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CHAPTER 41
Marcia cleared her throat, looking around at the assembled group aboard the Tether. With Mistral growing closer by the hour, the EDC General and her fellow tacticians, Peleus and Cinder, had called everyone together to outline their course of action. They were all standing around a large circular table, covered in multitudes of folders, papers, and small data devices.
"Alright," Marcia said loudly, "at our current speed, we will be arriving in Mistral in approximately four hours. When we arrive, we will be meeting up with resistance forces within the Historical District of the city."
"We're going to set the Tether down somewhere safe outside the city," Cinder clarified, quickly pointing to an aged paper map of the Kingdom and the surrounding land. "The Order would probably just shoot us out of the sky if we tried to enter into Mistral directly, so we're going to have to walk a bit. Thankfully, Peleus managed to access resistance radio signals using the Tether's long-range transmitter. They know we're coming, and they will assist us in gaining access through the wall."
"The remains of the Mistral Army and Guard Force are spread thin," Peleus added. "They have fallen into a stalemate along the edges of the Government and Residential Districts. From what they've been able to tell us, the Order seems more interested in holding their ground around the Senate building rather than retaking the city."
"Now, to outline the plan itself," Marcia continued, gesturing for everyone to gather around the map. "The Mistral forces reported that three of the Lords have been spotted regularly patrolling around areas along the front. Their presence is what has blocked the resistance thus far..." The General paused for a moment. "One of our first jobs is going to be removing them from the equation... Peleus, Pyrrha, and Cinder will be coordinating our assault from an old city-wide radio tower while we send small teams to deal with the Lords. Any remainders of our group will assist the resistance in pushing towards the Senate building and securing the exterior."
"The three Bloodlines that have been spotted are Europa, Golem, and Enigma," Cinder explained. "Both Enigma and Golem are most powerful in single combat, so I recommend sending two of our own Bloodlines to fight them."
"Do we know where Carnage and Agony are?" Ryan asked.
"The resistance reports suggest that the two of them are holed up inside the Senate building, working on who knows what," Marcia answered.
"Very well, then," the Bloodline of Flame nodded. "I will volunteer to fight Europa. And I would prefer to take Felstrand and Xiao Long along with me."
"Wait, us?" Yang said in surprise. She had barely spoken to Ryan, so she had no idea why he'd pick her and Ryland to accompany him. "Why?"
"I was told that you successfully held off Europa on your own once before," the ex-Lord answered, "That, and I trust the two of you have more than some small desire to face Europa again."
"Thanks, Ryan," Ryland said gratefully. "I'm in."
"And I guess I'm following too, to make sure Ry doesn't get himself killed," Yang added.
"That's one group taken care of," Marcia nodded.
"We'll take Golem," Jerloh said. "Myself, Alyia, and Weiss. There's a bit of a score to settle."
"I trust he won't know what hit him," the EDC General inclined her head.
"Peleus. Cinder," the Terror Inheritor called to get the Senator and tactician's attention. "I'm leaving Lex with you at the radio tower. I'm trusting you both that she'll be alright."
"I understand," Cinder nodded. "I'll keep an eye on her."
"Thank you," Jerloh replied.
"That leaves just leaves Enigma..." Peleus said softly, staring at the map of Mistral. "Eve, I expect you and Elise would prefer to deal with her personally?"
"Yes," Eve acknowledged, "she's someone we have to deal with on our own."
"That takes care of the teams attacking the Lords," Alex spoke up, "It will be up to the rest of us to push through the city and secure the Senate building. So, Luna, Ruby, D, Firo, and Blake are all with me. Actually, wait- Marcia, I didn't hear your name among the group that's going to be at the radio tower."
"That's because I'm not just going to be sitting around and hoping that you lot won't do something stupid. I'm going to be coming with you and helping retake the city the old-fashioned way," the Gen- No, Alex could see this wasn't an officer talking. This was his old squadmate, someone who had always watched out for him, someone he trusted implicitly. "That is... providing you've got room for an extra sniper, Alex."
