ã€ŠSleeping Eternityã€‹


 Chapter 1 - The Custodian

    Serana sat on the shore of a tranquil lake, the ornate marble table she was seated at looking quite out of place in the otherwise undisturbed landscape. She was tall, her silver hair cascading down her back, spreading over the unadorned white robe she wore. Serana¡¯s young features were at odds with her ancient grey eyes, both of which currently stared at the man opposite her. Completely ignoring the two armored bodyguards standing behind him, along with her own handmaiden, who similarly stood behind her.

    Midnight neared and the light was sparse, provided only by a few bioluminescent plants. Agnu, the blue gas giant their moon orbited, dominated the night sky, blocking the pulsar star¡¯s light quite thoroughly.

    Serana sat as still as a statue, staring at the strange officer, the low amount of light no obstacle for her eyes.

    He was young, of average height, with short black hair and blue eyes. He wore a strange blue uniform adorned with dark purple stripes signifying a probably high rank, along with three medals that similarly meant nothing to her eyes. As she stared, he shifted in his seat, probably unnerved by her. Unfortunately for him, midnight was still a few minutes away, so he¡¯d have to endure.

    Not that it mattered much. The Goddess slept and would continue to do so for decades to come. Despite the ceremony, the officer would get to talk to her and her alone. She would engrave his words into her memory and convey them to Eternity Herself when she awoke, as was her duty, but she did not need a ritual to do so.

    Were he one of Serana¡¯s own people, she¡¯d be worried about passing on his words before his death, but she doubted that the officer cared. She did not think he even believed in Eternity¡¯s existence.

    Even so, the ritual was useful in other ways. The foreigner''s conduct told her much. It gave her hope that they would prove reasonable, in the end. Those blind to Eternity¡¯s glory rarely were, but these visitors from the stars were full of surprises, not to mention knowledge.

    These strange people were quite contradictory in that regard. They knew so much, yet understood so little.

    Serana almost flicked her eyes upwards to the metal construct above the sky, but managed to stop herself. It had been a long time since she had encountered something so utterly new. That it came from people untouched by Eternity¡¯s benevolence only made it strange.

    She was being too harsh on them, she knew. Her memories from the early days were hazy, but she still remembered how in the beginning only the most foolish or desperate took the priesthood at their word. The rest required convincing, so convinced they were.

    She would just have to do the same now. Hopefully, they would abandon those silly notions of ¡°amending¡± the Eternal Laws afterwards.

    When the clock struck midnight Serana spoke as the ritual dictated, her soft voice piercing through the silent night, ¡°Speak, visitor, and be content in the knowledge that your words shall be heard by Eternity Herself.¡±

    ¡°Ehm, Venerable Custodian,¡± The officer began awkwardly, ¡°I have been sent here to discuss with you the issue of-¡±

    A sharp gasp coming from behind Serana interrupted the officer.

    Serana sighed, while the officer¡¯s eyes darted around her face. The military man had seemed awfully young to her, but to blunder so was still strange. Was he just some sort of a figurehead? Or perhaps he just did not care.

    ¡°To speak to Eternity Herself without introducing yourself first is to disrespect Her,¡± Serana explained, not truly bothered by the young officer¡¯s misstep. She knew the Goddess did not care about such things, but they were very important to Her people regardless. As evidenced by her incensed handmaiden, who looked ready to start lecturing the man.

    She would not, of course. To interrupt during the Ritual of Invocation was an even worse taboo, so the handmaiden stayed silent. Besides, they were both treading new ground. The man deserved a little leeway.

    ¡°Right, of course, my apologies.¡± The officer said, a bit too quickly. ¡°My name is Colonel William Ashwood and, as I¡¯ve tried to say, I¡¯ve been sent here to discuss the issue of the Draugr colony, that is, the problem of establishing the presence of the Terran Republic on your world.¡±

    Draugr, what a ghoulish name. At least his Sirnesian sounded acceptable. Perhaps suspiciously so, considering the date of their arrival.

    ¡°All are permitted to live under Her protection, Colonel,¡± Serana said, though she knew what the problem really was.

    This might have been the first time she spoke to the Colonel, but the ¡°Terrans¡± have been trying to, unsuccessfully, obtain land for their ¡°colony¡± for weeks. They tried everything but violence to get someone to agree to let them break the Eternal Laws, yet, to their complete confusion, no one did. Serana was mildly impressed by that. Usually, someone tried to bend or even outright break the Laws every few decades. It had been quite a few years since the last time.

    The Terrans had then spent most of their time slowly working their way up, contacting various nobles and royals, doing their best to find someone with the authority to change the Eternal Laws. Until they were, reluctantly, directed to her.

    She, of course, could do nothing about the Eternal Laws either. However, as the Custodian of Eigos, she was the only one who could speak to Eternity Herself, who could.

    If she was awake.

    Serana doubted the man in front of her understood the difference, however.

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    ¡°Yes, yes, of course,¡± The Colonel responded dismissively, ¡°But no one is willing to sell us land, Lady Custodian.¡± He added, his voice more serious, ¡°We have much to offer you. Surely we can reach an accord?¡±

    ¡°Eigos belongs to Eternity, Colonel Ashwood,¡± Serana responded. ¡°We cannot sell what does not belong to us. You already know this.¡±

    The Colonel¡¯s eye twitched.

    It made Serana¡¯s mind wander. She knew the Terrans did not ascribe much importance to her or even to Eigos itself, but at this point, they had to have understood that she spoke for the entirety of their little moon. Yet the Colonel seemed unused to diplomacy, unprepared even. Well, their loss was her gain.

    Colonel Ashwood breathed out and put his hands on the table, ¡°Look, I¡¯ll give it to you straight. What you have accomplished here, it¡¯s very impressive for the level of technology you possess. Lost colonies so far gone are usually just murdering each other and dying of disease, yet you¡¯ve established a stable and orderly society.¡±

    The Colonel paused, likely seeing the expression her handmaiden undoubtedly wore.

    Serana herself could not truly be mad at the Colonel¡¯s casualness, since she did goad him to it. It was not proper, but that only made the entire situation more exciting.

    It had been so long since anything exciting had happened on Eigos. An easy burden when Eternity was awake, yet her sleeping periods have been growing longer. Perhaps Serana was not coping as well as she had thought.

    Before she could deliberate on her unseemly emotions further, the Colonel continued, massaging the bridge of his nose, ¡°You still do not understand. We have been sent here to obtain land and there is no universe in which we do not. I, we, would rather resolve this peacefully, but, ultimately the only thing that matters is achieving our mission.¡±

    Serana stared at him, unblinking. She could feel her heartbeat slightly increasing, her heart¡¯s steady rhythm broken for the first time in decades.

    The officer was right. She did not really understand. She had almost forgotten how that felt. She knew the Terrans were powerful, for they travelled the stars, but had little idea about anything tangible. Nor did she understand why they were so open about their desire to break the Eternal Laws, instead of trying to do so in secret, like so many before. It did little to dampen her mood.

    ¡°The Eternal Laws cannot be broken, Colonel. You are proposing war.¡± Serana responded, barely stopping herself from smiling.

    ¡°This is what you aren¡¯t understanding!¡± The Colonel raised his voice, ¡°There will be no war! What can arrows do to steel? A few thousand of your people will die for nothing along with your authority!¡±

    ¡°You would not kill me?¡± Serana asked, her voice curious.

    The Colonel breathed out. He probably didn¡¯t expect that to be her takeaway.

    ¡°With your laws broken, your authority would plummet, but I did not lie when I called your society impressive. By all accounts, you were instrumental in its creation. Someone of your ability would still be more useful alive,¡± Colonel Ashwood finished, looking to her for a reaction, his gaze quickly sliding off towards her handmaiden.

    Sensing her handmaiden¡¯s bubbling reaction to the Colonel¡¯s words, Serana cast a cold look behind her shoulder, silencing any possible outbursts. Perhaps it was a mistake to bring her.

    ¡°I appreciate your candour, but it changes little.¡± She responded. ¡°There is only a single being who can alter the Eternal Laws and She has no interest in doing so.¡±

    Colonel Ashwood looked at her, staying quiet for a few minutes, before speaking again, ¡°Then I suppose we must convince her,¡± he said, before gesturing to one of his guards.

    ¡°This is going nowhere. A demonstration is in order. Transmit coordinates of that hill to the Captain, Jameson,¡± the Colonel said in a language unfamiliar to Serana, pointing to a small hill on the opposite shore of the lake, a few kilometers away.

    Serana didn¡¯t understand the language, but she was smart enough to guess what the Colonel intended to do. A show of power. How convenient for her.

    She looked at the hill the Colonel pointed at, then moved her gaze upwards. It stood to reason that the Terran¡¯s demonstration of power would originate from their biggest asset, their starship.

    Eigos¡¯s atmosphere was thick and the Terran¡¯s starships far, but Serana eyes were anything but ordinary, easily piercing through hundreds of kilometres of atmosphere and void, letting her look at the Terran¡¯s metal construct in all its glory.

    An ugly, rectangular thing of truly mind-boggling proportions, at least for Serana. She had spent most of her time since the Terran¡¯s arrival weeks ago staring at the metal construct and so could confidently say that nothing was out of place.

    Serana wondered what they would do. From the Colonel¡¯s actions, she deduced they aimed to do something to one of the nearby hills, but she could only guess what it could be. Perhaps some sort of a projectile weapon?

    It wouldn¡¯t matter in the end. Her power stemmed directly from Eternity, after all. For all their apparent genius, these Terrans were still just human. What could a human do against a God?

    In the next moment, the ship lurched, a projectile leaving one of the tubes on its front.

    Serana¡¯s eyes widened. Whatever it was, it moved incredibly fast, much faster than anything she had seen in her entire life.

    She had barely seconds to react.

    More than enough for her, however.

    Tracking the incredibly fast projectile with her eyes, she channelled Eternity¡¯s power through her veins, bending reality to her will and inadvertently making her eyes glow silver. To be safe, Serana continued pouring power into the spell right until the last moment, using up more of Eternity¡¯s power than she had in decades.

    A second later the projectile impacted. The hastily erected barrier held effortlessly, but did little to dampen the deafening sound. The shockwave arrived a moment later, causing her already startled handmaiden to fall and the Colonel to grip the table. His armored bodyguards seemed unaffected, which did not go unnoticed by Serana who similarly did not react. Outwardly at least.

    Inwardly, she winced. She had dealt with the attack easily enough, a fact which the Terrans had yet to notice, but the power behind it¡­ Such a weapon could easily destroy a city. Not a power that mortals should possess.

    She understood better where the Colonel¡¯s confidence came from, now.

    Releasing his hold on the table, Colonel Ashwood looked like he was about to speak, before pausing and sharply turning his head towards the hill.

    His mouth promptly fell open.

    ¡°What the fuck,¡± He exclaimed in the Terran¡¯s language.

 Chapter 2 - The Colonel

    Colonel William Ashwood stared at the hill, paying extra attention to the conspicuous fact of its continued existence. A bit of dirt and stone should not have survived an anti-ship railgun round.

    Gathering his wits, the Colonel closed his mouth and sent an order through his implants. Three additional points of view appeared in his vision, letting Ashwood quickly rewatch the past minute recorded through his cybernetics and the helmets of his bodyguards, Jameson and Pierce. Most of the footage was useless as all three of them had been staring at the Custodian. Fortunately, the hill could be seen on the edge of Jameson¡¯s field of vision.

    Speeding through the footage, the Colonel discovered two things. One, the Custodian¡¯s eyes did not, in fact, reflect the light from the explosion. Two, the railgun round was stopped and annihilated by some sort of an energy shield.

    Colonel Ashwood slowly turned his head back to the mysterious Custodian.

    She just sat there with an expressionless face, staring at him creepily. Completely ignoring her servant scrambling on the ground. At least the large size of the table provided some distance from her . He wasn¡¯t sure if he could have kept calm were he closer to the strange woman.

    The Colonel did not want to jump to conclusions, but one thing was exceedingly clear. The natives, or, more likely, the Custodian, possessed something extremely valuable.

    The Republic had yet to invent any sort of useful energy shields. Colonel Ashwood hardly knew much on the topic, yet even he knew that many even doubted whether it was possible. There were prototypes, but none of them had any practical use. Too expensive, too bulky, too energy inefficient.

    The Custodian had proven to be much more dangerous than anyone could have guessed, yet her actions only highlighted her ignorance.

    What she had shown was an impressive display of power, a fraction of it likely capable of cowing any number of savages into submission.

    But the Terran Republic would see it as a siren¡¯s call.

    Most likely the Custodian had control over some sort of advanced piece of tech, perhaps something the original colonists invented. Maybe even something of alien origin. Or it really was magic or some other nonsense as the other natives claimed. It didn¡¯t really matter. The Republic will want it.

    He paused. A dangerous thought entered his mind, ¡®Athena will want it too.¡¯

    At least it finally let the Colonel piece some of this world¡¯s strange culture together. He had not lied about the impressiveness of their society. Now he finally had an explanation. Well, a part of it at least.

    A cold comfort. This whole thing could easily spiral out of control.

    Steeling his will, he spoke, a bit more politely, ¡°Would you mind telling me what you just did, and how?¡±

    He would have to make sure to study the moon¡¯s customs properly for next time.

    ¡°I asked for Eternity¡¯s grace. She answered,¡± the white-robed custodian told him.

    The Colonel fought the urge to roll his eyes. Damn zealots, the lot of them.

    ¡°I see,¡± he responded, taking care not to let the sarcasm leak through. ¡°This changes many things, Lady Custodian. We will need to reconvene at a later date.¡±

    No reason to push yet, especially since he knew so little. Time was on his side anyway. For now.

    The Custodian looked at him strangely, making Colonel Ashwood wonder whether he had broken another of the many weird rules.

    Finally, she spoke, ¡°So be it. Use the temple to contact me when you are ready.¡±

    The Colonel released a breath he had unknowingly held. He looked forward to getting far away from the unnerving woman. Ashwood could already picture himself in the safety of their ship, the TRS Alcyone.

    Before he could get up, the Custodian¡¯s cold voice made him freeze.

    ¡°One last piece of advice,¡± The Custodian began, staring at him like a snake might at a mouse.  ¡°Laws are only as strong as those who uphold them. Our Laws are eternal, Colonel.¡±

    With those parting words, she marched off, her servant trailing behind her.

    With the Custodian gone, the Colonel straightened from his awkward pose, needlessly dusting his uniform off.

    Jameson and Pierce politely pretended not to notice anything.

    Colonel Ashwood sighted again, before gesturing to his guards to follow.

    It was still the middle of the night, so he had to go slowly. His guard¡¯s helmets had decent night vision, but he only had his, mostly organic, eyes. His retinal implants helped a bit with low-light vision, at least.

    The lake itself sat in the middle of a forest, with no real roads leading to it. Luckily their shuttle hadn¡¯t landed that far, though they still had to trudge through a decent bit of wild forest.

    The natives could do with a bit of industrialization.

    Even so, the walk back to the shuttle passed quickly, as the Colonel had a lot to contemplate. Mainly the disgustingly large complication that the Custodian had just dropped in his lap.

    His luck really was quite bad. The entire mission should have been simple. A vacation of sorts. Escort a few thousand colonists to a newly discovered habitable moon and stay a few years to make sure they don¡¯t kill each other or worse, try to secede.

    People on faraway colonies had a tendency to develop funny ideas like that.

    Still, it should have been easy. He would have just lazed around on Alcyone for a few years and then gone back to the core worlds with a nice bonus for deep space work.

    It had all gone to shit the moment they arrived. The probes that discovered the moon had not had scanners good enough to penetrate the moon¡¯s thick atmosphere. Which meant that its inhabitation became clear only when Alcyone, with its modern military equipment, arrived.

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    Afterwards the Colonel, as both the highest-ranked person and the only person with implants capable of assisted learning, became an impromptu diplomat. No one else could learn the native language in a reasonable timeframe, as advanced implants like his were still heavily restricted. In more ways than one. Learning the language was still incredibly annoying, but there weren¡¯t any real alternatives.

    At the time he had thought that things could not get any worse. He could only chuckle at the naivety of his past self.

    The natives had quickly proven quite unreasonable, while also being weirdly unbothered by the centuries ahead Terran technology. He had written their behaviour off as lost colony shenanigans, but his encounter with the Custodian had shown him that he had miscalculated. There was without a doubt something strange about this world.

    To add to his problems, the colonists started fighting amongst each other over the moon¡¯s name, of all things. One side wanted to keep the Terran name, Draugr, while the other wanted to adopt the native name, Eigos. At least they stopped insisting on accompanying him planetside.

    As expected from a group with such¡­ diverse backgrounds.

    He couldn¡¯t actually do much about the colonists brawling on their two ships from Alcyone. However, as the ranking Terran authority in the system, people still expected him to deal with it, somehow. Especially since policing the colonists was supposed to be his real task. He had yet to decide whether or not to send some of his soldiers over as the colonists were bound to be very unhappy about it.

    Of course, all of these problems were paltry in comparison to the encounter with Eigos¡¯s Custodian.

    Pierce and Jameson probably realized some of the implications too. They had been walking for a while and were already nearing the shuttle, yet both of them had stayed uncharacteristically quiet.

    He couldn¡¯t really blame them. He wasn¡¯t in a talking mood either.

    The Colonel didn¡¯t really believe the Eigosians could fight the Republic with any degree of success. Unfortunately, that might not mean that they were incapable of fighting Alcyone.

    The moon possessed potent defences, at the very least.

    Soon the Colonel and his two guards reached the shuttle. A sleek and modern machine, around twenty meters in length and painted in the Terran Republic¡¯s colors, black and purple.

    Its doors opened a moment later, the pilot likely having spotted their approach on the shuttle¡¯s cameras. The Colonel quickly entered, his bodyguards following.

    Soon they were all securely seated and Ashwood once again free to return to his contemplations.

    It was certain that his superiors would order him to retrieve whatever the Custodian had used to block the railgun and he very much doubted the Custodian would just hand it over.

    Yet it would be unlikely that anyone would see Eigos as a legitimate threat. After all, it possessed no fleet and while the Custodian might possess some unorthodox technology, the rest of the natives were just spear-wielding primitives.

    He wasn¡¯t yet sure where his own opinion on the matter lay. This little moon hid some sort of a secret, that was for certain.

    The higher-up''s attention was a certainty too, as well as Athena¡¯s.

    Colonel Ashwood had little idea what that might result in though. More ships, probably. Athena would likely send advice, if nothing else. The super-AI¡¯s counsel might prove more valuable than any reinforcements anyway, but that didn¡¯t mean the Colonel would turn his nose up at more dependable men.

    The shuttle docked sooner than he would have liked. Exiting, he felt some of the tension leaving his shoulders. Ashwood still had little idea as to the full extent of the Custodian¡¯s capabilities, but Alcyone was a top-of-the-line battlecruiser. They could at least escape.

    He said his goodbyes to his guards, who went to rejoin the rest of his soldiers, and started towards the bridge. He had much to discuss with the Captain.

    Alcyone was a few hundred meters in length, but the winding corridors of its interior stretched the distance he had to walk.

    The atmosphere on the ship felt tense, with crew members hurrying around him through the corridors. The Colonel paid them little mind. While they were technically under his command, they weren¡¯t truly his people.

    He could guess what had them worried anyway.

    Soon, he reached the bridge.

    Entering, he took in the taut atmosphere. All consoles were manned and everyone present had suited up. As he had thought, the Captain had put the crew on alert.

    Some turned their heads upon his entrance, quickly alerting their compatriots upon recognizing his distinct blue uniform and medals.

    Ashwood barely acknowledged them with a nod, scanning the room for Captain Song and swiftly noticing her near one of the displays further inside the bridge, surrounded by a few of the bridge crew.

    Captain Song was an Asian woman of average height in her mid-thirties, with sharp brown eyes and a black ponytail. She wore a uniform in the black colour of the navy, with dark purple stripes, signifying her rank. Unlike his own uniform, hers had no medals. Her face was scowling, though this time the captain¡¯s perpetual unfriendliness didn¡¯t make Ashwood annoyed.

    Dealing with the puritan Captain after his dealings with the Custodian was like petting an angry puppy after wrestling a bear. In a way, Captain Song¡¯s scowling face felt almost nostalgic.

    After getting his bearings, Colonel Ashwood went straight to her. The few navy officers in black uniforms around her quickly left, letting the two speak alone. Well, as alone as they could get on a bridge full of people stealing glances at them.

    ¡°Captain Song. There¡¯s been a¡­ development. The situation should be stable, but keep the ship on alert for now.¡± Ashwood said, carefully watching the older woman¡¯s face.

    The captain frowned. ¡°What happened, exactly? The only thing we could tell from up here is that the hill is still intact.¡± She said, before belatedly adding, ¡°Colonel.¡±

    ¡°Come with me to my office, I¡¯ll show you. We need to talk in private anyway,¡± The Colonel replied, mildly enjoying the flash of irritation on the captain¡¯s face at the mention of his office.

    Having said everything he wanted to, Colonel Ashwood turned and started walking towards the office, the captain following without a word.

    Even in such a serious situation, he couldn¡¯t help but feel amused, and subsequently a little guilty, at the Captain¡¯s obvious annoyance. Taking delight in a subordinate¡¯s bad mood was hardly appropriate. Though thinking that only made him more amused.

    The source of both the Captain¡¯s annoyance and Ashwood¡¯s amusement stemmed, indirectly, from the inefficient organization of the Terran¡¯s military ranks. The Captain was the party most negatively impacted by it, while simultaneously opposing a reorganization.

    A most amusing stance, in Ashwood¡¯s opinion. On the surface, at least.

    The root of her consternation and much debate throughout the military was the Republic¡¯s ¡°One Rank¡± policy. It unified ranks and their authority across the various branches of the military and had been meant to make the chain of command clearer.

    It succeeded in that, at least. The problem with it was that it granted unquestionable authority to the person with the highest rank on site, no matter their qualification.

    This meant that an army colonel with little experience in commanding starships was technically the person supposed to give orders in a crisis when on a ship. The Colonel, like most in his position, wasn¡¯t actually dumb enough to do so.

    Unlike the commanding officer of the late TRS Unvanquishable.

    Only since the ship¡¯s destruction many started clamouring for reform.

    The incident also made the navy¡¯s captains rather wary of people in his current position, making his life much harder. On the other hand, it turned many people away from the traditionalists.

    Many, like Captain Song, stayed true to their beliefs and opposed reformation, for various reasons. Some simply hated change, though most opposed it for the simple reason that Athena had proposed it. As far as he could tell, Captain Song was one of the latter.

    Colonel Ashwood had yet to figure out her reason for opposing Athena, however.

    Did she simply dislike AI like so many from the corporate colonies? Or was she among the smarter ones, who were worried about Athena gaining more influence over the military?

    He had a feeling that he¡¯d find out soon.

    Reaching his office, the Colonel sent the password through his implants and walked through the opening door, Captain Song on his heels.

    He sat behind his desk, a nearly unnoticeable smirk on his face.

    They were right to worry about the AI¡¯s influence.

    It might have even helped, had they done so decades ago.

 Chapter 3 - The Captain

    Before the Colonel could get comfortable in his chair, he was interrupted by the Captain.

    ¡°Well? What happened, Ashwood?¡± Captain Song asked, no emotions on her face.

    In response, Colonel Ashwood flicked his eyes to the large display on his left, turning it on. He gestured to it, ¡°See for yourself, Captain.¡±

    The Captain turned her head, watching the screen as Ashwood transmitted and started Jameson¡¯s recording of the incident.

    ¡°The woman is the priestess?¡± She asked.

    The Colonel nodded, ¡°They call her a custodian, but yes, she¡¯s the one they all kept talking about.¡±

    They continued watching in silence, until Captain Song interjected, ¡°Did her eyes just-¡±

    The railgun round impacting interrupted her mid-sentence.

    Colonel Ashwood paused the recording at that exact moment, the shimmer of the energy shield still visible.

    His embarrassing outburst that had followed the round¡¯s impact had absolutely nothing to do with his timing.

    For a few seconds, they both stared at the screen in silence.

    ¡°Where did a bunch of stone-age primitives get something like this?¡± The Captain murmured, before adding, ¡°The woman had some kind of ocular implants too.¡±

    The Colonel thought it over for a moment, before responding, ¡°It must have been something the original colonists brought or made. I cannot think of any other reasonable explanation.¡±

    He could think of a few unreasonable ones though.

    The Captain gave him a look, ¡°That¡¯s moronic. There are tens of millions of them and no records of any colony ships ever coming near, I checked.¡±

    ¡°A good point, but can you think of another explanation? Perhaps they got lucky somehow?¡± Ashwood responded, though he was aware that it was a rather flimsy argument. He wasn¡¯t too keen on any of the alternatives, however.

    As Captain Song pointed out, the original colonists must have arrived centuries ago for the colony to grow to such numbers. Developing energy shields with the technology of that time was nearly unthinkable. After all, the Republic had yet to accomplish such a feat today, even with the help of AIs.

    ¡°Aliens. Either the original colonists or their descendants found some working alien tech and eventually established a cult around it.¡± Song said.

    The Colonel mulled Song¡¯s words over. The idea had occurred to him, but he had dismissed it as unlikely. The Republic had not found any actual signs of intelligent alien life so far, but perhaps he was being too conservative with his thinking. There had to be a first time for everything.

    It fit better. It explained the technological discrepancy between the common people of Eigos and the Custodian, while also making some sense of their strange religion. Attributing things one did not understand to god was a time-honoured human tradition, after all.

    However, there was one thing that still bothered him. Namely, the Custodian herself.

    Perhaps it was just his pride talking, but he didn¡¯t think that she was just an ordinary human in control of advanced technology.

    ¡°A possibility for sure,¡± the Colonel said. ¡°Have the messenger drone prepared, I¡¯ll write up the report and then we can wait for new orders.¡± Colonel Ashwood finished.

    Captain Song frowned at him. ¡°It¡¯s obvious what they¡¯ll ask us to do. There is no reason not to attack and seize whatever it is now.¡±

    Ashwood smiled, though it didn¡¯t reach his eyes, ¡°That would be illegal, Captain. Have you already forgotten that we are dealing with a lost colony?¡±

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    Song snorted, ¡°As expected of a hab baby. How about a little initiative, Ashwood? There is no reason to wait for the obvious. Rules can be bent.¡±

    The Colonel¡¯s eyes narrowed, noticing the gleam in Song¡¯s eyes. He had heard much worse insults in his life, so he wasn¡¯t truly bothered about it. Those raised on Athena¡¯s habitats were object to both envy and derision.

    However, Ashwood did not think that Captain Song was a person who would throw insults around carelessly. Nor did he think that she was desperate for glory, but he also did not know her that well. That only left more nefarious explanations.

    ¡°That is Colonel Ashwood to you, Song. Do you wish to be written up for insolence?¡± He replied, the warning in his voice obvious.

    He figured that the Captain was testing his boundaries. A dangerous thing for her to be doing now, though Ashwood wasn¡¯t sure if she realized it.

    The relationships of people in their respective positions were never the best, but they were especially delicate after Unvanquishable. The issue was exacerbated by Song¡¯s apparent popularity with her crew.

    Should she issue orders contrary to his own, many would obey her.

    He could count on the loyalty of his own people, but they had no idea how to operate a starship. Not to mention that fighting onboard ships tended to be messy, to say the least.

    This balance was usually irrelevant. However, the magnitude of his discovery changed things greatly. The Captain might not be aware of the brewing schism, but the side she¡¯d choose was obvious and her crew would follow her.

    ¡°My apologies, sir, I meant no insult,¡± Song responded, her tone completely unapologetic.

    Apparently having nothing more to say, she stared at the Colonel.

    Ashwood fought the urge to massage his temples. He truly hated these sorts of games and the Custodian had already exhausted his daily tolerance. Perhaps that was the reason for Song¡¯s provocations.

    ¡°Captain, I may be young for my position, but I¡¯m not inexperienced,¡± Ashwood said, tapping one of his medals for emphasis. ¡°Poking a sleeping beast is never wise, especially so when we do not know whether it is a dragon or a salamander.¡±

    The Captain didn¡¯t look convinced.

    ¡°So your reticence to act has nothing to do with lacking the overgrown toaster¡¯s advice?¡± She asked, not bothering to hide the disdain in her voice.

    The Colonel tapped his desk in annoyance and stared at the Captain without speaking. Song was starting to get on his nerves, but he still could not decide whether she was acting deliberately or if it was just her natural abrasiveness shining through.

    If it was the former, then she would likely have to die.

    ¡°Only an idiot scorns the advice of her betters,¡± Ashwood said, putting his murderous thoughts away. For now.

    Idiots and those believing themselves special. Athena¡¯s superiority was obvious to all who dared look.

    The Captain scowled, but Ashwood didn¡¯t let her respond.

    ¡°We are dealing with an unprecedented situation, Captain. The Eigosians might possess only a shield, a relic of a bygone people,¡± Ashwood nodded to the frozen image. ¡°Or the entire moon might be covered in hidden weaponry. I think it is likely that they at the very least own a sword as well.¡±

    He paused for a few seconds, before finishing, ¡°Are you willing to stake your life on the assumption that they are defenceless?¡±

    The Captain frowned, though this time in thought.

    ¡°You truly think that they are hiding more? Their entire civilization thinks of crossbows as advanced,¡± Song paused. ¡°Colonel.¡±

    ¡°They hid the shield well enough, didn¡¯t they?¡± Ashwood once again nodded to the still image. ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve yet to even give them the standard lost colony offer.¡±

    Not that he thought that the Custodian would accept. Considering Eigos belonged to Eternity and all that.

    ¡°Really? You were planetside for an entire day,¡± Song spoke, surprise colouring her voice.

    The Colonel just looked at her tiredly, ¡°Most of that time was wasted because of their religious practices. You can only talk to ¡°Eternity¡± at midnight, near a lake, for whatever reason.¡±

    He was not really in the mood to talk about his experience, but at least Song wasn¡¯t being antagonistic anymore.

    Perhaps she really was not acting, though the timing of their entire interaction still felt off.

    Song gave him a sympathetic look, ¡°I see. I suppose there is some wisdom in waiting then,¡± She conceded.

    Finally. ¡°Then we are in agreement. Have one of the emergency drones prepared and I¡¯ll prepare the message.¡± Ashwood said.

    Captain Song nodded, but she didn¡¯t move, glancing at the Colonel instead.

    Unnerved, Ashwood carefully reached for his holstered gun, his movement hidden by the desk, though the Captain spoke before he could grab it.

    ¡°You seem like one of the good ones, Colonel. Don¡¯t forget who the Republic is for.¡± Song said.

    Colonel Ashwood stared at her in silence. Song didn¡¯t seem to mind. Having said her piece, she gave him a nod and walked out of his office, leaving the slightly baffled Ashwood alone.

    A few seconds later, he chuckled, relaxing his reaching arm. Song trying to convert him wasn¡¯t something he expected, but it was probably a good sign.

    Still, it was better to be careful. He¡¯d have to call Jameson later and have him warn the men loyal to the cause. Just in case.

    He was almost certain the Captain wouldn¡¯t try anything, but he wasn¡¯t about to disregard the threat completely. She was obviously at least somewhat aware of the brewing storm, though Ashwood was still uncertain about how much she actually knew.

    Which left him unsure about how to handle her. In the end, he put it out of his mind.

    Athena will know what to do.

 Chapter 4 - The Handmaidenéˆ¥æªš Mistake

    The Custodian of Eigos sat upon a slab of marble, staring at her handmaiden lying on the floor, deep in thought.

    The room she was in was small, made from the same white stone as the rest of the Temple. The only furnishing was the stone bed on which Serana sat. It had no windows and the door was reinforced with metal, making escape from the prison cell quite difficult. With Knight Commander Aisac Ferrier standing outside, it was perhaps impossible.

    Not that her handmaiden would be doing any escaping.

    Serana had failed to consider the impact the Terran¡¯s technology would have on her people, though perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she had forgotten. After all, it would hardly be the first time someone¡¯s confidence was falsely inflated by an outside factor. Though it was the first time the ¡°outside¡± was so literal.

    As she thought, her hand was unconsciously playing with the handmaiden¡¯s severed head, leaving crimson stains on the white stone as she rolled it around.

    What was her name? Rose? Petal? Something flower themed, certainly. She couldn¡¯t really remember what kingdom she was from either.

    Not that it really mattered.

    ¡°Knight Commander,¡± Serana called, still idly playing with the decapitated head.

    A second later the man entered the cell. He was a tall man in his late thirties, with a steely gaze and short black hair. He was dressed in silver plate armour, much of it covered in engravings of eyes. He held his helmet cradled under one of his arms and had a sword on his hip.

    He glanced at the grey-robed corpse for a moment before speaking, ¡°Yes, Lady Custodian?¡±

    ¡°Did you catch the rider?¡± She inquired.

    Aisac grimaced before responding, ¡°No. He made it to the city before we could catch up. We¡¯ve notified the garrison, but there is not much they can do without a proper description.¡±

    Although he kept his voice mostly even, the slight accusation in his tone was obvious to Serana. As it would likely be to anyone who had known the knight since his childhood.

    The reason for it was apparent enough. She could have caught the rider quite easily and Aisac knew it. Maybe she could even find him in the city. Not that she would bother.

    This was ultimately a trivial matter to her. If whatever the kingdom her handmaiden hailed from decided to rebel, then she¡¯d just deal with it. Whether they rebelled now or in a generation did not matter to her in the slightest.

    Besides, there was something much more interesting to occupy her time with.

    She doubted Aisac would be satisfied with an answer like that, however.

    ¡°She was not a heretic. I have little reason to waste the power of Eternity on her.¡± Serana explained.

    A partial truth. Serana¡¯s power was her own, even if it came from Eternity. Yet the reason she was entrusted with it was to uphold the Eternal Laws, which her handmaiden had not broken.

    The commander frowned, ¡°Was she not killed for trying to steer her kingdom away from Eternity¡¯s light, my Lady?¡±

    ¡°No. I killed her for undermining the influence of the Temple, Aisac. She had to choose between her family and me. She picked her family.¡± Serana caressed her handmaiden¡¯s cheek, looking into her vacant eyes, ¡°Can you truly blame her for such a choice?¡±

    Commander Aisac looked distinctly uncomfortable, stealing glances at the bloody head, which sat in stark contrast to the Custodian''s pristine white robes. He also seemed confused by her words, prompting more from Serana.

    ¡°You are conflating me and the Temple with Eternity, Aisac.¡± She sighed. ¡°Did we not already have this conversation?¡±

    The commander blinked, ¡°No, I do not believe so, Lady Custodian.¡± Aisac said.

    ¡°I suppose it must have been your predecessor then,¡± Serana responded, her voice distant.

    How many Knight Commanders did that make? She did not remember.

    ¡°Perhaps, Lady Custodian,¡± Aisac said.

    ¡°It is quite simple. I exist to enforce the Eternal Laws and the temples exist to aid me in this task. You have memorized the Laws, yes?¡± Serana lectured.

    ¡°Of course, Lady Custodian.¡± Aisac promptly replied.

    ¡°Then tell me, do any of them forbid the people from opposing me?¡± The Custodian asked.

    The Knight Commander looked puzzled for a moment before understanding dawned on his face.

    ¡°You understand, then,¡± Serana said.

    It truly was simple. The Laws had nothing to say about those who enforced them, so opposing Serana did not break them, making her handmaiden a simple fool, instead of a heretic.

    ¡°I understand, but won¡¯t it encourage the Kirslevs to turn away even further from Eternity? Especially considering the third princess¡­¡± He trailed off awkwardly, glancing at the corpse.

    Third princess of the Kirslev family. It sounded familiar to Serana, but she still couldn¡¯t remember her first name.

    ¡°Eternity does not demand worship, Aisac. Only obedience.¡± Serana said.

    Nothing but following the Laws mattered. Humans seemed to struggle with understanding that, often attributing more worth to meaningless worship.

    Aisac did not look convinced, which amused Serana quite a bit. Was she not the living link between Eigos and Divinity?

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Surely they will be more likely to break the Laws should they turn away from Eternity, Lady Custodian?¡± The Knight Commander asked.

    Serana smiled sadly, ¡°Yes. But if this is enough for their faith to waver, then it would have happened eventually anyway.¡± She turned her gaze to the severed head, ¡°This way they can be returned to the correct path sooner.¡±

    The Knight Commander paled, understanding the implication. He had been raised right here, in the First Temple of Eternity, so his education was not lacking. He knew very well what would make the would-be heretics go back to the ¡°correct path¡±. After all, there was a historical precedent.

    Divine punishment, meted out by her hand.

    Seeing that Aisac did not seem to have any further questions, Serana stood up and carefully set her handmaiden¡¯s head next to the body.

    ¡°Have someone bury the body in the cemetery and send a letter to notify her family,¡± Serana spoke. ¡°Write that she died doing what she believed was right.¡±

    She wondered whether her family would take it as an insult or the kind gesture it truly was.

    It was not as if she hated the girl. The princess had served her well for a decade or two, after all. Unfortunately, betrayals had to be punished. Nothing good ever came from letting rot fester.

    Her business concluded, she started walking towards the door, until she was interrupted by Aisac¡¯s voice, ¡°There is still something I do not understand, Lady Custodian.¡±

    Hearing his voice, Serana paused, glancing at him, ¡°Let us walk, Aisac.¡±

    With the enormous size of the Temple, they would have quite a while to talk before reaching the occupied parts above-ground.

    She then continued walking into the underground corridor of the temple, the Knight Commander trailing behind her.

    ¡°You wish to ask why she threw away her life?¡± Serana guessed, moving towards the far-away stairway through the white corridor, occasionally passing reinforced doors of other cells.

    ¡°Yes, Lady Custodian,¡± Aisac replied, long used to the Custodian¡¯s uncanny insight into his mind.

    They walked in silence for a few moments, their footsteps the only sound audible in the well-lit and empty corridor.

    ¡°She didn¡¯t, not truly,¡± Serana finally said. ¡°She simply did not think that her punishment would be so severe.¡±

    The Custodian couldn¡¯t see Aisac¡¯s face, but she could imagine the dubious expression he likely wore. His slight irreverence was one of the reasons why she chose him for his position, after all.

    Having your every word treated as gospel got old very quickly, though it had its perks.

    Passing another empty prison cell of the lifeless dungeon, Serana spoke again, ¡°You have learned much in your life, but your upbringing blinds you in certain ways, not unlike the girl.¡±

    A moment passed, before a sigh quickly masked by a cough was heard.

    ¡°Violet Kirslev, of the Kerania kingdom, Lady Custodian,¡± Aisac spoke, the barest hint of disapproval in his voice.

    ¡°Of course,¡± Serana replied without pause. The Knight Commander might have guessed correctly, but she wasn¡¯t about to admit it out loud.

    ¡°As I¡¯ve said, her upbringing blinded her. She had only written a letter of her recent experiences to her family, after all. Even readily admitted to doing so,¡± The Custodian continued. ¡°Obviously the punishment would be light, if any, especially for a royal.¡±

    As they reached the stairwell, the Knight Commander passed her, letting her spot the grimace adorning his face.

    To a man raised in the strict military organization of the Temple Knights, the handmaiden¡¯s foolishness was glaringly obvious.

    Reaching the top of the stairwell, Aisac quickly moved to open the door for her, letting her continue without stopping and enter the temple proper.

    Unlike the dungeon, the room that greeted her was spacious and well-lit by the sun through many crystal-clear glass windows. The stone was still pale white, but much of it was covered in vibrant green plants and vines, seemingly nourished by the stone itself. The greenery was carefully maintained and added some much-needed colour to the white building.

    The room was also not empty, with two knights standing guard over the newly emptied dungeon. They saluted as she passed, putting their hands over their hearts.

    Knight Commander Aisac quickly relayed her instructions regarding the corpse to one of them, before hurrying after her.

    ¡°Do you understand now, Aisac?¡± Serana asked when he caught up.

    Aisac simply nodded, matching the Custodian¡¯s pace again.

    While the temple was not empty, it was still silent, barring the distant sound of flowing water, and the occasional footsteps. The knights standing guard or patrolling around usually did not have a problem with the silence, but the servants often struggled with it.

    Even so, the temple housed a fraction of the people it could, so most of the time it was silent

    Just as she preferred.

    It made the Knight Commander¡¯s words especially noticeable, even turning the heads of some of the sentries, ¡°Will you be joining us for noon devotions, Lady Custodian?¡±

    Serana gave his question some thought. The noon devotions were a rather curious practice, for she had little to do with starting it.

    The Custodian usually sequestered herself at noon and at midnight to commune with Eternity and the people around her had mimicked the practice, although only at noon, spreading it across Eigos over the centuries. There was little point in it for them, but anything that strengthened the people¡¯s faith was ultimately beneficial, so she had not intervened.

    When Eternity slumbered Serana sometimes joined them, but usually she still preferred to be alone. Habits were hard to break, especially since she had little desire to do so.

    ¡°Not this time. I¡¯ll be retiring to the tower.¡± Serana responded.

    With nothing more to say, the pair continued walking in silence, heading for the centre of the temple, where both the tower¡¯s entrance and the great hall lay.

    The sound of running water was gradually becoming louder as they neared the hall, but before they could reach it, the pair was intercepted.

    They were approached by a timid-looking woman, Serana¡¯s second and now only handmaiden, eliciting a sigh from the Knight Commander.

    She was around fifteen years old, with black hair, green eyes and short stature. She wore the customary grey robes of a Temple servant and seemed somewhat unsure of her approach.

    ¡°You may speak,¡± Serana said, understanding the reason for her hesitance. It was not for nothing that many called her home the Silent Temple. If her memory served, the girl had joined only recently and so was likely yet unused to the somewhat strange rules.

    Serana did not mind her people speaking to her, should they have a reason to do so, but she disliked unnecessary noise. Combined with her position, it made any new faces hesitant to speak at all in her presence.

