark into static and my helmet
I’m evading another burst of its spray, it rips into the terrain around me, a long trench is drawn by its autocannon fire where I just stood.
I’m moving fast enough my VLIR hud gets in my way as it lags behind, screwing with my peripherals.
This big automated menace turns to try and lay into me again but is struck in left auto-cannon by a precise shot from Anna, from who the hell knows where–It doesn’t matter to me now!
It’s attention is drawn from a shot that easily broke through armor and took out it’s right twin cannons.
Asaph is doing well enough on his own, but as enemies seem more readily focusing on me as I rush through the open engaging me close I quickly shoot a look amidst the fight to check on Anna.
She’s elusive enough to force them into close quarters but I know she isn’t so invincible to take on thirty alone
I’m glancing over and can spot her take down twenty-nine of the thirty assailants but one is giving her trouble, I can barely keep focus on my own enemies, forced into brutal hand-to-hand combat, I’m trading blows at dizzying speeds.
Almost forced to rely on my side-arm but I can’t reach it this troubled.
But as I see Saiyah falter, I jump into action, outright evading the enemy I’m facing, it chases me keeping up pace
Then slams its feet into the ground to skid to a stop and aim for me.
but suddenly is hit from afar and collapses down as I heard it hit the ground with massive impact behind me
Thanks Anna.
I’m on the way quickly to solving the issue.
“Asaph interference!” I shout into static. I don’t need confirmation he’s on it–but I need him to be covered as I leave opening.
“Ann-!” I don’t get to finish before I can hear her hammer the trigger breaking up the sound of static
I hear five shots ring out, I don’t have to see to know she just cleared five targets within seconds to reply and confirm she’s covering Asaph as I peel off.
Saiyah is countered several times by what appears to be the large enemy, fifteen feet in total, four arms like it bred for close quarters.
She’s soaking up energy rounds even as I sprint over to her.
She got too far away damn it!
I know my role, I control the engagement, and I let the teamwork, it’s the most effective use as a Sergeant, it’s why I got a standard rifle only.
I’m thrusting forward off my right foot as I pick up energy and momentum fast!
My speedometer flickers in immediately from my sprint to my rapid dash at forty miles per hour.
The sudden stop has me feeling like I’ve been hit by a train as I shoot straight to–Zero miles per hour!
My fist comes up into the back of the four-armed Mechra, throwing all my weight and momentum, my fist carves upwards reaching to its spine from behind
whilst I could hear Saiyah give one last deflect to its clawed hands above her head.
As I halt my hand rockets into the back spine of the machine, killing center of its mobility as I strike low enough to disturb pelvis and torso.
It spins wildly trying to engage, but it only sputters and breaks down as my hand continued to rip through in the milliseconds of impact and rip through like a knife into cake.
Saiyah gives an attentive nod after I raise and drop what weights like a medium tank down by one fist.
Her armor is singed, blackened, and burned, we are out of cover, surrounded.
We’re not even relying on tactics in the way we should be, we are relying purely on our endurance, equipment and primal ways, this fighting’s gotten too bad, we are in too horrid of a situation.
The Aerial machine comes back into fray, Asaph was likely forced off of offensive by the sheer dedication of enemies providing this aerial machine an opening.
“SAIYAH, EVADE!” I’m throwing myself aside as if to signal her to evade, I can see it turn only for her as she tries to dodge, a pod ejects from its side and missiles stand-out.
In a moment missiles fly off and engulf her in a haze of flame and fire, I can’t even see the silouhette of her body as she is engulfed in it.
NO NO NO!
I snap, I can’t grieve, I can’t weep I just have to kill it quickly!
Asaph is too close, Anna will be a primary target!
Half in range, half in merely cold calculating strategic decision to turn course of the fight I throw myself at the aerial vehicle, it’s massive as I close in on the damned thing! I have to control the battlefield!
I let Saiyah down! She’s dead! She’s gone! But I can’t let Asaph or Anna down either!
Enemies focus on me, trying their best but I can hear Anna’s shots rip through the battlefield, it’s like a destructive tank-cannon, but merely an anti-material rifle extinguishing targets before they can stop me!
