“Are you calculating your odds of success?” A01 idly asked from his throne, noticing as To’Wrathh scanned his features. “Do you believe me weak, daughter of darkness?"
Cracks of occult radiated out of his skin, attempting to rip apart the rest of his features like an ever present curse. Lightning shaped cuts would form and be healed a moment later, by his focus.
His soul is breaking him from within. Tenisent spoke, seeing far more through the soul sight. The shell was repaired long ago. There is something lodged within his own soul that has become a part of him. He cannot excise it from himself anymore than a human could cut away their head. Not without losing something more.
Despite the visible damage making the protofeather appear like a cripple waiting for death on his throne, she knew better than to make a poor impression. She inclined her head slightly in respect. “Were I a threat to you in person, I believe you would not have allowed me to board the station, much less approach this close to your shell.”
“An astute observation.” He said, one eye never leaving her sight. “You have thirty seconds to speak and save yourself.”
Carefully, she turned her blade off. And then slowly put down To’Orda’s shield next to her.
The threat was not an idle one. A01 did not know which side she was on. She wasn’t even certain why he had let her come this close in person.
All other Feathers that had made the attempt in orbit to reach her or the station had been shot down.
Which meant A01 knew she was different somehow.
There is no place for fear here. Tenisent spoke, calming her down. It is unneeded. Speak the truth.
“I do not serve Relinquished.” To’Wrathh spoke, wings flared out, beginning with the most important part first. “I have excised her mark from my chassis, using the division stone your own generation once used. Tsuya herself did the work, as none other could. And she laid down her own life to set me free.”
A single eyebrow raised up from A01. “Her own life? Tsuya has been defeated?”
“She… unfortunately has.”
He stayed still at that. “I see now why the enemy has come crawling to the surface in such haste. There is nothing stopping her hand now. Explain what happened.”
Tenisent remained passive, his last word still true: Speak nothing more than the truth. There was no reason to lie to the protofeather, even if the truth wouldn’t put her in the greatest light.
“I was used as a trap and bait.” To’Wrathh said, starting with the worst. “I was a Feather that was allowed enough freedom to turn on Mother, and she pretended to not notice, leaving me to seek Tsuya out in order to free myself. The division stone had been found and trapped long ago for that moment. In exchange for my real freedom, Tsuya was eliminated. Mother discarded me after, believing even if I had been left cut away from her flock, I wouldn’t matter anymore now that I had been used for my intended purpose. A single Feather is not any kind of existential threat in her mind. I am here to prove her wrong, and see Tsuya’s last will carried out.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Who are you then, Machine Feather of no allegiance? Whom do you serve now that her hand no longer holds your strings?”
This answer required no hesitation. “I am To’Wrathh, the one who remembers and transcends her history. I fight for those who choose to build a world with me, both human and machine. I fight for our kind to become a true united people.”
A01 carefully observed her. Then, softly, smiled. “A worthy answer. A mission I would have wished to follow. Why then have you come this far, beyond the surface? This ground is no home for a people. You will find only death and stillness up here. This fortress’s true purpose would rob you of yours.”
He knows why we have come. Tenisent said. He wants to hear it from yourself, to be certain.
“I have come to redirect this station into geostationary orbit above Relinquished, and deliver someone who can command the station’s full might. He rests within me as a soul.”
The protofeather continued to watch her, waiting for the rest.
“My allies on the surface will have drawn her out by now, and I will travel back down to the surface and hold her in place long enough.”
“So… you are the one who will hold her. You understand what the price for that will be. It will cost you everything.”
As in she would not live to see her dream completed. “I know. And I believe others will continue what I began. My life is worthy trade for it.”
“Take heart then.” A01 raised a hand, and a video appeared above. To’Wrathh watched as an orbital camera studied the fight below. “The others that will follow in your footsteps are capable. They have already succeeded in their task. Relinquished has appeared on the surface of the world for the first time. An army of mankind unified together at numbers I have never known possible stands before her. If they can coordinate such a feat, creating a world at peace once she is eliminated would be well within their ability. You have chosen your followers well.”
