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A little story I wrote. Convergence is a machine worshiping cult that wishes to bring their goddess to the world, but they have to prepare the way first. They upload their souls into clockwork bodies. Cryx is a nation led by techno-necromancer liches.
I hope you like it.

Discord


Irene stepped onto the teleport platform and waited for the count down. Next to her was Anna in her eight foot tall steel body armed with her enormous glaive. Surrounding them were the vectors, infantry and engineers of her strike force.

"Let the Great Work progress, brothers and sisters," Inga, the Fluxion of the temple said. "May the Maiden of Gears watch over you."

The plan was a bold one, even for Iron Mother Diretrix. They were to teleport forces from several temples to one location deep within the Nightmare Kingdom's territory and construct an astronometric tower that would harmonize the Geomantic energy lines there. Once the tower was constructed they had to protect it long enough for it to do its work. A day to build and two days for the harmonization.
Iron Mother herself briefed her on the mission she had volunteered for and was very clear about the dangers. Anna had called it a suicide mission, not that that deterred Anna in any way.

"Are you ready?" Irene asked.

"We are but parts of a larger machine that moves towards a near future of perfection."

"I'll assume that means yes."

Anna turned her sculpted face towards her.

"Revenge clouds the rational mind," she said in that voice that was reserved for impromptu sermons.

"This isn't about revenge."

"Really? That's not why you volunteered?"

Irene held her hand up to forestall further conversation. The countdown to teleportation was nearing its end.

The enormous domed chamber deep under ground was filled with machines that even she didn't understand. She knew they worked by somehow overlapping different wave energies creating fields of perfect harmony that connected to another point in space, but that level of engineering was above her. Convergence of Cyriss didn't awaken her because of her engineering talents.

"Five…four…three…" the monotone voice of the optifex said.

The pale blue light from inside her helmet illuminated Inga’s face like a specter.

She squared her metal shoulders and spread her feet apart for better balance in order to be prepared for whatever awaited them at the other end.
The chamber filled with blinding light and energy crackled around them like lightning. The sound grew from a faint humming to deafening sound like the tornados that were common near her family's farm.

Then the light and noise vanished and she found herself on a desolate beach with gray sand, black ocean and black sky. The sickly full moon was above them giving them maximum light to do the work without the use of lanterns and other too bright lights that could give away their position. The land that spread out in front of her was a flat plain filled with dried weeds clinging on to survival. It was an even plane with nothing to use for cover or concealment. They were out in the open, naked for all to see.

She raised her hand and motioned for everyone to move forward to make room for the next group teleporting in.

Her mind linked to the vectors and as one she made them move to their predetermined defensive locations.

A unit of Reciprocators marched passed and set up in their ranks with their halberds pointing out toward the plain. The Monitor vectors stomped by on their four legs and took up positions to watch for anything trying to sneak up on their position. Their single unit of Clockwork Angels took to the sky to scout out the area around them. They launched into the air with a sound of high pitched buzzing.

She didn't have to say a single word. Everyone knew their place and moved together in perfect harmony. While the combatants settled into position, her engineers set to work in building the base of the tower and the scaffolding.

"It's beautiful," Anna said.

"I've seen better beaches," Irene said.

"Not the beach, the perfection of the servants of the Maiden. They're beautiful."

"I'll worry about beauty once the tower's finished its work," Irene said.

"There's always time for beauty. If we don't stop to appreciate it when we see it, we may never see it again. We may pass by a point only once in our lives so we must take that opportunity to do what we must."

She did have to admit that watching the steel and brass forms of her forces move in perfect harmony was a sight that never ceased to amaze.
"I remember the day they first brought you to our temple," Anna said.

"I was only eleven."

She remembered that day, but probably not as pleasantly as Anna did. For her it had only been three days since the Cryxian raiding party had slaughtered her family and everyone in the nearby village.

"And why have you come here, Irene?"

"I believe in the Great Work as much as anyone."

"But why you?"

"I know more about Cryxian military forces than anyone at the temple."

"And why do you know more?"

Because I spend what free time I have studying the enemy to better destroy them.

"I was the logical choice. I'm low enough that if I don't return its no great loss to Cyriss and competent enough to succeed. I know Cryx and I know battle."

"Keep a clear mind, Irene. The Maiden cannot direct a clouded mind."

Her mind was clear. She knew exactly what she needed to do. The tower had to be finished and for that they either had to remain unnoticed or fend off the enemy long enough for the work to be finished.

Behind them the air shimmered and crackled and a few seconds later another force from a hidden temple in the Thornwood appeared as if out of an unseen fog. Their vectors and infantry were colored black and brass and the infantry moved out without pausing and took up their pre arranged positions without a word.