One of the four legs whips into the air with a crack! Throwing itself toward me, but I already closed distance it was over.
My fist easily collided with the heavy leg, I can hear metal snap, collapse in on itself as the leg is broken, throwing my other hand under.
Colliding with the underbelly as my hand explodes components as it slams in from under, I pummel it with all the force I’ve got.
I’m tunneling through layers and layers of redundant components and armored plating; it’s internally honeycombed like a warship.
And I brace and rip through.
I can almost see Asaph in my Peripheral freeze as I tilt this massive vehicle over and toss it overside.
“FINISH THEM!” I bark at Asaph.
We are going to die here.
I almost want to look back where Saiyah was but I can’t not now, we’ll die if I lose focus I have to look away, and keep it forwards.
We throw ourselves in and are barely able to clear the last of the enemies until it slowly becomes quiet, I can hear sporadic shots taken by Anna hit troublesome targets as I and Asaph keep close range and assault.
Keeping our enemies down, swinging wildly and trading blows with machines.
They damned us by sending us here like this, almost like they’re trying to kill us..
The end of this engagement I leave punctuated by thundering my fist into pelvis of a much larger machine, throwing my arm forwards and leaving it sputtering and downed, collapsed in a heap of debris and limbs.
The crater is filled with machines, we fought enough of them to be well–I could guess several battalions of them.
They knew where I landed to ambush and kill me, knew I was commander of all 144,000 so they had to have known this was my squad to throw all in.
The crater is blackened, and my head turns.
I can’t hold back an urge to do well–…
I can see out of smoke, out of rubble and fire is a dessicated corpse rising, a vampire with her flesh and blood exposed, pouring out from wounds, leaned back.
She sits up, her skull fresh and exposed, cheekless gaze.
White bones blackened from the burns.
Left-arm and left leg missing, the mist of the lingering fog surrounds her.
I can hear Asaph saying something ‘Aleph!’ It’s muffled. Drowned out by a brutal beat in my skull.
“Saiyah!”.
She is fine..safe now..
We wont last like this..not another moment…
I don’t know what I’m thinking, she’s weak now….and so much blood lost I see her regeneration struggle.
I’m standing over her now, in an instant I didn’t know I could move that fast, my combat-knife flies out in left hand grip.
I drop to a knee and cleave my wrist, as it nastily flops around almost amputated, holding it over her head.
Her mouth is almost clamped shut but with so much of her face blown apart, there is gaps in missing teeth where the blood pours in.
She is reluctantly given enough blood for her regeneration to kick in to peak efficiency.
The fires of the explosion almost vaporized her, I can smell a metallic scent of the blood that boiled within her.
She almost died.
We almost died.
-
Moment, minutes exactly.
The four have a slight reprieve.
Aleph is left holding Saiyah up, until her leg regenerates, grotesquely wet sinews and veins stretch until flesh spins out, not before new bone stretches out from the stump and recovers itself, the flesh atop.
The same on her arm and the rest of her body.
She stands up from him, ragged.
Hunched over, beaten and brutalized unable to stay silent she is muttering something to herself.
Her armor is more black than purple at this point scorched–or what may remain of her armor.
Like the rest of them, she barely made it.
Aleph has won out over the lot of them, his armor is mostly held together, Asaph’s own armor is barely clinging together, bits of metal scrap hanging off.
Anna is out of consideration, most damage was taken previous to this fight and engagement, She sprinted over past the broken machines.
She couldn’t even have her footsteps be anything other than an impact of metal upon metal, clashing atop the mountains of machines broken.
Machines that had taken just about every bit they had left in them, even Anna was down to just a last magazine for her marksman rifle having only landed fatal blows in singular shots.
An already blasted crater the pinnacle of destruction was somehow even more destroyed, once perfectly shapen by a several megaton bomb was now misshapen.
Amidst a sea of white scorched metallic bodies four mountains of purple stood, barely clinging to their armor, bits of their greyish skin and Anna’s more paler complexion showing.
