章 56: Enterprise Awakens
(3 out of 3 chapters this week)
"Did you hear that?" One of the devil soldiers asked his fellow soldier.
"...Hear what?"
"...I just heard a screech…"
The soldiers shivered as they looked at him with annoyance.
"Really!? Do you have to mess with us when we are guarding Doors to the literal hell itself!?"
The whole battalion of soldiers was guarding one of the entrances to the depths of the Underworld.
It was a massive cavern, so saying that something was screeching from it in the middle of the night made all of the men experience goosebumps.
*SCREECH!!!*
"...!!!"
"!!!"
"!!!"
Before they can react, they sense a lot of movements! Something or some things moved like a blur.
The soldiers tried to intercept, but their spears collided with—long nails!
"...Damn!!!"
These nails glowed with black and red power and sliced through the soldier's spear. The creature's claws cut the spear effortlessly!
"Power of Destruction! N-No way!!!"
The next second, the creature's other hand slammed through his gut, killing him.
He was not the only one who lost his life. The entire battalion got killed with minimal effort.
Once the coast was clear, more and more creatures poured through the cavern into the surface of the Underworld.
After the black armoured creatures, it was hell hounds, Cerberuses, Giants and other nightmare things.
All this was happening all over the Underworld, not just in devil territories. But in Fallen parts as well.
Fallen Angel's lands are especially vulnerable as they don't have numbers like the Devil Kind has; a lot of their territories are empty.
So these hell monstrosities quickly got their foothold.
"Governor-General!"
"...I know, I know! The current situation is bad, and there are far too many of these things. Not only that, they don't die!" Azazel stabbed one of the black armoured creatures.
The thing collapsed but swiftly reformed and once again was rushing at him.
"...Old man…"
"...What?"
"...The moment I get close, my demonic energy stops responding. And these things wield Power of Destruction and some other devil bloodline powers." Vali exclaimed as he was already fully armoured in his Balance Breaker.
"That energy… I sense Angra Mainyu and some other things from it…" Albion said through his wings.
"...Angra Mainyu? The incarnation of evil!?"
"Yes, that God of Evil."
"...Damn it…"
Azazel pondered for a bit. But he decided that the best way to stop this is to eliminate the source.
"Vali, let's go! We are going for the source. Baraqiel! You take the command!" The Head Crow commanded his forces. If they have any chance, only Vali and he could do that. No one else has enough power to face someone like Zoroastrianism's Evil God.
"Very well!"
The pair proceeded to fly towards the cave entrance.
They passed all the black soldiers who rushed from the caverns.
"There is no end of these things!" Vali was shocked to see so many of these things coming from the depths of Hell.
"That's because these are souls, all those who did not go to Heaven. There are many of them, far too many, hard to count such amount."
"Hahaha. What do I see? The Head Crow and his pet little bat!" A female voice giggled through the area.
Extremely dense and terrifying energy surged in front of them.
The pair stopped in their tracks and looked at the enemy before them.
It was a female with pitch-black hair and elvish ears. Her gothic clothes fit her dark aura.
"...You are…"
"Ah, yes. The ignorance of the newer race, my presence alone, would terrify any lesser God. Yet, here you are, standing in confusion. Well, no matter when I'm through with you, you will know how terrifying a Primordial can be."
An absurd amount of power started to radiate from her. The entire Underworld started to shake.
Vali started to grin from ear to ear as his power also surged, transforming into a bulkier form. He accessed his Juggernaut Drive with a thought.
"Ha? Little bat wants to play? Fine. Let's play!"
The White Dragon Emperor rushed forward and tried to punch, but the black-haired girl's casual smack shattered his armour and sent him sailing away into a mountain.
Azazel looked worried when he saw that! The crow pulled out something from his pocket and activated it.
"Oh? Do you have a toy to add to the mix? Let's see what you can do!"
[Balance Breaker]
A dragon voice said from the short spear as the energy engulfed Azazel in golden armour.
"How amusing, Head Crow can make armours. My oh my. Someone is trying to imitate his daddy?" The Primordial made fun of the Governor-General as she waited for him to attack.
"Something like that. I picked up a few tricks from Marcus when I visited him."
