The Life Goddess ship “Epani” silently slipped past two Voidborn vessels, before making its way towards the front of the vast, pyramid-shaped prismatic ship known as the Diamond, what was believed to be the headquarters and mothership of the Crystal Doom. They’d managed to pass the Diamond’s automated defences with ease, mostly because “Epani” had cloaking technologies, but, more importantly, Life Goddess ships were so rare that most beings in general just didn’t know to look out for them.
Everyone on board was as silent as the ship itself. There was an awkward air of nervousness, one which seemed to emanate from the smaller of the Decayons present.
“You seem nervous, Tah.”
Tah glanced up at Itaviir. There was a 3m height difference between them. “I do?”
“You do not seem confident.”
“I mean, we’re not designed for combat like this.”
“What were you designed for?” Itaviir admittedly didn’t know very much about Kal.
“It’s complicated…” Tah refused to speak further. Instead, Itaviir turned his attention to his fellow, much larger Decay Lords.
“We did not bring any weapons.”
“There’s a whole armoury in the back!” Tahvra piped up from the pilot’s seat. “That’s where Retvik is right now!”
At the mention of his name, Retvik reappeared, forcing piles of weapons and armour into the hands of the Tattered Navigators. None of it looked like standard gear for anything Itaviir or Galyn recognized, but Vikalos realized that it was made for beings that weren’t naturally covered in organic armour like most of the Thantir were.
“I would have brought our normal gear,” Retvik explained, throwing on something that was definitely overly draconic. “But the Voidborns expect to see Decayons. This Time Drake and Divine Guardian armour will distract them somewhat briefly. At the very least, it will make Galyn and Itaviir less obvious. Tah, there is some Kalsa Guardian armour in there that should fit you, if you want.”
Tah’s eyes flickered. “Armour? For me?”
“I mean, you ARE a robotic Vohra!” Tahvra chirped. “Kinisis’s armoury was meant for her guardians and her pet Time Drake Kairos, and I WAS one of Kinisis’s guardians, of course there’s armour in there for me, that should fit you!”
Tah hesitated, then teleported into the armoury, while the Tattered Navigators all put on whatever armour Retvik had given them. They looked very mismatched, but Vikalos didn’t seem to mind too much. Galyn and Itaviir though didn’t like the fact that they couldn’t fit anything helmet-like over their crowns of horns. Tah abruptly teleported back, wearing armour that had clearly been designed for Tahvra, in black and green.
“So, uh, Retvik, why is there Rethavok armour in that armoury, why is it too small for you or Litvir and what are you wearing?” Tah asked.
Retvik glanced down at himself. “This is Athrevok armour. A species closely related to the Rethavok and the Skyavok except angrier and less civilized. The Rethan armour is designed for Elkay, who was always below average in size, especially as a mortal…” Retvik paused, then glanced out of the window ahead of them. He had realized they were nearly at the right location, and Tahvra had slowed the ship down.
The ship eventually came to a halt, parked almost directly against the surface of the Diamond. Everything was still cloaked, but Tahvra was careful to not actually touch the Voidborn ship, in case he triggered some sort of sensory alarm. Tahvra nodded to Nuh, who sat himself down on the seat next to Tahvra and dimmed his eyes. He made a brief, clicking sound, then used his gravity powers to both lock the ship in place and create a shield around it.
“Alright, we’re connected!” Tahvra thought as loud as he could, telepathically communicating with both their sister ship “Yisini” and the Thantir Two, which was hovering just outside the Diamond’s defensive perimeter.
“Well done, Tahvra…” Litvir’s voice telepathically echoed back. “Waiting for confirmation from “Yisini” and Phovos’s team.”
“Understood!”
Everyone fell silent. Nuh muttered something about how Tah looked pretty cool in Vohran armour and how it’d look better on him, but no one else really spoke. Eventually, Litvir’s voice echoed again.
“Sister ship has connected. “Epani”, initiate contact and start distraction protocol.”
“Understood…” Retvik grunted. He led the Tattered Navigators to the back of the Life Goddess ship, grabbing a myriad of weapons for themselves as they walked. Tah teleported into view and handed everyone a small, holographic projector and a paper map, with a marker of where they were.
“Are we ready?” Tah asked.
