AN: Sorry if there's typos! I didn't have the time to comb through it more. I'll be able to touch it up after I'm settled in Europe, so for now, I'll see you all there!
October 22nd, 629
I woke up to the sound of moving air as Umara opened the door to the bedroom.
Closing it, she walked over to my side and combed the hair over my forehead with her nails.
“Feeling alright?”
“Well, I’m no longer feeling so homicidal at least.”
“I’ll take it.”
She smiled as I sat up and shifted out of bed. I had gotten about 12 hours of sleep, which was rather incredible given how far I’d come. At this point I either didn’t need it or only needed a few hours every couple months.
Still, it was nice to pass out for a while every now and then. Since I wasn’t sleeping, I also wasn’t dreaming and reaping those benefits. To finally get a normal dream after so long felt comforting.
I took out a cigar and gave it a light, standing by the window of the bedroom and looking at the Whetted City beyond. It was a bit into the morning, not quite noon, so everyone was up and about.
Things felt particularly lively today though.
Umara spoke softly.
“The King announced that he’ll be passing down a decree to the entire Kingdom soon. It’s been about half an hour since, and my mother just showed up with Ironheart. They’re in the living area.”
“Hm. We’ll have things to talk about.”
“I assume you already know what the King is going to decree?”
“Roughly. At this point though, I’m less curious about what he says than how he says it. Either way, my plans came to a screaming halt about a day ago. Whatever happens, happens.”
“You know, for once I’m actually glad to hear you say that.”
Feeling the rejuvenation of my cigar, I snuffed its embers and packed it away.
After spending some time showering and cleaning up, I finally dressed and left the room with Umara. With her linked in my arm, we entered the lively living area. It seemed like a few people were still drinking from the night before, particularly Katta, Blackblood, and Shadowbane.
And a newcomer. I glanced over at Faey who was sitting by Feiden, the two of them sipping some of the lighter drinks.
Everyone turned to us when we showed, silence coming over them for a moment and making my brow raise.
“Hello?”
“You look tired, John.”
“And I just got some sleep too. It’s good to see you.”
Talexia walked over, the two of us exchanging a hug while Umara greeted her father Ikhor.
I shook Ironheart’s hand as well, less of a greeting necessary since we had just seen each other on the frontlines.
I found my seat with Umara while all the others went back to what they were doing. Facing Talexia and Ironheart, I leaned back into my plush couch with a long groan.
On the front wall of the living area was a large projection which held a view of the Royal Palace. The King was about the give his decree and a large chunk of the Kingdom was watching thanks to Aerials and their new video capturing tech.
The entire world would be reacting to what was about to happen. As inconsequential as it seemed to be for the everyday man, the things the King said would upheave the current status quo.
Ironheart spoke to me first.
“You got another plan for this, Sir Cooper?”
“Not particularly. I’m more concerned about you two at this stage than myself. We’ll have things to talk about regarding your plans, not mine. Until then though, we just need to wait for the King.”
“Hm.”
Talexia hummed, giving me a look while Erhan placed some baked goods on the small table between us.
I grabbed a few and stuffed them down. I felt starved. It seemed Umara did as well, her hands quickly filled with breads and sweet treats.
We waited as we munched, holding idle conversation until we saw movement on the screen.
“King Distrion Jealvon Alphon has arrived to make his decree.”
A voice echoed through the feed, and in the plaza outside the Palace, guards came to attention with salutes.
High above, on a balcony overseeing the plaza and city beyond, the King stepped out with advisors and Sovereigns. Among them were Knight Sovereign Phero Runneas, Warlock Sovereign Haley Omaev, and Knight Sovereign Adam Uzoras. I recognized all of them, Uzoras and Phero especially. Uzoras was the Sovereign stationed at the Treehouse when it fell, and I knew enough about Phero to never step foot into the Capital again.
The room went silent as we watched the King pause at the front. Below him were hundreds of reporters, almost half of which were my own in some way, as well as tens of thousands of citizens.
Behind a podium, the King looked down at some papers, his light sigh being picked up by the recorder.
