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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Klokinator on 2024-06-16 19:54:04+00:00.
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…
(Part 001)
One hundred thousand humans. One hundred thousand Technopaths. A thousand 4th and 5th Level Psions. A thousand Demon elites, mainly consisting of Barons, Dukes, and a few remaining Emperors.
This massive army stands on a recently reclaimed world, a fairly bland planet with minimal life signs and a barely breathable atmosphere named after its new Planar Warden, Yardrat, the Temporal.
This planet, Yardris, is nothing more than a platform to elevate Yardrat’s powers to the level of a Bottom Cosmic. It has no other demons on it, and he almost never spends any time there except when staging operations to assault new worlds. If the Plague were to take it back tomorrow, he would simply return to being an ordinary Demon Emperor, then attach himself to a new world at Diablo’s behest.
Thus, Yardrat becomes the poster boy for what the so-called ‘weakest’ Demon Deities can accomplish. While he might not have obtained the power to crack planets and traverse the Void with ease, his fundamental abilities have still received a massive boost in power whenever he stands upon his chosen world. In cases like these, being able to create portals far wider and more stable than the ones he made as an Emperor grant him unparalleled strategic value. Not even the Volgrim can mimic his abilities, leaving some of the Lesser Psions present feeling a little annoyed.
[The Demons are growing powerful frighteningly quickly.] One of the 5th Level Psions says in private to a nearby companion. [Their sudden ability to fortify planets with a single Cosmic would mean nothing during ordinary times, but with the Plague pressing upon us, the Volgrim Empire cannot stop the demons from taking what is ours.]
His fellow Psion, a female with onyx-black skin, remains aloof. [Trust in our leader. First Founder Unarin is too wise to allow this Threat to evolve within his domain unchecked. You would do well to assume he has already begun preparing contingencies, assuming he did not do so countless orbital cycles ago.]
[I suppose you are correct.] The male Psion murmurs. [I would not be surprised if Founder Unarin had several plans formulated in the event any mud-dwelling species suddenly obtained large numbers of Cosmics.]
The two of them continue to converse, sometimes including other nearby Psions in their discussion as they debate over whether or not Founder Unarin’s wisdom is truly as unfathomable as they imagine.
Meanwhile, Henry Cliff paces around at the periphery of the human troops. Surprisingly, he is the only member of Jepthath’s Legion to join this first expedition, since the other Parahumans have opted to put their strengths to use rapidly constructing a new base of operations for their future living conditions. Through his mental link to the Legion, Henry can easily monitor their progress, and he often gasps quietly as they rip trees out of the ground, split them with their bare hands, and throw together a simple log and stone city within just the first 12 hours after their ascension.
But Henry doesn’t put much attention on the rest of the Legion. His job today is to set a shining example of what the Legion can accomplish, as well as to gather intel on the current power level of the Demons and Volgrim.
Before long, Hope Hiro materializes in the center of the massed human army. Henry turns to look at Hope, and is momentarily surprised to see a beautiful blonde woman standing beside the Wordsmith. Tall, gorgeous, and extremely formidable in appearance, the woman stands with her arms crossed, wearing a blue-colored metal armor that appears rather ancient at first glance, as if it were made during the medieval era of Old Earth. A sword hangs at her side, hidden within her scabbard, but Henry recognizes it as Excalibur.
In the time it takes Henry to register the woman’s appearance, Jepthath speaks in his mind. [She is Artoria Pendragon. A Black Hole Construct formed in the image of King Arthur himself.]
[A Black Hole Construct?] Henry asks.
[During a battle some time back, Jason Hiro created two of those Constructs by compressing the bodies of many different powerful demon corpses, among other things. In a fit of rage, he formed two self-thinking creatures with independent personalities. One of them refers to herself as Soleil and stands alongside the last living angel, Cassiel, also known as the Daughter of Heaven. The other stands over there now and has taken up the identity of a female version of King Arthur.]
[Oh! I see. I didn’t even know these two existed.]
[That would be because you were in prison.] Jepthath says, faintly smirking at Henry’s discomforted reaction.
Their conversation concludes in the blink of an eye. Hope raises his hand to grab everyone’s attention, then he levitates a few feet upward so all the human commandos can get a good look at him.
“Everyone. We will be starting the operation in only a minute or two. I’ve already spoken to Emperor Diablo and outlined how this test operation should play out. I will be placing Lady Artoria on the western flank of our forces, and my own super-soldier, Henry Cliff, on the eastern flank. Together, the two of them will protect our massed soldiers from any sudden high-ranking Plaguehosts. Should Cosmic Kolvaxians make an appearance, the leaders of each faction have already prepared several contingencies.”
Linda Hurent, standing not far away, raises her hand. “Hope! Are you going to fight in the field? We cannot risk handing a Wordsmith to the Plague.”
“Oh, hey, Linda.” Hope says, offering a tight smile to her before returning his attention to the other soldiers. “I will not be directly participating. I’m going to be taking an active role in commanding from the backlines and using my power to intervene should any of our brave soldiers fall into crisis. For the rest of you, I’ll expect you to listen to General Chadwick’s orders, as he will be your commander once the operation begins. Are there any further questions?”
A few men and women do indeed volunteer their questions, and Hope fields them smoothly before moving on. As the timer counts down, he walks over to Linda and frowns.
“Neil wouldn’t want you here.”
“I know.” Linda says. “But I am a soldier. I fight for humanity. I represent Neil’s interests by coming here, especially since you and I both know he can’t be present due to the message it would send.”
Hope glances at the army of demons out of the corner of his eye. “I suppose not. But don’t do anything rash, Linda. We can afford to lose a few grunts if we must but I will not risk losing you. It would devastate Neil.”
He pauses, then looks her in the eye. “By the way. That stunt he pulled at the Great Debate? That was bullshit. You two haven’t been dating very long. Are you really okay with him using you like that?”
Linda sighs. “It was a move of political expediency. It didn’t make me feel good. But… I care for Neil. If this is how he wants to use me, then I’ll play along.”
“You’re a grown woman.” Hope says. “I won’t tell you how to live your life. But I recommend after this battle, you go back there and make sure Neil knows that wasn’t okay. He should have proposed in private first, not used you like a prop. Even if you would have said yes, it was still wrong.”
Linda smiles helplessly. “I do plan to talk to him about it eventually. We just… haven’t had the right moment yet.”
“I’ve said my piece.” Hope concludes. “Take care out there, Linda. I’ll make sure to protect you.”
At the same time as Hope talks to Linda, Henry walks over to the formidable looking Artoria. She notices his approach and turns to face him.
“Artoria?” Henry asks, belatedly realizing it’s a bit of a silly introduction. “Jepthath told me about you.”
Artoria says nothing. She merely rests her hands on her hips and stares at Henry silently.
“You’re pretty strong, I assume?” Henry asks, feeling even more awkward when she again fails to respond. “I, I uh, I got a power-up from Jepthath recently. I was thinking after today’s battle, you and I could spar a bit? I need to face a strong opponent.”
The Black Hole Construct blinks twice. “Yes.”
“Yes?” Henry repeats. “Great! Let’s, uh, meet up on Maiura?”
Once again, Artoria blinks twice. “Yes.”
Then, she turns away, decisively ending the conversation.
Henry lamely stammers something out before turning and walking away, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“Holy shit, that was so awkward.” He mutters to himself.
Jepthath snickers. [Does this old man perhaps sense a hint of…
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