Chapter 51: Incursia, Part 2

Marshal Crux, enormous and imposing, took another thundering step into the room as Melissa clutched another splash potion. She knew better than to assume this would be an easy fight just because her side had more numbers- such thinking had nearly cost her when Steve attacked. Celia ignited a fireball in her palm, and the two Piglin Brutes brandished their golden axes. Lance, for his part, remained furthest back in the room without drawing a weapon.

"Watch and learn, Twenty-Four," Crux barked at the Usurper lingering behind her. "I'll correct your failures right here and now."

Melissa vaguely recognized the trooper from Tenebyss; was she the one called Tara? Her gaze had been cold and firm last time, but now she just looked subdued and beaten down.

Crux sprang into action, leaping through the empty Nether portal frame and drawing both Netherite swords from her waist. She brought them down toward Celia, who nimbly hopped back and countered by throwing a fireball right into Crux's helmet. The impact, empowered by the potion of strength, didn't even make her flinch. One of the Piglins circled around and lunged with its axe, only to be parried away effortlessly.

Celia continued to backpedal and threw increasingly desperate fireballs. As if in mockery, Crux didn't even block or slash through most of them and instead allowed them to hit her dead-on to no effect. One stray ember ignited the brown cloak wrapped around her waist, yet as it burned away Crux didn't react with more than an annoyed grunt before tearing it off and tossing it aside. The two Piglins charged again, one from each side, and each swing of their axes was met with another block by the Netherite blades.

In fending them off, however, she had momentarily turned her back to Melissa. She took the opportunity to focus on a spot just behind their foe and concentrated- a blink later, she'd warped right to Crux and stabbed her as hard as she could. But her sword-arm was nothing impressive even with the potion's added strength, and the tip of the blade did little more than leave a small indent in her target's backplate, just under the nape of her neck. Crux shoved away one of the Piglins and drove her elbow back into Melissa's forehead before it charged her again.

The impact was strong enough to send Melissa reeling even with her helmet on, and Celia had to catch her before she stumbled over.

"That armor must be enchanted with Unbreaking," Lance remarked.

"Is he going to help us at all?" Melissa wondered as she got her bearings. Crux hadn't seen her teleporting, so she still had the element of surprise there. But Tara, still waiting in the doorway, had seen it. Confusingly, she wasn't saying anything or giving her superior a warning.

Then again, Crux may not have really needed the help, because with a quick parry with one sword and a slash with the other, she sent a Piglin to the ground sporting a deep cut across the face. The other let out an enraged snort and charged, only for its wild swing to be batted aside as Crux drove the end of her blade right through its stomach. It slumped and fell alongside its ally, who was struggling to get up and clutching the wound on its face. It never had the chance, as a heavy stomp on its head put it down for good.

Melissa watched Crux casually lift her bloody heel from the body and wanted to scream, but no breath came to her. The fear on her face must have been obvious, because the Marshal began to laugh as she approached.

"You both look ready to burst into tears! Don't tell me you're the ones who outmaneuvered Orion."

"You'd be surprised what we're capable of when we work together," Celia shot back, with a confident tone that barely hid her anxiety.

Crux casually twirled one of the swords in her hand. "Is that right? Then it's a shame your little band is already split up. I'll bet the others are being gutted like fish in the city streets as we speak."

Melissa threw her last offensive splash potion- harming- at Crux's feet. The fumes seeped up and into her armor, causing her to cry out in pain as she stumbled to the side. It was the most damage they'd inflicted thus far, yet it didn't appear to slow her down much. She lunged with one blade raised, and in a panic Melissa concentrated on the spot right behind her again. The teleport wasn't as smooth as the last one, because she landed in a stumble and clumsily swung her sword around in a wide arc to try and capitalize on the momentum. Crux was ready for it this time, pivoting on her heel and swatting the blade right out of her hand. Its diamond blade embedded in the ceiling with a thunk, just out of reach.

"Tsk, tsk. Not good enough."

Crux gave Melissa a full second to realize the danger she was in before bringing down both of her swords at once. There would be no time to dodge.

Yet the impact never came. When Melissa opened her eyes again, she saw Crux in a half-crouch with her arms down like she'd finished swinging, but the swords were suspended a few blocks in the air above her head. Then, as if pulled by invisible strings, they flew to the waiting hands of Lance. He'd finally stepped out of the corner and was next to Celia when he grabbed the blades.

"Did you refine golden swords with Netherite scraps?" he chided. "Cheaping out on your materials is going to cost you, Usurper."

Melissa used the distraction to teleport again. She stumbled once more on landing, but Celia was there to catch her when she reappeared.

"How did you do that?" Crux asked, slowly turning to face the three of them. "Vanishing, stealing my blades… what Genesis Cores are you hiding?"

Under Lance's thick beard, he smirked. "The Piglins worship gold, and I'm not called the Golden King for nothing. I've had this yellow orb all my life."

"We found both Warp Cores, so the Usurpation can't know about them," Melissa thought. "Even so, she saw me teleport… I have to be careful, it might not surprise her anymore." Once again, she noticed Tara was still silently watching by the other doorway.

"You two ladies seem to know your way around swords better than I do," Lance continued, handing her and Celia the two stolen weapons. He wasn't kidding about the gold components; Melissa found hers to be much heavier than she was used to- and she wasn't used to wielding a sword in the first place.

Celia didn't seem to have much trouble as she took hers and put away the diamond blade. "Will you be okay without a weapon?"

"Who says I don't have one?"

