War in the City Chapter 1

IN THE FIFTH YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
"It's been four years now. Four years, and we still haven't done anything." Navis threw his hands into the air to punctuate his words.

Somnia was somewhat more relaxed. "What can we do?" he asked.

"Deka would have a plan," Caelis said. "He would always have a plan."

"Well like it or not, Deka's dead, and we have to start functioning without him." Navis found himself increasingly frustrated. Try as he might, he could not convince the other gods of the urgency. To them, four years was like a single day, and there was no need to hurry. Navis could not convince them that since they were now fighting mortals, they would have to keep the same time schedule as mortals. "Scientia, how long before the Renegades return?"

Scientia shrugged. "They could return anytime they want. I wouldn't expect they'd try anything for at least a hundred years though."

"Right, and when they do come back, we need to be ready for them."

"I hardly think you'll find any opposition among us in regard to that, Navis." Regile said. "The question is, how?"

"We have many options."

"Name one of them, Navis."

Navis thought for a moment. "Well, what about that force field around the city. If we could get it down-"

"If we could get it down, we wouldn't be having this discussion," Terra interrupted. "The problem is we can't."

"Maybe we could influence The Watchers into taking it down," Navis suggested.

"Once again, Navis, your suggestions show an appalling ignorance of the subject you accuse us of neglecting," Scientia said scornfully. "First of all, we can't influence The Watchers through the force field. We can have no contact with them what so ever. Secondly, even if we could, not even The Watchers themselves are able to take down the force field. It is completely under Renegade control."

Navis was as temperamental and as uneasy as the oceans he claimed rule of. Regile took action. "Navis, as you have proven yourself once again to be incapable of saying anything intelligent, you are commanded to silence for the remainder of the discussion." It was not the first time Navis had found himself under such a command, and he showed no outward anger as he quietly returned to his seat in silence.

A few chuckles from some of the gods rang out against the otherwise silent air, as Regile solemnly watched Navis take his seat, disgraced once again. No sooner had Navis sat down, then Regile looked out again. The snickers came to an abrupt stop, as Regile's stern face looked out on the crowd. It was the same stern face that had long ago earned him the title, king of the gods.

"The issue still stands," his voice boomed out. "And must be resolved. I am open to," Regile made a pause for emphasis on the next word, "reasonable suggestions."

Nuntius stood up to speak. With a nod, Regile gave him permission. Nuntius, one of the most gifted of the gods when it came to speaking, began. "That there is danger approaching is obvious. I don't need to remind you how close we came to defeat, to losing everything, only four years ago. And we all know it's only a matter of time before the danger returns. That it may seem far off in the future ought not delude us, for we have no time to waste. We must strike, and strike hard. We must do everything in our power, starting immediately, to ensure we will be ready when that danger occurs.

"But I am telling you what you already know. Each of us here has already voiced concerns about that fact. The question is, as Somnia so succinctly put it, is what can we do about it? What indeed, can we do about it? The Renegades are out of our grasp. Until they again return, their new technology and plans will proceed completely without our knowledge. What indeed, can we do?

"Well, gods and goddesses, there isn't much we can do. But that little which we can, we must. We must, and we must do it quickly, efficiently, and completely. For, in our battle against the Renegades, we must not neglect the smallest detail.

"But again, I am telling you what you already know. So what is it, you ask. What can I be leading up to? Well, first we need to redouble our efforts in inventing. We must study the Renegades technology, and make more of our own. We must gather all the knowledge we can about the world around us, and learn how to use it. We are gods, there is no excuse for our ignorance. No creature is able to gather information better then us."

"We already are!" Tempestas cried out, annoyed that such an obvious suggestion should be brought forth after such a lengthy introduction.

"I said redouble our efforts," Nuntius answered. "I know that we are already struggling to create technology, but not nearly enough. We are in grave danger here, and not a second can be spared. For the next hundred years, we need to spend almost all our time in the study of science, and the acquisition of new technology."

"It is approved," Regile's voice boomed out. "From this day forth, I order that each god shall spend at least three-fifths of each day, for the next hundred years, in this activity." The decree might have seemed harsh, but the gods received it lightly. To them, on hundred years seemed like a relatively short period of time, and they were willing to sacrifice much of it for their survival. "Any further suggestions, Nuntius?"

