I'm back! Did you miss me? Probably not…
Anyway, before we go to the new chapter, I want to address something. At the time of the day I start to write this chapter (March 8, 2022), the war between Russia and Ukraine is still ongoing. Because I live in Poland, I can already see the consequences it has on both my country, as well as the region. I don't want to get all political, but it hurts me to see so many people having their lives ruined because of some guy, who thinks that Cold War is still ongoing and NATO only awaits the time when Russia is weak. These times have ended and nobody needs an actual war in XXI century. So if you could, help the people of Ukraine the best you can. Donate money, food or whatever you think can help. That's all it takes. I know, that maybe before I finish this chapter all of it might be over, but I just wanted to say it.
Now, reviews.
To Supreme Supra: Thank you.
Okay, let's get on with it.
Chapter 47
,,Revelations"
November 18, 2151
12:32
Secure Valley
Two days have passed since the events that unfolded in Trar by the courtesy of White Squadron. By that time, it was confirmed, that not only Trar, but also other Alantian cities, as well as technology, including Elecdraco's corpse, and people, simply was erased from the very existence. Although that, Coalition was still in a bad position. Cut off from Milky Way, in the middle of enemy territory and with supplies of ammo running low. Estimates were saying, that within next two weeks, they will have to turn from guns and cannons to sticks, stones and swords. But nobody knew, what could they do about all of it.
But they didn't need to wait long for the answer.
Just an hour ago, Ester was called by Pina to come to Secure Valley. White Squadron's leader had no idea why, but former princess insisted for her to come here.
Dropship carrying Ester touched down at the same place that over a week ago, before the assault on Trar, and she came out of it. Machine took off seconds later and Ester, after again going through the procedure at the entrance to the cave, which made the heart of Coalition's current operations, she went inside and made her way to the command center in the cavern.
There, she saw Pina standing at the table, with, surprisingly, Giselle. Former Apostle already had her wings grown back.
"Pina?"Ester said.
"Oh, Ester!"Pina said and turned to the White Squadron's leader.
They grabbed each other's hands and shook them.
"So glad that you came."de-facto leader of Coalition's forces said."How do you feel?"
"A bit better…Two days in bed helped me overcome the depression."Ester looked at Giselle."And Giselle. I actually didn't expect to see you here. Where have you been?"
Giselle scratched the back of her head and moved her wings a bit. She still couldn't get used to them.
"I was actually in Secure Valley the whole time."the draconid said."I joined some logistics company, running supply storing."
"Hm, good for you I guess."Ester shrugged."So, what is this thing you wanted to talk to me?"
Pina looked back at Giselle.
"Giselle here wanted to talk with both of us about something. I don't know what, but she insisted and I had to give in."
They both then looked at Giselle, which suddenly tensed, as if she got paralyzed. They both risen their eyebrows.
"Giselle, what is it?"Ester asked.
"Um…Well…"former Apostle joined the tips of her fingers.
"Get on with it."Pina said.
"I think…I think I know…"
"Yes?"they both said.
"I think I know how to take care of our biggest problem."Giselle finally replied.
Sudden silence hung in the air in the command center, as even everyone walking around stopped and turned in their direction to listen. All of them really wanted to know what and how, so they could go home.
"Our biggest problem?"Ester asked, unsure.
"Destruction of the Gate."Giselle precised."I know, how to bring it back."
Murmuring then spread around the command room, as people started chattering, trying to guess, how much truth is in what she was saying. Pina silenced them with a hand in the air, then crossed her arms.
"If you know, you have to tell us."former princess stated.
"If you want the Gate back…"She gulped."…you have to talk to Hardy."
"Hardy?"Ester asked.
"What would Hardy, Goddess of the Underworld, have to do with bringing the Gate back?"Pina asked."What does that even have in common?"
"It's because she opened the first two Gates."the draconid explained.
Once again, silence hung in the air, as people tried to process what the hell did they just heard. Then, their eyes widened and one, unified word escaped everyone's mouths:
"WHAT?!"
The shout was so loud, that it started echoing through the caves. Because she was so close to the place it came from, Giselle had to cover her ears to not go deaf from all the sound. When she looked at everyone, she saw fury burning in their eyes.
"You knew that and didn't tell us?!"someone shouted.
"For fuck's sake!"someone else said.
"You stupid bitch!"
"I will tear these wings off of you!"
"Bring the guillotine!"
"Burn the dragon!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it!"Pina stopped everyone from beating Giselle to death at place."If you do something stupid, you will all land in front of the firing squad!"
This closed people's mouths, although some still mumbled something. Ester and Pina turned back to Giselle.
"We're waiting for answers."Ester said.
"Answers…?"
"Why did Hardy open the Gates? Why didn't you tell us it was her? WHY DID ALL OF THIS HAD TO HAPPEN?!"
While shouting, she hit the table with her fist, almost denting it, and started breathing heavily. Pina put a hand on her arm.
"What?!"Ester asked her.
"Don't do anything irrational."former princess said."Let's hear her first. If you don't like some answers, then you will be allowed to tear her to shreds."
Ester nodded, took a deep breath and looked at Giselle.
"So?"she asked.
"Well…I can't answer your first question. Lady Hardy didn't tell me what she was going to do, but I couldn't just say 'no', when she ordered me to wake up the Fire Dragon and Elecdraco. I just hoped she had some idea of what will happen. I didn't tell you for such a long time, because…she already took my powers. I knew, that if I said something, she would extinguish my flame of life just like that. Still, I'm surprised she didn't do it yet."
