Potential Candles
Once the two completed their shift, they made immediate preparations in parallel to the work they had prepared for their Aestean defense. They were both motivated to go the distance, gathering all of their resources for the oncoming confrontation.
Lyun walked into foundry headquarters, brushing off the red flakes that had gathered on her shoulders. She also looked like an oncoming storm, a stern expression having taken air of her. It had been quite the sudden shift, the sense of obligation building after learning the immensity of their goal. For once, Lyun hadn’t panicked either, she was almost eerily composed in that way. She was simply driven to a cause, motivated to ensure that things would work out. Some of that impression may have been the impulses of her chaos which also wanted to assert dominance against primitive chaos, but she still had her own reasons.. as did Axln. The tranquility she had created simply needed to continue, the tragedy that had fallen onto Velvet needed to be prevented from reoccurring. Things had changed, and she would play her part to its fullest to ensure that both goals would be realized.
“Hello Zxyd.” “Oh, it’s you. Go away, I’m working and have no time for casual visits.” “I’m not here to see you, don’t be stupid. I’m here on business.” “Foundry’s closed for the night, get lost.” “This is urgent, I need to speak with Mheridz.” “Good for you, don’t care. Door is behind you.” “Ugh, I don’t have time for your nonsense. If you don’t want me to just walk in, call her up here.” “No way am I going to disturb one of the foundry elite just because you have a whim. Unless you’re here to cause trouble, the door is behind you.” “What part of ‘emergency’ do you not understand? Actually, do you even forget that my presence is on the behalf of one of the foundry elite.. one who even stands above Mheridz. Really, she was the one who asked for this notification, so I believe I’m in the right.” “Last warning, leave or you will be made to leave.” Lyun sighed, Zxyd’s bias was clearly running strong right now, irrationally so. It was fortunate though that she was well aware that she was in the right.. so long as she wasn’t one to cause harm. She thus took a step forward.. and Zxyd activated an instrument he had handy. Nothing happened, so he rushed out from the desk.. and slammed face first into a holo, the impact sending him sprawling to the floor. By the time he got back up, Lyun was gone, the occasional red flecks scattered over the ground going further inside.
“Mheridz, time to wake up. We’ve got an emergency, one that we can’t afford to sit on further, else it gets even worse.” “Lyun, do you even know what time it is.. it’s…” “Time to stand against your voidspawn, we’ve found the enemy. They have an armada right now, one that seems to exceed even Velvet’s experience. Every moment we wait, things will get worse.” “Are you joking? No.. no you’re not. I just might not have expected you to bring the message.” “It was either coming here or to be the one to stand in front of the academy in a major assembly and discuss everything with the administrative body. This was better.” “Yeah, but you don’t exactly make the fastest messenger.” The door before Lyun opened, revealing a Mheridz already composed for action. It was also at this point that Zxyd had caught up to everything.
“I’m sorry, milady. She broke in after disabling…” “I hope you weren’t any trouble to our messenger, not considering the urgency of her message. The wardens have the next two moments to prepare for deployment, we’re leaving. I expect we’re going to need to supplement our forces too, so I’m going to take care of that while we wait.” “Ma’am.” “I’ll need to contact the outposts too, make sure everyone is ready to mobilize. Wait, actually.. maybe.. I’m getting ahead of myself. Lyun, come with me, we should discuss the enemy’s current activity. Woah, actually, are you bleeding? There is blood all over your shoulders.” Zxyd had already gone, his panic at the sudden shift visible considering two moments really wasn’t much time, but even Mheridz had gone pale. A portion of Lyun’s attire along her shoulder blades had been visibly torn away, the area coated with blood that still dripped on the floor. Actually, it didn’t so much drip as it did.. float in small flakes.
