Chapter 61

“Was anything found amongst the Most High’s library to illuminate the situation with Beog?” Karkol asked Brnnt as they took a break from going over the military preparations that Crnnch was undertaking on Vultoq.

“A lot of ancient history as to how Beog came to be the god of the Yr’ch as well as his betrayal of Chakra, the TechnoYr’ch who built the first Orb as well as the first dimension gates,” Brnnt replied.

“I often wondered about that. If he was one of us, then he’d still be alive, hence I always suspected Beog killed him.”

“There were several prayer mantras to speak or summon Beog, but none of them worked. I’m beginning to think Beog has abandoned us ... or, unlikely as it sounds, is dead.”

“Who or what could kill a god? Surely only another god,” Karkol mused.

“Well, we know it wasn’t Ar-Thenna. She would have told the Seeker and he’d have passed it onto us,” Brnnt replied thoughtfully.

“This is true,” Karkol nodded. “At the moment though the Council’s priorities are in keeping a lid on the fact that Beog will no longer answer a Beoghra’s pleas.”

“Yes, it’s all very entertaining, if somewhat galling, for them to no longer be the top waarg in the feeding pit,” Brnnt laughed.

Both Archimandrites suddenly stiffened as they noticed a presence observing them from the other side of the room, before relaxing and greeting their goddess.

“So, Beog is dead,” Brnnt finally stated after Athena had brought them up to speed on the current situation.

“Yes, Brnnt, and we don’t know by whom or what, but suspect it has something to do with the original god of the Vultoqi,” Athena replied gravely.

“Does this mean you will be operating here from now on?” Karkol asked.

“Yes,” she replied before walking over to the two Archimandrites and placing her hands on their heads and uttering a blessing which gave them access to her power. “It’s not a lot, but it will give you the means to protect yourselves and heal others,” she explained.

“Thank you, my goddess,” both Archimandrites responded with love and awe.

“What you can do is slip the video feed of my appeal to your people into the temple feeds here on Draenoric. My allies will not be operating here yet as they’ll be concentrating still on Vultoq, but the more followers I have here, the more power you’ll have access to.”

“It shall be done,” Brnnt nodded, having to resist the urge to prostrate himself before her.

“Thank you, Brnnt and you Karkol,” she replied with an exquisite smile before she faded out.

“To work then, brother,” Brnnt stated.

“Yes, I have a copy of Ar-Thenna’s appeal. I can apply it via Dastur Vuch’s console. The lazy slob will be at an extended lunch about now and he always leaves it open,” Karkol chuckled.

“Good. I don’t know how they did it, but once it goes in, it becomes untraceable,” Brnnt grinned.

“And finally we’ll be able to free our people and change our destiny,” Karkol added as he sobered up.

“That we will, brother. Now, go with the blessings of Ar-Thenna.”

“You too, brother.”

“We have just completed the first ring of defences, Seeker,” Adept Slaarg announced as he stepped into Crnnch’s office.

“Praise Ar-Thenna,” Crnnch sighed as the stress from trying to get some form of defence built to protect the hordes had been, at times, approaching overwhelming.

“We have started on the secondary and the plans for the tertiary fortifications are prepared,” Slaarg added.

“Expedite them as swiftly as possible, starting with the most likely attack routes to give the primary defences some form of back-up.”

“By your command, Seeker,” Slaarg saluted before leaving.

“We have another group of converts scheduled for this evening, Seeker,” Kurl, who had been sitting quietly doing various forms of paperwork, announced.

“How many does that make?”

“Just under 8,000.”

“Not as many as I’d hoped,” Crnnch sighed.

“Not many of the hordes here survived, Seeker. I suspect the numbers are much higher amongst the civilians.”

“True, unfortunately we can’t conscript them as yet ... at least, not selectively.”

“Hopefully the 8,000 will supplement the grunts already within the fortifications to at least be able to make it costly for the adelshaut creatures.”

“Yes, though more would be better as they have too much area to cover each,” Crnnch nodded.

“More is always better when it comes to military operations,” Kurl chuckled. “A good fight would be most welcome now as we have the senior TechnoYr’ch once again trying to interfere in our fortification building by demanding we give back control of the nanite plants to his people.”

“In person, or just another memo?”

“Came via the plant manager, so just another memo, I believe. But it needs responding to, to cover his behind as, to be honest, he’s working his arse off to get us the various build trucks produced and in place.”

“Yes, the co-operation from them was both surprising and welcome,” Crnnch nodded.

“I think the Vultoqi make them nervous.”

“They make me nervous; it is only by good fortune and the help of Ar-Thenna and her allies that we have survived so far.”

