Chapter 821 – The Extermination War

When the miserable race that we call the monsters was finally expelled from Arda’s Surface, we thought it was only just that they never be to return. And now, they have chosen to once again show off their terrible maws as the world is facing the crisis of the Second Arc. Not in the time of the White Pantheon, not during the Chaos of the Great War, not through Reconstruction. Not even during Worldbreaking.

No, for even Worldbreaking was not good enough for them. It would not result in the total destruction of Arda and thus, it was a half-measure. They could not kill humanity in the crib and so they waited until another target, far stronger than them, set humanity down extinction’s edge. And now, they reawaken and return, in order to try and truly eliminate us. And if they don’t do that, then they do so in order to buy the Second Arc enough time to finish the job.

For their own lives are beyond worthless, mere statistical figures which are to be used as ammunition against us. If this wretched attempt to distract the Empire and force us into devoting resources which should be used instead to stop the Second Arc does not prove how aware they are of their own worthlessness, they we do not know what does. And whereas the forces of Tartarus could at least be given a message to take back to their home, the monsters which dwell under our feet will receive no such honour.

No, citizens of the Empire and people of Arda. We do not negotiate with monsters and we do not negotiate with apocalypse. The Empire will not and cannot afford to engage in a war as of this moment, so this is not news of mobilization, nor news of a frontline. This is news of extinction.

We will not wait for them to burst out of the ground, we will not give them a chance to crawl back into their holes. We will not flood their tunnels with the ocean, because of the off-chance that it could create caves, or that they could survive. It was the modern Empire, at large, that won the Surface War. It was your sweat and your blood in the factories & mines, in the trenches & fields, and in everything in between, that defeated this modern problem.

But the monsters are an ancient crisis and they shall be given an ancient solution. On this day, I, Goddess Kassandora, Of War, declare that the Empire shall resolve to end this problem once and for all. During the days of yore, we did not have the resources, nor the Divinity, required to annihilate this problem.

Now, we do.

The Goddesses of Darkness and of Light, of Death and of Nature, shall venture forth into their depths, and they shall be backed by the full might of the Imperial Army. Their entire species will not survive to witness the destruction of the Second Arc.

- Declaration of the “The Extermination War”, co-written by Goddess Malam, of Hatred, and Goddess Kassandora, of War.

Kassandora pulled back the cloth opening in the tent now that daylight had come properly and the air was starting to warm up. Both her and Kavaa had no issue with going down to the depths, and especially not now when this wasn’t a proper expedition. They had Irinika down there, and Allasaria, and Neneria, and Iniri. And yet, there was still something quiet in Kassandora’s heart that did not want to descend into the darkness of the underground again. There were so many Divines assigned to the Extermination War that it couldn’t even be called a war. It would just be a slaughter.

And that was without the troops that the Empire had sent. Too many bodies, from a military that wanted and needed to demobilize, but serving an Empire that could not absorb the shock of that many men making breadlines in streets that were already suffering for the coming apocalypse. So troops were sent, on long ropes. The idea at first had been to bring cranes over and send them down in massive shipping containers. Those would be coming in a few days, and then, only for resupplying the troops with ammunition and food. “There it is.” Fortia grumbled from her desk.

Kavaa turned around to look at the opening Allasaria and Elassa had both carved into Arda’s surface. A massive, perfectly circular opening to lead to the deepest sections of the crust. The Goddess of Light had touched it up, mining equipment was currently lacking and Arascus had given the red light on anything that could actually disturb refining processes. The most he spared was a lone team of geomancers, because the magic was actually crucial to expand the tunnel. “There it is.” Kassandora’s eyes went to the blue sky above it, now marked by the stream of transport helicopters. The ground was much the same, old logistics trucks from the Surface War had been woken up, and they made long caterpillars on the ground as more and more small arms ammunition and food and everything else that soldiers needed was brought here.

Kavaa stretched her arms above her head and turned back to the desk, where a multitude of maps lay. Not a single one of them even paying attention to the surface. The maps of Paida’s expedition, then the newer ones from Malam’s expedition. Old dwarven maps pulled out from archives, and those brought from Klavdiv. The land, down below, had been scouted to a point that they could see every twist and turn through the catacombs for at least a hundred miles from Aris.

Yet where the massive chamber, the Eagle’s Rest, as the men of Malam’s expedition had taken to calling it, lay. There were reported to be more than a hundred other entrances. There had to be breeding pits, or portals, or something else of the manner. Kassandora refused to believe that these creatures were just spontaneously appearing into existence. She could buy the theory that they were like lost artefacts, dwelling down there for thousands of years, forgotten about until they were accidentally excavated once again, but just appearing? Things did not just appear. Kassandora shook her head and turned back to the table. “So, onto their movements.”

No need to specify which their and what movements. Fortia, Fer and Maisara had gone down at the start, and now, Kassandora appreciated having the additional set of strategic eyes. She didn’t like going to the battlefield herself, whereas Fortia could live in it. And sometimes, you did need to see it to begin. General Menith looked over the maps, and the arrows, numbered, to show their chronology. There was a pattern, and it was something they had not recognised yet. “Should I begin?” Fortia asked, looking over to the elf that had been brought over. Officially from logistics, but after Ainai, Kassandora had realised that more sets of eyes were always good.

“From the start.” Kassandora heard. Kavaa already knew all of this too, although Kassandora told Kavaa practically everything that was happening. It had been a new rule of theirs, to be as honest with each other as humanly possible.

