Moyo awaited the signal from Kairos, watching in shrouded seclusion along with Idris, Josh, Ashira and the five Shieldborne behind them. Clad in armors of mithril, they were a rock steady presence, quiet and undaunting despite what would no doubt look like an apocalypse come through in the eyes of diamond rankers. Moyo supposed they war had opened their eyes to the true horrors of the universe itself, honing them to a deadly edge, something they’d need going into that planet.

Coating their entire body with his aspect, he kept an eye on them, aware of just how much danger he was putting them in. nevertheless, they wanted to be his shield, they would either be forged during this battle, or they’d fall short, breaking against the anvil of corruption that were the forces of the abyss. Eyes staring into the void, ships of the jade clan moved into view, led by Ingvar and Mardar who glanced in his general direction, as if subtly sensing his aspect. Moyo smiled, watching the rest of the force of the archailect pull into view, the vessels of house Thousandblades led by their ancient patriarch pulling next to the Defiance, adding their lances of power to the expanse of space slowly turning green.

The power of the abyss was spreading, and whatever was fueling it was coming from beyond that planet, Moyo knew that, not sure how, but he chalked it up to primordial tingling senses. Glancing in the direction of his house’s fleet, he spoke,

“The legion seems to be having fun” he said,

Idris glanced at the general direction of the fleet, watching the cohorts launch coordinated assaults from their flagships with precision born of countless battles waged together in the void of space. However, even Moyo could see how the entire forces of the archailect were fighting a losing battle, it was slow, barely imperceptible, but where once, they had blanketed the planet, their faster than lighter vessels were forced to make hit and run tactics, trying to step the corners where the ships of the archailect couldn’t cover.

And then the slowly turning void of space pulsed once, power blasting in all directions as a high-pitched scream echoed in the expanse of space, Moyo staring at the stars that were blinking out one by one,

“Araman” he whispered,

From all over the capital vessels housing primordials came lances of light, the primordials coordinating their powers into one cohesive force. Moyo watched the working of power happening, seeing as aspects tore loose, blanketing their vessels and all those they could reach in an attempt to stop what he was slowly realizing to be an incursion, for the forces of the abyss no longer needed pathways to manifest, not again,

The very void of space itself was one giant pathway,

The brigade rose, phalanxes of burning fire led by Tania herself shot to out of their ships, bringing ancient but deadly relics to bear, the jades appearing in their numbers, coordinating runic barriers in a size Moyo hadn’t seen even from the beginning of the war itself, led by Mardar. Amidst all these, reality seemed to shudder, like the laws holding the archailect itself wavered, and in a blink, space itself became filled with untold number of abyssal creatures. Each burning with so much power, that collectively Moyo realized with a staggering thought, they had the strength of a primordial.

The forces of the archailect froze for one terrifying second before a cry to war rang out and they clashed as one, like a sea of monsters, coming head-to-head with the forces of the archailect who blazed like pinpricks of light amidst a sea of darkness. Moyo drew dominion and Gegun as one even as Ashira drew her blade, its edge burning with aspect and master ranked venom. He glanced in the general direction of his house’s fleet, watching as the Defiance opened up with everything it had in a storm of fore and power, blasting in all directions consecutively, trying to stem the tides from reaching them. Without a second thought, he linked himself with the ship, Shola opening up to him, her cry urgent,

“My liege!” she said within his head,

“They are pushing at our barrier!, they’re attempting to get in!” she cried,

“Open up to me” he ordered,

Glancing at Josh, he spoke,

“Change of orders, you and the Shieldborne protect the fleet of the house!” he said,

Josh gave to rebuttal, even as his eyes widened at what he was seeing,

“This is madness, how many of their lives can they throw away in this suicidal attack?” Ashira cried,

Josh shot through the pathway, appearing within the Defiance, glancing at him,

“Fight hard lord, the Defiance is safe” the Valoris said, surrounded by his Shieldborne who had followed immediately,

The aspect and authority of lighting and thunder crackled within the Defiance, Annika Stormseeker and her Stormwardens burning to life. He nodded, closing the pathway as forces of the abyss honed in on it, attempting to pass through,

“HOLD” he commanded, pitting his authority against them,

They froze in the air, Moyo’s eyes widening as he realized how they collectively pushed against his will a second later, like a tsunami crashing against a mountain, they didn’t budge him, but it was evident, and that alone was something to be concerned about. Idris shot forwards, spear and shield in hand as he tore into the creatures, dancing in a deadly arch around them as he reaped their numbers in multitudes. Moving back and forth from Moyo’s position, he became a whirlwind of death, the slain creatures burning with purple flames that begun to spread.

A roar came from the mountain vessel of the sage where sun Wukong blazed with primordial light, calling down death in beams of golden light, a thousand of his forms spread around, each with the power of a ruler, burning through the creatures. Still, they manifested in untold numbers, literally seeping through the green tinted void of space like grains of sand, for every creature they called, a hundred took their places and soon enough, the blazing pinpricks of light began to stutter as they were almost overwhelmed.