I just watched, keeping my expectations in check.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I come before you today with a heavy heart and great indignation. Within the dark corners of the Kingdom, chaos has brewed for years, silently sabotaging and crippling all of humanity and disguising itself as the very thing that will save them. The Scourge has sunken its claws into those we know as heroes of the Kingdom, and over the past two days, the vile and cunning machinations of one man has exploded into the light.
“The very man I speak of today is John Cooper. The man who we’ve all come to know as the world’s greatest inventor, the father of flight, and more recently, the High Commander of Iron Legion, has been moving secret agents through the bellows of this Kingdom in order to sabotage the best of us. The man who claims to stand at the forefront of the fight for humanity has been uncovered as not just a fraud who has taken advantage of the authority I’ve granted him, but a vicious mass murderer. Today I stand here in order to reveal his crimes against all of humanity as evidenced by recently collected intelligence from the Kingdom’s best agents.”
I remained silent, still munching on a slice of bread dipped in rich oil. I couldn’t help but think his words ironic though.
The King gathered himself for a second and continued.
“Of his crimes, the first and lightest to be marked is his refusal to cooperate with Kingdom forces across the front lines of the war against the Scourge. Since its inception, Iron Legion has refused to engage in joint battles with Strongholds across the front, citing any amount of excuses. Moreover, little to no intelligence has been given to Kingdom forces for aid, and not a single report regarding Iron Legion’s internal operations has ever been mustered to this day.
“The second of his crimes to be marked is the creation of his own covert agency and its operations. In secret, John Cooper has built a force dubbed Sector 4, a force responsible for carrying out clandestine missions unfit for John Cooper’s public image. Not only does this violate the Kingdom’s laws, but the missions themselves are where we find the most horrendous of his crimes against humanity.
“For years this Sector 4 has carried out constant massacres against citizens of the Kingdom. After thorough investigation, it has been found that no less than two hundred thousand citizens have been horrifically murdered in villages and towns across the entirety of Kingdom territory. On top of these catastrophes, it has been found that Sector 4 has been responsible for nearly every single noble assassination that has occurred in recent years, amounting to well over three dozen assassinations from Barons to Marquesses. Simultaneously, major heists have been conducted to steal the treasures of the nobility and crippling their financial ability to support this Kingdom and its war against the Scourge.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot understate the sheer amount of damage and terror that John Cooper’s secret force of killers and murderers has inflicted upon this entire Kingdom. It also must be known that everything you’ve heard about Iron Legion’s operations in the north has been a lie as well. Recently, it has come to my attention that Iron Legion has been ordered to retreat from the front lines, abandoning their posts and giving the Scourge a critical opening to attack. The oncoming stampede of monsters will now be able to rush past defenses that Iron Legion once claimed for themselves, routing Kingdom forces and dealing a devastating blow that may be impossible to recover from. Not only has John Cooper orchestrated incredible damage to the Kingdom from within, but he has now allowed the Scourge to inflict a mortal wound upon our Kingdom’s brave soldiers and Strongholds on the front!
“However, this is not the end! Because upon attempting to arrest John Cooper at one of his secret research facilities and bring him to justice, John Cooper himself single handedly massacred ten thousand of the Royal and Noble Guard, as well as the Fourth Princess, my daughter, who led the charge to capture him!”
I saw Umara glance at me from the side upon mention of the Fourth Princess. Talexia was also staring holes into me. After all, most of this intel was being brought to the public for the first time. Sector 4 itself had been known by extremely few even within Iron Legion, the rest being mere rumors. Not even Ironheart knew much about it, let alone Talexia.
Well, explanations would come later.
“People of the Kingdom of Dragon Tongue, today I implore you to crush all illusions you may have had about John Cooper. Today, I give you my decree regarding this mass murderer. By my authority as King, for his atrocities against humanity, the count of two hundred and ten thousand murders against citizens and soldiers of the Kingdom, the murder of the Fourth Princess, the count of thirty seven Noble Assassinations, the desertion of his position as military leader, the robbery of noble wealth ammounting to no less than eleven billion coin, and High Treason against the Kingdom of Dragon Tongue, I declare that John Cooper shall hereby be branded a Traitor to Humanity and High Criminal. He is to be marked for death and hunted for as long as he lives until he can pay for his crimes in blood.