“Like you said, I’m not normally the fastest, but where we’re going.. that just won’t be acceptable. So then, I had to get creative. Just gave myself a pair of wings made from my own frost, which I can totally replace with a holo if I need to.” “But.. frost isn’t exactly the firmest thing to work with, even if it can be flexible. How could…” “Because frost and water makes ice, and that would work. Of course, I don’t exactly have a talent with water.. so I may have needed to make use of the water elements I already had. I would give you.. it’s a bit painful, but using my own blood for the process makes it really easy to control.” “By the divine, girl, what has taken you? Not even your future had resorted to such a dramatic…” “Because nothing less would be enough. I mean, it’s not like Axln hasn’t stepped up her game suddenly either. She’s not been wanting to be caught slow either, not against these numbers. Sure, she might move fast, but she doesn’t think or react quickly, not enough for herself at least. She’s hacked her own nanites to give her an accelerated performance rush, and here she’s empowered her own dust to entrance herself at will too. Not even I knew that dust elemental was effective at manipulating how people think, though she did mention that she believes she’s done this once before. I’m no expert in the healing field, but I’m pretty certain that doing either.. leaves a toll on the mind being influenced.. mostly because you can physically see the strain. Ion lines or dust marks.. even her hair goes slightly darker. I’m pretty sure she gets the worst headache too.” Lyun rubbed her own sore shoulders, Mheridz only going even more pale.
“Mother had never… This timeline is nowhere near the same anymore. You two shouldn’t be hurting yourselves so much.” “The pain is better than the loss. We need to ensure that no one perishes, not this time. Can’t do any less than giving our all if we hope to achieve that. I hope you’re willing to devote yourself too, we’re going to need you. This timeline can be saved, but only if you’re willing to devote to it.” “Seriously, what happened to you? This is almost like your usual panic.. but one that has seemed to have broken you instead.” “While we’ve been taking things easy, chaos has taken the four moons. They very possibly have the whole thing occupied, at least the major moons. Aluna and Izheelq are both under their claim, and they have been using both to sap our world from a safe and stealthy distance. According to Velvet, that’s not like them either. If our enemy is going to so suddenly change, we’re going to need to keep up.” “The moons? Hells.. but that.” “Like I said, things don’t look good, so there is no time for weakness. We will meet you there, trusting that you will gather a force that could stand in a Ruixsi defense.” Mheridz stumbled backwards as Lyun’s crimsonian wings unfurled, the woman stepping outside and taking flight. She rapidly ascended until she was far away from civilization for a suitable rift from the citadel. Once safely aboard the citadel, she put her wings away and approached Axln, the woman’s Trance Inductor Drive running strong as her hair darkened and her face was marked with dusty lines.
“Shit, these headaches are going to take some getting used to. How did things go with Mheridz?” “She seemed a bit caught off guard by our new measures, but she’s already mobilized the wardens and will be moving to grow her numbers. She’s probably got a lot of work to do to secure stellar transport too, I don’t expect foundry moon visits to be a regular thing.” “In all accounts, I don’t think aerospace is that used to going the distance either, especially in great numbers. However, I don’t really want to wait. I know we’re supposed to depend on others, but I think that’s why we should ensure that there is enough opportunity for everyone by stirring things up before they show up. We’re possibly the only ones who could pierce their fortification, and all of this was caused because they tried to avoid us.” “Heh, so, stir up some true chaos, huh? Of course, I’m in, so long as we’re going to risk ourselves in the process. We’re more than just bait, no one is allowed to die, not even ourselves. However, how do we plan to get there?” Axln smiled, as if she had been waiting for Lyun to ask that question. Such had been exactly what she had just been pouring over, and she already had an answer.