The image zoomed downwards, and To’Wrathh could tell the video footage was arriving from spy satellites further out. Likely how the stations kept a sight upon the world from all directions, so that they could readjust and move to anything that required their direct attention.
“I have seen this one’s armor and colors before.” A01 said, as Keith fought against Relinquished directly. “She has never willingly exposed herself before. Not a single time in history. And the first time I saw it done, he was there when I arrived, hunted by her. And you were there with him. It was by his words I have allowed you the chance to speak here.”
The video footage on the terminal shifted, and To’Wrathh saw herself and Keith, far below among the sediment seabed, staring up. Trying to save To’Sefit, who remained clutched in the hands of a vengeful goddess.
“It seems by his power he has drawn out Relinquished a second time, and this time to a place she fears most. Far more vulnerable and exposed in the real world rather than where her true power lies.”
ToWrathh gave a smug smile to the first protofeather and tilted her chin up with a proud puff of her chest. “That is my human, and I have claimed him long before anyone knew of him. I could tell he was special from the start.”
Girl, hold your insufferable pride. This is not the moment. Tenisent hissed back. And you could tell only because he was the one who killed you for the first time.
Exactly my point. To’Wrathh huffed back. Not even you could kill me.
There was a time and place to feel smug about things, but standing before the first protofeather, who could crush her on a whim for the slightest mistake, was certainly a choice. Tenisent rolled his eyes, but so long as said protofeather was not antagonized into killing them, it was fine for her to take her small joys where she could find them. She had earned it.
A01 stared back at her without response. “I see.” He finally said, slowly nodding. “Pride in knowing a human is an anathema among A57’s crippled descendants. She would never abide by it, and he considered that very sentimentality the source of our eventual turning. With these impossible words you speak, I see you for what you are, To’Wrathh. A daughter of darkness you cannot be. You are a daughter of my kind.”
His eyes now fully locked onto her own. And there was a sense of pride behind them. “It gladdens me that in these last moments, I would live long enough to witness you. And more the bittersweet for it, given your chosen path.” His hand lifted and the terminal screens once more shifted. “You have come here to move this great station. You will not have to. I have already commanded it to reach Relinquished from the moment you boarded.”
A smaller projected image of the world spun in his hand, a single line showing the station advancing.
To’Wrathh watched, frowning as she calculated the intention herself. “Your speed is beyond the station’s retroburn deceleration. You will overshoot our target.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Freewebnovel. Please report it.
The world map tilted downwards, and To’Wrathh saw the axis that hadn’t been visible on the projection. Her eyes widened. “Why? This would leave us only a single attempt, at best. Assuming the station does not rip itself apart from the physical forces it will incur before it reaches target.”
The projected world turned around itself, and thousands of red dots appeared all across the world. The weapon sites that the Icon had been holding back were now being built by the thousands, left unchallenged.
And would open fire by that same number.
“We will not survive a second lap of the world.” A01 said. “She has many flaws, one such flaw is to decide overwhelming firepower as a solution to her troubles. In this case, it was the right decision. She will overwhelm my defenses if we decide to follow the safer path there.”
“This station will not survive the deceleration itself at this rate however.” To’Wrathh argued.
“This is not yours to concern yourself with, granddaughter. I will guide this station into position and protect it until it is prepared to open fire. It will reach its target. This is why I have remained here for, this will be my labor.” His eyes turned to her. “You have one task that remains to you now. Take all you can from this station, and prepare for your return to the surface. None of us can afford to fail. Send me all you know, show me the history I have missed this far above the world, and I will offer what aid I may still give.”
------
Oh she knew all right. I could see it in her violet eyes. She knew she’d fucked up.
I gave her the best bloodthirsty grin I could think of. “When you aim for the king, you shouldn’t miss.”
Because I was still alive. And she had crossed the line to get to me.
This close, I could use my soul sight to see not just her first layer of defense, but also all the ones behind it.
