Having lived two lifetimes, I’ve become surprised by the fact that, one month of trying to push them away, both Olivia and Alexander have continued to find me in every place but my workshop for one reason or another. It was strange, these two reminded me of Lily, that energetic side of her whenever she sought me out for one reason or another. I knew one thing from this, I couldn’t push them away, but I made a note not to seek them out unless I had something to speak with them about. But this month had given me time, time to work on Olivia’s planet and the way to revitalize if from the attack by Providence. Her planet was, in every sense of the word, a perfect balance of mining, fertile land, oceans, and space for housing, factories, and everyday living. I managed to not only make a means to revitalize the planet, but even a plan to use the planet as efficiently as possible, this would at lease lessen my worries on the planet. I took the information, transferred it into a device for physical transport, and set out to find Olivia. Due to the information being sensitive, I wasn’t going to send digitally, mostly since I assumed Providence had some means to hack existing structures.
It took time, mostly as I haven’t gotten used to the place yet, but I managed to find her eventually, “Olivia, I have something for you.” When she noticed me, she seemed to beam, something she shared with Lily when she was younger… it was hard for me not to see Lily in her, enough to where it hurt me inside to see her occasionally. Once she came over, I handed her the device, “This has all the information you sent me, along with the new and updated data, it should get your planet back on the right track, as well as some additional future preplanning. Remember, always try to capitalize on what you have, missing out may hurt in the future.” Somehow, despite how she was beaming before, she absolutely lit up as she hugged me, “Thank you Aurelian! Thank you thank you thank you! I can finally help my people, as well as take a load off of my parents, thank you so much!” It felt weird seeing Lily in her, but at the same time, she had that innocence in her that reminded me of a younger Lily, and somehow it seemed to fit her well.
I, carefully, pushed her off of me, “Indeed, however, send it the same way I requested you bring it here, you know why.” Olivia, slightly saddened by me pushing her away, replied with a smile, “Got it! I’ll send it immediately!” She quickly ran off to speak with the people she was speaking to before I arrived, likely to say goodbye for the moment, but I didn’t stick around. It was the weekend, and I wanted to touch up the mana core, one month was longer than I usually took on a core of this size, but I wasn’t as free as I usually was, and I wanted to wrap it up today so I could start to work on the mech’s frame. Before I got far, someone began to join me, “You know, most people trying to push others away don’t usually help them, you know?” When I looked who spoke to me, I knew exactly why they were pestering me, “You know how I feel about unnecessary suffering, Alexander. If I can do something, why shouldn’t I?” He raised a brow, “Is that what you did with those new planets I see you working on? You didn’t need to take out the pirates and temporarily take control of them… well, before the Empire put them under your domain.” I shook my head, “No, that wasn’t the initial reason. I didn’t want Providence from establishing a forward base on them, it was a risk I couldn’t take.”
Alexander replied, “So, despite that, you still wanted to help them, despite the reasoning.” I sighed, “Yes, you’re not wrong. We all lost something in the battle with Providence, and if you didn’t, you’re either with them or have unimaginable luck on your side. Their tech is nothing to sneeze at, and I can’t see any other way that would be possible.” After a bit of walking in silence, Alexander asked, “Aurelian… what did you lose to make you react like… this to even the thought of friendship? It seems over the top to push away even the concept of friendship.” I understood one thing, information really was slow to move around, so, I decided to speak about it, at least to get it off my chest, “I… I lost a really close friend of mine…” I chuckled, “Lily was the only one I could speak with so easily growing up, same age, our fathers were both Counts, it just all seemed to fit into place, like a simple puzzle.” I felt the muscles in my face loosen as I spoke, just remembering her felt like I had gone back in time, even for a moment, “We did what we needed to do in the morning, then had a blast at the end of the day, we even spared as we got older, mech and no mech… it was the best time of my life.”
I gripped my heart, now realizing the hole that remained there hadn’t filled or went away, it was just hidden in a haze, “She didn’t have to die… if I didn’t agree to send her out, maybe she’d still be alive. She’d be walking with me, by my side, seeing new sights as she dragged me on to the next big thing she found… but that’ll never happen, not anymore. I lost that chance, but others don’t have too… it’s why I’ll hunt down Providence and make them regret coming out of the darkness. I’ll drag them into the light, show the universe they aren’t to be feared, and make sure they all get what they deserve.” I felt my facial muscles return to the ever neutral face I wore, unchanged by the passage of time, “If you don’t mind, I want to finish part of my personal project, its construction is meant to be kept secret.” Alexander, shaking of what his face held before I turned to him, said, “Yeah, sure, go ahead bud, just don’t do what you did last month, it was rough just looking at you.” I waved him off as I left for the workshop, “Don’t worry about that, I should be done before bed.” Somehow, this conversation put a renewed sense of urgency into my work, but it wouldn’t ruin the quality of the outcome, a machine that would last until tier ten, one that would put Providence in their place.
