Council
The Bishop's knuckles were white as he held his cane, sweat trickled down his face as he waited with baited breath for Sarge to pick up the tablet that hung from the statue's neck. The doors to the chapel had been barred shut and now the gathering stood a few feet away from the unflinching Exodus. Carefully Sarge picked up the tablet, the chain at its tip seeming to melt like water as he pulled, letting the tablet slide gracefully off. Examining the tablet he found an inscription that read:
Great of power are those that hold this
Greater still of power shall they become
Exodus as one, triumphant bar none
Destiny seeks them for what we have done
The blood of perfection Will of hold no rejection
Below the inscription was a tablespoon-sized dip with the images of two planets to either side. The tablet itself was decorated with precise images of stars, planets, nebulas and comets that were so precise in detail that no natural human hand could have carved it. Although it appeared to be made of a solid brilliantly multicolored stone that seemed to flow like waves it was much lighter then one would have thought, it seemed to shimmer and move as the light danced against it's smooth surface.
The last two lines and the bowl held Sarge's attention, he read them out to the rest of the group who had gathered around. Reaching into his pack he thought of a syringe, the only thing he got though was a syringe filled with adrenaline, the packs could only provide what they were originally filled with.
"What are you up to Sarge?" Bulldog noticed the syringe as he inspected the tablet.
Sarge ripped the plastic off the syringe and emptied the contents. "Blood for that bowl, I'll bet you that's how we open it. Would make sense too don't you think? What's the best way of checking if we're really Exodus other then running a check on our blood."
"Smart."
"Thanks." Sarge drove the needle into his finger and extracted some blood, then with Bulldog holding the tablet he carefully squirted the blood into the small bowl which disappeared on contact. There was a low humming sound as something inside was activated, the letters began to glow white sending shafts of light that connected together in a white ball above the tablet, glowing and spinning miraculously until with a brilliant flash a life sized holographic projection of an old man appeared.
The man in the holograph looked very much like Alos, it was obvious that this was Talos, his brother. Like Alos he wore a white coat and pants, and just like Alos he had a jovial smile. "Hello Exodus." The hologram said.
The people assembled awed, stepping closer to try and get a better look as Bulldog set the tablet on the ground and moved a little to make some room for the others to see.
"Before I say anything else I must tell you that I am a ghost image of my creator, his thoughts and knowledge are my thoughts and knowledge, the only thing I cannot do is manipulate the physical world in any way, so pardon me if I cannot demonstrate anything to you in real life, you can speak to me so don't worry about that. Now then, my name is Talos Thramasurius, and you must be Exodus, if I can call you that. You might very well have taken a different name, or have yet to take a name at all for that matter." The hologram waited for a response.
"Yes we are Exodus and that is what we call ourselves. But we are not from this planet. We have come from the other planet; your brother Alos has contacted us and told us of our history. We are a full squad including the ninth animal Bessy, although she has stayed back on earth. Before your brother came to us we had already formed a unique squad, we have technology that is fifty to eighty years ahead of the regular technological standing, according to your brother we are more then a success." Sarge explained.
"I see." The hologram scratched it's head in a very human fashion. "I presume you are part of some organization perhaps? Secretive but very powerful, with you at its center?"
"Yes." Sarge confirmed.
The hologram nodded, thinking. "And what of this planet?"
"Failed. Primary scans done by Alos showed this planet to be devoid of human life, a half percent is all it showed, a glitch we had assumed. He found the planet to be in a state resembling one's imagination of hell, and having been here we can confirm that that is an accurate description."
The hologram became somber, its features twisting in sadness. "Humans still live here?"
"Yes, a few million or so we are told. They have protected themselves within massive, neigh impenetrable fortifications and now it has turned into a stalemate, the planet is barely habitable, the air itself is poisonous, there is no sun only a twisting nether of cloud."
Sighing the hologram apparently understood. "If you plan to carry out your primary objective I will not hold it against you, no one can, a failed planet is a failed planet, it's a liability not an asset."
"Self destruction of the planet is a possibility, but not with all these people here. I cannot simply kill millions with the touch of a button."
"But you might have to…if there is no other choice then you must. You must realize how close humanity was to extinction, the death toll was not in the millions, it was in the trillions. But I cannot do anything, the choice is yours and if you believe there is a better way then so be it."
The delegates murmured in shock, different planets, there's a failure? None of them knew what any of it meant, but it did not sound pleasant.
"What happened to you Talos?"
