The Will of Revenge

by Gamer83888

Fifteen years have passed since the event that changed history. Flare Prime, under the guidance of United Nations, prospers and develops. It's nations, united under the UNSA Andromeda Branch banner, look into bright future. However, old enemies long presumed dead or missing return to bring chaos. A new war is on the horizon and the outcome will decide the fate of billions of lives.

33. Part 5, Chapter 1

Hello back, friends and readers! I'm back with another chapter of the story. Well, the planned week of break turned into two weeks. Some unforeseen circumstances and such. Hope you understand.

So, where were we? Oh, right. Last time, we've seen the conclusion to the Battle of Infit. And what a conclusion it was. After a long struggle against the attacking SoS forces, UTDF proceeded to withdraw from the city, but not before leaving surprise gift for the Sons. A gift in form a nuke they stole from them. Now, the war enters a new phase, as enemy troops, although still shocked, continue their march towards Leender.

But before we come back to it, reviews.

To Supreme Supra: I didn't fail to notice your love of nukes. Is there a story behind it?

Alright, with this done, let's continue.

Part Five

Fall

Chapter 1

August 3, 2166

10:31

SoS General Staff, Meeting Room

Everyone sitting at the table was grim. Even holograms of commanders that were currently in the field showed their grimness as if they were sitting here with them. Reports were still flowing in and with each of them, situation made them feel more and more mix of various emotions, with irritation, disbelief and something else.
"How is the situation?"Zorzal asked.

Hologram of general Margas sighed deeply.

"We're still gathering information."he replied."But it's hard, considering that the fallout still hovers over the city. We sent in teams to investigate for survivors, but so far, it doesn't look good."

"How many alive?"Cassius No Polanius asked.

"As of now, we found four hundred survivors. But that number is sure gonna dwindle. Many of them have radiation sickness."
"And how about the casualties?"Herm Fule Maio asked.

"As of now? Twenty thousand died from the explosion itself. Two thousand more already died from the injuries they sustained. Not to mention the number of equipment we sustained…"

Seeing that general tries to look away, Zorzal narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"he asked.
"We lost numerous tanks, vehicles and others. But also…"

"Spit it out!"emperor ordered.

Margas gulped and said:
"We lost all four remaining Titans."

Silence filled the room. Titans were the most powerful war machines fielded by the Erecan Dominion. Due to their limited numbers and the risks of loosing them, they were rarely deployed in combat. Erecans were really generous that they allowed SoS to have five. Reports from a day before already said, that one of them was destroyed during an assault. And Erecans didn't like when their precious hardware was lost in some stupid way.

"Why did you send them into the city, then?!"Zorzal exclaimed.
"We expected enemy to still continue their resistance."general explained."Titans were supposed to clear the way for units following. But instead, they were parked in the main square, to remind the people remaining in the city who was their new ruler. Explosion managed to melt some of their armor beyond repair, while one was even flung outside the city by the shockwave."
"By all the gods…"Havenius said through gritted teeth,

Zorzal took a deep breath.

"Not only we lose so many men in one attack, but also we lose our most powerful ground asset."he said."How did they even get that nuke?"
"Apparently, they stole one of ours."Margas said."The one I reported about."
"Great."Havenius said."I thought you were onto that?"
"We were, but after some time, it vanished from our radars. I know we were ordered to place our nuclear weapons on the planet as a way to scare away the enemy, but we should've known the risks associated with it. For safety, I already ordered to return them back to the orbit, to not let anything like that repeat."

Everyone nodded. They had to agree, that this course of action was the smart one.
"And how are your forces, general?"Zorzal asked.
"Except of being shaken a bit?"Margas replied."They're still ready for operation. We lost only three regiments from our legion in the explosion. Other units report higher losses, but they can still operate."
"Good, because you are ordered to continue your advance."Herm said.

Margas nodded.
"I think I know why."he said.
"If you think that it's because Erecans are getting impatient, then yes."general Cicero Uo Havenius said."They already informed us, that they are cutting on supplying us by forty percent."

Everyone winced. They were well aware why Erecans decided to do it. They were not only getting impatient. They were getting furious, because they still had to pump money into this war, which was supposed to end within a single month and now, it was entering it's third. And Erecans were cutting down on everything. Vehicles, ammo, infantry equipment, even clones. This meant, that if the worst come to pass, the whole war machine would grind to a halt not because of enemy defense, but because they would simply lack everything. And only gods knew what would happen then.

"Understood, sir."Margas said, making a Saderan salute."I promise, that by the end of the month, we will be in Leender."
"Don't make promises you can't keep."Zorzal said."Or you know what will happen."
Margas nodded, trying to hide a shaking hand. Everyone knew what happened to people who failed the emperor.

"For now, continue cleaning up the mess left by the bomb. Move when you're ready."Herm said.

"Yes, sir."commander of the 1st Armored Legion replied."Enemy forces that used to protect the flanks of the city already fell back. So we shouldn't meet any hard resistance."

"Good. With all that, I declare this meeting over. Return to your duties."Zorzal ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness!"all officers replied.

Soon, holograms vanished, while people present physically in the room quickly dispersed to continue leading the war effort.

August 3

17:01

Skandian C.Z.

They ate whatever food they had left in the morning, so time has come for them to go hunting again. As always, it was Fenis who volunteered, but this time, it was Dora, who decided to accompany the young Royal Ranger. After making preparations, they set out to find some local animals to hunt.

They didn't have to look long. After about half an hour of walk, they found a glade in the forest, where they were met with a sight of six bulky, cow-like creatures, with dark green skin and fur. They had a mane like lions, although clearly they were more similar to earthen cattle. They also had one eye and long, sharp tongue they used to pick up food from the ground. They also had scorpion like stinger on their tails, probably to fend off larger predators. There were also small, black, bird-like creatures sitting on their backs, clearly eating out smaller creatures that infested their furs and manes.

