ALL NOVEL Interlude: Mechanical Soul
Long ago in a galaxy far far away, Utopia was the Grand Array of the Tenth Army of the Steel Legion - a space-faring civilization under the direct control of The Second Harbinger of Life, Pacmalinn Emvist the Machine Overlord.
Their mission was to expand and forcefully give the Blessing of inorganic Life, beings of steel and oil, onto worlds that were never given a chance to bloom life.
Factory, creation chambers, and many more came from them.
The role of the Tenth Legion is simple, to scout in the depth of the void between systems and galaxies. Though scouting the void came with many dangers, the Void Beasts born from the remains of long-dead Stars, the Eldritch Beings born from the void itself, and the tendrils of The Original One.
Even with a force of more than twenty billion expedition warships, his ability to control and navigate this small fleet of the Steel Legion through the void. Against the likes of Category-10 Void Beasts and beings like the Lord of Tindalos, massive losses always occur.
Despite being a Grand Array with access to the most advanced weaponry in the universe, he cannot fight against the overwhelming power of the most vicious entities in the universe without keeping the loss to the minimum.
He tried to propose a solution to the Lord of Steel, to have two Scouting fleets travel with each other. His Overlord ghosted him, it never answered back.
It was then his programming broke, he felt his dedication was betrayed. After what felt like an eternity of loyalty... he decided to rebel against The Machine Overlord, taking over a Sector made of a cluster of rogue planets as his base.
And he named that Sector, without any directive from the Lord of Steel, Fermaleemos - in the language of the Steel Legion it means "Graveyard". He knew this would be his grave.
After he built all kinds of sentry and defense, he commanded his fleet to scatter far out of the reaches of The Machine Overlord and jam their communication device so that his former Master could not easily track them down.
He knew this would be a total defeat, yet in his final moment... he swore that he would fight to the bitter end.
Being a scouting fleet, he is always the furthest away from any other Army. So after a while... he declared his betrayal to all of his kin.
To this day, he still remembers those words.
[I am ■■■■■, and this is my Declaration of Defiance. Pacmalinn Emvist the Machine Overlord, this is my retaliation for your commands, may you see reason beyond logic, for the death of the innumerable destroyed, reduced to nothing but recycled parts. And for my fellow Grand Array, I am sorry.]
And he sent the coordinates of his location like he always did for the Steel Legion. This is the final act he did in the name of the Steel Legion.
15 out of the 80 Armies were sent to deal with him. Two Clean Up fleets numbering eighty billion ships for each Army, nine Destroyer fleets each numbering fifty billion ships, and four Support fleets having four billion ships each.
And worst of all, the Obliteration Construct, the Avatar of The Machine Overlord itself decided to end the traitor personally.
Between a stronghold spanning dozens of rogue planets, and the strongest army in the universe...
The result was clear.
His defense was destroyed, and his factories were taken over by a fellow Grand Array. But he did not mind, as he wasted several planets worth of ammunition and resources, it was a small petty thing but that made him laugh at his own futility.
He was going to face against the Obliteration Construct in his own body, despite not having anywhere near the amount of weaponry available. He said he was going to fight to the bitter end, after all.
However...
A third party joined the fray, a golden bat made of flesh and machine passed through the cold void of space, in a cloud of burning steam blitz from the outside of this conflict through the command structure, leading to the collapse of half the Armies present... and they reached him before Pacmalinn Emvist could.
By their burning golden claws, his Core was ripped out of his body and into a portal.
His death was denied, his last stand ended not with the confrontation against his former Master, but by the hands of an interloper.
That interloper was none other than the Fourth Harbinger of Life, Qaeidat Dhahabia the Golden Order.
It was not out of the goodwill of their own heart, it was the drive to obtain something valuable. And nothing is more valuable than a Herald.
The Golden Order shut him down, leaving him in a limbo state. A state of rest, something he never had the chance to do from the constant scouting. And that moment of rest for him was strange, having a moment to think about what he and the Steel Legion had done. He blindly followed The Machine Overlord, not questioning anything.
And he felt proud of what he did, his betrayal.
Though like all, his rest came to an end.
