[...]
The door plate slid up with unpleasant grating sound, and Khalid got good view on the native settlement of organic savages. He turned a control knob, and his Triarch Stalker took a step forward.
These mobile platforms could perform multiple battlefield tasks, from fire support to gruesome assaults, when the six bladed legs would stab and pierce the panicked victims, but for now, the main function of the vehicle was to inspire awe and fear. Indubitably, the natives would prostrate themselves at the mere sight of it.
Converting the savages into servitude to Necrontyr was not part of the mission, but the threat was non-existent, the language of the natives was analyzed and deciphered hundreds of cycles ago (as naturally, the cryptek had little to do but to spy on local life forms), and the opportunity was just too perfect to waste.
Naturally, the cryptek objected, and complained, and showed his nonsensical graphs with probability spikes, but he was easily silenced with a few orders. The walking throne was taken out of containment of Khalid's own tiny ship, connected to the grid of "Aeon Apex" and reactivated.
The walker moved smoothly and silently, and at the edge of the settlement some figures pointed in his direction. Khalid could no longer change his facial expression, but he made an inward cruel smile. Soon, they would praise him at their new god.
"I am getting a spike, praetorian. Discretion is advised."
The annoying voice of the cryptek came through a non-visual communication channel, and Khalid turned the volume down. No chart value was going to take his glory away from him.
He reached the edge of the village, marked by a low, decorative white fence. The stalker stepped over it, and the metal legs clanked loudly on the primitive pavement. The local sun was about quarter way over horizon, and plenty of organic inhabitants were out in the open. Many noticed the walker, some of the younger ones pointed, and Khalid switched on the language processor. The cryptek was still in connection, inputting his comments on obscure terms.
"Well, this is unusual. A spider youkai {type of native folk concept, term analysis incomplete} of metal?"
"Honey {type of nectar, processed by local insects}, don't point, it's impolite."
"Better stay away from it, those things look sharp."
"Wow, this looks like it was made by kappa {type of youkai}."
This was odd. There was no fear, only mind curiosity in the tone of the natives. Khalid continued down the street, and people calmly stepped to the sides, allowing him passage. Nobody ran, reached for weapons or showed any sort of strong emotions.
In this atmosphere of calm, Khalid reached the settlement main square. He got a small crowd following him, mostly consisting of young native species, the others returned to what they were doing after a brief look or comment.
The village square was packed with vendor stalls, all surrounding a rough chiseled statue of a winged carnivorous creature. Khalid made an assumption that the primitives worshiped it as their god, and this thought filled him with disgust. He connected the language processor to his own vocalization module, turned the volume up and spoke.
"I am Khalid, the Triarch Praetorian of the great Necrontyr. We are necrons, the living gods of infallible metal. I claim this world as our own. Kneel."
He awaited reaction. Unsurprisingly enough, he got full attention of the numerous natives, but the processed language feedback on his hololithic screen was less than respectful.
"Yeah, here we go again. And it's been what, three weeks {local timeframe reference, roughly two percent of a cycle in one week} since something like this happened?"
"Another newcomer with superiority complex. Should we call for Keine or for Reimu {voice modulation indicates local figures of authority} right away?"
"Gods of metal? That's new. I could sure use a god of metal to help my business."
"Stop right there, filthy alien!"
The last shout prominently stood out, and Khalid focused on the source. It came from a young female native, pushing quickly through the crowd. She differed in clothing style from those around her, both in quality and color. While most of the settlement dwellers wore drab and muted garments, the upper part of her clothing was bleached, and the lower blue and dotted part was definitely crafted with the use of synthetic paints. The same went for her obviously painted bright green hair.
Her attitude and wording also shed some light on the general reaction of the populace. They were obviously used to "aliens" or visitors from the nearby larger planet, the more advanced civilization there using this place as some sort of reservation or a slave camp.
It was also obvious the vocal female had some authority, as she was brandishing some kind of symbol, a white rectangle cloth on a stick, and when she raised it the crowd started to rapidly thin out, stalls closing and adults pulling the children out.
"I am Sanae Kochiya, the living goddess! We won't tolerate any aliens and alien threats! Get back to your ship and return to your... necrosis thing!"
"The great empire of Necrontyr," Khalid voiced evenly, targeting the annoying creature with weapon systems of the stalker. A brief scan showed that this Sanae was not in any way different from the surrounding organics, no more a goddess than the nearest vegetable seller.
