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Chapter 20: Prepare for the Worst

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

Archie had to double-check this novelty before providing us with an accurate assessment, and yet I had a strong feeling that today was going to be an important day as it would determine the next steps we were going to take.

It's been a few weeks since we found the Water Crest, the community she lived in and the Colony ship which was currently being used as the flagship. Things had improved through the organization of the available troops, the fixing of a good portion of the ships while also upgrading them with rudimentary defensive systems which weren't available in them early on within the newly-recovered one and the resources available, albeit lacking for long trips, were more than enough to give us the much needed push to reach Earth and consolidate all forces there. It was the primary goal… which had gained even more importance as our current objective when a message came to us and gave us a good report on what was going on Earth.

The data that was received by the colony ship was somewhat baffling, especially since the new entry came right from a different 'outpost' that was easily tracked to be on Earth. Archie verified with machine-like accuracy the validity of the message through its signature, eventually confirming its authenticity and the legitimacy behind the sender's identity. A quick check of the message also confirmed it was mostly positive news as it came directly from the Wisdom Crest. The development added an extra degree of hope as we were ultimately given a guarantee that it was not faked, with the seal of the Crest imbued with magic that was registered by the system as owned by Wisdom. Adela was the one reading the content of the message first, and yet the baffled Queen soon showed a hint of relief as she started to read it, the words in there confirming that the situation was as good as expected for all of us.

Despite the Crests on Earth being mostly detached from one another to prevent any groups (both within the planet and from the Empire) from noticing their presence on the planet, Wisdom had been one of those that had been particularly active from the way she knew the old codes of communication. There was a high chance that she had scavenged this from an old colony ship which contained those details, which would explain how she also managed to build something strong enough to reach the active ship so quickly. Still, what really mattered was one thing that the message highlighted. The Empire knew nothing of their presence on Earth. As far as they were concerned, all Crests were scattered on different planets. It had been a strong theory, but now that we had this confirmation, we could safely approach Earth and prepare to consolidate for the final battle. I couldn't tell how we were going to convince the world leaders to put aside all issues they have with each other and stand united, but it was a must that we got all of them ready for this big war.

As Adela was done with the message, some questions started to come from the Crests about Earth's situation. It was expected, and I wasn't surprised when the Water Crest spearheaded this effort.

“So Earth is your homeplanet?" Xeanica inquired, having never asked much about what I was and where I came from.

“That would be correct," I hummed. “Earth is the planet of origin of all humans, or Mankind."

“They have multiple governments due to their own differences through culture and ideology," Addie commented on it.

“And they've been through war a lot," Carmesi added with a hum. “Still, it sounds so weird that you didn't have anyone stopping you before it got that bloody."

“It is weird," Pulsar agreed. “But I guess it also gave them the chance to grow on their own."

“And we grew from those conflicts. While also getting more vicious in wartime," I admitted dryly. I was really trying my best to not be too harsh about it but… Human history is just filled with so many wars that could have been stopped by some Divinity. Kind of makes one think how the Dragon Gods' reach and their willingness to act and help others is.

“Still, Earth looks so nice," Grace praised kindly. “So many animals, so much life..."

“Many oceans too," Xeanica quipped, remembering what she saw about the planet. “So many fishes."

Pulsar chuckled. “I wouldn't mind trying some of those beaches."

“And I wouldn't say no to check one of those old castles you said that exist in… Europe?"

I nodded at her half-guessed attempt, with the young Queen beaming in happiness in getting the name right. Carmesi didn't put much since she knew more than enough to be satisfied with the argument, but I did get a compelling question from Grace.

“Still, I understand that it will be difficult to convince all governments to combine their forces against the Emperor."

“It will surely be a hassle,"I muttered while nodding. “But not impossible. It wouldn't be the first time the bigger nations cooperated despite their differences before a dangerous enemy that threatened to destroy the planet for their ambitions."

“And I can already see it's going to be boring too," Carmie almost groaned in annoyance while saying this, knowing how diplomacy wasn't exactly a fun bit to be part of.

And she was going to be part of it as much as she disliked the entire idea of being stuck in a long and dull meeting. Being a general doesn't mean just rushing to the battle, plan a war and all of that- it also mean coordinating strikes with other officers, get an understanding of the possibility of being limited for some reason to commit to some strategies compared to others and having to face the fact that things were going to be more busy at that point. If she already lamented having to handle a lot from training her troops but still finding some joy in it, I could see her finding anything interesting in those talks.

