The Eikon ran through an alley between buildings as it held its throbbing head. “So much noise,” it said in a soft growl as it tried to clear its spinning mind. The confusion and pain was too much for it as it tried desperately to find an explanation. It felt the cells of its body resist against it, fighting back against the machinery and implants as if the host was rejecting it.
“It is a pleasure to see you awake, my lord,” a man’s voice said amongst the throbbing sounds in the Eikon’s head.
The Eikon turned around and saw a thin built older man with the same purple eyes looking at him. “Battalion,” the Eikon said as it recognised the man. “Where am I?”
“A planet called ‘Kaiyumi’ in the Azluen star system,” Battalion explained as he approached the Eikon. “A small planet orbiting a binary system; a middle aged orange star and a black hole called Azluen Prime. The natives of this planet mistakenly believe the black hole to be another moon orbiting their world.”
“Primatives,” mused The Eikon as it looked towards the sky, taking in the information. “Is this planet colonised?”
“As of now no,” Battalion explained with a sigh. “It was deemed not a priority until we discovered that the Titan resides here.”
The Eikon winced in pain as its head pounded and its body convulsed. “I have not received orders, I must contact the fleet.”
“The fleet won’t be able to respond,” Battalion responded mournfully. “By order of Lord Demise, we have focused initiatives on the Zeta project.”
“Zeta project?” the Eikon asked in realisation. “That was meant to be me.”
“I’m afraid our mutual friend Reyz failed the two of us,” Battalion said with a deep sigh. “We tried to weaponize his hatred for the Titan yet that backfired.”
The Eikon winced in pain once more as it fell to its knees, groaning all the while the foreign pain wracked its body. The Eikon began to slowly realise that the body was retaliating against it; the host was rejecting the take over.
“Are you alright my lord?” Battalion asked in concern.
“So much noise in this head, is this the body of Reyz?” the Eikon asked while shaking away the pain.
“I’m afraid so; he took you into his body hoping you would help him fight the Titan,” Battalion answered.
The Eikon winced once more as it realised the situation it was in. “So he was not the intended target for Zeta; that was the Titan. And now this fool intends to resist me.”
“If I may, I might be able to solve this problem for you,” Battalion offered.
“No,” the Eikon answered as it rested its mechanical hand on its right eye as machinery in the arm clicked and various pinching tools grabbed onto the flesh around its eye. “I only need quiet,” the Eikon said as a needle unfolded from the machinery.
Battalion winced as the needle rammed itself into the Eikon’s eye, piercing in the corner of the eye and jamming deep into the Eikon’s brain. The Eikon twitched before it went limp for a moment, Battalion fearing the Eikon had just killed itself. Then the needle slowly pulled back out and the Eikon let out a relieved and shuddered sigh as it took in the everlasting flood of information from the Eikon database. In the stream of data, it gathered everything it needed; information on the Titan, details of the Zeta project, status of the fleet. The Eikon basked in the burning glow of data that had been collected since time began.
“D-Did you just kill him?” Battalion asked as the realisation set in.
“He was a nuisance, and so I silenced him,” the Eikon answered while taking in a deep breath.
“But, that man can’t die so long as the Titan still lives; he would have been the perfect counter,” Battalion said while scrambling how to report an Eikon killing its own host.
“And yet the Zeta project was a failure,” the Eikon growled as it rose to its feet. “I have no need of flesh that heals itself. I intend to salvage this failed mission, file it under the name ‘Icarus’.”
“And what could this ‘Icarus’ project be?” Battalion asked.
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The Eikon let out a triumphant sigh as it made its plans. “Evolution has been purged from our people; we are designed and built to be perfect without the flaws of evolution. Yet how far has that gotten us? We still cannot fight and kill the Titan. And so we must adapt, evolve.”
“What you are saying is blasphemy,” Battalion said while stepping backwards.
“Is it Battalion?” the Eikon asked with a deep laugh. “Aeon after aeon, we fight against him only to fail in our Great Work, content with our meagre failures rather than expanding on how we failed. That should not be our way because that is exactly how the Titan thinks; content with the ability to delay our work for now. We must think beyond that; we must be better.”
“And how do you expect to do that?” Battalion asked, afraid of the monster Demise had created.
“I can repair the damage done to me, better than this pitiful Paladin could dream of,” the Eikon said as its laughter deepened. “I will engage the Titan in combat for study and report my findings to our lord. Even should I die, my data will prove invaluable to our race and produce perfect and flawless designs so we can finally kill him.”
