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Chapter 16: Heat of the Conversation

‘Pick him, fight some morons, get out.’

Carmesi nodded at the oversimplified version of what she established to go for together with her subordinates. Nothing too risky, nothing too complicated. And definitely not as stupid as the plan that idiot had gone with to create this messy problem. It was tough enough to imagine that she had yet to find a good way to handle this, but she could imagine how the others were going to act once he was back with them.

Adela had already given him conditions in case he messed things up. The Fox Prime doubted that was going to be the only punishment he was going to get from the young queen, but there was already something to work on from. Grace was… a little more complicated. This wasn’t a good situation for her, at least not in her ideal view of the war. The Fire Crest realized as soon as the first sob came out from the Gazelle Prime that the young woman never experienced loss of that magnitude. It wasn’t a permanent loss at that, but it still left a stinging pain within her that seriously compromised her emotions.

Pulsar was pissed mostly at the group that had gone with the human. He thought, rightfully so, that they had abandoned him out to complete the mission, but the papers that were given out by Archie removed any doubt about the retreat having been planned out to unfold in case Theo had been compromised. From the words of a couple of the Narakhans assigned to the task, they had tried to urge him to not put that contingency since it wouldn’t be truthfully good for them to abandon one of the ‘brilliant ones’ behind.

They really sounded to mean it… and Carmesi didn’t give a fucking shit about it.

The woman really didn’t care that the Narakhans had gone out to respect the mission’s quotas, her current issue being that the young man that had led that group into that infiltration had not only expected getting captured, but still gone through with that. Angry, pissed, furious… worried. Many were the raw emotions storming within her mind, but Carmie managed to keep a solid composure as their shit began taking the last turns needed to land and allow them to take formation. Pulsar was currently in the other transport, having his own orders to uphold as they prepared to deploy a modest army to breach into the damaged base and retrieve that moron out.

But still, what was the Fox Prime meant to do? On the one hand, she would be damned to allow Theo to get out of this matter unscathed. She was damn concerned and immensely frustrated about it. At the same time, she also saw an opportunity. One to make a point clear. But how far should she go before it becomes a problem for herself and him? That question was going to be important later.

Now? Now Carmesi had a couple of imperial fools to beat down so she can relieve herself of the stress she was suffering from. One blink, she had the ranks of her troops prepared beside the ranks of those under Pulsar’s command. The plan was to march forward, blitz through the gates to overrun and destroy all enemies in the area. While they didn’t have the numbers to flawlessly capture the base, they still had more than enough to create a corridor that should lead into the base’s inner sections and into the prison area of the main building.

Nothing too big and they weren’t planning to waste time there. Hadn’t Minos been reported in the area by the Narakhans, she knew both her and Pulsar would have been more than enough to compensate for the lack of numbers they were suffering. But with both Minos and the Death Crest now within the premises of their setting of operations, it was clear that they couldn’t play around without getting captured themselves and suffering heavy losses.

With the outpost coming on sight, it was time for them to rush in. Just as expected, there was just a minimal amount of troops by the central courtyard, with the rest being either assigned to garrison the buildings or even wounded by the previous bombing attack. Carmesi wondered if she should have asked for a second bombing run, but that quick thought vanished as soon as she realized that there was no telling how weak these buildings were and what kind of firefighting procedures were implemented within the buildings themselves.

Gritting her teeth, she allowed a thin layer of fire magic to coat her swords as she spearheaded the assault by slaying two of the closest Narakhans she found by the hole in the wall they were using as an entry point. Battle cries were thrown out at once as the previous prisoners weren’t anymore weak and they were already proving their valor and potential by eagerly catching the disorganized troops off-guard and killing a couple of dozens in the first few minutes of the battle.

The alarm was turned on as the loud noises notified the other enemy troops of the invasion. New foes rushed into the melee and Carmesi giddily shredded as many as possible. Pulsar wasn’t holding back himself, with numerous spikes of ice forming from the floor and stabbing a couple of enemies in front of his group, with his speed doubled as the ice on the ground intensified his pace and made it possible for him to slay more enemies with his daggers.

