Boreas, 30,000 light-years from Earth
Nike spreads her wings, which are large enough to block the entrance to the bar.
She might not be a particularly imposing figure, but Quantum knows how dangerous Athena’s right-hand goddess can be.
<Don’t try any daring escape. You are all under arrest.> she informs both Quantum and the three people he came to recruit: Kylon, Liosthenes and Amaterasu.
<Under whose authority?> Kylon asks. He knows the answer, of course, but given how most gods are fond of monologuing perhaps this will buy them some time.
<I only need mine. Empress Athena herself appointed me as the sovereign ruler of the Winter Kingdom, and as her vassal I am honor-bound to apprehend her enemies.> Nike explains.
<These people have committed no crime. Even President Athena has to respect the law.> Liosthenes argues, with Nike correcting him:
<Empress Athena, Liosthenes: she is no longer restricted to her role in the Athenian Federation. Is this attempt at stalling for time going to last much longer? Or has your Earth friend realized his powers are being blocked?> Nike asks, turning towards Quantum.
The smug half-smile on her face tells him why Athena seems fond of her.
<You’re flooding this place with anti-neutrinos. Preventing me from transforming.> he realizes.
<And we’re jamming the frequencies of your Soul Relay, so you can’t call for help. You’re not dealing with the usual bloodthirsty gods Null deals with, mortal… this is a serious operation. My only doubt about the success of this trap was that you would be too clever to fall for it. But it appears that concern was unwarranted.>
<I’m not as smart as Noriko, I know. Luckily for me, you’re not as clever as the usual gods the Vanguard deals with, aren’t you? You missed two important things.>
<If one is that the only reason I did not kill you on the spot is that you might prove useful to find her other associates…>
<Nope. The first is that you don’t know what Aether is… and the second is that I know someone who would clear her whole schedule for a chance to kick your butt.>
Nike is perplexed by his words, but not as much as she’s confused by the sudden appearance of a portal made of white and black flames… followed by a punch straight into her face.
A punch powerful enough to launch the goddess through the door and into the street, belonging to a woman engulfed by the purple aura of her 10K Rise technique.
<You better get to safety, boys. Things are gonna get rough.> Kari Zel warns her allies, cracking her knuckles; with her strength and speed increased by a factor of ten thousand, she leaves the building in the blink of an eye.
Without his powers Quantum can’t match her speed, but he rushes towards Amaterasu to grab her by her shoulders and give orders.
<The ships in orbit! They’re definitely the ones spreading anti-neutrinos; fly up there and blow them up!>
<But I don’t want to hurt anyone.> the goddess innocently defends herself.
<Then disable them with an electromagnetic pulse! You have the power of the Sun, you know how to do that right?>
<Yes, but… please stop yelling at me.> she replies, visibly scared by his tone.
<Sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.> Quantum backs off, feeling bad for intimidating her.
She might look like an adult and be virtually indestructible by human standards, but she does have the mind of a child.
<It’s okay, I can do it. Is auntie Kari going to be alright?> she asks.
<Trust me, Nike is the one who really should be scared.> Quantum reassures her.
Amaterasu flies upwards, crashing through the ceiling without considering that means making debris rain over the heads of her allies.
<Really should’ve told Noriko to send Vesta for this one.> he complains, covering his head.
<She still sent reinforcements.> Torn intervenes, getting out of a new portal and bringing someone with him… a Nullbot carrying the O.D.I.N. program.
<Oh come on, I don’t need the whole Vanguard for the mission!> Quantum objects.
<The evidence suggests otherwise. But we are not here for you.> Torn notes.
The O.D.I.N. Nullbot walks up towards Kylon, asking:
<Dear mister Kylon, according to Mistress Null’s research, the Lar Royal Fleet no longer defends this planet. Is that correct?>
<That’s right. When Nike brought her own ships to this system, she dismissed the Fleet… our ships are not as advanced as Athena’s, and the Fleet is still mostly loyal to the Winter King.>
<But the ships have not been destroyed, correct?>
<Yes, it would have been a waste of resources. What’s your point?> Kylon wonders.
<Mister Kylon, mister Liosthenes, Torn will create a portal for you to reach Earth; you are currently under Mistress Null’s protection.>
<I’m not leaving. This is my planet; I will not abandon it until its sovereignty has been restored!>
<Mistress Null thought you might say that. Perhaps following me through another portal leading to the Royal Fleet Workshop will convince you that she has the best interests of your people at heart.>
<Wait, you’re not going there to sabotage it right?> Liosthenes worries.
<Not at all. Mistress Null is a true believer in recycling: what Athena is not willing to use can be effective in someone else’s hands.>
In orbit above the planet
Upon leaving the atmosphere, Amaterasu immediately comes across Nike’s ships. They have all converged over her position, ready to bombard the surface at a moment’s notice.
<Hello! Would you please leave? We promise we won’t hurt your boss if you do!> she tries to reason with them with a smile. Only to be on the receiving end of several plasma blasts, probably because she forgot her words can’t travel in a vacuum.
She evades their fire by flying upwards, and trying to remember how to do what Quantum asked.
<How do I do that something pulse again? Maybe this’ll do!> she tells herself.
Her body shines as bright as the Sun, literally, as her body does emit a magnetic field powerful enough to mess with the ships… they might be shielded against electromagnetic radiation, but not to the intensity of being right next to a star.