Crux jolted, struck in the back by something. Lance had called up the two golden axes of his fallen guards and sent them careening into her from behind. He pulled them over to himself afterwards, gripping the weapons with a smug chuckle.

"You must think you have my number," Crux said, sounding very composed despite everything. "Well, you're not the only ones with powers."

She pulled a new item from her inventory: not a weapon or a tool, but a bucket of glowing lava. With a flick of her free hand the contents shot out toward them in a scorching stream. Melissa tackled Celia out of the way in a panic, feeling the intense heat of the lava as it flew past. Her eyes followed it as the stream turned in midair, redirecting in such a way that they wouldn't be able to avoid it a second time-

The lava fell to the floor behind them, and they took a step away from it as it spread into a small, shapeless lump. Crux had lurched, dropping the empty bucket and falling to her knees. She made a soft wheeze as if trying to force out words, then leaned forward and hit the ground. A Genesis Core appeared just beside her, gently glowing with yellow light.

Melissa realized that her earlier strike, as well as Lance's, must have broken a gap in their foe's armor, because a sword was half-embedded in Crux's back. Yet it wasn't one of their allies who had dealt the killing blow.

"What's this about?" Lance muttered.

With a low sigh, Tara stepped over the fallen Marshal and knelt before Celia.

Tara had made her decision, and acted upon it without hesitation. Crux, her first kill against another human, would also be her first step toward redemption. The two captured Usurpation soldiers, still slumped against the wall, were unconscious and therefore hadn't seen what she'd done. Even so, she knew there was no turning back.

"What are you doing?" Celia asked, clearly not trusting of her. "Why… why did you…?"

Tara didn't raise her eyes. "You were right about me, Countess. In Luxmouth, when we infiltrated your city. You… were right. I am a monster." Just saying the word made her shiver, and the painful memories crept into her mind again.

"And is this supposed to make up for what you did to us?" she snapped. "For all of the innocent people who died in that raid?"

Tara hadn't expected this to be easy, but she couldn't argue with the retort. As much as she wanted to believe the person she'd been- so uncaring about the potential loss of life- was a distant memory, the reality stared her in the face. Just over a week prior, she'd been glad to take part in that mission.

"No, it's not. It doesn't remotely make up for the things I've done… but I am hoping it's a start."

She could still feel Celia's firm stare on her, but it took a few seconds for her to say anything. "What do you mean?"

Finally, Tara brought herself to lift her head and look the Countess in the eye. "The invasion can't continue. We- the Usurpation- can't be allowed to get away with this. You and your companions have been working to undermine our efforts… and if it means I can do anything to atone, I would pledge myself to your service, Lady Celia."

Another moment of silence. The villager in golden armor was giving her a suspicious glare, but Tara wasn't looking at him. She didn't hold eye contact with Celia for long, worried it would come across as a challenging gesture.

"I think she's being sincere," said the girl next to her, who Tara recognized from Tenebyss. The daughter of the Beryl family, as she recalled. "But it's your call."

Celia gave Tara another firm look. "How do I know this isn't another ploy of yours?"

Slowly, keeping her hands visible, she stood and approached Crux's body. Her inventory had emptied onto the floor beside her, mainly books of plans and Expansion Division documents, raw materials, and- of course- a yellow Genesis Core. Tara picked it up, as well as the one Crux herself had bound.

"Lava is dangerous, but it has its uses," she heard Notch's voice explain to someone.

"That's right," the other voice said, "it can create stone or obsidian if you mix it with water, and both are excellent for defense."

Wondering if it would be wise to explain her knowledge of the Cores' true natures, she set both on the floor in front of Celia.

"Marshal Crux's light Lava Core, and my old light Ice Core. They are yours to do with as you please."

"I don't have time to waste here," the villager declared. "My troops are still fighting in the compound, and I'm getting back to them. If you two are going to trust her, that's your business."

He left without another word, walking back up the opposite corridor with both golden axes gripped. Celia picked up both Cores, flinching a bit with each as she experienced the visions. Then, she made a remark which surprised Tara.

"We think we know what these really are. Do you?"

She had to pause to find the words. "I… have my suspicions. When I bound the two light Cores bound in Luxmouth, all I remembered was hearing 'I am broken' in my head. I believe they are pieces of the Creators… the rest of the Usurpation is not aware of this."

"Felix reached a similar conclusion," Celia remarked, thoughtfully inspecting the Ice Core's surface. "He told us as much the other day, and it was hard to believe."

Tara's brow furrowed. "You mean… your blond friend? The one-"

"The one you held captive, yes. That one."

The Countess' tone was chilly, clearly the incident wouldn't be so easily forgiven, but what held Tara's attention was the implication. "Commandant Red told us he was killed in the mines."

"That is another story entirely, and one we lack the time to explain right now," Celia replied. "I need to find the rest of my friends. Melissa, watch her while I store these away."

She set a strange white box on the floor and lifted its lid, depositing both Cores into it. Melissa wasn't taking her eyes off of Tara, and as such the two failed to notice a movement in the ceiling. The bottom layer of one brick block split open, and an amethyst eye stared down at the pair.

"Above you!"

Tara's shout got their attention just in time for the metallic, skeleton-like golem to drop its disguise and fall to the floor with a loud bang. It landed just behind the white box, standing upright and sweeping its arms to either side. Celia and Melissa were both knocked away, but instead of moving to finish them off the Titan hunched over the box and pulled out a yellow Genesis Core. Its attention was fixed on the artifact, so much so that it didn't even notice Tara yanking her sword out of Crux's body and starting toward it.