"These look promising."Dora said, kneeling with Fenis in the bushes.

"Yeah."Fenis nodded."Local fauna is surprisingly diverse, but that's probably to be expected, even though the planet is mostly forested. Fortunately, colonists already stated, that these are eatable."

"Certainly."

Since the time the three Rangers saved her from a certainly bad fate, Dora came to know the two Apprentices more. She really liked Fenis. He showed her, that he knew what he was doing and knew what was his job about. He also had his head on his shoulders. He also knew a lot about animals and this was good in their current situation. Simon also knew what he was doing, but unlike the hardworking Fenis, he was more laid back and preferred not to do things if he didn't have to. At least he knew that being in the military meant that he had to listen to orders, so there was not so much problems with him as Dora expected. In times of need, she could count on him as much as on Fenis and Maddie.

But now, they had to focus on the hunt. These things might be dangerous. So they had to approach them with utmost caution.
"You think you'll be able to kill one of them with one shot?"Dora asked.

"Depends."Fenis replied, already grabbing his sniper rifle.
"On what?"
"I read some things about the alien fauna. There are species that have the nervous system spread out so much that you can only kill them only by blowing them up, yes?"
"Yes. I encountered some of them myself. Never wanna see them again."
"Exactly. So depends if these are the same."
"I guess we'll live and see."
"Or not."

Saying that, Fenis laughed dryly. Dora could clearly see, that his previously calm demeanor actually vanish for a second.
"I honestly don't wanna die…"he said.

"Nobody wants to die."Dora said, patting his back."Don't worry. We'll get out of here. I heard you Royal Rangers are masters of covert missions."
"Well, it was easier when there were no radars or heat detectors. I'm grateful there are countermeasures to these."
"So am I. But now focus. We would like to fill our stomachs before sleep."
"Yeah. I already can hear Simon whining the whole night because he didn't eat."

Regaining his composure, Simon aimed down the scope of his Remington R-88 sniper riffle. He looked at the creature. Honestly, it was pretty sad for him, taking lives of other living beings. But on the other hand, he knew that without something to eat, they would die of hunger sooner or later or simply get weakened. And in case of enemy soldiers, he knew that it was either him or they. There was no other choice on the battlefield.

Creature continued to eat the grass, unaware of the waiting death. Same was with bird-like creatures eating the parasites out of it's mane. They learned soon, when after a silenced shot, the cow-like creature felt something hit it's eye and reach it's brain, making everything go black. Creature stood for a few more seconds, before falling on the ground with a 'thump'. Other creatures, seeing this, quickly turned and fled. Same was for the flying creatures, which quickly flew up and disappeared between the trees.

"Alright, that was easy."Fenis sighed."Now I'll go and try to skin it and take it's meat."
"Should I help you?"Dora asked.
"No, I can do it myself. If it's not rude for me to ask, but maybe at least you'll help me carry it?"

"That's why I'm here. Go."

Fenis nodded and jumped out of the bushes. He looked around to make sure it was safe and started quickly walking towards the carcass. Dora, in the meantime, observed the area, She was not fully familiar with the flora and fauna of the planet. From what she heard, somewhere on the planet, there lived large, carnivorous, walking plants, but it was somewhere South, in Araluenian C.Z. There were also hives of lizard-like creatures, which acted like ants. Giant, sharp-toothed ants, capable of tearing down a small settlements. Fortunately, these creatures were smart enough to stay away from Human and alien settlements. Or maybe it was settlers, which were smart? She might never know. And who knew, what lived in these forests? After all, these stingers on the creatures' tails were not for show.

Fenis was halfway towards the creature, when he suddenly stopped and looked at the ground. He tilted his head.
"What is it?"Dora called out to him.

"I don't know."Fenis replied."Something's…off."
"What do you meant?"
"This ground. It doesn't feel…natural."
Dora was confused.

But before she could say anything else, Fenis started jumping up and down.

"What are you doing?"she asked.

"I have to make sure."Fenis said, still jumping."Listen. It sounds like…"

Before he could finish his sentence, ground under him gave up and with a shout, he fell down. Seeing this, Dora widened her eyes, stood up and left her cover, running towards the place where young Ranger stood just few seconds ago.

She came to a stop on the edge of a hole. She looked down, but couldn't see anything.
"Fenis!"she exclaimed."Fenis, are you alright?!"

There was silence for a few seconds, before the answer came:

"I'm fine! I think…"

"Can you see anything down there?"

"It's dark, but I have a flashlight."

Soon, Dora saw a light appear far down.
"Um…"Fenis said.
"What is it? What do you see?"

"I think you should go get the others. They must see this too."

"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine. Probably…Don't worry about me now, just get the others."
"You sure?"
"Honestly? No. But they have a rope, so…"

"Alright, got it. Just wait there."
"Don't worry, I don't want to move anywhere."
Although still a bit reluctant to leave the young Apprentice alone, she turned and quickly ran towards the small camp they made. Running, she made it there in only half the time they needed with Fenis to reach the glade. Hearing her approach, Maddie and Simon looked in her direction.

"Dora? What happened?"Maddie asked.
"And where is Fenis?"Simon added.

Dora took a few deep breaths and simply asked:
"Got any rope?"
"Yeah, it's part of standard Royal Ranger's equipment."Maddie replied."But what…?"
"I'll explain on the way. Let's go!"

With that, the three quickly left and ran towards the glade. As promised, Dora explained what happened to her companions, which only made them run faster in fear for their comrade. After another fifteen minutes, they were back at the glade, where they could see some insects already feasting on the dead creature.

"There."Dora said, pointing towards the hole.

