Post by EmperorMyric on Apr 9, 2023 12:13:25 GMT
Silence.
That’s what had followed the events at Fidun.
No trails, no evidence, no whispers, nothing. The Army of the Panopticon had been extremely capable of covering their tracks for several years, and any of the investigations into them had led into dead ends other than the occasional very low-ranking individual who revealed nothing.
It was worrying of course, the AOTP had managed to accomplish so much in the shadows, and the fact they had been able to fight and even kill, entities was a threat which nobody wanted to leave unattended and unwatched. Still silence followed despite rigorous searching.
That was until a single wish was made, by a young child, in the Liliana Free Territory.
The Free Territories were chaos. Endlessly suffering from anarchy and long periods without government the people tended to fend for themselves within cities and communities, fighting among themselves or occasionally against the Barbada Republic. It was a hotbed for crime, especially for pirates due to its proximity to the Golden Expanse. Given its lack of central control and government it was impossible to easily discern what went on within its murky territory, but the single wish was like a beacon to a certain individual.
‘I want to be free’
Normally such a wish would have been both easy to satisfy and completely uninteresting. But the boy was a psion and upon closer investigation this was no normal slaver band or someone like Metzergerstein. Children were being taken in Liliana, and it did not take long to find out why. Supressed psionic fields of powerful sizes were present out in the jungles, and only one threat would be trying to hide themselves capable of that.
The Army of the Panopticon.
Given their capabilities, fulfilling the wish or taking them on single handily was impossible. But thankfully, there were others who wished to continue the hunt for the Army, this was the perfect beacon.
In an old temple, long reclaimed by the jungle and half collapsed, the beacon was placed. Come one, come all. The Panopticon was here, and it must be destroyed.
As entities from various origins a cross the galaxy were approaching the planet, one figure was already here. In the shadows of the old temple a figure stood, concealed, observing, waiting.
It had been a while, since he returned the crystals to the final resting place.
Though many a thing he had learned from them, such as the way the Faleka had called on entities before, the faint psionic pulse whispering to the subconscious of the those receptive to it. The figure smiled thinly. Using psionics had been a curious experience one of the many things new in this universe.
He pondered. They should soon arrive, it had been long enough. Of course, he could have tried to storm this castle on his own but to what avail? There were many things far more beneficial about this approach. If not alone learning more about the entities and divinities of this world. Silently he stood in the darkened corner of the temple. There would be many things to learn and experience here today.
He should not have come here. Shouldn’t he have learned the danger of giving in to whims? Should he not have learnt his lesson by now? The Khan wondered about all this as he trekked through the jungle, using his aura to mask his presence- a minor application of magic.
In truth, the wise decision should have been to return home and to his rule over his kingdom. To lick his wounds and grow stronger. But… yet… he found that he could not. Not yet. Not after his defeat.
The mere thought left a foul taste in his mouth. But he could not deny it. He could not deny the fact. It would be foolish otherwise. But how could he return to his rule if he came back a loser? No doubt word of his defeat had spread throughout the empire. There will most likely be chaos and anarchy there. Returning there to quell it would be a wise choice.
And yet…
Khan Eleison looked at the sky idly pushing past jungle tree leaves, ‘I cannot. Not until I find my pride again. Not until I once again prove myself worthy.’
And maybe, he will find it here.
He stopped his approach and looked around. This should be the place where he had felt the… call, for a lack of a better term. And yet, when he looked around, there was nothing here. How odd.
He chose to spend this time sitting cross-legged on the ground and meditating.
Weaver-Sentry Kaeleen. Promoted after her masters death, and the turmoil of Umon. Upon her promotion the young woman was given the Weaves strength. Becoming the first Voshkahrae, the first Chosen of the Weave since the Old Wars. She opted to not bond in the order of the Sverlinn as she had hoped as a child. To become a rider of a mighty Voshrae? Any child thought the prospect amazing. Instead the Order of the Sverd, from her time on Umon, Kaeleen took one thing away from it. The only defense, was an offense. To destroy the enemies of the galaxy, to protect those who need it, by obliterating their problems. She left the temples, the strongholds of the Order, the followers of the Thread need not her to guard their meager holdings. They needed her in the wider galaxy, to guard them from threats such as the Panopticon.
Not to say her experiences or new powers took away from her compassion, or care for the denizens of Ancerious. Just her philosophy on how to deal with them. She had been walking through the jungle for over an hour now, having landed her quaint vessel in an isolated clearing. She looked more hermit, than entity. Wearing only a singular robe much like she was accustomed too. No belts, no shoes, no gloves, nothing but a robe loosely kept on at the shoulders and frilling outwards. Not even complex enough to allow her second pair of lower arms to have their own sleeves. Rather gently resting against her body. One simple hardy piece of clothing. With one large staff of various bits of bone, and wood.
She could have been there sooner, she could have made herself faster. But patience was a virtue, and she was in no rush. The lone woman slowly stepped up the stairs, and entered the temple. Feet crunching against branch, and vine.
Staff giving gentle thumps against the floor. She glanced around the ancient chambers, and spoke softly. More so to herself than anyone else. Going to sit down on anything adequately high enough like a fallen pillar, or some rubble.
"I have been called... I must answer..... Always."
Her words were simple, her tone resigned to her duty. The seemingly unarmed woman sitting down and looking to the floor. Waiting for whatever was to happen to do so.
It rose from the center of its concentric prison, frail as though it did, after so long. Behind it, the construct, a large golden orb with inscriptions of the cosmos, of the planets and the stars and constellations dancing on its surface as golden shimmering lights, developing inwards evermore until reduced to its singular point of entrapment. Externally, it was a large atrium vaulted at the top, and it stood at the center, almost as if on a slightly submerged pedestal within a deep and dark lake of viscous liquid.
Deorientation, from seeing the sunlight of the universe after aeons of being forsaken. Almost to the point of not realising the concurrent watchers to the once-in-a-millennia spectacle. There, within the center of the Egrégora amidst the turmoil of psychic seas and non-euclidian geometry, within the hall where all rivers met, sat them all. The Six of the Cabal, accruing another four members since Ohrumn had last awoken, and everpresent the binding golem of power, Monolithic and standing above.
The room danced with esoteric energies. Thin lines cast themselves from the eldritch masonry, from the bodies of the Six, and the hundreds of constructs that surrounded the abyssal lake. They accrued upon the center, surrounding the nascent god from all sides with inscriptions in a new, blinding globe of light. The energies inscribed as they struck, the information: "Fester". It was a necessity, the day of the truth will draw nigh, and the vessel must be strong enough to withhold the very unravelling of the all. Ohrumn must go, it must fester, it must grow and empower, and only in this bid may the abominable Cabal achieve its enlightenment.
Through the powerful lines of a thousand binding alignment circles, Ohrumn saw it, its voice, muted for so long, echoed for a second:
"Na... vi... ga-"
It was submerged.
.
It was forced down, by the sheer power and weight of the esoteric energies at play, cast by its usurpers. This down, however, is not euclidian in nature. Its nature is the submersion of the entity within its own realm of power. As if programmed so, Ohrumn fell into a pit of inexistent dimensions, a rift opened by its very power.
It was a malformed realm that started to take shape as the god furthered distance from its place of captivity. This bubbling sea of non-space took shape, lines upon lines and forms, then complexified into recursive spirals and developing patterns, the brickwork of a small infinity held in a sliver of a gap crafted by this very god.
Then, by its instructions and somewhat against its will, Ohrumn’s powers directed, like a compass amidst this sea of broken geometry, the lines complexified and drew two points of unimaginable distance down into the very edge of the geometry, closing this gap into a sliver of nothingness. It was a bridge, the smallest possible, and the god of fractals stepped through.
Soon, the shadow of a wall of the old temple glew an odd hue of lights, a tiny gap from the masonry opened, like a singular, straight line. Then, as if bidimensional, a shape slid out, ethereal and ghostly at first, it soon formed into Ohrumn. The being stood, hovering slightly over the ground with its golden-inscribed mask and cape of developing patterns, awaiting for the others it knew would arrive
Platinum Palace, Nuclean and Isoterran Home Universe
76 AME
Queen Cinder lounged on one of the couches within the great metal and glass bulb atop the Platinum Palace's west tower, waiting. She was, in a word, bored, having paid a visit to the Ecumene's capital only to find that all of her friends, apart from Charuin, were gone, off on various business within that Ancerious galaxy. Ancerious, she thought, her lips barely twitching momentarily into a smirk. She had a dozen eyes and ears there, and all of them were indicating that trouble was brewing. And trouble meant opportunity, opportunity to expand, to shake things up, and gain more leverage and influence. It would be interesting to see what the Empire could do there, especially on the resource or technological front. Something perhaps to give her another edge on the Spinehk. She sighed. Her thoughts had once again drifted to business, while her intention had been to spend some time relaxing. Such a shame that her friends weren't here... All at once, she felt something, a new presence, one which triggered one of her detection wards specifically for entities, in the center of the Palace. He had returned.
She stood, looking around the room, lit up by the orange and gold rays of the evening sun setting in the distance, before snapping the fingers of her right hand. Abruptly, she was within the palace Rotunda, standing before one of the entrances to Menmuer's Library. He was in there, she could feel his presence. Yet he had not come to greet her, although she was sure he would know of her presence.
She was about to telepathically announce herself, when the doors whirred open.
Stepping through revealed the massive domed room, one hundred meters wide and one and a quarter times that as tall. The room was currently dim, lit only by a low blue mood lighting from hidden panels, which made the giant holohaptic projection of the Ecumene territorial map stand out all the more, floating in the air far above the tops of the shelves that ringed the room. And there, floating with the map, was Emperor Menmuer, looking deep in thought, utterly ignoring her. The door whirred shut as soon as she crossed the threshold, but Menmuer still paid her no mind, sitting cross legged with arms folded, while resting his chin on his left hand.
Cinder decided to take the initiative, spreading her clawed hands and floating into the air, coming to a rest beside her friend, and creating a green disk of force energy to sit upon.
"Why so silent?" the Isoterran Queen said in a tone not inappropriate for teasing "What happened on your little trip?"
"For a moment, I was mortal again. And almost died" he replied, maintaining his gaze at the map.
Black eyebrows raised, and Cinder turned her golden eyes to look at the Emperor, while assuming a more serious tone. "What do you mean?"
Menmuer sighed. "Surely you have heard of the Army of the Panopticon. I'm positive your people have made mention of their activities in Ancerious. Some beings, including myself, were investigating a base of theirs, and they found a way to shut off our powers. And then one of them stabbed me in the heart, while laughing that we were nothing without our power."
Cinder frowned. She had indeed heard of the Army of the Panopticon. A cult, selling some sort of psionic afterlife, known for supernaturally twisting things into terrible weapons. She hadn't paid them much mind, as the Empire hadn't had any issues with them just yet.
"But you are still here. What happened?"
"Their method of stopping our powers, the 'silence field' they called it, just went away at the last minute, like it failed or was sabotaged. Whatever happened, it was soon enough that I healed and we were able to leave."
"Hmmmmm" Cinder mused, taking in this new information. She hadn't considered the Panopticon an issue until now, they hadn't interfered with Isoterran operations, and the Isoterrans hadn't interfered with theirs. But this news, that they were able to stop a being as powerful as Menmuer so easily was concerning. They had threatened one of her few friends, and she caught a hint of what felt like arrogance on their part, from what he had said.
"What were you doing in their base" she asked gravely, her expression having lost any sense of warmth.
For the first time, Menmuer turned his brown eyes to look at her. "I was helping another being, named Faleka. A month ago, they had a friend of hers, a being named Arkol, killed without provocation. We destroyed the ones responsible, but found links to the Army, and were investigating them. Perhaps you remember their announcement on the AncNet, and mine about the damage on Iqzina. That was why."
"I see..." Cinder replied, looking towards the glowing map and beginning to ponder this news. She had forgotten about #IMAGO's stunt, but at his mention of it, she remembered the part of her intelligence briefing some time ago that Promus had mentioned the the challenge and not long after, the fight on Iqzina. She had paid little mind to it then, but now it all clicked into place.
A bit of a growl started in her throat, as anger built. It was as she suspected, these commoners had discovered some power and were letting it go to their head, and had threatened her friends in the process. Clearly they had forgotten their place, and were becoming a problem that she could not continue to ignore.
Her growl ceased, and she took a deep breath. "Menmuer, you seem tired. You need rest, and I need to look into this more. Perhaps soon though, we can celebrate your return."
"Perhaps. But I'd warn you not to do anything impulsive, the Panopticon is indeed dangerous. More so than I was prepared for" replied Menmuer.
"Oh not to worry, I won't do anything too silly" she said, doing a rather good, yet brief, fake smile, while inwardly thinking of painful ways to kill any of the cultists she could find.
"Anyways, I'll be fine" and her green disk floated down to the floor, allowing her to walk out of the room, while the disk vanished behind her.
As the door to the library whirred closed, her expression cooled from neutral to a sneer. It was time to do some hunting, and perhaps she could dig a little deeper into this silence field technology while she was at it. Curling the fingers of her right hand, she sent magical energy through the black jumpsuit that she wore, causing the small medallion, displaying the Isoterran symbol, to glow with red-orange light. Around her, dark grey armor plates of arcanium appeared, forming a set of powerarmor, while a great black cape unfurled down her back.
Her transformation complete, she activated her suit's FTL module, causing the edges of her image to glow purple and suddenly surge inward, as if reality itself were a liquid running into a void, abruptly leaving the hallway empty, as the inverse process happened within her chambers in Midnight Keep.
-----
Arx, Ancerious Galaxy
78 AME
It had been two years. Two years of overseeing the Empire and hunting for the Army of the Panopticon. She had been reading all she could on the Army and the public information about what had transpired on Iqzina and Lost Star, while her servants stalked the galaxy. Once, she had personally gone to interrogate a potential lead, only to turn them to dust when he turned out to be worthless in terms of information.
And so she had steadily begun to slow, beginning to resign herself to waiting until a real opportunity presented. After all, she did have a nation to oversee, one which now was going to have to involve itself in the galactic conflict. Lord Fisk had contacted her, late in the night on Isoterra, informing her that conflict had broken out of Aedelshaven, and that their allies the Zetyans were calling for their participation with CONA. At her word, the Empire had sent a small force to help the defenders, enough to meet their obligations without going too far. But in many ways, it was a hollow gesture in her eyes. Both she and Fisk knew that their current position in the conflict was tenuous, and that they would need to do some maneuvering to come out in a favorable position. As she sat within her temporary chambers within one of the sector palace's towers, she schemed, making plans for how to make CONA or SAGA bend to the Empire's will in a favorable way, depending on how the war would play out.
Interrupting her scheming though, came a whisper, like a quiet voice in her head "Come one, come all. The Panopticon is here" over and over. It reminded her of what Menmuer had described, when he had recounted in more detail what had happened during his travels with Faleka. She was dead now though, buried on Misya Elim, and therefore this summons couldn't have come from her. Whomever it was that was calling though, she had waited too long to not act. She donned her armor, activating its FTL module and teleporting to the source of the beacon.
Outside the temple, a glowing purple line appeared in the air, abruptly pushing out into the two meter tall outline of an armored being. The being was somewhat canine in physiology, although it was hard to get exact details from the armor that it wore, but it was clear that the being was too stocky to be a Carnaithian.
The armor itself was composed of interlocking dark grey metallic plates, crossed by glowing orange lines radiating out from the a glowing sigil of the Isoterran flag on the chest, which travelled down the outer sides of the arms and legs. From the shoulders draped a black cape that seemed to absorb all light, both visible and not, which fell upon it, like someone had found a way to form a black hole into fabric and wear it. And atop the shoulders was a helmet formed in the shape of a canid-like head, with glowing orange eyes.
The being entered the temple, easily visible in the darkness via the lights on its suit, and from speakers in the outside of the helmet, a baritone voice growled at the others present "Who has summoned me, and why?"
It was not long after when a small white creature emerged from behind one of the temple walls, unnoticed by most as it quickly weaved its vulpine form around their feet on silent paws before finally approaching a new figure among the arrivals. A large well-built man, dressed in an expensive looking suit patterned like scaly hide and covered head to toe in a variety of animal pelts which hid many of his features, most of which were unrecognizable except for one, a lion's which was draped over the man's shoulders giving him a herculean silhouette, all of it an openly brazen display of his trophies. What little of the man's face could be seen behind the lion's frozen roar was in a permanent scowl and covered in various scars.
He had just appeared, like a statue that had always been there. His arms crossed and his form solid, he emitted an aura of power, wealth, dignity, and inhuman masculinity. He did not flinch as the small white creature climbed up his form and silently perched on his shoulders, revealing itself to be a pure white fox whose fur shone like pearls. Four long fluffy tails swayed behind it in a beautifully unnatural display of colors which made the duo stand out even more from the gathering.
The man did not speak and the fox did not make a sound as they waited for whatever had called them there. The fox's turquoise eyes caught every movement, its ears picked up every sound, and while the man did not move a muscle it was clear he did the same.
So much power gathered in one place.
The temple had been built tens of thousands of years ago in another age, ironically to worship gods which were simply not real. And yet another pantheon quite different to those the people here had imagined now had taken root. Most of the temple was run down and utterly overgrown by the trees and plants but some of its carvings and tapestries survived star charts and formations which were very different now thanks to time were displayed along with various other stylised pictures.
A bright star in the Golden Expanse, a large vortex in the Phasic Wastes, a second what appeared to be galaxy in the sky. All as the species danced underneath them.
But it was not the temple they were here for.
A way away deep in the jungle was another concealed Panopticon stronghold, stealing children at the very least and likely conducting other horrors beyond description at the worst. It was known now how strong the AOTP were, the silence field may have been a one off, but nobody could ever be sure. The fact they could stand toe to toe with such beings in the first place, let alone rob them of their power was enough to warrant extreme caution regardless. Even in this proximity and with its muffling effects the base could be felt, but that also meant one thing.
If they could feel the presence of the base, it was likely the AOTP knew they were here.
This group had not met one another, let alone fought together. The bonds between many were not yet made, and the experience of surviving the Panopticons call was all but unknown apart from a few.
This would be a dangerous mission. But it would be one that required more information, they had to know what the Armies plan was.
As his new 'guests' arrived, he had been observing them. Musing to himself about their purpose and origins. Soldiers? Leaders? Gods? Wanderers like him?
He did not know. Not yet, at least. It would an interesting experience, to learn what there was about them. Stories written in the flow of time, some young as spring, some old as primordial fires immemorial. All in all just from the presence and appearance they already seemed to be a rather curious group, gathered together from various origins and alignments, together for purpose, out of necessity, not because they wished to be. He felt around in the fabric of intent and wishes, one more was on his way, was he not? Though he would be late.
Unfortunate.
Alas, the time of hiding in plain sight was over.
There was a faint tap, of the back end of a spear on the rock-hewn floor of the ancient temple. Silently echoing of it's walls.
Perception shifted.
Not appearing but more fading into sight from the white noise of the universe a man came into the awareness of the assembled powers. He was... odd. Not in a way an entity would be but rather being almost strangely normal. His presence, although now 'there' seemed to be still unremarkable. His appearance, standing at an average height and build, somewhat pale with long dark hair and short beard, almost mundane.
If it had not been for his white robes with red ornaments and the occasional stylised eye, he could've been just another mortal, maybe some cultist.
The man, smiled a thin and warm smile, he seemed... friendly, benevolent almost, as if he could never harm a fly and only meant everyones best.
Yet, he couldn't just be another mortal, his very presence here spoke against that fact, the time and place was too convenient to be mere chance. The manner of his appearance too strange to pass as merely looking over him.
He bowed formally, perfect in form and mannerism, it felt like it was directed at everyone and no one. Acknowledging their existence, confirming their presence.
...and another thing, was off. Something about him seemed... wrong, terribly so. Yet it was nothing one could easily put their finger on, nothing mere mortals would be likely to even notice tangentially.
As his head rose again, for the first time today he spoke and for the first time an answer was provided.
"I see, most of us are here. A curious gathering of the mighty. I greet you in my name and I apologise, to bring you here on such... short notice."
He paused for a brief moment, his gaze wandering through the room and surroundings, glancing at each of the present individuals.
"We will proceed to the reasoning behind this gathering, in short order. Though I would assume it would be appropriate to introduce ourselves first, as customs demand. Do you not think so, dear fellows?"
Yinchorr
Capitol Space
076AME
Here it was.
Ridhuan stood atop one of the abandoned towers of what was once an extensive 2AW-era slave camp - now merely ruins and large gaping nuclear craters. This was it. The resting place of some 15,000 men and women of the fabled LINFOR sent to raid slave camps such as these and liberate the enslaved.
His hand reached out and grasped at the air, sensing the latent psionic energies deep within the irradiated ashen earth below. These 15,000 bodies may have long been vapourised, but their souls remained, fixed to this place.
But he had not got long. It has been decades since the end of the war, and those souls have already started decaying and fading away due to entropy. Ridhuan jumped down, a trail of dust and broken glass of the skyscraper following in his wake as he slid down the building and eventually landed on the ground, creating a small crater of his own onto the long-neglected tarmac below.
“Fallen of LINFOR, I know you are here.”
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The Temple
Liliana Free Territory
078 AME
After 10 years of peace, the fires of war has returned to the galaxy, and RANGSI has no choice but to march into those fires once again, in the name of its very own survival.
Champion Ridhuan knew he had to follow closely behind every army sent to the front - who else can and will keep the souls of their fallen safe? Years of travelling the galaxy and assimilating the souls of the dead at every battlefield of the past has earned him and the gestalt a new reputation as some sort of grim reaper or a moving valhalla for RANGSI soldiers.
Yet, he had decided to heed this call coming from the Liliana Free Territory, knowing that it was precisely within the fog of galactic war where the Army of the Panopticon could best hide themselves in, and conceal their nefarious works from eyes now too distracted to the 3rd Ancerious War. He was driven by Faleka’s death those two years ago - whoever possessed the power to kill gods could very well be the biggest threat in the galaxy. No CONA army, no matter how big they were, could top that.
As Ridhuan walked through the portal into the temple, he saw entirely new faces. A part of him wished the previous party was still around, for that sense of familiarity, but if these new faces were here to battle the AOTP, then comrades they are.
“I am Ridhuan, Champion and Keeper of all fallen RANGSI soldiers. A beacon has called for the AOTP to be destroyed, and I aim to fulfill that request,” he replied to the man in white robes. A nagging feeling was stabbing his 'gut' about how off the man was, but seeing as this was an assembly of entities and him himself being a half-human half-hardlight body, he tried to dismiss these feelings as remnants of his past humanity.
His eyes snapped open as he sensed multiple people- no, beings in the vague area he was in. His hand twitched and reached to his side only to sill. Raze was not with him anymore- turned to dust in a last ditch attempt to defeat a foe. He took a short breath to calm himself and stood up, dusting the black trousers he wore. Plain ones. With that and a ratty shirt, it was an outfit unfit for a king, much less a god like him. But did he deserve those titles now? Well it’s not like he could find a better garment anyways.
The Khan glanced around at the assembled group of entities and he sensed the power they all had- some equal some greater to his. He would have loved to challenge them a long time ago. Now all he felt was shame at being so… mortal, compared to them all.
His eyes lingered on an unassuming man. Quietly he applied some aura there to try to get a closer look but turned away when he saw a static flash across his vision. No. Not there.
And so he took the chance to look at everyone else, analysing them, as if trying to find where he stood on this mighty totem pole only to find himself wanting. Again again. Will the universe ever be his?
The Champion spoke first. Listed his titles and purpose. They had weight in them. But what was he compared to that? What was he?
What am I?
And so when he introduced himself, it was quite simple, “I am Eleison. If you’ve heard of me before then forget it. It no longer matters. I’m just here to fight."
To fight and find glory. To fight and find redemption.
To fight and… to fight and…
Static blurred across his vision. Something deep within him was drawn to the unassuming man. Memories of a great power probing his mind. Memories of defeat not so long ago.
To fight and restore his honour as the Khan. The Sorcerer King.
Kaeleen, perhaps the only other that seemed utterly mundane. A woman in a simple leather robe, with nothing but a large wooden staff with bone lining the top? Nothing more than a simple sounding staff! Not even shoes, or clothes under the loose garb? She looked far more like a lone hermit, than any sort of entity. If not for the incredible amount of psionic energies radiating from her, and a slither of divinity she would appear as any other mortal. After all she had ascended from a mortal not long ago, and she saw no need to dress like a queen. She slowly rose her head at the 'new' figure emerging. She began to stand using her sounding staff to support her weight as she pushed herself up. Returning his bow a hand against the upper chest of her simple robe to keep herself modest.
Her head turned turned to Ridhuan, then to the Khan. At him not speaking her gaze slowly turned back to the man. The weave tugged at her, something was not right. Though it was her turn to speak. Her voice was utterly calm, serene. Content even, there was no fear, no worry... There was the weave.
"I am Voshkahrae Kaeleen servant of the weave, and guardian of it's order. A call for aid was sent out, and I will answer the call... always."
She spoke briefly. Keeping her same serene tone. Both arms grasping onto her staff, and leaning into it slightly. Her face was natural, and her hood masked much of ridged head.
Behind the glowing eye ports of her helmet, Cinder took stock of the other beings present in the temple, noticing the trend towards simple attire among many of those present, or at least simple for someone claiming to be an a being of power. It was exactly the sort of thing Menmuer would do, wearing nicer casual garb for nearly every occasion, she thought, quietly chuckling to herself. He wouldn’t even wear a crown on formal occasions she thought, finding it rather silly. It was one thing if you wanted to blend in within a crowd, but why would you not want to dress for the occasion when it came up? That said, she did feel slightly out of place, with everyone apart from Ridhuan looking unprotected compared to the powerarmor she was wearing, looking more like a soldier than an entity at first glance, although anyone familiar with magical auras could tell that from the suit alone she was not one to be trifled with.
After Ridhuan, Eleison, and Voshkahrae had finished introducing themselves and announcing their respective titles, she decided to say something. Another string of words, uttered in a growling voice, issued from her helmet’s speakers “I am Cinder, Queen of the Isoterran Empire. And if we are to deal with the Army of the Panopticon, then I am happy to ‘answer the call’, as you put it.”
Army of the… Panopticon? Thoughts wandered infinite halls that were once so utterly empty, for so long, that this single streak of light through broken realms was like a supernova of brightness behind the unassuming wooden mask of Ohrumn. What was that? Flashes then again, of sheer information that flooded him moments ago, called back now onto his mind, onto the present and now that so few moments ago were inexistent.
A moon, a being made six, the one immersed within the stars, the one that had seen knowledge beyond knowledge… Ah! Panopticon! Those from ages past that now seek power above all else irregardless of others, oh how they must be defeated… Yet, was this also not the objective of the Cabal? This thought vacated the mind of Ohrumn as quickly as it was produced, as if blocked, whether by conditioning, or by force. Like a snap, his mind narrowed down onto defeating this enemy he had never seen before, like the others here, beings that reminded him of stelwart ghosts of his own past.
He spoke, the first time, for so long. His voice was like cracking, it came from afar and snapped at the ear in soft hisses and murmurs of words, then went away quickly too, falling upon crashing waves of itself.
“I am… Ohrumn.
I am… The one of endless perpetuity…
I thread… the infinite realms…”
Ohrumn was an uncommon god. He was not quite there, it was as if his presence was a fuzzy shadow that betrayed the shape which cast it, and though the distinctive yet unknown cape and wooden mask was present, it was all a visage that produced certain discomfort to stare at, like staring at a piece of an incomplete puzzle, it produced a feeling deep down that, no matter how one looked, there was never a full picture.
.
Likewise, to him, those present were like images laid flat down on a table, their powers were towers within a sea of dimensions that crashed down on themselves. Powerful beings, the lot of them, he knew, but his eyes saw so much more. They had strength, maybe if need be, they could even thread the realms with him.
The multi-tailed fox chittered from atop its muscular perch who huffed in response but remained statuesque for a few moments before speaking in a voice loud enough for all to hear, with dignified authority not unlike a military commander demanding respect. Clearly, by dress and way of speech, the man was one of high nobility wherever he was from.
"The great god Mammon has answered your summons." He said as the fox continued to glare at the other entities That had joined them like a sentry. The man otherwise waited silently for more answers as to why he was brought to the temple, and with other gods as well.
The white clad man nodded in response to all of the introductions. More to himself than anyone else, though none would know that.
Two of these he knew, two he had heard of and two were unknown to him, so far. Leaders, soldiers, gods and wanderers, it made him ponder upon old questions.
Was it power that naturally led people into higher positions or positions of power that attracted greater might? Would those of them who rule fall off their thrones eventually or would those who followed others, rise to power?
He digressed.
"I see. I see. I suppose, I shall introduce myself as well then. My name... is not of relevance. Some called me the 'Herald' although there appears to be already one who bears this name in this realm."
He paused for a moment looking at the ceiling, apparently thinking.
"You may call me 'Amerandus', it is a name as good as any, I am merely myself, a wanderer."
He paused again, his gaze once more wandering over the assembled entities.
