"Well done, my friends! I am astounded by how well you handled that. In fact, I'm going to award you all medals and titles. And you four in particular, I want you on an elite squad to handle just this type of battle. I want you to specialise and find out the best way of dealing with these creatures so you can protect the realm against any future threats. After the official ceremony, you may rest if you want, but I would like to send you out to Deserin to learn what you can from them and deal with their monsters the same way." The four friends looked at each other, incredulous.
"It would be an honour, sir. Do you have a name in mind for this squad?" Athemar spoke for them.
"As a matter of fact, I do. How about the Royal Gears?" All the soldiers groaned. "What? Because you're the cogs that keep the kingdom in motion! Right?"
"With respect sir, we understood the reasoning behind it, we just don't think it's a good name." They all nodded in agreement.
"How about Invasion Zero?" Sylvia suggested. "Because we're reducing the invasion to nothing." Sounds of affirmation rang out in the room. The king looked hurt and disappointed, but eventually said:
"Okay, if everyone is in agreement, I will introduce you as Invasion Zero at the ceremony." And with that he dismissed them.
****************
"You all should understand why you're gathered here today. In recent weeks, there has been a dangerous threat just outside our walls. Terrifying beasts that destroy everything just by being close. I lost family, friends and leaders to them. The men and women gathered up here now were the ones who slayed the creatures just yesterday and cleansed the environment from their corruption. As you can imagine, this deed comes with a great honour. As such they will all receive medals for service and bravery, and titles such that they will be offered preferential treatment from hosts and store owners.
"In addition, these four - who were instrumental in defeating the creatures and who developed the strategies necessary to win - will be afforded special honours and drafted to a new elite squad - Invasion Zero! They will be tasked with discovering more about these creatures and how other lands are dealing with them in order to better protect our kingdom from them and wipe out the menace once and for all!" The crowd burst out into great applause, along with several murmurs of:
"Huh, he's come up with a good name for something for once."
"And now for the awards ceremony to officially begin! Would Skadi please step forward?" Each soldier was called forth one by one, until all that was left were Athemar, Sylvia, Nathan and Gawain.
"Finally, we get to the most important part. Athemar, I bestow upon you the title of Royal General. For your services, I award you the Royal Medal of Intelligence, the Royal Medal of Leadership, and the Royal medal of Bravery. Welcome to Invasion Zero, Royal General Athemar." The king pinned three elaborate medals onto Athemar's duelling coat and kissed each of his cheeks.
"Sylvia. I bestow upon you the title of Royal Cavalry. For your services, I award you the Royal Medal of Cunning, the Royal Medal of Strength, and the Royal Medal of Skill. Welcome to Invasion Zero, Royal Cavalry Sylvia." He repeated the same process as with Athemar.
"Nathan, I bestow upon you the title of Royal Cavalry. For your services, I award you the Royal Medal of Victory, the Royal Medal of Skill, and the Royal Medal of Instruction. Welcome to Invasion Zero, Royal Cavalry Nathan." Another three medals were pinned on Nathan's duelling jacket.
"Gawain, I bestow upon you the title of Royal Knight. For your services, I award you the Royal Medal of Strength, the Royal Medal of Skill, the Royal Medal of Virtue, and the Royal Medal of Intelligence. Welcome to Invasion Zero, Royal Knight Gawain." Again, Gawain received his four medals and a kiss to each cheek that officially passed on the title.
"Invasion Zero will be resting after their hard fought victory and leaving tomorrow morning for their first mission. I expect each and every one of you to be there to give them a hero's farewell. That is all."
****************
"Invasion Zero, roll out!" Nathan joked as the group began to leave. They all laughed with him and continued to joke around until they neared the exit to the city.
"By my sword! How many people?" Nathan cursed. The citizens had formed a huge wall blocking the exit, and they were all looking admiringly and expectantly at the friends. Athemar chuckled.
"We're heroes now, remember? We need to come to expect this." With that, he walked towards the crowd, the others close in tow. The crowd parted like the red sea before him, but quickly filed back in to close the gaps, and every one of them still wanted to touch their heroes. Eventually, they made it to the end and turned back to wave goodbye. A small child sprinted to them and jumped at Athemar, who caught him gently and raised him up.
"Beat those things for me! I'm gonna train in the arena to get as good as you, but I don't have the strength to avenge my mother. So you gotta do it for me!" The kid cried.
