Thanos looked at the images intently before saying, “Dael, highlight each of those attacks”.
The Recon Master did as he was bid and Thanos felt his eyebrows rise in reflection of his realisation. The attacks, bar a handful, had all been loosely centred on a group of buildings that, on the outside, seemed bland and unimportant. However, the coincidence didn’t escape him. “What are those, exactly?” he asked.
Dael was quick to answer, suddenly aware that he had missed something he shouldn’t have. “It’s a laboratory complex, my Lord.”
Thanos closed his eyes, regretting having ever asked the question. He knew the answer to his next one would be even more displeasing. “And what is its purpose, Dael? What studies are made there?”
“Something to do with human weapons and military advancements, but nothing significant” Dael replied.
Vulpus rolled her eyes. How could the Recon Master not see it? “Well, obviously there is something significant there” she admonished him.
“The Phantoms wouldn’t bother with the distractions and the subterfuge if it was just another laboratory…” Thanos agreed.
Dael looked to him and then to Vulpus and the weight of his failure dawned on him. “I’m sorry, m-my Lord. I have made a great error in judgement. It will not happen again”.
“Hmm” Thanos replied. It was the most terrifying answer he could have given to Dael, because it revealed nothing about how he felt about the Recon Master now. Then he added, “Get me a link to my sister and get it fast. Whatever the Phantoms are after, they will not stop at one attempt. To get it before them, we need the help of the Shadow Legion”.
THE SOUND OF war could be heard across the breadth of Lotus City. The evacuation had been going on for hours, though few could understand its purpose. The Black Guardians had been defending Erebos for weeks, but only now did they decide to safeguard the population properly. Citizens across the world were all asking the same question - why?
To some, it hardly mattered. All that did was getting to the nearest Stormfalcon so that they could be taken away to a safe place. The legions represented the answer to their prayers and who were they to question the nature and time of their salvation? In the end, everyone saw things for how they really were - the monsters were at their doorstep and the angels couldn’t hold them off forever.
Now, as the human populace withdrew from their underground tunnels, caverns and hideaways, they fled to the streets in groups to get to the transports that would take them far away from the nightmare they had woken to. Parts of their humble city already lay in ruins despite the enemy being denied access and the loss was steeped in dismay.
What hurt the most was seeing homes destroyed. Who could say if the owners had made it out alive in time? Even for those that did, walking past the ruins of their houses was the hardest thing they had ever done. Children cried as their parents tried to hush them, but the adults were feeling the pain as well. They were afraid, they were tired and they were hateful.
Legionnaires from a multitude of legions occupied the streets in pairs and directed people to the nearest evacuation zone. It was the first time any of the people of Erebos had seen a Guardian in real life. It brought out many mixed emotions and reactions. Some threw their arms around them, kissing them and thanking them with all their hearts for saving them. Others ignored them completely, unsure of how to talk to the men and women who had assumed control and protective authority over their Empire.
One boy, walking with his mother and father along the dry tarmac of the street, rounded the corner and saw a Guardian standing there. With a rifle slung over his shoulder and his helmet on, the legionnaire was an imposing figure of black that seemed capable of killing just about anything.
The boy murmured, “Ma…is he a Guardian?”
Though his voice was inflected with awe, the legionnaire could hear a hint of fear in it. The boy’s parents didn’t answer, looking instead to each other to see if one of them should say anything to the armoured soldier. Eventually, it was the legionnaire who spoke first.
“I am indeed a Black Guardian, child. What do you know of people like me?” he asked. He spoke through the microphone in his helmet, which gave his voice a resonance to it that almost sounded mechanical.
The boy recoiled slightly in shock of the sound, but he was still too amazed to see a soldier from legend to run away. He looked to the ground, though, as if he was being tested by the legionnaire and he was shy about how little he knew. “I…I know you fight the m-monsters…the ones that came to get us today”.
Slowly, emphatically, the legionnaire nodded. “Do you fear them?”
Now the boy looked up into the helmet of the Guardian and saw something in his blue visor that made him want to be open and honest. “…Yes” he frowned.
The legionnaire had known that was going to be the answer. He looked to the boy’s parents who in return pleaded with their eyes for him to give their son some hope. What he said next would forever change the way the boy felt about everything; the war, his life and what would happen to the Empire.
The Guardian knelt down so that his head was level with the child’s. He carefully removed his helmet so that the intensity of his eyes and the sharpness of his facial features didn’t scare him. Gently, he asked “Have you ever wondered what the monsters are afraid of?”
Now it was the boy that slowly nodded.
“…They’re afraid of us” a Shadow legionnaire answered, materialising in front of them. With that, the boy would never doubt humanity’s safety for the rest of his life.
BY THE TIME Nightingale came down to the surface of Erebos, the majority of Lotus City had been evacuated. There were still thousands more citizens remaining, but that was a fraction of the number that the swarms of Stormfalcons had already relieved. She was taken to the south-eastern part of the city, to an area that granted an expansive view to the laboratory complex that now held equal interest to the Phantoms and Guardians.