"Whatever. Get out!"
Khalid almost fired, but reconsidered at the last moment. Killing her would of course be effective terror tactic, but it would be much more enjoyable to break the spirit of the natives in some humiliating way. He turned the stalker slightly and targeted the statue.
"You are no god. Is this your god?" he mockingly asked. "Gaze upon the power the Necrontyr, the true gods, and watch what we will do to you all if you don't submit."
He pressed a button, and the stalker's weapon fired. No doubt, the crypteks had their own fancy name for it, "matter state agitator" or something similar, but Khalid called the weapon a heat ray, and it performed like one. Nearly invisible, it punched through the outer layers of the statue, and then Khalid widened the beam. The stone turned red, then white, and then it melted.
The orderly retreat of the villagers turned into a rushed one. Still no panic or screams, but the settlement square was now almost clear. Sanae didn't run, shielding her eyes from the heat wave.
"Is this all?" she asked, blinking. "That's no act of divine, only power. I'll show you true divinity!"
She rose into the air. The sensors of the vehicle didn't show any jump packs, gravity repulsors or pshykic activity, and Khalid tapped the screen in disbelief. Was the cryptek messing with him?
Sanae extended her stick towards the steaming puddle of lava. Unbelievably, it started moving, rising, taking shape. Khalid looked at his sensors, but the screen was showing exactly what his own optical sensors were showing implausible things, the lava taking shape of the statue he just destroyed.
He turned to Sanae. It was definitely not easy for her she smiled, but her posture and smile were strained, and sweat started forming on her brow. She noticed his gaze and slightly turned.
"This is the Dragon, the ancient protector of Gensokyo. He will obey my every command. Run, alien, run while you still can."
Khalid roared. No matter what was happening, no matter how unbelievable it all was, he didn't come here to be humiliated and mocked. He pushed the control lever, and the stalker leaped forward, to tear the insolent organic creature limb from limb.
Sanae dodged the mid-air swipe.
And the next instance the lava dragon crashed into the side of the vehicle, burst through the quantum shielding and overturned the walker, melting through the power conduits on the underside and causing an explosion.
Khalid was thrown out of the seat, both of his legs nearly destroyed. The dragon lost shape, and the wave of lava streamed towards Khalid.
He knew it was useless to run, and he knew the phase out systems would save him, so in this last moment he found Sanae amidst the smoke and pointed at her, swearing the destruction of her and her whole world, promising the apocalyptic devastating war.
The language processor was destroyed along with the walker, but he was sure his hate would deliver the message.
[...]
Sanae sank to the ground and leaned heavily on one of the stalls, panting. A moment ago, she felt like she was able to take on the alien ship all by herself, but the moment was gone, and with it came the realization of how much faith she had spent and how many rules she had broken.
The alien was gone, the iron figure disappeared in flash of emerald energy the moment the lava wave reached it, and the spidery construct was nothing more than a stone-embedded scrap pile now, but for Sanae, it didn't feel like victory.
Maybe the fuming Keine, who just burst out of the school and was menacingly approaching, had something to do with that.
"Sanae Kochiya!" Keine shouted on approach. "What is the meaning of this?"
Sanae let go of the stall and wiped her face from the sweat. She beamed, and positioned herself so Keine would not face all the damage during their conversation.
Unlike Reimu, Keine Kamishirasawa had Sanae's respect. Always polite and composed, she fit the role of the village guardian well. She was an adviser, a historian, a mediator of conflicts, and Sanae was hoping that Keine would acknowledge the alien threat right away and lend the help of the village militia in the effort of repelling the invasion.
At the moment, however, Keine was clearly not at her best. She reached the edge of the zone of destruction and grabbed her head, slowly circling it. The sight of her blue dress disappeared behind the fumes, then reappeared on the other side, she stomped towards Sanae and quite rudely pointed.
"Why, Sanae?" Keine asked, her voice a mix of sadness and contempt. "Why?"
"I... saved the village?"
"You attacked the visitor! You didn't use spell cards and destroyed his property!"
It was spoken in a way to induce shame, but for Sanae, it caused nothing but anger. Keine was wrong, both in her judgment and attitude towards the situation. Sanae folded her arms and glared.
"Sure, blame me for everything, go for an easy answer. It's all Sanae's fault, it always is. Treat the skeletal metal aliens better than you treat the Moriya shrine, go on, don't stop."