~~~
As I sat in class, I understood one thing, I might’ve had my age range’s allegiances understood. Those that sat on additional money, thus flaunting it, were likely members of Providence. Those that didn’t associate with them were likely those who didn’t like them, but would rather not be associated with them in a positive or negative way. Then there were the people who were actively mistreated when no one was looking by the Providence crew, this makes me think they were stuck under Providence’s foot, but I couldn’t prove anything. Then, there was Alexander, Olivia, and I, the three individuals who didn’t seem to fit in anywhere else, but I was openly against Providence, but I never truly asked where they stood on the matter. But I can say one thing, much like on Earth, cliques formed nearly instantly, but I could tell that both Alexander and Olivia could intermingle among each group like it was second nature. For me, I never talked to anyone else, there was never any need to do so, not to mention, they all seemed to avoid me like I did them at all costs, so there was no issues there.
Just by knowing the potential power structure between these people would help me in the future quite a lot, but it let me know a majority of those present here were compromised, which means that the Duke has likely been compromised to an extent as well. I tapped my desk, quietly, in a particular pattern, a voice spoke quietly in my ear, “Yes, Forge Master?” I whispered, “The Duke has likely been compromised, keep a few eyes on the workshop, but I need you to root out as many as possible and bring them before the Duke.” The voice replied, “Yes sir, I’ll report back if we run into an issue.” As quickly as they spoke, it was as if they were never here, and I leave a thought of thanks for whoever spread out my silent assassins like this. Though, it spared me having to show the fact I was hunting them down, it left me akin to a fool who made too big of a leap into the playing field. Alexander came and sat down next to me, he spoke quietly, “Who were you speaking to? If you don’t want to say, it’s fine, but I’m not so sure how many people can read lips.” I replied, “I need to know your allegiance first, you know what I mean.” Alexander smirked as he handed me his pad, “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me that.”
Somehow, he seemed incredibly ready, since it shows not only his domain denying Providence, but it showed him putting up a defense that, unlike my own, succeeded. He leaned to my ear, “They underestimated us, but then again, we did hide a majority of our ships. Not one of their ships made it out, so they just hid the fact they lost. Either way, doesn’t this show where my allegiance rests?” I made sure to run a few of my tells, mostly to determine if it was AI, but everything came back clean. As I handed him his pad back, I replied, “I think the Duke may have been compromised, lacking his knowledge of the matter of course. I have my methods, so we should see results soon.” Alexander glanced around the room, then said, “But there’s no one here.” I replied, sternly, “Exactly, no one was here.” I made sure to wink to him, and he seemed to understand why I was keeping quiet about it.
Olivia came over, pulling is close, “So, how are my two friends doing.” I just tapped her arm, “Not friends, why don’t you get it yet?” Olivia released Alexander, but she wrapped both arms around my shoulders, her head way to close to mine as it rested on my shoulder, “If we didn’t talk to you, you’d be alone, besides, its always good to have friends.” I shook my head, gently pushing her off of me, “No, not for me, and all being friends with me does is put a target on your head. So don’t do that and force your parents to bury you, no parent should have to bury their own child.” Her being clingy wasn’t something I expected her to be, especially after the event with the two Counts, but I guess she did it more often with people she trusted. Alexander chuckled, “Olivia, I don’t think he’s the touchy feely kind of person. Maybe be hands off for a while.” Olivia seemed dejected, quickly moving over and using him as a place to rest her head, “Alright, I understand.” Seeing them act like this was confusing, she was a Baron, and he was a Viscount, so it left a strange dynamic for her to do that to him. I asked, “Did you two know each other before coming here? This isn’t exactly… normal behavior between individuals of your status.”
Alexander nodded, which resulted in Olivia’s head bouncing a bit, “Yeah, our domains are pretty close, not to mention well connected. We’ve known each other since we were kids, been friends since we were… what, fifteen or so?” Olivia said, “I thought it was more in the ballpark of twenty.” This began a decent on when they met, but all it left me feeling was that very hole in my heart. The two of them were like Lily and me, but I knew there was likely something more between them… something I wish I had with Lily. After some time watching them discuss when they met, they both suddenly went silent as the looked at me. I asked, “What? Is something in my teeth?” Olivia took out a handkerchief and began to hold it under one of my eyes, “You’re… you’re crying.” I put my hand under my untouched eye, and to my surprise, I was crying. I wasn’t sad, nor did I feel a reason to cry, but I was letting the tears flow, “Why? I… I don’t know why I’m…” I tried to wipe my tears away, but it didn’t stop, it was like I wasn’t in control of my own emotions.
Though, maybe I knew why I was crying, and I just didn’t want to admit it. Alexander and Olivia had what I wanted, just Lily and I taking on the world, and I’d never see her again. I knew what I should be feeling right now, but I couldn’t even feel a hint of sadness, just… nothing. Had I even properly mourned what I lost? Was I trying to work through what I was feeling or was I just pushing it off for later? For a moment, I noticed dad had took up my vision, his voice was stern, “Aurelian, quit feeling sorry for yourself and focus. Use your rage, avenge us, don’t let our deaths be in vain.” I knew what I had to do, focusing on the pain would only make me waver, I couldn’t stop now. My tears dried up, yet my expression remained unchanged, “I’m fine, maybe something just got in my eyes.” Noticing that we weren’t expected for any additional training, I stood up, “I’m going to work on my project, see you later… I guess.” My determination was refocused, my goal realigned, I couldn’t let my emotions cloud my judgement. I was going to finish my mech, locate the final core needed to start it, and use it in my revenge against Providence. I didn’t need friends, and no one needed me to become their friend anyway, I’m perfectly fine on my own, I always was after all.
