Tree of Aeons

Chapter 343. Interlude – The Frontier Protection Fleet

Interlude : The Frontier

The Order's operating theatre expanded significantly in the past decade, and Novorosk found himself at the very edges of the Order's influence. 

Hawa, Aiva, and Neira all had peripheral worlds, and even if Aeon didn't want to fully claim the peripheral worlds, there were forces within the Order that sought and demanded that the Order's strength be deployed to assist these peripheral worlds. 

So somehow, what were just a handful of worlds now ballooned into almost a hundred worlds. 

The domain holders could be split into two large groups of thought, the conservative, 'conserve strengths' faction and the more expansionary 'help where we can' faction, and there were legitimate reasons for both. Especially the 'conservative' faction had noticed the Order's stretched supply lines. 

The Aivan peripheral worlds numbered almost 35, and even if the demon kings could be relatively easily dealt with by the three demigods, someone still had to do the actual nitty gritty task of clearing the rest of the demons. 

It didn't help that there were many active demonic rifts that poured new demons into these peripheral worlds. 

The great Patriarch Lumoof described it as 'routine' cleaning, and as per the name, 'routine' tasks fell onto the Order's increasingly stretched apparatus. 

***

Novorosk, [Level 110 Warleader], looked at his squad of twenty in the deployment bay of the massive flying Gantreethor Beetle Carrier, the Gantreethor One. 

The Order discovered quite quickly that having Titans like Gantreethor in the peripheral worlds were extremely useful.

The Node and Clone limitations of Aeon meant the Order needed other ways of projecting influence, and other ways of ensuring that the operatives had a safe, stable place to operate from. Somewhere for the Order operatives, exhausted by their work and missions, to rest and recover. 

Already there were forces within the group petitioning Aeon for the summoning of more Gantreethor and Hytreerion variants as remote bases on these peripheral worlds.

Novorosk glanced at his deck in his hand. It contained the mission notes and objectives. 

The Beetle Carrier shook momentarily. Turbulence. The weather on the Aivan Peripheral World of Palava II was unpleasant. Storms were frequent here. 

There were seven Landasians elves, none from his hometown, but they were familiar enough that they understood and respected Novorosk's position instinctively. There was another group of six Magisarian mages, and they were a more difficult bunch. They seemed to have an extraordinarily high opinion of themselves, even if they were only in the mid level 60s. The remaining were dragonlings from the world of Gigantadragon. 

The three races were frequently grouped together due to their compatible dietary requirements. They only needed one type of field rations for all three species, and each of them also had more complementary skill sets. The dragonlings were the brutes, with inherited raw dragonling strength and power. They were incredible in close range. The Magisarians were the mages and provided support, while the Landasian elves served the generalists and healers. 

Novorosk briefed them two hours before, but there was no knowing whether they truly understood everything, 

"Are they ready for deployment, warleader?" The Order [Admiral]'s voice played in Novorosk's head. 

"Yes. We're ready in three." 

"Strap in. Drop offs in fifteen. The attack on the hive will start in two standard hours." The Order also discovered that like all other Titans, the Beetle Carrier could be modified with upgrades. Just like how Hytreerion was upgraded with weapons and equipment, the gigantic beetle carrier's beetle storage compartments could be swapped out for living quarters, command centers, amenities, and hangers for more specific types of beetles. Such as flying beetle dropships. 

These dropship beetles were variations of the gigantic truck beetles, capable of flight and tough as hell. They were unfortunately not very fast, but it usually didn't matter. 

Each dropship beetle carried about fifteen on their back, so they had two beetles in their group.

"Alright." Novorosk repeated. "Admiral Nulven gave the command to go. We got a hive to destroy. Vice Captain Murien, you'll take beetle two."

Vice Captain Murien, a [Level 78 Warrior of Fury] and dragonling recruited from Gigantadragon about twenty years ago, nodded. "Alright. Let's get in."

Novorosk still noticed how the rest of the dragonling members frowned a little. The operation required an assault into the various cave entrances of the demonic hive, and dragonlings were not a fan of caves. 

It was a strange irony, because dragons loved caves, and yet dragonlings, who were supposedly descendants of dragons, feared them. There were theories that dragonlings were created as servants of the dragons, and thus the caves only reminded them of their enslaved past. But it was ancient history and no one really knew why they were innately uncomfortable in caves.  ŔåℕꝊＢËꞩ

"Dropship Bays open." A voice spoke in their head, it likely came from the Titan, the Gantreethor One.

The organic beetle-like walls opened outwards, and now, they could all hear the furious storms outside. The sky was a dark purple, a feature of the Palava II, and the heavy streaks of lightning that could be seen were of a vivid green color. 

Novorosk felt the furious rain in his face. It tasted different from the rain of Landas, and he hated it. He still didn't understand why rain tasted different. 

The dropship beetle's semi-transparent inner wings closed, and they could now see the land below. A massive rocky mountain that was also home to a demonic hive. A demonic hive filled with some kind of subterranean demon variant, and specifically, they were told to look out for the demonic centipedes. 