She stabbed straight through its eye, shattering the crystal, yet her effort didn't seem to deter it: the Titan dropped the Core, then reached out and dragged her forward by her cloak. Its other clawed hand scraped across Tara's chest, failing to break through her havenite armor but inflicting three deep scratches into the surface.

"It's strong…!"

Celia leaped at it from the side, flames billowing around her diamond blade, and delivered a mighty slash to the arm gripping Tara. She cut right through it at the elbow, then followed up with a stab to its torso. A scent of burning redstone dust filled the room as the Titan sagged and collapsed.

"What was that?" Celia barked. "Another Usurpation weapon?"

"It's something the Industrial Division has been building many of. They call them Titans, and I've heard they will be used to seek out Genesis Cores."

Melissa got back up with a groan. "Did that just jump at us from the ceiling? If it was disguised as bricks, there could be more of them nearby… we should get moving, and find the others."

Tara put away her sword and approached the linking device beside the Nether portal. She wrote in a command on the top surface, reactivating it and resetting the destination. "This will lead to the eastern gate of the city. Reports were coming in just before you found Crux; the battle has moved past that area."

"Is that where our friends went? How do we know this won't lead us into a group of more Usurpers?" Celia asked, still glaring at her.

Tara sighed. "Countess, I can't say where they went. Someone in the city- likely one of my superiors- was manipulating the portals before we met. But if you want to get to a safe place to look for them, this is the best I can offer you."

"And your service," Melissa added, "you offered that too."

"I did. If you would have me."

Celia crossed her arms. "Suppose I agreed, and I put aside the terrible things you have done to me and to my friends. What is it you believe you can do for us?"

She'd been weighing up whether to mention it, but if Celia wanted proof of her intentions then Tara had one last offer to make.

"I can help you avenge your mother."

Cupa backed up and locked another arrow on her bowstring as the fight began. She wasn't at all sure how to approach their latest enemy, and it seemed neither were Felix and Blake. Benedict's scythe was a large, heavy-looking weapon, but he wielded it with ease, quickly blocking every strike her friends attempted as they charged to engage him. The long blue blade whirled, moonlight flashing off its polished edge, and with every movement Cupa feared she would hear one of the pair cry out in pain.

"I can't get a shot at him from behind them… should I move around the side?"

That would come with its own danger: Benedict had seen her lack of armor, and therefore stepping out of cover would invite him to target her first. Still, she couldn't help her friends from where she was, and at such close range to their foe using a lightning bolt was out of the question. She gripped her bow and began circling her way to the right, watching for an opening. As expected, Benedict noticed what she was doing and shifted his stance to keep Felix between them while he continued to block the incoming axe strikes. Blake lashed out with a long coil of grass and wrapped it around him, but another quick twirl of the scythe was enough to cut right through the binding. On the upswing, the curved blade snagged against Felix's armored leggings and swept his feet out from under him. He hit the ground on his back, completely vulnerable.

But as Benedict raised the scythe to finish him off, he was vulnerable too. The split second of not keeping his chest guarded was all Cupa needed to loose an arrow right at him, which hit directly in the middle of his torso. It distracted him long enough for Blake to jump to Felix's aid, but that was all it did. The arrow didn't even dent Benedict's armor; in fact, Cupa suddenly doubled over with a pain in her stomach as sharp as when Steve had thrown the rock at her.

"W-what? Did something hit me?"

As she got her breath back, she watched Felix sit up while Blake was covering for him. He thrust a hand in Benedict's direction, and a cobblestone block from one of the nearby homes tore itself from the wall and crashed into his side. The impact knocked him off balance, but Felix also reacted like he'd just taken a stone block to the ribs and nearly fell back down. Blake used the opening to land a solid slash against Benedict's chestplate, and he too recoiled with a pained grunt.

"What's happening?" Felix asked as he shakily got back up. "How are we getting hurt?"

Blake, though not physically injured, let out a sputtering cough when he regrouped with them. "He's got a Thorns enchantment. If we hit his armor, we'll feel some of the impact too."

"Perceptive!" Benedict laughed. "I can see why the Countess chose a bottom-feeder like you to guard her, you must have more experience than you let on."

"Is there any way to hit him without hitting the armor?" Cupa asked.

Felix looked grim. "Not unless we can get it off him first." Then, his expression lifted like he'd just had a revelation. "Uh, Cupa… about your Core…"

She wasn't sure what he was getting at. The Lightning Core was powerful, but using it against him with that odd quirk of his armor would just mean electrocuting herself-

"Oh… OH!"

Cupa slung her bow over her shoulder and fumbled for it in her pocket. She still felt the lingering energy from her earlier use of the Core, and upon touching its smooth surface again her fingers tingled with the added volts. Benedict watched her withdraw it with a careful eye, and when she pointed it his way he chuckled.

"What'll you do, throw that-"

He was cut off by the bang of a thunderbolt. The attack lasted less than a second, but time seemed to have slowed down and drastically accelerated simultaneously for Cupa. She couldn't say the reflected impact hurt, but her entire body was shaking as electricity coursed all over her. Blue and white sparks flickered in front of her vision: she was in a charged state once again.

Benedict's chestplate wasn't glowing with enchanted energy anymore, thanks to the charred hole she'd blown into the middle of it. He was maybe ten blocks away and barely still on his feet, even leaning against his scythe's handle for support. Cupa, hesitating, put the Core back in her pocket. The electricity within her was already almost unbearable to keep held in, and she didn't want to risk piling on even more. But the real problem, the one that stopped her from launching another bolt with the Core, was something even less comfortable.