Ester sighed.
"Okay, let's say we believe you."she said."Why do you think she would help us?"
"I might not be an Apostle anymore, but I still can try and convince her."Giselle replied."I just need to go to the nearest temple of Mistress Hardy and talk to her."
"That easy?"Ester asked.
"That easy."Giselle threw up her arms.
"Pina?"
Former princess rubbed her chin and nodded.
"Okay, I authorize it."she said."But I want Ester to go with you, as a countermeasure."
"As if I could do something about an actual god…"Ester rolled her eyes."But sure. I will take Dora and someone else and we can go."
She looked at Giselle.
"Where is the nearest temple of Hardy?"she asked.
"In Vernago."Giselle replied.
"Oh, yeah."Ester suddenly remembered."I remember there is one there. We were supposed to go there after our adventure in Rondel, but by the works of fate, we didn't."
"See? You have the plan ready. So you can go."Pina leaned towards Ester and said:"Once we take care of the Gate, if it's possible, we're gonna have to restart our war with the Empire."
"Yeah. We have to finish what we started."White Squadron leader agreed."Let's go, Giselle."
"Of course."the draconid said.
The two then proceeded to leave the command center, with all analysts and staff members looking at Giselle.
"What are you looking at?"Pina asked."Get back to work!"
Soldiers mumbled and grumbled, but listened and returned to their works.
Later that day…
16:54
Vernago outskirts
After meeting in Secure Valley, Ester and Giselle quickly found a dropship, which took them to the hideout in the forest. Once there, Ester immediately called Dora and quickly explained the situation to her. After learning that Giselle had a way to solve their problems all along, she was about to slash her to pieces, but Ester calmed her down with an argument, that if they opened a new Gate, while Alantians were still around, they would quickly take it out. This worked and Dora only sent daggers with eyes to Giselle.
With everything planned, they were already on the way to the nearest free vehicle, they were approached by the Falmartese, who wanted to go too, even Rory. Knowing that Rory and Yao had things to discuss with Hardy, they quickly agreed. They moved out few minutes later and after few hours, they reached Vernago.
As they were getting closer, they could see a wall made out of black stone.
"You can immediately see, that this place is not friendly."Dora stated.
"Well, people here worship Hardy, Mistress of the Underworld."Rory said."What did you expect?"
"I still expected something less unwelcoming."White Squadron's 2IC said."After all, it's not so far from Rondel."
"You can say it like that."Lelei agreed.
Land Rover continued to drive towards the city and soon, open city gate came into view. They drove through it without a problem.
"Where are the guards, though?"Ester asked.
"They worship goddess of the dead."Rory reminded."I visited during some attacks on the city and from what I understand, they like to give their lives for their lady."
Two leaders of White Squadron looked back at her.
"It's true."Giselle shrugged.
"Well, I guess Dark Ages are the time of religious fanaticism."Ester sighed.
"I guess."Dora agreed."Liz would probably tell us something more about it."
"Yeah…"
The two sighed deeply, thinking about their deceased friend. They already gave her a proper goodby, because after their attack on Trar, when they were going back, they demanded to go and get her body, which they then burned on a funeral pyre. That was the least they could do for her. It couldn't be said about Jackie, who had her funeral pyre in form of Tertan Heavy Dropship.
"I really miss her."Ester said.
"Yeah, me too."Dora nodded."But I guess we can't bring her back."
Right then, Ester had an idea.
"Wait. We're going to visit the goddess of the dead…"she said.
"And what about that?"Dora risen her eyebrow.
"What if we asked her to bring Jackie and Liz's souls back?"
"Hey, it's not so stupid."
"It wouldn't work."Rory said.
"What?"Ester turned to her.
"It wouldn't work."the Apostle repeated."Hardy is not a kind of person, who just gives out the souls of the dead. She can only take them. And even if she has Jackie and Liz's souls, which I doubt, considering their religious beliefs, she won't give them out."
"I can confirm it. I saw many people who came to Mistress Hardy to take back the souls of their loved ones."Giselle added.
"And how did it go?"
"They joined the ones they wanted to get back."
Shivers came down the two spines.
"So I guess I can't ask her to return everyone killed by the Elecdraco…"Yao sighed.
"And I can't ask her to bring back father…"Tuka joined in sighing.
"Did you plan to?"Lelei asked.
"Yes."The two nodded.
"Sorry for destroying your dreams."Rory said.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence, as they navigated through the narrow and empty streets of the town. From time to time, they could see people looking out the windows and quickly returning back inside. There were also some dogs in the back alleys, eating from the trash that people threw there. Entire town looked like taken from some post-apo movie, but it still had some kind of charm in it, with it's Imperial-style architecture.
Finally, they reached their goal, the temple of Hardy. It was in the dead center of the town, towering over all buildings. And eerie, red glow was coming out of it's entrance.
"Now, that's a lovely sight."Dora said with irony.
They all stood in front of the building, with Ester and Dora having their riffles hanging on the belts on their arms.
"True."Ester nodded."I wonder, where are the demons guarding the entrance or some devils welcoming you."
"There aren't."Rory said.
"That's good."Ester nodded.
"Hardy got bored with them and stopped using them two hundred years ago."the Apostle added.
"Well, she's pretty picky."Dora stated.
"This is how Mistress Hardy is…"Giselle sighed.
"So, we're going in?"Yao asked."I finally want to talk to Hardy face to face."
