Hooded figures moved through the darkness of an unknown location, the walls seemingly fused with shelves holding books and tomes of times that had been, intricate designs of the arcane decorated the marble pillars as the figures made their way through the caverns towards a central hall,
Slowly the central hall filled with figure all wearing black hooded robes, at the centre of the hall stood the grand witch of the Witchen cult, Matron Shiba, her red hair flowed down looking as though it was silk, her wine colored eyes moving and analyzing across the room, she wore a turquoise robe with gold patterns of a phoenix on it,
Shiba gazed at her sisters that slowly filled the hall, her eyes analyzing the patterns on each of their robes differentiating them all by ranks, a small grin formed on her face as she watched the numbers in the room rise, pride filled her as she thought back to the years of effort she'd put in to ensure their growth and truly it had begun to bear fruit.
With a slight grin she looked upon her reflection on the marbled floor, joy flowing through her, ( hundreds of years and still a beauty, magic indeed is wonderful ), she thought to herself gazed once again across the now filled hall, excitement clear on her face.
The witchen cult had truly suffered through the years that came after the magis war, but as Shiba thought of the reason for their meeting today she was sure that no more would it be so
( The federation shall fall ), Shiba thought to herself as she took a step forward to address her sisters.
" My sister's, truly it is an honor to stand in your presence once again", Shiba began as she looked across the hall, " the pain and suffering that we have had to endure to reach this point is truly awe inspiring, and yet here we are ", she paused observing the crowd as murmurs had begun
"Do any of u remember the last time we all gathered here as one", the room became silent as the witches looked back to the days that led to their damnation, sorrow and fear slowly filled the hall as Shiba continued; "yes it was the beginning of our fall from grace, yes it was the day we walked a wrong path but today!! Today we are gathered for a new purpose, today shall not mark destruction, today shall mark our rebirth, no more shall we run from our enemies for our goddess brings good news "
Murmurs spread across the hall as Shiba's words sunk in. Shiba who stood at the centre began to float slowly as her eyes glowed in a furry yellow and her robe began to turn to ash reveling glowing markings on her her body, she looked upon her sisters as her voice grew profound with a sense of power and divinity; [ children of Atinasia, my sisters, our mother goddess has heard our call, the pouring blood of our sisters has angered her, the fall of Styxx has been foretold and the destruction of the Federation is inevitable ],
As Shiba spoke whispers of excitement filled the hall rising in volume with every word she uttered,
[ Heed the words of our mother, a blessed born of divinity dwells within the walls of our enemies, a spark to the eternal flames that shall burn them to the ground, she See's our suffering and will retaliate in our will, at her command shall we pick up arms and in her name shall we gather legions, blood and ash shall taint the grounds and in her might shall we build mountains with the dead of our enemies ], large wings of golden flames burst out of Shiba's back as the crowds of hooded figures screamed in joy and excitement and echoes of hope filled the air,
[ Sisters, she will be our hope, she shall send a sign and we shall know her name, fear not the beast and monsters of steel by our enemies for in her presence shall they be scorched, so is the will of the Phoenix, so is the will of our mother, so is the will of the will of the goddess and so is the will of Atinasia!!!! ]
" Hail Atinasia, the eternal flame the guides the arcane ", the crowd screamed in faith
[ The flames of war are upon us, the forges of victory have been opened and the fall of our enemies shall signal our rise ], Shiba's wings burst with energy as her body was engulfed in golden light, as she floated above her sisters in this cavern like library fusion, she seemed divine looking like the manifestation of a god in the land of mortals
" Hail Atinasia!! Hail the eternal flame!! Hail Atinasia!! Hail the eternal flame" the crowd chanted with strength and faith behind their words yet far behind, at the back of the crowds, a single figure in her black robes looked upon them in fear as she backed away.
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[ Cruise POV ]
The cloudy night sky hovered above the capital city, Bainor, we made our way across the building tops of the inner city, jumping and maneuvering as though the large gaps between the roofs didn't exist,
We stopped on a flat roof as Jude lay down a map of the sentri tower on the ground, I cast my gaze across the inner city, the led lamps that decorated and brightened the streets, the airships that flew across the skies, the fresh air that wasn't tainted with the smell of greese oil and piss and the greatest sight of all was the floating sentri towers that hovered above the city, larger ones were probably high up in the sky, the lights emitted from their cluzer engines being their only form of identification in the cold night,
" Cruise... We gotta go over the plan ", Jude called me as he gazed across our team and then the map on the ground
I walked towards the team, Dahlia and Carl beaming with excitement; " we all already know our parts can't we just go already-? " I spoke with a smug grin
" If we pull this off we'll be the first to ever successfully rob a sentri tower, Hargrave would be so stoked ", Carl screamed inn anticipation as he stared ahead towards our goal, a transport gate that'd take us to a floating sentri tower.
