Inquisitor's Promise (Act Three, Chapter One)

The Holy League had been united, but the Grey Globe continued to move towards Earth. Aeneas and the members of his inner circle knew they had much to do and little time to prepare.

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Act Three: To Defeat the Grey Globe

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Chapter One: Divergence

It had been a week since the triple weddings at the Basilica of St. Peter. Aeneas had decided to give the crew of the Lepanto a break from work for this time period. For the newlyweds, this was the time for them to enjoy each other’s company.

With the Grey Globe still advancing towards Earth, Aeneas knew that the Holy League was far from secure. Once more, His Holiness had called him for a discussion. But this time, the Pope had requested the Inquisitor to bring his party along.

Below the Basilica of St. Peter was a large network of tunnels. In the past, this was used as a means for Christians to stay safe from the Dark Age Civilization who seek to stamp them out. But now, they were using this place to deal with a different type of threat to the Church.

Aeneas could sense the dark and damp feel of the catacombs. There were skulls adorning the walls. Very macabre. A strange place for the Pope to hold a briefing, but His Holiness always had a knack for making grand symbolic statements. Perhaps the reason why he approved of Aeneas’ triple wedding idea.

“I wonder why the Pope brought of us here,” Pep said.

“His Holiness is a lover of history,” Nikolai responded. “Before he became a Cardinal, he was an archeologist for the Papacy.”

Pep couldn’t help but look around in awe. “We have nothing like this back in the Lektros Dimension.”

“How do the Lektros bury their dead, my love?” Giulia asked.

“We don’t. We cremate them with the electricity that was all around the dimension,” Pep explained. “And then we put them in a vial. Afterwards we store their vial in our clan’s mausoleum.”

“How barbaric,” Omaha commented dryly.

“Perhaps,” Aeneas chimed in. “But I am curious of how they ended up with such a practice to begin with. Was it the result of the environment or did some figure in history institute it?”

“Hah! You speak like a scientist rather than an Inquisitor,” Nikolai said jokingly.

“If I recall correctly, Lord Aeneas,” Galatea interjected. “You didn’t go beyond the Lektros Dome, right?”

Aeneas nodded at his beloved. “I’m glad you read up what I’ve sent you.”

Giulia spoke up once more, a sweet smile was on her face. “I’d love to see where you grew up, Pep.”

“You will do so sooner than you think, Lieutenant.”

The voice was calm, but authoritative. It was the Pope who had decided to chime into the conversation.

In response, Giulia bowed respectfully. “Your Holiness.”

“I am glad every one of you can make it,” the Pope said. “Let us get straight to the point. We are not doing so well.”

“You mean the Grey Globe?” Kunoichi asked.

The Pope nodded. “Exactly, Lady Honda. As we speak, the Grey Globe continues to move apace despite our best efforts.”

“Our best efforts?” Aeneas asked. “You mean we continue to engage it?”

“Our fleets in the Electrosphere have been doing their part. Not just the Venetians but also the Imperial colonials,” the Pope explained.

Omaha interjected at this point, her face betrayed a look of sadness. “But we didn’t do so well. So many of our troops were killed.”

“Or worse, assimilated,” Nikolai added.

As Aeneas listened to the both of them, he was reminded that Omaha and Nikolai were now married. It made sense for the Imperial Princess to be privy to what the Imperium were up to. And now, Nikolai was not just the Tsar of Slavia, but also the future Emperor of Texarkana.

“They were all killed? That’s horrible!” Galatea cried.

“It depends on what you mean by killed,” Giulia interjected. “Many of them had been assimilated into the Grey Globe’s ecosystem.”

“What does that mean?” Galatea asked.

“It’s hard to describe,” Aeneas answered. Having been told by the Pope about it when he first went to Roma, much of the technical aspects of the Grey Globe was still confusing to the Inquisitor. “But to make it simple, they are now part of the Grey Globe.”

“Indeed,” Giulia added. “The more we engage the Grey Globe, the more we see our weapons used against us.”

“I see,” Galatea said.

At this point, Aeneas was angered by the whole situation. “Which is why I must know. Why do we keep engaging them?! Not only do we throw these men to their deaths, but we also made the Grey Globe stronger!”

Surprised by how the Inquisitor was fired up, everyone in the room became silent. Except for Shaka.

“Please, sir. Calm down.”

“No, the Lord Inquisitor has the right to be upset. Allow me to explain,” the Pope said. “For every engagement the Grey Globe is in, it slows down its march to Earth. But I assure you, these men were not simply speedbumps. Some of these engagements were attempts to rescue civilians. Others managed to move the Grey Globe’s movements away from inhabited planets.”

Aeneas could feel his anger receding as he listened to the Pope’s explanation. “I understand, Your Holiness.”