"I want to learn more about people- about being a person."

She'd chosen to join the group, and she'd known that would mean more fighting. She knew Benedict was an evil man- how could he not be, from what the others had told her? Even so, and despite the murderous, wide-eyed stare he was shooting her, she absolutely did not want to strike him down. Just like she hadn't for the Usurpation soldiers before.

"I don't want to be like… like a mob…"

"Enough, you've lost!" Felix shouted. "Drop your weapon and surrender!"

"Thank you, Felix," she thought. "Thank you so much."

Benedict sank to his knees, allowing the scythe to fall to the ground at his side. Blake carefully moved toward him again, preparing another grass lasso which he tossed in a loop.

The Forger was on his feet again in a flash, cleaving right through the grass with a diamond-bladed sword he'd pulled from his inventory. In two swift motions, he swept up a cloud of sand and dust into Blake's face with the tip and then threw the sword at Cupa. It was intercepted by Felix with another stone block, but his real plan had not been to hit either of them with it. While Blake recoiled, wiping at his face, Benedict had grabbed his scythe again and sprinted for the pair with a wild howl.

"Couldn't finish the job?! YOU'LL DIE FOR THAT!"

Felix was in front of Cupa in an instant, and the tip of Benedict's blade struck him in the seam of his chestplate's left shoulder, piercing through the armor. He screamed and fell back against her, gasping for breath.

"DIE, AND TAKE THE NOBLE SCUM WITH YOU!" their enemy spat.

In a flash, every insecurity Cupa had just been grappling with vanished. She roared and leaped onto Benedict before he could bring up the scythe again, unleashing the electricity she'd stored into him in a series of punches to his face and chest. The strikes hurt her knuckles, and her fingers felt like they were about to break from the repeated force, but she didn't care. It was as though the instinct she thought Turned lost in their transformation had reared its head: she wanted to kill him.

"DON'T! HURT! MY! FRIENDS!"

By the time Benedict threw her off, the combination of the strength potion (which had started to wear off) and her stored electricity had reduced both his mask and his chestplate to charred, dented scraps which barely stayed on him. She was hurled onto her back, and he stomped closer with his scythe raised to skewer her.

"Filthy wretch! How DARE YOU?!"

A greenish orb hit the ground right in front of him, and suddenly Blake was standing between them. He wasted no time in thrusting his diamond blade through the hole Cupa had blasted in Benedict's armor, straight into his chest.

"But… I'm…"

Blake didn't give him a chance to sputter out any last words. He tore out the sword and slashed again. Benedict's masked head fell one way, his body the other.

"Ender Pearls from the mansion," Blake bitterly chuckled, his voice raspy and weak as he stared at his handiwork. "I knew they'd be helpful."

Cupa looked wide-eyed at the body while her brief killer instinct faded, but only fully snapped out of it when she heard Felix groan again where he'd fallen. Panicking, she scrambled over to him to inspect his wound.

"It's not too bad… j-just hurts… it hurts so much…"

"I'm so s-sorry, you shouldn't have had t-to do that for me!" She was on the verge of crying as she helped him stand.

Blake, however he may have been feeling under the surface, looked mostly calm and focused. "We need to move him somewhere safe. Let's get to the portal and find the others."

Cupa allowed Felix to lean on her as they followed him into the blacksmith's shop, where the portal awaited. "It's gonna be okay, we'll find Melissa and she'll give you a healing potion. Just stay strong for me."

Blake entered the portal first, and she followed, pulling Felix with her. What they found on the other side was not the room they'd last been in, nor was it even a safe space. It was a wide, rectangular chamber full of chests where about twenty Piglins were under a brutal assault by a horde of what Cupa could only describe as metal skeletons wearing netherrack shells. Each of the things had a single purple gem for an eye, unblinking and soulless. The metal fighters were making short work of the Piglins, using their clawed hands to slash, tear, and bludgeon them.

"Back through the portal!" Blake shouted when a group of the things spotted them.

Cupa wanted to stay and help, but she had Felix to look after and the frame was right in the middle of the room, where the metal skeletons had them surrounded. So she pulled Felix through again, only for another surprise to greet her.

The two weren't back in the blacksmith's store. They had somehow wound up in an enormous, bright room built out of solid bricks with a ceiling more than a chunk high. Quartz blocks, nearly spotlessly clean, made up the floor. In the center of the room stood a round tower, made of iron blocks and with all sorts of redstone devices jutting out. At the top, protected behind a layer of glass, sat a man in a white coat with a metal mask stylized like a creeper's face. Levers and switches were all around him in the control station.

"Ah, my first catch of the day arrives," he said, his shrill voice ringing out from the tower. "I have to thank Ursa, this portal linking technology really has worked wonders to disrupt your little attack."

It was then that Cupa realized Blake wasn't exiting the portal behind them. Quite the contrary, four of the metal skeletons marched out of the purple miasma and blocked her way back in. The only other exits were a pair of iron doors on either end of the room, but getting to them meant either having to get around the tower and its many contraptions or to outrun the metal things. To make matters worse, the portal frame deactivated outright.

"Stay close to me, Felix," she whispered. He was losing a lot of blood, and seemed to struggle to keep his balance even with her help.

The Usurper cackled. "Do you like my Titans, little pests?"

Cupa gulped, watching the four metallic enemies snap their bloodied claws as if eager to put them back to use.

