by Andrew Gille
***
Machenrauch now stood before his legions atop the steps of The Citadel. He came to attention as Lucifer walked out of the massive doors to address the rebel troops. Machenrauch was eager to hear his own brilliant plan, eager to invade Excarian City and eager to move on to The City of God, throw Os, Shalos and Entera from Elysian Palace and end this war.
He watched as cheers went up from the golden clad soldiers assembled before him. His troops were well disciplined, motivated and they believed in their leader. For now, it did not matter that it was Lucifer. He had luck or some sort of charm that allowed them to continue to win battles, whatever it was, Machenrauch was only interested in victory now if Lucifer could deliver them to The City of God and unite the troops behind him. Machenrauch would stand behind him. There would be time for politics and a plan to usurp the power from Lucifer later. Right now Machenrauch needed Lucifer’s legitimacy and the unity of his forces. He would take pride in hearing his own words reiterated to the group, seeing their faces understanding the brilliance and knowing full well that he had planned the battle. He saw Lucifer walk up beside him, he wore the suit of Ozielian Steel armor that had been taken from Auriel and his sword, gleaming black, he looked regal and immensely powerful. Of course, he would keep this armor for himself. It mattered not, Machenrauch was so much more powerful than Michael or his angels that he did not need magic armor and weapons. He would defeat Michael’s forces in his fancy suit of armor-clad only in the golden plate of the average foot soldier. Lucifer loved symbolism, and this would be a statement from Machenrauch all of the soldiers would understand.
Lucifer stood before them, he let the applause die down and began, “Angels, we stand at the precipice of victory. Never before has a group in heaven united to defeat such a corrupt and oppressive regime. After the coming battle, you will stand in glory as the ones who had the courage to take on a powerful enemy and took risks to change our realm for the good of angels on all of Heaven’s worlds.”
Machenrauch was puzzled by the wording of this statement, Lucifer spoke as if the battle in Excarian City would seal the victory for the rebel angels.
Lucifer continued, “Yes, after this battle, we will enter Elysian Palace as victors on the day of the Festival of our father, Temerian!”
Machenrauch was thoroughly confused, Lucifer definitely meant The City of God now, that was not the plan Machenrauch had put forth. They had recounted the strategy to him in the war room, it was precisely as he had stated it to Moloch while Asmodeus’ spy lurked in the corners. What was going wrong here?
“You may have heard rumors that you would be securing Excarian City today, but I tell you that today is the day we march on The City of God. Our Father Temerian will smile down upon us as we defeat his murderer and force him and his cruel family from the divine throne that is rightfully ours!”
The crowd cheered now, Machenrauch didn’t know what was happening, he looked back at Asmodeus who was standing just inside The Citadel and saw that he wore a face of equal perplexedness. Lucifer had made up his own plan and now enacted it at a time too late for intervention. To interrupt or disrupt his speech while thousands of assembled angels stood hanging on his every word was an exercise in self-destruction. If Machenrauch acted against Lucifer now, every angel in this crowd would turn against him. Lucifer was a reckless fool, there was no way to invade The City of God without securing Excarian City. Reinforcements from Excarian City would stream into the city and overwhelm the invaders from a superior position, by using the full strength of their armies which were now split into two locations. Controlling Excarian City allowed you to attack from it, which was a two-step process. It had to be the festival, Lucifer’s reliance on symbolism and the superstition of the Anatalian Letters had to be behind this. Machenrauch clenched his fists, fuming about how it might all end here. All of their advantages, their entire journey to this point was for naught if they were defeated here. Machenrauch, the greatest general in all of the rebellion was going to have to go into this battle, and there were no reinforcements or lines of retreat from The City of God. Lucifer was putting them all-in on this battle. It was brash and stupid, but if it worked, he would be exalted even higher. Lucifer was betting everything and Machenrauch, and the rest of the angels could only go along with it and do their best to mitigate the damage and try to win the battle with significantly less favorable odds than they had anticipated.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The invasion of Paradiiso
“Go forth to victory angels!” Was the last thing Lucifer said before angels began rising into Kalos’ sky bisected by the rings of the planet. Machenrauch boiled with rage as he too lifted from the ground toward The City of God. It was not supposed to be like this, but now they had no choice. Rocketing through Kalos’ atmosphere, he followed a path around the debris of the rings and shot toward Paradisio, the last planet not under control of the rebellion. Aequiss streamed by in an instant, and suddenly, he was looking down on the Sandosian Ocean. Dust and small particles impacted his shield orb as he began his descent to the planet, he looked behind him, larger asteroids were streaming toward Nivea. Black smoke began to trail behind him as he entered the atmosphere of Os’ home planet. As he descended, he again looked back and saw a stream of asteroids impacting Nivea, one of Paradisio’s two moons. All part of the Temerian Meteor Shower, Lucifer had not even warned the troops about this complication to their arrival on the planet. Hopefully, they all avoided the larger meteors as they came out of Conveyance. Otherwise, they could be landing with a significantly smaller force than they anticipated.
