"You're mad!"
Those words made my blood boil, but I quieted my anger. It would do me no favors. Upon my return to the bridge I had summoned the battlegroup commanders and the good commanders had gratefully obliged. Rather they had spent the first ten minutes ranting and raving at me, my decision to drag them away from the siege, and insulting my intelligence. It had gotten rather old, but I let the old windbags go on. One by one they had quieted till only one was left. Commander Domin Thloths held command over the Lasse battlegroup, the very group that was to be the linchpin in my plan.
I needed to have his ships if the mental plan I had drawn up to stall the Princess's fleet was to succeed. What I didn't need was his lip, or even him. "Commander, tell me who put you in current command?" I asked icily. I had made it a point to grab a drink to wash away the hoarseness before I had met with these people.
"That doesn't matter!" the gray haired Commander sputtered. "What matters now is your actions! Your not fit to command the Whitefire, let alone-!"
"Silence!" I snapped, and shut my eyes. "Silence, and answer the damned question!" Apparently that was enough to get his attention as he suddenly focused on me.
"Our Lady, the White Devil, granted me this commission some thirty years ago, but that has no relevance here. Your actions are, were and plan to be reckless and costly to this mission. I will not allow this!" Fury had long since replaced professionalism with this man. It was little surprise though.
I had stepped on a number of toes with the Court in my time. Nobles and commanders had fallen to my investigations. Traitors abounded and this man was no different. He was one of many who had fled the onslaught of Dark Angel, and yet remained on her payroll. Every Warlord's court was filled with them, traitors and spies, nobles who thought their actions were safe under the cover of the night. The fifth branch of the Inquisition was devoted to two things, protecting my Lady and purging the dangerous traitor. Every traitorous noble removed was a calculated risk by my Lady and my branch. She gave the order and we carried it out,
Domin had been on of those I had nearly terminated at the start of his career under my Lady. He had once been a high ranking TSAB officer before he left them with the advent of the Dark Angel. Then he had fled to the Golden Lady and for a time resided there, before he came to my Lady to seek asylum. I knew the man's loyalties lay with the Golden Lady. I knew the evidence, I had gathered it myself, and I knew it would be completely justified if I killed him here and now.
"Good, it seems you remember whom you serve." I opened my eyes and fixed him with hard stare. His world weary brown eyes here firm despite my gaze, he feared nothing I could do to him. "I am Captain of the fifth branch of the Inquisition. You know what that means. That means your group will follow my commands as if I were the mouthpiece of our Lady. What do you disagree about? Where is my plan…faulty?"
He knew it was a trap. He was too old, too wise not to see this coming. "Your record is impressive, but the actions you took on the planet were reckless and a black mark on your record. Your…plan," he spat the word with open disgust, "is nothing more than a fool's errand. All the battlegroups in orbit would be needed to destroy the incoming fleet, yet you want us to willingly lead our men to the slaughter. For what?" he asked incredulously.
At least he had changed his tone to something more reasonable. The yelling and raving had finally stopped on all sides, much to the bliss of my aching head. The other battlegroup commanders had been quick to extinguish their fires and side with me once they said their piece. "The same reason we all fight for the White Devil. That fleet must be stopped and I will not risk the invasion forces."
"We risk them anyway we move," Commander Eliza added sagely. Once she had been my mentor while I learned the basics of fleet command, but the old woman was stubborn. She was getting old, yet she refused any therapy that might extend her life. She refused even offer of nanomachines, gene therapy or any other way to extend her life. She wanted to live as a human and die as one, but I was selfish. I didn't want to let her go.
Her criticism of my actions was justified. I could accept it coming from her. She was loyal to my Lady wholly and the first to side with me, even thought I was sure we would eb dead if my plan went off.
"Either way we must act. I prefer to ambush the enemy fleet while their still in the sea. Yes, they outnumber us. Yes, four battlegroups and the Whitefire are not enough to beat them, but the idea is not to beat them. We have to stall them until we either give up the siege or establish a portal uplink. Both of those will take time, time we don't have right now," I ended calmly
The fate of this plan rested on Domin supporting it. If he failed then I would lose the support of the Rembermence and Jarpaun battlegroups. I saw him opened shut his mouth several times, before he sighed.
"No, I refuse," he declared. "I refuse."
So that was it. My first plan had failed. Seconds after Domin spoke, the commanders of the Jarpaun and Remembrance withdrew their support. I opened a holoscreen and suppressed the urge to mock these fools. I opened the weapons controls and began to input the coordinates of the command ships were the three commanders were.
"Anna!" Eliza snapped. "Think girl! Think about what your about to do!"
"What? What are you…" Domin trialed off then saw the inverse side of my holoscreen. Apparently he was able to make it out well enough. "Shields to full!" he roared at his crew as I finished imputing coordinates.
"Girl, if you do this then…" Eliza growled.
"I know. Do it with no regrets," I repeated her favorite saying. "Domin Thloths, you are hereby charged with the crimes of treason, sedition, conspiracy to commit regicide and other. The punishment for these crimes is death." I heard him object loudly, yelling at his crew and then shut down the holoscreen. "Also, I have uncovered a conspiracy to sabotage our Lady's mission by Commanders Salhi and Roderick. The punishment for such is death."
The two after mentioned men offered panicked cries and oaths of fealty, but I shut them out. Their holscreens closed for the last time. I sent the command to fire, as the she ships suddenly found themselves being identified as enemy craft. The Whitefire showed them it power in that moment. The primary gun, the massive plasma rod Belkan cannon, unleashed a hail of deadly rods, each no longer than a finger length. The secondary guns fired on the other two ships, who died as they lived; opposing my Lady's will. The idiots had the nerve to fired on me in those last few moments of their life. Watching the rods impact the Belegor, Domin's flagship, was more satisfying than the other two traitors die.
Each rod was accelerating to speeds near that of light. A magical barrier encased in each allowed them to move through space without regards to concepts like slowly down. A self correcting computer on board each forced the deadly rod to seek out its target no matter what inferred with it. Watching those rods impact the superstructure and leave behind those impact craters was well worth it. The internal frame would be cracked by now, the integrity of the hull comprised. The ship would not die yet, her shields would see to that at the least.
Then came the slow death. Inside each rod there was a sliver of a corrosive, crystallized chemical nicknamed Blood Fire. Upon impact the rod would break apart and the Blood Fire would expand until it hit critical mass it would explode. The Belegor was doomed and in seconds that doom would come to them. I saw the explosions blossom as the Blood Fire engulfed the ship.
"Fire all laser batteries! Terminate the targets!" I ordered.
"For the White Devil!" one of the gunner cried form his place on the bridge. The batteries were remote controlled from the bridge these days for security reasons. Too many ships had been lost or rendered useless by the death of her gun battery crews. Here in the safety of the bridge, the gunners would fire till the ship was torn asunder.