"Yeah."White Squadron leader replied."Let's get to it."
And so, the entire group started climbing the stairs leading inside the temple. It was surprisingly fast and not tiring at all. They looked around at the town around them and, with probably unfounded fear of some harpies coming and taking them away, started climbing even faster. They reached the top of the stairs in around five minutes, standing in front of the entrance and seeing, that the red glow was coming from red torches hanging on both sides of the entrance.
And standing in the entrance, was a person, dressed in a dark cloak and with hood covering it's face. The person approached them and bowed.
"Welcome to the temple of our most beloved and wise Mistress."the person said with male voice.
"Wise is not the word."Yao hissed.
"What was that?"the man turned to her.
"Nothing."Suddenly, Yao got interested in her boots.
"As I thought."The man then turned back to Ester and Dora."What brings you to our beautiful home, if may I ask?"
Ester took a deep breath and said:
"We come to see and talk to Hardy."
"We seek to get answers to our questions from her."Dora added.
"If that is the case, then…"Right then, the man noticed Giselle standing among the group."Well, well, well. If it isn't the FORMER Apostle?"
Giselle winced, hearing him putting an emphasis on word 'former'.
"Yes. Yes, it's me, Mikel."she replied.
"And what brings you here?"Mikel asked her with venom in her voice."You failed our Mistress and now, you come to seek her forgiveness?"
"I have no intentions to seek forgiveness. And my companions already answered, why are we here."the draconid answered.
"Humph! If that's the case, then…"Suddenly, Mikel stopped.
He stood there, motionless, for few seconds, as if he was paralyzed by something. Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to think of this. Only Rory and Giselle were aware, however, but decided not to explain.
Then, Mikel bowed.
"Mistress will see you now."he said and stepped aside.
"Thanks for not making it hard for us."Dora said with a smirk.
Mikel just growled.
The group then proceeded inside the temple, led by Giselle, who was the only one, that knew how to navigate through this place. She led them through twists and turns, passing by more people clad in black robes, which, as former Apostle explained, were monks, taking care of the temple and making sure that belief in Hardy was still strong in the towm.
"There sure are a lot of them."Dora noticed.
"Everyone can believe whatever god they want to."Ester stated."And if they want to believe in Mistress of the Underworld, then why not?"
"I forgot you really support religious tolerance."Dora said."But then I remember, that I too have nothing against different religions."
"See? I have a good influence on you."Ester smiled.
"It's here."Giselle finally said.
They stood in front of a giant door. There were numerous scenes carved on them, showing some woman in different situations.
"What is this?"Ester asked.
"What you see on these door, is the history of life of my Mistress before she ascended to the role of a goddess. From the day she became an Apostle of the former god that played the same role as her, until she ascended."Giselle explained.
"Nice history lesson."Dora nodded."And you replace the door every time a new god takes the role?"
"If the situation needs it…"Giselle just threw up her arms."Let's get inside."
She then proceeded to open the door. It went surprisingly easily, considering the size and, probably, the mass of the door.
What they saw behind them, was equally large chamber, with rows of columns on both sides. There was long, red carpet going through the middle of the chamber and on the walls, one could see numerous tapestries and banners hanging on the walls. Hundreds of red torches were burning on the walls, too and although there was no way this chamber had access to the outside, there were windows, with similar red glow coming from behind them. And under the wall opposite to the entrance, there was an elevation, with a throne made out of black stone placed atop of it.
But there was nobody here.
"Okay, this is weird."Dora said.
"Where is the lady herself?"Ester asked.
"I…don't know."Giselle said.
"You don't know?"Rory asked.
"Well, I don't have the connection to her anymore."the draconid stated."Thank you for that once again."
"Why are you blaming me? You were stupid enough to bring it upon yourself."
"Why you…"
"Cover your eyes."Lelei suddenly said with her signature, emotionless voice.
Everyone looked at her.
"What?"Tuka asked.
"I can sense a lot of energy gathering, cover your eyes."young mage quickly explained.
White Squadron members and Falmartese did what they were told and soon, entire room was drowned in a deeply white light. It stayed like that for around ten seconds, even heating everyone up.
When it disappeared, everyone looked back towards the throne and discovered, that there were not alone anymore.
Sitting on the throne was a woman, with long hair flowing down her arms, dressed in an elegant robe, supporting her head with her hand and looking at them with amused look on her face.
"Well, well, well."she said in perfect English."I'm glad that you came."
"Mistress."Giselle said and quickly bowed.
She was the only one to do so.
"So this is Hardy?"Ester leaned to Rory.
"Unfortunately."Rory growled in response.
"I have to say, she is…pretty."White Squadron leader stated.
All eyes immediately turned on her.
"What?"she asked.
"Don't make me hit you in the face."Dora warned.
"What, I was just stating the fact!"Ester pouted.
Right then, Hardy erupted with laughter.
"You stand there for just few seconds and I already feel reaaaaaally amused by you."She smirked."Maybe I should keep you as my pets?"
"Like hell we will allow this!"Dora exclaimed."You are well damn aware why did we come here!"
"Hm."
Mistress of the Underworld world then proceeded to stand up and started gracefully walking towards them.
"Yes, I do."she said."But before this, I have a question for my beloved Rory here."
Apostle of Emloy immediately tensed, knowing where Hardy was going with this. She lowered her weapon a bit.
"Oh, so I guess you didn't change your mind?"Hardy asked innocently.
