So here I am, sitting in a transport ship with three other passengers suited up in high tech armour. Some random ground troop told me that I should "remind yourself of where you are and how you got here", but I think they're trying to steal some personal information from me.
Either way, I'm a GATE captain who usually operates in central Fix, but our ship is heading far from the mainland. Some fascist (they call themselves The Clowns of Suffering) built a base underwater, although I think it might be more of a temple. I've been told they're some sort of extremist group, so I guess that's good to know.
Our ship stops as we arrive at our destination, the farthest you could ever go from land on this planet. The clowns should be directly under us.
I stood up in the middle of the ship "READY!" I shouted.
"AYE!" My squad hollars in unison.
"That's the energy I'm looking for." I chuckle. I would be lying if I said this wasn't gonna be fun. "Now remember, follow the marker."
I jump off the ship and cast Vodyani Kryla (A spell that creates wings made of water) on myself. After gaining some height, I brace myself and dive into the sea.
I rapidly get deeper and deeper into the ocean. I was made for this mission. The hydrostatic pressure doesn't affect me and my suit makes the darkness of the ocean a non-problem.
Once I touch the ocean floor, I pull out a marker from my suit's storage and place it beneath me. Then, I move over a bit to make sure my troops don't crash into me on their way down. Of course, it will take them more time to get down here. So I decided to tap on the ocean floor… just to see what would happen.
…
…
…
I hear something tap the floor back. They must be directly underground.
I use my Vodyani Kryla to propel myself into the ground, bursting into some sort of room. What I do know is that this area was full of air before I made my entrance. When I did enter, the heavy amount of water that came with me (and maybe even the pressure change) seemed to have killed most of the people in this small area… most of them.
A Stompy (Mer-Dwarf mixed) attempted to stab me with some sort of colored glass. The attempt was unsuccessful due to GATE's impeccable armour.
I lift up the bastard and stare them down. "We are the Governing Anarchist Team Entente. If you resist our will, you will die. We have connections with the Defis and your soul will be condemned. Do what I say, and you might be let free."
"My glorious Earth," The Stompy closes their eyes. "Allow me to be a martyr for-"
I slap the bitch and notice that there seems to be more rooms. I boost through multiple walls to this temple, holding the stompy in front of me the entire time. By the time I stop, the bugger has simply become a red mist of blood in the water. I love my job.
The Clowns must've been somewhat prepared, because I spotted a Mer dressed up in some sort of outdated battle armour. "Saw" being the keyword, for my squadron has finally arrived.
We make our way through the multiple rooms, slaughtering the extremist scum, when I run into an actual obstacle. A group of Fixians (and I think a Skeleton) halted my business with a barrier.
"Guardian!" One of the Fixians exclaims. I think he is the one holding up the barrier. "You said we would have to worry about invaders!"
"Well guess what, shitfuck." I antagonise them. "We're already here."
"Hold the shield, Crust." The Skeleton commands. "I'll be back. Do not worry, this is all according to plan."
The barrier cracks as the skeleton walks down a flight of stairs, leaving the Fixians to me. "GUARDIAN!" Another Fixian cries. "DON'T LEAVE US HERE! WE AREN'T-"
I burst through the barrier and use magic to strengthen the force of the water already coming into the room. In a panic, the crying Fixian broke through the ceiling and attempted to escape.
"Chernobyl!" I say into my ear piece. "Take care of these heretics while I handle the rogue."
While I don't get a response, I still rush after the Escaping Fixian. I can move faster than she can underwater, but not by much. I don't know why. I chased her all the way to the surface, where I finally got a good look at who I'm dealing with.
She seems to have her own type of Vodyani Kryla, but they aren't made of water. They look like they're made up of a bright cyan light. How odd.
She attempts to fly away, but I follow her. "NO!" She pleads. "LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M NOT READY!"
"Don't care." I toss a ball of water at my target, disabling her wings temporarily. I would be lying if I said I calculated that move.
I catch her falling body and toss her with all my strength into the ocean below.
