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the-gravestone-saga · 2 years

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Chapter 7: Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

Angel Fallen: The Chronicles of the Legion has been canned and will no longer be updated

The moon was high in the sky when the airship finally came to a halt, hovering above the snow-covered land. The Angel of Vengeance had pulled up its cloak during its race across continents, hiding itself against the starry sky as snow gently fell atop its glistening exterior. The angels left their stations and came to the broad windows of the bridge, looking out to the snow-capped hills below. The glass had turned cold and had begun to cloud up as frost creeped across the airship's hull. Noir pressed her face against the glass and surveyed the ground below, her breath coming in wispy clouds. She still couldn't believe it: they were smack dab in the middle of Northern Canada - very far north. The Arctic couldn't have been far from this frozen, ice-locked land.

Noir whistled, impressed by the view. “Wow…I wish I had a place with this kind of view,” she said, amazed by how far into the horizon she could see.

“Enjoy it while you can,” Rudra said, scanning the glistening hills. “It won’t be like this for long.”

Noir’s eyes followed the horizon down to the hills directly below the airship, where large pine trees were huddled together in clusters of frost, like donuts that had been lightly dusted with sugar. “Uh…where is this machine? There’s nothing out here but snow and pine trees.”

“Larimar?” Rudra turned her gaze to her brother. Larimar nodded and wordlessly took his place at the main computer. At the stroke of a key, the computer sprung to life, and a blue holographic display was projected onto the frosty glass of the bridge.

SCANNING FOR LIFEFORMS…HEAT SIGNATURES DETECTED. CLOAKING PROGRAM DETECTED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO DEACTIVATE THIS PROGRAM?

“Of course it’s cloaked,” Rudra huffed. “Larimar, bring it down. Let’s see exactly what we’re dealing with.”

“Already on it, Rood.” Larimar turned a dial, and a holographic replica of the snowy landscape was pulled on a holographic display in the center of the bridge, creating a 3D image of the countryside.

DEACTIVATING CLOAK…RECALCULATING CURRENT TERRAIN…

The landscape shifted and warped dramatically. A massive structure was steadily assembled on-screen as the computer scanned and reconstructed the environment, revealing a colossal machine hidden from sight, nestled between the hills like a nest egg. Staring out the bridge’s window, the gathered angels watched on in mounting horror as the air shimmered and glistened between the hills. A cloak of invisibility dissipated like fog, pulling back and laying bare the looming industrial complex that stood before the airship. A skin-crawling mechanical groan rang out from the facility like a dying animal, sending chills down the backs of the gathered angels like daggers made of dread. Their feathers stood on end and the color drained from their faces as they stared aghast at the dark machine as if it were a looming monster, crouching amongst the glistening snow like a spider waiting for its prey.

Noir gave a stifled gasp - the kind of sharp restrain that halted your breath and made your throat and lungs burn, as though you were being suffocated from within. She held her arms closely and shivered on the spot as dread creeped up her spine. A dark and cold shadow had been cast over the airship, plunging the bridge into near complete darkness. The droning creaking of machinery perterbed her like nothing she had ever experienced, and her nerves felt like they were about to peel themselves out of her own skin - it was like she had just walked into a living nightmare. She sucked in breath and instinctively grabbed hold of Rudra’s arm, her shaded eyes never leaving the monstrous machine. Rudra shared in the discomfort, absentmindedly squeezing Noir’s hand in response.

“Holy shit…” Larimar’s voice came out in mortified breaths, gaping at the facility in horror. “Is that…?”

“The Construct,” Rudra breathed, her wings wilting solemnly.

“Holy shit, they built The Maelstrom right into it!” Talon gasped, gaping at the colossal chimney stacks perched atop the massive machine.

Noir turned her gaze to Rudra. “The Construct?” she gulped with a grimace. “What’s that?”

“A machine that breaks apart tectonic plates,” Rudra explained, furrowing her brow. “I remember seeing the blueprints for them while I was still in Heaven. Shadiel calls it his Magnum Opus, and it looks like he’s combined it with The Maelstrom.”

“It’s a disgrace is what it is!” Larimar shouted angrily, leaping from his seat. “I developed that tech! I made that tech to stabilize the Earth’s tectonic plates to prevent earthquakes! And he’s gone and turned it into a weapon of mass destruction!”

“I’m starting to see a pattern here. How much of your tech did he steal?” Noir asked.

“Just about anything he could get his hands on,” Larimar hissed, vindictively glaring at The Construct. “Anything I made that could benefit humanity, he took it and turned it into a weapon.”

“That’s plagiarism! He can’t do that!” Anita blurted.

“He can, and Dad often let him,” Larimar huffed. His dozens of eyes leered at the console before he put his hands back over the controls. He input a few commands into the computer and watched as the hologram shifted perspective, displaying the complex interior of The Construct. “However, that gives us an advantage here. Because Shadiel worked on both, the Angel of Vengeance has the blueprints for The Construct already installed. Which means I can take a look inside the facility and get you guys inside. I couldn’t stop him from using my own tech, but I can certainly tear his garbage apart.”

Noir carefully walked around the holographic project, examining the reconstructed machine in a mix of awe and fear. “This thing is massive…How did Shadiel manage to get this thing out here?”

“Transport airships,” Rudra answered, closely observing the projection. “It brings all the pieces out here and drones build it wherever Shadiel wants. Depending on the size of the project, this can usually be done in less than a week.”

“...and this project?”

“Hm…I’d give it two weeks. Tops,” Rudra replied, waving a hand.

“IT TOOK TWO WEEKS TO BUILD THIS THING!? IT’S HUGE!” Noir squawked, making a wild gesture at the projection. “How the hell did no one notice a giant industrial nightmare being built on the countryside!?”

“Invisibility and a small population, I’d expect.” Rudra continued to walk around the projection, her eyes darting to and fro as she carefully and meticulously scanned the mechanical nightmare.

She methodically and wordlessly picked apart the vast interior of The Construct, searching for anything that the Legion could use to infiltrate the facility. Her mind moved quickly, mapping out every route available to the Legion and hatching together the best course of action they could take. It was like a puzzle to her. Each piece was equally important and needed to be carefully considered before putting it in its proper place. Every exit and every entrance must be considered. Every scenario must be accounted for, she thought. Judgment angels could be lurking anywhere and everywhere inside the facility and there was no doubt in her mind that Shadiel had laid traps for the Legion. She had to minimize the chance of failure and maximize the chance of success. There could be no cracks in her plan, no flaws or mistakes. Only victory.

Then something caught her eye. At the base of The Construct, Rudra could barely make out a tunnel that led outside. A series of heat signatures were displayed in the projection, walking in and out of the machine.

“What the…Larimar, can you zoom in on that?” Rudra asked, pointing to the lifeforms.

“On it.” The projection zoomed in and focused on the heat signatures as they hobbled in and out of The Construct, shambling about as though they were carrying heavy loads. “Wait, what the hell are they carrying?”

“Is that…?” Talon squinted at the projection, trying to make out the objects the lifeforms were carrying. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but those look like bags of Cloud Steel.”

“Wh- how did they get so much of it?!” Joriel gasped, stunned. “I thought Cloud Steel was a restricted resource!”

“It is.” A scowl crossed Rudra’s face. “I don’t understand…where is all of this coming from?”

“Wait, hang on, I’m gonna need some context here,” Noir interrupted, holding up a hand. “Cloud Steel? What the hell is that?”

“A revered resource among us angels,” Rudra replied, a dour expression on her face. “It’s what my armor is made out of. And it is a very scarce material. It is a hallowed metal said to have come from the blood of deities. Whoever is able to secure it will have access to its sacred power. But because it’s so limited, it’s near impossible to find it anymore. It’s thought that the last of the Cloud Steel was used by our Mom to create armor for her angels.”