It was turning in a bloodbath, one that she wouldn’t have expected herself to be part of. So soon, so intense, so… relieving. It’s been so long since she found herself deep into combat. No major limitations, no restraint- she felt alive for those brief moments, and in those very instants she realized she had a moron to recover, beat the crap out of for going through this dumb idea and… who knows. Maybe something to match the battle lust she was in.

But as the Fire Crest felt herself back in her element, she failed to notice that someone had decided to intervene personally against them. The only hint of this was a large shadow jumping out of one of the top floors of the main buildings and slamming down onto the ground between her and her fellow Crest. Pulsar looked surprised, his footing still there as he swiftly delivered a storm of sharp ice projectiles into the cloud of smoke and dirt created by the impact. Whatever it was on the other side, it was no good and had to be stopped.

Something was struck by the ice, and while Carmesi knew how dangerous those were in combat after seeing those being used against some dummies, she still doubted this was the end of it. In fact, as soon as the dust dispersed, they were bestowed with a panic-induced sight. The icicles had indeed hit something, but it was a barrier made from the ground itself that protected the real target from getting wounded by the swift counter.

“Impressive reaction,” A familiar figure stated as a certain Bull Prime emerged from behind the barrier. “But you will need more than just some quick reflexes.”

Surprise formed in the Ice Crest’s face as he grasped at how big their newest issue was. “Aren’t you a big guy?”

The General turned and gave a disappointed look towards the Hamster Prime, his weapon, a powerful-looking warhammer that Carmesi had seen just once in her entire career. When she was just a recruit, she was given the chance of seeing the fellow Crest personally fighting against one of the past Grand Knights. The fun was over, that was quite clear to everyone as they took positions to handle the newest threat.

Allowing some of the Fire Magic to channel into her hands, the Fox Prime unleashed two spears made of Fire onto the Bull Prime. In a brief instant, the quick attack was crushed with a single move of the massive weapon Minos was holding. The hammer slammed down, shredding the fire but also causing a brief earthquake to happen.

The Earth Crest scowled, the General lifting his warhammer and preparing to give true battle to his opponents. Holding her blades tighter, Carmesi snarled in response, while Pulsar adopted a serious approach in front of this troublesome issue.

“Carmesi. I see your rudeness has only worsened since last time we met,” The Bull Prime baited, his red-eyed gaze narrowing upon the Fox Prime and urging her to tense up further as she braced herself for this fight.

“Aterios,” She barked loudly enough to catch the attention of the subordinate she needed in that moment.

A Collie Prime wielding a mace approached and stopped by her left side. “Commander?”

“You and your team shall move to retrieve the… moron. Now.”

There was a brief pause, but soon the man nodded. “Yes, commander.”

“It’s bold for you to assume that-!!” Minos didn’t get the chance to finish that sentence as a sudden large fireball rushed towards him, forcing him to form another barrier… and expose himself to a blitz from Pulsar as the Hamster Prime used his own magic to freeze his feet. A futile attempt in his eyes, but one that presented a problem to him as he felt the earthly barrier behind him starting to heat up even more, turning in molten mud and forcing him to rush away before the intense fireball managed to pierce through it and hit him.

“Annoying-”

Carmesi didn’t relent, rushing up to him and swaying his hammer away, just so she could land a hit on his legs. The heated blade cut through, but she couldn’t do more damage due to how limited this window of opportunity was.

“- PEST! ”

The ground started to shake again, but this time the young woman was prepared and held herself just fine while waiting for this shake to stop. The General was clearly angered by this intense exchange, and he didn’t seem in the mood to actually consider going through some ‘surrender or die’ spiel like he did last time. That meant less monologuing for him and more trouble for them to face at once.