The three quickly sprinted up yo it and stood on it's edge. Looking down, they could see the light of Fenis' flashlight.

"Fenis?"Maddie asked."Are you alright?"
"Yes!"Fenis replied."Just slightly bruised…Except that, I'm fine!"

"Well, you got screwed, buddy!"Simon said.

Maddie glared at him.

"What?"Apprentice asked.
"It's no laughing matter. Get the rope."Maddie ordered.

Next, she once more turned to Fenis:
"Don't worry, we will get you out of there!"
"Not yet!"Fenis shouted back.

This caused them all to look down, dumbfounded, with Simon stopping pulling out the rope halfway through.

"What do you mean?"Dora asked."Don't you want to get out?"
"Sure, but…You really have to see what I found!"

"What is it?"Maddie asked.
"It's easier to show that to tell…But trust me on this one!"

Maddie and Dora looked at each other.
"What do you think?"Dora asked.
"Honestly, I don't know…What could he possibly have found down there?"Maddie replied.
"Hey, guys."Simon said."Since when are holes in the ground hexagonal?"
The two women looked at him.

"What do you mean?"Maddie asked.
"Take a look. Just stand up."
The two listened and stood up. Now, they could clearly see, that the hole Fenis fell through had a perfect, geometrical hexagon, with straight edges. Something like that certainly couldn't be natural. Something was off here.

"You're right…"Dora said."We were so absorbed by Fenis, that we didn't notice."

"That's weird."Maddie stated.

"So, you're coming?"Fenis asked from down below.
"Sure, just a second!"Simon said, pulling out the rest of the rope.

He then proceeded to unravel it and attach the attachment point to it. Next, he placed the attachment point on the ground and hammered it in with a nearby stone. Then he tugged on and when he put all his strength into it and it didn't get unattached, he showed thumbs up.

"Holds. But I would still advice to go down one at a time."

"Sure. Who goes first?"Dora asked.

"I do."Maddie stated, grabbing the rope.

She then proceeded to stand on the edge of the hole. She turned around and started slowly descending into the hole. Fortunately, it was big enough that she didn't need to hunch back to fit into it. However, as she lowered herself more and more, she noticed something weird. After around two meters down, she realized, that she wasn't touching the dirt. Instead, she was touching something…metal in structure. Something was clearly not right with this place.

After a few minutes of the descent, she finally found herself in front of Fenis, who stood there, lighting the area with his flashlight.

"Thank you for joining me in this time of need."he said.
"Very funny."Maddie said."Let's wait for the others and after that, we can talk more."
"Sure."

After a few more minutes, they were joined by the other two, first by Dora and after that, by Simon. Once down, the two quickly turned on their own flashlights, alongside Maddie and Fenis.

"Okay, so, what now?"Simon asked.
"What even is this place?"Maddie asked, pointing her flashlight around.

The place where they were, was a hexagonal chamber. All around them, they could see black walls, made of something similar to metal.

"I dunno."Fenis replied."But after I realized this is no cave, but something made out of metal, I decided, that you have to see it too."

"Man, I don't like this."Simon said."This looks too eerie…"
"Maybe."Dora said."But something seems…familiar about this place."
The three Rangers looked at her.

"Familiar?"Maddie asked.
"In what way?"Fenis asked.
"I don't know. I feel as if…I've been in a similar place."pilot said.
"But how?"
"I don't know. Maybe we should see exactly what we're dealing with?"

"By that you mean?"Fenis asked, tilting his head.
Dora looked behind them. There, she saw a clearly visible outline of an entrance into some kind of tunnel. However, it was blocked by rubble. She quickly looked in front of them and there, she saw another tunnel, but this one was actually open. Dora didn't think long.

"I think we should go…this way."she said.
Royal Rangers looked at the tunnel.
"Is that a good idea?"Simon asked.
"Why won't we find out?"Dora asked.

And with that, she started towards the tunnel. Royal Rangers looked at each other.
"When underground…"Maddie said.

Next, they followed the pilot.

August 3

A few minutes later…

It didn't take them long to realize, that this tunnel was more of a corridor. And it lead into a network of more corridors. Because of that, Maddie decided that it would be better if they left something that would help them find a way back to their entry point. Fortunately, Rangers had several glowsticks with them. Knowing that, they decided to leave one every fifty meters they passed. Glowsticks were fortunately powerful enough that even after walking these fifty meters, some were still visible behind the corner.

"It feels like we've been walking for hours…"Simon whined.

"But we've been walking for only few minutes."Fenis said."Get over it."
"Eh, alright. But when we're out, you're gonna give me some good, juicy piece of meat. The one you hunted down, I mean."

"Well, I think it's currently rotting down up above."Maddie said.

Simon looked as if someone just hit him.
"What? That was it?"he asked.
"Yeah."Fenis said.

"Awww."
"Well, life is not always fair."Dora said.

Simon looked around, lighting the corridor with his light. There were some cables hanging from the ceiling, alongside some pipes.
"What even is this place?"he asked."Who built it?"
"That's what we're gonna try and find out."Dora said.

The group rounded another corner. Dora lifted her fist, signaling them to stop.
"Halt."she said.
"What is it?"Maddie asked.

In response, Dora shun a light in a direction of something that was in front of them. There, sitting in the wall, they saw some kind of…carving in the wall? No, it was more of a…Actually, they had no words to describe it. It certainly looked like something carved out in a niche. It presented some characters, but they were certainly no Human or any other known race. They were tall and had faces covered by some kind of helmets. In their hands, they held some swords, which they pointed down.

"Who are they?"Maddie asked.
"I think I know."Simon said.

He approached the carving and shone a light on it. Green light glittered on the edges of the carved characters.
"This clearly looks Enean."Simon declared.