"Well, with the introductions out of the way, I shall induct you in our purpose here today.
This entire place..."
He made a sweeping gesture with his right arm.
"...is infested with psionic anomalies, anomalies of a kind which only leaves the Army of the Panopticon as their possible source. Additionally, young mortals have been disappearing in the sector, leading to the conclusion they are being experimented on.
Some of you, may already know the Panopticon, some of you may have fought it before, meaning you would know they are in fact dangerous."
He paused again, glancing at Ridhuan this time.
"Now, given what happened only a couple years ago to Faleka, Arkol and even some others, it would surely be in all of our interest to deal with such a stain on the fabric of this reality, yes?"
He looked at each one of them individually as if to confirm what he said.
"Alas, we also had to learn that dealing with these individuals, may not be as easy as one assumed. We have found their position, their targets, yet their goals remain in the dark and in the end their tools remain a threat, even to those like us, as some here may be able to confirm. As such it may be beneficial to approach this task as a collective.
Some of you may already be aware, though it may be necessary to say, that there is a good chance these people have the means to rob those like us of their power. Caution would be advised and it would be in our best interest to maintain a low profile, although they are likely already aware of our presence."
He paused again, apparently finished and satisfied with his, albeit somewhat vague, sufficient explanation.
"Now, let us make haste and get going, time is of essence, any more questions can be asked on our way."
The group of quite strange individuals, gods and entities all made their way down the overgrown steps of the temple and into the lush and vibrant forests below. All sorts of critters scuttled or flew about them, the noise of the life here was almost deafening a testament to the biodiversity and survival of this place. As they walked plants and obstacles were merely moved out of their way, power came with that ability, to even make mundane things easier.
They could of course fly on in, power blazing and fight the Panopticon here and now. But they had no information, no idea what could be waiting for them. Another silence field? More powerful artificial psions like One? They couldn’t tell, for all they knew this could be yet another trap.
Coming into a clearing the group were confronted with their first answer.
A little boy stood in a patch of grass, utterly still and staring into thin air. His skin was deathly pale, eyes gaunt and haunted, utterly unresponsive to the presence of those who came forward. He wore a simple surgical gown, and his feet were red and covered in sores. His hair was patchy, and obvious signs of surgical incisions were all over his head. The boy was a clear Psion, and even felt like such, but he only felt like it at very short range, how could such power not be easy to see further away?
They had practically stumbled right on top of him. But further away through the undergrowth, a second child could be seen, in much the same state, a little girl who also stood utterly motionless and almost like she was dead.
This place already had a dread feeling, and upon stumbling on the children the noise and eager life of the jungle had all but disappeared, silence was all that could be heard now from the wildlife, only the rattling of the trees on the wind, and the now patter of rain as the heavens began to open to give the forest its daily water.
Nothing moved in their proximity.
Amerandus eyed the children with curiosity. As it seems, it hadn't taken long until something blocked their path to his target.
Although, it was less of roadblock and more of an anomaly so far. They could, of course, just dispose of them or walk past them. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see how his contemporary allies would deal with them. Violence hungered and purpose demanded though out of the three curiosity won out in the end.
A trap? Abandoned experiments? Guards? An abstract sensor system?
He began circling the children at a respectable distance, making sure not to walk into other ones which may or may not be hiding in the bushes. After all, he didn't want to disturb the equilibrium they seemed to be existing in. A shame it would be if they had to destroy them before learning what they were.
"It appears we have found an obstacle."
He denoted with more amusement in his voice than actual concern.
"Now what would you think? Does any of the more psionically inclined wish to make sense of this curiosity, it would be highly appreciated, I'm certain." He eyed Ridhuan and Kaeleen specifically whilst doing so, lifting an eyebrow, though notably did not make any demands.
As he waited for what may or may not happen, he continued circling the perimeter, the spear he held tapped the ground once and an invisible, mute call extended from it, probing the echoes of the ambient memories of the place to see whether there would be any clues as to why how they they arrived here. His head tilted slightly at the girl, reminded of his target, as it looked there was not enough sense of self left to talk in this one, let alone make a wish, a shame really.
Eleison looked on at the two children. His eyes drifted to their shaven heads- hastily put together with a multitude of stitches like a patchwork of cloth. For a moment, he debated simply walking up there and consuming their memories.
But images of his last fight with a psion flashed through his mind. The memory of a crushing defeat. He stopped himself from acting rashly and instead chose a more cautious approach.
Crimson energy began to pulse outwards from his body almost as if he was set on fire. The bitter scent of burning ash fills the air. Two signs of a Khanate sorcerer activating their aura. He allowed for the aura to centre around his mind, blocking it against mental probes- he’d gotten good at making them ever since he fought the Archminister.
Eleison frowned, “not happening again,” he promised to himself.
Mammon kept his distance from the rest of the group, the man kept several paces apart making sure he was followed by none. The fox observed all, from its high perch, bobbing its head un curiosity as it examined the children from the distance, it chattered anxiously but was calmed immediately when the man reached up and placed his hand gently on its head, reassuring it, while he himself didnt look away from the children. A quiet hissing could be heard coming from under the man's animal pelt.
“It's certainly the work of the AOTP,” Ridhuan remarked as he glanced at the surgical incisions, bringing him back to the last time he encountered the Army on Lost Star. “I have never seen them use children before, however, until now…”
The oppressive atmosphere of dread all around was crushing, and it was nagging at Ridhuan’s more human instincts, like knives stabbing into his chest. He steeled himself as he slowly approached the boy. One foot on the soft grass, and then the next. Slow and steady, smooth is fast and fast is smooth.
It was then he started to notice how all the life in the jungle was suddenly extinguished in the child’s vicinity. At first, he thought it could be just the human imagination for dramatic flair, but then seeing as it is the Army of the Panopticon, and reminded of his past encounter with the ‘Silence Field’, he stopped and held a fist in the air, signaling the party to stop and to not come closer.
“This sudden silence and lifelessness, I do not think it is merely a coincidence,” Ridhuan remarked. “Back up and keep low, in my previous encounter the Army was able to nullify my powers and turned even gods into mortals…these strange children could be a trap.”
Red tendrils appeared from Ridhuan’s back and slithered around in the air. Like snakes tasting the scent of prey, small micro-pulses emanated from the tendrils, trying to sense for something. He was tapping into Panopticon, his connection to what was supposed to be a realm exclusive to the AOTP an accidental result of the war on Rubikon II, and he was now trying to see if the children had any of the AOTP’s characteristic golden strings coming out of them.
Kaeleen was silent, the simple hermit of a woman gently thumping her staff against the ground with dull quiet thumps. At the sight of the children she said nothing, but moved forwards. The woman's beady eyes glancing down to the child. She said nothing, but pushed into the child. Not with body, but mind. Using her ample psionic power to attempt to push into the childs mind. Sift through memories, ascertain what it was doing, anything she could find.
Ohrumn’s traversal of the environment was like a graceful fluttering of a glistering cloud of shards that evaded the onlooker’s gaze, betraying what the eyes saw in this entrapment of shattered visages. It was as if the being moved within the slivers of objects and within them only, though it was for a fact that it was still present, and these other beings of latent power would find no trouble in finding Ohrumn if they so sought.
Yet it stopped, and gazed, outwards through the small crack within the pattern staring at the children in front of it. How long had it been since it had seen a life that was so simple, so young. Yet something was not right within that place. This was only confirmed by Ridhuan. The fist up in the air was a signal it recognised despite the difference in time and space between the two beings, and Ohrumn came to a halt suspended in the sliver of non-space it transited so naturally.
Still, it would try to be useful for its comrades. It whispered, a soft hiss and murmur from the crackling fractals.
“I will… see if they are many…”
And like that, it spread, its eyes scoured the vicinity through impossibly slim breaches between the vines, the trees, the blades of grass and the veins of the leaves. Gazing outwards, it searched the area quickly and quietly.
The memories came from the one who had made the first wish. Being dragged from a small cage by men dressed in what appeared to be biological warfare suits she had quickly been drugged. Waking up on an operating table she had cried out, wishing for freedom as the strangely biological gurney enveloped her. But the children in front of them had no memories.
Their minds were empty, no hints to how they got here, although it was likely to be the same story as the original girl. Even as Kaeleen, Amerandus and Ridhuan looked into their minds there was nothing.
Or maybe… There was something
As Ohrumn scanned outward it appeared that the entire forest was covered in these children, standing very still. Some, further in appeared to have the skin sloughing from their bones, consumed by decay and yet they stood. Like silent apparitions.
But when the red strings went into the area around the child, the first surprise was that it didn’t extinguish. These thankfully, were not a silence field.
The second surprise however was when the child’s eyes went wide, and the mouth opened to let forth ungodly screaming. It was pulsating, high pitched enough to kill wildlife in the vicinity and it was charged with so much psionic energy that it was like a deafening shockwave on the mind. No doubt any mortal in the vicinity would have been killed instantly by such a display, lasting only a few seconds before the child dropped down to the ground limp and utterly lifeless.
Living Mines.
The AOTP had turned children into living, deployable psionic landmines.
While the others, such as Ridhuan, seemed to take the lead in examining the child before them, Cinder had held back a ways, standing somewhere behind them and before Mammon. This proved to be useful when the child issued its psionic scream and dropped dead, as much of the energy that reached her was able to conduct away through her metanium plating. She was still knocked back however, her mind ringing from the 'blast'.
"Ouch" she growled, annoyed, and slightly unsure if the ringing was in her ears or her head. It was probably both, she thought.
Landmines. Psionic ones apparently. An interesting choice, but at least they'd be more visible than a normal mine. Either way they needed to be removed.
Looking around, she spotted another child nearby. Reaching out with her left hand, a glowing light green sphere of light appeared, the size of an orange, flying towards the child and altering course to intersect with its center of mass, carrying enough force to liquefy organs and kill. As it flew away, she lifted off the ground, her armor raising her several meters into the air with its magitech propulsors, as she searched their vicinity, using lidar and thermal imaging to search through the vegetation, augmented with magical life sensing tuned for child-sized creatures.
"HOLY FUCK!" Was the first of a torrent of various foul curses to come suddenly from behind the group after the child's death scream. "YOU STUPID LITTLE SHITS!" The fox screamed as it writhed on the ground while the cloaked man desperately tried to calm it, but stopped by the flailing fox. Its paws covered its ears as it threw itself headfirst into the ground repeatedly trying to ease the pain, its tails lashing wildly, broken by occasional bouts of horrendous language no fox should ever say.
In a flash of fur the fox grew and changed, no longer was there a small four tailed fox, but a man even taller than the other, dressed in an emerald green suit, animal skin boots, and covered in a long coat lavishly designed out of various pure white animal furs and turquoise feathers. His long white hair blended in with his coat and his handsome face was marred by pained grimacing as he covered his ears. "Fuck! I hate kids!" He yelled as the other man tried to help him stand. As the pain subsided and the strange man rose to his feet and he looked, wincing, at the rest of the gods who turned to watch his embarrassing display, then to the other man who had broken his serious demeanor to help him like a worried parent.
"What?! never seen a man's eardrums bleed before?!" He called out accusingly before reassuringly turning the other man's attention off him while he recovered and dusted himself off.
Kaeleen winced at the child psionically exploding, her head pounding from the assault. She groaned in pain but nonetheless spoke with a gentle tone, far more directed to Cinder, and anyone else trying to kill more of the children. "I urge caution... These are but specs in the great psionic field, hidden beyond reason, minds empty. They are mines, and they are likely an early warning system. They are easy to see, easy to avoid after this lesson. Killing more only puts our mission at more risk than we already have foolishly stumbling into this one."
She sighed more so to herself, and turned to face the lifeless corpse. Leaning into her sounding staff with a small grimace towards the child. The AOTP were far more vile than she initially though. The weave was right for beckoning her to heed this call.
Amerandus face twisted in displeasure at the sudden release of psionic energy and sound though he'd done well in keeping his distance from the child, yet still he seemed to have taken less of a hit than he should have, as if something invisible had taken the brunt of the attack, he shook his head as if trying to get rid of a ringing in the ears as the former child sank to the ground like a sack of dead meat, which it at this point most likely was.
So they were traps after all. Possibly some conduit into this psionic field or Panopticon that had been mentioned in Falekas memories?
More importantly, the one he was after had apparently passed here not too long ago, admittedly, 'not too long ago' by his standards, what had happened to her later remained to be seen.
He turned his head towards the floating Cinder who was in the process of disposing of other traps like this.
"Whilst it would certainly be most entertaining to observe your powers in action, I have to agree with our psionic friend here. It may be to our benefit to avoid creating an obvious path of destruction towards our destination."
With that he turned to the 'new arrival' he looked the man clad in furs up and down.
He had already expected something like that when the man and the fox arrived, though who was he to intrude the privacy of a god which desired to remain hidden?
"One would assume that you are 'Mammon' then?"
The child’s psionic scream greatly affected Ridhuan. Groaning in pain, the headless commissar was forced to his knees, seemingly crushed by the psionic shockwaves of such living mines, as the red tendrils disappeared, and his own connection to the Panopticon severed.
The screams were now over, but it was not until a few minutes had passed that Ridhuan was able to stand up again, still disoriented, and unable to tap into the Panopticon for a while from such a psionic shock.
“To Him we come from, to Him we return…” Ridhuan muttered a short prayer as he saw the lifeless corpses of the two children in front of him. His heart sank, no innocent child deserved such a fate.
The only thing he could do now was to spare their bodies from horrible decay, especially in such a hot, humid and lush jungle. He walked to each of them, closing their eyes and then closing his as small jets of flame burst out from his hands and enveloped the bodies, cremating them instantly into ash.
Immersed within his own shattered visage, the carrion waves of psychic energy echoed through the endless halls, respecting the laws of the world in their expansion patterns they were lost into the imiscible edges of this mirror world, washing over Ohrumn with only a fractal of the power they originally had, but still momentarily stunning the dual god.
It sees now, traps laid across to protect something, made of such vile nature , desecrating the body of the innocents. Ohrumn was no god of justice but if this cruelty were done to its people, it would spare no effort in seeking rectification. But alas, now, it must warn the others.
It walked, untethered by the realm of its own making and tangentially so into one of the tendril's edges of one of the developing pattern, it opened like a blossom, mesmorisingly prying itself apart until a small rift was present in the world, out of which it stepped out, amidst its comrades within the jungle.
"Wait!... They are made many...
We must... proceed carefully..."
It looked down aimlessly at the ground, at somewhere hovering above it a small scintillation began to manifest, first it looked like fine dust, then shards of a broken and reflective mirror like a fluctuating mass, then from within an image started to form, they were tiny clouds of gas and hundreds of little dots flashing with color, then, dozens of dots glowed and connected amidst eachother, around them little auras manifested like the afterwaves of supernovae, it was like a small starchart representing the locations of the children, and what Ohrumn presumed was their detection radius.
The psionic shockwave washed over his mental barriers. He stood firm in the face of adversity. Their tricks would not affect him. Yet, the physical scream was of annoyance to hiim. He scowled slightly and proceeded to reinforce his body with aura to prevent what little damage could have been caused and to shield against further attacks.
His eyes lingered on the corpses of the children as they were cremated by Ridhaun. Truth be told, he felt only annoyance at the way they were used. While he had no qualms at the thought of slaughter, what he did grit his teeth at was the waste of potential. These children could have had much more potential than simply a bomb. It only really mattered in the factor of psychological damage. Adults would serve just well for both really.
His thoughts were interrupted when Ohrumn appeared and presented its impromptu map. At this, he scowl visibly deepened, “Cinder,” he used her name casually, for he did not care for any rank but his, “disposed of one easily. We should do the same and eliminate any chance of them being a future threat. If we leave them as they are now, they will only serve as a potential attack.”
His fingers splayed open, a ball of aura twisting to life in crackling crimson energy, “it would be easy to take them out while we still can at this range.”
The man looked at Amerandus and with a wave of his hand cleaned himself off and fixed his hair as though he'd never been in the dirt. The pearlescent sheen that had been his fox form's fur carried over to the heavily styled pure white hair on his head and the fur on his coat. "Yeah. that's what I call myself." Mammon answered as he finally regained his composure. He clearly couldn't stand being unpresentable.
The man who had been Mammon's decoy took his place close to the chaos god's side, with both his arms behind himself in a militaristic fashion, This man was intimidatingly large on his own, and though neither was a giant, next to the god he seemed small, not just physically, but in the atmosphere around them. This god radiated an aura that inspired both awe and intimidation, an aura that demanded submission, he was a being of pure power that could only make one question why he needed a decoy in the first place.
Mammon walked closer to the rest of the group, his companion close behind. His heavily furred coat physically made him appear even bigger than he already was, and as he approached the feintest sound of rock music could be heard in the air, coming directly from him, neither too loud nor too quiet to be listened to, and perfectly clear. A song of passion, love, and pride, and the willingness to stop at nothing for more. Mammon himself did not seem to acknowledge the music.
"So, you summoned me here, yeah? To deal with more panopticon nonsense? To get my eardrums blasted by sonic pre-school dropouts?" He said. He carried himself like the carefree boss of a criminal syndicate, and didn't talk much different from one either. "What is it this time? I thought the null nonsense was dealt with. Jormundgand made sure of it. Isn't this a local god problem? Oh, right...Arkol and Faleka were local gods..."
Amerandus' gaze rested on Eleision who was still holding his orb of energy. He had learned and yet he had not, not enough at the very least. Then again, it had not been too long.
"...and charge headlong into adversity and into a potential trap that could be obvious if you were more careful? I would use the map Ohrumn has just provided to us, though who am I to tell you what do?"
There was the same thin smile as usual on his face though something about the question felt off, before the former Khan could answer, the white clad entities attention moved to Mammon.
He... certainly was an individual.
It made him wonder how deep his arrogance ran and how much there was to support it, his aura was certainly promising.
"That is quite true, yes, they 'were' local gods. Alas, they are no more."
He paused and wondered if he should test the proverbial waters. Maybe just a little bit, after all, they did not want any hostilities this early on. There was still a wish he had to fulfil.
"...and alas, it seems to have not been dealt with thoroughly enough. After all, we summoned whoever would listen, nobody specific and listen you did indeed. The Panopticon is indeed here and quite capable of causing issues, even to those like us, as you, like all others here, just so graciously demonstrated."
Kaeleen sighed at the outburts, and kneeled over the lifeless charred corpse. She closed her eyes, and in the lack of being able to investigate a corpse, tried to reach out across the jungle. To see if it was possible to actually psionically detect one.
"Can we please not bicker amongst ourselves? We have a common enemy, no? One that could kill any of us, as the past has shown."
A deep bestial growl reverberated in the draconian's chest.
"Like you knew the child would scream? Give the word, I'll silence every being in a hundred thousand mile radius! Why not the planet? No more panopticon toddlers, no more problem!" He raised his hand to snap his fingers only to be stopped by a silent grumble behind him, his companion looked at him with a concerned expression, Mammon's own expression softened and he lowered his arm.
"Okay, Brutus....You're right." He said calmly, mumbling silently under his breath about how much the situation annoyed him. Despite the draconian's complaints about the damage to his ears, he seemed totally healed now, his reaction would have been from pure spite.
"Look....I dont like this situation...draconian have no part in it and never should have been involved...but I feel something making me be here...guilt...I dont know. The others make this shit all seem so fucking easy..." He confessed rather believably, though his words seemed like cause for question ,"guilt", why would this draconian feel guilt?
"Do not worry Kaeleen, we have no intention of stirring up hostilities, we were merely... testing their capacity to cooperate."
Still, Amerandus had although for but a brief moment tightened his grip around his weapon as the Draconian was about to snap his finger. There had been no power emanating from him when he did it but he knew these powers were very much real and gods were foolish creatures. Some more than others.
"I see."
Guilt was... a curious reveal, even more so from a god. What had they done to warrant such a sentiment? How far were the Draconians involved in this? It made him wonder. Alas, now was not the time to dig deeper.
"I see." He repeated. "Then, I shall welcome you once more to this group, Draconian Mammon."
This time, he did not bow, he merely nodded respectfully, whether out of actual respect or formality was up to question.
As the gods seemed to gather and bicker around the beautiful fractal map that Ohrumn had created depicting the children the attack made by Cinder to strike the child nearby hit home, punching through the kid’s chest, and vaporising them its mouth didn’t open. There was no physical scream, but once more a shockwave of psionic energy raced outwards just like the first. They were rigged to blow even if struck.
In that brief moment Kaeleen, leaning over the body and reaching across the jungle with her mind could feel something stir. Multiple things.
The first mine could very well have been some locals getting too close. But a second mine detonation? Something was clearly wrong. It seemed they were about to be investigated.
The children extended for around 2 kilometres in a circular but concentric pattern, obviously surrounding whatever facility the Army had created here. Small paths through the mines could be spotted; tight passages based on detection radii. There were safe paths in it seemed.
The presences that Kaeleen had felt however, were approaching extremely rapidly.
There was a disturbance in the air, all the animals and sounds had gone still when they had approached the mines, but now even the wind had died down and the trees and foliage had gone still. The temperature was beginning to drop.
Kaeleen's eyes shot open at the psionic presences, but otherwise she stayed calm. She gently stood back to her feet. She started to speak her voice ever calm, serene despite the circumstances. "The four threads reveal themselves."
She said the simple sentence turning towards the west. Her simple hermits robe began to undo itself. The very threading, the stitching that had placed it together unraveled under Kaeleens will. The single garment that would normally be donned by simply pulling it over ones head fell to her feet. The very stitching that had made it undone, leaving in two separate pieces. This process having rendered the Kaal'Tae woman completely nude. Unnoticed before Kaeleen had a loose necklace comprised of nothing more than a string, with over a dozen small spiked teeth. With a similar piece of jewelry tied around her waist, beasts from her homeworld, her trophies from her early trials of survival under Master Yorlon. With all four arms at her disposal, she stretched out the lower two arms that were almost always under a robe, and began her preparation.
"We have been noticed. To the West, they will come."
The woman turned her head towards the wooden staff topped by bone. She lifted her arm, and let her four fingered hand let go of it. She concentrated on the sounding staff and it splintered.
It splintered, it cracked, it shattered in two pieces. The bones that made the top shattering. The remaining two pieces snapped, cracked, bent. Reforming into two bows, of which were quickly stringed from her the woman's former robe. The strings threading into the bows and going taught. Kaeleen grabbed both bows and tested the strings to ensure they were to her specifications. All the while she was working on other parts of her gear.
One of the two halves of her former robes raised up, rapidly splitting apart and wrapping around. Aging quickly, and forming itself into two quivers, stitched together by the threads from the robes, and reinforced by rapidly aged and hardened leather. Both the quivers floated onto her back while forty branches snapped from the trees surrounding them, and the bones from her staff quickly snapped, chipped, and shaped into arrowheads, threading from the remaining half of her robe tying the heads on, and fletching the backs with the feathers that had decorated her staff. All of the many arrows sliding into the two quivers.
The remnants of her robes began to flay themselves. No stitching, instead they turned to long wrappings. As Kaeleen rose a foot it was wrapped up to just above her knee, then with the second. A larger piece formed a sort of loincloth that was thinner than the wraps, her tooth 'belt' and her hips both serving to keep it up, while a sash quickly threaded around her chest, equally as thin. Threads going out from both the loincloth, and sash to her lower arms, wrapping around the biceps, drooping down, and then wrapping around her forearms. While the last meager amount of her robes wrapped around her upper arms forearm, and made a mask that rose from the ground and covered her face.
Kaeleen looked less like a hermit now, and more like a tribal warrior. She quickly took a knee, and closed her eyes. Drawing five arrows in both of her drawing arms, and nocking two of her arrows. Her psionic powers now working on strengthening the bows, making the arrows stronger, faster, to hit harder. And doing her best to track the targets preparing to loose an arrow as soon as one came out of the tree cover. Visual sight was of little consequence to her, but thousands of trees made the shot tricky, even for an entity such as herself.
"Steel yourselves, do not be rash... And do not get in the way of my arrows."
Cinder watched with satisfaction as her force bolt slammed into the child, killing it without a scream. However the psionic reading she got off of the living mine as it died caused her brief smile to turn back into a frown. That rules out the simple option. I suppose that would’ve been too easy she thought, being interrupted as Kaleen uttered her incantation and began to transform.
The Isoterran queen watched Kaleen's rather dramatic transformation with a raised eyebrow, appreciating the transfiguration of her equipment the most, as well as the sheer audacity to drop all clothing as a part of it. “Now that’s more like it” she muttered as the transformation concluded, approving of the change from hermit to warrior. Even if the new look was still a primitive warrior.
She didn’t have too much time to dwell on judging appearances at the moment though, as it seemed they would shortly have company, and not the type one wanted to see. With a neural command, she adjusted her HUD to display the results from her psionic detection. Normally, it would have been a more of a roundabout and time-consuming process to try to get her magic-based supernatural detection to pick up psionics, but she had been busy during the two years since the hunt had started for the Panopticon’s cult, having spent countless hours tuning her armor’s sensors to be able to do this, allowing the mana that flowed around her to detect the influence in the psion field permeating space. She could see returns now, glowing far away through the trees, but coming quickly towards them.
She clenched her fists, calling forth the power stored in the eerily black cape she wore. Abruptly, the lights on her suit went dark and the plating darkened to a black matching that of the cape. Transparency quickly followed, flowing from the cape’s anchor points on her shoulders, spreading down until she was quite invisible to any sort of vision, natural or beyond.
“I suggest everyone either hide or ready themselves for combat” her disembodied voice said offhandedly, in the same growling tone as before, while she readied to ambush whatever came their way.
Eleison scowled at the words of Amerandus and it seemed that he would turn his ire against the entity. However, any reply would soon be cut off when he began to notice the rapid anomalies that started to appear. Instinctually, he reached into his soul and began to flare his aura, before the sudden transformation of Kaeleen caught him completely off guard.
A transformation? That was surprising. He hadn’t seen something like that in years. Decades even. The last notable person who had such power was the Diadochi Jaghatai and even his wasn’t this… drastic.
He quickly shook himself out of his questions and turned away from her. He barely had time to notice Cinder disappear before he took into account the words both she and Kaeleen said.
“To fight or hide…” Eleison tested the words on his tongue and flexed his fingers, letting the ball of aura spin rapidly before he grinned sardonically and bared his teeth, “hiding has never done me any good,” the crimson energy began to expand, slowly growing bigger and bigger and far more destabilised as it crackled with arcs of lightning. Then, its elements shift, turning into a raging fire. Then, it occurred once more and this time turned into a swirling whirlwind. Then, rapidly spinning rocks. Then, back to pure energy.
In his other hand, he conjured a similar ball of aura, this one more smaller and easily able to mold into something else other than pure offensive energy. Crimson aura began to drip down bared teeth before sizzling as it struck the ground, “I suggest we prepare for combat, as it seems two of us are inclined too.”
The entities of this realm had much to learn it seems. Amerandus merely shook his head and sighed as neither of the two took his advice. Not only that, but the second psionic pulse had drawn a guardian near and even if they were to beat it, the inhabitants of the installation would be quite aware of their presence now, even more so than before. The entire reason they were, no, he was here, was now endangered, along with anything else they could've found. Perhaps it would've been better if he had went alone after all. Perhaps, it would have been better, if he intercepted the attack. Perhaps, it would have been better if he had gi...
Something violent and sinister welled up.
No. Not yet.
He studied the various preparations the group made with a cold look. He did not answer but with another tap of his weapon on the ground the man disappeared from the groups perception again, much like he had appeared earlier. For good measure he moved off the battlefield and away from the two dead children, making sure not to run into another one.
If they wanted to fight the guard and boast their powers? So be it. If they died they would at least make for good bait, although that was likely wishful thinking. He would wait and bide his time, perhaps they could at least make use of appearing as less individuals than they actually were.
With the distraction of the incoming enemy Mammon and Brutus both had disappeared from the congregation with neither a sound or visible trace of their presence. Mammon could sense the frustration of Amerandus, he did not care for it, but alerting the enemy had done no good for their mission there, something he agreed with the entity entirely. While he could not sense or even feel the psionics around him he knew those children were more than just screaming landmines and could hear the enemy approaching well before the others. He would leave Brutus to decide for himself, but he knew his mission had to move forward.
As Amerandus moved swiftly through the jungle the multi-tailed fox followed close on his heels, its fur shimmering in the light with unnatural power. The draconian had his own means of stealth, though he felt limited while trying to slow himself down so as not to get ahead of Amerandus. He liked the entity's disappearing act but resisted the urge to take it for himself. The divine kleptomaniac was struggling enough not to act on his impulses, he knew Brutus would be unhappy if he didnt.
The presence of the enemy swelled within the area, palpable was its onslaught. Ohrumn did not judge much the mistakes of its fellow kin, however, it demonstrated to it that these weaponised children could still serve a purpose to their advantage. The fractal god receeded into the projection it just cast, the constellation bloomed outwards and encompassed the cloaked figure, until the cloak of stars and fractals was imiscible with the map itself, and thus, now dissipated.
