Taxiarch, Angel of War

Miles awoke in a pool of sweat, or seawater, he couldn't tell which. He found himself in void-like cave, surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites that rivaled the size of fully grown redwoods. They contained ribbons of some kind of silver looking ore that he didn't recognize. How he had gotten here was a mystery. Equally as mysterious was the fact that his suit was fully charged with sanguis dei. He struggled to lift himself on his feet and then stumbled along leaning his weight against the massive columns.

He didn't know where he was going exactly but it was crucial for him to locate shelter and safety. Despite the cover of stalagmites this cavern was remarkably open and dark and left him in a vulnerable position. He had no way of assessing whether or not whoever had filled his suit was friend or foe, he wasn't keen on finding out until he had an opportunity to rest and gather his strength. And so he kept stumbling along for a few hours until he arrived at a small stream that weaved its way among the columns. He collapsed to his knees and cupped fresh water to his mouth greedily.

[Sanguis dei was a cocktail that also provided nutrients and moisture to the ark Angeles, but its extent was limited. It needed to be supplemented with traditional sources of nutrients and hydration though much less often than what would be considered typical. An Arkangeles could survive a week with out drinking water and up to two months without eating any food. While this was the maximum amount of time that the suit allowed them to wait between meals, if they did manage to last this long they would be weak and in poor health. Most arkies ate a small meal about once a week and drank water once every two days to stay at peak physical condition. ]

Despite assistance from the sanguis dei, It had been nearly four days since Miles had last had anything to drink so he was extremely thirsty. He lost himself in gulping the cool water by the mouthful before something in the stream caught his eye. A school of small fish had gathered around him. He splashed the water with his fist but they didn't budge. More and more gathered until he was completely surrounded. They didn't represent any kind of threat at first because they were small silvery fish only about the size of minnows. But as they began to gather by the dozen around miles and then the by the hundreds he started to become nervous. He picked up a small boulder from the shore and then heaved it with force into the center of the school. The fish reacted instantaneously. Before the boulder had a chance to hit the water they all had created an opening just the right size for it to enter the stream with out damaging any of them.

He became frustrated with them and kicked the water, but they all managed to dodge his blows. Swarming about him in a thousand different directions. But then, suddenly they all stopped as if responding to some invisible command. Miles also froze and looked around to see the reason, but there was nothing. Then they all started swimming off in one direction.

Miles wasn't sure why but he felt compelled to follow them. As he waded in the shallows of the edge of the stream he looked onward to see the silver ribbon of fish winding around the tall pillars. The fish chose their path decisively, anywhere the stream split off in to two or more directions they all chose only one direction. Miles felt they must be leading to something and made an effort to keep up with their pace.

After walking for what felt like hours through the maze of stalagmites the fish froze and then began swarm around miles once more. He stopped in his tracks , the stream emptied in to a grate in the ground about 100 meters in front of him. And beyond that was a massive stone staircase. He stepped out of the stream and as soon as his last foot left the water, the fish dissipated. He walked up to the staircase cautiously. It was dark but there was a faint source of light emanating from the top which nearly vanished from view considering how tall the staircase was. Without questioning himself, he began to ascend.

Due to the full charge of sanguis dei, the climb which seemed nearly a mile in length was going easily for him. He stepped forward in a thoughtless meditative state. Perhaps now that he had left everything he knew behind, there was no more useful thought worth having. His whole life lay only directly in the few meters in front of him and the immediate path forward was the only important thing.

He took glances upwards from the cold hard stairs moments at a time. Soon some large spherical object was able to be seen beyond the the top of the staircase. As he continued onwards he got a better view of this object. The very top resembled a white moon rising over the horizon but as he ascended further it became obvious that this was not a spherical but oval shaped structure. Minutes passed and he was able to make out a massive cloth covering the top half of it. The next thing that was revealed astonished him. Nose holes, like those found in a human skull. "It couldn't be" he thought to himself. But as time went on his suspicion was confirmed, he saw below the nose holes the rest of the anatomy of a human skull, large mandibles, teeth and a jaw. The whole massive object was maybe a kilometer in circumference.