~~~
Six months since the start of the training, and I had grown curious about what beasts were within the Duke’s domain, so I decided to ask him about it. As I entered his office, which was open to us whenever we had questions or desired a chat, he smiled to me, “Ah, young Aurelian, have you come to chat?” I replied, “Somewhat, I want to ask you about mana beasts in your territory, specifically any you deem… special.” As I sat on the chair in front of his desk, he asked, “Is this in regard to that project of yours?” I nodded, “Yes, it requires a very special core for me to complete it, thus making it mobile. Are there any planets with mana beasts on them with… abnormal movements? Easy tells are groups of a certain type of beast being more territorial than normal, packs moving in more advanced patterns, eliminating enemy’s logically rather than animalistically. Things of that sort are simple tells.” The Duke thought for a moment, then nodded, “We do have something of the sort, but I’m not sure if it fits the description you seek, but I understand that two minds are better than one, take a look.” He sent me some information, a certain species of ant has been expanding rapidly, and not the small kind.
Warriors moved in vastly more coordinated assaults on their neighbors with sickening efficiency, any foreign species that entered their territory were wiped out with ease, and beasts that they’d be struggling to handle normally seemed to be delt with in the most efficient manner possible. There was no doubt about it, this was the mark of a behemoth ant. I looked back to the Duke, my mind understood the threat this was, “Duke Bartholomew, in my expert opinion on this matter, there seems to be a World Eater Behemoth on this planet. It’s what people of the old Era called ant behemoths, considering they require a lot of food to survive and function… but I can’t determine if it’s the queen or king variant.” The Duke’s brow raised, “King variant? I thought leaders could only be queens.” I shook my head, “That’s for regular ants, sometimes, a queen mana beast ant could birth a king, and those varieties could cause a worse issue than a queen variant.” I looked to the schedule he set up for hunting mana beasts, since that was a valid measure of training for us, “Can you move us up for hunting mana beasts? If we leave that behemoth alone, then those on the planet risk being eaten alive.”
I watched the Duke’s eyes widen, “You can’t be serious!” I shook my head, “I don’t lie about things like this, not worth it in the end.” I motioned to their current territorial claims, “At the rate of expansion, I fear they’re about to expand rapidly, and there are tons of towns and cities nearby. If we fail to act now, then we may outright lose the planet and every soul on it.” While City Destroyers were simple to handle, mostly due to their slow speeds, World Eaters were vastly more unpredictable, since you can’t tell if they’re acting militarily or out of a desire to feed. I put my earpiece to my ear, my concerns rising, “Merlin, fix up my unit, we have a World Eater.” I got a swift response, “Repairs beginning immediately, area around the unit cleared, it’ll be fixed asap.” I took the earpiece out, my voice stern, “Duke Bartholomew, if we fail to act now, you’ll have an issue greater than you’ve ever seen on that planet. As territorial as we humans are, animals are far more strict about it, they’ll tear every human settlement to bits if we don’t amass a force to bring them down now. You need to make a choice, and it needs to be swift.”
I watched as he began to contemplate, after a few minutes, he asked, “If I send you, along with the other nobles and a swath of my army, could you lead them to killing the behemoth?” I sent him a picture of the City Destroyer, “Duke Bartholomew, I took this thing out with three mech squadrons, a single flying ship, and myself as a near sacrifice considering the electrical charge my mech had to push to kill it. While some nobles got angry I was leading the charge at twenty-five and paid the price for their arrogance, I still managed to bring it down despite the magic it wielded. If it’s a queen variant, it’s as good as dead, but it’ll be tricky if it’s a king variant, but still doable.” While using tier one ship and mech fire on the behemoth would fail, they should easily be able to crush the fodder, and his forces were perfect for the job. The Duke eventually found his answer, “I’ll do it, just make sure you make a plan that the forces will agree upon.” I smirked, “I’m already doing it, I just need to make sure it’s updated in real time so I can call upon the needed fire support.” With that, I shook hands with the Duke, I could tell his curiosity was what drove him to accept this.”
~~~
Two months later, and I was sitting on the command deck of my ship, I had called some of my own forces to assist since I needed a small fleet of flexibility and trusted men. The ships that arrived were the tier four ships I made, the only ones that could make the two month journey, and they were needed for rescue operations. I noticed that the Duke was ready for me to speak, so I made sure to put on my best for this, “Hello everyone, as much as I don’t desire to lead the Duke’s forces, I have no choice but to do so since the matter is of dire importance.” I put up two images, both from the old era of what were the king and queen variants of World Eater Behemoths, “What we’re about to face is an ant colony that has managed to birth a World Eater Behemoth, the variant could be king or queen, but the point is that they’re about to begin a massive land grab, so our goal is to buy time for the civilians in the nearby towns to evacuate while attempting to bring them down and completely annihilate them. So, with that in mind, let me begin explaining the force layout.”