The only light cast upon their bodies was of Aleph and Asaph’s visors which had survived, that red monoeye casting upon the group as they circled in.
Lingering fires from the wrecks of machines, a ghostly howl of the wind as they stood alone, it was too quiet.
They were tensed as if to expect something, something more than just this but there was nothing left..
They exchanged glances, standing awkwardly in this circle, Anna was straight, Asaph looked feral and crazed and Saiyah leaned awkwardly as if her leg had regenerated into awkward position.
She straightened it out.
But Aleph stood silent, more silent than them.
Among all four was white clouds of their breath going through broken ventilators, the heat died down and it became deadly cold for any human.
Gladly they weren’t any such humans.
“We’re not going to make it like this. We don’t even have an objective.”
“We do, grab everyone we can, regather all one-hundred-forty-four thousand, we strike the city.”
The three of them couldn’t hold back a gasp of unison, Aleph had switched up in an instant.
Cold
“Alep–“ Saiyah wants to start.
“Alpha-team!” He shoots to cut Saiyah off and looking around to ensure he’s silenced any of the others before they can speak
“Achtung!” He shoots to them, killing any further moment of reprieve, they have to be on the move.
They have a war to win.
“The city is fortified with a shield….even if we regroup with everyone, it has to be more fortified, than just..–.”
Asaph was speaking but just stopped he was glancing over this crater all the bodies within, his mind quick, inhuman his mind dotted every wreck, more than a hundred thousand, but no more than a few hundred-thousand.
“That’s why we take it.” Aleph scouted around.
Seeing those massive cities, from their angle in the death bowl they could scope off the top, but as they clambered out in long march after Aleph.
They could see it, shining pinkish, a bright barrier half-sphere littering the surface of this world, massive containing cities, the silhouette of perfect skyscrapers like isolated utopias.
Asaph is raising his hand, clenching into fist as his helmet tweaks a bit as if trying to work up ability to say something.
“Those cities have humans, enough for us to replenish on blood for every one of us. Aleph is thinking well, don’t argue.” Anna strictly lays into Asaph who seems poised to start arguing as he raises his fist.
Aleph is glad the helmet adds the shudder he feels at the idea of running around harvesting humans for blood.
He is starkly reminded of what sets him apart from all of them, and is reminded of his weakness again.
“We’ll strike, whatever provided orbital assistance against our fleet and pods is there, strike one of the cities should be a large enough opening, we could probably utilize any groundside weapons they have there.” Aleph plans out in straight-laced tone
“They’re machines it’s all likely automated.” Anna adds into consideration, with pauses as if hesitant to refute.
“We sensed humans there, I can sense the blood from all the way here, they’re working with them that has to be it?”
“Aleph what exactly are we facing have you been told anything..” Saiyah speaks.
The team of four marches out the crater into a wasteland before Aleph gives an answer, with only sparse mountainous locations that haven’t been flattened from bombardment or melted from the glancing shots of the orbital engagement prior.
A pitch-black night illuminated by the giant shielded cities, pinkish light so bright its whitish cast onto their armor.
They can hear distant fighting, detonations and hums and rumbles, likely of other shocktroopers engaged.
Aleph hesitated for a long time it seemed.
Before he causes Saiyah’s head to shoot up as his voice clears the silence and oppressive ambience of this conflict.
“No idea, but we’ve survived this long we’ll deal with them enough, we regroup, gather any other team.” Aleph answers his voice low and beaten
“We’re out of ammunition.”
Aleph gives nod “One of the units should’ve been prepped for resupply, we find and pick anything we can get off of them, then group up to find others, fight our way there.”
-
Elsewhere Interior city FIRST TOWER.
“DIRECTIVE-TOWER-HELD.”
A pyramid-like structure is surrounded by hundreds of gnarly flying machines, twin-autocannons detached, missile-pods cast aside, their legs are used for their true purpose to carry equipment, and resources to and fro.
The structure is being rapidly constructed, a site where hundreds of bodies pile in, they are distinct from most other humans in the city, whereas the others became happy, bright, well fed amongst the machines.
They were still pale, had elongated ears, even much before the Mechra.
