Angel Monarch

As Sera released the hounds of war across Europe, Vicky's workload suddenly increased by a lot. She had to transport tens or even hundred thousand soldiers between city-states. She kept dozens of portals open for civilians to escape the most war-ridden areas. Vicky felt both mentally and physically exhausted before even midday arrived, but her worries made the tiredness unnoticeable. Late morning, she opened a single portal, sending her mother and most of her friends right to Harold's doorstep. They still hadn't heard from them, which was understandable considering the importance of their battle. Vicky desired to join their fight against Harold, seeking justice, but alas, it simply proved impossible. Her current job was much too critical for the war effort. With this in mind, Vicky stayed in New Athens with Bea. She also had strong opinions about taking revenge, but after long conversations, Sera, Bran and Otto convinced her to stay behind. It was solely for strategic importance. Neither Sera nor Bea wanted to leave their daughter without a protector for the multitude of attacks. Amidst all the chaos, an assassin could easily take her out, which would destroy the high mobility of the Angelic Alliance's Army. For this reason, Bea never left her side, and they both stayed near the Aegis System's Center. Because Bea's connection to the Tree of Life strengthened her, this location offered the greatest protection within New Athens. Mary and James also reinforced the room quite heavily, and put up multitudes of security measurements, which they kept as a secret to everyone. When Bea inquired about the additional defenses, they just laughed and ignored her, so she dropped the topic as well. Since Bea had nothing to do while defending Vicky, she explored around the gigantic room. She found a few strange holes near the doorways and vents, plus a bunch of protrusions along the walls. These were likely part of the defense system; therefore, she avoided them. Hours went by with nothing happening, but Bea's anxiety continued to grow. She feared what would happen to her friends and family, to Otto, who was supposed to fight a Stellar, the mother of her child, to the entirety of Europe. Everything hung in a frail balance. One wrong move from any party could have broken it. While everyone fought for their people, their future, Bea felt guilty for staying in perfect safety, defending someone who needs no help. As Bea walked up and down, full of anxiety and fear, her daughter just calmly sat cross-legged under the Tree of Life's roots. Her calm breathing continued, and even drenched in sweat, she kept opening portals across Europe. Henry sat next to her, constantly typing on his watch, whispering every new order and request into his crush's ear. He hid his terror much worse than Vicky, but he never hesitated and always stayed professional. His mother was also supposed to fight against a Stellar, but no news arrived from their fight yet. Other than Otto and Elizabeth, two more Stellars fought for the Angelic Alliance. Viktor, Otto's and Sarah's elder brother. He was based near Prague supporting and defending the city from the approaching threat. The other one was Antal, who was defending Buda-Pest currently. The Federal Alliance launched a surprise attack just an hour after Sera declared war. The Federal Alliance had five Stellars, while Napoleon, including himself, had three. This suggests Federal Alliance victory, yet war's complexity surpassed simple assessment; Napoleon understood this profoundly. Each Stellar could've taken out armies and level cities with ease, but capturing and holding territories just wasn't possible for a single person. Even though Napoleon had the least Stellars at his disposal, how he used them was the primary cause of either victory or defeat. Except for Amygdala, they accounted for every Federal Alliance Stellars' position. It wasn't hard, since they were all currently engaged in warfare. Napoleon, though, stayed awfully quiet throughout the first few hours, and they still weren't certain of his plans. Out of everyone, Sera feared him the most. He was a truly amazing strategist who would sacrifice all his troops if it meant the enemy couldn't win. He knew exactly how unlikely his victory was, and that's what made Sera worried. Even if he couldn't win, Napoleon would make sure no one else did! Since these thoughts weren't helping to calm Bea's nerves, she tried to clear her mind from useless thoughts and fears. She sat down close to Vicky and Henry, trying to meditate. As Bea's eyes closed, she sensed a strange feeling and noticed a disturbance in the air, reminiscent of the scent of ozone preceding lightning. While looking around with curiosity, she took a deep breath and summoned her armor and weapon. Henry noticed this as well, but didn't raise any concern to Vicky. He also stayed put, so she could emergency teleport them away in case something bad happened. Bea sniffed repeatedly, but the smell's