4th May
20:03 GMT -5
Much as this
sucks, as planetary invasions
go…
Sivana grins menacingly as he flips the switch on his hex-generator, and the sky
ripples as the
harvest-ship that has been eating its way through what's left of Detroit suddenly loses its wards and becomes visible. It had been a disturbing sight: factories and homes just vanishing without rhyme or reason, and unlike with the raiding bands it isn't just a matter of hunkering down until the invisibility spells lose power. I don't know what they can do Sheeda-side, but on a magically active planet like modern Earth the ships can keep it up indefinitely. Not just invisible to the electromagnetic spectrum but almost unthinkable.
The arcane engineers in the Queen's employ will realise what's happening at once, and they'll shout warnings. I can already see insect-riders rising from the stable-bays-.
"
It would be so easy…"
Sivana's hands are twitching over the console which controls his
other tools-.
I shake my head. "Doctor, the Queen isn't even
here. I didn't
like letting them destroy our shipyard in Kenya, but I did it because I knew it was necessary. If you can't control yourself-."
"I
know. But to have-" A light comes on. "-them…" He recovers his smile. "There. They're calling for aid."
Jon and Sam agreed to pulling back US military assets once we discovered where the harvest ship was. They may not be real
warships, but their beam weapons would shred pretty much anything that could be sent against it. The only avenue of attack is to take advantage of the fact that it has relatively low power reserves, and… You'd have to maintain a constant attack for days and take
tremendous casualties to make that matter. China decided to ignore my advice and try that after their nuclear strike failed, and… It
will work. After about a week and the deaths of half a million soldiers.
No. We need the Queen to deploy Castle Revolving somewhere we can get at it. And given how they
really don't want to lose the harvesters…
BOOM!
Kill.
Two blaster-equipped drone squadrons fly out of the boom tubes and fly at the Sheeda air cavalry. I learned the
painful way that any attack that doesn't kill them lets them adapt their armour spells to nullify it, which forced me to bench my entire purple death ray force. Ah, yes, the Sheeda have spotted them-.
"They're calling again. Do it
now!"
My eyes flick his way for a moment. "I'm choosing to interpret that as a
request."
I raise my
right arm, fusion cannon construct manifesting as I point it at the harvest ship. Which thanks to Circe hasn't spotted us yet, though that will soon change. This time the gun manifests differently, the
ongoing terror of everyone left in the city and the fear of a world under assault meaning that I can afford to put a little more pressure on things.
Let's see. Don't want to knock the ship out
completely…
There.
Here I Stand.
I aim at a point just above and to the left of the primary harvesting array. And I
fire, a blinding line connecting me to my target and punching through the far side.
Face Me!
I step up onto the bonnet of an abandoned car and stride down the roofs of empty vehicles, Circe's ward evaporating around m-.
One of the harvest ship's underslung beam weapons orientates on me and fires, an entropic ray about a metre across hitting me on the upper right side of my chest. The crashed vehicles behind me decay in moments
but I'm a New God. I am fuelled by the Source. And I did just shoot out about two thirds of the power relays to the lower platform. That probably helps.
I target the gun and fire again as I continue my advance, neatly shearing off the gun that shot me.
"Face me, Queen of the Sheeda!" WHERE IS YOUR NAME, THAT IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS?!
For a New God, that's throwing down the gauntlet. A demand that they confront the one shouting it, and a gamble from the one shouting it. Because if they demonstrate their nature and successfully slight
yours, you get a
very long term disadvantage using New God technology and God-powers against them. Of course, by making such a bold statement you get a boost and if you can make your claim of superiority
stick then you keep it. To anyone else it's pretty much just an insult: strongly implying that since they're not one of us that they are ultimately unable to effect a change of any significance.
But it's still God-speech. A challenge shouted on a thaumically active planet. So when the Queen gets a request for help… If we're
right, then she'll think of this as a personal insult and turn up to put me in my place. If not? Well, then I get a free harvest ship.
With the challenge issued and unanswered, my armour's ability to resist attacks by anyone working for the Queen is magnified… To a point. An unanswered attack will still weaken it, but only if the attack actually does something and is
entirely unanswered. I don't have to spend the rest of eternity chasing down one guy who got a lucky hit in. But as the gunners on the back of the Sheeda flies try to find time to focus on the ground targets that they're designed for while the drivers duck and dive to try and avoid the blaster shots… They must recognise them by now. A couple who-. Ah, they're tanking shots, they've already acquired immunity. I could
probably power through it using-
Red beams from their entropic rays hit my chest to very little effect.
-my God powers, but that would imply that they were significant enough to warrant it.
I raise both forearms in their direction,
generate pulse plasma guns on both forearms and open fire.
I do add a little of my own power to the shots to make my point, because there's nothing quite like a coup de grâce that misses to make a person look foolish.
What emerges from the guns are barely visible flickers of burning white, each existing only for moment before losing their heat to the surrounding environment. But in that moment they punch through Sheeda fly wings and harnesses, causing mutant insects and riders to tumble through the air and crash uncontrollably into the ravaged city.
Looks like Sheeda armour isn't very good at absorbing kinetic shocks. Worth remembering. I
drop the construct on my left forearm and aim the one on the right at the fliers trying and failing to duel with the far more agile drones-.
And there's the
castle. There's no transition; it doesn't shimmer or generate any kind of portal I can see, even with my goggles. One moment local airspace contains drones, insect riders and a harvest ship and the next there's a giant… 'Lump of radioactive coral' would be my best stab at describing it.
I don't know exactly what the glowing green bits do but it's somewhat irrelevant. By answering my challenge, Queen Gloriana Tenebrae has created a link between us. I
might be able to exploit that unaided, but-
I twist the knob on Circe's amulet, which starts sparking.
-why have friends if you're not going to exploit them?
"Hush tube."
Stand before me.
"Ping."
"Sivana-."
"Lex is already en-route."
"Good show. See you shortly."
Because while I can probably kill the Queen, stopping the ship is a dicier prospect. But what the heck? I
dismiss my gun construct, fold my arms behind my back and walk through the hush tube in an utterly unhurried manner.
And I appear in front of the Queen's throne, Sheeda I assume to be the command crew at stations around the room and what must either be her bodyguards or her handmaidens crouched at her calves.
…
The bondage theme is
strong in this one.
"Queen Gloriana Tenebrae?"
Guns and blades are drawn and I affect an air of being utterly unimpressed.
"I will now permit you to surrender."