It did not wait however. Instead, it sprung into action, localising the spots where the children were, it prepared a trap to turn these traps against the fiendish perpetrators that had corrupted the young ones. It now awaited for its enemy to show face, and in a moment of weakness, it'd try to draw many of the children to it at once, through the nascent shortening of the ways made by its broken realms, and use their sinful ways against themselves.
Ridhuan brandished his katana, the blade now glowing a bright molten orange as he activated its superheated setting.
“Roger, enemy coming from the west side. I don’t need the Panopticon to know that this feeling means its the Army,” Ridhuan responded to Kaeleen’s warning as he felt the all too familiar signs of the AOTP's malicious presence. He held an intense gaze towards the general direction of the expected enemy attack, tuning all his senses - his sight, his ears, his smell and the psionic touch, for any signs of the enemy to come.
Looking back in the corner of his eye to check on the party, he noticed Amerandus was gone and he gritted his teeth. If he could follow him out of this mess, he would - to fight right now when they barely even reached the objective was tactically unwise. But alas, the party was more useful to the whole alive, so rather than retreating or hiding elsewhere he decided to join the fight to increase their power and thus, their chances of winning.
The things that came through the forest were absolutely anything but human. Or even natural.
The first thing that could be felt was a palpable wave of dread, it wasn’t a natural feeling. But artificial, like an oppressive suffocating field that came before them like the downdraft in a storm. Next was the noise, a buzzing like billions of angry flies. Two black masses approached the area at speed before halting near instantaneously. They were circular, huge in size and made up of millions of tiny, what appeared to be worms. Darkness seemed to ooze off them and the occasional golden string, tinted somewhat purple, grasped outwards for brief moments before disappearing.
They were huge, constantly shifting rings of miniature organisms, and in a heartbeat, they began to coalesce. Falling inward onto themselves to shift form. From each of the two monsters three smaller forms were created. Silhouettes showed they were massive, long limbed and with wickedly large claws, the creatures that made up their forms ever shifting and swarming as to keep the appearance ever moving and hard to discern. Fear, dread and outright insanity radiated from these creatures, a golden glow emanating from their centre and the three ‘sockets’ of where they eyes would be, Golden strings pouring from each as they eyed the intruders.
”In the darkness hunted, you will see the shining light” The voice seemed to emanate from them unnaturally.
A deep bass humming filled the area from the six creatures, drowning out all noise and sending out radiating psionic pulses. The pulses did nothing to harm, but the constantly shifting pattern of the psion was chaotic, it was like they were jamming psionic powers, making them harder to use.
Then with a blur, they moved. Impossibly fast as they shifted both in form and location.
They were definitely Panopticon creations, but nothing that had ever been seen before.
Eleison scowled upon sighting the monsters. They were unlike anything he had ever encountered and once again served as a reminder of how large this universe truly was. Their own aura of madness and fear grated at him, yet stirred something primal within his soul. Any further chance of assessment came to an end when they made their rapid approach to the party and he knew he would only have a split second to react.
He flung his hand forward, throwing the orb of crackling auric energy where he assessed they would be if not, slightly behind where they once were. But his accuracy hardly mattered in this case- not when the orb suddenly transformed into a rapidly expanding fireball. In the span of a second, this fireball exploded and turned into a raging firestorm that engulfed a fifteen-metre-wide area. The flames were hot enough to glow an entrancing white-blue and surpassed over a thousand celsius in temperature.
This was but a probing attack- a drop of water in the full capabilities of the Khan, but he needed to know how strong these beings were as well as how capable his allies were as well.
A sudden feeling of fear and discomfort washed over Cinder as the black flying masses arrived, before shifting into what looked like six-armed vermian wraiths, with myriad glowing eyes. This new mental state was a far cry from the confidence she had felt earlier, as she felt a distinct urge to make use of her invisibility and flee from the area. The sudden change to her own emotions was jarring, causing the Isoterran queen to wonder what was going on.
Almost in answer to her question, a notification popped up within her HUD, warning of a strange combination of ultra-low frequency sound and psionic pulses. She wondered if this was the source of the sudden urge to run that seemed to be consuming much of her mind. Creating a set of neural commands, her helmet’s auditory system adjusted, tuning itself to the incoming ULF waves and attempting to cancel them out via destructive interference, a process helped by the sound muffling nature of wearing an airtight suit of powerarmor.
It was like a breath of fresh air, her mind quickly clearing as the noise-canceling system took effect, the fear replaced by the confidence she had felt shortly before the wraiths, or whatever these ugly things were, arrived. She eyed up the monsters, giving an unseen but approving nod at Eleison’s white-blue flames. Simple, but not a bad idea, given that the things seemed to be great masses of flying worms.
“Let’s dial that fire up a bit then” she muttered, raising an invisible clawed hand so that the palm faced the creatures, while curling her fingers slightly. The image of the three beings and flames engulfing them seemed to distort, as if pulled towards the center of a great sphere around the three of them. Within, space seemed to stretch, as if the meters between the things and the entities were miles, while a force willed them backwards, like space itself was trying to flow and compact into the center of the bubble, helping Eleison’s fire and anything else thrown their way to hit the target.
As the remaining members of their party, minus Mammon, engaged their three new opponents, Amerandus stood at a distance, observing the movements and attacks of both sides with great interest.
From what he could tell at least they were sufficiently competent with the use of their powers so far and weren't trying to fling stones at their targets. Interestingly enough most of the party seemed to be inclined towards magic, both a blessing and a curse, as even at this distance he could feel the psionic aura of fear from these things, little as it did to what he was housing already.
On the one hand magic would be harder to manipulate for those of the Panopticon, on the other... it would also be harder to defend against psionics with it, although, they still had Ridhuan, who seemed have done decently in the past and Kaeleen, who was apparently an avatar.
It was too early to make any definite assessments in regards to these things capabilities, though he did wonder, what their origin was. Perhaps Falekas memories would know more?
…Purple?
Ridhuan then immediately froze in the fear and the dread, not only because they emanated from these newest of Panopticon monstrosities, but more than that - a fear of the unknown. Up until this point, he had only known three kinds. The golden strings of the Army of the Panopticon, the reddish-orange ones of his fellow Prajurits, the original survivors of Rubikon II, and most recently, the red ones that he possessed. Purple was none of those colours.
He hesitated at the immediate implications that followed. Who, or more precisely, what else, had connections to the Panopticon? And for this additional party to fall into the AOTP’s hands, just what is the Army capable of truly?
Ridhuan tried to summon a hail of explosive plasma bolts into the incoming enemy but their psionic pulse intruded into his concentration, the humming hammering into his ‘brain’. The plasma bolts hovering behind him started the flicker as his mind wandered, trying to stay afloat in a turbulent sea of chaos, panic, confusion and discord as the pulse affected psionics like him heavily. Summoning all that he could, the rain of plasma bolts suddenly erupted forwards with one single great burst of energy, before Ridhuan collapsed, falling onto the ground - what was supposed to be a small act of simple telekinesis had became an arduous undertaking with the psionic pulse active.
The pulsing echoed through the broken halls, and even in the distance that Ohrumn put itself, far away from the incoming entities, it still washed over it. A most dreaded feeling overtook the entity for a moment, it was a flashback, a violent but acute resurgence of the emotions of an age so far gone and so erased from the world, that it couldn't help but wonder if it was even real, or just a dream of the distant past, even within a turmoil of angst and revenge-fuelled vitriol for its captors. These godly powers have no residence within mortals.
It snapped awake in response, and peered through the thin gaps towards the battlefield. It was time to put its plan into motion. It exacerbated Cinder's influence over the area, the long stretching of space stretched even further and down into a point, and reality broke at the seams, devolving into coherent patterns that stretched out, an abyss that dragged the beings that just came inwards together with the fire and projectiles of others, but this was not all.
As the beings were pulled inwards and into a point it released then several collapsing, intruding tendrals of broken mirrors, they connected back to dozens of the children turned psychic mines. The Fractal god idled none as it activated the children, and with uncaring fury hurled them towards the center of abyss of its own making, funneling their psychic blast into the beings that the entities present were entrapping.
Mammon had stopped with Amerandus, The multitailed fox took the break to climb up Amerandus' leg and onto his shoulder. He was nearly completely weightless to the entity. The draconian was curious, he did not feel any of the psionics but he could hear the others in their encounter, and with his divine senses he could reach out and watch them as though he were in the thick of it. This enemy confused him as he had never seen such entities before, though he felt relieved he dismissed Brutus before departing. He did not need more stress on his mind than he already had, and letting Brutus make his own decisions was better than being leashed to him.
Kaeleen's mind was only steeled by the a childhood growing up to learn to defend against such mental attacks. Even then this was stronger, more potent than the usual. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pushing the feelings of doubt, and fear away. She quickly looked over what her allies were doing, and coolly layed out her plan of attack.
Kaeleen rose from her crouching position, and took a step forward. In her eyes the terrain rapidly whizzed past her, but to everyone else the woman blinked out of existense with a trail of heavy footsteps, and broken brush.
She was directly behind them now creating distance in case of any attacks. She did not want to be bunched together. In a fluid motion the woman span around into a kneeling position to face the Panopticon monstrosities. She wasn't keen on probing them with her psionics, so instead pulled both of her bows. A deluge of arrows arcing out towards them. Each having the speed, and hit of sizable railgun. Albiet slightly weaker due to the psionic suppression. At the last moment each of these arrows splitting apart into hundreds of thin projectiles each going for an individual piece of the swarm.
The fireball launched by Eleison was the first to test the mettle of the oncoming nightmares, one of the things coming straight for him as the burning orb of fire set ablaze all the forest flora which it came near, impacting the creature it was engulfed as the blast of blue and white-hot flame, no longer contained exploded outwards. And still, a black smear within emerged from the fire the creature sprinting forwards, its blackened skin cracked from the heat. Its entire body seemed to shimmer, like its skin buzzed, and the blackened surface shed itself to the floor revealing untouched material beneath. Leaping at Eleison the things huge talons grasped forth to try and eviscerate the khan.
The other two were caught within the spacetime distorting field, which engulfed the fire and trapped them within. Watching them also endure the fire the two creatures who had been trapped stopped sprinting, merely both looking up at Cinder from within the inferno. There was a blur, like a bad camera lenses shift and then they were gone.
But not gone. They were next to her. One raked with its claws, the other tried to catch her within its wickedly sharp and seemingly ever changing teeth . Whatever the hell these things were, they were totally unlike what the previous team had fought before. Falekas memories revealed nothing about these things in terms of fighting, but the forms they had witnessed before did spark one. Faleka had once observed something called an Ouroboros, a being of the Unnamed. Surely these were not the same thing?
There was a sudden silence as the screams of the children came again, only amplified as Ohrumn connected spacetime in such a way as to focus their blasts. Initially the creatures seemed to twitch, but moments later, the discordant screams of the children shifted, changing subtle pitch and tone. It sounded… Like they were singing.
Then the creatures began to sing too, deep rumbling tones which sat in line with the children. No psionic blast seemed to manifest, and the children did not burn out, the golden strings of the children became visible however, as did many strings from the creatures. Could they be communicating?
One of the creatures seemed to go for Ohrumn, seeing the being as a threat, sprinting while seeming to blink in and out, crossing distance and even able to fly somewhat. Another was beaten back by the force of Ridhuans plasma bolts, the plasma doing little like the fire had, but the force of the impacts keeping it relatively stationary.
The hail of projectiles from Kaeleen however seemed to give the group a moments respite, knocking the creatures attacking the Khan and Cinder off balance for a split second and sending the already weathering being backwards as the impacts knocking it from its feet. Still these things were tough, and seemed to have an entire arsenal of abilities, what the hell had the Army been experimenting on and tinkering with if these were their border guards?
As the Chaos ensued in front of him Amerandus calmly pondered the memory he had found. Ouroboros. The Unnamed.
What a... curiosity.
They were one of the Elder species of this galaxy, if his memory served him correctly. However, if these people had already gone so far that they captured some of those, it could mean their corruption was already reaching far deeper than the inhabitants of this galaxy could even imagine. On the other hand, Elder species had a tendency to grow senile and arrogant. He knew too little so far to make a definite judgement, he would have to learn more before he would decide whether to go after them for being an interference, or leaving them be to avoid unwanted attention. Perhaps there was another way?
He had seen the first clashes ensue, these things seemed to use their kin much like a form of ablative armour judging by the effect the heat had, it reminded him of the A'vaern. They were fast and violent, an enemy most people would not wish for themselves. However, what interrupted his train of thought was not the clashes, not Ridhuan falling unconscious or Ohrumn trying to use the children against the beasts but rather the singing, they were communicating and they didn't know with what or who, the last thing he wanted now was even more unwanted attention.
He looked at the cloudy sky and sighed. His gaze wandered to Mammon and then over to the unconscious Rhiduan as if trying to give him a hint.
"If you would be so kind.", the only thing he noted.
Then with another faint tap of his bladed spear, tiny aspects in the weather seemed to change, not as if forced, but rather nudged in the right direction. Subtle, not to draw attention. The air pressure changed, the temperature dropped, wind began picking up and the sky darkened, a storm was forming above their heads.
A neural warning from her armor caused Cinder to jump backwards in midair as the two creatures appeared where she had just been, allowing her to miss the toothy jaws of the thing trying to bite her. However while it wasn't too hard to dodge the bite, it was a different story with the thing slashing at her using its two long clawed arms, one of the hands connecting and creating purple sparks as it traveled along the armor's arcane shielding. The shield saved her from taking damage, but the impact itself knocked her a few meters sideways, before she was able to re-stabilize in air.
These things seemed to be able to teleport and somehow see through her invisibility.
“How rude” she remarked, annoyed at the monsters’ unwillingness to be contained or die.
Dropping her invisibility, since it didn’t seem to be helping anyway, she her right hand, baring partially curled fingers and palm at the two creatures trying to assault her. From her armored digits came two bolts of black antilife lightning, surrounded by a red glow and filled with shifting red arcs within the main body. Each bolt jumped towards one of the things’ centers of mass, splitting before impact into an uncountable number of tiny bolts, each targeting one of the little flying worms making up the creatures’ bodies.
Mammon wasted no time after Amerandus' silent request as he quickly made his way back to the clearing. As the others were distracted Mammon approached the unconscious Ridhuan, Mammon's small body shimmered with his illusory magic to avoid drawing any attention from the enemy. The fox wedged his head beneath Ridhuan's body and crawled beneath him. Flattening his many tails behind him as a makeshift gurney he balanced the much larger being on his back with an impossible strength for this normally small fox to wield and quickly carried him back to the over of the trees and bushes, only moments later appearing back by Amerandus' side with the still unconscious body of Ridhuan.
So these things could teleport and they were fast. Great. What a wonderful set of abilities. And by that, he meant utterly irritating. The Khan scowled and willed for the ball of stored aura in his palm to activate itself. The ball fizzled before it lost its shape, turning into an almost viscous fluid that crawled up his arm and enveloped his fist. Eleison raised his aura-reinforced arm and allowed the creature to rake its claws against it-
-and absorb the energy of the strike. The aura glove (that’s what he’s going to call it for now) rippled with the stolen force. He was already planning his next move and was about to use his other arm to stun the creature when Kaeleen’s arrows did that for him instead. Not wasting that opportunity, he thrust his gloved arm right where he suspected the creature would be.
Enhancement to multiply the kinetic of the strike. Emission to launch the aura forward.
A shockwave echoed throughout the clearing as Eleison punched the air in front him and allowed for the aura glove to turn into an aura fist intended to strike at the creature with the very same force it tried to use on him, albeit multiplied.
Seeing the being cross into the fractured realms, and the lines be tied into the children as its captors planned something, Ohrumn cut the tendrils that connected to the children, the space that these lines threaded would be undone, if they wanted this connection, they'd have to find another way. With this, the distortion on the battlefield receded, the brokenness that descended into a void rippled outwards and flattened, at least to the effects of what Ohrumn was causing.
The lines betwen the realm of Ohrumn's and realspace were sometimes frail ones. Its domain surged in the spaces between the weave, the brokenness staggered what was already real, a whole dimension born out of a void, which allowed for the distortions and interesting properties that they entailed. Crossing this imiscible line brought it into a fold where the being was not quite in realspace, but still, not quite out of it.
Ohrumn observed. To defeat this evil they must first acquiesce to its weaknesses. There was a small recoil to the psychic, but their strength in it indicated that they may overturn the power of the group if they were to fight on these common grounds. He'd use this unique abilities to the best he could.
The creature blinked and tried to cross the distance between itself and the Fractured God, but it found itself back into the same spot, different orientation. Euclidean geometry lost the majority of its rule in this broken space, it'd have to quickly learn the bizarre methods of transiting this space. Meanwhile Ohrumn prepared, if it were to dash again, it'd meed a wall of infinitely sharp edges that descended into endless trailing, broken tendrils.
As the storm began to form over the battlefield and the light levels dropped the beasts seemed to glow an eerie purple and gold, so far the creatures were not focused on Amerandus, Mammon or the unconscious Ridhuan, but were far more focused on the individuals currently fighting them.
The anti-life beams from Cinder spread out like a hail of arrows, finding only empty air as the things moved with intense speed. However, one was not lucky, focused down by Kaeleen as he fired bolt after bolt from his bows it did not have time to dodge. The beams raked its form, causing it and another two of the creatures to scream in pain, something which was echoed by all of the children too. Radiant psionic shockwaves pulsed outwards, each full of pain and suffering as the creature died, collapsing into a pile of dead worms before degrading into biological gruel and catching fire.
The two creatures attacking Cinder kept blinking, now very much enraged by their comrade’s death they blinked in, raked with claws or bite then blinked away again, tag team attacking the Isoterran leader. They sang as they did so, creating a chorus with the children that was now ramping up, moving to something of a crescendo. The only disturbance seemed to be a tremendous impact, as Eleison correctly judged the creature’s position and slammed into it with full force. The blow punched straight through, sending dead worms across an area and sending the creature smashing into the ground below. It lost its form temporarily, but soon began reconstituting, he would have to strike quickly.
The crescendo of the children was cut a moment later as Ohrumn cut the connection, but it was still somewhat there, a faint singing could be heard from all around albeit diminished from distance considerably. The creature attacking him was thrown off by the spacial change, stepping forward only for a section of an arm to be sliced off by crystalised spacetime. In response it reached with its hand, sending a psionic pulse of energy towards the being intended to stun Ohrumn.
The last beast, no longer being pinned down by Ridhuan twitched as if it was sensing. With a sicking twist it stared in the direction of the unconscious Ridhuan as if sensing some kind of connection. In moments it was moving, its loping stride now intending to complete the kill.
Amerandus nodded acknowledging at Mammon as he brought about the unconscious Ridhuan, without taking his eyes off the battle though.
"Thank you."
Watching one of the beasts die he nodded once more in acknowledgement.
The tactics his contemporary allies were employing were... interesting, very straightforward, though they seemed to be working, so who was he to complain?
He kept some distance from Ridhuans body and as it turned out it had been a justified measure, as one of the beasts, thrown off focus by the attacks, decided to finish him off before he became a threat again.
Curious, it meant they were actually more than beasts, they were intelligent to a degree, though how much so was still questionable.
However, the contemplation aside, it would be rather unbecoming of him to let the man die right by his side, although, his more likely reasoning was probably that if they were this close there was no telling whether these things would notice him or not, he was uncertain on either part...
Rain started pouring in thick drops, first a light drizzle then growing more dense by the second, the wind picked up.
There was a flash of light, then several, then a deafening roaring from the sky, using Ridhuans nearby mandala as a conduit and his own power to gently alter the storms formation, several rather impressive lightning strikes suddenly started pouring out of the clouds, homing in on the beast which had jumped for Ridhuans body, to an outsider it would likely look like the psion himself had called them even whilst unconscious, it would be commendable if the beast would actually be able to detect and dodge them as focused on its target as it was.
Amerandus watched the results in silence, as of yet uncaring, as several more lightning strikes came down, some intended and striking random children in the nearby forest, others actually natural, slowly the storm began spreading, propagated by solely natural means, after all he couldn't have them notice yet there were more players here than it was apparent.
Satisfaction brimmed within him as the beast was sent crashing into the ground ahead of him. Good. So that meant they could be dealt with the old-fashioned way. He cracked his knuckles, pumping aura into his arms as he prepared to leap up on top of the beast to finish it off when he noticed the storm forming overhead. Lightning crashed into the ground nearby, the water picking up the electrical current. An idea sparked in his mind.
“Many thanks, old man!” Eleison shouted, not even caring that Amerandus didn’t appear that old, “I’ll be having fun with this!”
He raised his hand to the sky and redirected just a bit of aura into his palm, using Manipulation to will the storm to drop a lightning bolt directed at him! It impacted his open palm and seemed to still, gathering there like a crackling ball of blinding light! A fierce grin erupted on his face before he burst forward towards the fallen construct, his lightning-wrapped fist raised above him. Upon closing the distance, he brought his fist down to where the construct was. If his fist impacted it, then it would undoubtedly be met with a force capable of punching through steel- before it would receive a shock in the form of a million volts of electricity coursing through its body from the unleashed lightning fist strike.
The force from the creatures’ blows hit like great hammers against Cinder, knocking her out of the air and onto the ground, although her armor protected her from actually being cut. But she knew that this could not go on, eventually her armor’s barrier would break, and they would start causing real damage. Teeth gritted, she rolled to one side, dodging bites and raking claws, which instead impacted the air and soft detritus of the forest floor, before jumping to her feet.
These things were fast, enough so that it seemed a waste to keep throwing her unnatural lightning at them. It was then an idea entered her mind: If they were going to dodge her attempts at hitting them with lightning, then she would kill them when they came to her.
Wearing an evil smile behind the glowing orange eyes of her helmet, she conjured mana with clenched fists, before directing it outward as more antilife energy. An aura like ghostly fire of black and red issued forth from the witch Queen, radiating in all directions from her and fading away around two meters from the dark grey surface of her armor in a great sphere of death.
That done, she began working on her next spell, muttering to herself as she worked on preventing the foul swarms from blinking.
The powers of Ohrumn were curious in nature. The god stepped aside and onto another of the developing fractural tendrils, the blip of energy that the being created travelled off into the distance not once, but appearing many times and in different proportions, never however quite reaching where it was aimed, always escaping at the sides.
He could not let this being inhabit his realm much longer, even worse than getting hit would be for a being to remain in it long enough to map the geometry of his world, and thus have a chance at transposing the broken gaps. He looked at world external to the gaps that he inhabited for a good exit spot, and soon found one high above the clouds amidst the storm that one of his kin invoked. This would do nicely.
The world started to close in on the being that invaded his realm, the tendrils off in the direction of Ohrumn drifted farther and farther until they were a dot, the ones away from Ohrumn enlarged and closed into the being with repeating patterns, giving it the option of remaining within and be crushed or be flung out into the heart of the gathering storm. There was however, a third option, to try and follow Ohrumn through the collapsing realm, to resolve this Ohrumn had prepared the way he exited with plentiful traps.
Mammon had kept Ridhuan's unconscious body on his back, sensing the man was still not safe near the battlefield. He felt humiliated at his current state but tried to heal his burden by channeling some of his power through his body, the sooner he was healed the sooner he'd be awake and could fend for himself
The first lightning strike did nothing to stop the creature, it singed flesh and jolted through its body but it kept moving. However, the next cascade brought it to a halt as it spasmed and whole sections of its ever shifting flesh began to slough off of it. Finally, Kaeleen added to the fray firing two bolts into its back, blasting open sections of its flesh long enough for another strike to slam home, cooking it from within and causing it to fall apart into bubbling sludge.
The death of its comrade caused the creature Eleison had punched through to spasm as the Khan used the power of the storm to super charge his punch. Thrown off and unable to strike back the creature’s upper body was vapourised as Eleison slammed his electricized fist downwards, shattering the ground underneath as the thing died.
The creatures striking Cinder felt something was coming, although one was too slow to react, already slicing at her left leg it did not blink away in time to be consumed by the radiant field, causing it to simply fall apart and decay. The remaining creature however dodged, blinking away from the field and reappearing only to outstretch its hand, a needle thin purple beam screeched from it, causing the very air around it to burst into light and flames, the Null Beam was aimed directly for Cinders chest.
The creature engaging Ohrumn had felt both of its other wholes die, it spasmed, almost like a nervous tick before singing louder. Long ago, in a time before the creature even could fully know or even remember should it have been whole, its people had navigated and mapped the confines of a holy labyrinth before. Pioneers on a path to try and save themselves from a living nightmare. It sang loud, this time slowing the fractal contractions and giving it time to comprehend its kaleidoscopic surroundings, without a second thought it ventured further after Ohrumn.
Amerandus gave the corpse, or corpses rather, of their slain enemy a ponderous look.
They were considerably more durable than even he expected, though it did not go without notice to him that it was not entirely his merit that the thing was slain.
He had noticed the odd twitching whenever one of the other was severely harmed or killed. It seems even the 'individuals' amongst these tiny swarms seemed to have yet another group connection in between of them.
Perhaps that was something they could make use of or exploit later?
There were two of them left now, one which had gone after the strange god and the other which was engaging Cinder. From what she bragged earlier she should be fine dealing with it on her own, if not, it was her failure.
He let go of his metaphysical grasp on the borrowed Mandala of Ridhuan and instead looked down at the corpse, though staying a a decent distance to it. The children had been empty, sucked dry of their memories and self but maybe these would have something to tell him?
He pondered for a moment as the battle still raged around them. Thinking back at the twitching and the connections it would likely be best to wait with investigating them until all of these pseudo unnamed were dead.
His train of thought was interrupted as the air came alight when one of the last of the beasts fired it's beam.
How would the magician react? He supposed he would see any moment.
The Khan basked in the glory of his kill, his lips splitting into a wide grin that showed his teeth. Now this was what’s it like. To be in the thick of battle once more with no stakes other than his own life. This brought back memories. Before he could lose himself in them, he took the time to scan the battlefield and saw that the rest of his companions were faring well and that many of the attackers were slain.
His eyes trailed to the one firing the beam at the armoured figure named Cinder. For a moment, he was content with simply observing the battle but after a moment’s of consideration, decided that the glory of another kill shall belong to him. He pointed a finger directly at it and concentrated his aura on that single point.
A beam capable of piercing through a tank’s armour shot itself directly at the creature attacking her! If he still had his crown, he would have used that to channel this attack instead. Sadly, he had lost it battling the Archminister was thus forced to relay on his own internal well of power.
The purple beam impacted Cinder square in the chest, reacting with her armor’s protection systems, some of managing to leak through. A bright flash occurred, revealing a hole in the grey metal of her chestplate, revealing a sizable wound underneath, which had been cauterized shut by the heat. A loud growl escaped her helmet’s speakers as the witch queen snarled in a mix of pain and anger, as her suit dispensed painkillers and began the process of healing her. Abruptly, she changed the spell she had been working on, altering it from blocking access to phasing to instead allowing her access to the same phase that the creatures were using, based on analysis from her armor’s sensors. Through this access, she sent a sizable burst of antilife energy, while extending her aura in realspace to four meters.
Ohrumn had been wise to lay traps before his wake. Part of the god, deep down, remembered of wild jungles and chases of animals, empowered by the sacrifices of tribes of old, in an age of belief that had been dead for eons. It was like divine muscle memory to treat the enemy as if it were the prey of a hunter, however, no earthly animal was this keen, fast or brutal.
Ohrumn tried to summon his powers more. In ages after its birth, of temples and faifthful men, ages that were fading from his mind, he would have no problem dealing with earthly beings like these. But there was a lack, a mechanism whirred, sitting in-between the broken lines of its realm, it dragged the god down further into himself. It was knifes into the soul and the mind, he felt within a coffin of nails, every exercise of its power, if abrupt, did more harm than it did good.
The best it could do was run. It started to collapse the realms completely. The weaves that were coiled onto themselves retracted, the broken tendrils unrolled, swallowed back into normality by the thin whispy silvery portals that connected them. It stepped outwards, and made itself into the real world besides the main congregation of forces of the gods. it spoke:
"It chases after me.
Look, towards the slivers between the realms, those which betray the eyes of its seekers.
Within the apex is shall see the way through all, it shall be upon us shortly."
The being, its howls uncharting the geometry of the location, would make its way to where Ohrumn stood. The apex of the realm "followed" the god, and standing at the spot, all the tendrils aligned into coherent geometric patterns, extending outwards into dozens of directions. At the end it could see portals that "limited" the action of the realm back into normality. These directions diminished by the second, making the whole place smaller and smaller, threatening to crush the being between its folds once again.
Mammon growled as he continued to try reviving his cargo, keeping close to Amerandus the whole time for extra security for his thankless task. This degraded the divine thief's pride by the second but he knew he couldnt leave the man to die to those things, even if he got nothing from it. Curiosity did get the better of the draconian though as he found himself searching through the unconscious man's belongings, using his powers to see what his physical eyes could not in his current position. It was a small compensation for the energy and protection he was providing to his helpless rider.
As the two remaining creatures made their moves, it was little but the final gasps.