This is far enough from the typical use of her divine powers that she accidentally releases too much; while she’s technically capable of emitting enough heat to scorch the planet, she’s still close enough to the temperature of the Sun that the glaciers covering most of Boreas start to melt.
On the surface, Lar Royal Fleet Workshop
For countless millennia, the Royal Fleet served at the pleasure of the Winter King and defended the Winter Kingdom in countless battles.
Some of its ships are several centuries old; the Lar attachment to tradition, as well as their extended lifespan when compared to humans, means that their military is extremely slow to upgrade.
Which explains why the Workshop is full of ships, as far as the eye can see, and the view granted by the walkway that runs parallel to one of its hangars is not even the full extent of it.
Despite feeling a sense of Lar pride in seeing these old glories, even in a facility deserted after the takeover, Kylon can’t help but wonder out loud:
<What’s Noriko going to do with our fleet? Those rust buckets are useless.>
<The Royal Fleet is indeed, by galactic standards, subpar. But it is superior to Earth’s fleet, which currently consists of a single ship.> O.D.I.N. explains.
<One built by Noriko Null. That’s hardly the same.> Kylon notes.
<For the time being. My mission is to coordinate the upgrade of the ships to Null standards.>
<That’s going to take too long! You’ll never be able to teach my people how to do that. Unless you want to bring the ships to Earth first?>
<That cannot be arranged: Earth is currently blockaded. But the Lar, unlike humans, have the means for industrial-scale shipbuilding.> O.D.I.N. explains.
A complex machine, the size of a ten-story building, lights up. It hasn’t been turned on for millennia; Kylon has only read about something like this in history books.
<Industrial Replicators. We used them to build all of our ships when we ruled this Galaxy, before Kronos destroyed our Empire. I thought Zeus and his family destroyed all of them.>
<A non-working unit was salvaged and kept as a state secret. Lar technology has deteriorated past their ability to repair it, but Mistress Null discovered its existence during her reign. Evidently, her efforts to maintain the secret were successful.>
<I doubt we’re going to take it a secret for long, now that’s been turned on!> Kylon protests.
<That is irrelevant. I have uploaded the schematics for a planetary shield emitter, after which I will begin the upgrade of the ship themselves. The cooperation of your people would be greatly appreciated.>
<This is amazing! Will it also shield us from Nike?>
<That will be unnecessary. Miss Zel has informed that she will, and I quote, “rip her a new one”.>
<A new what?>
<I have also been encouraged to avoid elaborating on this.>
On the other side of the planet
After crashing through three separate buildings, Nike gets out of the rubble and shakes her wings to scatter the dust cloud she raised.
Looking upwards, she can see a second sun in the sky. And she can hear the radio waves carrying the distress calls from her ships… and yet, this does not distract her from her direct opponent.
<I’m not above admitting that you took me by surprise. I expected Myridians to have a better sense of self-preservation.>
<For someone calling herself the Goddess of Victory, you sure lose a lot. Just out of curiosity, did you earn that title at any point in your life, or did you just give it to yourself? Because that’d be really pathetic.> Kari Zel mocks her.
<I’m actually glad you showed up, Myridian. I initially asked Athena to grant me leadership of your home planet… Demeter failed to shape your people into submission.>
<Like you failed to defeat me at the Strongest Under The Heavens tournament? Don’t tell me that you’re still upset that I kicked your butt.>
Nike tries to stay calm and collected, but the way her muscles tense tells Kari that she’s still boiling with rage about that defeat. And considering that this act alone causes the ground her to shake, it’s a reminder that she’s still a dangerous opponent.
<You should have enjoyed that little, meaningless victory I granted you, Myridian. You may have surprised me by tapping into the power to multiply your strength by ten thousand… but you are still flesh and blood. I am a goddess: my strength is millions of times greater than your “10K Rise”.>
<Funny thing to mention. Because so is mine now. SHADOW BREAKER!!!>
Nike was fully prepared for the fight: all her senses were focused on Kari… and she still doesn’t see her coming when the full extent of her new power is unleashed.
The punch to her solar plexus knocks the wind out of her, and it’s followed by an uppercut that breaks off one of her teeth. She counters by extending one of her wings to hit Kari, but she avoids it expertly. Worse for the goddess, this puts Kari right above her wing… and she uses all of her strength and her anger to karate-chop it.
Nike’s scream of pain is almost as loud as the sound of the bones of her wing breaking.
<Not so smug when you’re up against someone who can hit back, aren’t you?> Kari asks.
Nike has been in countless fights over the millennia, but this is something she’s not accustomed to: fighting while feeling pain.
Under normal circumstances, her divine powers would heal her wounds almost instantly: as a goddess, she is quite literally as powerful as she thinks she is.
Being humiliated by a mortal that should have no business being a threat is the worst thing that could happen to her self-worth, and as she flails aimlessly, she’s completely unable to actually hit Kari… in fact, Nike is on the receiving end of a brutal beating.
<I have a message for your boss. This is what’s coming to her.> Kari tells her, getting behind the goddess and grabbing the injured wing.
Then, applying all the strength granted by the astronomical amount of virtual particles she absorbed in her fight against Baal, she rips the wing off her body.
This is way too much for Nike, and the Goddess of Victory loses consciousness.
Kari Zel stands on top of her adversary, tossing the severed wing off her shoulder.
<Flawless victory.>
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