_ Still, despite the upsetting odds, the Fire Crest couldn’t help but feel ferocious. She wasn’t going to lose or even die here. She refused to concede her life away like this! _

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_ Half an hour before... _

When I read the papers about this Sem Deth, I expected the guy to be utter nuts. Not only his combat reports were filled with numerous irregularities as the Death Crest barely paid attention to how many lives were lost and how quickly he decimated his opponents, but he also had quite the mad mind to him from the few psychological reports I managed to find. And no, it wasn’t because I didn’t recover the complete records of those, but because a good part of those were removed ‘due to the complex nature of these sessions’.

I didn’t need to check thoroughly to find those as I could tell from just the available ones that it was best for me to just not do that. I thought him insane, deranged, broken and… and he actually was none of that. It was a surprise, a sudden realization that wasn’t told by me through words, but by actions. His actions, which in nature were insane due to how illogical those appeared at first glance, had a deadly amount of sense to those.

Thinking I was going to be put in a dungeon, chained down and stripped of my armor and my weapons, I was caught off-guard when I was just escorted by the Crest back to his office after being given something to stabilize my concussion, with only my sword being taken away and left on the desk. ‘Surprise’ barely matched my sheer confusion of why I was given this much freedom, and I expected the worst as he ‘asked’ me to sit by one of the chairs in front of his. I complied, knowing well enough I was in no conditions to fight, but I could tell that this was incredibly odd and… I was tense. Really tense.

“Human. I know this is the way your species has defined yourself,” Sem mentioned while humming. “A completely different species than just Primes and Narakhans… and yet still tied to the great balance between Order and Chaos.”

I didn’t say anything about this, already feeling that this conversation could have gone ugly really quickly if he started to ask more about Earth. That was really the last thing I needed now that I was imprisoned in this manner.

“You’re really worried. For many reasons. Starting with your pledge of allegiance to the young queen and… the fear you have in giving out the location of your homeworld,” He stated calmly, gaining a frown out of me. “Oh, don’t believe for a moment that I had to seek anywhere to believe into this last topic. You, the sole human and the principal eyesore for the Emperor… everyone would fear for their family, or species in your particular case since your intervention would definitely gain that kind of attention from the Emperor himself.”

Still quiet, he didn’t seem to mind the fact the discussion was still one-sided, in fact he seemed to prefer this so he could get through this early bit without any derailing from anyone.

“Which is why I can already tell you here and now that my intentions aren’t shared by the Emperor, nor I’m willing to partake in a new genocide just to satisfy his neverending hunger for blood,” The Death Crest assured with a genuine tone. “I don’t seek your race’s demise, but I believe it’s only polite of me to just ask a couple of… questions I think will satisfy my personal curiosity.”

“And?”

He grinned. “And then I will share your answers to your questions… and more.”

…

Was there even a choice? At this point I was stuck between remaining silent and risking out the chances of the rescue party not finding me in the prison area because I was stuck here… and getting some clues to something I’ve been thinking about a lot and maybe freedom while letting out some knowledge of mine in return.

Not the best negotiation and definitely not the best deal I could’ve been granted but… it was something. And I was pitted against time itself from the looks of it.

“Fine,” I muttered reluctantly. “What do you want to know?”

Sem hummed. “Your race… how much can you tell me about its history?”

“...What?”

“History. The birth and death of cultures, the affirmation of old and then the replacement with the new.”

I was confused by this request. “You… you want to know the full history or-”

“I don’t think we would have enough time from your reaction,” He interrupted me before I was through with that inquiry. “How about you describe me how it all started?”

It was still a big question, and I was really unsure where to exactly begin. Did he want first civilizations or maybe how humanity as a whole came to be? Taking a wild guess and deciding to take the easiest but also the ‘not-telling’ route that would prevent any upsetting matter, I went for the birth of humanity.

“W-Well, I guess things started when humans started to appear in the… Horn of Africa. It’s a specific spot in one of the few continents of the planet which resembles a horn, which is why it’s called that.”

