“As you have all gained positions highest in your land, I know that the words I’m about to say will have a great meaning to you. After all, throughout your history, I have been moving among the various different lines and groups, making sure that this message and this knowledge was passed down. It was one of the things that I agreed with Bob about, that stuffy old gnome.” Air had a soft smile on her lips instead of a frown, speaking to the position Bob held in her heart as a sort of father figure.
Her expression turned severe once again. “You should all know about the Jukal.”
This one word sent ripples through the people in the meeting. If anyone else had said it, they might think of it as a slip of the tongue. But with everything that Air had said and done, it was clear that this was not a simple slip. All of their faces became dark—some with anger, others with fear. This told of the power this word wielded. These were people who were going up against the gods of Emerilia, but one word from Air was capable of making them go into a cold sweat.
“This battle we’re fighting, in order to win it, we might need to use means that the Jukal will pay attention to. Whether this is the different magical spells we’ve added to the flying citadels, the new grand working rounds, or even the overall power that our forces can display in one attack. Your people don’t need to just prepare for the coming war against the Pantheon—they need to be ready for the coming Jukal.” Air threw out her hand. White crystals as clear as glass appeared in front of all those in the room.
“Hold it in your hand and focus on it with your eyes and you will learn all about our preparations,” Air said.
Some people who had met Air before took the crystals and looked into the depths, their faces going slack after a few moments.
The others in the room followed after them.
It took about five minutes before the first blinked and started to shake their heads, rubbing their temples slightly. Their faces were pale, not from the information now flooding their minds but because of the depth of that information and the preparations made.
The only one who wasn’t so pale was the dwarven war council leader. He simply pursed his lips and looked back to Air.
It seemed as if the Council of Anvil and Fire had told the war council already.
“These resources are impressive, but the information on the Jukal—how is it possible to defeat something like this?” one of the people around the table asked.
Included in the memory crystal, that was similar to a spell book but had been refined and simplified by Air because she hated explaining things, she’d included up-to-date information on the Jukal Empire.
“In stages.” Air looked to Lucy, who sat at the table.
“There are three main stages.” Lucy looked to the others in the room. “The first is that we need to secure Emerilia. There is a Jukal military base in one of our moons as well as multiple methods they have of destroying Emerilia. We will need to defeat all of those as well as the three ships that are currently hiding behind that same moon that they’ve made a base of. Once we secure Emerilia, we can begin the second part of the campaign. Air and her people will start to use the information networks that are set up in Emerilia to hopefully ignite the anger of the people within the Jukal Empire.
“The portals are all controlled by the Jukal and they have placed them outside of the different domains they control. If these regions are to rebel, they can mobilize their empire’s military and ruthlessly snuff it out. Each of these portals need the right coordinates as well as proper security codes to move from one to the other. All of these codes are random and are held by special code computers within Jukal ships. We happen to have access to a carrier, as well as its code box. Using this and our knowledge of portals, we will be able to get into the portal network and turn them over for our use. We will move between different systems and hit different places that emphasize the control of the empire. We get them to spread their forces out, to try to get to these different locations. They use the portals, spread themselves out. We shut down the portals, isolate them and defeat them, piece by piece. As this is going on, we send down factories that will give those in the Jukal Empire weapons, power, food. We break the hold that the Jukal Empire has on them. We don’t need to destroy the Jukal straight up. By undermining their hold over others, then they will not have the supplies to maintain themselves.” Lucy looked to them all.
They all understood the plan. Before the onos and the teleports, if they were under siege, there was no way for them to bring in new supplies from other places unless they lifted the siege. If their military in the field was already defeated, then they could only wait for a slow and painful death of starvation.
Air nodded, knowing that this had been Dave’s plan when he had started to work things out. He hadn’t passed it on to Sato and his people, as, like Sato, he trusted them, but he didn’t truly know them. Things like this plan were too important to trust to someone he had never met before.
The fear that had broken out in the room was now tempered as the men and women of the Terra Alliance looked to one another. These were powerful and ruthless people. Air had picked them for their ethics and their ability. They all knew what their orders would bring about: the loss of life. Many of them had been adventurers or people in the military they were now sending forth.
By the way they moved, even without their actions, Air knew she had them.
“What do you need from us to complete this plan?” one of them asked.
Air didn’t smile, knowing that this meeting right now would not only decide what happened in the fight with the Pantheon, it would decide the fate of Emerilia and all of those who called it home. Player and POE alike.
***
Party Zero marched with the flying citadel force. They had been going nearly nonstop for an entire week now, moving from one location to the next, subduing portals and the creatures that came from them and helping those they passed.
It had taken a direct order from the top people in the Terra Alliance to get them to stop, and they needed it.
As they exited the teleport pad, another group was entering the teleport pad, exiting the ono that was located on Goblin Mountain’s Flying Citadel One.
