The Day of Many Voices

Gamma-12 checked his Mantle’s shockstar charge for the third time this morning. The HUD showed full but his nervousness had him make a manual check just to be sure. 95%, same as when he checked an hour ago. The chatter over his uplink was tense and quiet, they were all high-strung since He was seen with the dawning of the day. The Intruder stalked closer to the hive with every minute and yet somehow life continued as normal. His squadmate’s faces and voices seemed to be right beside him despite their Mantles being as much as a block separate. Around them the civilians walked and chatted as if the greatest evil their society had ever known wasn’t within visual range of the Outlook Tower, the Hegemon’s instructions over their uplinks keeping them ignorant of the danger outside and of the hulking bio-metal suits walking amongst them. Gamma-4 was telling the rest of them about the Earthshakers and Mountainbreaker units that had quietly made the journey around the rim of the hive to face the Sun, his tone indicative of a readjustment he was still acclimating to. 12 couldn’t help but check the shockstar of his Wavebreaker again. 94%.

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Gamma-12 dispassionately fired at the fleeing humanoid figures, cutting one in half and sending the other sprawling to the ground as they let out a scream. Unnetworked, infiltrators, Shapers, deviants. Any option was a distraction from the grand mission the Network aspired to. The mission the Forgers called perverse, a mission that had rattled the gods themselves in their arrogant gatekeeping. Units 5 through 8 all reported their streets clear so 12 made his way back to roadway. Dull thuds made their way to his Wavebreaker, the Mantle’s systems augmenting them to audible level and sending info via uplink. Mountainbreakers had ambushed the Intruder and his host. Hegemon expected significant losses for the misguided fools and glory untold for the prototype Mantles.

12 and his squadmates spoke idly as they walked down streets that seemed a little more quiet than the week before. Lightcatchers flashed overhead as they pivoted to a new course. The Connected would stand unchallenged by week’s end, but there was work to do. On his HUD the shockstar ticked down to 63%.

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It had been 4 days since 12 slept and 2 days since he saw a Connected not in a Mantle or in mass-uplink. The droning, soft tones of his Wavebreaker gave him his orders to move to the hive’s north east gate. Acknowledgement came from Gamma-1, 2, 5, 9, 10 and 18 as the now dark faces of his former comrades held at the periphery of his vision. Many of his contingent had been lost when enemy mages had made it inside the wall during a lapse in the Hegemon’s Prediction Algorithm. As they made their way a pair of Stormstrikers glided into formation, careful to stay off to the side of their larger brethren meanwhile a handful of Flamestrider Mantles acted as rearguards to the group. A lone Lightcatcher Mantle dropped low and passed overhead with a high-pitched whine. 12’s Mantle hit him with suppressant again as his pulse climbed higher. They had a mission most worthy. The hive would be preserved and the Intruder would be sent below the earth, just as the Hegemon had decreed, just as it had predicted they would.

Pale starlight was all that lit the scene, but 12’s Mantle augmented his vision. The streets of the hive erratically going from intact to ruins. Occasionally he would spot a landmark he remembered with a dull ache. A cafe he visited with friends. The medical centre that implanted his first uplink before he became a Mantle Operator. The building his friends once lived in. The Wavebreaker quietly urged him to focus on their task at hand. The Intruder had made his wishes clear. He and his warriors sought to destroy the Connected utterly, refusing to accept that technology had brought ascension to their people and claiming the divines were the hands behind the Hegemon. A vile and distasteful lie used by fools, it shocked 12 that a divine being could be so misguided. He had no room in his heart for gods and devils, they were primitive artifacts better left behind. The Hegemon would have it’s victory and he would be it’s instrument. 22%

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It was with a blinding flash that Gamma-12 regained consciousness. A cacophony rang both inside and out as the whine of energy weapons lanced from his brothers in arms, a phalanx of Wavebreakers with locked shields acted as a bulwark as myriad magics burst forth from a mismatched host of humanoids. 12’s own Wavebreaker was nigh overwhelmed with information as it tried to sort friend from foe and find a safe path to the front. A man in armour smeared with soot charged at 12 as his greatsword pulsed with flames of white as it crashed over and over again into 12’s shield projector.