" We'd be legends in the outer walls " I spoke as my mind drifted back to the under city, the members of the hives and the miners, the looks of pride we'd receive once we pulled this heist off filled me with excitement
" Well that'd be true but we'll have to stick to the plan to succeed ", Carl burst me out of my imagination as he continued, " As u all know the cargo transport gate is directly under the sentri tower and can only be activated with a special seal to trigger it's cluzer cores... " He paused as he glanced towards me " cruise will use her magic to activate the gate and get us in, car... "
" Isn't the gate supposed to be like y'know heavily guarded " dahlia said as she looked at the map, her child like face seeming confused
" And that's why I said we go over the plan " Jude spoke ad he poimted at Dahlia with annoyance, he took a glance at me then Carl then let out a soft chuckle before facing the map on the ground, " security is gonna be free tonight for both the gate and inside the tower, our contractor and informant assured me of that on the condition that everything in the tower asides the contents of lab three on the fourth floor are for us " turning to Carl Jude's expression turned serious along with his tone, " if we fail we're all going to be wishing for the sweet embrace of death I hope you're all aware "
As his words hung in the air, my body shivered in fear, the confidence I once had slowly fading away and at the back of my mind a new thought began to rise, a primal fear of what if things don't go as planned.
" Any questions " Jude spoke In a softer tone still failing to appease the tense atmosphere
" What's our escape plan " Dahlia replied
" Well Carl will handle all the locks so we should be able to make our way to the individual transport gates and get ourselves back down " Jude answered a smirk on his face
" And this informant, contact of yours is reliable and also relinquishing everything in the sentri tower.. " Dahlia spoke a hint of confusion evident on her face
I stared at Jude my confidence in our success fading slightly as Carl added, " she does have a point, they could double-cross us and considering their abilities in knowing the security shifts we might not escape double-crossing them "
Silence descended as Carl's words began sinking in, " don't worry I trust them " Jude spoke a sly smile on his face, he turned to me and cupped my face in his palm " don't worry, the plans fool proof, if we do our parts then nothing can go wrong "
Asmiled softly as I looked at Dahlia and Carl both eager for our success, " are we ready ", at my words they both nodded in agreement
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The group made their way across the streets of the city as they came down the roof, the streets were illuminated by mechanical lanterns casting their golden light on the polished brass pipes that ran along the buildings.
"Well there's out entry point " Jude spoke as he gazed ahead of him, the transport tower loomed high at what seemed like an open central area, it's smooth stone exterior being adorned intricately with glowing blue runes, it's glass windows allowed for one to look upon the brass accents and intricate gears that worked tirelessly and the faint hum of machinery remained a constant reminder of the structure's might. At internals a large beam burst out from the top of the tower connecting to the sentri tower that floated high.
Jude looked back at his team, his gaze moving across their as he then faced the tower; " this is it, no room for any mistakes ".
The team made their way into the tower, moving up the floors with an escalator, The building void of any guards or defenses, The escalator opened as they reached the top floor, the doors opened revealing a large room with a massive globe surrounded in spinning rings at the centre
" Well lookie here, haven't seen a transport gate like this one before " Carl spoke in awe as he took in the design of the contraption
" Are u sure u can handle this " Dahlia added in a worried time as she turned to cruise
" Yeah I'm sure ", cruise reassured
Carl adjusted his lockpick set at his waist then turned to Jude who gave him a reassuring smirk; " then we stick to the plan, we take as many valuables as we see on our way to the lab 3, get whatever's in there and get out, we go in and out before anyone knows we're here "
Jude smirked; " exactly "
Cruise walked towards the machine loosening pushing her large red braids over her shoulders, raising trembling hands she closed her eyes. Sweat flowed down her head the confidence she'd shown being but a facade
" Focus... " She let out a large sigh as specs of white light began to form runic words around her, her plain red shirt slowly clung to her skin as they dampened from sweat, the brown corset at her waist Pressung tight as she calmed her mind,
The giant globe had it's rings instantly stop as runes made of white light began appearing on its rings, the rings slowly opened allowing the group to stand in the machine's centre. Jude turned to cruise as she stepped in, the strain of controlling the device evident on her face;
" You okay " Jude asked, worry clearly woven into his voice
Cruise turned to him, distress woven on her face as she forced a smile; " this... this is nothing ", as she spoke the runes on the rings turned a bright blue as the rings began shaking, the first ring shuddered heavily then began it's circulation, cruise's lips twitched with a victorious grin.
Immediately the seeing ring followed, grinding into motion with speed, sparks danced between the rings as the crew began levitating within the centre, dahlia face beamed in fascination as glowing blue runes danced around them. The third ring burst with energy as it hummed to life, the 3 rings of the transport gate aligned spinning faster continuously until the team within it's centre were engulfed in a pure white light. The light blasted upwards connecting to the floating tower above before slowly dissipating, the bodies of the team members no longer at it's centre.