Deia looked to the rest of Party Zero. Dave, Malsour, and Suzy had already been called away with other work to do. None of them had the time to actually take in the losses of Jekoni and Anna.
They’d driven themselves to exhaustion, trying to make it so that less people would die on their side, but now all of them looked as if they were soulless from the heavy fatigue they were suffering from.
As they stepped into Terra, it was a vastly different city than from when they had left it.
People were everywhere: Terra had taken in as many as possible to try to relieve some of the pressure on the other places that were dealing with a massive influx of refugees.
The Aleph had helped out and accepted a bunch of new citizens into their cities but still Terra was the staging point for most of the massive operations happening across Emerilia.
Deia raised her eyes, looking to where the next section of the city was nearing completion. The Blood Kin had worked tirelessly to expand Terra, as well as the flying citadels. They were seen as heroes and many people were freely giving them the lifeblood of the animals that they killed in thanks for all they had done. The Blood Kin had become a powerful group within Terra but they worked hard to help their fellow Terra residents.
Party Zero moved away from the marching lines of soldiers who were coming back from the flying citadels. People noticed their badges and a number of people recognized the famous Party Zero as they headed for another teleport pad.
Deia looked to the others as all of them continued to follow. She passed through the teleport pad and entered the power station. They quickly entered Pandora’s Box and then passed through a portal into Ice City.
It was half the size of Terra but it was growing even faster with the aid of the massive machinery at work. There were more people
here but it wasn’t as packed as it was in Terra. As they exited the armored building holding the portal, Dave appeared in front of them.
He smiled to them all before he moved to Deia.
She wrapped her arms around him, finally feeling safe and home after all she had seen in the last couple of days. She just wanted to hold onto him forever like that.
“Let’s get you all off to your rooms—can smell you clean across Ice City,” Dave said with a joking smile, his humor subdued as the recent losses made it hard to joke.
They disappeared from the portal and reappeared in an apartment building.
Dave led them to different rooms. They were numb as they listened to his instructions. Malsour also appeared, greeting them but letting them get much-needed rest.
Dave guided Deia into their room. Dave helped to take off her boots.
Deia saw Dave, his rugged looks and the strength of his muscles. The heat of her body climbed as she looked over him.
Dave, sensing her gaze, looked up at her.
She lurched forward, toppling Dave over on the floor. Her hands gripped his hair as she roughly kissed him.
Dave grabbed her hair slightly as he kissed her back; his other hand pulled her to him. They forgot the world as they tore at each other’s clothes, letting their instincts take over.
***
After their hurried lovemaking, they took a shower together, some of the tension that had built up being released.
Dave felt a whole lot better than he had in days.
They lay on their bed, the two of them entwined in one another’s embrace.
“We can go see Koi right now,” Dave said.
“I know, it’s just, I’m fresh off of fighting. I want some time before I see her,” Deia said in a small voice, her face troubled.
Dave pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.
After a few minutes, she looked up at Dave, her face serious. “Am I a bad mother?”
“What?” Dave asked, stunned by the question.
“Am I a bad mother?” Deia repeated, her voice firmer.
“No, not at all. Why would you think that?” Dave’s brows pulled together in concern as he put both his arms around her.
“I went into battle with her while I was carrying her. Now she’s been born and I’ve spent more time training people than I’ve seen her! I’ve been fighting for weeks straight and instead of wanting to see her, I jumped you and hid in here.” Deia’s emotions came out as she started to cry, her whole body shaking.
“Come here.” Dave sat up and wrapped her up in his arms.
She cried on his shoulder as he hugged her.
“You’re a great mother. Yes, you were near battle when you were pregnant, but you were in the rear, fighting at a distance and you had the speed to be able to escape at any time. And I had teleportation orbs around you so nothing could happen to either of you. Was it a good idea? No. But you wouldn’t be you if you simply just stayed at home and let us do all the fighting. You’ve been fighting and training people for the last couple of months, but all of these people, without your training they might not be making it home to their loved ones. I know you—you worry over her all the time. Look at you right now. You’re in a state because you care so much for her. How could a mother who cares for her this much be a bad mother?” Dave asked, his voice gentle and reassuring.
Deia cried for a little while longer but finally she started to calm down. Not many would think of the leader of the Stone Raiders’ famous Party Zero crying on her husband’s shoulder as if she were nothing but a little girl.
Past the legends and the stories, they were truly just people underneath. People who had been thrown into an impossible situation, but strove to make their own path, their own future. That was what made them powerful. Not their magic, their weapons, or their gear—but the drive to push forward, no matter the obstacles.
Chapter 11: War Forges
Denur looked across the battlefield. She banked sideways, leading a wing of aerial forces and her own family members. Spells and ranged attacks all tried to hit them as they came down out of the cloud cover created by the explosions that ringed the citadel.
