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Chapter 161 - Making My Way Downtown
🕑 Added 2022-01-27 16:26:44 +0000 UTCLuna has regained consciousness by the time I'm back with everybody. She has no memory of anything since the attack on Arkaim when she was kidnapped but seems fine otherwise. My Chaos senses reveal nothing wrong with her physically, so everything should be alright now.
"We're about to arrive." Senka's voice echoes in my mind, and I understand that they've gotten close enough for her telepathy to work. Only a moment later, the entire structure of the Rhodos station quakes, and I narrow my eyes.
"I assume you crashed." I say with a roll of my eyes. The station is gigantic, but it didn't look like it had any berths for large ships to dock. And the hangar we entered from wasn't large enough for the Queen Pelomyx.
"You assumed correctly." The doll girl answers dryly. "Everybody is safe. Inertia dampeners are indeed quite magical."
I won't comment on this since I don't understand technology. All that matters is that the Maid Corps inside the Queen Pelomyx are unharmed by the crash. They should be able to make their way here on their own, especially with Exla and Sintress around. I'm sure Kleihn wouldn't want to leave the ship, but telling her there's a much larger structure to explore here could get her moving.
"Can you find your way here, or should I come to get you?" I ask Senka in my mind. I destroyed the elevator, so maybe they won't even be able to come here on their own.
"We'll be fine. Exla and Sintress know their way around the place." She responds, and I can practically see the shrug she's performing to herself. "Let's meet in Rhodos city."
"Is that what it's called?" I'm not even surprised. But considering it's the only settlement on this massive space station measuring hundreds of kilometers across, it's self-evident. "And how do you figure we blend in there?"
"It's a city. I'll see you there." That's all Senka says before cutting the connection. As somebody who grew up in Tokyo, I'm not unfamiliar with the anonymity of large cities. And I sensed that Rhodos city is a metropole with several million inhabitants, so it wouldn't be hard to disappear there. But looking across my companions, I can only imagine the attention they will draw.
I assume that the station's population consists of the descendants of new humans brought here to serve the false gods. Since Shelnir and Elaine are in the otherwise empty second section right now, nobody is leading these new humans directly. We could slip through unnoticed or attempt to free them of their indoctrination.
As it stands, nothing they throw at me will faze me anymore. When defeating over a dozen Oinos clones didn't even require more than a hand gesture, it's clear I've ascended beyond the Imagination Engine. And even without me there, everything went well with my companions despite their opponents, although some were wounded.
But who knows what else Shelnir has planned?
"What now?" Asoko comes up to me and asks. She must have guessed from my expressions that I was talking to Senka in my mind.
"We'll take a trip downtown." I reply with a grin. When she raises an eyebrow, I realize that nobody here knows there's a city on the Rhodos station. "We'll be heading into a human city."
Kamii exchanges a nervous look with Hestia. Everybody else here could mask their special features using clothes and accessories, but the little dark elf's skin color and giant crab pincer and Hestia's wings are impossible to hide. But I show her a reassuring smile.
"We don't need to hide anything." I declare in response to their unspoken but unmistakable worries. "You have nothing to be afraid of when I'm around."
Aurelia narrows her eyes at my words but doesn't say anything. Something tells me she doesn't like that I'm treating them like delicate flowers when they fought by my side all this time. But at the same time, she understands that we're so close to winning this final battle. Once this is over, we'll have peace from Old Human interference. Dying for the sake of pride now would be the height of folly.
Of course, I'm not so naïve to think that there will be eternal peace on Earth after beating these enemies. As long as people have desires, there will be conflict. I'm not here to eliminate war forever but to end this particular one that has been raging for many centuries.
Kerry leads the way out of the hall into an extremely long corridor with two sizable moving walkways going in both directions. Everything in here feels needlessly huge, but at least we won't have to walk like in Alverost's spherical battle station above Zohigal. Then again, the size difference is immense.
Our party silently follows the little Old Human onto the moving walkway going right. Although this is a new experience for most of my companions, not one expresses surprise or fascination at this point. Thus, we quickly move down the corridor into the distance.
I look back and see Luna leaning on Rolan's right shoulder due to still being a little unsteady. His mechanical left arm has been destroyed in the battle against Oinos, so he's visibly trying his best to stay balanced with her weight against him while standing on the moving floor.
"We're here." Kerry suddenly says and hops off the end of the moving walkway playfully. Everybody follows the little Old Human and stands still for a moment to regain their footing.