"I think I'd like to see them tear you two apart. Have at it, my wonderful creations!"

The battle raged, and Esme couldn't tell which side was gaining the upper hand.

She, Ander, and Jade Squad hadn't gotten caught in the middle of the fighting, as most of it had already passed by their area. The northern outskirts of Incursia were largely devoid of soldiers, or at least of living ones- the sheer number of bodies they came across was stomach-turning. Inlanders, Far Landers, humans, villagers, horses, war dogs, all left dead or dying where they'd fallen as the attackers pushed toward the city center. The assault had gained a lot of ground, but Esme knew it was only a matter of time before the Inland armies reached the most condensed Usurpation forces, and from there the death toll would spike.

"Excuse me, Dame Esme," one of the Jade agents behind her asked. "It's not that I don't trust you, but do you really think Sir Ray's plan will work? Can we really defeat the Commandant?"

"If we want to put a stop to the fighting, we have to try our best," she replied, "and I think we can do it. We're together, Ray and his 'help' will be there too, and we've got her with us. She's strong enough to take on anyone."

Ander growled happily at the compliment. "Kill bad people! You tell me bad person, I crush."

"At least she's enthusiastic…"

They kept to the periphery of the battle, mindful of getting spotted by Inlanders or Usurpers. Even Ander, whose sheer size and presence made being inconspicuous impossible, wasn't drawing attention to them thanks to how few soldiers were present. The group was eventually able to reach the edge of inner Incursia, and approached the northern entrance of the Industrial Division headquarters. Seeing it from the perspective of an attacker made the place much more imposing: tall, sharp angles, reinforced with metal and stone, it was a fortress and looked the part.

The northern entrance had already seen battle. A squad's worth of Usurpation corpses were strewn around the iron doors, which had been broken down. There were no Inlander bodies nearby, suggesting only the guards had seen any casualties. Esme shuddered and walked toward the door, but stopped when something moved in the corner of her eye. One of the soldiers, face-down and bleeding profusely, had strained himself to look up at them.

"It… was just one guy…" he groaned between labored breaths. "He asked us where the Stone Core was… and then he…"

"One person did all this?" an agent asked. At least ten bodies were scattered in the area, in varying states of dismemberment.

The trooper coughed. "He was too strong. He had to have some kind of Core…"

Esme watched the light leave his eyes and doubled over with a gag. This was hell. The war, the Usurpation, and the battle. It was hell.

"Are you okay?" Jade-5 was at her side, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We should keep going, we need to meet Sir Ray and end all this."

She wiped her mouth with a shudder and took out her Core tracker. If she was close enough to communicate with him, surely she could detect the light Grass Core.

"Where is he… wait, what?"

All eight spots on the tracker were filled, unsurprising given the sheer number of Cores in Incursia, but what got her attention were the labels on some of them. 'STONE - LIGHT' was listed at the top of the tracker, meaning it was closest to her. Just beneath it, almost at the exact same spot, was LIGHTNING - DARK.' Both Cores were unaccounted for as far as she recalled from the Usurpation's records; had someone in the Inlands assault force found them?

'UNKNOWN - DARK' was converging on the same coordinates as 'STONE - DARK' elsewhere in the compound, and the latter's numbers abruptly stopped changing. A few seconds later, the dark Stone Core began to move along the same coordinates as the unknown Core.

"Whoever was wielding it must have been killed," she thought. "And their attacker must have a type of Genesis Core we haven't logged yet…"

Finally, and strangest of all, 'GRASS - DARK' was pinging from somewhere within the Industrial headquarters, and it appeared to be moving toward the two Bonemeal Cores which were stored together. It, too, hadn't been found as far as she remembered, but its presence would make her search easier. She configured the tracker to seek the dark Grass Core's light counterpart instead, and found…

"...nothing?"

Was Ray wearing armor with a masking enchantment again? He hadn't mentioned losing his Grass Core, yet it was as though it had stopped existing altogether.

The sounds of battle were picking back up nearby, and if they stayed outside any longer they would get caught. Resolving to ask Ray about it when they met up, she rushed into the Industrial headquarters with her allies right behind her.

They didn't meet any resistance inside, but that was only because the mysterious attacker with the unknown Genesis Core had left a horrific path of death behind him. Esme kept her eyes toward the ceiling as much as she could, doing her best not to acknowledge the bodies of her fellow Far Landers lest the sight send her into a panic again. She could mourn them later, when the battle was over.

The headquarters were built somewhat haphazardly, with corridors leading into strange junctions and intersections only navigable thanks to the many signs built throughout them. The quickest way to reach the opposite end of the compound, and the southern gate where Ray would be joining them, was to pass through a large room labeled 'WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT - OVS PYXIS,' where the dark Lightning and light Stone Cores were pinging from. Esme might have bypassed it altogether to find another way around, avoiding a confrontation with the reclusive Overseer, had she not taken a moment to peer through the iron door's thin glass panel.

An enormous iron tower lined with experimental weaponry was the first thing to catch her eye, but near its base stood an empty Nether portal frame and four Scout-Class Titans. They were bearing down on two Inlanders, one an archer in a green, patchy hood and the other a young man in damaged iron armor. The latter was clutching a wounded shoulder as he practically hid behind his comrade, and when he glanced toward the door as Esme thought his face was familiar. Very familiar.

"Felix… Silverhand…?!"

"Looks like they'll keep the Titans busy for us," Jade-6 remarked. "Are we going through here, ma'am?"

Esme delivered her next order without hesitation. "Ander, break the door down!"