    At least they were trying to be polite. The thought reminded her of the colonel¡¯s casually asking to break the Ritual of Invocation, making her brow furrow slightly and the girl squeak in fright.

    Serana gave her a look.

    Probably misunderstanding her intention, the girl began speaking, ¡°Um, I¡¯m really sorry, My Lady, I¡¯ve been looking for Commander Ferrier¡­¡± Her eyes kept glancing from her to Aisac, before settling on Serana, ¡°Lady Kirslev is missing, I¡¯ve asked so many people and no one knows where she is, so I wanted to tell the Knight Commander?¡±

    Noticing the Custodian¡¯s indifference, Asiac replied instead, ¡°Unfortunately, Lady Kirslev passed away earlier today, there will be an announcement later,¡±

    At his words, the girl¡¯s eyes became wide, perhaps in disbelief.

    Aisac looked at the girl with pity, ¡°Will you accompany me to the great hall, Lady Winterstar? It is almost noon.¡±

    The girl squeaked out a yes and joined their walk.

    It did not take them long to reach their destination.

 Chapter 5 - Changing Times

    The massive gate of the central hall stood open, the white wood it was made of marred only by the symbol of the church, a giant eye on blue background. The gate was guarded both by four silent knights and two identical larger-than-life statues. The statues depicted a robed woman without a face. Unlike the rest of the temple, these two statues were pitch black, with silver lines cascading down their stone robes.

    Even though the statues had no faces, the skill of the sculptor was such that a spectator could feel their non-existent gazes regardless, making many who saw them uneasy.

    The Custodian didn¡¯t spare them a glance as she continued walking. For all the once-legendary sculptor''s skill, the statues were still just a lie.

    Even she would admit that the statues were masterfully done, yet Serana could not see them as anything but a pitiful attempt of a mortal¡¯s mind to depict divinity. One clearly based on her at that.

    To everyone else, they were the oldest known statues of Eternity, a fixture of the First Temple, created by a master sculptor whose name was long lost to time.

    In many ways, they were a reminder of humanity¡¯s inadequacy.

    The guards put their hands over their hearts, saluting Serana as she passed the statues and entered the hall, Aisac and her second handmaiden walking behind her.

    The great hall was big, easily seventy meters long. It was covered by a large dome, a sizeable portion of which was made of clear glass. The entire hall was crossed by two channels filled with flowing water, originating from the mountain¡¯s spring and delivered to the temple by an aqueduct.

    With noon fast approaching, the sun was directly overhead, its light passing through the glass portions of the dome and making much of the water shimmer, creating a surreal atmosphere.

    A good deal of the temple staff was present, sitting spread out around the hall with their eyes closed, silent. They numbered around fifty in total, most of them dressed in grey servant robes. The black robes of priests and priestesses were rarer, even more so than the black and silver clothing of the off-duty Temple Knights.

    None of the tranquil adults noticed her entrance, though a few of the children had. Upon glimpsing her, they quickly started once again feigning meditation. Some of them meditated so hard, that they started sweating.

    While Serana continued walking to the crystal throne at the back of the hall, Aisac and her handmaiden joined the meditating people, the girl sitting just a bit closer to the Knight Commander than would be proper.

    Serana paid them no mind.

    Passing the crystal throne, she ran her hand over it but didn¡¯t stop walking. She was rather fond of the fancy chair, as she had made it herself, but the Custodian had no desire to linger in the crowded hall.

    The door behind the throne was opened by another pair of knights just before she reached it, revealing a smaller room with three more doors. The room was bare, with the exception of a few verdant plants, and had no windows.

    Two of the doors led to more private entrances and the quarters of her personal servants. Those were ignored by the Custodian, who went straight to the third door, which revealed a spacious spiral stairwell.

    Unlike the room, the white walls of the stairwell were decorated by paintings of stern-faced men and women, the past Knight Commanders. Or some of them, at least. Serana had only started painting them fairly recently, though that still amounted to a large number of portraits.

    Serana ascended the spiral stairs, her gaze sometimes lingering in reminiscence.

    She¡¯d have to paint Aisac sometime soon. He was already getting old.

    Serana did not slow or take breaks, swiftly reaching the top of the stairs, where a metal door barred her way, yet not for long. The Custodian retrieved a key from her robes and unlocked the door, walking through. The door locked with a click behind her.

    The heavy door led to the first proper floor of her tower. The floor itself was, like the tower, square-shaped. The left side of the floor held four bedrooms, while the entirety of the right side was a drawing room. It was a spacious place with many windows, but the sparse decorations and the sterile white stone gave it a stagnant atmosphere. The door that led to the upper floors lay straight ahead of her, on the opposite side of the tower.

    Serana walked straight to the second door. The floor was meant for guests and currently housed no one, leaving her with no reason to stay.

    The door revealed an identical stairwell, though this time with no decorations adorning the walls. The Custodian once again climbed the steps and entered the tower¡¯s next floor.

    The second floor served as her personal residence and possessed a similar layout to the first. The left side of the floor once again held four rooms, however only one of them was a bedroom. The other three rooms served as a study, a workroom and a storage room.

    The right side was occupied by a living room, decorated with paintings, plants and a silent clock. The most prominent of the paintings portrayed the unchanging blue giant Eigos orbited, Agnu. The other paintings were of animals or landscapes, bar one. The last painting was a worn and small portrait of a smiling young woman with black hair, nearly hidden by a couple of flowering plants.

    Closing the door behind her, Serana checked the wall-mounted clock and saw that it was almost noon.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    With little time to spare, she ascended the final set of stairs and opened the door leading to the highest floor of the tower.

    Calling it a floor was something of a misnomer, for the entirety of it was open to the elements, with only four pillars in each of the corners supporting a roof. As the temple itself was built on a hill, the top floor of the tower granted an unparalleled view of its surroundings and most of the temple.

    The temple was a massive building made entirely out of white stone, forming a vaguely trapezoidal shape. It was divided into a center along with two wings. The building possessed a tall wall, making the entire building resemble a fort. The main entrance led to the very center, where the great hall sat. The tower itself sat on the opposite side of the entrance, forming the northernmost point of the temple.

    The entire complex sat in a mountainous region, surrounded by forests, with a large lake to the north. Down to the south stood a large walled city, home to the families of many of the temple servants, with the exception of the knights. The Temple Knights were all orphans, taken in from all across Eigos.

    A good deal further than either the city or the lake stood seven forts, containing much of the church¡¯s military force, circling and protecting the First Temple of Eternity.

    Before sitting down, Serana did a cursory check of the temple¡¯s surroundings with her eyes. Combined with such a vantage point, there was little she could not see.

    It took her a few minutes, but afterwards, she could be reasonably sure that all the forts along with the city below were fine. It seemed that no armies were sneaking around.

    Such a thing was extremely unlikely, of course. The network of the many Temples of Eternity established across Eigos and the vigilance of the Temple Knights made it near impossible for anyone to raise an army without her notice, not to mention to move it all the way to the First Temple.

    Yet eternity had a way of making even the most improbable of things into certainties. Serana had been burned one too many times not to be cautious.

    Satisfied with her check, Serana sat down on the white stone in the middle of the floor, where she was at least a little protected from the wind.

    Sitting cross-legged on the floor, she closed her eyes and tried to commune with Eternity.

    Soon her eyelids were not enough to contain the silver glow, creating an eerie scene.

    Minutes passed until the Custodian ceased her futile attempts. Serana would have known had Eternity awoken, but even so, she could not stop herself from trying from time to time.

    Her closed eyes soon returned to normal, as Serana switched to simple meditation.

    She sat there for a while, the sunlight caressing her face and the wind ruffling her white hair.

    Serana was brought out of her reverie by a strange sound, only barely audible over the wind.

    Her eyes flashed silver as she cast her senses around the tower, immediately spotting the intruder hiding behind one of the pillars.

    The Custodian stood up, facing the intruder¡¯s hiding place. Before she could say anything, the intruder revealed himself.

    He was a young looking, black haired man, dressed in the gray garb of the temple servants, though Serana did not recognize him. Of course, that did not mean much.

    In his right hand he held a blocky metallic construct, while his other hand was clutching something the Custodian could not see. His expression was one of shock, likely because he had not expected the Custodian to notice him.

    Shock was quickly replaced by determination, as the man raised his right hand.

    Flames erupted from the strange weapon, as Serana uncaringly looked on with glowing eyes.

    The projectiles disintegrated before ever getting near her.

    The assassin kept shooting until the weapon failed him, clicking emptily instead of firing again.

    The man¡¯s determination was quickly replaced by fear, his other hand whitening around whatever it held.

    The Custodian¡¯s cold gaze evaluated the panicking man before she spoke, ¡°If you tell me who sent you, I shall grant you a quick death.¡±

    Hearing her voice, the man couldn¡¯t help but take a step backwards, placing himself right next to the edge.

    He shifted his eyes slightly before speaking in a shaky voice, ¡°It w- was the Kirslev family, they forced me to do it!¡±

    ¡°Do you truly think you can lie to me?¡± The Custodian responded, making the man¡¯s face go white.

    ¡°I dislike bothering Eternity for such trivialities,¡± Her cold eyes bored into him. ¡°Should you force me to, I will ask for the names of your loved ones as well.¡±

    Upon hearing her words, resignation quickly appeared plain on his face.

    Two things happened then.

    In response, the man threw the object he had been hiding in his hand straight at her, revealing a metallic sphere.

    And at the same time, he jumped off the tower.

    Unfortunately for him, such tricks were worthless in front of the Custodian¡¯s silver gaze.

    Both the man and the sphere froze in the air, the man already over the open air and the sphere a few meters or so from her.

    The Custodian shook her head disapprovingly at the assassin''s foolishness.

    Then the sphere exploded, disintegrating one of the stone pillars.

    The Custodian unconsciously shielded herself, but it did little against the explosion''s momentum. She was thrown backwards, her spine soon impacting against another pillar with a crack, saving her from the drop.

    The Custodian stood up with a wince, hatred filling her eyes.

    Then the roof fell. The three remaining pillars were not enough to support the heavy stone construction.

    Many of the heavy stone pieces crashed and broke on the now veritably shining Custodian, others fell down from the tower or dented the already heavily damaged floor.

    Of the man there was no trace.

    Soon the dust settled, revealing the Custodian, standing tall.

    She channeled Eternity¡¯s power through her, scouring the temple and its surroundings for any more assailants, but found no one. No one living, that is. The assassin lay splattered below the tower.

    Soon bells started tolling and Serana felt the tide of knights rushing up the tower, Knight Commander Aisac in the lead.

    She dusted herself off and went to meet the knights. It wouldn¡¯t do for them to try and breakdown her door.

    As she descended, the silver light in her eyes was gradually replaced by malevolence.

    Someone would pay for this.

 Chapter 6 - Interlude

    Five men and four women in highly decorated uniforms sat at a round table, a few of the chairs empty. The room was small and had no windows, its metallic walls painted in the Republic¡¯s colours, black and purple. Powerful wall lights lit the room, yet they could not chase away the gloomy atmosphere.

    The reason for the grim mood lay in the middle of a table. A holographic display floated there, showing a railgun round impacting a shield of some sort.

    Finally, one of the men, the oldest-looking one, spoke, ¡°This is what we¡¯ve been waiting for.¡±

    He wore a black uniform of the navy, his stripes indicating the rank of an admiral. His grey ponytail indicated his advanced age, yet his eyes were sharp and his voice powerful.

    Despite the seemingly good news, none of the people present cheered up.

    ¡°Could this be a trap? Ashwood is one of its pawns.¡± A female army general sitting opposite the Admiral spoke next, the breast of her blue uniform sporting a myriad of medals.

    The General had an oval face, blue eyes and long, dark purple hair. She looked to be around forty years old. Though that did not mean much in the current era.

    ¡°No. Captain Song signed off on it too and I know her well, she¡¯d never betray humanity,¡± The old admiral responded.

    The room fell silent once again.

    ¡°This is it then?¡± A younger lieutenant general dressed in blue asked, his voice uncertain.

    The old Admiral looked around the table at the assembled faces, ¡°It has to be.¡±

    The atmosphere instantly became tense.

    The Admiral continued after a pause, ¡°We¡¯ve already waited long enough, while it still grows stronger. Divided, undecisive,¡± He stared at a few of his peers in particular, ¡°This is our last chance.¡±

    His especially. The old Admiral was approaching the limit of longevity treatments. Should they delay action again, he might not live to see it. Though by then, it would already be too late.

    ¡°What do you propose?¡± The General asked.

    ¡°We do everything we can to get our hands on that,¡± The Admiral turned his head to the projection on the table.

    None looked too happy about being forced into action, yet none disagreed with the obvious conclusion. Inaction now would equal capitulation and most of them were fed up with only being on the losing side for so long.

    Had they dealt with the AI when they first noticed its movements, they could have easily suppressed it. Yet everything it did was always just a little bit above their bottom line. Never illegal and never enough to convince them to destroy one of humanity¡¯s greatest and most popular assets.

    It had been too late when they realized that for every one of Athena¡¯s moves they noticed, it had made ten more in secret.

    They could have still won then, perhaps. Possibly they could do so even now, as they still controlled the majority of the military.

    Yet none of them dared to underestimate the super-AI. Not to mention that attacking without a very good reason would have cost them far too much even had they won. Even they could not deny that Athena¡¯s contributions to humankind eclipsed all but perhaps the Founder.

    So they let the AI slowly continue extending its tendrils, their active opposition barely slowing it down, hoping for a miracle.

    In hindsight, it was obvious that their hesitance had played right into the AI¡¯s plans.

    Perhaps the Admiral and those who shared his opinion could have convinced the rest to act before they passed the point of no return. Perhaps they already passed it.

    None of that mattered now.

    The old Admiral looked around the room, finding only agreement and even some cautious optimism. Unsurprising, given the golden opportunity given to them.

    ¡°If we reverse engineer those shields, our victory will be all but assured,¡± The admiral said.

    The purple-haired general frowned, ¡°It surely understands this too.¡±

    ¡°Most likely, but what can the toaster do? The military is still ours.¡± The admiral said, ¡°Either we get the tech and it attacks us or it attacks to get the shield itself. Either way, we win.¡±

    ¡°Or it gets its non-existent hands on the technology before us and we¡¯ll be back where we started,¡± the general refuted.

    The admiral gave her a confident smile, ¡°Then we just have to make sure to get our hands on it first, don¡¯t we?¡±

    <hr>

    Thousands of lightyears away, unaware of the decision that would likely change his planet forever, a messenger sat in a tavern. While sipping his ale, he contemplated the distressing orders he had received from his lady. His faith could hardly be called unwavering, yet he still found the notion of going against the Church disturbing. Even in such a small way.

    He was a large man in his late twenties, dressed in leather riding clothes barely containing his muscular frame. He had brown hair, a neat beard and his hip boasted a sword.

    The man sat in a tavern close to the northern gate of Temple City, watching the bustling street filled with both residents and pilgrims. Many of the people kept stealing glances at the majestic white temple far up the nearby hill, often bumping into others, much to the man¡¯s amusement. Though his smile always disappeared when he looked at the crumbled tower himself. The entire top was just gone, having disappeared just a few hours ago and causing ceaseless rumours.

    The messenger turned his head away and continued drinking. He still had some time before his horse would be ready and did not intend to waste them worrying. There was no way the princess had anything to do with that anyway. Her warning to avoid the Church must have been a coincidence.

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    He had almost finished his drink when the thundering sound of hooves reached his ears.

    The man tensed as his head turned towards the nearby gate, many of the pedestrians doing the same.

    He watched in silence as a small army of Temple Knights rode straight through the gate, the horses never slowing from their gallop. The knights¡¯ silver armour gleamed in the sun, their faces hidden by helmets as they charged down the street, uncaring of anyone in their way.

    The people on the streets suddenly found themselves facing down a cavalry charge. Pandemonium erupted as everyone scrambled to dodge, most succeeding. However, one elderly man could not move fast enough.

    The knights never slowed even as he screamed, thoroughly trampling him under the steel-tipped hooves of their horses. Rushing forward, they quickly split into four groups of at least twenty men, all heading in different directions. Two groups hugged the city walls and two went straight to the city center.

    The man had seen a lot in his life, yet even he felt nauseous when he saw the freshly made corpse.

    He couldn¡¯t help but start sweating when he saw a fifth group arrive and take position around the northern gate. With that hint, the man could guess where at least three of the groups were headed. The city only had three other gates, after all.

    The man knew that Lady Kirslev could not possibly have written anything justifying such drastic measures. The letter probably contained some dirt on a priest or two, so while it wouldn¡¯t make the Church happy, he was basically doing Eternity a favour. Or so he consoled himself.

    He did not feel very confident that the knights would accept an explanation like that, especially after seeing such a gruesome display.

    The messenger would have to wait it out. The princess might have instructed him to make haste, but trying to slip through twenty knights was suicide.

    ¡°Nasty business, that,¡± A hoarse voice to his right spoke.

    The messenger turned his head and saw a hulking elderly man sitting alone at a small table, not unlike his own. He wore a simple tunic, a blacksmith¡¯s apron and nursed a drink in one wrinkly hand. Despite his advanced age, he looked like he could bend metal with his hands. He had short brown hair and his face had plenty of laugh lines. His brown eyes stared at the deformed corpse, a grim expression on his face.

    When the blacksmith noticed the messenger''s stare, he continued, ¡°I¡¯ve lived here for fifty years and there is only one thing that gets Eternity¡¯s knights so worked up.¡±

    The messenger inwardly rolled his eyes at the man¡¯s theatrics, but he felt curious. While the Temple Knights existed in his homeland, the Kerania kingdom lay too far from here for them to have much of a presence.

    ¡°Oh? I¡¯ve not been here for too long, care to share?¡± The messenger played along.

    The old man lowered his voice conspiratorially, ¡°Attacks.¡±

    The messenger frowned, before glancing at the faraway tower, ¡°Surely you don¡¯t mean?¡±

    The tower being the Custodian¡¯s private abode was common knowledge. But no one could have been stupid enough to attack the mythical figure. Or perhaps there would be an eighth fool before long. A scary thought indeed.

    The old blacksmith nodded, ¡°The Laws are good for us little folk, but every generation there is a crowned idiot or two that doesn¡¯t want to pay up.¡±

    Noticing his incredulous face, the old man quickly added, ¡°Not that they attack the Custodian, of course. I¡¯ve never seen such a thing myself.¡±

    At this point, the man felt intrigued. It made sense that some opposed the Church, even attacking its members. Kerania hardly had a good relationship with the Faith either, though he never heard of any fights. He knew of the Seven Fools, of course, but then so did everyone. However, his ignorance wasn¡¯t too surprising. The temples were generally tight-lipped and news on the continent travelled extremely slowly besides.

    ¡°That still sounds suicidal.¡± He retorted. Bickering with the Church here and there was one thing, yet to attack their people right under the Custodian¡¯s nose?

    The old man shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s mostly rumours, but the knights do comb through the city every decade or so.¡±

    Then an explosion rocked the city, startling them both.

    The messenger¡¯s next question died on his lips as his head swivelled around, checking his surroundings.

    Soon he spotted black smoke rising from further in the city, before his eyes slid to the knights arguing around the gate.

    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be going now, friend,¡± He said to the old blacksmith, who still gaped with his mouth open. The messenger didn¡¯t wait for a response as he got up and beelined for the tavern¡¯s stables.

    He doubted his horse would be properly rested, but she¡¯d be better off than the poor bastards the knights rode. Especially since she wouldn¡¯t have to carry half his weight in armour. It would be just risky, not suicidal. That was enough for him. He had given his word to hurry.

    He reached the stables in a flash and saddled his horse, wasting some time to calm her. Horse ready, he peeked out onto the main street, checking the gate.

    As he had suspected, most of the knights were gone, leaving only two he could see. Both were dismounted and staring towards the smoke.

    Now to make his daring escape.

    The messenger saddled his horse and slowly approached the gate, riding through the now deserted street, tense.

    Soon, the two knights spotted him, but as he had expected they simply let him approach. The eyes engraved on the armour of the faceless knights stared at him accusingly as he slowly closed the distance.

    When he neared the gate, one of the two shouted at him to dismount. He pretended not to hear and merely started slowing down. The knights put their hands on their swords, yet let him approach.

    When he was close enough to make out the eyes beneath their visors, he turned his head towards the still rising smoke and frowned. When one of the knights looked over, he commanded the horse to gallop with a yell.

    The second knight startled, but contrary to the messenger''s hopes, didn¡¯t hesitate.

    Instead of wasting time and drawing his sword, the knight shoulder-tackled the passing horse.

    The knight¡¯s armour groaned and the horse buckled, but the messenger managed to hold on, quickly distancing himself from the knights.

    Dozens of meters outside the city, he risked a glance backwards.

    One of the knights was standing near the gate, silently staring at him.

    He quickly looked away, unnerved. He focused on the road instead. Luckily his horse seemed fine, allowing him to cover quite a bit of distance before night fell.

    The rest of his journey turned out to be surprisingly boring. The knights never caught up to him.

    Days quickly passed as he rushed for Kerania. He did his best to avoid any towns or cities, though he had to resupply a few times.

    Weeks later, he reached his home, the capital of Kerania, Latis.

    It had been years since he had last seen the prosperous city, yet he didn¡¯t dally, heading straight for the palace.

    After identifying himself to the guards, he met with one of the stewards and explained the princess¡¯s instructions. The steward grumbled, but acquiesced after verifying his identity.

    A few hours later, the messenger finally completed his mission and handed the letter right into the hands of the King.

    His task done, he left both the room and the palace, oblivious to the assassins sent after him.

    A few hours later he lay in a dark alley, a growing pool of blood underneath him. The last thing he saw was a star falling, as if to commiserate his death. He didn¡¯t see the assassin¡¯s blade descent.

    At the same time, on the top floor of her damaged tower, the Custodian raised her head, her attention captured by the very same star. She watched as the star crashed far away before her eyes snapped to the night sky again.

    Three new starships had arrived.

 Chapter 7 - Reinforcements

    Ashwood startled awake as an alarm blared inside his head. He instinctively reached for his gun on the nightstand while looking around the tiny room. The cabin held only a bed, a work desk along with a chair and a small bathroom. The walls were made of steel and the cabin held sparse decorations. Finding no one else, he let go of the gun before checking the vitals of his soldiers.

    Everyone seemed fine. Only then did it occur to him to simply check the alarm itself. Still in bed, he sighed before doing just that.

    The reason for his unexpected awakening turned out to be a high-priority message from Song. Apparently, two ships had warped in an hour ago.

    The Colonel didn¡¯t know whether to be more annoyed that his sleep got interrupted or that Song waited an entire hour before notifying him.

    Grumbling, he quickly dressed and armed himself, before exiting his cabin. He dismissed the two soldiers that guarded it, as he kept everything important on himself anyway, and started making his way towards the bridge through the lit corridors.

    There was no real night and day cycle on the ship, only two shifts, so the corridors were as busy as always. That is to say, not much. No one bothered him as he walked. He arrived in a better mood, happy to finally hand over the entire mess to someone else.

    His good cheer lasted only until he set foot on the bridge, instantly noticing that something wasn¡¯t right. Many of the officers whispered amongst each other, most of them outright ignoring their duties.

    He glanced at Captain Song. She sat in the captain¡¯s seat, alone. As he approached her, a few of the bridge crew noticed him and kept shooting him glances, disturbing the Colonel further.

    Before he reached her, Ashwood sent an alert to his soldiers. Just in case.

    ¡°What¡¯s this about, Captain? And who did they send to take over?¡± He spoke, frowning at Song.

    The Captain turned her head to face him, speaking in monotone, ¡°It just so happens that those two questions have the same answer, Colonel.¡±

    Ashwood stared at her, tense and annoyed.

    Finally, when she realized that he didn¡¯t plan on responding, she elaborated, ¡°They sent General Shepard, along with two more battlecruisers.¡±

    Colonel Ashwood would have frowned even harder, were it possible. He had never met the General personally, but her unorthodox hair color made her rather memorable. As far as he knew, there wasn¡¯t anything about the General that should elicit a reaction like this from the crew or Song.

    Shepard could be considered neutral, though she nominally supported the humanist faction. Song probably would have preferred an officer more firmly on her side, but someone like Shepard was undoubtedly the better choice.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain anything, Captain,¡± Ashwood responded.

    The Captain nodded, ¡°It is rather simple,¡± Song paused, ¡°She is dead.¡±

    Ashwood massaged the bridge of his nose, ¡°The warp? She was around seventy or so, right?¡±

    Experiencing a warp jump tended to be quite dangerous for older people or for those with certain medical conditions. Longevity treatments and regular exercise helped immensely, so the danger to the General couldn¡¯t have been too significant, but that was life. After all, someone had to die so people could make statistics about the insignificance of the danger.

    Captain Song gave him a funny look, ¡°No, she got shot in the head.¡±

    An uncomfortable silence descended, as Song stared at the Colonel, the suspicion obvious in her eyes. He regretted leaving the two guards behind.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Ashwood responded eventually, ¡°Who did it?¡±

    ¡°No one, according to Sterope¡¯s crew,¡± Song said.

    ¡°Explain,¡± Ashwood commanded, annoyed at her cryptic answers.

    Either unaware or uncaring of his feelings, Song spoke unhurriedly, ¡°According to the ship¡¯s doctor, Shepard died only a few minutes after Sterope exited warp.¡±

    That made sense. Exiting warp tended to throw many of the ship¡¯s instruments out of order, both making the ship vulnerable to attacks and creating some internal chaos as many systems tended to malfunction. Ideal timing for an assassination.

    ¡°They found her in a locked cabin and with no one and nothing on the cameras. An escape pod launched soon after, but none of the crew are missing,¡± Song continued.

    The Colonel did his best to keep his expression still. It seemed that his guess about the importance of Eigos had been right on the mark. He supposed the General might not have been as neutral as he had thought.

    ¡°Someone tampered with the cameras and then launched a pod as a misdirection?¡± He said.

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    Song squinted at him, ¡°Perhaps.¡±

    She definitely suspected Athena. Perhaps not too difficult of a guess, especially if she knew the General¡¯s possible true leanings. Athena was also the go-to person to accuse in any incident involving unknown or advanced technology.

    Well, within reason. He doubted anyone thought Athena created those energy shields, for instance.

    Song¡¯s suspicion was probably justified this time. It made the Colonel uncomfortable. If Athena had truly made such an overt move, it could only mean one thing. The war would start soon. Ashwood stood behind his beliefs, but he had hoped for the transition to be bloodless.

    Unfortunately, that decision was firmly in the hands of people like Song. People who would never willingly surrender their power, especially to someone not human.

    Ashwood would have to accelerate his plans, if possible. Seizing control of Alcyone without proper preparation would only lead to a bloodbath.

    ¡°So who is in charge? And send me the new orders,¡± Ashwood changed the subject.

    Captain Song gave him a deadpan look, ¡°You are.¡±

    The Colonel sighed. He expected it, yet he didn¡¯t feel comfortable carrying such a big responsibility on his shoulders.

    A colonel generally commanded 4-5 ships, so a general would have technically been overkill, were the stakes not so high. With a general already on board, there wasn¡¯t a reason for more high-ranking personnel to be present. After all, people like that didn¡¯t grow on trees and the forces the Republic could send to such a faraway system were limited.

    Though two cruisers were far from that limit.

    ¡°Right. Attach the crew manifests of the new ships when you send over the orders. What is the other one called?¡±

    ¡°TRS Pleione,¡± Song said, as she fiddled with the display in front of her.

    Soon after the files arrived, allowing Ashwood to check the situation for himself. The orders were as he suspected, a command to acquire the technology at all costs, though still preferably through legal means. Bombing a bunch of iron age primitives wasn¡¯t good PR, of course.

    The attached report about the General¡¯s death interested him more, though he ended up disappointed after quickly skimming it. Song had more or less covered the main points and there wasn¡¯t anything else of note.

    The crew manifest turned out to be the most interesting of the bunch. He knew neither Captain Vasili, Captain Black nor any of the other officers listed, but he had data provided by Athena to fall back on. She had taken great pains to document the opinions of the vast majority of military personnel held in regard to her, for obvious reasons.

    As a relatively high-ranking member of her faction, Ashwood had access to some of it. Not anything illegal or truly secret, as he was public in his support, but still enough to be useful.

    He used his neural implants to quickly compare the files, getting a quick picture of the allegiances of all the newcomers.

    The Colonel suppressed a smile as his actions immediately bore fruit. He could see that all the incoming officers supported the anti-AI faction, often vocally. Athena¡¯s opponents clearly understood the importance of Eigos as well, which didn¡¯t surprise him.

    The grunts were a different story. Unlike the officers, the military at large lacked proper data about their political leanings as any direct investigation would be unconstitutional. That left only one option. To sift through truly gigantic amounts of data and painstakingly piece the sentiments of millions of soldiers together. A daunting task even for Athena and an impossible one for the military. Fortunately, the super-AI had not wasted the decades of peace.

    Thanks to all that work, the Colonel could see that the vast majority of low-ranking personnel on TRS Sterope greatly favoured his side. He couldn¡¯t even imagine the insane amount of work that must have gone into getting so many of Athena¡¯s supporters onboard Sterope without arousing suspicion.

    It almost guaranteed that their people controlled Sterope. The support of the rank and file was usually quite passive and so hardly enough, which meant that their presence would be pointless without other backing.

    Ashwood didn¡¯t have the authorization to know any of the deep cover agents, but he knew that they existed and that their numbers were not inconsequential. It wouldn¡¯t be at all surprising if a good chunk of Sterope¡¯s officers supported Athena.

    That¡¯d also more or less explain the mystery of General Shepard¡¯s death. Athena might have a bit of a technological lead over their opponents, but that didn¡¯t mean her people could just seize military systems willy-nilly.

    There might even be some of the Soma Aspis on board. He held some rather complex feelings towards the elite cyborgs, yet he couldn¡¯t deny that their presence would be a great boon.

    Dismissing the files, Ashwood once again turned to Song, ¡°All right, everything seems to be in order. Send a message to Captain Black and Vasili to prepare for battle, Captain.¡±

    The new orders left the Colonel in a precarious position. He had to go back to Eigos, yet leaving Song and her crew alone was a recipe for disaster. However, he also had to bring more men planetside as a precaution. They would be needed should things go sideways.

    Or more accurately, when.

    He could split his people, of course. Unfortunately, even though he held the rank of colonel, Alcyone only held a battalion or so of his soldiers. The reason for that was very simple. The average battlecruiser could not carry more, leaving him with only a few hundred soldiers on hand.

    That made the prospect of splitting them dangerous. Song was far from defenceless.

    ¡°Of course, Colonel. When are you heading planetside?¡± Captain Song said, still scrutinizing Ashwood.

    The Colonel did not feel at all enthusiastic about leaving Alcyone for Eigos. Yet he had little choice. The General¡¯s death must have put Song on high alert. Unless he had severely misjudged Song¡¯s intelligence, striking now would be a terrible mistake.

    Not to mention that he had not yet received any additional instructions from Athena, though they almost certainly existed. Likely carried by some of Sterope¡¯s crew. Unfortunately, the ships were still too far away for anything but the ship¡¯s main communication arrays. Sending secret messages through those would be way too audacious.

    Which only left one course of action. To follow orders and trust in Athena.

    ¡°Now. There is no reason to delay,¡± Ashwood responded.

    Not one he could justify to her, at least.

    ¡°How many shuttles should we get ready?¡± Song asked.

    Ashwood narrowed his eyes. A perfectly reasonable question to pose, but he could not help but feel paranoid.

    His eyes glazed over as he examined Alcyone¡¯s crew manifest and internal defences, before making his decision.

    ¡°All of them.¡±

 Chapter 8 - Talking Star

    The Custodian stood in one of the Temple¡¯s courtyards, watching the thirty-seven silent knights in front of her. She wore her customary white robe and held an intricate silver pendant in her hand. The silver formed an eye, with an embedded blue sapphire serving as a pupil, glimmering in the sun. Her eyes shined with a gentle silver glow as she monitored not only the courtyard, but the entirety of the temple and beyond.

    The courtyard itself stood right next to the First Temple, north of Serana¡¯s tower. The debris from the explosion had long been cleared, though the damage on the walls caused by the falling rubble wouldn¡¯t let anyone present forget for a long time.

    She watched as Knight Commander Aisac Ferrier moved through the lined-up knights, distributing pendants identical to the one she held. Each knight accepted the jewellery with reverence.

    The Custodian had ordered them assembled for this very reason. They were the best and most loyal members of the church, gathered from around the continent in the past weeks.

    She had to significantly reassess the situation after the assassination attempt. In hindsight, it all seemed rather obvious. It would hardly be the first time she saw new technology spread across the world. Yet it still took an assassin for her to truly understand what that meant, this time.

    The entire debacle brought some disquieting truths to the surface. The knights would no longer be enough. The Terran weapons were simply too powerful.

    That was unacceptable. It threatened the entire system.

    The Custodian could never enforce the entirety of the Eternal Laws alone. Too many people lived on Eigos. Never mind the continent, even just a single kingdom had too many criminals for her to personally handle. One could always count on humanity to produce more rapists, child molesters and other scum.

    Even the support of the church wasn¡¯t enough. The kingdoms had to cooperate as well, enforcing the Laws in their respective territories. The church made sure they did their duty diligently, while also making sure the general populace knew the Laws were just and proper.

    Needlessly complicated, perhaps. She could have seized control of everything and forced her will on them all. Eternity knew that no one could have stopped her. She had done so in the past, after all. Her first attempt to systematically enforce the Laws.

    It worked well, for a time. Eventually, the people forgot the tyrants their ancestors laboured under and started blaming her for their problems.

    A ruler could never make everyone happy. It had been an important lesson to learn. Be it natural disasters or man-made ones, they blamed her for it all. As she was nearly synonymous with the Eternal Laws, the people slowly grew contemptuous of them too.

    So she had stepped down. Soon the people grumbled about the good old days when she used to rule, but Serana no longer cared, seeing the entire venture as a failure. She had adopted a lighter touch, afterwards.

    The current system only arose after much trial and error. It had worked almost perfectly for a long time. Still did. The people blamed the kings for their troubles and praised her and the church for upholding the Laws.

    Yet all of it worked only because of the respect and fear the royals and nobles held towards the church. The Terran weapons were guaranteed to destroy that status quo.

    Her knights needed to not only equal the best soldiers on the continent but surpass them, lest those far away from her think themselves safe. Even acquiring Terran weapons would not be enough for that, as long as others possessed them too.

    Unless she intervened.

    Therefore, the pendants. They would allow the thirty-seven knights and Aisac to channel Eternity¡¯s power, in a roundabout way.

    Serana had no better alternative.

    Soon, the last knight received his pendant and Aisac moved back to her side. The Knight Commander¡¯s face was grim, yet Serana could see the excitement in his eyes.

    She turned to face the arrayed knights, towering over even the tallest ones.

    ¡°The world is changing, my loyal knights,¡± Serana¡¯s soft voice spoke, spreading throughout the silent courtyard.

    ¡°You will change along with it, to better serve Eternity,¡± Serana continued, raising the silver pendant she held.

    All the knights and even the usually stoic Aisac stared at the trinket, enraptured.

    The men that died searching the city below for the assassin¡¯s accomplices weighed heavily on the Knight Commander¡¯s mind, she knew. Less so their demise, for he was no stranger to death, and more their helplessness in front of the novel weapons.

    He would have died just like them, unable to do his duty properly, and was well aware of the fact.

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    ¡°This pendant shall allow you to make use of Eternity¡¯s power,¡± She said.

    The small amount their bodies could handle, anyway.

    ¡°You are the first ones to be granted this honour in centuries.¡±

    The next moment the radiance in her eyes intensified and all the pendants started to shine with a silver glow. Many of the knights lost their composure, gasping, as they felt the power coursing through their bodies.

    A rather crude method of teaching, yet an effective one. The Temple Knights only needed to learn to channel the power through the pendant, a simple task. Finer control would come later.

    Actually supplying the power depended on her. She served as a conduit between the artifacts and Eternity every time any of the pendants were used.

    As such, much of the process rested on her shoulders, hence the limited number of pendants. Compared to the knights, her capacity could only be described as massive, yet even she had limits.

    The source itself was functionally inexhaustible, however. The power of the Goddess defied comprehension.

    When it came to using it, her body and control were the only limits. The same would apply to the knights.

    The amount they could handle would not be large, but such things are relative. It would be enough to deal with the new weaponry.

    ¡°Feel Her divine power, memorize the sensation of its flow,¡± Serana lectured.

    A minute later, the glow disappeared. The knights stood frozen and many of them held their hands over the pendants.

    Aisac was the first to recover, his eyes quickly settling on her once again.

    Soon the rest followed, and the Custodian continued, ¡°Now, draw it out on your own, concentrate.¡±

    The Custodian watched as the knights struggled to replicate the technique. They could not compare to true blessed, but that could not be helped. They would need to learn the old-fashioned way.

    There were a few positives to that. Unlike someone blessed, all of their power would have to go through her. This meant that she¡¯d have absolute control over their use of it while also shouldering much of the burden. Fortunately, she had had a lot of practice. Unless they all acted in concert, she would barely feel the strain.

    Even if all of them utilised their pendants to the maximum, she would still be able to handle more than enough power for anything she could imagine.

    Though perhaps she¡¯d find her imagination lacking. The stars above were vast and terrible, now more so than ever.

    Time passed and more and more pendants lit up, the glow of Serana¡¯s eyes increasing minutely with each success.

    After an hour, the last of the knights managed the feat.

    Next, Serana planned to teach them some of the basic ways to utilize Eternity¡¯s gift. In a few days, they would be capable of not only augmenting their own strength, but also shielding themselves and others.

    Greatly mitigating the advantage of Terran weapons.

    Yet before she could continue, the Custodian noticed an intruder. A woman in the clothes of a pilgrim approached the temple, however, her gait hinted at martial training and her features were foreign.

    Serana¡¯s eyes flashed as she investigated the suspicious pilgrim.

    ¡°Commander Ferrier,¡± Serana turned to Aisac, ¡°A woman in brown robes is approaching the Temple. Take four men and bring her to my guest room, politely.¡±

    Aisac moved to comply while casting a few glances at her.

    Serana rolled her eyes and spoke to the gathered knights, ¡°We will continue this later. For now, continue to practice using the pendants. This takes precedence over all your other duties.¡±

    The knights saluted and started dispersing, silent.

    Serana herself strode towards the tower, her focus never once wavering as she kept watch over her surroundings, paying special attention to the intruder. She would not be caught unaware again.

    At least not until the current situation was dealt with and her focus wavered once again over the following decades.

    She chuckled quietly at the thought. Long ago she had thought Eternity¡¯s gifts to be too much. Would a little bit of vigilance not suffice for most dangers? Only centuries later she had understood the true threat of immortality, quite impressed by her patron¡¯s foresight.

    The path to her guest rooms offered no surprises and so she soon sat at the room¡¯s table, watching the pilgrim¡¯s progress. The woman had not offered any resistance when Aisac reached her and was currently being escorted to the tower, giving Serana time to study her.

    Not that she could tell much, at this distance. Yet even the little she saw was rather suspicious. She would be able to tell more once she could see the pilgrim up close.

    Before long, a knock resounded and Aisac entered the marble room.

    The woman entered after him, allowing the Custodian examine her in detail.

    She stood barely to Aisac¡¯s shoulders, nearly half the Custodian¡¯s own height, but her steps resounded with surprising strength, as if belonging to someone both larger and heavier. She wore her chestnut hair cut short and her eyes were brown, matching her brown robes.

    Her plain appearance did not draw Serana¡¯s attention, unlike the many strange incongruences. The woman blinked at the exact same intervals, her heartbeat similarly regular. Her eyes were vacant, yet she walked with confidence and precision. The supposedly cheap pilgrim robes were both clean and perfectly symmetrical, a near impossibility for a sewn garment.

    While Serana scrutinized her, the brown-robed woman responded in kind, unashamedly looking the Custodian over.

    The Custodian motioned for her to sit, while she shooed Aisac and the guards away with a head gesture. Just in case the woman proved explosive. Serana could have likely protected them in such a scenario, but felt no need to tempt fate.

    After the woman sat, she continued staring for a few more minutes. Though she needed to crane her head quite a bit upwards, lest she stare at the Custodian¡¯s chest.

    Serana let her, content with the silence.

    Finally, the false pilgrim spoke,

    ¡°You aren¡¯t human, are you?¡±

 Chapter 9 - Machines, descending from the sky

    ¡°You aren¡¯t human, are you?¡± The pilgrim said in strangely accented Sirnesian. It sounded almost identical to the way the Terran officer spoke, down to the mistakes.

    The Custodian stared expressionlessly at the diminutive woman, ¡°I suppose that would depend on your definition.¡±

    She had to wonder what had prompted the pilgrim to think that. Serana certainly thought of herself as human. She supposed that it wasn¡¯t entirely accurate.

    The brown-robed pilgrim looked her over, ¡°Hmm, you lack feathers and possess two legs, so I think you pass,¡± she smirked, ¡°The glowy eyes lose you some points, though.¡±

    Serana quirked an eyebrow at the nonsensical words.

    Uninterested in further discussing the topic, she changed the subject, ¡°Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Not who, hm?¡± the pilgrim said

    ¡°There would be little point to such a question,¡± Serana responded.

    The woman¡¯s otherworldly origin was quite obvious, after all. With the difference in approach, Serana thought that her guest might belong to a different faction than the rude military man. Yet with no knowledge of Terran politics, the pilgrim¡¯s answer would be useless to Serana, even if the little interloper told the truth.

    ¡°It is always good to know who one is dealing with, no?¡± The false pilgrim retorted.

    Instead of waiting for Serana¡¯s answer, she stood up and curtsied, her brown robes making the entire motion quite awkward.