Everyone widened their eyes. Dora, of course, was familiar with Eneans. So were now everyone in Andromeda after knowledge from Milky Way came here. Everyone knew about the ancient alien race, which discovered the hyperspace technology and created the system of hyperspace lanes, after which they proceeded to seemingly vanish from the galaxy, leaving behind ruins of their empire and numerous artifacts, like weapons or simple remains. It was later revealed, thanks to Dora and other members of the White Squadron, that they were in fact wiped out, nearly fifty thousand years ago, by Ichroids, a race of insectoid creatures that for some reason returned to Milky Way every fifty thousand years to devour all advanced life. So it happened, that the time of their next arrival was near the end of Great Galactic War. Dora still remembered Ichroid crystal-like ships which they fought in the Solar System and where they managed to make ship carrying an Ichroid queen crash into the sun, what resulted in Ichroids going into a frenzy and killing each other off, after which their remains were disposed of.

"Enean?"Dora asked."You certain?"
"Yeah. These carvings have a structure that was observed in other Enean-related ruins and wrecked ships, as well as artifacts."Simon replied, touching the carving."It seems to be made from the same materials, too. And I guess everyone can recognize this characteristic black-green combo, right?"
The three stood there, taking all that in.
"How do you know all that?"Maddie asked.
"I read about it."Simon replied, shrugging.

Hearing this, Fenis almost collapsed.
"You READ?!"he exclaimed."Like, books and stuff?"
"Yeah, I have a big library back home. Mostly stuff on history and Eneans. I just like this subject. What, you thought that the only thing I was doing back home was laying around doing nothing? I may not be the best fighter, but it doesn't mean, that I don't have any hobby or interests."

Fenis put his hand on his head.
"Can you hit me?"he asked."Because I think I'm dreaming."
"No."Maddie said simply.

Dora looked at the area around them.
"How couldn't I notice that?"she asked herself."But there is one thing that bugs me more than the fact these are Enean ruins."
"Which is?"Simon asked.
"How did Enean ruins find themselves all the way in Andromeda?"

Three Rangers looked at each other.
"That's…a very good question."Simon said."From all I know, they were until now only found in Milky Way. But maybe…you know…Eneans were so advanced, that they traveled between galaxies?"

"Who knows?"Dora shrugged."We may never know. For now, let's go forward. Something tells me, that we will find more secrets here."

"Is it a good idea?"Simon asked.
In response, Dora simply smiled and walked further down the corridor. Simon sighed, resigned.
"Crap."he said, following the rest.

"Where did your excitement go?"Fenis asked, smirking.
"Nowhere. I just have the feeling of self-preservation."Simon replied, pouting.

"Heh."

They continued on their way.

August 3

17:49

With 10th Armored Brigade, Soutlandian C.Z.

Following the retreat from Infit, 10th Armored Brigade and other units accompanying them continued their march North, towards Leender. Many of them were still a bit shocked. Nuclear explosion which raised Infit with the ground was something which both shocked and terrified them to their core. Everyone quickly started asking questions about what the hell that meant, but soon, they were all quelled when explanation from Leender came. After hearing about the Nordian Central Command, everyone was at first furious, knowing that Nordians were ready to destroy their own city, but it soon changed into acceptance, as they knew their current position.

Since then, Verius was constantly thinking about it. Now he understood why Gron was so secretive about it. After all, Gron certainly knew about everything. He was one of the Nordian commanders in Infit. Good that at least in the end, he decided to share the news.

Now, the column was slowly driving through the empty fields, still on lookout for possible enemy air raids. But probably, Sons had something else to deal with now.

"Verius?"Niva asked in the radio.

Lieutenant colonel reached for the radio.

"Yeah?"he asked.
"How do you feel?"

"Been better. And you?"
"Same. Man, I'm tired of all this…"
"We all are. But we have to hold. No matter what."
There was a moment of silence on the other side.
"Verius?"
"Yeah?
"You think we will make it?"
Sheer resignation in Niva's voice almost made Verius shiver.
"What are you talking about? Of course we will. We have to. Sons can't win. Never."
"You can't lie, you know?"

Verius laughed dryly. Of course he lied. What else was he supposed to do? Their situation was worsening day after day. Ammo supplies were running short. Fact that it lasted for this long was a true miracle for which everyone thanked whatever gods they believed in. Manpower was also dwindling. Some said, that in many settlements, there were already more women and children than men, while in others, there were no men at all. Even Leender started seeing something like that happen there. There were also news, that more and more new SoS' units are coming to the planet. Not in such huge numbers as before, but still. Enemy could replenish their losses really well, while UTDF was literally running on fumes. Because fuel was running out too.

Everyone knew it, but nobody was brave enough to say it out-loud: the war was lost. Sooner or later, HQ in Leender would call for surrender of all fighting forces. Nobody knew when or why will it happen, but sooner or later, the time will come to lay down the arms and give into harsh, certainly torturous Sons' custody. If they were lucky, that is. Sons could as well round them up and bomb them from orbit, to make sure nobody will oppose them. Verius wouldn't be surprised.

The only good thing was that they managed to foil enemy plans of swift, devastating victory. Lieutenant colonel would give everything to see Zorzal pulling his hair out in frustration and demanding to finally end this circus that they got themselves into.

This thought made Verius giggle honestly for the first time in months.
"What's so funny?"Niva asked.
"Nothing. I just had a funny thought."Verius replied."Let's just hope, that the next orders from the HQ will be sensible ones."

"Yeah."Niva said and disconnected.

Verius was about to put down the radio, when another voice spoke.
"Lieutenant colonel?"colonel Nashi'Rad said.
"What is it, sir?"Verius asked.
"Where are you now?"
Lieutenant colonel looked around.

"Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, still driving North. Why are you asking?"

"We have orders from general Ordell."Nashini replied."Your unit, and all those that accompany it, are to turn towards the Obsidian Mountains."