"Hey there, it takes a different kind of strength to have that much determination after what's happened to you. I know you'll do great in the arena. Just make sure you keep rooting for all of us, okay? Even if we can't hear you, having people somewhere who are counting on us makes us stronger. And you've gotta find supporters of your own too, that way you'll never truly be defeated." The kid nodded, showing a brave face to Athemar but not hiding a couple of tears. Athemar nodded back and winked before putting the child down. As he scurried back into the crowd, the four turned and left, waving back. The entire crowd cheered and applauded until they were out of sight.
****************
Invasion Zero were walking down a dirt forest path, bantering and laughing with each other as usual. The sunlight came down in shafts through the trees and cast a beautiful green light over the ground. The browns of dirt and bark were still beautiful, though largely in texture over colour. The occasional rabbit or muntjac flashed past. Slowly, however, the browns and greens of the forest gave way to harsh yellow sand and whirling winds.
"So, Deseria, huh? I'm guessing it wasn't named for being as sweet as a dessert." Nathan sulked.
"No, Deseria is the most hostile land in this kingdom. It's one of the few that was obtained democratically on account of no-one wanting it badly enough to fight." Gawain explained.
"It was a joke, Gawain. You know we were all here for the War of Rulers." Athemar chided his friend and continued moving forward into the desert. "Regardless, there should be an oasis within roughly a day's walk from here. We'll camp there. Of course we'll need to be alert at all times in case some of those creatures managed to escape from our equivalents here." The other three groaned.
"Great. Just what we needed. A day's hike through the blasting desert, heat, sand, dryness. Plus we have to watch out for monsters AND be in a state to fight them? That's more gruelling than Nathan's training regime!" Sylvia complained.
"Well then, it'll be even more effective, will it not?" Athemar snapped his jaw shut once he'd finished speaking and pointed his index finger into the air dramatically. The others sighed and followed him. Invasion Zero travelled for five hours in the sweltering heat and cutting sand, growing increasingly fatigued. Growing increasingly impatient. Increasingly irritated. They stumbled across a fennec fox which provided them with blood and flesh for sustenance, but while they were resting, they spotted a black shape darting among the rocks.
"Was that... a fox-shaped one?" Sylvia questioned, worried. Nathan offered to check and sprinted behind one of the rocks. Moments later, he came back, persued by a phantom shaped like himself.
"I think it was. Not anymore." He affirmed hastily. The other three rushed to stand and grab their weapons. The phantom simply held out a hand and a sword shape appeared in its hand. When Nathan drew his skrath, the sword changed shape to match. The thing ran at Gawain and took a huge, laborious swing. He ducked and stepped forward into a shovel punch to the phantom's abdomen, but his fist went straight through. He hurriedly dropped and rolled out.
"What in the World-?" Black particles started rising from Gawain's gauntlet, and when he threw it off, his hand was blackened and crumbling. He screamed and shook it with his other hand.
"Gawain! Are you okay?" Sylvia yelled.
"I think so... It doesn't hurt, it just freaked me out." He looked back down at his hand. "Huh, it's already back to normal. Well, good to know, punching unarmed isn't a good idea." The phantom screeched and charged towards Nathan. He ducked low and punched the hook blade of his skrath through the creature's stomach, then brought it back up and cut off its arm with the other side. As he jumped back from a wild strike, the arm grew back with an unnatural swiftness.
"It's not as good with my weapon as I am, but it's better at pretty much everything else it appears." Nathan joked. As they watched, the semblance of the phantom's weapon changed into a sword, and its outline morphed to mimic Gawain's armour.
"Oh, spit. It's as if it understood." Without warning, it snapped to face Sylvia and rushed headlong. She smirked and beckoned to it. With a quick succession of spear slashes, she took off its extended sword arm, followed by its opposite foot, then its other arm and finally the complete leg. Taking a breath, she dropped the blade to the ground and brought it back upwards in a cut through the creature's front. Black particles spewed out from the gash in a violent spray, knocking Sylvia back. The creature's limbs snapped back into place, causing miniature explosions of the particles at the areas they joined.
"Alright, this has to be the most frustrating one we've come across yet." The phantom lunged at Athemar with its sword, and he deflected it with one shield while driving the other into its chest. It took a step back, then swung its fist wide. Athemar caught the blow on his shield and returned it, but the phantom's sword bit into the shield and stopped it short. Gawain jumped in with an upwards slash and they all reset their positions while the creature was reeling.