    ¡°My name is Phaedra. I¡¯ve come to look around.¡±

    Her introduction done, she sat back down, Serana¡¯s eyes following her all the while.

    Now seated again, Phaedra looked at the Custodian expectantly. Her strangely vacant eyes made the entire expression rather bizarre.

    Serana paid it no mind, though she felt a little curious about the strange woman. Yet not enough to play her games.

    ¡°How did your weapons get into the hands of the Accadians?¡± Serana said.

    While the remains of the assassin yielded little, his accomplices in the city proved less thorough. Though the Kingdom of Accad had been pinpointed as the likely culprit, the question of how they had acquired the alien weapons remained unanswered.

    The Custodian herself could see little reason why the Terrans would go after her life in such a haphazard way, making the entire affair rather perplexing.

    ¡°Damn, I can see why that guy found you unnerving,¡± Phaedra said instead of responding.

    Serana kept her face expressionless, but her mind wandered. Perhaps Phaedra thought that she wouldn¡¯t figure out who she spoke of, but there really was only one option.

    Why would she give up such useful information for no reason? Did she work for an opposing faction, or was she just stupid? Or, maybe she understood that Serana very much knew that she ¡°unnerved¡± the Colonel?

    The last possibility left her with a sour feeling. Was it even possible for someone to see through her to such a degree?

    She resolved to pay even more attention to her own body language.

    When Serana did not respond, Phaedra once again opened her mouth, ¡°Truth be told, I¡¯ve no clue. I just got here, after all,¡± She scratched her head, ¡°I could give you my best guess?¡±

    The Custodian noted how she didn¡¯t even try to pretend not to be one of the Terrans.

    Serana gestured her assent with her hand, not breaking eye contact.

    ¡°You are pretty intense, huh? How about this, I¡¯ll tell you my guess in exchange for a little demonstration?¡± Phaedra said.

    ¡°Demonstration?¡± Serana said, her voice neutral.

    ¡°Mm!¡± Phaedra nodded, ¡°The way you blocked the Colonel¡¯s, uh, demonstration, attracted a lot of attention.¡±

    The false pilgrim spoke lightly, but her eyes were hard and empty.

    ¡°Then I¡¯m not interested,¡± Serana said, ¡°I did not invite you here to amuse you.¡±

    She didn¡¯t actually think that Phaedra wanted to see her power for her amusement, but with Phaedra¡¯s behaviour, it was a good excuse. Maybe it would make her guest rethink her conduct too.

    ¡°Oh trust me, there is nothing amusing about this. So much work ruined by pure chance, and all for what?¡± Phaedra said, coldly.

    It was such an abrupt change in demeanour that even the Custodian felt taken aback. Though Phaedra¡¯s eyes were still the same.

    Serana did not like that she could not get a good read on her guest. On the surface, it seemed that she had touched a nerve, but it easily could have been just a performance.

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    ¡°Then offer more,¡± The Custodian said, her voice unconcerned.

    Just like that, Phaedra returned to her previous playfulness.

    ¡°How greedy! What could you even need? You are rich,¡± Phaedra gestured around the marble room.

    ¡°Information about Terran weapons and battle tactics,¡± Serana responded immediately. Not like there was a way to pose such a demand tactfully.

    That seemed to get under Phaedra¡¯s facade, her eyes widening almost imperceptibly.

    She didn¡¯t respond immediately, rhythmically tapping her finger on the table instead.

    Eventually, Phaedra spoke, ¡°Whether I can give you that depends on your powers. I¡¯d guess that the answer is yes, but I would need to see for myself.¡±

    Serana kept her expression blank, but inwardly, she had already decided the woman¡¯s fate. She did not believe that the answer would be yes. Yet the fact that Phaedra was even considering her offer told her enough to make the risk worth the reward.

    The Custodian would rather she divulge her knowledge willingly, but information about Terran capabilities seemed more important by the day. A traitorous, lonely Terran presented an opportunity too big to ignore.

    Instead of answering, the Custodian moved her left hand forward, palm up, channelling Eternity¡¯s power. In the next second, a small orb of silver light appeared above her hand.

    Phaedra leaned forward, her eyes once again widening.

    They sat like that for a few minutes, Phaedra completely focused on the orb and Serana on her guest¡¯s face.

    ¡°So she was right¡­ This war will be for nothing.¡± Phaedra murmured, breaking the silence.

    Serana frowned, ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    Phaedra blinked, ¡°Sorry, I got a little carried away there,¡± She leaned back on her chair, ¡°I guessed right. Do you have paper and something for me to write with?¡±

    The Custodian almost frowned again, but decided to drop the matter. For now.

    Under Phaedra¡¯s watchful eyes, she got up from her seat and retrieved some writing supplies, placing them on the table.

    The next couple of hours passed in silence, as Phaedra¡¯s dextrous hands skilfully wrote and even sketched the bargained information.

    Phaedra kept going for much longer than Serana thought she would, apparently committed to fulfilling her side of the bargain.

    Eventually, she finished and turned the many now-filled papers over to Serana. The Custodian leafed through the papers, rather perplexed. It seemed authentic, as far as she could tell. Admittedly, she couldn¡¯t tell much.

    However, Serana had not actually expected Phaedra to accept such a ridiculous offer. She did not know whether to feel fortunate or wary.

    ¡°That¡¯s my side of the bargain fulfilled. I¡¯ve seen what I wanted, so I¡¯ll be going now,¡± Phaedra said, breaking the Custodian out of her reverie.

    Before Phaedra could get up, Serana interrupted her, ¡°Wait.¡±

    The lone Terran looked at her quizzically.

    ¡°You have yet to give me your guess,¡± Serana explained.

    ¡°Ah, that,¡± She scratched her head, ¡°You know that the guys above came here to establish a colony right?¡±

    ¡°Your compatriots were rather vocal about it,¡± Serana said.

    ¡°Right. Well, the point is that the colonists aren¡¯t exactly what you¡¯d consider¡­ Our elite. As far as I know, they had at least a couple of opportunities to sell stuff down here,¡± Phaedra said.

    Serana digested that in silence. It made sense, she supposed. It also hinted at the deeper nature of the so-called Terran Republic. As expected of a society so far away from Eternity¡¯s light.

    She rather disliked that she had to take this extremely suspicious person at her word, though.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be going then, bye-bye,¡± Phaedra interrupted her thoughts once again.

    She made it barely three steps towards the door before the Custodian¡¯s voice stopped her.

    ¡°No.¡±

    Phaedra turned around, her vacant eyes zeroing on the Custodian¡¯s face, ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±

    ¡°You wish for us to fight the Terrans. Why?¡± Serana asked.

    Phaedra opened her mouth, but Serana spoke before she responded, ¡°If I think you are lying, I will kill you where you stand.¡±

    The Terran stared at her without blinking, before speaking, her voice low, ¡°You think you can?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Serana said, her eyes alert, yet her tone unchanged.

    The maybe-prisoner stood still, likely thinking things over.

    ¡°Because we think you can win,¡± Phaedra replied, solemnly.

    The Custodian had to stop herself from snorting.

    It seemed that the Terrans had still not understood who the underdog was, here.

    Yet she couldn¡¯t dismiss the danger, either. If not to her, then to the Laws. The Terrans had already shown her that they could not be taken lightly.

    Serana fancied herself a fast learner. It would not do to underestimate them a second time.

    She did not think that Phaedra had intended her words that way, however.

    As the Custodian stared at her, Phaedra did not sweat, but Serana thought that she could see her tense a little.

    ¡°Inciting war is a crime,¡± Serana said, ¡°Will you submit?¡±

    Serana was amused to see bewilderment flash through Phaedra¡¯s features. New to Eigos, indeed.

    Phaedra recovered near instantly, ¡°I¡¯ll get a trial though, right? No instant vaporizations or the like?¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Serana responded, watching her features carefully. Not that they told her anything of Phaedra¡¯s thoughts, but at least she¡¯d see an attack coming. Not that she needed to know her thoughts with such an extremely suspicous response.

    ¡°Okay then,¡± Phaedra said, seemingly unconcerned.

    Then she nodded her head towards the large window, ¡°Are you certain you should be worrying about me, though?¡±

    The Custodian followed her gaze upward.

    Far further than any human had a right to see, she spotted a swarm of black dots.

    Uncaring of Phaedra¡¯s perceptive gaze, she used a sliver of Eternity¡¯s power to enhance her eyes and identify the faraway objects.

    A small host of Terran transports, many more than had ever come to Eigos.

    Before she could count them, the sky exploded in fire.

 Chapter 10 - Shoot faster

    As hundreds of thousands of rounds saturated the sky, Colonel Ashwood, sitting in one of the many shuttles performing emergency manoeuvres, cursed Song and her entire ancestry.

    She had proven to be the more ruthless of the two.

    Minutes after the couple dozen shuttles began their descent, Alcyone opened fire, vaporizing seven of the transports before they even realized what was going on.

    They were lucky. Had Song managed to seize control of the battlecruiser faster, they would have all been turned into a mist by now.

    Ashwood felt grateful to the poor bastards that must have opposed Song, giving his forces the precious minutes needed for a chance at survival.

    Yet they were far from safe. Alcyone might not have been designed for hunting shuttles, but that did not make it ineffective. Ashwood did not even have his armour on, not that it would be much help should they suffer a hit.

    He watched on his implants as another shuttle winked from existence, for a total of ten, now.

    ¡°Number Seventeen bought it, sir!¡± The pilot shouted, more for the benefit of the soldiers seated in the back than the Colonel¡¯s.

    He stopped himself from telling the pilot to go faster. His implants were linked to the shuttle¡¯s main computer, so he knew very well that the pilot already flew well outside of the safety parameters.

    Their plan was exceedingly simple. Ashwood had simply ordered everyone to split up and go faster. Soon they would exit the range of most of Alcyone¡¯s weapons, leaving only the anti-ship railguns and missiles.

    Which would still mean death, without help. While the ship¡¯s big guns couldn¡¯t track the shuttles properly, they would still be very visible on its sensors. Song could simply wait for them to run out of fuel and then wipe them out when they inevitably landed.

    Luckily, Ashwood was not without cards to play, even if they were all stolen.

    All the shuttles were converging on the city below the Custodian¡¯s temple. He did not think that she would let Song destroy the city.

    Even if the Custodian did not act, more of Alcyone¡¯s officers surely would. Wiping out a city of innocent civilians would be a step too far for many of them. Not to mention that in the end, they still needed to secure the shield technology.

    Perhaps that would be enough, perhaps not. He could not think of anything better.

    They still needed to survive the next couple of minutes for any of that to matter anyway. Not that he could do anything but think at the moment.

    In a way, Ashwood even felt grateful to Song. His soldiers were rather loyal to him, but there was loyalty and then there was loyalty. Many of them would have opposed killing their fellow Terrans, and who could have blamed them?

    Song had spared him that dreaded duty, so while he regretted not acting first a little, he also felt relieved.

    He also thought it undeniable that Song had misstepped. The initial barrage came too late. Should they survive, their situation would be nearly ideal, strategically speaking. Firing the first shot was not a small thing. While Song was likely busy executing her own people, Ashwood¡¯s were more united than ever. It would also give Athena a great PR boost, hopefully turning much of the public to their side, should it spread.

    Tactically, it would still be a nightmare, of course. A warship was a warship, after all.

    Still, the situation could be worse.

    ¡°SHIT! BRACE!¡± The pilot screamed, the shuttle taking a sharp dive downwards even before he finished shouting.

    Ashwood gaped at the approaching missile signature.

    Then it exploded and the sky caught fire.

    The shockwave threw the shuttle like a ragdoll, a deafening sound following immediately after.

    Six more shuttles winked out.

    As the pilot struggled to regain control, Ashwood mentally retracted every bit of gratefulness he had felt.

    Song had gone completely insane. Nuclear warheads were only used in space for good reason.  If she fired another nuke¡­

    ¡°SCATTER!¡± He screamed over the comms, hoping it was not too late.

    The shuttles might be military, but they were meant for transport. They could not reliably detect anti-ship warheads, nor of course, escape them. If they spread out more, Song would have to use a missile per transport, at least.

    It would slow them down, but more would survive.

    As if on cue, Alcyone¡¯s weapons stopped firing.

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    The Colonel frowned, ¡°Did we exit their range already?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, sir,¡± The pilot responded, corroborating the Colonel¡¯s own thoughts.

    ¡°Do you see anything, pilot?¡± Ashwood asked. He could see a great deal of the shuttle¡¯s data, but his implants were not meant for interfacing with shuttles in such a way, nor had he the training to make sense of most of it.

    ¡°Uh, Sterope has opened fire on Pleione and Alcyone both, sir,¡± The pilot responded, furiously rearranging the sensor data.

    Ashwood blinked. Right, that made sense. They could have started shooting faster, but he¡¯d take what he could get.

    ¡°Stick to the plan. There is nothing we can do to help,¡± He said, relaying his words to the other shuttles as well.

    Sterope might win. Surprise attacks from close range were devastating. Weapons technology had outpaced armour quite thoroughly. The thickness needed to provide an effective defence against railguns just wasn¡¯t practical. Certainly not something you would find on a cruiser. That meant that getting an initial salvo into an unprepared enemy could absolutely devastate them.

    ¡°Alcyone is out! Looks like they got the engines and most of the weapons systems, sir!¡± The pilot said.

    The soldiers cheered, but Ashwood didn¡¯t join them, too busy watching the feed and not feeling up to celebrating prematurely. The damage to Alcyone likely accounted for much of Sterope¡¯s initial salvo, which meant that it would be without any significant advantages in the following battle.

    Imagining Song¡¯s disbelieving face did improve his mood quite a bit though.

    It did mean that their escape to Eigos¡¯s surface would almost certainly succeed. Unless the locals rolled out some anti-air defence out of some hole they had hidden it in. The Colonel didn¡¯t think that was particularly likely.

    Ashwood suddenly frowned, trying to make sense of the data in front of his eyes.

    The pilot, warrant officer Yang the Colonel belatedly recalled, provided a swift explanation, ¡°Sterope is bleeding escape pods, sir! We lose them after their initial burst, but they are heading in our general direction.¡±

    Ashwood frowned harder, understanding the implication of such an act but not seeing the reasoning.

    Seconds after, Sterope¡¯s signature winked out.

    Officer Yang paled, ¡°Sterope just got fucking vaporized! Uh, sir!¡±

    Ashwood sighed. There went the easy victory. With the battle in the void apparently concluded, things were once again looking bleak.

    They would make it to the surface, but what would happen after was anyone''s guess.

    With the imminent danger likely averted, the Colonel took stock.

    Out of the twenty-three shuttles, fifteen had been lost, accounting for a little under four hundred of his people.

    Sterope had been completely destroyed, though some of the crew had escaped. Reuniting with them on Eigos would be a priority, even if only to find out how they knew to jump ship. The shuttle¡¯s sensors might not be the best, but they would have caught a nuclear explosion, which left only railgun rounds and those could not be detected before they hit.

    In contrast, the enemy still controlled two cruisers, even if one was crippled and the other likely at least a little damaged. Alcyone would not be much of a threat, especially since his soldiers accounted for the vast majority of the infantry on board.

    On the other hand, Pleione likely possessed infantry of its own. It would likely all come down to how many of them there were. Unless they carpet-bombed the area and the Custodian didn¡¯t help, of course.

    Ashwood thought that infantry action was more likely.

    Alcyone had been filled to capacity and it would make sense if Pleione had been as well, as they were sent here to seize assets on the moon¡¯s surface.

    He¡¯d have to hope that his own soldiers and whoever escaped from Sterope would be enough.

    They would need to survive until reinforcements arrived, at which point their fate would be once again decided by chance. Or, hopefully, Athena¡¯s intellect.

    He sincerely doubted that either Song or Black, the captain of Pleione, would send any intel back to the Republic. It would be quite foolish for them to do so, with Sterope¡¯s apparent betrayal.

    Which meant that the next unlucky bastards to arrive would more or less have to decide on the spot who to side with, likely resulting in another bloodbath.

    There was probably an entire battlegroup coming, if not more.

    Ashwood broke from his ruminations when an alarm for a priority message blared in his head, opening with his personal code assigned to him by Athena. He read the deeply encrypted message, frowning more with each of the lines read.

    ¡®Code Zeta

    Chance of mission-relevant technology being non-existent or useless over 97%

    Conflict with entity ¡°Custodian¡± desirable

    Retrieve/Destroy remains of Unit #09 ¡°Phaedra¡± from the attached coordinates¡¯

    The Colonel read it one more time before groaning. He managed to stop himself from slumping in his seat, at least. Much of the message¡¯s content made him feel rather perplexed.

    He had expected Code Zeta, but he had no idea what to think about the rest.

    Code Zeta simply meant that a peaceful takeover could no longer be achieved and that the gloves were coming off. If the message had come from someone on Sterope like he suspected then Code Zeta had likely already been in effect for weeks.

    The Colonel could imagine the many hidden shipyards stirring to life, fleets of civilian ships being retrofitted with proper military weapon systems and of course, the increasingly unlikely lethal accidents that their opposition must be suffering. General Shepard probably counted among those.

    The rest of the message he did not really understand.

    The fact that so many people had died and would die because of something apparently non-existent did not sit well with him. Not to mention that conflict with the Eigosians made no sense without the tech as the prize.

    Athena was not someone to pursue war for the sake of it, so there must be some deeper reason, but he did not see it. Maybe she intended to frame the humanist faction for it.

    Lastly, he had no idea what unit zero-nine was supposed to be, nor why the coordinates pointed not only to Eigos, but straight to the Custodian¡¯s temple. He felt pretty sure that he had not left anyone behind on the moon, so he had no clue how zero-nine had made it there.

    All in all, he felt a headache coming.

    At least the message did not include a timetable or some such. He needed the Custodian¡¯s cooperation to survive the coming days, after all.

 Chapter 11 - Like a candle

    The Custodian stood alone on top of her ruined tower, watching the remaining flying transports land on a nearby hill. Less than ten of the metal machines remained, over half lost to Terran infighting.

    Her face looked serene, yet inside she felt a little disturbed. Or perhaps excited.

    The Terran star ships might actually pose a threat to her life. She had known that the possibility existed, though she had not really believed it.

    The explosion had looked like the birth of a new sun, deafening even so far away. She had to wonder what the common people thought of it. Her own people were a mixed bag. Some had full confidence in Eternity¡¯s power, others were quite shaken by the sight. Phaedra had acted rather smug when she was being escorted into the dungeon, but Serana doubted that she had been sincere.

    The simple truth was that Serana did not know whether she¡¯d survive a direct hit from something like that.

    She¡¯d like to believe that Eternity¡¯s power would allow her to prevail even against such a weapon, yet she felt some doubt. Not something she would fancy testing in any case.

    At the same time, she felt satisfaction at a puzzle finally being completed.

    The massive amount of power she wielded finally made sense. She would not deny that it had been useful, but it had not been needed. The amount required to make bow and spear alike ineffective was almost laughable. Cowing armies might have been a bit trickier, but she could have managed with much, much less as well.

    It also made reading the materials provided by Phaedra even more of a priority. Serana had only leafed through them, not really having the time to spare. She¡¯d make sure to go over them carefully after the current situation was dealt with, along with actually dealing with the Terran woman.

    Suddenly, her eyes landed on something strange, flashing with interest.

    A few kilometers from the Terran-occupied hill, an armoured person sprinted towards it through the woods.

    The forest provided them decent cover, giving Serana only glimpses. Yet she saw enough to feel some disbelief.

    The person¡¯s body was completely hidden by metallic black armour with a bit of purple accentuation They moved with inhuman grace and endurance, their run resembling a deer more than a human. They likely possessed inhuman speed as well, but Serana did not feel too confident to judge that from so far away.

    Tearing her gaze from the strange sight, she searched around the stranger and the now-swarming hill, where a few hundred Terrans busied themselves like ants.

    Soon, she spotted more. Serana counted seventeen in total, all in identical armour and all dashing for the Terran-occupied hill.

    A few more pieces slotted into place. She had seen twenty or so balls of flame descent along with the transports. She had not bothered to investigate closer, simply taking them for debris or some such because of their similarity to meteors.

    Or as they were more commonly known, falling stars.

    She shook her head slightly. While certainly interesting, it wasn¡¯t really that important.

    While the Terrans busied themselves desecrating her hill, the Custodian¡¯s soldiers were mustering under the Knight Commander¡¯s careful guidance. A somewhat tricky proposition that she felt happy to foist onto Aisac.

    Since the attack, the normally small temple garrison had been drastically reinforced, swelling from the usual two hundred to over five thousand knights, along with nine thousand auxiliaries. Most of them didn¡¯t fit in the Temple, instead occupying the city¡¯s barracks and the nearby forts, making a muster a rather tedious affair.

    A small and sustainable number, brought in from the nearby countries, as not to disrupt any single Order¡¯s operations overmuch.

    While the Church might possess more soldiers than a small country¡¯s entire population, they were spread across the entire continent. Bringing even half of her total forces together would have been logistically impossible, not to mention extremely disruptive and unneeded.

    Still, bringing together the three hundred thousand knights and the million or so auxiliaries would have been a sight to see. It¡¯d probably do the Church good should the knight Orders mingle more, too.

    With each Order overseeing a country, they tended to become far too cliquey to her liking. The seven forts guarding the First Temple served as second headquarters for them, though the smaller Orders had to share, which led to some mingling, at least. Of course, that hardly solved everything. Perhaps she¡¯d think of something before the Order Masters arrived for the emergency meeting she had called some weeks prior.

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    That was mostly wishful thinking on her part, though. Such things could not be rushed, lest a solution creates more problems. Having to think centuries in advance made even the smallest of decisions impacting the Church as a whole rather precarious.

    The Custodian was brought out of her tangent by a knock on the newly repaired door.

    Sensing her handmaiden, she beckoned her inside, ¡°Enter.¡±

    Hesitantly, the mousey-looking girl entered, acting even more uncertain than usual.

    Her eyes darted over the many damaged parts of the tower¡¯s top floor, before settling on the stunning view of the sprawling verdant forests and the turquoise lake laid before her.

    Serana could understand. It had taken her a few decades to grow used to it too.

    The Custodian watched with amusement as the girl¡¯s eyes snapped back to her. The handmaiden shivered, her grey robes proving to be of little help against neither the cold wind nor fear.

    The Custodian¡¯s eyes landed on the handmaiden¡¯s own, making the young girl gulp and prompting her to speak, ¡°Venerable Custodian, the prisoner, she, um, melted?¡±

    Serana sighed in exasperation. Always something with these Terrans. She had focused elsewhere for only half an hour and already they were¡­ melting.

    ¡°Like a candle?¡± Serana asked, not quite sure if the handmaiden had spoken correctly.

    The girl nodded, ¡°That is how the guard described it, my lady.¡±

    Serana focused her senses, quickly zeroing in on what was left of Phaedra. ¡®Melted¡¯ fit quite well. Phaedra had become a disturbing cross between a human and a puddle.

    The two knights guarding the ¡®prisoner¡¯ had their swords out, looking wearily at the cell from a safe distance.

    She couldn¡¯t really blame them, either. People usually didn¡¯t melt on their own. Spotting no one suspicious around, Serana decided that this must have been an exception. Phaedra had seemed oddly accepting of being imprisoned.

    Perhaps melting yourself was the preferable method of suicide in Terran culture. What an amusing thought.

    ¡°Have two more men guard the corpse, I will take a proper look at it later,¡± The Custodian instructed.

    The grey-robed girl nodded and bowed, understanding the dismissal and quickly scurrying away.

    Serana returned her gaze back to the outside, watching the many different people scurry about.

    The Terrans seemed to be fortifying the hill, while the people of the city down below gathered on the walls, watching. The hill was not so far that they could not see the growing Terran encampment, not to mention the gathering knights.

    Her knights and soldiers were assembling on a plain right outside the city, one of the only convenient spots to do so with all the forests around.

    When Serana spotted riders leaving the forts, she started moving towards the temple stables, faintly smiling.

    She could guess why the betrayed Terrans came to her. Most likely they wanted her to protect them from strikes from above, yet they were too wary of her to actually hide in the city.

    How precious.

    The Custodian stopped inside her own rooms, faintly exasperated when she noticed that her handmaiden was still in the dungeon. She¡¯d need to get a second one soon. A single one could not properly do the expected duties, especially since Serana did not sleep much.

    Since her help would take too long to get there, Serana disrobed on her own, switching to a more ceremonial garb. It was still a white robe, but one embroidered with a silver thread, the many symbols of Eternity¡¯s eye covering most of the silken fabric. She also took the time to equip a pair of old steel bracers, more for nostalgia¡¯s sake than any practical purpose.

    It was quite curious how important small things like that were to people. Her image would hardly be shaken if she wore a plain robe to battle, but it would be detrimental, even if just a little. Humans did not much like it when one acted casually about the deaths of their loved ones and clothing counted. With the morale of so many rattled, she would need to be a bit more flashy than she preferred anyway, so she might as well go all the way. Hopefully the Terrans would be kind enough and provide targets.

    Dressed, she walked down the tower with purpose, this time intent on reaching the stables.

    The Temple itself stood more silent than usual. A hundred or so knights would stay as guards, but the rest of the soldiers, barring her honour guard, were already gone. This included most of the servants, as they, perhaps unwisely, wished to watch the confrontation.

    Maybe not the smartest of decisions, but certainly an expected one. To the common people, stories of what happened to those who dared to challenge Eternity openly were near mythical. Everyone with the slightest bit of curiosity would wish to see her magic in action, especially after witnessing the Terran bomb.

    She wondered whether the people would end up disappointed. The Terrans had shown themselves to be rather atrocious at understanding the Eternal Laws, but perhaps they would not be so stupid as to break them right in front of her?

    They had certainly proven unpredictable enough for either outcome.

    The Custodian almost wished they would. It had been quite some time since anyone had dared to face the Church in battle and even longer still since she herself had been close enough to participate.

    Only almost thought. She¡¯d never actually wish for the Laws to be broken, of course.

    Navigating the pristine halls of the temple, she soon reached the stables. Ten senior knights waited there, their engraved plate armour covering them fully and gleaming in the sun.

    They saluted without a word and started saddling up their armored warhorses as soon as she approached her own warhorse, Snow. The stallion was of significant size, almost proportional to the Custodian¡¯s own abnormal height. Serana mounted the horse swiftly and soon the group was ready to go.

    Serana led the group outside of the temple at a brisk trot, the knights following eagerly, ready to have their faith in both their leader and the Goddess once again reaffirmed.

 Chapter 12 - Terran jokes

    The city below lay quite close to the First Temple, though it still took a bit of time to reach, their journey prolonged by the precariousness of the path that led down the mountain.

    Nevertheless, the Custodian and her guard made good time. All of them were experienced riders and their horses had plenty of training.

    Though the mountain path would be described by many as idyllic this time of the year, Serana did not relax her vigil. She spread her senses even farther than she usually did, ignoring the blooming trees surrounding them.

    She patted Snow absentmindedly. Serana was beginning to regret her initial enthusiasm a little. She still did not think that the Terrans could actually win any war they might start as they¡¯d need to kill her for that, after all. Yet it seemed almost certain that their arrival would end up being a great catastrophe for the people of Eigos.

    Which would result in a lot of work for her.

    The aliens were already pushing her abilities quite a bit. After seeing the initial demonstration of the Terran Colonel, Serana had spent much of her time thinking of countermeasures.

    Not for herself. Such an attack, despite its power, was rather worthless against someone of her might. Yet for anyone else, it might very well have been the very hand of the Goddess striking them for how little they could do against it.

    The Custodian had devised a solution. Yet she hesitated with its implementation. Like the pendants, it would tie up some of her power semi-permanently. Unlike the pendants, it would also amplify one of her weaknesses, and in an easy-to-figure-out way.

    However, should a war break out, she would not have much choice, lest her people be helpless. A strange situation for her. She had pushed the boundaries of her power before of course, but never for the purpose of a physical confrontation.

    Those had always been quite trivial.

    Despite Serana¡¯s thoughts, her mood was unchanged.

    The Terrans would prove a disaster for Eigos at large, of that she was now near certain. Nonetheless, they had also broken through the creeping apathy that had been seeping into her heart for the past decades. A mixed blessing.

    It did not matter much, in the end. She had not brought the Terrans here and the only way had always been forward.

    The Custodian did wonder what Eternity would think about the whole mess once she woke up, though.

    The rest of the trip passed quickly, with Serana deep in thought. Soon the city walls and the assembled host were in front of her.

    The thousands of assembled knights waited on the plain, within arrow distance of the immense city walls. All of them already mounted and in formation, their discipline plain for everyone to see. They wore the customary plate armour of the Temple Knights, with a few of the more ornate exemplars interspersed throughout the assembled soldiers. A few of those wore pendants hidden behind their armour, she both knew and felt.

    The chosen thirty-seven had yet to learn to make any real use of them, but that did not stop Serana from utilizing them herself. If it came to battle, it would serve as good practice for her people. Fighting with magic took time to get used too.

    The auxiliaries stood mostly hidden behind them and to their sides, their arms and armour much more eclectic, though still fairly standardized. Most wore either leather armour or leather alongside a metal chest plate. They were composed mostly of pikemen and archers, along with various support staff, most of which had been left behind.

    The Custodian felt fairly certain that the pikemen would be almost entirely useless. She had yet to properly understand the capabilities of the Terran soldiers, but it seemed obvious that they preferred to fight at range and had the weapons to back such a strategy up. The archers were more uncertain, but perhaps they would prove useful. Lastly, the knights could at least hope to close the distance in a reasonably quick manner, giving them a chance even without her help.

    What they could do with her help depended entirely on how much she chose to do, of course. She was leaning torward to letting the possible battle play out mostly on its own. It would show the people that the Church could and would handle the Terran threat, while simultaneously making the Terrans properly understand why they would have to bow their heads.

    When the assembled army spotted her, most of them erupted into cheers. Serana did not at all appreciate the noise, yet she understood their reasoning. The enemy might be an unknown, but now they could be certain of their victory.

    She did note with some satisfaction that all of the senior knights, marked by their intricately engraved armours, stayed silent.

    Serana acknowledged them with her gaze, but otherwise paid the assembled men and women little mind. She rode towards Aisac, who waited on his horse at the front of the formation.

    The Knight Commander wore his intricately engraved silver armour, though this time his face was fully covered by a helmet. His black horse stood a bit shorter than hers, though unlike Snow, it wore barding. A longsword was sheathed at his hip and a shield had been fastened to his left arm. A squire stood somewhat nearby, his head bowed respectfully, clutching a lance.

    ¡°Everything in order, Commander?¡± Serana asked softly, once she reached him.

    ¡°Yes, Lady Custodian, the soldiers are assembled and eager, though¡­¡± Aisac replied, shifting a little in his saddle.

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    ¡°Yes?¡± Serana prompted, looking down at him from her horse.

    With his face hidden by a helmet, Serana could only barely make out Aisac¡¯s eyes. Even so, she could tell that he felt rather uncomfortable about the topic.

    ¡°There have been¡­ Rumours.¡± He said, then shooed the squire away with a look before continuing, ¡°That the Terrans can match Eternity¡¯s might, that they are favoured by some sort of a Sun god and other things of similar nature.¡±

    Serana kept her expression neutral, but grimaced inwardly. She expected it, but for the Church¡¯s soldiers to be affected meant that she had been underestimating the effect of the Terran weapon.

    The fragility of their faith annoyed her and not for the first time. She should really know better at this point. Yet the ease with which humans started doubting Eternity when presented with the smallest of problems still often took her by surprise. She did not expect blind faith, but surely the millennia of Her presence were worth something?

    The Goddess of Eternity had done so much for them. She had given them Eigos and guidance, not to mention that she welcomed them all to her embrace once their time came to leave this world.

    Yet humans were still the same, rejecting her gifts with annoying regularity. They should count themselves lucky that the gifts of a Goddess were not something so easily rebuffed.

    And that she had no say in the matter, Serana thought coldly. The Custodian had little doubt that annoyance would have gotten the better of her long ago.

    ¡°Worry not, Commander. We will almost certainly have the opportunity to fortify the faith of many today,¡± Serana said, looking towards the occupied hill, from which she could see seven people descending, ¡°The Terrans seemed rather stubborn in their heresy, after all.¡±

    Aisac nodded, his eyes trained in the same direction.

    ¡°I will go meet with them. Prepare the men for the coming battle, Commander. Our opponents should arrive soon.¡± Serana said, before spurning her horse, not waiting for a reply.

    A few members of her escort tried to follow, but Aisac stopped them. One of the biggest points in his favour, in Serana¡¯s opinion. A generation or two of peace, and the knights tended to start treating her like some fragile noble flower. Somewhat amusing the first few times, not so much later. Not Aisac though, he understood.

    Snow trotted towards the seven Terrans, while Serana examined them. All wore armour, though there were two types this time. Three wore the same kind of armour as the Colonel¡¯s bodyguards had all those weeks ago, dark blue and with many interlocking plates. One of them lacked a helmet, letting Serana identify him as the Colonel himself.

    The other four looked like the runners she had spotted earlier today. They wore black and purple armour and owl-ish-looking helmets with golden streaks and very prominent lenses covering their eyes. They were also notably taller, easily a head or so above their compatriots, perhaps only a little shorter than herself.

    Her gaze dwelt on their visors for a while. The Custodian had not paid it much mind the last time she had met with the Terrans, but sticking glass into helmets seemed like a rather foolish concept. Another little mystery.

    The distance between them quickly disappeared and along with it the time for idle thoughts. Soon she was left just a few meters from the Terran group, leaving them to crane their necks upward.

    Serana did not dismount. Her own height along with Snow¡¯s size made her tower over the aliens, giving her a bit of satisfaction.

    The Colonel did his best to school his expression, but unlike Phaedra, his attempts were just that. Attempts.

    The mix of nervousness and determination on the Colonel¡¯s face was as clear as day to her.

    As she looked the group over, the Colonel suddenly bowed, quickly followed by the rest of his group.

    The four she mentally referred to as ¡°runners¡± did so with eerie synchronicity.

    The Custodian looked on impassively.

    ¡°Venerable Custodian, we beseech you for your time,¡± the Colonel spoke in his strange accent.

    How polite. It seemed that the Colonel had prepared a bit more for their second meeting.

    She would have appreciated it more were his intentions not so transparent.

    ¡°Speak,¡± Serana commanded.

    ¡°Firstly, I would like to apologize for my previous conduct, I did not have enough time to properly prepare for our previous meeting,¡± he continued.

    Serana did not react, simply staring at him.

    The Colonel¡¯s expression became a bit more strained.

    ¡°Secondly, we have come to warn you of an impending danger and to propose an alliance,¡± he said.

    Pathetically predictable.

    ¡°And why should I care for your life?¡± She responded, voice flat.

    The Colonel smiled, while the shorter two guards stirred. The runners stayed still.

    ¡°Our mutual enemy doesn¡¯t care about my life, Venerable Custodian,¡± The Colonel replied, craning his neck to stare into her eyes.

    Serana returned the stare without blinking, fixing her grey eyes down on the man.

    He averted his gaze a few seconds later. Just a mouse thinking himself a tiger.

    ¡°You have not answered my question,¡± she said a moment later.

    ¡°Right,¡± he said, a little off balance, ¡°Simply put, they wish to steal your power. Killing me and my people will just let them cover up what happened better.¡±

    Serana blinked, only barely succeeding in keeping the incredulousness of her face.

    Mistaking her silence as an invitation to continue, the Colonel spoke, a bit quickly, ¡°Of course, we know that Eternity¡¯s grace is not something so easily attained, but that is not something they believe.¡±

    Curiously, the Colonel did not seem to be lying, even though he had not believed her at all when she had told him about the nature of her power.

    ¡°There might not be that many of us, but you have seen the strength of our weapons first-hand. Our chances would be much better if we joined forces,¡± The Colonel finished.

    There had been many to covet her power over the years. Perhaps there had been some who thought that it could be stolen, but Serana never learned of them. The Terrans would be the first to act on such a ridiculous notion.

    The Colonel¡¯s impromptu monologue only served to heighten Serana¡¯s amusement. She could have stopped herself, but that would have been a waste of a good joke.

    She laughed, first softly and then louder once she saw the Colonel¡¯s astonished expression.

 Chapter 13 - Not Afraid of God

    The Colonel gaped at the laughing Custodian in disbelief, before schooling his expression. Hopefully quickly enough that the unsettling woman did not notice.

    He had no idea what had set the possible lunatic off.

    Ashwood could admit that it scared him. The tall priestess had a presence about her. The height helped of course, but what really unsettled him were the eyes. She seemed to both see right through him and completely dismiss his entire existence. As if he was a bug.

    No, not even a bug. Just background.

    The massive horse and the creepy-looking silver eyes that covered her robes only amplified the effect.

    Still no matter her presence or height, in the end, she was just a savage. The Renaissance fair at her back served as a helpful reminder of that. A dangerous one, with likely at least a few hidden cards, but still only a primitive.

    What gave him the creeps was her reaction. He couldn¡¯t wrap his head around how someone could laugh about the current situation. Someone sane, that is.

    As he stared at the still chuckling Custodian, he had to wonder whether that made her more or less dangerous.

    He glanced at four of the Soma Aspis that stood tall around him. They could probably kill or subdue the Custodian before she could react, not that giving the order would make sense.

    The cyborgs¡¯ presence reassured him in any case. He had been rather surprised when he found out that all of Sterope¡¯s escape pods had been monopolized by the elite force, but he wasn¡¯t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

    Soon, the laughter subsided.

    The Custodian¡¯s voice brought his attention back to her before his thoughts could stray back to the information the survivors from Sterope brought.

    ¡°I refuse.¡±

    Ashwood¡¯s eyes opened wide in disbelief. Definitely a lunatic.

    The Custodian continued before he could try to protest, ¡°The Eternal Laws grant protection even to outsiders, Colonel. Should your former comrades prove to be uncivilised, they will be dealt with.¡±

    The Colonel blinked at that. The Custodian would apparently do exactly what he wanted, except¡­ She didn¡¯t want his help?

    He mustered his wits to respond, ¡°We are grateful, Venerable Custodian.¡±

    Ashwood bowed for good measure, sending a prompt to his entourage to do the same.

    The Custodian looked down at them from her saddle, before pulling the reins and riding off, back to her savage horde.

    He shared a look with his usual two guards, Jameson and Pierce.

    ¡°That went well, I suppose,¡± Ashwood said. His implants had been transmitting subtitles for his soldiers, so they had followed the conversation at least somewhat, despite it being in Sirnesian.

    The Soma Aspis, had, of course, their own arrangements.

    With that, he started walking back towards the encampment. The Custodian might or might not deal with his current enemies, but he did not feel very eager to bet his life on that. Better to make his own preparations.

    At least the scenery was beautiful, he mused while looking around. Verdant grass, blooming flowers, the sun shining overhead and the mountains blocking the horizon all made for a unique experience. Especially since Ashwood had spent most of his life on a habitat, even if it had been one of Athena¡¯s. Hers had considerably more greenery than the usual corporate hellholes, but letting biomass grow uncontrollably in a delicate environment like a space station was not a terribly smart idea. This meant that all the parks were carefully designed and monitored, nothing like the wild growth here, but enough to make him nostalgic.

    During the daytime, Eigos did not even really feel alien. If he squinted a bit and ignored the blue gas giant blocking a good chunk of the sky, he could imagine being in one of the parks near his parent¡¯s apartment.

    Not a very conducive environment for scheming, in his opinion

    Unfortunately, he had too much to consider and plan for him to just relax and bask in the sun.

    The Eternal Laws for instance. After discovering that the Custodian wasn¡¯t just some hillbilly cult leader he had learned as much as he could have about Eigos and its ruler.

    Admittedly that was not much. Since the printing press didn¡¯t apparently exist on the alien moon, books were rather scarce. The ones he had managed to acquire before his first meeting were often in strange dialects or just completely unknown languages.

    In the end, the most useful book was the easiest one to acquire. The holy book of the church, the so called ¡®Book of Eternal Laws¡¯. A priest had practically forced one on him along with a small sermon when he had asked some weeks prior.

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    As ignorance of the laws was no excuse, the Church ostensibly tried its best to spread them as much as possible. As such, it had been written in clear Sirnesian, a language spread far and wide by the religious organization and the only one of the local languages he could understand.

    He had learned a lot of culturally useful things from some of the natives he had talked to, but they were, well, primitives. Any slightly complex question was met with blank looks, or some version of ¡®The Goddess provides¡¯.

    The laws though, those were rather interesting. A bizarre mix of rather modern-sounding rules and barbaric punishments along with a heavy focus on environmentalism. He felt that they were rather loose though, not that he had much experience with that kind of thing.

    Really, the holy book was nothing like he had expected. Most of the laws were both understandable and logical, with a distinct lack of superstition, homophobia, witch-hunting or really any of the usual things you¡¯d expect to find in the holy book of a medieval-ish religion.

    A remnant from the original colonists, perhaps. If Eigos really started as a lost colony, at least. Nothing would surprise him at this point.

    There were however two issues with the so-called Eternal Laws he had identified.

    The first issue was the lacking context in regard to some of the more religious-sounding laws. The Custodian had rebuffed his initial negotiating attempts with one of these. ¡®Eigos belongs to Eternity¡¯ she had said. Yet what did that actually mean?

    From what he and his people had found out in their initial investigations of the civilizations on Eigos, the people here owned and rented properties, formed countries, et cetera. However, none had been willing to sell land to him. The Colonel had not really pushed the issue, of course, but it still had been strange. Worse, he still had no idea why.

    If they were lucky, the missing context might be just some religious hogwash they did not account for in their offers. If they were unlucky, that particular law might just mean whatever the local religious authority wanted it to mean at the moment.

    This went double for the second issue. The almost complete lack of any sort of acknowledgement of independent countries. The laws simply had nothing to say about international law or country-subjective crimes like treason.

