Tyrants will fall
They were approaching the monastery, which was on a half-terraformed planet, covered with dry plains covered with lichens and mosses. The air was breathable, but thin as in the high mountains. It was hard to breathe here without the environmental armor, but Captain Moonshadow it didn't make much of a difference anyway. And so the mask always helped her breathing. She spread her cybernetic wings and landed on the lichen crunching under her feet as Tonado, Gydwa and Kaert climbed down the rope. Skittermander was as full of absolute faith as ever in his captain, but the morale of the rest of her officers had waned when they received a message from this Horde Ultimate. She herself was confused. She remembered the Invader's appearance, and when she saw him on the video, she felt… sad? He couldn't end up like this. Hers was vengeance. No one had the right to take her revenge. This Mind Eater… What was she? Had she given her enemy a fate a hundred times worse than anything she could think of? The questions suddenly multiplied so much. And she didn't have time to consider all the possibilities. Her crew was concerned about possibility of meeting the Lady of Chaos, as was she, but she suspected who the woman was. "She stole my sword and sold her soul to demons. It would be fitting for such a treacherous seed, she thought. She was ready to fight even a demon princess to reclaim her inheritance and satisfy her hunger for revenge... But her crew wasn't prepared for that. They could fight the Azlanti and space monsters, and ultimately the Hell Knights. But will he be able to persuade them to set foot on a world devoured by demons? To come face to face with the heirs of one who burned entire nations to ashes? Who would be reasonable to oppose such a person?
For now they were calm, they hadn't met any threat yet, the whole journey was actually more peaceful than usual, but she knew that the moment of truth would come after the first clash. She agreed to help search the monastery to keep her crew busy, because when the pirates got bored, they came up with stupid ideas. Besides, she hoped that perhaps they would get some information about what was going on here. Treasures were also important. The monasteries were wealthy, so there was a chance that they could get his riches, which would boost the morale of the crew…if someone hadn't already seized them. She wasn't sure what attacked the monastery was interested in his property. After receiving Horde Prime's looping monologue, she assumed that he was unlikely to be interested in material goods ... So much the better for her crew.
Deadly Sword of Burning Fury landed near the monastery. Seeing his crew, she smiled beneath the mask. Dragonkin, a human girl with orcish amulets, and an elf tattooed with flaming roses stood in a cluster, watching her carefully and trying to look as threatening as possible, which they managed not too badly. The white-haired girl stood a bit to the side, looking at her scared, apparently she had never seen a real pirate. The last of the young people was not visible, but seeing the red dot on Gydwa's temple, she understood what she was doing. She really liked these kids. Maybe because she was once a mother herself. She didn't remember what had happened to her daughter, she only knew that she had been taken from her once, but nothing else... She must have met a terrible fate that she shouldn't know.
„You don't have to be afraid of me. I do not break or even bend the letter of my contracts. I'm an honest pirate. You can tell the feline girl she doesn't have to aim at my second mate."
Hearing her words, Gydwa started looking around looking for a shooter, which made the pirate even more amused. The captain of the ship waved his hand, and from above the bushy lichen stood a figure dressed in the cloak of an Akitonian nomad,. This time the feline girl wore a hood on her head and a mask and goggles on her face. She ran up to them waving this strange mechanical prosthetic.
„Hey Moonshadow. Sorry for aiming at the hammerhead, but it's so big it's begging to be shot at. I would always keep it next to you, because she attracts fire very well."
Tonado nodded, and Gydwa shot the girl a murderous look.