"As I said before…"Rory said and then exclaimed:"I WILL NEVER MARRY YOU, NOT AS AN APOSTLE OR AS A GODDESS!"
Hardy sighed.
"Shame."she said."Now…"
She looked towards Dora, who risen an eyebrow.
"What?"she asked.
"You will be good."Hardy stated.
"Oh oh…"Giselle gasped.
Before anyone could say anything else, Hardy changed into a streak of light and flew inside Dora, making her wide-eye. Dora then started glowing, forcing everyone cover their eyes again. It ended few seconds later.
When it happened, Ester looked at Dora and her jaw dropped.
"What the…?"she asked.
Dora still looked like herself, but few things changed. More precisely, instead of her ginger hair, she was now blonde and her skin became paler. Not to mention that her shapes became more…curvy. She looked at herself and smiled.
"Now, that's better."Dora said with Hardy's voice.
"Hey, what did you do to her?!"Ester exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I'm just borrowing her body for a while."Hardy waved it off."I will give her back soon enough. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless you're up for some…fun?"
Right as she said that, Dora's right hand hit her face.
"Hands off my girlfriend, you whore!"Dora exclaimed, now with her own voice.
"Phew, she has a strong will, I have to admit."Hardy stated."Normally, when I borrow someone's body, they can't do anything about it and just watch."
"And how often do you borrow people's bodies?"Ester risen her eyebrow.
"Every time I want to have fun out on the town."Hardy threw up her arms."Which is pretty often."
"Almost everyday, Mistress."Giselle said.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go. We're gonna discuss things in my favorite tavern."
And with that, Hardy in Dora's body just turned around and started walking out of the chamber. Others had no other choice, but to follow her.
"Couldn't you just come as yourself, without borrowing bodies?"Ester asked when they were at half the way.
"As it happens, no."Hardy replied."I can't leave any of my temples by myself, I have to borrow a mortal body."
"Well, fuck."Ester pouted.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
The group then simply followed the goddess out of the temple. Mikel didn't give them any troubles, seemingly because he recognized Hardy in Dora's body. They walked down the stairs and then, Hardy led them towards one of the streets. After few minutes, they reached a tavern with a sign over it. Hardy simply barged in and others followed close behind her.
Inside, they were greeted by strong smell of beer and other alcohols. Literally everyone inside the tavern could be considered a 'forbidden face'. They looked at them for few seconds, before returning to what they were doing.
The group found a good place to sit down and after Hardy ordered some beer for herself, she started talking.
"Well, considering that you troubled yourselves with coming here, I guess you have some things to talk about?"she asked.
Everyone looked at each other.
"You can say it like that."Ester said."We have several questions, but I didn't expect we will talk with a goddess in a place like this."
"That's just how it is."Goddess threw up her arms.
"Fuck you…"Dora said.
"With all pleasure!"Hardy laughed.
Everyone, even Dora, trapped inside her own consciousness, sighed deeply, not knowing what to say.
"Now, ask."Hardy said.
"I'll go first."Giselle said."Why did you take my power away, Mistress?"
"Isn't that obvious?"Hardy smiled innocently."Mainly because you failed in your job. But also because I knew nothing else will happen."
"What?"The draconid tilted her head.
"You think I sent you there blindfolded? Don't make me laugh. I was well aware what will happen, when you try fighting the Resistance, or should I say now, Coalition. I knew they will…How do you, Earthers, put it?"Hardy looked at Ester."Whoop your ass into nonexistence?"
Giselle blinked a few times, before what she just heard actually hit her. She widened her eyes and stood up.
"WHAT?"she exclaimed."So you just…sent me on a suicide mission?!"
Hardy nodded.
"Pretty much yes."she said."How did your wings grew back, by the way? I thought you don't have the regeneration powers anymore?"
"Coalition helped me with that."Giselle hissed.
"As I expected."
Yao was the next to say something:
"Now allow me to ask."
"Fire away."
"Why did you had Elecdraco and Flame Dragon wake up so early before the time?"
Hardy threw up her arms and took a sip from her mug.
"There are few reasons."She showed three fingers."First, was natural selection. Both of them had to simply work as tools to eliminate the weak, so the strong could fight. Second, was to drive back the Coalition when they came here and destroy the Gate. And third…I just wanted to have some fun."
Immediately, rage which was building up inside Yao for a long time suddenly found a way to go out.
"Fun?!"she exclaimed."So you're saying, that you wanted to have 'fun' by watching hundreds of people die tragically in flames and lightnings?!"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"Hardy asked casually.
"EVERYTHING!"the Dark Elf shouted."EVERYTHING IS WRONG WITH THAT! YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!"
"Yes, I do. Now scram."
Yao was about to jump on her, but knowing, that she might have hurt Dora instead, she just sat back down.
"But I have to admit."Hardy nodded and looked at Ester."I underestimated you, Coalition. I really did."
"What do you mean?"Ester asked.
"I thought, that the two great dragons wreaking havoc across the land will simply drive you back. To think that you'll manage to kill them both so easily…"She shook her head.
"That's just how we are."White Squadron leader threw up her arms.
Next, Rory stood up.
"Now me."Rory said."Did you ever think what consequences opening the Gate will have for me and Lord Emloy?"
"Hm?"
"Just think about it! What you did by opening the Gate was completely reckless! Have you ever thought what would happen, if they turned out to be more bloodthirsty than they are?! I would have to deal with them and their armies! They would be the hardest enemy I would have to face in my entire career!"
