Chapter 82

“That’s it,” Gregorius announced to the morning meeting. “All the true Yr’ch, except essential military personnel, are back on Draenoric. The expansion is coping with them and we’re getting more co-operation daily from those groups who are running out of supplies and see converting to Athena as a viable option for survival.”

“True converts or simply ones of convenience?” Roxanne asked.

“Majority of males are of convenience ... at least until they run into Athena. The females are all true converts; Athena just fits their psyche perfectly.”

“What of those groups who have resorted to banditry?”

“We’re dealing with the worst of them, but there are a hell of a lot of them,” Gregorius admitted. “Most appear to be ex-temple guards.”

“We can transfer the Shayetet Kheshig here whilst we switch off the Orbs on Vultoq, for extermination of the opposition only though, we’ll leave the diplomatic stuff in your hands,” Roxanne offered.

“That will be satisfactory. Most groups just want to be left alone, not fight off bandits who are stealing the resources they have.”

“Birry, liaise with Gregorius to see where you’ll be able to do the most good. Try and catch raiding parties in the open, you aren’t set up for siege work.”

“By your command, Mage Roxanne.”

“We just need a time from you, Seeker Crnnch, for the situation on Vultoq to become a no go zone for us, at least until we know what the Powers will do.”

“Two days,” Crnnch replied. “Can I rely on your Seers to pull us out?”

“No problem, we have your staff marked,” Roxanne nodded.

“May Ar-Thenna have mercy on our souls,” Crnnch sighed.

“She will intercede for you with the Host of the Almighty, my friend,” Gregorius replied. “This is something that must be and was required by the Powers.”

“It still does not sit well with me, but thank you, Gregoreeuz.”

“All is prepared, patripures,” the senior thinker informed the Caveatra.

“When can the wrath-bringer be operated?” the senior patripure asked.

“Within a planetary cycle. The charging of it goes well.”

“Begin the process. Operate it as soon as the device reaches full power. Target the fortress, not the outposts, we will deal with them once we have a breach. Ensure the devastation also reaches any conceivable secondary construction.”

“It shall be done, patripure.”

“We shall prevail!”

“WE SHALL PREVAIL! WE SHALL PREVAIL!”

“We have Vultoqi activity in their zone. Looks like a major attack is going to be mounted against the fortress on the far side of the outposts,” Seer Melanie announced.

“Odd, they’d more or less given up on those as the zones of fire from the bunkered sections were costing them too much in the way of casualties,” Arch replied thoughtfully.

“Well, they’re definitely gathering in numbers over that side.”

“Alert the Seeker, prepare the Alliance,” Arch nodded.

“Done.”

“This makes no sense,” Slaarg stated. “They would not even make it halfway across the killing zone, not with the numbers we can observe.”

“Which suggests they have something else planned,” Kurl warned.

“I agree, though I do not know what,” Crnnch nodded. “Prepare the auxiliary hordes; I suspect we may need them.”

“I’m sounding the alert,” Fumel replied.

“Begin,” the senior thinker ordered the lesser thinkers as the wrath-bringer reached full power.

The thinkers focussed their minds and actuated several delicate focussing controllers before permitting the energy flow to be focussed into the main chamber.

“Target is set; angles of adjustment are made; energy states are constant,” a monitoring thinker announced.

“We shall prevail!” the senior thinker stated.

“We shall prevail!” chorused the others as an immense cone of energy speared almost twenty kilometres into the atmosphere and then as a solid mass of energy fell to the ground destroying all in its impact zone.

“What the hell was that?” Arch asked, aghast at the massive destruction wrought by the Vultoqi.

“The Vultoqi somehow turned an energy state into a physical one and dropped it onto the fortress as well as the auxiliary fortresses beyond it,” Melanie replied. “We are studying the effect and should know more soon. It was definitely a quantum effect, just not one we are experienced with nor have any sort of counter in place as yet.”

“Contact the Yr’ch; it’s time to abandon the planet. There’s no way we can prevent the Vultoqi from breaking out,” Arch ordered.