„I will take this into account." She answered the girl and together they approached the rest of the group. There was their captain, this Bina, who watched anxiously at the structure before them. She looked like a cunning woman, but she seemed to care about her unruly bunch. The great half-elf mercenary stood and clenched her armored fist significantly. She knew many mercenaries, had some in her crew, and killed many in her war against the Azlanti. This one, however, seemed a bit more decent than most, like someone who only cared about money. Verthani was an archaeologist who had tricked Kaert and Gydwa, which amused her somewhat. Well, her second mate wasn't the best at recruiting crew members, especially when they weren't dim-witted killers. Rechiza was a witchwarper and looked unlucky, which was actually common in this profession. They both seemed to be in the right place for this type of jon, and so did Ysoka-technician. Lady Cala, however, puzzled her more. Was she just a bored aristocrat going on such a ridiculous quest? She saw in her the immense, unstoppable confidence that all mad adventurers had, but there was something else to her. A certain... authority... Her high opinion of herself seemed to stem from an awareness of her own power, as if she possessed a mighty and unstoppable force. And she was supposed to be just a pampered damsel who had heard too many stories about this Mara and had taken on this perilous quest. Perhaps behind this decision was this strange gloomy elf with gray skin, who was looking at the monastery thoughtfully. This woman… as soon as she heard her voice, she felt a strange pressure on her temple that made her slightly dizzy. She felt as if she knew this woman, but she couldn't. According to Azlanti information, Etheria, her lost home, was hidden somewhere in an inaccessible Hidden Realm. "Are you like me a runaway from my home? Another victim of the invader?" she thought as she stared at her grim face. Nothing else suggested that she should beware of this woman more than any other mystic. but she decided she should watch Miss Daisy anyway. Well, another reason to travel with this strange group. The last was standing next to the other elven sorceress, a strange and talkative elven woman who was trying to explain something to him, and he was trying to listen, not understanding her at all. He had the face and voice of an invader, and even his name, though she couldn't remember what it sounded like until it came out of his mouth. But at the same time, he was by no means one. They knew each other, though, if she understood the context of what he was saying. So he will lead her to her revenge.
She looked at the convent building. Even from this distance, she could see signs of fighting on its walls, and its metallic gold dome typical of Serenae worshipers was melted in one spot, but the damage had been light, so the resistance were probably minimal. Well, what could you expect from monks living somewhere on a planet forgotten by the gods. There were gardens around it, which indicated that they had some area-based system to create better living conditions that was still operational. Their scanners showed that the underground complex was huge, perhaps built over centuries. This gave hope that someone could hide there after the attack, or that some of the treasures had not been found. No doubt life signals were detected in the monastery, though something was interfering with the scanners. What will they have to search themselves. A drone flew towards them, hovered and began to speak in a metallic voice.
"The area is clear, I haven't detected anything dangerous on the surface, nothing bigger than a scorpiorat."
Monshadow saw out of the corner of her eye that the girl with the orc amulets, I think her name was Lilka, shuddered.
„So, shall we go in?" Bina asked.
„There's nothing to wait for." answered the burgundy-haired woman. "Vengeance Awaits Me"
Eti felt bad… I mean, she never really felt good. There was always that sadness in her that cast a shadow over her world. He was like a fog through which she had to break through all her life ... Or not, others saw the world through the fog, she perceived reality more sharply and truthfully than others. All ugliness and meanness shone in her eyes brighter than the sun in the sky. Also her own meanness. Recently, she wanted to do good and hurt her friend, her friends. Sometimes she did that, hurting others for no reason. Not even for pleasure or anger, just ... So that they could see the world as she saw it, to see her as she is. She squeezed her temples and growled softly. She felt the breath of Rainy Days on her neck. For now, however, distant, but slowly approaching. This mission might make her forget all about it. On the surface of the planets, when she was busy with something, she always felt better than during those long flights in spaceships. New sensations, the need to make decisions, adrenaline and fear made her forget that reality is nasty and mean.
She also felt strange because she didn't go ahead scouting as she usually did. Invisible, with a rifle in her hand, she had the power, she was indestructible and invincible. But she felt good walking in the company of her friends, even though she knew she should feel ashamed. For what she did. Itel also seemed ashamed, as if she had done something wrong, it was only her fault. Sparkle Fingers was as cheerful and happy as ever, but she sensed sadness in her, and Fist gave her and Itel such looks as if she wanted to crush their heads. Yes, she was guilty, there was no doubt about it.
They found themselves in a garden covered with fruit bushes and flowers. Sparkle Fingers plucked some sweet red fruit and handed it to her and Wormdak The white-skinned alien accepted the treat, though he had been oddly withdrawn and sullen since receiving that idiotic transmission from one of his brothers, but she replied
„I don't eat fruit, I just don't feel sweet taste. But if you see one of these scorpiorats, tell me, I'd eat one grilled."
Rosie nodded seriously, but Lilka spoke in a frightened voice.
„And warn us! I don't want someone to bite me.
Itel stopped, looked over her shoulder, and said.
"But scorpiorat venom is harmless, it can only hurt you a little."
"And what if I turn into a scorpion man afterward, that is a scorpion woman?" Lila asked.