Ester risen her eyebrow and noticed, that Rory is shaking slightly.
"Rory, are you…?"she wanted to ask, but received a bonk on the head instead.
"No I'm not!"Rory exclaimed.
"You really are amusing."Hardy giggled.
"Screw you."Dora stated, still trapped deep inside her consciousness.
"So, I guess there is only one question that's left to be asked, right?"Saying that, the goddess looked at Ester.
White Squadron leader just took a deep breath and asked the question, which was on everyone's minds:
"Why did you open the Gate?"
Hardy looked at her for few seconds, then took a sip of her beer and threw up her arms.
"There is a single, big reason."she finally said."That pathetic Empire. They thought, that they are so almighty, that nothing can rival them. So they burned, killed and raped to their hearts contents. Honestly, because of that, the Underworld started to become pretty cramped, if you ask me. These Saderan idiots make me squeeze every soul in every corner and still, there is no place for anyone. If it would continue like that, the souls would come back to the world, instead of going to my place."
"It was that bad?"Ester asked, actually surprised.
"Yeah. This is why I decided to teach them…humility."
Ester blinked a few times.
"So what you're saying…is that thousands of people died, just because you wanted to teach the Imps some humility?!"she asked.
"Exactly. I wanted someone to destroy the old system of the Empire and show them, how it ends, when you try to be equal to gods themselves. And seeing what happened, I can say, that I'm content with what I did."Hardy shrugged.
Ester sighed.
"Okay, and why did you want the Flame Dragon and Elecdraco to destroy the Gate?"
"Answer is simple. If the Gate continued to exist for longer, it would tear the space-time continuum into pieces, destroying both this planet and that Angier Prime of yours."
"WHAT?!"everyone exclaimed.
Meanwhile, inside her consciousness, Dora had her jaw drop, hearing that prolonged existence of the Gate could lead to an planet-destroying apocalypse.
"You fucking serious?!"she exclaimed.
"Yes."Hardy said, as she appeared next to her.
"You nigh omnipotent bit…"
"Nah-ah, no bad words."
'Outside', Hardy took another sip from her mug, delighting in everyone's reaction.
"How long would it take the Gate to reach the critical level?"Lelei asked.
"Hm…Three years or so?"Hardy guessed.
"So you didn't even know that?!"Rory shouted."You are more stupid than I ever thought!"
"If not the Alantians, the Gate would tear both planets apart. I guess, that you should thank them for not letting that happen."
"Oh, yeah, the Alantians…"Ester cracked her knuckles."Were they a part of your plan, too?"
"Honestly, no."Hardy admitted honestly."I didn't even knew about their existence, so I was as surprised, when they appeared and started interfering. But still, I'm glad because of the results. And to be clear, I also never knew Elecdraco was something more than just some stupid animal."
'Inside', Dora looked at Hardy in disbelief.
"You are nigh omnipotent, but not omniscient?"she asked.
"Hey, even gods don't know everything."
"Bullshit…"Dora pointed er finger at her.
Hardy just threw up her arms with a smirk.
"This is how the world is, babe."she said."By the way…since we're here all alone…How is that Ester of yours doing in bed?"
White Squadron's 2IC slowly turned her head towards Hardy.
"What did you just say?"she asked with gritted teeth.
"Oh, you know, I just…thought that I could use your body for a little…fun with her…"
Suddenly, Dora's eyes started literally burning with fury. Even Hardy was surprised, seeing flames coming out of her eyes.
"Eh…What are you doing?"she asked.
"I. Told. You."Dora said with voice of a demon."HANDS OFF ESTER YOU STUPID, PERVERTED WHORE!"
As she screamed that, she was completely covered in flames of pure rage, burning as red as the torches in Hardy's temple. Even Mistress of the Underworld herself was surprised by this outburst, as she didn't expect anyone could hold such large amounts of rage inside themselves. She tried to back off.
"How.. How are you doing it?!"Hardy asked.
"Isn't that obvious?"Dora replied with question."We're inside my mind. And your time here is over already."
And then, she charged at Hardy. Goddess wasn't able to evade and suddenly felt a punch, which punched the whole air out of her. She flew backwards a few meters, before Dora reached her and started punching, kicking and screaming even more.
"THIS IS FOR ALL THE MESS YOU MADE!"she was screaming."THIS IS FOR ALL THE TROUBLES YOU CAUSED! FOR ALL THE PEOPLE YOU KILLED! FOR ALL YOUR DUMB REASONS TO DO ALL OF IT! AND THIS…!"
Flame on Dora's right hand became even brighter.
"…IS FOR THINKING ABOUT SLEEPING WITH MY ESTER!"
The last punch was so hard, that Hardy could swear her all teeth just fell out of her face.
On the 'outside', Ester and the rest saw a silhouette of Hardy literally flying out of Dora's body and g through the front door of the tavern, turning everyone's attention. Dora then stood up and walked towards the hole, made by the goddess.
Hardy looked towards Dora, not knowing what to do.
"Don't you dare coming closer!"she shouted.
"Try me, bitch."Dora said, taking one of her knives.
"STOP!"a voice thundered.
Before Ester, Dora and Falmartese could react, they were enveloped by some blue energy and before they realized, they were back in Hardy's temple. But this time, they were joined by three more people.
First of them, was a towering man dressed in a typical Imperial armor, with sword in a sheath. His armor was black, with scarlet cape on his back and helmet under his arm. He had a face covered in numerous battle scars and with stern, firm look.