The Decay Lords all nodded. Retvik opened the cargo bay doors, only to be faced with a vast, crystal plane. After a quick inspection of the map Tah had given him, Retvik leaned out of the ship and placed his hand on the crystal surface, then began to concentrate. He swiftly melted a hole in the crystal, then concentrated harder until the hole was large enough for him to climb through. However, Retvik didn’t go first. Instead, Tah tied several ropes to the door of the ship, then dropped himself down into the darkness below.
A few zaps of electricity could be heard, but Tah quickly teleported back.
“Ropes are secure.”
“Numbers?” Retvik asked.
“Ten north, zero seven east, twenty seven south, eleven west.”
“Good.” Retvik patted Tah on the head, then climbed down into the hole. Galyn, Vikalos and Itaviir all followed, and Tah teleported back down, appearing next to Vikalos.
The five of them had landed in the middle of a four-way corridor, a pretty large one that was plenty big enough for four beings all over 3m tall. Lying on the ground were two unconscious Voidborns, who Tah had zapped, and Galyn very quickly killed with a handful of floating, emerald blades. It took a moment for the team to orientate themselves, but Tah pointed them all in the right direction, namely south.
“Vok, our task here is simple. We kill as many Voidborns as possible and act as a distraction while the other team works. Tah will remain hidden and will teleport us out should any of us be injured. Understood?”
The Tattered Navigators all smiled. Vikalos surrounded himself with a flaming aura, Galyn covered himself in green, thorny vines and Itaviir summoned a handful of silver blades, as well as two colossal, silver swords.
“I just realized, I have no idea what your, uh, elemental alignment is, Itaviir…” Retvik muttered.
Itaviir’s smile turned into an uncharacteristic grin. He nudged everyone to one side, then lobbed one of his swords down the corridor, where Tah had stated there were the most Voidborns. After a few silent seconds, an explosion filled the air. The arm of a Voidborn landed by Itaviir’s feet. Itaviir then summoned a new sword, which he forced into the wall next to them. The wall cracked, then shattered, crumbling into nothing and revealing a new corridor just past it. Standing there, looking confused, was a Voidborn minion, which abruptly shattered the same way the wall had, as Itaviir threw one of his floating daggers at it.
“Ohhhh!” Tah clicked in amusement. “I guess that’s why they call you Shatterblade!”
“Indeed.”
“Do you have a name for your element?” Tah asked. “Leh calls his element ‘vacuum’ because he mostly makes implosions by removing the air around him, but you seem to, just, I dunno, make explosions.”
Itaviir shrugged. “Not really, no. I have never really considered naming my powers…” Itaviir trailed off, then turned to his fellow, much larger Decay Lords. They could all hear movement, as the Crystal Doom were now definitely aware of the Thantir’s presence. “So, is it time to proceed with righteous murder?”
Retvik closed his eyes and concentrated. “Litvir, are you there?”
“Yes.”
“We are in.”
“Understood. Proceed with distraction protocol.”
Litvir’s telepathic command faded away, and Retvik turned to the Tattered Navigators. “You may proceed. Have fun.”
Galyn and Itaviir extended the blades in their arms, and Vikalos created a fiery bow and arrow, his personal, summoned weapon. He fired a large, flaming arrow, which illuminated the corridor and set several Voidborns on fire. The Voidborn soldiers however responded blankly to the flames and charged forward, ready to fight the Tattered Navigators. The three armoured goliaths responded by tearing them apart and throwing themselves into the incoming horde.
“I think they took that order to ‘have fun’ to heart!” Tah couldn’t smile or anything, but he tried to make the tone of his voice sound optimistic. “I can already see the corpses piling up. I suppose I should feel some sort of sympathy for all these Voidborns but they’re probably respawning and on their way back already.”
Retvik tutted as a piece of Voidborn armour flew by. “You would be correct. Which is why we are the distraction.”
“Of course. You going to join in on the carnage?”
“Yes.”
With a snarl, Retvik summoned a whip made out of flames. Rather than following the Tattered Three though, he headed north, where several Voidborn minions had appeared to try and cut them off. Tah tucked himself into a corner so he could observe with relative safety, ready to intervene if needed, then sent off a telepathic message.
“Distraction protocol initiated. Proceed with your objective.”
“Understood.”
“Good luck.”
“Thank you. Falling silent now.”
Tah clicked to himself, feeling somewhat confident, but not knowing why.