I pushed the images of the behemoths back and put up the way our forces will be lined up, this managed to cause confusion rapidly. One of the nobles from the Providence group said, “Hey! Why are the ships ahead of the mechs!? Shouldn’t we be further ahead!?” As others began to, loudly, vocalize their disagreements, I shouted, “Quiet!” This managed to get them to quiet down, I wasn’t playing their games, “The amount of regular, fodder ants are immense. If I were to put the mechs before the ships, we’d lose all the mech forces and risk being overrun. As proof, take a look at this video we managed to salvage from the old era.” I began to show a video of the very tactic they wanted to employ, the ants running up and eating the mechs without hesitation, I even left the screams of the men and women inside do the talking instead of myself. Once the video stopped, I continued, “By using combined ship fire, we can wipe out a majority of the ants before they reach the mech units. This should allow everyone a chance to survive the assault by handling a weakened force. Now, for the inexperienced nobles, you’ll be put with soldiers who better understand the ins and outs of combat. Listen to them, as their experience could be the difference between life and death, or you can just opt out and spare us the trouble. Just make sure you inform me about a week before the plan, or else you’ll not get the chance to choose.”
The same Providence nobles asked, “Then why do you have some of your personal forces here? Isn’t that against the spirit of this little raid?” I replied, “They’re here to assist me in bringing down the behemoth, since they have experience in killing behemoths. The ships, while they’ll assist in the firepower on the fodder ants, are meant to assist in pulling any damaged units out and resupplying everyone to ensure not one ant reaches a civilian population center. More than that, I’m going to be bold, if my plan survives first contact, I want to attempt a one hundred percent survival rate, so I want everyone to be honest of their damage, no matter what you say. Before you say that’s impossible, it isn’t, we just need everyone to do their job and every one of us will be able to go home.” Duke Bartholomew spoke up, “To the nobles under my care, if you partake in this, be honest with your damage, and return alive, I’ll consider it a very good grade for your beast combat training. It’ll shorten this part of the training and leave extra time for other parts of the training, so put your all into it.”
As the nobles nodded, I continued, “Let me discuss the difference, the queen variant looks like this, while the king variant looks like this.” They seemed similar at first glance, so I made sure to point out the differences, “Both seems similar in the photos before you, but that’s not the case. The king variant, unlike the biology of regular ants, are actually larger than the queen variant. Their antenna are longer, their muscles are thicker, and they have a higher chance of having wings. Wings make combat exceptionally harder, since no mechs have the capacity to fly, if that does occur, and you see it, aim for the wings and attempt to shoot it down.” Once I finished explaining the variants, I explained the plan, since I was planning to dive right into the fray to remove their command structure before they became too organized. Once I was done, I asked, “Now, any questions based on what I just explained and showed you all?” Alexander spoke, “I do, this information states that the king variant has a chance to shift into something called a “humanoid variant”, what does that mean?”
I understood his concerns, so I decided to elaborate, “Humanoid variants are, as stated, a beast that has evolved from a behemoth to something more the size of a mech while gaining a humanoid look. Their muscles, strength, and mana are condensed, thus strengthening it to an unbelievable degree. However, the probability of it happening is near zero.” When I pulled out my old notes, I stated, “The old era believed there was some sort of evolutionary factor that came into play after a certain period of time, however, no reports of modern day humanoid variants have been noted. While the possibility of it being there is possible, it, as stated, shouldn’t be too much worry on it. Though I will state this, if I call out that there is one, you need to all begin evacuating immediately. I have enough to attempt to take them down with my own men, but more than that, your tech can’t keep up with it after that. Just trust me on this one, you don’t want to be near a humanoid World Eater.” Afterwards, I asked for any additional questions, and at least these were normal.
Once I dismissed everyone, only the Duke remained, he asked, “Young Aurelian… are you sure this will work out? If anything, you’re the one at the most risk.” I nodded, “Yes, compared to everyone else, my forces are more adaptable to the situation at hand. If there is a threat that can’t be beat, we can buy more time than anyone else. Just… just make sure the civilians on planet are ready to evacuate. If a humanoid variant does appear, they’ll strengthen every ant under their control, which means we’ll have a major problem to deal with.” The Duke sighed, “I… I understand. Just make sure you return alive, got it? Your people need you.” How many times have I heard that line, yet each time, I never really accepted that as fact. I replied, “I can’t even confirm my own safety until I get down there, just be ready, we may need to move sooner than expected, so begin evacuations now from the closest regions.” The Duke looked like he wanted to say something more, then sighed, “I understand, let’s hope we worried for nothing.” For once, I agreed with him, but I couldn’t be complacent, even I have a few tricks up my sleeve in case there really is a humanoid variant, but only time will tell if I’ll actually need them.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
~~~
After a week passed, I began to notice some… abnormalities on the planet within the ant’s territory. Pheromones were rising, ants moving, we were out of time. I shouted to the radio operator, “Connect me to the ships, now! We have to move!” As my ship began to move towards our active operation line, I began to relay the alert, “Attention all operation personnel, we’ve hit critical mass, all readings are pointing to a rapid push from the ants! All forces, deploy at once and prepare for combat!” All ships apart of the operation began to descend upon the planet, mechs deploying once they hit a safe space in the atmosphere and taking their preestablished positions. As all the mechs dropped their connections, leaving contact for the structured system we set up, I heard Olivia call out to me, “Aurelian, come back alive, it won’t be the same without you gone.” I processed that for a moment, but I couldn’t promise her a thing, “No promises, but I have no intentions of dying here.” I heard her sigh, “That’s likely the best I’ll get, just do your best.” As she disconnected, I said, “Prepare my mech, we’re dropping in once most of the ants have begun their attack! Find us the main nest tunnel, we’re going in!”