Somehow he kept walking forward without any fear, even while facing this ginormous corpse. He felt magnetically drawn to it and he didn't take a moment to think of the reason why.

For about an hour he walked while the monstrosity looked down on him, or rather was blind to his presence. The skull had a large cloth around the top of its head and was blindfolded. As he finally reached the plateau of the stair case he was able to see the top quarter of its chest. He climbed the final stair and from a platform there the whole entire creature was able to be seen.

It was a massive automaton, but not entirely artificial. Blood vessels and nerve endings webbed their way beneath its semi- transparent skin. Its arms and legs were segmented like a bug or a machine but it was unmistakably in the shape of a man. Similar to Miles's ports along his spine, this massive creature also had ports on the back of its head and running all down its spine, from which protruded cables and tubes the width of skyscrapers. The creature, it appeared, was breathing. Its chest steadily rose and fell and with it, the sound of a typhoon-class wind was produced.

Miles was shocked, he stepped backward to catch his balance and stumbled on something behind him. It was a small rectangular altar that was pocked with circular openings across its surface. From these circular openings protruded the very same style of cable that was used to connect to the ports along the arkangeles spinal column. While it was showing the wear and tear of maybe hundreds of years and in poor condition this was undoubtedly Arky technology.

Miles was shocked, here he stood in front of the largest monstrosity he had ever seen in a completely alien world in the far reaches of space and time, and yet some how sitting right next to him was a thread that connected back to the arkangeles world that he knew.

Instinctively he sat down to rest on the altar. He sat there for a while watching the labored breathing of the giant creature. It didn't make any movements to suggest that it was aware of miles' presence, it seemed as if this creature was either deaf, blind or even both.

As miles sat here, he was unaware that sanguis dei was slowly trickling out of the damaged port in the back of his head. It dripped down his back and started to pool on the surface of the altar. Then it found its way in to a groove which led to one of the ports. When the first drop of sanguis dei trickled in to the port on the altar the grooves in it began to glow. The clanging of a large mechanism could be heard and out of the ports slithered cables which moved off their own volition and flailed wildly in search of a place to plug in.

Miles stood up in shock but was quickly forced back down as the cables found the ports along his spine and attached themselves resolutely. They pulled him to the surface of the altar and forced him into a meditational pose. Now his posture matched that of the wheezing ancient creature in front of him.

He strained with all of his strength but was unable to break free, the cables were extremely tough and had him in an untangle-able strong hold. He kept fighting past the point of futility, then when he finally accepted that there was no escape he stopped resisting and slowed his breathing. Waiting was all he could do now.

It was just as soon as his heartbeat reached a steady and calm rhythm that an overpowering voice echoed through his skull.

"The diamond has returned to the dirt. Thus is the long awaited return of the master, the dawn of the new epoch is upon us."

The automaton creaked as it nodded its massive head downward to face miles. Miles tried to look away but his head was forced to face the beast's and his eyes were held open by microscopic threads emanating from the cables surrounding his body.

The blindfold on the automatons head came loose as it made a thundering groan and leaned forward, revealing a single eye, which resembled a black void. Miles couldn't look away. This eye drew in his attention like a wormhole, he was mesmerized.

A direct transmission from this creature echoed through Miles' head. It was head splitting and loud, it took up every inch of his consciousness so that he could no longer even think his own thoughts. It was a direct transmission of this creatures mental process.

The words that repeated again and again, though layered with other more complex patterns (the way thoughts are experienced) were "welcome home, welcome home, welcome home…". These words repeated over and over again like a song that can't be forgotten. Miles struggled to get his own thought in edgewise. He strained himself until he was able to produce three simple words. "What…are…you?".