“Until now. Because that looks like a shit-ton of Cloud Steel,” Larimar remarked dryly, watching the shambling angels intently with a hand pressed against his chin. “When Mom made that armor, we thought the well of Cloud Steel had run dry with no way to recover it. But apparently Daddy Dearest has found himself a source.”

“Which means he has access to a resource we don’t have. And if it’s being shipped here, that only spells trouble for us,” Rudra said, trotting along the outer rim of the projection, keenly staring down the hobbling angels. As she watched the heat signatures carry the loads inside The Construct, Rudra’s eyes suddenly lit up as an idea sprung to her mind. Noir could practically see the lightbulb appear over her head as she straightened up, a grin on her face. “But it could also be good news for us. If we track down the source of this Cloud Steel, we can take it for ourselves. With Cloud Steel at our disposal, the Legion will have a weapon that Judgment’s forces could never hope to stand against.”

Anita hummed. “Any chance I can study it?”

“That depends. When we secure the Cloud Steel, it will remain here for our use only. But if you can make weapons out of it for us, you can freely study it.”

“Fair enough.”

“Larimar, can you get a good look at where they’re getting this Cloud Steel from?” Rudra asked, striding up to Larimar’s side.

“It’s a bit blurry, but…it looks like they’re transporting it from further north. I can’t tell how far north, though. The projection doesn’t go past these hills,” he explained, motioning to a series of distant, craggy hills where the hologram cut off.

Rudra folded her arms, glaring at the machine. “We destroy The Construct, we destroy The Maelstrom. Once this machine has been neutralized, we take the Cloud Steel from here, we follow the trail. That source of Cloud Steel will be ours, one way or another,” Rudra nodded.

“How are we gonna take this thing down, anyways? I’ve brought down my fair share of war machines, but…this? This is insanity,” Noir breathed, casting a dismayed glance towards the looming facility.

“The Construct was designed to break apart tectonic plates, and it does that via a mechanism within the facility itself,” Larimar explained, motioning back to the projection as the center of the hologram lit up in red light. The computer dinged quietly and the shimmering iron walls of the facility fell away, revealing the complex industrial hellscape within. “There’s a heavy iron ballista in the center of The Construct that strikes the Earth every few seconds. Think of it like a massive battering ram repeatedly slamming into the Earth’s crust - Shadiel calls it the Crusher. This ballista is suspended in the center of an atrium, and the generators powering it are installed directly above the ballista.”

“If we get one good hit on those generators, the whole thing comes down,” Talon finished, peering at the hologram with narrowed eyes. “If we can destroy them, they’ll explode and land on the ballista.” Talon approached the hologram and dragged a clawed hand down through the projection, guiding the eyes of the gathered angels towards the center of The Construct where the ballista was suspended in the air.

“The ballista will then come crashing down. The damage from that will be too much for the facility to take and the whole right side of The Construct will collapse. Once it comes down, we’ll just have to deal with The Maelstrom and the signal.” Rudra turned her gaze back to the bridge’s frost-encrusted windows and peered at The Construct, as if sizing it up. She pursed her lips and chewed the inside of her cheek. Her eyes flickered back and forth before she turned her attention back to the projection, her gaze falling on the lines of Cloud Steel being marched into the facility. Her expression hardened, and her mind began to wander elsewhere as Talon continued speaking.

“The Maelstrom is located here.” Talon pointed to a large radial dish perched at the top of the facility, its silvery face aimed skyward. “It’s supposed to pull in cold air from here and expel it from these pipes,” she explained, marking a series of chimney stacks that rose from the left side of the facility. “However, this process can be reversed. If I can get into the control room, I can sabotage The Maelstrom and force it to expel the blizzard from within. The whole thing will freeze over in a matter of seconds.” Talon then craned her head towards Rudra. “Rood, I think we should take care of The Maelstrom first. When subjected to a flash-freeze like this, The Maelstrom will become extremely fragile. If you destroy The Construct afterwards, the explosion will be enough to take both machines out at the same time.”

“That’s what Shadiel gets from trying to combine the two machines,” Larimar groused, muttering to himself. “I’m all for it. What I wouldn’t give to see Shadiel’s precious Magnum Opus brought to heel for the shit he’s done!”

“Rudra? It’s your call,” Joriel said.

Rudra hummed quietly to herself, the back of her knuckles pressed against her mouth as she thought. Her brow furrowed, and she leered morosely at the towering machine. Even as she had relayed a plan for infiltration, she felt unsure of its effectiveness and efficiency. It felt slow. Unbearably slow. The risks were too high and time was of the essence. She needed to destroy this machine quickly, and the presence of Cloud Steel brought a new point of interest to light. She had to know where it was coming from and she had to secure it by any means possible.

She growled under her breath and shook her head, raising a hand to her fellow angels.“Wait. To Hell with the plan,” she said abruptly, surprising everyone around her. Larimar gave his sister a bewildered look, genuinely thrown as he tried to understand what she’d just said.

“What? What does that mean?”

“Forget what I said. Infiltration will take too long,” Rudra clarified, not lifting her gaze from the projection in front of her.

“Wh - Rudra, we have a plan to take this facility out,” Talon protested, trying to understand the Seraph’s reasoning. “It will work-”

“I have no doubt it will work,” Rudra interjected, casting a sidelong glance to Talon. “What I doubt is its speed.”

“But-”

“I know what I said. But thinking on it, I don’t think infiltration is in our best interest. We need to know where this Cloud Steel is coming from and we can’t do that with Shadiel’s favorite war machine tearing up the countryside. We take it out where it stands and we don’t waste precious time.”

Noir blinked in surprise and snapped her eyes back to The Construct before looking back at Rudra. “How do we do that!? This place is huge! What’s the plan here, blow it up!?”

A fiendish grin crossed Rudra’s face, and Noir immediately regretted asking her question. “That’s exactly what I plan to do. Anita? You said you upgraded the airship's weaponry?”

Anita blanched for a moment, still reeling from Rudra’s sudden change of tune. “Er, yeah. Larimar helped me install that demon energy you guys absorbed. It’s currently powering the entire weapons arsenal.”

“Good. Larimar?” Rudra strided past the gathered angels and returned to her seat in the captain’s chair, leering at The Construct before her with revulsion. “Today’s your lucky day. You’ll finally have your chance to bring Shadiel’s Magnum Opus to its knees. Prepare a Hellfire barrage. I want nothing left behind. Once this place is reduced to rubble, we’ll follow the trail of Cloud Steel.”

Larimar almost squealed in delight, a fiendish grin crossing his face. “It would be my pleasure.” He happily punched a few commands into the glowing console in front of him. “You can’t say this isn’t efficient. Preparing the cannons…I’d suggest you all take a seat!”

The gathered angels all scrambled for a seat in the bridge as the airship began to groan and roar, gradually rotating on its axis until its starboard side was facing The Construct. The entire airship rumbled and shook, and the bridge was briefly flipped on its side as Larimar steered the ship into place.

Noir, momentarily thrown off balance, instinctively thrusted her arms out and grabbed a hold of the closest thing near her to anchor herself in her seat - and her target happened to be Rudra’s arm. She barely had a second to process her action before the bridge was flipped horizontally again, which threw Noir forward and clumsily dropped her into Rudra’s arms. The two women froze in place and stared at each other in mute astonishment. Noir gave an awkward and stilted laugh as she scrambled out of Rudra’s arms, who was equally as flustered.