The Terra Alliance’s attacks smashed upon the Mana barrier of the citadel. From the flying citadels in the air to those on the ground, their attacks made the barrier turn a darker color, showing it was close to failure.
“Break it!” Denur’s voice carried as she unleashed her dragon breath. Blue flames shot from her mouth, creating a new light in the day. The others following her added in their attacks. The barrier shivered and shook under the impact of their powerful attacks. The aerial forces dropped bombs and hit with their own ranged attacks.
“Break!” Denur called out. Their aerial formation broke apart as they passed over the citadel. The ranged attacks flew by, illuminating the sky as the defenders tried to take down the dragons and their protection in the air.
Denur arced and weaved through the incoming fire. As she left, thunder seemed to erupt from the heavens. She looked to the flying citadels. Mana halos along the banks of cannons fired right down the line, all of their fire focused into the weaknesses of the defenders’ barrier.
It collapsed under the fire of the flying citadels.
When the barrier went down, the artillery cannons’ rate of fire increased. Runes running down their cannons lit up as they fired, their regular artillery spells fueled by the soul gem they were connected to. It allowed them a higher rate of fire but they were much less destructive than the grand working artillery rounds.
The cannons didn’t stop firing at a rate of one artillery spell per second. They recoiled and returned to their original positions just as they fired again.
It was an impressive display of firepower that hammered the citadel on the ground.
Denur gained altitude, picking a different flight path and moving for the citadel she was based on. She came in to land; her size decreased so that she was only half of her normal size.
People waiting off to the side brought over Mana, Stamina, and Health potions; healers checked her over.
She downed the potions. Energy filled her once again as she moved toward one of the exits. She jumped off the catwalk and into the jet stream. Her wings snapped out as her speed shot up and she returned to her normal size, looking at the battlefield below.
The citadel on the ground was being torn apart. As the artillery spells and other ranged attacks hit, walls exploded, shooting out rocks and metal that made them up.
The castle and tower in the center was being torn apart, the interior of the castle being revealed as artillery crews blew out sections of the tower.
A round exploded inside the tower. The already weakened structure gave way. The entire building became unstable as it shook and then started to fall down, crushing what was below before it toppled over, landing on the castle and inner area below.
Even as it fell, more rounds smashed into it, tearing it apart.
It was a scene of pure destruction.
The drop forces were all in defensive positions outside the range of the citadel, watching and ready to move in once the bombardment was finished.
Denur looked for the aerial forces that had been assigned as her protectors. She banked and dove, flapping her wings as she cut through the smoke and dust that had been thrown up by the fighting below. She used her wings and tail to slow her speed as she entered the flying formation.
The DCA aerial forces nodded to her. Some poured more power into their armor to alter their course while others flapped their large wings as they circled the citadel, ready to move in and support as needed.
If they were to head lower, they were at risk of getting hit by their own artillery. The aerial battlefield was complex and hard to fight in, but Deia and her training staff had stressed safety again and again, working to minimize the risk of friendly fire.
Denur and the aerial forces didn’t talk as they watched the destruction below. They had seen too many scenes
like this in the last couple of days, becoming their new norm.
By the time that the other citadels had stopped releasing their ranged attacks, the dust cleared over the citadel on the ground. The once proud citadel was now nothing but a pile of rubble.
“Keep an eye out for anything left down there,” the wing commander said, banking and taking them toward the citadel.
They stretched out their senses as much as possible, watching the citadel.
Other aerial groups beat them to the citadel, racing over it. They unleashed a few attacks here and there to kill off anything that looked as if it might be able to resist.
Denur and her group went past. Not sensing any threats, they didn’t use any attacks and returned to the sky.
After the citadel had been checked from the sky, the drop forces started to march forward.
“We’re being moved to the portal,” the wing commander called up as they altered their flight path, leading them away from the citadel and toward the portal that was in the midst of rubble.
There were still creatures coming out of the portal but they were simply stepping into their own deaths. All around the portal, there were trap grand workings.
They were similar to grand workings in that they had a massive amount of power behind them to replicate spells; however, the trap grand workings didn’t exhaust all of that power in one go. If they were triggered, they would let off a burst of power, saving the rest for any others that entered their area of effect. There was also a cold heat exchanger that pulled out the cold energy from within the Mana shield that encapsulated the portal and its traps.
Anything that passed the portal was cooked alive, or they made it to the grand working traps to be torn apart. There was no escaping anymore.
Techs were on the ground with mounted forces, watching the portal, ready to pull them back at a moment’s notice.
Denur let out a sad sigh as she looked at the different items that had been created for the purpose of extinguishing life.
The Pantheon Moves (Emerilia Book 10) Page 15
