~Amanda, you made it. Sorry you missed the excitement.~
~We just chased off one of the Dragons. Was there more?~
~There was, but all but that one had left already; we’re just chasing down the last few Nomads and Riven in the building.~
~We’ll come and land a hand.~
~Thank you,~ he answered.
‘Looks like we missed the main attack,’ Amanda explained, addressing her companions.
‘I’d guessed,’ Valerya answered.
‘Set her down here, we’ll go inside. Sounds like there might still be some Nomads on site.’ Amanda suggested, marking a landing pad on the viewer with a thought and watched Valerya manoeuvre the ship down. Amanda smiled. She was an excellent pilot. Impressive, actually, she thought. It hadn’t escaped Amanda’s notice that she also had a personal Aegis and there was a certain amount of inherent Essentia inside of her as well. She wasn’t a Magus, that much was clear, but maybe she was a Scion? Either that or she’d been enhanced somehow, and not just cybernetically.
Amanda had already noticed the metals and other non-organic materials that were implanted in Valerya’s body. It had been strengthened in several ways, such as toughened bones and muscles. There was the gun embedded in her arm, and there were millions of nanomachines filtering throughout her body and bloodstream. It was fascinating to see.
The ship landed smoothly, and within moments, Amanda had led her two companions down the ramp and was marching over towards the entrance of the castle.
~We’ve landed, we’re coming in,~ Amanda sent through the Link to Trevelyan.
~I saw. Careful, I think there’s a Nomad in that area. We’re dealing with a couple elsewhere, but we’ll come to you soon. Watch your step.~
~We will,~ she answered as they reached the entrance and started to move inside. Glancing back, Amanda saw that Valerya’s implanted gun was already sticking out of her forearm, its barrel extended. Next to her, Aris carried the same huge railgun he’d been using earlier. Sparks of electricity arced between its rails.
‘Let me Link with you,’ Amanda whispered.
Both nodded, so Amanda reached out and sent a pulse of Essentia into their minds, and after a moment, the Link opened between them all.
~Can you hear me okay?~ Amanda sent to them.
~Loud and clear,~ Valerya answered.
~Copy that,~ Aris added.
~We have a Nomad around here somewhere, so be on the lookout.~
They both nodded to her and followed, their eyes peering into the shadows of the building. Amanda led the way, moving into the corridor beyond the entrance and creeping along it, keeping to the walls and watching for any signs of life. Doorways and hallways led off on either side of the corridor, disappearing into darkness. Scorch marks on the walls and a few bits of debris on the floor spoke of some fighting that had occurred around here.
‘Hey,’ called out a voice from behind them.
Amanda spun. Her companions did the same and saw a man with a gun that she didn’t recognise. The gun didn’t look like anything she’d seen before, and when a couple more people stepped into the corridor as well, Amanda felt as sure as she could that these guys were not supposed to be here.
~Bad guys?’ Valerya asked.
Amanda saw that one of the group was glowing, marking him as a Nomad, but the others, while they did have items on them that were glowing, they were not Magi, they were just Riven.
‘Kill them,’ shouted the Magus to his Riven companions.
~There’s your answer. I’ll take the Magus,~ Amanda said and picked him out with a snap of lightning that lashed out from her hand. It hit the Magus in his chest while two more Riven stepped around the corner, also armed.
There were five in total, but only one of them was a Magus.
The Nomad flew backwards and crunched to the floor. With a thought, Amanda Ported to the other side of the group and appeared next to the Nomad as beam fire rang out between the Riven and her two companions. The Nomad jumped to his feet and looked up in slight surprise to see Amanda right next to him.
Essentia surged around him as he sent a kinetic ram at her that smashed into her Aegis, making her stagger back.
‘Not bad,’ she muttered before she gathered her own Magic to her and hit him again, not holding anything back. Essentia strikes, bolts of lightning, and more hit the Aegis of the Magus. He was apparently a capable Nomad, but he wasn’t a match for her.