"I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have covering our backs," the blond soldier replied with a smile. "It'll be nice to have to be part of the team again, Marcia."
"I guess it'll be like old times, then," Dimitri added from where he was leaned against the wall of the room. "Welcome back, Little Marcia."
"Alright," Cinder said, "enough chattering. We've got less than four hours to prepare all our gear."
"Right," Alex nodded. "Okay, everyone, let's get this done."
"So, what should we expect when we fight Europa?" Yang asked as she strapped on one of her armor's thigh plates.
"She will likely not make the same mistake of underestimating you again," Ryan replied, "so, I recommend that the two of you lend me support from a distance while I engage her directly. With any luck, she won't be able to concentrate enough to use her Kinesis Secondary."
"What about those clones or any Shade or Acolyte that's milling about with her?" Ryland inquired, attaching his armor's chestplate into its proper place with a sturdy click.
"They won't be an issue," the Bloodline of Flame answered. "A grand majority of the Order's strength will likely be pulled to attempt to stop Greene's advance towards the Senate building. That should leave only Europa and her direct honor guard for us to deal with."
"It just struck me how completely crazy this plan sounds," Yang commented with a smile. "Luckily for all of us, I think the three of us are just insane enough to pull this off. Still, need to get something out of the way first." Yang punctuated the end of her sentence by grabbing Ryland's cheeks between her hands and kissing him passionately. Idly, Ryan turned away as the orange-haired engineer began to struggle for air. The couple broke away from each other with huge grins stretched across their faces.
"If you two are done," the ex-Lord quipped, "it would probably be better for us to be ready to deploy sooner rather than later."
"Right, sorry," Ryland scratched the back of his head through his messy hair. "We'll be prepped before the Tether sets down."
"Yeah," Yang punched her fists together in front of her. For a moment, her eyes flashed red and a glowing pulse passed through her hair. "Then, we'll teach that bitch a lesson."
"My Lords," a Knight stepped into a ruined conference room within the Mistral Senate building, taking a bow as he entered. Four of the five Lords sat idly around a wooden oval-shaped table. Golem sat with his eyes closed, seemingly meditating. The Bloodline of Earth's gaze cracked open to stare annoyedly at the Knight. Europa looked up from a bag of chips she was nibbling on, one of the crisps held gingerly between the fingers of her newly built prosthetic arm. Enigma noiselessly shifted, rising to her feet, her expression once again hidden by her helmet. Carnage moved anything but silently, red lights coursing across the Lord's artificial body as he awoke from his slumber. The Knight gulped hesitantly at the room. "L-Lord Agony wishes to speak with all of you right away..."
"Tell him that we will arrive shortly," Golem answered kindly as he stood. The Knight nodded and fled the conference room with as much haste as he could muster. "We had best not keep the High Lord waiting. It wouldn't do for any of us to disappoint him further."
"Piss off," Europa replied hostilly, though she rose to her feet anyway, tossing the bag of chips carelessly into a corner of the destroyed room.
"Arguing... will only... delay us... more..." Enigma stated between sharp, painful breaths.
"Are you well, Enigma?" Golem inquired, "You sound like you have been in pain since returning from your pursuit of Senator Nikos."
"Lord Agony... was not... pleased... with my results..." the small Lord answered as the Bloodline of Earth began to lead them towards their destination. "He... grew more furious... when I asked... about... the other girls..."
"What other girls?" Carnage growled, speaking up for the first time. The heavy metal of his body caused the floors of the Senate building to creak unhappily.
"The one... called 'Eve'... and the other... that looks... nearly... the same..." Enigma answered.
"Ah," Carnage rumbled. "They are your siblings, Lord Agony's failed attempts at creating a perfect Human prior to you. They were defective, so the Order disposed of them."
"What is... a 'sibling'?" Enigma asked. Carnage's body imperceptibly tensed. Lord Agony would not be pleased if they had to "dispose" of another of his few living creations.
