Scrying, What is it Good For II

Meanwhile

King Teiyan Erelius II sat wrapping his fingers on his throne, annoyed with the report he had just received, as well as the mess now on his floor from the messenger now lying dead on the tiles. All efforts to learn what was causing them to lose contact with scouts or the towns just beyond the Azaltos Mountains seemed to be in vain. Every time someone was sent to investigate, they never returned. At the moment it was just Eld Horn, with Glass Dale he already knew was destroyed. Gold Pine seemingly became insignificant, probably destroyed by whatever it was that was keeping his men from moving to the West.

"ALPHONSE!" he yelled in a shrill voice, his vocal chords cracking a little as he hadn't quite come out of puberty yet, despite being of adult age… barely.

A man scurried out of some hidden spot and kneeled in front of his king, his wispy white hair only covering above his ears and a curl on his forehead, the remainder bald. His circular glasses always looked at the ground, never laying eyes on his ruler. "Yes, your majesty. W-what is it you require of your humble servant?" he asked.

"Summon the royal scryer! I wish to know what is happening in the West! I keep losing my pathetic scouts to something there!" he snapped as he slammed his fist against the side of his golden throne.

"B-but your majesty, you ended his life last week! Per order to… feed him…" he sputtered out as he continued kneeling, worried the young king would soon have a knife to his throat too.

"They haven't found a replacement yet?! Imbeciles! The villages are in dire need of their idiots!" he shouted as he slumped in his throne, thinking and brooding. His mouth screwed up a little as an idea passed in his mind. "I'm going to take matters into my own hands." He stood up and rearranged his royal purple clothing then walked out of his throne room, with the toady of a man trying to follow. The guards blocked him. The king headed deep under the palace to a large vault door with multiple locks. He was the only one who had the keys to enter.

Once inside, he grabbed a torch and used a small flint spark torch igniter, then headed down a long winding staircase. As he reached the bottom, a second vault door was waiting, which he carefully opened. Inside was a deeply grooved floor with panels cut out for drainage of fluids, with large pillars holding the ceiling up and engraved with runic language. There was a sacrificial dais in the middle, with what looked like an already rotting body of a slave girl gutted. Her dead eyes stared at the ceiling with cloth stuffed in her mouth, chains holding her arms and feet. Further to the left was another hallway that had multiple guards lining it.

(Recommended Song: Kazunori Miyake – LADY)

"Send for more slaves! Now!" he commanded as one guard brought his hand to his chest in salute and promptly left. Sitting just behind the dais was a pile of chains holding a woman with jet black hair falling over her face, red markings running down her pale arms and leather clothes in a language entirely demonic. Two obsidian curved horns protruded from her forehead and curved up like a goat. If he didn't know any better, the horns looked to be a part of her bangs. A soft laughter came quietly out of her lips under the hair as she slowly looked up at him through her long mane.

"Ah, King Teiyan, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she giggled out seductively as her golden irises set inside black corneas latched onto him, shimmering in the pale light of the torches. For each arm there were five chains with what looked like symbols marking each set, with more attached to her legs and one to her neck. Light whispering could be heard near her, dark secrets that he couldn't make out.

"My scryer is dead and I need sight of the lands that none of my blundering soldiers can manage to reach! You will tell me what I need to know!" he snapped at her. A slight grin peeled onto her lips as her eyes glinted.

"My my, problems we're having, aren't we? So sad that one such as you can't seem to see out a window. I wonder what is beyond the horizon of this city? Perhaps the world is swallowing up your land, eating your delicious little morsels you call citizens." He backhanded her across the face, with a moan of pleasure escaping. She enjoyed that, he had to remember to not do harm to her.

"Ooh, maybe that could turn into more? I do enjoy our little fun times together."

"I need to see what is coming! Now! Why am I losing contact with my towns Xaxara!" her eyes glowed.

"You used my name? Oh, how long it has been to be called that, almost like one of my followers. You usually call me whore or bitch… never what I truly am but I'll take all the compliments I can get. You only say it when you or your father were truly worried… or when you sacrificed your older sister to summon me here."