The airship groaned to a halt in the sky, its starboard side facing the dark facility. Larimar turned to the other side of the console and pulled up a side profile of the interior of the airship. He deftly dragged his hand across the side of the diagram, activating every cannon on the starboard bow. The airship roared like an enraged beast, and the console turned a bright red as a large icon appeared on-screen. It was shaped like a simple fireball, and had one word blinking inside of it: Hellfire. Larimar’s finger hovered over the button precariously, waiting to release the trigger. His mouth widened into a hellish grin: sweet retribution was at hand!

“Ready at your command, Rood,” Larimar announced, one hand on the console while his eyes remained trained on the facility outside.

“Fire!” Rudra barked. Larimar punched the button, and the airship bellowed. Rudra held her breath as the red flames of Hellfire lit up the starboard bow like a mounting bonfire. She kept her eyes trained on the holographic projection of The Construct in the center of the room, waiting with baited breath for confirmation of a hit. She leaned forward in her seat, her nails digging into the arms of her chair. She needed to see The Construct burning - to see it set alight.

A direct hit. The projection beeped wildly and the top of the facility flashed red, indicating severe damage to the radial dish perched at the top of the war machine. Rudra exhaled sharply, releasing her breath. Now she knew for sure - Shadiel’s so-called Magnum Opus wasn’t the impenetrable war machine he liked to sell it as.

“Preparing for another barrage…” Larimar swept his hand across the diagram of the airship again, reloading the cannons. “That first one took out the dish from The Maelstrom. Next target is the chimney stacks!”

“Fire at my command,” Rudra announced. She took a deep breath, reveling in the destruction.

“Does this thing not have any defenses?” Noir asked abruptly. She had been expecting some kind of alarm to sound off - sirens and flashing red lights seemed to be a favorite among the war machine type. But to her surprise, The Construct remained deathly silent.

Larimar huffed out a humorless laugh. “Shadiel in all his infinite wisdom thought no one would dare attack The Construct. He focused all of the defenses on stopping intruders, but he never bothered with defenses from outside attacks. This place is a sitting duck.”

“Wow.” Noir blanched and slowly slipped her sunglasses off. “And we were gonna infiltrate this place…yeesh, and I thought infiltrating Mann Co. HQ was a bad idea.”

Rudra smiled and shook Noir by her shoulder with a soft chuckle. She turned back to her brother and nodded. “Larimar, fire!” she ordered. The Principality punched the button again, and another fireball was sent hurtling towards The Construct. With a monstrous boom, the chimney stacks went up in hellish red flames, as did the entire left side of the facility.

It was admittedly a strange perspective, Rudra thought. As the war machine was steadily bombarded and brought down by Hellfire, all she could see of the ensuing onslaught was the shimmering holographic interface in front of her, which lit up in red as the machine was gradually obliterated. Although she couldn’t see the destruction taking place, she could certainly hear it. Beyond the metallic walls of the airship, she could hear the crunching and grinding of stone and metal, the crackling of nightmarish red flames, and the distant screams of Judgment’s forces as they were forced to flee the collapsing facility. On the holographic projection, Rudra could see those angels scattering about like ants from a fire as their heat signatures popped up in the air around the facility. They funneled out of the burning machine like a swarm of locusts, desperately trying to escape the unrepentant barrage of Hellfire that rained down above them.

Again and again, Rudra ordered barrage after barrage. Like clockwork, she fell into a rhythm. After every barrage, she’d watch the projection wash over in red as part of the machine collapsed under the inferno. Then Larimar would prepare the cannons once more with frightening speed, he’d reposition the aim of the cannons, and Rudra would order yet another attack. Her voice boomed out tremendously, acting as the simple trigger for untold destruction. Every time she shouted, the machine would crumble. Beneath the nightmarish blaze, Shadiel’s troops would scatter like flies. It was a frightening rhythm, but unequivocally effective. Beside her, Noir could only stand as an onlooker to the destruction as it played out in agonizingly slow motion within the computer’s holographic display. In a mix of awe and dread, Noir couldn’t look away from the digital conflagration in front of her.

At some point in the brutal barrage, Rudra ordered Larimar to hold his fire. Rising from her seat, Rudra strided across the bridge with a mincing gait and arrived at the bridge’s glass canopy. She pressed her hand against the frost-encrusted window and peered into the whirling blizzard outside. Casting her eyes downward, she could see The Construct and The Maelstrom had gone up in flames, reduced to a large pile of rubble and metal. The angels within had completely scattered, disappearing into the brutal elements as they tried to escape the inferno left behind. It brought a sense of satisfaction to Rudra to see Shadiel’s prized war machine brought to its knees in mere minutes. Shadiel could rue the day and curse her name as much as he wanted. He’d just lost one of his deadliest inventions, and he could sulk for all Rudra cared.

Noir then joined her at the canopy, watching the inferno with her. The light of the blaze flickered fleetingly in her dark glasses, like a shivering candle ready to be swallowed by darkness. “Wow…that didn’t take long at all,” she remarked, looking on in astonishment as the dark facility crumbled away into the snow-covered countryside.

As the flames consumed the last of the machine, and the scattered remains of Judgment’s forces fled the blaze, something peculiar happened at the heart of the rubble. Beneath the winding pipes and frayed wires, a line of tankards was still intact. They bubbled beneath the scarlet flames, boiling as their contents were superheated to a dangerous degree. As the tankards squealed and shook in the debris, Noir finally caught sight of them out of the corner of their eye. She leaned against the canopy glass and squinted at the fiery rubble, trying to make out the rumbling tankards below.

“Hey, Rudra? What are those?” Noir asked, jabbing her forefinger into the glass. Rudra leaned over Noir’s shoulder and squinted into the flames, then her expression turned dismal.

“...SHIT! GET DOWN!” Rudra screamed. Acting on impulse, she grabbed Noir in a flash and the two of them went straight to the ground. The rest of the angels in the bridge hit the deck soon after, scrambling like mad for cover.

Before Noir could even open her mouth to ask what was happening, a massive explosion erupted from the rubble of The Construct, sending a colossal pillar of flame and debris straight up into the night sky. The airship roared and quaked, swaying in the sky like a bird caught in a whirlwind. The sound was deafening - the explosion had sent out an ear splitting boom that slammed into the airship, sending a thunderous shockwave through the hull of the ship that rocked everyone about like they were ragdolls. In an instant, the airship was bathed in hellish crimson light that broke the darkness of the bridge, blinding everyone as it swept by. The power in the airship flickered haltingly, threatening to shut off as the airship quivered under the cacophonous wrath of the fiery explosion. From the cold floor of the bridge, Noir could only watch in a whirling mix of horror and amazement as the swirling flames and billowing smoke rose into the sky, only broken by the occasional razors of cold wind that sliced the flames and fractured the path of the inferno. The conflagration was reflected with immaculate perfection in her dark shades, as if the blaze was about to be burned into her glasses.

When the quaking finally stopped and the crimson light faded into a transient glow, the angels guardedly crawled from cover and carefully looked out from the canopy to see what had become of The Construct. The frost that had once covered the glass paneling of the bridge had melted away into fading wisps of steam, having been burned away in the explosion that had rocked the ship. With slow, deliberate steps, the angels carefully looked out into the snow and saw the obliterated remains of the war machine, scattered about in the snow like the discarded bones of a carcass.

A perturbed gasp caught in Rudra’s throat as she looked upon the flaming wreckage. Nothing was left of The Construct - nothing but the burning foundation it had been built on. The tankards that had exploded were flayed open, like a gutted fish. What remained of their contents was splattered across the ash-covered snow. A dark, oily substance that reflected the fading embers of the blaze.

The sight stunned the angels into a disconcerting silence, and an air of alarm swept through them like a wave. The incredible might of the explosion and the way it had shaken the massive ship like it was nothing…it had undoubtedly struck a blow to the composure of the Legion’s leaders, leaving them rattled and unnerved.