Sem nodded. “I suppose that’s where the Gods left you be.”

I paused, and then I frowned. “Are you referring to the Dragon Gods?” I asked and he nodded again. “We… Humans actually weren’t created by them.”

His interested look shifted to a surprised and fascinated one. This response had him intrigued by this development, perhaps not expecting that we humans weren’t created similarly to Primes and Narakhans.

“Elaborate please.”

“We… I really can’t say for sure if this is the truth, but I know science has recognized for almost two centuries now that humanity came to be through evolution. We started as monkeys and-”

“Then you ‘turned like this’?” The Lion Prime interrupted again, his curiosity getting the best of his manners from the looks of it. “How does this ‘evolution’ truly unfolds?”

“It’s… I think it has to do with natural needs. I remember studying that there were animals that were prone to ‘evolve’ to match specific… requirements imposed by the environment,” I tried to explain. It wasn’t exactly something I was much experienced about, and I didn’t pay too much attention when it came to this specific topic back in High School. “Like some animals change fur to match the heat or the cold whenever they live in specific biomes.”

“Oh, so it’s a physical change that everyone can experience?”

I shook my head, quickly realizing what I had missed in my explanation to create this misunderstanding. “It’s not a process that happens in the immediate moment, but one that happens within generations.”

“A biological element that is activated between new generations, one that is tied to the physical interaction in a specific environment that forces individuals to adapt or… die,” Sem summarized, calmly humming while pondering about this point as I nodded at his reorganization. “True nature, without any influence from the looks of it.”

“A race built on itself rather than external help. No Gods, no Order or Chaos playing favorites with anyone. You… I can tell your race is quite fascinating and it would explain why Chaos is so interested in you, a Grand Knight of all people.”

I frowned at this. “Chaos?”

“I suppose you don’t know that just like Order could rely on the Gods and the Crests, Chaos is represented by a single entity. A goddess that is neither malevolent, or a harbinger of gifts without a catch.”

“I was not.”

“And yet I can say that something about this description got your interest. I don’t mind your lying but… I think honesty would suit you better rather than silence.”

Unless he is referring to the individual I’ve seen in that dream, that entity… was that actually the Goddess of Chaos herself? Was she behind that dream that brought me to die for a short while?

“I think… I’ve seen her. Yes,” I admitted with a slow nod. “She was cloaked-”

“Hiding away the shame of her own sins by trusting into someone that was driven by hatred and despair… into a crusade that had nothing of holy in it. No justice, no righteousness. Only… death and revenge.”

The Emperor? That’s who he was talking about?

“This makes so much sense now. Your race and… you in particular, young man. You are the key to end the bloodshed. Beings that lived without forceful peace or war, but that still understands what both means by the end of the day,” Sem calmly continued. “You’re indeed an interesting piece. I will watch for any development you will be behind.”

I frowned some more, failing to grasp this situation. “I thought… why are you doing this?”

He chuckled. “Why am I helping my… ‘enemy’? Why am I actually betraying my ‘liege’?” The Lion Prime inquired mirthfully, hiding away an amusing reason from the way he was making it sound. “Young man, let me ask you this… do you really believe that any Crest that decided to live within the Empire did so out of allegiance? Out of loyalty?”

“...No?”

“You sound doubtful of this.”

“Minos-” I tried to bring up and the Death Crest sighed.

“Is a moron,” He interjected again. “One that was sadly molded after fighting the better side to serve. Our real vocation. He was slowly seduced into believing what he was doing is still right. Even now he believes those under his command are spared by racism and troubles tied with the Narakhans. If only he knew he isn’t as invincible as he believes he is… Alas, my dislike over your faction is your acceptance of the Dragon Gods. Such flawed creatures that are...”

“But Chaos allowed the Emperor to happen.”