Internally, there were talks about why the Order didn't just nuke every single demonic hive from orbit. It'd be faster, and the Order was certainly capable of it. But the Order wanted strength in their operatives, and thus, it was better to do hard things like sending warriors into a hive of demons. Calculated risks. 

Novorosk didn't question it. He knew his squad wouldn't be ready for heavier stuff without this sort of experience. 

"Captain Novorosk, if things don't go well-"

Novorosk knew and could recite the statement by heart. Gantreethor One's Admiral Nulven said it every time. There's ten Level 125s on watch and ready to intervene if anything bad happens, so don't be afraid to call for help. 

They said it every time. The recruits, of course, didn't know that. They didn't want to incentivize unnecessary risk taking, though most were smart enough to understand that help was nearby. 

Idiots who took risks unnecessarily would be identified and reprimanded separately. 

"Go." Gantreethor I's voice could be heard in all their heads, and the dropship beetles' massive wings began to beat. 

Novorosk found the hum of the dropship beetle's wings incredibly eerie, especially when there were about fifty of them all leaving GantreethorOne at the same time. 

Novorosk closed his eyes. There were about ten such operations on Palava II, even though Palava II was not an Order world and would not be an Order World. 

There were no aeonic nodes here. No base of operations. All they had was Gantreethor I serving as a remote base, and movement of Gantreethor One required either Patriarch Lumoof or any of the void archmages' presence.

"The rocks are greyish purple." Lurusk, a Landasian elven ranger sitting next to him commented. "If we have time I'll take a few back home. My kids would love it."

Novorosk nodded. They were all parents, even Novorosk himself was indirectly convinced to have children in order to support the Landasian repopulation program. Landas lost so much of its elven population that everyone had to have kids, and so, Novorosk himself had five kids over the last four decades and was still encouraged to have more. "Remember to get it vetted before you send it back."

"Got it commander."

The two beetle dropships didn't land. It merely fluttered a few feet above ground, and all of them jumped off. 

Novorosk could smell the foul stench of dead demons. The place around them was already attacked by a different squadron a few hours earlier to make way for the landing team. The surface team were usually of a lower level, because they didn't have to fight in higher-risk subterranean environments. 

He looked up, and up in the storm clouds, Gantreethor One was like a gigantic shadow that blotted out half the sky. 

All twenty of them quickly moved and scouted out their target cave entrance. 

The demonic hive was a series of ten different cave entrances, and some larger cave entrances had five squads deployed. Novorosk was given one of the smaller cave entrances. 

"Any native spotted?" Novorosk peeped through his spyglass. 

"Nothing." Murien repeated. "I'd be surprised if there are any of the local humanoid natives nearby." 

"Never know when an idiot thinks that attacking a demonic hive is a good idea." Novorosk countered. 

"Doesn't that make us the idiots, warleader?" Murien quipped through their shared communications network. Novorosk swore he could imagine his smug smiling face. He'd have punched him if he was next to him. 

"I guess we are." Novorosk laughed, but their attack wasn't entirely stupid. "We're the officially sanctioned demon-slaying idiots."

"You guys are wasting [message] on talking shit." A Magisarian mage quickly cut them off. "The mana on these communication rings are bound to run out when you guys talk too much."

"Point taken, Mage Malsah. Alright. We're waiting for Nulven's signal and let's all start."

Murien added. "Wait wait. I've got a question. Do you think our real job is actually to flush out the giant centipedes so that Gantreethor can deal with it?" 

"You think so?" One other operative asked. 

"I mean, I swore I saw some Elite Valthorn insignias on some soldiers’ outfits around the mess hall. What else could it be?"

Novorosk decided to shut down the conversation. He didn't think Nulven would lie to him, but the fact was that intelligence on worlds such as Palava II could be quite poor quality, simply because the number of intel operatives actually studying the details were far, far smaller. 

"If so, we're in bigger shit, so get ready. Maintain silence and wait for the signal." 

He could feel the storm overhead, and the green lightning bolts never seemed to stop. There were demons within those tunnels, and he could feel it. 

The elf's heightened ears could pick up the rumblings of the demonic centipede's feet, the chittering of the worm's limbs. Everyone was appropriately equipped to deal with worms.

He once heard that Level 100s could single handedly take out an entire hive, though they often faced some extra challenge if there were demonic champions present. 

"Attack." The command came from Gantreethor One directly, and Novorosk pointed at the tunnel. 

Novorosk led the charge, his body blurring as his abilities activated. The tunnels were filled with demons, and his blades slashed through them like they were made of butter. The typical demons were no match for his strength, and his teammates followed closely behind. 

They tore a path into the cave and left a trail of slaughter as demons died by the hundreds. Thousands when they entered the larger caverns filled with demons. 

Deep underground, they found what they were looking for. 

A massive spawning pool protected by two gigantic demonic centipedes. 

"I was told these were pretty conventional. Apparently Treehome faced them in Early Aeonic History." Murien commented.

"Is this really time for a history lesson, Murien?" Mage Malsah countered. The dragonlings were doing great, because once the caves turned into massive caverns, they found their stride and used their tremendous strength to great advantage. Their powerful [claw] abilities were a natural counter to the somewhat hard, chitinous shells of the demonic bugs. 