“Eight days ago, when I went, Maisara and Fer first went down, we saw nothing there.” Fortia said, pointing to the first arrow on the map. “We dropped into the hole, then, seven days ago, we had this incursion to the north.” Kassandora stared at it. When she had to draw that line herself, she had no idea what it meant. Even now, she didn’t really see the point of it.

“Pause.” Kassandora said. “Because back then, we thought they were making a major movement. Point A1 was first contact, Allasaria had to assist the troops, they would have broken through the lines otherwise. Continue.” Menith nodded politely, a silent thanks for getting brought up to speed.

“Mmh.” Fortia said. “So then we had this attack, on Point A2 a day later. Same day, we have C1.” They skipped an entire zone, instead of going from north to north east to east. “My reading is that it’s a separate group, because there isn’t a clean passage from the A-line to the C-line. Troops along B would have seen them.”

“That is unless they reversed all the way.” Kavaa said. “Doubtful, but it’s a possibility.”

Kassandora stepped in. “They’ve been hammering at point C for two days, then stopped, and move to Sector E, South East more South than east.” Kavaa, in her black coat, began to tap her fingers along the edge of the desk as she once again started at the problem which had been on their minds for the past few days. The pattern made no sense compared to the prediction. These were targeted assaults. They were organised. “One day, not even that.”

“And then North again, it held, now going onto the C area.” Fortia leaned across the table. “And I, for the life of me, cannot figure out what is actually drawing them where, and how, or what they are doing or what even the objective is.” She looked over to Menith and Kavaa. “I’ll take ideas from anyone.”

“We’ll take ideas from anyone.” Kassandora said. “Because that is the situation, and it’s miserable.”

“But they don’t…” Menith trailed off. “Here, these battles, we won them?”

“Assistance from Divinity turned the table.” Fortia said, then looked at Kassandora. Of War nodded and moved her crimson hair out of her face. Fortia was the one who was down there, she would be able to explain this part better. The massive hole echoed and yawn with gunfire from its very bottom, another attack, these came every now and then. But Fer and Maisara were stationed there, and Neneria was the permanent Divine on duty to assist with locking down this location. “That is more common too.”

“The hole is close.” Kassandora said the obvious reason and then pointed to the Eagle’s Rest. “I expected it.”

“And timed?” Fortia asked, she looked over to the grey haired Goddess of Health who had said nothing. “Kavaa? Ideas?”

“None.” Kavaa said. “Obviously I can draw allegory to a body, it’s like a breathing pattern or a heartbeat, but that is inconsequential to the problem at hand.” She pointed at Eagle’s Rest. “Why do we not secure this location with Neneria or another Divine?”

“There’s too many side-routes.” Kassandora answered immediately. “They could potentially encircle, or just avoid us.”

“Can’t they do that already?” Kavaa asked.

She wasn’t even wrong. “Well, that is the issue with this pattern.” Kassandora said. “Because it’s organised and it’s not at the same time.”

“And there’s an obvious question to ask too.” Fortia said, Kassandora knew what it was.

“Why have they not gone west, not even once yet? Or to zone D? Or B?” Kassandora said and Kavaa nodded.

“That is what I was going to say but I thought you noticed it already.”

“I did.” Kassandora said.

“It honestly…” Fortia said, then looked at the other two Divines. “I mean, I can see potentially a reason, but it’s banal.”

“What?” Kassandora asked.

“It’s not their decision.” Fortia said and Menith lit up. The elven General was only here because it was always efficient to explain to a new face how a plan worked. That was the best way to catch mistakes.

“Goddess.” Menith began slowly. “You did say they were congregated at Eagle’s Rest before.” He leaned over the table was too high for him because it was fashioned for the likes of Kassandora. A nimble finger tapped the spot on the map. “It may be an assumption but…” He said. “What about the Eagle itself?”

Kassandora, Kavaa and Fortia all looked at each other. Whereas that made no sense, nor did it have any backing of evidence yet, it did check out. If they were here to destroy Arda, then the Spirit of the Planet should be the one they target. “Do we know where the Eagle is, then?” Fortia asked.

“It’s with Arascus.” Kavaa replied immediately. “He takes it with him everywhere.” Kassandora did not ask how Kavaa knew that, frankly, she wasn’t really interested. Well, she was, but she didn’t like the fact that Kavaa of all people and Arascus still treated each other like close friends.

“There’s a way to check.” Kassandora pulled out her phone immediately.” General Menith, that’s a good spot. The elf smiled timidly even though Kassandora was just inputting her code into the phone and then scrolling through her contacts list. She clicked on Arascus and her father, almost like always, replied immediately.

“Hey. He said over the phone.

“Hey dad.” Kassandora asked. “I have a random question to ask. Where were you eight days ago?”

“In the Donut.” Arascus’ reply made the room cool down. He was at IBI headquarters, that lined up almost perfectly north from here. And that was when the northern team had been attack.

“What about six days ago.”

“At the Imperial Palace construction yard.” *Arascus said. Kassandora looked at the map. That match up with point C, the palace was considerably more west than it was south.

“Where you Rilia anyime ago?”

“Southern Rilia.” Kassandora stepped at the map, pulled out a ruler, and set it lying down Eagle’s Rest to Southern Rilia, Eagle’s Rest was on the way, exactly there.

“Dad….” Kassandora said. “Do you take the Eagle everywhere with you?”

“I do. Kassandora turned to look up at Menith, then Fortia and finally Kavaa.

They had found their lead.