The three targets vanished in white bolts and deadly flames. "As of this moment the Lasse, Remembrance, and Jarpaun battlegroups are under my direct command," I coldly informed the fleet. "Spin up your logic engines and input the coordinates I am sending to you. We depart within the hour. Any ship that refuses to cooperate will be deemed a traitor and destroyed. Anyone who runs will be destroyed. This is the will of our Lady, the White Devil." I had done, I had deliver my ultimatum. They would follow me or die. There was no middle ground, no room for debate
For the first time in several years Lindy found herself running for her life. Of all the things she had expected when the wizard had approached her, this was not one of them. The silent swopping and tinkle of ice shards was ever present, even as she lead her crew towards the steps.
The upper levels had been covered with statutes from floor to rafter. Now they swarmed her and the mages accompanying her. They hadn't found the energy source, but with these statues…she paused to grab a fallen Enforcer and haul him to his feet…were relentless. They had barely started on the up the path to the roof when the first statue had attacked. She ordered them back, trying to make it back to the main level and the rest of their company.
Enforcers paused to take pot shots at the whirling statues that burst from the shadows, attacked and vanished. They came from every angle, forcing her to activate her shields. The lime green shield flared against as a bird like man statue smashed into it and crashed into a wall. It exploded in a shower of ice shards with the annoying tinkle was they fell in a heap.
The winds whipped around them, the cold chilled them, and mages screamed. Some had already fallen. Those who fell behind or were unlucky enough to be caught in the lethal talons stood no chance of being saved. The statues had ripped on her Navy mages in two with without an effort. The woman's horrified face as the statue ripped her in two would forever be seared in her memory. Others had fallen with severed heads and limbs. The lucky would die instantly, and the rest would be carried off into shadows.
"Enough of this," she growled. "Fay, begin setup. Fifty percent power." These monsters had attacked and killed her crew, her family and friends. There would be no more running, no more shielding, she would attack. It had been along time since this kind of anger had coursed in her body, pulsed in her brain, and called for her to embrace the wrath she had once known all too well. "Down the stairs!" she barked and the mages, thankfully didn't question her. She knew her composure was gone; the serene, unshakable captain of the TSAB was gone, replaced by the darkness she had buried long ago.
"Setup complete. Ready to engage," the soft feminine voice of Fay informed her. "Requesting aria input."
The aria was an unfortunate side effect of her magic. It was powerful, but required an aria to manifest even a portion of its power. She jumped the steps to the landing and raised a hand towards the gathering statues at the head of the stairs. "Imperial raiment, clothed in gold, Come forth Shield of Ages!" she cried. An ornate flower with six petals burst into existent before her. Moments later several statues crashed into her shield and shattered.
"Captain! They're down here to!"
Lindy heard the shout, but couldn't budge. The statues at the top of the stairs were gathering by the moment. She had to focus on her aria and ending the threat of being surrounded. "Try to break through," she hollered back. "A thousand sun and thousands moons decorate the brow of the immortal queen. By the power of the wind, air, earth and water I call upon the scared fire of the fair ones who dwell beyond. Peel back the silken currants and reveal; The Fay Queen!"
For the Enforcers and Navy personnel that stood with her, their staves pointed towards the gathering statues and fear in their eyes, were treated to an event unseen in almost twenty years. She glowed briefly as her Barrier Jacket formed and she heard the suddenly mute voice of her male crew members. It was a rather sluttish dress, the legacy of her days of rage when all that had mattered with the feeling. The wings were brighter than normal and she sighed. That had been her greatest fear; magic degeneration was not uncommon amongst mages her age, but her wings indicated her mana was still workable.
Looking down she gave the sleek dark green bodysuit a tug. It was tighter than she remembered. "Are the slits larger?" she muttered self consciously. "Why did I ever thing was practical?" Each side of the bodysuit from her ankle to her neck was cut away, exposing her womanly curves. Placing one hand on the belt, which held up the two ornate cloths bearing the sign of the flower with six petals, she slipped a small glass stone from a hidden pocket. "Harvest of Fall!" she cried as she crushed the glass stone.
"Blood offering accepted, Fall Mode engaged." Her Device materialized, taking the shape of the curved sword that she had modeled after the scimitars of Earth. The handle was covered in a scene of men harvesting a crop that was as beautifully detailed as she recalled. Taking a deep breath she gathered her mana and cast the spell, "Reapers!"
A hundred balls of compressed magic formed as she swung the scimitar in a wide arc. Every orb glowed with a fierce red or yellow light, pulsing in anticipation of release. "Release," she commanded, pointing her sword towards the top of the stairs. It was matter of careful timing when she released the overloaded the Shield of Ages a second before the orbs reached it, a fine display of control.
The overloaded spell did little to the statues, but it was enough lure them in. The statues charged into the oncoming orbs and died in cascades of ice. "Reapers Release!" Lindy cried over and over again. More statues came and died, but she couldn't go forever. It had been a mistake, she had miscalculated the number of statues and the Shield was gone. "Break though and make for the main entrance!" she roared, chancing a glance over her shoulder. The other mages looked were slowly pushing forward
"Captain!"
She heard the warning, but turned too slowly. Time seemed to slow down as she slowly turned to face the stairs. One of the younger Enforcers had thrown himself in front of her, in a slow dive. Why? Then she saw the glint of ice. One of the statues had broken through the moment she had given the order. In was all but on top of her if not for the Enforcer who had the tell tale glints of icy claws ripping through flesh, bone and guts.
The face that was not a face appeared over the young Enforcers face. A face all too familiar, that laughing face, mocking and cawing in victory, celebrating in agony, relishing in pain. The face of a monster, formless yet defined, shattered yet whole, it was the face of her madness and salvation. Ten years had passed since she had last seen that damning face, that mouthpiece of madness and prophet of hope. Oh how she hated that face, yet she loved it for what it once was. Anger rose in her chest as did hope in equal measure, but the past was dead yet here it lived. Once more the madness of men would die only to live again.
The hollow mouth, yet not a mouth, a void, mocked her with laughter of the mad. The pain of loss to this madness rose and she heard it damning voice. It spoke as a vast legion, yet with a single voice the words she hated. 'Coward' the phantasm of madness incarnate repeated that damning word over and over, reminding and reminding her over and over of the death and deaths of the love and love of death of blood and blood never ending.
The ghost of the past, friend and enemy, chanting that damning word. A thousand mad voices joined it horrid symphony of chaos. Black spots floated across the face, so pale yet tainted by the mad. Old pain born of loss and madness, friends and enemies' dead and living, arose to plague her mind. 'Join' it uttered once again like it had all those years ago. Sacrifice and victory went hand in hand as madness and salvation did for her, her punishment to never be free. Chains of the white, faces tied to links bound her to the mad one or ones. Eternally mad they called for her to join their madness with honeyed words, and prophet's lore of lore of the mad. Secrets lost, powers beyond mortal ken, and an unending it promised her, yet pain drove her on, the pain of love to love of living kept her in the world of the living, yet perhaps she was mad. Of the death and death of love of pain of agony, she cast it aside.