Seeing Cinder injured by its Null Lance strike the thing raced towards her, using her wound and being thrown off focus it lunged, hoping to strike before she could finish her spell. Its speed was terrifying, and yet it was impacted by the Khans attack, the beam impacting it and throwing it off tilt, melting the side of its body. While the attack itself was not enough to kill it, the momentum and initiative it had gained was more than enough for Cinder to recover and react. Moments later, it was consumed by Anti-life, the thing dying as its second had earlier in the fight.
The last creature, deep within Ohrumns realm surged on, as the god ran it followed. Losing an arm to a shard of spacetime that it didn’t perceive in time, but as the space compressed and closed on itself the thing could not move quickly enough to escape back into real space. A horrible inhuman cry echoed through the warped reality as it was killed, the final of these watchdogs wiped out.
Time was of the essence, these were the patrol creatures, and the singing children could still be heard around the forest. The Army knew they were here, if they didn’t before, the death of such powerful guards practically guaranteed it.
The base was not far away, practically stone’s throw. The forest opening up into a titanic open cast pit mine. Likely kilometres across it appeared abandoned to normal eyes, but to those like the beings that were here, it was so much more. A large tower, very thin, pierced up out of the mine, pulsating and clearly partially bioorganic. At its base was a sprawling complex, both conventionally and biologically constructed. Golden strings seemed to wisp in and out of reality at the top of the spire and the same psionic oppression which they had found in Korpu had once more returned.
As the battle concluded Amerandus looked somewhat irritated, it seems the corpses of their news foes didn't hold any information either. Where they all this... hollow? Is that what the Panopticon did? As he was still pondering, Ridhuan slowly returned from unconsciousness.
He felt... strange. As if someone had hardwired his brain while he was out. Looking around he tried to make an image of the situation, it seems, the fighting was over although he could still hear the distant singsong of the children. They definietly didn't go unnoticed.
"What happened?", he asked as he rolled off the fox he found himself lying on.
Amerandus finally looked up from the mass of charred rings on the ground and answered in a awfully calm tone.
"Ah, you have awoken, splendid, that will save our companion here the effort to carry you, though I suppose if you stayed unconscious we could've just left you here anyways."
He stroked his chin as if in thought.
"Well, as you can see, the enemies that have been alarmed by our companions actions have been dealt with. One of ours has been harmed in the process. We made sure you weren't disposed of over the course of the battle."
Ridhuan looked around his gaze finding The Khan, Kaeleen, Ohrumn and the wounded Cynder.
"I... I see."
Amerandus nodded.
"Now, that this is dealt with, let us move on, we have wasted enough time here, if nothing else it at least means we will not be encountering these specific guards on our venture into the facility." Curiously enough most of the combatants seemed to show some signs of exhaustion or wear after the battle, whereas the fox and the white clad man looked as if they hadn't lifted a finger, besides Ohrumn who he wasn't sure would even be able to show wear given his strange physiology.
---
As they reached the facility, the storm was still raging above though not quite as intense anymore, it would likely clear up in the next couple of hours.
Amerandus observed the crater and the facility with curiosity.
So this was where they held his target? Where would it be? Was she just another puppet to be made a mine? Something more? Special? An experiment for other purposes? Held in some cryochamber? Was she perhaps already dead? Questions, upon questions, he was eager to find out, though he did not show it.
The semi-biological construction reminded him of elder gods, but more refined, purposebuilt instead of fueled by madness. The strange psionic aura matching the feel of that on lost star. He eyed his companions warily and wondered when the first of them would make the suggestion to level the facility where it stood, which would mean, they had in fact learned nothing. Though one could still hope.
He spoke out the obvious and then made the first step into the crater taking special care to look for potential traps, be they physical or psionic.
"Well, it appears we have arrived. Now, let us make haste and move, the enemy is likely already prepared for our arrival at this point, after our not so graceful display on the outskirts, there is no time to dawdle."
He paused and then added onto what he already said.
"Try not to make a ruckus this time."
The Khan stepped up to the edge of the crater and peered down at the tower. His lips pursed, “so are we to simply walk into their crosshairs then?” He sounded a bit amused by the thought of it. In the end, he dug his hands into his pockets and strolled after him, “I certainly don’t mind, but don’t blame me if a ruckus is all that there is to make when they start attacking.”
The defeat of the two constructs from before had clearly restored part of Eleison’s mood. He felt braver and more certain of himself now. Sure they were obviously not much of a challenge, but it was nice to face off against something tough.
Although it was not enough. He needed to fight something truly worth to reclaim his honour and wash away the stains of defeat. Only then can he consider himself worthy of his title once more.And if these foes can offer nothing to satisfy that, then he will find another to face. And besides…
Not like there was a shortage of worthy foes now, were there? That Cinder fellow could prove to be interesting to fight- if only because he wanted to figure out how her gear worked and if it was good enough for him.
The hole in Cinder’s chest disappeared fairly quickly on the walk to the edge of the forest, its absence signaled by the return of the glowing sigel on her chestplates, which had been destroyed by the null lance’s impact. Taking a deep breath, she considered the fight and its aftermath. While it had been relatively easy to destroy the creatures using antilife spells, they had still managed to inflict real damage to her, even if it was easily remedied. That meant she would have to be wary, and take this more seriously, as it seemed they wouldn’t be fortunate enough to be dealing with soldiers with guns.
Her golden eyes looked over the sprawling complex within the pit mine, vision amplified by her armor’s sensors, which analyzed the strings and psionic oppression field and pointed out various details to her. It seemed that the Army of the Panopticon were no longer concerned about operating in the open, unlike those in the bunker Menmuer had explored on Lost Star. Most of interest to her though was the living-nonliving hybrid construction. Perhaps that would make it easier to wreak havoc here when the time came, after all, nonliving material was so boring compared to what one could do with living things.
She rolled her eyes at Amerandus’s words, finding the man rather annoying, to say the least. “Yes of course. And perhaps next time you will be so kind as to actually help when a ruckus occurs, instead of disappearing like a coward” she replied, sarcasm dripping from her growling words.
Mammon growled and rolled his eyes as he took his place weightlessly on Amerandus' shoulder. Despite it being his first time directly involved in Ancerious' affairs he had heard many tales of the galaxy's inhabitants and their antics before. From the prayers of his worshippers, to the tales of passing mercenaries, even from the jokes of his customers, he had kept his fingers on the pulse of this reality as his draconian instincts insisted, it was the least he could do to subdue the worst side of himself. Those same malevolent instincts which he fought hard to keep under control even at the best of times were now eagerly demanding he act on them, riled up by the scene he had just witnessed, causing the fox god to glare at the other entities somewhat hungrily, like a cat would a bird with a broken wing.
Mammon resisted still, as he waited on the others. He neither trusted or valued any of them, Amerandus least of all, but this came naturally for a draconian god. Truly, the draconian pantheon was a hostile place and the tension in the air between the party was all too familiar to Mammon. The fox swallowed his pride and waited patiently for Amerandus' next course of action, willing to cooperate.
Amerandus pondered for a moment on if and what he should reply to Cinder, as he stepped down into the crater. It would certainly be entertaining to see how they would react if he pointed out how he did in fact help them, how they caused the problems they had to deal with themselves and how he likely would've been better off if he went by himself. Alas, that would be like stepping into an obvious trap. Their two problem children were at least behaving right now, something he would not change for the sake of his own entertainment. Even less so now that they were approaching their destination.
He instead opted for the more... diplomatic answer.
"Oh? You seemed capable enough on your own and this way they only know part of our groups capabilities. Are you trying to imply you actually needed help?"
Evidently, 'diplomatic' did not mean 'stroking their ego'.
He smiled thinly without looking back at her, though the smile dropped into a more neutral expression as he felt the hunger of the draconian. It was concerning how much it reminded him of of his own, he may yet cause issues down the line though he'd been astoundingly controlled so far, for what he assumed was a god of desires.
Stepping down into the huge open cast mine was like stepping over a barrier which lay just across its surface. The air was thicker here, more like syrup and it had a distinctive smell. One of both rotting flesh and surgical cleanliness. Psionic force radiated here, pulsating outwards almost to the beat of a thousand hearts with arrythmia.
Nothing immediately attacked them, and the facility appeared still. Going down the slopes, past old, abandoned mining equipment and excavation vehicles the size of tanks none of this had been touched in likely decades. The question was had this place been abandoned before the Army of the Panopticon took their place, or had they forced its abandonment and build this base a long, long time ago?
These were questions for another time as they got closer. Windows looked out across the desolate pit mine, some airlock doors into the facility were studded into living and non living sections alike and movement could be seen through the windows. Upon getting closer the facility seemed to pulsate, a deep thumping from some central heart vibrated through the ground and the psionic influence was far stronger here.
They could hear whispers, see things just on the edge of vision or movement at the edges of their senses. It was like the veil was extremely thin here, they had to be wary.
Glimpses of memories came next, small flashes, not just those of the gods but also from lives they had never lived. Children playing in the forests, piloting a ship through the expanse, proposing to a loving husband. All were small snapshots that leaked in now and again. This place was far more attuned to the Panopticon than the site at Korpu ever was.
Ohrumn had stepped away from the conflict unharmed, but now, outside of his own realm. In realspace, the god was confusing. Whilst before they could see an illusion of this mirror world it inhabited, now its form was here in the fullest. Ohrumn was not an entity that could easily hide itself beyond its own trickery, it glew shades that its cape emanated as cascades of broken forms streamed across the rippling weave, only less aided so by the "tree" of light that it carried atop its wood-gold mask. If not for the blurry, ever-rippling edges and the unfitting nature of its presence, one's eyes might hurt at the lightshow.
At the neck of the crater, it remembered times where discarding such resistance would be little to not trouble to it. Times when stepping within its realm was not an invasion by a creature that almost dared touch it, but an unfathomable honour to his followers. A spike of emotion grew within the god, he remembered his followers fondly, he remembered how they ruled the lands and honoured him with homages to his power, like children playing pretend. Were they even around anymore? He must find out. He extended his powers, shimmering brighter, but the purpose was caught within a web that was as pervasive as he was powerful, the intent of him reaching out into the stars in search of his long gone children was muted, dragged down into its resting place, within the circumscribed jail of the Oculus Mundi, whose magical imprint haunted his very action.
His potency gone, he could not further his search for now. Thus, he only followed the others within the group, down into the pit.
-------------
The mines were another type of hell he had not experienced yet. If his previous jail was desolate, this was overloading. Each heartbeat was as a battering ram to the walls of his mind, the memories that were not his only slowly poked the embers of his internal vengeful spirit more, frustrated by the shackles that bound him. He thought about reaching out again, but the miasma that permeated the air would hinder him even more, only aiding his restraints.
He thought as well about invoking his powers to scout ahead, but the pervasive nature of the feeling within the air hinted to him that, were he to invoke mighty powers now, he'd only bring onto him retaliation much stronger than what they had just fought. It was wise not to invite the hunt to oneself. Still, the heartbeats ate at the edges of the being, slowly, this wear pulled back hidden layers, threatening to reveal the binds that tied Ohrumn down.
"Clearly we did not, since we survived without it. But it is ironic that you seemed so eager to gather us all here, and then run off at the first sign of conflict" came Cinder’s growled retort, as she made her way down the slope, wondering if they truly needed this condescending man with them.
The change in the air was lost on her, sealed inside the cool atmosphere of her suit, the oppressive air and smells reduced to simple humidity and chemical readings on her armor's sensors. The increased psionic presence however, was a different matter entirely, dampened slightly by her barrier field, but felt nonetheless. Especially the thumping, like a great heart beneath the ground – she hoped that they would be able to snuff it out soon.
Then came the memories. They were strange, foreign to her, and....happy, like a pure feeling of enjoyment and ease she rarely felt. It was hard to truly relax when there was always work to do – an empire to run, obstacles to remove, plans to execute. She shook her head, now was not the time to be getting distracted, she had a job to do, or more specifically, a cult to deal with. She considered starting up her null field to keep the memories and other psionic activity at bay, but ended up thinking better of it. A hole in the psion field would likely draw attention right now that they didn’t need.
"My, is that so? We indeed had our reasons to gather you here and explore this complex. Though who were to expect that people, much less beings of supposed wisdom and power, would spring the first trap they stumbled upon on their way the moment they saw it?"
He sighed melodramatically.
"Alas, here we are."
He paused, pondering whether he should continue or stop here, coming to the conclusion it would likely be best to stop. It was too early, much of the way still laid ahead of them and with the defences already triggered and the enemy alarmed he could use the additional force, if they were actually useful or just meat shields remained to be seen.
"We will admit however, that this means we will at least not meet these guards in particular inside the facility now. Though we suppose that is enough of the useless squabbling now."
As they walked he could feel the memories in the air, but they weren't from here, or rather, not here specifically, they felt wrong, disjointed, like a gift someone gave you out of nowhere with a mischievous look on their face. With great care he probed his surroundings, avoiding to let any of the voices in deep, or out, for that matter.
The heartbeat did not bother him, it was by far not the first time he heard things like these, though violence boiled beneath the surface for but a moment as he felt the thin veil tugging at the mental defenses of his memories, though for now what was his remained his.
"What do you think of this place Ridhuan? I believe you are more familiar with this than any of us?"
Mammon growled slightly at the bickering entities but especially at the realization that the change of environment would mess with his fur. The air, the very power within it was dirty to the chaos god, causing him to instinctively begin grooming himself on his moving perch. He couldnt be affected by the psionics in the air but the atmosphere was quite morose for his liking and the gloom of the surroundings still radiated onto him to an unpleasant degree, making his fine pearlescent fur stand on end. He had to loop one of his long tails around Amerandus' neck just to ground himself from the growing tension he could sense.
He allowed the foreign memories to wash over him for just a moment. It was a curious experience to behold a life that was not his before he ruthlessly quashed the mental intrusions by quickly setting up several mental barriers. Not as strong as the ones he used during his battle in Misya Elim, but still potent enough that a normal psyker would definitely struggle. With his mind now clear, he was able to focus on the snippets of conversation between the rest of the entities.
“Hmph. Save your gripes for once we see the end of this quest,” Eleison demured, “I care not for what any of you do, as long as you do not get in my way,” his eyes flashed with delight, “but once this ends, if I find myself still wanting for battle, I would not mind a duel. Perhaps something with a wager.”
He looked at the armour that Cinder wore, “I certainly would not mind that gear of yours. Do you happen to make swords? I lost my old one and have been wanting a replacement ever since,” and goodness would Raze have been useful in the last battle.
“I believe this place is tainted, like some sort of unholy beacon. I feel the Panopticon here, close to the boundary” Ridhuan replied back, slowly motioning his hand through the air like he was touching something tangible. Power flowed through his body, just as the forces of the Army were empowered so was Ridhuan, and the supportive voices of his brothers were far louder and clearer helping to fight off the unwanted intrusions of memories and emotion. It worked to his advantage just as much as the enemies, but it still didn’t feel right.
“This power is much clearer, it helps me as well but do not take anything the foe does here for granted. We should proceed extremely carefully” Kaeleen seemed to nod in response, notching a gleaming arrow into each bow.
“We should make our way in. Calmly” The Order individual carefully stalked towards one of the doors to the facility, taking one of the notched arrows and using it to cut and melt through the metal. When done, Kaeleen let the weight of the door fall onto them, holding it before carefully placing it down on the ground quietly.
Once more a wave of hot air, foul smells and the sounds of screaming came from within. It opened into a medium sized chamber, full of pulsating organs pushing fluids around and two other doors, one more like an orifice led off from the room. Both Ridhuan and Kaeleen took point but there was no immediate threat.
Amerandus nodded, more to himself than Ridhuan.
"As expected, they took this place and made it theirs."
He stood in front of the doors in silence for a couple of moments, personally he would take the one that did not look like the opening to a sacrificial pit, though one never knew, it may just be chance or a deliberate trap. He reached out into the surroundings, subtle and carefully. If there was nothing to be learnt from their corpses perhaps the ambient memories would yield better results?
He searched for remnants that showed individuals passing through the doors and what their intents may have been, though was already prepared to be disappointed once more.
"One would assume none of the present individuals are capable of gleaning into the depths of this facility without alarming our... hosts?"
He could feel the tension in the air, likely results of the strange environment and the unknown which was lurking beneath their feet, the strange fascination of Ridhuan, the fragments of ambient memories which made even the carefree Khan cautious, the atmosphere which made even the draconian on his shoulder tense.
In a way, it was fascinating, it had been a while since he encountered something such as this, even by his standards.
At the mention of her 'gear', the glowing red-orange eyeports of Cinder's helmet turned to stare at Elieson, regarding him for a moment, as she considered his commentary. She disliked the greed with which he looked at her armor, while speaking of wanting to duel someone. However she was stopped from what would’ve been a comment of sarcasm by his question about swords.
She didn’t normally make items for others, except for friends. But back home, there were only a handful of other beings, which meant only a small company of other entities to forge alliances with.
If she decided to do this, it might be a good opportunity to gain a powerful ally….especially if she could bend him to her will...
"I can make many things, a sword would be quite simple" she said, growling voice softening a little and taking on a hint of mysteriousness. “Although I must ask how you lost your previous sword. It wouldn’t do to make you a new one, only for it to be lost.”
As they arrived at the structure, her head turned forward again, head elevating as she looked up at the tower before them. As the others took point, she stepped through the doorway after them. With any luck, the annoying man and his spear would absorb any damage before it reached her...or he would be killed. She doubted that they would get that lucky, but it was a positive thought.
Either way, not that they were in the facility, it seemed prudent to protect herself from mental intrusion. While a null field seemed out of the question for now, some sort of protective magic would be more likely to slip by unnoticed. Curling and straightening the clawed fingers of her right hand in an odd pattern, she wove a spell that would protect her from attempts to access her mind. The memories and sound of a beating heart abruptly ceased, and she exhaled with a hidden smile, enjoying the silence.
"Let me look..." she said, at Amerandus’s question, increasing the sensitivity of her passive and magical sensing, searching for living things and powerful mandelas nearby.
“Nothing as careless as to what you may be thinking,” Eleison replied, “I lost Raze in battle. It was a good blade but its death was ignoble in the end,” his words trailed off eventually as they began to near the facility.
He breathed as the door to the chamber fell open and wrinkled his nose at the stench. Almost on instinct, he flared his aura. A bright light seemed to dance off his skin like fire and the smell of ash permeated the area. This was done with a two-fold purpose to both rid the smell and to allow for his aura to shield his mind and body from mental and physical attacks.
“I think my methods of scouting will likely draw attention,” he said, “but I will prepare for something to go wrong just in case.”
He was not wrong, Mammon could feel everything the other entities put out, he could taste their energies from being so close. Where to him they were a buffet, he was a starving void to their senses. Mammon did not let this stop him from his obsessive grooming however, causing him to twist his head and turn his torso constantly while reaching hard to clean spots, his tails had all poofed up from the anxiety the atmosphere caused him. He had receded all his senses to focus on himself, his awareness limited only to within eyesight while he purged himself of the foul energies.
The pulsing dug deep into the proverbial temples of the accursed god. Each pulse a wave, clashing onto Ohrumn, digging away at the edges, revealing the mechanism. There was an instinct for self-preservation, something so innate that even gods possessed a form of it - to continue their perpetuity.
He had thread the mortal realms for too long. It'd be a magician without magic, fire without flame or heat, without the shattered mirror he was a god with little substance, little more than the very shackles that bound him. He slowly, as in to not alert those within the facility, expanded his world around himself again. His visage broke once, then thrice, then many times, until he was fuzzy around the edges, his position not exact, only a shadow which betrayed the true shape of its master.
The realm opened again, the wave had cushioning to dissipate, as slight as it was, it brought momentary peace to the being. He cast then the small quiescent silvery slivers, gateways to make his eyes many all around him, still not to much avail given the locality of his concurrent powers, and threaded onward with the group, speaking little to none
Extending oneself and power here was almost like pushing through energised syrup. It was slow and mentally demanding work, but potency of the affect was heightened greatly. It seemed that there were corpses nearby, but their memories were nothing but pain, confusion, torment. Like they were nothing, but lab grown experiments discarded away, no flashes of sight or hearing just endless pain. It added a further sense of dread to this place.
The attempts by Cinder to observe their surroundings via living things and mandalas returned so much that it was almost useless to discern. The entire surroundings of the group was made up of living structures with thousands of different bio signs in just the surrounding few hundred meters alone. The mandala of this place was all encompassing, meshing and making it hard to discern individual mandalas from the overall space they were in. To say they were in the thick of the enemy was an understatement, this was no outlying base on lost star, this was a bastion.
If they were to go in guns blazing, there was no telling what kind of power would face them here.
But their deliberations were cut short as they analysed this small section, it became slightly obvious that it was regularly used when the doorway slid open to reveal a man in full protective gear. Covered head to toe in white plastic coverings and with a gas mask on his head was covered in a large black spidery mass, a singular purple jewel sitting at the centre of it.
The man did not hesitate for a second, pulling a strange looking firearm from its belt.
The first one to react was Amerandus. For but a brief moment, thoughts raced through his head.
Kill or capture? Will it trigger an alarm if we kill it? Do they already know we're here? Can it call for help if we incapacitate it? What is the weapon? What does the crystal on it's head do?
Though in this brief moment, all the questions led to a singular conclusion, the thing had to die. It had already noticed them so it was more likely to alarm when it stayed alive than when it was dead.
In a movement, so fast and clean that most mortal eyes wouldn't even have registered it, the bladed spear came forward, slicing the head off the mans shoulders before the rudimentary remnants of his consciousness even registered it. It rolled cleanly off his shoulders as Amerandus looked on without changing his expression, the body of the thing collapsing for but a moment, before its now headless body tried to catch itself and raise the weapon again.
Amerandus frowned, he should've expected as much.
With another precise strike he nailed the head to the ground, destroying the crystal in the process.
It all happened with barely any sound, besides that of the body which now finally collapsed, as remnants of its bodily fluids pumped out of its neck stump.
He turned his head towards the others but still hadn't moved from the spot, as if nothing happened, though he still had his spear in the ground.
"One would assume going where this dear gentleman came from may be in our best interest to venture deeper into this facility."
Perhaps they would find a plan of this facility in that direction, perhaps also more enemies, chances that they were found were rising with every passing moment though.
"Unless someone wishes to go and explore wherever... this may lead."
He turned his head towards the orifice shape doorway.
Cinder didn't have a chance to relay the findings from her sensors, as the man abruptly walked through the door in front of them, before being decapitated and the head impaled. She had to hand it to Amerandus, the man was quick and silent. However it was annoyingly ironic just how quickly he had turned to violence, after his self-righteous commentary earlier about Cinder's attempts to kill the child mines. He’s just lucky enough that this one seemed to go down quietly, rather than screaming and exploding like the children from earlier she thought with annoyance.
The time to grill him over it would come later though, as they needed to move quickly before the alarm was sounded. She moved over to the now headless man's body, picking up the strange firearm and looking it over, quickly scanning it with her suit's sensors before attaching it to one of the adhesive portions of her suit's waist.
"I suspect you're right, let's see where he came from. Hopefully we'll encounter more like him and less like the scouts from earlier...
Eleison gave a lazy glance at his companions, “I was considering sparing that fellow,” he almost whined. He looked at the orifice-shaped doorway and then at the place where the man had come through. Then he looked down at the corpse. For a moment, he pondered on his course of action before he shrugged, “I’m fairly skilled at necromancy. I can probably summon his ghost or spirit and have him answer any questions we have- though I’m not too sure if it’ll work,” his lips twist into a frown, “psionics and aura tend to not get along. And considering who we are dealing with, I’m not sure how well the corpse would react to my magic.”
He looked up and shrugged again, "well. Let's go through the one he passed through. I'm not too keen on using my aura to summon spectres right now."
Ridhuan shook his head at the sight of the soldier and Eleisions words.
There was a mix of worry and disgust on his face.
"I don't think there is anything left you could bring back. They are nulls, they have no souls. Whatever it is that controls them is not themselves."
He seemed to keep his distance from the cracked crystal even now as it was destroyed. Amerandus nodded somewhat contemplative.
"So, whatever it may be which controls and holds them, it is siphoned back into the panopticon upon their demise from what I understand? It explains why they hold no memories."
He pulled the spear out of the ground without any noticeable resistance and prepared to move to the next area.
Ohrumn was impressed by the speed of the other gods. Before he could even complete manifesting a portal to bisect the body of the man, Amerandus had already taken care of the issue. Still, the crystal was an artefact of concern, surpassing bodily limitations was a trivial matter, but if it harbored the powers to truly escape death, then it would be a powerful object to study, and indicate an even stronger enemy. The fractured crystal floated aimlessly and hovered towards Ohrumn, stopping a meter from the fuzzy image of the god.
"Still...
It would be wise to not underestimate, the ferocity of our foe..."
He then looked into the object, inspecting its very minute composition both in reality and in the esoteric essences he knew.
Mammon's fur was fully on end as he was startled from his trance-like grooming by Amerandus' attack, causing his claws to dig into the man's shoulder as he clung to his position and his tails wrapped around his torso. The fox growled as he slowly calmed down from the unexpected jostling and reassessed the surroundings he had previously tuned out. He noticed the crystal and thought it particularly foul, but with a lovely coloring. a small distraction from the area that had previously unnerved the draconian, but enough to keep him focused once more.
The man died with a split moment, his inhuman ability to survive the first decapitation not enough to save him from Amerandus lightning blows. No alarm sounded and he made no noise as he died. So far so good, stealth had been retained.
As far as they knew.
Cinders reviewing of the firearm revealed it to be much like the bio-rifles used at the previous facility. Directing psionic power towards the target in order to briefly disconnect the targets mandala from its senses and render it unconscious, perfect for taking down large out of control experiments that were likely created here by the hundred. At least this weapon was smaller and clearly more refined.
For the crystal that Ohrumn now observed it was clear that it was immaculately created. So detailed down to the atomic scale the crystal was a hypercomplex mandala, designed to integrate into the strange Duskstone doped jagged crown. From its appearance it strangely, seemed hand made, not machined, although how anyone would hand craft such impossible creations did not open any avenues for who could have done so. In its use, the mandala layout was clear, it would overpower and destroy the mandala of whoever was placed under its influence. Turning the unfortunate soul into an absent entirely and placing them wholly within the control of the Panopticon, unfeeling, unthinking automatons which could carry out whatever they wanted.
With the obstacle removed the group moved through the same door that the man had come from, and instantly were hit with the stench of burnt flesh, antisceptic and chemicals.
They stepped onto a huge gantry way, part of a large chasm that extended several floors above them and many below them into a dark abyss. Flesh and arteries covered the walls, all feeding into thousands of gestation pods. Each one filled with a different individual, many were various species from across the galaxy, but none appeared mutated or different, all in a deep slumber.
Amerandus seemingly cared little about the Draconians claws, more focused on his surroundings than the entity on his own shoulder. If they had triggered any alarm with the death of the soldier, it at least did not show yet.
He pondered and stopped for a moment as his gaze wandered across the myriad of people embedded into the walls of the chasm, scanning each and every one with meticulous interest, trying to discern if the one he was searching for was with them.
Were these perhaps the former inhabitants? What were they now?
Batteries? Computers? Psionic amplifiers?
They did not seem to be experiments in the classical sense, more there for observation... Or perhaps, just for storage?
On the other hand, those stored in the other facility were frozen, which likely meant that these had a purpose to fulfill.
As he pondered he kept an eye out for the other entities, lest they tried to atrack what may turn out to be his person of interest.
"What do you reckon these are?", the question was directed at Ridhuan, he had more experience with the panopticon and psionic matters, even though Amerandus held part of Falekas memories, perhaps he would know more?
The information from the weapon scan was stored away within her armor's databank for later, while Cinder moved after Amerandus into the next room. Again, the scent that would've assaulted the witch queen's sensitive nose was kept at bay by the hermetic seal of her armor, reduced to chemical readings in the air, leaving her free to focus on the gestation pods.
Her mouth curled into a sneer of disapproval behind the metal face of her helmet as she stepped to the edge of the gantry, sweeping her gaze downward to the dark abyss. The Panopticon seemed to have all the test subject they would ever need. But what for?
"I wonder..." she muttered, a hunch arising in her mind, adjusting her sensors to view the psion field, and overlaying the results on her HUD.
Eleison peered down the chasm, pumping his eyes with auric energy to enhance his vision so that he could see possibly miles down it. It was a simple application of aura that didn’t require any of him to tap into his reserves. As he scanned up and down, he whistled slightly, “well. These people sure don’t tarry around.”
The Khan’s attitude had noticeably changed from back when he was first introduced to them. He had seemed moody and determined at the time but now a trace of careless arrogance had appeared. Was he getting into a better mood now? Perhaps in the midst of all this fighting and power, he began to feel more at ease and let his guard down ever so slightly, enough to forget about his woes.
With his concentration returned to him and his mind calmed Mammon sent out his senses to better understand what was before them like invisible tendrils he scoured the area for anything of note. He knew the others were doing the same in their own ways, but he preferred to not allow any more surprise attacks on this "stealth" mission.