Around him thousands of angels streaked out of the sky, they had been instructed to land several miles outside of The City of God, Machenrauch knew this was a mistake. Lucifer didn’t understand, they had landed with a buffer to the city to avoid the caltrops and other debris placed in the city, but Lucifer’s plan put them too far out. Now they would give away their position as they landed and face a 15-minute journey into the city, plenty of time for Michael to set up a counter strategy and even fly in his reinforcements from Excarian City. This whole attack was so bungled, Machenrauch considered ways to retreat immediately upon landing.
Slamming into the ground, Machenrauch’s shield orb faded around him, he breathed in the sweet air of lavender and citrus from the gardens around The City of God. Other angels slammed into the surface of Paradisio with equal violence. Lucifer was uncharacteristically early to the deployment. He waited for the rest of his forces to land. Machenrauch approached him and plead for him to call off the attack, he begged trying hard to avoid insulting the arch seraph, but Lucifer just brushed him off, ignoring him like he wasn’t even there. Machenrauch screamed, exasperated by the futility an ineptitude of this plan. Lucifer, ordinarily anxious and easily excitable stood in the wheat field in which they had landed calm and collected. Seemingly knowing precisely what he was doing. Was he that dense? For a moment he felt that the entire rebellion may have been a ruse by Os to test the loyalty of his angels. Lucifer had been close to Os, was he Os’ agent in an elaborate and cruel hoax? Machenrauch could only stand by now as the sound of thousands more angels hitting the ground for as far as the eye could see was broken only by the rush of wind through the sheaves of wheat. Machenrauch stood, numb now, waiting for Lucifer to address his troops, waiting for the next incompetent instruction to be issued. Above him, he saw Nivea and the streak of meteorites in the purple dusk sky.
Seeing that only stragglers were left, Lucifer addressed the crowd with Machenrauch standing next to him, apparently distraught, near tears, equal parts dismayed and furious.
Lucifer was calm, nearly emotionless. However, a tiny smile began to betray his outward demeanor. The angels stood on an elevated field. Behind Lucifer, the skyline of The City of God, dominated by Elysian Palace was shining, alabaster, glowing in the golden sun.
Lucifer began, “I have brought you here to witness the defeat of Os, the end of Michael’s loyalist army, right now you c
an see them flying in reinforcements from Excarian City.”
Machenrauch looked onto the horizon, and indeed, silver glints bathing the sun could be seen as tiny meteorites disintegrated in the sky high above streaking overhead, burning downward like red beams. Warrior angels flew down in shining silver to the city, no doubt at Michael’s behest. Lucifer seemed aware this would happen, what plan did he have with his troops out of position and Michael’s forces in a strategically superior location? It made no sense, Machenrauch was certain that Lucifer was leading them to their doom.
Lucifer began to chant in the language of the Colossals, his muscles strained as he raised his hands above his head. What possible magic could fix this situation? A shield? Did he seek to leave the battlefield and allow the rest of them to be slaughtered?
Above The City of God, a surge of electrical energy crackled, a magical technique none of either side had ever witnessed before.
