3. Locus (a)
"What is an Enigma Codex?" Steven needed to know as Roundox trailed behind him.
"Pshkohh...Treasure?"
Mide looked on mournfully, once again touching the scar on her face.
"Yes, young ones, my treasure" She continued to move forward.
"The Codex is one of the few pieces that power Alexander, a powerful scribe that was given to those chosen " She noted then she saw them, the rest of the gems look to her direction.
The long hallway glowed red, a few Goblins patrolled along the hallway. There was nowhere to run or hide, Garnet wasn't happy but it seemed they would have to fight their way through this as well.
The Goblins stopped before them as the Gems had their weapons drawn.
"Pshhh...Shkohhh...Uplander has found Talkyshines, Warriors of light?" Mide merely smiled.
"Yes, Brayflox, they are here to make sure that everyone gets to leave Alexander, have you guys found a good place for Backtrix?"
She merely nodded before turning to the Gems.
"Pshh...Talkyshines will you help Gobbies find new longstop?"
"Yes, as long as we can turn this machine off we'll be more then happy to let you find a home" Steven spoke for the rest of them, the Gems had no reason not to and more then agreed with Steven's decision.
"Shkoh...Of course Talkyshines help, they are warriors of light!" Roundrox beamed.
"Then Brayflox Alltalks will help Talkyshines get past Gobwalkers"
"Are you sure about this? We will do our best to help, but you don't need to risk your lives for this" Garnet was happy to help but she knew when she stumbled on something bigger then the Gems could account for. Without her future vision she couldn't help them to her fullest and she didn't want goblins going through rebellion for people then didn't know.
"Brayflox fight for Talkyshine, for the good of Gobbie Kind, living under Illuminati farsoon end badly"
She started leading the rebelling Goblins with her, a small squad stood in a row leading the way as the others followed behind.
Pearl noted one term in her mind of later, a "warrior of light" seemed to really mean something and she intended to find out.
[=-=]
The shock of the Illuminati Soldiers was evident as a few scampered towards the entrance. Red lights blared as alarms went off. A few more soldiers appeared standing in front of blue spider like machines.
The machines started to once again speak in a singing tone, it made Steven want to understand what it was doing this for and what its words meant.
"Twenty Two sectors tested"
" Pshhhshkohhh...Gobwalkers stand firm! Slay trespassing Talkyshines! Slay Traitors!" Brayflox charged with her group towards the sides where the soldiers stood firm in front of the Gobwalkers leaving the Gems to open the way forward attacking the Illuminati soldiers head on.
"Fragments in one direction"
Two Gordian snipers pointed their guns at the gems but before they could fire Steven threw his shield knocking one on top of his head, knocking him off balance and it bouncing off to hit the other one before flying back to Steven. This caused both the snipers to be knocked off balance. The gems quickly took to the offensive and started breaking throw the soldiers line.
Gordian Hardhelms, Hardmines, and Jagd Dolls moved in from the entrance the rebellious group took to get here. They were somehow strengthening their enemies, allowing them to stand their ground in stronger ways pushing the opposing force back.
"Celestial noise detected"
The soldiers almost seemed to gain the upper hand until the Gordian unit entering in go shocked by the Gobwalker Brayflox took for herself.
"Look at this thing, isn't awesome!?" Amethyst started riding on one of the Gobwalkers, pressing down on the buttons fired out a blast from the cannon that really split the Gordian unit.
"Traitors, Talkyshines, neither can gain ground-rain gobbiebombs on Talkyshines!"
"Delirium Unsuspected"
A rain of bombs fell on the platform, slowly but surely the fuse on them went down, the boomtype gobwalkers continued firing away even as the hijacked gobwalkers fired back at them chipping away at their armor.
"How are they this fanatical?" Garnet was dodging bombs like raindrops but the question lingered on her mind as she started moving out of their trajectory.
The soldier were being whittled down, it seemed that victory was in their grasp then from the ceiling a large black spider tank fell from the sky landing in the middle platform knocking everyone away.
"Static tuned into reason"
"Magitek Gobwidow!" The goblins on the gems side started focusing on the large machine, then another Gordian Unit walked through the door they were currently heading towards them.
Snipers fired at Amethyst and Brayflox, Alltalks soldiers unveiled guns of their own, firing not to kill, but to wound, to knock unconscious, They would not shed the blood that Allthoughts wanted for them.
When one round hit the leg of a weakened Gordian Hardhelm, he suddenly exploded.
Everyone was surprised but couldn't dwell on it for long as they refocused their attacks on the attacking forces..
"Pshhh...Allthoughts put Bangyzoom on Gordian gobbie!? Kohh...eyezoom on Gobwidow" Brayflox was horrified by Allthoughts' plan but she knew where to make it end.
"Time in the Aether deepens"
Amethyst fired a third button that shot a small blast at the Gobwidow but the small firework like explosion made it stall.
That is when everyone started attacking the Gobwidow. Yet the Gordian Unit refused to let them get close. Garnet then realized that the bombs sent from the bombs set out by the gobwalkers were close to going off.
Remembering the red Gobmachine from earlier in the day, she knew what to do.
"Gems, Goblins, throw the bombs under the Gobwalker!". With no time to waste, each forced the bombs forward, whether it was Pearl and Garnet physically pushing the bombs, Amethyst and Brayflox (after Brayflox quickly showing her which button it was) using their Gobwalkers to pull the bombs and roll them forward, and Steven and Brayflox's soldiers creating defenses to see this through. They were able to get them in the general direction of the Gobwidow.
