Mortal Liberation Front Headquarters
Max Black is bored. It’s been two months since he’s left Earth; he expected to fight in a cool space battle for the future of the Galaxy. Instead, Noriko’s kept him out of action. Worse, he’s spent most of his time with Torn. He likes the guy, but he’s not exactly the best company.
<This is sooo boring> Max complains, stretching his legs; he’s been sitting in the lotus position for hours. Technically it’s been ten minutes, but to him it doesn’t make any difference.
<Just focus> Torn replies. He’s sitting as well, with his eyes closed; there’s a red energy sword fluctuating in front of him, rotating very slowly.
<How am I supposed to learn anything if you don’t explain a damn thing!?> Max adds.
<I have explained. Many times. But you don’t listen> Torn answers, opening his eyes.
<Or maybe you’re a lousy teacher, have you thought about it?>
<Both my daughters were able to use the Blood before they could urinate unsupervised.>
<You taught your kids how to create weapons with their minds before potty training!?>
<The Blood is the first thing Demon children learn. Null is convinced that you can learn it too.>
<Yeah I know. When she told me I was like, sure I can do that; I can already turn my body into energy, how hard can it be to do energy weapons?>
<The Blood is more than energy. It is everywhere in the universe; the soul of a Demon gives it form.>
<You’ve been saying that for weeks. And I keep telling you that it doesn’t mean anything to me.>
<It will. You just have to focus> Torn repeats, closing his eyes again.
Max groans; if he didn’t know better, he’d suspect Noriko is doing this to torture him. Then again, Noriko is not exactly herself these days…
“Black. Torn. Report to the Conference Room at once” – Noriko’s echoes in their minds.
<Saved by the bell> Max jokes, happy for any excuse to leave his “training”.
<I did not hear any bell> Torn replies; Max could’ve bet some money on this sort of response.
<Y’know Torn, sometimes I wonder if you’re really that clueless about Earth languages or if you’re just pulling my leg.>
<Why would I want to pull your leg? It doesn’t make any sense.>
<Yeah, just as I thought…>
The Conference Room
Despite the urgency, Max’s room is close enough that he doesn’t feel like moving at the speed of light and instead just walks there together with Torn. He gets an idea of how serious the situation must be when he sees that Noriko is not alone: both Ulysses and the Scribe’s hologram are there.
Max isn’t completely sold on Ulysses, but he knows he can’t trust the Scribe.
<It is time. As soon as we receive confirmation from our mole in the Hermes faction, we will begin Operation Checkmate> Null explains, going straight to the point.
<So you’ve finally decided to tell us what the heck you’ve been doing?> Max asks.
<Why aren’t Kari and Vesta here?> is Torn’s question.
<Kari has already left for the Unrelenting Force; Lysia is picking up Vesta as we speak.>
Before she can answer Max as well, the main screen emits a sharp sound.
<Just a moment. The mole is calling us.>
Max doesn’t know what to expect, but it certainly isn’t the face of a beautiful woman partially obscured by a strange visor.
<Empress of Shadows calling the Mortal Liberation Front. Are you receiving?>
<YOU’VE BEEN WORKING WITH YOUR MO… With the Empress!?!?> Max shouts.
<I see Quantum is there. Nice to see he’s as clueless as ever.>
<Can you confirm our intelligence about Korinth?> Ulysses jumps in.
<Yes, it has seceded from the Hegemony. Hermes will launch a retaliatory strike within the hour.>
<That’s our cue. I’m sending you the coordinates of this installation> Noriko answers.
<What!? She’s just going to give them to Hermes!> Max protests.
<Which is an essential part of our plan> – the Scribe’s hologram comments.
<Then it’s a stupid plan!!!>
<Black. Everyone in the Alliance has a role; the Empress has been feeding false information to Hermes for the past six weeks> Null explains. Using his last name confirms that her Void personality is still in command, but he would’ve known by how cold her voice is.
<So we’re giving him false coordinates, right?>
<No. This is exactly where you and I are going to defeat Hermes once and for all.>
Korinth, 3000 light-years from Earth
Hermes is a very practical god: he knows that he can’t destroy a planet every time the mortals disagree with him and hope to keep his empire for long. But he also knows that he simply can’t lose Korinth: its position, economic prosperity and wormhole network make it an invaluable asset.
Which is why the Alliance has been working for the past month to do everything to make it revolt. The Front has converted to the cause many people in key governmental positions; the Guild and the Blue Rose have used their fortune to bribe its armed forces to support the coup.
Korinth isn’t the only planet where the Alliance has used this strategy, but it’s the first to publicly announce its rejection of divine rule. Hermes can’t afford losing Korinth, but a quick reminder of his military power will dissuade other planets from doing the same thing.
The fleet doesn’t arrive through the wormhole network: it would be too easy for the rebels to sabotage it. The news of the discovery of the location of the Front’s headquarters assures that Hermes will not oversee this attack personally: to him, the Front takes precedence.
Still, Admiral Phyro expects heavy resistance and is hoping to lead a major battle in the honor of his god… something rare for the decidedly non militaristic Hegemony.
<Shields up, charge weapons and open a channel to the Governor of Korinth> he orders.
<Ready for battle, my love? Such a strong warrior> a soothing female voice whispers in his ear.
The Admiral would ask what she’s doing on the bridge, if he wasn’t mesmerized by the body of the red haired woman that’s taking off her clothes right in front of him.