With that in mind, I was a bit worried that she wasn't exactly going to keep her temper in check, which is why I planned to keep around and make sure she wasn't outright aggravated during those talks. I could imagine some concerns being raised about her leadership due to how 'green' she would be compared to other officers, but I knew that this reasoning could be handled with ease… If I was around to make sure that the most logical answer to prevent any disagreements was applied.

After a while, the conversation tied to the question ended as a single conclusion came out of it: Earth was our current goal. We had to reach the planet, try to approach the world leaders as peacefully as possible and try to score an alliance with them and… prepare for the worst. It was there where the big final battle was eventually going to happen. The Helm's Deep of Humanity and Primedom together. A last stand against a genocidal monster that didn't care for innocents and waged war on everything he hated.

Which is why the first thing that Archie reported about was his intention to draw a stopping point once we reached a safe enough distance from any Imperial outposts to gain resources to improve the Colonial Ship. There were some new additions that could be introduced, important features that heightened the ship's personal defense capacity while also improving its speed. The landing procedure was as swift as usual, but not one that gave us the chance to linger for long due to some issues. First, the planet picked wasn't one that was completely peaceful as the previous ones. The native fauna was hostile, which meant that we had to arm up some guards to keep control of the areas where we were retrieving the much needed minerals and other things needed to replenish the ship's storage magazines.

As soon as the ship resumed its journey, Archie also reported some unpleasant news from the sensors within the mainframe. Scouts have been spotted getting close just enough to get pictures of the ship, the ships weren't equipped for any attacks, but the news was still worrying enough to draw an increase with the army drill. The Empire wasn't as far as we would have liked and, to match this news to the current situation with the usual patrols around, it was decided to put ahead some extra patrols in case of any surprises. While we were getting equipment meant to prevent any infiltration, this wouldn't work if we were going to be attacked. And the reason why I feared an infiltration was tied to the fact that it wouldn't be the first time the Empire destroyed a Colonial Ship from the inside. These kinds of ships were meant to be tough in normal space-fighting, but were generally known to be difficult to protect due to the space where the engine had been located. Due to this last flaw in the design, Archie deemed it correct under Adela's request to build numerous other engines and a mini-reactor meant to enter in function within the chances of the main engines were to fail due to some internal issues or a sabotage.

It was too early to say but… I could tell we were going to be subjected to a skirmish before we reached Earth. It was just expected at this point as the Empire couldn't allow itself to lose the chance to even delay us long enough for reinforcements to come in and make any battle a troubling one for us to win despite the improvements gained in recent days. Everyone was vigilant on this matter and we were just biding our time for this battle to finally happen. Things sure were going to be spicy, but I felt a bit confident since we were playing in our 'turf' for the first time ever and my confidence was pretty high in that regard.Of course, things ended up taking a drastic development the moment our expectations were met to the fullest.

_ Especially when the day proved to be far more important than initially thought. _

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Feather focused onto the screen in front of her while she took notes through her holopad.

The main element that she was focusing the most in her current task was the ship they were currently hunting down which had been spotted by some of their forward scouts. A Second- Generation Colony Ship. It was well-equipped, fully operational and filled with enough to man all of the functional roles but not enough to make it fully operational. Minos had almost thrown things in a bloodbath of a fight by coming to order an immediate attack. While the Imperial capital ship was faster, it was nowhere as well-equipped as their target. Which was a surprise to learn about. Sem had been the one to notice this curious discrepancy as this kind of Colonial Ship wasn't meant to be equipped this strongly and have some of its known weak points well-defended by layers of reinforced metal. While she would have taken a more lax stance in this part of analysis, the idea that someone managed to implement these changes so quickly was baffling, but even so it made the entire battle not as one-sided and 'dull' as she would have expected it to be. Sem proved to be correct with his early assessment of the situation. The royal cause wasn't only going to keep to scraps if it wanted to survive, and what they did was akin to implementing centuries of unknown variants created by Prism's remnant into one of the latest ships being released before the planet's fall. This was by far a surprise that limited their capacity to strike.