Verius was actually surprised by this. Obsidian Mountains was the biggest mountain range in the Soutlandian C.Z. Their name came from their black color and glassy structure, which made them similar to obsidian. They cut from North-East to South-West, forming a barrier between the border regions with Nordian C.Z. and the proper Soutlandian C.Z. There was also another thing that distinguished these mountains from any others.

They had literal lava rivers flowing through them, with even something as crazy as lava waterfalls. This made traversing them a very dangerous endeavor, even with all the bridges and roads that were built over time since the colonization. There were approximately fourteen people dying in these mountains yearly, mostly by falling into lava. Just by thinking about it, Verius shivered.

"Why there of all places? This is probably one of, if not the most, dangerous place on the planet."he stated.
"And one of the easiest to defend."Rad stated back."HQ is planning to form a defense line there. Probably the last one we will ever set up."
"Probably, sir."Verius agreed."Understood. I will relay the information. Over."
"Good luck. May Una allow us to see each other again."Rad said, ending the call.

Immediately after that, Verius connected with the other commanders.
"This is Wyvern 1-1 Actual, we've got new orders from the HQ."he declared.
"Wonder what old Rad got for us now?"Hernik wondered.
"We're to go to Obsidian Mountains and set up a defense there. These are the orders. Relay them to your troops."
"Obsidian Mountains?"Gerhi asked."Well, I better get my sunscreen."
"You really can turn anything into a joke, huh?"Hernik stated.

In response, he received Gerhi's laugh.
"Confirm the order."Verius demanded.
"Acknowledged. Over."Niva said.

"Got it. Over."Gerhi said.
"Understood, lieutenant colonel."said the commander of Kubliatan battalions that accompanied them.

Hernik let out a heavy sigh.
"Yessir. Over."he said.

With that, everyone disconnected and put down the radio.

"I agree with captain Gerhi."loader said.
"In what?"gunner asked.
"I gotta take out my sunscreen."

Verius shook his head. At least his crew didn't lose their high spirits.

Orders were soon given to the rest of the soldiers in the column and on the nearest crossroads, whole column turned, making it's way towards the Obsidian Mountains, where they would once again stand against the tide of SoS' troops.

August 3

18:05

Underground

Dora and the Rangers were still continuing their exploration of the underground ruins. It was still hard for the former White Squadron members to believe that these were Enean. But Simon's analysis was mostly right. Everything that they passed had some things that certainly made them look like Enean-built. Honestly, she hated when life threw more and more secrets at her. She already had their fair share during the GGW.

"How far does it go?"Maddie asked.
"I don't know."Dora replied.
"Do you know what are we looking for?"Fenis asked.
"Nope."
"Then why are we looking."
"No clue."

"Oh, come on!"Simon shouted, causing his voice to echo across the corridors.
Fenis showed him to keep quiet. These corridors may have been empty, but it didn't mean that they were deserted. Even Fenis was aware of several occasions, when archeologists in Milky Way were met with an unpleasant surprise in form of dormant Enean security measures, which awakened to eliminate them. The fact they didn't find anything like that didn't mean, that there were none.
"Sorry."Simon said, pouting.

"Stop pouting so much or it will stay that way."Fenis stated.
"Whatever."

"We'll check this corridor and leave. I promise."Dora said.
Simon looked at her and nodded in agreement.

Maddie, in the meantime, dropped another glowstick behind them.
"Let's hurry up. We're running out of glowsticks."she reported.
Right then, they rounded another corner and once more stopped short. In front of them stood a door, which blocked the way forward.
"Well, I guess that's it."Simon said."Time to turn back."
"I swear to god."Fenis said."One second you're fascinated by finding these ruins and the other, you want to get out of here ASAP. How do you do that?"
"I already told you: self-preservation instinct."

Dora flashed the light on the door, trying to find some kind of gap. She soon noticed, that the two sides of the door were not closed fully. There was a green glow coming out from the gap between them.
"Do we have some explosives?"Dora asked.
"Yeah, one, why?"Maddie asked.
"I want to see what's beyond these doors."she stated.
"What for?"Simon whined again.

"I just want to find out."pilot replied.

Maddie reached into her backpack and pulled out a plastic explosive. Dora grabbed it and approached the door with it. Next, she planted it down, setting up the timer for twenty seconds.
"Wait, we were supposed to be quiet."Fenis noticed.
"Too late for that!"Dora exclaimed, running past the three.

Royal Rangers quickly followed and the whole group quickly hid behind the turn, waiting for the explosion. After twenty seconds passed, explosive went off. Explosion echoed through the corridors, traveling through them like a tide, finding it's way towards the deepest parts of the facility.

When they came out from their hiding, they saw smoke coming from a much bigger hole, in which a whole person could fit.
"Sweet."Dora said."Now, let's check what's hiding in there."

"I just hope it's not some crazy, psychopathic...something."Simon said.
"Let's agree on this one."Fenis said.
"Wow, what a shocker."

The four approached the door. Green light was still flowing out of the hole. Dora approached it and, lowering her head, she made her way through. Soon after, the three Royal Rangers followed and were allowed to see what was hiding behind them.

"Wow."Simon said.
"Yeah."Maddie agreed."Wow."

In front of them was a wide corridor. On both sides of this corridor were twelve seats, made of the same black material and with the same green light on their edges. There were six on one side and another six on the other. On each of them sat a tall, metal figure, around twice as tall as normal Human. The corridor itself led to a central part of the chamber, with a pedestal in it. Behind that pedestal was another seat, this one looking more like a throne, with another metal figure, one that was more intricately made than the other twelve. Over the pedestal, from the ceiling, protruded a pyramid-like structure, with a green light above it. It bathed the whole area in a green glow they saw through the hole in the door. And there, stuck in the round pedestal, were thirteen swords. Twelve on the edges and one in the middle, a bit higher than the other ones.