She reached out with her mind and took control of these new black and gold vectors and moved them into place. Wagons with pre-built tower sections moved to the construction site.
Five minutes later the last team arrived. She took control of those Vectors as well though it was pushing her limit of what she could control.

To help her she activated her arcane generator that floated just behind her. It was two rings that revolved counter-clockwise to each other and helped her generate the energy she needed to control so many vectors at once. Thirty heavy vectors, ten light ones and twenty units of infantry with support.

Just above her shoulders floated her two weaponized servitors. She had named them ‘Bisector' and ‘Logarithm.' They were thick blades on bucklers, each with a gun that used magnets to propel a solid projectile faster than a bullet. Her own clockwork body wasn't particularly strong or durable, but her two shield weapons protected her and killed her enemies for her.

Besides, if anyone got close, she had Anna to protect her.

The night wore on and she continued to check the time piece built into her right forearm. The work on the tower was progressing twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Excellent, but twenty minutes did not mean much relative to the fifty four hours they needed.

When the morning came the sun emerged from the ocean as a pale disk behind a thin curtain of uniform gray clouds that was forming. The light let her see further out over the bleak plains of the nameless island. They were at the mouth of a river that she couldn't guess at the head of. It was probably some blighted swamp full of twisted creatures.

Whatever was there was far from the perfection the Maiden desired.

One of the Clockwork Angels descended and landed before her like a feather.

"We have spotted a ship approaching from the west," the Angel said.

Irene's eyes went to the half finished tower that rose high above the flat island. The ship was sure to see it as clear as a beacon.

"Now it's a question on how fast the ship will alert the local military forces and how fast they mobilize," Anna said.

"I imagine Cryx mobilizes fast, especially to an incursion on their own territory."

"I hate sitting out here in the open during the day," Anna said.

Most of the troop movements they did were at night and usually in the woods or hills where they could remain unseen. This made her feel naked and exposed.
She didn't say that though.

The ship came into view. It had triangular sails with black, oily smoke pouring out of its infernal engines. She didn't see movement from this distance but she knew there had to be dead eyes watching them from the deck.

The ship slid out of view again and no one spoke for a long time. Even the hourly engineer report was said in a near whisper.
Two hours before sunset the three lead engineers approached and bowed.

"The tower is finished and we are about to activate it."

If she were able to she would have smiled.

"Please do so."

The engineer's helmet turned back toward the tower and he raised one fist in the air.

The Mask of Cyriss, the symbol of the Truth, lit up in a faint blue glow on the face of the tower.

"This is the greatest hymn the Maiden could ask for," Anna said.

"How so?"

"It's a step nearer to the perfection of Caen. All around the globe the Geomantic energy lines are being brought into harmony, like a lute being tuned before a concert. The energy fields being brought into one perfect, united wavelength is like a song. One great hymn in praise of the Maiden."

As important as the Great Work was, her mind turned toward the approaching Cryx. She had never faced Cryx since that terrible day at the farm. She had been stuck in the north, fighting Khador and the Llaelese.

Night descended on them and covered them in darkness one more time. The moon and the comforting blue glow of the tower provided all the light they needed. It was also a signal flare for any Cryxian force inviting them to come attack.

During the night no one spoke. Everyone was waiting and listening for the inevitable attack.

At four fifteen in the morning an Angel descended and reported that they saw green lights moving toward their location.

"How far out?" Irene asked.

"Perhaps five miles. They'll be here within the hour."

"Any idea on how many?" Anna asked.

The Angel shifted her feet a bit before answering.

"Our best estimate was over a hundred."

"Maiden watch over us," Anna whispered.

In the thin night air she thought she could hear the distant noises of rusty machines and heavy footfalls.

A half hour later she saw the first green lights like phantoms floating toward them in the darkness.

With a mental command she sent the Reflex Servitors out to disrupt the enemy assault. They would also give her a good idea when the Cryx were in striking distance.
Irene got into her defensive position in the fortified center where the majority of the buckler armed Conservators were. The arcane displacer drives of the floating vectors pushed the sand away from them like ripples in a pond.

Ten minutes later the first Reflex Servitors exploded. They had been placed in a line at the maximum distance for the Monitor's saw blades. She could feel the Cryx approaching and every step they made brought them closer to their own annihilation

In unison the Monitors fired into the darkness and were rewarded by the sounds of metal striking metal.

