NOVEL NEXT 756. The Calm Before the Dark Storm
3 hours till midnight.
The timing had no significance in the world of Elysia. In fact, 3 hours till midnight did not mean anything in the Old World. However, it did not change that the hands on the clock appeared like another dreaded concept.
The Doomsday Clock; a modern metaphor from the 21st Century on Earth. It was a clock that represented how close humanity was to an unavoidable crisis. The nature of the crisis itself was not an earthquake, a world ending asteroid, or a natural event.
Rather, the Doomsday Clock counted down to a human-made disaster.
This was the origin of the infamous ’15 minutes to midnight.’ Or simply ‘minutes to midnight.’, or even ‘seconds to midnight.’.
As a result, the common depiction of the Doomsday Clock was the final quarter of the clock itself.
These 3 hours ticked down to the thousands across Grandis like they only had 15 minutes left. They moved and organized themselves as if they only had seconds on the clock. A controlled chaos broke out across the men and women of the involved parties, yet it was eerily silent on all upcoming fronts.
But over the CognitO Transmitters, the collective thoughts of powerful Atelier Personnel and Moons were heard by those in charge.
“Our Branch is still there. Far, far behind the smoke.”
The 1st Branch Apostle uttered to herself as she held onto her elbows. She stood atop a mountain that oversaw the insurmountable valley and tree lines. Kilometers behind the tree lines was an artificial black forest made from nailed Impuritas.
“Overtaken by the Undead. That smoke will make it difficult for us to track the time.”
Simonia, the 1st Apostle and a glorious Star of the Nexus, was joined at the snow-capped summit by a legion of 200 black-coated personnel. Their uniforms were not feathered like hers, and they each carried the pale insignia of Justica Arms on their backs.
“That is fine. We’ve plunged headfirst into worse.” She didn’t give them a pep talk or try to rally their hearts.
Every single one of her personnel knew what to expect.
They were positioned on the central mountain range of Grandis and were one of three major forces that belonged to the 1st Branch.
The 200 personnel here consisted solely of Peace Flock and were divided into 20 squads of 10. Each squad consisted of a Captain, a Vice-Captain and 8 1st Branch Peace Flocks.
* * *
The roles of the Peace Flocks were consistent throughout each of Justica Arm’s Branches. They made up the bulk of their combat-oriented personnel and could be divided into three primary classes.
The first were Public Defenders; who were responsible for public security, policing and prosecution.
The second were Private Defenders; who were a security force that defended the Branches or could be hired as required. This was usually for expeditions that fell outside of Justica Arm’s jurisdictions.
The final class of the Peace Flock were Shrikes – a name also given to the Butcher Bird.
This was the default role of the Peace Flock. Before they could learn the meaning of righteousness and fairness, they firstly needed to know how to kill.
Otherwise, how could they implement fairness if they could not deliver a just punishment?
Despite them representing birds of purity, they wielded weapons that impaled their enemies with bullets; like how a Shrike would ruthlessly stab their prey onto the thorns of a branch.
* * *
“22 Seci Response Moons, 7 Lunar Haruspex, and 60 Aspiring Moons.” Simonia counted out loud as she calmly stared down at the sea of black clouds. “All are spread across our side. I feel at ease with 4 Seci Response Moons here, and a Moon with some degree of control over time.”
Of the 4 Seci Response Moons present, 3 were Eclipses. The force within the central mountain ranges was an assisting force that would specialize in dismantling the enemies in two ways.
“War has arrived in full. But we are not strangers to it. That is why we are tasked with this role.”
The first was to open another front, and the other was to directly target areas of interest. As a result, they were not seen as a ‘main force’ despite their immense capabilities.
Simonia held out a hand, and at once, a small group of blindfolded individuals in pale robes delivered a majestic black Justica Arm. The weapon was wrapped with delicate cloth and was peeled open with such elegance that was impossible to believe that it was done whilst blindfolded.
The weapon hovered by Simonia’s shoulder. As quickly as the blindfolded Acolytes left, another 6 took their place and delivered yet another Justica Arm. Each one was as long as 10 meters and had a thickness of 50 centimeters.
Yet they floated effortlessly beside her, for they were created with Caldera Industries’ technology as part of an unlikely peace offering long ago.
She deeply inhaled the scent of the world. She could sense the fear, the anxiousness, and the yearn to spill the blood of their enemies.
All eyes fell onto her suddenly once all 12 weapons floated above her like giant cannons.
“Apostle Simonia. The Justica Starfalls are installed.” A close aid of hers spoke.
It was a tall Dark Elf who held a device capable of firing a ball of light kilometers into the skies.
Basically, it was this world’s equivalent of a flare gun.
“Three thousand Star Pellets are prepared. The Main Branch will be able to supply an additional thousand every 3 hours.” He relayed. “Everyone’s prepared. The chatters from the other fronts – I’ve turned them off aside for key leaders. They are as restless as we are. The zealots of the 2nd Branch… they’re more than eager to throw their lives away. Time Reverberation are surprisingly calm, but that is expected for Moons… still, it’s odd that we haven’t seen much movement from the other side beyond the wall of smoke.”
“It’s fine. There won’t be much of a need for us to know what resides there.” Simonia grinned hollowly, her eyes becoming devoid of light like she had suddenly become a husk. “It’ll disappear once we draw a sizeable response force forward. The 1st Branch prides itself on its long-range capabilities. The smoke is a disadvantage to them.”
Her Justica Starfalls tilted upwards like giant artillery systems.
“They won’t see it coming. Andra’s force will shoot rays of light above the smoke. That is where we will attack. I will also bombard them according to Galia’s Will.”
Each of the 12 weapons were angled differently.
She had 12 places in mind before the war had even begun.
Simonia knew the north like the back of her hand. The smoke may as well not have existed for her as she precisely studied the landscape hidden beneath the black clouds.