She met Thanos on the hill that he occupied. He shared his information with her and after only a short discussion, they both agreed what they should do next. During her arrival, several more attempts to take the complex had been made by the Phantoms. As Thanos predicted, they weren’t going to give up on it. He had already sent a legion to secure it, the 711th who were allied to his own.
He felt more comfortable about using the 73rd where they were best; at the frontline, enduring and fighting through the worst. The 711th were better at holding a position on their own than they were fighting alongside others. The decision had been an easy one.
It had become clear that Thanos was not suited to capture the laboratory complex. If the enemy were encroaching on the buildings, he would inevitably have to take his form. When he was Cerberus, things had a way of being collaterally damaged. Nightingale, with her abilities to pass through any material, was far better suited to steal the prize away from the Phantoms.
“Do we have any idea what it could be?” she asked Thanos.
He had thought about it for a long time, but the truth was that he had no way of knowing. They would have to go and get it to be sure, but how could they find something if they weren’t sure what it actually was? “It could be a weapon, though I can’t imagine anything manmade that the Phantoms would crave enough to risk their elite to capture”.
Thanos had meant no offence to his parent race, but the look that Nightingale gave him when he phrased it that way made him regret his choice of words. “I didn’t mean to insult the Empire Night, you know that. It’s just…if the Great Enemy wanted a weapon that was held by our side, wouldn’t He search on Kraxus first where we actually produce them?”
Nightingale’s reason told her that Thanos had a point, but her instincts railed against logic. “Reality seems to disagree with that expectation, brother. There has to be something the humans have forged that intrigues Him so much”.
“The problem is, how are we supposed to know what that is?” Thanos asked.
Then
Nightingale smiled, an expression that looked haunting and eerie when it was worn by her. “We get them to show us”.
Vulpus, sharper than most legionnaires, especially Dael it seemed, was the first to challenge that. “What? Are you suggesting we let them take it first?”
Nightingale turned to regard her. She looked the 73rd Commander up and down and gave off the impression she could see right through her, though the threat was unwarranted. “Yes, of course” she said matter-of-factly.
Thanos had actually understood his sister’s strategy the moment Vulpus had, but only now did he want to comment. “It could work” he allowed. When his legionnaires looked at him doubtfully, he explained “The 101st haven’t been seen engaging the enemy yet. If I move up to the wall, they will assume only the 711th remain at the laboratory complex. They will know that we’re aware that they are after something, but it will seem we are entirely ignorant of its significance until we let them find it. Then, when they have it and we can identify what they’ve stolen, we act”.
“We ambush the ambushers” Vulpus smirked.
Nightingale looked at her again, this time with an expression that was slightly more positive and less intrusive than last time. “Precisely, Commander”.
***
"WHAT ARE WE going to do?" Hadar asked, looking through the binoculars at the target that sat comfortably a mile away from them.
Next to him, another Legionnaire of the 711th lay prone, his sights down the scope of his longrifle. They had withdrawn from the vicinity of the labs at Cerberus’ command and it had allowed the Phantoms access to what they were sent to protect.
Hadar’s comrade was looking at the same thing he was. "I don't know," he admitted, "those aren't just paradigms; there’s devii chieftains, golems, gore princes...then there's a pair of typhons guarding the device itself". He looked at Hadar, "We'll never take them all down".
"Damn Vin, nothing like the optimistic outlook before the charge, eh?" Hadar replied.
"That was realism, not pessimism.”
Hadar groaned. “Since when do we just sit by and let the Phantoms do what they want?”
Vin sighed. In truth, he too was frustrated by what they were forced to do. “We haven’t been ordered to do anything but secure the position and observe the enemy. We're not going to attack, Hadar, accept it already”.
"No, you aren't” a ghostly voice behind them agreed. “We are though".
Turning around, the Legionnaires found its source. They were almost scared witless as they saw Nightingale, Apostle of the 101st Shadow Legion, towering over them. The amazing thing was during the campaigns since Pheia, the two of them had seen the 101st in action plenty of times. They had seen the way they moved like whispers of the night. They were stealthy killers without peer. Yet when they saw Nightingale, her form a ghostly image of a beautiful, deadly woman, she gave them an uneasy chill like she was the first spectre they had ever seen.
"But...how? My Grace, there are typhons in there!" Vin spoke out of concern, but only when he finished did he realise how ridiculous it was to worry about a demi-god dealing with Phantoms, no matter how lethal they were. Hadar gave him a look that said What the hell are you doing? She’s an Apostle, you fool!
"There are worse creatures in the Phantom hordes than Molochs, legionnaire, and I am fiercer than all of them. If you feel the need, remain here. Give us covering fire, if you get the chance to help us".
With that, she disappeared. A windy black mist was all that she left behind.
Hadar and Vin looked at each other, mystified.
"Chamber a round, now!" Hadar stressed.
Vin had already done that, pulling back on the rifle to load the massive .75 phaser round into his gun. Ammunition of that sort was far more advanced than what their human comrades had. Capable of tearing through almost any material, the round would even fell a golem in one hit, and at least distract a typhon. The problem was actually hitting the slippery bastards.