The green glowing came into view as misshapen silhouettes. Everyone opened fire. Modulators shot arcs of blue, crackling energy and Ciphers fired off their mortars.
The first Cryxian monstrosity emerged into the light. A jack called a Slayer. The tusked machine charged into view and right towards a unit of Reciprocators with its metal claws. Their shield wall took the brunt of the force and they counter attacked with their halberds, cutting off one of the metal beast's arms. It charged forward with its tusks impaling one of the soldiers and then flinging it off with a jerk of its head. The other halberdiers descended on the Slayer and destroyed it with lethal efficiency as giant blades tore through the thing’s armor.

Even though it was through the eyes of a distant machine, it was the first time she had seen a Cryx jack up close since that day over thirty years ago. She recognized its class as the one that had slaughtered her father.

For a moment she was that little girl again. She wanted to run out of the barn where she watched the unholy things carry off the twitching body of her father.
As the dark creatures left down the dirt road on that bright summer day she stumbled out of the barn and screamed. She fell to her knees and reached out to her father whom she could no longer see. Next to her a legless farmjack reached out with her in perfect imitation as she connected with its simple mind.

That was why they rescued her. A unit of Convergence scouts watched from a distance. They saw her potential and brought her back to their temple and her new family.
Her attention snapped back to the battle around her and she pushed harder with her vectors. The arcane generator floating behind her back hummed louder with the increased output.

An Enigma Foundry advanced to collect the soul chambers while Optifex Directives swarmed over the fallen bodies to get them operational again. They all worked as one in perfect unison.

All over the defensive line Cryxian units came into view and charged. The small bone jacks galloped forward, heedless of danger. Through the multi-lensed eyes of a Monitor she shot a bonejack with an ellipsaw that severed one of its legs, causing it to crash headlong into the sand where an Eradicator smashed its head with its massive buckler.

Her defensive line was a semi circle with its open back to the sea. The Cryxian horde moved around to envelop her forces. It didn't matter that their back was to the ocean. They weren't trying to escape yet and if they survived that long then their escape was to the sea.

Mechanical terrors and corpses spliced with machines fought like chaos against the order and precision of Cyriss. The initial wave of Cryxian forces crashed against her wall of steel and her wall held.

Cryx had their jacks out front and behind them she saw a mass of shambling figures stumbling forward. It was like a second ocean in front of them only this one was made out of the animated dead. Through the din and cacophony of battle she could make out the dull roar of hundreds of dead voices groaning out what sounded like a tuneless hymn to their blasphemous god.

A Cipher smashed the head of Jack with barbed hooks for arms with its ramming piston and a floating Assimilator threw a Bonejack against a Slayer, knocking it back into a group of Mechanthralls that were crushed beneath its weight.

Perferators shot swarms of lethal darts into a unit of Bane Thralls. The heavy projectiles pierced their thick armor and one dart went right through one of the Thralls head’s.

A Corruptor, a wicked looking jack with mantis like arms charged forward, knocking its way through a squad of Reductors as it spewed acidic filth from some kind of hose cannon.
There was one enemy jack she was unfamiliar with. It looked like some kind of upright insect with wicked looking claws. She focused two Monitors on it and fired. One ellipsaw buried itself into its armor plating and the other saw severed one of the thing's claws. It screeched like a living creature, a blasphemous imitation at life. As it flailed in rage she sent in an Inverter and with one blow from its ram, knocked the shrieking monstrosity on its back.

Most of the abominations she saw looked like sown together corpses with machines attached to them. Their arms were replaced by metal fists and they surged forward without thought to their safety. Her infantry met them with shield and mace and her vectors struck where the enemy was weakest.

Then a Slayer broke through a formation of shield armed Obstructors and charged right for one of the Enigma Foundries that was harvesting the essence chambers of fallen soldiers. It carried the souls of dozens of soldiers with many years of experience. Its destruction would mean the loss of many valuable servants of the Maiden.

She focused on one of the quick reacting Conservators nearby. The floating vector put all power into its floating propulsion system shoulder rammed the Slayer. The sound of metal crashing against metal overshadowed all other sounds for a brief moment. The Slayer hit the sand and skidded a short distance before attempting to climb to its feet. She didn't let it. Like an extension of her own body she charged the Conservator forward and rammed its thick blade into the Slayer's head. Sparks and green smoke rose from the wound. The Slayer reeled back from the blow and the vector's second blade severed the Slayer's arm.

When the Slayer tried to strike back with its one good arm the Conservator grabbed that arm and flung the Slayer near an Inverter. The metal beast stumbled as it tried to right itself but then the Inverter rammed its macropummler from behind and through its chest. The sickly green gas escaped from the wound and the machine slumped to the ground.
As the Cryxian jacks became fewer and fewer the surge of undead shambled forward. The Angels hadn't seen the true numbers because these walking corpses didn't have the glowing light the jacks did.

