Time Shredders 2017 (DR2220+) Charity Event 8 The Combined Forces of Falosini & Quall


#1

Charity Event 8 The Combined Forces of Good and Evil attack the Chronomancer Holys

“I can use my powers over the Hivemind to counter Holys and trap him within his keep. It will affect not just him but any who use time travel or time shredding to get around.” said the Keeper of the Records.

Queen Ayx replied, “And as long as our Falosini allies can assist in helping us take down their undead armed with high powered energy weapons, I believe we will succeed in this task. Ayonn Ironhoof and Waynox Obsidianheart have been reporting great success in gathering the necessary shock troops from my subordinate Queens. This battle may very well draw Neliff the Orthodox’s forces and the forces of the remaining Descended of Pelos.”

Grash’tah adjusted his yellow cowl and then began to speak, “Ceroj has underneath him the Dra’koons and Dra’khans and Songmancers of the Twin Falcon tribes. As Mayun can affirm they bear crowns created by Lord Falos to protect his most trusted advisors from mind control.”

Mayun adjusted his red cowl, displaying a crown of burnished metal that gleamed like gold and said proudly, “From Falosini to K’iorn to Baribur every soldier who marches under this banner are protected. They will be able to hunt Neliff without fear of possession. Infection by Neliff young is another story…”

Grash’tah paused to assess and then said, “Keeper of the Records is a there a counter that was used by the Quall and Falosini to prevent the Neliff from infesting them during the ancient and forgotten war?”

The Quall Queen’s eyes first went to Queen Ayx who nodded her permission. The Keeper of the Records then said, “Grash’tah, Child of Gorsj. I am surprised Ceroj did not share it himself. His baribur Songmancers hold the key. Their verses can rupture the baby Neliff in their eggs. Soundwaves. Sonic weaponry. Neliff are semi-etheric. Their form is actually disrupted more by intense sound wave based weapons than by any cutting blade or fireball.”

Grash’tah replied, “I thank you for your answers. The Falosini can use our Baribur songmancers as sonic weapons. Among the gathered races, none use weapons of a sonic nature.”

The Keeper of the Records said, “The Grey use Sonics, but they will never trust the Quall nor come to our aide. Even against a threat as dangerous as the Neliff.”

“But Holys and his HiveKing are the true threat,” said the Dimension Walker Claude Vysen, “And my fellow Dimension Walker Nigel would like to speak to that.”

“Prior to this meeting,” Nigel began, “Agent Hourglass, Churchwood and I met with Temporal Enforcement Agency Officer Visij and with his help we have secured use of their tactical vessel The Sword of Galahad.

Holys made a grave tactical error in using the flesh of Lord Pelos for the Hiveking he is using to control the many Hives. Lord Pelos had already become one of the primal descended by the point of his use as surgical material.

Why is that a problem for Holys? You see the Sword of Galahad was designed as an ultimate balancing weapon by the Da’uhnb of the Temporal Enforcement Agency.
It has a main gun designed to kill all descended entities at a single location.”

“This anti-demon WMD sounds great,” said Claude Vysen, “And I am sure you are thinking, if the Da’uhnb had an anti-demon WMD lying around why didn’t they use it during the Border Wars? Well they feel they needed the Border Wars to happen, to free their queen.”

Grash’tah said, “Wait, if they had this all along. Why didn’t they deploy it against the Warmonger when he freed himself from the Prison Dimension and began to wreck havok in his Quall-Avatar body?”

“The Da’uhnb Queen would not allow the Sword of Galahad to be deployed while she was alive,” said Claude Vysen quickly, “Now that she is dead, the Da’uhnb hope using the Sword of Galahad will set the balance right once more.”

Nigel quickly followed up with, “And we have the vessel ready, with a crew eager to help us stop Holys once and for all.
I have sets of Red Fist Power Armor ready for the Keeper of the Records, and for Ayonn and Waynox. Now we need to just plan the assault.”