"It seems it can regenerate from anything. Usually when that's the case, we would have two options: Keep doing damage to flood its ability to regenerate, or destroy its head. I vote the second option first." Athemar analysed. He jumped forward into a superman punch. The Shinesteel edge of his shield cut through the black mass of the phantom's side. He deflected its sword with his other shield, and pushed forwards for another punch. With the same hand, he delivered a hook to its head. Another punch was aimed at the creature's throat but deflected. Sylvia jumped in with a flurry of spear slashes. She moved like a dancer, every motion both aesthetic and efficient. The blade cut in and out at different levels, making wounds in the creature's arms, legs and torso. However, every attack aimed at the phantom's head was blocked. Nevertheless, the onslaught served to push it back and occupy its focus. Meanwhile, Nathan had moved around behind the creature. Once he saw an opening, he stuck the spike on his skrath through the creature's head. Only, it changed form into that of a snake at the last moment. It dashed between the fighters' feet and fled out of sight, leaving a shallow trail of black particles.
"Huh, I hadn't expected them to be capable of running away. We're gonna need to track it." Nathan mused.
"Not possible, I'm afraid. Its trail is so thin it's already disappeared, and did you see how fast it was moving? We're just going to have to continue the journey and keep an extra eye open." Sylvia spat, then turned to Athemar. "How far do you reckon?"
"Quite a way. We've barely come any distance at all compared to that we need to travel." The others groaned but otherwise did not complain. Their journey continued uneventfully for another four hours. Just as the light was beginning to fade, another of the dark creatures set upon them. In the shape of an elephant, it charged at them.
"Do you think it's a shapeshifter again, or is this one yet another we haven't seen before?" Asked Athemar. He spun out of the way of the charge and delivered a strong hammer punch to its underbelly. Its unnatural black flesh rippled at the impact, then burst open around the Shinesteel edge of the shield as black particles sprayed out of the wound. The beast screamed at a painful frequency and volume.
"Well, we're hurting it for real this time. I don't think it's the same one as before." Gawain chuckled as he slashed another gaping hole in the creature's massive body. It roared as it turned and gored him with a tusk. The wound instantly started to leak black particles.
"No!" Cried Athemar, running to catch his friend. Nathan yelled wordlessly and leaped onto the creature's head. He dug the sickle blade of his skrath into its ear and hung on. Making sure his other hand was gripping strongly, he ripped the blade downwards and out. Then he repeatedly plunged the spike into the monster's face. Through its blood-curdling scream, he jumped over its head and jammed the sickle blade into its neck. Using the momentum of his fall, he made a huge, cavernous wound. It doubled its roar, and swung its tusks towards Nathan, spraying digital black particles like a fire hose. Sylvia jumped in and stopped the tusk with her spear. She rotated her body to deflect the force, spun the spear around and cut through the thing's jaw.
"Is it just me or are the glitches here stronger than they were in Regalia?"
"Never mind that, we need to get Gawain into the city. With this wound he won't last a day. With the corruption, he might be done for much sooner." Invasion Zero continued moving forwards, supporting a weak Gawain and stopping every now and then to treat his wound. After another four hours, they finally reached a gate connected to sandstone walls. A veritable army greeted them, but it was less amiable than they had expected. Seven sword points were suddenly thrust into each of their faces.
"Who are you and what are you doing with Glitch Dust following you?" They demanded.
"We're an elite task force sent from Regalia to learn about and combat the glitches. Our friend here got gored by one on our way here, he needs help!" Athemar answered.
"Don't trick us. No-one survives being hit by a glitch. Hell, only two have survived meeting one at all."
"We're not tricking you. We were the first to discover them back in Regalia. The soldiers were able to contain them, but lost a great number in doing so. We were able to kill them, and stop their corruption, so we were sent to do the same in other cities."
"You expect us to believe you? Immediately after I told you no-one survives an encounter with them." The leader turned to his fellow soldiers. "Arrest them." The soldiers moved immediately.
"Wait! I can duel you to prove our strength is enough to beat the glitches. Hell, I can fight you all at once. Just please, take Gawain in and heal him in the meantime. I assure you, you don't want to have his death on your hands once we've proved ourselves." The soldiers hesitated and looked to their leader.
