~~~>><<~~~
King Ragnarok strode through the silent hall of his castle. The white marble floors of the castle shone with multicolored light from the large stained glass windows. Red carpet ran down the center of the hallway, and large oil paintings hung on the walls. Small tables with various assortments of china sat underneath the regal portraits .
“Your majesty!”
Ragnarok turned to face the voice. “Ah, Gershwin.”
“Did you call for me, your majesty?” Gershwin asked. His voice was small, but still echoed throughout the large halls.
The king nodded, “I did.“ he said, gesturing to a large door ahead. “Come. Follow me.”
Gershwin followed a few paces behind the king, stopping in front of a large door that rose sixteen feet. The paneling of each door covered in intricate gold decorations, elite guardsmen stood on either side of the doors, adorned with gold and silver armor and ornate spears, wings covered by crimson capes. The guards saluted the king, approaching the center and pulling on the ornate rings that opened the door with a low creak. Ragnarok simply looked forward as he walked past the guards with his servant following suit.
The doors shut with a great thump. The floors of the throne room a sterling white marble tile, red and gold carpet ran down the central length of the hall. A large tree stump was placed on top of the carpet in the center of the room. Large marble pillars decorated with long red banners lined the walls between the stained glass windows. Standing on a double dais, the ornate throne gleamed in the multi-colored light.
"Gershwin." King Ragnarok started, running his claw over the top of the tree stump as he circled it. "Just a stump now..."
"Your majesty...?
"How about the troops?"
"Uhh…” Gershwin searched through the scroll under his wing, “Well, troop number has increased by two hundred over the past-"
"It's not enough."
"And...your majesty?"
The king snapped, toppling the stump with an impressive feat of strength. The king’s yeoman could only watch as the large tree stump made the ground shake as it hit.
Ragnarok loosened his fist, turning away from the stump and directed his view past the stained glass. Large storm clouds made their way towards the horizon, having dropped their cargo of fresh snow. The setting sun peeking out from behind the clouds as they passed, illuminating a snow covered valley between two mountains.
"The Idol of Boreas was the key to keeping the regions united, and then.... that demon took it for his own purposes. Now it lies at the bottom of an impossible abyss."
Gershwin kept silent as the king rendered his thoughts. He knew the story. They all knew the story.
"Now our empire is in shambles, a former shadow of what it used to be."
“We are on the road to recovery, my king..”
“It’s not enough.” King Ragnarok muttered, “We need to show that we can still fight, that we are still powerful as we were before.”
With a throw of his cape, he turned and motioned towards his throne. Climbing up the stairs, he took his seat and continued pondering, tapping his claw on the gold armrest.
“Your generals and advisors are doing all they can to amass an army and train them, my king.” The young yeoman assured, scrolls under his wing.
The king sighed deeply. “What of the neighboring countries?”
“Right here, my king.” Gershwin removed two scrolls and handed them over.
Quickly looking over the scrolls, Ragnarok scoffed. Handing the scrolls back, he placed his claws to his temples and groaned angrily.
“You musn’t stress yourself too much, my king.” Gershwin advised.
He sighed deeply once again, saying,“It comes with the profession, Gershwin.”
The large door dramatically opened once more. A lone griffon soldier approached the dais, clad in in copper armor with a short silver cape, no spear on his person. “My king, I have news.” he kneeled, removing the copper helmet.
“Yes lieutenant, what is it?” The king responded, sitting upright in his seat.
The soldier stood and stood straight. “I’ve received news from Dr. Grinclaw. It’s about the creature we recovered from Mt. Ferun.You instructed the guard to tell you when it was awake, correct?”
besides a raised eyebrow, his expression remained a trained poker face. “Yes?”
“...It’s awake, my king.”
Seconds of silence passed before Ragnarok nodded. “Thank you, lieutenant. Have a chariot prepared, I want it ready in ten minutes.” He calmly ordered.
“...Yes, my king.” The lieutenant kneeled again before turning and exiting.
Gershwin looked at the king, deep in thought with a claw against his neck.
“This is a godsend, Gershwin. I can feel it.” He finally said. “This is what shall bring the Griffon Empire to its golden age once more.” His voice low, he stepped off his throne. “I must meet it.”
Gershwin looked surprised. “...Sire? Are….are you sure that’s necessary?” He hastily collected his scrolls and followed suit. “We’ve not yet known what this creature is capable of. I’ve heard from the doctors this creature is made of flesh AND metal.”
“It has been in slumber for two weeks, Gershwin.” He replied calmly. “I wish to know what it knows. Perhaps this is the key to proving our might.”
“And what if it does not wish to cooperate?”
Ragnarok chuckled, stopping to face the yeoman. “Oh, my young scribe… enough with your negativity, it’s fouling the room.” He patted the yeoman’s shoulder. “This will be the harbinger of our glory.” He laughed, throwing open the large doors and walked with noble confidence.