As I left the bridge, I heard everyone working in unison as they worked to keep the chain of command going. Reaching the mech bay, I realized that many of the souls who were part of an unofficial group called the “Death Walkers” were present, mostly by the emblem of a dead man walking under the Flameheart emblem. They suffered so much that, in the wake of their losses, chose to fight every chance they could, since they believed they were already dead. While some of my knights from the old era were here, marked by an official emblem of our old forge, they were few and far between. As I boarded my mech, I spoke as the engine began to fire up for the first time in around a year, “Everyone, we have the hardest task, we must venture into the nest and crush the World Eater before it destroys the planet. Know that the people of this world, and those who are still evacuating, are counting on us to end the threat here and now. We won’t let today become their second Providence, so show me what you got everyone.” The lights of our mech’s eyes began to shine as we began to move to our drop positions. As I leaned out, I noticed the ants were behaving stranger than expected, as if there was yet another behavioral change. I asked, “Merlin, check the list of behaviors ants like this have, and quickly.”
Merlin replied, “I’ll go as fast as I can sir, but it will take time as I analyze everything.” The ants began to swarm outwards, moving out to begin their territorial expansion. I heard the temporary commander of my ship say, “The ants have begun to spread out, all units, be ready to open fire!” I decided to cut the comms from the ship unless they were directed to us, mostly as it would distract me during the fight. As more ants poured out, I said, “That’s… that’s a lot of ants. We could be fighting tens of thousands of these things.” While the ants of World Eaters repopulated, I did know the Duke sent the occasional teams in to cull their numbers, but if this remained, they were repopulating faster than any record I had on them. After we waited long enough, I shouted, “It’s go time! Kick the door in boys!” As we leapt from the ship, I wondered just how long ago it was when I actually had the chance to do this. While I used to do it before, one bad trip caused me to begin throwing up due to motion sickness. It turned out that whatever was effecting me began to weaken me in many areas, so I had to stop doing it, and now I was experiencing it for real this time. I whispered, part of me wondering, “Arthur… what would you say to me now?”
A marker appeared on our screens, “The entrance is here, good hunting everyone.” As we shifted our drops, I noticed the cannon fire coming from the ships near the surface, their shots like momentary stars in the night… except on well illuminated land. As we approached the entrance, ants were looking up and screeching towards us. I smirked, “Too late, open fire!” With steady aim, we shot those trying to leave the nest, as if our rage was placed into this fight to release even a little bit of the pain we felt into these bugs. I spoke, “We’re going in, be ready for anything.” As we leapt into the hole, I made a concerning realization, the hole was far larger than it needed to be for the workers and warriors. While I understood it being bigger than needed for easy movement, this seemed unnatural. I brushed it off, we were going in anyway, “Let’s move, keep your head on a swivel.” As we ran through the nest, testing the branching paths with drones, we kept following the one that seemed most likely to fit the behemoth as the other paths were far smaller than the one we found ourselves in. One of my men said, “Mana signature detected, the behemoth is ahead of us!” We charged through the tunnel, eventually ending up in a massive cavern, and my latent concerns were realized. Inside, there was three queens, an abnormality among most ant colonies, but not if there was a king variant.
Behind them sat the King World Eater, their size nearly quadrupling the largest queen in the room, and all four of them were doing the ant equivalent of observing us. I reached for my blade, but before I could grip the hilt, a voice rocked the room, “Who dares disturb me?” For the first time since the battle with Providence, I felt the hairs on my body begin to raise as my blood ran cold. The nigh zero probability had just flipped to a near one hundred percent probability in mere seconds, this behemoth was mid evolution. I shouted into the comms, “Code red, it’s evolving into a humanoid, everyone needs to fall back and evacuate!” Instead of a response, all I got was static, the King World Eater leaned down to me, “Hm, you are humans, the beings who slaughter my kind for the sake of their own well-being.” I realized we were too deep, we hadn’t gone down, but we had inadvertently gone under a mountain, the only place able to hide the behemoth without issue. One thing to me was clear, if we fought here, we’d be doomed. I shouted, “Drop any explosives on hand and run! We can’t win a fight in here, so tear it down and run!” Many had explosives in an attempt to make this easier, but the threat of a humanoid World Eater was enough to turn the tides.
The King World Eater began to move, “Don’t you dare, you foul humans!” I realized not all of the bombs were primed, but we couldn’t stick around, “Just scatter them and run! It moving may bring the tunnels down on us!” I was struggling to keep stable footing as my men and I began to pull out, the King World Eater stopped chasing us, likely to protect the queens, but I wasn’t going to stick around and hoped it worked since it would likely cause a chain reaction no matter what it did. As we reached the entrance, the earth shook around us, dirt and rock beginning to dislodge from the ceiling, I shouted, “Last chance, everyone out!” I made sure all our forces were out and left at the last moment, the earth giving me a little extra momentum out of the hole. I shouted, “Sitrep, quickly!” The temp commander said, “All is well, we’re dealing with the ants at a steady pace.” I clicked my tongue, nothing got out of the hole, “Code black! Its an evolving humanoid! Everyone needs to evacuate, now!” The temp commander said, shock overcoming him for a moment, “The first humanoid since the old era…” After a moment, he snapped out of it, “This is command to all forces, code black has been initiated, all forces and civilians are to begin evacuation at once, the behemoth is evolving into a humanoid.”