The four looked at it for a few seconds, taken aback by all this.

"Now this is what I call interesting."Simon said.
"Yeah."Maddie said."What even is this place?"
"No clue."Dora said."But it certainly look Enean."
"I'm actually surprised that this place still has some kind of power to power up this light."Fenis said, pointing at the green light.
"Another Enean secret."Dora stated.

She started walking down the corridor towards the pedestal. Rangers followed close behind, looking around at the figures sitting on the seats. At one point, Simon stopped to take a closer look at one of them.
"Hey, guys."he said.
"Yeah?"Fenis asked, stopping with his friend.
"What does it look like for you?"

Fenis looked at the mass of metal sitting on the seat and threw up his arms.
"Like some statues?"he guessed.
"Maybe at the first glance."Simon nodded."But take a closer look."
Fenis listened and looked closer at the statue. And this time, he noticed something. There was a gap between the forearm and arm of the statue. Inside, when a light fell on it, he could see a black, oily glow. He could also see rubber connection between the two pieces of 'statue's' arm, but were destroyed in the elbow area. He turned to Simon.
"Get it?"Simon asked.
"These are no statues."Fenis said, pale."These are…"
"Armor."his friend confirmed."Armor, with body still inside."

Hearing this, Dora and Maddie also looked at the thirteen figures sitting on the seats.

"That means, that this is…"Maddie said.
"…a grave."Dora finished for her."A very old grave."
"But…why is it here?"Maddie asked."The fact that Eneans were able to build a base here is already weird. But why a grave?"
"As much as I would love to tell you, I also want to know."pilot stated.

Then, she giggled.

"I bet that if Liz was here, she would have so many theories, that we would be listening to them even on the way out."

"Probably…"

Dora then looked at the thirteen swords stuck in the pedestal.

"I will take a closer look at these."she said.
"Sure, just be careful."Maddie said.

Pilot nodded and went towards the pedestal. She stopped in front of it for a few seconds, to take a look at the thirteen blades tuck in them. They all, like the armor, were intricately made, with numerous markings on their blades. Unlike Liz, who was actually really fluent in Enean language, even though it was an extinct one, and she could read in it. At times like these, Dora really missed her old history-affixed friend. Many times, her knowledge of Enean civilization helped them, especially during their hunt for Core Fragments near the end of the war. But now, she was gone, killed in the fight with Alantians.

But it was no time to open the old wounds. It was time for finding out the purpose of this place.

Dora's eyes stopped on the main sword, which was stuck in the middle of the pedestal. It had gold inscriptions on it. She decided to climb on top of the pedestal and approached it. She tilted her head, looking at the sword, but she couldn't read the inscriptions, of course. But still, she just couldn't look away from the blade.
"Why are you here?"she whispered, closing her hand to it.

Her fingers touched it.

She stood in the same corridor that led to the pedestal. Dora looked around. How did she get here? Just a second ago, she stood on the pedestal, touching the sword. How did she get here and didn't remember that?

"Maddie, Fenis, Simon?"she asked."What ha…"

She stopped. She was surprised to see, that she didn't see them anywhere. They simply disappeared. But that was not the only thing. She was also surprised to see, that the figures sitting on the seats were also not there. And so were the swords in the pedestal. They all simply vanished and were nowhere to be seen.

"The fuck?"she whispered.

Something weird was happening and she didn't like it one bit.

Suddenly, she heard something clattering behind her. Quickly glancing around, she saw the door. It didn't have a hole in it.

And it was slowly opening.

Without much of a thought, Dora dove behind the nearest seat. She peeked from behind it, looking as the door opened. Two halves slowly disappeared into the walls, revealing what was behind them. What Dora saw, was something that made her jaw drop.

She saw thirteen figures. The one in the front was the one that sat on the seat in front of the pedestal. It's large helmet gleamed in the green light, much more than the other twelve, which flanked him on both sides. They had sheaths with swords attached to their hips.

Soon, they started towards the pedestal. Dora looked at them from her cover. They were surely the ones sitting on the seats. But how was that possible? Not only that, they didn't seem to notice her when they passed by her. And even if they did, they didn't react to her presence in any way.

The thirteen 'knights', as she started to call them in mind, approached the pedestal and stood around it.

"Brothers."he thundered.

Dora blinked. Wait. If these were the thirteen figures which sat on the seats, then that meant, that they were Enean. Which in turn meant, that they spoke the Enean language. So how did she understand them?

"I bring you grim news."the 'knight' continued."Exactly three hours ago, The Cradle went silent. I couldn't contact the Great Vizier. We have to expect the worst."

Other twelve looked at each other. Even though Dora couldn't see their faces, she knew, that they were concerned.

"Is it certain, Grandmaster Cidon?"one of the 'knights' asked."Maybe it's some kind of Ichroid trick?"
If Dora had any doubts, now they would vanish. Somehow, she was seeing something, that happened nearly fifty thousand years ago.

The one they called Cidon shook his head.
"The Hive is not smart enough for such tricks."he stated."As I said, I think we need to fear the worst. The Cradle must have fallen and with it, the rest of the Holdings. As far as we know, we might be the last of our people."
A cold, heavy silence fell in the chambers. 'Knights' seemed to contemplate the words of their Grandmaster. And they all seemed to agree with him.
"So…what now?"a young sounding 'knight' asked.

Cidon looked at him.
"We must do, what needs to be done, brother Terris."Grandmaster replied."The last resort."

He glanced at the rest of his knights and seemed to take a deep breath.
"I, Grandmaster Cidon Ir Tesan Hebbard III of House Hebbard, 269th Grandmaster of the Obsidian Order, leader of the protectors of the Great Holdings…the last Grandmaster…"These words seemed to almost stuck in his throat."…officially declare he enactment of Silius' Procedure."

