The Multiverse War, Part One

Chapter 12

AN: While the attached image is not directly a fan art or concept art for anything regarding the story itself, I found this on Google and I think it's a good representation for what some areas of the U.S. are looking like at this point in the story. Much of the West coast has been either wiped out or conquered by the Old Gods. It may not be expressed in the narrative, but for the record, areas that have been assimilated into the Old Gods' empire or crushed beneath their heel include all of Washington state, which acts as a capital, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Montana, as well as the majority of British Columbia in Canada. The surrounding regions act as active battlefields, and California is a hot spot for war. Some of the southern region is a bastion of hope for the nation. It it simultaneously a home for refugees as well as a heavily militarized area to fight back against the Old Ones. The empire spreads more quickly over the Midwest due to a smaller population and strength of military.

Several months later...

In the freezing winters of Great Britain, our heroes have established a strong alliance with the forces of the U.K., as well as having deep connections with the American government. There has been a Earth-side portal erected, embossed with images of grand armies, knights mingled with infantry and tanks with cavalry, in a large field on the outskirts of London. This allowed garrisons to be constructed to contain Alliance troops, as well as siege factories (which have assimilated Earthen technology into their own designs, as well as allowing Earthen armies to study their machines).

Many of the Alliance troops were sent immediately to America to aid in the fight, including our cohort. Mathias Shaw even joined them on the front line, acting as a director for spies and a general occasionally, for the infantry. Every single member of the fellowship eagerly fought on the front lines, but it seemed that despite all their efforts, the armies of the Old Gods marched on slowly and steadily. California was slowly being surrounded and swallowed by the New Black Empire, but the National Guard stationed there defended South California to the end, and it seemed as though a protective spell kept the Empire from conquering that region.

Of course, since these are the Old Gods, there are many that have fallen to their corruption, and it is not wholly uncommon to find brainwashed humans with pale skin and black tattoos fighting amongst the forces of the Faceless Ones, which are identified as N'raqi, as well as huge C'thraxxi generals, huge insectoid-humanoid creatures.

It is the middle of winter, late at night in the Mojave desert, and our cohort sit in a tent, shivering their asses off. They are all strongly composed, those that are present. It's only Erin, Redrumei, and Kaldrun together. They are on a scouting mission, trying to find where the Black Empire has made bases, and where they could pass by unnoticed. Back at the main camp, Shaw tends to his troops, who have been marching through the desert for days. They had sneaked past enemy lines, but could not take any APCs or other mechanized land transport, for fear of detection. They were, however, flown as far as was safe by a Chinook, and dropped off a couple miles west of the next fortress.

The speed with which the Old Gods' armies and slaves constructed their bases was staggering. If they were left undisturbed, they could set up a basic encampment in just a few days, with small walls and small armories, and a full base with huge stone towers and larger barriers within a week and a half.

The N'raqi were built for efficiency. Despite being organic creatures, they tired much slower and worked like ants. There were special breeds of C'thraxxi to be used as slaves, and much of the human population that had been conquered, if they weren't used as cannon fodder, were forced to work under the command of their own militarized kind.

Kaldrun stomped out their fire and they continued forward. Red had a knapsack with some basic supplies such as sleeping bags, dried meats and fruit, trail mixes, and ammunition for the small arms her and Erin carried. Kaldrun denied carrying a gun multiple times, opting instead for his artifacts.