“Polaries, our common enemy has arrived, you are prepared are you not?”
They were strong, all of them women, they weren’t very tall but their eyes were long since gone, mechanical, flickering
“They stand in the way of your common ascension, of purity, of your rightful domain as servants like us as we are of the true Gods!”
He rose his hands up, as Servant machines stepped forwards, and raised up blades punctuating his personal verse.
“Mankind!” The machine boasted loudly.
Joan stands among the Polaries tightening her fist, the formfitting bodysuit hugs her body, the scars of her training underneath.
“With love.” That was what she heard when they burned her, broke her bones and pushed her to the brink.
She can remember mechanical hands bending her body contorting her…she became stronger.
The training was filled with love, they would never go so far as to ever risk killing her but pushed her to be ready.
Her family and forefathers on this world have fought the Vampires for millenia she feels their faces behind her. she’ll be ready.
Joan glances up at the machine as he continues.
Bold in Italics on the chest plate of this machine, with a head shaped like a sallet and glowing glass visor, was one word.
‘DELTA’ an ancient machine with an even more ancient chassis, blessed personally by humans.
Inside this pyramid structure they are aligned, one after another, thousands of them.
They face a large machine, adorned like a saintly priest, in tassels and robes, on each of the tassels on his dies, is the image of mankind, and he reaches out, and standing above them, all is a human woman, who is peacefully in chains, illuminated in a forcefield of pinkish color.
“You must avenge the path you could have taken! That you you would’ve been owed as fallen Gods of this universe, to man’s ASCENDANCE!” But the tone became somber as the machine continued
“But you were.”
The Polaries clenched their hands together saying it in their heads
“Your mothers were defiled, and you were impure when we found you, unlike those who you will protect! That you may find place alongside them!”
Their ears went down in grief, long and pointed, years of intermingling with an exterterristial race made extinct long ago by the Mechra made them like this, and reintegration with humans made them as they are now.
Soft round faces, blackened hair long.
“But we have calculated where you may find purity.”
Stepping forth are the servant caste
“Fight, to return your spirits to your place, reclaim your purity!” The Machine speaks as if giving sermon, powerful, foreboding, there is a mechanical way the machines speak.
Joan feels hers heart race and fire rage in her bones, she’s stronger now they won’t hurt her or those above her, true humans will protect her and the blessed machines protecting their makers will arise.
The undead shall be made dead all shall be made right, and they will attain to true Heaven.
‘PRIME DIRECTIVE’ A chant hums from machines, they stand blades ejected from wrists, servant-castes pushing them into the air and roaring loudly.
Boisterous and loud Delta continues Yet they speak smooth, enchanting letting the robes of they wear move the machine in natural pure white, adorning a chassis that is akin to a crusaders armor.
The faces of the Polaries are red, blushing in awe of the machine that shall bring them back forth to purity.
“Long ago our mothers fell to alien deception, but we shall reclaim our blood.” Their mothers committed a grave sin, that the Mechra helped them realize in the years of their liberation.
They were disgusting…their mothers slept with what should be considered animals, the aliens the Mechra extinguished were rightfully erased.
“Cousins of Our fallen Gods, fight utilize your fallen state. To ensure at the very least you will rise! Keep them from the tower! That we may finish our work!”
“Arise and take hold of the mantle protectors of righteous warring man alongside us, to bring forth an end to the Quantum Vampires.”
“And we will soon finish with our projections.”
As Delta faded backward, he went to the tall chamber, a massive pillar holding the chained woman, a prime human for utilization of Ascendance.
“Goddess we are approximately 98.7% close to the objective, the hostile ground presence is devastating with zero-casualties, but they are too held up to make it.” His voice loses all human vocalization.
Its garbled, barely English, she squints her eyes barely able to understand it but does as the robotic voice speaks.
“We are close.”
“Then be ready.” She speaks simply, her eyes a faint glow.
“I will bring all of us back to our ascension as Gods, cast down the unworthy, our people will reemerge.”
On her neck a digital marking given since birth as the young woman speaks.
“The Quantum Crisis will occur.”
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