Dawn of the Void

“I still got your attention?” Star Boy looked out over the audience. “Good. Because this last segment is a bit of a puzzler. Let’s take a look.” He clicked his clicker.

Bless

Dark Energy Siphon

Demonic Form | Infernum Reaper | Void Break

Bless

Aura Mastery

Nova | Righteous Obelisk | Seraphic Web

Bless

Inspiration

Star Boy rubbed his chin and considered the projection. “We don’t know much about the Dark Energy stuff yet. Not had a lot of volunteers. What we do know is this: Dark Energy Siphon both quiets your aura and boosts your stats the more dark energy you pull from the demons. No known cap as of yet, though Reggie - where’s Reggie - reported getting to +13 on all stats earlier today. So comparable with Black Apotheosis and Empowering Light, and maybe stronger given enough time. However, there does seem to be a… how to put it, slight destabilizing effect on the user. Like a rush that goes to their head. We put out warnings once this became obvious, but what can you do? Dark energy is intoxicating. I mean, that’s why people go over to the dark side, right?”

Nobody laughed.

“Right, right,” said Star Boy, rubbing the back of his head. “So, first up, we have Demonic Form. Everybody who’s reported back on using it said they took on a form similar to the Nem2’s, which leads me to think it may be a bit of a copycat talent? We’ll find out when the Nem3’s show up. Unlike Black Apotheosis, it doesn’t grant an immediate stat boost, so Demonic Formers will need to work that Dark Energy Siphon, but it does seem to grant similar powers to the Nem2’s, mainly the ability to jump like a cat on a hot tin roof. We’ll see if Nem3 powers come with it, too, when the time comes.”

James glanced over at Yadriel. The kid sat with his arms tightly crossed, his chin lowered, his lips pursed.

James didn’t blame him.

“Then we’ve got the Infernum Reaper. I like this one. Major revelation here folks: turns out demons have their own version of Aeviternum. Now, nobody’s gotten to use it yet, but what the folks who chose it understand is that all demons have some amount of Infernum, even if Nem1’s and Nem2’s don’t have enough to qualify for a full point. This power piggybacks of Dark Siphon, in that it activates the ability to harvest demonic Infernum, which should theoretically add up to a full point and then become available as extra Aeviternum. We think. Nobody’s used an Infernum point yet, so who the fuck knows? We’ll find out, I guess, and I’m also gonna postulate that the more powerful the demon, the more Infernum it’ll have, till some have full points, or multiple, giving them Aeviternum abilities, like being able to empower their attacks and insta-heal. Nasty. So Infernum Reaper both bolsters our own Aeviternum amount while depriving the enemy of that resource. Super tasty.”

Murmurs ran through the crowd. James shifted where he sat, considering. Fortuna Aeviternum and Infernum Reaper both spoke to the importance of Aeviternum in the big scheme of things. He needed to talk to Star Boy and double down on the imperative that folks buy at least two if not three Aeviternum points before reaching Supplicant.

“Finally, we’ve got Void Break. Again, nobody’s used this yet, but the understanding is that it’s a huge discharge of all your built-up Dark Energy, resulting in a brief moment of Bruce Lee-level bad-ass. Folks who chose it report understanding that they momentarily develop regeneration, stat boosts, and something called Void Armor, but that after the break the user is left weak and spent. So: risky? Risky. But also potentially a fight winner if used right, and its duration. You guessed it: more experimentation needed.”

Star Boy paused to snag a bottle of water from the stage floor, gulp, then set it back. “OK, to recap: Dark Energy Siphon is bad-ass and scary. We got the ability to theoretically boost stats to infinity given enough demons, along with assuming a copycat demonic form, stealing Aeviternum, and going ninja-fucking-insane for a brief spell. Verdict? Sweet. Sick and sweet. Like a weird version of sweet and sour.”

Star Boy paused, considering, then shook his head. “Anyways. Keep an eye on your Dark Energy Siphon folks. This power is ‘intoxicating’ and can lead to their acting reckless. No signs of it corrupting folks yet, but hey, the day is young, yeah?”