    That was the most pertinent currently. Song, Black and the Captain of the mysterious ship that destroyed Sterope were bound to send soldiers down soon and knowing the Custodian¡¯s reaction would be rather useful. Except that for all that he knew, she might be interpreting some of the laws based on her mood.

    He glanced to his right at Lieutenant Jane, the leader of the Soma Aspis contingent that had been aboard Sterope.

    She wore the usual Soma Aspis Armoured Suit, or SAAS for short, as did the other three, making them look nearly identical. As protocol dictated, they had not taken their suits off since they joined the impromptu encampment. If his implants did not provide convenient nametags, he¡¯d have no idea who was who.

    ¡°Any thoughts, Lieutenant?¡± he asked.

    While he doubted the cyborg would have any useful insight about the Custodian¡¯s words, she did possess much better senses than his own.

    Her eyes kept looking forward, scanning for threats, but a response came a few seconds later.

    ¡°Unnaturally confident. She is either stupid, insane, or knows something we do not,¡± a slightly distorted and monotone voice came from the Lieutenant¡¯s helmet.

    ¡°You would know better than me which of these is correct, Colonel Ashwood,¡± she added.

    The Colonel suppressed a shiver upon hearing the emotionless voice. To think he had once been angry at failing to enter their organization. He had been quite bitter for years, but now he only felt grateful for the rigorous psychological tests that Athena insisted upon.

    It would be a lie to say that he did not feel a little envious of the power they possessed, but he was no longer willing to pay the price.

    ¡°Not stupid. Insane, maybe. Fortunately for us, the last option is most likely correct,¡± Ashwood replied.

    Were it just the shield, Ashwood would probably be more doubtful. The Custodian, however, had ocular implants of some sort too. While he could see the shield being an automated remnant of a past age, the same could not be said for the implants. Someone or something had to actually implant them, after all. Not something that could be done with a rusty knife.

    Whether whatever the Eigosians were hiding would be enough to fight their mutual enemies was another question entirely. He certainly did not trust the Custodian¡¯s judgement.

    At least Lieutenant Jane had told him what happened to Sterope. Knowing that the enemy would likely be over twice their number was useful, if disheartening.

    He also found out that the message he had received while coming down to Eigos had not in fact, originated from Sterope, giving him another headache to consider.

    Ashwood suddenly stopped in realization, before quickly resuming his march towards the encampment, his two original guards looking over in concern.

    He had completely forgotten to ask the Custodian about ¡®Phaedra¡¯, whatever or whoever it was supposed to be.

    Ashwood turned his head towards the Lieutenant, ¡°Do you know who or what is Phaedra?¡±

    The tall cyborg took a few seconds to answer, though she did not slow, ¡°No idea, Colonel.¡±

    His mood fouled a bit more, he quickened his pace.

    With the encampment nearing, the Colonel once more summarized his current situation in his mind.

    Three military ships in orbit, one empty of soldiers and damaged, one with some sort of stealth tech, one more or less fine.  Plus the two colonist ships, but who knew what they were doing. Perhaps Song and her friends already destroyed them to cover their asses.

    In the worst-case scenario, each of the two new ships would be filled to capacity like Alcyone had been, resulting in a little under fifteen hundred soldiers to the Colonel¡¯s two hundred or so.

    Not great odds, even with ten or so thousands of sword-wielding meat shields.

    Still, the seventeen Soma Aspis gave him options. They weren¡¯t seen as some of Athena¡¯s most potent creations for nothing. Especially since not that many people really knew what they were capable of.

    Right as he stepped foot into the camp, his comms crackled to life.

    ¡°We have incoming! Over forty shuttles descending from orbit!¡± A voice he recognized as Yang¡¯s said.

    Colonel Ashwood sighed.

    The worst-case scenario it is.

 Chapter 14 - But Afraid of Men

    ¡°Why is she staring at the sky?¡± Asked Ashwood, putting the binoculars down.

    Minutes after their pitiful sensors detected the approaching aircraft, Lieutenant Jane noticed movement in the Eigosian ranks.

    Now the Custodian, still sitting on that massive horse of hers, stared up at the sky.

    Right in the direction of the incoming flyers.

    That would not be too strange, were they still not far above the atmosphere. Completely out of range of even the best cybernetics, let alone flesh.

    ¡°Occam''s razor. She can see them,¡± the hulking cyborg still standing next to Ashwood responded, her voice monotone.

    The Colonel turned to look at the unnaturally still Jane, who was currently looking at the Custodian as well, though without binoculars.

    Ashwood shared her opinion, but the thought of voicing it unsettled him.

    He felt like he could almost grasp the Custodian¡¯s secret, but there was still something missing.

    William Ashwood no longer knew whether he even wanted to know.

    Shaking the intrusive thoughts from his head, he surveyed the hill their encampment stood on.

    Soldiers busied themselves all around, settling into hastily dug trenches, passing around munition and manning the precious few heavy weapons they possessed. The remaining eight shuttles were arranged in a circle, serving both as makeshift cover and gun emplacements. The shuttles¡¯ weapons were not anything impressive, meant mostly as point defence, but they¡¯d serve against infantry at least.

    It was, in a single word, pathetic.

    Even before most of their gear burned up in atmosphere, their mission called for them to serve as a glorified police force.

    His soldiers were more than up to standard, of course, but that did not change the lack of, well, everything.

    A great flaw in his ¡®master¡¯ plan. Hiding near the Custodian bought them time, but if she did not pull through, they¡¯d still be massacred.

    Probably. He cast one more surreptitious at Lieutenant Jane.

    This would be the first time he¡¯d command Soma Aspis in battle. They were a defence force first, infiltrators second. Not really infantry material. Mostly because of their extremely low numbers and the enormous amount of money that went into each of them.

    That hardly made them useless in such a role, merely untested. Ashwood had never seen them in action either, but he was aware of their capabilities.

    ¡°Lieutenant, you managed to grab two of the Mark Fours from Sterope, yes?¡± Ashwood asked.

    ¡°Correct, Colonel,¡± she said.

    ¡°Could your people fire them from trees?¡± He asked.

    Jane took a second to process his question. The Mark Fours were anti-armour railguns meant to be set up on the ground along with three people to operate them. Two to maneuvre and one to spot. They were also their only real hope to defend against gunships, none of their other heavy weapons suitable. Hopefully the enemy had none, but better to plan for the worst.

    Not that the miniaturized railguns were meant for such a role, but needs must and all.

    Ashwood guessed that a full-body cyborg should be able to manage to operate one on their own, even if not comfortably. They¡¯d stand a much better chance at actually hitting a flying target too.

    ¡°In theory,¡± she said, sounding thoughtful, ¡°I don¡¯t know if the upper parts of the trees will be able to carry our weight though.¡±

    He cast his gaze towards the coniferous forests surrounding the plain currently occupied by an army straight out of a historical documentary, ¡°Best to keep to the edges, then they won¡¯t have to climb too high,¡± he paused, looking upward at the blue sky, ¡°More hidden from flyers too.¡±

    ¡°I suppose that would work, though it¡¯d be a first for us,¡± she responded.

    Perhaps a first for the Republic too, he mused. While cybernetic augmentations were common for certain specialized roles, the Soma Aspis were unique. As far as he knew, at least.

    In the past, the military had attempted to create full-body cyborgs a few times already, but the projects were inevitably scrapped. The high levels of customization needed for each person made the procedure terribly expensive and the results often drove the unlucky soldier in question insane even then.

    Not terribly surprising, when you realize that such people were essentially just a brain-in-a-jar.

    Athena managed to solve or side-stepped most of these issues though. She handled the customization on her own, cutting down costs significantly, while only letting those she had extensive amounts of data on undergo even just the preliminary psychological testing.

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    No one outside her habitats qualified. Most of those thought likely to be suitable washed out during the tests. Like himself.

    This was simply not something the military could replicate. While most space stations possessed a similar level of surveillance, the ability to analyse those unimaginable quantities of data was firmly out of mortal grasp.

    Even when she had been created, Athena had personified the peak of human technology. A vast mountain of progress, to be sure, but also one that she had surpassed long ago. Her brilliant mind was no longer something that mere humans could replicate.

    Most did not really want to try anyway. After Athena had won her citizenship, she sued the company that created her, resulting in its bankruptcy. And so the risks of a too-smart AI to one¡¯s profits became readily apparent.

    Even so, while the program had Athena¡¯s full attention, there were still problems with the procedure.

    Jane¡¯s dead voice was a great example of one of the creepy side effects of the procedure.

    With almost the entirety of their bodies replaced with metal, the Soma Aspis had unparalleled control over themselves. Amazing in theory, not so much in practice. Most of them quickly stopped caring about little things, like modulating their voice or blinking. The percentage of those who did not retain their sanity lay quite low thanks to the extensive testing done beforehand, but never low enough. Someone always slipped through.

    All that to say that this really might be the first time a single human would wield a Mark Four, let alone shoot it from a tree.

    Perhaps not something that would go down in history, but it served as a good reminder.

    So long as unexplored options existed, no situation was truly hopeless.

    He checked his interface. Seven minutes had passed since the two still functioning warships up in orbit disgorged their contents.

    Ten more until they arrived here.

    Suddenly, a shadow fell over them, causing Ashwood to look up.

    He saw the gas giant covering the sun, causing an impromptu eclipse.

    Ashwood would prefer to die in the sun, but he couldn¡¯t deny that it was fitting for a last stand.

    ¡°Send whichever of your people you think will manage best,¡± he said, turning to Jane, ¡°Have them focus on flyers or armour, if they have any. Have them relocate after each shot too.¡±

    Jane nodded, but stayed still, likely relaying his orders.

    ¡°The rest of you will stay here,¡± Ashwood paused, thinking a bit more, but not having any other ideas for the Soma Aspis to act on.

    ¡°I look forward to seeing you and your people in action, Lieutenant,¡± he finished.

    ¡°We will make sure not to disappoint,¡± Jane responded, amusement colouring her voice.

    Nine minutes.

    He saluted to her, Jane returning it.

    Then he moved over to one of the shuttles and with a sigh grabbed the matte black EM rifle leaning against it.

    Ashwood examined the standard-issue electromagnetic gun with a clinical eye, checking the magazine and safety, before aiming down the sights towards the plains.

    It had been a while since he had shot one of those, but he did not forget things easily these days.

    He strapped the rifle to his chest and started moving towards the trench facing the plains, Jane following faithfully behind.

    For commanding officers to participate in battle went against protocol, but it might be safer in this instance. As per regulation, his armour did not differentiate him from regular infantry in any way, so shooting the one guy that seemed to just stand around would have been the logical thing for the enemy to do.

    He had nowhere to bunker down. The shuttles would be targeted first and they had no way to build any sort of real fortifications. Hiding in the crowd, so to speak, was his best option.

    Five minutes.

    It took him half a minute to reach the trench and jump down.

    Funny things, trenches. Centuries of military advancement yet digging a hole in the ground could still be considered a decent defensive strategy.

    The Colonel quickly found a spot for him and Jane to occupy, the soldiers present making way both for her bulk and his rank.

    No one apart from him here knew who the Soma Aspis were, but anyone with eyes could see that they were some sort of a spec ops team.

    Under normal circumstances, Ashwood¡¯s soldiers would have definitely complained about and or questioned their presence. Now they were just silently grateful.

    With four minutes remaining, he turned his eyes to the sky, seeing nothing but the still dark sky.

    Somewhat situated, he took the helmet from his belt, then put it on.

    Then he sighed again, the airtight helmet muffling the sound completely.

    He hated making speeches. They were a clear acknowledgement that a situation had spiralled out of control. An acknowledgement of a deterioration of morale to the point where soldiers could no longer be expected to follow orders properly.

    People like that were not fit for duty. Slapping a bandage in the form of an inexpertly crafted speech would not fundamentally change anything, only shifting the odds around by a few percent. A very dearly needed few percent.

    The timer in the corner of his eye went down to three minutes.

    With time running out Ashwood quickly went over the prepared words, before connecting to the comms of everyone present.

    ¡°Loyal soldiers of the Republic, the time has come for you to write history,¡±

    ¡°The traitors think they have won. They think they will simply mop up a few broken remnants and in doing so cover up their treason.¡±

    ¡°They will try. THEY WILL FAIL!¡±

    ¡°Today, today we will uphold the principles of the Founder.¡±

    ¡°The will of the Republic shall not be subverted with murder, for we will not allow it!¡±

    ¡°There will be no mercy and no retreat. We will stand and fight here!¡±

    ¡°On this alien world, we shall stop the rot threatening our homeland!¡±

    ¡°For the Republic!¡±

    One minute. His final cry was echoed by the soldiers all around him.

    A good sign. Not the worst speech in his opinion, especially considering his time constraints.

    He only hoped that no record of it would end up salvageable in the event of their defeat.

 Chapter 15 - Alea iacta est

    Ashwood waited with bated breath, his EM rifle propped up on the edge of the trench, pointing towards the general direction of the dots currently descending from the sky.

    His soldiers waited with him. No one moved a finger.

    Suddenly, his comm came to life, startling the Colonel slightly. A grim voice of one of the pilots currently monitoring the shuttle sensors sounded through it, ¡°We are seeing thirty-eight Fira-class shuttles, along with four Strisores.¡±

    Ashwood cursed silently. The shuttles were bog-standard, but the Strisores were cutting-edge surface-to-orbit gunships. The defensive weaponry of their own shuttles would help¡­ for a few seconds.

    Without proper anti-air weapons, they¡¯d be enough to annihilate his force on their own.

    At least normally. He cast a glance towards the forest growing to the side. Ashwood could not see even a hint of Lieutenant Jane¡¯s people, but he knew they were there.

    Just like that, the two infantry railguns and their wielders hidden in the forest became their only hope of survival. Of course, only if Ashwood ignored the possibility of the Eigosians pulling through. However, counting on the unknown to end up in your favour would never be a sound strategy.

    A normal human could never hope to hit a gunship as advanced as the Strisores. Even if they could, a single hit would likely not be enough. But Ashwood had faith that the Soma Aspis could manage. He doubted anyone up there knew of the possibility.

    It was not much in the grand scheme of things, yet more of an assurance than the ¡®army¡¯ assembled on the plain in front of them could ever be.

    He continued watching the incoming enemy, while silently relaying orders to his people. Soon one could hear soldiers shuffling around the camp, repositioning, as more of his people came to man the plain-facing trenches.

    The enemy aircraft came to a stop about half of a kilometer in front of the assembled horsemen, a good three kilometers from their own position.

    A short distance, especially with gunships present.

    He could imagine the two Soma Aspis zeroing in on the four flying death machines. It would be a difficult shot, but they could make it.

    Not yet though. Ashwood planned to give the Custodian a chance to handle things.

    He had already underestimated her once.

    Although It would be a lie to say that he had particularly high hopes. Even with the impressive display, it was somewhat difficult not to dismiss the Eigosians when one was looking at their best attempt at an ¡®army¡¯.

    As he watched, the shuttles started landing.

    A good sign, at least tactically. It put the Eigosian army between them, which even in the worst-case scenario would provide some amount of distraction. Any bullet not flying in the direction of his own people would be an advantage, even if a small one.

    Ashwood and his people observed in silence as the last transport landed and soldiers started disembarking. The Strisores stayed hovering in the air, their threat clear to anyone with working eyes.

    They watched as the Custodian¡¯s soldiers angled their formations slightly to face them and as more than a thousand of their erstwhile compatriots formed up to match them.

    Finally, after what seemed like forever but was most likely only a few minutes, twenty soldiers with especially bulky armour separated from the sea of blue and started marching towards the Eigosian army.

    The massive army of steel-clad natives responded the same way they had to his approach.

    The Custodian strolled towards them on her giant white horse, once again apparently unconcerned with treachery. Or her own mortality.

    Ashwood watched the two incongruous leaders come closer, feeling himself beginning to sweat.

    One way or the other, the mystery of Eigos would be at the very least partially answered soon.

    When both the Custodian and the Terran group came to a stop, Ashwood found himself unconsciously leaning forward.

    Catching himself doing so, he returned to his former position and tried his best to pretend to be unfazed. Quite the difficult thing to do, when his fate was being decided right in front of his eyes.

    He stared as one of the twenty Terran soldiers stepped up and probably started talking. The soldier did not remove his helmet, so perhaps he had simply engaged the Custodian in a staring match.

    A losing proposition if he ever heard of one.

    The distance being what it was, he could not see much. Even so, he watched transfixed, not even blinking.

    Thanks to that, he did not miss what happened next.

    The Custodian raised her hand. Then she slashed.

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    The soldier¡¯s head fell from his shoulders.

    The entourage of now only nineteen heavily armoured infantrymen froze along with every other Terran present, friend or foe alike, all watching the blood spurting from the man¡¯s neck.

    Then they opened fire, achieving nothing. The Custodian stood unharmed, a force field deflecting their attacks.

    Ashwood could almost see the contemptuous look the woman no doubt currently wore.

    No one spoke around him as they watched the increasingly panicking soldiers.

    Suddenly, the shooting stopped, with the remaining nineteen just crumpling to the ground.

    For a blessed second, the entire world was silent.

    Then all hell broke loose.

    A roar rose up from the thousand upon thousands of Eigosian warriors, before the knights charged in a hastily formed wedge.

    The Terran soldiers responded a moment later, opening fire. Five-hundred meters was on the high end of a standard EM rifle¡¯s effective range, but still inside it. A salvo from the thousand or so rifles should have decimated the medieval army.

    It didn¡¯t.

    The Custodian sat on her horse surrounded by corpses, staring at her enemy. A force field shimmered before her, blocking the massed fire effortlessly.

    The Strisores opened fire next, the knights barely having passed a hundred meters.

    Guided missiles flew through the air, some impacting the energy shield straight on, others going upwards or to the sides, futilely trying to bypass it and instead impacting more of the shield.

    Then the Custodian clenched her hand into a fist. The four cutting-edge gunships crumpled as if they were made from paper, the illusion only broken by the sounds of tearing metal.

    The Eigosian knights had covered over half of the distance in the meantime.

    Before they could get any closer, the warships in orbit opened fire.

    The first round missed, whatever panicking officer likely firing it before the weapon could properly align itself on its target.

    Unfortunately for the Eigosians, when a gun got big enough, ¡®missing¡¯ became very relative.

    The earth shattered in a massive explosion only a couple hundred meters from the knights, the shock hitting much of their flank. Hundreds of men fell, some along their horses. Many were trampled underfoot by the horses behind.

    It was the first thing that seemed to surprise the Custodian, causing her to quickly glance upwards.

    The second and third shots did nothing at all, another energy shield covering the skies.

    The remaining knights continued their charge, even as the orbital bombardment intensified.

    Ashwood watched slack-jawed as more and more of the massive, starship-killing railgun rounds hit the Custodian¡¯s energy shield, doing absolutely nothing.

    As he watched, the knights passed the Custodian, flowing around her.

    The fire from the massed Terrans intensified for a moment, yet to their surprise, the energy shield moved with the knights.

    ¡°Impossible,¡± Ashwood murmured.

    Seconds later, the knights couched their lances and sped up.

    Then they crashed into the Terran lines and chaos ensued.

    Some of the Terran soldiers were speared through as lances found weak points in their armour, but for most, their armour held.

    This did not help them much, the force behind the impact throwing the soldiers back, snapping their bones and rupturing their organs.

    Many managed to avoid this gruesome fate, either dodging or managing to hide behind the grounded shuttles.

    With the lances ruined, the steel-clad knights threw them away, drawing swords instead.

    This is when cracks started showing through the Eigosian technology.

    As the remaining Terran soldiers fired in a near-panic, some of their bullets found success, passing right through the flimsy medieval armour of their adversaries.

    Not all. Many were caught by energy shields blinking into existence in front of the would-be corpses, allowing the knights to cut their enemies down with impunity.

    Ashwood watched one particular knight advance behind his metal shield on a soldier frantically firing his pistol. Unfortunately for the soldier, his sidearm was a simple chemical weapon and lacked the power needed to penetrate the shield.

    A moment later the knight stood in front of him, ineffectively stabbing twice before his third strike managed to get through the soldier¡¯s armpit, rupturing an artery if the blood was anything to go by.

    The Colonel could only blink at that. The standard issue armour was not terribly durable, but the idea of swords of all things getting through felt almost offensive.

    ¡°Sir?¡± Jane said, forcing him to tear his eyes from the battle.

    Ashwood turned his head to face her, ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we do something?¡± Jane asked.

    ¡°No,¡± he responded, not even having to think about it.

    Sensing her silent question, he continued, ¡°The battle is already won. We¡¯d achieve nothing but possibly anger the natives.¡±

    He was not about to bank his life and the lives of his soldiers on his limited understanding of the Eternal Laws.

    And there truly was no need.

    With those words, he turned back to the rapidly concluding battle.

    During their little exchange, hundreds more died, the numbers very firmly in the Eigosians'' favour.

    He could see the Custodian, now dismounted, walking towards the center of the giant free-for-all. Near her, Terran soldiers fell to their knees, apparently immobilized. Knights rallied close by, forming a protective wall around her.

    Its purpose was anyone¡¯s guess. Ashwood really doubted the Custodian needed something like that. Still, he made note of it. After all, the value of insight into Eigosian society had recently skyrocketed.

    When she reached the very center of the battle, surrounded both by kneeling Terrans and her own men, she stopped.

    Then she started to glow.

    Not the strange but relatively weak glow of her eyes the Colonel had already seen, but a strong light coming from her entire body.

    Before he could even try to comprehend what was happening, the Custodian quite literally exploded in light, stunning most of the battlefield.

    Ashwood blinked rapidly, trying to get the afterimages from his eyes, trying to understand what had happened.

    A second later, a thought struck him.

    The bombardment had stopped.

 Chapter 16 - Alea iacta est 2

    The Custodian stood in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by the screams of the wounded and dying.

    Despite the bloodshed in which she participated, her robes were unmarred. In her hands she held a long Terran weapon, examining it.

    The best comparison she could make was to a crossbow. A very powerful, rapid firing one. Of course, unlike a crossbow, she had no idea how it worked.

    Fortunately, she¡¯d have time to learn.

    Soon her knights would have the surviving Terrans subdued. Justice would be dispensed and then Serana could see if she could not figure out some of the Terran technology.

    Really, Serana felt almost disappointed.

    Both the Colonel and the new, now dead, officer had been quite dismissive of Eternity¡¯s power. Though the latter had been more insulting than dismissive. Not that he had had any time to regret it.

    Like always, their arrogance proved unwarranted when push actually came to shove. They were helpless in front of Eternity''s power.

    Their soldiers massacred, their flying machines crushed and their starships crippled, one gone entirely.

    She cast a look upwards, watching the two remaining, presumably disabled, star ships.

    That was another decision she would have to make soon.

    Of the two ships that had attacked her, one had exploded instantly when she retaliated, while the other started drifting.

    The survivors on it had to be punished. Serana could destroy it easily, but felt reluctant.

    Shouts in a foreign tongue brought her out of her contemplations.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that! We surrendered!¡± One of the Terran soldiers screamed, presumably at the nearby Temple Knight putting a dying Terran out of his misery.

    Serana frowned. She had no idea what the words meant, but she could guess.

    The knight, noticing her frowning gaze, quickly approached the still-shouting soldier and silenced him with a backhand.

    A rather pointless, if appreciated, gesture, considering the still substantial noise permeating the battlefield.

    The knight moved on with a salute, while Serana approached the now coughing soldier.

    The man met her gaze with hatred-filled eyes. He lacked his weapons and helmet, both already removed by Serana¡¯s soldiers. However, since both his legs were broken, he had been seen as harmless and left for last, with no one even bothering to tie his arms.

    The Custodian hummed in thought and then threw the metal weapon along with one of the ammunition boxes she had looted to the soldier, much to his surprise.

    He stared at the weapon blankly, before making up his mind and reloading.

    Serana watched his every movement curiously, not reacting at all when he took aim and started shooting.

    Her eyes glew softly as sixteen shots hit her shield, the weapon clicking emptily as the soldiers tried to fire again.

    It startled the knights around her. She spotted Aisac and a few others making their way to her, but Serana waved them off, turning her gaze back to the Terran soldier. The view of the other prisoners was mostly obscured by the knights and soldiers surrounding the captives, but she could hear raised voices from their direction.

    As the Terran soldier gaped, she reached down and plucked the weapon out of his hands.

    Serana then retrieved the second ammunition box she had looted from one of her pockets and deftly reloaded the weapon.

    She then turned a little metallic contraption on the side of the weapon as the soldier had done, took aim at the soldier and pressed the trigger.

    Nothing happened. She did not count the rapidly spreading pool of urine originating from the man.

    She stared at the petrified man for a few seconds, thinking.

    ¡°Ah,¡± she exclaimed, before turning the little contraption back to its previous position and once again aiming at the man.

    ¡°NO WAIT!¡± the man screamed something before Serana pulled the trigger, the bullet going straight through his skull and deep into the ground.

    Aisac and a few others once again turned to her, but quickly resumed their duties once they saw that she did not need nor desire their help.

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    The other prisoners caused another ruckus, though they were quickly subdued by the surrounding soldiers. They''d envy their dead comrade soon enough.

    The Custodian did not spare the newly made corpse another glance, instead examining the hole in the ground made by the weapon.

    The bullet went deep, barely slowed by bone.

    A minute later, she raised her head and looked around, done with her examination.

    All of the remaining Terrans had been rounded up a short distance from her and now kneeled on the ground.

    With the auxiliaries having arrived shortly after the battle¡¯s end, her people outnumbered the surviving Terrans significantly. As such, subduing the survivors had not been terribly difficult.

    The few hundred survivors did not seem to understand their predicament. Their faces were twisted in anger or uncertainty with precious little fear.

    She also spotted a few Terrans jogging towards her from the Colonel¡¯s encampment, though they were still a few minutes away.

    A minor concern.

    With swift steps, she walked to the prisoners and Aisac, her robes swishing with her movement.

    Once there, she stood next to the Knight Commander and watched as the captives were stripped of their armour.

    Once one of the captives had been cajoled into showing her soldiers how, it proved to be a surprisingly swift affair. Removing the Terran armour proved both easy and intuitive, its design far above what her own people could make.

    ¡°Make sure it is all properly catalogued and stored, Commander,¡± Serana spoke to Aisac, motioning towards the growing pile of armour on the side.

    ¡°Of course, Lady Custodian.¡±

    With his assurance, Serana turned her attention back to the captives.

    ¡°Have you identified any officers?¡± She asked.

    Aisac shook his head, ¡°No, their armour bears no markings that we could see. I have however made note of a few that the others keep glancing at, Lady Custodian.¡±

    ¡°They will have to do.¡±

    Perhaps she had been a bit hasty in killing the twenty that had approached her.

    ¡°Should we take them to the cells, Lady Custodian?¡± Aisac asked.

    ¡°No, let them watch. Perhaps it will make them more cooperative,¡± she responded, glancing towards the auxiliaries preparing the stakes.

    Lessons needed to be taught.

    The prisoners had yet to notice if their relative placidness was anything to go by.

    The next few minutes passed in silence, with the prisoners growing steadily more confused as they were simply left kneeling on the ground.

    Soon she sensed the other group of Terrans come to a halt on the edge of the army. A minute or so later, a knight in particularly bloody armour approached Aisac and whispered the group''s arrival in his ear.

    When he left, Aisac did not bother speaking, simply looking at her questioningly.

    She nodded and together they marched to meet the group.

    When she got closer, Serana recognized the Colonel as he was once again without his helmet. He seemed quite busy staring at the knight blocking his way. He was accompanied by four other soldiers, all of them of the taller, more imposing kind.

    ¡°Colonel.¡±

    His head snapped to her, eyes widening momentarily. He quickly schooled his expression and spoke, ¡°Venerable Custodian, we wished to congratulate you on your victory,¡± he paused, his gaze shifting towards the prisoners, ¡°I would also like to ask what you intend to do with the prisoners and if you would be willing to hand them over.¡±

    The Custodian frowned, making the Colonel continue just a little more quickly.

    ¡°They would be thoroughly punished for their unlawful actions, of course. The Republic would be grateful as well.¡±

    ¡°That is not an option, Colonel,¡± she responded.

    ¡°Then what do you intend to do with the prisoners?¡±

    ¡°Execute them, of course.¡±

    The Colonel¡¯s eyes widened.

    ¡°I-I see,¡± he averted his gaze, before his eyes locked on the labouring soldiers, ¡°Wait, are those supposed to be stakes?¡±

    ¡°Yes? What else would they be?¡± Serana asked, genuinely curious.

    ¡°I thought that you meant to burn your dead,¡± the Colonel murmured, his face going white.

    The Custodian looked at him consideringly. It seemed that where a show of Eternity''s power failed, simple violence succeeded. In the end, humans were truly predictable creatures.

    ¡°But what about their rights, surely this is too bar-,¡± he stopped, catching himself, ¡°excessive, uh, Venerable Custodian.¡±

    ¡°The only true right any of us have is the right to die. They forfeited everything else when they chose to disrespect Eternity.¡±

    An example needed to be made and not only to prevent future bloodshed. She doubted that the higher purpose of their deaths would console the soldiers, though.

    ¡°Right. We shall leave you to your duties then, Venerable Custodian.¡±

    Serana nodded her permission and with that, the Colonel and his guards once again left.

    The Custodian¡¯s eyes lingered on their backs.

    She wondered whether this would be enough for the Terrans to learn. Somehow, she doubted it.

    With the Colonel gone, she turned back and walked to the prisoners.

    While surveying the foreign people, it occurred to her that she should have had the Colonel translate.

    She mulled the option of sending someone after him over, but ultimately dismissed it.

    After all, the Terrans knew why they would be dying.

    Soon the first batch of stakes was ready. They were hammered deep into the ground a few hundred meters from where the Terrans kneeled.

    The Custodian gave a nod to the Knight Commander and soon screams resounded on the plains once more.

    Once they realised their awaiting fate, the remaining prisoners tried to resist. But weaponless, outnumbered and often wounded, they could do nothing except beg and scream.

    No one listened.

    One by one the remains of the proud Terran army were impaled on wooden stakes.

    It took hours for the last of them to die.

 Chapter 17 - Interlude II

    Admiral Renard frowned as space reasserted itself. A moment later after Bastion, the dreadnought-class battleship exited the warp, the rest of the task force arrived, announced by dozens of dots appearing on Bastion¡¯s sensors.

    He straightened out his black uniform, before clasping his hands behind his back again, listening as the warships checked in.

    Through it all, he kept frowning.

    He could not shake the feeling that they had already lost. Not the war. He had faith in a victory there. A violent, bloody victory.

    Admiral Thaler, one of the oldest admirals and the first among equals, spoke with pretty words and cold logic but had neglected to ask perhaps the most important question.

    Would such a victory even be worth it?

    While all of them pursued the same goal, the retention of humankind¡¯s sovereignty, Renard was very well aware that their reasons for doing so were hardly uniform.

    From fanatics to simply people who thought it prudent to not let a¡­ third party hold the reins.

    Renard was the latter. While Athena might have been capable, she was still just a tool. An intelligent one, doubtlessly, but for humanity¡¯s fate to be in the hands of such a thing would be distasteful.

    But meriting a civil war?

    Perhaps. Perhaps not. Yet they would forever be the ones who escalated the whole conflict to outright violence. Simply because they had been losing.

    So he frowned, for he could not come to another conclusion than that they had lost to the AI in the arena where it mattered the most.

    ¡°Check complete, all systems clear!¡± The chief engineer announced, shortly followed by similar statements from the other officers.

    ¡°Current coordinates within the expected deviation.¡±

    ¡°All ships accounted for, Cerberos reporting a minor engine malfunction.¡±

    Colonel Navarro, his second-in-command, just gave him a nod.

    Renard turned to the previous officer, a young girl barely in her thirties with short red hair, ¡°How minor, Lieutenant Ivanova?¡±

    Hearing his voice, she straightened her back, double checking the console in front of her, ¡°Warp deviation over 0.2 percent, they ended up an AU or so away from the main formation. Their engineers are looking into it, best guess seems to be regular wear and tear, sir.¡±

    If Renard was not already frowning, he would be now.

    Regular wear and tear his ass. 0.2 percent was enough to leave the ship far away and isolated from the rest of the task force. The idiots on Cerberos were damn lucky that no one had been waiting for them this time.

    Checking such things should have been a top priority for the crew. He¡¯d have to have words with their Captain. Such things were completely unacceptable.

    Making a mental note, he turned back to the young Lieutenant manning the sensor station, ¡°The situation in the system, Lieutenant?¡±

    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m only getting two cruisers and both seem damaged, sir.¡±

    ¡°The colonists?¡±

    She shook her head.

    Renard did his best to stop himself from sighing. Obviously, things wouldn¡¯t be simple.

    ¡°How long until the IFF reaches us?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Still twenty or so minutes, sir,¡± Ivanova responded.

    He nodded, before resigning himself to waiting. If he had known how much of space combat was waiting when he had been younger, Renard doubted he¡¯d ever would have enlisted.

    If only light travelled faster, or someone finally figured out FTL comms.

    The following twenty minutes passed swiftly. The Admiral did not move from his post, overlooking his people and listening as more thorough checks were completed.

    Before the time was up, Cerberos managed to fix their issue and calculate an intercept course. Letting the lagging ship catch up would slow their approach to ¡®Eigos¡¯ by another hour, but Renard always disliked gambling.

    Better to approach cautiously and at full strength.

    Soon, Ivanova spoke up again, ¡°We¡¯ve got the IFF along with a report. The two surviving ships are Alcyone and Pleione, forwarding the attached message to you, Admiral.¡±

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    The Admiral blinked. He had expected the Special Operations stealth ship to be one of the survivors.

    Luckily there were answers right in front of him.

    The next half an hour was spent mostly in silence as Renard read and then re-read the twelve-page document signed by both Captain Song and Captain Black.

    ¡°What an absolute clusterfuck,¡± he swore, startling a few of the officers on the bridge.

    If his ship wasn¡¯t already on high alert he¡¯d have ordered one now.

    The Admiral stayed silent for a moment before turning to his second in command, ¡°What do you think, Navarro?¡±

    ¡°Respectfully, sir, I concur,¡± his second in command responded, eliciting a snort from the Admiral.

    ¡°At least the colonists made it,¡± Navarro added.

    Renard inclined his head slightly in agreement. The two colony ships had booked it and hid behind the gas giant the moment the shooting started. He couldn¡¯t see any use for them now, but perhaps something would come up.

    Sending them back before the situation was resolved was out of the question.

    And what a situation it was.

    Two fully crewed cruisers were destroyed, over a battalion of men was brutally killed by some mad barbarian and of course, the nearly handpicked crew of Sterope apparently betrayed them.

    Poor Shepard. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t follow in her footsteps, but he¡¯ll definitely have to add more people to his guard detail.

    ¡°What are we going to do, sir?¡± Navarro asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

    Renard turned to him, before glancing at the rest of the bridge and raising his voice, ¡°The situation might be more complicated than we expected, but the plan hasn¡¯t changed.¡±

    ¡°We still have to seize whatever lets these savages do what they do, there is just going to be more of it than we assumed.¡±

    ¡°As for the rest, we¡¯ll have to operate under Sparrow protocols while maintaining a constant state of battle-readiness.¡±

    The officers present were too well-trained to groan, but he could almost hear the sound. A constant state of readiness was annoying, but the dreadnought had enough capable crew for it to work smoothly. On the other hand, Sparrow protocols never worked smoothly because no one liked them.

    Understandable, really. Never being left alone was maddening for most people. Unfortunately, spaceships were rather vulnerable to sabotage.

    With the implied degree of infiltration, anything less would be foolish.

    Now he¡¯d just have to figure out how to deal with a walking surface-to-orbit canon.

    It was going to be an interesting few weeks.

    ______________________________________________________________________

    Aisac Ferrier, Knight Commander of the Temple Knights, sat crosslegged in his room, a blue light winking in and out of existence in front of him.

    His duties done, he should have been resting, but he could not help himself. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined that something would make the old monster share her power.

    And what a power it was. He knew, intellectually, that the Custodian was the closest thing Eigos had to a god walking around. That she was but a proxy to an even greater being meant little, for Eternity only interacted with mortals through her Custodian. But the Custodian, for all her purported power, had not truly flexed it in living memory.

    Oh, she used it here and there and it always impressed, but never anything remotely close to the legendary feats ascribed to her.

    Until two days ago. In the end, knowing and seeing were different things. Even he was surprised at the amount of power she had casually thrown around.

    It only reinforced his weariness towards the Terrans. The battle had been an overwhelming victory, but the Custodian did not do victories. Or battles. Not really.

    She did massacres.

    The less educated would probably not see the difference, but he had studied the Temple¡¯s history since he was just a small child. There would be others who would see the same thing, he knew.

    The more idiotic ones would probably even act on the knowledge. He¡¯d bet on at least a couple of the more inbred kings trying something.

    The Seven Fools would likely be getting a name change soon.

    The Terrans might have managed to surprise her, but that hardly meant anything. Unlike what some people pretended, the Custodian was not infallible, even if she seemed close. Aisac knew that more than most.

    She could be surprised. She could make mistakes. Hardly groundbreaking knowledge, but he had little doubt that some would see it that way. Not many realized how little mistakes meant in front of overwhelming power.

    No, poking the Custodian now would be even more stupid than usual. She acted more lively than she had been in decades. The Terrans might have gotten a poke off, but the only thing more idiotic than poking a sleeping dragon was poking one that was awake.

    Why anyone would want to try and fight Eternity and her inhuman chosen, especially after the latest display, was beyond him. Yet the southern kingdoms were already showing signs of rebellion.

    He doubted the Terrans would miss such a great opportunity, which was likely the point of said rebellions.

    Suddenly, the gentle glow of the pendant he wore on his neck lessened to nothing and the blue light disappeared. He had lost his concentration.

    Aisac sighed. He was getting close, he could feel it. It made him wonder whether the Custodian had once struggled like this too.

    He tried to imagine her as a young girl struggling to properly use her power. He failed.

    Perhaps she had not. Very little was known about the beginning of the Church, despite a living witness. The Custodian had struck a covenant with Eternity and that was that. As far as he knew, no records of her personal life existed before that point. He also strongly suspected that the covenant recorded in the Church¡¯s archives was not the full picture, but he might be wrong there.

    Maybe he¡¯d muster the courage to ask her one of these days. Despite the approaching strife, the Custodian¡¯s mood seemed better than it had been in his entire life. An ideal time for questions, possibly.

    Still. Actually doing so felt way too personal. Sacrilegious, almost. He did not think the Custodian would actually take it that way, but he was a firm believer in not poking dragons.

    Not many others shared his opinion, unfortunately.

 Chapter 18 - Rebellion

    ¡°The Kerania, Accad and Faras kingdoms are in open rebellion, Lady Custodian,¡± Aisac announced while beginning his daily report and rousing Serana from her thoughts.

    The two of them stood on top of her tower, her in plain white robes and him in armour, helmetless. The rubble was now fully cleared, leaving the space open, barring the three surviving pillars. The roof was completely gone.

    Serana stood near the edge, the morning sun shining on her and a few more meters off the roof. She watched the former battlefield. Their dead had been buried and equipment salvaged, leaving the dead Terrans and the many scars caused by the battle to mark the battlefield. Though the former would be gone too, soon. Even now at the crack of dawn, soldiers scurried down there like ants, taking down the Terran corpses.

    After all, there was no need to be barbaric and leave them to rot.

    Not to mention that the smell would have been unpleasant.

    ¡°Unsurprising. How fare our people?¡±

    The southern kingdoms had always been problematic. Mostly because of their geographical position. Mountain ranges had a way of complicating things.

    ¡°Reports are still coming into the aviary, but from what I¡¯ve seen, we are mostly on the back foot,¡± he paused, ¡°The Order in Kerania has been all but wiped out. They were the first to be attacked.¡±

    Serana closed her eyes, feeling the sun¡¯s rays on her face.

    ¡°Terran weapons?¡±

    ¡°None were reported, though hiding such a thing from us would not have been overly difficult.¡±

    Serana inclined her head in agreement, though Aisac could only see the back of her head.

    They¡¯d likely possess only a few, if any. Unfortunately, with her new understanding of the ¡®guns¡¯, she knew that even a small number would be very impactful against ordinary soldiers.

    There would have to be a paradigm shift in warfare, especially if she was going to be tied up watching the skies.

    ¡°The others?¡± Serana asked.

    ¡°With forewarning, the other Orders managed better. As of two days ago, the situation was relatively stable in the Faras and Accad Kingdoms.

    Serana hummed, ¡°They¡¯ve acted too soon, then.¡±

    ¡°I imagine so, Lady Custodian. At least we can be reasonably sure they are yet to properly ally with the Terrans,¡± Aisac responded.

    That the local Orders would not have been able to stall them at all in such a case went unspoken.

    ¡°What of their northern neighbours? Have the Orders there acknowledged my orders?¡± Serana changed the topic.

    ¡°Raising armies to crush the heretics while loudly proclaiming their loyalty, led by the Sarak Archduchy,¡± Aisac paused, following the Custodian¡¯s gaze to the battlefield, ¡°Authentic as far as our people can tell.¡±

    Serana could not help but find that rather droll. By all reports, most of the nobility of the countries north of the Teilen mountain range shared much of the southerner''s attitudes towards her and the Temple. Unfortunately for them, they were in quite an unenviable position. To become nought but a shield for the Southerners and be the first to be stomped down, or fight Serana¡¯s wars for her and be the first ones to properly test the impact of Terran weaponry on the human body.

    It wasn¡¯t difficult to see why they sided with her. While the southern trio had clearly bet everything on Terran support, whether the aliens would even do anything was still in question. Her own actions were not.

    It¡¯d be rather amusing if the Terrans did not help after the three southern royal families quite literally staked their lives on their intervention.

