Tides Of Protomis CXIX
Discord
The situation had clearly changed over time, not one, but two of Maleggan’s generals had been eliminated by the two incursionary forces. It was a development not only surprising, but one that seemed to make a larger issue known. It wasn’t very common to see the generals meeting, but today, it would be needed. In a high-ceilinged room, constructed of packed stone, there were the highest authorities within this state. Aside from Zeta himself, there was a demon who looked significantly more humanlike than the others, fair-skinned, and having a head of long hair. Though what made her non-human origin clear were the horns on her head, and the red lines which went down across both sides of her body. Her figure was shapely , and curved. The Demon known as Gamenna. Quite close to her, which was common, was another more humanoid creature, who differed in that he somewhat resembles the demon Hyperion, in that he resembled a strangely organic suit of armor. After all, they were of the same species. Though his body resembles bronze. Scales with a number of rivets inserted. General Xi. The next, in stark contrast to the other three, who at least stood upright, was quadruped. An elongated head, with spines at the very end, and a tall build that one could say resembled a horse, General Epsilon.
The next was a mountain of muscle with red skin, and a head that seemed vaguely draconic. One eye had yellow sclera, no pupils, and emitted a glow. While the other was entirely destroyed, a result of his past battles, no doubt. His body itself was also littered with spines. General Deltus.
“So, Sigma and Mu have been slayed… Along with Mu’s half-breed son. Isn’t this quite the situation.” The voice that exited Gamena’s mouth was sultry in nature, but this was something those within had gotten used to.
“It’s a problem, that much is clear. If nothing else, I will make sure that they go no further.” Zeta stated. So no mention of getting any kind of revenge?
“As closed off as ever, Eh, Sigma? It matters not.” The establishment of Maleggan’s empire hadn’t exactly been that long, only about 20 or so years. But even then, the generals knew each other more than well, even if they tended to stay out of each other's ways, save for a few examples… How much Xi and Gamena were together was proof of that. He was somewhat surprised they hadn’t produced any offspring yet. But, the personal affairs of the vipers in this den didn’t matter to him.
“We’ll need to take care of them soon. The last thing we need in the current situation is the other lords striking. We already had that Belial from below the waves testing the waters, as well as his brother… Need i mention the lord of the Iselian continent, or the Rasor. Our plans will be derailed if we are attacked both internally, and externall-”
“Let them come…”
The voice that filled their ears brought the entire room to silence, and, standing in the shadows, was the very creature responsible for the establishment of the Polity, Maleggan himself.
“All that means is more challenging opponents for us to fight. More so than those humans, at least, they may have gotten past Mu and Sigma, but in the grand scheme of things, that means nothing… We have stronger fighters at our disposal.” Callous, and battle hungry, those were the two words that could be used to describe the “emperor”. One among them, the friend of one who’s death apparently meant very little, felt like saying something, but ultimately, he decided to bite his tongue, and focus on the current situation. Sigma may have died, yes, but he no doubt would’ve wanted him to continue in his unifying of a chaotic realm.
“We’ll send some higher class fighters and exterminate them… That simple.” Maleggan continued. While that plan would normally work, it was quite… Boring, and it had its issues given their current situation. Given the look she got from Xi, he felt the same. She had something else in mind… She heard about what Xi did to keep Ghemzaan in line, though he was mostly beneath her notice. If she did something similar…
“, I have a different Idea… We know for a fact they have people they care about. And while the tunnel to Mvchk has been closed for the most part, there’s more than enough room for our weaker members to slip in…” Her words gave Maleggan pause, and for some time, he stood there, considering this. It wasn’t his preferred solution, but considering they weren’t that big a threat to him, he relented, and the clamor of his footsteps began to leave earshot.
“Go ahead.” A clear approval, good, if she managed to kill those humans, it’d only add to her prestige. Something she continued to think about, as the generals began to leave the room, and make their way back to their respective domains, having no reason to stay in the room any longer. Save for her and Xi. The latter stepped closer to her, as he spoke.
“I’m sure your plan will succeed. You have always been a smarter one.” This much gained a smirk from the demoness.
“But of course. Things will be back to normal soon. I’ll be coming to see you, of course.”
And with that, the two began to split up.