"Nevermore,' she declared. No words where needed here. In the mirror world of madness words were nothing. Intent gave way to form, to matter and energy. Twisted sites passed around them; dead cities, dying planets, death of men, death of monsters, death of age, death of time, death of everything and nothing, death of stars, death of women, death of death, death of dream and hope. Yet in every single scene she saw the mad ones; the haunting face that gloated over death, misery, despair and chaos.
'Lies,' the damned army of madness hissed. White faces became black then white then black then white in maddening repetition. Lies to truth to lies to truth and she cast them aside. Unreality was no reality as she had once said so long ago. In a different time and space, she had uttered those words as the mouthpiece of madness, yet man defied her to the last. Never again would the mad arise, the white and black doomed to eternal chaos of the Never-born and Never-was to wage war until unreality died the final death.
The scenes shifted again. A mother clutching her child as she ran only to be cut down by the not face, a child's head bouncing across a street like a macabre ball while a not face gloated, the massacre of children by grinning white not faces, men of valor taking cover in holes only to be crushed by sudden collapses of earth and stone from unseen white faces, an entire ship filled with people slowly drowning as their ship sank into the depths of a nameless ocean, and a thousand other images, memories of the damned, passed her by.
Until one came that she knew. One that she hated to remember yet loved to remember.
A woman with mint green hair wearing a white wedding gown, a man with dark blue hair in the formal outfit of the TSAB, her wedding the mad ones where using her wedding! Against her! The outdoor chapel, smiling and cheering friends as her memory kissed her memory husband. The joy on her memory's face was too much, Lindy tried to look away, but the phantasm settled around her shoulders to hold her fast. 'Watch" the mad commanded.
The memory Clyde began to slowly turn and rolled his shoulders. She saw the white not face hover over her memory self's head then burst into a thousand different faces, each different from the last yet the same. The faces hurled themselves towards the crowd like silent bolts of death. She watched in horror as Clyde was claimed. He fell back only to rise with the rest of the crowd. White not faces opened their mouths to mock her memory self. Her memory self cowered in the corner as the white faces converge on her. The mass of chanting voices converged on her, a wicked symphony praising her wedding. Joy was horror, pleasure was pain as dark clouds appeared and infinite needles rained down. Her memory self scrambled away, trying to save herself from the deadly hail, yet the not faces marched towards her even as needles filled her. Grasping hands of the not faces trapped her dream self and began to rip and tear at the dress. Inhuman strength, born from the madness shattered the fibers of man, leaving her memory self nude. Mad hands and mouths sought her memory flesh, ripping, biting and tearing. The memory self screamed and screamed in agony, in pain, in shame, in hopelessness.
'Stop it' Lindy begged as she tried to struggle against the phantasm the anchored her to this spot. It wouldn't allow her to shut her eyes or cover her eyes as the wicked symphony was going by familiar screams, her screams. She didn't want to she this anymore, this wasn't the Clyde she wanted to have any knowledge of, the friends and family she didn't want to remember even in a false memory. "Please end it!'
'Join' the phantasm commanded. 'Rejoin husband. Forever.'
'No. I have to live for the living, not the dead' she implored the phantasm though she knew it was useless. This creation had no concept of feelings or any remotely human traits. Everything's about it was stolen from the mad, the lost, the damned, and the dead. Even it multitude of tongues it used were stolen across a thousand battlefields, a thousand worlds, and millions dead.
Her memory self was torn to shreds, limbs bitten off by the mad ones, yet the memory did not die. It screamed in endless agony gathered over a thousand ages, the product of human nature. This not face was born of man and would die with man. In that she found some solace. The mad ones would rest with the dead one day when all was dust, when all of its lifeblood was drained away by the death of humanity. She had known that to be, it had to be. She had lived with the mad face for years. She knew the madness better than any mortal, the Book of Darkness had scene to that. For in the end the not face was a true face, the face of the darkness, the face of the night born out humanity's fears and hopes. The Tome of the Night Sky, the Book of Darkness, both were true
'Join'
The world rocked. The wedding, the possessed, and her memory self melted away as the image shook. The death of a dream, the end of a nightmare born from her will. In this place it was all she could do. The phantasm lifted from her and she fell as the ground of the dream vanished. The endless gray space, filled with mocking laughter from white faces, allowed her to fall into the depths of the darkness.
She vaguely knew that the heart of the mad ones was near, but she couldn't touch it. The one who would end her nightmare was not she; she was the vessel, the tie that held the true darkness back. That was truth of the cruse she had taken in folly; when her dying husband had been in her arms she had taken the curse from him out some misguided sense of easing his pain. Never being able to fight the darkness, yet intimately tied to it. She knew it as she knew herself, as she knew her husband.
'Join'
That damn word was chanted over and over, an unceasing choir of the damned seeking to drag her into their hell. How many times had she refuted them? Ten? A thousand? She had lost track. Every night, for years, they had come to her yet they had slowly quieted and faded away until Hayate Yagami took the Book. The core of the mad was awoken to serve it new master, but she wouldn't allow it. Never again would the mad roam the living plain as corporeal.
'Join'
'Never! Return to the darkest dreams, children of madness!" she commanded through her sobs. She trie to burn the image of her memory being eaten away, yet failed. The gleeful mad faces on her husband as they sank impossibly sharp teeth into her flesh…she couldn't get rid of them!
'Join'
The chanting started to fade. She fell deeper into the dark but she didn't fear it anymore. The heart of this darkness was the final resting place of her husband. His spirit would watch over her here, even if he was one of billions. His memory was her sword, his will her shield that she used to contain the darkness of the mad ones. She straightened her body and form the intent of a platform beneath her feet
'Join. Join. Join. Join…"
Here it ended.
Again.
'Nevermore,' she uttered. Her hand began to glow with a fierce white light. She raised her closed palm high and slowly let the glowing orb free. Basking the in warm glow of the orb, she prepared to break the mad. 'Nevermore.' The orb vanished in a flash. The chanting continued to fade away. One large, black chains across it forehead, face rushed her, grinning and cackling like mad. Space was immaterial here, it covered the distance in mere seconds, yet it was too slow.
The phantasm froze and shattered like glass. The mad chanting stopped as shards of black and white fell only to vanish into dust. Chains of white, chains of black were ground to dust as she came back from the nightmare's world where a moment was forever and forever was a moment. The face of the dying young man, his face twisted in agony greeted her, just it had so long ago on another far more familiar face.
She saw the intestines in the icy claw and moved without thinking forming another Reaper. "Release!" she snapped angrily. It hurt her to do this, but the man was dead by her hand or the monster. The compressed ball smashed through the innate barrier of the Enforcer with ease, the flare of gray magic was brief.
