Chapter 80: Desperate Rally
Perspective: General Issa
Issa ran through the halls, assailed by a cacophony of radio and telepathic messages.
"Enemy flagship preparing to breach," the speaker crackled in her left ear. "Reallocating forces to deal with anticipated incursion… Possible instance of archetype designated 'Herobrine', please conduct identification procedures so we know what we're dealing with..."
"Regrouping for attempt to retake the Inner Compound," croaked an enderman general in her right. "Unable to ascertain which mercenary units have deserted and whether they may still be a threat. Please advise."
"Confirming reports," recited one telepath within her mind. "General Marcus is dead. Recovery efforts have thus far proven ineffective."
The tower's head of reconnaissance rapidly scribbled down responses, handing them out to various aides with instructions to individually contact the relevant units. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, she always had a cloud of reports and requests following her during any major operation, but with Bul dead, Claw MIA, the Ender apparently turned traitor, and the Entity pushing its already reclusive nature to new extremes, she was bearing the whole weight of military intelligence on her shoulders.
"Efforts to seal the main gates were successful despite high casualties. Breach anticipated shortly, please advise as to status of reserve troops."
Then, another aide approached and directed her to a radio, from which a lesser officer could be heard screaming: "Storage Wing Delta is compromised - our defences aren't doing anything! She's cutting right through the walls!"
Issa lifted her head.
"What is in Storage Wing Delta?"
"Entity's personal collection - broken music disks, mostly. And hats, so many hats."
Issa groaned and lifted the receiver.
"See what you can do about drawing enemy attention to Storage Wing Delta. The busier they are there the less progress they're making on the important stuff."
"Will do, General Issa."
She shook her head and dispelled the crowd of aides, walking straight to the conference room at the end of the hall. Forgelight wanted to talk to her. With a deep breath, she threw the double-doors open.
General Forgelight stood on the opposite side of the table, head bowed, and fingers splayed across its surface. He was a gigantic man with stern eyes and a firm, square jaw. As leader of the Tower's Command & Control unit, he had spent the last decade governing the Tower's holdings outside Nexus, spreading the good news of the unity and infrastructure the Tower would bring. Issa prayed he had brought some good news home with him.
There was also a crystal ball apparition of Archmage Wisp, shaking with rage. A small circle of lesser leaders surrounded them, all in various states of concern.
"He cannot be allowed to get away with this," seethed the wizard. "Today of all days he cannot simply decide to-"
Forgelight cut across him with a voice like a grim steamroller.
"-He has, Wisp, and we shall deal with that shortly. Issa, what's our situation?"
"Marcus confirmed dead, incursions imminent on main hall and upper floors. Efforts are being made to encircle them in the inner compound, but desertions and high casualties have hampered our attempts to regroup."
"So, 'awful' is the word of the day, is it?"
Issa smiled.
"Pretty much."
Forgelight straightened his hair and turned away from her. He fixed his eyes on a landscape painting of a mountain range made of gold and glass.
"They have us on the ropes, friends," he boomed. "But time is on our side. Dr. Mercury is making the final adjustments to the machine as we speak. Once it is activated, there will be nothing they can do to stop the convergence of worlds. In short, they will have lost - that is when we will be able to crush them completely. Our tactics should therefore not focus on outright repulsing the rebels, but on delaying them."
Issa nodded.
"How do you plan to slow them?"
Forgelight turned to face them, brushing his eyes across everyone present. Even the illusory Wisp seemed to momentarily bend under the weight of his gaze. He clapped his hands, and a servant ran out into the hall.
"Our holdings are vast, and our vassals are loyal. I have not gathered nearly as many as I might have liked at such short notice, but I was able to pick out the best." He returned his gaze to the vast double-doors.
Boom! The doors opened so rapidly they slammed into the walls and came away rattling. Standing in the centre were four figures.
"Meet your champions!" roared Forgelight.
He first pointed to the creature which had presumably enabled this dramatic entrance. A colossal, grey beast thundered its way in, each of its four legs as thick as a tree. Its huge, rectangular head bobbed up and down like a mighty warhammer. Iron bands large enough to shield a giant wrapped around its legs and shoulders. And on its back a small, grey-skinned villager sneered.