"Transmissions blink uncompleted"
With little time to stop it, the Gordian Unit cleared the area. The bombs went off destroying the gobwalker's legs and forcing the Gordian soldiers inside to started to pour out.
One soldier accidentally dropped a bomb from its hand after it started to prematurely detonate from the shaking of the Gobwidow. Steven quickly ran over, bubbling the bomb, cover the explosion as much as he could, even with the strain being immense he was able to prevent it from doing damage.
"Please just stop" Steven pleaded as the Gordian soldiers slowly advanced. A Gordian hardhelm was the first to get closer out of the group standing in front of Steven.
"Talkyshine, saved the life of Gobbiebrother, Gobbie will honor this busydeal" They moved aside as the gems and Brayflox's friends moved across the platform.
"Seven two three two three send"
"Pshkohh...Talkyshines are amazing! Talkyshines stronger then ten Gobbies" The Gems turned to Roundrox walked up to them, they felt the joy from the goblin but Pearl needed answers.
"Before we continue I think we need to talk" Mide frowned but she understood.
"Ask, you deserve that much"
"What is a warrior of light?" Mide knew what that would entail
"Warriors chosen to fight for the good of their realms, and chosen to bear the light of Hydaelyn, though I doubt the mother crystal has dominion in this realm" She noticed the look of confusion and knew her hunch was correct.
"So then what is the Enigma Codex really?" Mide touched her scar, Garnet had the right to know its function, but she wasn't sure how far she would delve deep into what it meant for her.
"It's a book of ideas written some hundred years in the past of our world, the life work of one of the greatest technologists ever to draw breath"
"Yeah, Gobbie in deep trouble with Illuminati over cheese in Codex!" Brayflox added on much to the confusion of the gems and the amusement of Mide.
"A simple cheese recipe from the Codex was enough to try and kill one of their best soldiers, one of the reason she is rebelling against Allthoughts" She turned to Garnet with the bemusment gone.
"It is one of the many wonders of the Codex, from culturing cheese, to blueprints for machines that would work on their own for centuries, a single page would be worth a king's ransom, yet despite all that it was created for one true purpose" She suddenly looked aside full of shame.
"Yet most remarkable, it was the centerpiece of a walking citadel, a beacon of logic and reason for all the realms"
"But that means, that's what we're walking in!?" Steven said in both amusement and shock.
"Yes, Allthoughts made this his fortress, his primal, when torrents of light tore our realm apart, this was to be safe haven and a way to a new home, people from all around the realms would take this travel and with combined knowledge study the calamity that destroyed our realm and save everyone that they could" Taking a small pause she let some of the information seep in.
"So the Illuminati decided their paradise was better then what the people wanted and didn't let them leave" Pearl was getting a clear picture of what was going.
"The Illuminati believes that only chosen individuals would have their iron will over Alexander" Garnet being called unhappy would have made
"Fanatics, taking a good and peaceful idea and make it all about control, what could go wrong?" Sarcasm laid thick, Mide could do nothing but nod.
"Sadly, Alexander is no longer a machine, he is a Primal, fighting that will not be easy" Brayfloxs soldiers spoke with the Gordian soldiers and convinced them to walk with them or step aside. Though a few stood their post and turned a blind eye, a few more joined with them.
They were forced to get off the Gobwalkers, much to Amethyst's annoyance, They all started to make their way deeper into the Primal.
"Pshhh...Shkohhh...Wait Utopia is happyplace? Where there is junk aplenty Roundrox is happy, where is Mide's happyplace?" It made Mide stop for a moment, touching her scar she said only one thing.
"...Wherever he is" She then followed
[=-=]
The next room was a large stairway. One of the Goblins that personally made a promise moved ahead.
"Ogrebon, Echiboceras, Clay Claw, nearsoon, Gobbie Bluehorn Firebloom will lead past stairway, Gobbie busydeals with Brayflox to help"
"Brayflox agrees to busydeal, Talkyshines we make the way, you go forward, we will be behind you" Then quickly Bluehorn and Brayflox quickly advanced, the gems started really moving with gunfire and the swinging sound of weapons on flesh.
The gems ascended the stairway, to their horror Brayflox's team was swarmed with large bugs, the ones that Firebloom mentioned. The goblins cleared the way to a stairway going down, the large scorpion laid dead, but the large tick. The gems wanted to step in but Brayflox waved them away.
"Go! Talkyshines only hope, Gobbies will hold them off!" Steven was unhappy, he wanted to protest, not wanting this to end horribly for anyone but even with the gas mask Steven could feel that there was no room or time for an argument.
"Alright but we'll be back!" The gems descended down the other said that led to another platform. They moved closer only for the bridge that they walked across to descend. Water rose up around the circled arena, electricity spark wildly and blocked off the entrance as well as the exit.
Then from the ceiling a large metal orb floated down.
[=-=]
The orb started to spark with its own energy before some sort of liquid spewed out, it started to take shape, first as in orb but the reformed into the cloudy shape of a man. The metal object that created it entered into its chest
"Arrested Destiny, alone in a trance, no escaping from this waking dream, No hope of advance you see?"
The song like tone of the machine echoed through the chamber as it readied itself for a fight.
"The Mortal Coil we serve is naught but a spring, Unwind! too slow, too quick, too much to believe"
The Gems were ready, for the goblins that lead them this far they would have to be. Steven on the other hand started to understand why every machine here was singing to them, he just hoped his hunch was right.