The Uplift Protocol Blood Feuds: Issue 27

Issue 27: A Hound Dog with a Bone

 

            We are all back together. It’s been a while since A51.—Watson

            This is a directive from the Blue Source itself. All available Defenders of its domain must each take charge of an Eden Point Arcway. I repeat: This is not a drill. What was promised is coming. We of the faithful will take the spear point. The Arbiters of All expect no less of us.—Strikes-The-Center

            The whole time. I was the one hiding Dexter. Not the other way around. Prophecy often misdirects. While I was building my network he built his. A few individuals ended up working for both of us. In terms of the domain. The Void Man for instance. Alongside the Silver Lady. I didn’t know half of this until later. It would explain a few quirks about Anubis. The least of which was the presence of an Intez within him.—Sleeping in Starlight: Vol 9

Museum of Echoes

Mosaic Room

           

Glaive paced. His hackles raised.  The reconstruction of Thoth’s first Mad King Uniform slapped the Bardaxian in the face. As crimson as the claws of the Red King himself. The display case matched the depiction on the walls. The humanoid cover of Anubis leaned down to run a thumb across the bronze display. When he hit the O in Thoth’s name, the metal lowered. “Wait for 60 seconds. Then follow.”

Anubis phased through the glass. No alarms sounded. Snoopy scrambled over. <<I smell Arcane Order wards!>> That would explain a great deal. If this whole building was a cover? Gla’ve's tail twitched. A rune in the shape of Ra’s eye glinted from the highest point of the domed ceiling.

A faint chime hit the Bardaxian’s ears. Without a certain sensitivity, it wouldn’t be detectable to baseline humans. Glaive circled. Gave the red leathered armor another glare then he followed Anubis through the tear. A shimmering wall of energy tickled his fur. On the other end, Watson barked in greeting.

Snoopy trotted towards the rest of the old Borking Brigade.

As J’ino referred to them in the old days. Firecracker. The Great Pyrenees. His white coat danced with reserves of Red Defender energies. Glaive. Black and Tan. Often mistaken for a Doberman. Beauceron was his line according to Earth records. A man clothed in a cloak of starlight knelt. The cosmic fire in his eyes dimmed as he patted the beagle on the head. “This phase will require delicate work.”

All the former A51 squad sat on the plain white tiles.

The woman in silver traced sigils in the air. “You shall be inducted into the Unseen Order. Do not mention this to Eliza. She will understand. We must help another Murphy now.” Snoopy raised one paw, <<OH! So this is why Dexter has been quiet lately!>>

The Void Man tapped the screen. Magic and tech flared to life at his touch.

Firecracker snarled. Upon the clear surface images formed. Underneath New Ashbury an old temple resided. The first temple to the Three was erected upon planet Earth. Battle scars pitted the surface. Thoth had tried to wrest control away from the Highest’s Three. To those who served Unity.

The Void Man said, “Not just Unity. That was just the cover.”

Glaive tensed as the Unseen record displayed the story.

Empire of The Golden Sun

North American Continent

Date Redacted

 

            Ta’mathon ran. His hoplites on his heels.

            The temple rang out. A clarion call of warning.

            <<Betrayer King sleeve within the outer shell.>>

            Sleeve. A possible skinsuit for the Lord of Flesh. All this time. The Ruler of the Golden City had thought Unity the worse element to arise from the deep dark. The white lighting curled off the uppermost tiers of the Temple. A great tan structure. Silver along the mid layers. A golden top at the apex. A relay to keep in touch with those colonies off Earth. Just as the Arbiter of the Sands had promised. He wished the Lady of the Isle was here. But they had to re-inforce the outer sectors of Gilgamesh. Reunite the extended tribes of Man.

            Isis shouted, “Ra and I will delay his undead hoards!”

            Those constructs of Living Stone. Bits of flesh. Golems. It was a horror upon the face of Earth. The Empire had stretched across the face of Earth. From sea to shining sea. As was commanded. The mandate to place all the Covenant pillars followed to the letter. Ta’mathon had only seen the barest glimmers of the future. It galvanized him. To protect those who would come after. A sleeve could mean only two things. One could serve the Highest. Greater than the rays of Sol. The mind and soul could work with the construct.

            The Red King would demand a price. You would have to hold a piece of him within you. Some would guess Unity’s influence. That the Red King was merely an aspect of evil.

            Thoth had never sensed the madness of that insight within. He thought it was a piece of his Urraden bloodline. Ta’mathon stilled. An alien akin to that dark Eternal Empire realm he had been plucked from. A bolt of yellow energy flew past his ear. He straightened as the former muthra shouted, “So the great ruler of this mudball arrives. A pity you won’t live to see tomorrow!”

            Ta’mathon muttered the incantations. The temple’s stonework defenders poured forth. Embued with an energy that would be unreconziable to the despot. Entrophic. True Death. Unfettered by the corruption of the Red King. It was a gamble but one that the Arbiter insisted upon. Anubis hurled his spear at Thoth.

The jackal-headed demi linked across the Arcane Net, <<I will bare this diversion. Let the Usurper think it resides within me. That I touched the Night Realm and siphoned the true source.>>

            All this to protect one who was not born. The black and gray eyes bore into Ta’mathon from across the threads of time itself. <<Not just for me.>>

            Images burned behind Ta’mathon’s retinas.

            A great nation rising to protect this territory. Other beings of great power venturing out from Earth. Known as Demis. Ta’mathon would not be alone in this burden. He shouted the wards for unending flame. Aimed his ignited fingers towards Thoth. “By Ra above!”

            Isis finished, “So you shall burn below!”

