When Nero stepped out of his barracks early the next morning - long before the horizon started to light up - he carried his bags with him. His deployment was expected to take weeks if not months, and each night they would exit Perilith as it would be too dangerous to stay.
He didn't care much for his personal belongings but he seriously needed all the material to practise spell model alteration, so he couldn't leave those cones behind.
There was a soft breeze blowing through the base, and it was oddly warm - not something he was used to. Back in Aetherpeak, even as winter receded and summer came, the nearby snow capped mountains always kept the temperature low. Here in Fordham, far away from the mountains, summer was beginning to take hold, which was not good news.
The end of winter was generally good, for it put an end to longer nights. It was also
really
bad, since spring was one of the most deadly seasons of them all. Actually, there was no season that wasn't dangerous, which is why whichever season would be upcoming was always referred to as
one of the most deadly
.
The dangers of spring included, but were not limited, increase in pollen, the sprouting of flowers, increased bee and wasp activity, the rousing of hibernating animals and beasts, some of which had no doubt died during the winter and become cursed in the meantime.
It was also a time where most of the orchards would strengthen their forces, as the slightest bit of weakness could cause catastrophic consequences.
On the bright side, there would be fruits available, which would result in numerous military operations. The annual Apple Picking operations were some of the most deadly, but at the same time would provide the country with a source of pride. Each season, the top Orchardists who picked the most apples of the season were hailed as the strongest up and coming warriors of the country. It was a right of passage for all Mystic Orchardists.
Nero quickly joined up with his team, submitted his bags for checking, and fell in with the group. From now on until they reached their destination, all they would do was protect the researchers.
Within Fordham a massive convoy was being prepared with dozens of trucks and jeeps filled with hundreds of Arcanisists and dozens of Mystics. Nero would be in a jeep that would be right beside the protected van in which the researchers were, his primary job to continuously use a number of scouting cards he had been given.
From his position, he could not see the front or end of the convoy itself, but he could see a lot of activity, and was surprised to discover that he even saw the Lieutenant joining the convoy in the distance.
"The Lieutenant will be joining us?" Nero asked, turning towards one of the Initiates in his team.
"Lieutenant Earl is a protection and suppression expert," the soldier stated. "Considering the nature of our mission, it's not unusual that he's joining. Who knows what unexpected dangers we'll face."
Nero was about to ask more questions when he caught sight of something, and froze. The beast was a gliding fortress, a monstrous bulk of metal that floated a metre above the ground, almost without sound. Its body was a dense block of shadowed metal, but blue lights pulsing beneath it. It crossed the land with unnatural ease, as if a stealthy, silent predator. But there was nothing stealthy about it, for as it came closer, Nero could
physically
feel the immense amount of aether flowing through its body.
He watched in mute awe as it drifted forward, its sheer weight seeming to bend the very air around it. The hum of its power vibrated through the earth like a distant thunderstorm, even though it technically never touched the earth.
Atop this metal creature sat a rotating turret - a steel predator that tracked its target with eerie precision, menacing and imbued with terrible power. Much like the pulsing blue lights keeping the monstrosity floating, arcs of blue lightning flashed along the length of the turret's barrel, promising utter devastation in its wake should it fire.
Nero saw soldiers standing atop the floating, metal vehicle, and from a hatch atop the rotating head another soldier popped out his head. No doubt, even more soldiers filled the centre of the thing - if it had space.
"I see they're finally bringing out the Juggernauts," one of the soldiers said, a hint of excitement in his voice.
"
That's
a Juggernaut?" Nero asked, genuinely amazed and enchanted by the thing. Every single inch of it practically screamed power, and he was all for it!
"Its official designation is an Aetheric Tank. Juggernaut is just the model name, or rather JR-07. There are a few more models, from what I hear. The floating bit is new. The last model I saw, the JR-06 probably, had wheels, but the weight of the monster meant that it could never travel without roads."
At that moment Nero wanted nothing more than to run up to the Juggernaut and climb aboard, but he had the sense not to do so. A total of two Juggernauts joined the convoy, floating on either side of - the ultimate show of deterrence.
Eventually, the distant sky turned deep blue, and then eventually light blue, with the sun mere moments away from rising. Everything was ready, and so the convoy set off - at a
much
slower pace than Nero expected.
Corporal Thomas was not in the same jeep as Nero, so the other Initiates took on the responsibility of filling him in as they began their journey.
"The convoys don't usually travel fast, as they want to avoid running into trouble too quickly.
Always
expect trouble, because such a massive group moving through the untamed countryside will
always
attract curses. This works in our favour since the Juggernauts can't move too fast either."
The destination was not too far, barely twenty kilometres away, but they expected the journey to take up to six hours. The maths on that didn't make sense to Nero, at least until ten minutes after they left the base.
Even though Nero was using scouting cards, he wasn't the first one to detect the enemies. No, it was the Juggernauts that began moving their turrets that alerted the others as they aimed into the open sky. A few seconds later, Nero saw curses appear in the air before them.
"Don't only focus on the enemy that's been spotted," the Initiate beside Nero told him, though the man himself seemed relaxed. "They can come from anywhere. The air, the ground, from within the convoy itself, nowhere is safe. You don't need to pay attention to anything other than making sure nothing comes close to the van we're protecting."
Nero nodded. He knew as much. He wouldn't make such basic mist-
The Juggernaut fired, and all thoughts fled Nero's mind. He had not seen the charge up, as he had been distracted by the Initiate, but he
felt
it when the monster fired.
There was no loud boom or bang. There was a high pitched noise, though, likely from the Juggernaut itself. But the true impact of when the beast fired was felt through the aether.
It was as if there had been an explosion, and all the aether in the vicinity started flowing chaotically, fleeing from the deep blue beam shooting up into the sky at the curses, while simultaneously being pulled into it.
It was a laser beam of aether so concentrated it became visible, and it warped the world around it. The curses in the sky, monsters of all shapes and sizes, wailed and screamed, rushing into the aether beam as if attracted to the dense aether. Yet instead of draining the aether, they were vaporised.
After a few seconds of firing, the beam vanished, and hundreds of curses had disappeared. But thousands of curses remained in the sky still, so the rest of the soldiers began their attacks. Monsters rained from the sky, and attacks flew up to meet them as the Juggernauts recharged.
This time, Nero saw as ever increasing coils of blue lightning danced along the barrel as it prepared to fire. This time, as he was paying attention, Nero could actually
feel
the aether within it. It was as if it had its own gravitational pull to all the atmospheric aether around.
After ten seconds of charging up, the monsters fired again, and the awestruck Nero stared as it wrought destruction, bathed in its blue light.
The Initiates beside him just snickered to one another as they saw his expression, but did not hassle him. To them, he was just a kid.
But they did not know what was going through Nero's mind as he witnessed the fight all around him.
He saw war. He saw warriors. He saw a fight against the very world itself, and all of it bathed in a shade of blue. More importantly, he saw a glimpse of his future - of a day his fires would paint the world blue, and hordes of curses destroyed with each of his moves.
Nero grinned. It was a glorious future.