The Deian War: Conquest (28 page)

   Florian nodded. “It has, my Grace.”

   The first thing Novus requested from him after the Phantoms’ full retreat had been to contact Waterfox and the Commanders of the various legions to assemble in the city proper for a meeting. It seemed natural that they should have one and her instincts drove her to order Florian to get it arranged before her feelings paralyzed her for long enough to fully comprehend what had happened to the Guardians that day.

   “Where are we heading?” Akurei asked, rais
ing her eyebrow at the discovery of a meeting she hadn’t known about until now.

   “Oh, the usual
paradise” Florian quipped, making Akurei roll her eyes. “I thought the building we used before would suffice. It’s large enough to accommodate three Apostles and the Command echelons of the legions present” he said more seriously.

   Akurei and Novus shared a mutually confused look. “A third?” the latter asked.

   If it was possible for him to be unnerved, Florian would have blushed. Instead, he said almost regretfully, “I thought you knew, my Grace. Your sister Solitaire arrived on the surface a short while ago. Jestarr of the 109th informed me himself”.

OZ FOUND NOVUS moving away from the tertiary line towards the Thundertrack that would take them back to the city centre. She was so preoccupied with something else that she didn’t seem to notice him until he came up the slope which she was descending and crossed her tracks. Akurei and Florian shouldered her and were the first to step towards him. When they did, so did she.

   “Novus?” Oz asked.

   She looked up to find his face, his voice breeching her thoughts. “Solitaire is here” she said distantly. “Did
you
know that?”

   “No, of course not” he replied
, as surprised as she evidently was. He felt a twinge of betrayal at their sister’s subterfuge and clandestine movements, but it was a hint of anger that he heard in Novus’ tone.

   “We have a war council, Oz. I very much assume she is aware of it. How can she know so much and be so…” Novus began, but even she couldn’t describe Solitaire
with one word.

   Oz stood aside to let her pass, but as they did he suggested “
…Erratic?”

   Novus approached the rear door of
the Thundertrack and turned to him. There was a degree of earnestness in her eyes that he wasn’t expecting. “I just don’t know anymore. I thought I understood her, but she still surprises me with her actions. She becomes more complex as the war goes on, not less”.

   The two legionnaires that accompanied Novus boarded the
troop carrier properly and left them to talk. “It is not our duty to solve her mind, Novus. You already bear enough duties, do not let her become another” Oz said. He walked closer to her and laid a hand on her cheek. It felt smouldering hot, as though she could take form any moment now and become Phoenix.

   Novus nestled her cheek into his palm and felt the soothing touch of his cold skin. Had he controlled his temperature to calm her own? She couldn’t be sure, but the fact didn’t need a certain c
ause to make her love him more.

Her mind was rife with uncertainty lately; the change in the Phantoms’ strategic capability, the separation from the other Apostles, the stress of holding a world that was critical to the success of the war and now Solitaire
acting out of direction. She was used to her sister’s unusual behaviour, but she had never arrived somewhere unannounced.

   “We should go” Novus said.
In truth, she didn’t like to be in need of looking after. She was used to being a symbol of hope in the darkness, not the shadow that her flame carried with her. She turned and climbed into the troop carrier alongside Akurei and Florian. Without a word, but full of understanding, Oz joined her and the vehicle’s engine rumbled into life as it bore them to their new destination.

THE THUNDERTRACK PULLED up to the factory complex where the war council was to be held. Novus insisted that it should be kept away from the control room, which had become a personal sanctuary for her. There were Harlequins from the 109th already present in the main fabrication chamber. When Novus and Oz walked in to see them gathered around a table made out of sheet metal, they immediately asked why Solitaire wasn’t there if her legionnaires were.

   “She will be here soon” a Harlequin
assured them. He wore a helmet which hid his face, but Novus noticed the Commander pins on his armour and the rich blue stripes on his shoulder guards.

   “You must be Jestarr” she said. He nodded. “Presumably if she didn’t tell us herself she was here, she wanted it kept secret. Why did you tell us?”

   Jestarr looked at her blankly. “Experience suggests people don’t like to be surprised by her arrival, despite her power and…talents”.

   “It’s probably
because
of her talents, Commander” Oz replied sternly, but Jestarr’s expression didn’t change. Serving alongside Solitaire had created in him a barrier against challenge or correction from anyone. “Still, we are grateful for your message. She won’t be told of it”.

   The Harlequin Commander nodded and crossed his arms
confidently. From a side entrance to the chamber, a new figure joined them. She was a little shorter than Jestarr, but her presence dwarfed his own. Her pink and black hair was short on the right side, but cascaded down her left shoulder until the tips lay across her chest armour. Her cheeks were rosy now, adding to the illusion of innocence that became her. She bore no weaponry, but her bright eyes and precise movements belied a need to.

   “Solitaire, it’s good to see you again” Novus smiled.
The sentiment was genuine, though the grievance she held was still there. “Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?”

   Almost ignoring the Harlequins, Solitaire walked briskly to Novus and threw her arms around her. “Novus!” Hugging her tightly, beaming with happiness, she laughed gently. “
Good
is not good enough! I have missed you
terribly
!” Solitaire replied, ignoring her sister’s question completely.

   Novus hugged her back, feeling
an honest sense of familial bonds return to her. She chose not to ask Solitaire again, knowing that if she ignored something there was a good reason for it. They had grown together as Apostles on Noiran, a world bathed in shadow where only Phoenix and the light of her palace, its walls made of flame, stood in defiance of the darkness. They were as close as Calla and Raina, even though they did not share the same blood, so Novus could find it in herself to forgive the lack of proper communication that Solitaire showed.