His Aegis quickly faltered and then collapsed part way through Amanda’s attack, leaving him defenceless against the massive amounts of energy that Amanda was throwing at him. His enhanced body and the armour he wore protected him for a moment, but her onslaught burnt through those as well and reduced the man to a smoking ruin in moments.
Turning, she looked up to see Valerya and Aris putting down the last of the Riven with extreme prejudice, and found the fight was over mere seconds after it had started.
‘Good work,’ Amanda said, impressed with their fighting skills. ‘You know what you’re doing in a fight.’
‘We’ve had to live in hostile territory for a long time; you don’t do that and not learn how to defend yourself. These were Void Riders, by the way,’ Valerya answered.
‘They’re the Nomads who ride the Dragons, right?’
‘Correct. They’re a formidable force made from Nomads and a huge force of Riven as well. I don’t know these guys specifically, but I recognise their armour and weapons.’
‘Let’s see if there’s any more,’ Aris added.
Amanda nodded. ‘This way,’ she said, and led them through the corridor and out into a large atrium at the end. There were more bodies on the floor in here. Some of them looked untouched, others bore scorch marks from weapons fire while a few had been reduced to little more than charred remains. There’d been some intense fighting in here.
As they wandered in, Essentia flared in the middle of the room. Amanda paused and readied her Magic, but relaxed when she saw it was Trevelyan.
~Stand down, guys, this is Trevelyan; he’s on our side,~ she sent through the Link.
‘Amanda, glad you could join us. You didn’t have any trouble, did you?’
‘Nothing we couldn’t handle,’ she replied with a smile, hugging him briefly in greeting.
‘Who’re your friends?’ Trevelyan asked.
‘This is Valerya and Aris, they tracked the Dragons here. They’re from the Nexus,’ she explained.
‘The Nexus? Glad to see they’re getting involved with this finally,’ Trevelyan replied. ‘Glad to have you with us.’
‘Well, they’re not exactly here on behalf of the Nexus,’ Amanda explained.
‘Oh, I see. I can’t say I’m surprised. Well, glad to have you with us anyway.’
Valerya and Aris didn’t answer, they just smiled and nodded their thanks, when Essentia flared again, and another Magus appeared from thin air. She was a slim woman with sharp cheekbones and a striking appearance. She wore her bright blonde hair short, barely an inch long at its longest, and wore dark clothing consisting of a black coat tied at her waist and boots.
Amanda recognised her right away. ‘Crystal?’
Crystal smiled. ‘Amanda, good to see you again, despite the circumstances of the day.’
‘What are you doing here? I thought you’d left Earth?’
‘We have, but the Sentinels did not go far. We’ve set up on Sol Prime.’
‘So, your mission still stands?’
‘The Sentinels will always be here to protect humanity, we just couldn’t stay in the Abyss any more, not with the Archon’s no longer being there. A prison without inmates has no need for jailers.’
Amanda nodded. ‘So, you heard about the Dragon attack?’
‘They attacked Sol Prime first. It was a diversionary tactic, and we detected that the main force was heading in-system. We warned the Arcanum and sent a force in to back them up.’
‘That’s how the Arcanum knew about the attack before it happened,’ Amanda
commented.
‘I came here, guessing that Thule would also be a target — correctly, as it turned out — and I’ve received word from Earth that New York has been contained. It looks like we survived this one,’ Crystal said.
‘Are those reports accurate?’ Trevelyan asked Amanda. ‘How is New York?’
‘It will recover, and I think I know the reason for the attack.’
‘You do?’ Trevelyan asked, with Crystal beside him looking equally interested.
‘They came here to liberate the Archons. I was with Lilitu when the attack happened. I’d tracked her down and had gone to confront her when the Dragons appeared. She leapt onto one and flew away. Plus, I encountered a Nomad who pretty much admitted helping to set this up. She gloated about it and seemed to confirm my suspicions.’
‘Shit,’ Crystal cursed. ‘That’s not good.’
‘We think they’re joining forces with the Crux,’ Valerya added.