Man and monster exploded in her face, yet the young man had not screamed. There was no time for him to scream. He had been dead before her Reaper had struck only he didn't know it yet. Blood, guts and shards of ice showered her. She let them slip past her barrier. Hot blood ran down her face, staining her soul. It had been a long time since she had killed, the TSAB disapproved of it, but she had done him a favor. A quick death was a mercy compared to slow death as his body failed.
A feral snarled worked its way on to her face. "Unacceptable! Never again!" she snarled at the statues. "Never again! I promised! You bastards have forced this! Damn you, damn it, damn it all! Take this! Hunter's Moon!" She let her mana flare; her form was bathed in the light green glow of raw mana. Her savage snarl never left her face as she formed the spells. "Blood Briars!" she snapped, swinging her sword in a vicious uppercut that took the limb of a charging statue. The nightmare phantasm still haunted her sight, out of the corner of her eyes she swore she could see the face that was not a face.
Overhead the roof trembled as something hit it with great force. Great cracks formed in the ceiling. Frowning, Lindy poured more mana into her spells. The steps began to shake and the statue charged. Their claws sought her flesh, but she denied them. Unleashing the storm of mana into the Blood Briar, arcane roots burst from the floor and entangled any statue in the area.
Gasping talons and beaks lashed in vain from the forest of the brown roots. She gave them a mocking salute. "See you in hell, bastards. Crashdown!"
Suddenly the ceiling exploded, showering them with deadly slabs of ice as a massive boulder smashed into the trapped statues. Ice, stone and root went flying as the roof began to collapse. She heard her mages cry out in fear and begin to run down the steps. "Imperial Veil!" she snapped. Why did the ceiling have to collapse? It was rather inconvenient to cast she powerful spells in a row.
The falling rubble impacted her projected barrier and shattered as it rebounded. Projected barriers were a skill she had spent a long time perfecting. The TSAB officially didn't acknowledge its existence as it wasn't a lost skill of Belka, but classified it as too dangerous for the average mage to learn even the basics. Were a normal barrier would keep an object away from a mage unlit the attack ran out of energy, her projected barriers were more like active wards of the wizards. They siphoned energy from anything that touched them, be it magical, kinetic or a giant boulder and used the mage as a capacitor. The stored energy could then be channeled into the barrier and projected outwards as a weapon. Ten years ago she had proved the power this skill to the TSAB in the battle against the Book of Darkness's last master. A great many lives had been saved by this spell, but not those who mattered the most to her…
"No, enough of that," she reminded herself. The stored power was starting to show as sparks danced across her body. Her muscles burned and nerves screamed in agony. The human body was never designed to take the energy she was taking in, but it wasn't enough. She felt blood flowing form her nose and over her lips. The salty, metallic taste was a bad sign, but she wasn't ready. Gritting her teeth, she redirected the flow of energy back into the shield.
Her body cried out in joy as the foreign energy was removed. The barrier began to sputter and sizzle as the two energies clashed. "Everyone move!" she yelled as she took off down the steps. The barrier grew weaker as she turned her focus away from it. Her mages scrambled to get down the steps, were an enterprising Enforcer was leading the charge against the statues. Lindy threw herself down the last few steps, rolled and let the barrier shatter.
Whroom!
Without the barrier the rock and ceiling came down, sending a hail of dust and ice down the steps. Slowly Lindy rose to her feet, exhausted from the sudden use of so many powerful spells in a short time. I t had been too long since she had forced to use them yet the danger wasn't past. The way behind them was shut, the entire stairwell had been filled and she heard the sound of more of the ice walls falling onto of the rubble.
She tried to walk, but she felt the sting go pain and then the cold floor on her cheek. Her ankle throbbed and a quick look revealed her fears, it was swelling up. They were far from aid, injured, and the enemies were everywhere. "Damnit," she cursed in pain as she tried to stand again and fell. The panicked shouts and cries of the Enforcers slowly moving towards the main room on the ground floor reached her as she tried for a third time to stand only to fall once more.
"Captain, stop that!"
The youthful voice of one her Navy crew was unexpected. She recognized the blonde boy as one of Grif's engineers and apprentices. Charles was his name if she recalled correctly. Another look at the boy confirmed his identity as she pulled herself against the wall. The boy had the black eyes; only one member of her crew had blonde hair and black eyes, one Charles Alduran of Midchilda.
"Here, let me help you," he offered kneeling beside her. She threw an arm around his neck and he helped her to her feet.
"We…have to…ouch!" Lindy hissed in pain, then continued to hobble forward, "go on!" she finished with a wince of pain. Several of her crew gathered around, forming a shield after a fashion. Most of them were wounded in someway, but the solid wall of Enforcers kept them being easy prey.
They were coming up on the main chamber. The screams of pain from her own mages grew in number as the statues tried to block their way. She watched men and women be ripped in half, decapitated in a single blow, and die. The floor was covered in blood and bodies that would never be buried.
"Leave the dead," Lindy commanded to one the Enforcers who had fallen back slightly. The man's brown eyes shone with unshed tears as he started to lift a body from the floor.
The man gave her a look of utter loathing. His long brown hair was coated in blood and ice dust. "B-But…it's my b-brother…he…he wouldn't want to t-to b-be left like this…" the man stammered.
"Leave the dead," Lindy ordered again. She hated to do this, but had no choice. She had to be a leader and that meant doing the unpopular thing. Survival came first and the dead would be cared of afterwards. The Enforcer refused to move from his brother's corpse. "Twins?" she asked softly. The dead man's face or at least what was left of it looked similar to the live Enforcer. Ahead the Enforcers were pushing towards the main room, almost ready to make a break the exit or the lower levels.
"Aye, that's why…I-I can't leave him h-here…" the man rubbed his eyes as a solitary tear rolled down his cheek. "We-We promised not to leave the other's body…"
"I do sympathize with you. I really do. I lost my own husband some ten years ago and a many close friends. I know how it feels, but now is not the time. We must leave the dead and move on. If we don't then what was the point to their death? Then this it's a pointless sacrifice, so which is worth less, the pointless sacrifice or one that has meaning by living?" Lindy challenged the man.
For moment the man looked torn. She saw the anger in his eyes towards her and the look of utter despair when he looked at his brother's body. "Captain, you once said we will have to make our own choice, the hard choices that will break everything we ever learned, but we have to make them with all out hearts and then we can't go wrong," he replied levelly.
"Yes, I said that once or twice." Lindy was wary of this man now. There was a suicidal glint in his eye. Suddenly this man appeared to be all better and she knew he was broken. The death of a sibling was bad enough, but the death of twin whom one had known since before birth…she couldn't imagine the pain he was experiencing. "Oh no! No, no, no! Don't tell you plan to do that?"
He gave her a weak smile. "Sorry captain, it as to be done. This is my choice, damn the TSAB rules. You should get a move on. Please live, for our sakes. My name was Renault Ingess, my brother was Alfonse Ingess. Farewell, Queen of Fairies," the man finished with an air of finality.
"Captain, we have to go!" Charles pleaded, tugging at her carefully. They were about the same height, but he had always been on the lightweight side, even during his time in basic training.