Noir huffed as she staggered to her feet and shuffled to Rudra’s side. She leaned against the glass and looked out onto the frozen countryside, joining Rudra in watching the black oil slowly creep across the snow. “What…what is that stuff?” she asked falteringly, adrenaline and shock making her entire body tremble on the spot.

Rudra chewed her bottom lip and furrowed her brow, watching intently as the oily substance flowed across the ash-covered snow. She turned to Noir, her eyes darting back and forth, deep in thought. There was an unsettled look in her eyes, as if she’d just awoken from a nightmare. “...I have a hunch. Larimar? Send down a drone and collect a sample,” she said, still breathless from the force of the blast.

Larimar wordlessly nodded and shakily climbed back into his seat. He punched a few commands into the console and a series of controls flashed on-screen. With trembling hands, he directed an unseen drone out of the airship and down to the flaming ruins below. Noir watched curiously as he silently worked, unsure of what Rudra was thinking.

Rudra sighed softly and turned to Noir, who looked pretty roughed up from the explosion. She gently touched the woman’s arm to get her attention. “Hey, are you ok?” she asked. Noir pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

“Yeah,” she said. “Just…shaken up. Ugh, and I thought my team’s Demoman playing with nitroglycerin was bad. That was awful,” she groaned, rubbing her face. She slipped her glasses off and pursed her lips at the dying embers of The Construct. “Rudra? Mind telling me what the hell just happened?” Noir asked, resting a hand on Rudra’s shoulder.

“...I think we just ignited tankards of Sparx,” Rudra answered breathlessly.

Noir blanked, Rudra’s words meaning nothing to her. “Sparx?”

Rudra directed Noir’s attention back to the oily substance as the drone carefully took samples from it. Noir shifted from foot to foot, a question hanging on the tip of her tongue. “That just looks like oil to me.”

“In a sense, it is.” Rudra craned her neck at Noir. “It’s a powerful fuel that we used to harvest from creatures called Great Beasts.”

Noir gave Rudra a bewildered look, as if she had grown a second head. “I feel like I’m missing something important there,” she stammered. “Wh…why did you guys harvest oil from monsters? And why is it THAT flammable? And why did Shadiel have it in a bunch of tankards?” Noir sputtered, trying to wrap her head around Rudra’s words while simultaneously still trying to process the explosion.

Rudra sighed and rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t blame Noir for being shaken up - for not thinking straight, she thought. She herself wasn’t exactly thinking straight either. That explosion was intense enough to unnerve even the most battle-hardened warriors. It even left her shaking, for all she tried to hide it.

Rudra rubbed her neck, a soreness settling into her muscles. “You know how humans used to harvest whales for their oil?” she explained. When Noir nodded in confirmation, she continued. “It’s similar to that. The Great Beasts were a powerful species whose bodies were a huge source of Sparx for us and other divine entities. It was used for just about anything that needed fuel. It was also used in the manufacturing of certain weapons because of how flammable it is. But we ended up nearly hunting them to extinction, so laws were passed to preserve them.”

“...So Shadiel was poaching these ancient monsters for their oil?”

“Essentially,” Rudra winced. “I wouldn’t expect a little thing like divine law to get in his way.”

“Please tell me there’s not some black market for angels,” Noir pleaded, dread creeping into her voice.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Rudra sighed coldly, much to Noir’s dismay.

“Rood, I’ve got something,” Larimar called, drawing the attention of the angels away from the glass canopy. He tapped on the console a few times and a small transport tube opened up on the terminal. A thin glass container was ejected from the tube, containing a sample of the black liquid from the tankards. “Analyzing now…” Larmiar brushed his forefinger across the dashboard and the computer hummed softly.

ANALYZING FOREIGN SUBSTANCE…

The computer displayed a projection of the tube and gradually parsed through the components of the black substance, identifying them and organizing them based on their concentration in the viscous liquid. Rudra waited anxiously, wordlessly biting on the ends of her nails as the computer slowly tried to identify the substance.

The computer dinged, and a document was pulled up alongside the projection of the tube: Sparx.

“Mother of Mom,” Larimar gasped, gaping at the projection. “That lunatic is actually using Sparx…”

Noir clicked her tongue, a deadpan look on her face as she turned back to the burning ruins. “Yeah…how’s that working out for him?”

“If he was able to harvest enough to fill tankards, then he’s likely got more hidden away somewhere,” Rudra said tersely, rolling the information around in her head. “And if I know Shadiel, he’ll have plans for it. Either we need to destroy his supply of Sparx to keep it out of his hands, or we take it for ourselves.”

“And I get the feeling we’ll be following that line of Cloud Steel,” Noir guessed, motioning towards The Construct and the abandoned piles of Cloud Steel that sat amongst the burning debris. “If he’s got a bunch of that god metal squirreled away, I’d wager that he’s hiding the Sparx in the same location.”

“Then we’ll follow the trail. I - wait, what the Hell is that?” Rudra stopped herself and strided back to the glass canopy as something flickered in the corner of her eye. She pressed her hands against the glass and closely scanned the night sky.

“What’re you seeing, Rood?” Ofia asked.

Rudra chewed the inside of her cheek, watching as black clouds of smoke rose up into the sky. “I thought I saw something…There!” Rudra directed the attention of the gathered angels towards a silhouette that wove in and out of the billowing smoke like a needle through thread. “Larimar, can you get a better look at that?”

“Already on it.” Larimar inserted a command into the console and the main computer swiftly locked on to the shadowy figure and zoomed in on the target. The swirling smoke and the hellish light of the dying inferno muddied up the image, but Rudra could still make out the blurry figure.

“Shadiel,” she hissed, practically spitting out his name. “How is he still alive after that!?”

A collection of indignant groans and hisses rose up from the angels, exasperated at the sight of the mad Seraph as he dashed through the whirling snow and smoke, clumsily making his irksome getaway to the chagrin of everyone on the airship. However, something was slightly off about his movement. He jumped and jittered as he flew, occasionally dropping like a stone before returning to his erratic flight.

The jumpy and irregular flight was familiar to Rudra. Much like a bee transporting a load of pollen, Shadiel’s turbulent flight was indicative of someone carrying a heavy load.

“Larimar, can you see if he’s carrying something?” Rudra asked.

“I can, but it’s gonna be blurry…” Larimar bit his lip as he fiddled with the controls for a brief moment before the computer locked on to the obscured object Shadiel was carrying, and the resulting image knocked everyone’s jaws to the floor.

“Is that a Great Beast egg!?” Ofia squawked, her golden wings flaring.

Sure enough, a large golden egg was held flush to Shadiel’s chest, a deep red glow emanating from within the gleaming shell.

Skyla exhaled sharply, gritting her teeth. “Well, we know how he got all that Sparx,” she spat, her entire body tensing.

“This can’t be good,” Rudra gaped, pressing her knuckles to her chin. Not only had Shadiel not died in the barrage, but now he was making off with precious - and potentially dangerous - cargo. It didn’t bode well at all, and the mounting anxiety created a pit in Rudra’s stomach. The fuel alone was threatening enough, but if Shadiel had other plans for the egg? She wasn’t sure if the Legion could stand up against a fully fledged Great Beast.

A touch from Noir drew Rudra’s thoughts away from her spiraling worry, and she lifted her eyes to Noir’s face. This was the first time she had gotten a good look at Noir’s eyes beyond her dark shades. They were a light blue, and there was a ring of purple around her iris. There was something oddly comforting about it…

“You ok? You started staring off into space,” Noir said, a worrisome look in her cyan eyes.