Jessica’s eyebrow rose. “Richard. Last warning.”

“Cool, cool, I’ll keep it chill. Now, Aura Mastery.”

Click.

Bless

Aura Mastery

Nova | Righteous Obelisk | Seraphic Web

Jason leaned forward, rubbing his hands together and looking expectant.

“First off, show of hands from your Aura Masters: who’s used their power to make an aura light saber already?”

Nobody raised their hands.

“Nobody? C’mon people, you’re killing me. At least think about it next time? Anyways, Aura Mastery is awesome. The ability to shape, direct, and weaponize your aura equal to only your Arete and Aura level. You’ve seen folks go nuts with this already, right? Extending aura spears, making aura weapons of all kinds? Very cool. Now Nova causes your aura to flare and blast out. Early experimentation seems to correlate the area covered to Arete, with each point translating to about a foot. Yeah, wicked. Downside? Long cooldown time, about two seconds per point. So yeah, do the math: if you’re rocking Arete 50, you can blast a 50-foot radius, but then need to wait 1:40 till you can use the power again. And during that time? No aura at all. So, risky, especially during wave scenarios.”

Lou raised her hand. “So Nova is the same as Heavenly Assault, basically?”

“No, you’re absolutely wrong.” Richard stared at her deadpan and then grinned. “Just kidding, great question. But yeah, you’re wrong. Heavenly Assault can be dropped within a few blocks’ radius, while Nova detonates with the user at ground zero. Also, Heavenly Assault can be used over and over again while Nova has a cool down. Heavenly Assault eats up divine energy like a motherfucker, while Nova is much lighter in expenditure, leading the user to be able to use it many, many more times. So. Yeah. Pretty different.”

Lou scowled but nodded.

“Then we got Righteous Obelisk. Now this one is weird. And awesome. Anybody care to drop one on stage?”

Five motes of light appeared around the stage, pushing away from each other until they were equidistant, and then expanded to form obelisks of heavenly white light which coalesced into ivory and gold, with a swirling white fire at the peak like the opposite of Sauron’s Eye from the Lord of the Ring movies. Each was slightly different from the other, but clearly meant for the same purpose, and James immediately felt the blessing wash out over the crowd, magnified in some way for each aura overlapping, the effect euphoric, dizzying, overwhelming. Energy flooded his being, his muscles felt jacked and heavy, his reserves endless, his might unstoppable.

Marveling, he checked his stats:

Strength: 15 (Obelisk+15: 30)

Stamina: 10 (Obelisk+15: 25)

Speed: 8 (Obelisk+15: 33)

Agility: 5 (Obelisk+15: 20)

Power: 10(12) (Obelisk+15: 27

“Holy shit, five of them?” Star Boy stared about himself in wonder. “Oh fuck that feels good. Can I do a backflip? I think I can do a backflip.”

He bit his lower lip, suddenly looked really nervous, then leaped and backflipped in the air, landing neatly and then raising the mike immediately to his lips. “Woo! Hell yeah!”

People were laughing in the audience, some standing, others grooving as if to some unheard music. It was as if the whole crowd had just taken a hit. James understood. The sheer joy from feeling this healthy, this strong, this good, was exhilarating.

“Now hold on, hold on, we’re doing a presentation here, not having a party.” Star Boy mock-glared at the audience. “But yes, each obelisk drops an area of effect +3 Bless that stacks with other blessings. While these babies are up, however, the Blesser can’t use the ability on anyone else until they cancel the obelisk. OK, don’t hate me, but take these things down, you guys aren’t listening.”

The obelisks faded away, one by one, leaving behind faint misty outlines that lingered until only the white fire remained, and then those snuffed out, too.

The crowd booed Star Boy, who raised his arms and nodded.

“Yes, yes, worship me as is right. I drink your hate. Give me more.”