Itel looked at her for a moment with a twitching eyelid.
„Lilka, first of all, scorpiorat venom doesn't turn you into scorpion people, second. There's no such thing as scorpion people."
Then Eti felt an irresistible urge to interject.
„I'm sorry, Itel, but what you're saying doesn't make sense." she said, and when Itel looked at her in disbelief, she continued, "There are billions of planets in our galaxy alone, and countless intelligent races. Based on statistics alone, it is easy to prove that there may be not only scorpion-men and men-scorpion but even scorpion-men-rats." she explained, and Lilka moaned loudly.
„Why are you scaring her!" the Solarian shouted at her.
„I'm sorry, but I see absolutely no reason to keep Lilka ignorant. I prefer to warn her about what the world is like and explain to you how statistics work, because you clearly don't understand it."
„What are you even talking about… „ Itel started, but Wrongdak interjected.
"I'm friends with a scorpion woman…" he said, but Itel turned to him.
„Why are you interfering! Nobody asked your opinion!" she screamed, making the white-skinned man back away. Bina approached them, blushing with anger. Clearly she pissed someone off again.
"One more word and you'll remember me. Eti, stop being smartass and talking nonsense... - their... kaptai started yelling at them, but Eti cut her off.
"Actually, the term 'talking nonsense' is…" she was saying, but Bina didn't let her finish.
„Just one more word." she threatened, and Eti only forced herself to remain silent with the greatest effort of will. "And you, Itel, are no better, because you yell at Mister Wrongdak for no reason." The burgundy-haired woman sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Listen, I don't know what happened between the two of you, and it's best for you two to sort it out between you two, but unfortunately, we're just getting into a place where the Devils and Daemons know what's waiting for us, so take it easy for yourself instead of doing YOURSELF shame in front of pirates, mercenaries and aristocrats.
Itel pursed her lips and looked away, suppressing her anger, but Eti could see that her friend was embarrassed. She felt ashamed herself too, obviously not because of what Stinka might think, because it was like caring what a cockroach thought, but she knew that she had hurt others, both now and before. Fist and Grimmy were looking at her intently, and Sparkle Fingers acted as if she was complicit herself. She immediately hung her head, and together they set out again towards the convent.
The closer we got, the more lush the gardens became. Nut, apple and olive trees also grew here. She didn't like apples, but she plucked some nuts, which she intended to smash with a metal hand. They walked in quite uncomfortable silence until finally Alatar spoke.
„And what is the difference between a scorpion man and a man scorpion.
Eti looked at him askance.
"That's obvious, dear Drakey. A scorpion man has a human top and a scorpion bottom, a man scorpion has a scorpion top and a human bottom... Or vice versa.
„And what is it when there is a big scorpion, but it has the head and hands of a man and a lot of human legs." Lilka asked with absolute seriousness in her voice. The whole group stopped abruptly. Itel took a deep breath and spoke slowly.
"I don't know, and I don't even want to imagine it." Where do you come up with such ideas?!
Lilka shrugged, but Eti decided to interject
„This creature straight from the worst nightmares ... it's cool." Lilka, what kind of tail would it have ..." - he asked. The red-haired girl began to think about her answer, and Itel was about to start yelling at her again, but then Miss Daisy approached their group, obviously greatly amused by something.
„Miss Eti is right about one thing, „ said the gloomy sorceress, and Eti, hearing her name in one sentence with the word miss, was simply speechless. „ The galaxy is full of wonders,Great and terrible, beyond our wildest imagination. I found out for myself when I left my home planet. For example, on my planet, dragons were fairy-tale creatures. And here I am, having barely left my provincial Carurystal, and here I met Mister Alatar, perhaps not a classic dragon, but highly technically gifted." She smiled mysteriously. „Yes, the universe is full of strange things. Be assured that you must expect the unexpected and accept that you will never be able to prepare for everything, and that sooner or later your luck will run out and then we will have to suffer the consequences of our actions." Grimm voice became quiet and sad. "Therefore, do not think much about the future, do not worry about what will come, for we are all but leaves in the wind... Just be careful not to be swept away by the black wind."
Eti looked at her and smiled slightly, which drew incredulous looks from her friends, patted her back and said.
„Welcome to the truth-seeing club."
