章節 51: Four Forts Fell
The first fort was Callisto, the one in the north. Though he couldn't remember the exact date the panicked report came, if he were to check the Ninth's records, he would be sure to find something resembling fifty to sixty years prior. That was when humanity received the first shock, the first spark of true despair, in three centuries.
Before that, they had always been on the back foot, yes, but the Gaiss Hollow was theirs. Try as the Aud might, none entered for long before returning where they came, prompted by force, or entered into the arms of death. That changed with Callisto. One day, it was fine, full-staffed, and had repelled a sizable Aud horde with minimal losses not too long ago.
The following twenty-four hours, it faced annihilation. The few survivors collected from the aftermath all said the same thing: "They came at us like wild animals. They threw themselves against the walls like something more terrible than death was at their backs. When the walls stood in spite of their battering, they crushed each other to form hills of the dead. We could only shoot and cry and watch as they came higher. Higher. Higher. Then they were upon us."
A decade later, Fort Clyvis in the south joined its ranks. The Aud dealt with the fort in a…unique way. A chilling one. Beginning from a similar pattern, they surrounded the fort in under a day. Then…nothing. The Aud formed a thick ring of bodies around it, trapping the fort's inhabitants within, but nothing further. The Directory of the time almost invested eight Titans into breaking the "blockade." They stopped at six. Why? Because none of the first six made so much as a dent before they "retired."
Even after the attacks from the fort and the Directory, the ring of Aud never changed. They waited and waited, and waited. They waited so long, the fort's inhabitants ran out of rations and fluids. They were starved. This particular massacre began the suspicion among humanity's scientific community that Aud were more intelligent and aware than they first appeared.
Unlike Callisto, Clyvis' story followed a single survivor. Ze-4. One of the last to survive from starvation and dehydration--at the time, those still alive would rather succumb to their hunger and thirst than consider cannibalism--he was only saved by the saving grace of the Old Man's Blessing. His Vigor, turning him into a blur of movement, enabled him to leave the ring of Aud without so much as a scratch. Once he was free, he ran.
He ran until he couldn't, and even then he still ran. Ran until his feet turned into pulverized masses of flesh, until his throat felt like the dust beneath his feet made it. His journey ended outside the walls of the Last Light. It was one of the rare miracles humanity experienced in that time.
"They never came." Once he recovered, that was the story he told. And once the last person still clinging to life inside Clyvis let their torturous existence go, whoever they were, the Aud…left. That only fueled the growing idea of Aud intelligence, or even sapience, further.
Third in line, many years later and finding itself much more important to living memory, Io never saw the attack coming. It didn't take hours for the Aud to assemble and attack. It didn't take minutes. All they did was fall, and the vertical ambush caught the fort's inhabitants off-guard. No tricks, no special circumstances.
"They came from above."
And now, he heard the words of the fourth and final fort, though final no longer. "They came from below." Assuming it rivaled the statement concerning Fort Io, that hinted the Aud tunneled beneath the fort. Aud digging wasn't unprecedented or an unknown phenomenon by any means, so he could see it being true. Their appendages and extensions were more than sharp enough for simple rock and stone; not even scutumsteel was enough.
"In what way did the Aud 'come from below?'" The Fourth Headman hadn't caught the message behind the words.
He-6 muffled a sigh. "They tunneled under and exited at five points. One in each corner of the fort, and one at the center."
"Why did no one notice the exit points while they were being made?"
"I assume they tunneled into isolated spots or even inside deserted buildings."
Ch-4 massaged the back of her head while dodging Eighth Headman's aggrieved attempts at poking. For revenge, most likely. "Did you recover any of the inhabitants before the Jackal left the fort?"
"Yes. We are over capacity, with seventy-four more passengers originating from the fort population."
"Did you recover Rhea's sitesman?"
"I did not. I apologize."
Ch-4 waved off the attempt. The survival of the sitesman wasn't important; it would be more convenient if someone of their rank survived to assist with the explanation and later reports to come. Seventy-four eyewitness correspondents, plus the crew of the Jackal and its data, should be plenty for that purpose anyway. "Do you have anything extra to report?"
"I wish there were good news, but that's the extent of what I know. The Jackal will reach the Last Light in seven minutes, and I'll immediately transfer it to the Fifth for repairs." He-6 bowed, and the screen blinked shut. The projectors in the domed ceiling shut down, leaving the assembly by its lonesome.
Eighth Headman pulled Ch-4 back into her lap. Why was she proactively engaging in it? "Was the Jackal able to seal the greater eastern tunnel system?"
"Most likely not." Ch-4 herself looked annoyed. Was it upsetting that she hadn't initiated their now standard arrangement? "The Jackal had to escape and warn us first. In fact, I'm surprised they could reach the Last Light, given the communication dead zone around Io's vicinity."
"Speaking of Io, what's the status of the Ancheros?" Since that Titan's change in activities wasn't kept secret, the rest of the Directory's leadership already knew about it. In-3 looked across the chamber to him. "Has it sealed its side of the Gaiss Hollow, at least?"
"I wouldn't know."
"It's not like the Ancheros is deep within said communication dead zone or anything," Eighth Headman added with a teasing drawl. In-3 flushed, though he kept whatever unkind words were on the tip of his tongue from escaping. He settled for turning his nose up and away, like the sight of her repulsed him.
"We should bring matters back into focus. The main issue we are facing is that we've underestimated the Aud." The absurdity of his statement colored the face of every person present an indignant scarlet, though that didn't change the fact that there was truth worth finding there. How could it be possible that humanity had been underestimating the Aud, an enemy with enough individual physicality to wipe them out tens of thousands of times over? Still, if it were not, Io and Rhea would still be standing. "We should remove this ugly precedent immediately."
"What do you have in mind?" The question came from the Sixth Headman.
The Prime Beacon set back his shoulders and retired to his seat. He felt the assembly's eyes all on him. "The Aud will come for the Last Light next. There's nothing else to keep them occupied."
His breast turned upon itself with fiery discord at the thought. It inflated, the diaphragm pushing from below. "The Directory needs to raise the TRS to black. Level zero."
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