We're at a crossing with another long corridor to our left and an automatic door to the right. A sign above the door says Staging Grounds Station, which I assume marks this as a train station. As we approach, the door slides open to reveal a set of escalators leading down. They are wide enough to hold several people on each step. Judging by the name of this place and the open spaces that can fit many people, all of this is used for moving large numbers of troops.
As we descend the escalators, we come upon a platform with automatic trains waiting on both sides. I can't believe we'll use Old Human technology like this with impunity to infiltrate their city. But since the fight against the Oinos clones, I haven't felt any life signs in the vicinity. The troops meant to stop us must have already been moved to the city.
As I extend my senses across the forward section of the Rhodos station, I can sense some movement, but most of it seems to be scrambling for trains departing for the city. Could it be that this section will be depressurized or even jettisoned?
"Let's get on." I follow Kerry into the nearest wagon and see the God of Comets heading for the lead car. Although it's an automated train, it might not move without the right input from somebody with the proper authority. I should hope that the child of Elaine has that authority, though.
The doors close automatically shortly after everybody embarks. There are no seats, but plenty of hanging handles, illustrating the utilitarian nature of this train. The spacious interior is made to transport several hundred people per wagon. Thousands of soldiers could be packed inside one such train to be transported through the Rhodos station at a moment's notice.
This shows that the Old Humans could field a huge army - possibly large enough to subjugate the entire world through traditional military force if they ever threw off their yoke of indoctrination. With the Venus Fleet stopping any haphazard ventures into space and the Rhodos army for a planetary invasion, the Old Humans had all the tools to keep the world under their control.
Luckily, it wasn't new humanity that rose up against the Old Human rule after learning the truth, but us. We're a small force capable of fighting their entire army, so sending it down to Earth wouldn't have done them any good. Now it's too late to stop me anyway.
We ride on this otherwise empty train through a dark tunnel leading deeper into the Rhodos station. Only the engine's humming breaks the silence as everybody stands around or sits on the floor to process our situation.
I sense eyes on me but ignore them. Svanhild and Dregana have been staring the most since my otherworldly display against the Oinos clones earlier. But they're not the only ones worried about my departure from the imaginable. I don't feel the need to reassure them that I'm still myself right now, though. Perhaps that shows my human emotions are fading?
Suddenly, the dark tunnel opens to a massive space drenched in natural light. The train continues inside a glass tube elevated from the rest of the landscape, which consists of rolling hills and patches of forests. My companions walk up to the windows and peer outside in stunned silence. Not one could have imagined seeing this after coming so far through space.
"Are we truly still in space?" Hestia asks in a skeptical tone. When we look up, all one can see is a blue sky with the sun shining brightly.
"Perhaps this is an illusion?" Rewera wonders while letting her gaze sweep across the vast landscape. "Or were we transported back to our world?"
"No, this is all inside the Rhodos station." Kerry explains while pointing into the distance. I notice that the land is curved, showing that this is inside a massive cylindrical structure. It must encompass the entire first section of the Rhodos station aside from the part that houses the facilities where we just came from. "My brother added this a long time ago to breed the people who would man his advanced ships."
It doesn't shock me to learn that Alverost bred humans for desirable traits as unquestioningly loyal lackeys and fodder. I have several people with me who were created by the Old Humans for entertainment purposes. Surely, they were also selectively bred until they displayed the psychological traits they hold today.
"We'll be going into a military facility. Be ready to fight." As we travel across the landscape at an incredible velocity, Kerry warns us of what lies ahead. I look at the faces of my comrades and see their determination as they prepare whatever weapons or equipment they use. That's when I realize that they don't want to burden me with all the work even now.
I stay quiet about this and look outside. The rolling hills are covered in fields of crops and vegetables. Pastures are filled with livestock grazing on the fresh grass. In the distance, I can spot birds flying through the sky, and there is doubtlessly a working ecosystem underneath it all. With my Chaos senses, I can tell that this section is teeming with light down to the smallest microbial life forms.
When I look in the direction we're traveling, I see Rhodos city in the distance. It has all the hallmarks of a modern-day metropolis, with a concentration of skyscrapers in its center. The average building height drops the farther out one goes from the city center, giving it the appearance of a synthetic mountain when viewed from afar.
I feel the train dip before a sudden tunnel cuts off our view of the outside. Moments later, we come upon an underground station as the train quickly slows down. The brightly illuminated platform is filled with hundreds of soldiers behind barricades, guns drawn and pointed at our train.
"Leave this to me." I say and step forward, but my companions get in my way.
"This is not worth your time, Your Majesty." Aurelia remarks sarcastically and is the first to exit the train as the doors open. With a wave of her hand, parts of the train turn to gold and form into weapons that fly faster than the eyes can follow. Within moments, a golden storm rages across the enemy soldiers and cuts their guns into pieces without harming a single one of them.