"Me? The life support system blew." He laughed. "There was nothing I could do to repair it, an asteroid really messed up some of the power systems and I am no technician, so I went and did the only thing left, prepared for the arrival of Exodus. I used the power of religion to prepare a social basis for your arrival, I ensured that this tablet be the holiest of holies and therefore survive one way or another through anything that might happen and ultimately reach Exodus, or rather the foundation of it. Once a member of Exodus or members found out about this tablet, the truth, and the history of humanity, people would hold them in god like status and so they would not need my help in creating a nucleus for the next generation of humanity. Understand?"
Exodus nodded, Talos had tried to create social conditions that would make it easy for the emerging Exodus to take power, and they wouldn't need his direct help, a clever plan to say the least.
"And this planet, why is it a failure?" The hologram asked.
Sarge shrugged. "We're not really sure, we've only been here a few days. What we have been told is that about a hundred years ago a group of muggles and wizards went off to try to find out who you were, they found out you used muggle technology far exceeding that of their time in perfect unison with magic, they wanted the power, to find out how you could do what you did."
"They caught on that I was different."
"Yes, apparently they then began taking over the world creating unnatural fusions of biotechnology and magic, we have seen what the end product was and it is…disturbing, perhaps one of you could explain further?" Sarge looked at the unnerved delegates.
"To tell you the truth we don't know much about those years, a lot of data has been lost, key people killed in the fighting." Marlonius Graff spoke for the group. "The Independence, they started taking over the world and they succeeded devestatingly well. Before things got completely out of hand several of the most powerful nations built the six Havens and they built them well, those who could fled to the Havens…for many it was far too late to go anywhere, missiles were launched, massacres erupted and people were slaughtered. It was Armageddon. Now we are at a stalemate, they can't get in but we can't get out. The earth is in their control and we live like prisoners, eventually it is only a matter of time before our populations grow and we must get out, that's when we will fight again, die and hide again." He said the last sentence in disgust.
"I take it there is a way to fight back?" Sarge caught the meaning of his emotions.
"I have personally proposed plans of attack on numerous occasions, on each occasion I have been told bite my tongue. These fools would rather live like prisoners then take up the fight, we have not even tried to attack, with your arrival I had hoped things might change."
Sarge grinned as a delegate argued against Marlonius. "No! We cannot fight them and win. We simply cannot, other then death what will we achieve? At best nothing, or They might decide to come and attack until we are all dead! Is that what you want?"
"I would rather die and fail then live and not do anything!" Marlonius retorted
Sarge raised a hand, silencing the angry delegate. "Talos please tell these people about humanity and who we are." Sarge asked of the hologram.
"Certainly…" The hologram went into the explanation that they had all received a couple days ago, answering any of their questions and clearing things up that Talos might have made unclear. Sarge followed up with a brief explanation of their situation, giving them as much as was needed. There was utter silence in the chapel once the hologram had finished, the people looked at Exodus with a mixture of wonder and curiosity, the explanation had stripped them of their godlike image, but not of the power, Exodus was very much capable of a lot of things that they could only dream of. Now they could relate more to Exodus, they realized that they, the people would have to play a large part in whatever was to come.
"Where do we go from here? Do you have any specific plans?" Dimitri Fantura ventured.
"We have a few ideas, but it would be best to discuss them where information is available, if you have a meeting room of sorts could we perhaps go there?" Asked Sarge. "And boys, best not too look so dirty." Sarge's hand began to glow slightly as he touched his armor, the grime, dirt and other disgusting residue disappearing off the black armor. The others followed suit, their magical powers seeming to develop exponentially.
"Certainly." Replied the Bishop First Warlock Bassette, conjuring a long piece of string he muttered a few enchantments, the string turning into a preset portkey. "We have areas around Haven that are connected via portkey, the traditional method is not required, simply knowing the location and your current one is all that is needed to activate the underlying connections." He explained.
"Like a Floo network?"
"In a sense yes, although not everyone is allowed to use it, we tried it but it created some problems with people appearing simultaneously or not being able to go anywhere at all. Now then everyone tough a piece and we shall be off to the council chambers." He lengthened the string so that everyone could touch it and once they all did muttered a spell and they appeared in the council chambers.
A large brown wooden table dominated the room, with a pair of fireplaces off to in one corner of the room, and a large screen covering an entire wall at the opposite end. A number of computer terminals sat beside what appeared to be a pensive and a regular crystal ball. The room itself seemed to feel like a modern boardroom with a flair of Dumbledore's office.