    Aisac brought her out of her musings as he continued with his report, ¡°We¡¯ve received acknowledgements from the Order Masters of all four of the countries in question, though all four seem confused, especially Master Sharpspear of the Caspian Order.¡±

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    ¡°That is to be expected. They have yet to gain any real understanding of our enemies.¡±

    Holding the entire continent with just her thirty-seven barely trained helpers against the Terrans was a fool''s errand.

    Were Eternity awake, she could bless others now that the Custodian herself was most likely to be insufficient. An ugly truth, but one she could not dispute after studying Phaedra¡¯s notes. Regular soldiers were simply too useless against Terran technology and she herself could not cover an entire continent.

    The thirty-seven would help enormously, but only the Goddess knew whether that would be enough.

    Which brought her to the next matter, ¡°How are the chosen progressing?¡±

    ¡°Another five managed to form a shield today, now for a total of twenty-six,¡± he paused, ¡°Will you be imparting another lesson, Lady Custodian?¡±

    His voice was carefully neutral, but the hunger underneath could not escape Serana¡¯s perceptive eyes.

    ¡°Soon. Continue practicing. The more you do, the more accustomed to Her power you¡¯ll become.¡±

    ¡°I understand, I will do so,¡± Aisac responded, his disappointment clear. With his report finished, he bowed and began to leave.

    She nodded, more to herself than as a response. Soon, each of the thirty-seven chosen knights would be capable of holding their own and more importantly, their bodies would grow capable of serving as proper conduits of her own power.

    A stop-gap measure, since she¡¯d be forced to act through them against anything significant, but better than nothing. Training them to wield Eternity¡¯s power with any real skill would take years they did not have.

    Annoyingly, she could not think of any other way to strengthen her people. In the short term, at least. Reverse-engineering the Terran technology was an obvious solution, but one that would take decades, if not centuries to bear fruit.

    No, withdrawing from the South was the only intelligent move to make. However, that did not make it any less irksome.

    She stood up there for a while, watching the surrounding forests, many plans and counter-plans going through her mind.

    Eventually, she was interrupted by a knock quickly followed by her grey-robed maid entering once she had given her permission.

    The young girl bowed before speaking, sounding a bit more sure of herself than during their previous interactions, ¡°Lady Custodian, your ¡®English¡¯,¡± she pronounced the foreign word carefully, ¡°instructor has arrived. Shall I send him here?¡±

    Serana scrutinised the black-haired girl for a second before acquiescing, ¡°Yes, I doubt she will mind a little wind.¡± Giving the matter some more thought, she added, ¡°Have someone bring a table and a couple of chairs.¡±

    The handmaiden nodded and with a final ¡®My Lady¡¯ she was gone.

    A few minutes later four of her knights came, hauling a table along with two chairs and then carefully setting the furniture on the floor. The distinct sound of her instructor¡¯s boots clanking on the stairs could be heard soon after.

    Soon, the door opened to reveal a tall figure clad in black and purple armour, her owlish helmet cradled under one arm, leaving her impassive face and brown hair exposed.

    The female figure surveyed the top of the tower, her eyes lingering on the view for a few seconds before turning to Serana.

    ¡°Good morning, Lady Custodian,¡± the instructor said in the Terran tongue, though the words were simple enough for Serana to understand.

    ¡°Good morning miss Jane. Please, sit,¡± Serana spoke, enunciating carefully, while gesturing towards one of the chairs. She herself moved towards the other.

    Jane nodded, before retrieving a tablet and placing it on the table between them. Then she started tapping on it, ¡°You¡¯ve made remarkable progress in these past few days, Lady Custodian. I imagine that soon our deal will be concluded.¡±

    Serana inclined her head in agreement. The Terran language was not particularly difficult to learn, sharing at least surface similarities with many of the other languages she already knew.

    Of course, the instruction itself was invaluable. The captured prisoners did not speak Sirnesian and forcing them to teach her people would have been¡­ unproductive. Having the Terrans help her learn their language was well worth the price of surrendering Phaedra¡¯s remains. The Colonel¡¯s sour face after her suggestion was just a bonus.

    With the pleasantries concluded, Jane started teaching.

    Hours passed with Serana making great progress. The Terran teaching program that Jane utilized was extremely helpful. With only days of tutelage, the Custodian was, of course, nowhere near fluent. Yet she felt that she had mastered the basics enough that memorizing a dictionary (that she had received as part of the deal) would let her converse well enough.

    The thought of improving her mastery of the Terran language through interrogation of its native speakers amused her greatly.

    Eventually, as the sun began to go down, the lesson came to an end and Jane excused herself.

    The Custodian watched the skies well into the night.

 Chapter 19 - Miracles 101

    ¡°Remember, we are but receptacles for her power,¡± Serana explained to the thirty-three knights arrayed in front of her in the Temple¡¯s courtyard.

    Five of the original thirty-seven had failed to form even a simple shield and were reassigned, leaving just the men in front of her. The thirty-third was, of course, Aisac. The Custodian was mildly disappointed with such a showing. Utilizing Eternity¡¯s power was not easy, but she had not selected their first real working on a whim, nor were the men some random bumpkins.

    The courtyard itself was walled off by white walls and rather unremarkable, barring a single water fountain in the back.

    ¡°That is why intent is so important. You are not performing miracles, simply asking for them,¡± she surveyed the lined-up knights, watching for signs of incomprehension. It wouldn¡¯t do for any of them to get a big head.

    Seeing none, she continued, ¡°However, even Eternity herself cannot help you when you do not know what to ask for.¡±

    ¡°Hence, intent,¡± Serana gestured, lifting a nearby pebble of the ground with her power. Not that intent worked completely, but she had no better word to describe it. Hopefully, their earlier practice would help them realize this.

    She looked over the knights, before settling on one, ¡°You. Move another pebble into the same position, but do not use magic.¡±

    The knight in question was on the shorter side, wearing armour sans helmet like his compatriots. He blinked at her with blue eyes, before hesitantly approaching closer, his gaze settling on one of the small stones on the ground.

    He stood there frowning for almost half a minute while the entire courtyard sat in silence. Serana waited patiently, still levitating her own pebble.

    Eventually, the knight simply reached down and picked the pebble up, holding it in approximately the same position as the one in Serana¡¯s magical grasp.

    She gave the man a nod, ¡°Excellent. You can go back now.¡±

    The man let go and walked back. When he returned to his place, she continued, making her pebble rise and spin slowly, ¡°Intent. You know how to move a pebble and so you can move the pebble. After already being capable of creating a shield, doing so should prove trivial for all of you.¡±

    Grabbing many more pebbles before making them glow and spin in a ring around her at great speeds.

    ¡°Eternity is capable of almost anything and so are we, her chosen few,¡± She paused, ¡°provided we know how to properly make use of her gift.¡± The knights looked on, enraptured.

    She surveyed them once more before barking a command, ¡°Shields!¡±

    Most of the knights, not having their usual equipment present struggled against muscle memory as their hands reached for non-existent shields. The Custodian made note of the five who reached for magic immediately, Aisac among them.

    In a few seconds, all had formed silver shields in front of them, most of them nearly identical to the mundane kite shields their kind usually used.

    She clenched her fist, sending all the floating pebbles forward and pelting the assembled shield wall. The shields held effortlessly.

    The Custodian nodded, satisfied. This hopefully hammered her words home.

    ¡°You have half an hour to make something float. Any questions?¡±

    The knights exchanged glances, looking less like hardened warriors and more like shy schoolchildren.

    One of them stepped forward. It was the same short one she had chosen for her pebble demonstration.

    ¡°If intent is the key, why not tell us beforehand, Lady Custodian?¡±

    ¡°Would it have helped you?¡±

    At her response, the blue-eyed knight grew contemplative.

    ¡°I do not know, Lady Custodian.¡±

    ¡°In your earlier practice, it was already your intent to create a shield was it not?¡±

    ¡°But, doesn¡¯t that make the entire lesson pointless?¡±

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    At those words, Serana gave the young knight a once-over. Blue eyes, brown hair and a wiry build greeted her eyes. In other words, a completely unremarkable man. Yet he was bold enough to question her, something which definitely warranted her attention, especially so soon after she had demonstrated her prowess on the battlefield.

    She would have to make sure it was understanding or at least bravery behind his actions and not stupidity, but he might make a fine replacement for Aisac one day.

    The knight, not knowing any of what went through her mind felt his skin erupt with sweat.

    Not wanting to discourage the man, the Custodian inclined her head in approval.

    ¡°Up to a point. Eternity¡¯s power is not easy to use, but it is simple.¡±

    She hummed in thought, the man¡¯s question improving her mood noticeably. It had been a while since she had taught anything and much longer still for her students to not act like awkward statues.

    ¡°It is important not to confuse your intent with imagination. You are not ¡®imagining¡¯ magic into existence, you are asking Eternity to mould her power according to your intent - to what you wish to do.¡±

    She paused for breath, noting the look of concentration on both the man''s and his compatriots'' faces.

    ¡°As you might have realised, this difference is quite difficult to describe with words. That is one of the reasons I had you practise first. The practical difference is, however, obvious. Anything which you can do through mundane means, especially that which you have extensively practised, can be easily reproduced through Eternity¡¯s power.¡±

    Serana could see the man nod in understanding while a decent portion of the others seemed appreciative of the extended explanation as well. She could not help but admit that she was rather unsuited to teaching this. Much of what seemed to stump her pupils was obvious to her, many of these things she had not given any thought for decades if not centuries.

    ¡°Therefore, while it might be possible to use Eternity¡¯s power to do everything imaginable, anything even a tiny bit in the abstract can often be near impossible to actually accomplish. That is why force and enhancements of your own bodies are both the best and easiest ways to make use of Eternity¡¯s power.¡±

    An unfortunate limit of the human mind that even Serana herself had never truly conquered. It was something she had tried to at first solve and eventually at least side-step, never quite succeeding. This was also where the limits of the word intent came. You can possess the intent of creating fire, but what you will actually intend to do is to use tools to do so. A small distinction, yet an extremely important one.

    Many a night the Custodian had nearly torn out her hair trying to map out some of these seemingly arbitrary differences. She had little doubt that some of the knights in front of her would follow in her footsteps in that regard. After all, she had been told the same things and it had not deterred her at all.

    A childish part of her had really wanted to throw lighting and fireballs around.

    Alas, she was forced to make do with simple, world-shaking might. Woe is her.

    ¡°Now lift those pebbles.¡±

    The Custodian stood and watched as upon her command the thirty-two warriors began to frown and make various other, sometimes undignified, faces of concentration.

    Fortunately, there were to be no other disappointments this day. Barely five minutes past her command, the first began to succeed. Fifteen minutes later, thirty-two rocks floated in front of the Custodian.

    ¡°Excellent. With this, we have covered shields and a basic application of force. You may think that neither is terribly impressive, but as you practise and your bodies grow more used to Her power, these two techniques will grow vastly in both power and usefulness. The last thing I will teach you are enhancements. These three techniques will cover the vast majority of your needs.¡±

    And anything else would be too time-consuming to teach.

    ¡°Basic enhancements will be the easiest of the three, but they are also the most potentially dangerous. It is incredibly easy to grievously injure or even die should you make a mistake.¡±

    She paused, making sure that everyone paid attention. She¡¯d rather not have to find replacements for anyone here.

    ¡°Many of your muscles are strong enough to break or otherwise damage the bones they are attached to. Luckily for you, the human body is more than capable of stopping you from doing so, making this a non-issue under normal circumstances. Now, what do you think will happen should you strengthen your body unequally?¡±

    There was a moment of silence before Aisac spoke the obvious answer, his voice resolute, ¡°Things break.¡±

    ¡°Just so. There is no simple workaround. It might seem like a waste, but the only option is to strengthen the entirety of your body, lest your back muscles crush your spine before you realise what is happening.¡±

    Many of the knights shuddered as they heard her words, much to her approval. The less they¡¯d try to get clever with this particular technique, the better. There were ways to do so, but her students had little chance to learn them without maiming themselves first, not without her help.

    ¡°You already possess all the necessary knowledge to try, but before you do so, make sure you are lying down with all your muscles relaxed. Take great care not to move until you are sure you have succeeded completely. Do not worry, success will be quite apparent.¡±

    The knights shuffled their feet, before Aisac spoke, seemingly for all of them, ¡°Right now, Lady Custodian?¡±

    ¡°The ground will not bite you, my loyal servants.¡±

    Suitably chagrined, all of them quickly laid down on the dirt. Serana looked on, somewhat amused at the sight of so many warriors intensely trying to relax.

    Serana wondered if she should have told them how long she expected this to take, before dismissing the thought.

    It was much more amusing this way.

 Chapter 20 - Taskforce Erinyes

    Colonel Ashwood sat in one of the grounded shuttles present in the makeshift Terran camp, brooding. His only company was one of the pilots moonlighting as a communications officer, his entire job being to stare at an empty screen, waiting for a message. The rest of his people were mostly treating the entire thing like a vacation, since they could do nothing against either the Custodian or another orbital attack. They still posted sentries and maintained basic discipline, but there wasn¡¯t a real point to anything else.

    Ashwood still felt like he got scammed. It had been a few days since he traded for the remains of Phaedra, nonetheless, he did not have much to do except think. His thoughts often circled back to the topic. In exchange for tutelage in the English language, he had received a couple of marble tiles fused together by once-liquid metal. Presumably Unit number nine, Phaedra.

    Not that he could tell. Whatever self-destruct mechanism the unit possessed presumably went off without a hitch. Or the Custodian just gave him a bunch of garbage. He had no way to know.

    That was the real source of his annoyance. Knowing English would surely prove a great boon for the Eigosians, while he did not know whether he even accomplished his mission. What¡¯s more, he had had no real choice but to accept it and further rely on the Custodian¡¯s word.

    While he knew that Athena desired a conflict with Eigos and likely accounted for the effects of this trade in her calculations, helping a more-or-less current, not to mention an extremely barbaric, enemy of the Republic did not sit well with him at all.

    ¡®Part of the job I guess,¡¯ he thought, sighing.

    The uncertainty of his own future was not helping his mood any either. Especially since he had nothing to do but sit and wait. The two damaged and decidedly hostile cruisers up in orbit were silent and the colony ships were nowhere to be seen, leaving Ashwood and his men stranded.

    Hopefully, the cruisers'' silence was due to a lack of air. That¡¯d be something. Not much, but something.

    His pleasant daydreams were suddenly interrupted by an audible alert coming from the pilot¡¯s console. The pilot, a man named Yang, was quick to wave him over.

    Ashwood stood up with not a small amount of trepidation, various possibilities running through his head. Hopefully, it would be good news.

    The pilot was quick to vacate his seat, letting Ashwood take his place and use his credentials to decrypt the message.

    Once done, he had to blink at the office of origin, ¡¯DREADNAUGHT BASTION, CAPITAL SHIP OF TASK FORCE ERINYES, UNITED NAVY OF THE TERRAN REPUBLIC¡¯

    Dreadnaughts were extremely sparse, mostly due to their impracticality. Not that they were ineffective in their roles, but they could only be in one place while many lesser ships could be made for the same price.

    He didn¡¯t really know what to think about that sort of firepower coming here.

    The message itself was perplexing. Essentially, the author wished to brush Song killing many of his men under the rug explaining it away as a ¡®tragic miscommunication¡¯ during a ¡®training exercise¡¯ while highlighting the danger and barbarity of the locals and asking him to board the Bastion as, of all things, an expert on the locals.

    The message was signed by Admiral Renard, a man rather known for his cautious attitude when it came to AIs, while it also had one of Athena¡¯s codes, Jade Tau Semystra, tucked neatly way in the post scriptum.

    The code simply meant that the message it was attached to was trustworthy in content, though not in authorship.

    Ashwood didn¡¯t understand at all.

    He had expected that any enemy reinforcements might try to trick him away from the Custodian¡¯s protective presence, but Athena¡¯s code made that rather unlikely.

    Ashwood could only see two possibilities. Either the message was genuine and the Admiral really wished to join forces, or he had somehow captured one of Athena¡¯s operatives and got the code out of him. The latter option was incredibly unlikely since the code was one of the ones directly individualised for him, meaning that the only one who knew its meaning was Athena. If the Admiral acquired it through dishonest means he would be actively disincentivised from sending it along, since he would not know its contents and from his perspective that¡¯d be exactly what Athena would want.

    Which meant that the entire thing was likely genuine. That, he didn¡¯t understand.

    After all, his previous instruction had been extremely clear. The civil war should have by all accounts already started, yet one of the enemy¡¯s leaders both knew of the schism yet genuinely wished to cooperate?

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    The Colonel groaned, eliciting a curious glance from the pilot.

    ¡°Officer Yang, please check whether Lieutenant Jane has returned and send her here if she has,¡± Ashwood ordered.

    The pilot saluted and jogged off, understanding that any news from beyond the planet was bound to be very serious.

    Ashwood rubbed his temples.

    ¡®Why does everything have to be so complicated?¡¯

    Considering the matter some more, he thought it likely that Athena was playing some sort of a game. She wanted a conflict with Eigos. More importantly, the Admiral thought that she¡¯d help in a conflict with Eigos and apparently trusted her enough to trust Ashwood after he almost got offed by their side after a civil war became much more than just a possibility.

    It made absolutely no sense.

    Before Ashwood could start banging his head on the shuttle¡¯s metallic walls, he was interrupted by a knock. Immediately after, the shuttle¡¯s door opened, letting Jane enter. Ashwood rotated the chair towards the door in the back of the shuttle, craning his neck at the taller woman. She wore her full Soma Aspis armour, the helmet covering her face completely.

    ¡°You asked for me, Colonel?¡± She spoke.

    ¡°Yes, we¡¯ve received a message from a new arrival. Task force Erinyes, led by Admiral Renard.¡±

    ¡°They with us?¡±

    ¡°Fuck if I know,¡± Ashwood gestured towards the monitor, ¡°Here, tell me what you think.¡±

    Jane walked over and peered over his shoulder.

    She finished reading in a few seconds, much more quickly than him.

    She peered at him, ¡°What¡¯s the code?¡±

    ¡°The message is trustworthy while the author isn¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s the problem then?¡±

    Ashwood frowned at the armoured woman, ¡°This guy should be preparing another nuke, instead he is trying to recruit us with you-know-whose blessings?¡±

    Jane stared at him. The helmet made it hard to tell, but Ashwood very much felt like she was staring at him like he was an idiot.

    ¡°You think our dear old Admiral was actually the one to put the magic words in?¡± She said with considerable amusement.

    ¡°Ahhh,¡± he blinked in realization, ¡°That does make much more sense.¡±

    ¡°Still, I would not have expected an olive branch at this juncture,¡± she added.

    Ashwood tapped his fingers on the console, ¡°They might have left before anything serious happened.¡± Outpacing the news was more or less the norm when it came to space travel.

    Jane hummed in thought.

    If that was the case, then the Admiral likely thought that any hostilities so far were contained to the Eigosian star system, giving him a chance to control the narrative, if not sweep everything under the rug. Perhaps he was even naive enough to think that the war might be completely deferred, though that¡¯d be quite unlikely.

    He sighed again, ¡°So we accept.¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t they just bag us once they realize what is happening back home?¡±

    ¡°Well, obviously they¡¯ll try.¡±

    They looked at each other again. As the highest-ranked officer around, Ashwood did not really have to consult anyone, but he¡¯d be a fool not to make use of Jane. While there weren¡¯t really any significant enhancements even Athena could provide, the cyborg did have perfect memory and was highly educated. Some would think it a waste, but Athena was a big proponent of the ¡®philosopher-soldier¡¯ concept, at least when it came to those of actual importance.

    When it came to the Soma Aspis, the concept was a lot more practical than it¡¯d seem. After all, there was a lot you could cram into your head with implant-assisted learning and perfect memory.

    ¡°There is not anything left for us on the surface,¡± Jane broke the silence.

    Ashwood nodded. They had no way to contend with the Custodian and their primitive infrastructure made it surprisingly hard to spy on their communications. No way to hack a letter. This left them with approximately nothing to do.

    ¡°But even if the Admiral does not realise how much the situation has devolved, he would have to be a complete fool to treat us with anything but the utmost suspicion.¡± Jane continued.

    ¡°True. Yet he¡¯ll come for the Custodian¡¯s secrets regardless. He¡¯d be a complete fool not to take care of us at that time too,¡± Ashwood threw back.

    Jane tilted her head, playing the devil¡¯s advocate, ¡°What if the Eigosians win?¡±

    ¡°They possess a single planet and no spacecraft. No amount of advanced technology will help them.¡±

    Not that he completely believed there even was technology behind the Eigosians might.

    ¡®How did the quote go, no magic is distinguishable from too advanced technology, or something like that,¡¯ Ashwood thought, butchering the phrase.

    ¡°I agree, but surrendering just doesn¡¯t feel right,¡± Jane said.

    ¡°Who said anything about surrendering?¡± Ashwood smirked, ¡°You never wanted your own dreadnought?¡±

 Chapter 21 - Old people troubles

    Serana stood in her living room, looking at a small portrait of a smiling black-haired woman in contemplative silence, having paused her work.

    A drop of paint fell on the floor from the brush the Custodian held, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at the portrait once more, before continuing to paint the canvas in front of her once again. Great progress had been made in the past few hours and soon a new copy of the portrait would be born.

    Truly, learning to paint had been one of her wisest decisions. Hounding artists good enough to copy the portrait to her exacting standards used to be both difficult and annoying. Especially since she did not wish to talk about the painted woman with anyone.

    As she painted, she wondered what the long-dead woman would have thought of Serana now.

    Would she be awed? Disappointed? Proud? Perhaps she wouldn¡¯t even recognize Serana. The immortal had no idea. She remembered almost nothing of her sister. Feelings of warmth and safety, mostly.

    She did not even know how accurate the portrait was. The march of time had claimed many of its predecessors and human hands were fallible. How many minor mistakes must have accumulated over the iterations, she wondered.

    Still, some things she was quite sure about. The raven-black hair and the fiercely intelligent grey eyes in particular were burned into her memory, even if any context had long been eroded by time.

    On some nights, she thought about getting rid of it entirely, but could never bring herself to do so. It was pathetic of her, but she still felt an echo of warmth every time she looked into those eyes.

    That was, perhaps, the cruellest aspect of it. To forget just enough to know what it is you¡¯ve lost.

    She no longer remembered her parents or any friends from before and so felt nothing about their bones having long turned into dust, her sister the last artificial remnant of that time.

    The portrait did remind her of a simpler time, she mused. A time when her word was not law. Perhaps, in that, lay its true value?

    It helped with not seeing humans as worthless mayflies that died of old age when she blinked, at least.

    The Custodian¡¯s mouth quirked up.

    It was perhaps a bit egoistical of her, but the thought of the second most influential person in the history of Eigos being her sister simply on the merit of her own existence amused her.

    Not that humans died between her blinks now when things were so exciting. When she spotted the veritable armada of Terran ships arrive yesterday she had felt more alive than ever. Their attempt to hide behind Agnu had been quite amusing as well.

    The Custodian added a few more strokes, before setting the brush aside. The portrait still needed more time, but duty called. The thirty-two newly minted mage-knights were supposed to depart soon.

    She checked the unfinished portrait over for any problems before leaving and startling the handmaiden sitting outside of her rooms. The grey-robed girl got over it quickly and together they descended the tower.

    It did not take long for her to reach the main courtyard of the Temple, where Aisac was finishing with his speech to the thirty-two.

    Serana made herself visible but didn¡¯t approach. The military was Aisac¡¯s responsibility, after all. She had already spoken more than enough for a decade or two in the past few months anyway.

    The knights straightened upon seeing her and Aisac paused and threw her a glance, but he quickly resumed, ¡°Twelve of you will stay in the surrounding kingdoms, ready to react to any Terran presence or to reinforce your brethren. Ten will be stationed in the kingdoms further out, though we obviously won¡¯t be able to cover all of them. The remaining ten will all move to reinforce the south, where we expect the Terrans to make their move, should they prove wise enough to not attempt another decapitation strike.¡±

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    Some chuckles resounded at that. The Custodian wondered if they¡¯d be able to laugh if they knew just how much firepower the Terrans had already brought.

    Probably not.

    Serana smiled.

    When the crowd calmed, Aisac continued, ¡°You¡¯ll travel in pairs and with a personal protection detail. I have your assignments here.¡±

    He reached for a stack of papers that had been hidden in a satchel beneath his feet and began calling out names in pairs.

    When the first pair came over, Aisac gave them the papers along with some more personal words and advice that the Custodian didn¡¯t care enough to listen in on.

    The same thing repeated again and again, making Serana quickly lose interest, though she kept a slight smile on her face. Hopefully, it¡¯ll encourage them a little. It was the least they deserved, considering the giant target they unknowingly carried on their back.

    After all, the Custodian was well aware of the Terrans¡¯ objective. They had hardly hidden their interest in her abilities. Perhaps they¡¯d try for her one more time, but she expected them to go for softer targets once they realized such existed.

    Not that it would help them much.

    Perhaps she¡¯d convert the Terrans yet? She had been wondering how such a thing would work, considering how tied Eternity was to Eigos. The stars were far away and even Gods had to have limits.

    Well, Eternity would have to wake first for that.

    Serana¡¯s mood worsened at the thought, yet she kept any hint of it off her face. No reason to make people wonder, or worse, panic. The black-haired girl who stood behind her and currently acted as her handmaiden would probably faint.

    As Aisac continued handing out assignments, The Custodian turned her attention subtly to her handmaiden. The girl was short even for her young age, with black hair and green eyes. She wore the customary grey robes of Temple servants and still sometimes picked at the fabric, unused to the rougher material.

    The girl at least stood straight now, unlike when she had first arrived. Gone was the spooked little mouse and in its place stood a brave little squirrel. Serana remembered that her surname was Winterstar, for Aisac had mentioned it recently. That was about the extent of information she was sure of.

    The girl was a something from somewhere, possibly in the north, if her name was any indication.

    ¡®Probably good enough,¡¯ she mused.

    Though maybe she should learn a bit more about her, now that the girl wasn¡¯t going to die of old age without anything of note happening.

    With Aisac still going down the list of assignments in the courtyard, she turned to her handmaiden and whispered, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    The girl¡¯s eyes widened. First in fear, then in disbelief.

    Serana suppressed a laugh. Maybe this wouldn¡¯t be too big of a chore.

    ¡°Uh, Sylviane Winterstar, my Lady.¡±

    The Custodian nodded, a mischievous glint in her eyes, ¡°Ah yes, you¡¯ll have to forgive me, I tend to be a bit forgetful in my old age.¡±

    The little squirrel made quite the comical face, ¡°Of course, my Lady, I did not mean to insinuate-¡±

    Serana cut her off, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Lilianne, we all make mistakes.¡±

    The girl tried very hard to control her expression before realization dawned on her.

    The Custodian chuckled lightly, before turning her eyes back to Aisac and the knights. Now the girl wouldn¡¯t think that Serana didn¡¯t know her name. That¡¯d be quite preposterous with the amount of years the handmaiden had already spent in the Temple. No, Serana was just messing with her from the start.

    A master plan, worthy of her age and wisdom. Truly, mortals danced in the palm of her hand.

    Soon Serana¡¯s attention returned to the lined-up knights and their Commander as he finished giving out their orders.

    ¡°Remember, do not be overconfident. Your lives are far too valuable to lose to such a childish emotion,¡± Aisac paused, surveying the assembled knights.

    ¡°Finally, remember that you now carry Eternity¡¯s favour wherever you go. I¡¯d wish you good luck, but I¡¯m sure you won¡¯t need it,¡± finishing his address, he saluted, putting his hand over his heart.

    The Custodian mimicked the gesture.

    The assembled knights did not cheer, instead bowing solemnly. Then they exited the courtyard, leaving in pairs.

    Serana watched them go. She wondered whether the Terrans would take the bait and whether they¡¯d actually be strong enough to do so.

    The Custodian certainly did not intend to let them capture any of her departing students without a fight.

 Chapter 22 - Interlude III: Kingdom of trouble

    Far to the south, beyond the Teilen mountain range, stood the prosperous city of Latis, the capital of the Kerania kingdom. In its very center, behind no less than three nigh-impenetrable walls, was a grand palace. In that palace was a large, heavily decorated throne room. It overflowed with expensive decorations in a manner many found gaudy, yet no one could deny the power and wealth it represented. In that, it achieved its purpose splendidly. Behind that throne room existed a much smaller and more tastefully decorated chamber. There, King Joseph Kirslev sat with his two most trusted advisors, along with his two sons, Marcus and George, discussing their current situation.

    ¡°Still no signs?¡± The King, an imposing man with greying hair asked, his voice dark. He turned towards his spymaster.

    A smaller man with an almost too-pretty face, black hair in a ponytail and extravagant clothes responded ¡°Nothing, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°What will we do, Father? They killed Violet! We can¡¯t let that go, even the commoners agree!¡±

    The King and patriarch of the Kirslev family turned his head from the spymaster to his son, Marcus. The crown prince was in his mid-twenties, wearing a simple black mourning outfit and a faux-outraged expression. He might be capable of fooling others, but the King had known him since his birth. The Crown Prince never cared for his sister.

    Yet, even unknowingly, he had a point. His sons had been quick to whip the commoners into a frenzy when news of his daughter¡¯s demise arrived.

    Kicking the Chuch out of the country alleviated the public out-cry somewhat, yet the King now found himself in an awkward position. His preparations had been extensive. Turning the people against the Church had not been easy, even with a large amount of money siphoned out of their country through the Divine tax.

    Unfortunately, his goals had never been particularly ambitious. He had intended to renegotiate the contract between his kingdom and the Church. Aggressively, yes, but it was never supposed to devolve into an actual war. His ultimate, and in his own opinion, rather humble, goal had been to get the Church to agree to let him dedicate a large portion of the tax to the improvement of the kingdom. They would be publicly credited, letting them regain some goodwill.

    The Church would have slowly regained its believers while the kingdom as a whole would have benefited greatly. After all, the Divine tax was no small amount of money.

    Yet somewhere along the line, he had lost control. His sons had thought his plan too unambitious, especially after the knowledge of the alien visitors spread.

    He had to wonder where he had gone wrong with his children. While there was little love for the Custodian, he did respect both her station and what she had achieved. He did resent her for killing his only daughter, yet at the same time, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to believe that she did so without reason. You could not achieve what she had while being incompetent.

    Joseph sighed and slouched a bit in his chair, ¡°This plan of yours was always a great gamble, Marcus. We do nothing because we can¡¯t do anything else.¡±

    The eyes of his oldest child flashed in actual outrage, this time, ¡°The Terrans-¡±

    The King snapped at him, ¡°Yes, I know of the Terrans. Yet they are not here, are they? There is no opposing Eternity¡¯s chosen without their help.¡±

    He wasn¡¯t sure if he believed they¡¯d have a chance even with their help. Sure, they might be capable of actually fighting the Custodian instead of just dying, but that hardly guaranteed their victory.

    His sons had been fools to gamble so much on a practically completely unknown faction, no matter how seemingly powerful.

    The chamber descended into silence. They all knew their situation was terrible. It was only a matter of time until the fragile southern alliance fractured. The King did not know for certain why the Accad and Faras joined them in their rebellion, but he could guess.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Without Terran intervention, they stood no chance even together. Should nothing change, they¡¯d probably turn on each other in an effort to curry favour with the Church.

    ¡°That¡¯s not quite correct, Your Majesty,¡± The extravagantly dressed spymaster said.

    The King turned his tired eyes on the short man.

    ¡°The Custodian and the vast majority of her forces are still not moving. At this point it is likely that they won¡¯t unless the situation changes,¡± The spymaster continued.

    ¡°See, Father, I told you! She is afraid of them,¡± Marcus exclaimed victoriously.

    Joseph looked at the overconfident brat in annoyance, ¡°Maybe¡­¡±

    ¡°Ah, there is more,¡± The spymaster added awkwardly.

    Everyone turned towards the man, the crown prince with narrowed eyes, ¡°Well? Out with it!¡±

    ¡°There have been reports of magic and miracles on the front-¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the Custodian was still hiding in her hole?¡± Marcus interjected.

    The spymaster winced.

    The second, until now silent advisor spoke, ¡°Let him finish, boy. And stop underestimating that old crone, it makes you look more stupid than you are.¡±

    The crown prince started going red in the face after he parsed the meaning of the old advisor¡¯s words, but before he could say anything the spymaster quickly interjected, ¡°Apparently the magic is the work of ordinary-looking knights, though no one is too sure.¡±

    King Joseph shot the wizened advisor an annoyed look. That child of his was being stupid, but he was still the crown prince.

    The annoyance didn¡¯t last for long though, as he parsed his spymaster¡¯s words. Soon, he just looked tired.

    ¡°Shit.¡±

    _________________________________________________________________________

    Frederick, or as his former peers referred to him now, The Twelfth, was happy. He had grown up as a mere orphan, his talent and intellect eventually granting him the opportunity to join the Temple Knights. In a single moment, he had become someone. Pitying looks transformed into respect, former bullies averted their eyes and girls started stealing glances when they thought he wasn¡¯t looking.

    He had thought that he had made it. Perhaps in a decade, he¡¯d make captain, but he had not thought that he¡¯d rise any higher. Frederick had little talent and even less interest in leading men. No, his sword was sufficient to serve Eternity.

    Frederick grinned as he made another rock levitate next to his horse. He had been an idiot.

    ¡°Hey, stop spacing out, dumbass,¡± Thomas, his partner for the foreseeable future, chided him.

    They both rode on horses in full plate mail, surrounded by thirty other heavily armoured knights. Both Thomas and Frederick were amongst the youngest there, but the others treated them with undisguised reverence. Though envy sometimes showed as well.

    The twelfth of the chosen knights shot his comrade an annoyed look. What was power for, if not to get intoxicated on?

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, just don¡¯t quote scripture to me,¡± Frederick responded testily.

    Thomas rolled his eyes and looked away.

    Their group had been travelling for quite some time, assigned to the Sarak Archduchy by the Knight-Commander. There they were to wait for a Terran-led offensive, or, should it not come, help the Archduchy crush the southern rebels.

    Frederick would much prefer the latter, but for the power he had been granted, he was more than willing to face the powerful aliens again.

    He could still vividly remember how helpless they had been in front of the Custodian¡¯s might. With the power of a Goddess at his side, surely the challenge would not be insurmountable for him either. And Thomas, of course. He¡¯d be there too.

    Though such a confrontation was likely still far away, both in distance and in time.

    As the youngest pair of the thirty-seven sent to the south, they had been assigned to the Sarakian Order in the Archduchy, perhaps the strongest of the kingdoms just north of the Teilen mountains. Another pair had been sent to the Kingdom of Caspa, while the last six had gone straight to the mountains, reinforcing the chokepoints there. In other words, Frederick and Thomas were held in reserve.

    Once upon a time, he¡¯d been quite insulted by such a posting. Now he was quite content to let others test the waters first.

    He did envy them a little, though. Frederick was really looking forward to testing his newfound powers in real battle.

 Chapter 23 - No Boom Boom?

    Ashwood was not pouting. He was a grown, battle-scared man, and those did not pout. No, he was carefully evaluating his chances of requisitioning the dreadnought and coming to unfavourable conclusions.

    Apparently, Admiral Renard did not trust him. How hurtful.

    The Colonel was currently being escorted by six armoured soldiers through the dreadnought alongside Jane, his now-official second-in-command. It had been a few days since the Bastion sent down shuttles to pick them up. Much to the Colonel¡¯s consternation, they had been deposited on Pleione, the half-destroyed and nearly depopulated cruiser still in orbit around Eigos. This somewhat predictable move by the Admiral pretty much destroyed the Colonel¡¯s dreams of theft. On the plus side, it made hiding the pretty recognizable Soma Aspis armour a breeze.

    The situation on Pleione had been tense, though likely a lot less than if the vast majority of Pleione¡¯s soldiers had not died down on Eigos. As it was, his men basically had free reign over most of the ship, though Captain Black was careful to maintain some semblance of control. Not like it really mattered, with Pleione as damaged as it was.

    After that, they had been left to ¡®rest¡¯ for a few days.

    Finally, the Admiral had called for him to fulfil his end of the bargain and provide his ¡®expertise¡¯.

    Which is how Ashwood found himself escorted through one of Bastion¡¯s sterile corridors alongside Jane.

    They passed a couple more corridors in silence, before finally arriving to a conference room. The Admiral awaited them inside along with some of his officers and more soldiers.

    As Ashwood and Jane entered, their escort fanned out behind them, covering the entrance.

    The Colonel did his best to appear unconcerned and moved towards the clustered officers. Jane was as effortlessly impassive as ever.

    ¡°Ah, Colonel Ashwood. I¡¯m Admiral Renard, next to me is my second-in-command, Colonel Navarro and Lieutenant Ivanova, a promising young officer. The last two are Captains Chen and Grimsson. It is good to finally meet you,¡± The grey-haired man Ashwood recognized as Admiral Renard spoke, offering his hand. He was tall and unhealthily thin, giving him a gaunt appearance. This was somewhat offset by his sharp face and fierce eyes, along with an immaculate black uniform. Navarro and Ivanova stood to his right and left respectively, with Chen next to Navarro and Grimsson next to Ivanova.

    Ashwood felt a flash of annoyance as he realized he¡¯d have to deal with another person who¡¯d be quite literally looking down at him. He resisted casting a jealous glance at Jane, who matched the Admiral¡¯s height easily.

    ¡°The pleasure is mine, Admiral,¡± Ashwood responded politely, shaking his hand.

    The two men stared at each other for a few seconds.

    Lieutenant Ivanova, a short woman with red hair, shuffled awkwardly.

    Finally, the Admiral broke the silence, ¡°I think it would be best if we dispensed with pretences. We are both supposed to retrieve the weapon for the Republic, yet, if the reports from the surviving Captains are accurate, then we are presented with another problem altogether."

    ¡°And what would that be?¡± Ashwood asked, mildly curious about the Admiral¡¯s reasoning.

    ¡°Eigos, of course, Colonel.¡±

    Ashwood inclined his head in acceptance. If the metaphorical bullet had not almost certainly already been fired, his agreement would even be sincere.

    The natives and their Custodian were an enigma, one with a possibly disastrous answer. Still, Athena wished for war with Eigos and it would be a lie to say that Ashwood did not agree. While letting sleeping dragons lie might be beneficial in the short term, they¡¯d wake up eventually. Better to seize the initiative and slay the beast while it is unaware.

    ¡°I assume you have questions?¡± Ashwood asked.

    The skeletal admiral nodded, ¡°To say that the reports we¡¯ve received are confusing would be an understatement.¡±

    Ashwood hmmed, ¡°I suppose our friends in orbit wouldn¡¯t have seen much. So, what would you like to know?¡±

    The Admiral rolled his eyes, ¡°Everything. Start with what you know of the weapon.¡±

    Ashwood chuckled, ¡°That will be quite quick then. I don¡¯t really know anything about it.¡±

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Admiral Renard frowned, ¡°You must have at least seen something.¡±

    The Colonel nodded, ¡°Yes, I can tell you how things looked like and their aftermath, certainly. However, I¡¯ve no idea about the how.¡±

    ¡°That is better than nothing,¡± Renard motioned with his hand for him to continue.

    ¡°Very well then,¡± Ashwood acquiesced, before explaining what he had seen during his encounters with the Eigosian weapon.

    By the end of his recollection, most of the officers in the room were frowning.

    ¡°That¡­ That almost sounds like magic,¡± The red-headed Lieutenant commented.

    This elicited even more frowns, with even Ashwood joining in.

    Mainly because the woman was right. It did sound like magic.

    ¡°Now, now, let¡¯s not jump to conclusions, Ivanova. We no longer live in mud huts, there is no need to attribute the unknown to magic. I¡¯m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation,¡± Colonel Navarro, rebuked. He was a man of average height, with black hair, brown eyes and wore the black uniform of the navy.

    ¡°You know what they say about advanced technology and magic,¡± Ashwood added.

    ¡°Magic or not, it doesn¡¯t really matter for now,¡± Renard spoke loudly to silence the room before continuing, ¡°The natives have already shown us just what they think of our people. By all accounts, they lack proper technology. Whether their power comes from a hidden weapon system or something more esoteric, they clearly lack the means to use it en masse. For now.¡±

    The room descended into silence as those present thought about the Admiral¡¯s words.

    ¡°We could always just throw a few asteroids and nukes at the problem,¡± Lieutenant Jane said, breaking the silence with her monotone voice.

    Both Navarro and Ivanova turned to look at her, their faces sporting incredulous expressions.

    Ashwood just sighed. He had gotten a fairly good grasp on the Lieutenant¡¯s personality, so he was fairly sure that Jane wasn¡¯t actually serious.

    ¡°That¡¯s, we can¡¯t do that¡­¡± Ivanova began, but the Admiral silenced her with a gesture before glaring around the room, mainly at Jane.

    ¡°It is an option. An option of last resort, to be exact. While the Eigosian ideology may seem fairly benign in isolation, it is inherently imperialistic and effectively at that. Should they figure out interstellar travel, a¡­ crusade, of sorts would likely follow eventually. I do not think I need to explain how disastrous such a thing would be, especially should they manage to maintain their hegemony over the weapon.¡±

    Ashwood wasn¡¯t sure he agreed with that, but it certainly sounded convincing. He wouldn¡¯t call what was essentially an authoritarian theocracy benign either though. Eigosians might be pretty decentralized and missing the nationalism, but the rest fit pretty well.

    Ivanova looked a lot more unhappy with the Admiral¡¯s words, but she kept silent.

    ¡°Such drastic measures are not worth discussing now, however,¡± Admiral Renard added, before pointedly looking at Ashwood again.

