Liash Commander Jerind Orichalcos took five steps into the hall outside the chamber door of the Council of Voices before he vanished. His fifth step was into a rift in reality, into darkness. He was a master of the Inversion technique; what took many beginners several hours of meditation took a single thought from the Commander. He fooled reality itself into believing what he believed, that he started in one place and with one step, hopped through space to end up in another—and reality believed him, and made it so.
The darkness in the alley was absolute. The three men and two women, all armed to the teeth with more of those odd flesh-covered weapons like the rapier Jerind had, sensed their Commander’s presence and leaped up from their crouches to salute. Orichalcos spared them the barest nod back.
"Negotiations have failed" he whispered. "I will be taking you into the Archives. Message me immediately after your mission is complete, and I will come to get you."
"You’re…not staying with us, Commander?" one of the men asked, his voice, though stoic, betraying a distinct trepidation.
"I am needed elsewhere," he insisted, voice hard, and any other complaints were silenced. "You five are all capable Zealots. You have proven your loyalty to the Brotherhood beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now, prove your usefulness. Hack into the main database of the Infinite Alliance’s Archives and immediately begin transmitting the data back to the appointed Brotherhood mainframe." His gaze turned to one of the women of the group. "You claimed you were the greatest hacker in three universes, yes?"
"I am," she returned with swelling pride.
"Then prove it," Orichalcos answered coldly. "Do not fail. And the rest of you, do not fail to protect her.
The fabric of reality around the six of them warped, light filtering from everywhere and nowhere, mixing into the darkness like watered-down paint. Orichalcos turned and gestured to the wall behind him. ”Step this way.”
Despite the fact that many of them would have hit the wall, they all obeyed without question, their faith absolute. The six of them stepped through the fabric of reality, into a vast, circular chamber humming quietly with the song of technology.
"Work quickly." The Commander turned and stepped away, vanishing from that point in space, leaving the five to fend for themselves.
Reality rippled again, and Orichalcos seemed to step out of a tree and into a wooded area. In the clearing before him was a gathering of Liash, part of a small army that extended into the series of natural clearings ahead of him. The trees themselves were massive, some of them large enough around to drive a truck through if one were to cut a hole through the base, and most of them towering for hundreds of feet into the air. The space between the massive trunks gave Orichalcos a decent view of the gathered army, bringing something akin to a smile to his pale, hardened face.
A man with cocoa skin who seemed of Asiatic descent saluted Orichalcos as he materialized in their space, and Orichalcos saluted back. ”Commander Elchin,” Orichalcos chimed, politeness spreading over his face like a softening agent running over clay. ”Is everything in readiness?”
"Perfectly," Elchin answered with an eager, bloodthirsty smirk. "My personal Lieutenants are overseeing the troops. There are more than enough of us to squash an outpost of rookies. These children will wet themselves with their own blood.” As he spoke, all vestiges of restraint flew from his face, leaving a hungry look glittering in his eyes.
"Fantastic," Orichalcos answered with nothing more than a suave smile. "Have you made contact with the Revenant? Is the ship in position?”
"Hiding behind this planet’s moon, cloaked and ready to sweep up after us," Elchin answered, smirk growing at the thought of the bombardment that would follow their initial strike.
"On board the Revenant and fully prepped.”
"Excellent. Most excellent. Captain Frode was wise to leave this in your very capable hands. Am I to assume that I’m no longer needed here?”
Commander Elchin shrugged. ”You can stay to watch the carnage if you like,” he remarked offhandedly. ”But I know how you are about getting blood on your suits,” he teased.
Orichalcos let out a hmph. ”Indeed. I prefer to be far away from the slaughter if possible. In that case, I shall attend to my own affairs. Call me when the sweep is complete, if you would.”
"I’ll send you an image of my favorite kill," Elchin nearly chirped, flashing a razor grin.
"Don’t you always?" Orichalcos laughed. He saluted again, then turned, waving in a friendly manner over his shoulder. "Don’t be too long."
"Oh, we won’t be. Planet Z’ar will be ours before sundown."
Orichalcos used his Inversion again, once more warping reality, and stepped away. He did not return to the strike team in the Archives, but to his own personal army, secure in another universe. He had some preparations of his own to make.