"Are you sure? This is a…" Lindy asked, leaving the death part off.
Renault refused to answer; he wouldn't even look at her. He only nodded once, before hefting his brother's staff.
"…I don't like it…but…I wish you well Renault Ingess," Lindy offered sadly before she began to walk away. There was no saving that man, he was too far gone. The shock had killed Renault Ingess with the death of Alfonse Ingess. All there was now was a shell, a body that had yet to die.
Sometimes it was in the best interest humanity to let the dead die. Lindy wouldn't wasn't her chance, now it was time to run for cover.
"Purple Lighting Flash!"
The General of the Raging Flame lived up to her name as her flames consumed statue after statue. With a roar she severed another wing sending the statue tumbling to the ground. Signum caught the tell tale glint of flames of ice and parry a desperate strike. She felt the inhuman strength send shockwaves through her body and pumped more mana into Laevatein. The flames exploded with new vigor, but she was forced to break off the attack as another statue swooped down.
With a side step and a powerful strike, the statue was severed in two, crashing to the ground. She lashed out again, claiming the arm of statue, before she spun to defend herself from a pair of statues. There was no time to avoid; those hungry claws were aimed at her head.
"Panzerschild!" Signum raised her hand just in time. The sudden manifestation the purple Belkan triangle threw the statues backwards, tumbling it the air until they regained their balance. Wasting no time Signum charged. With a mighty slash she severed the two statues in a single blow. Magical flames danced across the statues torsos, a testament to the speed of her strike. They started to move, only finally accept that their lower halves were missing. For good measure she took a wing from each. They crashed to the ground as she scanned the room, watching and waiting for the next.
None of the statues seemed ready to attack. They waited in the shadowy alcoves, pupil-less eyes watching, restrained by some unseen force. Around her piles of ice shards covered the floor along with shattered remnants of arms, legs and wings. Behind her, Signum heard the sounds of the wizard dueling the minotaur statue. There a crash that could only be the giant axe slamming into the floor and a wizard sputtering cruses.
"Damn you bloody bastard! Stand still already, you great lump of ice!"
Her instincts were on high alert, her body roared with adrenaline. This was what she lived for. The rush of battle, the natural high she had learned to derive pleasure from. There was little else in the world that could bring her to this state of euphoria. She was a weapon honed on a thousand battlefields, created to kill and be killed, and it was all a means to an end. To protect, and to serve; that had been her mission and the reason she had joined the Wolkenritter as a young girl. Later it had led to her death and fusion with the Tome of the Night Sky. In her dreams all she could remember was this feeling, the rush when all things seemed sharper, when life and death were dealt in equal measure, but she had her self control. No knight of Belka was a berserker. That had been the lesson she had failed to teach Modred all those years ago; the lost lesson that had led to his downfall and the end of her life.
The wizard delivered a strong blow to the massive statue with his scythe; somewhere along the line he had decided to abandon the sword form. The blow barely chipped the ice before he a massive fist sent him sprawling across the room…into the path of the Nightmare.
The Nightmare slowly began to plod towards him. The real one had been equally slow, but deadly once it struck. The wizard's shield had spared him the brunt of the damage from the minotaur's fist, but she doubted when her strongest shields would hold under the relentless assault of a Nightmare. The wizard was picking himself up, muttering and cursing as he went. His back was to Nightmare and the minotaur was starting to move towards him again, having reclaimed its axe from the shattered floor were it had been imbedded.
"Would take one of them for me?" the wizard yelled, hefting his scythe.
Signum nodded, "I will take the Nightmare! Schlangeform!" Her Laevatein assumed its chain whip as she rushed the mass of ever shifting ice. "Flying Dragon Flash!" the chain whip burst into flames as she threw it towards the Nightmare. The great length reduced the amount of damage, but did its job. The ice shattered under the kinetic impact and magical flames, yet it hardly showed. The statue was distracted and she half retracted Laevatein with a flick of her wrist before going in for the kill again.
She struck it again and again. The flaming metal severed chunks of ice, but it never stopped coming. The failing chain whip severed another leg, only for the Nightmare to spawn another one. Nothing she did was slowing it down, a frown settled over her face. This stupid hunk of ice was too much like the original Nightmare fore her liking.
"Schwertform," she ordered. The chain whip was doing no good and she couldn't risk the Bogenform. "Fire Dragon Flash!" She poured her man into the spell; the flames around Laevatein grew in intensity. The Nightmare was closing the distance, she had to attack. "Fire Dragon Flash!" There was a risk to double casting, but she was confident Laevatein would hold.
The sword was wreathing in flames as she gripped her sword with both hands. She would put in all her might into this blow. Ending the flow of mana to focus on maintaining the spell, she charged. Like a fiery bullet, she sought to pierce the Nightmare in a single blow.
The shifting ice spawned arms as she covered the last few meters between them. The blow from an extended hand was easily dodged and she struck home. "YEEEE-AAARRRRGGGGG!" she bellowed as Laevatein bite deep it not the ice. She felt the ice resist, trying to slowly her blade by freezing around it, but the fire and her speed would not allow it.
With a great crack she felt Laevatein slip thorough the ice, then she saw the clawed hand in her path. She went wide eyed; there was no way to avoid those claws. Apparently the statue had guessed her course. The ripping sensations across her right side old her of the broken barrier and torn Armor was ease. The jagged claws dug into her skin even as she tried to turn her body to minimize the damage.
In a moment she saw the statue's plan clearly. It didn't want her body it wanted her hand; the one holding Laevatein. She could let go and keep her hand, but lose Laevatein or keep her grip and finish the cut. The choice was taken from her.
WHOOMP!
Signum gasped in pain as she was sent skyward. Her grip on Laevatein was gone. The two spells on Laevatein were still active as she saw that even the ceiling was covered in carvings. She reopened the link to the spells and let them go, just as she managed to right herself with a basic flying spell. The two spells overloaded and exploded with a roar.
Ice shards, dust and smoke billowed out from the magical flames. Here and there she saw her flames burst from the smoke. The whooshing sound of the flying statue caught her attention and she looked to side. A wolf like statue winged it way towards her from some unseen rafter. Quickly she dropped down, without Laevatein she didn't want to fight the statue in its element.
She dropped near the dais were the dragon statue in the wall was moving, but made no move to attack or do much of anything. That crystal was shinning with a black glow from the depths. The facets in white and black light seemed to pulse, throbbing like a human heart.
She gave her wounds a once over, the claws had broken her skin and were bleeding heavily. It stung and she bit back a cry of pain. The damned claws were jagged and had done far more damage than a sharp claw. She placed hand over the wounds, trying to apply some pressure as her blood covered her hand. In the back of her head she felt the Tome's regeneration system kick, the wounds stung but they would heal. The link was growing weaker though and every moment they stayed open the connection between the Tome and herself was shortened. When it was gone so too would she. Hayate would never know. The girl who had taught them to love would never know what she planned to do. She would vanish and never be heard from again, missing yet present, alive yet dead. There was no other way.