He stood in front of her and gazed down on her body, his frown turning into an evil smile. "I enjoyed that ritual, because you fell for the trap and are now bound here." His teeth showed as her smile lowered to a smirk.

"And you lost your only family member that ever cared for you. What was it like, placing your child into her against her will and then waiting for the chance to kill the new born? Was it as good for you when you cut her head off as it was for me?" she laughed as she remembered the entire event as she peered through that portal opened, being brought to this world by him.

"You bitch! If it wasn't a girl being born, I would have had your much more loyal brother instead!" He glared at her, seething.

"Maybe you could try again with your younger sister, if you ever manage to find her again that is. Oh, right, she left. Perhaps you need me to find where she went as well?" Xaxara giggled as he brought up his hand again to strike but held back. She was a sadist as well as a masochist through and through, it was engrained into what she was. She reveled in pain, in suffering, in the blood and sacrifice, in the fear of those who would lose their lives in despair and scream. It was music to her pointed ears. That wasn't the only thing she enjoyed though, as pleasure was also preferable with bedding provided mortals just before they were snuffed out. The high demoness loved playing with her food.

The king paced back and forth, thinking of what to do. She was trapped here by the enchanted manacles, forged by dwarves and having a ley line running just below the imperial city, with elven and human magic imbuing the metal. "What… do you want…" he ground out between his teeth.

"Well, it isn't as if you've been keeping me well fed these past few days, but then of course hunger is a nice feeling too." As if on cue, a chain of slaves was brought in, some of them dark elves. They looked haggard and frail, barely much of anything as they stumbled in while being pushed by the guards. Xaxara's smirk dropped to a frown.

"Fine! Your food is here, now give me what I want!" she yawned and laid down, looking up at the ceiling.

"Mmm, you bring poor slaves to me again? Scraps? You know the last time they barely gave any sort of sustenance for my powers." She knocked her toes together and rocked her heels sideways.

"Your majesty, I believe-" one guard started to say.

"Don't ever speak in this room! What have I told you?!" he shrieked at the soldier. The man held up the face of one of the dark elves, a woman. Her long white hair flowed along her back, with a scrap of clothing worn. She tried to pull away from his grip as he squished up her mouth to show his king. Teiyan squinted as he looked at her carefully.

"It couldn't be…" he muttered out as he stormed over and looked over her features. "Ha ha! It is! While not exactly your sister, you will do! Ah how the mighty dark elves of Olva'lore forest have fallen!" he reached up and grabbed at her chest and twisted, with a wince seen on her face. She hated the fact he was groping her. He was about to move his hand down when Xaxara spoke.

"She'll do quite nicely." He stopped as his hand was just in front of her abdomen, then glanced over his shoulder with his grin slowly fading. He wasn't going to have any fun with one of the two princesses of the dark elves it seemed, cutting straight to business. The demoness was looking at them both from the side of her eyes, a lick of her lips as she looked at the elf's perfect figure and form.

The slaves were latched into the ground in a sitting position as Xaxara slowly stood up and walked in front of the lineup, with the princess at the end. One hundred slaves, all held down by chains as she moved to each, her own chains clanking along the ground with a guard holding down a lever on the wall in his tunnel to allow her freedom of movement. The raven-haired woman looked into the first man's eyes and ran her fingers through his hair, smiling.

"Are you afraid of me? Little old me?" she asked him as she ran her fingers softly around his chin and jaw. He was almost mesmerized as she was extremely gentle, touching his forehead and then leaning in to kiss it, then down to his nose and finally to his lips.

"Yes…" he whispered out. He was trembling.

"Good… it makes this so much more enjoyable." She breathed as he started to shake, his very life force being sucked from his mouth and nose, his eyes glowing as he squirmed. As she drank of his energy, his body started to decay. His right arm fell off like a leper, his hair fell out as he screamed in terror. Once she was done, what was left of the body dissolved into dust, floating away.

