Apocalypse RK: Advance of Darkness
The strange army had gathered quickly. Beasts of every nature had gathered at the southern most point of Greater Omni Forest. Mutants and rhino men, mostly the rhino men seemed somehow changed. Their hair was black and gray and their builds seemed larger than normal. The mutants carried weapons and wore patchwork armor. They marched in orderly rows and columns northwestward. Almost the entirety of pleasant meadows was a sheet of living movement. The army seemed to grow as it advanced.
“The army seems to be advancing past Omni-1. Like they don’t even care it’s there.” Ramiyana observed as he studied the holographic 3-D map spread across the tabletop.
“They don’t, their heading to Galway….There’s a natural formation there that seems to have a strange energy build up in the center of it. Poole…you know the area with the natural pyramids.” Zargin said pointing at the large blue area on the map. “Some sort of force field is keeping our scouts out. Whatever is in there is probably the driving force behind this whole invasion.”
“What’s Omni doing?” Aazamon asked also studying the map.
“So far intel supports that they have not made any aggressive moves but they are buiding their own forces around Omni-1.” Zargin answered.
“And Rome?” Aazamon asked.
“Also building forces but nothing nearly as heavy as Omni-1. It’s safe to assume Omni believes the army will go after Omni-1 first if they attack at all.” Zargin pointed to Omni-1 while he explained.
“Hmmm…Rome” Aazamon said as he thought. “Like a back door isn’t it…”
“What?” Ramiyana asked looking quizzically at Aazamon.
“Well think about it. If you wanted to take over the main opposition but knew that attacking the front door was gonna be tough what would you do?” Aazamon asked never looking away from the map.
“Use the back door…It would be much easier to take Rome and then use it as a gate to Omni-1. I hope They catch on or it’s going to be a slaughter.” Ramiyana said sighing.
“Even if they do it won’t do them any good. Look here. See this part of the formation? They seem to be lagging behind. If I were going to do it I would want to keep the Omni-1 forces occupied enough to take their attention away from the real threat in Rome. That way you can maximize the chance of success. “ Zargin leaned forward and took a closer look at the map. “Aazamon is right their going to take Rome first and use it as a bridge to take Omni-1”
For several more minutes the three men studied the map and made observations about movements from the massive dark army and Omni military forces. Their planning would greatly depend on the outcome of the dark armies war with Omni-Tek. All they could do for now was plan for the possible outcomes and hope for the best one.
“…So that settles it then. Ramiyana contact Slinger and Kali, tell them to get back here as quickly as they can. Zargin make sure we’re ready on the southern front.” Aazamon flipped a switch and watched the holo-map fade away. “Come on guys lets move.” Aazamon said after noticing neither man had moved.
“Minister what about Titan?” Zargin asked finally after a long pause.
Aazamon stood in silence for a short while. “I don’t know yet.” He said almost in a whisper. “I honestly don’t know…”
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The vault was dark. The only sound to be heard was the occasional mechanical noises made by the robots who patrolled the void surrounding it. Inside Titanmage was completely silent. His body in a state of hibernation while his mind wondered away from the prison and into the wilds of Rubi-Ka. He imagined himself sitting under a tree on a hilltop that overlooked the lands of Andromeda. There he hummed a song he had learned from a friend three decades ago while he was wondering the deserts.
There are no hero’s anymore
They’ve all been taken by the war
So please stop knocking on my door
My weapons on the floor
There are no hero’s anymore.
Again and again he hummed the song. He seemed more relaxed now than he ever had before. A carefree spirit without a care in the world. He soaked in the calm peaceful surroundings and let himself feel completely happy for once.
“Hmm hmm hmmm da da dada….There are no hero’s anymore…” he sang to himself then began to whistle the rest of the tune.
“Very nice song Titan.” A sweet melodious voice chimed in from above him. A voice Titan had not heard in what seemed like ages but remembered instantly. He looked up to see a friendly familiar face looking down at him.
“Well…Fleshreaper” Titan said with a smile and stood up to greet his visitor. “Guess my body gave out sooner than I thought it would. To bad really, oh well. How are ya lass?”
“Your body is just fine brother. I’m here to help you.” The floating Fleshreaper spoke quietly.
“Help me?” Titan asked almost seeming amused. “Why would you think I need help?”
“You’ve been imprisoned.” Fleshreaper stated simply.
“Only my body…when I was a priest I learned this trick. Releasing the spirit from the body while it rests and traveling to a more pleasant place isn’t very difficult. Just takes an understanding of meta-physical realm manipulation.” Titan shrugged
“Your talents are ever expanding brother, though you may be content to stay there are those who need your talents to aid their survival.” Fleshreaper turned to look at the horizon. “Come with me.”
Within a flash of light the two spirits were instantly found standing on a rock cliff overlooking a massive marching army clad in black and gray. Rhino men with spears and swords, gun toting mutants, goffles and hammerheads used as riding mounts and various other creatures mixed into the mass. The pit dragons roared and stomped their way forward making the smaller creatures scatter when they moved. The army could be seen trailing back for miles.
“This is what your brothers and sisters are preparing to face.” Fleshreaper said pointing the massive advancing army.
“Be realistic lass, there isn’t anything I could do to help even the odds. I may be able to do some things others can’t but I couldn’t help against something like this.” Titan said scanning the army.
