War Oracle
Antarctic base Alpha - renamed Alamo - was, to our knowledge, the last remaining stronghold of humans in existence. Shelf stations Hardpoint, Lorica and Aventail had already fallen as the monsters of the Qlipoth closed in. Three hundred humans gone as their signals went from screams to static.
The distant wards shrieked with colors up into the starless night, holding briefly. But it was already over. There weren't enough humans left. Even if they won right now in some daring last minute gambit, they could never remake the world of their birth. All was lost.
But life wants to live and Admiral Ishida commanded the Archons into action. We left our our contrition cells and took our combat stations. The huge Titan, Rex and Deus classes readied for the assault with the powerful Vigil and Bastion classes supporting them. Poet classes spread out through the cold hallways, fading into the scenery like the nasty surprises they were.
My own Oracle class and a dozen others joined their combat units, humans, cyber-arcanists, robotic defenders and Archons listening to the last few wards give up the brave souls with which they were made.
Warrior company was assigned the hanger approach. We had already collapsed the mountainside on it but tons of stone didn't hold back the darkness any longer than ancient magics and the fight came to us with teeth, tentacles and promises.
Commander Chanda had already planned the withdrawing action to bring the melting dark into tighter and tighter hallways. Cyber-Mages blazed their spells, overheated their relics and some burned up like dry grass. Others simply stood their ground, fought on or didn't. They had made up their mind.
The defender robots scrambled right away, chaos eating their ability to process the next electron. Some even turned on us as the creatures crawled into their cases parodying nearly human expressions on the nearly human robotic faces.
Fighting beside Chanda and her humans I briefly wondered if they regretted creating us Archons, fusing Qlipothic entities with human souls to create a hybrid construct capable of facing down nightmares without flinching, but also connected to the goal of human survival.
We could not save them though. Nothing could save them. I remember wondering if Chanda would rather have humans with her here at the end instead of weaponized abominations. There was no way to tell. There was no time to tell. I could only watch as a toothy tentacle pulled Chanda into the writhing midnight. Her hex gun went off twice, and then once more. A standard round. The only one she carried.
The humans broke then and routed back into the base and four of us moved to cover their retreat. I noticed the other Warrior Company Archons glowing. I was glowing too.
Then the whole world came apart in light and pain. And then I was here in this city full of people and cars and beings and I have no idea how I got here. I barley know what any of this is.
But I do know what I would do to keep it all from falling. That I know very well.