“That’s heretical suicide!” Battalion shouted while questioning his loyalties.
“That’s science, and I will be the cadaver for that enhances our understanding,” the Eikon said with a wicked smile as it lifted its sword. “And should I win, not only will I be a valuable research subject, but I will also bring the head of the Titan.”
The Eikon laughed as it ran out into the streets. Battalion tried to follow yet before he could, the newborn Eikon was consumed by an explosion of flames that knocked Battalion backwards, slamming his metal skull against the stone wall behind him.
The Eikon continued to laugh as it felt the pain and heat of the searing flames, calculating their heat and intensity as it looked around. In the distance, it could see Arylos approaching with a burning sword and murderous intent in his eyes.
“Is that the best you can do? I know you can do more than that,” the Eikon asked with a deep laugh.
“Something tells me you can access the neural network now, and that tells me there’s another Eikon nearby,” Arylos growled as he looked around for the other Eikon.
“You would want to know that, but why when I can have you all to myself?” the Eikon answered with the glowing in its eyes growing. “I want to see everything that you are capable of.”
Arylos laughed as the thought entertained him. “You could have just looked through the database of your people if you wanted that.”
The Eikon growled with a wicked smile. “Yes; detailed records of your carnage, illustrations of the worlds you’ve burned, endless lists of Eikons killed before they could be bloodied. Yet nothing beats experience; I want to see this all firsthand, to see your bloodlust with my own eyes. I intend to study you, Titan.”
“You’re not like other Eikons, aren’t you? What is your name?” Arylos asked while readying his sword.
The Eikon looked to its human hand as if lost in thought. “I was given no designation, free to choose my own.”
“Choose your own? That’s something only a few Eikons can do,” Arylos said as he slowly realised what his enemy truly is.
“Six Eikons to be precise, now seven,” the Eikon said while laughing. “This ‘Reyz’ boy, an interesting name he chose. From the old Reig word for ‘tyranny’. I rather enjoy that name.” The Eikon continued to laugh as it lifted its sword high. “I am the seventh Sage of the Eikons; Tyranny, the Envoy of the Beginning, and I bring you the gift of death you so crave.”
Arylos let out a shuddered breath as he steeled his nerves, trying to cast away the fears that hid at the edges of his mind. “Alright Tyranny, then don’t let me down,” he said with a deep growl. Arylos launched himself towards Tyranny and their swords collided in a violent collision that worked up a gust.
Arylos felt the shock of the collision run through his bones as he pulled back for another strike that was blocked by Tyranny. Arylos pulled back his left arm for a punch just as Tyranny struck Arylos’s sword arm. The Eikon swung its sword as if it was dancing as it took all of Arylos’s endurance to dodge out of the way.
Arylos grounded his stance and brought his sword to Tyranny’s shoulder as it cut through its torso. Tyranny grunted and raised its sword and cut across Arylos’s chest. Arylos held his wound as it healed and he watched the cut in Tyranny’s shoulder slowly heal over with metal plates that closed the wound to create pauldrons of metal.
Arylos corrected himself and lashed out with another strike but Tyranny blocked the strike and landed a punch in Arylos’s stomach. Arylos retaliated with a piercing strike aimed towards Tyranny’s gut but Tyranny punched Arylos once again, knocking a tooth loose and disorienting the Titan. Tyranny took the opening and brought its sword down on Arylos but the Titan knocked the blade aside. As the flurries of strikes continued, Arylos tried desperately to plan on how to get the upper hand.
Several more times, the swords of the Eikon and the Titan crossed, spraying sparks in the air as they collided. Arylos blocked every attack he could until Tyranny struck him with a backhand across the face. Tyranny followed up with several strikes with one aimed for Arylos’s back and the Titan just narrowly blocked the sword. Arylos pushed Tyranny’s blade aside and brought his sword down with his full weight. Tyranny tried to block but the force knocked the Eikon to its knees as the blade cut through the exposed flesh of its other shoulder.
“Not bad at all,” Tyranny remarked with a smile. Long nails grew from its human hand and slashed Arylos’s thigh. The Titan groaned in pain as he stepped away from the Eikon and examined his wound, gushing black blood that stained the ground.
Arylos gritted his teeth, trying to come up with a plan. “Fine then,” he said aloud as he gave up on planning. He had his plan and needed to stick to it; he could not let Tyranny leave this planet alive.