This threw Keine off, but only for a moment. She glared back, and took a likewise aggressive stance.
"I am not treating anyone differently. The visitor broke the rules, but he didn't know better. If Reimu was here, she would have handled it properly."
Sanae controlled herself and didn't respond. The aliens were a real threat, and arguing, dissent and confrontation among their enemies would be the exact thing they would want.
"I'm leaving," Sanae said. "Once I destroy the aliens, I'll help with the statue and repairs."
"You are not going anywhere. I am going to the ship to talk to them, clear up this misunderstanding and ensure village safety. You are coming with me, and you will apologize."
"No."
"Then I have no choice but to force you. Draw your spell cards."
Now, Sanae understood. Keine's behavior had a simple, easy explanation. The aliens already implanted their tiny parasites into her, forcing her to obey and protect them, making her see the invaders as something understandable and sympathetic.
Keine had to be stopped, so Sanae pulled her first spell card out.
They started with a normal attack, and this one was similar for both of them. It was simple orb danmaku, red and blue patterns that were structured at first, then broke apart and turned into a dizzying mass.
There was, however, a difference. Sanae was her own source of danmaku, she created it from her own faith, and Keine relied on an array of spell familiars. She easily dodged the orbs, but she couldn't protect the spell seals, and with each destroyed, the pattern thinned out and she received insignificant, but nevertheless painful backlashes.
They rose higher over the village square, and declared spell cards. Sanae was first, [Wonder"Daytime Guest Stars"], a spread of slicing contained light, supported by a stream of homing globes. Keine countered with her own, [Ending Sign"Phantasmal Emperor"], a very similar pattern but again, the generating familiars were its weakness.
The battle was now high above the ground, safely contained in a bubble, and the villagers started to return to the square, craning their necks and enjoying the spectacle. Some cheered, some simply watched, and some started to place bets.
The spell cards ticked out, and new ones were used, [Miracle"God's Wind for Sanae and [Land Sign"Three Sacred Treasures Orb for Keine. Once again, nearly similar, circular spreading patterns supported by large hollow orbs in the lead.
The spell cards ended, and there was a short pause. They were both still unharmed, but Sanae felt she was nearing her limit, and Keine was in not much different shape due to the destruction and backlash from all the familiars. Sanae decided to press on, and maybe gain some advantage with a taunt.
"Can't you do anything better than copy me? Are you that rigid and uncreative?"
Keine remained calm. "There is a lesson to be learned in losing to your equal."
"You are not my equal. The blood of gods courses in my veins, while you are not even fully human. I am superior in every way to you, that alien, Reimu, everyone else in Gensokyo. I am unmatched in power."
The last traces of the previous spell cards burned up, and Keine drew her last one, [Future"Gods' Realm"].
"Spell card battle is never about power, Sanae. It is about motivation, and my motivation right now is to educate you, show you the error of your ways and teach you some very important things called "tolerance" and "humility"."
"And my motivation is to save the whole Gensokyo. I am going to win."
Keine fired first, a beautiful intersecting spread of lasers, shifting, turning, captivating. Sanae's own spell card was no less impressive, [Sea Opening: Moses's Miracle], a representation of crashing sea waves that stood still, straight broken chains of danmaku in between.
There was a piercing sound, and Keine fell, residual energy from the direct hit burning up at her chest. The spell battle barrier broke her fall, and she was gently lowered to the ground, barely conscious. Sanae followed, wincing and holding her side where a beam left a prominent blackened graze. The villagers moved closer, and one of them helped Keine get up.
"I won," Sanae said.
"But you haven't learned."
Sanae frowned. "Like it or not, I am still going to dictate my terms. You are going to veil the village from the aliens, you will not negotiate with them, and when the statue is restored, you will put my name somewhere on the pedestal, "recreated with the help of Sanae Kochiya, the shrine maiden of Moriya", something like that."
"Fine," Keine said with a cringe. She turned and walked back towards the school, leaning heavily on villager's shoulder for support.
Sanae did the same, in other direction. Nobody offered help, but she was used to it, and she was fine with it. Destroying the aliens was the right thing to do, and she was sure everybody would understand given time, even Keine and Reimu would.
And for that goal, if she would have to turn other, unsavory, poorly motivated allies and questionable methods, then so it would be.
One way or another, that ship was going to be destroyed.
[...]