‘But of course,’ Crystal muttered. ‘Makes perfect sense. Why conquer just one planet when they’re thousands out there?’
‘I’m calling a Council meeting now, we need to decide what we’re going to do about this,’ Trevelyan said. ‘You will attend, I hope?’
‘Sure, when?’ Amanda asked.
‘Right now. After the attack on Earth, they’ll be expecting one anyway.’
‘Of course,’ Amanda answered.
Council Meeting
Ultima Thule, Enceladus, Saturn
Trevelyan called the meeting through a series of telepathic messages over the next few moments. He backed off while he concentrated and left Amanda with Crystal, Valerya, and Aris.
‘I’m glad to see that the Council of Earth is taking this seriously,’ Valerya commented. ‘Makes a refreshing change to the way the Nexus has reacted to me.’
‘Did none of them take your warnings seriously? Were they all dismissive?’
Valerya pressed her lips together into a thin line as she frowned and considered the question.
‘You see, when you speak with the Nexus, you’re speaking with ambassadors. Envoys from the Dynasties and they often can’t make decisions on their own, and my message probably gets a little lost in translation by the time it gets back to the Dynasties. But, yes, I have had a few productive talks with some of the Dynasties when I speak with them directly. I’ve even had a little help sent my way in the past, but, on the whole, no. It’s a lost cause, generally, and I’m usually mocked for it.’
‘But then, you have not had an all-out assault on the Nexus by a hoard of Dragons, have you?’
‘No, I guess not,’ Valerya said. ‘But I also don’t want it to get to that stage before we act. If it does, then we’re too late.’
‘Okay, guys, if you’ll follow me,’ Trevelyan said and waved them over before he led them across the atrium. ‘We’ll be starting in a few minutes.’
‘What do you think will come of this?’ Valerya asked.
‘Hopefully, something substantive,’ Amanda answered. She wondered about that, too. She hoped that the Council would be in one mind about this and not get bogged down in politics. But as for a way forward, she really wasn’t sure.
‘And you? What are you going to do?’ Valerya asked.
‘Erm…’ Amanda muttered and realised she’d not really thought about it in any great detail. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said, as she ran through the situation in her head.
The Archons had been released from their aeon’s old prison, and she had pledged herself to hunting them down. But now, they had apparently left Earth behind and were heading into space, deep into the galaxy, presumably to prepare for war. Earth had a lucky escape this time, but what about next time? If the Crux came calling and launched a planet-wide assault, would the Earth survive? What about the rest of humanity? Earth was one thing, but compared to the trillions and trillions of humans spread over the lightyears of space surrounding Sol, Earth was a tiny fraction of a percentage of the entire human race.
And they deserved life as much as she did.
‘I guess, if the Nexus falls, then Earth won’t be far behind…’ Amanda stated.
‘That would be my assumption,’ Valerya replied.
‘I thought as much,’ Amanda answered as Trevelyan led them into a room down a corridor. It was a large conference room with a long central table surrounded by chairs. Trevelyan waved towards them as he led them in. ‘Do take a seat,’ he said.
As they filed in, Essentia flared in the room, and more Magi abruptly appeared out of thin air. They moved to take a seat as they greeted some of the others. Amanda smiled and nodded to them as they looked in her direction and noted the looks of interest as they noticed her companions and Crystal.
‘Thank you for coming, everyone, please, if you can take a seat, we have urgent business to take care of. I take it everyone here is okay and wasn’t hurt too badly during the attack?’
There were some muttered answers around the table, as well as a couple of good-natured jokes before people settled.
‘Okay, we’re starting to get a clearer idea of what actually happened here and elsewhere in the solar system, including what happened on Earth, and the possible motives behind it. So, to get everyone up to speed, Amanda, you were in New York during the attack, can you relate your experiences to the Council, please?’
Amanda nodded and rose from her chair. It wasn’t the first time she had stood before this Council, including recently reporting on her hunt for the Archons, so in many ways, this was just an update on that mission.