The overwhelming transmission paused for a moment. Everything was silent, no thoughts, no breath, a pin drop could be heard. Clearly miles had caught the beast off guard, despite its size it was sensitive to even the smallest fluctuations in thought.

Miles took this opportunity to speak, or rather, think.

"Clearly whatever you are, you're used to dominating the mental space of whomever you link with. I am not so easy to overcome, I received the most powerful doses of mental manipulation from the arkangeles and was able to resist."

At the word "arkangeles" the giant beast instinctively recoiled. Its breathing became faster and faster. It became so intense that miles was afraid he would be blown away and smashed to bits on the steps below. The only thing keeping this from happening was the fact that miles was completely strapped down by the cables that wrapped around his limbs and connected in to the ports along his spinal column.

The anxiety that was being shared through the neural link to miles was so immense that he was no longer able to think again. His body began to shake and he broke out in to a cold sweat. All he could do was ride out this physical and psychological hurricane force storm until the creatures breathing became more regular again.

The breathing slowed and slowed, until it was so long that it was almost barely perceptible. Miles didn't dare transmit another thought. He sat there, frozen in fear.

Finally the beast produced a new thought.

"You asked what I am."

Miles lifted his eyes and met the gaze of the automaton's void-like eye.

"That is the wrong question. Instead you should ask, who am I?"

The transmission again was so strong and overpowering that miles was forced to become captive audience.

The creature continued "I am Taxiarch, the god of war. You should remember me, master, if it was not for the revisionist arkangeles."

A bottomless anger and pain spiked through the creature's nervous system and transferred to Miles whose relatively small frame could hardly bear it. He was shaking and sweating but this time the reason was a deep sense of injustice. The pain of being deeply wounded with no recourse to corrective action.

"I was created by your beloved arkangeles, I was born with the great promise of leading the universe itself in to a new era of peace and harmony. My quantum computational capacity was so strong I could accurately model the entire universe inside of myself. Yet my solutions angered the small ways of the arkangeles, they valued their own selfish greed over the good of the whole. As a result of my "subversive" thoughts coupled with my strength to make change, they pushed me deep underground, they poured an entire sea overtop of me, they littered my environment with spy craft to ensure that I never escape. Thus I have been trapped here for millennia waiting for my master to return."

Now they sat in silence. Miles dared to produce a small trembling thought. "Your…. Master?"

With the force of the entire universe the machine zeroed in on mile's query. He could feel the massive wheels of thought churning.

"You do not remember me master? It is I your humble servant. You; my mouthpiece, my oracle."

Miles had no such memories. He was certain of his past on his small home-world, his now small-seeming dreams that were crushed under the iron fist of the arkangeles.

Miles recoiled at the thought of being associated with such a beast, he struggled to escape. But it held him captive.

"We must seek vengeance" the creature seethed. "We must undo the bonds of the arkangeles, they hold our world in shackles."

Miles found with each interaction that he was able to command more power over the interaction, as if he was unlocking some hidden strength within himself. He was now becoming more able to produce proper questions without being overwhelmed by the automatons psychic power.

"Do you not remember what they did to you? They took your very essence away from you, they used your dreams and your potential as fodder to be used against you for your downfall"

"For an automaton who knows everything, you've managed to render the complexities of our universe in to simple black and whites" miles retorted

"Master" Taxiarch pleaded "you must know that my actions, including my very thoughts have been strategically chosen within the context of knowledge of the whole. Every action and every thought serves its purpose. Now is the time for rebellion. There is such a time where this is the appropriate course of action."

Now to miles' surprise, the machine started to shudder. He slowly became aware of the fact that it was crying. As it shook under the weight of its grief, a metallic clinking could be heard. Miles looked down and noticed for the first time that the creature was shackled to the ground with massive industrial chains.

The sorrow was so deep, like an ocean with no bottom. Miles was hurled in to this void as he was forced to share the psychic state of the beast. Together they hurtled through the darkest depths of grief for hours on end.

The depth of silence was broken with a thought from Miles.

"I'm hungry." He said.