    ¡°For now we have two objectives: To bring the so-called Custodian to justice for her atrocities and to study and seize the weapon. As it just so happens, the Custodian is the key to both of them.¡±

    Ashwood shook his head, before interrupting the Admiral, ¡°That¡¯s not a good thing. In fact, I¡¯d argue the very opposite.¡±

    ¡°Oh, perhaps you missed a few things in your prior retelling?¡± Navarro commented.

    Ashwood frowned at his fellow Colonel. He thought he had been pretty clear.

    ¡°Until we understand how she is doing what she is doing, a direct attack will be far too reckless. Maybe she¡¯ll run out of batteries before shooting down the whole task force, maybe she won¡¯t.¡±

    The resulting silence was rather awkward, as the officers present were forced to recall that yes, the primitives had actually outright destroyed one battlecruiser and crippled another in a single attack.

    ¡°They couldn¡¯t possibly do that. Could they?¡± Ivanova asked.

    Renard responded, voice thoughtful, ¡°I doubt it. Magic or not, the Custodian is clearly important to the system in some way, with her own skill being a likely weak link. You never saw her do more than two things at once, did you, Ashwood?¡±

    He gave it some thought, before shaking his head in the negative.

    ¡°While we can not discount fail-safes, this does provide a potential avenue of attack,¡± Navarro said.

    Ashwood held his tongue, silently hoping to be very far away from such an avenue.

    ¡°It is a possibility, still, Colonel Ashwood has a point. A head-on attack would be risky and from what I understand it isn¡¯t a risk we need to shoulder. Do you concur, Ashwood?¡±

    He mulled the question over for a few seconds before responding, ¡°I would not say that everyone down there is happy with the status-quo and the Custodian¡¯s leadership, no. In general, the further away from the centre of the Church''s power, the less fanatic the populace seemed.¡±

    Ashwood paused for a moment, ¡°Still, I¡¯m not sure if there are many who would actually be willing to go against the Custodian, especially after her recent performance. But finding out shouldn¡¯t be too risky and there are a few likely candidates I can think of. ¡±

    It seemed that all that time he had spent flying around the various Eigosian kingdoms wasn¡¯t going to be a complete waste. He only hoped that it wouldn¡¯t be him who¡¯d be sent to negotiate. He¡¯d already had quite enough of spoiled aristocrats for the rest of his life the first time.

    Ashwood doubted he¡¯d be that lucky.

    Hopefully such a mission would at least keep him far away from the Custodian.

 Chapter 24 - I, for one, welcome our new robot overlord

    As a shuttle once again descended towards the surface of Eigos, the Colonel bemoaned his bad fortune in silence.

    His prediction turned out accurate. With Ashwood being the only expert on Eigosian culture, the Admiral spared no time in assigning him his next mission and kicking him off the Bastion.

    Annoyingly, the old man did not even let him take his men, sending a complement of the Bastion¡¯s own soldiers with him. With Jane along he wasn¡¯t quite helpless, but his situation was far from ideal.

    Especially when it was rather likely that civil war had already erupted back home. Things were bound to get dangerous when the news would finally make its way to the Admiral.

    Ashwood released another sigh. He really had hoped to see the last of Eigos.

    He¡¯d rather join the civil war proper, even.

    The Colonel wasn¡¯t terribly eager to help kill his fellow countryman, but he did believe in the cause. How could he not, when he was both rational and educated?

    It was a simple fact that humanity could not be trusted to rule over itself. Anyone even slightly acquainted with Terran history could see it. The many millennia of humanity¡¯s bloody past were nothing but a testament to that notion.

    Dozens upon dozens of economic and political systems. Millions of permutations. All of it was a grand failure. From the city-states of Ancient Greece to the monarchies of the Dark Ages and even the modern notion of the Republic and democracy.

    Worse, the weakest link present in all of those systems was crystal clear to anyone who dared to look. Humans.

    In many ways, democracy could be seen as an attempt to minimize the impact of humanity on the country. It was extremely ironic, but with a multitude of people in charge, many of humanity¡¯s worst qualities could not easily fight their way to the fore.

    An ingenious system, until some mildly charismatic stooge impassioned the crowds, who then happily threw away the shackles of democracy in favour of more efficient leadership. If they even realized what exactly they were voting for, that is.

    In the end, it was all the same. Humanity could simply not be trusted to rule itself. That way lay eternal war and strife. It was human nature. The greedy and amoral would always seek power and they would eventually succeed, for eternity was a long time. It was a statistical certainty, empirically proven by the entirety of human history.

    Putting a machine in charge was certainly a gamble, but more importantly, it had never been tried.

    How could humanity hope to break the cycle if we never truly tried anything different?

    The Republic might last a few more centuries before corruption wormed its way too deeply, but it would fall to human greed and lust for power eventually, like all countries before.

    Ashwood would rather wager it all on Athena, on something different. Many agreed.

    Perhaps it would turn out to be a mistake. The Colonel did not think so, but even then, it would have been worth it. Better to try for a better future and fail than simply maintain the doomed status quo.

    Not that any amount of treasonous thoughts would get him off the cursed moon.

    Instead of fighting for his ideals, he was heading to the Kerania kingdom, the southernmost country on the continent. And one with rather notable anti-Church sentiment, if his last visit was anything to go by.

    Joy.

    It was almost funny. Ashwood hardly liked the Church of Eternity and its uncanny leader, but even he had to admit that their laws were quite sensible, especially so for a medieval society. Without them, the Kerania Kingdom would be practically indistinguishable from any of the barbaric kingdoms of Earth¡¯s past.

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    In other words, not a place he would be happy to be within a hundred miles of. Not that the more devout Eigosian countries were much more appealing, but it was something.

    Their flight ended way too quickly and Ashwood soon found himself standing on a meadow along with twenty of Renard¡¯s soldiers and Jane, the shuttle parked behind them. They stood within a kilometre of the Kerania¡¯s kingdom capital, L-something.

    The Colonel grimaced and forced himself to check his notes. He would describe himself as someone who enjoyed learning but having to memorize so much information that would be completely useless the moment he got away from Eigos annoyed him quite a bit.

    At least their arrival had not gone unnoticed, as he could already see a group of riders heading towards them from the city¡¯s gate.

    As the group of around forty riders approached, Ashwood did his best to steel himself. He really hoped that they didn¡¯t magic up more fourteen-year-olds for him to wed or take as concubines. He stifled a shudder. There was something extremely disturbing about seeing a parent do his best to sell his child to a stranger.

    How do you trust such people in any case? What line would someone willing to sell their child for power not cross?

    Of course, Ashwood knew that he was being rather uncharitable. Cultural norms, honour, and the simple eye-for-an-eye nature of humankind made these ¡®marriages¡¯ quite a bit safer and more palatable than one would expect at first glance, but it still disgusted him.

    The riders soon arrived, their metal armour gleaming in the sun. One of them broke off, guiding his horse towards the Terrans.

    ¡°His Highness Prince George greets you on behalf of the royal family and the kingdom. We would be honoured to host your people in our great city once again, visitors from the stars.¡± The knight spoke in Sirnesian, indicating one of the men, presumably the prince.

    ¡°We are honoured by your generosity,¡± Ashwood responded with a fake smile, in the same language.

    ¡°If you are ready to depart, we shall escort you to the palace?¡± The rider asked.

    Ashwood just nodded. The riders, including the speaker, fell in formation around them, and the indicated man, easily recognizable by his extra shiny armour, settled in the front.

    They were first guided onto a nearby road and then they marched towards the city gates, already passing quite a few houses that surrounded the road and sprawled beneath the city walls.

    Ashwood grew steadily more amused as he listened to their escort''s chatter. His grasp on Arlas, the language native to the Kerania Kingdom, was not very good and he¡¯d certainly struggle to speak it, but with the help of his implants, he could understand it reasonably well. The riders would be quite dismayed if they knew, but for Ashwood, it was quite a novel experience.

    He had never before been insulted for not owning a horse.

    In contrast, Ashwood and his guards moved in silence, unnerving their native honour guard and adding to Ashwood''s amusement.

    As they marched, poorly dressed locals emerged from their homes to stare at them in both awe and fear.

    Soon they reached the city gates and the entrance to the city proper, an imposing and clearly functional piece of architecture. The wall was easily over ten meters tall and made from stone, with the gatehouse standing even taller.

    As they marched through the admittedly impressive city gates, Ashwood frowned as something unpleasant occurred to him.

    Did the Custodian feel the same way when treating with us? Just mild amusement?

    The thought was rather off-putting and it took Ashwood a while to pinpoint why. It was because he somewhat respected the strange woman. He didn¡¯t believe that she was a fool who didn¡¯t understand who she was messing with like many of the more eager men on the Bastion. Ashwood was certain that she knew a good amount of the Republic''s capabilities, perhaps more than she should. Yet she seemingly didn¡¯t care.

    It was easy to brush it off as simple ignorance. However, Ashwood felt too paranoid to let himself be outsmarted by Occam¡¯s Razor again.

    He shook his head slightly. There was nothing too it. He¡¯d just stay as far away from her as possible, something he had already planned to do.

    As they continued through the medieval city, more of the locals assembled around, watching the procession. They wore tunics, often quite colourful, but otherwise looked just like regular humans.

    Were these normal times, Ashwood could see scientists killing each other for an opportunity to study these people. Unsurprisingly, neither the colonists nor Ashwood¡¯s ships carried any experts on the human genome or the required equipment to study such.

    He had to wonder whether the Admiral brought someone. It wasn¡¯t very important in the grand scheme of things, but Ashwood had to admit that he had grown quite curious.

    During his time stranded on the planet, he had learned that Eigos had a history that supposedly went back thousands of years. Unless much of the history of these people was somehow manufactured, Eigos couldn¡¯t be a lost colony. Perhaps not a terribly surprising revelation at this juncture, but it begged quite a big question.

    Eventually, they passed the other two walls and arrived at the palace.

    It was time for Ashwood to practice diplomacy once again.

 Chapter 25 - Not Diplomacy, yet

    It was, not, in fact, time for Ashwood to practice diplomacy again. Not yet, at least.

    The Colonel was led along with his entourage to the guest wing of the palace, where a few servants helped them settle. They would meet with the king in the evening, much more quickly than the first time around. No guesses as to why.

    Ashwood had to admit that he felt a bit curious about how the locals perceived them now and how much they knew of the¡­ confrontation. From his perspective, the entire thing was an unmitigated disaster, only alleviated by the fact that he technically was a mere bystander. He could imagine several possible interpretations the locals could have arrived at, not many of them favourable.

    The servants led them to luxurious-looking rooms, the same ones he had stayed in previously, before ever having the pleasure of meeting the Custodian. The room was meant for foreign dignitaries, with the surrounding ones meant for servants and guards. It looked appropriately gaudy. A large king-sized bed sat in the middle of the room, with a life-size portrait of the royal family straight in front of it. The king looked much younger than Ashwood knew him to be in real life, with black hair, broad shoulders and a stern face. Beside him stood the dead queen, matching her partner¡¯s height, if not his mood. She, like her three depicted children, was smiling. The three children looked quite similar to each other, with black hair and sharp facial features much like their father. Only Marcus, the oldest prince, though he still couldn¡¯t have been more than thirteen in the picture, stood out thanks to his height. The other two, George and Violet, must have been around ten. Ashwood idly wondered whether he''d meet the princess this time. He had not met her last time and had not cared enough to ask about her whereabouts.

    Ashwood removed his gaze from the painting, examining the rest of his room.

    A mirror about as tall as him stood in the far left corner of the room, with a few dressers and wardrobes covering the walls. An ornate round table that could comfortably fit four people occupied the side of the room not dominated by the bed. Two additional doors led to a walk-in closet and a bathroom. There were no windows.

    Ashwood sat on the bed. It felt as disappointing as he remembered. Modern technology was a blessing, even for the mundane. He looked at the stern face of the painted king again. It stared straight into his eyes, his expression indicating Ashwood¡¯s unworthiness. The Colonel would never admit it, but he found the painting quite humorous. It was just so¡­ blatant.

    He closed his eyes, grateful for the moment of calm. The past few days had been hectic, his fate uncertain. While he was hardly out of hot water, his situation could be considered stable, though still time-sensitive. While a full-scale civil war had not erupted before the departure of Erinyes, it was only a matter of time. Code Zeta could not be called off.

    A few beads of sweat started running down the back of his neck. He had only two options. To continue, and hope Renard would not have them all killed when the news broke. A good chance, especially since there were bound to be many more loyal to the cause hidden amongst the task force.

    The other option was to run away and hide on Eigos, leaving his soldiers and hoping for Athena¡¯s eventual victory.

    Which meant that he really only had one option. Abandoning his people to hide for possibly years or more amongst primitives was both distasteful and short-sighted.

    His best bet was likely to stay on Eigos. Every other place in the system belonged fully to Renard. He doubted that the Admiral would be so willing to bombard the moon either. Not with how things had worked out for Song. Should things turn sour, he¡¯d have a much better chance of survival down here. Perhaps he could even befriend the stoic Captain Grimsson, his unsubtle minder down here.

    The Colonel nodded his head, much calmer. Clear objectives and planning were vital for good mental health.

    A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

    He stood up with only a mild frown and schooled his face before reaching the door. Lieutenant Jane and Captain Grimsson greeted him on the other side, both still in the dark blue infantry armour, their helmets under their arms. He hoped Jane was not too annoyed with having to wear the inferior armour.

    Ashwood himself had not taken off his suit either. Two of Renard¡¯s soldiers flanked the door, fully armoured, ostensibly guarding him. Their faceless helmets briefly looked at him, before returning their eyes to Grimsson.

    The Captain was a large, broad-shouldered man with short brown hair, brown eyes and a square, kind-looking face. Teddy bear was not too bad of a description, though Ashwood doubted that Grimsson would approve of it.

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    Ashwood did not bother speaking before motioning the two of them into his rooms and walking back inside. As he was turning, he caught Grimsson giving one of the guards a small nod out of the corner of his eye. The Colonel resisted rolling his eyes.

    The two followed him inside, Jane closing the door.

    He marched back to the bed and sat on it, ignoring the table.

    Grimsson paused, but Jane didn¡¯t even blink before dragging one of the chairs closer to the bed. After a few seconds, the captain followed her example.

    The three stared at each other for a moment, before Grimsson broke the silence, ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡±

    Ashwood exchanged a glance with Jane, before turning his attention to the Admiral¡¯s lackey, scrutinizing him for a moment.

    ¡°Wait and see. We at least need to find out how they see our confrontation with the Custodian before we try anything.¡±

    Grimsson frowned, ¡°Do we really have to bother with such things, when, you know?¡±

    He patted his armour suit in lieu of explaining.

    The Colonel tapped his fingers on the bed frame before speaking, ¡°I understand that your knowledge of this place is near non-existent, yes?¡±

    Upon the Captain¡¯s nod, Ashwood continued, ¡°I have come to find that the familiarity of this place is nothing but a trap. A lot is indeed familiar to what we know, but there are too many hidden pitfalls for any plan depending on such guesses to be safe.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡± Grimsson asked.

    Ashwood paused, thinking for a moment, ¡°The political situation on the continent is a good example. On the surface, it is reminiscent of the Middle Ages on Earth¡¯s continents. Disparate countries, all competing with each other but following the same religion. It is through this lens we saw things during our first forays down here.¡±

    ¡°I take it that doesn¡¯t fit?¡±

    Hearing Grimsson¡¯s question, Jane snorted, inviting his glare. She pretended not to notice.

    Ashwood glanced at her, before answering, ¡°It is and it isn¡¯t. That¡¯s where the problem lies. This place is familiar enough not to feel alien but alien enough that assuming anything is dangerous.¡±

    Grimsson frowned, ¡°Can you explain?¡±

    ¡°On the surface, the situation appears as I¡¯ve described. Digging further, you¡¯ll discover that the continent¡¯s countries are strangely reverent of the Church. Then if you are lucky, you¡¯ll find out that not only do the countries pay tithes, but they are very significant sums. After that, you might wonder why they pay and what exactly the Church spends all that money on. That one took some work. It is soldiers. The Church has a massive, ever-present military, ostensibly to serve as a sort of pseudo-police force. Quite an extreme deviation, hidden in plain sight.¡±

    ¡°Was this how you thought when you first arrived?¡±

    Ashwood nodded, ¡°None of this was secret in any way. The common people are just ridiculously uneducated and the nobles tend to dislike talking about the Church. But the real political system is more akin to a relatively loose Empire than anything else, with the various kingdoms vassalized under the Church.¡±

    The Captain nodded, ¡°I think I get it, but what does it have to do with us now?¡±

    Ashwood started tapping the bedframe again, ¡°The aristocracy here is disgruntled with the Church. This was plain to see when we first came and it is doubtful it has changed in any meaningful way. It is why we are here, after all.¡±

    He paused his tapping, ¡°It¡¯d be a mistake to think them natural allies, however. The Church might simply not care about such grumblings or perhaps does not know. It is very much possible that they¡¯ll turn on us the moment we make our intent clear in hopes of currying favour with the Church.¡±

    Grimsson hummed in consideration, while Jane remained still and silent

    Captain Grimsson snapped his fingers, ¡°And we can¡¯t know whether they are as helpless as they appear.¡±

    ¡°That is certainly part of it. Don¡¯t forget that we are here to convince them to turn against the Custodian. A lot depends on what they know of and how they perceive our confrontation with the Church and of course, the local political situation.¡±

    And wasn¡¯t the ¡®our¡¯ doing some heavy lifting there.

    He continued after a pause, ¡°They took us in without protest, which could be both good or bad. If we are very unlucky, they might even try to gift us or our corpses to the Church and have the means to do so.¡±

    Jane raised an eyebrow at his words, prompting Ashwood to elaborate, ¡°That is not at all likely, but as I said, it wouldn¡¯t do to assume. For all their humanity, these people are quite alien.¡±

    Grimsson mulled Ashwood¡¯s words over for a few seconds, before nodding.

    Jane broke the silence after a moment, ¡°What if they refuse anyway?¡±

    ¡°The opinion of the Church should be very similar in Kerania¡¯s northern neighbours, Accad and Faras, so we¡¯d try there." Ashwood said.

    The Colonel watched his two companions as they digested his words. Jane¡¯s face was as blank as ever. Grimsson appeared thoughtful. The Captain was being a lot less antagonistic than Ashwood had expected. Hopefully, that was a good sign.

    ¡°If that fails too, well. The order of succession in such archaic societies is so very exploitable.¡±

    Ashwood patted his own armour, mimicking Grimsson¡¯s earlier gesture.

 Chapter 26 - Friendly chat

    The Custodian sat on a chair, reading through a newly made dictionary, the only illumination provided by a lit torch set attached to the dungeon¡¯s wall. Her chair sat in the middle of one of the underground corridors that ran through the Temple¡¯s dungeon, facing a reinforced door. A dishevelled, but healthy-looking man stared at her through the opened slit in the door, while sitting on his cot, his brown eyes tired. He was of average height, though you could not tell from his slouched posture. His head sported messy black hair and his square face was covered in stubble. He wore a grey robe, identical to a servant¡¯s garments.

    ¡°This word, democracy,¡± Serana said, speaking in English, ¡°Can you expand upon it?¡±

    The man tried to school his features, but intrigue was clearly not part of his skill set, resulting in a somewhat constipated expression. His current disposition was still quite the improvement from their first chat, however. Once he understood that the Custodian wasn¡¯t about to kill him and only wished to ask trivial questions, his mood had noticeably improved. Especially since he had been left alone for a few days. That had been hours ago.

    ¡°Uh, of course, it means a state ruled by its people,¡± He said, voice tired.

    Serana stared at him for a moment, watching him squirm, before deciding to explain. Not everyone could be as competent as Aisac, ¡°Yes, but how? You¡¯ve told me that there are hundreds of billions of you. Surely you do not all gather together and argue every time there is an issue?¡±

    The man stared at her blankly for a few seconds before speaking, ¡°Representatives, mostly. The people vote for representatives that they favour and those make the decisions.¡±

    The Custodian absorbed his words in silence. What a strange, easily exploitable system. It was unfortunate that there was likely little she could do from Eigos, but the knowledge would be useful eventually.

    She looked the man over. He was slouched, his eyes half closed, but there was also a hint of exasperation. She judged him worn enough for more important questions.

    ¡°Interesting. Is that why you were fighting amongst yourself, a disagreement between these representatives?¡±

    The man scoffed, ¡°No, of course not. It¡¯s..¡± He paused, thinking, ¡°Like a noble trying to usurp a king?¡±

    Serana quirked an eyebrow, ¡°A rebellion you mean?¡±

    The man had the decency to look embarrassed, ¡°Uh, yeah.¡±

    A rebellion, yet by all accounts it was his side that fired the first shot. There was certainly more to the story, but Serana didn¡¯t want the prisoner to think too much about what they were talking about.

    ¡°That is certainly unfortunate. Does your Republic follow any Gods?¡±

    The man blinked at the yet another abrupt topic change, before scratching his scraggly beard, ¡°There are a few religions, though they are not very prominent outside of Terra. It¡¯s not something I¡¯m familiar with much.¡±

    The Custodian suppressed a frown. This was a very delicate topic, something she had reserved for the very end. The chance that the prisoner would realize that their friendly chat had been turned into an interrogation was high when something of such great importance was discussed.

    Yet he answered casually while giving a non-answer.

    ¡°Terra is your capital world, correct?¡±

    He nodded while one of his hands played with the straw of his bed.

    ¡°What do you know of these religions?¡±

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    The prisoner scratched his head, ¡°I was born on¡­ uh, an agricultural world. We call it Dawn. See, while crops can be grown in space, it is not cost-efficient, much better for it to be grown on planet and-¡±

    Serana watched impassively as the man babbled. He had done so before, it was not anything remarkable, starved for conversation as he was. Still, an inkling of suspicion formed.

    ¡°¡­so Dawn was colonized a few of centuries back and-¡±

    ¡°The religions?¡± Serana interrupted.

    ¡°Ah, right, sorry. I got a bit carried away,¡± He chuckled awkwardly, ¡°Um, so what I was trying to say, is that Dawn is one of the tertiary colonies, meaning it was colonized from secondary colonies, which themselves came from the primaries, the so called core worlds,¡± He paused, ¡°That¡¯s uhh, obvious too I guess.¡±

    The man sped up a little under her stare, ¡°Anyway, the primaries were colonised from Terra itself during the First Expansion. While our worlds are relatively well-connected, Terran religions didn¡¯t truly make it past the primaries.¡±

    Serana blinked, ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡±

    ¡°I know some things!¡± The man defended himself, ¡°It¡¯s just, that religions only really figure in ancient Terran history and I never paid much attention to that.¡±

    ¡°I see.¡±

    The Custodian didn¡¯t see, but she was fairly certain the man was being genuine. The only conclusion she could come to was that the Republic¡¯s God or Gods were confined to Terra. This in itself would not be strange, since Eternity was rather similar, but the apparent lack of any sort of involvement outside of Terra was odd, even if there was a plethora of possible explanations. She doubted the prisoner would be of much help with figuring out this particular mystery.

    Even though the lack of concrete information rankled, this could nonetheless be seen as great news. At first, she had thought the Terrans were secretive of any patron they might have. Understandable, when they were far outside its protection. Now the picture became clearer. She¡¯d have to verify with the other prisoners, but if this one spoke truly, then the Republic had no divinity supporting its expansion. Whatever or whoever was on Terra was of no importance, considering the distances involved. Even a God would hesitate to travel so far, especially with how rooted in their capital world the Republic¡¯s supposed divinity seemed to be.

    Perhaps there was nothing, even. That their religions would survive for so long without any backing seemed unlikely, but Serana knew that her people had once done something similar, even if she could barely recall any details now. A great opportunity, should such prove true in the Republic.

    As these thoughts ran through her mind, the prisoner began to grow uncomfortable under her gaze.

    ¡°Well?¡± Serana spoke.

    He blinked, ¡°Well what?¡±

    She suppressed a another sigh, ¡°What are those ¡®some things¡¯ you speak of?¡±

    ¡°Ah, right, sorry. I¡¯ve never been a good conversationalist, you know. Right, right, religions. Uh, let me think, it¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve heard this,¡± He paused, thinking for a moment, before continuing, ¡°There used to be many different ones with many different gods, before a few religions worshipping the same God in different ways mostly took over. Those are the ones I spoke of earlier, still present on Terra and the Primaries. The more distant colonies usually have less organized and more spiritual beliefs, if they have any.¡±

    He scratched his nose, ¡°That¡¯s pretty much it. I might remember more, but as I said, religion was never something I was interested in.¡±

    As he spoke, Serana grew pensive. What the prisoner described could pretty much be applied to Eigos as well. Had she not worked hard to maintain unity amongst the Church, she had little doubt that there would be other groups claiming to worship Eternity in different, ''better'' ways. After all, a few had popped up here or there over the years. Had Eternity not seen fit to make Serana Her Custodian, the situation on Terra would very likely be a near exact match to Eigos.

    The man began to fidget, but Serana paid him no mind. She had no more questions to ask for now in any case.

    If nothing else, the prisoner''s story made the likelihood of some sort of divinity existing on Terra higher.

    She couldn¡¯t help but wonder how a clash between such giants would look. Would there even be anything of Eigos left by the end?

    An acceptable way for her immortal life to end, certainly.

    The prisoner mustered his courage and spoke up, bringing her out of her thoughts, ¡°Hey, what¡¯s been happening out there? You¡¯ll be able to exchange me soon, right?¡±

    Serana turned her cold eyes back to the man. Truthfully, she was not even certain whether the Terran¡¯s even knew she had taken prisoners.

    ¡°Your kind has yet to return, but rest assured, I have little want to waste resources on captives.¡±

    The man let out a sigh of relief, ¡°That¡¯s good. Not that it¡¯s bad here,¡± He chuckled awkwardly again, ¡°I¡¯d just rather, uh, return to my people. Hopefully, they¡¯ll come back soon.¡±

    ¡°I hope so as well.¡±

 Chapter 27 - Diplomacy

    ¡°Now announcing, his excellency Colonel William Ashwood of the mighty Terran Republic!¡±

    The voice of the¡­ announcer person loudly proclaimed beyond the large doors before which Ashwood stood. He was quite sure the position had some sort of a title. It definitely wasn¡¯t announcer. Greeter? That was even worse.

    Before he could think about it more, the doors before him opened, letting him see the throne room of the Kerania kingdom.

    A large space, filled with richly dressed nobles and courtiers, decorated with precious metals. Large golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, though they were unused, as the morning light provided enough illumination. The floors were covered by fancy carpets that must have been a nightmare to clean. Ashwood doubted that cleaning was something any of these people concerned themselves with.

    Gaudy was the first word that came to his mind. Enough to awe the poor locals, probably. It only reminded Ashwood of these people''s primitive nature.

    He started walking forward, his armoured feet silenced by the carpet. He had not thought they¡¯d let him come armoured, but apparently, he was seen as some sort of a knight equivalent. As such, he had the right to present himself in armour, sans helmet. They¡¯d probably change their minds quite quickly if they knew the armour augmented his strength as well.

    He had to leave his guards behind though. Of course, they were still connected through their comms. A single word and reinforcements would reach him within a couple of minutes. He could probably last that long against swords, even without a weapon or helmet.

    The natives gawked at him, as usual.

    Ashwood paid them no mind, as he calmly walked towards the throne.

    Right of the King sat three smaller thrones, two of which were occupied by his sons. The furthest one was empty. Ashwood recognized Prince George as the man who escorted him to the city. To the left sat another empty throne, matching the King¡¯s in grandeur.

    Soon he came to a stop below the royal family. As the thrones sat upon an elevated platform, he once again had to crane his neck upwards. Even though his counterpart was both shorter and sitting.

    How vexing.

    He didn¡¯t let his thoughts show on his face, bowing slightly towards the seated royals instead.

    A moment later, the King spoke, as custom dictated.

    ¡°Welcome, once again, to our great kingdom, honoured Envoy,¡± King Joseph Kirslev said, his resounding voice silencing the hall.

    ¡°I thank you for the warm welcome, Your Highness,¡± Ashwood responded.

    The King inclined his head, ¡°Let us move to a calmer venue.¡±

    Murmurs erupted among the gathered nobles at the sovereign''s words, but the King ignored them, standing up instead.

    Ashwood saw no real reason to refuse either and after a nod, followed the King. The man himself started walking behind his throne. Following, Ashwood quickly saw the King¡¯s goal, a guarded door, almost hidden by the thrones and their elevation. As he passed the seated princes, he noticed their dark looks.

    The Colonel wondered whether he had broken another custom or some such.

    Well, the King didn¡¯t seem offended.

    Though as an experienced politician, he is probably much better at hiding his thoughts.

    He shook his head lightly before following the King through the door, its guards watching him like hawks. There was no use in dwelling on such things now.

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    He¡¯d have to review things once he had time though.

    Behind the door lay a small stone chamber, illuminated by candles. It was dominated by a round table sculpted from dark stone, its sides intricately engraved. Ashwood gave it a cursory glance, noting that it seemed to tell some sort of a story. He could see a man picking up a sword and walking off to battle, but the rest of the engraving layout of his field of view. Two goblets and a pitcher lay on the table.

    The two of them were the only two occupants.

    As he entered, the guards closed the door behind him, they themselves staying outside.

    While Ashwood stood, the King sat on the opposite side of the table and gestured for him to do the same.

    Acquiescing, the Colonel sat.

    The two stared at each other in silence for a moment, before the old King spoke, ¡°I must apologize for our previous conduct. Your needs went against the Church and fighting them is something only fools and the desperate do. All are remembered as fools in any case.¡±

    The King chuckled self-deprecatingly.

    Ashwood shook his head, a bit surprised and annoyed at the King¡¯s words. It looked like this visit would be a bust.

    ¡°I accept your apology, but it is not needed. I had not properly understood what I had been asking. Your people had not caused any offence in any case.¡±

    ¡°I see. How magnanimous. Truly, your people must be very wise.¡±

    The Colonel blinked at the unexpected brownnosing. While the people here had not been terribly rude the last time he came, this was still a big behaviour change.

    ¡°Thank you for your kind words, Your Majesty.¡±

    ¡°Ah, please, let¡¯s dispense with the formalities, Colonel. You may call me Joseph.¡±

    Ashwood nodded, ¡°Then you must call me William.¡±

    ¡°Of course, of course, it would be my honour,¡± King Joseph smiled and nodded, before picking up the pitcher and filling both the goblets, ¡°Please, enjoy the wine, it¡¯s one of the best on the continent.¡±

    Ashwood eyed the glass suspiciously, ¡±I¡¯m afraid that we are forbidden from drinking on duty.¡±

    And poison was one of the better ways the natives had of killing him.

    The King didn¡¯t let the smile slip off his face, ¡°Sensible, more for me then!¡±

    The Colonel looked on, mildly bewildered as the King took heavy gulps from his goblet. Finally putting it down, he spoke again, ¡°So, what brings you to our kingdom again, William?¡±

    Ashwood tapped his fingers on the table, ¡°What do you know of our¡­ confrontation with the Church?¡±

    There went his idea of subtly weaselling the information out of the King, but he wasn¡¯t just going to spill their objectives. He definitely didn¡¯t have a future in politics.

    Joseph paused for a moment, thinking the question over, ¡°You dealt a great blow to their reputation, killing many. An auspicious beginning.¡±

    The Colonel raised an eyebrow at the exceedingly diplomatic phrasing, ¡°You see our attempt as a success?¡±

    The King frowned, before understanding dawned on him, ¡°Ah, pride. Let me tell you something, William. I¡¯ve never seen the Custodian fight, but I¡¯ve journeyed to the First Temple before my coronation, as do most rulers. It is a tradition of sorts, with the Custodian granting an audience to any such future monarch. What I saw made me stop doubting the history books.¡±

    Ashwood listened attentively as the King went on, ¡°You see, by all accounts, the Custodian does not fight battles,¡± He paused dramatically, ¡°Because it is impossible to fight her. Any fight she participates in is an automatic loss. Yet you fought. You killed. It might very well be a historic first, a great achievement. You cannot think of her as a human, William. We are mere ants in front of her.¡±

    The Colonel had to resist shaking his head. He had thought hard about the possible views the locals could have regarding their confrontation. Something like this was still outside of his expectations. The King could be lying, but Ashwood didn¡¯t think so. It made a perverse kind of sense.

    ¡°That is a very grim way of looking at things, Your Maj-,¡± He quickly corrected himself, ¡°-Joseph.¡±

    ¡°Is it? My children think the same. Hope is the privilege of youth, I suppose. Still, I do not think it is incorrect. Of course, you¡¯ve changed things. Ants can¡¯t fight back.¡±

    Ashwood did not think himself particularly hopeful or young, but it was true that he did not see the Custodian the same way as the locals did.

    While Ashwood thought, the King went on the attack again, ¡°You¡¯ve yet to answer my question, Envoy.¡±

    Ashwood stared into the old King¡¯s eyes for a moment before speaking, ¡°Same thing as before, naturally. It is not so easy to deny the will of the Republic. We¡¯ll just have to deal with a few things beforehand. ¡±

    The King smiled, but his eyes were cold, ¡°We¡¯d be glad to help you in your war against the Church of Eternity, honoured Envoy.¡±

    The Colonel frowned, ¡°Why?¡±

    He was rather puzzled at the King¡¯s decision when his words so clearly indicated his opinion of their chances against the Church.

    ¡°Why indeed. I suppose I am a fool.¡±

 Chapter 28 - Diplomacy II

    ¡°Let¡¯s talk specifics then,¡± Ashwood responded after some uncomfortable silence.

    There was clearly something the old King wasn¡¯t telling him, but he wasn¡¯t sure how much he should care either. He doubted it was something that would stop the Kerania kingdom from becoming the Republic¡¯s proxy on Eigos and so it probably didn¡¯t matter.

    The King nodded, reached under the table and pulled out a scroll.

    Ashwood looked on in mild surprise as the monarch unfurled a handmade map of the southern part of the continent. As the map detailed the three southern kingdoms of Farad, Accad and Kerania in great detail, the Colonel supposed it was of local make. In comparison, the mountain range which cut the three kingdoms off from the rest of the continent was very artistic and the northern territories lacked the attention of the south. The countries were still labelled, with one name being particularly prominent: The Sarak Archduchy.

    Even with the map¡¯s primitive origins, Ashwood studied it with great interest. He had much more detailed pictures taken from orbit, of course, but the borders and landmarks shown made it worthwhile.

    ¡°The mountains must make any invasions very difficult¡­¡± Ashwood commented.

    ¡°Quite right, using conventional means, the Teilen Mountains make moving any significant force an ordeal. All the passes have robust fortifications on both sides, as you can see,¡± The King pointed towards the little symbols that apparently depicted forts. They looked like two tiny towers.

    ¡°Right. What did you want to show me?¡± Ashwood asked. Hopefully, the King didn¡¯t just want to show off his map.

    King Joseph gestured towards the northern countries, ¡°The northerners are led by the Sarak Archduchy, which controls the northern sides of the Serpent and Fool¡¯s passes that lead into the Accadian kingdom. Those are the eastern ones, here,¡± He pointed towards two stylized passes, each side of both protected by a fort.

    ¡°The western Caspian Kingdom controls the Golden Pass leading to the Faras Kingdom, here. They are supported by the more northern Merev Kingdom and the Irasiel Queendom,¡± He pointed to both on the map, ¡°As far as we know, they¡¯ve mobilized around a hundred thousand men, though they have the capability for more. They seem to be aiming for the Sarakian mountain passes, though they¡¯ve yet to make a proper attempt at seizing the passes from the Accadians.¡±

    Ashwood frowned, ¡°You are at war?¡±

    The King nodded, not letting anything show on his face, whether triumph or sheepishness, ¡°Yes. Hostilities started soon after news of your battle reached us, with the other two southern kingdoms following our lead.¡±

    The Colonel stared at the King. At least the monarch¡¯s behaviour now made more sense. He quickly thought through the potential ramifications of this revelation, but couldn¡¯t think of anything significant. Losing the element of surprise and the opportunity for proper preparations wasn¡¯t good, but it wasn¡¯t terrible either.

    Still, there was one very important question he had to ask.

    ¡°And the Custodian? She hasn¡¯t come forward to turn your forts into craters?¡±

    The King had the good grace to look a bit apologetic, ¡°She hasn¡¯t left the First Temple, as far as we know. Though there have been reports of Knights wielding miracles around the Teilen mountain range.¡±

    Ashwood stared at the King with a constipated-looking expression, somewhat mirrored by the King¡¯s own grim look.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡®The Admiral jinxed it, didn¡¯t he? Was there a hundred little WMDs running around the place now? A thousand? Perhaps they were always there in secret, with only the Custodian using her powers in the open?¡¯

    The Colonel breathed out, giving himself more time to think and calming himself, ¡°Since your kingdom still exists, I¡¯m assuming the situation is not as bad as it seems?¡±

    The King¡¯s grimace became even more pronounced, ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure. There should be somewhere between five and twenty on the northern side of the mountains, with none having shown anything approaching the Custodian¡¯s level of power.¡±

    Ashwood rubbed his chin, ¡°That is good to hear,¡± He paused, then added in a murmur, ¡±Their presence might even be beneficial to us.¡±

    No one on his side wanted to poke the Custodian before they understood her power more. Assassination was an option, but they still understood too little. If it failed they might anger her enough to make any sort of reconciliation impossible. Dictators tended to have big egos, and Ashwood didn¡¯t think that the Custodian was much of an exception. Perhaps more importantly, they had no real idea what success would entail. Would another person simply take over her role, whatever it really was? Or was she the only one with the knowledge to make use of her power, with any possibility of the Republic gaining it for themselves disappearing with her death?

    Assuming the King spoke true, the so-called miracle-wielding Knights were an excellent opportunity to gain more information.

    The King looked at Ashwood in confusion, ¡°How so?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯d rather not poke the Custodian again so soon. While weaker versions of her running around will make any battles more costly, they will provide an excellent opportunity to learn more about her power,¡± Ashwood explained his thoughts out loud.

    That it would mostly be the natives dying for the information went unspoken.

    ¡®Still, we¡¯ll have to treat these miracle knights with caution. If they are anywhere near the Custodian¡¯s level¡­¡¯

    But they couldn¡¯t be. There was no way that someone capable of destroying warships in orbit would be deterred by a medieval fort for even a minute.

    King Joseph didn¡¯t seem terribly reassured, ¡°Understand her power?¡±

    Ashwood simply nodded.

    The King¡¯s face went carefully blank, ¡±I see.¡±

    The Colonel resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He could guess what was going through the King¡¯s mind. The fact the man was willing to fight against his supposed god¡¯s chosen but likely didn¡¯t believe that their power could be understood was definitely worth an eye-roll.

    Not that it really surprised Ashwood at this point. Eternity¡¯s power could not be disputed since no one ever saw the supposed divinity.

    ¡°Do you possess any concrete reports about the knights, Your Majesty?¡±

    The King inclined his head, ¡°They are in my study. I will have copies made and sent to your quarters. And I have told you to call me Joseph.¡±

    ¡°Thank you. I apologize, I must have forgotten, Joseph.¡±

    The King didn¡¯t look convinced but if it got his mind off the topic of religion Ashwood would count it as a win.

    The Colonel tapped the table again, ¡°I¡¯ll have to consult with my superiors before we agree to any concrete plans, but I¡¯d like to hear your intended course of action. It¡¯ll help me understand the situation more.¡±

    ¡°Truth be told, we had not planned much. There wasn¡¯t much of a point without your involvement.¡±

    Because they would have had no chance at victory without the Republic''s intervention.

    ¡°Surely you¡¯ve at least given some thought to the matter?¡±

    The King nodded, acceding to the Colonel¡¯s request, ¡°We planned to first clear the enemy forces in Accad and Faras. Unlike us, they did not manage to purge the Church¡¯s influence fully from their lands. That will have to happen now as well, though anything else will depend on what your people decide.¡±

    ¡®The Custodian abandoned her soldiers here?¡¯

    That couldn¡¯t be good for morale. Perhaps he¡¯d be able to make use of this in the future.

    Ashwood nodded at the King¡¯s words, ¡°I imagine so. I will contact my people and we can meet again in two days if that is acceptable?¡±

    ¡°That is acceptable. I look forward to many more fruitful meetings, William.¡±

 Chapter 29 - Bait

    The Custodian sat on a rock on a lake shore, her head tilted towards the night sky. Usually, Agnu¡¯s blue glow and size made seeing anything else quite difficult, but the gas giant was especially dim tonight, letting even ordinary people see the stars.

    However, the stars were not her focus. A few hours ago, some of the Terran starships left Agnu¡¯s shadow, approaching Eigos once again. Serana had been waiting.

    ¡®What will you teach me now?¡¯

    A muffled yawn interrupted her from her idle thoughts. She turned her head towards the tired-looking, grey-robed handmaiden. Sylviane.

    The black-haired girl¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°I apolog-¡±

    Serana waved her off, ¡°You have been awake for quite some time, have you not? I would not expect the impossible from you. Perhaps you should go and rest.¡±

    ¡°I, uh, thank you, Lady Custodian, but I can hardly go to sleep before you, it would be improper.¡±

    Serana struggled not to roll her eyes. She had not slept for the past few weeks, though she had spent the nights in the privacy of her tower.

    She settled for a raised eyebrow, ¡°I do believe you would not survive that, child. It will be some months yet before I need to rest.¡±

    Sylviane opened and closed her mouth, ¡°Ah.¡±

    The Custodian looked on with some amusement as the handmaiden tried to think of something to say. The girl really was quite squirrel-like.

    Eventually, she squeaked out, ¡°I¡¯m not that tired?¡±

    Serana hummed in acknowledgement, then returned her attention to the sky. If the girl did not want to rest, then she would hardly force her. Hopefully, she would not keel over in exhaustion. That would be annoying.

