Ex Nihilo - Abyssal Prophecy

Chapter 12

From his golden chair, Lord Drumpf looked out of the penthouse window of the central tower in his ward. Darkness was all he could see, but he admired its serenity. Turning back, he looked at the desperate messenger sent by Lord Whelsey. She was a thin woman with brown hair in three distinct braids that denoted her clerical rank in the church. She stared at him with fierce green eyes, causing him to curl his lips with disdain.

            “Um, who are you again?” Lord Drumpf asked.

            “I am Monk Fiona of the Army of the Faithful under Lord Whelsey. Once again, our ward is under attack by these creatures.” Fiona pointed to the playback from the holoemitter she held. “We need your help Lord Drumpf.”

She heard him suck on his teeth and saw his lips curled in disdain, showing his stained yellow teeth.

            Emergency lighting in the office kept it bright, showing that Lord Drumpf’s tanned, aging skin sagging on his face. He sucked on his teeth while pacing back and forth, thinking upon the request. He couldn’t be certain it wasn’t a trap set by Lord Whelsey, but he didn’t want to appear weak, either. He scratched his scalp in contemplation for a moment before looking over at his commander, Lance.

            Commander Lance stood unflinching in his silver-plated power armour. His face held no expression, and his eyes appeared dull without any life in them. He seemed to barely breathe. Seeing his lord’s attention fall on him brought the commander back to life. He turned to face his lord, waiting for orders.

Marching over, Lord Drumpf paused to look at him.

            “Well, we can’t abandon our neighbour, right?” Lord Drumpf asked.

            “No, sir. That wouldn’t be Christian of us,” Commander Lance replied.

            “You should take some of our new recruits and see what this commotion is all about. If it turns out to be true, you will alert me and I shall send more forces to join you. It’ll be a good new experience for our people,” Lord Drumpf declared.

            Waving his hand, he sent Commander Lance and Fiona away. He sat back down in his golden chair to ponder the situation further. The creatures in the holos appeared to be fierce monsters, and he thought the damage they were inflicting could be useful to him to unseat Lord Whelsey in the captain’s eyes. He knew there was an advantage in chaos.

            “Is he always that way?” Fiona asked once the lift had begun descending.

            “Lord Drumpf is a great and powerful man,” Commander Lance replied with a hint of emotion.

            Fiona stood there, feeling the awkwardness of her comment.

            “Well, this is going to be a fun trip,” she mumbled to herself.

            “Did you say something?” Commander Lance asked. Only the intermitted grinding of metal answered. The lift descended towards the base of the tower. Commander Lance sent the orders via his neural implant to gather the new recruits. He had confidence his people would be ready when he arrived. The lift came to a stop, and in the great hall of the Tower of Commerce, stood an army.

            Fiona looked at the group and wondered why Lord Drumpf would send them. Rattling from some of the recruits who were shaking in rusted power armour echoed in the silent hall. Walking past, she noted that at least these soldiers’ weapons appeared to be in good shape. All she could hope was that Lord Whelsey didn’t blame her for the poor quality of these troops. She at least felt that Commander Lance carried himself as a true warrior should.

            “Troops, our neighbours need our help to defend them from some foul creatures. Come and learn what it means to be true warriors.” Commander Lance marched, looking to the monk to lead the way towards the tunnel through the great divide.

The calamitous sound of marching first-time troops echoed in the quiet streets of the ward. He thought it was wise that to send the raw recruits over the veteran fighters, and he sensed his lord’s great machinations.

            From the raised platform outside the cathedral, Lord Whelsey and his troops continued to fight. Creatures were climbing the walls and marching up the stairs. He glanced back to look at the great bridge connecting Lord Drumpf’s territory, but all he could see was darkness. Medics pulled wounded soldiers back off the front lines. Lord Whelsey wasn’t sure how much longer his forces could hold out against the enemy’s onslaught.

            Drawing his crucifix-handled golden energy blade, he marched towards the shield wall. Age would not prevent him from holding the line, and fear held no place in his heart. Glory waited in Heaven, and so, with a smile, he crossed through the gap his soldiers created in the shield wall. Magnetic rounds whizzed past his head with each step down the stairs towards the horde. With great, arcing cleaves, he forced the horde back and marched towards the approaching abomination.

            Crossing the great divide, Fiona could see her Lord on the stairwell, and that caused her to pick up her pace, draw her gun, and join her brothers and sisters in the shield wall that was protecting her lord. She could hear the faint sound of the marching troops approaching in between the sounds of her shots.

Seeing the situation, Commander Lance raised his hand and motioned for his troops to attack.

            Zeal filled the new recruits, causing them to race towards the staircase. The soldiers holding the shield wall opened up a gap, and the new recruits descended the steps, screaming, as they descended towards the enemy in a fury of motion.