The crowd laughed, settled back down, and Star Boy grinned. “OK, so, preliminary analysis: bad ass. Especially when ka-tets are together. You can’t stack normal Bless this way, so if three Obelisks are dropped on a holding point, you’d get +9. That’s huge. Cons: the obelisks can’t move, and once dismissed have a punishingly long cooldown. So no, you can’t go leapfrogging from obelisk to obelisk. They have to be used strategically. Also, an Obelisk by itself has a radius of some ten feet. Which is good, but limited, yeah? The more Obelisks are dropped together, the more those radiuses stack, which is why even you fuckers fifty feet away from me were feeling the goods. Something to keep in mind, and which points out that this is primarily a defensive power.”

Star Boy waited for this to sink in, then nodded. “Finally we have Seraphic Web. Kind of like the D&D ‘web’ spell. No, I’m not going to ask who here has played, as I don’t want to have my heart completely broken.”

Serenity leaned over. “I used to play.”

Yadriel leaned in, eyes going wide. “For real? DM or player.”

“Player, obviously. Didn’t have the patience to run shit.”

Jason gave an up nod. “We used to play all the time back on base. We should get a game going.”

“Deal, yo,” said Yadriel. “I was running this bad-ass Dark Souls-styled game, it was fucking sweet -”

“Can we listen to Star Boy?” asked James.

Everybody sat back but exchanged meaningful glances.

“- in that these filaments are still aura, which means any demon that runs into them will get toasted. Perfect for crowd control. What we need to establish is for how long the web lasts, and if they can remain independent of the user leaving the area. Imagine dealing with the Nem2 waves if we could just plug streets with Iron aura webs? Bad ass. So, more to learn, and again, great utility and defensive power.”

Star Boy took another sip of his water. “All right, almost there. Last batch, and these are the hardest to wrap my mind around.”

Click.

Bless

Inspiration

Terrify | Arete Font | Holy Zeal

“Here we go. The Inspiration Benediction tree. On some level, I think these powers are scarier even that the Dark Siphon and Dark Vision trees. No offense, kiddos. Some of you have heard me calling them the Alexander/Hitler skill set, and I think that’s pretty clever, though nobody else has picked up on that. In short, Inspiration is like…”

Star Boy trailed off, trying to find the right term. “Mind fucking? Mind control? It can be used for good or ill, and that’s why it’s so dangerous. All these other powers we’ve discussed are exclusively for fighting demons. Heavenly Assault and Eternal Fire won’t hurt a human. Only Black Apotheosis and Demonic Form allow you to hurt another person. Everything else? Meant for one thing, and that’s fighting the bad guys. But Inspiration? This one seems to only work on people.

“Now, there are some great examples of it proving clutch in a fight. Baker with Crimson Wraith kept his team from breaking and running when shit got real bad. It’s literally the stuff of generals, yeah? Or Bards, if you’re into gaming. Raise morale, keep others from running or doing something stupid. Given that Remove Fear is a thing, we can only imagine that some demons will have compulsion powers. Which means Inspiration will be a crucial counter.”

Star Boy paused. “But there’s a reason the military and federal government is worried about this one. It’s really effective on folks with less Arete than the user, which means all the Fabricators and probably a decent amount of regular rankers. There’s room for abuse, is all I’m saying.”

James pointedly didn’t look at Bjørn, but he could sense the tension rise amongst their team.

“Anyways, the first power is Terrify. This seems to effectively be a debuff. This one does work on demons, and while we’ve not yet had many examples on the field, it’s a classic form of crowd control. Probably scales with your Arete, and is contested by the enemy’s power, but yeah, interesting. Then we have Increase Arete, and this is sexy. Effectively applies your Bless ability to Arete, allowing you to boost the whole team by +5, or one individual by +10. Sweet, am I right? That could effectively give everyone in your team a +1 Aura Level boost, or one person a +2, as well as empowering all their own Benedictions. Pretty cool.

