Chapter 617: Like Moths to a Flame (1/2)
Leviala looked on at the destruction from her drone chair with bleakness, her sight only made possible by using [Heaven’s Eyes] as her physical eyes had already become useless. Guilt and self-loathing filled her as plumes of fire rose to the sky, and the air vibrated from the unending barrage of attacks.
“War always has casualties, child,” Tictus sighed as he kept tapping away on his drone-controlling tablet next to her. “I know you feel this is a mistake, and it might very well be. But the elders are not acting without reason. We know there has been an infiltration, and we know that this outside force might not necessarily have been aiming at us. But we still chose this path, your grandfather still chose to step down voluntarily even after your account. Do you know why?
“Freedom. The fact that the outsiders were as powerful as you described only spurred the elders into action. What would have happened if we did as you said? We would be forcibly conscripted into a war that was not of our choosing, stuck in this hell as the world around us crumbled. Who do you think this Lord Atwood would see as expendable? What role would we have in his private crusade?
“But more importantly, this outcome was already cemented the moment that Zachary Atwood closed the door to our prison cell. The same is already happening over at the True Sky Faction. It is a basic instinct to wish to be free,” Tictus said. “Your sacrifice gave us a fighting chance at least. But you'd be wrong to blame yourself for anything.”
Leviala weakly nodded, even that small movement causing a wave of blinding pain in her mind.
“We… Should hurry,” Leviala whispered. “I have a bad feeling.”
They should already have been out by now, but Clan Cartava had met setback after setback on their path to freedom. First were the corridors that turned rabid, killing dozens and destroying a large chunk of their mechanized troops the moment they reached the gate to this forest. It was no doubt the work of Kenzie, the mysterious sister of Zachary Atwood.
It turned out that they had kept their guard up even before her betrayal.
But that was just the start. They had been forced to detonate their last remaining spatial bomb to pass just the gate, something that had been meant as a last-ditch weapon to quickly annihilate the opposition without any losses. Now they had been forced into a protracted battle against these lunatics that were far more powerful than was normal considering their low levels.
The outsiders had even managed to enlist help from the Lunar Wolves, with thousands of beasts trying to rip through their ranks.
“The elders are still restoring their reserves after pushing back that army of giants. And I still can't believe a Titan managed to survive somehow. I wonder if that means some of our ancestors made it out alive as well,” Tictus muttered.
”Still,” Leviala sighed. ”It feels like a darkness is coming ever closer, threatening to swallow us up at any moment.”
“It's not much longer. Their shields are on the verge of crumbling. Ten more minutes and we’ll be able to launch a final assault, utterly crushing them. From there it's just one sprint to the gates of freedom.”
Foolish.
How utterly foolish he had been, to believe that he could stand on an even footing with these natives on the basis of the millions of people he controlled. He coughed out a mouthful of blood as he crawled up to a sitting position. It provided vantage for him to witness the fires that stretched across the horizon.
The True Sky Faction was supposed to be like them by all accounts, a fragmented group whose main advantage was numbers rather than individual strength. They had a council as a deciding organ, and there were even elections every decade by the sounds of things.
But the moment they found a weakness, they pounced like a pack of rabid beasts, forcing their way through the spatial rifts using some unknown means, storming toward their spatial tunnel. The only reason their soldiers weren’t completely overrun was the timely assistance of the tide of beasts that were attracted by the smell of blood. The blood of his soldiers.
Even that was just a delay of the inevitable though. The New World Government had worked tirelessly to unearth as many weapon caches as possible over the past year, taking everything they could get their hands on. US Army Stockpiles or old Soviet munitions belonging to African Warlords, they took it all.
But their rockets had barely managed to take out a third of the far superior machines of the True Sky Faction, and when their cultivators eventually made their move it was already over. A few ambassadors had managed to escape, but their defensive measures worked against them this time. The moment someone in the outer base heard of what was going on they triggered the trap, closing the tunnel and abandoning their people.
Of course, Thomas Fisher had an override, but it wasn’t like he would have a chance to use it seeing as how he was surrounded by a diverse group of aliens.
“Human, we know you have a method to reopen the tunnel. Tell us how to remove the restrictions, and you and your people can join the True Sky Faction,” a furry monkeyman said, his fur silver and bristled from advanced age. “Together we’ll deal with the other factions, creating a foundation that can stand tall in the multiverse.”
“Joining you bastards?” Fischer coughed with a wan smile as he infused some energy into the hidden fractal inscribed on the back of his tooth. “I’m not worthy. Besides, I can’t have you treacherous bastards running around on Earth.”
“Treacherous? You kept eliciting our help in return for our freedom, but you never delivered on your end. We’ve lost hundreds of warriors and three settlements keeping those cultists at bay. Now the world is ending, and we have run out of both options and patience,” the burly humanoid said with a growl as he looked down at Thomas's wretched form. “Now, the exit.”
“You can forget it. What life would we lead with bastards like you lording over us? I’d rather leave our people to our own tyrant. At least he’s born in the United States.”
“I gave you a choice, but never mind,” the old cultivator sighed as he turned to one of his companions. “Search his mind.”
Thomas’s heart thumped with fear at the prospect of getting mind-raped by some alien, but he quickly calmed down again, taking a steadying breath. He still couldn't understand how things came to this. He still remembered the sense of purpose he had back then, how he had led his people through the Tutorial before creating the foundation for his people to survive.
When had his goals changed? When had his convictions changed?
It felt like his humanity had been chipped away piece by piece by the temptation of power. He usually blamed the lizardmen and the insane insectoids for his actions. But in his heart of hearts, he knew better. This new world was poisonous, and he had gladly drunk its putrid waters.
Perhaps it was for the best that it came to this. He could die while he still maintained at least some of his humanity. He knew he was greedy and scheming, but never let it be known that he didn’t care for his country. This would be his final gift.
The rest would be up to Zachary Atwood.
“Have you heard of Atomic Bombs?” Thomas laughed as he looked up at the aliens before he activated the array. “They’re banned outside, but who would have thought it was possible to assemble one in this place?”
The eyes of the alien widened with comprehension.