Chapter 25: War Council

Elaine was ecstatic. Not too long ago the thought of fighting two wendigo at the same time would have been a daunting prospect and now she'd destroyed two dozen without taking so much as a scratch. Her blood was pumping like crazy and she was high on life until she heard Typhon's voice echo inside her mind:

Six out of ten. Apply yourself.

Hey fuck you too, she thought. What was wrong with that?

Your entrance was great, he said. But afterwards? You have wings, girl. And yet you spent the entire fight on the ground, fighting like some mud-dwelling mortal.

Well excuse me for not being used to having wings yet.

You were the one who wanted Tiamat's power as soon as possible, he said. So you better get used to having wings or she'll never even bother.

I can't tell if you're trying to help me or if you're just an ass, she thought.

Both, he replied cheerfully. I have a vested interest in your success but I refuse to coddle you.

I liked you better when you were an inert source of power inside my soul.

In response he sent her a mental image of her newly-gained cock sliding in and out of Ophelia's pussy, reminding her that he hadn't been entirely inert before.

She took a deep breath and then reached inside herself, trying to recreate the feeling of slugging him inside her mind.

Ouch, he said. Alright, fine, you're learning awfully fast.

She wasn't listening anymore, though. Instead she'd already turned around and was preparing to fly off to join her team.

You're just gonna leave?

What else do you want me to do? she asked. They're all dead.

Well, if you're so upset with the score I gave you, now's your chance to raise it to an 8.

I'm all ears, she thought.

And as he kept explaining his idea to her the corners of her mouth rose until she was grinning like a loon.

**

“That barricade was a great touch," Abigail said. “That really slowed them down.”

At Typhon's suggestion Elaine had used her crystal magic to sprout pillars of sharpened crystal out from the asphalt in the rough shape of a set of tank barriers, forcing the enemy army to go off-road to avoid them, slowing down their progress. They likely had more than enough firepower to blast the barrier apart but in the process they would have destroyed the road, forcing them to swerve around anyway.

After raising the crystal pillars out of the ground she'd flown straight back to the Gospel that had been circling overhead, reaching it with just under three minutes of her Higher form left. Her vision had become dark around the edges already and she'd felt a profound relief when she'd dismissed the power and returned to being just Elaine again.

Of course, part of that relief had come from being cuddled by Alexis, Ophelia, Evelyn and Cassie but not having all of this power thrumming in her veins had certainly helped. So, once they had all made sure she was fine she'd leaned back while they continued onward to their destination.

She knew once they arrived things would become a lot more eventful. Her girls had already told her that the Lieutenant General had sent Prudence along to act as spokeswoman for the base and that was perfectly fine by Elaine. She hadn't had much to do with Prudence but Abigail spoke highly of the angel and Elaine trusted her judgment.

**

Subject 259 gritted her teeth. After thorough investigation there was no more doubt in her mind. The military complex she'd been scouting out was operational and housed people capable of going toe to toe with the Outsiders. The soldiers wore armor markedly similar to that of the angels who sometimes attacked her creator in retaliation for his heinous crimes and exhibited the kinds of powers that even his genetic experiments and PSI device implants only rarely produced.

And given how violently they reacted to finding Outsiders on their trips 259 was certain they were the people responsible for disrupting Project Seedbed.

On the one hand the discovery excited her. Humanity wasn't merely hanging by a thread, they were growing stronger in the face of adversity and actually fought to beat back the invaders.

On the other hand, now that she knew she would have to tell her creator, who would do his best to stamp them out.

“How do you wish to proceed?" the slaver AI riding 202 asked.

“Continue scouting," 259 replied. “Learn about their numbers, their capabilities, their routines.”

“Are you perhaps... stalling?" the AI asked. It was incapable of inflection. It was certainly intelligent enough for such nuance but the voice processors it had been given weren't up to the task. Even still, the phrasing and the slight pause made the threat in the words perfectly clear.

But if anything 259 was grateful for that. She'd always known this sentience had been sent along with her to monitor her, not to help her. The fact that it had finally decided to drop the facade made it easier to deal with.

But what she said was: “You know how our master operates. If he deems something to be a threat to his experiments he finds out everything he can about his target and then he crushes it utterly. So, what do you want to do? Scout everything out thoroughly and then let him deal with it however he sees fit or go in half-cocked and alert them to our presence? I'm not sure if an AI can feel pain but if you fuck this up for him I'm sure he'll find a way to make even you hurt.”