Long, long ago during the Festival of Temerian, Lucifer had taken part in the festivities in The City of God. He watched as the large meteors impacted the cratered red moon Nivea, like a protector she hung in the sky attracting all of the danger and leaving only the occasional pebble or piece of dust to fall to the surface of Paradisio. The tiny, inconsequential meteors streaked down, some fiery and white-hot as they burned into the atmosphere, some mere red streaks across the sky. Lucifer was curious about the impacts on Nivea which could be seen only as occasional small flashes on its pockmarked surface.
Lucifer ascended to the moon and stood on its crust. The violence and power of the meteor shower on Nivea was not something for which he was prepared, massive explosions shook him, churned up dust and massive amounts of dirt buried him. He was tortured by impacts and destruction for the entirety of the three days of the meteor shower. Only then after the unrelenting storm ended, was his body able to recover enough to crawl from beneath the mounds of heaping dirt that had buried him. He never forgot the power and violence unleashed upon him, and now it was time to bring that to Paradisio.
The meteors impacting Nivea were made mostly of iron, which had given Nivea a reddish hue over the thousands of years in which the moon’s gravity had shielded Paradisio from the meteors. Now the crackling electrical disturbance in the sky seemed to make their weapons and armor heavier. Lucifer had created a massive high-altitude electromagnetic force which pushed metal away from it on the planet.
High above, the iron meteors were attracted to the electromagnetic energy. They left their course and came streaking at Paradisio. Lucifer’s heart began to race, and sweat broke out on his forehead as he exerted his body to channel the energy he needed to create the electromagnetic force. The meteors began blasting down through the stratosphere, black trails behind them. The iron meteor glowed red from the friction of the air being pushed out of the way. It appeared that a second invading force was about to land.
The first impacts were violent and shook the ground where the rebel forces stood, they watched as buildings fell, fragments were ejected high into the sky, and The City of God became a smoldering, landscape of obliteration.
Within the city, the horror of the destruction was inescapable. The angels flying in from Excarian City were ripped from the sky and slammed into the ground sending dismembered angelic body parts flying like the spray of the ocean along with the rubble and debris of the beautiful white buildings that once stood throughout the city. Thunderous explosions echoed throughout the capital of Heaven, and none were spared. The velocity of the meteors tore craters into the surface and ignited all burnable materials, molten metal flowed in the streets from the melted iron boulders. Screams of pain were soon silenced as fire, molten flows, shrapnel and concussion blasts muted the sufferers.
For 5 minutes the city was assailed by a deluge of molten rocks from the sky. When the dust cleared, burning ruins were all that was left of nearly every square inch of Heaven’s greatest city. Only one building remained, standing straight, still gleaming white against the black smoke and fires pouring from the city.
“Elysium Palace still stands!” Machenrauch exclaimed.
“Yes, I didn’t destroy it because, that, I want,” Lucifer said, he had already regained his breath from the exertion of the spell. However, his hair and body were soaked with sweat from the effort of channeling the energy necessary for the invocation.
“Now, prepare your Azurian Crystals, trap any you encounter along the way. Rendezvous at Elysian Palace for the final assault! Move out!” Lucifer commanded as his soldiers began marching forward toward Elysian palace the one remaining feature of the once great city amidst the smoking craters and burning molten metal pools that were once The City of God.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Paradisio - The Final Battle
Within the alabaster walls of Elysian Palace, Michael heard the destruction. He rushed to a balcony, fire rained down on The City of God. His legions who had courageously stood valiantly in the parks and streets of the immaculate city were vaporized as he watched. The fiery meteors relentlessly pounded the buildings, parks, streets and temples of this most sacred place. They poured down from the sky like rain, like the rebel angels that had preceded them black streaks trailed behind them. Explosions shook the ground as the dense iron boulders impacted. Michael looked to the sky expecting to be obliterated by the onslaught, but Elysian Palace was saved the destruction. A shaft of blue sky appeared above him as black smoke tinged with glowing orange embers wafted down from the sky.