At first glance, a normal officer would have called for reinforcement and tried to brute force their way into victory. Sadly, asking for this wouldn't be feasible as the ship was seemingly moving towards a close destination. They couldn't track it already, but it was clear they were getting close to their ultimate goal. Not a funny thought for those stuck in the 'losing side' so to speak, especially since the Emperor didn't like to see himself as part of it too. In fact, he would go through great lengths to make sure no one ever considered this a defeat. Which is why trying a suicidal rush would just be stupid… without them actually getting in a condition to succeed through that move. This was the main reason why Feather was alone in her office at the moment, trying to get down all the possible 'weak points' they could infiltrate and set some bombs in. The engines were to get destroyed, else part of the main plan wouldn't work well on them. The Colonial Ship had to be towed so that they couldn't run away, the same could be said about their weaponry. This second objective was much more difficult due to how deep the system had to be and how far it was compared to the engine room that they knew where it was from the old maps of the former architects of these pieces of work for Prism's colonial era.

She took notes, she gauged the system but… the woman then had to pause over some irregularities that caught her attention and left her perplexed for a while. Some of the usual 'telling' shapes of the Ship's appearance had been altered. At first she thought it was a case of 'they fixed it to make it cheap but working', but the more she studied through some brief simulations the effect of those changes, the more she realized that such changes were seemingly done for other reasons. Reasons she couldn't pick at the time due to the fact she couldn't properly investigate this circumstance with what she got. The Scouts got them some photos, but nothing that really helped them assess with precision what was cooking inside that ship. A sense of wonder grew inside of her at the mere idea that this was indeed more complicated but funnily difficult work than she had imagined. And Feather loved taking her time unraveling these sorts of secrets. Mostly because it helped any input of hers saving some lives that would have normally been left to be wasted in an ensuing battle. The Sky Crest kept on studying the matter even as she noticed her office's door opening without the visitor's knocking and… she spotted a bored Sem strolling inside before taking a seat right in front of her desk.

Feather remained quiet for a while, prioritizing her current job but surely and steadily growing annoyed by the fellow Crest's childish behavior as he started to tap at the desk. First it was a mere noise she could ignore, but the man just increased the intensity of the tapping to the point where his smug look was met by a frustrated glare of hers.

“What?" She asked with barely-veiled irritation.

“I think this war is going to end soon," Sem hummed positively. “And I was wondering how you were going to get your life back to peace."

Taking a moment to ponder over his words, Feather blinked with a perplexed frown on her face. “What?"

“The war ends and-"

“I will still be a commissioned officer," The woman interjected. “The Emperor would never allow us to be discharged even if we win against Prism once and for all."

…

“Who ever said it would be the Emperor's peace?"

And this question drew a worried look out of the Sky Crest. “You think we will fail?"

“'We' will definitely be. Especially now that Chaos supports Prism's victory."

“Sem, we've been through this a lot. Even if the Goddess of Chaos herself decides to support our enemies, the Emperor is still the one that holds the most out of its control," Feather argued. “As far as I can tell, it will not impact our endeavor too much."

“That would be the case… if Chaos didn't have a new champion in the making."

That response actually had her give him a surprised look. “You can't be serious-"

“The Goddess spoke and her words were without room of protest. A new champion of Chaos emerged and this one, in her own gaze, is the one that will put an end to the old feud. He will bring an end to the unbalanced Status Quo."

“I thought the war was the unbalance-"

“It was never expressed what the unbalance was. Only that the War was tied to it," The Death Crest remarked. “I can strongly vouch that… the end of the war will bring a massive change to everything."

…

“I suppose I should stop then? If we're going to fail-"

“Minos would have us both reported for treason. I would suggest against stopping now and… make him take this fall."

“He is growing quite impatient with defeats," Feather argued nervously, knowing that the Earth Crest's patience was thinning incredibly due to his foul streak of losses. “Are you sure this would work for the best?"

“A loss is never a defeat for everyone. Especially with how our allegiances don't stand with the Emperor as much as those stands on Prism," Sem answered with a serious tone. “Which is why I believe you should lead the infiltration and… if the situation calls for it, 'end up captured'."

“You want me to cross sides?"

“I want you to not be used as a scapegoat by the 'General'. He would use you as that only to avoid the worst from the Emperor's ire."

And that was nothing positive. As much as Feather didn't do anything to warrant this much anger from the supreme leader, that didn't mean that such a flawed operation could easily cost her position and life if it really ended in a failure. It felt so absurd to consider how for one moment she had been so convinced of managing a clear win but… Sem never missed this kind of prediction, and something told her that his words weren't to be treated lightly. Something was going to happen and it was going to mess up the infiltration to the point where only surrendering would do well.

