Preparations

[DAY 82]

In the early hours of the morning, a convoy of trucks made their way into an abandoned amusement park. The drivers were all clad in darker light armor which had a purple eye on the chestplate which their eyes also looked alike.

These drivers were none other than Neo's Soulless, who finally, after a few hours' delay, arrived at the amusement park where Neo is already located and began unloading the various weapons and supplies located in the Separatist hideouts.

After escaping the Demon Spaceship and exploring the remains of the canyon for a bit more, Neo decided to continue with what he originally came here for.

Therefore, he went to the other two Separatist hideouts which he has not yet examined. As said before, one of them was under the ferris wheel and thankfully wasn't badly damaged. The other hiding place was in an old bunker which was in the basement of the administration building.

Overall, Neo found a heap of ammunition, some handguns and tons of explosives and different grenades in both hiding places. The separatists probably originally planned to attack an embassy further south from here, but well, it doesn't matter now anyways.

However, what Neo interested much more than anything he has found so far, are the vehicles in the hideouts and in particular the Fighter Jets he has found.

Overall, Neo was able to recover 3 Fighter Jets, which can only act within the atmosphere of earth, but whose firepower should not be underestimated. The Jets are similar looking to the long ago built Martin F-22 Raptor.

However, in addition to air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, these Fighter Jets also have some drones that can be used for recognition tasks. In addition, the Jets have vertical drives, which enable them, just like the Starfighter, to fly into the air without a runway and to hover in one place in the air.

On the other side, Neo also found another Howitzer in one of the hideouts and 12 more Mechs of different kind, as well as two old Hovertanks. In addition, Neo was able to secure more than 38 Mortars, which suits him well, especially in terms of his strategy against Safezone 9.

With the various types of grenades that Neo could also loot in the hideouts, including shrapnel grenades, incendiary grenades and even poison grenades. Neo can offer a wide range of firepower.

"How could the separatists smuggle all these vehicles and planes behind the borders unnoticed and even create such huge hideouts? And how did the separatists even get so much money to buy the vehicles? I thought they only deal in jewelry and some stolen goods and Weapons, then where do they get the money to fund all this? Perhaps when the time comes, I should ask the Soulless Separatists in the Myriad about it." Neo said while already begun to transport the Fighter Jets and Mechs outside.

Thankfully, the separatists had already set up exits for the various vehicles in some caves and therefore transporting them, especially with Neo's Telekinesis ability and Miasma, was not that difficult.

In the end, the trucks with the Soulless finally arrived, among them some of the few pilots Neos Myriad possesses.

Neo gave each of them one of the Jets and ordered them to quickly rendezvous with the rest of the Legion at low altitude, while ordering some of the other pilots who will be operating the Mechs to do the same.

The rest, i.e. the ammunition, the weapons and the mortars, are brought to the front by truck and will take the longest to arrive.

After everything was completed with the loading and transportation, Neo decided to move on to the next step of his plan, the infiltration of Safezone 9.

To do this, Neo decided to use the Starfighter to meet the Elite of the Myriad in a previously agreed position and from there, disguised as simple survivors, make his way to Safezone 9.

...

No sooner said than done, after an hour Neo reached the skies near the meeting point with his Starfighter.

"Emily, we're proceeding as agreed. Until then, do your work as conscientiously and thoroughly as ever. We'll meet again in a few days when the battle begins." said Neo.

"Host, Emily has understood the orders and wishes Host every success!" Emily said in a slightly excited voice.

In the next moment, the Starfighter flew upside down and the pilot's cabin opened, from which Neo fell headfirst into the dark night of the morning.

Meanwhile, the Starfighter reversed its course and flew back again, while the cold winds of the night, only illuminated by the full moon, leapt around Neo's ears.

It was only after Neo had fallen a few minutes that his wings popped out of his back and Neo balanced in the air and glided across the sky, covered by a dark cloud of Miasma that surrounded him.

Neo flew in the air for some time until he could make out a small group of people on the ground in the distance.