“Seeker Crnnch agrees. He has set the timer for the Orb destruction.”

“Pull our people back to the Loegrian side base. Start evacuating the Yr’ch non-essentials from their city control.”

“On it.”

“How long till the Orbs blow?”

“Less than four hours.”

“Time enough,” Arch sighed.

“Yes, Mage Arch. Operation bug out has begun.”

“Can we delay the inevitable?” Crnnch asked the Adepts, leaving the advisors to co-ordinate what limited responses they had as the Vultoqi pressed forward in a mass wave.

“Not for very long. We can target them from the undamaged edges of the fortress and we have an auxiliary horde digging in at the edge of the furthest limit of destruction, but they’re too exposed to last long,” Kurl replied into the strained silence.

“It is what it is. Begin evacuation of the pure Yr’ch to the portal zones our allies have set up.”

“Already underway, the TechnoYr’ch in the various plants are going as we speak, leaving things on automatic,” Slaarg confirmed.

“Prioritise any close to the breakout zone, otherwise follow the plan,” Crnnch nodded as Roxanne ported in, along with Kate and myself.

“Mage Rahksahn,” the Crnnch and the Adepts politely greeted her.

“Greetings,” Roxanne replied with a formal bow. “All alliance troops have withdrawn, except the drone teams attacking the Vultoqi breakout. We’re pulling your people out to Draenoric as fast as we can.”

“Thank you,” Crnnch nodded. “What next though?”

“Raids on isolated Vultoqi groups, sabotage, anything to keep them busy and not trying to get portals to Draenoric working.”

“Short term measures,” Crnnch replied. “What of a long term solution?”

“Chakra mentioned imprisoning the Powers of Draenoric somewhere in the Outer Realms,” I replied. “We also have some knowledge that one of our allies, the Azura, were confined there too. As yet we don’t know how it was done, but intend to find out, fast.”

“Can you keep them there?”

“I believe so, though we may have to deal with Sarkal as well,” Roxanne answered.

“So, until then we keep them occupied?”

“Yes, Seeker Crnnch. Though I doubt it will be easy.”

“The enemy fall back in disorder. The adelshaut reign supreme on the battlefield!” the senior adelshaut exulted to the caveatra.

“Both enemies?” the senior patripure asked.

“We have seen no sign of the new enemy save for their attempts to kill adelshaut from their sky machines.”

“They may well be regrouping beyond our sensory range,” another patripure posited.

“This is likely, but we shall prevail!” the senior replied.

“WE SHALL PREVAIL! WE SHALL PREVAIL!”

“We have Vultoqi portals in several major cities now,” Fumel announced as the command group monitored the situation.

“There is little we can do; we have them studded with shield and cloaking disruptors, but the block hordes are on their own,” Slaarg replied.

“They are at least keeping them busy,” Crnnch agreed.

“The last of the true Yr’ch are portalling out now, Seeker Crnnch,” Roxanne noted. “It’s just your people now.”

“Thank you, Rahksahn,” Crnnch replied. “Slaarg, sound the withdrawal.”

“By your command, Seeker,” Slaarg replied, pressing a blue alerter bulb and setting off alarms all over the secure command centre.

“This is not a defeat,” Crnnch stated to his staff, all of whom were looking somewhat lost as their analysts and staff moved through the secure portals. “It is a setback to be sure, but we are not defeated nor beaten and we have the means to stop these creatures from expanding further.”

“Well said, Crnnch,” Roxanne replied.

“May Ar-Thenna bless and protect us,” Crnnch nodded as we all moved through the portal leaving the timer showing the equivalent of an hour to go before the Orbs self-destructed.

“Resistance is collapsing,” the senior adelshaut reported to the patripure. “We have reports of the old enemy abandoning their posts and fleeing to their armoured fortresses. We are moving to surround them whilst we deal with their scum in the urban areas.”

“It appears they put all their hopes in the fortress surrounding us. Now we prevail as we have destroyed their hold on us,” the senior patripure gloated.