Fenix the Falosini interrupted, “I am sure the Da’uhnb have every weapon from the future at their disposal, but what is one ship going to do against an Undead K’ias who can alter time, and his pet Hiveking that can summon Quall, E-stain and Unity slaves to its defense?”

Nigel said, “The weapon will fire. It will temporarily kill Pelos Hiveking.

The Keeper of the Records will lead the assault, as her powers can trap Holys until we reach him. Waynox, Ayonn, Mayun and you, Fenix, will be responsible for apprehending Holys.

The Da’uhnb said, if you can apprehend him, you can return him to his prison in the basement of the Tomb Factory. You, Fenix. That job will literally land squarely on you, and on Waynox and Ayonn, and your friend Mayun.”

Fenix got very quiet.

Grash’tah placed a gentle hand on the larger falosini warrior’s shoulder and then said, “So everyone is clear. A single bombardment from the Sword of Galahad will only temporarily kill Pelos HiveKing. You will need to fly from the Sword of Galahad down to the Tomb Factory. You will have to take out Pelos HiveKing more permanently while there and imprison the Chronomancer Holys.

While you do that, Lord Ceroj and Queen Ayx will lead the ground assault on the Tomb Factory.”

Ayonn Ironhoof interrupted, “There are thousands of Holys’ Dead soldiers at this location, and an unknown number of Neliff. It will be a hard fight. On open ground our combined armies could easily crush them.

Instead it will be tight tunnel fighting where two Quall will barely be able to walk abreast let alone fight side by side. That turns our superior numbers against us if we are not careful.”

Grash’tah the Yellow seemed to be pondering deeply, then he said, “That is why you agreed to this joint battleforce. You need the smaller size of our Falosini and Children of the Falosini armies to make this battle a success.”

Ayonn said, “You are smart…for a Falosini…”

Queen Ayx agreed and said, “Yes, we need your help. I could unleash an army of Flayers and Pit Mongrels, but then the Neliff would just turn that Army against us. Same would be true if we unleashed a full Brethren invasion. We would just be feeding the Neliff more hosts for their kids and slaves for their army.

You could simply teach the rest of us how to manufacture these Crowns that are keeping others safe. Then we could crown our shock troops and not even need your forces at our side.”

Grash’tah said, “I cannot. Of the living, only Ceroj the Red and Azrael the Fallen One know of the steps to their manufacture.

And to even begin the manufacture you would need a crystalline ore mined directly from the flesh of a rare transdimensional entity.”

The Keeper of the Records said, “I am aware of the type of entity you describe. Queen Ayx we do not have the time nor the forces to secure such a material. And to even try to may cause a catastrophic effect to the Balance of Reality. That will not be a solution at this time.”

Whereas Queen Ayx would never have believed such a statement from the Falosini, to hear such a thing from her own daughter let her know the truth of it.

Queen Ayx said, “Then I suppose it is time for us to plan our battle. Holys is a brilliant mind, and we will need to be one step ahead of him if we have a hope of succeeding.”


#2

Part 2: In the Command Bridge of the Tomb Factory of Holys.

Holys stood proudly in the command center of his home and castle. The crystalline displays on the walls showed holographic images of the approaching army of the Falosini Ceroj the Red. And at their side, much to his chagrin was the armies of the Cult of Ayx.

Even during the height of the K’ias Wars, Quall and Falosini never fought side by side. Holys had simply not accounted for this possibility. Simple enough to fix, he thought, drawing in his powers over time itself.

Holys turned to Pelos Hiveking. The massive tentacled monster was strapped into the main command console in the center of the bridge. Necrotechnological tendrills extended from the floor into the massively muscled upper torso of the Hiveking. Brainleech-based tentacles plugged into the back of Pelos Hiveking’s massively mutated and oversized head.

Holys said, “Pelos, keep the Neliff in line while I am away.”

Pelos Hiveking responded in a gravelly voice, with a hypnotized quality, saying, “Lord Holys, my will is your will. The Neliff will await your command.”