Despite the mismatch in size the force was enough to force Gamma-12 to give ground as his Mantle pushed back amongst the ruined stone. A blast of twisted energy put a hole in the creature as it rushed forward again, a Flamestriker Wavebeam, as the one responsible clambered over the wreckage. Gamma-12 forced himself to his knees and glanced at his shockstar reading, 8%, before pushing it from his mind. The uplink chatter was incomprehensible with the number of voices speaking over it. The Connected were strong, stronger than these invaders who refused to accept their future. It was then that 12 saw it. The Intruder strode forth from between some still-standing structures. It’s 50 foot frame hurling a ball of dripping flame at the Outlook Tower. The uplink went silent for a moment, something Gamma-12 could barely remember the feeling of, before resuming. Between shots 12 glanced at the message on his HUD. “Defensive posture. The Intruder falls this morning.”

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The heat of the battle had lulled a moment as the light of sun crept closer to the horizon. Witch-knights, mages and unbreakables had pulled back for the moment and the Connected had eagerly accepted the opportunity to do the same. The Hegemon had been quiet over the uplink since their last message. It still displayed on his HUD. Gamma-12 had been forced to retreat down the shattered streets of the hive he called home as the united front of the Connected had broken apart. 4% on his shockstar. Most of his Wavebreaker’s weapons and utilities were broken or depleted. Uplink chatter was sporadic and often garbled. His Mantle warbled another warning as it failed to dispense another dose to keep him focussed. 12 paused a moment at an intersection he didn’t recognise, his attention darting to the burned and partly melted wreckage of the Outlook Tower before turning to face it at the hint of movement he spied.

Something was tearing free of the metal at the base of the tower, something that seemed almost impossible to look at. The view from the cockpit artifacted with static where the movement was, twisting and contorting as it shifted. The mission statement on his HUD finally faded, replaced instead with “The Hegemon Reins.” Gamma-12 felt a surge of pride and hope and began crudely clambering the side of a building for a better view of the Connected’s destiny. The Intruder now towered over the buildings it walked past and through, bellowing something in it’s twisted tongue as it’s raised fist called crimson flame from the World Below into a spear. Even with the dawn’s light crept closer to the horizon 12 could see scores of lights in the city streaking toward the spear of fire. The HUD of his Mantle went berserk with readings as it identified dozens of Connected soldiers all attempting to mass uplink with the Hegemon’s shield projectors.

The seconds stretched into an infinity for Gamma-12 as their moment of hard-won victory finally approached. So many comrades lost, so many innocent deaths. It would take an incredible effort for the Hegemon to rebuild their civilization, but with the Intruder felled it seemed like none would risk attacking them. The spear of flame floated gently across the still-dark sky as vast blue shield shards rose before the hidden form of the Hegemon, 12 felt himself scream with jubilance but heard nothing, his total focus on the tableau before him. A warning for 2% charge pulsed in orange unheeded. The spear of the Intruder pierced the shield effortlessly and impacted the Hegemon’s Avatar in a flash of white. All at once it felt that Gamma-12 could hear every scream ever uttered by the Connected. The shield shards lanced into the Intruder’s form as the sun rose behind the crocodilian fiend’s form. Gold and black blood sprayed in a brilliant arc as shard after shard hammered the being now backed by a wheel of fire.

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Gamma-12’s Mantle had shutdown after the Hegemon’s scream dissipated. He had popped the hatch and stared in dejected defeat. The Intruder had sunk to it’s knees as the climbing sun made a rainbow of the mist of it’s blood. Even from this distance 12 knew their fighters had portaled away. His uplink had been silent since the cacophany of voices. Without his Mantle’s augmented vision he could see a mass of twisted and misshapen metal that he assumed was part of the Hegemon’s Avatar. The Network was no more.