source remained elusive. It was definitely getting stronger with each moment. It took a few more seconds for her to see the smell's source. A few dozen meters away from the raised platform, suddenly a field of electricity appeared. She finally laid eyes upon the invisible intruders. As electricity coursed through their bodies, it must've disabled whatever device kept them hidden, and they all died between screams of agony. There were at least a dozen of them in armor, holding regular looking metal weapons… Husks, all of them… As the realization hit Bea, she began summoning Something, to capture their souls, but she didn't need to. Mary and James already implemented a solution in the defense system. Sound of gunfire soon interrupted Bea's summoning of the small crystal ball, which can contain souls. Small lines of fire arced through the air, landing near the area where the Husks died. Meter long tongues of flames came alive, burying their remains in ever consuming fire. There were two sure ways to kill the Husks, by Bea's knowledge. First, destroy their soul completely, which was exactly what Bran, Lucy, or Lilith could do. Second, destroy their bodies until not even a cell remained. This was Sera's and Leslie's speciality, since their flames burned at high enough temperatures to destroy everything organic. The traps' flames lacked Leslie's strength and Sera's purifying effect. However, they fully eradicated the Husks' bodies, leaving no trace of them behind. Bea breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived, since soon more Husks appeared, all of them getting caught by different traps. Husks burst out of the vents violently, but their entrance was short-lived, as the flamethrowers activated. Their metal armor, weapons, and organic bodies melted quickly under the high temperature flames. The few who managed to push through the fire and flames were either running around, with their armor melted onto their skins, or they sprinted towards Bea with mad determination. From the walls, a hail of turret fire met the approaching Husks, ending their movements after a few steps. Not every bullet burst into flames, though. The majority of the bullets were designed to penetrate armor, which caused the Husks to die quickly. The turrets with the flaming rounds only opened fire at corpses, making their destruction much more effective. Bea watched in awe as the modern weapons killed and destroyed opponents who were a perfect counter to most Evolved. Harold created these indestructible, obedient killing machines, to significantly increase the difficulty of every battle involving Evolved. What he failed to consider is how effective modern weapons were against them. The main entrances for the hall soon opened as well, which made Bea realize what was actually happening. Hundreds of Husks entered the room in quick succession, but their target wasn't Bea, or even Vicky. Harold couldn't have predicted they would hide inside here, which meant they had only one target… The Aegis System! Bea's eyes widened as the first Husk managed to survive the gunfire and attack her. With his metal sword raised, he jumped towards Bea, but didn't make it far, since vines caught him midair. They stretched over his body until they had a firm hold on his head, which then got slowly pulled off. Blood rained on the metal floor as the Husk fell over dead, and subsequently got shot by dozens of flaming bullets. "HENRY! Call for reinforcements!" Bea couldn't look back as she shouted through the loud gunfire, but she sure as hell hoped Henry heard her command. More and more Husks pushed through the constant barrage, and a few even began shooting arrows at the turret positions, destroying them. In Bea's hand, the small crystal ball appeared again. In the other hand, her lone longsword remained. She took one deep breath before the Husks came closer. For an endless moment, she closed her eyes, finding calm amidst the chaos. Her beautiful green eyes gently opened to a world of pain and suffering, but on Bea's face, the opposite shown. A wide smile spread behind her wooden helmet, and a small giggle escaped her lips. Bea was ready to avoid the war and defend her daughter even with no danger present. But the universe answered her silent prayers, bringing the fighting to her doorstep. She wasn't a battle junky, but sitting out a war such as this, while all her friends and family fought and died for their people, simply felt wrong. Bea felt useless, but now, she gained a new purpose. If the Husks destroyed the Aegis System, all the cities under the Angelic Order would become vulnerable. With the shields gone, Bea couldn't even imagine the destruction that would soon follow. Therefore, she proudly, joyfully confronted the approaching horde, prepared to kill as many as she could. Bea was even prepared to die, if it meant the shields and her people would survive. She took a deep breath once again, then brandished her sword, and raised it towards her rapidly approaching enemy...