The AI was silent for a long moment but 259 didn't meekly wait for its answer. She glared at the camera lenses the AI used as eyes, placed like a blindfold over 202's face.

Finally, after a long moment, the AI said: “There is... wisdom in your words. We will continue to scout out this military installation.”

259 hadn't been holding her breath but even still a bit of tension left her body at those words. She had no illusions that the AI had already sent word of the discoveries back to their creator but at least they still had time before he would come down on them like a ton of bricks for disrupting his experiments.

She hoped for their sake it wouldn't happen but she knew they wouldn't be so lucky. And if she didn't help her creator in bringing it about he would find a way to punish her that would make 202's fate seem merciful by comparison.

**

When Elaine's squad reached the refugee camp the other Awakeners were already waiting for them with Prudence in their midst. The Lieutenant General had sent Prudence along with the squads as a liaison after hearing that Base 11 would be sending their lead researcher and their own angelic minder along on the mission.

“All of the Shard Bearers, keep yourselves ready and available," Prudence said once everyone was present and accounted for. “As for the Awakeners, follow me. You will be present at the briefing.”

“Who has tactical command on this mission?" Alejandro asked.

“General Pennington," Prudence said. “Lieutenant General Hayworth's direct superior. He is in charge of this refugee camp and, by extension, this part of the country. I have been told that he is perfectly willing to defer to more knowledgeable people on matters of mission command so he will likely not be too hard on all of you. Regardless, I would appreciate it very much if you didn't mouth off too much.”

Elaine and Marcus let out small coughs. Both of them had been part of the military before the Invasion and neither of them had been too terrible obedient, constantly mouthing off in front of their commanding officers. They'd both been competent enough to get away with that sort of thing but there was a limit to impudence and pissing off a general would have been career suicide back before the Invasion.

“So, are we heading straight there?" Jordan said. “Or do we have some time to check in on the refugees?”

“No," Prudence said. “I'm sure you'll all be able to visit your families but only after we're done keeping this camp safe.”

“Fair enough," Jordan said and they began making their way towards the command center.

Back in school Elaine had seen documentaries about concentration camps back in Nazi Germany and aside from the horror and misery one thing that had stood out to her had been the soulless architecture of those camps, the rows after rows of identical barracks for the inmates.

Then, after becoming a soldier, she'd seen refugee camps all across the globe, pits of human misery made of tents and communal mess halls. And while there hadn't been the pain and death and evil of what she'd seen in those documentaries, the layouts had been eerily similar, rigid grids of accommodation that were easy to get lost in due to their sheer uniformity.

And the refugee camp reminded her of a mixture of those two. Like the refugee camps from before the Invasion it was one huge grid of living space stuffed full of people hoping for a better tomorrow but unlike the tent cities of modern refugee camps this one was made up of proper housing, stone structures with roofs plastered in solar panels stretching out in all directions.

And while there was no misery and death and pain in sight, the brutal grid of utilitarian housing still felt uncomfortable to her in how clearly it placed function over form. Even Base 15, for all of it being a military compound, felt more like a livable space than this camp did with its miles and miles and miles of clean grid pattern housing. But even so, the fact that this place was a home to thousands of survivors was comforting in some small way. No matter how uncomfortable this place looked, this was, in a very real way, what her and her team were fighting for. Not just the people living in it but also the last remnants of civilization it represented. And the knowledge that, if they ever got rid of the Outsiders, their families would no longer have to live this way.

After ten minutes of contemplating the concrete hell the group finally reached the command center of the refugee camp, where a man in a white uniform stood guarding the door. There was something otherworldly about the man and Elaine took a moment to study him. He wasn't particularly tall but still seemed to tower over everyone present, an aura of serenity surrounding him. His skin had a Middle Eastern tan and his facial features were sharp, with a distinctive nose and high cheek bones. His hair was down to his shoulders, more pepper than salt, and his beard was full but neatly trimmed. It wasn't a soldier's facial hair and it certainly wasn't a soldier's haircut and yet the man was clearly wearing a uniform. She also noticed an old-fashioned coin pouch tied to his hip, the leather old and faded but clearly well cared for. When Elaine looked into his eyes he raised his gaze to look at her and she found herself drawn into eyes the color of faded dollar bills that held an infinity of sadness and hope and conviction in them.

She was about to open her mouth and do something stupid like ask if he was Jesus when Prudence called out:

“Jude!”