Then Mardar blazed with power, snapping his fingers as his mouth moved wordlessly, a shimmering barrier of bright white and blue light snapped around the entire armada of the archailect, trapping hundreds of thousands of creatures within the barrier but infinitely more outside of it, and those hammered at the barrier in rage. Moyo raised both blades up, gathering his entire array of power he had within him, feeling the other primordials doing the same and shouted to Ashira and Idris,

“Shield your eyes!”

Without waiting to see if they complied, he swung both blades, spiritual form blazing to life and following suit. A cacophony of power tore around the barrier, lancing through every unclean creature, power so great that Moyo saw his Hud flicker to life for a few precious seconds before blinking out again. When it was done, nothing but dust remain, that and the slain bodies of ascenders that were slowly crumbling to essence. Masters injured and rapidly healing while staring at the untold hordes outside of the barrier, Moyo glanced in the general direction of the Defiance, pursing his lips before grabbing both Ashira and Idris,

“Be ready” he whispered,

The moment that barrier fell as it would inevitably do, seeing the thousands of creatures beating at it, draining away the power one tiny piece at a time, even as they dissolved into nothingness, only for more to take their place. The forces of the brigade, a thousand ascender strong number with arcane and legendary weapons brimming with power, staring resolutely at the creatures,

Crack,

The jades, arrayed in all their lethal glory, eyes burning bright as they prepared to unleash hell,

Crack!,

And them the primordials and the rest of the fleets of the archailect, recovering from the skirmish but preparing for what would either make or break them. This would either mow them down to single digits, or they’d persevere and hold back the forces, Moyo took a dep breath, shrouding himself down to gold rank, Idris and Ashira doing the same even as he wrapped all of them in layers of aspect and Ashe, a protective bubble to see them reach the planet surface safely.

And then it shattered, the barrier crashing down like glass as the abyssal forces poured straight through, and Moyo shot towards the planet in his bubble, gripping Idris and Ashira tightly as their team became one tiny hole heading for the plane. He closed his eyes and ears to the screams that rang around him, pushing onwards even as the gravitational pull of the planet began to draw him in. he tore through the runic barrier that protected the planet, seeing as he went through like jelly and then he was through the atmosphere, falling into the planet.

∞

Josh stood with mistress Urne aboard the Defiance, eyes flickering through the hundreds of ship messages that poured through even as Urne took control of communications between the fleet’s ships. Annika and her Stormwardens at her side, the masters and commanders of the legion on call, ship to ship communication crackling and hazy, possible only due to the close proximity with each other. Josh spoke,

“Is everyone prepared?” he asked, his voice commanding authority,

“No choice, we fight or we die” Hajin lightning eater, master of the Kaminaris said softly,

“Indeed, assuming any of our flagships survive this encounter” Wutan piercing spear, master of the lances asked,

“Then we will go down with our ships, sending them to oblivion” Romulus beast walker replied,

“Negative, if the titan had his way, we’d all be burning power straight back for our worlds, protecting the house” Josh stated,

“But Moyo would never leave his allies behind, and it falls to us that we protect the bulk of our forces” Annika said, stepping in,

“With the complete transfer of golds and below to the Defiance, you all have complete autonomy, we might not be able to communicate when that barrier falls, but in the name of the titan blade, we will hold” Annika completed,

“In essence, go buck wild?” Vaughn assault piercer asked,

“That could be done” marcel devil touch replied with a grim smile,

“Commanders, masters” Shola said as she manifested, runes dancing in her eyes as she seemed to be gathering power,

“The shield is falling” she said almost as a whisper as the shield shattered,

Then a darkness covered them all, spreading the power of the lords of the abyss as communications went dark and the Defiance buckled. Urne produced a legendary ranked gun, two short pistols in both hands that spat aetheric intent,

“Titan protect us” she whispered as shrieks and maniacal laughter filled the air,

“he’s done his best, it’s left to us” Josh replied as he hefted his Warhammer,

“Shieldborne” he called out as they snapped to attention,

“Search and destroy” he said simply as they shot through the door of the command deck, blitzing with diamond ranked strength, their weapons glowing with Aserite,

The titan had equipped his legion in advance, the blades forged with Aserite he had bequeathed to them in what almost looked like a lifetime ago, the only saving grace for those without his aspect in them, but it would be enough,

“It had to be enough” Josh thought grimly,

There was no other choice, the darkness had come, and the supreme being protect them all. Standing with Annika who closed her eyes, her Stormwardens behind her in perpetual silence, waiting on her orders. Shola sat on the throne left for the titan whenever he was on the Defiance,

“Aspect crystal now distributing power across the fleet, drainage is at 5% per minute” she said, grunting,

Urne turned to her, nodded grimly and then back to the ascenders seated across control consoles,