    The Custodian stayed like that for a few more hours, completely still except for her eyes. Long enough to see the starships disgorge their shuttles. As the first rays of dawn appeared, the last of the things disappeared from her view, landing far to the south.

    ¡®Disappointing, but expected,¡¯ Serana thought.

    She turned around to go back to the Temple, but paused upon spotting her handmaiden. The girl was staring at a tree with a vacant gaze, barely standing.

    Serana shook her head, muttering, ¡°Children¡­¡±

    She walked over and then poked Sylviane in the cheek.

    The girl¡¯s head immediately snapped towards her, then she tried to step back and tripped.

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    Before she could fall, Serana caught her by the shoulders and steadied her, ¡°Go rest.¡±

    Sylviane nodded, her eyes on the ground, before scampering away down the forest path.

    The Custodian shook her head again, before following at a more sedate pace. Hopefully, the girl would rest properly. She really should recruit another servant, but with the situation as it was, doing so would require more thought than usual. It would not do to carelessly upset the political situation now that such things had the potential to matter.

    Well, she wasn¡¯t completely decrepit yet, despite her age. She could manage on her own easily enough.

    Before she knew it, Serana arrived back in the newly christened war room, a repurposed conference room on the first floor of the Temple. While the summoned Order Masters had departed for their countries a day ago, the place was still far from empty. A large map of the continent sat on the marble table in the middle of the room, surrounded by stacks of documents. Knight Commander Aisac stood in the corner of the room, talking with two other knights.

    Their eyes met, and the Knight Commander quickly excused himself, striding towards Serana.

    ¡°Good morning, Lady Custodian. The Order Master of the Kerania Order departed for the harbour yesterday night along with the two Chosen assigned to him,¡± Aisac reported.

    She nodded, ¡°He will need them. The Terrans are sending troops to the southern kingdoms, as predicted.¡±

    ¡°Then I will relay your previous orders,¡± He paused, ¡°Or are there to be changes?¡±

    She shook her head, ¡°No, half to reinforce the passes, half deployed around the rest of the continent. Not counting the two that went with the Order Master, of course.¡±

    Aisac nodded and made to leave, but hesitated.

    Noticing, the Custodian prompted, ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°Will the Order Master be alright? Were it just Kerania, but¡­¡±

    Serana contemplated his question for a few seconds, before answering, ¡°Their fate is in their own hands now. I do not expect them to fall easily.¡±

    The Knight Commander didn¡¯t appear to be terribly satisfied with her answer, but left nonetheless.

    She had selected the oldest of the chosen knights to go, hoping that age would make them more cautious, even with divine power at their disposal. Still, they were bait and Aisac was smart enough to see it.

    Whether they lived or died truly was in their hands, but Serana did not rate their chances of success too high. Unless the Terrans were utterly incompetent there was not much of a chance for her to keep control of the south. In the best-case scenario, they¡¯d inconvenience the enemy greatly while gathering valuable information. However, she did hope that the Terrans would get their hands on one of the pendants. In a non-suspicious way, preferably. She would very much like to have a closer look at one of the spaceships.

    The Custodian sighed inaudibly. Time passed so slowly now that she had things to look forward to.

    Serana¡¯s gaze moved to the map, examining the kingdoms south of the Teilen mountains. Someone had painstakingly placed knight figurines over the places her Chosen knights were sent to, along with little flags to denote territory controlled by her forces.

    The port Kerania¡¯s Order Master sailed to was situated in the kingdom of Accad and still under the control of the local Church Knights, at least according to the latest reports. It would serve as an excellent base of operations for the local forces that could be supplied by the sea. The ocean was very treacherous, as such most kingdoms only possessed middling navies, if they had any at all. The southern kingdoms were no exception. A ship could travel from the Sarak Archduchy to Accad with good time, but the land route was much safer and only slightly slower.

    With the mountain passes carefully guarded, the sea was the only option for supplying her remaining forces in the south. A logistical nightmare, happily delegated out of her hands.

    She doubted it¡¯d stay that way for long. With Terran help, any remaining ports were going to be quickly seized.

    Serana was going to be very busy in the next few months.

 Chapter 30 - Prelude

    Order Master Keres disembarked the ship while displaying more confidence than he felt. In truth, he felt like a fraud. He had seen his fair share of combat in his younger years, but bandits and brigands weren¡¯t exactly challenging opponents. Often, they did not even try to fight, fleeing straight away. Those years were long behind him in any case. Even wearing his armour was an effort now, let alone swinging a sword.

    His value now lay in his experience and learning. Order Master¡¯s were first and foremost military commanders, all undergoing an extensive education in war and strategy. Keres had always seen it as just a precaution. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that he¡¯d participate in the largest war of who knew how many generations.

    Yet here lay the issue. Keres was no real general. Sure, he had the education, but his role was that of a peacekeeper. His duties had always been simple. Sending squads to investigate crimes, arresting criminals, very rarely riding forth to break a bandit band and the like. Sometimes he even got to punch a noble or two. Those were the days.

    But war? Worse, an alien war? The Terrans made what he knew of tactics near useless. What did he know about fighting aliens?

    Keres sighed, following behind one of the local knights to the city Temple. His two trump cards flanked him, instilling him with at least some confidence.

    From what he could see, the Accadian port, Jewel, was subdued. Keres could tell with a single glance that the locals weren¡¯t happy about their presence.

    Tough luck.

    He had to wonder how many would survive what was to come. Probably not many. The Custodian¡¯s strategy was cruel and indiscriminate. It was his own bad luck that he¡¯d be one of the people responsible for executing it.

    Whether he had gotten dealt a better hand than his two fellow southern Order Masters, Finlay and Helen, he didn¡¯t know. Unlike the two, he had no Order left.

    He sighed again. The rage had left him a while ago. Only duty remained now.

    <hr>

    Keres watched another granary go up in flames.

    He rode an unarmoured horse, as did his nine companions. Two of those were the Custodian¡¯s champions. Nine knights and one old man didn¡¯t seem like a terribly impressive fighting force, but the Chosen more than made up the difference.

    The Order Master doubted that anything less than two hundred warriors could threaten them.

    Not that he intended to give battle. As the Custodian had predicted, the rebels were laughably unprepared. Keres might be no general, but he still outmatched the locals quite handily. They lacked both the forces and training, having grown too used to the Custodian¡¯s peace. And why not? Had the Terrans not come, she never would have allowed a war of such a scale.

    His tired eyes watched dispassionately as the remaining villagers looked in horror at the burning fields, butchered livestock, or butchered family members. The village militias certainly didn¡¯t give much of a fight. It was hardly surprising, used as they were to the safety the Church provided. Had provided.

    It had been difficult to see the first few times.

    Not anymore.

    <hr>

    Burning down warehouses and granaries in cities was harder, but over his long life, Keres had visited most of Kerania¡¯s cities, giving him enough insight to know how to go about it. They couldn¡¯t fight their way in, but sneaking inside wasn¡¯t difficult. Stashing their armor outside and moving alone was enough for the guards to ignore them completely. Farmers, merchants, and others moved through daily, so they were hardly suspicious.

    When they began, burning their targets down had been quite simple. The buildings were often unguarded, even.

    That started changing quite quickly, yet in the streets of cities, the two Chosen were completely unstoppable.

    It was in one such city that Keres lost his first man. They had just finished disposing of the guards when a gunshot rang out and one of the knights slumped. The Chosen quickly put up a shield, letting the rest finish their arson. As more shots came, Keres was able to make out their attacker on the top of a bell tower.

    The Order Master decided that pursuing them was not worth the risk and so the group retreated, one Chosen covering their back, another leading the charge. Luckily, they managed to escape the city without any further casualties, the local guard and soldiers once more lacking the capabilities to even slow them down.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    <hr>

    Their luck didn¡¯t last.

    Keres hadn¡¯t expected it to, not really. While there were many other Knight squads doing the same, his own went the deepest into enemy territory, long ago crossing into Kerania. It was why he was along, after all. After decades of service, he knew the kingdom like the back of his hand.

    That their mission was most likely going to end in their deaths hadn¡¯t been a secret.

    Even so, he found himself surprised when Charles slumped in his saddle, bits of metal and flesh spraying from his back. There went one of the Chosen.

    To his credit, the second Chosen, Edward, didn¡¯t freeze, instantly conjuring up a silvery shield, just in time to absorb a hail of projectiles.

    Keres¡¯ horse reared from surprise, along with a few others in their group, but their training as warhorses took over a few seconds later.

    The Order Master could barely make out a group in dark blue armour firing from further along the road, right where the path entered a forest. There was no real cover anywhere else, plains surrounding them.

    Not seeing a better option, Keres ordered his remaining men to charge. They¡¯d plow through their enemy and disappear into the woods.

    Edward formed the tip of the wedge, shielding his brethren from the unceasing hail of bullets.

    Despite all the chaos, Keres kept a cool head. Just as the knights began lowering their lances, the old Order Master¡¯s concentration was interrupted by a strange noise behind them. Turning his head around in the middle of a cavalry charge was both dangerous and hard to do, but the Chosen¡¯s shield blocked the air as well, making things easier for Keres.

    Behind, he saw a machine floating in the air.

    Keres felt his eyes widen.

    ¡°BEHI-¡±

    Then the machine opened fire, a hail of bullets killing over half their group nearly instantly.

    The Order Master felt his horse die below him, the momentum of the sudden stop throwing him from his saddle forward. He screamed as he impacted the ground, multiple of his bones breaking. With pained breaths, he turned his body enough to watch the unfolding fight.

    Though Edward tried to frantically shield the remaining knights front and back, he succeeded only partially. Only two of them made it to the Terran line.

    Though the nearest Terrans tried to dodge, Edward maneuvered his lance with supernatural speed, the weapon going straight through the metallic armour of their enemies. The second knight missed.

    Unfortunately for Edward, he couldn¡¯t properly shield them as they passed through the enemy line. Both their horses went down and Keres could see that the second knight didn¡¯t get up. He couldn¡¯t recognise who it had been, but he felt a pang of sorrow nonetheless.

    The Chosen didn¡¯t have such issues. He was standing on his own two feet almost before his horse even went down, still clutching his lance, impaled Terran and all, as if it weighed nothing.

    As if just noticing his weapon, he quickly threw the lance away, unsheathing his sword. Blade and shield in hand, he advanced towards the Terran line.

    The blue-armoured figures retreated backward while fanning into a half circle, firing all the while.

    Seeing their plan, Edward rushed towards the closest one, slashing with his sword. The soldier froze just as the Chosen began his attack, letting the hit connect. The Terran was thrown away like a ragdoll, though his armour held.

    The Chosen was just about to reach the second one when a loud boom echoed from the forest behind Edward. His physical shield fell to the ground along with his left arm, severed just below the shoulder.

    Edward stood still for a moment, before he retreated sideways, keeping both the forest and the remaining soldiers in front of him. Unfortunately for the Chosen, Keres could see the metal machine already circling behind him.

    The Order Master could only marvel at the fact that Edward was still standing. Even grievously wounded, the Chosen wasn¡¯t out of the fight yet, the favour of the Goddess clearly with him.

    Though scattered around Edward, the Terrans were still quite a bit slower than the wounded Chosen. He managed to get two more before the machine got behind him, forcing him to divert his shield.

    Edward didn¡¯t last long after that.

    Though he did his best to block attacks as needed, a few projectiles quickly got through, finally bringing the knight down.

    Keres could only sigh. Only now, in his dying moments, did he finally understand the Custodian¡¯s reasoning. The Terrans were too capable, but they could not help with everything. After all, they had come on ships and in very limited numbers. There was no way they could have brought enough food to feed even a single kingdom, let alone three.

    The shaky alliance of the three rebel kingdoms might not even survive and the war had barely begun. The Custodian would tear them apart.

    Keres chuckled weakly.

    It made him wish he could see it.

    Alas, a change of mind did not help him survive lethal injuries. Soon, he breathed his last.

    He didn¡¯t get to see the medics scrambling around the half-dead Edward or the tall brown-haired woman who marched out of the forest and examined all the dead knights, pocketing the pendant of the second, dead, Chosen.

    Nor did he see the shuttles that descended from the sky, collecting both the Terrans and the dead Knights, leaving nothing behind except blood and spent munition.

 Chapter 31 - Prisoner

    Ashwood sat on a chair in the strategy room of the Kirslev family¡¯s palace, pretending to read a map in his armour while some local ¡®general¡¯ rambled on about the virtues of envelopments. In reality, he was going through spreadsheets through his implants while doing his best to suppress a grimace.

    The plan to ally with the locals had been sound. Still was sound.

    ¡®But goddamnit, why are they so incompetent?¡¯

    The plan they had eventually agreed to had been quite simple. Drive out the Custodian¡¯s forces out of the south, then secure the mountain passes, and when their corner of the continent was secure, plan a proper offensive into the heartlands.

    It should have been a simple matter, especially since by all accounts the Custodian did not plan to contest them while massing forces on the other side of the Teilen mountains. Hell, apparently a decent portion of the remaining Church forces had even been evacuated.

    Unfortunately for Ashwood, all together, the local nobility shared about two to three brain cells. It had quickly become glaringly obvious that war was something quite foreign to the natives. The cities and forts controlled by the Church had been only left with token forces, yet their new allies suffered quite honestly embarrassing casualties when the Republic didn¡¯t do the job for them.

    This would have been annoying, but perhaps manageable, were Renard willing to dedicate all the soldiers brought forth by the task force. Which he wasn¡¯t. Out of the thirteen or so thousand soldiers brought by Erinyes, Renard was only willing to deploy a third.

    Nor was the task force ready to arm the locals. Both munition and weaponry were limited as no one had expected to fight a proxy war. They had enough for their own soldiers and some spares and that was it. The point was somewhat moot as the Admiral was hesitant to arm the locals in any case. They didn¡¯t really have anyone to spare to train the natives anyway.

    Of course, neither Ashwood himself nor any of the Terran officers knew how to fight medieval battles, so they could provide little advice beyond common sense. Mostly, they worked separately.

    Even so, they were making steady progress, with most of the South already secured, but Ashwood could see the writing on the wall.

    Winning battles meant little when you were losing the war.

    Pitched battles and sieges were easy. The Colonel just had to throw a couple hundred of Renard¡¯s soldiers into the mix and victory was pretty much certain.

    So, the Custodian¡¯s forces just¡­ didn¡¯t.

    It was something the locals struggled to understand let alone adapt to. Defences against roving bands of guerrilla fighters were nonexistent. Completely baffled, Ashwood had interrogated the Kirslev King until he admitted that normally most of their kingdom''s internal security was taken care of by the Church.

    While it explained why they struggled to adapt so much, Ashwood found himself quite dumbfounded as his opinion of the rebels¡¯ competence dropped even further.

    He had hastily helped them establish proper patrol routes, but the lacking infrastructure for such complicated things. In the end, he had been forced to waste some of Renard¡¯s soldiers to shore up their lacking capabilities, while also dedicating some of his own remaining subordinates to establish a proper communications network. Ashwood sprinkled his own soldier around the kingdoms in ones or twos, conveniently getting them off Pleione and mostly out of Renard¡¯s reach.

    This was a lot less convenient than establishing proper infrastructure or even just giving comms to the locals, but the Admiral was very leery of handing out their technology. Ashwood didn¡¯t agree as he thought the natives too primitive to glean anything from their technology, but it also gave him a nice excuse to get his people on planet. Renard didn¡¯t like that too much either, however, there wasn¡¯t a lot they could do when separated so thoroughly, so he had agreed to it eventually. It¡¯d be enough to get them out of harm''s way when the Admiral inevitably found out about the civil war.

    The arrangement quickly proved fruitful, with many of the raiders falling prey to them. Much to Renard¡¯s delight, they had located one of the bands which terrorised Kerania¡¯s countryside while confirming the presence of at least one of the so-called miracle knights.

    So off went a company of soldiers along with a gunship.

    Their native allies rejoiced while Ashwood struggled to keep his mouth shut.

    Spreadsheets didn¡¯t lie and their conclusion was unanimous. Even if they wiped out all the remaining guerilla bands right this instant, it wouldn¡¯t matter much. The Custodian had already achieved her objective. They were going to starve.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    Kerania wasn¡¯t that bad off, but the other two kingdoms had gotten it much worse.

    Ashwood sighed and was just about to resume listening when Jane spoke through his comm, ¡°Package secured. The Admiral wants your help with the interrogation.¡±

    He sighed again, looking at the gathered men, ¡°Gentlemen, something has come up. Captain Grimsson will stand it for me,¡± Ashwood nodded at the man who had been standing behind him, ¡°Please excuse me.¡±

    The Captain wasn¡¯t looking terribly enthused about his fate, which made Ashwood feel a bit better. The gathered nobles seemed a lot happier about his departure.

    Quickly, Ashwood made his way to one of the palace courtyards where they had been graciously allowed to land a shuttle.

    Buckled in, the Colonel had plenty of time to weigh in the pros and cons of being one of only two people capable of speaking Sirnesian.

    On the one hand, he was very curious about what they might learn. On the other, he¡¯d much rather read a report a safe distance away. Preferably a star system or two. Of course, the latter wasn¡¯t a real option. If Renard had the option, then Ashwood would almost certainly have never even learned about the capture.

    ¡°Docking initiated,¡± the pilot announced.

    The Colonel¡¯s mind settled down at the proclamation, ¡®Too late to change anything.¡¯

    A few minutes later he was striding down the shuttle¡¯s ramp into TRS Cerberos, though the sight of Jane waiting for him made him pause.

    Giving her a questioning glance, the cyborg spoke up, ¡°The Admiral wants us both there. To eliminate the risk of errors.¡±

    Ashwood snorted. He could read the subtext. Not that he expected to find out anything worth hiding, but he almost pitied Renard for his terrible choices of translators.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Medical. There isn¡¯t much left of the bastard,¡± Jane responded in monotone.

    Ashwood frowned as he followed behind the Lieutenant, ¡°And he¡¯s awake?¡±

    Jane shook her head, ¡°Apparently he¡¯s out of mortal danger now and the doctors can wake him, which seems good enough for the Admiral.¡±

    The whole affair was looking more and more barbaric.

    The Colonel¡¯s frown intensified, ¡°Eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.¡±

    Jane shrugged, ¡°Guy would¡¯ve died if we left him.¡±

    Ashwood shook his head, ¡°That is not my point.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Jane said with a ¡®what can you do¡¯ look.

    Soon they neared their destination, indicated by the many soldiers standing around, some behind pre-fab barricades, of all things.

    Ashwood grabbed one of the soldiers as he and Jane were passing the barricade, ¡°What¡¯s this supposed to be?¡±

    The soldier angled his faceless helmet towards him, ¡°Sir! Colonel Navarro¡¯s orders! The enemy is very dangerous in CQC.¡±

    Ashwood threw Jane a questioning glance.

    ¡°He tore up quite a few of the boys before we brought him down. That¡¯s after I blew off his arm.¡±

    Suddenly, Ashwood felt a lot less enthusiastic about satisfying his curiosity.

    With a heavy sigh, he gave the surrounding soldiers one last look before entering the room. He looked around, noting that the room, though fit to house five or six beds, had only a single bed and patient, the rest emptied out. A doctor in scrubs and a surgical mask was examining a clipboard next to it.

    The man laying on the bed wasn¡¯t really remarkable. He was on the older side, had short brown hair and a scarred face. Sure enough, he was missing his left arm. Medical machines monitoring the prisoner¡¯s health surrounded him while an IV drip fed something into his bloodstream. Medical restraints alongside regular handcuffs tied him to the bed.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t look very talkative,¡± Ashwood spoke.

    The doctor gave him an annoyed look, ¡°Obviously. The anaesthesia should wear off in five or so hours. He¡¯ll be disoriented for the next hour or so after that. I certainly wouldn¡¯t trust anything a person in such a state would say, but what do I know.¡±

    ¡°This was not my idea,¡± Ashwood clarified, somewhat mollifying the irate doctor.

    ¡°Whatever. If you agitate him too much he¡¯ll break the sutures.¡±

    With one last hostile look, the doctor left, leaving Ashwood and Jane alone, excluding whoever was watching the many cameras present, of course.

    Ashwood was looking for the best wall to lean on when Jane approached the unconscious man and poked him.

    He blinked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°Just checking. Wouldn¡¯t want him to be secretly awake, plotting our demise, right?¡± She said innocently.

    Grimacing, Ashwood turned away from her and reviewed the video of the knight¡¯s capture Jane took. Five hours seemed like a lot of time, but they¡¯d need to go over their plan for the interrogation as well as any contingencies should the captive prove a threat.

    He wanted the ship engineers to rig some sort of sleeping gas or the like in the room. If the video was any indication, then the knight couldn¡¯t keep the barrier fully around himself. Gas should fell him easily enough.

    A few minutes later, the prisoner opened his eyes.

 Chapter 32 - I am not locked in here with you

    The blazing silver eyes were not what Ashwood had wanted to see.

    ¡°Interesting,¡± an eerie voice spoke as the prisoner sat up, breaking his restraints.

    ¡°What the fuck,¡± Ashwood took a step back, reaching for his sidearm.

    The captive''s head turned towards him, ¡°You. William, yes?¡±

    Before he could muster up a response, Jane opened fire at the currently escaping prisoner with her own pistol, the bullets disintegrating upon a silver shield without doing anything. A few seconds later, the pistol clicked empty.

    ¡°That¡¯s unfortunate,¡± Jane commented, face impassive.

    The prisoner stood up, examining his hospital gown and then the walls, paying the two of them little mind.

    Ashwood exchanged a look with Jane.

    Then the two of the soldiers posted outside rushed in. Seeing the prisoner up and moving, they opened fire immediately, to the same effect as Jane.

    ¡°Retreat!¡± Ashwood shouted, enthusiastically following his own orders as he rushed out of the room, Jane right behind him.

    Outside, Ashwood quickly ran over to one of the barricades and the soldiers manning them, slowing down slightly as he passed it, but not stopping. The knight, or whatever it was, could have the ship for all he cared. He certainly did not intend to die just to slow that monster down for his enemies. The Admiral could deal with his problems on his own.

    Looking backward, only one of the soldiers followed after Jane, though he stopped at the barricade.

    Thoughts racing, he quickly put his helmet on, before commanding Jane to do the same and linking up to the ship¡¯s internal comm network with his implants. Reaching the captain, a man he had never met, he spoke quickly, ¡°Pump out the air!¡±

    He didn¡¯t know if his words were heeded, but the door to the medical room slid shut soon after. Hopefully, they would be. The usual suits soldiers wore were generalist, so while not ideal for vacuum, they had enough oxygen stored that a person could function for ten to fifteen minutes when fully sealed. The Soma Aspis suits were much more advanced and could last longer, but regrettably, both he and Jane wore the usual fare. The Cyborgs had packed up their armour before boarding Pleione, hopefully blending in with his other soldiers. Though Jane probably could have outlasted him even without any sort of armour.

    The gown-wearing knight shouldn¡¯t be able to last nearly that long.

    Ashwood bludgeoned his way into the ship¡¯s internal network with his credentials in hopes of access to the ship¡¯s cameras. Surprisingly, he was quickly granted access. Not wasting the opportunity, he pulled up the view of the medical room and the outside corridor on his implants.

    Despite minimising the video into two windows in the corner of his vision, he still missed a step the moment he tuned in and only barely stopped himself from kissing the floor. The prisoner had just punched through the metal door with his bare hand.

    ¡°What the hell,¡± Ashwood muttered. Turning to Jane, he spoke again, ¡°Let¡¯s get to the shuttle, this isn¡¯t our mess.¡±

    The Lieutenant nodded just as an alarm started blaring.

    The Knight was examining the hole in the door, before grabbing its sides and peeling the metal, widening it. Suddenly, the escaping prisoner stopped, his only hand reaching for his own throat. The Knight frowned and then a blast of silver destroyed the remainder of the door. The man walked through and was immediately greeted by gunfire from both sides. Contrary to the knight¡¯s display on Eigos, he had no trouble maintaining a barrier all around himself.

    Ashwood congratulated himself for his quick thinking, hastening his strides.

    An impact shook the ship next, making Ashwood stumble and the corridor cameras wink out.

    The Colonel broke into a full on run, but was soon forced to a stop before a lowered bulkhead.

    Jane skidded to a stop behind him, her voice coming through his helmet on a private frequency, ¡°Too smart for our own good, huh?¡±

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Ashwood grimaced, ¡°He should be already suffocating.¡±

    ¡°Didn¡¯t seem to slow him down much.¡±

    The two put their backs to the bulkhead, watching the corridor. Though the flashing red lights continued, they couldn¡¯t hear the alarm anymore, the vacuum unable to transmit sound waves.

    The Colonel¡¯s mind raced, but he had checkmated himself quite thoroughly.

    ¡°We just have to outlast him,¡± he responded, frantically flicking through the ship¡¯s cameras, trying to spot the escaped knight while checking the ship¡¯s internal comms. Chaos greeted him on both.

    Sound returned then, though weakly. Ashwood¡¯s frantic searching through the ship¡¯s cameras bore fruit as he stumbled upon a trail of dead soldiers. A couple of flicks later, he saw another lowered bulkhead, this one with a giant hole in it. The rest of the ship must have still been filled with air, but they¡¯d probably pump all of it out now.

    ¡°He¡¯s heading away. We should follow,¡± Ashwood said. He wasn¡¯t feeling terribly confident in outlasting the knight.

    ¡°What?¡± Jane responded, voice baffled, ¡°Oh, he¡¯s opening up a path?¡±

    Ashwood nodded. Staying where they were might be safe, but even Jane would run out of air eventually. Their surroundings were already plunged into silence again. They had to make their way to the hangar and off-ship before that happened. Or space the knight, but the Colonel didn¡¯t want to touch that with a ten-foot pole. With access to cameras, following behind the prisoner wouldn¡¯t be too risky.

    Not his ship, not his problem.

    ¡°Give me a second,¡± Ashwood spent a minute more searching for the knight. He found him walking down an empty corridor, a lot less hurried than Ashwood would have liked.

    ¡°All right, let¡¯s go.¡±

    The two backtracked at a fast walk, preserving oxygen and soon nearing the room where the prisoner had been kept. The barricade on their side of the corridor was mostly intact, but all the soldiers were dead. Most had their heads torn off.

    ¡°Fucking hell,¡± Ashwood mumbled.

    The other side was even worse. The prefab barricade was pretty much annihilated and the soldiers there were torn apart, as if by an explosion or a particularly angry bear.

    They followed the knight''s path, easily recognisable by the blood and corpses strewn around, while Ashwood did his best to keep an eye on their enemy¡¯s current whereabouts.

    Then the knight glowed brightly and the camera currently watching him winked out. An impact shook the ship at the same time.

    Ashwood shared a look with Jane. A few minutes later, they were forced to pause, as a large hole leading to the vacuum of space greeted them in the next corridor. Bloody footprints led to the hole.

    ¡°There is an idea,¡± Jane said, putting an arm on Ashwood¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°No way, the artificial gravity doesn¡¯t extend outside. I haven¡¯t had any zero-g practice in years. Not that it would have helped much with an insane plan like this.¡±

    Any training he had done was for proper zero-g action, with the corresponding equipment and safeguards, plus how to move in a ship when gravity didn¡¯t work. Not about sauntering on a ship¡¯s hull without even a safety tether.

    ¡°Practice makes perfect, besides, I¡¯m trained, even for shit like this¡± Jane rebuffed him ruthlessly.

    The Colonel checked his internal oxygen supply. A bit under ten minutes left.

    ¡°Give me a moment,¡± he said, quickly informing the rest of the ship that their former prisoner was out of the ship, probably making their way down the hull. There was little reason to keep them confined to this are of the ship with the knight outside.

    Why the knight did something so suicidal, Ashwood didn¡¯t know.

    The Captain acknowledged his information, but his following request for a passage to the hangar was denied. The ship was having issues with its life support and the Captain wasn¡¯t willing to worsen them by opening bulkheads to an unpressurized section. Apparently, everyone else had either locked themselves in still-pressurized rooms or went to intercept the knight and subsequently died, making Ashwood and Jane the only two people out and about the airless hallways.

    ¡°Does he want us to die?!¡± Ashwood bit out.

    ¡°It¡¯d certainly help if you died in an accident, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Jane said.

    The Colonel paled under his helmet. He had almost forgotten about Song¡¯s little warcrime. Not much had come off it so far, to the point that he had relegated it as business which wouldn¡¯t matter unless they made it back to Terran space proper.

    He sighed, ¡°How do you want to do this, then?¡±

    The Lieutenant thought about it for a moment, before gesturing to her back, ¡°Hop on?¡±

    Ashwood froze.

    ¡°Look, we don¡¯t have anything to tie us together or to the ship. I give you even odds of floating off into space if you go on alone,¡± Jane explained and paused for a moment, before adding, ¡°Even if that thing is already dead, I bet the Captain won¡¯t manage to get to you in time.¡±

    ¡°Fuck my life,¡± he mumbled. Unfortunately, Jane was speaking sense. Since she was quite a bit taller and much, much stronger, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue, logistically speaking.

    It was quite awkward for him, though.

    Swallowing his pride, he circled behind the Lieutenant and¡­ hopped on.

    ¡°Hold as tight as you can, you couldn¡¯t hurt me even if I was out of armour and I¡¯ll need both hands,¡± Jane added.

    ¡°Right, right,¡± Ashwood responded, tightening his grip.

    It was karma, he decided. He had derided the Eigosians for riding horses and the universe was now punishing him for it.

 Chapter 33 - Interlude IV: Onwards

    Serana was having a great time. The experience of seeing Eigos from the outside was truly magical.

    Poor Edward had died some time ago, but she didn¡¯t actually need him. The pendants were, first and foremost, conduits. Since she couldn¡¯t exactly split her mind thirty ways, she just pushed Eternity¡¯s power through when the chosen knights asked for it, but that was hardly the only possibility.

    Moving a dead body telekinetically through it was well within her means, if slightly grotesque. Seeing, well, that was much more tricky, though not impossible.

    She raised Edward¡¯s remaining hand and saw it slowly frosting over. The Custodian made as if to grab the orb hanging in the black sky.

    ¡®Agnu,¡¯ she thought. The blue giant was recognizable, though the side she was looking at was currently facing away from Eigos, the moon itself invisible.

    ¡®What a spectacle.¡¯

    The starship on which she stood wasn¡¯t anything to scoff at either, if for entirely different reasons.

    It was not pretty as far as Serana was concerned, but impressive nonetheless. A single one of these ships might represent more metal than half her army. A mind-boggling amount.

    And the Terrans had twelve, down two from the previous fourteen. That was just this type of ship too. Serana could see over fifty smaller vessels of two types and another, much bigger one, though that one was far away. At least she thought so. The darkness of space messed with her understanding of distance a lot.

    The Custodian wondered how many she could destroy before burning out her conduit.

    She¡¯d have to let the other pendant escape before then, though. It¡¯d be quite a waste if both were lost here. Why her former teacher was following her outside the starship after running away so aptly was a mystery, however. Serana had moved Edward¡¯s body a rather large distance from the breach, so they¡¯d probably miss her unless they really were searching for her puppet.

    She continued moving and examining the starship, not that she learned much from it. It was unfortunate, but even being present on one of their ships didn¡¯t let Serana glean any insights, except to reinforce the notion that the technology was ridiculously out of her people''s grasp.

    Having nothing to do but wait, the Custodian focused back on her real body and on the reports in front of her. The war was going according to plan. Most of her forces in the south had either retreated or died, but both Faras and Accad were deprived of most of their harvest and food stockpiles. Kerania fared better, but not by a lot.

    She expected a great number of people to starve to death, but it wouldn¡¯t affect the war too much, unfortunately. All three of the rebel kingdoms were little more than annoyances. The real threat was in the sky, but it should drive a wedge between them.

    How useful that would be, only Eternity knew, but any advantage was worth pursuing. They might need it when the aliens inevitably retaliated after today.

    It took over half an hour, but eventually, Serana felt the pendant fly away in a shuttle.

    ¡®Let¡¯s see how many I can get.¡¯

    <hr>

    Admiral Renard sat in his chair on Bastion¡¯s bridge in a foul mood. Just when they were supposed to finally get some answers, their prisoner just got up and left!

    ¡°How fucking incompetent do you have to be,¡± he mumbled.

    The messages from Cerberos weren¡¯t really coherent, so Renard didn¡¯t even know how this whole debacle happened. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    He was just about to try and badger Captain Mira again, when Lieutenant Ivanova piped up, ¡°We¡¯ve just lost contact with the battlecruiser Hydra.¡±

    ¡°What? Comm issues?¡± Renard asked, frowning.

    Before Ivanova could respond, her eyes widened, ¡°Battlecruiser Pixie is reporting a hull breach! And three corvettes just disappeared!¡±

    ¡°Battlestations!¡± Renard shouted.

    His people scrambled to figure out what was happening as the Admiral himself watched with a grim look on his face. They lost five more corvettes and three destroyers before they finally realised what was happening.

    ¡°It¡¯s Cerberos, sir! Something is shooting at us from its hull!¡± Someone shouted on the bridge.

    ¡°What are you waiting for, then?! FIRE!¡± The Admiral shouted.

    The bridge fell silent.

    ¡°I said fire! How many other ships must we lose!¡±

    Finally, Bastion¡¯s railguns started unloading their lethal payload while Ivanova distributed his orders to the rest of the fleet. Soon after, other ships joined in, but it took much too long to bring Cerberos down.

    The total casualty count amounted to four battlecruisers, including Cerberos, five destroyers, and eighteen corvettes. A bit less than a fourth of the entire task force and thousands of lives.

    One thing was certain in Renard¡¯s mind. They¡¯d never succeed with their current strategy.

    A paradigm shift was needed.

    <hr>

    Colonel Ashwood stood on a grassy plain somewhere in Kerania, staring at the empty sky.

    Once the shooting had started he had ordered the pilot to book it for the planet. The pilot, thankfully, complied. If the reports were accurate, then the fleet took quite the beating.

    All because they took aboard some random schmuck. At least it proved that hiding behind the gas giant was likely safe if they didn¡¯t repeat their actions. He doubted the Custodian would have refrained from taking potshots otherwise.

    The whole debacle had another, more sinister implication. The Custodian had been sandbagging. Their proxy war approach was mostly pointless as the moment they got within her sight, they¡¯d be vaporized, no matter the number of sword-wielding hordes on their side.

    Jane walked to his side from the shuttle, ¡°Is it a bad time to tell you that I pocketed a strange pendant from the dead miracle knight?¡±

    Ashwood blinked, ¡°The one on Cerberus didn¡¯t have anything like that.¡±

    ¡°No, but his stomach had been glowing.¡±

    The Colonel paled, ¡°If it¡¯s connected to whatever bullshit the Custodian does, then it might as well be a ticking time bomb.¡±

    Jane shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s a piece of jewelry. I doubt it¡¯d just explode on its own.¡±

    ¡°A remotely detonated bomb isn¡¯t any better, Lieutenant,¡± Ashwood retorted.

    ¡°Athena will want it.¡±

    Ashwood reflexively looked towards the shuttle, but the pilot hadn¡¯t come out.

    ¡°Probably. How do you propose we do anything about that though?¡± He responded.

    ¡°Even if she could reverse engineer this with a glance, I doubt the war will go on for long enough that it¡¯d matter. Hiding it on the planet should be good enough,¡± Jane said.

    The Colonel thought about it for a few seconds, ¡°I suppose that¡¯ll work. Any ideas as to where?¡±

    Jane shrugged again, ¡°Here is as good as any. See that tree over there?¡± She pointed a few hundred meters away to a lone tree, ¡°I¡¯ll carve a smiley face into it and bury it under.¡±

    He resisted the urge to ask why a smiley face of all things, nodding impassively instead, ¡°I¡¯ll make note of the coordinates.¡±

    As the cyborg left, Ashwood did exactly that, while his thoughts strayed.

    Here he was, burying treasure on an alien planet.

    Perhaps, hundreds of years from now, someone will find the tree and the necklace, concluding that the people of this era marked their treasures with smiley faces. That was probably why Jane did it. Or to try and get a rise out of him.

    The latter was more likely, but Ashwood liked the former explanation more.

    His silly thoughts were interrupted by the pilot¡¯s shout, ¡°They are moving, sir!¡±

    After throwing a glance at Jane, who was busy carving into the tree, Ashwood quickly made his way into the shuttle and behind the pilot, ¡°Who is moving?¡±

    ¡°The fleet, sir! They¡¯ve left the shadow of the gas giant, at a fast pace too. They¡¯ll reach orbit in a few minutes.¡±

    The Colonel massaged his temples, unsure what to think of this. He could guess at Renard¡¯s thoughts. Whether he merely wanted to retaliate or realized what Ashwood had, the Admiral was gambling it all.

 Chapter 34 - Explosive Retaliation

    Sitting cross-legged on top of her tower, the Custodian had to admit that she had perhaps underestimated the Terrans a tad. The aliens had proved decisive in their response, resulting in a steady stream of projectiles hammering the sky above the First Temple, each strike strong enough to level the building and the hill it stood on.

    It was unfortunate that the prisoners held here did not deter them, but such was life.

    Concentrating, Serana eyed one of the metal starships, while gathering power and glancing at the rather conspicuous boulder next to her. The rock was quite a bit larger than her, only barely fitting on the tower¡¯s floor.

    She had carried it here with her power after doing some rather promising tests with smaller rocks. It was a good thing that the tower¡¯s roof had yet to be repaired, otherwise, the roof would be in the way.

    A few seconds later, the boulder shot towards the sky at a great speed. The shield above the Temple flickered momentarily to let it pass, while Serana watched with interest.

    In the blink of her eyes, the boulder had hit one of the smaller ships and cracked it in half.

    The Custodian smiled. It had taken her some time to work it out, but even though she had to reinforce the projectile, it was still cheaper than attacks composed purely of Eternity¡¯s power and for only slightly worse results. Who would have thought a bit of rock could do so much damage when accelerated sufficiently?

    The bombardment immediately intensified in response, causing her smile to falter. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t the only one keeping her cards close to her chest.

    She could keep the shield up without much trouble, but it did require a significant portion of her capacity and concentration. Sleep wasn¡¯t a big issue for now, since she didn¡¯t need it, but going for long periods without was more than a little annoying.

    How much of an issue this would be depended on how long they¡¯d manage to keep the attack up. Hopefully, the Terrans merely thought they¡¯d have to do this until a normal human would have collapsed from exhaustion and didn¡¯t have the ammunition for much more. It was not ideal, but a day or two like this wasn¡¯t a problem.

    Should it go on longer, the scale of the issue would depend on the chosen knights. Unless all of them worked at their maximum at the same time, they wouldn¡¯t be able to draw enough power to bother her, but in her current state, she couldn¡¯t spare the concentration to help them out either.

    In other words, they¡¯ll have to contend with the Republic on their own.

    The thought didn¡¯t fill her with confidence.

    That was more than a little unfortunate, but as Edward and his compatriot demonstrated, the knights just weren¡¯t as strong as they needed to be. It¡¯d be one thing if she had a thousand of them but with only thirty?

    Serana hummed in thought. By all accounts, the Terrans did not have good numbers either. Thousands at best. Thanks to her interrogations, she had some idea how many could be housed on their ships, which meant that they had thousands up there at best as well. A good chunk of them likely died in her attack. Somewhere between ten and twenty thousand soldiers should still live.

    A laughable number for a kingdom. Even the weakest ones were capable of fielding more men. Yet, likely undefeatable without her direct involvement. Oh, she had ensured that her people could at least fight, but her thirty chosen weren¡¯t enough on their own. She¡¯d be surprised if they could kill even half of the Terrans in a pitched battle and that was with a few hundred thousand soldiers behind them and the Terrans not learning from their mistakes.

    The Custodian doubted they¡¯d just stand in an open field without any protection against cavalry again. A quarter to a fifth would be much more realistic. Not enough, in other words. Not when she was preoccupied. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    It wasn¡¯t an unsolvable problem.

    ¡°Sylviane,¡± she raised her voice.

    A moment later, the girl opened the door to the tower¡¯s roof and hesitantly walked over to Serana, every distant impact making her flinch while the wind messed up her hair.

    ¡®Maybe I should have railings installed once things calm down,¡¯ Serana mused as the girl did her best to stay as far away from the edges as possible.

    ¡°Yes, Lady Custodian?¡± the handmaiden spoke once she neared Serana.

    ¡°Tell Aisac to order a retreat should the passes fall. They would do well to stop the enemy from forcing a battle, if dispersing is the price, then so be it. Move the fight off the battlefield.¡±

    The handmaiden looked at her with wide eyes.

    The passes were well-fortified. A few of her chosen working together should be able to defend them reasonably well, though she wondered whether their enemy would even bother attacking. She had thought they¡¯d capitalize and try to seize at least one of them while they kept her busy here, but apparently not. Perhaps they wanted to try and kill her first.

    ¡°Repeat it back to me,¡± Serana ordered.

    Sylviane did so and the Custodian shooed her off, before beginning the painstaking process of repeating the same information to the chosen knights stationed in the south. She went one by one and wrote the message out in the air in front of them, much to their surprise. Speaking was a possibility, but that might make them think she could be listening as well, which would make things stressful. For them, obviously. Serana herself couldn¡¯t care less about their gossip.

    She did however note the usefulness of the pendants as communication devices. Admittedly it was an idea that she stole from the Terrans as well, but it was one that would be very useful after the war. It was somewhat embarrassing that she had never thought of it herself. A way to communicate and observe nearly instantly all over the continent was going to be an amazing administrative boon. For now, it¡¯d remain merely a strategic one, but war would always be a mere interlude to peace. She¡¯d be remiss in her duties not to consider the aftermath.

    The bombardment grew even stronger for no apparent reason then, making her frown and crane her neck upwards.

    The Terrans were creeping uncomfortably close to her limits, even if they still had a ways to go. Like the knights, the Custodian¡¯s body could handle only a fraction of Eternity¡¯s power. While her capacity was a lake compared to their drops, she too had limits.