“John Cooper is to be stripped of his title as Commander of Iron Legion and all of his assets are to be seized. The soldiers that he has commanded will be transfered to other units so they can resume battle against the Scourge under the command of Kingdom Generals and Sovereigns. All Iron Legion facilities are to be placed under the control of Kingdom Command, and all Iron Legion officers and military leaders are to be investigated for high crimes and collusion with the Traitor to Humanity.
“From now on, the Kingdom will work tirelessly to arrest the Traitor so that he can be justly executed. All those that the Traitor has cooperated with will also be investigated, including Sawn Sverir of Sawn Industries, one of the Traitor’s closest business partners.
“I lament that we were unable to catch the traitor before he could commit his atrocities, but the Kingdom has my word that justice will prevail and that the situation with the war in the north will stabilize with the might of the Kingdom’s finest soldiers.”
The King’s voice shifted to a drone as I closed my eyes, finishing my last piece of bread.
With everything important having been said, Umara shut down the feed, the living area going silent once more.
“His voice is annoying.”
“Hm. I didn’t think he’d be so dramatic about everything either. Really aired out my dirty laundry.”
“You two are much too casual about this.”
Talexia spoke with an edge to her voice, Umara sighing.
“You should see what he did yesterday when he wasn’t.”
“John, I think we should have our conversation now.”
“Yeah, that’s probably wise.”
I stood with Talexia and Ironheart, but before stepping out, I turned to the others.
I glanced between my Desert Eagles.
“I think all of you need to go. Head back to your families and affiliations. Feiden and Tana, you should make sure your families are safe. Jaya and Ponteck, same for you. Aria, head back to the Taveras and lie low. Ilinca, you’ll follow Talexia back when she leaves. Kwon, Song, Katta, and Aki, you’ll all need to head back to the Holy See. Especially Katta. Your father will have some choice words for you. I’ve already gotten thirty messages and six calls from him.”
“Shit.”
“You can all use Sector 4 if you need help, just keep in contact with Polly. Trust me, you don’t want to have anyone you’re close to being captured and interrogated for information about me. That means you all need to be careful as well. After figuring things out, I’m going to head to my Iron Legion and give them one last goodbye. After that, well, I’ll figure that out later. For now, you all get moving. Don’t be wasting time here. Erhan, get them hooked up with rides.”
“Already on standby, sir.”
“Good man.”
With that, I turned and walked with Talexia.
“This way.”
I led them to a meeting room, one of the special ones able to isolate itself from the world. Ignoring the commotion on my Aerial, I sat down with them and heard Talexia’s first question.
“So, how much of what the King said is an exaggeration?”
“None of it. Technically everything he said was spot on.”
“...Please tell me you’re joking, John. I’m not sure how I feel about knowing you’ve killed multiple hundreds of thousands of people.”
“Not people, Nephilim. I’ve been running raids on corruption centers for Nephilim ever since they started making their presence known. The only actual people I’ve killed were the ten thousand strong force of guards that came to assault my research facility. They were unfortunately all human. But of course, the King doesn’t like to talk about how the bulk of my killings were Nephilim. That would have the opposite effect.”
Talexia was silent, staging at me for a bit longer before looking at Umara.
She just shrugged.
“Nephilim aren’t people. I don’t know why you’re looking at me like that, mom.”
“You knew about all this?”
“I knew about everything. John has no reason to hide things from me. Letting me participate though is another matter that I’m still gradually working on.”
“A silver lining for my mental health.”
Talexia sighed and leaned back, Ironheart chuckling a bit.
“You know, John, I truly never could have fathomed that you were doing so much. Did you really steal eleven billion coins worth of treasures?”
Yes, in fact the operation is still ongoing. The entire noble class were all in possession of vaults containing old Paragon corpses that they’ve been using for power throughout their generations. I’ve stolen just about all of them, including their valuable hoards.”
“How is something like that possible?”
“I had help from the Church.”
“I see…”
He nodded with impression as I brought up my Aerial.
“Now, onto business. What you two do from here on out is critically important. Iron Legion no longer has a leader, and I can’t understate how catastrophic their disbandment would be for humanity’s survival.”