Second, was a better looking man, which literally radiated with dignity. He had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in yellow-white robes.
And finally, was also a man, but this time, what surprised especially Dora and Ester, he was dressed in a uniform worn by American Marines during the Vietnam War almost two hundred years ago, but also with dark goggles and shawl covering his face.
Hardy looked at the first two, not knowing what to say.
"Emloy? Flare? What are you doing here?!"she exclaimed.
"Isn't that obvious?"Emloy asked."We came to put an end to your games."
"What do you mean?"
"You are well aware what we're talking about."Flare stated."We overlooked your behavior at first, but we can't do it no more."
Ester and Dora still tried to comprehend the fact, that two more gods just appeared in front of them.
"So this is Emloy?"Dora asked.
"In all his glory."Rory nodded.
"Upon closer inspection, he does look like a God of War, Death, Slaughter and everything in between."Ester said.
"Indeed."
"And the second one"Lelei added"is Flare, king of the gods and Lord of the Sun."
"Yeah, we can tell."Dora said.
Emloy approached Hardy, grabbed her by her arm and quickly placed on her feet. She quickly swept the dust from herself.
"Oh, now you decide to work?"she asked.
"Don't play with us."Emloy said."Rory was right, what you did, was completely reckless. It's only a sheer force of luck, that the Gate survived for this long. I told you that you are forbidden from crating one, because it might be unstable."
"Not to mention, that you completely destroyed the ecosystem."Flare joined."Both Elecdraco and Flame Dragon were the main ways of controlling population on the planet. Without them, it would become overcrowded long ago. And now, they are both gone. Elecdraco in even grater sense of that word."
"And by 'teaching' the Empire some humility, you made YOUR problem in the Underworld even worse!"God of War continued."Not to mention, that all these souls fallen in battle gave a mother of all migraines…"
"Someone finally had to do it."Hardy protested.
"That doesn't matter!"Flare stated."By doing that, you destroyed the order of the multiverse! It will be felt for years to come! This is why we made a decision."
"Decision?"Suddenly, the goddess didn't feel as confident as before.
Flare and Emloy looked at each other, then back at their companion. He nodded and the two turned back to Hardy.
"Hardy."Emloy said with firm voice."As of today, you are no longer a goddess of the Underworld. All your powers will be taken from you and you will be a simple mortal again."
A sound of glass breaking was heard, as Hardy's jaw fell, hearing that her whole world was just shattered. That was the only thing that truly terrified her. Losing powers and becoming mortal again.
"No…No, you can't!"she protested."It's all I've got! I…!"
"Sorry, can't hear ya!"the third man said and snapped his fingers.
Hardy vanished with a 'whoosh'. Two gods and their companion turned to White Squadron and the Falmartese.
"Well."Emloy said."There are still few things, that we need to talk about."
"Of course."Ester said."We couldn't refuse to a god."
"Because you respect us?"Flare risen his eyebrow.
"No, because we know, that our souls would be forsaken forever if we did."Dora said.
"At least she's honest."Emloy nodded.
"By the way, what took you so long to intervene in all this mess?"
"As I said."Emloy threw up his arms."I had the mother of all migraines and Flare had stuff to take care of in another world."
They decided to not go deeper into that.
"So…where did Mistress Hardy go?"Giselle asked.
"As it was said, her powers were taken and I transported her to a different world."the third man said."There, she will live her life as a mortal until death. Unless she decides to join the human military and fight deamons on some distant world, hehe."
"Who are you, by the way?"Yao asked.
Man bowed.
"I'm the guardian of this reality."he said."You may call me…Anton."
"That's a little underwhelming name."Ester admitted.
Anton just threw up his arms.
"But wait."Dora noticed."By this reality you mean…"
"The one where you live."Anton explained.
"But isn't this a different reality?"White Squadron's 2IC continued.
"No. This planet and Earth are in the same reality."
"How?"
"Simple. You still didn't find that out, but this planet and solar system is in the galaxy you know as 'Andromeda'."
Ester and Dora processed the news for few seconds, before their jaws dropped.
"WHAT?!"they exclaimed.
"You're saying, that by this whole time, we were not in some different world, but simply in another galaxy?"Ester asked.
"Yeah."Anton casually replied.
"Well, fuck."Dora said.
Right then, Emloy cleared his throat, reminding, that he and Flare were still here.
"Is there something else?"Ester asked.
"Yes."Flare said."Giselle?"
The draconid stiffened. She looked at the two gods.
"Yes?"she asked.
"Don't know if you know, but there is one free place in our pantheon."Emloy said."There is a vacant place for a Mistress of the Underworld."
"You mean…"Giselle started to realize, where this was going.
"Yes. We want to grant you the position of Hardy. What will you say?"Flare asked.
Giselle quickly bowed down.
"It will be an honor, my lords."she said.
"Good."Flare nodded.
He then snapped his fingers and for a split second, room was covered by white light. When light disappeared, everyone saw, that instead of UNSA uniform, Giselle was now wearing robes that were identical to Hardy's, her wings grew bigger and she had a pair of horns growing out of her head.
"Well, now that's a cool look."Rory snickered.
"Oh, shut up."Giselle shot back.
"That was a complement."
"Oh…"
"Okay, stop it for now."Emloy said and turned to his Apostle."And Rory. I expect you to do even better if you hope for earlier promotion."
"Yeah, yeah…"Apostle waved it off.
"Same as always."Emloy sighed."Alright then. We'll be off now."