That’s what had followed the events at Fidun.
No trails, no evidence, no whispers, nothing. The Army of the Panopticon had been extremely capable of covering their tracks for several years, and any of the investigations into them had led into dead ends other than the occasional very low-ranking individual who revealed nothing.
It was worrying of course, the AOTP had managed to accomplish so much in the shadows, and the fact they had been able to fight and even kill, entities was a threat which nobody wanted to leave unattended and unwatched. Still silence followed despite rigorous searching.
That was until a single wish was made, by a young child, in the Liliana Free Territory.
The Free Territories were chaos. Endlessly suffering from anarchy and long periods without government the people tended to fend for themselves within cities and communities, fighting among themselves or occasionally against the Barbada Republic. It was a hotbed for crime, especially for pirates due to its proximity to the Golden Expanse. Given its lack of central control and government it was impossible to easily discern what went on within its murky territory, but the single wish was like a beacon to a certain individual.
‘I want to be free’
Normally such a wish would have been both easy to satisfy and completely uninteresting. But the boy was a psion and upon closer investigation this was no normal slaver band or someone like Metzergerstein. Children were being taken in Liliana, and it did not take long to find out why. Supressed psionic fields of powerful sizes were present out in the jungles, and only one threat would be trying to hide themselves capable of that.
The Army of the Panopticon.
Given their capabilities, fulfilling the wish or taking them on single handily was impossible. But thankfully, there were others who wished to continue the hunt for the Army, this was the perfect beacon.
In an old temple, long reclaimed by the jungle and half collapsed, the beacon was placed. Come one, come all. The Panopticon was here, and it must be destroyed.
As entities from various origins a cross the galaxy were approaching the planet, one figure was already here. In the shadows of the old temple a figure stood, concealed, observing, waiting.
It had been a while, since he returned the crystals to the final resting place.
Though many a thing he had learned from them, such as the way the Faleka had called on entities before, the faint psionic pulse whispering to the subconscious of the those receptive to it. The figure smiled thinly. Using psionics had been a curious experience one of the many things new in this universe.
He pondered. They should soon arrive, it had been long enough. Of course, he could have tried to storm this castle on his own but to what avail? There were many things far more beneficial about this approach. If not alone learning more about the entities and divinities of this world. Silently he stood in the darkened corner of the temple. There would be many things to learn and experience here today.
He should not have come here. Shouldn’t he have learned the danger of giving in to whims? Should he not have learnt his lesson by now? The Khan wondered about all this as he trekked through the jungle, using his aura to mask his presence- a minor application of magic.
In truth, the wise decision should have been to return home and to his rule over his kingdom. To lick his wounds and grow stronger. But… yet… he found that he could not. Not yet. Not after his defeat.
The mere thought left a foul taste in his mouth. But he could not deny it. He could not deny the fact. It would be foolish otherwise. But how could he return to his rule if he came back a loser? No doubt word of his defeat had spread throughout the empire. There will most likely be chaos and anarchy there. Returning there to quell it would be a wise choice.
And yet…
Khan Eleison looked at the sky idly pushing past jungle tree leaves, ‘I cannot. Not until I find my pride again. Not until I once again prove myself worthy.’
And maybe, he will find it here.
He stopped his approach and looked around. This should be the place where he had felt the… call, for a lack of a better term. And yet, when he looked around, there was nothing here. How odd.
He chose to spend this time sitting cross-legged on the ground and meditating.
Weaver-Sentry Kaeleen. Promoted after her masters death, and the turmoil of Umon. Upon her promotion the young woman was given the Weaves strength. Becoming the first Voshkahrae, the first Chosen of the Weave since the Old Wars. She opted to not bond in the order of the Sverlinn as she had hoped as a child. To become a rider of a mighty Voshrae? Any child thought the prospect amazing. Instead the Order of the Sverd, from her time on Umon, Kaeleen took one thing away from it. The only defense, was an offense. To destroy the enemies of the galaxy, to protect those who need it, by obliterating their problems. She left the temples, the strongholds of the Order, the followers of the Thread need not her to guard their meager holdings. They needed her in the wider galaxy, to guard them from threats such as the Panopticon.
Not to say her experiences or new powers took away from her compassion, or care for the denizens of Ancerious. Just her philosophy on how to deal with them. She had been walking through the jungle for over an hour now, having landed her quaint vessel in an isolated clearing. She looked more hermit, than entity. Wearing only a singular robe much like she was accustomed too. No belts, no shoes, no gloves, nothing but a robe loosely kept on at the shoulders and frilling outwards. Not even complex enough to allow her second pair of lower arms to have their own sleeves. Rather gently resting against her body. One simple hardy piece of clothing. With one large staff of various bits of bone, and wood.
She could have been there sooner, she could have made herself faster. But patience was a virtue, and she was in no rush. The lone woman slowly stepped up the stairs, and entered the temple. Feet crunching against branch, and vine.
Staff giving gentle thumps against the floor. She glanced around the ancient chambers, and spoke softly. More so to herself than anyone else. Going to sit down on anything adequately high enough like a fallen pillar, or some rubble.
"I have been called... I must answer..... Always."
Her words were simple, her tone resigned to her duty. The seemingly unarmed woman sitting down and looking to the floor. Waiting for whatever was to happen to do so.
It rose from the center of its concentric prison, frail as though it did, after so long. Behind it, the construct, a large golden orb with inscriptions of the cosmos, of the planets and the stars and constellations dancing on its surface as golden shimmering lights, developing inwards evermore until reduced to its singular point of entrapment. Externally, it was a large atrium vaulted at the top, and it stood at the center, almost as if on a slightly submerged pedestal within a deep and dark lake of viscous liquid.
Deorientation, from seeing the sunlight of the universe after aeons of being forsaken. Almost to the point of not realising the concurrent watchers to the once-in-a-millennia spectacle. There, within the center of the Egrégora amidst the turmoil of psychic seas and non-euclidian geometry, within the hall where all rivers met, sat them all. The Six of the Cabal, accruing another four members since Ohrumn had last awoken, and everpresent the binding golem of power, Monolithic and standing above.
The room danced with esoteric energies. Thin lines cast themselves from the eldritch masonry, from the bodies of the Six, and the hundreds of constructs that surrounded the abyssal lake. They accrued upon the center, surrounding the nascent god from all sides with inscriptions in a new, blinding globe of light. The energies inscribed as they struck, the information: "Fester". It was a necessity, the day of the truth will draw nigh, and the vessel must be strong enough to withhold the very unravelling of the all. Ohrumn must go, it must fester, it must grow and empower, and only in this bid may the abominable Cabal achieve its enlightenment.
Through the powerful lines of a thousand binding alignment circles, Ohrumn saw it, its voice, muted for so long, echoed for a second:
"Na... vi... ga-"
It was submerged.
.
It was forced down, by the sheer power and weight of the esoteric energies at play, cast by its usurpers. This down, however, is not euclidian in nature. Its nature is the submersion of the entity within its own realm of power. As if programmed so, Ohrumn fell into a pit of inexistent dimensions, a rift opened by its very power.
It was a malformed realm that started to take shape as the god furthered distance from its place of captivity. This bubbling sea of non-space took shape, lines upon lines and forms, then complexified into recursive spirals and developing patterns, the brickwork of a small infinity held in a sliver of a gap crafted by this very god.
Then, by its instructions and somewhat against its will, Ohrumn’s powers directed, like a compass amidst this sea of broken geometry, the lines complexified and drew two points of unimaginable distance down into the very edge of the geometry, closing this gap into a sliver of nothingness. It was a bridge, the smallest possible, and the god of fractals stepped through.
Soon, the shadow of a wall of the old temple glew an odd hue of lights, a tiny gap from the masonry opened, like a singular, straight line. Then, as if bidimensional, a shape slid out, ethereal and ghostly at first, it soon formed into Ohrumn. The being stood, hovering slightly over the ground with its golden-inscribed mask and cape of developing patterns, awaiting for the others it knew would arrive
Platinum Palace, Nuclean and Isoterran Home Universe
76 AME
Queen Cinder lounged on one of the couches within the great metal and glass bulb atop the Platinum Palace's west tower, waiting. She was, in a word, bored, having paid a visit to the Ecumene's capital only to find that all of her friends, apart from Charuin, were gone, off on various business within that Ancerious galaxy. Ancerious, she thought, her lips barely twitching momentarily into a smirk. She had a dozen eyes and ears there, and all of them were indicating that trouble was brewing. And trouble meant opportunity, opportunity to expand, to shake things up, and gain more leverage and influence. It would be interesting to see what the Empire could do there, especially on the resource or technological front. Something perhaps to give her another edge on the Spinehk. She sighed. Her thoughts had once again drifted to business, while her intention had been to spend some time relaxing. Such a shame that her friends weren't here... All at once, she felt something, a new presence, one which triggered one of her detection wards specifically for entities, in the center of the Palace. He had returned.
She stood, looking around the room, lit up by the orange and gold rays of the evening sun setting in the distance, before snapping the fingers of her right hand. Abruptly, she was within the palace Rotunda, standing before one of the entrances to Menmuer's Library. He was in there, she could feel his presence. Yet he had not come to greet her, although she was sure he would know of her presence.
She was about to telepathically announce herself, when the doors whirred open.
Stepping through revealed the massive domed room, one hundred meters wide and one and a quarter times that as tall. The room was currently dim, lit only by a low blue mood lighting from hidden panels, which made the giant holohaptic projection of the Ecumene territorial map stand out all the more, floating in the air far above the tops of the shelves that ringed the room. And there, floating with the map, was Emperor Menmuer, looking deep in thought, utterly ignoring her. The door whirred shut as soon as she crossed the threshold, but Menmuer still paid her no mind, sitting cross legged with arms folded, while resting his chin on his left hand.
Cinder decided to take the initiative, spreading her clawed hands and floating into the air, coming to a rest beside her friend, and creating a green disk of force energy to sit upon.
"Why so silent?" the Isoterran Queen said in a tone not inappropriate for teasing "What happened on your little trip?"
"For a moment, I was mortal again. And almost died" he replied, maintaining his gaze at the map.
Black eyebrows raised, and Cinder turned her golden eyes to look at the Emperor, while assuming a more serious tone. "What do you mean?"
Menmuer sighed. "Surely you have heard of the Army of the Panopticon. I'm positive your people have made mention of their activities in Ancerious. Some beings, including myself, were investigating a base of theirs, and they found a way to shut off our powers. And then one of them stabbed me in the heart, while laughing that we were nothing without our power."
Cinder frowned. She had indeed heard of the Army of the Panopticon. A cult, selling some sort of psionic afterlife, known for supernaturally twisting things into terrible weapons. She hadn't paid them much mind, as the Empire hadn't had any issues with them just yet.
"But you are still here. What happened?"
"Their method of stopping our powers, the 'silence field' they called it, just went away at the last minute, like it failed or was sabotaged. Whatever happened, it was soon enough that I healed and we were able to leave."
"Hmmmmm" Cinder mused, taking in this new information. She hadn't considered the Panopticon an issue until now, they hadn't interfered with Isoterran operations, and the Isoterrans hadn't interfered with theirs. But this news, that they were able to stop a being as powerful as Menmuer so easily was concerning. They had threatened one of her few friends, and she caught a hint of what felt like arrogance on their part, from what he had said.
"What were you doing in their base" she asked gravely, her expression having lost any sense of warmth.
For the first time, Menmuer turned his brown eyes to look at her. "I was helping another being, named Faleka. A month ago, they had a friend of hers, a being named Arkol, killed without provocation. We destroyed the ones responsible, but found links to the Army, and were investigating them. Perhaps you remember their announcement on the AncNet, and mine about the damage on Iqzina. That was why."
"I see..." Cinder replied, looking towards the glowing map and beginning to ponder this news. She had forgotten about #IMAGO's stunt, but at his mention of it, she remembered the part of her intelligence briefing some time ago that Promus had mentioned the the challenge and not long after, the fight on Iqzina. She had paid little mind to it then, but now it all clicked into place.
A bit of a growl started in her throat, as anger built. It was as she suspected, these commoners had discovered some power and were letting it go to their head, and had threatened her friends in the process. Clearly they had forgotten their place, and were becoming a problem that she could not continue to ignore.
Her growl ceased, and she took a deep breath. "Menmuer, you seem tired. You need rest, and I need to look into this more. Perhaps soon though, we can celebrate your return."
"Perhaps. But I'd warn you not to do anything impulsive, the Panopticon is indeed dangerous. More so than I was prepared for" replied Menmuer.
"Oh not to worry, I won't do anything too silly" she said, doing a rather good, yet brief, fake smile, while inwardly thinking of painful ways to kill any of the cultists she could find.
"Anyways, I'll be fine" and her green disk floated down to the floor, allowing her to walk out of the room, while the disk vanished behind her.
As the door to the library whirred closed, her expression cooled from neutral to a sneer. It was time to do some hunting, and perhaps she could dig a little deeper into this silence field technology while she was at it. Curling the fingers of her right hand, she sent magical energy through the black jumpsuit that she wore, causing the small medallion, displaying the Isoterran symbol, to glow with red-orange light. Around her, dark grey armor plates of arcanium appeared, forming a set of powerarmor, while a great black cape unfurled down her back.
Her transformation complete, she activated her suit's FTL module, causing the edges of her image to glow purple and suddenly surge inward, as if reality itself were a liquid running into a void, abruptly leaving the hallway empty, as the inverse process happened within her chambers in Midnight Keep.
-----
Arx, Ancerious Galaxy
78 AME
It had been two years. Two years of overseeing the Empire and hunting for the Army of the Panopticon. She had been reading all she could on the Army and the public information about what had transpired on Iqzina and Lost Star, while her servants stalked the galaxy. Once, she had personally gone to interrogate a potential lead, only to turn them to dust when he turned out to be worthless in terms of information.
And so she had steadily begun to slow, beginning to resign herself to waiting until a real opportunity presented. After all, she did have a nation to oversee, one which now was going to have to involve itself in the galactic conflict. Lord Fisk had contacted her, late in the night on Isoterra, informing her that conflict had broken out of Aedelshaven, and that their allies the Zetyans were calling for their participation with CONA. At her word, the Empire had sent a small force to help the defenders, enough to meet their obligations without going too far. But in many ways, it was a hollow gesture in her eyes. Both she and Fisk knew that their current position in the conflict was tenuous, and that they would need to do some maneuvering to come out in a favorable position. As she sat within her temporary chambers within one of the sector palace's towers, she schemed, making plans for how to make CONA or SAGA bend to the Empire's will in a favorable way, depending on how the war would play out.
Interrupting her scheming though, came a whisper, like a quiet voice in her head "Come one, come all. The Panopticon is here" over and over. It reminded her of what Menmuer had described, when he had recounted in more detail what had happened during his travels with Faleka. She was dead now though, buried on Misya Elim, and therefore this summons couldn't have come from her. Whomever it was that was calling though, she had waited too long to not act. She donned her armor, activating its FTL module and teleporting to the source of the beacon.
Outside the temple, a glowing purple line appeared in the air, abruptly pushing out into the two meter tall outline of an armored being. The being was somewhat canine in physiology, although it was hard to get exact details from the armor that it wore, but it was clear that the being was too stocky to be a Carnaithian.
The armor itself was composed of interlocking dark grey metallic plates, crossed by glowing orange lines radiating out from the a glowing sigil of the Isoterran flag on the chest, which travelled down the outer sides of the arms and legs. From the shoulders draped a black cape that seemed to absorb all light, both visible and not, which fell upon it, like someone had found a way to form a black hole into fabric and wear it. And atop the shoulders was a helmet formed in the shape of a canid-like head, with glowing orange eyes.
The being entered the temple, easily visible in the darkness via the lights on its suit, and from speakers in the outside of the helmet, a baritone voice growled at the others present "Who has summoned me, and why?"
It was not long after when a small white creature emerged from behind one of the temple walls, unnoticed by most as it quickly weaved its vulpine form around their feet on silent paws before finally approaching a new figure among the arrivals. A large well-built man, dressed in an expensive looking suit patterned like scaly hide and covered head to toe in a variety of animal pelts which hid many of his features, most of which were unrecognizable except for one, a lion's which was draped over the man's shoulders giving him a herculean silhouette, all of it an openly brazen display of his trophies. What little of the man's face could be seen behind the lion's frozen roar was in a permanent scowl and covered in various scars.
He had just appeared, like a statue that had always been there. His arms crossed and his form solid, he emitted an aura of power, wealth, dignity, and inhuman masculinity. He did not flinch as the small white creature climbed up his form and silently perched on his shoulders, revealing itself to be a pure white fox whose fur shone like pearls. Four long fluffy tails swayed behind it in a beautifully unnatural display of colors which made the duo stand out even more from the gathering.
The man did not speak and the fox did not make a sound as they waited for whatever had called them there. The fox's turquoise eyes caught every movement, its ears picked up every sound, and while the man did not move a muscle it was clear he did the same.
So much power gathered in one place.
The temple had been built tens of thousands of years ago in another age, ironically to worship gods which were simply not real. And yet another pantheon quite different to those the people here had imagined now had taken root. Most of the temple was run down and utterly overgrown by the trees and plants but some of its carvings and tapestries survived star charts and formations which were very different now thanks to time were displayed along with various other stylised pictures.
A bright star in the Golden Expanse, a large vortex in the Phasic Wastes, a second what appeared to be galaxy in the sky. All as the species danced underneath them.
But it was not the temple they were here for.
A way away deep in the jungle was another concealed Panopticon stronghold, stealing children at the very least and likely conducting other horrors beyond description at the worst. It was known now how strong the AOTP were, the silence field may have been a one off, but nobody could ever be sure. The fact they could stand toe to toe with such beings in the first place, let alone rob them of their power was enough to warrant extreme caution regardless. Even in this proximity and with its muffling effects the base could be felt, but that also meant one thing.
If they could feel the presence of the base, it was likely the AOTP knew they were here.
This group had not met one another, let alone fought together. The bonds between many were not yet made, and the experience of surviving the Panopticons call was all but unknown apart from a few.
This would be a dangerous mission. But it would be one that required more information, they had to know what the Armies plan was.
As his new 'guests' arrived, he had been observing them. Musing to himself about their purpose and origins. Soldiers? Leaders? Gods? Wanderers like him?
He did not know. Not yet, at least. It would an interesting experience, to learn what there was about them. Stories written in the flow of time, some young as spring, some old as primordial fires immemorial. All in all just from the presence and appearance they already seemed to be a rather curious group, gathered together from various origins and alignments, together for purpose, out of necessity, not because they wished to be. He felt around in the fabric of intent and wishes, one more was on his way, was he not? Though he would be late.
Unfortunate.
Alas, the time of hiding in plain sight was over.
There was a faint tap, of the back end of a spear on the rock-hewn floor of the ancient temple. Silently echoing of it's walls.
Perception shifted.
Not appearing but more fading into sight from the white noise of the universe a man came into the awareness of the assembled powers. He was... odd. Not in a way an entity would be but rather being almost strangely normal. His presence, although now 'there' seemed to be still unremarkable. His appearance, standing at an average height and build, somewhat pale with long dark hair and short beard, almost mundane.
If it had not been for his white robes with red ornaments and the occasional stylised eye, he could've been just another mortal, maybe some cultist.
The man, smiled a thin and warm smile, he seemed... friendly, benevolent almost, as if he could never harm a fly and only meant everyones best.
Yet, he couldn't just be another mortal, his very presence here spoke against that fact, the time and place was too convenient to be mere chance. The manner of his appearance too strange to pass as merely looking over him.
He bowed formally, perfect in form and mannerism, it felt like it was directed at everyone and no one. Acknowledging their existence, confirming their presence.
...and another thing, was off. Something about him seemed... wrong, terribly so. Yet it was nothing one could easily put their finger on, nothing mere mortals would be likely to even notice tangentially.
As his head rose again, for the first time today he spoke and for the first time an answer was provided.
"I see, most of us are here. A curious gathering of the mighty. I greet you in my name and I apologise, to bring you here on such... short notice."
He paused for a brief moment, his gaze wandering through the room and surroundings, glancing at each of the present individuals.
"We will proceed to the reasoning behind this gathering, in short order. Though I would assume it would be appropriate to introduce ourselves first, as customs demand. Do you not think so, dear fellows?"
Yinchorr
Capitol Space
076AME
Here it was.
Ridhuan stood atop one of the abandoned towers of what was once an extensive 2AW-era slave camp - now merely ruins and large gaping nuclear craters. This was it. The resting place of some 15,000 men and women of the fabled LINFOR sent to raid slave camps such as these and liberate the enslaved.
His hand reached out and grasped at the air, sensing the latent psionic energies deep within the irradiated ashen earth below. These 15,000 bodies may have long been vapourised, but their souls remained, fixed to this place.
But he had not got long. It has been decades since the end of the war, and those souls have already started decaying and fading away due to entropy. Ridhuan jumped down, a trail of dust and broken glass of the skyscraper following in his wake as he slid down the building and eventually landed on the ground, creating a small crater of his own onto the long-neglected tarmac below.
“Fallen of LINFOR, I know you are here.”
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The Temple
Liliana Free Territory
078 AME
After 10 years of peace, the fires of war has returned to the galaxy, and RANGSI has no choice but to march into those fires once again, in the name of its very own survival.
Champion Ridhuan knew he had to follow closely behind every army sent to the front - who else can and will keep the souls of their fallen safe? Years of travelling the galaxy and assimilating the souls of the dead at every battlefield of the past has earned him and the gestalt a new reputation as some sort of grim reaper or a moving valhalla for RANGSI soldiers.
Yet, he had decided to heed this call coming from the Liliana Free Territory, knowing that it was precisely within the fog of galactic war where the Army of the Panopticon could best hide themselves in, and conceal their nefarious works from eyes now too distracted to the 3rd Ancerious War. He was driven by Faleka’s death those two years ago - whoever possessed the power to kill gods could very well be the biggest threat in the galaxy. No CONA army, no matter how big they were, could top that.
As Ridhuan walked through the portal into the temple, he saw entirely new faces. A part of him wished the previous party was still around, for that sense of familiarity, but if these new faces were here to battle the AOTP, then comrades they are.
“I am Ridhuan, Champion and Keeper of all fallen RANGSI soldiers. A beacon has called for the AOTP to be destroyed, and I aim to fulfill that request,” he replied to the man in white robes. A nagging feeling was stabbing his 'gut' about how off the man was, but seeing as this was an assembly of entities and him himself being a half-human half-hardlight body, he tried to dismiss these feelings as remnants of his past humanity.
His eyes snapped open as he sensed multiple people- no, beings in the vague area he was in. His hand twitched and reached to his side only to sill. Raze was not with him anymore- turned to dust in a last ditch attempt to defeat a foe. He took a short breath to calm himself and stood up, dusting the black trousers he wore. Plain ones. With that and a ratty shirt, it was an outfit unfit for a king, much less a god like him. But did he deserve those titles now? Well it’s not like he could find a better garment anyways.
The Khan glanced around at the assembled group of entities and he sensed the power they all had- some equal some greater to his. He would have loved to challenge them a long time ago. Now all he felt was shame at being so… mortal, compared to them all.
His eyes lingered on an unassuming man. Quietly he applied some aura there to try to get a closer look but turned away when he saw a static flash across his vision. No. Not there.
And so he took the chance to look at everyone else, analysing them, as if trying to find where he stood on this mighty totem pole only to find himself wanting. Again again. Will the universe ever be his?
The Champion spoke first. Listed his titles and purpose. They had weight in them. But what was he compared to that? What was he?
What am I?
And so when he introduced himself, it was quite simple, “I am Eleison. If you’ve heard of me before then forget it. It no longer matters. I’m just here to fight."
To fight and find glory. To fight and find redemption.
To fight and… to fight and…
Static blurred across his vision. Something deep within him was drawn to the unassuming man. Memories of a great power probing his mind. Memories of defeat not so long ago.
To fight and restore his honour as the Khan. The Sorcerer King.
Kaeleen, perhaps the only other that seemed utterly mundane. A woman in a simple leather robe, with nothing but a large wooden staff with bone lining the top? Nothing more than a simple sounding staff! Not even shoes, or clothes under the loose garb? She looked far more like a lone hermit, than any sort of entity. If not for the incredible amount of psionic energies radiating from her, and a slither of divinity she would appear as any other mortal. After all she had ascended from a mortal not long ago, and she saw no need to dress like a queen. She slowly rose her head at the 'new' figure emerging. She began to stand using her sounding staff to support her weight as she pushed herself up. Returning his bow a hand against the upper chest of her simple robe to keep herself modest.
Her head turned turned to Ridhuan, then to the Khan. At him not speaking her gaze slowly turned back to the man. The weave tugged at her, something was not right. Though it was her turn to speak. Her voice was utterly calm, serene. Content even, there was no fear, no worry... There was the weave.
"I am Voshkahrae Kaeleen servant of the weave, and guardian of it's order. A call for aid was sent out, and I will answer the call... always."
She spoke briefly. Keeping her same serene tone. Both arms grasping onto her staff, and leaning into it slightly. Her face was natural, and her hood masked much of ridged head.
Behind the glowing eye ports of her helmet, Cinder took stock of the other beings present in the temple, noticing the trend towards simple attire among many of those present, or at least simple for someone claiming to be an a being of power. It was exactly the sort of thing Menmuer would do, wearing nicer casual garb for nearly every occasion, she thought, quietly chuckling to herself. He wouldn’t even wear a crown on formal occasions she thought, finding it rather silly. It was one thing if you wanted to blend in within a crowd, but why would you not want to dress for the occasion when it came up? That said, she did feel slightly out of place, with everyone apart from Ridhuan looking unprotected compared to the powerarmor she was wearing, looking more like a soldier than an entity at first glance, although anyone familiar with magical auras could tell that from the suit alone she was not one to be trifled with.
After Ridhuan, Eleison, and Voshkahrae had finished introducing themselves and announcing their respective titles, she decided to say something. Another string of words, uttered in a growling voice, issued from her helmet’s speakers “I am Cinder, Queen of the Isoterran Empire. And if we are to deal with the Army of the Panopticon, then I am happy to ‘answer the call’, as you put it.”
Army of the… Panopticon? Thoughts wandered infinite halls that were once so utterly empty, for so long, that this single streak of light through broken realms was like a supernova of brightness behind the unassuming wooden mask of Ohrumn. What was that? Flashes then again, of sheer information that flooded him moments ago, called back now onto his mind, onto the present and now that so few moments ago were inexistent.
A moon, a being made six, the one immersed within the stars, the one that had seen knowledge beyond knowledge… Ah! Panopticon! Those from ages past that now seek power above all else irregardless of others, oh how they must be defeated… Yet, was this also not the objective of the Cabal? This thought vacated the mind of Ohrumn as quickly as it was produced, as if blocked, whether by conditioning, or by force. Like a snap, his mind narrowed down onto defeating this enemy he had never seen before, like the others here, beings that reminded him of stelwart ghosts of his own past.
He spoke, the first time, for so long. His voice was like cracking, it came from afar and snapped at the ear in soft hisses and murmurs of words, then went away quickly too, falling upon crashing waves of itself.
“I am… Ohrumn.
I am… The one of endless perpetuity…
I thread… the infinite realms…”
Ohrumn was an uncommon god. He was not quite there, it was as if his presence was a fuzzy shadow that betrayed the shape which cast it, and though the distinctive yet unknown cape and wooden mask was present, it was all a visage that produced certain discomfort to stare at, like staring at a piece of an incomplete puzzle, it produced a feeling deep down that, no matter how one looked, there was never a full picture.
.
Likewise, to him, those present were like images laid flat down on a table, their powers were towers within a sea of dimensions that crashed down on themselves. Powerful beings, the lot of them, he knew, but his eyes saw so much more. They had strength, maybe if need be, they could even thread the realms with him.
The multi-tailed fox chittered from atop its muscular perch who huffed in response but remained statuesque for a few moments before speaking in a voice loud enough for all to hear, with dignified authority not unlike a military commander demanding respect. Clearly, by dress and way of speech, the man was one of high nobility wherever he was from.
"The great god Mammon has answered your summons." He said as the fox continued to glare at the other entities That had joined them like a sentry. The man otherwise waited silently for more answers as to why he was brought to the temple, and with other gods as well.
The white clad man nodded in response to all of the introductions. More to himself than anyone else, though none would know that.
Two of these he knew, two he had heard of and two were unknown to him, so far. Leaders, soldiers, gods and wanderers, it made him ponder upon old questions.
Was it power that naturally led people into higher positions or positions of power that attracted greater might? Would those of them who rule fall off their thrones eventually or would those who followed others, rise to power?
He digressed.
"I see. I see. I suppose, I shall introduce myself as well then. My name... is not of relevance. Some called me the 'Herald' although there appears to be already one who bears this name in this realm."
He paused for a moment looking at the ceiling, apparently thinking.
"You may call me 'Amerandus', it is a name as good as any, I am merely myself, a wanderer."
He paused again, his gaze once more wandering over the assembled entities.
"Well, with the introductions out of the way, I shall induct you in our purpose here today.