The moment Azazel mentioned Marcus, the girl in front of him lost her grin, and instead, she turned serious.
"?"
The armour-clad Fallen Angel noticed that. He was wondering what is her story. What does Marcus have to do anything with this Primordial!?
"...I see…since Marcus Goldman himself helped you… then I don't need to worry about your survival. You can easily take my full power. You can handle it, right? I don't need to worry about you breaking down for me~" The more she spoke, the more sadism she radiated.
'Jealousy? Is she jealous?'
Azazel wondered about that, but before he could do anything, Nyx was already in front of him.
The Fallen Angel couldn't even follow her movements!
*SLAP*
A powerful slap destroyed the Governor-General's armour and sent him flying many miles away, shattering mountains in progress.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Fake… you are fake… you said Marcus Goldman helped you. But none of his creations would shatter like this." She shook her head in denial. There were apparent sights of something going on in her.
"Whatever… let finish your faction off… and then…focus on Devils~" The Primordial giggled as she rushed towards Grigori.
~~~
Pained Groan escaped from Azazel's mouth as he looked at the sky. He was lying in a pile of rubble created from his landing.
'You are not paying enough, Azazel! I didn't sign to fight Greek Primordials! That was Nyx you were fighting! Have you lost your mind!?
That slap of hers took all of my energy to counter! If not for me, you would be a dust of blood!'
Fafnir started to rant in Azazel's head. That's right. The Head Crow asked Fafnir to become the core of his pseudo gear many years ago. But only a couple of days ago was he able to program and organise the Sacred Gear to be as closely related to an authentic Sacred Gear as possible.
'I hear you… I think my spine broke— can't move my head…'
'Lucky you… not many survive an encounter with pissed-off Nyx!'
'Yeah…so…why she is pissed off?'
'How should I know? She is a Greek! They are either loving or Mad! It turns out you lost your coin toss as today she is mad.'
Azazel grimaced when he heard that. Turns out Fafnir is right. He was very unlucky.
'Well, you are talkative this time around.'
'I am tired and stressed. I am off to sleep; don't die on me. You are the only one who can let me out of your dodgy gear!'
After saying that, the head Crow could hear the dragon snoozing.
"...Shit… my body hurts…"
The Fallen Angel dismissed the scale mail and collected the orb.
He grimaced from just doing that. It appears his right hand is still functioning, but the lower body is dead, his left hand included.
With such injuries, he will be in hospital for a long time.
'Or…'
He looked at the orb in his hand.
'Yeah… sorry…Fafnir, but this is for the survival of Fallen Race…'
Azazel summoned his circle and disappeared.
Appearing in an empty room, he arrived with a pile of rocks, landing on the ground with a loud thud.
"Oww…"
[Governor-General, I request your explanation as to why you arrived here. With luggage like this?]
Synthetic voice of a female brough the Fallen from his pain-induced hallucination.
"...Righ…can I ask Marcus to heal me? And talk with me as well? I am willing to give him Dragon—King—Fafnir…" Midway, he passed out. It appears he used the last bit of his strength to explain.
[Very well]
~~~
Marcus walked through the doors of his genetic wing in shorts and a t-shirt. Aurora woke him up at 2 A.M.
He forgot all about sleeping when he heard that Azazel crashed into his teleportation room with a broken spine. He offered Dragon King Fafnir for healing and the opportunity to talk.
Something he is more than willing to speak. Who wouldn't want a Dragon King!?
It was another piece of collection to his Vault!
"How is he?"
[Multiple injuries to his head, spine has completely shattered in multiple locations, and only a tiny portion of it functions.]
An image of Azazel's internal organs appeared in a window.
As he looked at it, he picked a cup of hot chocolate from his kitten, who brought it for him.
"Hmm, well, he got quite a beat down. *Sip*" The Inventor commented while taking a sip.
[Yes, he received an attack on his head, which shattered his body. It appears an outside force of some sort mitigated the damage.]
"Scale mail. Yeah, it appears Azazel finally has semi-working gear. Though it's in alpha state." Marcus agreed with her, as Hypolita brough an orb, the very same which she took from the Crow when she brought the Fallen angel to the Genetics wing.