“Only as a response to her own anger. When those she was promised as subjects, as… beloved followers were all tarnished and cast away from the rest of the Primes. All because they were tied to her. You would think she had reasons to be banished but… oh, if only you knew how long the list of mistakes the Gods have upon their heads. How big of a mess they made when it all started,” The Lion Prime replied. “It takes a lot to deny a mistake, but even more of that and dignity to come out as a flawed being rather than the idyllic picture of a deity.”

It was an interesting development since I was learning more about Chaos, this entity that was controlled by a goddess from what Sem was explaining. An individual that I’ve seen, one that entrusted her faith and some of her power to someone that took it to cause twice the mistakes expected. It was interesting, but still… I couldn’t linger for long.

My mind quickly brought up in which situation I was still dealing with the very moment the ground started to shake. The Death Crest nodded to himself and stood up, gesturing to me to do the same before pushing the sword on the desk towards me.

“I would suggest you take the stairs on the left, go downstairs and down to the Prison Area. There will be three Primes that have been captured three months ago. I managed to hold them here instead of sending them to a proper prison out of reputation, but I doubt I can hold them any longer with Minos in this base,” Sem instructed, his tone losing the amusement that drove it until that moment. “They have been armed, and they were told about your arrival. I managed to give them a few telling details of your appearance and they know what is your purpose and role in this war.”

I was surprised by this situation. It was clear that he wanted me to bring those individuals out of this place with me… but how I could trust him? Sure, he said a couple of things that made sense, but what were the chances of this being all a ploy from the Emperor himself?

"I-If you don't like the Empire, then why don't you join our struggle?"

Sem sighed tiredly and gave me a tense look. "Sometimes... one has to remain on the bad side to prevent the worst from happening. I'm a 'bad' leader, one that fails to go through the duty of killing everything on sight. It might sound ironic due to my special ability... but I'm no butcher."

I wanted to ask more, to understand more. But I could tell from another earthquake that things were getting heated right now and I had to move at once instead of wasting time like this. Giving a quick nod to the man, I took the sword and left. Before I went through the door, I paused just for a brief moment and… turned to look at him.

“Thank you.”

I didn’t remain around to listen to his response to that, knowing how tight my window of opportunity was. I needed to move as quickly as possible and get through the task of bringing prisoners with me. I followed the instructions and actually ended up finding myself greeted by three Primes, a male Bunny Prime with pink fur and black hair and green eyes, a male Crocodile Prime with gray hair and blue eyes and… a female Tiger Prime with red hair and blue eyes. The trio was out of their cells already, respectively wielding a Katana-like sword, a war axe and big hammer.

“So, I suppose you are the trio I’m bringing out of here.”

“And you are the furless being the Captain spoke about,” The redhead remarked back with a mirthful tone. “Can I say you don’t look much for cavalry?”

“Well, it was either me or… yeah, just me.”

“Pity-”

“Helena!” The Bunny Prime reprimanded sternly. “It’s not the time to bicker. We should go.”

I nodded, starting to lead them out of the building as I could remember bits of this area and I knew where the closest exit was supposed to be. But, as soon as I began taking the proper route towards true freedom, I found out that someone else was also coming our way… with good intentions.

“Commander Theo?” A surprised Collie Prime asked and I found myself nodding at him and his squad as they finished killing off the last bit of resistance between us and them.

“That’s me, Aterios. Situation?”

“I believe this is a ‘Shit hit the fan’ situation, sir.”

Oh.

“How bad?”

“Commander Carmesi and Pulsar were engaging General Minos.”

...Yep, Shit has hit the fan alright.

“Then let’s get back to them, we are ready to leave as far as I’m concerned, and I’m not leaving anyone behind.”

There was no hesitation in following through with that simple plan and we backtracked the steps of the rescue team until we arrived at the main courtyard of the outpost. Or… what was left of it as we found out that Fire, Ice and Earth makes for a devastating combination. The ground was cracked, with pieces of burning dirt and frozen spots littering the entire place as the battle still raged on. Pulsar was doing quite fine, he was wounded, several gashes all over his arms and parts of his chest, but still running optimally as far as I could tell.

