Since nothing is really happening for a variety of reasons, we will skip ahead of the Festival and right to the Event.
------
It had been three weeks since the festival had taken place. It had been an event lasting several days and more than a few of the Shifters located in the Academy took the chance to unwind and relax, for once forgetting about the strange activity of the Endolans. The streets had been awash with people of all ethnicities; men and women dancing and singing, drinking and eating from whatever stalls they found themselves near. Some said that it was the best festival they had been to in several years, as did the citizens of Longnan say that it was definitely one of the better ones they had had.
But even that could not remove the shadow which so hovered over the land. The lack of activity from Endola was becoming something of a calm before the storm, as some people said. A lot of people claimed that they were still waiting until they could launch a massive invasion and then take over Earth in one fell swoop, where others claimed that it was simply Cleritcath holding them at bay, and an entire third group of people claimed that they had given up on Earth and simply focused on Cleritcath now.
The latter of the two were given some credence due to the fact that announcements of heavier attacks towards Cleritcath had been happening ever since the third or so week after their last attack on Earth.
The commanders of the Shifter forces in the Academy didn’t agree.
“They’re far too quiet for my liking,” Commander Jones grumbled, his hawk-like eyes poring over a report from their Clerican allies. “More frequent and larger attacks on the Clerics, but no attacks against us. The numbers don’t add up. The attacks against Clericath aren’t big enough to compensate, and the limit of their Gateways is still a ways off.” He grunted and turned to a tall raven-haired woman with unnaturally pale skin and dark eyes. “What do you make of this, Morrigan?”
“The quiet before the storm. They are brewing something, be it a trap to lure us in, or an invasion the likes of which we have never seen, I do not know.” Her voice was deep for a woman, and sounded like the night itself speaking; dark and foreboding. “Be ready for anything, Christopher Jones.”
Instead of answering her he simply turned to another person standing not far away, one of four in the room. “And you, Draco?”
Draco eyed the paper the Commander held critically, lips pressed into a thin line. “I can’t say anything that The Morrigan has not. There’s something in the wind, and I can’t quite tell what. I suggest you be prepared for anything.”
This time Jones nodded, his expression becoming a bit more sober. He then looked to the last occupant of the room, currently sitting on an upside-down mug. “I say we be prepared for anything,” Sylphide added. “Prepare the Graduates for deployment, and make sure that the students know that something might happen, just in case they end up being affected by the coming assault, because it will come.”
Jones nodded and picked up his phone. He had some calls to make, and preparations to do.
-----
Four Days Later
It had been a quiet wednesday with nothing really happening. Classes and sparrings had taken place, lectures and scoldings had been given, and a few accidents had to be cleaned up. In all honesty there wasn’t much to do on a day such as this, half past four in the afternoon. Most students found themselves enjoying the company of friends or partners, a select few even spending time alone walking through the various gardens and outdoor areas.
Yes, it had been just a normal day. Nothing had been anything out of the ordinary. That is, until the alarms blared; red lights blinking in every hallway and every room. Cinemas stopped playing, and all radio channels and TV channels were forcibly shut off.
The speakers beeped loudly, a telltale sign of an incoming message.
”Endolan attack is incoming. All Graduates are to report at the Teleport Stations. Group A1 through E10 to Station North. F1 through J10 through Station South, K1 through O10 to Station West, P1 through Z10 to Station East. Attack is in Southern America, Argentina.”
”I repeat, Group A1 through E10 to Station North. F1 through J10 through Station South, K1 through O10 to Station West, P1 through Z10 to Station East. Attack is in Southern America, Argentina.”
There was a rush of activity. People were running to and fro, with those who could shifting to get to where they had to go faster. Some of the younger first years seemed frightened, though the older students appeared much calmer. This wasn’t the first time it had happened, but they hadn’t done it quite like this before. All but four Groups of Graduates were deployed. Usually it was four or five groups which were sent out to deal with an attack, but this many was unheard of.
One thing was for certain, this wasn’t no ordinary attack. Far from it. Endola had definitely been up to something during their two months period of nothing but silence.
Was this it?
-------
Three Hours Later
It was not.
The alarms were blaring again, but the announcement was different. And much, much more dire.
The fight in Argentina was still taking place, with reports of casualties on both sides, but, conveniently, most of those were on the Endolan side. The loss of Civilian lives were at a near zero, the gateway from Endola having been made in no-man’s land, and only a few stray attacks had reached a city some few kilometres away.
But just as the fight in Argentina was taking place another gateway opened, this one far closer. Just a few twenty kilometres north of the Academy, in the middle of the mountains, another Gateway had been opened. Reports mentioned a group of an estimate three hundred Shifters coming through, big and small.
Lily was among the first to act, running towards the designated area almost before the first announcement had finished.
Endolan Gateway opened twenty kilometres north. ETA Seventy five minutes. Remaining Graduates, Third Years, and Personnel are to report outside of Exit G4 in the Northern Section where you will be instructed in what to do. I repeat, Third Years, Graduates and Personnel are to report outside of Exit G4 in Northern Section.
She was already Shifted, running as fast as she dared in the hallways. Tsukiko had gone on ahead of her, running even faster than she. Her teeth gritted as the announced sounded once again. It had been a trap, of course it had. Two months of silence and then suddenly a massive invasion meant only as a decoy. Why was she surprised? It was all too obvious.
The announcement sounded again as Lily neared the steadily growing group of third years, and what Graduates remained.
So this is it? She thought, nervously clenching and unclenching her hands while looking over the faces both known and unknown. They looked to be already around three hundred Shifters in total, with a handful of Mythics standing at the sidelines keeping watch of everybody. Those Endola guys are so dead set on conquering us that they’d attack students? Those who don’t yet know how to really control their powers? ...I guess it’s better than attacking innocent civilians, at least. She spat off to the side, tails twitching agitatedly. She was going to enjoy making them pay for all they had done.
Ivar,
Danyel,
Fetzen,
washcloth,
Tim the Yeti,
oooooo,
ThatLostDude,
Damycles,
ConteAmarula,
BangoSkank