An entire unit of Obsturctors was overcome by a wave of mechanized dead. A nearby unit of Reductors shot their forearm darts that buzzed through the air before shredding the undead horde. They fired volley after volley, tearing the undead to pieces.

She focused on the Modulators and had them fire everything they had. The beams of blinding lightning tore through the enemy ranks like plows through a field. When a swarm of undead surrounded one of the Modulators, its energy surges electrocuted the corpses while it continued to fire away, illuminating the battlefield around it. For a split second she saw every sickening detail of the enemies' faces. She saw their gray, lifeless eyes and their slack jaws. The light of Cyriss wasn't to be found in them at all. They were a plague to be eradicated.

Her vectors had taken a heavy toll but now that the Cryxian jacks were mostly dealt with, she sent her anti-infantry units to the front and let the engineers get to work at repairing the damaged vectors.

She took a quick tally. A third of her vectors were down and the infantry units had taken about twenty percent casualties so far. There would be more before this battle ended but they would survive the night.

The mortars from Ciphers continued to bombard the moaning undead horde as Assimilators sent out their micro swarms into the massed enemy. It was brutal and efficient as the shots were aimed at the thickest masses in order to cause maximum casualties.

The gray sun was coming up as the battle drew to a close and only scattered pockets of resistance remained. Already the Optifex Directives were busy repairing what they could.

"I think they must have misjudged our strength," Anna said.

"Did you see their warcaster?"

"I did not."

"Exactly. That means they escaped and will probably be back with a larger force."

"Then let's hope they're slow."

"I've never heard of the Nightmare Empire being slow."

She had faced the enemy and destroyed them. Hundreds of corrupted bodies lay in piles around the beach and more of her vectors than she would have liked.
Irene walked over to the engineers who were working on a damaged Cipher.

"How many vectors can you bring back to operational conditions?"

"Maybe fifteen percent can be operational by tonight."

That was much less than she had hoped.

He bowed and she returned it.

When she walked back to the center where Anna was she saw that she had what looked like a small toy. It was a stick with a string tied to it. On the other end of the string was a metal washer. She was twirling the stick until the string wrapped around it and then she would untwirl it.

"Playing with children's toys?" Irene asked.

There was a slight shrug in Anna's shoulders, like she was laughing.

"I'm contemplating."

"With a toy?"

"Watch." She twirled it again. "Do you see how the washer goes faster and faster the shorter the string gets? I think that's how the Convergence of Cyriss is. The closer we get to the divine goal, the faster the work progresses. Look at a hundred years ago compared to now. We're much closer and a few years from now we'll be closer still."

It wouldn't be closer if she failed here. Everything was riding on her. If she failed she'd never join the Maiden and the Great Work would be frustrated.

"Perhaps the Maiden should have sent a more effective commander," Irene said.

Anna stopped twirling the stick and looked at her.

"The Maiden sent the person She wanted to send. It's up to you now. Will your conviction and faith be enough or will you surrender and leave this work to be done by someone else?"

"I'll do what I can."

"That won't be enough."

It won’t be. The Cryx would return and in greater numbers. It was only a matter of time. But would they return before the tower finished its work? According to the estimates, the tower would finish the harmonization at five in the morning. Then the submersible craft would be there to pick up survivors. All the vectors and most of the infantry will have to be left behind. Only their essence chambers would be brought back.

If we survive that long.

Irene looked at her soldiers and knew how brave they were. Cyriss demanded perfection and here her followers did not fail her.
If there is a faulty gear to this machine, it’s me.

As the day wore on she kept her eye on the desolate plain. The clouds covered the sky like a thick gray blanket preventing any shadows. She paced around the beach and listened to the waves lapping, wondering if it would be the last sounds she heard.

While the engineers raced to get as many vectors operational as possible she went over everyone's position and made a few alterations to account for their casualties. Their defensive perimeter shrunk but remained solid. She ordered hourly reports on the tower's progress and hourly reports from the three angels flying overhead. If anyone survived it would be them. They could fly back to the mainland along the geomantic line all the way back to the temple.

Two hours after sunset an Angel came down twenty minutes before her scheduled report. That wasn't a good sign.

"We see movement from the south. Green lights."

"When?"

"An hour at most."

It was eight hours before the tower finished its work. She looked around at her forces and did a quick calculation. The math didn't add up the way she wanted it to.
She thanked the Angel and watched as her wings made a high pitched humming before launching into the air.

"We don't have to destroy them all, just hold them off for seven hours," Anna said.