This entire place..."
He made a sweeping gesture with his right arm.
"...is infested with psionic anomalies, anomalies of a kind which only leaves the Army of the Panopticon as their possible source. Additionally, young mortals have been disappearing in the sector, leading to the conclusion they are being experimented on.
Some of you, may already know the Panopticon, some of you may have fought it before, meaning you would know they are in fact dangerous."
He paused again, glancing at Ridhuan this time.
"Now, given what happened only a couple years ago to Faleka, Arkol and even some others, it would surely be in all of our interest to deal with such a stain on the fabric of this reality, yes?"
He looked at each one of them individually as if to confirm what he said.
"Alas, we also had to learn that dealing with these individuals, may not be as easy as one assumed. We have found their position, their targets, yet their goals remain in the dark and in the end their tools remain a threat, even to those like us, as some here may be able to confirm. As such it may be beneficial to approach this task as a collective.
Some of you may already be aware, though it may be necessary to say, that there is a good chance these people have the means to rob those like us of their power. Caution would be advised and it would be in our best interest to maintain a low profile, although they are likely already aware of our presence."
He paused again, apparently finished and satisfied with his, albeit somewhat vague, sufficient explanation.
"Now, let us make haste and get going, time is of essence, any more questions can be asked on our way."
The group of quite strange individuals, gods and entities all made their way down the overgrown steps of the temple and into the lush and vibrant forests below. All sorts of critters scuttled or flew about them, the noise of the life here was almost deafening a testament to the biodiversity and survival of this place. As they walked plants and obstacles were merely moved out of their way, power came with that ability, to even make mundane things easier.
They could of course fly on in, power blazing and fight the Panopticon here and now. But they had no information, no idea what could be waiting for them. Another silence field? More powerful artificial psions like One? They couldn’t tell, for all they knew this could be yet another trap.
Coming into a clearing the group were confronted with their first answer.
A little boy stood in a patch of grass, utterly still and staring into thin air. His skin was deathly pale, eyes gaunt and haunted, utterly unresponsive to the presence of those who came forward. He wore a simple surgical gown, and his feet were red and covered in sores. His hair was patchy, and obvious signs of surgical incisions were all over his head. The boy was a clear Psion, and even felt like such, but he only felt like it at very short range, how could such power not be easy to see further away?
They had practically stumbled right on top of him. But further away through the undergrowth, a second child could be seen, in much the same state, a little girl who also stood utterly motionless and almost like she was dead.
This place already had a dread feeling, and upon stumbling on the children the noise and eager life of the jungle had all but disappeared, silence was all that could be heard now from the wildlife, only the rattling of the trees on the wind, and the now patter of rain as the heavens began to open to give the forest its daily water.
Nothing moved in their proximity.
Amerandus eyed the children with curiosity. As it seems, it hadn't taken long until something blocked their path to his target.
Although, it was less of roadblock and more of an anomaly so far. They could, of course, just dispose of them or walk past them. On the other hand, it would be interesting to see how his contemporary allies would deal with them. Violence hungered and purpose demanded though out of the three curiosity won out in the end.
A trap? Abandoned experiments? Guards? An abstract sensor system?
He began circling the children at a respectable distance, making sure not to walk into other ones which may or may not be hiding in the bushes. After all, he didn't want to disturb the equilibrium they seemed to be existing in. A shame it would be if they had to destroy them before learning what they were.
"It appears we have found an obstacle."
He denoted with more amusement in his voice than actual concern.
"Now what would you think? Does any of the more psionically inclined wish to make sense of this curiosity, it would be highly appreciated, I'm certain." He eyed Ridhuan and Kaeleen specifically whilst doing so, lifting an eyebrow, though notably did not make any demands.
As he waited for what may or may not happen, he continued circling the perimeter, the spear he held tapped the ground once and an invisible, mute call extended from it, probing the echoes of the ambient memories of the place to see whether there would be any clues as to why how they they arrived here. His head tilted slightly at the girl, reminded of his target, as it looked there was not enough sense of self left to talk in this one, let alone make a wish, a shame really.
Eleison looked on at the two children. His eyes drifted to their shaven heads- hastily put together with a multitude of stitches like a patchwork of cloth. For a moment, he debated simply walking up there and consuming their memories.
But images of his last fight with a psion flashed through his mind. The memory of a crushing defeat. He stopped himself from acting rashly and instead chose a more cautious approach.
Crimson energy began to pulse outwards from his body almost as if he was set on fire. The bitter scent of burning ash fills the air. Two signs of a Khanate sorcerer activating their aura. He allowed for the aura to centre around his mind, blocking it against mental probes- he’d gotten good at making them ever since he fought the Archminister.
Eleison frowned, “not happening again,” he promised to himself.
Mammon kept his distance from the rest of the group, the man kept several paces apart making sure he was followed by none. The fox observed all, from its high perch, bobbing its head un curiosity as it examined the children from the distance, it chattered anxiously but was calmed immediately when the man reached up and placed his hand gently on its head, reassuring it, while he himself didnt look away from the children. A quiet hissing could be heard coming from under the man's animal pelt.
“It's certainly the work of the AOTP,” Ridhuan remarked as he glanced at the surgical incisions, bringing him back to the last time he encountered the Army on Lost Star. “I have never seen them use children before, however, until now…”
The oppressive atmosphere of dread all around was crushing, and it was nagging at Ridhuan’s more human instincts, like knives stabbing into his chest. He steeled himself as he slowly approached the boy. One foot on the soft grass, and then the next. Slow and steady, smooth is fast and fast is smooth.
It was then he started to notice how all the life in the jungle was suddenly extinguished in the child’s vicinity. At first, he thought it could be just the human imagination for dramatic flair, but then seeing as it is the Army of the Panopticon, and reminded of his past encounter with the ‘Silence Field’, he stopped and held a fist in the air, signaling the party to stop and to not come closer.
“This sudden silence and lifelessness, I do not think it is merely a coincidence,” Ridhuan remarked. “Back up and keep low, in my previous encounter the Army was able to nullify my powers and turned even gods into mortals…these strange children could be a trap.”
Red tendrils appeared from Ridhuan’s back and slithered around in the air. Like snakes tasting the scent of prey, small micro-pulses emanated from the tendrils, trying to sense for something. He was tapping into Panopticon, his connection to what was supposed to be a realm exclusive to the AOTP an accidental result of the war on Rubikon II, and he was now trying to see if the children had any of the AOTP’s characteristic golden strings coming out of them.
Kaeleen was silent, the simple hermit of a woman gently thumping her staff against the ground with dull quiet thumps. At the sight of the children she said nothing, but moved forwards. The woman's beady eyes glancing down to the child. She said nothing, but pushed into the child. Not with body, but mind. Using her ample psionic power to attempt to push into the childs mind. Sift through memories, ascertain what it was doing, anything she could find.
Ohrumn’s traversal of the environment was like a graceful fluttering of a glistering cloud of shards that evaded the onlooker’s gaze, betraying what the eyes saw in this entrapment of shattered visages. It was as if the being moved within the slivers of objects and within them only, though it was for a fact that it was still present, and these other beings of latent power would find no trouble in finding Ohrumn if they so sought.
Yet it stopped, and gazed, outwards through the small crack within the pattern staring at the children in front of it. How long had it been since it had seen a life that was so simple, so young. Yet something was not right within that place. This was only confirmed by Ridhuan. The fist up in the air was a signal it recognised despite the difference in time and space between the two beings, and Ohrumn came to a halt suspended in the sliver of non-space it transited so naturally.
Still, it would try to be useful for its comrades. It whispered, a soft hiss and murmur from the crackling fractals.
“I will… see if they are many…”
And like that, it spread, its eyes scoured the vicinity through impossibly slim breaches between the vines, the trees, the blades of grass and the veins of the leaves. Gazing outwards, it searched the area quickly and quietly.
The memories came from the one who had made the first wish. Being dragged from a small cage by men dressed in what appeared to be biological warfare suits she had quickly been drugged. Waking up on an operating table she had cried out, wishing for freedom as the strangely biological gurney enveloped her. But the children in front of them had no memories.
Their minds were empty, no hints to how they got here, although it was likely to be the same story as the original girl. Even as Kaeleen, Amerandus and Ridhuan looked into their minds there was nothing.
Or maybe… There was something
As Ohrumn scanned outward it appeared that the entire forest was covered in these children, standing very still. Some, further in appeared to have the skin sloughing from their bones, consumed by decay and yet they stood. Like silent apparitions.
But when the red strings went into the area around the child, the first surprise was that it didn’t extinguish. These thankfully, were not a silence field.
The second surprise however was when the child’s eyes went wide, and the mouth opened to let forth ungodly screaming. It was pulsating, high pitched enough to kill wildlife in the vicinity and it was charged with so much psionic energy that it was like a deafening shockwave on the mind. No doubt any mortal in the vicinity would have been killed instantly by such a display, lasting only a few seconds before the child dropped down to the ground limp and utterly lifeless.
Living Mines.
The AOTP had turned children into living, deployable psionic landmines.
While the others, such as Ridhuan, seemed to take the lead in examining the child before them, Cinder had held back a ways, standing somewhere behind them and before Mammon. This proved to be useful when the child issued its psionic scream and dropped dead, as much of the energy that reached her was able to conduct away through her metanium plating. She was still knocked back however, her mind ringing from the 'blast'.
"Ouch" she growled, annoyed, and slightly unsure if the ringing was in her ears or her head. It was probably both, she thought.
Landmines. Psionic ones apparently. An interesting choice, but at least they'd be more visible than a normal mine. Either way they needed to be removed.
Looking around, she spotted another child nearby. Reaching out with her left hand, a glowing light green sphere of light appeared, the size of an orange, flying towards the child and altering course to intersect with its center of mass, carrying enough force to liquefy organs and kill. As it flew away, she lifted off the ground, her armor raising her several meters into the air with its magitech propulsors, as she searched their vicinity, using lidar and thermal imaging to search through the vegetation, augmented with magical life sensing tuned for child-sized creatures.
"HOLY FUCK!" Was the first of a torrent of various foul curses to come suddenly from behind the group after the child's death scream. "YOU STUPID LITTLE SHITS!" The fox screamed as it writhed on the ground while the cloaked man desperately tried to calm it, but stopped by the flailing fox. Its paws covered its ears as it threw itself headfirst into the ground repeatedly trying to ease the pain, its tails lashing wildly, broken by occasional bouts of horrendous language no fox should ever say.
In a flash of fur the fox grew and changed, no longer was there a small four tailed fox, but a man even taller than the other, dressed in an emerald green suit, animal skin boots, and covered in a long coat lavishly designed out of various pure white animal furs and turquoise feathers. His long white hair blended in with his coat and his handsome face was marred by pained grimacing as he covered his ears. "Fuck! I hate kids!" He yelled as the other man tried to help him stand. As the pain subsided and the strange man rose to his feet and he looked, wincing, at the rest of the gods who turned to watch his embarrassing display, then to the other man who had broken his serious demeanor to help him like a worried parent.
"What?! never seen a man's eardrums bleed before?!" He called out accusingly before reassuringly turning the other man's attention off him while he recovered and dusted himself off.
Kaeleen winced at the child psionically exploding, her head pounding from the assault. She groaned in pain but nonetheless spoke with a gentle tone, far more directed to Cinder, and anyone else trying to kill more of the children. "I urge caution... These are but specs in the great psionic field, hidden beyond reason, minds empty. They are mines, and they are likely an early warning system. They are easy to see, easy to avoid after this lesson. Killing more only puts our mission at more risk than we already have foolishly stumbling into this one."
She sighed more so to herself, and turned to face the lifeless corpse. Leaning into her sounding staff with a small grimace towards the child. The AOTP were far more vile than she initially though. The weave was right for beckoning her to heed this call.
Amerandus face twisted in displeasure at the sudden release of psionic energy and sound though he'd done well in keeping his distance from the child, yet still he seemed to have taken less of a hit than he should have, as if something invisible had taken the brunt of the attack, he shook his head as if trying to get rid of a ringing in the ears as the former child sank to the ground like a sack of dead meat, which it at this point most likely was.
So they were traps after all. Possibly some conduit into this psionic field or Panopticon that had been mentioned in Falekas memories?
More importantly, the one he was after had apparently passed here not too long ago, admittedly, 'not too long ago' by his standards, what had happened to her later remained to be seen.
He turned his head towards the floating Cinder who was in the process of disposing of other traps like this.
"Whilst it would certainly be most entertaining to observe your powers in action, I have to agree with our psionic friend here. It may be to our benefit to avoid creating an obvious path of destruction towards our destination."
With that he turned to the 'new arrival' he looked the man clad in furs up and down.
He had already expected something like that when the man and the fox arrived, though who was he to intrude the privacy of a god which desired to remain hidden?
"One would assume that you are 'Mammon' then?"
The child’s psionic scream greatly affected Ridhuan. Groaning in pain, the headless commissar was forced to his knees, seemingly crushed by the psionic shockwaves of such living mines, as the red tendrils disappeared, and his own connection to the Panopticon severed.
The screams were now over, but it was not until a few minutes had passed that Ridhuan was able to stand up again, still disoriented, and unable to tap into the Panopticon for a while from such a psionic shock.
“To Him we come from, to Him we return…” Ridhuan muttered a short prayer as he saw the lifeless corpses of the two children in front of him. His heart sank, no innocent child deserved such a fate.
The only thing he could do now was to spare their bodies from horrible decay, especially in such a hot, humid and lush jungle. He walked to each of them, closing their eyes and then closing his as small jets of flame burst out from his hands and enveloped the bodies, cremating them instantly into ash.
Immersed within his own shattered visage, the carrion waves of psychic energy echoed through the endless halls, respecting the laws of the world in their expansion patterns they were lost into the imiscible edges of this mirror world, washing over Ohrumn with only a fractal of the power they originally had, but still momentarily stunning the dual god.
It sees now, traps laid across to protect something, made of such vile nature , desecrating the body of the innocents. Ohrumn was no god of justice but if this cruelty were done to its people, it would spare no effort in seeking rectification. But alas, now, it must warn the others.
It walked, untethered by the realm of its own making and tangentially so into one of the tendril's edges of one of the developing pattern, it opened like a blossom, mesmorisingly prying itself apart until a small rift was present in the world, out of which it stepped out, amidst its comrades within the jungle.
"Wait!... They are made many...
We must... proceed carefully..."
It looked down aimlessly at the ground, at somewhere hovering above it a small scintillation began to manifest, first it looked like fine dust, then shards of a broken and reflective mirror like a fluctuating mass, then from within an image started to form, they were tiny clouds of gas and hundreds of little dots flashing with color, then, dozens of dots glowed and connected amidst eachother, around them little auras manifested like the afterwaves of supernovae, it was like a small starchart representing the locations of the children, and what Ohrumn presumed was their detection radius.
The psionic shockwave washed over his mental barriers. He stood firm in the face of adversity. Their tricks would not affect him. Yet, the physical scream was of annoyance to hiim. He scowled slightly and proceeded to reinforce his body with aura to prevent what little damage could have been caused and to shield against further attacks.
His eyes lingered on the corpses of the children as they were cremated by Ridhaun. Truth be told, he felt only annoyance at the way they were used. While he had no qualms at the thought of slaughter, what he did grit his teeth at was the waste of potential. These children could have had much more potential than simply a bomb. It only really mattered in the factor of psychological damage. Adults would serve just well for both really.
His thoughts were interrupted when Ohrumn appeared and presented its impromptu map. At this, he scowl visibly deepened, “Cinder,” he used her name casually, for he did not care for any rank but his, “disposed of one easily. We should do the same and eliminate any chance of them being a future threat. If we leave them as they are now, they will only serve as a potential attack.”
His fingers splayed open, a ball of aura twisting to life in crackling crimson energy, “it would be easy to take them out while we still can at this range.”
The man looked at Amerandus and with a wave of his hand cleaned himself off and fixed his hair as though he'd never been in the dirt. The pearlescent sheen that had been his fox form's fur carried over to the heavily styled pure white hair on his head and the fur on his coat. "Yeah. that's what I call myself." Mammon answered as he finally regained his composure. He clearly couldn't stand being unpresentable.
The man who had been Mammon's decoy took his place close to the chaos god's side, with both his arms behind himself in a militaristic fashion, This man was intimidatingly large on his own, and though neither was a giant, next to the god he seemed small, not just physically, but in the atmosphere around them. This god radiated an aura that inspired both awe and intimidation, an aura that demanded submission, he was a being of pure power that could only make one question why he needed a decoy in the first place.
Mammon walked closer to the rest of the group, his companion close behind. His heavily furred coat physically made him appear even bigger than he already was, and as he approached the feintest sound of rock music could be heard in the air, coming directly from him, neither too loud nor too quiet to be listened to, and perfectly clear. A song of passion, love, and pride, and the willingness to stop at nothing for more. Mammon himself did not seem to acknowledge the music.
"So, you summoned me here, yeah? To deal with more panopticon nonsense? To get my eardrums blasted by sonic pre-school dropouts?" He said. He carried himself like the carefree boss of a criminal syndicate, and didn't talk much different from one either. "What is it this time? I thought the null nonsense was dealt with. Jormundgand made sure of it. Isn't this a local god problem? Oh, right...Arkol and Faleka were local gods..."
Amerandus' gaze rested on Eleision who was still holding his orb of energy. He had learned and yet he had not, not enough at the very least. Then again, it had not been too long.
"...and charge headlong into adversity and into a potential trap that could be obvious if you were more careful? I would use the map Ohrumn has just provided to us, though who am I to tell you what do?"
There was the same thin smile as usual on his face though something about the question felt off, before the former Khan could answer, the white clad entities attention moved to Mammon.
He... certainly was an individual.
It made him wonder how deep his arrogance ran and how much there was to support it, his aura was certainly promising.
"That is quite true, yes, they 'were' local gods. Alas, they are no more."
He paused and wondered if he should test the proverbial waters. Maybe just a little bit, after all, they did not want any hostilities this early on. There was still a wish he had to fulfil.
"...and alas, it seems to have not been dealt with thoroughly enough. After all, we summoned whoever would listen, nobody specific and listen you did indeed. The Panopticon is indeed here and quite capable of causing issues, even to those like us, as you, like all others here, just so graciously demonstrated."
Kaeleen sighed at the outburts, and kneeled over the lifeless charred corpse. She closed her eyes, and in the lack of being able to investigate a corpse, tried to reach out across the jungle. To see if it was possible to actually psionically detect one.
"Can we please not bicker amongst ourselves? We have a common enemy, no? One that could kill any of us, as the past has shown."
A deep bestial growl reverberated in the draconian's chest.
"Like you knew the child would scream? Give the word, I'll silence every being in a hundred thousand mile radius! Why not the planet? No more panopticon toddlers, no more problem!" He raised his hand to snap his fingers only to be stopped by a silent grumble behind him, his companion looked at him with a concerned expression, Mammon's own expression softened and he lowered his arm.
"Okay, Brutus....You're right." He said calmly, mumbling silently under his breath about how much the situation annoyed him. Despite the draconian's complaints about the damage to his ears, he seemed totally healed now, his reaction would have been from pure spite.
"Look....I dont like this situation...draconian have no part in it and never should have been involved...but I feel something making me be here...guilt...I dont know. The others make this shit all seem so fucking easy..." He confessed rather believably, though his words seemed like cause for question ,"guilt", why would this draconian feel guilt?
"Do not worry Kaeleen, we have no intention of stirring up hostilities, we were merely... testing their capacity to cooperate."
Still, Amerandus had although for but a brief moment tightened his grip around his weapon as the Draconian was about to snap his finger. There had been no power emanating from him when he did it but he knew these powers were very much real and gods were foolish creatures. Some more than others.
"I see."
Guilt was... a curious reveal, even more so from a god. What had they done to warrant such a sentiment? How far were the Draconians involved in this? It made him wonder. Alas, now was not the time to dig deeper.
"I see." He repeated. "Then, I shall welcome you once more to this group, Draconian Mammon."
This time, he did not bow, he merely nodded respectfully, whether out of actual respect or formality was up to question.
As the gods seemed to gather and bicker around the beautiful fractal map that Ohrumn had created depicting the children the attack made by Cinder to strike the child nearby hit home, punching through the kid’s chest, and vaporising them its mouth didn’t open. There was no physical scream, but once more a shockwave of psionic energy raced outwards just like the first. They were rigged to blow even if struck.
In that brief moment Kaeleen, leaning over the body and reaching across the jungle with her mind could feel something stir. Multiple things.
The first mine could very well have been some locals getting too close. But a second mine detonation? Something was clearly wrong. It seemed they were about to be investigated.
The children extended for around 2 kilometres in a circular but concentric pattern, obviously surrounding whatever facility the Army had created here. Small paths through the mines could be spotted; tight passages based on detection radii. There were safe paths in it seemed.
The presences that Kaeleen had felt however, were approaching extremely rapidly.
There was a disturbance in the air, all the animals and sounds had gone still when they had approached the mines, but now even the wind had died down and the trees and foliage had gone still. The temperature was beginning to drop.
Kaeleen's eyes shot open at the psionic presences, but otherwise she stayed calm. She gently stood back to her feet. She started to speak her voice ever calm, serene despite the circumstances. "The four threads reveal themselves."
She said the simple sentence turning towards the west. Her simple hermits robe began to undo itself. The very threading, the stitching that had placed it together unraveled under Kaeleens will. The single garment that would normally be donned by simply pulling it over ones head fell to her feet. The very stitching that had made it undone, leaving in two separate pieces. This process having rendered the Kaal'Tae woman completely nude. Unnoticed before Kaeleen had a loose necklace comprised of nothing more than a string, with over a dozen small spiked teeth. With a similar piece of jewelry tied around her waist, beasts from her homeworld, her trophies from her early trials of survival under Master Yorlon. With all four arms at her disposal, she stretched out the lower two arms that were almost always under a robe, and began her preparation.
"We have been noticed. To the West, they will come."
The woman turned her head towards the wooden staff topped by bone. She lifted her arm, and let her four fingered hand let go of it. She concentrated on the sounding staff and it splintered.
It splintered, it cracked, it shattered in two pieces. The bones that made the top shattering. The remaining two pieces snapped, cracked, bent. Reforming into two bows, of which were quickly stringed from her the woman's former robe. The strings threading into the bows and going taught. Kaeleen grabbed both bows and tested the strings to ensure they were to her specifications. All the while she was working on other parts of her gear.
One of the two halves of her former robes raised up, rapidly splitting apart and wrapping around. Aging quickly, and forming itself into two quivers, stitched together by the threads from the robes, and reinforced by rapidly aged and hardened leather. Both the quivers floated onto her back while forty branches snapped from the trees surrounding them, and the bones from her staff quickly snapped, chipped, and shaped into arrowheads, threading from the remaining half of her robe tying the heads on, and fletching the backs with the feathers that had decorated her staff. All of the many arrows sliding into the two quivers.
The remnants of her robes began to flay themselves. No stitching, instead they turned to long wrappings. As Kaeleen rose a foot it was wrapped up to just above her knee, then with the second. A larger piece formed a sort of loincloth that was thinner than the wraps, her tooth 'belt' and her hips both serving to keep it up, while a sash quickly threaded around her chest, equally as thin. Threads going out from both the loincloth, and sash to her lower arms, wrapping around the biceps, drooping down, and then wrapping around her forearms. While the last meager amount of her robes wrapped around her upper arms forearm, and made a mask that rose from the ground and covered her face.
Kaeleen looked less like a hermit now, and more like a tribal warrior. She quickly took a knee, and closed her eyes. Drawing five arrows in both of her drawing arms, and nocking two of her arrows. Her psionic powers now working on strengthening the bows, making the arrows stronger, faster, to hit harder. And doing her best to track the targets preparing to loose an arrow as soon as one came out of the tree cover. Visual sight was of little consequence to her, but thousands of trees made the shot tricky, even for an entity such as herself.
"Steel yourselves, do not be rash... And do not get in the way of my arrows."
Cinder watched with satisfaction as her force bolt slammed into the child, killing it without a scream. However the psionic reading she got off of the living mine as it died caused her brief smile to turn back into a frown. That rules out the simple option. I suppose that would’ve been too easy she thought, being interrupted as Kaleen uttered her incantation and began to transform.
The Isoterran queen watched Kaleen's rather dramatic transformation with a raised eyebrow, appreciating the transfiguration of her equipment the most, as well as the sheer audacity to drop all clothing as a part of it. “Now that’s more like it” she muttered as the transformation concluded, approving of the change from hermit to warrior. Even if the new look was still a primitive warrior.
She didn’t have too much time to dwell on judging appearances at the moment though, as it seemed they would shortly have company, and not the type one wanted to see. With a neural command, she adjusted her HUD to display the results from her psionic detection. Normally, it would have been a more of a roundabout and time-consuming process to try to get her magic-based supernatural detection to pick up psionics, but she had been busy during the two years since the hunt had started for the Panopticon’s cult, having spent countless hours tuning her armor’s sensors to be able to do this, allowing the mana that flowed around her to detect the influence in the psion field permeating space. She could see returns now, glowing far away through the trees, but coming quickly towards them.
She clenched her fists, calling forth the power stored in the eerily black cape she wore. Abruptly, the lights on her suit went dark and the plating darkened to a black matching that of the cape. Transparency quickly followed, flowing from the cape’s anchor points on her shoulders, spreading down until she was quite invisible to any sort of vision, natural or beyond.
“I suggest everyone either hide or ready themselves for combat” her disembodied voice said offhandedly, in the same growling tone as before, while she readied to ambush whatever came their way.
Eleison scowled at the words of Amerandus and it seemed that he would turn his ire against the entity. However, any reply would soon be cut off when he began to notice the rapid anomalies that started to appear. Instinctually, he reached into his soul and began to flare his aura, before the sudden transformation of Kaeleen caught him completely off guard.
A transformation? That was surprising. He hadn’t seen something like that in years. Decades even. The last notable person who had such power was the Diadochi Jaghatai and even his wasn’t this… drastic.
He quickly shook himself out of his questions and turned away from her. He barely had time to notice Cinder disappear before he took into account the words both she and Kaeleen said.
“To fight or hide…” Eleison tested the words on his tongue and flexed his fingers, letting the ball of aura spin rapidly before he grinned sardonically and bared his teeth, “hiding has never done me any good,” the crimson energy began to expand, slowly growing bigger and bigger and far more destabilised as it crackled with arcs of lightning. Then, its elements shift, turning into a raging fire. Then, it occurred once more and this time turned into a swirling whirlwind. Then, rapidly spinning rocks. Then, back to pure energy.
In his other hand, he conjured a similar ball of aura, this one more smaller and easily able to mold into something else other than pure offensive energy. Crimson aura began to drip down bared teeth before sizzling as it struck the ground, “I suggest we prepare for combat, as it seems two of us are inclined too.”
The entities of this realm had much to learn it seems. Amerandus merely shook his head and sighed as neither of the two took his advice. Not only that, but the second psionic pulse had drawn a guardian near and even if they were to beat it, the inhabitants of the installation would be quite aware of their presence now, even more so than before. The entire reason they were, no, he was here, was now endangered, along with anything else they could've found. Perhaps it would've been better if he had went alone after all. Perhaps, it would have been better, if he intercepted the attack. Perhaps, it would have been better if he had gi...
Something violent and sinister welled up.
No. Not yet.
He studied the various preparations the group made with a cold look. He did not answer but with another tap of his weapon on the ground the man disappeared from the groups perception again, much like he had appeared earlier. For good measure he moved off the battlefield and away from the two dead children, making sure not to run into another one.
If they wanted to fight the guard and boast their powers? So be it. If they died they would at least make for good bait, although that was likely wishful thinking. He would wait and bide his time, perhaps they could at least make use of appearing as less individuals than they actually were.
With the distraction of the incoming enemy Mammon and Brutus both had disappeared from the congregation with neither a sound or visible trace of their presence. Mammon could sense the frustration of Amerandus, he did not care for it, but alerting the enemy had done no good for their mission there, something he agreed with the entity entirely. While he could not sense or even feel the psionics around him he knew those children were more than just screaming landmines and could hear the enemy approaching well before the others. He would leave Brutus to decide for himself, but he knew his mission had to move forward.
As Amerandus moved swiftly through the jungle the multi-tailed fox followed close on his heels, its fur shimmering in the light with unnatural power. The draconian had his own means of stealth, though he felt limited while trying to slow himself down so as not to get ahead of Amerandus. He liked the entity's disappearing act but resisted the urge to take it for himself. The divine kleptomaniac was struggling enough not to act on his impulses, he knew Brutus would be unhappy if he didnt.
The presence of the enemy swelled within the area, palpable was its onslaught. Ohrumn did not judge much the mistakes of its fellow kin, however, it demonstrated to it that these weaponised children could still serve a purpose to their advantage. The fractal god receeded into the projection it just cast, the constellation bloomed outwards and encompassed the cloaked figure, until the cloak of stars and fractals was imiscible with the map itself, and thus, now dissipated.