“Finally we have Holy Zeal. This one’s a bit… scary? It seems to be a mix of Bless with Void Break and Inspiration. Everybody gets a +10 to their stats, very low-level Indomitable Resilience, and a single-minded focus on accomplishing a goal at any cost. And, uh, that really does seem to be at any cost. It coulda shoulda been named Kamikaze Run. Lots more to learn with this one. Does the ka-tet have to be open to it? Is there a cool-down? Upon accomplishing your goal, does everyone suffer a drop in stats? I don’t know, but it’s both a Hail Mary and kind of terrifying at once.”

James stroked his beard and now he did glance at Bjørn. The other man was staring straight ahead, lips pursed, brow furrowed.

Which would he choose? What would his choice say about him?

“All right, that’s the last of them,” said Star Boy. “Phew. There’re twenty-seven different powers available to us all, but still only nine member per ka-tet. That means we’re going to start seeing a lot of individuality moving forward. A ka-tet that can drop Benediction Share, share out Lord’s Ruin, and place a Righteous Obelisk is going to be very different from one that Bestows Angelic Armor, amps up on Indomitable Resilience, and races forward with Eternal Fire, Demonic Form, and Black Apotheosis.

“The fact of the matter is most of you already made your choices on the battlefield. That’s fine. We need to know what you picked, and I’ll study the variations and come up with some Venn diagrams about who is gonna be best at what. So please: find some of Cindy’s tablets and update your profiles. I can’t help you if you don’t help me. Clear?”

There was a murmur of acknowledgement.

“Cool. Thanks for listening. You’re beautiful, I love you New York!”

Star Boy blew a kiss, walked backward, then turned and handed the mike to Colonel Hackworth, who watched him leave the stage with a wry expression.

“Let’s give Captain Stokes a hand for that presentation,” he said, and then brought the mike close to his lips so that his voice grew ominous and loud, “because he will never be heard from again.”

Star Boy paused in the act of returning to stage, eyes widening in alarm, and the crowd ate it up.

“All right everyone, that was a lot to digest, but you’re in the army now, there’s no end to the information we’re going to be slinging at you.” Hackworth’s tone grew subtly more professional. “With the Fourth Wave defeated we’re going to take tonight and tomorrow to get everybody squared and aware of their place in Blue Light. I’m going to be meeting with captains and lieutenants, and all of you will become familiar with your commanding officers and their sergeants. No, we’re not going to start PT and holding roll call, but you will learn your unit’s area of responsibility, begin to do joint exercises with Group 2, and assist in the eradication of the remaining hives.”

Hackworth paused and stared out over the sea of faces. “This is it right here, soldiers. You are humanity’s best hope. Amongst your number are some of our greatest warriors. If we can marry your lethality with the military’s mastery of organization and logistics, I do believe we’ll be ready for Nemesis 3 when they show their ugly faces. All I need from you is your enthusiasm, your loyalty to our nation, your obedience to your commanding officers, and your faith in each other.

“The Army motto is: This We’ll Defend. It speaks to the heart of what we do. The Army Special Forces’ motto is: To Liberate the Oppressed. But I believe Blue Light needs its own guiding principle. We’ve seen dark days, but there are darker yet to come, and over the next weeks, months, and maybe even years, the people of our nation and the world will turn to us for hope, for guidance, and for delivery. For them we shall hold back the forces of evil, for them we shall be that beacon of hope. Hence Blue Light’s motto: The Light in the Dark.”

Hackworth let his voice ring out over the audience, who stared at him with fixed attention.

James felt his chest swell, and before he knew it, he’d risen to his feet. Serenity looked up at him, eyes wide, then also stood.

Which prompted Yadriel, Joanna, Denzel, and the rest of Crimson Hydra to rise. Ebon and Ivory Hydra then rose, and with the scraping of chairs and the rustling of clothing all thousand or so members of Blue Light rose to their feet and faced Hackworth on stage.

Who raised his hand in a sharp salute to his new special operations force, who as one raised their hands to their brows in return.

For a moment they stood thus, and then Hackworth lowered his arm with crisp speed, and gave them a dangerous smile. “Dismissed.”

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