And with that, the two slowly faded out of existence, leaving only White Squadron, Falmartese, new Mistress of the Underworld and Anton. They all looked at the man, who started whistling.
"And why are you still here?"Dora asked.
"And why are you wearing that uniform?"Ester added.
"I'm still here, because I fell you have one more question."Anton replied."And I wear this uniform mainly because I like it. I think it's stylish."
"Alright then."Ester threw up her arms."Well, we came, we saw, we got some answers…but we still have no way of going back home."
"Who said that?"Anton asked.
"What do you mean?"Rory asked.
"Every god has a power of create a Gate and they gain it after becoming a god or a goddess. So, Giselle, you should now have the knowledge."
Giselle frowned, searching through her knowledge and she actually found a way of opening the Gates.
"Hey, you're right."she said."But…how did you know?"
Anton just threw up his arms.
"I know everything."
"Yeah, right."Dora said.
"Okay then, I'll be going."Anton stretched himself."You will now forget that you ever saw me. And you will forget, that I fight dark beings that live between realities and try to get here and destroy your reality."
"Wait, wha…?"
"Bye!"
With another flash of light, Anton vanished. All memories of him immediately disappeared from everyone's minds, replaced with Emloy and Flare telling them only few, but most important, things Anton did. They blinked a few times and regained their senses.
"Wow, never thought I meet two these two."Ester said.
"Same."Dora nodded.
"What do we do now?"Tuka asked.
Ester and Dora looked at each other and then at Giselle.
"Giselle. I think we're gonna have some things to ask you."White Squadron's leader said.
"I'm all ears."Giselle replied.
The next day…
Angier Prime's orbit, Angier System
Moving through the orbit of the planet, was newly designed African Union Cape Town-class patrol ship. Smaller than a Corvette, the ship was, as the name suggested, designed to patrol the orbits of planets in search of smugglers and other illegal operations. Armed with two high-tech railguns, first type of ship in AU to do that, and with high-power propulsion system, it could chase any fast-moving ship in known universe. In plans, ships of the class had to replace the older models of patrol ships, such as Luanda-class, by the end of the decade.
On the ship, sailor Amir al-Selih, a native of Angier System, was looking at the radar he was operating. But at the same time, he was listening to a small radio, that he had placed on his console.
"On another meeting with families, friends and other relatives of all people that were in Special System when the Gates deactivated, General Secretary Vander Orcan once more said, that all Humans and other races in the Galaxy connect with them. He also said, that investigation on why that happened is still ongoing."
Amir sighed. It's been near a month, since the Gates mysteriously deactivated. The one in base on Maghreb Ocean simply disappeared and the one in Terhis City did similar thing, this meaning, that the Gate's structure was still there, but what was inside of the Gate disappeared and now, it was as simple rocky ruin in a middle of the city.
For Amir, it was a hard time, mainly because his brother, on which he used to rely a lot when they were younger, was one of African soldiers on the other side and now, he had no idea, what was happening with him. Was he dead? Or still alive? Nobody knew. Same was for thousands of other soldiers, that were in there.
He let out a deep sigh and then, the PA system went online:
"All hands, man your battle stations!"
Amir immediately grabbed his communicator.
"What? Are we going for some shitty smuggling ship?"he asked.
"No, something is happening in front of us! We don't know what, so get ready! We're currently the only military ship in the orbit, so, get ready!"
Amir gulped, scared of what might happen.
On the bridge of the vessel, captain Sabini looked through the windows. Right now, he was seeing something, that he couldn't explain. A strange, black something, with some kind of blue aureole around it, started to appear in front of his ship. He had no idea what could it be and he didn't want to risk it.
After few minutes, the thing grew to be a size of small space station. It was simply a black hole in space, surrounded by blue light, covering the stars behind it. Captain felt his hands shaking.
"Steady…"he said to the weapons operator.
"Sir, something is approaching."Amir said in communicator.
"From where?"Sabini asked.
"From…that thing…"
Sabini took a quick look at the black hole and saw, that there really was something small exiting it. He held his breath.
"Weapons on full power!"he exclaimed."Prepare for…!"
"Sir, no! That thing has a friendly transponder!"Amir exclaimed.
"Wait, what?"
"It does! It's marked as…!"
"Sir, incoming call!"comms operator said."Should I patch it through?"
Captain thought for few seconds, before he nodded.
"Here it goes."comms operator gulped.
He accepted the call and not a second later, a voice said:
"This is major Ester Barkhorn to African Union ship, don't open fire, we come from Special System, can you hear me?"
Silence fell on the bridge, as everyone processed what they just heard. Sabini was the first one to regain reason.
"Patch us through."he ordered.
"Already done."
He cleared his throat and said:
"This is captain Donovan Sabini of African Union patrol ship Cape Town. We copy you, major."
"Phew…"Ester sighed."Good. Because I thought, that you will immediately start shooting, haha."
"No need to worry about that. But now. What the hell happened out there?"
There was a short period of silence on the other side.
"Well, listen closely. Because this story is crazy."
The news about the opening of 'Space Gate', as Ester called it, and return of Coalition forces from Special System first reached HQ on Angier Prime, then African Union Joint Staff in Addis Abeba and finally, New York. Immediately, it sparked a great joy across the Galaxy, but when the news about over sixty thousand dead, it quickly stopped. General Secretary Orcan promised to honor all of them, by building a special monument in the center of New York City.