My companions step forth without a worry in the world. They trust that the Golden Queen got every last weapon, so they feel safe stepping into what should have been the enemy's perfect kill zone. I sigh with a wry smile and follow them.
"Do you still wish to fight?" The Golden Queen asks the new humanity soldiers looking at their destroyed guns with dumbfounded expressions in a casual tone. Even the sidearms in their holsters were shattered, so all they could do now is rush at us with their fists and sheer numbers.
"How dare you demons invade the sanctum of the gods!" One of the soldiers musters the courage to yell at us.
"I don't understand the Old Human narrative anymore." I exchange a glance with Kerry, who remains silent. Did they truly tell the inhabitants of the Rhodos station that we're demons from the Dominion? These new humans should know that the population on Earth lacks all advanced technology, so how could we have even gotten here? Wouldn't having to admit that we hijacked one of Alverost's ships damage their authority as gods?
"Leave, you demons!" Another soldier shouts while throwing a piece of his destroyed weapon at us. Hestia raises a barrier to block it without a word and glares at the man. Her space suit and armor-covered wings hide that she's a Fata, albeit a corrupted one, so the new humans can't identify her for what she is. Perhaps they think she's also a demon.
More and more enemy soldiers throw things at us, but they're all blocked by the fallen Fata's barrier. Even though they realize the futility of their actions, they feel strength in their numbers and a sense of superiority because we aren't reacting. Maybe they think we're intimidated.
"Enough." I step through Hestia's barrier and declare in my real voice. For a moment, all the new humans freeze in their movements, and the projectiles stop flying. Then they drop their makeshift throwing implements and stare at me in terror. I continue in my human voice and employ a less authoritarian tone. "Do you not recognize one of your gods?"
With this, I gesture at Kerry, who looks up at me and shakes their helmet-covered head. It seems they don't like the attention, but then I realize they mean something else.
"They won't recognize me. I haven't been here in a while." They respond when the humans only stare in confusion.
"What is a while?" I tilt my head and wonder with a wry smile.
"A few hundred years?" Kerry shrugs. As one of the two Old Humans who never went into stasis after Mataku scoured the world many millennia ago, the God of Comets has a very loose concept of the passage of time.
"Still, they should know about the child of their leader, no?" I glance at the humans, who remain frozen in place while watching our exchange. After glimpsing the truth about me, they don't dare to make another move for the time being.
"I'm not sure they even know my mother. She has no interest in this new humanity, so she most likely never showed herself before them." The tiny Old Human explains with another shrug. Elaine did appear in the sky above Kairaki when Kerry called her, but she never interacted with the new humans there. She was definitely invested in the lizardfolk village of Zohigal, though.
"Whatever the case, it's pointless to talk to them about this then, huh?" I look at the silent soldiers, who flinch at my attention. This brings a smile to my lips that only increases their anxiety. "Run along. We'll be going sightseeing in Rhodos city now, so tell your comrades not to bother us."
The new humans are too stunned to react to my simple words directed at them as I wave at my companions to follow me toward the platform's exit. As I walk forward, I notice some soldiers gather their courage to stand up to me. It's commendable for these regular humans, defenseless without their weapons, to stand up against a cosmic horror like me with willpower alone.
"If you try anything, it will be more than just a glimpse of oblivion." I stop and turn to them while letting my façade slip once more. Several people faint on the spot while others scramble away past their frozen comrades. A moment later, panic breaks out, and everybody tries to run away without regard for their surroundings.
"You overdid it." Kamii knocks me over the back of my head with her crab pincer. I turn around and stick out my tongue. But now that the soldiers are clearing out the platform - while leaving behind some of their unconscious comrades - the path to the exit is open.
"I think I did it just right." Returning to a more serious demeanor, I gesture at the far end of the platform where the soldiers run up the escalators. Very few remain near us, kneeling on the floor and looking down to avoid making eye contact with me. It's almost as if they're praying to me, but I ignore them as I walk past them.
My companions look around in silent pity or understanding. Some of them know the terror of my true form, while others have overcome it with their sheer power of will. Asoko and the twins bask in the fear emanating from the new humans in passing. It's nourishment for the soul in our kind, but it can't replace physical food.
"What say you we go and get ourselves something to eat while we wait for Senka and the others?" This reminds me that we haven't had a proper meal in a while. It's a great opportunity to see what food culture has developed in the new humanity directly under the watchful eyes of the Old Humans.
My other half and the twins agree in excitement, but most others in our party don't have the mind to think about food right now. We're in the belly of the beast, and the future of the entire world hangs in the balance. I can't fault them for having no appetite when the stakes are so high.