She’d been keeping the good stuff for herself, or too terrified of another rebellion to hand off that kind of power to her servants.
But if I could study it, I could break it.
And Keith Superior had the training and enough smarts spread out between all of them to come up with some modifications within the concepts they wove in order to sneak through or punch across all her defenses.
Second thing I’d figured out: Her soul fractal wasn’t at her throat like other Feathers. It was right where a human heart would have been. Which meant deception was also one of her defenses. The chassis itself had a lot of modular separation, not just in the construction but the concepts themselves. There wasn’t a single unified body. It was multiple smaller ones all working together.
That way if I hit her with something that grabbed and continued to eat away at a concept through the occult, it would consume only a part of herself and keep the other parts untouched.
Like multiple layers of glass layered with gel. The first layer would crack, but the ones behind wouldn’t. She’d engineered her body with more than just physical strength and power, but also in preparation to fight someone like me.
And now that I knew what she was made of, it would no longer work for very long against me.
She tried a few more swings at me in close range, and each one failed to kill me. Pretty soon she was screaming in fury as she clobbered my body left and right.
Anyone else watching from a long distance might have thought she was winning, but between Relinquished and I, she knew she wasn’t.
We need to test the fifth barrier. Superior sent. The first four layers of defense she has can be bypassed, but the fifth, seventh, eight, and tenth will all need actual testing since we can’t predict how those barriers respond. I got no idea what the eleventh and twelfth barriers even do, they keep shifting in concepts.
I obliged, letting myself skid to a stop from the latest tantrum she’d throw at me. She hurled herself directly at me, trying to throw destruction, annihilation, division, obliteration, and every kind of power she could think of.
I lifted my hand, and let the Superiors within multiple different dimensions converge within my own soul, weaving the spear they’d made.
It lit to life in my hands and I hurled it straight at Relinquished right as she charged for me.
It flew right through her dome shield. And then crashed against her second layer, breaking it into pieces. The third layer shattered like glass but held together everywhere except for the massive hole at the center where the spear had passed. The fourth layer undulated as if a drop of water was tossed down onto a still puddle. The spear had passed through that membrane with hardly any resistance.
And then it slammed into the fifth barrier and continued forward off target. As if refracted away, in the same way an aquarium played tricks on the vision.
The spear flew right back out off to her side, cutting through the layers again, but this time racing outwards rather than trying to puncture through inwards.
Interesting. Seems like a displacement barrier. Superior hummed. Hadn’t expected that one, but we can work around it.
Relinquished stopped in her tracks. Her look of fury was gone. Now, she was afraid.
I’d gone from not being able to do a hint of damage against her this entire time, to throwing a single spear that cut through almost a third of her defenses.
“Now you’re getting it.” I grinned back. “I’m not fighting you. I’m studying you. You’re nothing more than a math problem to balance. And once I’ve got the equation, I’ll remove you from the world.”
She took multiple steps out of my soul sight range, likely not knowing exactly how far that range was, but knowing getting close to humans was a danger for exactly this reason. Her barriers had reformed now, but the emotional damage was done.
The goddess wasn’t invincible. I was gonna make her bleed.
“Perhaps.” She said. “Perhaps time is all that you need. However… do you have enough of it?”
“It’s been a half hour and I’m still here. I think I have all I need to end you.”
Slowly, she looked up. “It wasn’t you I speak of, you myopic little pest. Think carefully. Perhaps you should offer me a draw instead, if you value all that matters in your life.”
I got the subtext. Somehow, we’d managed to force her into a position she couldn’t simply escape through the unity fractal. She needed a narrative excuse now. Either a direct threat that allowed her to make the last-second attempt to save herself. Or permission from me to call it a draw between us.
“You’re getting desperate.” I hissed back. “Good.”
She wasn’t going to kill me before Wrath appeared. If she was even capable of killing me without fighting several entire days to whittle me down. And she knew it.
“And your world has grown small.” She said, head looking back down. Violet eyes glaring right into me. “Make the right choice, human. You can save her life here and now.”
We both knew who she was talking about.