“It’s that egg - do you have any idea what a Great Beast is capable of?” Rudra asked, tightly gripping Noir by her shoulders as a twinge of fear flashed in her eyes. Images of the Great Beasts flashed in her mind, memories of the ancient monsters resurfacing for the first time in millenia. Those were frightening times - the Great Beasts could be of gentle temper, but they didn’t get their name for their disposition.

“Uh…making Sparx?” Noir guessed, unsure of her own suggestion.

Rudra just shook her head. “If Shadiel plans to make Sparx from the Great Beast that hatches from that egg? That’s one thing. But if he plans on using the Great Beast for something else? It could spell disaster. Great Beasts, for all their beauty, are some of the deadliest creatures known to the divine. They can absorb the power from anyone and anything, they can assimilate their victims into a single consciousness - they are massive threats when wild and untamed, but if Shadiel plans on using that Great Beast for Judgment?”

Noir’s eyes widened in horrified recognition. “Oh. Oh fuck.”

“...I don’t suppose the Legion has anything that can stand up against a Great Beast, can it?” Anita inqueried, a wince growing on her face.

Rudra paled at the question, then whipped around and sprung forward, lunging for the airship’s main controls. “Larimar! Fire! Blast Shadiel out of the sky and don’t let him get away!” she squawked, terrified desperation etched onto her face.

With nimble fingers and frightened speed, Larimar slid his hand across the glowing console once more, activating the line of cannons on the airship’s starboard bow. He drew his middle and forefinger up on the console, turning the ship on its axis to face Shadiel. With one deft movement, he fired the cannons and unleashed a final barrage of hellish flame into the starry sky. Rudra looked on with baited breath, watching as the Hellfire sliced through the billowing smoke and hurtled towards Shadiel at blistering speed.

A narrow miss. A frustrated hiss was all that came out of Rudra’s mouth when the fireball overshot it’s target and flew by Shadiel, just barely sparring the seraph’s life. Those gathered in the bridge could only watch as Shadiel disappeared into the night, stealing away with the Great Beast egg. A sense of bitter fear settled into the angels as Shadiel disappeared from sight, and Noir could practically feel the anxiety building up around her. It was an uneasy resentment. The same kind of unnerving worriment that filled the barracks when her old team of mercenaries would wait for the day’s bloody battle to commence at the behest of the frightening voice that boomed over the battlefield.

Noir, sharing in the unease, turned to a disquieted Rudra and slowly approached her, resting a hand on the angel’s shoulder. Rudra swallowed hard and returned the gesture.

“This war just got infinitely worse…” she breathed. Noir’s face creased into a frown, and Anita shared in the dismay. She joined Rudra’s side, the atmosphere of anxious dread getting to her as well.

“I don’t know what that thing is fully capable of, but judging by your reactions…” Anita winced at the uneasy look in Rudra’s eyes. “It’s not good.”

“No,” Rudra whispered, the faint embers of the dying inferno reflected in her eyes. “It’s not good at all.”

***

The inferno had died into nothing but smoldering ash by the time the moon had reached its highest point in the sky, having been snuffed out by a massive blizzard that had soon encompassed the countryside Larimar, Joriel, and Styna had been left at the airship’s helm to run a system check on the airship’s cannons to ensure their integrity, and Talon, Skyla, and Ofia took over the airship's sensors to ensure both the safety of the nearby population and The Construct’s complete destruction.

Noir, Anita, and Rudra had vacated the bridge soon after Shadiel’s escape to inform the Legion of their current situation, much to the dismay of the angels upon hearing that the crazed Seraph had escaped. Despite the fear running through her soldiers, Rudra nonetheless put on a brave face in light of the news and tried to maintain the morale of her people. She would not let herself appear stricken with terror, not when her soldiers needed someone to look to upon hearing of Shadiel’s escape with terrifying cargo.

With the Legion up to speed, Rudra was the first to enter the bridge and found Larimar and Styna huddled over the main control panel, bathed in the dark blue light of the consoles. From the frost-covered windows, Rudra could see what little remained of The Construct and The Maelstrom. A monstrous goliath, brought down in mere minutes under the brutal might of nightmarish flame.

“Good news! The Construct is definitely destroyed!” Larimar cheered, attempting to lighten the oppressive mood as his fellow angels finished their scan of the countryside.

“And the bad news?” Noir asked dryly, casting a deadpan look at the Principality. “There’s always bad news after the good news.”

“Well…depends. The Maelstrom produced a massive blizzard when it exploded. A bit more intense than we would have probably liked, but easily handled by the wildlife and nearby human populace. Thankfully, that’s the extent of it. And scans of the local tectonic plates indicate that they are stable.”

Rudra’s wings drooped in relief, and she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “At least that’s one good thing going for us.”

“I kinda wish we’d still gone with the infiltration. I could’ve gotten my hands on some of that Sparx,” Anita commented, a wry grin on her face.

“I’m sure you’ll get another chance to get your hands on it. And if you can get it to work, I’ll let you do whatever you please with it,” Rudra said, the barest hint of a smile crossing her face. Turning back to Larimar, she waved a hand. “Any updates on the Judgment angels?”

“Looks like they’ve all either fled or were blown up,” Larimar replied curtly, his eyes scanning the glowing console in front of him. “And we’re still good to go on the Cloud Steel.”

“Perfect.” Rudra pressed a hand against the side of the console and leaned on it, examining the computer’s flashing screen. “Follow the trail. The sooner we get our hands on Cloud Steel, the better.” Rudra took a deep breath in and rubbed her eyes as a dreariness suddenly came over her. As the adrenaline from the night’s events subsided, exhaustion quickly set in and dragged Rudra down. Her eyelids became heavy, and her shoulders sagged slightly, but she maintained her stiff posture. Now was not a time to rest, she thought. Not when she was so close to securing such a valuable resource for the Legion.

Straightening up, her drooping wings must have betrayed her as Joriel touched her shoulder. “Hey, sis? You don’t look so hot,” the Seraph said, a pensive look in her eyes.

Rudra raised a hand, letting out a dismissive huff. “I’m fine, Jori. Just a little tired, is all.”

Joriel’s brow furrowed as she gave Rudra a thoroughly unconvinced scowl. “Rood, you’ve been going nonstop for almost three days straight. You were thrown from heaven, had to travel to the sanctuary on foot, invaded Hell and fought Lucifer, traveled to Evo City, fought Shadiel at the radio tower while being subjected to unknown power, then ordered a bombardment on a war machine that caused an explosion so massive it nearly knocked us out of the air, then had to watch Shadiel get away,” Joriel stated firmly, counting off the tasking endeavors Rudra had faced thus far, the realization of which struck Rudra like a brick.

Joriel sighed and hooked her hands on her hips. “Normally, we angels can go for as long as we need, but in our human forms? Rudra, we’re susceptible to the same exhaustion as humans. If you intend to stay in this form, you’ve gotta rest or else you’ll burn yourself out.”

Rudra blinked, taken aback. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought otherwise. She hadn’t realized just how long it’d been since she last slept, not that she really needed to when she was still in her true Seraph form. Exhaustion wasn’t unfamiliar to her, but it wasn’t necessarily common either. Since her fall, she hadn’t once stopped to sleep or even rest; she had been going like a freight train the moment she fell to Earth, only really stopping to gather herself in her mother’s sanctuary. Rudra heaved a sigh and rubbed her eyes, the full weight of her exhaustion dragging her down like a heavy net. Maybe she did need some sleep…

“Alright, alright,” she conceded, pushing off the console. “I’ll get some rest. Larimar?”

“Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll take it from here,” he said, waving Rudra off. “Now go get some sleep. I’ll have us at the source of the Cloud Steel by morning.”