The ivory balcony overlooked the city below, three large ornate chariots stood idle at the center of a large procession of soldiers. The soldiers stood straight as the doors opens, spears pointing to the sky and armor gleaming in the sunset as capes waved in the chilling breeze.
The king and his yeoman proceeded forward through the procession, nodding at the general who waited by the center chariot. The king and his scribe boarded their chariots, the generals and few soldiers boarding the other two. The griffons attached to the chariots unfurled their wings, letting their wings grab the wind as they ran off the side of the balcony and soared through the sky.
Ragnarok looked at the orange sunset that peaked from behind the clouds, still covering the tips of the mountains in the distance. He looked at the city below, snow still fresh on the ground. Breathing in deeply, the cold air stung his nostrils but paid no mind.
“Our herald of fate...”
~~~>> <<~~~
A trio of lisets lay in wait behind a large asteroid, like small predators stalking their prey. The prey being one-ship fleets of Corpus and Grineer design, waging war amongst each other as the spherical anomaly raged behind them with ungodly energy. Flashes of light sparkled on their hulls as they suffered brutal amounts of kinetic and plasmic damage, unyielding in their attacks.
“Your mission is to raid the ships for necessary information while a fellow tenno operative performs scans of the anomaly.” The Lotus’ voice informed the three lisets. “Happy hunting.”
“Uhh…” The saryn expressed her concerns. “Ok, so we do this alone?”
The Volt sighed, placing a hand over his helmet. “Jas, I keep telling you, you’re going to be fine. Just cause some noise enough to keep the Grineer occupied on you.” He explained, “Same goes for the Corpus, Va’Lin.”
The Rhino on the transmission screen scoffed. “I got it, Rookie.” He sneered.
“What does the intel show, Jas?”
“Hold on.” She responded, moving to another console on her liset. “Intel shows both factions are using class 4-X armor, Corpus also using proto-shielding on most of their infantry.”
“What about the anomaly?”
“The anomaly has stopped expanding, but I am reading heavy cannon fire from both factions.” Jas reported. “Seriously, I would feel a lot better if I had some backup on this one, Kiv.”
“Rookies…” Va’Lin muttered.
“Sorry Jas, you gotta go in alone. Just stay in the ventilation and you’ll be fine.”
Jas sighed, silent for a few seconds. “...Fine.” She responded.
“Wait.” Va’Lin ordered over the transmission. “I’m picking up something on long range scanners.”
“Is it a ship?” Kiv questioned.
“More like a fleet.” The Rhino informed, “They’re coming in first, the energy of the trailing object is familiar, it...we’ve got trouble.”
The fleet of twenty-odd Grineer ships dropped out of warp behind the lone dreadnought still in conflict with the Corpus capital ship. A massive subspace shockwave resonated throughout the area as an even larger threat dropped out of warp: a balor fomorian. The capital ship was but half the size of the black and bleeding monstrosity, the crimson eye of the malformed ship staring at its next prey.
“I’m reading a charge in its primary weapon.” Va’Lin informed.
The deafening roar of its rage sounded, making it known its attempt to strike once and only once.The hydraulic core of the beast charged with energy, and let forth a beam of pure destruction from its eye that the gods of old would be amazed by. The beam of pure red energy ran the length of the capital ship’s hull, almost blinding to stare at.
The hull was but paper to this Grineer beast, bathing the facing side of the ship with destructive radiation and gruesomely ripped through its innards. A final implosion of the Corpus ship signaled its demise, becoming nothing but derelict debris in seconds under the beast’s rage.
“Tenno.” The voice of The Lotus echoed throughout Kiv’s liset. “Tenno, are you alright?”
“We’re fine, ma’am.” Kiv responded, “Just a little shaken up.”
“I suggest you leave the area immediately.” She warned. “I’m detecting two more fomorians guarded by more dreadnoughts en route to the anomaly’s location.”
“Two?!” Va’Lin said, bewildered.
The image of The Lotus nodded. “There is high probability the Grineer have found valuable information on this anomaly.” She informed, “Information valuable to force the sending of valuable assets to safeguard this location.”
“What do we do, ma’am?” Jas asked.
“Report back to Orcus relay.” She ordered. “You shall be briefed on this new change of circumstances by Simaris.”
The trio looked at each other in silence before nodding.
“Yes ma’am, heading back to Orcus relay.” Kiv informed.
The rear thrusters of the lisets ignited in succession, speeding out of the asteroid field at immense speed. The light of the anomaly glinted off the polished surfaces of the stingray-like vessels. Three trails of lights signaled their departure from the area.
The beasts watched with their unblinking eyes and disposable bodyguards. Their gaze suddenly turned to multiple flashes ahead as Corpus capital ships warped in at point-blank range and let forth a barrage of plasma upon the dreadnoughts.
The howls of the fomorians echoed in the light of the anomaly, their eyes charged and ready.
The beasts are hungry.