"That should be them." Neo said as he dived and fell onto the group of people.

Once on the ground, one of the humans made their way to Neo. This human wore a black coat and had normal brown eyes. He held an assault rifle in both his hands and knelt in front of Neo when he saw him.

"Welcome back Dark Monarch. Everything is prepared as per your instructions." said Hector as he stood up again and handed a pair of contact lenses to Neo.

Neo just nodded and the next moment his armor transformed back into his original body and the wings on his back disappeared again. Neo's size also went back to his original size and he took the contact lenses that Hector gave him.

After that he changed into a similar black/grey coat and some clothes underneath and put the contact lenses in his eyes, which turned his usual purple eyes into blue ones.

"Well, we should be ready with that. Don't forget your own background and don't let anyone find out your true origins even if you have to kill yourself, never let the enemy gain any intel. We will set out separately and only meet again in secret at the meeting point in the Safezone. Good luck." said Neo as he set off with some of his Soulless.

"Yes, Dark Monarch!" said the Soulless in unity.

While Neo and about 200 of his Soulless will sneak in at the south gate of Safezone 9, 300 led by Hector will sneak in at the east gate. While the rest will split between the north and west gates. In the end, everyone will only meet again inside Safezone 9 were further actions will happen.

Each of the nearly 1,000 Soulless was given an individual background story and in an emergency everyone has a firearm, as well as some food and water with them, which is now regarded as the highest good inside the Safezone. This should enable them to be smuggled into the city in an emergency.

In the end, all the Soulless and Neo went their separate ways towards the same destination, Safezone 9.

...

***POV: Legion & Myriad

Early that morning, as Neo made his way to Safezone 9, the first Legion troops arrived at the outpost in the city, where they will rally and prepare to attack Safezone 9.

Some Hovertanks and Soulless have already taken up a defensive formation in the ruins of the city. If the Safezone attack them because of the last calls for help from the soldiers, the Soulless and the Tanks can intercept the charging attackers and wear them down with grenade fire.

In addition, some Assassins of the Legion have already positioned themselves everywhere in the city and together with some Undead, guard any movement in the city.

After a few hours, the Fighter Jets finally arrived at the outpost and landed in some previously built landing positions. Also, the Starfighter that transported Neo earlier flew back under Emily's command and also landed.

Meanwhile, Aaron overlooked all the troops entering the city and planned and instructed some more battle formations with some Legates, which they should now be able to execute thanks to the mortars and the special grenade ammunition.

Another part of the Legates was still with the rest of the Legion's troops, who gradually arrived at the outpost which was not far from Safezone 9 and gathered there.

Among them was Annabelle, who has been amazed by the Undead and the humans in the army which are fighting hand in hand together for Neo. She got the story from one of the Legates that they are going to war against a section of the military that is collaborating with the Separatists, the acknowledged terrorists and are holding the civilians there as prisoners. According to the story, Neo therefore decided to destroy the military with his combined army and save the civilians from the traitors and terrorists.

This is of course a complete lie and while the civilians may be dissatisfied with the military, they are not actually being held captive and are there voluntarily to be protected by the military instead.

Even when Annabelle hears from some of her subordinates what the selfless and exalted leader Neo is supposed to be like, she still has her doubts about the whole story and prefers to form her own opinion about Neo. Nonetheless, she sees Neo as a powerful leader who has the potential to unravel the chaos caused by the Undead, especially since he must have a method for Undead and humans to coexist in peace.

Originally, Annabelle saw no chance of solving the situation of the women in her group, no of all people on Earth, in the long term. Of course they could probably survive for some time in the post-apocalyptic world, but what if the huge Hordes of Undead from the bigger metropolises oppose them? Or what if the hunger drive them insane? What can help them with such problems in the long term if not Neo, who possesses mysterious powers.

She doesn't openly admit it. But Annabelle has regained hope for the future through Neo. A future where the people she cares about, the little girls, women and babies in her group, all can survive and live peacefully.

