Chapter 100: The Reckoning Part 1: Call To Duty
Deep within the secret location of the Titan magical barrier, Ankha organized his army, and gathered his generals for each level of Titan to a meeting with Eris.
"As you know, we are on call every second, and we have been summoned to assemble to destroy a smaller planet; Solstice."
"How many souls? What’s our cut?" Elsharion, the elite titan General demanded.
"Hey don’t forget about us!" Garo, of the Armored titans exclaimed.
Ankha slammed his fists on the table.
"Quit bickering like children. There are 500,000 souls. We originally miscalculated the 200,000. Apparently they had several cities well disguised." the leader stated angrily.
"And yes, you will get power for yourselves not your armies so explain to them whatever the hell you want. I don’t care!"
"Amazing how such ’powerful’ generals quarrel over little things like a small planet," Tesarion, Ankha’s right hand man and leader of the Ancient Titans said while rolling his eyes.
The titans had 7 levels. Normal, Armored, Aware, Elite, Legendary, Enlightened and Ancient.
Their numbers were massive and female Titans could bear multiple children at one time. If a female Titan had a single child that wasn’t an Ancient or Enlightened, they were viewed as a failure. Fortunately for their race, and although rare, those who gave birth to an Enlightened or Ancient were set for life.
"We will head out in our usual order with one exception. The life force here is unique. They are humanoid type fire creatures that live in extreme heat. They are powerful and organized so we will send out the Enlightened with the Normal and Armored from the North."
"Ankha, why must my Titans accompany the lower leveled? No offense Jess and Garo, just curious why I’m risking over 50,000 Titans with a giant lot of hundreds of thousands," Eshir asked.
"Because their strongest forces protect the north. This is a peaceful planet, free from war so they’re well trained to defend from outsiders. The Armored and Normal give you an easy access point to destroy them quickly," Ankha scoffed.
"Understood."
"Tesarion, you will wait until the Aware clear the south and follow them to their central headquarters."
Tesarion and Triss nodded in agreement.
"That leaves Lamiela and Vanessa. Hmmmm." Ankha pondered.
"My Legendary Unit will take the east. I’ve done my own scouting, they have a ’secret base,’ Eris helped me track down. We can handle it no problem," Vanessa bragged.
"Guess that means my Elite unit strikes from the west, when do we get moving?" Lamiela asked, not afraid to show she was bored.
"Tomorrow at 09:00 sharp. Don’t be late or we move without you," Eris demanded.
The titans slammed their fists on the table in agreement and disassembled to inform their units.
*****
Azazel paced back-and-forth in his lair, questioning Malphas about everything he was supposed to do while he was away.
"Fenrir and I already know. Stand pat. Don’t provoke. Inform you if they attack. Just relax my Lord. You’re worked up over nothing."
Azazel glared at him.
"Fine. Make sure nothing happens or it’s your head!"
Helen summoned Azazel to his room where she lay in lingerie.
"Come to bed and let’s get your mind in the right fucking place," she teased.
Meanwhile, the Titans assembled preparing to move out the following morning. Their magical barrier was unique and very different from the elves. Time moved at a normal pace and the barriers relative size was small; however, due to Eris’ magic, the area inside expanded to the size of a planet larger than Exteria.
Ankha addressed the crowd of over one million titans as they stood in formation, grouped by ranking.
"For those of you with young children, I will not force both parents to leave on this expedition. If you have children who are 18 and willing to fight, that is your decision. This assignment should take no longer than two days before we head out on our next expedition. The goal is to clear 10 planets within the next two years."
The chatter amongst the aware and above ranks clamored.
"Is he serious? Are we going to be fighting that much?"
"What the hell is this garbage?"
"We get paid every time we go out. Why are you all complaining?"
"I’m glad I finally get to battle!"
"SILENCE," Ankha’s voice boomed and echoed.
The crowd finally stood still and Ankha continued.
"Rest with your loved ones, choose who you will send and report at 08:00 tomorrow. We leave at 09:00. Your Generals will give you more details in your morning briefing. Dismissed."
The clamoring continued and Ankha walked away displeased. He shot a glare at Eris, who quickly followed him to his castle.
"Relax Ankha. It’s not like we’re forcing you to work every single day for two years. We need this power. You will be rewarded handsomely and we’ll have all the currency from the other planets. You know we can always trade at the global headquarters on Nexus."
"I’m amazed how daft that little party is. How have they not thought to look outside of their own planet? Don’t they have gods and goddesses?" Ankha said with a chuckle. He finally began relaxing.
"Quite amazing indeed. They could teleport there no problem but they don’t know where to look."
"Idiots."
*****
Azazel, Eris and Helen made their preparations a few hours after Azazel and Helen got busy [adult time].
"How did we manage to miscalculate a planet’s soul count by over 300,000?" Azazel demanded furiously.
"Their planet is very hot and the creatures are humanoids who hide cities in mirages. It’s a unique type of magic but fortunately we caught it before departing. It wouldn’t have made much of a difference, either way." Eris explained calmly.
"Relax my love. We will have all the world’s currency and power very soon. How ’bout I help you relax again." Helen flirted.
Eris made a disgusted face before sarcastically saying, "just get a fucking room. No pun intended."
Azazel grinned as they teleported back to his room. He got the release he needed before the big day tomorrow. He finally relaxed.