"The emissary from the Illager people of World 1110, who successfully rose up and overthrew their oppressors in the Overworld, Nether and End. A people committed, as we are, to the prosperous unification of all under one. He shall help to defend the Entity's chambers and the activation mechanism."
To the left stood a tall, skeletal creature with luminous green eyes and a long staff glowing in the same hue. A crown sat on its head, adorned with faded jewels. And around its neck hung a tattered cloak which still glinted with royal purple. It had no legs, instead hanging suspended in the air like a mutilated puppet.
"The Nameless One, ruler of World 720, otherwise known as the Land of the Slain Sun. He has been a valuable ally for several years, providing us with a ready supply of mobs for combat and testing purposes. And, as Archmage Wisp can attest, The Nameless One possesses a knowledge of sorcery to rival even his own."
The Archmage narrowed his eyes and cocked his head at the skeletal lord. The Nameless One simply gazed into the light of its staff, ruminating upon its mysteries.
And then there were the last two. A pair of warriors clad in near-identical grey armour, the only difference being that the shorter and slighter of the two wore a stiff purple cape which seemed to split in two - unless… were those wings? On closer examination one was a man with brown hair and a beard, the other was a redheaded woman. The man pulled out a glowing, golden apple and took a bite, cocking his eyebrow defiantly as the definitive swirls of regeneration and fire resistance potions began to rise off him.
Forgelight bit his tongue before introducing them, and a distinctive wrinkling of his nose clued Issa into his thoughts. These last two weren't vassals, they were mercenaries or some other ideological traitors who did not believe in the perfect union of worlds for which Forgelight fought.
"This is Steve and Alex. They have a… let's say a personal stake in this."
Suddenly, a row of words appeared in front of the man in a sharp, angular font. His mouth remained closed, and his eyes burned with anger.
WHERE IS THE LESSER STEVE?
Forgelight cleared his throat.
"You shall be informed shortly, though his companion, Jennifer, was sighted accompanying their airfleet-"
He drew an axe and a shield and stormed off down the corridor. Alex lingered a moment, loading a rocket into her crossbow, then after a cursory glance at the assembled leaders, wordlessly left.
Forgelight seemed a little deflated after this but recovered himself.
"We thank you for your loyalty," he said to the remaining champions.
Once they had left, Archmage Wisp spoke up.
"That's all well and good, but a few curios from the colonies-"
"-They are not colonies," warned Forgelight.
"Sorry, a few loyal vassals are useless in the face of the Ape's betrayal."
Issa looked sharply at Forgelight.
"What's he talking about?"
Forgelight sighed and gestured for her to follow. He hefted his colossal shieldaxe from his chair.
"A situation I am about to put an end to."
As they turned the corner and briskly marched toward a nearby hall, Forgelight explained what had happened. When the first reports of a retreat came through, Glibby had immediately pledged to withhold his troops until he was recognised as the Ender's rightful successor in essence, that he be recognised as commander of all endermen in the Tower in addition to those he had already convinced or forced to defect.
"What does the Silhouette have to say about this?" Issa asked.
"He claims to be acting at his behest," growled Forgelight. "We should never have trusted that crook…"
They entered the hall where Glibby was based. A few days ago, it had been a banquet hall. Now the tables had been pushed aside to make room for crates of weapons and armour. Hundreds of endermen moved between them, all of them with grey paint smeared over the scales of their chests, in memory of the original Grey Ones. Even now, Issa saw unmarked endermen sitting, waiting to receive the mark. She couldn't fathom the reasoning. Was it fear of Glibby and the reprisals he had enacted after the Ender's attempted coup? A desire to escape the frontlines with news being as bad as it was? Had they been seduced by the wealth of the Silhouette? Whatever it was that had moved them, they needed these troops back in the fight, fast.
At the end of the hall, Issa saw a hulking shadow standing on a balcony - The Ape himself. He had his obsidian armour on, and now one of his heavy boots was planted on a parapet. He grinned wildly as he tracked a red-scaled dragon across the sky.
"Pass me a bow!" He shouted.
A shrivelled young enderman carried him a longbow almost as tall as Issa. He picked it up and began to strain against the string, one eye scrunched shut. Then, when he could pull no further, he let it loose. The arrow struck true, catching the dragon in the flank. Glibby cheered and raised the bow above his head. However, his grin quickly subsided as he saw the dragon right itself. It made a beeline for the balcony.