"Next please" she giggled out as she moved from one slave to the next, continuing down the line. Their screeches and yells to spare them fell on deaf ears as she finally made it to the dark elf princess. She struggled in vain, the chains held tight as Xaxara touched her head. Teiyan grabbed her hand and pulled it away.

"Now, do it!" he snapped as she huffed and rolled her eyes.

"I guess my meal will have to wait." She seemed to be pouting as the demoness brought her hands out and pressed her fingers together, eventually starting to float. The woman crossed her legs as she used her powers to sift through the land in finding what Teiyan was seeking.

Unfortunately for her, it didn't go as planned. She was launched backwards with a massive electric blast, shrieking in pain… but at the same time enjoying every second of it. She landed on the ground entangled in her chains as Teiyan had never seen her do that before.

"What happened? What did you see? Tell me!" he asked as she shook from the electricity still flowing through her body, moans erupting from her mouth in ecstasy. Eventually the power drained from her body as she lay there, panting in excitement.

"If I had known that was going to happen, I would have willingly done it from the beginning! Wow!" She slowly rolled over and got up, sauntering a little as she made her way to the young king. Her movement was like a haphazard cobra due to the electric jolt she just received.

"Show me." She looked like she was blinking away stars from that bolt of lightning that had struck her, but her finger lightly touched the middle of his forehead. He only got one vision from it as the rest was blocked, which was hundreds, thousands of glowing ghost blue and green eyes marching towards his towns and cities in utter darkness. He couldn't even make out the forms. Something powerful was coming, with a massive army. Demons by their very nature tended to cause fear and terror via auras, not necessarily their features, but these things… whatever they were, very nearly made him wet his pants.

"Happy now, little king?" she asked as he slumped to his knees, his blue eyes widened. She kneeled in front of him and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear. "It's alright, there will be a place for you… as maybe my chair in my realm…" she giggled. She was grinding against him, but he soon came to his senses as he shoved her off. Xaxara laughed and winked. The king got up and stormed back upstairs as the princess had her manacles unlatched, allowing her to rub her wrists. As she stood up, the guards walked away, seemingly leaving her alone. Before she could figure if she was going to be alright, she could feel a hand on her shoulder, fingers running along the shape of her arm and up her neck, with dark whispering filling her ears.

"Come little pet, let's see how long you last." The portcullis for the guard's tunnel slammed shut, blocking any hope of escape. Teiyan heard loud moaning as he walked up the steps, followed by screaming and the sound of gurgling and crying as the second vault door closed. She was having her meal now; the previous slaves were just energy for her power. As he reached the first vault door, the sounds completely disappeared.

"Double the guards, prepare the armies! Something is coming to take what is rightfully mine!" he barked as he threw his hand out in command. One of his guards nodded and saluted, then left to report the order to all Generals.

They would not get his kingdom so easily, even if the people meant very little to him.

Meanwhile

(Recommended Song: Kevin MacLeod – Carefree)

Hrist landed with Asterion in the streets of Glass Dale, seeing people already going about their business. It wasn't many, but it had already reached the same populace as Gold Pine, with almost six hundred citizens and still growing as secret word began to spread of the incredible towns the people could live in away from the tyrannical rule of King Teiyan Erelius II. She dismounted and tied Aster to a hitch post and started to walk around looking at the shops opened, not really interested in anything they had to offer. Many of the people looked at her, at her armor and her stature. She dwarfed most men walking along, though she did not have a muscular frame. Despite looking like she could tear someone's head off at any point, there were some men who were checking her out, even a few women.

"You better get here soon Selene…" she muttered to herself as she perused the products of the shops with her eyes. One immediately caught her attention, a toy stall. Sitting in a basket was a pile of what looked like plushie versions of the empress in her Clockwork Regalia, gold polished armor with two black buttons for eyes. It looked a bit simple with the knitted materials, but she was almost twitching, whether from annoyance or from cuteness overload the shop owner couldn't be sure. Within an instant, she was in front of the stall, looking down at the basket. The woman looked up at the Valkyrja and saw her pick up the plushie.