“I will consider it and-"

Feather didn't get the chance to end that sentence that she paused at the noise of someone knocking at the door. She turned at it and then the one that entered inside.

Coyote Prime, dark-gray fur and black, short ears and green eyes. He was wearing the green Imperial armor which was modified to allow for his enchanted sword to be sheathed by a special section on its upper back area. He paused and saluted the two of them.

“Squad Leader Ravenhurst, here as requested!"

Smiling at the display Sem chuckled and stood up. “Kayin, long time no see."

“Major Deth," The young man muttered politely and the Death Crest nodded. “I was given the assignment of acting as your vice for the time being."

Sem looked surprised, clearly not having any hands on this sudden relocation. “Truly? Was it General Minos-"

“The Emperor requested this. Mentioning that it would be unfitting for a Major to lack a direct subordinate."

“Oh," The Lion Prime hummed in surprise, caught off-guard by this occurrence. “I suppose now I have a subordinate. All in all, we can finally catch up about what happened in the last two years since I last saw you."

The young man was a user of Chaos and, despite his propensity to use Orderly Magic, he was defined by Chaos Religion as a full-fledged Narakhan. It was one of those surprising fellows, a rare bunch, which managed to somehow develop a dual affinity on this matter. Very unique but… this one, Feather she knew more about.

Kayin Ravenhurst was a troublemaker. One could easily compare him with the way Captain Carmesi once led her duties. He was hotheaded, known to have issues with his superiors… except Sem. Sem seemed to struck a good relationship with the Imperial Specialist. Both were unorthodox in handling their tasks, and both didn't like being led around as if they were puppets. So when Kayin was first assigned to Sem, the two worked just fine. In fact, it was there that Squad Leader Ravenhurst proved to have the qualities that were necessary to stay within the army. He was reliable, incredibly flexible when it came to pressure-driven changes, and he was mostly pleasant to have around if he wasn't 'oppressed' too much by his superiors.

Sem was the one that loosened the leash to the point where Kayin barely felt his control over him. The young Prime knew he wasn't unchained, but he accepted this as part of being part of the military. What he didn't accept was when his 'creativity' was suppressed by others. There had been some close calls of him going rouge, but it never happened. Which was both a relief and a worry due to how volatile of a soldier he was. Instead of remaining around and distracting her any further, both officers left after offering their own versions of the formal salute, leaving Feather to resume her work at once.

There was much to think and do as she prepared for the initiation of this operation and… Sem's words had her also plan out a way to be captured with the equipment she knew she couldn't leave behind. Diaries, notes- there was so much that needed to be taken away as those could be used by Minos to paint her as a traitor in case he tried to push through the 'scapegoat' process as the Death Crest had mentioned. There was so much that could be used in her documents to put her in a bad light, and the woman knew that it wouldn't have been acceptable under any circumstance.

Still, while she worried about losing 'with grace', she also pondered on how she was going to be defeated. Sure, the mission itself was risky as it was, but right now she couldn't spot anything that could outright lead to her capture. Maybe she was looking too much into it and not valuing the fact that the human, the Grand Knight, had knowledge of war that was a few steps more advanced compared to her own understanding of conflicts. It was definitely going to be an interesting encounter to be part of and…

_ Maybe it was time she went back to schedule her capture. After all, time was essential and Feather knew that she was wasting too much in her musings about a possible new war-history friend. _

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Something felt wrong. This wasn't a normal dream.

I woke up tiredly while trying to grasp at what I was more familiar with within my room. And yet I found nothing… but a soft circular mattress that I had been woken up in. The entire room was mostly white. Not the pristine or clean white, but rather the one that was a bit dull and turning into shades of light-gray. It took me a while to grasp the entire style of the room, how spartan it felt with how little things were visible in there. It felt a lot more like a cell, part of a prison, rather than a legitimate bedroom and… my musings were interrupted coming from the only window I could see. I looked up, noticing a lone figure sitting by the edge of it, looking ready to jump inside. It took me a moment to realize who she was, the same robed Prime, or Narakhan, that I had seen in that last dream.

Blinking, I stared as she descended slowly. A slender figure, her black hood was still on and yet I could see some of her features through her shadows, those that confirmed her identity as her.