Elaine blinked as Prudence rushed forward and clapped the man on the shoulder. He gave her a beatific smile and returned the clap on the shoulder, then let his gaze drift back to Elaine and the other Awakeners.

“Good to see you again, Prudence," he said, his tone soft and gentle. “So these are your charges?”

“Indeed," she said. “Meet the Awakeners of Project Divinity.” Then she turned back to said Awakeners. “Everyone, meet...”

“I don't think that is necessary," the man interrupted, gently placing a hand atop Prudence's to stop her from continuing.

She pressed her lips together. “You're probably right.”

“Indeed," he said, then turned to the Awakeners. “Just call me Jude. Everybody does. Know that I am one of the Ophanim, same as Prudence here.”

“So what are you doing out here?" she asked him when he was finished speaking.

“Waiting for the team from Base 15," he said. “So I suppose we can head inside now. Thank the Lord. This heat is exhausting.”

“Pretty sure you spent your mortal life in this kind of heat," she said.

“That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the marvel of modern air-conditioning," he countered, then opened the door and gestured for everyone to follow him.

“So, who is he?" Elaine asked Prudence quietly as they headed through the corridors.

“Haven't you figured it out by now?" Prudence asked quietly.

“I think I have," Elaine replied.

“Then you probably understand why he didn't want me to introduce him," Prudence said. “So keep it to yourself. If you're still curious just ask him after the briefing. He's a very honest sort.”

“Okay," Elaine said and then concentrated on following the man called Jude through the corridors.

Eventually Jude stopped in front of a surprisingly nondescript door and knocked on it three times.

“What is it?" a man's voice called from inside.

“The team from Base 15 has arrived," Jude called.

“Finally," the man's voice said. “Bring them in.” There was a pause before he added: “Please.”

Jude, who had pointedly waited for the 'please', opened the door and led Prudence and the Awakeners inside.

The room looked like any military briefing room, a round table and a monitor off to one side. Five of the chairs at the table were filled. The first person there was clad in a uniform similar to Lieutenant General Hayworth's, except even more decorated. This was clearly General Pennington, Elaine thought. The other four, though? Three were clad in uniforms not entirely dissimilar to what the members of Project Divinity wore. One was a handsome young man with tousled brown hair and piercing blue eyes. The others were two strikingly gorgeous women, one blond with Slavic features and the other freckled with fiery red hair. And, by the way the three held themselves, both women were clearly in a relationship with the young man. But it was the final one that held Elaine's attention.

He was handsome. His dark brown hair was long and curly and a neatly trimmed beard covered his face. But even that didn't distract from the almost child-like excitement in his eyes. Brown eyes that were simultaneously glowing with curiosity and sparkling with fierce intelligence, easy to see thanks to the round wire-rim spectacles the man wore. He seemed... out of place in this meeting room. Even more so given his outfit, which reminded Elaine a lot of what the Professor always wore. Dark pants, a dark shirt and a doctor's coat over everything. Though unlike Professor Stollos, whose coat looked pristine except for a single ballpoint pen in a breast pocket, this man's coat all but burst at the seams from all kinds of devices stuffed into the pockets. A ruler, a wrench, a screwdriver and a dozen other things poked out of the pockets. Elaine even thought she saw a sextant squished between the man's thigh and one of his chair's armrests. This certainly was a character. She was already curious for his introduction but Prudence preempted her as she rushed towards him and he raised himself out of the chair to give her a hug.

“Leonardo!" Prudence cheered as she hugged him.

“Prudence," he said, his voice surprisingly gentle and subdued.

After a moment she righted herself and then stood at attention as she greeted: “General Pennington.”

She didn't salute or bow but Elaine and the other Awakeners immediately saluted the man who was so exponentially higher up in the chain of command than them that under ordinary circumstances they would get in trouble for merely breathing the same air as him. Elaine was especially impressed that Alejandro, Jordan and Tracy all saluted just as precisely as Marcus and her. The three of them hadn't been part of the military before the Invasion but clearly the training had stuck.

“At ease, soldiers," the man said, then regarded Prudence as the Awakeners relaxed. “That would make you one of the angels, correct?”

“Yes, sir," she said. “Ophanim Prudence, here as liaison for Lieutenant General Hayworth. These are the squad leaders of Base 15.”

A bit of the tension left the man's shoulders at that. “Good. I saw that one of yours took down that scouting party, correct?”