Holys smiled, knowing he still had the full power of the E-strain and the Unity at his disposal. He could theoretically set off an interstellar war if he was so inclined. But that act he knew would be both irresponsible and disrupt every experiment he was running on this trio of time lines.

Instead he prepared to step back in time and simply rewrite history. But nothing happened. He tried again. There was some sort of psychic interferenece preventing him from affecting the timelines. He couldn’t even actively move between the three timelines. Something…or someone…had locked him into this timeline.

Holys turned quickly to his bridge crew.

“Nezaian,” said Holys calling for the captain of his guard.

The undead soldier stepped forward. In ancient times Nezaian has been a baribur, but he was a loyal member of Unit 111 since his conversion to undeath aeons ago. He was the pride and joy of Holys’ creations among the undead. His own Angelic mockery, complete with indestructable armored wings, and enough weaponized surgical upgrades to make Nezaian more warmachine than person.

Extending his wings, Nezaian bowed, “Lord Holys I am here. How may I serve you my lord?”

Holys felt a little better, at least loyalty remained, “You must go down to the Factory floor. From here I will activate the machinery, but the full armies of undead stored here will be activated and unleashed down there.

As they are awakened, you Nezaian must command them to their positions in defense of this place. I may be disabled or deposed, and if that happens you will lead Unit 111. Do you understand me Commander Nezaian?”

“Commander of Unit 111?” repeated Nezaian as if he had never hoped for such a dream, “Sir yes sir. I will proudly do so. But sir as former captain of your guard, who will keep you safe?”

“Do not worry about my personal safety,” said Holys, “My experiments across this planet must be protected. They must continue until they complete, and the data from the experiments must be collected. You Commander Nezaian will make that happen, and I empower you to bribe, steal or kidnap anyone you need to bring my experiments to fruition.”

Nezaian realized the gravity of the situation.

Holys continued, “If things become too much for you Commander, seek out my child Synne. He will understand the need to finish my work…”

Nezaian suddenly realized his Lord Holys did not expect to survive the battle. He said with great revere, “My Lord, it has been an honor serving you. In the old days and in these days.”

“Go now, Nezaian and send up the Pirate King T’Shesh,” said Holys.

The massive cambion pirate Amm’t T’Shesh was surprised that Holys had him called up during what was obviously a battle on their doorstep.

“I feared we might be enemies, King T’Shesh, but I know now that you are an ally I should have invested more resources in,” said Holys.

“You speak like a king about to lose their crown,” said T’Shesh concerned by the tone he heard in Holys voice.

Holys said, “I will lose this fight. The fact that they already disabled my ability to control time means they had a weapon I am unware of. A weapon I did not plan for.

But that is unimportant.

What is important? You wish to return to the continent of Thras to take the lands of the Sea Kings from the Illuminated Prros? I grant you my blessing to do so. But only if you leave now, take your fleets, and take with them weapons from the armory in the depths of this place. Do not let the weapons fall into the hands of the approaching army of Ceroj the Red. He will chase you to the far continent, and you will need these weapons when that time comes.

And take this.”

Holys lifted up a crown carved from a strange otherworldly material. It gleamed like metal, but felt like stone to the touch.

“This is the crown of Mar’un’ga. The crown created by Lord Falos himself for the K’ias Emperor. Hidden through time, by my soldiers in Unit 111. Many Unit 111 soldiers speak highly of you King T’Shesh. When their leaders were crushed by the UtR, it was you who stepped up and kept them together and organized. They will be your allies when you need them.

Go now before the Quall armies reach your ships. Leave with the flag of peace flown high, and leave quickly.”

“I would not be a coward and run from a fight,” said T’Shesh.

“It is not cowardly to run from the Quall Horde, King T’Shesh, it is wise. Right now, to defeat me, the Quall and Falosini stand side by side. Once they believe I am defeated, they will return to their aeons of warfare with each other. You cannot defeat both Quall and Falosini united, no one can. But once the falosini are fighting the Quall again, you can begin your rise anew without fear.” said Holys, “Go now, pride of the K’ias Empire. Restore order and crush the Warmonger Cult, and the Prros, and unite them all into a new K’ias Empire. And when you do so, find my son Synne, and he will show you the next step.”

