Since the Whiplash tore apart the proud Eliksni, we have fought, scavenged, and gave up hope, honour, and even our families for our survival. Once, we were a great united species, a species raised up by The Great Machine, now, since it left us, we have fallen, fallen deep into a pit from which even the Kell's struggle to raise up from. Civil war between the Houses, and the harsh treatments from the higher ranking Fallen have made out hopes of becoming Eliksni once more fade. If a team of three Guardians could kill Draksis, the Winter Kell, and capture Notorious Skola's, Wolf Kell of Kell's, what chance did our Dreg's, Vandals, and Servitors have? None.
~Earth, Unknown Location, Fallen territory~
Throughout the many winding tunnels and corridors, Fallen forces were moving, from the low Dreg's to the Baron's and Captains of the Devil House. Food was low, Ether - the precious life-gas for Eliksni - was in low supply, and morale was even lower. Of late Devil's fate had been grim; first, Riksis, their Archon, was slain by a lone Guardian, and not even a month later, a trio of Guardians stormed one of the Lairs and destroyed their High Servitor, Sepiks Prime. If that wasn't bad enough, the King's had been breaking in and taking their supplies, and then of course, there was the Wolves and Skolas to deal with, and even after they fended off against him, many of them were 'Taken' by Oryx. How the Devil's still stood was unknown by most, and they had their temporary saviour and newly forged Archon, Drakois to thank for it.
Deep within the heart of the Fallen Ketch sat a throne room, belonging to the Houses current Kell, one who had self-appointed himself and killed anyone who tried to stand up against him. Said Kell rules this House purely through fear, yet all Fallen knew he didn't deserve the title, Drakois, the Archon should have the rank of Kell. The throne room had decorative Devil House banners hanging from the ceiling, a large rectangular table with the Devil symbol painted upon it, stood firm in the heart of the large room. The table was surrouned by the highest Fallen Devil's; the Archon, Kell, and five Elder Barons: Drakois, Nixails - Devil Kell, Nakaniks, a Stealth Baron, Anxiks, the only Scorch Baron of the House, a second Stealth Baron, and two other Wire-Rifle Barons.
Nixails was seen sitting upon his throne, the Kell's Devil Scepter resting against his right side. The helmet was made of the same shiny metal that other Kell's were, but bore an interesting design, instead of the basic Kell helmet, his one was painted with the Devil's red colour, and the helmet itself had small metal spines that protruded from the front that formed the House symbol. He was listening intently and silently to the other Fallen as they argued about ways to sercure their House's survival. It was the task of Baron's to ensure their troops were ready for combat, it was the Archon's job to ensure their Servitors were being well kept and in good condition, yet it was the Kell's duty to protect his House and ensure they had the supplies they so desperately needed.
The enraged fist of a Baron slammed upon the table. "You would sell the House as slaves to Kings!"
The first Baron countered towards his enraged brother. "Our House is greater in number than Kings, they would not hope to enslave us all without fear of conflict."
At this the Archon spoke up "But Nakaniks, you forget, House Kings is possibly the most tactical House, we cannot hope to defend against them. Nixails, you have remained silent throughout the entirity of this discussion, what is on your mind Kell?" The Archon was one of the few Fallen Devils who still shown respect for the House leader.
The Kell remained silent, wondering of the different possibilities and weighing the different possible outcomes. Other Houses would use them as slaves, Winter had supplies however and no Kell, and no House had trust for Skolas after the betrayal of Twilight Gap, and, to his knowledge, even many Wolves themselves distrusted the Kell, and some had even fled to join different Houses, or had gone rouge. Obtaining supplies from Winter was the most reasonable choice, but it was still a great risk to dispatch Fallen to Venus to infiltrate Winter's Ketch and the Cave lair to obtain these supplies. "I fear the only choice we have at this time is to steal from Winter."
"Steal from Winter? Nixails, Winter will undoubtedly be highly defended and fortified now after Skolas and the Taken war. Our Devils cannot hope to obtain supplies and escape with them. You would be knowingly sending them straight to death" The Kell growled softly beneath his breath towards the Archon. Since the day he became Kell, Drakois had been constantly trying to turn Devils against him, and was clever enough to not create a riot against him directly until he had more than enough Devil's by his side, most likely the entire House. The sooner he could banish him the better.
Before their discussion could continue anymore, the entrance opened as a Devil Captain entered with a bow to the higher members. "Varnsis, what brings you here?"
"Great Kell, Tanisiks, the Baron guarding the entrance to the skywatch, he has fallen to many Hive. His daughter, Ninikas, has been elected as his successor" Just then, the young female Eliksni stepped through the doorway, wearing a classic Baroness armour set that she hadn't yet grown into. A Wire Rifle appeared her weapon of choice, and she bore the shock blade that once belonged to her father. Despite all faces being hidden beneath a helmet of metal, she could feel the sympathetic gazes of her fellow Fallen on her. Ninikas was the youngest Baroness in Devil history, having only just turned the human equivalent of seventeen, whereas all other Barons would've atleast been - in human years - thirty.
She kneeled before them, then rose and took her place beside the Archon, who placed a hand of his on her shoulder out of sympathy for her loss. Tanisiks was a close friend to Drakois, and he had known Ninikas since she hatched, he was like an uncle to her, and with her dads loss, he was officially all she had left. The Archon could feel a glare upon him from the Kell's direction, a glare upon both him and the young girl beside him, only furthering to fuel the Archon's distrust of Nixails, and his protective instinct for Ninikas. With a glare back at the House leader, the two had a silent conversation, unnerving the Fallen who watched the silent stare between the two towering giants. The silent was disrupted by the hissing of Ether and a soft snarl from the young female, snapping the two giants from their soundless arguement. Devils were breaking, and no-one knew if they could be saved.
