Astral's Rise Part 75: War is an Artform

"Zane, why are they all the same as him?" Jax asked his leader.

"Because he is self centered and wants everything to be his way. I will not force any of you to fight but." Zane trailed off as Astrid was charging into the Tizzle ranks, slicing them down efficiently. As the five thousand survivors charged at Astrid, she realized she may have bit off more than she could chew.

"Open fire and protect the flower!" Sal aimed his rifle and put his finger to the trigger while charging into battle. 

Zane looks over to Jax as the rest of the clones follow Sal. "You want to help him?" Zane pressed a couple of buttons on his wrist as several quick deploy forces came swooping in.

"I see no reason for not enjoying this." Jax spoke as he ran and followed the quick response forces. Zeta watched them all as Zane stands there and looks up to his friend. Resting his hand on the metal body.

"You enjoy this for a certain reason. It's not due to destruction but the friendships you make." Zane saw the face light up in glee. "Keep it that way. Ready to head back?"

Zeta whirred as he stood a little taller. "After you." Zeta motioned with his torso as the two walked to the shuttle that took them back to the cruiser in orbit. Making it to the bridge they looked at the holotable. Seeing a request for a meeting.

"Shall we?" Zane asked as Zeta bobbed his head. All of the familiar faces stood around the table. Adam, Astral, Achilles, Jaimie, Pollen and Lucky were there. "So, how is everyone doing?" He wanted to push off the fact that Astrid ran off to fight on the ground. Peering over he saw the enemy side dwindling further and further.

"Well, my conquest was a success, the Apparazza know our power and we told them to never invade Earth again or we will annihilate them." Adam spoke, waving his hand to Achilles.

"Our forces on the ground suffered zero losses, between my forces and the clone army, thank you Zane, we successfully stomped them out of the picture." Achilles followed the leader.

"What about you Zane, how has the Red Merle fared?" Astral asked.

"Well." Zane drugged his words together. "Astrid completely destroyed their forces by luring them into a trap, their families have a chance to live on and she is finishing the fight herself as we speak." He didn't want to get in trouble as Zeta looks around and sees Astral, trying to wave he remembers not having arms while just waving through his face screen.

"Very good Zane, the Red Merle proved its power?" Astral asked as he waved back to Zeta. Jaimie waved to the mech as well.

"Correct, we aimed at an orbiting moon and evaporated it." Zane quietly added as both Jaimie and Astral paused for a moment. The realization of that power in the palm of their hands is a lot.

"Zane, how were the other system stations?" Adam asked wanting to make sure it was smooth sailing.

"I am sorry to say there isn't more to report, but they didn't come close enough to engage in our close range weapons." Zane told Adam flatly as Astral nodded.

"Well, we have a couple of things to patch up over here still, Zeta, it is good to see you walking again, when I get back my priority is working on you." Astral tilted his head as the mech creed heart eyes. "Adam, meet up at the Red Merle, we have a couple of other things to work on." Astral and Jaimie left the call as they waved goodbye.

"Pollen, how is my planet looking?" Achilles asked in a cruel tone.

'The planet is in a stable state, with the advanced technology available to us we should be ready to advance to our next age and start terraforming nearby planets in the next five years.' Pollen typed the message as it went through the system stalled for a second.

"Good, lead them to prosperous ventures and keep them safe. If I ever return I hope to be welcomed in with open arms." Achilles bowed as Pollen nodded his head before leaving the call.

"Zane, how is the condition of the twins? They need one valuable lesson to learn and I was wondering if they were awake yet?" Adam asked, Achilles had filled him in on the events that transpired on Polemistis.

"Pull up the bridge cameras, I joined the call from a corvette on the planet's surface." Zane spoke as he relayed the feed to Adam. Adam saw the feed and how Angel and James were wandering aimlessly at the bridge.

"Zane, can you go and check in on them, south bridge." Adam sighed as Zane saluted and disconnected from the call. "They need something to do outside of combat." Adam looked at his table, so many plans were in place and he needed a moment to run them by Astral

"Achilles you are dismissed." Adam reviewed his plans over and over, everytime he read them he had to correct one thing or another. Achilles scoffed as he walked out of Adam's sight, hearing the door close, Kayla popped up as Achilles stayed on the other side of the door. "Why is there so much for me to do?" Adam rested his torso on the table as Kayla brushed his hair with her fingers.

Kayla stayed quiet, it seemed like Adam wanted to take a step back, the start up of the operation was taking too much on him. "In time we can have this moment pass. Eventually it will be all caught up." She consoled him as the fleet was working on its way back to the Red Merle.

"Astral is dealing with just as much as me, the only thing that could save us is more people who could understand. The Twins don't have the knowledge of it all around. Airsoft is smart enough and has enough experience to help but the ticks on his side don't. Achilles should be the one we turn to." Adam spoke his mind as Kayla soothed him.

Achilles slid down the door silently, Adam thought that highly of him even if he didn't convey it. "Zane is too new to this, he knows Astral better than most of us, we need to protect him, great to have on the backside but not up front, and no one from Dog Pound or the other fireteams come close. We need more help with people who know the issues we will run across." Adam stopped speaking as Achilles knocked on the door.

"Good you were still there, come in, we have a lot to discuss in a very short amount of time." Achilles entered shocked at first. Accepting the fact that he was outwitted by their strategist.

"Tell me everything possible, my people still listen and respect me. Without them do we stand a chance?" Achilles asked with a tone of worry.

"No, the clones are good but too few numbers, even the variety of them won't do us good, they just learn different skills and have different genomes. But we need to start from the beginning." Adam spoke as the space around them became distorted.