Nikolai then spoke up. “At this point, what matters is for us to use the alondite that we have gathered from the Lektros Dimension.”

“Right,” Aeneas said. In all honesty, the Inquisitor had almost forgotten the whole alondite business. He had been more focused on bringing the Holy League together.

“Speaking of the alondite, how was the mining?” Pep asked.

“We made progress, though there are issues,” the Pope answered. “Some of the locals believe the Holy League to be invaders and have harassed our people. If this keeps up, we might not have the alondite we need to defeat the Grey Globe.”

“That’s not good, we need that alondite,” Aeneas said. “I suppose you’ll be sending us to the Moon, then.”

But the Pope shook his head. “I wish it was that simple. But we also have other issues to resolve.”

“Such as?”

Nikolai then stepped forward. “The issue of the Azov Autonomous Zone. The Cabal continues to sow chaos and division amongst the Holy League. This prevented us from being able to effectively mobilize our forces against the Grey Globe.”

“Is that really important, though?” Galatea interjected. “I though the alondite will deal with the Grey Globe?”

“The alondite only weakens the Grey Globe. We need a full-on invasion to truly defeat them,” Omaha responded.

“Those are two issues, then,” Aeneas said. “What else?”

“The missing Kunoichi clone,” Shaka spoke up.

“Is that so? Why?” Aeneas asked.

Kunoichi stepped forward. “Ever since the Zaibatsu was freed, papa had been doing all he can to help the Holy League with supplies.”

“Problem is, they had been sabotaged many times,” Shaka continued. “We confirmed by photos that the missing clone is responsible for them.”

“Alright, so have three issues,” Aeneas said.

“But that’s not all,” the Pope interjected. “We also have to discover how to make use of the alondite that we have gathered. To do that, we have to discover how the Dark Age Civilization had defeated the Grey Globe.”

“Surely that is a task for the scientists, not us,” Nikolai said.

“But it is, Lord Nikolai. Because the only way we can figure it out is to go to the innermost depth of Meridian,” the Pope responded.

“The Dark Age Capital,” Aeneas said.

The Pope nodded. “Yes. The Dark Age archives can only be accessed in areas that remain uncharted. We’ll need the help of the recordkeepers for that.”

Aeneas frowned as he thought of the recordkeepers. He remembered that one had attempted to prevent the opening of the Lektros Gate, only for the poor fellow to be killed by the Inquisitor’s father.

“In total, we have four issues to contend with,” Omaha concluded.

At this point Galatea swung her fist up, she looked ready for action. “Let’s do it! We have four destinations. It’ll be just like when Lord Aeneas united the Holy League.”

“Not so fast there, Dame Galatea,” the Pope interjected. “I appreciate your eagerness, but it’s not that simple. You see, we don’t have much time.”

“What do you mean, Your Holiness?” Galatea asked.

“Despite efforts to slow it down, the Grey Globe is only about a month of electro-travel from us,” the Pope answered.

“You’re telling us we don’t have enough time to tackle all four issues,” Aeneas said.

“Not as one group,” the Pope responded.

Aeneas grinned as he heard the Pope’s answer. The Inquisitor knew exactly what His Holiness was hinting at. “But you want us to split up. Right?”

The Pope nodded. “Yes. And I’m sure each one of you know where you’ll be headed.”

“Of course,” Pep spoke up. “I will go to the Moon with Giulia. I’ll get to the bottom of whatever issues my people have with the Holy League.”

“The Venetians are with you every step of the way, my love,” Giulia said tenderly.

“The princess and I will mobilize the Imperial and Slavian armies to retake the Azov. We will end the Cabal,” Nikolai declared.

“Our victory will restore the Holy Empire,” Omaha added.

“Me and Kunoichi both will hunt the clone,” Shaka said.

Kunoichi nodded. “My clone self will not get away with sabotaging papa’s company!”

“And that means,” Aeneas began. “My group will seek out the necessary information to defeat the Grey Globe in Meridian. Are you ready, Galatea?”

The lady knight saw her beloved’s hand extended to her. She eagerly took it. “Yes, my lord.”

“Then it’s settled,” Aeneas said to everyone in his party. “We all have our orders. We may be going our separate ways, but we are all tied by the thread of the Church. Each of us represent a facet of the Holy League.”

“One faction for each mission, though we’re missing Lavinia’s people,” Pep said heartily.

“Pep!” Giulia hissed. But her chastisement was too late, as Aeneas already heard what the Archon said.

“My apologies, Aeneas,” Pep said sheepishly.

But Aeneas remained calm. “No worries, Pep. I have made peace with the loss of Lavinia. We can only hope that the Swarm won’t attack us at the worst time.”