With T’Shesh and Nezaian gone, Holys turned to Pelos Hiveking.

The Hiveking said sternly, “You have already given up the battle Holys. Why?”

“Simple, I am not a warmonger. I do not fight to see creatures harmed, hurt or dead. My experiments are my passion, and my whole purpose. Using the mind of the hives, and the power over time itself, I have created experiments that will take generations to complete. And those experiments and their results are far more important than me walking around and leading some empire.

I am not an Emperor, I do not seek to lead. Like my father Vul before me, I am a scientist.

Plus I know the Quall and the Falosini are not foolish enough to try and destroy me. If they did, my form would erupt and consume this entire planet. Killing all life on their precious Refuge.

Their only hope to stop me is to imprison me once again, and the only place in this reality safe to do so, is this very Tomb Factory. It was inevitable really. I knew eventually some Ascended being would trick a mortal into defeating me, but I kept hold of my own prison so I would be ready.

I will keep contact with the outside world through my eye spies. I will continue to moniter my experiments while I am trapped below, in the dark for another few millenia. And all the while, I will win, because my experiments will continue… what better than a trapped populace on a prison planet for my experiments?”

Pelos Hiveking tried to break free, “Holys if you are intent on your own imprisonment, let me free. I could attain great things with an army of Neliff, E-strain and Quall.”

“I am sure you could Pelos,” said Holys, looking out at the approaching fleet of airships, starships, and naval vessels “I am sure you could.”

“Then disconnect me from this machinery,” roared Pelos Hiveking, “Let me free!”

“I will, but first, bring the forces of the Neliff in towards the Tomb Factory. I need them to slow the invaders until Nezaian is in position and T’Shesh has made it to open waters.”

There was a surge through the many living cables connecting Pelos Hiveking to the Tomb Factory.

“The forces of Neliff the Orthodox move to our aide now, Neliff the Radical’s faction is trying to resist,” said Pelos Hiveking.

Holys stepped behind the Hiveking and plugged a brainleech tendrill into the back of the Hiveking’s head. Holys used his immense will to force the Neliff the Radical’s forces to motion, but they moved sluggishly fighting it every step of the way.

Holys began reaching out to the E-strain. Of the controlled hiveminds and connections, the hardest to consistently control had been the Unity, their individual wills fought his own. The easiest had been the Neliff themselves, as they accepted all information given through their hivemind as fact. The next easiest had been the E-strain. He pulled at them, but the closest E-strain hives were far to the north in the frozen ruins of Tarris. Their vessels had been destroyed by the Tarrisian Free State, and the E-strain had no way to reach him in time.


#3

Suddenly his connection to the Hiveminds was gone. Holys opened his eyes and Pelos Hiveking was dead. The body of the Hiveking was marked by strange burn marks. He leaned in and looked closer at the wounds. Years of forensic study told him they had been inflicted by a Leyas based energy field. The wounds were small, but each was a purifying blessing or prayers in the many faiths of every species who had lived. As a result, Holys didn’t recognize most of them, but he recognized enough of the Falosini, Aegelis and Nightmare Lord prayers to deduce the rest.

Holys turned towards the nearest crystalline console and brought up the defensive information about the Tomb Factory. There were multiple breaches on all floors. Some were from energy bridges, others were streaming in through breaches at the water line.

The rear door to the command center burst open, revealing a pair of Quall N’drone, Ayonn and Waynox and a pair of Falosini, Fenix and Mayun. Brethren soldiers, Hourglass and Churchwood followed, and leading the assault on the command post was the Dimension Walker Nigel and dressed in full Red Fist Power armor was the Keeper of the Records.

The Keeper of the Records extended her four arms, and Holys felt more of his powers being nullified. He was attacked in that moment by the pair of Quall and pair of Falosini. The battle moved faster than Nigel’s eyes could track, but before long the body of Holys was pinned by the Quall and Falosini.