"Um, your… uh… General? Do you… wish to buy that?" she squeaked out. The battle maiden broke her vision off the toy and looked at the small lady.

"How much?" she said sternly as the owner glanced away, not able to meet her strong gaze.

"Um… fifty copper? Is that alright?" she asked. Hrist stood in silence as she inspected the plushie. The Valkyrja glanced quickly to her left and right, making sure no one's eyes were on her beyond the shop keep. Her hand reached into a small pouch on her belt and pulled out a gold coin, dropping it onto the counter. The empress had made sure to give each of them a decent supply of currency in the event they ever felt like buying anything. It didn't matter to her if it cost a few platinum or a few coppers, it wouldn't make a dent in the royal coffers.

"That is very generous General!" she gawked as her small hands picked it up. Hrist quickly put her own hand on hers before she could pull away, frightening her a little.

"Make better quality. This is too simple. I would expect better of her likeness later." The woman nodded in compliance as the maiden tucked the plushie into the back of her belt, hidden by her cloak. She walked away as the woman looked at her, then the coin. She moved quickly in hopes no one would see what she had bought and kept from view.

"Later? Is she coming back?" the shop owner muttered to herself as she glanced at the basket of plushies and then gazed after the General, confounded by her words. The gold coin would help with the quality though.

She continued towards the stands where a podium was placed, with automatons setting up for a small speech at the signs that were still covered to the road heading out of Glass Dale. Ice cream was being sold from a stand, one of the flavors following the same colors of the empress's armor with golden honey for one, strawberry for the second as her hair color and blueberry blue for the third flavor to be the equivalent of her eyes. There were other flavors as well, but the 'Neapolitan' mix was the most popular it seemed.

Other stands were selling tea or ale, with the people starting to gather for the unveiling. Even Mayor Stafinson was there to help get everything prepared, with Abby writing as his secretary. Giles had been happy she could perform her hobbies as well as have a job other than a housewife, he was very supportive of his wife being strong and semi-independent because it made his marriage stronger.

The maiden sat down after getting a cone of the 'empress delight' ice cream, watching the town bustling. A little kid looked up at her, mainly because of the frozen food. She noticed where his eyes were looking… then gobbled down the cold treat. He ran away crying as she blinked. Why would he think that he could have what she had bought? His mother probably didn't want him to hurt his teeth with the sweets. Besides… she liked the ice cream. She made a mental note to inform Jeeves and the maids it should be made in the castle.

The sound of far off turbines was heard as she looked up, seeing in the distance a helibot become visible as it turned off all cloaking capability. She was finally here, what had taken her so long?

The helibot landed behind the main stand so that Selene could step out and to the podium, with multiple chairs placed behind her. Two automatons waited at the main sign to pull the ropes and remove the tarp. As the empress stepped out, Hrist was surprised by her clothing. It was very flattering for her looks, with makeup and her hair in a professional bun. The Bolero Shrug jacket was quite fashionable in her eyes, as she wondered if Jeeves might make one for her. Just then her eyes locked onto Hrist and she waved hello. She snapped out of her stupor and regained her composure.

"What took you so long? You said you wouldn't dally…" the maiden muttered to her.

"Sorry, sorry, Romeo was showing me the tide generators while flying and I had to check on the launch pad for the new rockets. The aerospike engines look very promising given how far into infor… uh… given how much research we put into them." The dev had to switch gears quickly as she nearly told her about her Eras. Hrist was constantly surprised at how fast her technology improved, not knowing how exactly she was managing it. Each time she thought she had an understanding of the technology, Selene had brand new stuff available. It was mind boggling sometimes. It was like she was a genius… or a goddess. As everyone else seemed to have landed on that idea, it was all but fact right now in their eyes.

"Hey, the empress is here!" they heard as they both turned and looked at the people now gathering quickly for the seats available. Some tried to whisper about her attire being beautiful or exotic. Stands were set up to watch her speak to them for the grand opening. Once the townsfolk were situated, she stepped forward to the podium and addressed the people via three large megaphones attached to it.