"Have them use the irreparable vectors and wagons for barricades."

Anna rushed off to carry out the orders and Irene moved all the Conservators near her infantry. When the infantry bodies were destroyed the Conservators would absorb some of that energy. They would need it in the battle ahead. She placed her vectors in the most dangerous area. They were tools that, though precious, were not priceless like the souls of the soldiers.

Seven hours. The entire mission depends on seven hours.

She powered up her arcane generator and readied her weapon servitors which flew up to hover around her head. She knew she wasn't making it out of this battle without facing the enemy eye to eye.

Anna came back and held her glaive with both hands.

"The Maiden's with us. Don't forget that," Anna said.

"Why did you follow me here?"

"It's my duty to protect you."

"This was a volunteer mission. You didn't have to come."

Anna's steel eyes turned to her.

"You need to ask?"

She didn't.

Too soon the Cryxian forces were upon them. The first to emerge from the darkness were the centaur-like Soulhunters. They charged headlong into her vectors and she focused through a nearby Inverter and cast a spell that sent a beam of blue arcane energy racing through several of the obscene creatures. They convulsed and twitched as their insides boiled.
Attunement servitors raced forward and launched their glowing chemicals that illuminated several of the creatures marching toward them. Now that the undead things were easier to see she aimed her modulators and fired in one simultaneous barrage. The streams of electricity arced through the ranks of walking corpses and she was glad she had no sense of smell anymore.

She ordered the Ciphers to expend all of the Crater shells and then switch to bombardment. They had to thin out the mass of light infantry out there or they'd be overrun like a flood. Everything that could shoot she had to pour into the advancing darkness.

Then an explosion of light and flying dust almost knocked her off her feet. Rocks and dirt clumps bounced off her steel skin.

Another explosion burst further off to her right followed by another.

"They have cannons this time," Anna shouted over the noise of battle.

The glowing forms of incorporeal wraiths glided into view and attacked a line of Obstructors. Their maces passed right through the wraiths as the wraiths' swords tore into her soldiers. Optifex Directives rushed to their aid and added an energy modulation that harmonized with the energy frequency of the wraiths.

Matter and energy were just different manifestations of the same phenomena and if one would modulate the frequency of matter, one could interact with energy. The pure science of Cyriss could overcome the dark necromancy of Cryx.

"Praise the Maiden," Irene said.

"Praise the Maiden."

A horde of revenant pirates swarmed over one of the Monitors. Its powerful fist crunched pirates into dark mess but there were too many of them. They pried open its armored body and fired hand cannons into its intricate workings. Sparks and smoke burst out of the ruined vector and the pirates moved on.

The Modulators continued to blast away into the densely packed ranks but then out of the darkness came a group of five jacks. They were Slayers but the one in the front was larger, covered in broken chains and had glowing runes inscribed on its armored shell that hurt her mind just to look at them.

The enormous Slayer grabbed one of the Modulators and tore its arm off, flinging it off into the night. The Modulator tried to shock it with its other arm but another Slayer grabbed it and tore it off as well.

She immediately pulled back the other Modulators and moved her Ciphers and Monitors forward.

The monster Slayer pounced on a Monitor but not before it shot the beast with its saw. The creature ignored the damage and tore through the Monitor's armor like it was cloth, ripping large pieces off of it and flinging them into the air.

Irene ran one of the Inverters up to it and rammed it off the wreckage of the Monitor. It merely dented the thing's armor but it did knock it to the ground. That Inverter was then swarmed by the other Slayers. While the beast jack was struggling to get up, A Cipher rammed its piston into its chest, cracking its metal ribcage open.

The hole in the line the Slayers made created an opening for a dozen of the small Bonejacks to swarm in.

She cast her Prism spell through a nearby vector and blasted one of the Bone Jacks to smoking wreckage with her beam of concentrated and focused light and blew a jagged hole in another one. She moved her Assimilators up to deal with the Bonejacks and sent a blast of energy through a horde of Mechanthralls, knocking them all down while her Reciprocators chopped them to pieces.

The battle continued to grind on. Her forces worked in perfect unison and as she watched it she saw how beautiful it really was. It also contrasted how ugly Cryx was.

"Still no sign of their warcaster," Anna said.

Then something went out of harmony. A unit of Obstructors was being pushed back. She saw through the eyes of the nearest vector and saw that a unit of Bane Knights was tearing into them. If she didn't do something now she'd lose the entire unit.

All the nearby vectors were occupied and the few servitors she had left wouldn't do much good.

"Anna, follow me," she said and took off running.

She cast her spell using the nearest vector as an arch node and blast one of the knights apart with her prism spell.

