Anthem's Fall

Chapter Fifty Four

(Short one I know, I'll have follow up chapter posted soon!)

"And he just . . . left? It sounds like he could have put up one hell of a struggle in the palace."

"I have no doubt that he could have. It probably would have been a fight for the history books. But think about it. We would have simply threatened to kill his family to settle him down. Old man Nerol used as leverage." Hoff chuckled at the thought.

"So this young Nerol just left Anthem?"

"He left that same day. The same day everyone involved took their blood oaths of secrecy."

"How did the kid leave?"

"Darien, the kid was a pure blooded Nerol, not the son of some ragtag middle class family. I'm sure he was given some plush one-way transport somewhere."

"Does anyone know where he went?"

"My guess would be Orion, since that's where he lost his marbles. But no, as far as I'm aware no one knows where he went."

A splitting crack of thunder boomed from just over their heads, deafening at their proximity. It startled Darien and he lost his concentration, falling for a brief moment into space before quickly steadying himself. Right above them, fierce dark swirls of storm clouds expelled ever thickening rain that pelted angrily against their upturned faces. To Darien it felt as though the very planet itself now sensed their unnatural presence and was roaring at them to leave, to go back to the war-pocked and ravaged Anthem and take their troubles with them. Yet the storm cloud's command went unheeded by the two soldiers. Hoff merely let out a rumbling laugh at Darien's brief loss of control.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little thunder? It's the lightning you have to watch out for. It can singe your hair if you get hit by a big strike."

Darien clenched his fists. "It just startled me. I'm obviously not afraid of thunder."

"Oh, I don't know. You should have seen the look on your face. You better not flinch like that when the humans bring the height of their firepower against us. I assure you it will be louder than that."

"Enough!" Darien shouted, his tone dangerous. He wiped the torrential rain from his face and continued westward.

"I'm just giving you a hard time, don't sweat it." Hoff clapped a palm against his back, soaring alongside him.

"Why did the Nerol kid attack Lord General Vikkor? Was it a power grab?" Darien asked in an attempt to take the attention away from his display of weakness. Thunder continued to emanate from above them, and long purple-white forks of lightning began to illuminate them against the churning gray sky in sudden flashes of brightness.

"Eh, I guess that's possible, but from what I heard it wasn't a power grab. The soldiers on the command deck said the quarrel had started with a dispute over orders. I think it was the genocide order of the local aboriginals. The Nerol kid thought it was unwarranted."

"Was it unwarranted?"

"Who cares? Bronson Vikkor wasn't—how should I put it—considerate to inferior races. I have no doubt that Vikkor would disapprove of Vengelis's caution at the moment with these humans. He would have descended on these people with fist and fire. So yes, it would not surprise me to find out it had been an unnecessary order. But it was followed by the Imperial Army regardless."

"And the aboriginals? The Yabu?"

"They are as equal a part of history as Lord General Vikkor—and us, for that matter." Hoff said.

"We're not history yet. I still think Vengelis can defeat the Felixes and reclaim the Epsilon throne. Even now, in the midst of all the carnage back home, it seems to me like he has a clear head."

"Maybe," Hoff muttered.

"Master Tolland believed Vengelis could defeat the Felixes too," Darien said. "Don't forget that."

"I'll stick with maybe. Master Tolland also sent us here to find a weapon against the Felixes. What weapons do you see? I see nothing but pathetic indigents. I'm beginning to wonder if Master Tolland was not entirely coherent when we found him in that pile of rubble. He was at death's door after all. At the time it made sense; it was an order to cling to, anything that could give us hope. But now that I'm here, I can't understand why he sent us to this place."

"No," Darien said. "Master Tolland may have been dying, but he was alert. Even you thought so. His orders were so specific. There must have been a reason. Maybe Vengelis is right to think that the human scientists can deduce a way to defeat the Felixes. What if the answer is right in front of us and we can't see it? I think—"

"Darien," Hoff interrupted suddenly, "Look."

The Lord General's eyes were wide. He raised an arm and pointed into the discernible expanse before them. They had pulled through the storm and out of the rain. Situated along the bank of another huge body of water beneath them, a gargantuan city ascended into the clouds through a thick cover of fog. Countless dark structures rose through the dreary mists and into the tempestuous sky. The shrouded metropolis extended for miles and miles up the coastline. In the center of the cluster of larger structures, a colossal black building ascended like a citadel above all the others; it was nearly as large as the very Imperial Palace or the Sejero Tower. The city sprawling out of the fog before them looked nothing short of Sejeroreich itself.

"I . . . I can't believe it," Darien stammered.

Hoff shook his head in disbelief, his mouth open. "I had no idea these people were capable of feats like this."

Darien was staring down at the tiered roofs of the immense towers rising out of the mist. "Do you think we should make contact with Vengelis?"

"Yes. This is the place." Hoff pulled out his ship remote and on the screen carefully examined the map he had previously consulted. In a moment the remote connected with Vengelis's, so far east of them.

"We have found an appropriate city, my lord," Hoff said at once.

The voice of Vengelis responded somewhat grainy and distorted. "How many people are congregated there, and what is it called?"

"The remotesays three million, my lord. We're looking down at it now. It will definitelysuffice for a spectacle. The map says the city is called . . . Chicago."