"To the people of Glass Dale. You have suffered enough from the hands of tyranny, of oppression, of gaining no help, no hope when you needed it most. To some of you, starting a new life in any other town to the East was not enough, you had to reclaim what was once lost, but you didn't have the ability to do so. To others, you lost everything, kept as slaves by a terrible force, now long since defeated and far behind you. Now, as your empress, I have come to give you back your life, your home, what you had once lost. It may not be everything, but it is a new beginning in familiar land, with familiar faces that survived that catastrophe besides you.

I know that you are strong, noble of spirit, and capable of building a new future, for yourselves, and for others wishing to settle here. However, they will need a sign to head towards, a beacon of hope they can see on the road in their journey for hope. Hope that one day, they will find a place to call home. This is that place."

The ropes were pulled as the sign was released from its tarp, built in Gold Pine wood with glinting seen in the knots. Lamps were placed on both sides and already lit, despite it being daytime. The entire town cheered in applause. She stepped away from the podium and smiled as the new mayor, a Mrs. Reeds, stepped up to the podium and bowed to her. Selene sat down next to Hrist as Reeds talked about what the plans for the town were, how it would be able to improve with the empire watching over them.

"Did you write that or was it Jeeves?" Hrist whispered to her.

"What? You don't think I can't write a good speech? I did the last one all by myself."

"And you blundered a little through the beginning, I remember that." Selene frowned.

"Fine then, next time I'll make you perform in front of hundreds." The battle maiden straightened at that, nervous she really would. Her back pressed against the plushie still hidden on her belt.

"Let's not be hasty, you don't want to offend the… citizens… now…" Hrist whispered back. Selene was about to stick her tongue out at her but thought better of it in front of the townsfolk. There was clapping to be heard as Mayor Reeds stepped from the podium and allowed Mayor Stafinson to speak. He was sorry to see a few people leave Gold Pine but understood their reasons behind settling back in Glass Dale. Hrist attempted to shift in her seat, with the empress noticing. She looked at her cloak to see an ever so slight bulge from the back.

"You know, you could just put whatever you bought on the ground until after this is over" she whispered. Hrist straightened even more. There was no way she was going to put that plushie on the dirty stand floor. It was unthinkable.

"Nothing to be concerned with, I assure you." The dev gave up with the advice as she continued listening to Stafinson finish his speech, with everyone clapping. Music was being played by a band as everyone got up to enjoy a feast prepared for them, with a plate provided to both Hrist and Selene at a special table set.

"You know, you don't have to wear your armor all the time, this was just a formal event."

"This was all I had, Jeeves has not provided me with any other formal attire." Hrist raised her nose into the air.

"He's made like six different dresses for you! Wear one!"

"None of them are to my liking! They… they…" she cut off as she started to eat some of her food.

"They what Hrist? Make your butt look big? Pinch your shoulders? What?" Selene asked as she sipped at her Champaign.

"They… do… that… I… I-I much rather prefer…" she was stuttering as she couldn't say it. It was embarrassing to hear the empress blurt that out to her. Despite being royalty, she could be quite crass.

"Just spit it out, I'm pretty sure he'll be willing to make whatever you want, as long as you're comfortable." Hrist looked at her, as if the empress had just given her approval of whatever clothing she'd want in her closet.

"Then… I'll ask him to make some…" she said in between mouthfuls to make Selene quit questioning her. Her first thought was to get something more… masculine, or at least not nearly as frilly as what she had right now. The remainder of the event went off without a hitch, plenty of food to be eaten and dancing. At one point, Selene lightly danced with two young girls who were attempting to teach her a certain dance style, but in the end, she didn't quite get it. They all laughed as Hrist felt a little out of place. This wasn't a show of martial skill, there were no drinking games, no throwing games.