Rudra threw a thumbs up behind her as she trudged out of the bridge, practically dragging her wings behind her as she went. Noir popped her lips and rubbed her hands together, trotting after her. “Ok, I need to get to sleep, too, but uh…well, I haven’t had a shower since Monday, so...” Noir pulled back the scarf that covered her hair, revealing a greasy film had begun to form over her dark locs. “Do you guys have a shower or…?”

“Just follow Rudra,” Joriel replied bluntly. “Stop when you see a yellow sign, then follow the hall on your left. That’ll lead you to the showers. You can just dump your clothes in the laundry, it’ll have them ready for you once you get out.

“Right. Well, goodnight!” Noir waved, running after Rudra.

“Y’know, I’m starting to wish we didn’t get tired in these forms. Makes it harder to work,” Larimar yawned, tapping away at the console. The hundreds of eyes on his wings seemed to be in agreement as they all started to droop, squinting as exhaustion slowly began to creep over the Principality.

“Eh, all you need is a bit of coffee,” Anita remarked dryly. “It’ll get you through anything. You guys got a coffee machine?”

***

“You guys got a coffee machine?” Noir asked curiously, having followed Rudra into one of the many sleeping quarters on the airship after cleaning up. “I’ll need a nice cup of it to function in the morning.”

Rudra simply shrugged, lacking an answer. “I don’t think so. Angels don’t really need coffee.”

Noir softly hummed, flattening the seat of her newly cleaned suit with her palms. “Makes sense. You guys are made of pure energy most of the time, right?”

“Mhm,” Rudra nodded. She removed her sword and scabbard and rested them against her bed. The sleeping quarters was a small, one room chamber with a single bunk bed, a coffee table that was low to the ground, a few cushy chairs, and a single houseplant - granted, the plant didn’t look like anything Noir had seen on Earth. On the wall adjacent to the bed was a recessed wall with a flush mount light hanging in it, overlooking what Noir could have sworn was a fabricator from Star Trek. Her eyes lit up and she giddily jumped from foot to foot.

“Ok, please tell me that’s a fabricator.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. That was Larimar’s idea. It can only make food and drinks, but he’s been experimenting with it recently. He wants to see if it can be used to create other materials-” Rudra turned and paused when she saw Noir giddily holding a tray of mille-feuille, complete with roasted strawberries and mascarpone drizzled over top. A childish glee filled Noir’s eyes and a too-wide grin was plastered across her face. She was practically buzzing with delight. Rudra had to stop for a moment to fully take in what was happening in front of her.

“...Uh, are you alright?”

“Are you kidding!? This is awesome!” Noir cackled. “I haven’t had this stuff in years!”

“...a strawberry pastry?” Rudra guessed, rubbing her neck. “Sorry, I’m not well-versed in French desserts.”

“This is mille-feuille, it’s a dessert my parents used to make for me all the time! Here, try some!” Noir scooped up a fork from the tray and pushed the dessert and fork into Rudra’s hands. The angel cocked an eyebrow, nonplussed by Noir’s giddy excitement. She gently took a bite out of the dessert, Noir watching intently for her reaction.

Rudra blinked a few times, nodding her head as she chewed. She had to admit, the dessert was quite delicious, if a bit overpowering. “Hmm. You’re right. It’s quite good.”

Noir grinned and ordered another tray of the dessert from the fabricator. “My parents used to make this every year for my birthday. At least until I left home to work for Mann Co. I haven’t had mille-feuille since I was 21!” Noir sighed wistfully as she ate. The familiar sweetness of the strawberries and the creaminess of the mascarpone reminded her of home. “Did your mom ever do stuff like this with you?”

The question gave Rudra pause, and she stopped mid-chew. She didn’t say anything, but her deadpan expression said everything. Noir opened her mouth, and Rudra watched in real time as the realization of what she’d just said dawned on her. She grimaced and averted her eyes in embarrassment.

“Oh…right. Sorry, stupid question,” she said tersely, pressing her lips into a thin line.

Rudra cleared her throat, an awkward silence falling over the two women. “Uh…well, angels don’t really have a need for food, so…” Rudra drummed her fingers together, her eyes darting around the room. “Even without all the baggage with my parents, I doubt we’d have a family tradition like that.”

“That’s…that’s a shame, I think your mom could’ve done something interesting,” Noir replied curtly, stiffly tapping the tongs of her fork against her plate. She chewed the inside of her cheek and tried to think of something to alleviate the tense atmosphere. “Heh…you know, when I said I wanted to help the Legion stop Judgment, I wasn’t expecting to jump into the action so quickly. I mean, I’m certainly used to it, y’know? It’s just been awhile.”

“I get that,” Rudra said, setting her plate on the coffee table. “You said you’ve dealt with some pretty big threats on Earth and I believe it.”

“Eh, it’s no big deal. I grew up dealing with goons like Judgment’s.”

“So you’ve said,” Rudra said, tilting her head. “Care to explain?”

“I grew up in a town called Melun. It’s not that far from Paris, actually. My aunt, Nicole Noir, serves as the mayor. She’s arguably one of the best mayors the town has ever seen.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! She’s a civil rights activist and has done a lot of good for the community. She’s always looked out for the good of everyone and has done everything she can to make Melun welcoming for everyone. I mean, think about it! Melun has the highest quality of life in France, it provides housing for everyone, nobody is left without food or water, and homelessness and poverty are nonexistent!” Noir exclaimed, a fiery passion rising in her voice. Rudra chuckled softly, amazed by Noir’s zealous fervor.

“And that’s not even getting into the good she’s done to stamp down on bigotry! Hate speech is outlawed in all its forms, LGBT rights are intensely protected, and there are accommodations for disabled people of all kinds. I mean, my aunt started the program that made my prosthetic leg!”

“She sounds amazing,” Rudra smiled fondly.

“She is,” Noir sighed, resting her chin in her hand. “She fought for so much and she got it. Melun is a safer place because of her. She’s the reason I was able to grow up in a safe environment.”

Rudra paused for a moment, taking in Noir’s words. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Noir sucked in a sharp breath and drummed her palms against her knees. Rudra could tell she’d plucked a nerve and was in for one hell of a story. “Unfortunately, my aunt’s activist work didn’t endear herself to some people. There’s this gang - no, gang is too nice. They’re a fucking mafia. They call themselves the Tri K. Gang.” Noir practically spat out the words, as though they were venom in her mouth. “Those cowards are always making a huge scene about my aunt’s work. They broke into town hall once and vandalized the whole damn place. They wrote some of the nastiest shit I’ve ever seen.”

“I think I see where this is going,” Rudra grimaced, clenching her jaw.

“Anyone could see where it was going. Those assholes started sending death threats to my aunt and to my parents. Told them to ‘go back to their own country.’ Nevermind the fact that my aunt was fucking born here!” Noir hissed indignantly. “For context, I have two moms. One is named Tara Noir. She’s a black woman and Nicole is her sister. She married my other mom, Molly Noir, who’s white. Molly is the one who carried me. All three of them raised me and they are the kindest, wisest people I’ve ever met.” Noir bit her lip and shook her head incredulously. “I can’t believe anyone would ever want to hurt them.”

“Utterly disgusting,” Rudra spat. “And I can’t imagine this gang would like me given my complexion,” Rudra remarked dryly, gesturing to her face. “They’d want me dead on sight.”

Noir leaned back and set her plate aside, having lost her appetite. “My aunt dealt with that shit for so long, and I could tell it made her furious. I had to deal with them when I was a teen. One of them was screaming his manifesto outside my home and I whacked him in the head with a brick. My aunt stamped them out quickly after that. I haven’t seen ‘em since.”

“Good riddance,” Rudra huffed, folding her arms over her chest. “Worthless wastes of skin.”

“Amen,” Noir sighed. “Uh…sorry, I didn’t mean to go off on a tangent like that.”