            Thoth snarled. His “staff” disappeared. A wicked curved sword in one hand. An energized knife in the other. The Arbiter's words echoed within Ta’mathon.

            Do not mutter this phrase until Thoth’s attention is on Anubis.

            Eth’aol Ta M’thara

            It roughly translated into “Deactivate Ta Blade.” In a language of a race called Markav.

            A universal weapon. Not bio-locked. As the tech mages of the Golden City coined it. Ta’mathon watched as Anubis faced down the Sleeve Construct. The only way they could deactivate Thoth’s personal shielding was to cut the muthra sigils from his skin. Explained the special armor. Isis vented, <<Is that why we are forbidden to use our code constructs vs his?!>>

            Ta’mathon didn’t answer. She was afforded the luxury of speculation since Anubis held the Mad King’s full attention. Ta’mathon roared, <<Now!>>

            Additional hoplites rose from the ground surrounding the battlefield. The advanced teleporters were hidden under the base of the temple. To the unknowing eye, it would appear they rose from basic foxholes of primitive design.

Thoth sneered. “So be it!”

Red fire rained down from the sky.

Ta’mathon sent the command, <<Initiate evasion pattern Zeta 22-9-1!>>

Thoth’s eyes gleamed as he thought the primitive forces of the Golden Sun were decimated by his “rain” of plasma. The fool didn’t know the effects of magic.  The AI within the Temple could react faster than the human eye. While the magic could teleport the men into the Weave around Earth herself. A marriage of equal yet opposite forces. Balance of the Ages. To fight this evil? Ta’mathon and all his Ken would inherit the Vigil. Gems of every color surrounded Thoth. The cowled Typherian glared.

“Mud dwellers.” He motioned sharply and a small escape craft orbiting above teleported the madman away. The remaining constructs of Unity and the Red King collapsed as the puppet moved beyond their receiving range. So many new terms. Anubis grinned but marshaled his voice into one of fury, “We shall bury our dead. That devil will not escape again!”

*****

            Thoth tapped the hilt of his knife. The energy flowed once more. He remembered it bouncing off the gold plating of that mutated “gods” elbow segment. “The Markav of this universe must have weaker technology than I first thought or….”

            The mud people's “magic” or abilities were divergent from the norms he was used to.

            He arched an eyebrow, “Well. I shall not underestimate them anymore. Need to dissect for research!” A cold presence coiled at the back of his ship. Pitiless black orbs. The tentacles hanging where her feet would be made him smile from ear to ear.

“Nice touch.” The Keeper held up a syringe of red liquid.

            Her voice was sandpaper thin, “I need new subjects as well.”

Museum of Echoes

Present Day

           

Snoopy barked rapidly, <<How did they not know about these records! The energy signature would….>>

            Watson replied. The awe was evident in his voice.

            <<Because where Eliza goes? Dexter follows. They are in each other’s shadows! As she travels the past, present or future from her perspective? Dexter does as well. They are the Twin Suns. Not just the Avatars of it. He links to the Night Realm when his sister sleeps! They anchor one another!>>

            The Void Man nodded, “She plants the seeds of Life needed. He plants the counter cores of Death required to oust the Red King. Abbadon cannot see the reality of Death’s Domain. Only a broken reflection of it.”

            Snoopy circled, <<AH! SO that means he cannot detect certain energies! So the Arcways were Life constructs?! >>

            The Silver Lady responded kindly, “Just so. Now we go after the foundations of the Night Realm. The innermost aspect of True Death.”

*****

            Dexter Murphy slept.

He threaded his thoughts through his sister. Guiding her silently along the Path. Once upon a time? That was the only way he could talk to her. While she was sleeping instead. Now? Each moment expanded. She didn’t have to understand all the words he conveyed. Only to follow her “gut.” He hummed quietly into the recesses of her mind. He found their grandfather’s soul shard cord. He spoke the Thronebearer binding of command. The denizens of the Duat impeded Meathook. Michael Brookes and Catherine Bel could see the creature due to their ties to the Void Walkers. Bel was also a tethered specter. Of her own free will.

Her voice cut across the Unseen accord, >>Arbiter. Meathook has brought two flesh golems. How shall we proceed?<<

Dexter could see it because it was touched by the false death aura. Just as the Living Stone was. As with anything tied to Unity. Or Abbadon itself. That was their ace in the hole. Through his sister, he could act. Thus preserving the cat and mouse game a bit longer. Until the final action. He replied, >>Have Di’axi and the Curator relink my sister’s dark matter sight. She will need it to cut the cords.<<

            Saira interjected, >>I could make it seem like she’s tapping into my jurisdiction. Since I was cloned from her.<<

            Dexter considered the plan, >>Go with it. Meathook must be fed the “right” kind of information.<<

            The power of the Twilight Thronebearer flooded his link to Eliza.

            Catherine Bel remarked, <<That caught his beedy little eyestalks!>>

*****

            Meathook recoiled. Taking refuge within the mutant shell. The souls of the Duat followed him into the physical world. A demi with a strange hat said, “Well I’ll be. It’s a regular day of the dead!”  A green mist exploded from the human.

His voice echoed, “We got a situation in here Mr. A!”

*****

            Sir Avalon received Dr. Zanzibar’s distress call. The sun outside Union Hall dimmed. The skies turned a putrid green. “Trifecta Transference!” He cursed. Lorain rocked back and forth as she expanded the life shield around the whole Hall.

            Avalon summoned Queen Guinevere. The golden haired ruler popped into existence. Her blue eyes drank in the situation. “The tear created by a certain someone has only brought Union Hall into the mix. The rest of Earth is fine.”

            Avalon shot her a strained glance, “Lucky us!”

Issue 26: Here

Issue 28: Here