Exodus took off their equipment, setting it down against the wall and took a seat at the table, Sarge making sure to sit across from the General. "Feel free to bring in any staff that you wish, I do not care for secrecy." Sarge gave them a few moments to contact various people who were soon present at and around the table, looking inquisitively at Exodus before being informed of who they were, their faces lighting up in awe. One old lady who seemed to be a secretary of some sort had a white coffee mug that matched the color of her robes, once she was told of what was going on the coffee and her robes met in a yelp of disbelief, embarrassed she hurriedly cleaned up the stain with her wand and prepared the parchment she had taken with her.
"By the way I apologize for doing all the talking, feel free to say whatever you want." Sarge told the rest of the team.
"Don't worry bout it, some of us seem to be a little preoccupied anyway." Destroyer indicated Snipe who was flirting up a storm with Maya, the man wouldn't have noticed a nuclear blast go off much less some conversation.
"The type of gun really defines a man you know, the amount of power really relates to how well he can perform out in the field." Snipe was using some blatantly obvious metaphors.
"If you want power then I'm your man." Destroyer winked at Maya, teasing Snipe.
"Ya but it always seems that you're quick on the trigger and even quick to go dry." Snipe grinned back.
Sarge started up the meeting before the conversation turned into a penis contest, whistling sharply he shut up all conversation in the room. "Now then if we could get to some of the matters at hand please?" He gave the room a second to quiet down. "The way I see it the situation on this planet is bad…real bad. From what we have seen so far most everything is either destroyed or unusable, please correct me if I am wrong, but even if that is wrong my idea should still hold merit. What I propose to you all is a planetary evacuation. We can set up stations to gather whatever natural resources are available, or if they are not and the planet really is just a liability then with no humans left we can self-destruct the planet. Our other alternative is to engage the enemy and take the planet back, for which the cost to benefit ration might or might not be worth it. Comments?"
Marlonius stood up, a pointer in his hand as the large screen turned on. "Allow me to make this decision easy for you." A world map flashed on the screen with various colors and shapes dotting it. "The white dots are the Havens and our controlled territory, the red area is Independence territory and the blue is no one's." The patterns changed. "All major natural resource areas are controlled by the Independence, meaning that if we want them we have to go through them. But this has recently come in within the last few weeks." The screen changed to various pictures of hideous daemonic armies. "In collaboration with the other Havens we have gathered intelligence on enemy movements. Over the last month the armies have been growing and collecting at various locations, not only that but that are also moving towards us. With the knowledge that we have now you would have to be stupid not to realize that they are heading for the Gateway, and they will take us out along the way, and against these types of forces we will not last long. Like it or not when they get here and start their attack it will only be a matter of time before Haven Four falls, I can guarantee you that inevitability." He flicked through a few slides, indicating troop movements and force density. "There is no debate here, there are two choices. Either the planet is blown up with us on it, or with us not on it. If we do nothing we will be dead anyway." He sat down, letting grim reality set in.
"What is the estimated time before they start?" Pyro asked.
"If movement stays consistent we believe that they should begin to move to a closer more central location within a week or so. Once there they would come in as one giant force and attack Haven to take out all obstacles, that gives us roughly two or three weeks before they get to us. After that we may last a few hours or a few months, but one way or another Haven Four will fall. We must act now, we do not have much time left."
Sarge sat deep in thought, the room waited for him to speak. "I agree with General Marlonius. Contact all Havens, have them begin to evacuate to this area immediatly. We will first secure the Gateway and set up a post there, I cannot stress enough how important that location will be to us. When we're ready I'll go over and make sure to have arrangements made on our planet. Make sure to note then nothing much bigger then Destroyer here will make it through the Gateway, although I'll talk to Alos and see if we can do anything about that. Once we get all civilians through the military will go as well, at that time we will go and prepare the detonation of the planet, and hopefully make it back in time before this place ceases to exist. There is the possibility that the Independence will arrive before we have made it through, and so if need be we will have to meet them in battle."
"Excuse me, where are these co-ordinates?" JJ read off a series of co-ordinates that one of Marlonius' aids punched into a terminal.
When the location on the screen came up Marlonius explained to them what it was. "That one of the Independence's major and one of their most secure installations, we believe that is where their forces will be meeting up before making the final push towards us."
"This will be fun." Destroyer muttered.
Snipe had managed to pull away from his conversation to realize the significance of this new realization. "Is that…fuck it is isn't it? And here I was thinking this was going to be easy."