The Keeper of the Records stepped forward and made sure that Pelos Hiveking was fully disabled and out of the battle.

Ayonn and Waynox, Fenix and Mayun dragged the Blackhole warrior down the halls of the Tomb Factory. They placed him back into the complicated mountings that had held Holys firm for thousands of years.

The Dimension Walker Nigel looked out across the battles that still raged across the Tomb Factory. He wondered if they should stay or go, but knowing they had reimprisoned Holys left one major concern.

The body of Pelos Hiveking, the last creature alive who could hack the mind of all the Quall Hivequeens at once, was of primary importance. As the Brethren packed the body of the Hiveking for travel, Nigel wondered if he should simply have it destroyed completely.

But made as it was from Neliff flesh, it would not be destroyed even by annihilation. The parts that were made from Lord Pelos were powerful in the Leyas and utterly broken. Lord Pelos was now nothing more than a corpse. But the corpse of Pelos Hiveking was still one of the most sought after and dangerous weapons currently on the planet Refuge.

Nigel was worried about it the entire way back to rejoin the IR fleet. And his worry was right. As they arrived at the IR fleet, the corpse was diverted from Nigel, Churchwood and Hourglass. Despite their best efforts to keep the corpse under their watchful eye, it was taken by Red Fist commandos reporting directly to Fleetmaster Deer.

Nigel understood this was the favor the Fleetmaster was calling in after providing him Yoba Sabot. Nigel didn’t know if he trusted this secret operation under Fleetmaster Deer, but he did know he would never have succeeded without their support.


#4

Epilogue

Aboard the Iron Republic Century-Class Frigate, proudly stood Captain Grynngrenn. The Quall Warrior had been both a loyal I.R. Officer and a loyal member of the Hive of Queen Qu’oa.

Until weeks ago Queen Qu’oa had been the Quall High Queen. A position held by the Quall’s most respected leader since the death of the Progenitor Queen. Qu’oa had been High Queen a long long time, and had been a huge proponent of the Quall-I.R. Alliance. As a result when Qu’oa was deposed, and found herself on the run, the IR gave her support and safe places to flee to.
Queen Qu’oa was not surprised when Gilox Teddyheart entered and bowed before her.

“Gilox, you will traverse the stars under Captain Grynngrenn,” said the Queen.

“I am sorry I have failed you in the hunt for Yoba Sabot,” said Gilox, “Please do not banish me.”

“It is true you failed to recover Yoba Sabot. And it is true my Hivelord Yobak which could have gained the full knowledge and power of hidden hive lore, is now granted final death. But despite these things, and the fact that it cost me the High Queenship, I do not hold you illwill Gilox. You are my child. And if it were not for your birth, I would never have learned the truth about the host Nigel.”

She turned towards Captain Grynngrenn, “Captain, show Gilox his new charge.”

Grynngrenn smiled and tapped a few buttons on the console. Out the window of the frigate they could see a space station hidden on the dark side of a moon.

Gilox’s eyes widened.

“You and Grynngrenn will be protecting Station N.

You will be tasked with gathering the supplies and resource to make this process a success.”

Gilox said, “I am sorry, my queen, I do not understand.”

Queen Qu’oa said, “Then use no more words, and connect to the hivemind once more without fear Gilox. Holys is no longer a threat, and the Hiveking is gone.”

They connected through the hivemind connection, and Queen Qu’oa showed Gilox the grand plan. Better and more diverse forms of cloned human hosts, made on variations on Nigel’s DNA. Each a reusable host, that would not die when she harvested a Quall larva from them. It would be a new age for Qu’oa. Even if she had been declared rogue by the other Queens, she would survive and her hive would thrive. And the Iron Republic would protect them until they were ready to retake the High Queen’s throne.

Gilox Teddyheart realized he had just been given the great honor of stewarding the future of the Hive of Qu’oa.