Colony Drop Pt I

Jagged chunks of severed crystal jutted out like titanic blades. Their reach extended into the open air, with nothing but pearlescent sea beyond them, save for a single enormous structure. It hovered above the placid water in quiet waiting, as its innumerable drilling machina hung unused. Buildings lined its cylindrical exterior, rising in unison towards a single steel tower that pointed to the heavens in defiance.

This was the mining colony of Thrux, home to seventeen thousand Silence workers, families, and operational officials. Those officials, known as Enforcers, were now holding the other seventeen thousand hostage as they waited to hear from the heretics that were leading the Revolution. They were waiting to hear from Attis the Hopeful Herald, Azag the Great Guardian, and Sayane the Songstress Supreme.

Erosc the Undying and Xentros the Blood Father were at their door, but it was those other three names that had been whispered in hallways and homes in the quiet of night. Those three were the ones behind everything that had changed so quickly. Those three would be the ones who decided their fates and the fates of the others on that colony that now floated above oblivion.

Four dozen Revolution airships and attack craft hung in the air around the colony. Metal paneling held crews and weaponry along the raw bodies of levitation crystals. Gunnery rings spun patiently from the floating armaments they were tethered to. Behind them all, the colossus-class carrier waited, sending waves of stabilization energy out like storm surges. It was once an imperial shipping freighter- far too slow for true combat, but a perfect mobile base or, as it was now, a transport vessel for former Silencers who were willing to surrender to the Revolution.

Though they had a numerical advantage, Erosc was still cautious. Their vessels were made of ancient magworks and machina. So much of the world had been built long before they had arrived, and these ships were no different. Weapons were dated and unreliable. Maneuvering wasn’t perfect. But the empire had forsaken all of that for the sake of advancement and magetech. Advances in machina and death dealing had made them a terror that devoured the world, so even things as simple as a mining colony could be more dangerously armed than an entire Revolutionary fleet.

The fleet was still as cooling breezes brought scents of the sea to their noses. Barrels waited like hounds. Chambers were loaded with sacred wrath. Sparking beam accelerators crackled and sparked as they begged to be used. But Erosc held the attack. He was waiting for the Trine Sovereign.

He was getting old. Vraxlyn’s wound to his chest hadn’t healed properly. Bone was fusing to bone in a misaligned, frantic seam, causing every breath to come with a slight tearing sensation. Scarred knuckles were raised from years of holding a blade. Ligament hardening made it so that his fist never seemed to fully relax. Every clanging slam of his great axe sent concussive force into his wrists and shoulders that lingered long after battles were over. He was almost done with his duty, but this last battle seemed to be beyond his command.

Back at the Ethereum, the conflict within the Council had paused. No one spoke as the audience waited to see what would occur. Aids raced to Sayane, Azag, and Attis, delivering the imperial voice carriers they still had on hand.

“What do they want?” Azag asked Erosc on the internal carrier.

“They won’t say. We cleared the outer garrisons with ease, but when we reached the colony, they sent a broadcast ordering us to stand down or they would drop themselves into the sea.”

Sayane’s throat seized. This wasn’t what she wanted. So little of this was what she wanted. No matter how deeply she inhaled, she felt faint. This was supposed to be the last Silence base. Then they would finally have some manner of control of the situation. No more fearing what was lurking in the shadows. No more hiding. All that was supposed to remain were a few disparate stragglers still beholden to the empire.

But now, they were faced with a crisis.

She wasn’t a hostage negotiator. She was just a girl who sang.

That didn’t stop the imperial voice carrier from activating in its haunting red. Static hissed, then the frequency attuned itself. The entirety of the Ethereum leaned forward to listen. Azag took Sayane’s hand. Attis cleared his throat.

“This is Attis the Hopeful Herald. I am here with Azag the Great Guardian and Sayane the Songstress Supreme. We are the Trine Sovereign- leaders of the Revolution and New World. Who do we address?”

There was a pause, then a nervous voice spoke.

“This is Commandant Enforcer Saiax of the Red Suns. Lead supervisor of the imperial colony of Thrux. I order you to withdraw your fleet, led by Erosc the Undying. We will not surrender to you. If you do not, we will embrace oblivion. Empire or Oblivion was our command, and we shall honor it before we give ourselves to your heresy.”

“EMPIRE OR OBLIVION!” panicked voices shouted in the background.

Screams drowned them out.

“No, please! We do not want this!”

“We are just workers, not soldiers!”

“We do not want this; we want our families safe!”

“Please, LEAVE! Leave us alone and let us live!!”

“Oh gods,” Sayane whispered.

Attis glanced at them in concern.

Sayane tried to think. There had to be something from either life that could be helpful. They’d been trained to navigate awkward fan encounters. She had media training to know how to field uncomfortable questions. Mandatory security sessions had kept them prepared for stalkers and paparazzi. But this was beyond any of that. She couldn’t speak, and neither could the other two.

They could not let the imperial colony exist as it was. Giving a potential base to those outlying pockets of warriors would be dangerous. Allowing the wound of the empire to fester without treating all of its remnants at once was asking for the infection of hate to return. But they didn’t want everyone to die.

Azag’s throat finally unlocked long enough to speak.

“Enforcers, this is Azag the Great Guardian. You do not need to do this. If you wish to take your own lives, we will allow it. Every Silence fighter has been allowed that dignity by the right of the New World. But your citizens should also be allowed to choose to live.”

Attis nodded in approval, and Sayane squeezed his hand.

“Please, we don’t want any more blood to be spilled. You have our word; none will be harmed or humiliated,” Sayane added.

“Songstress. You are real,” the voice replied in surprise.

“I… I am.”

“You broke our empire. Everything has fallen apart. None of us wanted this…” the disembodied voice said.

In the strangest of ways, Sayane found herself relating to the frightened voice. As she leaned forward to speak, her focus lingered on the voice carrier. Four months ago, it would have been absolutely foreign, with its glowing crystal chunk bound by twisting machina and polished steel.

“In so many ways, I didn’t either…” Sayane offered.

There was a risk in admitting that, especially in front of the public and the divided council. Still, she had to say it. Static whispered from the carrier as the voice waited. Sayane closed her eyes and did her best to think of nothing but her words.

“I was just a girl who sang. But then I died, and I wound up here. I wanted to sing and help make the world a better place. I didn’t want people to hurt anymore. I still don’t want that. But it’s getting harder and harder to do that. Please, help me keep everyone safe. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to hurt anyone.”

The trio held their breath as they waited for an answer.

“…”

“…No.”

Sayane’s eyes widened.

“No. Em-Emp…”

“EMPIRE OR OBLIVION!!!”

“EMPIRE OR OBLIVION!!!”

There was a clanking reverb as the imperial voice carrier was dropped. Sounds of cathartic, ruthless blaster fire and horrified screams drifted up from the glowing red. Chants of ‘empire or oblivion’ continued until they devolved into sobbing shouts.