“I think pulling away from the front lines was bad for humanity’s survival.”
“Talexia, Umara and I came face to face with Anarchy during our advance. It’s only because of my decision that Iron Legion will continue to exist at all. Also, the consequences of my decision will result in exactly what you’ve been desiring ever since you and Chief Ironheart handed me the contracts for your soldiers.”
My finger motioned, projecting images up in the air between us. They were statistics of Iron Legion as well as their current location, along with the map of oncoming Scourge.
“The Scourge is surging forward from the northern land bridge with forces numbering in the multi-millions. It will be their strongest forces yet and not insignificantly stronger than what I had to rebuff at the Line. It’s an actual army, not the rabble of mindless monsters that the Kingdom has faced for years. The Church is already preparing to face them, but without me there, they’ll fail. A lot of people are about to be very angry with me, but you shouldn’t be one of them. The only way we come out of this on top is if you and Chief Ironheart are able to take back control of your troops. Use whatever means you have to, but under no circumstances should you allow the Kingdom to disperse Iron Legion. Also, don’t allow them to send my troops to the front again. Retain them within your territory while the Scourge wipes out the Kingdom forces in the north.”
“The King would would have us by the neck legally if we did that.”
“Fuck the King. Let him try and resist you, and use the Chief here to put a stop to him. You have a Sovereign on your side, and make no mistake, the King is fully aware of the power he wields after his performance in the north. He won’t be able to touch you if you two stick together. Whats important is that you retain control of my troops. I’ll help you, but you’ll need leadership. That means you have to protect my Generals. Let the Kingdom catch them, and you’ll never see them again, that I can promise you.”
Talexia frowned, looking back at Ironheart who had an odd smile.
Then she looked back at me.
“What do you know of our plans?”
“Everything. Seriously, you guys should be more careful talking about rebellion on your Aerials. I was reading your conversations like an open book years ago.”
“...That somehow makes me feel worse than learning you’ve massacred ten thousand people.”
“Then let the fact that I’m on your side comfort you. A lot of people have been thinking for a long time that I’m just a warmonger. They wouldn’t be wrong, but now everyone knows that I’m a lot better at my job than they thought, and the principle skill I wield is the ability to collect intelligence. There is little I don’t know. I have every dirty little secret of the Kingdom, its nobles, and the Church in my back pocket. And since I know you two have been planning rebellion, let me help you take advantage of the fact that I’m giving up command of Iron Legion. I’m literally handing you the most powerful military on the planet. All you have to do is not fuck it all up while I do so.”
“...Fine.”
She sighed again, tapping her aerial and taking her time to send a few messages.
“I’ll start moving my people, but I really will need your help. You’ll talk to your Legion?”
“Of course. I’ll be leaving tonight to go see them. I’ll send them your way from the Holy See and I’ll tell my Generals what they need to know. After that, it’s up to you to resist the King and his Third Claw. I’ll assign some of my agents to both of you, but be prepared for a lot of bad things to start happening. That means protect your family and protect your assets. Say what you need to say to get the room you need to operate. Maintain my Legion as a standing army and start preparing for the Scourge to come knocking on your door. The war is coming and the Kingdom will only help them along. After that though, it’s all up to you two.”
“You know, John…”
Ironheart chimed with a low voice, his eyes staring into my soul.
“You would be a perfect fit for King. Are you sure you want to go down like this? At this rate, history will remember you as a Traitor.”
“History is written by the victor, Ironheart. Being King isn’t my style, but I don’t like the idea of not being recognized for all I’ve done. I’m going to give you the tools I’ve built, but after that, I can only rely on you. If the past two days are any indication, I’m not the one meant to reign.”
“...Indeed. Then we will take all the help you can get. We’ve been keeping our circle small and loyal for decades now. Honestly, we knew that the Kingdom’s roots were rotting, but we didn’t know it would spiral out of control like this. You’ve certainly accelerated things, but with your Iron Legion, we’ll have our chance.”
“Yes, you will.”
I nodded, taking out a cigar after feeling a headache coming on.