As ants began to encroach on our position, they suddenly stopped and began to screech in unison, something I recalled as the coronation song for humanoids. I felt sweat trickle down my head, “Shit, here it comes everyone.” A claw like hand ripped out of the ground, then another, the King World Eater pushed its way out of the earth, its breath raged as it seethed, “You killed my queens, they couldn’t survive the collapse of our home, all the brood are gone. You will pay, humans!” The ants began to screech, prepared to swarm, but cannon fire rained from above as my ships began to fire upon the fodder, “Take them down, don’t let a single one reach the Viscount!” For the time being, due to the radius they were protecting, we’d be fine from the horde. However, that meant we had a limited area to fight the King World Eater in, meaning it likely held a pretty good advantage over us. Looking to its humanoid form, it seemed to be more focused on attack, which wasn’t good for our current tech. Weapons drawn, the King World Eater charged me, likely knowing I led the forces before him. As fast as I could, I managed to block the strike, but I could hear the joints in my mech screaming as it could only do this for so long.
I switched the mana on, letting it flow into the mech itself, bolstering the defenses, ceasing the screeching metal… at least for now. It was screeching at me, “You dare enter my territory, harm my queens, then expect me to let you live!? You will die here, foul human!” I felt something within me ignite, something I likely kept repressed, and I was about to unleash it on this pitiful bug, “Foul human? Foul Human?! How dare you call me a foul human after everything I’ve had to live through!?” The mana around me seemed to quiver, as if afraid of my rage, but I didn’t care, I was winning this fight, even if it was to prove a point to a semi intelligent bug. I pulled my free hand back, coated it in as much mana as I could and smashed it into the face of the bug, the force behind it sending if flying until it crashed into the ground. I sheathed my blade, “I won’t even need my sword to show you what for, and once I’m done, I’ll use that core of yours for my plans.” The King World Eater sat up, spitting a bit of gooey green blood, “Oh ho, a human dares to stand up to the king of this world?” It rose up, and I could tell it was grinning as it clenched it’s claw like fists, “Then come at me, show me what you can do.”
I didn’t hesitate, adding mana into the thrusters to send my crashing into the World Eater, my fist smashing whatever I could find purchase on, “You don’t even know the first thing about me, the pain I suffered through, the pain we all suffered through! You have no right to call any human here foul!” As I went to line up another punch, the mech’s mana shot to cover the cockpit as the World Eater slammed its first into it, the punch all too much reminding me of when Reaper bested me four years ago. The rage that dwelled within me seemed to rupture up like a geyser, anything that held me back seemed to fly right out the window, “You mother fucker! I’ll beat you so hard your remaining warriors will feel it!” It was as if everything went red, I can’t tell if something dislodged and injured me, but it didn’t stop me from unleashing years of rage on this humanoid bug. More mana condensed on my mech, my strikes and defenses got stronger the more I released my rage, and something about it made me feel good. Someone, anyone could be saying something to me right now, and I wouldn’t be able to hear them, as we locked hands and tried to push the other, all I could do was scream like a feral creature.
~~~
When I opened my eyes, it felt like I was back in time, a slow still of motion where my mom and dad were still alive, watching Lily and me goof off on the day we chose to rest. It felt… nice. The day didn’t felt like it dragged on, rather, it felt calm and relaxing, almost as if it went by far too quickly. I knew, though, that this was merely a dream. A wish that seemed to show itself to me after who knows how long I wished for it. As I took a seat at my office desk, one that shifted to a random wall that surrounded someone’s yard on my old, Earth street. The faces of my former family, ones that seemed blurry and unrecognizable, seemed to look up to me as I could only imagine the laughter I emitted to them, doing whatever a child would do on Earth. It hurt, a bittersweet feeling that I could only feel here, in a random dream after nearly half a decade of life. Eventually, it was as if both memories merged, and I could see both my Earth family, and my Flameheart family, both stock still as I recalled the memories of my older life.
To my surprise, someone sat beside me, someone who looked like a child, “Are you happy?” As I looked to them, I realized any identifying features were impossible to pinpoint, so I assumed it was someone from my memories that I no longer recall. I looked back to my family, my voice clear, “No. My first family forgot about me, and my second family perished due to my own hubris. I… I don’t know what to do anymore.” The child spoke again, as if my comments pushed their questions forward, “Did you love them?” I chuckled, “Of course I did, at least for my old parents… my love for them died after I understood they’d never return. But… William and Cecilia, I see them as my true parents, people that didn’t hate me for who I was. Lily… I loved her too, and she was the only one I felt this sort of love for… and I’ll never get to see her again.” The child didn’t speak for a moment, then patted my arm, “It’ll be ok, remember, I’ll always be with you.” For a moment, I felt like I remembered someone telling me that at one point, but suddenly, I was awake, facing the open sky as my cockpit no longer had the front.
