24 Gate: Thus the Stomping Begins (1/2)
In the Underworld of Falmart,
Countless dead spirits walked the barren and scorched lands, wandering in darkness for all eternity. At the center of this wasteland is a magnificent white palace inhabited by this world's goddess of the underworld, Hardy. Inside the palace's throne room is the goddess herself sitting on her white marble throne, watching the world for her entertainment. Despite having many screens showing her the stories happening in the mortal world, the blonde goddess is almost bored to death.
As if by magic, an idea popped up in her head. 'Why didn't I think of this before! I should just open another gate!' A specific set of coordinates entered her head as Hardy forms the gate on Alnus Hill. Seconds later, space distorts on Alnus Hill as a gigantic 60 foot tall gate with roman empire designs manifests. The divine object is supported by six marble pillars forming two parallel rows with horizontally aligned blue crystals connecting the pillars of the same row.
Empire mages near Alnus Hill sensed the magical disturbance and immediately informed their colleagues that the gate has opened. The news of the gate appearing on Alnus Hill spreads like the plague. In less than half an hour, the nobility of the empire has been informed of its opening. Soon, an emergency war council is held by the empire's current monarch Molt Sol Augustus. Nobles and senators quickly arrived, filling the throne room up with people.
On the large, marble throne facing the door is Emperor Molt Sol Augustus. He is an elderly man with light blonde hair, sharp blue eyes and a beard. On his head is a dark, metal ornament that resembles a crown. He wears noble attire fit for a king and dons a white cape over it. On the right side of the Emperor is the Crown Prince Zorzal El Caesar, sitting on a smaller marble throne of his own.
The crown prince is 6 foot 3 inches tall and muscular, with a body builder like physique. He has short blonde hair that's a little spiky. Zorzal wears plate armor painted burgundy with yellow highlights and over it, a white cape. He has a delighted smile on his face, a new land for the empire to conquer and for him to inherit once his dear father passes.
On the left hand side of the emperor is the empire's princess and 10th to succeed the throne, Pina co Lada. The princess is a 19 year old girl with long dark red hair and eyes of matching color. She dons a golden circlet on her head and has a pair of blue crystal earrings. She wears light armor with heavy shoulder guards, and a shirt which slightly exposes her cleavage.
The throne room is in a jovial mood. With the gate opened by the Goddess Hardy, the empire can conquer another world using its great might and tactics. As most of Falmart is already under the empire's control, expansion is something new and anticipated as more land means more resources which leads to more money and increased wealth. After this conquest, the empire shall be the conqueror not of one but of two worlds.
As all the nobles have arrived, the emperor motioned for them to settle down. Then, the emperor stood up from his throne and began, ”Loyal Subjects of the Empire. We have gathered here in this moment to announce the opening of the holy gate on Alnus Hill. A new land is open to us, a new place to conquer in the name of our glorious empire.”
Several servants entered the room, bringing in a large circular table and a large piece of parchment and a chest. The table is placed on the center of the room for all the nobles and the emperor to see. Four servants proceeded to open the human sized piece of parchment, revealing a magnified map of Alnus Hill. Servants opened the chest and placed figurines in the map, one to represent the gate, four to hold the map's edges and dozens to represent the army that will be deployed on Alnus Hill.
Then, they began organizing the expeditionary forces. In the end, 20% of the empire's forces are deployed for the assault. A few senators complained that it was too much but the emperor said that a larger force would be much more intimidating and would make them surrender. If they surrender, they would have more slaves and resources to harvest, not to mention that less equipment would be broken. With minimum losses and maximum gains, the empire would profit much better by doing so.
After 30 minutes, the short war council meeting concluded. A hundred and sixty thousand strong army gathers, consisting of foot soldiers, horse riders, archers, mages, trolls and wyvern riders. Nobles led the charge, all of them excited to conquer new territory and raise their noble rank in the empire, except for the old Count Formal. The formal clan's count felt uneasy about the upcoming battle, especially after hearing a soft voice in his head that tells him to turn back while he still can.
Alnus hill is a week on horseback from the nearest major city. However, the army's mages managed to open portals that reduce the travel time to only a day at most. The closer the old count is to Alnus Hill, the stronger is the voice that urges him to turn away and save himself. His men report the same voice that tells them to turn back and preserve their lives by doing so.
In case that this is a magical possession from the enemy, he asks the mages of the army to search his mind for any trace of disturbances. To his fear, there were none and the message now changed. 'Colt Formal, heed my advice and leave with your men while you still can. The ones beyond the gate do not show mercy to any invaders no matter their intentions. Leave now and you can rebuild the empire in a new light.'
He felt that he was going insane but similar messages are received by his most trusted and like minded men. Finding no source to this voice that spoke him and his men, the count and his most trusted aides deduced that this must be the work of a God. Problem is, which God is warning them of what seems to be a waiting calamity. After 12 hours of travel, the army sets up a temporary camp to rest and recover in one of the teleportation checkpoints.
There, he decides to pray to this unknown voice and hopefully, the voice will stop once he does. Inside his temporary camp, Colt Formal, the fifty year old head of the Formal clan is on his knees. The middle aged count dons a light armor and strips off his accessories in order to appear humble before whatever God he would encounter. Clasping his hands and bowing his head down, he prays towards the voice that has been whispering to him for the last 10 hours.
On Kashrya,
The Gate's appearance was immediately noticed by the Swarm. Hatcheries and other structures were immediately morphed nearby the gate and standby zerg forces are stationed to guard the gate and its surrounding hive clusters. Praelis was expecting friendly visitors from afar like the protoss, who were besieged by the corrupted zerg. It's a shame that the protoss disappeared, Praelis was interested in learning more about them and maybe even visit their homeworld to increase their friendly relations.
However, the creator already informed the future broodmother that the gate leads to a world of invaders who would kill and destroy just to steal the land of others. Since Praelis was modified by his power and is close to him, she shared similar sentiments. Added by natural curiosity as a sentient being, Praelis is more like an innocent, curious child than a second in command of the swarm. The modified large queen is against mindless killing and prefers peaceful contact, she dislikes unleashing the swarm on others but would do it if they threaten the zerg.
Within several hours, Praelis amassed a force of three thousand and nine hundred zerg organisms. The creator had previously mentioned that the invaders are weak and arrogant, so attacking them with the weakest zerg force would be an insult and leverage considering that even the weakest will destroy their massive army with few to no losses. The army consists of two thousand zerglings, six hundred hydralisks, five hundred overlords, four hundred roaches, three hundred mutalisks, ninety queens and ten ultralisks. Upon the army's entry to Kashrya, they would he greeted by the sight of ten ultralisks gazing down on them.
For maximum kill effectiveness, roaches and hydralisks would be dispatched from the side, firing at the intimidated and distracted soldiers. With that, the invaders won't even feel their deaths and a few thousand can be eliminated before the zerg will follow them through the gate. With a plan formed, Praelis commands all of the expeditionary zerg army into formation. All zerg but Ultralisks are to burrow themselves and be ready to unburrow and unleash the fury of the zerg onto these invaders.
The creator had a plan and it involves the creation of a solid creep sofa in front of the ultralisks and the creator slouching on it. Praelis asked the creator about this gesture and he replied with four simple words, ”Because I want to.” Then, the creator felt someone calling for him and reached towards the caller. Seeing who had summoned him, the creator smiled, ”Let the salvation of Falmart commence.”
Count Formal's Tent, Falmart