"Scan the orb. This dragon is from the Norse Pantheon; they might want him back."
[Understood.]
"What are you going to do?" Atalanta asked him while looking at Azazel. The black-haired crow was floating in the medical tank. The healing process already started. Robotic hands were working on his spine at this very moment.
"Hades has started his invasion, and the Fallen are the first victims. I will wait to see what he will propose to me."
"And the devils? Serafall, Venelana and people who are related to them might be already fighting. What is your stance against that?" Hypolyta asked with a curious look. She is wondering if he will march for war.
"If my devils get hurt, my ladies will be teleported here. Ars Goetia is versatile enough to notice when my devils are in danger."
"I see… but you know it won't solve anything. Knowing you— you care what those girls think."
Marcus rolled his eyes and flicked his finger on the redhead's forehead.
"I do. But at the same time, I won't beg to join the war. Nope, devils want me. They must fix things with their race and invite me to their war." The inventor plainly explained to his maid.
The redhead slowly nodded. She understands that well enough. But she is Ares' daughter. War is part of her existence, and it's in her soul! It's itching for some war!
"For now. I shall analyse the new data I get from them. Not every day I get the strongest Fallen Angel and legitimate living Dragon King fall on my lap." He smiled at Hypolyta before walking back to his workshop.
"Aurora, notify me when Azazel regains his consciousness."
[Understood, Master.]
As he left, the pair of ex-huntresses looked at each other.
"I guess we should prepare for war." The Amazon Queen said with a small smile. She checked the amount of points she had.
The War Goddess realised that she had accumulated enough to buy herself a Neo sword birth.
"You thinking we will be able to enter the front lines?" Atalanta, with a lazy voice, walked over and leaned into Marcus' seat. She looked disinterested.
"Knowing him. We will be standing behind him on the bridge in his airship. Besides, his new Biological models will awaken soon.
With them around, I don't think we will be able to do anything." The huntress said lazily as her tail slightly moved up and down and then from side to other.
The lion girl was very lazy at this moment.
Since she got up at midnight, she slept with Marcus when Aurora woke them up. The lioness was there as well; she didn't care that much, but Quinella was livid from such an awakening.
She didn't show her dissatisfaction to her creator, but the Assistant was very angry for getting interrupted from her sacred time with her Master.
Quinella's anger is on the ones who are waging this war.
More precisely, a Super Advanced AI anger… not some anger of the average person.
Atalanta is not even bothered about this whole 'conflict'. There is no conflict when Marcus' A.I. is preparing for something akin to genocide; there is no such thing as war in the A.I. Vocabulary.
Whoever it is, the Lion girl is feeling pity for her enemies.
"Hey! I know that look! You lazy bum! You recently became very lazy! If you don't do something, you will grow fat!"
"...Fat? Do you think I can grow fat? I live with someone who can change my looks with a wave of a finger." Atalanta rolled her eyes and sighed in resignation.
"Lucky you. Anyway, I have to enjoy every moment I can."
~~~
"Half dead, Azazel dropped into Master's teleportation room a few minutes ago. From looks of it, the residue of aura he has around him is that of Nyx." Artemis said that to her sister over the phone.
[Though so much, we can't access the underworld, as it's sealed off from our end; we assume Tartarus used his abyss powers. We can't access the Land of Dead or any other realm in Hades Domain.] Athena said with a resigned sigh.
"It appears the war truly has started."
[Not any war. Genocide of Fallen and Devil races. The forces they have are not just some random. They are pure evil, enchanted souls wielding powers of devils, Olympus magic and some undead spells. Those souls must endure torture just to exist, wielding those armours.]
Athena explained with a pained voice.
"...Do we even know the reason for this war? Why would Hades do such a thing?"
[Many factors, mostly likely his dislike for being saddled with more work and our situation. I do not doubt that his 'conquests' will lead to him attacking Marcus Faction.]
"...Good luck with that… I can't see Hades winning. Master's creations haven't revealed themselves to the wider world yet. No one knows what exists in the tunnels of his faction." Artemis was more than confident after being with him for a while.
[I know what you mean. What concerns me is the collateral damage. And the possibility of a vacuum of power left in the Supernatural world.