The heavy footfall of the Nightmare brought her attention back to her lack of a weapon. The smoke and ice shards had subsided, the monster stood tall. She could see Laevatein's hilt sticking out from the ice. It was embed near the back of the statue, she been so close too severing it in two. The body had been stained black and the living ice no longer flowed where she had cut. The flames had seen to that.
"GO TO HELL! PERISH! PERISH! PERISH DAMN YOU!" the wizard roared suddenly.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the wizard hacking away at the minotaur's head. The floor around the minotaur had been torn up. The giant axe lay embed in the wall. Harry Potter wore a savage smile as he struck against the statue who attempted to swat and smack the wizard. Blood trickled down the wizard's forehead, yet he showed no signs of slowly down. Every blow from his scythe, every close range spell, sang of power as he chipped away at the statue.
But the minotaur was not her problem. She lacked a weapon and the Nightmare was moving again, but far slower than before. Her strike must have severed some of the control it had over it lower body and legs. It didn't help her though, Laevatein was beyond her reach. The monster moves towards her, overhead the flying statues began to circle like carrion birds waiting to feast on her corpse.
"Not today," she muttered. Signum began to channel her mana into her finger tips. A purple glow burst from each finger and soon her entire hand was covered in a purple aura. "I hate using this but, it can't be helped. Dragon Talon Shoot!"
A hail of purple blots, the width of her fingers, burst from her finger tips and careened into the Nightmare. The monster was riddle with small explosions as the pure fire mana burst into it body. Hands and heads ruptured where her arrows hit home.
She kept the spell up as she took a slow step forward. She felt the blood burst out as she raised her other hand to bombard the beast. Spreading her fingers she ensured the monster was hammered in every part of its body. It had stopped moving as it desperately sought to defend itself from the bolts.
One slow step at a time she thought. I'm coming Laevatein! She heard the wizard launch another string of curses after a loud crash. She never took her eyes off the monster before her. Harry Potter would live; he was a survivor that didn't need her to watch him constantly. Every arm the formed was blasted off before it could lash out at her. Laevatein was so close; she could almost reach out and touch the hilt.
Signum let her barrier flare as she step closer to the monster. Her mana conversion affinity allowed her to craft a wall of flames around her body that seared the ice. With one hand she bombarded the area around her with Dragon Talons, rapidly moving her hand back and forth. The other grasped Laevatein's hilt and she pulled hard. The blackened ice cracked, but held fast.
The Nightmare formed a hand high above her then brought it downwards, intend to smash her skull. She let the hilt go and loosed a hail of Dragon Talons. Ice shards and dust fell overhead, only to melt a when they impact her barrier. She reached out for the hilt and gave it another strong pull. The blackened ice gave way and her sword, her friend through many dark adventures, was free.
Blade in hand she leapt away, letting her mana power her jump. Signum landed halfway between the dais and the door, slowly rising to her feet. The aura of the Dragon Talons faded, her mana was running low. The Talons cost a great deal of mana to sustain and she rarely used it. She had never mastered the spell before she joined the Wolkenritter and Tome of the Night Sky. Master spells was difficult when they lost their memories every time a new master was chosen. Only the Book controlled which memories they had, if she had every master the Talons then the Book didn't want her to remember how she managed it for its own reasons.
"Signum!"
The familiar cry brought her caused her to whirl around to only door in the room. She heard a battle cry and a smashing sound then saw the flying statue being hurled into the room missing most of its body. The head shattered as the Knight shook her head. "Go back Hayate. I will not risk your life in this fight."
"No, I don't remember allowing you make my decisions for me," Hayate snapped, jabbing her staff into the ground for effect. "I want to help. We're a family and family helps each other, even if it hurts."
"Signum! You're wounded!" Shamal cried, slipping past Hayate. In a furry of green skirts, the blonde healer was at the swordswoman's side. "Hold still, this might sting," the blonde warned her as she forcible removed the swordswoman's hand from the wound.
"I can't allow that. As the Mistress of the Night Sky, I have to protect you. I can't allow you to enter this battle."
"You can't stop me. I want to help, besides what about the defense program? You let me go into it with the rest of the strike team."
"It could not harm you. The program, even when it was a going berserk, could not harm you," Signum explained. "That does not change the fact that I cannot allow you to join this fight."
Hayate frowned at her statement. "Signum…you said it yourself. I am the Mistress of the Night Sky. I have this power, what good is it if I don't use it to help my friends and family?"
Signum had to give her that point. Hayate was correct, for so long the tome had been used for evil and Hayate was ready to redeem its legacy, but it changed nothing. The Nightmare was too dangerous for Hayate to confront at her current level. Signum then did something she rarely did as Vita and Zafira slipped in behind Hayate. She pointed her sword at her master. "Schlangeform. I will use force to keep you from this fight if I must." The chain whip coiled around her body, ready to block any move her master might try.
Hayate's mouth fell at that cold proclamation. Signum ignored the shock on Vita's face, the growl of displeasure from Zafria and Shamal's disbelief. To have a one of their own point a weapon at their master was scandalizing, and beyond shocking. Perhaps the Tome would destroy her when it saw this betrayal, but Signum doubted it still had that much power over her.
"Wa…What?" Hayate managed to gasp out.
The look of betrayal and the sadness on her face, in her eyes, made Signum regret every pointing the sword at her. This girl had saved them and this was how she, the General of the Raging Flame, repaid her for that kindness. Yet she couldn't regret it. She was the leader of the Wolkenritter, leader of the defenders of the Tome and that meant she had to make the hard choice. She couldn't protect Hayate in this fight. To let her fight would violate her duty as a Knight sworn to the Tome of the Night Sky. As much as it hurt Hayate, it hurt her more. Signum felt her heart shattered, but hide behind the emotionless mask, even suppressing the winces of pain as Shamal healed her wounds. She forced herself to meet Hayate's troubled and hurting eyes.
That was her price of this action and she couldn't, she wouldn't, flinch. Those eyes, she burned them into her soul with all the hurt and pain of betrayal. "I will ask you to stand down Mistress," Signum said a great deal calmer than she felt, using Hayate's formal title. "Let your servants handle this affair."
"No," Hayate whispered. She took a step towards the swordswoman. "No," she said stronger as she took another step. "NO! I won't let you…you…you selfish bastard!" The girl broke her own rule about swearing, a testament to her hurt and the depth of the betrayal. There were tears in her eyes, tears of hurt.
"DAMN YOUR SOUL!" Harry roared, and then came a great crash, but Signum didn't break eye contact with her master.
"Why? Why are you being like this Signum? Tell me please!" Hayate implored of her, stretching out her arms.
"Ah, to hell with this! Zafira bind Signum if you have to," Vita snapped. "I'll go help the wizard and put that…thing Signum was fighting away," the small Knight stated before she sped off to join the battle.