“No no, by all means. We’ll be tearing a tyrant off his throne soon, why not throw some fascists under the bus while we’re at it?”

“Cheers, I’ll drink to that,” Noir said emphatically. The fabricator whirred behind her, and a glass of wine suddenly materialized in her hand. “What the…?”

“I guess the machine thought you could use a drink,” Rudra chuckled. Noir pursed her lips and peered at the red liquid, gingerly swirling it around in the glass.

“Huh, genuine red wine, too,” she remarked, visibly impressed. She took a brief sip before turning her attention back to Rudra. “So, enough about me. I want to know more about you and your…well, y’know.”

Rudra leaned back and tilted her head, casting her gaze to the floor. “It’s…a heavy subject. You already know the basics. I was cast down and formed the Legion to rebel against Judgment, I attained Hellfire to better fight against his forces, and I followed the first lead we had and came to Evo in search of Shadiel. And now I’m here, trying to secure invaluable resources for the Legion,” she said matter-of-factly.

Noir bounced her leg for a few moments before taking off her sunglasses. “I saw how you and the others reacted to that Great Beast egg…what was that all about?”

Rudra heaved a sigh and rolled her knuckles together apprehensively, chewing her bottom lip. “...Before I fell, I worked on quite a few ‘projects’ for Judgment,” she said with some hesitancy. “One of my first missions - after the Split - was to help start a Great Beast Taming Program. GBTP, we called it. It was supposed to further our understanding of the Great Beasts and potentially use them in combat. Tame them, make them controllable. But…”

A long stare came across Rudra’s eyes, and Noir could practically see the troubling memories flashing in her iridescent pupils. “The program was quickly terminated,” Rudra continued, her voice dropping to a whisper. “It, uh…it became too dangerous for us to continue. Angels were assimilated and…” A painful breath involuntarily escaped Rudra’s throat and she quickly covered her mouth as her brow knitted together. A glossy glaze covered her eyes as she continued with difficulty. “One of the younger generations of angels was almost completely wiped out. We had to kill every last Great Beast in the program to keep them from escaping…mother of Mom, that was Skyla’s generation…”

Noir had been stunned into silence, unutterably horrified by Rudra’s story. The look Rudra had given her in the bridge hours earlier - that unnerved fear in her eyes as Shadiel made his escape - it made perfect sense. It made too much sense.

“My god…I’m so sorry…”

Rudra took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes to wipe away the tears that had started to form. “Skyla and a few others were all that was left. Mom, I still remember the screams…Skyla’s been attached to me ever since. She was always following me around, even said she wanted to be like me.”

“That explains a lot,” Noir replied steadily. “She looks up to you. You were probably one of the few angels she could look up to at the time.”

“She’s as loyal as she is passionate,” Rudra sighed, gently running her forefinger across the ridges of her gauntlets. “I took her under my wing after the program was terminated and she’s been a companion ever since.”

“It’s a damn shame that happened to her,” Noir sighed, shaking her head in sorrow. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not a subject I like to think about.” Rudra shifted uncomfortably on the bed, keeping her eyes focused on the floor. “Can we change the subject? Please? I don’t like remembering it…”

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Noir cleared her throat and took a brief sip of her wine. “Uh, hey…I wanted to ask you about what happened with Joriel earlier. Right before we left Evo, when she disappeared to the outside of the ship? I feel like I plucked a nerve.”

“It’s nothing personal, Noir. We…Mom is a sensitive subject for us. As is Dad. Everything surrounding them is a very sensitive matter, really.”

“Look, I wanted to say I’m sorry for upsetting her. I didn’t realize what was going on with your Mom. I mean…all that power, and she can’t even use it without hurting someone. And I’m over here, making assumptions about it-”

“I did the same,” Rudra interjected, surprising Noir. “I had a lot of assumptions about my Mom, as you know. Most of them were based on lies Judgment told us. It wasn’t helped by the fact that very little comes out about my Mom anyways. Jori told me how closely she keeps her secrets…Judgment told us that my Mom was the one responsible for the Flood - that was blatantly untrue. Before we came to Evo City, Joriel told me the truth. Judgment had caused the Flood and pinned the blame on Mom to put a rift between us.”

Noir exhaled sharply and took a sip of her drink. “I’ve seen a lot of low blows in my time, but that is the lowest I’ve seen someone go.”

“And it went on like that for centuries. Him feeding us lies and slowly eroding our trust in Mom. And it’s not like we could verify the truth for ourselves - he had us locked up in our home! I’ve only met my Mom three times in my entire life! The few days she managed to remain in Heaven before she was cast down, the day I escaped Heaven to ask for her help, and just a few days ago when I needed her aid! Compare that to the thousands of years I was trapped in Heaven and subjected to Judgment’s every whim…I barely know anything about her.” Rudra hung her head and tightly wound her hands together. “On some level, I guess I started to believe his lies. As time went on, I knew he wasn’t being honest and I began doubting everything he said. Honestly, I don’t trust his words as far as I can throw him.”

“And I can’t imagine all those lies going over well with Jori,” Noir winced.

“It didn’t. The first time I went to the sanctuary, tensions were already high. Judgment had told us she built the place on the bones of dead angels. So already, not starting off good. Then when I asked my Mom to help…”

“She rejected,” Noir finished.

“Yeah. You know the rest. I thought she didn’t help because she didn’t care about the angels still trapped with Judgment. That she was more concerned with the sanctuary. Imagine how I reacted when Jori told me the real reason.”

“Well, your Mom created the Grand Canyon with a sneeze, so I can’t imagine what she’d do if she tried to unleash that power with the intent to kill,” Noir sighed, furrowing her brow.

“It would have been catastrophic. She can’t direct her power like Judgment can. If she tried to fight Judgment, she would’ve risked blowing up half the planet. At least. She couldn’t take that risk. It’s why she stays in the sanctuary - the sanctuary acts like a buffer to her powers and keeps them from flying out of control.”

Noir nodded slowly. “Talk about mother-daughter issues,” she remarked dryly, trying to alleviate the mood. She quickly averted her eyes and silently took another swig of her wine when Rudra sent a glare at her.

“My Mom and I haven't exactly been on good terms since then, and it wasn’t easy asking for her help a few days ago. And her hearing about me using Hellfire to fight Judgment probably didn’t put her in a good mood. I mean, that was the last she heard of me before I left for Hell.”

“Oh…well that doesn’t sound good.”

“It didn’t help tensions. And Joriel. Joriel wasn’t happy to see me at all, even before I told her about the plans.”

“She was still seething over that last meeting?”

“She felt like I had disrespected Mom and that I didn’t care about what she’d gone through.” Rudra let out a humorless chuckle. “Turns out we both had incomplete stories. I didn’t know what Mom had gone through. All that time being alone, too scared to use her power because of what it might do if she lost control, all while knowing her children were trapped and she couldn’t set them free? I can’t imagine it…”

“And Joriel didn’t know what Judgment did to you and the other angels,” Noir finished.

“Outside of Talon? No, Jori had no idea. And when she found out? She was horrified.”

“...does Mercy know?” Noir asked.

It was a simple question, really. But Rudra quickly realized that she didn’t have an answer. “I - well, no. I haven’t told her. I don’t think Mom really knows what happened in Heaven outside of what she saw with Talon.”

“So your Mom doesn’t know the full story of what happened to you and the last she’s heard of you is your whole venture into Hell to steal Satan’s powers, and you don’t know the whole story about her while you’re still breaking down years of psychological conditioning and torture…” Noir quickly downed her glass of wine and exhaled sharply when she set the empty glass on the coffee table. “That’s not a good combination.”

“Believe me, I’m not looking forward to our next meeting. Especially not with the Legion scared of her like they are.”