Anna leapt into combat. Her Steelsoul body towered over everyone else and she swept her glaive like a reaping angel. One of the knights tried to attack her but she lashed out with one well placed kick and smashed the knight's chest in.

Irene came in behind the Obstructors and lashed out with her bladed servitors. The fast remotes struck one of the knights in the chest and head, knocking him over. She immediately slashed at another, severing its hand that was gripping one of her soldier's heads.

Now she was killing Cryxian monsters with her own hands, in a manner of speaking. Before it had been vicariously through her soldiers and vectors but now she was personally destroying the abominations eye to eye.

She didn't get the thrill of revenge that she had imagined. There was no fulfillment in it; it was just something that had to be done. There was no sense that her parents were watching with approval. The light of enlightenment wasn't there. She only got that feeling from the Great Work.

Logarithm impaled one the knights in the chest and stuck there. The knight grabbed the servitor with one hand and readied its sword to strike it. She fired Logarithm and blasted it free while blowing the knight apart at the same time. The servitor flew free and came back to hover above her.

Most of the Obstructers were lying on the ground in pieces. Only three were left.

She summoned two Conservators to come over and plug the hole while the Enigma foundry did its work of retrieving the essence chambers.
There was a gash in Anna's forearm that went down to the pistons beneath her armor.

"Have an Optifex look at that," Irene said.

"It's nothing. Most here have far worse."

She looked around and saw that Anna was correct. Almost everyone had some form of damage. She saw Reciprocators fighting with bare hands after their halberds had been destroyed and made an armless Assimilator crash into a Slayer at full speed destroying them both.

They were losing. The Cryxians were being held back but at this rate they didn't have much longer.

She checked her integral clock and saw that they had four hours left. She had to do something more or they wouldn't survive long enough for the tower to accomplish the harmonization.

"Anna, we have to do more."

"I go where you go."

She ran her metal hand over Anna's steel head.

"Thank you, old friend."

"May the Maiden watch over us."

"She will. Either we wipe this beach of this filth or we hold. There are no other options."

She took up position behind the Conservators and opened fire with her magnetic cannons. Each blasted a dark shape apart.. Each shot hummed with the high energy output from her generator and the magnets of the barrels.

She cast every spell she could to beat back the dark tide battering against them. With out stretched arms a glowing circle of arcane mathematics appeared in front of her. She added more energy to the equation and launched a tri-beam prism spell that lanced out slicing through more Cryxian Mechatralls. Some exploded into blackened goo and others caught fire.
One of her beams struck an undead lich on a horse and blew him in half at the waist with a burst of smoke and black blood gushing over the mechanical corpse horse.

"Impressive," Anna said.

"I have to wait for my generator to recharge."

"Do more of that and…"

Anna's head shot up and she readied her glaive.

A giant jack tore through the ranks of Mechanthralls, knocking several into the air. It charged right at her. The thing had a tipple bladed claw for an arm and the other arm looked like some kind of twisted and oversized medical syringe. The thing's glowing eyes were locked on her.

Irene fired her servitors at the same time. One shot hit its shoulder and ricocheted up to blow off one of its menacing spikes. The other shot plowed through its glowing ribs, creating a small hole which did nothing to slow it down.

Her mind reached out for anything close by and grabbed hold of a Conservator that wouldn't reach them in time.

The metal creature reared over her ready to bring both of its barbed weapons down on to her. For a moment she looked up from the ground and saw what her parents must have seen. The nightmare above her was monster that no force could stop. She saw the power of the Nightmare Empire, the ability to cause absolute terror.

How can I fight back against such a thing? I’m going to die by Cryxian talons like my parents and there is nothing I can do about it.

Then Anna rushed in and brought her glaive down onto the creature. But the jack swiped aside the blade with its claw. Anna didn't pause and in one smooth motion brought the weighted butt of her glaive up and smashed the jack's head. It wasn't enough to cause much damage, but enough to knock it back a step.

The Conservator arrived and using its forward momentum plunged one of its heavy blades into the jack's side, penetrating to the base of the blade. Its other arm struck upwards, knocking the beast's tusks off with an audible ‘crack.'.

The green fire inside the warjack flared and it impaled the Conservator with its claws. Anna swung her glaive again in a wide sideways sweep that chopped into the jack's thin waist.
The jack's legs collapsed from under it and the Conservator pummeled it until the green light faded away and then the vector slumped to the ground as its displacer drive failed.
Anna reached down and helped her to her feet.

"Thanks," Irene said and looked around the battle.

They were failing. She had lost most of her vectors and her infantry was down to half strength at most.