Earth - Ethiopian Highlands
The effects of the Kaemerge War and Demonic invasion alike were clear. When the opportunity to do so arised, Neo-Axum Found itself invaded by the Empire of Ridillis, who, historically, had been a rival of theirs for centuries. Why would this invasion happen now, however? It was simple, the Axumites were weakened by the demonic attack, more so than Ridillis was. The emperor was not exactly known as a virtuous figure, but he was effective. Managing to keep the country afloat even during world war three, where, to no surprise, many of the nation’s economies were affected. Unfortunately for the state being invaded, For the time being, the battle looked to be in the Imperial Army’s Favor. Bombardments by faraway railgun kept Awash Gersem Tsega, and the rest of his squad pinned down, and their forces as a whole were being decreased by the second.
At the very least, there wasn’t a fleet overhead, or an orbital shell falling from above.
“Something has to change quickly, or our line of defense risks being broken…” Awash didn’t have time to think about this much longer, as the crack of a gauss rifle was heard, and he felt a round whizz by his head. And without any prompting, his weapon was raised, and he’d already fired at his opponent, the supersonic projectile slammed into his chest, and knocked him to the ground.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
USN Headquarters -
The less than peaceful incidents happening worldwide were not exactly going unnoticed. And were to be addressed equally by the members of the United Solar Nations, an organization that was supposed to serve as an international court, of sorts, but was ultimately regulated to something which sat in the background, until the war against the Kaemerge occurred. Alas, it looked as if it’d fallen back into that rike, Now the buildings simply seemed to be used as a meeting place. A tall spire situated in the independent city of Shisui, chosen as the location for its continued neutrality throughout history, ever since it was founded. A wide variety of key figures had arrived there. Some of which were a surprise. Abram Green, Emperor Shin, Premier Okoye. Surprisingly, even the leader of the reclusive Southern Valeoux, which had since locked itself down and broken off all contact, with the establishment of a theocracy, based upon the self-proclaimed Western papacy. The man himself, tall, with a head of white hair, and a face with wrinkles, showing his age. Pope Gautheir Girard. The king of Santa Maria, Juancho De Ceron. The room they sat within was large, and almost resembled a stadium. Rows of seats and tables in a half-circle, all going down to a single podium.
The room was silent, aside from whispers, pushed papers, clicked pens, or chairs being pulled out, as the heads of states took their seats. The standard exchange of pleasantries one would expect, half-hearted greetings, and handshakes as well. Though, some leaders were notably absent. The heads of states for Great Viet, and the Siamese Empire, were nowhere to be seen. Something which may not have come as a surprise given the nation’s troubled history with each other. It wouldn’t be unheard of for the two to be attempting to watch the other’s moves. But some were absent for other reasons, Stazów, Veclás, and Zamosias. Smaller nations who were formerly puppet states of the second russian Empire. Luckily, Lizan, the Successor state in the area, showed no ambition in terms of claiming them.
Their militaries relatively small, and holding no foreign forces, the Invasion was devastating, all three heads of state were nowhere to be found. But, two of their neighbors were. Basileus Ionaiss Vi Galanos of Gythros. A man with well-groomed azure Hair, and an average build. But his clothing, rather elaborate robes, made his tendency to skew toward what gave him prestige visible. The three nation’s other neighbor, the Prime minister of Lizan, Raisa Lebedeva, sat on the opposite side of the room. A head of brown hair reaching her shoulders, and a navy blue suit.
She herself eyed Abram Green, Shin,and Okoye, with thinly veiled contempt. Though it wasn’t the subject of the current meeting, there were certainly those who felt strongly about the treaty which resulted in Russia’s split into three states, and a clause which forbade them from re-uniting. Though it was clear that they all wanted the same thing, their ideologies had grown too different over time, for there to be even unity. Even during the war, such cracks were beginning to show. To the far east, they had a man who found himself following Naumov’s Aristocratic policies. Declaring himself a Tsar, and creating noble houses and titles once more. Volya Ilin, Who’s name almost seemed like a contradiction. And the third of the triad of states, Sibavostok, who’d taken to returning to the Socialism that preceded Naumov, and the Constitutional Republic of Muscovy before his rule.
Given the true subject of the meeting, the appearance of the Holy Order’s head, Lyle De Chavutheir was of no surprise. For the time being, the room was silent. Such only changed by the speech of the United Arab Sultunate’s Casildo Rais. A tanned-skin man of an average build. A turban on his head covering his hair, and white silks draped over his body.
“I’m sure that all present see the issue here. How much blood was spilled in the initial invasion, and how much will be lost in the next?” Casildo questioned.
“His majesty asks a fair question, and I will raise another… Why would we not attack them preemptively? With our own forces, we are provided the tools to do so. You have discovered a way to enter the realms these “Demons” originated from, have you not?” Ioanis questioned. Though, with his tone, it seemed he was not too subtly inching toward this being a demand. But before much longer, another one of the room’s occupants decided to enter the conversation.