“Wait, hold on. You mean to tell me that this battalion of angels is scared of Mercy?”

“Remember the lies I told you about? Judgment was also a fan of spreading rumors. The one about the sanctuary being built on dead angels? That was one of his favorite horror stories to tell us. Many of the younger angels especially were scared of Mom for the longest time and were terrified when we made it to the sanctuary.”

“Just hearing what he did…makes me glad I joined you. I can’t wait to see him finally get his ass kicked.”

“Everything he did to us, I expect to make him pay for it tenfold. The lies, the torture, the conditioning, the imprisonment-”

“And the experiments that Shadiel conducted,” Noir added quietly, resting a hand on the coffee table. Rudra set her jaw and her brow furrowed.

“Yeah…yeah, that too.” Rudra’s hand instinctively went to her arm and she gently rubbed the muscle there, twitching slightly.

Noir watched her do this, and a frightening thought crept its way into her mind. She recalled the first time Rudra had been in Anita’s lab - Anita asking for a blood sample had sent Rudra into some kind of panic attack. Noir could see the fear on her face and a painful memory playing beyond those glowing eyes. Then she remembered what happened just a few hours after Shadiel was thwarted in his plans to broadcast a dangerous signal over Evo City. Rudra told her of the inhuman experiments Shadiel had done to turn her into a super soldier-

Noir stifled a horrified gasp as her blood ran cold. She threw her hands to her mouth, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Disgust and horror welled up inside her and her heart clambered its way into her throat as she said the dreadful words out loud. “That’s why you don’t like having your blood drawn…” she whispered. Rudra recoiled and flinched as though she’d been struck, and she hung her head.

Noir sat in silence for several agonizing seconds. She pressed her lips into a thin line, got up, and wordlessly trotted up to Rudra. Wrapping her arms around Rudra’s shoulders, Noir pulled the Seraph into an embrace. It was deathly quiet, but Rudra’s pained silence spoke a thousand words. Rudra let out a halting breath and slowly wrapped her arms around Noir, returning the embrace as she quietly cried into the crook of her neck. When Noir pulled back, she scanned Rudra’s screwed up face. The whites of her eyes had turned red and silvery tear streaks stained her umber cheeks. A strained cough escaped Rudra’s throat and she wiped away her tears.

“There’s a reason we call him The Angel Ripper,” Rudra whispered softly, her face screwing up in long-buried pain. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth together, a violent, whirling mix of sorrow, pain, and fury boiling within her chest. “Me and thousands of other angels suffered under his thumb. All because Judgment wanted super soldiers.”

“Why did it matter to him so much? If Mercy was already that strong, and she’s only one half-”

Rudra held up a hand. “Mom got the power in the Split. Judgment got most of the precision. His ability to direct his power makes him very dangerous, especially if he has super soldiers at his disposal. But Mom is another matter entirely.” Then she shuddered. “If Judgment had as much power as she did, the Legion would have all perished during our first attempt to fight.”

“...oh,” Noir breathed. “I’m so sorry.”

Rudra held her head in her hand. “And even without the power, he still managed to irreparably injure several angels when we fell. Mom had to use her powers just to heal those of us who could still stand. The rest were left at the sanctuary to keep them safe.”

Noir gently tapped her fingers against the wine glass, chewing her bottom lip pensively. “You must really care about these angels,” she said emphatically.

“Of course I do. These are my people - my family. I’ve seen what they’ve been through and I understand it because that’s what I went through. Their pain is my pain. I would tear Hell asunder if it meant keeping them safe.”

“Heh…you remind me of my aunt. She’d like you.”

“Well, if we ever get the chance, I hope I can meet her one day.”

Noir chuckled softly and gently patted Rudra’s shoulder. “If we fly by France, we can stop by and say hi.”

Rudra smiled warmly. “I’d like that. It’d be a chance to see the world outside of this war.”

Noir smiled softly and cupped Rudra’s cheek, to which the angel gently leaned into her palm, comforted by the touch. “I’m so sorry. For everything that’s happened to you, your family…you didn’t deserve any of it,” she whispered emphatically, and the weight of her words drew yet more tears from Rudra’s glossy eyes.

Noir tenderly wiped away the streaks and pressed her forehead flush with Rudra’s, carefully holding her in an embrace. Rudra took in a shaky breath, practically melting into the embrace as she found solace in Noir’s arms. For a brief moment, she was at ease. She felt as though she had been vindicated - that her pain had been heard. In just the past few days, she had spilled her heart out so much and had found emotional reprieve where she couldn’t find it in Heaven. It was…relieving. To finally let out everything she had held in and be heard, whether it be by a sibling like Jori, a close friend like Talon, or a newfound ally in Noir. It was alleviating, yet exhausting at the same time.

Before Rudra had realized it, she had slumped into Noir’s arms as her body prepared to give out on her. Fatigue and soreness threatened to overtake her, and the women who held her took notice.

“Hey, you want me to get you something to drink?” Noir asked gently, brushing a few curly locs from Rudra’s tear-stained face. “You ever had hot cocoa?”

“I don’t think I have,” Rudra murmured.

Noir clicked her tongue and whirled around to the fabricator. “One cup of hot coco coming right up!” Noir hummed to herself as a porcelain cup materialized on the fabricator and slowly filled up with freshly made hot chocolate.

“I made a vow to the Legion,” Rudra said abruptly, picking up the plate of mille-feuille she’d left on the bed. Her brow knitted together as she absently pushed the pastry around the plate with her fork.

Noir stopped humming and looked over her shoulder, pursing her lips. “Hm? A vow?”

“When I fell, there was a flood that swept me and the angels away. The last thing I said before I went under was a promise.” Rudra chewed the inside of her lip and lifted her head, a resolute light in her glimmering eyes. “For all the blood you’ve spilled, you will pay with your life.”

A shudder went up Noir’s spine. The words alone were enough to make her blood run cold. “Well, we’ll see to it that you keep that promise.” Noir handed the mug of hot cocoa to Rudra before heading to the wardrobe.

Rudra gently blew over the hot coco to cool it down before taking a tentative sip. It was delightfully warm and it reminded her of the delectably sweet fruits that once grew in Heaven. She hummed to herself and the tension in her body gradually melted away, granting her a moment of reprieve.

“Hey, Rudra? Do you have any pajama’s in my size?” Noir asked, rummaging through the wardrobe.

“Bottom drawer.”

“Oh, thanks.” Noir pulled open the drawer and produced a light red dress from the wardrobe. Rudra raised a wing to block her line of sight and give Noir some privacy while she changed out of her suit. “You gonna sleep in your armor?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, no. I have a gambeson under this that I sleep in.”

“Suit yourself,” Noir grunted, pulling the nightgown over her shoulders. “I call the top bunk!” Noir swiftly climbed the bed’s ladder and nimbly leapt onto the top bunk, face-planting into the pillows.

Rudra gave an amused chuckle before slipping out of her armor. Slipping out of the suit, she set the armor aside and shuffled back into her bed. Gingerly folding her wings behind her, she laid on her back and folded her hands over her abdomen before closing her eyes. She sighed and released the tension in her muscles, letting herself relax and sink into the soft foam mattress. For once in thousands of years, Rudra could sleep peacefully as the trials and tribulations of the day were set aside until morning light. It was nice, she thought. A break in the storm swirling around her and the Legion. As she slowly sank into the oblivion of sleep, she left the waking world with the slightest of smiles, Noir’s wonderful voice still ringing in her ears.

#Freak fortress 2 #freak fortress #team fortress 2 #Angel Fallen: The Chronicles of the Legion #Rudra Seraph #Madame Talon #Ofia #Lady Noir #Anita James #Skyla #Styna #Joriel #Larimar Prince

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