    Taking a deep breath, Serana finally considered the possibility of loss. Of death. Though her role predated written history, she knew more than most that no one was truly irreplaceable. Not that Eternity had ever pretended otherwise. It was a simple fact that humans weren¡¯t eternal, something she too had more experience with than most.

    As such, she hardly had any thoughts of invincibility or the like. Nor did she hold any ill feelings towards the Goddess. Mostly, she sympathized. It was hard for her to value the lives of regular mortals, considering how fast they aged.

    How difficult would such a thing be for an Eternal Goddess?

    Sure, Eternity might help were she awake, but she might not and the Custodian did not want her to in any case. She had been gifted with more than enough power to succeed on her own.

    Gods helping you was a silly peasant notion in any case. As if humans went around answering the prayers of ants. Eternity already did more than anyone could ask for. The Goddess listened, even if she did not truly care.

    It was something Serana admired greatly, for it wasn¡¯t something she herself was capable of. The Custodian had stopped caring about the people of Eigos as fellow humans a long time ago. They were a complex puzzle to be managed. Sometimes a piece broke and you had to mould it back into shape, sometimes you had to replace one entirely. She might take a passing interest in an individual or two every once in a while, but such people died too soon for it to be anything more.

    Now, it could be her turn. Rather than fear, the possibility excited her. The aliens had been exciting even beforehand, but that was because they were new and interesting. It was the excitement of finding a new book to read, not of a life-or-death struggle. Even if they had demolished most of Eigos, it wouldn¡¯t have meant much in the grand scheme of things. The population would have recovered in a few centuries anyway.

    But to be actually capable of killing her in battle?

    Serana smiled.

 Chapter 35 - Serpents Pass

    In a long mountain pass named for its serpentine nature, a mighty fortress stood. Built-in one of the narrowest points of the pass, the fortification¡¯s high stone walls blocked the passage entirely. No interloper could enter the Sarak Archduchy without the say-so of the local commander and so it has been for hundreds of years.

    In that time, the fortress had never fallen. Not only because of its mighty construction and advantageous terrain but also because of its proud defenders. Since its inception, the fortress had been in the hands of House Avaren, a martial family extremely proud of their duty as the Archduchy¡¯s first line of defence in the south.

    Despite its proud history, the defenders now covered behind its walls even as the enemy massed well within bow range. The few Terran¡¯s interspersed among the enemy taught them the power of alien weaponry quickly.

    The gauges and occasional holes in the tall walls attested to that. Eternity¡¯s knights had adapted quickly and managed to prevent a complete collapse of the fortifications with their miracles, but their shields were impenetrable from both sides.

    The result of this was an awkward stalemate, where the defenders dared not peek from behind the battlements and the attackers dared not try to storm the fortress again, as they too had learned a painful lesson about the power of Eternity.

    Siege towers could not stand against it.

    <hr>

    Frederick wasn¡¯t so sure his Goddess-given powers would be enough anymore. He had been assigned to guard the Serpent¡¯s pass along with five other Chosen, thus safeguarding one of only two land routes that lead to the Sarak Archduchy from the heretical south.

    The young knight stood on the battlements of the ancient fortress carefully peeking at the enemy horde, soldiers and knights surrounding him.

    The Custodian¡¯s new orders hadn¡¯t been exactly reassuring. Frederick wasn¡¯t an idiot. He could read between the lines. She didn¡¯t think their victory likely, but the young knight felt determined to prove the Lady wrong.

    A few days ago he would have scoffed at the mere notion of losing. A defensible position, superior numbers and miracles? Then their group of six was reduced to five, as Thomas¡¯ head promptly disappeared after he showed off his powers to one of the soldiers in the open.

    The rest of them had been much more careful about the more flashy aspects of their Goddess-given powers as well as the usage of shields.

    Frederick would be lying if he said that his comrade¡¯s death did not shake him. It had shattered the veil of invincibility around them quite neatly, though the young knight¡¯s fear was equalled by his thirst for revenge.

    With Terran and traitor both massing for another attack, his opportunity would come soon. He and Aria were the lucky two selected to guard the front wall, while each of the last three Chosen took one of the remaining sides of the rectangular fort.

    His gauntlets gripped the battlements with inhuman strength as another four siege towers started moving, the formations of southern soldiers shifting. This couldn¡¯t be it. They had already tried this, to dismal results. His mind churned as he tried to figure out what trick the enemy was trying to play.

    ¡°Where did all the Terrans go,¡± he muttered, frowning. Frederick could still see some in small clusters here and there, but not as many as he remembered there being.

    ¡°Above!¡± A voice shouted, making Frederick crane his neck upwards.

    He spotted the three machines just as they unleashed their explosive payload. The missiles flew true, but Frederick along with some of his nearby brethren managed to put up a shield just in time.

    The resulting explosion and smoke made him lose sight of the flying things, so he reinforced the shield just in case. One of his compatriots didn¡¯t share his caution, dropping his own portion of the shield and turning back towards the battlements, where he picked a head-sized rock and threw it at one of the siege towers, punching a hole clean through.

    Frederick ignored this, squinting upwards as he spotted some kind of movement on the other side of the shield, much of it obscured by smoke.

    ¡®Did they fly closer?¡¯Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    Then he blinked, ¡°Are, are those shoes?¡±

    He swore as armoured soldiers started dropping from the hole in the shield above straight into the courtyard behind him.

    ¡°BEHIND!¡± He screamed, creating a shield just as the Terrans began firing, though more were still dropping in from above.

    Then an explosion rocked the walls, making Frederick stumble and his shield flicker, while still more soldiers were cut down by the alien weapons.

    Before he could turn back towards the battlements, Aria, the chosen nearest to his position shouted, ¡°GO! I¡¯ll hold the wall!¡±

    Nodding to her, he jumped from the wall into the courtyard, projectiles hitting his shield all the while. His landing kicked a cloud of dust, but he had learned the lesson of reinforcing his body well.

    His pendant shone silver as he advanced while the Terrans began retreating.

    Then another of the Chosen jumped down behind them. Finlay, who had been guarding the rear wall.

    This made the Terrans hesitate, letting Frederick catch up.

    One soldier went up in the air, thrown by Frederick¡¯s telekinesis, as another¡¯s helmet faced the full brunt of his two-handed sword. Though he could not cut their armour, his strength was enough to pulverise the not-so-resilient flesh hidden inside.

    As the aliens realised their unenviable situation, they began dispersing to the sides, until the first of them hit the silvery energy shield.

    Frederick¡¯s eyes widened before he quickly copied his peer¡¯s technique, extending his own protection to the side, boxing the heretics in. Though weakened, it was still enough to protect him from their weapons.

    What followed next was a methodical massacre as the two knights finished the remaining soldiers off.

    Just as the last of them fell, an explosion engulfed the rearward wall. As the dust settled, Frederick saw that a giant hole had been punched through, much of the wall being reduced to rubble.

    He could see one of the flying machines over the rear wall, rapidly approaching for another pass of the wall.

    A hare-brained idea occurred to him then.

    ¡°Finlay! Give me a boost!¡±

    The other Chosen turned towards him, her likely uncharitable expression hidden by her helmet.

    ¡°Quickly!¡± Frederick urged, jogging towards her.

    Finlay knelt, letting Frederick put one of his boots in her hands. As the machine neared, she threw Frederick with all her Eternity-given strength.

    The Chosen couldn¡¯t help but let out a laugh as he flew, though it was silenced the moment he hit the aircraft¡¯s side. At that moment, he poured as much of Eternity¡¯s power as he dared into his sword before stabbing the machine.

    To his delight, the sword pierced through the metal.

    The machine did a barrel roll then, making him yelp, but he managed to hold on, if barely. Grabbing hold of a convenient metal protrusion with his off-hand, he pulled out his sword and stabbed it a bit further, closer to the machine¡¯s front.

    Then he tried to repeat his feat, but the moment he removed his sword, the machine barrel rolled again. Frederick fell on the wing, very nearly falling into the rotating blades, and was left dangling from one hand when the machine corrected its orientation again, sword in the other.

    His breath came in rugged gasps, but his determination was higher than ever.

    ¡°For Eternity!¡± He screamed, jamming the enhanced sword straight into the rotor.

    The spinning blades broke, throwing the machine off. The movement proved too much for the Chosen and he let go.

    As he fell, he couldn¡¯t help but curse at what he saw.

    Though much more awkward, jets of flame came out of the machine¡¯s bottom, stabilising it.

    Grimacing, he focused on reinforcing his body to the maximum while shielding his head with his arms.

    Then came the impact, rattling his entire body.

    Frederick gasped as the breath was driven from his body, blacking out for a second, but miraculously, he was still in one piece.

    Slowly, he raised his head from the ground, trying to get his bearings.

    The battered knight lay on one of the fort¡¯s four main towers, cowering archers staring at him in shock and disbelief.

    Grunting, he stood up, ignoring the pain which suffused his body while thanking Eternity for his fortuitous fall.

    He released a tense breath he didn¡¯t know he was holding when he realised the situation was somewhat under control. The breach in the rear wall was held nearly single-handedly by Finlay, who even now fended off what looked like a full-on cavalry charge.

    How the enemy managed to sneak hundreds of cavalrymen into the Archduchy¡¯s lands behind the fort, Frederick did not know.

    More Terran bullshit, he suspected.

    The siege towers lay in ruins, the twin forms of Aria and Gregor standing proud and unbowed upon the main wall, handily defending their fellow warriors from Terran projectiles.

    He smiled. They could do this.

 Chapter 36 - More War

    Ashwood put down his binoculars, clicking his tongue. He stood fully armoured atop a mountain plateau, above the Serpent¡¯s pass and the besieged fortress. Jane and Grimsson stood with him, along with five soldiers who guarded the shuttle behind them.

    The assault didn¡¯t go as badly as it could have, but nowhere near as well either.

    Was assaulting a meaningless fortress just to allow their near-worthless allies to march onward worth it?

    The Colonel mulled it over, before settling on a no.

    Some meatshields to probe the Custodian closer to her territory would be nice, but ultimately, the nations of Eigos would have little to no say in this war. The Church was the only real other player down here.

    On the other hand, information on the abilities of the so-called miracle knights was likely worth the lives of a couple dozen Republic soldiers. Especially Renard¡¯s soldiers.

    ¡®What a farce of a war,¡¯ he thought.

    If only they could just level the entire castle with a railgun round and be done with it. Unfortunately, the Custodian proved to be a lot more aware than she should have been for someone defending against non-stop orbital bombardment and the attempt had been intercepted. Insane was the only word to describe it. The bombardment of the First Temple had been going on for more than a day, with no real change.

    At this point, he was halfway convinced she was some weirdly shaped planetary defence platform.

    Ashwood really hoped the Admiral wouldn¡¯t follow Song¡¯s example and escalate to nukes with him on the ground in an effort to break through.

    ¡°Did that guy really just try and stab a Strisores?¡± Grimsson spoke, disbelief colouring his voice.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t seem like trying to me,¡± Jane retorted.

    ¡°Still, that¡¯s-¡± Grimsson made to respond, before growing rigid.

    Ashwood caught the other five soldiers shifting with the corner of his eye as well, making him tense.

    Captain Grimsson and the five must have just received a message. A message that purposefully excluded him and Jane.

    The Colonel reached for his sidearm.

    Grimsson¡¯s helmeted gaze zeroed in on him, while the five started raising their rifles.

    Then Jane punched the Captain in the solar plexus, denting the metal of his armour with her gauntlet.

    Lightning quick, one arm snaked around Grimsson¡¯s armoured neck, placing him between herself and the five soldiers, while the other removed his sidearm.

    Captain Grimsson was a huge man and while Jane was no slouch in the height department, she was much leaner than the Captain. Near enough space for the gasping Grimsson to serve as cover for them both.

    ¡°There is no need to be hasty,¡± Ashwood called out from behind the Captain¡¯s bulk.

    The five exchanged glances. Though their helmets made distinguishing any facial expressions impossible, their body language radiated uncertainty.

    ¡°We are only supposed to bring you in,¡± one of them shouted.

    ¡°Why?¡± Ashwood asked.

    Grimsson, finally having regained his breath, chuckled, ¡°The machine finally showed its true colours. Athena has betrayed humanity, Colonel. It¡¯s war.¡±

    It took Ashwood a moment to parse the meaning of his words.

    ¡®Ah, the civil war.¡¯

    He had almost forgotten about that entire business.

    ¡°Just come along, Ashwood. The Admiral can¡¯t just let you run around, but you¡¯ll hardly be mistreated,¡± Grimsson pleaded. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The Colonel thought for a few seconds before speaking, ¡°Can you get me a line to Renard? I somehow doubt my credentials are still valid.¡±

    The five grunts looked at Grimsson, who nodded. One of them jogged to the shuttle and a couple of minutes of awkward silence later, the old Admiral¡¯s face appeared in his sight as he accepted the call with through his implants.

    ¡°Ashwood,¡± Renard¡¯s voice was grave, but added no more.

    ¡°Do you have any proof? I do not believe Athena would ever do anything like that. Down here, this seems just like an attempt to tie up some loose ends, like on Cerberos¡± He said, injecting as much emotion into his voice as he could.

    Renard raised a brow, ¡°Plenty. The fighting has already been going on for a while and the drone brought quite the amount of data. Not something that could be faked on a warship, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll agree.¡±

    The Admiral moved his hand, tapping something off-screen before a rather large data packet arrived into Ashwood¡¯s system. Almost too large for his implants to store, but they were enough, if barely.

    Ashwood took a few minutes to skim through some of it. The packet contained reports, and videos from both the military and various news agencies as well as star maps and an approximation of already sustained casualties. Already in the tens of millions.

    He gave Jane a glance, before speaking again, voice raised, ¡°This, this can¡¯t be real. She was supposed to usher in a new golden age for humanity, not a war!¡±

    Renard sighed, ¡°Who knows what goes on in the dead mind of a machine?¡± He paused for a second, before continuing, ¡°Now, Ashwood, surrender. There is no need for more death.¡±

    Ashwood hesitated. He didn¡¯t think it likely, but the Admiral could just have him shot.

    In the end, he decided to risk it and holstered his sidearm while nodding to Lieutenant Jane, who released Grimsson.

    The big Captain massaged his neck, before craning it downwards to look at his dented chestplate.

    ¡°That¡¯s some right hook,¡± he muttered, before turning his eyes to Jane, assessing.

    ¡°Cybernetics,¡± Jane shrugged.

    It wasn¡¯t unheard of for soldiers to have implants of some sort, especially in the higher ranks, but it wasn¡¯t normal either. Ashwood could only hope that the answer would satisfy Grimsson. Luckily the Captain did not seem the paranoid type.

    ¡°There is something else, Admiral,¡° the Colonel spoke, voice torn.

    Jane turned towards him, though he could read nothing from her body language.

    ¡°Yes?¡± Renard responded.

    ¡°We¡¯ve figured out a part of what gives the locals their power.¡±

    Stunned silence reigned for a few seconds, before Jane shouted, ¡°Traitor!¡±

    The cyborg moved towards him, before being tackled by Grimsson. There was no way the man could ever match Jane in strength, but he managed to subdue her regardless.

    ¡°And I am hearing about this now?¡± Renard spoke in an icy voice, diverting Ashwood''s attention from his struggling Lieutenant.

    ¡°I¡¯m not some blind fanatic, Admiral. There was never supposed to be a war. I followed her because her ideas made sense, not out of blind devotion,¡± Ashwood responded, voice measured.

    ¡°Yet, if she has lied about this, then what else has she lied about? Even if it is just this war, then I want nothing to do with it. I joined her to help humankind, not to help massacre it,¡± he finished.

    ¡°Hm,¡± was the only response made by the Admiral. He stared at Ashwood while deep in thought for a few moments, before speaking, ¡°What is it, then?¡±

    ¡°A necklace. Some sort of a control node, perhaps,¡± Ashwood answered, before pausing, ¡°If you guarantee the safety of me and my people, I¡¯ll tell you where we hid one of them.¡±

    Renard frowned, ¡°You had that. We are not savages, Colonel. However, if it alleviates your conscience, then I will accept the deal.¡±

    Ashwood could tell that Renard didn¡¯t really buy his words, likely assuming that he just wanted to cover his ass in the eventuality of Athena¡¯s victory, but that suited him just fine.

    The Colonel inclined his head in gratitude before transmitting the coordinates of the hidden pendant to the Admiral.

    ¡°I¡¯ll send someone to retrieve it,¡± Renard said, ¡°You¡¯ll be kept in one of the camps on the ground, but Navarro will be replacing you as the commander of the ground forces. I expect that you¡¯ll help smooth over the transition, especially with the native hordes close by.¡±

    Ashwood grimaced at that. Navarro hadn¡¯t liked him much the last time they had met and he doubted that this state of affairs would have somehow changed since then. Worse, he had seemed rather sharp.

    ¡®Yet, this entire venture is a risk,¡¯ Ashwood thought, ¡®What is one more?¡¯

    Still, even if everything worked out according to his expectations, he sincerely doubted Navarro would buy it.

    He turned his eyes to Jane. The tall woman lay on the ground, with Grimsson sitting on her back to keep her immobilised. An outside observer might not think such measures necessary, considering the unnatural stillness of the woman, but everyone here knew better.

    She wore a helmet like the rest of them, but Ashwood could fear her stare nonetheless.

    He gave her a subtle nod.

    Jane, or one of her people, would be perfect for dealing with the Navarro problem. After all, such things were half the reason for their creation.

 Chapter 37 - The Weight of Bodies

    Frederick¡¯s head snapped upwards as another explosion shook the sky, a shimmering shield intercepting the strike a safe distance away. Luckily, the Custodian had not abandoned them. The young knight had no idea how his meagre power would contend with such powerful weaponry, but he didn¡¯t have high hopes.

    He wasn¡¯t doubting Eternity¡¯s power, of course, merely his own mortal flesh.

    Returning his gaze to the fortress, he winced. It was a miserable sight. The front walls had enough holes that you could, quite literally, march an army through them. The defenders were even worse off, with nearly half of them dead or wounded. Such grievous losses would be enough to break most armies, but fortunately, the Terrans had cut off their path of retreat. The less-motivated soldiers were well aware they had no chance of breaking through on their own. The assault on the rearward wall during the second attack had not been a one-off either.

    The rear was calm now, though. However, even now, Finlay was fending off an assault on the front wall, or its remains. She and the hundred or so of temple knights with her were doing an admirable job of it, but everyone here knew this wasn¡¯t a real assault. Just an attempt to deprive them of proper rest.

    Frederick was on watch duty, while their remaining two compatriots rested furtively in the keep¡¯s dungeons. An ignoble place to sleep, but a safe one.

    In the courtyard, lesser soldiers worked hard to stack the corpses. Whether ally or enemy, all went to the pyres now. They weren¡¯t able to get rid of the dead fast enough regardless.

    Despite their admirable start, no one was doubting the outcome.

    The only question that remained was how long to fight. Frederick had already heard whispers of treason amongst the common soldiery, but the nature of the siege and the presence of him and his fellow chosen was enough to suppress such intentions for now.

    With five chosen here, they could almost certainly break through the encirclement on the Archduchy¡¯s side, as the enemy had not ferried enough troops there, but that would mean giving the heretics unfettered access to the rest of the continent.

    The other passes were supposedly still holding strong, with only token forces besieging them. With access to flying vehicles, such could change quickly, but realistically, only a single of the border fortresses needed to fall.

    Without a defensible position, they¡¯d be forced into a retreat regardless. A state of affairs the Custodian had foreseen.

    Nonetheless, Frederick was loath to allow the heretic hordes into the north.

    Each of their steps closer to the First Temple was an affront to the divine.

    Frederick¡¯s heart told him to fight to the last, but his brain was more cowardly.

    As Finlay finished the last of the attackers, Frederick began muttering prayers for guidance.

    <hr>

    Watching the mustering natives, Colonel Navarro wrinkled his nose.

    What a pathetic sight.

    He stood along with a few bodyguards at the local command post, safely behind friendly lines.

    There were tens of thousands of the savages and now, without Ashwood¡¯s meddling, they could finally be put to good use.

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Our casualties are already terrible,¡± One of the local ¡®commanders¡¯ spoke. Prince of the local kingdom, if his briefing was not mistaken. Or sabotaged.

    ¡°Our enemy lies exhausted, they¡¯ll break if we push hard enough,¡± Navarro explained slowly, translating half of his words with the help of his helmet, his grasp of the local language nowhere near perfect.

    ¡®Then we can finally move on.¡¯

    He left that thought unspoken. That the march of the Republic had been halted by a medieval fort for even a minute was a disgrace.

    Suddenly, a great battle cry resounded from the fort.

    The wall breach was filled by dozens of horsemen in the next instance, an energy shield flickering as the men he tasked with watching the stronghold opened fire. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Looks like they want to make things easier for us,¡± he muttered in English, the horsemen already reaping a bloody toll across native lines.

    His comms crackled to life the next instant, ¡°Scout 3 reporting! The enemy is breaking through the back, at least two priority targets are present, local forces insufficient!¡±

    Navarro smiled, ignoring the panicking Prince as well as the other so-called commanders. It seemed that the battle was won.

    ¡°Strisores, ignore the frontal attack, intercept the retreat,¡± he commanded while watching as the assaulting force continued advancing deeper into their lines. As the gunships took flight, the enemy continued advancing. Closer and closer to his position, in fact.

    Maybe he had been a bit hasty sending the two gunships away. Whether a few barbarians escaped did not matter overmuch in the grand scheme of things.

    ¡°Sir, we should retreat. You saw what one of those things did on Cerberos,¡± his second-in-command down here spoke up, ¡°There is no way we can stop their charge without blowing up our allies.¡±

    Navarro turned to look at him, ¡°These primitives have embarrassed us one too many times.¡±

    Not like they had that many options anyway. That witch was apparently somehow intercepting any attempt at orbital bombardment, though Navarro did not really believe that. Some sort of an advanced planetary defence grid seemed a much more likely option, making the entire moon unfathomably valuable.

    If such a thing could be replicated elsewhere¡­

    Nonetheless, it left them somewhat underequipped. Ground wars only occurred when whoever possessed orbital supremacy did not want to blow everything up to kingdom come and the army¡¯s standard ordnance reflected this. Worse, transporting heavy armour through space was uneconomical to the extreme. Colonel Navarro suppressed a scoff at that. Unfortunately, a bureaucrat would always find flesh to be cheaper than steel.

    Fortunately, that still left them with plenty of options.

    ¡°Blow up the ground in front of them,¡± Navarro commanded, putting his hands behind his back.

    The enemy advance was still somewhat bogged down by the natives, but most of them had already scattered anyway, unwilling to stand in the way of one of the so-called chosen. The casualties would be acceptable.

    A few seconds passed, but then his soldiers acted, causing Navarro¡¯s smile to widen.

    The squads he had positioned around the native force prior to the battle fired their rocket launchers. Though quite the antiquated term, the weapons themselves were very much modern. Multi-purpose, their payload could be switched around depending on your target. Of course, there was little point in using anything other than high explosive down here.

    Explosions rocked the ground a moment later, causing the prince to stumble and shout, ¡°What did you do?!¡±

    As the smoke cleared, Navarro¡¯s grin grew even more shark-like.

    Though much of the force was unharmed, the front had been decimated. Most survived the explosions just fine thanks to their strange technology, but their energy shields were of little help when it came to stopping their horses.

    The lead riders had crashed hard, their horses losing their footing as they encountered the craters gouged by the rockets. Horses fell and crushed their riders and were in turn trampled beneath the hooves of the animals behind them.

    A moment of silence descended upon the battlefield as both sides were stopped in their tracks by the attack, before Navarro¡¯s bark broke it, ¡°FIRE!¡±

    His men started shooting immediately after.

    Lacking the protection of their miracle technology, the remaining riders were unable to do anything but die under the barrage.

    Colonel Navarro nodded to himself, before tasking two squads with checking the remains of the enemy force, ¡°Chuck a few grenades when you are near. No reason to take chances with those freaks.¡±

    There would be no repeat of Cerberos on his watch.

    His smile disappeared as the shouting prince approached.

    Navarro opened his mouth to rebuke him, but he never got a chance to, his attention attracted by an inhumanely powerful scream.

    <hr>

    Frederick¡¯s right arm was smashed to a pulp. His horse had fallen on it in the chaos, crushing it. Instinctively, he had channelled Eternity¡¯s power and yanked his arm out from beneath the writhing animal.

    This made things much worse as in his haste and panic, his inhuman strength resulted in Frederick nearly tearing his arm off.

    Of course, that was when another horse crashed into him head-on.

    Mercifully, he had blacked out. He had not expected to wake up again.

    Frederick had been mistaken.

    Awakening in a pit filled with crushed bodies and the screams of the dying, he had not even the time to scream when one of the explosive orbs the Terrans liked to use landed near him.

    He had just enough time to shield himself, but the explosion still threw him back to the ground.

    His vision had faltered then, but he had stayed awake, now with an extra covering of viscera.

    The pain and horror caught up to him then.

    A scream tore its way out of his throat, strengthened, like the rest of his body, by Eternity¡¯s power. It was this strengthening that allowed him to be conscious at all.

    He knew deep inside his bones that it was only Eternity¡¯s power keeping him conscious right now.

    Grabbing one of the swords scattered on the ground with his left hand, he held it with enough strength to warp the grip.

    His eyes, filled with hate and blood, turned towards the heretics.

 Chapter 38 - All is Fair In Love and War

    Navarro¡¯s eyes widened as he beheld the shining, blood-stained figure. Their armour was dented all over and the blood made it seem as if the engraved eyes were crying. One arm hung limply, while the other clutched a longsword.

    The figure¡¯s head turned towards him, the knight¡¯s blazing silver eyes meeting Navarro¡¯s own. His eyes narrowed as the knight pointed his sword at him.

    The Terran officer looked around. Most of the natives in between had run away or died, giving the knight a clear path to him and his soldiers.

    ¡°What are you waiting for?! FIRE!¡± Navarro screamed, a bit of panic worming its way into his voice.

    The report of the EM rifles saturated the air, harmlessly hitting a silvery energy shield in front of the now-walking knight.

    Though slightly slowed down by the barrage, the knight continued picking up speed, quickly ending up in a sprint.

    Navarro took a step back, before raising his own sidearm towards the approaching enemy.

    The knight moved faster than should have been possible, even for a healthy man.

    He unloaded his pistol¡¯s ammunition while walking backwards, but the man did not slow down.

    The knight was suddenly engulfed in an explosion, forcing Navarro into a crouch.

    Unfortunately, before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the blood-stained warrior emerged from the fiery cloud, his eyes still locked on to the Terran officer.

    Before Navarro knew it, the chosen was right in front of him, his sword already swinging.

    He barely managed to raise one armoured hand to block, which saved his life.

    Though the bones in his arm shattered, the alloy held. The impact threw Navarro to the ground, where he promptly fell unconscious.

    <hr>

    Colonel Navarro opened his eyes with a sharp intake of breath. His mind felt groggy, but his arm didn¡¯t hurt and he recognised the tent he was in as the one in their main encampment. An IV was inserted into his uninjured arm.

    ¡°Fuck,¡± he whispered.

    ¡°Fuck is right,¡± a voice answered.

    Navarro whipped his head around, his eyes landing on Ashwood. The man sat on a stool, fully armoured, helmet excepted, one hand holding a real book. Navarro could barely make out the symbol of an eye on its cover.

    ¡°Ashwood,¡± he spoke, controlling his voice, ¡°What happened?¡±

    The man¡¯s blue eyes zeroed in on his, before closing the book and putting it aside, ¡°We won, though the price was heavy. Shortly after you got knocked out, a sniper managed to kill the Chosen. The locals are very unhappy with us though.¡±

    ¡°What snipers?¡± Navarro muttered, ¡°Wait, how are you here?¡± He continued, raising his voice. The machine-loving colonel had been left in this very camp before the assault but with minders attached. He shouldn¡¯t have been in this tent with him.

    ¡°Oh, haven¡¯t you heard?¡± Ashwood spoke calmly, ¡°The Admiral has unfortunately passed. Quite the masterstroke from our enemy, if I say so myself.¡±

    Navarro opened his mouth, before closing it again.

    ¡°With you unconscious,¡± Ashwood continued, ¡°Command fell to me, naturally. You¡¯ve left me quite the mess.¡±

    ¡°What? What the fuck are you talking about,¡± Navarro tried to sit up, but whatever drugs the medics pumped into him made him too weak to even do that.

    ¡°He was on the Bastion!¡± Navarro continued, all but shouting, before he paused, ¡°You. Do you really think anyone will believe you that these primitives smuggled an assassin there?¡±

    The traitor chuckled, ¡°An assassin? There was no assassin, I am afraid.¡±

    ¡°Then how?!¡± Navarro shouted.

    ¡°The Bastion¡­ Well, there is no Bastion, not anymore.¡±

    ¡°Impossible,¡± he refuted instinctively.

    ¡°Its destruction was quite similar to the fate of Cerberos, all observers agree,¡± Ashwood continued leisurely, ¡°How the natives managed such a thing, well, who knows? Perhaps they can teleport or some such, it is hardly inconceivable at this point.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    Navarro blinked, ¡°The necklace,¡± he spoke without thinking.

    Ashwood¡¯s eyes narrowed.

    The wounded officer grimaced as realisation dawned. Ashwood came here to interrogate him and he had already succeeded.

    ¡°This is treason,¡± he mustered, but the rebuke was weak even to his own ears.

    Ashwood moved his hand in a so-so gesture, ¡°Our oaths are to the people of the Republic. If the government is holding our nation back, is it not our duty to act?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear your fucking excuses,¡± Navarro spat, ¡°There were over three thousand people on the Bastion! You are nothing but a deranged, toaster-fucking murderer!¡±

    He tried to get up again but only succeeded in sitting up before he had to rest his back against the wall, his feet still on the bed.

    ¡°It¡¯s war,¡± Ashwood shrugged, ¡°Over five thousand died in the assault you ordered, hardly any different.¡±

    ¡°Killing your own people isn¡¯t any different from killing enemy soldiers?!¡± Navarro rebuked.

    ¡°Enemy soldiers? I meant our allies.¡±

    ¡°Not our people,¡± Navarro gritted out.

    ¡°Semantics. None of this would have been necessary if your ilk were willing to give up control peacefully anyway. To follow the will of the people.¡±

    Navarro mustered up his best sneer, ¡°That thing has been manipulating ¡®the people¡¯ for a long time now. It¡¯s a machine, it doesn¡¯t care. We can''t just surrender the fate of our race to it.¡±

    Ashwood raised an eyebrow, ¡°Yes, that is the appeal, Navarro. You still don¡¯t understand? She cannot be bribed nor can she be manipulated, she has no favourites and no family. She is an expert in every single field and for the few tasks she¡¯ll have to delegate, she is more than capable of making sure her appointees are just and noble. And, above all, she is immortal,¡± he paused, ¡°The perfect ruler,¡± he added with a faint note of reverence, ¡°Who else is more qualified to steer humanity¡¯s future?¡±

    The wounded Colonel¡¯s sneer intensified, ¡°And so you¡¯d place humanity at the mercy of an emotionless machine, because what, it¡¯s convenient?¡±

    ¡°Convenient is one way to describe it. Not completely incorrect, I suppose,¡± The healthy Colonel shook his head, ¡°You¡¯ve never been to one of her habitats, have you? They are wondrous places. No homelessness or starvation. Orphans are cared for, and those with health issues, whether physical or mental, are provided help. Crime basically does not exist. They are as close to a utopia as you can get. Is wanting to share that with others so wrong?¡±

    ¡°And the price?¡± Navarro raised his voice, ¡°All-encompassing surveillance with no real freedom!¡±

    Ashwood scoffed, ¡°I¡¯ve been to quite a few worlds by now, surveillance and freedom are really the best you¡¯ve got? Do you think that the good people of say, Nova Venetus, have more freedom, or suffer under less surveillance?¡±

    Navarro ground his teeth, preparing a rebuke, but Ashwood¡¯s voice stopped him in his tracks, ¡°In any case, the time for debates has passed.¡±

    ¡°What are you planning to do with me?¡± Navarro demanded.

    Ashwood tapped his fingers on the frame of Navarro¡¯s bed. A few seconds later, a huge Terran soldier with a medic patch entered the tent, the symbols on his armour marking him as one of Sterope¡¯s.

    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Ashwood began, ¡°Your injuries were more severe than was initially suspected. Your heart gave out before anyone noticed,¡± he nodded to the medic.

    Navarro eyed the expressionless giant, before tearing out the IV out of his arm in one quick motion.

    Ashwood sighed, ¡°You got beaten up pretty badly by the Chosen and no one counted your bruises, you know? Don¡¯t make this harder for yourself than it has to be.¡±

    Navarro ignored him, his eyes flitting from the medic to the tent, searching for something he could use as a weapon.

    He found nothing.

    Not that he was strong enough to walk anyway.

    The medic approached, revealing a syringe. He pushed the plunger slightly to expel any air along with a few drops of liquid.

    Then he reached for Navarro with his other hand. The wounded Colonel did his best to evade, but in his drugged-up, injured state only managed to prolong the inevitable by a second or two.

    The medic¡¯s hand grabbed him by the throat, though Navarro barely felt the giant¡¯s touch. However, even without applying any strength, Navarro found himself utterly trapped, unable to budge the giant¡¯s hand by even a millimetre, despite pulling with both of his arms with all the strength he could muster.

    Kicks and punches didn¡¯t even make the man flinch either. Unfortunately, from his position, Navarro could not reach the medic¡¯s eyes or anything truly vulnerable. Still, he did his best to scratch and claw at any exposed skin within reach, not that it had much effect.

    ¡°Colonel,¡± the medic intoned tonelessly, ¡°Hold his arms or I might miss the vein.¡±

    Ashwood grimaced but did as he was told.

    Navarro redoubled his thrashing.

    Before Ashwood managed to secure both his arms, Navarro managed to scratch his face, his small victory eliciting a vicious grin.

    Ashwood hissed, before sighing and nodding to the medic.

    The syringe was mercilessly plunged into Navarro¡¯s neck. He could do nothing as the medic slowly emptied its undoubtedly deadly contents into his bloodstream.

    ¡°This will be your legacy,¡± Navarro hissed, ¡°A murderer. Traitor! FILTH!¡±

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± Ashwood admitted, as both he and the medic stepped away from the bed, releasing Navarro.

    Even the little strength he had was already leaving him, causing Navarro to slouch, but his eyes still burned with hatred.

    ¡°But I doubt it,¡± Ashwood continued, his figure looming over Navarro as he touched his blood-stained cheek.

    ¡°To the victor, the spoils.¡±

 Chapter 39 - Interlude: Jane

    Lieutenant Moira Jane did not sigh, for even such an action required mental effort for a being like her, but she certainly would have, were she still fully human.

    Adjusting the sack on her shoulders, she resumed her track towards the nearest town. Well, the locals called it a city, but calling a tiny settlement like that a city did not sit well with her.

    With no electricity, there was, of course, no lighting. As such, the road was completely dark, with nary a traveller. Not that the route had much traffic ever since the Terran camp was built near the Serpent Pass.

    The locals were keen on avoiding the Terran forces, while at the same time, the native amenities were of little interest to the Republic¡¯s soldiers. However, they did visit from time to time. Some out of curiosity, some eager to spend whatever local currency they managed to loot. Not that there was much to buy, but the smarter of those amongst the soldiery realised the possible resale value of some of the Eigosian goods. Novelty often sold well.

    Jane doubted the woman in her sack would ever indulge in the latter, but the former was a good enough excuse.

    She was quite surprised at how smoothly things were going for Ashwood, but perhaps she wasn¡¯t giving the man enough credit.

    It was somewhat amusing. With Navarro and Renard gone, the command fell to him and Renard¡¯s soldiers just didn¡¯t know enough to oppose it.

    Sure, the humanists were in clear majority in Taskforce Erinyes, but for most of them, this was just a vague political belief. The number of people that were inducted into their conspiracy was minimal, even if it included quite a few of the remaining Captains. To top it off, Renard had not made the knowledge of civil war back home public, and now it was coming to bite him in his disintegrated ass. The number of people who knew they should be taking sides was already small, but those who knew which team Ashwood cheered for were even fewer.

    The lack of zeal was not untrue for most of Jane¡¯s own comrades, but there was a large discrepancy in ground-level operatives capable of acting, like herself. People like in positions like Ashwoods were rarer, as the Republic leadership did its best to suppress their rise.

    However, unlike the humanists, Athena had the benefit of a decisive chain of command. It was very unlikely that the Captains would agree to act against Ashwood, at least as long as he continued to act in the perceived interest of the Republic.

    Soon, she reached the outskirts of the city. The lack of a wall would have made it trivial to sneak even if there were any soldiers patrolling, but there weren¡¯t.

    Jane wasn¡¯t sure if there was some reason for that, or whether the locals were just incompetent, not that she cared much.

    She silently made her way to an empty alleyway in the poorer part of the city, the dark cloak she had over her armour enough to mask her origin in the night.

    Then she opened the sack and shook the unconscious woman out of it.

    She eyed the body for a moment, before grabbing it by the shoulder and propping it up in front of herself.

    Her other hand unsheathed a locally sourced knife.

    Still holding on, she stabbed the unconscious woman in the stomach twice, then once more in the heart, before relinquishing her hold.

    The dead body fell like a puppet with its strings cut.

    Jane eyed the corpse critically, before nodding to herself.

    Frankly, she thought the entire process was unnecessary. The camp was going to be packed up tomorrow and the Republic would march alongside the natives North. There wouldn¡¯t be time to properly investigate a disappearance like this, even if Navarro¡¯s aide going missing would have raised alarms normally.

    She supposed that covering one¡¯s ass was always a good thing. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    After looking over the scene one last time, Jane departed. A few streets over, she chucked the knife away.

    Suddenly, she started hearing screams and shouts.

    Curious, Jane veered off her path, heading towards the commotion, closer to the city centre.

    The lieutenant raised her eyebrows as she smelled smoke.

    As she walked closer, she started meeting groups of people, many of them armed.

    It was then that she paused, realising that this might be a bigger issue than she had thought.

    ¡°Heretic!¡± A cry came from somewhere behind her.

    She turned, seeing an opportunity to gather some intel. A group of four troublemakers harassing a well-dressed man.

    Jane surreptitiously placed her hand on her sidearm, before approaching.

    ¡°Fuck off, cocksuckers,¡± she spoke in Sirnesian, finally putting her hard work of expanding Ashwood¡¯s dictionary by adding the local swear words to good use.

    The dissidents did not seem terribly impressed with her vocabulary, one raising his spear towards her, ¡°Another! They cannot help but stick together, like cockroaches!¡±

    Did cockroaches stick together? Jane had only seen the creatures in movies, but they had never struck her as team players.

    Jane considered her sidearm again for a moment, before deciding to leave it be. The lack of light stopped the vagabonds from seeing through her flimsy disguise, but a gun would be too much.

    Better that her involvement be as hard to discern as possible.

    Casually, she walked closer to the group.

    When the mouthy one tried to skewer her with his spear, she leaned to the side, grabbed the weapon by its shaft and tore it out of his hands.

    Twirling the glorified stick, she looked at the shocked hooligans.

    The now disarmed wannabe-inquisitor opened his mouth to speak again, but Jane dissuaded him with a gentle thwack of her new stick. The man fell over, gasping and clutching his chest.

    ¡°Shoo,¡± Jane said in a deadpan voice.

    The still-standing three exchanged glances before deciding she wasn¡¯t worth it and beating an inglorious retreat, leaving their former comrade in arms on the ground.

    He stared after them with a face filled with betrayal, then shot another glance at her.

    Jane made a shooing motion.

    After getting up, the man slowly backed off, eyes not leaving Jane, as if she were some wild animal about to pounce.

    The immediate non-threat dealt with, Jane turned to her damsel in distress, getting a better look at the man. He was middle-aged, overweight, balding and his clothes were drenched with sweat.

    It was a good thing that she was beyond the petty inconvenience of not being able to turn off her sense of smell.

    ¡°Can you tell me what¡¯s happening here?¡± She asked, looking into his beady eyes.

    The man opened and closed his mouth a few times, ¡°It¡¯s an uprising! The baron caught a few Church sympathisers, and the execution was today, but¡­¡±

    Jane raised an eyebrow, ¡°And the soldiers?¡±

    He laughed bitterly, ¡°What soldiers? Most marched and the rest are guarding the lord¡¯s mansion. I doubt he¡¯ll have the balls to send them out tonight. Tomorrow, they¡¯ll be crushed, the fools. You should get out of the city before then, Miss,¡± he paused, ¡°In fact, why don¡¯t you come with me? Just a small detour, then we¡¯ll leave. I can pay you handsomely.¡±

    The lieutenant had to admire the sheer opportunism on display before shaking her head, ¡°Sadly, I am not for hire.¡±

    ¡°Where are you going then?¡± He asked quickly.

    ¡°Out of the city,¡± she replied.

    His eyes flicked from her to an alley, ¡°Are you not willing to delay? A few hours at most. You¡¯ll walk out of here a rich woman, I can guarantee it.¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Jane refused, about ready to walk away.

    The man looked ready to start arguing but changed his mind upon seeing something on her face.

    ¡°Good day to you then,¡± he inclined his head towards her, before leaving in a brisk walk.

    Jane left in another direction, somewhat bemused by the ordeal, but satisfied by the gathered information.

    Evading the sparse groups of rebels in the dark proved easy and soon she found herself out of the city again, moving quickly towards their camp.

    Radio not being invented here, she imagined that the uprising in the town was uncoordinated and thus likely isolated, but she doubted that the sentiments that led to it would be unique.

    It seemed that the meatshield supply might be running into some issues sooner than expected.