Knights started murmuring among each other.
"But Cidon."another knight said."The Procedure was not enacted since Grandmaster Gotrun, which was three thousand years ago. No one knows, if it will work anymore. It's technology was not…"

Knight didn't finish, as Cidon turned to him and placed a hand on his arm.
"Zandius."he said."Old friend. You stood by me in my hardest time. You saved me more times than I can possibly remember. Even during the Battle of Feriun Isthmus, when all seemed lost and only we were left standing on the battlefield, you didn't leave me. For that, I thank you. And you know, that I never wanted anything in return from you. But please. This time, I ask…No, I beg you. Trust me."

Zandius looked up at his leader, then at the hand on his arm. He once more looked at Cidon and grabbed his hand.

"I never stopped trusting you, brother."he said.
"Thank you."

Cidon took his hand away and looked at his knights.

"As you know, the Silius' Procedure was enacted only three times in the entire history of the Holdings and the Obsidian Order. Each time, only because the Five Oracles said, that it's needed. When a Knight of the Order is meant for great things, it usually wasn't something they would do in their time. Only in the future do they live up to their expectations. The Procedure puts them in deep stasis. When the time comes, they are reawakened. After decades, centuries or even millennia."

He went silent for a second.
"Five Oracles failed to predict the death of our species. They failed to predict their own fate. With them dying at the beginning of the Hive's invasion, we cannot know when or in what times will we be reawakened. We can only pray to the Providence. Only She now knows what awaits us."

One of the knights put a fist to their chest.

"We all trust your judgment, Grandmaster."they said in a female sounding voice."If this is the only way to preserve our species, then we shall comply."

Other knights did the same and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, sister Knala."Cidon said."It's a great shame, that it was at this time, that a first female ever earned her place in the Order. I'm certain, that if nothing like that happened, you would do great things."

"Thank you."Knala replied, bowing.

Cidon once more looked at the rest.
"I already sent the order to our brothers stationed on Fortress 483. They are to also perform the Procedure and hide their ship within the planet's oceans, so no one would rediscover it and use for their own purposes. But before that, they are to destroy the Intergalactic Bridge, to not allow the Ichroids to come to this galaxy."
"I bet the Quions are laughing at us right now."another knight said."Bastards."

"Don't worry, they aren't doing to well themselves."other knight said."The last Crown War took a large toll on them. We already expected them to fall within the next two centuries and now, it's more than certain."

The two then laughed.
"It's no time for jokes, brother Yunos, brother Leunos."Cidon scolded them.

The two stopped laughing and bowed their heads in shame.

"Forgive us."they said.

Cidon nodded and then, he pulled out his sword. He climbed onto the pedestal and stood before the increase. He lifted his blade above his head. Other knights pulled out their blades and also lifted them above their heads.
"For years I stand guard!"they all chanted."For the people and the land! No darkness too strong, no enemy too powerful! Only in death does my duty end! For Cradle, we march!"

With that, they pointed their swords down and hammered them into the pedestal. Soon, Cidon came off of it and once more stood with his knights.
"Now, they shall rest."he said."But when the time comes, we, or someone else worthy, shall put them to good use. Let us rest, too."

With these words, the thirteen knights dispersed and started approaching the seats. One by one, they settled down on them, putting their arms on the armrests. One last time, they all looked at their Grandmaster.

"Computer."Cidon said.
"YES, LORD CIDON?"a mechanical voice asked.
"Initiate the Sillius' Procedure."

"UNDERSTOOD, LORD CIDON. INITIATING."
With these words, computer started pumping the stasis fluids into the bodies of knights. They slowly filled their veins, mixing with their blood, putting them into a state between life and death on their own volition. Cidon shot one last glance on his brothers and sister, before his eyes closed.

Dora observed all that and when she was certain, she left her hiding spot behind one of the seats. She looked at the creatures clad in the armor sitting on them. It was weird seeing them alive and breathing. And talking. She knew, that for many cultures in the Milky Way, Eneans were still equal to gods and other mystical beings. But now, seeing a bunch of them, probably the last of their people, resolving to putting themselves in stasis to preserve themselves, made her feel almost sorry for them.

"Cidon mentioned something about Fortress 483. I wonder which planet it was. And if this ship is still there."she thought."And most importantly. If they put themselves in stasis, why were they rotten to bone?"

Answer came faster than she anticipated.

Suddenly, the green light lighting the whole room green turned vivid red and the mechanical voice spoke:
"WARNING: SYSTEM FAILURE. SYSTEM FAILURE."

Suddenly, the flow of stasis fluid accelerated. More and more was being pumped into their bodies in such quantities, that even their organisms could not withstand it. Unable to do anything, knights simply had their internals slowly poisoned by too much fluid, which soon made them go into sleep for eternity, never to wake again.

Soon after, the light turned green again.

"ALL SUBJECTS DECEASED."

"Damn…"Dora thought."All this because of a system failure. Did the same fate met the other knights on Fortress 483? Or maybe not?"

Her thoughts were cut short by a sudden flash of green light.

When the light vanished, she was again in her previous position, standing on the pedestal. She saw Maddie, Fenis and Simon standing at the base of the pedestal, looking at her with curious and worried looks.

"Dora, is everything okay?"Maddie asked.
"Sure."Dora replied, still a bit dazed."Why are you asking?"
"Well…"Fenis said."When you touched that sword, you stopped moving and just stood there like a stone statue, with empty eyes and we thought that…you were dead?"
"And besides…"Simon said, pointing at something.

Dora risen an eyebrow and looked at the thing he was pointing. And she gasped, surprised to see, that in her hand, she held the sword that she touched before she was given the vision of what transpired here fifty thousand years ago. From what she remembered, this sword belonged to Cidon. But now, it shrunk in a way, that she could easily hold it.