Nuntius was caught a little off-guard, but like the skilled orator he was, he was never at a loss for words, not even for a second. "Well, I must admit, I wasn't expecting my proposal to be approved so easily. But despite that, I do have another suggestion, yes. At the risks of insulting your intelligence, comrades, by overstating my point, I must again refer you to my earlier statement before I dare introduce this next proposal. We must take what ever opportunities present themselves to strike at the Renegades, no matter how trivial they seem. I trust I have your agreement on this?" A murmur of support arose. Nuntius smiled slightly. "I was hoping for a more definitive reply." He got it, as the gods voiced their support louder, but in an apathetic tone, since it seemed to them a trivial point; not something to be debated.

"Good, then in that spirit I bring forth my second proposal. The Renegades have an ally here on Fabulae. An ally who helped them the last time they were here. I trust you all know who I'm talking about." The answer was in the affirmative. "Let them not have an ally when they return."

"Destroy the Watchers?" Terra's voice contained nothing but amusement as he considered the proposal. "How do you intend to do that?"

"I was hoping that question would come up," Nuntius answered. "It was one I could not avoid answering, nor should I intend to. In the past, when we wanted to destroy a mortal, or a whole country, we had to do little more than wish it, and it was done. Now, things are different, aren't they? At least in this case. The force field keeps us from interfering with the city."

"A pity we didn't destroy the city when we had the chance," Caelis commented. "Before the Renegades put up that force field."

"That was never really an option," Scientia said. "We needed the city to access the Renegades computers. We couldn't have done anything that would let the Renegades know that we knew about the city."

"There's no point in rehashing the past anyway," Nuntius said. "The fact is, whether it would have been a good idea to destroy the city before the force-field was up or not, we can't change the past no matter how much we'd like to. However we can do something about the present, and we must."

"You admit we can't get through the force field, and yet your still talking about destroying The Watchers," Terra commented. "I'm not following you."

"Then I'll walk you through it. Maybe we can no longer access the city, but we can send our servants there."

"Your as bad as Navis," Tempestas exclaimed. "Our servants are kept out by the force field too. All of us immortals are."

"Ah," Nuntius drew the word out, and Tempestas silently cursed himself for falling in whatever verbal trap awaited. "That's just the point, isn't it? The question is, what do I mean by servants. Am I referring to the Titos? Or the Veletti? Or some other race who we brought into existence for the sole purpose of serving us? Or, perhaps, am I referring to one of our many mortal servants. You know as well as I do that we routinely, often with success, try and influence mortals to do our will. Almost always, these mortals have no idea we exist, and that they are in any way helping us."

"I hope this isn't going where I think it is," Scientia spoke up, "because we've already been through this with Navis. We can't influence through the force field. We can't do anything through the force field."

"Don't worry Scientia, I am well aware of that. I say the mortals we influence almost always don't know about us because there have been exceptions. Take Gaius as a case in point. He knew perfectly well that he was helping us and our cause after we revealed ourselves to him. The same principle might work again."

"But Gaius wasn't powerful enough to do anything by himself," Bella reminded them. "He would never have been able to cause the trouble he did had it not been for Jistap and Jistap wouldn't have been able to do anything if it wasn't for Bakes. Whoever can manipulate the computers, controls the city."

"Let's not kid ourselves about that," Scientia put in. "There will never be another Bakes. Bakes had a genius to manipulate the computers that couldn't be found again in a thousand years. Besides, Bakes was more trouble than he was worth. We were never fully able to keep him under our control anyway. He was killed fighting against our servant Gaius."

"What specifically did you have in mind, Nuntius?" Cibus asked.

Everyone listened intently as Nuntius revealed his plan.
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The plan was revealed, and received support from most of the gods. Most importantly, Regile approved the plan. Conditor and his descendents lived apart from the gods, and they cared little for the affairs of the gods, so their support was not needed. The plan was put into action.

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Nuntius checked his appearance one more time before he left. He looked exactly like Deka used to. Speeding down from the heavens, he delivered his message, appearing before a most startled creature. "Bow and worship me," he commanded, "as your ancestors did before you."

The creature, as most of Fabulae, was well familiar with the myths of Deka, although, like a good deal of the present Fabulae, did not believe them. Nevertheless, upon seeing the god before him, the creature did not hesitate to fall in worship. "Have mercy on me, oh great Deka."

"I have not come here to punish you," Nuntius continued. "In fact through you, I will re-establish my kingdom. I will transport you to the appointed place. Wait there, and you will receive further instructions."