General Athena of the continuum raised her left hand and rotated the ring on her wrist. With a few quick taps on the bangle on her left hand started emitting a light. The light slowly transformed into a hologram that was projected over her palm. The hologram showed two people, zipping through the desert.
Subjects Unidentified.
Identifying Race - Human. No Deviations Detected.
Identifying Shards.
Subject One - Polar Forces
Subject Two - Speed
Athena heard the sand behind her shift and then the whining of a mechanical servos as the continuum soldier behind her used the more power than necessary to keep himself steady. The desert sand shifted and created a deeper indentation of a footprint on the loose sands of the trials desert that would lead hunters to them if not dealt with.
Her eyes went from the cyborgs climbing up the dune to her and back to the two people running across the desert lit up by the red nebula overhead. Running may have been a lose term. The young man was running. His female partner was holding onto him and being dragged behind him like a wraith. She held up the hologram and saw the trial’s energy accumulate inside them.
Trials Energy - 86%
Approximate time until tokens are generated - 11 min
Athena turned her head when she heard a feminine grunt as the woman in a similar armour to the first cyborg steadied him. That was the problem with the noncombatants. They liked to prance around with their armours whenever they decided to come down to the field. She on the other hand was wearing just a body vest.
At least the woman standing next to her was smarter. She had left her armour in her transport vehicle. Not that she needed it. Most of her body was non biological. She was more cyborg than human. She knew that some of her augments, like the ones in her head, were voluntary. That left half of her head shaved. She could have covered it up with skin and hair grown in the labs, but she didn’t. The augments took pride in their cybernetics.
That really didn’t bother her. What bothered her was that when she had started, she was a spitting image of Athena. If someone saw them then, standing side by side, they would call them twins. Now, she looked like a twisted version of her.
Athena heard the people climbing up finally make their way up. More people followed the first ones. One of the most notable ones was the woman using the squid configuration of the continuum armour. Metal tentacles dug into the sand as she propelled her climb up the sand dune. But her attention was on the quiet one. The one who was as old as her but hid himself in plain sight.
Like always, he was sure footed in his light armour and silent. Too silent. The fact that he hadn’t made a move meant that he was scheming. Athena did not like the man but like him she was going to play the passive role. So, she did not even look his way. She did not want him to know that she recognised him. She did not know even if his wives knew about him but right now wasn’t the time. But the time was closer than ever.
“Tina? Why have you called us?”
Athena from the side of her eyes looked at the high councillor of the continuum as he asked the question. People called him the heart and soul of the continuum and a handful of years back she would have too. But now, she knew better.
“Well?” Taran 45 prompted her.
Athena pointed at the two people running past a sand dune as demonic dogs chased them.
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“We have visitors, councillor.”
Ruby used the tentacles coming out of her sides to land next to her Athena “Who are these people? New invaders from the Rakshasa Empire?”
That was the problem with Ruby. She was always angry and always looking for a fight.
“No. They are humans. Plain and simple humans.” Athena explained.
Everyone looked at the two people in the hologram and then at her.
“How can that be?” Taran 45 walked up to her and looked at the hologram in her hand.
The man was running with the woman on his back. The woman looked scared while the man had a stupid grin on his face.
“Where did they come from?” Parvati J18 asked after a moment.
“I don’t know. I picked them up when I was putting up the barriers against the upcoming sandstorm.
Athena pointed to the large pole like device that was projecting energy upwards into the sky and continued.
“I found them running away from those dogs. I thought they were lost travelers from the Arata’s city but now I think they have a connection to the city of fire.” She answered and then she panned the hologram to show an overview of the abandoned city.
The city had been deserted for a while now. It only had mindless throngs of the enthralled. Now there was a nishachar walking the streets. Exerting control over the enthralled as he led a vetaal towards the yaksha’s temple.
Athena A07, a clone of Athena 8 looked at her with a displeased look “That is no reason for you to summon us here, general. I do not report to you. I follow Jay 7. Not your ragtag band of battle freaks.”