“Here’s to that,” Omaha said before she turned towards the Pope. “Though I am curious, Your Holiness. What would you have in store for Lavinia if she hadn’t betrayed us?”

“I would have her go to the Center of the Earth with Nineveh’s swarm. There, she would meet with Methuselah,” the Pope answered.

“Methuselah? Who’s that?” Pep asked.

“The machine intelligence that maintains Earth’s environmental system,” Aeneas explained. “Without it, the Earth wouldn’t be able to sustain the quadrillions of people that we have.”

“Amazing!”

“But that won’t happen now. No use talking about something that won’t happen,” Aeneas said with a sigh.

“Perhaps it might, my lord,” Galatea interjected.

“Come now, Galatea,” Nikolai chided.

“I’m serious!” Galatea answered sharply. “I know Lavinia is penitent. If she could make things right again, she would.”

“You want us to send a message to Lavinia, is that right?” Aeneas asked.

Galatea nodded. “I do.”

Aeneas weighted his options. That idea sounded insane. He doubted that either Lavinia, Duke Caius, or Nineveh would ever hear him out after what had happened. On the other hand, he had nothing to lose by sending a simple message.

“We might as well, I suppose.”

“Seriously?” Omaha asked in disbelief.

“I will leave that in your hands, Sir Inquisitor,” the Pope said.

And with that, His Holiness dismissed the party.

The following night, Aeneas’ party spent their time together in the Lepanto knowing that this would be their last night together for some time. A fun, but melancholic experience for all involved.

Nikolai and Omaha were the first to leave. After all, mobilizing an army large enough to conquer the Azov would take some time. Their plan was to leave for the Slavian civil capital of Bucar Tepes. There, they would rendezvous with Emperor Hannegan who had agreed to bring the Imperial Army and meet up with his daughter and son-in-law. Their ultimate goal: the Azov Ziggurat.

As expected, the Tsarguards, the Imperial Expeditionary Force, and Captain Paxton left with them. Aeneas knew that he would miss the strength and firepower they had brought to the table, but they would be needed in the Azov.

Pep and Giulia were next as they left for the Moon. Given their destination, they took with them the Lepanto. Aeneas was sad to be kicked out of his own ship, but he knew that it was necessary. But Aeneas wasn’t the only one as many of the soldiers that he had recruited stayed behind in Roma with him. This led to some awkward moments where the soldiers left the Lepanto, but their family members remained in the ship.

Shaka and Kunoichi followed. Out of the four groups, theirs was the smallest. Only the two of them and a small band of ninjas lent by CEO Honda. They took a shuttle to the north. Their destination: Fjordsden, land of the true felinids.

This left Aeneas and Galatea as the last ones to leave Roma. Having to organize his troops once more, Aeneas had recalled his airship that he sent back to Nepoli once he had received the Lepanto.

Having to redo his personnel management wasn’t fun, but it was necessary. Aeneas saw that he had his Italian and mercenary soldiers who had acted as the backbone of his army with their phalanx formation. An addition to this was the former bandit posse led by Jaya; they were made up of two types of soldiers: melee spearmen and ranged riflemen. Finally, there were the wyvern cousins Antonio and Galatea.

Aeneas had taken the opportunity to study the styles of both knights of San Felipe. While Antonio was the stronger fighter, his wyvern Don Quixote was smaller than Sancho Panza. Meanwhile, Galatea did not possess her cousin’s battle prowess but had a larger wyvern. Aeneas kept all of this in mind as he put together his battle strategies.

It took days, but Aeneas’ group was finally ready to leave Roma. Their first destination was the Great Pyramid of Mesr, home of the recordkeepers.

But Aeneas had one more surprise before he was to leave the Papal capital. As the Inquisitor was about to board his airship, he heard his beloved calling for him.

“Lord Aeneas!”

The Inquisitor turned around to answer, but he was baffled when he saw the girl in front of him.

“Galatea? Is that you?”

Aeneas saw that the girl in front of him no longer had the long and braided hair that she once did. Instead, her dark hair was straight and cut short, though still reaching her neck.

The girl nodded and gave Aeneas a beautiful smile. “Notice anything different?”

“How can I not?” Aeneas asked incredulously. “You cut your hair!”

“Yeah, Sir Jaya helped me with that last night,” Galatea said cheerfully. “I just want to show you that I’m ready to be the knight that you deserve.”

“I see,” Aeneas said reluctantly. Though he appreciated his beloved’s candor, he was not sure how to react to this sudden turn of events.

“Well, do you like it?” Galatea asked, giving her beloved a hopeful look.

Aeneas paused to consider his words. He knew that he had to tread carefully here. Because in truth, he preferred girls to have long hair.

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