"How did I…?"she asked, looking back at her three companions.
"How are we supposed to know?"Maddie said."I should as about what happened?"

Dora, the sword still in her hand, came off of the pedestal and stood before them.

"I had…a vision."she replied."Of what happened here nearly fifty thousand years ago. Turns out, that Eneans had a power of traveling between galaxies. And the knights you see here were supposed to only go into stasis and return when time was right. But something malfunctioned and…"

"I think I get it."Maddie nodded.
"Hey, your right eye."Fenis said.
"What?"Dora asked.

She brought up the sword and looked at her reflection in it's blade. Much to her surprise, one of her eyes changed color. Instead of her natural green eyes, one of them turned much, much darker, in the same shade of green as the Enean tech around them. It also had a weird glow when the light reflected from the sword fell on it.

"Uh, guys…"Simon said, with shaking voice.
He was looking back. Everyone also looked back and almost jumped from surprise.

There, floating a few centimeters over the ground, where thirteen green spirits. They were wearing the same armor as the ones that sat on the seats. They floated like that, not moving or doing anything.

Suddenly, the one in front lifted his hand and put it to his chest near it's heart. It also nodded his head.

For some reason knowing that it was directed to her, Dora returned the gesture.

"Only in death, does the duty end."she heard in her mind. The voice certainly belonged to Cidon."May this blade serve you well, young warrior."

With that, the thirteen spirits started slowly vanishing.

"What the hell?"Simon asked.
"It seems like their spirits have found peace."Dora replied."Which they certainly deserve."
"Well, if that isn't a proof that afterlife exists"Fenis said"then I don't know what is."
"Is it everything you wanted to check here, Dora?"Maddie asked.

Pilot took one last glance at Cidon's corpse on the seat.

"Yes. I think we can."she said.
"Maybe we could take some mo re of these swords, huh?"Simon asked."I could use one of those."
"No."Dora replied.
"Why not?"
"There is a defensive system on them. If an unwanted hand touches them, a shock will kill you."

Maddie looked at Dora.

"How do you know that?"she asked.

Dora frowned.
"I…don't know."

"Then how do you know, that I'm not worthy?"Simon asked, crossing his arms.
"I mean, look at you."Fenis said."Even blade without security systems wouldn't want to be held by you."
"Can we just go?"Simon asked, more and more irritated.

However, before they could move, the door leading into the room were suddenly blasted open in a green explosion, making a big cloud of dust. The four quickly turned in that direction and saw, slowly emerging from the dust cloud, were the familiar shapes of Enean security drones, with their triangular modules. They marched towards them in a formation, aiming their arms towards them.
"Shit!"Simon squeaked.
"Where did they come from?"Fenis asked.
"I guess that explosive actually made someone interested in us…"Maddie said.
"What do we do now, then?"Simon asked, trying to gnaw on his nails, but forgetting that he had gloves on.

"I will take care of that."Dora said.

Maddie wanted to say something, but Dora didn't listen. Instead, she tightened the grip on the blade and grabbed it with her second hand. She stood in front of the machines and watched them approach.
"What is her plan?"Fenis asked.
"To kill herself and us with her?"Simon replied with a question.
"Let's hope no."Maddie said.

Right then, she saw something weird. The sword that Dora held…started glowing green.

Before she could ask anything, Dora let out a yell and swung the sword. As it flew, it released a green energy crescent, which flew towards the approaching machines. Soon, it collided with them and started cutting them in half, row by row, making it's way towards the very end of the approaching formation. Soon, the energy crescent vanished, while the machines fell on the ground in pieces.

Royal Rangers looked at it, their mouths wide open, with no idea what to say about it.

"That was awesome!"Simon exclaimed.

"True."Dora agreed.
"No, but seriously, when did you learn to do that?"Maddie asked.
"I said, I don't know. I just suddenly knew these things. Maybe it's because of the sword? I dunno. But I just…can do it."
"As long as you don't go crazy with power, I'm okay with that."Fenis said.

"Don't worry, I have a strong will. Trust me."Dora put the sword on her arm."Now, shall we go?"
Without much persuasion, the four quickly left the chamber, leaving behind the deceased Enean knights and the smoldering security drones.

August 3

19:23

Surface

Using the rope they used to go down, the four quickly climbed out of the hole and onto the surface. There, Simon took the rope and hid it away. Soon after, Dora cut down a tree which they then rolled over the hole to hide it.

"You think this will work?"Maddie asked.
"It should."Dora replied."At least as long as the population and urbanization of the planet won't reach here. It will be safe until someone won't find it by accident, like we did."

"Or when someone learns from us where did you get that sword."Simon said.

Dora looked back at the sword which was now tied to her back with a rope given to her by Fenis.

"I guess so."pilot replied."But I think we can come up with some cover up."
"If we make it out."Simon murmured.
"Stop being a spoilsport."Fenis said."For now, be happy that we made it out of there in one piece."
"I am happy. I'm just stating the obvious."

Maddie simply rolled her eyes.

"I think we should better gather our stuff and get moving."she said.

"Hey, what? What about sleep or food?"Simon asked.
"It's better to move away. After all, someone could detect whatever was going on here."Fenis said."You can't be too careful. And when it comes to food…"

Saying that, the apprentice looked at the rotting corpse of the creature he hunted down earlier.
"Alright, I get it."Simon sighed."Let's get going."

"Good to know we agree."Maddie said.

With that, they left to gather their things and later, they continued on their journey towards Leender, with their newly acquired weapon.

XXX

And this is where we're gonna finish up for today, starting a new part. As always, remembers to leave a review, follow and favorite. It will be highly appreciated!

See you!