System Change

During the same time that Derek and Jace were fighting their respective battles, Darvin, Amelia, and a large group of high-level soldiers marched on after being forced to evacuate their teleportation array and the protective circle around it.

“Has anyone been able to get in touch with Awery?!” Darvin shouted at the people surrounding him. They had individuals constantly keeping an eye on the System Invasion status sheet and had known the instant that anything changed.

First, two of the Guardians had been plunged into battle along with one of the Strongholds, but it wasn’t against any of the Champions. Darvin, whose nerves had been wound extremely tight since having to leave the safe zone and dealing with communication problems, had heaved a sigh of relief knowing that at least his Champions were safe.

He didn’t have much hope of anything happening to the Stronghold or the Guardians who were apparently protecting it, but it was something to watch out for. In fact, it was possible that there would be survivors of the battle, and Darvin and the others would be able to gather information about the two Guardians: Aria and Vendra.

However, not long after the status showed those two in battle, he saw something else that made his breath catch, and all the nervousness that he’d been trying to calm came rushing back. Awery, who had chosen the dumb moniker ‘The Indomitable,’ was also plunged into battle—and against a Guardian known as ‘Ascending Monarch.’

Ever since then, Darvin had given the orders to do their best to get in touch with the centaur. Awery would be a great strength if he were to be paired with the rest of the Champions. He was a well-balanced tank class with both defense and strength. The man was like a combination of Wri and Cuthos, but also a little smarter.

Well… those who take those pure strength or defense-based classes usually aren’t the smartest, Darvin thought as he walked forward. There was a pull in two separate directions—one which he was avoiding going towards. If there was a pull of a Guardian both north and south of him, then he would choose to go east. Their best bet was to establish a base of operations and regroup before attacking the Strongholds one by one, with all of their powers combined.

“No,” Amelia said from the side. “We have not been able to get in contact with Awery. It seems that although our communication devices work, the range is still limited. I have, however, been in contact with both Holcom and Trischa. They are doing the same as us and waiting for orders on where to go. As of right now, I have directed them to stay away from any cities, Strongholds, or Guardians, and await further orders.”

“Good!” Darvin said. “That means that there are three Champions within relatively close range of each other. Tell them to cease their movements, and we will send scouts out to find them. We will do the same. They should only resume movement if they feel the pull of a Guardian growing stronger. With us being this close to one another, there is no sense in taking any unnecessary risks.”

“Very well,” Amelia replied, then brought her bracelet up to do as ordered. Next, she gathered over a dozen scouts and sent them out in all directions. They would stay in contact with her the whole time, and if they left communication range, they would know that they were heading in the wrong direction and rejoin Darvin and the others.The scouts would move quickly. There wouldn’t be many people able to keep pace with them, so Darvin figured that they would be back or at least find the other groups within hours.

“Set up a temporary camp!” Darvin ordered once the scouts left. “Amelia,” he said once all the other soldiers and the stragglers who had joined up with them began making camp.

“Yes?” the near giantess replied.

“What do you think about what we have seen thus far?” Darvin asked.

“This planet is massive,” Amelia said. “It is far larger than I originally believed, and the system didn’t allow us a blueprint of it as it does other planets it captures within its range.” She sighed. “I am anxiously awaiting one of the scouts to leave range so we will know how far our communications reach.”

The woman paused, then continued, “I did not think we would have problems with communications once we arrived, but it makes sense now that I think about it. Our system encompasses hundreds and thousands of planets, yet the invasion of this other system has brought us to a single planet. It seems that the ‘Davenresh System’ is a system that encompasses only a single, very large world.”

“Yes,” Darvin said with a nod. “I believe you are correct in that assumption. What else?”

“What else?” Amelia repeated Darvin’s words. “I believe that we will soon be down to nine Champions.”

Darvin’s eyes widened. “Really?” he asked. “Why is that? Do you have no faith in Awery?”

“Faith in Awery?” Amelia smiled. “It is not that, though I would still say that, no, I do not have faith in Awery. However, that is not the problem. Awery is facing the Ascending Monarch, who is at the top of the list of Guardians. If the order is based on strength, as I assume it is, then we have one of our middling Champions fighting against the best that the other side has to offer,” she explained. “Let me ask you this question.”

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“Yes?”

“If you were to pit me against Awery, what would that outcome be?” she asked.

“Do you have to ask?” Darvin rolled his eyes. “If you went all out, Awery wouldn’t last more than a couple of minutes.”

“Exactly,” Amelia replied. “And he is fighting against the other system’s version of mys—” Amelia stopped mid-sentence, and her eyes widened.

“Did he lose?” Darvin asked as soon as he saw the woman’s expression. “At least he lasted longer than he would have against you…”

“That… isn’t it,” Amelia said. “Just… look at the System Invasion status.”

Darvin frowned, then pulled up the status. His frown was instantly replaced with a giant smile as he saw that one of the three Guardians that were fighting had died. His smile increased even further as, while he was looking at the sheet, another one of the fighting Guardians’ status changed to ‘Defeated.’

“Wonderful!” Darvin let out along with a breath. “We must find those who fought against Aria and Vendra and reward them!”

“Look again!” Amelia shouted, and Darvin looked back at the status.