Ester was quickly called to Earth, to Geneva, where she had to rely everything that happened since the closing of the Gates and until the new one opened. She did just that and relayed everything she knew. HQ was terrified hearing about Alantians, but when they heard that they were all erased from existence, they released a sigh of relief.
Immediately, with the contact reestablished and help arriving into Special System from Milky Way, Coalition went into action, first by repairing Hope and Selene. After all, they had to redo everything they achieved by their time there. General Secretary Orcan, on his speech on November 20, gave a single message to all Coalition troops in the Special System:
"No mercy for nobody."
Which basically meant, that in response to what Saderans and Soutlanders, in alliance with Alantians, did to Coalition, was now going to come and bite them in the ass. No more taking prisoners. No more child play. Empire and Kingdom were soon to see the true faces of their enemies.
November 22
16:11
Italica, Falmart
Two days after the contact with Special System was reestablished, Coalition troops went into action, launching attacks alongside remaining forces of Kingdoms Coalition, Araluen, Western Orisia and Kingdoms of West. Completely caught off guard, Saderan and Soutlandish forces were unable to put up a fight, especially not without Alantian technology. Many decided to surrender, but with the order given by General Secretary, there were no prisoners taken.
In Italica, one of the first targets of new Coalition's attack, was a target for Kingdoms Coalition, which were tasked with liberating the city from occupation. KC's soldiers flew in with several dropships and started clearing the city with extreme prejudice. It took them only half an hour to take the city, but there were still some Saderans, which decided to fall back into dungeons under the Formal Palace. For the operation of clearing the underground out, newly established Fast Strike Force was dispatched.
"Move, move, move!"commander of the force exclaimed.
Five soldiers moved quickly through the corridors, firing at escaping Saderan soldiers, which tried to respond with some fight, but didn't manage to. They were simply cut down by the gunfire.
"Run!"commander of Saderan guards shouted, right as his head exploded.
Saderans were picked off one after another, as KC's special forces continued to move, gaining more and more ground. Finally, there was only one Saderan soldier left. Commander of the special force decided to take care of him personally. He came up to the soldier and grabbed him, pulling out a knife.
"Wait, wait, wait, don't kill me!"soldier exclaimed.
"You're gonna do more than that to stop me."commander hissed.
"I can tell you where the prisoners are!"
Commander's knife stopped right before soldier's neck.
"Prisoners?"he asked.
"Yes! We captured them almost a month ago! Please!"soldier whimpered.
Commander looked back at his soldiers, then back at the one he held. He put his knife back and let him go.
"Okay. Lead."
"Of course…"
Soldier quickly led them through the corridors, lit up by the torches and flashlights on commandos' riffles. Saderan constantly looked back at them, as if he was expecting a stab in the back. And honestly, all commandos wanted to do it, but knew not to.
After few minutes of walking, they finally stood in front of the door.
"That's it."soldier said.
"Thank you."commander replied.
With one swift move, he pulled out his sidearm and shot the soldier in the head. Body fell on the ground.
"Okay, let's open this bad boy."commander said."Sils, help me."
One of the soldiers came up to his commander and together with him, started kicking at the door, trying to break them out of the hinges. Finally, after few minutes, they finally let go and fell on the ground with a loud 'thud'.
Commander stepped in and looked around, lighting things up with his flashlight. He widened his eyes, seeing two prisoners that were inside.
"Holy crap…"commander said.
"Well, took you long enough."admiral Richards said, covering his eyes.
"Is it appropriate to make your king waiting?"King Duran asked.
November 24
11:32
Fort Terhis ruins
In the ruins of Fort Terhis, retaken in the first hours of the new Coalition's offensive, serious rebuilding works were ongoing, but already, Coalition's HQ returned to the place. Alnustown, which also received a lot of damage as a result of the attack, was also being repaired relatively quickly and some buildings looked decent already.
Admiral Richards, already back in service although injuries he received as a prisoner, was watching the rebuilding effort, smiling under his nose. Rebuilding was supposed to take at least one and a half week, but this wasn't such a problem.
Right then, Ester approached him, after coming out of Land Rover, which just stopped by.
"Lieutenant colonel Barkhorn."Fred said.
"Please, sir. I'm still not used to my new rank."Ester shook her head.
"But you completely deserve it, considering the things you did."
"I know. I know.
She let out a sigh.
"I'm gonna miss this place."she stated.
"So you made the decision?"
Ester nodded. Not long after the meeting in Geneva, she asked for one thing: she wanted all of White Squadron to be pulled out of Special System and sent to Earth, where they could rest after all of this. It was accepted, as were many more similar requests by soldiers, which survived the fight against Alantians.
"Finishing this without you isn't gonna be the same."admiral stated.
"Nah, we're just some random squadron among many others."Ester waved it off."You're gonna deal with it."
"I hope."Fred laughed.
Next, he extended his hand towards her.
"See you at the victory parade."
"We'll be sure to be there."Ester smiled.
Then, they both saluted to each other, before Ester turned back and returned to the Land Rover. Not long after, the car took her to a dropship, in which the rest of White Squadron were waiting to lift off towards Space Gate.
XXX
And this is done. I know I might have butchered some Gate lore, but as I said, I only watched anime. Most of the knowledge about what happened outside of it comes from the wiki or from my mind. So bear with me.
Anyway, as you now see, now we have the 'Space Gate' instead of normal Gate or Naval Gate. Already Coalition starts to retake the ground it lost as a result of the Alantian influence. And additionally, the end of the story is coming closer and closer.
Okay, this is it for now. See you!