The new recruits overwhelmed the approaching abomination with their numbers. Flailing its great many arms, the abomination sent many recruits flying off the bridge, but not enough of them to matter. Swarmed, the creature stumbled backwards, losing balance, and the new recruits hacked and slashed at it. It tumbled down the stairs, crushing its own forces behind it. The new recruits raced into the waiting enemy at the bottom of the stairs.

“Lord Drumpf sends his greetings and these reinforcements, Lord Whelsey,” Commander Lance said in a soft voice.

“I see your troops are quite zealous, Commander Lance. I look forward to thanking your lord in person once we deal with these creatures,” Lord Whelsey acknowledged. “I have a detachment of my men at the nearby lift to prevent the enemy from attacking the bridge of the Alcatraz. We need to reinforce Commander Verdas. Can I trust you with this task, Commander Lance?”

“Of course you can,” Commander Lance said in a cold tone. He marched behind his troops, watching them fight with untrained zeal. Lord Whelsey’s force was raining fire down, focusing on cutting the enemy forces into two. Commander Lance watched his troops pouring into enemy lines. He knew whoever survived this ordeal would be a better soldier because of it. He walked behind his forces at a slow pace, admiring their c*****e.

Up ahead, he could see the abominations flooding into the open gate at the lift, but they were too busy focusing on their attack to provide their allies support. In front and back, the soldiers only had to deal with the smaller humanoid attackers, and he could see they were holding the line in a strong formation. Repeated enemy attacks failed to disrupt the formation.

One after another, the abominations climbed into the shaft. Behind them, humanoids began entering the shaft. In the distance, he could see gunfire sending tracers up and out of the opened shaft. A sense of urgency raced through Commander Verdas, causing him to push through his shield wall. Drawing his energy blade, he started hacking and slashing as he marched towards the lift. Seeing this invigorated his troops and they fought harder to keep up with their commander.

Gunfire flew through the broken gate and he glanced back to see his troops approaching. He knew the enemy was heading to the bridge, and, below, he could see the Lower Ward’s people were alive, at least. With one foot on the edge, he looked down to see the crashed ruin of the lift, and then up to see the climbing forces. He started walking back to the cathedral when he saw Commander Lance and his force approaching. “Commander Verdas, I see you are in fine health, and effective, as usual. What is the situation here?” Commander Lance asked. He took a moment to admire his old friend's work.

“Well, the enemy has broken through. I have no idea how many have made it to the officer level. We need to return to Lord Whelsey and inform him of the situation.” From the vantage of the raised cathedral platform, Lord Whelsey watched his troops drive the creatures back. In the distance, he could make out the hand torches of his returning commander and allies. Heading towards the stairs, he stood at the top, waiting. He detected a hint of displeasure in his returning commander. With a salute, Commander Verdas and Lance came to a halt before Lord Whelsey, and he glared, waiting to hear the report.

“I wasn’t able to stop the enemy from reaching the lift, my Lord, and it appears they’ve already made it to the officer level. We need to reinforce the bridge,” Commander Verdas informed him. “The lift was destroyed by the Lower Wards, and with the main lift still damaged, we need to find another way.”

Lord Whelsey weighed his options in his mind. With the presence of Commander Lance, he knew it was necessary to guard his words. It was necessary to ensure the blame for any damage or attack on the bridge landed on the Lower Wards.  But, he wasn’t sure how far he could trust Lord Drumpf to back his play.

“Well, we just have to be sure the captain hears of the wanton damage the Lower Wards have caused. It has only aided the enemy in their attack. Wouldn’t you agree, Commander Lance?” Lord Whelsey asked, preparing to gauge Lance’s response.

Commander Lance sent a neural report to his lord. His cold eyes gave no hint at his response to betraying his Lord. A message came back from Lord Drumpf informing him that he was to agree and support Lord Whelsey in everything, but also to record and report everything. He smiled wickedly and stepped forward to stand side by side with Verdas.

“Of course, Lord Whelsey. You know  my Lord is your ally and friend. We are glad we could assist you with this. My troops and I are at your full disposal,” Commander Lance stated.

“Good. We must head to the bridge to try to help. Come gather your forces. I shall leave mine here to finish cleaning up the stragglers and aiding the wounded. Let us first give thanks.” Lord Whelsey motioned to the cathedral. Together, the two men followed the lord past the golden gates and into the large chamber. When they arrived at the altar, they followed the lord and kneeled in prayer.

In the silence of the great cathedral hall, Lord Whelsey prayed, but not for forgiveness, salvation, or thanks. He asked God for help in his plans to topple the captain. Swearing to bring Christ back to the ship, he prostrated himself before the giant crucifix. By lingering, he hoped to allow the creatures time to weaken the ranks of the clan officers. Perhaps they’d even get lucky and kill Captain Gabriel for him. The only person he asked God to protect was his daughter, Helena.