She issued the order for the defensive circle to shrink down to the area around the tower That meant Cryx's numbers wouldn't be such an advantage. They gave the Enigma Foundries time to collect the essence chambers and they in one synchronized movement, fell back to form a new defensive line.

Irene used all her energy to kill the Cryxian monsters with her lethal spells as she could. She was down to a handful of Conservators and Modulators and all her troops were in defensive stances with their shields up at the ready. They had to hold like a wall. There was no other choice.

The battle continued and despite her arcane generator she never seemed to have enough magic to beat back the tide. The Cryx ranks weren't thinning. As soon as one died, two more took its place and every one of her soldiers that fell was a painful loss.

The only good news was that she didn't see any more enemy jacks.

As she waited for her generator to spool up and recharge she had a moment to examine the battle. They were losing, but if they held then their mission would be accomplished.
Her forces, though dying, were holding with every ounce of strength and courage they had. They weren't mindless automatons, they were living souls and that was what made them beautiful.

Her notions of revenge for parents long dead seemed petty now compared to the grand designs of Cyriss. She could very well die before the sun rose but it didn't matter. Her part of the Great Work would have been accomplished and that was all that mattered.

"It's humbling in a way," Irene said.

"It's meant to be."

She put her hand on Anna's shoulder.

"We'll hold on, Anna. Cyriss wishes it."

She looked up as she saw a unit of armored cavalry heading right towards a unit of heavy Reciprocators with their halberds at the ready. It was suicide to charge halberds with cavalry.
But as the undead cavalry reached the line of halberds they became transparent like ghostly images and passed right through the Reciprocators.

They were now in the rear where they could cause severe damage. They could attack her units from the rear or go after the Foundries. Neither was a possibility she could allow. The souls of her precious soldiers had to be protected.

She ran forward with Anna at her side.

Once in range she fired her hovering shoulder guns and knocked one of the armored wraiths off his undead horse. The glowing eyes of the others snapped to her and saw a target they could not pass up.

The wraiths charged with swords raised high.

Anna readied herself in a defensive stance and Irene fired again. Another wraith was blown off his horse but the other three continued right at her. She unleashed a spell with the last energy she had left and blew a horse to pieces with her Prism blast.

Then the wraiths were on top of them. Anna blocked a downward swing from a rusty cutlass and fought to keep the undead horseman away, but that left Irene to face the other by herself.

Her servitors blocked the wraith's swings and shot forward, hitting the horse with their blades. The wraith stabbed down onto one, piercing it through its vulnerable displacer drive. Logarithm sparked and fell to the ground in a heavy ‘thunk.'

That left her with only Bisector to fight with. The wraiths hateful attacks wouldn't giver her a moment to cast a spell and Anna was still fighting the other wraith.
She parried another attack with her hovering remote and tried to swing back but the wraith knocked Bisector out of the way and lunged forward.

Irene brought her left arm up to block and the curved sword cut right through her arm and across her face. The blade knocked out her eyes and the last thing she saw was her severed arm flying through the air.

She felt herself fall to the ground and searched for any nearby vector. All the light vectors were destroyed and the only one that saw her was a Conservator guarding one of the Foundries. Through its eyes she saw the wraith get off its horse and walk over to her to finish her off.

Irene also saw Bisector hovering behind the wraith. She made a quick judgment on distance and position and thrust forward with her bladed servitor. If she missed, she wouldn't get another chance.

The thick blade rammed through the wraith's back and came out the chest. The force of the impact knocked the wraith to the ground, pinning it there while it squirmed.
Through the Conservator's eyes she saw Ann finish off the other wraith with one strike that severed its head and then rush over to her.

"Are you alright?" Anna asked.

"Servitor, left arm and sight are gone, but I'm alive."

"I thought…well, the Great Work Continues."

Anna helped her to her feet and she looked through the eyes of a Modulator near the front. An Optifex was working on one of its guns that had taken a musket ball to an energy coil.
Through the Modulator she cast a spell that knocked down a group of Brute Thralls that were getting ready to charge her Obstructors. She then had the Modulators fire everything they had at the now prone Thralls. Putrid smoke rose up from the dying Thralls as they baked in their skins.

Her defensive line continued to shrink until they were just in the area right next to the tower. The sky was turning gray in the distance. The sun was up. She called over an engineer for a report.

"Five minutes and the tower will be finished," the helmeted Optifex said.

"Praise the Maiden," Anna said.

"Thank you, Optifex. The Maiden has smiled on us. You've done your duty beyond what was asked."

It was up to the Maiden of Gears to spare their lives or not. It no longer mattered in the grand scheme of the Great Work.