There were times when Bina wanted to strangle her charges. These kids were so loved sometimes, after all they had been through, after the horror of being invaded by the most fearsome force in the galaxy, after the great betrayal they had suffered from those who where supposed to protected the weakest, who called themselves heroes, still had good hearts. They were able to help others without demanding anything in return. But they were so incredibly annoying. They were arguing about absolute crap, almost punching each other. They always pounced on those stronger than themselves. Itel and her fanatical hatred pushed everyone into more and more trouble. Eti did not think about the consequences of her actions at all, Lilka could go crazy or panic for any reason, and Alatar could be mean and conceited. Sometimes it felt like she was only one step, one word away from dropping it all and going her own way. However, she couldn't do that. She took the burden of looking after them on her shoulders and had to bear it until the very end, which might come much sooner than she wanted.
Now they were arguing about bloody scorpions, though she had a feeling it was about something else. Itel wanted more from Et than she wanted to give her, but Eti didn't understand that by sleeping with Itel, she was only fueling her hopes. And then there was that intern Rosie. Eti liked her surprisingly quickly, and Bina think it scared her, because in the meantime they had an argue. Well, there's one more place on her ship just in case. It also seemed that the girl would like it too, because she had no relatives, but for the time being, the three of them would get along with Itel and Eti and determine what their relationship should look like.
The gates of the monastery were open. Which was helpful, but also sinister. Made of gold-shining metal, they where covered with a relief depictingwith scenes that she couldn't fully decipher, but she thought she saw Iomadae there, which was nothing strange, for the two goddesses were friends. Arkan-Tar studied the inscriptions carefully and curiously. She saw traces of laser gun shots on the gate. Captain Moonshadow stood beside her. The tall, masked pirate was awe-inspiring, as if she had a natural aura of authority around her. She wasn't sure if she liked the woman, but she certainly earned her respect.
„I have bad feelings." Bina grunted.
"You always have a bad feeling when you're doing what I'm doing, unless you're crazy." The pirate captain gave her a sidelong look, and Bina saw amusement in her eyes.
"You've never had kids to take care of." she said firmly, and then she saw the pain in Moonshadow's eyes.
„How can you know that? You don't know who I was and how I became who I am. Everyone has a past and no one is born like me." the Pirate snapped sharply, but Bina answered her with a wry smile.
„I don't know, it's a sad you didn't meet one of my sisters, but you're right, there's nothing to wait for. Whatever lurks inside, it certainly doesn't expect someone like us."
The courtyard of the monastery looked a bit like a fairy tale. Flowers bloomed everywhere, though most of them were a bit wild, but that only added to the charm. There were several paths made of slabs made of colored stone. Somehow, the fountain was still functioning, the sound of which was pleasantly soothing. The only thing that marred the landscape was a tall white spire with a disturbing, alien appearance. She saw Wrongdak watching her carefully.
„It's the Horde Prime communications spire. It gave access to his communications network, and also allowed him to maintain a local offshoot of his hive mind, and controlled the droids... Here, too, the subjects could... watch Horde Prime transmit his will and decrees to them." he explained after a moment. Arkan-tar regarded the structure thoughtfully. She frowned, not trusting the scholar much, certainly less than the pirate.
„All right, now we have to make sure that there is no one alive here." Bina said, and then Lilka clasped her hands together in a scream and screamed at the top of her lungs.
-„Hey, there's someone here! Let him come here. We certainly won't hurt him and we're just so cool!" Lilka waved the ax above her head. Half of those present looked at her with a mixture of surprise and annoyance, but the red-haired girl didn't care. She listened for a moment, then shook her head, spreading her hands helplessly.
„I guess they went away because if they didn't go, they would come to us, so I guess we have to go, since they don't want to come."
"To smother or to hug, that is the question," thought Bina, sighing heavily.
Arak-tar was feeling better now, despite the presence of the pirates, especially one half-drow with a pleasant face and a nasty disposition. He found himself in his own environment. Abandoned buildings were his place of work. Uncovering their secrets was not only his profession, but also the purpose of his life, a passion to which he devoted himself. And this place held secrets, even the gate. They had been covered with relief depicting piece of myth he didn't know. At first he assumed that one of the inhertors legends was depicted there, which was not unheard of. Both Serenae and Iomadae and their churches were friends, so they often collaborated on many levels. But something strange happened here. The myth told the story of a great warrior, or perhaps a scholar, who distinguished herself in battle against the many enemies of her country or planet, and then received a holy sword, and for some unknown reason, began to replace her with Iomadae ... Then Saint Serenia appeared, though he only guessed that, and then the story got even more confusing. Maybe if he had more time he would decipher it… Maybe he would come back here, the Serenae church would certainly be interested in recovering the lost monastery.