But I'm exceedingly calm as I step onto the now empty escalator and look up at the last stragglers running up the stairs above us. Not one of them considers pressing the emergency stop button to slow our advance. If they're thinking at all, they should know that I would consider such an action as fighting back, though.
When we reach the top, we emerge into a hallway with another set of moving walkways. Kerry leads the way and points in the direction opposite of where the soldiers are escaping toward. They must be fleeing to their barracks or even some kind of shelter to hide from this storm we brought. I hope, for their sake, that they aren't trying to get new weapons in the armory.
We're still underground, so we can't see where this long walkway leads us. There are signs on the walls and hanging from the ceiling that give directions in this facility, but nothing tells me how to get to the city. If Kerry were not with us, we would be hopelessly lost - or I would have to make my own path through this labyrinthine megastructure.
Finally, we reach a section with windows. As we look outside, we see that this is a military complex, complete with tanks and planes. Although there's no audible alarm, soldiers run across the tarmac and hastily head for their vehicles. They're most likely preparing to meet us in battle somewhere, unaware of the futility of their resistance. At least it's a new group, so I can't be too harsh on them.
We're still far from the city, judging by how far away the skyscrapers are. I doubt there's a train running from here to the civilian area, so I assume we'll need to hijack some mode of transportation. I'd say flying under our own power would be better, but we've already poked the hornet's nest beyond recovery. There is no more blending in at this point.
"You seem to be having fun." Svanhild comments with her eyes narrowed in displeasure. We haven't spoken much recently, so it's surprising that she started a conversation with me.
"Does it show on my face?" I touch my cheek to check but then smile wryly. "Yeah, it's indeed fun to discover all these new sights."
"I believe you are having fun being feared rather than seeing the sights." She shifts the weight of her drill lance resting on her shoulder and remarks. As one member of new humanity who was under the direct influence of the Old Humans for a time, she understands the sentiment of the soldiers running around frantically outside. If I hadn't captured her during the siege of Arkaim and opened her eyes to the truth, she would have stayed just like them.
"I cannot deny my nature." I tilt my head with a shrug and roll my eyes. "I'm trying my best to keep it at a minimum, though. I'm not a monster."
Svanhild stares at me for a moment, then realizes it was a joke and rolls her eyes. I'm definitely a monster from the point of view of everybody in this universe. Still, those walking with me now understand that I would never harm them. I'm their gentle monster lover or friend.
That thought brings a smile to my face, but it causes Svanhild to shy back. Her grimace suggests I made it look weird or even scary. Touching my cheeks again, I wonder why I seem to be losing control over my expressions.
We exit the building through a large and empty entrance hall to find countless soldiers hiding behind barricades with weapons drawn. Gun emplacements have been set up, and several tanks have their cannons trained on us. Several jets armed with missiles are hovering with a quiet hum above them, doubtlessly already locked onto us.
There's anxious silence as the soldiers scrutinize me through their iron sights and scopes. I must look utterly human to them, but that doesn't mean much when the Old Humans they worship as gods are the same.
The moment I step forward, a storm of plasma and metal bullets fly toward me. The gun emplacements unleash a ceaseless barrage, the tank cannons roar, and missiles whistle. But with only a thought, I stop them all in midair a few steps before me. As the attack continues, my view is gradually filled with stopped projectiles.
Soon, the enemy commander orders his troops to stop shooting when he realizes that something is wrong. As the smoke clears, a wall of projectiles floats between the attackers and me. I hear shocked gasps among the soldiers and can't help but break out into a smile.
I raise my hand and gather all the bullets and shells into a glowing-hot star-shaped form. I've had a sphere, a cube, and a pyramid, so I have to come up with new shapes. It begins to shrink down before it reaches a size I can grasp. The hot amalgamation of plasma and metal sizzles out in my palm.
When I open my hand and reveal that there's nothing left, the new humanity soldiers stare in terrified silence. The commander is frozen in place, the vast difference between our powers slowly dawning on him. I doubt any of his so-called gods, aside from perhaps Zenlith, would have been capable of such a feat.
I begin to walk toward the barricades and tanks as if taking a stroll through a park, not even paying attention to my surroundings. The human soldiers step back with their weapons lowered as I pace through their ranks without as much as glancing at them. My companions follow me, some of them nervous and ready for battle even though the enemies have clearly lost their will to fight.
"Oh, right." I turn to the commander, who flinches at being addressed so suddenly by this otherworldly being that I am. "Could we perhaps borrow a vehicle to drive to the city? We will make sure to return it to you later."