When I sat the mech up, I realized I was on a pile of ants, the King World Eater was breathing heavily on the ground. It looked to me, somehow, it seemed relieved as it spoke, “I see… you managed to survive. It would be unfair if the universe saw fit to remove us both from life.” It slowly reached up to the sky, “How… and why… was I born into this world?” I felt as if my emotions were beginning to tighten once again, and I wanted to say something before I became that emotionless version of me, “Even us humans never really know the reason, so we strive to find our own purpose for our existence, at least, that’s what I believe.” The King World Eater chuckled, “Heh… how… funny.” With my emotionless state returned to me, the King World Eater breathed it’s last, so I tried to move my mech to begin preparations to return to the ship. However, instead of moving, all the mech could do was groan as I put even the most basic input into the controls. Checking the state of the mech, I got back constant failures, nothing was functioning properly, some systems were completely blacked out. I clicked my tongue, then checked my communication systems, unfortunately, they were one of the blacked out systems.
I sighed and stepped out of the mech, somehow unharmed from the fight despite what all the damage on the mech said. I took to the emergency kit, which was somehow still intact, and fired an emergency flare into the sky. When I turned to look at the mech, I realized the damage was worse than the screen said it was, for all intents and purposes, I might have to retire it. Looking to the head of the unit, it was almost like it was crying as fluids of all kinds seemed to be seeping out of it, but most of it was dried up now. I recalled the dream I had, it was blurry, but I understood that it was questions… but I couldn’t remember the dream’s contents anymore. Though, for the first time in a while, I had nothing to do, no where to be, no responsibilities to uphold… it was just a strange, natural silence. Aside from sleeping, when have I ever had time to myself where I didn’t just sit around, thinking, pondering, considering anything that wasn’t next steps? As I sat down beneath my mech, something flew out of me and formed into something in front of me. When it finished forming, it looked just like me, not a single thing seemed different.
The look alike asked, “Are you hesitating on our goal? We have nothing in this world, our people hate us, other nobles of our own Empire hate us, and I have no doubt that even those from the old era hate us for leaving them to fight the enemy we should’ve been front and center fighting. Why hesitate now?” I shook my head, “I’m not hesitating… I just never had the time to think about… everything. I’ve lost so much, and so has everyone else, yet they seemed to have processed it while I haven’t… shouldn’t I at least try to sort myself out a bit before… this happens again.” I motioned to the dead King World Eater, I don’t even remember inflicting any of the damage it received, yet the only one who could’ve killed it was me. My look alike turned to look at it, then looked back to me, “So what? Rage is what keeps us going, if we stopped to look at the flowers, we’d be turned into a wreck that couldn’t withstand even the slightest poking from Providence. We were wronged by a superior power, and now those people think they’re untouchable, unbreakable even. If we let this injustice stand, all they’ll do is hurt more people, and the only way to ensure that happens is to keep this rage we have within us.”
My look alike spun around and opened their hands to the sky, “We’ll restore fairness to the universe by cutting them down, freeing everyone from their wicked clutches. The lesson we shall teach is to not bully the weak for your own gain, and they’ll have plenty of time to learn it on the way to hell!” They turned around to look to me, “And when they’re gone, we can finally let go of everything that’s bottled up within us, all in one fell swoop. Once our fight is over, we can go off and do whatever we want, but our fight isn’t over until Providence meets their end.” When my look alike turned to the sky, I did the same, seeing a rescue group come for me, “Time for me to go, let’s chat like this again sometime.” When I looked back, my look alike was gone with the wind. As the team landed, I sighed, I had a job to do, and I couldn’t hold off on it for long. I spoke with them, “My communications are busted, send a pick up for the World Eater’s body, I want its core intact completely. Send it to my ship, along with my mech, I’ll see what I can do to restore it.” The pilot replied, “Understood sir, just sit tight, you’ll be back on the ship in no time.” As we rose, I had a lot to ponder, but it wasn’t as much as before.
~~~
As I walked into one of the halls, I felt a pair of hands begin feeling me over after someone ran up to me, “Aurelian, are you ok!? You… you went crazy and stopped responding to any communications…” Olivia seemed concerned, which with everything I was choosing to go through, threw me off, “Yeah, I’m fine, though somewhere along the line, my comms system got busted. That was likely why I wasn’t responding.” Olivia pulled on my cheek, which was a strange feeling, “It was even when your comms were still working, because you were screaming like a madman on your end! Try to be more understanding of others you idiot!” After she released me after what I assumed was her scolding me, she grabbed me and pulled me close, “And… thank you for coming back safe. You had a lot of us worried Aurelian, your men were about as worried as me once you started screaming.” I suddenly felt nostalgic; I haven’t been held like this in coming on five years. I wasn’t upset, but I wasn’t happy, it just felt strange to have the closest thing to a stranger doing this to me. I couldn’t say if I liked it or hated it, it was just an emotion I just couldn’t feel, and I wasn’t sure how to reply to this.