Suppose Biblical factions are to die. Marcus would take over all that space. Such an event would lead to more conflict.]
"...Doubtful… knowing Master he doesn't like expanding his lands."
[You must consider that you can't take everything with you.]
Artemis' eyes widened. Athena was right; if Marcus finds something, he will build a base around it.
"...Well, then, tough luck." The Goddess of Hunt said that with a strained smile.
[Anyway, I have to go. Another meeting to attend]
"Then I will see you later."
The Goddess of Hunt lowered her phone; a tired sigh escaped from her lips as she dropped her phone into her bed.
With Athena becoming his official Fiance, the Goddess of the Moon can now call her sister and speak in situations like these.
"...What now? What will Marcus will do? Such large scale conflict brewing on horizon…"
The silver-haired beauty mumbled to herself as she leaned into her seat.
How many years has it been? Now that she thinks about it, previous wars pale in comparison. Nyx, Erebus, those names send goosebumps even through her back. But, she believes in Marcus' advancements. She can attest to that from her experience against him.
There are very few beings who could potentially be more powerful than him.
~~~
"This is fascinating. Dragons truly are the incarnation of power." Marcus said with an impressed voice as he looked at the data he had just gotten from scanning Fafnir.
"Aurora, apply the new data we got from scanning Fafnir."
[Already working on it.]
The inventor checked through the screen as he was satisfied with what he saw.
With these new readings, he can apply this formula and allow the dragons to manifest outside the Sacred Gears.
He could summon Ddraig and Albion as well as Vritra now!
But this is not the end. The Inventor has those stashed cups, so why not bring back the evil dragons?
'But those things are dangerous… why not modify their urges? I could alter their memories and make them more controllable.'
After pondering this briefly, Marcus summoned his control window and went through the Sacred Gears he had sealed away.
Selecting the Sephiroth Graal, he activated the power of the cups.
The thing is, he has connected the cups to his A.I. So, in a sense, the Soul world is operating like Google. Only a little bit more dangerous.
The dangerous part is that Marcus could lose sight of his original goal!
That's right, he checks some random people and their souls. But he swiftly gets back as he realises that they are boring.
Eventually, he 'downloaded' the souls of Evil dragons.
The list is not bad; he 'downloaded' Apophis, Grendiel, Azi Dahaka, Ladon, and the Niðhöggr. For more, he didn't check as he needed to look for them individually; now, these dragons' souls' are locked in orbs created the same way Big G did with Heavenly Dragons' souls.
Marcus will make gears out of them properly, but for now. Since he has some time, he must check Enterprise before it is locked away forever.
So he swiftly left the workshop and boarded his maglev.
…
…
…
More than ten minutes later, the Inventor was looking at the massive ship stored in the drydocks.
"...What a beauty."
"Your actions are quite random," Atalanta commented on his random behaviour.
"Ha. I guess it is. I remembered that I did not have much time. Enterprise will awake soon, and the carrier ship needs to be ready for action." The teen explained to his lioness as he touched the ship's hull.
"I am certain that you are the one who decides everything. The girl will wake up when you think it's right." The Huntress said that with a confident voice.
"I guess it is. Aren't you becoming a cheeky girl?" He teased her as he realised that Atalanta was becoming outspoken, just as when they first met, when she tried to break his neck and turn his body into a pincushion.
Good times.
"Am I? I don't know. I guess I am learning more about you the more I spend time with you." The lioness plainly explained to him.
He chuckled upon hearing that. Even now, the Lioness knows she can say whatever things pop into his kitten's head. Not many things could happen to her.
All Marcus could do to her was push her into bed and do things. It's not like she is disobedient; she only comments on a few things.
"I guess you do."
He pulled her closer to himself as the pair floated up and landed on the deck of the carrier ship.
The deck is enormous, as big as Deadalus-Ship's runway. However, it's nothing compared to his Confiscator. The airship is 250 metres long. Thus, the Confiscator is around twice as big as the carrier ship.
But that is fine. Marcus' Enterprise doesn't need an enormous carrier ship since it has a mech form. A hundred-metre giant mech is more than enough.
As the pair explored the ship, they went to check the turrets, which will shoot hyper-compressed Power of Destruction, an experimental tech, followed by missile pods, which, again, is experimental tech.