“With all due respect, our forces know very little of the enemy we face, and even if we were to gain more info, conventional weapons have not worked on the stronger members of the demonic races, and if we are to send our proto-humans in, we run to risk of being attacked by those who care not about the demonic incursion, or demons taking advantage of their absence.” Abram responded. As the president spoke, another of the heads of state jumped in.
“Yes… Despite our best efforts, the sons of Neptune are still active, and have even been emboldened enough to expand their piracy to strikes on earth, given they find a lapse in anyone’s security. Or need we mention factions with certain… Ambitions.” Casildo began eyeing two within the room, Ioannis, who made his intent to expand clear after his attack on Sanaib, which was created to serve as a buffer state in the first place, and head of the Sibavostok People’s party, and on with unilateral control over the nation-state, Timur Sorokin. Though he also noted the intense gazes of the other two Russian successor states, they decidedly paid them no mind. One allowed corporations to run much too freely, and the other had backslid into the traditional ways of governance. As far as he saw it, they would fall if he pushed them enough. But that would have to wait until he made his own country recover from the wounds gained during the Kaemerge War, the third apostle, Najeem Al Moussa, had done no shortage of damage.
“I say we allow the Holy order to handle things. Their advance force has apparently killed a general, haven’t they? That tells us more than enough.” Timur responded.
“And if they fail, we have Proto-humans attacking as well. The Four Tides, Liang Yu, Miyamoto Junko, and the Son of Ren Hashimoto are there… Joined by a member of their council, and Yu Liang.” Emperor Shin stated. His relationship with them had always been… Complicated, to say the least. Doubly so with the Agium, who Watanabe had just arrived in the country with all those years ago, and made sure to help him gain citizenship. He was never one to listen to any directives, that much was clear as he watched his growth. He had somewhat of an interest after finding out he was indeed the Agium, and insisted upon getting into combat. Either way, he found that he may be trustworthy in that regard.
The subject of this discussion, or at the least, the start of it, Ioannis, spoke once more.
“I do not believe I appreciate your insinuation… Sanaib had ethnic Gythrorisans in their land, and I only acted to reclaim them.”
“However, your majesty, I must respond with this, After the initial establishment of the state, they were content and showed no signs of duress?” a feminine voice echoed throughout the room, coming from an orange haired woman, known as Shirin Thanawala, The head of the Republic of Persia. But this much was met by a glare from both him, and the Prime Minister of Visagon, who apparently, was ready to comment himself.
These were disparate states, that much was clear. The head of the holy order decided to stop this before it got much worse.
“If I may… Our plans are to eventually draw in more troops from this side when we’ve figured out more about that realm, but there's another issue at hand, one relating to our abilities?”
“The holy force that runs through your body, that allows you to vanquish those creatures, correct?”
Pope Gautheir questioned.
“The very same… I must explain the origins of it. When a human is attacked by a demon, we find that if they survive, the energy from these demons can be absorbed within them. In which case, one of three things will happen. 1. They will die, 2. Their body will change into a demon, and in most cases, this coincides with a loss of intelligence, and personality, if they are reduced to a D-class… Or, they learn to quell it, and purify it. We estimate that there will be those who contacted demons and may have taken their power within. We are requesting that some of them be brought to our facility to see what can be done. Depending upon the scope of the invasion, we may very well need more trained defenders.”
“Halt just a minute… While I understand that you’re apparently working to help, to surrender our citizens without any detail to what they’re giving them to… At the very least, I want observers to make sure there is nothing going on behind the scenes, but aside from that. I want the unflattering news reports made about the Agium, and his allies rescinded.” Abram Demanded. Though he knew the Agium enough to tell that he wouldn’t care regardless, he did. The boy had a good head on his shoulders, his father was someone he knew of, and his grandfather was one he looked up to. Cyamus corde had saved new york from an orbital shell bombardment during world war 2, though this wasn’t usually remembered, it was by him.
“That much, I can agree on…” The strangely silent king of Santa Maria added. Though there were many within the room who didn't agree with such, especially Chairman Sorokin, who was known for his rather unflattering view on proto-humans. But for the time being, he’d bite his tongue.
“If that is what is required, then I shall match these demands…” Eventually, the one presiding over the meeting stepped to the center of the room, with Lyle taking a step back.
“Do the gathered parties have any more concerns to voice?”
Silence…
“Then this meeting is adjourned, and we will begin to execute the plans discussed.’
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