"Huskers," he grunted. "Handle it."
An old man with glassy blue eyes hefted a long metal firearm against his shoulder and pointed it calmly out at the dragon. He sucked in a long, soft breath and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the dragon through the left eye. It plummeted. The Ape turned his head and saw Issa and Forgelight coming. He quickly corrected his dour visage and roared with laughter.
"This is hunting!" he declared.
A man in a pin-striped suit, and another whose very skin seemed to be made of diamond armour made sure to cheer half-heartedly before returning to their conversation. Satisfied at this declaration, Glibby sauntered down from the balcony towards Forgelight and Issa. The two Generals remained silent as the Ape began to speak.
"That's what Claw might say at least," The Ape sneered. "Is that what it would take to get some modicum of respect from you? A hunter's prowess?"
The man in the suit shot a wild grin at Issa, flashing a mouth full of purple, metal teeth. Issa shuddered.
"Is that why you refused to acknowledge my rightful office, Forgelight? After all I did to restore order in the aftermath of the Ender's coup, did you and Marcus decide to slight me simply because I do not boast of my killer instinct as Claw does? How dreadfully shallow of you. Short-sighted, too, as a slight against me is, of course, a direct insult to my master."
Forgelight took a step forward, the axe still in hand. A set of talon-like blades appeared between the knuckles of the diamond-skinned man. The man in the pin-striped suit flicked his wrists and a wand appeared in either hand. The sniper didn't point his rifle at Forgelight, but he fixed his glassy gaze fixed on him and began to reload. Issa reached for the kukri at her side and tried to figure out what sort of mage the pin-striped man could be, and whether there were any obvious weaknesses she could exploit.
Glibby went over to a nearby table and began to pour a bottle of red wine out into two glasses.
"However, my master is a forgiving man, Forge. He has sent his best operatives to reinforce me - the Family. If you've never heard of them, just ask our Vanillan attackers - they have justly learned to fear them! And, of course, I have a force of hundreds of loyal Grey Ones, well-stocked and waiting in reserve for the order to go into battle."
He delicately lifted the two glasses despite his gauntlets and offered one to Forgelight.
"All you have to do pay us the respect we're owed by acknowledging that it is I, and not Claw, who commands the Endlings of the Tower."
His lips stretched into a horrible, skin-coloured gorge of a smile. Issa looked carefully at Forgelight's severe features. His eyes burned with outrage and his breathing became heavy. There was a shattering sound. He had knocked the glass to the floor. General Forgelight leaned in and growled at Glibby:
"You will go down to the frontlines right now, Ape, and I will contemplate sparing your master the full wrath of the Tower. If you don't, my first action in the new world will be to ensure there is not a corner of it where your damnable Silhouette can hide from the reckoning for which he is so plainly aching."
The Ape snorted and cracked his knuckles. The Family were all on their feet, slowly advancing. Issa readied to draw her weapon, then a toothy, yellow grin momentarily flashed into view in the corner of her eye. She turned her head. It had vanished.
"Forgelight… stand-down."
Both Glibby and the Generals looked at the source of the voice and were surprised to see the Entity standing in the middle of the room, zweihander in hand.
"My lord," said General Forgelight, suddenly bowing. "I was simply attempting to-"
"-Glibby-shall have his… appoint-ment, while Claw remains-incapacitated. Thank you, Ape… Please, lead-the counterattack."
Glibby had a half-smile on his face which suggested he was confused but too disinclined to discard a gift like this.
"Thank you, great Entity. I assure you, you will not be disappointed."
Glibby checked his pocket, pulled out a small vial of purple dust, then looked around.
"Roll on, gentlemen."
He extended his arms and gave Forgelight a malignant grin. An enderman came up on either side, grabbed him by the shoulders, and teleported away. Soon, the entire hall was filled with the warping growl of teleportation, and sooner still the Grey Ones were gone.
"My lord," Issa began, "I must strongly advise-"
She turned to look for the Entity, but it too had vanished. Forgelight had his eyes fixed on the floor.
"What do we do now?" She asked him.
He was quiet for a long time.
"We fight on. For glorious union."
Issa nodded and tried to ignore the chill climbing up her back.