“They will continue to help, I’m sure, Seeker,” Kurl replied.

“Yes, they promised. That’s why we built the various sally ports in the defences as per Ar-Thenna and Rahksahn’s specifications to permit them to counter the Vultoqi whilst we fight from cover.”

“It goes against the grain to fight behind someone else,” Kurl sighed.

“It does, but they have proven they can survive in that environment. Sadly most of us would only be waarg fodder.”

“This is true, Seeker, however much I wish it wasn’t.”

“How have the Drow settled in?” Roxanne asked Arch after the morning briefing which was quite short as the teams weren’t being engaged on any missions until the Vultoqi made their move.

“Pretty good. Brinont and Quruth are still taking them through basic field tactics, but they’re quick learners and we didn’t have to teach them to shoot other than explaining how their weapon worked as they’re all pretty much crack shots,” he replied at length.

“Yes, I kind of gathered from watching them that they’d be regarded as elite troop materiel in a lot of armies,” Roxanne nodded. “Though I’m never going to say that in front of them.”

“Proof will be when we deploy them in the various bunkers Crnnch had built for us under Athena’s plans,” Arch replied. “I have a feeling that the Orcs will struggle and it’s not like we can be everywhere at once.”

“Well, at least Crnnch managed to get in the first ring of fortifications, which at least gives them a chance. Their biggest problem is still their weaponry, the projectile firing ones that is. They just aren’t powerful enough to penetrate a Vultoqi’s hide ... even assuming it breaches their shield.”

“Yes, their beam weapons aren’t bad, if slow to recharge. Even then they’re not enough individually to breach a shield unless it’s within the range of one of their or our scramblers,” Arch agreed. “Best way is still a Null bullet, though again, the Drow don’t cope to well in Null’s vicinity.”

“I’ve converted several thousand rounds into shield breakers for them and they can use Null tipped swords too,” I added.

“Good, shame that Drow poison doesn’t work on a Vultoqi though,” Arch nodded.

“Only works on carbon-based life forms,” I shrugged.

“True,” Arch chuckled. “How’s the interrogation of that Vultoqi going?”

“It isn’t,” Roxanne sighed. “Damned thing’s got a hell of a mindblock as well as being too radically different from us to use or adapt an Artello cap too.”

“Wondered why you were keeping it on the empty world the other side of Nansack, was all.”

“Well, the Seers aren’t sure if it can find a way through the cage they built, so I made an executive decision not to permit it to the Loegrian side base here. Athena agreed as well as she can’t get through either.”

“Not even with her new followers?” Arch frowned as Athena now had over a hundred thousand followers in several towns on this planet, not counting the various ones on the remaining Orc worlds.

“Not according to her, and she’d know,” I chuckled.

“I’d expect an ‘upgrade’ if she gets over a million, though that’s only a guess on my part,” Roxanne added with a grin.

“So long as she remains our Athena ... to a certain extent,” Arch replied with his own grin.

“Pretty sure Gregorius will make sure she does,” Roxanne nodded. “Now, I want the pair of you to begin planning a series of missions on Draenoric ... to spread the word that is, not sabotage. At least until the Seers can figure out where the missing Orbs are on the remaining Orc worlds.”

“We’ll get straight on it,” Arch replied along with my nod.

“Use Team John to do any missions. I’m going to be using Teams Alice, Heimdor and Naimh on the front lines, along with the Nosferatu, Mazdani, wolves, Azurans, Gorgons, Loegrians and any of our people who want to.”

“Bet there’s a few Seers volunteer along with Ceridwen’s crew,” I chuckled, watching Roxanne’s face grimace slightly.

“Aye, but there’s no help for it, the rules are the same for Seers as they are for the rest of us, the Council agreed that, during the Mage war against the Daoine Sidhe.”

“Like the Seers gave them a choice with the threat of mass resignations and a promise to do it anyway,” I replied with a grin.

“Heh, true! As it is, you’re right about the various science teams volunteering under Mage Ceridwen, including Xi and the medic Mages.”

“Thought they would. A lot of them are veterans of the Mage war anyway, including Harmel and Sinnead,” Arch chuckled.

“Aye, but Vultoqi aren’t Daoine Sidhe and aren’t likely to be so obliging in their tactics,” Roxanne frowned.

“We’ll still need experienced commanders if or when we do take to the field against them,” Arch shrugged.

“Unless we can find effective weaponry that doesn’t require Null, that’s unlikely.”

“The Loegrians are manufacturing the self-activating Null bullets in quantity now, but require a power pack modification to the assault rifles to activate them. Vilton is currently in Loegria sorting it out for the various weapons we have, though he admits there’s no way we can adapt it for pistols,” I added.