It did not wait however. Instead, it sprung into action, localising the spots where the children were, it prepared a trap to turn these traps against the fiendish perpetrators that had corrupted the young ones. It now awaited for its enemy to show face, and in a moment of weakness, it'd try to draw many of the children to it at once, through the nascent shortening of the ways made by its broken realms, and use their sinful ways against themselves.
Ridhuan brandished his katana, the blade now glowing a bright molten orange as he activated its superheated setting.
“Roger, enemy coming from the west side. I don’t need the Panopticon to know that this feeling means its the Army,” Ridhuan responded to Kaeleen’s warning as he felt the all too familiar signs of the AOTP's malicious presence. He held an intense gaze towards the general direction of the expected enemy attack, tuning all his senses - his sight, his ears, his smell and the psionic touch, for any signs of the enemy to come.
Looking back in the corner of his eye to check on the party, he noticed Amerandus was gone and he gritted his teeth. If he could follow him out of this mess, he would - to fight right now when they barely even reached the objective was tactically unwise. But alas, the party was more useful to the whole alive, so rather than retreating or hiding elsewhere he decided to join the fight to increase their power and thus, their chances of winning.
The things that came through the forest were absolutely anything but human. Or even natural.
The first thing that could be felt was a palpable wave of dread, it wasn’t a natural feeling. But artificial, like an oppressive suffocating field that came before them like the downdraft in a storm. Next was the noise, a buzzing like billions of angry flies. Two black masses approached the area at speed before halting near instantaneously. They were circular, huge in size and made up of millions of tiny, what appeared to be worms. Darkness seemed to ooze off them and the occasional golden string, tinted somewhat purple, grasped outwards for brief moments before disappearing.
They were huge, constantly shifting rings of miniature organisms, and in a heartbeat, they began to coalesce. Falling inward onto themselves to shift form. From each of the two monsters three smaller forms were created. Silhouettes showed they were massive, long limbed and with wickedly large claws, the creatures that made up their forms ever shifting and swarming as to keep the appearance ever moving and hard to discern. Fear, dread and outright insanity radiated from these creatures, a golden glow emanating from their centre and the three ‘sockets’ of where they eyes would be, Golden strings pouring from each as they eyed the intruders.
”In the darkness hunted, you will see the shining light” The voice seemed to emanate from them unnaturally.
A deep bass humming filled the area from the six creatures, drowning out all noise and sending out radiating psionic pulses. The pulses did nothing to harm, but the constantly shifting pattern of the psion was chaotic, it was like they were jamming psionic powers, making them harder to use.
Then with a blur, they moved. Impossibly fast as they shifted both in form and location.
They were definitely Panopticon creations, but nothing that had ever been seen before.
Eleison scowled upon sighting the monsters. They were unlike anything he had ever encountered and once again served as a reminder of how large this universe truly was. Their own aura of madness and fear grated at him, yet stirred something primal within his soul. Any further chance of assessment came to an end when they made their rapid approach to the party and he knew he would only have a split second to react.
He flung his hand forward, throwing the orb of crackling auric energy where he assessed they would be if not, slightly behind where they once were. But his accuracy hardly mattered in this case- not when the orb suddenly transformed into a rapidly expanding fireball. In the span of a second, this fireball exploded and turned into a raging firestorm that engulfed a fifteen-metre-wide area. The flames were hot enough to glow an entrancing white-blue and surpassed over a thousand celsius in temperature.
This was but a probing attack- a drop of water in the full capabilities of the Khan, but he needed to know how strong these beings were as well as how capable his allies were as well.
A sudden feeling of fear and discomfort washed over Cinder as the black flying masses arrived, before shifting into what looked like six-armed vermian wraiths, with myriad glowing eyes. This new mental state was a far cry from the confidence she had felt earlier, as she felt a distinct urge to make use of her invisibility and flee from the area. The sudden change to her own emotions was jarring, causing the Isoterran queen to wonder what was going on.
Almost in answer to her question, a notification popped up within her HUD, warning of a strange combination of ultra-low frequency sound and psionic pulses. She wondered if this was the source of the sudden urge to run that seemed to be consuming much of her mind. Creating a set of neural commands, her helmet’s auditory system adjusted, tuning itself to the incoming ULF waves and attempting to cancel them out via destructive interference, a process helped by the sound muffling nature of wearing an airtight suit of powerarmor.
It was like a breath of fresh air, her mind quickly clearing as the noise-canceling system took effect, the fear replaced by the confidence she had felt shortly before the wraiths, or whatever these ugly things were, arrived. She eyed up the monsters, giving an unseen but approving nod at Eleison’s white-blue flames. Simple, but not a bad idea, given that the things seemed to be great masses of flying worms.
“Let’s dial that fire up a bit then” she muttered, raising an invisible clawed hand so that the palm faced the creatures, while curling her fingers slightly. The image of the three beings and flames engulfing them seemed to distort, as if pulled towards the center of a great sphere around the three of them. Within, space seemed to stretch, as if the meters between the things and the entities were miles, while a force willed them backwards, like space itself was trying to flow and compact into the center of the bubble, helping Eleison’s fire and anything else thrown their way to hit the target.
As the remaining members of their party, minus Mammon, engaged their three new opponents, Amerandus stood at a distance, observing the movements and attacks of both sides with great interest.
From what he could tell at least they were sufficiently competent with the use of their powers so far and weren't trying to fling stones at their targets. Interestingly enough most of the party seemed to be inclined towards magic, both a blessing and a curse, as even at this distance he could feel the psionic aura of fear from these things, little as it did to what he was housing already.
On the one hand magic would be harder to manipulate for those of the Panopticon, on the other... it would also be harder to defend against psionics with it, although, they still had Ridhuan, who seemed have done decently in the past and Kaeleen, who was apparently an avatar.
It was too early to make any definite assessments in regards to these things capabilities, though he did wonder, what their origin was. Perhaps Falekas memories would know more?
…Purple?
Ridhuan then immediately froze in the fear and the dread, not only because they emanated from these newest of Panopticon monstrosities, but more than that - a fear of the unknown. Up until this point, he had only known three kinds. The golden strings of the Army of the Panopticon, the reddish-orange ones of his fellow Prajurits, the original survivors of Rubikon II, and most recently, the red ones that he possessed. Purple was none of those colours.
He hesitated at the immediate implications that followed. Who, or more precisely, what else, had connections to the Panopticon? And for this additional party to fall into the AOTP’s hands, just what is the Army capable of truly?
Ridhuan tried to summon a hail of explosive plasma bolts into the incoming enemy but their psionic pulse intruded into his concentration, the humming hammering into his ‘brain’. The plasma bolts hovering behind him started the flicker as his mind wandered, trying to stay afloat in a turbulent sea of chaos, panic, confusion and discord as the pulse affected psionics like him heavily. Summoning all that he could, the rain of plasma bolts suddenly erupted forwards with one single great burst of energy, before Ridhuan collapsed, falling onto the ground - what was supposed to be a small act of simple telekinesis had became an arduous undertaking with the psionic pulse active.
The pulsing echoed through the broken halls, and even in the distance that Ohrumn put itself, far away from the incoming entities, it still washed over it. A most dreaded feeling overtook the entity for a moment, it was a flashback, a violent but acute resurgence of the emotions of an age so far gone and so erased from the world, that it couldn't help but wonder if it was even real, or just a dream of the distant past, even within a turmoil of angst and revenge-fuelled vitriol for its captors. These godly powers have no residence within mortals.
It snapped awake in response, and peered through the thin gaps towards the battlefield. It was time to put its plan into motion. It exacerbated Cinder's influence over the area, the long stretching of space stretched even further and down into a point, and reality broke at the seams, devolving into coherent patterns that stretched out, an abyss that dragged the beings that just came inwards together with the fire and projectiles of others, but this was not all.
As the beings were pulled inwards and into a point it released then several collapsing, intruding tendrals of broken mirrors, they connected back to dozens of the children turned psychic mines. The Fractal god idled none as it activated the children, and with uncaring fury hurled them towards the center of abyss of its own making, funneling their psychic blast into the beings that the entities present were entrapping.
Mammon had stopped with Amerandus, The multitailed fox took the break to climb up Amerandus' leg and onto his shoulder. He was nearly completely weightless to the entity. The draconian was curious, he did not feel any of the psionics but he could hear the others in their encounter, and with his divine senses he could reach out and watch them as though he were in the thick of it. This enemy confused him as he had never seen such entities before, though he felt relieved he dismissed Brutus before departing. He did not need more stress on his mind than he already had, and letting Brutus make his own decisions was better than being leashed to him.
Kaeleen's mind was only steeled by the a childhood growing up to learn to defend against such mental attacks. Even then this was stronger, more potent than the usual. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Pushing the feelings of doubt, and fear away. She quickly looked over what her allies were doing, and coolly layed out her plan of attack.
Kaeleen rose from her crouching position, and took a step forward. In her eyes the terrain rapidly whizzed past her, but to everyone else the woman blinked out of existense with a trail of heavy footsteps, and broken brush.
She was directly behind them now creating distance in case of any attacks. She did not want to be bunched together. In a fluid motion the woman span around into a kneeling position to face the Panopticon monstrosities. She wasn't keen on probing them with her psionics, so instead pulled both of her bows. A deluge of arrows arcing out towards them. Each having the speed, and hit of sizable railgun. Albiet slightly weaker due to the psionic suppression. At the last moment each of these arrows splitting apart into hundreds of thin projectiles each going for an individual piece of the swarm.
The fireball launched by Eleison was the first to test the mettle of the oncoming nightmares, one of the things coming straight for him as the burning orb of fire set ablaze all the forest flora which it came near, impacting the creature it was engulfed as the blast of blue and white-hot flame, no longer contained exploded outwards. And still, a black smear within emerged from the fire the creature sprinting forwards, its blackened skin cracked from the heat. Its entire body seemed to shimmer, like its skin buzzed, and the blackened surface shed itself to the floor revealing untouched material beneath. Leaping at Eleison the things huge talons grasped forth to try and eviscerate the khan.
The other two were caught within the spacetime distorting field, which engulfed the fire and trapped them within. Watching them also endure the fire the two creatures who had been trapped stopped sprinting, merely both looking up at Cinder from within the inferno. There was a blur, like a bad camera lenses shift and then they were gone.
But not gone. They were next to her. One raked with its claws, the other tried to catch her within its wickedly sharp and seemingly ever changing teeth . Whatever the hell these things were, they were totally unlike what the previous team had fought before. Falekas memories revealed nothing about these things in terms of fighting, but the forms they had witnessed before did spark one. Faleka had once observed something called an Ouroboros, a being of the Unnamed. Surely these were not the same thing?
There was a sudden silence as the screams of the children came again, only amplified as Ohrumn connected spacetime in such a way as to focus their blasts. Initially the creatures seemed to twitch, but moments later, the discordant screams of the children shifted, changing subtle pitch and tone. It sounded… Like they were singing.
Then the creatures began to sing too, deep rumbling tones which sat in line with the children. No psionic blast seemed to manifest, and the children did not burn out, the golden strings of the children became visible however, as did many strings from the creatures. Could they be communicating?
One of the creatures seemed to go for Ohrumn, seeing the being as a threat, sprinting while seeming to blink in and out, crossing distance and even able to fly somewhat. Another was beaten back by the force of Ridhuans plasma bolts, the plasma doing little like the fire had, but the force of the impacts keeping it relatively stationary.
The hail of projectiles from Kaeleen however seemed to give the group a moments respite, knocking the creatures attacking the Khan and Cinder off balance for a split second and sending the already weathering being backwards as the impacts knocking it from its feet. Still these things were tough, and seemed to have an entire arsenal of abilities, what the hell had the Army been experimenting on and tinkering with if these were their border guards?
As the Chaos ensued in front of him Amerandus calmly pondered the memory he had found. Ouroboros. The Unnamed.
What a... curiosity.
They were one of the Elder species of this galaxy, if his memory served him correctly. However, if these people had already gone so far that they captured some of those, it could mean their corruption was already reaching far deeper than the inhabitants of this galaxy could even imagine. On the other hand, Elder species had a tendency to grow senile and arrogant. He knew too little so far to make a definite judgement, he would have to learn more before he would decide whether to go after them for being an interference, or leaving them be to avoid unwanted attention. Perhaps there was another way?
He had seen the first clashes ensue, these things seemed to use their kin much like a form of ablative armour judging by the effect the heat had, it reminded him of the A'vaern. They were fast and violent, an enemy most people would not wish for themselves. However, what interrupted his train of thought was not the clashes, not Ridhuan falling unconscious or Ohrumn trying to use the children against the beasts but rather the singing, they were communicating and they didn't know with what or who, the last thing he wanted now was even more unwanted attention.
He looked at the cloudy sky and sighed. His gaze wandered to Mammon and then over to the unconscious Rhiduan as if trying to give him a hint.
"If you would be so kind.", the only thing he noted.
Then with another faint tap of his bladed spear, tiny aspects in the weather seemed to change, not as if forced, but rather nudged in the right direction. Subtle, not to draw attention. The air pressure changed, the temperature dropped, wind began picking up and the sky darkened, a storm was forming above their heads.
A neural warning from her armor caused Cinder to jump backwards in midair as the two creatures appeared where she had just been, allowing her to miss the toothy jaws of the thing trying to bite her. However while it wasn't too hard to dodge the bite, it was a different story with the thing slashing at her using its two long clawed arms, one of the hands connecting and creating purple sparks as it traveled along the armor's arcane shielding. The shield saved her from taking damage, but the impact itself knocked her a few meters sideways, before she was able to re-stabilize in air.
These things seemed to be able to teleport and somehow see through her invisibility.
“How rude” she remarked, annoyed at the monsters’ unwillingness to be contained or die.
Dropping her invisibility, since it didn’t seem to be helping anyway, she her right hand, baring partially curled fingers and palm at the two creatures trying to assault her. From her armored digits came two bolts of black antilife lightning, surrounded by a red glow and filled with shifting red arcs within the main body. Each bolt jumped towards one of the things’ centers of mass, splitting before impact into an uncountable number of tiny bolts, each targeting one of the little flying worms making up the creatures’ bodies.
Mammon wasted no time after Amerandus' silent request as he quickly made his way back to the clearing. As the others were distracted Mammon approached the unconscious Ridhuan, Mammon's small body shimmered with his illusory magic to avoid drawing any attention from the enemy. The fox wedged his head beneath Ridhuan's body and crawled beneath him. Flattening his many tails behind him as a makeshift gurney he balanced the much larger being on his back with an impossible strength for this normally small fox to wield and quickly carried him back to the over of the trees and bushes, only moments later appearing back by Amerandus' side with the still unconscious body of Ridhuan.
So these things could teleport and they were fast. Great. What a wonderful set of abilities. And by that, he meant utterly irritating. The Khan scowled and willed for the ball of stored aura in his palm to activate itself. The ball fizzled before it lost its shape, turning into an almost viscous fluid that crawled up his arm and enveloped his fist. Eleison raised his aura-reinforced arm and allowed the creature to rake its claws against it-
-and absorb the energy of the strike. The aura glove (that’s what he’s going to call it for now) rippled with the stolen force. He was already planning his next move and was about to use his other arm to stun the creature when Kaeleen’s arrows did that for him instead. Not wasting that opportunity, he thrust his gloved arm right where he suspected the creature would be.
Enhancement to multiply the kinetic of the strike. Emission to launch the aura forward.
A shockwave echoed throughout the clearing as Eleison punched the air in front him and allowed for the aura glove to turn into an aura fist intended to strike at the creature with the very same force it tried to use on him, albeit multiplied.
Seeing the being cross into the fractured realms, and the lines be tied into the children as its captors planned something, Ohrumn cut the tendrils that connected to the children, the space that these lines threaded would be undone, if they wanted this connection, they'd have to find another way. With this, the distortion on the battlefield receded, the brokenness that descended into a void rippled outwards and flattened, at least to the effects of what Ohrumn was causing.
The lines betwen the realm of Ohrumn's and realspace were sometimes frail ones. Its domain surged in the spaces between the weave, the brokenness staggered what was already real, a whole dimension born out of a void, which allowed for the distortions and interesting properties that they entailed. Crossing this imiscible line brought it into a fold where the being was not quite in realspace, but still, not quite out of it.
Ohrumn observed. To defeat this evil they must first acquiesce to its weaknesses. There was a small recoil to the psychic, but their strength in it indicated that they may overturn the power of the group if they were to fight on these common grounds. He'd use this unique abilities to the best he could.
The creature blinked and tried to cross the distance between itself and the Fractured God, but it found itself back into the same spot, different orientation. Euclidean geometry lost the majority of its rule in this broken space, it'd have to quickly learn the bizarre methods of transiting this space. Meanwhile Ohrumn prepared, if it were to dash again, it'd meed a wall of infinitely sharp edges that descended into endless trailing, broken tendrils.
As the storm began to form over the battlefield and the light levels dropped the beasts seemed to glow an eerie purple and gold, so far the creatures were not focused on Amerandus, Mammon or the unconscious Ridhuan, but were far more focused on the individuals currently fighting them.
The anti-life beams from Cinder spread out like a hail of arrows, finding only empty air as the things moved with intense speed. However, one was not lucky, focused down by Kaeleen as he fired bolt after bolt from his bows it did not have time to dodge. The beams raked its form, causing it and another two of the creatures to scream in pain, something which was echoed by all of the children too. Radiant psionic shockwaves pulsed outwards, each full of pain and suffering as the creature died, collapsing into a pile of dead worms before degrading into biological gruel and catching fire.
The two creatures attacking Cinder kept blinking, now very much enraged by their comrade’s death they blinked in, raked with claws or bite then blinked away again, tag team attacking the Isoterran leader. They sang as they did so, creating a chorus with the children that was now ramping up, moving to something of a crescendo. The only disturbance seemed to be a tremendous impact, as Eleison correctly judged the creature’s position and slammed into it with full force. The blow punched straight through, sending dead worms across an area and sending the creature smashing into the ground below. It lost its form temporarily, but soon began reconstituting, he would have to strike quickly.
The crescendo of the children was cut a moment later as Ohrumn cut the connection, but it was still somewhat there, a faint singing could be heard from all around albeit diminished from distance considerably. The creature attacking him was thrown off by the spacial change, stepping forward only for a section of an arm to be sliced off by crystalised spacetime. In response it reached with its hand, sending a psionic pulse of energy towards the being intended to stun Ohrumn.
The last beast, no longer being pinned down by Ridhuan twitched as if it was sensing. With a sicking twist it stared in the direction of the unconscious Ridhuan as if sensing some kind of connection. In moments it was moving, its loping stride now intending to complete the kill.
Amerandus nodded acknowledging at Mammon as he brought about the unconscious Ridhuan, without taking his eyes off the battle though.
"Thank you."
Watching one of the beasts die he nodded once more in acknowledgement.
The tactics his contemporary allies were employing were... interesting, very straightforward, though they seemed to be working, so who was he to complain?
He kept some distance from Ridhuans body and as it turned out it had been a justified measure, as one of the beasts, thrown off focus by the attacks, decided to finish him off before he became a threat again.
Curious, it meant they were actually more than beasts, they were intelligent to a degree, though how much so was still questionable.
However, the contemplation aside, it would be rather unbecoming of him to let the man die right by his side, although, his more likely reasoning was probably that if they were this close there was no telling whether these things would notice him or not, he was uncertain on either part...
Rain started pouring in thick drops, first a light drizzle then growing more dense by the second, the wind picked up.
There was a flash of light, then several, then a deafening roaring from the sky, using Ridhuans nearby mandala as a conduit and his own power to gently alter the storms formation, several rather impressive lightning strikes suddenly started pouring out of the clouds, homing in on the beast which had jumped for Ridhuans body, to an outsider it would likely look like the psion himself had called them even whilst unconscious, it would be commendable if the beast would actually be able to detect and dodge them as focused on its target as it was.
Amerandus watched the results in silence, as of yet uncaring, as several more lightning strikes came down, some intended and striking random children in the nearby forest, others actually natural, slowly the storm began spreading, propagated by solely natural means, after all he couldn't have them notice yet there were more players here than it was apparent.
Satisfaction brimmed within him as the beast was sent crashing into the ground ahead of him. Good. So that meant they could be dealt with the old-fashioned way. He cracked his knuckles, pumping aura into his arms as he prepared to leap up on top of the beast to finish it off when he noticed the storm forming overhead. Lightning crashed into the ground nearby, the water picking up the electrical current. An idea sparked in his mind.
“Many thanks, old man!” Eleison shouted, not even caring that Amerandus didn’t appear that old, “I’ll be having fun with this!”
He raised his hand to the sky and redirected just a bit of aura into his palm, using Manipulation to will the storm to drop a lightning bolt directed at him! It impacted his open palm and seemed to still, gathering there like a crackling ball of blinding light! A fierce grin erupted on his face before he burst forward towards the fallen construct, his lightning-wrapped fist raised above him. Upon closing the distance, he brought his fist down to where the construct was. If his fist impacted it, then it would undoubtedly be met with a force capable of punching through steel- before it would receive a shock in the form of a million volts of electricity coursing through its body from the unleashed lightning fist strike.
The force from the creatures’ blows hit like great hammers against Cinder, knocking her out of the air and onto the ground, although her armor protected her from actually being cut. But she knew that this could not go on, eventually her armor’s barrier would break, and they would start causing real damage. Teeth gritted, she rolled to one side, dodging bites and raking claws, which instead impacted the air and soft detritus of the forest floor, before jumping to her feet.
These things were fast, enough so that it seemed a waste to keep throwing her unnatural lightning at them. It was then an idea entered her mind: If they were going to dodge her attempts at hitting them with lightning, then she would kill them when they came to her.
Wearing an evil smile behind the glowing orange eyes of her helmet, she conjured mana with clenched fists, before directing it outward as more antilife energy. An aura like ghostly fire of black and red issued forth from the witch Queen, radiating in all directions from her and fading away around two meters from the dark grey surface of her armor in a great sphere of death.
That done, she began working on her next spell, muttering to herself as she worked on preventing the foul swarms from blinking.
The powers of Ohrumn were curious in nature. The god stepped aside and onto another of the developing fractural tendrils, the blip of energy that the being created travelled off into the distance not once, but appearing many times and in different proportions, never however quite reaching where it was aimed, always escaping at the sides.
He could not let this being inhabit his realm much longer, even worse than getting hit would be for a being to remain in it long enough to map the geometry of his world, and thus have a chance at transposing the broken gaps. He looked at world external to the gaps that he inhabited for a good exit spot, and soon found one high above the clouds amidst the storm that one of his kin invoked. This would do nicely.
The world started to close in on the being that invaded his realm, the tendrils off in the direction of Ohrumn drifted farther and farther until they were a dot, the ones away from Ohrumn enlarged and closed into the being with repeating patterns, giving it the option of remaining within and be crushed or be flung out into the heart of the gathering storm. There was however, a third option, to try and follow Ohrumn through the collapsing realm, to resolve this Ohrumn had prepared the way he exited with plentiful traps.
Mammon had kept Ridhuan's unconscious body on his back, sensing the man was still not safe near the battlefield. He felt humiliated at his current state but tried to heal his burden by channeling some of his power through his body, the sooner he was healed the sooner he'd be awake and could fend for himself
The first lightning strike did nothing to stop the creature, it singed flesh and jolted through its body but it kept moving. However, the next cascade brought it to a halt as it spasmed and whole sections of its ever shifting flesh began to slough off of it. Finally, Kaeleen added to the fray firing two bolts into its back, blasting open sections of its flesh long enough for another strike to slam home, cooking it from within and causing it to fall apart into bubbling sludge.
The death of its comrade caused the creature Eleison had punched through to spasm as the Khan used the power of the storm to super charge his punch. Thrown off and unable to strike back the creature’s upper body was vapourised as Eleison slammed his electricized fist downwards, shattering the ground underneath as the thing died.
The creatures striking Cinder felt something was coming, although one was too slow to react, already slicing at her left leg it did not blink away in time to be consumed by the radiant field, causing it to simply fall apart and decay. The remaining creature however dodged, blinking away from the field and reappearing only to outstretch its hand, a needle thin purple beam screeched from it, causing the very air around it to burst into light and flames, the Null Beam was aimed directly for Cinders chest.
The creature engaging Ohrumn had felt both of its other wholes die, it spasmed, almost like a nervous tick before singing louder. Long ago, in a time before the creature even could fully know or even remember should it have been whole, its people had navigated and mapped the confines of a holy labyrinth before. Pioneers on a path to try and save themselves from a living nightmare. It sang loud, this time slowing the fractal contractions and giving it time to comprehend its kaleidoscopic surroundings, without a second thought it ventured further after Ohrumn.
Amerandus gave the corpse, or corpses rather, of their slain enemy a ponderous look.
They were considerably more durable than even he expected, though it did not go without notice to him that it was not entirely his merit that the thing was slain.
He had noticed the odd twitching whenever one of the other was severely harmed or killed. It seems even the 'individuals' amongst these tiny swarms seemed to have yet another group connection in between of them.
Perhaps that was something they could make use of or exploit later?
There were two of them left now, one which had gone after the strange god and the other which was engaging Cinder. From what she bragged earlier she should be fine dealing with it on her own, if not, it was her failure.
He let go of his metaphysical grasp on the borrowed Mandala of Ridhuan and instead looked down at the corpse, though staying a a decent distance to it. The children had been empty, sucked dry of their memories and self but maybe these would have something to tell him?
He pondered for a moment as the battle still raged around them. Thinking back at the twitching and the connections it would likely be best to wait with investigating them until all of these pseudo unnamed were dead.
His train of thought was interrupted as the air came alight when one of the last of the beasts fired it's beam.
How would the magician react? He supposed he would see any moment.
The Khan basked in the glory of his kill, his lips splitting into a wide grin that showed his teeth. Now this was what’s it like. To be in the thick of battle once more with no stakes other than his own life. This brought back memories. Before he could lose himself in them, he took the time to scan the battlefield and saw that the rest of his companions were faring well and that many of the attackers were slain.
His eyes trailed to the one firing the beam at the armoured figure named Cinder. For a moment, he was content with simply observing the battle but after a moment’s of consideration, decided that the glory of another kill shall belong to him. He pointed a finger directly at it and concentrated his aura on that single point.
A beam capable of piercing through a tank’s armour shot itself directly at the creature attacking her! If he still had his crown, he would have used that to channel this attack instead. Sadly, he had lost it battling the Archminister was thus forced to relay on his own internal well of power.
The purple beam impacted Cinder square in the chest, reacting with her armor’s protection systems, some of managing to leak through. A bright flash occurred, revealing a hole in the grey metal of her chestplate, revealing a sizable wound underneath, which had been cauterized shut by the heat. A loud growl escaped her helmet’s speakers as the witch queen snarled in a mix of pain and anger, as her suit dispensed painkillers and began the process of healing her. Abruptly, she changed the spell she had been working on, altering it from blocking access to phasing to instead allowing her access to the same phase that the creatures were using, based on analysis from her armor’s sensors. Through this access, she sent a sizable burst of antilife energy, while extending her aura in realspace to four meters.
Ohrumn had been wise to lay traps before his wake. Part of the god, deep down, remembered of wild jungles and chases of animals, empowered by the sacrifices of tribes of old, in an age of belief that had been dead for eons. It was like divine muscle memory to treat the enemy as if it were the prey of a hunter, however, no earthly animal was this keen, fast or brutal.
Ohrumn tried to summon his powers more. In ages after its birth, of temples and faifthful men, ages that were fading from his mind, he would have no problem dealing with earthly beings like these. But there was a lack, a mechanism whirred, sitting in-between the broken lines of its realm, it dragged the god down further into himself. It was knifes into the soul and the mind, he felt within a coffin of nails, every exercise of its power, if abrupt, did more harm than it did good.
The best it could do was run. It started to collapse the realms completely. The weaves that were coiled onto themselves retracted, the broken tendrils unrolled, swallowed back into normality by the thin whispy silvery portals that connected them. It stepped outwards, and made itself into the real world besides the main congregation of forces of the gods. it spoke:
"It chases after me.
Look, towards the slivers between the realms, those which betray the eyes of its seekers.
Within the apex is shall see the way through all, it shall be upon us shortly."
The being, its howls uncharting the geometry of the location, would make its way to where Ohrumn stood. The apex of the realm "followed" the god, and standing at the spot, all the tendrils aligned into coherent geometric patterns, extending outwards into dozens of directions. At the end it could see portals that "limited" the action of the realm back into normality. These directions diminished by the second, making the whole place smaller and smaller, threatening to crush the being between its folds once again.
Mammon growled as he continued to try reviving his cargo, keeping close to Amerandus the whole time for extra security for his thankless task. This degraded the divine thief's pride by the second but he knew he couldnt leave the man to die to those things, even if he got nothing from it. Curiosity did get the better of the draconian though as he found himself searching through the unconscious man's belongings, using his powers to see what his physical eyes could not in his current position. It was a small compensation for the energy and protection he was providing to his helpless rider.
As the two remaining creatures made their moves, it was little but the final gasps.