"Come on Hrist, come out here" the empress laughed out as the two girls took her hands and lead her out, trying to teach her the moves. Finally, both women figured out the style, with Hrist adapting quicker to the footwork than Selene. "Ooh, looks like I have some competition." The battle maiden smirked as she danced with the kids, the dev keeping up quite handily as the music finally stopped to allow the band to rest a little and enjoy the food. Orlo had fired some fireworks into the air from his rocket pod, causing a great many of the townsfolk to enjoy the display of light and sparkles as the day slowly moved to evening. He even got a few chances to perform some good-natured psychology tests on the people, with performing some magic tricks and playing a small game of chess. He never lost… not even once.

As the event came to a close, the stands were packed away, and the empress left with Hrist and the Honor Guard in the helibot, with Orlo hanging out with them. "That was pretty fun, I think I'm getting better at this opening ceremony thing now." The Valkyrja chuckled as she laid back in her seat, with Selene checking on any 'reports' from the administration team in Eld Horn. Liyana might have questions right now, but so far nothing had shown up. Juliet was already beginning work on the town to get it up to her requirements, which is to say she wanted the same quality of life improvements as Gold Pine received.

"Ma'am, it's Turnie" she heard over spec ops coms. Orlo clicked in to listen.

"Go ahead Turnie, I take it you didn't want to be at the ceremony?" she asked worried something might be wrong for her healer. If anything was out of the ordinary, she wanted to know so she could help her team.

"Sorry I wasn't able to make it there, but I was running tests on that drug you brought back, Scooze. There's a problem with the processing of it, it's a really big one too." The empress looked over at Orlo as Hrist wasn't really listening, her coms earpiece not connected at the moment to the special forces team.

"What's the problem?"

"The process does involve the ocean as a cleaning agent. As you well know, not everyone has [Unending Flow] enchanted to running water. The chemical composition requires a wash to get rid of toxic byproduct to remove the drug from the middle, kind of like pulling the pearl from a clam… if the clam was a biohazard that melts your skin that is." Selene leaned forward in worry, her hands clasped together as Orlo listened.

"So, they use the ocean to get rid of the outer shell. But… the toxic waste is left in the water. Are they poisoning the ocean life?" The dev asked.

"That's only part of the problem. Eventually, that byproduct bleeds into the surrounding shore, working its way into the soil. Not only will the water be contaminated, it could affect farmers further in land." The empress thought for a moment while rubbing her hands together and pursed her lips.

"This means we have to take Sweet Water Harbor City ASAP. We cannot allow them to continue making it, it could cause too much ecological damage. They have no idea what their doing, as expected" Selene told her and sighed.

"You are right ma'am, we should get in there quickly. I might be able to work up something that could neutralize the waste, a sort of Potential Hydrogen balancer if you will. I can't guarantee it, but with your permission I'll get to work on it. The next fight doesn't look as if it will need Bronze Team working from inside yet."

"Yeah, taking Sweet Water looks like a military force operation, but that doesn't mean Bronze Team or special forces won't be needed in the near future. Yes, of course you have permission."

"We're on standby ma'am, always ready." Turnie cut coms as the empress looked at Orlo and raised her eyebrows, with him understanding the face she was making.

"I know ma'am, not everyone is as educated as you are about the ecosystem. We all have to live here, why destroy it?" he commented. Hrist looked between both of them as if she missed something important.

"Did I… miss something?" she asked.

"Sorry Hrist, um… how are you with the new strategy and tactics practice? I know you spar with Skuld and Bryn, but I need to know you can lead the troops." The maiden nodded slowly as she licked her lips.

"I have read the required material provided and checked with this 'task force one' involving standard… erm… operations… I believe I know how to best make use of them in the future, have no fear." The empress had a small grin creep on her mouth as she leaned back and relaxed as the helibot made its way back to the castle, the air fleet not needed for the quick trip.

"I don't have any fear, it's you after all, Hrist. I already know you take it as a challenge to work hard to excel, to not lose…" the grin turned coy as she glanced at her General. The helibot landed and they slowly came out, walking back into the palace as the lamps glimmered around the front courtyard garden. Orlo headed for his lab while Hrist followed behind Selene. As they headed upstairs to the bedrooms, with the empress wanting to change into some boring run arounds, the maiden stopped at her door.