<Who… how did you…> is all the Admiral can manage to say before the woman is in his arms.
Nobody in the bridge has anything to say because they’re experiencing an incredibly realistic vision, as is every single officer in the fleet. Details change: the red haired woman can appear as a wife, a mistress, a husband, a secret fantasy. But the erotic dreams created by Aphrodite have one thing in common: they completely erase war from the target’s mind.
Maybe someday a history book will admit that Hermes lost his first battle in his war because his most powerful fleet was too busy making love to Aphrodite to be bothered to fire a single shot.
True to her nature, Aphrodite agreed to do this on the condition that she wouldn’t kill anyone.
That is Scarab’s job: the soldiers die in the bliss of love, but at the same time they die because she’s used her Drylon powers to literally throw mountains at them.
Eleusis, 30 light-years from Earth
While technically in the Diana sector, Eleusis is a natural choice as a secondary target for Hermes.
He knows that someone is behind the Korinth uprising and that’s not Diana: it’s not her style. If the Mortal Liberation Front is calling the shots, they are surely ready to do the same on Eleusis.
It’s a clear parallel to Korinth: strategic location and historically very independent from divine rule. Which means that destroying Eleusis has a double advantage: disrupting the actions of the MLF and preventing Diana from using it. On the off chance that this is a plan from Diana, it should have a very strong defense: which is why the fleet sent to Eleusis is twice the size of the Korinth one.
What they didn’t expect was to face an army of Talos robots under the command of Galatea IX, in one of the shortest battles of the century.
Myridia, 50 light-years from Earth
Kari Zel will never get used to seeing her home planet from orbit. This isn’t even the first time that she can see a space battle in its orbit, but this time she’s on the winning side.
The Hunter fleet proves that its capital ship isn’t called Unrelenting Force for nothing: the Hermes ships don’t stand a chance, and their hulls are soon falling stars on the Myridian sky.
<I was hoping for a better challenge> Aura complains from the captain’s chair.
Kari doesn’t really trust her: the Hunters are pirates, after all, and to them Myridia is just loot. She’s about to remind her the terms of their alliance, but one of the officers speaks first.
-Ma’am, we have a message from the Mist: the Supreme Scorpion has engaged Diana’s forces.
-We can leave a few ships here and go help them. What’s your call, Zel?
Kari was wondering when Aura would put her on the spot. As part of the agreement, any change of plan must be approved by a member of the Vanguard. She gives a last look at Myridia: as much as she’d love to land on her planet and celebrate, she has to look at the bigger picture.
<Let’s go. Nobody except me kicks that son of a βιτcη’s ass.>
<I’m starting to like the Vanguard’s style, Zel.>
There are, of course, many more ships in the Hermes fleet. He may rule mostly through subterfuge, but you don’t keep an interstellar empire that spans hundreds of planets if losing three battles is enough to lose a war. But three major defeats, against supposedly weak planets, in the span of a few hours? It’s enough to ruin morale at the worst possible moment.
The chain of command is disrupted by a virus spreading through the communications relay, courtesy of the Scribe himself. Without the possibility to coordinate or to call Hermes for help, chaos spreads rapidly. Diana’s forces make short work of the ships unfortunate enough to be in her territory when the virus hits; adding the work of strategically positioned Talos robots and Hunter ships, one Hermes planet after the other surrenders to the Alliance.
Mortal Liberation Front Headquarters
While his kingdom crumbles, Hermes opens the door of the Conference Room and calmly strolls towards the table. He came alone, ready to crush the MLF with his bare hands.
But the only person he finds is Noriko Null, busy making a final check of her new clothes.
She’s wearing her green leather jacket, of course, but she’s traded jeans and T-shirt for grey body armor that looks too skintight to offer any real protection.
<Hermes. You are not as smart as Null thought you were.>
Her eyes are different: the iris is still silver, but everything else is pitch black.
<Hello, sunshine. You’re not as dead as I thought you’d be. What’s with the new dress and the new eyes? You don’t have to make yourself pretty for me.>
<Your third biggest mistake was believing Leiko would be loyal to you, after betraying her trust when you did not protect her from Abyss. Your second biggest mistake was not killing Null when you had the chance just because you thought you could use her in the future.>
<I can kill you now if you wish. I suppose I should ask why you’re talking about yourself in the third person, but I have to admit I’m curious: what would be my biggest mistake, sunshine?>
Null pulls up her sleeves, revealing two metallic gloves that leave her fingers free. They emit some sort of green energy, and when they’re done two Genius Guns appear in Noriko’s hands.
She twirls the guns while they charge, striking a pose when she’s ready: an electric current flows through her eyes and her weapons. She’s ready for a fight. All that’s left is a declaration of war.
<You did not invite Dionysus to the party. He is very angry about it.>
Hermes is taken by surprise when he finds the god of debauchery leaning on his shoulder.
<Yeah man, what’s up with that? Not cool bro, not cool.>
Noriko opens fire. There should be enough time for Hermes to leave this star system, but instead he’s hit with a quick succession of kinetic blasts, each as powerful as a missile.
As he dusts away the remains of the wall he was just thrown through, he feels dizzy for the first time since was born.
<Feeling a little slow, Hermes? Dionysus is disrupting your concentration: you are just too drunk to be fast. Let us see if you can keep up with me now… “sunshine”.>
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