“_ Chaos is represented by a single entity. A goddess that is neither malevolent, or a harbinger of gifts without a catch." _

So this was the deity that I had seen a while ago. The entity that should, by all means, be the Avatar or even the Goddess to Chaos itself. I was a bit unsure how to treat her even with Sem's own claim that she was a neutral creature. One that didn't maim until provoked, nor an affectionate individual that cared for making positive first impressions with those she was interested in.

“Mattia Castelnuovo," The woman greeted while approaching. “I see you're not… worried. Many would be in my presence."

“Should I be?" I asked swiftly, my nervousness doubling over the fact that the entity knew my real name.

But instead of answering the query, the lady paused by the bed and… sat by its edge. Silence was restored for a while as I quietly stared at the Goddess as she calmly looked around before finally looking back at me.

“I think you could," The robed woman said with a bored tone. “But should? It all depends on subjectivity."

I could only blink at that non-answer. “You're… the one that controls Chaos."

The cloaked figure sighed, then spared me an annoyed hum. “I suppose I should be like that. And yet I'm not. Not anymore, of course."

“The Emperor-"

“Is no Emperor. But a foolish child that still has to accept the curse he has inflicted himself," The woman interjected flatly, clearly not appreciating bringing up his name in that instance. “The one that was supposed to bring balance. He had so many qualities, but too many flaws from the way things turned out to be."

…

“He lied to you."

“He lied to himself, his ideals, his family, his friends- his… Goddess."

There was an uneasy silence. One that I didn't try to interrupt due to how clear it felt that she wasn't in the mood to listen, but rather she wanted to talk. And she ended up speaking up once more.

“Of all things you could have asked, you drove deep into my character. You didn't want a name like he did, why?"

“I… I guess it's because I know this isn't going to be a long talk. I wanted to know more of who I am talking to."

“And not my name?" She pressed with an intrigued tone. “Aren't you fascinated by what kind of name I bear?"

“I am. I never said I wasn't," I hummed quietly. “But, from what I understand, you don't like it when people seek your power."

It took her a moment to realize where my logic was heading. And I felt a bit awkward at having taken this silly route to prove a point. The way she described the Emperor and what I could remember of the last dream, I could tell the main point of her hatred was those that sought her power. Power that she found herself stolen from by the Emperor himself.

“Names bring power," The woman spoke, taking a moment to digest this very interesting reason. “Do you wish for me to know you don't seek power?"

“No," I replied calmly.

“Even if it would save your friends from a possible death?"

“The Crests-"

“Should technically be able to fight off the Emperor. But that's a hypothetical scenario since these tools weren't created with the purpose that they are now sought for," She argued, interrupting me. “I understand the Gods believe this is the way, but what if you need that extra kick to even out the odds?"

“...I will train myself to the point I will be there to help them," I proclaimed without hesitation.

“But this power is immediate-"

“That doesn't mean it is without a catch," I shot back.

“I wouldn't ask for anything in return, except for you to keep your ideal while-"

“That's not the point," I interrupted again. “It's the kind of power that I don't agree with. I refuse to use a power that I hadn't gained through personal understanding and training to reach it."

She paused, then she thought about it and… hummed. “So you think the catch isn't tied to me but… the power itself?"

“Yes. While Chaos is described as a powerful tool, it's not something that is without a price. Else there wouldn't be any reason to stay away from it."

…

“Fair point. I guess you're not as naive as you appear to be at times, Mattia," She agreed with a serious tone. Then… I saw her smile and throw her head back, letting out a chuckle. With that move her hood fell back and revealed her whole head and face. I tensed up instantly as soon as I got a good glance of her, with my eyes widening in shock as I realized how she appeared to be… so similar to Adela. The only major difference was the color themes.

Her fur was a pristine white, her hair a shade lighter and her eyes… a dazzling dark-blue that cleverly flashed at me as soon as she was done laughing.

“I suppose you are indeed a worthy candidate. I hope you know that my full attention is to you and your actions, Mattia. Keep down this path and perhaps you shall indeed find something the Emperor failed to gain. Power, yet not," She muttered with a loving smile, almost amused by my own words. I was about to ask her more about it, but I felt something pull at me as… darkness formed a pool underneath me, dragging me down and away from that room. “By the way, I believe you deserve to know who bestowed you with this attention-

I felt my consciousness faltering as I couldn't pull out from the suction and… I heard a few words as I fell into oblivion.

“_ My name is Pandora, my Champion, and I look to see more of what you plan to do with your own strengths." _

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AN

Chaos emerges!