‘Of course,’ she said, and stood to address the table as Trevelyan sat. ‘I was in New York at the time of the attack, as Trevelyan said. I was following up a lead on the Archon Lilitu at the time and had actually managed to find her and confront her when the first Dragons attacked. In fact, Lilitu intimated that she planned for me to be there, knew the attack was coming, and seemed genuinely pleased when it did arrive.
‘Lilitu herself actually jumped off a building to land on one of the Dragons, which quickly flew off while another Dragon attacked us. We fought it off and shortly after that, I encountered a Nomad Magus who claimed to both want revenge on me and that she had helped arrange this assault. Later, an Aetheric Craft that was fighting the Dragons was brought down near my house. Valerya and Aris here were on that ship, and I assisted them in fighting off the Dragon that had attacked them. It wasn’t long before the Dragons withdrew, though, and left Earth behind, which was when I heard about the attack here, and we came to assist.’
‘What was your impression of the attack? Was it well coordinated?’ Trevelyan asked.
‘Despite the chaos on the streets and during the fighting itself, I think the attack was very well coordinated. This had been planned well in advance. The attack here at the same time as the one on Earth corroborates that, I feel.’
‘They attacked Sol Prime, too, also at the same time,’ Crystal added.
Amanda nodded.
‘I was unaware that the Sentinels were involved,’ stated Bran, another of the Councillors.
‘We had relocated to Sol Prime following the Archons’ escape,’ Crystal explained. ‘Our mission to protecting humanity from the influence of the Magi and the supernatural has not changed, and we can still continue this mission from Prime. We’re not abandoning you yet. But, to return to the point, Prime was attacked shortly before Earth and Thule, so we were able to use Portals and Porting to get to Earth before the Dragons and alert the Arcanum. As of now, the flow of media from the New York area is contained, the damage to the buildings fixed, for the most part, and the minds of the majority of Riven have been altered. They believe it was a terrorist attack, and the Arcanum will provide the US government with suspects and see that through. As always, the cover-up will not be one hundred percent effective, and there will be those on whom the Magic did not work, but we’re confident they will be considered crackpot conspiracy theorists.’
‘I can confirm this to be the case,’ Harry Fleming of the Arca
num answered. ‘The Sentinels have been invaluable in their support of the clean up in New York. We could not have done this without them. Not as neatly, anyway.’
‘That’s good to hear,’ Councillor Victoria replied. ‘Perhaps, we should look at formally establishing an alliance between the Arcanum and the Sentinels?’
‘We would welcome discussions,’ Harry answered, looking over at Crystal.
‘We’ll talk about it later,’ Crystal said.
‘Do we know the reason for this attack?’ Councillor Kai asked.
‘We can guess,’ Trevelyan answered and looked at Amanda.
‘This is supposition at this point, but as I mentioned, Lilitu was taken away by one of the Dragons, and I did see other Dragons land in the city. I think the Dragons were liberating the Archons and taking them away from the Earth.’
‘But why?’ Councillor Abra-Melin asked. ‘Who are these people?’
Valerya stood up beside Amanda. ‘Councillors, perhaps I can answer that. My name is Valerya Argent, and it is a pleasure to meet you. This is my first visit to Sol, and I followed the Dragons here in an attempt to aid Earth and find out what was happening. The Dragons are servants of the Crux, who created them, much like the Scions of Earth were the creations of the Archons. Like the Archons, the Crux are ancient and powerful. Millennia ago, we, the Nexus, fought the Crux and defeated them, driving them out of Nexus space. They were soon forgotten by the Nexus and the Magi Dynasties that make up the Nexus, who returned to looking inward and fighting amongst themselves. As one who saw the lingering threat of the Crux, I tracked them down and have lived in their sector of the galaxy ever since, watching them. They have been busy in the years since their defeat, rebuilding their armies, breeding their Dragons, and extending their power base. It is our belief,’ Valerya said, gesturing towards Amanda, ‘that the Archons intend to join with the Crux. To join forces. Then we believe that the Crux will turn their attention once more to humanity and the Nexus.’
‘You think they want war?’ Victoria asked.
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