Again, Os was silent, he did nothing. Michael’s strongest legion protected Elysian Palace, seraphim and cherubim awaited the breach of the gate. They had been trained to protect the palace, they were Os’ most faithful servants. Now as the trembling, earthquakes ceased, Michael saw Lucifer’s forces approaching. He would not join them, anyone who would do this, anyone who would bring this kind of destruction to the Heavens, could not be of the righteous path. Lucifer had to be stopped whatever the cost. He prayed to Os as he saw them crest the horizon. The crimson glow of angelic life force being absorbed into Azurian Crystals, now a familiar sight was combined with angels flying toward Elysian Palace. They no longer feared an attack by Michael’s archers and traveled quickly and unabashedly through the air toward the only structure left standing. Michael saw only one thing before he ran down to meet the oncoming attackers, that was Machenrauch, far ahead of the group, determined, angry and with purpose, he would arrive first at the gates of Elysian Palace.
Machenrauch was surprised to see the gate lowering as he arrived at Elysian Palace. He strode over the lowering bridge, with his army behind him. He looked back, there was no sign of Lucifer, it was precisely as he wanted. Even if Lucifer dared to come this far, he couldn’t make it through the destruction of the city and the angels collecting their enemies in Azurian crystals. Machenrauch would conquer the palace, gather Michael’s life force, throw Os off his throne and Lucifer would be nowhere to be found. He could at least take that from Lucifer, he would be the one to defeat Os, then he would graciously hand over the throne to Lucifer, the legitimate heir to the throne of heaven. Angels would say that it was Machenrauch who had actually defeated Os and Lucifer’s power would be in question.
Machenrauch stepped into the grand hall of Elysian Palace, he had never before been here, it was more magnificent than he had ever imagined. His awe was cut short when four Elysian Seraphim came rushing down the halls to meet Machenrauch’s forces and defend the palace. Machenrauch was interested in these angels, mysterious and powerful, they were the most like Lucifer, he had wondered how he would stand up to them in battle. The few angels that stood before him were cut down quickly by the seraphim, but Machenrauch cautiously engaged them. A furious, violent struggle erupted as Machenrauch threw them into the pillars of the grand hallway entrance of the palace. They began using incantations and holy magic against him. As he engaged one seraph in hand-to-hand combat, he turned to see several of his soldiers burning, their golden armor liquefying into their skin. This only made him fig
ht more furiously, slamming the Seraphim into the statues and adornments of the hall and throwing them into the walls.
The violent battle caused the hallway to begin to burn. As Machenrauch threw a seraph into a pillar, the pillar collapsed bringing down part of the roof of the entrance. Now Lucifer, walking on his legs, in a manner he felt looked much better and more dignified than flying, reached a vantage point where he saw the battle raging just inside the entrance, Lucifer saw the collapse of the roof and smoke and flames pour from the building.
“Machenrauch will destroy the palace!” Lucifer shouted he longed to sit upon Os’s throne and rule from the same palace that Os once did. Nothing but Elysian Palace would do for him, this was why he had allowed it to survive the battle. He also could not let Machenrauch defeat Os singlehandedly, he, Lucifer would be the one who would win the battle that won the war.
“Father, I call upon you, speak to me,” Lucifer spoke.
“Yes, my son it is I,” a loud and thunderous voice echoed from every corner of the city.
“Right now my forces have breached the gates of your palace. Your defeat is near. However, I wish to extend respect to you and a manner to lose graciously without spilling your own blood I call for a duel of champions to settle the battle and save Paradisio from further destruction. Should our champion win, you will abdicate the throne to us and acknowledge that I am the rightful King of Heaven and we are the true rulers of Heaven. You will exile yourself, Shalos and Entera to Harborean where you will exist for the rest of your days amidst the storms and mist. Guarded by a contingent of our powers angels, you shall do nothing that attempts to contradict our power or cause problems with our kingdom. Should your champion win, I suppose we can give you one final chance against our army who are about to defeat you anyhow. Be glad that you have the chance to peacefully end this without further destruction or embarrassment to yourself, your son and your wife. So choose, do you agree to the challenge?”