In the courtyard, he smiled seeing the spire and hearing Wrongdak's explanation.
„Maybe Doctor Quin and Rechiza and I will look for a computer control room. Some kind of terraforming device is operating here, so the power supply is definitely working." Verthani said. Only Bina gave him a suspicious look, but he answered her with a friendly smile,
As soon as they left, Rechiza said.
„I don't like this place."
Arkan'tar wondered if she was talking about the Monastery or the whole Zone.
„Well, a monastery like a monastery. In Akitona, I lived next to the Triune Monastery, where some kids went to study. This one is much bigger, but also much more boring."
Arkan tar looked at the others and smiled, noticing that they weren't paying attention to them, he said.
"And you could break into that spire." He asked. Ysoka turned and looked at the structure Horde Prime had built
„Why not? I'm not a Hacker, but you seem to have good hacking gear, so that shouldn't be a problem. Just why do it?
Verthani smiled.
„As you heard from our friend Wrongdak, this structure was used to communicate with the entire Horde Prime network. Perhaps we could download the data and download it to our computer." said the scholar, and when Ysoka nodded, he added, "Perhaps it could also be used to amplify our signals and send a message to the Lord Admiral?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rechiza smiling.
„Itel, Bina, look at this! Alatar called. Bina and the elf ran to them and the captain hoped they found something to cheer her up. They had searched several buildings before. The interiors were mostly in such a state as if they had been recently abandoned. There were a few apartments for families, apparently monks were born and died here, and warehouses for gardening and farming equipment, and a pumping station to support the irrigation system, and so on. There were a few places, probably where resistance had been met, where was a mess, but generally, except for the signs of the passage of time, these places were left in perfect order. Virtually nothing had been looted or destroyed, as if the invaders didn't care about material possessions. Only residents. Even the Swarm was more greedy… She hoped Alatar hadn't stumbled upon something equally disturbing.
„What do you have there?{ she asked and walked over with Rlfka. Itel had grown up in the woods in a small settlement and, in Alatar's opinion, was very good at tracking. Eti was better and had an excellent sense of smell, but she was nowhere to be seen now.
"Traces…" he pointed at the footprints. She sighed mentally, cursing her luck. Itel looked at them carefully.
„I see traces of a large humanoids here. she said and called Wrongdak and examined his foot. "Yeah, they're clones and I think bots. They were here a few days ago. And there are fresher ones, three pairs, but they were probably smaller humanoids." Itel explained matter-of-factly. Bina let out a whoosh of air. She wanted to call the others, but then Eti called them.
"Come here, there's something weird here."
Most of them ran after the feline girl's voice. She led them to the largest structure. It was a temple. It had many stained glass windows made of translucent glassdiamond, most often depicting flowers. There were many pews here, for at least a few hundred worshippers. There was an image of Iomadae on the ceiling, though it was hard to tell because it was burned away with lasers and other energy weapons. A lot of liturgical equipment has been left here, and even a wat of a golden altar. Moonshadow's comrades whistled at the sight, but when they looked at the statue towering above them, they fell silent. It depicted a tall robed clone with metal claws attached to his fingers. He had three eyes on one side of his face and was smiling triumphantly. At his feet lay a shattered statue of Serenae wearing a golden crown. Wrongdak stood behind them.
„It's him, it's Horde Prime. he said with a strange mix of fear and anger. She shivered because he really did remind her of her Father. The silence that fell was broken by Eti.
„He has a smile, like a guy who wants to show his puppies to the kids at the park." said the feline girl. Everyone giggled. Dilayla in power armor approached the statue.
"Well, time to do something about that nasty face." Step aside. she said, and tapped her armored glove several times on the legs of the statue. First cracks appeared, and then the statue fell to the floor with a thud. As the dust cleared, Lady Cala said a few words thoughtfully. Seeing their questioning looks, she said in her always gentle voice.
„ It's an ancient phrase. It means "And tyrants will fall when in their pride they arouse the wrath of the true masters of the universe"