She stepped out of the way, giving Ander space to do as told. It took her a single punch to knock the door- and several of the blocks around it- right out of the wall. The pieces noisily clattered to the floor of Pyxis' workshop, attracting the attention of everyone in the room. Felix and his companion looked back at them, their eyes widening in terror at the sight of Ander and- as far as they knew- another squad of Usurpation soldiers, so Esme stepped into the room and made another announcement.

"Everyone… protect those two! Keep them safe!"

The agents rushed in behind her but couldn't keep up with Ander, who bounded across the room and leaped over the two baffled Inlanders. Esme knew Titans were durable, but against someone like her they didn't stand a chance: in moments, all four were reduced to piles of dented and crushed scrap, with Ander looking very pleased with herself as she kicked around their parts.

Esme moved to approach Felix, but the hooded girl jumped in front of him with her bow raised and an arrow drawn. "Stay back! O-or this is going right through your eye!"

She put up her hands and stopped walking. The rest of Jade Squad stayed where they were, while Ander growled when she saw the bow aimed.

"It's okay! We don't want to fight you, I swear." Esme took notice of Felix's bleeding shoulder and called to the agents, "He's hurt, does anyone have a healing potion on them?"

"I have one," Jade-3 replied, digging it out of his inventory.

"Bring it to him! Put it down on the floor a few blocks away."

Jade-3 did so, placing the potion near the two and backing away from them. They were still giving the team suspicious looks, but that didn't stop Felix from picking it up.

"What do you think you're doing?" the white-coated Usurper asked from his control tower. "Helping the Inlanders, Jade Squad?"

"We're putting a stop to all of this, Overseer Pyxis," Jade-7 replied, brandishing her sword. "Starting with apprehending Green. Where is she?"

So that was Pyxis. Seeing him made Esme wonder where Fornax was, and whether they'd encounter her before the end of the day. She desperately didn't want to.

"The Commandant is being kept somewhere secure, and protected by the heaviest defenses we can muster. You traitors will never find her… oh? Is that you, Esme?"

Pyxis was leering at her from behind the glass, and she felt like the large eyes of his creeper mask were boring holes into her. He started to laugh again. "So, Fornax's disgraced knight finds her way to me! You'll pay for the deaths of Sir Paolo and his men, you know."

She ignored him and looked to Felix as he drank the potion. The wound in his shoulder closed up quickly, and he let out a relieved sigh. "Esme…? That sounds familiar, have we met?"

"I-I was, um, with Ray. Back in Luxmouth, and… in the mines." She saw his eyes widen at the memory, so she hastily added, "But I'm not with the Usurpation anymore! I had a change of heart, and so did he. We're trying to take down our old leader together and make the Army stand down."

He still didn't look quite convinced of her sincerity, but his companion at least lowered the bow.

"You'll die before you get the chance!" Pyxis shouted. The tower began to emit clicks and whirrs as the redstone tools built into it came online. Pistons moved, panels lifted, and a series of long, mechanical arms like those on the Titans unfolded. Each hand wielded a long blade, or a dispenser loaded with arrows. More dispensers turned to face outward from the tower.

"I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL!"

Ulrich had never directly joined a large-scale battle before, but he had some knowledge of what they were like. Armies splitting into smaller forces to attack key targets, a push and pull for territory, plans never going off without a hitch, all standard for military operations. When he and Ray reached Incursia's Nether fortification, and looked out at the heaps of dead Piglins and Usurpation soldiers, he knew their day was only going to get harder from there.

For a start, many Piglins were still on their feet and patrolling the captured area alongside a few human and even villager soldiers. The Usurpation had made enemies everywhere, and it appeared people from all backgrounds were willing to take up arms in one great push against them. Getting into the city would mean having to pass by the guards, and he wasn't confident in their abilities of persuasion.

"Any ideas on how to get through all of this?" he asked as the pair looked out from where they hid, just behind the tunnel's exit.

Ray was silent for a few seconds, then flinched like he'd just been accused of something. "We could dig under the floor and tunnel our way inside the compound. It was… what we did in Luxmouth…"

Ulrich gave a short chuckle. "Using your tactics for good now, are we? Fine, let's get to it."

He took out a pickaxe and dug under the netherrack floor, then proceeded to carve out block after block in a narrow tunnel while Ray filled it in behind them. It was almost pitch black, but Ulrich was more than used to seeing in the dark, so their plan went off without any issue. After digging nearly five chunks ahead, he stopped and prepared to break through the compound's floor from below.

"We'll get up there and find a portal," Ray said. "From there, we need to reach the Industrial headquarters."

"Got it. Be ready to build your way out of here."

Ulrich swung again, breaking apart the ceiling while Ray stacked their spare netherrack into a short staircase for them. They emerged from the hole, into the middle of a room filled with chests where a battle was underway.

"Pandemonium" wasn't the right word. Piglins were all over the room, some dead, some dying, others retreating from the skirmish, others still fighting a losing battle against thin, metallic golems like none Ulrich had seen. An empty portal frame was in the room, but three of the golems stood between them and it.

"Are these the Titans we were making?" Ray asked aloud as the first two stomped toward them. He reached out with a coil of fungal vines, which spread and grew until they'd formed a tight, tangling net around the pair.

The third golem- or Titan, as it were- raised its clawed hands and ran for Ulrich. Its heavy footsteps were intimidating as it bore down on him, but its weight made it cumbersome, and all it took was for him to slide one of the nearby chests into its path to make the thing trip onto its face. It landed on all fours and continued scuttling toward him, barely breaking stride.