Minos was drained, tired and… slightly injured. Not enough to put him out of commission but… way better than Carmesi. As soon as my stare turned at her, I felt a knot in my chest at the sight I was presented with. Her boots and her gauntlets were no longer there, burned from the creation of intense Fire Magic that consumed these pieces of her outfits. Her hands and feets were a little scorched and bruised, while her overall body was shivering in a mix of adrenaline and pain.

She had burned herself too much and now she was on the verge of collapsing from the looks of it.

I didn’t hesitate in bolting towards the still-distracted Minos, managing to arrive close enough to him as he noticed my approach and give him something to worry about. His red eyes widened in surprise and panic as he realized what was going on.

“Y-You-”

“Sarge!” I angrily greeted as I slapped the back of his leg and pumped some Ice Magic into his skin. He tried to move and strike me away, but he realized way too late what I was doing as his arms and legs started to go numb. He took just a few steps forward before collapsing forward, his eyes still open and glaring at me.

“W-What did you-”

“Temporary paralysis. That thing that happens when your leg or your arm ‘falls asleep’? Yeah, it’s that, but for your entire body.”

“B-Bastard!”

“Shh, sleep a wee bit, Major. We are about to leave after all and I think the party’s closure is well overdue.”

No further comment, I wasn’t in the mood to waste time as I noticed Pulsar approaching me while I walked up to Carmesi. The Fox Prime blinked, her body easing down before leaning forward and almost falling on the ground if I hadn’t reached out and caught her fall.

“Theo, are you alright?”

“Peachy, but I believe right now we can talk after we get out of there. General retreat, we’re done here.”

He was still surprised, but he nodded at my words and soon the tired warriors that had taken part in that fight started to comply with the orders and go back to the waiting transport ships.

I heard Carmie grumble something, but she put no resistance as I lifted her a little bit, pulled her in an embrace and managed to get her arms wrapped around my neck as I began to run away with the others while helping her back to the transports.

“T-Theo?” Muffled, weak, I could tell she really drained herself in that deadly fight against the Earth Crest.

"Shh, I got you," I replied with all the care I had for her within my voice. "Carmie, I need you to keep awake, just so we can make sure you are not going to die on me because of this."

“I’m… angry.”

“I know,” I muttered back quietly.

“R-Really angry.”

“I’m sorry-”

“I-I’ll punish you. A lo-lot.”

“And I will accept it. I was that dumb,” I replied with a nod. “Now, I need you to keep your eyes open and not lose focus. We’re almost there.”

“I’m… tired.”

“No, you can sleep only-”

She nuzzled closer and I could tell she was so close to fall asleep. I could tell her wounds were grave, so much that I started to push out Fire Magic to try and force her own Crest to use that energy to recover from these injuries. I couldn’t allow her to close her eyes- not until I was certain she was alright and could properly fall asleep without her conditions worsening.

"Please. I'm sorry for putting you through that- I- I know it sucks and you want to nap but... please, stay awake."

I was genuinely worried in that moment, so much that I felt my heart clench as I didn't hear her reply as quickly as she did just a few seconds ago.

...

“...Okay.”

I felt her fix herself again, this time her body regaining some focus. I rubbed her upper back while holding her tightly. I finally noticed the transports and I entered the one where the three Primes I rescued were waiting by.

The ships closed as soon everyone was evacuated, lifting off the very moment we were all prepared to leave. The procedure was mostly quiet, with a soft thud confirming that the insides of the ship were sealed away to allow us to reach the vessels waiting for us in the planet’s orbit.

_ This was one hell of a mission, but one that confirmed one thing. We had a friend in the Imperial ranks. A deadly but seemingly honest one. _

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AN

This chapter is going to be revised in a few days from BR. Couldn’t work on it because he was busy with important stuff.