Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

From Every Angle

The world, when seen from above, is different, painted in abstract through a jumble of confusing patches and colors: swatches of fabric on a patchwork quilt. So it wasn't until their fall took them within a few hundred feet of the ground that Adam finally managed to make out what he was seeing.

The ground on the Necritorium was a sort of rusty orange just a little lighter than natural martian soil. The sky above would have been mostly dark if it were not lit by the golden light of anima souls funneling down towards the ground, beyond that, shapes lit up the dim atmosphere, flashes of colors and shapes just beyond the scattered light in the sky.

Looming tendrils, and flashes in animal shapes.

The war for the universe was going on above them, obscured only just by a the thin curtain of atmosphere.

But beyond all of that, beyond the incomprehensible enormity of a war between gods.

There was a war being staged right at his feet.

Two armies.

One massive, black, neatly ordered into lines and battalions as armored vehicles rolled across the ground.

And the other

A ragtag jumble of assorted dropships aliens and vehicles, less than a tenth of the size of the staged army just beyond the horizon.

Jets streaked the sky overhead, at least one helicopter whirred n the distance.

From his vantage point

Things looked impossible, and his heart sank.

Their fall took them within a few hundred feet of the ground, unobtrusive and unnoticed by either army. Sometime during their extended fall, Krill had regained his wits and become accustomed to the stomach dropping sensation. Never had Adam ever thought Krill would participate in something as dangerous as skydiving, but here he was, pulled into dangerous things of his own free will even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Fire thrusters." he ordered, watching Krill closely to make sure he managed.

Awkwardly, Krill flipped over so his feet were pointed downward. It Wasn't pretty or graceful, but he managed firing the thrusters of his jetpack until he slowed, seeming to shoot upwards from Adam's perspective. Now he knew that Krill was alright, adam fired his own jetpack, coming to a stop less than a hundred feet above the ground, a fact that did not phase him in the grand scheme of things.

What was a little danger in comparison to the end of the world.

With some difficulty, Krill dropped down to meet him, following Adam's lead as he steered them away from their original drop point and towards the staging area where the others had made it through.

Now that he was no longer falling, and his life and the lif of Krill was no longer in immediate danger, his thoughts turned elsewhere.

To sunny.

The Omen had been obliterated in a matter of moments, her shield crushed and her crew destroyed like it was no more than a minor inconvenience. Apollyon had swatted them away like a fly. Simon was gone, and so were countless others. Who's to say that anyone had managed to survive the ongoing war between the maker and the Architect. Who's to say what had happened to Kelly, Koslov or McCaster.

It may have been the Drev way to accept death in honerable battle, but Adam knew.

If sunny had died....

He didn't know if he'd be able to handle it.

She was stronger than him in that respect.

So, while he flew, he prayed and hoped it wasn't counter productive. Honestly he wasn't sure who he was praying to. It seemed that the architect was busy at the moment, and unlikely to hear whatever prayer he might offer if he was the kind of god that answered prayers in the first palace.