"You know, I wonder what it would have been like, had I won. The result might not have been… to my liking" the Valkyrja told her softly. Selene stood at her door and looked at her down the hallway.

"Don't think about that anymore. You should look towards the future" the empress replied.

"I don't normally look towards the future, that was left for the fates to decide, we had three of them obviously. What I look forward to is the here and now, and right now, I am happy. However… one of these days we need to have a duel. I'm going to beat the pants off you just like you did to me." Hrist smirked as she pointed to her.

"Not to the death obviously, but sure, I'm willing to spar any time. Though, I've only gotten stronger since our tussle." Selene winked and smiled at her.

"Don't believe for even a second that I have stayed stagnant while you jump to new plateaus. I've learned quite a bit since then."

"Of course, of course. Besides, sparring will keep me on my toes, show me what I'm doing wrong. Good night Hrist."

"Good night Selene." The empress's doors closed as she entered her own room, sitting down on her bed and pulling out the plushie from her belt. It was so goofy, like a child's drawing of what the empress should look like, but it was adorable. She hugged it and put the toy next to her pillow, then proceeded to remove her armor. Once that was off, she snuck out and searched for Jeeves to explain her need for new clothes… and get him to make ice cream.

Meanwhile

A nearly silent Phoof! was barely heard as a scout's head popped like a zit running from his surveillance point away from Eld Horn. Deacon and Ethan were sitting like two rednecks on an LRV drinking some of the stronger liquor that Selene had in stock, pouring it into the port in their necks. Each time they noticed or were informed by ornithopters that there were Artinian soldiers in the distance, they started tracking them, with Ethan catching tangos that were out in the open while Deacon hit the harder to see soldiers with trick shots.

"That doesn't count, he was running away" Ethan chuckled out as Deacon was lying prone on the small portable platform he brought with him while his brother in arms sat back with a knee up pointing at the body flipping backwards from the strength of the round. The new teleportation shells were fantastic in their eyes, making good use of them to keep any information from traveling back, as even the rifles were naturally silenced given the way the rounds exited the barrel. Normally the ornithopters could handle any surveillance from Artinia if they attempted to use their mark I eyeballs, but this was just for fun. While they did have ethics and morals programmed, they already knew this was war and the enemy were far from nice to their people.

"It does too, the fucking gopher was trying to use the hills to keep anyone from spotting him!" Deacon marked another notch on a spare metal panel they brought with them. While Ethan was the general-purpose jack of all trades of the team, he was still keeping par with Deacon, though it was only in kills and not in headshots.

"You think they'll ever catch wind and be a threat to us? To our empress?" Ethan asked.

"If they do, that's when the bigger badder things than us come out to play. Have you seen the secondary army our girl is making underground? If I could cry tears of joy, I would. Some of that stuff has no real use other than weapons of mass destruction… or being really angry at the planet and fucking with the wildlife."

"Well considering she keeps upgrading us, I doubt there is a chance this kingdom will ever be a real threat. You saw the stat levels from them obviously with the scanner systems she gave us, something around level 5 was the average? We've seen maybe one level 30, and that poor guy was taken out by one of your headshots. Was that their head scout or something, maybe the guy in charge of all their reconnaissance division?" he asked the sniper.

"No clue and don't care. Whatever they throw at us, we're fucking ready." Deacon looked down his sights and couldn't see anymore movement. Artinia knew something was up, there were far more surveillance incursions in the past twenty-four hours.

"Yeah. Hey, you see the designs Selene is secretly trying to keep from Turnie?"

"The ones with the upgraded legs instead of her ball? She's going to be jumping for joy with that. Good on the girl, she takes care of her own. We never ask for rewards, and yet she gives them without a second thought. I'm happy enough serving her."

"Same" Ethan replied. They got another report of another scout, much further with a spyglass. "I got this one."

"Stop being a pansy and make it a headshot for once. The flips are the tits."