Sabt Golgo saw the Rift close, pleased. The others were not so useless as she'd thought. The Voidguard now stood silent in the blackness, the thundering of divine weapons finally ceasing. There seemed to be... peace. The Mirrorborn had known nothing but battle for what had seemed like an eternity. The wound was gone, now, only close scrutiny proving anything had been there. But the Spider knew this peace was only an illusion, a temporary reprieve. She knew that she would need to find a way to cut this world off from the Void. After that, she could focus on ending the plague on Time.
But... the Spider was patient. The others had come on her call. That boded well. She would remain and guard this universe for a long time yet.
The mad-god had weakened her, though she still burned with his power. The creature worried her. It had proved a much greater danger to the universe than anything that came through the Rift - if the others had not come, she would have been devoured along everything else. It had also showed clear weak points in her defenses. If Aodun had not come for her at the Rift, the Voidguard would have been useless. She needed something mobile, something that could defend the entirety of reality - or at the very least, travel without her assistance.
The Mirrorborn had served her well. They understood their duty to defend the universe, no matter the toll it took on their psyche. She felt sorry for them - a strangely human emotion, one they had taught her - as she had not truly given them a choice. Regardless, they still had work to do. Perhaps some relieve could be granted.
Settling herself around the Voidguard, cradling it like a newborn child, the Spider began to weave...
---
Earlier.
The enormous cannon had rattled Setydin to the bone, disrupting her form momentarily. She'd watched the ripples going through her body, tiny, uncontrolled shifts cutting through her before she regained control. It was not good to be this close the godly weapons, but she had wanted to see. The gods had gone to war, called on by their mistress.
Setydin had never thought to see the Voidguard overshadowed by any other weapon in existence. Their firepower alone had destroyed thousand upon thousand abominations that had come crawling from the Void, the divine energy that ran through them cutting through the insubstantial, flickering creatures, seemingly unstoppable. Only the great beast - Un'girlan it was called, she'd heard - and the oathsworn had escaped their wrath.
Now, though... she understood the Voidguard's mighty weapons were not the only weapons their mistress had. The beam of light that had exploded out of Sychasis had blinded them all, and by the time they had shifted their vision back whole, the terrifying creature that was the mad-god reeling. Her mind was still struggling to comprehend the magnitude and power of the blast and what had followed - a divine host of frightening power, carrying with it the spirits of the wrathful dead. The Voidguard had joined them as they rained down hellfire and blasts of energy that seemed to rob her of all her mental faculties, each in turn.
Setydin had strayed closer to the edge of the Voidguard regardless, needing to see. For a time, the blackness of the void had been replaced by unnatural light, the flashes echoed by the hellish impacts on the planet far below. Most of the gods were not anywhere near the size of their mistress physically, but no mortal could have missed them as they flinged more of their power against the abomination below. They were like beacons, their power bright enough to be seen anywhere in this universe, she was sure. Setydin understood at last what a god truly was. It had terrified her to the depths of her soul.
And even after all this, Aodun had not fallen. The mad-god had risen, its terrible form clear even across the vast distance. She felt the army of the dead disintegrate - one of the last things she was before the gods attacked en masse, their mistress leading the divine host with her terrible poison. The fires had hidden everything - she had only realized they had won when the Spider returned. The lands below were a black-red blight on Despair, pulsing with sheer wrongness.
Now... the guns were silent, the Rift gone. Setydin was staring at the distant spiral arm of the galaxy, as far away from the edge of the Voidguard facing the planet as possible. There were other Mirrorborn here, some more lively than others. The images and feelings of the battle still spun in her mind and she barely noticed when she was talked to or when kin she knew passed. The Spider's vast form towered above them, emanating light, but they paid little heed. The mistress came and went, sparing them little thought. Setydin still remembered when she had walked among them in such lovely, human form - but then had come the darkest night and the Shattered... she had no wish to dwell on it.
Setydin realized she had been spoken to once more. She turned her head slowly, blinking, to see a humanoid shape seeming to be made out of constantly running liquid. Every now and then, a certain part of its body solidified for a moment, only to melt away once more. She still kept her original form - with a few embellishments - for the most part, but some Mirrorborn could not seem to stay in one shape for even a split second.
'Curious, curious,' the Mirrorborn said, his voice reveberating through his body. Setydin only gave it a gender based on the way it sounded. She gave him a quizzical look and he continued, sliding into a sitting position beside her; 'The Spider has woven something new, cannot you tell?'
She blinked, looking at their mistress again. The divine fire in her had ceased, or atleast dimmed. Setydin followed the Spider's gaze to the outside of the Voidguard. Light emanated from here as well, and it took her a moment to see their source.
---
Sabt Golgo let the Mirrorborn approach the star-farers at their own leisure. Woven from the same hard light as the Ring, the Arks of Light waited for their crews in the recesses of the Voidguard structure, great hulks of vibrant life and deadly armaments. They would go where needed and carry out her will, crossing the void as it was a Despair sea.
---
2 Mighty Acts: Sabt Golgo creates the Arks of Light, great divine ships guided by thought. They contain more batteries of divine weapons as well as vast gardens and thought-altered homes for hundreds of crew and passengers, making them effectively self-sufficient. They are based in the Voidguard and will patrol throughout the universe, ready to combat anything Sabt Golgo decrees a threat to reality. Some are to be stationed permanently at the Prison as well.
The Arks will visit all mortal races and peoples of the universe they can get to and take any volunteer crew members or passengers on their journeys.
Author
Topic: Pantheon Play Thread: In the beginning there was... (Read 87025 times)