  
The reinforcement of their relationship broke through Novus’ trepidation and she felt herself laugh with joy as well. When Solitaire pulled away, she saw how closely Oz stood near Novus and cocked her head in understanding. Slowly her lips curled into a knowing smirk. When she last saw them, they hadn’t been this close. Now things were a little more obvious.

   “Am I replaced?” she asked him.

   “Never” he grinned. Over time he had gotten more attached to her as well, though he didn’t feel the same responsibility of care towards her as Novus did.

   Solitaire embraced him too and stepped away to be alongside her legionnaires. By now, Volanquis and Tacitus of the Dawntreaders had arrived. Each Apostle now had the main components of their legion’s command structure present
, as well as various Commanders from the other legions under their join command. With a quick glance over to them, Oz was heartened to see most of the key legions represented; Lauria for the 18
th
, the 60
th
with Valens, Janus from the 99
th
, Decimus of the 403
rd
, Vergil of the 538
th
and, most interestingly, Eos from the 821
st
.

The 821
st
had found them most recently, but unlike the other legions who were ready and willing to be taken under the umbrella of the two Apostles, the legion had its own agenda. Claiming that they had to find the Lion, under the direction of an Apostle they were honour-bound not to reveal, Eos pleaded for Oz and Novus to help her and the 821
st
reach the First. The whole thing seemed suspicious, however, and though both Volanquis and Akurei confirmed the identity of Eos and her legion, they cautioned the Apostles to wait.

The 821st hadn’t been seen for a very long time, even during the Battle of Colossi they didn’t make a name for themselves, so it seemed strange that another Apostle would send them directly to the Lion with such urgency. Novus was protective of the First to the point of paranoia and she welcomed the two Commanders’ advice, insisting that they wait until they could understand the nature of Eos and her mission. Oz, on the other hand, wasn’t sure she would wait that long. He was surprised to see her here on the council, nevertheless still in the sector. She could have taken her legion and rushed away for help elsewhere by now, but she didn’t.

Before he could dwell on the meaning behind that, it was time to begin the meeting. “Many things have come to pass” Novus began as the chamber fell silent and the Guardians gathered round the table. “There are many more that we may no longer be able to predict. It is why we are here now, gathered as rarity demands”. As she spoke, she matched the eyes of all her audience, Apostle and legionnaire alike.

   She focussed on Solitaire now. “First, we must understand the conflict we cannot see
from the ground. Tell us sister, what fate awaits us above?”

THE WAR COUNCIL was an unusual event. Since the defeat at Pheia two years ago, the Apostles had broken up into pairs or independent factions. Despite being close to Oz and Novus, even Solitaire was considered her own force. The Guardians that were now gathered with the three Apostles, a mixture of Commanders, Recon Masters and honoured legionnaires, dared not say anything unless directly prompted.

   Over the course of an hour, Solitaire explained the legions’ naval situation not only in the Orpheus Sector, but throughout the Empire. She shared her knowledge of the other Apostles’ fleet actions, the strength of ships she believed they wielded an
d the movement of the Phantoms.

Novus and Oz already knew that she was struggling to prevent the Great Enemy from breaching her lines and getting through to the
south-eastern part of the Empire, but they were surprised to hear that the Independent Worlds that were nestled between the Orpheus and Tempest Sectors were rallying together with the Guardians to repel the Phantom forces.

   “They volunteered to help? Can they handle warfare against the enemy?” Oz asked incredulously.

   Solitaire gave him a thoughtful look. She had been detailing the part that the Independent Worlds were playing for a while, noting with delight the success of their guerrilla strikes. Then, as if remembering where she was and what he had actually asked her, she nodded at him several times with a victorious smile. “They have become great friends of mine, Oz! They’re not scared like the other humans are. They’re…
stronger
”.

   Oz gave a questioning glance to Novus, who in return shrugged. “Why do you think that is?” he asked Solitaire.

   “They defy the bullies of the Empire’s Senate. They’re not scared of anyone anymore” she said. “And it’s a difficult place where they’ve made home. They’ve seen things, enough to break the shackles of naiveté that the rest of the Empire still has”.

   She went on to explain that her fleet had grown in size by triple its original strength. “More legions have flocked to me. Am I the
only special one?” she asked them.

   Novus felt a twinge of guilt for the possible connotations of that word and how they all seemed to fit with Solitaire. “How many
have come, sister?” she managed to reply without giving her inner thoughts away.

   Solitaire closed her eyes to think, as if shutting the outside world away would help her count. “Three
infantry legions…five armoured…four naval”. She opened her eyes and said with a telling gravity in her voice, “Twelve…
twelve
legions. Huh, how remarkable. Is that enough?”

   Oz raised an eyebrow. “Enough? Enough for what?”

   “To win” Solitaire said bluntly, looking at him like he was stupid. The tone didn’t sound quite right coming from her.

   “We can win; we just need the right strategy. Might of arms alone will not ensure our victory over the Great Enemy” Novus
answered.

   Solitaire nodded her agreement. “What about you two?
Have any of our lost friends returned to you?”

   “A naval legion appeared two weeks ago, carrying both an infantry and artillery legion with them. We don’t know where they came from and, more confusingly, neither do they. Our own legions confirm their identity, though” said Oz.

   Solitaire was thoughtful. “Hmm…missing legions indeed” she muttered to herself.

   The Apostles shortly after came to the conclusion that at maximum,
a third of the original one thousand legions had survived the Battle of Colossi. The rest had either been annihilated or were lost forever for unknown reasons. Whatever the case may be, the Twelve Chosen could ill afford to search for traces of them and simultaneously defend the Empire’s worlds. It was hard to imagine there were any left to discover now anyway and since the latest additions, there had been no news of any others. Even the recent arrivals admitted they had seen no-one else.