H.O.M.E. 20
by
Fin
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At first he didn't want to tell them.
At first he didn't know what to say.
But the boy had waited until after the team had made it back to the surface. After they had returned to the club. After the door to the meeting room was locked. And after the dance music was turned up loud... in order to reveal what he had found.
And at first they didn't believe.
At first they didn't know what to say.
But when the boy next withdrew a small holokey from his pocket, his family knew what it must contain. Sammy had made a recording. And the end of the world was on it!
The rest then immediately watched it themselves.
It was there to view a thousand times if need be. But just once was enough for the ret. admiral. The Idiot's final message would not be changing. Not in a millenia would the tone of their last breaths ever be changing one note.
It was all rather unmistakable in conclusion.
The Idiots had been human.
Through some unfathomable quirk of the interdimensional weave, the original civilization of this world, of which only The Core now remained, had been of a timeline eerily similar to that of The Blades. Only thousands of years more advanced. Only thousands of years more dead.
The Idiots had been human.
And now they were gone forever. Never to be returning.
In that one massive catastrophe, they had taken with them into the beyond the outer layers of this destroyed planet, the single grey moon that had been its companion, and the yellow star they both circled close by. Not to mention the dimensional stability of all other nearby universes.
It was clear to Franklin now, that those cursed to be living in their tomb need be wary of their example, lest they too join their forebearers in extinction. But with The Council now raising their works to the surface, like great technological effigies of the damned, it seemed to the man like alien history may be unfortunately destined to repeat itself, to the death of them all. Whatever risk these rulers were willing to accept in order to return to their home dimensions by using Idiot technology, it clearly was a madness not fit for the sane! These beings had to be stopped before it was too late, again.
It had been Slim though whom had first put two and two together about The Fever. That its ancient manufacture and high specificity to Umons were due to a common Idiot origin. Whether instruments of warfare or advanced medical technology, the nannites were in fact one of the few still functioning legacies of their creators. Still infecting them, or those close enough in biology to them, with such efficiency that the metallic microbes had changed the fate of The Core already once, after a suitable host had finally returned to the rock in which it still lived.
It was a connection The Council had been exploiting for hundreds of years. And surely had to mean the aliens knew the truth of the original Core's inhabitants.
But it was the ruler's new current use of the Sams, to activate the foundation of their city itself... that was far more concerning. To breach the dimensional divide required vast amounts of energy, and if in any way meant utilizing aspects of the doomed Stellar Engine, these beings had seemingly turned all reason aside in order to reach home.
Slim knew exactly what he was about to set off when he handed the holokey to his courier.
Franklin insisted the actions were a must however. If they were to stand a chance in thwarting The Council, The Blades would need all the help they could get. Whatever they could get. An entire cities help if need be!
In the end they would get about half of it.
Outer Ring City began to riot.
The recording made it to every display half way around the ring before The Council was aware of it. And by then it was too late to intercede. The last horrific moments of The Idiots were soon made known to all.
And that now... those in control... were marching in their ominous shadow, lock and step.
Why it was enough to make one get off the couch, get into the streets, and raise hell itself! And that's exactly what hundreds of thousands of bizarre alien creatures did next, flooding into the avenues and thoroughfares of Outer Ring City in such a density that The Cycle itself nearly halted.
Demonstrations engulfed the districts.
Smoke filled the air.
Sirens echoed its length.
Many of these centered around the giant spikes that had erupted in their midst.
These new spires were not the celebratory markings of a finish line to their long journeys home!
No! These daggers were the signs of their own destruction, cast forth into the sky by those whom would heed no reason. They must be brought down! Or else!
And so the mob surged around them. Cursing and decrying their existence. Heaving with all their might to topple them from their view.
But no mark could be made on their silver metal. No energy cannon able to scratch their gleaming surface.
And worse of all yet. These spires were not undefended.
The Council still had its allies. The call of Home still clarion to so many.
What was not worth the risk if it meant being able to leave The Core behind?
What price would they not pay to make the return journey denied them so long?
These citizens clashed in the streets with their bretheren. The Council would get them home. They just needed to be given the chance!
And so flame came to Outer Ring City as the result.
Fires that spread randomly down one alley, and not the next. Tongues that forked toward certain districts, and slithered away from others. A chaos that turned one spark into a conflagration, and another into only the vapors of smoke.
Some demonstrations blamed the Umon Sams amongst them. While others warned of the need to evacuate the city immediately. Wherever one was inside its borders, the effects of The Blades' discovery was visible. The humans had accomplished what they had hoped from the release. The city was shut down for now. No new construnction was going to be possible until after the riots ended.
So it was not too much of a surprise to the men when a contact from The Council appeared to them when observing one of the protest gatherings from a distance. It was the same shadey alien that had given them the information on the cemetery. And this time he did not look very pleased.
"Look how much trouble you Umons have caused!" said the skulking agent as he peered at the violent crowd in front of them. "My masters should have done away with you a long time ago!"
"Are you here for anything, alien?" asked Franklin dismissively, not liking the beast's tone.
The grey being sighed in frustration.
"You have been bid an invitation. To all of you," said the creature. "A special audience with The Council itself, with the hopes of ending this violence before it escalates any further."
"An invitation to speak with the rulers of Outer Ring City?" said Frankln turning to his son. "Do you think I'll get 5 minutes?"
"Maybe even 10," replied James with a determined smile.
The Blades were about to meet The Council once more.