That's why Annabelle decided to fight for Neo, for the hope of a peaceful future.

...

On the other hand, one could see Luma at the further back of the Legion. Luma the Stage 2 Mutant Undead with a Stage 1 Soul that has an affinity for fire stayed in Abeus a few hours longer than the others, to go through some specifications of her armor and weapons that are being forged for her there.

In a few days, her equipment will then be sent to the front lines so that Luma can use them in the open battle in a few days.

Luma used to jump from one ruin to the next, setting off for the outpost on foot rather than in a vehicle.

Since becoming Undead, Luma has increasingly enjoyed roaming about in the open air, while hunting for any prey she encounters.

She loves destruction and nothing more than the destruction that her own flames bring to her foes. She feels completely intoxicated while fighting, so the time when she isn't fighting is all the more annoying for her.

Therefore, from time to time she goes hunting for strange Undead or people and animals she finds.

Sometimes she burns her victims alive, other times she eats them while doing so, and still other times she cuts her victims into small pieces until they stop screaming and crying.

She loves the rush that comes from feeling the power to crush the powerless and weak. Her fire feels incredibly strong, especially in these moments, and even seems to get slightly stronger over the long term through such actions.

Luma doesn't really know the background of her powers, but she also doesn't really care, as long as she can continue to feel so powerful, she doesn't care about anything else.

...

The Legion is otherwise made up of countless Cohorts, some of which are made up of mutant Undead, including a few Stage 2 Mutant Undead, who almost all wield their own melee weapons and wear special dark armor that's practical but not really aesthetic. They represent the real strength of the Legion, which will dominate close combat.

While thr rest of the Legion mainly consists only of normal Stage 0 Undead, which for the most part do not carry any melee weapons and at most only wear little armor, they are the cannon fodder that can be quickly killed by heavy weapons, but at the same time will cause the greatest chaos in a melee battle.

On the other hand, there is also the Soulless Myriad, who march towards the outposts equipped with heavy weapons, handguns, grenades, rockets and a few other weapons. Their intelligence and memories also allow them to use Hovertanks, Mechs, transporter and Howitzers and drive towards the outpost. They will fight on the front lines against the enemy forces on the wall and inside the Safezone, clearing the way for the Legion and providing cover.

Most Soulless wear some kind of dark armor that protects them from some small caliber weapons, but doesn't hinder their mobility. The armor of the Soulless bears the symbol of a purple eye on the chest and some Soulless also hold up a standard with a black flag, which also shows the purple eye on it.

Among the Soulless are countless special Cohorts, e.g. consist of pure snipers, or consist of pure anti-tank soldiers or support troops etc. and some of the Soulless are used as officers and are the tactical part of the army that will attack Safezone 9.

All of these individuals, groups, Cohorts, soldiers and officers make up Neo's army.

the Army of the Dark Monarch, which will shortly be preparing for a violent confrontation against the survivors and the military in Safezone 9...

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UNDEAD LEGION & SOULLESS MYRIAD STRENGTH:

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NEW: BATTLE EQUIPMENT: FIGHTER JET (Explanation: A planetary fighter that cannot leave the atmosphere of planets and can only be used on certain planets. Features air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, custom Seekerdrones, heavy machine guns, and vertical jets that allow vertical flight)

NEW: BATTLE EQUIPMENT: MORTAR (Explanation: A mobile mortar that is best operated by two to three soldiers and can be used to fire various types of grenades. It is especially good for siege or defensive battles)

LEGIONNAIRES: 1,891,476

UNDEAD LEGION COUNT: 581,925

SOULLESS COUNT: 1,309,551

COHORTS: 560

CENTURIONS : 373

LEGATES: 22

PREFECT: 1 (Aaron)

BATTLE EQUIPMENT:

MECHS: 50 -> 62

HOVERTANKS: 55 -> 56

STARFIGHTER: 1

FIGHTER JET: 0 -> 3

HOWITZER: 3 -> 4

MORTAR: 0 -> 38