I hover above the pussy as she sobs relentlessly. "Please-" I can tell she's not an expert. "I-I don't wanna die."
"We won't kill you." I reassure her. "But you are under arrest for statist behaviour."
"Please…" Is she not listening to me? I'm still going to kill her, but she doesn't need to be such a cunt about it.
"Let's make a deal." I attempt to calm down the cunt. "If you tell me what those wing things are, I'll let you go. No string attached."
"Really?" She rubs her nose.
"Yes." I try to look as serious as possible.
"Okay, okay." She finally speaks normally. "They… they're called Sky Piercers."
"Good." I put my arm behind my back to change the suit setting into stabby mode. "Good. Defi bless you."
I stab the infidel through the heart and rush their body back towards the marker I placed down earlier. I pierce through the ground again and I wound up in another worship room, but the room seems to have been evacuated. That doesn't matter, I need to find that Guardian person. I put the body of the extremist in my Secretum Sacculi.
I crash through multiple rooms until I return to the room I was in before I had to chase the coward. I recognize it because of the staircase (that I broke upon entry of this room) and the dead bodies (I'm proud of my unit).
I clear some of the rubble I created in the staircase before descending down the stairs. The staircase is filled with water, so I could move down it faster than usual.
Once I made it to the end of the staircase, I'm met with a pair of doors. I push them open, breaking them instantly. There seems to be some sort of barrier in the doorway that prevents water from passing through them, but I can make it pass just fine.
I found the skeleton from early, he seems to be praying. "I am part of the Governing Anarchist Team Entente." I announced my presence. "Rise and identify yourself. If you refuse to follow orders, you will be met with-"
"Cut the shit." The skeleton stands up. "You think I don't know who you are? Earth has told me much about what you stand for."
"Who is this Earth you speak of?" I ask.
"Leave." The skeleton turns toward me. "Your time will come soon."
"You know I can't do that, Guardian." I prepare to pouverize this affront to magic. "And I know you won't simply give up. Just have it be known that your people will suffer for their betrayal of the Defis."
"Good." The skeleton pulls out a staff from Secretum Sacculi.
I charge at the skeleton with my Vodyani Kryla, expecting him to collapse instantly. He blocked my attack with his staff, so I bashed into him again. And again. And again.
"Repetition." The skeleton sassed me. "You rely on what is given to you, not upon skill. Your use of your privilege has made you weak."
I backed up. "I've taken down 10 compounds just like this with only my squadron." I responded. "What makes you think you're special?"
"I have the power of my lord on my side." The skeleton twirled his staff. "You have the power of a dying system." He slams his staff into the ground, making it change into a dark purple colour.
I turn back towards the staircase and attempt to pull the water inside of it towards me. This causes the skeleton to finally attack me. He smacks me in the front of my helmet with his glorified cane, which actually did hurt a bit.
I grab his staff and pull it towards me. He doesn't let go, so I kick him multiple times in the tibia before he grabs my leg and tosses me over with a surprising amount of force.
I land on my back, then rebound back into a ready position. I need to get an advantage. I ready my Vodyani Kryla for another charge before flinging myself back towards the staircase. I bash onto the staircase's doorway until a crack appears on the barrier that's preventing the water from flowing in.
By now, the skeleton is agitated and attempts to stop me by swinging his stick toward my head, but he's too predictable. I grabbed his staff and yanked it out of his hands.
I thrust the staff into the skeleton's skull, knocking him over. I use this chance to bash the barrier with the staff, which finally bursts the barrier. With the barrier broken, water floods the room almost instantly. I'm feeling more confident in my abilities.
I charge the skeleton into a wall, pinning him with his own staff. He attempts to speak to me through telepathy.
"Earth, my leader." He seemingly prays. "Fill my body with your power!"
"The Watchers watch." I respond using the waterproof speakers I have attached to my suit. "They can't do shit."
The skeleton grips his staff. "Whoever brought them into the conversation?" He slowly attempts to push me away. "Although, you bring up a good point. The Watchers watch, and they're about to have a grand show."