"Oh… maybe they're not as clumsy as they look."

Ulrich put away the pickaxe and drew his blade, thrusting it against the flat faceplate of the Titan. The tip scraped against it with a metallic grinding noise and barely missed the amethyst in the middle.

"Is that a spyglass built into its head?" he wondered as he hopped back, avoiding the claw swiping at his leg. Closer inspection revealed the purple shimmer of an enchantment over the lens. "If their books are enchanted to communicate, maybe it's relaying what it sees to someone else…"

The Titan grabbed onto the diamond blade of his sword and yanked it out of his hands. Grimly aware that it was stronger than it looked, he switched to a diamond axe instead and smashed down on its head. Ulrich grinned victoriously when the iron plating split open and the spyglass-like device within cracked apart, but the Titan wasn't put down until he took another swing at its exposed torso. He managed to strike some internal mechanism through the armor, and it stopped moving.

Ray, to his amazement, was doing even better. The skill he'd demonstrated against the Wither clearly wasn't a one-time thing: the vines ensnaring the other two Titans were still growing and even splitting off into smaller branches, which weaved in and out of gaps in their armor. When he clenched his fist, the plants went taut and tore the Titans to pieces. He looked a bit winded from the effort, but was otherwise in perfect condition.

The same couldn't be said for the Piglins, however. Those who were still standing were gradually being worn down by the rest of the golems, and their aggressive snorts were steadily being replaced by pained and frightened squeals. Ulrich paused, watching one unlucky soldier collapse with deep slashes in its abdomen from a Titan's claws.

"Damn it… Ray, keep moving! I'm going to help them."

"Okay, I'll leave the portal open behind me!"

While he went to work with the odd device beside the obsidian frame, Ulrich fetched his sword and leapt back into the fray. He rushed to the fallen Piglin's aid and stabbed through its foe's back, putting it down almost instantly. Though they were made of iron, their armor wasn't nearly as thick as a typical golem's. He would have offered a hand to the Piglin, but another Titan had taken notice and was marching towards him.

As he turned to face it, he saw the portal frame activating and Ray disappearing through it. He would need to catch up once the rest of the Titans were dealt with. The Piglins appeared to be regaining their composure thanks to his intervention, so with any luck they could secure the room again quickly.

Secure it from all… twenty or so Titans still standing.

"This is gonna take a while… be careful in there, kid."

Blake was alone again.

When he'd fled back through the Nether portal from the metal skeleton-looking things, he hadn't wound up back in the blacksmith's shop, nor had Felix and Cupa come out behind him before it turned off. He was in a room full of maps and diagrams, all labeled in the Usurpation's written language and therefore beyond comprehension. He had no flint and steel to light the frame again, and he definitely didn't know how to work the odd contraption set up next to it. The TNT block from the mansion was still in his inventory, and just as he was considering using that to reignite the portal he felt something strange in his chest.

He'd gotten used to the soft, rhythmic pulses of energy Genesis Cores let out whenever they were near other ones, almost to the point of forgetting about them entirely. However, there was an odd sense of familiarity to the resonating warmth Herobrine's Grass Core was giving off. Blake's attention was drawn to the brick wall behind him, or rather to something ahead of it, and as he focused on the sensation he swore he could feel another pulse responding from that direction.

"It… it can't be…"

He didn't want to get too far from the portal, in case his friends came through after all, but the urge to investigate his finding had become so overwhelming that he almost wasn't even acting on free will. Blake drew the pickaxe Felix had given him and began tearing through the patchwork of brick, sandstone, and smooth stone between him and the other pulse. Wherever he was, the Usurpation wasn't focusing on guarding the place, so he encountered no resistance as he beelined right through the walls.

By that unorthodox method, he eventually reached a thicker wall which had been reinforced with iron blocks on the other side. Breaking through that brought him to a room two chunks long and wide, and filled with- of all things- white wool blocks in great stacks along the floor. The walls were made of iron blocks, the floors of smooth andesite, and it was too dark to even see the ceiling. The only sources of light were a pair of Genesis Cores, faintly glowing yellow and purple within a glass cage in the very center of the room. They looked identical to every other Core, but when Blake's eyes landed on the purple one he couldn't help but feel he knew exactly what it was.

"Well, now, who is this little lost lamb?"

A woman's voice, almost crooning in its smugness, was coming from somewhere above him. Blake turned to run for the hole he'd entered through, but a pile of wool slid along the floor and blocked his way out. Hardly an impenetrable barrier, though he suspected breaking through it would just be giving his unseen enemy a chance to pounce on him from the ceiling.

"How did you get here?" she continued. "You're well ahead of the rest of the Inlanders, so you must have come from one of the portals Ursa was crossing. Still… breaking into my testing facility, when there were perfectly good doors to use? Do you have no class, little one?"

"Who's there?" he shouted, drawing a coil of grass in one hand and his sword- still wet with Benedict's blood- in the other. His nerves were shot, and his mind raced with fear for his friends, and his newest predicament was not helping matters.

Another pair of yellow and purple lights appeared in a corner of the dark ceiling, giving him a brief, horrifying glimpse of the thing lurking overhead. Blake couldn't see much of it, but the outline of long, spindly legs around a large central body was clear. The yellow light vanished, and the legs started to dig into the iron walls as the thing crawled down into view.