"Fine. You and you, take him in. Make sure he doesn't harm anyone, but also ensure no-one harms him first. Everyone else, let's test this guy." He pointed at two of his men, then beckoned to the others and walked slowly towards Athemar. Sylvia and Nathan backed away and let the soldiers take Gawain. The leader took a swing at Athemar, who ducked and delivered a shovel hook to his stomach. Another soldier stepped in with an overhand sword cut, and Athemar spun out and crushed his face using the momentum. One more swung a spear at him, and he blocked it with one hand. Pulling the spear down towards himself, he delivered an uppercut to its owner. Two soldiers stepped in with parallel cuts, which Athemar ducked and diverted. Their swords ended up at each other's throats, and had the added benefit of stopping a third assailant in his tracks. Athemar shifted his weight into a front kick, pushing forwards. Two of the three soldiers were knocked over, and he followed up with a crane kick to the one left standing. The soldier's armour crumpled under the kick and he fell to his knees gasping for breath. Four more soldiers rushed in and hacked at Athemar, who dodged the attacks and dispatched them with a whirlwind of kicks. A sword impacted on the back of his armour, but it chipped against the Shinesteel plating. Hearing the noise, Athemar spun to face his newest attacker and knocked him to the floor. A wave of wind devoid of sand hit Athemar's back, and he turned to intercept an attack. His assailant was wide-eyed as a gauntleted fist struck him on the nose. The soldiers stepped back as an unarmed, unarmoured gentlemen stepped forward.
"I'm one of the people here who has defeated a glitch. I will fight you, and judge if you would be capable." Athemar nodded and settled into a stance. The fighter wasted no time and charged in with a superman punch, which Athemar sidestepped and redirected into the ground. Athemar then brought his leg up into a roundhouse to the stomach. The fighter caught his balance and just about stopped the kick with both hands. Taking this chance, he twisted Athemar's leg and threw him to the ground. Athemar stopped his fall and sprung back to his feet, but the fighter was ready for this and stepped in to close the distance. Too close for punches and kicks, the fighter threw an elbow at Athemar's face. Athemar stopped the elbow by grabbing his opponents collar, the other hand on the unoccupied elbow, and pulling into a clinch. He felt the fighter begin to move through his grip, and preempted the movement with a thumb strike to his neck - pulling with the opposite arm to create a rotational downwards force. The fighter collapsed and Athemar brought him down into an arm lock. He pulled a dagger and brought it to the gentleman's throat.
"Do you yield?" Demanded Athemar.
"I... yes, you have me beaten." Athemar released him and he stood up. He turned to the soldiers and stated. "I have deemed this man strong enough to defeat a glitch. We can believe him at his word." They cheered and patted Athemar on the back. The leader stood up and brushed himself off.
"That was impressive indeed. Where did you learn to fight like that?"
"The Regalia Royal Tournaments, where else?"
"Regalia hosts tournaments? That's news to me." The fighter chimed in:
"They do. That's where I rose to fame myself. I must say I was surprised when people here didn't know of them. They tell us that fans come from all over the kingdom." He chuckled. "I guess that jumped up 'Royal' prick likes to think he's more important than he really is."
"I know you mean well, sir, but even if it is true, I can't have you insult our king. He's been good to us." Argued Sylvia.
"Mean well? I think not. Bastard stripped me of my title and exiled me for treason when I showed up drunk for my champion fight. Although I admit, I may be a little harsh in my judgment of him on account of my personal grievances."
"I'm sure the king would be angry if he'd placed his bets on you and you let him down. Perhaps costing him money is even grounds for treason. But from what we know of him, he'd never punish someone who hadn't committed a moral crime."
"Then he has deceived you. I was to face his son, but a boy, and I was barred from forfeiting. My drinking was an attempt to weaken myself and at least give him a chance. Thankfully, I was arrested before the fight and didn't get the chance to hurt him."
"You thought Prince Jack was going to be weak? He broke most of my limbs, which is more than I can say for you." Athemar chipped in.
"He what? How old was he when you fought him?"
"At a guess I would say maybe seventeen, why?"
"I'm a fool. He was only fifteen when I was due to fight him. If he was that good only two years hence, he must have still been a good challenge when I tried to turn him down." He looked around for something to hit. "It's so clear now. The king charged me because my prejudice caused me to dishonour his son." They now reached the gates, but the fighter turned to leave. "I must travel to Regalia and make an apology to the king for the things I have said. See to it that these warriors are given the very best treatment." The soldiers gazed after him in bewilderment.
"Sir Dendred, You must be careful. Our chief needs her greatest champion alive." The leader called after him. Dendred nodded and mounted a horse.
"I cannot guarantee that the king will not execute me for my crimes, nor that I will not let him. But you have my word that I will not die for any other man or creature."
"Execution seems harsh, does it not?"
