"So Cheng buddy, what's the sitch back at the Cluster? I know my room's a little…grassier than it should be, but you're an adaptable guy, you'll work it out."
"The room is suitable for my needs. Although granted, I'm not one for sleeping when there's things to do. And as for the cluster itself, it's running perfectly fine. Nobodies stepped out of line and everything is still to standard, thanks to Manuel."
"See, that's why I left you two in charge! Anyway, I'll call you back later, we've probably got a big day today!"
"I see. Well, tell Daciana I said hello, and I'll report if anything comes up. Permission to hang up?"
"Granted! And buddy, feel free to call the girls over. Picked em myself, they'll satisfy any problem ya got."
Chelic hung up the phone and laid back in his new throne. He ran his finger across the dagger embedded inside it, living in the moment as he did his best not to get cut. He succeeded, only to shake his hand and barely miss it when the chandelier in the throne room fell, alongside Serafina on top in a daze.
"I ask why you did that, Serafina?" Marcus asked, as relaxed as usual.
"Oh, me and Ziwadi had a competition to see who could get to the top first. He won, but felt things fall, and…long story short, don't compete in a climbing contest against guys who can swap places with people. Shouldn't have to say that, but I guess I do."
Chelic burst into a fit of laughter, almost hitting his elbow against the dagger.
"Oh, Serafina." He said while shaking his head. "You get me every time. Just be more careful next time, alright?"
"Sir, I know you let the top ten do what they want, but I feel now of all times would be a good time to show at least a little pushback to their more unruly actions." Marcus said, trying to hold in a sigh of exasperation.
"Relax, big guy." Chelic said, shaking his head while straightening himself out in his throne. "It's a little roughhousing before the main event. Besides, a chandelier like that? Perfect weight to say, crush an unsuspecting enemy to death, don't ya think?"
Marcus looked blankly.
"I-I'm the enemy in this scenario. To them?"
"I got it."
"Great, just checking."
"So how's the perimeter of the castle?" Marcus asked.
"Great question!" Chelic exclaimed, taking his phone out and calling Chizoba.
"Heyyy, Chizoba!"
"Hello." Chizoba answered flatly.
"So, how's my favorite cyborg doing? Anything up? Anything suspicious going on?"
"Nothing at the moment?" She replied, glancing up to a clear sky.
"But for how long?" He asked.
"I'll let you know when something comes up." Chizoba said calmly. "Any feeds from other airships?"
"Uhh…I'll check them real quick and get back."
Chelic hung up the phone.
"I may have forgot to get the scouts to send me info on when the heroes approached me." He said, giving an awkward smile to a scowling Marcus.
"Hey, we'll deal with the sitch when they show up. Doubt we'll have any issues anyway."
Chizoba kept watch on the wall of the castle, surrounded by her hooded companions from the church. It was a pretty calm morning, all things considered. Nobody really dared mess with them, so it was just a few people trying to go about their days while occasionally glancing at what the castle had become. At most, parents pulled their children away from the walls when they got too close, probably afraid of what she or the others of the Legion would do to them. Which was nothing, as far as she was concerned. In fact, she'd be more than happy to explain their goals and educate their children on the aims of the Legion. In fact, it seemed preparing a speech of some kind would be a decent idea, seeing as Chelic didn't seem to have much of a plan about what to do. She took out a sheet of paper and borrowed a pen from one of her subordinates, trying her best to scribble down some words that calmly explain her motives, throwing in her own backstory of being neglected by the people around her. Sure, it could come across as slightly manipulative writing, but was hardly the worst thing the Legion had recently done.
"Hey, what you writing there?"
Chizoba didn't recognize the voice that spoke to her, so she looked up and saw Samuel staring down at her. She shot upwards with an uppercut from her metallic hand, which Samuel quickly stepped away from. She commanded her friends to attack him, switching her hand into a three pronged claw.
About twenty people circled around Samuel. He casually put his hands into his pockets, leaping upwards. When he came down, three of the idiots were already down from jumping towards him and crashing headfirst into each other. The rest all threw limbs towards him, which he countered pretty easily by simply grabbing the longer ones and slamming both them and their owners to the ground. He jumped over the next excuse for an attacker, standing on his hands and rotating his legs, feeling the impacts of several Legion soldiers against his shoes as they fell around him. He flipped upwards to admire his handiwork, with Chizoba being the only person left standing on the wall. They made eye contact for a brief second, with Samuel shaking his hands. He remembered what the deal with this lady was. Chizoba, that was her name. Trying to fight her with his hands in his pockets could actually end pretty badly, so this was one to take seriously.
Chizoba lunged towards him. He stretched a leg out to catch it, and let the metal arm clash against his leg for a second. But in a flash, the hand opened to a claw which caught his leg, slamming him to the ground. Samuel pushed his hands behind him and pushed the ground as soon as he hit it, using the momentum to lift off the ground just a little bit and fling both him and Chizoba into the air. He stomped downwards and regained his centre of gravity before Chizoba could react, and he grabbed her in midair, throwing her off the wall before she could pull anything else. The sound of something hitting the wall was heard, and Einer was soon right behind him, observing the damage.
"You made quick work of them." He said calmly. They were all unconscious, but they were breathing. None had injuries a quick visit to the doctors couldn't fix.
"Thanks." Samuel nodded without looking back.
"Now, I was able to freeze the girl you threw off before anything bad could happen. Just letting you know."
"Thanks." Samuel repeated, eyeing up the castle so he could estimate what the safest route in would be.
"I just hope you remember what we're here for. Reclamation, and not some petty idea of vengeance."
"Got it."
Samuel leapt away, leaving Einer to look around and determine that he was probably fine.
Time for the real fighters.