Elaine considered backing off and fading into the background but then Prudence grabbed her by the shoulders and subtly pulled her forward.

“Yes, General. That was Sergeant Caldwell here.”

The man's scrutiny was terrifying. Here Elaine was, more powerful than any mere human, and still this man's gaze unnerved her, so commanding and calculating. But still she refused to be cowed. She hadn't backed down when facing an immortal Outsider cultist and she wouldn't back down now.

Finally he gave her a nod. “That was a brilliant performance. I didn't know humans were capable of that.”

“Knowing Stollos' work she's likely far beyond human already," the man named Leonardo said. Everyone turned to look at him. “But yes, it was most impressive. Convenient, too, the way you blocked their path forward.”

“Right," the General said, trying to get back on track. “It gives us more than enough time to plan out how to take on this army. So, let us begin with your capabilities. I have read summaries of what your Project was meant to do but it told me nothing about what to expect from any of you. I certainly didn't expect to see a woman throwing herself out of an aircraft to take on a horde of monsters with dozens of glass swords.”

Elaine allowed herself a small smile as the General gestured for them to sit. When they were all seated Prudence began briefing the man, giving him an abbreviated list of what each team was capable of. Elaine was intrigued by this. On the one hand mentions of a Private Cole, whose powers Prudence described as a sniper without the need for line of sight and a Private Clearwater, with the ability to send conjured wildlife at the enemies, fascinated her but on the other hand she was thrilled by the fact that Prudence spent a disproportionate amount of time describing her girls, emphasizing Ophelia's healing and Darklight protection, Alexis' ingenious light magic, Evelyn's last resort offensive ability and of course Elaine's own powers. Apparently she wasn't the only one who thought that her girls were amazing.

Finally Prudence finished with: “That should just about cover it. Now, may I ask what Leonardo's charges are capable of?”

That made the three other soldiers perk up.

The man named Leonardo gave a broad smile and gestured towards the three.

“They are Unit 01 of Project God-Machines. The strapping young fellow is Sergeant Jacob Fielder and these two lovely ladies are Privates Elena Ivanova and Faye MacDowell. And they are the first three test subjects capable of not just piloting but syncing with my masterworks, the God-Machines.”

“That doesn't actually tell them anything about what we can do, you know?" Sergeant Fielder said. “Honestly Leonardo, you should spend less time gushing and more time listening to what people around you are saying.”

Prudence giggled at that but Leonardo narrowed his eyes, though the broad smile never left his face.

“Then you tell them if you're so much better at it than me, smartass.”

Sergeant Fielder shrugged. “The God-Machines Leonardo mentioned are giant robots. Honest-to-god super robots. They're scary strong already but the three of us can sync with them, which means we can use their special abilities. Mine has a pair of wings that can shoot lasers, Faye has inhuman accuracy and a conjured bow and Elena... well, we're still figuring that out. She only just synced with hers before we got deployed.”

“Seriously?" Elaine asked before she could stop herself. “Super robots?”

Sergeant Fielder smiled at her. “You're one to talk, Superhero Squad.”

Elaine snorted. “Superhero Squad? What have people been saying about us?”

“I just saw you personally mowing through a horde of monsters after launching yourself out of a Gospel. You're a superhero as far as I'm concerned. Own it.”

Elaine felt her cheeks warm.

“To get back on topic," General Pennington said. He'd been fairly relaxed about the soldiers getting to know each other but his patience was clearly reaching its limits. “We need to have a strategy in place for when that army arrives here.”

Leonardo nodded, suddenly all business. “My charges are most effective when taking care of the largest enemy units. They are somewhat limited when it comes to taking down foot soldiers.”

“If you can clear a path for us, Elena, Faye and I will handle the big ones," Sergeant Fielder, Jacob, said to the Awakeners.

Elaine nodded, then asked: “How are you three for Darklight protection?”

“We have shields for that but tanking Darklight hits puts a heavy strain on the mana generator," Elena said, her Slavic accent fairly thick but her English excellent nonetheless.

“Mostly we try to break anything that can use Darklight before it gets a chance to," Faye added.

“At the forefront of that army were a couple APCs full of cyborgs," Marcus said. “Probably better if you three blow them up.”

Faye gave a wolfish grin that was surprisingly at home on her pretty, freckled face. “Sounds great.”

“So Project Divinity takes on the foot soldiers and Project God-Machines takes on the heavy support," General Pennington summarized. “Anything else?”