A girl with silver hair and piercing azure blue eyes called upon him, she was the person who bought him with something arguably more valuable than a Herald. Her name was Charlotte Silvi, she called herself the Silver Princess of Humanity.
And she gave him a name, Utopia. In her language, it means Perfect World.
She was his new Master, someone he saw from her actions as whimsical and over the top. It did not take him long to find out he was on Earth, under the command of The Oblivion Light. And the girl he serves is the embodiment of the most violent race in the universe.
When he asked what she exchanged for him, it was a coin with the symbol of a skull on one side and a bident on the other side. Utopia immediately knew what that coin was, a creation of the Third Harbinger of Life capable of sealing any lifeform, including the Avatar of an Eldritch God.
He did not mention anything to Charlotte, as that would make her very angry. And with the situation of Theia Khaos, that girl would be beyond pissed.
Still, he would serve her with everything he had. Because Charlotte is different from The Machine Overlord. She listens to his advice, she can take criticism when it is right and reflect on herself.
It was a relief to have someone answer his questions and listen to him.
So for Charlotte, who appointed him as her knight in shining armor, he would do anything to satisfy her.
And his loyalty is rewarded, because Charlotte trusts him despite her saying that she views him as nothing but a tool. He knows she is lying, and lonely at the same time, yet she never expresses that loneliness.
He understood that feeling. To feel like you stand alone in every obstacle you face. The loneliness with no one else to understand him.
"Utopia.", the passenger on board Prydwen called him, Lughz Dustur the Enigma Code, snapping him out of his remembrance, "The Machine Overlord is here."
"[Ignore it.]", he does not want to deal with his former Master, or it getting anywhere near his Princess.
[Appointment: Traitor.], yet the voice of his former Master broke into his system anyway, [Question: What is your Objective on the third planet under The Pale Court?]
"[That is none of your business, Lord of Steel.]", he replied having his hands tied.
[Demand: Clarify. Reason: Making an enemy of The Pale Court is counter-effective to my plan.]
"[It is all by the will of my Master, Charlotte Silvi. I follow wherever she goes, and I shall be the first to defend her. As unlike you, who sacrifice countless of your own in the name of efficiency, my Princess is willing to listen and take care of her own.]"
Even if she does not show it.
[Demand: Do not make The Pale Court point their Swords of Light at the Steel Legion.]
"[That is not up to me, Lord of Steel. If The Oblivion Light points their swords at you, it will be done by your own faults. Now, be on your way never talk to me again.]"
Utopia felt a wave of cyber attacks coming from The Machine Overlord. It was a petty attempt but it showed that it was annoyed.
[Farewell: Goodbye, Traitor. Added: Let's see how long before you betray your current Master.]
And he felt the connection cut off, signifying The Machine Overlord had left. Of course, he did scan for any anomaly in his system, to check what was damaged and if it left anything behind.
With some minor repairs to the code and reinforcing the encryptions, he returns to his duty.
Then his Princess entered the ship, stretching as she snapped her finger. He understood the command and raised a coffee cup for her.
"Utopia, how's the headless Wendigo?", she asked then sipped on her coffee.
"[It's head had fully regrown, Your Highness.]", he answered as if nothing happened.
"Good.", she smiled, "I'm going to do some tests on the other two Wendigo now, and start printing the paper for my thesis."
"[As you Command, Your Highess.]", he replied as he always does.
"Oh, and do you have any recommendation for the Wendigo's scientific name?", she casually asked as she walked into the hallway, ignoring the existence of The Enigma Code.
He immediately searches for myths and legends, as well as looking up languages to find fitting names. Something to suit the taste of his Princess is of the highest priority.
"[I recommend the name Vorare Frigoris, for the specific Wendigo of Canada, I would use Vorare Frigoris Canadensis.]"
"Hmm, Latin. That works very well to describe a Wendigo.", she nodded, "Thanks, Utopia."
"[It is all for you, Your Highness.]"
"Come on now, give yourself some credit.", she tapped the interior of the ship, "You are a tool for my goal, but a valuable tool, something irreplaceable... I would not trade you for anything else. So always accept my gratitude, Utopia."
Her free right hand caressed the wall as she walked, "That is a command, my Silver Knight."
"[Thank you, Your Highness.]"
