Chapter 159

　　They arrived in the atmosphere above a gargantuan city.

　　Argyle`s forces were greeted by a yellow sun shining in the sky, and the structures of the metropolis wrapped around it in an orb of mind-boggling magnitude. The space they occupied was without gravity or an atmosphere, but they could see a layer of blue and white sky below them. It hovered over the buildings a few miles above, similar to the surface of a planet.

　　Kal let the portal collapse behind him as he followed at the fleet`s rear in Atlas. It appeared that everyone had made it through safely, and he could immediately feel the strain on the Titan relax from its previous exertions.

　　He had pushed the reactor to its very limit. The whining noise of its spinning had been deafening, and the pressure from the Neural Link had been brutal, but Kal had succeeded. Looking around at their destination, he was stunned by the display of technology.

　　He didn`t have long to linger before Argyle`s voice came through the com-link.

　　"We`re detecting human lifeforms from a structure below. Titans, secure a landing zone near the Pyramid and await my arrival." Argyle ordered.

　　The information came to Kal`s HUD as he did so. The structure was a silver pyramid with a light shining from the very tip, almost as if it were a beacon calling attention to itself.

　　"Caledon, form up at the rear. Prometheus will lead." Yanis Samira ordered from Wraith, and the hunchbacked Titan drifted toward the pack`s center.

　　In only a few minutes, the six Titans were making their way toward the surface, while in the Starships, Argyle was assembling hundreds of Exosuited soldiers to form a landing party with him in the lead. Their sensors showed that there were three humans below, with no other life detected anywhere within thousands of miles of their location.

　　It seemed that this city was abandoned.

　　But Argyle wasn`t taking any chances. While his group converged on the life signs, he sent hundreds of other scouting parties to different parts of the orb-like city. The sky was filled with the twinkling light of the sun reflecting off of Mobile Suits as they began to scour this new location they found themselves in.

　　Atlas settled onto an ample open space in front of the Pyramid. Hyperion landed next to him, its graceful body fluid and light as it seemed to rest on the ground without weight.

　　"See anything?" Katherine asked, and Kal could detect a hint of nervousness in her voice. He had promised Havencroft that he would look after her, with the Duke himself requesting it. Kal would have done it even without asking. She was now family, after all.

　　He was glad Mare stayed behind, although she wasn`t happy about it. But one needed to protect Caledon, and he would rather put himself in danger than risk her safety.

　　"Nothing. This place is dead." Kal replied.

　　He was barely getting any energy readings on his sensors. The only source of power nearby was from the Pyramid before them. What had happened here for such a technological marvel to be left vacant?

　　"The Prince is landing, form up." Praxis ordered from the far end of the square, where the wide path led to a large passageway into the Pyramid. From behind him, Kal could hear Patrick grumble at being given orders.

　　The young heir of Grandster was unaccustomed to not being in the lead but was unwilling to confront Praxis. Kal expected them to come to violence before this operation was completed but hoped that Argyle`s presence would calm things long enough for the group to get the answers they were searching for.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

　　Argyle landed with three troop transports, offloading hundreds of Exosuited soldiers in Imperial Guard livery. The competent troops spread out, raising their lasrifles and forming a perimeter. The Prince himself descended a moment later, also wearing an Imperial Exosuit but lacking the helmet.

　　Taking a quick look at the surroundings, he gestured for the troop commander to lead his squad forward toward the passageway. The Titans flanked them, with Prometheus and Sovereign in the vanguard positions. Hyperion and Atlas brought up the rear, while Wraith and Luminous were in the middle.

　　The passageway was high enough that Kal and the other Titans had no trouble walking beneath it, the dim light brightened by the glow coming off the golden Sovereign and reflected off the mirror-like silver of Prometheus.

　　Everything was silent, save for the walking Mobile suits and the whine from hundreds of Exosuits as they powered their way quickly toward the source of the life signs.

　　"Do you believe we will find the Emperor here? How could anyone stand to stay here alone for years while the Empire was at war?" Katherine asked, her voice only coming through a private channel with Kal. Glancing at his HUD, he studied her face, seeing the unease from the quiet and dead city had caused her.

　　"I wouldn`t put anything past Aurelius. It`s clear to me that he would sacrifice anything for his goals. I thought that everything he did was for the greater good once, but now I`m unsure." Kal replied. He wanted to comfort her, to say something that would put her at ease, but he found himself at a loss on how to do so.

　　"We need to rely on each other, Kal: you, me and Mare. I don`t know about the rest, but Caledon and Havencroft are family now. You need to trust family." Katherine said. Surprisingly, she was trying to comfort him!

　　Kal smiled at the words, ignoring the first thought that came to his mind. The Emperor and Mare were family as well, and he could never trust the Emperor again.

　　"I know. We`ll have each other`s backs, no matter what." Kal agreed, and the young woman smiled to match him, the gloom and fear driven away for the moment.

　　"We`re here." Praxis interrupted through the universal channel. Cutting off their conversation, Kal and Katherine focused on what was up ahead. A bright light was spilling from a wide opening at the end of the passageway. Concentrating his sensors, Kal saw` what was in the room.

　　The room was filled with corpses. Thousands and thousands of dead bodies sat in chairs or resting on the ground in concentric rings around the entrance. A thick layer of black liquid covered the ground, and Kal could see it leak from the decaying remains, filling the room with a stench that he could smell` from the cockpit of Atlas.

　　The first of the Exosuited Guard burst into the room, their weapons raised, only to lower them in shock at the sight.

　　There was no one alive in the chamber.

　　Kal and the others gradually slowed their pace, carefully entering the room to avoid disturbing the remains with the Mobile Suits. Finally, Argyle joined them, looking around carefully. A soldier saluted before speaking.

　　"Milord, something is interfering with our sensors. We can`t tell where the life signs we detected originated from."

　　"Very well. Spread out and look for survivors! I want this entire complex searched!" Argyle ordered, and he was about to direct them further when a voice spoke from behind a pile of bodies.

　　"There`s no need. The last of the Envoys expired several months ago. There`s no one left here but us." A man said. The Guard snapped to attention, aiming hundreds of lasrifles in the direction of the voice. Even Kal, from the cockpit of the Atlas and its added height, hadn`t seen the speaker from where they had been concealed.

　　A young man came out from behind a pillar, his hands raised so as to not be threatening. Thin and well-dressed in a strange and foreign attire, he looked familiar to Kal. He was just wondering where he had seen him before, when Argyle spoke.

　　"Alexander? You are alive?" The Prince whispered, shocked at the appearance of his youngest brother. The last he had seen the young man, he had been entirely inebriated, lying on a couch on Terra before the attack. The figure he was seeing now was changed.

　　Sober and healthy, he was thin and fit. He had a smirk on his face as if he knew things that the others didn`t.

　　"Alive and well! So, what do you think, brother? Are the Envoys everything you thought they would be?" Alexander mocked, slowly lowering his hands now that he was sure that the Guard wouldn`t shoot him.

　　"The Envoys?" Argyle whispered, looking around at the dead figures for a moment before turning back to his brother.

　　"What are you doing here? Did Father bring you before he attacked Terra?" Argyle asked in concern.

　　"Before father attacked Terra!? You great, doddering buffoon! I was responsible for the attack on Terra! And if you are here, alive, then you are even a greater disappointment than I predicted! You should be back there killing each other!" Alexander shouted, his demeanour instantly turning hostile. His skin flushed red, and he was nearly frothing at the mouth as he pointed at his brother.

　　"That`s enough, Alexander." Aurelius called out as he and Amelia appeared from the entranceway.