The missile uses wave theory, which is, in simple terms, called Graviton or gravity missiles.
It's very destructive stuff, according to preliminary calculations.
"I thought you need to test the things before you use them. According to the protocol." Atalanta commented as she noticed new things he was using.
"Wartime exemption. Wartime is the best time to test new tech without worries." He said with crossed arms as he gazed at the new design turrets. It Reminds him of Turbolasers used in Star Wars.
The barrel used on them is thinner, and it's packed full of compression and accelerator circles.
All the barrels run on a single central system, which uses a singular rotation system to switch the ammo type.
When they shoot— they are all compressed Power of Destruction beams.
And that is just the defence of the ship. The primary offence of a carrier ship was always the fighter jets; this is no different.
Enterprise has four prototype bombers and Twenty-four Starscream Jet fighters. All of them are custom-built to fit with Enterprise-specific colouring.
Marcus went the extra mile for authenticity. They all have that 'Eagle' painted on them and have secondary colours of blue and white.
Such colouring makes these Starcreams unique as they don't have Decepticon colourings. No other group will have them.
All of this makes Enterprise unique even among his faction.
The Inventor already saw the reaction of his assistant. She wasn't happy about it.
And that's just cute.
Apart from the weaponry, the ship has a pair of Diamond Heart Cores—one for the ship's structure integrity and one for weapons and support.
There is a large enough Assembly line which can rebuild destroyed fighters and bombers. Then, the place, which was crew quarters, is now fully equipped to run S.P.B.A.
These foot soldiers are not regular either. In a sense, they are Marines. Marcus played with their colouring as well.
For support, the Enterprise carries four gunships which can deploy these Marines.
"As always. You are going that extra mile." Atalanta commented on his over-the-top preparations for his newest member.
"But of course. Enterprise is one of my favourite World War Two ships."
"Right."
The Lioness is not that easily convinced. As the observant one, she noticed the difference. She watched how he worked on the car and how he worked on the ship.
Her Master has a particular attachment to the Biological Model of the Enterprise.
The Huntress issue is from her lack of details; she had never heard from older members about this girl.
This girl and the other silver-haired girl, the new Dragon Empress, are something they have never heard or seen him talking about before.
From the looks of it, there should be a source material! Because all his created girls are very unique! It's far too special to be just a simple and random idea.
Like the Silver Dragon Empress. Her name is Gu Yuena; why Chinese? Why does she have extreme control over the elements? Why space? And why not time?
All those require some sort of background information and a reason why.
All these mysteries only make her more curious, as her Master has no reason to explain. Not that she is requesting him to do that.
It's simple curiosity, a simple ever-growing curiosity.
"You don't sound convinced."
"That's because you have many favourite ships. I saw the list. Does this mean you will make them all special and unique?"
The Huntress asked with a curious look.
"But of course."
The Lioness simply 'smiled' at him; this smile was a forced one. Part of her wonders how Quinella will feel. Marcus' first creation's 'special' status will whine down.
After inspecting the ship, a portal has stored it away in Golden Armoury.
With this, Enterprise is ready to awaken. However, his Dragoness soul is still in an incubation state, unlike Enterprise, who got her memories from resonance with the ship.
Yes, the girl will 'remember' when she was just a vessel. On top of that, he added some subtle changes to ensure she was the Enterprise he knew.
This work made him spend most of the day arranging memories, synthesising what base S.P.B.A know—mixing these memories up and building bridges between being a ship and a person.
With the memory arrangement completed, what is left is to wait for the ship girl to wake up.
'I did start making Enterprise first… lack of data made me focus on Gu Yuena. But thankfully, Vali helped me with that.'
"Let's go back to bed, kitten."
"Fine. But you must get a bigger bed if you want me to continue sleeping in your parents' house." The Lioness complained as the bed he was sleeping in at that moment was too small for three people!
"Consider it done." Marcus accepted it without a second thought. His hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Snuggling with his lion girl is one of the best things. Sometimes, she even uses her tail to wrap around him.
And those ears are just too cute! The best part in all of this is that only he can call her cute and cuddly. If someone else does that, she will turn that person into a pincushion.