Her only regret was that Anna should die. If there was one thing she could selfishly ask the Maiden it would be to spare Anna's life.

The Modulator she had been using as her eyes was taken down by massed musket fire from a crew of revenants and that left the one Conservator guarding the Foundries.

The tower flashed one more time and then the blue glow faded away. The work was done. Now their survival depended on the prototype submersible. She couldn't see her built in clock and the submersible could have been delayed or any number of other variables.

She shrunk the defensive line again and this time left the tower outside of it. It was no longer needed. Mechanthralls swarmed over it, tearing it to pieces out of spite or stupidity.
As the sky grew lighter she saw how many more of the Cyrxians there were. Not as many as she thought. The twisted bodies of Cryx slaves littered the gray beach in every direction. In some places there were large piles.

"If we had some reinforcements we might have actually beaten them back," Anna said.

"That would have made a good page in the history books."

"I'm sure your name will be honored. After all, you accomplished a dangerous and important task. You alone were meant to do this."

"I'm just a cog in the Maiden's machine."

"As we all are."

As the sky grew lighter her soldiers began falling faster. The Cryx were pushing harder.

Then green smoke shot out of the horde and blasted apart a unit of Obstructors. The few that survived were beset by Mechanthralls and torn apart.

"The caster shows himself," Anna said.

An armored figure emerged from the undead horde. Unholy light streamed out of its eyes and its armor was inscribed by glowing runes. Its arms ended in giant mechanical claws, each claw the length of a sword.

Then behind them she heard the sound like a large wave crashing against the beach. She turned the Conservator and saw what looked like an iron turtle come up onto the shore. It was rounded with cylindrical engines of some type on the side like legs. On top micro swarm launchers fired out into the Cryx horde, dropping several dozen Mechanthralls.

"To the ship!" She shouted out.

The troops pulled back in an orderly fashion but the Iron Lich wasn't going to let them go easily. It tore into the nearest unit with claws and spells. The Foundries were the first to wade into the surf to the waiting submersible.

The remaining foundry needed to collect the surviving soldiers chambers and all she had left to defend them were herself, Anna and one conservator.

"One last time," Irene said.

"I'm with you."

The three of them charged forward and she fired Bisector and struck the Lich in the chest. The shot penetrated right through him and he staggered back. The Conservator charged into a unit of advancing Thralls and Anna attacked a Soulhunter.

Irene fired her Prism spell and blew off the Lich's right arm. He fired back with a blast of black smoke that wrapped around her arcane generator and decayed it like a century had passed in a moment. The generator fell to the ground behind her, now rusted and crumbling.

She ignored it and focused everything she had on one shot from Bisector. She aimed for the head and fired.

He threw up some kind of magic shield in front of him made from floating runes. Her shot tore through it, but deflected, blasting a hole through his chest. She then rammed Bisector at him to finish him off.

The Lich raised its hand and the black smoke shot out and enveloped Bisector, turning it into crumbling dust before it reached him.

She was now naked and defenseless. The Conservator's head was then smashed in by a Thrall's mechanical fist. Her vision went black and all she could do was wait for the Lich to end her life. Over the sound of the sumbersible’s drumming engines and the distant scratching sound of the remains of the Cryxian army, she could hear the heavy footfalls of the approaching Lich.

It didn’t matter now. The work was done. She had been an instrument in the hands of the Maiden of Gears. If her life came to an end now, it would not stop the Great Work.

“I accept Your will, Maiden of Gears.”

Then she heard fast, heavy footfalls and a loud crash of metal on metal. Her internal gyros then felt that she was being lifted and pulled. She heard the sound of running feet and the growing sounds of the ocean. Soon the same feet were splashing in the water and then on a metal surface that echoed.

She was placed lying down and she heard the sounds of machinery moving as the outside world faded out until only the muffled hum of generators sounded in her ears.

"If you're going to be a warcaster, you should really learn how to fight," Anna said.

"I don't believe this."

"Why not?"

"The probability of us surviving was almost nill."

"You didn't account for all the variables. One of those variables was that Cyriss still wants you alive. You have too much work to do."

She could hear the laugh behind Anna’s words.

Whatever that work was, she'd gladly do it. Cyriss spared her life so everything she did was for Cyriss. Her parents had been avenged and Anna was safe. All of that she owed to Cyriss and from now on everything she did would be dedicated to the Maiden of Gears.

What did matter was that she had done her part in the Great Work and no one else would have to go back there and risk everything to accomplish such a small task. Cyriss was now a step closer and she welcomed that day her feet finally touched Caen and transformed the world into the clockwork paradise She deserved.


The End