Alexander began to remove Olivia from me, “Remember what I said Olivia, he isn’t touchy feely, give him time before you get… physical.” He looked to me, concern briefly in his eyes until he noticed I really wasn’t injured, “Whew, at least you came back safe… unlike your mech.” When we looked to the bay, I watched as the crews were heartbroken to see its current state. I, confusedly, stated, “I… don’t recall how I got to that point. I just remember feeling… angry, then I woke up facing the sky.” Alexander and Olivia had a moment where they looked to each other, Olivia taking the initiative asked, “Are you… sure about that? You were pretty active… and feral, you were clawing up the World Eater as it did to you.” I put a hand to my head, trying to recall even a moment of the fight after I screamed, but I had nothing, “No… I don’t remember a thing; it was almost as if I lost consciousness during the fight somehow.” Alexander replied, “That’s not good, you might have suffered an injury after all, go get checked out.” I shook my head, “I’m fine, nothing hurts, I don’t even have a bruise. Wouldn’t any injury that could cause brain damage leave some form of a bruise? “
Alexander shook his head, “Not in all cases, besides, this could be a previously unfound injury. I can tell from how you acted when you spoke to us, you knew your way around a fight, which means you have experience in it.” The three of us began to walk as he spoke, “In any case, brain injuries don’t just stem from punches and kicks, it’s the rapid movement of the brain that causes it to bounce off your skull. So if you were to rapidly stop, your brain could bounce off your skull, damaging it. Seeing how you fought, I have no doubt you could’ve had that happen in your head, so just check on it for now.” I put my hand to my head, “Maybe it was from the battle with Providence, some pilot named Reaper smashed my cockpit, almost lost my eye from… something. Never got rid of the scars I got that day; you can still see it too.” I moved my hair back a bit, Olivia said, “It’s not too bad, it’s healed rather well.” I chuckled, putting my hair back down, “It’s not meant to disappear, it’s meant to remind me of my failures, that my mistake caused people to lose their loved ones… for me to lose my loved ones.”
In this moment, I felt as if part of me finally loosened, like a rope that had been frayed to the point it can no longer tighten properly. Olivia put a hand on my shoulder, “Aurelian, you know we’re here to listen to your issues, yes? We all have our pasts, good and bad, but we can’t dwell on the past forever.” I shook my head, “I’m not dwelling on it, I’m doing what I must to prevent the past from repeating again to another, my fate isn’t one that should befall anyone else.” When I reached into my clothes, I pulled out the headband Lily gifted me, the only thing I had that reminded me so much of her. It was something that, while it’s a reminder of my failures in another way, it was also akin to a good luck charm. It was the one thing I got back before my life went to hell in a hand basket, and maybe it was something that kept my grasp on the fact that I’m still human. Olivia asked, “What is that? It must be important, considering you never showed it to anyone until now.” For once, I felt a small smile grace my lips of my own accord, “A gift from my only friend, and the driving force behind my actions against Providence.” For once in years, I managed to put it on, its place upon my head felt strange, yet calming.
When I looked to the two of them, I wasn’t sure what to say, but I eventually had something, “I’ve… I’ve been through a lot, and I haven’t had time to really… sort it out. My harshness to the two of you… it’s unfair to you, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for friends again, at least not yet. My life may seem… abnormal to the both of you, but in due time, I may be willing to explain. Is… is that fine for now?” After a moment of silence, Alexander sighed, “It’ll do for now, but I sort of wish you told us that a little earlier.” Olivia nodded, “That’s fine, but I’m going to get a little physical with you, against Alexander’s wishes.” I watched Alexander grab Olivia’s head as she let out a small scream as he rubbed his fist on her head, “Listen here you little troublemaker.” Something about this, it lit a little something within me, and I didn’t hate it. It was weird, feeling anything since the battle was always odd, but maybe… one day I could get used to it again. As I entered the medical room, I wondered how long it would take to process this and let myself be more human again, but only time will tell.
~~~
“You play a dangerous game, little one, do you think you can help him?” A well-dressed individual asked to a small, well dressed child. The child replied, “I can, you acted with haste, and while it showed results at first, but those results will slowly fade over time. I made a promise to watch over him once, and now, I plan to do it again, and properly this time.” Both looked to each other, the well-dressed individual chuckled, “You? You think you’ll win? Bah! If you win, I’d be so well beaten that I’d likely fail my plan, and I’m not one to lose like that.” The two stared at one another, the child spoke first, “Let’s make a bet, shall we? For someone like you, it’ll be worthwhile.” The individual, despite their face being unseen, had a grin as wide as a crescent moon, “Go on, little one, you have me curious, but will it be enough to hook me?” The child spoke, “Which side will win, with a smaller bet between us. Will our side, despite the odds, achieve victory in the end, or will it be your side? The smaller bet will be who’s desires end up reaching reality, yours or mine.”
The child spread their arms, a small smile on their face, one that was gentle compared to the wickedness of the individual, “As I believe, fate is not set in stone, and I wish to ensure the kind souls get the just rewards they seek. If you win, well, we both know what happens. Once the smaller bet concludes, we get the power of the other which cannot be used due to our affinities. However, the larger bet will conclude once one of either of us dies or the overall story is wrapped up nice with a bow. That means we get the power one of us would receive upon the slaying of our mortal foes, that would be a boon to either of us. Though there are rules, we cannot kill or interfere with the other, be it on purpose or inadvertently, we let the other live until the bet concludes, what do you say?” The individual thought for a moment, then smirked, “You have a deal little one, and if either of us breaks the pact, we suffer an appropriate punishment according to the level of mischief.” The two shook hands, a light seeped from the child as darkness seeped from the individual. Both spoke at once, “With this pact, our lives are connected, and may we see who best wins.”