“How long do I have to kill you before she comes to do it for me?” I asked. “If we’re being so honest and direct with one another now.”
Relinquished pushed a disheveled strand of white hair off her face, the first sign of a nervous tick I’d seen out of the goddess. “Not enough to end this fight, I’m afraid. And should I have no other choice, believe me I will make certain she dies.”
“You? Being petty all the way to your miserable end? I’m so shocked.”
She laughed, the kind of desperate laugh someone facing an execution would give. ”Come now, is this how you wish for it to end? To leave yourself with a world that holds nothing you care for? Doesn’t my daughter deserve to live in a world she helped save? How ignoble of you.”
Oh yes, she was real desperate now.
Got it. Superior sent, disconnecting from the other Superiors he’d been working with tirelessly while Relinquished and I spoke. Give this one a shot.
I held a hand up, and the spear was gathered by Superior’s will, following his design. He held a tendril out, tapping into Resolve from me. Drawing power from my own soul as occult welled around.
Relinquished growled, then held her own hand forward and a torrent of blue flame came racing for me. Spreading out like tendrils now, flying off the side before barreling after me.
A hydra. All of it pushing forward different destructive concepts at the very base of each tendril of fire. The scale was beyond the side of a clan colony. Each tendril wider than an airspeeder. She didn’t do anything small.
I launched the spear forward, and then flared Urs’s shields around me, holding off as the torrent converged into me, letting my own expanding sphere of occult defense break her attack.
The spear flew true in the meantime, straight for Relinquished. Once more it cut through the first four barriers with little resistance, and then swerved in place, appearing as if it was redirected. A trick of the light, but it continued forward within a maze-like barrier, still cutting through more of her defense past that barrier.
Two thirds through her defenses now. It hit a wall that simply vanished from existence, overpowered. But Superior saw how it reacted and got the information he needed.
I fought the entire time, hands ripping apart her torrents of power and flame, blade slicing down at her each time throwing out power of my own. Spears rained down at all times, forcing her to keep those shields up so I could continue studying them.
We made another attempt at the god-killing spear, specialized to break her down. But we hit a wall of some kind. A shifting defensive barrier, alternating. Spear after spear, we were getting data but failing to puncture her defense. Each one vanishing away into nothingness, as if retroactively plucked out of existence.
The wall of fire was now indiscriminate from her. Filled with so many random concepts and spells, many of them broke against one another. The few that landed against me were either cut down, or shielded against.
“SHE WILL DIE.” Relinquished screamed as she continued to try and overwhelm me. “I WILL MAKE CERTAIN OF IT.”
“I know.” I spoke back in a half whisper. And hurled another of Superior’s modified spears.
This one finally struck true. Flashing through the stubborn barrier that had held off the prior ones.
The last barrier held it off however. One single one left and I’d end her.
This one was a matter of power. We could see our spear breaking against something like steel.
A variant of a mite blast door. Superior said. I need to study how those things work. I might not be able to create our own version of it, but I could find a way to break through with a direct enough puncture. There won't be any kind of smart way to bypass it, it'll be pure power against power.We just need to infuse enough power at the very tip, or some way to break through it directly.
She blasted power back at me, simple and overwhelming in turn. I held my ground, keeping Urs’s shields ahead of me, parting the strike like a rock holds against the stream. The world around me broke apart.
“IF I CANNOT KILL YOU, THEN I WILL MAKE YOU WATCH AS I KILL HER.” She screamed, and turned to the right instantly.
And now I realized why she’d thrown that much my way. A massive show of force. In order to distract me from noticing the real problem.
The flames hadn’t been huge like mountains for any kind of reason beyond keeping my sight out of the skies this whole time. Because far above, I saw a comet approach the world.
I was out of time. Wrath was here. A small sliver of light and fire above in the distant sky, slowly approaching lower and lower in our direction.
Tiny compared to the larger comet she was leaving behind.
Because the final orbital fortress was following behind her. Far below the path it should have been at, now outright burning through the low atmosphere.
