The High Order

29. Blood Moon Day part one

29. Blood Moon Day part one

1. The skies of Babylon was tainted by the red hue of the Blood Moon Day eclipse, the sands grew from yellow to the color of fresh blood. Dan was standing on the barren wastes of the open desert between two approaching armies. He looked in despair as there was no one else around to help him. His friends had other priorities before his, taking to one of the armies or choosing to cower in retreat rather than fight the final noble battle for supremacy of the universe. The eclipse did not stop the desert sands from whipping up the topping of the desert, causing a blizzard below the knees.

All the contenders were covered by the red hue of the eclipse. The gathered ruins of the Tower of Babel stood with Dan between the forces of Heaven and Hell, each with their own intentions of how to reshape the cosmos in their image after the battle. Satan supported his son Lucifer's idea to bring a state of balance where all were equal in order to avoid a future war. Behind the two dark lords and Lilith were hundreds of thousands in the army of the damned, each carrying the tools representing millennia of war, from spears and bows to guns and modern weaponry such as tanks and towed fighter planes from a different era. Alois Kelmer, the former head of the Dark Council in Hell, now planned to overthrow the current administration of the dark dimension using the power of the Last Terror inside Pandora's box that he kept concealed in his coat from his prime nemesis, the dragon Babrius who used to guard the box which Alois had stolen.

Alois had the support of Hell's Nazi factions as well as from the remnants of the Dark Council save for Satan and Lucifer, who found loyalties in almost everyone else under their dominion. The forces of heaven comprised legions of angelic soldiers in gold and silver armor, their unique shining colors obscured by the red of the eclipse. There were also many former humans who volunteered to fight for the forces of Heaven, including Dan's father. They were all commanded by God and his lieutenant Elodie at the fore, with general Kemuel and the members of the Halo Council also clad in armor.

They were armed with spears, bows, and the war machines dragged by the dwarves and inventors who had been commissioned by Elodie to construct them. The army of Heaven were almost unanimous in their motive to defeat the forces of Hell, but Elodie had a more sinister plot in mind. They wanted to complete constructing the Tower of Babel so that they could conquer Heaven and take over the cosmos after killing God. God and Satan walked in front of the armies standing at attention behind them, meeting in the middle to wish each other all the best. Between them still stood Dan. Elodie was still wondering why Dan was still there before the two leaders.

"a fair chance" Satan stood plain holding out a hand.

"indeed" God shook his hand for a fair and bloody battle to come.

"wait, it doesn't have to be this way" Dan ran across the sands and attempted to plead with the two.

"Dan, you have done what you can, but now there is only war. I hope you understand. It is fate that has brought us all together" Satan knelt down and tried to reconcile Dan's judgement. It was true that there was nothing he could do now but survive. Several hundred feet away, Elodie stood halfway between the forces of Heaven and God talking to Satan. The Tower of Babel was within their sight and turning to it in their suit of golden armor, began chanting the word "build" repeatedly.

This chanting was inaudible from the others at this distance, but the physical effects were very much clear under the Blood Moon. The desert began to rumble under the feet of the soldiers on both sides as gigantic solid chunks of stone from the Earth were clambered together in rapid succession, then extended like a rubber band. Soon, a giant column of solid rock was rising through the atmosphere at thousands of miles through the atmosphere, the vacuum of space and finally connecting to the Heaven portal on the dark moon.