“Luna, are you here?” “Yes, inheritor, at your beck and call.” “It appears this place was once a fortress of some renown, as well as being the convoy that had originally brought people from Celese across the cosmic layer. We’re going to need both functions for this. Gather all of the citadel’s forces, we’re going to war. Our time drifting in orbit is over, so set a course for Izheelq. We’ve unloaded most of the kyumu stock already, the rest can be used as fuel. Make sure to get such also incorporated into the system, I want the core weapon replaced with an elemental burst. I’ll help to guide the process. Rosa, I’m going to have to leave you in charge of our flight path. We have no way to review things in advance and no time to consider a course of action on arrival, so I’m going to have to depend on your impulses for a smooth approach. Get creative, it’s what you’ve proven to be increasingly good at. I’ll show up on demand, though it may take some time. It seems like this is the only room that permits rifts, can’t rift or phase through anywhere else. Give me about a moment’s early notice, that should be enough for Luna to show me the way back.” Axln then promptly followed Luna from the rift chamber, keeping to the plan. Lyun turned to her own task, feeling like she may have drifted from her forte again. Navigation, that wasn’t exactly her.. but was still a better use of her effort than trying to hack revisions in instruments she still hardly understood. However, staging a grand approach for a waiting audience.. that sounded like a lot of fun. Leading a course forward, that also sounded like what Drew did every day.. something she might need to get used to if she ever planned to help him with the business.
There was no certainty of what time remained of that night, not in the dark outreaches of space beyond the Ruixsi orbit. As a result, Lyun had no certainty either in how much time had passed, but it certainly felt like an eternity longer than it actually would have been. The whole process involved rift-jumping in short bursts, giving them an overall velocity that was substantially quick and yet still heavily controlled. Eventually, instruments detected the presence of their destination’s orbit quickly on approach. Instruments also detected a vast abundance of nothing on the self-same moon, vast quantities of elements already devoured. Certainly, considering this was the world’s primary source of elementals.. the remainder of the void phase was going to be quite tight as is. They simply could not afford to let things get any worse. Instead, it would be better to deliver elements back to the moon, an idea that was supposedly all too possible. She made use of the navigation system to open communication with Axln.
“We’re pretty much here, are things ready on your side?” “Oh, yeah, it looks good here. Obviously I haven’t tested things out yet, but I’ll be on my way.” “I’ll start our introduction off then by putting your work to the test. Luna, prepare to unleash the core, I want the most intense demonstration possible.” “Hey! I wanted to see stuff too!” “Well, you do know that visibility from here is trash, right. I’m getting readings but not actually visuals, I don’t even know what our enemy looks like. My plan is to cut open a path and then make our descent.. so that we could see stuff for ourselves.” “Oh, so you want to rift down?” “What? I’ve been waiting to try one of those drop pods for ages, this is such a great opportunity. They generate an intense stone burst on impact too, so we’ve got some deterancy to keep us safe with. That’s possibly a lot more than a quick rift would offer.” “Lyun, you do know that the drop pods weren’t designed for squishy people, right?” “Oh, I know, they were designed for instrumental weapons.. so cybernetic warriors like us, right? I mean, we’re practically living weapons, it’s the same thing.” “I would call you crazy, but I worry it’s contagious. After all, I’m pretty sure I could reach a drop pod much faster than I could get back there. Fire away, I’ll meet you on the ground.” Lyun’s expression took up a diabolical grin once administered with Axln’s approval. It was finally time to let loose, to attain her vengeance against the chaos that has haunted her.
The sprawl of chaos on the moon turned its attention skyward, a passing star stopping to grace its presence and attention. This assumed star lit up brightly without warning, the chamber below spiralling open in a condensation of pale fire. Meanwhile, the twelve spires on its far side revolved around, turning to the ground in a rapidly growing surge of black lightning. Such a great fortress had also waited for so long for it’s moment to shine once again.. and shine it did, with an intensity that could be seen from even Ruixse. The maw of death opened wide, containing both the roar of a dragon and the ferocity of a storm eye, legends beyond the veil realized in form. The dual intensity of such a monstrosity struck down in full force, scourging the very stone with a wave that rippled nova wider than the moon itself. Only the blast itself was dangerous, but even that was of a size that was larger than the academy, larger than their society, leaving a crater that still surged with power. Within that desolation of the elements, two comets fell, as if a prophecy of the end. The blazing of both was little more than candles compared to the desolation which had just occurred, but the potential held within could be felt by chaos reaching far beyond. The betrayer had arrived, bringing with it a scourge of principles. As each drop pod broke open, true chaos was unleashed.