His fucking eyehole thingy starts to glow white. I kick off of him before a strange, tiny, projectile shoots out of his eyehole at lightning speed. It cleaved through anything that got in its way, ripping through the water and the roof of this room.
I'm not confident in this assessment, but I think that was a type of Soul Killer. I'm not exactly sure if my armour could protect me from having my soul erased, so I'm going to have to be more careful.
I snatch his staff and break it over my leg. I use one of the broken pieces to attempt to stab the skeleton in the head, but moves a bit and the broken piece of wood gets lodged in his shoulder blade thing (I'm not a fucking bone doctor).
The skeleton readies his dukes, but his efforts are futile… because I can bash into him with my shoulder… Why did Reno tell me to do this in the first place?
"HA!" The skeleton slowly swims back with one of his fists still up. "You are beginning to doubt yourself!"
I boost into the glorified zombie and plant both my hands on its boney neck. "You're just fucking bones!" I raise this so-called "Guardian". "How can you even talk?"
Before he could answer, I ripped out his head and neck bones. I bash into the body, flinging it across the water filled room. Suddenly, I hear the skeleton shout.
"AUTOTOMIZE!" The skull shouts, ejecting itself from its neck.
I throw the neck behind me and pull the skull back towards me using Pidvodnyy Viter, a spell that manipulates the current in any body of water. As the head moves back towards me, I can see that it's eye sockets glowing… both of them.
I jet myself towards the skull, completely obliterating it with my fist. The Guardian is dead. I'm done here.
I turn on my in-suit radio and attempt to contact my squad. "The figurehead is down." I state with confidence. "Send in the Cleaners, we're done here."
"Say again?" Lviv (one of my troops) responds over the radio. "Over."
"Are you using a hand-held?" I ask. "Also, cut that 'Over' shit. It's annoying and outdated."
"Uh… Yeah." Lviv confirms.
"Okay." I take a deep breath. "I TOOK. THEIR LEADER. DOWN! WE CAN. CALL IN. THE CLEANERS!"
"Got it." Lviv says before disabling her radio.
I sigh and deactivate my helmet. With it off, I notice a bunch of white particles in the water. I assume those belonged to the skull I sent into the past tense.
I also notice a strange hole in the ground. It isn't very large, it's about the size of my hand, but it looks very artificial. I don't know why, but I really want to put my fist into that hole. It's very tempting…
I shove my fist into the hole in the ground. At first, I feel as if nothing has happened, but once I remove my fist from the hole, things change… completely. It's almost as if I've been teleported.
The new room I'm in is moist and hot. My armour feels heavier and the room is very long. At the end of the room is a doorway, blocked by someone. I think they noticed me.
They begin to walk closer towards me, so I try to get ready for an attack. I attempt to stand up straight, but I just can't. The closest I can do is a crouch. I feel exhausted.
"A gater." The person speaks. They sound like a man from eastern southeast Fix. "Didn't expect you to be here." He seems to be wearing a green
"We take down fascists all across Fix." I cast Vodyani Kryla in order to lessen the weight my armour creates. "You Clowns are no exception!"
"I'm not a clown." The man folds his arms. "Nor am I with the Clowns. I'm making sure none of them get into the room behind me." He crouches in order to imitate me. "That being said, I don't know why GATE has to get involved with the Clowns."
My wings straighten and I gain enough strength to stand back up. "The clowns violate the Rules of No Rules. The Law of the Lawless. The 'You Can't Make a Country' commandment. You get what I'm saying."
"But how?" The man takes a couple steps backwards. "Do Non-Conjointist not deserve the freedom you promised to everyone?"
"They're fascists." I take a better look at the man. I notice that he has purple skin and green hair. None of this is shocking, so I continue making my point. "They had Soul Killers. They also decided to hide from us. That's the main reason why we know they're up to something."
"I guess so." The man examines the walls of the room we're in. He must've just got here. "But they were hiding something. A creature. That's why we're here."