“You have powers you haven’t even unlocked brother. Rubi-Ka has chosen her guardians well. You were chosen to possess a great power and responsibility, not because your ‘Titan’ but because you have your own special gifts.” Fleshreaper placed her hand on Titanmage’s shoulder as she spoke.
“Aazamon would have been better suited for the mothers gift of power. Every time I draw from the planet I feel incredible. I feel like I can take on…” Titan stopped and looked at Fleshreaper almost hatefully.
She smiled. “Like you could take on an entire army.”
“Even with Rubi-ka’s own power as a weapon I couldn’t do it.” Titan said looking back at the sea of marching monsters. “No one could.”
“Let me show you something else.” Fleshreaper grasped Titanmages hand and with another flash of light they were floating in the air above a giant black energy sphere that hovered at the center of three Pyramids. Arcs of energy rolled from side to side and from top to bottom. It was enormous and could be seen quite clearly from a great distance.
“What is that?” Titan asked in a whisper leaning forward, narrowing his brow and donning an intense look of concentration.
“That is Core.” Fleshreaper explained. “The driving force behind the dark monster army. Core is a demon that has been resting in a dimensional rift.”
“Demon…Well that would explain why he’s hanging around.” Titan muttered to himself.
“Yes, Core is the reason I am still here.” Harvester said making Titan whip around and glide back a few feet in surprise.
“I should have expected you to show up sooner or later.” Titan growled. “Well if you’re here to take out this Core guy then why not just do it now?”
“I can’t.” Harvester moved closer to the black sphere. “That sphere is keeping everything out. I can’t get past it.”
“What about Lilly?” Titan asked
“She needs the barrier sphere broken before she can capture Core.” Harvester explained as if it were just common knowledge. “Even then Core will not come easily. He is one of the seven Demon lords who escaped his realm. A tough battle.”
“Nice.” Titan muttered sarcastically.
“Brother, I have one last thing to show you.” Fleshreaper placed her hand on Titan’s shoulder and the two vanished.
Harvester stayed floating above the black sphere and stared at it for a few moments. Then he too vanished. With the disappearance of the three spirit’s a sinister, confident, cold laugh came from inside the sphere.
Fleshreaper and Titanmage appeared just as the monsters charged the defenses of Rome. Cannons sprayed the advancing line dropping mutants and rhino men in a useless effort to stay the line. Tromping over their own dead the beasts advanced and soon overtook the cannons and troops lining the walls. Guns fired streams of bullets and energy bolts back and forth in a seemingly endless web of arcs and lines which lit the skies. Explosions shattered walls and flung man and creature alike into the air with tremendous force separating limbs from bodies. Titan watched as the battle raged on and Omni-Tek’s great city of Rome struggled to keep the ever growing army at bay. He watched as Rhinomen spears ripped the flesh of soldiers and the guns and cannons of the mutants racked human bodies with pain and death. A grim anger paled Titan’s face.
“Soon, Rome will fall…” Fleshreaper sounded sad. “After Rome and Omni-1 the armies will advance north.
“Borealis…” Titan whispered suddenly terrified. “The valley.”
“Our brothers and sisters will not survive a battle of this magnitude. You know this as well as I, as well as Aazamon and the council.”
Silence was the only response Fleshreaper received from Titanmage as he continued to watch the fall of Rome unfold before his eyes.
*************************************
Aazamon , the Generals, some senior members of the guard and veteran mages watched on vid-screens as the two sides collided in battle. Stern serious faces darkened each person as they stared intently at the images. After several moments Aazamon stepped in front of the screens.
“Analysis by the computers tell us that Rome and Omni-1 will fall within a days time. Which means our time is running out. We all know that with what we have we can’t hold a front against the dark army for long. So we need a plan.”
“We’ll have to use a fall back tactic. Hold Borealis for as long as we can then fall back to Newland. Hold there then fall back again.” Zargin suggested.
“And what happens when we run out of places to fall back to?” Aazamon asked.
“We can’t…if Omni-Tek is defeated…How do we suppose we stand even a sliver of a chance?” Alpha asked.
“I’m betting on Omni forces slimming down the army well enough that we might be able to take them.” Ramiyana said almost to himself.
“What would Titan--”
Aazamon slammed his fist down on the table cutting the question short. Everyone paused and stared at him.
“Titan is gone. We have to accept and move past that. We have to work with what we have!” A small pause clarified Everyone’s solemn mood. “We’ve all seen the schematic to the vault…Titan is gone. He was a great asset while he was here, but we don’t have him anymore. So lets work with what we do have.” Aazamon turned his attention back to the screens. “Advancing on the army in the open would be suicide…Our best option is to hold Borealis. We could send small strike forces to decrease the armies numbers, but I’m not sure it’s worth the risks. Suggestions?” Aazamon turned and was met with silence. “We may only have hours before they arrive.”
“It’s a hopeless battle Sir…” Lydadoc lowered her head.
“If we are going to die then I want that dark army to remember how difficult it was to take us down. I want them to remember the Nanomage Liberation Front was their toughest challenge! I want them to work for their victory over us! I want them to wonder if it was a victory at all! I want them to suffer enough loss by our hands to wish they had never faced us! I want to crush their oh so mighty high spirit before this is done! I want to give them such a fight they could swear they fought the gods themselves!!” Aazamon’s speech raised the spirits of the mages and Guard into a roar of war cries as he raised his gun over his head. “Now lets figure out how to strike the fear of gods into these beasts.” He continued.