“I know you’re all scared” she started,

“Golds, bronze, even iron rankers” she said with distaste as they chuckled,

It was lined with terror,

“But realize that we do what the titan wants us to do in situations like this” she continued,

“We are the shield and blade that protects countless worlds from this invasion, if we fall here, then all is lost, the abyss blanketing the archailect, countless systems would be lost in the process” she urged,

“So hold strong, remember he is always with us, the titan’s very aspect shields this ship, his masters stand amongst you in numbers unseen for a house before, he will fight to his very last breath, and so will we” she said,

“We are the members of the Defiance, the vessel of the titan, let them come, they shall break on our metals and die in our lances of light, commence extermination, wipe those bastards off my liege’s ship” she commanded,

The entire crew gave a loud cry of rage as they began shouting out commands lances of fire bursting out of the Defiance in every directing, incinerating the creatures in their hundreds. Josh turned and began walking towards the exit of the command deck,

“Where are you going?’ Annika called out,

“To the quarters of the titan blade, they may invade this ship, but they sure as hell won’t enter his sanctum” he replied,

Urne brought up schematics of the ship,

“We have over a hundred diamonds on board, and with the golds and below sequestered to the aspect crystal room, they can run rampant around this colossal vessel” Urne said,

“Where do you need us?” Annika asked simply,

Urne turned to her in surprise,

“I couldn’t possibly give orders to a clan maste- “she said as Annika raised on hand, halting her,

“You know the ship better, where do you need us?” she asked again,

Urne nodded, tapping lines across the map of the ship as those points blazed red,

“If each of your Stormwardens can command a group of diamonds to each of these points, we can stall them long enough from reaching the aspect crystal” she said,

“they’d burn up should they get near it” Annika asked confused,

“Not with the rate we’re draining it, once we reach 50%, Shola is to cut off aspect shielding and focus on retaining power to the vessel, then we can bunker down and weather them” Urne said,

“You seem sure of them breaching the ship” Gaius Ironthorn said, the hulking armored figure within the Stormwardens,

“Make no mistake, they will” Urne replied,

Just then, screams of anathema!, rang from outside the ship, the forces of the abyss pouring themselves on the vessel even as they disintegrated,

“aspect crystal at 70%” Shola called out from where her eyes where sealed shut,

Annika nodded, turning to her wardens,

“Well, you heard her, get those diamonds and hold those lines” she called,

They disappeared in flashes of lightning, shooting their way into the ship, Annika was about to talk when a powerful presence settled on the ship, her eyes shooting up immediately, lightning crackling in them,

“Something strong has arrived” she called out,

Urne shouted,

“Release intent bombs above, direct shield to full power above!” she called out,

“Too late” Annika said grimly,

Whatever weapon hat creature wielded, it crashed on the shield like a boulder, no doubt destroying the weapon, but it gave the forces of the abyss a chance to manifest. Even as the Aserite burned them, even as they died in untold numbers against the metal of the vessel, Shola screamed in rage,

“They come!”

The first to manifest died almost immediately, Asagai lancing out in an arc to burn the creature into oblivion, lightning pouring forth to burn the rest into nonexistence in the command center. Shola snapped out of it, eyes burning with titan aspect,

“Directing shielding to the command deck and aspect crystal room” she said, standing up from the chair,

Purple and gold power suffused the room, preventing any creature of the abyss from manifesting within its vicinity, Urne shuddering in relief, Annika burned with power,

“Lock the doors behind me, you are the only people keeping the Defiance alive” she said before stepping out,

Shola stepped out with her,

“The…thing, it brought another along with itself” she said shuddering in disgust,

Annika nodded solemnly, she could feel its presence in the distance, appearing within a space in the Defiance even as the titan aspect burned at its presence weakly. It persevered though, along with the hordes of creatures it brought along with itself, she gripped Asagai tightly,

“Lead me” she said to Shola to nodded and twisted space around them, pushing them ever closer to the creature,

She drew aether and mana from her core, her realm on standby, feeling the other creature move in the direction of Josh and silently said a prayer to the supreme beings for the mithril warden, he would be facing the creature alone,

The moment she manifested, the felt its power, saw it was master ranked and unleashed everything she had on it. Her realm came down with a crushing power, its hordes disappearing in lances of lightning that struck around frying them to dust in the blink of an eye even as more manifested. The creature stood on green horse legs, the upper body of a crab, red and bloody with spider like legs lined all over its upper torso. One blood red eye glared at her above a mouth full of canine teeth, an horrific sight to behold,

“Servant of the anathema!” it cried out in glee even as its body smoked from the continuous hits of her lightning,

“Your end has come, your titan will die by the powers of the ravaging lords, Vusal’s will be done!” It said,

Annika paid it no heed, twirling her spear even as it sought to pollute her realm with its essence, she released the aspect of the titan within her, her eyes burning lightning blue, white and purple even as it shrieked in rage,

“please” she called out,

“Make this fight worth it” she finished as the Stormseeker went on the attack.