Seeing Cinder injured by its Null Lance strike the thing raced towards her, using her wound and being thrown off focus it lunged, hoping to strike before she could finish her spell. Its speed was terrifying, and yet it was impacted by the Khans attack, the beam impacting it and throwing it off tilt, melting the side of its body. While the attack itself was not enough to kill it, the momentum and initiative it had gained was more than enough for Cinder to recover and react. Moments later, it was consumed by Anti-life, the thing dying as its second had earlier in the fight.
The last creature, deep within Ohrumns realm surged on, as the god ran it followed. Losing an arm to a shard of spacetime that it didn’t perceive in time, but as the space compressed and closed on itself the thing could not move quickly enough to escape back into real space. A horrible inhuman cry echoed through the warped reality as it was killed, the final of these watchdogs wiped out.
Time was of the essence, these were the patrol creatures, and the singing children could still be heard around the forest. The Army knew they were here, if they didn’t before, the death of such powerful guards practically guaranteed it.
The base was not far away, practically stone’s throw. The forest opening up into a titanic open cast pit mine. Likely kilometres across it appeared abandoned to normal eyes, but to those like the beings that were here, it was so much more. A large tower, very thin, pierced up out of the mine, pulsating and clearly partially bioorganic. At its base was a sprawling complex, both conventionally and biologically constructed. Golden strings seemed to wisp in and out of reality at the top of the spire and the same psionic oppression which they had found in Korpu had once more returned.
As the battle concluded Amerandus looked somewhat irritated, it seems the corpses of their news foes didn't hold any information either. Where they all this... hollow? Is that what the Panopticon did? As he was still pondering, Ridhuan slowly returned from unconsciousness.
He felt... strange. As if someone had hardwired his brain while he was out. Looking around he tried to make an image of the situation, it seems, the fighting was over although he could still hear the distant singsong of the children. They definietly didn't go unnoticed.
"What happened?", he asked as he rolled off the fox he found himself lying on.
Amerandus finally looked up from the mass of charred rings on the ground and answered in a awfully calm tone.
"Ah, you have awoken, splendid, that will save our companion here the effort to carry you, though I suppose if you stayed unconscious we could've just left you here anyways."
He stroked his chin as if in thought.
"Well, as you can see, the enemies that have been alarmed by our companions actions have been dealt with. One of ours has been harmed in the process. We made sure you weren't disposed of over the course of the battle."
Ridhuan looked around his gaze finding The Khan, Kaeleen, Ohrumn and the wounded Cynder.
"I... I see."
Amerandus nodded.
"Now, that this is dealt with, let us move on, we have wasted enough time here, if nothing else it at least means we will not be encountering these specific guards on our venture into the facility." Curiously enough most of the combatants seemed to show some signs of exhaustion or wear after the battle, whereas the fox and the white clad man looked as if they hadn't lifted a finger, besides Ohrumn who he wasn't sure would even be able to show wear given his strange physiology.
---
As they reached the facility, the storm was still raging above though not quite as intense anymore, it would likely clear up in the next couple of hours.
Amerandus observed the crater and the facility with curiosity.
So this was where they held his target? Where would it be? Was she just another puppet to be made a mine? Something more? Special? An experiment for other purposes? Held in some cryochamber? Was she perhaps already dead? Questions, upon questions, he was eager to find out, though he did not show it.
The semi-biological construction reminded him of elder gods, but more refined, purposebuilt instead of fueled by madness. The strange psionic aura matching the feel of that on lost star. He eyed his companions warily and wondered when the first of them would make the suggestion to level the facility where it stood, which would mean, they had in fact learned nothing. Though one could still hope.
He spoke out the obvious and then made the first step into the crater taking special care to look for potential traps, be they physical or psionic.
"Well, it appears we have arrived. Now, let us make haste and move, the enemy is likely already prepared for our arrival at this point, after our not so graceful display on the outskirts, there is no time to dawdle."
He paused and then added onto what he already said.
"Try not to make a ruckus this time."
The Khan stepped up to the edge of the crater and peered down at the tower. His lips pursed, “so are we to simply walk into their crosshairs then?” He sounded a bit amused by the thought of it. In the end, he dug his hands into his pockets and strolled after him, “I certainly don’t mind, but don’t blame me if a ruckus is all that there is to make when they start attacking.”
The defeat of the two constructs from before had clearly restored part of Eleison’s mood. He felt braver and more certain of himself now. Sure they were obviously not much of a challenge, but it was nice to face off against something tough.
Although it was not enough. He needed to fight something truly worth to reclaim his honour and wash away the stains of defeat. Only then can he consider himself worthy of his title once more.And if these foes can offer nothing to satisfy that, then he will find another to face. And besides…
Not like there was a shortage of worthy foes now, were there? That Cinder fellow could prove to be interesting to fight- if only because he wanted to figure out how her gear worked and if it was good enough for him.
The hole in Cinder’s chest disappeared fairly quickly on the walk to the edge of the forest, its absence signaled by the return of the glowing sigel on her chestplates, which had been destroyed by the null lance’s impact. Taking a deep breath, she considered the fight and its aftermath. While it had been relatively easy to destroy the creatures using antilife spells, they had still managed to inflict real damage to her, even if it was easily remedied. That meant she would have to be wary, and take this more seriously, as it seemed they wouldn’t be fortunate enough to be dealing with soldiers with guns.
Her golden eyes looked over the sprawling complex within the pit mine, vision amplified by her armor’s sensors, which analyzed the strings and psionic oppression field and pointed out various details to her. It seemed that the Army of the Panopticon were no longer concerned about operating in the open, unlike those in the bunker Menmuer had explored on Lost Star. Most of interest to her though was the living-nonliving hybrid construction. Perhaps that would make it easier to wreak havoc here when the time came, after all, nonliving material was so boring compared to what one could do with living things.
She rolled her eyes at Amerandus’s words, finding the man rather annoying, to say the least. “Yes of course. And perhaps next time you will be so kind as to actually help when a ruckus occurs, instead of disappearing like a coward” she replied, sarcasm dripping from her growling words.
Mammon growled and rolled his eyes as he took his place weightlessly on Amerandus' shoulder. Despite it being his first time directly involved in Ancerious' affairs he had heard many tales of the galaxy's inhabitants and their antics before. From the prayers of his worshippers, to the tales of passing mercenaries, even from the jokes of his customers, he had kept his fingers on the pulse of this reality as his draconian instincts insisted, it was the least he could do to subdue the worst side of himself. Those same malevolent instincts which he fought hard to keep under control even at the best of times were now eagerly demanding he act on them, riled up by the scene he had just witnessed, causing the fox god to glare at the other entities somewhat hungrily, like a cat would a bird with a broken wing.
Mammon resisted still, as he waited on the others. He neither trusted or valued any of them, Amerandus least of all, but this came naturally for a draconian god. Truly, the draconian pantheon was a hostile place and the tension in the air between the party was all too familiar to Mammon. The fox swallowed his pride and waited patiently for Amerandus' next course of action, willing to cooperate.
Amerandus pondered for a moment on if and what he should reply to Cinder, as he stepped down into the crater. It would certainly be entertaining to see how they would react if he pointed out how he did in fact help them, how they caused the problems they had to deal with themselves and how he likely would've been better off if he went by himself. Alas, that would be like stepping into an obvious trap. Their two problem children were at least behaving right now, something he would not change for the sake of his own entertainment. Even less so now that they were approaching their destination.
He instead opted for the more... diplomatic answer.
"Oh? You seemed capable enough on your own and this way they only know part of our groups capabilities. Are you trying to imply you actually needed help?"
Evidently, 'diplomatic' did not mean 'stroking their ego'.
He smiled thinly without looking back at her, though the smile dropped into a more neutral expression as he felt the hunger of the draconian. It was concerning how much it reminded him of of his own, he may yet cause issues down the line though he'd been astoundingly controlled so far, for what he assumed was a god of desires.
Stepping down into the huge open cast mine was like stepping over a barrier which lay just across its surface. The air was thicker here, more like syrup and it had a distinctive smell. One of both rotting flesh and surgical cleanliness. Psionic force radiated here, pulsating outwards almost to the beat of a thousand hearts with arrythmia.
Nothing immediately attacked them, and the facility appeared still. Going down the slopes, past old, abandoned mining equipment and excavation vehicles the size of tanks none of this had been touched in likely decades. The question was had this place been abandoned before the Army of the Panopticon took their place, or had they forced its abandonment and build this base a long, long time ago?
These were questions for another time as they got closer. Windows looked out across the desolate pit mine, some airlock doors into the facility were studded into living and non living sections alike and movement could be seen through the windows. Upon getting closer the facility seemed to pulsate, a deep thumping from some central heart vibrated through the ground and the psionic influence was far stronger here.
They could hear whispers, see things just on the edge of vision or movement at the edges of their senses. It was like the veil was extremely thin here, they had to be wary.
Glimpses of memories came next, small flashes, not just those of the gods but also from lives they had never lived. Children playing in the forests, piloting a ship through the expanse, proposing to a loving husband. All were small snapshots that leaked in now and again. This place was far more attuned to the Panopticon than the site at Korpu ever was.
Ohrumn had stepped away from the conflict unharmed, but now, outside of his own realm. In realspace, the god was confusing. Whilst before they could see an illusion of this mirror world it inhabited, now its form was here in the fullest. Ohrumn was not an entity that could easily hide itself beyond its own trickery, it glew shades that its cape emanated as cascades of broken forms streamed across the rippling weave, only less aided so by the "tree" of light that it carried atop its wood-gold mask. If not for the blurry, ever-rippling edges and the unfitting nature of its presence, one's eyes might hurt at the lightshow.
At the neck of the crater, it remembered times where discarding such resistance would be little to not trouble to it. Times when stepping within its realm was not an invasion by a creature that almost dared touch it, but an unfathomable honour to his followers. A spike of emotion grew within the god, he remembered his followers fondly, he remembered how they ruled the lands and honoured him with homages to his power, like children playing pretend. Were they even around anymore? He must find out. He extended his powers, shimmering brighter, but the purpose was caught within a web that was as pervasive as he was powerful, the intent of him reaching out into the stars in search of his long gone children was muted, dragged down into its resting place, within the circumscribed jail of the Oculus Mundi, whose magical imprint haunted his very action.
His potency gone, he could not further his search for now. Thus, he only followed the others within the group, down into the pit.
-------------
The mines were another type of hell he had not experienced yet. If his previous jail was desolate, this was overloading. Each heartbeat was as a battering ram to the walls of his mind, the memories that were not his only slowly poked the embers of his internal vengeful spirit more, frustrated by the shackles that bound him. He thought about reaching out again, but the miasma that permeated the air would hinder him even more, only aiding his restraints.
He thought as well about invoking his powers to scout ahead, but the pervasive nature of the feeling within the air hinted to him that, were he to invoke mighty powers now, he'd only bring onto him retaliation much stronger than what they had just fought. It was wise not to invite the hunt to oneself. Still, the heartbeats ate at the edges of the being, slowly, this wear pulled back hidden layers, threatening to reveal the binds that tied Ohrumn down.
"Clearly we did not, since we survived without it. But it is ironic that you seemed so eager to gather us all here, and then run off at the first sign of conflict" came Cinder’s growled retort, as she made her way down the slope, wondering if they truly needed this condescending man with them.
The change in the air was lost on her, sealed inside the cool atmosphere of her suit, the oppressive air and smells reduced to simple humidity and chemical readings on her armor's sensors. The increased psionic presence however, was a different matter entirely, dampened slightly by her barrier field, but felt nonetheless. Especially the thumping, like a great heart beneath the ground – she hoped that they would be able to snuff it out soon.
Then came the memories. They were strange, foreign to her, and....happy, like a pure feeling of enjoyment and ease she rarely felt. It was hard to truly relax when there was always work to do – an empire to run, obstacles to remove, plans to execute. She shook her head, now was not the time to be getting distracted, she had a job to do, or more specifically, a cult to deal with. She considered starting up her null field to keep the memories and other psionic activity at bay, but ended up thinking better of it. A hole in the psion field would likely draw attention right now that they didn’t need.
"My, is that so? We indeed had our reasons to gather you here and explore this complex. Though who were to expect that people, much less beings of supposed wisdom and power, would spring the first trap they stumbled upon on their way the moment they saw it?"
He sighed melodramatically.
"Alas, here we are."
He paused, pondering whether he should continue or stop here, coming to the conclusion it would likely be best to stop. It was too early, much of the way still laid ahead of them and with the defences already triggered and the enemy alarmed he could use the additional force, if they were actually useful or just meat shields remained to be seen.
"We will admit however, that this means we will at least not meet these guards in particular inside the facility now. Though we suppose that is enough of the useless squabbling now."
As they walked he could feel the memories in the air, but they weren't from here, or rather, not here specifically, they felt wrong, disjointed, like a gift someone gave you out of nowhere with a mischievous look on their face. With great care he probed his surroundings, avoiding to let any of the voices in deep, or out, for that matter.
The heartbeat did not bother him, it was by far not the first time he heard things like these, though violence boiled beneath the surface for but a moment as he felt the thin veil tugging at the mental defenses of his memories, though for now what was his remained his.
"What do you think of this place Ridhuan? I believe you are more familiar with this than any of us?"
Mammon growled slightly at the bickering entities but especially at the realization that the change of environment would mess with his fur. The air, the very power within it was dirty to the chaos god, causing him to instinctively begin grooming himself on his moving perch. He couldnt be affected by the psionics in the air but the atmosphere was quite morose for his liking and the gloom of the surroundings still radiated onto him to an unpleasant degree, making his fine pearlescent fur stand on end. He had to loop one of his long tails around Amerandus' neck just to ground himself from the growing tension he could sense.
He allowed the foreign memories to wash over him for just a moment. It was a curious experience to behold a life that was not his before he ruthlessly quashed the mental intrusions by quickly setting up several mental barriers. Not as strong as the ones he used during his battle in Misya Elim, but still potent enough that a normal psyker would definitely struggle. With his mind now clear, he was able to focus on the snippets of conversation between the rest of the entities.
“Hmph. Save your gripes for once we see the end of this quest,” Eleison demured, “I care not for what any of you do, as long as you do not get in my way,” his eyes flashed with delight, “but once this ends, if I find myself still wanting for battle, I would not mind a duel. Perhaps something with a wager.”
He looked at the armour that Cinder wore, “I certainly would not mind that gear of yours. Do you happen to make swords? I lost my old one and have been wanting a replacement ever since,” and goodness would Raze have been useful in the last battle.
“I believe this place is tainted, like some sort of unholy beacon. I feel the Panopticon here, close to the boundary” Ridhuan replied back, slowly motioning his hand through the air like he was touching something tangible. Power flowed through his body, just as the forces of the Army were empowered so was Ridhuan, and the supportive voices of his brothers were far louder and clearer helping to fight off the unwanted intrusions of memories and emotion. It worked to his advantage just as much as the enemies, but it still didn’t feel right.
“This power is much clearer, it helps me as well but do not take anything the foe does here for granted. We should proceed extremely carefully” Kaeleen seemed to nod in response, notching a gleaming arrow into each bow.
“We should make our way in. Calmly” The Order individual carefully stalked towards one of the doors to the facility, taking one of the notched arrows and using it to cut and melt through the metal. When done, Kaeleen let the weight of the door fall onto them, holding it before carefully placing it down on the ground quietly.
Once more a wave of hot air, foul smells and the sounds of screaming came from within. It opened into a medium sized chamber, full of pulsating organs pushing fluids around and two other doors, one more like an orifice led off from the room. Both Ridhuan and Kaeleen took point but there was no immediate threat.
Amerandus nodded, more to himself than Ridhuan.
"As expected, they took this place and made it theirs."
He stood in front of the doors in silence for a couple of moments, personally he would take the one that did not look like the opening to a sacrificial pit, though one never knew, it may just be chance or a deliberate trap. He reached out into the surroundings, subtle and carefully. If there was nothing to be learnt from their corpses perhaps the ambient memories would yield better results?
He searched for remnants that showed individuals passing through the doors and what their intents may have been, though was already prepared to be disappointed once more.
"One would assume none of the present individuals are capable of gleaning into the depths of this facility without alarming our... hosts?"
He could feel the tension in the air, likely results of the strange environment and the unknown which was lurking beneath their feet, the strange fascination of Ridhuan, the fragments of ambient memories which made even the carefree Khan cautious, the atmosphere which made even the draconian on his shoulder tense.
In a way, it was fascinating, it had been a while since he encountered something such as this, even by his standards.
At the mention of her 'gear', the glowing red-orange eyeports of Cinder's helmet turned to stare at Elieson, regarding him for a moment, as she considered his commentary. She disliked the greed with which he looked at her armor, while speaking of wanting to duel someone. However she was stopped from what would’ve been a comment of sarcasm by his question about swords.
She didn’t normally make items for others, except for friends. But back home, there were only a handful of other beings, which meant only a small company of other entities to forge alliances with.
If she decided to do this, it might be a good opportunity to gain a powerful ally….especially if she could bend him to her will...
"I can make many things, a sword would be quite simple" she said, growling voice softening a little and taking on a hint of mysteriousness. “Although I must ask how you lost your previous sword. It wouldn’t do to make you a new one, only for it to be lost.”
As they arrived at the structure, her head turned forward again, head elevating as she looked up at the tower before them. As the others took point, she stepped through the doorway after them. With any luck, the annoying man and his spear would absorb any damage before it reached her...or he would be killed. She doubted that they would get that lucky, but it was a positive thought.
Either way, not that they were in the facility, it seemed prudent to protect herself from mental intrusion. While a null field seemed out of the question for now, some sort of protective magic would be more likely to slip by unnoticed. Curling and straightening the clawed fingers of her right hand in an odd pattern, she wove a spell that would protect her from attempts to access her mind. The memories and sound of a beating heart abruptly ceased, and she exhaled with a hidden smile, enjoying the silence.
"Let me look..." she said, at Amerandus’s question, increasing the sensitivity of her passive and magical sensing, searching for living things and powerful mandelas nearby.
“Nothing as careless as to what you may be thinking,” Eleison replied, “I lost Raze in battle. It was a good blade but its death was ignoble in the end,” his words trailed off eventually as they began to near the facility.
He breathed as the door to the chamber fell open and wrinkled his nose at the stench. Almost on instinct, he flared his aura. A bright light seemed to dance off his skin like fire and the smell of ash permeated the area. This was done with a two-fold purpose to both rid the smell and to allow for his aura to shield his mind and body from mental and physical attacks.
“I think my methods of scouting will likely draw attention,” he said, “but I will prepare for something to go wrong just in case.”
He was not wrong, Mammon could feel everything the other entities put out, he could taste their energies from being so close. Where to him they were a buffet, he was a starving void to their senses. Mammon did not let this stop him from his obsessive grooming however, causing him to twist his head and turn his torso constantly while reaching hard to clean spots, his tails had all poofed up from the anxiety the atmosphere caused him. He had receded all his senses to focus on himself, his awareness limited only to within eyesight while he purged himself of the foul energies.
The pulsing dug deep into the proverbial temples of the accursed god. Each pulse a wave, clashing onto Ohrumn, digging away at the edges, revealing the mechanism. There was an instinct for self-preservation, something so innate that even gods possessed a form of it - to continue their perpetuity.
He had thread the mortal realms for too long. It'd be a magician without magic, fire without flame or heat, without the shattered mirror he was a god with little substance, little more than the very shackles that bound him. He slowly, as in to not alert those within the facility, expanded his world around himself again. His visage broke once, then thrice, then many times, until he was fuzzy around the edges, his position not exact, only a shadow which betrayed the true shape of its master.
The realm opened again, the wave had cushioning to dissipate, as slight as it was, it brought momentary peace to the being. He cast then the small quiescent silvery slivers, gateways to make his eyes many all around him, still not to much avail given the locality of his concurrent powers, and threaded onward with the group, speaking little to none
Extending oneself and power here was almost like pushing through energised syrup. It was slow and mentally demanding work, but potency of the affect was heightened greatly. It seemed that there were corpses nearby, but their memories were nothing but pain, confusion, torment. Like they were nothing, but lab grown experiments discarded away, no flashes of sight or hearing just endless pain. It added a further sense of dread to this place.
The attempts by Cinder to observe their surroundings via living things and mandalas returned so much that it was almost useless to discern. The entire surroundings of the group was made up of living structures with thousands of different bio signs in just the surrounding few hundred meters alone. The mandala of this place was all encompassing, meshing and making it hard to discern individual mandalas from the overall space they were in. To say they were in the thick of the enemy was an understatement, this was no outlying base on lost star, this was a bastion.
If they were to go in guns blazing, there was no telling what kind of power would face them here.
But their deliberations were cut short as they analysed this small section, it became slightly obvious that it was regularly used when the doorway slid open to reveal a man in full protective gear. Covered head to toe in white plastic coverings and with a gas mask on his head was covered in a large black spidery mass, a singular purple jewel sitting at the centre of it.
The man did not hesitate for a second, pulling a strange looking firearm from its belt.
The first one to react was Amerandus. For but a brief moment, thoughts raced through his head.
Kill or capture? Will it trigger an alarm if we kill it? Do they already know we're here? Can it call for help if we incapacitate it? What is the weapon? What does the crystal on it's head do?
Though in this brief moment, all the questions led to a singular conclusion, the thing had to die. It had already noticed them so it was more likely to alarm when it stayed alive than when it was dead.
In a movement, so fast and clean that most mortal eyes wouldn't even have registered it, the bladed spear came forward, slicing the head off the mans shoulders before the rudimentary remnants of his consciousness even registered it. It rolled cleanly off his shoulders as Amerandus looked on without changing his expression, the body of the thing collapsing for but a moment, before its now headless body tried to catch itself and raise the weapon again.
Amerandus frowned, he should've expected as much.
With another precise strike he nailed the head to the ground, destroying the crystal in the process.
It all happened with barely any sound, besides that of the body which now finally collapsed, as remnants of its bodily fluids pumped out of its neck stump.
He turned his head towards the others but still hadn't moved from the spot, as if nothing happened, though he still had his spear in the ground.
"One would assume going where this dear gentleman came from may be in our best interest to venture deeper into this facility."
Perhaps they would find a plan of this facility in that direction, perhaps also more enemies, chances that they were found were rising with every passing moment though.
"Unless someone wishes to go and explore wherever... this may lead."
He turned his head towards the orifice shape doorway.
Cinder didn't have a chance to relay the findings from her sensors, as the man abruptly walked through the door in front of them, before being decapitated and the head impaled. She had to hand it to Amerandus, the man was quick and silent. However it was annoyingly ironic just how quickly he had turned to violence, after his self-righteous commentary earlier about Cinder's attempts to kill the child mines. He’s just lucky enough that this one seemed to go down quietly, rather than screaming and exploding like the children from earlier she thought with annoyance.
The time to grill him over it would come later though, as they needed to move quickly before the alarm was sounded. She moved over to the now headless man's body, picking up the strange firearm and looking it over, quickly scanning it with her suit's sensors before attaching it to one of the adhesive portions of her suit's waist.
"I suspect you're right, let's see where he came from. Hopefully we'll encounter more like him and less like the scouts from earlier...
Eleison gave a lazy glance at his companions, “I was considering sparing that fellow,” he almost whined. He looked at the orifice-shaped doorway and then at the place where the man had come through. Then he looked down at the corpse. For a moment, he pondered on his course of action before he shrugged, “I’m fairly skilled at necromancy. I can probably summon his ghost or spirit and have him answer any questions we have- though I’m not too sure if it’ll work,” his lips twist into a frown, “psionics and aura tend to not get along. And considering who we are dealing with, I’m not sure how well the corpse would react to my magic.”
He looked up and shrugged again, "well. Let's go through the one he passed through. I'm not too keen on using my aura to summon spectres right now."
Ridhuan shook his head at the sight of the soldier and Eleisions words.
There was a mix of worry and disgust on his face.
"I don't think there is anything left you could bring back. They are nulls, they have no souls. Whatever it is that controls them is not themselves."
He seemed to keep his distance from the cracked crystal even now as it was destroyed. Amerandus nodded somewhat contemplative.
"So, whatever it may be which controls and holds them, it is siphoned back into the panopticon upon their demise from what I understand? It explains why they hold no memories."
He pulled the spear out of the ground without any noticeable resistance and prepared to move to the next area.
Ohrumn was impressed by the speed of the other gods. Before he could even complete manifesting a portal to bisect the body of the man, Amerandus had already taken care of the issue. Still, the crystal was an artefact of concern, surpassing bodily limitations was a trivial matter, but if it harbored the powers to truly escape death, then it would be a powerful object to study, and indicate an even stronger enemy. The fractured crystal floated aimlessly and hovered towards Ohrumn, stopping a meter from the fuzzy image of the god.
"Still...
It would be wise to not underestimate, the ferocity of our foe..."
He then looked into the object, inspecting its very minute composition both in reality and in the esoteric essences he knew.
Mammon's fur was fully on end as he was startled from his trance-like grooming by Amerandus' attack, causing his claws to dig into the man's shoulder as he clung to his position and his tails wrapped around his torso. The fox growled as he slowly calmed down from the unexpected jostling and reassessed the surroundings he had previously tuned out. He noticed the crystal and thought it particularly foul, but with a lovely coloring. a small distraction from the area that had previously unnerved the draconian, but enough to keep him focused once more.
The man died with a split moment, his inhuman ability to survive the first decapitation not enough to save him from Amerandus lightning blows. No alarm sounded and he made no noise as he died. So far so good, stealth had been retained.
As far as they knew.
Cinders reviewing of the firearm revealed it to be much like the bio-rifles used at the previous facility. Directing psionic power towards the target in order to briefly disconnect the targets mandala from its senses and render it unconscious, perfect for taking down large out of control experiments that were likely created here by the hundred. At least this weapon was smaller and clearly more refined.
For the crystal that Ohrumn now observed it was clear that it was immaculately created. So detailed down to the atomic scale the crystal was a hypercomplex mandala, designed to integrate into the strange Duskstone doped jagged crown. From its appearance it strangely, seemed hand made, not machined, although how anyone would hand craft such impossible creations did not open any avenues for who could have done so. In its use, the mandala layout was clear, it would overpower and destroy the mandala of whoever was placed under its influence. Turning the unfortunate soul into an absent entirely and placing them wholly within the control of the Panopticon, unfeeling, unthinking automatons which could carry out whatever they wanted.
With the obstacle removed the group moved through the same door that the man had come from, and instantly were hit with the stench of burnt flesh, antisceptic and chemicals.
They stepped onto a huge gantry way, part of a large chasm that extended several floors above them and many below them into a dark abyss. Flesh and arteries covered the walls, all feeding into thousands of gestation pods. Each one filled with a different individual, many were various species from across the galaxy, but none appeared mutated or different, all in a deep slumber.
Amerandus seemingly cared little about the Draconians claws, more focused on his surroundings than the entity on his own shoulder. If they had triggered any alarm with the death of the soldier, it at least did not show yet.
He pondered and stopped for a moment as his gaze wandered across the myriad of people embedded into the walls of the chasm, scanning each and every one with meticulous interest, trying to discern if the one he was searching for was with them.
Were these perhaps the former inhabitants? What were they now?
Batteries? Computers? Psionic amplifiers?
They did not seem to be experiments in the classical sense, more there for observation... Or perhaps, just for storage?
On the other hand, those stored in the other facility were frozen, which likely meant that these had a purpose to fulfill.
As he pondered he kept an eye out for the other entities, lest they tried to atrack what may turn out to be his person of interest.
"What do you reckon these are?", the question was directed at Ridhuan, he had more experience with the panopticon and psionic matters, even though Amerandus held part of Falekas memories, perhaps he would know more?
The information from the weapon scan was stored away within her armor's databank for later, while Cinder moved after Amerandus into the next room. Again, the scent that would've assaulted the witch queen's sensitive nose was kept at bay by the hermetic seal of her armor, reduced to chemical readings in the air, leaving her free to focus on the gestation pods.
Her mouth curled into a sneer of disapproval behind the metal face of her helmet as she stepped to the edge of the gantry, sweeping her gaze downward to the dark abyss. The Panopticon seemed to have all the test subject they would ever need. But what for?
"I wonder..." she muttered, a hunch arising in her mind, adjusting her sensors to view the psion field, and overlaying the results on her HUD.
Eleison peered down the chasm, pumping his eyes with auric energy to enhance his vision so that he could see possibly miles down it. It was a simple application of aura that didn’t require any of him to tap into his reserves. As he scanned up and down, he whistled slightly, “well. These people sure don’t tarry around.”
The Khan’s attitude had noticeably changed from back when he was first introduced to them. He had seemed moody and determined at the time but now a trace of careless arrogance had appeared. Was he getting into a better mood now? Perhaps in the midst of all this fighting and power, he began to feel more at ease and let his guard down ever so slightly, enough to forget about his woes.
With his concentration returned to him and his mind calmed Mammon sent out his senses to better understand what was before them like invisible tendrils he scoured the area for anything of note. He knew the others were doing the same in their own ways, but he preferred to not allow any more surprise attacks on this "stealth" mission.