"CHILD OF A LESSER BEING, BURN YOUR EYES FOREVER! I"LL SEVER YOUR BODY AND SOUL INTO SO MANY PIECES NOBODY WILL EVER BE ABLE TO PUT YOU BACK TOGETHER AGAIN BITCH!" Harry screamed as Signum heard a crash and the sound of metal being cut.
Signum chanced a glance over at the wizard. He stood triumphant over the shattered body of the minotaur in the remains of the floor. A metal orb, cleaved in two lay in the center of the statue's ruined chest. He raised the head, still blinking and working its mouth in soundless grunts of rage, and threw it against the wall. It shattered and he laughed, the laugh of a mad victory, of and drunk on the rush of victory. Dressed in black, fresh blood stains across his pale skin and wicked scythe in hand he looked like death incarnate. War and death Signum corrected herself. She knew the feeling he was feeling well. She had worn the same look across a thousand battlefields as she lived in the flames of wrath and the ash of madness.
"Signum."
Hayate's voice brought her attention back to the matter at hand. "There is nothing more to say. You will stay back," Signum commanded. She raised Laevatein and started to turn when Zafria spoke.
"Hold," the wolf snarled, blocking her path to the Nightmare that Vita was hammering away at. "I can't stop you here. I can't stop you from fighting. I can stop you from making a mistake. Talk to her. Leave the rest to us."
His tone left no room for argument. The worst part was that Signum knew he was right. The bridge between Hayate and her was on fire, but it wasn't gone yet. It could be saved…if she tried. Was she the Guardian of the Tome or Signum? "Very well, I will guard her," she told the guardian beast who nodded his approval. Signum put her back to the battle, to the lights in the air, to the ice shards falling from the sky, from the roar of magic and chip of ice. She briskly walked to Hayate's side and gently pushed her master into the hallway. "Your abilities are ice based or large area spells. If you cast them here you would only injure our allies," she informed the girl quickly.
"Signum…" Hayate began in a small voice as the Knight took up her post, watching the battle inside the room and the hallway. "We…we…need to talk."
"No, there is a battle going on. What is needed now is a careful eye and quick hand," Signum replied succinctly. She watched the eaves of the room where the flying statues whirling about with a cautious eye.
"Signum," Hayate implore her after a minute. "Please, talk to me."
"Mistress, I can not carry out my duties properly if you insist on talking." Signum knew that answer was cold, it was a rebuttal that only brunt the bridge even more. It was good thing the flying statues hadn't begun their attack. Even with their current numbers, they would be overwhelmed in moments by virtue of numbers alone.
Hayate began to hiccup and out of the corner of her eyes the Knight saw her wipe away tears. "I-Is thi-this the r-real you?" she stuttered out. "Wh-Why? I..." She wiped away another tear. "I-I thought…thought w-we were family!"
Those words shatter her bleeding heart. Hayate had lived alone for all those years with the wasting sickness of the Tome. Her mother was always away on business and her father had died several days after her fourth birthday. Her uncle rarely to see her and her aunt hated Hayate and her mother. If she had gone on alone then there was little doubt in Signum's mind that she would have taken her own life.
The Tome brought her the Wolkenritter and she had attached herself to them. She had seen them as the family she never had. Vita, Shamal, Zafira, and herself…they had become the family Hayate had never had, the family she had never dealt with through all the normal issues of life. That lack of experience was rearing its ugly head now. Could it have found a worse time to strike?
"We are," the Knight asserted, she watched Vita knock the Nightmare back and the wizard struck the fallen foe again and again. "Nothing will ever change that."
"T-then w-why?" Hayate asked, her voice becoming a little stronger.
"It's…" Signum searched for the word, "complex."
"Ho-How so?"
Signum was silent as she watched Fate cleave a pair of flying statues in two and bring down a chunk of the ceiling as well. "Families…go through many things. Trials, I suppose, that test and strengthen their bonds. As you r knight I cannot allow you to be harmed. As family I don't want to see you harmed, but I cannot control you. Which is it? Which one am I?" Signum asked herself.
She felt two warm arms embrace her and squeeze her hard. Hayate buried her head in the Knight's back. The swordswoman felt familial warmth flood her, calling her to relax in that embrace.
"You're Signum, silly. My strong, loyal, beautiful, and socially inept Signum. A part of my family, so I want to keep you around for a while longer, 'kay?"
The Knight felt a blush rise over the words delivered so lovingly. Had she really broken the heart of this girl who loved her so? Was all this just a dream? Did it matter? It felt good, those words where almost too good. "Thank you…Hayate," she said softly. "Thank you."
"Hmmm, you still need to be punished though," Hayate replied mischievously. "And your punishment is…boobies!"
Signum knew her face was red as the girl groped her, squeezing and teasing. She tried to take it silently, but she epped and ah-ed. Why did it feel so wrong, yet so right? Damn you Hayate! I will have my revenge… ahhh! Some…ahhh…day! AHHH! "Not there!" she shouted a bit too loudly.
For the first time in a long time she wanted to die. All her allies watched her from where they stood or hovered for a moment, trying to discern why she had shouted. Some raised an eyebrow at the Knight, others just sighed and returned to the fight. "Kill me now!" Signum moaned. "Ahhh!
The dimensional sea was quiet today. The Whitefire's long distance scanners detected no anomalies within several hours of my fleet. I called up a tactical display screen. The screen fizzled for a second as new data began to overwrite the old data. The Lasse battlegroup, with its heavy battleships, sat beyond the arc made by the rest of the battlegroups formed. They were the bait, the sacrifice I offered to the Princesses fleet.
The strike cruisers of the Remembrance and Jarpaun groups made up most of the arc. They were spread thin on purpose, a purpose they had only to look at their current position to understand. This was no annihilation mission, this was a suicide mission. We were going to hit the enemy fleet over and over until they wiped out every last one of us. I had no plan to retreat, no plan to save any of the ships or their crews, none was needed. We would be backed into a corner. If the men and women on any of these ships even wanted a chance to see home then they would give me everything and fight with the fury of the damned.
Eliza and I held the other two battlegroups just beyond loose arc. We would sweep in once the battle began. The Princess's fleet had to come this way; there was no other path through the dimensional sea that would lead them to their destination. The currents of time and space that allowed us to traverse the vast gulfs across universe and dimensions only flowed in certain ways and in certain areas.
Where we now sat on was one such current. To avoid us would mean traveling thorough realspace and even if they could breach the dimensional barriers then it would take many years before the Princess's fleet would be a danger to anyone, assuming they weren't destroyed by the hordes of Flayers, demi-humans who preyed on any ship foolish enough to leave the dimensional sea and try to navigate real-space. The Flayers hadn't always been around though. Once it had been safe to roam anywhere without fear, but the Return changed that. The Return changed a lot of things and not for the better. The flesh eating Flayers never killed unless forced to, they preferred live prisoners. They fed off the residual energy from dimensional travel, but they themselves were incapable of entering it.