"Not something you need to concern yourself with," Golem cut in with a disarming smile. "You should not distract yourself with such needless thoughts."
"Okay..." Enigma nodded, causing Carnage to relax behind her. The small Lord slowly pulled ahead of the other three and out of earshot. Golem turned to glare at Carnage. He had seen the metal Lord ready a massive hand to reach out and crush Enigma's head in his grasp. Sensing the building tension and wanting to get involved in none of it, Europa quickened her pace, leaving the two male Lords trailing behind.
"You truly are nothing but a beast," Golem snarled. "Have you no sense of honor? You would kill a small girl while her back was turned?"
"You talk about Enigma as if she's Human," Carnage growled. "She isn't. She is property of Lord Agony. A tool. And when a tool breaks and cannot be repaired, it is thrown away." The metal Lord suddenly found himself smashed into the nearest wall, a white glyph hovering beside Golem. Wordlessly, the Bloodline of Earth dismissed the floating sigil and walked hastily down the hallway. Carnage stared angrily at the other Lord's retreating form as he pulled himself from the sizable dent he had left in the wall. "And perhaps Enigma isn't the only one in need of replacement..."
"Lord Agony," Golem greeted, his boots clanking against the floor as he entered into the ruined chamber that had been the Senate assembly room. The blood-haired Agony's back was turned away from the stands where Europa and Enigma had seated themselves. A large spire-like device sat in the center of the circular room, with open panels and wires strewn everywhere.
"Golem," Agony acknowledged. "Where is Carnage?"
"He should be arriving soon," the Bloodline of Earth replied. As if on cue, the massive Lord came lumbering into the assembly chamber, shaking small bits of debris and kicking up dust with each heavy step. Carnage snarled and took a series of aggressive steps towards Golem.
"Carnage," Agony warned menacingly. "Whatever grievance you have with Golem may wait until we have returned to our own world."
"So, speaking of that," Europa spoke up, leaning back with her feet up in one of the Senate's chairs, "is this thing our ticket back home?" She inclined her head towards the spire.
"Indeed it is," Agony nodded. "This device should serve to open a gateway for our forces to depart this world. Once we are away, I will detonate it so we cannot be followed."
"And that'll probably strand the EDC and those Guardians here," Europa said.
"For a time, perhaps," Agony replied. "I have little doubt that the Guardian they call 'Architect' has been working on a similar method of traveling to this world to 'rescue' their friends."
"Still, any time we gain is an advantage for us," Europa shrugged.
"Yes..." Carnage's metallic skull-like face split into a hungry grin. "With many of their Bloodlines trapped here, the EDC will be vulnerable..."
"That is the optimal result, yes," Agony affirmed. "In the meantime, I require all of you to keep this position from falling. The residents of Mistral have proven to be more tenacious than we originally anticipated." The other four Lords nodded solemnly as Agony continued to hand out orders to them.
Enigma sat down in a corner of an isolated room on her own. Shakily, she removed her helmet, taking a careful look at her own face in the shattered glass of a window. Long, messy locks of blood-red hair fell down her shoulders, reaching to her back. Through her uncut bangs, she could make out the faintest outline of her emerald-green eyes.
Enigma was quite clear on the method of her "birth", Lord Agony had wasted no time in telling her that she was artificial. Carnage had said the other two girls were defective earlier attempts at creating her... The small Lord shook her head, quickly shoving her helmet back into its proper place. Agony grew angry whenever he saw her face, that was why she hid it.
For a moment, Enigma remembered her encounter with Eve and the other, similar looking woman. When they had seen her face, their expressions had puzzled her. Unlike Agony, they hadn't looked disgusted with her appearance. There had been... worry... grief... sorrow... for her. Enigma didn't understand it. Maybe... if she saw them again... she'd ask about it... as long as Lord Agony didn't find out...
A/N: Little bit of a shorter build-up chapter today.
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