“The Stronghold!” Darvin shouted in shock. “Virendell is ours!” It was all that the small Malaxi could do to not shoot into the sky in joy. He had been on edge and a bundle of nerves ever since arriving, so good news like this was exactly what he needed. “Still three months left, and they are down a fifth of their Guardians and a quarter of their Strongholds. This may not be as troublesome as we believed.”

“Maybe…” Amelia frowned.

“What? Are you not happy?” Darvin asked.

“It’s not that,” Amelia said. “Just… who was it that took the Stronghold?”

“That doesn’t matter!” Darvin replied. “What matters is that it is ours now! We must find out where this Virendell is and make it our headquarters. Their people may be safe from us inside, and we will treat them well, but using a former Stronghold as a base will cause any attackers to hesitate on account of their own people being inside.”

“It will cause some attackers to hesitate,” Amelia corrected.

“Still!” Darvin said. “We must take any help we can get, and moving into a Stronghold will help.”

“Sir…” a very large soldier—possibly one of Amelia’s people—whose name Darvin didn’t know, hesitantly approached and said.

“Yes?” Darvin didn’t care one bit that someone he didn’t know was interrupting him. He was in much too good a mood for that. “What is it?” he asked.

“The uh…” the man continued to hesitate.

“Spit it out,” Darvin said.

“Yes, sir…” the soldier muttered, then finally said. “I’ve been paying close attention to the pull towards the Strongholds and Guardians…”

“And?”

“And… and…” the man took in a deep breath and let it out. “When those two Guardians were defeated, and the Stronghold was captured, the pull to our east lessened greatly. I think that… the Stronghold that was captured was the one the system was pulling us towards… the same with the Guardians.”

“Interesting…” Darvin rubbed his chin and focused on the pull. “Yes… you may be correct. It certainly does seem like the feeling has lessened. Fantastic!” A smile once again found Darvin’s face. “Amelia!”

“Already on it,” Amelia said, and then another scout headed out in that direction.

“Good, good!” Darvin muttered. “You,” he pointed at the soldier, “what is your name?”

“Jerrett, sir!” The soldier saluted.

“Jerrett? Good!” Darvin replied. “You stick with the central command for now. Once we get back, you will be rewarded.”

“Yes! Sir!” Jerrett’s face formed a smile twice as large as the one on Darvin’s face as he saluted.

“Good…” Darvin said once more. “You are dismissed.”

Jerrett saluted one last time, then moved off to the side instead of back to where he came from. The soldier definitely wasn’t going to miss the opportunity he’d been given.

“Ah…” Darvin heard Amelia sigh from the side.

“What is it?” Darvin asked.

“Awery… he’s been defeated,” Amelia replied.

“That is fine,” Darvin said, waving it off. “The two Guardians that they lost were both higher ranked than Awery, if it is ordered by strength like we believe it is.”

“That is true,” Amelia said. “It’s just… something is giving me a bad feeling. That man… Derek Hunt…”

“What about him?”

“You said that he was most likely part of this system that we are invading, correct?” Amelia asked.

“It is very likely,” Darvin replied, his mood souring a small amount from thinking about the man and planet that had caused him a great amount of anxiety over the last years. “But there is a chance that he is not part of this system, or that he may just not be here. He didn’t have our system to teleport him here instantly like we do, and we know how far away Planet C-186 is from here.

“There is a chance that he is currently traveling back from Planet C-186. Kelvin did not get any information about how long it took him to travel, so we won’t know for sure. I am also unsure exactly how much we should believe when it comes to what Kelvin reported. Who knows if any of the words that Derek Hunt spoke to Kelvin were true or not? All that we really know is that he was strong enough to put a certain amount of fear in Kelvin, and that he has some void abilities that allow him to appear in places that he shouldn’t be able to appear in.”

“I see…” Amelia replied.

“Also, his name is not on the list of Guardians, and there is nothing to suggest anyone void-related on the list, either,” Darvin continued. “Derek, though I have not had the pleasure of speaking with him, does not strike me as someone who will hide. So, unless he is this ‘Ascending Monarch,’ we will hopefully not have to worry about him.”

“That… is true,” Amelia said. Her gaze lingered on the name ‘Ascending Monarch’ for a moment longer before sighing and closing the status window. She still had a bad feeling, but they had just obtained a major victory, so she tried not to think much about it.

“Besides,” Darvin said. “That is why I selected Trischa as one of our Champions. Her strength may be weak, but combined with you, Jakis, or Xephos, I do not believe Derek Hunt will be a match. And if we can all regroup, then I will be even less worried.”

“That… is also true,” Amelia said with a nod. In a normal fight, she would be able to beat all the other Champions in the invasion, but if any of them were paired with Trischa’s support, then the most likely outcome would be a crushing defeat.

The two stopped their discussion on the topic after that. Soon, their temporary command tent was erected, and the two, along with a few of the other officers, moved inside and took their seats. Amelia sat in silent thought as Darvin celebrated the capture of the Stronghold and the defeat of the two Guardians with the officers.

Thirty minutes later, Amelia’s bracelet buzzed, and she pulled up the communication from one of her scouts. “Darvin,” she said.

“Yes?” he broke off from his conversation and asked.

“My scouts have found Trischa and the soldiers she leads, and they are on their way,” she said.

“That’s great!” Darvin replied. “See, I told you that we have nothing to worry about. And now we have even less to worry about. Now that we have both you and Trischa gathered, our victory is all but secured.”