"Perhaps, but I am guilty to deserve it." With that, he rode at a canter towards the forest of Regalia. The soldier leader shrugged and shouted for the gates to be opened. Slowly, the huge oaken slabs were pushed forward with a creaking sound. One of the wrought iron rivets at the bottom bulged out a little as the ground gave resistance to the door. The leader ushered Invasion Zero inside. They were welcomed by a sight of bright coloured triangles amid white tents and sandstone walls. An old woman with ragged, discoloured robes and cracked skin hobbled towards them. She appeared to be of Hawaiian descent, with a dark olive complexion, and when she smiled it was with less than the average number of teeth. In all respects, she appeared to be a typical wise woman and a leader. Athemar knelt in a low bow and instructed his friends to do the same.
"Lady Chief. You honour us with your presence!"
"Ah, bear with me. I believe I've only had the pleasure of meeting you once. I never forget a pretty face, but it will take me some time to remember a rare one." She hummed and tapped her lower lip thoughtfully. "Ah yes. Athemar, was it? Athemar Santeri? We were quite the combat partners in the war, weren't we?"
"Athemar? Is there some saucy past you haven't told us about?" Sylvia teased.
"In a sense. We fought alongside each other in the War of the Rulers. She was my general's second in command. We ended up complimenting each other's strengths so well we were put into a special arrangement. We were split up not so long after that due to rumours of an 'unsavoury relationship' spread by a soldier who'd previously been in our squad."
"Was there any truth to those rumours?"
"Of course not! The soldier who spread them had harassed me from the day I signed up. I think his name was Robin."
"Actually, the rumours were entirely true." The woman chuckled.
"What?" Athemar and Sylvia demanded in unison.
"Aside from one small detail."
"And I'm guessing that small detail eventually means that it was all a huge lie?" Suggested Athemar.
"Not quite. It's the detail of who. I was in a relationship with the boy, Robin. I make no secret of the fact I prefer younger men, and he was jealous that you got to spend so much time alone with me, so he accused me and framed you. Well, even after we were separated, we still proved ourselves the best, didn't we?"
"You might've. I passed under the radar as a loyal soldier and a talented upstart duellist. It appears that the king always had great plans for us both."
"Indeed. Now, come along. I treated your friend personally to ensure he was healed properly." She led them through to a small round tent where Gawain was laid on a wooden table. His blood had run out and absorbed into the cracks in the wood, but other than minor tosses and turns, he was relaxed.
"Gawain." Athemar said in a drawn-out manner. "Prince Arthur's coming for you." He teased. Gawain spluttered and fell off the table, dazed.
"Huah, no. Please no. I'm not ready yet."
"Gawain, relax. It's me. You only needed to wake up." Athemar helped Gawain up and patted him down. "You're completely healed. I always admired Ailani's work. Never so much as a scratch. My lady, I don't understand how you do it." He turned to face her.
"It's an ancient healer's wisdom. I can't tell you the details or I'd have to kill you of course. However, I can tell you that you would simply attribute it to 'voodoo nonsense' anyway."
"I wouldn't have thought any of that 'voodoo nonsense' would work in a digital world. Did the developers program it in?"
"No. If the scientific and psychological laws are the same as Earth, so are the magical ones. There is no other way it can be." She enquired after what Athemar was doing there, and the four friends explained the situation in Regalia and that they were on a mission to fight against the glitch invasion.
"Well, we have been able to deal with the menace so far. Like us, the glitches here seem to be nomadic by nature, and my skills are able to heal the land they have corrupted."
"Will you teach us what you know, Lady Chief?"
"Yes. We've had successes, but we have not been able to make any kind of lasting impact like you have.If our knowledge can help you even ease our fight, it is worthwhile."
"Okay, thank you. First, could you make a list of all the types of glitches you've identified in the area? Descriptions of their appearance, capabilities, all of that. Give them names for ease of identification. It's a strategy they used in Regalia and it helped us a lot." Ailani nodded and searched for a pen and paper. She tapped the pen to her lips thoughtfully as she struggled to think of what to write. When the list was finished, Athemar picked it up and perused it.
"Interesting. This one actually has armour? And this one has the ability to extend and move parts of its skin? Hmmm. The two we encountered don't seem to be on this list. An elephant shape and one that can change form?"
"Our scouts have not encountered such a creature. At least not while also surviving the encounter."
"Well, I'll add them. Let's call the elephant one Behemoth and the shape shifting one a Doppelganger."