Chapter 255: The Divinity Spike

"OwO!" Tag complained as Sig chopped him between his ears.

Tag winced and then rubbed his head, but then glared at Sig, but Sig was having none of it.

"Don't be an idiot! The Sky Folk are probably monitoring this area. While they might not be helping us, I don't think they are that big-headed to not send some kind of scout to watch it," Sig explained and then fire off two more shots.

"Well, smart-pants, what are we going to do about this? We aren't going to keep doing this and searching for that damn giant bug!" Tag railed, and Sig nodded. 

"No, you are right, but I also don't think we are going to spot it from up here. According to John, the Tellarider knows about the Sky Folk, so the Geosect is probably hiding under something or borrowed somewhere close. 

'Then let's get out of here and go check on John's progress. From what I saw, the amount of infected was very minimal, but we need to figure out how we can get these Goblins somewhere safe until. You heard what Gamble said about that General, I don't think it will matter if we get them clean or not,' Sig sent to Tag as they took off in a burst and disappeared from the raging Sky Ray Folk.

The creatures weren't actually angry, they were the scouts sent to watch, but they were also there to block the view of the Track Slider. The satellite station was huge in space and created an intense amount of light, making it visible like a bright star during the day.

The Sky Ray Folk were there to be diversions because the Sky Folk had hacked into the Royal Flying Hive Fortress. General Brand was monitoring them from a ship designed to go into space that was headed there right now. 

"Twenty-five minutes unto we are docked, General Brand," the small ship's pilot radioed back to the General, and he nodded without reply; there was no need.

Brand was going over a layout of the Goblin mountain on a large screen in front of him. The Crab Folk General used his two Wind Stones to stay still in the zero-gravity environment as he looked for the best place to strike.

"Do you really think that it is necessary to do this? I am sure we can send an elite squad to go down and deal with the Tellarider. I think destroying the entire mountain is a terrible idea," An Otter Folk man, James, Jesse's older brother, said, and Brand turned to glare at him.

"I don't pay you to think about that. Your job is to help me to find the most ideal strike location. Over the last thirty swarm wars that I have been a part of, ninety percent of the Hives have been hidden in the mountains. This has caused us countless losses each time we have to weed them out! I was there! I know what it was like, and you don't, so do the job you are being paid to do, or I will find a new person that will. Then you and your sister and go back to working in the dregs of the ship where I found you!" Brand snapped at James, causing him to pull back in fear.

Jess was the one that got James the job on another ship, but he was forced to work hard with his hands, but that wasn't his specialty.

Numbers. That was the thing he loved most, but these were not the numbers that James wanted to figure out.

"I will calculate the best location for a strike," James said quietly as he went back to looking at the screen in front of him.

James was buckled into a chair with a restraint harness so he wouldn't float around, and now he focused on his task. While he didn't want to do this, this wasn't about him.

James would return to the ship's bowels to work again, but he wouldn't drag his sister down with him. General Brand had the two of them in private locks, giving each a different threat to the other sibling to make the other cooperate with him.

Brand didn't care who he had to use; none of it was important to him. Only the everlasting glory of the Sky Folk mattered to him, and in their Generals eyes, that meant total dominance over everyone.

To do this, Brand tricked Jess into helping him construct her Track Slider, telling her it was for the exploration mission. Brand had his weapon now, but he still needed Jess and James.

Something had gone wrong after the first test, and now Jess was trying to fix it, but the General had sent her to act as a spy to gather information. Brand also did not trust her, and for a good reason, he soon found out after overhearing the conversation the two of them had.

The General had one of his Black Claw agents inject both siblings in their sleep. The two had been very close-mouthed with each other since Brand had forced Jess to watch the first test-fire of Divinity Spike.

"Everything will be fine once you have determined the best place to strike the mountain. After you do that and your sister fixes the Divinity Spike, you will both be free to do what you like and wherever you want. I told you that I will reward you for a job well done," Brand said without looking at James, but Brand had no intention of letting them go.

Both of the traitors would be publicly executed for his sister's treason, and the people would cheer. All the records of them would be erased, and Brand would take full credit for the weapon.

Once this was all over with the Tellarider, then Brand would be moving onto exterminating the Wasp Folk, for good. Then the rest of the world would fall under his control as he held the Divinity Spike over their heads. 

The General was an ambitious man that strove to reach the top and would stop at nothing to reach it. Even if that meant killing some of his own people to get what he wanted, and it wouldn't be the first time.

Being of the shelled race and not an exalted smooth body like the Queen, Brand and the rest of his kind could never rise higher than the military. The only hard bodies on the council were half breeds that came from interspecies breeding, a concept that Brand found disgusting.

This was also the reason why Brand had tried to catch Ashia and her harem of interspecies wives. Those women thought they were going to get away, but Brand had placed several blocks to slow the process and give the missing Queen time to show up.

Once she did, Brand planned to blow her out of the sky and kill her before any of her people could find out. Then the Hive of interbreeders, Sky Eel Queen, and the council would be killed using the weapon that the Sky Eels paid for him to construct.

The project was not supposed to be started yet, but Brand had bullied them into it using his Black Claws to remove certain people that didn't agree. The General also got them to take a few hostages from the people that were on the fence, forcing them to push the project through.

Now the General had the council wrapped around his finger, and delaying them had been little more than sending a couple of the Black Claws to persuade them. 

The Small shuttle they were in bumped, and there was a clunking noise. The sound of air hissing as the pressure seals tightened filled the compartment.

"Once we are inside, I want to see some results on paper, or if you don't, maybe I will have some of the Black Claws go and have some fun with your sister. Maybe then you might hurry up! That cute little thing will probably enjoy it," Brand said as he floated to the opening shuttle door.

James fumed inside but knew there was nothing that he could do but comply. James had to hope that his sister would be safe with that strange Skunk Folk man Brand had sent her to spy on.

James followed the General in the massive cylinder ship with his head hung low that was surrounded by glowing rings. Each ring had sails that extended to catch the sun's rays and charge the station while facing the sun and then glowed with intense brightness.

This massive station was built to hold and train exploratory teams, but General Brand converted it over to a military outpost. If Brand gained autonomous control over the station, he would dominate all Kadeon, Lower and Higher Realms. 

Thousands of miles away, in the capital, Gamble was preparing to meet with the Royal Wives. Gamble was not unknowing of the General's plans, or the fact that he was monitoring their conversations, so he met with the wives in a sealed room without Jess.

"There is a lot we need to talk about, and I am sure that you all have much to say. Before we start, I need to make something very clear. I trust Jess, but I set up a scanner in my office and picked up a signal coming from Jess's neck. Nothing secretive or essential can be said in front of Jess or outside of this room, understood?" Gamble explained to everyone as they sat down in the seal room to start their discussion on what they were going to do about the Divinity Spike.