January 22nd, 3046 Several hours earlier... Avarice sat upon his throne, overlooking the lab. He preferred to have the lab in the sky, but they were still grounded in the lab's landing zone in the Chihuahuan Desert due to making certain preparations. The lab was unusually loud at the moment. The sound of roaring plane engines drowned out the silence he was so fond of. Now, he couldn't even hear the whisper of someone if they were in the next room, let alone someone across the country. Slowly developing a migraine from the noise, Avarice rose from his seat and moved toward the hidden elevator within the lab. The elevator was designed to raise and lower using the same antigravity technology Avarice had installed for his Holders and Sub Deities to access Base A in the Pacific Ocean. Being a simple hovering pad, the elevator was open-ended, having no actual walls. Therefore, one could see the concrete and steel makeup of the foundation built beneath the lab. As the pad lowered smoothly, the view changed from seeing solid concrete to viewing an expansive space big enough to house his security room to the left, multiple storage areas for several of his most sensitive substances to the right, and even a game room that Trevor installed for himself somewhere among the spaces Avarice hadn't assigned yet. The largest area, though, was in the center and was reserved for the four massive cargo planes they'd scavenged from Base A's destruction. Avarice made a quick cover examination of the planes as he descended deeper into the underground extension of the lab. From the looks of it, they each were fully operational and ready for deployment. He'd already been told that before. Still, Avarice had Trevor make some adjustments to ensure they were as inconspicuous as possible. He instructed Trevor to use the camouflage technology to make the planes look like a typical TekTra commercial plane. He'd even gone so far as to have the aircraft seem within regulations to the humans once they were in the air. Everything was moving along steadily. But then, due to that insufferable human Verin favored, more humans had begun to show up near the lab a few hours prior, so he had Wren construct a stone wall five miles out around the area so they'd have privacy. He didn't want anyone to catch on to their movements before it was too late. If not for him about to send planes in the air, he'd still have Wren conjuring storms in the vicinity. The elevator came to a quiet stop as it hovered inches above its grounded port. Entering the security room where Claeg, Trevor, and Junichiro were, he looked at the camera feeds. Avarice could see more of the irksome humans had returned today in protest. He found himself becoming more and more irritated by their presence with each passing day. "Check it out; they've got new signs today," Trever smiled as he used the control center to zoom in on the humans. Avarice took a glance at the screen and saw signs with slander such as "Cowards!", "False Gods!", "Leave Us Alone!", "Die Already!", "Burn in Hell!", "I Hope They Kill You All!" and many more hateful comments directed at him and the others. "Send me out there. I bet I can shut them up," Claeg proposed casually. Avarice's gaze shifted to Claeg for a fraction of a second before returning to the screen. Claeg's eyes were glued to the screen. He was trying to hide it, but Avarice could see the hunger behind them like a starved animal watching food be dangled in front of it. He wasn't surprised, considering it had been days since Claeg had hunted. Avarice made sure everyone had prioritized preparing for today. "No, we can't compel all the humans at once," Avarice stated as he walked away from the screens. "As of right now, our clients are still interested despite everything. Their greed for power is making them blind. If you go out there and create a massacre, then even they will revolt out of fear. Then, I won't get to watch the humans destroy each other since they'll be too busy being united against us. Being forced to destroy everything myself will mean I gained nothing for my efforts." "For now," Avarice continued, ushering them to follow behind him as he exited the room. They approached Verin, Wren, and Kaila, who was meeting up with them after finishing the final examinations of the planes. Avarice stood near the closest plane, taking in the view, "It's time we get my shipments in the sky." "Everyone load onto your assigned plane. Reaffirm your destinations," Avarice commanded. "I am to protect the shipment bound for China," Junichiro announced before blurring to the top of one of the planes. "I'm going to Russia," Wren said as she flew to the top of another plane before muttering, "Even though you know I hate the cold." "You'll be alright; the cold won't affect you," Avarice replied patiently. "I know, but it's the snow..." Wren sulked. "Iran for me," Trevor called from atop his plane before grinning mockingly at his sister. "I don't mind the snow." Wren blasted him off his plane with a strong gust of wind. "And we're heading to North Korea," Kaila called from her plane as Claeg jumped up to land beside her. "Good," he said as he levitated to be above them. "I'm proud of you all. You've each done well looking out for your family. After today, The Primordials will be dead or captured, and the slow implosion of the human race will have reached its climax. We will get our final entertainment display from them as they reduce themselves to nothing. Then we will venture out together in search of a new world." "Hopefully they have internet," Trevor muttered, back atop his plane, as Wren nodded in silent agreement. "Remember, keep your spirit energies suppressed until the shipments reach their destinations. The Primordials will likely still find a way to locate you, but there's no point in helping them. When you sense them approaching, don't bring attention to the planes. Intercept them before they reach you so that the planes still land while you all keep them preoccupied," Avarice instructed as the planes started to roll forward one by one. He flicked his wrist at Verin, who had proactively gone into the security room to man the control panel. At his signal she flicked the switch that opened the hatch several hundred feet down the takeoff path the planes were on. Let the show begin, he mused as the planes picked up speed one after another before racing down the takeoff path and lifting into the early morning sky. ****