"We?" I step closer. "Who else is here?"
"My fellow adventurers." The man turns his head back towards me. "Although, I don't think you'll find them. I don't think they're alive at the moment."
… What is that supposed to mean? They're dead… Why? How? Since when? This bloke is too vague to be useful.
"Whatever you say." I sigh as I slowly approach the doorway the man was blocking before.
"I wouldn't go in there." The man says with no emotion in his voice. "But you aren't me and I'm not you. So go ahead, stranger."
"And who are you?" I look at the man as I stand a metre from the doorway.
"That isn't important." The man ominously states. "What I do know is that I don't want to know what lies beyond that doorway."
I groan before marching through the doorway to see why adventurers would want to come here to begin with. I would be lying if I said it was required for my job, but I don't see any other exit. I would ask the purple and green man, but he's an arsehole.
"Cover your favourite eye, as well." The man says before the doorway behind me disappears.
That was the first thing I noticed, my entrance was gone… Why? No, I need to focus. Something big could be down here. The Guardian was hiding something, something big. I'm sure of it.
I turn away from where the doorway was to see- Uh… to see… What is that? Do… Do I know who that is? Who are they? Where is the man's party?
Who I see is… Earth. That's who they are. I just… know it. They're a giant black blob. No, not giant. Bigger than that. It stretches so far- we are under Fix?
Earth isn't a plain black blob. They're more. Much more. Souls, 150,000,000,000 thousand of them. That's so… so many. And they're screaming? In pain… or anger? Maybe both, maybe none, yet they scream. They scream at me.
Whoever was here is gone. Dead at best. I hope they're dead. I hope they haven't joined Earth.
Why? Why does Earth here? How created it? They talk about Terra. What monster? So many souls, all of them are so?
He's angry. I'm working with the enemy? How deep does this go? How many things have we done that have been forgotten? How many things did it do to them?
I need to know. It's so big. I need to know, it's huge. I need to know he's been wronged. I need to know WE WRONG WRONGED THEM. I KNOW WE WRONGED ALL OF THEM ALL OF THEM ALL OF THEM ALL OF THEM ALL OF THEM. ALL OF THEM!
Why? Why did she do this? She didn't need to! She didn't even do anything. The Greatest Evil and his accomplish. I've been working for a devil.
Earth cannot be killed, and the Defis fault. THEIR FAULT! I CAN SEE! I CAN FEEL IT! THEIR PAIN! I NEED TO BECOME ONE WITH EARTH! TO JOIN THE MASS IS TO TAKE A STEP TOWARDS THE END OF FIX! TO TAKE DOWN THIS DAMNED UNIVERSE, NOT JUST THE PLANET. IT IS-
…
I… I have to get out of here. I need to tell Defi Mina about this. I don't know or care if she already knows, this has to get out so we can get rid of The Mass.
I can't look at them anymore. I shut my eyes and enter Secretum Sacculi. I go two the corpse of the person I killed and search their soul for the Sky Piercer spell she talked about. I found it easily.
I haven't harvested a spell before, but I know how to. The whole experience felt as if it never happened, yet I now know Sky Piercer.
I exit Secretum Sacculi with my eyes closed. I turn towards where my exit would be and cast Sky Piercer. I open my eyes to see the doorway. It's returned, just like I knew it would. Just like how The Mass told me it would.
My Sky Piercers struggle to stay up, so I don't waste any time going through the doorway. I need to practice more with them. Later, of course.
I see the man from before. He's staring at me while sitting on the ground. He knows something, doesn't he.
"What did you see?" He asks as he stands back up.
"What do you know?" I ask him back. "I think you know what I saw."
"I… didn't." The man takes a step away from me. "But, I think I have an idea… Do you know my name?"
That's an interesting question. I don't know. Wait… He told me who he was. Earth makes my mind hide secrets from me, does it? The Mass said he was crazy. It didn't, but I feel like it did. I feel like it said a lot of things to me without me really remembering any of it. Maybe they didn't mean he was crazy, but meant he was Crazy.