~~~
Even with war ragging in the Underworld, none of that touched Marcus at this moment. He returned to sleep in his bed.
With lioness in his hands, he quickly snoozes off.
By the time the alarm clock rang, the teen inventor decided to skip school. He needs to prepare for war and wait for Azazel to wake up.
So he sent out a clone of his with the help of Realitus particles. Everything was just perfect.
"Master, I thought we would retrofit your parent's house?" Quinella said with a slight frown as she looked at Atalanta sitting on his lap.
The silver-platinum-haired beauty was annoyed with his bed warmers slowly encroaching on Marcus' parents' house!
It was supposed to be her haven for a bit longer!
"Oh, right. You can do that. I am sorta busy today."
The beauty clapped her hands when she heard that.
"This is fantastic! Leave it to me!"
"If you want. Oh, and don't forget to install a bigger bed." Marcus reminded her what Atalanta said last night.
"Of course!"
"Good, now let's eat."
With a nod, his assistant proceeded to eat. She started to hum from happiness. The reason for her happiness is that she will be able to demonstrate to his parents how dependable she is!
At such a crucial point as well! As she is getting TWO rivals! Real rivals! Not some bed warmers!
Fellow Biological models!
Such beings are making her nervous! So, she needs any sort of head start she could get!
As Quinella ponders upgrades to his house, Marcus returns to his base.
His destination is the genetics wings.
"What is his status?"
[I worked on his spine over the whole night. I was able to restore all of his spine. But it will take a considerable amount of time for him to recover. The Crow won't be fighting for several weeks.]
"That much? Even with all my tech?"
[We can't accelerate the recovery of the shock his body experienced. If I were to stop the painkillers, he could experience cardiac arrest.]
"...I see… this is a blindside on my part." Marcus fully agreed with what he had heard.
He forgot about active nerves.
"Hmm, I will solve it once I have time."
With a new idea typed down on his notebook window, the inventor continued his work on the soul of Gu Yuena.
He has to synthesise her memories from scratch, unlike Quinella or Enterprise. So, this is the most time-consuming.
Her body was ready a while ago; even the cute ahoge he used to see in her pictures didn't go unnoticed!
So, all left is synthesising the primary memories needed for full functionality. Marcus doesn't want his Dragoness to be too childish or too mature.
~~~
Slowly, a pair of violet eyes opened. The silver-haired beauty looked around—a look of realisation manifested in the girl's eyes.
She knew she was in a medical tank.
The A.I. registered her awakening, and a subroutine started, draining all the liquid briefly.
Once she could stand, she looked at the floor with some wonderment.
'So this is how it feels to stand on solid ground.'
[Biological Combat Model: Enterprise, how are you feeling?]
"... That's a mouthful; call me Enti."
[Aknowledged.]
"Where is Admiral?"
['Admiral'?]
The girl's eye rolled at the A.I. Confusion as she crossed her arms under her considerable burst.
"Our creator. Don't be so stiff. Following orders is all fine. But I am the embodiment of a ship. Thus, your Master is my Admiral. Easy to follow?" The beauty explained her reasoning as she left the water tank and looked around.
Her memories are peculiar to her. She has a complete background in everything. But having memories doesn't mean she has done those specific things.
[Master is just a few rooms away, working on souls.]
"I see… then I guess I dress up myself."
Before she could do anything, the doors opened up, and grinning, Marcus walked in.
"Enterprise! Finally!"
The inventor strolled in; his pace was quick. He was in a hurry.
"...Admiral!"
The beauty took a few steps and ended up hugging him tightly.
Marcus, for a second, looked shocked. He was sure he had fixed her mental trauma of 'dying.'
However, one could not gloss over 'death' so quickly.
"There, There. Welcome, I have been waiting for your awakening for a while." He patted her naked back, stroking her long hair.
"Yes! I am ready to serve you at the best of my capacities." From that excitement, the embodiment of a carrier ship proceeded to tell him that she was ready for action!
"I Don't doubt you. But for now, you need to dress up." He teased his ship girl with a smirk.
His tease was super effective on her, as she started to blush.
"...R-Right!"
The silver-haired beauty stuttered as she looked around quickly, looking for her designed clothes.
~~~
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