Salvation

by voroshilov

Desperate

As Retaliator Squad retreated back to Legion’s Hold, the Dominion fleet in orbit of Terminus moved to counter the Worms.

At a distance of 16,000 kilometres, the Dominion’s capital ships opened fire. To the defenders below, even, could be seen arcs of orange lightning, dozens of metres in radius - designed to tear battleships in two - impacting the Worms’ hides and simply evaporating.

As the Worms entered the Thermosphere, the Dominion fleet halted their attack. The defenders on the ground were officially alone.

Ablazed Glory stood atop a gun-tower in the eastern wing of Legion’s Hold. Behind her were the Glow Sisters, looking as she was towards the approaching Worms.

“THE DEVOURER OF STARS,” they chorused, mumbling with an almost reverential fear, as they pointed towards the closest of the three Worms - the one aiming for their current position.

Ablazed Glory would have snickered at the name, had its apparently invincible bearer not been rapidly closing in. After viewing the Dominion battleships using their fleet-killers on it - without so much as a scratch being caused - she wondered whether or not the name may have been a simply descriptive truth.

She thought of a god. Not one deity in particular - though Astrid sprung up as a useful analogue for her mind to latch onto and build a picture from - but more the concept of someone watching over her. She wondered: what it would be like to pray to a god - one she really believed in; would that comfort her? Or, perhaps, would she simply be tricking herself into not giving her all in a fight to the death?

She thought, then, of Emperor Nicholas. She thought of the events of history - which she had been a part of or had learned about through him - which had all had his guiding hand and vigilant eye over. She thought of the comfort that his life might bring to her, at that most crucial of crossroads. Had Emperor Nicholas been coming to save her, might she have felt more comfort?

Next she thought of her friends: Astrid, Penumbra, the Glow Sisters, Kindle on New Horizons, even Cain. She wondered how they were coping - in the strange calm before the storm - whether or not they were coping at all. Would they all survive? If they failed on Terminus, she knew, if even one of the Worms escaped intact - then Kindle, everyone she had ever or could ever know would be in danger.

She had the Glow Sisters with her. They had proven themselves capable in combat - which had surprised her. But, with or without them, she’d fight until she was dead. She owed it to her friends. She owed it to Kindle.

She owed it to Nicholas.

As Ablazed Glory and the Glow Sisters garrisoned the eastern wing of Legion’s Hold, Astrid and Cain garrisoned the western. Both were confident - not necessarily in their own abilities to kill the Worm approaching them, which Astrid had assumed, correctly, was THE END OF THE WORLD, but certainly in their abilities to ultimately survive.

Astrid felt Ablazed Glory reaching out, from miles away, and gave her dream space in kind. She was considering the comfort having support would bring. She reached out, subconsciously, to her father - not the stone that spoke like Shining Armour on her breast - but to Nicholas, the man who had raised her. Without prompting, Astrid reached out as she did - also for her old friend, Nicholas. He would not hear, but it was nice to do so regardless.

Penumbra was manning the centre alone, where the largest of the three worms - although only by a few tonnes - was approaching. Astrid wanted to run to her and help, but knew that she was needed where she was. That, and Penumbra had to take this trial alone, she knew that - but that didn’t mean she had to like it. She refused to look forwards into the future, beyond the next minute - knowing full well that her mind would be immediately dragged into seeing something she didn’t want to see.

Fate was known for its cruelty, as was he who brought it to her.

Penumbra wondered as to how her friends were coping. She hoped they were doing better than she was.

She had become half-trapped inside Legion’s Hold largest courtyard, located dead-centre in the outer defensive layer. She’d ordered everything beyond the third inner defence layer to be evacuated, partly to save as many of the Dominion troops as she could, but mostly because she was almost certain she was going to have to try throwing a building at the Worm that was approaching her position.

Which Worm was this one? She wondered. She knew that THE END OF THE WORLD was moving against Astrid and Cain in the west. So was hers THE SCOURGE OF THE UNIVERSE or THE DEVOURER OF THE STARS? She could tell hers was the largest - though not by much - which was just her luck, really.

The Dominion fleet hadn’t even scratched the things, which didn’t exactly give her hope. But, she knew from experience that nothing was never so simple; anything could be killed, she only needed to know how. If there was one thing she was good at, it was learning.

She fiddled with the unignited plasma sword hilt on her hip. Though she knew she wouldn’t be needing it, it was still an odd comfort to have it there - even if it would probably be completely useless.

“This isn’t a place for swords,” she mumbled, “only magic will get me through this.”

Closing her eyes and clearing her mind, she checked her energy reserves. Under normal circumstances, she would have been able to estimate a time until her reserves began to run low, though the extraneous circumstances of the coming battle prevented her from doing so.

“Going in blind against an invincible enemy - it really couldn’t be any worse, could it.”

She heard a rumbling from the west, followed immediately by the sound of combat - softened into a dull buzz by the distance. A minute later, she heard a similar sound from the east, as the sky over her began to darken. The shadow - THE SCOURGE OF THE UNIVERSE - was upon her.

Comments

[voroshilov]

11470921
Just something I myself have been working on for a while.