If the plan failed and we couldn't scratch the oncoming fleet then I would drag everyone here into real-space. This region of space was notorious for the high density of Flayers that roamed the handful of stars and planets in the sector. The Tallarn Sector had once been the home to a prosperous late industrial of civilization until the Return came. The Flayers swarmed the Tallarn Sector and within days the civilization had been overrun. The records of the holocaust that followed, the barbaric savagery and agony suffered from the hands of the Flayers was used to teach every officer, commander and enlisted to, no matter what Warlords they served, fear the Flayers. Even those of us with endless life had no wish to fall into the hands of the Flayers, yet I considered it better than my guilt and failures. To be forever tortured, ripped, gnawed on, raped, and flayed alive by the Flayers was infinitely better than living with my failures.
"Contact!" someone on the bridge yelled, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"ID them, ASAP!" I commanded.
"Yes ma'am! LR-SM IFF engaged. Scanning will compete be completed in twenty seconds!" the same officer informed the bridge.
"Tell all ships to open their gun batteries, its time to see what we caught in out nets." My words had the communications officer hopping to do my will. Everyone looked at me with fear now. They had forgotten what I was and now they remembered even though is had cost my Lady three ships and some ten thousand men in total.
Eager anticipation settled over the bridge for those long twenty seconds. Had we caught the fleet? Were these allies? A trader caravan? The thrill of not knowing from a superior position behind hundreds of ships and enough firepower to waste a solar system was not to be missed.
"LR-SM IFF scan complete! Enemy detected. It's the Princess's fleet. Her ship is with the fleet too!"
Dead silence settled over the bridge and, I imagined, across the bridge of every ship here. A Warlord here…that was bad for us. Her personal ship was coming and she would be on it. We were doomed…what ever hope of victory was gone. She would sweep us aside like nothing.
"What about the rest of the enemy fleet?" I asked.
"Five hundred Savant class strike cruisers, two hundred Remorse class battleships, two hundred and sixteen Sankt class carriers, countless support craft, twenty three Wolf Knight battle barges, seventy two capital class or higher ships, eighty six TSAB dreadnoughts too!" the officer read off mechanically.
That was no fleet trying to lift a siege. That was an invasion fleet and one of the heaviest pushes any Warlord had made in the last ten years. We had no prayer of stopping them. With my four battlegroups they wouldn't even be tickled. They could fly straight through us without too many losses. Nevertheless I had to try. Now it was certain we would all die here.
"Shields to maximum! Scramble all fighters! Charge all main cannons! Deploy the mines and drones! Take us to stage one alert! Tell the techs to prep for electronic warfare! Lock down the logic drives and Magi cores! Mobilize internal security and prepare for counter boarding actions!" I snapped my commands one after the other. "Get me an ETA!"
"Logic drives are calculating," another officer replied. The girl, woman really but every one aboard this ship was younger than me, was the latest addition to the bridge crew.
She had yet to prove her worth; this was her first post after all and probably would be her last. According to her records she was one of the finest cadets to come out of the Anchorage Naval Institute in the last decades. A genius in any other age, she was a talented logic engine software engineer. It would be a blow to my Lady to lose such talent, but there was no option. There was no escape for her or any of us. My actions had seen to that.
"ETA is sixteen minutes, ma'am," she replied, looking at me.
She had beautiful blue eyes, stunning eyes, framed by silky black hair cut around her ears. At another time I might have invited her to my chambers to play with, but perhaps that was why my Lady wouldn't take me. It would make sense I mused as I looked at into the girl's eyes. It would have been fun to make her scream, but my lusts were trivial before what I know faced. "…a pity…" I murmured.
"Lady Inquisitor?" she hesitantly asked with a slight blush on her pale cheeks.
"Ah…What is your name again?" I asked the girl.
"Lieutenant Marianna Calsuburn," she answered smartly, though she was still confused by my actions.
I see…" I brunt her face and name into my memory. Her death really would be a waste Open a fleet wide channel," I said, tearing my gaze from the girl.
"Channel open, ready when you are ma'am," the communications officer said with a salute and a goofy grin. He had seen me staring at the girl and no doubt was having some rather perverted thoughts.
If we survived this fight I would have to kill him. "Attention servants of our Lady, the White Devil. The enemy fleet is approaching. The Princess is coming along with her entire fleet. It would seem she has pulled back all her ships to deal with our little siege. In addition she has forces of the Dark Angel and Wolf Knight mercenaries accompanying her fleet. Make no mistake; this is not a liberation fleet. This is an invasion fleet, a fleet born with one purpose in mind; to crush, plunder and slaughter their way across many, many star systems. The target of this fleet is without a doubt our Lady's realm. They intend to burn, rape and slaughter their way into the heart of our Lady's people and attempt to snuff out her light.
Yes, they outnumber us, but I have alongside many you. I have heard the tales of valor, of the sacrifice and courage of the crews of every ship here. The odds are stacked against us, not everyone will come out of this battle alive. None of us might come out alive, but death is a forgone conclusion.
You all are the finest that our Lady, the best of the best. That was why we were given this task." A few lies were required in every speech, and this feel good speech of mine needed them. "Our Lady knew of your prowess and commanded we fight this day. Death is not the end for us, the servants of the White Devil. Death is merely the start of our greater journey. Do not fear death, for in death you will go into our Lady's arms and find rest forever. Those you love know this to be true. This is the truth of Lady brought to our people, a salvation, and a hope of life beyond death. The flesh is weak, the mind will falter, but the soul…that will last forever.
In time we all will join her, it only a matter of how many enemies we bring to her when we approach her holy radiance. For ever enemy dead she has promised us rewards beyond mortal minds." I paused for a moment the started again. "No man or woman here is allowed to die until he or she has slain at least ten thousand of our enemies, be them the heretic followers of Death's Princess and her allied heretics or traitors within our ranks. This day we will drag them to our Lady in death or in life, so fight with the fruy of a thousand demons. You are the horde of White Devil, your task is to slaughter and destroy. To day you fulfill every oath you have taken, every vow made to our Lady will be met this day. In the name of Lady, who brought us hope of a future, FIGHT! FIGHT for life! FIGHT for death! FIGHT for those you love! FIGHT for a future for our people! FIGHT for their memory! FIGHT to live! FIGHT to die! FOR THE WHITE DEVIL!"
A/N: Please note that this chapter has yet to be beta read. When my beta gets around to it I will replace this chapter with beta version. I'm not sure on the flow of the Hayate/Signum scene or if it even fits the rest of the chapter, but I'll leave it for now. My beta and I were going to discuss it, but the beta has gone MIA and I've made fans wait long enough. This story has just crested the 100,000 words mark as well! Yahoo for me!
Season one is nearing its ending! Chronicles of Ascension as two or so chapters left. By the last chapter I will announce the title of season two so stay tuned! Remember to review people. It doesn't take too long.