Athena 8 gave her an exasperated look “Sister. I would have called Jay 7 here if I could get in touch with him.”
Athena A07 sneered “I have told you before not to call me your sister, General. Jay is recuperating. He has left me to manage the operations while he incorporates his new arm.”
“Just because you are politicking doesn’t reduce our biological connection A07.”
“No, the fact that you continue to live in the past, does. Now you haven’t answered my question, Athena. Why did you insist that we come here?”
Athena sighed “Because I think they are warders.”
That stopped everyone in their tracks.
“What do you mean they warders?” Taran 45 asked
“How do you know that?” Ruby asked over Taran’s voice.
“What makes you think that they are warders?” Even the usually quite Parvati J16 chimed in.
Questions piled up one after another as Athena 8 kept silent. When everyone fell silent Athena looked at her colleagues in the eyes and answered “Our ATI, Marshal Lara found the resonance of their soul structures familiar to the one that Jay Chandra had. She found the resonance similar yet different. So, I had her scan them further. The results are not conclusive, but I thought you should know.”
“Warders” Taran said in a whisper “The last one we knew started the continuum. And now there are two of them?”
Athena A07 scowled “Of course, and you being his special little protege want to take charge of them? Well not this time. Jay Chandra is dead. You have no power anymore. Jay 7 leads us now.”
Athena really did not like A07, but she hid the fact under a mask of patience that was only occasionally broken by exasperation.
General Athena just looked at Athena A07 and finally snorted “If I wanted to do that, why would I have called you all here? I have a job to do, A07. A quest was generated for us by the system. We need to clear out the fire city. I am going to that.”
Ruby turned a sharp look at Athena “Why?”
“It is what JC would have wanted. He told us to fight the Rakshasas. I am going to continue with his last orders.”
A07 rolled her eyes “Jay Chandra is dead Athena. His orders do not matter anymore. You would be better served to follow Jay 7.”
“Nevertheless, I am going to go and drive the nishachars out of the fire city. You all can play politics. I am going to fight a battle with my war monkeys. That’s what me and mine are good at. Meanwhile, one of mine will collect the warders and bring them to the forward operating base.”
“Which one?” Taran 45 asked
“Taran E65. He is the friendliest person I know.”
The high councillor nodded “Good choice. I will have a chat with them when they get there.”
“If they get there.” Ruby announced as she pointed to a hologram spread out in front of her “They have attracted attention. I see more of the Rakshasa minions heading towards them.”
Athena A07 looked at the hologram and ordered “Ruby get to your ship. Fly to them and protect them. These two are our strategic assets now.”
“No.” Ruby F said with a challenge in her eyes.
“What do you mean no?” A07 growled
“A07, I do not take orders from you. I take my orders from Taran 45. You do the mentor’s bidding and I follow the High Councillor.”
“Jay leads us.”
“Not all of us.”
Athena looked at the two women shouting at each other and shook her head. They were all so divided. She did not know how they all had survived up till now.
Taran stepped in between the two women “A07, Ruby is right. She is the captain of my ship and if these two are really warders they won’t have any trouble dispatching these scrubs.”
Athena wanted to stay quiet, but she decided to chime in “Councillor, look at them. They do not have the shards to fight back against multiple enemies.”
Taran looked at her and shrugged “Tina, if they are warders and if they are worth us fighting for, they will survive. If they are not…”
“But…” Athena began and stopped when Taran held up his hand.
“I thought you did not want anything to do with them?”
Athena closed her mouth. She reminded herself that it wasn’t the time for her to make a move. Instead, she just said “Councillor. You should know that they have only have one shard each.”
Taran 45 nodded “Thank you General. If they survive, I will keep you in mind. If they die, they die.”
Athena looked at the two running away from their position and prayed for their safety. Then she remembered that they had almost generated their trail tokens. Hopefully that would give them an edge in the fight.