Axln stepped free from her pod, her face marred by dust marks, the pain dulled in an unrelenting fury. Her circlet was active, searching her immediate area for viable targets, her power gear’s protection keeping her safe from both the moon’s unforgiving conditions and the scourge of elements they added unto it. Darkness enveloped her, and she was gone, rifting across the distance towards her nearest opponent. The first didn’t even see her coming, the passage of shadows tearing wide the space it had originally occupied, ripping it’s existence apart. She turned to the next, her cybernetic arm enveloped in shadows as she struck down. This foe however was prepared, pulsing out a wave of force that sent her flying away. She teleported an instant later, already back on the attack before her enemy could react, her dust infusion keeping her on track even when interrupted, her reflexes being unparalleled. This time, her foe took grievous wounds from the attack, though such was not enough to end it. Such didn’t matter, she simply turned to relentlessly continue her attacks without hesitation.
Lyun however did not step from her pod, she soared from it, her wings having reformed behind her once again. Her initial strike had left her savouring more opportunity, craving more vengeance, she was hungry for more.. and so the pain from the process mattered little to her. Finding the nearest enemy, she went in for a rapid descent, a swirl of frost encompassing her enemy in a frozen prison that quickly collapsed, leaving nothing behind. As she turned around for another climb, she found herself struck from the air, crashing to the ground by the might of another fiend. Sparkles of frost ignited into an unrelenting flame that erupted from the ground beneath her enemy, sending it flying into a spear of frost she scorn downward upon it. Her foe fled, leaving her to turn her attention to other opportunities, still feeling very unsatiated.
Axln poured sand across the emblazoned stone, molten glass forming in a rising pool into the shape of a misformed blob. A dark shadow passed through such glassy form, rendering a reflection of everything else around it in the process. She then passed such a form to her elusive enemy, the mirror adopting it’s stance and form. It was chaos against chaos, but her chaos wasn’t quite so primitive. When her enemy struck, the attack didn’t even register, as if it had attacked itself. Of course such attacks do nothing to simple chaos. However, the mirror version repeated the same motions, the shadow of the mirror striking afterwards. This infusion of dark elemental struck soundly, crushing the fiend in a collapsing fold of reality.
Lyun turned to her retreating opponent, chasing it in flight. However, it was already on guard, she would need to change things up in order to make a difference. In mid air, she shifted principles, her crimsonian wings quickly replaced by a holo projection in much the same figure. Of course, a holo did not simply work this way, not normally. She was not only flickering frames faster than a person could imagine, she was also empowering her holo with pure ionic energy. Rivulettes of energy poured in streams from her wings as she soared, an ionic barrier keeping her safe from her surroundings. This barrier of pure energy lit ablaze as she made a direct dive for her enemy, tackling it head on with unrelenting momentum. The sparks of ions flared around, consuming every last vestige of its presence.
Immediately after one rift, Axln found herself switched over to scientific principles. In no hesitation, she found herself infused once again, her trance inductor drive going strong with an ionic pulse. Wrapping into the ions, she made her next instant jump in a lightspeed burst, all as if nothing had even changed. Her hand was now ablaze with wild ions, a fist clenched in pure power. She approached her next opponent, crashing down at it. The fiend however reacted, dodging promptly out of the way, but Axln spun around mid momentum. The fiend braced for impact, going flying with the overall momentum instead of bearing the brunt of it. However, the same fiend promptly crashed into a holo wall, the wall surging with ionic force. Axln was quick to take advantage of Lyun’s intervention, coming down again upon her foe with brutal force. The blast did not end it.. but Lyun dropping the holo wall upon it did.
The two had thus successfully managed to deal with five fiends already, even if they were of the more normal variety. The two of them looked up at the nineteen thousand fiends that then turned upon them, with considerably more waves right behind them, the fiends determined to overwhelm their two foes.
Luminaeris 