Looking down his sights, Vin focused on the building, looking through the massive windows that seemed to be purposefully there just to tempt an attack. He scanned window to window, seeing Paradigms on patrol everywhere. On his second sweep, he had to double-take at least twice. Where before the enemy was visible, and clearly alive, now they were gone.
He muttered a cuss to himself.
"What is it? Do you see anything?" Hadar asked.
Vin was about to reply when they both heard a long, guttural cry. Looking at the plaza in front of the building, a series of defence turrets there able to repel unwanted guests long enough for support to arrive if necessary, they witnessed the art of the Shadow Legion like never before.
Black smoke appeared as bodily forms everywhere behind the Phantoms. Legionnaires of the 101st sprung into existence as if from nowhere, flashing up behind the enemy to cut them down like child's play. They saw the source of the death scream; a golem with a holo-sword through its broad chest, piercing both its black lungs. It turned its head to face its assailant, but the Legionnaire withdrew his blade and swung it in an arc. It cleaved through the golem's neck so cleanly that barely any blood was spilled.
A pair of devii chieftains rushed the very same Legionnaire. "Kill them!" Hadar cried.
As Vin adjusted his aim and placed his shot, he was too late to help as the chieftains stood there bemused. The Shadow legionnaire had vanished, like an untouchable shade and as quickly as he disappeared, another two of his legion attacked. They quickly slew the phantoms with ease and likewise blinked out of sight.
There were more amazing things to see, but Hadar noticed something in the room where the Phantoms were guarding the coveted equipment. "Look, the device! What is that haze around it? It wasn’t there before…" Hadar asked.
"Please don’t say we’re about to find out what it does..." Vin replied rhetorically.
The massive shadow surrounding the object finally manifested itself completely. It resolved into Nightingale, a huge, overarching spectre that rose up over the typhons. The creatures fell to their knees, a primal fear bringing them down to a pathetic, mewling level.
Neither of the 711th could look as the Apostle tore the creatures apart. It was like a nightmare the way she screamed like a banshee, her eyes wide with aggression and relish, her jaws further apart than it seemed possible, with row after row of teeth sharper than razor mesh. Soon, maroon blood coated the walls of the room like a scene from a sadistic horror show.
A few moments later, after looking away with revulsion, they returned their eyes to the room. There was nothing there now, not even a trace of the phantoms or the gore they briefly saw spread all over the place. The device had gone too.
Vin and Hadar did not see the 101st like that again for years to come, but they heard of the device and its use in the war. Stories would be told of how the 711th had supported the fearsome Shadow Legion, and how without them, the fight would have been lost. Only the pair of them knew the real truth; the 101st had needed no-one's help, least of all theirs.
Chapter 12
LUPUS WAS BACK on Gothica. He knew, despite the persuasive imagination of his mind, that he was in reality asleep, but he chose to ignore the fact and savoured the illusion. He was in Cygnus City, near the Academy. He couldn’t explain why, but his feet were taking him into a playground where a crowd of children were playing together and running around.
It brought a smile to his face to see such innocence. He had almost forgotten what it meant to behold pure happiness, but in this artificial world he was seeing it once more. A young girl, no more than five, caught his attention. Her laughter sounded familiar, her eyes similar to a girl he loved more than anything.
Then the dream began to change, adding a new layer to its story. Calla appeared by the child, playing with her and chuckling at their interaction. From this distance, Lupus knew he hadn’t been seen by them yet. He had a wrenching instinct in his heart that, in this version of his mind, the girl with Calla was their daughter, though he remembered in
reality they had no such family.
The thought and feeling of that fact resounded endlessly until it seemed it wouldn’t go away, but when Calla’s mother appeared on the scene, Lupus was able to push past it and accept the dream’s truth. By chance, Calla looked up from what she was doing and noticed him. She beckoned him over and the girl ran up to him, embracing him cheerfully. Lupus played with her for a while, completely in love with the family he had suddenly found himself having.
Yet, there was something dark about the dream, something that was waiting to be fully revealed. Though he knew the girl was his daughter, there was something about her that suggested she didn’t know she was.
After holding her up and swinging her round in his arms, he put her down gently. She went off to play with some of her friends and Lupus was left behind to witness the look of reservation and uncertainty on Calla’s face. He felt like there was a distance between them now that was yawning open in stark contradiction to the apparent fact that they had a daughter together.
It was then that he noticed her mother’s expression. Why are you here? she seemed to ask. Without explanation, the atmosphere suddenly became hostile and he expected Raina to turn up at any moment and actually shout at him, but she didn’t. Instead, something far, far worse happened.
The girl that his heart knew to be his daughter bounded up to him. He knelt down so that his eyes were level with hers because he could barely stand to see the strange misery in her eyes. When she spoke, her sadness transferred to him as she asked “Why can’t you be my daddy?”
A disappointed frown formed on her face and was mirrored by his own. The meaning of the question exploded in his lungs and caught his breathe. As he looked up at Calla and her mother, understanding dawning on him, he felt like the most fragile and expendable person in the world. He looked back at his daughter, but before he could reply “But I am…” the dream woke him up and stole the opportunity from him.
The Deian War: Conquest Page 15