"You're Crazy?" I answer the man's question. "Am I wrong?"
"I'm Heth." The man begins to frown. "And you've seen them with both your eyes."
I pause for a moment. "GATE never told me about The Mass." I assume he knows what I'm talking about. "They don't know. They're ignorant. I have to tell them about it. The Mass could destroy Fix if it gets out of control."
"So it didn't make you a clown." Heth eases his stance. "You're still devoted to GATE… You're gonna tell the Defis, aren't you?"
"I am." I nod. "Even if they already know… I need to find out what we are supposed to do with The Mass."
"I understand." Heth walks towards one of the walls of the room we're in. "Those wings of yours should help you escape through the back of this room. Tell them about Earth. The clowns were the only thing stopping the Defis from getting to Earth. Now that most of them are gone, you can find out what the Defis want."
I stare at Heth before I begin to make my way to the end of the hallway. Once he's to my side, he quickly pulls out an arrow and stabs me in the eye. It hurts, but I don't even grunt. I would be lying if I said I had an answer to why, but I barely even flinch in reaction to the arrow entering my eye.
"Thanks for clearing the clowns for me." Heth kicks me to the floor. "And thank you for letting me see your thoughts. I now understand Earth and the power it holds… and I don't want GATE to get their grubby hands on it."
"The Mass isn't a thing." I grip the arrow in my eye. "And I doubt you could even control them."
"All I need to do is feed it some souls." Heth stomps on my knee before he begins pacing. I actually grunt in response to that one. That cunt definitely broke my kneecap. "Not exactly what I originally planned, but if the Check really doesn't exist, then this is my best option."
"The what?" I look up at him. "You really are crazy."
"Maybe I am." Heth picks me up by my neck. "But that is something you can think about once you join The Mass."
Wait… If the Sky Piercers are similar to Vodyani Kryla, then… Oh yeah.
I bash into the looney, causing him to let go of my neck. I yank the arrow out of my head, pulling out my eyeball with it. I shove the nock of the arrow into Heth's right eye multiple times until most of it sticks to the nock. I finish off by forcing the tip of the arrow into Heth's left arm, pinning it to the wall.
"Heth was it?" I push the arrow deeper into the wall. "I'd like to thank you for showing me the way out."
Heth chuckles. "You're welcome, Captain." He grins as his intact eye begins to glow grey (I think grey's for curses… or was it purple?). "I'll have to come back here later. I hope to never see you again."
Before I could do anything else, his eye changes from grey to yellow and he teleports away, taking the arrow with him. We should probably keep watch of this area to make sure he doesn't come back… but I don't trust the rest of GATE. I think I should only tell the Defis for the time being, it feels like the safe option.
I reactivate my mask and hover towards the end of the hall. These wings are just a straight upgrade… maybe. Once I make it to the end of the hallway, fist sized hole appears before me. I do what I did before and multiple beams of light transport me to a shore. On that shore, three GATE agents are walking and talking to each other before they notice me. I think one of them is a Captain.
"Oh shit." The Captain motions for the other two agents to stop. "There you are- Your whole battalion was looking for you, Kiev."
I stand upright, even though it hurts… a lot. "I got a little distracted." I look at the group more to identify who they are. "You're the Freedonian Unit, right."
"Washington," A somewhat tall troop to the right of the captain walks in front of him. "This is none of our business. You wanted us to patrol for escaped Clowns!"
"Stay in line, NYC." Captain Washington responds to the troop. "Kyiv must be returned to her squadron."
"We took care of the clowns." I take a couple of deep breaths. "A clean up crew has been called to make sure their area is cleared. I also have something to report to Mina."
"Why not tell it to me?" Washington insists. "Your squad could use some leadership. I'll have NYC or LA-"
"NO!" I blurt out before correcting my composure. "It's confidential."
Washington stares at me for a bit before shrugging. "That's fair." He motions for his troops to turn around. "If you need anything, call London."