"We're doing well!" Murien said. "And the other parties are also converging on the center." 

All the caves eventually reached the massive inner cavern, and now, the demons were facing a siege on all sides, and the Order's operatives attacked from every entrance.

The cavern shook as two gigantic demonic centipedes emerged from the spawning pools. There were still smaller demonic bugs and worms attached to the giant building sized centipedes, clearly as if they were still trying to spawn more of itself. 

"Well?" Mage Malsah said. "Are you going to fight it?"

"Leave it to the captains." Murien said. 

Novorosk shook his head. "On the contrary, I have specific orders not to engage the centipedes. Instead, Murien, you are supposed to. You and Jovan from Team G. Both of you will take one each."

The dragonling blinked. "Uh, I'm level 78."

"Exactly. According to Order Statistics, Level 78 is exactly right to take on a demonic champion with your outfit level. After your last experience gain, the Order has determined you are ready." Novorosk grinned. It was pretty standard Order level-gain procedure to introduce what they called 'mid-mission' updates. Historical data pointed towards generally higher experience gains and higher leveling chances. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing interrupts you two."

"I wasn't- Fine. I'll do it." Murien quickly found an opening to quickly prepare himself for a fight with the giant centipede. He looked in the distance and found Jovan also preparing himself for a battle. 

Novorosk smiled. "Go for it. I killed my fair share of these champions. It's about time some others do it." 

The battle was properly furious, and Novorosk watched as the dragonling had to pull out everything in his skillset to actually win. 

Weapons. Skills. Claws. 

The demon champion was a rite of passage for every vice captain, and maybe, Murien just didn't think his turn would arrive so early. 

Novorosk, on the other hand, protected the Magisarian mages while they nuked the spawning pools to dust and also while a different group of dwarves from Darkgard reinforced the cavernous walls. 

"What's the command here?" Novorosk was soon approached by a Dwarven commander from Darkgard. 

"The Order intends to convert this facility into a subterranean temporary bunker and a potential recruitment site for the local humanoid natives." 

"Really?" Novorosk asked. He was informed that there were some Darkgardian squadrons involved in the hive-clearing missions, but didn't know the exact details.

"Far, far into the future, but we need to prepare the sites for that eventuality. Such massive caverns are perfect for Darkgardians and could be a useful resettlement home for any dwarves we rescue from the other dwarven worlds. Back in our world, we built entire cities in such places."

"Huh." Novorosk nodded and was once again reminded that the Order often made plans in years and centuries. "So that's why they didn't want us to nuke it from above."

The Darkgardian smiled as their attention was redirected to the battle in the center of the cavern. Murien and Jovan both battled the demonic centipede. "And the centipedes fall."

Murien and Jovan both won as expected, and though they were exhausted and injured, they would most likely gain a level or two. 

"Well. Let's clear out the rest of the hives. The beetle dropships will drop a dwarven engineering group and some resettlement folks once we give the all-clear." 

***

The dining halls within Gantreethor One was a long stretch that ran along the giant flying carrier's central spine. It was an efficiently used space, with storage cabinets overhead, weapons supply hidden within the removable beetle scales on the floor. It had to, because Gantreethor One was home to about one thousand and three hundred operatives. 

In exchange, the flying beetle capacity was significantly reduced, from 8,000 down to only 3,000 flying beetles. In practice, there were only about a thousand or so flying beetles, because the remaining slots were used for the heavier beetle variants such as the dropship beetles and many other utility beetles. There were heavier combat beetles that were deployed as ground-based combatants, and they needed their own space. 

Novorosk gave Murien a toast. "Well, congratulations on your first demon champion. You'll get sick of killing them soon enough, then you'll need to graduate and participate in the higher tier stuff." 

There were no deaths in the entire operation, and it was a goal Admiral Nulven sought to keep. 

"I'm planning to recommend some of your members to a different team." Nulven said as he reviewed a set of reports in front of him. 

"So soon?"

"Not very soon. After this operation. Once we clean out Palava II's remaining demonic hives, we'll have two weeks to return to Landas and restock our supplies, then we'll have to warp to the Neiran front lines."

Novorosk blinked. The Neiran front lines were even further away from their existing supply lines. 

"I know what you are thinking, and Central is already planning for a node deployment. Now that Expedition's Landing Node on Twinspace has been withdrawn and replaced with a Clone, Aeon has a Node slot available for the Neiran frontier. We will be relocated and will be a key part of that frontier's protection."

With the domain holders busy with higher value targets, everything else now fell on the roaming beetle carrier groups. The Landasian elf was in thought when the Admiral elaborated.

"It won't be just us. I hear from the Order that they intend to set up at least three Gantreethor-centered remote battle forces, though I hear that they are asking for another three more Hytreerion-class remote bases on more frequently attacked worlds. These Titans will serve as the heart of the Order's spear into these faraway worlds. So get some rest. I'll be announcing the full details once the rest of the Titan Fleets are actually commissioned."

Novorosk nodded. There were going to be many more decades of peacekeeping missions to be had.