It wasn't a spider, but he didn't feel much better when he finally got a good look at it. The speaker was a Usurpation soldier in a long-sleeved green coat, and wearing a metal harness around her torso with a large apparatus attached to the back of her chestplate. It resembled a solid block of diamond with six thin legs, also plated in diamond armor and each bending at two joints. The way the legs curled and spread out gave the impression that she'd built half of a spider and attached it to herself. She was holding a purple Genesis Core and an extracting device.

When she reached the floor, she gave him a mocking bow as the legs clicked against the stone paving. Her face was covered by a familiar metal mask which tapered off down the middle like a bird's beak, revealing thin cheeks and a condescending smirk. "Are you excited? You're going to be the first test subject I try this wonderful piece of machinery against."

"Who are you?" Blake demanded. If he could keep her talking, it would give him time to think of a plan- and to calm his raging heartbeat. Redstone lamps clicked on overhead, finally illuminating the room.

"Ah, of course. Perhaps I can introduce the both of us, yes? I am Fornax, a Usurpation Overseer." Her smug grin spread into an outright vicious smile. "And you, lost one, are dead."

He spun on his heels and bolted for the glass case, only to see a group of diamond blocks lower from the ceiling and form a barrier around the Bonemeal Cores. Blake wasn't deterred, he had his pickaxe after all, but as he raised it something cut through the handle, splitting it in two. He rolled to the side as a blue, curved sword stabbed down where he'd just been.

"I don't think so. Those are mine for safekeeping, you see."

The sword spun through the air to Fornax, who put it in her inventory and took out the extracting device. Blake got to his feet and watched her use it to pull a yellow Genesis Core from herself, then bind the purple one instead. Immediately, the diamond legs went limp and the wool blocks around the room began to vibrate.

He drew his sword and prepared to fend off the incoming storm of wool, but Fornax wasn't throwing them at him. The blocks instead began to unravel, strands coming apart and flying to the ceiling where they tied up into long, thick ropes that stretched and crossed over the room. One rope extended down to her, and she used it to pull herself up to the makeshift web. She switched out the purple Wool Core for the yellow Diamond Core, and her spider-like contraption clung to the strands to suspend her above him.

"Oh, I get it…"

He heard the ghostly hiss of the Nether portal activating again a few halls over, and started to shout. "FELIX! CUPA! I'M UP THIS WAY, I NEED HELP!"

The diamond sword was back, slicing toward him in a blue blur and just scraping past his iron helmet. It retracted to Fornax again, only for a second one to shoot down from her inventory and strike his chestplate. The battle with that sand-wielding Usurper had left it damaged, and the blade pierced through just enough to poke him in the stomach. He gasped and recoiled; it hadn't done more than lightly break the skin, but she'd found a weak point and was giggling about it as she drew back the second blade. She scuttled about on her web, circling for another angle of attack while Blake was left struggling to think of a way to fight her.

"You're done for, little one!"

She threw both blades again, arcing them so they would hit Blake from different sides. He raised his sword to parry, keenly aware he wouldn't be able to stop both from hitting him.

But he wouldn't have to: a red mass of vines shot out in front of him in a large, twisted ball so dense that it stopped one sword mid-flight. He blocked the other just before it could cut into him, and it retreated to Fornax once more. The red clump fell to the floor, bringing the captive sword with it.

Blake looked at the pile of wool by the exit. Someone was standing there, holding another coil of Nether vines. He tensed up when he realized the newcomer was a Far Lander. He wore no armor, but his grayish skin to the tattered strips of cloth draped around him gave it away- and while most of their wool cloaks weren't in good condition, this one was really cut to ribbons. But the tan, patchy color was familiar, as were his firm hazel eyes and dark, wildly unkempt hair.

"Sir Ray!" Fornax said, still clinging to her web. She let out a laugh that sounded relieved, but Blake could hear a trace of unease in it. "There you are, I was worried when you didn't return from your assignment."

"I'm sure you were," Ray slowly replied. He looked at Blake, and his expression softened. "You…"

Blake kept his sword raised. If he was there, and if he'd come from near the portal… were Felix and Cupa okay? For that matter, were Celia and Melissa? Where was everyone?

"Do you know each other?" Fornax asked him. "Oh! Is this the Inlander who was giving you so much trouble? Well, if it's revenge you're after then I won't get in your way. He's all yours."

Ray stayed where he was. He looked down at the vines in his hand, then back to Blake. His eyes narrowed and his face took on his usual frown. "You're right, Overseer. I think I would like to get a little payback."

Then he rapidly extended the coil, up to the ceiling where it latched onto one of the diamond-plated legs. A sharp tug later, the leg was torn free of the body and clattered to the stone floor. Fornax, with a shout, caught herself on her web with the remaining legs before she could fall with it. Blake, surprised, locked gazes with Ray and saw none of the usual malice in his eyes.

"There's a lot I want to say to you," Ray said, "but I think it can wait."

He drew an iron sword- a straight edge, not a curved Usurpation blade- and took another step into the room, glaring up at Fornax while she regained her balance in the web.

"Right now, I want to help you win this."

As Blake changed his stance, looking toward the ceiling as well, he felt something very strange. In spite of everything that was happening, and in spite of being split up from his team, a sense of calm settled over him like a blanket to a freezing man. He felt entirely trusting of Ray, without a trace of worry that he'd stab Blake in the back.

And so the battle resumed, the pair of them side-by-side against their shared enemy.

Note from the author:

I'm surprised I was able to get the second part out so quickly. The third part of the Battle of Incursia may take a bit longer, but I promise it will be worth the wait. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time as our protagonists join forces at last, for the final battles of Book Two! There are still surprises to come!