Sky Swimmer

The Warming, Part 24

The Global Finances Inc. building has transformed to pure Soiler Goth-tech. Underlord Hamada's conference room is now a war room.

Warlord Gravale does a few final manipulations to the sand-model, moving his troops and Battle Boulders into position. The Underlord stands on a balcony overlooking the positions of thousands of Soiler warriors and their machines of war. Dust appears. The dust cloud floats over the balcony rail... reforms to create Transgressa. She bows, smiles. Underlord Hamada understands the significance of her smile, he takes off his glove.

He watches as the last few remnants of the Red Curse disappear from his hand. His skin is no longer covered in red sand. He is cured. He is ecstatic, "Warlord Gravel! We may begin the offensive. I call forth the final curtain."

Warlord Gravale immediately signals to commence the attack and his Soiler warriors and their machines of war start bombarding U.S. positions outside the newly constructed Soiler stronghold.

Underlord Hamada takes Transgressa with his two hands and pulls her close, "I knew you would not fail me." Transgressa's full lips slightly quiver, her eyes narrow as she feels her own self control slowly ebb away as her lord's own powerful gravity overwhelms her. She accepts his kiss.

Hamada kisses Transgressa's full lips with the hunger of an un-satiated lust. Part of Transgressa's lips transform, turn to a wet, sandy fluid that the Underlord sucks into his mouth.

He likes it.

Underlord Hamada addresses Warlord Graval without taking his eyes or influence off of Transgressa, "You have served me eloquently Warlord Gravel."

The Warlord is confused, "My King?"

"Our war is soon won and, as Transgressa has so many times reminded me, you, dear General, are too powerful. I need no rivals so..."

Graval does not wait for Hamada to finish the sentence, he strikes with a powerful blast of concrete that he chants from the building's wall and hurtles at his Underlord.

Hamada, with a simple movement of his ungloved hand, sends a stream of glass, stolen from the building windows, laser sharp and molten hot toward the concrete projectile which bursts in midair. Transgressa steps back, already impressed with her master's reclaimed abilities. The Underlord turns the glass laser toward his General.

Graval rises concrete shields to defend himself, catapults new chunks of repurposed building steel... but his attempts are thwarted, and to Transgressa, seemingly childish in light of the powers that her King displays. The Underlord wraps the General in a coil of glass, the Warlord stands immobilized in a transparent spider-like cocoon of tinted glass weave.

"I knew of your desire for the throne long ago," says Hamada. "The very night you beded my sister, Frayel. A very unwise move, no matter what the pleasure you secured from that short lived relationship, she was never worth a second of it."

This confession seems to steel the Warlord, his face of fear is suddenly transformed to that of pity, "You terrible fool. I loved Frayel, we had no intentions for your seat of power. I am devastated by your blindness and to learn that you had something to do with your own sister's death." Now Graval looks over to Transgressa, "This bodes ill for Soildom. You still carry the crazy of your father."

The General's words do touch Transgressa, the slightest of shadows cross her own face. She turns away and does not watch as the Underlord sends Warlord Graval to the other side. When she looks again, nothing but sand shifts uneasily on the balcony floor.

---

A tight lipped, crew-cutted communications officer looks up from his own desktop monitor to the wall sized one and announces to the operations center in a voice a tad bit too high for the job,

"Mr. President, Underlord Hamada online."

The wall sized flatscreen monitor is crawling with sand... the grains work like pixels and the sand monitor displays Underlord Hamada. Gloating, he speaks, "Mr. President, the hour has ascended upon you. The Restorer has released me from my... handicap, and thus ensured your destruction. Behold."

Hamada raises his hands and creates an energy flux, it emanates outwards toward his machines of destruction.

The strange Soiler porcupine-ish machines of war turn from dark purple quartz to an eye-searing blue-white. The crystalline appendages amplify the energy flux emanating from Lord Hamada, a new, stronger vertical beam rises above LAX airport straight toward the high noon sun.

This new, uniquely brilliant column of light ignites the surrounding air; a blazing beacon of fire scorches the atmosphere. Tendrils of flames like sun-flares erupt from the main column and shoot off out in all directions above the city.

People on the streets of Los Angeles watch as the rays of fire spike outward from LAX and crisscross the heavens above them, in fact shooting clear across the entire globe itself.

The fire rays merge with other rays emanating from several other locations including the Max Borax Mines, the offshore drilling platforms, factories, financial centers; the entire network of U.L. Hamada's Global Financial corporate assets now come into play, each location contributing a web of fire tendrils to the crisscrossed sky above them.

---

Fiery arms of pure energy streak above Dan, the air crackles and sizzles from the heat waves that radiate with palpable malicious intent. This new bane upon the land seems to sap the last remnants of Fuegar's energy.

Fuegar seems lost, the intense battle aura all but gone from his sagging shoulders, "Dan. I'm sorry for your loss, and for Floe as well, she would have made a fine princess."

Olphina is not happy with Fuegars defeatist attitude, agitated she heads away from the tired Guards, yelling back without breaking stride, "More than a princess. Only the Restorer could have defeated the Guardian. But even so, we have failed. Hamada has initiated the final phase of the Warming. To hear and see you Fuegar, Captain of the Palace Guards, is to know we are lost."

"Olphina? Where are you going?" says Bollingsworth.

"I have failed my people. I return to them to await our fate."

"Olphina! Wait, we need you!" Dan beseeches her, "My son and Floe and so many others sacrificed their lives for us, we need you!"

Olphina does not wait. She speeds away in a new IceBall Transport of her own making.

Bollingsworth places a reassuring hand on Dan's shoulder, "What are we waiting for? Floe and Eric would have wanted us to stop Lord 'Ass' at all costs, and to help save the real princess, Livia.

Bollingsworth gives orders to the remaining Palace Guards. They begin rebuilding the cloud ship with Aireon lore.