The Freedonian Unit begins to walk away… Except for "NYC", who removes his helmet and flips me off before reequipping it and catching up with the rest of the trio.
Will You Be Mime is almost done. I just need to make my way to Defi Mina. I think I'm close to the South Southern South South Southern South HQ.
After a bit of travel on foot, I made it to the Southernmost Base (which is also the southernmost point in all of Fix. I… I don't know why I wanted to point that out.) and made my way to Dife Defi. Defi Dife is where all of the greatest Defis resided, including the ones I'm reporting to.
Once I arrive, I am met by someone I think I've seen before. She's just standing still, only a couple feet from where I teleported to. Something about her gaze is… off putting.
"Kyiv!" The woman finally blinks. "Great job on the mission! Although, I think you should speak with some of your fellow captains about your success! The Supreme Defi is very hands off-"
"I've got something for her." I cut off the creature. "I don't trust the other captains with this information just yet and I need her clearance."
"You say so?" She looks around to see if anyone is eavesdropping before getting up close to me and whispering. "I'll bring it straight to her. It's my job. All I need is your permission."
… Wait. She wants to read my mind? No.
"I would rather deliver it myself." I try to keep my composure. "But thank you for the offer, Receptionist."
"Do you not know my name?" The receptionist guesses correctly. "Proves to show that the creature that lies below isn't as all knowing as it wants you to think."
I… don't say a thing.
"I'm Beta." The demon continues. "And I collect data for Defi Mina and Defi mAnim. I can direct you to where they are if you need help."
"No thanks." I slowly move away from Beta. "Have a nice day!"
"Don't be afraid to ask for help." Beta winks at me as I make my way to the Mina.
My composure has stiffened. Why am I acting weird? I'm just reporting what I saw. I'm not a traitor. I'm not an infidel. I'm not a Watcherist. I'm not a Clown.
"There you are." I hear Difemanim's booming voice inside my head. "You've been looking for us?"
"Yes." I try to locate where Difemanim is before giving up. "I need to tell Mina something."
"Mina?" Difemanim sounds offended. "You know, I handle religious affairs."
"I am aware." I shut my eye and try to focus. "But this has to do with GATE. I need to speak with Mina… my Defi."
"Fair enough." Defimanim states before I'm transferred into a white void.
Inside of the void is Defi Mina. I could see her very well, but I don't know how I would describe her. I guess she's… large? No- I just… forget it.
"My Defi!" I bow. "I've got some news."
"Captain." Defi Mina crosses her legs. "You know I'm able to see many things for myself."
"Did you know that there's a pile of Terran souls looming underneath Fix?!" I eagerly ask. "It could destroy Fix if it gets too out of hand."
"Ah yes," Mina yawns. "The immortal souls of the entirety of Terra. What about them?"
"IMMORTAL?!" I blurt out as I can feel my eye twitch.
"Practically." Mina responds nonchalantly. "Unless you can destroy 152,573,038,709 souls, they're basically unkillable."
"That sounds bad." I try to maintain a professional stance. "Maybe you could do something about it."
"Maybe." Mina taps her foot slowly. "But… no. I would rather not."
"Why not?" I can't think of a single reason why this isn't a threat.
"Reasons your silly little mind cannot comprehend." Mina remains vague. "I'd suggest telling only a few captains. Ones that you can trust."
"Like who." I try to learn as much as I can.
"That's for you to decide." Mina verbally hurts me on a mental level. "Now, you should report back to your HQ. I'll give you a reward for your success and… new intel. New intel… that's debatable."
"I still need to-" Before I could finish my sentence, I was transported back to the Southernmost Base. I think Mina put something in my hands. A long box.
I walk upstairs, holding the box in the stiff position I was teleported back here in. Once I made it to the break room (which was oddly empty), I decided to open the box. I think there is a spell for this… Mepee! That's it.
I cast Mepee on the long box, causing it to undo itself until it reveals an eyepatch. I don't know why the box was needed, but the eyepatch is cool I guess. It's gold… or copper. I can't tell
…
Wait. Fuck.