“My Sector Four will still be active even without me. The fact that the Kingdom knows they exist doesn’t mean anything. They’ll be able to protect you from the dark and help Talexia operate the black markets to her favor more than they have been. I can also speak on your behalf to the Church. They can work with you just as my Sector Four will and will give you more opportunities in the future. But if you want to control them, you have to go through Polly. She’s the only one with the authority to move them without me.”
Talexia’s brows raised at the mention of that name.
“That woman, I remember her. She was the Colonel you worked with. You’ve really given her so much power?”
“She’s my most trusted aide. Where Umara is my right hand, Polly is my left. So yes, she’s right beneath me in influence over my Legion. And I don’t recommend trying to remove her from her position. She’ll make you pay for taking away what she’s worked so hard for.”
“I don’t plan to get on the bad side of a woman who runs your covert force. But will she be willing to work with us? Won’t the Kingdom hunt her down?”
“Yes, and yes. But the Kingdom knows nothing about her. She effectively disappeared after I founded Iron Legion. So don’t leak any intel about her and you should be fine. I’ll have to have her teach you a bit about operational security.”
“Hm. Now, what about you? What will you do after this?”
I puffed a bit on my cigar, shrugging my shoulders.
“No clue. I’ll have to disappear. I’m no longer welcome within the Kingdom. Anybody who’s seen with me will probably be horrifically tortured and killed for their intel about me. So until things change, I’m going to vanish.”
“That’s it? Just hide in some hole in the middle of nowhere?”
“Of course not. I’m still working on getting more powerful myself. People forget sometimes, but I’m the most powerful summoner in the world. I need to work on reaching Authority Ten and breaking the Great Barrier. I’ve also got a lot of research to continue. Since I’m no longer going to be commanding a war, I’ll have much more time to focus on what I want.”
“And where do you plan on doing that?”
“Company secret.”
“I’m not going to go spilling your secrets, John.”
“Doesn’t matter if you will or not. Sorry, mother dearest, but a man has to have some mystery.”
I winked at her, her eye twitching a bit in response.
I gave her a chuckle.
“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about where I am and focus on taking care of my troops. They’ve been fighting nonstop for years now. Even besides all the political bullshit, they’ve lost their commander and just about all the progress they’ve been fighting for all this time. They’re tired and worn. They’ll need rest with their families.”
“...We’ll take care of them, you have my word. I’ll have to move a lot of money, but it’s not like we haven’t prepared for that. I didn’t think I’d be using it to militarize my territory though. Your army will need a base to reside. If the Scourge really is going to make their way down here, I’ll need to start evacuating towns and creating outposts. I’ll need battle plans too…”
“My Generals can help you. They’ll know how to use their troops the best. That army is self sustaining by this point, so let them do their work and simply be the finger that points them toward their target. As for ordnance and war materiel, I’ll make sure to set up a channel you can use to acquire them when the time comes.”
“Mm. We appreciate that.”
There was a moment of silence as I stared at the maps between us.
Now that I was on the same page with Ironheart and Talexia, I could rest a bit easier. At this point very little was going my way, but at least with this I could make sure that my troops wouldn’t be mishandled.
For a while longer the four of us stayed in the room and ironed out a few finer details. After that though, I started to prepare to go see my troops as well as those I’d have to meet within the Holy See. The news would have spread to them by then so there’d be little to explain. Besides that, I just needed to figure out what I’d do from here.
Disappearing to the Island of Continuance was one of my few options that didn’t sound completely unbearable. There were Wonderland facilities there as well as all of the personnel from the mainland. Research would continue like it had before, except now I’d get to focus it on more important things, like finally cracking the secrets of the Anomaly and Automatons.
I didn’t know how much time I’d spend there. It was safe to say that it might be at least a year before I stepped back into the wider world. It depended on how fast the Scourge moved. Either way though, my fate was sealed for now.
My time as Commander had come to an end. It felt like I was back to square one, but both myself and my Desert Eagles were all dozens of steps ahead of where we had been. Given time to focus on ourselves and not a war, our growth would only accelerate after having been primed by constant combat against the worst of the Scourge. Multiple people, my wife included, were already knocking on the door to Authority 10.
There was only one idea floating in my head that might have to delay that advancement, but otherwise, when the time finally came for us to make our return, we’d be far more powerful than we had any right to be.